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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
rest_n	creation_n	day_n	rest_v	4,116	5	9.5419	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A63895	A discourse on fornication shewing the greatness of that sin, and examining the excuses pleaded for it, from the examples of antient times : to which is added an appendix concerning concubinage : as also a remark on Mr. Butler's explication of Hebr. xiii, 4 in his late book on that subject / by J. Turner ...	Turner, John, b. 1649 or 50.	1698 (1698)	Wing T3297; ESTC R10983	44,117	68

Consideration of God's resting from his Work in the Creation For it seems odd that God shou'd compleat the Creation of the Universe in six Days and rest on the seventh only to give Authority to one particular temporary Ordinance of one Particular Little Nation and that too that was not to Commence till about two thousand Years after 2. Because it is not to be supposed that God all that while took no care for the establishing public Worship in memory of the Creation to which the appointing some set Time was in a great measure necessary And 3. Because it is mentioned again Exod. xvi 23. before ever God gave the Law to the Jews from Mount Sinai And which for that reason I conjecture not to have been the original Institution but only the Reviving an ancient divine Ordinance which by their long sojourning and Servitude in Egypt they had neglected and lost All this together I hope puts it out of doubt that God very early assisted Man's Reason by some express Positive Laws The second thing is 2. That these Words above mentioned Gen. 2. 23 24. have in them the Force and Authority of a divine Institution or Law For the Confirmation of which I shall add no more than this single Reflection that our blessed Saviour and his Apostles in all the Questions put to them about the Validity of Marriage and the Unlawfulness of Divorce Always refer to this original Institution and by the soie Authority of that determin the Controversies and decide all Disputes about them Which shews without Contradiction that Christ knew these Words to have in them the obligatory Force of a divine Law or otherwise the Determinations which he gave from the Authority of them cou'd not have had that Force and Weight which he intended Whatever is farther needful for the Proof of this will occur as we proceed 3. To consider what the true Purpose Design and Meaning of this Law is Now the most obvious and first Sense of it without doubt is to enjoin a Perpetual and Inseparable Cohabitation of Man and Wife They shall dwell together and leave both Father and Mother to that very end if need so require But this is not all The full Scope of the Place must be fetcht from the near Relation and close Union that is here pronounced to be between them They two shall be one Flesh which the Generality of Interpreters expound by the Love and sincere Affection which they ought always to have for each other And tho this no doubt is a very good and useful Construction of the Place yet neither is this all St. Paul Eph. v. 28 29. lays down this as a just and necessary Foundation of their mutual Love so ought Men to love their Wives as their own Bodies he that loveth his Wife loveth himself And no Man ever yet hated his own Flesh. But that there is more in this than a bare Union of Affections is evident by what is here urged by Adam as the Ground of it She is Bone of my Bones and Flesh of my Flesh and therefore shall a Man leave his Father and Mother and shall cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh. From whence it is plain that Adam and Eve were one Flesh in a more litteral Sense in that she was a Part of him and by the Almighty Power of God made out of him And tho every Wife is not thus formed out of the Side of her Husband yet every Man and his Wife are esteemed of God and ought to think themselves made as much One Flesh by Marriage as Adam and Eve themselves were And the great Purpose and Design of this Place is to proclaim and declare them to be so And whatever the Nature of their Union may be which St. Paul Eph. 5. 32. intimates is a great Mystery the Foundation of that Union seems to consist in their Cohabitation and the mutual Partnership of each others Bed By which they become so much one that they ought never to separate from each other Till God who by this Ordinance and Law joins them together and makes them one shall by Death dissolve that Union and part them asunder And that this is the true Meaning and Design of these Words I am able to make appear from the Authority of Jesus Christ. Who upon this very Consideration and this Argument thus stated proves to the Jews the inseparable Union between a Man and his Wife and the Unlawfulness of a Divorce or Separation upon any account The Place I refer to is Matt. xix 3. c. Where we are told that the Pharisees came to him tempting him and saying Is it lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause In answer to whom he takes no notice at all of the Common Pretences usually alleged but refers them to the Original Institution of Marriage mentioned in these Words v. 4. Have ye not read that he that made them in the beginning made them Male and Female and said for this cause shall a Man leave his Father and his Mother and shall cleave unto his Wife and they two shall be one flesh What therefore God has joined together let no Man put asunder This is Christ's Decision of the Question The Force of which Answer turns all upon these Points 1. That the Union between Man and Wife is founded in their Cohabitation and the Partnership of each others Bed 2. That God from the beginning Ordained that this Union shou'd be inseparable and inviolable i. e. that it shou'd continue during the whole Life of both And therefore it is that Divorce becomes unlawful and contrary to God's Original Institution For whom God hath joined together let no Man put asunder 3. That this Union which God has made thus inseparable shou'd be between Man and Wife only exclusive of all others And therefore every Man or Woman by thus uniting to any Second Person during the Life of the First does thereby break that Union with the First which God commanded when once made that it shou'd be perpetual Upon this it is that Christ declares all such Marriages upon Divorce to be Adultery Matt. xix 9. I say unto you whosoever shall put away his Wife except it be for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery And whosoever shall marry her that is put away committeth Adultery In which Words there is a double Confirmation of what I now maintain 1. That marrying upon Divorce or marrying a Person divorced is Adultery Because he that marries upon Divorce takes a Second Wife while his Union and Obligation to the First by God's Original Institution is still in force And he that marries a Woman that is divorced marries another Man's Wife in the Sense of God's Law and in that commits Adultery Both these Cases are a Violation of that Union which God decreed shou'd not be violated 2. The second thing is the Exception which Christ makes to these Cases Except it be for Fornication Where

