Scripture hath determined nothing mos populi Dei S. Aug. ep Cas 86. instituta majorum pro lege tenenda sunt the custome of Gods people and the ordinance of our Elders are to be observed as lawes And in this case for any man to doubt whether he should relinquish and abandon his owne new devices ita faciendum and that it becomes him to doe as he sees the whole Church of God to doe insolentissimae insaniae est is an insolencie with madnesse to boot saies Saint Augustine S. Aug aep 119. Ja. And to talke with such interminata orietur luctatio were to uphold wrangling world without end 3 If the first day of the weeke be the Lords day we must looke to doe the Lords worke on it and not trench upon him by doing our owne worke thereon For no excuse of businesse ought to keepe us from the service of God on that day No necessitie is a greater tyrant than poverty yet is that no good excuse for thy absence from Church saies Saint Chrysostome to say thou art poore and must follow thy businesse S. Chrysoft hom 24. de bap Christi For God hath not taken to himselfe the greatest part of the dayes of the weeke but hath given thee sixe unam vero sibi reliquit and left himselfe but one yet wilt thou finde out the thiefe povertie to steale that away from him too as sacrilegious persons doe consecrate things But what doe I speake de integro die of a whole day Doe but that in keeping the Lords day which the widow did in her almes that gave two mites sic tu duas horas so give the Lord two houres This if you doe not beware you lose not integrorum annorum labores the labours of many whole yeares Qu. May then no worke of our owne be done on the Lords day not so much as out of the times of the Lords service Resp Out of doubt there may yea though we should suppose that Christians are bound to keepe the Lords day as strictly as our Saviour kept the Sabbath For our Saviour saies Epiphanius non artem fabrilem lignariam S. Epipâ—â—â— 2. 〈◊〉 2. ber 66. p. 229. aut ferrariam did not follow the trade of a Carpenter or Smith on the Sabbath day though he was so poore that he used Josephs trade and made both Carts and Ploughs yet conversatione doctrinâ by his doctrine and course of life he shewed that some workes of our owne might be done on the Sabbath out of the times of divine service for himselfe made clay est autem opuâ— lutum subigere and to make clay is a kinde of worke a worke neither of necessity nor charity for had it so pleased him the worke of charity had taken place before the clay could have been tempered He commanded also the Cripple grabbatum tollere to carry away his bed which then needed not for the arrantest Pharisee theefe in Jerusalem would not have medled with it on that day The Disciples also by his doctrine and example saies the same Father spicas vellunt torrent edunt do plucke and parch their corne on the Sabbath day And there was no law saies Saint Irenaeus that forbade them so to doe 〈…〉 metere autem colligere in horreum lex vetabat but the law forbade reaping and carrying into the barne on the Sabbath day His reason is this continere enim se jubeb at lex ab omni opere servili i.e. ab omni avaritiâ quae per negotiationem reliquo terreno actu â—gitatur The law forbiddeth all servile workes wherein covetousnesse sticketh as a naile betweene two stones Some small chares then of our owne may be done on the Lords day out of the times of the Lords service Secondly meate may be drest and Feasts may be kept on the Lords day by Christs example S. Luc. 14.13 who was at a feast on the Sabbath day and none ought to blame us for doing the like For rectè Ecclesiae festa colunt S. Aug. de temp ser 253. 255. qui Ecclesiae filios se esse recognoscunt they doe well to keepe the Feasts of the Church that remember themselves to be the sonnes of the Church This doctrine Saint Augustine taught his people Novit sanctitas vestra fraires my brethren your holinesse knoweth very well that to day consecrationem altaris celebramus we celebrate the Feast for the consecration of the Altar in quo unctus vel benedictus est lapis in quo divina sacrificia consecrantur ac meritò gaudentes celebramus and wee doe well to keepe this feast with joy not with wanton lewd or unchaste joy Saint Austine is no Proctor to plead for Baal nor any that follow him For nescio qua fronte saith he I cannot tell with what conscience he can shew a cheerefull countenance in altaris consecratione that is not precise in cordis sui altari munditiam custodire to preserve purity in the altar of his heart The Lords day then is and ought to bee kept as a Feast as the Sabbath was Judith 10.2 For magnum scandalum saies Saint Augustine nay magnum nefas saies Tertullian it is a great scandall S. Aug. ep 86. Tert. de Coro Mil. and a foule sinne to fast on the Lords day Therefore we condemne