againe vnto life and liuing to giue thee euerlasting life and with it al happines all which he doth assure thee of when he calleth himselfe thy God then I say keepe his Sabbath For this hee requireth at thy hands who is thy God and hath done all these things for thee in becomming thy God And thus much for the motiues that this reason containeth in it to perswade vs to keepe his Sabbath § Sect. 2 One doctrine hence I note in that he saith it is holy vnto the Lord wee are therein taught to whom to consecrate holy daies namely vnto the Lord. Therefore Isai 56. he calles the Sabbath his holy day and Ezech. 20. 12. his Sabbath So doth he call the place of his worship his house Luk. 19. 46. And indeede being his seruice is there and then performed and that he wil haue no partners therein for he will not giue his glorie vnto another Isai 42. ought not the day and so the place to be consecrated onely vnto him The more shame then for the Papists that consecrate daies and Churches to Saints Angels Apostles Martyrs men women of which their Callender containeth aboue an hundred certainly they are herein worse than the Israelites for though they set vp an Idoll yet they would not consecrate a day vnto it but they said to morrow is holy vnto the Lord Exod. 32. 5. not vnto the Idoll but these institute daies vnto them yea and powre foorth prayers vnto them Heare vs Mary and pray for vs Peter c. But doubtlesse did these Saints know it they would crie out as in the Psalme 115. 1. Not vnto vs not vnto vs O Lord but vnto thy name giue we the glory Yea I say howsoeuer these men giue this worship vnto them did they know it they would euen rend their long white robes in an holy zeale as Paul and Barnabas did their garments and they would crie out vnto them from heauen as those did to the Idolaters vpon the earth O men why doe ye these things Act. 14. 15. But what needed they when as their practise in the Primatiue Church standeth vp against them There were I am sure holy men in olde times Patriarkes and Prophets yet did neither Christ nor any of his Apostles euer institute any day or make any prayer vnto them Which doubtlesse they would haue done had they held it a matter meete to bee done onely when they did consecrate a day they called it the Lords day being lead thereto by this in that it is called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God And thus much as concerning the second reason CHAP. III. The third reason is taken from Gods example who rested the seuenth day Sect. 1. Wherein we are to imitate God and wherein not Sect. 2. How God can be said to rest Sect. 3. The vse of these words Sect. 4. § Sect. 1 THe third reason followeth to be considered in these words For in sixe daies the Lord made heauen and earth c. And it perswadeth from an example of the like thus That which I did for thine example thou oughtest to doe the like but I laboured sixe daies and rested the seuenth for thine example and therefore thou must doe the like So that the force of this reason standeth in the example of God himselfe the best president that the world or word it selfe can yeeld Now of what force examples are wee see in that men are lead by example rather than by law and hold it a good warrant for the doing of any thing for that others doe so but if they be great ones that doe it then it is put out of question For would such men doe so say they if it were not lawfull Now God seeing men so to be carried by example and that this commandement is so commonly broken by the example of great mē especially who esteeme of the Sabbath but as of another day therefore he opposeth against their examples his owne example who is higher than the highest of them whose breath is in their nostrels and his example alone is able to waigh downe all the examples or reasons that can bee brought to the contrarie And if a man will be lead by example it is meete he should be lead by the best example and if it may be by such an example that cannot erre Now all the examples of men be they neuer so holy haue much weaknes in them and in one thing or other they misse Let vs make proofe of some of the best of them As for example Salomon had a wise and an vnderstanding heart so that there was none like neither before nor after him 1. King 3. 12. a very high commendation yet hee had his blemish he loued outlandish women 1. King 10. 1. Asa did right in the eyes of the Lord but will you know his fault he put not downe the high places 1. King 15. 14. Dauid was a man after Gods owne heart that did what was right in the sight of the Lord and turned from nothing that he commanded all the daies of his life yet in one thing he is chalenged in the matter of Vriah the Hittite 1. King 15. 5. So then wee see the best men come short and in many things wee sinne all I am 3. 2. And therefore the best dare propose themselues for examples to be followed no further than they follow Christ 1. Cor. 12. 1. If a man be iust another may be as iust as he if a man be learned another may bee as learned as he if a man preach well another may preach as well as he if a man write well another may write as well as he and often we see the scholler to exceede the master Now if these be the best examples we can propose vnto our selues then the best come short of that they should be and another man may possibly doe as well as they and so he may haue occasion of boasting but God his example is an example propsed without example it is so exact so full and so absolute that all the world cannot yeeld the like example neither can a man take any exception against it and therefore this is an example aboue all to bee followed And this his example hee so proposeth here as first setting it downe for a law and then afterwards keeping the same law in his owne person so that if either law or example will doe any thing with vs hee would by both of them perswade vs to keepe the Sabbath Nay further whereas in the other commandements you shall not see the example of God obserued in the keeping of them yet in this one you may obserue a double example giuen by God For twice in the Scripture his keeping of the Sabbath is obserued first in the beginning when he created the heauens and earth then hee rested the seuenth day Secondly when hee rained Manna in the wildernesse euery day yet when the Sabbath came he ceased Exo. 16. 26. 27. Well then hath the
