but the Sabbath and surely he understood his own Institution and was not mistaken in the Day And the Doctor p. 4. says The Words he Blessed and Sanctified it may be a strong Intimation for Mankind ever after to observe the Seventh day c. But he says is not expresly said And that the Seventh day Blessed and Sanctified Gen. 2. 2 3. is not only a strong Intimation as the Doctor but does include the Seventh day of every Week afterward in a continual Succession or Circulation of Days and Weeks I think is proved by the Words of Blessing and Sanctifying or making Holy the Seventh day which are comprehensive Words and from Exod. 20. 10 11. as that day of every Week which Men were and are to remember to keep Holy And God's Sabbatizing on the Seventh day was as I think that Man might keep the Sabbath day in the continual Circulation of Weeks in a Spiritual Rest And in this Scripture Gen. 2. 2. we have the Foundation for the Seventh day Sabbath where the Words are And on the seventh day God had ended his work which he had made and he rested or sabbatized on the seventh day from all his work which he had made Heb. 4. 4. Where it is said he spake of the Seventh day in this wise and God did rest the seventh day from all his works and Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made Gen. 2. 3. And from God's Sabbatizing here it is That the seventh day is called the sabbath Exod. 20. 9. 11. And throughout the Old and New-Testament from the Heb. root Shabath he kept Sabbath And the Lords Blessing the Seventh day Gen. 2. 3. makes it a day of his distributing the greatest heavenly Blessings upon all that obey his Voice And his Sanctifying the Seventh day shews it to be Consecrated and so separated from all common Works and earthly Employments and shews it to be Dedicated and Sanctified by him to his Worship as an Holy day and as his day i. e. the Lords day to be used in Holy Solemn Exercises of Religion as long as the World lasts till Believers come to that Sabbatism in Heaven which remains for the People of God Heb. 4. 4 8 9. And he that doubts the Seventh day Gen. 2. 2 3. does not include every Seventh day in the continual Succession of Weeks may see by comparing Exod. 20. that this Institution is not mentioned in Exod. 20. as then first given but as that which God had Instituted upon his creating the World and the keeping the weekly Sabbath was as absolutely necessary for the Spiritual good of those Believers and others who lived in the first Ages of the World after the Fall and of Adam and Eve also if they had not fallen as it is for us at this day to Contemplate his infinite Excellencies and mighty Works And p. 3. from Gen. 2. 2 3. and Exod. 20. 11. he does agree that God hath appointed after six days of ordinary Labour Man should observe a Seventh day of Holy rest and this in a continual Succession which I think goes far to resolve this question not a but the Seventh day only being first instituted Gen. 2. and afterward observed as a Sabbath throughout the Scriptures And if he agrees as he does p. 3. that it was the Seventh day that was Blessed and Sanctified Gen. 2. 3. and that this is a clear and ancient Testimony for the Holiness of time as he doth then till another Sanctified Day of the Week and another weekly time can be found which is Blessed and Sanctified by the Lord we are for ought I can see to rest or keep Sabbath upon the Seventh day as our Lord did by whom we have no other weekly Day or Time Consecrated or observed as Holy but only the Seventh day and the Doctor 's opinion of the Holiness of this time has confirmed and as I think established my Thoughts of the Holiness of the Seventh-day-Sabbath I agree also with him that the Law of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commands Exod. 20. and am not only willing to think as the Doctor but am satisfied it was a Law before and that not only because we find it observed Exod. 16. before the Law given at Sinai Exod 20. in which Exod. 16. 25 26. the Seventh day is called a Sabbath to the Lord i. e. the Lord's day but especially as the Doctor acknowledges for that Gen. 2. 3. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Work and I do with the Doctor think this a clear Testimony and as ancient as the Creation for the Holiness of Time i. e. as far as I can possibly discern for the Holiness of the weekly Seventh day for there was no other weekly Day then or since made Holy that we can find in the Word but the Seventh day only and this alone will go very far to resolve and settle this question I agree also with the Doctor that the Law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments tho' then given to Israel is binding to us also p. 3. 4. And I think we have sufficient Evidence from the Scriptures that the Sabbath was observed from the Creation to the Flood tho' he thinks in the short History Moses gives of that time there be no mention made of such Observation from the Creation to the Flood For First on the Seventh day God Heb. Elohim had ended his Work which he had made and he Sabbatized on the Seventh day from all his Work which he had made Gen. 2. 2. The Example of God's keeping the first Seventh-day-Sabbath is one undeniable Evidence of the Seventh-day-Sabbath kept after the Creation For Gen. 2. 1. The heavens and the earth and all the Hosts of them were finished before the seventh day and so the Seventh day was kept after the Creation and before the Flood A second Evidence is the same repeated Gen. 2. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his Work which he had Created and Made Which Repetition of God's resting the Seventh day does strongly inculcate and inforce our Duty and certainly prove that God had rested the Seventh day after the Creation and before the Flood A third Evidence from the Case of Cain and Abel Gen. 4. 3. And in process of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord and v. 4. Abel also brought his offering In Process of Time Heb. Mikketz Jammin at the end of Days or at the cutting off of Days Enquiry p. 23. Which end or cutting off of days so far as God hath revealed seems to be the end of the Days of the Week when the reckoning of Days was cut off and after the Seventh day ended they were to begin to reckon again 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 't was the Seventh day the last day
