day is but the Command of a mortal dying man my esteem is no more for it than for another day But when I believe and am perswaded and consider that 't is the Command of the God that made me the God that redeemed me and the God that shall shortly come to judge me O how will this raise my mind and enliven my affections and check my floath and quicken my zeal and awaken my Conscience to a sense and conscionable performance of my duty And therefore I would willingly fix this as a great truth and immoveable principle in your minds that to observe and keep this day in your Duty and that in Obedience to the Command of God And here the better to make way to what I intend I must premise these two things 1. That the Fourth Commandment is moral i. e. of perpetual Obligation as to the substance of it 2. That our Saviour Christ who was Lord of the Sabbath had power to make what alteration he pleas'd as to the ceremonial part of it 1. That the Fourth Commandment is moral i. e. of perpetual Obligation as to the substance of it tho ceremonial for Circumstance if not then there are but nine Commandments under the Gospel for what was purely ceremonial relating to the Jewish Oeconomy is abolished and in vain are we taught to pray after the rehearsal of this Commandment Lord have mercy us and incline our hearts to keep this Law To keep some Time holy the to Lord for his Solemn Service is absolutely moral which the Light of Nature prompts men to Now 't is plain a Sabbath God must have by the perpetual Ordinance of the Fourth Commandment Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath Day i.e. that day which for the time being God hath marked out and appointed for his own And he hath declar'd his will concerning the limitation of it Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh is the Sabbath The Seventh from the Creation was enjoyn'd to be kept by the Jews in remembrance of the Creation according to God's own example In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the Seventh Day which was observed before the giving of the Law on Sinai Well but Christians observe not this seventh day which the Jews did do they then break the Commandment God forbid no they do not break the Commandment and this will appear by the second thing which I have to premise viz. 2. That our Saviour Christ who was Lord of the Sabbath had power to make what alteration he pleas'd as to the Ceremonial part of the Commandment Our Saviour tells the Jews St. Mark 2.28 that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath He was so indeed for 't was he that made the VVorld and gave the Law on Sinai And he shew'd the true use of the Sabbath that 't was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath and as Lord of it he had power to make what Alteration he pleas'd Now the Alteration he made was about the circumstance of time not as to the matter of the Commandment one day in seven but as to the Circumstance of time i. e. which day in seven he pleas'd Now if I can prove to you that our Saviour Christ alter'd the circumstance of time and that that time which the Christians now observe is that Alteration I hope you 'l conclude with me that the observation of the Christian Sabbath is no breach of the Fourth Commandment but an indispensable duty incumbent upon the Church of Christ and that it is so will appear by these Arguments 1. The First I shall draw from the immediate authority of our Saviour who to let the VVorld know that his pleasure was to translate the Jewish Sabbath which was Saturday the seventh from the Creation to the first day of the VVeek was pleas'd First To Honour this day with his Resurrection from the dead which was on the first day of the VVeek when he had finish'd the work of our Redemption as he had before on the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath finish'd the work of our Creation The Jewish Sabbath slept its last in the Grave with Christ and at his Resurrection immediately enter'd the Lords day from the very day of the Resurrection of Christ St. Ep. ad Jan. 19. c. 13. Austin derives the beginning of the Gospel Sabbath The Lords day saith he by the Resurrection of Christ was declar'd to be the Christians day Dominicum diem quem vobis Salvatoris noctri Resurrectio consecravit c. Id. de Verb. Apost serm 15. and from that very time it began to be celebrated as the Christians Festival This was the First day of our Saviours appearing to his Disciples and during the forty days he remain'd up on Earth after his Resurrection he appear'd to his Disciples usually upon the first day of the VVeek and gave them Orders about the things concerning his Kingdome 2. He honoured this day with the first mission of the Holy Ghost Act. 2.1 c. When the day of Pentecost was fully come c. Pentecost that year fell on Sunday the first day of the VVeek VVhich I thus plainly prove to you There were three