Jer. 17. 24. which if it shall be done Jer. 17. 25. Si custodieâ—ur Sabbatum Hierusalem flarebiâ— templum mirè frequentabitur This City shall remain forever Nothing can better encompass a City with walls barricado a City against danger preserve a City from decay and secure a City from ruine then when the Citizens are not more industrious in their shops on the week day then they are zealous in the Sanctuary and in their families upon the Sabbath God watcheth over that City for good where the due observation of the Lords day is most strictly practiced and the prophanation of it is most severely chastised The sanctification of the Sabbath can cause the state to Flourish It can fill the Court with splendor and glory Jer. 17. Extendit deus fructus hujus promissionis ad totum corpus postquam de proceribus locutus est simul adjungiâ— plebem fore fociam hujus benedictionis gratiae dei Calv. 25. If ye hallow my Sabbaths then shall there enter into the gates of this City Kings and Princes sitting on the throne of David riding in Chariots and on Horses c. Indeed Religion and so that eminent branch of it Sabbath-holiness is the beauty and lustre of Courts and that which fills them with glory as Gods presence in the cloud filled the temple with amazing and astonishing glory 1 Kings 8. 10 11. God indeed keeps Nations as they keep his day and when they are loose upon his Sabbath God is more indifferent in his protection over them and benedictions upon them It is very observable that God did most complain of Sabbath-pollution Ezek. 20. 13 16 21 24. Ezek. 22. 8 26. Ezek. 23. 38. immediately before the Jews going into Captivity When a people despise Gods Ministers and prophane Gods Sabbaths then there is no remedy Nay in our Nation of England immediately after the Book of sports was set forth for recreations and liberty upon the Lords day that bloudy civil War began which turned England into an Aceldaniaâ— 2. Chron. 36. 26. and it was infinite mercy that that field of bloud was not like that floud of waters in Noah his time to drown all the Nation and leave only one family surviving The sanctification of Gods day can bring prosperity to the Church It cannot only fill the throne but the temple with Deus erit modis omnibus beneficus ad populum si modò Sabbatum observent et puro corde se addicunt ad dei cultum cùm in templum ascendunt hilaritèr offerunt juge sacrificium ex vicinâ regione advenient cultores dei qui dres festos celebyem et pro more florebit Religio et vigebit in Sabbato observando immò et sacrificia laudis offerentur huc spectant omina sacrificia ut nomen dei celebretur c. Calv. glory and bless not only the shop but the sanctuary Our spiritual priviledges shall be like Aarons rod blossoming Numb 17. 8. If the Sabbath like the Sun shine hot with zeal and devotion Let us hear God speaking by the Prophet Jer. 17. 24 26. If they shall hallow my Sabbath c. They shall come from the Cities of Judah and from the places about Hierusalem and from the land of Benjamin and from the plain and from the south bringing burnt-offerings and sacrifices and meat-offerings and incense and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. In this glorious promise are comprised all the Characters of a flourishing Church 1. Here is a multitude of worshippers they should flock to the house of God from all circumjacent parts from all adjacent quarters from the plain and from the mountains from Judah and from Benjamin the two most considerable tribes from the South c. And indeed a confluence of proselytes is the glory of a Church when believers are as the corn of the valley and not as grapes after a vintage Mic. 7. 1. Then the primitive Church became glorious to a wonder when thousands were added to it Acts 2. 41 47. Acts 4. 4. Acts 5. 14. Churches are then prosperous when believers flock as Doves to the windows Isa 60. 8. 2. Here is the variety of sacrifices burnt offerings meat offerings emblems of legal worship sacrifices of praise the evidence of worship Evangelical Gods Altar ever flourishes when there is most incense offered and the Church is in its best estate when the Saints have liberty to worship God in every Ordinance Variety of Ordinances is the joy and harmony of the Church 3. Here is likewise observable in this precious promise Christiani charitate et spiritu sancto ferveant quasi igne impetu quodam animi sint succensi ferveant ad officium faciendum the zealous affection of the profelytes they shall come from the Cities of Judah c. And indeed zealous Saints make a prosperous Church Zeal is the natural heat of holy duties and speaks us to be living sacrifices Rom. 12. 1 11. And our services to be lively services Heat is alwayes a sign of life as in naturals so in spirituals Nor is it to be over-passed that in this promise there is implyed Gods presence which is the true glory and flourish of every Church Levit 26. 2 11 12. so the text They shall come to the house of the Lord where the Lord will give them a meeting else these words were an Irony not a promise For to come to Gods house and he withdraw this is a judgment not a promise for the Sun may sooner want light then a promise sweetness If then the Divine Presence be inclosed in the promise what a glorious Psal 63. 3. thing is Sabbath-holiness For what can we enjoy more then a God His smiles are heaven his frowns are hell Our condition is calculated and computed according to the nearness of God to us or his remoteness from us if God be with us saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 31. Who can be against us I may say who can be above us Communion with God is our throne his absence is our dunghill Our condition 1 John 1. 3. is gradually advanced or depressed according to the degrees Omnia possidet qui illum possidet qui omnia possidet Aret. of Gods approach or retirement The hiding of his face is the blackness of darkness and his presence is the sweetness of every mercy the fulness of every Ordinance nay the glory of heaven it self It is the presence of God which fills the hearts of glorified ones with perpetual joy and their tongues with perpetual Hallelujahs And it is this presence which invites our holy observation of Gods Sabbath It is an elegant note of Origen I demand saith he When Manna first began to fall from heaven and it is apparent from the holy In nostrâ etiam die dominicâ semper pluit dominus Manna de coelo Orig. Scriptures that Manna was first given upon the Lords day for if as the Scripture saith
