THE LAW AND the Gospell reconciled OR The Euangelicall Fayth and the Morall Law how they stand together in the state of grace A treatise shewing the perpetuall vse of the Morall Law vnder the Gospell to beleeuers in answere to a letter written by an Antinomiâ—◠〈◊〉 a faithfull Christian Also how the moraâ—â—â—â— of the 4th Commandement is continued in the Lords day proued the Christian Sabbath by diuine institution â—â—fe Catalogue of the Antinomian doctrinoc By HENRY BVRTON 1 TIM 1.5 The end of the Commandement is charity out of a pure heart of a good conscience and of fayth vnfained Vt Rota intra rotam currit sic lex intra Gratiam et obseruantia legis intra diuinâ— curriculum misericordiae est Ambros. de Iacob c li. 2. cap 11. LONDON Printed by J. N. for Thomas Slatter and are to bee sould at his shoppe in Blackfryars 1631. TO THE HIGH and Mighty Prince Charles by the grace of God King of Great Britaine France and Ireland Defender of the Fayth c. GRatious Soueraine this small treatise humbly pleades your Royall Patronage by a double title the one from the Author of it your old seruant who oweth all he is to your Maiesty the other from the worke it selfe being a defence of the Morall Law of God against the Antinomian Libertines in these daies who deny to beleeuers any more vse thereof And what one subiect can more iustly clame your Maiesties protection then this of the Morall Law sith you are not only by a proper title Defender of the fayth but by a common trust committed to Kings keeper of both Tables The discharge of which trust as it tends much to the honour of the great Lawgiuer who hath made you his Vicegerent to see his Lawes well executed So it is the maine propp and pillar to support and secure your royall Throne The consideration whereof when I saw these sonnes of Belial thus vndermining the Kings Throne hath prouoked my zeale both to God and to your Maiesty to write this simple Treatise For to deny the Morall Law to be of any more vse to belieuers or to be so much as a rule of conuersation or that they owe obedience vnto it in poynt of duety and conscience this strikes at the very root and cutts in sunder the kâ—â—ot not onely of christian charity but euen of all ciuill society and happy vnion and communion betweene King and Subiects Head and Members For first the rule of Gods true and vnmixed worship commanded in the first Table is taken away Secondly the rule of all christian and ciuill duties betweene man and man in whatsoeuer relation they stand of equality or inequality Commanded in the second Table and all this with one stroke of cutting off the Morall Law from belieuers And particularly these Antinomians cut off all dutifull and conscionable obedience to Princes grounded on the fift Commandement wherein they being principall Parents namely of our Country all due honour and obedience in the Lord is commaunded to bee giuen them in the first place as of children to their Father Againe on the other side they breake downe the bankes that God himselfe hath pitched to confine the course of Kings whose hearts in the Lords hand like the riuers of waters keeping within their bankes refresh the Land on euery side with their sweete streames but being without the bankes of Gods sacred lawes how soone might they ouerflow and drowne all Therefore it was the care of the wise and good God to the end he might prouide for the hapy welfare both of the King and People to leaue it in charge to the King of Israell that he should haue a coppy of the Law alwaies by him to reade therein day and night Deut 17.18 19 20. to learne thereby to feare the Lord his God to walke humbly among his brethren to doe iustice and iudgement to the end hee may prolong his dayes in his Kingdome hee and his Children in the middest thereof But these Lawlesse Antinomians enemyes to God to Kings and States would robb Christian Kings of this blessed Booke of Gods Law that soe if they could strippe them of the grace and feare of God in their hearts letting loosse the reynes of all honestie and conscience they might vsurpe a gouernment after the lust of man not after the law of God and so precipitate ineuitable ruine to Princes and Common-weales For take away Gods Law and what law of man can bynde the conscience eyther in poynt of obeying or of commanding For though it hath euer beene a Maxime among the very heathen that humaine Lawes and such as were ratified by solemne oathes and couenants betweene Prince and people they held sacred and inuiolable as that Law of the Medes and Persians the Kings writing and seale c. Dan. 6.16 Yet the maine ground that bore vp all the rest was the conscience they had by naturall instinct of Gods eternall Law written in their hearts accusing or excusing knowing that God was an auenger of the breach of lawes oathes couenants such as were agreeable to his Law This then being the strongest ligature to combine the Head and Body politicke in a firme society whereby it becomes inuincible perpetuall and glorious these sonnes of Belial would dismember all Wherein they plainely shew who is their syre 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that lawlesse one whose Motto is Volumus et iubemus wee will and command which style Platina notes to be first taken vp by Boniface the third who first vsurped the Papall Headship ouer the Church So as casting off all lawes of God and man hee became that great Beast described in the Reuelation whom no law or reason can bound or limit accounting it a disparagement to his tyrannicall greatnesse to bee confined within the lists of any lawes oathes vowes couenants though neuer so iust and sacred Now the Lord Iesus so blesse your Maiesty that trampling this Antinomian Anomian heresie both syre and sonnes vnder your sacred feete you may long and happily raigne ouer your people