a Power given them from Christ to Abrogate Circumcision or the like and thereupon to proceed pro imperio But they Argue it from the nature of the thing That what was Typical of Christ was at an end now Christ is come That what was Distinctive of the Jews from other Nations was now to cease when the partition wall was broken down That what were but shadows as to the Substantials of Religion were now to pass away as beggarly Rudiments Christ regarding the Body or Substance not the Shadows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these are but shadows in comparison of what Christ came to settle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but 't is the Body the Substance that Christ respects Col. 2. 17. They do not Command but Argue They do no where pretend that God or Christ had given them Authority to Abrogate a Law which God had made But Argue from the nature of the thing that the Law was ceased and was not intended to Oblige longer That the Law was now Antiquated or Expired when the End for which it was made was attained That the Types were at an End when the Thing Typified was Exhibited That the Distinctive Marks were now no more of Use when Jews and Gentiles were United That the Elements or Rudiments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which God for reasons best known to himself thought fit for the Training-up of his Church while as in a State of Minority wherein a Child though Heir of All doth little differ from a Servant should now cease when it comes to full Age Gal. 4. And to the same purpose Heb. 8. He argues that the Old Covenant was at an end when a Better Covenant was come in the room citing that of Ier. 31. Behold the days come saith the Lord when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Iudah Not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers when I led them out of the land of Egypt For this is the Covenant that I will make That I will put my laws into their Mind and write them in their Hearts Meaning instead of an outward Ceremonial Service he would establish a service more Spiritual From whence he concludes the Antiquation of the Former In that he saith a New Covenant he hath made the first Old Now that which Decayeth and waxeth Old is ready to Vanish away They do not claim a Power to Abolish a Law of Gods making But prove by Argument that these Laws are Antiquated or Expired as not being intended by the Law-maker to bind longer than till such a time As Rom. 7. The Woman is bound by the Law to her Husband as long as he lives But if the husband be Dead she is free from the Law Not that the Law is Abolished but the Case is Altered And it is from these Considerations that he Argues against Circumcision Col. 2. 11. and the Iewish Sabbath ver 16. For as to the Substantials of the Service provided a Sabbath be duly kept it is much one whether on the Seventh or the First day Now these Substantials are he tells us p. 83. a lively spiritual Converse with the Father Son and Holy-Ghost in private Duties and publick Ordinances where they can be had and in a Holy Rest all that day saving emergent cases of Necessity and Mercy Which may be equally done on either day But as to those who were not satisfied with these Arguments if they were such as were before under those Commands he doth not urge his Authority He leaves them to practise according to their own judgment but without censuring others till they shall be better satisfied as in Rom. 14. But as to the Gentiles who had never been under these Laws the case was otherwise Which makes him argue otherwise with the Gentile Galatians Ephesians and Colossians than with the Christian Iews at Rome And as to his Question p. 47. When where and by whom it was taken away I say Then there and by the same who took away Circumcision and the other Mosaick Rites That is Fundamentally by Christ at his death who nailed them to his Cross after which they ceased to be Obligatory But Executively and Practically by his Apostles and the Christian Church according as they did leisurably and in time come to understand their Liberty All which we are to presume they did according to such directions as Christ gave them For as this Author observes p. 80. Paul in those Primitive times when the Ceremonial Law was fresh in memory and the Gospel newly preached had much a do tâ—â—e move the first converted Iews from Circumcision and other Ceremonials and so from their Iewish Sabbath therefore these things were to wear off by degrees and not to be torn from them all at once And this I think is enough to a person not prejudiced as to the Removal of the then Iewish Sabbath appointed by Moses after their coming out of Egypt on the seventh day from the first raining of Manna and not given to all the world but to be a distinctive sign of them from other Nations Now as to the other Point in Question the Observation of the Lords day I would ground that originally on the Fourth Commandment which doth appoint a Seventh day of Holy Rest after Six days of Ordinary Labour Which doth directly concern the Substantials of Worship that a Sabbath be kept and God thus served but whether on this or that day of the Seven is meerly Circumstantial and as Paul calls it a Shadow in comparison of the Body or Substance which is he tells us what Christ respects But then as to that Why the First day rather than another I answer First Here was a much more memorable Accident of Christs Resurrection than was that of Raining Manna from whence the Jewish Sabbath takes its date as the Seventh day from it not from the Creation or that of the Quails the Night before the first day that God fed them by Miracle from Heaven And therefore stands as fair for beginning such a Circulation of Weeks and Sabbaths We are told Ier. 16. 