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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A93852	The royal law contended for, or, Some brief grounds serving to prove that the Ten Commandments are yet in full force, and shall so remain till heaven and earth pass away. Also the seventh day Sabbath, proved from the beginning, from the law, from the prophets, from Christ, from his apostles, to be a duty yet incumbent upon saints and sinners. / By a lover of peace with truth Edward Stennet.	Stennett, Edward, d. 1690?	1658 (1658)	Wing S5402B; ESTC R184622	38,860	48

flesh but now quickened by Christ and all their trespasses forgiven them In the 14. verse he shews what further benefit they had by the death of Christ bloting out the hand-writing of Ordinances which was against us and contrary to us he took it out of the way nailing it to his cross and the Scripture upon which the objection is bottomed hath its dependence upon this and comes in with a therefore let no man judge you in meats and drinks and so forth as though the Apostle had said forasmuch as Christ hath blotted out nailed to his cross those ordinances that were against you which are Gentiles you are not to be judged for the non-performance of them Now the Ten Commandments were never against the Gentiles nor contrary to them for the same Apostle saith the matter of them was written in their hearts as was said before and they did by nature the things contained in them and therefore they were not contrary to them but circumcision and other ordinances stood as a wall against the Gentiles which Christ brake down by taking them out of the way and nailing them to his cross having abolisht in his flesh the enmity even the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances for to make in himself of twain one new man so making peace that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the Gross having slain the enmity thereby Eph. 2.15 16. So that it is clear the Apostle is speaking of such Commandments as are contained in Ordinances and not those Commandments that are so eminently distinguisht from Ordinances but those Ordinances which were against the Gentiles and made them and the Jews two as meats and drinks New-Moons and Holy-dayes and Sabbath dayes Christ by his blood having taken these away hath made them one but that the Ten Commandments should be struck at there is no colour in this Scripture for it or that the Sabbath should only be taken out from them nailed to the Cross with New-Moons meats and drinks and other shadows and Ordinances which were against man when as Christ saith the Sabbath was made for man so that in this place there is no proof for the abrogating of this Command of God Ob. But how is it that the Apostle saith Rom. 14.5 6. that one man observes one day above another another observes every day alike and yet he doth not blame either of them Answ I make no doubt but if the controversie here had been about the Sabbath whether it were to be observed or no but it would have been plainly exprest and not past over so slightly but the Apostle is speaking of indifferent things which men were not to be judged for their doing or not doing and not of Commandments But because it is said that some esteem every day alike therefore some conclude that this takes in the Sabbath day but we must compare Scripture with Scripture and find out such a sense as may bring them into a harmony and sometimes interpret general terms by restrictive Scriptures for instance Christ bids his disciples go preach the Gospel to every Creature we must understand it thus to every creature that is in a capacity to hear the Gospel The Apostle saith that every Creature of God is good and nothing to be refused now some are poison and are to be refused but his meaning is every Creature that is eatable is good and not to be refused So here every day is alike that is every working day which God hath made alike but the seventh day he hath sanctified and made it a Sabbath of rest and so not like the other and this interpretation is according to the Scripture Exod. 16.4 Behold I will rain bread from Heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day and in verse 12. They gathered every morning every man according to his eating yet on the Sabbath day there was none to gather And in our common speech it is so we call the six dayes every day men say we work every day or we travil so far every day when they mean only the six dayes that they count working dayes So the Apostle speaking to them that kept the Sabbath speaks in the same language and we have no ground to think otherwise for there is no Scripture that we find before this that hath any seeming dislike against the observation of the Sabbath but much on the contrary Obj. Ye observe dayes and years and times and months I am afraid of you least I have bestowed upon you labour in vain Gal. 4.10 11. Answ This cannot be understood that the Apostle here strikes at the meer observation of dayes a thing of such dangerous consequence for he would not have them judged that observed one day above another in Rom. 14.5 6. and in this place he himself judges these as persons that had so far degenerated that he was afraid that he had bestowed upon them labour in vain but it is manifest that these Galatians were gone back to circumcision so were debters to the whole Law seeking justification thereby Chap. 5.2 3 4. and so they observed days and years according to the Law that was a shadow of good things to come solemnizing the days months