Faction work upon them and make them believe that the publick Religious Duties required by the Laws because enjoyned have more of Man in them than of God and are therefore Superstitious and unlawful to be done To say the Truth though all of them do not often perform Holy and Religious Exercises and others of them are so Ignorant that they cannot at all perform them divers of them they were heretofore 〈◊〉 no doubt but they are still very frequent and often in the performance of Holy and Religious Exercises But Religion abused hath done a great deal of harm and it is greatly to be feared that some of them did heretofore and do still resist the Truth against their Conscience If Men Fast and Pray never so often if they do it for bad ends and wicked purposes These their Religious Actions are turned into sin unto them And if Man be never so frequent in performance of Holy and Religious Exercises in publick in private If they do these things that they may subvert the present Government and make Peoples hearts dis-affected to it All their Religious performances though never so specious in the Eyes of Men are yet abominable in the Eyes of God Yea such Persons who use Holy and Religious Exercises out of Policy not out of true Piety looking thereby to bring about their evil and wicked designs They have caused Religion and Religious Duties to be loathed and hated so that Mens hearts turn against the use of God's Ordinances Indeed it should not be so Man should not therefore abstain from but they should therefore often use God's Ordinances themselves in Truth because they are so often abused by others in Hypocrisie And for certain it must be such who honour God in his Ordinances and often use them that must keep Hypocrites from abusing them defeat and bring to light their Treacherous practices and their Treasonous designs whereby they seek to undo both Church and Common-wealth A great many of prophane and ungodly persons and people there are who are wicked without shew of the contrary who as they do often meet on week-days at Inns Taverns and Ale-Houses and spend their time in Rioting and Drunkenness Swearing and Cursing and prophaning God's Holy Name to the dishonour of Religion and discredit of the Gospel of Christ So many times they have their riotous meetings at the same places on the Lords day sometimes in the time of Divine Service to the grief of all good Men and to the scandal and Offence of all Godly Christians Indeed they seem opposite enough to Hypocrisie and very willing and desirous they are that they should be Reformed who cloak Treason under the shew of Religion But Magistrates and those that are in Authority hold it fitting that they should first Reform their own Lives and set a better example of Holiness before they seek the Reformation of others Yea it is plain that most of such dissolute and disordered persons they do for the most part rather rail and revile Hypocrites for being Religious than use any Legal or Lawful means whereby to reduce them from their Hypocrisie yea though fome stayd sober vertuous Persons whom Necessity forceth into their Company do Legally and Lawfully Oppose Hypocrisie and Labour to prevent the spreading Contagion of it and they by their Example learn to do the like and have been wrought and perswaded to be willing to jeopard their Lives against those who put the Face of Religion upon Rebellion Yet it is plain enough that the greatest part of them did heretofore and it is to be feared that under pretence of Opposing Hypocrisie they do still rail and revile vertuous Priests and Prelates whose Lives are continual Sermons for Piety and Godliness And were heretofore and it is to be feared are still Enemies to Godly Magistrates against whom they have nothing justly to Object but their laudable endeavours in seeking to reclaim them from their prophaneness and ungodliness It is a thing greatly to be desired that they who are guilty of dissoluteness and debauchedness and are openly Prophane Persons wicked without shew of the contrary It is I say a thing greatly to be desired that they would be perswaded to believe it It is not others often abusing of Holy and Religious Exercises that hath set off their hearts from a Love of Piety and Godliness but it is their own dis-using themselves from and not accustoming themselves to Holy and Religious Exercises that causeth them to loath them themselves and maketh them hate and detest them in others And their prophaning God's Sabbaths by swilling and bezeling by Cursing and Swearing those beastly Vices which cause them to be taken up in the Lips of talkers and branded with a Note of Infamy what is the Reason that they do not daily and continually Repent of those sins that so they should prevail against them and get ground of them every day But because they will not hearken to the good Instructions of God's Ministers perswading them to leave them Nor Obey the wholsome Laws of Godly Magistrates seeking to reclaim them from them But especially because they will not hearken to the good Motions of God's Spirit moving them to Repentance but put off God continually with delays and procrastinations Well if