Jewes which onely typisied and prefigured a better Country a Country to come saith that excellent Father To the same purpose speaks Cyril and Procopius Those who conscienciously observe the Sabbath they shall have outward enjoyments and they shall be onely pledges of 1 Cor. 2. 9. Vides hîc ô Christiane quanta deus stâ—tuerit praemia misericordiae et pietati better enjoyments the pawns and earnests of enjoyments more glorious As if the Lord should say As I led Jacob from the temporal promise of an earthly Canaan to the promise of a heavenly so will I do with thee if thou observe my Sabbaths thou shalt have a Jacobs reward and what that is our Saviour instructs us Luk. 13. 28. where he saith Luke 13. 28. You shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God Thus God he reduplicates his better promises on the heads of those who carefully keep his Gen. 25. 33. Gen. 22. 36. Gen. 32. 28. Sabbath they shall have the Heritage of Jacob who gained both the Birth-right and the Blessing they shall enjoy the Primogeniture the first born of Mercies nay Mercies with the Blessing with the Fathers Benediction too they shall succeed in Jacobs Heritage who was mighty and prevailed with God who foyled the Angel in his spiritual Combat and had the honour to have his Name and Cùm haec verba ex animo simulque oculos circumfero videoque quà m pauci sunt qui delectentur in Domino sabbatique c. Escucheon changed and into such a name as included the Name of God himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El being the close of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israel and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El is one of Gods own Titles And truly here we may take up the contemplation of a learned man who examining and surveying these pretious promises was taken with a great admiration that so few should act the Duty in the Text should be conscientious in Sabbath Observances Hoc lugendum est et magnoperè plangendum inquit Forerius perswading himself that the diviness of these promises might captivate the most refractory and disingenious and at last he concludes with moans that so few in the world should be taken with so rich a bait To which I shall only add we may here see how much infidelity influences the hearts of most for surely did we not look upon these rare promises as bonds without a seal the Revenue of them would bride us to the most accurate and spiritual observation of Gods holy day our reward would make the Sabbath our delight and the greatness of the gain would inforce Mat. 16. 8. us to attempt this excellent piece of godliness But the Quando doctrinam Christi intra animum non perpendimus nec ad praxinreducere nitimur ex hoc oritur occaecatio cordis et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chemnit 1 Sam. 15. 29. world is fallen under the same rebukes as once the Disciples did O ye of little faith why reason you among your selves saith Christ why question you the publick faith of Heaven to the neglect of a duty so transcendently beneficial And in the conclusion of the whole Text we have the seal and confirmations of this Charter of blessings for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and let us be fully assured with the greatest certainty that the strength of Israel will not lye nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent CHAP. IX The Doctrinal observation comprised in the Text propounded and proved HAving thus taken in pieces the Text by a large and copious explication I shall now set it together again in a solemn and serious observation viz. Doctr. That God hath lockt up many rich blessings in sweet and sure promises for those who spiritually and conscientiously observe his holy day Thus the Inventory in the Text presents us with delights for the inward man with supplies for the outward Isa 56. 2. with a reserve of happiness for them both Such shall succeed in the Heritage of Jacob who keep holily the Sabbath Now to Jacob God was his protection here and his portion hereafter There is no Duty wears a richer Crown in the performance of it then the serious observation of the Sabbath for besides the pleasures riches and grace promised in the Text the Lord Jer. 17. 24 25 26. gives Jer. 17. 24 25 26. us additional promises the words recorded in the Text quoted are these And it shall come to pass if ye diligently hearken to me saith the Lord to bring in no burdens through the Gates of this City on the Sabbath day but hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein then shall there enter into the Nota hunc locum pro cultu Sabbati apud Judaeos et diei dominicae apud Christianos Alap gates of this City Kings and Princes sitting upon the Throne of David riding in Chariots and on Horses they and their Princes the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever and they shall come from the Cities of Judah and from the places about Jerusalem and from the Land of Benjamin and from the Plain and from the Mountanes and from the South bringing burnt Offerings and Sacrifices and Meat-offerings and Incense and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. See in this Scripture in these two verses a heap of rich promises more valuable then a pile of Diamonds a mountane of Spices or a rock set with Pearls The promises clustered and piled up in these verses they are considerable in a five-fold notion They are full of pomp and splendour Kings entering into the Gates of the City Where the Sabbath is duly observed Prosperity shall guild that Nation their Princes shall be Pace gloriâ et vebus prosperis erunt affluentes Currus et equi sunt gloria regum Gen. 25. 27. Mat. 6. 29. resplendent their Nobles flourish their Potentates shine in the dazling rayes of glory such a people shall not onely succeed in the heritage of Jacob who dwelt in Tents but in the flourish of Solomon who dwelt in Palaces The holy keeping of the Sabbath sheds beams of honour and renown upon a Nation These promises they are full of largeness and amplitude they are not personal so much as national A good observation of the Sabbath can diffuse mercies scatter them up and Quum nihil aut parum esset praesidiiâ—â— urbe tuendâ et conservando regni statu Jeremias promisit tanquam singulare dei benefiâ—ium Reges fore stabiles cum suis proceribus et extendit Propheta fructum hujus promissionis ad totum corpus non tantùm ad proceres sed ad plebem tanquam sociam hujus benedictionis et gratiae dei Regnum erectum erit et totus populus cognoscet se agere sub fide et tutelâ Dei Calvin down a Land So the Text makes
