his Wife brought forth a child with a head just like a dog I could relate abundance of Stories beyond sea but we have enough here at home the Town of Stratford in Warwick shire as it is related in the Practice of Piety was Burnt three times upon this day And the Story of the Parris Garden 1683. they were gathered together this day to see the sport of the Beasts fighting together and the Scaffold fell down and eight were slain and abundance hurt So there are many more such Examples I remember my self above a dozen within this half year the Lord hath revealed his displeasure from heaven for the breach of this day Secondly Again the Lord hath sealed this in the conscience of his people For who are they that break this day but loose and vain and prophane men And who make conscience of it but those that most fear God those that God hath most crowned with Righteousnesse and sanctification they delight in this and Sanctifie it and count it Holy to the Lord and the more a man fears God the more careful he is of the keeping of this day and the more he is grieved to see it prophaned either by himself or others because he hath experience of the blessings of God upon the keeping of this day no man doth Sanctifie this day conscionably but he shall find a blessing therefore it is surely from the Lord. The First Vse is this Is the first day of the week the Sabbath by Divine Institution then here we see that we are to keep a whole day The Divel if he cannot make men keep no day then it is his policy to make them keep it by halves Oh say they Do we not keep the Sabbath Do we not come to Church and hear the word and Divine Service Morning and Evening Is not this to keep the Sabbath But if the Lord hath Instituted this day then certainly he hath Instituted a whole day It is madnesse and want of reason for a man to think the contrary Suppose I hire a man to labour with me for a day do I not make account he should work one whole day Suppose I hire a Servant for a year do I not mean an whole year though I put not in the word Whole yet I suppose he must dwell an whole year with me And if I hire a man for a day it is for an whole day so that in Grammatical sense when the Scripture saith Thou shalt Sanctifie the Sabbath day it is meant a whole day It is not in this as in other words any piece of a stone is stone but in things that signifie the whole it is not the same as a day a part of a day is not a day the least part of water is water or of fire is fire but a part of a day is not a day Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day and I was in the Spirit on the Lords day and they met together on the first day of the week it is a day therefore the meaning of the scripture is that it should be a whole day and it is so in reason and therefore we are to keep an whole day therefore we should not curtail the Lords day as the servants of Hanun did the garments of Davids servants You know what became of Ananias and Saphira that brought but part when they should have brought the whole they should have brought the whole price of their inheritance but they brought but part therefore the Lord smote them with death so when the Lord requires a whole day and we give him but a part we shall bring vengeance upon our own heads There are divers arguments for it First the weeke consists of seven dayes and he hath given six to us and reserves one day to himself now we wil grant that we have not part of six dayes but six whole dayes If you aske a man what do you work all day Why yea the Lord hath given us six dayes therefore six whole dayes Now by the same reason God must have an whole day if we take any part of the seventh day then we have more then six dayes which is contrary to the scripture Another reason is this God rested the seventh day now looke what time God rested that time we must sanctifie now God rested the seventh day all of it he left none of the creation to do upon the seventh day he had finished the creation in six dayes and rested all the seventh day therefore we must keep the whole day Thirdly because this is the nature of a Sabbath to be 24 houres not to be an artificiall day but to be a naturall day 24 houres together as you may see Lev. 23. 32. you shall keep the Sabbath from evening to evening then the dayes were reckoned from evening to evening from the creation though now under the gospel because Christ arose in the morning they are reckoned from morning to morning Fourthly another argument is this God never ordained dayes half-holy in his Church indeed the Church of Rome have halfe holy dayes as Saint Blacâ—es day which is to be kept in the fore noon so they have other dayes that are to be kept in the after-noone but in the fore-noone they may do what they list so heathens did as Ovid saith the former part of the day is holy the latter part of the day is not holy the Lord hath no such days as these but all holy dayes in scripture if God ever appointed a fast or new moon or feast of Tabernacles whatsoever holy day he did institute it was an whole day and not a part of a day therefore much more this solemn day Again the judgment of all Divines in all ages hath been concerning an whole day I could instance in the fathers as in Irenaeus who saith we are to continue in the Sabbath all the day long for the Lord hath required all the day to be kept holy unto him and the saints of God have alwayes kept an whole day so Saint Austin saith It is not enough that wee keep three or four houres of the day but that we rest the whole day And what rest not only to rest from our bodily labours for the beasts keep this Sabbath nor the rest of sport and pastime for that is the Sabbath of the golden calfe they ate and drink and rose up to play No but that thou mayest be vacant to God all the day in prayer and serving of him So in the Councell of Mexicon there was an assembly of ministers out of all nations in Christendome and they ordained a canon concerning the Lords day We ordain that people keep the whole Lords day holy and that they set themselves the whole day to pray to God and delight in God and heare his word and if a countreyman's servant breake this day his punishment shall be to be beaten with severe blowes ictubus gravioribus are the very words of the Councell and if
