chiefly because to them were committed the Oracles of God Now Stephen shews by the Oracles of God are meant the Ten words Act. 7. 33. who told the Jews Their Fathers received on Mount Sinai the lively Oracles to deliver them saith he to us i. e. us Jews Now I argue thus If the Gentiles had the same lively Oracles or Oracles of God given to them then in this the Jews had not the advantage above the Gentiles He doth not speak of the Advantage the Jews had as to the clearest Revelation of those Oracles to them above the Gentiles but of the giving of them to the Jews and not to the Gentiles 3. Again two or three times Paul expresly affirms that the Gentiles had not the Law and were without the Law For when the Gentiles which have not the Law c. Rom. 2. 14. What is more plainly expressed The Gentiles he saith had not the Law that is as given by Moses tho they had the Law written in their Hearts So elsewhere he says 1 Cor. 9. 21 22. Vnto the Jew I became a Jew that I might gain the Jews to them that are under the Law as under the Law c. to them that are without the Law as without the Law being not without Law to God but under the Law to Christ that I might gain them that are without the Law Three times he here affirms the Gentiles are without the Law Object He means the Ceremonial Law Answ True they were without that Law as well as the Decalogue Law but he cannot here refer to the Ceremonial Law because it is such a Law as the Gentiles were under to Christ or as it is in the hand of Christ which must intend the Moral Law for no Gentile Believer or Unbeliever was under the Ceremonial Law to Christ because utterly abolished but so is not the Moral Law in which sense we are without the Law to God but under the Law to or as it is in the hand of Christ 4. Take this Argument The Gentiles shall not be judged by Moses's Law That Law which the Gentiles shall not be judged by they were never under but the Gentiles shall not be judged by the Law of Moses therefore they were never under that Law For proof of the major Proposition see what Paul saith Rom. 2. 12. For as many as have sinned without Law shall be judged without Law and as many as have sinned in the Law shall be judged by the Law By the first he means the Gentiles and by the latter the Jews And from hence the Apostle proceeds to evince that as the Gentiles shew'd the Works of the Law written in their Hearts they should be judged by that Law but not as that Law was formerly written by Moses in two Tables of Stone ver 15. As to the minor Proposition can any suppose that if the Gentiles had been under Moses's Law yet they should not be judged by it Sure none can Obj. If the Gentiles were not under the Law Christ came not to redeem them for he came to redeem none but such as were under the Law Gal. 4. 5. Answ The old World was under the Law and Covenant of Works and the Curse thereof in the first Adam it was his first Transgression that brought all the World under the Curse of the Law or breach of the first Covenant and not the Law as given by Moses tho that Law 't is true pronounceth that Curse afresh on those that continued not in all things contain'd therein For by one Man's Offence Death reigned by one Rom. 5. 1â— 17 18. c. By one Man Sin entered into the World and Death by Sin Therefore as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to Condemnation c. Thus we were all under the Law of the first Covenant and as the Law is written in our Hearts but we were not all under that Ministration of the Law given by Moses Obj. If all the World became guilty by the breach of Moses's Law then all the World was under it but this Paul affirms Rom. 3. 19. Now we know whatsoever things the Law saith it saith to them who are under the Law that every mouth may be stopped and all the World may become guilty before God Answ Paul in the precedent Chapter and what goes before in this had proved that the Gentiles were under Sin and were all guilty before God for violating the Law written in their Hearts See Chap. 2. 12. and 3. 10. Well what of this the Gentiles then were cast and found guilty that way yet they were not all but part of the whole World And from hence he in this 19th Verse comes again to speak of the Jews who were under Moses's Law and saith What the Law that is Moses's Law saith it saith to them who are under it meaning the Jews and what the Consequence of this is he shews i. e. that every mouth might be stopped not the mouths of the Gentiles only but the mouths of the Jews also that so all the World that is both Jews and Gentiles might become guilty before God I hope all are and will be convinc'd that this is directly the meaning of Paul if they consider the scope and coherence of the Text. And thus I have clearly proved that the Law of the Decalogue or Moses's Law was not given to any but the Jews and proselyte Strangers and therefore from that it cannot be the Duty of believing Gentiles to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath Object But it is again objected That the Apostle James injoineth the Royal Law upon believing Gentiles and the Royal Law is the Law of the Decalogue therefore all were under the Law of the Decalogue which forbids Adultery Murder c. Answ 1. It is a hard case that Men Jam. 2. 8 10 11 12. about fulfilling the Royal Law opened to prove their fond Notions should put such an Interpretation on a Text of Scripture as is directly contrary to other plain Texts for unless they can prove we mistake those Scriptures newly mentioned which say that Moses's Law was only given to the Jews and not to the Gentiles besure they urge this to no purpose but mistake the sense of the Apostle as others do about what he says concerning Justification 2. We never deny'd but readily grant that all believing Gentiles are oblig'd to keep the whole moral Law or all simple moral Precepts as they are in the hand of our Lord that one Lawgiver of which this Apostle speaks but I have proved that the precise Seventh-day Sabbath is not a simple moral Precept nor any part of the Morality of the fourth Commandment and therefore not intended here Therefore it followeth that Man may fulfil the Royal Law according to the Scripture and yet not observe the Seventh-day Sabbath 3. The Apostle James clears the matter himself So speak and so do as they that shall be judged by the Law of Liberty ver 12. He
intimate r. when they intimate The Jewish Sabbath Abrogated or the Saturday Sabbatarian confuted c. SERMON I. The occasion of the Author 's preaching on this Subject The scope and coherence of the Text open'd The Terms explain'd and the Doctrines raised Divers preliminary Propositions shewing what Medium the Author intends to take in treating on this Subject Gal. iv 10 11. Ye observe days and months times and years I am afraid of you lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain MY Brethren The occasion of the Author 's preaching these Sermons I am troubled I have such a provoking occasion to enter upon this Controversy viz. What day of the Week we under the Gospel Dispensation ought to observe as a day of Rest and of solemn Worship to the Lord since universally the Church and People of God of all Persuasions are agreed about it and have been ever since the new World or Gospel-day did commence except a few Christians formerly and a little Remnant of late times in this Nation who have deserted and err'd in this case And had I not a clear Call to enter upon this Subject thro the inadvertence of some young Men among us I had not meddled with it who have not only without advising with me or the Congregation presum'd to keep the Jewish Sabbath but with an unaccountable and over-heated Zeal have prosecuted their Notion and Practice to the disturbing of the Quiet and Peace of the Congregation My Brethren is it not a lamentable thing to see how Satan hath prevail'd to hinder the Power of Godliness which consisteth not in Meats and Drinks nor in the Observation of Jewish Days but in Righteousness Rom. 14. 