thus declares himself You must know Brethren that therefore it was appointed and commanded Christians by our Holy Fathers That in the Solemnities of the Saints and especially on the Lords dayes they should rest and be free from earthly businesses that so they might be more free and ready for the service of God when they have nothing to hinder them and might leave earthly cares that they might the more easily intend the will of God Chrysostome calls the abstinence from worldly affairs on the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Hom. 5. in Matt. Greg. of Tours Dies Sabbaths indeterminatè sumptus est dies requiei Alex. Hal. an unmoveable Law such a Law as nothing but Sacriledge and Irreligion can shake or suppress we must on this day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 abstain from all works saith that golden mouth'd Father And if we come to the midle times of the Church the Sabbath still is fenced with the same cautions that no work be done thereon Gregory of Tours hath an excellent saying Being the Sabbath was the day whereon God made the Light and after was the witness of our Saviours Resurrection therefore it ought diligently to be observed by every Christian no manner of publick work to be done upon it And the same Author tells us a story of a fearfull judgement of Lightning which befell the City of Limoges ob diei dominici injuriam for prophaning the Lords day And another Gregory of a far greater fame Greg. Mag. viz. Gregory the Great speaks the same language Viz. We ought to rest on the Lords day from earthly labours and altogether give our selves to prayer And if we slide down to our dayes and the dayes of reformation servile works on the Sabbath incur the same censure If we call in the Testimony of forraign Divines Doctor Ames that pious Ames Mod. Theol. p. 364. and learned Divine observes That all servile works were to be abstained from in other festivals among the Jewes Lev. 23. 7 8. Numb 28. 25. Multò magis exclusa fuerunt à Sabbatho Exod. 12. 16. Much more on the sacred Sabbath Other forraign Testimonies might be subpaena'd in to give witness in this Cause but the Reader shall not be cloyed with a multiplicity of Quotations Onely as forraigners So our own Divines give in their suffrage to the same truth Famous Hooper Bishop and Martyr thus declares himself To that end Bish Hooper did God sanctifie the Sabbath day that we being free from the travels of the World might consider his works and benefits with thanksgiving hear the word of God honour him and fear him c. And holy Babington most pathetically Even as Bish Babington on the fourth Commandment you will answer it before the face of God and his Angels at the sound of the last trumpet weight whether Carding and Dicing c. and such exercises be commanded of God for the Sabbath And thus this Godly Bishop restrains the Sabbath to its own viz. spiritual work Not onely the Church distributive but the Church collective condemns labouring on the Lords day Many famous Councils have decried and prohibited this uncomly practice The famous Council of Mascon gives a severe prohibition to secular employments on this holy day in these words Let no man meddle with litigious controversies Concil Moscon Concil Cartha Concil Chalons or works of Husbandry on the Lords day but exercise himself in Hymns and singing praises unto God being intent thereon hoth in mind and body and much more to the same purpose I could name the Council of Carthage the Council of Chalons and others but this truth shall stand no longer before humane Tribunal Nay the great taking argument of Reason the Idol and Diana of most men joynes in the Verdict for the guiltiness and condemnation of labours and working in our Callings on the Lords day Servile and secular labours are too pedantick and low for 2 Cor. 6. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost the dignity of a Sabbath as the Apostle speaks What communion between light and darkness and what between the drudgeries of the world and the affairs of Heaven The Sabbath must not be degraded by servilities and low employments it was appointed for more noble undertakings it was set apart for Divine contemplations heavenly actions spiritual ordinances supernatural converses between Christ and the Soul and not for the culinary sweats of an empty any world To work on the Sabbath what is it but to plece a Silken garment with Canvas Greenham formerly complained There are many who make the Lords day a packing day for earth and make it a custome to have their Servants follow their Callings but these men act as Heathens who never Greenham's Treatise on the Sabbath p. 215. knew any thing of the Creation of Heaven and Earth by God nor never heard any thing of the Redemption of man by Christ nor ever tasted any thing of the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost Reas 2 Worldly labours they tend nothing at all to the worship of God they are onely sinfull and unseasonable divertisements Can we be intent on the works of our Calling and yet at the same time our heads fill'd with divine meditations our hearts breaking with holy affections our tongues employed in sacred devotions surely this would speak us more then men and it is but a mear dream to fancy such Veniendum est ad coenam a peccatis surgendum in vale dicendum Christus fide est amplectendus nova vita inchoanda Chemn nimbleness and agility Worldly affairs will take the soul off from heavenly employment they are contraries in themselves The Shop-board and the Church cannot unite Drossie avocasions will call us off from spiritual devotions The guests who were invited to the Supper if they will mind their secular affairs they cannot come to the Supper they cannot mind their Oxen and their Farmes and the Supper too and therefore they must be excused from the Luke 14. 16 18 19. one Such men who work on the Lords day a holy man saith their hearts are possessed with covetousness their minds Doctor G. are filled with the affairs of the world and what shall God have if their hearts and their minds are alienated to another Aug. de temp Serm. 251. purpose Augustine saith We are commanded to rest upon the Lords day from earthly business and he gives us this reason That we might be the more fit for Gods service And so Calvin upon Deut. Cap. 5. Serm. 34. Calvin We ought to cease from those works which hinder the works of God Let us not stay from calling upon his Name or exercising our selves in his Holy Word Now secular affairs Concil Arelat 4. Cap. 16. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est omnis cessatio ab opere quies scil à motu labore Leid Prof. 218. Joh. 3. 8. Exod. 34. 6. Exod. 35. 2.
