day God hath appointed for the souls great affairs and negotiations we must conclude that the time which God requires for himself and for the souls advantage must be at least equal for continuance to that which he allows for other employments and surely no one day of the week is longer or shorter then another but if the Lords day hath not twenty four hours it must needs be shorter then the rest The Primitive Church kept a night as well as a day on the Sabbath as appeared by their Vigils and this not only in times of persecution but in the times when Emperours were Christians The ancient Fathers are clear copious in commanding the Observation of a whole Sabbath for spiritual services as a duty So Augustine Irenaeus and the Council of Mascon hath these words Let us observe the Lords day and sanctifie Aug. Iren. Conc. Mascon it from the Evening of the Saturday till the Evening of the Lords day sequestred from all business Nay let us hear Mr. Primrose our Adversary in this Controversie It is necessary saith that learned man that a day be chosen and appointed that in it as often as it returns men may apply themselves extraordinarily Primrose Praes p. 1 2. to publick and private devotion men must stint some ordinary day for that end and in this stinting must not shew themselves inferiour to the Jewes appointing less then one day in seven to Gods service And another concludes who is likewise our adversary That some day be destinated to the Lord may seem to be a dictate of the Law of Nature which he proves from the practice of the Heathens who observed a whole day to the honour of their Gods And therefore C. DOW p. 74. what spirit are they of who on the week day could wish the Sun might stand still as in the time of Joshua or Josh 10. 13. 2 Kings 20. 11. run back as on the dyal of Ahaz that they might have greater leasure for their worldly affairs but desire that the Sun might pass on on a Sabbath if it were possible with a speedier flight that that holy day might be the sooner over like those wanton Israelites Amos 8. 5. who were Amos 8. 5. weary of their Sabbath In a word it is very strange that any man should make the Sabbath like Nebuchadnezzars Image the upper parts Gold and Silver but the lower Dan. 2. 32 33. parts Iron and Clay the former part of a Sabbath to be spent in holy in golden duties but the latter part of the Sabbath in Iron labours or Clay drossie pleasures and delights in bowling and shooting and such like sports so much contended for by many men to be lawfull on the Sabbath day God will not abate any thing of a whole day in other Festivals which are of an inferiour nature and which were onely Ceremonial shaddows of something to come as we Lev. 23. 3◠may observe in that signal and famous place Lev. 23. 32. the words are these And it shall be unto you a Sabbath of rest and you shall afflict your souls in the ninth day of the month at Even from Even unto Even shall ye celebrate your Sabbath Now this Feast here mentioned was called the Feast of Expiation and it was celebrated on the tenth day of the month Tisri our September and it was called the feast of Post paschale sacrum elapsis septem septimanis quadraginta novem diebus quinquagessima quam à numero Asartha Hebraei vocant offerunt deo panem Joseph Anti. Lib. 3 Cap. 10. Expiation because the High Priest did then confess unto God both his own sins and the sins of the people by performance of some Rites and Ceremonies expiate them and make an attonement to God for them Now to give you the Reason why this Feast was called a Sabbath in the forementioned Text you must conceive that the other Festivals of the Jews were by a general notion called Sabbaths though they did not fall on the seventh day as the New Moons Ezek. 46. 3. the feast of unleavened bread instituted in the twelfth of Exodus upon the sparing of the Jewes in the slaughter of the Aegyptians first born and the feast of Exod. 23. 14. Pentecost a feast instituted in memory of the Law given on Mount Sinai fifty dayes after Israels coming out of Egypt Haec sesta so lennia si in Sabbathum inciderent ob duplicem sestivitatem magnus dies Sabbathi vocabantur Leid Prof. and in these feasts which continued divers dayes the first and the last were more properly termed Sabbaths And so in the feast of Tabernacles or Booths which was ordained to witness that the Israelites lived in Tents or Booths in the Wilderness the first and the last day of this feast was called a Sabbath but if these solemn feasts fell upon a weekly Sabbath for the double feastival it was called the great day of the Sabbath Joh. 19. 31. But to reassume the Argument If God will have a whole day for these Ceremonial Mel. 4. 2. Hos 6. 4. Psal 92. 1 2. feasts which were to set with the rising Sun the coming of Christ the Sun of Righteousness surely God will abate nothing of his substantial Sabbath which is to endure till Sabbathi apud Judaeos fuerunt variae significationes quae tamen ab hac primâ omnes dependent quâ septimus cujusque hebdomadae dies in quarto Praecepto Sabbathum appellatur Wal. the second coming of Christ I mean not the seventh day the Jewes Sabbath but the first day of the week the Christian Sabbath If the Lord was so strict that he would not lose a moments honour in a ceremonial day of rest what shall we think the Lord expects upon this day this holy blessed Sabbath which is moral and perpetual Surely on this day we must not serve him by fits and flashes and sudden pangs which pass away as the early dew but we must constantly walk with him the whole day A flying Ceremony must not command more constant and strict observance then a stated steady festival the holy and weekly Sabbath Wallaeus observes all the other Sabbaths of the Jewes had their dependence on the great Sabbath the weekly Sabbath Luke 18. 12. Gal. 4. 9. and the week was sometimes called Sabbath and so the first day of the week was called the first day of the Sabbath Haec Sabbatha Ceremoniales fuerunt umbrae verum futurarum Ames and so the second of the week the second of the Sabbath for the Sabbath sake that glorious day which shed a lustre upon and gave name to the whole week And indeed other Sabbaths were but beggarly elements as the Apostle Sabbatil autem in decalogo praescriptum et dies nostra Dominica alius prorsus sunt naturae Id. speaks Gal. 4. 9. beggarly having little in them to enrich the soul and elements being the first and weak method of instruction the
when a Sabbath the day of God and our souls is Jud. 15. 6. almost lost in a Nation for this let tears be our drink and Jud. 21. 2. ashes our meat day and night And when the Magistrates Psal 42. 3. become Gallioes for the things of God let the people become Jeremies for the day of God Sabbath decayes will soon make a bankrupt Nation Nay lastly we may bewail the punished purity of Englands Sabbaths The people of God cannot be so good as they will on Gods holy day How often are the Saints in the midst of Lew Sabbati opera humana non divina prohibuit Tertul. their weeping eyes bended knees melting hearts mounting minds when congregated in secret to seek Gods face and to meet with Christ their beloved How often I say are they interrupted surprized haled away by Officers and the Sanctuary leads them to a Prison their Piety is uncharitably called treachery and their devotion is unreasonably interpreted Sedition This is Englands misery and unhappiness the Prisons are filled with spiritual worshippers and the Nation is filled with carnal Gospellers Prophaneness is uncontrouled but the most resined service of God is liable to poenalties Tertullianus de Cor. Mil. Plin. Sec. in Epist ad Trajanum Imper. De Amelucanis coetibus Christianorum in die dominigo mentionem faciunt and pursued with force and violence not because it is unsuitable to Gods will but it is inconformable to mans law Now as the Primitive Christians we must have our caetus antelucanos our early because unknown meetings on Gods holy day but surely it must needs be a great evil to rout the stars when gathered in a constellation to hush away the Doves when they stock to the windows and strange it is that mans wrath should be there where Gods presence is in the assembly of the Saints But that the people of God meeting on the day of God in the name of God for fuller communion Mat. 18. 20. with and enjoyment of God in obedience to the command Dan. 12. 3. of God should meet with frowns and disgusts should feel the sharpness of a Law or undergoe the keenness of Mat. 13. 43. the Magistrates sword and all this in a Protestant Nation Isa 60. 8. whose usuall Motto was Mildness This is a lamentation and Psal 89. 7. shall be for a lamentation Isa 4. 5. Ezek. 19. 14. FINIS The TABLE A SEnsual Actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day 20. and so sinfull 22 There shall be no Affliction in our Sabbath above 218 The Lords day is of Divine Authority 569 An answer to the Apostles preaching in the Synagogues on their Sabbath day 570 The Lords day instituted by Divine Authority 585 Not by Ecclesiastical ibid. Arguments to urge Sabbath-holiness 668. 718. 732. B The Bounty of God in giving us his Sabbath 186 Our outward Behaviour must be exact in Publick Ordinances on the Sabbath 277 The Sabbath instituted from the Beginning 526 C God is admirable in the works of Creation 147. 191 Conscience is chiefly to be dealt withall in Gospel Administrations 259 The benefit of Chatechizing 334 Some necessary Cautions to prevent Sabbath pollution 407 Several Cases to satisfie conscience in Sabbath Observation 440 The fourth Commandment cannot be Ceremonial 489. 544 The worke of Creation compared with the work of Redemption wherein the last exceeds the first 642 D Duties shall not want their reward p. 3 The Sabbath must be spent in holy Delight 53 The Emptiness of worldly Delights 58 Duration speaks the value of every good thing 209 The sweetness of Holy Duties 229 Holy Discourse doth well become the Sabbath 320 Several Directions for the better observance of the Lords day 353 The evil of Spiritual Doubts 382 All dayes are not eqaally holy in the times of the Gospel 496 The observation of one Day in seven to God hath its great advantages 499 The wildness of that opinion which makes every Day a Sabbath day 505 A seventh Day not the seventh day is commanded in the fourth Commandment 582 E To rise Early well becomes the morning of a Sabbath 85 Several incentives to this practice 86 87 c. The several Ends of the Sabbath 191 Divers Evils to be avoided in the time of publick Ordinances 297 Several Examples of Divine Justice breaking out upon Sabbath-breakers 683 England bemoan'd for Sabbath-prophanation 781 F Holy Fruitfulness becomes the Sabbath 56 Many Faculties and parts to be acted on a Sabbath 95 The Excellency of Faith 422 The sore judgement of a Famine of the Word 680 The influence God hath upon the Fire 716 G Many Graces to be acted on a Sabbath 95 God is most Glorious in his Nature and Essence 128 The works of Grace deserve our sweetest meditation 178 The works of Glory to be meditated on 185 Active Graces become holy Ordinances 316 How to procure Gods presence in ordinances 385 There are three Glasses to see our hearts in 445 H We must look on the Sabbath as Honourable 54 God most glorious in his Holiness 135 How we are to deal with our Hearts on the morning of a Sabbath 263 Holiness is engraven upon the Sabbath 733 I Holy Joy becomes a Sabbath 267 How our Inward man is to be ordered in publick Ordinances 300 How we must spend the Interval between the Morning and Evening worship of a Sabbath 319 The Lords day is a day of Rest not Idleness 427 The great evils of Idleness 435 Idleness on the Lords day a very great evil 436 The Jewes sometimes very exemplary in Sabbath-observation 514 We Christians are to out-vy the Jews in Sabbath-observation 634 The dreadfull Judgements which pursue Sabbath-breakers 676 L The Labourers plea for recreations upon the Sabbath answered 33 Impertinent Language unbecoming the Sabbath day 49 God is incomprehensible in his Love 143 Nothing in a Saint can make a change in Gods Love 145 The Lords day confirmed by all Laws 619 What Christian Liberty is 645 Some remarkables concerning Londons fire which began on the Lords day 696 M Secret duties befitting the Morning of a Sabbath 89 The benefit of Morning duties on Gods holy day 104 The excellency of Meditation 106 124. It s Nature 107. How it is distinguished from some things very like to it 109. How much and how long we must Meditate 112. The chiefest seasons for Meditation 115. The rich advantages of Meditation 119. Meditation proper to every Ordinance 121 122. It feeds our Graces ibid. And amplifies our Comforts 123. It s necessity 125 The Morality of the fourth Commandment 552 How the Sabbath was made for Man 648 O Outward enjoyments are the reward of Sabbath obedience 59 God is most glorious in his Omnisciency 134 The excellency of Gospel Ordinances 285. 423 424. 443 The first Original of the Sabbath 522 And most probably it was ordained in Paradise 524 P The Poor mans Plea for working on a Sabbath Answered 7 Rich Promises made to a due observation of the Sabbath 57 63 Prophanation of the Sabbath the greatest Prodigality 67 Preparation for the Sabbath very necessary and several incentives to it 71 What those Preparatory duties are which must precede the Sabbath 77 Publick duties become the Sabbath 93 Many Persons to converse with on a Sabbath 96 God is most adorable in his Power 133 God to be exceedingly admired in the works of his Providence 156 Gods Presence must be meditated on on the Sabbath day 188 Prayer well becomes the morning of a Sabbath 239 How our Prayers must be qualified 243 The necessity of the spirits assistance in all our Prayers 246 What we must Pray for on the morning of the Sabbath 249 Practice is the best use of Ordinances 161 The sweetness and excellency of the Promises 269 Singing of Psalms a sweet and an excellent duty 339 The efficacy of Prayer 425 The advantages of Praying alone 454 Miscellanious Prescriptions for the better discharge of conscience in Sabbath-observation 765 R Recreations unlawfull on a Sabbath 23 Reverence becomes the Sabbath 54 God is wonderfull in the most glorious work of Mans Redemption 167 All the attributes of God shone gloriously in the work of Mans Redemption 174 The benefit of Repeating Sermons 327 Why the word Remember is prefaced to the fourth Commandment 660 The Resurrection of Christ a forcible argument to Sabbath-holiness 750 S What a Sabbath days journey is 6 The whole Sabbath is to be spent with God 35 The worth of the Soul 38 The Saints must meet together on a Sabbath day 97 The Jewish Sabbath compared with the Christian 201 The Christians Sabbath here compared with his Sabbath above 210 Some eminent types of our Sabbath above 234 The excellency of the Scriptures 272. 326. 456. Reading of the Scriptures usefull in the morning of a Sabbath 273 Publick Assemblies most pleasing on a Sabbath 274 The mischiefs of Sleeping in Ordinances 280 We must be Spiritual in our duties when we come to Publick Ordinances 312 What it is to be in the Spirit on the Lords day 387 The rare effects of the Spirit 393 466 How to keep Solitary Sabbaths 451 453 T Gods Truth is a glorious attribute 139 Vain Thoughts must be avoided in holy ordinances 305 Two days in a week cannot be observed as Sabbaths 569 V The Beatifical Vision somewhat opened and explicated 214 Unbelief a destructive sin 421 Variety of Sabbath duties delightfull 465 W Secular Works unlawful on the Sabbath 4. By Scripture 5. By Authority Civil 10. Ecclesiastical 11. By Reason 13. Works of necessity may be done on a Sabbath day 17 God is infinite in wisdom far surpassing mans 136 To Work upon the Sabbath day very sinfull 215 Holy Watchfulness becomes a Sabbath 401 How to keep a Whole Sabbath to God spiritually and sweetly 466 FINIS
sweet promises the first made to Charity the best of duties 10 11. Verses the second made to a Holy Observation of the Sabbath the best of dayes Verse 13 14. And thus much may serve as a manuduction to lead you to the Text. CHAP. II. The Explication of the Text. IN the Text we have two remarkable Parts An Eminent Duty enjoyned Duties they are the Cords of a man to use the Prophets Phrase by which we are Hos 11. 4. sweetly drawn nearer to God they are our Travel towards Canaan While we are in a way of duty we are in Bona opera sunt via ad Regnum our way to the Kingdome Holy Duties are our spiritual intercourse our traffique with Heaven and such a duty is enjoyned in the Text. A Precious promise entailed on the accomplishing and right acting of this duty and indeed God doth not usually send our duties when duly performed empty away Duties Evangelically acted they are like Noahs Dove with the Gen. 8. 11. Gen. 44. 2. branch in her mouth like Benjamins sack with the silver Cup in the top of it God will not leave unrewarded the sweat of the soul But of these in their order For the Duty it self in the whole of it is a spiritual observation of the Sabbath The Sabbath day as God ordained it for his own Rest so it must be observed for his own Honour The Sabbath is Gods by his own Institution and by our sanctification As we receive it from God so we must keep it to God But in the Text there are many branches sprouting from this common stock God directs us many wayes and in many methods how to observe his Sabbath and we will trace and open these Directions in an orderly progress and proceeding These Directions they are partly negative and partly positive These Negative Directions call us from some practices which are prohibited and from some language which must be restrained Now there are four sorts of actions we must be abstemious from upon the Sabbath or to speak in Gospel language upon the Lords Day CHAP. III. Secular and servile works utterly unlawfull on the Sabbath day ACcording to the Text we must abstain ab actionibus civilibus from Civil Actions from the works of our Secular actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day we are in no wise to follow the works of our Calling Alap Callings the Shop and the Change-business must be laid aside on a Sabbath so the Text If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath Now Alapide gives us the genuine interpretation of that phrase Omne opus servile quod pedibus fit aut manibus hic erat prohibitum All servile works which the feet or hands accomplish is here prohibited Indeed the feet are quick and ready to prosecute the gains of the World and therefore here we are commanded to keep our feet from being exercised in servile or secular imployments on this Holy Day not any work must â—xod 20. 10. be done saith God in the fourth Commandment a Commandment in which we may truly-say digitus Dei the Exod. 31. 18. Finger of God We must not mingle the Week with the Sabbath Oecolampadius well descants on this phrase in Oecolamp in hunc locum Judas Macchab We are to abstain from all servile work that having no work of our own we may be wholly taken up with Gods work that he may speak with us and reveal himself fully and familiarly to us as friends do when they get alone Shep. p. 84. the Text Si quicquam rerum tuarum in Sabbatho if thou hast appointed to do any of thy works upon the Sabbath and shalt draw thy foot away from the Sabbath intermiseris illud opus propter Sabbathum that is shalt intermit and lay aside that work for the Sabbath-sake because of the Sabbath in remembrance of the Sabbath then thou shalt sanctifie the Sabbath for such a Sabbath is acceptable to God Whatsoever work we have purposed we must break it off and turn our feet from it upon a Sabbath One well observes that Judas Macchabaeus whom God raised up for the defence of his People against the Tyranny of Antiochus that he having a great Victory against Nicanor and his Host and putting to the sword nine thousand and chasing away the rest the day before the Sabbath after that they had gathered the spoyle together they did rest upon the Sabbath and praised God for the Victory and after the Sabbath was past then they took order for the dividing of the spoyle Indeed should we labour upon Prohibeturopus nostrum scil servile mechanicum laboriosum quaestuosum ordinarium tum privatum tum publicum quae cum prohibita fuerint in festis aliis solennioribus Lev. 23. 7 8 25 32 35. Num. 28. 25. Multo magis Sabbatho Leid Prof. Luke 23. 56. Psal 1. 2. the Sabbath day this would breed confusion and confound Gods day with ours we labour six dayes and should we labour on the seventh where is the distinction this is to mingle light and darkness and to abolish the Sabbath name and thing The Sabbath is the Souls Monopoly then we must not labour with our hands but with our hearts and not seek the gains of the Earth but the Kingdome of Heaven we must not then follow our Callings but our Christ Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James would not prepare odours to annoinâ— Christs body when he was dead on the Sabbath day but rested that day least while they went about to Embalm his body they might indeed eclipse his Glory On this day Physicians must not study Galen nor Philosophers Aristotle nor Mathematicians Archimedes but their delight must be in the Law of the Lord. The Sabbath is sanctum otium a holy leasure to pursue Eternity We must so give rest to our bodies and our souls upon this day that nothing trouble us for here we must take up that of the Philosopher Postulandum secessum Toto hoc die vacandum Domino ut melius intendamus we must have our repose that we may the better intend the great work of our souls and therefore not onely worldly cares but worldly businesses are forbidden that so our whole body may be at command to serve God It is most eminently remarkable that we have in the Scriptures six Commandments for the observation of this Rest In Exod. 16. 22. The Israelites were to cease from gathering Manna on that day They were to gather a double measure on the day before that they might not be diverted to gather any on the Sabbath day On this day you have mercatur animae merchandise for your souls wherein are better things then Manna to be gathered Manna not like Coriander Joh. 6. 53. 1 Pet. 2. 3. seed Exod. 16. 31. but Manna which is the seed of the Word which is able to save our souls In Nehem. 13. 15 16 17. Where holy Nehemiah forbids all Traffique on the Sabbath
day Indeed the Sabbath is the market-day for the Soul as Mr. Rogers used to call it but other markets on this day are not the supplies of provision but of profanation in other merchandizing we treasure up not wealth but wrath In Jer. 17. 22. There must be no carriage of burthens on this day such servile employments are black spots upon the feast of a Sabbath It is most uncouth and unseemly that I should be tiring out my body on that day which is given Jer. 17. 27. me for the strengthning of my soul The Sabbath is not the bodies Term but the souls holy Vacation it's consecrated leisure to look after its blessedness No not in harvest â—ime must we labour on a Sabbath when Nature it self would go a gleaning and be busie with Joseph to bring the grain into the store-house and although Gen. 41. 56. Deus nullam dispensationem admittit etiam cum periculo communis jacturae Calv. in Loc. the uncertainty of the season the necessity of the Commodity and the sweetness of the grain all plead for a toleration in this matter yet it must not be for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it Exod. 34. 21. Nature like Naaman might here say only spare me in this thing 2 King 5. 18. but Gods positive Law gives no dispensation There must be no journeying on this day all our travels must be the travels of the mind our journey must be to Canaan with our faces towards Sion thus God expresly Exod. 16. 29. Obj. And as for the Objection of a Sabbath days journey Acts 1. 12. Sol. To that it may be replyed That the Text answers it self for the distance allowed to travel on the Sabbath is very small no further then Mount Olivet from Jerusalem an inconsiderable distance Learned men differ in the interpretation but all agree in this that it was a very small distance Calvin saith it was two miles and of that judgement Calv. in hunc Locum Aliquantulam itineris facere non erat contrà traditiones Phorisaeorium Chemnit are the most of the Latin Interpreters Tremellius in the Syriac Paraphrase readeth the Text thus The Mount of Olives which is near unto Jerusalem and is distant from it about seven furlongs that is not a mile And that learned man observes that the Jews in their Talmud with one consent say that the space which it was lawful for a man to go upon the Sabbath was two thousand Cubits or Spaces which make but one mile and not two And Beza very well Beza notes That all the Hebrews whose testimony is most authentical in this case make a Sabbath dayes journey only one mile Josephus who was very well acquainted with the Joseph Antiq. Lib. 20. place counted Mount Olive but five furlongs from the City But to dilate no further we may conclude with holy Mr. Greenham That this journey was no farther then one might conveniently travel for some holy purpose without hinderance of the ordinary exercises of this day or without wearisomness either to body or mind whereby he should be unfitter for the Lords Worship or his own Duties Not so much as to build Gods House though of very great use and great haste of it Exod. 31. 14 15. a most signal Text compare it with the foregoing verses not any work is indulged though Gods house should call for it The Sabbath calls for Worship not Work for the Service of the Sanctuary not for the Building of it Obj. And now if the poor man shall bring his Plea and urge the necessities of his Condition and that he cannot spare the time of a Sabbath but must work upon that day to satisfie the clamours and importunities of his family Sol. this Answer must be put unto this Plea saith in Deut. 5. 14. On the Sabbath thou shalt not do any Shall the Worm debate it with the Almighty The Lord work Is not this to impeach the wisdome of the Law-giver Deut. 5. 14. as if all cases did not fall under his consideration The Fourth Commandment is a Commandment overflowing with mercy God considers and compassionates Children Servants and Strangers nay the very Beasts of the Field the Oxe and the Asse and the poor mans case should not have been left out had divine wisdome thought a dispensation necessary he should have been left to his work as well as the stranger left to his rest It is the blessing of the Lord makes Rich as the wise man speaks Prov. 10. 22. And what can entail this blessing on Lev. 25. 3 4. comp with Vers 18 19 20 21. thee but obedience Thy Duty shall more prosper thy Estate then thy Work Can'st thou possibly be endammag'd by keeping of the Commandments which Solomon makes the sum of all Religion and Happiness Eccles 12. 13. To which the Psalmist fully accords Psal 19. 11. The best way to sill thy Cruse is to fulfill Gods Commands Godliness hath the promise of the things of this life 1 Tim. 4. 8. To disobey the Command in working on a Sabbath is the only method to drive thee to greater exigence Disobedience like intemperance shall cloath thee with rags Prophanation Prov. 23. 21. of the Sabbath will be a certain moth in the little thou enjoyest This is to fill thy bag not with Coyne but with Curses And as the wise man There shall be no reward for the evil Prov. 24. 20. man Prov. 24. 20. To rob God of his time is such a piece of sacriledge as will assuredly fill thy bags with holes which Hag. 1. 6. will hold no wages Hath not the poor man a soul to look after and when shall he lay up provisions for this piece of eternity his precious soul but onely on a Sabbath He cannot spare time on the week and shall his soul have no time at all Shall the soul which is more worth then a world not be worth that little pittance he gets by working on a Sabbath The Mat. 16 26. poor man pretends necessity certainly he hath the greatest necessity to look after his immortal soul to feed his family will he starve his soul The just man lives by faith whether he be rich or poor and surely that faith runs dregs which will not trust God Hab. 2. 4. for the provisions of a day and how irrational is it not to trust that God who could send a Raven to feed Elijah dost 1 Kings 17. 4. thou not know the Earth is the Lords and the fulness thereof Psal 24. 1. And cannot he furnish thy Table for a Sabbath thou hast spent with him And will thy poor Earnings on a Sabbath compensate the prejudice thy soul endures Whilst thou hast been labouring for â—he meat that perisheth thou mightest have gained that John 6. 27. Omne studium omne conatus eò conferamus ut habeamus non externa corruptibilâ—â— hujus mundi bona sed ut habeamus cibum qui
a Sabbath whether good actions are not becoming a holy day this must needs be undeniable Now to cure a sick person quench a burning-house resist an incroaching adversary they are actions immutably good and therefore they must be so on a Sabbath There is no time when to save a dying person can in it self be unlawfull it is an obedience to the law of Nature a compliance with those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 common principles which are concreated with us Therefore such actions cannot pollute the holy Sabbath or defloure the purity of it The third Argument our Saviour takes à potiori from that which is more eligible which is most fit to be done in case of a Dilemma and this Argument is urged Mat. 12. Mat. 12. 3 4. Generalis est haec doctrina non Davidem tantum ut sanctum Regem et Prophetam Domini licitè edisse panes propositionis quasi personale fuisset privilegium sed eâ— famulos qui cum ipso erant non peccasse manducando in casu necessitatis Lyser Mal. 4. 2. 3 4. Our Saviour tells us what David did in case of necessity It was far more eligible for David to make bold with the shew-bread then for the holy Saint and King to die for hunger his life was more considerable then an appointed observation A substantial good is more to be valued then a shadow which onely signifies something to come and would fly away at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness and therefore as necessity intrenched on extraordinary food without blanâ—e so it may presume on an extraordinary day without crime The light of Nature warrants a discharge and gives in not guilty to works of necessity on the Sabbath If my wound bleeds to death because it is not dressed on the Sabbath or my disease send me to the dust because medicinal applications are not made on the Sabbath this is my errour not my duty If I have no being God can have no worship and so acts of necessity are dispensible God will have us to worship him with all chearfulness and alacrity which cannot be with an undrest wound or a disease not to be lookt after because it is the Sabbath I cannot chearfully joyne in Divine Worship and in the mean time the waters break into my house and there must be no stoppage of them because the time of Gods holy day will not permit it Cases therefore of indispensible necessity neither pollute nor prophane the Sabbath But to wind up this particular of working on a Sabbath which hath been the more copiously handled because of the greatness of its importance we read that the holy Apostle Paul sometimes laboured with his hands but yet his Acts 20. 34. Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. works on the Lords day were Sacred and Divine nothing but preaching the Word administring the Sacraments pouring out his Soul in Prayer taking care of the poor and those duties which are the just companions of a Sabbath He acts then not as a Tent-maker but as an Apostle his Acts 18. 3. heart works not his hands In a word this particular shall be shut up with the confession of learned Master Breerwood Breerw Tract of the Sabbath p. 47. who improved so much parts and pains in asserting an undue liberty on the Sabbath yet we may hear him thus acknowledge It is meet that Christians should on the Lords day abandon all worldly affairs and dedicate it wholly to the honour of God And one of our Church Homilies hath these words Gods obedient people should use the Sunday holily and Hom. Of the timeâ— place of worship give themselves wholly to heavenly exercises of Gods true Religion and Service and this was the practice of all Gods people in all ages And so much for this large particular But secondly there are a second sort of actions we must forbear on the Lords day viz. Sensual actions so the Sensual actions to be forborn on the Sabbath day Text from doing thy pleasure on my holy day We are to forbear indulging our appetites we must not please a wanton eye or a luxurious palate on the Sabbath which is a day not to feast the Body but to feast the Soul Feasts and Banquets are not the Celebration but the Prophanation of a Sabbath then our fat things must be the fat things of Gods house Psal 36. 8. Isa 25. 6. A full luxuriant table where no necessity requires it is fitter for the day of a Bacchus then the day of Jehovah who is all purity and perfection A moderate repast for Nature doth best become the holy Sabbath The Disciples feed upon a few ears of Corn upon a Sabbath Mat. 12. 1. De caenâ nostrâ hoc dicendum est nihil utilitatis nihil immodestiae admittit non prius discumbitur quam oratio ad deum praegustetur editur quantum esurientes capiunt bibitur quantum pudicis est utile ita saturantur ut qui meminerint etiam per noctem adorandum etiam esse doum ita fabulantur ut qui sciant dominum audire Tertul. Exod. 16. 22 23 24 c. Numb 28. 10. Exod 35. 3. On this day a Table spread with dishes is more spread with temptations It is dangerous then to study to please a palate when we are more especially to look after a soul On this holy day the Word must be our food tears must be our wine singing of Psalms our musick the Sanctuary our parlour and place of repast and our festivity must be joy in the Lord our eare must be taken up in holy attention our heart in spiritual devotion our eye in divine speculation The Sabbath is the Souls not the Senses feastival then to please the curiosities of sense is not to keep but to lose the Sabbath The Jewes had onely the usuall proportion of Manna for the Sabbath they had no exceedings and though they were to offer double Sacrifices on the Sabbath they were not to eat double meals to have an increase of outward provisions They could not lawfully kindle any fire on the Sabbath and surely those preparations could not be plenteous where there was no fire to make them We Christians make the Sunday a day of spiritual rejoycing saith Bishop White and he quotes it out of Turtullian Our pleasures on this day must not be in our Meats but in our Messiah not in our varieties unless it be of Ordinances Chrysostome reports that the Love-Feasts of the Christians in the Primitive times consisted of divers Viands provided by a common purse and collation of which they took as much as would suffice the Communicants Diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tertul Chrysost On the 1 Cor. Cap. 11. Hom. 27. and so celebrated the Lords Supper together which done they presently fell to the spare and slender chear entertaining and solacing themselves with spiritual and divine Colloquies And indeed here we have our pattern in the purest times The Golden Christians
of which was the grand and forcible attractive of Corpus hoc vinculum carcer est animae ex quo exire cupit sanctus esse cum Christo Hierom. Christs incarnation and death this darling of Heaven not enjoy one day but it must be retailed and canton'd into divers divisions Some parts of it must be spent in the labours of our Callings and some in solemn Duties in the publick Congregations and some in sports and delightful Recreations when the publick is over and some in private Duties if there be any time and this torn and rent Sabbath something like Joseph's Coat of many colours must be the Gen. 37. 3. onely morsel for the immortal soul But how irrational is it for the soul that better part of man which shall live as long Mat. 16. 26. as God himself to be straightned and pinnion'd to a few Vita carnis tuae anima est vita animae tuae deus est quomodo moritur caro amissâ animâ quae vita ejus est sic moritur anima amisso deo qui vita est ejus August hours It must not enjoy one whole day onely the leavings of our work and recreations the crumbs which fall from the bodies table Let the Christian who is solicitous of his souls eternal interest consider whether this pittance of time onely a few hours on a Sabbath be sutable to the vast and unlimited soul especially if we observe that the soul sways the body the body follows the condition of the soul and not the soul the estate of the body Labours are forbidden on the Sabbath much more Recreations That labours are prohibited the fourth Commandment is the pregnant testimony of now sports toys pastimes Melius est in Sabbato araro quam saltare Aug. Enar. in Tit. are of less avail then labours It is a memorable speech of Augustine Melius est in Sabbatho arare quam saltare It is better to plow then to dance upon a Sabbath Labours may bring in some Income so not sports there is a temporal profit and emolument in the one none in the other Concerning sports we may say that the Gamesters labour for that which is not bread there can be no supplies Isa 55. 1 2. from the breast of a recreation Pastimes are clouds without water Recreations more tempt and flatter the flesh then Labours do Toyle doth not pamper dancing hunting shooting do they are sun-shines which make the dunghill of mans heart reak with noysomness It was once the expostulation of a holy man worth the transcribing his words are these What shall I say of the Zeal of worldlings which may controule Mr. Greenham the security of our sins worldly men never seek for pleasure Vita in delitiis agens mors est umbra mortis quantum enim umbra propè est corpori cujus est umbra tantum pro certo vita illa voluptuario inferno appropinquat Bern. Serm. 48 in Cantic 15 James 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 52. whilst profit doth drop and so long as they may gain a penny how diligent are they they will not sport or play But the Sabbath is the market day of our souls where we should gather whilst the sun shines Here is profit and so there ought to be diligence and therefore we should lay aside pleasure and we should say what have we to do with Recreations any more yet how many neglect their pleasure for the world and we will not for heaven or our souls But after the publick Ordinances are over nay multitudes in the very time of publick Worship follow their sensual Recreations I was going to say Abominations It was a saying of King James Though without superstition Playes and lawful Games may be used in May and good Chear at Christmas yet alwayes provided that the Sabbath be kept holy and no unlawful pastime be then used And as a worthy and holy man observes No man can think Dr. B. upon that day to be so disordered as to follow his ordinary pleasures without great contempt of God and Man Vpon that holy day all sorts of men must utterly give over shooting hunting hawking bowling c. and they must no more deal with them then the Artificer with his Trade or the Husband-man with his Plow I shall shut up this particular with a pious Bp Hall of Exeter Contemp Lib. 17. Ejaculation of a Holy and Reverend Bishop who thus vents himself I wonder what these kind of men viz. those who bathe themselves in pleasures upon the Lords day will do when they come to Heaven if ever they come there where there is a continued Sabbatisme without intermission surely they will wish themselves on Earth again unless they keep a Sabbath better here below Do we not pray Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven there the Angels do nothing but praise God Do we hope to be like them in Glory and not endeavour to be like them in duty Our Heaven above is a continual Sabbath our Sabbath below should be a continued Heaven The Sabbath not the sports on the Sabbath should be our delight Recreations on the Sabbath are forbidden by all kind of Laws 1. By Divine Law viz. the fourth Commandment Requies requiritur in quarto Praecepto cōmendatur et ubique amatur sed illa requies in solo deo certa et sancta invenitur Aug. where Labours are expresly forbidden and sports are an equal if not a greater impediment to the duties of the Sabbath both publick and private the sweets of Recreation influencing the mind and withdrawing the heart much more then the sweats of Labour Surely if we must not toyle we must not trifle on Gods holy day 2. By the Law of Nature which requires a total abstinence from all works both of Labour and Pleasure during the time allotted and consecrated to Gods service publick Dies dominicus abipsis Apostolis sacris actionibus est consecratus Bucer and private But the Lords day is that time allotted we cannot work and worship both at once and if when we should worship we follow our pleasures or our profits Is not this to subordinate the Divine Will to mans Fancy 3. By the Law Political which requires a total resting from all kind of labour or diversion and applying our souls Edw. the 6th wholly and onely to Religious Exercises as the Statute of Act. Primo Carol. Primi King Edward the sixth of blessed memory a Law yet unrepealed That English Josiah the morning Sun of Reformation Ad Sabbathi rectam observationem duo requiruntur quies et quietis illius sanctificatio Ames med Theol. in England began early to confine the Sabbath to the two great designs of it Rest and Sanctity and in this he shewed himself to be Custos utriusque Tabulae a Keeper of both the Tables And indeed the enjoyning of the holy observance of Gods blessed day is a rare
shady Ceremonies which were to teach the Children of Israel But our Sabbath is of a higher and nobler nature not covered with so much darkness nor subject to so much decay and therefore if God be so punctual Mark 2. 28. and exact in his time in these flitting solemnities which were to cease at the very first dawning of the Gospel Ah how much more on his fixed Sabbath the souls weekly banqueting day with the Lord Jesus the blessed Lord of the Sabbath Hiâ— verò infertur ut aeqâ—â—â—â—s quâ—rti praecepti patesâ—â—t nempe quod deus benignè nobiscum vildè agit qui cum sex dies nobis relinquat unum tantùm in septimanâ diem sibi postulat Wal. Mic. 6. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Tom. 5. Nos illorum Apostolorum sequentes traditionem dominicum diem divinis conventibus sequestramus Isich in Levit. Cap. 9. And fourthly yet further to clear this truth we must conclude To abate any thing of spending a whole day with God is but the wanton abuse of divine indulgence The Sabbath is a price God puts into our hands and to play and sport upon it is to trample upon our pearls And truly God hath so smoothed and sweetned the fourth Commandment with so much equity and kindness in giving us six dayes and taking to himself but one that to break this Commandment is but the greater evidence of obstinacy and stubbornness and indeed to those who encroach upon his Sabbath by their toyle and their pastimes God may frame the same expostulation which once he made to back-sliding Israel What iniquity have you found in me wherein have I wearied thee come testifie against me Have I roughed my Commâ—ndmenâ—s with any grievous severity have I not given you six dayes and reserved to my self onely one And must part of that one day be prostituted to the flatteries of sin to vain sports and unprofitable recreations is not this to abuse my â—â—ve and sport with my indulgence Nay to crumble the Sabbath into so many pieces and divisions to spend part of it in holy services part of it in civil labours and part of it in sensual pleasures it is nothing else but so to disfigure the Sabbath that neither Divine command nor Apostolical institution will know it so as to own it to be their issue and production We may likewise fetch an Argument from the Text it self which commands our delight in the holy Sabbath We must Isa 53. 13. Sabbatum est delicatum i. e. delicatè tenerè observandum delicatum i. e. delitiae tui domini Deus enim capiet mognam delectationem ex religioso sui cultu in Sabbato Alap in Isai call the Sabbath our delight saith the Text. Now can this be consistent with that delight and complacency a Christian should take in the Sabbath after a few hours to break from holy services and spiritual duties to gad after the pleasures or profits of the World To refresh their wearied and tyred selves with a bowle or a foot-ball and to leave Communion with God to recreate their selves with a fit of masking dancing or shooting Surely our delights in Gods holy day are weak and faint if they must be fetcht again and revived with such loose and vain satisfactions Indeed it argues a very vain and frothy spirit to have no more pleasure in Gods day then to spend a good part of it in vain talk and idleness in rioting and wantonness in sports and foolishness It cannot be imagined that any men who ever tasted any sweetness in Christ or his Sabbath and felt the Sponsa Christum laudans ab oculis crsa est sed cur quontam cum amantes aspectu mutuo nequeant satiari et semper abaltero ad intuentis oculion imago gratior reflectatur et fit ut crescat admiratio et simul laudandi cupiditas neque in hacre sit ullus modus Et oculi sunt amoris duces Del. Rio. unknown refreshings of his holy Rest but that they will mourn for their cold affections and that they have not spent their Sabbath more accurately and exactly Certainly those who plead and inveigh much against the strict observation of Gods holy day never fully tasted what the Sabbath was and what the glory and excellency of it Is the Majesty and Glory of God so vile in our eyes that we do not think him worthy of special attendance one day in a week doth he call us now to rest in his bosome on his holy Sabbath and do we kick his bowels and despise his bounty Doth he call upon us to spend this day in holiness and shall we spend it or at the least part of it in mirth sports and pastimes and in all manner of vanity Where are our longings and breathings after Christ upon a Sabbath Were holy duties gratefull to us we should not so soon shake them off we should not make the time of a Sabbath like the vail of the Temple at Christs death to be rent in twain viz. between the Lord and the World whereas one bone of Christ was not to be broken so not one hour of this day Psal 42. 1 2. here we must say as Christ of the fragments gather up the fragments let nothing be lost It is perilous to clip the Mat. 27. 51. Kings Coyne and very dangerous to clip the Lords day Joh. 19. 36. let us not with Annanias and Saphira bring half the price Mark 6. 43. This holy time was never ours nor ever was there any part Acts 5. 2. thereof in our power therefore to keep back any hour of this holy day must needs be sinfull If no part of this day be the Lords why do we give him any And if the whole Communio nostra est cum Patre et Filio et in Patre cum Filio sunt omnia vera et coelestia bona Zanch. be the Lords as certainly it it why do we put him off with part But there would be no need of these questions were our delight in Gods holy day and were our hearts captivated with Divine Communion Delight sweetens duty and makes it easie and pleasurous That Sabbath cannot be long which is complacential David did request to spend not onely the Sabbath but his life in the Temple and counted 1 John 1. 3. one day in Gods house better then a thousand It is nothing but a carnal frame of spirit disgusting the things of Psal 27. 4. God makes the Sabbath tedious and wearisome and seeks to break open the Cage door that it may fly out to its sensual Psal 84. 10. delights and recreations Was the Sabbath our delight we should not cast lots upon it which should have most of it God or the World holy duties or trashy pastimes Our own Conveniency and advantage calls for the whole day of a Sabbath to be spent in holy and spiritual services Sabbatha docent perseverantiam totius diet Iren.
contr Valent for the gain we acquire in publick Ordinances will easily be lost if not followed with private duties It is private meditation private repetition and private devotion must fasten truth on the soul which we have heard in publick The fruit we have enjoyed in publick will presently be blasted by pastimes and sports which withdraw and James 1. 23. In Sabbato occupari nos debemus in laâ—dando dei nomine usque ad vesperam Concil Turon alienate the soul from the very duties it had newly been employed in Happily in the publick Ordinances we saw the face of Christ in some measure if presently we fly to vain Recreations we shall as the Apostle James speaks straightway forget what manner a beloved our Beloved was What was delivered in the Pulpit is best impressed on the soul in the Closet and secret approaches can best set home publick ordinances Our tears we shed at home must importune a Nihil efficacius est ad verbi divini fructus et spiritus sancti igniculos in nâ—bis suffocardos quam vel profana vel nimis mundana oblectamentorum consectatio Wal. blessing upon truths we have heard abroad It is the Observation of a Learned man Nothing more effectually quencheth the sparks of the divine spirit kindled in Ordinances then the pursuance of earthly and worldly Delights and therefore he thinks the safest manner of observing the Sabbath is not onely to sanctifie it in the publick Congregations but in our private Houses not onely in solemn Ordinances but in private Duties And if we pursue publick private and secret Duties which yet are so necessary on a Sabbath what time will be left for labour or sportfull refreshments So then the whole Sabbath must be spent with God And if the Jewish Sabbath was to consist of twenty four hours much more the Christians But the first is most true for the whole time of a Sabbath was required of them to be Exod. 20. 8. sanctified in holy duties in opposition to their own works As for the nights we dispute it not they were allowed to Mysteria Evangelii in aeternum adoranda contemplanda rest that night as well as we Now then if the Jews were bound to spend a whole day all their waking time in divine and holy services much more we Christians for we have received greater benefits we have greater mysteries of Godliness to contemplate and greater means to help us in the 1 Tim. 3. 16. contemplation Our field is larger our light is clearer our service is sweeter we have our Sabbath to behold the face Cant. 5. 10. of our Beloved and what work more engaging and complacential The very Heathens by the light of Nature gave their Gods no less then a whole day and would not suffer any work to be done on those holy dayes So Macrobius tells us Macrob. de diebus festis That the services of their Gods were partly diurnal and partly nocturnal and that the Flamines were to see to it that no works were to be done on their holy dayes Nay one of our Adversaries in this particular confesseth freely As the time in which such Religious Actions are done so that some day C. Dow p. 21. or dayes should be destinated for the more solemn performance of those actions may seem to be a dictate of the Law of Nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Lib. 5. Stromat inasmuch as the Heathens who had no other Guide had their solemn Feasts and set dayes in all Ages consecrated to the worship of their Gods And therefore for Christians to give less then a day is to fall short of an Heathen Nay Scaevola an High Priest among them affirmed That the wilfull Offender who observed not strictly three dayes consecrated to their Gods could have no Expiation And what a shame is it for Christians that Jupiter should have more solemn and constant worship then Jehovah that an Idol God should have a whole day but the Almighty must onely have a part the rest to be drowned in sensual pleasures or worldly toyle Heu facinus Is not this to let the light of a glow worm out-shine the light of the Sun the light of Nature out-vie the light of the Gospel Never let those Gods who have eyes and see not have more durable and continued worship then our God who is Omniscient those Gods who have ears and Psal 115. 4 5 6. hear not have more solemn adorations then our God who is a God hearing prayer those Gods who are Silver and Psal 65. 2. Gold be better served then the blessed and Holy One the God of Jacob who is an infinite spirit Obj. But if it be objected it is very tyring and tedious to pass the whole current of a day in holy services and spiritual communion and this might make us cry out with the holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Cor. 2. 16. Apostle in another case Who is sufficient for these things To this it may be briefly replyed God because of our infirmities doth afford what may refresh and the better to bear up our bodies allows moderate sleep in the night and temperate food in the day True it was in Tertullians time a dispute whether it be not a duty Tertul. de Coronâ militis Cap. 3. to fast on the Lords day but our Saviours Apology for his Disciples in plucking and eating the ears of Corn on the Sabbath day may easily quiet that Question and blessed be the Mar. 2. 25. Lord for his allowances of love Nature even on the Sabbath hath both its Nurse and its Caterer its sleep and its provisions Men do not complain of whole dayes for the world they rise early and go to bed late and eat the bread of carefulness Psal 127. 2. they do not say all the week when the morning is would to God it was evening but rather in the evening wish it were morning again to go after the world afresh Nay we find many in their sinful wayes are unwearied and when Isa 56. 12. 2 Tim. 4. 8. Rev. 3. 21. Cant. 8. 14. Montes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sunt sedos Angelorum Beatorum coeli sunt mansiones civium Coelestium Del. Rio. one day is past they fix upon the very next day with enlarged resolutions And shall Heaven with its Crown of Righteousness its Throne of Glory its ravishing Felicities and mountains of Spices no more influence us but that one day spent in the pursuance of it should seem tedious and burdensome and we should impatiently wish would the Sabbath was over that we might again busie our selves in in the affairs of the world It is strange that neither divine command nor divine rewards should clip our wings but that we will be flying even on the Lords day into the pleasing embraces of a sensual delight or secular emolument Many of Gods Servants the Excellent of the earth and the darlings of
satisfaction not our burden but our blessing the sinner must not Psal 27. 4. Mat. 18. 20. take that pleasure in the dalliances of the world as we should do in the duties of a Sabbath This is the day of divine loves and spiritual complacencies between Christ and Cant. 2. 3. Delitias tum tuas tum Domini Alap the soul when Christ and the Soul meet together in the Garden of the Ordinances where they begin that communication which shall last to Eternity then the believer sits under the shadow of Christ with great delight As God makes the Sabbath his rest so he would have it to be ours The Sabbath must not be our toyle but our triumph the Sanctuary must be our banqueting house Duty our delight Psal 42. 3. 4. It must be the joy of our souls to associate with Christ to pour out our requests in prayer to entertain the discourses of divine will and to enjoy spiritual love which is better then wine The Sabbath in the primitive times was called Cant. 1. 2. Nos in primâ die perfecti Sabbathi festivitate laetamur Hilar. in Prol. in Psalm the feast of the Sabbath and feasts are not usually times of tediousness but pleasantness such times pass away with gratefull delight and surely it must needs soyle the character of a Christian to let those wheels drive heavily which are in the Chariots of Aminadah Doth it not very much unbecome us to be weary of that day which God hath appointed Cant. 6. 12. for fellowship with himself and for the transacting of the great affairs of Eternity There is a Command for Reverence So the Text the holy of the Lord. Si colueris Sabbathum quasi diem sanctum gloriae glorificationi Domini consecratum If Psal 2. 12. thou observe the Sabbath as a holy day consecrated and set apart to the glory and glorifying of God as he well glosses upon it There are two holy passions adorne a Sabbath Joy and Fear the one for the benefits of God the Psal 2. 11. Discamus die Dominico non quaerere gloriam nostram pompose incedendo et splendidé nos vestiendâ— sed Dei gloriam quaeramus hoc nobis erit gloriosum quod gloria dei per ros alios celebretur Isa 66. 2. other for the presence of God the one for his goodness and the other for his greatness Upon a Sabbath we must as the Psalmist speaks rejoyce with trembling It was the saying of a Learned man Vpon the day of a Sabbath let us not promote our own Glory by stately walking rich attire and pompous appearances but let us exalt Gods Glory by holy duties and this will be more glorious and honourable to us Upon the Sabbath let us tremble at Gods Word as the Lord speaks by the Prophet Isa 66 2. Let us lye at Gods feet let us be awfull of Gods presence let us exalt Gods Name and this is to sanctifie a Sabbath Humble hearts and not fine cloaths the bowing of the soul not the plaiting of the hair or the ordering of the Dress speaks the Sabbath Glorious The Lord calls for high estimations of the Sabbath So the Text Honourable The Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Machhid in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Original signifies that which is Glorious and that which is Ponderous Every Sabbath is a price put into our hands Luke 19. 42. a good wind for Heaven the souls term time that aâ—tionius Psal 118. 24. temporis that juncture of time which the soul hath to claâ— up for Eternity On this day more especially the Scepter of Grace is held out to lay hold upon One observes our Esth 5. 2. Sabbath is called the Lords day not onely because it is the Commemoration of our Lords Resurrection but because of the benefits we receive from the Lord that day and the duties we perform to the Lord that day and therefore if we will practice the Text we must prize the Sabbath we must call it honourable and indeed it is so in a manifold respect If we look upward This is the day in which more especially we sing the praises of the Lord we recount his hohour wherein our hearts bubble forth in holy thanksgivings and therefore the Psalm whose inscription calls it a Psalm for the Sabbath is wholly Laudatory It is a song Psal 92. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Sabbath day so is the very title And indeed what is the Lords day but primitiae Coeli the dawning of Glory the beginnings of Heaven the tuning of the musick which shall last for ever to every true believer On the Lords day the Saint makes it his grand affaire to advance the Lords Honour If we look downward the Sabbath still is honourable Then the Lord crowns us with his graces honours us with his presence meets us in his ordinances puts all marks and characters Mat. 18. 20. of honour on his people then the King sits at his Cant. 1. 12. Table and sends forth his Spicknard with the sweet smell of it The Holy Sabbath is the blessed time when the Lord Sponsa contactu sponst sui planè divinam suavitatem acquisivit Del. Rio. 1 John 1. 3. Mat. 18. 20. bows the Heavens and comes down and vouchsafes his people fellowship with himself sweet and salvifical communion in a word then the Father drops his grace then the Son promises his presence then the Spirit pursues his work in the assemblies of his Saints If we look outward if we cast our eyes upon other days the other six days of worldly toyle and labour The very gleanings of a Sabbath are better then the Vintage of the Judges 8. 2. week In other dayes we onely reap the curse of the first Adam to eat our bread in the sweat of our brows on the Gen. 3. 19. holy Sabbath we reap the blessing of the second Adam we gather the fruits of his glorious purchase we enjoy the ordinances of his grace lye under the impressions of his spirit and inherit the sweets of his presence and therefore compare the Sabbath with other dayes and what is the dross of a week to the gold of a Sabbath This day is nothing but the souls weekly Jubilee If we look forward towards eternity the Sabbath in this regard is honourable it is the special day for the soul to dress and trim it self in to meet its Bridegroom this is our peculiar Fuit illud Sabbathum Gen. 2. 3. Typus aeterni illius Sabbathi in â—aeâ—is in quo electi animâ et corpore à peccatis calomitatibus et miseriis hujus vitae requiescent Deus in illis et ipsi in Deo Gen. 66. 23. Vltra hunc mundum est veri Sabbathi observatio Orig. Prov. 34. 2 Cor. 10. 4. 2 Cor. 4. 7. In Sabbatho totus Deo deique voluntati cognoscendae annuntiandae et edimplendae vaces Alap time to prepare for eternity The
Lords day is the day of Commemoration for Christs Resurrection and the day of Preparation for ours The Sabbaths are as the rounds of a Ladder by which we climb up to our Fathers house our present Sabbaths work being sanctified becomes the way to our future Sabbaths rest On this holy day the soul more especially waits at wisdomes gates and brings its corruptions to the slaughtering power of the Word inricheth it self with Gospel-treasures feeds its graces upon Gospel provisions and every way accommodates its self for the imbraces of eternity There is another command in the Text viz. of fruitfulness so the Text and shalt honour him Now there is nothing more honours God then our holy fruitfulness this gratisies his Will this magnifies his Grace this adorns his Gospel this glorifies his Name Our Saviour saith expresly John 15. 8. Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit We exceedingly honour God when on a Sabbath day we Sint submissi tractabiles et sequaces mores Cyr. weep much in the Closet pray much in the Familie hear much in the Sanctuary when we tremble at Gods Word rejoyce in Gods Ordinances melt in Gods presence when Sabbaths soften us ripen us raise us and bring us to a nearer conformity to Christ when this sun-shining day of a Sabbath melloweth us and maketh us look fairer and more beautiful Thus we spread our branches and Gods Name together CHAP. VIII The Promises in the Text made over to Sabbath-Holiness explicated and unfolded ANd thus far we have assayed to unfold the duty enjoyned in the Text which is the holy and strict observation of the Sabbath and the Sabbath may be sanctified by forbearing what is criminal and by pursuing what is commendable and what is both displeasing or satisfactory we have amply laid down in the Text and hitherto hath been discussed Now we come to the glorious reward of a due sanctification of the Sabbath which is folded up in a Tria hic praemia Sabbathum deumque colentibus promittit Deus Alap Com. in Isaiam three-fold promise mentioned in the Text for one promise is not thought sufficient by divine bounty to be a spur to this holy observation It must not be a single Diamond but a Casket of Jewels Here is a constellation of happiness promised a Tree of Life with many branches as if God would tell us in the Text how pleasing how grateful what a Prov. 11. 18. sweet sinelling sacrifice the conscientious keeping of the Sabbath was to him such a Saint the Promises troope after him they cluster together to refresh him God gives the Bond and the Counterpane too But more particularly these promises they are not onely rare but comprehensive they are both temporal and spirituall Gods bonds for left hand and right hand mercies And first God promises Vbertatem Voluptatis abundance Prom. 1. Si in Sabbathâ— te abstraxeris â—â— deliâ—iiâ— carnis deus dabit tibi suas delicias longe majores scil pro carneis dabit spiritusles pro teciporalibâ—â— aeternas pro humanis divinas Psal 104. 34. Cant. 4. 9. of Pleasure so the Text then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord. As if God should say if my Sabbath be thy delight then my presence shall be thy delight if thou take pleasure in my day thou shall sind pleasure in my self the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnanag delight which is used in the former verse for our delight in the Sabbath is here used for our delight in the Lord. Our duty shall not exceed his bounty if we on a Sabbath delight in him we on a Sabbath shall receive delights from him God will meet the gracious soul its breathings after God shall be compensated with his blessings in God thou shalt never lose by satiating thy self in God thy understanding shall be delighted with meditation thy desires with satisfaction thy heart with exhileration he that is an Ocean of delight in himself shall be thy delight If thou takest pleasure in Gods holy day thy heart shall be more sweetned in the thoughts of God of his Faithfulness of his Fulness Incomprehensibleness Goodness Tenderness then in all sliding and secular delights for our delights in God are Most Pure they are Christalline pleasures without spot or faeculency they are incapable of excess The soul may rejoyce Psal 94. 19. in God and fear no surfet There is no tang of sin or mistake cleaves to them as holy David In the multitude of my thoughts Passim Haeresiarehae et Haeretici fuerunt voluptuarii eaque de causâ plurimos habuerunt assectus sicut et Epicurus plures discipulos habuit quà m alit Philosophi Epiphâ—n within me thy comforts delight my soul Now as for the pleasures of this life their object is sordid what is a Field or a Bag or a Hawk or a Hound The excess is easie we mostly over-do in outward delights their satisfaction is sensual only the smiles and laughter of dust their time is short the frolicks of this life are onely for this life as long as a vapour lasts and their end for the most part is heaviness a smiling countenance a wanton palate a catching eye and a prancing phancy for the most part ending in a heavy heart But our pleasures in God are holy and undefiled their rising is their rarity and their exceeding is their excellency Our delights in God are most abundant they exceed the pleasures of this life as far as the receptive faculty of the Anima nostra delectatione carere nequit unam si non habet quaerit si non divinam tum humanam soul exceeds that of the body A whole world cannot fill the soul it is too vast in its desires and entertainments but a little prospect can fill the theatre of the eye a little wine the wanton vagaries of the palate a little game the galloping fancies of the hunter Our pleasures in God are a soul full of delight Thy Comforts delight my soul saith David they are over-flowing waves of love rising and ravishing Psal 94. 19. waters which cover the sea of mans heart Most satiating Our pleasures in the Creature cloy us Our pleasures in God comforts us outward delights surfet not Ecles 1. 2. Voluptas est duplex vel Terrestris vel Coelestis Coelestes voluptates sariant nonsaturâ—ne ideò diuturniores terrestres sâ—turant non satiant ideò breviores quòd etiam jam dileximus pieni quidem prâ—rsus nauseamus Baron satiate they have something of the flesh and that will not alwayes go down Solomon the great Chymist of pleasures at last after a thorough gust of them extracted nothing but wind from them or the waters of Marah either vanity or vexation of spirit But the pleasures we have in God relate not to the body which is a tiresome piece of flesh but to the soul which is full of life and activity and delighting in God which is its center
mention of Kings and Magistrates of Publick Authority Cities places of publick Receit The good keeping of the Sabbath procures publick benefits opens the store-houses of blessings to Cities and Nations it is the rise and spring of Epidemical happiness And our own Nation formerly in the strict observation of Gods holy day did tast the sweetness of these Cataracts of mercy it lay under national happiness and prosperous abundance to the wonder and astonishment of all the world nor was our felicity in the wain till the Inhabitants of this Land grew loose and careless on Gods holy day and then it fell under the shadows of sore and dismall afflictions and our Sun was darkned and made the world wonder gazing at its Eclipse They are full of stability so the very words of the Text And this City shall remain for ever Mercies they are more Heb. 7. 25. Christus in coelo orat pro nobis tanquam Pontifex Hap. sweet by how much they are the more stable Duration it felicitates and enriches every possession Christ is the chiefest good because he ever lives to make intercession for us Those sweets are pretious which are permanent and therefore the grace of the spirit is more valuable then the Gold 1 Pet. 1. 7. of Ophir for Gold is perishing Gold Now these promises 1 Pet. 1. 18. are of permanent good things and so the more transcendent The holy observation of the Sabbath it intails Vrbi erit salva sivere et piè colat deum idque testatur observatione Sabbathi Calv. mercy and blessings on a Person upon a Family or a City Mercy shall not be our physick but our food It lengthens our dayes of prosperity If thou wouldest put thy owne name and the names of thy Family into a long lease of Grace and Favour be very strict in Sabbath Observation They are full of impartiality Sabbath-holiness shall shed a blessing on City and Country so the Text They shall come from the Cities of Judah from the places about Jerusalem Jeremias hic planè signifiâ—at communem fâ—re hanc bâ—atituâ—inem totâ— populo from the Plain from the Mountanes c. This blessed performance of Sabbath sanctity it shall prosper the Citizen and the Country man the Shop the Farme the Cottage nay the poor inhabitant of the mountanes who hath but a shed or a Cave to shelter him shall not be exempted the dewes of this benediction The holy observation of Sabbaths knows no distinction of persons They are full of spirituality They shall bring burnt offerings and sacrifices and meat offerings and incense so the Text. The due observation of the Sabbath shall procure soul-mercies affluences for our better part the sweets of Ordinances divine Influences rich Graces coelestial Communications not onely the redundancies of outward prosperity Jerusalem florebit templuâ—que mirè frequentabitur but the participations of better prosperity It shall fill our understandings with light our minds with refreshment and our hearts with joy They that have delight in the Sabbath of God shall find delight in the God of the Sabbath Christ shall be their Paradise We have now seen what treasures of temporal and spiritual riches are laid up in this blessed Scripture and what need there any other bait to catch our affections to love and keep Gods holy Sabbath This duty is an heir of the sweetest promises such a duty as may seem to carry the Key of Gods choysest treasures about it God saith to him who holily observes his day as once Ahasuerus said to Hester What is thy request Esther 5. 3. and it shall be given thee Indeed not a holy sigh not an affectionate prayer not a savoury discourse not a heavenly duty not a divine meditation which is shot up to Heaven on a Sabbath day shall lose its reward Holy sacrifices are then more especially a sweet smelling savour in the nostrils of Gen. 8. 21. God It was a rare promise God made to the Eunuch who kept his Sabbath Isa 56. 4 5. the words run thus For thus saith the Lord to the Eunuchs that keep my Sabbath and choose the things which please me and take hold on my Covenant Isa 56. 4 5. even to them will I give in my house and within my walls a place and a name better then of sons and daughters and I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut Nomen i. e. memoria fama gloria Hanc enim filii parentibus conciliant off Thus if Eunuchs keep Gods Sabbath God will repair all their contempts in the World and they shall be had in everlasting remembrance and though their grave bury all the memory of them in silence because they have no progeny to bear up their name yet their name shall be engraven in Gods house which shall out-vie the duration of the most numerous off-spring Nay the Lord as if he was unwearied in making bonds of love to the holy observation of his Sabbath makes a rich promise to the very strangers so Isa 56. 6 â— the Text Isa 56. 6 7. the words are these Also the sons of the strangers that joyn themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the Name of the Lord to be his servants every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of my Covenant even them will I bring to my holy Mountane and make them joyful in my house of prayer their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon my Altar Here God makes a three-fold promise of the best kind viz. spiritual to the very strangers who keep his Sabbaths undefiled First They shall enjoy the Ordinances I will bring them to my Holy Mountane saith God Those who sanctifie the Sabbath they shall not want a Sabbath to sanctifie they shall Isa 25. 6. Per convivium medullatorum â—en intelliguntur carnales sed sâ—irituales deliciae et summae voluptates enjoy seasons of prayer opportunities of love means of grace and feed upon the fat things of Gods house Gods Sabbaths are fastned by an holy improvement and fledged to be gone by a careless abuse Nothing so ensures our Sabbaths as a conscientious observation Secondly They shall be refreshed by Ordinances I will make them joyfull in my house of Prayer Prayer shall be their Paradise hearing their Heaven meditation their Triumphant flight Sacraments their savoury meat which their souls shall delight in All the Ordinances shall be as the holy Alymbecks Gen. 27 4. to drop sweetness into the soul of him who undefiledly keeps the Sabbath Thirdly They shall be accepted in Ordinances God will fill the Temple where they meet with smoake they shall have sure signs of his presence fire shall fall down upon their 1 Kings 8 10 sacrifices as a testimony of Gods acceptation And all this the very strangers shall enjoy those who are not inoculated into 1 Kings 18 38. a Jewish stock but
onely transplanted from some other Nation now joyning with the people of God all which abundantly shews how gratefull the holy observation of the Exod. 20. 8. Sabbath is to God And indeed when First The Author of the Sabbath is holy Secondly The Duties holy Thirdly The Command holy Exod. 20. 8. Fourthly The Day holy Nay Fifthly The Designe holy viz. to carry on the work of Grace and Holiness on our souls it must needs bâ— very acceptable we our selves should be holy our thoughts Sicut in vitiis qui ingratum â—ixerit omnia dixerit Ita in divinis â—ffiâ—iis qui Sabbatum dicit omnia dicit Acts 20. 7. our desires our services our discourses our actions on this blessed day One who prophanes the Sabbath he is the scandal the abuse the spot the deflouring reproach of this holy day the Antipodes of the Sabbath In the Primitive times the Saints made a Collection of Duties as well as of Charity as if no part of that day should run over to any impertinency First And what a strange prophaness nay prodigality doth it import that for the gratifying of our vanity a wanton Prophaners of Gods Sabbaths they are prodigal of divine promises palate a voluptuous inclination a little fleshly ease the covetous craving after an unseasonable gain the purchase of a little waste time upon a Sabbath we should disinherit our selves of all that superlative happiness those many promises folded up in Scripture have made over to a strict observation of that holy day this blessed Sabbath What inhumane and frantick prodigality doth this imply Nay such are prodigal not onely of their own good but of Gods honour This is one of his ten words charged by the Creator of Heaven and Earth upon man Remember the They are prodigal of Gods honour Sabbath day to keep it holy and the engrossing of this charge God doth not leave to any Amanuensis but he will write it Exod. 20. 8. with his own singer and also to intimate that his intentions were to perpetuate this with other precepts of the decalogue in the morality thereof The Lord himself imprinted Deut. 4. 13. it not in paper but upon tables of stone yea when the first tables of stone were broken his Majesty gives express order to Moses to have other tables like to the former prepared and he wrote thereon the same Law the second time Exod. 34. 1 28. Praecide tibi i. e. in tuam â—â—ilitatem Rab. Sol. As the Lord delighted in the first institution of the Sabbath so he accounts himself honoured in its sanctification and his complaint and charge is against them who are regardless of his Sabbath I am prophaned amongst them and what do those who prophane his Sabbath but break the tables of Ezek 22. 26. stone the second time and cast a dishonour upon him who delights to be called the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. Nay the prophaners of the Sabbath are highly prodigal of Gods favour for they provoke him by the sin of sacriledge for it being the Sabbath and the Lords day that time is stoln Such are prodigal of Gods favour from God himself which is spent otherwise then he alloweth and how sad is this robbery and theft And that smart sentence which was misapplyed unto Christ for he strictly kept the Sabbath of the Lord his God may be applyed to John 9. 16. Sabbathi prophanatio contemptus est totius legis dei et divini cultus Leid Prof. that person who is an ordinary prophaner of this holy time This man is not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day And indeed according to a mans regard or disregard of the Sabbath is his respect or disrespect to all the rest of Gods Commandments The Sabbath observed is the compâ—ndium and Epitome of the whole practice of Piety and the transgression of the Sabbath is the violation of the whole Law of Sub observatione Sabbati breviter comprehenditur sâ—mma tâ—tius Preâ—atis Calv. Exod. 16. 28. God When the people of Israel went to gather Manna on the Sabbath day observe Gods complaint to Moses Exod. 16. 28. How long refuse ye to keep my Commandments and my Laws saith the Lord. Observe Laws and Commandmentts in the plural number in that they break the Commandment Totum divinum cultum suo ambitu complectitur Sabbathum August ad Casulanum Concil Paris Lib. 3. Cap. 5. of the Sabbath God accounts it as the breach of all his Commandments it is a sin against all his concernments It was a memorable saying of Augustine Let us shew our selves Christians by keeping holy the Lords day And the Council of Paris We do admonish all the faithfull for the salvation and good of their souls that they would give due honour and reverence unto the Lords day because the dishonour of it is both contrary to Christian Religion and doth without all doubt bring destruction to the souls of all that continue in it And Bulling Concio 65. holy Bullinger observes He that despiseth the Sabbath makes no great account of the true Religion The Prophets when they Ezek. 20. 16. Ezek. 22. 8. Ezek. 23 38. would complain of the decay of Religion they cry out the Sabbaths polluted Indeed in the not observing Gods holy day there is not onely impiety but great disingenuity for the Ezek. 20. 12. Ezek. 20. 20. Sabbath is given us not as a task but as a priviledge to be a pledge of our interest in God and a confirmation of our hope Heb. 4. 4 5 8 9. of further sanctification as also of our everlasting Sabbatisme or rest after our wearisom wandrings in this world it is given for the sweetning of our wilderness-way unto the heavenly Canaan it is our spiritual feasting every week it is our day of delight in this day St. John was in his Sabbathum delicatum quia delicatè et tenerè est observandum divine rapture and no doubt but many of Gods dear servants have abundant experience of spiritual cordials given in upon the conscientious keeping of this day and St. John's Garments of joy have fell in some measure upon 2 Kings 2. 13. them CHAP. X. There must be serious preparation before the solemn day of the Sabbath HAving thus in general discussed the Doctrine propounded I come now to a more particular handling and ventilation of it and in so doing First Lay down divers duties which are to fore-run the Sabbath Secondly Lay down a plat-form how we must spend every part of Gods holy day Thirdly Give divers rules for the more compleat and strict observation of the Sabbath Fourthly Propose many cautions to prevent the pollution of this blessed day With many other things which will occur for the more manifest enucleation and confirmation of the doctrinal truth propounded But to begin with the first thing proposed viz. what we must do by way of preparation for this
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
inquam animus ad eandem quoque sanctificationem ritè preparetur Wal. of Canaan so were they filled with Corn when they came to Joseph in Aeygpt And according as we prepare our hearts at home in the week time so our comfortable fillings shall be when we come before the Lord on his own day He that expects from his field a large crop and a plenteous harvest must before hand take pains in plowing and well preparing the ground we do not before hand take preparatory pains and that is the reason we reap so little in Sabbath-time man naturally is slow of heart Luke 24. 25. Duty and Industry must help Nature that so our sluggish hearts may be fitted for the receiving of those blessings which usually attend the Sabbath day Emptied vessels take in the liquor Pruned Vines become fruitfull and feracious And dressed Gardens cast the sweetest smells And so the heart mollified with penitential tears pruned by resolute mortification and turned up by frequent search will be accommodate for the magnificent plantations of Sabbath graces Of Zeal and Fervency Can we observe the several Holy-dayes to have their Eves wherein some Service and Liturgy must be used for preparation The Chappels and Cathedrals 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippo. must be frequented and prayers must be made because some Saints day is approaching and the neglect of this duty is adjudged an indignity by many great ones in the Church Shall a day dedicated to a Saint to an Apostle to a Martyr be ushered in with preparatory services and must the holy Sabbath the day dedicated to the Lord Jesus God blessed Rom. 9. 5. Christus est deus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 super omnes aut super omnia eodem sensu Par. for ever have no Eve no preparatory duties no services to proclaim its coming But the preceding day must be spent in a more eager pursuit of the World then we frequent the Markets mind our shops reckon with our workmen pierce further into the night for our worldly business and we catch greedily after the flying week now drawing towards an end what is this but to give more honour to the Saints day then the Sabbath day to an ordination of the Church then an institution of Christ Shall the blessed Sabbath have no evidence no sign of its coming no preparatory Prayers no precursory pains Must the holy days Eve have the Cathedral for service and not the Sabbath Eve have the Closet for preparation Where is our zeal for Gods honour and Gods day It is very strange that the Saints Festivals should be introduced with greater solemnity then Christs holy day Surely this doth not become the Christian who is or should be sick of love with his beloved Cant. 2. 5. Of Holy Ingenuity Shall we be out-vied by the Jewes the vagabond Jewes in our preparations for the Sabbath Shall they be so exact and we so negligent Let not a blasphemous Jew rise up in judgement against us And here I shall open the care of the Jewes in preparing for the Sabbath Scalig. de Emend temp Lib. 6 p. 261. The Jewes formerly gave and for the present do give very solemn and great honour to their Sabbath The week days they called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cholim Prophane as the Greeks call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 working days and in respect of the different degrees of holiness of dayes the Sabbath day is not unfitly Scalig. de Emend temp Lib. 6. p. 269. compared to a Queen or to those who are termed primary Wives other feast dayes to Concubines or half-wives working dayes to Hand-maids The Jewes began the Sabbath at six of the clock the night before And this the Graecians called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Hebrews 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Biath Hasabbath the enterance of the Sabbath Their preparation Joseph Anti. lib. 16. cap 10. to the Sabbath began at three of the clock in the afternoon which the Hebrews call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gnereb ha-Sabbath the Sabbath Eve and this the Fathers called Caenam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 puram the pure Supper the phrase being borrowed In vitibus Paganorum coenâ— pura appellabatur illis apponi solita qui in casto erant quod Graeci dicunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa Causab Mark 15. 42. Luke 23. 54. from the Pagans whose Religion taught them in their sacrifices to certain of their Gods and Goddesses to prepare themselves by a strict kind of holiness observe the very Heathens prepared for their sacrifices to their Idol Gods and Goddesses This preparation for the Sabbath is by the Evangelist called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a preparation Mark 15. 42. whose words are these And now when Even was come because it was the preparation i. e. the day before the Sabbath To the same purpose the Evangelist Luke Luk. 23. 54. And that day was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on And among the Jews the whole day was a kind of preparation for on this preparation day they might not go more then three Parsoth now a Parsa contained so much ground as an ordinary man might go ten of them in a day and Judges on this day might not sit in Judgement upon life and death c. And so carefull were the Jews of observing the time of their preparation for the Sabbath that the best Buxtorf Synag Judaic Cap. 10 〈◊〉 â—almud and wealthiest of them even those who had many servants did with their own hands further the preparation so that sometimes the Masters themselves they would chop herbs sweep the house cleave wood kindle the fire and such like In old time they proclaimed the preparation with noyse of Trumpets or Horns but now the modern Jewes proclaim it by the Sexton or some under Officer of the Church whom they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Shihach Tsibbur the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hospin de Fest Jud. messenger of the Congregation and this messenger advised them that they should prepare seasonably for the worthy Celebration of the Sabbath Hospinian tells us and his testimony is Authentical that when the Sexton gives notice of the approaching Sabbath that then they prepared all those meats they were to feed upon the succeeding Sabbath and put them upon a table covered with a clean cloth then they washed their heads pared their nails and prepared their Sabbath apparel The Sun setting the woman Occidente sole mulieres lumina Sabbataria accendunt mulier quaeque domi ambas suas manus versus lumen expandit et precatiunculam quandam peculiarem demurmurat Hosp Cum aliqui longiore spatio itiâ—eris ab hospitio aut aedibâ—â— suis abiit die Veneris quà m die Sabbatino conficere licet in agris vel mediâ sylvâ ubicunque ille sit manere et ibidem quiescere et Sabbatum servare neglecto omni periculo et injuriâ cibi et poâ—us debet Hosp The
day before the Sabbath the Jews called Sabbatulum the little Sabbath on which they made ready against the great day of the Sabbath of the house sets up lights and a short prayer being made then they go into the Synagogue and in their going wish one another a joyfull Sabbath and when they return they spread the table with some provisions and alwayes set salt on the table to intimate an inward savouriness and they put on two loaves of bread and then give thanks in these words Blessed art thou O Lord our God the King of the World who brings forth bread out of the ground and then the Master of the Family breaks some to those who sit down with him and in a larger quantity then at other times for the honour of the Sabbath for then sparingness is intolerable And the same Author Hospinian observes that when any person is further from his home on the Friday then he can reach to observe the Sabbath strictly he remains where he was in the fields or in the middle of a wood and willingly incounters any hazzard and the want of meat or drink rather then he will intrench upon the holy Sabbath And thus exact the Jewes are in bodily and spiritual preparations they would not prophane the Sabbath with an unpared nail they wash their heads to betoken inward purgation they set up lights to denote spiritual illumination they go into the Synagogue the day before the Sabbath to fit them for the sanctuary on the holy day of the Sabbath Joseph Jud. Antiq. Lib. 16. Cap. 10. and these Jewes were so conscientious in these preparations that Josephus reports it was taken notice of all the World over insomuch that Caesar Augustus upon some complaint wrote unto every Province where the Jewes resided That it was his pleasure that the Jewes should enjoy their ancient Is it not meet for Christians whose Sabbath exceeds that of the Jews to prepare themseves thereunto We have no sheep or oxen to prepare we have the more time to make ready our hearts and souls for spiritual service Mr. G. Priviledges and among the rest that they should not be compelled to appear before any Judge on their Sabbath dayes or the day before their Sabbaths after nine of the clock upon their preparation dayes Their Conscientious Religion in this particular procured them favour with Heathen Princes the Roman Emperour and obtained indulgence for them And shall the Jew be so accurate and diligent in his preparations and the Christian so loose and careless Doth the knowledge of Christ no more influence us Let us even blush to be out-done by a rejected and obstinate Jew the Son of a Curse which adheres to that Generation from Age to Age. Shall those branches which are cut off as the Apostle speaks spread in their carefull and dutifull observances and we who are branches growing on the stock be contracted and fall short in a due and necessary composing of our selves for the Lords day the weekly memorial of our Rom. 11. 21. Lords Resurrection Surely it will be more tolerable for Rom. 11. 17. Jerusalem and Samaria in the day of judgement then for Mat. 11. 21. many Christians who wreaking out of the world rush upon Sabbaths without the pauses and interpositions of a due preparation But happily now some being evinced would set upon the work did they fully understand it they would keep a Sabbath Eve did they know how legitimately and suitably to spend it Therefore the next Chapter shall be the clew to lead us into this Labyrinth CHAP. XI What those Preparatory Duties are that must fore-run the Sabbath THus far we have travelled to assert the duty that we must prepare for Gods holy day our next task is to unfold and open the duty how we should prepare for a Sabbath Every one who takes the pencil into his hand cannot draw a Picture Preparation for the Sabbath is easier confessed then understood and many can sooner acknowledge then give an account of it and that we may therefore neither erre in the omitting nor yet in the doing of it we must understand Sabbath preparation compriseth these several duties We must the day before the Sabbath for some time sequester our selves wholly from the world and all the affairs of it we must for some time make off from worldly hinderances as Mariners that intend a voyage to Sea they put off the ship from Land so if we mean to serve God on the Sabbath our hearts and minds must be off from the world Put off thy shooes saith God to Moses for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground We must put off earthly affections Exod. 3. 5. for the day we are approaching to is a holy day A Bird saith Musculus That she may fly she fluttereth with her Musc Loc. Com. Praecep Quarto wings and frees her self all she can from what may hinder her flight And shall not we throw off before-hand what may hinder our flight upon a Sabbath or stop us in our careire to Jesus Christ The Jewes were angry with the man who carried his bed upon a Sabbath day How many carry their Joh. 5. 10. beds before the Sabbath lie sleeping on the downe of carnal pleasures and temporal profits and do not awaken to compose themselves for the Glorious Sabbath of God they lie snorting in carnal ease and prepare not for spiritual enjoyments That Christ might make us a Sabbath to keep in body he first rose from the earth In heart we must rise from the earth before we can well keep the Sabbath Christ hath made One well observes That a total sequestring of Mr. Walk our selves from all worldly business and putting away all earthly thoughts cares and delights will cleanse the affections from dross and make room for the entrances of holiness for spiritual Praeparemur ad Sabbatum ne spinis ac curis hujus seculi quibus cor hominis eo tempore obsidetur incrementum et fructus verbi divini inâ—erâ—ipiatur et evellatur ex animis nostris ut Christus in Parabola seminantis abundantèr docet Wal. devotion and the motions of the Holy Ghost and he gives this reason For no man can serve two Masters at once God and the World Let us therefore by way of preparation cast out earthly and carnal thoughts and spiritual and heavenly affections will the more easily enter and be predominant So then in the first place we must set apart some time for the trimming and rigging of the soul to be fit to launch into a Sabbath we must come off from the stage of the World into the tyring room quietly and spiritually to compose our selves for the heavenly employment of the subsequent day there must be a pause and cessation from the entangling warfare of the world And we must enter into our Closets and commune with our hearts and be still that so advisedly we may enter upon the souls harvest day
scarecly supplyed which lye undiscovered Let us therefore the evening or day before the Sabbath withdraw our selves from the noyse of the world and so quietly call our selves to an account concerning our progresse or regresse in Religion the foregoing week Let us further prepare for the Sabbath by stirring up in our selves holy affections It is fit the soul should be on the wing upon the Lords day First we should long for the day of God as the Psalmist saith Psal 42. 1 2. My soul thirsteth for the living God O when shall I come and appear before God! And as she said Psal 42. 1 2. Judges 5. 28. Why are thy Charriots so long in coming and Judges 5. 28. why tarry the wheels of thy Charriot So O when will the Sabbath come that we may sell all and buy the pearl of price O when will the day come that we may have communion with God Father Son and Holy Ghost Secondly And we should long for God on his holy day Indeed there is nothing in God but what may set us on longing his Glory his Bounty his Purity c. Christ is altogether Cant. 5. 16. lovely and loveliness inticeth affection Beauty will attract love rich Pearls draw every eye so let us entertain Quisquis diligit deum sâ—gitta haec in corde ejus haeret et sâ—gittarius tam fugit tam sequitur ambo mâ—nent cum amante Del. Rio. in our thoughts whatsoever may ingratiate God and his Ordinances and let us kindle the fire on the day before the Sabbath that it may flâ—me forth and burn bright on that holy day A good man on Saturday evening going to bed leaped and cryed out It is but one night more and I shall be in the house of God upon his holy day and meet God himself in the use of holy things Let us before hand fall sick of Love and then how gratefull will the appearances of Cant. 2. 5. our Beloved be upon his own blessed day The fifth Duty preparatory to the Sabbath is earnest and fervent prayer Indeed prayer is the omniprevalent Engine which can do wonderfull things things above expectation among others it can admirably fit the soul for the Sabbath First For the Prayer of Faith can prevail with God for the pardon and forgiveness of sin and pardon'd sin will prepare â—randus est deus ut nihiâ— lâ—nguoris in nobis et ruinae pristinae relinquat ne rursâ—â— mali seminis pullalent rediviva plantaria Hierom. the soul for Sabbath-mercy those who are clogg'd with sin will quickly be tyred in duty Now the Sabbath is onely the Mart and spiritual Fair of duties The unpardoned sinner may spend not keep a Sabbath may pass away the time of it not enjoy the benefit of it Prayer I say can prevail for pardon The Lord directs us to this very means to procure forgiveness so Hos 14. 2. Take unto thee words and turn unto the Lord and say take away all iniquity and receive us graciously God will give pardon but prayer must Jam. 5. 15. importune the gift David he prayes for forgiveness and Dum oratur deus ut omnem auserat iniquitatem ut non solùm peccata sed etiâ—m omnes peccatorum sibras evellat Hier. he obtains it On the Eve of a Sabbath let us be earnest for the pardon of the sins of our lives of the sins of the past week let the week be cleared before we adventure upon a Sabbath A sense of pardon will sweeten every service of a Sabbath make Duty delight and Pains a paradise Ordinances shall be our incomes not our incumberances Be earnest for pardon and the Sabbath shall not only piously but pleasingly be observed Psal 51. 11. Omnem aufer iniquitatem est prima petitio quae alias omnes meritò praecedit Riv. Prayer can obtain the spirit The donation of the spirit is promised to Holy Prayer Now our hearts are the spirit's Luke 11. 13. work-houses The spirit can chain up corruptions draw out grace blow away the froth and vanity of the soul open Spiritualia bona licet corporalia longissimo intervallo post serelinquat tamen sine conditione petere audemâ—â— certum est Christum ea nobis impetrasse et patrem propter ipsum nobis dâ—turum esse Chemn 2 Cor. 3. 17. Eph. 1. 13. Mal. 3. 2. the heart for the entertainment of Gospel-messages every way put us into a sweet and Sabbath disposition The spirit is a spirit of sanctity to make the heart gracious the spirit is a spirit of liberty to make the heart free and enlarged the spirit is a spirit of purity it is fullers sope and a refiners fire to purge and cleanse the soul and so adaequately prepare the Christian for the divine duties of the Sabbath Prayer layes the foundation of Sabbath blessings the prayer of faith keeps the Key of Gods treasury door Blessings indeed which are really so are the fruits of prayer Prayer it can open the womb Hannah prayes and the obtains 1 Sam. 1. 27. a Samuel It can melt the Heavens it can open the prison Jam. 5. 16. 18. doors it can avail very much and prayer can turn a Sabbath into the souls blessed harvest it can open the heart procure Acts 12. 7. a blessing upon Ordinances engage Christs presence Lutherus ait utinam eodem ardore orare possum tum dabatur responsum fiâ—t quod velis Lutr. 2 Cor. 6. 2. make duties fruitfull and spiritual Manna nourishing Prayer can make the Sabbath a time of grace an opportunity of life a day of salvation a term of love It hath been the manner of some Christians the day before the Sabbath to meet and spend some time in seeking God by prayer and quickning one another this fervently performed would lay a great ground of a good day indeed to follow and therefore let us Pray pray pray beforehand that divine Ordinances may be accompanied with divine benedictions that sins may Mat. 24. 20. be discharged that our souls may be enlarged and hearts may be upon the wheele Our Saviour saith Pray that your flight be not on the Sabbath day but let us pray that our flight may be upon the Sabbath our flight towards Heaven when the soul is upon the wing and the heart upon its speed towards Jesus Christ A believer on a Sabbath should make haste to enjoy the embraces of his beloved which are as the Faeminae Christum secutae pridie Sabbati id circò ad futuram corporis Christi condituram omnia praeparabant ut Sabbatho secundumlegem quiescerent Wal. Espousals forerunning an Eternal wedding day The Eve before the Sabbath we should spend more time then usually in family duties Our preparation must not only be the work of the Closet but the work of the Family Then we should read the Scriptures refresh one another with holy discourses be more solemn in our addresses to God