as a tender father ouer his children while your chiefe care is first for the mayntenance of Gods pure worship without mixture and for the execution of iustice and iudgement these two being the summe of both the Tables and the supporters of the Kings Throne which the Lord euer defend from all Antinomian Anomian spirits In this Treatise also J haue occasionally proued the diuine institution of the Lords day our Christian Sabbath denyed by some And as your raigne hath beene honoured with a pious law for the due obseruation of this great Holy-day of Christ So I trust that this my vindicating of it to its owne right of diuine institution will not a little helpe to the better execution of that your Christian law Which that it may be more reuerently and religiously obserued both in Court City and Country to the purging out of profanesse and to the increase of all christian graces in your
asked wherein doth the first Couenant and the second chiefly differ Answer There are sundry opposite differences betweene the two Couenants 1 The first Couenant was of mans works the second of Gods grace and these two in the poynt of iustification are opposite one to the other Rom. 11.6 2ly The first couenant was made with Adam and all his posterity vniuersally the second onely with Abrahams seede called the womans seede Gen. 3.15 to wit Christ and all the Elect. so Rom. 4.1 3ly The first couenant stood vpon mans owne righteousnesse the second stands vpon anothers righteousnesse to wit Christs rigteousnesse made ours by imputation 4ly The first couenant stood vpon the mutability of mans will so as it was quickly broken but the second stands firme vpon the sure foundation of Gods immutable will good pleasure and eternall purpose in himselfe so as it can neuer bee broken being an euerlasting Couenant 5ly The first was a couenant of iustice without mercy the second a couenant of iustice and mercy together iustice fulfilled by Christ and mercy extended in and for Christ to all the Elect. 6 The first Couenant had no other reward reuealed to the first Adam from the Earth earthy but what was confined to the earthly Paradise but the second hath the Kingdome of Heauen set open in Christ the second Adam the Lord from Heauen vnto all the Elect. These and the like differences betweene the first Couenant and the second well considered and conferred together will plainely shew that the Law giuen vnder Christ the Redeemer in Mount Sina was not that first Couenant of workes For besides the fore alledged reasons there is mention made of Gods mercie in the second Commandement and of the promise of the land of the liuing the Kingdome of Heauen tiped in Canaan in the fifth Commandement Which mercy and kingdome were not comprehended in that first Couenant of workes But so much of the first proofe of our Assumption which was that true iustifying fayth though it rests vpon Christs righteousnesse onely for iustification yet it lookes vpon the Morall law as a rule of Christian conuersation and acknowledgeth the obedience thereunto as a duty which God requireth of euery true belieuer The second proofe is in Math. 5. Reade for this from the 16. verse to the end of the chapter Where our Master Christ in his diuine sermon vpon the Mount expounddeth to his disciples and all faythfull hearers and doth as it were giue them a Commentary vpon the Morall law which the same Christ deliuered to Moses in the Mount which hee sets before his scholars as a rule of the duties of sanctification and christian conuersation Math. 5.20 in which their righteousnesse they must exceede the righteousnesse of the Scribes and Pharisees otherwise they could not enter into the Kingdome of Heauen But how shall Christ escape the censure as one that preacheth the dead fayth surely I know not while his faythfull Ministers preaching the same doctrine are censured as preaching the blinde zealous dead fayth and are called doggs for their labour But because Christ preached and pressed the Morall Law as a rule of Christian obedience and called that also their righteousnesse therefore did he teach or meane that this was their righteousnesse in the sight of God Nothing lesse For he that said Math. 5.20 Except your righteousnesse exceede the righteousnesse of the scribes and Pharises yee shall not enter into the Kingdome of Heauen sayd also VVhen yee haue done all these things that are commanded you say wee are vnprofitable seruants we haue done that which was our duety to doe Marke he cals our obedience to the Law of God our duty yet so as wee are not thereby iustified And yet wee preach the same doctrine of our Master Christ must bee rated as Doggs as preaching the dead fayth The 3d proofe is from that exquisite forme of Prayer prescribed by Christ in the fifth petition Math. 6 12. Forgiue vs our debts as wee forgiue our debters All sins are debts to God All sins are breaches of the Morall Law therefore the keeping of the Morall Law is a debt that wee owe to God The Proposition is Christs The Assumption is the Apostles So as nothing remaines for the Aduersary to deny but the Conclusion The fourth proofe is from the Apostles words Gal. 5.6 that which the aduersary also alledgeth for the proofe of his third position In Iesus Christ neyther circumcision auaileth anything nor vncircumcision but fayth which worketh by loue Loue to God and to our neighbour is a duty we owe to God and to our neighbour But the Morall Law is the rule of this loue Therefore fayth working by loue lookes vpon the Morall law as a rule of those duties of loue we owe to God and our neighbour That loue is a debt the Apostle prooueth Ro. 13.8 Owe no man any thing but to loue one another so that is a debt that we owe one to another And if loue be a debt to man then much more to God Againe that the Morall Law is a rule of this