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
end or conclusion as Musculus well observes The Saints Eternal Rest shall not be disturbed with accidental afflictions Neither sorrow nor crying neither shall Luctus oritur ex morte amicorum et priâ—atione eorum quos charos habuimus non erit dolor quia mors non erit erepti nobis amici restituentur videndi salutandi c. there be any more pain Rev. 21. 4. In our heavenly rest we shall neither grieve for the loss of friends nor cry for the smart of troubles nor roar for anguish or pain but eternal ease and tranquillity shall sweeten our glorious Sabbath and we shall for ever be singing our requiems There shall be no spot and therefore no sorrow no guilt and therefore no grief affliction being the inseparable companion of sin and deviation The Saints Eternal Rest shall not be disturbed by persecuting afflictions Neither shall the Sun light upon them nor any heat Rev. 7. 16. By this heat we may truly understand Rev. 7. 16. the heat of persecution Mat. 13. 21. Satans rage and wicked mens fury may reach gracious but not glorified Saints The Church Militant but not the Church Triumphant Eph. 6. 16. Heb. 12. 22. Satan cannot throw his fiery darts into the New Jerusalem the City of the first born Here the Sun of persecution may arise and scorch the Saints but in glory there shall be no need of Sun for light Rev. 22. 5. much less for beams to burn but the Lord shall give them light which will be only the shining forth of eternal grace and favour the light of his own blessed countenance Our Eternal Rest shall not be disturbed by toyle or labour In the Earthly Paradise man was to dress the Garden Gen. 2. 15. and this he was to do in his state of innocency Luke 23. 43. 2 Cor. 12. 4. so that there was labour though no pain there was some kind of care though no corrosive But in Paradise above Rev. 2. 7. there shall be no minding of the fruits of the Earth but the Saints shall be alwayes tasting the joyes of Heaven What should we toyle with in our heavenly Sabbath with our hearts There is no corruption with our hands there is no want or capacity of addition with our enemies there is no temptation neither of fury from Satan or flattery from the world and what should we labour for To gain more there is no defect to be better there is a full and absolute perfection And therefore the rest of our present doth sweetly shadow forth the perfect rest of our future Sabbath Our Sabbath here resembles our Sabbath hereafter in its splendour and external beauty On our Christian Sabbath In Sabbato vestes mundiores induimus mutamus priores sic in Sabbato aeterno veterem hominem exuemâ—â— induemus novum dabitur sanctis ut se cooperiant bissino splendenti Chemnit we put on our best attire we array our outward man with our choycest and best apparel as well as adorn our inward man with holy and gracious dispositions The Sabbaths festival calls for our ornaments the deckings of our body we come to the assemblies of the Saints with the neatness and elegancy of our wear that both body and soul should be dressed to meet with their beloved nasty hearts and sordid cloaths if it may be prevented are both undecent on the Lords day When Joseph was to go into the presence of Pharaoh he changed his cloaths Gen. 41. 14. How much less doth neglect and despicableness become the presence of the Divine Majesty That which is civil and comly doth adorn holy worship and religion Mans body is Gods workmanship and is a piece of rare curiosity Psal 139. 16. The texture indeed and artifice of divine wisdome and power Non decuit sordidum prodire in regis conspectam civilitas decor pietatem et prudentiam ornat and therefore we must not eclipse the honour of this body by attiring it sordidly and more meanly then there is necessity when we come to worship God on his own day The best of our Garments sute the best of our dayes On the Subbath we meet our Bride-groome Mat. 18. 20. And Brides usually are dressed with the greatest care and exactness Fatui sunt Monachi aliique superstisiâ—sâ— qui in sorditie vestimentorum sanctimoniam ponunt Par. Indeed Pride of Apparel is a stain but decency is an Ornament to Gods blessed day nor must we put on our choicest attire to waste the time but to honour the day of a Sabbath Paraeus observes only foolish Monks place holiness in tattered and nasty garments but such rags are adequate and fit for such a mimical superstitious rout And so in our heavenly Sabbath we shall be cloathed Haec accipienda sunt de Beatorum munditie puritate laetitiâ perpetâ—â festivitate Ger. with brightness splendor and glory as with a garment Indeed it is a great question among Divines whether properly we shall be cloathed with rayment in our Eternal rest and it is by the most concluded the contrary Indeed there iâ— mention made of white rayment Rev. 4. 4. But this onely signifies purity as likewise of exact attire Rev. 19. 7. Scholasticè statuunt Beatos habituros vestes non quidem ex auro vel seriâ—o sed lùce But this only signifies perfection nay of fine linnen Rev. 19. 8. But this only signifies glory that kind of wear which becometh Kings Houses Mat. 11. 8. The Schoolmen observe that the blessed shall have garments but not of gold or silk but of light And indeed garments though never so rich would speak something of imperfection Garments Beati nudi erunt sed omni decore sulgebunt non plus de illis membris quà m nunc de gratiosis oculis erubescent Ansel are for adorning and that speaks want of Ornament they are for the repelling of the injuries of the weather which speaks an inferior condition not to speak of their primitive use which was to cover nakedness I might add garments are the veiles of modesty but glory is incapable of shame And therefore cloathing properly is not requisite in our heavenly Sabbath Adam in his innocency before the fall needed not raiment much less the Saints shall want it in a state of glory Indeed we shall put on our best apparrel in our Sabbath above but they shall be garments of innocency Rev. 7. 13. Sweet smelling odoriferous garments Psal 45. Cant. 4. 11. Rev. 19. 8. Exod. 28. 2. 8. Bright shining and illustrious garments Dan. 12. 3. Beautiful rare and comely garments Isa 52. 1. Garments of praise and glorious thanksgiving Isa 61. 3. Such garments the Saints shall wear in their future rest embroydered with all varieties of joy and happiness And indeed if there be so much ornament in a spirit of quietness and meekness 1. Chr. 16. 27. as the Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 3. 4. how ornamental must a spirit 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
