of his Resurrection when his power was most illustrious The Resurrection of Christ was unparallel'd Others indeed were raised from the grave So Lazarus John 12. 1. So Dorcas Acts 9. 40. And women received their dead raised to life again Heb. 11. 35. But all these retired to their Christus post quam resurrexit talem vitam amplius non vivit immò mori ampliùs non pâ—ssit Alap graves again their renewed life was only a short apparition which was quickly smoothered a little Candle set up after it had been put out which burned for a while and spent it self till it went out again But our Saviour as the Apostle speaks Rom. 6. 9. Being raised from the dead dyeth no more This Sun being risen sets no more nay it is no more inveloped in a Cloud but shines in a higher sphear in a more sublime Orb to eternity Christs Resurrection was not damped with a revocation nor did he fly back again to his empty tomb there to shelter himself till the general Resurrection Nay let us run a little higher the Resurrection of Christ was that glorious work above all others which the Scriptures mention to the Fathers honour Rom. Gal. 1. 1. 1. 4. Acts 2. 24 32. Acts 3. 26. Acts 4. 10. Acts 10. 40. This work it was by which Jesus Christ is made both Lord and Christ and is exalted to sit at the right hand of his Father This act of Resurrection advanced him to the throne who before was stigmatized with the Cross and changed him from a prisoner to be a Prince and Saviour Acts 3. 31. Acts 10. 41. Nay to be the Prince of life Acts 3. 15. And nothing but glory and honour are the Attendants of his Throne To Acts 2. 32. publish this glorious act Christ principally did choose his Disciples Acts 10. 41. Acts 2. 32. Christs Resurrection Acts 2. 25. was the Motto of the Apostles embassie and the emphasis of their Errand the grand argument by which they both 1 Cor. 15. 14. made and comforted believers For indeed the receiving of 1 Pet. 1. 3. our Christ again after the certainty of his death and the solemnity of his burial is the spring of our joy the fountain of 1 Pet. 3. 21. our comfort the stay of our hearts and the assurance of our Hymnus Angelicus ad nativitatem Christi accipiatur 1. Tanquam gratulatio gratiarum Actio z. Tanquam Angelorum votum quod Angeli optant hominibus 3. Tanquam doctrina quae vera est pax scil in Christo solo Theod. Mat. 4. 2. justification This blessed work of Christs rising put the last hand to the work of our Redemption and so fasten'd it that it cannot unravel The Birth of Christ was accompanied with the joy of Angels Luke 2. 13. His life was embroidered with wonders and miracles for every word our Jesus spake was not less than a wonder John 7. 46. His death was imbittered with sorrows and perplexities and sighs were the escutcheons about his Hearse but his Resurrection was the new Birth of the World and the sparkling spirits of a Believers consolation The wise-men of the East rejoyced at his Star Mat. 2. 10. when it did proclaim the Birth of Christ But Believers rejoyce at himself when he himself proclaims his Resurrection The Star retires at the Suns rising And now shall the Resurrection of Christ be unparallel'd for glory and shall it not so far influence us as to make us exemplary for sanctity upon its weekly commemoration the Lords day Shall every thing concur to the honour of Christs resurrection and shall onely our loosness and vanity on the day of it cast a damp and put an ecclipse upon it When we prophane the Sabbath what do we but draw a veil before the glory of Christs resurrection and practically deny that he is sprung from the Grave What loves can those Christians have to or what esteems for their dear Jesus who when his resurrection-day gave new life to the world fresh joy to the Disciples and new wonders to Mankind can yet pollute and defile the Sabbath its constant Memorial Sabbath-breakers are worse than Sadduces they onely deny Acts 23. 8. our Resurrection but these vertually deny Christs for if Christ be risen why do they not adore the rising Sun by Eph. 5. 11. walking in the light on his own blessed day But why do they attempt to ecclipse this glorious day by their sins and deeds of darkness CHAP. LIV. Some miscellanious prescriptions for the better discharge of our duty towards the LORDS DAY THe Concernments of the Soul can be never sufficiently pressed because of the weightiness of the affair and Mat. 16. 26. nothing more conduceth to the advantage of the Soul then the holy observation of Gods blessed day Soul-welfare In die dominico mens nostra in piis exercitiis tota defigenda est Cartw. much depends upon a due and careful observance of it Spiritual Sabbaths very much draw the Soul to its center formal Sabbaths do much retard the Soul in its progress and Sabbaths wasted in prophaneness do very much harden the Soul in sin and vanity and drop apace into the Vials of Gods wrath jogging Vengeance to awaken it which seems to slumber It may easily fall under our observation that one who is slight on the Sabbath will be profuse on the week that sin which is hatched in the Sabbath will be fledg'd in the week And therefore where there is so much danger to lose the way it must needs be safe to take good direction and to set up more lights for our better guidance and this is the further designe of what followes in this Chapter Let love be the spring of all our duties upon the Sabbath-day Prescript 1. Love is a sweet but a forcible principle it works not as a Sword but as a Sun-beam it draws but not drives it Excessus mentis est intentio ad superna Ansel constrains but not compels and it wins by perswasion and not coaction 2 Cor. 5. 14. Fear storms the Town but Love takes it by composition a heart full of love will run through the Datur sancta insania quando mente excedimus deo Bern. duties of a Sabbath as the Sun through the several Signs of the Zodiack with swiftness and delight Nor doth it understand any toyl or weariness Our Sabbath should not be our task but our delight Isa 58. 13. and then we should be on the wing and flye to the Sanctuary as the Doves to the Windows And indeed what is there in a Sabbath which doth not court our love The Lord of it He is our Beloved Mat. 2. 28. Our love our dove our undefiled Cant. 5. 2. Cant. 6. 9. He doth or ought to lie as a bundle of myrrh between our breasts Cant. 1. 13. The Son of man who is the sum of our desires is the Lord of the Sabbath Love of
duty is properly the task of the understanding The Tongue works in prayer the Ear bends in hearing the Hand is stretcht out in Sacramentall receiving the Eye toyls in reading the Heart is or ought Jam. 5. 16. Mat. 11. 15. to be employed in every sacred service but the Mind is taken up in meditating on sublime and supernatural objects The Eagles of the thoughts fly upon this Carcass to allude Mat. 24. 28. to our Saviour Meditation fructifies duty without which the truths of God will not stay with us The heart is naturally hard the memory slippery and all lost without meditation every drop Mark 8. 17. runs out again and the whole web of divine service is unravell'd The Apostle compares the word to rain Heb. 6. 7. Heb. 6. 7. Now it is meditation onely which saves this rain water that it sheds not and run in waste This necessary duty of meditation it fastens truth upon the heart and is like the selvedge which keeps the cloath from ravelling It is the engraving of letters in Gold or Marble which will endure without this piece of holy duty all the preaching of the Cor est sons sapientiae Word is but writing in sand or pouring water into a sieve Reading and hearing without meditation is like weak physick which will not work The Word cannot be in the heart Deut. 6. 6. unless it be wrought in by holy meditation this is the hammer which drives the nail to the head Ordinances without this duty are but spiritual pageantries a pleasant landskip which when we have viewed we presently forget Jam. 1. 23. Knowledge without meditation is like the glaring of a Sun-beam upon a wave it rushoth into the thoughts and is gone There is very much in this duty to fix truth upon us Carnal mens thoughts they are usually flight and trivial they know things but they are loath to let their thoughts dwell upon them Musing makes the fire burn Men musing and meditating Psal 39. â— on the Word are much affected and then they are ready to say now we taste the sweets of our beloved we lie Psal 119. 93. under the force and power of the Word Meditation it sweetens our life here below The contemplative Christian lives in the Suburbs of Heaven How did meditation cast a flavour upon Davids soul and fill it with Psal 63. 5. aromatick and perfuming impressions Geographers are at a loss to find the place where Paradise was now to stop their curiosities it may be replyed it may be found in the fragrant tract of heavenly meditation When we meditate upon the sweetness of scriptural promises upon workings of Christs heart towards believers upon the watchfulness of Gods eye over his people upon the all sufficiency of our Saviours merit for 1 Cor. 2. 9. life and salvation upon the recompence of reward so great that 2 Cor. 12. 1. mans thoughts cannot grasp it how do these and such Rev. 1. 