14 15. and Ier. 23 7 8. Behold the days come saith the Lord that it shall no more be said The Lord liveth that brought up the Children of Israel out of the land of Egypt But The Lordliveth that brought up the Children of Israel out of the North Country Not that the former deliverance was to be forgotten but a greater than it did make it comparatively to disappear as when the light of the Sun doth obscure that of the Moon and Stars And so here the Resurrection of Christ to be commemorated paramount to that of former Mercies Next in pursuance of this Occasion we find our Saviour did on that day of his Resurrection appear to Mary Magdalen and the other Women declaring to them the Doctrine of the Resurrection then to the two Disciples going to Emmaus Preaching to them at large the same Doctrine and Celebrating with
them the Lords Supper and afterward the same day to those assembled at Ierusalem with other Sabbatical works and solemnly Blessing that Convention And if our Author by blessing the Seventh day Gen. 2. would have us understand an Institution or Command to observe it We have as much here Christ joined in this Assembly and Blessed it For so much is intimated in that his solemn Benediction a first and second time Ioh. 20. 19 21. Peace be unto you and he Breathed on them saying Receive ye the Holy Ghost He did so a second time on the same day the next Week he Assembled with them in Religious Services and Blessed them He did according to his Promise made on that First day of his Resurrection send on them that miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost which being the Fiftieth day from his Resurrection was therefore the first day of the week as was that of the Resurrection On which day of Pentecost we find them also otherwise exercised in Religious Employments and attested further by a miraculous conversion of three thousand souls We find St. Paul at Troas Act. 20. Preaching to the Disciples assembled as it seems their manner was on the first day of the week to break bread that is to celebrate the Lords Supper That such Assemblies were wont to be at Corinth on the first day of the Week the Apostle presumes or takes for granted and gives direction for a Collection to be then made 1 Cor. 16. And he had so done before as he there signifies to the Churches of Galatia presuming or taking for granted that they also did so use to meet on the first day of the Week And we have no reason to doubt but that such Meetings were wont to be in other Churches We cannot doubt but that other of the Apostles did disperse themselves in other parts of the World though we have not a like account of their Travels as we have of Paul's recorded by St. Luke But we are to presume though it be not recorded that their Doctrine and Practise was consonant to his and that accordingly they had such weekly meetings on the Lords Day as these Churches had of whom we have the History Hence that day had the name given of the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we find it called Rev. 1. 10. as that of the Sacrament is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. which name it retaineth to this day and for such purpose And all this I think is sufficient for us to continue our Observation of the same day I am sure 't is much more than he can shew for his seventh-day Sabbath for more than two thousand five hundred years from the first Creation It is not necessary that we have express words of Command Recorded We have no Record in Scripture of such express words of Command for the seventh-Seventh-day Sabbath till after Israels coming out of Egypt nor for the Worshiping of God by Sacrifice nor for other things which yet were Duties before any Record of such express words of Command It is enough if we can otherwise Collect it to be Gods Will according to the best light we have If this Gentleman think himself obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath also this doth not hurt us This I think was the case of the Christian Iews at first I do not much question but that they did as other Christians observe the Lords Day The doubt was whether they were not to observe also the Jewish Sabbath as before they did And these Believers who were yet zealous of the Law and thought themselves obliged together with Christianity to observe the Law of Moses did no doubt think themselves equally obliged to the Iewish Sabbath Those who thought themselves obliged to be Baptized and to be Circumcised also thought themselves in like manner obliged to observe the Lords day and also the Iewish Sabbath And till they should be better satified the Apostles permit the Iews so to do If this do not satisfy him I have yet two Expedients for him 1. Let him begin his Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh day Whether the Seventh in course from the Creation I cannot tell nor can any Man living inform me But it will at least be the Seventh day of His Week 2. If he be not satisfied with this My next Expedient is thus Let him take a Voyage round the World as Sir Francis Drake did Going out of the Atlantick Ocean West-ward by the Streights of Magellan to the East-Indies and then from the East returning by the Cape of Good Hope the usual way homeward And take with him as many as please of those who are of his mind And let them keep their Saturday-Sabbath all the way When they come