Commemoration of the Resurrection of our Saviour it is in reason to begin when that Resurrection did which we find to have been when it began to dawn towards day All therefore that can be meant in respect of us must be the Observation of such a portion of Time as their Day amounted to which is the space of Twenty four Hours or the Natural Day But even here it will be a hard matter to find any thing in Nature to evince our Obligation to it For though Nature it self perswade that a competent time be appointed for the Publick Worship of God yet that the Time so appointed should consist of just so many Hours this no Principle in Nature teacheth so far as I have been acquainted with them The onely thing that can found the Observation of such a Time is that Positive Law which is now before us But as I have already shewn the Letter thereof not to concern us as to the Day here requir'd so Christianity being apparently not so nice as to the observation of Circumstances we are in reason to measure our own Obligation as to the time of our Worship rather by the Equity than Letter of the Commandment which what that is I shall in due place declare Now though from what hath been said a Judgment may be made what we are to think of the Observation of a Seventh day and particularly of that Seventh day which was the Jewish Sabbath yet to make my Discourse so much the more compleat and because there want not particular Arguments to propugn my Opinion in those Particulars I will make it my Business to shew That there is no Obligation upon us Christians either from the Law of Nature or this particular Precept to observe either a precise Seventh day or that Seventh day which the Jews observ'd To begin with the former of these even the Observation of a Seventh which hath by some Men been pleaded for with so great earnestness concerning which I shall shew first That it hath no Foundation in the Law of Nature and secondly That it hath as little in this if consider'd in respect of us That it hath not in the former this one Character of the Law of Nature may suffice any sober Man to conclude For the Law of Nature prescribing onely such things to our Observation as are in their own Nature good before the superinducing of any Positive Law it would follow that the Observation of a Seventh day had a peculiar Goodness in it and that it ought to be observ'd though God had by no Positive Law enjoyn'd it But what Goodness can even they who profess to believe it Moral shew in a Seventh day more than in a Sixth or Eighth or any other Day whatsoever unless it be that God rested upon it from the Works of the Creation which is the Reason here alledg'd for its observance But first of all if God's resting upon it gave it any peculiar Goodness what need was there of his adding his Blessing and Command to oblige Men to the Observance of it For the Day being Holy without and before it it would have suffic'd to have declar'd That that was the Day on which he rested Again Forasmuch as Blessing and Sanctifying supposeth that which is so blessed and sanctified to have been before in the common condition of Things God's so blessing and sanctifying of the Seventh day supposeth that to have been of the nature of other Days and consequently not to be consecrated by his bare Resting on it Lastly Forasmuch as whatsoever Goodness there is in any thing it must be suppos'd to descend upon it by the Influence of the Divine if we suppose the Seventh day to have had any peculiar Goodness and Holiness we must also suppose it to have receiv'd it from the same Influx which cannot be affirm'd in the present case because that to which it is ascrib'd is not any Influence of the Divine Goodness but onely the Suspension of it I conclude therefore That God's Rest upon it did not give the Seventh day any peculiar Holiness and consequently because that is the onely Reason alledg'd that there is nothing of Morality in the Observance of it From Nature and Morality therefore pass we to the present Precept and inquire whether that induceth any Obligation upon us to observe it Give me leave onely to premise That the Question is not as is commonly deem'd Whether One in Seven be of necessity to be observ'd but Whether a Seventh day after Six days of Labour For though it be true that he who requires a Seventh day requires One in Seven yet requiring it with reference to God's Rest from his Six days of Creation he determines it to the last of those Seven because no other beside the last can answer it Which said I shall not stick to affirm That there is no Obligation upon us as to a Seventh because the Precept so considered related onely to the Jews For the evidencing whereof I will alledge that of Exodus chap. 31.16 17. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed For as it is sufficiently known that the Covenant between God and the Israelites left no place for any that was not of their Nation or Religion so the Sabbath being for a Sign of that Covenant was consequently to extend no farther than the Covenant did and therefore also to no other than themselves The onely difficulty is Whether what is affirm'd of the Sabbath in particular be to be understood also of a Seventh day in the general For the resolution whereof we shall need to go no further than the close of that Place we have now before us For affirming the Sabbath whereof he speaks to be a Sign between him and the Children of Israel as it was an Image of his own Rest after his Six days work of Creation he thereby appropriates to them though not the Remembrance of the Creation yet the keeping such a Memorial of it and consequently of a Seventh day And indeed however some Men contend eagerly for a Seventh day as supposing thereby to advance the Authority of that which we Christians think our selves obliged to observe yet the granting of it to them would serve onely to discredit that Day for which they so contend For though the Lord's-day be One of Seven yet it is the First of those Seven and is not preceded by Six days of Labour but followed By which means it holds no analogy with the Design of the Institution because intended to commemorate the Six days of the Creation and that Rest which followed Neither will it suffice to say as perhaps it may be That the Analogy between it and that Rest it is propos'd to imitate may be salved
AN EXPLICATION OF THE DECALOGUE OR Ten Commandments WITH REFERENCE TO THE CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH of ENGLAND To which are premised by way of Introduction Several GENERAL DISCOURSES concerning GOD'S both NATURAL and POSITIVE LAWS By Gabriel Towerson sometimes Fellow of All-Souls College in Oxford and now Rector of Wellwyn in Hertfordshire Philo in Praefat. ad Librum de Decalogo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΔΙ ' ΑΥΤΟΥ ΜΟÎΟΥ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ÎΟΜΟΥΣ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΠΟΜΩΠ〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΔΙΑ ΤΟΥΠΡΟΦΗΤΟ Î¥ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΕΠ' ΕΚΕΙÎΟΥΣ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn at the Bell in St Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXVI TO The Most Reverend FATHER in God GILBERT By Divine Providence LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Primate of all England and Metropolitan AND One of His Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council c. May it please Your Grace I Have here attempted an Explication of that part of our Church-Catechism which respects the Decalogue or Ten Commandments Not out of any great opinion of mine own Abilities for such an undertaking of which they who know me know me to be sufficiently diffident but out of a due sense of the want of a just Discourse upon this Argument which by no Man that I know of hath been handled according to its worth It was once in my thoughts to have suppressed it till I could have finished an Explication of the whole Catechism as conceiving that that would have been more compleat and more acceptable to the World But considering with my self that it would require some time to revise what I have already done and much more to add to and perfect it and since what is now offered to Your Grace and with Your Graces Leave to the Publick view also is entire enough if I have acquitted my self in it as I ought I thought I should no way disoblige my Readers if I sent this part of it before the rest to try the Judgment of the World Especially since it is not impossible but that I may entertain a better opinion of my own Labours than they shall be found by more competent Judges to deserve If any thing may seem with Reason to make such a procedure improper it is that I have referr'd my self to those Parts that are not yet published for the proof of some things asserted here But as it is only for such things as have been abundantly proved by others and which therefore especially in loco non suo I might the better wave the confirmation of so they are for the most part if not only such as by the Laws of Discourse are to be supposed by all that will entreat of this Argument However if what is now tendred find acceptance that blot shall not long lye upon it and if not the imperfectness thereof will be the most pardonable quality of my Discourse or at least will be more excusable than my troubling the World with more In this Treatise I have endeavoured out of that heap which so copious a subject presents to select such matter as is most considerable and pertinent to deliver my sense concerning it in proper and intelligible expressions and lastly to confirm that by solid Reasons For other things I have not been much sollicitous and much less as Solomon speaks to find out acceptable words as conceiving such more proper to perswade than inform which is or ought to be the Design of an Explication If any taking occasion from this rude Discourse of mine shall oblige the World with a more perfect one he shall find me among the foremost to return him thanks for it Both because of the benefit I shall reap in common with others from it and also because I shall have the satisfaction of considering that if I have not been my self so fortunate in Explaining the Ten Commandments yet I have stirred up those that are and thereby have fulfilled a Commandment the observation whereof is of more advantage than the most accurate Explication of them all In the mean time as I hope these my Labours will not be altogether unuseful so I lay them at Your Grace's feet as a Recognition of those many favours You have been pleased to confer upon me and of that Duty I owe to the Church of England for the safe-guard whereof as Your Grace hath with great prudence and conduct happily presided in an Age wherein You have met with more than ordinary Discouragements so that God will still preserve Your Grace for the farther benefit thereof is the hearty Prayer of Your Grace's in all bounden Duty and Service GABRIEL TOWERSON THE DECALOGUE OR TEN COMMANDMENTS As they are described and explained by the Catechism of the Church of ENGLAND Quest YOV said that your Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for you that you should keep Gods Commandments Tell me how many there be Answ Ten. Quest Which be they Answ The same which God spake in the Twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage I. Thou shalt have none other Gods but me II. Thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the Water under the Earth Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my Commandments III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy Son and thy Daughter thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant thy Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed seventh day and hallowed it V. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee VI. Thou shalt do no murther VII Thou shalt not commit adultery VIII Thou shalt not steal IX Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour X. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Quest What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments Answ I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Quest What is