17. and Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost One while he hath endeavour'd to do this by suggesting of strange and uncouth Notions and Principles that edify not into the minds of Christians at another time by raising up needless Cavils and Objections about the mode of the discharge of a Moral as well as a Gospel-Duty I mean that of singing the Praises of God which formerly caus'd no small trouble amongst us as well as in other Churches But when that Controversy was near vanquish'd so another is rais'd which I hope God will make me an Instrument to quell also and utterly drive away hence he having set me for the defence of the Gospel and of all pure Gospel-Truths in this place in opposition to all Innovations and Judaical Rites and Observations which some seem too fond of Yet let none mistake me I shall not censure such as keep the seventh day provided they lay no stress upon it but believe they are oblig'd by the Authority of Christ who is Lord of the Sabbath to observe religiously the Lord's-day or first day of the Week free from Labor in the Worship and Service of God provided also they are such as have the command of their own time and can do it without wronging their Families or are not by the Observation of the seventh day necessitated to violate Precepts that all agree are Moral Duties 1. In not doing their Fathers or Masters Business in not working six days for tho it may be said of some six days Work may be done yet it may be said of others who are Servants six days they must work it being their indispensible Duty so to do 2. In violating the Fifth Commandment as the whole Moral Law is in the hands of Christ which requires Obedience to their Natural and Political Parents in all things wherein they transgress no Law of God they ought carefully to subject themselves to them and in not doing it Eph. 6. 1. they sin and are guilty before God Children obey your Parents in the Lord for this is right the Lord commands it or it is agreeable to his Will Rom. 13. 1. Again it is said Let every Soul be subject to the higher Powers Tit. 3. 1. c. Put them in mind to obey Magistrates c. And again 1 Pet. 2. 13. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of Man for the Lord's sake whether it be to the King as supreme c. Whatsoever Magistrates or Parents do require agreeable to the Divine Will ought faithfully to be done and in Conscience to God And as to the religious observation of the first day of the week I shall prove before I have done that it is agreeable to the Will of God and those who observe it not do violate the Rule of the Gospel or the new Creation and so break both the Law of God and Man nay it grieves my Soul to hear what a Reproach and Scandal some rash young Men who are Apprentices have herein brought upon their Profession and I hear some who know they are Members with us have unjustly blam'd and censured me and the Church upon that account not hearing what Pains I have taken to convince them of their great Evil therein and I do now declare my abhorrence of their Practices and unbecoming Behaviour to their Parents and Masters and let such as encourage or countenance them see how they will answer it in the great day But not to retain you any longer in a way of Introduction I shall proceed to my Text. And first to the occasion of the words The occasion of the words opened which were written by holy Paul the great Minister of the Gentiles to the Churches that were then at Galatia not Church in the singular but to the Churches there were more at Galatia than one so it is express'd 1 Cor. 16. 2. And thus he begins his Epistle i. e. To the Churches of Galatia chap. 1. 2. 1. He kindly salutes them ver 3. Grace be unto you and Peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ 2. But soon upon it he sharply reproves them ver 6. I marvel ye are so soon removed from him that called you to another Gospel ver 7. Which is not another but there are some that trouble you and would pervert the Gospel of Christ Query What was the Error they were corrupted with 1. I answer They were by some false Brethren taught to mix the Law and the Gospel together in Justification or to mix Works with Grace and this is to pervert the Gospel of Christ and obscure the Doctrine of Free-Grace 2. They turned to Judaism in respect of the observation of Circumcision and Jewish days How turn ye again to weak and beggarly Elements whereunto ye desire again to be in Bondage chap. 4. vers 9. Ye having as if he should say attained to the knowledg of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ the glorious Mediator Soveraign Lord and only Lawgiver of his Church it is strange you should turn again to Moses and so eclipse the Glory of Christ this doth not comport with your former knowledg and of that Revelation you have had of the Truth as it is in Jesus By Beggarly Elements he doth not only mean
Circumcision but also observation of Jewish Days Ye observe Days c. he doth not mean the Gospel or New Testament days of Worship but Jewish days he could not be afraid of them if they had only observ'd the first day of the Week because he had given charge to these Churches as well as others religiously to keep it as appears 1 Cor. 16. 1 2 3. but they observ'd the Jewish Sabbath and other Old Testament days nay and they laid such stress upon them as to make the observation of them necessary to eternal Life as some do now by affirming the keeping of the Seventh-day or old Jewish Sabbath is a Moral Duty being of the same nature with the first Commandment viz. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me or any other simple Moral Precept True such at Rome as did esteem some other day besides the first Day of the Week and lookt upon it as an indifferent thing were not reproved as Rom. 14. 5. The converted Jews perhaps thought they might keep the Jewish Sabbath as well as the Lord's-Day and Paul dealt with them for a time as Children or Babes in Christ But when any came to plead for it as a Moral Duty or as necessary to Salvation how sharp was he with them I am afraid of you From hence by the way observe That Jewish-day and shadowy Ordinances under the Law in comparison of New Testament Ordinances are but weak and beggerly Elements The Explanation 1. By Days The Terms of the Text explained I understand the Jewish weekly Sabbath-days 2. By Months is meant their New Moons or monthly Sabbaths which were every new Moon 3. By Times the Feasts of the Passover the Feast of Pentecost and that of Tabernacles 4. By Years every seventh Year and every fiftieth Year which was their great Jubilee I find divers learned Men thus explaining these Terms Perkins on Gal. p. 285. and tho Mr. Perkins seems to go astray afterwards yet he speaks much to the same purpose Now my Brethren the reasons why I conclude by Days here are meant the Jewish weekly Sabbath-days are First Because when Moses speaks of their Feasts and Holy-days he brings in first of all their Seventh-day Sabbath Levit. 23. Secondly If Days Months Times and Years comprehend all Days Months Times and Years which the Jews observed then their Seventh-day Sabbath is comprehended here but Days Months Times and Years comprehend all Days Months Times and Years that the Jews observed therefore it comprehends their Seventh Day here If the Minor be denyed let our Opponents or any Person shew where Days Months Times and Years are mentioned and yet the Seventh-day not comprehended Perhaps it may be objected by some who keep the Jewish Sabbath Object That the Seventh Day is every where in Scripture expressed in the singular Number i. e. Day not Days That is not true Answ for in several places the Seventh-day is expressed in the plural Number i. e. Days the Jews themselves called it Days And they asked him Mat. 12. 10. saying Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath Days see Matth. 12. 5. My Sabbaths ye shall keep 't is a Sign c. Deut. 31. 13. In the Greek 't is read Sabbaths Exod. 28. 8. and Deut. 5. 12. as the Learned in that Language shew and all Men of note both Antient and Modern Expositors of Holy Scripture saith my Author Dr. White p. 165. expound St. Paul Col. 2. 