10. like things raise us to St. Pauls rapture or St John's extasie which were the initials of Glory to those heavenly Apostles Quid est quòd futura laetitia in cor non ascendit quiâ— sons est et ascensum nesâ—it Bern. It may be averred for certain that the neglect of this duty brings a searcity of comfort upon our lives which otherwise might meet with a plenteous harvest and a constant revenue of joy and satisfaction CHAP. XV. What we must meditate upon on the morning of the Lords day HAving thus drawn the portraicture and given a description of this duty of meditation with the blessed appendices which do attend it as its seasons advantages c. I now come to present suitable objects for this duty to prey upon and so to raise a little stock for meditation to trade with And as to the Queries viz. What we must meditate on in the spring and morning of the Sabbath It is answered Dies vitae nostrae est dies parasceves in quo laboramus et cum Christo patimur succedit dies quietis in sepulchro quem sequitur dies resurrectionis ad vitam Ger. whatsoever is spiritual any thing of a spiritual nature we may meditate on the promises of God the loves of Christ the strictness of the Law the sweetness of the Gospel on the filthiness of Sin on the vanity of the Creature on the excellency of Grace we may muse and fix our thoughts upon the estate of our souls and of the fewness of them who shall be saved so likewise upon Death or Judgement As holy David sometimes he meditated on the works of God sometimes on the Word of God and sometimes on God himself But I shall onely open a double fountaine to feed our meditations Psal 143. 5. Psal 119. 148. Psal 63. 6. on the morning of the Sabbath Viz. 1. Let us meditate on the God of the Sabbath 2. On the Sabbath of God These two superlative objects are like mount Hor and mount Nebo where Moses and Aaron took their prospects Numb 33. 38. Deut. 32. 49. before they were conveighed to the mountane of Spices we Cant. 8. 14. will handle them distinctly And 1. Let us meditate on the God of the Sabbath Indeed this Divine and admirable object takes up the views and contemplations of holy Angels and the inhabitants of glory Mat. 18. 10. who spend eternity in beholding God face to face But yet some glances we may have of this soveraign being by holy Cor. 13. 12. and spiritual meditation CHAP. XVI God is most glorious in his essence and nature LEt us meditate on the essence of God He is an infinite being the fulness of Heaven the mirrour of Angels Exod. 15. 11. Creasti nos domine propter te et irrequietum est cor nostrum donec perveniat ad te August the delight of Saints so glorious in himself that he is onely perfectly known by himself God is an Ocean of goodness a fountaine of life a spring of grace a father of mercies mans center to which he must come before he find quietation or rest for his soul He is so infinitely glorious that he must be described by removing from him what he is not rather then by asserting what he is The eyes of Angels are too weak to behold him and must make use of a vail alittle to remit De deo dicisacilius potest quid non sit quam quid sit Rivet the beams of his glory Our knowledge of him is onely borrowed from his own discoveries Let us then meditate on The everlastingness of his nature He is the antient of dayes He was before time was fledged and had either wing Dan. 7. 9 22. Psal 102. 28 Psal 29. 9. Rev. 4. 8. Rom. 16. 26. Isa 57. 15. Psal 90. 2 or feather His duration admits neither of beginning or ending God is the first and eternal being He did shine in perfections before the
Now then a sacred work is no sleepy work Our enjoyment of God in Ordinances is a day of salvation 2 Cor. 6. 2. It is no night to sleep in It is against reason to 2 Cor. 6. 2. sleep with the Sun shining in our faces In Gospel Ordinances the Sun of righteousness shines in the face of the soul it doth shed its warming and its winning beams upon us The Gospel is called bright John 3. 19. which is to rouse us not to rock us asleep It was once a sharp expostulation of our Saviour What could ye not watch with me Mat. 26. 40. one hour The same query may be put to every sleepy hearer 2. In Ordinances the work we are employed in is opus animae the souls work Will the prisoner fall asleep when he is begging his pardon What are we doing in prayer but suing out our pardons and making up our peace with our offended God The Heir will not fall asleep while he is Evangelium est sublustre quidcam et praegustus clarae lucis sive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. gloriae divinae Quae revelabitur in coelis Chrys hearing the Will read in which he is highly concerned the discoveries of the Gospel are the Fathers will concerning his Children and when we meet in Ordinances we are hearing this will and is that a time of sleep and drowsiness In Ordinances the case of our souls is agitated heaven and eternity are proposed life and death are set before us the silver trumpet of the Gospel sounds and is that a time of sloth and oscitancy Ordinances are the way to life the means of grace not onely the radicall moisture to preserve spiritual life but the very first means to beget it and shall we sleep in Ordinances When the wind blows right shall the mariner betake himself to his bed or to his tackle to drown himself in sloath or to hoise sail and trace the floating Idem sermo aliis est propiâ—iatio ad vitam aliis condemnatio ad mortem quae diversitas non verbo sed nostrae incredulitati debetur fic admonitiones exhortationes doctrinae castigationes quibâ—â— delinquentes ad recipiscentiam vocantur contemptores et impaenitentes judicantur in die ultimo Muse waves Every opportunity of grace is a good wind for heaven and shall we sleep away that seasonable and precious gale How then shall we finish our voyage to eternity We hear Proclamations with great attention Every Sermon is Christs Proclamation to proclaim pardon to all penitent sinners who will come in and lay down the weapons of sin and lust and submit themselves to the Scepter and Obedience of Jesus Christ and shall we sleep in hearing this royal Proclamation It is very observable what awakening and heart-penetrating expressions the Prisoner uses at the bar and there is nothing unobserved by him but with much greediness and attention he hearkens to the Evidence of the Witnesses to the Verdict of the Jury to the Sentence of the Judge and no wonder it is for his life Now the word we hear it is that which shall judge us at the great day John 12. 48. By it our eternal estate shall be disposed either to life or death that blessed word shall cast or crown us and shall we sleep away this word Shall it not then condemn us for mutes and so to be pressed to eternal death Our life our peace our souls are all concerned in the entertainment of this word and we sleep and dream it away surely greater frenzy cannot befall the Children of men Sleeping in Ordinances is a great affront to the richest priviledge we enjoy on this side heaven The time of worship is the souls Term time a few choyce minutes to gain glory in and shall we sleep away these golden filings of time these sweet Veniente Christo mors vigebat et regrâ—bat sed Christus ejus vigorem et regnâ—m sustulit et destruxit Alap opportunities of the soul when Christ is wooing us to court us to a Crown Did we ever understand the true value of Ordinances 1. Ordinances they are the purchases and price of Christs blood that we have a Gospel to hear divine truth to entertain this is the Revenue of Christs death The Apostle tells us Christ brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel 2 Tim. 1. 10. Christ by dying brought this life Christ by descending into the dark grave brought this immortality to light And the Gospel is the full declaration of these glorious atchievements And Christ by his Heb. 10. 20. blood hath opened a new and living way for prayer to the throne of grace Heb. 10. 20. And shall a priviledge purchased with blood be slept away We will not throw away Diamonds fetcht from far with care and hazzard nor cast away Rings left us as tokens of love by endeared friends why should we sleep away opportunities not purchased with treasure but tears not with wealth but blood nay the best blood which ever ran in the veins of humane nature 2. Ordinances are the Benjamins mess which are given to few in the world some corners onely of the earth are guilded and guided by this light Hath God indulged us with these distinguishing opportunities and must they pass away from us in a dream This very ingratitude is not so much a trespass as a prodigy Shall Christ select us out to feast with Cant. 2. 4. Esth 7. 1. him in his hanqueting house as once the King selected Haman to feast with him with the Queen and shall we sleep at the table when we should feast upon Gospel dainties shall we drowsily throw away those seasons of love nay the best love which few in the world are honoured with 3. In Ordinances we have the offers of the sweetest grace Quia filius dei est vivus cum Patre et sp sancto deus et quia secundum humanam naturam ad patrem abiit et ad dextram patris est evectus et omnem in coelo et in terrâ potestatem accepit indeut verus deus verus homo preces credentium exaudit ac 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 orationem ex fide in Christum prosectam non exaudiri Ger. Prayer hath the key of the treasury door John 14. 14. where our comforts are banked up In hearing we have the gracious offers of Christ and in him of life and happiness and shall all these offers these paramount tenders of love be slept away Shall we shut our eyes shut our hands shut our souls against all these rich revenues freely proffered in Gospel dispensations Beasts by natures instinct will not sleep at the provender nor at their manger 4. Ordinances they are precious but transcient priviledges As we sometimes pass upon the water and view a stately structure but we quickly lose the sight of it our prospect is upon the speed so yet a little while and we shall pray no more hear no more enjoy