lawgiuer himselfe gone before you in keeping this commaundement let me then exhort you as the Apostle doth Ephes 5. 1. Be you followers of God as deare children and walke as ye haue him for an example Now louing children will followe their parents then if you be children I say if louing children you wil follow him Now I know in generall that euery man will subscribe vnto this that they must follow God in keeping his Sabbath but yet come and presse them to yeeld obedience in the particular duties there you shal haue them as the young man in the Gospell they then depart sorrowfull that makes them to scratch where it doth not itch What must they doe nothing but heare pray meditate c. Nay if it had been onely to forbeare the doing of some worldly businesse which they greatly cared not for the doing of at any time they would haue forborne but now vpon this day to forgo their afternoone sports and playes and to sit as they terme it moping in a corner this is too hard Well but I say if you bee Gods children you will follow him yea and more than any sonne imitateth the father for the father begetteth his sonne but like vnto him in substance but God begetteth his children like vnto him in qualities They be holy as he is holy mercifull as he is mercifull and will imitate him in all his doings and therefore in this they will keepe the Sabbath as he kept it otherwise they are no children but bastards I say bastards on the mothers side but not on the fathers for were they his true children they would be also his deare children as in this place and would follow him § Sect. 2 Yea but will some man say what a stirre is here about following of God what would I haue them to doe and I thinke I would haue them assaile to make a new heauen and a new earth because God made them both Not so neither but I would haue them labour sixe daies and rest the seuenth as God did But that they may be the more fully answered the workes which God hath wrought are of three sorts Whereof the first are such as are miraculous as to giue sight vnto the blind to fast fourtie daies to walk vpon the waters to raise the dead c. Now these are to bee wondred at but not to be imitated because the gift of working miracles ceaseth in the Church and it is a note of Antichrist now to worke wonders 2. Thess 2. 9. The second sort of works are works of our redemption as the sonne of God to become the sonne of man to be borne of a virgin to beare our sinnes to die for vs to rise againe and to ascend into heauen Now these are works to be beleeued but not to be imitated vnlesse it bee in a certaine similitude or resemblance that as Christ was conceiued and borne so he should bee conceiued and borne in vs Gal. 4. 19. And as Christ died for sinne 1. Cor. 15. 3. so we should die to sinne Rom. 6. 2. As Christ in his flesh was crucified vpon the crosse so should we crucifie the flesh with the lusts thereof Galath 4. 24. As Christ being dead for our sinne was buried so wee being dead to sin should also be buried with him by baptisme Rom. 6. 4. As Christ being buried rose againe so must we being buried with him by baptisme rise again to walke in newnes of life vers 5. As Christ being risen did ascend so must we risen from the graue of sinne ascend by setting our affections on things aboue Coloss 3. 2. And hereupon grew that rule that whatsoeuer Christ did for vs the same he did in vs. Lastly the third sort of duties are morall duties commaunded in the law and these are the workes wherein he is to bee imitated by vs. Examples whereof he giueth vs Mat. 11. 29. Of meeknes Learne of me that I am humble and meeke In Iohn of loue and brotherly kindnes Ioh. 13. 15. I haue giuen you an example And in this place of working sixe daies and resting the seuenth Indeede hee could haue finished all his workes in one houre or with a word speaking but hee would worke about them sixe daies and rest the seuenth for our example And therefore as Christ said Haue you not read what Dauid did how when hee was an hungred c. So haue you not read what the Lord did how when he made the heauens and the earth he laboured sixe daies and rested the seuenth haue you not read it I say if you haue then againe I say as Christ in another case Goe and doe the like Luk. 10. 37. that is rest as he did For not the worke but the rest is that which is proposed vnto thee § Sect. 3 But here is one doubt more that may be moued in this place and that is how God can be said to rest that is a pure act in himself and alwaies worketh or how he can be said to worke that alwaies resteth in his action The answere is he alwaies worketh and alwaies resteth in himselfe but in this place he is said to rest or to worke in respect of his creatures To rest I say in that hee ceaseth to make any more creatures yet not to rest from preseruing them being made For God was not idle on the seuenth day but did sustaine and preserue the creatures which hee before had made otherwise they would haue come to nothing And therein wee are taught that though on the Sabbath it bee not lawfull to labour to increase that wee haue yet it is lawfull to saue and preserue that we haue and this he teacheth vs here by his owne example And so much touching the sense and force of these words § Sect. 4 Now the vse of these words is foure-fold First they serue to confute those that stand so much vpon the examples of others let a man demand of thē why they do so prophane the Lords day by their vnlawful games sports by their riding and running abroad in errands by their trudging and posting to Faires and Markets they will answere they doe but as others doe and they that are better men and haue more knowledge than they do so and if it were not lawfull they would not doe it would such a Iustice or such a Preacher bowle or banquet or ride about vpon the Sabbath if it were not lawfull And when they haue thus answered they thinke they haue spoken to the matter passing well But I wonder seeing they will bee lead by example why they doe not looke vnto God and follow his example which is the best of all for I am sure that there is none of those which they follow is worthie to bee named the same day with him none so learned none of such authoritie as he may not a man then returne this their answere vpon them when they shall say such and such that are learned and of authoritie do breake the
THE DOCTRINE OF THE SABBATH HANDLED IN FOVRE SEVERALL BOOKES OR TREATISES The first of which intreateth of the day of rest The second of the duties of the day The third of the persons whom these duties concerne And the fourth the reasons vsed to perswade all persons to the practise of these duties vpon that day Written by G. W. Master of Arts and Minister of the word of God in Portsmouth Isaiah 58. 13 14. If thou turne away thy foote from the Sabbath from doing thy will on mine holy day and call the Sabbath a delite to consecrate it as glorious to the Lord and shalt honour him nor doing thine owne waies nor seeking thine owne will or speaking a vaine word Then shalt thou delite in the Lord â—nd I will cause thee to mount vpon the hie places of the earth and feede thee with the heritage of Iaakob thy father for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it BY WISDOM PEACE BY PEACE PLENTY LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Thomas Man dwelling in Paternoster row at the signe of the Talbot 1604. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE CHARLES BLVNT Earle of Deuonshire Lord Mounioy Lieutenant generall of Ireland Master of the Ordinance Gouernour and Captaine generall of the towne and Garison of Portsmouth and the I le of Portsey Knight of the noble Order of the Garter and one of his Maiesties most Honorable priuie Councell RIght Honorable and by right most worthie to be honorable because deserts haue made you truly honourable The wisest hath said it that much reading Eccl. 12. 