Shall we prepare no more for a Sabbath that bright spot of time God gives us for our souls then for another day Will we approach the Princes presence with the same disregards we will converse with the Peasant Esther purified Est 2. 12. and perfumed her self with Oyle of Myrrh and sweet Odours before she came into the prefence of Ahashuerus and shall our Families have no holy anoynting no divine quickning before the day come we must enter the presence of the King of Kings nay the God of Kings Shall there be nothing to put a Selah upon a Sabbath Eve Let us take some time the evening before the Sabbath to teach our little ones the holiness and Solemnity of a Sabbath let us tell them how jealous God is of his Sabbaths what severe punishments he hath overtaken Deut. 6. 7. those with who have violated his holy day Let us Numb 15. 36. bring up our servants in the Holy Trade of Sabbath observation let us leave it upon their Consciences the night before the Sabbath how accurately and carefully God will be served on his own day and inform them what it cost Aarons Sons for offering strange fire Governours Lev. 10 3. of Families should take pains with those subordinate to them in begetting an awe upon their hearts and so fit them for Sabbath duties Surely we should more solemnly prepare for the day of the Soul then for the dayes of our Calling for the services of the Sanctuary then for the gains of the Shop God's day gives us a more solemn summons then mans day doth And now having thus prepared our selves in the discharge of the forementioned duties let us retire our selves to our rest and let the hand of faith draw the curtains about us and so quietly repose our bodies till the approaching Psal 4. 8. morning of Gods holy day and how that must be passed and solemnly observed comes next under our most serious discussion CHAP. XII It is most advised and necessary to rise early â—n Gods Holy Day DIvine providence unclasping our eyes in the morning of the Sabbath let us lose no time as we lye on our beds let us think now the Lord looks down from Heaven and bids us make haste get you up for this day I must Luke 19. 5. abide in your hearts and this day I must transact with you about the great importances of your souls When Abraham was to offer his Son in sacrifice to God He rose early in the morning and sadled his Asse and took two of his servants and Gen. 22. 5 6. Isaac his Son with wood cleav'd for a burnt offering and went to the place of which the Lord had told him And shall not we on a Sabbath morning be early up our selves and our families to go to the place where the Lord hath appointed and offer up our bodies and souls in service to God The Israelites who lay in siege against Jericho upon the seventh Josh 6. 15. day they being to compass the City seven times the text saith And it came to pass on the seventh day that they rose up early about the dawning of the day and they compassed the City after the same manner seven times Upon the Lords day we are today siege to Heaven and to compass it many times and to plant our batteries by holy and invincible prayer and therefore we should be early up And there are two things which would much advantage this duty viz. rising early on the morning of the Sabbath First A timely going to rest the night before It is too common a fault among Christians and Professors too for them to clog themselves the night before the Sabbath with a multitude of worldly businâ—sses which causes them to sit up late hence in the morning when they should be up with God they lye sleep-bound in their beds Secondly An intire love to the work of the day that follows Alas we have too little love to the Lords day work and so but little list to be at the work of the day Were there love to it we should long to be at it Our minds run Pius se paritè◠velle jugiter deum mente animo geâ—ere illum colere illum desiderare tum nocte tum interdiu Alap upon the things we love We should think of the Sabbath even in the night time and we should catch the very first hour of the day with my soul have I desired thee in the night and with my spirit within me will I seek thee early saith the Prophet to God Were we for several months kept without a Sabbath how would our spirits spring at such a days appearance Why should the Commonness of the Sun-shining Isa 26. 9. and the Sabbaths coming diminish the mercy How should we every Lords day morning have our minds mounting and say behold the Sabbath of the Lord it is come it is come Now there are many Alarums to awaken us betimes on the morning of a Sabbath and to throw off carnal sloth and fleshly case Let us eye Christs pattern he rose early from the Grave even while it was yet dark before the Sun had guilded the World with its bright appearance On the morning of his Joh. 20. 1. Resurrection the Sun of Righteousness prevented the Sun of Mal. 4. 2. Mar. 16. 9. Nature Can we indulge our sloth on the Sabbath morning and think of Christs Resurrection He was up early to save us and shall not we be so to serve him shall not we take the wings of the morning as the Psalmist speaks and Psal 139. 9. retaliate this kindness of our Redeemer That Christ arose from the dead there was the truth of our redemption that he arose early there was the love of our redemption Christ's longing to arise and finish our work should enforce us to rise betimes to set upon his Job saith the morning stars sang Job 38. 7. together Our meeting with Christ on a Sabbath morning will make the sweetest musick When carnal sloth surpriseth us let us survey the History of Christ and as he left his tomb let us leave our down betimes Let not the Sun of Ortosâ—le i. e. ad orâ—um appropinquante Cyr. Righteousness shine in our faces with our curtains drawn about us May I not here expostulate Is the Disciple greater then his Master Betimes he left his lodging and shall not we The Master among us doth not usually rise before the Servants In a word Love to the Spouse to the Church made Christ betimes draw the curtains of his grave and let love to our Husband to our Duty to our Souls cause us betimes to draw the curtains of our beds so shall we seasonably Orientem solem adorant Persae adore this morning Sun Let us hear the clamours of the soul The Lords day is the souls market day the souls fair day its term time its Mr. Rogers busie opportunity for the
the dawning of the morning and cryed I hoped in thy word Morning gâ—aces like morning stars shine brightest David used to cast anchor upon divine truth in the morning he did not onely meditate on it but act his hope and confidence in it and this was Davids work in the earliest part of the day and this is a rare Copy for us How should we prevent the dawning of a Sabbath in our flights to God in our longings after Christ in beginning our Sabbath-work Judg. 21 4. Love to God and his Ordinances should tear the curtains open disdain the softness of the pillow and betimes 1 Joh. 1. 3. break open our closet doors to enjoy fellowship with Pers râ—m Rex unum habebat cubi uâ—arem qui idoffi ii habebu ut manè ingressus regi diceret Surge ô Rex etque ea cura quae te curare voluit Mosoromisdes Plutarch the Father and his Son Jesus Christ But to conclude this particular Plutarch reports That the Persian King had one of the Servants of his Chamber every morning to come to him and to cry to him Rise O King and follow those cares which thy good genius will have thee to pursue Let us onely invert the phrase and instead of thy good genius say Gods good spirit and it will be applicable to our selves Let us especially early on Gods day resolve we will follow the traces in which the holy spirit shall lead us Let us seriously preponderate the weight and multiplicity of a Sabbath-days work The Traveller who is to ride many miles gets up early in the morning and so sets upon Judg 19. 8. his Journey The soul hath a great way to travel upon the Lords day its task is great and therefore its time must not run wast There are many duties to perform First Secret duties On the Sabbath there are some duties which must onely be acted between God and the devout soul A gracious heart will have private intercourse with God Jesus Christ went into a Mountane apart to pray Mat. 14. 23. and he was there alone The Saint some times turns the Closet into a Sanctuary and never more fitly then on a Lords day Our dear Lord bids us go some times into our Chambers Mat. 6. 6. and shut the doors upon us The Saints are Gods hidden ones in point of worship they serve God in their recluses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quem vis locum occulium notat Par. and private retirements and this is an evidence of their uprightness The Spouse sometimes meets her beloved and none shall be spectators of their holy fellowship Nunquam minus solus quà m cum solus and upon Gods holy day let the gracious soul set upon these several duties First The reading of Gods word The Eunuch was reading the Prophet Isaiah in his Charriot not onely because he would lose no time but because he would be more serious Acts 8. 28. in this secret duty David compares the Word to an honey comb Psal 19. 10. and honey combs are usually in the private gardens The same Psalmist saith The Law was Psal 1. 2. his Meditation in the night and then surely he had few witnesses to view his devotion The closet door may keep out not onely other people but other thoughts and then we are fittest to converse with Gods Word when we are most intent Secondly Another secret duty for the Lords day Is holy Prayer to God and praising of God Indeed prayer is a duty 1 Thes 5. 17. accommodated for all places for all times and all cases but closet prayer on the morning of a Sabbath is like a morning star which portends a fair day We read of our Saviour Mark 1. 35. that in the morning rising up a great while Mark 1. 35. before day he went out and departed into a solitary place Acts 10. 9. and there prayed let us go and do so likewise And holy Peter in this confessed that the Disciple was not greater then his Master for he pursued the same practice Acts 10. 9. Peter went up upon the house to pray about the sixth hour And as we must pray to God so we must sing the praises of God in secret sometimes our closets must not only be our Oratories to poure out our prayers in but our Mount Olivets to sing Hymns of praise to the Divine Majesty Mat. 26. 30. We must begin the works of Heaven in secret which we shall be doing to eternity in blessed Society Thus David praised God seven times a day and certainly he had not every time witnesses of his Divine Exaltation Psal 119. 164. Thirdly A third secret duty is Holy Meditation When the mind that Spiritual Bee is working and seeking honey out of every flower and this piece of service is calculated Gen. 24. â—â— onely for privacy Company untravelling whatsoever meditation works but of this more largely hereafter Fourthly The last duty to be acted in secret upon the holy Sabbath is Self-Examination when Conscience is both Judge Witness and Tribunal And in the acting of this duty there needs no Sessions-house but a mans own breast David saith when we commune with our hearts we must Psal 4. 4. 1 Cor. 11. 28. be still There wants no noise from the world nor from the company of others These two last duties viz. Meditation and Self-Examination are most proper for the most secret and retired places fitter for the Closet then the Church the secret Chamber then the open Sanctuary they are as one saith actions of the mind and so concern a Dr. Gouge mans own self in particular And these secret duties of piety should especially be performed in the morning of a Sabbath that the Lords day may begin with them and then we shall be in a good preparation for other duties The beginning with God thus in the morning may influence the whole Sabbath like the tuning of an Instrument which makes the whole Lesson's melody the sweeter and indeed pure Religion and undefiled which the Apostle speaks of Jam. 1. 27. never look's so comly as on a Sabbath day the day Jam. 1. 27. inhances the duty as the lovely dress doth outward beauty Thus we see there are secret duties to be acted on a Sabbath Secondly Private Duties On Gods holy day we must not lock up our selves and our services above in the Chamber but we must come down into the Family and there the morning stars must sing together to allude to that of Job Job 38. 7. Consort makes the musick The stars shine brightest in a constellation Jesus Christ would not be transfigured alone but he took some to be witnesses of his Glory when he would Mat. 17. 1 2. Luke 9. 18. Mat. 13. 36. pray his Disciples were with him and when he would open the blessed mysteries of the Gospel he takes his Disciples to him In our closets there is indeed a meeting of thoughts
but in our houses there must be a meeting of Relations there must be Parents and Children Masters and Servants those who are born at home and the stranger Exod. 20 10. Commâ—ni sâ—nctifiâ—â—ndi Sâ—bbathi lege â—onstringuntur omnes ex aequo herus servâ—â— peter liberi mas fâ—â—mina sâ—perâ—â—res et inferâ—ores Musc within our gates and all these must joyntly keep Gods Sabbath in holy duties and no less God commands in the fourth Commandment the Son and Daughter must remember to keep the Sabbath holy as well as the Parents the Man-servant and the Maid-servant as well as the Governours of the Family nay the stranger within the Gates On the Lords day we must by a conscionable and constant performance of holy duties turn even our private house into a little Church and thus we shall intail Gods presence to our houses as he vouchsafed his blessing on the house of Obed Edâ—m we must not onely act secret duties on the Sabbath 2 Sam. 6. 12. but likewise Family duties What those duties are shall be more copiously handled hereafter But Thirdly we must act publick duties on Gods holy Sabbath we must not onely open the doors of our closets and of our chambers to come down into our houses but Ex hac comâ—â—â—iâ—â—e tum Regnum 〈…〉 Zanch. we must open the doors of our houses too to meet with Gods people to celebrate the Lords day The Sabbath is the day wherein the Saints visit God and one another they then begin that society which shall be perfected and eternized in Glory David rejoyced when he went with the multitude to the House of God The great Apostle taught every where in Psal 42. 4. every Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He taught when the people 1 Cor. 4 17. were called together The Corinthians came together in one place to eat the Lords Supper Nay Christ himself will declare 1 Cor. 11. 20. the name and praises of God to his Brethren in the midst Luke 8 19. of the Church We must therefore serve God on the Sabbath in the Assemblies of Gods people not in our houses onely but in the Church i. e. in the Congregation of the faithfull Moses speaks of a holy Convocation Exod. 12. 16. Exod. 12. 16. and the Psalmist makes mention of the Assembly of the Saints Psal 89. 7. nay the promise is intailed on the Congregation of Gods people Isa 4. 5. The omission of this our assembling of our Isa 4. 5. selves is by the Apostle sharply rebuked Heb. 10. 25. One commenting on this Text hath divers things remarkable Heb. 10. 25. and worthy of our observation As First By this assembling the Apostle intends no other but the meeting of Believers to hear the Word of God and Per collectionem hanc Apost caetus ecclesiae et conventus fidelium ad sacram synaxin ad verbâ—m dei pâ—eâ—esque publicas intelligit Secundò Hos caetus vult Apost ut Châ—istiani fidem profiâ—â—â—ntur gratiarum actiones persoâ—ent et se inviâ—em excitent ad veritatem et bona opera Terâ—â— illi catus et mutui congressus mirè sovent fidem quae in secessâ— et separatione diuturniori lâ—ngue scit Quartò Qui ecclesiae â—aeâ—â—s negligunt et deserum facilè urgente perseâ—utione ecclesiam ipsam et fidem Christi deserunt et abnegant Alap to pour out their prayers before God Secondly The Apostle injoynes the Assemblies that Christians might meet publickly to profess their faith in Christ and to sing the praises of God to stir up one another to love and good works Thirdly The same Author observes that these Companies and Assemblies do exceedingly foment and cherish faith which by a perpetual recluse and separation quickly would languish and be infeebled Nay Fourthly He observes That those who forsake the Assemblies of Gods people will easily in the urgency and heat of persecution desert the Church of Christ thus far that learned man And what a rare promise doth the Apostle mention 2 Cor. 6. 16. the words are these For ye are the 2 Cor. 6. 16. Temple of the living God as God hath said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall Lev. 26. 12. be my people Christ when he was upon the Earth he goes into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day Mar. 1. 21. and Mark 1. 21. taught the people Paul and his Company go into the Synagogue on the Sabbath and Paul preacheth there Nay Acts 20. 7. afterwards Paul preacheth to the Christian Assembly in a house on the Lords day Acts 20. 7. In a word where doth Christ walk but in the midst of his candlesticks which are the Churches Rev. 1. 20. Cornelius Alapide observes that Rev. 1. 20. Alapide holy Ignatius who was the Disciple and follower of the Apostle Paul adviseth in his Epistles those of Smyrna and Ephesus to frequent the meetings of the Saints and gives this reason because they will wonderfully confirm us in the faith so then the whole duty of a Believer on the Lords day lies not in the Closet or the Family but likewise in the Societies of Gods people met for divine worship Coals put together make the warmer fire When the Christians were Assembled Acts 10. 44. to hear Peter then the Holy Ghost fell upon them The Saints in Glory are the Assembly and Church of the first-born Heb. 12. 23. and therefore we must act publick duties on Heb. 12. 23. Gods holy day in the publick Assemblies But now what these publick duties are and how we must demean our selves in the performance of them shall be more largely discussed hereafter We had need rise early on the Sabbath for as we have many Duties to perform so we have many Graces to act The Sabbath is both the field to exercise Grace in and the treasury 2 Tim. 2. 1. to supply grace with Ordinances are both the breathing Grâ—â—iâ— non soliâ—â—est sâ—vâ—r â—â—i 〈◊〉 qâ—od ex eo sâ—qâ—â—tâ—r Alap and the breasts of grace In prayer we act and we augment our graces and so in other Ordinances The Sabbath is the Believers resting day but Graces working day it is love which sweetens the work of a Sabbath Faith makes effâ—ctual the Ordinances of a Sabbath Repentance reconciles Hâ—b 11. 6. Jer 31. 19 20. Rom. 12. 11. Isa 57. 15. Hâ—b 4. 2. Jam. 5. 16. the God of the Sabbath Zeal makes acceptable the duties of a Sabbath Humility ingages Gods presence on a Sabbath We cannot hear the Word profitably on this holy day without we mingle it with Faith nor address our selves to God in prayer without we inflame the duty with fire with the fire of zeal In our prayers we must get our affections fired by the Holy Ghost that they may flame up towards God in Devout and Religious ascents Broken-hearted and penitent Isa 23. 16. believers
46. Thirdly God hath made his promises to the Assemblies of his Saints Mat. 18. 20. 2 Cor. 6. 16. He will not neglect a Mat. 18. 20. weeping Hannah who prays and sobs alone 1 Sam. 1. 13. but will give her not onely a Child but a Samuel But yet God will create upon the Assemblies of his people a cloud which was the sign of his presence Isa 4. 5. And Isa 4. 5. Fourthly The prayers of the faithfull Congregation receive Deus quasi columna ignis praefulget et ostendit suis viam salutis et quasi nubes caligâ—rosà obumbrat refrigerat et protegâ—t eos ab aellutentationis Basil Jon 2 7 8 9 10 strength from their union When all Niniveh intreated the Lord and put on sack-cloath God repents himself of that intended and threatned evil and puts his Sword into the scabbard though drawn by an open denuntiation of Judgement Jon. 2. 7 8 9 10. Prayer is the souls battery of Heaven and when these petitions are the common breathings of the whole Assembly the force must needs be the stronger and the answer must needs be the surer Though a file of Souldiers cannot take the City an Army may But Fourthly We must converse with our Families upon Gods holy day then Parents should draw out their softest bowells towards their Childrens souls and Masters discharge their most faithfull duty towards their Servants eternity But of this more hereafter We must rise early on a Sabbath for we have many good things to pursue and usually the richest lading requires the longest voyages where we look for great gain we must spend much time Now this holy day is Gods market day for the weeks provision wherein he will have us to come to him and buy of him without silver or money the Bread of Angels Rev. 22. 1. Isa 25. 6. 2 Pet. 2. 2. Rev. 3. 18. the Water of Life the Wine of the Sacraments and the Milk of the Word to feed our souls tryed Gold to inrich our Faith precious Eye-salve to heal our spiritual blindness and the white rayment of Christs Righteousness to cover our shamefull nakedness And now all things being laid together that hath been suggested how should both interest and duty awaken us right early on the Lords day for these holy pursutes that no time be drowned and lost in unnecessary sleep and sluggishness A fifth Argument to raise us betimes on a Sabbath is seriously to consider the heats of worldly men With what wakeful diligence do they prosecute the meat that perisheth John 6. 27. they rise up early and go to bed late and eat the bread of carefulness and all to grasp the shadow of a few flying and Psal 127. 2. dying enjoyments when as one saith we should be careful to rise sooner on this day then on other dayes by how much the service of God is to be preferred before earthly business There is no Master so good as the Lord is and in the end no work shall be better rewarded then his service Dr. Twisse Dr. Twisse Moral of the Sabbath 147. Reports that at Geneva they have a Sermon at four of the clock in the morning on the Lords day for the Servants and Bishop Lake wished That such a course was general as was in his Majesties Court in his time to have a Sermon in the morning for the Servants on the Sabbath day How did this holy man breath after holy Services on the morning of a Sabbath And let every one of us say seek the Lord O my Soul seek him early on his holy day Let us do as Mary Mat. 28. 1. Mark 16. 2. John 20. 1. Magdalen she was early up to seek him whom her soul loved she was last at the Cross and first at the Sepulcher in the dawning while it was yet dark very early in the morning say the Evangelists O that our love to Christ could keep pace with hers Shall we love the World better then Christ O that we were as wise for our souls as we are for our bodies Let not sleep that devourer of time beguile us of our golden hours in the morning of a Sabbath when we might have the softest and sweetest converseâ— with God Let the sinfull sluggard who sleeps with the Sun beams in his face this day remember the saying of Augustine If the August Sun could speak how roundly might it salute thee with this reproof I laboured more then thou didst yesterday and yet I am risen before thee to day But this is too low an Argument behold the Sun of Righteousness is risen let us not sleep as do others but say and sing with the Church Isa Isa 26. 9. Sanctus ad beatos aspirans dicit se velle jugiter deum mente et animo gerere illâ—m desiderare tam nocte tam interdiu Psal 139. 9. 26. 9. With my soul have I desired thee in the night yea and with my spirit within me will I seek thee early In a word it must needs inforce us to a blush to think that the Labourer who toyles in his earthly employments should take the wings of the morning to muddle in the World and we should let the morning fly away by our sloath and carelesness and not overtake it to meet with God upon his owne holy day And sixthly let it be considered the gracious soul will long to be with God The Spouse sought Christ upon her bed and the Saint will leave his bed betimes on a Sabbath to Cant. 3. 1. seek Jesus Christ the Spouse would pursue her beloved in Sponsa interim evigilans speciebus illis non satis discussis motu brachiis expansis spon sum complaecti conata fuit Del rio the night and the Saint will not omit to follow hard after the Lord Jesus in the morning as soon as she is awake she is with God especially on his own day Psal 139. 18. Our heart is where our treasure is as our Saviour speaks Luk. 12. 34. And if Christ be our treasure our spiritual love will prevail against our carnal sloath Let us take notice of holy David with what extasie of love he was transplanted Psal 63. 1. O God thou art my God early will I seek thee my soul thirsteth for thee my flesh longeth for thee in a dry Psal 139. 18. Luk. 12. 34. and thirsty land where no water is Where there are thirsts after God there will be early enquiries for him The gracious Psal 63. 1. Soul pants after God as the Hart pants after the water brooks Now the thirsty Hart will not be so taken with Psal 42. 1 2. the green and pleasant Grass where she is lodged so as to forbear the brooks which must quench her thirst nor will the Saint be so toyled and fettered with sleep or sloath so as Psal 122. 1. to suspend his communion with God on his holy Sabbath he will tear those drowsie wit hs his
thirsts after Christ will admit of no delay Nature it self calls us up betimes on Gods blessed day for then we are more fit and fresh more lively and vigorous for holy and spiritual duties Grace doth not onely command us but Nature invites us and surely we should serve God on his own holy Sabbath as David danced before the Ark 2 Sam. 6. 14. withall our might Nature and experience teacheth us that our memory is quickest our senses are readiest our natural powers ablest in the morning our mind then is free from evil vain and worldly thoughts our memory is renewed Mâ—nè animus est aptâ—or ad audiendum et cogitandum rationalta eaque quae Dei sunt Hier. and hath recovered far greater strength our senses are not inveigled with terrene and outward things our natural powers being then revived have their greatest liberty then our affections are disingaged and divine things may first attract and seize upon them and these things being weighed in the ballance how necessary is it early in the morning of a Sabbath that the first thing presented to our minds should be the beholding of God the first thing presented to our thoughts should be the Word of God and the first thing presented to our affections should be the injoyment of God One well observes that in Scripture-language to do a thing in the morning and to do a thing diligently are the same thing Psal 101. 8. and so Prov. 7. Psal 101. 8. Prov. 7. 15. 15. illustrates this where the Harlot tells the young man that she came forth to meet him and diligently to seek his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 face the Original Word there is to seek thy face in the morning So then to get up early in the morning on the Sabbath is the emblem and the evidence of our diligence We have a saying amongst us that the Morning is a friend to the Muses i. e. the morning is a good studying time I am sure it is true that the Morning is a great friend to the Exod. 23. 19. Dicuntur primitiae primi fructus frugum ubi non intâ—lligimus primos dignitate pretio vel bonitate sed origine et tempore quod primò maturescit Riv. in Exod. Graces the Morning is a good praying time in Exod. 23. 19. The first of the first fruits of the Land was to be brought to the house of the Lord. God would not onely have the first fruits but the first of the first fruits if there were any sooner ripe then others God would have them So God will have the first of the first fruits of the Sabbath the very earliest time of the morning the morning blushes are most beautifull in his sight In the morning Nature renews its strength like the Eagle Psal 103. 3. The eye is more fit to contemplate the tongue more fit to pray the knee more supple Psal 103. 3. to bend the understanding more lively to speculate we are freshest in the first setting out of the race and we run with the greatest liveliness The travelling beast foams and is rampant when it first sets out in the morning Nature it self opens our curtains betimes in the morning especially on Gods holy day Men will rise up early to pursue their pleasures Young Men as holy Mr. Greenham observes will rise up early to Marriages to Feastings to go a Maying and will not this be our shame that for holy and heavenly exercises to serve the Lord in spirit and truth we will redeem no time whereby Joh. 4. 24. the glorious Sabbath may be better sanctified Can carnal delights have a more forcible influence upon us then spiritual Isa 25. 6. Shall the dregs be more lushious and sweet then Conviâ—ium Eucharisticum corporis et sanguinis Christi summae sanctorum sunt deliciae Ruffin et Leo Castrius the Wine on the Lees All divine complacencies the soul may find in Gospel Ordinances Shall delight in the Creature more enthrall our desires then delight in God who is the sweetest Paradise to a gracious soul Shall Young Men rise early to gather May and not we prevent the dawning of the Sabbath to gather Manna to feast with Christ to let our thoughts wheele about towards Heaven and take Corpus in refectionis delectatione resolvitur cor ad inane gaudium relaxatur Greg. Moral their flight within the vaile Let not a dalliance nor a merry meeting more engage the carnal part of the World then the Lords feast of fat things the set banquets of his holy Sabbath necessitates our most early flights after that blessed prey Nay lastly How early will men rise to prosecute their sinfull designes The Persians adore the rising Sun are early up for their Idolatry The Prophet observes that the Drunkards Isa 5 11. Ebrietas certe est intempestiva quae est matutina contra Apostolum 1 Thes 5 6. rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink and continue till night till Wine inflame them they are early up and are unwearied in their sins and cursed profuseness The Israelites rose early to evidence their madness and their folly to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to a Golden Calf and to eat and drink and rise up to play as usually Exod. 32. 6. superstition ushers in prophaneness The Papists will break their sleep that more timely they may have their Masses Superstitio et omnu Idololatria est profusâ— qui eâ inâ—aleseunt nulla pâ—rcunt sumptibus veros dei cultores pudeat tam â—arcos esse cum agitur de regno dei promovendo Rivet and Popish practices and Hereticks will attend on their vain Revelations and will recover some time by early rising their Enthusiasmes and fantastick dreams shall snatch them out of their beds betimes God makes his complaint against the Jewes that they rose early to corrupt their doings to intangle themselves in sin and provocation Saul sends messengers to slay David in the morning he will take the earliest time of the day for murther and cruelty The Philistins rise early every morning to enter their Idolatrous Temple to worship their Dagon and shall not we infinitely more rise early on the Lords day to worship Jehovah Shall Dagon Zeph. 3. 7. have more honour then the Ark Surely the sinners vehemency 1 Sam. 19. 11. 1 Sam. 5. 3 4. might justly shame us into early piety CHAP. XIII How we must spend the morning of a Sabbath ANd now when our zeal hath made its way through the curtains and raised us from our beds and our down let us set upon Sabbath work let us betimes wait for the visits of Christ in the performance of the duties of a Sabbath Now especially God waits to be gracious but it must be in a way of duty Holy duties they are the paths to Isa 30. 18. meet Christ in the road of Divine mercy they are the Garden wherein the Spouse meets her Beloved
Therefore in the morning let us set upon those sacred services which becomes Gods holy day Indeed by private duties before the publick our spirits are made more tuneable and by private duties after the publick Gods Ordinances are made more profitable The morning of a Sabbath is but the spring of a Sabbath which is the sweetest and most pleasant season for the soul to converse with God then the soul seems to be most green and freshest then duties seem to be most melodious and musical and then Grace more delightfully buds forth and is exerted with the greatest satisfaction and beauty Exod. 34. 4. In the morning Moses went into the Mount to meet with God In the morning the Apostles went into the Temple Acts 5. 21. to declare the Gospel In the morning early Joshuah Josh 6. 12. and the Priests take up the Ark of God which was the testimony of the divine presence Job rose up early in the morning Job 1. 5. and offered burnt offerings The poor multitude early Luke 21. 38. in the morning wait upon the Ministry of Jesus Christ they wait for the morning dews of the Gospel they are the sweetest they are the freshest they are more natural and most seasonable Christ preaches his morning Lecture to his flocking John 8. 2. and numerous Auditors In a word the performance Commendat nobis et domini et populi diligentiam hujus quam audiendi illius quam docendi sedulitate declaraverit sed iterum diluculo venit in templum Musc in Joh. 8. of holy duties in the morning of Gods holy day they work a three-fold good They prepare the heart The sluggish heart must be rouzed and awakened in private before it can see its beloved in the publick It must be breathed by some divine duties that it may be more fresh for the publick administrations Bells must be raised before they be rung to make the pleasing musick The flowers must be watered either by the shower 1 Sam. 7. 3. 1 Chro. â—9 18. Rev. 21. 2 or the watering pot before they lift up their pleasant heads and cast their wonted perfume The morning duties of a Sabbath they put the heart into a serious and heavenly Ante nuptias sponsa ornatur et paratur sponso suo Par. frame and make it fit company for Jesus Christ When I have prayed in my family I am tuned and wound up the more for that duty in the Assembly of the Saints They are the discharge of conscience A conscientious person cannot waste the morning of a Sabbath that is destinated to holy service Among the Jewes they had their morning Num. 28. 4 9 10. sacrifices on their Sabbaths There is no part of a Sabbath must lie fallow especially in the morning On the morning Mat. 28. 1 6. early Christ rose for our salvation and on the morning of this holy day we must rise for his service Christ calls himself the morning star Rev. 22. 16. And when is it fittest to Rev. 22. 16. Christus exoriens in cordibus nostris caliginem mentibus nostris pellit Sicut Lucifer claritate stellas alias antecedens et ante solem oriens instantis diei praenuncia tenebras nocturnas dispellit behold this star but on the morning of his holy day The Christus est stella matutina non modâ— praesentis vitae noctem radâ—s suis nunâ— disâ—â—tit sed etiam in matutina communis resurrectionis luce omnibus sanctis sese conspicuum exhibebit Andr. morning of a Sabbath is the time for our first salutes of Heaven for the dressing of our souls for the trimming of our Lamps for the imitation of our Saviour in his early rising for the seasoning of our Families The morning is as currant coyne as the rest of the day it is more congruous to Nature as congruous to Grace anâ— whosoever shall by his sinfull negligence let that part of the Sabbath fly away shall hardly overtake the blessing the subsequent day It is not without remark that Christ is called the morning star Rev. 22. 16. and the Rising Sun Mal. 4. 2 both to denote our early approaches to him They are the Ensurers of spiritual gain It is in spiritual Rev. 22. 16. Mal. 4. 2. as it is in secular affairs The most thriving Husbands get up early in the morning and do much business before the shop is open and so the thriving Christians get up early on the Sabbath and so spend the morning as that they have done much of their work before the Sanctuary door is open or they meet with the more publick Assemblies What views mightest thou have of God by Holy Meditation what smiles and answers of Love from Christ by ardent and servent Prayers what heart warmings by holy Discourse on the morning of a Sabbath Then the first winds and brizes of Joh. 3. 8. the spirit blow and we may weigh Anchor the more happily for the whole ensuing day Josephs Brethren so minded Gen. 44. 3 4. their Journey that they set forward as soon as the morning was light The Sabbath day is our travelling day towards Canaan and therefore we must dispatch much of our Journey in the morning we should do as it was prophesied of Benjamin devoure the prey in the morning that prey Gen. 49. 27. Hos 6. 3. which God hath provided for those who right early sanctifie his holy Sabbath and we should do this the rather for it may be with us as once it was with the people of Israel Nunb 9. 21. that the cloud was taken up in the morning Now the cloud was the sign of Gods presence and if the cloud be taken up how can we expect a shower of mercy David saith 2 Sam. 23. 4. that the Lord is as the light of the morning when the Sun riseth when then is it more sutable to meet these bright appearances but on the morning especially on his own day 1 Kings 18. 26 29. The very Priests of Baal called upon their Idols from morning until evening and afterwards prophesied untill the time of the evening sacrifice and shall not we call upon our God the living God from morning until noon and so to the evening sacrifice especially on that day which is a day of worship and sacrifice The wisâ—man observes it is a principle agreeable to Nature to â—â—w our seed in the morning Eccles 11. 6. Isa 17. 11. and what are our holy duties but this seed which will spring up in Heavenly rewards if piously sown and the fittest Cant. 6. â—0 time for them is the morning especially the first day of the week Our Sabbath which is the morning of the week Sicut auroram Christum inveniemus paratum Del rio Christ speaking of the Spouse Cant. 6. 10. asketh the question who is she that looketh forth as the morning not onely denoting the Spouses freshness and beauty but the time
so is the sugar at the bottom When the plummets Egressus Isaac in agrum ad mâ—ditandum accepit praemium pietatis sponsam scil gratissimam of our souls have been running down in worldly affairs and businesses in the day time then in the Evening to draw up that weight of the Clock in holy meditation is most suitable and commendable nor can any thing better become a Christian then in this duty to give God the Alpha and the Omega of every day The third season for holy Meditation is the night time when nature hath rockt every thing asleep and silenced the world from interrupting noyses This David leaves as The third season for meditation the matter both of his command and example Psal 63. 6. The night season is sequestred from worldly affairs and is Psal 63. 6. not checkt with their clamorous importunity nor is it a time Psal 4. 4. distracted with the incursions of sensible objects it is likewise a time not accosted or besieged with frivolous or dangerous temptations There are two things which do much fit and dispose the soul for Meditation viz. Rest and Silence Sancti laetantur dei patefactionibus sed timore et tremore both which are to be found in the night And to this may be added when the curtains of darkness are drawn over the world we are then filled with a religious fear of God our hearts are more composed and we entertain more solemn and awfull apprehensions of the Divine Majesty Stulte quid est somnus gelidae nisi mortis imago there is then a holy terrour struck upon the soul And when we lie upon our beds the bed is an image and representation of the Grave and at such a time a man may be more serious and composed for the duty But above all let us consider the Sabbath is the fittest time for meditation On that day our Saviour arose from the The fourth season for meditation Earth and our souls should ascend and raise themselves towards Heaven And meditation doth not onely become the morning but the whole day of a Sabbath it must not onely be our morning dress but the attire we must wear all the day We should think with our selves the Lords day it is a type of Heaven and contemplation is the work of Heaven The Heb. 4. 9. present Sabbath is onely the abridgement of that eternal rest which the Saints shall enjoy with God And they which disrelish this duty how can they expect that glorious reward which principally consists in the view and contemplation of God A gracious soul upon the Lords day by meditation may converse with God and with the inhabitants of another world he may enjoy as much of God as this interposing vail of flesh will admit of And thus much for the proper seasons of meditation The next thing which will further illustrate this blessed duty of meditation is the evidencing of the great advantages The great advantages of meditation of it which are both rich and many As several Diamonds are found in the same Rock and much Gold crowded into the same Mine Let us therefore take these manifold Emoluments in their Order Meditation is a vigorous antidote against sin It is rare physick to purge away or prevent that poyson Most sin for want of meditation There are two great snares which take most The first adtage of meditation men and intangle them in sin viz. Ignorance and Incogitancy when we either not know our danger or not consider our duty Men certainly would not be so brutishly sensual as they are if they did seriously weigh things in the ballance by solemn and holy meditation If they did meditate on the strength of Gods Arme on the strictness of Gods Justice Exod. 15. 16. on the consuming power of his Wrath if they seriously considered how infinitely evil sin is how much it Nehem. 9. 33. affronted Divine Purity and broke in pieces Divine Laws Heb. 12. 29. how exceedingly it endangered the soul and how deeply it Psal 5. 3. wounded the conscience surely men would flee all appearances 1 Joh. 3. 4. of evil and repulse a temptation in its first onset It is sin which puts a worm into Conscience a sting into Death 1 Theâ— 5. 22. a curse into the Law and fire into Hell Men meditate not Rom. 2. 15. on these things and so they are entangled in the snare Holy meditation is a golden shield against the darts of sinfull temptations In this case meditation would be as the Angels Judg. 22. 23. sword to stop us in our sinfull cariere and to strike us into clammy sweats and heavy damps that we should not sport our selves in the wayes and traverses of sin and provocation Joseph's meditation on Gods presence and omnipotency Gen. 39. 9. Josephus circumseptus fuiâ— pulcherrimarum virtutum choro quarum hortatu victor evasit spoyled the design of his Mistris her dalliance and kept him within the limits of holiness and chastity Meditation makes the heart like weâ— tinder it will not take the Devils fire In a word it is strange rashness in men that they will be taken in the ambushes of sin before they seriously meditate on what they are going about Holy meditation keeps vain and foolish thoughts out of the heart it prepossesseth the soul that frivolous imaginations The second advantage of meditation tions are wholly shut out God complains of the people of Israel that they were wholly taken up with vain thoughts Jer. 4. 14. Jer. 4. 14. And so it is with most men their minds are filled with froth and vanity and varieties of foolish thoughts croud in upon them as flyes swarm to the place where the honey lies and those incautelous persons consider not that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost sin begins at the thoughts which are the first plotters and contrivers of all evil the heart is the womb whereall sin is conceived and framed and outward acts onely midwife the sinfull birth into the world and make it visible The mind and fancy is the stage where sin is first acted The malicious O quà m vanae sunt hominum cogitationes una cogitatio foelix est cogitare de domino Hieron in Psal man acts over his sin in his thoughts he plots his revenge the impure person acts over his concupiscence in his thoughts he contrives his lust And it is much to be deplored how much wickedness is committed in the chambers of our thoughts Now meditation on things Divine the Purity of God the Promises of God would be a Soveraign means to exite and banish such vain and flatulent thoughts Hierome 2 Cor. 7. 1. cries out How vain are the thoughts of men there is but one thought considerable and that is to think on God If David had carried the Book of the Law about him and meditated 2 Sam. 11. 2. on it
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
spirit who is our intercessour within us And in correspondence to this blessed Trinity there Rom. 8. 26 27. are three species of beings who enjoy glory the glorious God the holy Angels the glorified Saints and thus meditation may tune the morning of a Sabbath and the musick may sound all the ensuing day CHAP. XXII God is most illustrious in his Bounty and Presence WE must meditate on the morning of a Sabbath not onely on the nature of God on the attributes of God and on the works of God but likewise on the bounty of God and his indulgence in giving us his Sabbath Our very work on this day is our reward our spiritual duties are our greatest dignities O what an honour what a favour what a happiness doth God vouchsafe us in giving us this golden season David though a King and the Head of the Psal 84. 10. Psal 42. 2. best people in the world esteemed it an honour to be the lowest Officer in Gods house Psal 84. 10. The ordinances Psal 63. 2. of God are called our appearing before God Psal 42. 2. The fruition of them is as the seeing of his face Capernaum Deut. 4. 7. because of them was lifted up to heaven Mat. 11. 23. Who can tell what honour it is to appear in the presence of this King Or what happiness to see his lovely countenance In the ordinances of God the Christian hath sweet communion with ravishing delight in and enflamed affection to the blessed God if in them he tasts God to be gracious and hath the first fruits of his glorious and eternal harvest Well might the Protestants of France call the place of their publick meeting on Gods holy day Paradise Ordinances are heaven in a Glass and the Londs day is heaven in a Map O the bounty of God in giving us this blessed day This day is to be valued at a high rate therein we enjoy fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ we have tasts of the Spirit and feel the influential impressions of his grace we are going up the stairs till we come to the highest loft of 1 Joh. 1. 3. Psal 34. 8. glory The Jewes call the week dayes prophane dayes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the Sabbath a holy and precious day The Greeks call week days working dayes but the Sabbath is a day of sweet rest Other dayes are common and ordinary dayes but this holy Sabbath is the chief of dayes Many daughters have done vertuously but thou excellest them all Many dayes as Lecture Prov. 31. 25. dayes Fast dayes Thanksgiving dayes have done vertuously but thou O Sabbath excellest them all Well might the good soul run to meet thee in the morning and salute thee with a Come my sweet spouse thee have I loved for thee have I longed and thou art my dearest delight How far then Honos ne sit onus nec verba spiritus verbera carnis should we be from accounting the Sabbath our burden and our attendance on Ordinances upon that blessed day our task or bondage O let us not esteem spiritual opportunities our fetters but our freedom Think what the Phaenix is among the birds the Lyon among the beasts the Fire among the elements the Prince among the Subjects that is the Lords day among other dayes Wax in the shop is worth something but wax put to some Deeds is worth thousands Ordinary dayes are wax in the shop but the Lords day is wax put to the deeds Upon this day Christ carries the soul into his wine-Cellar and his banner over him Cant. 2. 4. is love Can. 2. 4 5. Upon other dayes Christ feeds his members but on this day he feasts them on other dayes they have their ordinary dyet but on the Sabbath they have their exceedings on this day Christ brings forth his living waters Gen. 43. 34. his best wine Joh. 2. 10. His finest bread his Benjamins Haec visio non est personalis et Jacobi solummodò consolatio sed commune piorum solamen ut de praesentiâ et divino auxilio dubitemus Par mess On the Lords day Christ pitches his Tabernacle among us we are as it were taken up into the mount with God there to be transfigured before him Mat. 17. 2. When the Lord appeared unto Jacob in a vision by night he saw a Ladder erected between Heaven and Earth and the Lord on the top of it the Angels ascending and descending by it and when he awoke How dreadfull saith he is this place the Lord was here and I was not aware surely it is no other Gen. 28. 16 17. then the house of God and this is the gate of heaven Are not Hos 11. 9. our places of assembling the very gates of heaven In our Deut. 33. 3. solemn assemblies is there not a ladder erected between earth and heaven and is not the Lord at the top of it The gracious Sicut deus sanctus est sic etiam populum sonctificat et servat et in medio eorum est et apparet Riv. instructions which we receive are they not so many Angels descending The gracious motions which arise in our hearts upon meditation on Gods word upon thanksgiving to God or rejoycing in him or else sorrowing for our sins are they not as so many Angels ascending And have we not then great cause to be filled with admiration and holy gratulations to God for Sabbath indulgence for his rich bounty in the donation of his blessed day On the morning of the Sabbath let us meditate on the presence of God Many miscarriages are acted by man and many miseries do seize upon man for the neglect of this ever Deus totus oculus est et minima videt August seasonable meditation A solemn consideration of Gods presence would restrain us from sin would quicken us in duty would draw out our graces would compose our spirits and cast a holy awe upon us which things would be inductive of much fruitfulness and piety When we sin we forget Gods eye is upon us when we flag in duty we do not think God is nigh to us when we trifle away Sabbath we do not remember Gods hand will certainly be against us Now there is a two-fold presence of God There is a more general presence and God is present every where Deus presens est 1. Per Essentiam Psal 139. 12. 1 Chron. 28. 9. First By his Essence and so he fills all things 1 Kings 8. 27. and thus he fills heaven with his glory Earth with his goodness and Hell it self with his power and justice Secondly God is present every where by his knowledge so he beholds all things 2 Chron. 16. 9. Light and darkness 2 Per Cognitionem night and day are all one to him Psal 139. 12. He seeth the very imaginations of our hearts His eyes behold and his eye lids try the children of men Psal 11. 4.
the Saints onely God verily gives us this day for sâ—ul work then we hear the word which is the food of the soul Job 23. 12. then we pursue greater measures of grace which is the beauty of the Soul then we look after thâ— Mat. 13. 47 48. pearl of price the Lord Jesus Christ which is the riches of the soul then we poure out our prayers which Mic. 6. 3. 2 Pet. 1. 19. are the â—ent of the soul and then we follow after spiritual knowledge which is the â—aystâ—r arising in the soul The School men welâ— obsâ—â—ve that the injunction of the fourth Commandment is abstinâ—nce from servile works but the end of the command is spiritual duty and holiness The design of the Sabbath was never principally the case of the flesh but the labour of the heart the hearts of serious Christians then working like Bees in the Garden drawing honey from the flowers of every Ordinance There is a significative end of the Sabbath it signifies a three-fold rest Sabbatum praecipitur Judaeis ob triplicem rationem 1. Propter avaritiam ut vacentur divinis 2. Ne errent circa creationem 3 Vt significet triplicem quietâ—m 1. Christi in sepulchro 2. Mâ—ntis à pecâ—atis 3. Beatorum in patriâ Aquin. First The Sabbath in the time of the Law signified Christs rest in the grave When our Saviour having run through the toyles and sorrows of the world lay down in his dormitory of dust for three days and there both Christ and the Jewish Sabbath lay asleep together onely with this difference the legal Sabbath took its last sleep and awoke no more but our dearest Lord after a short repose awaked in his blessed and glorious resurrection and went to sleep no more But the expiration of the Old Sabbath being fully accomplished at Christs burial Secondly The Gospel Sabbath arises as a Phoenix out of the ashes of the other nor is it defective in its signification but implies and signifies our rest from sinfull as well as secâ—lar works Indeed sin is a default on other dayes but it is Vtrisque verò gravias peccant qui otio Sabbati â—bâ—tuntur ad suas cupiditates Aug. a prodigy on the Lords day then our bodies must not only rest from toyle but our hearts from trespass and from its sinfull traverses Augustine observes That they sin at the greatest rate of offence who abuse the leisure of the Sabbath to pursue their lusts and unlawful desires And the Schoolmen note That they who are only idle upon the Sabbath break only the fourth Commandment but those who are prophane Qui solùm ab opere servili cessant omninò peccant sed qui sequuntur suas cupiditates et libidines non solùm violant quartum sed alia transgrediuntur mandata Altissiod upon that day sin with greater obstinacy and violate other Commands their excesses and intemperance swell into the highest guiltiness What Moses in his passion did in breaking the two Tables in pieces Exod. 32. 19. Prophane persons upon a Sabbath seem to imitate and out-vy We enjoy leisure on Gods holy day but it is for divine worship we must rest but it must be in God and not lean on our couch in ease and slothfulness but we must lean on our beloved in holy and fiducial services Thirdly Our blessed Christian Sabbath further signifies Cant. 8. 5. the Saints rest in glory The present Sabbath is onely the pawn and the first fruits of a better rest to come Here the Josh 18. 7. Saints like the Tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half Necessum est dicere quod David aliam tertiam quandam requiem intellexerit puta in coelo aeternam quae nobis Christianis quavis aetate proponitur tertiam inquam requiem quae per duas praecedentes scil per requiem Sabbati et requiem in terrâ Canaan anagogicè fuit significata Alap Vltrà hunc mundum est veri Sabbati observatio Orig. Tribe of Manassah are on this side Jordan they are not yet come to Canaan Believers indeed enjoy Communion with Christ here but they are not arrived at their perfect rest in the heavenly Canaan where they shall enjoy Christ in a full fruition The present Sabbath is the twilight the dawning of that which is to come it is the morning dew of love which being melted away we shall come into the warm bosome of Christ to keep an everlasting Sabbath We are by our weekly rest lead by the hand to take notice of our perfectly complacential and undisturbed rest that which Origen calls The true Sabbath and Chrysostome calls the true Rest not that our Sabbath here is counterfeit but truth and vâ—rity is ascribed to our Sabbath above as it is attributed to the God of the Sabbath by way of greater glory and more unlimited eminency There is a light in the Candle but the light of the Sun is more transcendent and illustrious Flaviacensis observes that our future Sabbath is the Sabbath of Sabbaths because the Saints rest is begun only here but consummated in every lineament in the Kingdom of glory the Elect shall rest in every part in soul in body from disturbance from all afflictions labours miseries temptations Tertia est requies quae est verè quies scil regnum caelorum quod assecuti verè quiescunt à laboribus afflictionibus Chrysost no evil One to tempt no evil heart to seduce Hesychius calls our future Sabbath our rest in Heaven an intelligible rest as if the soul did never fully understand its rest and quietation till it took up its abode in the bosome of Christ CHAP. XXIV A Collation and Comparison of the Jewish with the Christian Sabbath OUr Meditation on the morning of Gods holy day having Exod. 16. 23. Exod. 35. 2. Rev. 1. 10. passed through the several ends of the Sabbath it may a little look back and compare the Jews seventh day and the Christians first day together their Sabbath and our Lords day and much delight will flow from both to refresh our meditations And here we may compare the legal and the Evangelical Sabbath both in their agreements and in their differences for when they do not sound the same tune yet they yield the same and sweet harmony The Jewish and the Christian Sabbath agree in this they are both the seventh part of the week though the duties Dies septimus non propter numerum septenarium aut utiquam propter ipsius qualitatem sed quoniam saâ—â—tae erat quieti consecratus à domino ideòque pro sancto habendus est sanctis actibus meditationibus sanctisicondus Musc of our Sabbath be of a sweeter tast yet they are not of a longer duration The 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jom of the Hebrews is as long as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hemera of the Christians the Lords day is a day and no more and so was the Jews Seventh day both contain
glory be in its full brightness and perfection But as our Sabbath below doth something resemble so it doth infinitely fall short of our Sabbath above The two Sabbaths differ in their duration Our Christian Sabbath is a golden but a little spot of time like a draught of rich wine it is lushious but it is quickly drank off Our sweetest Sabbath here is but the passage of a day it endures no longer then the Sun can make its flight for a few Psal 39. 5. hours Our life is but a span our Sabbath how little a Nemo tam Divos habuit faventes Crastinum ut possit sibi polliceri Sen. part of this span It is the Lords day but yet a day of bright gleam the souls market which is presently over like a great Feast wherein we have fed plentifully but the next day the meal must be renewed or the body faints and languisheth Nay our Sabbath is only the seventh part of the week and all our Sabbaths are but the seventh part of our Vita nostra tam brevis est ut nescio an dicenda sit vita mortalis aut vitalis mors August life which the Apostle calls a vapour Jam. 4. 14. both for its contemptibleness and speedy disappearing Gods blessed day here is sweet but short it is a banquet indeed but the cloth is soon taken away it is like the star in Bethlehem which was useful to bring to Christ but it soon disappeares Mat. 2. 10. But our Sabbath above shall be stretched out to all eternity Vbi appropinquassent magiâ— Hierosolymae disapparâ—it stella Hoc Sabbatum est sempiternum neque alio quodam Sabbato terminabitur excipietur aut perficietur Musc it will be always spending but never wasting no week day shall follow it no night shall close it no death shall bury it The Jewish Sabbath was entombed in Christs grave the Christian Sabbath shall end with the world The beautiful fabrick of the world shall be taken down and the Sabbath of Christians shall be rolled up together but our Sabbath above shall never be shut in with any period or termination This blessed Sabbath in glory is spotless and why should it die if it have not offended It is perfect and perfection admits of no end or conclusion whatsoever is undefiled is eternall so God is everlasting the good Angels John 3. 16. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Heb. 13. 14. Luke 16. 9. 2 Pet. 1. 11. Heb. 9. 15. Heb. 4. 9. and glorified Saints The Sabbath above is a full rest and it could not be perfect ease if it met with a certain end a conclusion must needs be a disturbance and that rest must needs be imperfect which is interrupted The Saints would not pray so ardently for this rest Psal 55. 6. if they were to Heb. 4. 9. 1 Pet. 5. 10 2 Cor. 4. 17. Spirituale Sabbatum licet N. T. sit tamen ipsum est imperfectum tum demum perficietur quando veniet quod perfectum est suffer another remove and still be liable to change and mutation The Jews rest in Canaan which was sweetned with the over-flowing of milk and honey did only prefigure this Eternal rest as the shadows in the time of the Law did typifie Christ But the rest of Canaan is at an end and all the legal shadows are passed away but Christ and our Sabbath above shall remain for ever In this then our Sabbath to come surpasses the present viz. in continuance and duration The two Sabbaths differ in their purity Our Sabbath here may be and is spotted it is black as well as comely fair indeed but yet not without its wrinkles the emblems of Cant. 1. 5. frailty and imperfection This holy One will see corruption The most acurate Saint defiles his best Sabbath and when Psal 16. 10. he is most circumspect he is offensive he either pollutes it with the lesser stain of vain and frivolous thoughts or with the larger stain of unsuitable and impertinent language or with the blacker stain of unjustifiable and sinful practice or with the deeper stain of deadness and unbecomingness in holy duties or with the more usual stain of mispending time letting that golden oil run in wast The Saints themselves fall seven times on this day as well as others The Prov. 24. 16. way is so narrow on a Sabbath that we easily miss it either we are not prepared for the duties of a Sabbath or we are defective in those duties or we are weary of those blessed Peccatum ita omnes homines invaserit ut nemo in hac vitâ quamvis vir sanctus sine peccato esse queat et peccata sanctorum sunt lapsus qui eis inter ambulandum in luce contrà animi sententiam contingunt Zanch. Joh. 1. 1 8. 10. services There will be still something amiss either our tongues slip or our hearts wander Isa 29. 13. Our feet slide or our graces flag either we neglect holy Ordinances that day or we are careless in Ordinances or we are incautelous after Ordinances we have not been so vigorous in closet duties or not so savory in family services or we have not behaved our selves so composedly in the publick Assemblies as did become the purity of a Sabbath The Sabbath here may complain that it sojourns in Mesech and dwells in the tents of Kedar Psal 120. 5. It is like the Ark among the Philistims 1 Sam. 5. 1. It is unattainable by the Saints of the highest form to keep a Sabbath upon earth without blot or blemish Here the learest sky hath a cloud But now our Sabbath above shall not be defiled or freckled with the least defect or imperfection We are perfect in our eternal Sabbath and therefore we can breath no damp upon it The Apostle avers there we shall be like Christ 1 John 3. 2. which is security enough against all fear of 1 John 3. 2. Quemadmodum puâ—itas mundities speculi requiritur ut imago in eo conspiciatur sic animae corporis perfecta mundities in beatis erit ut Deum videro ejus demque imaginem in semet ipsis perfectè exprimere possint Ger. taint or pollution Hereafter we shall fully recover the image of Christ our souls and bodies shall be perfectly pure And indeed that glass had need be clean in which God must see his image and representation the least speck or tincture of imperfection would wholly spoil the resemblance The Psalmist by an eye of faith seeth the day of Resurrection and rejoyces in this he shall fully recover the image of Christ Psal 17. 15. Both the Prophet and Apostle agree in this triumphall truth we shall be fully restored to Gods image in glory And if we are perfect from whence should our Eternal Sabbath receive a stain From the Author of it He is a holy God from the nature of it It is a perfect rest from the possessors of it They are unspotted Saints
Exod. 17. 10. hands they are apt to faint and fall down but a continued violence and force must keep our affections in their highest sphere The Bird cannot stay in the Air without continual flight and motion of the wings nor can we persist in affectionate prayer without constant toil with our own hearts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Justin Mart. Apol 2 affections faint and thoughts scatter weariness makes way for wandring so that we must take pains to keep our affections sailing towards heaven we must keep the wind of the spirit and row at the Oar that we be not sinfully becalmed and so miss of the end of our voyage Justin Martyr observes That the prefect of the assembly in his time used to pray with his utmost strength So then our prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be cordiall and affectionate Our prayers must be cloathed with humility we must pray in a sense of divine purity and of our own unworthiness Luke 18. 23. Not only the bended knee but the submissive Isa 66. 3. spirit becomes prayer Christ himself kneeled down and prayed Luke 22. 41. On the morning of a Sabbath we Quatuor sunt gradus humilitatis Primus est contemptibilem se esse cognoscere Secunduâ— de hoc dolere Tertius hoc confiteri Quartus Aequo animo ferre se contemptibilitèr tractarâ— Ansel have great things to beg and we our selves usually give our charity not to the sturdy but to the stooping beggar If we look for blessings from Gods hand it is fit we should lie at Gods feet Christ himself melted Heb. 5. 7. and shall not we stoop and be humble in prayer Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed Isa 38. 2. as being conscious of his own unworthiness covering his face with blushes which the world must not see and so confounded in himself he pours out his soul before God In this holy duty we lie at the allowance of Gods mercy and most rationall it is we should lie at the foot-stool of Gods Throne The Publicans stroke on his breast which was an evidence of his humility and self-abhorrency made his way to that acceptation the Luke 18. 13. proud Pharisee could not attain unto Our closet and family prayers on the morning of the Sabbath must be sharpened and spirited wirh the sense of want and with hungrings and desires after supplies The Mat. 5. 6. Neh. 1. 11. Luke 11. 13. Non frigidè à deo petere debemus beneficia sed affici nos oportet sensu et vehementi desiderio illarum rerum quas à deo petimus Daven beggar cryeth loudest his rags make him roar we are cloyed in our apprehensions and we are cool in our Petitions Necessity inflames importunity Were we but sensible on the morning of a Sabbath to come to our case in hand what need we have of sins pardon of an understanding heart of a hearing ear of a holy and suitable frame of spirit for divine Ordinances and to run profitably through the duties of the whole Sabbath surely our hearts would be like coals of Juniper Psal 120. 4. we should burn with ardency and importunity We pray most fervently when we pray most feelingly want is the bellows of desire Let In petendo panem nostrum quotidiunum egestatem mendicitatem nostram agnoscimus us therefore study a sense of our spiritual wants and that will set the wheel of prayer on going with the greatest speed and eagerness Let these introductory prayers on a Sabbath be animated with faith That grace makes every duty weight and every service without it if it be put into the ballance will be found too light In our prayers we must be perswaded of the Heb. 11. 6. 1 John 5. 14. Psal 10. 17. mercifulness of Gods nature to encline and bow his ear to them of the riches of his promises to encourage them of the infiniteness of his power to fulfill and accomplish them Olea Arbor pinguedine suâ fertur nunquam deficere sed folia sub aquis manere possunt virentia Par. or else all our requests are like the bird with clipt wings they may flutter up and down the ground but they can rise no higher We must believe that God can fill every chink of our desires and that he will send home the Dove with the Olive branch in his mouth These annexed Scriptures will further evince this truth 1 John 5. 14. Mat. 21. 22. Psal 141. 2. Jam. 1. 6. Psal 55. 17. Where David saith He shall hear my voice O rare act of vigorous faith In a word Then Jude v. 20. we pray aright when we pray in the Holy Ghost His concurrence is necessary God will own nothing in prayer but Rom. 8. 26 27 what comes from his spirit any other voice is strange and barbarous to him God delights not in the flaunting of parts and in the unsavory belches of a carnal heart nor in the tunable cadency of words which is only an empty ring in Gods ear But the method of the Lord is to prepare the 1 Kings 18. 38. heart and then to grant the request Psal 10. 17. Our heart is opened first and then God opens his ear Fire from Potentia ad precandum non est ex nobis metipsis sed ex spiritu sancto Psal 147. 9. Vt adjuetis me in Orationibus i. e. ut concertetis in agone mecum graeâ—è est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 heaven to consume the sacrific was the solemn token of acceptation heretofore 1 Kings 18. 38. Fire from heaven is the token still even an holy ardour wrought in us by the Holy Ghost Indeed prayer is a work too hard for us we can babble of our selves but we cannot pray without the Holy Ghost we can put words into prayer but the spirit must put affections without which prayer is but cold prattle and spiritless talk Our necessities may sharpen but they cannot enliven our prayers The carnal man may cry unto God as young Ravens and as the rude Marriners did in Jonahs ship but now gracious affection is quite another thing There may be cold and raw wishes after grace in an unbeliever but Jonah 1. 6. serious and spiritual desires after the same blessed gift these Hos 12. 4. we must have from the Holy Ghost Quest Did we consider what prayer properly is we should then easily see the necessity of the spirits assistance Prayer is a Qui precatur debet esse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 certans et luctans etiam cum ipso deo Daven work which will cost us travel of heart Acts 1. 14. a working spirit Jam. 5. 16. an earnest striving Rom. 15. 30. and contending with God himself Col. 4. 12. It is very observable that the party Jacob wrestled with Gen. 32. 25. is called a Man an Angel nay he is called God a man for his shape and the form he assumed an Angel to denote the
pluvia coelestis gratiae ad fructificandumirrigatur Par. us for publick duties but succeeds those publick ordinances to us It is like a good wind which doth not onely carry us off from the shore but goes along with us the whole Voyage it is a sweet duty which must be interwoven in every part of a Sabbath Prayer plows the heart for the seed of the VVord it commands rain to prosper that seed it secundates and ripens the Corn when it appears above-ground and it keeps the weeds from choaking the Corn It doth the whole work When we have been in publick with Psalm 109. 4. God Private prayer in Christ is the Altar which sanctifies the gift and Prayer in this interval of holy worship looks with a double aspect backward to what we have heard and forward to what we may hear indeed in this being like Heb. 4. 12. the Word a two-edged Sword it hath a double edge for our spiritual advantage Now our Prayer is like the sword at the east of the Garden of Eden which turned every way Acts 2. 27. Prayer in the Closet often saves us the labours of the Pulpit Jer. 23. 29. and directs the speech of the Minister to prick the Jer. 20. 9. 1 Cor. 3. 2. heart of the hearer Ananias came to Paul when he was praying Acts 9. 11. If the Word be an hammer it is prayer causes the stroke if the Word be fire it is prayer layes this fire on our hearths if the VVord be a sword it is prayer weilds this Sword to wound our lusts and corruptions In a word private prayer is the best meanes to prosper publick preaching and to guide the arrow of truth to hit the mark of Conscience Another Duty which must take up the space between the publick Ordinances is reading theÌ„ Scriptures VVhen we come home from the publick we must not be confined to the Scripturae sunt spiritualis aniae mensa in quá vivae representantur deliciae et maxima bona Anselm inclosure of the Ministers Sermon but we must open to the wide though pleasant Common of the whole book of God we must read some Chapters for spiritual edification Anselme used to call the Scriptures the spiritual Table of the soul furnished with all heavenly delicacies and with the choicest good things And on Gods holy day when our own table is taken away Let this spread-table be set before us for soul-feeding and repose Every Chapter which may be read is an Epitome of divine Truth which may Si quando procacior suit inimicus Psaltorium decantabat In tentationibus Deutero â—ii verba voluebat In tribulationibus Isaiae replicabat eloquia et scripturae testimonium in consolationem suam edisserebat Hierom. train up our children and influence our servants and which may build up our own souls and water every branch of the Family for spiritual growth in the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord Phil. 3. 8. Hierome reports of Paula that he used the Scriptures as a Medicine against every disease If her enemies were violent she would turn over the Psalmes If her temptations were strong she would fix upon some part of Deuteronomy If her afflictions were forcible then she consulted some part of the Prophesie of Isaiah and so she drew the Scriptures into an universal comfort to her The VVord of God is our light to guide us Psalm 119. 105. And that family where the Scriptures are much read is a Goshen of light and pleasantness where Israel resides and inhabits when other habitations are covered with Aegyptian darkness with the darkness of sin and ignorance Governours of Families are the best stewards not onely when they lay in provisions from the Market Luke 12. 42. but when they bring forth spiritual food from the Scriptures by reading conscionably and constantly those Oracles of Rom. 3. 2. God to those under their roof for holy Job confidently asserts that the word is more necessary than the appointed food Acts 20 27. Job 23. 12. Let therefore the interval between the publick worship be filled up with holy travel in the counsels of God Scripturas non obiter inspicia nus et legamus ut externum corticem tantùm accipiamus sed adhibenda est diligens perscrutatio Chemnit recorded in Scripture Our Saviour imputed all the sottish mistakes of the Jews to their ignorance of the Scripture Mat. 22. 29. and lays it as a charge upon them to search the Scriptures Joh. 5. 39. But it must not be as Chemnitius observes a transient glance but a serious search as Miners for Gold with pains and delight So then it is a great part of wisdom in Families to converse much with Gods word but especially on Gods day and most peculiarly when the most solemn and publick worship doth not call them off CHAP. XXXIV How we must spend the Evening of the Sabbath when the Publick Assemblies are dismissed THere are many who will give an easie answer to the question Nos ab omni opere externo vacantes deo uni et soli hoc die vacemus Ideireò et hunc diem benedixit et sanctificavit i. e. in usum suum separavit et elegit Aret. Eph. 4. 20. proposed and will tell us that when the publick service is ended we have our free liberty for all pleasing Recreations we may exercise our skil in a pair of Bowles we may exercise our valour in a pair of Cudgels we may exercise our fancy in a Dance or a Barly-break But all the reply I shall make this being spoken to before is I hope we have not so learned Christ Now therefore my next task is to lay down those duties with which we may close Gods holy and blessed day We must carefully survey what we have been acquainted withall in the publick The Repetition of Sermons is a heart-penetrating and soul-edifying duty the very manuduction Quod toties Paulus eadèm scribit hoc est ad corroborandum ut Christiani sint tutiores cautiores et vigilantiores Alap John 6. 12. and leading of families into the fear of the Lord Holy truths are those divine fragments which must not be lost but gathered up by a faithful repetition When the Minister hath ended to preach we must begin to rehearse such repetitions being the musical ecchoes from that sweet voice we heard before If Paul thought it not grievous to write the same things which he had taught before Phil. 3. 1. We must not think it painful or impertinent to rehearse the same things which we have learned before The repedting of 1 Sam. 3. 10. Quaevis cogitationes et rationes naturales intellectus quantumvis artificiosae quantum vis sublime subjiciantur doctrinae Evangelicae et de facto subjectae sunt omnibus eadem doctrinâ conversis Mal. 13. 19. truth preacht casts a new light upon it it clincheth Gospel counsel the faster upon the heart and
the spring of all irreligion Every flowr the beast feeds upon we have the sweetness of it in the milk and so all those truths we insinuate into the hearts of our Families in a chatechistical way we shall find in their behaviours and carriages The cost we bestow on our Gardens we find in the spring and then the sweetness of the Rose and the beauty of the Tulip will court both our eye and our smell so in this case our pains in chatechizing will be found in the towardliness of the youth of our Families and if we would turn our houses into little Churches chatechism must be Col. 4. 15. the chiefest consecration But if we lay aside this successful duty Ignorance will overgrow the Family and then a cloud of ignorance will easily melt into a shower of profaneness The darkness in the head will turn into darkness 1 Câ—r 2 8. in the deed and our Family may not love Christ probably because they do not know him Well instructed are usually well governed Families Let something then of the Sabbath Evening be spent and employed in this influentiall Duty CHAP. XXXV Singing of Psalmes is the Musique of a Sabbath THe Feast of a Sabbath is not to want the musique of a Ephes 5 19. Psalm The Lords day saith the Psalmist Psalm 118. Revel 5. 11. 24. is a day which the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it And Psalms are the ecchoes of joy the hearts Revel 4. 11. melody the Saints tuning his Hallelujahs When we sing Revel 5. 13. Psalms we seem to joyn issue with the 24 Elders mentioned in the Revelation and with the Quire of Angels the Psalm 100. 2. subject of whose Song is the Lord and the Lamb who sit 2 Sam. 23. 1. upon the Throne David was not onely the great King of Judah but the sweet Singer of Israel and he did not onely 1 Chron. 13. 8 compile his psalms for the Church but himself did sing Nehem. 12. 27. forth his Songs to the Lord nay the whole body of the Judg. 5. 3. people of Israel though they cannot be Psalmists they Psalm 30. 4. will be joyous in the praises of the Lord 1 Chron. 13. 8. The wall of the City was not dedicated without singing Psalm 147. 1. much more the worship of the Temple was not celebrated without the same method of praise thanksgiving Singing is the commanded mirth of Mountains Isa 44. 23. It is the Exultation of the Earth Isa 49. 13. It is the pleasant triumph of Saints Isa 51. 11. It is the Trophie of Victories Exod. 15. 21. It is the Musique of Israels Quire 1 Chron. 16. 9. And then surely it is the joyful melody of Gods holy day Gods praise is much set forth by singing and all varieties joyn in consort The trees of the Wood 1 Chron. 16. 33. The sphears of the Heavens Isa 44. 23. The Kingdomes of the Earth Psalm 68. 32. The Saints in their greatest numbers Psalm 149. 3. The Saints in their greatest straights Isa 26. 19. The Saints in their greatest flight Isa 42. 10 11. The Saints in their greatest deliverances Zeph. 3. 14 15. The Saints in their greatest necessities Isa 52. 9. Isa 54. 1. The Saints in their greatest plenties Isa 65. 14. Jer. 31. 12. How comely then doth singing divine praise to the divine Majesty befit the holy day of God And we are to take notice that Psalms are not onely calculated 1 Cor. 14. 26. for the publick Congregation but likewise for private Col. 3. 16. families There must be a Quire in our houses Our Loquitur Apostoâ—us non tantum de publicis in ecclesiâ cantatis hymnis sed etiam de privatis Dr Jun. children like the lesser birds must sing the praises of the Creatour Our servants must understand the chief service in singing forth thanksgivings to the Lord and Governours of Families must be guides of the Chore they must be Presidents in this complacential service Tertullian tells us That the Christians in the Primitive times had their meetings before day to sing to Jesus Christ so sweet was this Duty to Christiani habuere caetus antelucanos ad canendum Christo et Deo Tertul. Lib. â—0 Epist 97. Hymnipro sympanis sumantur Psalmodia pro flâ—gitiosis cantibus Naz. Niceph. lib. 13 cap. 8. Ruffin Histor lib. 10. cap. 9. them and reputed so necessary Eusebius mentions some Hymnes which the Christians in the early times of the Gospel used to recite and sing forth And Nepos compiled many of these divine Songs for the service of Dyonisius and his Brethren Plinius secundus though an Heathen makes mention of Christians singing of Psalms to their great praise in his Epistles to the Emperour Trajan Gregory Nazianzen much presseth the singing of Psalms and Hymns upon Christians in their solemn days for the avoidance of fidling Instruments and of light and jocular songs And as if psalms were not onely the discharge of our duty but the confutation of the errours of others Chrysostom commanded Psalms to be sung in the night for the suppression of the Arrian Heresie Basil as Ruffin attests commanded the people to meet for the pouring out of their prayers and singing of Psalms The Eastern Church from the time that the Mos cantandi in Orientâ—li ecclesiá jam inde ab Apostolis est observatus Dr. Jun. Sun of Righteousness arose in the East did propagate the use of singing of Psalms and Hymns to successive Generations Nor was the Western Church defective in praising and practising of this sweet and reviving Duty Holy Ambrose so zealously pressed this duty of singing of Psalms that he would not allow times of persecution a sufficient reason to intercept it But the Empress Justina raging against Plebs in ecclesiá excubâ—bat et tum psalmi et hymni cantabantur secundum morem in Orientalium partium ut populus reficeretur c. him He commanded the common people to lye in the Church and there sing Psalms and Hymns according to the practice of the Oriental Christians that they might not be sensible of any sorrow or tediousness and this custom prevailed in after-times and was scattered into other places the Churches in other parts imitating this worthy practice And Paulinus testifies that the same excellent Ambrose brought Hymnes and Psalms to be sung in publick in the Churches of Millain and this practice overspread almost the whole Western Per omnes penè Occidentis provincias manasse resert Paulin. Church Paulin. in Vit. Ambros And if you ask what Psalms were sung in those Early dayes of the Church Augustine informeth us The Psalms of David Aug. confes lib. 10. cap. 33. And Theodoret joyns in the same assertion Theodor Hist lib. 2. cap. 24. And these Oracles were warbled forth with a lively and sweet voyce that the truths which were sung did seem to get a new life by the tune as
take especial care to serve the Lord in fear and trembling and remember to keep the Christian Sabbath Ezek. 46. 4. because the Kingdom is the Lords and his Christs who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords Revel 11. 15. The duty of Magistrates is 1. To repress the profaning of the Sabbath and to use all Qui non prohibet peccare cum potest jubet Sen. means for the accomplishment of that worthy and glorious design Namely 1. To forbid Nehem. 13. 15. 2. To reprove Nehem. 13. 17 18. 3. To threaten Nehem. 13. 21. 4. To hinder Nehem. 13. 19 22. And 5. To punish the profaning of Gods holy day Nehem. 13. 20. Secondly To command and to compell the Lords day to be sanctified 2 Chron. 34. 33. And Thirdly To sanctifie it himself his Children his Court his Attendants both privatly Psalm 5. 7. Acts 10. 1 2. and also publickly Ezek. 46. 2 4. 2 Kings 11. 5 7 9. The duties of private and publick sanctifying the Lords day tye and bind the Prince and other Magistrates no less then the meanest of the Subjects and the most pedantique persons And where the Prince neglects the strict and holy observation of Gods blessed day this sin will make his Crown shake and his Scepter tremble and rip up his most stately Pallaces to let in divine wrath and displeasure It was the prophanation of the Sabbath which hasten'd and ascertained Hezekiahs doom as may be clearly observed Jer. 17. 27. If ye will not hearken to me to hallow my Sabbath I will kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem and it shall devoure the Pallaces thereof and it shall not be quenched And lesser Governours every Housholder over his family who may be called an inferiour Magistrate in regard of his Authority in the little province of his family it is his duty to sanctifie the Sabbath himself he must keep it with all care Eph. 6. 4 and diligence and move in the circuit of Sabbath duties as Psal 101. 6 7. a star in its Orb And he must command and compell his family Est 4. 16. thereunto that they may effectually practice it as well Sub pronomine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tu intelliguntur 1 Personae dominantes Patres et Matres familiae 2. Personae fulcientes filii et fi liae 3. Personae ministrantes servi et Ancillae Rivet as himself and this he must do in his proportion as Magistrate in his own Houshold Surely if Kings in the midst of all their glittering attendance their courtly delicacies numerous addresses arduous affairs must not forget to keep holy the Sabbath day both themselves and all their bespangled family much more must the private Governours of families who lye not so open to tempting avocations nor are dazled with such courtly appearances take care that themselves and families serve the Lord on his own holy and blessed day The Edicts of State and constitutions of the Church like the two springs of Jor Dan have both met in a full stream to carry on this service against all resistance Ludovicus Proinde necesse est ut primo sacerdotes Regâ—s et Principes omnesque fideles huic diei debitam observantiam atque reverentiam devotissimè exhibeant Lud. P. Concil Paris sub Greg. quarto Pius the son of Charles the Great put forth this Decree That it is a necessary duty that in the first place Priests and then Kings and Princes and all faithfull persons do most devoutly exhibit due observation to this holy day This serious Prince enacts the observation of the Sabbath for all that every one being fettered by a Law might not loosely passe over this heavenly day And as the Edicts of Princes enforce the general observation of the Sabbath high as well as low an both equally so the Constitutions of the Church The Council of Paris decreed that all should keep the Lords day Governours Kings Princes Priests and all faithful persons should procure it to be kept and that no man presâ— me to make merchandise to do his pleasure or any countrey work but that they with all endeaâ—ours of soul do attend to heavenly praises c. Ambrose in his time complained of some Masters Taeduit mihi videre servulos ad ecclesiam fortassis festinantes ad venandum per dominos avocari quia sic voluptatibus suis peccata accumulant aliena Ambr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. 7. cap. 19. who would call away their servants to hunting when they were going to Church on the Lords day and so by their own sinning drew others into the snare not remembring they should be guilty of their servants sin and of the hazard of their immortal souls And a learned man of our own Nation observes that in those Constitutions commonly called Apostolical it was expresly commanded That servants should be at leisure on the Lords day for attendance upon the worship of God and for learning of Religion Those early dayes of the Gospel commanded all every one to mind the great work of Religion and to inure themselves to divine Knowledge Our own Church is not the least in providing that all persons observe the holy Sabbath So in King Edwards time the express words of the Homily are Sithence which time the time of our Saviours Resurrection Gods people in all ages have alwayes without gainsaying used to Homil. de temp loc precum come together upon the Sunday to celebrate and honour the Lords blessed Name and carefully to keep that day in holy Rest both Man and Woman Child and Servant and Stranger c. And so in King James his time it was enacted as one of the Canons of our Church among other things That Parents and Masters of Families should instruct their children and servants in the fear and nurture of the Lord especially Can. Eccles Angl canae 13. An. Dom. 1603. on the Lords day Thus the care of all places where Christianity hath been professed and in all ages which savoured any thing of Religion hath enjoyned the generall observation of the Lords day and the meanest Servant hath come within the compass of Royal Edicts and sacred constitutions as well as the most considerable Eminent Superiour The bowels of Parents might enforce this duty Can a tender Father or an affectionate Mother see their Children trifling away the time of a Sabbath slighting away the Ordinances of a Sabbath and neglecting the private duties of Redarguenda est Parentum segnities qui in rebus seculi sâ—â—â— sunt sallic in sed de pietatis incrementa minus sunt solliciti Riv. a Sabbath and not be filled with fear and amazement How shall the fruit of their loynes stand before him who gave the Commandement for the Sabbath in the midst of a flaming Mountain Exod. 19. 18. and be accountable to him who is the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. and who will judge the secrets of all men according to
the Gospel Rom. 2. 16. Can Parents see their children grieve the spirit who descended most gloriously on the Apostles upon the Lords day Acts 2. 3. and break that Commandment which is one of Gods Ten Words Deut. 10. 4. Nay pollute that Deut. 10. 2. day which is founded on Christs salvifical Resurrection and not be surprized with dread and consternation I may expostulate with such as once the Church did with the Lord where is the soundings of their bowels Parents love their Isa 63. 15. Children so far as they love their better part it is considerable death will strip them of all the fruits of their care Job 1. 21. excepting that which they have taken for their souls Not only divine command Exod. 20. 10. but natural affection Ex unâ parte Christum urgebat ad mertis supplicium sustinendum aeternum Patris decretum immensus humani generis a mor. Chemnit leads us to the discharge of this duty viz. To see our Family keep holy the Sabbath day What softness and tenderness did Christ shew to his family how sweetly did he instruct them Mark 4. 11 12 13 14 c. How pathetically did he pray for them Joh. 17. 9 11 15 17 20 21 24. How carefully did he lay up for them a divine and glorious inheritance Luke 22. 29 30. And at last how willingly did he shed his blood for them and he was straightned till he drank up his bitter cup for them Luke 12. 50. Let us write after this Copy and shew our love to our family as our dear Jesus did to his and then we shew our love to them when we see they shew their love to God in a carefull keeping of his holy day The excellency of the Sabbath should draw the whole family to an observation of it The Lords day is the Fort-royal of Religion let us all stand in our places to observe it and so we shall preserve it there are many who lay seige to it to race and demolish it Some set their wits on work to oppose the Doctrinal part of it Some set their wills on work to oppose the Practical part of it Now let us countermine these miscreant endeavours 1. By being much in prayer that the Lord of the Sabbath would perpetually preserve his own ordinance 2. By being much in practice that we and our houses serve the Lord on his own blessed day Standing and serious sanctity if it cannot convince men to mind their duty it will engage God to secure his own institution The Jewes never lost the Sabbath untill they rejected Christ who is the Lord of it they had the Oracles of God Rom. 3. 2. till they repudiated the Son of God In the Old Testament they went to worship God with their Flocks and their Herds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oracula teste Hesichiâ— primitus Judaeis à deo revelata sunt illis Scripta per prophetas tradita ita ut illa non nisi per Judaeos ad Gentiles devenerint Alap with them Hos 5. 6. In the New Testament let us take our Children and our Servants with us in the worship of God Let them be with us in the publick let them be with us in private duties of Gods holy day so we shall ensconce our priviledges And every pious family shall be as a Macedonian pbalanx to secure the Sabbath from violation and subversion Sin and neglect makes the forfeiture of spiritual blessings a careless contempt of the Word brings a famine of it Amos 8. 11. And the slight observance of Gods day exposeth it to reproach So that often the Wolves of the Forrest violent men pursue it with persecution and the Hab. 1. 8. little Foxes closer Hereticks infest it with their contagion Cant. 2. 15. Let us therefore with Moses resolve We will go with our Young and with our Old with our Sons and with our Daughters for we must hold a feast unto the Lord Exod. 10. 9. Exod. 10. 9. Chemnitius observes That to the sactification of the Lords day besides publick duties there is work to be done in families Chemnit exam Concil Trident. Cap. de dieb Fest as instructing of servants rehearsal of Sermons reading Scriptures counselling and quickning such who are under our care that all may keep Gods holy day Ah! let not us and our families lose our Sabbaths because we did no better Luke 19. 44. keep them not forgeting that usually Children are wrapt up in a common destruction Luke 19. 44. And so much the more earnestly should we endeavour to fold them up in a common salvation Jude v. 3. Jude v. 3. It well becomes the wisdom of the Governours of Families to see the Sabbath carefully observed Superiours must not leave the keeping of the Sabbath as a thing indifferent to the discretion of the family they must intreat them they must provoke them they must compel them The Kings Command was to compel the guestâ— to come in Luke 14. 23. The Deus gentes compellit introire ut sic suam erga eos ostenderet charitatem quia enim libentèr vellet ut ipsius essent convivae et cum eo in aeternum delitiarentur non tantùm beneficiâ—s eos invitat quando venire renâ—unt in manum sumit mallâ—um legis quo conterit corda duriora et eos humiliat ut discerent leges et justitiam suam sola enim vexatio dat intellectum auditui Chemn sick child if he will not take his physick with a smile he must do it with a â—od the child must not die and miscarry The ease of the flesh the strength of corruption the insinuating temptations of Satan will all decry Sabbath observation and therefore here indulgence is the greatest injury and mildness is the sorest cruelty to the precious soul Thy family had better endure sharp reproofs then scorching flames As Mr. Shepheard used to tell his weeping Auditoâ—rs It was better crying here then in Hell As David said of Gods House Psal 69. 9. Psal 119. 139. so Governours of families should say of Gods day the zeal of it hath eaten them up Thy Children and Servants must keep the Sabbath holy there is an absolute necessity of it and woe to the Governours of families if through their neglect the day of God is slightly over-past Nehemiah caused the Sabbath to be observed not so much by mild perswasions as peremptory command nay sharp and acute threatnings Nehem. 13. 17 19 20. And so this good man espoused the Magistrate to the Saint Let every Master of a family go and do so likewise And as Superiours must strictly enjoyn so Inferiours must heartily embrace Sabbath observation Children must enquire of their Parents Exod. 13. 14. And Servants must joyfully obey their Masters in all holy and spiritual Isa 28. 19. commands Col. 3. 22. They must spend frugally the time of a Sabbath solemnize seriously the ordinances of a Sabbath perform readily the services
Momentum unde pendet aeternitas Alap Now if ever this is the Sabbaths Motto This is our moment on which eternity depends Though there be no vacation for sin yet the Sabbath is the Term-time for the Torius mundi opes non conducunt nec sufficiunt ad redimendam unam animulam deperditaÌ„ sed omnes animae sunt redemptae pretio sanguinis Chemn soul the Sabbath is the Mart the Staple the Market for the soul and not to improve this opportunity judiciously savingly spiritually with the greatest intent of mind with the greatest severity of observance with the greatest inclinations and workings of spirit is the highest vanity and prophaneness A slight vain spirit on a Sabbath is like tears and sighs at a Nuptial Feast or laughter and jocularity in the house of mourning On the Lords day we must pray as for our souls hear as for eternity and improve Ordinances as those who are to deal with an infinite God in Ordinances What we do we must do with all our might as Qui rectè currit in Christianismo coron am gloriae accipiet Chrysost the Wise-man speaks Eccles 9. 10. Now especially we must run the race which is set before us and strive to enter in at the strait gate storm heaven that we may take it by force Sweat in our callings is our policy but sweat and labour in holy duties is our wisdom In the duties of the Sabbath 1 Cor. 9. 24. especially we wrestle for a prize we seek for life as those persons who fetched water for David from Bethlehem with Luke 13. 24. hazard and invincible magnanimity Frozen duties will Mat. 11. 12. speak cold answers and a light dead careless frame of spirit only teaches God to withdraw his presence from our 1 Chr. 11. 18. seeming approaches We must pray and hear on a Sabbath as David danced before the Ark with all our might 2 Sam. 6. 14. we must stretch out the hand of faith lift up the 2 Sam. 6. 14. voice of prayer and breath out the longings and anhelations of our souls These heights of spirit do exceedingly become the holy and blessed Sabbath Dir. 5 We must he frugall of the time of the Sabbath The filings of Gold are precious much more the filings of a Sabbath Every minute of a Sabbath is like a pearl small but of great value There are no loose minutes in the Lords day every little parcell of time is a holy fragment which must be gathered up that nothing be lost We must fill John 6. 12. up every space of a Sabbath either with holy thoughts divine meditations ejaculatory prayers reading of the Scriptures or some holy duty correspondent to that holy day Every branch of this consecrated time must bear precious fruit we should in our Sabbath below imitate our Sabbath above and there no time will be lost Not a drop of idleneness in an Ocean of rest Though there will be no pains in glory yet there will be perpetual praises eternall uninterrupted Hallelujahs and there shall be no breach or chasm in our Sabbatum eâ—t sanctum otium Leid Pros everlasting triumphs Indeed the Sabbath is rest from our callings but none from our duties it is an holy leisure for our souls which must not run waste Grains of Musk Fragmentorum collectione et asservatione Christus nos monet frugalitatis ne insumendo et prodigendo bona à deo nobis concessa uno impetu perdamus sed quae supersunt religiosè colligamus et seponamus Lyser are sweet and valuable so are the most minute pieces of a Sabbath The Romans were so ambitious of the Consulship that one Consul dying the last day of his Authority one sued for the remainder of the time whence that memorable speech of Cicero O vigilantem Consulem c. O watchfull Consul who slept not one night in his Authority Such holy ambition we should have for the time of a Sabbath we should sue for the smallest remains of it to improve for soul advantage The Author of the Practice of Piety complains of some who spent their Sabbath or a great part of it in trimming painting and pampering themselves and were like Jezabels doing the Devils work when they should be doing Gods Surely such are the greatest unthrifts Neque dominicis diebus quae sunt hilaritatis praeter sanctitatem aliquid dicere aut facere concedimus Clem. and are guilty of the most prodigious prodigality It was a pious constitution of Clemens That on the Lords day we should give no way to mirth or earthly delight but all our words and facts should savour of holiness Dr. Bound sadly bemoans the custom of some great personages who lay longest in their beds upon Gods holy day and made it a day of pleasing Sabbatum est observandum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the flesh which should be a day of sanctified rest And saith this worthy man in an extasie of zeal We must not give our selves to sleeping on this blessed day no more then to surfeting The Prophet Joel tells us On solemn Feasts the Priests were to lie all night in sackcloth Joel 2. 13. And we know Hester spent three nights and three dayes with her Maids in fasting and prayer Hest 4. 10. And can there be a greater solemnity then the Sabbath the day Imperatum suit â— deo ut sanctifices et consecres totum Sabbati diem et in illo toto die divinis vacare possis Zanch. Iren. contr valent for transacting the great affairs of eternity our golden spot of time to get a Christ to get a crown Zanchy observes That the whole of a Sabbath without abatement and curtail is to be consecrated to God Irenaeus one of the morning stars of the Church informs us That the Sabbath doth teach us there ought to be a perseverance and a continuance of a whole day in the service of God And the Council of Paris an assembly of learned men give in their suffrage to this truth in these words Let your eyes and hands be lifted up to God all this day To the same purpose speaks the Council Conc. Turon cap. 40. Calv. in Deut. Serm. 34. Muscul in quartum praeceptum Pet. Martyr in Gen. 2. of Turon But I shall not over-load or clog the Reader with humane testimonies Let me only subjoyn the attestation of incomparable Calvin This day saith he is not ordained for us only to come to a Sermon but to the end that we may employ the rest of our time to laud and praise God Here we may take up that of the Prophet Mat. 1. 14. Cursed is the deceiver And this is too much to imitate Ananias and Saphira to keep back part of the price of a blessed Sabbath Acts 5. 2. God will not have us to divide the Sabbath between himself and our selves this is to make a separation between God and us Gods day must be spent in