Commonwealth and makes as many Gods as there are Persons or Things which he doth so adore PART VIII Concerning the attributing to a Creature any part of the Honour that is due to God which is the last thing excluded by the Third Capital Precept of this Commandment That done either directly and expresly as by giving to it the Name of God without any diminishing Explication or indirectly and by consequence Of which sort is the attributing to Natural Agents the Success even of Natural Force or ascribing to them Supernatural one Vpon occasion of which last inquiry is made into the Lawfulness of Astrological Predictions of attempting to discover Secrets whether past or present by Means equally unapt or remove Evils by Charmes and Amulets A Conclusion of the whole with a brief Account of Mens transacting with the Devil where is shewn That we have little reason to question the truth of such Transactions and far less to allow them 3. THAT we ought not to substitute any other Gods in the room of the True or receive any other into Copartnership with him enough hath been said to shew where I had those for the Subject of my Discourse Nothing remains toward a full Explication of the Commandment but to shew in like manner that we ought not to attribute to any thing else any part of that Honour which is due unto him A thing which the Words of the Prophet Isaiah * 42.8 And my glory will I not give unto another as well as the importance of this Commandment will warrant us to affirm He who attributeth to any thing else any part of that Honour which is due unto him so far as he doth so both making that his God and giving the Glory of God to it The onely thing therefore that it will concern us to inquire into is By what ways that is or may be done which accordingly I come now to investigate Now there are two ways whereby that may be done and which therefore are to be suppos'd to be alike forbidden by this Commandment the giving of God's Glory directly and expresly or indirectly and by consequence In the former of these I place first the giving to any Created Being the Name of God without any diminishing Explication A thing which hath not been unusual with fawning Persons in their Addresses to Princes and other such Great Personages For thus when Herod arrayed in his Royal Apparel made an Oration to those of his Jurisdiction the Text tells us that at the conclusion of it they gave a shout saying It is the voice of a God and not of a Man Act. 12.22 By which means as they did directly and expresly give the Honour of God to a mortal Man and consequently became Transgressors of this Commandment so God shew'd so much displeasure at the thing that he aveng'd himself upon Herod for not averting that Blasphemous Appellation from himself And though the like cannot lightly be thought to happen under the Gospel especially after so plain a declaration of the displeasure of God against it yet it is sufficiently known that some of the Church of Rome have proceeded to so great a degree of Flattery and Blasphemy as to stile the Pope of Rome Our Lord God the Pope I place in the same rank what was no less usual an Extravagancy in former days the Building of Temples or offering Sacrifices to mortal Men Of which kind of Honours the Apostles of our Lord were so apprehensive that when the Priest of Lystra brought Oxen and Garlands to their Gates and would have done Sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas for recovering an impotent Cripple both the one and the other of them rent their clothes at the mention of it and labour'd by all means possible to divert them from their purpose But because such kind of Extravagancies are not so usual in our days unless it be to Departed Saints for which I have sufficiently accounted already I will leave both that and the present Head when I have advertis'd you That it is alike offensive to bear a Man's self as a God whether by commanding such kind of Honours from other Men or receiving them when offer'd by them he that doth so making a Deity of himself and consequently bringing himself within the compass of the Commandment How the Glory of God may be given to another directly and expresly you have seen already and might with a little advertency have discover'd without my help because it sufficiently betrayeth it self Proceed we therefore to inquire how it may be done indirectly and by consequence because that is not so obvious and apparent Where first I shall reckon as an instance of it the attributing the Success of any Enterprise whatsoever to those Natural Agents which are made use of to compass it For it appearing both from the Scriptures and our own Experience that whatsoever aptitude there is in the Force we make use of yet the Success of it depends upon the Blessing of the Divine Providence it being equally true in other Cases what St. Paul spoke in a particular one That Paul may plant and Apollo may water but it is God that must give the increase whosoever shall go about to attribute the Success of any Enterprise to his own or others Endeavors must consequently be thought to give the Glory of God to another and therefore so far also makes a God of it But from hence it will follow That he giveth the Glory of God unto another who either before the Event depends upon Natural Causes for the producing of it or ascribes it to their Force and Vertue after it is accomplished Which latter is so plain and obvious that when the Prophet Habakkuk * Chap. 1.16 would represent the criminalness thereof unto the Jews he expresseth it by sacrificing to their nets and burning incense to their drags Ceremonies which are sufficiently known to have been made use of by all Nations to express their Reverence to their Gods From the attributing the Success of any thing to Natural Agents pass we to the attributing to them Supernatural Force and such as is proper to God onely In the number of which I reckon Foreknowledge of contingent Events the Discovery of other Secrets whether past or present by Means which have no natural aptitude to disclose them and the making use of the like unapt Means to prevent or remove Evils For though it be not to be doubted that these may belong to Men yea did actually concur in the Prophets and Apostles for which cause it may seem no immediate intrenchment upon God's Glory to attribute them to mortal Men yet as those who were Partakers of them became so by the Grace of God to whom alone they do primarily belong so he who attributes them to any Creature as such and without consideration of the Divine Majesty's imparting them must consequently be thought to give the Honour of God to them because implying those Qualities to be inherent in their Nature
the Lord blessed the * or Sabbath day seventh day and hallowed it PART I. The Contents The general Design of the Fourth Commandment the setting apart a Portion of our Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one The particular Duties either suh as appertain to the Substance of the Precept or such as are onely Circumstances thereof Of the former sort are 1. The Worshipping of God in private and by our selves the Morality whereof is evidenced from the particular Obligation each individual Person hath to the Divine Majesty 2. The Worshipping of him in consort with others which is also at large establish'd upon Principles of Nature and Christianity 3. The setting apart a Time for the more solemn performance of each As without which Religious Duties will be either omitted or carelesly perform'd but to be sure no Publick Worship can be because Men cannot know when they shall meet in order to it 4. Such a Rest from our ordinary Labours as will give us the leisure to intend them and free us from distraction in the performance of them BEING now to enter upon the Fourth Commandment about the Nature whereof there hath been so much Contention in the Church of England I cannot forbear to say There is all the reason in the World to believe it to be Moral in the main as having a place among those Commandments which contain nothing in them which is not confessedly Moral But because when we come to understand its general Design and particular Precepts we shall be much better able to judge whether or no and how far the Matter thereof is Moral I will without more ado apply my self to the investigation of them and shew to what Duties it oblig'd Now the general Design of this Fourth Commandment is the setting apart a Portion of our Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one That it designs the setting apart some Portion of our Time the very Words of the Commandment shew as not onely acquainting us with God's sanctifying a Seventh part but obliging the Jews in conformity thereto to rest from their ordinary Labours and observe it as holy unto the Lord. The onely difficulty is Whether it designs the setting apart of that Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one For the proof of the former part whereof though I cannot say we have the same clearness of Evidence from the Letter of the Commandment it self yet I shall not scruple to affirm That it may be inferr'd from thence by necessary consequence and not onely be prov'd to be a part of the Precept but the principal one For how is that day kept as holy which hath nothing holy performed in it Or what reference can it have to God as the Word holy implies where God is not at all honour'd in it Neither will it suffice to say That the very Resting on that day is of it self a Consecration of it unto God For as it becomes a Consecration onely by the Parties so resting in compliance with the Command and Ends of God so it supposeth at least that they should on that day order their Thoughts to him and rest from their ordinary Labours in contemplation of his Command and in remembrance of his resting from that great Work of the Creation Again Though to rest from their ordinary Labours especially as was before understood were a kind of devoting it unto God yet there being other and more acceptable ways of keeping it holy than by a simple Rest from them it is but reasonable to think when God caution'd the Jews so to remember it he design'd no less to be honour'd other ways Lastly Forasmuch as God not onely commanded to keep it holy but in this very Precept represents it as his own * But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God as in Isaiah ‖ Isa 58.13 under the Title of his holy day and the holy of the Lord he thereby manifestly implies that it should be dedicated to his Worship and not onely not be profan'd by ordinary Service but hallowed by his own For how is it God's Holy day but by being dedicated to his Service or how observ'd as such but by giving him his proper Service in it Whence it is that where the Prophet Isaiah gives it those Elogies he insers our honouring him from them as well as the not pleasuring of our selves Though therefore so much be not directly and in terminis express'd yet it is clearly enough imply'd that God design'd his own Honour and Service in it and commanded it to be set apart for the performance of it Lastly As God design'd the setting apart of a certain Time for his own Worship so more especially for the Publick one Of which though there be no Indication in the Commandment it self yet there is proof sufficient in the 23d Chapter of Levitious where we find not onely the forementioned Rest required but the day it self appointed for an holy Convocation as you may see ver 2. of that Chapter And accordingly though the Jews did generally look no farther than the Letter of the Law and some of them as is probable here content themselves with an outward Rest as by which they thought to satisfie the Commandment yet the generality of them have in all times look'd upon the Service of God as the End for which they were commanded to keep the Sabbath For thus Josephus in his second Book against Appion tells us Thorndike of Religious Assemblies ch 2. where this of Josephus and that of Philo are quoted That Moses propounded to the Jews the most excellent and necessary Learning of the Law not by hearing it once or twice but every seventh day laying aside their Works he commanded them to assemble for the hearing of the Law and throughly and exactly to learn it As in like manner Philo in his Third Book of the Life of Moses That the Custom was always when occasion gave way but principally on the seventh day to be exercis'd in Knowledge the Chief going before and teaching the rest increasing in goodness and bettering in Life and Manners I will conclude this Particular with that of St. James Acts 15.21 where to fortifie his Opinion concerning the prohibiting of Blood to the Gentile Christians he alledgeth for a Reason That Moses had in old time them that preach'd him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath-day From all which put together it is evident that the Service of God and particularly the Publick one was the Thing designed in this Commandment The Jews themselves who were none of the most quick-sighted being able to discern it and accordingly both of old and in latter days framing their Practice after it The general Design of the Commandment being thus unfolded proceed we to the Particular Things under Command which for my more orderly proceeding in this Affair I will rank under two Heads to wit 1. Such as appertain to
