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honour_n day_n holy_a sabbath_n 2,006 5 9.7690 5 true
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A41118 Four profitable treatises very useful for Christian practise viz. I. The killing power of the law. II. The spiritual Watch. III. The new birth. IV. Of the Sabbath : all which are printed in folio, but these small pieces are intended for those that cannot go to the price of the greater volume / by the reverend Mr. William Fenner, late minister of Rochford in Essex. Fenner, William, 1600-1640. 1657 (1657) Wing F690; ESTC R32802 121,979 218

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peace having all our reckoning made even and all scores cancelled The Third Proposition is this As there must be some time for Gods immediate Service and there must be every day some set time at least morning and evening so likewise every whole day all the dayes of our lives should be in some manner a Sabbath day to the Lord we should be holy every day The Apostle finds fault Gal. 4. 10 That they observed times and seasons and dayes and months and years we must not be earthly-minded one day and heavenly-minded another but we must be every day holy to the Lord. The First Reason is The Covenant which God hath made with us doth require it that is the end why God saves a man from his sins and brings him into the kingom of Christ he takes a solemn Oath from him That being delivered from the hands of his enemies he shall serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness all the dayes of his life Every day must be a Sabbath day whensoever a man gives himself up to God there is an Oath hangs upon him and he breaks this Oath if he set not upon it with all his might that every day may be a Sabbath day he is to be careful to live godly and religiously in all places and at all times and in every action he puts his hand unto a man is not only to make conscience on the seventh day but every day of his life The Second Reason is Because not to make every day an holy day is the brand of an Hypocrite it is hypocrisie Job 27. 10. Will he alwayes call upon God To be holy sometimes and not at another time is the trick of an hypocrite will he alwayes call upon God will that man alwayes obey God and worship him will he alwayes set himself to keep close with God No an hypocrite will not do so You may know an hypocrite he hath his fits and his pangs and his moods but a godly man a sincere hearted man is one that doth compose himself to keep a constant course in Gods worship as Act. 24. 16. There saith Paul Herein do I exercise my self to keep a good conscience alwayes both towards God and towards man And as it was the practise of Paul so of all the Elect people of God of all sincere Christians in the world Act. 26. 7. all the Elect of God all the beloved of God they did instantly serve God day and night Thirdly Because blessednesse doth consist in this In keeping every day in some kind as a Sabbath day as the Holy Ghost doth pronounce him blessed that feareth the Lord alwayes Prov. 28. 14. and that doth righteousness at all times Psa 106. 3. It is true the Servants of God are sometimes out of the way they have their swervings and failings but their resolution is to keep a constant course in Gods Worship and they do strive to humble themselves under the hand of God for their failings and to be the more wary because of them Lastly This is the Sum and Scope of all the Law of Righteousness it is the very drift and end of all the Ten Commandements the Lord hath set down in the Decalogue his whole Will and Pleasure what we are to do all the dayes of our lives this day and that day as long as we live and there is no set time but that we should alwayes obey it and this is the practise of the godly alwayes to keep his Commandments as David Psal 16. 8. He set the Lord alwayes before him that is every day he did make it an holy day that he might walk as in Gods presence and live as in Gods Courts that he might do all his worldly businesse as in the presence of God The Fourth Proposition is this As there must be a set time every day and we are to keep every day as a Sabbath day in some sense so there must be a particular special day set apart for Gods immediate Worship and Service This is the next Proposition I will prove unto you for though every day is to be a Sabbath day yet we have particular callings and we have businesse in the world to employ our selves about so that we cannot be every day hearing of the Word and employing our selves in Prayer and spiritual exercises though every day we are to keep it holy yet we cannot be vacant wholly and totally every day Now therefore I say That there is a set day that the Lord hath called for to be devoted unto him the very School-men themselves do acknowledge this and the very Heathen have found it out They have set a day apart for the Service of their Gods which they call their holy day wherein they lay aside all other businesse and set themselves a part to honor and worship their Images and Idols according to their manner Now I will make this good by many Arguments that God will have a set day besides the every day Sabbath he will have a set particular Sabbath for his Worship and Service The First Reason is Because he will have a little emblem and picture of the kingdom of heaven among his Saints and Children in this life in the kingdom of heaven there is no buying and selling no eating and drinking no worldly businesse there is nothing but praysing and glorifying of God and speaking of God and singing of Halelujah unto his holy Name there is nothing but enjoying communion with the Lord and feeding upon him continually there is nothing but this in the kingdom of heaven Now God will have a little picture of this among his Saints here upon earth You know there remains a rest for the people of God Heb. 4. 9. It is an express place the word in the Original is There remains a Sabbath for the people of God As who should say There is a glorious Sabbath that all the Elect of God shall have and they are preserved for it and that is reserved for them and they shall enter into it when this body of death is laid down and they shall enjoy God face to face to all eternity they shall behold him as he is and have communion with him now the Lord will have a little picture of this here in this life we cannot have it altogether in this life for we have mortal bodies that must be fed and cloathed and stand in need of the creature for mans sin is not yet purged away but there is a great deal of rubbish still left therefore this cannot be complete here but yet God will have a little picture ot this even in this life and that is the Sabbath day wherein they are to lay aside all the works of their ordinary callings and rest from all servil labours this is Gods day and we must now call upon him and hear what he saith and wholly employ and occupy our selves about him as neer as we possibly can but now this