part of our inheritance above whereof our Sabbath is but a sign and pledge When we come to glory we shall cease from all sweat and painfulness and as there shall be no tears lying upon our cheeks so there shall be no sweat bedewing our brows Our toile shall be turned into triumph our pains into pleasure our industry into rest our hard labours into soft loves and glorious rewards and therefore Lazarus lies in Abrahams hosome a place not of sweat but repose and all this our present Sabbath is but a harbinger of So the working upon a Sabbath doth not onely destroy the Observation of it which is to be Rev. 14. 13. The holy rest of the Sabbath is the twilight and dawning of heaven Shep. Treatise of the Sabbath p. 79. Luke 16. 23. Sabbathum nostrum perpetuum illum caelestem Sabbatismum consequentem et perfectum figurat ubi fideles à propriis malisque operibus sint in aeternum feriantes Leid Prof. with no manner of work but the very significancy of it Working on this day eclipses the Sabbath as it is our earnest of a better rest and undervalues this noble end of a Sabbath finis sublimior as some call it to represent the perpetual sabbatisme the Saints shall enjoy in a better place and state Let us consider the equitableness of mans resting from worldly labours on the Lords day Shall Man that frail piece of dust be like a Salamander alwayes in the fire of toyle and painfulness Shall there be no time for him to interferiate and feast with God and consecrate himself to Exod. 31. 17. holy observances God was refreshed on the Sabbath as was hinted before and shall trembling flesh have no leisure Omnis actio deâ— nobis pietatis et virtutis regula est Basil to pause and walk with Christ in his ordinances Doth devout sequestration to pious and holy exercises no way belong to him Or shall God in the fourth Commandment that grand Charter of the Sabbath take care for the repose Quia durabile non est quod requie earet otium quoddam sanctum deus praecepit ut insatiabilem hominum cupiditatem frae naret qui tam seipsos quam servos suos nimiis laboribus exhauriunt modò lucrum faciunt Gualt of the Oxe and the Ass the beasts that perish as the Psalmist speaks Psal 49. 20. and no care of Man that sublime piece in the Creation which is little lower then the Angels Psal 8. 5. To conclude this large Argumentation The Labourer who defiles the Sabbath with his sweat opposeth divine command universal authority and the dictates of sound Reason which are the cords of a man But now for works of absolute necessity which could neither be done before the Sabbath nor deferred till after the case is far otherwise here to labour is not our crime but our duty To breath a vein to one sick of a Plurifie is the duty of a Sabbath so to quench our neighbours house on fire is our proper work on the Lords day to stop inundations Psal 8. 5. of waters which else would break forth to the prejudice Hos 11. 4. of the adjacent parts this is not to defile but to honour Acts 20. 10. a â—abbath Paul on the Sabbath day uses means to recover Luke 13. 15. Lutichus who was dead for the present The Jewes Mat. 12. 5. in their greatest strictness were not so bound up as not to do works of necessity They might fight against their enemies on a Sabbath take and destroy the Cities of their adversaries Jericho is encompassed seven dayes and taken the seventh Josh 6. 20. Excipiantur illa opera quae singulari aliquâ necessitate nobis imponantur quo in numero illa non sunt habendâ— quae homines sibimetipsis quasi necessari fingunt Ames probably the Sabbath Josh 6. 20. which was no blemish to Israels Victory but an inhancement to the praise of Israels God Works of necessity they do sweeten they do not soyle a Sabbath they shew the love of God they do not break the law of God It no wayes hinders my Soul from being put in joynt upon the Lords day because my leg is put in joynt which was broken by a sad and afflictive providence And works of necessity are secured from Sabbath-prophanation by a four-fold warrant and dispensation Our Saviours holy example signs this dispensation He wrought his cures on the Sabbath for the most part Mat. 12. Luke 6. 10. Mark 3. 5. Mat. 2. 28. 13. and many other places The wound should not bleed to death because our Saviour would not act the Physician on this holy day Christ who was the Lord of the Sabbath would oftentimes cause an Ordinance to wait on a Cure and many times the Preacher must yield to the Physician Our dear Lord well knew a dying Patient was not fit to be a devout Worshipper The necessities of the Disciples being gratified were no blemish to the holiness of the Sabbath upon that day they Mat. 12. 1. Christus sumptâ occasione ex discipulorum facto viz. spicarum fricatione et comessione factum illud defendit Lysit pluckt the eares of Corn. They carried bodies of clay about them which must be shored up or their souls would fly out at the cracks of them If the glass be broken the cordial will be spilt Our bodies must be indulged or our souls will be uncapable of services or ordinances Faint bodies are listless to lively duties The very plea's of Reason have warranted a dispensation Our Saviour urges three rare Arguments to indulge cases of necessity The first Argument is a majori from the stronger and more forcible inference which argument we find Luke 13. Luk. 13. 15. Verbis exprimi non potest quantum homo qui ad imaginem dei conditus est et pro quo unigenitus dei filius proprium suum sanguinem fudit quem denique spiritus sanctus per verbum Evangelii ad communionem filiorum dei vocavit et sanctificavit irrationelibus animalibus praestat Chem. 15. where our Saviour urges most sweetly and wisely that if we can secure and take care of the beast on the Sabbath man should not in his necessity be neglected on that holy day Man is not onely more worth then many Sparrows Mat. 10. 31. but then many Oxen or Asses or more valuable Cattel If the beast must be pluckt out of the ditch on a Sabbath shall the plucking of a man from the jawes of death on that day be a polution of it This Argument the great Master of the Assemblies is pleased to use to indemnifie works of necessity The second Argument is a meliori from the better which we find Mark 3. 4. where our Saviour sharply expostulates Mark 3. 4. Finis est praestantior medie salus hominis est finis proptâ—r quem Sabbathum est institutum Par. and queries whether it be lawful or no to do good on
holy day Indeed the Sabbath is not to be rushed upon Man must not break in upon a Sabbath as the horse rusheth into the battel as Jeremiah speaks without premeditation and previous consideration Jer. 8. 6. Ignatius calls the Sabbath the Queen of dayes and Queens have their trains going before them there must be Ignat ad Magnes a train of duties precedeing the holy Sabbath On the Saturday Quomodo Maria Virgo inter omnes mulieres principatum tenet ita inter caeteros dies haec soleâ—nis dies Hier. let us prepare for the Lords day We know tuned Instruments play the sweetest before they are tuned they jar and make a harth sound Our hearts are these Instruments which must beforehand be tuned by several duties or or they will jar and be discomposed upon the Sabbath Physick is prepared before it is taken and our hearts must be prepared before we take and enjoy the Ordinances of a Sabbath There is a preparing dress before we go to any feast and must not the soul be drest before the festival of the Sabbath that great banqueting of the inward man There is a dawning light before the rising Sun some glimering duties must be the harbingers of the approaching Sabbath Indeed matters should be so ordered every day so as to prepare for this day As our whole life should be a preparing for death so the whole week should be a preparing for the Sabbath But as this precious day doth more approach so preparatory work must more increase Holy Nehemiah shut the Gates of the Neh. 13. 19. City viz. Jerusalem when it began to be dark the In veteri testamento ut impedimenta omnia celebrationis hujus diei iâ— tempore auferrentur Fideles pridiè Sabbati divino mandato omâ—ia sua quantum poterant ad eum firem componebant Wal. evening before the Sabbath least the night time should be prophaned by bearing burdens in it and he did this least the men of Tyre should occasion the Jews to break the Sabbath day by bringing in wares upon that night This holy mans care would not suffer any to cast dirt upon the portal or entrance of the Sabbath he very well knew there must be some time spent in trimming the soul to meet its Bridegroom on his own holy day A due preparation for this blessed Sabbath lies more especially under a five-fold injunction Of necessity It is necessary we should take some time to compose our spirits for the duties of the following Sabbath Our thoughts in the week how are they loose and carelesly dishevelled some time there must be to bind them up together and put them into order The Lord in the fourth Exod. 20. 8. Commandment enjoynes us to remember the Sabbath and to Id ipsum quâ—que in hoc praecepto certo râ—spectu mâ—rale est scil uâ— diebus antecedentibus omnia nostra quantum fieri potest ita iâ—stituamus ut per eorum negligen tiam à sanctificatione hujus diei non impediamur remember the Sabbath it is before hand to mind and manage matters that concern the Sabbath-sanctification that when it comes it may be holily kept for every duty on the Lords day there must be a due preparation for Prayer for Hearing for Sacraments c. Now if we must prepare for single duties when they lye more asunder sure we must prepare for the Sabbath when such duties are linked together And this is more considerable if we take notice we are not only to be in the duty but in the spirit in the prompt powerfull and precise transaction of every service on the Lords day And besides all this doth not the Lord upon this day come in comfortable visits to the souls of his people and must not they prepare for his presence It was the opinion of some Rev. 1. 