Solemn Feasts which were appointed the Jews every year The Feast of the Passeover The Feast of Harvest And the Feast of Tabernacles as you may read Exod. 23.14 15. The Feast of Harvest styl'd Deut 16.9 the Feast of Weeks was fifty days after the Feast of the Passeover Lev. 23.15 16. This Feast of VVeeks is the same which St. Luke calls here Pentecost which is a Greek VVord fignifying the fiftieth day and retain'd in our English Translation which time we now call Whitsunday VVhich we observe is always seven weeks after Easter Now this day which was seven weeks after the Passeover fell that year on Sunday when the Holy Ghost descended as will appear if you consult Joh. 19.14 31. Where you find that the day our Saviour was Crucified was the day of the preparation of the Passeover and the next day was the Sabbath on which the Passeover that year was celebrated which is therefore stil'd an high day v. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great day i.e. a very solemn day in respect of the concurrence of a double celebrity the Sabbath and the Feast of the Passeover Now reckon seven Weeks from the Passeover which was Saturday the Jews Sabbath to the day of Pentecost inclusively which makes up the compleat number of fifty days and you 'll find that it fell on Sunday the first day of the Week on which the Holy Ghost discended as it were to give birth to the Christian Sabbath which had it's conception at Christs Resurrection And Grotius noteth from Exod. 19.1 that it was the day the Law was given on and so on which the Spirit was given for the new Law So much for Christs immediate Authority If any say that all this is but conjectural that
it ought to be retained and kept of all good Christian people And therefore by this Commandment we ought to have a time as one day in the Week wherein we ought to rest yea from our lawful and needful Works Again God hath given express charge to all men that upon the Sabbath day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all Weekly and Work day labour c. And a little after God doth not only Command the Observation of this Holy day c. And again a little after Thus it may plainly appear that God's Will and Commandment was to have a solemn time and standing day in the Week wherein the people should come together and have in remembrance his wonderful benefits and to render him thanks for them as appertaineth to loving kind and obedient people This Example and Commandment of God the godly Christian people began to follow immediately after the Ascension of our Lord Christ ☜ and began to choose them a standing day of the week to come together in Yet not the seventh day which the Jews kept but the Lords day the day of the Lord's Resurrection the day after the seventh day which is the first day of the Week Of the which day mention is made by St. Paul on this wise In the first day of the Sabbath let every man lay up what he thinketh good Meaning for the poor By the first day of the Sabbath is meant our Sunday which is the first day after the Jews seventh day And in the Apocalyps it is more plain whereas St. John saith I was in the Spirit upon the Lords day Sithence which time Gods people hath always in all ages without any gainsaying used to come together upon the Sunday to Celebrate and honour the Lords blessed Name c. These are the words of the said Homily which sufficiently declare the Doctrine and sense of the Church of England of which we are members in this point To which as not impertinent I will add the words of the Judicious Hooker in his Ecclesiastical Polity We are bound Hook Eccles Polit. l. 5. says he to account the sanctification of one day in seven a Duty which God's immutable Law doth exact for ever altho with us the day be changed in regard of a new revolution begun by our Saviour Christ yet the same proportion of time continueth which was before by way of a perpetual homage never to be dispensed withal nor remitted And so I come to the second thing which I undertook to speak to viz. Secondly The manner how the duty is to be performed wherein the right and due observation of the day consists And this we may learn from the words of the Text from the Notions here Sabbath and keep Holy To keep holy or to sanctifie is not to infuse or put any moral inrinsick Holiness into the day as the Spirit does infuse holiness into the hearts of men But to sanctifie here is to separate from a common and prophane to an Holy and religious Use And thus both God and Man are said to sanctifie God sanctifies by appointing and separating a thing from a common to an holy and religious use And Man sanctifies by applying to such holy and divine use as God appointed And to what use this day is sanctified or separated we may learn from the Word Sabbath which signifies a day or time of rest A rest from bodily labours from the Works of our particular calling but always with this