and years with those things that were appointed for them as burnt-offerings meat-offerings the waving of the sheaf the Passeover and unleavened bread and the like as you may see at large Lev. 23.8 9 10 11. and so on for they could not be said to observe times and months and yeers according to the Law except they did such service and this gave the Apostle just ground to fear that he had bestowed on them labour in vain But to imagine that to observe the Sabbath according to the Commandment or to observe a day voluntarily to the Lord is so dangerous is contrary both to Scripture reason Obj. We which believe are entred into rest which the Sabbath was but a Type of as appears by the words of the Apostle Heb. 4.3 Answ If eternal rest by faith be the Antitype of the Sabbath the Sabbath ceased to be in force to every man so soon as they believed which is ridiculous to think and contrary to the current of Scriptures but the Apostle saith We which do believe do enter into rest for he that is entred into his rest is ceased from his own works as God did from his vers 10. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the example of unbelief vers 11. Mind this Chap. well and I am perswaded you will see that the drift of the Apostle in mentioning the seventh day here is but to amplifie and set forth that perfect rest which they that believe do and shall enjoy of which the Land of Canaan was but a Type and to shew that Gods rest was before the Land of Canaan vers 4. and that yet there remains a rest to the people of God

THE ROYAL LAW CONTENDED FOR OR Some Brief Grounds serving to prove that the Ten Commandements are yet in full force and shall so remain till Heaven and Earth pass away ALSO The Seventh Day Sabbath proved from the Beginning from the Law from the Prophets from Christ from his Apostles to be a duty yet incumbent upon Saints and Sinners By a Lover of Peace with Truth Edward Stennet They that forsake the Law praise the wicked but such as keep the Law contend with them Prov. 28.4 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man Eccles 12.13 The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath Mark 2.27 28. Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect to all thy Commandments Psal 119.6 LONDON Printed in the Year 1658. TO ALL That truly fear the LORD and tremble at his Word IT was not in the least my purpose to expose the ensuing discours to publique view but to communicate it onely to some private Christian friends as a reason of the hope that is in me in relation to the Law of the Lord. I being in a good measure sensible of my own weakness and unfitnes● for such a work but the Lord was pleased to bless these my weak endeavours with the successes of conviction to some and refreshment to others of his dear servants who were my encouragers after solemne waiting upon our Heavenly Father unto this which I can truly say I was dead unto although I was and am perswaded that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the truth therein contained but my weakness in the management of it was the great obstruction But I am willing to press after a likeness to Jesus Christ who made himself of no reputation and to learn of him who was meek and lowly in heart I am not so conceited to present this Treatise as a thing that 's rare or new either to the Saints or World for if they will look about them they may see this truth in a better dress and lustre but it may be the tender Lambs and Sucking-Babes of Jesus Christ may better understand my stammering tongue then those that speak more distinctly and that 's one main encouragement to me I do profess in the presence of him who tryes the heart and reines Light hath broak forth since I wrote these papers about the Law in general and the Sabbath in particular it being five or six months since they were written yet notwithstanding I am now encouraged by the Lord I trust and by his people to speak this on the house top which was spoken to me in secret because so many of the Lords people are so deluded that they have rejected the Law of God and live in a weekly profanation of his Holy Sabbath thinking that Christ abolisht the whole Law at his death though Christ utterly denys it and would have none to harbour such a thought Mat. 5.17 although many of the men of this opinion may be good yet it makes their error not one Jote the better For this flows from their carnality and not their spirituality for the carnal mind is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Rom. 8.7 But because truth springs up out of the earth and righteousness looks down from Heaven and the ancient honourable institution of Jehovah now begins to shine with such clearness that it cannot be razed out of the tables and therefore all is cast away together which is such an invention as would not have been thought on by many I am certain if Sabbath Light had been concealed The two ancient institutions of the Lord in Paradise were Mariage and the Sabbath both which are called and esteemed honorable Heb. 13.4 Marriage is honorable in all and in Isay 58.13 the Sabbath is called the Holy of the Lord honorable and Christ leads us to the beginning of them both when the question was whether men might put away their wives for every fault the answer is that Moses did but suffer it to be so because of the hardness of their hearts but from the beginning it was not so Mat. 19.34 35.36 37. and when the Pharisees were so ignorant that they thought works of mercy were not to be done upon the Sabbath day Christ leads