17. of Weekly Sabbaths as well as Annual Sabbaths Again it is objected Object 2. That the Days Months Times and Years were not Jewish but Heathenish Days c. Thus Coppinger in his Dispute with Mr. Ives because 't is said they did Service to them who by nature are no Gods That there were Jews among these Galatians is evident Answ Yet if otherwise i. e. tho they were Gentiles 't is clear they desired to be under the Law Tell me ye that desire to be under the Law do you hear the Law You that desire to be circumcised and to observe the Jewish Sabbath and other Mosaical Times and Seasons Do you hear the Law i. e. do you not know that the Bond-woman and her Son are cast out that the Sinai Covenant that gendered to Bondage is abolished and the Law given on Mount Sinai as a Rule of Righteousness is put into the hands of the Son of God considered as Mediator Heb. 12. 2. Ye are not come to Mount Sinai but to Mount Sion and are not now to hear him that spoke of Earth but him that speaketh from Heaven as if Paul should have said Do not you know that Circumcision the Seventh-day Sabbaths and other Jewish Times 2 Cor. 5. 17 18 19 20. Seasons and legal Rites are gone even all old things and that all things are become new My Brethren these Christians did not desire to be under the observation of Heathenish but of Jewish Days They are called the Elements of the World Object 3. therefore not Jewish days 1. The Jewish Rites were called the Elements of the World Answ for does not Paul say We when Children were in bondage under the Elements of the World Gal. 4. 2 3. 2. Besides they were such Rudiments as the Jews were to observe till the appointed time of the Father Now the Father never appointed his Children Gentile idolatrous Rudiments therefore they could not be Heathenish Days 3. What Heathenish Nation kept the seventh or the fiftieth Year as a Sabbath For by Years in our Text our Antagonists confess are meant those Years and I am sure by all Expositors 't is so understood 4. The Jewish Sanctuary is called a Worldly Sanctuary see Heb. 9. 1. Then verily the first Covenant had also Ordinances of Divine Service and a Worldly Sanctuary 5. It is evident the Apostle means Mosaical Rudiments by blaming of Peter who would have the Gentiles live after the manner of the Jews Gal. 2. 14. Moreover he refers as all may see to the Jewish Yoke Gal. 5. 1 2. 6. To put it quite out of doubt what Days he intends read Col. 2. 16. Let no man judg you in Meats or Drinks or in respect of a holy Day or of the New Moons or of the Sabbath Days which are a Shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ I. Now were any of the Idolatrous Days among the Heathen shadows of things to come or of Christ was he or that Rest he hath brought in the Antitype of them II. He speaks of a Holy Day as a Term given to the Seventh-Day in the Old Testament and of Sabbath-Days and do any think he means by neither the Seventh-Day Sabbath and yet speaks of Sabbath-Days distinct from New-Moons Times and Years Certainly he must intend in one or the other the Jewish weekly Sabbath days I find a very Learned Man writing on this Text speaking thus viz. for which also he cites St. Hierom Paul writ this Epistle in the
sixteenth year after Christ he lays it positively down that the Sabbath was now abrogated with the other Ceremonies which were to vanish at Christ's coming Let no man judg you c. the Sabbath saith he is well match'd with Meats and Drinks New Moons and Holy Days which were all Temporary Ordinances and to go off the stage at our Saviour's entrance And that Paul means the Seventh-day Sabbaths he cites Ambrose Hierom Epiphanius Chrysostom Augustin and their particular Books that they understood Paul thus in Col. 2. 16. as he did Praefat. in Galat. Apocal 10. take what Hierom saith as follows There is no Sermon of the Apostles saith he either delivered by Epistle or by word of Mouth wherein he labours not to prove that all the Burdens of the Law are now laid away that all those things which were before in Types and Figures namely the Sabbath Circumcision the New Moons and the three Solemn Festivals did cease upon preaching the Gospel In the Context and from these Verses the weekly Sabbath no doubt is included For 1. It is part of the Hand-writing vers 14. 2. It is a Shadow c. vers 17. 3. They are commanded not to submit to the Censures of men herein vers 16. And whereas it is objected Object The Apostle doth not mean the Weekly Sabbath 1. It is certain that the primary and almost constant use of the word Sabbath Answ is to denote that weekly Day of Rest which God commanded the Jews to observe Read Mr. Baxter on the Subject and whereas it is applied to any other Days 't is in allusion to this because of the Rest from servile Work upon them in which respect they were like to the Weekly Sabbath as appears Levit. 16. 31. and Chap. 23 24 32 39. which are all the places where the word Sabbath is expresly applied to any other days And therefore the primary and almost constant use of the word ought not to be forsaken 2. Wherever the word Sabbaths is used absolutely as here without any expression in the Text to limit it 't is to be understood of the Weekly Sabbath The reason of which Rule is obvious because otherwise the Scripture would be of doubtful Interpretation and as 1 Cor. 14. 8. the Trumpet would give an uncertain sound 3. Therefore as I said wherever the word Sabbaths is used as here with distinction from Holy Days or Feasts and New Moons it must mean the Weekly Sabbaths otherwise the Apostle would be guilty of an unnecessary Tautology it being certain there is no other Day called a Sabbath in Scripture but what is included in those two words Therefore I conclude by Sabbaths in this Text not only may but must be understood the Weekly Sabbath and consequently it proves not only that Christians are not bound to observe the Jewish Sabbath but that they ought not so to do Take here what Mr. Baxter saith on this Text Baxter on the Lord's Day P. 167 viz. How plainly and expresly Paul numbereth Sabbaths with Shadows that cease see Col. 2. 16. to pass by other Texts and what violence mens own Wits must use in denying the Evidence of so plain a Text. The Reason that he saith not Sabbath but Sabbaths is against themselves the plural Number being most comprehensive and other Sabbaths receiving their name from this And the word Sabbath is always used in Scripture for a Rest which was partly Ceremonial See what Dr. Young in his excellent Dies Domin saith c. III. Moreover can any serious thinking Christian suppose that Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles would thus write of Sabbath Days New Moons Times and Years without exception if the Seventh-day Sabbath had remained as the Sabbath of the Lord and the Day of Gospel-worship What speak thus without restriction or intimation and yet not include the Seventh-day Sabbath Had not that Day been comprehended and meant by Sabbath Days sure he had let this Church have known it it behoved him to be faithful to us who was our Apostle and so he says he was and had declared the whole Counsel of God Acts 20. yet makes no mention of any such Jewish Sabbath to be our duty to observe but the direct contrary that it was a Shadow and that we are not to be judged or condemn'd who regard it not any more than other Times as New Moons c. But saith the Seventh-day Sabbatarian Object The Ordinances of the Law were glorious therefore Paul could not refer to them when he speaks of beggerly Elements Thus Tillam When compared to the Ordinances of the Gospel Answ they may be called weak and beggerly as Paul shews speaking of the Law written in two Tables of Stone which he calls glorious 2 Cor. 3. 7. yet a ministration of Death and Condemnation vers 9. For even that which was made glorious had no Glory in this respect by reason of the Glory that excelleth vers 10. The Shadow seems glorious till the Substance comes but what Glory appears in it then None at all What is the Glory of the Moon when the Sun appears and shines forth splendidly So what signifies the Shadow of Rest to the true Antitypical Sabbath of Rest which we have in Christ we that believe do enter into Rest Besides St. Paul calls Jewish Ordinances Carnal Ordinances which terms as much eclipse their Glory as to call them weak and beggerly Elements Heb. 9. 