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
and it had ears and chaps like the forementioned beast This monstrous sin is most justly punished with a monstrous birth to make good that of holy Job John 4. 8. Job 4. 8. Even as I have seen they who plough iniquity and sow wickedness reap the same God sometimes punisheth the prophaning of his day in the posterity of the offendor as may be seen in the ensuing stories On the Sabbath in the afternoon at Twickenham in Middlesex the people being much given to May-games they May the 14. 1626. assembled to take down the May-pole and as they were taking it down one of the Church-Wardens wives was with her young child in her arms within her own gate looking upon them But whilst she was looking on one of the greatest ropes failed and broke and the pole fell down upon the pale that parted the gate and the street and the upper end of the pole with the fall lapped over and struck the child on the head in it mothers arms and killed it Thus little children who knew not the sin yet must die for it Let this story be annexed A vain and wanton maid hired on the Lords day a fellow to go to the next town to fetch thence a minstrel that she and others might dance and be merry but she committing lewdness that night with one of her companions proved with child And at the time of its birth she murthers it and so was hanged for the murther confessing and mournfully acknowledging at the time of her death That the occasion of her great misery was her prophanation of the Lords day Thus this crimson sin oâ— Sabbath-breaking can cut off root and branch and pursue with ruine and shame the actors of it and all those who are entangled in it God overtakes those who prophane his blessed day oftentimes with sudden death and shoots no warning-piâ—ces to summon them to prepare for their departure out of this world to his own dâ—eadful and tremendous Tribunal as may be seen in these following stories A Tailor of Buntingford being a nimble and active man dwelling at the upper end of the town in a bravado would go to the other end to buy some meat before morning prayer but coming home with both his hands full in the midst of the street he fell down stark dead Dr. Teate was an eye-witness of his fall and burial Oh what swift destruction pursues this cursed sin A townsman of Watford going to gather Cherries on the Lords day fell from the tree and in the fall was battered and bruised insomuch that he never spake more but lay groaning in his bloud till the next day and then he dyed A company of prophane young men near Salisbury upon the Lords day in the morning went to Claringdon Park to cut down a May-pole and having loaden a Cart with the tree and themselves with the bitter fruits of sin they are severely punished by the hand of God for entring into the Mr. Clarks examples City of Salisbury through a place called Milners Barnes unawars the Cart turns and struck one of the Sabbath-breakers such a mortal blow that his brains flew out and there dyed on the place This story was attested by divers godly persons living in the City of Salisbury to a Reverend Minister who made enquiry about it One at Ham nigh Kingelone going on the Lords day to visit his grounds where finding some cattel grazing which were not his own and running to drive them out he fell down and dyed suddenly upon the place Thus Gods angry eye is seconded by his revenging hand he sees and strikes together and they who will not keep a day shall not live an hour God punisheth the prophanation of his Sabbath with painful and tormenting death as may be exemplified in these stories At Tidworth on the Lords day many were met in the Church-yard to play at foot-ball where one of this wicked company had his leg broken which by a secret judgement of the Lord so festered that it turned into a gangrene in despight of all means used and so in pain and terror he gave up the Ghost and dyed For the sin of Sabbath-breaking God embitters his very executions and the offendor must not only die but he must die upon the rack One gathering fruit on the Lords day fell from the tree and was so hurt That he lay in anguish and dreadful dolour all the week till Sabbath day and then he ended his miserable life Thus God puts Gall and Wormwood into the Cup of those who prophane his blessed day God sometimes stops those who prophane his Sabbath in their carier and proceeds of sin as is seen in this following story One Mr. Ameredith a Gentleman of Devonshire being recovered from a pain he had in his feet one of his friends said he was glad to see him so nimble the Gentleman replies he hoped he should not be frustrated of his expectation in dancing about the May-pole the next Sunday But behold the justice of God in his just punishments of such vain and sinful resolutions for the Lord presently smote him with such feebleness and faintness of heart ere he stirred from the place where he was and likewise with such a great and unusal dizziness in the head that he was forced to be led home and from thence to his last home before the Lords day shone upon him Thus the very intentions of acting this sin were dreadfully and strangely punished God punished this sin in the Embryo of it while it lay onely in the Womb of a resolution God punishes the most inconsiderable breaches of his holy day as may be observed in the ensuing story Two Brethren on the Lords day in the Forenoon came to an Uncle they had to dine with him they living in a Market-Town not far off after Dinner they took horse again but had not gone far but one of the horses fell down dead and these Brethren going back again to their Uncles house put the other horse into the Stable and within an hour or two that horse likewise died in the place Thus the insensible beast shall bear the burden of mans sin and Sabbath-prophanation Rom 8 22. shall be branded upon the bruit creatures We have known saith Ludovicus Pius the German Emperour Didicimus quesdam in hoc die opera ruralia exercentes fuâ—mine interemptos quosdam artuum contractione multatos quosdam visibili igne obsumptos subâ—to in cinerem resolutos oâ—cubuisse Proinde necesse est c. Lud. P. in one of his Declarations Some busied in works of husbandry on the Lords-day to have been slain with lightning some punished with contraction of Limbs some consumed with visible fire and on a sudden turned into ashes and so to have perished in a judicial way wherefore it is a necessary duty that in the first place Priests then Kings Princes and all faithful persons do most devoutly exhibit due observation and reverence unto this day We may