them to the first institution of it and tels them it was made for man Mark 2.24 27. Both these institutions were made for the good and benefite of man in his Paradise estate which is sufficient proofe for their duration Paul saith that the man was not created for the woman but the woman for the man 1 Cor. 11.9 and our blessed Lord of the Sabbath saith that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Then Christians be noble spirited and search the Scriptures with all readiness of mind and with hearts longing after truth get as remote from earth and earthly things as you can and into the secret chamber of your beloved and when you are the most transported from earth to heaven in near and close communion with him then try and judge by his word and spirit weighing Scripture with Scripture in an equal ballance and be as cautious in taking up objections against this truth as you are of being in the practise of it T' is sad to see and that which wounds my spirit much that persons professing godliness should be so inconsiderate as to catch at any thing that comes next to hand to strike at that which a differing Saint affirms is truth without considering the weight of what is offered or whither their own objections lead them I have seen more gall and wormwood at the bottom of those objections that have been made against the Sabbath then ever I saw in any objections against any other command and even some Christians are so weak that all passes for currant that flows from a man that 's good and able but where are those virgin spirits that are redeemed from the earth and from among men that lay persons interests customes by whilest they judge between truth and error where ever they are they are men which will follow the Lamb when others are left behind They will not be affrighted at the seventh day Sabbath because nicknamed called the Jews Sabbath no more then they are at the God of the Jews they will not refuse to keep the Sabbath because a man was stoned any more then they will refuse Jehovah to be their God because those that worship strange Gods were to be put to death and if they be told they go back to the Law they can answer blessed are they that do his Commandements that they may have right to the Tree of Life and may enter in through the gate into the City when the breakers of the Law are left without Rev. 22.14 15. Do you therefore that fear the Lord

the good and benefit of man that man might rest from his own labours and be refreshed as the Lord was Exod. 31.17 and thus you see how clearly our Lord hath given the sense of this Law it is lawful to do well upon the Sabbath day to visite the sick and to heal them and to do works of mercy to our own and others bodies the Sabbath being made for man 5. Jesus Christ declares himself to be Lord even of the Sabbath day Matth. 12.8 and he takes his title thus the Sabbath saith he was made for man and not man for the Sabbath therefore the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day Mark 2.27 and here seems to be two things from whence Christ takes this title First the Sabbath was made for man that is as before was said Christ being Lord of the Sabbath doth no more make it void then his being Lord of the Supper and Lord of the Harvest doth make the Supper and the Harvest void for Adam and so for all men being made for him before his fall now Christ being the son of man the chief man or second Adam the man of Gods right hand the heir of all things is of right Lord even of the Sabbath 2. The Sabbath was made for man that is for the good of man and in mercy to man as is said before therefore Christ being the Author of all good the giver of all mercy he is Lord of it and therefore Christ doth not slight the Sabbath as some do imagine by saying he is Lord of it as though he were not to keep it or that his intent were to change it that were to strip himself of his title or else to entitule himself Lord of that which was not but in that it is said Christ is Lord of the Sabbath it proves the Sabbath to be in force as Christ proves the resurrection Mark 12.26 27. I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob he is not the God of the dead but of the living so Christ is Lord of the Sabbath day he is not Lord of dead Types and shadows or of that which is not in being but he is Lord of the lively Oracles of which I conceive the Sabbath is one Act. 7.38 Obj. But did not Christ break the Sabbath and teach men so to do in bidding the impotent man take up his bed and walk it being unlawful to carry a burthen upon the Sabbath day Answ The Scribes and Pharisees said so indeed and that his bed was a burthen but they were very unfit Judges they being ignorant of the right observing of the Sabbath and sought likewise to take advantage against Christ in his words and actions their saying the mans bed was a burthen and that it was unlawful for him to carry it doth prove no more that so it was then their saying that the disciples brake the Sabbath in plucking the ears of Corn and Christ in healing the diseased but was not this a work of mercy the man having lien lame so long in the porch now being cured Was it not meet that he should be released from the place and take his bed with him to lye upon at night for it s likely he had no other And who can say that his bed was a burthen for in some Countries that which they call their bed is no heavier then a good Cloak or Coat but consider what grosse wickednesse naturally flows from this opinion The objecters themselves and all must acknowledge