this doth aggravate our sins exceedingly if we give not this day to God Did not this aggravate the sin of Adam in eating of the forbidden fruit in that God gave him liberty to eat freely of all other trees in the garden and for bad him only the eating of that one Now what excuse could Adam have for not abstaining from that one So here God having given us divers dayes for the good of our bodies and for means and maintenance of the things of this life equity requires that we should not touch Gods day nor set our foot upon it nor turn our eyes away from it we ought to remember it as Joseph said in regard of his Mistris when she enticed him to folly mark how he answers the temptation My Master hath put all things into my hands that are in the house he hath with-held nothing from me but only thee his Wife and that is equal and reasonable how therefore shall I do this great wickedness and sin against God Gen. 3. 9. So should we say when we are tempted to break the Lords day we should say The Lord hath not imposed any day besides the Lord hath given us all the six dayes for our use how therefore shall I do this great wickednesse and sin against God with worldly thoughts and speeches and actions upon that day It stands with very good equity that it should be so 2. Secondly It stands with equity in regard of our Souls if our bodies which are the worser part have several dayes for their use then how much more should the soul have one day which is a thousand times more worth then the body You know what Christ saith What will it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul Matth. 16 26. Our souls are more worth then our bodies and we have more need to seek out for Holinesse and Grace for them and to be well provided for in regard of them then for any thing in this present world if we want meat we can but starve if we want cloaths we can but famish if we want outward things we can but temporally perish but if we want Grace and the Favour of God we perish for ever Now if there be six dayes allowed for the good of our bodies how much more should we be willing to have one day for the good of our souls specially considering what need we have thereof This Argument our Saviour Christ useth to prove the Sabbath Mark 2. 27. The Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath The Sabbath was made for man as meat was made for the body and a man cannot be without food no more can the soul be without the Sabbath so that we see there must be a solemn day set a part for Gods Worship and Service The Fifth Proposition is this That as there must be a set day for Gods Worship and Service so this day must be one of seven not one of eight or nine or five or four but one of seven and this though it be not naturally moral yet it is positively moral though it be not natural written in the heart of man as a man if he had no teaching his conscience would find out that he should not be idle and steal and commit murther the Conscience will grope out these Ordinances and Statutes of God and the Conscience will find out that there must be a set day for Gods Worship and Service the light of nature will find out that but that it must be one day of seven that it cannot find out but I say that it is the positive law of God that it must be one of seven Now Because it is not written in the heart of man but in the Commandment of God positively delivered to us and required of us I can give no other Reason for it but only the reason taken out of the Scripture there can be no reason taken from the judgment of man as other Lawes the very law of Reason will enforce them but there can be no other reason for this but only out of the Word of God The Lord hath commanded six dayes thou shalt labour and being his Will it must be performed for God might require six dayes for himself and leave us but one day God might have ordained it so but God intending we should live by the sweat of our brows the Lord was pleased to allow us six dayes now he giving us six dayes doth reserve unto himself one of seven Secondly Another Reason is this As the Lord hath commanded this seventh day so he saith it is his day The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God Now then if the seventh day be the Sabbath of the Lord our God then we must not divert any of the hours or any part of the day away when our minds run into the world we must curbe them and remember that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God Thirdly Another Reason is That our Cattel and Servants and Children may rest as well as our selves they are to labour six dayes and one of seven they are to rest Another Reason is Because he hath sanctified it therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it Now then if the Lord hath sanctified the seventh day and appointed it if he hath set it a part for that purpose for spiritual employments and not to be filled up with any thing else we are guilty of Sacriledge if we do not give him this as Levit. 27. 28. the Lord saith Whatsoever is devoted unto the Lord that is most holy unto him now God saith he hath devoted the seventh day to himself therefore we are to keep it holy Nebuchadnezzar a very heathen when he knew that the Vessels came out of the Temple of the Lord he would not employ them to a common use Dan. 1. 2. He put them into the house of his god which was the holiest place he had Fifthly This is necessary because we are apt to be worldly and carnal and non-resident from Prayer and from the Word and serious humbling of our selves before God if we be never so little taken off how suddenly do our minds cleave unto the world and grow vain and unfit and distempered Now if God should not once in seven dayes have a day to take us off from the world as six dayes are employed in worldly affairs so if there were not a seventh day to take us off there would be no hoe with us therefore there must be a whole day to accustom us and habituate us to the Service of God otherwise we should drown our selves in the world The Sixth Proposition is this That as it must be one of seven so it is not indifferent which of the seven dayes we keep holy but it must be that day whereupon God rested therefore it hath the name of a Sabbath Sabbath is nothing but rest The reason of the name is