22. is a wearisomnes vnto the flesh And therefore in this scribling age wherein presses be oppressed with the number of bookes without number it may seeme a thing not meete any more to write vnlesse for the sufficiencie of the worke it might be in steed of all other writings and so the reader might be eased of the labour of much reading Notwithstanding by the iustnes of the cause which I neither might if I could because it is iust nor could if I might hauing in a publique assemblie taught it forsake I haue been drawen to publish this treatise that what I haue taught may here be made more fully to appeare to any that is otherwaies minded Now whereas it may seeme ouer great boldnes for me to presse your Honour with these my labours that are alreadie ouer pressed with your owne if yet they may be said to be yours and not rather the labours of the Church and Common-weale yet I haue presumed to doe it vpon these two reasons First in respect of the cause which I manage Secondly in respect of my dutie vnto your Honour And first in respect of the cause the Sabbath being a principall meanes whereby the seede of religion is sowen in our hearts and the holie fire as it were is kept in amongst vs. It being assailed by aduersaries of diuers sorts to whom should it flee as vnto a Sanctuarie for succour rather than vnto your Honor who haue alreadie taken home vnto your honourable familie the truth like as the beloued Disciple did the Ioh. 19. 27. mother of Iesus being recommended vnto his care Yea being your Honor haue not alone taken home the truth but also publiquely in the highest and solemnest assemblie of this land vndertaken the maintenance and the defence of the same truth against the common aduersarie the Papist In regard whereof as the eare that heard you blessed you and the eye that seeth Iob. 29. 11. you giueth witnes vnto you and the hearts of all well affected Christians to whom the report thereof hath come applaude it shouting and crying as in the Prophet Grace grace vnto it So could I ioyning in Zach 4. 7. heart and affection with them doe no lesse than testifie the same by presenting these my labours vnto your Honour to whom of right they appertaine as a part of that truth which is vndertaken by your Honour but gainsaid by these aduersaries For first they hold the Sabbath Rhem. in annot in Mat. 15 sect 3. Rhem. annot in Reu. cap. 1. sect 6. to be but a tradition Secondly the alteration of the day to be without scripture or commandement yea plainly otherwise than prescribed by God himselfe in the 2. Commandement for so it pleaseth them to terme this fourth commandement Thirdly the rest but perfunctorie and sleight for they allow such workes to be done vpon the Sabbath as shall be permitted by their Prelates that is such as please Bellar. lib. 10. de cultu imag themselues or such as by custome which euer declineth haue preuailed And lastly the holinesse of the day to consist in comming to shrift and hearing of Catechis Rom. quaest 21. de Sabbath Masse Against all which falshoods this truth of the doctrine of the Sabbath flieth vnto your Honour for patronage and after a sort maketh supplication vnto your Honour to be a meanes that as by the Kings most excellent Maiesties proclamation it hath alreadie so by law it may further be prouided for at least vt ne quid Sabbathum detrimenti capiat for Gods lawes to many are but as cobwebs to the great flyes which they easily breake without they be strengthened by the Princes lawes as with other nerues and sinewes for want of which we see that the Sabbath the best day of seuen is more prophaned in most places than all the other seuen as though God had made it to be prophaned and not to be kept holy And this in respect of the cause Now in respect of my selfe also I could doe no lesse for being imbarked in that ship whereof your Lordship vnder the Kings most excellent Maiestie as the master Pilot holdeth the helme I meane your Lordships garrison towne of Portsmouth and succeeding others a teacher in that Lecture whereinto your Lordship first breathed life I could doe no lesse than in dutie present these firstlings of my labours vnto your Honour especially hauing alreadie receiued fauours from your honourable selfe as also no small incouragements from Sir Beniamin Berry and Master Anthony Ersfâ—eld these your Lordships worthies and notable instruments of gouernment in that place So that I thanke my God vpon the point of whose prouidence I haue alwaies steered on my course I may most truly say that of them my conscience bearing me witnesse that I lie not which once Tertullus spake with another mind of Felix that by them wee haue receiued these two benefits great quietnes and many worthie things haue been Act. 24. 2. done vnto vs onely that which followeth wholy and alone appertaineth vnto your Honor that this is wholie by your prouidence And therefore should not I as in particular for my selfe or as the mouth of many others wholy acknowledge it we might yet be more vngratefull vnto your Honour than Tertullus to Felix By these reasons therefore right Honourable I being lead haue presumed to approach so neere vnto your Honour as to put foorth
the Iewes whom the Lord brought out of the land of Egypt and whom the Lord would bring into the land of Canaan But vnto vs it is as the Apostle vrgeth it Ephes 6. 3 that thy daies may be long vpon earth So in the first commandement I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the bondage of Egypt but wee may rather say which brought vs out of the bondage of sinne or out of the bondage of Poperie And Deut. 5. 15. he vseth another reason to perswade the Iewes which doth not appertaine vnto vs which was that they should keepe the Sabbath because they were seruants in Egypt All which reasons we see are vrged in respect of them as being the fittest to perswade them being taken from the present benefit which either they had or were shortly to enioy And what letteth but that the like respect shuld be had in this commandement of thē as in the former You will happely say then that there is somthing in the commandement that concerneth not vs but the Iewes Not so neither for though there might bee some particular reasons vsed that might more concerne them than vs yet the commaundements might concerne vs both alike they being the same with the law of nature written in our hearts as also they being warranted vnto vs in the Gospell to remaine Though neither yet if we should graunt these words to bee part of the precept doe they tye vs to keepe that seuenth day from the creation but onely require of vs a seuenth to bee kept which wee willingly embrace as being the fittest time and the meetest for Gods seruice And the rather because the Apostles haue retained and still kept a seuenth day for Gods seruice from whose example we may not varie § Sect. 2 But now as I haue shewed that the time of the Sabbath might be changed without any razure of the commandement so also it is meete It was meete that the Sabbath day shuld be changed that it should be chaunged vnto another day for these reasons For first seeing the seuenth from the creation was ceremoniall and did figure out our rest in heauen by Christ as appeareth Heb. 4 ver 8 why should it not by the same reason bee thought meete to be abolished by which other shadowes are abolished namely that the people might be thereby kept from Iudaizing as also they being shadowes must necessarilie giue place when the body commeth Coloss 2. 