10. that Christs personal coming to Judgement will be on the Sabbath day This is most sure that Christs spiritual coming Lactant. Lib. 7. Cap. 1. August de Temp. Serm. 154. in mercy is for the most part on the day of the Sabbath and shall there then be no preparation When a great man is to come to our houses how are all our Rooms dressed up When a great God is to come to our hearts shall not we prepare Neh. 13. 22. and dress our hearts for his entertainment Of Equity The Ministers they prepare for the Sabbath-good of Gods people and shall not the people of the Lord prepare for their own Faithfull Ministers before the Sabbath do not onely prepare matter to speak but they prepare their hearts to speak the matter Bernard in a Sermon thus breaks out to his people To prepare you meat my heart all Bern. in Fest omn. Sanct. Serm. 1. this night hath been seething within me and in my meditations I have been inflamed as with fire And is it not equal and most rational that Christians should meet their Ministers in holy preparation and plow up their fallow ground to receive Jer. 4. 3. that immortal seed which Gods holy Seeds-men are ready to cast into it Calvin complains of some Christians in his 1 Pet. 1. 23. time who no otherwise regarded the Sabbath then thereon to Calv in Deut. 8. Serm. 34. attend their worldly affairs the which they reserved to themselves that day as if they had no other day to deliberate for the whole week to come Now shall men on the Sabbath prepare for the week and shall not we in the week prepare for the Sabbath Is Mammon more to be minded then God Of advantage 1. The duties of the Sabbath will the better and freer come off If we be sedulous in holy preparation we shall then with more dexterity agility and facility transact the several parts of Gods service One cause why we are often unactive in duty and drive heavily is because we did not before-hand oyle our wheels inure our selves we did not the day before labour with God by Prayer and with our own hearts by care and industry Oftentimes a Christian is straightned stiff and bound up in the services of a Sabbath and knows not how to go on in holy duties and all this arises from neglect of holy preparation The heart hath not been dealt withall to supple it for more voluntary and chearfull performances Preparatory work would wind up the clock of the soul that it would go and strike it would pray hear contemplate and act any Sabbath service with far greater pleasantness and consonancy 2. If we prepare the mercies of the Sabbath will the larger and fuller come in according to our preparations will be our Gen. 44. 1. participations According to the number and measure of sacks the sons of Jacob prepared and carried with them out Ex lege mandato dei 23 Luc. 54. in omnibus Christianis conventibus requiritur ne debito suo fructu haec pietatis publicae exercitia priventur ut
of sin cannot over-rule the spot of sin cannot so unbeautifie him as to render him repudiate in the sight of his beloved sin may bring the Saint to the bar of conscience to be arraigned their but never to the bar of God to be condemned 1 Joh. 29. Jer. 31. 34. Heb. 9. 14. Isa 43. 25. Isa 44. 22. 1 Joh. 1. 9. there Christ hath satisfied for the sins of his people and divine justice will not require a double satisfaction The Apostle saith 1 Joh. 1. 9. If we confess our sins much more if Christ die for them God is just to forgive our sins Christ hath redeemed us from the killing power of death The Saints death is his alteration not his execution his Job 14. 14. Phil. 1. 23. Mors non est interitus sed introitus change but not his curse His priviledge and not his penalty Our death by the death of Christ is become a desireable thing the bitterness of Christs death hath put a sweetness and loveliness upon ours When the Saints die they only go to their Fathers house Death sees them safe home it Joh. 14 2 unites the body to the Earth their Mother and the soul to Tempus diversionis est teâ—â— reversionis et regressionis ad Deuâ— Tertul. the Lord their Father who in the Resurrection will conjoyn these dissever'd pieces of Man and glorify them both for ever Tertullian calls the time of dying the time of return to God after the years of absence here below Cyprian calls death the time of a Saints assumption and conveyance to his Augustinus in 1 Tim. 4 7. Exultantis magis sunt verba ad mortâ—â— praesentiam et ad corâ—â—â—m â—â— helantis quà m timentis et seipsum cruciantis Aug. Kingdom And it is recorded when the same holy Martyr heard of a sentence of death passed upon him by the Emperour Valerian he answered I thank God who is pleased to loosen the chains of my body that at last I may truly be at liberty Christs death indeed hath sweetned and perfumed ours the spices which were thrown into Christs grave are now taken up and thrown into ours Life to a believer is but an unkind Wall which parteth the Saint from his Beloved death throwes down this Wall and brings him into Luc. 24. 1. Joh. 19. 40. the same Heaven with Jesus Christ Death convey'd Lazarus from the comfortless gate of the rich man to the refreshing Luc. 16. 23. Heb. 9. 27. bosom of blessed because believing Abraham Christ hath redeemed us from the sting though not from the stroak of death from its hurt though not from its hold A Saint Rev. 14 13. 1 Thes 4. 14 16. now dies in Christ and though he die in his bed yet he sleeps in Jesus Death is only his ceasing to be any longer in a valley of tears and a wilderness of snares But a little farther to dilate on this point The Attributes resplendent in the work of Redemption In the great work of our Redemption all the Divine Attributes manifest themselves in their greatest lustre and splendor in this beautiful Orb they shine the brightest The Justice of God that if the sinner did not die the Son must One must die if the sinner be not cast into hell the Saviour must go out of his Fathers bosom Here was infinite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delectatus est Deus voluit et ejus beneplacito profectus est quòd infirmitatibus subjecerit filium suâ—m eumque afflictionibus contuderit Alioquin nihil actum esset si existimaremus illud accidisse vel nolente deo vel otiosè spectante Riv. justice here justice had a Selah put upon it That Text of Scripture is most remarkable in Isa 53. 10. It pleased the Father to bruise him he hath put him to grief c. God took a delight in bruising his own Son because in those bruises justice rid triumphant Innocency must bleed that the sinner may escape and that justice may be displayed Lycurgus once made a Law that Adultery should be punished with the loss of both the eyes his own Son being found guilty that justice might not be waved he puts out one of his Sons eyes and one of his own So the wages of sin is death Rom. 6. 23. That Law is unalterable now sin is committed there is an accursed thing in the Camp Iosh 7. 11. Either the sinner or the Saviour must die If the Principal cannot pay the Debt the surety must Divine Justice is so inexorable that the sinner escaping the Cup of Divine Rom. 6. 23. Heb. 7. 22. wrath must be put into the hand of an only Son Thus justice is eminent in the work of Mans Redemption The faithfulness of God God from eternity made a compact with his Son the Copy of which is laid up in that Ad successum mortis de quod attinet Rectè exprimitur videndi et saturandi verbis quibus omni moda fruitio rei conquisitae laboribus significatur et accipitur pro foelici et ubere sanctarum animarum messe Christus ad mortis suae tempus esuriebat grandi charitatis aestu c. Joh. 17. 4 5 6. Text Isa 53. 10 11. And one iota of this agreement must not pass away The substance of this compact is comprised in this main Article If Christ will make his soul an offering for sin he shall see the travel of his soul and be satisfied If Christ will die his Spouse his Church shall live his Cross shall make way for their Crown Now in the fulness of time Gal. 4. 4. Christ attempts and accomplisheth this stupendous undertaking he becomes incarnate and dies for his people and so his people live by his death the Father altogether comporting with this glorious agreement and not only gives his Son to redeem sinners Ioh. 3. 16. but likewises gives redeemed sinners to his Son Ioh. 17. 4 5 6. And thus Divine faithfulness gloriously breaks forth in the blessed work of our Redemption Every Article is made good and Christ meets with no disappointment not a soul miscarries for which he laid down a price and a ransom The Love of God did most transcendently appear in the work of Mâ—ns Redempâ—ion There was rich love on the Fathers part Ioh. 3. 16. Unspeakable bowels did the Father express to part with a Son a holy Son the Son of the bosom the Son from Eternity the very Character of his Father Heb. 1. 3. An only Son a begotten Son Psal 2. 7. to die Gen. 22. 12. for sinners Though Isaac was on the Altar yet he was rescued but our dear Jesus was on the Cross and he must die Christ begs his life of the Father Mat. 26. 39. But Non solum confiâ—mat Christus se discipulos suos dilexisse sed dilectionis suae magnitudinem exaggerat quod summo amorisgradu eos dilexerit Ger. the Father will not hear Great love was manifested in the