loue the same Apostle prooueth in the same chapter v. 9. For this Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steale Thou shalt not beare false witnesse Thou shalt not couet and if there be any other Commandement it is briefely comprehended in this saying namely Thou shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe Loue worketh no ill to his neighbour therefore loue is the fulfilling of the Law So that the conclusion remaines firme that fayth working by loue lookes vpon the Morall Law as a rule of those duties of loue we owe to God and our neighbour The fifth proofe is from the Apostles words Rom. 12.1 c. I beseech you therfore brethren by the mercies of God Proposition that yee present your bodies a liuing sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable seruice And bee not conformed to this world Assumption but bee transformed by the renewing of your minde that yee may proue what is that good and acceptable Conclusion and perfect will of God c. Now from this generall exhortation hee descendeth to particular duties as so many branches springing from our reasonable seruice of God From thence to the very end of the Epistle Whence I argue thus All Christian duties of loue to God and to man are branches of our reasonable seruice of God But the Morall Law containes all christian duties of our loue to God and to our neighbours Therefore the keeping of the Morall Law is our reasonable seruice of God The Proposition is euident by the whole context of the Apostle in the foresayd part of his Epistle The Assumption is vndenyable proued before The sixt proofe is from 1. Thes 4 1. c. Further more then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Iesus that as yee haue receiued of vs how yee ought to walke and to please God so yee
would abound more and more For yee know what commandements wee gaue you by the Lord Iesus For this is the will of God euen your sanctification that yee should abstaine from fornication The exhortation is very forcible and full of waight Hee presseth it by the authority of the Lord Iesus he mindeth them of it as one of those lessons he had deliuered formerly by word of mouth and they had receiued hee calls it a duty How yee ought to walke yea a duty to God How yee ought to walke and please God hee calls it a speciall commandement which hee gaue them by the Lord Iesus as which the Lord Iesus gaue him in charge to deliuer to them hee calls it the will of God he calls it their sanctification Now what is all this which the Apostle here aymeth at What but this That yee abstaine from fornication Whence I argue thus Proposition Abstinence from fornication is a part of keeping of the Morall Law Assumption But this abstinence from fornication is a duty acceptable to God is a doctrine to be taught by the Ministers of Christ to be receaued by the people of God is a commandement of the Lord Iesus it is the will of God it is our sanctification or a fruite and effect of it Conclusion Therefore the keeping of the Morall Law is commanded of God of Christ as a duty to all true beleeuers To what part of this Argument will the aduersary answere To the Proposition That hee dare not for the Law sayth Thou shalt not commit adultery To the Assumption That he cannot for that is the Apostles in the fore alledged place Therefore I will conclude with this conclusion That the keeping of the Morall law is commanded of God and of Christ as a duty to all true beleeuers When I vrged this argument or the * as rhis What soeuer is Gods will we should doe is our duty to doe But the doing of Gods Law is Gods will wee Should doe therefore it is our duety to doe Gods law so farre as we are able Now all this is plainely concluded by the Apostle This is the will of God euen your sanctification that ye should abstaine from fornication To abstaine froÌ„ fornication is a part of keeping the Moral Law and what is true of a part is true of the whole as Iam. 2.10 11. like in forme syelogisticall out of this very place of the Apostle to this our aduersarie occasionally face to face and had to satisfie his demande repeated it ouer twice or thrice hee could not giue a present answere but desired to haue it written downe But I expect not an answere because none can be giuen to this which is here written No can he not in all his budget finde an answere doth hee not as I heare hee was wont to doe at least carry his trunk-hose full farsed stuffed with Protestant Authors as Luther Zanchee Paraeus with sundry others of good note that with their graue authority and reuerend names he may the more easily impose vpon his credulous and ignorant Disciples who admire that most which they vnderstand least cannot he out of all these beate out an answere to these things For of these he braggs much in the conclusion of his letter But till hee can bring some I will content my selfe to bring his belweather Author euen Luther whose no lesse puissant then elegant and heauenly speech wherewith I will for this time conclude this short discourse shall run full butt vppon and push downe all that he hath sayd for his pretended counterfet false hereticall scandalous Anabaptisticall libertine fayth Luthers words are Admittimus quidem Mosen legendum audiendum a nobis vt predictorem testem Christi Deinde vt petamus ab eo exempla optimarum logum morum Cetaerùm dominium in conscientiam nullo modo concedimus ei ibi mortuus et sepultus esto nemoque sciat vbi sepulchrum eius sit we indeede admit of Moses to bee read heard of vs as a Prophet witnesse of Christ Againe that wee may fetch from him examples of good lawes and manners But dominion ouer the conscience to a man in the state of grace as Rom. 6.10 wee by no meanes yealde him there let him bee dead and buried and let no man know where his sepulchre is So Luther And in his argument vpon the