reservation that we must make allowances for Works of necessity and Charity to which positive Laws must always give Place S. Mat. 12.1 2 c. all Judaizing severities being to be renounced and detested which our Saviour teacheth in the instance of his Disciples gathering the ears of Corn a Work of necessity to satisfie hunger v. 10.11 c. and healing the Sick and Lame Joh. 5.16 a work of Mercy and Charity on the Sabbath day Which indeed the Jews quarrel'd with accounting it unlawful on the Sabbath day Which superstitious strictness of theirs our Saviour reproves by the allow'd Instance of Mercy and Charity to a Beast that falls into a Ditch on the Sabbath day Luk. 14.3 4. much more then à fortiori ought it to be extended to Man Mat. 12.12 Mark 2.27 the nobler Creature for whom the Sabbath was made and not Man for the Sabbath So that making these allowances for works of Necessity and Charity it must be a day of rest from bodily labours But that 's not all it must not be a bodily rest and no more for then the Ox and the Ass keep as good a Sabbath as we but the rest must be consecrated to God it must be an holy rest a vacation from the works of our particular that we may attend those of our general Calling The day must be spent in religious Exercises and performances both publick and private as Divine Service in the Church Reading and Preaching and Hearing the Word of God and Celebrating and Receiving the holy Sacrament and Catechising Ecclesiastical Censures c. together with Prayer reading the holy Scriptures and other good Books and Catechizing in private Families visiting the sick and relieving the Poor and meditating on the Works and Word of God our Creation and Redemption and sitting and preparing our selves and our domestick Relatives for another World God hath given express charge to all men saith the Homily before mention'd that upon the Sabbath day which is now our Sunday they should cease from all weekly and work day labour to the intent that like as God himself wrought six dayes and rested the Seventh and blessed and sanctified it and consecrated it to quietness and rest from labour even so Gods obedient people should use the Sunday holily and rest from the common and daily business and also give themselves wholly to heavenly Exercises of God's true Religion and Service So that God doth not only command the observation of this holy day but also by his own example doth stir and provoke us to the diligent keeping of the same Good natural Children will not only become obedient to the commandment of their parents but also have a diligent eye to their doings and gladly follow the same So if we will be the Children of our heavenly Father we must be careful to keep the Christian Sabbath day which is the Sunday not only for that it is God's express commandment but also to declare our selves to be loving Children in following the example of our gracious Lord and Father Thus briefly of the second thing which I propounded to speak to I come now in the Third and Last place to make some Reflections on what hath been said by Application This Doctrine of the Observation of the Lords day serves 1. For Reproof and that of three sorts of Persons 1. Those who keep the Jewish but not the Christian Sabbath 2. Those who keep both 3. And especially those who keep none
A PERSWASIVE To the Stricter OBSERVATION OF THE LORDS DAY In pursuance of His MAJESTIES Pious Order and Directions to PREACHERS Particularly about the Observation of the LORD's DAY c. By Matthew Bryan L. L. D. Licens'd June 16t h 1686. LONDON Printed for S. Keble at the Turks Head in Fleetstreeet and D. Brown at the black Swan and Bible without Temple Bar 1686. Reverendo admodum In Christo Patri ac Domino D. PETRO Providentiâ Divina WINTONIENSI EPISCOPO Et nobilissimi Ordinis à periscelide dicti Praesuli Dignissimo Copiarum sub Rege maximè pio ac Martyre CAROLO primo Duci fortissimo In Exilii Miseriis Benignissimi CAROLI Secundi servo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 invicto Rebellibus Occidentalibus sub Rege Serenissimo JACOBO Secundo Terrori Et Armis Precibus Regis Regnique Opitulatori Bonorum Fautori Improborum Malleo Ecclesiae Anglicanae Strenuo Vindici Et Ornamento M. B. Hanc de die Dominicâ pie observandâ Concionem coram Londinensibus habitam Humillimè cum devotissimâ Veneratione Offert A PERSWASIVE TO THE Stricter OBSERVATION OF THE LORDS DAY Exod. 20.8 Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy 'T IS an old Observation in which there is a great deal of truth though sometimes urg'd for very ill ends particularly to discountenance that great Gospel Ordinance of Preaching Nil dictum quod non dictum prius which I might English in the words of Solomon though spoken by him on another account Eccles 9.1 There is no new thing under the Sun There is nothing done or said but it has been done or said already Tho this might