17. Thirdly seeing that when Christ rose it was a new world Heb. 2. 5. and olde things were past and all things become new 2. Cor. 5. 7 was it not then meete that as the old couenant had the old day and the old feales so this new couenant should haue this new day and his new seales especially seeing that in the contracts and couenants renewed between man and man we require that as they be new drawne so they be new dated and new sealed § Sect. 3 But here I know it may seeme straunge vnto some how this may be that the Sabbath should How the Sabbath is perpetuall and yet changed be perpetuall and to remaine for euer and yet to bee chaunged For if it bee perpetuall how is it chaunged if chaunged how is it perpetuall For answere whereunto it is to be vnderstoode that there is a two-fold consideration or respect of the Sabbath either as touching the substance of this commaundement which is contained in these words Remember thou keep holy the day of rest which is the same with the law of nature and is so farre foorth warranted by Christ as I haue alreadie heretofore prooued or else as it was giuen vnto the Iewes by Moses and had many ceremonies and shadowes annexed vnto it both 1. in the manner 2. in the end and 3. in the time 1. In the manner first they were to keepe it with offering vp of sacrifices vpon that day as two lambes of a yeere old two tenth deales of fine flower c. Numb 28. 9. Secondly that they were more strictly to keepe the rest so as they might not kindle a fire vpon that day Exod. 35. 3. nor dresse their meate Exod. 16. 23 which strictnes of rest was ceremoniall and after the law was giuen was added by Moses and therefore is abolished the morall rest required in the commaundement notwithstanding remaining as being a thing so vnseparably ioyned vnto holinesse as that wee cannot keepe the day holy without it 2. In the end also there was something ceremoniall for the Sabbath was made vnto them partly memoratiue as Deut. 5. 15. it was to bee kept in remembrance that they were seruants in Egypt and partly it was representatiue for Exod. 31. 13. it was to be kept as a signe of their sanctification 3. And last of all in the time as I haue alreadie shewed in that they kept the seuenth day from the creation As also in that they kept their Sabbath from euen to euen Leuit. 23. 32. whereas the Church now keepeth the day first and the night following Whereof more hereafter Now all these additions concerned the Iewes onely vnto whom they were giuen in charge to bee obserued yet no longer neither than vntill the comming of Christ which was the bodie of all these shadowes And therefore as touching al these complements of the Iewes significations of the rest sacrifices of the day obseruation of the time from the creation wee know them not hence-foorth and therefore in respect of these let no man condemne vs. Yet let no man so much as imagine that because that which was ceremonial in it is done away therefore the day the rest the sanctification of that day of rest or any substantiall thing in that law commaunded is done away For as no man may say the Sacrament is abolished because the signe is chaunged no more may any man say the Sabbath is abolished because the time is chaunged for if euerie commandement that hath a ceremony annexed vnto it should therefore presently be done away or should with the ceremonie become also ceremoniall it should follow that most of the commandements should be done away for they had ceremonies annexed vnto them As the sixth Commandement had the ceremonie of things strangled and of blood for as they might not kill so they might not strangle or eate the blood The fifth Commandement had the ceremonie of writing the law vpon their post or of binding them vpon their hands for as they were to teach the law so by this ceremonie to teach And all the ceremonies in Gods worship appertained vnto the second which commanding Gods outward worship must necessarily commaund these ceremonies by which he would be worshipped yea the whole law had the ceremonie of the parchment lace Now will you therefore say that all the law is ceremoniall and done away because these ceremonies are done away If not no more may you prooue that this commandement is done away because the ceremonie is done away And therefore as
it he giueth sight thereby Ioh. 9. 6. Who would not thinke that if a man should strike a rocke that he should rather make fire come out of it than water yet he strikes the rocke and the waters flow Exo. 17. 6. Who would not thinke that Colloquintida should rather poyson a man than be healthsome meate for him yet he blessing it there is no euill in it 2. King 4. 40 41. Who would not think that the fire should not burne yet the three children put into the fornace were not only not burned but had not so much as any smell of fire about them Dan. 3. This therefore hath this vse to comfort vs that when comfort shall seeme to stand a farre off like Abraham in the heauens yet we be not dismaied for God is stronger than the Duiell and therefore though wee be troubled yet wee may be still comfort is on foote and in the middest of them we shall finde helpe in the middest of the wildernesse we shall finde water as the Israelites in the Lions belly an hony combe as Sampson in the prison an Angell as Peter and in the middest of the fire one like the Sonne of God as the three children And so much for the third reason CHAP. IIII. The fourth reason because God blessed the seuenth day and hallowed it What it is to blesse and hallow Sect. 1. The vse of this Sect. 2. The summe of the whole booke Sect. 3. § Sect. 1 NOw followeth the last reason to bee discussed in these wordes Therefore the Lord blessed and hallowed the Sabbath day In which let vs first see what is meant by blessing and hallowing which two words that I may speak of them to our purpose haue a double sense and vnderstanding in the Scripture For first blessing is vsed to signifie the setting apart of some thing to a holy vse in which sense the wine in the Lords Supper is called the cup of blessing when it is set apart to that holy vse and the setting of it apart to that vse is called the blessing of it as 1. Cor. 10. ver 16. The cup of blessing which we blesse c. And to the same purpose also is this word sanctifying or hallowing vsed as Exod. 13. 1. Sanctifie to me the first borne that openeth the wombe that is set apart to my seruice This is plaine I neede not to shew it further The second sense of blessing or hallowing is when as some gift is bestowed vpon any one hee is said therein to be blessed and so gifts are called blessings Gen. 33. 11. I pray thee saith Iacob to his brother take this blessing that is this gift And Iudg. 1. the daughter of Caleb prayed hir father to to giue her a blessing and what was that springs of water Iudg. 1. 