all these means do not work upon them to cause them to leave these sins constantly and continually to Repent of them and daily to practise Piety and Serve God in publick in private If God have not already it is much to be feared that he will e're long give up some of them unto a feared Conscience a heart that cannot Repent And this Spiritual Judgment they will find it to be worse than all Temporal Judgments and Afflictions whatsoever Briefly for a Conclusion among those that Covet an Opinion of Holiness and desire to be reputed Saints there be many Hypocrites And of those sinners of whom our Saviour speaketh in the Gospel That he came not to call the Righteous but them to Repentance there are but few true Penitents who constantly Repent of their sins and have any setled Acquaintance with God by Prayer So that what with openly prophane Persons on the one side and ungodly Hypocrites on the other side the Peace of the Church and Common-wealth is so much troubled and disquieted that if God help not it is not in the Power of Man to Remedy and redress those things If the Lord of the Sabbath do not cause his Sabbaths more carefully to be Sanctified and bring it to pass that Holy and Religious Exercises on the Lords day on Holy-days on Week days be more in use than now they are They that are true Christians in most places had need to pray unto God that they may keep a Sabbath unto him in Heaven for there will be no keeping of Sabbath to him on Earth And thus I should pass from this Allusion as the words put us in mind of a Sabbath that should be kept to God on Earth to speak
of them as they have reference to the Sabbath that shall be kept to God in Heaven A Prayer O Almighty Lord God the Holy Lord God of Sabbath thou searchest the Hearts and tryest the Reins and from thee no Secret can be hid Thou seest and knowest that some there be who under pretence of Religion have in a manner Destroyed and over-thrown all Religion They have caused thy Sabbaths to be despised thy Worship and Service on Weeks and on Holy-days to be neglected and all publick Religious performances to be slighted and contemned Forgive we beseech thee the multitudes that were heretofore and are still fraudulently circumvented and ignorantly drawn in to be partakers in these things Open their Eyes to see their Errors and give them Grace to Repent of them Grant that they may frequent the Solemn Assemblies on week days on Holy-days on the Lords day and those Holy and Religious Duties that are enjoyned by Authority work in them a love of them and incâ—ine their Hearts to use them with Care and Conscience as they ought Who they be that did heretofore and do still resist the Truth against their Conscience we know not neither will we Judge But O Lord of Hosts that tryest the Righteous and seest the Reins and the Heart pull them out for Judgment Take we beseech thee the Matter into thine own Hands and be pleased to Discover and bring to light their Treasons and Treacheries and all other their Secret Vices which they Cloak and hide under shew of Religion The multitudes of openly prophane Persons who are wicked without shew of the contrary open their Eyes to see how much it concerneth them to hearken to the good Instructions of thy Ministers to Obey the wholesome Laws of Godly Magistrates and let them not continually resist the good Motions of thy Holy Spirit moving them to Repentance lest by despising these means which thou usest for their Sâ—â—vation they bring upon themselves the Spiritual Judgment of hardness of heart which will be worse than all temporal Plagues and Judgments whatsoever And O Lord if thou hast not determined to lay the Land Desolate and to destroy Man and Beast out of it as even this heavy Judgment we have just cause to fear hangeth over our heads for our sins be pleased to hear the Prayers of those who Serve thee in Truth and Sincerity and grant that the Infection of Hypocrisie may spread no further and that the Leprosie and Plague of sin may be abated And Bless the Endeavours of those that are truly Pious and Religious when they Legally and Lawfully Oppose Hypocrites in their painted Vices and prosper them when they seek the Reformation of Capital and Scandalous Crimes in openly prophane Persons that so the Judgments which we have just Cause to fear hang over our Heads may be averted from us and this we beseech thee to grant for Jesus Christ his sake to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory now and for ever Amen FINIS POST-SCRIPT IAM willing to believe that this Sermon or Treatise of the Sabbath will be a means to hinder the spreading Contagion of Schism and Heresie and if it find that Acceptance with the World as I hope it may I shall be encouraged to Publish such other Sermons of the same Text as I have prepared for the Press the Heads whereof I have proposed in the following Page But if my hopes deceive me and the World do still continue so to favour Sects and Sectaries that what is done doth not and what is proposed is not likely to make any thing for the publick good It is my desire that some other would find some better Expedient for the Common good than what is here