Selected quad for the lemma: lord_n
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A29935
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A perswasive to the stricter observation of the Lords day in pursuance of His Majesties pious order and directions to preachers particularly about the observation of the Lord's day, &c. / by Matthew Bryan.
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Bryan, Matthew, d. 1699.
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1686
(1686)
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Wing B5247; ESTC R19898
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22,342
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36
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A PERSWASIVE To the Stricter OBSERVATION OF THE LORDS DAY In pursuance of His MAJESTIES Pious Order and Directions to PREACHERS Particularly about the Observation of the LORD's DAY c. By Matthew Bryan L. L. D. Licens'd June 16t h 1686. LONDON Printed for S. Keble at the Turks Head in Fleetstreeet and D. Brown at the black Swan and Bible without Temple Bar 1686. Reverendo admodum In Christo Patri ac Domino D. PETRO Providentiâ Divina WINTONIENSI EPISCOPO Et nobilissimi Ordinis à periscelide dicti Praesuli Dignissimo Copiarum sub Rege maximè pio ac Martyre CAROLO primo Duci fortissimo In Exilii Miseriis Benignissimi CAROLI Secundi servo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 invicto Rebellibus Occidentalibus sub Rege Serenissimo JACOBO Secundo Terrori Et Armis Precibus Regis Regnique Opitulatori Bonorum Fautori Improborum Malleo Ecclesiae Anglicanae Strenuo Vindici Et Ornamento M. B. Hanc de die Dominicâ pie observandâ Concionem coram Londinensibus habitam Humillimè cum devotissimâ Veneratione Offert A PERSWASIVE TO THE Stricter OBSERVATION OF THE LORDS DAY Exod. 20.8 Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy 'T IS an old Observation in which there is a great deal of truth though sometimes urg'd for very ill ends particularly to discountenance that great Gospel Ordinance of Preaching Nil dictum quod non dictum prius which I might English in the words of Solomon though spoken by him on another account Eccles 9.1 There is no new thing under the Sun There is nothing done or said but it has been done or said already Tho this might seem to supersede all further Inquiries and attempts to document and instruct the World and dispence knowledge and at once upbraid and silence the Undertaker by telling him that what he does is but actum agere to do that which is done already yet certainly in regard there dwell in us treacherous and unfaithful memories and dull and drowsie affections unapt especially to Spiritual and Divine Things it cannot be denied that an honest Remembrancer is as necessary and useful as the most eloquent Instructer to be imagin'd which St. Peter seems to acknowledge by magnifying the office of a Remembrancer no less than three times in one Chapter 2 Pet. 1.12 13 15 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things tho ye know them and be established in the present truth Yea I think it meet as long as I am in this Tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my decease to have these things alwayes in remembrance We less want the knowledge than the practice of our duties 'T is not so much the furnishing our heads with a richer treasure of speculations as the profitable improvement of what we know that is or ought to be the great end of Preaching The inculcating of duties therefore must needs be both necessary and advantagious the putting men in mind of what they know already Now amongst the several duties which in faithfulness I must put you in mind of I think it not unseasonable to put you in remembrance of that which this Day or rather the Lord of this Day requires of you viz. The hallowing and sanctifying of the Sabbath of late so much neglected and prophaned amongst us Give me leave therefore following the Example of St. Peter to put you in remembrance of these things tho you know them and be established in the present truth and duty Duty may some say Ay would you would satisfie us to that For that 's the scruple that lies upon our spirits We know indeed that the first day of the Week according to the Scripture computation is enjoyn'd by humane Law under a Penalty to be kept solemn and sacred for the Worship of God which seems to be contrary to the positive command of God held forth in the fourth Commandment which by the Example of God himself seems to intimate and command the observation of the Seventh Day from the Creation as the Sabbath of the Lord to be kept by the Lord's people Now the Fourth Commandment you say is of moral and perpetual obligation part of that Doctrine which you say is a Rule of Life to a Believer and every Sunday we are taught after pronouncing of this Commandment to beg mercy and pardon for our breach of it and strength better to keep it for the time to come in that short ejaculation Lord have mercy upon us and inoline our hearts to keep this Law Now it seems strange that we should be oblig'd to a duty so seemingly contrary to the Fourth Commandment which yet we are taught to acknowledge obedience to and beg God to incline our hearts to keep it when as at that very time it seems to us that we openly break it not keeping that Day which is there mentioned This I confess has been a scruple that has troubled the spirits of many and drawn some into a practical error For satisfaction therefore of the scrupulous and confirmation of the conscionable observers of the Christian Sabbath I shall labour to shew you the indispensable Obligation of it And to that end I have for my Subject pitch'd my thoughts on the Words of the Commandment which seem to speak so much against it but before I have done I hope you 'll conclude with me that the observation of the Christian Sabbath is not inconsistent with the duty held forth in the Text Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy In speaking to this Argument I shall do these three things 1. Shew you the divine Institution of the Christian Sabbath which we now celebrate that to observe and keep it is our duty and that in obedience to the Command of God 2. I shall shew you the manner how the Duty is to be performed wherein the right and due Observation of the day consists 3. And lastly I shall make some reflection on the whole by Application 1. My first undertaking shall be to shew you the Divine Institution of the Christian Sabbath which we now celebrate that to observe and keep it is our duty and that in Obedience to the Command of God And truely Brethren this Truth ought to be well settled and fixed in our minds as that which will mightily perswade us to the conscionable performance of the duty of the day for if I apprehend it to be only of humane Institution and the Command of Man how will it abate the value and esteem which otherwise I should have for it strangely lessen my Veneration and Reverence how will it damp my zeal and clip the wings of my rising and exulting Joy which would be the result of this consideration This is the day which the Lord hath made the inference would then be easie and natural Let us rejoyce and be glad in it Sirs Whilst I believe that the Observation of this