death Lev. 20.10 But I say unto you That whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart and that my Law forbids as well as the outward act and shall be both tried and sentenced at my Tribunal If your Law judges no man before it hears him and knows from sufficient witnesses what he hath done which shews that it hath respect to the outward action only if it be made not for the righteous but for the lawless and disobedient for murtherers of fathers and murtherers of mothers for manslayers for whoremongers for them that defile themselves with mankind for men-stealers liars and perjur'd persons that is to say for manifest and open sinners my Law as being a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart reaches to the impieties thereof and censures those seeds of murther and adultery which are there But by this means we may easily avoid the imputation of charging the Law of Moses with imperfection as forbidding only sinful actions and not sinful purposes it being no imperfection at all in the Common Law of the Jewish Nation whereof we now speak to forbid sinful actions only because those who were to give sentence by it could not take cognizance of any other Again 2. Whereas that part of the Law which was the Common Law of the Jewish Nation took notice only of grosser offences such as that of adultery and murther in the mean time permitting others of a lower rank lest too severe a restraint upon them should make them throw the yoke from off their neck the Gospel of our Saviour the Christian Law forbids all deviations whatsoever the smaller aswell as the greater offences They are Christs own words in the 19. verse of the forequoted Chapter For whosoever saith he shall break one of the least of these Commandments he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven They are his sense and meaning in what he opposes to the forementioned instances Our Saviour to that crime of Murther opposing the calling of our Brother Raka or Fool as to that other of Adultery a wanton look or an immodest dalliance which are certainly far inferiour to the other II. I have considered the Law of Moses as to that part of it which was the Common Law of the Jewish Nation and shewn you how our Saviour added to it I come now to speak of the same Law as intended for a rule of manners and as a guide to the Jews in walking with God In which sense it is taken when it is stiled a Law converting the Soul or represented as a means to inherit eternal life Now in this sense it is chiefly that question is made concerning it whether Christ added thereto and wherein that addition consists And first of all 1. Negatively we are not to think that Christ added to it by exacting the obedience of the heart as well as the outward man for that this Law of Moses did no less than the Precepts of our Blessed Saviour And hence as was before intimated it is by the Psalmist said to be a law converting the Soul Psal 19.7 and by S. Paul affirmed to be spiritual Rom. 7.14 yea that if there had been a Law which could have given life the Law of Moses had been it Gal. 3.21 Neither do the Precepts of this Law enforce any thing less than those Elogies which are given of it by David and S. Paul Not the Precepts of Piety or those which taught the Jews their duty toward God For hear O Israel saith the Law the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might Deut. 6.5 As in like manner Deut. 10.12 And now Israel what doth the Lord require of thee but to fear the Lord thy God to walk in his ways and to love and serve him with all thy heart and with all thy soul Not the Precepts of Charity for as our Saviour doth here forbid the malice of the heart as well as killing so did this Law also for thou shalt not saith the Law hate thy brother in thy heart nor bear a grudge against the children of thy people Lev. 19.17 18. Lastly not the Precepts of Chastity and Justice as they are couched in the Law and the Prophets For as our Saviour forbids here the adultery of the heart as elsewhere the desire of that which is anothers so do also the Law and the Prophets The words of the Proverbs of Solomon being Thou shalt not lust after the beauty of a strange woman in thy heart Pro. 6.25 Of the Law Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife servant cattel or any thing that is his Exod. 20.17 But as our Saviour added nothing to this Law by calling for the piety of the heart because that did so as well as he so neither Secondly by forbidding lesser as well as greater sins because this Law did no less For thus as our Saviour forbad a wanton look as well as the act of Adultery a slanderous tongue as well as a killing hand so did also the Law and the Prophets For what man is he saith the Psalmist Psal 34.12 that desireth life and loveth many days that he may see good let him keep his tongue from evil And yet more particularly Psal 15.1.3 Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill He that backbiteth not with his tongue as well as he that doth no evil to his neighbour he that taketh not up a reproach against him The like severity we may observe in the Proverbs of Solomon against that lustful eye of which our Saviour forewarns us Prov. 6.25 Where to the former caution of not lusting after the strange womans beauty in the heart he adds neither let her take thee with her eye-lids which implies a watchfulness over our own But neither Thirdly doth our Saviour require any new vertue of us which the Law and the Prophets did not before him for the kind I instance in the love of enemies because that seems of all others most peculiar to the Gospel and most opposite to the Precepts of Moses Concerning which for the kind I mean the Law is as express as the Gospel can be supposed to be Thus Exod. 23.4 5. If saith Moses thou meet thine enemies ox or ass going astray thou shalt surely bring it back to him again And if thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burthen and wouldst forbear to help him thou shalt surely help with him For as the Apostle spake in another case Doth God take care for Oxen or Asses or said he it not rather for this even to enjoin them to lay aside their animosities and shew their enemies all acts of benevolence And accordingly Vatablus renders those words in the 5. verse Thou shalt surely help with him by exonerabis asinum cum eo qui te odio habet
Priest as well as Prince as under the Law the Tribe of Levi was in their stead set apart for that Office so our Saviour to observe the same Method chose the Twelve out of his Disciples and Commission'd them and them onely to go and teach all Nations and baptize them into his most excellent Religion adding in the close of it That he would be with them to the end of the world Which being not to be understood of them in their own Persons because they are long since fallen asleep it remains we understand it of Persons Commissionated by them and so on to the present Age For all power as our Saviour affirms being given unto him and he Delegating the Ministerial one to those his Apostles whatsoever Power of that nature can be pretended to must derive it self from them unless in case of extreme necessity or an immediate Commission from Heaven And accordingly as the Apostles ordain'd Elders in every City and transferr'd that their Power upon others so the Chain of Succession hath been maintain'd by the same means without any considerable interruption till of late some have dared to invade it Which is so much the more to be wondred at because as no man among the Jews took that honour to himself but he that was called of God as was Aaron so the Author to the Hebrews who tells us so much adds Cap. 5.4 5. That even Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Again 4. Fourthly As to own the Lord for our God it is requisite to set apart some Men to Minister before the Lord in the Congregation so is it much more when set apart to respect them highly for their Work sake and minister to them of the good things we enjoy For as next to the immediate dishonour of the Divine Majesty there cannot be a greater affront to him than to throw contempt upon those Persons whom he hath taken so nearly to himself so God-himself calls the defrauding them of their Maintenance the robbing of himself and moreover represents it as a Crime which even the Heathen did abhor as you may see Mal. 3.8 Neither let any Man say That this is to be understood onely of the Jewish Priests whose Maintenance as well as Function was immediately appointed by himself For as there is no doubt the Evangelical Priesthood is much dearer to him than the Legal and therefore what was said concerning the former to be à fortiori applicable to the latter so St. Paul tells us in his first Epistle to the Corinthians That like as they which waited at the Altar were by the command of God to be partakers with the Altar 1 Cor. 9.14 even so hath the Lord ordain'd that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.14 5. Lastly which may comprehend many of the former Acknowledgments and hath therefore this place assign'd it Toward the owning the Lord for our God it is requisite we should own him by the Liberality of our Hand or as the Book of Proverbs expresseth it Honour him with our Substance in token of having receiv'd it from him For this being grounded upon a natural Reason and beside that not onely an usual Testimony of Respect to Kings but a Respect that was sometime paid our Saviour by the Wise-men that came to worship him it may seem but reasonable to think that we are under the same Obligation especially when we find also the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament to have been tender'd as an Acknowledgment of God's Sovereignty over the World as well as of the Redemption of it by his Son The onely Question that can be made is To whom these Offerings do belong now Sacrifices are banish'd out of the Church But as that will not be difficult for him to resolve who shall reflect upon the fore-going Discourse so if we cannot find any other we have the Poor always at hand to whom whatsoever is this way done our Saviour tells us is as done unto himself and therefore also in some measure to the Divine Majesty Such is the having the Lord for our God as is here enjoyn'd such the Tribute that is due to him from our Souls and Bodies and Substance And happy they that shall so own him because they are assur'd of a reciprocal Acknowledgment and they shall be own'd as his People who have this Sovereign Lord for their God PART VII That we ought to own the God of Israel both as the True God and ours which is the Second Capital Precept and how that is to be performed The like inquir'd concerning the Third even The having no other Gods beside him Which is shewn to exclude first the substituting of any other in his room where the Heathens worshipping of the Host of Heaven Dead Men Beasts or Inanimate Creatures is noted and censured Secondly The receiving other Gods into Copartnership with him where the Papists