home to England they will find their Saturday to fall upon our Sunday and they may thenceforth continue to observe their Saturday-Sabbath on the same day with us Which is the second Expedient If you ask How this can be I will make it very plain that so it will be and so it must be For Supposing the Earth to be Round and the Sun moving from East to West you must allow that it comes sooner to the Eastern parts than to the Western It will sooner be Noon in Holland than in England and sooner here than in Ireland If you ask How much sooner We say that Fifteen Degrees of Longitude West-ward makes it an Hour later As if he Embark about Dover Yarmouth or other Port on the East-side of England and Sail as far West-ward as the West of Ireland or a little farther it will be an Hour later and not be Noon there till it be One a Clock at the place where he Embarked And so in proportion an Hour for every Fifteen degrees And accordingly when he hath gone round the whole Circle of Three hundred and Sixty Degrees that is Four and twenty times Fifteen it will be later by Four and twenty hours That is it will be but Saturday-noon with him when it is Sundaynoon with those who staid here That is His Saturday will be Our Sunday And thenceforth his Saturday-Sabbath will be the same day with our Sunday-Sabbath ever after And this I think should fully satisfy him For he tells us p. 39. The variety of the time of the Sun-rising or setting in different Climates doth no way disturb for that a day longer or shorter is still a day and but a day Most certain it is he who shall have thus Sailed round the World will have had one day fewer than those who staid here So it was with Sir Francis Drake and his Company And so it hath been with all who have taken such a Voyage as many have done for it is not a rare case and so will be to any who shall so do What he would resolve upon this case or what he thinks Sir Francis Drake was to do when this happened I cannot
was the First Month and which the Fourteenth day of that Month we shall find they were at great uncertainties as to the just day yet was not the Service thereof to be neglected upon pretense there was danger of missing the right day For they had not Almanacks in those days as we have now to tell us before hand when will be a New Moon But if we may believe the Jewish Writers their manner was about the time when they expected a New-Moon to send men to watch for it on the Top of some Hill or high Place and he who could first discover a New-Moon was to tell the Priest and he to blow the Trumpet to give the People notice that there was a New-Moon much like our Custom at Oxford at the time of the Assizes to set some on St. Maries Steeple to watch when the Judges are coming and then to Ring the Great Bell to give notice to those concerned that the Judges are at hand But in case of Cloudy Weather if in three days time from their first Expectation no man could see a New Moon they did then venture but not before to blow the Trumpet without seeing it which must needs cause a great uncertainty and the same Moon sooner seen at one place than at another and the Pass-over kept accordingly And t is manifest in the Story of our Saviours last Pass-over that he kept it on one day and the Jews on another perhaps he about a Fortnight before might see a New-Moon a day sooner than they did So great uncertainty there was at that time as to the particular day though the Institution was punctual for the Fourteenth day of the First Month. And the like uncertainty there was as to all their Feasts of New-Moons And even in our days when the Motions of the Sun and Moon are much better known than at that time they were we are far from being exact in point of time Our Rule for Easter is much the same with theirs for the Pass-over The Rule in general is this The Sunday next after the Fourteenth day of the First Month is to be Easter day But when we come to make particular application we do strangely miss of our Rule And our Paschal Tables which should direct us do put us farther out than if we had none at all For by reason that we take the length of our common year a little too long by about Eleven minutes of an hour and the length of our Months too long also since the time that those Tables were made 't is well known that the beginning of our Ecclesiastical First Month is Ten or Eleven days later than that of the Heavens and our Ecclesiastical New-Moons and Full-Moons is later by Four or Five days than those of the Heavens Whereby we do very often mistake the Month and yet oftner the true Week for keeping of Easter And though Pope Gregory the Eighth did somewhat more than an Hundred years ago somewhat rectify the Calendar yet both Papists and Protestants do observe some the Newer Gregorian and some the Older Iulian account and in the United Provinces of the Netherlands one Town observes one account and the next the other account and accordingly keep their Easters if at all at Three Four or Five Weeks distance And so for Christmas-day 'T is not agreed amongst Chronologers either what Year or what Month much less what day of that Month our Saviour was born yet wee keep December 25th in memory of his Birth as supposing him to have been then born Yea we are at so great uncertainty that we reckon the year 1692 from his Circumcision to begin the First of Ianuary but the same year as from his Conception not till the 25th of March next following as if his Birth and Circumcision had been a quarter of a year before his Conception And if we be now at so great an uncertainty in so short a Period as from the Birth of Christ I do not think the Jews could be punctual as to a day in observing their Pass-over and much less as to a day from the Creation of the World He 'l say perhaps that Easter and Christmas being of humane Institution it is not much matter though we miss the day nor much matter perhaps whether it be kept or no. Be it so But the Pass-over was of Divine Institution yet were they at a great uncertainty and might chance to miss more than a day or two yet was not the Duty to be therefore neglected The mistake of a Day was of much less concernment than the neglect of the Duty As was the Tithing of Mint and Annise than the weightier things of the Law These little Circumstances are but Shaddows in comparison of the Substance as the Comparison is Col. 2. 