Isa 59. 2. Gods service and to waste any part of it upon our gains ease or pleasure is to rob God of his offerings which is Macrob. Saturn l. 1 c. 16. matter of complaint and condemnation Mat. 3. 8 9. While we make bold with Gods day we do but mangle it and every Illorum dierum quibusdam horis fas est jus dicere quibusdam fas non est jus dicere Macrob. waste is a wound in it Indeed Macrobius tells us That the heathens had their dies intercisos bipartite dayes which were divided between their God and themselves Semisolemnities And the Papists have their half holy dayes as St. Blacies day and others c. But we have not so learned Christ It was an excellent constitution of King Pepin of Abstinere in eo diâ— primò mandamus ab omni peccato et ab omni opere carnâ—li â—t ab omni opere terreno et ad nihil aliud vacare nâ—si ad orationem et ad ecclesiâ—s concurrere cum summâ mentis devotione Concil Forojul cap. 13. France We command saith he That all abstain from every sin and from every carnall work and from every earthly work and to be at leisure for nothing but prayer and Church assemblies with the greatest and highest devotion and with charity to bless God who upon this day rained down Manna in the desart and fed so many thousands with bread Morsels nay grains of time are savoury upon a Sabbath The soul can feed upon the crums of such a day Sabbath wastes are the throwing away pearls the casting over-board the best goods which might enrich us to all everlasting That time thou mispendest on a Sabbath might be Gods time for the calling thee home to himself CHAP. XXXVII Some further Directions conducing to the same End Dir. 6 LEt the whole man be employed on the Sabbath 1. All the parts of the body The tongue in prayer the ear in attending the knee in submission the eye in contemplation the hand in charitable contribution This Rom. 12. 1. would be a sacred symphony and make the body not only a a reasonable but an acceptable sacrifice 2. All the faculties of the soul must understand their several offices and tasks 1. The understanding must drink in truth as the tender Deut. 32. 2. herb the small rain and the new mown grass the seasonable Nondum in observatione externorum exercitiorum Sabbati plena est sanctificatio nisi eo fine quó institutum est ut piè sanctè et interiùs haec gerantur Qui est sabbatismus internus Leid Prof. Cant. 5. 16. showers Then the understanding must be as the lights of the Sanctuary of very great use 2. The will must embrace the Doctrines of the Gospel The understanding sees the commodity the will buys it The understanding fastens the eye upon the treasures of the Gospel but the will fastens the hand the understanding is the purveyor of truth but the will brings it home 3. The affections must be employed in pursuing Christ and in holy meltings in sacred duties the soul must be all afloat in loves and delights on Gods blessed day then our affections must follow the prey our dear Jesus our Beloved who is altogether lovely 4. The Memory must be the Scribe to set down every heavenly counsel every thing which drops from the heart of God As that King of Syria whose Ambassadours catched at every word 1 Kings 20. 33. The Memory must record every soul-concernment it must be the Exchequer where the riches of Ordinances are reposited and laid up And after all we must with the Virgin Mary ponder all those things in our hearts Luke 2. 51. Thus both soul and body must be Luke 2. 45. espoused in Sabbath service they must as Joseph and Mary go both together to seek Christ as the two Disciples which went to Emmaus both must joyn in conversing with Christ Luke 24. 15. Though the body act the part of Martha in Luk. 10. 29 41. the week and is cumbred with many things yet it must act Maries part on the Sabbath and mind onely the one thing necessary and lie at Gods feet in holy dispensations Body and soul on the Sabbath are as those two Disciples that went to Christs Sepulchre John 20. 4. but the soul is that Disciple which out-runs the other and comes soonest to the end of their Enquiry the soul comes quickest in and closest up to Christ Mariners observe that the two stars Castor and Pollux when they are asunder they prognosticate Intus est in corde est sabbathum nostrum August foul weather but when together they portend a fair and calm season so when we bring onely the body to the Ordinances of a Sabbath it portends nothing but sorrow and disappointment but when soul and body both meet in sacred duties upon this holy day it is a good prognostication Mat. 6. 24. of fair weather to the Christian smiles from above Luke 16. 13. and peace from within In the duties of a Sabbath we must study devotion but not division we must not think to please the flesh and to please the Lord too on his own day Direct 7 Works of mercy do very well become the Sabbath This is a day of love and mercy If in the times of the Law the Law of Circumcision a painful Ordinance was not to be omitted Opera misericordiae nemo illo die facere prohibet ut sub vâ—nâ—re egeno curare aegrotum Opem consilium afflicto laboranti afferre Cujus cura illo die nobis maxime commendatur Rivet in Decal John 7. 22. Much more in the times of the Gospel a law of Love must bind us and oblige us on a Sabbath Love is under a Command as well as Circumcision John 13. 35. Rom. 13. 10. Mercy it is the very musique of Gods Attributes Psalm 108. 4. it is the Almoner to provide for mans wants it is the service of Angels Luke 22. 43. And it is the comely dress which sets off the beauty of a Sabbath That we have a Sabbath is an Act of divine mercy and we cannot duly keep a Sabbath without employing our selves in the works of mercy Tertullian in one of his Apologies joyns Prayer reading of the Scriptures and giving Almes together as being all equally the duties of a Sabbath With him joynes issue Learned and profound Huc referenda sunt reliqua misericordiae opera quibus sabbatum minime profanatur Just Mart. Chemnitius who speaking of the Church of Brunswick saith That upon the Lords day a great multitude of people are gathered together to praise God to hear his Word to receive the Sacrament to holy Prayer to give Almes and other exercises of godliness Thus Charity is mingled with other holy duties Gualter cryes out Let us admire the goodness of God in giving us a day of Rest and shall not our bowels Dei bonitatem exosculâ—mur
qui nobis consecravit quietis diem Gualt be softest on that day when Gods mercy is sweetest Mans pitty is a good handmaid to wait on Gods bounty That day which is a day of life to us should be a day of love from us Charity on a Sabbath is like fire put to Juniper it turns it into a perfumed flame Now there is a four-fold Charity we must exercise on Gods holy day There is Charitas oeconomica Charity to our Families It is very observable that every clause in the 4th Commandement Manifestè praecipitur mandati verbis quieti sabbati rationem habendam esse servorum ancillarum quo quisque admonetur de assectu charitatis erga domesticos suos et insatiabilis avaritiae impetus restringitur Muscul Quo magis à dei dilectione recedimus eò magis à proximi distamus quantum verò dei â—haritati adhaeremus tantum et proximi et proximi deo conjungimur Biblioth Patr. is an injunction to Charity We must be tender to our servants they must not work we must be compassionate to our Children they must not toyl we must pity our beast that must not drudge we must have bowels to the stranger within the Gates he must rest and be refreshed so that we may say with the Apostle Rom. 13. 8. Love is the fulfilling of the Law The Command for the Sabbath is written in golden Letters of love and Charity The Lords day must be spent not in the sweats of labour but in the sweets of duty not in wearisome toyl but in holy rest Parental or despotical rigour is an open breach of this Command which breaths nothing but sweetness and indulgence The Sabbath is no day for the forge or the plow it was never set apart to waste our spirits but to mind and negotiate the affairs of our souls Bishop Andrews saith Mercy on a Sabbath is the sanctification of a Sabbath Surely those Governours of families do highly prophane the Sabbath where the maid-servant must toyl at the fire to provide for their luxury The man-servant must be no otherwise employed then to serve their company Children must wait and serve at the table to shew the grandure of the family where instead of singing Psalmes there is clattering of Dishes and instead of gathering Manna there is gathering up of fragments and instead of a composed lying at Christs feet Politicum illud est ut quâ—es concedi debeat iis qui subsunt alienae potestati Jer 17. 21 22. Psalm 105. 27. in holy Ordinances there is nothing but hurries noyse and confusion Here it might be expostulated Shall servants have no breathing for their souls no necessary pauses to mind eternity Is not this more then Aegyptian bondage Is not not this to cause our families to return back to the Land of Ham to their wonted captivity and thraldome Can such Governours disciple it after Christ and yet have no bowels Quae officia hic demandata etsi videantur levia et rusticae â—bi de pecore aberrante redâ—cendo et asino sublevando agitur non tamen nobis talia erunt si perpendamus finem legulatoris qui non tam animalium rationem habuit quà m hominum Riv. to the immortal souls of their inferiours Christ shed his blood for precious souls and these will not dispence with a humour with their pride with a feast with an entertainment for the good and advantage of a never dying soul But such cruelty and oppression saith Dr. bound is the scandal of Christianity and unravels all that mercy which is folded up in the fourth Commandement God in the Law commands us to pity and shew mercy to our enemies Oxe Exod. 23. 4. to an Oxe which is a beast to be fatted for the slaughter to our enemies Oxe whose enmity might damp our charity and yet here we must shew compassion How much more must the soul of a Child or a servant be precious to us Shall thy servants here lie among the pots and hereafter among the flames and wilt thou do nothing to prevent it Wilt thou not give them Sabbath room to sayl to Heaven in Surely this is the dregs of tyrannie Well then this piece of Charity we must shew upon a Lords day we must be tender to our families we must call them from all toyl and labour to wait on God in his sacred institutions In a word to despise our servants on a Sabbath so as to think they are onely fit to drudge here is an act of pride ond insolency Such remember not that Paul wrote an Epistle to Philemon for his servants sake and to employ our servants Philem. v 16. on a Sabbath and not regard what becomes of them hereafter is an act of inhumanity and such forget that the poor receive the Gospel Mat. 11. 5. The lame the maimed were brought to the Kings feast Luk. 14. 21. and the difficulty Mat. 10. 25. lies how the rich man shall get to heaven Luk. 18. 25. Nay Mat. 19. 24. Christ himself took upon him the form of a servant Phil. Mat. 16. 26. 2. 7. Thy servants soul is of an higher price then the world Mat. 11. 25. It is observed by a worthy man That in the fourth Commandement Rest is granted to those who have most need of it to the poor servant and the friendless stranger to shew that it is even a duty of nature to be pittiful and charitable to our families upon Gods holy day There is Charitas crumenae a charity of the Purse which Petit pauper suum pauculum temporarium Da et recipies magnum eternum Aug. we must likewise shew on the Sabbath Now we must find objects to be the Cisterns of our bounty we must here occurrere ut succurramus meet some whom we may minister to Augustine his rule is a golden Rule on this day The poor petitions a little of our temporals give it him thou shalt receive it in eternals But if we object our inability It is replyed It is not how much but out of how much God looks at The widdows two mites was a commended charity even by Christ himself But let this caution be minded Caution let us take heed in our giving that we do not take away on other dayes to give on this day rob the week to Recondet Christianus apud se cumulet auctumque deinceps et cuâ—â—â—latum deferat Sclat adorn the Sabbath this is pride not charity and the greatest portion is given to Satan But let our charity on the day of the Lord be according to the simplicity of the Gospel and so our charity may make our purse the lighter but it will make our Crown the heavier and what we have laid out in one world we have laid up in another In the Conseruntur eleemosinae sec discretionem unius cujusque propter egenorum subsidium aegrotorum et exulum solamen primitive times there were
collections for the poor every Lords day 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. A consecrated day being fittest for a consecrated dole the week day being the seeds time the Sabbath the harvest for Christian charity This sacred stock as one calls it which is laid up in the week day will be put to the highest and the holiest usury on the Lords day if the hearts of the poor be filled with food and gladness and the backs of the poor wear the livery of our bounty Just Mart. Justin Martyr speaking of the order of Christians upon the Lords day in his time affirms That Almes are given Chrysost in 1 Cor. 11. Hom 43. according to the discretion of every man for the relief of the poor the fatherless and the banished Chrysostome observes that the duty of charity is most seasonable on a Sabbath because it is a day wherein God appears in his best and largest bounty to us then he gives us his sweetest ordinances then he enricheth us with Gospel priviledges then he drops Qui aliquià recondit et thesaurizat pauperibus hic sibi ipsi thesaurum comparat et coelo reponit Alap down upon us his divine graces In our Churches at this day the poors bread is set up for distribution on the Lords day which imports the sweet correspondency between that day which is a day of love the duty which is an act of charity A learned man takes notice that this custome of relieving the poor on the Lords day was grown obsolete at Constantinople till the worthy Chrysostome restored that commanded duty And this custome well becomes the Sabbath for what are we but Almes-men at the throne of Gods grace on the time of Gods day Indeed the Sun of Righteousness as on this day arose and scattered his beams of light and love and the world rejoyced in that appearance let us scatter our hounty and laudable charity on this day that the poor Conferre in pauperes debemus in diem dominicum Buc. may rejoyce in our seasonable contributions Let us remember the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Cor. 16. 2. we render it laying by but it is treasuring up He that layes up and treasures for the poor layes up an everlasting treasure for himself And let us consider charitable words are not enough the love of the tongue only is flattery not charity it is adulation and not affection Words are cheap and the pities of language Nehem. 8. 10. Johannes Archiepiscopus are at no cost or charge The belly is not filled with roseat phrases nor the back cloathed with the embroydery Alexâ—nâ—â—â—nus 〈…〉 eò plus alâ—â—nde recipiâ—bâ—t hinc ipse Deo dicere solebat videbo Domine quis citiùs deficiet an tu mihi dando an ego aliâ—â— distribuendo Alap of indulgent language only to bid the poor be filled or be cloathed is not compassion but dirision And therefore on the Sabbath our love must be the charity of the purse and not only of the lip we must act good works and not only give good words Faith acts not without love Gal. 5. 6. and love acts not without works Heb. 13. 16. When we are blessing God on a Sabbath let the poor be blessing us it will be sweet harmony when our heart and the poors loyns both praise God together On the Sabbath we must appear before God Psal 42. 2. And the Old Law commands us not to appear before God empty Deut. 16. 16. Charity on any day is Silver Bullion but on the Sabbath is Golden Ore Let us therefore on that holy day feed the hungry refresh the thirsty receive strangers cloath the naked visit the sick and comfort those in prison this will redound to our account in that day when acts of Charity are the recorded Mat. 25. 36. characters of a sincere and sympathizing Saint Mat. 25. 35. And happily capacitate us for the donative of a Crown There is Charitas Corporalis Mercy and Charity to the bodies of others It is recorded of our Saviour that usually upon the Sabbath he visited the Sick healed the Criples Mar. 1. 30 31. Insigniora miracula edidit Christus in diem Sabbati Athan. restored the Blind and in this he leaves himself a president to others and a pattern for holy imitation We meet with divers Miracles which Christ wrought on the Sabbath on this day the eye of his pity guided the hand of his power his strength and his sweetness both conjoyned in acting and on this day Christ would be both Pastour and Physician And in his miracles on the Sabbath divers things are observable 1. He cures all varieties he healeth partial and external distempers Mat. 12. 13. he healeth the most durable and Nihil extrà legem fecit Christus curans in die Sabati Iren. lasting distempers John 5. 8. he healeth the most chronicall and habitual distempers Luke 13. 10 11. he healeth the most threatning and drowning distempers Luke 14. 4. Nay Christ on the Sabbath dislodgeth Satan himself Mark 1. 34. Diabolus vocatur potestas aeris quia in Aere miscet ventos tonitru fulgura et in A cre i. e. in mundo inter homines potestatem suam exercet eos tentando et vexando et quoquo modo nocendo Aquin. Satan at his word shall fall as lightning though he be Prince of the Air and God of this world Christ casteth out many Devils on the Sabbath Legions of Spirits are but atomes which scatter at his rebuke and disperse themselves after new enquiries Thus all varieties of diseases are cured by Christ on a Sabbath and will ye know why upon this day because this day is a season of shewing mercy 2. That which is observable in Christs cures upon the Sabbath is he justifies all his Cures as the sanctification and not the prophanation of the Sabbath Luke 13. 15 16. Works of mercy are the perfume not the pollution of a Sabbath not its eclipse but its observation And this Christ shews by the custome of the rigorous Jewes themselves and Magnae est stultitiae prohibere hominem à sanatione in diem Sabbati Theoph. by the light of nature Luke 14. 5. Christ is the Lord not the Task-master of the Sabbath And mans weale is to be carried on that day by cures as well as ordinances and the sick bed as well as the sick soul is to be visited Mercy is the sweetness and the epiphonema of a Sabbath Iraeneus avers that the true sanctification of the Sabbath Vera Sabbati sanctificatio est in operibus misericordiae Iraen lies in works of mercy We then keep the Sabbath when we are pitiful to our own souls and to our brothers body and we may serve God on that day as well in a dungeon in visiting a prisoner of Christ as in the sanctuary in waiting on an Ordinance of Christ Iraeneus observes Christ did more works of Charity upon the Sabbath then upon other Multò
saepiùs Christus in die Sabbati officia charitatis praestitit quà m aliis diebus Iren. dayes And let us in this imitate both our Priest and Pattern who died for us and must go before us and we taking up this practice weekly let us follow him Surely melting bowels do bear a symphony with mercifull Sabbaths On the first day of the week the day of our Sabbath God created Gen. 1. 2 the world out of a chaos of confusion Christ restored the Mark 16. 2. World from sin and destruction and on the same first day Acts 2. 3. of the week the holy spirit enlightned the world in falling down solemnly upon the Apostles and redeemed the Church from Judaical misapprehension And shall these glorious works which have put such a bright emphasis upon the Christian Sabbath not soften our bowels to pity the groans of the sick the sights of the prisoner and comfort those who are in trouble and dejection On this day the spark Buc. in Mat. 12. 11. of our love should turn into a flame the drops of compassion should swell into a stream Bucer makes the visitation of the Luke 10. 33. sick to be a principal duty of our Sabbath On which day Infundit vinum et oleum Samaritanus vinum denotat legem oleum gratiam Evangelii Sacramenta sunt quasi alligamenta quibus labia vulnerum alligantur Chemnit Christians should turn good Samaritans they should drop tears into those wounds they cannot drop Oyl into and pour in the wine of consolation if they have no other to offer as a sacrifice of mercy Bleeding hearts become a blessed Sabbath One well observes It doth behove us as occasion is offered to spend some time of a Sabbath in visiting the sick because this will fill our minds with holy meditations and fill our mouths with heavenly discourses and fill our hearts with serious apprehensions of death and judgement which will shortly encounter us and there is no avoiding the stroke of the one or the Bar of the other There is Charitas spiritualis spiritual Charity which is Verbis exprimi non potest quantum homo qui ad imagirem dei conditus est et pro quo unigenitur dei filius proprium suum sanguinem fudit quem denique sp sanctus per verbum Evangelii ad communionem filiorum dei vocavit et sanctificavit irrationalibus et brutis animalibus praestet Lys most apposite to the Lords day One well argues If our mercy on a Sabbath must extend to the Oxe and the Ass Luk. 13. 15. much more to man who is Gods Vice-Roy upon Earth bears his own image and is enriched with that nature which Christ himself took upon him and if in outward things we must minister to him viz. man much more in spirituals and heavenly by how much the soul transcends the body and the wants of the soul are more dangerous and for the most part less felt then those of the body and therefore to succour them is more necessary and less dispensable Surely this is the highest mercy to pull men out of the pit of despair out of the mire of prophaneness out of the dungeon of ignorance to unfetter chained sinners to consolate and advice distressed souls It is observable our Saviour did not only heal the poor woman of her bodily infirmity on the Sabbath but delivered her from the chains of Satan with which she had so long been held Luke 13. 16. It is our great work on a Sabbath to shew mercy to distressed souls On the Lords day Christ rose for our justification Rom. 8. 34. which was a spiritual benefit not for supply but for our justification not for the encrasie of our bodies but for the rescue of our souls And the Apostle notes it with a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yea rather in the Text forementioned And in soul advantage every Christian may have a share they may have soft bowels who have not full purses every one may give savoury counsel put up ardent prayers labour to set home convictions nay enter into heavenly discourses and so endeavour to draw those who go astray to the Sheepfold of the Great Shepherd of their souls Every one may 1 Pet. 2. 25. bleed over sinful revolters and as St. John who ran after 1 Pet. 5. 4. the young man when he was extravagant in his practice they may run weeping after straying transgressours This willing mind as the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 8. 12. may lodge 1 Thes 5. 14. in the breast of the meanest person there may be zeal in the heart when there are rags on the back and when their apparrel is more contemptible then John the Baptist's leathern girdle and Camels hair Mat. 3. 4. And that which enforces this duty is 1. The excellency of the work To instruct to admonish comfort and pray for Brethren is the greatest mercy the softest pity nay even the work of Christ himself who shed not only his tears but his blood to ransome immortal souls how did Christ grieve for a hard heart weep over an unbelieving City and lay down his life for poor lost sinners To Mark 3. 5. rescue poor perishing souls is a heavenly work and well Luke 19. 42. is becoming a heavenly Sabbath Mat. 18. 11. 2. The reward of the Service Not a tear we drop over a wandering sinner but will turn into a pearl The Apostle speaks expresly Jam. 5. 19. Brethren if any of you have erred from the truth and one hath converted him let him know that he hath converted a sinner from going out of his way he shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins This text it seems informs us of a double reward Rom. 10. 14. 1. The salvation of a soul the purchase of Christ himself 1 Tim. 4. 16. souls were the gains of his victories Isa 53. 11. The Redemption of souls was the reward of all his sufferings Luke 22. 32. 2. Here is the covering a multitude of sins which onely Heb. 12 15 16. speaks blessedness Psal 32. 1 2. And it may likewise be inferred from this text of Scripture That God hath made us Heb. 3. 13. Guardians one of another Acts of spiritual charity belong to the care of all Christians God hath not onely set conscience to watch over the inward man but hath set us to watch over the outward conversation one of another We must exhort one another while it is to day Heb. 3. 13. especially Luke 24. 17. while the light of Sabbaths continues to us When the two Disciples were travelling to Emmaus Christ joyns with them this blessed Physician came to comfort to satisfie and to inform them they were poor distracted timorous persons and these he visits Christ will not leave them in a maze and intricated with inexplicable apprehensions but he will bring them home to the knowledge of the truth and this is Christs
a two-edged sword to divide between sin and Heb. 4. 12. the soul Ordinances are kindly Physick and work the cure sweetly and effectually if this Physick be given by the hand of the Spirit if the third Person in the Trinity be our Physician how then should the necessity of the spirits assistance inflame our importunity to sue out that precious John 15. 5. Promise for the attainment of it recorded in Luke 11. 13. In Ordinances without the Spirit we can do nothâ—ng Christ 1 Cor. 9. 26. must work by his Spirit or else in all our holy duties we onely beat the ayr to use the Apostles phrase Let us study to be under the impressions of the Spirit on Gods holy day The earth stands not in so much need of the beams of the Sun as the soul doth of the influences of the Spirit The Spirit is a Spirit of Truth to guide the Understanding John 15. 26. It is a Spirit of Counsel to enrich the mind Isa 11. 2. and fill it with knowledge How naked Eph. 5. 18. is mans understanding if it be not covered with the covering John 14. 17. of Gods Spirit Isa 30. 1. 1 Cor. 12. 8. The Spirit is a good Spirit Neh. 9. 10. to sanctifie the will It is a holy Spirit Ephes 1. 13. in relation to its effects and productions it cures the will of its pertinacy and Rom. 1. 4. stubbornness and melts mans will into Gods We may take 1 Cor. 12. 9. an instance in Paul Acts 9. 6. The Spirit is a Spirit of Grace Zach. 12. 10. to beautifie the heart and fructifie it with all the sweet fruits of Righteousness It is more then the Sun to the Garden It not 2 Thes 2. 13. Phil. 1. 11. onely blows the flower but it plants The graces of the Spirit are those stars which shine in the firmament of the heart 2 Thes 2. 17. those vigorous principles which carry out the soul to every good word and work It is the spirit of Glory 1 Pet. 4. 14. to sublimate the affections and raise them as high as heaven Col. 3. 2. The spirit discovers glorious things to us shews the soul its treasury 1 Cor. 2. 12. Eph 3. 8. 2 Cor. 5 21. Rev. 1. 6. Cant. 7. 8. 13. Col. 3. 11. 1 Pet. 2. 7. where its riches lie It opens Christ to a believer who is the Wardrob of our Robes the Exchequor of our wealth the fountain of our honour the paradise of our delight or to speak in the Apostles language who is all and in all to the believing soul It is a spirit of life to quicken the whole man Rom. 8. 2. God breaths into man and so he becomes a living soul the Spirit breaths into man and so he becomes a living Saint Gen. 2. 7. Nay God works all his works upon us and in us in Christ by the spirit it is the spirit makes us upright and sincere 1 Cor. 6. 11. and so rectifies our obliquities Psal 51. 10. It is the spirit snuffs the understanding which is the candle of the Lord Eph. 1. 17. Prov. 20. 27. and so enlightens our darknesses It is the spirit 2 Thes 2. 1â— fixes and establisheth us and so settles our inconstancies Psal 78. 8. It is the spirit softens and suples us Isa 32. Sapientia hominis est quâ res difficillimas scrutatur et pervestigare conatur Cartwr 15. and turns our barren hearts into a fruitfull field and so fills our vacuities It is the spirit conducts us in our straights John 16. 13. and so prevents our miscarriages It is the spirit takes us up Ezek. 3. 12. nay lifts us up Ezek. 3. 14. and so cures us of our pedantick and dreggish succumbencies for Man is the worm Jacob Isa 41. 14. and will naturally grovel on and immure himself in the Earth The spirit of God is an excellent spirit Dan. 5. 12. and will create in the 1. Cor. 12. 11. believer those excellencies which will make him more excellent then his neighbour Prov. 12. 26. The irrigations and pouring forth of the spirit Isa 44. 3. will make the soul fresh 1 Cor. 12. 13. Corroborari in interiore homine est intellectu voluntate caeterisque animae partibus suffulciri and green and be in a spring of grace which is most pleasant to the eye of God and Man This holy spirit upon us Isa 59. 21. is not so much our covering as our Crown our strength to encounter every temptation Eph. 3. 16. Let us then not as Sadduces mis-believe the spirit Acts 23. 8. But cry out Lord evermore give us of this spirit And to set our selves under these various and rare impressions We must purifie our selves The spirit is a holy spirit which will dwell onely in a clean heart flesh and spirit are combatants and not cohabitants they oppose one another Gal. 5. 17. then grace triumphs when flesh is subdued and chased out of the field We must supplicate our God The spirit is given to the Petitioner and not to the professor How much more shall your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him Isa 63. 11. Eph. 4. 30. 1 Thes 4 8. 1 Cor. 6. 19. saith our Saviour Luke 11. 13. Earnest prayer is the means to obtain the good spirit whose works are so many and so marvellous and whose operations are so secret and so soveraign But secondly as this duty must look upwards for the assistances and the impressions of the spirit So this duty must look inwards we have not onely to do with heaven on the Lords day and to look up to Gods spirit but we have to do with our own hearts too and seek the spirit to proportionate Prov. 4. 23. them to the holy services of the Sabbath and here our duty is two-fold 1. We must be in the graces of the spirit and that too in a double sense We must be in grace habitual We must come as Saints to the duties of a Sabbath That of the Apostle is highly observable Our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ 1 Joh. 1. 3. Observe the terms of Relation Sancti est in spiritu vivere i. e. internam habere vitam et animum gratiâ spiritu etjustitiâ imbutum sancti est in spiritu ambulare i. e. secundum spiritus et gratiae dictamen ductumque incedere conversari agere operari et Graecum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 significat certo ordine serie et normâ incedere Alap the term Father speaks us to be Children It is not our communion is with God but with the Father and his Son Saints properly are the guests of the Sanctuary Christ in us is not onely the hope of our glory hereafter Col. 1. 27. but our hope of acceptance here We must bring Benjamin we must bring Christ if we will ever see the face of God in Ordinances wicked
wonder then Intus est in corde est Sabbatum nostrum Aug. if St. Augustine cry out Our Sabbath is within in our hearts There indeed is the musical spring of joy Let us take heed of grieving the spirit Eph. 4. 30. No fountain casts out sweet and bitter water a grieved spirit will not dash joyes upon the soul the mournful Dove flies Offenditur spiritus verbis putidis etiam quo vis peccato Hier. away We must cherish the graces if we will possess the joyes of the spirit The birds sing most sweetly in the spring when every thing is fresh and green Gods spirit in the soul yields its freshest delights among flourishing graces when the Peccata sunt injuriae contumeliae spquae eum contristantur Alap seared boughs of corruption are broken down Sin and vanity break the strings of the spirits musick and chase away the Comforter from our coasts as birds hushed away leave the place of their present abode Let us not suspend our answer to the spirits excitations Let us listen to every motion and apply our selves to every counsel of this inward Monitor Slighted advocates plead no more we must hearken to every whisper of the Holy Ghost who first commands and then comforts To stir up to holy duties to good works to circumspect walking is the office of the spirit but to ravish the soul with divine delights is the reward of the spirit Observe holy David Psal 94. 19. In the multitude of my thoughts thy comforts delight my soul He was now acting the duty of meditation and then the spirit besprinkled him with dews of joy A Deus per essentiem est totus consolatio immò Mare Oceanus consolationis quem in servos suos etiam in hac vitâ effundit learned man saith God is an Ocean of consolation Let not our sin and disobedience be such banks and ramparts that this Sea cannot overflow us with complacential effusions Obedience indeed and duty make way for the streams of spirituall comfort And to our case let us keep the Sabbath circumspectly and we shall keep it comfortably Let us follow the spirit in every duty obey the dictates of the spirit in every Ordinance When the spirit prompts us to prayer let us tune our hearts to that duty and not fold our hands in sloth and negligence when the spirit suggests to Prov. 6. 10. us the import of an Ordinance let us not be slight and careless in that holy institution and let us consider the motions Prov. 24. 33. of the spirit go before the melodies of the spirit And thirdly Let us study to be in the spirit on the Lords day This duty must Look downwards we must avoid whatsoever opposeth the spirit whatsoever may quench that celestial flame 1 Thes 5. 19 We must on the Sabbath lay aside all temporal cares Cares at all times are thorns Mat. 13. 22. But on a Sabbath they are thorns in a flame not only scratching but scorching Indeed the Lords day is not without its cares but they are heavenly not worldly cares care to please the spirit not to please the flesh care to lay up treasures in heaven not to fill our coffers below The soul then must be Divina benedictio Sabbati est quâ sibi deus studia occupationes asserit Calv. cared for how to prepare it for duty how to pacifie it with pardon how to beautifie it with grace how to fit it for eternity Head and heart must be at work on the Sabbath but it must be for the soul not for the outward man But to set our servants on work in our callings to be in our counting Mat. 16. 26. house to contrive business for the following week on Gods holy day this is not only to defile the Sabbath but to affront providence as if God who takes care for the Lillies of the field Mat. 6. 30. could not provide for the strict observers of his holy day We must throw away all worldly thoughts How many are there whose thoughts are as fresh and affections as vigorous towards the world upon the Sabbath day as if they were trading in their shops walking in the Exchange or Exod. 8. 24. posting their Books and pursuing their bargains I may say to such as the Lord to Satan Zach. 3. 2. The Lord rebuke Plaga muscarum fuit foedo colluvies quae fuit numerosa et molestissima immò et nocentissima et ideo molestissima quia numerosissima Riv. thee what is this but to turn time into a chaos where there is no distinction between light and darkness between the Egypt of the week and the Goshen of the Sabbath This day is a day of light life and salvation and shall worldly thoughts that judgment of lice or flies stain and ecclipse it Worldly imaginations on this day they are the sacriledge of the mind the worm at the root of duty the souls destructive avocation the Shibboleth of a covetous man the bluster and gross miscarriage of a Christian they are the souls imprisonment when it should be enlarged in the way of Gods Ordinances We must take heed of unnecessary diversions The heart is wholly to be set on God on his own day One observes The Law is spiritual and so is the fourth Commandment and is not fully obeyed by outward conformity but it requires the Rom. 7. 14. inward truth and bent of the heart Happily we shut up Psal 51. 6. our shops on a Sabbath so the Law of the Land commands but do we shut up our hearts on a Sabbath that nothing unseemly may intrude Do we bring our hearts and Christ together and lock them both in that nothing may interrupt their sweet and mutual intercourse It is a vain thing to dissemble with God on his own day He can unriddle and will judge our splendid and varnished artifices Let us not play the hypocrites but walk in the spirit the whole stage of Rom. 8. 2. the Sabbath To keep our doors close is an empty ceremony unless we keep our hearts close to God and Christ in Ordinances in Family and secret duties Diverting imaginations are the cobwebs of the mind the sores which In dic Sabbati ab omnibus aliis curis et studiis omninò obstinendum est Gual fester the heart as Dalilah her smiles did Samson and so entangle the soul that it cannot enjoy its freedom with Christ on his own blessed day Such divertisements disturb the Musick of Ordinances and eat out the profit of holy Communion with God if we will be working on a Sabbath Let us work out our salvation with fear and trembling Augustine Phil. 2. 12 13. Aug. de temp Serm. 251. speaks most excellently in one of his Sermons That we may be fit and ready for Gods service on his own day there must be nothing to cumber us and we at that time must cast off the interposition of worldly
lanching nor scornfull sinners the reproof Our hearts are never so treacherous as Jer. 17. 9. on this day then they are prodigal of time sluggards in Homines sunt fallaces et insidiosi et putant deâ—m ipsum posse decipi et illi meros fumos obsiciunt Calv. duty enemies to the faithfull preaching of the Word then they poure out their swarms of vam and impertinent thoughts and catch at any diversion to give them breath from close communion with God and then slight and formal Christians wind up the clock of the tongue and that strikes nothing but vanity Indeed naturally there is an open opposition in our hearts to strict religion and particularly to the precise observation of Gods day and this opposition like rivers which are damm'd up breaks forth then most violently As we know Snakes will get into the greenest grass and Spiders into the fairest houses so our corruptions beset us most and besiege us most closely in holy duties and the most spiritual converses and therefore let us most strictly eye these Serpents in the bosome observe their first motions Venienti occurrite morbo and strangle them in their birth Young twigs are easily plucked up weeds when low they onely soften the walk but when grown higher they deform and unbeautifie the garden Let us let out the water of the first blisters of corruption If thou art proud then say did Christ come out of a Grave this day and shall I come out as a Bridegroome out of a Bride Chamber If thou art worldly say Christ Isa 61. 10. Joel 2. 16. rose this day in order to his ascention to heaven and shall sublunary vanities entangle my soul this day If thou art sluggish and unactive say the Sun of righteousness rose this Mal. 4. 2. day whose motion of all motions is the swiftest and shall I be clogged with unseemly dulness and hebetude If thou art sad and despondent say Christ rose this day to fill up the joyes of his people to consummate and finish his victories 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cantus fuit Christiano rum sibimetipsis ocâ—urrentium in primordâ—â— Ecclesiae which by holy faith become the Saints conquest and shall my spirit be down and sink on this triumphant day If thy heart wander this day say the glorious Morning Star this day appeared in the worlds Horizon after a three dayes cloud and what more blessed object to fix my heart upon Rev. 22. 16. That still the risings of thy corrupt heart which way soever it wind it self may be kept down and stopt from Sabbath defilement Now a little care may prevent a great deal of sin We must therefore 1. Eye and observe 2. Bitterly bemoan 3. Pray against 4. Forcibly check and keep down these unnatural productions of the unregenerate part and suppressed corruptions Exod. 14 30. are like slain Aegyptians they will not disturb the Israelites travelling towards Canaan So they will be the spectacle of our joy not the obstacle of our duties and we may with a Psal 119. 32. pleasing liberty run the wayes of Gods Commandments upon his own holy day CHAP. XXXVIII Some necessary cautions for the preventing of Sabbath Pollution Caut. 1 FOr the more holy observation of Gods blessed day some rocks are to be avoided as well as some rules to be observed The carefull Mariner studies to escape the sands that he be not swallowed up as well as observes the wind that he be not becalmed and so put upon unnecessary stayes in the watery element So there are difficulties to run through as well as duties to discharge on Gods holy day and therefore Care is as necessary as Zeal and a watchfull eye as requisite as an affectionate heart we must equally take care that we do not offend as that we do obtain Let us take heed of wearisomness in duties It is very sad when the Sabbath is lookt on as our burden and not our priviledge and our attendance upon Ordinances our task and not our triumph our bondage and not our blessedness Surely religious duties should not be our fetters but our freedome This was the black character of the wanton Israelites they cryed out When will the New Moon be gone that we may sell Corn and the Sabbath be over that we may set forth Wheat Amos 8. 5. What should weary us on a Sabbath Is it because on that day Christ carries the soul into his Wine Cellar Malus fructus immò malus morsus quo Adam per Evam vitam perdidit Bonus fructus quo genus humanum per Christi mortem mortem perdidit et vitam invenit Del. Rio. and his banner over it is love Cant. 2. 4. Is it because Christ on this day brings his living waters and his best wine and makes his feast of fat things and gives his sweetest bread Do the delicacies of a Sabbath cloy us Do the rarities of it nauseate us How shall we digest heaven where such dainties sublimated shall be our eternal fare What hearts have we that we can petrifie Gods Ordinances and make them empty and unsatisfying that they shall yield no taste or nourishment Surely it must needs be the reproach of a Christian to grow weary of Communion with God and to surfet on the provisions of the Sanctuary Indeed to be cloyed at our tables is more usual then sinfull but shall we rise from the table of Christ without an appetite Shall we say of the bread which came from heaven is there nothing but this Manna Upon the Sabbath John 6. 55. Christ takes the soul as once the Eunuch did Philip into Numb 11. 6. the chariot of his Ordmances with him and there discourses of the affairs of eternity and shall this familiarity tire the soul Acts 8. 21. which is posting to eternity The Sabbath is the souls jubilee a mellifluous and blessed season how many thousands souls have known it the day of their new birth And how willing have Gods people been in this day of Gods power in Psal 110. 3. the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning Blessed is this day among dayes from henceforth all generations Luke 1. 48. shall call thee happy blessed be the Father which made thee blessed be the Son who purchased thee blessed be the Spirit who sanctifies thee and blessed are they who prize and improve thee and think the Sun on this day posts away too fast and makes too much hast towards a setting Indeed it must argue very little holiness if the blessing of the Sabbath be accounted the burden of the Soul and it must speak the dregs of corrupt nature to tire upon Mountains of Spices to be weary of walking in the Garden where the Rose of Sharon is David saith Psal 119. 24 77. The testimonies of God are his delight and he rejoyced more in them Cant. 2. 1. then in all manner of riches and yet truly some covetous
Christus est rosa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 optimè flos quia florum flos Del. Rio. men tell over their riches with no small delight The very Gospel is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 glad tidings and can we be weary in hearing glad tidings messages of love and life from heaven news of a Christ and a Kingdom The soul which is tired on a Sabbath understands not its own interest but as the Prophet Jonah saith forsakes its own mercies Jonah 2. 8. Can our conversation be in heaven as the Apostolical command is Phil. 3. 20. and yet droop and be flatted in heavenly Sancti in coelis habitant dum hic vivunt atsi Aquilae quae in arduis nidum ponunt Greg. duties in heavenly ordinances and pine after a dismission and release Burdens of Roses are not painfull but pleasant Ordinances are onely bundles of Myrrh to refresh and revive the Soul Surely the Sabbath may plead with tired professors as once God did in another case Mic. 6. 3. O my people what have I done to thee and wherein have I wearied thee testifie against me So might the Sabbath expostulate what is in me so burdensom Is it my institution because it is divine Luke 2. 37. Is it my duration because it is for a few hours onely David longed to dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of his life Psal 27. 4. And Anna the Prophetess departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers Insabbato unusqâ—isq sâ—dere debet in suo loco Exod. 16. 29. et non procedà ◠ex eo Quis est locus spiritualis animae Justitia est locus ejus et veritas et sapientia et sanctificatio et omnia quae Christus sunt et hic est locus ex quo eum non oportet exire Orig. night and day Still the Sabbath may plead are the Ordinances of God my Jewels and my Ornaments such causes of surfet Or rather are they not the Galleries for Christ and the soul to walk in the very stages of Christs presence Mat. 18. 20. The rich opportunities for soul-advantage the spiritual mans Mart Here the sinner like the sloathful servant can answer nothing It is both our doom and degeneracy to be weary of divine Ordinances and it loudly speaks 1. That Christ is not our beloved else his company would ravish not tire our attendance and be our satisfaction not our surfet Lovers are not quickly weary of their interchangeable converses 2. That heaven is not the end of our race surely if it were we should not then be so soon tired in the way Ordinances are the road to glory The Traveller puts on till he allight at home 3. That the world hath too much influence us The Jews were weary of the Sabbath Amos 8. 5. but it was that they might set forth Corn. Carnal minds do not relish spiritual duties they are their clog not their complacency To be in the flesh in fleshly desires and delights and to be in the spirit are a real contrariety The love of the world will cast out the love of ordinances This and much more our wearisomness in and of ordinances proclaims to every observer It is the observation of Origen that burdens were not to Onera non sunt portanda die Sabbati onus est omne peccatum Orig. be carried on the Sabbath day Nehem. 13. 15. saith he What is this burden but sin And this is the mistake of many when sin should be they make service their burden when they should groan under vile practices they groan under precious Ordinances One well observes wearisomness in duties sucks out all their sweetness and makes them dry and unpleasant and casts a dishonour on the God of ordinances Isa 5. 20. as if he was a fountain shedding bitter streams but on the contrary delight makes duty savoury meat and Gospel recreation Jacob for the beauty of Rachel served seven years and they seemed but a few dayes Gen. 29. 20. The Gal. 6. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 27. 4. Psal 119. 97. Psal 1. 2. Psal 110 3. Dr. Full. Eccl. Hist Saints in the beauties of holiness run through many services and they are not their toyle but their prerogative they rise from duty as Galen usually did from his meals with an appetite Dr. Fuller observes a Philosophical act did once so please Queen Elizabeth that her delight did drown all tediousness and she heard the Disputes till within night in the midst of Summer And shall Philosophy refresh and captivate more then Divinity shall the hand-maid more please then the Mistris Shall disputes of Nature be more satisfactory Deus est natâ—ra naturans et creaturae sunt natura naturata Baron then the God of Nature Shall the Schools more delight then the Sanctuary Nay shall the Mathematicks of Archimedes so drown him in rational pleasure that being in his study he heard not when Syracuse the City of his habitation was taken by the Romans Shall such raptures drop from the contriving of a Mathematical Instrument and is there no fruit on the tree of Life no delicacy in ordinances to affect our souls and to wear off a cloyed irksomness from our spirits on the blessed Sabbath Surely it argues weak and faint grace when the breast that feeds it becomes troublesome and the sincere milk of the word 1 Pet. 2. 2. becomes sowre and stales because it is not made use of Caut. 2 Let us take heed of trifling away the Sabbath under the pretence of vain excuses The Sabbath is the solemn time of mans Aurum igne probatum alii intelligunt de vâ—rbo dei Illud enim argento septies decâ—cto est probatius Auro obrizo desiderabilius Alii intelligunt de fide quâ solâ divitiae caeleste accipiantur quaeque igne afflictionis quovis auro purgatior redditur Coram deo non facit divites aurum sed fides Christum cum the sauris suis possidens 2 Cor. 5. 21. life the soules gale of opportunity the good wind for the harbour of Rest On this day God sets forth his merchandize Rev. 3. 18. for man to buy up to enrich himself to eternity then God offers his gold to make us rich in grace his white raiment to make us rich in beauty his eye-salve to make us rich in knowledge Pareus well observes Adams fall proclaimed him bankrupt and he naturally labours under a three-fold malady 1. Of Poverty and so God offers Gold Rev. 3. 18. to set him up again to repair his lost revenues and estate 2. Of Nakedness when Adam sinned his first sin Gen. 3. 7. himself and so after himself his posterity was shamefully naked and now God offers especially on a Sabbath day the spiritual fair-day for such merchandises white raiment to cover our nakedness and to adorn us with a beauty exceeding our Primitive loveliness He offers the righteousnesse of Christ a fairer Garment then Adams
then say they to visit them is charity and if they have a familiar friend then to visit them is love and amity and if they have a friend with whom they deal in worldly affairs then to visit him there is a kind of necessity and they will be frugal of their time though they are prodigal of their Sabbath It is true visiting the sick is Qui operibus charitatis se benedictos haeredes pâ—â—destinatos proinde â—â—re fideles verèque oves Christi declaraverunt Illis jure adjudicatur regnum a duty of the Sabbath if the visit be sweetned with prayer spiritual discourse and heavenly instructions On a Sabbath Christ visited the sick Mark 1. 31. healed the sick Luke 14. 1. And visiting the sick is one of those duties in the faithful discharge of which we shall give up our accounts with joy Mat. 25. 36. But to visit the sick onely for a little discourse or to pass a civility or to spend some time they know not how well otherwise to dispose of this is the waste of a Sabbath and is the evil of too many in the City and Nation Indeed the Sabbath is a day of visits but they must be heavenly not earthly fruitful not complemental visits We must visit the Sanctuary by our holy approaches we must visit the throne of grace by our humble addresses we must visit our own souls by our serious searches we must try and examine our selves which is an eminent duty upon the Sabbath Nay and God hath his visits on his own 2 Cor. 13. 5. day he hath the visits of his presence Mat. 18. 20. He hath the visits of his grace Rev. 1. 10. He hath the visits of his sweet and endearing love Cant. 2. 4. But to these trifling visitants we may say ad quid perditio haec And why is Mat. 26. 8. this waste Are there so many Pâ—rentheses in a Sabbath so many loose and vacant hours as that they must be spent in chat about worldly affairs or passing of complements upon friends Are the duties of this day so few that impertinent visits must be called in to fill up the time Surely such neither understand the worth nor the work of a Sabbath This day is a golden spot which admits of no waâ—te no oâ—er-flowing moments to spend upon idle visits A gracious soul can espy no vacation in this holy season he could snaffle the Sun on this day and rein it in and sadly complains the day out-runs the duty and the Sabbath is done before his work is done But these vain persons stand idle Mat. 20. 3. in the Market place and every slight occasion can hire them Thou visitest a friend on the Sabbath is there a better friend then Christ to visit and to spend thy time with on his own blessed day Thou visitest a customer or one Talis est conditio omnium sine vocatione dei sunt otiosi nec sibi nec aliis sum utiles Par. with whom thou hast some business is not soul trade the best traffick and is it not the best industry and care to lay up treasures in heaven Art thou not more engaged to enquire after salvation then to speak with a friend upon worldly affairs Did God ever give thee a day for eternity to run a considerable part of it out in frothy discourses foolish caresses or trifling visits Thy soul is thy business on Gods holy day and heaven is the place of thy visits Let us consider the Sabbath continues no longer to us then we are employed in the services of it And if we think it so long that we can spare part of it for fruitless visits what do we do but draw up an impeachment against divine wisdom which appointed an whole day for mans converse with himself But let such take heed least their impertinent visits be not over-taken with unexpected and destructive visitations of wrath and displeasure Isa 10. 3. Jer. 10. 15. Some trifle away their Sabbath in recreative walks First The fields must either be their way to a Sermon Or Secondly They must be their pastime instead of a Sermon Or Thirdly They must be their recreation after a Sermon they must take the fresh air and they can spare no other time for it It is very observable the first of these defraud their souls viz. Those who must have a walk to a Sermon they put a cheat upon themselves they pretend they only go a Sabbath Acts 1. 12. Conscientia est judex incorruptus et adversus impium exurgit clamat exclamat occusat et judicat et quasi ante oculos pingit peccatorum turpitudinem Chrys dayes journey and it is to hear a Sermon they do not neglect the bread of life they only go a little further to fetch it But an all-seeing eye sees all the disguise and a just hand will tear thy Apron of fig-leaves Gen. 3. 7. Nay conscience can tell thee it is not the Ordinance but the walk draws thee to that distance thou mayest hear Sermons nearer home and most probably thy own Pastour it is not the delight of the Sanctuary but the pleasure of the fields is thy attractive thou walkest to please thy curious eye and not to advantage thy precious soul These are carnal Gospellers or as the Apostle speaks 2 Tim. 3. 4. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God As for the second factors for sensual delight who must have a walk instead of a Sermon These debauch their souls Qui amant corporis voluptares non possunt offici deo et rebus divinis voluptates spirituales erigunt animum ad caelestia sed carnales et mundanae animum deprimunt et effaeminant Theoph. It is strange Merchandise to exchange an Ordinance for a walk a sensual delight for a spiritual advantage this is to put a low rate upon the soul these out-vy Esau who sold his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage he only sold a temporal good and in case of necessity but these sell a spiritual good an opportunity of life and grace when there is no necessity Surely these never tasted the sweets of an Ordinance nor ever knew what it was to converse with God on the Mount or to meet with Christ in his banquetting house Children indeed throw away Gold and cry after a toy and a trifle and these more childish throw away the word which is better then fine gold Psal 19. 10. Can an opportunity of grace be compensated with a little voluptuous laziness the Isa 47. 8. gratifying of wanton sence or the reaches of a vagrant heart Tit. 3. 3. Theophylact saith expresly That those who love outward pleasure they can never be affected with God or the things of God for sensual pleasures depress and keep down the soul and habituates it to softness and effeminacy Thou who vendest a Magna corporis cura est magna virtutis incuria soul opportunity for a little pleasure
seasons of Per spiritum sanctum clamamus non voce sed filiali et fiduciali affectu Abba Pater prae dulcedine teneritudine amoris quasi teneri insantes qui charissimum parentem c. Alap our spiritual communion In Prayer we cry as Children to the Father In hearing we receive messages from our Father which relate to our inward man In our Prayer God opens his hand in our hearing God opens his heart Acts 20. 27. In Prayer we enjoy his bounty God gives us even to his own spirit Luke 11. 13. In Hearing we are admitted even to the Counsels of God in that forementioned text Acts 20. 27. In a Sacrament our dainties are the body and blood of Christ and he refresheth us not from his Cellars but from his Wounds Cast thy eye upon the effects of Ordinances what wonders hath that one duty of Prayer wrought 1. It is able to overthow enemies Isa 37. 36. Vtpote pueri balbutiantes blandulâ iteratâ voculâ compellare solent Pater Pater sic credentes c. 2. It is able to divert Judgements Plagues Pestilence Famine Sword 1 Kings 8. 57. 3. It is able to bring down mercies It is the key of Heaven Jam. 5. 15. It is the most efficacious engine in the world it can open the doors of the prison nay it can open the door of the womb Acts 12. 7. 1 Sam. 1. 10 20. 4. It is the sum of all wisdom strength and policy 5. It prevails against God himself Gen. 32. 26. Hos 12. 4. Exod. 32. 11. Isa 45. 11. 6. It can work Miracles so Joshua by Prayer caused the Sun to stand still in Gibeon Josh 10. 12. What amazing productions hath this one Ordinance caused May we not then say of those who undervalue Ordinances O foolish pieces of frenzy and ignorance who hath bewitched you Gal. 3. 1. that you should trample upon Pearls walk upon Amber and neglect so great salvation Heb. 2. 3. Cast thy eye again upon the tendency of Ordinances these stars lead us to Christ They are the womb of grace Rom. 10. 17. And grace is the heir of Glory Eph. 1. 14. When we Mat. 2. 9. converse with God in Ordinances we turn our faces Sionward Isa 51. 11. and we are travelling home The blessed Ordinances Isa 35. 10. are our fresh gales to carry us to our harbour of Rest they are the birth places of the Saints the ready way to the new Jerusalem therefore whoever thou art who callest prayer a vain breath hearing a dry attendance Sacraments empty meals retrench thy errour and let the love of Christ constrain thee to better thoughts of these blessed Seasons And let not a word be unseasonable to shew thee the cause and cure of this jejune apprehension of divine Ordinances These modern Ehionites who have so low thoughts of Christs institutions they are henighted with ignorance they Ebion sumpsit nomen suum ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pauper indigus quia misellam de Christo habuit opinionem do not know there is a God in Ordinances that they are animated by a divine spirit Who opened Lydia's heart in hearing Who pricked the heart of the Jewes Act. 2. 37. in the same Ordinance Who showred down the Spirit when the Assembly met for Gospel dispensations Acts 10. 44. when God rained heaven out of heaven Indeed Ordinances are the sphear where the Sun of Righteousnesse Mal. 4. 2. turns the waters where the Angel moves John 5. 4. And if the Angel move the waters heal but these inapprehensive sinners like Balaam see not the Angel Numb 22. 23. They are prejudiced by inexperience they cannot say with David Psalm 66. 16. Come and I will tell you what God hath done for my soul Pauls Companions did not see Jesus Christ they onely heard a confused noise Acts 9. 7. These unhappy sinners never tasted how good and gracious the Mat. 11. 23. Lord is in a sweet Ordinance they never felt the power of a truth they were never enriched with the flush returns of Psalm 34. 8. Prayer A Promise well pressed home and applyed never reverberated Acts 2. 37. upon their souls with influential joy they never Psalm 85. 8. had their hearts raised to Heaven in Gospel Revelation and 2 Pet. 1. 4. in the glorious discoveries of divine Love Blind men admire Nos transeramus affectus ad coelestem illam vitam oremus dominum ut panem qui dâ—â—cae lo descendit lâ—rgiaâ—â— not the Sun The Indians more prize a log a gewgaw or a piece of brasse then Gold Gemms or Spices To them who have tasted Christ he is precious The converted soul saith of Ordinances Lord evermore give us this bread Such cry out O sweet Sacraments those divine festivals O fructiferous Prayer But now to cure this sinful and destructive mistake and to raise the price and esteem of Ordinances John 6. 34. Look on them as the means of Grace The Sun shines through the ayr and Christ works by Ordinances Preaching is not the breath of man but the power of God to salvation Rom. 1. 16. The Word is that immortal seed which is able to save our souls 1 Pet. 1. 23. These Oracles delivered in Rom. 3 2. Preaching are able to make us wise to eternal salvation It is the power of Ordinances raises us from the grave of sin 2 Tim. 3. 15. plants in us the flowers of grace causeth the day to dawn in 2 Pet. 1. 19. our souls If ever thou comest to heaven the wind of the Spirit John 3. 8. filling the sails of Ordinances will carry thee thither Look on them as the resemblances of glory Sitting at a Sacrament resembles our eating and drinking with Christ at his table in his Kingdome Luke 22. 30. the Communion Cant. 1. 12. resembles the fruition Let us then prize Ordinances which Matth. 11. 23. are the twilight and dawning of Glory CHAP. XXXIX The Lords day is a day of Rest but not of Idlenesse Caut. 5 LEt us take heed least we interpret the day which God calls a day of Rest to be a day of Idlenesse God gives us relaxation Exod. 31. 15. on his own day but it is not either for sport or sleep but for duties not for pastime but for prayer Our ground Quies non fuit ignavum otium ut Christiani nihil agerent sed ut divina curarent non sua Riv. lies fallow sometimes that we may plow it and sow it to the better advantage Rest is given us because the body and the soul cannot both well be employed together earth and heaven cannot both be minded together Now this divine indulgence must be a spur to holy duties and not our leave to play with lying vanities The Sabbath is a holy leisure our spiritual vacation to attend on the affairs of our precious souls Sabbatum est sabbatum cessationis
operum sui ante-actorum recordatiom sese applicet c. Hosp Dicitur Sabbatum Domini et Sabbatum sanctitâ—tâ—s et sanctâ—tas Domini quia non modò dei sancti est sed et sanctum eâ— et rebus domini publicè et privatim dicatum et impendendum est c. Leid Prof. this truth most sweetly There is saith he a sublime end of the Sabbaths leisure viz. That we might get nearer to eternal salvation that we may follow the duties of an holy life that we may remember our former actions and so drenâ—h our selves in tears of repentance and this saith he the very Jews can not deny Our Sabbaths according to this worthy man are only post dayes for heaven opportunities for grace which is the morning star of glory and the dawning of blessedness Nay let us hear a Quaternion of Divines the Professours of Leyden Cessation of work say they is commanded not that we should only enjoy corporal idleness but fall upon spiritual business holy duties and exercises It is not called the Sabbath of man but the Sabbath of the Lord not only because God is the Author of it but likewise because it is to be dedicated to and spent in the things of the Lord both publickly and privately and is to be directed to the sanctification of his name These Champions of truth direct us to the proper end of the Sabbath which is not to waste but to work not to consult our ease but to consult our souls Our temporal affairs must be suspended that our better affairs may be minded The poor soul should have been whâ—lly neglected had not the God of it appointed one day in the week for its service and salvation This truth is so apparent that our very adversaries joyn issue in the attestation of it Mr. Bâ—erewood who wrote so zealously for sports on the Sabbath yet in his second Tract pag. 15. acknowledgeth That the Commandment for the Sabbath enjoynes 1. The outward worship of God Manifestum est non moâ—o legis hujus judicio sed ipsâ—â—simâ expeâ—iâ—ntâ—â— non facere ad vâ—â—ae religionis profectum siotia multiplicentur Musc 2. Cessation frâ—m works as â— necessary preparation for that worship that as the end and this as the means So then by his confession to holy rest we must joyn holy work And experience tells us saith Musculus that too much leisure never makes for the increase of Religion no more then the Country-man gains by his fallow ground Nay the very Heathens themselves laughed at idleness upon the Sabbath And Seneca derided the custom of the Jews upon their Sabbath because they spent it in things vain and impertinent and not in the worship of God and said The Seneca derisit Sabbatum Judaeorum quia non vacabant divinis sed rugis et inutilibus Aquin. Jews threw away the seventh part of their lives And surely that sin must be grievous which becomes the scom and derision of an Heathen that crime must needs be great which lies open to the discoveries of Natures light But the Scriptures which are the most authentick testimony in this case will bring in most ample witness they will find us employments for the Sabbath 1. If we look into the Old Testament we shall find the sacrifices to be double on the Sabbath day Two Lambs of Num. 28. 9 10 the first year without spot and two tenth deales of flower with a meat offering mingled with oyl and the drink offering thereof this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath besides the continual burnt offering and the drink offering Numb 28. 9 10. There must ye see be an over-plus of sacrifice on the Luke 23. 3. Sabbath then our worship must be in the full and not in the waine in the strongest tide not at low water Likewise Convocatiosancta fuit totâ—us populi ad opera sacra et divina on the Sabbath there was to be an holy Convocation and surely the Jews did not meet solemnly to look one upon another Their meeting in the Temple or the Synagogues spake worship something of Service Divine Likewise on the Sabbath there was the reading of the Law Gods will was then opened to the people Nehem. 8. 8. The Sabbath was not a day of sloth but instruction it was not a day to be in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cantica singu laria Sabbato unoquoque occinenda erant Leid Prof. the rubbish of ease but to be built up in the most holy faith And on the Sabbath there were certain solemn songs chanted forth to the praise of the Creatour and therefore the ninety second Psalm is inscribed a Psalm for the Sabbath And there was likewise reasonings and discourses of Divine things as we have hinted Acts 17. 2. There were exhortations given to the people for their furtherance of faith and godliness Acts 15. 21. Moses was preached every Sabbath day as the Apostle James speaks in the fore-cited place So then the Sabbath wanted not its employment in the times of the Law Nor did the Lords day run waste in the times of the Gospel then the Disciples met together the Sacrament was administred the Gospel was preached Acts 20. 7. And charity was collected 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Which duties unquestionably wanted not the concomitancy of fervent prayers and supplications so then there was an aggregation of holy and solemn services Holy duties were not as a single star but as Isa 65. 8. a constellation and in that cluster there was a blessing So Old and New Testament are a twofold witness to condemn Mat. 18. 16. sloth and idleness upon Gods blessed day And by the mouth of two witnesses especially if infallible every thing shall be established And indeed idleness on any day carries its brand in its Milites otio si incipient luxu diffluere murmurare pecuniam inclamare Ordinem omnem turbare aâ— tandem rebellare Alap forehead Idle Souldiers will easily turn mutinous Idle Scholars will easily degenerate into sin and ignorance and idle Tradesmen will easily sink into want and poverty Abundance of idleness was one of the sins of Sodom the worst of places Ezek. 16. 49. It is the sink of sin the Common shore of evil it is the rust of the soul which eats out its noble faculties Themistocles used to say It was burying men alive And idle persons like wanton widows to use the Apostles phrase are dead while they live 1 Tim. 5. 5. And Ephr. Syr. de consummat seculi the Apostle makes idleness the source of many other sins 1 Tim. 5. 13. It was once the saying of Ephrem Syras Do not fly labour least the Crown fly from thee Idleness is every way sinful It is opposite to mans condition He was born to labour Gen. 3. 19. Dew is not more natural to the surface of the Homo natus est ad laberem sicut avis ad volatum Earth then sweat is to the brow of
world the Sun which he created he now causeth to rise every day the waters which he created he now either restrains to calmness or leaves to rage Man whom he created still he forms him in his Mothers womb Psal 139. 16. And in this we must imitate God who is not onely the Legislatour to command but the pattern to exemplifie Sabbath Rest we must be still working we must on that holy day work out Phil. 2. 12. our salvation with fear and trembling and this is our greatest providence the great work of Government for us to subject 2 Cor. 10. 5. our souls to the obedience of Christ 2. Idleness on Gods holy day swerves not onely from the pattern of the Father but likewise from the example of the Son Jesus Christ was as the School-men speak upon another John 5. 8. account purissimus actus all activity upon the Sabbath Luke 13. 12. then the wrought his wonders then he made his cures then Luke 14. 4. he preached his holy and heavenly doctrines then he enriched Luke 4. 32. the world with his heavenly discourses then he went up and Luke 14. 16. down doing good The Sabbath was the sphear of his love Acts 10. 38. the orb of his light the testimony of his power and the Mat. 12. 13. stage of his most glorious actions It is observable Christ Luke 4. 3◠enriched the Sabbath with all variety of good then he taught the soul then he cured the body then he healed men of their sicknesses and women of their infirmities then he cured patients of spiritual maladies then he cast devils out of them these embroydered robes of love and power Christ cloathed the Sabbath with and canst thou sinner eye Christ and slide over a Sabbath either doing nothing of that which is worse then nothing Canst thou melt a Sabbath into dross by idleness Shall the head be so vivacious Fug tiniquitatis est signaculum gratiae Alap and thou who pretendest to be a member be in a Lethargy in a Swoon be crampt with sloth and laziless on Gods holy day Either name not the name of Christ or depart from this iniquity Study to draw Christ upon a Sabbath 2 Tim. 2. 19. and this will be as Aristotles iron ball in his hand which when he fell asleep fell into a brass bason and so awakened him this will keep thee active and vigilant say Christ and this this will put thee upon work and service Idleness on a Sabbath is neglecting great salvation the idle sinner on this day loseth great opportunities of life great Heb. 2. 3. condescentions of love great advantages for the soul How many have been delivered from the womb of a Sabbath new 1 Pet. 2. 2. born babes in the Church when God hath said to the loins of an Ordinance give forth and to a spiritual opportunity keep not in When the wind blows strongly the waterman Quid prodest Christum sequi si non contingat consequi sic currite ut comprehendatis Bern. sets up his sail rnd plies at the Ore more industriously Sabbath opportunities are our good wind for heaven now we must set up our sail by diligent attention and sweat at the Oar by earnest devotion now we must row hard towards the shore of rest and happiness we must not be as the Drone but as the Bee sucking honey from the flower of every Duty and every Ordinance Indeed sloth is one of the blackest spots in the feast of a Sabbath And yet how many are sitting 2 Pet. 2. 13. idly at the doors of their houses when they should be Jud. v. 12. knocking at the door of heaven and enquiring for the way of salvation they are talking frivolously when they should Luke 16. 17. be speaking to God in holy Orisons and Supplications they are throwing away time when they should be laying up treasures Luke 12. 33. even treasures in heaven I may say to such foolish sluggards in the same language which the Mariners spake to Jonah Jon. 1. 6. What mean ye sleepers why do not ye gather your clusters in the vintage of a Sabbath why do not Mat. 20. 6. ye reap your advantages in the harvest of a Sabbath why do Omnes sine vocatione dei sunt otiosi nec sibi nec aliis utiles Par. ye not follow the suit of your eternal souls in the term-time of a Sabbath Pearls are not found in every Rock Gums do not drop from every Tree Mines are not sprung in every field nor is Manna for the soul to be gathered on every day The careful traveller will not spend his day in sleeping in an Inn. And let us consider the Sabbath is a day of diversion but not impertinency CHAP. XL. Some incident cases proposed to satisfie Conscience in Sabbath-observation THe Lords holy day as it is enriched with many sweets Sicut mercatoves per cancellos vimineos transeuntibus merces è domo ostentant non propè et distinctè sed procul sic deus se nobis ostentat in hac vitâ Alap so it is encompassed with some scruples not as if there was any obscurity in the command or cloud in the day but man in this life knows onely in part 1 Cor. 13. 12. And a twi-light knowledge engenders doubts hesitations and scruples and as in other things so in Sabbath observation And therefore this Chapter shall be spent in directing conscience least it lose it self in by wayes and irregular ranges which a faint light may subject it to Several cases may serve us instead of several lights to guide us in the way of peace and security on Gods blessed day Case 1 What we must do in the non-performance or in the maleperformance of Sabbath duties Many in the close of a Sabbath Psal 137. 2. are ready to hang their harps upon the willows and to shed a shower of tears when they look back and think they have been in the Wine-cellar of Christ but they have not refreshed their souls they have sat with Christ in his banqueting house but they have enjoyed no divine or spiritual Cant. 2. 4. delight many duties they have neglected more they have formally passed over the Sabbath is run out scarce any stoopings left and yet they have not quenched the thirst of their souls the term time is gone and their cause is as it was or rather is further off then before they are very sensible though they have not filled up the spaces of a Divine Mat. 5 5 Sabbath they have dropped into the vials of divine displeasure This is their case and this is their moan and let it not Lamen 1 12. be nothing to all those who pass by Now therefore to satisfie Revel 16. 1. this case Those who have been either short or superficial in the duties of Gods blessed Sabbath Let them lie in the dust Sabbath sin should cause seri us
keep this divine rellish upon our hearts we are apt to catch cold after Cùm malum committitur bonum amittitur the greatest heats Let us look to our selves that we do not lose the things which we have wrought and after close and sweet communion with God grow lax and remisse Sweet water is as easily spilt as ordinary water The rarest Cordials 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are put into glasses which are easily broken there may be a rejoycing which is onely for a season John 5. 35. the Greek reads it for an hour If thy heart hath been wound up towards heaven on a Sabbath a little carelesnesse will let it down again If thou hast spent the Sabbath comfortably Heb. 12. 14. be faithful to thy soul and interest and spend the Ephes 4. 30. week holily Purity will keep peace it is sin grieves the spirit Spiritus sanctus cùm agimus aut loquimur turpia aut mala offenditur Alap who is the Comforter Joh. 14. 16. Our inward joy is onely chased away by trespasse which is a thron in the breast of this Nightingale To be unloosend on the Sabbath from week-day bonds is comfortable but in the week-time to unloose the Lords dayes bonds is abominable To be fruitful Comfortable Sabbaths call for conscionable lives Soft showres make fruitful fields If on the Sabbath we have enjoyed the comforts of the Lord it is but meet we John 15. 5. should alwayes abound in the work of the Lord. Our week-day 1 Cor. 15 58. carriage should be the springing up of the Sabbath days seed our whole lives must be a walking in the strength of our Sabbaths Divers of the Ancients are very copious and pathetical in perswading men so to practice Piety and pursue sanctity as to perpetuate a Sabbath We should mingle the Sabbath with the week but not the week with the Sabbath as we should be in the spirit on the Lords day so Tertul com in Jud. 4. Orig. in Numer Hom. 23. Chrysost in Mat tract 29. Aug. de Civit dei lib. 12. cap. 30. Buc. in Mat. 12. 11. we should walk in the spirit on the week day Gal. 5. 25. It is a remarkable speech of Bucer Have we served the Lord on his own day let our manners shew it let our works prove it let the holiness of our lives abundantly declare it A pious Conversation is the onely evidence we have been with Jesus we should be in such a frame every Lords day as if that was the first Sabbath that ever we spent and as if that was the last day that ever we should live or as if the weight of all our work lay upon that single Sabbath for which we were sent into the world nay as if our eternal being was to be determined hereby and yet after the day is over we must endeavour as much to be doing as if nothing was done on the Sabbath and all that we had done was to be abated on the account Sabbath comforts are not to be dews but showres not suddenly to be dryed up but to soak into our future lives Jâ—hn the Evangelist after he had been Rev. 1. 10. in the Spirit on the Lords day writes the Revelation the worlds Chronicle within a Veil Moses when he had been Exod. 32. 22. on the Mount with God was filled with holy zeal and Sinai did not flame more then his heart Heavenly sweets are 1 John 1. 3. onely incentives to holy services and the tasts of divine communion are the genuine bribes to an holy conversation Case 3 How we must keep the Sabbath alone in the deprival of Christian and comfortable society There are many cases may befall a Christian which may render him solitary upon the Psalm 63. 2. Lords day and for the present enforce him to be an exile Psalm 96. 6. from the publick Assemblies 1. As in the case of travelling we may meet with an Inne when we cannot meet with a Sanctuary Isa 16. 12. 2. So in the case of imprisonment we may be confined to Psalm 102. 7. the darkness of a dungeon and want the glorious liberty of Psal 84. 3. the people of God the freedom they enjoy in the house of Prayer 3. So likewise in case of sickness we may be chained to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our beds and not enjoy the freedome of publick Ordinances And Mr. Perkins instances in the disease of the dead Palsie so that now Aristotles definition of Man to be a sociable Creature will not comport with our present condition Isa 16. 12. 4. And it may be instanced in case of hard service and slavery when our groans are ready to drown the musick of Israelitae ita affligebantur animi maerore et durâ servitute quâ spiritu quâ—si intercludebantur ut non attenderent verbis Moyses de deo serviendo Riu. a Sabbath and we are necessitated to lye down in silence and solitariness We do not read that the Jews kept any publick Sabbath in their Aegyptian bondage their tasks jarred their triumphs and they did not onely make brick without straw but they passed over Sabbaths without any visible observation but yet no case can wholly incapacitate us from conversing with God on his own day we are never so lonely but we may enjoy communion with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ 1 John 1. 3. 1. If we are travelling we may likewise travel towards Exod. 6. 9. Canaan Holy duties will turn an Inne into a Sanctuary Psalm 134. 2. Paul prayed by the Rivers side Acts 16. 13. Peter preached in a private house Acts 10. 34. and Christ administers the Gen. 24. 63. Sacrament in an upper room Luke 22. 12. Now we may meditate in every Field and pray in every Chamber To Dan. 6. 10. Christians saith Dr. John Reynolds No Land is strange no ground unholy every Coast is Jewry every Town is Hierusalem every house is Sion every faithful body is a Temple to serve Gâ—d in And to think otherwise is to savour of Judaisme as Hospinian observes 2. Suppose thy self in prison on the Lords day If an Angel can break a prison door Acts 12. 7. surely Christ can and give thee the meeting on his own blessed day VVhen thou art in fetters of iron he can draw thee with the cords of a man Hos 11. 4. If we must visit our brethren surely he will visit his Saints in prison Prison doors are no obstruction Mat. 25. 36. to the divine illapses of the good spirit and Prison-straights are no confinement to the enlargements of a Saints heart a fervent prayer can pierce the roof of the closest dungeon and flies as high as Heaven Paul and Silas sang Acts 16. 25. Psalmes one duty of a Sabbath when they were fettered in their Chains and inclosed in their Goal 3. Put case thou art confined to a sick bed Jacob worshipped Gen. 49 18.
Satan into a day with God in attending on holy Ordinances This was the spirit of the primitive times they accounted all time gain and advantage which was spent in Divine Communion And indeed this is for Adams posterity to re-enter Paradise Gregory Nyssen in his second Oration which he Greg. Nyss Orat. 2dâ de 4to Martyr made concerning the Martyrs makes mention of some things he had instructed his people in the day before and in another Oration bids them call to mind those things he had delivered before in the week time this eminent light of the Church evidences in his own practice that it was the custome of the Church in those times to enrich the week with Nudius terti mi et hesterni diei sermones sequitur hodierna lectio c many seasons and opportunities of Gospel dispensation so far were those times from Subpenaeing flesh and blood to attest an incapacity for the services of a whole Sabbath Augustine in many places of his incomparable works mentions Aug. in Joan. his daily labours with his people for spiritual edification So Tom. 2 dus in Psal 68. Tract 16. Joan. Tractat. 18. in Joan. Tract 22. in Joan. Cyprian was likewise taken up in daily travels with his hearers to promote the increase of their faith and knowledge Nicephorus reports in his Ecclesiastical History that Alexander did daily exhilarate the Niceph. Hiâ—t lib 8. cap. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Church with divine Institutions Indeed these orient times of the Church were made more celebrious by the painful labours of the Ministers and the diligent attention of the people every day for as Chysostome speaks in his tenth Homily upon Genesis Holy discourses are calculated for every day No day is incongruous for heavenly Communion And the learned Father well comports with the sence and language of the holy Apostle Phil. 3. 20. For our conversation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vita civilis is in heaven from whence also we look for our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ But on the Lords day in the primitive times holy duties Licet nâ—â— ingâ—â—ereâ— spirituali doctrinae non praejudicat Chrysost were multiplied nay the Minister must not give over preaching though the night comes on if Chrysostome may give in his verdict Basil in one of his Homilies tells us That his own course was to begin his Sermans early on the morning of a Sabbath and towards the evening to preach a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil second time The morning Sermon he called the morning food and his evening Sermon he stiled his evening joy which he used to bring to his Auditours Thus this worthy person made it his triumph to spread morning and evening Hic igitur et nâ—s Orationem hanc nostram ad rotum quietemvs deducendá esse censemus Basil daintiâ—s before the people who came to feed upon them Nay thus he speaketh in one of his Homilies Behold the evening commands me silence the Sun being now set yet I judge it fit to lengthen out my discourse to the time of bed and rest So unwearied were the Ministers and people in those gloriâ—us times in holy duties and administrations Augustine In diebus do minieis ab omnibus aliis feriantes soli cultui divino simus intenti in his second Sermon upon the 88 h Psalm mentions his reduplicate labours upon Gods holy day The rest of the Lords day saith a learned man must be wholly taken up in divine worship Then the level of the soul must be wholly heaven-ward all diversions to earth or ease are deviations To mind any thing but the soul on the Sabbath is not impertinency 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Non miremint fratres charissimi si hodie ter sermonem deo adjuvante Pâ—rfeceâ—o but impiety Chrysostome hath an excellent speech The Sabbath saith he is not given us for ease but for rest and that rest must be spent in things spiritual To which is accommodated a speech of another of the Ancients in an Epistle of his to his brethren in the wilderness Do not wonder saith he if in Gods strength I have preached thrice this day Now to object flesh and blood cannot keep a whole Sabbath this is a contradiction to the servent spirit of the primitive Church this is a spirit fit for the dregs of time Some of the more serious Jews thought the Sabbath but seant measure and too short a time for soul enlargements Among the Jews some began their Sabbath soâ—ner then others as those who dwele at Tyberias because they dwelling in a Valley the Sun did not appear so soon to them as it did to others Some again continued their Sabbath longer This was done by those who dwelt at Tsephore a City placed upon the top of a Mountane so that the Sun did shine longer Buxtorf Comment Masor cap. 4. ex Masar to them then to others Hence R. Jose wished That his portion might be with those who began the Sabbath with those of Tyberias and ended it with those of Tsephore This good man would take the first dawning of a Sabbath and wait the Psal 42. 1 2. last appearance that his soul might enjoy a larger space for Psal 84. 10. communion with God A gracious soul thinks the longest visits Phil. 1. 23. Cant. 7. 5. are the sweetest and duration crowns their fruition Surely war is sweet and Sabbaths long to unexperienced persons Dulce bellum inexpertis But further to discover the nakedness of this objection and more fully to answer the case we must take notice there are great varieties of duties and ordinances to sweeten a Sabbath and to render it free from all nausea and tediousness Several Instruments make the Consort and raise the musick Prov. 30 15. to a greater delight and pleasantness On a Sabbath we do 1 Sam. 3. 10. not only say Give give in holy prayer nor do we only cry with Samuel speak Lord for thy servants hear in hearing of the word But the duties of a Sabbath are like the gifts of the spirit full of diversity 1 Cor. 12. 4. There are Sacraments Eucharistia est convivium dominicum in die dominiâ—o ab ecclesiâ administrari solita fuit Tertul. to give us a prospect of Christ Holy meditation to sublimate our souls heaven-ward reading of the Scriptures for spiritual instruction Singing of Psalms in imitation of the Hallelujahs of heaven spiritual discourses for mutual consolation Harmony is the Sabbaths melody and our tiredness in one duty is removed by the sweetness of another The Sun with speed and fleetness runs through the twelve signs of the Zodiack nor is it alwâ—yes lodged in one house Variety of things which are excellent is not a little ground Omni modo Orationibus insistendum est ut si quid negligentiae per sex dies acciderit per diem resurrectionis dominicae precibus
liberty but licentiousnesse the loosning of the râ—ines not the laying hold on our Priviledge To that which is cleared from Scripture may be added the testimony of the Reverend Perkins who writing on Revel 1. 10. saith thus The day which is here called the Lords day among the Jews was the first day of the week called sometimes by us Sunday It is called the Lords day for two reasons 1. Because on this day Christ rose from death to life for Christ was buried on the evening of the Jews Sabbath which is our Friday and rested in the grave their whole Sabbath which is our Saturday and rose the first day of the week early on the morning which is our Sunday 2. The first day of the week according to the Jewes account came instead of the Jewes Sabbath and was ordained a day of Rest for the times of the New Testament and sanctified for the solemn worship of the Lord and for this cause especially it is called the Lords day the manifestation whereof as some think John chiefly intended in this title And it is most consonant to the tenour of the New Testament to hold That Christ himself was the Author of the change of the Sabbath from the last to the first day of the week and my reasons are these 1. That which the Apostles delivered and enjoyned in the Church that they received from Christ either by voice or instinct for they delivered nothing of their own head But the Apostles delivered and enjoyned this Sabbath to the Church to be kept a day of holy rest to the Lord as appeareth 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. where Paul ordained in the Churches of Galatia and Corinth that the collection for the poor should be on the first day of the week this he left not to the choyce of the Church but appointed it by Authority Apostolical from Christ Now the day of collecting for the poor as appeareth in the Histories of the Church was on the Sabbath day when the people were assembled for Gods service For this was the custome of the Church for many yeares after Christ Apostolicâ institutione Collecta fieri solebat die dominico ubi conveniebant fideles in ecclesiâ Hinc patet Apostolorum tempore muta tum esse Sabbatum in diem dominicum First to have the Word preached and the Sacraments administred and then to gather for the poor And for this cause in the writings of the Church the Lords Supper is called a Sacrifice an Oblation Because therewith was joyned the collection for the Poor which was a spiritual Oblation not to the Lord but to the Church for the relief of the Poor and this collected relief was sent to the poor Saints abroad 2. The Apostles themselves kept this day for the Sabbath of the New Testament Acts 10. 27. And it cannot be proved that they observed any other day for an holy Rest unto the Lord after Christs ascention save onely in one case when they came into the Assemblies of the Jewes who would keep no other then their old Sabbath of the Law All this and more that man of renown in the Churches of Christ hath left upon record to assert the Christian Sabbath as a set and standing day for the solemn worship of God every week till the second coming of Christ And therefore clamorously to plead a liberty to worship God as where so when we please in Gospel-times is not onely a contradiction to holy Writ but it is likewise a giving the lye to the Testimony of the most approved Lights of the Church To be left to our selves to serve God when we please and not to be tyed to any set day of solemn worship is not Christian liberty but unchristian misery This is our snare not our priviledge If we may serve God at any time we will serve God at no time Mans corrupt nature is not so accommodated Rom. 8 7. to spiritual Ordinances that it should be often fledged with satisfaction and delight The Jews who had a clear command for Sabbath observation were weary of Quidam asserâ—â—â—t omnes dies esse aequales quilibet dies est Sabbatum Christianis sed hi dum Sabbatum multiplicant annihilant multitudo festorum interficiet Sabbatum their Sabbaths and wished them over that they might set forth Wheat Amos 8. 5. And yet this people was disciplined by God himself and carryed in his bosom Numb 11. 12. Shall men be left to themselves to serve God when they please when will the worldling shut up his shop to be at leisure for holy worship and communion And when will Proud persons leave consulting the Glass in their Chamber to consult with the glass of Gods word The covetous person will hardly spare time for solemn and divine services and to wait upon the worship of the Almighty Voluptuous persons will be lovers of pleasure more then lovers of God 2 Tim. 3. 4. And those who frequent the stews will seldom approach the Sanctuary Truly to leave man to his own liberty to serve God is only to give the reins to loose nature to range in the broad way which leads to destruction We see experimentally that all Laws divine and humane which concern the Sabbath cannot shackle corrupt man and keep him close to a due observation of it Some sin it away in acts of gross prophaneness some trifle it away in foolish talk and recreations some formalize it away in sleeping at Ordinances or neglecting family duties and he who keeps it strictly and purely is a Job 33. 23. De iis timenduÌ„ qui omnes dies aequant dum dies aequant aequarent etiam divitias dum arripiunt praeceptum è decalogo opes arriperent e loculo Professor one of a thousand To take all obligations from conscience that it may serve God when it pleaseth and not be tied to any set time is to spur forward corrupt man to irreligion who is too forward of himself A grave man seriously asserts Lay waste the Sabbath and lay waste all Religion that blessed day being the hedge to keep in Man to his duty which being broken down how should we turn as wild beasts of the forrest So that this ruinous opinion will easily prove the unhappy Parent of a thousand soul-destroying mischiefs it not being probable that laying aside Mic. 5. 8. the Sabbath of the Lord we should lie under the smiles of the Lord of the Sabbath It is true that under the New Testament all places in a fair sense are equally holy but it doth not follow from hence that all times are so and Walaeus stands stiffly to it the Mat. 18. 20. argument is invalid For it is not easie or meet but is very John 4. 21. dissonant from divine wisdom to appoint in his word all 1 Tim. 2. 8. particular places where his people should meet their meetings Mat. 1. 11. being to be in so many thousand several Provinces and
Great thus Carol. Mag. leg Ecclesiast lib. 6. cap 202. begins his solemn Edict to this purpose It is our pleasure that all the faithfull do reverently observe the Lords day in which the Lord rose again And his Son Ludovicus Pius in his Additionals repeating the self same constitution of his Ludovic Piuâ— ibid. Addition cap. 9. Father word by word doth onely add these words Therefore it is necessary that first Priests Kings and Princes and all the faithfull do most devoutly give all due observance and reverence to this day These Princes not more happy in the Kingdomes they governed then unhappy in the times they lived in yet had such an impression upon their souls as to see to the holy observation of the Lords day a day not dayes one day not every day This levelling principle never yet got into the Courts of Princes into the Sessions of Councils nay not into the writings of any famous Patriot of Religion no not into the worst of times when the Church wore her blackest veil In the reforming times of the Church when the Sun of truth brake the cloud of popish ignorance and idolatry then Calvin in Deut. conc 34. our great reformers who reformed by their Pens as well as by their Preaching all unanimously utter their complaints against the prophanation of the Sabbath day and press the Bulling in Apocal. Concion 4. observance of it but still it is one day not every day The Sabbath day which is more honourable and not week dayes Muscul Comment in Mat. 12. which are more inconsiderable And here I might cite Calvin Bullinger Musculus Aretius Walaeus Bucer Gualter c. Nay the Waldenses and the Albigenses those zealous assertours Aretius Prob. Theolog. Loc. 123. of divine truth in the midst of Popish rage and fury I might here mention the Parliament of Prague held 1524. Wal. Epist and the Synod of Dort in the fourth Session who petitioned Dedic ante librum de Sabbato the States that they would emit severe Edicts against sports and servile works upon the Sabbath day Thus every age of the Church commands the solemn sanctification Bucer de regno Christi lib. 1. of one day not every day of Gods day and not ours This fancy hath been an unheard of dream in every Gualt in 162. Homil. in Mat. century of Christianity The Scripture Church and State that three-fold binding Authority doth wholly disclaime it Histor Wald. et Albigens Part. 3. lib. 1. cap. 9. But to wind up all 1. There is Sabbatum internum an internall Sabbath which is a rest from sin for the more holy walking before God 2. There is Sabbatum externum an external Sabbath Quies dei fuit septimanâ Quies Judaeorum in Palestinâ Quies sanctorum in puritate quies glorificatorum in aeternitate Alap which is a rest from labour for the more solemn worship of God The first indeed ought to be perpetual but the second is temporary and continues only for the space of twenty four hours every week Now these two do not abolish but establish one another A resting from sin continually doth more fit us for a weekly Sabbath and the keeping of a weekly Sabbath doth more fit us for the resting from sin continually The Jews were to keep the internal Sabbath they were alwayes to rest from sin though they were commanded a seventh day Sabbath And so Christians must keep an internal Sabbath they must alwayes rest from sin though they are enjoyned the first day Sabbath the blessed Lords day Eph. 5. 11. These two are subordinate not contrary one to another and 2 Cor. 7. 1. to make them inconsistent that the internal Sabbath should God will have the external Sabbath for the beginning perfecting of the spirituall Sabbath Vâ—s chase away the external is not onely gross weakness and mistake but it is Satans mine to blow up the Lords day which being lost Religion presently faints away and dies as take away the breast from the infant and it quickly dwindles away into the grave CHAP. XLIII There was a time when the Jews were exemplarily strict in Sabbath-Observation THis Treatise now spending it self and so drawing nearer to a conclusion the remaining task of it will mainly consist in pressing conscience upon the due and holy observation of the Lords day our Christian Sabbath Now to make way for the better accomplishment of this design I shall give the Reader as in a Landskip the Jewish practice on Exod. 20. 2. the Sabbath which indeed was sometimes very commendable when they did remember the Lord their God who brought them out of the Land of Aegypt and out of the house of bondage Exod. 20. 2. And we may well take our rise to this duty of keeping Gods blessed Sabbath from the advantage they give us It is true there were some seasons when Judaei spiritualia officia negligentes quae deus praecepit in diem Sabbati peragenda nefariè omiserunt otio et luxuriae in eundem diem se dederunt Gauden they were very remiss in the observation of Gods holy Sabbath especially not long before the Babylonish Captivity and in the Primitive times of the Christian Church then by their bruitish sensuality on the Sabbath they drew out the Pens of Christians and opened the mouths of Heathens but there were other times when their care of Gods day was written in a fair character and might inflame a Christians heart who hath any love to the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. to a serious and a holy deportment on this sacred day Now to enucleate and set before you their practice on the Judaei Sabbata insumunt in crapulâ et ebrietate et infructuosis delitiis et voluptatibus Cyril Sabbath we should begin with their preparation to it for they were so exact that the best and wealthiest of them even those who kept many servants did with their owne hands further the preparation insomuch that sometimes the Masters themselves would chop herbs sweep the house cleave wood kindle the fire and such like as Buxtorf observes and which is very observable all the four Evangelists Buxtorf Synagog Judaic cap. 10. ex Talmud take notice of the Jews preparation day to their Sabbath But of this I have spoken largely already and so I shall pass it over for ingenuity forbids coincidencies and vain repetitions But to come to the Jews observation of the Sabbath a Mat. 27. 62. Mark 15. 42. Luke 23. 54. John 19. 42. learned man observes They dress no meat this day and therefore the Heathens heretofore thought they had fasted on that day And indeed a serious practice it was to keep down the body and prepare it for spiritual duties When the senses Aug. cap. 76. de jejun Sab. are cloyed the soul is much interrupted in heavenly converses Pampered bodies usually accompany pining souls The Sueton. Martial lib. 4.