that the whole Law was in force till the death of Christ the very shadows till he nailed them to his Cross then the fourth Commandment doubtlesse was in full force now to say that Christ brake it and taught men so is to say Christ sinned and taught men to sin for sin is the transgression of the Law and this roots up redemption by Christ for if Christ was a sinner he could not be a Saviour he had not been a meet-offering for the sins of others if he had been a sinner himself but he was offered up a Lamb without spot Heb. 7.26 1 Pet. 1.19 and was made sin for us that knew no sin 2 Cor. 5.2 And therefore this objection is so gross that every sincere heart that sees the tendency of it will not touch it and indeed I had not mentioned it here but that many through weakness have taken it up as a sufficient ground to prove the making void the Sabbath for want of looking into the bottom of it 6 Another ground to prove the Sabbath yet to be in force may be taken from the words of Christ to his disciples Matt. 24.20 But pray ye that your flight be not in winter nor on the Sabbath day which is part of the answer Christ gave them when they came privately to him to ask him when the destruction of the Temple should be the signes of his coming and the end of the world It is generally conceived that this part of Christs answer relates to the destruction of Jerusalem and indeed that is the shortest time that can be thought it relates unto as doth appear by the question which was asked him but suppose it so doth it not plainly appear from hence that the Sabbath was to remain in full force after the death of Christ The destruction of Jerusalem being about 40. years after the death of Christ and yet he commands his disciples to pray that their flight be not in the winter neither on the Sabbath day now can we think that Christ would lay such a foundation for superstition as though the Sabbath was to be at the ruin of Jerusalem when it was to cease at his death or can we think-that Christ would teach his disciples to pray false or to pray that their flight should not be on the Sabbath when indeed there was to be no Sabbath this is gross to imagine but as sure as winter was to remain winter so the Sabbath was to remain the Sabbath and if their flight had been upon it it would have been the more tedious it being a day of rest and refreshment to them wherein they used to rejoyce and praise the Lord as it appears by that Psalm or song for the Sabbath day Psalm 92. But although this Scripture looks to the destruction of Jerusalem yet I conceive it looks further even to that distress that Jerusalem shall be in at the second coming of Christ and that for these reasons First those things that Christ spake of were accomplished in a measure in the Apostles dayes and yet they are not compleatly fulfilled for instance Christ told his disciples that they should be delivered up to be killed and they should be hated of all Nations for his name sake this was in the Apostles dayes and hath been since and false Prophets did arise then and so they have since then vers 4.11 So that those things which Christ spake lookt to several times and therefore I conceive he saith

in vers 24. Verily I say unto you this generation shall not passe till all these things be fulfilled and so I judge what he spake concerning Jerusalem had not only respect to that destruction that came upon it in that generation but also to that great calamity that should be upon it in the last dayes 2. This will more plainly appear if we consider the words of Christ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter nor on the Sabbath day for then shall be great tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time no nor ever shall be ver 21. Now with this compare Zach. 14.2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle and the City shall be taken and the houses rifled and the women ravished and at the 2. verse it is said then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives vers 4. With this compare Dan. 12.1 And at that time shall Michael stand up the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time and at that time thy people shall be delivered every one that shall be found written in the book and many of them that sleep in the dust shall awake some to everlasting life some to shame contempt ver 2. Now if that destruction of Jerusalem produced such great trouble as never was nor ever should be again how is it that there shall be such great trouble as never was since there was a nation when Michael stands up to deliver his people every one that is written in the book and Jerusalem is taken and the houses rifled and women ravished when the Lord comes forth to fight against those nations and his feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives according to that in Acts 1.11 So shall he come in like manner as ye have seen him go into Heaven and when the seventh Angel poures out his vial Rev. 16.17 18. which time I conceive is one and the same with that in Zach. and Dan. and the Angel is Michael the great Prince which Daniel speaks of whose feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives then is the time of great trouble and such an earth-quake as was not since men were upon the face of the earth so mighty an earth-quake and so great so that to me it appears that these three Scriptures do corespond with the words of Christ pointing out the same time and if so then the Sabbath shall remain till the coming of Christ and so shall stand till Heaven and Earth passe according to that in Matth. 