15. The same sense also hath sanctifying when God shal bestow some gift of sanctification vpon vs that day Now both these waies God doth blesse or hallow this day first in instituting this day vnto his seruice Secondly in that in this his seruice he doth effectually blesse vs vs I say and not the day for all daies in their owne nature are alike and not one more holie than another more than in regard of the institution in that it is set a part to holie vses or of the blessing that is this day bestowed vpon vs aboue any other Now God doth consecrate it in the first respect and wee must in the other that the blessing may bee vpon vs but take it in which sense you will yet it standeth as a strong argument to perswade And if in the first sense then it is thus gathered To what end God did blesse and hallow this rest to that end it must be kept but God did therfore blesse and hallow this day that it might be kept holy and therefore so it must be kept holy The equitie of this reason is grounded vpon the right and authoritie that God hath to commaund or institute any law which if he doe it is like vnto the lawes of the Medes and Persians which cannot be altered but by himselfe for thou must put nothing to his word Deut. 12. 31. The reason is Pro. 30. 6. Least he reproue thee and thou be found a lier neither must thou take any thing therefrom there must be no clipping The reason also is yeelded Deut. 4. 2. That thou maist keepe his commaundement which thou canst not doe if thou take any thing there from and as thou maist not adde so thou must not alter but thou must keep his Sabbath as he commandeth Deut. 5. 16. Yea thou maist not so much as varie from it for thou must turne neither to the right hand nor to the left the reason that is giuen is drawne from the benefit that comes thereby namely that thou maist prosper Ios 1. 7. As who should say if thou turne either to the right hand or to the left thou shalt not prosper but if thou keepe it and turne not aside then thou shalt prosper for he will blesse thee as here thou seest For this is the second signification of blessing or hallowing and is the thing that God especially here intendeth to shew namely that hee will powre foorth his blessing vpon those that keep his Sabbath And that blessing he most fully promiseth Isai 58. If thou wilt turne away thy foote from the Sabbath not doing thine owne waies nor seeking thine owne will nor speaking a vaine word these three things on the Sabbath must bee auoided but what followeth to bee done First we must call the Sabbath a delight Secondly wee must consecrate it as glorious vnto the Lord. And thirdly we must honour him vpon that day But then what shall they haue that thus honour the Lord Why God will honour them againe and make them to mount vpon the high places of the earth and like a tree planted by the waters side shall they prosper and not onely so that they shall be blessed with worldly blessings which might perswade worldly men but much more with spirituall blessings which may perswade Christian men he will feede them with the heritage of Iacob as if hee should haue said they shall enioy all the priuiledges of his Church loe thus shall the man bee blessed that shall keepe his Sabbath And therefore Isai 56. 3. Let no man that keepeth the Sabbath say The Lord hath separated me from his people Why so For he will feede them with the heritage of Iacob as now you haue heard neither let the Eunuch say Behold I am a drie tree No for if he keepe his Sabbath and chuse the thing that is good and take heede of his couenant he shall mount vpon the high places of the earth as there he promiseth Yea and as it followeth he will giue him a place in his house and a name better than of sonnes and daughters But can all this be true Yea certainly make account of it for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it Isai 58. 14. § Sect. 2 Now the vse of this is two-fold First it notablie meeteth with the error of the multitude that thinke if a man serue God he shall neuer thriue as though God were like an euill master that vseth to reward him worst that doth him the best seruice But these blinde bayards that thus beate their heads against the wall little think vpon this that God here promiseth that those which keepe his Sabbath shall bee blessed if they did they would neuer goe stumbling on But to the keeper of the Sabbath this is a most sure word that if a man keepe it the Lord will make him to mount vpon the high places of the earth and wil feede them with the heritage of Iacob And therefore by this a man shall know when hee is at the sermon how well he thriueth at home for if he truly serue the Lord in the Church God will truly blesse him at home for hee hath promised it and hee cannot goe from his word no more than hee can denie himselfe happely hee may sometimes denie some worldly blessings when he seeth it not good for thee to haue it but then assure thy selfe he will giue thee that which is ten times better and that thou shalt in this life finde and assuredly know And therefore thinke not that if thou lose an houre or a day that thou shalt be vndone but waite vpon the Lord for it is his blessing that maketh rich and not thy labour And if he blessed the Manna that was gathered on the sixt day that it should be enough for the seuenth also and if he made the earth in the sixth yeere to bring forth food sufficient for two yeeres Leuit 25 why shouldest thou distrust his bountie towards thee Therefore cast thy care vpon him for if thou wilt keepe his Sabbath he will care for thee The second vse is to informe the Sabbath breakers of their estate in which they stand and I would to God they would take notice of it that they are in a cursed estate for if the Sabbath keepers be blessed then the Sabbath breakers by the law of contraries must bee accursed And so they are indeede And Nehemiah is not afraide to tell them so much to their faces Did not saith he your fathers thus that is breake the Sabbath and did not God therefore bring all these plagues vpon vs and will you yet increase the wrath vpon Israel in breaking the Sabbath Nehe. 13. And as Nehemiah told them what they had alreadie felt so Ier. 17. vlt. tels them what they shall further looke for If saith he you will not heare me to sanctifie the Sabbath and to beare no burthen What then then the Lord will kindle a fire in the gates of Ierusalem Yea but it shall not come into the high streetes Yes saith he for it shall deuoure the palaces thereof But we will quench it first before it goe so farre Nay saith he it shall not be quenched as though the fire thereof should burne like wilde fire or rather like hell fire that is vnquenchable Mat. 3. And of this there is good reason For if for the neglect of the building of the Lords house the Lord cursed his people so that when they sowed much they brought in little that when they eate they were not satisfied when they dranke their thirst remained c. If I say the Lord cursed them thus for the neglect of the building of the materiall Temple what will he doe for the neglect of the building of the spirituall Temple which is certainly neglected where as the Sabbath is neglected And although happely it sometimes come to passe that the Sabbath breaker may prosper in worldly matters yet they are but blessings of Gods left hand Prou. 3. 16. which many times hee giues to the ruine of the owners thereof Eccl. 5. 12. He giueth them as he gaue a King to the Israelites in his anger and in his wrath he takes them away againe But how soeuer this is certaine that though he giues them their hearts desire yet with the gift he sendeth leannesse into their soules as Psal 106. 