data sunt Talmud Hierosolym Isa 66. 3. Psal 50. 16. 3. And they were to look to their conversations to see them clean before they took the Law of God into their mouths Psal 26. 6. And their neglect of this duty in after-times highly provoked the Lord Isa 1. 12 13. 4. They had a high esteem of the assemblies of the faithful as holy Convocations Levit. 23. 3. And they looked on the place of their meeting as the house of God 1 Chron. 9. Psal 27. 4. 27. And thought those blessed who dwelt there Psal Psal 84. 1 2. 84. 4. 5. When they were going to the place of worship it was Mic. 4. 2. with singular affection Psal 26. 8. and vehement longing Psal 42. 2. 6. It was customary among them to excite one another to approach to God in holy and solemn worship The Pastors stirred up the people Jer. 31. 6. And the people stirred up one another Jer. 50. 4 5. And the parties excited were glad thereof Psal 122. 1. 7. Joy and praise made their way to the house of God Psal 42. 4. 8. When they entred into the Congregation they worshipped at the very gate Ezek. 46. 3. They kissed the Datum est Sabbatum ad meditandum in lege dei Aben Ezr. in cap. 20 Exod. very portal where Gods honour dwelt So zealous and devout when time was was this poor people 9. When they departed they would carry a blessing with them 2 Chron. 30. 27. 10. After the dismission they did meditate on what they heard Psal 1. 2. if at all times much more on this blessed day And they did not survey what they heard in a secret contemplation but in a serious examination Acts 17. 11. They searched the Scriptures afterwards touching those things in which they were taught The Scriptures were their golden Mine not only to look upon in meditation but to search into by scrutiny and holy discussion 11. When they were come home from publick Ordinances Deut. 11. â—9 they taught their Children For this was a charge laid upon them daily much more on Gods day Deut. 6. 6 7. Exod. 31. 14 15. And if they were to teach their Children when they walked by the way much more when they came from a Sermon heated with the incense of holy duties 12. Oâ— this holy Sabbath they were to charge their meditations with their deliverance from Egypt Deut. 5. 14 15. And to think on the sanctifying power of God Ezek. 20. 20. And to contemplate on the eternal rest the everlasting Sabbath which was to come and to see in all things they delighted in the Lord and accounted his day honourable and denyed all their own thoughts and delights and works on this blessed day Isa 58. 13. Let us go and do so likewise Isa 58. 14. as our Saviour speaks in another case Luke 10. 17. And when we deviate in Sabbath duties let us take this glass and so mend our dress The Jews carriage was most remarkable on their Sabbath in the multiplicity of their services 1. They had preparatory work which hath already been touched upon and therefore no further to be pursued 2. They had legal sacrifices to offer both forenoon and afternoon and these sacrifices were to be doubled on the Num. 28. 9 10. Sabbath They had their burnt offerings their meat offerings their drink offerings besides the incense which was Quod spectat ad usum Altaris aurei debuit in singulis diebus mane et vespere in eo suffitum offerri ab Aarone et ejus successoribus Rivet to be burnt on the Altar both Morning and Evening Exod. 30. 7 8. And this offering of incense is a perpetual service throughout their Generations And to this offering up of incense David alludes Psal 141. 2. 3. They had spiritual duties to perform holy prayers to pour forth Dan. 9. 21. Luke 1. 10. Holy Scriptures to read holy instructions to give to their Children and Servants holy meditation to entertain holy Sacraments to administer Sometimes the Passeover John 19. 36. And often Nehem. 8. 5. the Circumcision John 7. 22. Their spiritual duties Luke 4. 20. like stars did shine in the firmament of their Sabbath to render it bright and glorious Nehem. 8. 3. 4. They had works of charity to act And these were of two sorts 1. Either to brute creatures for the Lord allowed them to lead their Ox and their Asse to watering Luke 13. 15. to make their lives more comfortable 2. Or Secondly to themselves they had liberty to provide for their placid and chearful performances of holy duties But most principally they had Collections for â—he poor on the Sabbath which the Scripture mentions Luke 21. 1 Mark 12. 41. Deinde edicitur nequis sit impedimento Judaeis caetus aut collectus facientibus aut Hyerosolyâ—â—a eas mittentibus more patrio Phil. Jud. in legat ad Caâ—â—n Cesarem 2. And Philo Judaeus in his Apology to the Emperour Caius Caligula stands much upon this service of theirs for the justification of the Brethren of his Religion and recapitulates it as a priviledge granted them by Caesar Augustus Thus we may observe how busie the Jews were in running through the several stages of duty till they came to the end of their Sabbath No wonder then if one of their Rabbies called idleness on a Sabbath a notable errour The Jews carriage on the Sabbath was remarkable in the continuance of their services They began their Sabbath betimes and ended it late We read they came early on the Psal 139. 9. morning to the temple Luke 21. 38. they did fly to holy duties upon the wings of the morning that no Sabbath time Luke 21. 38. John 8. 2. John 18. 20. might run waste And this their earliness is taken notice of in three several places of Scripture to shew how pleasing it was Christ rose early to teach John 8. 2. and the people Deut. 32. 2. rose early to bath their souls in that morning dew which fell from heaven And the Scripture records this early resort was no fit of novelty but their constant and continual practice John 18. 20. And if it be said But happily their service passed away as the dew which is soon dried up it is answered it is thought most probably that the Jews did Convenimus semper et curcti magno silentio utuntur nisi ad laudem doctorum nec aliquis verbum emittit Sacerdos unus è senioribus legem recitat et exponit et hoc fit ad totum diem usque ad crepusculum Deindo abeunt et sacrarum litterarum peritiores et pietate multò munitiores Euseb de Praepar Evan lib. 8. cap. 2. ex Philon hold out from the beginning to the ending without any intermission there was no breaking up of the Congregation till all was done Acts 13. 43. Nehem. 8. 8 9. But Philo one of the most eminent among the Jews gives
ceremoniality in resting one day in seven they may as well give themselves to devise a ceremoniality in setting apart some time in general for Gods holy worship and service So then the fourth Commandment being a Moral law it binds all persons Christians as well as Jews it binds in all places in England Scotland and Ireland as well as in Palestine and Judea it binds at all times since the coming of our dear Redeemer who drew a line over all Ceremonies and expunged them that they should have no more existence in the Church of God as well as before Mat. 4. 2. this glorious Sun appeared to beautifie and revive the world CHAP. XLVI The Sanctification of the Sabbath is the Christians homage as well as the Jews if we look back to the infancy of the Gospel HAving already shewn that the Sabbath in the first institution Dies Dominiâ—â—â—â—hristianis 〈…〉 bere festivitatem suam Aug Epist 119 cap. 13. ad Januar. of it was given to Adam and in him to all his posterity and so it belongs to us Christians as well as to otherâ— and that the command for the Sabbath in the second Edition of it upon Mount Sinai was Moral and perpetual a standing Law and so binding all man-kind Christians as well as Jews I shall now go one step further and shew that the Sabbath is still the same though the day be changed from the last to the first day of the week and that by Divine Authority Now to make way for the clearer evidence of this truth Exod. 20. 9. so much decried and contradicted by some who too much amplifie Ecclesiastical Power and Authority I shall begin in discovering that two dayes weekly cannot be observed This would not only repeal the indulgence of God in giving us six days every week for our secular affairs and worldly Sextò considera illud quod sex dies operibus et unus tantùm quieti datur et certè in hac re divina sapientia non quid probabile sed quod populo conducibile spectavit Muscul labours to sustain our selves and families and to acquire the good things of this world but it tacitely impeacheth the wisdome of God who in the fourth Commandment hath accommodated himself to the frame and constitution of man who knows his weakness and frailty and therefore frankly and bountifully hath bestowed upon him six dayes knowing that he must get his living in the sweat of his brows Gen. 3. 19. And likewise considering that in spirituals the spirit may be willing but the flesh is weak Mat. 26. 41. And besides all this this must be a work of pride and supererogation for man to go about to outvy Gods blessed example who rested one day only and no more for our future and constant imitation His Presidency binding us as well as his Precept And it may be added these two dayes would be as the twins in Rebekah's womb alwayes strugling and striving who should have the preheminence and how with Zebedees Gen. 25. 24. Sons they should be both nearest Christ nor can it easily Mat. 20. 21. be conceived what confusion this may engender in the Church competition being alwayes the womb of dissention Besides how much would this confirm the Jews in their blasphemous obstinacy and hinder them from closing with their Messiah when their Sabbath shall still be retained and dignified with a solemn and reverential observation Surely they will interpret it conscience in Christians and that in keeping the seventh day Sabbath they do no more then their bounden duty and how will this feed their insultations and put their hope upon the wing that the Christian Church is coming back to the Jewish Synagogue If the head of their Sabbath be got in they will strongly conjecture that in Manifestum est non solum legis judicio sed ipsissimâ experientiâ non facere ad verae religionis profectum si otia multipliâ—entur sed abundè satis est unum in septimana diem religionis exercitiis esse deputandum Mus time the whole body of ceremonies will follow after As the Apostle most critically and prudentially joyns all the solemn feasts of the Jews together in their discharge and abolition Gal. 4. 10. Col. 2. 16. wisely fore-seeing that if any one was continued the whole train in process of time would unavoidably follow Pleas for the one would easily be raised into arguments for the others And it is very well argued by Musculus It never contributes saith he to the progress of Religion that rests should be multiplyed to the people for one Sabbath every week is abundantly sufficient for vulgar capacities Moreover the Celebration of two dayes every week is more then the Law requires or the Gospel allows And here Exod. 30 8. Acts 20. 7. Chrysostome is most Elegant The week contains seven dayes saith he now see how the Lord hath distributed these dayes he Chrysost Tom. 5. hath not taken the greatest part unto himself and left the least to us neither hath he taken half and left half No the Lord pag. 523. is more liberal he hath given us six and taken but one for Rev. 1. 10. himself And both Law and Gospel speak the same And if we take five dayes only for labour we make void the Law Note Synecdochen per observantias dierum mensium annorum Apostolus intelligit omnes ceremonias legis veteris quasi ex parte torum Alap in this particular and besides how inconsistent is it to Gospel liberty to keep two dayes every week this would outvy all the Jews Festivals in number and bring us again under a severer yoke and this would at once both break the bonds of Christian Vnity and the bonds of Christian liberty and render the golden yoke of Christs Gospel heavier then the iron yoke of Moses his Law As for that objection that the Apostles kept the seventh day Sabbath and preached on that day among the Jews Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. Acts 18. 4. To this it is answered It is most equal and rational that some time must be granted for the wearing away of an old usage A Sabbath Aequum fuit aliquid temporis intercessurum ut populo melius innotesceret Sabbati Judaici abrogatio ejusdemque sepultura honori sicentissima which had continued in the world much about four thousand years the world could not presently be awakened to take notice of its abrogation Old customes are removed with some difficulty and the religion of our Fathers takes so great impression upon us that it is not easily eaten out notwithstanding we see clear reason for it Antiquity in things natural is their weakness and unbeautifulness but in things spiritual it sheds a greater lustre upon them Time then must be granted to convince the world that the old Sabbath is now deceased and honourably buried in Christs own grave Suppose it be granted that both Sabbaths Jewish and Christian were
observed by the Disciples for a time the Jewish least they should offend the Jews and the Christian Damus fortean concedimus quoad sententias aliorum Discipulos utrumque diem per aliquot annos observasse Judaicum scil ne Judaeis Dominicum ne Christianis oriretur scandalum Dr. Wilk least they should scandalize the Christians what inconveniency would follow Man naturally is hard of belief and to evince the abrogation of old things and the surrogation of things which are new in their stead is a work of some pains and difficulty therefore that the Jews might be taken off from their fondness and the Christians firmly established in the truth some time must be granted and some allowance made of absolute necessity And that a respect was had to both dayes it was only for the term of some years which when expired the morning-sun of the Christian Sabbath did shine without a competitour and during that little and short time of the observation of both dayes we may consider 1. The Saturday Sabbath was never the day of solemn assemblies in all the Churches for the custome of holding solemn Conventions and Assemblies on that day never obtained Sozomon lib. 7. cap. 19. in the Churches of Rome and Alexandria whereas all Churches had their Church-meeting on the Lords day our Christian Sabbath The Old Sabbath was never kept as a solemn festival for in many Churches it was a weekly fasting day whereas every Lords day throughout the year was held a solemn festival Constitut lib. 7. cap. 14. lib. 5. cap. 15. the Jews Sabbath as in a fainting fit was kept with sorrow and abstinence All Ordinances were never administred with that uniformity on the Old Sabbath as they were on the Lords day As the Ordinance of the Lords supper which in the purest Acts 20. 7. Dies Panis August Epist 118. Churches was appropriate to the Lords day which was therefore called dies panis the day of bread in the primitive times hence that memorable speech of Athanasius who being accused for breaking a Communion Cup clears himself Socrat. Schol. lib. 5. cap. 22. Athanas Apol. 2. thus That time instanced by his accusers was no communion time for it was not the Lords day The conventions on the old Sabbath were ever arbitrary not urged as of necessity unless by the Arch-heretick Ebion Dominicum servasti Christianus sum intermittere non possum Baron and his followers who were therefore condemned as Hereticks but the observation of the Lords day was ever held a Christian duty and none was ever branded with the name of heretick for the observation of it Nay this observation was the badge and Character of a Christian in the best times of the Church The old Sabbath was never in the least the Christian Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. or day of rest but a working day and used as another day and let us never give that day a prerogative which the best times of the Church laid open and common Festinatio Apostolorum ad concionandum non fuit propter festum sed propter multitudinem The Apostles and Disciples of Christ never observed the seventh day as a Sabbath It is true they took an opportunity then to dispense and disperse the Gospel because multitudes were then conveened and met together an happy opportunity was then put into their hands for the insinuating of Christ and the doctrines of the blessed Gospel into Chrysost Homil 43. in Acta Apost the minds of the people now in an unwonted concourse The Apostles did then cast the heavenly bread upon many waters Acts 18. 4. Acts 17. 18 Acts 19. 9. 2 Cor. 4. 4. The zeal of a faithful Minister much more of an holy Apostle will take the best opportunities for soul-advantage and for heavenly instruction It was not the Sabbath but the Season not the circumstance of time but of place invited Ecclesia Graecorum ad paululum septimum diem unà cum primo observavit sed in causâ fuit quia in Oriente initio nascentis ecclesiae viguerat haeresis quorundam qui vetus testamentum execrabantur tanquam à deo Authore malè conditum sabbati cultum aspernabantur eâque de causâ tali die jejunium suscipiebant orientales ergò Christiani hanc heresin detestati deum ipsum V. T. Authorem profitentes caeperunt Sabbati judaici festivitatem retinere non quòd illam more judaeorum colerent sed n◠cum haereticis consentire viderentur et in oriente in illis temporibus multi erant judaei ad Christi religionem conversi qui quando animi simplicitate putabant Sabbatum unà cum die dominicâ in honore habendum caeteri Christiani ne eos conturbarant Sabbatum colebant non quòd id fieri oporteret c. Azor. the Apostles to the dispensation of the Word not the feast but the multitude as Chrysostome well speaks nor did the Apostles any more keep the Jewish Sabbath then Paul worshipped the Gods of the Gentiles when he preached in the field of Mars and disputed in the Schools of the Heathens these places were only the sudden Sanctuaries in which he disseminated the glorious Gospel It is true as a learned man observes in the Eastern Churches for a time the Jewish and Christian Sabbath were both observed Now the reason was there was a sort of Hereticks who did disuse and disgust the Old Testament and said it was evilly compiled of God and did throw off with scorn the Sabbath day and usually fasted on that day in a way of contempt and contradiction Now the Eastern Christians in detestation of this cursed heresie and to shew that God was the Author of the Old Testament as well as of the New did for a while retain the old Sabbath not that they worshipped on it after the manner of the Jews they were far enough from that but some observance they gave to it least they might seem to joyn issue with the forementioned hereticks And moreover in the East were many Jews in the early dayes of the Gospel which were newly converted to Christ who in the simplicity of their hearts did bear still a reverence to the old Sabbath and therefore did observe it with the Lords day Now the Christians were to deal tenderly with those and not to offend Babes in Christ and not to create any perturbation in the Church but to keep peace and unity and so they gave respect to this day not that they thought it any way necessary or a duty to be done but for peace-sake and that salvation-work might not be retarded nor the Church of our dear Redeemer shattered or crumbled into Schisms and Factions and so as the Apostle speaks in another case the Christians of those times became all things to all men that if possible the late Converts of the Jews might have no temptation to apostasy nor the Proselytes of the Gospel have
much strength to this great truth viz. That the Lords day is of Divine Authority In this text then note When this solemn assembly met together on the first day of the week saith the text the day which all the Evangelists witness to be Christs Resurrection day on this day the Disciples were congregated But why the first day of the week why not the last day of the week which was the old Sabbath strange if that had continued a Sabbath that the Primitive Christians had not mâ—t on that day especially seeing Vnâ— Sabbati i e. die dominiâ—o dies dominiâ—a est reâ—ordâ—tio domiâ—icae resurrectionis Vener Beda in Act. 20. Tom. 5. it was but the day before yet more strange that we hear not a word of Pauâ—s keeping it though he tarriâ—d at Troas seven dayes but most strange that wâ— read not one word in all the New Testament of Pauls owning that day in a Christian Church only he solemnly preaches to a Christian Congregation on the first day of the week Surely this is a pregnant argument that the day was changed upon the account of our Saviours Resurrection The Church was assembled on the first day of the week but how Privately it may be no Publickly and openly nay most probably the compâ—ny was very 〈◊〉 and Isa 60. 8. the Congregation flocked as Dâ—ves to the windâ—ws Here is then a full assembly mâ—t upon the â—irst â—ay of the week but for what To â—reak â—read saith the tâ—xt to receive Mat. 26 26. Acts 2. 46. 1 Cor. 11. 24. Dies dominicus ab ipsis Apostolis sacris actionibus est consecratus Bucer the Eucharist saith the Syriack translation and what more seemly and suitable then to receive thâ— Lords Supper upon the Lords day And can this be done without preparatory prayer and other Sabbath exercises Surely this would have been a mutilated and a faint devotion nay and breaking of bread is here put by a Synechdoche the part for the whole and there no more reason to exclude prayer Consentaneum est Aposlolos hanc ipsam ob causam mutos se diem Melanct singing of Psalms c. because they are not mentioned then to exclude drinking of wine in the Sacrament because neither is that expressed but breaking of bread only So then the first day of the week is here celebrated with a confluence of Gospel-Ordinances Nor is it said that Paul called the Disciples together because he was to depart the next day or that they purposedly Hoc institutum ut dies dominicus in locum Sabbati sub stitueretur non ab hominibus sed ab Apostolis sp s dictante quo regebantur nos accepisse credendum est Meritò dixerimus Apostolos sp s duce pro septimo illo die primum substituisse Faius declined the Lords Supper till that day because of Pauls departure But the Text speaks it as of a time a day usually observed by them before and therefore Paul took his opportunity of preaching to them and seems to stay on purpose and wait seven dayes among them Acts 20. 6. And at Troas where these Ordinances were observed and this day solemnly kept was the Rendezvouz of Christians to meet in the greater company Acts 20. 5. And though Paul might privately teach and instruct the Professors of Troas the other seven dayes yet his preaching is now mention'd in regard of some special solemnity in their meeting on this day The first day was honoured above any other day for these holy duties or else why did not they meet on the seventh day Sabbath and how comes that solemnity to be swallowed up in the solemn convention of the first day when these holy exercises are performed To speak then plainly with Bishop Andrews It was saith he the Lords day on which the Apostles and Disciples met the Gospels all four keep one word and tell us Christ rose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is after the Hebrew phrase the first day of the week and the Apostles then held their Synaxes their solemn conventions Mat. 28. 1. and assemblies to preach to pray to break bread or Mark 16. 2 celebrate the Lords Supper Acts 20. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luke 24. 1. the Lords Supper on the Lords day and this John 20. 1. is the Apostolical phrase So far this learned man So then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Bishop of Ely as another Bishop speaks Our weekly observation of the Lords day is warranted by the example of the holy Apostles One sharply concludes and saith How can he have any grace in Petrus Al phons in Dialog contra Jud. Tit. 12. his heart who seeing so clearly the Lords day to have been instituted and ordained by the Apostles will not acknowledge the keeping holy the Lords day to be a Commandment of the Lord. The very Jews saith this learned man confess this change of Chrysostomus Ambrosius Theophylactus Beda Anselmus the Sabbath to have been made by the Apostles and therefore we may safely conclude with Gallasius Walaeus Melancthon Beza Bucer Faius Junius Piscator Perkins and other eminent Divines of the Reformed Religion that the Holy Sedulius et Primosius unam Sabbati Act. 20 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. expressam interpretantur diem dominicum Apostles by the guidance of the infallible spirit removed and suppressed the old legal Sabbath and substituted the Lords day the first day of the week in its room and place Let us assume a second text which will further strengthen this truth viz. 1 Cor. 16. 2. Vpon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come This solemn and noted place hath many considerables in it to prove the first day of the week to be the Christian Sabbath and that not so much by the Churches practice that was cleared before as by the Apostles precept in which many things remarkable offer themselves to our consideration Although it be true that in some cases collections may be made any day for the poor Saints yet why doth the Apostle limit here to this day the performance of this duty Surely something there is in it more then ordinary The Apostle doth not limit only the Corinthians to this 2 Cor. 11 28. Diei dominicae nomen et institationem ab Apâ—stolis derivatam non est dubitandum Estius day but also all the Churches of Galatia 1 Cor. 16. 1. and consequently all other Churches if that be true 2 Cor. 8. 13 14. where the Apostle professeth he presseth not one Church that he might ease another but that there might be an equality and then why must all the Churches make their collections on the same day The Apostle doth not limit them with wishes and counsels onely to do it but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as I have ordained or instituted In hoc Apostoli mandato nihil
themselves and sensualize upon Gods holy day let them not waste that golden spot in trifling recreations let not them formalize and dissemble away the Market-day of their Souls surely their doom will be aggravated with all circumstances of horrour and amazement Fond Christians who idle away and unravel their precious Sabbaths see not the Witness behind the Curtain viz. the blessed and glorious Gospel which will come in against them to sharpen their sentence and condemnation we Christians cannot violate Sabbaths at so cheap a rate as others may more especially a poor benighted Jew who hath lost his way and is wandering to eternal perdition Let every Christian consider Christ makes his flocks to rest at noon The Jews never had those patterns of Sabbath-holiness as we Christians have had It is true God rested the seventh day after the finishing and accomplishment of the stupendous Gen 2. 3. work of the Creation and his Rest was both exemplary and preceptive to the world to keep that day as a day of holy rest But the great Jehovah was in Heaven above the eye of observation But now Jesus Christ the great Archetype of sanctity he was a visible Pattern of Sabbath-holiness John 5. 8. to us and let us trace our dear Redeemer in his Sabbatical actions and wherein they are imitable they are admirable Mat. 12. 13. we shall find our Beloved on that day either working Luke 14. 4 5 6 7. 8 9. his Cures or shewing his Miracles or breaking out into holy discourses or preaching abroad his heavenly doctrines Luke 6. 6. or pouring out his Soul in holy prayers something or other Luke 6. 12. like the Son of God he is doing on the day of God And so the holy Apostles those blessed Spirits as one calls them Those Pen-men of the Holy Ghost as all call them they were rarely exemplary in Sabbath-observation Not to mention how affectionately they grasped the opportunity of the Jews Christus utitur exemple ovis in soveam incidentus in die Sabbati post â—eâ—â—cta ea quae ad Sabbati ministerium et cultum pertinent Sabbath as a fit season to preach Jesus Christ and to throw their Net into many waters How did they manage the true Sabbath the Lords day now taking possession of its right in becoming the weekly Festival of the Church 1. They were most frugal of the time of it Paul preaches on this day till midnight Acts 20. 17. 2. They were most copious in the duties of it they preach they administer the Sacrament which undoubtedly was accompanied Chemnit with fervent and solemn prayer 3. They take care of the poor Acts 20. 7. And 4ly One of this Apostolical society is in high raptures 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. and sublime elevations on this day Nay the Apostle of the Gentiles acts charity to a miracle Acts 20. 10. thinking Revel 1. 10. nothing too great to add to the celebrity and honour of this holy day Now do the Jews tell you of a zealous Nehemiah who shut the Gates of Jerusalem the Evening before the Sabbath to keep God in and shut prophaneness out Nehem. 13. 17 18 19 20 21. we may reply a little to invert our Saviours speech A greater than Nehemiah is here one whose shoo-latchet that worthy man is not worthy to unloose to speak in the language of John the Baptist Mark 1. 7. We then having fairer Luke 11. 31. Copies it is no reason but we should mend our hand The Limner draws the Picture according to the person who sits and the more lovely the person is the more beautiful is the Picture How should we then keep the Sabbath holy who have the pattern of him who is the fairest of ten thousand Psal 45. 2. And how doth this upbraid their practice who make the Sabbath a day of sloth and idleness when the holy Apostle on the same day laboured in preaching of the Gospel Acts 20. 7. till midnight Let us then in the fear of the God of Jacob keep Sabbaths as we have Christ and his blessed Apostles for our ensamples We have more liberty and desirable freedom than the 1 Cor. 11. 1. Jews had in sanctifying the Sabbath their sanctification of that holy day consisted in a multitude of purifications washings and cleansings and in a number of Sacrifices and Oblations they had their burnt Offerings and their Num. 28. 9 10. Meat-offerings nay and their Drink-offerings and all these Sacerdâ—s singulis sabbatis lignum subjiâ—it ad nutriendum ignem in Altari Movebantur panes propositionis c. were doubled as was suggested before on the sabbath-Sabbath-day their observation of the Sabbath was more toilsom and laborious they were imployed in more drudgery they were to look after their Flour and their Oyl killing of Beasts and such things which were of a more inferiour and carnal nature their duties on the Sabbath were clogged and burdened with more sweat and â—â—â—poral painfulness and were of a grosser alâ—oy The Priests among the Jews on a Sabbath Mat. 12. 5. were busied in cutting of word to feed the fire of the Altar that it might not go out and in preparing of bread to put upon the Table of Shewbread and to remove that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was there before All these Operations as Chemnitius calls them required the hand not the heart and were works of the lower form To all which may be added that the Jews Levit. 23. 6. besides their weekly Sabbath they had the Passeover the Levit. 23. 16. Feast of Pentecâ—st the Feast of Trumpets the Feast of Tabernacles Levit. 23. 24. the day of Attonement which was the tenth day of Levit. 23. 27. the seventh Moneth and these were all called Sabbaths Levit. 23. 34. Levit. 23. 24 32 36. And some of these Feasts and Solemnities Levit. 23. 8. were celebrated divers days together Levit. 23. 36. Now it is not so with us under the Gospel the Apostle Exod. 12. 3. hath eased us at once of all these legal Festivals 2 Col. 16. Exod. 23. 14. Let no man condemn you in respect of an holy day or of the new Gal. 4. 9 10. Moon or of the Sabbath days viz. Jewisn And so Gal. 4. 9 Non sunt damnandi christiani tanquam divinae legis transgressores out violatae conscientiae rei quòd non observant festa legis ceremonialis quicquid contra superstitiosè ogganniunt Pseudo Apostoli Daven 10. Ye observe days and months and times which are weak and beggerly rudiments All these Festivals are of no use to us but are fully cancelled and cashiered Thus God hath sweetned our Sabbath far above that of the Jews Prayers are our onely Offering Sighs our Incense Sacraments our Passeover we have no Drink-offering but to drink in truth in the hearing of the word we have no Meat-offering but to feed upon
due observation of it 1. Temporal promises Isa 56. 5. Lev. 26. 2 3 4. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Etiam Amen promissiones verissimas esse confirmat Amen enim significat verè firmitèr fidelitèr stabilitèr Hebraeis vox est confirmatis sic Christus vocatur Amen Rev. â— 14. i. e. stabilis constans verus ipsaque stabilitas constantia et veritas Ambros 2. Spiritual promises Isa 58. 14. He who prophanes the Sabbath loseth the sweets which are to be found in a God and disinherits himself of those plenties which are to be reaped in a flourishing earth He tramples upon pearls for the promises which are to be made good in Christ 2 Cor. 1. 20. are the riches of the Gospel Let us review this folly in the severals of it 1. The prophanation of the Sabbath argues much contempt it spurns the crown of a promise and despiseth the riches of divine grace it refuses the breast of a promise which is a breast not fill'd with milk but consolation Isa 66. 11. It is worthy our notice God hath made promises to every duty of a Sabbath 1. To Prayer John 14. 15. Mat. 21. 22. Nay it is part of the Covenant of Grace that the Saints should fly to God by prayer and that the Lord should hear from Heaven his dwelling place Psal 89. 26 27. And 2dly Promises are made to the right receiving of the Sacrament Mat. 26. 29. That blessed banquet wants not a blessed promise 3. Hearing of the word is encouraged by a promise Isa 66. 2. That duty also is like Benjamins sack with a cup in 2 Cor. 7. 1. the mouth of it Rom. 9. 4. 4. Acts of charity a necessary and comely duty which fills up the services of a Sabbath they are bribed with a promise Heb. 11. 33. Psal 41. 1. Every silver piece we give shall be turned into gold by the inhancing nature of a promise Heb. 6. 12. 5. Meditation another duty of a Sabbath hath the experience of divine sweetness and soul-satisfaction Psal 104. Heb. 8. 6. 34. Now when all these duties are carefully and spiritually acted on a Sabbath under what a golden shower of promises 2 Pet. 1. 4. doth the active Saint lie Let those who prophane the Sabbath be ashamed of their contempt to slight the treasure of so many promises We may take notice that the promises are the Saints best estate they are the Churches priviledges Promissiones sparsim in scriptaris celebres sunt bona in coelis nobis propter Christum promissa Alap Rom. 9. 4. They are the highest encouragements 2 Cor. 7. 1. They are the rewards of faith Gal. 3. 16. They are the believers inheritance Heb. 6. 12. They are the varnish and the wealth of the Gospel Heb. 8. 6. What is the Gospel but a golden mine filled with promises with the stamp of Christ upon them The promises are the cordials of grace to keep it from fainting Heb. 11. 13. They are the most pregnant incentive to obedience Heb. 11. 17. They are the exceeding great and precious donations of the soul 2 Pet. 1. 4. Nay they are the believers fairest revenue For 1. They are in the surest hand 2 Cor. 1. 20. And 2dly They shall be paid in the most seasonable time Psal 50. 15. 3. They contain in them most glorious acquests John 3. 16. Luke 11. 13. The spirit and glory are folded up in the promise 4. We shall be spending upon them to eternity Heb. 11. 13. Now what base contempt are they guilty of who prophaning the Sabbath trample upon these glorious and precious promises these despise the riches of divine goodness to use the Apostles phrase Rom. 2. 4. 2. Prophanation of the Sabbath speaks much infidelity Did we believe Gods promises which he hath made to Sabbath holiness we should be more precise and strict in our Infidelis solo generali concursu dei potest proferre nomen Jesu aut de eo habere cogitationem aliquo modo benam sed absque verâ fide non obtinet remissionem peccatorum et gratiam supernaturalem et beatitudinem Anselm observance Indeed unbelief is the damp of every duty it puts a faintness and languor upon holy services The primitive Saints who were acted by a principle of faith Heb. 11. 33 34. run upon and accomplished glorious things this grace shews us the crown realizes all the promises to us Heb. 11. 1. And so it puts animation and life into every holy duty Constantine the Great when he saw the Cross in the air with this Inscription 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In this overcome he summoned up his undaunted courage and obtained a noble victory Many look on the promises of God as bonds without a seal as debenters which are not like to be paid and this makes the Chariot of duty drive heavily and causeth men to slight Sabbaths with so much carelesness and indifferency A believing soul will double the tale of his duties he will hear attentively he will pray devoutly he will Redemptionis à Christo factae apertum documentum factum est in resurrectione Christi O quanta ergò est ingratitudo hominibus charitati Christi non reâ—pondere Ambros meditate divinely and discourse savourily on Gods blessed day and all this as eying the recompence of reward and preying upon the rich incomes of the promises It is cursed unbelief sowers and flags the duties of a Sabbath that men either desperately neglect them or else carelesly perform them 3. A prophanation of the Sabbath discovers much ingratitude Doth God give thee a Sabbath a Jewel of great price to throw away into the Sea of idleness or prophaneness Men who are slight on the Sabbath do not adore the rising Sun for the Sun of righteousness arose as upon this Mat. â— 2. day Our Sabbath is Christs resurrection day which is the foundation of all our happiness had the grave detained him hell had inclosed us Christ opening the prison of the grave opened our way to the throne How ungrateful then shall we be to wound Christ on his own resurrection day Shall we be formal drossie vain talkative sensual upon that day when the Sun rose to give light to a new world what blackness of darkness had we eternally been wrapt in if this blessed Sun had not risen after the night of a grave to be our conduct and guidance to a better life Sabbath-breakers may wear the scars and brand of the most loathsome ingratitude 4. Prophanation of the Sabbath is soul-prodigality it is a disinheriting sin too Can we expect a Sabbath to eternity and not keep a Sabbath here Can we neglect the service of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a day and yet look for the reward of more then many ages It is a good observation of a Learned Man That our Rest-day Heb. 4. 9. is not called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Manuchah a Common rest but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
of this blessed day commands our severest observation The Sabbath contains all the three arguments in it which some calls the worlds Trinity Pleasure Profit Honour And if these arguments have so much force in temporals why should not they be as cogent in spirituals spiritual good things 1. They yield most Sure there is more in a grace of the spirit then in the stuffing of a bag or the lining of a costâ—r 2. They last longest 3. They are purchased with greater difficulty they are bought with a price with the blood of a Redeemer Dies dominicus omnium dierum mater est Hieron 4. They enrich our better part and shall not they more influence our care and our devotion Our Sabbath is solemn in its own dignity let it be so in our observation God hath crowned this day with honour why should we degrade it by our sin and vanity Our heavenly carriage doth best comport with the glory of this day Hierom calls our Christian Sabbath the Mother of dayes not only intimating its own antiquity but pointing at the veneration we should give to it And so the fifth Commandment comes in to the support and assistance of the fourth We must honour this Mother of dayes that our dayes may be happy and long in the land Exod. 20. 12. Nor unfitly is the Sabbath called a Mother when it hath so fruitful an issue and hath brought forth so many Children to Christ who is its Lord and Master Ignatius Mark 2. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. calls our Sabbath the Queen of dayes and all other parcels of time are only hand-maids to wait on her now every evil fact is aggravated which is committed in the presence-chamber The Holy Ghost calls our Sabbath the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. And God doth not call this day by his own Name but to intimate thus much to us that we should likewise honour it by a holy and careful celebration Sin then and vanity is a blot in the Escucheon of the Sabbath and the prophane person as much as in him lies layes the honour of it in the dust The Jews had a very high esteem of their Sabbath and they compared it to a Queen their other festivals they compared to Concubines and ordinary dayes they compared to hand-maids and they made a six fold difference between their Sabbath and other festivals Other festivals had no parasceue or preparation going before them but the Sabbath had still a preparation and it was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or pervigilium Sabbati the Vigils of the Sabbath Obj. but it may here be said that John 19. 14. we meet with the preparation to the Passover and therefore a preparation was not peculiar to the Sabbath Answ To which it is answered It is called the preparation to the Passover because at that time the Sabbath and the Passover fell both together Mat. 17. 62. and then the Jews transferred the Passover to the Mark 15. 42. Sabbath and therefore it was called the great Sabbath Joh. Luke 23. 54. 19. 31. That Sabbath day was an high day saith the Text John 19. 42. because both feasts fell on the same day But the preparation mentioned John 19. 14. was then in respect of the Sabbath and not in respect of the Passover which was drowned in the Sabbath For other feasts besides the Sabbath needed no preparation The Sabbath of the Jews had a prerogative above all other festivals in that other festivals were translated to the Sabbath Alios festivitatis dies transferre solebunt ad Sabbatum propter olera mortuos Judaic Proverb but the Sabbath stood unmoveable and could never be transferred to any other festival therefore they oftentimes made the feast day a common day and upon it they prepared their meat and buried their dead and they transferred the religious exercises which did belong to that day to the Sabbath The Sacrifices of all their festivals gave way to the Sabbath Their daily Evening sacrifice was killed at eight of the clock and half an hour past according to the Jews counting of the hours half an hour before three with us and offered at the ninth hour and an half past which with us is half an hour after three and this they did that they might rest the evening of the Sabbath The Sabbath had a double sacrifice upon it Numb 28. 9 10. Whereas all other festivals had only their particular services and sacrifices which as it was to distinguish the Sabbath from all other feasts so to mind us of that industry and sedulity we should shew on the holy and blessed Sab-Sabbath The Sabbath was kept in the wilderness and in the captivity and he who violated and brake the Sabbath in the Wilderness was stoned to Death Numb 15. 35. But other festivals were not kept in the captivity and the Passover but once in the wilderness Numb 9. 5. The whole week took denomination from the Sabbath Luke 18. 12. Acts 13. 42. And besides all this every Sabbath day they came to hear the Scriptures read and expounded 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in medio septimanae Mat. 1. 21. Luke 4. 31. But on the week dayes they met occasionally The Sabbath was the appointed time for those holy exercises Now shall the Jews be so curious Acts 14 15. in drawing of their Sabbaths Eschutcheon of Honour and marking its dignified prerogatives and shall we give less veneration to the Lords Day I mean not in verbal praises or rhetorical panegyricks but in holy practices Our carefull Preparation for the solemnities of it our serious behaviour in the duties of it our frugal improvement of the time of it our unwearied diligence in the service of it this and this only speaks our Sabbath honourable Piety and Devotion best proclaim the dignity of this holy day when we act as those who believe that Christ is not only the institutour of our Sabbath but will be the Judge of the world Let us Rom 2. 16. then consider the Lords Day under what notion we will either as the souls jubilee and festival day or as the souls market 2 Cor. 5. 10. day or as the Churches best and most glorious day yet still nothing but holiness becomes it and its beauty is best seen in our sanctification Our holiness is the foyle to set off the glory of it Arg. 5 Let us look upon our Sabbath as a day of distinction the observation of which distinguisheth Christians from the rest of the world and this meditation will prompt us to holiness What Sabbatum est signum quòd deus Israelem sanctificavit i. e. segregando eos à gentibus profanis in peculiarem sibi populum Lavater in Ezek. the Lord said to the Jews Exod. 31. 13. Verily my Sabbaths shall ye keep for it is a sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord who doth sanctifie you is as applicable to
loose to carnal liberty on the Lords day the more loose his heart will be in all good duties the whole week following Let men neglect meditation repetition of Sermons holy conference and other private duties betakeing themselves after the publick worship is over to vain and worldly discourse or vainer pleasures they shall quickly find that the publick service is utterly lost and become unprofitable And on the contrary as Moses continued forty dayes with God on the Mount had his face shining with splendor and glory Exod. 34. 30. So he who shall this day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septuag of God wholly converse with God not only in publick Ordinances as Moses in the tabernacle but likewise in private duties as Moses on the Mount shall find a sensible spiritual vigour and an unexpected strength to carry him through all the occasions of the whole week following and a kind of glorious lustre arising from the increase of holiness put upon him and this shall be visible to the eye and hearts of others Eccles 3. 1. He who keeps the Lords day with the most strict and and accurate observation shall find 1. Most blessing upon his labours 2. Most holiness in heart and life 3. Most comfort and joy in his own soul 4. Most sweetness in death 5. Most glory and rest in Heaven when there remains that Populo dei superest Sabbatismus i. e. requies dâ—i ad quam quotidiè sanctus vocatur Par. everlasting Sabbatism for all the people of God It is a good observation of a learned man That when the spirit cometh effectually to convince of sin usually one of the first sins which the eye of the enlightned conscience fixes upon is the neglect of the Lords day and conviction usually ending in conversion one of the first duties which the soul comes seriously to close withall is the strict observation of the Lords day and grace usually works this way and doth exceedingly dispose to this duty Young Converts will be full of meltings on Gods holy day And truly the holy observation of the Sabbath much speaks the temper of a Christian However the week fares as Judg. 12. 6. the Sabbath doth Good Sabbaths usher in good weeks and are the morning stars of an approaching day when we hear truth on the Sabbath digesting it by prayer and meditation when we put up strong cries to God with fervour and devotion when we enjoy Ordinances our spiritual meals on a Sabbath with appetite and satisfaction this will cast a chain upon our corrupt hearts and will be bellows to our future zeal wil supply us with holy meditations which will be as so many bright gleams and will put a heat upon our affections and make us every way act the Saint all the ensuing week As Queen Mary said when she lost Callais When I am dead open me and you shall find Callais written upon my heart So the Christian who hath been very serious on Gods day you shall find Sabbath written upon his heart all the following week The seent of a conscientious Sabbath is not easily lost nor is the warmth of it so speedily chilled souls drenched in Sabbath Ordinances like vessels seasoned with excellent liquors Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem Testa diu they long retain the taste The believer is disciplined upon a Sabbath and we do not easily forget our Education A Sermon kindly entertained on the Lords day will be faithfully improved on the week day Our best Christians were ever strictest on the Sabbath Those tasts of love we then sense and gust will abide and not lightly wear off these will lie upon the heart when the Sabbath is over Let us keep Sabbaths well we shall be better in our shops better in our worldly affairs better in our families better in our discourses better in our converses more righteous in our dealings more exemplary in our walkings more vigorous in our duties all the week following After a well passed Sabbath we shall more watch our hearts more keep our ground and withstand temptations and the deceipts of our Calling which happily Quaestus magnus est pietas quia opes supernaturales secum affert et amicitiam dei obtinet qui suis opes coelestes promittit praeparat are quilted into the very nature of it shall not so much tempt as exasperate and provoke us The whole week must be spent holy to prepare us the better for the Sabbath and the Sabbath must be spent hâ—ly the better to influence the week as the beginning with God on the morning of a Sabbath may influence the whole Sabbath so the beginning with God in the morning of the week viz. The Lords day may exceedingly influence and prosper the whole week He 2 Thes 2. 10. who on the Sabbath hath been much in the work of heaven cannot easily be much in the dross of earth or the dregs of sin on the time of the week Ordinances like clocks when they have struck leave a sound and a noise for a considerable time nor can a Sermon carefully heard be presently shaken out of the heart The word when received in the love thereof is fire in the bones Jer. 20. 9. and not heat in the face an inward warmth which is permanent and not only a colour which is transient The tasts the impressions the power and spirituality of a well-observed Sabbath cannot without much difficulty strong assaults of Satan powerful workings of a corrupt heart be disanulled and eradicated Hearts steeped in holy Ordinances will not soon lose their perfume It is very true our slight deportment in Ordinances makes them superficial and so soon slide off and they who pass over the Sabbath loosly will spend the week profligately they who spend it formally will spend the week vainly But a serious composure of spirit on Gods holy day will blow off the froth of the ensuing week Ignatius as hath been suggested calls the Lords day the Queen of dayes Regis ad exemplum totus componitur Oâ—bis and according to the example of the Queen inferiour and subordinate days will be composed The endeavour of every Christian should be that his practices in secret in his calling in his company on the week day should be answerable to the great priviledges he enjoyed and to the rich grace he received on the Lords day One well observes That Religion is just as the Sabbath and it decays or groweth as the Sabbath is esteemed it flourishes in a due Veneration of the Sabbath and it pines and consumes when the Sabbath is under neglect or contempt And Dr. Twisse takes notice That the conscionable observation of the Sabbath ever was is a principal means to draw us to spiritual rest from sin and to fit us for an eternal rest in glory In a word the Sabbath and the week are both embarqued in the same ship they both are safe or sink together if our souls
precious institution of the Sabbath was the first-born of Ordinances it drew its first Deus in primâ creatione sabbatum sanxit et hauâ— dubiè in familiis Patrum sanctorum sedulo observatum fuit Par. breath in Paradise as hath been fully discovered already this was the Reuben of Gods institutions the morning star and the rising Sun of Divine appointments Now the Sabbath being the first-born Ordination which enriched the world it is the more pleasing and acceptable to the Lord and the due observation of it will assuredly be the more gratefull to him God remembers the kindness of Israels youth Jer. 2. 2. the initials of his obedience were most pleasing We put Sabbatum ab initio mundi destinatum est ad cultum dei Luth. buds into our bosomes The Sabbath was from the infancy of the world and therefore our carefull keeping of it must needs delight the Father The first born was alwayes to be dedicated to God the first born of Man and the first born of Beasts Exod. 13. 2. The first fruit of Corn Deut. 18. 4. Nay the first of all the fruits of the Earth Deut. 26. 2. Nay God will not only have the first born of mans person but Sabbatum ab initio mundi observatum est Baldw. the first fruits of his labours Exod. 23. 16. And God is so pleased with the first of every thing that he ordains a feast of first fruits Exod. 34. 22. And a sacrifice of the first fruits God calls a sweet savour unto himself Levit. 23. 17 18. Sanctifiâ—atio omnium primogenitâ—rum tam hominum quaâ— bestâ—arum eâ—â—t eorum separatio ab aliis quae inserviâ—bant usâ—bus humanis ut deo soli cederent in eâ— nallum jus homâ—nâ—s habeâ—â—â—t Rivet Nay so gratefull were the first fruits to the Lord that he would not only have the first born of the Sons of Israel and the firstlings of the Herds and the Flocks Nehem. 10. 36. The first fruits of the ground nay of the very trees Nehem. 10. 35. But likewise the first fruits of the very dough Nehem. 10. 37. And Christ himself is called the first fruits of them that sleep 1 Cor. 15. 20 23. And Israel his chosen people are called the first fruits of his increase Jer. 2. 3. and converts the best of men are the first fruits of his creatures Jam. 1. 18. Surely then the holy Sabbath the first fruits of Divine Ordinances must needs be dear to God and unholy practices on that day must the more provoke him and holy duties sincerely acted on that day must the more please him and holy hearts on this day must the more delight him and holy graces in their most vigorous exercise on this day must the more be acceptable to him the Sabbath was his primitive institution nor must it be forgotten the Lords day Our Christian Sabbath is the first day of the week and was in time the first day of the world wherein the light received its production and the blessed heavens their being Gen. 1. 1 3. Now then let this emphasis which God hath put upon the Sabbath engage us to a stricter and more wary behaviour on it least the order be inverted as our Saviour notes Mark 10. 31. And that Sabbath which was the first in Gods institution be the last in our condemnation and Mat. 19. 30. this darling ordinance procure a damning sentence upon us in the general assizes of the world Arg. 9 The sanctification of the Sabbath will be profitable to our outward estate For the more conscionable we are in sanctifying the Sabbath the greater blessing we may expâ—ct from Lev. 26. 9. God which divine blessing the wise man tells us Prov. 10. Jer. 17. 25. 22. maketh rich This piece of godliness gives us right and title to the promises of this life 1 Tim. 4. 4. He who hath Benedictione dei divitiae parantur melius et meliùs conservantur et effiâ—aci res redduntur ad omnes usus ad quos adhibentur Et Deus suâ benedictione piis quasi somniantibus de eâ re parùm cogitantibus bona suppeditat exempla sint Abrahamus Josephus c. Cartw. been with God upon the Sabbath day God will be with him on the week day and he who hath sanctified God in his heart when he hath been agitating the affairs of heaven God will assuredly bless the works of his hand when he is providing the things of earth It is our Saviours own promise If we first seek the Kingdom of Heaven I may add if we begin the week with God on the first day thereof all these outward things shall be added to us Mat. 6. 33. as a surplusage of divine love The best way to get estates for our selves is to keep Sabbaths to God and to enquire after the blessing where he hath lodged it viz. in preserving his Sabbath pure and unblemished Isa 56. 2. It is very observable that when God had perfected the Creation and put man into his tenement of Paradise he then ordains the Sabbath to shew that all creature comforts are only attendants on this Gen. 2. 3. holy day and if Adams sensual delight had given way to his spiritual communion he had neither lost Paradise nor his posterity It must be granted that the smiles of Providence usually accompany the sincerity of obedience And Sabbath-holiness is the Jachin and the Boaz the pillars of this obedience 1 Kings 7. 2. To keep that Arke in our house to keep Christ 2 Sam. 6. 11 12 in our heart and to keep the Sabbath in our eye so as devoutly Eph. 3. 17. to observe it makes all we have to prosper and entails Isa 56. 2. a blessing upon our selves and families Constantine the Great Euseb de vitâ Constant lib. 4. cap. 18. justly called so in a Military in a Civil and in a religious sence was as flourishing an Emperour as ever sate in the Throne of the Romane Empire and he took great care for the holy observation of the Lords day and made a statute to oblige both Himself and his Subjects so to do and as some report Composed Prayers for every one of his Regiments to use upon that holy day Thus Sabbath-holiness made his Crown flourish and his exemplary sanctification of Gods blessed day shall preserve his memory more honourably and more durably then the Walls or Structures of Constantinople a City of his own Name and Erection However most sure it is that as the prophanâ—tion of Gods day is a Lev. 26. 26 31. moth and a worm so the holy observation of it brings a secret blessing to our outward estates and when we have been on the Mount with God on his own day the Lord will make his face to shine upon us Numb 6. 25. and will be gracious Exod. 34. 35. to us in shewing mercy and showring benedictions upon us on the week day Arg. 10 How serious
are we in observation of other dayes If that storms of Providence drive us to a day of Humiliation we can with the Jews Zach. 7. 5. fast and mourn and reach Ahab in his deepest sorrows 1 Kings 21. 27. And if the smiles of Providence call us to a day of Purim Esth 9. 26. a festival of joy we can keep that day with spiritual rejoycing and gladness of heart Esth 9. 22. And we can delight our selves in the Lord. As Cambden reports of Queen Elizabeth when God delivered her and her Kingdom from the Caâ—bd Elizab. Spanish Armado her first work was to go to Pauls Church and there hear a Sermon of praise rejoycing greatly in the God of her and the Kingdomes salvation Now as one observes The Lords day is the proper feast of Christians our spiritual jubilee though moving in a swifter sphear and Mr. P. on the Romans shall dayes of the appointment of a state put us upon a more exact composure and find us more hearty in their observation then that special and blessed day which is the appointment of a God Or shall a passage of Providence the endurance of a loss or the gaining of a Victory or some other strok of Gods hand or smile of Gods face find us more serious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athanas more solemn more devout then the Resurrection of a Christ the new birth day of the world and the sole foundation of a Christians happiness Shall the deliverance from a Spanish Armado fill us with more spiritual delight in God then the deliverance from Heli and Destruction Had not Christ broke the chains of death we had everlastingly been kept in chains of darkness Our Lords day then glories in a more excellent occasion and why should it not be celebrated with a more serious Cotenae tenebrarum sunt 1 Conscientiae reatus 2. Aeternum puniendi decretum 3. Miserrima reproborum desperatio devotion One well observes That the Jews thought reverently of and acted zealously on their solemn though ceremonial festivals those bright appearances which were chased away by the rising of the Sun of Righteousness therefore to use the Apostles words a little inverted seeing all those other dayes of observation are and shall be dissolved what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness upon our unalterable Sabbath whose lease expires not till the 2 Pet. 3 11. death of the Vniverse CHAP. LII A third Decad of Arguments promoting the same design viz. a due sanctification of the Lords day THat every wind may fill our sails in pursuance of this great duty I shall now turn my Arguments to another point of the Compass Arg. 1 Let us take notice of the relation which God hath to the Sabbath In the time of the law the Sabbath was called the Sabbath of the Lord Lev. 23. 3. And verily my Sabbath shall ye keep Exod. 31. 13. And in the times of the Gospel our Christian Sabbath is called the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. Now this happy interest which God hath in the Sabbath from the beginning of the world to this day is a cogent Argument for Mat. 22. 21. our severer observation of it We will keep safely the treasure Maluit deus dicere sabbatum dei tui est quà m sabbatum tuum est Hoc dicens significat omnem ejus diei respectum ad nominis ipsius sanctificationem aâ— fidem esse dirigen dum Muscul of a friend and why not keep devoutly the Sabbath of a God If our Sabbath be the Lords day let us render to Christ the things which are Christs Gerard observes That the Sabbath is the Lords Sabbath to shew us the manner of our sanctification of it viz. In the works of God those works which are required and prescribed by God And Musculus adds very pertinently God would rather call it his Sabbath then ours to intimate to us that all the respect of that day must be directed to the hallowing of his Name and to the acting of faith and trust in him It is very observable how chary God is of his Sabbath he puts it into the heart of the Decalogue that none might come at it to affront it and he stamps his Name upon it that none should make it common Do ye think we can play with the Crown of a King or sport with the Scepter of a Prince Dominus ille cujus est Sabbatum est deus tuus ergò in honorem et cultum ipsius sabbatum sanctificabis Ger. Greater boldness it is to formalize away the Lords day and to waste that time which is his peculiar treasure Our wildness often roves up and down the common of the week but if we break into the inclosure of the Sabbath we shall certainly be found trespassers and hazzard an immortal soul We must take heed that we make bold only with what is our own and not with Gods day for that is no more lawfull for us than for every common Israelite to enter into the holy Hag. 2. 8. of holies There are two things God is very tender of Lev. 23. 3. 1. His people they are the Apple of his eye Jer. 2. 3. 2. His Sabbath which is the reserve of his time And as those who shall devour his people shall offend so those who shall prophane his day shall commit sacriledge a sin of the deepest tincture The consideration then that our Sabbath is the Lords day should compose our spirits should flush our services and sublimate our performances on that blessed day Argum. 2 Let us take notice of that tittle which God hath put upon the Sabbath It is an holy Sabbath to the Lord Exod. 16. Exod. 31. 15. 23. And here that answer to Peter Acts 10. 15. is very Qui luxu deliciantes voluptatibus se dedunt ad sanctificationem sabbati non sunt idonei quia diem sanctum domini suis commâ—â—ulant voluptatibus Hieron pertinent What God hath called clean we must not look upon as common They who prophane the Sabbath would pick out the image and superscription of it which is a fruitless and destructive attempt A stamp of holiness amplifies every defilement The spirit is a holy spirit and therefore it must not be grieved Eph. 4. 30. The law is a holy law Rom. 7. 12. and therefore must not be violated Jesus Christ is the Holy one of God Psal 16. 10. and therefore he must not be wounded and crucified afresh Heb. 6. 6. The Priests garments were holy Exod. 31. 10. and therefore not to be Sanctificatio dei est quâ dies septimus post sex dierum opera statim ab iâ—itio est deputatus consecratuâ— sanctificatio hominis est diem septimum à deo quietâ— confeâ—ratuâ— pro sancto nabere religionis exercitâ—â—â— ac fidei sedulò incumbere Muscul worn by another person The vessels of the Sanctuary were holy and therefore not to be employed
Charity And now shall the Heathen make it an inexpiable Crime to work upon one of their holy days and shall it be venial for us to follow our works and pursue our lusts on Gods holy day Shall Saturn and Jupiter be honoured with more solenmity and served with Exod. 15. 6. more care and sedulity than Christ or Jehovah Sure this Exod. 15. 11. must needs be the dregs of prophaneness to give our heavenly Father and our dear Redeemer whom sometimes we call our Beloved less veneration on his own day then Pagan Worshippers give their Idol Gods on their Festivals How strange is it that we must go to Dagon to learn how to use the Ark and must repair to the Roman Flamins or the 1 Sam. 5. 2. Syrian Priests to know how to keep a Sabbath God sends the sluggard to the Ant and the Pismire to learn fore-sight and industry Prov. 6. 6. And he may send Sabbath-breakers to the Gentiles and Paynims to learn Sanctity and Devotion But let Christians say the solemn Devotions of Pagans shall heat our zeal but not reproach our slâ—th they Psal 26. 6. shall only serve us to take aim how we may steer our Devotion with greater fervour and dexterity Argum. 6 Let us observe the zeal of holy men mentioned in Scripture who have been eminent for Sabbath-observation The Apostle gives us a good rule Heb. 6. 12. Let us be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises These Patterns of Piety may be our conduct and guide in this matter take them in what age you will the Sabbath still lay near their hearts and was venerable in their practice 1. Some before the Law were remarkable for Sabbath-holiness they dreaded the pollution of Gods day before the terrours and smokes of Mount Sinai And though they were in a Wilderness they had not so lâ—st themselves but they knew how to meet with God on his own day And as Manasseh Ben-Israel well observes The Jews were forced Cogita in Aegypto ubi serviebas etiam ipso sabbato peâ— vim te coactum ad labores Et sic saâ—ientes inter Judaeos Deut. 5. 15. unanimiter applicant Manas Ben. Israel to neglect the Sabbath in Egypt by reason of the violence and cruelty of their Taskmasters but when God brought them out of that Land of bondage one of their first works was Sabbath-observation Their Delivery is historically related in the 14th Chapter of Exodus and their observation of the Sabbath in the 16th Chapter of the same Book So Exod. 16. 30. So the people rested on the seventh day which must needs be meant of an holy Rest for a naked bâ—re Rest is the loss not the sanctification of a Sabbath And if the people of Israel had so rested God soon would have taken notice of it and have severely threatned if not sorely punished it but no word of reproof but only of those Quieverunt Israelitae non solùm illo die frustrati fuerunt spe suâ egrediendi sed aliis diebus septimis consequentibus Riv. who went out on the Sabbath to gather Manna some few straglers Exod. 16. 27. who instead of finding Manna lost their way and met with a reproof instead of a meal Now here we meet with Gods people keeping Gods day before the fourth Commandment was proclaimed by sound of Trumpet Now shall the people of Israel without the sanction of a law rest with God on his own day and shall Christians who have not onely the force and obligation of the fourth Commandment but the alluring argument of Christs Resurrection to oblige to the sanctification of the Sabbath shall they be careless and negligent vain and frothy on Gods holy day Surely the darkness of an Heathen and the twi-light of an Israelite wandering up and down in a wilderness will bear witness against such a generation 2. Some holy men under the Law I shall only select here the rare Example of good Nehemiah an excellent pattern for Magistrates and People how carefully to observe Gods holy Sabbath And his Zeal shall be comprised in four particulars He looked upon the reforming of Sabbath-abuses as a principal part of Reformation therefore he reproves threatens and sets watch to observe the prophanation of this holy Nehem. 13 15 16. day He beareth his testimony vigorously against it Nehem. 13. 15. And here the courtesie and common civilities which are given to strangers bear no sway with him Nehem. 13. 16. He will not strain courtesie when the honour of God is concerned obedience is better then sacrifice much 1 Sam. 15. 22. more then civilities The pollution of a Sabbath that God provoking sin makes this holy man wave all fair and debonaire carriages and turns courtesie into severity and usual reception into just indignation Nehemiah thinks the cause of the Sabbath worth contending for with the Nobles themselves Nehem. 13. 17. not only with inferiour people who are soon hushed with his Authority and tremble at the Magistrates sword but with the Peers of the Realm who might enter the lists with him or hatch some conspiracy against him but holy zeal is no Nehem. 13 17. respecter of persons and in this Nehem. like the three children Dan. 3. 18 19. Is not sollicitous to pore upon his own concerns or interest duty and not safety guides him a rare pattern for Magistrates This good Governour personates the Prophet and gives in a narrative not only of those judgements which had overtaken those who had prophaned the Sabbath in former times but he fore-tells the same calamities to ensue upon Nehem. 13 18. the present Age if Gods Sabbath be defiled Nehem. 13. 18. He turns all his speech into action the true genius of piety for indeed councils and threats are both abortive untill enlivened by execution therefore Nehemiah scatters Nehem. 13. 21. strangers by force Nehem. 13. 21. and chases them away from Jerusalem that they should not come near it upon the Sabbath day Neh. 13. 21. And he lays a severe command on the Levits for Sabbath-sanctification and in the discharge of his duty he recommends himself to the mercifull and kind remembrances of the Almighty Neh. 13. 22. And here as our Saviour saith let us go and do so likewise Luke 10. 37. Let us imitate the zeal of this excellent man whose name for his love to and care of Gods Sabbath lives in the blessed Scriptures and there shall survive to all perpetuity But shall Nehemiah not permit a piece of ware to be sold on the Sabbath without the gates of the City and shall we commit a lust on Gods day within the walls of a house of a Stews or an Ale-house Shall he forbid all Merchandize and shall we traffique with Hell on the Sabbath day Surely his Zeal will turn into our flame and this will fall in with other aggravations of our sin we scribled after so fair a copy 3. Some after the Law
have been eminent for Sabbath-holiness Let us trace the Apostolical practice which in this case is our brightest beam for our conduct and guidance Acts 20. 7. How indefatigable were they in their labours powerfull Acts 8. 4. in their reasonings multifarious in their administrations Acts 20. 10. frugal of their time copious in their preaching and 1 Cor. 16. 2. stupendous in their works upon Gods holy day On this day they discovered their thirst after souls their love to the Gospel and as so many stars they scattered the light of glorious truth They would preach on a Sabbath although it 2 Cor. 4. 4. Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. was in a proscribed Synagogue and they would pray on a Sabbath though it was by a Rivers side a place of more privacy then shelter And shall these Heavenly patterns put no animation and life in us to honour the Lords day with duty and devotion The Limner who hath a beautiful person before him and yet draws an unseemly picture deserves to have the pencil snatcht out of his hand and to be discharged of his employment Arg. 7 Let us take a prospect of the golden age of the Church and observe the carriage of the Primitive Christians upon the Lords day O what a heavenly spirit breathed in them on this Coimus ad caetum et deum quasi manu extensâ precationibus ambimus Tertul. Christiani a mediâ nocte caetum inchâ—averunt Hier. blessed day insomuch that Tertullian cryes out in a kind of a rapture On this day we meet in our assemblies and as with a stretched-out hand we clasp about God with our prayers If ye will know when the Primiâ—ive Christians began their Sabbath Hierome tells us about midnight which likewise Basil affirms to be the usual practice of those times and tells us a story of himself in relation to these midnight meetings But that the Christians met before day light on the Lords day it was so generally known in the world that Pliny a modest Epist Plin. secund ad Trajanum Heathen took notice of it and makes mention of it in an Epistle to Trajan the Roman Emperour and spake of it in commendation of the Christians and urged this practice Tertul. de Coron mil. Apol cont Gent. Cap. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as an alleviating argument to soften the Emperour to more mildness towards them and so to slacken the present persecution These meetings before day on the Sabbath are likewise mentioned by Tertullian in a Tract of his We see then the early zeal of the Primitive Christians on the Lords day Nor did they rise so soon but to spend the time to the highest advantage Justin Martyr gives us a full account of the Christians deportment on the Lords day Upon the day called Sunday saith he All that abide within the Cities or about the fields do meet together in the same place wherein the Records of the Apostles and the writings of the Prophets are read unto us the Reader having done the President gives a word of exhortation that we may imitate those good things which are there repeated and then standing up together we send up our prayers to the Lord c. And as Justin Martyr shews us how those of his time acted their duties So Tertullian tells us how the Primitive Christians acted their Graces on the Lords day On this day saith he We feed our faith with holy preaching we lift up our hope and we fasten our confidence upon Tertul. God Hierome speaking of some in his time tells us They designed the Lords day wholly to prayer and to the Hier. ad Eustoch reading of the holy Scriptures and he highly commends them for that practice And that you may not think that the Primitive Christians served God only in publick upon the Lords day Ambrose layes it as a severe injunction upon Ambro. Serm. 33. tom 3. pag. 259. the people That they be conversant all the day in prayer or reading and if any could not read that he should labour to be fed with holy conference And Chrysostome presses the people That presently upon their coming Chrysost in Joan. homil 3. home from the publick they should take a Bible into their hands and make rehearsal with their wives and children of that which had been taught them out of the word of God Tertullian and Justin Martyr positively and fully inform Just Mart. Apol. cap 30. pag. 692. from us That when the Christians were departed out of the Congregation they did not run into the rout of swashbucklers or into the company of ramblers such as did run 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb lib. 4. cap. 22. up and down hither and thither but they had care of the like modesty and chast behaviour out of the Church as when they were in the Congregation Nay Theodoret assures us That the Primitive Christians did celebrate other Festivals much more the Lords day their great Festival and their Saviours Resurrection day with spiritual hymns and religious sermons and that the people used to empty out their souls to God in fervent and affectionate Theod. prayers not without sighs and tears No wonder then if Basil say We fill up the Lords day with holy prayers And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil Clemens Romanus definitively concludeth Neither on the Lords dayes which are dayes of joyfulness do we grant any thing may be said or done besides holiness A holy speech of an excellent person And therefore Augustine in his sixth Book de Civitate Dei Cap. 11. speaking of Seneca's scoffing of the Jews Sabbath for which he had too much cause Notwithstanding saith he Seneca durst not speak of the Dies dominicus divinis conventibus sequestratus est Isych Christians even then most contrary to the Jews least either he should praise them viz. the Christians against the custome of his Country or reprove them perhaps against his own will So that the Christians observation of the Lords day in the primitive times was above the snarling of a Heathen and the scomms and sarcasmes of a gentile Phylosopher Thus we have the pattern of the primitive Church and it is a good standard for our practice Their early rising should make us more frugal of the time of a Sabbath their fervent zeal should make us more spiritual in the Ordinances of a Sabbath and their devotion at home should make us more Rom. 12. 11 conscientious in our families upon Gods holy day Let us therefore bestrict and exact in Sabbath-observation having the golden age of the Church for our ensample And indeed pure Religion and undefiled which the Apostle speaks of Jam. 1. 27. Jam. 1. 27. never looks so comely as upon a Sabbath day the day inhances the duty as the lovely dress sets off the lovely person Beauty taking advantage from the attire Argu. 8 The holy observation of the Sabbath is the
support of Religion and keeps it from flights or falls Every devout worshipper on the Lords day is but a lessar pillar to shoar up godliness and piety in the world While publick worship is seriously frequented and private duties are frequently performed while the sacred word of God is diligently attended the blessed Sacrament devoutly received while holy prayers with moystened eyes and melting hearts are affectionately poured forth and sent up to God on his own holy day while these things are in ure in a Nation piety and Religion are above the fears of decay Religion sails or sinks with the Sabbath when both are embarqued in the same Vessel and where this Sancta diei dominicae exercitia labascentem pietatem religionem sustinent holy day is constuprated by vanity and prophaneness profession is laid waste and desolate the sanctification of Gods day keeps up Gods fear in the Church but that being suspended the gap is made and the Church lies open to all kinds of sinful incursions A learned man tells us that Guntheram a pious King of France fighting against the Goths with unhappy success did sedulously enquire into the cause Guntheramus Francorum Rex pientissimus contra Gothos infaelici successu se pugnasse observaverat tanti mali fonte paulò altius investigato cui malo ut obviam iretur statutum est diem dominicum religiosè custodiendum per universum c. of it and taking notice of the neglect of the Bishops instructing the people as likewise observing the prophaneness of the people in dishonouring the Lord he presently concluded this was the proper source and cause of his late discomfiture and calamity and therefore he immediately commanded That the Lords day should be carefully and solemnly observed throughout his whole Dominions as being the most proper remedy and most likely Cure for those distempers which had shaken the happiness both of Church and State God usually calculating his providence according to the observation of his day smiling upon those places where it is religiously observed and evidencing his displeasure where it is slighted or contemned Arg. 9 The sanctification of the Sabbath is the discharge in a great measure of that duty pressed by the Apostle Phil. 3. 20. Let your conversation be in heaven All the duties of the Sabbath Nonne pudet te corpore coelum suspicere mentem in terrâ repere caput sursum cor deorsum habere Bern. are but transactions with Heaven Our prayers are our approach and appeal to Heaven and therefore we are said to lift up a prayer Jer. 7. 16. Our hearing the word is only hearing News from Heaven Acts 20. 27. And our Sacramental receipts are only the tasting of the fruit of the Vine which we shall drink new with Christ in his Fathers Kingdom Mat. 26. 29. The Ordinances of a Sabbath are heavenly Ordinances the end of a Sabbath is to bring us nearer to heaven and the Communion of Saints whâ—ch we enjoy upon a Sabbath is a sweet resemblance of that Society the Saints shall enjoy in heaven And though we cannot pretend to 2 Cor. 12. 2. Pauls rapture into the third heaven or to Johns extasies upon this holy day yet in a conscientious use of divine administrations Rev. 1. 10. we travel fairly on towards heaven and happiness Secular works which savour of earth are to be banished this day Exod. 20. 10. Carnal hearts which rellish earth are unsutable to this day Rev. 1. 10. And pleasurous delights which are the liquorish froth of earth are to be avoided on the Sabbath day Isa 58. 13. Our Sabbath is the day-break and twilight of heaven and glory which if we improve to work our spiritual works in a little time will bring us to a perfect noon Arg. 10 Let us be exact on the Lords day in honour to Christ it is his Resurrection day On this day the Sun rose which lightens Dies dominicus Christi resurrectione declaratus est et ex illo caeâ—it habere festivitatem suam aeternam non solùm spiritus sed et corporis requiem praefigurat Aug de Civ dei every one which comes into a better world on this day the Conqueror shewed himself when he had laid all his enemies in the grave from whence he sprang This was the day of Mankinds restauration of the worlds wonder and of the Believers joy This day was the fresh spring of our happiness the initials of a Christians boast On this day Mosaical rites and legal Ceremonies were fully and totally routed and so put to flight and then dyed together the Synagogue and the Sanedrim Christ is the true Joseph who on this day left his prison and was promoted to honour Christ is the real Moses who breaking through death and dangers Acts 13. 31 32 saw Pharaoh and his host Satan Death and Hell and Heb. 1. 5. all spiritual wickednesses drowned in the Sea Christ is the Resurrexisti domine quà m â—â—â—ulatè celeritèr O fortunati labâ—res O gloriosa certamina quae talem finem sortiuntur Pâ—ssionem excepit Resurrectio mortem immortalitas ignonimiam gloria infirmitatem virtus Tempestatem serenitas Bellar. 2 Cor. 5. 1. true Mordecai who foiling Haman and all his enemies delivered the true Israel from tyranny and oppression and on this day kept his Purim Christ is the true Jonas who being cast into the Sea in a tempest of frenzy and cruelty on the third day was cast on the shore and survived to more gracious purposes In a word glorious were the conflicts happy the labours blessed the rest and most triumphant the Resurrection of our dear Redeemer Now as it is reported of Caesar when he would cry Quirites that word put new life into his Souldiers in the sorest battels So when we think our Sabbath is Christs Resurrection day this should put new life into all our duties and devotions This was the day of wonders when our blessed Samson carryed away the gates of Hell to lay our way open to the City of the New Jerusalem the City not made with hands eternal in the heavens CHAP. LIII The Resurrection of Christ is not only a real ground for the institution but a cogent Argument for the holy observation of the Lords day WHen our hearts are dead and curdled into formality upon the Lords day then every one of us should thus bespeak his soul O my soul this day is the triumph of thy Redeemer when he trod upon the Serpents head when Gen. 3. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in Hexam he took from death its sting from hell its standard suppose my soul thou hadst stood by the Sepulcher and seen the Sun of Righteousness covered with a cloud before now shining forth most gloriously on the morning of the Resurrection day how would this have raised and ravished thy heart How glad were the Disciples when they saw the Lord they believed not for joy John 20.
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
all principles hath the greatest force and the love of Christ of all loves hath the greatest power The love of Christ could make Martyrs and bring them to a stake in a time of persecution and shall not the Octaginta sex annos servivi domino meo c. Polycarp love of Christ make Zelots and bring them chearfully to a duty on a Sabbath-day Let us be free and vigorous on the Lords day it is the day of our Beloved The occasion of it which was Christs resurrection when he rose for our justification Rom. 4. 25. That which started this day was the Rising Sun which enlightned the World In die dominico à mortuis resurrexit Christus Orig. over-spread with the darkness of Gentilism and the shades of Judaism Let us consider what put life into our Sabbath let the same thing put life into us upon this blessed Sabbath The duties of it they are all strains of love 1. The Sacrament is our love-feast and in it we have a double communion 1. Communion with Christ to remember Charitas Christi qua Christus homines dilexit nos urget ut Christi exemplo amore idem faciamus Alap his love to us in sacrificing himself for us Luke 22. 19. 2. Communion with the Saints for the increase of love At Christs Table the Heirs of Salvation come acquainted before they meet in their Fathers Kingdom and there those spiritual Stars rally together in a Constellation 2. Prayer is only the breathing forth of the Soul into the bosom of God the melting and the working of the heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards God Jam. 5. 16. In prayer sighs are but the moans of love and tears are but the streams of love And this duty is onely the flight of the Soul to its beloved the Cant. 3. 1. Spouse in prayer pours out her heart before him whom her Soul loves Hearing the word is nothing but the unbosoming Rom. 5. 8. of the Fathers heart to poor sinners Acts 20. 27. that they may know his will and live When we sit under the Heb. 1. 14. Gospel we onely hear those things which have been upon the heart of God from all eternity Thus all the duties of a Sabbath are the Emblems of love and call for a principle of love The donation of the Sabbath to us is the fruit of love and therefore the Sabbath is called the gift of God Ezek. 20. 12. Vide hic et obstupesce immensitatem amoris Christi Foedi eramus insipientes mendici puâ—idi viles miseri et miserabiles sed Foedos Christus amavit ut pulchros efficeret inimicos amavit ut amicos faceret c. and gifts are love-tokens It is great love we should have seasons of grace opportunities of life and term-times for our precious Souls days of converse with the Almighty constituted times for transacting the grand affairs of Eternity Now every thing in a Sabbath speaking love let that genuine and natural principle carry us out in sabbath-Sabbath-duties with all freeness and delight Many persons are swayed by other principles by a principle of credit interest or the clamours of natural Conscience nay some are staked down to a Sabbath from the common usage and custom of the Country where they live but these men are like Puppets which are stirred and moved with Wires they onely act a part and the Sabbath is their Seene But the heaven-born principle which should carry us through all the severals of a Sabbath Psal 27. 4. is love to and longing for our dear Jesus Duties will never Psal 42. 2. be musick unless tuned by a heart full of love to God It was love brought Christ to a Cradle to be born for us it was love brought Christ to a Cross to die for us John 10. Amoris vis corpus et animam liquefacit et ultrà se ad videndum duâ—itur et ergo necesse est ut carneum hoc vinculum quâ— ferre talenti pâ—ndus non valemus infirmetur Greg. 17 18. And it is love to this Christ which can sweeten and succeed out duties upon his own holy day Love to Christ will make prayer the evidence of our desire to be at home and make hearing only our inquiry which is the next way to bring us home and make Sacraments our Corn by the way to support us till we do come home and make all other duties the planks upon which we get to come to shore to our desired and longed for home Let all our services on a Sabbath be acted with a serious poise and deliberation Meat which is rasht up never tasts Praescrip 2. pleasantly In holy duties we must carefully distinguish between holy delight and sinful precipitancy the Wise-man Jer. 8. 6. counselleth us to look to our foot when we go into the house Quatuor causae afferuntâ—r ex Hebraeis quare pecus separatum et comparatum decimo die asservabatur usque decimum quartum 1. Ne Israelitae negotiis impediti illud obliviâ—ni traderent 2. Vt meliùs observarent ne defectus aliquis sit in agno 3 Vt ex aspectu agni oxasionem haberent colloquendi de redemptione suâ ex Aegypto 4. Vt sese in tempore ad bonum opus perficiendum accingerent praepararent Fag of God Eccles 5. 1. we must not leap into the Sanctuary but we must pause in our approaches The Lamb for the Passover was taken up the tenth day of the month but not killed till the fourteenth Exod. 12. 3. 6. to shew us how considerately and advisedly we should converse with God in Ordinances Before we adventure upon any sabbath-Sabbath-duty we should weigh and ponder these four things 1. The infiniteness of that God with whom we have to do Heb. 12. 29. 2. The nature of that duty in which we are to engage which is most solemn and spiritual Levit. 10. 2 3. 3. The preciousness of that soul which is highly concerned in all these services 4. The strictness of that account which must be made for all our Sabbath opportunities Nothing more ripens and amplifies our spiritual advantage then a serious advisedness and we are necessitated to it not only because our hearts are so slippery and will easily beguile us in holy services but because Satan never makes greater On-sets then when we are in Heavens roade Therefore on a Sabbath let us compose our selves for Divine Worship and dress our selves as the Spouse to meet with the Bride-groome of our souls Rash duties leave cold hearts and are nothing less then offering up strange fire Levit. 10. 1 2. When Ahab seemingly pleased God in his humiliation he walked softly 1 Kings 21. 27. And we must come to holy duties as the wise men of Mat. 25. 10. the East came to Christ with an observant distance and veneration Mat. 2. 11. Our inconsiderate adventures upon things sacred and divine only lose the taste of the duty and trifle away
Origen In the times of the Law saith he the Jews were not to stir out of their places upon the Sabbath day Exod. 16. 29. Now what is the proper place of the soul but Righteousness Truth Wisdom and Sanctification and whatever speaks Christ and from this place we Christians must not stir upon the Lords day In the times of the Law the Jews were to carry no burdens upon the Sabbath day Jer. 17. 27. And what is this burden but all sin and this burden we Christians must not carry on our Sabbath In the times of the Law the Jews were not to kindle a fire throughout all their Habitations upon the Sabbath Exod. 35. 3. And what is this kindling of fire but the inflaming of lust and no such fire must be kindled by Christians on the Sabbath Now what Origen cautionates us against on the Sabbath is as much to be avoided and shunned on the week day In a disposition to serve God So we must keep every day a Sabbath though we are not always in a Sabbath dayes time Verum quidem est Sabbatum spirituale nobis perpetuò colendum esse sub novo Testamento Wal. yet we should be always in a Sabbath days frame in such a blessed bent of heart as to be fit for holy business and heavenly employment And the Apostle adviseth us 1 Thes 5. 17. To pray continually viz. To be in a continual frame of heart fit for holy prayer And the Apostle James Jam. 1. 19. commands us to be swift to hear viz. Always to have Spirituale Sabbatum est quo vetus homo noster homo peccati cum singulis suis actionibus otio quodam veluti sepelitus est ut novus homo qui secundum deum creatus est vires suas exerat opera sua perficiat Muscul an open ear ready to hearken to the sweet and sacred word of God We find the Prophet Ezekiel Ezek. 1. 5 6. describing four living creatures having four faces and four wings Faces ready to mind and wings ready to move into any part upon the work the Lord should assign and appoint them And thus Gods people should be always in a prepared frame of spirit for holy service we should be as cautious of sin and as propence to service as if every day was a Sabbath day The week contains no day for sinful work the Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 2. 19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity And iniquity not iniquities any one particular iniquity And so likewise in the week our secular works must not indispose us for heavenly Dies è septem unus externis salutis mediis dedicatus Sabbatum interius perpetuum magis et magis promovet Hier. services and holy duties but we must have heavenly hearts in our earthly labours It is very observable that in the time of the Law the word Sabbath signified a whole week Lev. 23. 15. And so in the time of the Gospel Luke 18. 12. And doth it not point out this That we should keep our whole week as a Sabbath and that Sabbath-holiness should make all our life-time but one intire holy day Our spiritual Sabbath as Musculus observes Must be continual Rom. 11. 16. we must be always crucifying the old man and getting our 1 Cor. 5. 6. corruptions to their rest that they may not be working nor employed to fledge temptation into actual sin and we must be always employing the new man to excite its power in spiritual operations and this must be our daily and continual Sabbath This resting from sin and this working for God is never unseasonable and these two are the integral parts of a Sabbath And thus to employ our selves in the week doth exceedingly fit us for the Sabbath Many have little of the Sabbath in the week and therefore they have too much of the week in the Sabbath they are strangers Mandaverat quidem deus sub veteri Testimento ut in ipsa septimanâ aliquae quoque horae divino cultui consecrarentur manè imprimis vespere cùm sacrificium juge in templo offerreretur perpetuò sacrificaretur Wal. to Sabbath-work on the week dayes and therefore they are enemies to Sabbath-work on the Lords day Christians should attempt to begin heaven here and there is a perpetual Sabbath our life below should shadow out our life above It must be confessed our indulging our selves too much in sin and bemiring our selves too much in the world on the week day doth very much unqualifie and indispose us for heavenly rest on the Sabbath day But when we have set our selves against sin and have been spiritually minded in the works of our Calling not omitting the heavenly duties of prayer reading the word holy discourse and heavenly meditations on the week dayes we then with more complacency lean upon our beloved and with more delight meet him in his â—anquetting house Cant. 2. 4. on the Lords day Holy weeks make heavenly Sabbaths and the more strict we are in passing of the week the more savoury and serious we shall be in observing the Sabbath Walaeus very well observes That in the time of the Law God had his dayly sacrifices Psal 133. 2. Numb 28. 3. as well as his double sacrifices on the Sabbath day Numb 28. 9. To intimate to us There must be something of a Sabbath in every day nor must the oil of holiness only be poured out on the head of a Sabbath but it must run down to the skirts of the whole week the performance of divine worship is calculated for the week though the solemnity of it be reserved for the Sabbath Well then let something resembling a Sabbath be found in our own dayes let a happy vein of holy rest with God run through every day The Jews had their morning sacrifice when they entred upon their work and their evening sacrifice when they wound up and ended their work they gave God the first Job 23. 12. and the last of every day in holy and solemn worship He that was Alpha and Omega the first and the last had the Tres sunt diei partes inter Judaeos prima pars ad orationem secunda ad legem tertia ad opus seculare destinabatur Alpha and Omega of every day nay learned men observe that the Jews divided the day into three parts The first ad Tephilah to Prayer the second ad Torah to the Law the third ad Malacha to their work Thus God had his part of every day among the poor Jews nay double worship for single work And let not a repudiated Jew be more franck in giving God his time then the redeemed ones of Jesus shall they have so much of the Sabbath in the week and we so much of the week in our Sabbaths As the Apostle saith Rom. 6. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God forbid It would be strange if the branch which is broken of
THE PRACTICAL Sabbatarian OR SABBATH-Holiness CROWNED with SUPERLATIVE Happiness By John Wells Minister of the Gospel Isa Lvi 2. Blessed is the man that doth this and the Son of man that layeth hold on it that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and keepeth his hand from doing any evil Nobis Christianis non congruunt ludi diebus festis ludi nostri esse debent sacrae cantiones verbi divini lectiones aegrotorum visitationes afflictorum consolationes pauperum sustentationes c. Zanch. in Colos LONDON Printed 1668. To the Right Worshipful Sir THOMAS ALSTON With his Eminently PIOUS LADY John Wells wisheth all Happiness here and to ETERNITY Much Honoured THat the sacred day of God should run the gantlet and feel the stripes of many malepert adversaries is not miraculous but that these enemies of Gods blessed day should be reduced under no Head and cast into no predicament this accents the wonder that Ebion a primitive Heretick with his Complices should rob the Lords day of a moity of its Honour making two Sabhaths everyweek retaining both the Jewish and the Christian Sabbath That Turrecremata a politick School-man should rob the Lords day of its Authority and fasten it only upon a Canonical Law that others of latter times should rob this blessed day of its solemnity giving way to Sports and Sense-pleasing Recreations upon this holy season that another sort with their Confederates should rob the Lords day of its site and position rebounding it back again to the last day of the week and so put a Jewish brand upon the Lords day nay that some in these dregs of time should oppose the very Being of the Lords day and pluck up all Sabbaths by the roots and confidently if not impudently affirme that every day is a Christian Sabbath this is matter of amazement we may truly admire that all varieties should troup together to fight against the day of God onely this consideration may a little break the force of the wonder if holiness which is the impression of Gods 2 Tim. 3. 12. Spirit meet with a constant and violent persecution 't is not much marvel if the Sabbath the genuine promoter of holiness meet with the same dealing Indeed in the Primitive times of the Church those Halcyon dayes of the Gospel The Lords day like the beloved Disciple lay in the bosom we find Ignatius calling it the Queen of dayes Ignat. Epist ad Magnes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. â—pist 119. c 13. and sâ— setting a Crown upon its Head Athanasius making it the first of dayes the beginning of a new world Justin Martyr giving us the several Branches and methods of its sacred Solemnization and shews us how exact the Primitive Christians were in the several duties and services of it the incomparable Aug Serm. de temp 251. Augustine lays us down the true and pregnant reason of its rise and institution and Ambrose tells us flatly that Christs Resurrection was a real consecration of this Holy day for weekly and divine worship I need not mention what Tertullian speaks of the Holy Discourses the Primitive Christians used upon this day nor what Clemens Romanus saith of the devout prayers and accurate attentions used by the Professors of the first times on this Holy Festival nor yet of the great preheminences given by Hierome to this blessed season that day alone saith Hierome is the one proper Lords day and better Ambr. tom 2. in 47. Psal then all other common dayes and then all the Festival dayes New moons and Sabbaths of Moses his Law And should Tertul Apol. cap 39. we cast our eye upon what Chrysostom hath written in his fifth Homily upon Matthew how unwearied the Christians of those times were in the holy duties of Gods day how their Devotion was a full and a constant stream we should then conclude that the Lords day hath had its Heralds to proclaim Clem. Rom. l. 2. c. 59. its glory as well as its Detractors to decry its solemnity Thus the Christian Sabbath hath travelled in the Wildernes of this life under the pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire and as it hath its enemies to oppose it so likewise its Seconds Hier. ad Eustoch to defend it That which hath cast a spot upon this blessed day in these Chrâ—sost homil 5 in Matth. latter dayes of the world is not so much Errour as Prophaneness Gods day hath not suffered so much yet too much by the blasts of Opinion as by the blackness of open prophanation Concil Prag Synod Dâ—drect Sess 4â—â— Were we but sensible of the groans of the Council of Prague how those conveened there bemoaned the prophanation of Gods Holy day or had we heard the sighs of the Synod at Dort Hosp de Orig. Fest l. 1. c. 3. how they lamented this evil and with what pathetical language they importuned the petitioning of Magistrates for the redress of this great evil nay were we sensible of the mournful expressions of many worthy and learned Divines of Simler comment in Exod. the Reformed Churches when their Pens seemed more to drop Teares then Ink we could not but be much affected Aret. Prob. Theol. loc 123. and impressed Nay should we take a nearer Prospect and take notice of the prodigious vanities and great impieties which are acted on Gods Holy day here at home in our own Nation Chemnit exam Concil Trident. trembling may justly seize upon us Now to put some stop to this sinful Inundation is the design of this Treatise which Much Honoured shelters it self under the Protection of your Patronage The promoting of Sabbath-holiness hath been the care of Courts and the zeal of Councils and the Vindication of that Eminent Piece of Piety hath been written not only with Pens but with Scepters Sabbath-holiness is the glory of Princes Constantines Edict Euseb de vitâ Constantini for the strict observation of the Lords day is recorded by Eusebius as a Piece Nehem. 13. 15. 16 17 18 c. of Memorable Piety Sabbath-holiness is the splendour of Nobles Nehemiahs zeal for Gods blessed Sabbath is recorded not by the Historian but by the Spirit and made part of Gods sacred Word Sabbath-holiness is the richest field in the Gentlemans Escucheon Mr. Bruens piety in an exemplary observation of Gods Holy day Mr. Clark in the life of Mr. Bruen and Mr. Dod. is transmitted by a faithful Pen to future times as an Emblem of his perpetual honour Sabbath-holiness is not only the duty but the dignity of a Minister the rare and strict observance of Gods Holy day by the most pious Mr. Dod is set down in the History of his Life as a fair Copy for future successions to write after Nay Sabbath-holiness is the honour of a people Chrysostom hath left it upon record in one of Chrysost 19. Homil. in Genes his Homilies upon Genesis as the Crown of his people that
Salvian spend Salv. de Provid in exclaming against the Impieties of those times he lived in Nay the very Heathen Poets turned Satyrists when the times turned Aude aliquid bâ—evibus Gyaris et â—â—rcere dignum si vis esse aliquiâ— Probitas laudâ—tur et alget Juven scandalous Let it be no offence that the Author deplores a prophaned Sabbath and contributes his two mites to its reformation Quis talia fando temperet a lacrymis When Gods Sabbath is covered with pollution let it not seem strange if Gods Ministers are filled with lamentation and put their tears in Print The prophanation of Gods Day calls not onely for Preaching but Writing to suppress it and not onely for the Magistrates sword which may it be weilded to that holy purpose but the Ministers Pen. Nay suppose the Materials which may be met with in this ensuing Treatise be found lying on the ground in some other Volume or Tracts let not the Author be said to have beaten the Air if he have picked them up and put them together for spiritual edification The Corpus ecclesâ—â— debet esse 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ctum quia si membruâ—◠〈◊〉 sit 〈…〉 nil viâ—â—ris aut spâ—â—â—â—us â—â—ipâ—et â— corpore Hier. building of a house of stone requires not onely the Quâ—â—ry but the Mason the drawing of the Pictur stands in need not onely of the Colours but of the Pencil and the Painter It is the work of the spirit fiâ—ly to joyn together the whole Body of Christ as the Apostle notes Ephes 4. 15. And if the Author hath onely added method to matter and hath brought but some tacks and loops to this Tabernacle work and hath put the scattered links into one Chain let it not be deemed a superfluity Nor can it easily be conceived that the large Field of the Sabbath hath been so enclosed by former labours but some part yet may remain to be hedged in and if there be some gleanings left after the Harvest it is worth the Authors pains to gather them up and make Bread of them to feed invaluable souls as he said facile est it is an easie thing so it may be said utile est inventis addere it is a very profitable thing to add to what is already found out It is not a despicable work to take notice of others escapes and to fill up the vacancies where they are discerned Volumes are as Ponds not as Springs they do not overflow they are capable of a supplement If any more Ore be digged out of the Mine which formerly was not espied let the Author in this be pardoned One thing more may be added The Author presumes Books on the Sabbath are more in Scholars studies than the peoples hands he doth not take notice that this subject is trite and worn by the perusals of the Vulgar he thinks no solemn subject in Divinity is more unknown to common Capacities his little experience cannot finde the people to be much versed in Volumes of this nature nor can he observe their tract that they have travelled Exod. 20. 8. this way It may be many have met with the Sabbath as it is laid down in the fourth Commandement Deut. 4 13. one of Gods Ten words but as it Deut. 10. 4. is unfolded and applied in a practical Treatise this seldom falls in the way of the peoples travel Therefore Courteous Reader accept of the tender of this ensuing Tract which is heartily levelled at thy souls good And remember the season when it is put into thy hands vâ—z When the Sabbath of the Lord lies under much contempt derision and prophanation But as the Prophet was pulled out of a dark and deep Dungeon by cast clouts and rotten raggs that onely seem fit for the Dunghil Jer. 38. 11 12 13. So if the Father 2 Cor. 1 3. of mercies shall graciously please that this ensuing Tract shall be any means to draw Sabbaths out of those Dungeons of scorn and abuse into which they seem now to be cast let the Lord have the praise my soul shall have the comfort the Reader shall enjoy the Benefit Gods holy Day its just Vindication which that the Lord may mercifully vouchsafe and that much success may crown this weak Endeavour shall be the incessant and earnest prayer of Reader Thy real and true Servant for Soul-advantage John Wells THE Practical SABBATARIAN ISAIAH 58. Chap. 13 14. Verses If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my Holy Day and call the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine own wayes nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words Then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the Earth and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy Father for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it CHAP. I. An Introduction to the Text. IN this Chapter we have God unmasking and reproving the Jewes Hyprocrisie in their worship and holy Services indeed in the former Chapter the Lord had by his Prophet fore-told that the penitent and the upright of the Jewes should return from the Captivity their Chains should be knock't off and their Captivity should be turned as Rivers in the South as the Psalmist speaks but as for the wicked no peace should be Psal 126. 4. to them the 21 Verse of the former Chapter tempest and tumult shall be their Companions and they shall be tossed continually from one calamity to another Now the wicked and hypocriticâ—â— Jews supposing that the observation of Dayes their frequenting of Ordinances their waiting on Solemnities would reconcile them to God again and make up the breach their sins had caused they set upon this design and multiply their duties as fast as they did their sins none so often on their knees as themselves they ply God with Ceremonials to make amends for their neglect of Morals and because they were irreligious in their practices they will be over-religious in their Observations But God in this Chapter where the Text lyâ—â— unravels their folly and discovers their vanity Alas it is not the outward Worship or the external attendance on an Ordinance can either pacifie the anger or procure the favour of God no more then a painted Cloud can dissolve into rain or the sign of the Sun cast forth refreshing beams Duties which are the products of hypocrisie onely the shining of that paint they may provoke but not put out wrath may inflame but not quench that fire So that in this Chapter we find God uttering his complaints against these painted hypocrites these earlier Pharisees who vainly dreamed to take off the edge of Gods fury by an over-plus of Service when by these smooth pretences they onely brought Oyl to make the fire of his Wrath to burn with a greater flame But yet this Chapter shall not be shut up without the allay of two