day is but the Command of a mortal dying man my esteem is no more for it than for another day But when I believe and am perswaded and consider that 't is the Command of the God that made me the God that redeemed me and the God that shall shortly come to judge me O how will this raise my mind and enliven my affections and check my floath and quicken my zeal and awaken my Conscience to a sense and conscionable performance of my duty And therefore I would willingly fix this as a great truth and immoveable principle in your minds that to observe and keep this day in your Duty and that in Obedience to the Command of God And here the better to make way to what I intend I must premise these two things 1. That the Fourth Commandment is moral i. e. of perpetual Obligation as to the substance of it 2. That our Saviour Christ who was Lord of the Sabbath had power to make what alteration he pleas'd as to the ceremonial part of it 1. That the Fourth Commandment is moral i. e. of perpetual Obligation as to the substance of it tho ceremonial for Circumstance if not then there are but nine Commandments under the Gospel for what was purely ceremonial relating to the Jewish Oeconomy is abolished and in vain are we taught to pray after the rehearsal of this Commandment Lord have mercy us and incline our hearts to keep this Law To keep some Time holy the to Lord for his Solemn Service is absolutely moral which the Light of Nature prompts men to Now 't is plain a Sabbath God must have by the perpetual Ordinance of the Fourth Commandment Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath Day i.e. that day which for the time being God hath marked out and appointed for his own And he hath declar'd his will concerning the limitation of it Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh is the Sabbath The Seventh from the Creation was enjoyn'd to be kept by the Jews in remembrance of the Creation according to God's own example In six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the Seventh Day which was observed before the giving of the Law on Sinai Well but Christians observe not this seventh day which the Jews did do they then break the Commandment God forbid no they do not break the Commandment and this will appear by the second thing which I have to premise viz. 2. That our Saviour Christ who was Lord of the Sabbath had power to make what alteration he pleas'd as to the Ceremonial part of the Commandment Our Saviour tells the Jews St. Mark 2.28 that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath He was so indeed for 't was he that made the VVorld and gave the Law on Sinai And he shew'd the true use of the Sabbath that 't was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath and as Lord of it he had power to make what Alteration he pleas'd Now the Alteration he made was about the circumstance of time not as to the matter of the Commandment one day in seven but as to the Circumstance of time i. e. which day in seven he pleas'd Now if I can prove to you that our Saviour Christ alter'd the circumstance of time and that that time which the Christians now observe is that Alteration I hope you 'l conclude with me that the observation of the Christian Sabbath is no breach of the Fourth Commandment but an indispensable duty incumbent upon the Church of Christ and that it is so will appear by these Arguments 1. The First I shall draw from the immediate authority of our Saviour who to let the VVorld know that his pleasure was to translate the Jewish Sabbath which was Saturday the seventh from the Creation to the first day of the VVeek was pleas'd First To Honour this day with his Resurrection from the dead which was on the first day of the VVeek when he had finish'd the work of our Redemption as he had before on the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath finish'd the work of our Creation The Jewish Sabbath slept its last in the Grave with Christ and at his Resurrection immediately enter'd the Lords day from the very day of the Resurrection of Christ St. Ep. ad Jan. 19. c. 13. Austin derives the beginning of the Gospel Sabbath The Lords day saith he by the Resurrection of Christ was declar'd to be the Christians day Dominicum diem quem vobis Salvatoris noctri Resurrectio consecravit c. Id. de Verb. Apost serm 15. and from that very time it began to be celebrated as the Christians Festival This was the First day of our Saviours appearing to his Disciples and during the forty days he remain'd up on Earth after his Resurrection he appear'd to his Disciples usually upon the first day of the VVeek and gave them Orders about the things concerning his Kingdome 2. He honoured this day with the first mission of the Holy Ghost Act. 2.1 c. When the day of Pentecost was fully come c. Pentecost that year fell on Sunday the first day of the VVeek VVhich I thus plainly prove to you There were three Solemn Feasts which were appointed the Jews every year The Feast of the Passeover The Feast of Harvest And the Feast of Tabernacles as you may read Exod. 23.14 15. The Feast of Harvest styl'd Deut 16.9 the Feast of Weeks was fifty days after the Feast of the Passeover Lev. 23.15 16. This Feast of VVeeks is the same which St. Luke calls here Pentecost which is a Greek VVord fignifying the fiftieth day and retain'd in our English Translation which time we now call Whitsunday VVhich we observe is always seven weeks after Easter Now this day which was seven weeks after the Passeover fell that year on Sunday when the Holy Ghost descended as will appear if you consult Joh. 19.14 31. Where you find that the day our Saviour was Crucified was the day of the preparation of the Passeover and the next day was the Sabbath on which the Passeover that year was celebrated which is therefore stil'd an high day v. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a great day i.e. a very solemn day in respect of the concurrence of a double celebrity the Sabbath and the Feast of the Passeover Now reckon seven Weeks from the Passeover which was Saturday the Jews Sabbath to the day of Pentecost inclusively which makes up the compleat number of fifty days and you 'll find that it fell on Sunday the first day of the Week on which the Holy Ghost discended as it were to give birth to the Christian Sabbath which had it's conception at Christs Resurrection And Grotius noteth from Exod. 19.1 that it was the day the Law was given on and so on which the Spirit was given for the new Law So much for Christs immediate Authority If any say that all this is but conjectural that