Son too He takes upon him the rags of our flesh and they are farther torn by sorrows and afflictions and at last dipt in bloud How Christ glosses upon his own love Joh. 15. 13. and sheweth us that death was the most sincere testimony and the most superlative Character of entire love his wounds dropt more love than bloud his arms spread upon the Cross were stretched out for amicable and Cùm inimici essemus reconcilâ—ati sumus deo per sanguinem filii sui et Christus mortuus esâ— pro â—â—â—cis et si nondum qâ—iâ—â—m amantibuâ— sed tamâ—n jam amatis Bern. amiable embraces There was a threefold Inscription upon the Cross of Christ I will only a little invert it let it be this The wisdom of the Father the love of the Son and the Salvation of sinners Christs heart was full of love Joh. 10. 15. He lays down his life it is not forced from him Ioh. 10. 18. he deposits it as the pawn of his affection Christ dies for his friends saith Bernard happily not yet loving him yet already beloved by him The mercy of God did most illustriously shine in the glorious work of Mans Redemption The Apostle Rom. 5. 10. Rom. 5. 8. assures us that Christ died to reconcile enemies to his Father and what would have been the issue of enemies how bitter Coristus ex charitate suâ et Patris pro â—ohn injustis et malefactoribus peccatoribusque mori voluit Christus ergo longe omnem omnium hominum charitatem superat et transcendit Alap in Rom. Ezek. 16. 6. their portion how full of wrath their Cup how sure their slaughter Luke 19. 27. But Christ comes to die for us in this low and lost condition Ezek. 16. 6. when we were ready to receive the reward of enemies when we were falling by the hand of Justice as so many enemies How sweet and seasonable was this pity and compassion we had all the Characters of misery upon us which are fastned upon the Church of Laodicea Rev. 3. 17. we were blind miserable poor and naked both helpless and hopeless then Christ redeemed this dying Captive crew by the ransom of his bloud and as the price of his death Our Messiah must die for us when nothing else can help us and his wounds must bleed to stanch ours his bloud must be our balsam his Corrosives our Cordials his fresh wounds must cure our festred ones Heart-breaking pity and mercy brings our beloved to the slaughter when mankind was ready to drop into the flames Alapide observes There was more charity Gen. 42. 25. â—en 44. 1. and pity in one Christ dying for sinners then there can be bowels in all mankind Joseph in pity preserves his Family from famine Christ in softer bowels preserves his people from raine The wisdom of God was greatly seen in the work of mans Redemption in this work there was apparent 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 3. 9 10. the manifold wisdom of God as the Apostle speaks all the embroydery and artifices of rare contrivance and wisdom Omnes illae â—ultae variae eâ—pâ—gnantes inter sâ—râ—tiones quibus usâ—s â—â—t deus in redimendis electâ—s Christo conjungendis omnes haerationes ab aeterno definitae fuerunt in divino consilio admirabilem vere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fuisse aeternam Dei sapientiam Zanch. in Eph. Zanchy observes that many seeming contrarietiâ—s and contradictions were reconciled in the Redemption of mankind Jew and Gentile dissevered in Name Nature and Priviledge are copulated in the same Gospel with the joyful news of our Redemption by Christ God and Man at an infinite distance united in the same person of Christ who is our blessed Redeemer Justice and Mercy in a mutual antipathy one to the other meet and kiss each other in the same work of our Redemption What an efflux of wisdom was this that the Son of God should die to free the Sons of men that so the Sons of men should become the Sons of God what rare contrivance of divine wisdom That justice should be executed and yet mercy no way impaired that justice should over-take the surety but mercy should be displayed to the sinner that our pardons should be written in anothers bloud our favours should lie in anothers smiles our persons clothed with anothers robe of spotless righteousness Rom 13. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 19 20 Heb. 7. 25. Rev. 1. 5. Christus jam vivit non sibi sed nobis nostram causam agens in conspectu dei that our Prayers should be heard upon the account of anothers intercession Heb. 7. 25. That our souls should be cleansed in the bath of anothers bleeding Rev. 1. 5. All these methods of interwoven wisdom may be both our wonder and meditation Christ is the wisdom of his Father 1 Cor. 1. 24. not only as he was his Son and his Character but as he was our All-sufficient Redeemer The power of God did eminently appear in the work of our Redemption Love brought Christ to the grave but power Heb 9. 14. brought him out of the grave Justice laid the weight of sin upon Christ but power sustained him under that burden Simplicius est res postulat de ipsâ Christi divinitate intelligere hunc phrasm aeternum scil spiritum quae nisi aeternam fragantiam humanae Christi victimae ospirasset utique satisfactoria pro mundi peccatis aeternaeque justitiae meritoria esse non poâ—â—isset Par. which would have crushed men and Angels into nothing It was nothing but Almighty power which supported Christ and carryed him effectually and gloriously through the work of mans Redemption which must necessarily be exerted to sustain Christ under those effusions and chataracts of divine wrath which were poured out upon him and to raise him from that grave where he lay breathless for an appointed time What but omnipotency could break the bonds of death and petarre the Sepulchre to make way for the Resurrection of a glorious Redeemer CHAP. XXI God exceedingly to be praised in his works of Grace and Glory LEt us meditate on the morning of Gods holy day upon the works of grace Now divine grace may be taken in a Rom. 8. 28. Rom. 9. 11. Eph. 1. 11. Eph. 3. 11. double sense First Either for grace the cause which is nothing but the favour and good-will of the Lord his rich grace and mercy folded up in purposes of eternal love and therefore the Apostle 2 Tim. 1. 9. joyns Gods purpose and his grace together Gratia ab aeterno data in decreto scil Dei praedestinatione et haec donandi voluntas absoluta est et irrevocabilis Alap to evidence his gracious purposes of favour which he had from eternity towards his dear Saints These methods of grace are various and admirable The rejection of the Jews and the calling in of the Gentiles the different dispensations used in the Church before the Law under the
souls benighted by darkness by the appearing of the true morning star Rev. 22. 16. are lead out of this darkness into his marvellous light 1 Pet. 2. 9. and being fettered before are loosned and enfranchised into the glorious liberty of the Sons 1 Pet. 2. 9. Rom. 8. 21. of God Rom. 8. 21. The rich and rare benefit which we commemorate on our Sabbath is Christs rising from the grave when he conquered death pinnion'd Satan locked Necte natus est Christus nocte captus et sole obtenebrato mortuus est sed illucescent die resurrexit ut ostenderet quòd gloriosâ suâ resurrectione c. up the gates of Hell perfumed the grave and became the powerfull cause and great exemplar of our resurrection I cannot let slip the Elegance of a learned man who takes notice That Christ was born in the night apprehended in the night died when the Sun was darkned and wrapt up in Cypress and Sables but rose at day break when the light began to appear to intimate that the dark shadows of our sins were put to flight by his glorious resurrection and eternal light of righteousness did compass us as with a garment The Jewish Sabbath and the Christian agree in this That holiness to the Lord is written upon the breast-plate of Exod. 28. 36. both both must be inviolably and spiritually observed to God Purity and sanctification is the beauty and comliness the end and answer of bâ—â—h There was a time when the Jews were so exact in the observation of the Sabbath Ex Rabbinis refertur quod in die Sabbati non licet pomum admovere carboni aut vinum super sinapi pulverem mittere aut allium quod edere velit decorticare c. Munster that they screwed up the pag â—oo high and the string broke into superstition their own Raâ—bins aver that to put an Apple to the fire to take a Flea which was skipping from one part of the body to another to peele Garlick to eat to climb a tree to break down a bough c. was reputed amongst them altogether unlawfull nay such minute trifles which the learned man gravely asserts are more foolish then the toyes and jests of Sicily Indeed these over-zealous Rabbins thinking to make the Sabbath more specious made it more ridiculous and put black spots upon it instead of making it more beautifull yet thus much we may learn that the over-plus of Ceremonies implied their exact observation and their niceness and superstition did strongly imply there was much religious devotion as the guilding of the frame speaks the choiceness of the picture However we may confidently conclude that the Jewish Sabbath was encompassed with a hedge of thorns that neither secular labour nor sensual pleasure nor sinfull practice was to break in to prophane Ter paenam capitalem infligendam violatoribus Sabbatum exprimit deus per Mosen Riv. it And God was very zealous of his Sabbath that it might not be polluted when the transgressour was to be punished with no less penalty then death Exod. 31. 14 15. And which is observable not riot but work on the Sabbath not lust but sweat was punishable with the loss of life Nay God did see the least wrinkles in the face of the Sabbath Nec est quod quis de suppliciâ— gravitate conqueri debuerit quia contemptus dei nunquam potest nimis gravi supplicio vindicari Riv. and took notice of the least defilements if it was but the gathering of a few sticks Num. 15. 