5. and for ever and ever according to that in Psal 111.8 and the destruction of Jerusalem seems to be a Type of that great destruction that shall be at Christs appearance and as Jerusalem was taken when some from all Nations were gathered together as history reports and on the Sabbath day it was destroyed so it appears that the strength of the Saints will be gathered together to Jerusalem because all Nations will gather against it and Jerusalems straights will be upon the Sabbath day as seems to appear by the words of Christ for then saith he shall be great tribulation such as never was then when why when their flight shall be upon the Sabbath day and this great tribulation is when Jerusalem shall be taken the houses rifled and the women ravished as was said before at which time Michael shall stand up and fight against those Nations as when he fought in the day of battle and the slain of the Lord shall be many even from one end of the earth even to the other Jer. 25.31 32 33. and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof Zach. 14.4 and there shall be a very great valley unto which the Saints shall flee vers 5. then shall the Sabbath be swallowed up in the great Sabbath or thousand years that glorious and holy rest which the Saints shall enter into and live and reign with Christ a thousand years vers 9. and 20. Rev. 10.4 7. Another ground is taken from the practise of Christs disciples after his death Luke 23.5 6. And they returned and prepared spices and oyntments and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment Some say if we do observe the Sabbath we must do all those sacrifices which the Jews did upon it but at this time the vail of the Temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom and the shadows were done away by the body of Christ and yet they kept the Sabbath and not through fear or ignorance but according to the Commandment which is to rest from their labours and so they did for the Text saith they returned and rested there is no sacrifice expressed in the Commandment The stranger and the cattle was to rest the Sabbath Exo. 20.10 so that the Sabbath was commanded and observed before any of those sacrifices were commanded to be offered upon it but because the Jews did such service upon the Sabbath day as they were a typical people it doth not follow that this was any part of the Commandment and therefore we are to rest as those disciples did according to the Commandment and it is remarkable that the Holy Ghost should leave this upon record which would not have been I am perswaded had the Sabbath then been abolisht he doth not only say they returned and rested the Sabbath day but to prevent all mistakes least it should be thought they did it ignorantly or superstitiously or for fear of the Jews he saith they did it groundedly that is according to the commandment Obj. But the disciples were met together upon the first day of the week and Christ appeared to them John 20.9 Answ It is true they were assembled together on the same day at even being the first day of the week and the door shut and the cause is laid down why so they were namely for fear of the Jews and some of the disciples as I said before kept the Sabbath the day before and I think we cannot reasonably imagine but those did that were together on the first day for they did frequently correspond together that 's manifest but what doth their being together on the first day at even and Christs appearing to them prove for the observation of the first day more then his appearing to them eight days after and his appearing to them the third time early in the morning when they were a fishing Joh. 24.4 5. for the observation of these dayes It was necessary that Christ should appear to his disciples on the first day of the week that his word might be fulfilled of his arising the third day and that they might boldly witness the same Obj. But the disciples came

together on the first day of the week and did break bread and Paul taught unto them Act. 20. Answ This is all the meeting or preaching that ever we find was upon the first day except the disciples being together for fear of the Jews mentioned before that meeting was at evening so this seems to be because when they came together Paul preached with them and continued his speech until midnight it is not likely then that they observed the day and came together in the morning seeing he continued his speech so long And secondly as we have the cause of the disciples being together with their doors shut so we have the cause of this meeting Paul was ready to depart on the morrow vers 7. upon an extraordinary occasion Paul having many things to communicate to them as appears by his discoursing with them till midnight and talking till break of day vers 11. But that which makes the Objecters lay such stress upon this Text is because the disciples came together to break bread which they judge to be the Lords Supper Suppose it were so what doth this make for the observation of the first day more then Christs first instituting the supper upon the fifth day of the week as is generally conceived doth make for the observation of it But there is no proof that this was the Supper of the Lord that they came to pertake of but it seems to be such breaking of bread as the margin of some Bibles refers unto Acts the 2.46 They continued dayly with one accord in the Temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladnesse of heart So Luc. 24.30 35. And it is