Galatians Sum quidem peccator c. I am indeed a sinner according to this present life and the righteousnesse of it as the son of Adam where the Law accuseth me death raigneth and will deuoure mee but aboue this life I haue another righteousnesse another life which is the Sonne of God who knoweth not sin and death but is righteousnesse and life eternall for which also this dead body of mine shall be raysed vp againe and freed from the bondage of the Law and of sin and together with the spirit it shall bee sanctified So both these remaine while we liue here the flesh is accused exercised made sad and contrite with the actiue righteousnesse of the Law but the spirit raigneth reioyceth and is saued by passiue righteousnesse because it knoweth it hath the Lord sitting in heauen at the fathers right hand who hath abolished the Law Sin Death and hath tâ—ampled vnder feete all euill things hath led them captiue and tryumphed ouer them all So he Now God forbid that I should glory but in the crosse of our Lord Iesus Christ by whom the world is crucified vnto me Gal. 6.14 and I vnto the world For in Christ neyther Circumcision auayleth any thing nor vncircumcision but a new creature 15 And as many as walke according to this rule peace bee on them and mercy and vpon the Israel of God I thought here should haue bin an end But as the Prouerbe is 16 One absurdity begets a thousand as one of Lerna his 7 heads being cut off 3 grew in the place thereof Parua mâ—tu primo mox sese attollit in auras Ingred túrque solo et caput inter nubila condit Monstrum horrendum ingens c. Virgil. Aenead Such is the nature of heresie which of a small seede growes to be an hiddeous monster if it bee not strangled in the first conception Like Fame which for feare at first is small but finding entertainment with Dame Credulity and loquacity growes bold and big vpon it Or like a small leprous spot in the beginnig which quickly runneth ouer the whole body Or like a drop of sweet poyson which at first goes pleasantly downe but in a short time insinuateth it selfe to the infecting of the vitall spirits and ceasseth not till it hath wrought its mortall effect Or like a Gangreene or like a Canker as the Apostle compares it This Antinomian leprosie doth spread and get strength and boldnesse euery day euen vnto impudency madnes And the reason it finds so many disciples to imbrace it because cutting off sanctification denying
it to be a duty as one of their Disciples saide Away with this scuruy sanctification and putting all vpon an imaginary fayth and perfection in Christ it becommeth so much the more plausible to flesh and blood which is so prone and ready to listen after any doctrine that giues liberty to their vntamed lusts So that when such Disciples heare their teachers say Beleeue onely and so be merry in Christ sing care away to the duety of sanctification away with mortification Repent no more for yee are perfectly iustified God seeth no sin in you yee are perfectly saued and the like no maruell if being carnall and they hypocriticall persons they catch at such doctrines as may nuzzle them in their carnall lusts as is too apparent by the fruite which groweth necessarily from such a roote of bitternesse whereby many are defiled For perswade a man once that being in Christ and so iustified from all his sins Montanistae omnem panitentiae virtutem è medio sustulerunt Hieronead Marcellinam Et lib. 2. aduâ—rsus Iouinianum se Centuria 2. c. 5. hee hath no more neede of repentance and what a flood-gate is opened to all impiety when there is noe more conscience of sin Thus they reuiue the heresie of the Montanistes who denied repentance to be needefull This they ground vpon Heb. 6.11 Not laying againe the foundation of repentance from dead works Whence they conclude that beleeuers haue no more to doe with repentances where as the Apostle there speakes of the Doctrine not of the practise of repentance reprouing those Hebrewes that they were no better proficients iâ— Christs schoole when instead of being able to teach others they were still A B C darians hauing need to be catichized in the very common rudiments knowne Principles of Religion as Heb. 5.12 Againe they say that they are as pure from all sin in Christ and as perfect in righteousnesse and holinesse as Christ himselfe is alledging that in Iohn 1 Iohn 4.17 Herein is our loue made perfect that we haue boldnesse in the day of iudgement because as hee is so are we in this world Hence they conclude such absolute perfection to bee in the beleeuer as in Christ now glorified in heauen And therefore when they say that a beleeuer is perfectly saued in this life they expresse themselues in plaine words to meane that a beleeuer is perfectly glorified in this life and that there is noe difference betweene our state here and in heauen but onely in our sense and apprehension I should not I confesse haue beleeued that euer any man endued with common sense and reason would haue so much as once conceiued much lesse uttered such a senselesse and monstrous Paradox had I not my selfe heard one of their Antinomian Ministers affirme so much to me and others together For I asking him what difference there was betweene the state of grace here and that of glory here after hee answered none at all but in our sense and apprehension And thereupon another Minister asking him whither we were perfectly glorified in this life he answered wee were whereupon I abhorring such an insolent and Luciferian speech presently auoyded his company and further speech To this height of pride are they come who teach the empty and windy faith of Iustification against Sanctification the fruit of a true liuely fayth But are wee perfectly glorified in this life so as it differs not from that in heauen but in our sense and apprehension Then when a