of altering the Seventh-day-Sabbath as Mr. Chafie p. 31. nor any new Epocha as the Doctor p. 10. And so the seventh Day was not forgotten but well known to them and yet the Doctor p. 10. tells us That as to the sabbath observed from the Creation to this first raining of Manna that there is six to one that it is not the same so that was uncertain also Nor do I see any reason why a new Epocha from Exod. 16. 23 30. should be imagined unless it be because it is so plain a proof of the Israelites observing the Seventh-day-Sabbath before the Law at Sinai in obedience to the Law Gen. 2. 23. which answers so much of learned Mr. Chafie's and of the Doctor 's Books And if there were no new Epocha in Exod. 16. then it seems agreed that the seventh Day was never altered till the coming of Christ And the fourth Command Exod. 20. 8 11. I think puts this out of doubt Remember the seventh day to keey it holy six days shalt thou labour but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God ver 9. 10. that is the seventh Day is the Lords Day For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and rested the seventh day and blessed the sabbath and made it holy Does any fancy that the sabbath-Sabbath-day here is meant A sabbath-Sabbath-day or that the seventh-seventh-day is meant only A seventh-seventh-day and so that another Day of the Week is intended and will answer the letter of the fourth Command as well as the seventh-day I answer beside what is said in the Enquiry That such meaning of the fourth Command I think is no where found in any Book before the time of Christ nor during his Life for such a sense would have gratified the Jews to object against Christ nor is it found whilst any of the Apostles lived nor I think in many hundreds of years after all their deaths Does any doubt which is the Sabbath-day he is to remember to keep holy Does any doubt which is the Sabbath-day which the Lord Blessed Or Does any doubt which is the Day of the Week the Lord made Holy The Answer is here express The seventh-day is the Sabbath which the Lord blessed and made holy which we are to remember to keep holy Does any doubt whether the order of the Days of the Week settled Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. was altered The answer is here plain For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and rested the seventh day which does refer to and seem to me directly to confirm the days and their names of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. appointed in Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. together with the time when they begin and end and so I think we are thus far safe that from Gen. 2. to Exod. 20. there was no new Epocha of days nor any manner of uncertainty which was the seventh-day there was no intermission of the days by chance nor the Day forgotten or neglected as the Doctor p. 61. nor as I think any manner of doubt when the days did begin and end This seems to me so plain as I had said nothing thereof if I had not found the Doctor insist much as if there had passed some alteration of days and afterwards as if the Days began at Midnight and as if I had nothing but Tradition whereby to guess which is the seventh-day from the Creation to Exod. 20. for which we have before so many highly probable and other certain Scripture Proofs and for which the fourth Command alone is proof enough being declarative of what was blessed and hallowed before in Gen. 2. and is here in Exod. 20. explained and confirmed The Oracles of God were committed to the Israelites Rom. 3. 2. to them was committed the keeping the Old Testment and therein the Moral Law and therein the fourth Command and therein the seventh-day and the Laws given at Sinai are said to be true Laws and good Commandments and so they certainly were and are both true and good and the Lord made known unto them his holy Sabbaths Nehe. 9. 13 15. and if they were made known to them then they knew his holy Sabbaths and if they knew them as they did then his Sabbaths were not altered And whether other Nations did measure their time by Weeks p. 5. See Mr. Chafie chap. 13. p. 45. chap. 14. p. 49. I think expresly for it And to argue from Abel Enoch Noah and Abraham with such high Characters as the Lord gives them in his word and of Abraham as keeping his Laws and his Commandments are as I think strong arguments to prove the matter of fact and sufficiently expressed that they kept the Sabbath which is one of the Commandments tho the Doctor p. 7. thinks them weak And from their Practice and the Scriptures before cited I think we have a certainty thereof whereof the Doctor p. 8. says We have scarce a Conjecture which seem hard Words against one and yet harder against so many Scriptures And tho' I am willing to thank the Doctor for what he would give me to begin the Week on Monday p. 9. that so his Sunday may be the Seventh-day yet I do not think any Mans Authority so great as to alter the way of numbring the Days which God hath settled or to controul or alter the Day God has Blessed and I am content with Gods Allowance and Command therein What is offered about the Paschal Lamb and Passover and Circumcision p. 11. being sometimes intermitted I think does confirm the Seventh-day and not hurt it for that when the Israelites returned to those appointments they kept them again And if it be true which p. 13. the Doctor thinks without doubt and certain that we do not know which is the Seventh-day in a continual Circulation from the Creation then all the Doctors Arguments before and afterwards for the First day are here as it seems without doubt and certainly answered by himself for if we do not know which is the Seventh day we cannot know which is the First day and so cannot possibly keep a Day which we know not and somewhat like this he offers p. 1. Nor do I see how the Doctor or any other Person can be long held to think as they seem to do And p. 1. He thinks it impossible for him to know the First day and p. 14. Impossible for any Man to know the Seventh day which are also directly against him And p. 16. he says We have no particular Command in another Case which I think we have and not only a practice most likely to be Gods Will p. 17. But that not being now in question I pass it by And as to what he there says for the change of the Seventh to the First day that I would think so also if I were not otherwise prepossed with Prejudice and with a great fondness to find out somewhat wherewith to find fault I Reply that I doubt we have many great Faults not