seem to supersede all further Inquiries and attempts to document and instruct the World and dispence knowledge and at once upbraid and silence the Undertaker by telling him that what he does is but actum agere to do that which is done already yet certainly in regard there dwell in us treacherous and unfaithful memories and dull and drowsie affections unapt especially to Spiritual and Divine Things it cannot be denied that an honest Remembrancer is as necessary and useful as the most eloquent Instructer to be imagin'd which St. Peter seems to acknowledge by magnifying the office of a Remembrancer no less than three times in one Chapter 2 Pet. 1.12 13 15 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things tho ye know them and be established in the present truth Yea I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things alwayes in remembrance We less want the knowledge than the practice of our duties 'T is not so much the furnishing our heads with a richer treasure of speculations as the profitable improvement of what we know that is or ought to be the great end of Preaching The inculcating of duties therefore must needs be both necessary and advantagious the putting men in mind of what they know already Now amongst the several duties which in faithfulness I must put you in mind of I think it not unseasonable to put you in remembrance of that which this Day or rather the Lord of this Day requires of you viz. The hallowing and sanctifying of the Sabbath of late so much neglected and prophaned amongst us Give me leave therefore following the Example of St. Peter to put you in remembrance of these things tho you know them and be established in the present truth and duty Duty may some say Ay would you would satisfie us to that For that 's the scruple that lies upon our spirits We know indeed that the first day of the Week according to the Scripture computation is enjoyn'd by humane Law under a Penalty to be kept solemn and sacred for the Worship of God which seems to be contrary to the positive command of God held forth in the fourth Commandment which by the Example of God himself seems to intimate and command the observation of the Seventh Day from the Creation as the Sabbath of the Lord to be kept by the Lord's people Now the Fourth Commandment you say is of moral and perpetual obligation part of that Doctrine which you say is a Rule of Life to a Believer and every Sunday we are taught after pronouncing of this Commandment to beg mercy and pardon for our breach of it and strength better to keep it for the time to come in that short ejaculation Lord have mercy upon us and inoline our hearts to keep this Law Now it seems strange that we should be oblig'd to a duty so seemingly contrary to the Fourth Commandment which yet we are taught to acknowledge obedience to and beg God to incline our hearts to keep it when as at that very time it seems to us that we openly break it not keeping that Day which is there mentioned This I confess has been a scruple that has troubled the spirits of many and drawn some into a practical error For satisfaction therefore of the scrupulous and confirmation of the conscionable observers of the Christian Sabbath I shall labour to shew you the indispensable Obligation of it And to that end I have for my Subject pitch'd my thoughts on the Words of the Commandment which seem to speak so much against it but before I have done I hope you 'll conclude with me that the observation of the Christian Sabbath is not inconsistent with the duty held forth in the Text Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy In speaking to this Argument I shall do these three things 1. Shew you the divine Institution of the Christian Sabbath which we now celebrate that to observe and keep it is our duty and that in obedience to the Command of God 2. I shall shew you the manner how the Duty is to be performed wherein the right and due Observation of the day consists 3. And lastly I shall make some reflection on the whole by Application 1. My first undertaking shall be to shew you the Divine Institution of the Christian Sabbath which we now celebrate that to observe and keep it is our duty and that in Obedience to the Command of God And truely Brethren this Truth ought to be well settled and fixed in our minds as that which will mightily perswade us to the conscionable performance of the duty of the day for if I apprehend it to be only of humane Institution and the Command of Man how will it abate the value and esteem which otherwise I should have for it strangely lessen my Veneration and Reverence how will it damp my zeal and clip the wings of my rising and exulting Joy which would be the result of this consideration This is the day which the Lord hath made the inference would then be easie and natural Let us rejoyce and be glad in it Sirs Whilst I believe that the Observation of this