10. Meats and Drinks and divers Washings and carnal Ordinances Carnal Ordinances no doubt include all the Jewish Sabbaths viz. Days Months Times and Years as well as Circumcision legal Washings and Sacrifices The Apostle calls them not only carnal weak and beggerly Elements but unprofitable There was a disannulling of the Commandment going before Heb. 7. 18. for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof Take here what Calvin saith tho I in some things differ from him For seeing in the Lord's Resurrection is found the end and fulfilling of the true Rest Instit 2. c. 8. Sect. 34. which the old Sabbath shadowed by that very day which set an end to those Shadows Christians are admonished not to stick to the shadowing Ceremony He it seems concludes that the Jewish Weekly Sabbath as well as their Fellows was a Shadow of that Rest we have in Christ Take also what another nameless Author saith concerning the Antient Fathers St. Paul sharply reproveth those who allowed yet the Jewish Sabbath i. e. they observed Days Months Times and Years as if he had bestowed his labour in vain upon them Gal. 4. 10 11. But more particularly in his Epistle to the Colossians Chap. 2. 16 17. Let no man judg you in respect of an Holy Day or of the New Moons or of the Sabbath-Days which were a Shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ Yet notwithstanding all this care both of the Apostles in general and more especially of St. Paul to suppress this Error it grew up
Scriptures which mention the Sabbath speak of it as of a holy Sign looking towards Christ and the state of Grace and Glory in him and not towards the state of Innocency It is most certain Adam in that state was perfect with all natural Perfections and at all times equally disposed to obey and serve God to remember his Creation and to honour his Creator he needed no observation of any day to be put in mind of any thing he had before known and which God had revealed to him his Memory was perfect his Will was every day ready to do whatever he knew to be right he needed no Sign to admonish him of his Duty or to move him to do it in due season he did not labor nor weary himself every day to him was a day of Delight and Pleasure of Rest and Recreation In a word his whole Life was a constant and obedient serving oâ— God and there was no inequality nor lesâ— Worship of God perform'd by him in onâ— day than in another for he fully served God at all times Whoever denies this must needs deny Man's Perfections and constant Conformity to God in the state of Innocency For where one day is kept better than anâ—â—ther there is an inequality and no constaâ— Uniformity in himself nor Conformity to 〈◊〉 Will of God In the second place they who hold the Sabbath was first instituted after Man's Fall and yet written in Man's Heart in Innocency and that he was then bound to keep it fall into many Absurdities as 1. That Man was bound to keep a Sabbath before ever it was instituted 2. That God did by his Word teach Man in vain i. e. that which he was fully taught already and had written in his heart 3. That God gave Man a Law in vain after his Fall because he was become unable to keep it 4. They that hold that the Law of the Sabbath was not written in man's Heart but was by a Positive Law given in the State of Innocency of the same nature with that of eating of the Tree of Knowledg make this Commandment of the Sabbath utterly void by Man's Fall even as that of eating c. is now void Thus far Mr. Walker I might add certainly there was a vast difference as to the Cause and Design of God's giving a Sabbath to Man in Innocency and when fallen Could a Sabbath sute equally with perfect and â—allen Man Or could there be the same need of a Sabbath to both Certainly if God had â—ot given that Command by Moses the keepâ—â—g that precise Day would not have been known 〈◊〉 be the Duty of any of Adam's Off-spring â—om a positive Law given to him in Innocency Ninthly To put the matter further out of â—oubt pray mind the words of this pretended â—ositive Command God rested on the Seventhâ—â—y what then but he also blessed and sancâ—â—fied it what tho Because God sanctified 〈◊〉 Priest may others do so too He might 〈◊〉 the Seventh-day apart for his People in afterâ—â—es Because God sanctified it must Adam â—nctify it or keep it holy without a Comâ—â—and Is it said therefore Thou Adam shalt â—eep this Day as a Sabbath No doubt Moses â—ould not only have mention'd God's blessing â—nd sanctifying that Day had it been given to Adam as a Sabbath but God's express Command would have been mention'd by him and would also have called it the Sabbath-day I might now come to the last Argument viz. If it had been commanded Adam and all his Posterity to keep the Seventh-day after he fell â—he Patriarchs that lived before Moses kept it But more of this next time Tenthly If Adam had the Sabbath positively given to him in Innocency besure it was injoined with some Penalty as the Command of not eating of the Tree of Knowledg was We also find the Penalty of the breach of the Seventh-day Sabbath was Death but as we read of no Positive Command given to him to keep that Day so of no threatning if he broke or violated it therefore certainly it was never enjoyn'd upon him Elevehthly When the Sabbath was institured for the House of Jacob God declared it was a Sign between him and them or a Shadow of things to come Col. 2. 16 17. it referred to Christ or to that Rest all Believers do enter into Exod. 31. 13 14. Speak thou unto the Children of Israel saying Verily my Sabbaths it is a Sign between me and you throughout your Generations Ezek. 20. 21. that ye may know that I am the Lord that sanctify you Exod. 31. 13. Ye shall keep my Sabbath therefore it is holy unto you every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death For every one that doth any work on the Sabbath-day shall be cut off from amongst his People vers 14. It was a sign God set apart that People with a Ceremonial Sanctification to signify that alone by Jesus Christ all the true spiritual Israel should have Gospel-Sanctification as well as it was a sign of the Covenant of Works but it could be no sign of this Sanctification to Adam in Innocency nor of any other Gospel-blessing therefore doubtless the Sabbath was not given to Adam in Innocency Twelfthly What reason can be given that God should allow Adam in Innocency six days to labour in and require but one i. e. the seventh as a day to his Creator No it is evident from hence the Sabbath refer'd to fallen Man who God foresaw would need six days to do all his Labour and it shews God's great Mercy to Man and Beast in that woful condition of Servitude It might not be our Duty to keep the Sabbath tho given to Adam in Innocency under the Curse I might add should it be granted that God gave Adam a positive Command to keep the seventh day in Innocency how can our Opponents thence prove it the Duty of all to keep the said day A Command to him in Innocency may not oblige any Man in his fallen state except the same be renewed I find two of the chiefest Writers I have met with who are approved Orthodox plead not for the Sabbath as given to Adam in Innocency See Sabbatum Redi Part 3. p. 336. viz. Mr. Dan. â—awdrey and Mr. Herbert Palmer Take their words We purpose not to maintain that the Sabbath was given to Adam in Innocency before the Fall but they hint it might be given to him after the Fall and that he fell the same day he was created P. 337. Moreover they say If it was given before his Fall it doth not follow it should oblige at this day for the positive Precept of not eating of the Tree of Knowledg was given in Innocency and yet doth not universally oblige Adam's Posterity nor should if the Tree were at this day known A positive Precept binds only during the pleasure of the Lawgiver c. so say I the same must be granted when it was given Exod. 16. 20.