iustified man sinneth it is but in his sense and apprehension if that or rather they are in this poynt without sense apprehension of sin Then when wee are afflicted diseased and the like it is not so indeede but onely in our sense and apprehension because a man perfectly glorified can neyther sin nor suffer any sorrow diseases or death Yea our fayth is no more the foundation of things hoped for and the euidence of things not seene we haue no longer hope of eternall life but in our sense and apprehension For wee are already possessed of the thing hoped for we are already perfectly glorified O senselesse stupidity But they vrge As he is so are wee in this world he is pure perfect vndefiled therefore are we so to Therefore say they wee are so perfect as wee cannot be more But St Paul sheweth plainely the meaning of St Iohn saying 2 Cor. 3 8. But we all with open face beholding as in a glasse the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory euen as by the spirit of the Lord. Now though from hence they would inferre that we haue the same image of Christs glory in full perfection yet the next words FroÌ„ glory to glory plainely shew that though the state of grace bee a glorious estate as being an initiation of glory being begun here in the soule yet wee goe from one degree of glory and grace vnto another and neuer attaine to full perfection till this mortall shall put on immortality and this corruption shall put on incorruption 1 Cor 15. Rom. 8.29 So that the image of Christ which wee beare vpon vs here is a conformity vnto Christ our Head in the participation of his glorious graces but in such a proportion as here we are capable of and as God hath distributed to euery man the measure of fayth And the state of grace is in a perpetuall growth here as 2. Pet. 3.18 Ephe. 4.12.13 Psal 84.7 The path of the righteous being a perpetuall progresse like to the morning light shining more and more vnto the perfect day Prou 4..18 But why doe I spend arguments against such as deny vndeniable Principles But thus wee see how a false and imaginary faith whereof these men doe dreame begets in them such damnable imaginations high presumptions euen to the destruction of grace while they would stretch it beyond the line No maruaile therefore if they abolish quite any further vse of the morall law syth they deny Sanctification it selfe as a duty prescribed and commanded in the law Exo. 19.5.6 So that if the Doctrines of these men might preuaile what could bee expected but a deluge of Atheisme and profanesse and all lawlesse licentiousnes and dissolutenesse to ouerflow and drowne the world For they cry downe and abolish all duties contained and commanded in the Morall Law both towards God and towards men Doe we thinke these men can be good subiects to their Prince who deny they owe him any honour in the way of duety enioyned by the commandement 1 Pet 2 17 Honour thy Father and Mother whereof one maine branch is Honour the King And if they doe not of duety honour their King on earth how shall they honour their King in heauen To instance in the fourth commandement they quite abrogate the Morall Law to beleeuers and consequently the fourth commandement which is the sanctification of the sabbath-day But they reply that the Iewish Sabbath-day is abolished
glasse wherein looking the face of our soules and beholding our speckes and imperfections we may get them washed in the fountaine of Christ blood and may make straight pathes vnto our feete Heb. 12 i3 least that which is lame be turned out of the way but rather that it bee healed This is that perfect law of liberty wherein who so looketh and continueth therein hee being not a forgetfull hearer but a doer of the worke this man shall be blessed in his deed Iam. 1.25 This is that glasse 2 Cor. 3.18 wherein wee beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same Image from glory to glory euen as by the spirit of the Lord. So farre are we from holding a state of perfection of faith in this life as though our faith could doe all things of it selfe and did not neede a dayly supply of grace which must bee procured by the word of God eyther preached or read or meditated and conferred vpon and that also by the meanes of prayer Lord increase our fayth But this our Aduersary shutts out the law quite as out of date to a true beleeuer and of no vse at all not so much as to be a rule of life and conuersation his liuely faith doth all and hath noe neede of the word of God to direct or assist it Now that this is the summe of his doctrine concerning his liuely faith yee may gather from his owne words saying fayth infallibly inflames the heart with true loue making the true beleeuer to breake off his former corrupt conuersation c. This word Infallibly implies that faith doth by a continued and vninterrupted act inflame the heart with loue to doe all workes of sanctification and so it hath no neede of Gods word as a rule to bee guided by but the spirit is instead of the word But you will say So much is not expressed in the letter True But you must know that this is the doctrine which he priuately instilleth into his Disciples As in one of his scattered writings I find these words that this fayth of free iustification doth cause vs to walke infallibly in the steps of the workes of our father Abraham whereby like Abraham freely without the law of the ten Commandements wee walke holily righteously and soberly in all Gods Commandements declaratiuely to manward Yea comming sometimes to contest with mee and to charge mee for preaching the dead fayth himselfe did vtter so much to mee by word of mouth that after a man is once inlightned by fayth the spirit guides him so as he hath no need of the word or of the Morall law for a rule to direct him This Doctrine is so familiar among his Disciples as