at all First Those who keep the Jewish but not the Christian Sabbath which is the Errour of those Christians who mistake the ceremonial for the moral Obligation of the Fourth Commandement Supposing the Morality of the Commandment to consist in keeping the Seventh day which God enjoyn'd the Jews whereas that is the positive and ceremonial part of the Commandment accommodated to the Oeconomy and political State of the Jews binding them only and not the Gentiles and no longer neither then till the entrance and settling of the Gospel State by Christ and the Holy Ghost And now for any Christian whether Jew or Gentile to keep the ceremonial Law is in effect to deny Christ and to expect a Messiah yet to come to keep the shadow and reject the substance the Ceremonial Law being but the shadow of good things to come but the body is of Christ Secondly they likewise are to be blamed who keep both days the Jewish and the Christian too Thus the Ebionites of old who being Apes of others would keep the Sabbath with the Jews and Sunday with the Christians But truely I think our Charity ought to be extended to these as the more harmlesly erroneous and more pardonable Offenders in regard partly through mistake and weakness partly out of a scrupulous and tender Conscience they keep both days probably with an honest design and desire and not out of peevish obstinacy that they may be in the right But though they are excusable à tanto yet not à toto 't is plainly an Errour and inconsistent with our duty enjoyn'd in the Fourth Commandment which requires but one day in seven as God's peculiar and allows the other six for our own labours and to keep two Sabbaths in a Week seems to be wise above what is written and to do more than is our duty And though the Apostles and the Christians with them did for a time keep both days that is the Jewish and the Christian Sabbath yet that was for the same reason that Circumcision was for a while kept a foot viz. to comply with the weakness and prejudice of the Jews to whom St. Paul says he became as a Jew that that he might gain the Jews and to give the abolish'd Ceremonies which were dead with Christ an honourable burial but 3dly And especially they are worthy of reproof who keep no Sabbath at all or at least in such a manner as is equivalent to the not keeping of it First Some there are that keep no Sabbath at all as the Atheist and prophane Worldling There are a sort of men who sufficiently declare themselves to be Atheists and Mammonists who fear not to deny God his due who have no manner of sense of duty which they owe to the Lords day but purposely and designedly oppose and slight and prophane it If they have any business to do any visit to make not out of Charity but complement any journey to go any Accounts to make up any Letters to write or the like God's day must be the time for 't tho it might be confessedly as well done on any other day of the week no necessity compelling Yea when no business offers they will frame excuses to keep 'em from God's house either they must sleep or play or drink or talk or walk away the time which others devoutly spend in the publick Service of God and preparing themselves for another World Nothing so irksome and tiresome as what God Commands no time so lies upon hand as on that day they know not what to do they are weary of themselves and of the time and study for some diversion or other and blame the lingring time and wish and say with those in the Prophet When will the Sabbath be over that we may set forth Corn that we may be at our traffick and Trades again And if they are prevail'd with by some devouter Neighbour or an argument ab inutili damno which the Law presents them upon total neglect to go to the house of God how tedious and burdensome is the time there What an insipid tasteless thing is the Service of God How do they tacitely chide the slow-pac'd sands in the Preachers Glass and grow angry with him if he exceeds his hour when the time spent on sports and pleasures and business of the World is thought too swift of foot An hour spent at a Sermon yea and upon God's day too is thought too long when a play of three or four hours is done too soon If this is not an evidence of an Atheistical and worldly spirit I know not what is Is this the Character of a man that fears and loves the honour of God What and delight in nothing less shun his company and fly from his presence and avoid Communion with him and break his Laws and sacrilegiously rob him of his just dues which the Prophet Malachy wonders at Mal. 3.8 Will aman rob God Will he rob God that made him and governs him and that has power to bless or to curse him to save or to destroy him This is a thing was never heard of amongst the most barbarous and Idolatrous whomsoever they rob they will not rob their God The primitive Christians I am sure abhor'd such sacriledge But O how unlike the