explained what breaking of bread it was vers 11. where it is said when he was come up again and had broken bread and eaten and talked a good while till break of the day he departed here is eating and talking it is not solemnized as the Supper of the Lord But some would have this common breaking of bread and the other in verse 7. to be the Supper it is very unlikely that here should be two sorts of breaking of bread at one time by the same persons and yet nothing spoke distinctly by which we might know the one from the other so that the most that can be said is but a supposition it cannot be proved that this was the Lords Supper And how weak a ground this is for the observation of this day as a Sabbath or more then any other day or to limite the administration of the Supper to this day I leave to the truly wise in heart to judge Obj. But the Church had their gatherings upon the first day of the week from which it appears that it was the day that they met together upon 1 Cor. 16.2 Answ The words are these Vpon the first day of the week let every one lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come Here is no proof for their meeting together but rather on the contrary every one of them was to lay by him in store as God had prospered him no publique gathering but private laying up but because the Apostle saith in the close of the verse that there be no gatherings when I come therefore it is thought the Scripture cannot be so understood because it would not prevent gatherings but is this fair when a Text of Scripture stands alone to put such a sense upon it as doth plainly contradict the very letter of it when it saith let every one of you lay by him in store then to say the meaning is to have publique gatherings and but one store and would not the end of the Apostle be fully answered namely to have no gatherings if each of them did lay by them in a store as God had prospered them in the world ready against the Apostle came they knowing of his coming and when he came was it not as easie to carry it with them to him as for us to carry our Bibles to a meeting and what need would there be then of gatherings And this way of giving would not be Pharisee-like but according to the words of Christ Mat. 6.11 Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in Heaven but when thou doest thine almes let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth vers 3. that thine almes may be in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly ver 4. Obj. But John was in the spirit upon the Lords day and had that glorious revelation upon it which is conceived to be the first day of the week Rev. 1 10. Answ It is true John was in the spirit on the Lords day but the question will be what day that was if any one of the seven it must be the Sabbath for no other day is so called but it God calls it his Holy Day Isay 58.13 and Christ saith he is Lord even of the Sabbath day and if so then it is his day for he is Lord of it and that by way of eminency not as some would have it to shew that he is Lord of every day but as it is the Sabbath for so it is said the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day So that this notion that the Lords day is the first day is meerly taken up on trust one from another without one word in the Scripture to prove it so Ob. But it wil be yet objected by those that are for no Sabbath from the words of the Apostle Col. 2.16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of a holy day or of the new Moon or of the Sabbath days which are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ from whence it is concluded that the Sabbath was but a shadow The Apostle speaks here of such Sabbaths as were a shadow of things to come but the seventh day Sabbath was in commemoration of something past to wit the work of creation as appears in the Commandments and none are to be judged for not observing of it Answ There were Holy-dayes and Sabbaths besides the seventh day Sabbath or the Sabbath of the Lord thy God for so it is called in the commandment as doth appear in Levit 23.39 now because it is implyed in the words of the Apostle that Sabbaths were shadows and done away by the body of Christ doth it therefore follow that all Sabbaths were so any more then where the words of the Apostle implies that men shall be saved proves that all men shall be saved and if we consider the verses before it will plainly appear that the Apostle is not speaking of any of the Ten Commandments in the 15. verse the Apostle is speaking to the Gentiles shewing how they were dead in their sins and in the uncircumcision of their

and the Gentiles besought him that these words might be taught to them the next Sabbath vers 42. And the next Sabbath came almost the whole City together to hear the word of God vers 44. So that its clear that the Sabbath was Pauls resting day and preaching day both to Jews and Gentiles that being the day that the Gentiles used to hear and though they had a desire to hear the same words again yet it must be next Sabbath and Paul fulfils their desire and preaches to them the next Sabbath and almost the whole City came to hear Can we think that if there had been no Sabbath that Paul would have countenanced them so in their ignorance Or if the first day had been a day that were observed would he not have told them so and that they might have heard the word before the next Sabbath And when Paul came to Philippi a Gentile City mind what is said Act. 15.12 13. We were in that City abiding certain days and on the