Prudence to interpose and of tacit Limitations implyed I doubt reserves a liberty inconsistent with the Word and Law of God and very hard to be defended For with those Limitations and if Humane Laws shall determine the Divine Laws in some Parts of the World bad Men may find Pretences for the rankest Atheism Theism Arrianism and Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit notwithstanding the First Command for the foulest Corruptions and Invasions on Christian instituted Spiritual Worship notwithstanding the Second for the highest Prophanations of the Name of the Divine Majesty notwithstanding the Third as well as for polluting the Sabbath notwithstanding the Fourth and for Rebellion Murder Adultery Stealing False-witnessing and Covetting notwithstanding the other Six And so it seems to me such Limitations c. have need of many Cautions to correct them Now before I answer the Doctor 's two Expedients I first Reply to somewhat more I find in Mr. Chafie's Learned Tract Mr. Chafie in p. 2. of his Epistle says That Christ the Son of God hath taken away the Jews Sabbath and Established another contrary to what God the Father instituted c. Now tho I hope he was a very Good as well as a Learned Man yet he seems not to have then had clear Apprehensions of Christ as creating the World and then resting nor of Christ as instituting the Sabbath Gen. 2. 2 3. nor of Christ confirming the Moral Law at Synai c. Exod. 20. nor of Christ making it perpetual in Matth. 5. 18. Luke 16. 17. And in that Tract Mr. Chafie speaks of one Sabbath at the Creation another in Exod. 16. and another at the Resurrection of Christ by which Notion he makes to have been three Sabbaths from whom I think the Doctor takes up if I mistake him not the like opinion of three Sabbaths wherein I think they are both out as before And hereafter for Mr. Chafie's Notion of one Seventh-day-Sabbath at the Creation and another Seventh-day Sabbath in Exod. 16. I doubt would make two Seventh-day-Sabbaths in one Week of seven Days which seems to me inconsistent and would make the First day more uncertain also besides the uncertainties of the Doctor Mr. Chafie's opinion p. 19 20. That God hath not bound men to any set time to begin their Week and chap. 8. p. 18. he says The Law-giver himself hath plainly pointed out unto us in this Law that is in the Fourth Command which is the Lords Day or Sabbath of the Lord and that is the day following the six days of Labour with Men and that in every nation however they begin their Week the Seventhday thereof is the Lords p. 20. l. 9. p. 44. l. 6 7. and his Epistle p. 7. l. 4. and that the Seventh day is not to be reckoned from the six days of God's Labour but from the six days of Labour with Men and so also in his Postscript but doth acknowledge chap. 11. p. 35. it hath been the general opinion not only of the Vulgar but of the Learned also which opinion of the Learned I think is right that the Seventh day commanded us in this Law hath Relation only to the six Work-days of the Lord God and not to the six Work-days with Men which opinion of Mr. Chafie's for Mans Day is I think contrary to Gen. 2. 2. for on the seventh day God ended his work c. and rested the seventh day from all his work so as t was the six days God wrought which were the six working-Working-days and the Seventh day God rested when he ended his Work which was and is the Holy and Blessed Sabbath which first appointment of the Lord I find no where changed and so Exod. 20. 9 10 11. Six days shalt thou labour but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord in it thou shalt not do any work c. For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy and so it seems very plain that the six working-Working-days are those on which the Lord wrought and the Resting or Sabbath day that which the Lord made Holy and Blessed and on which he Rested And Mr. Chafie in chap. 12. says God by his Law tyeth all Nations that at what time soever they begin the Week they work not on the Seventh day but sanctifie it Which would be true if men began the Week as the Lord directed in Gen. 1. but else by that Rule of Mr. Chafie's Friday in Turkey being their weekly Sabbath the Christians living in Turkey are bound by the Fourth Command to sanctifie Friday i. e. the sixth Day of the Week as the Lords Sabbath day because the Turks there so do And by the same Rule those Christians who live in any Heathen Nation where they Worship the Sun and observe Sunday there they must keep Sunday and Sanctifie it because the Heathens where they live so do And those Christians who live in those Christian Provinces who keep the Seventh day must keep the Seventh day as the Lords Day because others so keep it and for that reason And the like of those who live in any part of the World amongst the Israelites And those Christians who live in those Christian Countries where they keep the Seventh-day-Sabbath and the First day also must keep I know not which of them by Mr. Chafie's Rule And I take it as agreed we are not to keep two Days in a Week and that there are some such people of these sorts see Enquiry p. 119 c. Which Rule of Mr. Chafie's to resolve which is the Sabbath day commanded by the Practice of the Country where we live and that God hath not bound men when to begin their Week is to set up Mans Day as it seems to me against the Lords Day and I think the Doctor writes by for he seems to take it as he finds it Which Rule I doubt will agree neither with the letter or meaning of Gen. 2. 2 3. or of the Fourth Command What Mr. Chafie objects That by the different Horizons where-ever Paradice was which p. 17. he says is unknown no man can tell in the place where he liveth when to begin the Day of Gods resting at the Creation I Answer if our Sabbath did begin at the same instant of time that Gods first Rest did and Men were obliged to that instant then that were an hard objection But I know no place in the Word where it is said that every Sabbath afterward was to begin the same moment or time that the first Sabbath began in Paradice or at Synai c. Nor do I remember any thing so offered in any Writer But that the Sabbath then did and that Sabbaths afterward were to begin in the Evening everywhere as Time was distributed into Days at the Creation I think is before shewn and that every Day of the Week began in the Evening and lasted from Evening to Evening and that the