Practice in Worshipping Saints and Angels is considered and reproved THAT we ought to have the One True God for our God hath been the Design of several Discourses to shew together with the Ways and Means by which we are to acknowledge him My proposed Method now leadeth me to evince II. That we are to look upon the God of Israel as such and to pay him the Acknowledgments before remembred But so that we are to go no further for a proof the Preamble to the Ten Commandments shews he who requireth us to have no other gods before him declaring himself in that Preamble to be that Lord which brought them out of the Land of Egypt The onely thing whereof there can be any doubt is What Grounds there are so to own the God of the Israelites and how those Acknowledgments ought to be circumstantiated to refer them unto him Neither the one nor the other whereof will be hard for him to resolve who doth but attentively consider them For as the Scriptures of the Old Testament furnish us with Arguments enough to believe the God of Israel to be the True witness those stupendious Miracles it declareth him to have effected and those holy and equitable Laws which he promulg'd so it is easie to see we shall then refer all our Acknowledgments to him when we pay them in obedience to those Scriptures by which he hath declar'd himself to the World For this will shew us not to worship an unknown and uncertain Deity as we find the Athenians and many other Heathens did but him who manifested himself to the Israelites in Egypt by many Signs and Wonders as afterwards by bringing them out with an high hand and by those Wonders which he shew'd upon Mount Sinai And having said thus much concerning the owning the One True God and the God of Israel I shall now proceed to III. The third and last thing contained in this Commandment even The not having any other gods
worship The unlawfulness of making an Image of God evidenc'd from the disproportion that is between an Image and the Divine Nature The Objections against that way of Reasoning propos'd and answered The same unlawfulness manifested from St. Paul's charging the Heathen with the making of them and from the Opinions of the wiser Heathen An Answer to certain Distinctions which are offered by the Papists and others to clude the Force of the Commandment in this Affair WHAT the Affirmative part of this Precept is you have seen already Pass we now to the consideration of 2. The Negative wherein there are these two things forbidden 1. The making of a Graven Image or any other Corporeal Representation And 2. The bowing down and worshipping them 1. I begin with the former of these the Prohibition of making a graven Image or any other Corporeal Representation Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven Image c. Where 1. I shall shew what is not to be accounted the Sense of it and then what really is It was the Opinion of Tertullian and hath since been taken up by some Modern Writers That God in this Commandment forbade all Images whatsoever particularly all protuberant ones The ground of that Opinion was partly the Letter of the Commandment and partly the Jews abhorrency of all But as the latter of these ought not to have any great stress laid upon it if we consider the nature of Superstitious Minds which being once throughly touched with the sense of any Errour do not seldom run into the contrary Extreme so the former even the Letter of the Commandment will as little affect those who consider its Position in the Decalogue For being plac'd as it is among such Precepts as respect the Almighty and that Honour and Esteem which we ought to have for him and being moreover immediately follow'd with the Prohibition of bowing down to them and serving them as that is with the jealousie of God concerning his own Honour it is in reason to be extended no farther than the forbidding of such Images as are made with a design to represent the Divine Nature or to bestow upon them that Honour which is due unto it And indeed beside that Nature teacheth there is no unlawfulness in making an Image yea that that Art as well as others is one of the Gifts of God which is farther confirm'd by Moses where he attributeth the Skill of Bezaleel in working the Work of the Engraver to his being filled with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding Exod. 35.31 Beside that secondly they who teach all Images to be forbidden the Jews are forc'd to confess their admitting of some and particularly of Images in their Coins what shall we say that may be satisfactory I mean to God's giving order for the Cherubims over the Mercy-seat and for the making of the Brazen Serpent in the Wilderness for his admitting into the Ark the Five Golden Mice and Five Golden Hemorrhoides of the Philistines for the Pomegranates and twelve Brazen Bulls upon which the Laver in the Temple was plac'd For though it be true that God might dispense with his own Command especially a positive one yet as there is no evidence of those Orders of his being a Dispensation so it is not easie to believe that having made so strict a Law against Image-making he would not onely dispense so soon with it as we see he did in the Cherubims and Brazen Serpent but dispense with it in a manner for ever by placing those Cherubims and Bulls for perpetuity For what were this but to tempt Men to think he had abrogated the Command and not onely dispens'd with it but taken it away Neither will it suffice to say That the Words of the Commandment do onely forbid the making them to our selves that is to say of our own heads and not when commanded thereto by God For as it is not unusual either in the Hebrew or other Languages to express that in more words which might have been express'd in fewer which by the way may serve to shew the triflingness of those Observations that have no other Foundation than the out-side of an Expression so granting that Addition of to thy self to have any peculiar force the meaning thereof would be no other than thou shalt not make them for thy use which will afford no ground at all to the former Interpretation Let it remain therefore for an undoubted Truth That the making of Images is not universally forbidden but either 1. As was before insinuated The making of Images with a design to represent the Divine Majesty or 2. To fall down and serve them 1. For the evidencing the former whereof within which I intend to confine the present Discourse I shall first of all shew this to have been the Design of this Commandment In order whereunto I shall first produce the Words of the Prophet Moses Deut. 4.15 16 and so on Take heed therefore unto your selves for ye saw no manner of similitude in the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire lest ye corrupt your selves and make you a graven image the similitude of any figure the likeness of male or female For establishing the Prohibition of Images upon their not beholding any similitude that is to say of God but onely the hearing of a voice he thereby plainly shews the Design of that Commandment to be the forbidding of such Images as were made with a design to represent the Divine Majesty To which if we add that of the Prophet Isaiah chap. 40. 18. To whom then will ye liken God or what likeness will ye compare to him so the Proof will be complete and perfect For the Writings of the Prophets being but Comments upon the Law of Moses it is but reasonable to believe what we find there expresly forbidden as the making an Image of God is to be also forbidden by the Law But because it may be said That this Prohibition is onely positive and consequently not to be extended beyond the Jews though how impertinent that Distinction is I have before shewn where I evidenc'd it to be the Design of our Saviour to confirm the Law and the Prophets yet to take away all Cavils in this particular I will evidence in the second place the Prohibition of making Images to be a part of the Law of Reason and Nature Now this I shall endeavour 1. From the disproportion that is between an Image and the Divine Nature 2. From St. Paul's charging the Heathen with the making of them And 3. And lastly From the Opinions of the wiser Heathen 1. For the first of these we shall not need to stand long to prove it or indeed to be a just Ground of the unlawfulness of making them For as it cannot but be confess'd that there is a great disproportion between God who is not onely a Spirit but an Infinite and Incorruptible one and an Image which is both Corporeal
guiltless to a sense more severe than the Words do of themselves import The forementioned Story shewing it to be alike or rather more severe than the visiting of the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children to the third and fourth Generation with which the former Commandment is enforc'd From the Business of the Gibeonites pass we to a no less famous Instance of God's displeasure against Zedekiah who after he had given an Oath of Fidelity to the King of Babylon yet no less impiously than foolishly brake it by rebelling against him For Shall he saith God by the Prophet Ezekiel prosper Shall he escape that doth such things or shall he break the Covenant and be delivered As I live saith the Lord God surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him King whose Oath he despised even with him in Babylon shall he die Ezek. 17.15 16. And again vers 18. and so on Seeing he despised the Oath by breaking the Covenant when loe he had given his hand and hath done all these things he shall not escape Therefore thus saith the Lord God As I live surely mine Oath that he hath despised and my Covenant that he hath broken even it will I recompence upon his own head And I will spread my net upon him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespass'd against me Which accordingly we find to have come to pass For the same Scripture informs us That because Zedekiah rebell'd against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God God brought upon him the Army of the King of Babylon which took him and brought him to their Master where he had Judgment given upon him and after he had had his Sons slain before his Eyes had those miserable Eyes of his put out as you may see in Jeremiah chap. 39. Such was the displeasure of God against King Zedekiah for violating the Oath of God And if so we may be sure God will not hold any Man guiltless that so taketh his Name in vain The onely thing remaining to be prov'd is That God will not hold him guiltless who dishonoureth his Name in a Vow which accordingly I come now to evince In order whereunto I will consider first those who make unlawful or trifling Vows and then those who violate what they have made That God will not hold him guiltless who sins in Vowing will manifestly appear if we reflect upon his displeasure against the Profaner of his Name in an Oath For inasmuch as a Vow is more Sacred than an Oath because whilst in the latter God is onely cited as a Witness in a Vow we contract with him as a Party he who holds the Swearer guilty must be thought to do so much more to him who profanes his Name in a Vow and doth not onely apply it to a Sin or to an Impertinence but as I may so speak doth it to his face The Reason is the same in him who breaks the Vow he hath made and acts contrary to what he hath most solemnly promis'd to the Almighty he that so does as he contracted with God as with a Party so falsifying to him directly and immediately and consequently because so much the more dishonouring him the more liable to the severity of his displeasure And accordingly when Ananias and Saphira had agreeably to the Custom of those Times by a Vow dedicated the Price of their Possessions unto God God for a partial breach of that their Vow inflicted a sudden death upon them and made them feel the dreadfulness of that Name which they had profan'd So true is that of Solomon * Prov. 20.25 even in the Times of the Gospel That it is a snare to a man to devour that which is holy and after vows to make inquiry The forementioned Offenders having not onely been taken in the Snare but made to feel the Hands of the Fowler Thus which way soever Men take the Name of