Mr. Robrowgh doth or will deny himselfe to be one of these I dare then deny him to be one of Christ true Church notwithstanding he hath the office of a Curate in the outward state thereof And secondly whereas I stand charged in the sentence to have said that the Church of England teacheth false doctrine and upon the testimony of Susan Price onely a woman greatly devoted to Mr. Denison and an associate of Thomson and Rogers My answer is shee testifieth falsely unlesse the Church of England doth consist of Mr. Denison Mr. Robrowgh and some other of their corrupt humour as many such women and some men also as unwise as they doe conceive it doth and therefore dare sweare that whatsoever is spoken against them and their doctrine is spoken against the Church of England Their fourth Accusation That the said Etherington within the time aforesaid viz. since the 20th of December 1623. hath maintained and published that the Sabbath since the Apostles times was of no force and that every day is a Sabbath as well as that which wee call the Lords day or Sunday To this first position of the fourth Article Rowland Thomson Thomas Rogers Suzan Price Peter Worcester Heury Robrowgh doe depose and testifie The testimony of Thomson That he this deponent hath within the time articulate heard the said Etherington maintaine or publish that the Sabbath was of no force since the Apostles times and that every day is a Sabbath as much as that which wee call the Lords day or Sunday The testimony of Rogers He deposeth and saith that he the said Etherington hath within the time in this Article mentioned and since the 20 of December 1623. held and published that the Sabbath was of no force since the Apostles time and that every day is a Sabbath as much as that which we call the Lords day or Sunday The testimony of Suzan Price That shee this deponent doth certainly know that the articulate Etherington within the time articulate maintained and published that the Sabbath was of no force since the Apostles times The testimony of Worcester That he this deponent hath within these eight moneths last past before his examination heard the said Etherington maintaine that there is no day to be set apart for outward rest by vertue of any commandement The testimony of Robrough That the articulate Etherington hath of his deponentâ— knowledge within the time articulate held maintained and published that the Sabbath is of no force and that we are not now bound to keepe it by vertue of the fourth Commandement My answer and defence The words of Tomson Rogers and Susan Price which are the words contained in the Sentence I never spake in my life much lesse maintained or published as they depose nor yet the words of Henry Robrough but I doe hold the Sabbath to be in force according as I shall hereafter manifest and that the first day of the weeke is to be observed And as touching Worcester and his testimony for him he is a man that I was never conversant with onely I have beene in his company two or three times and the last time was as he saith and at the house of one Master Pike in East-cheape where hee the said Worcester with some other of Master Denisons favorites had occasioned me to meet them under pretence of friendship also and of making peace but being indeed another traine to intrap me This Worcester with some of his sociates then present were very importunate with me to reason with them concerning repentance and the Sabbath which I refused to doe being forewarned of their conspiracy and that this Worcester with others of them had given out threatning words tending to the taking away of my life one saying it is pitie that he liveth hee deserveth to be burned another I will never leave him till I make him fry and others to the like effect and because I held it not a thing fitting to make a controversie of this matter of the Sabbath which they most desired to have me speake of with them neither did I ever contend with any man about it untill Master Denison had begun to revile me in his Pulpits and charging me falsely in many things concerning it nor had I then but that I was drawn to it once through faire pretences also with one Master Cleaver at which time we seemed to part friends and not so disagreeing as there need to be any enmity between us for the difference So that I only told Worcester and the other with him my mind in few words but not in way of maintaining as he deposeth for the words it is like I did say thus or to this effect that if the fourth Commandement as it did concerne the outward bodily rest of the seventh day be abrogated as I thinke all the Christian Churches in the world doe hold it is then there is no Commandement in the word of God requiring the same outward bodily rest upon any other day instead thereof and this I say still yet not denying the observation of the first day of the weeke as I shall declare so that thus farre I deny not Worcesters testimony though otherwise and in other matters he is false like the rest But whence these two sworne brethren Thomson and Rogers whose testimonies because they so well agree are so oft the words of the Sentence Susan Price and Henry Robrough have had the words they depose I cannot tell neither doe themselves declare nor mention any time place or person to be present when I should publish and maintaine them as they speake and I am sure I never said to any man living that the Sabbath was of no force but doe hold that it is in force and the Commandement also according to the spirituall intent therof I meane by Sabbath the true and perfect rest of God which hee did rest the seventh day having finished all his workes therefore called his rest as hee saith If they shall enter into my rest And that it is here entred into of us and kept not through the Law by doing any kind of worke or works therein contained but through the promise eventhe the Gospell of Jesus Christ by beleeving as Saint Paul saith For wee which have beleeved doe enter into rest as hâ—e said as I have sworns in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest although saith he the workes were finished from the foundation of the world for hee spake in a certaine place of the seventh day on this wise And God did rest the seventh Day from all his workes and in this place againe If they shall enter into my rest Heb. 4. Where the Apostle declareth plainely that the rest of God which hee is said to rest the seventh day and this in David which the faithfull doe enter into is all one and the same rest and that it is preached unto us in the Gospell as it was to the Israelites in Davids time and in the wildernesse And