never since the Fall entered into a Covenant with any People but he gave a Sign or Token of it 1. When he entered into a Covenant with Noah and all the World in him that he would no more destroy the World by Water he gave a Sign viz. a Rainbow this was a Covenant of external Favour without any Restipulation 2. When God entered into Covenant with Abraham and with all his fleshly Seed as such he gave them a Sign of that Covenant namely Circumcision this is that which we call the Covenant of Peculiarity tho we deny not but God entered into a Spiritual or Gospel-Covenant with Abraham and with all his true spiritual Seed also which contained only a free promise of Grace in Christ but that Covenant with his natural Seed as such is called the Covenant of Circumcision Acts 7. because Circumcision was the Sign thereof Moreover they that can't see a twofold Covenant was made with Abraham are strangely blinded 3. And that there was a renewal of the Covenant of Works with the whole House of Israel given by Moses contained in the 20th Chapter of Exodus is most evident tho not given for Life but for other Reasons which I have mentioned and this Covenant contained Ten Commandments with the promise of Life upon the condition of universal Obedience thereunto And to this all the People consented and joined in with God by mutual Restipulation Exod. 24. 3. And all the People answered with one voice and said All that the Lord hath said we will do And now I say their Seventh-day Sabbath was given as a sign of this Ministration of the old Covenant of Works and hence also as Circumcision the sign of that Legal Typical Covenant made with Abraham and his fleshly Seed as such is God's Covenant so the Seventh-day Sabbath is call'd also God's Covenant Wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe it throughout their Generations for a perpetual Covenant Exod. 31. 16. and this because it was a Sign or a Pledg to them of that Obligation they lay under to keep the whole Law I might here add that the Lord's-Supper is a sign of the Gospel-Covenant and it is also call'd the New Testament or Covenant in Christ's Blood And thus as Circumcision bound all to keep the whole Law that conformed to it that being a sign of that part of the legal Covenant to Abraham and his natural Seed throughout their Generations so the Seventh-day Sabbath is a sign of the same legal Covenant in that Ministration with the House of Israel Exod. 20. and obliged all that observe it to keep the whole Law also And that this is not my Judgment alone take what Dr. Owen has said on this account Whereas the Covenant which Man originally was taken into Dr. Owen â—n the Sab. p. 148 â—19 was a Covenant of Works wherein Rest with God depended absolutely on his doing all the Works he had to do by way of Legal Obedience he was during the Dispensation of that Covenant tied up precisely to the observation of the seventh Day or that which follow'd the whole work of Creation And the seventh Day as such is a Token of the Rest promised in the Covenant of Works and no other And those who would advance that day again into a necessary observation do consequentially introduce the whole Covenant of Works and are become Debtors to the whole Law For the Works of God which precede the seventh Day precisely were those whereby Man was initiated into and instructed in the Covenant of Works and the Day it self was a Token and Pledg of the Righteousness thereof or a moral and natural sign of it and of God's Rest therein and of Man's with God thereby And it is no Service to the Church of God nor hath any tendency to the Honour of Christ in the Gospel to endeavour a Reduction of us to the Covenant of Works What is now become of Mr. Tillam's Flourish who insults over such as call the Seventh-day Sabbath a sign The Sabbath is indeed saith he a sign of good things formerly produced Tillam on the Sabb. p. 18. as the Creation or else of good things at present enjoy'd as God's sanctifying Grace but never was set up for a sign of good things to come like the Ceremonial Sabbaths I might here retort the vaunting Language of the Preacher of Peter's of cutting off Goliah's Head with his own Sword for if the Morality of the Sabbath cease by being a sign to the Jews in their Generations upon the same account must the whole Law cease to be moral since God's Spirit hath set it also for a sign Answ 1. Tho the Marks of true Grace are call'd Signs yet there is a great difference between them and the Signs of Covenants Miracles also are call'd Signs and God's People are set as Signs and Wonders but what of this 2. He mistakes greatly when he affirms that God saith the Sabbath was a sign of his sanctifying the whole House of Israel with his sanctifying Grace Did God so sanctify them or were they spiritually sanctified No no it signified that God took the whole Nation of Israel into an external federal and legal Relation to himself or set them apart as so considered from all People in the World to be his own People and in that Covenant-relation he was married to them as he says elsewhere 3. To sanctify What is meant by God's sanctifying the whole Nation of Israel often in the Old Testament only refers to God's setting apart a Thing a Person c. for himself or to some holy legal Use or Service Thus the seventh Day was sanctified and the Priests and Vessels of the Sanctuary c. were sanctified And their Sabbath was a sign that they became God's People in that legal and typical Covenant or upon the terms of the Covenant of Works they promising that all the Lord commanded them they would do Exod. 24. 2 3. which confirms what we said before 4. Let none suppose that God took the whole House of Israel into a special Relation with himself according to the tenor of the new Covenant or Covenant of Grace or that that Covenant Exod. 20. was the Covenant of Grace Let them read what the Prophet Jeremiah saith Jer. 31. 31 32 33. Behold the days come saith the Lord that I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah Not according to the Covenant that I made with their Fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the Land of Egypt which my Covenant they broke altho I was a Husband to them saith the Lord. But this shall be my Covenant that I will make After those days saith the Lord I will put my Law into their inward parts and write it in their Hearts and I will be their God and they shall be my People 1. Had the former Covenant been the
but â—e are come to Mount Sion to the Gospel-â—ispensation Ver. 25. and so to hear him only that speakâ—h from Heaven But such as keep the old Sabbath go for it to Mount Sinai and are â—earers not of Christ but of Moses in that â—ase 8. Because the whole Law is changed or the â—â—d Covenant and all the Laws and Precepts â—hat belonged peculiarly to that as the old Sabbath did 2 Cor. 5. 17. are abolished Therefore if any Man be in Christ he is of the new Creation or 〈◊〉 new Creature Old things are passed away and behold all things are become new The old Church and old Church-Membership Rites Privileges and Ordinances both the old Jewish Worship and old Day of Worship are gone for ever and a new Church-state new Ordinances a new Worship and a new Day of Worship are introduced in their stead Now since the old Sabbath was a Sign of the old Covenant nay called the Covenant be sure that is gone Exod. 31. 