Primitive sanctity is the practice of this sacrilegious Age this perverse and adulterous generation They made it their meat and drink to do the Will of God they would not be absent for a World from the publick Assemblies of the Saints on the Lords day unless invincible necessity did hinder and would not depart thence without the Christian viaticum without the heavenly Repast and Banquet the Communion of the Body and Blood of their dear Lord. Thus they kept the Sabbath indeed not doing their own but the Work of God and call'd and accounted the Sabbath a delight the holy of the Lord honourable and did honour him not doing their own ways nor finding their own pleasures nor speaking their own Words But at what lame and deficient and preposterous rate do the generality of Christians now keep the day They keep it very well if to keep it be to break it if to sanctifie it be to prophane it if to observe and honour it be to slight and pollute it They keep it very well who seldome or never attend the publick Worship and are as careless of private Duties they keep it very well indeed who never receiv'd the Sacrament in their lives or at least observe it as a Passeover Feast in the truest Notion of it as to the time i. e. once in a year and that to still the clamours of the Law and their Consciences not being mov'd from a principle of Love to their Redeemer to do this in remembrance of him not at all affected with what St. Paul insinuates and recommends in these VVords as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lords Death till he come but Secondly There
are others that are partial Observers of the day who think it their duty to go to Church and be present at divine Service and attend the publick Ordinances and performances and in that they do well and are to be commended and I wish there were more that did so but then they think that the duty of the day is over they take little care to prepare themselves or their Families before they go to Church and as little when they come from thence that they may digest what they have heard and receiv'd there by Catechizing Examining Meditation Conference reading singing of Psalms and Prayer which are the private and Domestick duties of the day The Sabbath must be our delight on which we must not think our own thoughts nor speak our own words nor do our own Works nor find our own Pleasures that is we must forbear and withdraw our minds and affections Isa 15.13 from such studies and employments upon that day whereby the same might be polluted or prophaned It must be sacred to God and be spent in his service and in Spiritual Communion with him which is to be promoted not only by publick but private Duties On the other side there are some that pretend themselves very careful and conscientious in the performance of private duties but neglect the publick vainly imagining and concluding that they can pray and read the Scriptures as well at home as at Church yea and read as good a Sermon perhaps better as they can hear at Church Admit it to be true yet one duty must not justle out another The same God who has commanded private has injoyn'd also publick duties The Children of Israel could undoubtedly read the Law and did and pray too in their private Tents and Houses yet by God's Command they must repair to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and the Temple at Jerusalem to hear the Law and attend the publick Worship and Service Our great Evangelical Lawgiver does not only command his Disciples to pray in secret but openly i. e. in the Congregation not only in the Closet but the Synagogue and Temple to which he invites his Disciples both for publick Prayer and Preaching not only by precept but example too He bids them hear the Scribes and Pharisees which sit in Moses's Chair and does himself Preach in the Synagogue and the Temple to which he shew'd so great a Veneration in obedience to the antient precept ye shall keep my Sabbaths and reverence my Sanctuary that he exercis'd an unusual severity in purging it of the pollutions and abuses which he observed there He made a scourge of small Cords and whipt out the prophaners of it styling them Thieves and Robbers sacrilegiously polluting that holy place dedicated to holy Uses It is written my House shall be call'd an House of Prayer but ye have made it a Den of Thieves Mat. 21.13 So that he that has commanded private has injoyn'd also publick duties his publick Ordinances were not made in vain to each of which duties we must pay a due respect Our obedience must be regular and uniform I have respect unto all thy Commandments says David One duty must not excommunicate another Publick must not justle out private nor private publick duties And he that allows it to be so is but a partialist in Religion and does his duty but by halves and is in God's account as if he did it not all A partial observing of the Sabbath