they professe it and are prowd of it so farre are they from making scruple or dainety of it as once to deny it So that this is one of the markes and properties of his liuely fayth that it hath no neede of the Morall Law to bee a rule vnto it in poynt of conuersation or in the workes of sanctification otherwise neyther is it the true liuely fayth nor this the true sanctification A second property and prerogatiue of this his liuely fayth is this that it oweth no obedience to the Morall Law in poynt of duty Hee denyeth the works of sanctification to bee duties What are they then Fruits sayth he So say we too fruits they bee yet duties too Here is the difference then Because wee say the fruits of fayth are duties therefore hee sayth ours is the dead fayth Al this hee hath auouched and that most vehemently as his manner is to my face And howsoeuer he hath not in plaine words expressed so much in this his letter as being more shy and cautelous what hee publisheth abrode hauing bene hampered by me and others and puzzled with some arguments which hee could not answere but sayd hee would answere them when they were written Yet ye may easily gather so much out of his writing For he cals the obedience of a beleeuer onely declaratiue and to bee done declaratiuely to manward Note it well This declaratiuely to manward excludes all duty to Godward For else what vse is there in this place eyther of Declaratiue or much lesse To manward For all obedience in conuersation is declaratiue and all declaratiue is to manward So as all this mans obedience is to manward in poynt of declaration but none to Godward in poynt of duty For if it bee of duty in obedience to Gods law then his fayth also should be the dead fayth But herein stands the prerogatiue of his true liuely fayth that as it doth not so much as reflect the eye vpon the morall Law as to learne obedience from the rule thereof so much lesse doth it acknowledge it oweth any obedience thereunto as a duty to God On the contrary we for holding and teaching that the Morall Law and so Gods word stands not onely for a rule of direction for sanctified obedience but also requireth of the faythfull a cheerfull yet dutyfull conformity thereunto we I say for this very cause must heare Hoggs or Doggs Hogg-christians or Dogg-christians as holding the blind zealous dead fayth So thus stands the state of the question betweene vs about the liuing and the dead fayth and herein we come now to ioyne yssue First then wee are all agreed on both sides that the true liuely fayth is no other but that whith the scriptures teach and allow for the true liuely fayth which promised and granted I argue thus That fayth Proposition which the Scriptures teach and allow for the true liuely iustifying fayth that and no other is the true liuely iustifying fayth But the Scriptures teach and allow that and no other Assumption for the true liuely iustifying fayth which resting only on Christ for iustification by the onely imputation of his righteousnesse doth notwithstanding looke vpon the Morall Law of God as a rule of Christian conuersation and sanctification acknowledging the conformity thereunto as a duty which God requireth of euery true beleeuer according to that Luk. 1.74.75 That we being deliuered from the hands of our enemies should serue him c. Therefore this fayth and none other is that which the Scriptures teach and allow for the true liuely iustifying fayth The Proposition is vndeniable The Assumption I proue And first from the very giuing of the Morall law in mount Sinai For it was giuen in and by and vnder Christ the Redeemer * Deut. 18.18 As the Apostle sayth It was giuen in the hand of a Mediator which Mediator was personally Moses but typically Christ of whom Moses was a type and figure And Christ was that heauenly * Exo. 25.40 Heb. 8.5 Patterne or Antitype according to which were all those things deliuered to Moses in the Mount yea not onely the Ceremoniall Law but also the Morall Law giuen by Christ himselfe where hee sayth I am the Lord thy God which hath
extreames and therefore to bee auoyded How then As the christians did in Iustin Martyrs dayes of old who sayth Die solis c. On the Sunday or Lords day Iustin Martyr Apol. 2. are the christians assemblies of Citizens and Countrmen where the writings of the Apostles and Prophets are first reade then when the Reader hath done the Master of the assembly the chiefe Minister vseth words of exortation his inuiting them to the imitation of things honest The richer sorte who are willing do contribute to the reliefe of the poorer euery man according to his mind and meanes and the Collecta or collections are deposited with the chiefe Minister he therewith succoureth the Orphans and poore c. This is that day wherein God created the world and Christ rose againe from the dead So hee And Saint Chrisostom vpon the Apostles words 1 Cor. 16.1 Behold sayth he How fitly the Apostle rayseth his exhortation from the consideration of this day of the weeke as being the fittest day wherin to exhort vnto almes as if the Apostle had sayd Remember what things yee haue obtained this day vnutterable good things yea the very roote and spring of our life stands in it Not that it is a fit day onely for giuing of almes but that it hath a rest and is free from worldly affaires and the mind being vacant from molestations is the apter more inclinable to mercy and it brings with it a great efficacy in the vse of the celestiall Ordinances And Saint Augustine Omni Die Dominico c. Euery Lords day come to the Church and spend not the day in pleading and brabbles and idle chat but with silence hearken to the word of God and pray for the peace of the Church and for the pardon of your sinnes c. And Bernard sayth out of Esay 58.13 He calleth the Sabbath sayth hee not onely a delight but