done or proposed to be done and I shall willingly surcease and trouble my self nor the World no further but chear my self with Solon in this Consideration Solonis dictum O Patria ego dictis factis tibi opiâ—ulatus sum atque ita domum abiit in posterum quieturus that I have not been wanting to do what I could for the good of my Country though it hath not had that success as I hoped it would And shall onely humbly beseech Almighty God who is alone able that he would be willing for Jesus Christ his sake to Remedy and redress what is amiss Heb. IV. 9. There remaineth therefore a Rest unto the People of God THese words are a Summary and brief Conclusion and the Apostle doth infer and conclude from what he had before delivered that the People of God shall be happy and doth describe that wherein their Happiness doth consist Now then that you may see the Felicity of Gods chosen rejoyce in the gladness of his People and give thanks with his Inheritance I shall propound unto you four Grounds of Doctrines to be insisted upon First Ground of Doctrine In regard the reward that is promised unto us in the Life to come is set forth unto us by the keeping of a Sabbath I shall Observe unto you that the Happiness and Felicity of Man consisteth in the Service of his Maker in doing his Will and keeping his Commandments Second Ground of Doctrine God ever had now hath and ever will have a People upon Earth whose hearts are set upon this thing and will by no means be taken off from Serving him and glorifying their Creator Third Ground of Doctrine Though the hearts of God's People be whole within them and their intentions right placed and they intend the Service of God above all things yet they have their failings and their fallings their weaknesses and Infirmities and fall short of their Duties and their heart is not so right in all things that they should attain unto this Happiness in this Life Fourth Ground of Doctrine That which must Comfort God's People against all discouragements their fallings into sin and their failings in Duties is the consideration that such a Happiness they shall enjoy in the Life to come such a keeping of a Sabbath remaineth unto them that they shall never Offend God by sinning against him or faâ—l in their Duties in Serving him FINIS
be not at hand God will put an end to these things and his Temples shall not alwayes be profaned his Ministers continually despised neither will he ever suffer wicked Hypocrites to fight against him with his own weapons or profane Atheists to take away the means consecrated to his service and employ it to profane uses but he that is Lord of the Sabbath is Holy and will have his Holy-days and his Sabbaths to be sanctified There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God or as it is in the original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a keeping of a Sabbath The rest that is here properly meant it is that great Sabbath of rest that shall be kept unto God by all those that depart in the faith they shall keep a perpetual Sabbath unto God and shall for ever sing Heavenly Allelujahs unto him with the Holy Angels in Heaven But yet in regard this great rest is set forth and expressed in the phrase of a Sabbath keeping I hope I shall not impertinently gather from hence that all those who look to keep an eternal Sabbath unto God in Heaven they should think of this allusion and consider that there remaineth a rest a keeping of a Sabbath unto the people of God on Earth and that none shall keep a perpetual sabbath unto God hereafter but they who sanctifie his sabbaths here The sabbath of rest that is to be kept to God here as it hath reference to that great sabbath of rest hereafter I may place it in a rest from sin There is none that liveth and sinneth not and for men altogether to rest from sin here in this world it is impossible but the Scripture speaketh of wicked men and sinners that they are tumultuous and raging that they are like the raging Sea that casteth up mire and dirt continually restless are their imaginations that are Isa 57. 20. unconverted who give free sway and scope unto themselves in sin The thoughts of their hearts are evil and that continually Gen. 6. 5. they imagine mischief upon their beds and when it draweth to light they practise it They have eyes full of Mich. 2. i. 2 Pet. 2. 14. Job 24. 14. 15. 16. Adultery that cannot cease to sin yea as Job speaketh The eyes of the Adulterer waiteth for the twilight saying no eye shall see me and disguiseth his face The Murtherer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy and in the night is as a theif in the night they dig thorow houses which they had marked out for themselves in the day time day and night they labour and rest not from sinning This labour must be given over and a spiritual rest embraced Men must strive against sin and oppose it and never give over till they have quieted and appeased their tumultuous and disorderly affections so that they have vanquished the strength of sins the prevailing power of it so that they do not suffer any sin the least sin of which they are convinced in Conscience that it is sin to reign or