17. Which is not said to incourage any one to violate the Laws of God even in little things for we find God sometimes very severe even in such as in the Case of Uzzah's touching the Ark and Nadab and Ahihu's offering strange Fire for Reasons best known to himself of which we are not aware But onely to shew that the Substantials of a Duty are to be regarded more than Circumstantials and these upon occasion to give way to those And in such Cases if it were a fault the Prayer of Hezekiah 2 Chr. 30. 18. is to take place The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God though he be not cleansed according to the Purification of the Sanctuary And his Service was accepted though as it is expresly noted they did eat the Pass-over otherwise than as it was written And in the Second Month in stead of the First And doubtless in the present case If we do not know as certainly we do not which is the First or Seventh day in a continual Circulation from the Creation it is much better to keep a Weekly Sabbath on any day of the Week whatever than to keep none at all and much more agreable to the true meaning of the Fourth Commandment All which is said partly by way of Caution not to be forward upon slight grounds to disturb the Peace and settled practise of the whole Christian Church at this day Partly to take off what he would have to be admitted but cannot be proved that the Seventh day in a continued Circulation of Weeks from the first Creation was observed as the Weekly Sabbath from the Creation to the Floud from thence to Abraham from thence to Israels coming out of Egypt and from thence till after the Resurrection of Christ. Which I think is impossible for any man to know And partly to satisfy what he objects from the Fourth Commandment Which saith indeed that there is to be a Rest on the Seventh day after Six days of Labour but not a Word of its being such Seventh day in a continual Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And therefore we are safe hitherto for ought I see But I 'le come up a little
Commandment and other Writers about the Sabbath That this Commandment begins with Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath-day or the day of Rest not the Seventh day much less the Seventh day of the Week from the first Creation And what is that day of Rest the next Words tell us Six days shalt thou labour but the Seventh is the Sabbath c. That is after Six days of Labour the Seventh shall be a day of Rest. And in the close of that Commandment Ex. 20. 11. our Bibles have it wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day not as we commonly repeat it the Seventh day and hallowed it The Reason given to inforce it is For in Six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. and rested the Seventh day and accordingly should we after Six days of Work have a Seventh day of Rest and so onward If he thinks that to make a difference that we now reckon our Weeks to begin with the day of Rest and after that Six Working days which in a continued Circulation comes all to one I will allow that Gentleman if that will please him better to begin the Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh The Commandment says nothing of the Seventh day of the Week in a continued Succession from the Creation but the Seventh day after Six days of Labour And whereas he observes and would lay great weight upon it that it is hashebigni the Seventh the article ha answering to our the not a Seventh 'T is very true and very proper so to be For the meaning is not that after Six days of Labour there should be a Seventh for Rest no matter when but the Seventh day that is the next day after those Six But it is not said the Seventh in Course from the Creation Just as when it is said a Male-Child is to be Circumcised the Eighth day it is not meant of an Eighth day in Course from the Creation but the Eighth day from the Birth And in like manner Ex. 12. 16. In the Seventh day there shall be a Holy Convocation it is not meant of the Seventh day of the Week from the Creation but on the Seventh day of the Feast of unleavened Bread what ever day of the Week that happen to be And Exod. 16. 5 25. The Sixth and Seventh day there mentioned seem plainly to be not the Sixth and Seventh in course from the Creation which I doubt was not then known but from the first raining of Manna ver 4 5. He 'll say perhaps The Jews observed such Seventh day from the Creation and that was their Sabbath But that is more than he or I know or any man living They had I grant a Circulation of Seven days but from what Epocha we cannot tell And when Moses tells them on the Sixth day Ex. 16. 