21 23. 1 Tim. 2. 8. God is a Spirit and his true worshippers did do and shall worship him in spirit and in truth And I know no colour now for the Holiness of Places for which yet as the Dr. p. 3. some are zealous I agree with him that Christmas is of Human Institution which I think he admits by the words so be it p. 3. which I think does also lay aside all other Holy Days which are but of Human Institution and p. 13. about Christmas the Doctor says It is not agreed amongst Chronologies either what Year or what Month much less what day of that Month our Saviour was Born yet he says we keep December the 25th in memory of his Birth as supposing him to have been then Born And p. 45. he says No Man at this Day knows what Day it was and p. 13. That we are at so great uncertainty as we reckon the Year 1692 from his Circumcision to begin the first of January and the same Year his Conception not till the 25th of March after as if his Birth and Circumcision had been a quarter of a Year before his Conception And so the Doctor leaves those days If I mistake not utterly uncertain In p. 12. he tells us The Pascal Tables which should direct us what day to keep Easter on do put us further out then if we had none at all I agree with the Doctor p. 2 3. that our Lord Jesus Christ according to his Divinity was God and is so the true God the God that made Heaven and Earth the God who delivered the Law at Mount Synai and I think those three the father the Son and the Holy Spirit are on Jehovah Deut. 6. 4. 5. Jehovah Aelohenu Jehovah our Mightiest is Jehovah Aechad is one Jehovah was is and will be one Jehovah i. e. the Lord our God is one Lord and Mark 12. 29 30. The Lord our God is one Lord which are the words of Jesus And I agree also that the Blessing and Sanctifying the seventh Day Gen. 2. 3. was by Jehovah the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit which goes far in this Question and I think proves the seventh Day to be the Lord's Day And when he has acknowledged the Father Son and the Holy Spirit to be three yet but one God the Lord Jehovah c. he adds p. 3. But he cannot agree that Christ as God and Man in Contradistinction to the Father and Holy Spirit did all those things for he that is Christ was not then Man Which Words of the Doctor of what he does agree and what he cannot agree insinuates as if I had said that Christ as God-Man did all those things which the Doctor cannot agree whereas he must needs know that is not so for I neither say nor ever thought till that I read it in Mr. G. T. and the Doctor that Christ was Incarnate at the making of the World or at his giving of the Law on Sinai so as the Doctor has not well surmized in this and any Reader may see it is not so for Christ took our Nature on him about 4000 years after the Creation and I find not a word of any Contradistinction between the Father and the Holy Spirit and the Son in the Enquiry but the direct contrary viz. their oneness with the Son in those Works which they both cannot but know And he adds p. 3. what he should rather say about our Lord Jesus Christ's blessing the seventh Day because he was not then the Lord Christ God and Man c. seems to make the Surmize somewhat worse upon which he says that I p. 64. lay great stress for neither I nor any other that I know has said or thought that Christ when he Blessed the seventh Day was then in the Flesh so that in this I think the Doctor blamable But the Doctor does acknowledge that the Son is Jehovah i. e. that he is Lord for which see Enquiry p. 9. 10. c. and I think he does believe that the Son of God is Jesus that is the Saviour the only Saviour and that he is Christ that is the anointed for that Glorious Blessed Work of Redemption that is the Messiah he is called as I think often in the Old-Testament For the Father has chosen us in him before the foundation of the World in him that is in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ as Christ is expresly named Eph. 1. 2 3 4. And in Colos 1. 16. speaking of Christ as he by whom all things were created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth v. 17. and he is before all things he that is Christ is expresly Colos 1. 2 3. there named the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ who v. 19. created all things and Christ is named our Lord Jesus Christ in every Epistle from Rom. to the Heb. for so far I searched a little and that frequently and sometime after also Mr. G. T. whom the Doctor in this Objection seems to follow writes of this great Mystery in two or three places under the like and greater mistakes and so at present I leave him But for the Doctor to impose upon his Readers herein as he does p. 2 3. seems blameable And why he thus begins in a Case which relates to the Deity of Christ with such Insinuations for which he has no colour that I know from the Enquiry wherein Christ's Deity and his being Jehovah is directly affirmed unless it be at first to infuse some Prejudice I am not willing to conjecture And as to this if the Holy Spirit by Paul names Christ the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ in whom the Father hath chosen his before the foundation of the world by whom all things were created and who was before all things I see no reason why Mr. G. T. and the Doctor should vary from the Apostles expressions and divers other Scriptures And such Artifices the Reader may discern afterward I agree also with the Doctor That God who made the world in six days rested the seventh day Gen. 2. 2 3. Exod. 20. 11. And that he blessed the sabbath day and hallowed or Sanctified it Doctor p. 3. and here he does read it not a seventh bue the seventh Day the same Hebrew word here in Gen. 2. 2 3. Hashebigni which is used in Exod. 20. 10 11. which some would render there a seventh and the Reason and Sence of Gen. 2. 2 3. does require that it be rendered as the word signifies the Seventh Day for no man that I know does imagine that the Lord Gen. 2. 2 3. Blessed and Sanctified any other Day of the Week for Rest but that only on which he Rested and that was expresly not a but the Seventh and no other day of the Week and so I think for all after Seventh days in the Circulation of after Weeks and Christ in the time of his Incarnation kept not a Sabbath