32. And this example was in terrorem for greater dread and terrour to others And Rivet animadverts That eternal death in the Scripture mentioned is threatned to obstinate sinners But to slide down to Gospel times Holiness doth not less become the Christian Sabbath we may hear by the thunder and see by the lightning of Gods judgements upon Sabbath breakers how jealous God is still of his own day the change of the day from the seventh to the first opens no gap to looseness gives no dispensation to sin or sensuality The day is changed but the bonds are not broken our tie is as strong as that of the Jews to the strict and holy observation of Gods blessed Sabbath If the Sabbath was to be kept holy in the times of the Law much more in Gospel-times The fourth Commandment binds us as forcibly as them and it is our Obstinatis autem ut in omnibus peccatis eternam mortem fuisse denunciatam non inficias imus Riv. glasse as well as their directory our chain as well as their bond it is still Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day Exod. 20. 8. whether it be the seventh day or the first Gospel light may make sin more shameful not more venial more hateful and not more excusable And if Sabbath-pollution was matter of complaint heretofore in legal times Ezek. Ezek. 20. 13. 20. 13. To act the same sin under Gospel-grace is a more prodigious crime Purity certainly is the decency of the Lords day The love of Christ in rising for our justification Rom. 8. 34. should in no wise make us more wanton but Rom. 8. 34. more obedient And as the Jewish Sabbath agrees with the Christian in many particulars so in several things we may discern a difference First They differ in this There was a multitude of appendices and impositions which did clog the Jewish Sabbath Exod. 16. 22 27. Exod. 35. 3. Numb 15. 32. Exod. 16. 29. Acts 1. 12. all which are taken off from the Christian to make the yoak more easie and lightsome to the bearer The Jews on their Sabbath were not to gather Manna nor to pick a few sticks or to kindle a fire nay they were not to stir out of their places And in after times they were only indulged to travel a Sabbath days journy which some learned Expositors Buxtorf lib. 3. p. 100. confine to a mile and others stretch it out only to two Thus God was pleased to pinnion and streighten the Jews Sabbath with a multitude of burdensome circumstances and Communio nostra est cum Patre Filie ejus In Patre in Christo sunt omnia vera Caelestia bona Zanch. a failure in any one of them was very prejudicial to the offendor But Christ rising from the dead did not only loosen the bonds of the grave but of the Sabbath too Those circumstances which did load the Sabbath of the Jews are now like knots plained off like darker shades which are now blown away And the Lords day is freed from those fruitless ceremonies and is wholly to be spent in sweet communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ John 1. John 1. 1 3. 1. 3. Our Christian Sabbath hath not its fetters on but holy liberty is its character and Shibboleth Our stages are not laid how far we shall go on the Sabbath if pure Ordinances are our errand Holy Christians went many
men defile not enjoy an Ordinance John 17. 21. They are spots not guests in that holy Feast It is onely the spiritual man is fit for converse with God Princes converse not with Beggars nor God with sinners Christ in his incarnation tabernacled with the Sons of men John 1. 14. But in his communion he converses with the Sons of God he gives his people the meeting Mat. 18. 20. The Sun shines upon the stars and they reflect its light with a glittering rebound Christ when he arose again gave not the meeting to the world but to his Disciples Luke 24. 36. And so in his blessed fellowship he visits not the formalist but the Saint Christ in his ordinances influences his living Eph. 1. 22 2â— members not glass eyes the speculative Atheist not painted faces the varnished hypocrite not ' wooden legs with the silken stocking upon them the spruce and self-deceiving moralist who with Agag are ready to depose the bitterness 1 Sam. 15 32. of death is over We must be on the Lords day in grace actual On the Sabbath the soul is to be set on work in acting several graces and some seem to be of a different nature As faith and fear heavenliness of mind and humbleness of heart repentings for sin and relyings on God tremblings of the soul and restings on Christ a real longing for promised mercies and yet a quiet staying for those mercies promise by hope expecting good things to come and yet by faith possessing those things at present This embroydery of grace must be on the heart of Lam. 3. 26 a Saint upon the Sabbath One of the Ancients compares Greg. Mor. l. 19. sect 30. holy men upon Earth unto those holy Angels of Heaven Rev. 4. 8. that are said to be full of eyes within and without In the week the Saints must use their eyes without Psal 77. 6. looking after their necessary callings and their occasions in Hos 6. 3. the world but upon the Sabbath they more solemnly set Ex cognitione dei omnia utriusque tabulae officia tanquam ex fonte promanant et eatenus placent quatenus illam praelucentem habent Riv. on work their eyes within looking inward upon the estate of their souls knowledge must open its eyes and repentance must drop its tears every grace must be in ure and exercise Indeed the Sabbath is the proper season for the acting of our several graces working as Bees in a Hive making honey of every ordinance Sorrow and confession must begin faith and prayer must carry on and holy thanksgiving must conclude the duties of a Sabbath Our hearing the Word must be introduced by holy appetite and desire we must long to be in the Courts of God It must be entertained Psal 84. 2. Luke 8. 1. Heb. 4. 2. Mat. 13. 19. by faith and affection it must be improved by zeal and an holy conversation our lives must be comments on Gods sacred truths and so all other ordinances of the Sabbath must be the sphears for our graces to move in as stars in their Phil. 1. 27. Orbs and this is to be in the spirit on the Lords day Let us study to be in the comforts of the spirit upon the Lords day The joyes of the Holy Ghost are the musick of heaven below the hearts rapture paradise in the bosome the sweet earnest of future blessedness they are the ecchoes of assurance and the reverberations of a good God and a good Conscience Spiritual comforts hath many springs but all most pleasing and complacential They are the comforts of God 2 Cor. 1. 3. who is a fountain above us The Father of mercies leaves a seed of joy in the soul They are the comforts of the Holy Ghost Acts 9. 31. who is a blessed spring within us John 7. 37. shedding those grateful streams of peace and joy which drench the soul with unspeakable delight They are the comforts of the Scriptures Rom. 15. 4. which are as sweet Gardens without us every promise being Consolatio omnis nititur promissionibus gratuitâ— Dav. as a sweet rose every truth being as a flower of the Sun and every threatning being as wholesome worm-wood in this salvifical garden They are the comforts of the Saints Col. 4. 11. which are as lights about us for our more comfortable passages to Sancti nos solantur invisendo condolendo necessitatibus nostris administrando et miserrimas nostras conditiones sublevando Dav. our rest and happiness Communion of Saints being not only an article of our Creed but an helper of our joy in our travels to Canaan But to return to the comforts of the spirit Gods people may find soul-refreshing comforts in Christ the Lord upon his own day and the measure of their comforts may mount their souls so high as to make them like Moses upon Mount Pisgah viewing Canaan the heavenly Canaan flowing with that which is better then milk and honey the soul of a sincere Isa 51. 12. 2 Cor. 1. 4. Luke 2. 29. Isa 56. 7. Christian may swim in a sea of sweet delight he whose heart hath been as a boat which could not be got up all the week because of low water yet may be brought up in an high spring tide of spiritual comfort upon the Lords day being ready to say with Old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke 2. 29. the soul may be so Psal 94. 19. Isa 57. 18. filled with joy upon Gods holy day in his house of prayer that he may be ambitious of his eternal Requiem in the bosome of Christ Nay upon the Lords day a believer being in the spirit the worst evils may amplifie his best comforts to think of sin remitted hell removed death vanquished devil Gen. 42. 38. conquered all these make for him that he may go down with Jud. 14. 14. joy and triumph to the grave Out of every eater comes meat the upper and the neither springs run all into the Josh 15. 19. same stream of comfort to the Saints Every thing on a Sabbath is an occasion of spiritual joy to them If they look up Isa 29. 19. to God they will joy in the Lord Rom. 5. 11. If they consider Isa 35. 2. the season of a Sabbath that is the time nay the term Isa 52. 9. time for the soul which is matter of joy nay as the joy of harvest Isa 9. 3. If they glance at the word they receive the word with joy Luke 8. 13. If they act their graces this is with joy unspeakable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1. 8. It was a brave speech of a Martyr to his cruel tormentors Work your will upon my weak body as for my soul it is in heaven already and over that Caesar hath no power So it may be the case of a Christian upon a Sabbath he may be as in heaven beginning his triumphal hallelujahs It is no