we cannot do every day for we have Children to look after and Families to provide for and there be an hundred occasions to call a man away it may be a man thinks to go into his Closet and seek God in private and one occasion or other calls him aside that he cannot go on but the Lord will have a little emblem and expression of the kingdom of heaven upon the Sabbath day therefore the Apostle saith It remains for us scil in the life to come The Second Reason why the Lord will have a set day for his Worship and Service besides the every day Sabbath is because the honour of God doth so require it doth require that there should be a solemn day for Gods Service as Kings though their subjects are to obey them every day and keep their Laws every day and if a subject transgress the Laws at any time he is in danger of the displeasure of the King but he will have one day of solemnity to his Majesty So God Almighty though every day we are to tremble before him and stand in aw of his Word and take heed we do not err from his Commandments yet he will have one solemn day for the honour of his Name he will have a solemn day wherein his people shall have nothing else to do but to set themselves apart for his Worship therefore this set day is called The honourable of the Lord Isa 58 13. that is we must count the Sabbath day an honourable day a day of honour wherein Gods Servants should from morning to evening fall down before him and confess that great is the Lord God We should wholly dedicate it unto him seeking of him in Publick and in Private that we may store up holy affections for all the week following Thirdly Because God sometimes calls for an extraordinary day and an extraordinary day hath ever relation to an ordinary if I say this is my extraordinary food and diet I imply that I have ordinary diet so if the Scripture tells us that God calls for extraordinary dayes it is an evident Argument that there be ordinary dayes which he calls for Now that God calls for extraordinary dayes it is plain 1. First He calls for extraordinary dayes of rejoycing when God compasseth us about with songs of Deliverance and works wonderful Mercies for us we ought to set a part a day for rejoycing and delighting in his goodness and favour towards us and this day is to be an holy day as Nehemiah 8. 9. This day is holy unto the Lord your God mourn not nor weep So that when we are to rejoyce towards God for any spiritual favour towards us we ought to keep this day an holy day we ought to employ the hours of the day in labouring to affect our hearts with his kindnesse and labouring to make his goodness to have impression upon us that we may with cheerfulness run over all our dayes afterwards that we may adhere unto him the better all our life time 2. Secondly As he calls for extraordinary dayes of rejoycing so he calls for extraordinary dayes of Fasting and Humiliation and that in Four Cases 1. First When we fear some heavie judgement to come upon us or else when some judgement is already upon us may be some heavie judgement is upon us or else we fear it to come upon us and now we are to set an extraordinary day apart to seek the Lord as 2 Chron. 20. Jehosaphat proclaimed a Fast when the Land was in danger Suppose the Lord should take away the Gospel and the feet of those that bring glad tydings should be turned from us then should we Fast in those dayes we should grieve before God and bewail the loss of his Mercies and Favours that we may have his Goodnesse to quicken us and keep us and uphold us in the want of them 2. Secondly In case that we want some Mercy that we cannot well be without in such a case as this if ordinary seeking will not do the deed we ought to set apart an extraordinary time to prevail with God as Ezra he was in danger of the enemy and if he should go to Jerusalem the enemy would set upon him now thought he if I should go to the King though he were very great with the King of Persia at that time yet thought he if I should go to the King for a Band of Souldiers he would think our God were a weak God I have told him what a strong God we have and that he is ready to help all those that trust in him now if I should go to him for a Band of Souldiers he might think that our God were not able to deliver us and it would be a great dishonour to God therefore he set a day a part for a Fast and laboured to get aid and help from heaven Ezra 8. 21. So when a Child of God is exceedingly afflicted with any crosse or temptation and he shall wonderfully dishonour God and cast a snare upon them that fear his Name in this case he is bound to seek God extraordinarily and if the ordinary means that God hath appointed will not prevail he is to set a part a Fast to seek him extraordinarily 3. Thirdly If we be assaulted from hell and Satan and our own hearts with strong temptations then we are to seek God extraordinarily as it was with Paul when the Messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him when he lay under some heavy temptation either unto Pride or Lust or Uncleannesse some prick in the flesh that the Lord sent upon him and let him be encountered withal then Paul sought God in a solemn manner more then ever he did at other times 2 Cor. 12. 8. For this I besought God thrice 4. Fourthly In case a man is to do some notable service he is to enter into some new Calling or if the Lord doth put him upon some new service that doth require some more then ordinary help now a man is to seek God by Fasting and Prayer as you may see it was with Barnabas and Paul when they entred into the Ministery Acts 13. 3. Now the reason why I name these things is to shew you that sometimes God will have an extraordinary set day for his immediate worship and service when we are to lay aside all other businesse and set our selves apart to call upon his Name and seek him The thing I gather from hence is this If there be an extraordinary set day then there must be an ordinary set day for Gods immediate Service Another Argument is taken from the Equity of it and that stands Two wayes 1. First It is very equal when as we have six dayes to provide for our selves and for the maintenance of our bodies God gives us divers dayes for that now Equity doth require that we should give one day to him we having several dayes it is equity that he should have at least one for himself Therefore