16. wherefore the Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath throughout their Generations for a perpetual Covenant It belonged to the old Creation in a peculiar sense and from hence upon the bringing in the new Creation and making all things new this Sabbath cannot remain the old Jewish Legal Typical Church-Worship and Day of Worship went off all together Can any think that the old Sabbath still remains which was the sign of the old Covenant This is strange if it doth remain be sure the Penalty annexed for the breach of it remains also but the Penalty can't remain therefore the Sabbath is gone Take away the Penalty of a Law and what is become of that Law is it not abrogated Now the Penalty being corporal Death the Sabbath is gone because the Gospel-Church has no such Policy or political Power to inflict any such Punishment on Sabbath-breaking A Sabbatarian being in Prison with Mr. Tho. Grantham he professed much Love to him Ah said Grantham thou wouldst kill me Who I said he what kill my Brother or to that effect Saith the other Had you the Power of the Civil Magistracy in your hand and should I break your Sabbath what would you do with me Said he I confess Justice must take place It is well they have not that Power in their hands 9. Because Christ as a Testator hath made another Will which is his last Will and Testament and this makes all Precepts void that were given in the Old Testament and are not given forth or repeated in the new All know that no Legacy bequeathed in a former Will that is left out in a last Will is recoverable Upon this account it is you have argued that the Law for Tithes is not in force now nor Infant Churchmembership nor an external Canaan flowing with Milk and Honey or have Ministers Sons a right to succeed in the Ministry and many other things because they are not Legacies left in Christ's last Will and Testament tho they were in the Old Testament So the old Sabbath being left out in Christ's last Testament is no Legacy left to us 10. That the Decalogue-Law is transferred from Moses to Christ appears by the manner of the writing of the one and the other Moses had it to give as it was written in two Tables of Stone by the Finger of God Christ hath wrote it not in Stone but in the fleshly Tables of our Hearts by the Holy Spirit which was signified by God's writing of it with is Finger the Spirit being called the Finger of God If I by the Finger of God cast out Devils c. To close this take what Mr. B. hath said viz. The whole Law of Moses B. on the Sabb. p. 77 78. formally as such â—s ceased or abrogated by Christ I say as such because materially the same things that are in that Law may be the matter of the Law of Nature and the Law of Christ of which I shall speak anon That the whole Law of Moses as such is abâ—ogated is most clearly proved By the frequent arguings of Paul who ever speaketh of that Law as ceased without excepting any part and Christ saith Luke 16. 16. The Law and the Prophets were until John that is were the chief Doctrine of the Church till then Joh. 1. 17. The Law was given by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ No Jew would have understood this if the word Law had not contained the Decalogue So John 7. 19 23 24. Acts 15. 5. it was the whole Law of Moses as such which by Circumcision they would have bound men to Gal. 5. 3. The Gentiles are said to sin without Law even when they broke the Law of Nature meaning without Moses's Law In all these Scriptures it 's not part but the whole Law of Moses which Paul excludeth which I acknowledged to the Antinomians tho they take me for their too great Adversary * Rom. 3. 19 20 21 27 28 31. Ch. 4. 13 14 15 16. Ch. 5. 13 20. Ch. 7. 3 4 5 6 7 8. Ch. 9. 4 31 32. Ch. 10. 5. Gal. 2. 16 19 21. Ch. 3. 2 10 11 12 13 14 19 21 24. Ch. 4. 21. Ch. 5. 3 4 14 23. Ch. 6. 13. Eph. 2. 15. Phil. 3. 6 9 Heb. 7. 11 12 19. Ch. 9. 19. Ch. 10. 28. 1 Cor. 9. 21. 3. More particularly there are some Texts which express the cessation of the Decalogue as it was Moses ' s Law 2 Cor. 3. 7 11. Not in Tables of Stone but in the fleshly Tables of the Heart But if the ministration of Death written and engraven in Stone was glorious so that the Children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his Countenance which was to be done away or is done away They that say the Glory and not the Law is here said to be done away speak against the plain scope of the Text For the Glory of Moses's Face and the glorious manner of deliverance ceased in a few days which is not the Cessation here intended But as Dr. Hammond speaketh that Glory and that Law so gloriously delivered is done away and this the 11th Verse fully expresseth For if that which is done away was glorious or by Glory much more that which remaineth is glorious or is Glory So that as it is not only the Glory but the glorious Law Gospel or Testament which is said to remain so it is not only the Glory but the Law which is said to be done away And this is the Law which was written in Stone Nothing but partial Violence can evade the force of this Text. So Heb. 7. 11 12. under it the Levitical Priesthood the People received the Law And the Priesthood being changed there is made of necessity a change also of the Law Ver. 18. For there is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and the unprofitableness thereof For the Law made nothing perfect but the
bringing a better hope did And so much was Jesus made a Surety of a better Testament In all this it is plain that it is the whole Frame of the Mosaical Law that is changed and the New Testament set up in its stead Heb. 9. 18 19. Neither was the first Testament dedicated without Blood For when Moses had spoken every Precept to all the People according to the Law c. Here the Law before said to be changed is said to contain every Precept And Ephes 2. 15. it is the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances which Christ abolished in his Flesh which cannot be exclusive of the chief part thereof Object This is the Doctrine of the Antinomians that the Law is abrogated even the Moral Law Answ It is the Doctrin of the true Antinomians that we are under no Divine Law neither of Nature nor of Christ But it is the Doctrin of Paul and all Christians that the Jewish Mosaical Law is abolished Object But do not all Divines say that the Moral Law is of perpetual Obligation Answ Yes because it is God's Law of Nature and the Law of Christ Object But do not most say that the Decalogue written in Stone is the Moral Law and of perpetual Obligation Answ Yes for by the word Moral they mean Natural and so take Moral not in the large sense as signifying a Law de moribus as all Laws are whatsoever but in a narrower sense as signifying that which by nature is of universal and perpetual Obligation So that they mean not that it is perpetual as it is Moses's Law and written in Stone formally but as it is that which is natural And they mean that materially the Decalogue containeth the same Law which is the Law of Nature and therefore it is materially in force still But they except still certain Points and Circumstances in it as the prefatory Reason I am the Lord your God that brought you out of the Land of Egypt and especially this of the Seventh-day Sabbath Quest How far then are we bound to keep the Law Answ 1. As it is the Law of Nature 2. As it is own'd by Christ and made part of his Law And therefore no more of it bindeth directly than we can prove to be either the Law of Nature or the Law of Christ Thus Mr. B. Object But Christ saith he came not to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfil them and that not one jot or tittle of the Law shall pass away till all be fulfilled Answ The whole Moral Law Christ hath fulfilled in our Nature for us and in our stead in his Life And by his Death he hath antitypically fulfilled all the Prophecies concerning himself in reference to such things and hath abolished the Ceremonial Law also for till then not a tittle of that could pass away Is a fulfilling the Law a destroying it Besides all simple moral Precepts of the Law as in Christ's hand stand firm for ever therefore he came not to destroy the Law yet is he the end of it for Righteousness to every one that believeth Rom. 10. 4. tho as a Rule of Life in his hands it obligeth them perpetually Moreover Ch. 5. 20. Brethren 't is said the Law enter'd Chap. 7. 