23. Tomorrow is the Rest of the Holy Sabbath It seems to be the fixing of a new Epocha from the first raining of Manna and then all his Arguments from the continual Observation of the Seventh day from the Creation till that time are at an end Whether this from the first raining of Manna be the same with that from the Creation no man can tell And there is Six to One odds that it is not Now that there is a new Course of Sabbath from a new beginning whereof this Seventh day from the first raining of Manna is the First and not a continuation of a former Course hitherto observed without interruption seems farther evident from this consideration Because if this were but a continuation of that uninterrupted Course of Sabbaths then the next Seventh day before it would have been a Sabbath also and to have been in like manner observed that is the next day before the first raining of Manna But on that day we find Exod. 16. 12 13. the Quails came up and covered the Camp without any Prohibition to gather them If therefore they might not now gather Manna because it was the Sabbath but might before gather Quails it should seem that was not a Sabbath And if it be not allowed upon occasion to fix a new Epocha then if the Circulation of Weeks from the beginning of the World which was then about 2500 years old did ever chance to have been interrupted and the day forgotten as in all likelyhood it might be in Egypt if not long before or if ever after it should chance so to be as in the days of Iosiah when the Book of the Law was lost and the Pass-over forgotten men must never keep a Sabbath thenceforth For then all his own Arguments return upon him No other day is Commanded 't is Will-worship no Promise to the Observance no Threatning for the Neglect I should rather think if that day were unknown as I believe it is Any day were better than None at all For Gods Commands do more respect the Substance of the Duty than the Circumstance of Time especially if they cannot both be had Circumcision was to be Administred on the Eighth day according to the Institution I do not mean the Eighth day of the Week but the Eighth day of the Childs Age and therefore on the same day of the Week on which the Child was Born But if by Accident or Default it were omitted it might be done any day after rather than not at all Abraham we know was 99 years old and Ismael 13 when they were Circumcised and what was the Age of other Males in Abraham's Family we cannot tell and a Proselyte at any Age was to be Circumcised though perhaps it were not remembred on what day of the Week he was Born and those who were born in the Wilderness for Forty years together were all Circumcised at once Iosh. 5. 4 5 9. though not all born on the same day of the Week The Pass-over was appointed to be eaten standing with their Loyns girt their Shoes on their feet and their Staffs in their hand as in hast to be gone Ex. 12. Yet our Saviour seemeth to have Eaten it Sitting or rather Lying And none of them were to stir out of doors till morning Ex. 12. 22. Yet Christ and his Disciples went out the same night to the mount of Olives and thence to Gethsemane Mat. 26. 30 36. The Shew-bread was to be eaten by the Priests only yet our Saviour observes that David did eat of it on a special occasion without blaming him for so doing The Rechabites are commended Ier. 31. for obeying the Command of Ionathan their Father not to drink Wine nor build Houses but to dwell in Tents c. Yet did they upon Nebuchadnezzar's Invasion quit their Tents and repair to Ierusalem nor is it reputed a Disobedience The Paschal Lamb was to be kill'd the Fourteenth day of the First Month at Evening Yet if we consider how little knowledge they had in those days of the Sun and Moons motions and if we consider what the Jewish Writers tell us of their very uncertain Method of judging which
had not thought it to be so meant by his Master St. Iohn 〈…〉 manner it was observed in their solemn religious assemblies Iustin Martyr tells us within â—0 years after that and that it was otherwise called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sunday And that Dominica or Dies Dominicus hath been so used not onely by the Ancient Christian Writers Ignatius Clemens Irenaeus Origen Tertullian c. but by the Councils and Church History all along hath been so often shewed by divers and is to be seen by any who please to consult them as is not to be doubted by any unless we would under the notion of Tradition deny all History which in a plain matter of Fact were very unreasonable Nor can he shew that the name of the Lords day ever was however it might have been as he thinks attributed to the Iewish Sabbath And therefore to tell us that this name is stollen from the Iewish Sabbath to be applied to ours is such a Fansy as may be laughed at but doth not deserve a serious Answer Sure we are that the Christian Sabbath hath been long in possession of that Name but that ever the Iewish Sabbath was so there is no evidence Therefore the Theft must be on his side who steals it from us to give it to the Jewish Sabbath But he tells us that our Saviour himself observed the Jewish Sabbath And I suppose he did so And that he was Circumcised also and did observe the Ceremonial Law But it was before his Death and Resurrection I do not find that he observed it afterward But he says after Christs Death when he had said It is finished he kept the Sabbath in the Grave Be it so if that were keeping a Sabbath And the good Women rested on that day according to the Commandment And why not Since Christ was not yet risen nor was the day yet changed or pretended so to be This therefore is but Whimsey and nothing to the purpose We all agree that till the Resurrection of Christ the Jews observed the Jewish Sabbath on what they called the Seventh-day of their Week But whether or no it were a Seventh from the Creation we cannot tell 'T is more to the purpose what he tells us that Paul and other Christians did after Christs Resurrection seem to observe the Jewish Sabbath Going to the Temple and to the Synagogues on the Sabbath-day meaning thereby the Iewish Sabbath And it is true They did so go But I answer 1. So they did on other days as well as on the Sabbath and in other places as well as in the Synagogue and the Temple Act 5. 