the Manichees saies Saint Ambrose that fast on Sundayes S. Amb. ep 33. l. 10. We are bound to fast on Fridayes and of feast on Sundayes so have we a day amaritudinis laetitiae in illo jejunemus illo reficiamur to fast on the one to feast on the other The Jewes themselves saies Tertullian kept not their Sabbath with fasting for pridianâ paraturâ by their provision of two Omers for a man it plainely appeareth that they made as large a meale on the Sabbath as on any day else Ob. But they were commanded to dresse their Sabbath dinner the day before and the Commandement saies On it thou shalt doe no maner of worke Sol. Not to dispute it further S. Aug. ep 119. c. 12. how or to what the Jewes were bound upon their Sabbath however this nothing concernes us Christians if we understand the Commandement aright for though all the nine Commandements sic observantur ut sonant are to be kept according to the letter observare tamen diem Sabbathi non ad literam jubemur secundum etium ab opere corporali sicut observant Judaei yet we Christians are not commanded to observe the Sabbath after the letter by a strict rest as did the Jewes nor the Lords day after the maner of the Jewish Sabbath for of all the ten Commandements the third which concerneth the Sabbath figurativè intelligendum est is to be understood figuratively For this Commandement was given for no other end but onely for a signe saies Saint Irenaeus out of the Prophet Ezechiel â— Iren. l. â— c. 30. cap. 20. and out of the Law of Moses
guilefull zeale to be thought to speake the Scripture phrase when indeed the dregs of Ashdod flow from their mouthes For that day which they nickname the Sabbath is either no day at all or not the day that they meane It were well therefore that they would forbeare to speake strange languages in the Church for Saint Pauls sake and use them then when they all meet together in new England amongst them that understand the language for with us the Sabbath is Saturday and no day else No ancient Father Father Nay no learned man Heathen or Christian tooke it otherwise from the beginning of the world till the beginning of their schisme in 1554. And if wee finde the word otherwise used in some writings that of late come unto our hands blame not the Clerkes good men for it nor intitle the misprision any higher or otherwise than to these pretenders to pietie who for their owne ends have for a long time deceived the world with their zealous and most ignorant or cunning clamours and rung the name of Sabbath so commonly into all mens eares that not Clerkes onely but men of judgement learning and vertue not heeding peradventure so much as is requisite what crafty and wicked device may be menaged under the vaile of a faire word used in Gods law doe likewise suffer the same often to scape the doore of their lips that detest the drift of the devisers in the closet of their hearts I will now shut up this point in Saint Hilaries words S. Hilar. l. 6. Non sum nescius difficillimo me asperrimoque tempore haec disserere multis jam per omnes fermè Romani Imperii provincias Ecclesiis morbo pestiferae hujus praedicationis infectis velut ad piae fidei hujus malà usurpatam persuasionem longo doctrinae usu ementito nomine verae religionis imbutis non ignorans difficilem esse ad emendationis profectum voluntatem quam in erroris sui studio per plurimorum assensum authoritas publicae sententiae contineret Gravis enim est periculosus error inplurimis multorum lapsus etiamsi se intellig at tamen exurgendi pudore authoritatem sibi praesumit ex numero habens hoc impudentiae ut quod errat intelligentiam esse veritatis asserat dum minus erroris esse existimatur in multis There are so many that see so little benefit will be suckt out of the constitutions of the Apostles practice and tradition of holy Church doctrine of godly and learned Fathers that they have got themselves heapes of teachers that to serve their owne turnes will call and keep the Lords day as a Sabbath and so proclaime it with such lowd outcries that the voice of truth will become silence and her selfe made errour and so made to beleeve of her selfe or to forgoe her owne modesty and to beleeve none but her selfe But with Moses liberavi animam meam being called hither very unwillingly I have set before you good and evill light and darknesse life and death the doctrine and practice of the Church of God and the leaven of Pharisees and fashion of Schismatickes and Novellists chuse which you will and the Lord be your guide Onely of this be you well assured that if you will have Manna rained downe unto you you must forgoe your Sabbath and sticke onely to the Lords day for in nostrâ Dominicâ die semper Dominus pluit Manna Orig. super 15. Exod. hom 7. in Sabbatho non pluit The last point touching the day of meeting is