9. that the Offence might abound c. and the Commandment came c. Now this entering of the Law and coming of the Commandment The use of the Law at in Christ's hand chiefly refers to the Law as it is in Christ's hand set home with Power by the Spirit upon the Conscience The bare entrance of the Law on Mount Sinai as in Moses's hand was with Thundering and Lightning but without Rain I mean without Contrition or Brokenness of heart Men may read Moses's Law and hear it preach'd every day nay write it on the Walls of their Houses and carry it in their Bosoms but yet it may have no operations on their Hearts no 't is the Ministration of the Law in Christ's hand by his Spirit that wounds the Conscience pierces and melts the hard Heart that God's Law may be written there The Ministration of the Law in Christ's hand answers the chief design of God in giving it forth and renders the Minstration of it by Moses of little or no use for as in his hand it is done away but the Law by the Spirit greatens Sin or makes Sin abound and Grace superabound Sin thus by the Law becomes exceeding sinful and it doth not only wound but slay the Soul Sin taking occasion by the Commandment Rom. 7. 11 12. deceived me and by it slew me Wherefore the Law is holy c. O blessed be God for the Law as it is in Christ's hand Thus Sin reviv'd 〈◊〉 I dy'd saith Paul I dy'd as to any hope of Justification or eternal Life by the Law The Jews who had the Law only as in Moses's hand were puff'd up or fill'd with Pride they as Paul before Conversion or the coming of the Commandment in and by the Spirit as in Christ's hand were alive so he thought himself alive in a justified state but when the Commandment came it was then quite otherwise with him So that Christ came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it and also to make it of great use to all that receive the Spirit of Christ which Spirit is a Spirit of burning before it is a Spirit of Consolation or a Spirit of Boâ—dage before it is the Spirit of Adoption and so a Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ Gal. 3. 24. Thus we do not make void the Law through Faith but establish it God in Christ hath magnified the Law and made it honourable and that three ways 1. In sending his own Son in our Nature to keep it perfectly and to die for our breach thereof Christ was made under the Law to this very end O how doth it magnify the Law to see Godman thus conform to it and die to bear the Penalty thereof for us 2. He magnifieth the Law in putting it into the hands of his own Son as Mediator to give it forth Doth not the Dignity and Glory of the Lawgiver add to the Glory of the Law given Is not Christ a more glorious Person than Moses See Heb. 1. 8 9 10. 2. 2 3. This Man was accounted worthy of more Glory than Moses Heb. 3. 3. But alas some would have Moses partake of some part of Christ's Glory he must be their Lawgiver 3. By making of it as in Christ's hand of far greater use to Believers as I have shewed than ever it was in the hands of Moses and so to answer God's Design in it Let me only add that all Moses's Law even the Decalogue was political as one observes God's Law was for the particular political Government of the Jewish Nation as a typical Church and political Body and therefore when their Kingdom or Policy ceased the Law as Political and their figurative Sabbath could not
for no day at all and what then would become of the publick and private Worship of God That Notion therefore that every day is alike is most hateful to God no doubt for as soon as he established a visible Church giving a stinted stated Worship Laws and Ordinances he appointed himself the precise time of Worship under the Law and the equitableness as well as the Divine Authority of one day in seven is as I have proved perpetually obligatory upon all his People For the further clearing of this pray consider that 1. Christ is Lord of the Sabbath and of that Day God would have observ'd under the Gospel and tho he hath dispensed with the observance of the seventh Day or abolished that yet as Lord and Lawgiver he hath instituted a weekly day of Rest for his People and for his solemn Worship in Gospel-times And none have this Power but himself alone For shall the Servant appoint what precise time his Master's business shall be done or set the times when his Master's Family shall have their distinct Meals or be fed No certainly Therefore Christian Sabbath p. 127. as Reverend Dr. Twiss observes if any pretend that Christ hath delegated this Power of his to his Church it stands upon them to make it good What times God himself took to work in or to rest after Creation the same proportion of time as Dr. Lake hints did he assign to Men and made his Pattern a perpetual Law So then of our time God reserves a seventh part for his Service The reserving saith he a seventh part I hold to be God's Ordinance who is not variable in his choice but as everlasting as the World And so should the hallowing of the Seventh-day from the Creation have been had it not been for Sin for what could have altered it but a new Creation 2. But Man having sinned and so abolished the first Creation de jure tho not de facto God was pleased to make by Christ an instauration or renewal of the World he means as I conceive God so abolished the old Creation that no precise Day remains to be observed in the remembrance of it and by Christ in redemption hath made a new Heaven and a new Earth and old things being passed away all things are become new Yea every man in Christ is a new Creature or of the new Creation And as God when he ended his Work of the first Creation made a Day of Rest and sanctified it So Christ when he ended the Work of Redemption made a Day of Rest and sanctified it not altering the proportion of Time which is perpetual but taking the first of seven for his portion because it sutes with his new Creation and with his entring into it thro him that old being a Legal Rite and suting with the Covenant of Works which is abolished with the Covenant it self but the new the first of seven remains for ever 3. For the further clearing of this matter consider that under the first Creation God required one Day in seven for himself The equity of Precepts may abide But the precise Seventh-day being a Judicial Law is gone yet the equity or equitableness of one Day in seven as due to God to be improved to his Glory for ever remains 4. God then gave poor Servants and Cattel Servants and Cattel still have one day in 7. to rest in one Day of Rest in seven the last Day of seven is gone but the equity or equitableness of one Day in seven for a day of Rest for Servants and Cattel remains for ever 5. God required his People to give his Ministers under the Law the Tenth of all their Increase the Law of Tithes is gone but the equity or equitableness that his Ministers under the Gospel should have as sufficient a maintenance remains for ever 6. Under the Law God required his People to meet together in his material Temple the Temple is gone but the equity or equitableness of assembling together in some place or another for Publick Worship remains for ever 7. Under the Law God's People in their Prayers offered Incense Incense was typical and is gone but the equitableness of our Duty in making our Prayers to God and confessing our Sins remains for ever 8. They under the Law had Instruments of Musick when they sang God's Praises Instruments of Musick were typical and only served the Jewish Worship but the equitableness of the Duty to sing God's Praises with Grace in our Hearts remains for ever 9. Also note that the second Commandment as given by Moses injoined the Jewish Nation to observe the whole Ceremonial Law and all other Precepts of the Mosaical Oeconomy But as the Moral Law is in the hands of Christ the second Command doth not injoyn on us the observance of those Precepts because abolished but it injoyns on us the observance of all Ordinances whatsoever Christ hath commanded us Also that Clause in the second Commandment viz. Visiting the Iniquities of the Fathers on the Children to the third and fourth Generation doubtless belonged to the Covenant of Works and was a temporal Punishment Doth God do thus under the New Covenant Moreover the Promise annexed to the fifth Commandment shews that the Law as given by Moses only appertained to the People of Israel as also the Preface to them all Exod. 20. 