forth into the Suburbs and consumed wholly St. Brides Parish an ample and large parish without the walls and destroyed a great part of St. Sepulchers parish which parish alone before the fire might equalize if not exceed any one of divers Cities in the Nation So that if now we shall compute divine wrath we shall find that there was a whole parish consumed for every hour the fire lasted and more then 13000. houses were destroyed in the whole Thus speedy and severe were these inexorable flames Let us look upon the fierceness of this fire Stone was no Bulwark against it and-Brick was no rampart every thing was combustible before it and became fuel to gratifie its insatiable rage nay those pieces of Architecture which could have endured the bullet could not endure the flames This fire being like Time which devoures all before it Tempus edax rerum Let us look upon the triumphs of this fire it flamed maugre all opposition and defied the auxiliary help of hand or engine Mans sweat and toil only made its way could not suppress its force and houses when pluckt down made the flame to stoop but not to expire Let us look upon the destructiveness of this fire Drugs could not heal it nor spices sweeten it nor gold bribe it nor toil quench it nor the stateliness of any building Court it nor the usefulness of any structure stop or delay its mischievous procedures Silver melted by its heat as well as inferiour metals and the rubbish was a grave for gold as well as for lumber and the most pedantique chattels Let us look upon the duration of this fire It lasted full four dayes as if all the four Elements met in its rage or all the four Winds contributed to its violence or as if all the four quarters of the City should be equal and level in their lòss and impoverishment And as Lazarus lay dead John 11. 17. So London lay dying four dayes together And no fire in former Ages could run parallel with this If we consider the time when it begun It was first kindled on the blessed day of God and early in the morning too as Mark 16. 2 6. Christ rose from his grave Our fear fell on the Sabbath day Mat. 24. 20. That day which should have been filled with joyes and praises and heavenly celebrations was filled with tears and tremblings and unspeakable frights with Rev. 1. 10. bedewed cheeks amazed spirits with fainting hearts and fallen countenances This Sabbath was covered with black and was a countermand to that sweet prophecy Psal 118. 24. here was no rejoycing of hearts but wringing of hands the emblems of sorrow and confusion An unparallel'd fire it was If we consider the good things it consumed beyond all Arithmetick or Inventory So great was the loss caused by this fire that many ages cannot recruit what a few dayes subverted and destroyed And here we may take notice of the waste and the spoil that this fire made In some places of this fired City we Opes instabiles caducae sunt minimo vento belli flâ—mmâ iâ—â—u naufragii casu furti cujuslibet mutationis rerum humanarum statu pereunt et difflantur might see the richest wines licked up which now could neither refresh the heart of the sorrowful nor yet gratifie the excesses of the intemperate In other parts of the City we might discern the oils swimming up and down the streets and that promise mentioned Deut. 7. 13. fully inverted The Lord now cursed both our wine and our oil Now the oils made not our medicine but our misery not our faces to shine but our eyes to weep Our rich houshold stuff invaluable wares rare apparel stuffed coffers crammed bags were speedily and unavoidably turned into ashes How many Psal 104. 15. precious Drugs and Odoriferous spices made London a burnt sacrifice and went up in flames as so much incense but not to appease but evidence Gods wrath How many wholsome Medicines powerful Antidotes rich Cordials rare compounds of the Apothecary served only the fury of this fire not to heal but to heat it and to turn it into a more violent flame The riches of the ware-house and the braveries Sard mapalus victus in Regiam se recepit et extractâ incensâque pyrâ et sa et divitias suas in incendium mittit hoc solo imitâ—tus virum Justin of the shop the wealth of the coffer and the beauty of the house nay the accurateness of the structure did only supply these devouring flames And as Sardanapalus made up his pile and so burnt up himself and the pile together so a great part of Londons wealth was consumed as in one common pile and heap Here all forraign commodities met in the same waste nor were the Spanish wines too sweet nor the French linnens too fine nor the Flanders Arras too rich nor the Italian silks too soft nor the Persian Carpets too noble to be burned and consumed This tremendous fire did not only spoil London but rob the creation This noble City being the Mart where the riches of all Nations were braught But the losses of London in this fire are fitter for tears then description And what loss befell learning in this prodigious and destructive fire Learning it is the eye of the world the sublimation Ars non habet inimicum praeter ignorantem of reason the hand-maid of grace and knows no adversary but purblind ignorance and no wonder if Beauty be not caressed by a blind person This admired learning the glory of the old Philosophers the light and happiness of later times suffered an inexpressible loss in this stupendious fire Now learned Volumes which were brought forth by the acute pains and sharp travels of the Authors which cost so much expence of time and so much waste of strength only gratified the rage of this mercyless Element of fire The Libri curae sunt etiam Paulo ipsi insignissimo Apostolo et ideò afferri jubet et libros et membranas libros vetustiora volumina ab aliis conscripta membranas coâ—ices recentioâ—â—s à seipso conscriptos Alap stores of the diligent Stationer and the learned piles of the curious student were martyred in these flames In this flaming conquest fell many rare Authors in several Languages in all Arts and sciences many admirable Tracts and Treatises of Theology which is the soul of learning and animates all other literature In this rout fell the Fathers who led the Van the Schoolmen which were in the main body and the Modern Divines who brought up the Rear and all these were arrested by the flames without bail or main-prize The Popes pretence to the temporal and spiritual Sword could not rescue Pontifician writers nor the Protestant priviledge of having truth on their side could not prevail for saving their useful and learned Tracts from devouring burnings One argument of fire answered all popish cavils and Prâ—â—estant pleas