Sabbathum propriè quietem et vacationem ab opere servili significat quod deus in ipsâ mundi origine quieti sarctae consecravit Gualt Sabbathum Domini Sabbathum dicitur in scripturis Exod. 16. 20 Lev. 19. 26. Eò quod deo consecratum est et iis studiis quae ad dei honorem spectant Id. 1 Kings 6. 7. Exod. 13. 2. would keep us and chain us up from such seraphical and heavenly duties And the Council of Arles which was celebrated under Charles the Great speaks to the same purpose concluding Let those things onely be done on the Sabbath which appertain to the Service of God Nay secular works and the works of our Calling upon the Sabbath they illegitimate and contradict the very name of a Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies quietness and rest a cessation from labour it is nothing more then a denyal of toyle so that when we labour on the Sabbath we do but rough this calme and quiet day which is given us to hear Gods still voice when the spirit that wind blows gently yet powerfully in the dispensation of the word God will have his own Name known that he is a God of mercy and purity and he will have the name of his Sabbath known to be a day of quiet and cessation and therefore it is called a Sabbath of Rest Exod. 35. 2. That if we at the first view did not understand the meaning of the word Sabbath Moses Comments on it and gives us an explanation it is a Sabbath of Rest a meer Hebraisme when Sabbath and Rest are the same thing and in the Original the word is onely repeated for it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And as in the building of the Temple of the Lord so in the keeping of the Sabbath of the Lord there must be no hammer heard no axe no noise of working instruments or secular employments 4. Labouring in our callings on a Sabbath doth not only deny the name of the Sabbath but subverts the manner of its observation which is by sanctifying it The Sabbath must be kept holy so in the forementioned place Exod. 35. 2. so in the fourth Commandment Exod. 20. 8. Now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash sanctifie a word used in both these Texts and many Exod. 40. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Restaurari ad sanctum usum Buxtorf Sanctificare idem est quod ad usus sanctos applicare ceu adhibere Wal. diss de quarto Praecepto De modo sanctificationis duo dicuntur primum opera propria cujusque sex diebus clauduntur deinde opera Divina hoc die omnibus praescribuntur Idem other places it signifies the separation of any thing to a holy use So the first born among the Israelites were sanctified to God the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash there they were consecrated and set apart to God So the vessels in the Sanctuary were sanctified Viz. they were set apart for the worship and service of God So the Temple was sanctified 1 Kings 9. 3. in the same sence So that whatsoever is hallowed and sanctified is set apart for holy use by the Will and Commandment of God And that great School-man Thomas Aquinas speaks to the same purpose Illa dicuntur lege sanctificari quae divino cultui applicantur Those things are sanctified in the Law which were dedicated to Gods Worship So then working on the Sabbath overthrows this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash this sanctifying it it diverts that day to our own use which is sanctified separated onely to a divine use Secular works oppose the very purpose of the word sanctifying they rob God of his time dedicated to holy use and give it to the Labourer to him who works which is both impudence and sacriledge Labouring casts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cadash sanctifie out of the fourth Commandment and alters the will of the great Legislator it layes waste and makes common the holy day which God hath limited and inclosed to an holy use And it is remarkable that the observation of the Sabbath is never urged by Moses or the Prophets but rest and Exod. 35. 2. Exod. 31 14. Deut. 5. 14. Jer. 17. 27. Quiâ—quid aliquam speciem haberet operum servilium prohibebatur in Sabbato Rivet cessation is commanded too Exod. 35. 2. It is called a Sabbath of rest Exod. 31. 14. Thou shalt do no manner of work The same strictly enjoyned Deut. 5. 14. and so Jer. 17. 27. So that God hath put rest and cessation from secular employments into the very nature and essence of the Sabbath he hath engraven rest upon the Sabbath in an indelible Character that you cannot abstract it from the Sabbath without an abolition of the Law it self If you will keep a Sabbath keep it free from worldly labours or never set upon the observation of it Rest is as necessary for us as for former times for the holy sanctification of the Sabbath our bodies are subject to Mat. 26. 41. Exod. 23. 12. Recreabitur alieâ—â—gena muliò magis incola Ne â—ontinuâ—s laborâ—bâ—â— sâ—â—iâ—gentâ—r homines sea fessa memb a lâ—ventur die Sâ—bbâ—thi Leid Prof. Exod. 31. 17. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 respiravit deus Corpus nostrum mortale est in quo brevi tempore tanquam in tabernaculo moramur Alap in Corinth tiredness our spirits to faintness our flesh to weariness as well as those who lived in former ages and therefore are not we as much necessitated to a quietation and rest from labours Christ may say to us as well as to the Apostles The flesh is weak though the spirit may be willing we are clogged with as many weaknesses and disinabled by as many infirmities as former times and therefore Thou shalt do no manner of work That blessed indulgence and dispensation granted in the fourth Commandment cannot but be as pleasing and gratefull to us as others in the elder dayes of the world Shall the Jewes observe an exact rest on the Sabbath and not we Christians Are our Tabernacles of clay better fixed then theirs Our tired bodies require a cessation from labours to attend on the Divine Services of the Sabbath The main ground of Gods first institution of the Sabbath was rest from his works Viz. the works of Creation and the main cause of the re-institution of the Sabbath if I may so speak in the change of the day from the Seventh to the First was Christ's resting from his work Viz. the great work of Redemption The very reason of the Law and Statute concerning the Sabbath condemns secular labours and business this day A Quietus est first started the Law it self and a Quietus est must keep the Law now setled and Gen. 2. 3. Humano more eâ— quad mattemperatione ad nestram institutionem loquitur scriptura Divina c Quievit deuâ— substitit cessavit a procreandis producendisque rebus ex nihilo ut essent Chrysost established Rest from our labours is
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
of the morning Sun of the Gospel were contented with spare and slender diet St. Augustine observed a vanity among the Aug. in Prolog 251. Serm. de tempore Jewes in his time that they feasted much on the Sabbath and therefore advises us To observe the Sabbath not as the Jewes did carnally and with fleshly delicacies And holy Ignatius before him much to the same purpose cryes out Ignat. Epist ad Magnesios Procul abjicienda sunt impura carnis opera insanum voluptuandi studium Gualt Phil. 3. 19. Amos 6. 4. and 6. Qui Sabbatho vitè utuntur caetus sacros adeunt Dei verbum audiunt voluntatem illius sedulò inquiâ—unt in operum beneficiorum ejus consideratione versantur precibus vacant denique omissis omnibus quae carni serviant se totos ad aeterni illius Sabbathi considerationem componunt Gualt We Christians must not keep our holy Sabbath after the manner of the prophane Jewes with excessive feastings c. But it is much to be feared that Jewes excesses have got into Christian Assemblies and many incur that censure of the Apostle in making their belly their God on a Sabbath they de indulgere gulae genio flatter their imtemperate palate and with the wanton Israelites Eat the Lambs out of the flock and drink their wine in bowles upon Gods holy day It was the complaint of holy men in former times that Wedding Dinners were kept on the Sabbath where too much intemperance swayed to the great prophanation of it This over-plus of food and fare gives the Soul a writ of ease and makes the body slothful and drowsie and so renders the ordinances and duties sapless and ineffectual and if God reveals himself to them it must be in dreams for the stretcht and pampered body is fit for little else There is a third sort of actions we must abstain from on the Sabbath viz. sinful actions so the Text Not doing Sinful actions to be avoided on a Sabbath Nec relig osi hujus diei otia relaxantes obscoenis quibuslibet patimur voluptatibus teneri Nihil die â—odem veâ—dicet sibiscaena theatralis aut Circense certamen aut ferarum lachrymosa spectacula Anthem thy own wayes Such actions which stain a week day do blemish a Sabbath with a blacker spot Sin is a blot on any day but a Monster on a Sabbath On any day it is a Cockatrice Egge but a Serpent on a Sabbath The Solemnity of a Sabbath adds weight to every sin How scandalous is it to be guilty of Pride excess luxury on Gods holy day this is to turn the heaven of a Sabbath into an bell It is a remarkable Speech of Bishop Andrews To keep the Sabbath in an idle manner is Sabbatum Boum Asinorum the Sabbath of Beasts Oxen and Asses To keep the Sabbath in a jocular manner to see Playes and Sights to frequent the Theatres or as Leo saith to be at Cards or Commessations this Augustine calls Sabbathum aurei vituli the Sabbath of the golden calf But to keep the Sabbath in Sin in Drunkenness and surfeting in Chambering and Wantonness this is the Sabbath of Satan the Devils holy day All Si quis agrum colat die dominico violator est sacriotii verùm si relictâ agricultuâ—â inebrietur scortetur ludat c. non censetur prophanasse diâ—i deminici sanctimoniam Aug. Dr. Andrews Patt Chatechist doct p. 233. Leo Serm. 3. de Quadrag Rom. 13. 13. Exod. 20. 8. Exod. 35. 2. Neh. 9. 14. Monemus vos fratres ut fugiatis sermonum vanitatem turpitudinem facetias ebrietates lascivias fractos et effoeminatos motus siquidem in diebus dominicis non permittimus vobis quicquid inhonestum Clem. Rom. Num. 15. 35. the holies which God hath added to his Sabbath in the Scriptures not only in the fourth Commandment but in many other Scripture-texts will be so many Indictments against Practical miscarriages And if it was a capital offence for the poor man to gather a few sticks on the Sabbath Ah what is it to draw swords against Heaven in open scandal and prophaneness CHAP. IV. That Needless Recreations are unlawfull on the Sabbath THere are another sort of actions we must abstain from upon the Sabbath viz. Recreative Actions so the Recreative actions to be abstain'd from on the Sabbath day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Text Not finding thy own pleasure Recreations on a Sabbath are blown up into prophaneness Those delights which in the week are commendable on the Sabbath are intollerable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Kephetz the original word denotes we must have no blandishments on that day nothing to be a snare or titillation to sense then the outward man must not be flattered or gratified The Commandments must be our walk the Psal 119. 32. Word our field and Devotion our chiefest recreation Our exercises on the Sabbath are not Corporal but Spiritual not for outward but inward delight not to please fancy but to strengthen faith The Sabbath is the souls holy day It Isid Hispa de Eccles Offic. Lib. Cap. 19. was a good saying of Isidore Hispalensis The Apostles saith he therefore ordained the Lords day to be kept with Religious Non ed ludendum ordinatur talis dies sed ad laudandum et orandum deum Aquin. Opusc de Praecept 10. 2 Sam. 12. 3. Grande videlicet officium focos et choros in puhlicum educere vicatim epulari civitatem lat bernae halitu obolefacere tatervatim cursitare ad injurias ad impudicitias ad libidinis illecebras siccine exprimitur publicum gaudium per publicum dedecus Tertul. Apol. Cap. 35. Solemnity because in it our Redeemer rose from the dead which was therefore called the Lords day that resting on the same from all earthly acts and the temptations of the World we might intend Gods holy worship giving this day due honour for the hope of the Resurrection we have therein We enjoy the Sabbath â—ot to play in but to pray in for our souls and not for our sports saith Aquinas It is true Man is a poor frail piece of Clay and therefore had need to be recreated created again by lawful delights and recreations but must the holy day of the Lord be this vacation Is this the time for sports and pleasurous satisfaction Surely this speaks a grand abuse of the Sabbath Must the poor mans Ewe-Lamb be taken that little spot of time God gives us more immediately for our spiritual interest must that be prostituted to gratifie the softness of the flesh The Council of Carthage petitioned the Emperour Theodosius the younger that the shews of the Theatre and other Playes then used on the Lords day might be removed which accordingly was granted by his Edict and it was Enacted Anno Dom. 415. That on the Lords day the Cirques and Theatres in all places should be shut up and people denyed the pleasure thereof that so their whole minds might
be taken up in the worship of God And thus at this time both Church and State united to suppress sensual Recreations on Gods holy day and indeed Dies festas Majestatialtissimae dedicatos nullis voluptatibus volumus occupari C. Lib. 12. Tit. 12. how irrational is this that mans sense must be flattered in that juncture of time when his soul is to be feasted how comes it that a Sabbath is so tedious that there is a need of pastime to wear it away and so the burthen may be lightned It is charged upon the carnal and covetous Israelites that they wisht the Sabbath over but this is censured as such a sin as God threatens with the worst of judgements a famine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. ad Graec. Infid Serm. 9. Amos 8. 5. compared with v. 8. 11. Ludi nostri esse debent sacrae cantiones verbi divini lectiones aegretori visitationes afflictorum consolationes pauperum sustentationes Zanch. in Col. of the Word nay such a sin as will shake a Land and make it tremble Learned Zanchy hath an excellent Speech Our Playes on a Sabbath should be Holy Singings Scripture readings visitation of the Sick comforting of the Afflicted and supporting of the Poor These are the delights of a savoury spirit and a gracious soul I am sure that of the Apostle is seasonable on a Sabbath If any man will make merry let him sing Psalms James 5. 13. This is a comfortable James 5. 13. Ordinance and a spiritual Recreation Christ is an inclosed Garden Cant. 4. 12. And can we complain of the Cant. 4. 12. want of delight who have such a Garden to walk in Sensual pastimes for the most part they are useless impertinencies the Parenthesis of mans life but on the Lords day these are unjustifiable vanities and let Reason bring in its suffrage to condemn these unseasonable Sports and Recreations Recreations on a Sabbath they are impediments to duty The Bishop of Ely our adversary in this point grants that Sports and Recreations are prohibited on the Lords day so Bishop of Ely p. 217. far forth as they are impediments to Religious and Evangelical duties Now how they should be otherwise is not easily discernible for do not Recreations possess the mind divert the intention withdraw from spiritual duties hinder the service of Christ and fill the heart with froth and vanity And are not sports usually the very leekage of Corruption When we bowle what do we think on but the byass and the game When we shoote what are we intent upon but our aime and the mark I instance in these two because they are especially urged as lawfull on the Sabbath Let us saith Greenham Cease from Games Sports Exercises and such like things of less necessity but great impediments to the Greenh p. 825. Sabbath Is it to be supposed that we frame our Spirits or compose our hearts for divine conveâ—se on a bowling green What is this but to fancy we should meet with the gracious visitations of God at a Stage-play An adversary in C. D. p. 52. this point hath these words Such is the reverence that is due to the publick duties of Devotion that they require not onely a surcease from other works and thoughts for the time of the performance but also a decent preparation beforehand that so our thoughts and affections which are naturally bent upon the world and not easily withdrawn from it may be raised to a disposition befitting so sacred an imployment This is most piously and worthily concluded Let me reassume what is here granted And must not our thoughts be as much taken up in digesting of the word as in preparing for it in meditating on Ordinances when over as in disposing our selves for them when to come Meat is not healthfull as Psal 1. 2. onely put into the mouth but as chewed swallowed and Non tantum lectio sed et meditatio digested The sacred Ordinances of Christ must be followed with critical inquiries divine and serious meditations servent prayers or they will fall short of the intended work and design of them The seed when thrown into the ground Acts 17. 11. must be covered with snow warmed with sunshines watered Aug. de temp Serm. 251. with showers or it will yield no expected crop and harvest And if it be so I see not where Recreations can find any place which are nothing else but incumberances as St. Augustine speaks Recreations on the Sabbath they are the snares of the flesh they are onely pleasing temptations with a fair colour like the Apple which drew our first Parents to a breach of Gods Gen. 3. 6. will it was pleasant to behold The Jews first Feasted on Sanè Sabbathum festus dies cùm fuerit cò hilaria agere judaeis consuetum suit quae eò demum abierunt ut illa ad insanas saltationes et plausus abuterentur Leid Prof. the Sabbath then danced frantickly and grew excessively prophane as the Professors of Leiden observe These pleasing sports how often do they draw the tongue to sinfull slipperiness inflame the eye with lust and wantonness and put the heart into a carnal frame nay too frequently seduce to excess and intemperance And as Augustine in the forementioned place saith They press down the Soul from being lift up to a Heavenly Life Our corrupt heart need not the insinuation of sports and pastimes to broach it that it may run with levity and prophaneness Gods holy Sabbath needs not such engines of corruption Aug. Serm. de tempore Recreations on Gods blessed Sabbath They are the very canker of Ordinances they eat out the very heart and force of them Sports will easily and naturally rub off convictions take off the gust and sweetness we have tasted in the Word and wear off the impressions of Prayer and of other solemn duties all which with the sound of the Gospel we have partaked of evaporates and is lost When we have conversed with God in Ordinances how many things lye at the catch to invalidate their power Satan is ready to steal Mat. 13. 19. away the Word our hearts to damp and quench the efficacy Sicut in seminando ager praeparandus est nisi operam et laborem cum semente perdere velimus cor ad audiendum verbun dei praeparandum est et deus diligenter orandus tum ex parte conciona toris tum ex parte auditoris Lyser of it the world to charm away the sweet musick of it and there is need of meditation prayer and holy and sanctified means to keep alive the fire of the Word in the soul and therefore unseasonably we flush our selves with Recreations and Pastimes to bury all in distast or forgetfulness The use of sports will inevitably make our Righteousness like the morning dew which the heat of play and delights will suddenly dry up Nay if the Cares of the world as our Saviour
speaketh will choak the Word much more the pleasures of the world when they are more soft and sutable to delicate flesh and corrupt nature As in the Primitive Times more Apostates were made by the flatteries of Julian then the fires of Dioclesian and smiles more harm'd the Church then smarts Nothing more likely then to shoote away bowle away whatever we have been affected with Hos 6. 4. in holy Ordinances and Administrations Mat. 13. 22. Nay the very Liturgy of our English Church composed with so much exactness and deliberation as is often urged by the admirers of it commands the fourth Commandment to be read as well as the other nine and there pardon is begg'd for the breaches of this Commandment for time past Lord have mercy upon us and then Grace is importun'd to observe it better for the time to come where it is prayed and incline our hearts to keep this Law Where these three things are considerable 1. That by the Sabbath the Church understands the Lords day only 2. That she takes the observation of the Lords day founded upon the fourth Commandment 3. That she intended that day to be kept as a Sabbath and therefore begs pardon and grace which if so there can be no room for unnecessary labours and needless Recreations both which are but presumptuous incroachments on Gods appropriated day As holy Augustine forbad hunting and all worldly pleasures And Leo the Emperour Nullis Augustine Leo the Emperour volumus voluptatibus occupari Our will is No pleasures to be used as being the great obstructions to the spirituality of a Sabbath they discomposing the soul for sublime and heavenly intercourses to be spiritually raised and to be pleasurously 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Rev. 10. addicted on the Lords day being strange inconsistencies Recreations on the Sabbath they are too much the evidence of a formal spirit To the holy soul the Temple is his Triumph Prayers his pleasure Ordinances his delight the Sanctuary his satisfaction David counts one day in Gods Courts better then a thousand Flashy and frivolous Recreations Psal 84. 10. on a Lords day to a gracious spirit they are his little-ease and the clipping of his wing the Souls confinement and Psal 63. 2. restraint the Prison grate between him and Christ no way his Pleasure but his Purgatory and where they are received Psal 43. 4. with gratefulness and contentment they loudly Proclaime too much froth and vanity David danced at the enjoyment of Cant. 2. 4. the Ark but these leave the Ark to sport and dance 2 Sam. 6. 16. Recreations on the Lords day They are the debasements of spiritual mercies as if there were no captivating power in Divine Ordinances to hold the soul intent for a day no Psal 19. 10. Psal 42. 4. honey comb in the Word to please the taste no pleasing vent in prayer to ease and satisfie the Soul as if singing of Psalms made no musick and reading the Scriptures did yield no delight Ah with what patience and content did the Jewes hear the Law read in the time of Nehemiah The people stood Nehem 8. 7. in their place saith the Text quoted as if they were staked and fastened without any desire of removal Their serious attention chained them to their present station Paul preached Acts 20. 7. till midnight the sweet Oracles of God drowned all wearisomness and distaste Ordinances have a savour in them Rom. 3. 2. which refresh and raise the Saint and there is no need of carnal sports to wear off any tedious abhorrency To affect or use these pastimes on the Sabbath is to embase the value of Divine exercises and to charge holy duties with abortive Hos 9. 14. emptiness as if they were barren wombs and dry breasts Let the Umpirage in this case be referred to the holy Psalmist in the Text quoted in the Margin Psal 1. 2. Recreations on the Sabbath they are the spring of impertinent discourse which is expresly forbidden in the Text for saith the Text Nor speaking thy own words In our sports more especially Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak as our Saviour saith Sports are the very Mat. 12. 34. Malitiae sermonis sons est malitia cordis ex quo necessi est ejusmodi maledicta per os ebullire sicut ex faetido fonte non possunt nisi fatidae aquae per fâ—stulas effundi Par. Dr. B. Mark 6. 22. Mark 6. 27. James 3. 6. Peccatum quod alter incurrit operando tuum facis obloquendo fuel of vain and frothy discourse A holy man observes That some men they never make an end of their pleasures nor an end of talking and hearing of them their Hawkes are not only on their fists but on their tongues There are two things which spring a mine of impertinent discourse Feasts and Sports We may as well separate blackness from the cloud as frothy language from frothy pleasures Nay how often are pastimes stained with sinful protestations the fatal taking of Gods Name in vain nay with Execrations and Oaths the scum of Hell it self Where did Herod make his wretched promise which was died in the blood of the Baptist but at a dancing when Herodias her Daughters feet did not trip so much as Herods tongue And if at any time the tongue is set on fire of hell as the Apostle James speaks Games and Pastimes presently become the bellows to blow up the fire Sports are usually the tongues Courtizan to draw it to folly and wanton intemperance with frothy rejoycings and carnall triumphs nay heats and passions are mixt with our recreations and the tongue is to proclaim them The mirth which attends pastimes will not be cag'd up in the breast but will fly out inimpertinent and unsavory language How often in sports do we call our Brother fool and yet our Saviour Iracundiae litis vanitatis censurae verba a Satana procedunt et ad Satanam tendunt illic incipiunt et illic rapiunt Mat. 6. 22. Psal 39. 1. saith that very expression puts us in danger of hell fire And therefore let any serious Christian make his own conscience the Tribunal to which I dare appeal whether this flatulent and unseemly discourse the inseparable companion of Games and Pastimes be not a sinful undecency on Gods holy Sabbath and an opposition to the very Text surely then if ever with David we should take heed we offend not with our tongue Recreations on a Sabbath They are an indignity offered to the noble and precious soul Shall the body that mass and Isa 2. 22. pile of dust cemented onely with a little flying breath that Corpus est ergastulum animae Plato bag of flegm and cholar that prison of the soul as Plato used to call it enjoy the time of six whole dayes and the soul that piece of eternity in the bosome the breath of God the saving
fâ—rtior uâ—â— alâ—erâ— sed qui libidiâ—â—m repressi fâ—rtior â—at sâ—iâ—so Cypr. de bono Pudic. cause and needs not the supplement of another Advocate But if the whole day of a Sabbath must be spent with God in publick private or secret duties and in managing of the affairs of the soul which comes now to be provâ—d in this Chapter then the Argument for sports and pastimâ—s on the Lords day will lose its force and significancy And here I may begin the Argument with that sharp expostulation of Naamans Servant to Naaman himself What if God as he speaks of the Prophet had required some great thing of us would we not have done it What if God had It is most equal if man have 6 days that God should have the 7th and this is the reason the soul and life of the fourth Commandment Mr. Shep. required of us six dayes and given us onely one for our selves should we not have observed them Much more when he requireth but one day and giveth us six shall not we observe that Shall we abate God of the tale and measure of his time Shall the stream of time wherein we are commanded to worship God be so small and yet shall it be turned into several channels and diversions Reason it self here seems to condemn the straightness of our spirits but for the clearing of the Argument we will fetch our evidences from the treasuries of Scripture Reason and conveniency In the fourth Commandment which yet our Liturgie confesseth to be of equal obligation with the rest in praying for pardon for the breaches of it and begging grace for the better observance of it as was hinted before I say in this Commandment the initiatory and first words command Exod. 20. 8. the sanctification of a day not a part of a day or a few hours of a day for the words of the Statute run thus Deut. 5. 12. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy and it is very observable and not to be passed over with silence that Memento diei Sabbathi ut cum sanctifices inquit Dominus in quarto Praecepto Ad hoc recteintelligendum notandum est ex vi ipsius praecepti non aliquam partem diei sed totum diem esse Domino sanctificandum Wal. We are to account the sanctification of one day in a week a duty which Gods immutable Law doth Enact for ever Hooks Eccles Pol. Lib. 5. God would have at least one day in a week to be allowed him Ferus The Divine Law required that one day in a week should be sequestred for holy worship Bellar. de Cult Sanct. Lib. 3. Cap. II. 1 Kings 3. 26. Mat. 25. 24. God doth not onely command us to keep holy the Sabbath which might be a time indefinite and indeterminate but the Sabbath day which amply prescribes the time of observance A day no less then the time of a day it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jom Ha Sabbath the day of a Sabbath Now the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jom properly and usually signifies a full day unless it be figuratively and by way of Synechdoche it signifies sometimes time indefinite as Critiques in the holy tongue observe and so Gen. 1. 5. where it is said the Evening and the Morning was the first day there the word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jom and the day mentioned in this great Commandment must needs comprehend the space of twenty four hours nor do the Learned by their interpretations or glosses abreviate or shorten the time but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jom is a whole day by the confession of all Now shall God enjoyne the observation of a day and shall we mutilate it Shall we maime or curtaile it and take part of this holy day for our labours or recreations Surely this savours of too great presumption We must by Divine command keep holy a day not a part or piece of a day and therefore for us to say as the Harlot to Solomon in another case Let not God have the whole Sabbath nor let us have the whole Sabbath but let it be divided between his service and our sports what is this but with the unprofitable servant to call God hard Master and that his requiring a whole day was an act of too much austerity And as we have an Argument in the beginning of the fourth Commandment wherein God shews his Soveraignty so we may discern an Argument in the body of the Commandment wherein God shews his indulgence for in this fourth Commandment God allows us six dayes for labour Exod. 20. 8. but the seventh is to be a day of holy rest and observation Now the six dayes for labour are six full and whole dayes Naturale est diem septimum quemque deo sacrum esse Jun. Com. in Genes without any deduction or abatement Man may without regret on these six dayes pursue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those things which belong to this life as Chrysostome calls them He may go forth to his labour till the Evening as the Psalmist speaks nay if his strength still fail not he may draw the curtains Morale est ut ex septem diebus unus cultuâ— divino consecretur Armin. Disp 77. Chrysost Psal 104. 23. No man doubteth the meaning of these words six dayes shalt thou labour c. to be this That seeing God hath permitted us six dayes to do our works in we ought in the seventh wholly to serve him VVhitguift Defence of the Answ to the Adm. p. 553. Jam hinc ab initio doctrinam hanc insinuat Deus erudiens in circulo hebdomadae diem unum integrum segregandum et reponendum in spiritualem operatiâ—nem Chrysost 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Septimum diem non utilem deus putabat ad creandum sed ad quietem accommodandum statuâ—t Theod. quest in Genesin Perpetuum est ac aeternum quamdiu Ecclesia agit interris quòd unus dies in hebdomade cultui divino mancipetur hoc stabile firmum est Pet. Mart. loc Com. Aug Serm. de Temp. Requirit Deus quietem hanc corporis et cessâ—tioâ—em ab operibus non qualemeunque et dimidiatam sed justam plenam et exactâ—m i. e. proposito accommodam Musc Totus ergo dies ex toto ammo quantum fert humana necessitas et imbecillitas ritè ac piè Deo servandus erat Leid Prof. of the night and make a further progress into his toyle and painfulness and all this without blame and violation of the fourth Commandment Now shall not the seventh day be of as long continuance and duration as any of the other six Shall the day for Heaven be more contracted then the six dayes for Earth The day for spiritual rest shall it not be of an equall length with the dayes for secular labour Whence ariseth the inequality that the six dayes may be wholly employed in our worldly affairs but if part onely of the Lords day be spent in
Heaven and Princes in disguise those patterns Psal 16. 3. of piety have looked on the Sabbath as their Paradise where they could refresh their souls with variety of delights Nor have they complained that the wheels of time have been taken off that it hath moved slowly and drove heavily but have thought the evening of that blessed Sabbath Psal 84. 10. hath surprised them when they knew not how to give over their banqueting with Jesus Christ the Ordinances of Jesus Christ have not been their burden but their repast nor have they thought holy duties the waste but the improvement of their Sabbath There have been those who have spent divers dayes and nights also in the service of God Let us onely instance in Anna the Prophetess a widow of above fourscore and four Luke 2. 37. years old which departed not from the Temple but served God with fastings and prayers day and night for her Sex a woman for her case a widow not having the company nor support of her husband and for age eighty four years yet night and day with fasting and prayer serving God in the Temple And for such as are tyred out with the time of the Sabbath would they go to Heaven There it is ever Sabbath alwayes singing serving and setting up God Bernard urgeth Rev. 4 10 11. the observation of the Sabbath and holding out in holy exercises thereupon upon this account That by present rest Bern. Serm. 4. Col. 1744. men may learn to live in rest eternal and by persevering in service men may be prompt to perpetuate the Lords everlasting praise But how would men do to endure Heaven if here they cannot hold out the durance of a Sabbath day CHAP. VI. Impertinent and frothy Language unbecoming and defiling the Sabbath BUt God in the Text commands us not only to abstaine from unsuitable practices but unsuitable discourses on Gratia prudentiae caelitus datae reprimit in colloquiis piorum sermonem otiosum et inutilem funditus autem removet et tollit ab iiâ— improbum obscaenum et putridum sermònem Daven the holy Sabbath so the Text Not speaking thy own words The Sabbath may be polluted by the slipperiness of the tongue as well as by the sliding of the feet we may as well talk as act irregularly Holy Communication Col. 4. 6. becomes a holy Sabbath Our Sabbath is a sign of heaven and there as there shall be no irregular practice so no unseemly discourse and here we should endeavour to begin heaven Vain discourse on a Sabbath is like Musick at a suneral or sighs at a wedding which are not onely impertinent but unseemly It is a sign the World hath crept into our hearts if it creep out of our tongues on the blessed Sabbath The Sabbath hath its Shibboleth Is our frothy and Abstinendum est a vanis confabulationibus ridiculis nugosis detractoriis irrisoriis obscenis riâ—â—osis Sept. Psal 45. 1. loose language the fruit of those powerfull Ordinances and holy Administrations we enjoy on a Sabbath What a gulf do we shoot when we pass from holy prayers to unseemly pratlings from breathing out our souls in duty to breath out vanity in frothy Communications Nor will it be any excuse for us to the God of the Sabbath to spend part of it in discoursing of the flueâ—t gifts rare parts elegant passages of the Minister and to make himself not his Doctrine the subject to dilate upon Gods holy truth not the Ministers person or parts must take up our Sabbath discourses The tongue indeed is only the hearts interpreter and what frame of heart we should be of on a Sabbath is most easily conjectured surely then if ever our tongues should be as the pen of a ready writer The Emperour Leo would permit no talking of pleasures or worldly matters on a Lords day And Clemens Romanus prohibâ—it Sermonum vâ—nitatem et facetiâ—s so Clemens Romanus condemned all Jestings and facetiousness to tickle or delight the vanity of mens spirits Men by breaking jests should not break the Sabbath Dr. Ames observes there is nothing more fits and tunes the heart for Culius publicus quà m maximè solenniter est celebrandus et necessariò postulat exercitia colloquiorum sanctâ—rum et contemplation is operum diei quibus paratiores fiamus ad publicum cultum Ames Luk. 14. 1 2. Secundum membrum convivii Pharisaici est miraculosa sanatio hydropici Ipsum hoc miraculum de bonitate et potentiâ Christi idem docet quod reliqua omnia Chemnit publick service on a Sabbath then holy discourses we are more ready by them for spiritual Administrations Vain language sets the heart backward that it is not so intense in Sabbath performances Our Saviour who is our Copy without blot making a meal with a Pharisee on the Sabbath spent all his time either in healing or preaching in working miracles or speaking parableâ— which are those stars behind a cloud not a vain word drops from him Luke 14. 1 2 7. and surely in this particular our imitation is our holiness A holy man complained long since That many had made such proceedings in sin that when they should reckon with their souls they would reckon with their servants and when they should make even with their consciences they would make even with their Chapmen and yet perswade themselves of the small breaches of the Sabbath The Leiden professors make holy discourse one of the private Duties of a Sabbath and to omit it what is it but to maime and mutilate a Sabbath to loose a duty and to make a chasme and vacancy in the constant and continued Religion of a Sabbath And indeed if holy language be salt at any time it is more especially at the feast of a Sabbath The Psalmist in Psal 16. 4. Commands us not to take the Name of other Gods into our lips we must not onely not worship them but not name them So that there is irreligion Eccles 12. 10. in the tongue as well as in the knee and if ever sinfulness Non modo publice sed et privatim Sabbathum sanctis pietatis exercitiis celebretur qualia sunt Scripturae lectio et domestica meditatio colloquium de rebus sanctis Leid Prof. Col. 4. 6. Sicut Sal non modo exsiccat superfluos noxios ciborum humores sed focit illos insuper aptos ad digerendum salubres ad nutriendam Sic Sal prudentiae efficit non modo ut sermo Christianorum non sit otiosus aut noxius sed ut aptus fiat ac utilis ad aedifiâ—andum Daven Sermo noster opportunus esse debet eâ— comâ—iâ—â—us ut aâ—â—itores nobis gratias aganâ— â—t per nos adjuti sint Theoph. cleaves to the tongue it is in idlâ— and foolish talking on a Sabbath this indeed is the Fly in the ointment On that holy day we must not only abstain from secular works but secular words for
finds no Nausea or weariness but its motions are quicker and sweeter the nearer they come to the center As holy David who was much in Communion with God all his enjoyment of him did but set him more on longing nor did the Hart ever run so greedily to the waters as his soul panted after God Psal 42. 1 2. My soul longeth saith he but longings are onely Eccles 1. 1. Psal 42. 1 2. Judges 15. 18. in some cases Well then my soul thirsteth and thirst must be satisfied or else the thirsty person dies But secondly God promises Vbertatem facultatis abundance Prom. 2. Altitudines terrae sunt luera rerum blandimentâ— populorum sublimitas dignitatum abundantia opum Greg. Moral Mat. 6. 32. Sanchez Musc Marlorat Verum Augustâ— haec dei verbâ— promissa altius et augu lius quid spectant scil altitudines Coelorum Alap Altitudines terrae i. e. altitudines coelorum quae sunt terra sedes non morientium sed viventium Alap of Revenue so the Text I will cause thee to ride on the high places of the Earth It is very observable here how a temporal promise is clasped in the armes of two spiritual promises not as if the temporal promise was the evidence of greater love but because God will cast in temporal blessings as an overplus into the reward of obedience Sanchez takes these high places of the Earth mentioned in the Text for the abundance and plenty of earthly increases and saith the promise most properly belongs to the Jewes and to this opinion agrees both Museulus Marlorat and so the Septuagint interpret it and they say this speech alludes to the Mountanous Country of the Jewes which was abundant nay even luxuriant with Vines and Fruits so that the meaning of the promise may be That whosoever observes the Sabbath holily according to the prescribed directions they shall enjoy a richer and larger portion of outward things then the common lot of the world And this I suppose may be the meaning of this rare promise although others repine at the straightness of the exposition and will have some spiritual and more sublime thing included but leaving others to abound in their own sense I understand the promise of terrestrial enjoyments and so it is consonant to another Scripture of the like nature mentioned in Deut. 32. 13. So that he who observes the Sabbath God Deut. 32. 13. will not onely provide the banquet but fill the basket for him he shall not onely enjoy spiritual comforts but temporal good things the very fruitfulness of the Earth shall be his portion Obj. But here it may be objected that these promises mentioned in the Text they are made onely to the Jewes they Fateor haec alludi ad illud quod ait Moses ad Judaeos Deut. 32. 13. Alap are Israels monopoly and therefore they are no ground for Christians to build upon no promise for a Christian to act his faith upon suppose he observes Gods holy Sabbath with never so much severity and purity To which it may thus be replyed The Gospel is not barren of temporal promises to encourage Godliness a great part of which is the holy observation of the Sabbath Godliness hath the promise of the life that now 1 Tim. 4 8. is saith the Apostle The Gospel hath two breasts of Consolation the promise of things temporal and of things spiritual nay fuller breasts then the Law hath And though the high places mentioned in the Text may relate to the Vitae quae nunc est ut scil hic vitam pacatam longaevam et rebus omnibus necessariis instructum agamus mountanes of Judaea which were fruitful and feracious yet Sabbath-holiness being as grateful in Gospel times as formerly it falls under the promise of the things of this life which will rise as high as the mountanes of Judaea The things of this life mentioned by the Apostle in the forecited place taking in whatsoever may accomplish the happiness of this life in its most comprehensive circuit It is further Replyed If the holy observation of the Sabbath be not peculiar to the Jewes as most certainly it is not Then whatever promise may be made by way of encouragement The 20th of Exodus and the 12th vers let it be compared with the 6th of the Ephesians and the 3 d vers Where what is promised in the Law is likewise promised with enlargements in the Gospel Mat. 11. 30. Rev. 1. 10. cannot be peculiar to the Jewes The Duty and the Promise alwayes go together the Service and the Satisfaction It is very strange that God should leave us Christians the Duty and give them the Jewes the Promise we onely should act the toyle and they injoy the triumph how inconsistent is this with the easiness of Christs Yoak Christians if they act high duties they shall ride upon high places It must not be denyed if making the Sabbath our delight belong not to us neither do the high places of the Earth but who can rise to so great impudence as to deny the former And therefore if we must be in the spirit on the Lords day we must not be denyed to be the inheritours of the fatness of the Lords Earth Nay once more it is answered That the promises made to the Jewes were for the most part temporal and those made to Christians for the most part spiritual yet did not Deut. 30. 19. Isa 1. 9. 1 Tim. 6. 6. Magnum lucrum pietâ—s est affert secum quicquid homini satis est Maldon the Jewes temporal promises exclude spiritual nor the Christians spiritual promises exclude temporal but our obedience keeps the Key which opens to both promises to the Jew and to the Gentile and so in this particular case A holy deportment upon Gods blessed Sabbath must be the readiest way to make both Jew and Gentile happy and prosperous the one before the other since the coming of Jesus Christ And we must leave this rich promise in the Text to be the Crown of Sabbath holiness to the Saints under and after the Law But thirdly God promises ubertatem sanctitatis abundance Prom. 3. Tertium est hoc Sabbati deique cultus praemium q. d. Dabo tibi insignia illa bâ—na quae promisi Abrahae Isaaco et Jacobo scil delicias et divitias gratiae coelestis aâ— deinde gloriae et aeternae faelicitatis in â—â—lo Alap of spiritual grace so runs the Text And feed thee with the Heritage of Jacob thy Father Interpreters generally understand this promise of things spiritual and supernatural that the holy keeping of the Sabbath shall be crowned with the blessings of the upper springs with rich gifts heavenly graces with the riches of heaven with the treasures from the mines above Alludit ad terram Judaeis promissam quae praefigurabat sedem longe altiorem Sic cibabo illos epulis coeli saith holy Hierome He alludes to the promised Land of the
Jewes which onely typisied and prefigured a better Country a Country to come saith that excellent Father To the same purpose speaks Cyril and Procopius Those who conscienciously observe the Sabbath they shall have outward enjoyments and they shall be onely pledges of 1 Cor. 2. 9. Vides hîc ô Christiane quanta deus stâ—tuerit praemia misericordiae et pietati better enjoyments the pawns and earnests of enjoyments more glorious As if the Lord should say As I led Jacob from the temporal promise of an earthly Canaan to the promise of a heavenly so will I do with thee if thou observe my Sabbaths thou shalt have a Jacobs reward and what that is our Saviour instructs us Luk. 13. 28. where he saith Luke 13. 28. You shall see Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God Thus God he reduplicates his better promises on the heads of those who carefully keep his Gen. 25. 33. Gen. 22. 36. Gen. 32. 28. Sabbath they shall have the Heritage of Jacob who gained both the Birth-right and the Blessing they shall enjoy the Primogeniture the first born of Mercies nay Mercies with the Blessing with the Fathers Benediction too they shall succeed in Jacobs Heritage who was mighty and prevailed with God who foyled the Angel in his spiritual Combat and had the honour to have his Name and Cùm haec verba ex animo simulque oculos circumfero videoque quà m pauci sunt qui delectentur in Domino sabbatique c. Escucheon changed and into such a name as included the Name of God himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El being the close of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Israel and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 El is one of Gods own Titles And truly here we may take up the contemplation of a learned man who examining and surveying these pretious promises was taken with a great admiration that so few should act the Duty in the Text should be conscientious in Sabbath Observances Hoc lugendum est et magnoperè plangendum inquit Forerius perswading himself that the diviness of these promises might captivate the most refractory and disingenious and at last he concludes with moans that so few in the world should be taken with so rich a bait To which I shall only add we may here see how much infidelity influences the hearts of most for surely did we not look upon these rare promises as bonds without a seal the Revenue of them would bride us to the most accurate and spiritual observation of Gods holy day our reward would make the Sabbath our delight and the greatness of the gain would inforce Mat. 16. 8. us to attempt this excellent piece of godliness But the Quando doctrinam Christi intra animum non perpendimus nec ad praxinreducere nitimur ex hoc oritur occaecatio cordis et 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chemnit 1 Sam. 15. 29. world is fallen under the same rebukes as once the Disciples did O ye of little faith why reason you among your selves saith Christ why question you the publick faith of Heaven to the neglect of a duty so transcendently beneficial And in the conclusion of the whole Text we have the seal and confirmations of this Charter of blessings for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it and let us be fully assured with the greatest certainty that the strength of Israel will not lye nor repent for he is not a man that he should repent CHAP. IX The Doctrinal observation comprised in the Text propounded and proved HAving thus taken in pieces the Text by a large and copious explication I shall now set it together again in a solemn and serious observation viz. Doctr. That God hath lockt up many rich blessings in sweet and sure promises for those who spiritually and conscientiously observe his holy day Thus the Inventory in the Text presents us with delights for the inward man with supplies for the outward Isa 56. 2. with a reserve of happiness for them both Such shall succeed in the Heritage of Jacob who keep holily the Sabbath Now to Jacob God was his protection here and his portion hereafter There is no Duty wears a richer Crown in the performance of it then the serious observation of the Sabbath for besides the pleasures riches and grace promised in the Text the Lord Jer. 17. 24 25 26. gives Jer. 17. 24 25 26. us additional promises the words recorded in the Text quoted are these And it shall come to pass if ye diligently hearken to me saith the Lord to bring in no burdens through the Gates of this City on the Sabbath day but hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein then shall there enter into the Nota hunc locum pro cultu Sabbati apud Judaeos et diei dominicae apud Christianos Alap gates of this City Kings and Princes sitting upon the Throne of David riding in Chariots and on Horses they and their Princes the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and this City shall remain for ever and they shall come from the Cities of Judah and from the places about Jerusalem and from the Land of Benjamin and from the Plain and from the Mountanes and from the South bringing burnt Offerings and Sacrifices and Meat-offerings and Incense and bringing sacrifices of praise unto the house of the Lord. See in this Scripture in these two verses a heap of rich promises more valuable then a pile of Diamonds a mountane of Spices or a rock set with Pearls The promises clustered and piled up in these verses they are considerable in a five-fold notion They are full of pomp and splendour Kings entering into the Gates of the City Where the Sabbath is duly observed Prosperity shall guild that Nation their Princes shall be Pace gloriâ et vebus prosperis erunt affluentes Currus et equi sunt gloria regum Gen. 25. 27. Mat. 6. 29. resplendent their Nobles flourish their Potentates shine in the dazling rayes of glory such a people shall not onely succeed in the heritage of Jacob who dwelt in Tents but in the flourish of Solomon who dwelt in Palaces The holy keeping of the Sabbath sheds beams of honour and renown upon a Nation These promises they are full of largeness and amplitude they are not personal so much as national A good observation of the Sabbath can diffuse mercies scatter them up and Quum nihil aut parum esset praesidiiâ—â— urbe tuendâ et conservando regni statu Jeremias promisit tanquam singulare dei benefiâ—ium Reges fore stabiles cum suis proceribus et extendit Propheta fructum hujus promissionis ad totum corpus non tantùm ad proceres sed ad plebem tanquam sociam hujus benedictionis et gratiae dei Regnum erectum erit et totus populus cognoscet se agere sub fide et tutelâ Dei Calvin down a Land So the Text makes
Psal 4. 4 The second Duty preparatory to the Sabbath is holy Meditation We must meditate on those things which may quicken grace in our hearts First As chiefly upon the greatness holiness and infinite Majesty of the Lord before whom we are to appear Sit et nobis parasceue non tantùm qâ—ae domos sed quae animos ad sacra festa peragenda praeparet Musc Gen. 41. 14 the approaching Sabbath and to present our selves when the light of the day cometh this will certainly move and stir up spiritual devotion and affection as we see by experience in worldly things how carefull we are to trimme and fit our selves when we are to go to an earthly King or some great Nobles And in the next place let us meditate what holiness and purity especially of heart and soul is required in using the Lev. 20. 7. 1 Pet. 1. 15 16. holy Ordinanoes of God and in approaching near to him And that Holiness which becomes the blessed Sabbath and the Ordinances of it is the putting on humility mercy Humilitas primum medium ultimum in Scholâ Christi Alap meekness and all other affections and departing from all iniquity 2 Tim. 2. 19. It is the Image of Christ in the New Creature which is created after God in Righteousness and Holiness Eph. 4. 24. This is the embroydery we are to Eph. 4. 24. wear when we meet with the King of Saints on his own day Rev. 15. 3. We are to meditate on those Scriptures which require holy preparation as Eccles 5. 1. which shews Gods anger against such who approach his presence in an unprepared frame Eccles 5. 1. Mat. 22. 12. The wise Virgins trimmed their lamps before they entered the Bride-Chamber and we must trimme our Mat. 22. 12. selves before we enter the Presence-Chamber upon the solemn day of his appearance God disgusts mans regardlesness Mat. 25. 7. and a curious plaiting of the soul pleases our Beloved The harder our labour is to fit our selves for Gods presence the sweeter will our wages be in the influences of that presence Let us meditate on that whereof the Sabbath is a signe and a pledge viz. Our resurrection to Eternal Life and to the Eternal Rest of Glory in Heaven in the fight and fruition of God whom none can see without holiness And Tertiam requiem notat Atostolus Heb. 4. 7. quae per duas praecedentes scil per requiem Sabbati et requiem in Canaan anagogicè fuerit significata quam nobis praestat Jesus Christus Heb. 12. 14. Heb. 12. 2. this will be most powerfull to stir up spiritual affection and to quicken Grace in our hearts Our life should be a continual preparation for our Eternal Sabbath and some time should be granted for a temporary preparation for our weekly Sabbath we should be very active in this work and despise the toyle and trouble looking to the joy that is set before us whereof the weekly Sabbath is to every Saint a happy Harbinger Thirdly Our third Duty which must precede the holy observation of the Sabbath is self examination and this is two fold First External We must reflect back upon the past week and review our Erratas sin before must be found out least we come to Sabbath-work with week-day guilt On the Saturday in the Evening we must cast up our spiritual accounts and when we have found the Jonah cast him over-board Jon. 1. 15. by holy faith and serious repentance It is very unseemly to keep a Sabbath with our filthy Garments with Zach. 3. 4. unwashen hearts with untuned tongues with untamenting eyes with unrepented sins When Joseph was to come into Gen. 41. 14. the presence of Pharaoh he shaved himself and changed his rayment and came in to Pharaoh And shall not we throw off our sinfull incumberances and put off our prison clothes our noysome irregularities by diligent search and holy repentance when the day draws on and we are to come into the Effunde cortuum sicut aquâ—m coram facie Domini extolle ad eum manus tuas pro remedio peccatorum tuorum accipe igitur lamentum Hier. presence of the great God Our memories should be the surveyours to view and our consciences the secretaries to set down our hearts the mourners to lament the sins of the week that Christ would bring his spunge to blot them out before Gods holy day comes upon us It is observable those herbs rise high in the Summer time that in the Winter shrink lowest in the ground and those hearts that in the week-time are laid lowest they rise highest upon the Sabbath day There must be soul-humblings for the daily trespasses of the week else the day of Gods service comes but we cannot comfortably and confidently serve God on that day especially if any fouler spot hath deformed any day of Josh 24. 19. the week Secondly But there must be an inward examination as well as an outward a search into our thoughts our desires our delights our dispositions what they have been the foregoing week we must examine the passages of our souls how it hath fared with the inward man The Psalmist commands heart communion a serious discourse concerning the Psal 4. 4. behaviours of the heart As the Shop-keeper casts up his Ex corde vita et actio procedit accounts not onely concerning his debts abroad but his wares at home He turns every piece in the chest to see how it goes with his estate We must dive into our souls and see what growth of grace what decays of corruption what ornaments and additional beauty we have gained all the week before whether Christ hath given us new bracelets Ezek. 16. 11. Armillae significant nihil indecorum esse agendum sed manus i. e. opera debere esse decora Orig. and Jewels superadded grace or whether we are more wrinckled in the complexion of our souls and look more like to the old man Holy Master Greenham sends us to civil and wordly wisdome for the practise of this duty We see saith he worldly thriving men if not every day yet at least once in the week they search their books cast up their accounts confer their expences with their gain and make even their reckonings whereby they may see whether they have gained Eph. 4. 22. or lost whether they are beforehand or come short and shall Mr. Greenh not we much more once a week at least call our selves to a reckning by examination what hath gone from us what hath come towards us how we have gone forward or backward in godliness that if we have holy increases we may then give thanks to God and if we have come short to travel with our selves the more earnestly to recover our former loss In a word the impartial survey of our inward man will necessarily lead us to a more profitable observation of Gods holy day seeing those wants will be
must meet with Christ at a Sacrament A contrite heart is the fittest company for a Crucified Saviour Eph. 5. 19. In singing of Psalms there must be holy joy we must make August in lib. confes Deplorat dolet qâ—â—d concentibus musiâ—is plus attentionis adhibuit quà m quae sub illâ—s profâ—rebâ—ntur Zanch. melody in our hearts Holy affection must make the reading of the Word savoury and saving to us The Sabbath then without we act our Graces on God on Christ on the Word and in the Ordinances is onely a day of theatrical shews and spiritual pegeantries which when it is over leaves the soul empty of any purchase or satisfaction And if so many graces must be drawn out into act we had need take the wings of the morning and speed to our Sabbath employments which are so numerous and important There are many faculties and parts to employ on the Sabbath All that is within us and all that is without us must serve and praise the Lord every part of our bodies and Psal 109. 30. every faculty of our souls the whole man is but a reasonable Rom. 12. 1. sacrifice to be offered this holy festival First Our outward man the tongue must be employed in prayer the ear in attention the heart in devotion the eye in speculation the knee in submission And Secondly Our inward man the understanding must be improved to drink in truth the will to entertain truth the Recta ratio dictat deum magâ—â— interna fide spe pietate amore et puritate mentis quà m externis corporis ceremoniis colendum esse Alap memory to retain and record truth and our affections have a three-fold office First To espouse the Word by receiving it in the love thereof 2 Thes 2. 10. A careful attention opens the door to 2 Thes 2. 10. the word but a lively affection opens the heart to the word The preaching of the Gospel layes a treble injunction upon us 1. To receive it 2. To love it 3. To live in it But the Second office of our affections is to heat our prayers it is love makes that sacrifice to smoak and flame And James 5. 16. Thirdly To scale Heaven in longing for a better Sabbath more durable more sweet more full and superlative Psal 63. 1. There are many persons to converse withall on the Lords day First We must converse with God The Sabbath is called the Lords day not onely as it is the commemoration of Rev. 1. 10. his glorious resurrection and his appointment and institution but likewise because our business is with him on that day then more especially our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ Our praying on a Sabbath 1 Joh. 1. 3. is the pouring out of our souls into Gods bosome our In Patrea et in Christo sunt omnia verae ecclesiae bona Zanch. hearing is onely receiving and being acquainted with Gods mind in Ordinances we wait upon God in the Sacrament we feed upon Christ in our Services we do homage to God in our Praises we pay tribute to God The Sabbath is the souls meeting day with God its spiritual Mart in which it traficks and drives its trade with Heaven Take away God from a Sabbath and the Ordinances are dry and parcht duties are heartless and unprofitable the Sanctuary is filled with emptiness the people and professors hunt after a Isa 55. 2. shadow and at last shall catch that which is not bread All our addresses on this holy day are to God our delights are in God our expectations are from God our fellowship and sweet communion is with God and therefore holy David Psal 63. 2. speaks of Gods Power and Glory in the Sanctuâ—ry and makes its only request to behold the beauty of the Lord in the Temple Psal 27. 4. and magnifies a dayes opportunity in Gods house The Psal 84. 10. Spouse enquires where Christ feedeth and where he makes his Can. 1. 7. flock to rest at noon Our great and principal business is with God on the Sabbath Secondly We must converse with the Ministers of God they are on this day the stars to guide us Rev. 1. 10. they Rev. 1. 10. are the Stewards to provide for us and give us our meat in due season Luk. 12. 42. 1 Cor. 4. 1. 1 Pet. 4. 10. they Luke 12. 42. are the salt to season us Mat. 5. 13. they are the wise Duo docet Apostolus unum communionem cum Apostolis ideòq eorum Doctrinam eô spectare ut omnes unum fiamus cum Christo ejus Patre Zanch. 1 Cor. 3. 10. Mal. 2. 7. builders to edifie us in the increases of God their lips preserve knowledge their feet appear beautifull in bringing the glad-tidings of Peace their voice is sweet to the hungry soul On the Sabbath we must wait on the Ministry of Gods faithfull Ambassadors Thirdly We must converse with the Saints of God on his holy day then Gods people must gather together and pursue Rom. 10. 15. a joynt interest Publick Assemblies adorn the Sabbath Cant. 2. 14. Grapes are best in clusters There are many strings to the 2 Cor. 5. 20. Lute which is the sweetest Instrument Flocks are most pleasant when gathered together in one company and Armies most puissant when kept in a body their dissipation is both their rout and ruine Christs sheep must flock together Suggerit Apost constantiae admâ—nicula Primò Vtament et diligenter frequentent caetus Ecclesiasticos Secundò Vt se mutuò ad veritatem tuendam cohortationibus excitent maxime qui firmiores sunt infirmiores juvent confirment et hortentur ad constantiam in fide Deus enim publicis presentiam suam et eruditionem promisit In Ecclesiae congressiâ—us doctrina fidei reperitur et declaratur ad singulorum aedificationem et preces pro constantid publicè funduntur ad deum quas juxta promissionem exaudit Par. on Christs holy day Paraeus gives us four solid Reasons for it which I shall mention for their substantial worth First The Congregating of Gods people especially on the Lords day is the soder of unity like many stones so artificially laid that they appear all but one stone Every Congregation is a little body whereof Christ is the head Vnity is the strength and beauty of the Saints nothing so preserves it as frequent and holy Assemblings Secondly It is the preservative of love Many sticks put together kindle a flame and make a â—laze Frequent visits multiply friendships In Heaven where all the glorified Saints meet together how ardent is their love Absence and seldome associations beget strangeness as between God and us so between one another To meet to worship the same God is the best way to attain to the same heart like the Primitive Saints who were all of one company and all of one mind Acts 2. 46. Acts 2.
and season for spiritual communications between Christ and the Spouse But now the main Query will be what are those duties which are incumbent upon us on the morning of a Sabbath To Reply therefore to this Query I shall instance first in Meditation Meditation is the souls flight towards Heaven and therefore it had need take the wings of Psal 139. 9. the morning When thou hast broken thy sleep begin the Sabbath with holy Meditation that is the morning sacrifices of the mind CHAP. XIV The Benefits and Excellency of Holy Meditation MEditation is a most notable piece of Gods service the very life and strength of all other Duties and without which all duties are infeebled full of weakness and infirmity Meditatio est nutrix orationis Ger. Meditation is the Nurse which feeds our prayers it is the Nail which fastens the Word it is one hand that puts on the wedding Garment to fit us for the supper of the Lord. Meditation it is the spiritual silk-worm which works 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 haec cura haec satage his juge studium et corporis et animae vires impende et intende rare and curious silk rich goods out of its own bowels It is the travel of the understanding the souls Hue and Cry after Divine things it is the fixing of the heart upon God or some thing of God it is the stop and pause of the mind from the impertinent wandrings and rovings of it In a word Meditation is the randezvous and trooping together of the thoughts in some spiritual matter as Sun-beams are Psal 119. 15. gathered together in a burning glass If we meditate upon the Word or any truth therein then our thoughts flock together 1 Tim. 4. 15. and center in the divine truth in this spiritual object Now for the canvasing of this Excellent Duty I shall briefly open what may conduce to the fullest discovery of it First Let us view Meditation in the nature of it and it may be thus described It is the souls retiring of it self that Quatuor tibi meditanda reor quae sub te quae circate quae supra te et teipsum a te meditatio inchoet ne frustrà extendaris in alia te neglecto Quid tibi prodest si universum mundum luereris si teipsum perdas Et si sapiens sis c. Bernard Consid ad Eugenium Mr. Greenham in his tract of meditation by a serious and solemn thinking upon God or some thing divine the heart may be raised up to heavenly affections Some refer this holy duty chiefly to the understanding but others draw it nearer to the memory as one describes Meditation thus That it is the exercise of the mind whereby we calling our selves to remembrance that which we know we do further debate of it with our own souls reasoning about it and applying it to our selves that we may make use of it in our practice and so it frameth our affections accordingly Holy Greenham observes in Meditation two parts of the soul are busied First The Memory remembring some thing heard or read Secondly The understanding gathering some thing upon that which is remembred Now First Meditation is a retired duty A Christian when he Meditation a retired duty goes to meditate he must seclude himself from the World the affairs of this life make so much noyse that they drowne the sweet though secret musick of meditation Holy Isaac Mat. 14. 23. retires into the field to meditate there must be a necessary sequestration Gen. 24. 63. of our selves from every impertinent and intruding object if we will pursue this holy service of Meditation this duty is chamber nay closet practice The sweet Manna the soul feeds upon when there is no spectator of its banquet When Zacheus would see Christ he climbs Luke 19. 3 4. up into the Sycamore tree to see him so when we would see God we must get out of the croud of worldly business Si sapiens sis deest tibi ad sapientiam si tibi non fueris Quantum verò Noveris licet omnia mysteria noveris lata terrae alta coeli et profunda maris si temetipsum non noveris eris similis aedificanti sine fundamento ruinam non structuram faciens Bern. we must climb up into the tree by retiredness of Meditation St. Bernard when he came to the Church door he used to say Stay here all my worldly thoughts that I may converse with God in the Temple so say to thy self I am now going to meditate O all ye vain thoughts stay behind come not near When thou ascendest the mount of meditation take heed that the world do not follow thee at thy heels Indeed meditation is an inward and secret duty the soul retires its self into the closet and bids farewell to all impertinent extravagancies which may discompose its privacy and takes a view of those things which are within its self Meditation is an invisible duty to the eye of the world and therefore carnal men do relish it Meditation is a Serious Duty and it is one of the noblest works a Christian can perform Reason then is in its exaltation When the soul doth meditate it puts forth the Meditation is a serious duty most judicious and rational acts then is the soul most like to God who spends eternity in contemplating his own essence Psal 77. 12. and glorious attributes When the Christian meditates he practices an imitation of Divine Majesty 1 Tim. 4. 15. Meditation is a sublime Duty It is an exercise of the understanding it is not a duty in which we converse with Qualis illic coelestium regnorum voluptas sine timore moriendi cum aeternitate vivendi Cypr. drossie things meditation properly sets upon spiritual things upon spiritual objects spiritual truths spiritual doctrines David meditates on Gods Law Meditation pitches upon the joyes of Heaven the great account man must give the defiling nature of sin the extremities of hell and on objects of the like nature Psal 119. 97. Meditation a sublime duty Meditation is a fixed duty It is not a cursory work Mans thoughts naturally labour with a great inconsistency but meditation chains them and fastens them upon some spiritual object The Soul when it meditates layes a command Meditation a fixed duty Josh 1. 8. mand on it self that the thoughts which are otherwise flitting and feathery should fix upon its object and so this duty is very advantagious As we know a Garden which is watered with suddain showers is more uncertain in its fruit then when it is refreshed with a constant stream so when our thoughts are some times on good things and then run off when they onely take a glance of a holy object and then flit away there is not so much fruit brought into the soul In meditation then there must be a fixing of the heart upon the object a steeping the thoughts as holy
saepius nobis accidit ut quae omnium optime addicisse videmur quando ad rem ventum est ignoremus Ger. Gen. 19. 3. to aggravate our condemnation Memory is onely the registring of a truth but meditation is the learning of it by heart memory opens the door to entertain spiritual knowledge but meditation it locks the door upon that discovery It will not let it fly out again Meditation like Lot is importunate that holy truths like welcomed Angels lodge with us The meditation of any thing hath more sweetness in it then bare remembrance The memory is the chest to lay up a truth but meditation is the palate to feed upon it The memory is like the Ark in which the Manna was laid up Meditation is like Israels eating of the Manna When David began to Psal 63. 5 6. meditate upon God it was sweet to him as marrow There is as much difference between a truth remembred and a truth meditated on as between a cordial in the glass and a cordial drank down The next thing considerable in this excellent duty of meditation is the timing of it how much how often how long we must meditate Indeed the Scripture doth not positively Requiritur animus memor vigilans qui dies noctes de praeceptis servandis cogitet Ger. determine any set time for this holy service Our chief Pilots and Guides is this main importance must be spiritual prudence and divine affection Our wisdome must select and our love must limit the time for sweet meditation Indeed some of Gods holy people have taken long Journies in this holy duty David tells us that he spent the whole day in it Psal 119. 97. Nay he mentions a Godly man Psal 119. 97. who when the day was shut in would not call off his soul from this blessed service as being tired and wearied but would travel all night in the same complacential performance But leaving these extraordinary examples we may Psal 1. â— certainly and truly conclude that we must consecrate some part of our time every day to this duty of meditation David though he had the business of a Kingdome and the pleasures of a Court to divert him yet saith of the Law it was his meditation all the day and in this evidences the excellent Psal 119 97. disposition of his soul Truly frequency in this duty is not onely praise-worthy but will bring in a harvest of spiritual gain By frequency we shall make our thoughts more plyable for the discharge of this secret and difficult duty the soul will be made more apposite and accommodate for it Frequent and customary running maketh a person long breathed and more able for exercise when we use this duty of Meditation every day our thoughts will be more consistent they Hos 6. 3. will be more improved and ripened for meditation And on the contrary when we neglect the frequent use of it we shall find meditation first more unpleasant and then more unnecessary and at last more distastfull and burthensome Disuse quickly brings holy duties into disgust The interruption in and infrequency of this duty will hinder the fruits of it when there are long strides between the performances of this duty we lose the benefit of former meditations As in the body when a man makes a free and liberal meal this will not maintane and support him long Panem petimus quotidianum quo quotidiè indigemus quique quotidiè nobis frugalitèr alendis sufficiat Par. but the next day a new and fresh hunger importunes another meal and if denyed the body faints and languisheth So meditation like food it must be our daily repast else the refreshing of former meditations wear out and leave no fruit or benefit behind When the Hen leaves her Eggs for a long time and doth not sit upon them they are unfit for production and never are reared to be Chickens but when she daily broods upon them they are living and lively productions So when we leave our wonted course of meditation for some space of time our affections grow chill and cold and are not fit to produce comfort and holiness to our souls when we are constant in this work we shall find the benefit and advantage of it Quest But if it be demanded how long we must continue in this duty of meditation Answ It may be answered so long till meditation bring forth some considerable benefit till it stir up our affections warm Domine nunqâ—om à te absque te recedam Bern. our hearts and tune our inward man till we find some sensible change and transformation in our souls Indeed nature disrelisheth this duty and we are very apt to be soon weary of it Our thoughts are like a bird in a Cage which flutters the more when confined and meditation fastens and confines them to some spiritual object But the distasts of nature to this duty should make us not more weary but much more vigorous As when the wood is green or wet we do not throw down the bellows in a pet or anger but we spend more time and draw out more strength in the blowing and in so doing there first riseth some smoak then some sparkes and by going forward at last it breaks into a hot and bright flame And so it is with the duty of divine meditation when we first meditate on spiritual things at first we raise a smoak of a few sighs towards God and by continuance sparkes of holy affections fly up heaven-ward Gen. 8. 21. but at last there is a flame of seraphical loves the soul is in an extasie with Jesus Christ Now we should not give over In phrasi hac primò est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tribuiturque deo quod proprium est hominibus Secundò est metaphora sicut homines odoribus gratis suaviter officiuntur it a deus delectatur file gratitudine Noah Par. in Genes meditating till this flame break out and ascend up towards God as Noah's sacrifice with a sweet smelling savour to the Divine Majesty When a man goes forth in a calm and serene evening and views the face of the Heavens he shall at first see a star or two twinckle and peep forth but if he continues his prospect both their luster and their number is increased and at last the whole Heavens are bespangled with stars So when we first meditate upon the promises of the Gospel at first it may be one star begins to appear a little light conveighs it self to the heart but let us go forward and we shall find when our thoughts are amplified and ripened there will be a clear light more satisfaction will be conveyed to the Soul and in continuance of these divine meditations the Covenant of Grace will be bespangled with promises as the Heavens with stars to give us rich and full satisfaction But there are some signal and special seasons for the acting of this duty of meditation Sometimes our
did so love the very nature of his Elect that though for the present he had them not all with him in heaven yet he must have their picture in his Son to see them in and to love them in O let us meditate much on this admirable strain of love till it melt our hearts Luk. 24. 32. Zach. 12. 10. Isa 53. 2 3. and make them burn within us Thirdly From the incarnation of our Saviour we may trace him through the several passages of his life to his death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and passion and here with an eye of faith look upon him whom we have pierced and view that man of sorrows suffering 1 Pet. 2. 24. bleeding dying on that tree of shame and ignominy there we may dwell upon the death of Christ till it put life into our dead hearts and then let us follow Christ in our meditations from the Cross to the Sepulcher and by the way ponder deeply of the severity of Divine Justice of the sinfulness of sin of the inexpressible love of Christ and the rare worth of souls which are not redeemed with corruptible 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. things as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ as a lamb without blemish and spot 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. Acts 20. 7. And why did the primitive Saints sacramentally shew forth the Lords death on the Lords day Acts 20. 7. but to signifie to us that to contemplate and commemorate the death of Christ is a special duty of that day But a little more distinctly to supply our meditations on this glorious subject Let us meditate on the Author of our Redemption he that carried it on from the first to the last Let us contemplate Mat. 3. 17. Hag. 2. 7. Isa 29. 19. Promissiones in Christo constantes et veracâ—s sunt in eoque impletae sunt Alap on our dear Redeemer He is the Son of God the wonder of Angels the desire of Nations the joy of Saints All the prophesies of old were fulfilled in him Luk. 24. 27. All the favours of God are conveyed to us by him Eph. 1. 4 5 6 7. All the types of the Law were the shadow of him Col. 2. 17. Heb. 10. 1. Nay all the promises of the Gospel are yea and Amen in him 2 Cor. 1. 20. Let us meditate on his person it is altogether lovely Cant. 5. 16. Let us meditate on his natures The Creatour and the Creature never met in any but in him such a person 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God-Man Joh. 4. 19. Rev. 15. 3. Heb. 9. 28. Heb. 4. 15. 1 Tim. 1. 15. never was nor never will be in the world besides him Let us meditate on his offices they are necessary and glorious Let us meditate on his behaviours they are spotless and fructiferous Let us meditate on his designs they are affectionate stupendous Let us meditate on the objects of redemption viz. Gods Elect a company of poor helpless succourless sinners Isa 29. 22. whom God out of eternal pity hath designed for himself to be ransomed by the blood of his dearly beloved These redeemed ones are sometimes called his people Luk. 1. 68. Peculium hebraicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peculium selectum thesauros pretiosiores et charos significat Hieron Chaldaeus vertit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Syrus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 novum populum Exod. 28. 29. sometimes his Israel Luk. 24. 21. sometimes his peculiar people Tit. 2. 14. sometimes his treasure as Hierom observes his New people as the Syriack translation renders it There are a few scattered up and down in the world in all places in all times and in all ages whom God set his heart upon from everlasting and Christ leaves heaven and is incarnate to purchase and redeem these scattered ones Aaron was to have the twelve Tribes engraven on his breast-plate and to bear them before God when he was to go into the holy place Exod. 28. 29. Our dear Redeemer whom Aaron was onely to typifie did bear the names of his Israel upon his heart when he did sacrifice himself to divine justice upon his shamefull but fruitful Cross Let us meditate on the price of our Redemption And here as the Apostle speaks we must conceive We are not Redeemed 1 Pet. 1. 18 19. with corruptible things as silver and gold but with 1 Cor. 6 20. the precious blood of Jesus Christ Tears not treasure Col. 1. 14. not silver but sighs not full coffers but emptied veins were Agnosce ô homo quam gravia sunt vulnera pro quibus necesse est filium dei vulnerari Bern. the price of our redemption Eph. 1. 7. All the mines in the world could not have purchased the life of one soul for as the Psalmist speaketh Ps 49. 8. The redemption of the soul is precious Nothing but precious blood could redeem the precious soul our sinfull wounds are onely healed by Christ's sacred wound we are cured by stripes Christs chastisements are our peace Our Olive leaf is dipt in blood Christ trod Isa 53. 5. the wine-press alone and his garments were sprinkled with blood Isa 63. 3. There are four wayes by which the Isa 63. 9. Isa 63. 3. Rev. 5. 9. redeemed person attains his freedom 1. When the Captive is freely manumitted and let go without price or ransom But this is not our case for neither would Satan have ever dismissed us from his thraldome of his own accord and freely nor yet our sin would leave us freely and spontaneously it stuck so close to us When the Captive is freed by way of exchange Nor is this our condition what bartery could we make with God to Quorundum permutatione fieri potest omnium electorum redemptio Gravius est peccatum quà m ut ullâ permutatione puraealicujus creaturae tolli et ita captivum redimi potest Zanch. purchase our freedom Could the Elect be redeemed by their own sweat or services or by the sacrificing of the purest Creatures This is no way proportionable to divine justice which we have provoked these means are too weak to file off our chains Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams saith the Prophet or with ten thousand rivers of Oyl which yet is impossible or shall I give my first-born for my transgression or the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul Mic. 6. 7. Observe in this Text of Scripture here is offered all varieties of creature-contributions for mans redemption Here are inanimate creatures offered ten thousand rivers of oyl here are irrational creatures made proffer of thousands Mic. 6. 7. of Rams nay here rational creatures are tender'd the fruit of our bodys nay further here are the most beloved creatures frankly and pathetically presented for an oblation our first-born the heirs both of our love and revenue and yet all this to no purpose All these great offers can contribute nothing to our
And though his Throne is as high as heaven he seeth what is done below Thirdly God is present every where by his supporting 3. Per Suflentationem power he upholds all things the whole Axle-tree of the Greation would soon yield and sink under its weight was it not sustained by the power of the Almighty Fourthly God is present every where by his Government 4. Per Dominium He rules all things Angels and Men are his subordinate officers the Sun and Moon are those lamps he sets up to rule both day and night But Secondly There is a special presence of God his gracious presence whereby he manifests himself to his people which likewise is three-fold First This presence is evidenced in some visible and standing Exod. 13. 21. tokens as in those extraordinary the pillars of the cloud Exod. 25. 10. and of the fire and in those ordinary the Ark and the Temple 1 Kings 8. 11. of old and the Ordinances of the Gospel now Secondly In some inward influences and irradiations upon the hearts of his hidden and holy ones Thirdly In some signal effects in conducting leading and covering his people in times of danger and peril Exod. 33. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my face faith the Original my self saith the Exod. 33 4 Septuagint shall go before you Now we should meditate on the presence of God in every distinction and this would not only supply our thoughts but direct our words for God hath many eyes upon us First God hath an eye of observation and inspection God seeth with what uprightness and sincerity we run through Jer. 16. 17. our duties Jer. 16. 17. God eyes and takes notice of all our Mal. 1. 14. services and all our sacrifices whether we offer up to him the Male of our flock or no whether we are singing or hearing or praying or reading the eye of the Lord is upon us Preces non tam verbis quà m animo aestimantur Lyser He takes exact notice with what frame of heart our performances are managed whether slothfully or spiritually whether heavily or of a willing mind Secondly God hath an eye of favour and benediction Gods eye can convey a blessing as well as his band and his eye can speak his good will as well as his heart 2 Chron. 7. Jer. 24. 6. 1 Kings 9. 3. 2 Chron. 7. 16. Psal 101. 6. Psal 30. 7. 16. Psal 101. 6. Gods eye is in his house of prayer to approve and bless us if we sanctifie his Name in holy Ordinances we should then be accurate and exact in Sabbath observation for Gods eye is fixed upon us and he will not turn it aside nor lies it within the verge of humane artifice to cast a mist before it Thirdly God hath an eye of anger indignation Gods looks Isa 66. 4. sometimes speak his Anger as well as his Blows Job 16. 9. Isa 1. 26. His fury is visible by his frowas Gods sight can wound Christus iratus hostes ut ignis paleas consumit as deeply as his sword Amos 9. 4. God seems sometimes to stab to the heart by the glance of his eye And if we wait on God irreverently worship him carelesly and prophane his day Ezek. 22. 26 and 31. either by corporal labour or by spiritual idleness we may justly expect to be blasted by an eye of divine fury and displeasure Dan. 10. 6. pleasure Christ whose eyes are as a flame of fire Rev. 1. Psal 13. 2. 14. walks in the midst of his Golden Candlesticks throughout the world He observes how holy duties are performed and how his holy day is sanctified he is in the midst of our Assemblies to behold our inward and outward carriage in his Courts he goeth down into his Garden of nuts to see Hortus nucum sunt corda sanctorum et quideum valdè diligunt coelestem dulcedinem in intimis gerunt Del Rio. the fruits of the valley Cant. 6. 11. He seeth the rotten bough of hypocrisie the bare leaves of an empty profession without the answerable fruits of a holy conversation and looks on these disappointments with fury and indignation In a word this presence this eye of God must be thought of and meditated on upon the morning of a Sabbath and it will be a good preparatory to the subsequent duties of the whole day CHAP. XXIII We must not onely meditate on the God of the Sabbath but on the Sabbath of God in the morning of his holy day HAving thus far treated on the first glorious object of our Sabbath meditations viz. Tbe God of the Sabbath Gen. 24. 63. Paradisus est locus beatorum locus nobilior et eminentior Alap I now come to the second head of meditation viz. The Sabbath of God and here is fair Champian for meditation to travel over Indeed the Sabbath is a garden for meditation to walk in it is like Isaac's field into which he went to meditate it cannot but be an inferiour Paradise for meditation to delight it self in and to open our way into this Paradise where there is no flaming sword to keep us out Gen. 3. 24. We will first cast our tye on the several ends of the Sabbath God hath many rare and sacred ends in giving us this seventh part of every week for converse with his divine self and for transacting the affairs and concernments of Eternity There is a general and universal end of the Sabbath Creatio estopus mirandum et stupendum Dr. Jun. which refers to all mankind and relates not particularly either to the Jewish or to the Christian Church viz. To preserve the memory of the glorious work of the Creation And indeed this work was most illustrious and in it many things were discovered Psal 90. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philos First Gods Eternity who was before all things Psal 90. 2. Yea before time it self in which all things were created Secondly In the work of Creation we may take notice of the Self-being of God who being before all things gives being to all things and must necessarily be of himself Thirdly In this great work we may discern the overflowing Isa 37. 16. Isa 40. 28. Isa 45. 12 18. Isa 51. 13. Jer. 14. 22. Jer. 27. 5. Jer. â—2 17. Jon. 1. 9. Rev. 4. 11. Psal 33. 6 9. bounty of God for nothing could move him to create a world but his own goodness that there might be a Cistern to receive the sheddings of an overflowing fountain besides how hath God furnished and stored the world with all variety of furniture for the use of his Vice-Roy Man Fourthly In this stupendous work of the Creation we cannot but acknowledge Gods infinite power who by his word alone created the vast bodies of the Heavens and the Earth and all the numerous host of them Fifthly In this miraculous work we may admire his Inter omnia beneficia dei
a pleasant thing to behold the Sun Eccl. 11. 7. because it will not meet with its last setting till the consummation of the world Gold it self is despicable because corruptible 1 Pet. 1. 18. Duration is the excellency of every good thing that which makes grace it self look so lovely and beautiful it is because it cannot faint away it is as immortal as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isid Pelus soul it enricheth this sets off its comeliness it cannot lose its beauty Cant. 8. 7. But to return to our Christian Sabbath It therefore differs from and hath the preheminence over the Sabbath of the Jews because it walks over its grave and will survive till all Gospel Institutions shall cease and our weekly Jubilees shall be turned into eternal triumph CHAP. XXV The Comparison of the Christians Sabbath here with his Eternal Sabbatism or Rest above AND that the joy of meditation may be full and may be wholly indefective in suitable objects to prey upon on Gods holy day especially in the morning so far as time and convenience will permit Let meditation look forward Dies Dominica est imago venturi seculi et assidua commotione vitae illius nunquam desiturae non negligimus ad eam demigrationem viaticum parore Bas or rather upward and observe what proportion our Sabbath here bears with our Sabbath above This pleasing task will cause meditation to renew its strength like an Eagle Psal 103. 5. and to take its flight with greater vigour and liveliness And to make the comparison more considerable we will observe wherein our earthly and our heavenly Sabbath do perfectly agree and then take notice wherein our heavenly doth transcendently outvy and surpass our earthly Our earthly Sabbath doth resemble our heavenly in the holy nature of it They are both holy our Sabbath here is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 35. 2. A holy day a day set apart Exod. 35. 2. Exod. 28 36. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by a holy God to be spent in holy services destinated to sacred and holy purposes vouchsafed for holy Communion with Jesus Christ and appointed as a blessed means to make us holy The Lords day as our Sabbath is called Rev. 1. 10. carries holiness in its very title It s name is written in the golden Letters of sanctity and so our heavenly Hoc Sabbatum aeternum inchoatur in renatis per spirituale Saâ—batum hujus vitae et consummabitur tandem in futurâ vitâ in quâ Deus erit omnia in omnibus Ger. In die judicii plenè et perfectè sub pedibus conteretur Satan In hâ◠vitâ reportant Pii victoriam ex pugnâ in futurâ plenâ—riè liberabuntur â— pugnâ Sabbath is an undefiled rest Heaven admits of no impure thing no unclean person Eph. 5. 5. There are no weeds in our Paradise above Our future Sabbath shall be an everlasting holy day we have there a holy God to behold a holy Redeemer to enjoy holy Angels to joyn issue with spotless and glorifyed Saints to delight in nay the rivers of pleasure which run at Gods right hand Psal 36. 8. Psal 16. 11. have Chrystalline streams and are excellent not only for their sweetness but their purity Every thing in glory is unblemished and without spot else heaven could not be the seate and residence of the great King A learned man observes Our eternal Sabbath is onely the consummation of our spiritual which consists in a full cessation from sin And indeed in heaven all causes of sin shall utterly and everlastingly cease First The Corruption of the Flesh Secondly The Temptations of Satan Thirdly The Seductions of the World Fourthly A Propensness to Evil. Fifthly A Faculty and capacity of offending In glory the Saints shall be endowed with such perfect purity that suppose Temptation could get within the Veil and intrude among the glorifyed Saints that Syren should no way impress or allure them So then our Sabbath here and hereafter both look fair because of holiness Our Sabbath here resembles our rest above in the duties and employments of it In our Sabbath below our whole business is with God we run it out in hearing something drop from the heart of God when we attend upon his word in making our humble addresses to God by secret and more publick prayer in fixing our fledged meditations on God in singing Psalms and making melody in our hearts to Eph. 5. 19. God The Saints task is wholly to serve God his priviledge Intra in gaudium Domini i. e. gaude de eo quo gaudet in qua gaudet Dominus sc de fruitione sui ipsius Tunc gaudet homo ut Dominus cùm fruitur ut Domiâ—us Aquin. is to enjoy communion with God his ambition is to Sun himself in the presence of God on Gods holy day And all our employment in our celestial Sabbath will be to rejoyce in God and to glorifie God we shall spend eternity in venting our joys for the blessed fruition of God I say in venting those joys First Which will be rare for the subject of them they are the joys of the Saints John 16. 22. Secondly Rare for the fountain and spring of them they are the joy of the Lord Mat. 25. 23. Thirdly Rare for the plenty of them it shall be the fulness 1 Pet. 1. 8. Exultabunt Sancti in gloriâ videbunt Deum et gaudebunt laetabuntur et delectabuntur fruentur gloriâ et in faelicitate jocundabuntur aeternâ Cypr. Beata Deitatis visio est gaudium Domini tui O gaudium super gaudium vincens omne gaudium extra quod non est gaudium Aug. of joy Psal 16. 11. Fourthly Rare for the adjunct of them joy in the Holy Ghost Rom. 14. 17. Fifthly Rare for the efficient cause of them they are joys from the Holy Spirit Isa 35. 10. Sixthly Rare for the characters of them our joy in our eternal Sabbath shall be First True in eternal cordial joy all the faculties of the soul shall tripudiate and leap for joy they shall be as a dancing Sun or as David danced before the Ark 2 Sam. 6. 14. and their several measures shall be the elevation of the exstacy The understanding shall joy in the Lord for its divine light the will shall joy in the Lord for its perfect consonancy to the divine will The memory shall joy in the Lord for its full strength and so the affections for their heavenly purity Secondly Our joy in our Sabbath above shall be sincere without mixture of grief or disgust Our worldly joys are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter-sweets sweet brier which can tear as Prov. 14. 13. well as sent but in our celestial Sabbath there shall be no Gall or Vinegar in our Cup. Thirdly Our joy in our Sabbath above shall be stable and sempiternal neither to be interrupted nor concluded because the fountain of it will be eternall viz. The sight of
of God shall be close and intimate and not onely the conveyance of delight but an affluence of all good things and desireable satisfactions God being the chiefest good our beholding him must needs return to us all unspeakable happiness all joy and sweetness in the highest degree Mat. 18. 10. Our Saviour avers hereafter the Elect shall be like the Angels Mat. 12. 25. Luke 20. 36. And how glorious Dei visio summum erit beatorum praemium Aug. is their sight of God! Those excellent spirits how do they fill their joyes from that ocean of pleasure which flows from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyssen de Virgin the beatifical vision Augustine saith our sight of God is our chief reward in heaven Gregory Nyssen takes notice That so far to be honoured as to see God is the consummation of our hope the full of our desires the top of all unspeakable good things I may add to see God is the issue and stage of our faith the sea of enjoyment into which the River of faith runs and is lost How infinitely greater then will our enjoyments in our Sabbath above be then those we attain to here in our Sabbath below In our Sabbath above there shall be fulness of joy Psal 16. 11. A torrent of pleasures which will be ever running and over-flowing but here our delights Imago dei sita est in hominis mente sive in eo quod homo sit in summo rerum gradu in quo est dâ—us et Angelus scil quod sit naturae spiritualis secundum animam et naturae intelligentis Alap in the Lord are faint and few like the Sun shining in a showre mixed with successive tears In our Sabbath above we shall be satisfied with the likeness of God Psal 17. 15. But here in our Sabbath below we must bemoan the iniquity of our holy things not onely the iniquity of our slips but of our services there are black spots upon the face of our fairest duties those which look with the most taking countenance our very tears had need of washing our prayers interceding for pardon and our sighs which are the hearts incense had need perfuming and when we are in our best dress we may be censured for uncomliness In our Sabbath above there shall be everlasting triumph and exultation Psal 68. 4. The Saints shall be alwayes glorying upon their beds of spices and on their Mountanes of prey everlasting Cant. 5. 13. joy shall be upon their heads as a triumphall Crown Isa 35 Isa 35. 10. 10. But here in our Sabbath below our rejoycing is soon Isa 61. 3. over-cast either God hides his face in displeasure or we let Isa 65. 14. fall our hands in duty and then our triumph is turned into Mat. 25. 21. trouble and we are ready to say Wo to us that we sojourn in a valley of Baca a wilderness of tears and inconstancy The two Sabbatht differ in their suavity and delight Indeed our Sabbath below is not wholly destitute of its sweets Exod. 16. 14. and consolations dews of delights fall upon it like Manna about the Israelites Camp there is marrow and fatness in the Ordinances of it Psal 63. 5. There are refreshings and The sweetness of holy duties Psal 104. 34. Job 23. 12. Acts 10. 10. Dan. 9. 21. perfumed gusts in holy duties Davids meditations were sweet and lushious Psal 104. 34. Job perfers Gods word above his necessary food Job 23. 12. John was in the spirit on the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. in an excess of joy and in the height of intellectual rapture Peter in his prayers was in a trance Acts 10. 10. he was carried above himself and saw heaven opened to present him with unwonted views Daniel in the midst of his supplications had the prospect and company of an Angel Dan. 9. 21. An inhabitant of glory descends to congratulate and accost him nay oftentimes the word is sweeter then honey to the tast of the hearer Psal 19. 10. And while we attend upon it we feed upon dropping honey-combs Peter preaching to his Auditory there falls a showre of the spirit and heaven came Compositio thymiamitis offerri debuit coram domino Altare enim incensâ— ob eam causam fuerat constructum Riv. down to visit the Congregation Holy duties how often are they spiced with unspeakable delight and complacency Among the Oblations of the Jews there were perfumes to be offered upon the Altar of Incense Exod. 30. 1 7. And our Gospel Sacrifices are often sweetned with inward joy and consolation If Christ meet us in a duty or an ordinance he drops sweetness from his voyce Cant. 2. 14. sweetness from his lips Cant. 5. 13. sweetness from his fingers Exod. 30 34. Psal 119. 103. Psal 141. 6. Lev. 16. 14. Cant. 5. 5. sweetness from his cheeks Cant. 5. 13. sweetness from his mouth Cant. 5. 16. If we tast any thing of his fruit it is very sweet Cant. 2. 3. when Christ gives a visit he is every way sweet to the soul The Sabbath receives an additional delight from the Fructus Christiâ— dulcis est accipi potest de praedicatione Evangèlii aut de contemplatione dei aut deconsolatione Sacramenti Del Rio. Communion of Saints we do not only meet with God but with his people on his sacred Sabbath we flock as Doves to the windows and as stars meet in a constellation as morning stars we sing together David remembers with some kind of complacency the joy he had in going to the Sanctuary with the multitude Psal 42. 4. The Primitive Christians prayed and brake bread together Acts 2. 42. Their harmony was their happiness and their society was their satisfaction But yet all these sweets have their allayes their damps and their ecclipses they are as the shining moon behind Isa 60. 8. a cloud they yield onely a duskish light Isa 38. 7. First The sweets of our present Sabbath are onely partial they may delight the soul they do not delight the body a diseased body is not cured at a Sermon a tormented body is not eased at an Ordinance if we read the dim eye is not made more vivacious if we receive the Sacrament the paralitical hand is not made more steddy the hand of faith may be strengthned but not the hand of flesh moreover the Ordinances they may delight the mind with information when they do not affect the heart with gracious impressions Hos 6. 3. they may be our Counsellers when they are not Psal 119. 24. our Comforters they may convey gladness when they do not transmit grace to us Mark 6. 20. Nay they may cherish one grace when they do not recruit another The word Maledicere rebus irrationalibus in se consideratis est otiosum vanum Aquin. may be a pillar to our faith when it is not a prop to our patience as Job he flings in his troubles Job
no silent voice Heb. 11. 10. of weeping or soft murmur of a gliding fear but all these In coelis ibi civiles erimus ibi erit nostra mansio ibi non solum erimus sed et ibi manebimus things shall be done away all capacities of trouble being swallowed up in perfect joy as the flaming fire-brand is quenched in an Ocean Secondly The Temple was a fixed structure and not portable to be carryed up and down as the Tabernacle was its station was at Hierusalem nor was it capable of removal 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isid Pelus and for some hundreds of years it remained in its usual place shining in its gold and glory And so our future Sabbath shall be immutable not subject to change or alteration not ambulatory or in a passage Our dwellings above are Mansions John 14. 2. Our enjoyments are stable and inalterable There we meet fully with God who is our fixed Center The Apostle saith our building in heaven is eternall 2 Cor. 5. 1. It is a building of God not made with hands and so not subject â—o decay or reparations Art John 18. 36. did not frame it and time cannot loosen or dissolve it But Rev. 21. 2. to revert to that from which there hath been some digression Our Sabbath below as in a morning blush doth something Dies dominicus Resurrectione Christi sacratus Aeternam non solum spiritus sed corporis requiem praefigurat Aug. de Civit. Dei resemble our Sabbath above as the Infant in the Cradle doth a man in his full stature or the dim candle the Sun in its greatest splendor And let us admire divine indulgence in giving us this faint resemblance before we come to the Archetype of an everlasting rest But in the generall thus meditation like the Sun may run through all the signs of the zodiack and fly from one spiritual object to another from the God of the Sabbath to the Sabbath of God which subjects have been thus enlarged for its larger circuit and freely dilate it self as far as our time shall either restrain us or give us greater leisure and when as the Sun meditation hath fetcht its compasse it may begin again CHAP. XXVI Not onely Meditation but Prayer with other services must fill up the Morning of a Sabbath BUT meditation must not enclose the morning of Gods holy day as its own proper demeans nor so grasp that Oratio sine meditatione tepida meditatio sine oratione est infrugisera Bern. precious time as to exclude the succession of other divine performances But as meditation doth well become the first approach of a Sabbath so prayer in the next place properly takes its course and order Let us shut up our meditations with prayer and pray over our meditations prayer sanctifies every thing and so it makes meditation effectual to 1 Tim. 4. 5. the soul that the pleasing ascents of that holy duty may bring down a blessing with them Bernard couples prayer 1 Thes 5. 17. and meditation prayer being luke-warm without meditation and meditation being unfruitful without prayer Both duties together being like the Diamond Ring or beauty and sweetness in the same rose light and heat in the same Eph. 6. 18. Sun These two duties adde reciprocall lustre one to another Now for the better mannagement of this duty on the morning of a Sabbath we will enquire into these three things First What are the opportunities when we must pray Secondly What are the qualifications how we must pray Thirdly What are the objects for what or whom we must pray Our prayer on the morning of the Lords day First Must be closet prayer we must as our Saviour saith Mat. 6. 6. Enter into our closet and shut the door upon Deus vult nos precari non ut videamur sed ut exaudiamur Par. us and so pray to the Father c. solitary prayers usually do not want the company of a reward Jacob wrestled with the Angel alone there were no spectators of the combat and he was not only a Jacob for wrestling but an Israel Gen. 32. 24 28 for prevailing Let us begin the Sabbath with secret prayer and so we may the more freely vent our thoughts pour out Vtile est fideâ—â—bus in conclavi precari quò liberius vota sua ad deum essâ—ndant sic ab omnibus avocamentis liberae sint mentes nostrae our complaints make our requests and send up our desires not being checkt or confined by the audience or observation of others Patients discover not their distemper before the multitude but privately to the Physician A secret prayer in the morning of the Sabbath may ease and fit the heart for the subscquent duties of the whole day we may kindly bemoan the sins of the past week humbly acknowledge our indispositions for the present Sabbath we may open to Prece utamur occuliâ sed manifestâ fide God the uneven beatings of the pulse of our souls and sadly bewail the mutinous disorders which are in our bosoms many things we may unravell to God we would not proclaim Solus Jesus siâ—ut alià s orationes fecit in secessu et secreto ut liberius sâ—ne impedimentis orare possit nocturnum tempus sumit ad orationem Tunc enim quies officiorum corporis et aliorum negotiorum mentem distrahentium tenebrae et sâ—entiâ— animum aptiorem faciunt ad orationem Chemnit in the ears of an associate assembly It is observable that our dear Jesus who had many things upon his heart he would take the privacy of place to pray in and would lay hold on the most retired seasons for that duty Luke 6. 12. He would pray all night that not so much as the Sun might be a witness of his with-drawn devotions the world must not hear what he had on his heart to speak to his Father Surely the closet is a good porch to the Sanctuary and we are made the fitter for the publick by chamber-devotion First the Evening star riseth alone and then it joyns with the stars of the night When we have opened our case to God in secret then we are more prepared to converse with God in Societies Showers in the night refresh the Garden and fructifie the ground though no eye behold those sweet and seasonable drops If we with Cornelius make our flight to God in solitary prayer Acts 10. 2. we may receive his answer your prayers are come up to God ver 4. And so the following Sabbath may be a prosperous gale to blow us nearer Mark 1. 35. Psal 63. 1. Dan. 6. 10. Job 1. 5. to our Eternal rest From our closets we must come down into our families and joyn with them in the same holy duty of prayer Family prayer lies under a command to be used on every day Jer. 10. 25. and bitter imprecations are poured out on those families which neglect it Jer.