rule or bear sway in their hearts and if they fall out of infirmity as who is there that liveth and sinneth not yet they are grieved for their failings and fallings rise again by repentance and continually ask God forgiveness for what they have done amiss This now is a rest from sin a keeping a perpetual sabbath unto God beside this rest from sin men must rest unto God have leisure times to serve him It is the principal end of our Creation God made us for this end to serve him and that they ought to set apart some time for the service of God this is engraven in the hearts of all men living For the determinate time that God hath appointed for his Worship and service as for certain he hath after a special and more peculiar manner sanctified and set apart some time for that end we cannot be so well guided by the candle of nature as by the light of the word The Scriptures then every where but especially in the fourth Commandement tell us of the rest of the Holy sabbath which the Lord of the sabbath hath severed and set apart for his own use one day in seven God hath chose and set apart for himself It received its confecration and was set apart to be a day of rest unto God upon this ground and reason because that God in it rested from his works of Creation The Church of God in the Apostles times did change the day in memorial of our Saviour his Resurrection because that on the first day of the week Christ did rise from the dead and rested from the great work of our Redemption Though there be no expresse precept in Scripture for the altring of the day yet that the Apostles in their practice were guided by the spirit it is confessed by all Protestant writers that are Orthodox I will alleadge one for all Zanchie after he had related it out of Justin Martyr his Apology to the Emperour Antoninus how the Christians were wont to meet on the Lord's day to hear the word and receive the Sacraments and to perform other Holy and Religious exercises he thus concludeth Ex his liquet Apostolos per spiritum sanctum vel potius spiritum Sanctum per Apostolos festum solennitatemque Sabbati in diem dominicum transtulisse From this it is manifest that the Apostles by the spirit or rather the spirit of God by the Apostles did transferre the festivity and solemnity of the sabbath unto the Lords day but yet though the day be changed yet the keeping one day in seven by consecrating it to the service of God making it a rest from sin and a rest unto God by performing in it Holy and Religious exercises which is the morality of the fourth Commandment is still retained We are then to keep Holy one day in seven not only upon the ground and Reason which is laid down in the fourth Commandment because that in six days God finished the works of his Creation and rested the seventh But we are likewise strengthened and confirmed in keeping our Christian Sabbath which is likewise one day in seven in regard that on that day Christ did rise from the dead and rest from the great work of our Redemption So that the morality of the sabbath is so far from being taken away by the change of the day that it is hereby more strongly strengthened and confirmed That one day in seven should be kept Holy is the morality of the fourth Commandement beside the sanctifying one day in seven it is requisite that the sollemn day for God's service be kept in its season and God requireth not that any 7th day of our own devising should be celebrated but he looketh and expecteth that such a seventh day be kept as he hath appointed The seventh day from the Creation was the day Commanded of God and for the time that God required it this and no other was to be
celebrated The People of God before the Law and after the Law given in Mount Sinai were to keep the seventh day from the Creation and no other It may be objected that the Sun which is the measure of time and of days it stood still in the dayes of Joshua it went backward in the dayes of Hezekiah so that that particular seventh day from the Creation which was first celebrated could not be punctually observed by the people of God under the law To this I answer That so long as the people of God under the Law did according to common computation keep the seventh day from the Creation without any willful varying from God his institution from the intent and meaning of the law-maker who neverrequireth of menimpossibilities they could not be said to be guilty of the breach of the fourth Commandment though they did not observe that numerical identical day from the Creation which was first celebrated He that made the law may change the Law and he that made time in his hand times and seasons are and he may change them according to his own pleasure The spirit of God by the Apostles did change the seventh day from the Creation into that seventh day which we now celebrate in memorial of our Saviour's Resurrection and the seventh day from the Creation hath forfeited its right and is become a common working day by his appointment in whose hands times and seasons are who changeth them according to his own pleasure and now the day sanctified and set apart for God is our Christian Sabbath the Lord's