is but little better than a total neglecting of it the not keeping it duely equivalent to the not keeping any at least a very lame and imperfect Observation as it will one day appear by the Censure of Him who judgeth not as man judgeth who will not be mock'd or impos'd upon with fallacious appearances or a partial piece meal Obedience Thus you see who are justly reprovable by this Doctrine viz. 1. Those who keep the Jewish but not the Christian Sabbath 2. Those who keep both 3. And especially those who keep none at all or at least in such a manner as is equivalent to the not keeping of it 2. Give me leave now to add a word of Exhortation which may besuitable to all at least none ought to be offended at it not the conscionable Observers of the Lord's day for to admonish and warn and exhort them to do the duty which they do already is but monendo laudare to praise whilst we admonish and the Arguments which are us'd to perswade them that do not may serve at least to remember and confirm and establish those that do their duty And then for the loose and prophane and careless whom I will suppose to be convinc'd of their duty and that they ought to keep the Christian Sabbath exhortations and perswasions must needs be as necessary and suitable for them as Physick is for the sick and diseased I beseech you therefore brethren to use St. Paul's words to the Hebrews suffer the word of Exhortation and that it may be the more prevalent and successful to the end for which it is design'd viz. to perswade Christians to a due and conscionable Observation of the Lords day I will lay before you these Arguments or Motives drawn from the following Considerations 1. Consider that not to keep the Sabbath but to break and prophane it is to sin against the Light and the Law of Nature which prompts the rational Creature to set a part some time for the Solemn VVorship of God the great Being in whom he lives and moves and has his Being of which the Heathen were sensible by the dictates and Light of Nature as St. Paul observ'd to the Athenians Acts 17.28 where he refers to a verse of Aratus a Greek Poet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In him we live and move and have our being For we are also his off-spring Now the Laws of gratitude require some grateful Returns to a benefactor which the Heathen thought themselves oblig'd to make to God their chief benefactor but not knowing the true God they therefore did VVorship many of which they made Images and representations in Wood and Stone and Silver and Gold to which they instituted divine VVorship and Solemn times for the performance of it in which they were very devout and serious and would not rob their God And O! how will their blind Devotion shame and condemn the indevout negligent careless Christian 'T will undoubtedly at the great day when the account of all the VVorld shall be scann'd over and every one judg'd according to his VVorks Then will Christ Jesus the great judge of the VVorld lay open O Christian both thine and the Heathens VVorks He will then animadvert upon their diligent and blind Devotion and thy negligence and zealless cold performances Here stands a poor blind Heathen who had only the dimmer and obscurer Light of Nature and yet how devoutly did he fall down to his stock and his stone and keep inviolable the time sacred to the honour of his
Idol when thou O prophane Christian who hadst the Light of Scripture didst transgress the Laws of thy Maker and Redeemer and fearlessly break their bonds asunder and cast away their Cords from thee 2. Consider that not to keep the Sabbath c. is to sin against the express Law of our Creator who commands one day in seven to be kept Solemn and sacred for his service and will by no means dispense with the violation of it And what art thou O man that durst break it Is not he thy Maker and art not thou his Creature and consequently at his dispose Art not thou accountable for all thy actions to him Didst thou not receive thy Being and well Being from him canst thou live or move or breath without him and yet doest thou act as if thou hadst received nothing from him and owest nothing to him Is all thy dependance upon him and yet wilt thou not at all live to him Can he save thee alive or destroy thee in a moment and yet carest thou not Doest thou neither value his favour nor fear his displeasure Are you not his people and Sheep of his pasture Is not the inference than natural Enter into his Gates with thanksgiving and into his Courts with praise be thankful unto him and bless his Name Consider wherefore did God send thee into the World and continue thee in it what to live as the Leviathan in the Water to take thy pastime therein to live to thy self only yea the vilest part of thy self that walking lump of Clay thy body while the Soul thy immortal part is neglected and God forgotten days without number Remember he whom