may resort to the Book And to conclude Instead of further summing up what I have weakly written here in Reply to the Learned Doctor and others as I could I commend to the Reader a few Scriptures Gen. 2. 2 3 4. On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested the seventh day from all his work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had created and made and so the Sabbath is the day upon which God rested after his Work and which he Blessed and made Holy who is v. 4. Jehovah Aelohim the Lord God so the Seventh day is the Lords day Exod. 16. 29. The seventh-day-sabbath is said to be as it is a gift The Lord hath given you the sabbath and so we should take it as a Gift from him as his Gift and as the Lords day Exod. 20. 8 9 10 11. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy c. The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God and so the Seventh day is the Lords day Exod. 31. 13. The Lord calls them my sabbaths verily my sabbaths ye shall keep so the Sabbath is the Lords day it is a sign between me and you c. that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctifie you v. 14. and ye shall keep the sabbath because it is holiness to you v. 15. Six days work shall be done but the seventh is the sabbath of rest holiness to the Lord v. 16. the sabbath a perpetual covenant t is holiness to you v. 14. and holy to the Lord v. 15. v. 16. the sabbath a perpetual covenant and v. 17 a sign for ever For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed so the Seventh day is the Lords day And v. 18. The Lord gave to Moses to tables of testimony written with the finger of God And Exod. 32. 15 16. the tables were the work of God and the writing the writing of God upon which tables of testimony or witness the fourth command was one Exod. 35. 2. Six days shall work be done and on the seventh day it shall be to you holiness Lev. 23. 3. Six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest an holy convocation ye shall do no work therein it is the sabbath of the Lord c. so the Seventh day is the Lords day Lev. 23. 32. from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath which I think is directing in an Humiliation day which is there to begin in the Evening when they were to afflict themselves And I think states this part of the Question when the Days began that is in the Evening and when they ended that is at the next Evening which the Dr. p. 27. thinks began and ended at mid-night In Numb 15. 32. we have the case of the Man who gathered sticks not A but The Sabbath day which is a great certain undeniable example against the least prophaning of the Sabbath day Deut. 5. 12. Keep the sabbath day to sanctifie it as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee 13. Six days labour c. v. 14. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God c. so the Seventh day is the Lords day of Rest i. e. the seventh day is the Lords day Psal 119. 1 6. blessed are those who walk in his law and in keeping of his commandments there is great reward Psal 19. 11. Esai 56. 2. Blessed is the man who keepeth the sabbath from polluting it v. 4. 6. from polluting it Ezek. 20. 13 16 24 my sabbath they greatly polluted if we would be Blessed keep his Sabbaths and dont pollute them which it seems was Israels Sin of old Esai 58. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath a delight or delights the holy of the Lord so the Sabbath day is the Lords day honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine own ways nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words v. 14. then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord c. and is not that a desirable frame Ezek. 22. 1 2. The word of the Lord thou hast prophaned my sabbath v. 26. her Priests have violated my law c. and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths So the Sabbath day is the Lords day Ezek. 44. 4 5 15 24. in the prophesie of the new temple there is a promise that the Priests who shall come near unto the Lord to minister unto him they shall hallow my sabbaths So the Sabbath day is the Lords day Matth. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law v. 18. For verity I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled dont think that Christ altered one tittle of the Law and so not one jot or tittle is yet passed from the Law Matth. 18. 8. Christ is said to be Lord of the Sabbath day and if Christ be Lord of the Sabbath day then the Sabbath day is the Lords day Mat. 24. 20. Pray that your flight be not on the sabbath day which flight was about 38 years after Christs Death which I think shews it was to continue after his Death that is as I think as long as the World lasts Matth. 28. 18 19 20. Christ to his Disciples go teach all nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and Christ with the Father and holy Spirit one Jehovah gave the commands as before Mark 1. 21. after Christs Baptism by John v. 9. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God v. 14. repent ye and believe the Gospel v. 15. then he calls Simon and Andrew James and John and they followed him v. 16 to 20. and they went into Capernaum and straitway on the sabbath day he entered into the Synagogue and taught and Mark 2. 27. the sabbath was made for man for his good for his spiritual good Mark 16. 1 2. Jesus came into his own country and his disciples followed him and when the sabbath day was come he began to preach in the synagogue which also proves the Sab. made for the spiritual use of man Luke 4. 16 to 27. in v. 14. after his being tempted v. 13. Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee and v. 15. taught in their Synagogues and v 16. he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up for to read and preached the Gospel v. 17 to 29. and then he came down to Capernaum and taught them on the sabbath day besides divers other places in the Evangelists which do all prove
hard to be found and I commend to the Doctor Rev. 3. 17. But I know nothing of Prejudice or Fondness corrupt Nature and human Frailties by Grace disallowed in this and all Cases excepted as he surmises but whensoever I find in the Scriptures any Truth which would correct my Conversation and make it agreeable to Gods Will after due seach and consideration honestly and conscientiously to comply with it as other Christians do or ought and this question has been considered by me now near twenty six Years And if such Truth according to the best of that Knowledge God hath graciously given concern others also then to communicate it and if it be a Truth which can be by me no other way opened to them then to do it in this sort as I weakly can and I shall be heartily glad the Doctor or any other would do it much better as he is very well able And if we are not to hide our selves from our Brother's Ox or his Sheep when we see them go astray Deut. 22. 1 2 3 4. And if we are obliged when others especially our Brethren err in Judgment or Practice to reprove them How much more are we bound when we see many erring in a moral Duty to endeavour to set them right And to surmise upon him that he writes those Reflections and many others to prepossess and prejudice Readers I am loath to do Nor had I made this Vindication if I had not been compelled by the Doctor 's Charge And as to the Israelites keeping the true Seventh-day-Sabbath commanded Exod. 20. from thence to the Incarnation of our Lord I do not remember the Doctor to deny it for which I think there is enough said in the Enquiry p. 26. 