second person in the Trinity who is the messenger of the Covenant Mal. 3. 1. and this party is called God Gen. 32. 30. It was such an Angel as blessed Jacob which was a work proper to God But now if it be demanded what it is to pray in the holy Ghost Answ It may be answered First The spirit helps us in prayer in a way of gifts Alludit Paulus ad illud Psal Psal 46. 8. Psallite sapienter pro quo hebraicè est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut intelligentio quod septuaginta vertunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ut nimirum intelligatur quod canitur et quod precatur that the heart may not be bound up and that we may have necessary words to give vent for our affections It is the spirit which bestows the gift of prayer that we may enlarge our selves to God on all occasions 1 Cor. 14 15. But this gift is much bettered by Industry Hearing Meditation Reading Conference nay by prayer it self such holy exercises may be auxiliary to this excellent gift for the spirit worketh by means as the Sun shineth in the air in which it maketh its glittering ascents Secondly There is the gracious assistance of the spirit which is either habitual or actual First Habitual grace is necessary to prayer Zach. 12. 10. where there is grace there will be supplications as soon as the Child is born it falls on crying Acts 9. 11. Prayer is the Zach. 12. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gratia et supplicatio in uno comprehenduntur kindly duty of the New Creature the regenerate person is easily drawn into Gods presence when once we are renewed by the Holy Ghost we shall certainly and sweetly pray in the Holy Ghost we shall offer up spiritual devotions acceptable to God by Jesus Christ Secondly There is the actual assistance which we have from the spirit when a man is regenerate yet he cannot pray as he ought unless he be still moved and assisted by the blessed spirit Now these actual motions do either concern First The matter of prayer which is suggested by the spirit Jam. 1. 17. of promise for let a man alone and he will soon run into Eph. 1. 13. a temptation and cry for that which is inconvenient and it would be severity in God to grant it and therefore the direction of the Holy Ghost is necessary that we may not aske Rom. 8. 27. a Scorpion instead of a Fish a stone instead of bread We take counsel of lusts and interests when we are left to our private spirit now the Holy Ghost teacheth us to ask not onely what is lawfull but what is expedient for us so that the will of God may take place before our own inclinations Or Secondly These actual motions of the spirit concern the manner of our prayers now in prayer we have immediately Quid resert gemere Suspiria confusa ad deum mittere fortè evanesâ—unt in aere sed interpelâ—atio spiritus certò exauditur â— deâ— Par. to do with God and therefore we should take great heed in what manner we come to him The right manner is when we come with affection with confidence with reverence First With affection Rom. 8. 26. It is the holy Ghost sets us on groaning words are but the out-side of prayer sighs and groans are the language which God will understand we learn to mourn from the Turtle from him who descended in the form of a Dove Mat. 3. 16. He draws sighs from the heart tears from the eyes and moans from the soul Parts may furnish us with eloquence but the spirit inflames us with love that earnest reaching forth of the soul after God and the things of God That holy importunity that spiritual violence which is often used in holy prayer comes onely from the spirit Many a prayer is neatly ordered musically delivered and gravely pronounced but all these artifices they are the curiosities of man and savour nothing of the holy spirit then it speaketh the spirit to be in a prayer when there is life and power and the poor suppliant sets himself to wrestle with God as if he would overcome him in his own strength Secondly With confidence In Prayer we must come as Children and cry Abba Father Rom. 8. 16. usually we do Suprema essentia spiritus dei qui orare facit orantibus promittit promissum largitur testimonium nobis intus perhibet quisnam dubitationi locus Chrysost not mind this part of the spirits help in prayer we look to gifts and enlargements but not to this Child-like confidence that we may be able to call God Father without reproach or hypocrisie not seriously considering it is the language of a Child which will onely prevail upon the affections of a Father Thirdly With Reverence That we may be serious and awfull God is best seen in the light of his spirit the Heathens could say We need light from God when we speak of or to God That sense of the Lords greatness and those fresh Non loquendum dâ— deo sine lumine and awful thoughts that we have of his Majesty in prayer are stirred up by the Holy Ghost He uniteth and gathereth our hearts together that they may not be unravelled and Devotio et pius in deum affectus debet semper viam aperire ad particulares nostras petitiones sive pro aliiâ— petimus necessaria sive pro nobis Daven scattered abroad in vain and impertinent thoughts Eph. 6. 18. And therefore to wind up this particular which hath been more copiously handled then usual when we go to pray at any time and so consequently in our Closets or Families on the morning of the Sabbath let us cast our selves upon the Holy Ghost as appointed by the Father and purchased by the Son to help us in this sweet and serviceable duty Rom. 8. 26. We are often tugging and labouring at it and can make no work of it but the spirit cometh and contributes his assistance and then we launch forth and our sails are filled and we go on prosperously in that omniprevalent duty A good Expositour gives this gloss on Rev. 1. 10. John was Arch. in loâ— in the spirit on the Lords day i. e. he was in prayer upon the Lords day the spirit mightily assisting us in prayer makes strange and glorious impressions upon us As it is reported Greg. Orat. de Laud. Basil of Basil That when the Emperour Valens came in upon him while he was in Prayer he saw such lustre in his face as struck the Emperour with terrour and he fell backwards Prayer can make a great change in us and work Luke 9. 29. great things for us and therefore the management of this duty must be dispatched with the greatest care and exactness We must not onely take our opportunities for prayer on the morning of a Sabbath and see to the qualifications of Psal 5. 3. of that duty to
Apostle 1 Joh. 2. 4. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his Commandments is a lyar and the truth is not in him Secondly Christ doth not say if you love me dispute subtilly of my Commandments Deeds not disputes evidence 2 Cor. 3. 1 2. our love to Christ the regular acts of our lives not Prov. 2. 10. the ingenious canvasings of the Schools it is not reasoning out of Gods word but walking after that holy word speaketh us the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Thirdly Nor doth Christ say If ye love me prescribe Est observatio praeceptorum Christi omnibus Christi fidelibus eo loco ha benda ut si illa desit in ipsam Christi dilectionem peccare convinâ—amâ—r Musc my Commandments to others read them lectures of sanctity no but live them your selves Personal holiness is of absolute necessity to every Christian It is not our prescription but our obedience not what we dictate to others but what we act our selves shews our interest in and our union to Christ Fourthly Nor doth Christ say keep the Statutes and the Commandments of your predecessours no but keep my Commandments it is not a plausihle custome but an undefiled conscience speaks the Christian This the Lord pleads Acts 24. 16. with Israel of old Ezek. 20. 18 19. But I said unto their Children in the wilderness walk ye not in the statutes of your Ezek. 20. 18. Fathers neither observe their judgements nor defile your selves Mat. 15. 3 6. with their Idols I am the Lord your God walk in my statutes Mat. 7. 9. 13. and keep my judgements and do them The Pharisees darling Gal. 1. 14. was the tradition of their Fathers and they were the Master-pieces of Hypocrisie Col. 2. 8. Fifthly Nor doth Christ say if ye love me keep and observe Numb 15. 39 40. what seems right to you no but keep my Commandments though severity be written upon their very forehead Deut. 12. 8. though it be to the carrying of my Cross to the denyal of your selves to the laying down of your lives for my sake Non spectatores sed luctatores non qui vident sed qui vincunt in agone et certamine coronabuntur Alap and keep all my Commandments not what are pleasing to your flesh but what are enjoyned by my word So then if we have any love to Christ holy practice must be the testimonial of it Indeed many Christians are like Children in the Rickets they have big heads but weak joynts they are all for notions and head-light curious knowledge and airy speculations but they wave practical truths and that wisdome Prov. 2. 10. which entereth upon the heart Prov. 2. 10. This undigested knowledge puts out the fire of zeal as if the waters of the Cum sapientia hominis animum penetrat quà m suavis illi est supra mel et favum Cartw. Sanctuary should put out the fire of the Sanctuary and men could not at the same time be knowing and holy How ardently then should we pray to the Father that Ordinances may so influence our lives that our conversation may bear witness how much we love the Lord Jesus And thus much for the second duty to be performed on the morning of the Sabbath before we joyn with the assembly of Gods people viz. Prayer A third duty incumbent upon us before we joyn with the Congregation is taking pains with our own hearts and this properly is Closet work which we may manage to very good purpose in these four particulars We must endeavour to empty our hearts First To throw out all the trash to cast out all vaine Jer. 4. 14. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nos reddimus cogitationes noxias pro nox iae Aquila vertit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. damni Symmachus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haec omniasuns fructus vanarum cogitationum thoughts and worldly desires Ponds and Moates are cleansed to keep them wholesome Foolish and vain imaginations will fly-blow all our duties and therefore we must let down the Portcullis of our hearts to keep in straglers and wanderers that they may not interrupt us in our holy worship These Caterpillars will blast and spoyle the fruit of holy Ordinances and for the atchieving of this necessary worke First Let us beg of Christ that he would whip these buyers and sellers out of the Temple of our souls The spirit of God can sweep away these Locusts and supply us with more noble and heavenly cogitations he can drop divine meditations into our hearts and turn the dross of flatulent thoughts into the gold of spiritual and seraphicall He is called a holy spirit not onely from those gracious impressions he stamps upon the heart but likewise from those divine infusions he instills into the head and so the whole man is his workman-ship in Jesus Christ Secondly We may likewise lash and correct these vaine Eph. 2 10. Vndenâ—m sit facultas bona opera saciendi immò et bona cogitandi ab eo à quo fimus novae creaturae nempe à deo A quo enim Arbor habetut sit bona ab eodem habet ut bonos proferat fructus Zanch. thoughts which flit up and down in our minds by setting before our hearts the future judgement when thoughts shall be canvased as well as words and actions sinfull thoughts at any time are accountable but those which defile the Sabbath are of a double dye and are written in red Letters The consideration of a judgement day will turn Hagars and Ishmaels out of door carnal and foolish imaginations Indeed we are apt with Lots Wife to look backward towards the worldly pleasures of Sodom towards the vanities of the world which hath too much of our heart even on the holy Sabbath of God but pondering on our future account we shall keep our faces steddy towards Sion Thirdly We must consider how much this trash of the heart foolish and vain thoughts will distract us in duty Heb. 4. 14. they are like the ringing of Bells in Sermon time which drown the voice of the preacher and stop the ear of the Mat. 13. 22. hearer These vain thoughts choak the Word that it dies away untimely and works not lively upon the soul This is Isa 29. 13. that setting the heart far from God when we seem to approach to him in Ordinances which the Lord so much complains of Isa 29. 13. Distracted persons are fit for nothing nor hearts distracted and torn with the varieties of flashy conceptions Fourthly Let us take up strong and fixed resolutions that we Haec suit causa excaecationis judaeorum quia scil deum nominabant et honorabant ore tenus corde vero erant ab eo elongati et aversi will wash our hearts in innocency and so we will compass Gods Altar Holy resolution is a good guard to the heart it will
Jer. 31. 33. of growth in Promissio facta est Christianis amicitiae dei remissionis peccatorum et regni coelestis grace Hos 14. 5. the gift of a Christ lay under a promise Gen. 3. 15. Luke 1. 71. the gift of the spirit was bound up in a promise Acts 2. 33. Gal. 3. 14. If a new heart be put into our bosomes it is the issue of a promise Ezek. 36. 26. And God in a pursuance of a promise breaths a new spirit Ezek. 36. 26. into our souls Shall we rise higher Thirdly God hath made promises to his people of things eternal Of a future Crown 2 Tim. 4. 8. Of a glorious Kingdom Luke 12. 32. Of a heavenly Throne Rev. 3. 21. Of eternal Inrer pocula Germaniae clamatum est spiritus calriviamus est spiritus melancholicus Sclat Life John 3. 16. Of everlasting Habitations Luke 16. 9. Of everlasting Salvation Heb. 5. 9. And therefore how much are they to be censured who accuse Religion of sadness and sorrow and upon the force of that argument draw back to courses of sin and prophaneness What do they less then blaspheme both the God and the priviledges of the Saints Joy is a constant dish with the people of God but Cujusmodi est gaudium quod est in domino In his quae secundum domini mandatum fiunt gaudere debemus Basil their joy is hidden Manna it lodges in their bosomes not in their looks their musick-room is a little more retired the world doth not hear their melody Look upon the Saints in their lowest condition when grace it self is at an ebb at very low water Yet then First The Lord assures us that little is a pledge of more 2 Cor. 1. 22. And even Secondly That little he will enable to get a final victory Rev. 3. 8 9. And in Rev. 2. 7. the promise is made to him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who is overcoming not to him who hath already overcome And Thirdly That little shall be kept perfect to the day of the Lord Jesus 1 Thes 3. 10. Phil. 1. 6. So many causes of constant joy are there to all Gods Children what roses do they walk upon here even while they are in a valley of tears In their bosomes lies a pardon like Aarons Rod blossoming in the Ark their consciences are serene and calme with holy peace nay they can laugh in a storm they can joy in tribulations Rom. 5. 3. Jam. 1. 2. And they can Gaudium Christiano utile est immò necessarium ut jucunde vivat et alacritèr in virtutibus pergat glory in a ship-wrack they can triumph in death it self 1 Cor. 15. 55. And therefore the Apostle inculcates and reduplicates the command for holy joy Rejoyce in the Lord alwayes again I say rejoyce Phil. 4. 4. But though the joy of the Saints open to the wide Common they can and may rejoyce in all things and in all times yet in the inclosure of Gods blessed Sabbath the freshest and sweetest springs of joy are to be found And thus much for the third duty Jam. 1. 2. to be performed on the morning of a Sabbath before we go to the publick congregation Viz. Labouring with our own hearts The fourth duty to be discharged before the publick on Gods holy day is private reading of the Scriptures What a charge doth God lay upon the Jews to be acquainted with Deut. 11. 18. the Scriptures Deut. 6. 7 8 9. And these words which I command thee this day they shall be in thy heart and thou Verbum dei in nos totos admittamus in mentem in memoriam in affectus in vitam ut nulla sit pars nostri in quâ verbum dei non inhabitet shalt teach them diligently to thy Children and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest in the way when thou liest down and when thou risest up and thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thy hand and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates Let us summe up this charge First Gods word it must possess every part it must be between our eyes for direction it must be a sign on our hands to regulate our works and operations it must be lodged in Evangelica historia debet esse perpetua lectio cujuslibet hominis Christiani Mirandul our hearts to sanctifie and spiritualize our love and affections that the heart may be warm but not feavourish Secondly Gods word must possess every room it must be our discourse in our Parlors where we use to sit it must be our meditation in our chambers where we use to lie and if we take the air abroad this holy word must be our companion this must be testis conversationis the witness of our conversation Thirdly Gods word must possess every season It must go to bed with us to sanctifie the farewell thoughts of the day that we shut up the day and our eyes with God if we rise in the morning it must be our morning star to guide us our morning dew to soften us our morning Sun to warm us Ne patiamini verbum dei esse quasi peregrinum et foris sâ—are sed intromittatur in domicilium cordis nostri versetur assiduè in animis nostris non secus ac domestici versantur in domo suâ immò sit nobis non minùs noâ—um ac familiare quà m illi esse solent qui apud nos habitant Daven it must be our first company and our best Breakfast in the morning And Fourthly Gods word must not only possess the inside of the house but the out-side too it must be written on the posts and the gates to shew its own excellency that we must hold it out and own it in the view of all the world This is the summe of the charge and indeed it is not unnecessary if we consider the Scriptures are the guide of our youth 2 Tim. 3. 15. They are the cure of our minds Mat. 22. 29. Ignorance of Gods word breeds errour and spiritual distempers in us They are the comfort of our souls Rom. 15. 4. They are both a Cordial and a Julip to warm us in cold affliction and to cool us in careless prosperity They are the treasure of our hearts Col. 3. 16. He is the potent and mighty man who is an Apollos in the Scriptures Acts 18. 24. Nay they are the breathings of the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 20. They are not only mens advantage but the divine issue of the third person in the Trinity The result of the whole is this if God lay so much weight on reading of the Scriptures and man receives so much advantage by acquaintance with them no season fitter for this duty then the morning of a Sabbath First The reading of the word prepares for the hearing of it that we
may arrive at the Nobility of those Bereans who searched the Scriptures whether what the Apostles delivered were consonant and agreeing to them or no Acts 17. Acts 17. 11. Ignorantia negloctus dei ô quantum malum est et in quot et quanta mala Gentilâ—â— per hanci ignorantiam inciderint Alap 11. By constant reading on the Sabbath morning we come acquainted with the body of the Scriptures and so are fitted to entertain particular truths which may be delivered in publick by the Minister Well read Lawyers easily understand particular cases Ignorant persons like Children take in what ever is in the spoon whether Sugar or Poyson An ignorant Auditory wholly depends upon the conscience of the Minister and blind-fold grasp all with an implieit faith they drink in all which is delivered and so most probably the dregs at the bottom But our preparatory reading in private will enable us the more to judge and discern of publick Gospel discoveries Secondly Nor is it a small advantage that Gods word should take livery and scizin of our hearts in the beginning Quo semel est imbuta recens servâ—bit odorem testa diu of the Sabbath and so accommodate our hearts for future Ordinances Vessels retain the sent of the first liquor The Summer much follows the quality of the Spring Conversing in our closets and families with Gods word will much conduce to a spiritual frame of heart The tracing of a Chapter or two in the morning at home will mould the heart to a sweeter compliance with Christ in his Ordinances The reading of the Law made Josiah weep 2 Chron. 34. 27. and then he was flexible for every good purpose Thirdly Theophylact hath an excellent argument to this purpose One great end of the Sabbath saith he is to give Lex homines praecipit in Sabbatum quiescere ut lectioni vacent homines Theoph. us respit for the reading of the Scriptures which is meant not onely of the publick reading in the Church but also of private reading at home the Gospel being nothing else but Christ opened and expanded to study Christ is the purport not onely of our publick but private devotion To read the Scriptures then is one duty which must take up our private leisure on the morning of a Sabbath Fourthly The Lord Christ and his Apostles in alledging Mat. 21. 13. the places of the Old Testament do generally say That it is written or as it is written in the Book of the Psalmes or Luke 20. 42. this was spoken by the Prophet Isaiah Now how much Acts 1. 20. shame will befall us if when the Minister alledgeth Scripture Acts 2. 16. quotations we may say of the word as they did of the Holy Ghost they had not so much as heard whether there be an Holy Ghost or no Acts 19. 2. So we never read of such a Text we never met with such a Scripture we never were acquainted with such an example as is cited by the Preacher This might discolour our faces with blushes of shame and regret It was a sharp redargution of our Saviour which he gave to the Jewes when he remitted them to search the Scriptures John 5. 39. they making their Scriptural knowledge the greatest of their boast and ostentation And indeed to be a stranger to the Oracles of God neither becomes our interest nor our profession And Fifthly In this the Disciple must not be greater Cultus ipse publicus quà m maximè solennitèr est celebâ—andus et postulat necessariò illâ— exercitia Scripturum lectionis meditationis precum c. Quibus paratiores simus ad publicum cultum ut ille etiam in nobis verè efficax reddatur Ames then the Master On the morning of the week day He preached the word John 8. 2. And in the morning of the Lords day we should read it which as he did dictate we must survey if he was early in the dispensation of it it well becomes us to take the dawnings of the Sabbath for its perusal and lection let us take the dropings of this honey-comb at the first effusion And thus much for those Duties which are incumbent upon us in the morning of a Sabbath before we associate with the Assembly of Gods people We must dress our inward as well as our outward man before we come to the Congregation CHAP. XXVII How we must demean our selves in the Publick Assembly on the Holy Sabbath HAving thus performed our Morning Exercises in private Psal 84. 1 2 Psal 122 1. Psal 87. 2. how chearfully should we repair to the Publick Assemblies and draw nigh to the publick Ordinances on this acceptable day of grace and salvation when Christ Isa 2. 2 3. Psal 42. 4. sits in state scattering treasures of grace among hungry and thirsty souls who are poor in spirit and wait for spirituall Almes David admired the amiableness of Gods Tabernacles Deus pluris facit preces in Ecclesiâ quà m domi factas non ob locum sed ob considerationem multitudinis fidelium deum communi consensu invocantium Riv. Psal 84. 1. and he longed for the Courts of God rejoycing when they said to him Let us go to the house of the Lord Psal 42. 4. And the Prophet Isaiah speaking of Gospel times seems to foretell the disposition of Gospel Saints Many people shall go and say Come let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob and he will teach us his wayes and we will walk in his paths Isa 2. 2 3. And the Apostle adviseth us by no means to forsake the assembling of our selves together as the manner of some is Heb. 10. 25. whom he brands with reproof and reproach Publick Ordinances they are our spiritual Exchange our holy Mart our heavenly Fairs where we buy up and fit our selves with all heavenly Commodities In these seasons we store our selves with grace knowledge and comforts which may abundantly serve us till the revolution of another Sabbath It was once the sad complaint of the Church That the wayes of Sion did mourn because none came to her Assemblies Lam. 1. 4. The want of publick Ordinances might put a Nation in sack-cloath they being the badge of the Church and the glory of the Kingdome Indeed holy duties in private they are of great use and have their blessing But publick Ordinances are the chief work of the Sabbath It is worthy our observation that the Sabbath and publick service are by God himself both joyned together Ye shall keep my Sabbaths saith God and reverence Ezra 10. 1. my Sanctuary Luke 19. 30. The Sabbath and the Psal 68. 26. Sanctuary are coupled as being twins of happiness Every thing is beautifull in its Season Private duties are beautiful Numb 10. 3. and are in season every day But publick Ordinances are never so lovely and beautifull never so much in their full sea as upon Gods
so corruption receives a double and by consequence a deeper wound Samuel answered not God till the third time it may be conscience will answer that word in the repetition to which it did not listen in the delivery Repetition of Sermons is like the Sun beams in the repercussion and reflexion which shine in a more fervent heat and a more considerable warmth The second shoot often kills the bird when the first misseth We know not what the second hearing of Gods Word may act upon the soul And we repeat Sermons in our families not onely barely to pass away the time of a Sabbath but by this fruitfull exercise our memories are recruited the Sermon is more distinctly apprehended the heart is a second time assaulted and stormed that it may be taken and brought captive to the obedience of Christ Besides in the repetition of the Word we have a more private tender of life and salvation misappehensions are this way removed and the Original is cleared by the Copy We often mistake the Minister when the Word is delivered when we repeat the word the mistake is easily corrected and amended to all which may be added by this heavenly course and practice Families are trained up in Gospel discipline and the more we hear of Christ in publick and in private the more our love to him is courted and conquered and thus Servants better understand their duty and Children better learn obedience If we leave those Sermons we hear at the Church door and there take our farewell of them Satan quickly takes up our lost treasure Diabolus est inster avis famelicae semen verbi rapiens et sat habet si homo verbi alimento non pascitur Par. and then our attempt in the publick ordinances was in vain it being not probable that we should give those holy Sermons room in our hearts which we were careless to lodge in our houses by a conscientious repetition The strongest hold we lodge divine truth in is slack enough Satan is ready to untie the knot let mans care tie it as fast as it may and therefore we must tie truth upon the soul with a threefold cord 1. With a diligent attention in the publick Assembly 2. VVith a heedfull repetition in the private Family Chem. Exam. de dieb Fest 3. In ardent supplication running over the heads of the same Sermon in our more retired and severer Closets It was the custome of our sweet and dear Jesus after he had preached a Sermon to the multitude to examine his Disciples privately about it and to rivet what had before been revealed Mar. 4. Truths like stars are best when fixed and when Luc. 14. our hearts not our understandings are their Orbs to move in Vain controversies as the wise man speaks may not be repeated for that will separate friends Prov. 17. 9. But divine Counsels must for that will unite truths to the soul And moreover our slippery memory may be made more consistent by repetition and so retentive of that word which is apt to slide away Surely great are the advantages of repeating Sermons in our families it is like Lots holy violence to the Angels to force them into his house The rehearsal of holy Gen. 19. 3. truth is a sweet attractive to draw Christ into the family and it sents the house with sacred fumes which the fire of the Word sends up This worthy practice makes our Si medico non est opproâ—râ—um de aegroto sâ—â—scitarâ— neque crimen est de auditorum semper inquirere salute Sic enim moniti quid expeditum sit c. Chrys houses Chappels of devotion and is nothing but Religion drawn in a smaller frame In a word when the Ministers blessing hath opened the door of the Sanctuary for our departure let us apply our selves to this experienced medium for soul advantage our souls which were tuning in the publick may be musical in private and the Sermon may be more sweet in the second gust and tast of it like the works of some learned men which are more refined and enlarged in the second Edition Another duty calculated for the Evening of a Sabbath is holy Prayer This powerfull service is a golden thread which must run through every space of a Sabbath it is the sacrifice of the Closet it is the service of the Family it is the ordinance of the Sanctuary it doth seasonably break Quartum praeceptum ponitur in gremio decalogi tanâ—uam testis amoris divini et nostrae obedientiae the morning of a Sabbath and usher in the following duties it doth sweetly concur with the mid-day of the Sabbath when our devotion like the Sun should be at the highest remembring that the Commandment for the Sabbath is in the midle of the Decalogue And there is more work for prayer it must shut up both the Morning and the Evening Worship there must be prayer to beg a blessing on truths already discovered that in their light we may see light Psal 36. 9. And indeed prayer doth most becomingly close the Mat. 13. 23. Evening of a Sabbath then the lifting up of our hands are Psal 141. 2. instead of an Evening sacrifice Prayer is like a setting Sun which is most glorious like a well fraught Ship after its Voyage which lands at the Port which is pleasing and joyous In the Evening Noahs Dove brings the Olive branch Prayer Gen. 8. 11. often is this Dove when after the travels of the Sabbath it sums up all and importunes success and acceptation then the soul is calmed with peace and rejoycing In the Evening Mat 14. 23. Dan. 9. 21. Christ wrestles with his Father alone in prayer as if the Sun should not see the triumphs of his Victory Daniel was praying in the Evening and then the Angel came unto him the messenger of glad tidings to this humble Supplicant 1 Kings 18. 37 38. Fire comes upon Elijahs Evening sacrifice when Prayer presented the oblation as a sign of pleasing acceptation We must then shut up Gods day at Gods feet that he may bid Luke 2. 29. Eph. 1. 6. us depart in peace for he hath accepted us in his beloved otherwise we may go to bed but not to rest And our conclusive prayers in the Sabbaths evening must be 1. Confessory Our best Sabbaths have not escaped the stains of sin there will be iniquity in our holy things our Condonet mihi deus etiam sacrorum meorum delicta Aug. best services are like the spotted moon or a jewel with flaws Augustine would beg pardon for the sins of his holy duties And we when our Sabbath is setting have more need of tears then triumphs and say as the Romans did of one of their Victories such another would undoe them Prayer Jam. 3. 2. Psal 119. 59. therefore in the close of the Sabbath must look up to God with a weeping eye and we must pray that God would
Jer. 3. 13. forgive the sins of our prayers that our dull ear flat heart ranging mind floating thoughts treacherous memory may be pardoned to us and that the sins of our Sabbath may not sowre the sweets of our Sabbath and so our precious priviledges become as Vriahs letters whose contents were the destruction of the bearer We let fall an Evening dew of Aliud Sabbatâ—m et alia requies relinquitur et restat populo dei popu-lo fideli et Christiano putà requies gaudium et solennitas coelestis figurata per Sabbatum Judaicum tears upon our very services on Gods holy day 2. Petitory But our sighs must not so stop our language but we must be begging as well as moaning and there are many things we must importune the Lord for the winding up of his Sabbath we must beseech him that his smiles would speak his acceptation of what we have performed that holy day that his spinit would feal upon us those instructions which we have heard that day that our lives might conform to those blessed ordinances which we have enjoyed that day that a full fruition of himself may succeed the sweet communion we have had with himself that day and that the present Sabbath may be the harbinger of an Eternal Rest which is the glorious reserve God hath made for his Saints Heb. 4. 9. We must likewise pray that every lust complained of that day may receive its deaths wound that every sin confessed and acknowledged that day may receive its full pardon that every opportunity of life possessed that Ecclesia â—â— domus orâ—tionis quia in eá a deo petimus peccatorum veniam vitiorum victoriam virtutum robur et incrementum in tentationibus constantiam in gratiâ et virtutibus progressum felicem mortem et sa lutiferam beatitudinem Alap in Is day may receive its designed end Wrestling with God is never more seasonable then on the day of God then it is both seasonable and sweet therefore let it put its last hand to our Sabbath Of all graces faith wears the Crown Eph. 6. 16. Of all duties Prayer wears the Garland Isa 45. 11. This is the favourite in the Court of heaven to whom the King of Kings can deny nothing Gods house must be called a house of Prayer Isa 56. 7. not of hearing not of singing not of receiving but of praying One letter in Gods name is he is a God hearing prayer Psal 65. 1 2. It is prayer can sanctifie afflictions it is prayer can bless provisions it is prayer can sweeten Ordinances and make them marrow and fatness to the soul Psal 63. 5. Prayer is the Porter to keep the door of our lips Prayer is the strong hilt which defends the strength of our hands Prayer is the Chymist which turns all into Gold and it is prayer can turn a Sabbath into that which is better then gold Let Prayer then bring up the rear of our services on a Sabbath 3. Gratulatory In the close of a Sabbath let us triumph 1 Thes 5. 16. and â—â—joyce in the Lord and in the cool of the evening let us Semper gaudete si non actu tamen habitu Cajet not lose the heat of the day Let not our Sabbath be as Nebuchadnezzars Image whose head was of Gold breast and armes of silver but the feet and lower parts iron and clay Let not our hearts in the morning of a Sabbath have heavenly Dan. 2. 32 33. heat and be in a golden temper and in the evening as dead and cold as the iron and the clay It is very sad when our affections on a Sabbath are like the grass the Prophet speaks of Psal 90. 6. In the morning it flourisheth Zach. 14. 6 7. and in the evening it is cut down dried up and withered Some experienced Christians can say that upon the continued 1 Chr. 23. 30. care throughout the Sabbath in the evening thereof they have received large enlivenings of soul Plutarch reports of a River which runs sweet in the morning but bitter at night Let not this be the emblem of our condition but rather as Rivers have their Evening Tides as well as their morning so let it be full water with us in the evening of the Sabbath and then we have many things to praise Jehovah for 1. We must magnifie the Name of God for the time of a Psal 92. 2. day that the candle of our life burned one day longer when Divine Justice might have snuffed it out Acts 17. 28. 2. For the sweetness of an Ordinance Ordinances are the souls Jubile the walks where we meet with our beloved the Golden Scepter of Grace which God holds out to Esth 4. 11. us now to come in and receive favour the white flag of heaven to bespeak us to yield to Christ and we shall be received into grace and favour And how many of these Jewels doth God set a Sabbath with 3. For farther tenders of life and salvation Let God be praised that still the bargain is driving for eternity every offer of pardon in the Gospel is renewed love the fresh soundings of Gods bowels his heart once more yearning towards the poor soul And is not this worthy our highest thanksgivings The Persians adore every new rising of the Sun and shall not we adore the Lord for repeated tenders of salvation 4. For the liberty of Gods Sanctuary which is his Royal Illustâ—â—t deus faciem suam i. e. lucidâ serenâ benignâ et amicâ facie respiciat ad templum suum et illud instauret Palace to entertain his Saints in where he gives his sweetest and most satisfactory discoveries Psal 73. 17. There are the goings of God Psal 68. 24. There God sheweth his power and shines in his Glory Psal 63. 2. There Gods strength is evidenced and his beauty unmasked Psal 96. 6. And there he causeth his face to shine Dan. 9. 17. which is the most beautifull sight on this side the beatifical vision 5. Let us praise God for the Riches of a Sabbath In this Psal 14. 20. blessed season we enjoy the treasure of his Word without Rom. 3. 2. which we should have been both unholy and unhappy and by its powerfull operations we are made both gracious and glorious and the giver of such a gift deserves the elevations of our praise and we should commemorate it with an Higgaion Selah The light of the Sun Moon and Stars are Gen. 1. 18. of great concernments to men they are the Governours of Joel 3. 15. day and night But the light of Gods Word is of infinite more value The Sun shall be turned into darkness and the Moon into blood Joel 2. 31. but not an Iota of Gods Word shall pass away or perish By the Word the glory and beauty Cur non potest Iota perire quia tunc periret vox et sententia legis ex Gr. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
the same Augustin averres Chrysostom assures us That the words of Ipse de cantatorum psalmorum Davidicorum verba inter canendum prolata recenset Chrysost Homil. de verbis Isai 1. lib. 5. Davids Psalms were the constant matter which was sung that which did feed the voyce and the rejoycing of Christians in his time Thus singing of Psalms was the usual and commendable practice of the golden times of the Church And sing to the Lord Psalm 47. 6. must be the command which must lead us up and down a Sabbath and especially put an Higgaion Selah upon the close of it Now for our more comfortable management of this heavenly service and spiritual recreation we must consider Singing of Psalmes hath excellent Presidents That service is much sweetned which is exemplified by the best Patterns We have the best of Persons going before us in this Job 38. 7. way of holy delight The Morning stars of the Church have sung together Heb. 2. 10. 1. Christ himself the Captain of our sanctification as well as our salvation hath gone before us in this holy practice he sang a Hymn with his Apostles Mat. 26. 30. He sang with the Apostles to shew us that Psalms are calculated not onely for the publick Congregations but private Families He sang not with the multitude but with the Disciples And Christ sang in the Evening to evidence that the Evening of his own day is the most fit season for this heavenly duty And he sang immediatly before he suffered Hymni sunt laudes dei cum cantico Et si sit laus non dei non est hymnus si sit laus dei et non cantetur non est hymnus Oportet ergo ut sit hymnus habeat haec tria et laudem et dei et canticum August Psalmi Davidici sunt sacri hymni Philo. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Archimusico vincenti praecentori cui cura est de re musicà instatque ut ad debitum finem perducatur Prefecto cantorum Occurrit in Psalmis 35 vicibus Bithn to seal this Ordinance with his blood And if it be Queried what Hymn Christ sang Learned Expositors are various in their opinions and shoot so much at Rovers that I shall not stay to take up their arrows But it is not without remark that Augustin gives us the full and rare description of an Hymn which may help us in this case Hymns saith he are the praises of God set forth in singing If it be praise and not of God it is no hymn And if it be praise of God and these praises are not sung it is not an Hymn And therefore if it be an Hymn it must have these three things It must be praise the praise of God and that with a song Christ then was versed in this holy practice and so the Holy Ghost pens a Psalm for the Sabbath viz. the 92 Psalm that as there is the Lords Prayer to guide us in that holy duty so there i◠the Lords Psalm too to excite and stir us up in this feraphical Service 2. Godly Princes have glorified God in this duty 2 Chro. 29. 30. David composes Psalmes and Hezekiah commands them to be sung The chief Magistrate joynes with the chief Musician And he that takes the Scepter in his hand to govern the people he likewise takes the Harp in his hand to sing the praises of the Lord Psalm 98. 5. David and Asaph Hezekiah and the Levites all joyn to sing forth the praises of God There was among the Jews a Prefect of songs as well as a Governour of the People 3. The Holy Apostles those bright luminaries of the Church they have made this musick in their Sphears Acts 16. 25. Paul and Silas sang praises to God in their Exod. 15. 1. darkest Dungeon though their feet were their tongues were not in the stocks 4. Eminent Fathers Some have been cited already to give 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Quest 117. ad Orthodoxos in their testimony to the praise and practice of this duty I will onely superadd one more One most worthy among the worthiest famous Basil who thus discants upon singing of Psalmes Look whatever is profitably dispersed throughout the whole Scriptures the same is gathered together Est Psalmus animarum tranquillitas Pacis Arbiter optimarum disciplinarum promptuarium Psalmus turbas et fluctus cogitationum compescit iracundiam mollit est elementum incipientibus incrementum proficientibus c. Basil in the Book of the Psalmes and therefore this Book of Psalmes was preserved that those who are Children in years or altogether young in manners might in shew sing in meeter but in truth might instruct their own souls the instructions of the Psalmes being sung both at home and abroad A Psalm brings quietness to the mind is a peace-maker repressing the perturbations and passions of the mind it doth mollifie anger and procure love and friendship among men suggesting unto the mind a certain concord and a common bond to unite men together and compelling men to the harmony of one Quire A Psalm is instruction to the ignorant an increase to them that profit and one voice of the whole Church This doth beautifie solemnities and causes Godly sorrow for Psalms do pull tears out of the most stony hearts Thus far the Renowned Father launches forth in the praise of Psalmes Ho◠institutum in hodierum diem retentum Aug. Confes that spiritual incense as he is pleased to call them And from the Primitive Church this heavenly service hath been propagated down to our very times This duty like the Sun which runs through the several signs of the Zodiack hath passed the tempers and dispositions of every Age. Singing of Psalms hath not onely excellent presidents but enforcing reasons The Psalmist saith It is a good thing to sing unto our God Psal 47. 1. This duty being like a fruitfull Cloud in the Summer season which is not onely our screen against the heat but melts into a showre for the earths refreshing It doth not onely make a Canopy for us to keep of the scorching Sun but makes a draught for the ground to satisfie its parching thirst So we do not onely magnifie God in singing of Psalms but we solace our selves and put our Josh 6. 20. own hearts into a spiritual delight This duty is much to Edification Our souls are built up as the walls of Jericho were pulled down by loud sounding forth the praises of the Lord while we praise God we engage him and as holy musicians after we have drawn our tongues and hearts into the Quire we shall have our reward The Apostle advises Cum hilaritati inservimus aedificationis et utilitatis mutuae memores esse debemus Daven the Ephesians to speak to one another in Psalms Eph. 5. 19. The Christian at the same time carrying on a three-fold design 1. He praises God 2. He works divine truth upon his
divinae naturae tribuendum judicarunt singings must not serve our pleasure our wantonness our gain but our Saviour our Christ our God In this heavenly musick we must study not so much to keep time that we do not spoil the Consort as to keep the heart close to God that we do not spoil the Duty The heathens celebrate their false gods Neptune Mars Jupiter c. with Songs and Hymns and think that by this service and worship they proclaim their greatness and Divinity And shall Christiani essent soliti ante lucem convenire carmenque Chrâ—sto quasâ— deo dicere not we much more celebrate the praises of God and Christ who hath loved us and given himself for us Gal. 2. 20. in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual songs shall not God have the sweetness of our voice the melody of our hearts the songs of our lips nay the musick of our holy lives that all that is within us and without us too may praise his holy and glorious name And thus at last there is laid before us a Scheme of Sabbath observation and we are instructed how to keep the Lords day according to the Lords will which doing we Psal 4. 8. â— shall lie down at night with safety and satisfaction A well spent Sabbath will warm our bed at night will strew our bed with roses will sent it with perfumes nay strew it with pearls and we may joyfully expect a full crop of blessings the subsequent week nay our future life may be prospered with the gifts of the right hand and the left and drenched with the effusions of the upper and the nether springs CHAP. XXXVI Some supplemental Directions for the better observation of the Lords day BY way of Addition and Appendix some other particulars may be annexed and suggested for the furtherance Sâ—bbatum est aureum vitae tempus of this blessed service Indeed much of Religion is summed up in the care of Gods Sabbath and we should be as chary and tender of this trust viz. The Lords day as Jacob was of Benjamin in which Child his life was bound up The prophane person wasts this golden talent the formalist Luke 19. 20. wraps it up in a Napkin but the sedulous Saint puts it out to great advantage and will give up his account with joy Bishop White tells us The keeping holy of the Lords Bishop White in his Preface to his Treatise on the Sabbath day and why then should he plead so much for recreations on that holy day it is a work of piety a Nursery of Religion and Vertue a means of sowing the seeds of grace and of planting faith and saving knowledge and godliness in the peoples minds And our blessed Lord and Saviour being duly and religiously served and worshiped upon his own holy day imparteth heavenly and temporal benedictions Thus this learned man seems to lay the whole weight of Religion and to entail the whole reward of godliness upon a due observance of Gods blessed Sabbath And let this ever be the praise of his learning Undoubtedly Religion and the Sabbath are twins which live and die together And the piety of the Sabbath is the prosperity of the Nation But let us hasten to some further directions for the more sweet and full discharge of Sabbath piety Dir. 1 We must keep Sabbaths not only personally but domestically not only by our selves but by our families It is not enough for thee to pray but thy family must joyn in prayer Abraham Gen. 18. 18. caused his family to serve God which gave him no small interest in the love and heart of God Joshuas holy resolution was That he and his house would serve the Lord. Josh 24. 15. On a Sabbath every house should be a lesser Temple where all should meet to worship Every one must keep this holy Josh 24. 15. day in order Superiours must be carefull that inferiours observe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. 20. 10. it Can a Master of a family be said to keep a Sabbath when he is praying and his servant is sinning his Child is gadding his Wife is visiting In Heaven where there is an everlasting Sabbath kept there the whole Host is praising God and the Inhabitants of Heaven are called a Family by the Apostle Eph. 3. 15. Our services must be the musique of a Consort not of a single Instrument In the 4th Commandement Servants are commanded the sanctification of the Sabbath as well as Masters and Children as well as Parents This blessed Command takes Necessitas obedientiae non ex cusat servum sed necessi aâ— coâ—ctionis in the whole Family within its circuit And learned men observe the necessity of obedience doth not excuse the servant from observing this day onely the necessity of compulsion Servants must not work this day by command but onely by overpowering force and violence as the Israelites did in their Aegyptian bondage In matters of Religion there is no difference between bond or free male or female Gal. 3. 28. Every one hath a soul to look after an account to give a Christ to pursue Communi sanctificandi sabbatum lege constringuntur omnes ex aequo herus dominus pater liberi superiores inferiores Muscul a Heaven to take by force Mat. 11. 12. There dwelleth a piece of immortality in the bosome of the meanest servant And that Child which hath no portion to receive hath a Christ to ensure which is the work of this holy day Museulus observes The common Law for the keeping of the Sabbath equally reacheth all and is a common bond to oblige all and in this it is like the Law-giver It is no respecter of persons Acts 10. 34. nor must the power of Superiours prejudice Religion A Governour of a Family cannot lawfully call off his Children or Servants from religious observations and so from the duties of a Sabbath and Religion is as much the interest of the meanest Servant as of the greatest Masters of the most inferiour Peasant as of the most noble Prince Nay the lower our condition is here the more strictly we should keep the Sabbath that we may better our estate to come in that place and condition where all civil distinctions will be taken away The greatest Magistrate is called to be a nursing Father of the Church of God Isa 49. 23. and therefore herein must he look that the Church be fed and not delivered over to dry Nurses They are Gods Ordinance and their power is of God for of themselves they can do nothing Joh. 19. 11. And therefore they must honour God uphold his Ordinances 1 Sam. 2. 30. They must give to God the things which are Gods Rom 13. 1 2 6. Mat. 22. 21. and must employ their Power and Authority to the service and glory of Christ Wherefore seeing Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 27. Mat. 12. 8. Prov. 8. 15. They must
of a Sabbath and as lesser stars shine in the holy and exemplary observation of the Sabbath That swaying principle of interest should prompt Governours to this duty 1. Interest if they regard their present peace Slight Sabbaths will make sloathfull Servants and stubborn Children When we do not fasten the family to the holy duties of a Sabbath we leave them to the byass of their own corruptions Cor lubriâ—um et in omnia mala et iniqua pro pensum which will easily carry them to every thing inconvenient How many Servants in the great City of the Nation for want of care and zeal in their Masters to keep them to holy duties on Gods holy day Court their Harlots take off their Cups waste their Masters substance and hazzard their own in mortal souls and as Belteshazzar drink Dan. 5. 2. in the Vessels of the Temple with their Courtezans and their Concubines Many by these courses anticipate their own ruine and in reference to their dayes in the world for Luke 16. 6. an hundred write down fifty cast themselves untimely away mortgage their future hopes and blast their present parts and all from their riots on Gods holy day On the contrary the Family which serves God most on the Sabbath will serve the Governour best in the week The awe of a Sabbath is not easily worn off as colours laid in Oyle are not washed off with every drop A well spent Sabbath is an Ark in the house which sheds a prosperity on all the 2 Sam. 6. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Addidit affairs of it it makes every one a Joseph who carries increase and addition in his very name and concerning whom it was prophesied He should be a fruitful bough even a Gen. 49. 22. fruitful bough by a wall whose branches run over the wall Ex Josepho et filiis ejus duae tribus fuere propagatae amplissimae et potentissimae This holy care of sanctifying Sabbaths in with our families would cause the dews of heavenly benediction not only to fall upon the head and the beard of the Governours but the skirts also the inferiour branches of the family 2. It is the interest of Governours to see their families Exigit deus rationem à Ministris animarum nostrarum si vel unicâ eorum culpâ perierit Par. keep the Sabbath holy as they will give up their account with joy As the Minister must be responsible for the souls of his people committed to his charge Heb. 13. 17. so the Master for his Family At Gods Bar thou shalt not say am I my Families keeper In the time of the worlds infancy the Governour of the Family was the only Magistrate he Minister onus et curam animarum gerit pro iis aeternae mortis periculo se exponit siâ—gulorum probitas et salus ab eo exigetur in die judicii Alap was both Master and Pastour his house-hold was his teritory and dominion and he swayed his Scepter in exercising his power over it Abraham was a Prince and a Prophet in his own house and he acted like a Prince in commanding his family to keep the way of the Lord Gen. 18. 19. But still we are accountable for those who are subordinate to us and if we must be accountable for words as transient breath Mat. 12. 36. much more for Children the darlings of our bosoms and for Servants the objects of care that living trust committed to us How often do Parents put their Children into the Masters hand as Jacob did Benjamin into the hands of his Brethren Gen. 43. 14. with weeping eyes with aking hearts with ardent prayers and cry out if They are bereaved they are bereaved and shall the negligence of Gen. 43. 14. Masters strike these trembling Parents under the fifth rib because they did not see their servants strictly observe Gods holy day but left them to the vanity of their minds which gradually habituated them in evil and paved their way to destruction Surely the grief of these disappointed Parents shall no more vie with the doome of the regardless Masters 1 Kings 12. 11. then the smart of a rod can compare with the burning of a Scorpion But Masters of families should do well before-hand to cast up their account and this would be a spur to their care and sedulity on Gods holy day That lovely principle of justice and equity might command this service If we find not our family employed in holy work on Gods holy day what do we more for them then we do for our beasts We give them rest from labour Shall the care of a soul which endures to eternity more valuable Mat. 16. 26. then a world no more sway with us then the care of a beast which perisheth The Cattel shall not travel and the Psal 49. 20. Servants shall not work upon Gods day and so they shall be both equally indulged with the same priviledge Is this suitable to the spirit of the Gospel Paul endures the pangs of travel Gal. 4. 19. Christ endures the pangs of death Luke 23. 46. and thou shalt not endure a little trouble and a little care not one act of zeal or one drop of sweat in holy 1 Sam. 28. 14. diligence for precious and never dying souls Throw off the mantle of Samuel if thou and thy house will not serve the God of Samuel on his own day And moreover it is a great provocation that our Servants must serve us in the week and we take no care that they serve God on the Sabbath Our interest must be on the Anvel though the interest of Christ and Religion be laid aside a poor worm must be more sedulously served and observed then the infinite Jehovah May not that exclamation be here seasonable Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth Isa 1. 2. The Shop must not be neglected though the soul be is our present gain to run paralel with our servants future Crown Must servants be more mindfull of our work then their own everlasting weal Indeed what would it profit us if we should gain the whole world and our poor servants lose Mat. 16. 26. their immortal souls will our profit compensate their loss Surely this is bruitishly to use our servants and well befits the profession of a Demas who hath forsaken the Gospel and embraced the present world 2 Tim. 4. 10. But let us not beguile our selves saith heavenly Greenham for the blood of servants souls will be required at Masters hands who being lordly and tyrannicall make their servants either equal to their beasts or worse then their beasts caring for nothing but the world never thinking of Hell whereunto they are hastening Dir. 2 We must endeavour to keep Gods day uniformly and harmoniously Our families must be on the Lords day as the building of Solomons Temple where no Axe or Hammar was 1 Kings 6. 7. heard
no discord or division It is very deplorable to consider Quot homines tot sententiae what confusions are in many families so many persons so many opinions the Master is of one Church the Wife of another the Child of a third and may be the Servant of a fourth the Master possibly will sing Psalms the Child or the Servant happily cannot joyn in that heavenly duty Are not these families too like the speckled bird the Prophet speaks of Jer. 12. 9. Or like the spotted Leopard Jer. 13. 23. too like Josephs party-coloured coat which afterwards was dipt in blood Gen. 37. 31. The Apostle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assures us that God is a God of Order and not of Confusion 1 Cor. 14. 33. Christ's coat was not torne though lots was cast for it It was the praise of the Primitive Church They did serve God with one accord Acts 2. 46. Magna suit Ignatio cura 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Ecclesiâ Ordo venustatem parit confusio infidelitatem Zach. 14. 9. the same pulse beat in all the same spirit acted them all the same love united and espoused them all the same service employed them all Divided Families like divided Kingdoms cannot stand The four and twenty Elders in heaven sung the same song Rev. 4. 11. The Angels all utter the same triumphal words Rev. 5. 8 9 11 12. It is a blessed and glorious promise That we shall call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one consent Zeph. 3. 9. How pathetically doth the Apostle press unity Eph. 4. 3 4 5 6. A consort of Musicians play not several tunes but one and the same lesson Concord in service is the Musick of a family when we all sing the same Psalm all pray the same prayer fix our thoughts on the same truths hear the same Sermon and variety is over-ruled by unity Surely divisions are the wounds and jars of a family and such contrarieties are the flashing emblems of novelty and sad Prognosticks of fatall scepticism Let us then study that our selves and families may serve the Lord on his own day with one voice with one shoulder with one lip and with one heart Vnited stars make a constellation When stars do fight it presages great slaughter and is no less then miraculous Jud. 5. 20. Dir. 3 We must act the services of the Sabbath freely and chearfully Our services must be the fruit of love not the effect of force Holy delight must draw us to the Sanctuary not a pressing and rigorous conscience God loves a chearfull giver and a chearfull worshipper It was Davids joy to go with the multitude Psal 42. 4. Our service on a Sabbath must not be as wine squeezed from the grape but as water flowing from the fountain Our service must be the service of children not the homage of slaves In this we must imitate Ezek. 10. 5 the Angels who have their wings to fly upon every Neminem voluit cogi sed sponte prompto animo offerri quicquid unus quisque conferri vellet voluit deus hilares datores etiam et spontaneos cultores eos solos acceptabat Obsequium enim involuntariè delatum obedientiae nomen non moretur Riv. commanded service It was a brand put upon the people of Israel they were weary of his Sabbaths Amos 8. 9. The Sanctuary must be our Paradise not our Purgatory In the time of the Law those who would offer to the Lord they must do it with a willing heart Exo. 35. 5. Rivet well observs Involuntary obedience deserves not the name much less the reward of obedience Our duties on the Sabbath must be lively and vigorous The true Mother cries the living child is mine 1 Kings 3. 22. So God saith the living Sabbath is mine It is a character of Gods people that they are a willing people Psal 110. 3. The Hebrew reads it a people of willingness to shew how exceedingly willing we should be in the day of the Lords power which is principally his own holy day It is usually the sigh of a poor Saint Lord I would run faster but my corrupt heart hampers me Sabbaths should be our element not our burden David made it his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 only request that he might spend his whole life in the Temple Psal 27. 4. Every thing in an Ordinance might flush our joy and fledge our desires 1. The superscription it bears it hath the stamp of Christ upon it Preaching is the preaching of Christ the Sacrament is the Supper of Christ Now the name Jesus should be like Caesar his Quirites it should put new life into the Saint 2. The advantage it brings It brings spiritual Life Faith Rom. 10. 17. Conversion Ordinances bring spiritual lading to the soul Acts 16. 14. Lydia was converted by the preaching of Paul 3. The end it designs which is the everlasting good of the soul We hear that we may be holy we receive that we may be hearty we pray that we may be happy Eternal Justificatio praecedit gloriam vitam aeternam Fulgent life is the stage of all Ordinances the center where the lines of every Ordinance meets And the Gospel is generally called the Gospel of life and salvation 2 Cor. 2. 16. Eph. 1. 13. Let us a little glance at the pleasing gradation Faith comes by hearing Justification by Faith and Justification ushers in holiness here and future glory and happiness Thus every Ordinance of a Sabbath may accent our de-delight and put an emphasis upon our joy We must then Rom. 8 30. keep our Sabbaths in holy joys in heavenly satisfactions and the Bride-chamber here below must be in our own bosoms Psal 119. 97. On this day our feasting must be converse with God our meat and drink must be to do our fathers will Psal 119. 20. and to do his will must be our meat and drink Jobn 4. 24. On this day we must be filled with the spirit which is better Cant. 5. 1. then new wine The day of God is prophetically called a day of joy Psal 118. 24. This day literally is a day of delight it is the day on which Christ sprang from the Mark 16 9. grave and gave a new life to the world This day prefiguratively is a day of rich consolation for it prefigures an eternall Sabbatism with the Lord Heb. 4. 9. It adumbrates that glorious state when we shall enter into our Masters joy Mat. 25. 21. Our services then on the Lords day must be enlivened with activity and sweetned with alacrity Dir. 4 Our services on Gods day must be solemn and serious Though they must not be without joy yet they must be without lightness we may be complacential but we may not be formall Delight well becomes a Sabbath but laughter doth not We must consider we have Sabbaths to carry on soul work which is an interest of the greatest importance
Sabbath days work He spends time in opening Scriptures preaching and proving his salvifical resurrection till the cold and dead hearts of these Disciples were warmed and did burn within them and then he departed from them In this Christ was our safe and seraphical pattern let us go and do so likewise But this duty of charity to souls is comprehensive and spreads it self into Luke 10 37. many branches We must study to draw sinners to repentance we must set before them the severity of Gods Justice against all impenitent Tristitia tanâ—ùm propter peccatum facta est à quo nata est ideò ut tinea ipsum corrodit et absumit Chrysost sinners the free grace of God must likewise be intimated and unfolded and endeavour must be used to display the riches of divine mercy to humble broken-hearted penitents what sweet embraces heaven-breathing kisses and clasping armes returning Prodigals shall have Luke 15. 20. God hath soft bowels for soft hearts his eye pitties a tender spirit he meeteth a yielding sinner and when the stubborn offendour layes down his weapons he is presently and pleasingly 2 Chr. 34. 27. reconciled If we bow we shall not break We must instruct the ignorant in points and doctrines necessary to salvation No cloud so black as that of ignorance it is that dark night makes us stumble and stray knowledge is the first-born of graces and is the conduct of our steps A knowing Christian must file off the chain to wander from Christ The murder of our Saviour is charged by the Apostle upon ignorance 1 Cor. 2. 8. Infidelity that killing sin is the blackness of this darkness Palpable darkness was the judgement of Aegypt and spiritual darkness is the woe of every sinner Let us then endeavour to break this cloud where ever we espy it hang over the soul and let us remember instruction is often the fruit of correction God chastens to inform Psal 94. 12. But it is the necessary fore-runner of salvation Our Saviour saith John 17. 3. This is life eternall to know God and him whom he hath sent Jesus Psal 51. 13. Christ Knowledge is the morning star which fore-runs the Dan. 12. 3. Sun of faith which lightens every one which comes into the world of sanctified ones we must know Christ before we can embrace him and so obtain life by him To inform others then is part of a Sabbath days work and the discharge of that duty which being made prosperous by divine benediction may lead both thy self and others to an eternal rest We must comfort the comfortless who are dejected through the number and the hainousness of their offences The pensive sorrowfull sinner is as the Traveller who fell among thieves Luke 10. 30. and was stript and wounded and our duty is especially on Ex parabolâ hominis in latronum manus incidentis mysterium redemptionis per Christum colligâ—tur et homo vulneratus est Δ damus per peccatum lapsus Ambros the Lords day to poure the oyle of gladness into these wounds We must set before this mourner the all-sufficiency of Christs sacrifice the gracious offers of the Gospel to burdened transgressors in this sence it is better to go on a Sabbath to the house of mourning then to the house of feasting Eccles 7. 2. If so be the tears of the penitent be as one of the Fathers said The wine of Angels surely they should be the motives of Saints to wipe off those tears by words of Scriptural comfort and consolation Rom. 15. 4. Let us shew such Christs smiles to quiet their sighs let us tell them of the freeness of the promise of the willingness of Christ to be reconciled Mat. 11. 28. And that if the prodigal Son draw near the Father will not keep at a distance We are commanded to speak comfortably to Gods weeping ones and to tell them their iniquities are pardoned Isa 40. 1 2. In this we should imitate the Sun which often shines in a showre and puts a gilding upon the falling drops We must on the Lords day exhort and stir up such as have Heb. 10. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 begun well to hold out patiently and constantly The Crown is at the end of the race The throne is given not to the Souldier but to the Conquerour Rev. 3. 21. Let us tell young professors they that endure to the end shall be saved Mat. 24. 13. Perseverance is a pearl in a Christians graces it is not 1 Cor. 9. 24. to begin only but to finish our course 2 Tim. 4. 7. Onely Non omnes currentes accipient bravium sed tantùm bene eâ— ritè currentes ad metam usq Alap Conquest shall wear the spoyles of a glorious eternity To set forwards toward Sion and then to recoyle this is to slight not to get heaven Happiness is gained by forcing not by freâ—zing Mat. 11. 12. not by growing more luke-warme but more importunatâ— Christ is the Omega as well as the Alpha Rev. 1. 8. and so is Christianity too The Arrow which shoots home hits the mark The Sun doth not only rise in the morning but it goes off with flying beams in the evening The Saint must set with Christ in his heart as well as rise with Christ in his eye And these things we must suggest to initiated Christians a work becoming Gods holy day We must rebuke and rèprove such as are tainted with scandal for their offensive miscarriages Thus John reproved Herod for Herodias her sake Luke 3. 19. Thou must not suffer sin upon thy Brother least it fall upon thy self and although this be an unthankfull office it must not be declined Indeed Levit. 19. 17. sin is often lovely but sinners passions must not obstruct a duty of Religion Wounds must be washed though they Gal. 4. 15. smart in the washing Thy reproof may be thy Brothers balm which if neglected may be his bane Those who are of Davids spirit will prize smiting more then smiles and reproof as an excellent oyle Psal 141. 5. which is one of those creature comforts which express the wealth of the world Psal 4. 7. And oyle for its softness as well as value and worth The checks of a righteous man are the breaking of a stone upon a pillow like a sword anointed with balsom which woundeth and healeth at the same time and such rebuke is the oyle of gladness too it issues in nothing but peace and consolation We must reconcile differing and jarring Christians And this is an eminent branch of spiritual charity to reconcile God to man was the fruit of Christs passions and is the blessed Phoenix which arose from the ashes of all his sufferings Col. 1. 20. To reconcile man to God is the labour and Illi rectiùs pacifici sunt qui primò in corde uâ— deinde inter ratres dissentientes pacem faciunt concordiam Hieron attempt of all faithfull Ministers 2 Cor. 5.
19 20. But to reconcile man to man is the duty of every real Christian and a work most agreeing to the sweetness of a Sabbath a duty crowned with the promise of the greatest royalty Mat. 5. 9. The day of Christs Resurrection our blessed Sabbath was a reconciling day It reconciled truth to the Promises Mat. 20. 19. Mat. 27. 63. Mark 8. 31. Mark 10. 34. Luke 24. 7. John 20. 9. it was the accomplishment of the reconciling work of mans Redemption And on this day the soul of Christ was re-united to his body which was at a distance before No work then more befits the Lords day then the healing of divisions and the praying down animosities between Christians On this blessed day we must endeavour to resolve doubtfull Christians Doubts are the wedges in the soul which both wound and pain to pluck out these wedges by Scripture Qui disceptat dubitat sâ—nâ— licitum necne si manducat peccati damnationis incurrit rectum force is a duty becoming the best of days A doubting Christian is upon a rack he is as a ship upon the Sea in the night he fears he shall either dash upon the rock of errour or sink in the quick-sands of mistake he wants the Pilotism of a knowing and faithful Christian he tosses to and fro and knows not how to come to harbour Now it is spiritual love and charity to relieve this naval pilgrim Oecumen Doubts are not only painfull and vexatious but harmful and noxious 1. They are the enemies of faith Mat. 21. 21. 2. They are the evidences of frailty Mat. 28. 17. 3. They are the hazard of the soul Rom. 14. 23. 4. They are the disobedience of a positive and peremptory command Luke 12. 29. And 5. They cat out all the profit of prayer 1 Tim. 2. 8. Haesitantiae opponitur fiduâ—ia quae necessaria est omni oranti Doubts like cares they are the thorns of the soul which rend and tear the minde with convulsions and distractions And therefore the Apostle is so urgent in his command Rom. 14. 1. That new and crude Professors be not admitted to doubtfull disputations that was the way to unhinge Mark 11. 24. them from the faith and to take them off from the profession of Christianity which would seem nothing to them but a labyrinth and a maze wherein men may lose but not save themselves This is charity then becoming a Sabbath to satisfie the doubts of poor trembling Christians and to become as a harbor to a tattered bark Thus ye have seen the severals of that spiritual charity which the meanest Christian may give and the humble if wanting Christian will receive Another direction for the better observation of the Lords day may be Let us seek God in Ordinances Ordinances Direct 8. are only an empty cloud unless the presence of God melt them into a fruitful shower David saw the power and glory of God in the Sanctuary Psal 63. 2. Ordinances are breathless institutions unless God breathe the breath of life Gen. 2. 7. into them The spirit must stretch himself over them as the Prophet did over the child before any life will come 2 Kings 4. 35. In hearing God must open Lydia's heart Acts 16. 14. In praying God must open our mouths that Psalm 51. 15. we may shew forth his praise The Sacrament is a gaudy Psalm 119. 18. pageant if God be not present what do we drink if not John 6. 55. Christs bloud what do we eat if not Christs body It is the presence of God makes an Ordinance the living child 1 Kings 3. 22. otherwise it is no more then the dead child or a spirituall abortion The divine appearance sweetens fills sanctifies and makes effectual every Ordinance David loved the habitation of Gods house but it was because that was the place where Gods honour dwelt Psal 27. 4. When men go to a certain place to meet a friend and they miss him they return sorrowful and discontented Christ is thy friend Cùm dei gloria in Christo in Evangelio quasi in speculo intuemur per hoc quasi in eandem dei gloriam transâ—â—rmamur speculantes i. e. per speculum videntes non de speculâ prospicientes Aug de Trin. who is to meet thee at Ordinances if thou miss him go home sorrowful Ordinances without God they are a table without meat and so a living soul may depart hungry and thirsty Sometimes Ordinances are compared to a glass 2 Cor. 3. 18. Because therein the Christian beholds the glory of the Lord. Let us hear the language of the Psalmist Psal 84. 2. My soul longeth yea even fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh cryeth out for the living Lord. Therefore David longed for Gods Courts because the Lord was in those Courts Sometimes the sweet Singer of Israel compares his desire to thirst of which creatures are more impatient then hunger Psalm 63. 1. Sometimes to the thirst of a Hart which creature being naturally hot and dry in a very great degree is exceeding thirsty but still the object of his thirst is God Psal 42. 1 2. It was communion with God in his life love and graces nay in his comforts which the Psalmist breathed after the sweet smiles of Gods face the honey dews of his Spirit this was Davids Paradise of pleasute and his heaven below When we go to Ordinances let us with Moses go up into the Mount to converse with God there It is God in the Word causeth efficacy It is God in Prayer causeth prevalency It is God in Meditation which causeth suavity It Psalm 104. 34. is God in a Sabbath causeth complacency When we go to the waters of the Sanctuary let us say as Elisha to the waters of Jordan where is the Lord God of Elijah 2 Kings 2. 14. So where is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Where is thy Chariot O Sun of Righteousness why is it so long Judges 5. 28. a coming why tarries it what clogs the wheels O when wilt thou come to me Let us look on all holy duties and performances as boats to ferry our souls over to God Saul himself was sad and sorrowfull when he enquired of the Lord and the Lord answered him 1 Sam. 28. 15. Indeed God is not onely the Master but the Marrow of a Sabbath and no Lords day can satisfie without the Lord of the day Antiquus dierum Christus est Ille enim corporaliter visibiliter judicabit vivos et mortuos Christus ideò vocatur Antiqus dierum ut ejus describatur Majestas et aeternitas Hieron what is the best time without the Rock of eternity What is the best day without the Ancient of dayes What are Sermons Sacraments seasons of grace without our Beloved They are nothing but broken Cisterns glorious dreams gilded nothings embalmed hearses and as a perfumed corpse Ah
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
shouldst consider the importance of it it cost more even the precious bloud of Jesus Christ and while thou art sporting and idling in the fields God might have been speaking to thy soul Augustine was converted by a Sermon of holy Ambrose Peter Martyr was brought home to God by a passage of a Sermon As for those who must have a walk after Sermon these impoverish their souls Are there not family prayers to procure blessings family repetitions to digest the word family duties to warm the heart on a Sabbath day Publick Ordinances are too often as land-floods to the soul which will quickly disappear unless the waters of life sink in gradually by private repetition and meditation Serious consideration and fervent prayer at home work into the heart those truths and doctrines we heard abroad These ill husbands for their better part too frequently drop in the fields what they have pickt up in the Sanctuary and the air is more fresh Absit ut dejicerem animum nobilem et illum corpori mancipium facerem then their memory These field-walkers how do they sink below some heathens It was the saying of a noble heathen Far be it from me that I should make my noble mind a slave to my body If we will have our pleasures on the Lords day let us meet with Christ in his Garden Cant. 5. 1. let us gather fruits in his Orchard of Pomgranates Cant. 4. 13. Let us lie down by the fountain of Gardens Cant. 4. 15. Let us stay our selves with his Apples and Flagons Cant. 2. 5. and sit down with our beloved in his banquetting house Cant. 2. 4. And then travel over the mountains of spices Cant. 8. 14. Christ indeed is the Paradise of pleasure he can ravish us with one of his eyes Cant. 4. 9. and make us drink of the cup of Salvation Divine pleasures become the Sabbath not the titillations of sence but the refreshings of the soul Let those then who waste the Sabbath in taking the air take Joh. 6. 58. Isa 25. 8. Eph. 2. 2. heed least they meet with the Prince of the air considering these unnecessary walks contain more temptation then recreation in them they are Satans refined and plausible bate to cause the incautelous Christian to let fall and so lose his spiritual morsels we know it is his grand artifice to steal away the seed of the word Mat. 13. 19. and pleasing recreations give him the best aime Caut. 3 Let us take heed of the sin of unbelief The believer only sanctifies the Sabbath they truly keep it who themselves are kept in their most holy faitb Jude v. 20. Every duty of a Mark 11. 24. Jam. 1. 6. Sabbath requires faith If we hear we must mingle the word with faith Heb. 4. 2. If we pray it must be believing Crede et manducasti crede et bibisti Aug. Mat. 21. 22. It is faith makes our prayers effectual If we receive we must come to the Sacrament with faith Augustine saith Believe and thou hast eaten believe and thou hast drunken Faith is the chief guest at Christs table If we meditate faith sweetens that duty and makes it lushious not tedious Psal 119. 97. Observe Thy Law c. It was Heb. 11. 6. the Law of his God and that sweetned his meditation on it If we read the Scriptures it is faith must make that duty effectual without faith the Word is onely a â—iddle the Acts â— 3◠〈…〉 Christi puzzle not the profit of a Christian Faith then puts life into every duty and makes it both vigorous and viâ—â—â— Buâ— unbelief is a sin which like the Câ—terpillar eats up al◠〈◊〉 fruit of a Sabbath and turns its Sun into dâ—rkness Vnbelief invalidaâ—es our approaches to God Heb. 11. 6. 〈◊〉 In vain the knee bowes unless the heart believes in vâ—â—â— we lift up the hands of flesh unless we lay hold on God by 〈…〉 sâ—d infidâ—â—itas à â—hâ—isto planè a◠〈◊〉 illius spiritu nos privâ—t et Satanae insidiis nos expositos reddit Lys the hands of faith We must bring faith to make our way acceptable to the Almighty In the forcecited Text Heb. 11. 6. the Apostle doth not say without faith it is improbable but it is impossible to please God Without faith all duties are acted in the dark there must be an eye of faith to see our way to God in Christ Vnbelief prevents the work of Christ upon the heart Mat. 13. 56. It unqualifies us for spiritual successes this sin is so great it can cast Christ into an admiration Mark 6. 6. What great things might Ordinances work upon the soul if the heart was not barred up by unbelief It was this sin which unchurched the poor nation of the Jews Rom. 11. 20. It may be the Epitaph of that ancient people of God Here lies a people cast off by God because of unbelief Vnbelief shuts up the gate of mercy Heb. 3. 19. Faith melts the cloud of Ordinances into a fruitful shower unbelief makes ordinances a dark appearance onely and turns Heb. 4. 6. them into stones of emptiness Isa 34. 11. An Ordinance to an unbeliever is a dead Child the spirit of God doth not breath in it And therefore on a Sabbath above all thy gettings get faith Vnbelief it puts a defilement upon the sweetest Ordinances They are as a Jewel in a dead mans hand The prayers of an unbeliever are an abomination to the Lord. The Apostle Prov. 4 7. saith Tit. 1. 15. To them who are unbelieving every Omnia opera infidelâ—um sunt noxia et peccâ—tâ— thing is defiled Vnbelief damps the pearl of Ordinances puts a flaw upon it The School-men say All the works of unbelievers are sins and so then are all his services and they accommodate themselves to that of the Apostle Rom. Gregor Arim. Capriolus Câ—tharinus c. 14. 23. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin Vnbelief blasts the sweetest duty as lightning doth the fairest face The Lord saith to the unbeliever What hast thou to do to take my word into thy mouth Psal 50. 16. Why do I pray if I do not believe returns What do I hear if I do not believe doctrines VVhat do I receive if I do not believe Christ in the Sacrament Ordinances to an unbeliever they are not dews Rom. 1. 16. but dreams not Gods power but Mans fancy and Sermons are only the Romances of the Pulpit The Apostle Heb. 11. per totum tells us of many Miracles of faith and unbelief Heb. 11. 11 29 30 33 34. Exod. 4. 3. can work on it can turn all our rods into Serpents it can work the same wonder Christ wrought on the barren fig-tree Mark 11. 21. It can curse with a perpetual blast Augustine used to dispute from John 3. 19. That unbelief was the only damning sin This sin like popish Rome is the Mother of Harlots Rev. 17. 5. And therefore against
man Toil and labour is mans Scutchion and the first Arms he gives The bird doth not fly more naturally then man should toil Man in his innocency was to dress the Garden ever since the fall he is to dig it All creatures read a Lecture against idleness The Sun is swift in its travel the stars speedy in their motion the fire flies upward not a little spark but is upon its flight The beasts of the field do our work carry our burdens they are active for the service of man The wise-man sends us to the Ant and the Pismire to learn industry Prov. 6. 6. Prov. 30. 25. These little creatures are the confutation of sloth and idleness Idleness will much inhance and imbitter our account God hath not endow'd the soul with quick and sparkling faculties and the body with strength and potency and all in vain Qui nobis vires idoneas ad laborandum suppeditavit ille in die judicii parem quoque à nobis in laborando industriam reposcet Bas Basil positively determines He who hath given us apt and fit strength in the judgment day will expect an account of a sutable industry There is strength for labour and there must be sweat in labour Idleness is the Nurse and Pander of corruption Augustine observes that Rome decayed and fell after Carthage was conquered because it wanted a Competitor to find it employment Chrysostom asked the Question What advantage doth the ship bring which lyeth upon the shoar or the sword which hangs up and rusts in the hall c. When David rose Chrysost hom 35. in Acta Apostol from his slothful bed then his corruption caught fire which turned into such a flame that it scorched both himself and 2 Sam. 11. 2. his family But idleness on a Sabbath day lies under greater aggravations It is not the spawn but the Serpent it is not the Cockatrice egg but the Cockatrice Let us trace it a little Idleness on Gods day is a dishonour to the Author of it What honour can accrew to God by an idle and lazy rest Is the Minister graced by sleepy Auditors It is the weeping eye the bended knee the praising tongue the working heart brings honour to the Almighty Shall an oscitant and sleepy worshipper pay the tribute of a dream Shall the glory of God be promoted by frequenting the Wakes walking the fields for recreation frivolous communication or any other such method of idleness on his own blessed day Surely the disciples of Bacchus can act as much solemnity to their jocular idol Idleness on the Sabbath is only an invitation to Satan to forge temptations and to make his attempts Standing waters putrifie When we stand stiâ—â— we give the better aim for Pugnat cum hoc praeâ—epto diem sacrum consumere ignavo otiâ— Ger the adversary to shoot Satan hath his full scope against a lazy sinner Indeed he that doth nothing will soon do evil He that sits at the door on a Sabbath will soon be drawn to a Tavern Holy services are a Bulwark against Satan and his attempts are rather troubles then temptations The Psalmist observes That wicked men devise mischief Psal 36. 4â— upon their beds When they are at ease then they lie opâ—n to Satans assaults Gerard worthily takes notice That to spend Gods holy day in idleness is a contradiction to the very command Communion with God is our close guard and Satan then must leave us as he did Christ Mat. 4. 11. Or get behind us as our Saviour spake to Peter Mat. 16. 23. It is the calm stops the ship in its voyage and laziness on a Sabbath is the remora which stops our sailing to the Port of glory To be idle on a Sabbath is to invert nature and as Heliogabalus the Roman Emperour to turn day into night Thus viz. in idleness We may serve God as well sleeping as waking Psal 22. 2. in the shades of the night as within the veil of the Sanctuary Psal 134. 1. We need not the lamp of the Sun to light us to do Psal 77. 6. nothing David tells us of his services and duties by night Psal 119. 55. Psal 63. 6. but not of his sloth by day especially on Gods day Should we run out our Sabbath in idleness God had no need to have added day to the Sabbath in the fourth Commandment night had been as good for carnal rest is a property affixed to that season To be idle on this holy day is a great loss of time Subbaths are our golden spot of time and idleness takes off the gold from this spot The Sabbath is our term for our souls and it is frenzy to loyter in our term Indeed we may say of Sabbaths as Jacob once said of his Children If we are bereaved we are bereaved Gen. 43. 14. If we lose our Sabbaths what salvâ— have we that we should not lose our souls Lyra observes out of one of the Rabbies That the double offering was so proper to the Sabbath that if it was at any Lyra in Numer time omitted it could not be supplied on other Sabbath days One pertinently adds And there is good reason for it for every Sabbath day must be kept holy Take notice all ye vain and idle persons who waste your precious and irrevocable Sabbaths The Sabbath is most properly the day our Saviour speaks of John 9. 4. in which we must work for the night comes and then no man shall work And in this that of the wise man is most true Prov. 19. 15. The idle person shall suffer hunger Idleness if it get into our hands it will ruine our house Eccles 10. 18. If it get into our tongues it will hazzard our souls Mat. 12. 36. If it seize on our persons it loseth our Sabbaths we trifle away the day and we catch nothing To be idle on the Sabbath swerves from the pattern It is true God rested on the Sabbath Gen. 2. 2. but it is as Divines speak from the production of new species and kinds of creatures he rested from his creating work but not from A creatione novarum specierum cessavit et quievit deus Muscul his governing work from new productions but not from his constant providence for our Saviour saith expresly Joh. 5. 17. The Father worketh hitherto and I work And so must we rest from our secular works on a Sabbath but not from our spiritual To be idle on a Sabbath is a contradiction to our perfect and most absolute pattern Idleness is inconsistent to the Divine Majesty as being an evil Musculus decries it as a great errour to think deum ociari that God is now idle Solem deus semel creavit sed hunc quotidiè oriri facit hominem ex terrâ semel condidit sed adhuc hominem fingit in in utero materno because he hath finished the worlds Creation No but God still propagates moderates perserves and governs his
sorrow Titus an Heathen Emperour when a day was past and he hâ—d done no good Pedr. de Mex Hist Imper. on that day was wont to break out into sighs and sorrow to those who were about him and cry O my friends I have lâ—ft a day The loss of any day is matter of moan but Ezek. â—9 14. to lose the Lords day and the Lord in that day this is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation In nature the interpâ—sition of the Earth between the Sun and the Moon causeth an eâ—clipse and surely when earth vain thoughts earthly discourse froth and negâ—ect have interposed between God and thy soul on his own day what an ecclipse of sadness Eccles 12. 5. should it cause upon thy heart Upon the loss of friends we go in mourning and why not in the loss of Sabbaths which are good friends to the soul Christ waited for thee in every Ordinance thou didst not give him the meeting go home and like the Dove bemoan the loss of 2 Kings 2 12. thy mâ—â—e It is most equal when Ordinances are not our Tristitia nobis data est ut dole â—mâ—s non de morte sed de peccato ibi solâ—â—â— utilis est â—â—â—stitia alibi est inutilis Chrysost treasure that they should be our trouble and what we want in good we should make up in gâ—iâ—â— When Elisha went with Elijah and a chariot of fire parted them asunder carrying Elijah to heaven and leaving Elisha on earth Elisha looked up and cryed my Father my Father Hath God and thee O Christian been parted asunder on a Sabbath and hath the Lord left thy heart on earth and himself gone to heaven O think sadly of this and with bitter moan cry out my Father my Father Repent for the loss of the Lords day and lament after the Lord of that day Sad hearts do well become empty Sabbaths It is very doleful to pine for thirst at the wells mouth If thy heart hath been dead in duties let it be drowned in sorrows Christ looks through the lattice in every Ordinance if thou hast turned thy back upon him by neglect or a vain spirit say with the Church Is any sorrow like unto my sorrow Lam. 1. 12. Search into the cause of this heartless and fruitless passing away Gods precious Sabbath It is good for a Christian to examine what way-lâ—id his work what kept God and his soul a sunder It may be thou didst not tune thy heart by holy preparation Loâ—se strings make no musick every peg must be wound up Vndressed gardens yield no delightfull prospect Mattaina praeparatio necessaria est per diligentem cultus consideratiorem et opis divinae implorationem Riv. in Decalog nor do the nowers grow but on the bâ—ds where the Gardiner hath used his industry and his artifice Thou hast not happily plâ—wed up thy heart aforehand by prayer and meditation and so it is fallow when it comes to Ordinances Holy duties themselves are harsh when the heart is out of tune Marshalled armies engage in battle and prepared hearts engage most properly and most beneficially in Ordinances 1. Cor. 11. 28. To examine our selves is not onely the preface to a Sacrament but to every holy Ordinance No wonder thou art dead in the Sanctuary if thou art deficient in the Closet thou didst lose the morning and therefore thou didst lose the day See is not this the cause thou art so heavy and so stupified in holy Administrations The clock was not wound up and therefore it did not strike Thou wast not Jer. 14. 9. with God in secret and therefore thou didst not meet God in publick so thou looked'st for healing and behold trouble The fire must be blown before it turn into a flame Prepared physick contributes to the cure there must be the Apothecary to prepare as well as the Physician to prescribe Medicines Barascue est feria sexta quâ—m nos vocamus diem veneris quae praeparationis nomine appella tuâ— quia Judâ—i sâ—lâ—bant illo the necessaria paâ—are â—â— proxâ—me 〈◊〉 Sabbatu◠〈◊〉 â—b omni opâ—re servili cessâ—â—dâ—m erat Ger. Our hearts must be taken pains withall before they are fit for the Ordinances of a Sabbath The Jews had a Preparation day as well as a Sabbath day John 19. 43. The heart must be broken by repentance raised by meditation spiritualized by prayer over-awed by a sense of the Divine Majesty before it is fit for communion with God It was a serious prayer of holy Hezekâ—ah 2 Chron. 30. 18 19. The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God and the Lord God of his Fatheâ—s though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the Sanctuary And in the subsequent verse it is said The Lord hearkened to Hezekiah and healed the people Experiment this preparatory work and no doubt but thy complaint will cease and the case will be satisfied It may be thy thoughts are low of Sabbath gains Men will not run a race for a trivial prize Merchants venture to Sea Phil. 1. 14. not for Pibbles but Pearles Thou lookest on Ordinances as empty breasts and so thou liest carelesly at them But this is a strange and a sinful mistake Faith the best of graces is the fruit of hearing Rom. 10. 17. The Spirit the best of gifts is the fruit of praying Luke 11. 13. And Christ Christus illâ— tri-dâ—◠〈◊〉 et sepulturae fuit â—â—â—ciculus Myâ—rhae propter dâ—lâ—rem sed pâ—st triduanum dolâ—rem absorpsit laetitia et fâ—ctus est â—t botrus Cypriâ—n vineâ—s engedâ—i illa myrrha â—â—mmutata est in vinum suavissinum et salutare the best of banquets is the fruit of Sacramental receiving Mat. 26. 26. Are not Ordinances the Exchequer of soultreasure more sweet then the clusters of Camphire Lam. 1. 14. more transcendent then mountanes of Spices Cant. 8. 14. More pleasant then the Vineyards of Engeâ—di Cant. 1. 14. Surely thou art mistaken sinner Didst thou ever consider Prayers have held the hands of the Father Exod. 32. 10. Gospel doctrines have employed the tongue of the Sâ—n Luke 4. 43 44. And a shower of the spirit hath fallen upon the Congregation at a Sermon Acts 10. 44. Nay the whole Trinity have been present at a Baptism Mat. 3. 16. Such fruitfull wombâ— must not be called Barren But this sinfull level which so prostrates Ordinances is no more then the evidence of Satans power and that he leads thee to much Del Rio. captive at his pleasure None will call Ordinances empty but the Father of lies What is it which causeth thy neglect of or slightness in Sabbath duties It may be the force of a temptation Satan hath an enmity to our communion with God It was the Evil one hindred Paul from going to the Thessalonians to scatter and disseminate the truths of the Gospel 1 Thes 2. 18. He stirred up the Jewes against the
Apostles when they were Mat. 13. 19. propagating the blessed Word Acts 14. 2. Acts 17. 13. He John 13. 27. endeavours either to keep us from the Word or to steal the Acts 20. 9. Word from us The evil one enters Judas at the Passeover Mat. 4. 6. rocks Eutichus asleep at a Sermon useth the word as a weapon against Christ and attempts to make it a sword to destroy Ephes 6. 17. which is given for a sword to defend In Ordinances we are seen by good Angels and tempted by evil Good Angels observe our behaviours and evil Angels corrupt them God is no where more pleased and the Devil no where more 1 Cor 11. 10. busied then in the Assemblies of the Saints And therefore it may be Satan hath shaped his temptations into wedges Isa 4. 5. to divide between God and thee in Ordinances and this makes thee complain of slightness of spirit in those holy seasons It may be some unrepented sin damps thy heart to and in Ordinances Jonah when he had sinned then he falls asleep in the ship Sin clogs thee and therefore opportunities do Jon 1. 6. not please thee Thou fearest thy title to Christ and that makes rhee so remiss in thy pursuits after him Stopped stomacks have no appetite Holy David longs to appear before Psalm 42. 1 2. God Trembling consciences like aguish fits take away all delight Musick sounds not to a Prisoner Guilt unremoved by repentance flats the tast of any Ordinance David will wash his hands in innocency so he will compass Gods Altar Psalm 26. 6. The Curtizan in the arms will keep the wife from the bosome Purity and repentance make ordinances as the honey combe It is Christian prudence first to throw out the beam of sin before we look up to the Sun Psalm 19. 10. of Ordinances and to cast out that which grieveth the spirit Job 6. 6. before we come to taste the spirit in holy Communion with Ephes 4. 30. God Offending slaves love not to see their Master Sin makes Isa 59. 2. us shie of Gods presence Adams fall drives him to the trees for a hiding place and sowred Paradise it self to him Choice Gen. 3. 8. dyet doth not fatten one in a consumption Any one sin not vomited up by hearty repentance and self-abhorrency will nauseate the soul in Ordinances Sins are the souls obstructions which may cause more flushes but less digestion of the holy Word VVhen Jonah was thrown over-board then the Sea was calm Let sin be thotowly bemoaned and repented and Christ will be sweet in Ordinances Sin not disgorged sucks the sweetness out of all holy duties and makes them dry and jejune If thou art slight in or omissive of Sabbath duties read lectures upon thy own heart thy formality arises from disproportion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thy heart is not sutable to holy Duties The Apostle speaks of a savour of the Gospel 2 Cor. 2. 14. We want this savour and rellish and this straines the juyce out of every Ordinance our hearts must be assimilated by grace Psalm 42. 4. before they leap for joy in Ordinances as John the Baptist in Luke 1. 41. the womb or as David danced before the Ark. Carnal 2 Sam. 6. 14. hearts are dragged to the Sanctuary Rom. 8. 7. As we see paint drops from the face that not being its proper place but it stayes and remains upon the sign The unsanctified heart is in Ordinances as a Bird in the Cage it flutters a little Cognitio Christi est dulcissimus et fragrantissimus odor tanquam ex praestantibus herbis aut pretiosi◠aromatibus exhalatus but it doth not flye it is cooped up and wants its desired freedome it works at an Ordinance as the Israelites did at their bricks they work because they must give an account to their task-master When we are superficial in Ordinances let us see the naughtiness of our own hearts Sickish palates find no meat savoury There are three glasses in which we may best see our hearts 1. In the glass of temptations Sharp storms try the house sharp encounters try the souldier and soft temptations 2 Sam. 11. 4. try the heart How soon did Bathsheba's beauty enthral David though otherwise he was a pattern of sanctity 2. In the glass of afflictions Fire which refines mettals burneth up drosse When Christ was seized upon then all the Disciples left and forsook him Mark 14. 50. Birds which sing in the spring hide in the winter 3. In the glass of Ordinances If the Spirit hath not breathed upon thy heart it will not be lively in holy Ordinances Indeed a gracious heart melts at a reproof clasps Gen. 2. 7. about a Promise hides truth as its treasure but a slight heart will either rage at the smart fret at the length or be Luke 2. 51. offended at the spirituality of an Ordinance Nothing more puts the heart upon the test then holy duties Many followers of Christ left him upon the account of a Sermon John 6. 66. If therefore thou hast not understood more of God on a Sabbath then study to understand more of thy self thy heart is an useful book to read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Take up resolutions of stricter communion with God for the future Bones which are broken if well set grow the stronger Let the sence of former neglects prompt future Ex malis moribus bonae nascuntur leges care thou hast been slight in Ordinances resolve thou wilt be serious and wherein thou hast done evil to do so no more Joh. 5. 14. The heart of man stands in need not onely of Gods work but of mans care the Spirit must sanctifie it Prov. 4 23. and man himself must watch it When thou comest to Ordinances bend thy ear gird up the loynes of thy mind incline 1 Pet. 1. 13. thy heart and summon thy conscience to every truth Cant. 8. 14. in hearing to every petition in praying Ordinances are like Mountains of spices sweet when we are got up but there is some difficulty to get up we must keep our foot Eccles 5. 1. when we go to the house of God and we must keep our heart when we come there Gods Ordinances are high and sublime and the Psalmist saith Mans heart is deep Psalm 64. 6. Now there must be some toyl some labour and Per labores magnos ad praemia magna pervenitur pains to bring them both together God must make an Ordinance stoop and man must pullice up his own heart to an Ordinance It is mans priviledge to enjoy Ordinances but it is his artifice to improve them much strength must be put forth to over-master the heart in holy duties there must be a sense of Gods eye and mans account to enforce a sutable frame The Scholar can scrible by himself but the Masters hand and his own eye
too is little enough to make him write well That of the Wise man Eccles 9. 10. is chiefly true in the Sanctuary what ever our hand finds to do we must do it with all our might And holy resolution best answers this case with a serious endeavour that former negligence shall be repaired by future diligence If thou hast been formal or neglectful on a Sabbath shame thy self in the observation of the melting behaviours of others There was once a General who when his souldiers fought faintly and cowardly he allighted from his Horse and run into the middle of the foot-souldiers and shamed his Army by his own valourous example When thou seest Agendum est à nobis secundum ideam divinam one weeping in the Congregation another sighing anotehr hanging upon the lips of the Minister by serious and vigorous attention say within thy self O my soul why art thou Psalm 43. 5. so formal so dead and superficial and why art thou so Exod. 25. 40. discomposed within me Curious pictures are drawn from Heb. 8. 5. lovely persons and thou shouldst do well to correct thy formality by the serious examples of others Emulation in spirituals 1 Cor. 11. 1. is very commendable and it doth well become a Christian to copy out the religious custome of an Isaac in holy meditation Gen. 24. 63. The gust and satisfaction of David in holy Ordinances Psal 63. 5. The humility of a Daniel in holy Prayer â—an 9. 3. The attention of a Lydia in hearing the Word Acts 16. 14. The melting frame of a Josiah Vides fratrem profluentem lacrymis huic colluge et condole Ita enim fiet ut alienis malis castiges propria Bas in reâ—ding the Law 2 Chron. 34. 27. The heart-breaking expressions of an Ezra in confession of sin Ezra 9. 3 4 5 t. Thus others musick may shame our jarring and cause our harmony truly sometimes the sight of another mans carriage doth more enflame us then the sense of Gods presence the Assembly which we see doth more affect us then God whom we do not see In Ordinances the Apostle his counsel is very authentical we must rejoyce with them that rejoyce and weep with them that weep Rom. 12. 15. Symphony is the sweetness and credit of an Ordinance The Prophet speaketh of one Name and one Lord Zach. 3. 9. Zach. 14. 9. It may be added one weeping eye and one melting heart doth very much beautifie social worship In a word others humble carriage in Gospel opportunities should constrain ours we will thank a beggar who puts us in the way Thus much for the first Case Case 2 What must we do in the good performance of holy duties and the happy enjoyment of God in Ordinances It is sometimes the felicity of Gods people to be in a flame in holy services Exod. 34. 30. and to enjoy much of God on the day of God their faces shine while they are in the Mount with God with holy David Obiectam habuit saciem Moses prae splendore vultus quem Israelitae intueri non puterant Lyppom they see the glory and power of God in the Sanctuary Psalm 63. 2. with the two Disciples travelling to Emmaus their hearts burn Luke 24. 32. whilst Christ communes with them in Gospel dispensations As once it was said of Viretus his Auditours they were ever rapt up into heaven in holy Prayer and in the evening of a Sabbath thus satisfactorily spent they are ready to sing Requiems to their souls and to say one day in Gods Courts is better then a thousand Psalm 34. 10. In this case when duties have been transformed John 2. 8. into delights as water turned into wine by a miracle of Love Then it is incumbent upon us To be thankful Surely gratitude becomes us is our comely oblation as the Psalmist speaks Psal 33. 1. is our convenient sacrifice as the Syriack reads it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when God gives us not onely the space but the grace of a Sabbath not only the Sabbath of mercy but the mercy of a Sabbath The stone wall reflects the beams of the Sun which shine upon it If beams of love and joy have visited Paulus raptus est ab eo quod est secundum naturam ad illud quod est supra naturam vi superioris naturae Thom. us in holy opportunities on Gods blessed day reflections of praise are our suitable tribute it is most rare mercy with Paul to be caught up when we have been in the lower stories of Gospel-grace Nehemiah blessed the Lord for the priviledge of a Sabbath how much more shouldst thou for the divine pleasures of it when thou hast tasted how good and gracious the Lord is and thou hast discharged thy self sweetly and sincerely in holy performances The Hallelujahs of Heaven 2 Cor. 13. 2. are the glorified Saints onely offering for their seraphical Nehem. 9. 14. and eternal Rest Indeed the enjoyment of God in Ordinances is our clearest Sunshine on this side glory If thou Psalm 27. 5. hast had such an enjoyment speak in the language of the sweet Singer of Israel Bless the Lord O my soul let all that Psalm 103. 1. is within me bless his holy Name To be careful The Saints usually after the best spent Sabbaths meet with the worst assaults It was the speech of an experienced Christian I look for the Devil every Munday morning I am sure he will come to rob my soul of Sabbath 1 Thes 3. 5. good if it be possible Have our hearts been raised ravished enliven'd and enlarged upon the Lords day we Datur morbus mentis etiam et morsus serpentis est malum innâ—tum est et seminatum Bern. had need watch the tempter least he damp our joyes and so grieve our spirits and embitter our sweets and lest our mind which one day hath been heavenly the next day become haughty for pride is a worm which is apt to breed in the best weed It is a rare observation of Bernard That the mind can swell as well as the Serpent can bite we have evil within us as well as assaults without us When we have comfortably waited on our God we must as sedulously watch over our own hearts or else our sweet raptures will turn into swelling conceits as refreshing fires send up a black smoak It was not for nothing that Paul had a thorn in his flesh after 2 Cor. 12. 7. he had had a Paradise in his view We are apt to surfet on the richest Banquets Too much light doth not encrease but dazle the sight After well-spent Sabbaths let us admire our good and double our guard If the Devil will steal away the seed Mat. 13. 19. he will surely attempt the harvest the Thief will sooner fetch away bags then pence To be faithful If our souls have been sweetned by holy Ordinances upon Gods holy day let us study to
Onkelos hanc exclamationem Jacobi ad Christum resert paraâ—hrasi plane piâ Non expecto salutare Gideon filii Joash neque salutare Sampson filii Manoe quae salus est planè temporalis sed expectâ— salutem redemptionem Christi filii David quae est solus aeterna Onkel God on a dying bed and waited for his glorious salvation On a bed of sickness thou mayest bend thy heart when thou canst not bend thy knee and stretch out the hand of thy faith when happily thy distemper will not suffer thee to stretch out the hand of thy flesh Sicknesses usually spiritualize duty not obstruct it Then the patient prayes more feelingly weeps more heartily converses with God more greedily A sense of approaching death affects the soul with more earnest pursuits after a better life A Christian under a disease may more pathetically improve he need not wave a Sabbath 4. If providence shall cast us into a severe and hard service the man servant is kept back from holy Ordinances by the prophaneness of the Master the maid servant is kept to her drudgery on Gods holy day by the pride and vanity of her Mistriss Nay happily our case is a Turkish Galley is all the Temple we have to worship in yet then though we have lost our freedom we have not lost our Sabbaths Israels worship was not lost but revived in the wilderness and there Moses talked with God as a man with his friend The uncouth and solitary wilderness was the Sanctuary Deut. 26. 10. where the Jews enjoyed the closest communion with God Exod. 33. 11. Paul gave spiritual exhortations in the ship and in a storme Deus non terribilitèr sed amicè cum Moyse egerit Riv. too when he was ready to be dashed into the pit by every wave Acts 27. 20. The rage of remorsless masters should make believing servants not to pray less but as the vassalized Israelites to groan more not to be weary of Sabbaths but Exod. 6. 5. to be more wary in their observation the bondage of the Acts 7. 34. body is no wayes eased by the hazzard of the soul The Heavenly Master must be served especially on his own day notwithstanding all the frowns and countermands of the earthly that imperious worm If threats could have prevailed with the three Children they had worshipped a golden Image and not adventured a fiery furnace Dan. 3. 18. Hard service should make us more heavenly not more heedless in Sabbath observation If our case is hard upon earth we should then the more endeavour to make it more glorious in heaven and Sabbath-holiness bids fair for it Now therefore this being premised Thus we must keep Sabbaths in our greatest solitariness when the world is turned into a Patmos to us Let us encourage our selves that this is not our case alone to serve God without company Moses communed with God alone upon the Mount there was no press of people or society Deut. 5. 31. Dan. 6. 10. of Saints to heighten his enjoyment Daniel conversed with God in his Chamber alone and his sacrifice was sweet though single Peter was praying alone at the top of the Acts 10. 9. house when he gets the company of an Angel that messenger from heaven salutes his pleasing recess The woman John 4. 13. of Samaria enjoys solitary yet salvifical communion with Jesus Christ and her soul lay under the distillations of his heavenly doctrine nay waters of life did flow more freely then the waters of the well which did afford her the plenty of that Element And to come nearer to our purpose the blessed Apostle John was in his Patmos when he was sublimated Revel 1. 10. with unusuall raptures and that upon the Lords day A single Lute can make sweet musick The Sun which gilds the world is but a single Planet And thy soul serving God alone on his day may be taken into galleries to walk Cant. 7. 5. with Jesus Christ and feed upon the honey and the honey Psal 19. 10. comb of an Ordinance The Word was more to Job then his necessary food when he lay on the dunghill alone Job 23. 12. And Christ acted to him above his promise Mat. 18. 20. He was present though two or three were not gathered together If thou art necessitated to keep the Sabbath alone be much in prayer In this single devotion Christ is both our President Luke 6. 12. And our Legislatour Mat. 6. 6. The Cum privatim et solitarie oramus ostentationem et affectationem humanae gloriolae omnino respuimus Chemnit Prayer of one Elijah could work miracles Jam. 5. 17 18. The Prayer of one Daniel could hasten deliverance Dan. 9. 23. The Prayer of one Moses could preserve a whole Nation from impending ruine Exod. 32. 23. Solitary prayers have their peculiar prerogatives in them we avoid all ostentation as Chemnitius well observes and more imitate the votary then the Pharisee In them we can search our hearts more accurately deal with God more faithfully and give a fuller account of our sins and provocations Closet devotion is not stopt because confined no more then the meditations of David were lost in the darkness of the night Psal 63. 6. in Mat. 6. 6. Psal 63. 6. Rev. 1. 10. 1 Sam. 1. 10. which he framed them Christ came to John in Patmos when the Island was his bolted Chamber not with bars but with waves Hannah prayed and wept alone and then she obtained a Samuel 1 Sam. 1. 10. The heart can work in Acts 10. 4. 1 Thes 5. 17. Col. 3. 17. prayer when there is no company to excite it and oftentimes God is most effectually present when man is wholly absent therefore if we must spend a Sabbath alone let part of it be taken up in fervent prayer and supplication In this case of solitariness let us be filled with holy meditations This holy duty of a Sabbath is advanced not obstructed by loneliness and retirement nay it cannot well be performed Gen. 24. 63. in company the noise of any associates hush away these pleasing contemplations which light upon the mind or Psal 92. 5 6 9. are started by the excitation of the good spirit In thy solitary Sabbaths let thy head work in meditation as well as thy heart in prayer and supplication These duties coupled like Castor and Pollux are a good prognostick and promise fair weather to the soul Meditate on thy sins Sin is first viewed by meditation and then moaned by confession and so consequently cashiered by repentance and this order is very proper and genuine first to cast the eye on sin and then to rend the heart for it and from it The head will affect the heart take then the opportunity of a solitary Sabbath to cast up thy accounts and Psal 4. 7. Jer. 31. 18 19 20. to look backward on thy sinfull life that thy soul may kindly melt and the Lord