How many learned systems of Physick Tamdiu discendum est nobis quamdiu vivendum Solon Philosophy Law History Mathematicks besides many precious Manuscripts till then preserved like so many leaves of the Sybils were buâ—yed in the ruine of London The Polyglotte Bible though speaking in so many languages yet could be understood in noâ—â— nor be heard to obtain quarter from this fieâ—y slaughter Quis â—aliafando temperet à lachrymis Who can be called off from pouring out water as the Israelites at Mizpeh Nay the sacred Scriptures escaped 1 Sam 7. 6. not this ruinous desolation Bibles were burned though Mat. 5. 18. not an Iota of Gods word shall fall to the ground Surely Jesuitical rage and malice may be here easily discerned though behind the curtain and our bodies and Bibles were principally aimed at in this diabolical shot and not unlikely but he who plundred the Library at Heidelberg envyed and happily now hath martyred the Books at London But Rom. 2. 16. 2 Cor. 5. 10. these secrets shall be canvassed and judged in the day when we shall all appear before the tribunal of Jesus Christ But might it not here be expostulated as once Abraham Will Gen. 18. 23. the Lord destroy the righteous with the wicked If wanton Poems idle Romances prophane Comedies lying Legends heretical Treatises scandalous and pernicious Pamphlets if these shall make a Bone-fire yet must learned Commentaries practical Tracts select Sermons nay blessed and heavenly Bibles be exposed to the flames Surely this was the emblem of the extreamest wrath For what is the consequence of this Book martyrdom but the putting out of one of the eyes of Religion and to taste of the severity of that threat the sword saith the Prophet Zach. 11. 17. so we may say The fire hath been upon our right eye But in a word we have lost many precious treasures in holy and good books in this prodigious fire we have now four left to study 1. The Book of the Creatures 2. The Book of Providence 3. The Book of the Scriptures Psal 1. 2. 4. The Book of our own hearts And in these studies let us take up our delight and let them be our meditation day and night And that which is very remarkable The firing of London was not confined to the City but the sparks flew abroad and scorched the whole Nation Who had any considerable interest in England and none in London more or less As all Rivers run into the Sea and all the lines of the circumference meet in the Center so did the interests of the most eminent persons in the whole Nation meet in London who had not a share in this great ship which is now blown up If the Tenant lost his Goods the Landlord lost his House and they who had no immediate or personal interest yet had they not relations Parents Brethren Children c. engaged in the common loss The wound in the head makes the whole body sick and this is most true in our deplorable case Nay the interest of all Nations had some share in Londons loss the Factors suffered in the Merchants damage and forraign correspondents were not a little disadvantaged by the sufferings of their Traders and Employeés in this famous City the interests of all varieties in England were tyed together like the tails of Sampsons Foxes and firebrands were put into the midsts of these tails to burn up the Judg. 15. 4. fruits of Divine blessing and the labours of our selves and Progenitors This stroke of Londons fire was not only given to the head but to the heart of England and put an eclipse upon the glory of all interests Nor must the season of this terrible fire be omitted without a Selah a note of observation It was when we had few Friends at home and many Enemies abroad this fire was adding affliction to affliction at the same time there was Lam. 1. 2. blood and slaughter abroad when there was fire and flames at home And no doubt but flaming London filled the insultations Lam. 2. 13. of the Enemy they like Nero were playing upon their musical Instruments when poor London was posting Lam. 2. 2. to ruine London had too much pride before the fire and too little pity after it she might complain in the Lam 2. 16 25. Churches language Lam. 3. 14. She was a derision to the Inimici pleno oris gutturis victu devorant deglutire ecclesiam volunt Orig. people and their song all the day and go on in her moans thus accented by the Prophet Dan. 9. 12. God hath brought upon me a great evil for under the whole Heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem In this fire God struck with both hands with a forraign Sword and a domestick flame There was fear on our Coasts and fire in our Bowels our Wound was open and God pours not suppling Oyl or healing Balm but corroding Vinegar into it it was a sign our Physician was angry And what vigorous intercessions were made for London both before and in the burning What strong cries were put up that God would save dear London from Sword and fire In the very heat of this Judgment what wrestlings with God for the abatement of it and that in the midst of judgment Psal 101. 1. he would remember mercy but God seemed here to take up his old resolve Though Noah Daniel and Job were Ezek. 14 14. in the City they should onely deliver their own Souls by their Ezek. 14. 20. righteousness they should not quench a flame or save in house O tremendous Judgment Prayers could not divert the fire nor Tears quench it the flames were above our attempts and the Lord was against our intreaties he was Psal 80 4. now truly angry with our prayers Psal 80. 4. When the Lord was ready to strike Israel prayers prevailed and Moses held his hand Exod. 32. 14. And when the Angel was ready to strike Jerusalem prayers prevailed and God repents of the stroke 2 Sam. 24. 16 17. But no intercession can screen London from the consuming flames but Divine vengeance rides triumphantly in the midst of its spoyls and Victories The lifting up of hands could not prevent the falling down of houses but the Incense of Prayer was a vain and insignificant Oblation Isa 1. 13. This dreadful fire blasted London in all its varieties it seized upon its Ornaments 1. The Royal Exchange which was matter of admiration to all but especially to strangers How many Forraigners when they beheld this noble Structure were struck with amazement As the Disciples were in beholding the Temple Mat. 24. 1 2. In this famous Bourse persons met from all Exattempli fabrica ab Herode non ita prâ—dem nuro opere et mà ximis sumptibus exornata et omnium oculos in se câ—nvertebat et intuentium animos in adm rationem raptebat Ger. parts of the World Spanish