2. 10. 3. It was pressed with the same if not greater severity with the rest 4. It was laid up in the same Ark with the other Nine Quod pronunciatum Apostolus Christianis ad quod scribit applicat cujus veritas constare nequit nisi illud sub N. T. de quorti Praecepti transgressione locum habet alioquin enâ—m si in hoc praecepto nihil morale sit qui illud non servarit is non esset reus violatae ligis sed potius legis ejus rectus observator et Christianae libertatis rectus assertor Wal. and therefore we may fairly conclude that the same casualty which befalls the fourth most inevitably overtake the other nine Commandments This likewise is demonstrated by our Saviours assertion Mat. 22. 37. in his pressing love to God and our Neighbour as the sum and scope of the law which sum is moral and perpetual and includes the fourth as well as the other Commandments for how can we love God and not keep his day And we may likewise take notice that the total sum alwayes takes in every particular figure The learned Walaeus very well observes from that text of the Apostle James Jam. 2. 10. For whosoever shall keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all I say this learned man observes this injunction of the Apostle James could carry no weight with it and bear no stress if the keeping of the Sabbath by force of the fourth Commandment as well as the observing of the other nine Commandments was not necessary for then Christians might break this Commandment and be innocent nay rather be observers of Gods will and faithfull assertors of Christian liberty for that Commandment which now is not moral the breach of it is no violation of any Law and so no offence but who can see how the fourth Commandment slips out of the rest of the Law how comes this Pearl to drop from the Chain that this Precept should not require our conformity as well as the other Commands of the immutable Decalogue And how can the whole Law 2 Sam. 10. be observed if so important a Command as the fourth is be left to our liberty to break and violate And I may here reassume the forementioned Text Jam. 2. 10. how solicitous and carefull should we be to keep the fourth Commandment which is so considerable apart of the whole Law for offending in this one point we shall wrap up our selves in the guilt of the whole Decalogue and sin against the dignity and authority of the whole Law we shall be lyable to the same punishment as if we had scratched every Commandement This solemn text of Scripture might over-awe our hearts to a holy Violet homo totam legem et si non totum legis Accipienda sunt decem praecepta non disjunctim sed conjunctim et completivè tanquam una lex absoluta Justitiae et sanctitatis regula Dr. M. obedience to the Commandment of the Sabbath It is a notable observation of a learned Man The precepts of God are not to be taken disjoyntly but conjoyntly not severally but altogether as they make one entire Law and rule of Righteousness the contempt reflecting upon the whole law when it is wilfully violated in any part A grave and worthy speech The Decalogue is a body he who injurieth any one member wrongeth the whole body he who slights any one Commandment suppose the fourth sheds a dishonour upon the two Tables Besides there are many things in the fourth Commanment which loudly proclaim its continuance and standing morality The working six dayes which is the indulgence of the command speaketh it mâ—st just and equitable that we Justissimum est et aequissimun ei cujus toti sumus unum diem è septem coâ—secrare sex alios nostris laboribus concessit â—ùm tamen poâ—uisset jure suo c. Riv. should consecrate one viz. that day which remains to the service of God and there is nothing more agreeable to natural reason and justice as Rivet speaks and therefore to lay all dayes open to follow the byass and sway of our wills is most fantastick and irreligious and speaks the Assertours of such an opinion an irregular Sect and salt which hath lost its savour as a holy man calls them And that rule of Zanchy is most observable and authentical It is a most wretched and wicked thing to assert there are no dayes set apart for the more special worship of God and to despise those Imptum est et iniquum aut nullos esse dies divino cultui dedicatos asserere aut eos qui sunt contemnere Zanch. which are set apart to the same intent Nor can the sanctification of the Sabbath be ceremonial or vanishing for Prayer is as needfull for us as the Jews and so hearing of the Word receiving of the Sacrament and those Ordinances which fill up the Sabbath Moreover rest and refreshing for our selves and families for our Servants and Cattle is as well accommodated to the weakness of the flesh in the times of the Gospel as in the times of the Law To all which may be added that the great end of the fourth Opus creationis eâ—t opus stupendum immò 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Commandement viz. the serious consideration of the great and stupendous works of the Creation and so to be led to admire the Creatour the great Workmaster of this admirable structure of the World is no way unbecoming Christians Ratio praecepti quarti est quia sex diebus deus fecit caelum et terram die septimo requievit jam regula est ratio immutabilis facit praeceptum immutabile ratio hujus praecepti nunquam transitura est praeceptum ergo in perpetuum durabit Dr. Andr. Epis Winton nor heterogeneous to their vivid and holy speculations which are onely heightned to us by an additional argument of the mellifluous work of mans Redemption But to draw out the Answer no further It is most remarkable and to be noted with an Higgaion Selah that in the 31 of Exod. 14. God presently after the exhibition of the Decalogue the whole body of the ten Commandements singles out the fourth Commandement alone and tells the Jewes Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore for it is holy unto you every one who defiles it shall surely be put to death for whosoever doth any work therein that soul shall be cut off from amongst his people It is a Sabbath of Rest holy to the Lord v. 15. The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath they shall observe the Sabbath throughout their Generations for a perpetual Covenant v. 16. How doth the Lord again again press the keeping of the Sabbath two or three times in one Verse and one Verse after another as if this was his darling Commandement and he took the greatest care of it and did give it the primacy over all the other Precepts And indeed
the bread of life when we attend upon the preaching of the word and generally as our Estate is better than the condition of the Jews in respect to the whole worship of God so likewise more especially in our worship upon the Sabbath our priviledges are more and our burdens are less than theirs our worship is more spiritual more easie more sublime and heavenly and more above the Alphabet and rudiments of their Religion Their lisping Sacrifices proclaimed their minority but ours speak more plainly the Dialect of Heaven Nay which is very considerable in those things wherein we are equally bound with them we much exceed them are we bound to meditate in the law of God day and night yet Psal 1. 2. we are not commanded to carry it about in the skirts of our Numb 15. 38. garments and upon our bracelets Deut. 6. 8 9. And though Rom. 32. it is our duty as well as theirs to teach our Children the Oracles of God Deut. 6. 7. yet we are not charged with Scripturae sacrae in iisque promissiones et Pacta Divina et suturorum mysteriorum prae dictiones haec fuerunt eloquia dei Judaeis concredita Alap the writing of them upon our gates and the posts of our doors Deut. 6. 9. And so in our Sabbaths we are free from the servilities and rudiments with which the Jews were chained as a signe and token of their bondage and servitude Though we are charged to rest upon the Lords day and so keep it holy yet we are not over-charged with Sacrifices and Ceremonies they are all laid asleep in Christs Grave and we are freed from these Fetters and so enjoy a more glorious liberty The inference of the whole will be this Hath God filed off all Chains of servility plained off all knots of difficulty hath he put an end to all legal Sacrifices and chased away all shadows of Ceremony that nothing might encumber our Christian Sabbath How exact then should we be in the observation of it Divine indulgence as it is properly a curb to sin so it is a forcible spur to duty the Lord hath abundantly sweetned therefore let us more carefully sanctifie our blessed Sabbath he hath freed it from the Jewish thraldom let us therefore keep it with Christian freedom the Sabbath of the Jews like the Infant Moses floated among the Reeds but ours hath its Nest among the Stars Obad. 4. Let its sublimeness and spirituality engage us more strongly to a due and holy solemnity nothing can more soften unto obedience than love and indulgence which is written in the fairest character upon the Christian Sabbath It is a most natural Induction that we being loosed and unfettered should run with more swiftness the way of the fourth Commandement now spiritualized to us by Jesus Christ Our Sabbath triumphs in a more glorious occasion then that Gen. 2. 3. of the Jews doth That which occasioned the Old Sabbath was the finishing of the work of creation but that which Mat. 28. 1. occasioned ours was the accomplishment of the work of redemption which glorious work far surpasses the other as the Temple exceeded the Tabernacle The work of Redemption is more precious As mans gaining the world cannot recompence the loss of the soul so Gods making the world doth not equalize Christs redeeming the Mat. 16 26. Inutile est mundi lucrum cum perditione animae conjunctium perditio enim animae est irreparabile damnum Chemnit soul Christs recavering must needs exceed Gods creating a world to draw men out of an enthrall'd bondage is more then to bring man out of a confused Chaos In the Creation God was to deal with no Enemy but in the work of Redemption Christ was put to combat with all the Devils in Hell and to over-power men opposing their own mercies The work of Redemption is more pressing It made the soul of Christ heavy unto death Mat. 26. 