15. and they shall finde one day the euill of their riches when they shall weepe and howle for the miseries that shall come vpon them when I say their consciences shall crie out against them Wee haue gotten this money by breaking the Lords Sabbath and when the rust of the same shall testifie so much against them then shall they finde that true which euen now I cited that their riches was giuen them for their euill § Sect. 3 Loe thus as you see that I may conclude haue I troden foorth before you the path of the Sabbath that was I confesse hard and difficult to finde by reason of so many by-paths and waies of error And herein I haue shewed first the perpetuitie of the Sabbath Secondly the change of the time of the Sabbath Thirdly that it may not againe be changed Fourthly that the whole day must bee kept and this in the first booke In the second I haue shewed the duties of this day which consist first in preparation to the Sabbath Secondly in obseruation which contained two things first to rest vpon it when it is come from all workes words or thoughts that might be a let to the performance of the holy duties that were required of vs which duties were of three sorts either publique or priuate or mixt and this was the summe of the second booke In the third I haue shewed the persons to whom these duties doe appertaine which were either vnto vs or those that were vnder our gouernment And last of al in the fourth the reasons that might inforce vs to the keeping of this day holy that which remaineth is that euery one of vs in regard of the time past fall downe before the Lord in the feeling and acknowledgement of this great sinne of Sabbath breaking and that with purpose of heart hence-foorth wee endeuour with all our might both in our owne persons and by all meanes we may to prouoke others also to keepe the Sabbath with vs and then shall the Lord euen our God assuredly blesse vs with the riches of his mercies reserued from euerlasting in heauen for vs which the Lord graunt vnto vs for Christ his sake Amen FINIS The Errata Pag. 16. lin 4. reade which is one p. 50. l. 10. put out not p 7. vlt. reade Reu for Rom p. 93. vlt. r. our p. 99. l. 15 r. à fortiori p. â—â—1 â— 9. r. setting l. 26. reade them p. 117. l. 3. r. not to commit any sâ—â— p. 126 l. 25. 26. r. halues
labour which this is one doubt that sticketh vp like a thorne in a drunkards hand wherewith hee hurteth himselfe and others namely that euery day is a Sabbath or rest from sinne and that therfore now wee are not any more bound to keepe any particular Sabbath Now to proue that we must keep euery day a Sabbath they alleage that Heb. 4. 10. where it is said that he that is entred into this rest hath ceased from his owne workes as God did from his and that therefore we must euery day keepe a rest from sinne To which I answere Were it so that all they that vrge this did it of a desire and loue they haue to the Lords Sabbath they were the lesse to bee blamed howbeit it is certaine that they pleade this most that least delight in the Sabbath when it comes and they doe it not that they would haue other daies to be kept as the Sabbath but because they would haue the Sabbath to be kept but as another day But howsoeuer yet I do not see how out of that place they may make this appeare For first I see not how Gods resting from his workes may be a figure of our resting from our sinfull workes there being no proportion between them which alwaies is betweene the signe and the thing signified Secondly if this rest were a signe or figure of our rest from sinne it must be so vnto Adam also for the law was giuen vnto him Now how could that be a figure vnto him of his resting from sinne when as yet hee had not sinned Thirdly be it that there were such a rest yet what doth the keeping of this rest morally hinder the keeping of that from sinne nay rather is it not a principall meanes for the furtherance thereof For doth not rest from wordly affaires and imployment in holie duties take away all occasions of sinne Fourthly were it granted that we must rest euery day from sinne yet this their collection that therefore wee should not rest from labour to keepe the Sabbath holy followeth not therupon no more than because a man is bound to receiue euery morsell of meate with giuing thankes that therefore he should say he were not bound to receiue the Lords Supper otherwise than as common bread or rather not to receiue the Lords Supper at all because he euery day receiueth bread with giuing of thankes Fiftly that which in that place is made significant was the seuenth day from the creation for the text saith he speaketh in a certaine place of the seuenth day not of the Sabbath Whereby it is plaine that that which was significant was the seuenth day from the creation on which God is there said to rest and it might be this was a signe that they should in the like manner rest vpon the seuenth day from their works as God did from his to which end Gods example is brought as a reason to perswade vs to rest because God rested as also it might bee a signe of our eternall rest in heauen And that indeede the Apostle meaneth there when hee saith vers 10. that hee which hath entred into his rest that is into heauen hath ceased from his owne workes What of sinne No but of his calling for this rest Adam should haue entred into though he had neuer sinned But last of all be it that in this place he meaneth this rest from sinne to bee shadowed out yet that rest is in heauen but in this life no man hath or indeed can rest from his sinfull workes as God did from his workes which the Apostle affirmeth of those that haue entred into his rest But this argument how wind-shaken it is I hope euery man seeth I will spend therefore no more time to pluck this thorne out of the drunkards hand It resteth that I should here answere that which is vrged by some out of the Epistle vnto the Coloss chap. 2. vers 16 17. Let no man condemne you in respect of an holy day or of the new Moone or of the Sabbaths But because we shall haue a more fit oportunitie offered to speake of it in the next chapter I therefore thither remit the reader That which remaineth to be spoken of last of all is the vse of this that being the Sabbath is perpetuall therefore men take heed how they suffer this truth to be wrested away from them by the cunning sleights of Sathan or be drawne on by the alurements of euill men to abuse it to their owne pleasures or profits to runne ride or sport themselues vpon it as if it were lawfull as vpon another day or as if God had neuer said the word keepe it holy And this much as touching the first point namely that the Sabbath is perpetuall CHAP. III. The time of the rest not perpetuall Sect. 1. It was meet the Sabbath day should be changed Sect. 2. How the Sabbath is changed and yet perpetuall Sect. 3. The Sabbath changed from the seuenth day to the first Sect. 4. The reasons of that change Sect. 5. 6. 7. 8. Obiections to the contrarie answered Sect. 9. 