in But our comly places for our sacred assemblies are dropt into confusion and now there is no difference between the Pew and the Pulpit This dreadfull fire seized upon the Nurseries of our City 1. The Nurseries of Charity our Hospitals the Renowned Christ-Church fell at this strok the worthy benefaction of our English Josiah the Excellent Edward the sixth Here Deus est herus noster nos coloni ejus pauperes ager dei sunt semen eleemosyna quae fructificat usque ad Praemii messem Alap the Children of indigent Parents had cloaths for their backs bread for their bellies learning for their minds and carefull Governours undertook not onely a pious but a parental charge Rare was the contrivance and quick the spring of this eminent and stupendous piece of charity When poor Parents which laboured under the affliction of dry breasts could bring their Children to Christ-Church Hospital and then they were fully provided for and lay not only in the bosome of a careful Governour but oftentimes they fell into the lap of the Muses and many of them in their seasons changed an Hospital for an Vniversitie But this famous John 5 2. Hospital for the most part is consumed this pool of Bethesda is in a great measure dryed up and this Jonah's guord is withered which kept many from the scorching of extreme poverty Now we may take up that complaint of Jonah 4. 7. our Saviour The Foxes have holes and the Birds of the air have nests Mat. 8. 20. but the poor Hospital boyes have not where to lay their head for their usual nest is burnt 2. The Nurseries of Learning fell in these flames This fire Juliâ—nus Apostata Templa Gentilium aperuit Scholas Christianorum clausit et decâ—evit ut nulli Christianorum liceret aut ad â—â—tes et scienâ—â—â—â— se apâ—licarent aut Scholas literarias intrarent Pedr. de Mexia in Histor Imperial of London like the persecution of the Apostate Julian shut up our School doors it destroyed the famous Merchant Taylours School Pauls School Mercers Chappel and the School in Christ Church those Seminaries of earlier and rudimental learning By this fire there was a Cross went before our Alphabet Religion and Learning are as the Sun and the Moon the light and brightness of every place but now the Cages are broken and the young Birds are flown away The younger Schollers have lost their Schools and the elder their Books Schools are the Gardens where the tender Plants grow and from them the most profound Ministers who watch over our souls the best read Lawyers who defend our Estates the ablest Physicians who consult the weal of our bodies all receive their first rudiments The fairest Plants once grew in these Nurseries of polite and profitable learning and hence the deepest Schollars had their praeliminary knowledge But these usefull Structures are now rowled up in destruction these Vniversities initial are laid in ashes and now there is no difference between the Masters desk and the Schoolars Forme The breasts of the Muses which fed young and infantile Schollars are now made dry by this desolating judgement The fire seized upon the fences of the City Now the gates of Zion mourn Lam. 1. 4. And London feels the dint of Portae serviunt 1. Ad speciem et decorem 2. Ad munimen unde erunt altae et munitae 3. Ad Senatum et Judicia 4. Ad omnem populi panegyrin et conventum Babylons threat Jer. 51. 58. Her high places shall be burnt with fire God in this judgement spoyled the City not only of its beauty and ornament but of its strength and security we have not our Gates to keep him in or to keep an Enemy out Thus God will not have us safe but when we have made our selves naked by our sin he will keep us naked by his judgements God hath shattered our Gates in pieces which was the peculiar prerogative of a City London now in a great measure hath lost its Name God hath fired the lock of our strength and London cannot shake her self as at other times Judg. 16. 20. Lastly That which accents this judgement is the hand of the Lord was in it Not only mans head but Gods hand supposing the Jesuite and the Papist were in the Conspiracy Isa 10. 5. Mali sunt virga furoris dei quia deus iis non utitur nisi valdè iratus eorum manu et opere indignationem suam assequitur et peccata iniquorum ulciscitur yet they were the Rod of Gods anger or else who took away courage spirit life and activity from the Citizens at that time who melted their spirits like water that they were as a Dove without heart Hos 7. 11. Who caused the fire to burn against as well as with the wind Nay who determined the place where the fire began in the midst of Pitch Tar Oyl Hemp Powder and all provocations of flames and ruine Let us then take it for granted some perfidious Engineer of Rome hatcht the plot yet it could never have been fledged had not Gods indignation given wing unto it And besides all this we must attribute to God the Soveraignty and the dominion over the fire as well as other Elements and Creatures and here let us a little consider the influence God hath over the fire God he kindles the fire Job 15. 34. He blows up the first spark As wicked men are stubble to him Isa 5. 24. so the whole world is as thatch and he can when he pleaseth set it Gen. 7. 23. all in a flame He that drowned the world with water he can easily consume and destroy it by fire God inflames and increases the fire Psal 18. 8. He creates the first sparke and then blows it into a flame If Nebuchadnezzar Ezek. 21. 31. Ezek. 30. 8. Dan. 3 19. Ezek. 30 16. can heat the furnace seven times hotter then it was before how much more can the great Jehovah enrage the conflagration and turn the fire of a house or a hamlet into the fire of a City God terminates the fire And he who saith to the proud waves hitherto shall ye go and no further speaks the same Job 38. 11. Isa 29. 6. Ioel 1. 19. language to the devouring flames the most raging and triumphant fire shall not exceed its limited Commission God divideth the fire Psal 29. 7. That it shall burn this way and not another Gods pity can soften the beam and his wrath can sear the rafter that the fire shall not catch the Psal 29. 7. one but seize upon the other the fire only seizeth upon those precincts which God hath designed to the flames God makes the fire destructive Ezek. 15. 7. It shall burn and consume and there shall be no remedy the passion and heat of the fire is from the anger of the Lord. That the fire Ezek. 15 7. is merciless is because God is full of
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
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.