38. In this work Christ did not only fight with the Devils but God Himself seemed to combat with Christ and to put him to grief Isa 53. 10. The worlds creation was finished without difficulty but the Redemption of mankind was a work knotted with much pain and grievance The world was created with the speaking of a word it was only Let it be done and this was all the Sun the Stars and all other Creatures they sprang from the Energy and power of a Command from the force of an omnipraevalent fiat but the work of Redemption was not wrought but by the expence of Christs dearest blood The work of Redemption is more profitable Indeed to have Earth to tread on Air to breath in Meat to feed on Christus vicit triumphavit non virtute et sudore aliorum â—t mumdani Imperatores solent sed suâ solâ passione suâ solius virtute Daven Light to walk by these are benefits and good natural supports but the subduing of Satan the removing of the sting of sin with all the astonishing and sad sequels of it the pacifying and quenching of the flames of Gods anger the reparation of mans nature these are transcendent benefits and bid defiance to an hyperhole The work of Redemption yields a far greater crop and harvest of joy peace and happiness We may be Gods creatures and yet fall upon the spikes of eternal ruine But Christs Redeemed ones shall come with singing to Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads and they Quomodo illum diem qui a domino dicatus est nosque ab exilii dedecore liberavit venerari par est Isych shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away Isa 51. 11. Isa 65. 17. The work of Redemption is the fullest treasury of mans happiness And as it was long ago prophesied Hag. 2. 9. That the glory of the second Temple should out-shine that of the first So the glory of the Redemption out-shines the glory of the Creation Indeed the work of Creation is a lesser good to us as the Law is a lesser good then the Gospel and the Old Testament then the New Redemption must be owned as the greater work inasmuch as things spiritual are more valuable then things natural and Gods last works are his best the first being only preparatory to the last and indeed he who shall question whether Redemption be a greater work then Creation knows little what a Redeemer is or what the ransom of an immortal soul is worth Psal 49. 8. In creating the world God did much for me he gave me a body admirably and curiously wrought Psal 139. 15 16. He likewise endowed me with a rational soul and endowed this soul with rare and excellent faculties but all these had been only capacities of misery and receptives of wrath and ruine had not the work of Redemption interposed And therefore Christ in shedding Eph. 1. 7. his blood in conquering death in satisfying for sin hath done more for me
and laid the foundation of a better world then this created universe this beautiful artifice of Divine Power Again in the Creation there was nothing to withstand but in the work of Redemption there was Justice against Mercy Wrath against Pity In the Creation God brought something 2 Cor. 5. 21. out of nothing but in the work of Redemption God Gal. 3. 13. brought one contrary out of another Good out of Evil Life out of Death an immortal Crown out of a shameful Cross Indeed the great discoveries of Wisdom Grace Power Justice Mercy were all seen in the glorious work of mans Redemption The Heavens are the work of Gods fingers Psal 8. 3. But Redemption is the work of his Arm Isa 53. 1. Isa 52. 9 10. So that if it shall be demanded wherein doth the work of Redemption excell the work of Creation it may be answered as the Apostle in another case much every Rom. 3. 2. way Once more let us put these two works in the scale and we shall find the work of Redemption to weigh down the work of Creation as Gold of all metals is the weightiest In Eph. 2. 4. John 3. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 9 10. Gal. 4. 4. Phil. 2. 6 7. the creation Adam was Head but in the work of Redemption Christ was the Head by the creation we have a temporal life by the work of Redemption we obtain eternal life In the creation Adam was espoused to Eve but in the redemption the poor soul is espoused to Jesus Christ By creation Non solùm de me sed de omni quoque quod factum est Scriptum est dixit et facta sunt At verò qui me tantùm et semet fecit in restituendo et dixit multa mira gessit et pertulit dura nec tantùm dura sed etiam et indigna Bern. de diligendo deo man enjoyed an earthly Paradise but by redemption we enjoy an heavenly Kingdom In the creation Gods wisdom and power was principally seen but in the work of redemption All his glorious attributes were seen in their greatest splendour In the creation man was produced out of nothing but by the work of redemption he is produced out of worse then nothing a state of enmity and opposition Rom. 8. 7. Thus the glory of the work of redemption shines with a brighter ray and glitters with a stronger beam then the work of creation And shall not this most glorious work of which our Sabbath is the weekly memorial enforce us to a more devout observation Let us consider we equally enjoy the benefit of the creation with the Jews but they nothing at all of the benefit of the redemption with us They are Strangers to the Covenant of grace and the common-weal of the true Israel Eph. 2. 12. Let us then see the beauties of free-grace in the glass of our redemption and let this put new life into us to walk closely with God upon his own day when we are remiss in the duties let us reflect upon the occasion of the day and let us remember that the conquering of Death the chaining of Satan the subduing of Sin the quenching of Divine Wrath the perfuming of the Grave these several branches made up that blessed work which calls upon us for the keeping holy of the Lords day And again if the Jews have observed their Sabbath strictly Christ came not to licentiate us and to enlarge our carnal and sensual liberty Christs people are a willing but Psal 11â— â—â— 2 Tit. 14. not a wanton people The Son hath made us free and so we are free indeed as Christ himself speaks John 8. 36. But this freedom is from burdens not from duties a freedom it is to Debitâ 〈◊〉 â—â—minicae obseâ—vatione 〈◊〉 minuitur quicquam Christiana libertas Non enim est libertas sed licentia Christina ut nos liberaâ—i putemus ab observatione illius praecepti è Decalogo Et experientia docet licentiam et rerum sacrarum non curantiam magis magisque invalescere ubi diei domâ—nicae ratio non habetur run the wayes of Gods commandments Psal 119. 24. That can be no christian freedom to indulge our ease to flatter our sense to please the flesh to pursue our sports to gratifie our fancy with dalliance and delight upon Gods holy day this kind of liberty Christ never died to purchase Christian liberty is quite another thing it is a liberty from ceremonial yokes and legal impositions Gal. 5. 1 2 A liberty of access to God to cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 15. Gal. 4. 6. A freedom it is from sins vassalage from Satans slavery from the worlds drudgery and lusts dominion and tyranny Christ did not die to make us free to sin but free from sin Tit. 2. 14. It is a harsh and injurious interpretation of Christs coming to suppose he came to make the broad way broader then before that before Christ came the people of God were tied to a strict observation of the Sabbath but since we have a latitude and liberty for sports and delights for ease and recreation on that blessed day and that now we are not so pinnion'd and shackl'd as in the times of the law This must needs be some loose construction of a carnal Gospeller who Ames is become Antinomian in the fourth Commandment Christian freedom is a dilatation and enlargedness of bea rt in holy Isa 61. 1. services when the soul can freely vent it self without contractedness Luke 4. 18. and drawing their praying breath with difficulty Gal. 5. 1 13. Sensualliberty is a priviledge which better becomes the Disciples James 1. 25. of Bacchus or Epicurus and well suits with a feast of Priapus Ruffinus pleads hard in his prescriptions for Sabbath-observation That we do not spend it carnally and in delights this is to act the Jew not the Christian And Die Sabbati nihil exomnibus mundi octibus oportet operari si ergo desiâ—â—â— ab omnibus socularibus nihil mundanum geras sed spiritualibus operibus vaces lectionibus divinis tractatibus aurem praebeas ut non respicias ad praesentia visibilia sed ad invisibilia futura haec est observatio sabbati christiani Origen in a passionate heat cryes out Let us lay aside the Jewish mode of keeping Sabbaths and let us observe them as Christians discarding all worldly acts and secular employments let us be conversant in spiritual works in reading the Scriptures in hearing the word not eying things present and visible but looking forward to things to come and invisible and this is the observation of a Sabbath which will become a Christian The Fathers of the primitive times could not bear with any carnal liberty on the Lords day well knowing how contrary it was to the mind of Christ Nor can it be supposed that it was any part of Christs purchase to procure us a freedom to handle a Bowl or