the reason why they that fell in the Wildernesse entred not in was their hardnesse of heart and unbeleefe as in the 15. ver. of the 3. chap. and the 2. ver. of the 4. chap. He declareth and saith further That they that are so entred â—â—ve ceased from their owne workes as God did from his that is from seeking their owne pleasures and speaking their owne words from all their corrupt carnall and sinfull pleasures and delights of the world wherein their soule as well as their bodie and members thereof had walked the whole man being corrupted through the fall and which are therefore called their owne workes and their owne pleasures and their delight is now in the Lord and in his holy and heavenly wayes seeking his face continually honouring him c. as the Prophet Esay saith And they that are so entred here by faith and keepe the Lords holy Sabbath will the Lord cause to ride upon the high places of the earth and will feed them with the heritage of Iacob their father for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it which heritage of of Iacob is the everlasting Kingdom the heavenly Country and Citty promised which all the holy Fathers looked for and is to be manifested and fully accomplished when Christ shall come in his glory and all things shall be restored according to the Prophets And so I hold the Sabbath spirituall and eternall to be in force and that the outward rest of man and beast commanded the Jewes on the seaventh day was but a shaddow thereof and is now ceased to Christians So that as wee are 〈◊〉 bound to Circumcision nor other ceremonies of the Law which is manifest by Acts 15. Gal. 4. and other places of Scripture neither are we to the strict observation of any litterall Sabbaths of yeeres times moneths or dayes as the Jewes were by the Law but are free as Saint Paul sayth Let no man judge you in meates or in drinkes or in respect of an holy day or of the new Moone or of the Sabbath day which are a shaddow of the things to come but the body is Christ And he said to them of Galatia who were by false Teachers brought to an extreame in that kind more then the Law it selfe ever intended Ye observe dayes and moneths and times and yeares I am afraid of you c. in both which places the Apostle speaketh of the seventh day Sabbath and concludeth of it as of the rest In Gal. he beginneth with it before the monthly Sabbathes as besides which before the monthly there is not another to be rekoned and in Colâ— He ends with it in reckoning next after the new Moones or monthly Sabbathes except which after the monethly there is not another to be named and counteth it with the rest a shadow of things to come And this no doubt was the reason why the Apostles and Christian Churches to this day have left it with the rest of the signes and shadowes of the law as holding that Christians are free as touching their consciences in all such respects If this be true that the litterall rest of the seventh day commanded in the Law be a shadow as by the Apostles words is most cleere and past all contradiction then the first day of the weeke used in the Apostles times and ever since in the Christian Churches for the assembling together of the people of God to breaking of bread and prayer and preaching and hearing the word of God for exhortation spirituall communion edification and comfort one another praysing the Lord c. Was taken up freely and is a free observation and not by force of any commandement of the Law or of the Gospell And this doth the Apostle further declare in Rom. 14. where he plainely sheweth as he doth also in Colo. 2. the inâ—iferency now under the Gospell of eating and not eating of meates and of esteeming and not esteeming one day above another So that although Christians be now free in these things as touching the conscience in respect of the Law and are not bound yet they not only may observe a day to the Lord for the ends before mentioned and forbeare therein their common worldly affaires but ought it so being ordained and appointed by the state and Church wherein they live and so farre wee are bound by the command of the word of God in all good and lawfull things to obey And some day or time is needfull and the more time the bettâ—r and hee that makes the most use of the same time to the same ends doth the best and the first day of the weeke may very well be the day rather then any other because it was for some reasons no doubt taken up and used for those ends in the Apostles times whither because they might be more free therein in respect of the Jewes then on the Sabbath day or for what reason else it is not written being not so needfull to be knowne And so in respect of this spirituall use and end it hath beene and is appointed and imployed unto it may be called a Sabbath day though not by force of the commandement But whosoever shall lay such a burthen upon the consciences of Christian touching the day as Master Denison and some others have done charging the people upon heavy curses and condemnation to doe and not to doe such and such kind of things as they prescribe These things Which although you may lawfully leave them undone upon any other day and not sinne you are bound to doe them in this day in paine of condemnation And these and those kind of things or actions which although you may lawfully doe them on any other day and not sinne you are bound not to doe any of them in this day on paine of condemnation and whosoever doth not constionably so observe the day cannot be a true Christian wherewith they have so inthralled the minds of many people some of tender consciences zealously affected towards God and have brought them to such distraction and unquietnesse of spirit by reason they are not nor can be satisfied in every particular action what they are so bound to doe and what not to doe upon that day when to begin and when to end that there is more talke and questioning among them and and more resorting to Ministers for satisfaction about the same then about any matter of religion whatsoever This doctrine I say is very unsound and just like unto that which the false Apostles and Teachers taught and charged them of Antioch and them of Galatia touching Circumcision and the Sabbath of the Law which was very erroneous even in the time of the Law and a burthen as Saint Peter saith which they nor their fathers were able to beare for such doctrine had beene taught the Jewes by such Pharisees and false Teachers a long time before Peters dayes and is by the Church in Acts 15. and by Saint Paul in Gal. 4. condemned for