prayer to sollicite them the ship came home without any other gale to cause its arrival then divine love 4. Thy spiritual mercies A Sabbath is best accommodated for a review of spirituals then remember the sweets of Psal 66. 18. former Sabbaths as David remembred the joy he used to have when others called him to go to the house of God Psal 42. 4. We should then cast in our thoughts what reproof of the word cut sharpest what truth struck deepest what Ordinance came closest to our souls who was the instrument of our greatest good what Sabbath was the time of our choicest loves Peter Martyr could tell the very sentence of a Sermon which first wrought upon his heart Thy soul if thou belongest Jer. 2. 24. John 9. 11. 2 Kings 5. 10. to God had a moneth when Christ took thee Spiritual mercies are most sweet in contemplation more smooth then the waters of Siloam more healing then the waters of Jordan And thus thou mayest travel through the pleasant plains of a Sabbath when thou art alone and hast no company If there be occasion joyn fasting to the rest of thy holy duties on thy solitary Sabbaths It is true the Sabbath is not a fast but a feast day a day of rejoycing not of mourning yet Nehem. 1 4. Dan. 9. 3. extraordinary cases make extraordinary Sabbaths Days of great sorrow may draw out tears upon the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zonar and turn that celebrity of joy and gladness to speak in the language of the Council of Gangra into a day of fast and sorrow Sometimes Gold chains are put in cypress and a golden Sabbath may be veiled with sadness in the Churches misery and calamity If such a case fall out in thy solitary Sabbaths ashes and sackcloth are the most sutable dress Case 4 How Conscience may be satisfied objecting that flesh and bloud cannot hold out a whole Sabbath in the due and strict observation of it It is not without remark that the Apostle asserts mans inability in himself to receive the things of God 1 Cor. 2. 14. Nay he scrues the peg higher and positively affirms That the carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. It stands upon its guard to keep out whatsoever is of God and he instanceth in himself that the Law in his members continually disturbed the Law of his mind in every spiritual undertaking Rom. 7. 21 23. And if he delighted any thing at all in the Law of God it was after the inward man Rom. 7. 22. I say in this particular the Scriptures are written for our instruction 1 Cor. 10. 11. For the soul is never more sluggish then in spiritual attempts then there is a Lion in the way Prov. 22. 13. A carnal man looketh upon holy duties as his Physick not as his food and he keeps the Sanctuary as he keeps his Chamber only in a case of necessity In his worldly pursuits he can rise up early and go to bed late he can stretch the day to the longest and be willing to clip the wings of it because it flies away so fast but in the pursuits of higher concernments he complains of the length of a Sabbath as if the glass stood and did not run in its usual speed Mans nature indeed is very remiss in spirituals and studies more apology then duty as the invited guests sent their excuse when they should have brought Mat. 5 22. Numb â—3 28 their persons to the Marriage feast As the murmuring Israelites who would not attempt the conquering of Canaan because the Sons of Anak were there when their cowardise was the greatest Giant But I shall rather study to remove then amplifie this pretended scruple and easily evince that this case of conscience arises rather from sloth then incapacity Now to the Case It is very true flesh and bloud cannot hold out a spiritual Caro et sanguis naturalis et corruptibilis homo qualis fuit terrenus Adam regnum dei non possidebit Ambros Sabbath not only for the length of it but likewise for the services of it Without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. 6. And Paul saith in another place flesh and bloud cannot inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. 15. 50. And the same principle which acts our service in glory must act our holy services here though not in the same degree though more faintly and imperfectly So then the dregs of nature are not competent for Sabbath observation the terrene man as Ambrose and Theophylact speak a lazy piece of clay cannot run through the several duties of a Sabbath but when we cast our selves on the spirit we are carryed as upon Eagles Isa 40. 31. wings and then we labour and faint not we run and we are Phil. 4. 13. not weary It is true flesh and bloud will be wearied at Animus si non praesumat de se sed si confortetur in deo potuit utique dominari et etiam reddi quodammodo omnipotens Bern. the first on-sets of holy service but pains must be taken with the heart to spiritualize it in the morning of a Sabbath that thou mayest come as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber and rejoyce as a strong man to run a race Psal 19. 5. As holy Bernard most excellently Faith resting on Christ gives us a kind of omnipotency A Saint in the strength of Christ by the assistances of Christ with the encouragements of Christ can come leaping over the mountain of a Sabbath as his short Cant. 2. 8. and recreative travel his pleasure not his toil However God must not lose his right of service from us because we have procured to our selves wretched natures which Audi O anima qualis sis onerataes peccatis irretiti viâ—â—is capta illeâ—ebris affixa membris corporis inquinati flâ—gitiosis Aug. are soon weary of spiritual duties If Sabbaths are tedious to us this must be our moan not our excuse we must weep over this occasion of complaint we must not watch for it this case must not stir up our scruples but our tears Adâ—m was vivacious enough to keep Sabbaths before the fall Let the prisoner never complain he cannot run when his sin and trespass hath put him in chains A sense of tyredness on the Lords day should deeply humble us and put us upon filling Psal 56. 8. Gods bottle with our tears that he would fill our hearts with Luke 11 13. his spirit that glorious and active principle to carry us out in the discharge of Sabbath-performances Ah! It is our sin hath crampt our faculties and caused that lameness that we cannot run the short race of a Sabbath Lazy servants can hardly undergo any labour much less to hold out a whole day yet the aw of their earthly Masters makes Vae humanae miseriae propter unius aut duarum horarum segnitiem omnis laboris mercede frustrari Ab. El. them to
expietur Greg. M. lib. 11. Epist 3. of complacency variety of choice voices please the ear variety of curious colours delight the eye variety of sweet dainties is acceptable to the tast and so varieâ—y of holy duties make a Sabbath gratefull and complacential God hath set forth his worship in several services that it might be the more pleasing and the less wearisome Sometimes on a Sabbath we are praying to him for the supply of our necessities sometimes we are praising of him for his own infinite excellencies Sometimes the ear is busied in hearing truth sometimes the Dies dominicus est dies panis per Eucharistiam Athan. hand in giving almes sometimes the eye in weeping tears sometimes the knee in doing homage alwayes the heart in willing obedience Thus the same meat is dressed several wayes to make it more delightfull and pleasing to the pallate To see several towns pleaseth the traveller and makes Dies dominicus est dies lucis per baptismum Chrysost his journey the less tedious and the more recreative In Sabbath worship the bending of the knee is relieved by the hearing of the ear and the hearing of the ear by the singing of the tongue and the service of the tongue may be refreshed Die dominico pro arbitrio quisque suo quod visum est contribuat et charitatem suam deponat and relieved by the contemplations of the mind So then the Sabbath cannot be tedious whose duties are so various Several birds singing make the Grove a common musick room That soul must needs distast every Ordinance which cannot be pleased with variety Just Mart. 10. But no further to amplifie the vanity of these objectours who put this case I shall now a little rectifie their mistake by shewing them how flesh and blood may keep a whole Sabbath spiritually and sweetly to God Let them be earnest in prayer for the spirit of grace this is that principle which can turn the soul to any point that spirit which can guide our way Rom. 8. 1. which can produce the new Creature John 3. 5. which can fill our sails John 3. 8. which can heal our Natures 1 Cor. 6. 11. which can help our infirmities Rom. 8. 26. that spirit which can Acts 16. 14. open the eyes to behold Acts 26. 18. and can open the heart Joh. 7. 38. 39. to embrace Gospel mysteries 1 Cor. 2. 14. that spirit can sweeten Ordinances and accommodate our souls to them that Spiritualia spiritualitèr examinantur et spiritualis judicat omnia qui spiritum rectorem animae habet Doctorem Ansel the streams of a Sabbath may run smoothly without the stop of weariness or storm of discontent The spirit of God can fit our spirits to the things of God and where there is no disparity there can be no dissatisfaction Indeed the Ordinances are the ship and the spirit is the wind As the ship of an ordinance cannot move without the wind of the spirit so the wind of the spirit will not blow without the ship of an Ordinance but when the wind carries on the ship it is pleasant and delightful sailing Therefore let John 3. 8. these Objectours beg the spirit and we have an assured promise to encourage us Luke 11. 13. Let those who put this case which now hath been ventilated and discussed consider our present Sabbaths are Sabbatum est sabbatisini primordium initiale benificae fruitionis odoramentum only the first fruits of an eternal Sabbath The Spring is pleasant though not so fruitfull as the Harvest Our present dayes of grace have their glory and their verdure though not elevated to the raptures of heaven Sabbaths are heavenly dayes though not heavenly eternities Now our Saviour bids us rejoyce at the putting out of the leaf for then Summer draws near Mat. 24. 32. This should silence all scruples of a floathfull heart Sabbaths are golden though little spots they are pensions of grace though not portions of glory they are earnests of better things and he that is to receive the summ will not easily be weary in telling of the earnest The Israelites rejoyced in the Clusters before they came to the Vintage Numb 13. 23 24. Our precious Sabbaths are Cant. 1. 14. our clusters of Camphire before we come to the mountanes of Spices Think not a Sabbath tedious which is only a little stream running into the Ocean of Eternal Glory Such should do well to study their wants more and their ease less Their necessities call for every Ordinance of Grace which fills up the time of a Sabbath their empty cruze Mat. 6. 11. calls for the duty of Prayer their dark understandings call Hos 6. 3. for the Ordinance of hearing their faint graces call for the Isa 25. 6. feast of a Sacrament their sadned spirits call for the joyous Jam. 5. 13. service of singing Psalmes their ignorant Families call for Gen. 18. 19. the duty of Catechizing and their frail memeries call for the Phil. 3. 1. seasonable recruit of Repetition and when these Services are faithfully and spiritually performed the time of a Sabbath Eadem scribere dicit Apostolus est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tutum Ambrosius verò inquit est 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 necessarium Ambr. flies away and there is no room for the objection of flesh and blood We are much provoked to see Beggars lie sunning themselves in ease and laziness Let these Objectors pass industriously and chearfully through the Ordinances of a Sabbath or else find some other way for the supply of the necessities of their souls But thus much for the fourth Case Case 5 What shall we do when after our serious attendance upon Ordinances on Gods holy day we taste no sweetness in them Saepe etiam pi is successus in laboribus vocationis denegatur non malè sed certo consilio dei cùm verò Petrus sine successu laborasset non ex impatientiâ murmurat non rejicit vocationem Chemnit nor reap any advantage from them It was once the complaint of the Disciples that they toyled all night and could catch nothing Luke 5. 5. The Saints labours in this life are not alwayes successful they may plow upon a Rock and sow the Seed though presently they do not reap the Harvest Beautiful Rachel was barren for a time and she who had so much comliness had no Child Answers to prayer are not alwayes on the speed but sometimes they are suspended and many wait on God in a Sabbath and yet in the evening do not carry their sheaves with them Psal 126. 6. they may toyle all the Sabbath in the fire of Ordinances and yet not for the present be sensible of their melting and refining power But what shall be done in this case Answ 1 Such should examine themselves whether they bring not too much of the world with them to Sabbath opportunities Happily when they are at
prayer or any other duty their thoughts look back as Lots wife did upon Sodom and so that duty is as it were turned into a pillar of salt a monument Duo contrarii amores in eodem corde locum non habent nec habere possunt Zanch. of shame And so in hearing the Word they bring the cares of the world with them and they are thorns which choak the blessed Seed of the Word Mat. 13. 22. and it becomes altogether unfruitful And again worldly thoughts do very unseasonably mix with heavenly duties we do ill to be in the vale when we should be on the mount Exod. 24. 18. with God to be supping up the dregs of the world when we should feed on the marrow Psal 63. 5. and drink of the Isa 25. 6. wine well refined in blessed Ordinances this is to powre contempt upon the provisions of the Sanctuary To say our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ on a Sabbath when yet our hearts are fluttering over the John 1. 1. 3. world this is to delude not to satisfie the Soul But be it we can taste no sweetness in Sabbath duties yet we are bound to continue our diligence we must observe our duty though presently we receive not the mercy It is Job 1. 9. the badge of Mercenaries to plead no Recompence no Obedience Indeed the recompence of reward may be in our eye though it be not our end In the work we do we may have a love to the reward though the meer love of the reward doth not attract us to do the work God is our great Lord and Master and though it is not servile obedience yet it is the obedience of Servants we ow him continually and much more upon his own day Cassian observes That he Cassian l 4. c. 24. knew a young man who meerly in obedience to his Superiors command for a whole year together went two miles every day only to pour water on a withered stick We ought every Lords Angeli quomodo discurrunt medii inter deum nos Bern. day to come under Gospel waterings though our hearts remain withered and dry though we feel no softnings or comforting it is enough we have a command the duty is ours the day is Christs who is over all God above all blessed for ever It is a favour God will employ us though he Rom. 9. 5. should never reward us The Angels rejoyce that God will engage them in his business though they receive no new recompence they are chearful to increase the duty though they do not enlarge their glory The Angels saith the Apostle are Bernardus solitus est dicere Angelos secum cooperari unoquoque die dominico all ministring spirits sent forth to minister c. Heb. 1. 14. This is their property they think themselves happy in that God thinks them worthy to do his work in the world And so must we esteem our selves honoured in conversing with God in Ordinances though we do not hear the spouts run Hab. 3. 17 18. with the waters of life and though the fingers of Christ do not drop Myrrh Cant. 5. 5. nor do we taste the honey-comb in them Cant. 5. 1. For Ordinances in themselves are Jude 14. 8. as Sampsons Lion with the swarm and the honey in them they are in their own nature pots of perfume more reviving then the smoaks of incense and though our resentments be not so quick yet we must follow the scent It is a good observation Hos 6. 3. of Chrysostom As fountains saith he send out water though no pitcher be brought to fetch from them so Pastors must preach and Auditors must hear though no fruit be received For as to keep Sabbaths is indispensable for men so to bless them is arbitrary with God But if God shine not forth from between the Cherubims of holy Ordinances Psal 80. 1. yet it is incumbent upon us to wait at the door of the Sanctuary alwayes remembring that subjection is ours but benediction is his and he will have mercy on whom he will have Rom. 9. 18. mercy Suppose Sabbaths are not successful to us what peace or profit can we expect if we lay them aside Upon the same account all other times of holy duty and the exercise of Religion may be waved and left off and then what can there be but a fearful expectation of judgment Hierom upon Heb. 10. 27. that place of the Apostle Rom. 9. 16. It is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth but of God that sheweth Hieron in Psal 107. mercy Sure then saith he It is not of him who sleepeth nor of him that idleth nor of him who neglects duty for on such the Lord will have no mercy And Chrysostom well observes upon that speech of our Saviour Mat. 16. 24. If any will Chrysost in Matth. homil 56. come after me let him deny himself c. Christ saith not as this Father observes If any man stand still or sit down for the Kingdom of God is not given to standers or to idlers but to walkers and to workers So it may be concluded the comforts of God are not given to any person who upon any pretence whatsoever shall omit or neglect his duty especially Iter monstrat Apost quo fiat ut semper gaudeamus Per orationem nimirum quae non cessat gratiarum actionem Theoph. Non erit glo riosa victoria nisi ubi fuerint laboriosa certamina Ambros upon the Lords day For any to pretend they have performed duties and waited on Ordinances and yet fail of success what good success can they expect upon the ceasing of those duties The Apostle bids us pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5. 17. So then we must pray though the blessing do not presently come we must obey the command though we do not receive the reward If men may use the means and yet miss the end surely such must miss the end who will not use the means let none think to better their souls condition by laying aside Sabbath transactions When Christians have performed Sabbath duties and do not find such comfortable and desired success in their Gospel communion Let them smite upon the thigh and reflect upon themselves The word is fire and why am I cold The Psal 6. 6. word is quickning and why am I dead Ordinances are the means of grace and why have I no grace or comfort by the Psal 43 5. means Some are at Sermons and Sacraments with their Psal 42. 4. hearts leaping and go away with their faces shining and Christiâ—ne fige tui cursus profectusque me tam ubi Christus posuit suam Bern. those who see them see they have been with Jesus but why go I mourning all the day Thus we should put our selves upon the search and scrutiny Skilful Physicians search into the cause of distempers and so should
skilful Christians the wound is searched before cured and the tent is put in before the balsam If Ordinances have lost their taste to us the soul is sick of some distemper If we can not be triumphant let us be inquisitive if we are not filled with comfort let us presently feel our pulse But however we should set upon amending of duties but be never prevailed with for the omitting of duties we should be as Fishermen when they have caught nothing then they fall to mending their nets let us not throw away our nets in discontent If the Archer shoots short he shoots again and directs his arrow more level and draws his bow with more strength that if it be possible he may hit the mark So if we Psal 19. 10. in discharge of Sabbath duties do miss of desired mercies let us draw the bow with more strength stir up our selves put more life into duty and quicken our selves with more Cant 3. 4. care that at last we may meet with our beloved and say with the Spouse Cant. 3. 4. we have found him whom our souls love In a word we must not conclude through humane frailties we will do this dayes work no further but we must resolve through divine assistance to do the work of the day better Let this reply answer the whole case The Sabbath-performances of soul-afflicted Saints though they are not sensibly good yet they are certainly good and acceptable to God God seeth that in their aimings they cannot see themselves in their actings that which they cannot see in John 1. 1 3. their work God can see in their will God knows after what the soul reacheth surely not after a bare duty or being Vident mulieres juvenem ut câ—rnerent nostrae resurrectionis aetatem vident juvenem quia nescit resurrectio senectutem neque aetates recâ—â—it aeterna perfectio Chrys in service but therein after a clearer beholding of God a closer communion with Christ to keep a divine intercourse with Father Son and Holy Ghost The gracious soul looks not so much after the Ordinances of God as God in the Ordinances I know whom ye seek saith the Angel to the Woemen Mat. 28. 5. Jesus of Nazareth who was Crucified there they saw the Sepulcher wherein Christ was laid and there they saw the linnen cloaths wherein Christ was wrapt but all will not satisfie it was not the Sepulcher of Christ but Christ who had been in the Sepulcher they sought for So it is not so much the Sabbath of Christ as Christ in the Sabbath not so much the Gospel of Christ as Christ in the Gospel the people of God groan after They cry out almost in the language of Bernard Lord unless I give thee my self it is not all my duties on the Sabbath will satisfie thee and except thou givest me thy self it is not all the priviledges of the Sabbath will satisfie me And all this the eye of God sees and so accepts the sacrifices of his humble people Psal 139. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 51. 17. though they do not smoak with incense to delight them who sacrifice Philosophers observe That fire which smoaks in the Chimney is most clear in the Element of it And so those duties may have a smile from God above who receives them when happily they give no sweet gust to man below who performs them In a word if God accept let not us with Jonah fret because we do not taste them Our services may be a pearl in Gods eye when they are a stone of emptiness Jon. 4. 3. in ours and it is not much material if we sense them to be dross if God look on them as gold And thus much for this fifth and last case CHAP. XLI A Charge drawn up against prophane Persons who live down the Sabbath by loose and vicious Practices WHen God on Mount Sinai gave the two Tables wherein the Decalogue was written the text tells us Exod. 19. 18. The mountain burnt with fire and the smoak thereof ascended as the smoak of a furuace and Deut. 4. 11. Exod. 19. 18. the whole mount quaked greatly And all this was to cast an aw upon the Jews that they might serve God with fear and Ignis est signaculum aptum divinae regiae Majestatis sic terrebant quae in Sinai fiebant Riv. trembling in keeping those Commandments which were then delivered and among others in the holy observation of the blessed Sabbath And it were well for the world if still some burning Sinai some tremendous prospect was exhibited to affect and over-aw the hearts of the people to a due and reverend observation of Gods holy day In nothing Cavendom est ne festis abutamur ad atium luxuriam voluptates turpes Christianis omnimodò indignas Dav. more mans heart had need to be shackled it being so prerient and propense to break the hedge of that sacred inclosure Some make bold with the name of God in words of prophaneness and some with the day of God in acts of prophaneness Many turn the Sabbath into a Market day of Satan and like the foolish Israelites they love to have it so Jer. 5. 31. How many spend much of the Sabbath in the methods of Pride in consulting the glass in fitting the dress in plaiting the hair when yet the crookedness of the Prov. 5. 20. heart is discerned in the curles of the hair nay in patching the face and fashioning the garb as if they went to the Sanctuary to meet with some amorous lover Some spend their Sabbath as the Prodigal did his Estate Luke 15. 30. with harlots and curtezans and study more their lust then their Christ the sinful embraces of the strange woman then holy communion with the beloved Cant. 2. 16. Nay others defile the Sabbath with riots and excesses Riotous company is their Congregation healths are their Ordinances idle Prov. 23. 29. Songs are their Psalms their eyes are filled with fire for their redness and not with water for their tears and they Isa 5. 11. are inflamed with commessation and not devotion These Ebrietas est daemon voluntarius Malitiae mater omnibus virtutibus inimica Basil justly demerit that reproach which the Jews unjustly cast upon the Apostles Acts 2. 13. They are filled with new wine Plutarch a heathen Philosopher believed that Sabbatum the Sabbath was derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to be riotous and drunken and the occasion of this derivation of his was the Jews loose and debauched manners on the Sabbath day It is strange impiety to sin against the light of nature and as strange to be loose on a day of grace To follow vile practices on a precious Sabbath what is it but to throw dung upon Roses The Apostle saith that they who are drunk are drunk in the night 1 Thes 5. 7. It is too shameful a sin for the day to behold
and Job saith the Adulterer waits for the twilight Job 24. Graviter incessimus diei dominicae prophanatores qui intemperantiâ luxu omnique genere flagiorum eam vio lant in irreparabile infirmorum scandâ—lum in horrendum Christiani nominis dedecus 15. These sins need a dark Lanthorn they avoid and shun the light least their shame be published by every Spectator And the Prophet observes that the Israelites committed their Idolatry in secret they had their chambers of imagery Ezek. 8. 12. They would put some covering upon their sin But how great is our abomination to dabble in our paint to rowl in our vomit to be inflamed in our lusts to wallow in our sensualities and wantonize in our vanities upon Gods holy day When the Sun of Nature and the Sun of Righteousness both shine together to scatter all clouds and covering It is a pathetical but a holy speech of a Learned man Who without mourning can endure to see Christians keep the Lords day as if they celebrated a Feast rather to Bacchus then Leid Prof. to the honour of Jesus Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of the world for having served God an hour or two in outward shew they spend the rest of the Lords day in sitting down to eat and drink and rising up to play first ballasting their bellies with eating and drinking then feeding their lusts in playing and dancing Against these riots holy Augustine bitterly inveighs August 4. Tract in Joan. and saith It is better to spin then to dance on Gods holy day Indeed it is an observation of Lactantius That the Lords Lactant. lib 7. cap. 1. second coming shall be on the Lords day And then how little joy shall they have who shall be overtaken in their carnal sports when their Master should have found them in their spiritual exercises on his own day the prophane wretch then will wish that Christ should find him rather kneeling at prayers in the Sanctuary then skipping like a Goat in a dance that he should be found dropping tears like a penitent rather then drinking healths like a miscreant or caressing Sidon lib. 1. Epist ad agricolam harlots like an impure Gallant Sidonius observes that in the primitive times some of the Jewes did so abuse the Sabbath to gluttony and drunkennesse and to lascivious dances that the Ethnicks and heathen suspected they Quanquam hoc aliquo sensu concedi possit varia peccata aggravationem aliquam inde accipere si die tam Sanctâ perpetrentur Ames adored Bacchus not Jehovah It is the observation of Dr. Ames That all sinns receive an aggravation on this day which oftentimes is more then the sin it self as the dye is sometimes more costly then the cloth To be intemperate proud worldly wanton on a Sabbath this is to wear the spots of a Leopard and to be in the hue of an Aethiopian Some men make the Sabbath a weekly Aequinox their pleasures and their duties are of equal length But others drown the whole Sabbath in vanity and excesse as if they would read the 4th Commandement backward and would provoke the God of Heaven to please the God of this world 2 Cor. 4. 4. It may be said to those who thus prophane the Lords day have ye not dayes enough of your own to work or play in or despise ye the Lords day It is a sin yea a provoking sin to use the Lords Table as your own table to eat sacramental bread as if it was common bread and is it no sin to use the Lords day as if it was a common day Let us therefore see the image and superscription of Christ engraven upon the Matth. 22. 21 Lords day and then let us give unto Christ the things which are Christs Cyril complained in his time That many Christians Christiani ludis illiberalibus crapulae choreis et aliis mundi vanitatibus se dant in nullum alium finem tendunt c. Cyril indulged themselves in luxury dances playes and worldly vanities on the Lords day And what saith he will be the end of these things but that Gods Name will be derided and Gods day much contemned and scorned The Apostle calls our walking on any day in lasciviousness lusts excess of wine revellings banquettings working the will of the Gentiles 1 Pet. 4. 3. It is an heathenish act to adventure upon such unnatural impieties but to act all these sins upon a Sabbath it is altogether diabolical this is to wound a Prince on his Coronation day Those who prophane the Sabbath Hi omnis generis delitiis non Christo domino sed satanae servitur Non salus nostra curatur sed perditio conciliatur et ira dei provocatur non placatur mores non corriguntur sed corrumpuntur Muscul by scandalous sins saith Musculus they sacrifice to Venus not to God and serve Satan not Christ they neglect life and salvation and assure to themselves losse and perdition Gods anger is provoked not appeased and their manners are not corrected but corrupted Let us consider the two tables of stone are still tables of testimony Exod. 31. 18. to witness against the prophanation of this holy day God did not write this Commandement for the Sabbath with his finger that we should spunge it out by our life and if we shall attempt it he can turn the writing into an hand-writing on the wall against us which will make not onely our knees but our hearts to tremble Dan. 5 6. Let us seriously weigh in Mark 11. 25. the ballance that the beauty of a woman doth but aggravate her wantonness and the rich mans great estate doth but amplisie his extorsion and so the holiness of a Sabbath doth dye every sin which is acted upon it with a scarlet colour Christ would not suffer the money changers to remain in the temple Mat. 11. 15. How much worse merchandise is it when we set our soules to sale on that holy day which is given for life and salvation But further to dilate upon the impiety of Sabbath-prophaneness To act scandalous sins on Gods holy day is a most daring presumption it throwes Gods Memento with which he Deus non indicit recordationem istam ut eo die gâ—uderent tripudiarent aut sibi vacaâ—ent c. Oleast prefaced the 4th Commandement into his face and saith to Christ who is Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 28. we will not have this man to reign over us Luke 19. 14. God saith Exod. 20. 8. keep my Sabbath holy and these daringly reply we will keep it diabolically This sin commenceth war with heaven it self and throws down the Gantlet to the infinite Jehovah Oleaster very well observes God had not needed to have fastned a Memento to the 4th Commandement to mind us of dances and revellings frequenting a ring or a stage our own corrupt natures will be officious enough to usher in such pleasurous vanities Disobedience to other
the wantonness of the flesh is most untameable and there is a ready passage from idleness to lust Magistrates should be awakened to consider that it is their duty to reduce the prophane contemners of the Gualt 162. Homil. in Matth. 28. Homil. in Marc. Et 56. Homil. in Luc. Sabbath into order And in another Homily the same Author cries out What shall we say to them who dedicate the sacred day of the Lord to Bacchus Mars Venus whilst they rest in drunken feastings or play the wantons in lascivious apparel who whore commit adultery dance and play the gladiatours or are busied about the sight of Spirituali honore hunc diem dominicum venerari oportet non convivando non vinum prosundendo non ebrietati et choreis vacando Chrysost most filthy playes all these things are done at this day and if it may be lawfull to confess the truth at no time are there more or more hainous wickednesses committed then upon the Sabbath which should wholly be spent on God and in the works of piety Thus feelingly this worthy man expresses himself and indeed the sharpest of his expostulations may be calculated for the meridian of our English Nation Englands Sabbath-breaking hath been the Trojan Horse which hath brought misery into our Gates The Pandora's box which hath let in those diseases which hath sent so many thousands to their dust Hospinian made this sad Hospin de Orig. Festor Tigur 1592. lib 1. Cap. 3. complaint That on no day more then on the Lords day did the people give themselves to dancing to surfeting and drunkenness belly-chear and all kind of voluptuous vanity And Simler avowedly professeth That luxury Simler Comment in Exod Cap. 20. Tigur 1588. surffeting drunkenness and riotous feastings accompanied with dancing did visibly fight with the sanctification of the Sabbath The dolefull complaints of others who have been eminent and famous in their Generations Arel Probl. Theol. loc 123. Oecolamp farraq in Annot. in 20. Exod. as of Arclius Oecolampadius Zanchius Chemnitius c. who sadly complained That God was not so grievously offended on other dayes as on that day which was most peculiarly devoted to his service I say these complaints might more largely be set down but dirty wayes do not please the traveller Nor shall I lead the Reader further through the tears and sighs of those worthies who did sensibly lay to heart the prophanation of Gods blessed Sabbath We see then that the Sabbath hath been wounded in the house of its friends It 's prophanation hath put grief into the hearts tears into the eyes and gall and vinegar into the pens of worthy men and they have left their moans upon record for the instruction and reformation of successive generations The violation of the Sabbath by loose and vitious practices is reckoned among the most horrid impieties Sins as well as sinners are known by their company Every vain word is Gal. 5. 19. 20. not put into the chapter of treasons But Sabbath prophanation is one of the foulest deeds of the flesh one of the blackest Solem justititiae offuscant nebulae peccati clouds which darkens the Sun of Righteousness This sin is sometimes coupled with a contempt of divine judgements Ezek. 20. 13. which is a manifest piece of rebellious Atheism Sometimes this sin is reckoned with open Idolatry Ezek. 20. 16. Rom. 1. 20. which is mans forgetfulness not only of his Religion but his Reason Sometimes Sabbath-prophanation is associated with disobedience and obstinate rebelâ—ion Ezek. 20. 21. which is a raising of Armes against heaven and to draw against the incomprehensible Jehovah Sometimes this sin is reckoned with a despising of Gods holy things his Ministers his Ordinances his Sanctuary Ezek. 22. 8. which is nothing else but to trample upon Pearls and to poure disdain on the means of salvation nay to tread under foot the bread of life which is a wickedness hardly out-vied and leaves a people without remedy 2 Chron. 36. 16. Mr. Carthwright Carthw in Proverb reckoâ—s Sabbath-prophanation among the sins of Idolatry gross superstition and enchantments as if when we were scandalous on a Sabbath we consulted with Hell it self and Noscitur ex socio qui non cognoscitur ex se we were bewitched into such wickedness If we cannot read Sabbath-prophanation in its definition we may read it in its companion This sin is one of the heaviest links in the chain a sin which the good Angels did never commit and the Devils cannot the good Angels never had a Sabbath to prophane and the evil Angels never had a Sabbath to enjoy a sin it is which usually goes in the worst company and is seldom or never put into the endictment alone To prophane the Sabbath by scandalous practices is to re-act Belshazzars madness who did carouze in the vessels of the Insultat Belshazzar in vasis templi dei et statim ultio consecuta est Hier. Temple Dan. 5. 2 3. and what is this but to unconsecrate those things which are set apart for the worship of God and to unhallow Gods name It was Belshazzars crime to prostitute sacred things to unholy practices and so do those who prophane the Sabbath they deflowre a consecrated day they spend upon Gods monopoly and lay open that day as Cant. 4. 12. common and unclean which is Christs inclosed garden It is Bishop of Armagh in his Annals recorded of Ochus King of Persia that being angry with the Aegyptians he took their God Apis which was a Cow they worshipped and cut it into pieces and gave order to his Cooks to dress it and to serve it up to dinner to be Haeccine solennes dies deceant quae alios non decent Malorum licentia pietas erit Occasio luxuriae religio deputabitur Tertul. eaten which sacrifice so enraged the Aegyptians and so inflamed Bagoas an Aegyptian born that he kills Ochus and when he was dead cut his flesh into gobbets and left it to the Cats to eat and instead of it put somewhat into the Coffin to be buried in the time of his Funerals and of his thigh bones he made hafts and handles for swords Thus the prophaning of this Idol was sorely and severely revenged And shall not God the infinite Majesty of heaven and earth Jer. 5. 9. much more revenge the abuse of his holy and sacred day when it is served up to please the pallate of the intemperate Deut. 32. 42. the curiosity of the proud and the lust of the wanton sinner Shall not the Lord be avenged on such a Generation as this If a fancyed veneration being affronted make men vindicative surely a due and just honour being Isa 43. 24. abused by luxury and prophaneness will inflame the God of revenges to pursue those sins with the greatest severitie Servivi inquit deus vestro ex sacrifiâ—iis quaestui honori epulis voluptatibus Stor To
pandorize the Sabbath to our lusts and vanities what is it but to make God serve with our sins Or as our Saviour phraseth it To turn the house of prayer into a den of thieves Mat. 21. 13. Is it fit for the witch of Endor to put the Devil into Samuels mantle 1 Sam. 28. 12. And for wicked Ahaz to put the Idols Altar into Gods temple 2 Kings 16. 14 15. Indeed the same wickedness they act who make the Lords day vile and cheap by sinfull abominations which should be honourable Isa 58. 13. in holy worship and service and those adorations which become the Lord of the Mark 2. 28. Sabbath To vitiate the Sabbath by visible prophaneness opens a way to all licentiousness and will be bitterness in the latter end Sabbath-breaking is usually the preface to other sins The 2 Sam. 2. 26. breaking of the two tables commonly begins at the fourth Commandment we first make bold with Gods day and then with Gods name and so break the third Commandment and then we can trinkle in his worship and so violate the second and by degrees we can slide into thefts adulteries Deut. 5. 21. and murders and so dash all the Commandments in Isa 28. 8. pieces he will easily covet his neighbours Wife for wantonness Claudius Tiberius Nero vocatus fuit Claudius Biberius Mero propter ebrietatem intemperantiam Sueton. who will sacrilegiously arrest Gods holy day for his excess and drunkenness It is the observation of an ingenuous person That he hath heard many malefactors at their execution bitterly bewail their prophanation of the Lords day and humbly acknowledge that sin was the leading cause of all ensuing mischiefs and miseries At the Gallows their Conscience hath pointed at the very sin which had been the chief actor in their wofull tragedy When Satan hath prevailed with us to violate Gods holy day he hath got his head in and he will easily draw in his whole body Prophanation Gulones nihil faciunt nisi ingerere digerere et egerere Bern. of the Sabbath is the gates of Hell the foundation upon which all other sins are erected Indeed the carefull observation of this day is a chain upon the soul and ties it up from sinfull vagaries it casts an awe upon the heart that it cannot presently startle but when the chain is filed off there is no end of licentious ranges as Cattle when they are got out of the pound they run into every ones field This sin of Sabbath-breaking it is like a Serpent whose sting is in its tail Indeed sanctified afflictions turn a Serpent into a rod but Sabbath-prophanation turns a rod into a Serpent and brings the most prosperous sinner into unexpected calamity It is observable of the people of Israel that sighs and groans Exod. 3. 7. brought them out of Egypt and Songs and Vanities on Gods day brought them into Babylon The Hebrew phrase Ezek. 23. 38. in Ezek. 20. 13. is very expressive the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chalal which is rendred to pollute and prophane viz. the Ezek. 20. 13. Sabbath signifies likewise to tripudiate and dance as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Daughters of Shiloh did Judges 21. 21. where the same word is used to denote unto us one method of the Jews in prophaning the Sabbath viz. They passed it away jocularly Psal 87. 7. in sinful frolicks and immodest vanities and this was one of the chief sins they might sit down by the waters of Babylon Psal 137. 1. Cyril and weep over It is undeniable that the prostituting of the Sabbath by prophane practices both hath and will ruine Gaudâ—ntius c. Judaei non deo sed sibi die Sabbati ociantur Muscul Nations Families Persons and dig the grave to bury all comforts in It was generally complained of by holy and devout men in the primitive times that the Jews neglecting spiritual duties which God commanded abused the Sabbath The Jews which were killed at Hierusalem by the command of Florus were 630. By the Inhabitants of Caesarea were 20000. at Scithopolis 30000. at Ptolemais 2000. at Alexandria 50000. at Joppa 8400. at Askelon 1000. at Aâ—haca 15000. at Garizâ—m 11600. at Jotopata 30000. at Gamala 9000. at the siâ—ge of Hierusalem 1100000 c. 1 Cor. 10. 11. to case and luxury and wasted that holy day in gluttony and idleness and idle delicacies and this accusation in the first times of the Gospel became proverbial so that to keep the Sabbath loosly was to keep it after the manner of the fews And what judgments God brought upon them in those dayes how he did scatter them unchurch them unpeople them and leave them to be a vagabond Generation to all successive ages who knows not is a great stranger to Antiquity It would fill a Volume to relate the several slaughters of them and their exiles from Nations France Spain England and other places so that even at this day their mask is their best security and their veil is their only safety The Quotations in the margin give in some evidence of the infinite slaughters which were made of them they were a prey even to all Nations as if they were only fit to glut the Sword of an enraged enemy Let us therefore observe the Apostolicall advice and take these perishing Jews for an ensample of Gods heavy displeasure against debauched practices on Gods holy day To serve our lusts upon a Sabbath is to throw off Jehovah and to serve other Gods The person who is intemperate on a Sabbath doth he not serve Bacchus The effeminate person doth he not serve the Goddesse Venus And Phil. 3. 19. the luxurious person he makes his belly his god He that In nostris ecclesiis diebus dominicis carnis voluptatibus profusissime absque ullâ dissimulatione servitur quemadmodum Judaei qui die Sabbati ociantur et libidinantur acta verò et studia carnis Baccho et Veneri luxui et sastui omninò deputanâ—ur Muscul prates away a Sabbath doth his devotion to Mercurius he that plays at Cudgels and wrestles in a seeming valour acts his service to Mars he that sports away the Sabbath in Courtships and caresses offers his sacrifice to Jupiter that wanton God whose effeminacies are the best part of the Legend we have repored by Pagan Historians Strict and holy communion only becomes a holy God on a holy day Musculus very piously and gravely cryes out Let us throw off all cloaks of dissimulation and if we spend our Sabbaths in the pleasures of the flesh let us never say we keep a day to the Lord Jesus but let us say we will worship Bacchus and Venus or some Idol God who is the Patron of such wickedness And indeed a Tavern or Alehouse on the Lords day is a fit temple for Bacchus a Stews or Whore-house is a fit Sanctuary for Priapus a Table full of vain chat is a fit
diebus Rab. Kimchi in Psal 92. secular affairs and compose himself for divine intercourse he can more conveniently dress his soul to meet with his beloved But suppose man could prepare himself every day for this holy converse with his Maker yet Gods Name would lose by it if God should not have the honour of a solemn day Idols have their set dayes for their worshippers to celebrate their honour in And Kings have their birth dayes Pharaoh had his birth day Gen. 40. 20. And Herod had his birth day Mark 6. 21. which was solemnized with great joy and festivals And so Princes have their Coronation days which are annually kept with the highest observation And is it not meet and just that Gods Name should be magnified by us Commonly by setting apart some time every day which we may well spare out of our employments and callings for God and this doth honour him but a day a set solemn day much more when all Christians in the whole world shall harmoniously and unanimously meet to worship Acts 19. 28. and to honour the great Jehovah and shall cry out Great is the God of the Christians Set dayes of worship do reflect much honour upon God as the stated Noon speaks the elevation of the Sun To keep every day a Sabbath subverts the design of a Sabbath which was to rest after our worldly labours and to set apart that rest for the service of the Lord. So the very words Sabbatum est sanctum otium cultui sacro deputandum of the fourth Commandement Deut. 5. 14. And we have this rest in imitation of Gods rest Now God did not rest every day but onely the seventh Nor did Christ rise every Dominicus dies Christi resurrectione declaratus est Christianis et ex illo coepit habere festivitatem suam day but onely the first That which put life into the old Sabbath was Gods resting one day and that which authorizeth the Sabbath of the new Testament is Christs rising one day it is still one day not many dayes If God had rested every day where would have been the work of creation And if Christ had been alwayes rising from the bed of his grave where would have been the work of Redemption Aug. Epist 119. cap. 13. Thus praecedaneous work ushers in a Sabbaths Rest and so it must be still To rest every day plucks up the very foundation of a Sabbath upon which it is built and as Frederick Barbarossa did Millaine sowe it with salt To keep every day a Sabbath dasheth upon many absurdities and supposeth impossibles We must understand the definition of a Sabbath It is a day of divine appointment which must Hanc ob causam deus septimo die ab omni opere quievit ut nos ab omni opere externo vacâ—ntes ipsi uni soli hoc die vacaremus Idcirco hunc diem benedixit sanctificavit i. e. in usum suum separavit et elegit Oecolâ—â— p. in 4turn praecept Tom. 3. Oper. be consecrated wholly to the service and worship of God Now should we do nothing every day but attend the service of God in spiritual duties and holy Ordinances what would become of the Common-wealth the Magistrate the Master the Subject the Servant How can the one rule and the other obey Who shall provide for our Families whilst we worse then Infidels cast off the care thereof 1. This opinion overthrows all commerce traffick it plucks down all Empories and Cities of trade or shall we continually fly from the Sanctuary to the Shop from unlading our Souls in prayer to unlade our goods from the Key or the Ship Shall we hurry in Gods Ordinances and suddenly start from them to look after our Merchandise 2. This opinion countermands all those injunctions of God which were given before the Law In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread Gen. 3. 19. And so likewise in the Law Six dayes shalt thou labour Exod. 20. 9. And after the Law in the times of the Gospel We command them to work with quietness and to eat their own bread 2 Thes 3. 12. And if any would not work neither should he eat So that this fancy drives men into the extremity of irreligion and Atheism 3. This opinion takes away all distinction of our general and particular calling Christians have not only their general calling viz. To profess the name of Christ that heavenly Calling Deus vocavit nos vocatione sanctâ dum nos ab infidelitate et peccatis ad suum fidem et sanctitatem vitamque sanctam et divinam Et hac vocatione spes Christianorum acuitur cum Evangelio pro Evangelio pati as the Apostle calls it Heb. 3. 1. That hopeful Calling Eph. 4. 4. That high Calling Phil. 3. 14. That worthy Calling 2 Thes 1. 11. That holy Calling 2 Tim. 1. 9. Now besides this Calling all Christians lay claim to particular Christians have their particular Callings their Trades their Vocations and several employments Shall we then serve God hear pray or receive Sacraments continually and without intermission Where would be the time for our Callings Then we might as the Woman of Zareptah said of her little Oil in the cruse and the little meal in the barrel 1 Kings 17. 12. Even shut up our shops and die our hands then should not minister to our necessities as the Apostle assures us his did Acts 20. 34. This being true Every day must be a Christian Sabbath then the Apostles must not mend their nets Mark 1. 19. Nor Paul make his Tents Acts 18. 3. This fond opinion subverts every trade ties up every painful hand breaks all working instruments it silence the Lawyers tongue and benums the Scholars brain and withers the Plow-mans hand and the Smith at the forge shall sweat no more then the Prince on the Throne and so the world shall have a writ of ease to go down in a pleasant dream to the silent grave 4. This fancy puts God upon constant miracles to rain down Manna for our daily supply and again fetch water Exod. 16 35. out of the rock for we must not apply our selves to worldly Numb 20. 8. labours for that is inconsistent with a Sabbath and every day say these men must be a Christian Sabbath which we know must be most strict and serious and what is all this but daring presumption Truly this opinion fairly leads us back from Canaan to the wilderness again 5. This opinion makes man perfect in this life for weak flesh cannot keep a constant Sabbath If Paul lengthen out his discourse more then ordinary Eutichus falls into a deep sleep and drops from the third Loft and destroys himself Acts 20. 9. Nay our Saviour complains that the Disciples could not watch one hour with him but they were surprized Quot sunt remorae Christianae vigilantiae aut risus diffusio aut intemperantiae gravamen aut quaelibet superfluitas
aut mundi cura et ille cibrae immò mille temporalium rerum onera quae nos adigunt ad irregularitatem Chrysost homil 9. with drowsiness Mat. 26. 40. And yet our sweetest Saviour puts a good construction upon this failing And if the Apostles of Christ cannot hold up how shall ordinary Christians of the lower form in Christs School Few are vigorous as they should be on Gods holy day what would they do if every day must be a Sabbath This is impossible to flesh and bloud Man carries clogs about him to holy opportunities which yet are soon over he carries a naughty heart which is apt to wander and a faint nature which is apt to tire and a heavy eye which is apt to close besides he never leaves Satan behind him to be at least the shadow to darken the light and joy of Ordinances And therefore to assert a constant Sabbath an every day Sabbath is to throw a mountain upon an infant And 6. This opinion takes away all distinction between our Vltra hunc mundum est veri Sabbati observatio Orig. Sabbath on earth and our Sabbath in heaven In heaven indeed we shall keep a perpetual Sabbath and all shall be true which this opinion holds forth there shall be no labours no shops no merchandise All our employment shall be to celebrate the praises of God and the Lamb who sits upon the Throne Rev. 5. 13. But to fancy such a Sabbath in this life is to act the Prâ—soner who dreams of golden Rev. 4. 9 â—0 11. treasure pleasing delights sensual satisfaction and wakeing in the morning finds himself shackled in an iron chain and lockt up in a dark dungeon And let this be added to dream of a perpetual Sabâ—ath here and so lay aside the Lords day as groundless and useless is the next way to miss of an everlasting Sabbath above To make every day a Christian Sabbath is only a more subtle design to undermine the publick Ordinances Such would be every day in private that they may be no day in publick and so they set the closet against the Sanctuary and so the pretence of secret duty shall wholly subvert the reality of solemn worship For it is not to be imagined that all people should meet every day in publick and solemn assemblies Mark 14. 49. And how unsutable is this to a Saints spirit David his emphatical option and desire was to dwell in the Temple Psal Luke 19. 44. 27. 4. And he bewailed his loss of opportunities to go with Acts 17. 10. the multitude Psal 42. 4. The Jews kept the Temple worship Acts 18. 4. till they turned their backs upon the Messiah Paul Acts 13. 14. preached in the Synagogue and commanded the Hebrews not Joel 1. 14. to neglect the publick assemblies Heb. 10. 25. Now the Heb. 10. 25. drift of this wild fancy is to leave all Christians to their Certum est ad cessationem simplicem Sabbatum non suisse institutum sed ut convenirent Christiani ad ea pietatis eteercitia quae toti multitudini erant communia Riv. own private observations to their Chamber and closet duties that so there may be no use of publick Ministers publick Administrations publick Schools and publick Universities or a publick solemn day for divine worship and what is this but to bury all Order Discipline and Beauty in ruine and confusion This is to act Dioclesians part to destroy the devout ministry to act Julians part to shut up the Schools and so hinder all Knowledge and Learning and to run with Faustus Socinus to pluck up the Lords day and at last to slide into the blasphemies and insolence of Lucian and Porphiry to deride all Religion To make every day a Sabbath solemnly condemns the practice of the Church in all ages The Church of Christ never understood but one Sabbath in a week which is the blessed Lords day Shall we run it up to the fountain head and take a prospect of the practice of the Church in every Century In the purest times of the Church holy Ignatius the Disciple of the Apostle John the Martyr of Jesus Christ lays it upon Christians as they would shew any love to Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. that they should keep holy the Lords day So zealous was this blessed man and Martyr for the observation of this particular day and it s most probable if not most certain that he should know the mind of God when he lay in the Apostle Johns bosom and John lay in Christs John 13. 23. And Ignatius calls the Lords day the Queen of dayes and therefore all dayes are not equal but every day of the week is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Just Mart. Apol. secund inferiour to this Supream of dayes Justin Martyr who lived in the second Century relates the practice of the Church in his time telling us That on Sunday solemn Conventions of people meet together in Villages or Cities for the exercices of divine worship This holy man and Martyr who sealed the truth of Christ with his bloud is the unbiassed Historian of Sabbath observation in the most orient and glorious times of the Church when the truths of God were warm newly dropt from the mouth and heart of Christ Then Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 22. the Lords day was call'd Sunday for reasons hereafter to be shewn not Saturday not Friday not every day but it was the best and highest of dayes and was solemnly set apart Tertul. de Idol c. 14. for solemn and Gospel-worship Dionysius Corinthiacus who lived in the third Century speaks of his observation of Prima Sabbati est initium dierum et tunc ecclesia erecta perficiebat deprecationes Basil the Lords day and the same attests Tertullian who was his Contemporary and speaks largely of the solemn keeping of that blessed day One day is still solemnized not every day no more then every one in a Nation can be crowned and wear the badge of Supremacy Basil who lived in the fourth Century calls the Lords day the beginning of dayes and every Greek Letter is not Alpha And this renowned Father saith That the Church then devoutly poured out their prayers to God And with him joyn Chrysostom Ambrose Augustine Hilary those bright and burning lights of the Primitive Church whose copious descants upon this holy day it will be too much to set down Now this opinion hath no patronage from antiquity unless it be from the mistake of Clemens or the figurative fancy of allegorizing Origen In the darkest times of the Church when it was overspread with palpaâ—le darkness even then Authority commanded Exod. 10. 21. Sabbath-observation one solemn day not every day that was a strange notion in the very midnight of the Church When the clouds were thickest so much brake forth to lead the Christian World to keep one day every week to the Lord. Charles the
us this fair relation of their behaviour on the Sabbath We have our Conventions saith he on the Sabbath and sit down with great silence and the people speak not a word unless it be in the praise of their Teachers one of the most grave of the Priests reads the Law and expounds it and this is done all the day long till twilight and so the people g◠away more knowing in the Law of God And this relation Eusebius takes notice of in his eighth book of Evangelical preparation the second Chapter Thus then upon the credit of one of their most famous Authors it was the shutting in of the evening put a stop to their publick services besides the remains of duty to be acted at home so that their whole Sabbath was a golden thread spun out in heavenly and devout performances which may cover the faces of many Christians with shame who trifle away their precious Sabbaths in vain and flatulent impertinencies To add but a word The Jews zeal for Sabbath-observation sometimes gave so good an heat that mistaking the force of the fourth Commandment In it thou shalt do no manner of work Exod. 20. 10. they would not adventure to rost an Apple to pluck an herb to climb a tree or those things which are most harmless and inoffensive nay not to defend themselves when assaulted by the enemy on the Sabbath day and by this means they became a prey to their Joseph lib. 12. cap. 8. Adversary Antiochus Epiphanes whereupon Matthias made a Decree that it should be lawfull upon the Sabbath to resist their Enemies which Decree they understanding Joseph lib 14. cap. 8. strictly as if it gave them onely leave to resist when they were actually assaulted and not to use any stratagem on that day to prevent their enemies by raising of Rams or setting of Engines undermining c. They became a prey a second time to Pompey But afterwards they arrived at a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 better understanding of this Decree and now they have a Proverbial speech Peril of life drives away the Sabbath As the Christians use a Proverb much to the same purpose Necessity knows no holy dayes And this scruple concerning such small things as were before mentioned as likewise not Hospin de Orig. Festor cap. de Sab. warring on the Sabbath Hospinian puts a fair construction upon and thinks it rather mistake then superstition And so we have seen the fair portraicture of Sabbath-observation as it was sometimes drawn by Jewish practice when they were serious and advised and not effascinated with sensuality and idolatry and truly it was very commendable and deserves imitation and will certainly heat the furnace of eternal fire seven times hotter to Sabbath-breaking Dan. 3. 19. Christians CHAP. XLIV Holiness doth as well become the Christian as the Jewish Sabbath if we look back to the Infancy of the World IT is not unusual with many persons to look upon the strict observation of the Sabbath as a piece of servitude which onely belonged to the Jews and that Christs coming Externus dei cultus à naturae lege et jure existit cùm illud à naturâ comparatum est ut tempus aliquid iis quae ad cultum pertinent opportunè et liberaliter demiss Azor. loosned the reins and gave Christians a greater liberty Now to refute this unhappy fancy shall be the design of this and some subsequent chapters and the only way to accomplish the attempt is to shew that the Sabbath every way belongs as much to Christians as to Jews and therefore the holy keeping of it concerns as much the one as the other for holiness is the end of the Sabbaths command To cease from servile works is the Command and Sanctification is the end of that Command as the School-men speak Now to evidence this the more plainly and demonstratively we must run up the Sabbath to the fountain head to Gen. 2. 3. Septimum diem deus non accommodum putabat ad creandum sed ad quietem adaptum statuit Theodor. the primitive institution of it which we find in the very infancy of the World Gen. 2. 3. The Sabbath at first was given to the Sons of Adam and not to the Sons of Abraham and it was a Sun which did not onely shine upon the coast of Judaea but upon the whole world and so every way belongs to us as well as to the Jews This will be more clear if we canvass the words of the institution recorded in the forementioned Gen. 2. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his works which he had created and made Observatio sab bati omnino praecepta suit ante Mosen quia in primâ creatione deus eam sanxit Par. in Gen. Before I pass to a further explication of the text I shall take notice as others have done that all our translatours of the Bible in the Contents of this Chapter put in the first Sabbath instituted And therefore the apprehension of these learned men which put the sacred Scriptures into an English dress and made them speak our mother tongue might prevail much against the cavils of any of our own Nation But for the more clear explication of Gen. 2. 3. we must enquire into the meaning of these words Blessing and Sanctifying and I suppose the worthy Chrysostome may here be an authentical expositour and thus he descants on this text Gen. 2. 3. He sanctified it wbat means that word he Chrysost in Gen. sanctified it he separated it therefore the Divine Scripture teaching us the cause why he sanctified it addeth because in it he rested from all his works Now hence God would teach us from the beginning to separate and set apart one whole day in the circle of every week to the exercise of spiritual things For for this cause did the Lord finish all the fabrick of the world in six dayes and honoured the seventh day with his blessing and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Illa sanctificatio Sabbati nihil aliud esse potest quà m mandatum de illo die sanctificando Adamo datum Dr. R. works To this worthy Father let the famous Bishop of Armagh succeed in the explanation of this text To sanctifie a Sabbath saith he is either to keep it holy or to make it holy and seeing God cannot keep any day more holy then another the meaning must be he made it holy which is as much as to command the keeping of it holy And it is observable God blessed the Sabbath not with natural blessings that the Sun should shine brighter and the weather prove fairer on Zanch. de hom Creat lib. 1. Sab. fin libr. this day rather then another but the blessings of a Sabbath are of another nature they are spiritual blessings converse with God holy and divine meditation c. which blessings proclaim
the Sabbath to be Originally destinated to worship Thom. Aquin. and divine service It is the observation of Zanchy That Vt sanctifiâ—es i. e. â—t sanctum et feriatum habeas ab opere servili cessando Ger. Jesus Christ on that day when first the Sabbath was instituted did take an humane shape and conversed with Adam and did instruct him in most holy Colloquies and so was busied that whole day with our Parents This was the apprehension of that worthy person who was not much subject Primùm deus sanctificavit diem scptimum Quia sacra ordinatione eam segregavit ab aliis et sibi suoque cultui illam appropriavis to fancies or enthusiasmes The blessing of the Sabbath saith reverend Calvin was nothing else but a solemn consecration whereby God claims to himself the studies and employments of men on the seventh day whether the last or the first of the week First God rested and then he blessed this rest or he dedicated every seventh day to holy rest and thus expounded is this text by the most famous writers of our own and forraign Nations thus Zuinglius Junius and Tremelius Vrsinus Piscator Paraeus Danaeus Bullinger Aretius Chemnitius Hospinianus Bertramus c. expound this text and besides these mentioned there are many Neque enim Sabbatum per Mosen primò est institutum caelitus exhibito Decalogo sed religio Sabbati recepta fuit à sanctis Patribus Zepper worthy Divines of our own Nation give the same interpretation Thus Willet Bownd Greenham Gibbons Perkins Babington Dod Scharpy Williams c. Paraeus well observes the word sanctifie signifies four things in Scripture 1. To make that holy which was impure and propharie and so the Saints are sanctified by the blessed spirit of grace 2. To set apart any thing from a common to a sacred use So God sanctified the Priest the first fruits the tabernacle and the utensils of it Levit. 27. 8. 3. To celebrate that as holy which is holy in it self so Prima requies fuit Sabbati qua deus Gen. 2. 3. in honorem et memoriam creationis suae et quietis jussit homines quiescere ab omnibus operibus die septimo Alap we sanctifie Gods name when in prayer we address our selves unto him and proclaim the glory of it 4. To sanctifie signifies to be vacant for holy employments and so we are commanded to sanctifie the Sabbath to be at leisure for divine affairs At first saith Paraeus God sanctified the seventh day viz. By an holy Ordination he set apart this day and appropriated it to his own worship and as a day of rest to the Lord and this Ordination implies a command which is moral and binds all men And that no other exposition can be fastned on this text is further evidenced Verisimile est observationem sabbati apud Patres in usu fuisse sicut et sacrificiorum à primordiis mundi Riv. in Exod. from this that the Lord in the promulgation of the fourth Commandment upon Mount Sinai fetcheth this text of Scripture as comprising the Original of the Sabbath laying the ground of his precept to keep it holy upon this his institution repeated in Exod. 20. 11. And it is observable that to bless a day is no where spoken of in the whole Bible but here in this text and in Exod. 20. 11. And as the latter text Exod. 20. 11. is supported by so it is an interpreter of the former viz. Gen. 2. 3. And God in the solemn promulgation of the fourth Commandment doth there as Moses doth here Gen. 2. 3. couple the same things together and so confirms the truth of Moses his narration So then in the text of institution Gen. 2. 3. we have four things considerable 1. Here is a Sabbath made 2. Here is Gods own example for mans imitation and so Benedixit deus diei septimo ut in ipso homines quiescerent et cultui divino vacarent Pet. Mar. it is Exod. 20. 11. Gods example is for resting on the Sabbath 3. Here are the words of institution in that he saith he blessed it he sanctified it i. e. he ordained it to be a holy Sabbath he dedicated it to his own service 4. Moses confirms it with a reason therefore it is the Lords institution and to be kept holy of us because then God rested from all his work which he made Nothing can be more obvious or plain did not the unhappy wit of some men cast a cloud to darken and veil it Peter Martyr Rabbi Agnon among others give us a full explication of this text so that many beams may proclaim the Sun God blessed the seventh day This blessing God gave to it that it should only be employed in Divine worship Rabbi Agnon saith That God blessed the seventh day i. e. he passeth a blessing upon the due observers of it which could not be unless there was an institution of the Sabbath for Obedience requires a command and blessing is the usual fruit of obedience And most probable it is that the Sabbath was ordained 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. in the state of innocency though whether it was ordained before the fall or presently after the fall is all one to my purpose for it did well agree with a state of innocency for Adam to be an imitator of God resting upon the Sabbath as proportionating himself to that admirable pattern and example and besides Adam was to work six dayes though his labour was delightsome not toilsome in imitation of God and therefore to rest the seventh day because God did so And though Adam toiled not his body with pain and sweat before the fall yet intent he was upon his business whilst he did labour and six dayes were destinated to his labour but on the seventh day his body was altogether freed from all labour and his mind from attending to it and so the whole man set apart for an holy rest to the Lord which well befitted him And though on other dayes Adam served God yet neither the dayes nor he on those dayes were immediately consecrated to God as this day was and held also for holy duties and to attend upon God more immediately who in that happy estate did unquestionably appear unto him And Adams perfection and knowledge his holiness and uprightness his innocency of life and rare accomplishments did all furnish him with matter of contemplation and made Cùm Adamus diversae naturae negotiis eodem tempore non potuerit convenientèr vacare Aratione non est alienum illi statum tempus ad utrumque ommodè perficiendum a deo suisse assignatum Quo posset libere hortum Edenis colere et dei cultum publicum solenniter celebrare him bold to present himself before God upon that day in a more special manner And indeed a blessed and sanctified day very well accorded with a blessed and sanctified an estate and so no jarring or disagreement
appointed for it viz. the ninety second Psalm The Prophets are very frequent in complaining of the violation Nehem. 13. 15 16. 18 19. Isa 56. 2. Ezek. 20. 12 13. John 5 18. Luke 6. 6. Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. Acts 20. 7. and in pressing the observation of it The Gospel hath often mention of it and takes notice of Christs preaching of his healing of his debating cases with his adversaries upon that day The Acts of the Apostles have likewise touches both of the old and the new Sabbath The Epistles hint and insinuate the institution of a Christian Sabbath when the old Sabbath lost both its place in the week and its title in the Scutcheon and now the Sabbath which closed begins the week and that holy festival 1 Cor. 16. 2. which was the Evening star of the work of Creation is the Morning star of the work of Redemption The Revelation discovers Gods right to it and gives it the title of the Lords day besides all this the observation of Rev. 1. 10. Ezek. 20. 24. Ezek. 44. 24. the Sabbath is ranked by the Prophets among the most substantial and perpetual duties of Religion Now shall Scriptures be thus copious in mentioning be thus powerful in pressing be thus severe in revenging a flying dying Ceremony Surely this must cast too much contempt upon the blessed and eternal spirit of God Having followed the chase thus far and yet starting no Ceremony in the fourth Commandment it would be enough to say it not being Ceremonial it must needs be Morall But we will take a review of this blessed command and upon our better search no doubt but its morality and so its perpetuity will be more evident and perspicuous Let us therefore look upon this Commandment In the order of it Is it comely and good to have God to be our God in the first Commandment to worship him after his own heart and will in the second to give him his worship Lâ—â— moralis perfectaÌ„ adeòque non externam tantùm obedientiam sed totius naturae conformitatem cum regulâ illâ et normâ justitiae atque sapientiae in Decalogo expressam postulat Reliquae legis species de â—â—ternâ tantùm â—â—edientâ—â â—râ—â—â—â—tione 〈◊〉 scriptorum 〈◊〉 et officiorum politiâ—â—rum loqâ—â—ntur Zepper with all the highest respect and reverence of his name in the third and is it not as comely good and suitable that this great God and King should have some magnificent day of state to be attended on by his poor servants and creatures both publickly and privately with special respect and service as oft as he himself sees meet and which we cannot but confess to be most equal and just according to the fourth Commandment In the first table one Commandment is linked to and depends upon another God must be our God and then he must be worshipped and with all 〈◊〉 reverence to his name and so there must be a set time 〈◊〉 this and who shall appoint this day of worship but he who hâ—â—h appointed the manner of it The close coâ—nexion of the precept to another speaks the inseparability of it from the rest and so its perpetuity with the rest And let us 〈◊〉 iâ— all the precepts of the second table be moral 〈◊〉 onely concern man why should any of the first table â—â—ll short of that glory which do immediately concern 〈◊〉 Shall mans weal be more cared for then Gods worship Nay shall man have six Commandments the greater 〈…〉 and all of them morally good and God have buâ— â—our â—â— â—esser number and one or more of them not so May we not here say a little to invert that in the Prophet are not all the Commandments equal but are not mans cavils undue expositions unequal Let us look on the fourth Commandment in the site and position of it it is put into the besome of the Decâ—logue Prâ—ceptum hoc qâ—â—si â—â—â—ermedium inter praecepta primae et secundae tabulae et sanctificatio Sabbati et quasi nervus intelligentiae et obedientiae Riv. that it might not â—e 〈◊〉 as we put letters and things into our bosoms which wâ—â—re mâ—st chary of it is the Golden clasp which joyns 〈…〉 Tables together it is the sinew in that 〈…〉 were written with Gods own finge◠〈…〉 precept which participates of the 〈…〉 and the due observance of which is as 〈…〉 whâ—le Law And as Christ was a 〈◊〉 〈…〉 and Man Heb. 8. 6. so this blessed 〈…〉 hinge upon which the Precepts of the 〈…〉 God and the Precepts of the Vt aliqua dies in septimanâ sit deo dedicata praeceptum est stabile aeternum secoâ—◠〈…〉 do principally turn it no way being proâ—â—ble 〈…〉 who is spiritual and serious in the observation of Gods holy day should fly into Idolatry to break the second into theft to break the eighth or other gross evils to violate the rest of the Commandments This Command Jacob. de Valent ad curs Jud. for the Sabbath is set by God in the very heart of the Decalogue and we are enjoyned obedience to it by a peculiar memento And therefore to any unprejudiced mind it is very unlikely that this Commandment alone should be overtaken with the shadows of the evening should fly away as Observatio sabbati est caput Religionis totum cultum dei continet Wil. an empty and useless ceremony One tells us The Command for the Sabbath is put in the close of the first and in the beginning of the second table to denote that the observation of both Tables depends much upon the sanctification of this day And indeed let us break the clasp and both tables will fall asunder Let us look on this command in the reason of it No command hath more reasons to enforce it 1. It s own equity Quùm deus noster singulari suâ ergà nos charitate è septem diebus unum dâ—ntâ—xat instaurandâ— fidei nostrae atque adeò vitae aeternae sanctificavit deploratum sanè ille se contemptorem demonstrat sicut salutis pro priae sic et divinae beneficentiae quicunque non studeat illum ipsum diem domino suo glorifi cando sanctificare Bucer Shall man have six dayes for himself and shall not God have one It was Adams ingratitude that he had but one tree forbidden him to eat of it and yet he must eat of that tree And surely it is the highest sacriledge when God forbids but one day in a week for our pleasures and affairs and yet we should entrench upon that Bucer well observes If God be so bountifull to give us six dayes we should be so dutifull to give him one If we have six dayes for our affairs surely God must have one for his glory If we have six for our labour shall not God have one for his worship And indeed our interest is more wrapt up in the observation of the seventh then
in all our toyle and gains on the six days Gods day concerns our better part the week dayes only our outward man 2. Gods bounty in giving us a day for converse with himself The Sabbath is a day wherein Christ gives his visits the spirit works his wonders the Father shews his face to the children of men this blessed day is the morning star of happiness the worlds choicest festival and those who are blessed with it may say with the Psalmist Psal 147. 20. God hath not dealt so with every Nation It is Sabbath-enjoyment makes every Province a Goshen every place a Paradise every nation a Canaan and every City a Jerusalem The Sabbath is stil a sign between him his people that he is among Ezek. 20. 20. them and the foot-steps of his presence remain with them 3. Gods own pattern God rested on the seventh day that he might be presidential to us in our holy rest In the command for the Sabbath God is not onely our Soveraign to enact a law for us but our example to set a copy before us and therefore in this we must be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect Mat. 5. 48. Philo Judaeus bids us spend the Sabbath in holy contemplation and the study of spiritual wisdome In hoc deum sequeremur operando sex dies septimâ verò requiescendo vacando contemplationi et studio sapientiae sequere deum hâ—bes dei exemplum et praescriptum Phil. Jud. and in this follow God who is an example of holy rest ye have not onely his prescript but his pattern And indeed as Mr. Byfield observes Gods example doth not court us but bind us to an holy imitation 4. Gods benediction which he sheds on the Sabbath is a reason to enforce the command God blessed this day above all dayes we may say of it as once it was said of the Virgin Mary in another case Hail thou art highly favoured the Lord is with thee thou art blessed among dayes Morning and Evening doth not describe this day as it did other dayes no Evening predicated of it to shew its prerogative above all other dayes this day is all light all day all sun-shine to prefigure our eternal joyes God doth most delight to dispense Luke 1. 28. his grace on this day Heathen Princes are wont on their Coronation dayes to cast about Gold and Silver and Gen. 1. 5 8. largely to scatter their donations God on this solemn day is present with us in holy duties and sheds abroad in our hearts his holy graces then he comes and speaks with his people and is magnificent in his royal and spiritual donations And what need so many reasons to press a rite a ceremony to urge a shadow Col. 2. 17. A meer command is sufficient to enjoyn a fainting ceremony an ordinance calculated onely for a time there need not so many cords of reason to bind a ceremony upon us which will soon die away and be evaporate Let this be superadded In the fourth Commandment God gives us reasons which are common to us Christians with the Jews As namely 1. Conformity to Gods Image which is no less proper to us then the Jews 2. The memorial of the Creation for which benefit the Ex creatione nos omnes possumus et debemus deum agnoscere cognoscere Alap Patriarchs before the Law and we since are no less bound to be thankful to God then the Jew 3. Rest of our selves and families a common necessity to us as well as to them therefore this Commandment appeareth moral and to be given to us as well as to them And seeing the reason of this 4th Commandment doth urge as well as the reason of the second third and fifth Commandments why should not this Commandment tie us to the observation of it as well Ratio immutabilis facit praeceptum immutabile as the other and why not Christians as well as Jews Its reasons are as strong why should not its obligations be so too Let us look upon the fourth Commandment in the congruity of it how agreeing to the principles of nature The learned Twisse argues most profoundly we are to distinguish three things in subordination the latter to the former 1. The first is a time in general to be set apart for Gods worship 2. The second is the proportion of this time Igitur deus benedictus cupiens Sabbatum cujus sanctimoniam tantis documentis approbaverat in aeternum ab omnibus coli decem praeceptis illud inseruit quo scientes praecepta aeterna esse etiam hoc quartum praeceptum inter ea habendum intelligerent Manasseh Ben Israel 3. The particularity of the day according to the proportion specified Now the first seems of necessary duty by the very light of nature to as many as know God and acknowledge him to be the Creatour and this is the highest degree of morality in the fourth Commandment As to the second we are something to seek by the light of nature as whether one day in a week or one day in a month or more so that herein it is most fit we should seek direction from God who is the Lord of the Sabbath 1. Because the service of the day is his and it is but fit he should cut out what proportion of time he thinks fit and convenient 2. Because of the maintenance of uniformity therein and least otherwise there may be as many divisions thereabouts as there are Churches in the world For reason of a conjectural nature is various and therein commonly affection bears the greatest sway and draws the judgement to comply with it but when God hath determined a certain proportion of time we shall find great congruity therein even to natural reason more then in any other Dr. Field as Mr. Broad reports professeth That to any one who knows the story of the Creation it is evident by the light of nature that Consentaneum est maximè rationi ut post dies sex opera rios unus cultui divino consecretur Et hoc praeceptum manet et est perpetuum et jure naturali et lumine constitutum one day in seven is to be consecrated to Gods service And Azorius the Jesuite in his moral institutions acknowledgeth that it is most agreeable to reason that after six working dayes one day should be consecrated to divine worship Now by the light of nature it seems far more reasonable that one day in seven should be employed in Gods service then one day in a month for such long strides and great chasmes would quickly breed an estrangement between God and the soul and if a seventh part of our time be consecrate to God better a seventh day then the seventh part of every day because the Azor. Instit Moral Part. 2 dae cap. 1. lib. 2. worldly occupations of each of those dayes must needs cause miserable distractions Thus reason may discourse in a probable manner when God
complaint for the thing it was designed to 4. This fourth Commandment is part of the Decalogue which is an immatable and eternal law and was delivered with as much solemnity and Majesty as any other Law To urge no more arguments ten is the perpetual number of Gods Commandments so delivered by God Deut. 4. 13. Qâ—â—rtum praecepâ—um 〈◊〉 morale quaâ—â—â—â—â— praecipit ut è septem diebus unum consecremus cultui divino proinde quatâ—nus tale nunquam fuit abrogatum nec abrogari â—â—test Aquin. and so preserved by Moses so received in all the Churches of God to this very day Now this law for the Sabbath is one of the ten and therefore perpetual to hold up the number unless with the Papists we will cleave more Commandments to make way for the flight of this divine law of the Sabbath And the ten Commandments being Gods Covenant Deut. 4. 13. We may neither adde thereunto nor take therefrom Mans Covenant being once confirmed no man disanulls it or takes away any clause in it and may any take from the Covenant of the Lord Then as this Covenant is perpetual consisting of the number of ten words no 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. 3. 15. Hominis licet sit Testamentum tamen si sit approbatum nemo illud rejiâ—it aut illi a liquid addit Vatabl. fewer in the Tables which were first written Deut. 4. 13. nor in the tables which were written the second time Exod. 34. 1. 28. nor was any thing added in the recapitulation and rehearsal of them Deut. 5. 22. Therefore most irrefragably this fourth Commandment as one of the ten words remains perpetual as is the Covenant it self This truth of the morality of the fourth Commandment is so evident so clear so indisputable that all varieties come in to give their free assent and full attestation Ask a Jew and Manasseh Ben Israel will tell you Therefore the blessed Manasseh Ben Israel Chrysost homil 19. in Genes Ideo deus diem septimum sanctificavit ut homo sciret in circulo hebdomadae diem unum esse cultui divino tribuendum Par. God desiring that the Sabbath may be observed for ever of all whose sanctity by so many Commandments he hath commended placed it in the Decalogue and made it one of his ten Commandments to the end that we knowing these precepts to be everlasting we should understand that this Commandment also was to be accomplished amongst them What more fair more full more satisfactory Ask one of the Fathers Chrysostom tells us That from the beginning God hath intimated to us this Doctrine instructing us to set apart one day in the circle of a week for spiritual exercises Ask a School-man Jacobus-de Valentia tells us That the Commandment for the Sabbath is moral for the conditions of it Naturale est diem septimum quemque deo sacrum esse Jun. Morale est ut ex septem diebus unus cultui divino consecretur Conrad Dieteric 1. In regard of the rest 2. In regard of the sanctification of that rest far the Sabbath was first given to man for his rest that he might cease from all his worldly labours and so he might with more ease and facility be a commodated to the service and worship of God and one day in the week must be dedicated to God for this sanctification and worship and thus the precept is stable and everlasting Ask a Jesuit Azorius tells us It is a most rational Morale est sanctificare unum è septem diebâ—â— Bald. cas Conscien circa Festa l. 2. c 13. cas 2. thing that after the works of six dayes the seventh should be a rest consecrated to God and his worship nay ask a Cardinal whose Princely altitude might lift him above the tenure of this truth Bellarmine tells us The Divine law required that one day in a week should be sequestred for holy worship Ask a more inferiour Romanist Terus tells us God will have one day in a week at least to be allowed him Ask a Lutheran Vâ—luit deus ad minus unum diem in hebdomâ—da sibi impendi Ferus Baldwin tells us It is moral to sanctifie one day in seven Ask a Protestant either of a Forraign Nation Zanchy tells us The fourth Commandment is moral as it biddeth us dedicate one day in a week for the service of God and so Junius God therefore sanctified the seventh day that man might know that in the weekly circuit one day is to be bestowed upon the publick worship of God Or of our own Nation thus the Reverend Hooker We are to account the sanctification of one day in a week a duty which Gods immutable law doth exact for ever So Dr. Donne God required a seventh part of our time for his exteriour worship But I will not tire or cloy the Reader with a multiplicity of allegations only this is very observable that all these Divines fix the morality of the command upon the seventh day in number and not in order as some incautelously and erroncously do Nay the Morality of the fourth Commandment shines Stella with so many beams of light and conviction that the very adversaries may be subpoenaed in by their own Consciences and Writings to give in their testimony and assent unto it Thus Stella the Papist In the sanctification of the Sabbath this is Moral to observe one day in the week Arminius the King James his Declar. against Vorstius great enemy of God as King James calls him tells us It is Moral to set apart one day in seven for Gods service And those who are adversaries to this truth in particular accord in the same confession Dr. Heylin saith The Decalogue contains the Moral law or the law of nature a Law universal Dr. Heylin his hist of the Sab. in it self and general equally appertaining to Jew and Gentile We can desire no more then this full confession Mr. Primrose confesseth That the Sabbath is Moral in its foundation end marrow and principal substance and that a stinted time is Moral and grounded on the principles of nature Primr par 2. c. 6. Sect. 15. 19. and therefore the Gentiles had their set dayes of Religion and this is ratified by the Gospel Nay the Learned Ironside freely acknowledges That all the Commandments of the Decalogue are Moral and so is that of the Sabbath it is Moral for substance but not for circumstance Now the acknowledgment of an Adversary is very evidential to the truth Irons Quaest 2. c. 9. of a position Thus every way the fourth Commandment that holy that just that good precept for the Sabbath hath been vindicated from the imputation of a Ceremony and it is Rom. 7. 12. too much to be feared it was the body of a design cast that shadow upon it The worthy Twisse roundly concludes Never Lex Decaâ—ogi est lex moralis aeterna Wol. any man was found to devise any
proof for the Divine Authority of the Lords day nay in this text Psal 118. 24. The Psalmist proceeds to the prophetical delineation In diem solis laetitiae indulgemus Tert. of the duties of this day Let us be glad and rejoyce therein as when the Temple was finished the head stone was brought forth with shouting Zach. 4. 7. crying Grace grace so when the work of our Redemption shall be finished Dies ille quem fecit dominus est dies dominicus Arnob. and Christ exalted as head and corner stone of his Church by his triumphant Resurrection the Psalmist intimates the solemn gratulation and publick praise that the Church should offer on that day so Psal 118. 23. And indeed praise and thanksgiving is the most proper musick of our Haec dies quam fecit dominus Haec sunt verba populitrium phantis regno Davidis sed multò magis in gloriosâ resurrectione Christi omnium rerum dierum gloriosissimo Heresbach Christian Sabbath The learned Twisse observes That if ever any day deserved to be a festival surely it was the day of our Saviours Resurrection and in that day to rejoyce in the Lord according to Psal 118. 24. And the ancient Fathers saith he accommodate this place thereunto the two preceding verses carrying in their very fore-head a manifest relation unto Christ as the proprietary of that renowned prophesie for when was the stone which the builders refused made the head of the corner but when Christ gloriously rose from the dead thereby mightily declaring himself to be the Son of God And was there ever any work more marvellous in the eyes of Gods Servants then the Resurrection of Christ This scattered all the unbelief of the Disciples Luke 24. 21. This removed all the fears of the good Women all the sorrows of the Apostles this gratified the hopes of all succeeding Christians Hierome avers that all the Jews interpret this Hieronymus text Psal 118. 24. to be a prophesie concerning the Messiah the Psalmist say they Shewing his ignominious death when he should be a stone rejected of the builders and his glorious Resurrection when he should become the chief stone of the corner The Lords day waâ—â—â—stituted upon the account of Christs most glorious Resurrection What a mark of honour nay what a crown of glory is it to this day that it had favour Dies dominicus Christi resurrectione declaratus est ex illo caeâ—it habere festivitatem suam Aug. above all the dayes of the week to be Christs Resurrection day The Sun in the firmament arises and shines upon other dayes as well as this but the Sun of Righteousness never arose upon any day but this And indeed the institution of the Lords day had its foundation here The maxime of Divines here fully takes place It is the work makes the day some special work alwayes makes some special day the Lords Factum domini fecit diem dominicum deed made the Lords day and we cannot better keep alive the memory of this glorious mercy viz. The blessed Resurrection of Christ then by keeping a day weekly in the solemn commemoration of it This day brought the greatest good John 10. 25. to fallen man even a compleat Redeemer who on this day John 14. 19. redeemed us with triumph from the tyranny of Satan the domination of death and hell and restored us to life and salvation Nos observamus diem solis ex usu Apostolorum propter memoriam resurrectionis domini qui est verus Sol justitiae et pleno immortalitatis jubare illo die est exertus Alsted yea assured it unto every believer And because nothing can ever fall out in this world comparable to Christs Resurrection in glory and power therefore no day can be set up like unto this day neither can it be ever changed for any other therefore men only kick against the pricks while they oppose the Lords day It is a good saying of Augustine The Lords rising hath promised to us an eternal day and consecrated to us the Lords day or the Dominical day of the Lord that which is the Lords day seems properly to belong to the Lord because on that day the Lord rose again And it is a most significant and elegant observation of the great Athanasius Two worlds there are saith he The first ended at Christs Passion the second begins at Christs Resurrection and that blessed day is the feast of them who are in Christ a new Creature And it is observable it is not said by the Ancients that the Church took occasion from the resurrection to consecrate the Lords day but that the Resurrection it self did consecrate it the resurrection was a real consecration And if as Bishop Andrews speaks That the Acts of the Apostles as well as their sayings and writings were of Divine Authority being inspired by the Divine Spirit how much more shall the Act of of their Lord and Masters Resurrection be a divine and sufficient Authority to institute the Lords day The Reverend and Learned Hall speaks well to this purpose Because the Sun Bishop Hall Decad. 6. Epist 1. of Righteousness arose upon this day and gave a new life to the world on it and drew the strength of Gods Moral Precept viz. the fourth Commandment unto it therefore justly do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Andr. Caesar we sing with the Psalmist This is the day which the Lord hath made But why should we mention the Authorities and Testimonies of these latter dayes Ignatius who was as a morning star in the Primitive Church speaks fully and home to this purpose Setting aside saith he the Jewish Sabbath Let every one that loves Christ keep holy the Lords day c. To the same purpose Justin Martyr Athanasius Augustine Innat Justin Mart. Athanas August c. c. who bottom the Lords blessed day on the Lords blessed resurrection that glorious work which must be outvied before any shadow of reason can be assigned for the transmutation of it into any other day Besides the Sun which rose this day will never admit a setting The Christians in the Debâ—mus plus gaudere propter resurrectionem gloriosam quà m dolere propter passiâ—nem Christ ignominiosam Lern. Primitive Church were wont when they saw one another to give this joyful salute The Lord is risen and the others ordinary answer was True the Lord is risen indeed We should not so much mâ—urn saith Bernard at Christs ignominious passion as we should rejoyce at his glorious resurrection The day therefore of Christs rising may well give being to our Christian Sabbath The Lords day was honoured with Christs frequent apparitions Christs appearing on this day was most signal and remarkable he shewed himself five times on that very day on which he arose First to Mary Magdalen in the morning Mark 16. 9. Secondly to the Women Mat. 28. 9 10. Thirdly to the two Disciples Luke
ecclesiae Corinthiâ—cae mandetur quod à totâ Christi ecclesiâ non requiritur and therefore binds their Consciences to it And if Paul ordained it certainly he had it from Jesus Christ who first commanded him so to appoint it for he solemnly professeth That what he received of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 23. that onely he commanded them to do If this day had not been more holy and more sit for this work of love than any other day the Apostle would not have limited them to this day nor would he have honoured this day above the Jewish Sabbath for the Apostle was always very tender of Christian liberty and would never bind where the Lord hath left his people free for in so doing he should rather make Snares than Laws and go expresly against his own doctrine and that in this very point of the 1 Cor 7. 28. 35. Gal. 5 1. observation of days Gal. 4. 10. He may give his advice indeed in things proposed 1 Cor. 7. 25. but he always distinguisheth between his own counsel and Gods command and makes the Command necessary but the other onely expedient The Apostle doth not in this place immediately appoint and institute a Sabbath but supposeth it to be so already and we know duties of Mercy and Charity as well as of necessity Primr part 3. cap. 6. and piety are Sabbath duties for which end this day was most fit for these collections because they usually Quando quidem â—postolus collectas die dominico faciendas statuit dubium non est quin praecipiat ut diem ipsum celebrent quando finem requirit quid non media ad finem duâ—entia praescribat met togethet publickly on this day and so then collections might be in a greater readiness and partly also that they might give more liberalâ—y it being supposed that upon this day their hearts were more weaned from the World and more warmed by the Word and more elevated by other Ordinances to a vigorous faith and a lively hope of better things to come and so having received spiritual things from the Lord more plentifully on this day every man would be the more free to impart his temporal good things for refreshing the poor Saints And why should the Apostle limit the Church of Corinth to this day either for extraordinary or private collections and such special acts of mercy unless the Lord had honâ—ured this day for acts of mercy and much more of piety above any Et si primaria Pauli intentio scil collectam praecipere tamen quia vult illam fieri dâ—e dâ—minâ—co dubiâ—â—m noâ— est qâ—â—n â—raecipâ—â—t etiam ut Dominicum diem celebrent qui enim vult finem vâ—lt media ordinary or common day What then should this day be but the Christian Sabbath imposed by the Apostles and magnified and honoured in all the Churches in those days It is rightly observed by Bishop White Although this Text of St. Paul saith he maketh no express mention of Church-assemblies on this day yet because it was the custome of Christians and so likewise it is a thing convenient to give Alms on the days of Christian Assemblies it cannot well be gain-said but that if in Corinth and Galatia the first day of every week was appointed to be the day for Alms and charitable contributions the same also was the Christians weekly holy-day for their religious Assemblies Thus this learned man rightly and genuinely Vedel Exercit in Ignat. ad Magnes cap. 7. draws the inference Iâ— the first day of the week was the day for Alms it was likewise the day for Worship Chrysostom upon the evidence of this Text concludes positively That in the Churches of Corinth and Galatia the Lords day was made a weekly holy day by the Apostles for they governed these Churches at that time Philo Judaeus and Philo Judaeus Josephus relate That it was the custom of the Jews who were scattered in other Countries to make Collections every Josephus Sabbath-day which were sent by the hands of eminent persons to Hierusalem every year and for the use of the Temple and the Levits and this custom the Apostle seems to follow in the Text now under discussion in enjoyning Collections every first day of the week our Christian Sabbath to be sent for the relief of the poor Saints at Hierusalem who were oppressed by a multitude of strangers and subjected to persecutions and wants for their zeal and holy fervour to the blessed Gospel Once more if it be demanâ—ed why the Apostle enjoyns Collections on the Lords day Chrysostom gives us a good answer he saith That was a Sacrament-day and dâ—uâ—tless that was a powerful Argument to prompt them to liberality it was strange ingratitude to spare a little from the poor when it is considered God spared not the blood of his own Son which Chrysost is lively represented in the sacramental feast Beza observes Acts 20. 7. That Justin Martyr after he had described the order and manner of the primitive times in sacramental Administrations on the Lords day he adds That their Collections were made according to every ones free will and those Acts 1. 2. 4. Collections were distributed by the chief Minister to Orphans Widows sick persons and those who were in want for their relief and seasonable support So that this sacred custom and holy day were propagated by the Apostle to the succeding ages of the Church And indeed what better Hâ—ctenus ex hisce tribus locis scripturae conjunctim consideratis ex communi sententiâ quam tota fore reformata exlesia ex iis constantèr colligit dâ—ei dominicae usum ad Apostolos esse referendum Wal. exposition of an Apostolical Precept and practise can we meet withal than the universal practise and observance of the Church of Christ VVe must then shut up this particular with what Walaeus takes notice of For these two Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. saith he joyned with Revel 1. 10. have caused almost all the reformed Churches to conclude that undoubtedly the observation of the Lords day must necessarily be referred to the Apostles as the Original Founders of it And let this be added That the Apostles transmitted the Lords day to the Church most probably by the immediate command of Christ most certainly by the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost that unerring conduct of them in the affairs of the Church The Lords day is more illustrious from its eminent Title Revel 1. 10. where it is stiled the Lords day If ye ask why Augustine will tell you because the Lord hath made it This Ignat. Epist ad Magnes Euseb Eccles Histor lib. 3. cap. 21. Diònys Corinth Histor lib 4 cap 22. Cyprian Epist 59. Caeperatintereà post tristia Sabbata foelix dies qui nominis alti culmen a domino dominante trahit c. Sedul name and title was so sweet to the Primitive Church that most
of the Fathers call our Sabbath by this name and imbrace its honour with an holy and triumphant ambition they took an advantage from the very Title to use this blessed day with greater veneration Titles among men commanding respect and submission Our Sabbath is called the Lords day saith a learned man 1. Because the Lord did constitute the solemnization of it as the Lords Prayer is so called because Christ did dictate it 2. Or because on this day the Lord is more solemnly worshipped 3. Or because Christ our Lord on this day rose from the dead opening a door for us to an everlasting Sabbath and Rest Surely it is some additional honour to this illustrious Day that as it was the first day of time mentioned in the first Gen. 1. 1. Book of the Bible so it is the last day of fame noted in the beginning of this last Book of the Bible to the praise of Revel 1. 10. him who is our Alpha and Omega Revel 1. 11. The very Omnes ferè sacrae â—cripturae interpretes tam veteres quà m recentiores de primo die hebdomadis Revel 1. 10. intelligunt Wal. Name speakes Christ the Author of this day and his resurrection whereby he was declared both Lord and Christ must needs be the occasion of it Ignatius who lived in the times of John the beloved Apostle makes the Lords day the Christians weekly Festival which they then observed in the room of the Jews Sabbath So doth Tertullian Athanasius Hierom Augustine c. and indeed who not By this title of the Lords day we may trace it down from the Apostles times through the Ocean of the Fathers Councels Schoolmen Arguimus appellatione ejus Revel 1. 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Sic appellari non potuit ille dies nisi eum dominus instituisset ut in caerâ et Oratione dominicâ factum est Eatonus p. 73. to this present age in which we live And to cast our eye on Scripture there seems to be much in that which Beza observes out of an ancient Greek Manuscript wherein the first day of the week is called the Lords day And the Syriack Translation tells us That the Christians meeting together to receive the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. was upon the Lords day Bucan saith The Sacrament is called the Lords Supper as in respect of the institution and the end of it so also in respect of the day on which it was wont to be administred viz. the Lords day And we may fairly expound the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. by the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. Here we may take notice that the spirit of God who had his choice of words and never spake any thing but with admirable reason never vouchsafed this title of honour in the Caena domini dicitur ab anthore vel etiam à fine nam à domino instituta est et in ejus memoriam celebratur vel etiam à tempore quia diebus dominicis celebrari consuevisset Bucan New Testament but only to the Supper and the Day the Lords Supper and the Lords day Now therefore the phrase being the same and thus singular the sense must needs be the same Look therefore in what notion the Supper is the Lords Supper and in the same sense is the day styled the Lords day The Supper is the Lords because the Lord Christ did institute and ordain it yea and substitute it in the room of the Passover And why not the day his because he instituted it and substituted it in the room of the Old Sabbath It is evidently a day of Christs institution a day of the Lords making and with reference to Christs resurrection and let any other day be set up in competition with it and it will evidently and easily be non-suited One well observes That from these Texts Acts 20. 7. 1 Cor. 16. 2. See Mr. Perkins in his cases of Conscience Rev. 1. 10. may well be gathered the laudable and Evangelical practice of the Apostles and the excellent confirmation countenance and authority that God gave thereunto in this point of sanctifying the Lords day So that God did bear witness thereunto by signs and wonders On this day Eutychus was raised from the dead Acts 20. 10 11. On this day three thousand are raised from the grave or rather from the hell of sin Acts 2. 37. And on this day John the Apostle is in his raptures and extasies Rev. 1. 10. And besides the more remarkable Acts 1. 2 4. benefits and fruits of this day upon which the Holy Ghost hath put a Selah still the Lords day is a wonder-working day What sense have many of the Saints on this day of peace of conscience joy in the Holy Ghost and great increase of grace holy knowledge and the fear of the Lord And indeed the advantages and precious fruits of this day are manifest to common and constant experience Dies dominica dicitur eadem ratione qua sacra Eucharistiae caena vocatur caena domini 1 Cor. 11. 12. quia scil à domino nostro Jesu Christo fuit instituta et ad eundem etiam dominum in fine et usu refeâ—ri debet Ames Learned Rivet tells us that all Interpreters do expound Revel 1. 10. of our Lords day viz. the first day of the week excepting one single Gomarus as when ever was truth published which was not snarled at by some humorous and impatient adversary And one thing more is very observable in Rev. 1. 10. It is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords day not the day of the Lord for so is every day he being the Lord and Master of time but it is called the Lords day by way of singularity and conspicuous eminency But to draw towards a conclusion in the discussion of this particular of much moment indeed and therefore of more curious disquisition We may take notice that the Riv. Dissert de Orig. Sab. cap. 10. Lords day is not only the most proper name of our Sabbath and most in use in the dayes of the Apostles but it is most expressive being both an Historian and a Preacher For the Huc facit quod Lords day looking backward mindeth us what the Lord hath Johan Apost in die dominico correptus fuit ita ut spiritu viderit audiverit Apocalypsiâ— de statu ecclesiae deinceps futuro unde colligitur eum tum sanctis meditationibus quae diem dominicum decebant vaâ—asse Piscat done for us as on that day viz. He arose from the dead And looking forward it admonisheth us what we ought to do for him on the same day viz. spend it to the honour of the Lord in the proper and sacred duties of it In a word In the Lords day three things are considerable 1. A day founded on the light of Nature Meer Pagans destinate whole dayes to their idolatrous service 2. One day in
the Lords day saith he which of the whole week is the first let the whole mind of Christians be taken up and occupied in the service of God let them know there is a great difference between times of prayers and times of pleasures and therefore avoiding all Jewish impiety and devilish Paganism let them be wholly implied in the duties of the day Thus that magnanimous and judicious Emperour And it is very observable Justinian doth not onely enjoyn the observance but takes for granted the divine institution of our christian Sabbath as Charles the Great before him And one thing more is most observable That these Emperours who took most care of the Lords Day and established it by their Authority they were most sound in their judgments most successful in their atchievements most eminent in their persons and most famous in their esteem throughout the world indeed they were the greatest Ornaments of the Imperial Throne as Constantine the Great conquered the Pagan and Charles the Great conquered the Martial World and Religion spake them both truly the Great So Ludovicus Pius was a Pattern of Patience and Justinian an example of advised wisdome But I shall not clog the Reader lest a Surfeit take away the taste of those sweets which have been spread before him Nay our Christian Sabbath hath not onely been honoured and established by Divine Canon and Civil Law but likewise by Common Law and here I shall confine my self to our own Nation King Alured about the year 900 did publickly King Alured prohibit all marketting on the Lords Day as all other work whatsoever and laid severe Penalties on the transgressors of this Proclamation Canutus went a little further King Canutus and forbad not onely Markettings but Courts or publick Meetings and executions of Malefactors as also hunting and all kind of secular imployments But to draw nearer to K. Edward the sixth our times King Edward the sixth our English Josiah Enacted in Parliament For as much as men be not at all times so mindful to laud and praise God so ready to resort to hear Gods word and to come to the holy Communion as their bounden duty doth require therefore it hath been wholsomly provided that there should be certain days appointed wherein Christians should cease from all kind of labour and apply themselves wholly and onely unto the aforesaid holy works properly pertaining to true Religion Be it therefore Enacted c. And so the King and his great Council go on to establish Sabbath-observation by a Law Queen Elizabeth that Renowned Q. Elizabeth Princess initiates and begins her Reigne with a severe Injunction for the holy observation of the Lords Day Let us take a taste of her Langague All the Queens faithful Subjects shall from henceforth celebrate and keep their holy day according to Gods holy will and pleasure that is in hearing the word read and taught in private and publick prayers in acknowledgment of their offences and the amendment of the same in often receiving the Communion of the body and blood of Christ using all soberness and godly conversation Thus this happy Princess laid the foundation of her future prosperous Reign in that which is better then Saphires The like was decreed in Parliament the same year when this worthy Queen made good her Motto Semper eadem Always the same joyning heartily with her great Council in restraining the prophanation and promoting the sanctification of Gods holy and blessed Day And her Successor King James over-hears the Eccho and K. James takes it at the rebound and expresses his zeal for the Lords Day in this Royal Proclamation Whereas I have been informed that there hath been in former times a great neglect in keeping the Sabbath-day therefore for the better observing of it and for avoiding all impious prophanation of it I straightly charge and command that no Bear-baitings Interludes Common Plays or other like disordered Exercises or Pastimes be frequented kept or used at any time hereafter on the Sabbath-day And thus King James begins his Reign and layes his first step to the English Throne not in polished Maâ—hle but in pious devotion And King Charles the first following the steps of his Father was pleased in his first Parliament to Enact a Law K. Charles the first promoting Sabbath-observation the tenour of the Law runs thus That from henceforth there should be no Meetings Assemblies or concourse of people out of the Parishes on the Lords Day for any Sports or Pastimes whatsoever And in this Law it is taken care that the High-ways should not be frequented by the Traveller nor the Shop visited by the Labourer but there must be a cessation of all unnecessaries and seculars to give way to more sublime and to use Chrysostoms phrase and spiritual observations Thus the English Statute-book as well as Justinians Code proclaims the honour of the Lords Day Nor is our Christian Sabbath honoured and established onely by the Statutes of the Realm but by the Constitutions and Canons of several Councils that Church and State may both cry out Thus shall it be done to the day which the Esth 6. 11. The Councils of Carthâ—ge Arragon Orleance Mascon Angiers Collen Friuli Aken Rome Petricow Eliberis Laodicea c. All confirming and establishing the Lords day and Enacting Canons for the due observation of it To which may be added Concil Agath Can. 47. Concil Aurelian Can. 27. Concil Paris Can. 50. Concil Rhemens Can. 43. Concil Antisidor Can. 16. Concil Tral lan Can. 19. Concil Constantinop Can. 8. Lord hath honoured The Council of Carthage decreed to petition the Emperour That there might be no Shews or any sinful Vanities on the Lords Day The Council of Arragon prohibits by Canon All Suits of Law and such litigious Controversies on the Lords Day The Council of Orleance Prohibited all servile works on the Lords Day The Council of Mascon decreed That the Lords Day should be kept holy for it is the day of our new Birth insinuated unto us under the shadow of the seventh-day Sabbath in the times of the Law and therefore the people must go to Church on that day and there pour out their Souls in tears and prayers and celebrate the day with one accord and offer unto God their free and voluntary service exercising themselves in Hymns and singing praises to God being intent thereon in mind and body In the Council of Angiers it was decreed That no Tradesman should follow his Calling on the Lords Day The Council of Collen decreed That the people should be diligently admonished why the Lords Day which hath been famous in the Church from the Apostles time was instituted that all might equally come together to hear the word of the Lord to receive the Sacraments to apply their minds to God alone and this day to be spent onely in Prayers and Hymns in Psalms and spiritual Songs The Council of Friuli decreed That all Christians should with all
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
a Cudgel or to frisk in a Maurisk-dance on Gods sacred and solemn day And indeed sensual latitudes and relaxations are rather our thraldom than our liberty and the end of that mirth is heaviness Prov. 14. 13. the impediments of holiness and avocations from duty and serve onely to recruit the force and strength of temptation When David was at ease walking in his Gallery Orig. Quid dicendum est ad eos qui magis seculo quà m deo vacant then his sloath coupled with the temptation of Dalilahs beauty and produced those cursed twins of Murther and Idolatry the defiling of the Wife and the destroying of the Husband 2 Sam. 11. 4 15. Hierom complained of some in his time who were more at leisure for the world Hier. Decalogi verba deus per semetipsum locutus est ideò permanet apud nos extensionem et augmentum non dissolutionem accipiens per carnalem Christi advantum than God upon his own day And this that devout Father interpreted a crying sin Irenaeus saith positively That the Decalogue in whose bosom the Commandement for the Sabbath lies received extension and increase not remisness and enervation by the coming of Christ And a learned man observes That liberty for sports and ease on a Sabbath-day is not liberty but licentiousness and where it is admitted there follow the greatest decays of piety and godliness Well then Christian liberty which was the purchase of Iren. advers Her l 4. cap. 31. Eph. 1. 7. 1 Col. 14. Liberatio ab obligatione ad poenam à metu et solicitudine irae divinae et maledictionis et mortis aeternae Bucan ibid. Christs blood is not the indulgence and ease of the flesh it is something of a more refined nature something which hath a tast and smatch of heavenliness and that glorious liberty of the Saints above And Bucanus makes foure branches of it 1. It is a freedom from the killing power of sin and so consequentially an immunity from the second death Rom. 8. 1 2. and this is the liberty of life and righteousness as this learned man is pleased to call it 2. A liberty from the obligation of the ceremonial and from the condemnation of the moral Law Gal. 3. 13. Rom. 6. 14. so that the moral Law is the Rule but cannot be the ruine the guide of and cannot be the hand-writing against a true Believer 3. A freedom of boldness and access to the throne of grace that we may go to God as Children to a Father and not as Gal. 2. 4 5. Prisoners to a Judge with trembling on our lips paleness in our face and agonies in our spirits Rom. 8. 15. 4. A liberty from the old Mosaical Impositions that Gal. 3. 25. puerile Alphabet accomodated to the nonage of the Church Now in all this there is nothing mentioned of Luke 1. 74 75. fleshly ease or carnal liberty one cries out of such kind of liberty O egregious liberty a fair purchase for the blood of the John 8. 36. Son of God In a word our strict and holy deportment on the Sabbath was no stumbling block that Christ came to remove no yoke that he came to break but the clean contrary Christ came to procure closer and stricter communion Rom. 8. 21. between God and the Saints that Believers might serve 2 Cor. 3 17. him with greater care and devotion he hath purchased for us more spiritual intercourses and one well saith Duty is Gal. 5. 13. the greatest liberty and sin is the greatest bondage we cannot Jam. 2. 12. be left to a greater thraldom then to walk in the ways of our own hearts the sinning Angels are said to be kept Eccles 11 9. in chains of darkness Jude 6. A wicked man is in bondage here and hereafter here insnares 2 Tim. 2. 26. and hereafter in chains Matth. 22. 13. Oftentimes we cannot endure the restraints of the Word or the serverities of Religion and we look upon them which is the case now in hand as an infringement of our liberty but we should seriously consider these blessed tyes and confinements are not our bolts or our griefs but our ornaments Psal 119. 45. this is onely that free and uncontrolled life which is spent in serving in loving in enjoying and praising of God the glorified Saints above have rest not ease they inherit seraphical and divine not sensual delights and liberties that Soul enjoys most freedom on a Sabbath who hath enjoyed closest communion with God and relaxed the least from spiritual services 2 Pet. 2. 19. Wicked men who most rove in the ranges of sin Roma est domitrix mundi et captiva vitiorum Aug. de civ dei Josephus suit liber sed domina ejus suit captiva quia suis obedivit libidinibus Chrysost homil 19. in prior Epist ad Corinth are the greatest slaves as it was said of Rome She was the Mistress of the World but the drudge of sin and lust Wicked Cham his curse was to be the servant of servants Chrysostom elegantly observes That Joseph who resisted the temptation was the free man but his Mistris who promoted it was the captive for she obeyed her swaying lusts The people of God especially in their holy converses are the Lords free men 1. They have the assistance of a free Spirit Psal 51. 12. 2. They proceed in a free state in a state of Sonship and well-pleasing Rom. 3. 13. A Believer in all his spiritual actions acts with an ingenious liberty and confidence Gal. 4. 15. Object But some cavelling Objectors are not so well pleased with this heavenly freedom and therefore they plead for a sensual and to justifie their claim they urge Scripture especially that of Mark 2. 27. The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath From whence they conclude that the undue restraints which some rigorous Preachers impose upon the people on the Lords day are onely the sowrness and fancy of their own melancholy and disturbed Brain our Saviour here gives us liberty which they shall not be willing to part with upon the opinion of a rugged Disciplinarian Answ Now to answer this Text learned men give a threefold interpretation of it but none of them look that way our Sabbatum propter hominem factum est non homo propter sabbatum Hoc argumentum sumptum est ex fundamentis institutionis sabbati homo enim conditus fuit ante institutionem sabbati ergo non homo propter sabbatum c. Sabbatum enim propter usum commodum utilitatem hominis institutum fuit Duebus enim modis propter hominem institutum est sabbatum 1. Quoad corpus Deut. 5. 14. ut requiescat servus tuus ancilla tua c. 2. Quoad spiritualem aedificationem animae Exod. 39. 13. Ezek. 20. 12. Sanctificavit deus sabbatum i. e. deputavitillud homini ad cultum divinum exercendum hoc fundamentum christus