God in vain they incur the displeasure of the Almighty and though they are not always immediately punish'd yet they are so often enough to shew that God doth not hold any of them guiltless and that whom he now spares he will punish so much the more hereafter when he comes to render to every Man according to his Works What remains then but that I admonish if not for the Sacredness of the Name of God yet that at least for the security of their own Souls and Persons Men would not take that Name of his in vain For if either the Threat of God or the Exemplifications of it in those that have offended may be credited the taking of his Name in vain however such as to what it is apply'd to yet will not be vain as to the Consequences thereof For as it shall be with effect so a very direful one to those who are the Authors of it They shall not as they do often with Men find Commendation and Applause they shall not be look'd upon as so much the better bred or the greater Wits for it lastly they shall not as they do for the most part here find an Excuse for their Profanations and be absolv'd either from all Offence or all that is notorious God whose Name they take in vain and who is the most competent Judge of their Actings having promis'd or rather threatned that he will look upon them under another notion and not onely not hold them guiltless but look upon them as notorious Offenders And indeed thus far the Judgment of the World hath concurr'd with that of God as to condemn the taking of it to a Lie False Swearing and Perjury having not onely been branded with reproachful Punishments but the Authors thereof excluded from giving Testimony in any Courts of Judicature If other Profanations of God's Name have not found the like Censure it is not so much because they imagin'd them specifically different but because they are not so immediately destructive to Humane Society which Humane Judicatures are more particularly oblig'd to preserve But as that is accidental to the taking of God's Name in vain or at least makes the Crime to which it adheres onely gradually different from the other so the Judgment-seat of God takes notice of all that entrencheth upon his Honour and will therefore be sure not to hold them guiltless who any way take his Name in vain THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT Remember that thou keép holy the Sabbath day Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant thy cattel and the stranger that is within thy gates For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore
a less Time incumbent upon Christians to observe as Holy who have both a much greater Obligation to the Almighty and a much more weighty Service to intend Again Forasmuch as it is no less necessary under the Times of the Gospel than it was under the Law that a Time be set apart for the Publick Worship of God forasmuch as it is but reasonable that under the Times of the Gospel an equal portion of Time if not a far greater should be allotted for the Performance of it the same Reason requires that since God exacted a Seventh part of the Jews we are not to content our selves with a less or imagine that God himself will be For though there be no Morality in the Observation of a just Seventh though the specification of a Seventh proceeded from a Reason which was never cogent in it self but to be sure is not now obligatory yet as whatever the Reason thereof was it is certain God requir'd a Seventh part of the Jew in order to his own Service so it is both Moral and Christian that they should not go less than a Seventh who have much greater Obligations to the Almighty And indeed well may we think so when we find the Primitive Christians in the Acts meeting every day to worship and not onely giving God a Seventh part of their Time but the greatest Lastly If the Creation of the World Acts 2.46 and God's Rest from it were a just Motive to consecrate that Day into a Holy-day wherein God so rested from the Creation to be sure that is no less upon which the Hopes of a Christian do so much depend even the Resurrection of our Blessed Lord and Saviour So that thus much may be inferr'd from the Equity of this Commandment That as much less than a Day and a Seventh day cannot be thought necessary to be set apart for the Christian Worship so that which is set apart by us even the First day of the Week had a juster Motive to the Consecration of it than that which was sanctified under the Law But because what hath been hitherto or may be inferr'd from this Commandment doth rather perswade than necessitate the Observation of that particular Day which we observe and I have promis'd a farther strengthning of its Authority therefore to give the greater force to it I will produce the Practice of the Church from the Apostles days and when I have done so shew the Obligation it induceth That it had the Observation of a Christian Festival in the Apostles days that of St. Luke shews Acts 20.7 where we find the Disciples met together upon the first day of the week to break bread that is to say one Species being put for all the rest to communicate with each other in the Publick Exercises of their Religion The breaking of bread not onely referring either to the Lords Supper or the Love-teasts that clos'd it but joyn'd by this very Author with doctrine and fellowship and prayer Acts 2.42 The same is no less evident from that of St. Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 16.1 2. where according to an Order he had before given to the Churches of Galatia he enjoyns those of Corinth That upon the first day of the week every one should lay by him in store that so there might be no collections when he came For wherefore as St. Chrysostom observes * Chrysost in 1 Cor. Hom. 43. should St. Paul appoint that day to the Churches of Galatia and Corinth for the laying by of what God had prospered them for charitable uses but that that day by the rest it afforded gave them opportunity to do it and moreover by the Blessing which it remembred and the Sacred Offices that were perform'd in it was apt to incite them to a more chearful and liberal distribution To all which if we add the Title which St. John gives it Rev. 1.10 so no doubt can remain of the Churches observing it as Holy For as it is evident from the Consent of Interpreters and the Language of the succeeding Age that what St. John there calls The lord's-Lord's-day was no other than what we now stile so so the least that can be made of that Appellation is That it was set apart by the Church in memory of the Lord Christ's Resurrection and dedicated to his Honour and Service The Lord's-day importing his having a peculiar propriety in it which must be either by his own Institution of it or the Consecration of it by his Church From the Apostles days pass we to those that immediately succeeded where we shall find yet more clear Testimonies of the Observation of it For thus Ignatius the Contemporary as well as Successor of the Apostles in his Epistle * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ed. Voss p. 35. to the Magnesians doth not onely make mention of the lord's-Lord's-day but exhort them that laying aside the Observation of the Sabbath they would keep the Lord's day for a Festival wherein our Life rose also To the Testimony of Ignatius subjoyn we that of Justin Martyr ‖ Apol. 2. pro Christianis p. 99. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. as nearest to him and to the Apostles where we have not onely an Account of the Christians assembling on the Sunday but the Business of those Meetings at large declared to wit the reading of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Preaching Praying and other such Religious Exercises And though in that known Passage of Pliny †Plin. Epist li. 10. where he gives an Account to the Emperour Trajan concerning the Assemblies of the Christians though I say in that Passage there be no express mention of the Day wherein they were held yet affirming from the Mouth of some Christians whom he had examin'd that they were wont upon a set day to meet together before the Morning-light and sing a Song unto Christ as unto God it is but reasonable to think that day was meant the Observation whereof we are now establishing What should I tell you of Tertullian's affirming in one place * De Idololatr cap. 14. Si quid carni indulgendum est habes non tamen dies tantùm sed plures Nam Ethnicis semel annuus dies quisque festus est tibi octavus quisque dies c. That the Christians had every Eighth day for a Festival and in another ‖ Apolog. cap. 16. Aeque si diem Solis Laetitiae indulgemus alia longe ratione quam religione Solis secundo loco ab eis sumus qui diem Saturni otio victui decernunt exorbitantes ipsi ab Judaico more quem ignorant That the Sunday was the Day For as that is so certain that as the same Tertullian intimates the Heathens accus'd them for it as Worshippers of the Sun whose Name that Day bore so in and after his Time there is so little doubt to be made of its Observation that I must but light a Candle to the Sun if
I should go about to prove it The onely thing worthy our consideration will be what use may be made of it to infer our own Obligation to observe it And here in the first place I shall alledge the Practice it self as a sufficient Argument to evince it For as an approved Custom hath the nature of a Law because declaring the Consent of that Body wherein it is and to which it is but reasonable that particular Men should subject themselves so St. Paul gives it that force in the Church where disputing against the Corinthian Women's praying uncovered he alledges That they had no such custom nor the Churches of God 1 Cor. 11.16 For if the Argument from a Custom negative be good and valid much more from the same positive and especially when there is so general an one But because such arguments as these through the contempt Men now have of the Church may possibly not have their due efficacy I will alledge in the second place that there is reason enough even from that Practice to believe it to have been of Apostolical Institution For it being morally impossible that the Christians of all Places should so unanimously agree to the Observation of it if there had not been something of a Law to constrain them to it and there appearing no such Law of the Church it self antecedent to the Practice of it it is but reasonable to believe it to have been Instituted by those who were the first Founders of it according to that known Rule * Quod universa tenet Ecclesia nec Conciliis institutum sed semper retentum est non nisi Authoritate Apostolica traditum rectissimè creditur of St. Augustine That what the Vniversal Church holds and always hath if it appear not that the same was first decreed by Councils is most rightly believ'd to have been delivered by the Authority of the Holy Apostles And higher than that we shall not need to go because he who had all power in heaven and earth given him did at his departure hence delegate so much of it to them as was necessary for the regulating of the Church The onely thing that may seem to have any difficulty is Why when God gave the Jews so clear a Precept for the Observation of their Sabbath he should leave us who live at so great a distance from the Institution of ours rather to collect it from the Practice of the Apostles and the Church than to read it in some express Declaration But even this how difficult soever in appearance will not be hard for him to unriddle who shall remember what hath been before brought to establish it For the Law of Nature and this of Moses evidencing the necessity of a Set Time and the Equity of Moses Law and our own Obligations to the Divine Majesty that we cannot give God a less proportion of our Time than what he exacted of the Jews nothing remained for God to declare but whether he would require more than a Seventh of which there is not the least Indication or if not which of those Seven he would make choice of which an easie hint might suffice to discover For the Saturday which is the last of those Seven being expresly abolish'd and no other having the like Pretences to succeed it it was easie to guess