27 28. and much more might be added if need were and I am unwilling to write again the same things altho' by repeating the same Objections and reinforcing the old with new Words I am sometime constrained so to do And in general I say that as far as I can judge there is enough said in the Enquiry to prove that not A but The Sabbath Instituted Gen. 2. and Repeated Exod. 20. and observed from thence to Christs coming and with every tittle of the rest of the Moral Law confirmed and made perpetual by Christ in Matth. 5. 17 18 19. and Luke 16. 14 17. who certainly knew the true Sabbath day binds all men till the Heaven and Earth pass away which is not yet And not A Seventh day but The Seventh day there established and made perpetual was observed by Christ during his Life for so was his custom Luke 4. 16 to 21. Enquiry p. 38. 39 41 42 43 45. and was observed by Believers after his Death Resurrection and Ascension so was Paul's custom Acts 17. 2. which was never altered by the Word that I know Which confirming and making the Law perpetual and every Jot and Tittle of it by Christ who was and is Jehovah does also fully prove as I think that not A but the Seventh-day-Sabbath was neither altered nor changed nor forgotten nor any way uncertain to Christs time neither as to the day nor as to the beginning or ending of it and that the Seventh day is the Lords Day This being premised let us consider what the Doctor further offers for the First or against the Seventh day p. 17. 18. he tells us That Christ on the day of his resurrection did not only appear to the good Women at the Sepulchre and declare to them the Resurrection but also the same day himself declares it to two of them going to Emmaus Luke 24. 27 32. and did expound to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself and did open to them the the Scriptures and did as he takes it celebrate the Lords Supper implyed in the words he took bread and blessed it and brake and gave to them ver 30 c. 'T is true Christ after the Resurrection appeared to Mary Magdalen and to the other Mary Matth. 28. 1. 9. And the Angel said to them v. 5. and Mark 16. 5 6. He is not here but is risen go tell his disciplees that he is risen from the dead which they did but the Disciples believed them not Now 't is certain as 't is agreed that Christ rose the Third day which Third day was the First day of the Week and that the Angel Matth. 28. 5. and two Angels Luke 24. 4. and John 20. 12. said to the Women that Christ was risen and the women told it to the Disciples yet the Disciples would not believe them and we have Christ appearing to two Disciples as they travelled into the Country Mark 16. 12. And they went and told it to the rest of the Disciples but they believed not them Verse the 13. And Christ's appearing to the Women was a practical proving of the Resurrection Some think the two Disciples Mark 16. 12. to be the two Disciples traveling to Emmaus Luke 24. 13. which is very likely and that Peter from Luke 24. 34. and 1 Cor. 15. 5. was one of them But 't is certain they were two Disciples and yet the rest would not believe them Mark 16. 13. And their Discourse upon the way as they travelled together Luke 24. 13. was such as the Doctor mentions and Christ there reproved them for not believing what the Prophets had spoken v. 25. That Christ ought to suffer but did not reprove them that we read for travelling on that day And 't is likely the Breaking and Blessing of Bread ver 30. might be for ought I know the Sacrament of the Supper and implied But still the Journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus and back again was a travelling Journey being near fifteen Miles and more then a Sabbath days Journey as the Doctor agrees and I do not see how he can make that Journey consist with the keeping that First day as a Sabbath whereof there is there or before no Institution nor any Mention but rather the direct contrary their travelling upon that First day of the Week without any reproof from Christ as upon any other of the Six days seems directly against the Doctor And whether our Lord did then travel without pain as the Dr. is not written he had then the Wounds in his Body and at his appearing afterward to the Disciples and Thomas John 20. 25 27. Luke 24. 29. and yet might be without pain for ought I know but surely the two Disciples travelled as others do And although the Disciples were eminently Holy yet because not written I do not know what they were then imployed about at Jerusalem unless it were mourning and weeping Mark 16. 10. where they were assembled for fear of the Jews John 20. 19. before or after the report of the Women whom they did not credit And p. 19. I think the Doctor agrees the meeting of the Disciples there providential and not upon a Sabbath account for 't was for fear of the Jews And Christs appearing
third Day and all Scholars know that Greek Prepositions and Particles are often variously rendered as the reason of the place where they are used does require And if this place in Mark 8. 31. be so rendered in three Days i. e. after the third Day is come that agrees with all the above cited Scriptures for his rising the third Day and so Grotius and Beza and other Annotators on Mark 8. 31. And there is this difference as before that after eight days is no where explained to be the eighth day including the first of the eight or excluding the day after the eighth nor explained by in eight days as after three days in Mark 8. 31. is expresly explained by many Scriptures to be the third day and as above in three days i. e. till the third day What is offered p. 22. from Luke 1. 59. on the eighth day they came to Circumcise John was according to the Institution Gen. 17. 12. He that is eight days old shall be circumcised which Institution does actually include the day of Birth for that the day of Birth is one day and seven days more do accomplish eight days Luke 2. 