10. Whether wee may call it still the Sabbath day Sect. 11. Whether the time of the Sabbath may not be changed againe Sect. 12. § Sect. 1 BVt now as is the rest so is not the day or time of the rest perpetuall The time of the rest not perpetuall for if you marke God saith not remember the seuenth day to rest vpon it but remember the day of rest which is the second thing that we obserue in this commandement and giueth vs occasion to consider of another question Which is whether the Apostles might chaunge the Sabbath vnto any other day then that which the Iewes kept Which they might doe first because the seuenth day kept amongst the Iewes was ceremoniall and did shadow out vnto vs our eternall rest as appeareth Heb. 4. 4. 10. which was one cause that moued the Apostles to chaunge the day As also they might doe it because they found no limited day set downe in the commaundement For as for that which followeth afterwards the seuenth is the Sabbath it is no part of the morall precept but onely an explication of it For if that were a part of it then this also must be a part sixe daies shalt thou labour which to graunt were absurd because then we should make duties betwixt man and man to bee taught in the first table which onely teacheth man this dutie to God and the second the dutie of man to man as Christ sheweth Matth. 22. 38. as also they being two things so contrarie as rest and labour I cannot see but they must also be two commaundements Besides all this in the reasons there be many things that concerned onely the Iewes as in the fifth commaundement Honour thy father and mother the reason is that thy daies may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee Now it is certaine that this promise had only reference vnto
heare God out of his law to reason in this sort against them I gaue you sixe daies to doe your worldly businesse in to labour to ride to runne to buy to sell to sow to reape to solace your selues to see your friends to make merrie c. and yet cannot you bee contented with them but that you must incroach vpon me to take my holy day also and to spend it I say not vpon your labours but that which is more vntollerable vpon your lusts and delights This I say cannot but strike them thorough and make their harts to fall in sunder like water when they shall consider their great ingratitude towards him that when he of seuen could affoord to giue them sixe they of seuen cannot affoord to giue giue doe I say out vpon it nay cannot suffer him to enioy one The scarre of churlishnes sticketh like a starre in the forhead of Nabal and shall to the worlds end 1. Sam. 25. 3. that Dauid when in regard of his kindnes shewed vnto his shepheards in the wildernesse requiring him to giue him a present of any thing that came next vnto his hand the churle refused to doe it Now Nabal how soeuer churlish yet this was his owne it was in his power and it was prouided for his shearers yet for all this is hee iustly condemned for a chrule in that hee sent not a present vnto Dauid that had so well deserued it With what words then may this sinne of ours be sufficiently aggrauated that whereas God of his bountie of seuen hath giuen vs sixe if we also should take away from him that one If a poore man on the way as thou trauellest should come vnto thee and craue of thee for Gods sake to bestow vpon him something to relieue him and thou out of thy liberalitie and compassion towards him shouldest giue him all the money in thy purse reseruing onely a very little for thine owne vse to bring thee home if hee I say should catch thy purse and that also and run away with it wouldest thou not account him very vngratefull Yet thy vngratitude to God is as great as his and more for in very truth thou art so bound vnto God as that if thou shouldest giue halfe of thy daies yea all of them back againe vnto him thou couldest not sufficiently recompence him To conclude therefore this point let that reason which mooued Ioseph not to consent to his Mistris preuaile with thee My master hath committed all into my hand and hath kept nothing from me but onely thee because thou art his wife how then shall I doe this great wickednesse and sinne against God Genes 39. So shouldest thou answere thy companions when they shall allure thee on the Sabbath to sinne The Lord hath giuen me all the daies in the weeke to doe my workes in sauing onely this one he hath reserued vnto himselfe how then can I do this great wickednesse and sinne against the Lord in breaking his Sabbath And thus much for the manner of the reason how it inforceth vs to the keeping of the Sabbath The doctrine that we learne hence is first that the commandements of God stand all of them and are grounded vpon good reason and therefore that all his commandements are not onely true Psal 119. 86 but righteous also vers 106. Yea they are all most iust vers 128. And there is nothing in the world that standeth with such reason as the seruice of God which maketh the Apostle to call it our reasonable seruing of God Rom. 12. 2. And therefore Ezec. 18. 25. God blames those that say his waies are vnequall and no lesse worthie of blame are such as thinke that it is vnreasonable to keepe a whole day holie vnto the Lord. Why then how should their businesse goe forward why then when should they haue any time for recreation What is all this but to finde fault with Gods law as if it were not iust as if it were not equall But what saist thou is it not equall and is it not meete that thou shouldest haue thy sixe daies to doe thy businesse in which God hath allowed thee And is it not as meete that God should haue one Let this therefore cease thy murmuring against Gods law seeing it standeth with such good reason The second doctrine that wee note in these words Sixe daies shalt thou labour is this that as it is sinne for vs ordinarily to worke on the seuenth day so also is it sinne for vs through negligence or idlenes not to dispatch our worldly businesse in the sixe daies seeing he hath allowed them vnto vs for that purpose And therfore on them we ought to labour and it behoueth vs so much the more carefullie to labour in them seeing that God hath enioyned man to labour in the sweate of his browes Genes 3. Yea seeing as Iob saith he is borne to labour as the sparkles flie vpward Iob. 5. 7. And hence it is that God hath left him so many precedents of labour before his eyes the oxe is made to till the land and tread out the corne the asse is to stand vnder the burthen the heauens are still in their motion as it were still a working the Angels are ministring spirits Psal 104. 4 and when man was in the state of perfection God would not haue him idle Gen. 2. though God had no neede of his worke nor the garden for it brought out all things without planting yet hee would haue man to labour because man had neede of it and therefore sets him his taske to dresse and trimme the garden Nay God himselfe in his owne person wrought sixe daies in making of the heauens and the earth Hee could indeed haue finished it in one or at a words speaking but yet he would worke sixe daies to leaue vnto vs an example to doe the like Then here are those slow bellies and idle Abbey lubbers condemned that spend whole daies in doing nothing that are like paralitique and gowtie members loose and vntied in the ioynts of obedience that say vnto the head commaund vs not for we will not moue neither will we stir But shal not God curse them as he did the fig tree that bare no fruite cut it downe why combreth it the earth And were it not that these words did stand vp so pregnantly against these men yet the very euils that accompany idlenes were sufficient to make it to be detested for what sinne is it almost that groweth not out of this as out of a nurcerie of all sinne Idlenes causeth to fall asleepe Pro. 19. 15. then idlenes is the cause of drowsinesse So is it of beggerie He that will 〈…〉 in winter shall begge in summer Prou. 20. 4. Idlenes is the cause of ill husbandrie His land cries out against him and the furrowes thereof complaine that haue not their water courses Iob. 31. 38. Thornes and nettles couer the face thereof Prou. 24. 4. So is idlenes the cause of drunkennes Amos