God meant that Day which had not onely our Saviour's Resurrection to adorn it but was moreover by the Apostles and those that followed them kept as holy unto the Lord. PART III. A Digression concerning the Fasts and Festivals of the Church where the Lawfulness of their Institution is evicted and vindicated from the Exceptions of their Adversaries That they are of signal use to insinuate the main Articles of our Religion into the Vnderstanding of the Weak to bring the Occasions thereof to the Memories of the Strong and prompt us all both more particularly and with greater edification to consider them That being instituted by the Church they ought to be Religiously observ'd by all that are the Members of it Of the Manner of the Observation of the Jewish Sabbath which is another of the Circumstantials of this Commandment Of the Strictness of the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews on it and that as such it is not onely not obligatory to us but superstitious What Rest is now obligatory to us by vertue of this Commandment where that Rest is considered both in the Letter and in the Mystery To whom and in what manner the Jewish Rest appertain'd with an application thereof to our own Concernments A particular Inquiry concerning those who are under the Power of others and whether or no they are oblig'd to Rest where they are constrain'd to Labour by Threats or Stripes Of Recreation on the Jewish Sabbath and our own and that rightly dispos'd it is not onely not unlawful but useful An Objection from Isa 58.13 propos'd and answered A Restriction of Recreations to such as are neither unsuitable for the Kind to the Gravity of such a Solemnity nor take up too much time in the Exercise thereof A Caution against profane neglect of the Lord's-day with the necessity that lieth upon the Generality of Men more than ordinarily to intend their Eternal Concernments on it 3. THE Lord's-day being as you have seen establish'd upon Christian Principles and thereby equally secur'd from a Judaical Observance and a profane Neglect the Commandment I am now upon no less than my proposed Method obligeth me to entreat of other the Festivals and Fast-days of the Church For though these have not the Authority of a Divine Command as the Jewish Sabbath had though there is not the same clearness of Evidence for their Apostolical Institution as there is for the Lord's-day or Sunday yet they have this in common with the Jewish Sabbath and our own that they have the same Worship of God for their End and the like signal Acts of God for the Occasions of their Institution even those which have the Title of Saints-days looking through them to the Mercy of God who made them what they are and dedicated to his onely Worship and Service Having therefore so much affinity with the Day here enjoyn'd I shall think it no way impertinent to my present Argument to inquire into the Lawfulness of their Institution their Vsefulness and the Esteem wherein they are to be held 1. It being certain that that is to be look'd upon as lawful which is not forbidden by any Command nothing can be requir'd to establish the Holy-days of the Church but the taking off those Objections which may be made against the lawfulness thereof Now there are two things commonly objected against them and to which therefore before I proceed I will shape an Answer the former whereof strikes at the Observation it self the other at the Injunction of it The ground of the former is laid in those Words of St. Paul Gal. 4.10 11. where the Apostle not onely finds fault with their observing days and
calls upon the Colossians that they should teach and admonish one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs Col. 3.16 it is evident from severall Passages in 1 Corinth 14. that it was a great part of their Publick Service Thus when the Apostle vers 15. and so on says I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks he plainly supposeth because speaking all along of their Assemblies that the Blessing and Praising God in a Song was a part of the Publick Service at them In like manner when he saith vers 26. How is it then Brethren when ye come together every one hath a Psalm a Doctrine and a Tongue c. Let all things be done to edifying though he finds fault with the disorderly performance of those several Duties yet he supposeth them to be Duties because prescribing Rules for the right ordering of them From the Times of the Apostles pass we to those that immediately succeeded where we shall find yet more express Testimonies of this being a part of their Lord's-day Service For thus Pliny * Lib. 10. Ep. 97. Adfirmabant autem hanc fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel erroris quod essent soliti state die ante lucem convenire carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere secum invicem giving an Account of what the Christians did upon the Set-day of their Assemblies which as was before shewn could be no other than the Lord's-day tells us from the mouth of some of themselves That it was among other things to say one with another by turns a Song or Hymn to Christ as unto God thereby not onely shewing that to have been a part of their Publick Service but as a Learned †Ham. Pres to Annot. on the Psalms Man hath well observ'd confirming that way of alternate Singing which is still in use in the Church of England Neither is Pliny alone in this Testimony either as to the Singing of Hymns upon that Day or Singing Hymns unto Christ as God For as Tertullian expresly reckons the Singing of Psalms among the Lord's-day Solemnities so Eusebius ‖ Eccl. Hist lib. 5. c. 28. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alledges against those who deny'd the Divinity of our Saviour certain Psalms and Songs written anciently by the Brethren wherein they magnified Christ as God It is true indeed he saith not in that place that they were sung in the Church which may seem to render that Testimony so much the more defective But as it is evident from Tertullian * Apol. c. 39. Post aquam manualem lumina ut quisque de Scripturis sanctis vel de proprio ingenio potest provocatur in medium deo canere that Men were invited to sing in their Assemblies as well their own Compositions as those of Scripture so Eusebius elsewhere ‖ Eccl. Hist lib. 7. c. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gives us plainly to understand that the Psalms before spoken of were sung in their Assemblies He there charging Paulus Samosaetenus with causing them to cease and Songs in honour of himself to be sung in the Church For how could Paulus Samosatenus cause those Songs to cease unless they had been publickly sung or what likelihood is there if they had not been so that he would have introduc'd Songs concerning himself I will conclude this Particular with that famous Canon of the Council of Laodicea * Can. ult 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. where the Canonical Books of Scripture are enumerated For forbidding as it doth the use of such private Psalms in the Church it shews them to have been before in use and much more that the Singing unto God was But of all the Religious Exercises wherewith the Christian Sabbath was to be celebrated there is certainly none which hath more to be said for it than the Administration of the Lord's Supper that real Thanksgiving and Praise of the Almighty for the Blessings of the Creation but more particularly for the Death of our Saviour For as we find it to have been the Attendant of the Publick Assemblies of the Christians both in the Acts and in the First Epistle to the Corinthians so to be so much a part of the Lord's-days Business as to be set to denote the whole St. Luke Acts 20.7 making the end of the Disciples meeting together upon the First day of the Week to be to break Bread that is to say as the Syriack interprets it the Bread of the Eucharist Agreeable hereto is that of Pliny * Ibid. Seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere sed ne furta ne latrocinia ne adulteria committerent ne fidem fallerent ne depositum appellati negarent in the Testimony so often produc'd he there telling us That upon the Set-day spoken of before they oblig'd themselves by a Sacrament not to any wickedness but that they would not commit Thefts 〈◊〉 â—â—ries Adulteries c. Which as hath been before shewn 〈…〉 be understood of any other than the Sacrament of the Eucharist which we know to be an Obligation to that purpose And though it be true that Tertullian makes no mention of it in his Apologetick probably because it was not his purpose to make known the manner of it to the Heathen lest the misunderstanding of it should bring it into contempt yet as in his Book de Coronâ militis ‖ Cap. 3. Eucharistiae Sacramentum in tempore victus omnibus mandatum à Domino etiam antelucanis coetibus nec de aliorum manu quà m praefidentium sumimus he mentions it as a part of the Business of those Assemblies before day whereof we have mention in Pliny so Justin Martyr †Vid. Apol. 2. loco prius citato not onely mentions it as a part of the Lord's-day Service but describes the Manner of the Celebration of it From all which put together it is evident I do not say how much we have departed from the Devotion of the Apostles Times and those that succeeded but even from the due Observation of that Day which we pretend to keep as Holy unto the Lord. PART V. An History of the due Observation of the Lord's-day both in Private and Publick Where among other things is shewn the Excellency of our Churches Service and with what Affections it ought to be intended the unsuitableness of Fasting to so joyful a Solemnity and the great inconvenience that must necessarily ensue from the not relaxing of our Intentions In fine The both necessity and benefit of Meditating upon what we have heard and applying it to our own Souls That the Visiting and Comforting of the Sick and Distressed the Reconciling of Parties that are at variance and the begetting or maintaining Friendship by kind and neighbourly Entertainments are no improper Offices of the
Day 2. BY what Publick Exercises of Religion the Christian Sabbath is to be celebrated hath been at large declar'd both from the Precepts and Practice of the Apostles It remains that we inquire how it is to be sanctified in Private which is a Duty no less incumbent upon us than the former For the multitude of our Affairs not permitting us on other Days to intend the Matters of Religion with that freedom and solemnity which becomes them there ariseth a necessity when we have both leisure and so fair an Invitation to it to apply our selves to the performance of it and supply those Defects which the Necessities of the World have made Taking it therefore for granted that such a Sanctification is requir'd I will make it my business to inquire wherein it doth consist and what particular Duties it exacts Onely because I have not told you how we are to intend the Publick Exercises of Religion I will mix that with the Consideration of the other and so give you a kind of History of the due Observation of the Day The Lord's-day saluting our Horizon and admonishing us both of the Blessings and Duties which it brings it is but reasonable where the Labours of the foregoing Day have not made it necessary to do otherwise that we should be up betimes to meet them and pay them that Regard which they deserve as remembring that the Christian Sabbath is rather a Day of Business than of Rest though of an easie and a gracious one Now the first Business that presents it self on that Sacred Day is the offering up our Sacrifice of Praise for the Resurrection of our Lord and the Opportunity we our selves have to celebrate it And herein it becomes us to be so much the more hearty because it is the Ground of its Institution and that which gives it both its Being and its Name Next to the Sacrifice of Praise subjoyn we that of Prayer for the Assistance of God in the due Celebration of it not onely our own unaptness so requiring but the importance of the Business we are to intend and particularly of the Publick one For now we are not as upon other Days barely to worship God but to do it with a more than ordinary fervour as being thereby to supply the Defects of our past Piety and lay a firm foundation of our future one The Sacrifice of Prayer and Praise being thus offer'd up to God and thereby an entrance made into the Sanctification of the Day there is then place for those Businesses which our own Necessities or Conveniences invite to the performance of but so as that we remember we have a weightier Business to intend and particularly our looking back into our past Impieties For inasmuch as we are assur'd that God heareth not sinners such I mean who continue in them without remorse we are in reason before we address our selves to the Duty of Publick Prayer to break off our sins by repentance and like the Prophet Moses to put off our shoes before we tread upon holy ground Not that it were not convenient that this should be done at other times and we to inquire every Night as Pythagoras his Scholars were oblig'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wherein have I offended what good have I done and what omitted and accordingly as that Philosopher * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Pythag. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adviseth either to afflict or chear our selves But that howsoever it should either through the necessity of our Affairs or inadvertency be omitted at other times we should not fail to do it then when we are to address our selves to Publick Prayer by which if by any thing we must hope to obtain God's Favour Imagine now the Bell calling you to the Publick Assemblies or rather because both the Jewish Sabbath and ours was instituted for the holding of them that you hear God himself doing it In answer to which Call you are to bring both your selves and your Dependents and that too at the Beginning of God's Publick Worship The former because though other Persons may sanctifie the Sabbath by their own single Piety yet they who have Children and Servants are to see to the Observation of it in them as being under their direction and command Though were they not so oblig'd the Advantage that might arise from the doing of it might be a sufficient inducement to endeavour it that which made Abraham so great a Confident of God being that God knew he would command his children and his houshold after him to keep the way of the Lord as you may see Gen. 18.19 But neither is there less reason that the Beginning of God's Service should have both their Company and ours than there is that it should have it at all an imperfect Service arguing a slight esteem of him and that we are no farther his Servants than we our selves please And it calls to my mind that Expostulation of God in Malachi chap. 1.8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice is it not evil and if ye offer the lame and sick is it not evil Offer it now unto thy Governour Will he be pleas'd with thee or accept thy person saith the Lord of hosts For what is that but a blind and a lame Service where it may be the best part of it is wanting or how can we think God will be pleas'd with that which an Earthly Prince would disdain to accept We may suppose by this time the Man who desires to sanctifie the Lord's-day aright entred the Church where having prostrated himself before the Divine Majesty and implor'd his Blessing upon his Endeavours he will need little other direction than to mind that which he comes about and not either drowsily or irreverently to perform it Onely that I may set the better edge upon his Devotions I will apply my Instructions to some of those particular Duties which the Day and the Order of our Service doth require With admirable reason doth our Church and almost * Thorndike Rel. Assembl ch 10. all the Reformed ones begin their Service with Confession of Sins as knowing how likely they are whilst thus bewail'd to separate between us and God And there is the same reason we should bring to the Rehearsing of it that due Remorse and Sorrow which the consideration of our several Offences call for otherwise we rather dare God to avenge himself upon us than take the way to appease or please him But when we who are vile enough in the eyes of God make our selves such both in our own esteem and expression when we frankly lay open the Errors we have committed and acknowledge them to be such by our inward Contrition and outward Sorrow then our Confession is no less sure to be follow'd by the Absolution of God than it is by that of the Priest or rather that God will confirm that which the Priest pronounceth it being not certainly for nothing that our Saviour hath said Whosesoever
from others For if that were a matter of rejoycing why should we make it a matter of Sorrow and when God calls so loudly to Joy and Gladness present him with all the Expressions of Grief And it calls to my mind that known Passage of the Book of Nehemiah where the People of Israel wept sore at the hearing of the Law for in stead of encouraging them in it Ezra who read the Law bad them go their way eat the fat and drink the sweet and send portions to them for whom nothing was prepar'd because that day was holy to the Lord Nehem. 8.9 plainly intimating that such a Return was no way becoming a Day of Gladness and if so neither a Christian one Sure I am as the Ancient Church * Tertull. de Coronâ Die Dominico jejunium nefas ducimus vel de geniculis adorare religiously abstain'd from fasting on the Lord's-day as no way suitable to the Business of it so the Apostles and the Church in their time not onely held their Lord's-Supper on it but those Feasts of Charity also which were the Attendants of it But neither is it less unreasonable if Men would consider it without prejudice to enjoyn Men so to keep up their Intention of Sacred Things as not to allow a Relaxation of it at their Meals For as it is absolutely impossible so long as we carry about us the Infirmities of Humane Nature to have our Thoughts always fix'd upon Heaven and Heavenly Things so by imposing it either upon our selves or others we make our selves the more unapt for the Publick Worship of God when we are call'd to the Celebration of it our preceding Intention taking off from that Vigour and Spriteliness which is requisite to the performance of it On the contrary if we would but for some time unbend our Cares or divert them to less serious purposes like those who run back to make the more advantageous Leap we should come on with the greater vigour and not onely not dishonour this Sacred Day but sanctifie it the more Having thus given our selves some respite from Religious Exercises and thereby fitted our selves for the more advantageous performance of it it will be time for us both to look back to the Duties we have pass'd and forward to the Duties that remain the former that if any thing have been amiss in them we may retract and bewail it the latter that we may come prepar'd to the due performance of them But of all the Duties that are to take up our Thoughts between the Morning and the Evening Sacrifice there is none which is more incumbent on us than a serious Reflexion upon those we have receiv'd from the Mouth of our Instructer For as otherwise they will be apt to slip out of our Minds and thereby deprive us of those Advantages which might otherwise accrue so unless we meditate upon them like Meat unchew'd they will contribute little to our Nourishment in those Spiritual Graces wherein we are to grow From a Reflexion upon what is past pass we to a Consideration of that which is to come even those several Publick Duties we are again to pass Where setting aside all other Thoughts we should endeavour to imprint in our Minds how much it concerns us to intend them For as by so doing we should be the more excited to implore the Divine Assistance without which it is impossible to be done so we should be much more apt to pay them that Regard which the Importance thereof doth require It being no slight Consideration where it is well inculcated that our Eternal Welfare doth depend upon it and that as we observe this Temporal Sabbath we may either attain or come short of that Eternal Sabbath in the Heavens For as there is no doubt our Eternal Welfare depends upon the performance of Religious Actions and particularly of those wherein the Honour of God is immediately concern'd so there will be little likelihood of our intending them at other times if we slight them over then when we have both leisure and all other requisite means to help us in the performance of them By these and such like Considerations if we arm our selves we shall be in a good disposition to offer up the Evening-Sacrifice which suppos'd we shall neither need any Incitement to the performance of it nor Direction after what manner we are to doit it being not hard especially after what was said concerning the Morning-Service to read our own Qualifications in those Duties which we are summoned to perform Suppose we now having laid down Rules for the Observation of it so far that the Religious Man hath assisted at the Evening Sacrifice and thereby acquitted himself of the Publick Duties of the Day yet even so there will not want wherewith to exercise himself till he commit himself to his Rest and unto God Not but that there is place for necessary Occasions and a moderate Relaxation of himself but that his Heart ought to be in a disposition to embrace all Occasions to do Honour to God and to the Day Among which I reckon chiefly the Meditating upon what he hath heard and Applying it to his own Soul it being for want of this that so many Souls perish which might otherwise have prov'd glorified ones They hear indeed what they ought and what they ought not to do they listen to the Judgments which God denounceth against the one to the Promises whereby he encourageth the performance of the other but taking no care afterwards to consider how far they are concern'd in either both the one and the other quickly vanish and they go on as securely as if they had nothing to fault in themselves or there were no other World to punish them though they had But not any longer to entertain the Mind of the Religious Man with such Things wherein God's Glory is immediately concern'd let us see whether he may not find Matter enough for his Lord's-day Service in visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction in which St. James makes Religion in part to consist For though it be true that those are no part of the Worship of God or Christ for which especially this Day is set apart yet they draw so near towards it that they may not onely be thought to be a part of the Business of it but a considerable one our Saviour having told us that what is done unto the Sick and the Distressed he takes as done unto himself And accordingly as Justin Martyr * Apol. 2. p. 98. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tells us that Charity had a constant place even in their Publick Assemblies upon it the Rich according as they saw good contributing to that Stock out of which the Poor and the Necessitous were to be reliev'd so that that and other such like Works were no way improper to the Day St. Paul shews where he commands the Corinthians as he had before the Churches of Galatia to lay by them on