he addeth holy and gloryous to the Lord. Nor let the Sabbath slipt away with sloth but in thy Sabbath worke the workes of God And in the Synodal Epistle of the second synod of Matiscon wee haue these words Custodite Diem Dominicum c. Keepe the Lords day which hath a new brought you forth and hath freed you from all sinnes as being that day wherein Christ rose for our iustification Let none of you bee vacant to minister fewell for suites in Law let none plead causes let none draw vpon himselfe such a necessity as to compell the cattell to beare the yoake .. Be all of you taken vp with hymmes in praysing of God being content in minde and body Let euery one hasten to the next Church their humble himselfe on the Lords day with prayers and teares Let your eyes and hands be all that day open to God For that is a perpetual day of rest that is made knowne in the law the Prophets being insinuated vnto vs by the shadow of the seauenth day Iust it is therefore that wee doe vnanimously celebrate this day by which wee are made that which before wee were not Let vs performe to the Lord a free seruice c. Not that the Lord requires of vs that wee should celebrate the Lords day with bodily abstinence but hee requireth our obedience by which trampling all terrene actions vnder our feete hee may mercifully lift vs vp euen vnto Heauen If therefore any of you shall slight or contemne this our wholesome exhortation let him know that for the quality of his demerit hee shall bee punished of the Lord and henceforth implacably vnder the sacerdotall indignation If hee bee a Lawyer hee shall bee dismissed of his pleading without recouery if a Country-man or seruant hee shall bee sore beaten with clubs if a Clearke or so hee shall bee suspended six months from his Fraternity c. And in the Councell of Dingelfing On the Lords day let men bee vacant for diuine rest and abstayne from worldly and profane businesse Hee that this day shall doe any worke about the Cart or otherwise let his oxen bee confiscate If he shall proceed on obstinately let him be made a bondslaue And Charles the great in his constitutions forbiddeth markets to be kept any where on the Lords day nor any seruile workes to be done therein We might bee infinite in such like instances of pious constitutions for the solemne and sacred keeping of the Lords day but let these suffice by the way Onely one thing remaines to bee resolued whether the fourth Commandement reach vnto seruants as well as vnto Masters of Families some would restraine the Commandement onely to Masters excluding seruants thus farr that in case a Master command his seruant any servill worke on the Sabbath or Lords day the seruant therein obeying his Master is not answerable to God as a trangressour of Gods Commandement but his Master onely is in the transgression for so commanding This is a strange piece of Logicke A Master in commanding his seruant transgresseth Gods Commandement and yet the seruant obeying his Master therein transgresseth not Doth not the case hold a like in other relations as betweene Prince and subiect spirituall Pastours and People yes say they But how Thus God say they hath commanded all men to honour their Parents the Parents of their Country stands in the first ranke-True who denies it But what followes there vpon This say they The Sonne of God hath commanded all Christians to heare the Church and vnder forfeiture of communion of Saints but they that deny the Canons of the Church or Edict of the Prince heare not the one honour not the other therefore they that transgresse eyther of these Constitutions transgresse also consequently though not immediately the commandements of God yet neyther of both are transgressed by seruants if they worke by their Masters commission and not of their owne electon for neyther doth the one Law or the other neyther the Canons of the Church nor Edicts of Princes giue liberty and warrant to seruants to bee rebellious to their Masters touching poynt of seruice that day more then others To this purpose they argue that deny the keeping of the Lords day to haue any dependance vpon the morality of the fourth Commandement Here be prege reasons which would not lightly be passed ouer Therefore a little to examine the mettle of these mens reasons first we must remember that not only on the Lords day seruants obying their Masters in deoing seruile worke therein are guiltles for so they haue euation for it by denying the Lords day to bee of diuine institution and rest therein to be any morall duty but they deny also that the fourth Commandement did binde any Iewes but onely Masters of familyes and not those vnder them For say they the Commandement was giuen onely to masters and not to seruants standing in relation to their masters in case they should impusote any seruile labour vpon them It is true the Commandement was giuen principally and immediately to masters that not onely
themselues should keepe it but they should looke their whole family kept it Yet in case the Master should neglect his duty herein and instead of commanding his family to keepe the Sabbath should inioyne them seruile worke doth not the Commandement take hold of the seruant What Is the seruant an Asse or sott to yeald blinde obedience to his master commanding against God Or is he such a slaue as hee hath not a soule to answere for to God as well as his master Or being his Masters seruant is hee thereby exempted from being Gods seruant sayth not the Apostle Hee that is called in the Lord being a seruant is the Lords freeman Likewise also hee that it called being free is Christs seruant Indeede the Masters sin is double not onely in permitting and communing but compelling or commanding his seruant to worke when God commands to rest but yet the seruant obeying his master herein vniustly commanding