21. but 't is no where said of that that I know that 't was after eight days that they were to be Circumcised But if after eight days did include the first of the eight days and did exclude the day after the eighth day yet here is no abrogating the Seventh-day-Sabbath nor any instituting the first day not any word to any such purpose but this seems an occasion taken by our Lord after eight days after his Resurrection when Thomas was with the rest of the Disciples who was not present at Christs first appearing to them to cure his unbelief and to confirm the Faith of the rest of the Disciples and of all others in these two great Doctrines one of the Deity of Christ whom Thomas there openly and expresly owns to be the Lord his God My Lord and my God John 20. 28 29. The other of the Resurrection of Christ which till then Thomas said he would not believe John 20. 24 25. In which two great Doctrines the rest of the Disciples were before confirmed as in the Enquiry From p. 23. to p. 28. the Doctor would make the day begin at mid-night and to end at mid-night according to the Roman account and that to be the Evening and the Morning Gen. 15. and from mid-night to mid-night to be the day And though I am not willing to contend about terms what is the Natural and what the Artificial day yet I may not admit the Days of the Week to be any other than what God first fixed in the Scriptures that is the Evening and the Morning 'T is true the Day as distinguished from the Night begins in the Morning and ends in the Evening and the Night or Darkness as distinguished from Day begins in the Evening and ends in the Morning but the whole day consisted of Evening and Morning that is of Night and Day and we find Gen. 1. 3. that when Light was Created Let there be light Ver. 4. God divided the light from the darkness Ver. 5. And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night and the evening and the morning were the first day And so the Light was the Day and Darkness the Night as distinguished from one another but one Day or the First Day of the Week consisted of Evening and Morning that is of Darkness and Light which was the First day And so Ver. 8. the evening and the morning were the second day and ver 13. the evening and the morning were the third Day and ver 19. the evening and the morning were the fourth Day and ver 23. the evening and the morning were the fifth Day and ver 31. the evening and the morning were the sixth Day and the seventh day God rested or Sabbatized Gen. 2. 2 3. where Seventh day is thrice mentioned And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it or made it Holy which making it Holy I think resolves the main Question which Days of the Week consisting of Evening and Morning that is of Darkness and Light and so beginning in the Evening and ending the Evening after is there appointed and fixed and material and plain and may not be altered And our manner of reckoning of days here I think is not in question now between us P. 22. He takes notice about what time Mary Magdalen came to the Sepulchre on the day of Christs Resurrection And upon Luke 23. 55 56. When they beheld the Sepulchre and how the Body was laid the Doctor says that was on the sixth day at night which night I cannot find in the word that it was at Night and they returned and prepared Spices and Ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment which is true that they returned prepared Spices rested and kept the Sabbath which was not A but the Seventh-day-Sabbath after the Death of Christ whilst his Body was in the Grave and he in Paradice i. e. in Heaven But I know no word for that that Christ was buried in the Night but towards the end of the sixth Day and if it were not at Night the Doctor ought not so to write And from Luke 24. 1. Matth. 28. 1. Mark 16. 1. John 20. 1. The Doctor would observe p. 23. that the Sabbath according to their Account did not end till towards the Morning of the next day but it being not said in either of those places or elsewhere that I find in the word that the Sabbath did not end till towards the Morning but that Christ was risen when the Sabbath was past Mark 16. 1. Early in the morning of the first day ver 2. This proves against him as I think that the Sabbath was ended before viz. the Evening before And yet the Doctor says it is manifest that at this time as well the Sabbath as other days were by them reckoned not from Evening to Evening but rather according to the Roman account from mid-night to mid-night And to prove it says it was sometime after the ninth hour i. e. our three a Clock in the Afternoon that Christ gave up the Spirit Mark 15. 34 37. and later when they brake the Thieves Legs and later when Joseph begged his Body took it and buried it by which he would prolong the time to run it up into the Night for which Night we find no Word and for which I see no Reason nor know any other to whom his sence of this prolonged time is manifest the general sence of Learned Cristians being as I think against him All those things being well consistent before the Sabbath drew on and our Lords giving up the Spirit the begging of his Body taking it and burying it in a Tomb prepared might all be in a very little time for John 19. 42. The sepulchre was nigh at hand which surely was so little time as to
the Sabbath made for the spiritual good of Man And so I think we have enough to prove that our Lord Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath during his life and that perfectly for he was a lamb without spot or blemish 1 Pet. 1. 19 c. and that the Seventh day Sabbath was made holy for the spiritual Good of Man Luke 16. 17. it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass then one tittle of the Law to fail which one would think are strong words and of Authority in this case And Heaven and Earth are not yet passed and so not one tittle of the Law does yet fail and if this Scripture be true as it surely is it mightily proves the Seventh day to be the Sabbath Ezod 20. 10. which Seventh day in the Fourth Command is more then a tittle Luke 23. 54 55 56. And when he was Crucified Dead and Buried and the Sabbath drew on the Women followed after and beheld the Sepulchre and how his Body was laid and they returned and prepared Spices and Ointments and rested not A but The Sabbath day according to the Commandment that is according to the Fourth Commandment and so the Seventh day was not altered then and so kept not A but the Sabbath day after Christs Death and Burial as in probability all other Believers then did for I do not remember to have read of any that deny it John 14 15. If ye love me keep my commandments Exod. 20. 6. Deut. 7. 9 John 14. 21. he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me 23. If a man love me he will keep my words John 15. 10. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love 14. ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Are we Friends of Christ and would we abide in his Love then keep his Commands Acts 13. 13 14. Paul and his Company went into the Synagogue at Antioch on the Sabbath day and v. 15. After the reading of the law and the prophets v. 16. Paul stood up and preached Christ to them from v. 16. to 41. and v. 42. the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath not the next Morning upon the First day of the Week but the next Sabbath and so after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and after the Disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit Acts 2. 1 4. T is certain Paul kept the Sabbath and Preached to Jews and Gentiles not upon the First day of the Week but upon the Sabbath day And we have the like Acts 13. 44. the next Sabbath day not the next Morning almost the whole City came together to hear the Word of God and v. 47 48. as many of the gentiles as were ordained to eternal life believed so divers Gentiles were here converted unto Christ on the Sabbath day v. 49. the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region and v. 52. the disciples were filled with joy and with the holy spirit and is not this a desirable frame and doe not all these prove that the Sabbath was made for the spiritual good of Man And Acts 14 1. In Iconium Paul and Barnabas went both together into the Synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed a great multitude and v. 3. The Lord gave testimony to the word of his grace by signs and wonders done by them Acts 16. 1 3 12 13 14 15. at Philippi Paul and Timothy on the Sabbath day went out of the City by a Rivers side where Prayer was wont to be made and spake to the women which resorted thither where Lydia was converted whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul and was baptized and her Houshold which Scriptures with many others do shew and I think prove that the Sabbath was not altered but did continue after Christs Ascension and was observed Acts 17. 1. to 4. at Thessalonica where was a Synagogue of the Jews Paul as his manner was as Christs manner was Luke 4. 16. went in unto them and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures alledging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the Dead and that this Jesus whom he preach'd unto them is Christ and some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks that is of the Gentiles a great multitude and of the the chief Women not a few were converted to Christ upon the Sabbath day so the Law for keeping Holy the Sabbath was not then passed away And Acts 18. 1 2 4 5 19. at Corinth Paul Reasoned that is Greek Preached in the Synagogue every Sabbath and perswaded the Jews and the Greeks that is the Jews and Gentiles And what greater and stronger and clearer Evidence and Proof for the Seventh-day-Sabbath can Man desire then these plain Scriptures are and that it was at first Instituted Blessed and made Holy and throughout the Scriptures of Old and New Testament used for the conversion and eternal good of Man Rom. 3. 31. Do we then make void the law through Faith be it not yea we establish the law Rom. 7. 12. The law is holy and just and good Rom. 7. 14. we know that the Law is Spiritual Rom. 10. 4. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth And 1 Cor. 9. 21. Paul was under the law to Christ and 1 Cor. 11. 1. he saith be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ who 1 Cor. 15. 3. dyed for our sins and 1 John 3. 4. sin is the transgression of the law but Gal. 3. 11. no man is justified by the law v. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law v. 21. Is the law against the promises of God God forbid or be it not v. 24. but our schoolmaster unto Christ that we might be justified by faith who Tit. 2. 14. gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all anomy or contrariety in Opinion or Conversation to the law of God and Heb. 8. 10. the Lord saith I will put my laws into their minds and write them in or upon their hearts which surely is greatly desirable that his Law be written on our Hearts And we have the like promise Heb. 10. 15 16 17. saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them which Law in Jam. 20. 8. is called a Royal Law that is the Kingly Chief and universal Law under which all other Laws of God are comprehended which Christ the Lord and King over all hath prescribed and commanded 1 John 1. 10. If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar 1 John 2. 3. and hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments v. 4. he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is mistaken v. 6. he that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked and Christ kept the sabbath and 1 John 3. 22. whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and 1 John 5. 3. for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments 2 Ep. of Joh 6. this is love that we walk after his commandments Rev. 12. 17. The Dragon was wroth and went to make War with those who kept the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ and Rev. 14. 1◠Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city FINIS ERRATA PAge 3. line 28. for Cronologies read Cronologers p. 4. l. 5. r. one p. 5. l. 15. for v. 19. r. v. 16. p. 5. l. 39. r. but p. 9. l 27. dele and p. 10. l. 15. for Jashebeth r. Lashebeth p. 12. l. 15. for Morah r. Marah p. 13. l. 14. dele 22. l. 15. for Exod. 12. 12 13. r. Exod. 12. 32. p. 15. l. 4. for 23. r. 2 3. p. 16. l 28. for 15. r. 14. p. 18. l. 37. dele 14. p. 19. l. 26. for v. 5. r. v. 6. p. 21. l. 1. dele 42. p. 23. l. 18. for 6. r. 16. l. 21. dele 21. 46. p. 24. l. 23. for one r. One p. 29. l. 40. for Num. 6. r. Num. 9. p. 33. l. 5. for 30. r. 13. l. 35. for 30. r. 13. p. 34. l. 18. dele it p. 41. l. 23. for sacrificis r. and sacrifices p. 46. l. 6. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 7. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. l. 6. for 15. r. 5. and for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 8. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 9. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 17. for must be one r. must be are p. 49. l. 32. dele and p. 50. l. 6. for Apostles r. Apostle l. 9. for day r. days l. 14. for other r. others p. 53. l. 11. for was r. is p. 54. l. 34. for put p. 58. l. 21. for Anp r. And l. 26. dele as p. 63. l. 31. for His r. ' T is p. 64. l. 17. for or r. of l. 23. for his r. ' t is p. 65. l. 20. r. as before and hereafter p. 72. l. 30. r. degrees