2. doth the like 10. So the fourth Commandment as in the hand of Moses injoyned the People of Israel the observance of the Seventh-day But as the Law is in the hand of Christ it doth not injoyn us to observe that day but being a Shadow is abolished But it doth injoyn us to observe the first day of the Week which Christ as the Lord of the Sabbath hath instituted under the Gospel in its room tho not to be observed with that legal strictness and penalty as the old Sabbath which was a sign of the Covenant of Works and gendred to bondage Object But where is there a Divine appointment of the first Day of the Week and by whom was it required Answ This is the cry of our Adversaries and I answer that I doubt not but our Lord and Saviour at this time did institute it and also gave command to his Disciples to observe it I know some others have cryed Where is laying on of hands either upon Elders or baptized Believers as such commanded and so of divers other things as if every Precept of the Gospel must be laid down in express words of command because some of them are 1. But to proceed Let it be well considered that as I have proved from the fourth Command that a Time a sufficient Time for Rest and in the solemn Worship of God is a simple Moral Duty 2. And that God also hath there by an express positive Law laid claim to one Day in seven as perpetually obligatory on his People And as I have also proved that the last Day of seven was only given to the Jews
I take to be the Foundation of the observance of the first Day and that which I mentioned last is a clear confirmation thereof In order to do this consider that each Day to be observed either under the Law or Gospel must be comprehended in the fourth Command and that the change of the old Day takes not away the perpetual Obligation of one day in seven nor the reason of that positive perpetual Law Now there are but two great and general Instances in which God is said to rest viz. 1. That after the first Creation was finished God rested from all his Work namely from Creation-work so as he never will create any material thing again to the end of the World As to his creating the Soul that is not the creating of any new Species of Beings 2. The Rest of God-man after he had finished the Work of Redemption or the second Creation which is never to be repeated Now there is a moral Reason which is deducible from the fourth Commandment that whenever God rests there is a Foundation of a day of Rest for Man comporting with the nature and tendency of each Covenant to which that Rest doth refer Thou shalt do no manner of Work c. for in six days c. The word for implys a moral Reason which makes it applicable to any Rest of God therefore to God's Rest from the Work of Redemption I mean that of God-man which is also deducible from Heb. 4 Christ rested from his Work as God did from his Therefore there remaineth a Rest for the People of God Heb. 4. â— 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for he that is entered into his Rest hath also ceased from his Works as God did from his Here is the Institution of the Lord's Day For tho this Rest hath a particular relation to the Gospel-day of Rest i. e. of that Grace Rest and Peace Christ procured for us by his doing all that we had to do and of that burden of Punishment he bore which we had to undergo for our Sins yet not exclusive of a particular Sabbath or day of Rest but it is directly intended here as the Foundation and Institution of it because that Rest in the former Verses which has a more particular respect to the Rest in Canaan is spoken of not excluding God's resting the Seventh-day Now in pursuit of this I shall here cite some material Passages out of Dr. Owen on the Sabbath who has fully confirmed what I here assert How the Creation of all things was finished Dr. Owen on the Sab. p. 256. and the Rest of God and Man that ensued thereon hath been saith he declared It hath also in part and sufficiently as to our present purpose been evidenced how the great Ends of the Creation of all in the Glory of God and the Blessedness of Man in him with the Pledg thereof in a sabbatical Rest were for a season as it were defeated and disappointed by the entrance of Sin which brake the Covenant that was founded in the Law of Creation and rendered it useless unto those Ends Hence it could no more bring Man to rest in God but yet there was the continuation of the obligatory Force of the Law and Covenant and hence of the Sabbatical Rest in the Church of Israel with the especial application of its Command to that People In this state of things God had of old determined the Renovation of all things by a new Creation a new Law of that Creation a new Covenant and a new Sabbatical Rest to his Glory by Jesus Christ And this Renovation of all things accordingly to be accomplished in Christ 2 Cor. 5. 17 18. 'T is said Old things are past away and behold all things are become new the old Law the old Covenant old Worship Pag. 258. old Sabbath and all that was peculiar to the Covenant of Works as such in the first Institution of it and its renewed Declaration on Mount Sinai all are gone and antiquated And what now remains of them as to any usefulness in our living to God doth not abide on the old Foundation but on a new Disposition of them by the Renovation of all things in Christ Eph. 1. 10. A new Law of Obedience is introduc'd by the new Creation in Christ Jesus And there is a great Renovation thereof shewed in God's writing his Law in our Hearts not here to be insisted on God brings over * That is God brings over the Law as given on Mount Sinai into the hands of Christ in this State the use of the first Law as renewed and represented in Tables of Stone for a directive Rule of Obedience to the new Creature whereby the first original Law is wholly supply'd Hereunto he makes an addition of what positive Laws he thinks meet So the Moral Law tho materially always the same yet this old Law as brought over into this new State is new also for all old things are become new And it is now the Rule of our Obedience not merely to God as Creator but to God in Christ bringing us into a new Relation to himself in the Renovation of the Image of God in our Souls and the transferring over of the Moral Law as a Rule accompanied with new Principles Motives and Ends. And now observe all the Rests of God are founded in his own Rest in his Works for a pledg hereof a day of Rest must be given and observed But as the Apostle tells in another case Pag. 262. The Priesthood being changed Heb. 7. 12. there must also of necessity be a change of the Law so the Covenant being changed and the Rest which was the end of it being changed and the way of entering into the Rest of God being changed a change of the Day must of necessity thereon ensue And no Man can assert the same day of Rest precisely to abide as of old but he must likewise assert the same way of entering into â—t which yet as all acknowledg is changed The day first annexed to the Covenant of Works that is the seventh day was continued under the old Testament because the outward Administration of the Covenant of Works was continued But now the new Covenant being absolutely established and the other abolished both as to its Nature Use Efficacy and Power no more to be represented nor proposed unto Believers even the whole of it Yea and its renewed Administration under the Old Testament being removed taken away and disappearing Heb. 8. 13. the precise day of Rest belonging unto it was to be changed also and so it came to pass On these Suppositions we lay Pag. 164. § 7. and ought to â—ay the observation of the Lord's-day under the New Testament according to the Institution of â—t or Declaration of the Mind of Christ who â—s our Lord and Lawgiver concerning it A New work of Creation or work of a new Creation is undertaken and compleated * Isa 65.