42. Dayly in the Temple and in every house or from house to house 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 they ceased not to preach Iesus Christ. And Act. 2. 46. they continued dayly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with one accord in the Temple 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and breaking bread at home or from house to house As to such duties of Worship as were common to them with the Jews they took the opportunity of joining therein with them whether on their Sabbath or on any other day but as to what was peculiarly Christian this they performed in separate meetings from them breaking their Bread at home 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or from house to house The Sacrament of the Lords Supper being peculiarly a Christian service they did celebrate in their houses or separate places of meeting And so we find it at Troas and on the first day of the week Act. 20. 7. on the first day of the week when the Disciples were met to break bread Paul preached c. Their meeting for this Christian service was in a separate place and on another day from that of the Iewish service And Paul at Athens Act. 17. 17. he disputed in the Synagogue with the Jews and with the devout persons and in the Market Dayly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He took the opportunity of publick meetings whether in the Synagogues or elsewhere whether on the Sabbath or any other day to preach Christ to them whether Jews or Greeks Which doth not prove that they did then take the seventh day to be the Christian Sabbath any more than our going to Hear or Preach a Week-day Lecture suppose on Thursday would prove that we take Thursday to be our Sabbath or Paul's Preaching on Mars-hill or in the Market-place would prove that he took these places to be the Temple or Synagogue He knew these to be Times and Places of concourse and therefore took the opportunity of Preaching Then and There and would so have done at any other time and place as there was occasion In season or out of season as he adviseth Timothy 2 Tim. 4. 2. He doth not deny p. 122. but that Paul did keep the Feast of the Pass-over after the Resurrection of Christ Because of what we have Act. 18. 21. He bids them farewel at Ephesus saying I must by all means keep this Feast that cometh at Jerusalem but I will return again unto you if God will Which Feast he thinks to be that of the Pass-over though it be not named But whether that or whatever Feast of the Jews it be it is all one as to our business How great a proof would this have been for the Seventh-day-Sabbath if it had been said I must by all means keep the Sabbath 'T is said indeed he did on the Sabbath-day go into the Synagogue but so he did on other days but not that he kept the Sabbath-day much less that he must by all means Keep it Or that he must by all means take a journey from Ephesus to Ierusalem rather than not keep it though he were to return thither again Yet this Author doth not for all this think the Law for the Iewish Pass-over to be then in force But onely that Paul took occasion to be there at that publick great concourse of People to preach Christ to the multitude For that the Apostles were under no obligation to keep that feast of the Pass-over after the death of Christ is to him he says past doubt And why may not we say the same of his going into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day rather than miss such an oportunity of a publick concourse which was a less journey than from Ephesus to Ierusalem though under no obligation to keep the Iewish Sabbath more than to keep the Iews Pass-over 2. But I answer further The Jews who were not Christians did yet continue to observe the Jewish Sabbath as a matter of duty And there was no reason why they should not For while they did not acknowledge our Christ to be the Messiah nor the Mosaick Law to be at an end but Circumcision and the Jewish Oeconomy yet in force there was no reason why they should not think themselves obliged to the Jewish Sabbath And many of the Christian Jews who were not yet satisfied of the Abolition of the Mosaick Law did comply with them therein