When doth the Lords day begin Resp I answer S. Ambra in Ps â—7 out of Saint Ambrose The first day of the weeke began when the Sabbath ended The Sabbath ended when Christ arose Christ the true light arose with the light and spring of the morning for vesperi Sabbathi quae lucescit in primam Sabbathi are Saint Matthews words Nihil pulchrius nihil expressius saith hee this place is as fit and pat for our purpose as may be The Sabbaths evening is in the light of the first day of the weeke So Saint Leo resolveth Dioscorus Patriarch of Alexandria vespera Sabbathi initium diei Dominici S. Leo epist â—d Diosc the beginning of the Lords day is in the end of the Sabbath The end of the Sabbath is in the light of the first day of the weeke Looke then for Jacobs hand on Esau's heele or the beginning of the Lords day in the end of the Sabbath But Saint Nyssen is more punctuall and cleere S. Nyssen deresur orat 2. the Lords day saith he begins at Cock-crowing atque in hoc ipso articulo temporis and at that very knot and joint of time For then end we our Sabbaths or Saturdaies fast and then begin we nos oblectare laetari to keepe our Sundayes feast and that by an ancient custome which all are bound to observe For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith he doth not signifie the evening or that part of the night which is post occasum Solis after Sun set but the rise of the morning with which the Sabbath ended Yet for all this the Church by way of preparation for the better sanctification of the Lords day hath prudently and piously appointed holy offices to be used on the Eve before And in obedience to this positive constitution of holy Church Saint Augustine would have his hearers to observe the Lords day S. Aug. ser de tem 25. à vesperâ ad vesperam from Even to Even sicut antiquis praeceptum est de Sabbatho as it was also commanded the Jewes concerning the Sabbath And therefore saith he look that from Saturday at Even us que ad vesperam diei Dominici till the Lords day at even we set aside all rurall and worldly businesse ut solo divino culiui vacemus that we may attend onely on the Lords service and begin to repaire to the Church to evening prayer on Saturday nights and he that cannot so doe let him be sure to pray at home Remember then that you which will needs have the Lords day a Sabbath doe set aside all businesse and flocke to the Church to say or heare Service on Saturday Evens which hitherto you have not done notwithstanding the order of the Church which prescribeth that part of that day to prepare us for the more devout observation of the Lords day Thus much of the day of meeting The first day of the weeke 2 In the next place we have in the next words to consider of the persons that then met These were not Jewes for then the Sabbath had beene the day of their meeting but Gentiles Asians Macedonians Thessalonians Paul with his companions and Disciples Now Paul had ordered before this time in Galatia and in Corinth that his Disciples were to have their meetings on the first day of the weeke whereunto they submitted themselves For on the first day of the week they now met and so did the whole Church
SUNDAY NO SABBATH A SERMON Preached before the Lord Bishop of Lincolne at his Lordships visitation at Ampthill in the County of Bedford Aug. 17. 1635. BY JOHN POCKLINGTON Doctor of Divinitie late fellow and President both of Pembroke Hall and Sidney Colledge in Cambridge and Chaplaine to the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of LINCOLNE 1 TIM 6.20 O Timothee depositum custodi devitans profanas vocum novitates oppositiones falsi nominis scientiae quam quidam promittentes circa fidem exciderunt LONDON Printed by ROBERT YOUNG 1636. SUNDAY NO SABBATH ACTS 20.7 8. 7 And upon the first day of the weeke when the Disciples came together to breake bread Paul preached unto them readie to depart on the morrow and continued his speech untill midnight 8. And there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together THis Text I conceive is not unfit for this time In the text is synaxis a meeting and at this time there is synodus a meeting In the text is a meeting of Disciples and such is the meeting at this time Hee that called the Disciples together and sate President in that meeting was the Apostle Paul and he that called us hither and sits President in this meeting is our Diocesan who can derive himselfe the successour of an Apostle otherwise we should have taken his call for the voice of a stranger and not have here appeared It is Saint Austines resolution S. Aug. cont Mâ—nich ep c. 4 â—om 6. Successio Episcoporum ab ipsâ sede Petri is that which amongst other things by him named keepes us in gremio Ecclesiae and subjects us to our Bishops jurisdiction The meeting in the text is intended for two