Sabbath day we went out of the City by a river side where prayer was wont to be made and we sate down and spake unto the women that resorted thither The seventh day hath its title still as is said by the spirit in the Acts speaking of certain dayes this is singled out and called the Sabbath day with an account how they spent it and the blessing they received upon it they resorted to the place of prayer and there they preached and Lydias heart the Lord opened to attend to the words of Paul And in Act. 17.2 it is said That Paul as his manner was went in unto them and three Sabbath dayes reasoned with them out of the Scriptures And when Paul came to Corinth which was a Gentile City he found Aquila a Jew and his wife Priscilla and because they were of the same craft he abode with them and wrought for by their occupation they were Tent-makers and he reasoned in the Synagogue every Sabbath day and perswaded the Jews and Greeks Act. 18.2 3 4. So that its manifest that the Greeks kept the Sabbath as well as the Jews and that though Paul wrought at his trade and made Tents yet he rested every Sabbath day and as we have an account how he spent his time namely in working at his trade so we have an account how he spent this time to wit the Sabbath Now if it be such a strong argument for the observation of the first day because Paul preached upon it once what is this for the observation of the seventh day that Paul did not only preach constantly upon it but where ever the Spirit speaks of it he calls it the Sabbath day without the least hint that so he did to condescend to the weakness of others And let it be shewed by the Scripture that the Apostles did countenance and own any shadow that was done away so as they owned and countenanced the keeping of the Sabbath and therefore we may follow the Apostles as they followed the Lord in this matter though we have not a express word that the Churches kept it And indeed I think I may say in this case as the Apostles said in another case that it would have been superflous for the Apostles to have told any people in their time that such or such a Church kept the Sabbath it being a truth not so much as questioned that we hear of but Jew and Gentiles both observed it But now I cease answering objections having spoak to those that are the most material of them that I have heard and I shall proceed to another ground 8. Consider the bondage and slavery that both man and beast would be in if this doctrine were received for truth would it no● how ever have this tendency to bring the world more into Atheisme For men would not allow themselves nor servants time to rest in nor to hear the word of God if they were perswaded that there were no Sabbath yea and the greatest part of Saints are left to the mercy of mercyless men most of them being children and wives and servants and they cannot challenge a day in seven nor a day in seventy as their right to rest upon and to worship the Lord in from any command of God if this doctrine be true that the Sabbath is abolisht and what is this but to bring a yoak of bondage upon us that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear we should not so much as take notice of the time how it goes in probability for the way of numbering is by sevens But some will say it is good to observe one day in seven if it be not a constant day that will be confessed for one to observe one day and another to observe another day others are for a seventh day to be constantly observed but why not the seventh day which God hath commanded for the seventh day is the Sabbath it plainly appears that there is something of the Table Law yet upon the Table of the hearts of most men though much worn out by much transgression for men generally plead to have one day in seven to rest in and yet because of custome they contend against this Holy Just Law of God that was made in mercy for man I am perswaded in my very heart and that not without good ground that if the seventh day had been observed as the first day is that no man that owns the Scripture would have questioned whether it ought to be observed or no or at least no opposition would have been made against it and when all is said custom and worldly interest are the two great things that stand in opposition to it 9. And lastly Consider those great and precious promises made to them that keep the Sabbath according to the inside and spirituality of it not that we are so to spiritualize it as to make void the letter but according to the letter as Christ doth for instance Ye have heard saith Christ it hath been said of old time thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you whosoever looketh on a woman and lusteth after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart Mat. 5.28 Now if it be adultery to lust doubtless it is to act and this is forbidden in the Commandment for the Commandment is thou shall not commit adultery but Christ unfolds this Commandment and gives such a sense of it as the Scribes and Pharisees understood not Again the sixth Commandment is Thou shalt do no murther and John saith Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer 1 Joh. 3.15 Now all murther was forbidden in the command but this was not understood to be murther but John opens the spirituality of the command and the same may be said of the fourth command Remember the Sabbath to keep it Holy all servile work is forbidden in it and that the Pharisees understood but they did not understand that works of mercy as curing the sick healing the diseased