Sabbath Caelum est illa requies ubi fugit dolor tristitia gemitus omnes solicitudines Ibi nec invidia nec zelus nec morbus nec nox nec mors nec tenebrae sed omnia pax gaudium jucunditas voluptas bonitas c. Chrysost which signifies a holy Rest to shew us that the due and holy observation of our Rest here is the ready way to our perfect rest hereafter It is a sad contemplation to take a view of prophane persons how they impose upon themselves in a dream of glory Can they possibly conjecture that they can sing their songs here on a Sabbath take their cariere in sensual delights play away walk away prate away their precious Sabbaths and at last sing Hallelujahs in the Sabbath above Is not this to conceive a Mountane to be Chrystalline because it is covered with snow which bears some resemblance to the colour of it Well then prophanation of Gods day is a complicated evil a chain of darkness with many links in it a body of sin made up of the four Elements of Contempt Infidelity Ingratitude and Soul-prodigality it is an heretical vice which practically denies the resurrection of Christ Arg. 2 There is much in the day to solicite our holy observation It is a Sabbath of spiritual delights it is the souls festival day a day of fat things and wine upon the lees Isa 25. 6. The Cant. 2. 4. Sabbath is the season in which Christ brings his beloved into Psal 118. 24. to his banqueting house Christians on this day are to rejoyce in the Lord as the memorial of the greatest benefit which Dies dominicus domini resurrectione declaratus est inde caepit habere festivitatem suam ever accrewed unto them Their life rose this day a conquerour and in him they are more then conquerours as the Apostle speaks most triumphantly Rom. 8. 37. And therefore holy men in all ages have waited with impatience for the coming of this day and have rejoyced with unspeakable joy at its approach This day is the darling is the delight Aug. Serm. de temp of dayes and all other dayes are to be obsequious unto it It is recorded of holy Mr. Dod and heavenly Mr. Bruen that Deut. 32. 49. they were even in heaven upon a Lords day This day is Heb. 2. 10. the day of Christs visits the souls spiritual market and fair in it we have our prospect of Canaan upon Mount Nebo the Hujus diei laetemurâ— festivitate Hilâ—r day it is of holy Discipline to train us up in the School of Christ Hilary cries out Let Christians be exceeding glad on this day of their festivals This day is the souls seeds time Officia hodiè praestanda spiritualia mirificam in se complectuatur jucunditatem O quà m suave est communione cum Christo frui in via Ordinationum per quam Christus transire solet ipsi occurrere and glory shall be its harvest this is the most special time for the recruiting of the inward man and strengthning it with all might The duties of this day are not only the plowing but the reaping of the soul they are in themselves not only work but wages for in acting of spiritual duties there is great reward As one saith Sabbath-service implies a wonderfull sweetness as the musick of the sphears which is included in its own circumference How delitious is it to enjoy communion with Christ on his own day and to embrace him in the way of his Ordinances as Zaccheus to meet him in the way as he passeth by Luke 19. 5. Christ indeed is sweet to our enquires much sweeter to our acquests when we have found our beloved Cant. 3. 4. Now then the Sabbath being a day of joy and jubilee to the soul how spiritual exact and heavenly should we be The Sabbath is joyous in its constitution let it be so in our disposition let not this joy be damped by our sin or neglect let us not jar the musick of it by our sloath or sensuality our carnal ease or fleshly delights for so we may at night go down with sorrow to our bed Gen. 42. 38. Arg. 3 Not only the pleasure of this day might allure but the profit of this day might enforce our greatest care and devotion On this day the soul makes its greatest merchandise and drives Deus in suo opere conquiescens benedixiti huic diei eum sanctificavit in ecclesiâ suâ ut sanctus haberetur in eâ benedixit illi et benedicetur its most gainful bargains on this day the poor believer follows the chase of a Christ of an heaven of an eternity this day is a day of bleâ—sings how many have met with their beloved recruited their faith amplified their joy and gained a better insight into their spiritual condition on this holy day Their souls as Hannah have begun the Sabbath with sighs and sobs but in the close thereof have gone away and have been no more sad 1 Sam. 1. 18. It is usually on the Sabbath Jun. in Gen. that the believer makes his greatest journies towards his home God saith of this day as once Isaac said concerning Die dominico videre est animae mercaturam quaestuoâ—issiman et opulentiorem omnibus mundi opibus majâ—r certè est utilitas frui praesentiâ de quum Margaritas ac fodinas aureas acquirere Jacob I have blessed it yea and it shall be blessed Gen. 27. 33. On this day the gracious soul enjoys Christs presence communion with the blessed Trinity and the happiness of those spiritual Ordinances which are the Mines and the means of grace On this day he drinks more deeply of the waters of life and participates more freely of the good things of the graces of the spirit and tasts more sensibly of the prelibations of future and eternal joy Rev. 1. 10. Indeed on the Lords day the believer makes up himself for the decays and losses of the week and drives the spiritual trade to the best advantage Now profit should engage us to care and sedulity and add a wing to our zealous and holy industry when we are sloathful or sensual upon the Sabbath we do not only sin away our timâ— â—ut our treasure and lose our season for advantage Limnâ—rs will be very exact in drawing that picture for which they are well rewarded a high price will procure the most curious works and why should not a gainful Sabbath which will pay for all our pains engage us in the greatest strictness of observation Profit is the great engine which prevails with worldly men Some Nations will sell Swords Diei dominicae luâ—rum non crumenam sed animam spectat and warlike furniture to their open and proclaimed enemies for profit and unusual gain and surely the riches of Ordinances are finer gold then the treasures of the Mine though they be digged in Ophir Arg. 4 The honour
us as it was to them and it is as if the Lord had said the keeping of my Sabbath shal be a distinctive badge and cognizance of Covenant holiness a sign that I do sanctifie you and separate you to my self for a holy and peculiar people Let us cast our eye upon our Sabbath as our discriminating and differencing badge And shall we shame our livery Shall we make our Sabbath a day of riot or excess Sabbatum est signum et symbolum inter deum et Israelitas ut se dei esse profiterentur et ut à reliquis gentibus discernerentur â—uit enim sacramentale quoddam quòd illos sibi deus sanctificaverat Riv. of sloath or idleness and so mingle with the prophane world Do we prophane our Sabbaths how can we distinguish our selves from a sensual Jew or a miscreant Turk they likewise have their Sabbaths And will a diurnall distinction serve the turn that the Turk keeps his Sabbath on the Friday the Jew on the Saturday and we Christians the First day of the week It is a poor shift and a faint distinction to keep a different day will not the world scoff at this distinction It is not the Day only but the manner of observance The Apostle saith that Christs people are a peculiar people zealous of good works 2 Tit. 14. And so our Saviour makes the distinction of his people from the rest of the world John 17. 14. It is observable that the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chadash signifies two things 1. To separate from common use 2. To sanctifie to teach us our sanctification is our only separation from the rest of the dregs of the world Therefore still let our holiness upon Gods blessed day be a sign between God and us that he hath sanctified us This is his will and let it be our work as alwayes so peculiarly on the Sabbath our sanctification 1 Thes 4. 3. Exod. 31. 13. Sabbatum sanctis usibus et religiosis formalitèr deputatur c. Rivet Let Christ know us to be his sheep by this our will is not only melted into his will but our obedience is fully calculated for his day Rivet hath a pregnant note The Sabbath saith he is given formally for holy uses for hearing the Word for Prayer for receiving the Sacrament by which our sanctification is ripened and accomplished Arg. 6 No command but that of the Sabbath hath a memento prefixed Hic specialis observatio requiritur ita ut nunquam obliviscamur quia agitur de operibus humanis intermittendis et de opere dei suscipiendo quae sunt naturae hominis depravatae omninò contraria c. Riv. to it As if our obedience to this command was our chief business which we must not forget God doth not usually annex his mementoes to any thing but to matters of the greatest moment As 1. Sometimes to press his Laws Num. 15. 39 40. And 2. sometimes to press his Love as a motive to obedience Deut. 5. 15. 3. Sometimes to mind us of himself Deut. 8. 13. 4. Sometimes to mind us of his Enemies Deut. 25. 17. And 5. Sometimes to mind his Sabbath Exod. 20. 8. God puts an Higgaion Selah upon this Commandment that as among the Jews the singing of it caused them to raise their voice So among us in keeping Sabbaths it should raise our hearts to a holy observation Now God prefixes a memento to the Commandment for the Sabbath upon divers designs which will very well suit with our purpose As first to intimate the opposition of mans corrupt heart to this holy Command Rom. 7. 12. Depraved man cannot endure Homines parati sunt ad fervorem operum suorum ocâ—upantur suis commodis suis voluptatibus facilime irretiontur sed cultui divino c. Riv. the snaffle of a whole dayes service he loves not to be bridled to spiritual duties and therefore God here awakens us by a shrill memento the learned Rivet observes That men are upon the wing in flight and heat after their owne works and they are most easily entangled in the snare of their own pleasures and delights but to do Gods work upon his own day this goes against the grain of corrupt Nature This Memento shews the venerable antiquity of the Sabbath God hath been pressing the Sabbath upon us from the beginning of the world as hath been shewn already The Gen. 2. 3. good Lord is jealous least an ancient should be an antiquated institution God gives us this Memento to mind us of the strict account we must make hereafter for all our Sabbaths When a Master gives his servant many errands but saith he be sure you remember this above all the rest if that errand be forgotten he breaks out into a greater passion God remembers us to keep inviolably his holy Sabbath to assure us he will else remember to punish severely the breaches and violations of this Emphatical Commandment His expostulation hereafter will be Did not I give you my Sabbath with a Memento To inform us the sum of Religion lies in a due observation of the Sabbath It was a good saying of worthy Mr. Rogers Take away Gods Sabbath and Religion will soon Tolle Sabbatum et citò marcessit omnis Religio Rog. dwindle and faint into nothing Jacob gave a severe charge to his Sons about Benjamin because he lay nearest his heart And is it not an evidence that the fourth Commandment lies nearest to Gods heart that he gives so severe a charge about it That much of Religion is wrapt up in it nay the very quintessence of piety is dropt into it We are more apt to forget the fourth Commandment then Observandum est quod deus non simpliciter dicit Diem Sabbati sanctificabis sed memento ut diem Sabbati sanctifices Genus hoc praecipiendi non est leve vulgare sed grave serium et significat praecipirem seriam nec ullo modo negligendam sed summâ curâ et diligentiâ servandom sic solent Parentes liberis suis et serâ—â—â— Heri obtervantiam eoâ—â—â— inculcatâ— quae omnium maximè negligi notant Admonemur etiam verbo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Recordare et memor esto ad observantiam praeceptorum dei Requiritur enim memoria ut noctes et dies de illis servandis cogitemus nec unquam obliviscamur quid praecepti à quo illud accepimus Muscul any of the rest And it is observable when any duty is charged by God with a Memento it argues a proneness to forget it so Eccles 12. 1. Remember thy Creatour in the dayes of thy Youth which charge intimates to us no age is so prompt to forget God as Youth which usually is snarled and entangled in divers lusts called by the Apostle Youthfull lusts 2 Tim. 2. 22. And there are many reasons why we are so apt to forget this Commandment 1. Because the rest of the Commandments are written in our
hearts by the light of Nature but this only was given by outward Ordinance and Institution and we are more apt to forget Instructions then Inclinations 2. Because this Commandment more restrains natural liberty then all the rest the other Commandments restrain only things sinful but this prohibits things lawful at any other time nay it restrains our very words Isa 58. 13. and our very thoughts our lawfull works and secular employments must be laid aside on this day we must not think or discourse of the world and the things of it on this blessed day 3. Because of the multitude of our affairs on the six days which had need to be remembred to be finished seasonably or else they will breed distractions on the Lords day nor is it so facil and easie to keep off their impressions and intrusions when we are to converse with God on his own day 4. Because the Devil will assuredly prompt us to forget this Commandment so to quench the memory both of the Creation and the work of our Redemption that he may the more readily draw us to despair by forgetting the salvifical work of our Redemption or else to Atheisme by forgetting the stupendous work of the Creation for as the work of Creation first give us a Sabbath so the work of Redemption afterwards gave us our Sabbath Now to prevent these mischicvous inconveniencies we are alarm'd and quickned with a Memento to keep this Commandment as a means to preserve the memory both of Father and Son and so to keep on foot holy and divine worship This Commandment of the Sabbath is of most weight to be remembred for the observance of all the rest of the Commandments depend much upon the keeping of this Let us cast our eye upon the Conversion of sinners where one hath been converted on the week day many have been brought home to God on his own day God doth delight to dispence his graces on his own day so that in keeping this day we preserve an opportunity when God doth confer his graces on the Sons of men and in a careless observing of this day we put from us an opportunity of getting and obtaining the grace of God So then keep this day and we keep all neglect this day and we neglect all the proper means for life and salvation This is the season when the Angel comes down to stir the waters and then is our time to step in and be healed John 5. 4. This indeed is the fundamental command on which the superstructure of piety and religion is fastened and built On this day God draws nigh to his people and they to him nay the way to lay hold on Gods Covenant is to keep his Sabbath there is some hopes of a mans salvation when he makes conscience of keeping this holy day 7. The reason why this Commandment is of so much weight to be remembred is because in it we are made more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritually minded it frames our spirits to be more fit and adequate to every good word and work we are as not of this world the Apostle saith Heb. 4. 9. Verily there remains a Rest for the people of God Implying that the Saints in Heaven keep a Sabbath-Rest meditating divine things singing praises and minding only the things of Heaven Nothing more fits and accommodates our spirits to the supreme good Vis in die quem dicunt solis solem colitis sicut nos in eundem dominicum non solem sed resarrectionem domini veneramur then a holy observation of the Sabbath it is the beginning of heaven here our hearts then work up more and more to their centre to their God to their Christ 8. We must remember this Commandment In keeping the Sabbath we keep in mind Gods chiefest mercies the benefit of our Creation and of our Redemption the first giving us our beings the second our well beings the first being the Aug. Contr. Faust Manich Lib. 10. fountain of Nature the second being the spring of Grace And whereas there are Three most glorious persons shewing themselves in their several works tending to mans good the due observation of the Sabbath puts us in the remembrance of them all Of the Father who created us and then gave the Gen. 2. 3. world a Sabbath of the Son who redeemed us and on this day ascended from the Grave of the Holy Ghost who inspires Acts 2. 1 2 3. us and sheds a beauty upon us who as on this day descended from heaven in a miraculous flame upon the blessed Apostles which was an infallible earnest of those plenteous effusions of the spirit which should be poured forth upon the Church in all ages Thus upon weighty reasons a Memento Dan 5. 6. is affixed to the fourth and only to the fourth Commandment which if it be not a note of observance to point out our Sanctificatio Sabbati est diem à deo anteà sanctificatum pro sancto habere et exercitâ—is religionis et fidei exercendae sedulo inâ—umbere Atque ita sanctificationem dei haudquaquam prophanare sed illibatam conservare Muscul great concernment in the holy keeping of it it will be an hand-writing on the wall to make us tremble to all everlasting A learned man observes That God should preface this Commandment with a Memento it implies that some serious thing is commanded something of the highest importance which upon our peril must not be neglected or forgotten This command is a treasure committed to us with a great charge And it is observable it is not said Remember that thou keep the Sabbath day but remember the Sabbath to keep it holy Exod. 20. 8. God stops not at Sabbath day but adds to keep it holy evidently implying that to set apart the time of a Sabbath is not considerable but to spend that time in holy duties and in the holy exercises of faith and religion this is the fulfilling of the Commandment When Gods sanctifying of Sabbatum non est merè quies Leid Prof. the day as Musculus speaks is not prophaned by us but kept pure and unspotted The Memento then in this Commandment is only the usher of holiness Gods loud call to strictness and sanctity on his own day the significant harbinger to tell us Christ is coming and on this day he must lodge in our hearts Arg. 7 No Command is sweetned with more equity then that of the Sabbath There is that which Aristotle calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in it a Facillimum est et aequissimum ei cujus toti sumus unum diem è septem conservare qui sex alios nostris laboribus concessit cùm tamen potuisset jure suo plures illis servandos judicare Riv. just and moderate Imposition there is not so much voluntas imperantis the will of him who commands as ratio impeâ—andi the reason of the command it self In this command God rather exercises jus Patris
quam jus Domini the right of an indulgent Father then of an Authoritative Lord. Mans good and benefit is twisted into Gods Command as rich embroydery is put upon a piece of sine cloth This is a Precept not only prefaced with a memento but seconded with an appeal to mans reason and conscience Let us take a view of the force of this equity It is most equal that God should have one in seven to add somewhat to what hath been said already If God gives us six dayes shall we deny him one It is the confession of Mr. Brerewood Our adversary in this cause of the Sabbath That it is meet that Christians dedicate the Lords Day wholly to the Lord and to the honour of his name and that we should not be less devout in the celebration of the Lords day then the Jews in the celebration of their Sabbath because the obligation of our thankfulness is more then theirs Thus far our adversary pathetically exhorts us to keep Gods blessed day wholly and fully to himself Holy Greenham saith If God had given us one day for our selves and kept fix for himself it had been equity in him to command and duty in us to obey But now God hath kept but one for himself and that for our profit too to break this Commandment then when God hath shown such liberality it must needs be a stupendous sin It was a rational discourse of Joseph with his Mistriss Gen. 39. 9. My Master hath kept back nothing from me but thee because thou art his Wife and therefore how can I do this great wickedness and sin against God God hath kept no day in the week from us but only the first day because it is his Sabbath how then can we do this great wickedness to prophane his Sabbath and sin against God This amplified Adams guilt he was only forbidden one Tree in the Garden and he must eat of that and this will aggravate our sin we are only forbidden one day in the week and yet we must do our owne 2 Sam. 12. 4. work please our own corruptions and gratifie our flesh and Datur Sabbatum homini ut se segreget et quiescat propter dei gloriam Aben. Fzr. sense on that very day Nathans parable which he used to David 2 Sam. 12. 3 4. is rightly calculated for every one who prophanes Gods day Hath God only one day which he hath kept to himself and sanctified to his service and laid as it were in his bosome and shall men be so unworthy then when their hearts tempt them to vanity they must take the time of this one day to please and gratifie their own corrupt hearts when they are rich in time and have six days every week given them for themselves I may here take up that of the Apostle Rom. 8. 1. Shall we sin and continue in it because Grace abounds Gods bounty should encourage not dispirit our duties it should be a spur to holiness and not a gap to prophaneness Psal 119. 164. 2. And most equitable it is that Time being one of the most precious blessings on this side eternity a jewel of inestimable worth a golden stream dissolving and as it were continually running down by us out of one eternity into another yet too seldome taken notice of till it be quite passed by us and from us It is most just I say and meet that he who hath the dispensing of other things less precious and momentous should be the supreme Lord of our time especially Eccles 9. 12. when he takes so little to himself as one day in seven And our guilt must boyle up to a great heighth if we dash the eighth Commandment upon the fourth to break both in pieces and rob God of his little spot of time the Sabbath 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Homil 5. in Mat. day to waste it upon our lusts sloath or vanities It is a zealous and pathetical speech of the excellent Chrysostome What desperate folly is it saith he for people to bestow five or six dayes upon the affairs of the world and not to give one day to spiritual things Therefore let men be perswaded that at least they would set one day apart wholly to these things whatever they do on the week dayes one of the seven dayes must be set apart to our common Lord. Let us observe the Argument of this holy man not only Gods indulgence but our own dependance commands Sabbath-holiness God is the common Lord and shall we not consecrate one day in the week to his service to the great Jehovah in whom we live move and have our being Acts 17. 28. His time is not only in our hand but our times are in his hand Psal 31. 15. And if we abuse his time he can shorten ours And besides all our labours which are as the humming of a Bee or the fluttering of a Butterfly are not so valuable to take up six dayes as his sacred worship which is Psal 31. 15. not only our homage and tribute but our way to life and salvation to take up one day Gods honour and glory which is promoted on his own day by all devout and holy Christians is infinitely more considerable then all our worldly gains and petty interest which is carried on the other six dayes Bucer saith most truly and gravely He discovers himself a most deplorable despiser not only of his own salvation but of divine bounty and indulgence and not fit to Deploratum sanè iâ—se contemptorem demonstrat sicut salutis propâ—iae sic admirandae dei ergà nos beneficentiae ecque omnino indignum qui cum populo dei vivat qui non studet tum ipsum diem domino deo suo glorificando et providendae suae propriae saluti sanctificaro maximè quùm deus nostris negoâ—iis et operibus quibus praesentem vitam sussentemus sex dies concesserit live among Gods people who doth not study to spend one day in seven viz. the Lords day to the glory and honour of the Lord and to look after his own salvation especially seeing God hath given us six dayes for our labours and employments to sustain our selves in this present life This holy man thinks him unworthy of any station in the Church of God who hath so far sunk himself below the shadow of all reason and justice as not to take Gods grant in giving us six dayes for our selves and so to conscerate the seventh in holy duties and exercises to the glory of a bountifull and a gracious God And indeed the waste and prophanation of Gods day only one in seven would fill any pen with gall and turn the smoothest tongue into a sword such sacrilegious and unreasonable men who prophane this blessed day a day in a week would fill any face with blushes and any tract with sharpness Dr. Twisse observes that Gomarus and Rivolus two learned men though much differing from other Divines in
Sabbatical controversies yet in this particular they speak very plausibly not without a note of good zeal For thus they speak That in reason it is fit now under the Gospel to allow more time for Gods service rather then lesse Gospel seasons call for greater services Buc. de regn Christi And indeed in this we heartily accept their just acknowledgement It is a witty descant of the learned Weems Vt aliqua dies in septimana sit deo dedicata praeceptum est stabile et aeternum God giveth us saith he six whole dayes for our use and therefore we should give him one whole day for his Sabbath or else we have two measures in our bag a little one to meet out with and a great one to receive in with which is an abomination to the Lord. Jacob. de Valent. Argum. 8 And is it not most just and meet that since mans life upon Divinum magis est et utilius spiritualibus fidei et religionis vacare quam terrenis operibus esse intentum Muscul earth is a pilgrimage and he hath no abiding City here but looketh for one above therefore he should not spend all his time his thoughts and studies upon the trivials of the world and the services of the week but as some time every day so also some one day every week to retire from the world and to draw near to God in his holy and fructiferous Ordinances and to seek communion with him with whom he expects to live for ever in glory and blessedness Videamus in sacrâ scripturâ totum divinum cultum in sabbato comprehendi Atque ideò haec lex tam saepe in scripturis repetitur diligentèr inculcatur gravitèr urgetur obedientia ejus plurimùm laudatur et neglectus ejus severè vindicatur Leid Prof. No Command pressed with more vehemency than that of the Sabbath God in his word doth not press things trivial or indifferent but those which are most necessary and of the greatest importance As the Apostle speaks of the Ministers preaching in season and out of season so it may be said of Gods pressing this Commandement he takes all occasions to urge and importune it and the Leyden Professors give us this reason Because all divine worship is comprised in a due observation of Gods holy day And the breaking of this Command God calls the breaking of all his Commandements Exod. 16. 28. Let us glance a little at the jealous God and see what methods and importunities he hath used to preserve his Sabbath holy and that it might not be defiled and polluted No sooner God gives this command for the Sabbath in the midst of thunders and lightnings upon Mount Sinai Exod. 19. 18. Exod. 20. 8. But he gives a new and strict charge for the due observation of his Sabbath Exod. 31. 13. and thunders out his threats against all who ever shall violate or make any breaches upon it Exod. 31. 15. And presently he insinuates an Argument of love to endear the people of Israel to this Commandement Exod. 31. 16 17. and tells them it shall be a perpetual Covenant betwixt Hoc de Sabbato mandatum toties inculcari videmus ut necessatiò sit credere illud in populo fuisse magni momenti Riv. him and them the very tye of friendship and amity between them and it should be a signe of Gods owning them for his peculiar people and their owning him for their onely God The Jews should be known to belong to Jehovah by their observation of his Sabbath that should be the Shibboleth to distinguish them from the Chaos of the rest of the World But after this a few days sliding away God renews his Command for the Sabbath Exod. 35. 1 2. in a full assembly of the people that none might plead ignorance and that a repeated Law to their Ears might be a rivetted Law in their hearts And lest the Israelites might interpret this Law of the Sabbath positive only and so transient God presently after this inserts it among the Laws natural that if the Jews Qui Sabbatum custodiebat hoc ipso tacitè profitebatur Deum esse conditorem coeli et terrae qui verò contemnit Sabbatum videtur inficiari deum esse creatorem mundi sic qui diem dominicum celebrare recusat videtur negare Christum resurrexisse Vatabl. should forget Mount Sinai they might have a principle in their own breasts to lead them to the obedience of this Law God tells them Levit. 19. 3. They must honour their Father and their Mother and keep the Sabbath God would have the one Law as fairly written and as deeply engraven on their hearts as the other and he joyns neighbour Commandements together Nature leads them to reverence their Parents Religion Gratitude Reason Obedience and much of Nature should draw them to keep Gods Sabbath And which is not to be over-passed the same Law of the Sabbath is inculcated again in the same Chapter Levit. 19. 30. where God reckons up his Feasts which he will have observed throughout the current of the year there God takes an occasion to begin with his Sabbath and so Levit. 23. 2 3. that Feast must be looked upon in the first place they must first seek the observation of the Sabbath and all other Feasts shall be added unto them for greater splendor Mat. 6. 33. and solemnity When God tells the Jews of his Sacrifices what kinds in what order on what seasons he will expect them he enjoyns duplicate Sacrifices on the Sabbath Numb 28. 9 10. to intimate plainly to us that the more service he hath from us on that day the more grateful it is to him When Moses repeats the ten Commandements to the people of Israel a little before his death he forgets not the Commandement for the Sabbath Deut. 5. 14. that lies still in the bosom of the Decalogue as the beloved Disciple leaned upon the bosom of Christ John 21. 20. this Command hath neither lost its site nor force When the Civil Government was changed in the state of the Jews from Judges to Kings still the observation of the Sabbath is the same 1 Chron. 9. 32. There may be a change in the times there must be none in the Sabbath the care of the Sabbath is the duty of every Governour by what Name or Title soever he be distinguished And in after Ages the Prophets press hard for the observation of the Sabbath Jer. 17. 21. And this was one considerable piece of their message to the people God still alarms his people to Sabbath-holiness And if the people fail in the observation of Gods holy Sabbath how sharply doth God upbraid them by his Prophets Ezek 20. 12. as a most ungrateful and inconstant people and how bitterly doth he expostulate with them as a froward and shortly to be forlorn Generation Ezek. 20. 13. and looks upon the violation of his Sabbath as a contempt poured out upon all his
against Gods sacred Sabbath shall be condemned of the Almighty and they who regarded not the Lords Day shall not be regarded in the day of the Lord nor of the Lord of this day but shall be enforced to undergo unavoidable and intollerable calamity O how sweet would Mark 2. 28. one Sabbath of Rest be from Hell torments in ten thousand years But this drop of water shall not be granted to the Luke 16. 24. miscarrying sinner This day indeed draws near when all Hieron Epist de scient legis Tom. 4. men must appear bofore the judgement-seat of Christ 2 Cor. 5. 10. and then answer for not attending on Gods holy day O what shall we do saith Hierome In that day when the Lord shall come with trumpet sounding fire flaming sinners fainting stars falling mountanes melting poor creatures crying to graves Christus Judex appropinquat ut veniat ad judicium ut suorum gaudium compleat et inimicorum injurias vindicet et puniat Ansel to hold them to hills to hide them Let none then who abuse the Lords day suppose this day is afar off for behold saith the Apostle The Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones to execute judgement Jude vers 14 15. And the coming of the Lord draws near saith another Apostle James 5. 8. Nay The day of the Lord is at hand said a third Apostle Phil. 4. 5. Let all therefore who trifle away Gods blessed Sabbath fear and tremble and not like wanton Israelites Amos 6. 3. put far from them the evil day Rivet pronounces Obstinatis autem in Sabbata peccatoribus aeternum mortem suisse denunciatam non inficias imus Rivet peremptorily That to obstinate offendours on Gods holy day eternal death and damnation is denounced Shortly there comes a day when reckning must be made for all our sleepy duties cold affections dead hearts sensual meales open prophaneness and secret hypocrisie for all our wasts of time and pleasing the flesh on Gods most blessed day I might add that all our formal services on that day shall be weighed in the ballance and with Belshazzar will be found too light And then if Repentance and Faith in Christ hath not crossed the debt we shall be discharging it in terrours and torments to all Everlasting CHAP. XLIX Gods Tremendous Judgments executed upon those who have prophaned and violated his holy Day WE have already seen by Scripture light frowns in the face of God wrath in the heart of God flaming in the eye of God and a Sword in the hand of God against those who dare pollute his holy Sabbath Let us now trace the methods of Providence and still more wrath and vengeance breaks out against the same Offendors and indeed a little to preface what is subsequent The sin of prophaning of Gods day is no sin of surprisal but it is a deliberative offence a sin carried on with consultation Sometimes an Oath is sworn unadvisedly as that of Herod to Herodias her Daughter Mark 6. 26. which cost John the Baptist his life an act of intemperance is hatched by the warmth of a temptation he is brutified when reason on a sudden hath left its habitation Nay sometimes one wounds another and it is only a lightning of passion as high Feavers soon run into a distraction But now the violation of the Sabbath is a premeditated act and is the leisurely effect of a corrupt heart it is a sin accompanied with time to consider and with an enlightned mind to understand it Recreations upon a Sabbath they are no vain surprisal but studied wickedness sleeping at Ordinances is a giving way to the flesh Riots and Surfeits on the Lords day they are designed Exod. 20. 8 9. debauchery nothing but a striking hands with Hell in cold blood we consult with our ease when we trifle away the Sabbaths we neglect not Ordinances on the Lords day and court our Bed or our Belly instead of the Sanctuary without Ezek. 22. 26. advice and debate with our selves nor can the fantastick piece of pride spend hours on Gods holy day with the Glass Deut. 5. 12. and the Dressing-box nay and it may be the Box of Patches and the Perfuming-pot without concluding before hand they will appear to the worlds eye in the most flattering dress Sabbath-prophanation is a sin of knowledge and deliberation which puts it into a scarlet dye surely it must needs be a great sin to forget that which God bids us remember Exod. 20. 8. to prophane that which God biddeth us to keep holy to labour on that day when God bids us to rest and to unhallow that day which God hath blessed what is this but to throw down the Gantlet and to challenge God himself Isa 51. 6. God indeed hath punished this sin with the most stupendous revenges I shall marshal his dreadful executions into their several ranks whereby we observing the many examples 1 Sam. 3. 11. of divine fury and indignation we may carefully take the alarm and so avoid the stroke for God usually strikes Deut. 32. 42. one to awaken and warn another and hearing these thunders we may fly that guilt which is pursued with such Rom. 12. 19. Hue and Cries of divine displeasure and may write upon our hearts not our phylacteries that dreadful position of the Apostle Heb. 10. 31. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God Sometimes God hath punished the prophanation of his Sabbath with consuming the goods of the Offendor One who carried Corn into his Barn upon the Lords day had it all consumed with fire from heaven together with his house A Miller likewise who lived at Wotton was going forth to a Wake upon the Lords day and coming home at Levit. 10. 2. Night found his house his Mill and all that he had burnt down to the ground Thus the fire of Gods wrath hath over-taken Heb. 12. 29. this sin and great transgression To add one Example more In the year 1635 a Miller at Churchdown near Glocester would needs make a Whitson Ale notwithstanding the private and publick admonitions of the Minister and all christian friends so great provision was made and Musick was set out as the Minister and people were going to Church in the Afternoon and when Sermon was done the Drum beat up the Musick played and the people fell on dancing until the Evening at which time they all resorted to the Mill But oh the Justice of God! before they had supped at nine of the Clock a sudden fire seized upon the house which was so furious that it burned down his house and Mill and the most of all his other provisions and housholdstuff â—nd most just it is that if we commit Sacriledge and 〈…〉 the time of his day he should act severely and dispoy◠〈…〉 fruits of our labour sinners make waste of his glory and most righteous it is God should make waste of their
in another service The title of holiness was always a sufficient rampart and security against prophaneness and audacious pollution and shall it not be so in the holy Sabbath Shall this holy day be spent in froth and idleness or be spotted with sin or prophaneness Upon the forehead of the Sabbath is written in a fair character Holiness to the Lord. Musculus observes there is a double sanctification engraven upon the Sabbath 1. There is Gods sanctification of it which is nothing else but his consecration and setting apart the seventh part of every week to his worship and service 2. There is mans sanctification which is nothing else but mans careful and sedulous spending this holy day in the exercises of piety and Religion So that the Sabbath is doubly fenced against the encroachments of sin Again let us trace the Sabbath from its infancy to this day and we shall still finde a stamp of holinesse upon it The Sabbath is holy ab instituto from the institution of it Gen. 2. 3. God breathed holiness into it when he first gave life to it The first ordination of it was set with holiness Gen. 2. 3. as a rich Ring is set with Diamonds The Original word signifies no less 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alwayes signifying Holiness aliquid a communi usu separatum something separated to God from common use So then it may be said of the Sabbath as it was of Jeremy Jer. 1. 5. It was sanctified from the womb The Sabbath is holy a mandato from the command Exod. 20. 8. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy This command hath the great seal of a Memento upon it carrying its badge and Character singled out of all the rest to have its Sabbatum dei est sanctum otium Leid Prof. Selah affixed to it As if God should say however other commands liable to breaches may have their plea's or finde their favours the breach of this command shall finde none The Sabbath is holy a promisso from the promises annexed to the holy observation of it To this command of Die dominicâ Piae meditationes attentiori conatu instituantur et soveantur Riv. Sabbath sanctification we have not only the naked bond of a precept but the seal of a promise Isa 58. 13 14. The keeping holy of this day is so prized by God that he bribes it that he sets a price upon it and courts it with promises temporal and spiritual with a Paradise of pleasure and delight The Sabbath is holy a Titulo from its denomination It is twice called holy Isa 58. 13. Gods holy day nay the Dominico ad nihil aliud vacandum est nisi ad orationem c. Patr. in Concil Fo. rojul holy of the Lord which is not without an emphasis God doth to the Sabbath as once he did to Abraham Gen. 17. 5. give it a new and more honourable name to restrain sinful and prurient man from the violation of it The Sabbath is holy a Christi operatione from the works of Christ upon this day Luke 6. 6. He that came from Heaven Die dominico convertendum est nobis cum deo propius Ephr. Syr. Lucubr doth only the works of heaven upon this heavenly day And in this Christ is our guide not only our Legislator but our Pattern the Pole-star for us to steer by The Sabbath is holy ab Apostolorum observatione from the manner of the Apostles observation They spent the Sabbath in preaching in praying in receiving the Sacrament Acts 20. 7. and performing those duties which have a vein of holiness in them The Sabbath is holy a Joannis visione from the Vision of John the beloved Disciple Rev. 1. 10. As if Christ Diem dominicum honoremus celebrantes eum non panegyricè sed divinè non mundâ—nè sed spiritualitèr non instar gentilium sed instar Christianorum deferred this rare discovery which he made to his bosom Apostle to his own day to put the greater badge of honour and stamp the greater character of purity upon it Therefore to sum up all as he is not far from true piety who makes conscience to keep this holy day so his heart never yet felt what either the fear of God or true Religion meaneth who can so far deface the beauty and contradict the holiness of this day as to spend and unravel it in vanity and prophaneness Dr. Denison notes upon Nebem 13. 2. That where the Sabbath is not sanctified there is neither sound Religion nor a Christian conversation to be expected And worthy Dr. Chetwind That the prophaning of the holy Sabbath of God is contrary to Gods moral precept which still retains it force and vigour Thus savouâ—y and learned men always agreed in this with vigorous zeal to decry the prophaneing of Gods day as being that which was an affront to the very name of an holy and honourable Sabbath Arg. 3 Nay the great Jehovah hath given us his own example for holy rest on the Sabbath day And what is more comely and Satis authenticum est homini pio quicquid verbo dei praecipitur verò et factum dei accedit quasi duplicato ad ob oâ—iiendum vinculo constringitur Muscul beautiful then to follow the example of God When Christ would have us to love our enemies he urges the example of God Luke 6. 35. When he would have us to be merciful he cites the example of God Luke 6. 36. And when he would have us to be perfect he brings in his Father as a Pattern Mat. 5. 48. And so in this case we must sanctifie the Sabbath because God himself rested on that day God doth not only enjoyn the strict observation of the Sabbath by his express command but in his own blessed example he is pleased to rest for the observance of it And which deserves our most serious animadversion God did not only 1. Rest on that day after the work of Creation was finished Gen. 2. 3. when that stupendious work was now accomplished But 2dly God rested on that day in not raining down Manna but twice so much the day before Exod. 16. 22 25. there must not be so much as the disturbance of a Qui verbo dei non obedit immorigerum se et transgressorem ostendit Qui verò ne facto quidem dei ad imitatio nem exempli permovetur non solùm sese inobedientem sed et degenerem et alienum a spiritu illius sese demonstrat et declarat Muscul shower to call off the people from the solemnity of the Sabbath So that we might not erre God sets our Copy twice It is a good saying of Musculus He who obeys not the word of God makes himself a transgressor and shews himself immorigerous but he who will not follow the examples of God shews himself not only disobedient but degenerous and a stranger to the work of the spirit
Indeed it is the property of a natural Son not only to mind the word but to imitate the example of his good Father Slaves must have commands but Sons study Patterns as the ingenuous Scholar minds the Copy more then the passionate word or the Ferula of his Master One of Gods rich promises carries this treasure in it I will guide thee by mine eye Psal 32. 8. Thou shalt look on me and so walk hoâ—ily before me Not only Gods will but his eye shall be our conduct So then Gods example re-inforces our obligation for Sabbath-holiness Cumque deus ita quiescat die septimo ut tamen non cesset ob omni opere sed rerum universitatem conservet et gubernet Ita quoque Sabbati sanctificatio non consistit in ignavo otio sâ—d ut ea operemur quae ad dei gloriam faciant Ger. In this affair we have all ties of obedience not only the force of a righteous command but we may see our selves in the Chrystal glass of divine example And it is well observed by Gerard God saith he did not so rest on the Sabbath from all work but still on that day he preserved and governed all things So our sanctification of the Sabbath doth not consist in a slothful idleness but in working thâ—se things which make to the glory of God So let us thus imitate God on his own day Indeed Gods patteâ—n is the Archetype of all our actions the surest glass for us to dress our selves by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He hath said it is the rule of all truth and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he hath done it is the rule of all practice wherein the blessed Jehovah is imitable It was the Apostles glory that he followed Christ and so far he would have all Christians Omnis actio Dei nobis pietatis virtutis est regula Basil follow him 1 Cor. 11. 1. It is an excellent saying of Basil Every action of God is to us a Rule of all vertue and piety And if in all other things so in keeping the Sabbath in holy Rest Philo the Jew could say Follow 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Phil. Jud. God in resting on the Sabbath you have his Example you have his Prescript and therefore spend that day in holy contemplations God in this momentous concernment of the Sabbath seems to speak as in the Prophet Malachi Mal. 1. 6. A son honcureth his father and a servant his master If I be a father where is my honour if I be a master where is my fear And if I have rested upon the Sabbath why do you disturb it by secular works hy sensual delights by prophane actions or by unseemly carriages so unbecoming a holy Sabbath In prophaning Gods day we break through a double bar of precept and presidency and so dye our sin in a double dye Arg. 4 The light of Nature leads us to a Sabbath let the light of Scripture lead us to a holy observation of it The Law of Habet venerationem justam quicquid excellit Cicer. de Nat. Deorum Nature instilleth this notion into us That God paramount who is Superlative in all Excellencies and Perfections is to be worshipped That to the performance of this worship certain times are to be deputed that none is so fit to depute that time as that Deity whose worship it is And therefore to keep this day which God hath appointed holy to the same Lord to sanctifie it in holy Rest and spiritual worship which Brerewood saith Is the Body and the Soul of the Sabbath All this is nothing but an obsequious following of the guidance and conduct of Nature Aquinas here gives us a good Rule Seeing saith he that the moral Precepts Aquin 2da 2dae quaest 122. Artic. 4. are of those things which agree to humane reason as they appertain to good manners the judgment whereof is derived some way from natural Reason it must needs Breerw part 2. pag. 67. be that those things pertain to the Law of Nature And is there any thing more accommodate to right reason more conducing to good manners then to dedicate some time to the honour of God especially that time which is of his own appointment If we have Souls to look after must there not be seasons for that purpose And who shall better Mark 2. 28. Aquin. 1mae adae quaest 10. Artic. 1. 3. appoint that season than the Saviour of the Soul Again the Sabbath was made for man Mark 2. 27. was it not for the better part of man that piece of Eternity which he carries in his bosom And how can we better consult our Souls good than in duties of Divine worship Thus the very dictates of natural reason command the holy observation of the Sabbath And therefore the observation of the seventh day which was the Sabbath till the coming of Christ was no strange thing among those who know nothing above the light of Nature Homer an Heathen Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. tells us That the seventh day is holy Callimachus an Heathen Author informs us That the seventh day is the Birth-day chief and perfect And Eusebius affirms That almost all as well Philosophers as Poets know the seventh day to be most sacred And shall these Pagans who had onely glimpses of natural light smatch and rellish Quis Diem illum sanctissimum non honorat unaquaquehebdomadâ recurrentem Phil. honour and venerate the day of the Sabbath and shall we turn Heathens on that day or fall some degrees below them I shall say with the Apostle Rom. 6. 2. God forbid The learned Andrews observes That sufficient is found in the heart of the Gentiles to their condemnation who shall dare to break the Law of the fourth Commandement The very light of Nature shall rise up in judgment Rom. 6. 2. against Sabbath-breakers and it shall be more tollerable for Hesiod a Heathen Poet who pronounced the seventh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesiod day holy and Alexander Severus a heathen Prince who on that day frequented the Temple as formerly hath been hinted then for this Generation It was a rare saying of Seneca a sage Heathen who reckoning the Sabbath a Festival for Religion condemned the then manner of observing of it and saith he Let us forbid the lighting of a Candle upon a Sabbath for neither do the Gods want light and men themselves are not delighted with smoke he worshippeth God who knows him This golden Quoniam rerum humanarum variiâ— maltiâ— occupationibus curis distracti praepedimur ita ut non facilè officia pietatis praestemus saying how will it condemn many drossie Christians who set fire on their lusts on Gods holy Sabbath It is a good Notion of Azorius Man saith he is so hurried and distracted with the affairs of the world that he is impeded in and unfit for the worship of God But God therefore hath appointed
20. Luke 24. 41. The day of 2 Sam. 23. 5. Christs rising from the dead was a day of joy and gladness Ille est primus dies in quo deus tenebras ut materiam cum mutasset mundum effecit quòd in codem die Jesus Christus conservator noster è mortuis excitatus est Just Mart. Psal 118. 24. No day like this since the Creation then our surety was released the Covenant and sure mercies of David fully ratified and confirmed our hope wonderfully revived heaven and eternal life plenteously assured These thoughts of Christs Resurrection might quicken our hearts and make them sparkle with life and affection It may be we never took the crown of this day into our hands to feel the weight of it and that makes our services â—â— flat and our thoughts to speak in Nazianzens phrase so chained to the ground upon this seraphical day And therefore Clemens Romanus argues sharply and pathetically What shall excuse us with Die dominico qui est dies resurrectionis Templum adite quid enim excusare poterit apud deum qui eo die ad audiendum non convenit c. Clem. Rom. God if we fill not up this blessed day with bearing the word with holy prayer with reading the Scriptures with singing the praises of the Lord and other duties seeing God makes all things by Christ and sent him into the world to die for sinners and raised him again as on this day Innocentius calls Christs Resurrection day the first day of our joy the bright lustre of heavens shine And Ambrose saith The Lords day is a day â—f joyes in the plural number to shew the Variety and the Increase of them Joy is the Shibboleth of this day the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spring-tide and the full Sea of this weekly Festival And Tertullian professeth That on this day we indulge our selves Plus gaudere debemus propter resurrectionem gloriosam quà m dolere propter passionem ignominiosam Bern. with holy joy The primitive Christians were wont when they saw one another to have this joyful salute The Lord is risen and the others ordinary answer was True the Lord is risen indeed we should not saith Bernard so much mourn at Christs igneminious passion as we should rejoyce at his glorious Resurrection And this day is not only sweetned with joyes but enriched with gain the death of Christ Haec est illa dies quae suâ magnitudine omnia beneficia obscurat Const Apost l. 7. c. 37. was the sowing of the Corn the raising of Christ was as the springing up of the Corn the benefits of Christs death are reaped in his Resurrection The death of Christ was as the casting of Joseph into the pit the selling him into Aegypt and putting him into prison But the raising of Christ was as the preferring of Joseph by which he comes into a capacity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to save his Family and so enrich all his Relations Clemens Romanus tells us This day is such a day of love such a day of gain that the greatness of those benefits we receive by this day ecclipse and obscure the shew and appearance of all other benefits Athanasius calls the Resurrection day The beginning of the New Creation And another learned tells us That Christs Resurrection was a great and an excellent Miracle and therefore it gave life and name to the Lords day Indeed Mans all is folded up in the triumphant success of this day Let us a little hearken to the good News that Christs Resurrection brought to the world and these Cords of love should fasten us to Holy duties and becoming carriages on the Lords day The Resurrection of Christ was the compleating of his work Indeed many fair lines were drawn before in the great work Josephus iâ— tertium usque annum in 〈◊〉 deteâ—tus sâ—â—t posteà tamen libeâ—tus est Egypti constitutus est dominus Et salvator noster ad tertium usque diem detentus est in carcere sepulchri tum resurrexit sanctorum dominus dominus dominantium Ger. of Mans Redemption every tear which dropt from Christs eye every drop of bloody sweat which fell from his sacred body contributed to our salvation but when Christ rose again then he put the last hand to the beautiful frame of this glorious work And therefore he is said then to be perfected Luk. 13. 32. when Christ breath'd out his last he cried out consummatum est It is finished John 19. 30. But that had relation to his sufferings but when he rose again he was perfected in relation to his people he then became a perfect Redeemer Christ on his resurrection-day folded up his bottom and had nothing left to do but to ascend to his Father and to take his place at his right hand and to give him an account that the glorious work of mans Redemption was now fully finished Christs dying-day was the perfection of his love but his rising-day was the perfection of his work when he sprang from the Grave he threw off the cloths of his own mortality and of our sin Thus the Sun works through the Cloud and makes its own way till it is freed from that dark incumbrance and appears to the World in its sweetest brightness And so our Saviour after a short sleep in the tenacious dust awakes and comes as a Bridegroom out of his Chamber to speak a few words to his Psal 19. 5. Disciples and to take witness of his resurrection and so to go up to his Father ever to make intercession for us And shall Christ compleat his work upon his resurrection-day Heb. 7. 25. our Christian Sabbath and shall we be defective in ours Shall he be perfected on that day and shall we be polluted Surely when we trifle and sin away our Sabbath we never think that on that day Christ put his last hand to the blessed work of our Redemption This will condemn careless Christians when they are so short and Christ so full on his Resurrection-day our blessed Sabbath The Resurrection of Christ was the Conquest of his and our Enemies On this day the seed of the woman did bruise the Gen. 3. 15. Promeruit in cruce Christus sed posteà peregit Zanch. Serpents head and Christ did triumph in his own person over Sin Death and Satan Upon the account of which the Apostle cries Victory 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. On this day Christ spoiled principalities and powers and openly triumphed over them Col. 2. 15. Christ merited Victory by his passion Acts 10. 39 40. but he executed Victory by his rising from the Grave he died a Sufferer but he rose a Conquerour not onely Mat. 28. 18. arrayed with honour and immortality but richly invested Phil. 2. 9. with power and principality and then were the Keys of Eph. 4. 8 9. Death and Hell resigned up to him as the Trophies of his Revel 1. 18.
Rom. 11. 16 17. should look greener and sprout more then that which is grassed in Let us be earnest with God for Ministers that their success may be great and that they may see of the travel of their souls Praescrip 5. and be satisfied The Ministers work upon a Sabbath may Interior vita vigor gratiae ad crescendum adolescendum in fide charitate et Christianismo hoc solius dei est Alap be painful from himself but it is prosperous only from the Lord the Minister throws the net it is God brings the draught nay he may cast the net but God directs it to the right side of the ship The Apostle assures us It is God gives the increase 1 Cor. 3. 6. That Gods work prospers in the hands of the Ministers and in the hearts of the people is from Gods smile not from the Ministers sweat The Minister may have skill to open the Text but God only hath power to open the heart Let this God therefore be sought to that he would fill the Ministers sail with a prosperous wind and that every Sermon they preach and every Sabbath they celebrate may be as the bow of Jonathan and the sword of Saul which returned not empty 2 Sam. 1. 22. And we have a rare and rich promise to build and bottom our prayers upon which is mentioned Isa 55. 10 11. As the rain comes down and showers from heaven and return not thither but Isa 55. 10 11. water the earth making it bud and bring forth seed to the sower and bread to the eater so saith God shall my word be that goes out of my mouth it shall not return to me void Let us heartily sue out this blessed promise in holy prayer to the Lord Strong prayers are the readiest method to make successful Sabbaths Ministers might do great things upon the prayers of the people they might convince conscience they Acts 2. 37. might prick to the heart and fasten truth upon the soul and go off in the evening of a Sabbath crying victory ovor captivated Converts and lead many lost sheep home to the great shepherd of their souls we have many still-born Ordmances because previous prayers did not put life into them It is prayer that can give a good Minister to a people Philem. ver 22. And it is prayer can bless a good Minister to a people How frequent and pathetical is the Apostle Paul with Ingens est orationum virtus potentia ut Paulus talis tantusque vir illarum ope subsidio indi geat Theopil those to whom he writes to beg and importune their prayers so Rom. 15. 30. Now I beseech you Brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ his sake and for the love of the spirit that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me We may see the great Apostle of the Gentiles though resplendent with such rich gifts enriched with such eminent grace and conducted by the guidance of an infallible spirit yet he stood in need of the people prayers Nay this blessed Apostle not only sollicits the prayers of the Church of the Romans but he addresses himself to other Churches to that at Thessalonica 2 Thes 3. 1. Finally Brethren pray for us that the word of the Lord may have a free course and be glorified even as it is with you Thus Gospel victories are usually the issue of wrestling with God And thus again Paul importunes prayers 1 Thes 5. 25. Brethren pray for us And again Heb. 13. 18. Pray for us This holy Apostle rests not so much upon his own pains as others prayers knowing that the gales of the spirit by which we hoise up sail for heaven are promised to earnest and importunate prayer Luke 11. 13. And indeed as the Minister must row with one Oare by powerful and painful preaching to the people so the people must row with the other by frequent praying for the Minister Dispensator domus dei curam hobet in eâ omnia regit omnia ordinat distribuit They must strive together as the Apostles phrase is Rom. 15. 30. In a word one piece of service which we owe to the Sabbath is that we beg of God that the Ministers who are stars Rev. 1. 20. may fructiferously shine upon who are light Mat. 5. 14. may be a safe conduct to who are Salt Mat. 5. 13. may throughly season and preserve who are Stewards 1 Cor. 4. 1. may feed and refresh the people of God on his own blessed day Let us be much in prayer that Magistrates would take care Praescrip 6. of Gods holy Sabbath Magistrates are called shields Psal 47. 9. Let us pray that they defend the Sabbath from sin and Lev. 19. 17. prophanation Magistrates are called Gods Psal 82. 6. Let us pray that they would remember their own title and commend Gods day to a holy and strict observation And Qui non vetat peccare cùm potest jubet Senec. surely as children for the most part are as the Nurses are so Sabbaths in Nations and Kingdoms are as the Magistrates are we may feel the pulse of the Magistrate in the observation of the Sabbath And therefore let us pray for Magistrates because the eye of the people is fixed more stedily on the Magistrates Sword then on the Scholars pen or the Ministers tongue Magistratical severity more awes and influences then Ministerial intreaties That weapon gives us the deepest wound which is sharpned by civil Authority When a Ministers zeal is insignificant In Sabbati observatione non Ministros verbi tantùm sed et Patres familias iâ—primis Magistratus versari decet Wal. the Magistrates heat will be effectual a Magstrates frown shall operate more throughly then a Ministers check When Nehemiah threatned the strangers to lay hands upon them they came no more upon the Sabbath day Nehem. 13. 21. The soft bowels of a Minister may be abortive when the sure force of a Magistrate may put life into the reformation of the Sabbath Besides the fourth Commandment is retinaculum caeterorum the bond of obedience both to God and man in the duties Custodire Sabbatum per Synechdochen accipiatur pro observatione totius legis praesertim primae tabulae quae religionem cultum dei spectat Alap of the first and the second table this Commandment is the golden clasp which joynes both the Tables together and therefore it is much to be observed that keeping the Sabbath from polluting it and keeping the hands from doing any evil are both coupled and joyned together Isa 56. 2. The pollution of the Sabbath is the usual introduction of all other sin It may be added if Magistrates let the reins loose to connive at vanity and prophaneness on the Lords day the Nation will be filled with evil subjects the Church will be filled with corrupt members and private families will be filled with stubborn children and licentious Servants and
nullis volumus voluptatibus occupari Leo Anthemius Imper à Baldwino allegati in judgment or wariness in practice in reference to the Lords day But our Apostacy began to be too notorious when sports were allowed on that day which are the births of fancy and the Nurses of corruption Nay even at this day notwithstanding all pretences to reformation how wofully is Gods Sabbath neglected and ecclipsed by all manner of abomination so that we may say with Bishop Babington The people of Israel might not gather Manna upon the Sabbath-day and may we go to Fairs and Markets to Wakes and wantonness to Dancings and Drinkings upon the Lords day Are these works for the Sabbath Is O melior fides nationum in suam sect am quae nullam christianorum solennitatem sibi vendicat non etiam diem dominicum etiamsi cognossent nobis communicarent ne Christiani viderentur nos ne Ethnici pronunciaremur non veremur Tertul. de Idol cap. 14. this to keep the holy day Can this be answered to God No surely we shall never be able to endure his wrath for these things one day Thus this learned and reverend Person I may a little invert Tertullian O the faith of the Nations better then ours towards their own Sect as who challenge not to themselves any Christian solemnity no not that of the Lords day had they known it they would not communicate with us least they should seem Christians and we Christians fear not to be accounted Heathens All the Invectives of former times may justly be levelled against England upon this account What is the Sabbath among us but our leisure day for sin and vanity The covetous person is imployed in his works and he follows his secular affairs only more covertly the Formalist is buried in his sloth the Youth of the Nation are frisking and pleasing themselves with sports and dalliances with carnal delights and sensual pleasures as if they offered Acts 14. 13. at the Shrine of Venus or calculated their Sacrifices for a Acts 19. 28. wanton Jupiter the carnal Gospellers are refreshing themselves in their Recreations and their walks and how few on the Mount of God in sacred and heavenly duties 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 jovialiter vivere Surely Plutarch had an eye to England when he derived Sabbath a Sabbos which signifies to live riotously Indeed the Sabbath of our Nation seems to have some such derivation Gods Sabbath cannot travel up and down England but it falls among Thieves who rob and wound it some wound it by prophane and loose actions others by sinful omissions and the most by sloth and recreations And thus Luke 10. 30. this blessed day lies bleeding and where are any good Samaritans Abominanda christiano nomine indigna diei dominicâ— vâ—olatio quae sâ—nctâ—ssimum Dei Omnipotenâ—is cultum imâ—iorum exponit ludibrio hinc omnis miseriae quae obscuratum ecclesiae deâ—us evertit â—inc calamitatis effluxit inundatio to pour Oyl in to its wounds And have we not found it by experience that scarlet sins and crimson transgressions overflow the Nation because the Sabbath lies under disuse and is covered with scorn and contempt The holy observation of the Sabbath is that which brings on all duties of godliness and the Sabbath being slighted and neglected the Cataracts of prophaneness break in upon us and we are lead to all methods of wickedness And this is Englands skar Gods presence was never less discerned and what is the reason Gods day was never more contemned Our Palladium is gone and what can be expected but an entry of ruine and desolation And this as Ezekiel speaks Ezek. 19. 14. Is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation A learned man observes That the prophaning of Gods day is sin unbecoming the name of a Christian and is the spring of all those calamities which over-flow a Nation And yet this is Lam. 1. 7. Quis talia fande temperet à laâ—hâ—ymis Virg. Englands Ichabod and in this it hath betrayed its trust when the treasure of Gods Sabbath was committed to it And this is Englands Apostacy from all the pious Proclamations Psal 74. 9. of those noble Princes who have sate in its Throne How did many of the Royal Princes who have swayed the Scepter of this Nation lay out their Authority for the suppressing King Ina a Weâ—t Saxon K. Alured K. Canutus K Edw. the sixth Q. Elizabeth King James King Charles the first of prophaneness and promoting of godliness upon Gods holy day which was their glory and the splendor of our Nation But the prophaneness of the present age upon this sacred day hath pluckt this Pearl out of their Crowns and hath put an ecclipse upon that glory of our Kingdom wherein we much out-vied the tendreyes of other Nations England formerly in this branch of holiness out-shining the most reformed Churches And this is the sin at this day which is the troubler of our Israel and seems to be a Cloud bigger than a mans hand 1 King 18. 44. which threatens a great deal of ruine not of water but of wrath not showers to drench the ground but to drown the Inhabitant We may bewail the formall worship of Englands Sabbaths this blessed day suffers in this Nation not only by open Enemies Ceremonia crebrò repetitae but by cold Suitors This is the Errour of England on her Sabbaths we more mind the bending of the knee than Deo nauseam pariunt quia peccatores impuro corde plenâ—que offensis illas offerunt Alap in Isaiam the bowing of the heart our Decency hides our Beauty our Ceremony drowneth our Substance and our Gesture swallows up our Godliness In some places of this Nation the Organ is the most pleasing Oracle and the cringing to an Altar is the onely Embleme of humility and the pleasing of the Ear stifles the devotion of the Soul And is this to keep a Sabbath What do we more than the Jews against whom God poured out his complaints To tread Gods Courts Isa 1. 12. To cry up the Temple of the Lord Jer. 7. 4. And to celebrate a Sabbath with a bare appearance before God or the nimble activity of a geniculation Is not this to offer the Case instead of the Jewel to give the bark of a service and the paring onely of a solemnity Ignatius could tell us in the very Vnusquisque nostrum Sabbatizet spiritualiter meditatione legis gaudens non in corporis refocillatione Ignat. Epist 6. ad Magn. infancy of the Gospel That we are to keep Gods day spiritually in the meditation of Gods Law not in the refreshings of the outward man c. And Chrysostom speaks much of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 spiritual works and exercises on the Lords day Is not the turn of an eye the action of the body or the suppleness of the knee not the sweetness of the voice or the
exactness of the quaver not the dexterity of an Anthem which is veneratiâ—n proper to Gods holy day But a melting heart an obedient mind an attentive ear the acting Luke 2. 25. of grace and the enquiries after the Beloved a Soul raised to experimental communion with God suits more fairly and Jer. 31. 19. genuinely to the right observation of Gods holy day This Ezek. 21. 12. extrinsical worship onely tongue deep and knee deep and which is not animated by a devout Soul is Englands stain and should be Englands moan and we should do well to consider cold Devotion usually foreruns hot indignation and it is onely in the bosom of the Almighty how soon he will further revenge the quarel of his Sabbath not onely as bemired by open prophaneness but as slightly passed over by a specious cold and formal observation We may bewail the sinful abridgments which England puts up upon Gods holy day In former times and so now in these later years two or three hours signifie a Sabbath among us Dominicis diebus tantùm divino cultui a little time in publick is our Sacrifice upon the Lords day the Lord may here put the expostulation Mal. 3. 8. Do ye serviâ—â—dum est sicut Antiquis praeceptum erat de Sabbato dominicum diem religiâ—sâ solennitate celebremus Aug. say wherein have you robbed me It may be answered not in tythes but in time not in the Priests allowance but in the Lords day If the people come to divine service and to the pittance of a Sermon in publick they have then liberty to sport it in the helds or to frisk â—t in a Maurisk dance to be social in an Ale-house to be frolick in a Tavern without the controule of an Officer or the stroke of a Magistrate This is Englands sin and this sin was formerly punished by a Civil and hath lately been pursued by a forraign War But we may truly say with our Saviour Mat. 19. 8. Improperandum est contra eos qui unam aut duâ—s horas ex integro die deo deputant ad Orationem veniunt vel in transitu verbum audiunt quasi festiâ—anter praecipuam verò curam ergâ— sollicitudinem seculi et â—entâ—is expendunt Orig. Homil. 2. in Numer Iren. lib. 4. cap. 30. From the beginning it was not so Augustin tells us Upon the Lords day we are to be wholly taken up in divine worship nor are we to abridge the Lords day more then the Jews did their Sabbath which was wholly kept to the Lord. And this worthy and learned man was run into a kind of passion against those who would spend some time only of this day in divine worship and the rest in sensual pleasures Origen was very invective against those Who would depute two or three hours to prayer or to hear the Word in transitu by the by but their chief care was to consult the World or their belly and to spend thâ—ir time in profits or delights Chrysostome tells us his opinion was fully That one day in seven was to be consecrated whâ—lly to the worship of the Common 〈◊〉 of all and to his service And Irenaeus who trod upon the heels of the Apostolical times freely acknowledgeth That we are to persevere in divine worship upon Gods holy day Nay the Fathers gathered in a Die dominico ad nihil aliud vacandum nisi aâ— Orationem et alia pietatis munia full assembly declarâ— their judgement That we being sequestred from all servile wâ—rk must persevere in the praise of God and in holy thanksgivings â—n the Lords day And so the Fathers in the Council of â—â—iâ—li We must say they be vacant for nothing upon a Lords day but holy Prayer and other duties â—â—ncil Ferojul Can. 13. A. D. 791. of piety And the fiftieth Canon of the Council of Paris is very remarkable We must meet say they upon the Lords day wherein the Lord our life arose from the dead and granted us hope of our Resurâ—ection and wholly abstain from our own delights or secular emplâ—yments and only be filled with spiritual joyes and heavenly praises and this with all endeavour of heart and this is our vacation on that day Chrysostome in one of his Homilies upon Genesis seems to order our very gestures A veshertino ingressu ad altare in Sabbato Judaico usque ad sequentem vesperem in die dominico in officiis sacris peragendis perseverandum est Concil on the Lords day and saith our eyes and our hands all this day must be lift up and stretcht out to God And a venerable Council gives us this direction from the evening of the Jewish Sabbath to the evening of the Lords day we must persevere in holy duties But Englands practice hath been a contradiction to these golden rules and to these golden times When our evening service hath been done we have laid aside the privacies of divine worship and some to the Green to bowls some to the Trall Can. 90. Ring to dances some to the street to Cudgels and to other sports which feed the corrupt heart of an inconsiderate multitude But in this while our Country is a Baalim our Closets Judg. 3. 7. should be a Bochim and others wantonness should be our wound and whilst their hearts are a spring of vanity Jer. 9. 1. our heads should be a fountain of tears We may bewail the unpunished liberty which is used in England upon Gods holy day Sabbaths are prophaned and the Jer. 5. 31. people love to have it so and the Magistrates love to leave it so this is an Evil to be deplored among us The things which are Caesars are given to Caesar and good reason too when we have a divine Command for it Mat. 22. 21. But the things which are Gods are not given to God Gods day suffers and none suffer for his day We have not only the Nehem. 13. 21. merchandise of wares but the merchandise of hell upon the Lords day but where are the Nehemiahs to restrain them This is Englands sin and this calls for Englands moan the Heads of our Tribes are not Zealous for the Lord of Hosts The day of God is torn by the Oaths of the Miscreant it is stained by the excesses of the intemperate it is painted over by the cold worship of the hypocrite it is curtailed by the short services O quà m redarguendi sunt Judaei qui sep timam vitae partem otio et voluptatibus impendunt Senec. of the formalist Taverns and Ale-houses if not Stews and Brothel-Houses are frequented and filled on this sacred day and all these debaucheries acted with impunity And men do on Gods day what is right in their own eyes not because there is no King but because there is no awe of God in Israel Surely if when there was almost a Tribe cut off in Israel there was nothing but moans and lamentations how much more
then let not a Sermon satisfie without Christ in a Sermon let not reading a Chapter content without we read Christ in that Chapter As once Bernard despised that Book wherein he did not read Christ And let us alwayes remember that Ordinances they are the institutions of God and he that made a brazen Serpent heal Num. 21. 9. can make his own institutions effect our cure Object But the poor souls greatest Query is How shall I meet with God in Ordinances who shall open the door into the Gallery where I may be with my Beloved Answ In answer to this something we have to do as well as something to enjoy Our pain must go before our pleasure we must not be wanting to meet God if we expect that God should meet us Therefore We must be earnest in Prayer we must cry out O send out thy light and thy truth let them lead me let them bring me to thy holy Hill to thy Tabernacle then will I go unto the Altar of God unto God my exceeding joy Psalm 43. 3 4. We must make our addresses to God if we look for his approaches to us God sends a Preacher to a praying Paul God Acts 9. 11. sends an Angel to a praying Daniel God comes himself to Dan. 9. 21. a praying Solomon Prayer is an humble summons for the 1 Kings 2. 3. divine appearance it can not onely tie Gods hands Exod. Acts 10. 2 3. 32. 10. and command returns Isa 45. 10. But it can obtain Gods presence If Moses say I pray thee God presently Jam. 4. 8. replies My presence shalt go with thee Exod. 33. 13 14. If thou wilt have God meet thee in Ordinances let thy prayers be thy Harbingers to prepare room for him Be serious in preparing for Ordinances The Sun scatters the Clouds before it shines in its brightness The Bride dresseth her self to meet her Bridegroom And thou must Isa 61. 10. compose thy self with awful apprehensions Sponsa â—rnata representat ecclesiam ornamentis gratiae fortitulinis decoratam immò animam sanctam gratiis spiritu adaptatam et si debilis et imperfecta Haymo 1. Of the Divine Majesty with whom thou art to converse 2. With the solemness of Gods Ordinance thou art now going to enjoy 3. With the sweetness and advantage of the season thou art now entring upon and then God will meet thy prepared soul Joseph trimmed himself and then he goes into Pharaoh's presence The Wise man adviseth us â— keep our foot when we go into the house of God Eccles 5. 1. VVe should do well in our applications to holy Ordinances to examine our selves whether we are fit with loose thoughts to meet with a dreadful Majesty Or with filthy hearts to meet with a holy God Or with worldly and drossy minds to meet with Grn. 41. 14. our heavenly Father Let us not complain God retires when we are not fit for his presence Let us then capacitate our selves by holy care and serious preparation to enjoy God in Ordinances Let us long for Gods presence God loves affectionate Proselytes A longing David shall see a loving God Psal 63. 1 2. The Spouse is restless after her Beloved and then she meets him Cant. 3. 1 2 3 4. The thirsting soul shall be fed Fames est illa melior sanctior quae est spiritualis jam in Christo habebit saturitatem invita aeternâ omnimodam satietatem ubi deus erit omnia in omnibus Chemn with milk and wine Isa 55. 1. Grace and Righteousness shall satisfie the bungry Mat. 5. 6. The Psalmist follows hard after God Psalm 63. 8. God meets with our pursuits we shall then satisfie our selves in God when nothing but God can satisfie us Cold suitors shall not meet with Christ in his espousals VVhen the Wife longs the Husband endeavours after the thing longed for Mary Magdalen bemoaned the taking away of her Lord John 20. 2. We may expect to meet with God when his absence is our greatest moan and his presence our sweetest musique Let us come to Ordinances with all reverential humility God will look at him who is of a poor and a contrite spirit Humilitas est via ad deum Aug. and trembles at his Word Isa 66. 2. God dwells in the humble heart Isa 51. 15. God will raise those who debase themselves Augustin tells us That humility is the ready way Super quem requieseit Sp. sanctus nisi super humilem super humilem non super virginem Bern. to God It is the usher who brings the soul into the presence Chamber Bernard notably observes That the spirit of God rested on the Virgin Mary not for her Virginity but for her Humility And if Mary had not been so low in her own eyes she had not been so lovely in Gods Alapide saith Humility is a throne of Saphire where God sits in Majesty Let Humilitas est thronus Sappharinus in quo deus cum Majestate resideâ— Alap us then come to Ordinances with a submissive spirit God will cast an eye upon the soul who lies at his feet He sent an Angel to Daniel when he lay in his ashes Dan. 9. 3. 21. God rewarâ— the very counterfeit humility of Ahab 1 Kings 21. 29. though his sackcloath was but as Samuels mantle the attire of hypocrisie A dread of Gods presence brings Prov. 16. 19. a sweet sence of it and a trembling at the Word of God goes Prov. 29. 23. before a triumphing in the enjoyment of God Job abhorred himself in dust and ashes Job 42. 6. and then God hears him for himself and his friends and gives him interest upon interest for all his sufferings and tribulation Job 42. 10. A holy God will meet with an humble Saint Let us endeavour to be in the spirit upon the Lords day Direct 9. The extasies of the Apostle John were on the Lords day Revel 1. 10. the rapture was accomodated to the season Christians should study to be above themselves upon Gods holy day then they should walk in Galleries above the world Hierome professes That he sometimes found things so with himself that it seemed to him as if he had been triumphing Hieron de Virginit servand among Troops of Angels and singing hallelujahs with the Saints in Heaven and walking arm in arm with Jesus Christ And Luther reports of himself That sometimes especially on a Sacrament day the death of Christ was so full and fresh upon Luth. his spirit as if then he had been upon Mount Calvary and as if that was the day in which the Lord dyed And Beleevers should be so in the spirit upon the Sabbath as if that was the very day wherein Christ broke the bars of the Grave rowled away the stone from the Sepulchre and enfranchised himself from the restraints of the tomb The Saints should be carried out on this day and make their sallies into the suburbs of
Heaven In a word they should be in the spirit which duty must first look upwards We should strive to be in the assistances of the Spirit Holy duties without the holy Spirit are onely the carcasses of Religion like profession without practice which is offensive and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost useless such services bring neither glory to God advantage to our selves or benefit to others and all are of no more significancy then a body when the spirits are fled away On the morning therefore we must incessantly beg the divine assistances of Gods blessed Spirit It is the Spirit fits for Magistratical Luke 11. 13. dignities Num. 11. 25 26. It is the spirit fits for ministerial Numb 27 18. services 2 Kings 2. 9. and it is the spirit fits us all for Christian and holy duties The Spirit directs us unto holy duties Simeon came into the Temple by the spirit Luke 2. 27. the good spirit directed him to meet Jesus How often doth Gods spirit excite and provoke to holy Prayer to secret meditation and to those close devotions wherein the soul tasteth deepest of Christs flaggons and apples This inward Counsellour is often Cant. 2 5. restless in us till it â—end our knees lift up our hands and raise our hearts in sacred approaches to the divine Majesty The Spirit leads the Saint into solitariness to converse with God as once it did lead Christ into the Wilderness to be temped Mat. 4. 1. of Satan this divine principle with us is importunate Luke 4. 1. till it put us upon enquiries after God The holy Spirit quickens us in duties John 6. 63. and makes us lively and vigorous Corrupt nature takes off the wheeles in holy services flaggs and casts a damp upon us in Christus dicitur non spiritus vivens sed vivificans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Spiritus vitarum Theoph. such heavenly intercourse but the Spirit oyles the wheeles to make them go with greater speed When the soul is carried out by the Spirit how full is it of holy heaâ— divine zeal and rare enlargement as if of late it had conversed with a Seraphim his tongue is the pen of a ready writer Psalm 45. 2. and his heart is like a bubbling Fountain he melts in prayer as the Cloud into drops Paul assisted by this good Spirit runs on till midnight Acts 20. 7. and knows not how to break off his sacred discourses And our ever 1 Cor. 15. 45. to be admired Saviour raised and quickned by the same spirit wrestles with God in prayer all night Luke 6. 12. the very arteries of that duty were stretched out by that divine Spirit which was given to Christ without measure John 3. 34. The Spirit then is the animation of our holy performances without which they saint and die away The holy Spirit sustains us in holy duties Psal 51. 12. Mans spirit would quickly fail in wrestling with God was it Spiritus promptus scil graece 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hebraicè 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alacâ—iter festinans Lyrus habet duo vocabulà Dolanta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—ucundus not under-propt by this good Spirit The most sparkling wine if it stand long it will grow flat and dead And though the spirit of man be willing Mat. 26. 41. yet while it is in the body it will be soon tired and flag in holy duties which are so contrary to corrupt flesh but then the Divine Spirit comes in and renews poor mans strength like the Eagle and so he runs through holy services and faints not the annointing of the Spirit makes him agill and fresh and holy Ordinances are not his burden but his satisfaction Believers offer their sacrifices as Christ did himself Heb. 9. 14. through the eternal Spirit who recruits them continually with additional strength and vivacity The blessed Spirit causeth us to overflow in holy duties Job 32. 18. Our rich enlargements in Prayers and other Gospel services are from the good spirit of God when the heart Psalm 45. 1. bubbles and runs over in holy discourse and when the Eructans cor significat cordis locutionem cum nondum ad os pervenit et querit illam emittere circum volvitur et movetur huc et illuc et volutatur egressum quaerens quem prae gaudio non primo impeâ—u invenit c. Felix Praton mind flutters and flyes high in holy meditation and when our affections dilate and follow hard after Jesus Christ all this is from the Spirits gracious and divine assistance 2 Cor. 3. 16. It is the holy Spirit spreads our duties like Gold to greater extensions and oftentimes makes the Saint in duty query whether he be in the body or out of the body 2 Cor. 12. 2. His heart is like the squeezed Grapes overflowing with wine which is better then the drink of Angels It was the Spirit enlarged Solomons heart in that divine Prayer at the dedication of the Temple 1 Kings 8. 22 23. It was the Spirit enlarged Daniels heart in Prayer to hasten deliverance from the Babylonish captivity Dan. 9. 4. It was the Spirit enlarged Jonah s heart in Prayer when the Whales belly was consecrated into an Oratory Numb 18. 27. Jonah 2. 2. It is the Lords good Spirit which makes mans Deut. 15. 14. heart as the gushing streams or the over-flowing Fat or the Numb 18 30. dropping Wine-press in services Evangelical John 3. 8. It is the Spirit sweetens duty As Christ when he was at prayer rejoyced in spirit Luke 10. 21. Duties are sadned by mans sin but are refreshed by Gods Spirit David acted Mat. 17. 1 2. by this blessed Principle delighted so much in duty Luke 9. 29. that he begs to spend his whole life in the Temple of God Psal 27. 4. Ordinances become mellifluous by the concomitancy of Gods Spirit which often turneth them into a transfiguration As it is reported of Basil that when Greg. Orat. de laud. Bas the Emperour came upon him while he was at prayer he saw such lustre in the face of holy Basil that he was struck with terrous and fell backwards It is the Spirit ravishes the Fructus spirituâ— est gaudium sed impura voluptas est similis voluptati quâ afficiunâ—â— scabiosi cum se scalpunt Chrys heart indulcorates and captivates the soul in holy duty and toucheth the tongue with a Coal from the Altar Isa 6. 6 7. which turns all into a perfumed flame The Apostle saith the fruit of the spirit is joy Gal. 5. 22. which is never so fresh and diffusive as in holy services Ordinances are the spiritual opportunities wherein the Comforter John 14. 16. sheds abroad his comforts in the soul It is the Spirit which helps our infirmities in holy duties As in Prayer Rom. 8. 26 27. so in other spiritual services When we are flat the Spirit quickens us when
sollicitude And so Calvin presses That on this day every man ought to withdraw himself wholly to God-ward to mind him and his works that we may be provoked to serve and honour him The Sabbath is Gods freehold and all impertinencies whither foolish thoughts 2 Tim. 2. 4. vain discourse or unbecoming actions if they enter upon it they are trespassers In a word we must be in the spirit not in the flesh or the deeds of the flesh upon Gods holy and blessed day Dir. 10 We must be very watchful on Gods holy day This is a day on which we must be on our guard Christians on other dayes are Souldiers but on this day they must be sentinels 2 Tim. 2. 4. The Sanctuary more especially is our Court of guard Christ speaks to us now as once he did to his Disciples Can Mark 14. 37. ye not watch with me one day Our Sabbaths are always besieged with enemies both within us and without us and when the enemy is on the walls nothing more necessary then a strict watch Let us watch our hearts It is a fond piece of hypocrisie to watch our words and our actions on a Sabbath and in the Hic sc ad cor noctâ—rnas et diurnas excubias colloâ—emus Cartw. mean time give scope and liberty to our wandring hearts to take its circuits and ranges A flatulent and a gadding heart is a great disturbance upon a Lords day a man can neither pray nor hear nor meditate but he is troubled and disquieted It is the counsel of the Wise man to keep our hearts with all diligence we must set double guards Prov. 4. 23. upon them The heart in it self is a wandring Dinah and will be slipping away to vanity it is ready to fall into the snare Corde nihil est fugacius Bern therefore we must watch it warily and check it speedily and over-awe it with the apprehension of Gods all-seeing eye It is observable that the Lord Jesus appeared to his Rev. 1 14. servant John upon his own day in a heart searching similitude His eyes were as a flaming fire not only burning in jealousie against sin and sinners but bright and shining as the searcher of hearts and tryer of reins And we should do well to consider that on the Lords day more especially our heart lies under the view of that fiery flaming eye of Christ and he is the judge of all secrets Rom. 2. 16. And this should stop and bound our Quick-silver hearts Let the terrour of the last day work upon our hearts on the Lords day The seat of the judge is fitly resembled by a cloud not a throne of silver or gold but a cloud now as we know the clouds are store houses of refreshing showers so also of storms and tempests and thus doubtless the day of the Lord will be a day of refreshing to some of terrour and amazement to others and a great part of the tempest of that day will fall upon the hearts of men God will have us accountable for ranging thoughts and sinful desires which are aggravated and receive a double dye upon a Sabbath Indeed on this day one of our great works is to chain and fasten the heart to God a loose heart then only runs up and down and doth mischief it makes great waste and is as the Prodigal in his worst fits We must watch against Satan The old Serpent who deluded our first Parents is the great adversary of the Sabbath which was the first institution the evil one strives to Gen. 3. 1 2 3. cloud the rising Sun the early day of divine worship set apart by God from the worlds infancy It was the policy of Pompey Vespasian and Titus most sorely to assault Jerusalem on the Sabbath day Upon the Sabbath day are the Devils Die Sabbati non licet pomum ad carbonem admovere ut assetur Nec allium quod edere velit decorticare saltantem pulicem capere Arborem non licet ascende re ne ramum frangas Munst ex Rabbin most desperate designs He is ever bad but worst on the best dayes we must look for a harming Devil on a helping day Let us trace the evil one all along and we shall easily discern his malice against the blessed Sabbath First Satan stirs up the Jews to clog the Sabbath with superstition Ridiculous were the assertions of that Nation concerning Sabbath observances As it is not lawful to put an apple to roast on the Sabbath day or to peel a head of garlick or to take a flea leaping upon the body or to climb a tree least we break a bough on that day c. Vanities more foolish as Gerard observes then the Sicilian scomms or toys After by the instigations of Satan a persecution is raised against the Church which lasted some Centuries of years beginning in the time Beati martyres in judicium vocati à Proconsule interrogati sunt num Dominicum servasti Cui respondebant se Christianos esse et Dominicum congruâ religionis devotione celebrasse quia intermitti non potest Baron of Nero And then Dominicum servasti c. Hast thou kept the Lords day was one of those ensuaring questions which brought many Christians to the crown of Martyrdom In succeeding ages the great artifice of Satan hath been to debauch the world into a contempt of the Lords day which is notably set down by worthy Dr. Hackwell in these words After ages much degenerating from the simplicity of the Primitive times they so infinitely multiplyed holy days beyond all measure and reason that the Lords day began to be sleighted which no doubt is an especial occasion of that thick cloud of superstition which over-shadowed the face of the Church In these last dayes Satan hath been a perverting spirit in the mouths of the Prophets some decrying the strictness of the Sabbath as rigorous and Judaical others confining holiness 2 Chr. 18. 22. only to the publick worship leaving the people afterwards to the ranges of their own corrupt fancy to bowl to wrestle c. and to follow any exercise which may suit with corrupt nature others shake the foundation of the Lords day as if that blessed day was only the issue of a prudential Canon of the Church but what this Church was where the Council was held who the president and what the Members of it we could never yet learn or understand but yet some clamorously avouch the Lords day is bottomed only upon Ecclesiastical Authority And then if the Azor. institut Moral ps secunda l. 1. c. 2. Sabbath lie at the pleasure of the Clergy as one worthily observes Covetous men who are about their Farms and their Oxen will easily set at naught a humane Ordinance and prophane persons will hardly be whistled into publick or private duties for a device of men but will give themselves free leave for doing or neglecting if there be nothing found in Scripture
to bind conscience Others have raised the Jewish Sabbath out of the grave of Christ to walk as a Ghost up and down the world when the Lords day hath for more then sixteen hundred years been its peaceable successor And thus Satan hath every way endeavoured to invalidate the power and ecclipse the glory of the blessed Lords day the holy observation of which he is the greatest enemy of And to this day this Apollyon and Abaddon a destroyer in any language attempts Rev. 12. 9. nothing more industriously then to draw men into a sluggish and sinful frame either to idle away Sabbaths or to spend them profusely in riot and prophaness How many proud persons waste the Sabbath at a Glass or dressing box How many intemperate persons drown their Sabbath Eph. 5. 18. 1 Pet. 4. 3. in luxuries and excess and are fill'd with wine instead of the holy spirit How many are catched at the bait of a Procul abjiciamus impura carnis opera et insanum voluptuandi studium Wal. mad eagerness after pleasure and delight as Walaeus calls it But let us watch against all these wiles and depths of Satan And indeed we should double our guards for there is not an Ordinance but Satan attempts to evacuate and make it a barren womb and a dry brest to the soul If Joshua stand before the Lord Satan will be at his right hand Zach. Rev. 2. 24. 3. 1. He cursedly â—nvies all our converses with God and would raise a cloud and thick darkness to hinder the transmissions of divine love Now he cannot beat life out of the Ordinance prayer will be a prevailing duty maugre Satans malice and therefore he would beat love out of us he would take us off by his snares and enticements either he would disturb us by his temptations or charm us by his perswasions or disengage us from holy and close communion with God by his flatteries and insinuations This Serpent for his subtilty and Lion for his cruelty will like Tertullus Gen. 3. 1. 1 Pe. 5. 8. Luke 22. 31. to Paul Acts 24. 5. attempt us most forcibly when we are pleading the cause of our souls in holy Ordinances on Gods holy day If the Sons of God present themselves before the Lord Satan comes among them Job 1. 6. If we attend in hearing the word the wicked one comes and is Mark 4. 15. ready to catch away the seed which is sown in the heart Mat. 13. 19. Satan enters Judas at the Passeouer John 13. 1 Thes 2. 18. 27. and some Divines assert at the Sacramental Supper How often doth Satan raise noise and disturbance to divert our thoughts and damp our desires when we are engaged in holy prayer that so our distractions may sower and disaffect our most melting devotions And therefore let us cast our selves upon this threefold experiment Let us Petition the Lord to fetter and chain up this roaring Lion so to muzzle him that he may be a Lion without a paw and a Serpent without a sting God cannot only tread Satan non deponit Odium sed vertit ingenium et cruentas inimicitias ad quietas convertit insidias Leo. Satan under his own but under our feet Rom. 16. 20. He can pinion Satan with a check and a rebuke Zach. 3. 2. He can chase him away with the prohibition of a word Mat. 4. 10. He that can bind Satan for a thousand years Rev. 22. can shackle him for a few Sabbaths Satan is a cruel but a conquered enemy Heb. 2. 14. He is a wolf in a chain Now prayer cannot only obtain the good spirit but Apostolus ait Deus conteret satanam sub pedibus nostris ut indicet infirmitotem nostram et salutem can restrain and bind up the evil one and bridle both his injections and disturbances and if thou prayest that thy enemy strike not Christ will pray that thy faith fail not Luke 22. 32. to shield off the fiery darts of the Devil Eph. 6. 16. And to stand against the wiles of the evil one Eph. 6. 11. Brayer can exercise the evil spirit fasting and prayer can Acts 26. 18. 2 Cor. 2. 11. cast Satan out of our bodies Mark 9. 29. much more out of our duties Resist the Devil It is the Apostles counsel 1 Pet. 5. 9. and the benefit will be He will fly from thee Now this Satan vetus hostis est cum quo praeliam gerimus sex mille annorum complentur ex quo hominem Diabolus oppugnat omni genere tentandi et artes atque insidias deficiendi usu ipso vetustatis addidicit Par ex Cypr. lib. de Exhort Martyr ad Fortunat resistence must be made by resting upon Christ by faith so taking in Christ as our second in the encounter and being fixed in holy resolution as the Apostle hints in the fore-cited Text. It is true as Paraeus observes out of Cyprian Satan is an old and experienced enemy but the shield of faith can secure us and the sword of the spirit can subdue him Christ put him to flight with a Scriptum est It is written Satan only batters yielding combats The bird is easily caught which flies into the snare His fiercest stroks are avoided by repulse We best resist him when we will not admit him into parley Let us remember he is the God of this world and so cannot interpose for hurt in spirituals unless we give him the advantage If he be a Prince it is of the Air 2 Eph. 2. And so by his own power cannot endamage us in things heavenly and divine He never conquers but when we let fall the weapons We never lose but give away the Victory and his insultation is the reward of our pusillanimity Let us not tempt the tempter by a frothy and slight spirit Indeed corrupt hearts are his territories and claim Satan maketh his greatest rapes on wandring and light spirits he Gen. 34. 1 2. is Beelzebub a God of flies who buzzes about vain dispositions Psal 108. 1. with his troublesome assaults and therefore on Gods Luke 11. 15. blessed day let us say with the Psalmist our heart is fixed Psal 57. 7. our heart is fixed Psal 57. 7. If our hearts are centerd in God we are above the attachments of the evil one Foolish men usually meet Satans temptations but being immured in Ordinances and onely minding Christ in our devotions this common enemy chained at Christs Cross as Origen speaks will leave us as he did our Master and dear Redeemer Mat. 4. 11. We must watch our Corruptions they are never so violent in their sallies as on Gods own day Pride will go in the most garish dress on the Sabbath and many happily will study more to bring a new fashion then a new heart into the Congregation Vlcerous consciences on this day will quarrel with divine truth or at least with the messengers of it Corrupt wounds will not endure the
effusion of the spirit which should be in Gospel-times This day saith the same Author is sanctified when we seriously consider that on it false Doctrine was plucked up by the foundations the Calumnies of miscreant calumniators were refelled and silenced the security of Christs Disciples was reproved and condemned Vice was checkt and corrected and piety propagated and disseminated In the view and practice of those things Sabbath sanctification is fairly comprised But it is observable that this learned man takes notice that Christ began betimes to instruct his Apostles in the duties of the Lords day the first day of the week which doth evidently secure us that the day it self was the institution of Christ himself And we may justly retort upon thosâ— who fasten the Lords day upon humane Authority from the beginning it was not so Mat. 19. 8. But the rising of the Sun of Righteousness after the night of a Grave made our Sabbath day And this weekly festival is given to the world both by Christs re-entry into it from the dark shade of the grave and by vertue of those commands mentioned Acts 1. 2. the command for the Lords day being one of them without doubt or dispute But that no beam of light may be withhâ—ld from making a full discovery of this truth we will fetch our rise from the earliest times of the world The Lords day was typified by Circumcisiâ—n which was administred on the eighth day the next day after the Jewâ—sh Sabbath and the very day of our Christian One of our Homilies saith That the first day after the Jewish Sabbath is our Sunday It is our Lords day say the Divines of Ireland and Augustine proveth That by the eighth day of August Epist ad Januar. 119. cap. 13. Nam quia octavus dies i. e. post Sabbatum primus dies futurus erat quo dominus resurgeret nos vivificaret spiritutlem nobis daret circumâ—isionem c. Circumcision was shadowed forth our Lords day And Cyprian saith That Circumcision was commanded on the eighth day as a Sacrament of the eighth day on which Christ should rise from the dead And this holy Martyr proceeds and gives us the reason of his words for because the eighth day i. e. the day after the Sabbath was to be the day on which the Lord should rise and quicken us and give us the spiritual Circumcision this eighth day i. e. the first day after the Jewish Sabbath went before in a shadâ—w So then the precise time of the circumcision of the flesh did onely prefigure the day of Christs resurrection or our Sabbath wherein Christ rose for the circumcision of the heaâ—t for that which was spiritual and so more effectual circumcision Dies sabbati erâ—t dierum ordine posterior sanctificatione autem in tempore legis Anterior sed ubi finis legis advenit viz. Jesus Christus resurrectione suâ Octavam sanè sanctificavit caepit eadem prima esse quae octava fuerat habens ex numeri ordine praerogatiâ—am ex resurrectione domini sanctitatem Ambros Hilany points at the same thing Vpon the eighth day saith he which is also the first day we rejoyce in the festivity of a perfect Sabbath And this eminent person hath left a most memorable Record behind him of the Churches practice in his time which was about An. Dom. 355. Ambrose most elegantly descants upon this subject The Sabbath saith he was the last in order of days but the first in sanctification under the Law but when the end of the law was come Rom. 10 4. viz. Jesus Christ and by his resurrection had consecrated the eighth day that which was the eighth day began to be the first being dignified by the precedency of the number and sanctified by the resurrection of the Lord. Thus the primitive times which are the best Comment on Gospel Institutions as having the advantage of being nearer to the rising Sun could easily discern the thing typified in the type the substance in the shadow the eighth day the usual time of circumcising the flesh clearly prefiguring the day of Christs glorious rising to circumcise the inward-man the hidden man of the heart and to purge away the pollutions and filthiness both of flesh and spirit The Lords day was prophesied 1 Pet. 3. 4. of by holy David Psal 118. 24. This is the day which Ezek. 36. 25. the Lord hath made we will rejoyce and be glad in it It is not an easie thing saith Dr. Ames to reject this Scripture Neque facilitèr rejâ—ciendum est quod ab antiquis quibusdam urgetur Psal 118. 24. Eo enim loco agitur de resurrectione Christi ipso Christo interprete Matth. 21. 42. Ames Cyprianus Augustinus Ambrosius hunc diem in Psal 118. 24. citatum de resurrectione Christi interpretantur so much urged by the Ancients and wholly and only applicable to Christs resurrection-day if Christ may interpret the meaning of the Prophet Mal. 21. 42. Or if the Apostle may interpret the meaning of his Master Acts 4. 11 12. And a learned man observes that the word hath made in the Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew signifies not simply to make but to sanctifie and to observe holy as is most usual when it is referred to feasts or days as Deut. 5. 15 16. Deut. 10. 13. The man then who was after Gods own heart and who was most likely to understand Gods own mind he hath foretold this blessed day when by a prophetick spirit fore-seeing the glory of the Resurrection-day as a most eminent day among the seven days as the Sun among the seven Planets salutes it with a magnificent style and Title This is the day which the Lord hath made Thus the Psalmist did fore-see that the Lord would magnifie and exalt his resurrection day and why Because on this day the glorious work of mans redemption was to be accomplished The stone which the builders refused became the head stone of the Corner Psal 118. 22. Dominicum ergo diem Apostoli Apostolici viri ideò religiosâ solennitate sanxerunt quia in eadem Redemptor noster à mortuis resurrexit Aug. And thus is the resurrection day prophetically crowned with honour above all other dayes the Holy Ghost putting an emphasis upon it It is a day which the Lord hath made how made not by way of creation for so it was made before Gen. 1. 1. but by way of institution The day which the Lord hath made what hath God made it a working day so it was before If therefore he hath made it any thing it must be a holy solemn day a day more solemn more sacred then all the dayes that God ever made before So then it is evident a day of solemn worship is here intended and Christs Resurrection day most clearly pointed at as a day which the Lord would institute as a day which the Church should celebrate we see then a clear Scripture
the time of the Sabbath Let us labour to get high esteemes of the Sabbath day We Praescrip 3. keep those things most charily we prize most We lock up Jewels which we value but we leave out other things which we despise and contemn One great reason why men practice Sabbaths no more is because they prize them no Apparet in Sâ—râ—pâ—uris hunc diem esse solennem ipse enim est primus dies seculi c. Aug. more Sabbaths fall in their opinion and therefore they sink in their observation They look upon the Sabbath as a common day a day of leisure to please themselves with carnall rest or sensual delight Only their shâ—ps are shut and so they cannot follow the works of their Calling but their hearts are open to entertain any temptation and so they mind the Magistrate more then Jehovah upon his own day Dies dominicus est dies Regalis in quâ— Imperator ascendit ab inferis Chrysost But serious and gracious persons have always spoken highly of Gods blessed Sabbath The Apostle John calls it the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. which is the Lord Christ his day for this name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is derived of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is appropriate to our Saviour Christ both in regard of the dignity and excellency of his person and because of the greatness and largeness of Ne ipsam quidem dominicam diem Jâ—nctissimi festi ullâ inreverentiâ habuere c. Athanas his dominion as likewise in respect of his bounty towards the members of his mystical body Acts 4. 36. Joh. 20. 13 28. Revel 17. 14. Cap. 19. 16. Now things and persons which are named the Lords are sacred and venerable in an high degree So The grace of our Lord Rom. 16. 24. The spirit of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 17. The beloved of the Lord Rom. 16. Is solus et unus reverâ est proprius et dominicus dies et melior est aliis innumerabilibus diebus sive qui communitèr intelliguntur sive qui a Mose c. Hier. 8. The glory of the Lord 2 Cor. 3. 18. The word of the Lord 1 Tim. 6. 3. The cup of the Lord 1 Cor. 11. 27. Et sic Convivium dominicum the Lords banquet Tertul. lib. 2. ad Vxor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cyril Hierosol Catech. 18. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The body of the Lord. Athanas ad Epict. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Scripture of the Lord. Clem. Alexandr Ignatius the blessed Martyr of Christ who lived in the Apostles age and was St. Johns Disciple maketh the Lords day the Queen the Princess the Lady Paramount of all dayes Eusebius in the life of Constantine the Great lib. 4. cap. 18. stileth the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In truth and in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Ignat. very deed the principal and the first Chrysostome calleth it a Royal day And Gregory Nazianzen Orat. 43. saith it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Higher then the highest and with admiration wonderfull above all other dayes Basil calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The first fruits of dayes Chrysologus Ser. 77. saith It is the primate among days And Hierome in Marc. 16. The Lords day is better then other common dayes and then all the Festivals New Moons and Finitur septimus dies dominus est sepultus reditur ad primum dominus est resuscitatus domini resuscitatio promisit no bis aeternam diem et consecravit diem dominicam Aug. Sabbaths of Moses his Law The Lords day saith Maximus Taurinensis is venerable and a solemn day among Christians because like the Sun rising and dispelling infernal darkness Christ the Sun of Righteousness shined forth unto the world by the light of his Resurrection And the incomparable Augustine saith The Seventh day is ended the Lord was buried a return is made to the first day the Lord is raised the Lords Resurrection promised us an eternal day and it did consecrate unto us the Lords day Justin Martyr calls our Sabbath Sunday as many others after him and not without very good reason That being the Chiefest of dayes as the Sun is the most glorious of all the Planets and therefore the Civil Law calls Cod. Justin lib. 3. tit 12. our Sabbath The venerable and much honoured Sunday Our Sabbath is called Sunday to honour Christ who is the Sun of Righteousness Mal. 4. 2. Enlightning every one who Nos jure optimo diem quem Mathematici solis vocant domino ascripsimus et illius cultui totum mancipavimus quoniam nulla re magis imaginari possumus praepotentis et universim supereminentis Christi Mâ—jestatem quà m per splendidissimum solis lumen Et Leo est solare animal Cael. Rhodig cometh into the world and who by his triumphant Resurrection caused the heavenly light of Truth and Grace to appear in full lustre to them who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death And Gaudentius Brixianus speaks fully to this purpose It behoved Christ saith he the Sun of Righteousness with the fair and pleasant light of his Resurrection to dispell the gross darkness of the Jews and melt the frozen cold of the Gentiles and so reduce all things that we reclouded with the black vail of confusion by the Prince of darkness into the state of prime tranquility And Ambrose concurs in his judgement This day is called Sunday saith he because Christ the Sun of Righteousness arose from death to life upon this day to enlighten the Children of this world Hierom tells us It is called Sunday because on that day Light rose in the world and the Sun of Righteousness appeared in whose wings healing may be found So Christ made it Sunday not only from his beams but likewise from his wings for as there was light in the one so there was Cypr. Epist 33. Orig. in Exo. Homil. 7. contr celsum cure in the other and both together gave it this Name And nothing more speaks the glory of Christ then Light and the Sun is the fountain of light and therefore our Sabbath is Tertul. de Coron Mil. called Sunday as Coelius Rhodiginus observes Nay Christ himself is called Light John 3. 19. And the Gospel is named Light Rom. 13. 12. No wonder then if that day on which Christ is worshipped and the Gospel is preached is called Sunday But in all ages our blessed Sabbath flourished in an honourable Bellarm. Tem. 1 de cult Sanctor cap. 11. lib 3. Dominica dies primatum obtmet et major est inter alios dies Durand Rational lib. 7. de Festiv esteem Bellarmine himself saith The Sabbath is a day above all other days to be esteemed And so Durand gives the Lords day all primacy and assigns it a majority for worth and honour above all dayes And it is very observable that Easter-day so much cryed up by some was once the unhappy cause of much contention in