the first saying Repent and believe the Gospell this did the Apostles Preach after him as he commanded them Act. 2. 38 Act. 〈◊〉 and Act. 20. 20. 21. Where Saint Paul saith I kepte â—â—ching backe that was profitables but taught and testified both to the Iewes and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and saith in our Lord Iesus Christ This did Moses and the Prophets also before Christ came in the flesh Preach and require of the people as the most necessary things to be attained if they would be saved This Abel Hen cb Noah and all the blessed of their times attained unto and had it wrought in them from above And Abraham also before circumcision in the flesh was required This all the holy Patriarchs Prophets and righteous men and women of the Jewes had And that woman which is so specially remembred unto us in the Gospell whose Baptisme of repentance is so truely manifested by her plentifull teares wherewith she washed Christs feet And her Baptisme of the holy Ghost and justification by faith from her sins by her true and much love to Christ expressed in her washing and kissing his feet and anoynting them with oyle For every one that is borne from above of water and of the Spirit is inwardly of the same heavenly nature all the dayes of his life after whose fruit doth alwayes in his due times and seasons according to his measure like the tree planted by the river side shew forth the fame This al the elect of God that ever were now are or hereafter shal be have had have must have yea the youngest child dying in the birth or the womb if not in outward expression yet inwardly in the true nature thereof for no one child of man begotten of flesh can be saved except he be begotten from above of water and of the Spirit and so changed or renewed from the polluted and inthralled estate of nature which we all had and received originally in the very conception into the estate of grace and love with God in Christ And God may worke this change this new birth or rebegetting in the wombe if it pleaseth him as he did in Iohn the Baptist or at the time of outward baptisme if he so please or before it as he did in Abraham before circumcision in the flesh and as in the Apostles times he did to some or after it as he had done formerly after circumcision and now most usually doth since all are so generally baptized in their young estate For we may not limit God neither hath he tyed himselfe to any time or estate of nature in us nor to any one outward action performed by man unto us although he hath ordained sundry excellent holy out ward meanes whereby he doth direct and lead us as it were by the hand to the things that are spirituall and indeed necessary which we are bound to imbrace with much thankfulnesse to God and to use with reverence and not to despise the least of them nor in any part wilfully neglect them in paine of Gods high displeasure But the death and resurrection of Christ the sacrifice of his body and blood the value vertue price and purchase thereof he hath tyed himselfe unto so as that without it and some powerfull administration the same to the soule of man there is no salvation as Christ pronounceth saying Except yee eate the flesh of the Son of man and drinke his blood yee have no life in you Iohn 6. 53. The Sacraments of Baptisme and the Lords Supper have both respect unto this Baptisme to the new birth wherein weare set in the estate of life thereby the Lord Supper to the continuall Commmunion which every one that is once made alive by it hath therein to eternall life and so the flesh of Christ Is meat indeed and his blod is drinke indeed to them according to the word of Christ Iohn 6. 54. 55. Not as if any man did or could eat the very flesh or drinke his blood carnally as Doctor Cosins affirmed not that the bread of the Sacrament or the wine is turned into the flesh or blood of Christ either before we receive them or after so conveied into us as some would make us beleev nor any other kind of way is the flesh or blood of Christ conveied or infused into our bodies or soules to set us in the estate of life or to continue us in the same nay then how could they that were before Christ came in the flesh be saved for the same necessity of eating his flesh and drinking his blood was to them then even from the first fall of Adam as is now to us but it is the grace purchased thereby which we doe receive in our hearts by faith and which by his mediation is continued with us For as the Law which is the Minister of death came by Moses â—oâ— grace and truth which bringeth life is by JESUS GHRIST And therefore the Apostles so often Write and say The grace of our Lord Iesus Christ bee with you c. For although the very body and blood of Christ be the price of the purchase in that respect the only mediate cause of our life and salvation yet doth not his body and blood enter into us to revive and save us nay so it profiteth nothing as Christ himselfe said against some that conceived his words in such a carnall manner as now at this time many doe What and if you shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before It is the spirit that quickneth the flesh profiteth nothing the words that I speake unto you they are spirit and they are life Iohn 6. 62. 63. Neither doe we by the acts of eating the bread or drinking the wine of the Sacrament eate or drinke the grace of God purchased by the body and blood of Christ neither is grace conferred or any way secretly conveied to our hearts in the bread or wine or by them nor by any thing inferior unto it selfe but it is conferred to the heart of man by the Spirit of God through the word of his promise therefore called the word of his grace And the instrument hand or mouth wherewith wee doe receive the same is faith in the heart caused also therein by the operation of the same spirit as Paul declareth for the habit and estate of eternall life and the promise of raysing up at the last day which Christ doth certifie to those that eate his flesh and drinke his blood doth he assure to them that beleeve in him so that to beleeve in Christ is to eate his flesh and drinke his blood according to his meaning and therefore a sinner is sometimes said to be justified by grace sometimes by the blood of Christ sometimes by faith because in the act of our justification all these doe concur and are together the