Sabbath may not wee answere them I say and that iustly that their betters doe keepe it and that therefore they should keep it Dauid kept it the Prophets kept it the Apostles kept it Christ himselfe kept it when hee was here in the flesh nay God kept it as here we see Now if they can bring examples for the prophaning of the Sabbath greater and better than these let them shew them but certaine it is they cannot and therefore hence foorth let them be ashamed thus to reason and to offer that measure vnto God which they would disaine their seruant should offer vnto them For let thē answer me in the like case would they be contented if sending their seruants in their businesse their seruants should neglect the doing of that wherein they were imployed and spend the time at cards or dice or dauncing or seruing their owne turnes would they I say be contented if when they should expostulate the matter with them they should answere that they did not play alone but others did play aswell as they Or if thou shouldest reproue thy child for swearing or lying vnto thee wouldest thou take it well that he should answer others lie and sweare as well as I But thou art too cockering of thy childe I propose therefore another case If a theefe should answere a Iudge thus that others did steale as well as hee would not the Iudge replie that therefore he should be hanged for example vnto others And how is it then that wee thinke so basely of God as that the example of such prophane men for so I may iustly terme them that prophane Gods Sabbath should bee able to match yea and ouermatch the example of God himselfe with these men Secondly this also serueth for our comfort that when others shall vpbraide vs as precise and curious for that we will not doe vpon the Sabbath as others of our neighbours doe as to goe to bowles with them or cards or to dauncing or such like vaine sports I say when wee shall be thus vpbraided yet here is our comfort wee are not alone in this but God is with vs and he hath troden the way before vs in his owne person resting vpon the Sabbath that wee might doe the like Thirdly in that God wrought sixe daies and rested the seuenth to teach vs to doe the like we are thence to learne this instruction that the end of our doings must not bee our selues alone but we must haue regard of others also that they by our good example may be moued to well doing Mat. 5. 16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good workes And for this cause it was that Christ payed tribute though hee were free And for the example of others it was that hee went to heare Iohn he had no neede to be taught of any for the spirit was giuen him aboue measure yet he would goe heare Iohn to giue an example vnto vs to imbrace the gifts and graces of God in our inferiours But of this sufficient Fourthly and lastly in that God within the compasse of sixe daies was able of nothing to create the heauens and the earth and all things that are in them contained we may learne that God is able in a short time to bring wonderfull things to passe When wee reade the acts of Alexander wee wonder to see how that in a short time hee did subdue the greatest part of the world but what was that to this it is easier by farre to pull downe and to destroy than to build vp to take away life than to giue And therefore that God should so soone of nothing make a world how great was this his power The Iewes thought it an incredible thing that Christ should say he would reare the Temple in three daies that was a building sixe and fourtie yeeres they misunderstood him I know but if he had said it of the materiall Temple it had been nothing to this to the frame and workmanship of the world the Temple was but as the rearing of a molhill in comparison of the greatest mountaine in the world Yet see how soon he dispatches this great work in sixe daies he dispatches the whole frame though hee had not any matter wherewithall to begin to build So true is that in the Psalm 115. 3. he doth whatsoeuer he will And therfore it skils not how difficult the worke be so he be the builder how troublesome the seas so hee bee the Pilot how doubtful the conquest so he be the Leader nor how dangerous the sicknes so he be the Physition And as he is powerfull in sauing so is hee also in destroying it being as easie a thing and therefore let his enemies looke vnto the rod of his power who is able at an instant to destroy them all At an instant he disgards Nebuchadnezzar and turnes him out of his palace At an instant he smites all the first borne in Egypt At an instant hee ouerwhelmes Pharaoh and his host rendeth tenne Tribes from Ieroboam ouerturneth Sodome maketh a world drowneth a world and saueth a world againe What shall I say more as he knoweth all things so hee can doe all things both in heauen and in earth in which he hath all meanes to serue his turne the very Angels themselues are his ministring spirits Psal 104. 4. and the diuels cannot goe without his leaue Mat. 8. 32. And as for men he commaunds them much more for he is the Lord of hosts Isai 1. And he hath not only these of men and none other hosts but he hath armies of frogges and flyes and lice to fight against his enemies Exod. 8. When he will the heauens shell take his part 1. Sam. 7. and the Sunne shall stay his course till he be auenged of his enemies So then he hath all meanes at his command And were it so that hee had but small meanes yet hee can make it serue and hold out If hee say the word the meale in the barrell shall not waste neither shall the oyle in the cruce diminish 1. King 17. 14. If he will haue it so one suite of apparell shall last fourtie yeeres and yet shall not waxe old With fiue loaues hee will feede fiue thousand men Matth. 14. Were it so that meanes should faile yet he can worke without them as well as with them Asa had said little if he had said it had bin all one to God to saue by few as by many if he had not added or by none 2. Chro. 14. 10. For hee is not tyed vnto the meanes as a Carpenter is vnto his tooles but hee can worke aswell without them as with them For when there was no raine yet hee made the earth fruitfull Gen. 2. 5. when there was no Sunne to shine yet there was light Then God can worke we see without meanes and so hee can against meanes Who would not thinke that clay put in a mans eyes should put out a mans eyes yet tempering