day the first day of the week this and no other is to be sanctified and whosoever they be that are Christians acquainted with the Scriptures and the word of God or the practice of the Church in the Apostles times if they set apart any other 7th day to be sanctified as the day of God's institution beside that which we now celebrate they make themselves liable to God's displeasure in this world and to his eternal indignation in the world to come It may be objected against our Christian sabbath that that particular seventh which the Apostles instituted by the spirit or rather the spirit by the Apostles it hath not continued without change to some and it is a question whether it can be continued without change to any it is observed that men in travelling to some places of the World and some Christians have occasion to Travel for necessary traffick lose one day in a year yea Astronomers that observe the motion of the Heavens and the measure of time do observe that there is continually some losse or at least some change of time so that that particular seventh day that was first instituted we supposing a seventh day to be set apart could not successively long continue without some change or alteration To this I answer Whether they be travellers or who else they be if they do not willfully transgresse nor purposely vary from God's institution but according to common computation reckoning time according to the custome of the place where they live and the persons with whom they converse do celebrate the first day of the week the Lord's day the seventh day which the spirit of God by the Apostles did Command without choosing any other seventh day of their own heads if I say as near as they can they keep themselves to God's institution they cannot be said to offend against the morality of the fourth Commandement whereby God hath set apart a seventh day of rest in memorial of his resting from the works of his Creation neither can they be said to transgresse God's Command by the Apostles whereby he hath instituted this seventh day which we now sanctifie as a day of rest in memorial of our Saviour's rest from the great work of our Redemption I shall illustrate this by a plain similitude taken out of Scripture God Commanded the Children of Israel to keep Numb 9. 10. the passeover unto him at a set time of the year upon a set day of the month they were to keep it in the first month upon the fourteenth day of the month it so fell out that certain men were defiled by the dead they inquired of God by Moses whether they were so necessarily tyed to the day that they might not keep the passover at all if they did not keep it on the day wherein it was enjoyned to be kept answer was returned that if any were unclean or were in a journey a far off then he might alter the time and whereas the prescript time for keeping the passeover was the 14th day of the first month the time might be altered and the passeover kept on the fourteenth day of the second month but if a man were clean and not in a journey and should forbear to keep the passeover at the set time appointed he should be cut off from the people of God because he brought not the offering of God in his appointed season If necessity constrain and men be in a journey travelling or the change of times be such that that particular seventh day instituted cannot successively be continued or punctually observed God doth not tie men to impossibilities nor yet to great inconveniences and if men do not willfully transgress nor vary from God's institution but according to common computation as neer as they can keep the seventh day instituted for certain they keep God his Sabbaths and observe his Ordinances But if men be not in a journey travelling and be not hindred from keeping according to common Computation the 7th day instituted and will upon their own heads keep the Jewish Sabbath the seventh day from the Creation the sabbath that is now cancelled or think it sufficient to keep any day of their own devising without observing of the Lord's day according to the Lord's Ordinance they exclude themselves from the Communion of Saints and without serious and unseigned Repentance make themselves liable to God's wrath here to his eternal displeasure hereafter for not keeping the Lord his Rest nor Sanctifying the Sabbath in its appointed season It may be Objected that the Church of God is still guided by the Spirit and if the Spirit of God by the Apostles did change the Day that was first Instituted by God which was the Seventh Day from the Creation into that Seventh Day which we now Celebrate May not the Church of God change it again from this Seventh Day to some other To this I Answer that it cannot be supposed that there should be such ground and reason for the change of the day as there was in the Apostles Time The cause of the change of the Day it was in memory of our Saviour's Resurrection because that on that Day he rested from the great work of our Redemption I suppose therefore in regard the like Reason of a Change cannot be given the Spirit of God will not again guide the Church to alter the Day I shall propound a Question more profitable