many wives So suppose they did not sanctifie the seventh day though we can see no proof that they did not yet this is enough That God did sanctifie it before any Ceremony was Again Though we do not read that they practised this yet the Scripture doth intimate to us that they did it The Second Argument to prove this is out of Exod. 16. 23. before the Law was delivered upon Mount Sinai before the Commandment was spoken from Horeb yet you may see that the Sabbath is spoken of and the Lord doth finde fault with Israel for not keeping of it which intimateth it was a day they well knew and the Lord saith afterwards to Moses How long will ye refuse to keep my Laws and Statutes As in the 28. vers the Lord there speaks of a Sabbath as a day well known unto them that it was commanded to be sanctified by them and this was before the delivering of the Ceremonial Law therefore it is not a ceremonial Law but a positive Law equipollent with the moral Law A Third Reason is Because it was written by the finger of God in Tabels of stone and put into the Ark Exod. 31. 18. and Deut. 10. 12. the Commandments were written upon Two tables of stone and by the finger of God Now all Divines in all ages agree upon this that the writing of this Commandment in the Two tables of stone is an evident Argument of the morality of it For as a Reverend Divine saith Not to think the Fourth Commandment to be moral is the way to all Atheisme for if one should say the Fourth Commandment is not moral but ceremonial another might step up the next year and say the Second and the Fifth is not So that whereas the Law is written by the finger of God in tables of stone if we root it out of the tables of stone we shall root it out of the heart of man therefore the writing of it in the tables of stone is an evident Argument of the morality of it to all ages A Fourth Argument is this The Lord doth urge this Commandment more then any other Commandment in the Decalogue so that a man may question the First or Second or any of the Ten as well as this for first we know that God hath made this Commandment larger then any of the rest Secondly hee hath made it stronger and urged it with more arguments then any of the rest 3. he hath fixed a memento remember before it As who should say Be carefull of this and take heed of forgetting it take heed of those that shall teach you the contrary that this Commandment is not morall 4. It is negatively delivered and affirmatively the other delivered only one way either affirmatively only as the Fifth Honour thy Father and Mother or else negatively only as all the rest There is never a Commandment delivered both negatively and affirmatively but only the Fourth as Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy there it is delivered affirmatively And afterwards it is delivered negatively In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter c. The Lord hath delivered it both wayes noting that this Commandment is equall and equipollent with the other and the Lord did this in infinite wisdome because he had not written this Commandment in the heart of man by the light of nature therefore the Lord did urge it more with Arguments that what was wanting in the light of nature might be supplyed by the pressing of Arguments 5. Another Argument is Because if this be not morall then we have not Ten morall Commandments there are but Nine now this is false for the Scripture tels us that the Commandments are Ten as Deut. 10. 4. it is not an Ecclesiasticall thing but the Lord hath said it as you may see there And he wrote upon the Tables according to the first writing the Ten Commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the Mount out of the midst of the fire The Lord spake Ten Commandments now if the Fourth Commandment be not morall there be not ten Commandments And you may as well deny the Articles of the Faith and the Petitions of the Lords Prayer as the ten Commandments The Sixth Argument is this Christ tels us plainely that it is a morall Commandment Matth. 24. 20. Pray saith he that your flight be not in the winter nor on the Sabbath day Our Saviour Christ here prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem which was forty yeares after Christs Ascension when all Ceremonies were ceased as Paul had proclaimed before the destruction of Jerusalem That if any man would be circumcised Christ should profit him nothing Galat. 5. 2. That is if he would keep the Ceremonial Law Now Christ bids those that should live forty years after the Ceremonies were ceased I would have you have a care of the Sabbath and delight in hearing of the word of God and meditating upon it and so forth and if any occasion come that you fall into the hands of your enemies pray that your flight be not in the Winter nor on the Sabbath day as who should say If it be in the Winter that will do hurt and be troublesome to your bodies and so if you fly upon the Sabbath day that will trouble your consciences if you regard Gods commandment and the good of your own consciences if you regard or fear Gods name it will grieve you to fly on the Sabbath day whereby you shall be deprived of the Congregation of Gods Saints therefore pray that your flight be not upon that day Intimating that it was Morall for if it had been Ceremoniall he would not have wished them to pray that it might not be upon that day Now whereas our Saviour doth so often condemn the Pharisees in regard of their strictnesse of the Sabbath it is not as if he did disallow the keeping of it but they were foolishly precise they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel they crowded out and regarded not Mercy and Judgment they would not pull a poor beast out of a pit or relieve a poor man upon the Sabbath day they found fault that a man should be helped from deaths door by our Saviour upon the Sabbath this was their folly Now our Saviour did not condemn strict keeping of the Sabbath but he did condemn their Superstition for ever since Adams time it was lawful to do works of Mercy on the Sabbath it was Lawful to pull a beast out of the pit and do works of Mercy and Necessity upon the Sabbath day And whereas the Law saith The Jews might not kindle a fire on the Sabbath day if we were in their case we might not neither for they were in the Wildernesse in an hot Countrey where they needed no Fire and having their Food provided to their hands And being in an hot Countrey if they kindled a Fire it was out of wantonnesse but