as the Scripture which is more to be credited hath taught us another Lesson because forbidding us to say ‖ Prov. 24.29 I will do to my Neighbour as he hath done to me I will render to the man according to his works so it hath elsewhere assign'd such Reasons of it as both shew the unlawfulness of such a Procedure and take off from the force of its Pretensions For giving us to understand that God to whom Vengeance originally belongeth reserveth that part of Justice to himself †Rom. 12.19 and to those whom he hath entrusted * Rom. 13.4 with his Authority it doth consequently make it unlawful to any other than such to assume to themselves the Execution of it and therefore also to do to Men as they have before dealt with them If he who hath his own Injuries return'd upon him receive no more than he doth deserve yet will not that warrant our retaliating them because we have no Authority to chastise him The more Equitable as well as more Christian Rule is certainly Do to other Men as ye would they should do to you as you your selves if you were in their Circumstances would be forward enough to desire from them So doing you will not onely not usurp upon the Prerogative of God or of his Vicegerent but comply with the Sentiments of Nature and Revelation with the several Precepts and Intimations of the one with the Law and the Prophets and Gospels of the other THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth theé PART I. The Contents A Transition to the Duty we owe to each other whether consider'd onely as Men or under a more near Relation The latter of these provided for in this Fifth Commandment which is divided into a Duty and a Promise An Essay toward a general Explication of the Duty where is shewn That under Father and Mother are comprehended 1. Grandfather and Grandmother and other the Ancestors from whom we came because though at a distance Authors of our Being 2. Kings and all that are in Authority partly because in the place of Parents to their People and partly because their Authority is a Branch of the Paternal one and succeeded into the place of it 3. Our Spiritual Pastors because begetting us to a better Birth And in fine All that are our Superiours whether in Authority Dignity or Age. The like Comprehensiveness evinc'd in the Honour that is requir'd which is shewn also to include Fear and Love together with the Expressions of them and Honour The Duty of Superiours connoted in the Honour that is to be paid to them and how that Duty may be inferr'd An Address to a more particular Explication of the Duty where the Honour of Parents is resum'd and the Grounds thereof shewn to be first Their being under God the Authors of ours and secondly the Maintainers of it The Consequences of the former Ground propos'd and shewn to preclude all Pretences of Disrespect OUR Duty to God being provided for in the first place as which is both the Foundation and Limitation of all others proceed we according as the Decalogue invites to consider the Duty we owe to each other which may be reduc'd to two Heads that is to say such as we owe to one another as Men or such as arise from some more intimate Relation between us The latter of these is my Task at this time because the Design of the Commandment that is now before us for the Explication whereof I will consider 1. The Duty enjoyn'd And 2. The Promise wherewith it is enforc'd I. Now though if we look no further than the Letter we could not be long to seek what that is which is here bound upon us yet because I have before shewn that many things are contain'd in a Commandment beside what is express'd in it to attain the full importance of this we must enter into the very Bowels of it and extract that Sense which is wrapp'd up in it as well as that which is apparent In order whereunto I will inquire 1. Whether any Superiours are here meant besides Fathers and Mothers 2. What is the importance of that Honour which is here requir'd 3. Whether the Commandment provide for the Behaviour of Superiours towards Inferiours as well as of Inferiours towards them 1. And first of all though Father and Mother be the onely Persons express'd to whom we are requir'd to give Honour yet the general Reason of the Commandment obligeth us to extend it to Grandfathers and Grandmothers and other the Ancestors from whom we are descended because though they contributed not immediately to our Birth yet mediately they did as being the Authors of those from whom we deriv'd it Whence it is that in the Scripture they have often the Name of Fathers as Your Father Abraham rejoyc'd to see my day and was glad But beside that Grandfathers and Grandmothers are to be understood and other the Stocks from whence we came there is no doubt but Kings and all that are in Authority are included in the same general Names Witness first their being in the place of Fathers to those who are under their Dominion For though as Moses sometime told God they do not beget their People if we understand it with reference to their Natural one yet as their Civil Birth is from them so they carry them in their bosom as a nursing Father beareth the sucking Child as the same God commanded the angry Moses Num. 11.12 Again As Kings are in the place of Fathers to their People especially in respect of their Tuition so the Authority of Kings is a Branch of the Paternal one and succeeded into the Place of it Of which beside the Testimony * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Sanders de Oblig Conscient Praelect 7. sect 16. of Aristotle who was no Friend of Kingly Government and the great number of Kings that was anciently in every little Country and particularly in the Land of Canaan we may discern evident Marks in the Authority of Fathers even after the Empire was otherwise dispos'd of these having anciently the Power of Life and Death which is one of the principal Flowers of the Regal Diadem Now forasmuch as Kings are not onely in the place of Fathers to their People but vested in that Authority which was originally and naturally theirs it is but reasonable to think that when God commanded to honour these his Intention was to include the other as who beside their resemblance to them had also the best part of their Authority Next to Kings and Princes consider we our Spiritual Fathers even those who beget us to Piety and to God concerning whom there can be no place for doubt that they ought to be understood in those Fathers we are here commanded to revere For if our Earthly Father is to have Honour those certainly ought not to go
throws Straws in his way things which a wise Man would either take no notice of or pass by with contempt and pity But such though not of the same trifling nature is that Anger which is stirr'd by a great but casual Mischief or by Words that proceeded from the meer inadvertency of the Speaker by Mens differing from us in Opinion in matters of no great weight or expressing their Conceits after another manner these things having nothing of real evil in themselves and much less of injuriousness to us Of the same nature is secondly that Anger which ariseth from slight provocations such I mean as bring no considerable detriment either to our Persons or Reputations or Fortunes from an unkind word let fall in the heat of Discourse or in fine from any thing else that is a common Infirmity of Humane Nature Not but that these things are evil in themselves and to us but that they are in a manner unavoidable and such as we our selves are sometime or other guilty of The former whereof as it leaves no place for Anger which supposeth that that which stirr'd it might have been avoided by the injurious Person so the latter carries its own Excuse in it and such as will either exempt the injurious Person from blame or reflect it upon the angry one For if the Errour by which we are stirr'd be a common Frailty it ought in reason to have a common and uniform reception and we must either be contented to be condemn'd * Justin Martyr in ep ad Zenam Serenum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 our selves which we shall hardly think reasonable considering the infirmity of our own Nature or acquit those that are but alike guilty Add hereunto thirdly because though just enough in it self yet is not so if we consider the Person by whom it is stirr'd that Anger which ariseth from some one or two greater provocations of a Friend or of one by whom we have been much more oblig'd For as Friendship and Beneficence are things of so great worth that whosoever is sensible of them must think much ought to be pardon'd to it so especially when the Errours are not many and have been much out-done by the Kindnesses we have receiv'd For though the Injury as such may be apt to stir us yet surely not when there is so much more to restrain us and for one real Unkindness we have receiv'd many signal Favours From whence as it will appear that it was not without great reason that Aristotle makes the Persons with whom we are angry to be a necessary part of our consideration so that it ought to be a very great provocation which can licence a deliberate Anger against a kind and indulgent Parent a gracious Prince or one who hath been the Author of our Fortunes 3. We are now arriv'd at the last Vice of Anger which is when it exceeds the measure due to it For the understanding whereof we are to consider it 1. With relation to the Cause 2. To the Rules of Sobriety and Prudence And 3. Lastly To the Continuance Because in each of these our Anger may exceed and so pass into unlawful and disorderly I begin with the first of these because nearest of kin to the foregoing Vice and because we shall need no other Argument to evince our Anger to be unlawful when it exceeds the merit of the Cause For if we may not be angry without a cause neither may we be angry beyond it all Anger being so far causeless as it exceeds the Provocation which occasion'd it The onely difficulty will be to know when our Anger doth so exceed which must be left to every Man to determine This onely may be said in the general That as a lesser Provocation must have a lesser Anger and a greater Provocation a greater so whether the Provocation be greater or lesser will best be estimated by the consideration of the Circumstances of the Time when it is given of the Persons by whom the Place where and the Mischiefs that accrue to us by it But other determination than that as it will be impossible to give amidst the variety of Circumstances wherewith a Provocation may be attended so I will not add any thing more save that Prudence as well as Equity will advise rather to go less in our Anger than more and to proportion it not so much by the Dictates of our own distemper'd Breasts which are for the most part very unfaithful Counsellors as by the Advice of disinteressed Persons and the Examples of good and prudent Men. From that Anger which exceeds the Merits of the Cause pass we to that which transports us beyond the bounds of Sobriety and Prudence and makes us absurd in our Behaviour Of which nature are all those actions which are before observ'd in hasty men but are common to other angry persons with them such as are the being angry with any man whatsoever that comes in our way yea even with Inanimate Creatures themselves Which if not sins in themselves yet are infallible indications of one inasmuch as they declare the mind within to be more than ordinarily distemper'd and to have pass'd those bounds which God and Nature have set it So true is that which the Heathen Poet hath taught us that Anger is a short madness Herein only they differ that Madness is oftentimes innocent but both of them offer violence to our Reason One onely excess of anger remains by which we have said our anger to become vitious and that is when it continues longer upon us than it ought Which is first when it continues with us after a satisfaction is offered or where that cannot be made an humble and hearty acknowledgment is The former in its own nature taking away the cause of our anger the latter by vertue of the precepts of Christianity which enjoins upon us the forgiving of injuries if they who have committed them return and repent The same is to be said of that anger which continues even after it hath procur'd the due punishment of the injurious Person such an anger being unjust because importing a desire of a farther revenge than is due to the measure of the offence And though I am of opinion that Grotius spake not amiss when he interpreted that of the Apostle Eph. 4.26 Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath by let it not be protracted longer than its due time supposing the Apostle to allude to that of Deut. 24.15 where command is given by God not to let the Sun go down upon the Hirelings wages meaning thereby as the foregoing words perswade that it should be given him at his day and when it was due lest for the want of it he cry unto the Lord against his Master Yet when I consider with my self that the former part of those words Be ye angry and sin not is taken out of the 4th Verse of the 4th Psalm according to the Septuagint version the latter part whereof