Actions Breaking of bread and Preaching And the especiall intent of this meeting is to receive our Bishops directions for the administration of the Sacraments and Preaching as his Articles informe us Hitherto if I can but hold me by my text I hope not to fall into impertinencies But in the next place the day of meeting in the text jumpeth not with the day of meeting for this our Synod For that is the first day of the weeke yet this comes as neere it as may be for with Jacob it holds his brother by the heele this is the second And had it beene appointed on a Sunday the authority of the Councell of Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon would have justified it against all Sabbatarians For by the Emperours edict they were precisely commanded to meet and did meet and sate and gave suffrages and dispatched letters on a Sunday But in the other circumstances the text and the time are nothing at all allied The place of meeting then was an upper chamber ours a Church dedicated consecrated for those holy duties in the text and used also for Synods That meeting was in the night ours in the day They had the benefit of many lights we of one great light that ruleth the day In the text the Sermon continued till midnight but herein if I leave not my text you will leave me And if none of us all follow St. Paul in preaching in an upper chamber in the night and till midnight neither he nor his successours will taxe us For Saint Luke is faine to make an Apologie for him in these respects He was to depart the next morrow So that necessitie put him upon that time and place and the importunitie of his Disciples would not be satisfied with a shorter discourse For fons abiturus saies Saint Austine they knew they should never see his face any more S. Aug. ep 86. nor refresh their thirstie soules with those waters of life that issued from the fountaine of his blessed lips that he which could shake the Viper from his hand could not finde in his heart to cast these Babes from his breasts Therefore contrary to his owne rules given to the Corinthians he did administer the Sacrament and preach where men did both eat and drinke and continued the same out of order till midnight And so without any curious division I come after my plaine manner to handle the words in the text and for your better memorie take them up as they lie in order and begin with the time of this meeting Upon the first day of the weeke Herein I conceive foure things considerable 1. what is meant by the first day of the weeke 2. 3. next when and by whom was that day appointed for holy assemblies to meet on 4. when doth the holy observation of that day begin For the first S Basil Hâ—xam â—om 2. aâ— Sâ— Sâ—â—ct 27. The words in the Originall are one day of the Sabbaths one being put for first saies S. Basil as the evening and the morning were one day i.e. the first So una Sabbathi is that quam primam dicimus saies St. Ambrose as we finde it written S. Amb. ps 47. Mat. 28.1 Vesperi Sabbathi quae lucescit in primam Sabbathi In the end of the Sabbath when the first day of the week began to dawne S. Aug. ep 86. For that day saies Saint Augustine which three of the Evangelists call unam Sabbathi one Sabbath prima Sabbathi à Matthaeo dicitur Saint Matthew expounds them and calls the first day of the weeke And it is manifest saith the same Father that this first day of the weeke is that day qui posteà dies Dominicus appellatus est which afterward was called the Lords day S. Cyril in Johan l. 8. c. 58. Saint Cyril affirmes the very same Christ appeared to his Disciples una Sabbathi on one Sabbath or on the first day of the weeke i.e. die Dominico on the Lords day It is manifest then that by one day of the Sabbaths is meant the first day of the weeke and the first day of the weeke is the Lords day So wee see what is meant by the first day of the weeke it is the Lords day The next points are when and by whom was the observation of the Lords day appointed The Church saith St. Ignatius hath set apart one day S Ignat. ep ad Magnes and called it the Lords day in confutation of those sonnes of perdition that deny the Lords worke performed on that day that is his resurrection So have you the time when and the authority that did appoint the observation of the Lords day delivered by Ignatius scholar to Saint John Niceph. l. 2. c. 35 that first so called it and as it is recorded one of those babes whom our Saviour tooke up into his armes as his master was received in his bosome The time was the time the Apostles lived in The authoritie was the Church What meane you by the Church Take that cleered out of St. Augustine S. Aug. ep 119. Apostoli Apostolici viri sanxerunt the Apostles and Apostolike men have ordained that the first day of the weeke should be set apart for the religious and