thou sinnest against is thy King and if thou wilt live in Rebellion thou knowest not how soon he may send out his warrant to attack thee and drag thee to his judgment seat and throw thee into Hell Why should he any longer suffer such a perverse obstinate wretch that will not be reclaim'd after frequent warnings and long forbearance such a harden'd Traytor and Rebel that will offend still and infect his fellow Subjects and draw them from their allegiance such an old accustom'd thief that will steal and rob still and is ripe for Execution Remember Christians he whom you offend is the great Landlord of Heaven and Earth and you are his Tenants and Tenants at will too and the Sabbath is his weekly court-Court-day whereon he summons all his Tenants to come in and pay their Homage and chief Rents whereby they acknowledge that they hold all under him and depend for all upon him and owe all to him And if you omit your duty and will not pay your suit and service what can you expect less than to be amerc'd and fin'd And you know not how soon be may send out his Officers the Angels and leavy those fines and Amerciaments on you and exact it of you And in what manner is at his pleasure whether on your Goods or Relations or Body or Soul for all is in his power and at his dispose and he has several Instruments of his wrath to execute his Will He may send the Thief to rob you and steal your Goods and in that Act retaliate your thievish tricks your robbing of God the false dealer to cheat you and go away with your Goods and Mony now a Tempest at Sea to drown some anon a fire by Land to burn the rest of your Goods and demolish your Houses and turn you out of possession one while he may send the Murraine amongst your Cattle another while Blasting and Mildew the Caterpillar and Palmer-Worm his Great Army as he stiles them Joel 2.25 and Blast and devour the Fruits of the Earth and baffle your hopes and expectations of a plentiful Crop make the Heavens above brass and the Earth beneath Iron withhold the Rain and break off the staff of Bread and cause the black horse to ride through your streets yea and the Pale horse too he may send the Plague and noisome Pestilence and other Diseases and afflict you in your persons and Relations Now a Child anon a Brother now a Father anon a Husband or a Wife or a dear Friend may be taken from you and leave you all in tears and sadness 'T is not unusual with God to snatch away some by death and that as an affliction and punishment to their offending Relatives Yea the Fine may be levied on your own persons that offend and the payment exacted of you either by sickness which takes away your Health by lameness which takes away your strength by madness which takes away your Reason or by some sad accident or sudden stroke which takes away your Life Or God may commute these punishments for temporal inflict spiritual ones a hard heart and a seared Conscience and a reprobate mind which was that severe spiritual Judgment which God inflicted on the Heathen for their Pride and Rebellion and rejecting the knowledge of God Rom. 1.28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient Or else he may epitomize along series of punishments contract them into that fatal Abridgment and Compendium of all miseries Eternal death That 's the second Argument Thirdly Consider 't is to sin against the Law against the Obligation of the Blood and love of our Redeemer to keep the Christian Sabbath is his Law And the chief design of it is to commemorate the work of our Redemption which was effected and compleated by the shedding of his most pretious Blood which is the greatest argument of divine Love Which Sabbath-breakers seem to have very little sense of and very little love and honour for their Redeemer But let such know that the Blood and Love which they spurn at and trample on will plead against them in another day the Blood of Jesus if despis'd and trodden under foot will speak worse things than the Blood of Abel the rejected the violated Law of Christ will exact a severer punishment than the despised Law of Moses So the Author to the Hebrews tells us Heb. 10.28 29. He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses so did the man that gather'd sticks on the Sabbath day Numb 15.32 c. a small fault you 'll say but being a breach of the Law and he the first violater of it as Theodoret saith therefore for example to all others in future times he was so severly punished but what he did was out of necessity but how inexcusable are they that do needless works and break the Sabbath out of presumption and contempt of the Divine Authority and Obligations of the Blood and Love of our Redeemer Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath troden underfoot the Son of God and counted the blood of the Covenant an unholy thing and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace Well but perhaps