tell If he would go on to reckon the days according as they had happened to him in his Voyage then this Expedient must fully satisfy him For then he keeps his Saturday-Sabbath on our Sunday If he thinks the account should be rectified when or before he comes home and call the days thenceforth as he finds those to do that staid here what shall be come of that day he hath lost and which day of the Week shall he reckon that to be And When must he rectify that account when he comes home or somewhere by the way For it would be just the same if before he come at England he should have landed in France or Spain or on the Coast of Africk or even at the East-Indies and all the way from thence he would still be a day behind them And so he would be with every Ship that in his way he should meet with If he and such other Ship meet at the Isle of St. Helens to take fresh water his Saturday will be their Sunday and on which of the two days are they to keep their Sabbath or must they keep it one on the one day and the other on the other If he say that the account is to be rectified by the way before he comes home then Where or When and by What rule For when ever he doth so rectify it he must then begin to call Sunday what just before he was to call Saturday If he say This must be left to Discretion when and where Then must it be matter of discretion and not determin'd by the Fourth Commandment on which of the two days in question the Sabbath shall be kept But then here will again come in our amazing demand as p. 48 86 87. What man or men without an high Usurpation of the Divine Authority contrary to the First Commandment shall with pretended good intentions assume an authority of their own heads to appoint for this or that place suppose the Streights of Magellan what day shall be the Lords holy Sabbath Who but our Lord Iesus Christ that is Lord of the Sabbath hath power to institute a Sabbath day If the Church or any part thereof be once admitted to have such Power what Bolts or Locks will be strong enough for such a Door to keep it from letting in upon the Churches of Christ what soever pleaseth those in Power I shall not much trouble my self to answer all this Warmth But when that is over if at or near the Streights of Magellan a place I think not inhabited or not by Christian a Colony be planted by some from hence and some from the East-Indies those who come thither from hence will according to their account call that Saturday which those who come thither from the other side will according to their account call Sunday Must they have no Sabbath at all that 's against the Fourth Commandment Or must they by consent agree upon the day this I should think if he would give me leave Or must they keep it some upon one day some on the other This I would by no means advise if it may be avoided Because it would be a manifest confusion and disorder And they would not both if either be the Seventh-day in course from the Creation And which of them is so is not possible for any man to know And it would be more for common Edification that they do agree upon a common day And not much matter whether of the Two This Gentleman if he can consider of it calmly I am apt to think will be of the same mind and think it better to have such a Sabbath than none at all and that the little circumstance whether on this or that day should be disregarded in comparison of the Substantials of the Duty There be many things which the Word of God or the Divine Law doth determine in Thesi which when in Hypothesi they come in practise will require the intervention of Prudentials or Humane Laws The Eighth Commandment says I must not Steal or take unduly from my Neighbour what is His But What is Mine and what is my Neighbours will depend much upon Humane Laws and what shall be reputed a Trespass on my Neighbours land or a forfeiture of his right The Seventh Commandment says Thou shalt not commit Adultery But it will depend much upon Humane Law what shall be reputed a Good Marriage The Sixth Commandment says Thou shalt not Kill But it will much depend upon Humane Law what shall be reputed Self-defense or a Just War or a Forfeiture of Life The Fifth Commandment requires us to Honour and Obey our Parents But in many cases 't is Humane Law that is to determine who is to be reputed the Father If a Widow be left whith Child by a former Husband and marry another before that Child be born which sometime happens 't will be a point in Law not in Divinity to whether of the Two Fathers this Son shall be Heir And if my Father require me to part with what Estate is my own 't will be a point in Law how far I am required to obey such a Command And the like as to other Superiours as well as Natural Parents And those Laws which seem Absolute as Thou shalt not Kill Thou shalt not Steal c. Have yet their Tacite Limitations implied For no man doubts but there are cases wherein to Kill may be lawful as in Self-defense in a just War and for Capital Crimes And in such cases to take from our Neighbour what was His. And notwithstanding the Command of Honour thy Father and Mother or that of Children obey your Parents in all things there may things happen wherein we are not obliged to do what they bid us And in all such cases there is room for Prudence to interpose Not to Abrogate or Repeal a Law of God But to judge what is the true Intent of that Law So not withstanding that Command of the Sabbath In it thou shall do no manner of work yet our Saviour tells us The Priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless and against the Pharisees superstitious rigour he argues not onely from his own Authority The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath-day But from the Reason of the Law The Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath and consequently is so to be understood as may be for the Good of Man spiritual and bodily not for his Hurt And our Author allows the emergent cases of Necessity and Mercy And no man doubts but that if a House be on Fire we may Labour to quench it In all which cases Prudence may be used but must not upon that pretense be Abused Not as if it were left to our Prudence whether or no the Law of God shall be Obeyed But what is in such cases the true Intendment of the Law of God And there needs no other Locks or Bolts as our Author speaks to confine Prudence in such