committes a single sin at least against God if not also double while he preferreth his earthly masters Commandement before his heauenly masters But this say they is Petitio Principij if Gods Commandement reach not to seruants But we shew it doth if seruants be not vnreasonable beasts or blinde Asses Nor ought the Masters Commandement to bee of force yea it hath a meere nullity if it bee contrary to Gods expresse Commandement So that in such a case for a seruant to obey his Master is against and aboue God to set vp an Idoll which is nothing in the world and such seruants slauishly obseruing Sabbatum Asinorum the Sabbath of Asses do iustly deserue the whip for the Asses backe or that censure forementioned in the second synod of Matiscon If a seruant or rusticke doe breake the Sabbath let him be soundly dry basted with clubs But say they the sonne of God hath commanded all christians to heare the Church not to despise hir Canons or Princes Edicts True But is Christs command absolute and without limitation namely to obey Superiours actiuely whatsoeuer they command right or wrong for or against God what if the Canons of the Church doe by mans Traditions disanull the Commandement of God as of old the Iewish Synagogue and of latter times the Romish Are such Canons to be obeyed against Gods expresse Commandement If the Pharisees and chiefe Priests make a Canon to punish with Excommunication or Suspention those that shall confesse Christ or professe or preach his truth and fayth frely faithfully is it not disobedience to God herein to obey them and through slauish feare rather to renounce Christ then not submit to such wicked Canons The Iewes Corban freed Children fom honouring their Parents and doe not they as well make voyd Gods Commandement who in binding seruants to obey their masters commanding against Gods Commandement doe thereby free them from Gods Commandement And for Princes Edicts we all reuerence and willingly imbrace and obey them But without limitation what if they command against God what if they shall forbid by publicke Edict the free preaching of the word of God in any part of it as such and such points of fayth and saluation not to bee handled such and such heresies not to bee medled with by way of confutation Are we not to answere in such a case as the Apostle did Whether it be meete in the sight of God to obey you rather than God iudge you for we cannot but speake the thinges wbich we haue seene and heard And Peter tels the Rulers boldly and plainely Wee ought rather to obey God then men What because Nebuchadnezzer erected his Image and commanded all to worship it and forbad to pray to any God but to the King onely for thirty dayes must this Edict therefore bee obeyed Noe surely And why Because it was against God and therefore it ought to haue beene of no force to exact obedience of any But what will you say Must we be rebels in disobeying our superiours No it is one thing not obey another to bee rebellious superiours ought not to bee obeyed if they command against God Yet this is no rebellion where men are ready to yeald passiue obedience to their vniust cruelty by not resisting it though they derect and deny actiue obedience to their vniust commands Thus Daniel thus the three Children did the one desires rather to bee cast into the Lyons denne the other into the hott fiery fornace then to dishonour God by bowing to the Kings Image Thus all Gods true bred children haue and will doe they neyther dare obey vniust command contrary to Gods word and a good conscience nor yet rebelliously resist vniust punnishments in both which they obey God But enough of this poynt at least in this place where we haue as it were by the way occasionally met with it not purposely minded throughly to handle it but onely as a branch of that morality of the Law of God the whole bulke and body whereof is hewed at by the Antinomians to cut it downe by the very rootes Onely let vs adde here a few reasons and motiues Reasons why the Lords day is to bee sanctfied the more to strengthen and prouoke vs to the more diligent obseruation of this great holy day of the Lord. One reason may bee taken from the comparison betweene christians vnder the new Testament and the Iewes vnder the Old How exactly were the Iewes bound to keepe the Sabbath as a memoriall of their deliuerance from Egypt in token of their perpetuall thankefulnesse How much more then are we thus bound to sanctifie the Lords day in a perpetuall thankefull remembrance of our spirituall deliuerance from the bondage of sin sathan and hell ouer which Christ triumphed manifestly in the day of his Resurrection Secondly Exod 31.16.17 as the Sabbath day was giuen to the Iewes as a signe and meanes of their sanctification So the Lords day in the due sanctifying of it in the vse of the meanes is a pregnant occasion of our sanctification and that not only in regard of the same Ordinances attending vpon it but as it is a perpetuall memoriall of Christs Resurrection and in the faith and fact whereof is begun here not onely our sanctification but also our glorification and eternall Sabbath Ob. But if the Eternall Sabbath began in Christs Resurrection then what further vse is there of a seauenth day weekely to keepe Sabbath in Euery day now yea our whole life time is a Sabbath vnto vs therefore to keepe a seauenth day still is against the nature of the eternall Sabbath hath begun in Christs Resurrection And thus to keepe a seauenth still is to goe backe to the Iewish ceremony againe which is abolished in Christs Resurrection Answ Though the Eternall Sabbath began in Christs Resurrection and is now eternally kept of Christ and of the Church triumphant yet during the time of this life which is measured by times and dayes and in regard of the many corporall necessitys of it must bee