From the natural Turpitude of it and the Evils and pernicious Consequences that attend it I. The first Assertion is that Fornication is a Violation of the positive Law of God in the original Institution of Marriage and this I shall endeavour to prove from Gen. 2. 23 24. where in the Relation of Eve's being formed out of Adam's Side there are these Words Adam said This is now Bone of my Bones and Flesh of my Flesh she shall be called Woman because she was taken out of Man And therefore shall a Man leave his Father and Mother and shall cleave unto his Wife and they shall be one Flesh. And for the better clearing of this Argument I shall proceed thus 1. I shall shew that God to provide against the Corruptions of Man's fal'n State when he had lost the original Perfection of his Reason by Sin did assist him in some Cases by Divine Positive Laws 2. That these Words mention'd Gen. 2. 24. have in them the Force and Authority of a Divine Law 3. I shall consider what the true Sense and Purpose of this Law is 4. I shall shew that Fornication is a certain Violation of it and must therefore be an heinous Sin and highly offensive unto God 5. Lastly I shall consider the Objections that are commonly made against this Argument from the Practice of some particular Men in ancient times that are nevertheless recorded to have had a singular share in God's Favor 1. I shall shew that God to provide against the Corruptions of Man's fal'n State when he had lost the original Perfection of his Reason by Sin did assist him in some Cases by Divine Positive Laws But here I would not be mistaken in my Meaning of a Positive Law By which Expression is commonly understood such a Command or Precept as ties Man up to Obedience in things of an indifferent Nature and where he was left at Liberty by the Laws of Reason This is the common meaning of this Phrase and things forbidden by Positive Laws in this Sense are therefore supposed to have no real Evil or Immorality in them And though it is certain that God did very early give Mankind some such positive Institutions yet I do by no means intend the original Institution of Marriage to be positive in such a Sense as to suppose that it has no Foundations in the Laws of Nature or the Principles of Reason for that it most certainly has But my Meaning is that to prevent either Ignorance or any Misconstruction of the Laws of Reason in favour of Man's Lusts God was pleased to confirm some of the Principles of Reason by Revelation and strengthen the Laws of Nature by Positive Institution For we must consider that the Laws of Nature or Reason are either 1. Such general Precepts and obvious Inferences from them as every considering Man may see and be convinced of their Obligation Or else 2. Such Remoter Principles of Virtue and Goodness which though they have their Foundation in Reason yet they lie at a greater Distance from the first plain Notices and consequently must be found out by a more careful and difficult Deduction And tho' I do not at all doubt but that Man in that Perfection of Reason in which he was originally created was then a sufficient Guide unto himself in all these Cases Yet when humane Nature was corrupted and depraved he did then require some farther Help Then either Sloth Inconsideration Prejudice the Imperfection of his Reason now impaired by Sin and the Influence of his Passions and Affections to bribe and pervert his Judgment Might easily make him ignorant of such more distant Principles although they had their Foundation in the Laws of Nature For which reason our wise and good God of his wonderful Compassion and Love to Mankind was pleased to come in to our Assistance and to prevent the Influence of our Lusts enlightned our Minds by Revelation and confirmed and establish'd the Authority of some such natural Laws by making them also express and positive Institutions And this is the Sense in which I wou'd be now understood to speak of Divine Positive Laws Now the Jews were of opinion that God gave Adam several such Laws to direct him in things that were in themselves Good or Evil Because that Good or Evil of them was not obvious enough to the common Observation of Mens depraved Minds Such they esteemed the Case of incestuous Marriages which they say God forbid by express Law to Adam therein ordaining that after Mankind was so far multiplied that the Marriage of Brother and Sister was no longer necessary to the Propagation of Human Race they shou'd all from thenceforth become unlawful And when it shall be consider'd that the natural Immorality of them has been a Subject of Debate in several Ages It will be the more reasonable to conclude that there was some very early Positive Law that prohibited all such Because this is one of the Sins charged upon the Canaanites and their Example alleged as a Caution and Warning to the Israelites Lev. xviii 24. Defile not your selves in any of these things for in all these the Nations are defiled which I cast out before you Now when it shall be consider'd how difficult it has been thought in all Ages to evince the certain Immorality of such by the clear Evidence of any natural Law only in the Transgression of which the Canaanites were guilty It is more probable that God added the Authority of some Positive Law restraining both them and all Mankind in this respect And tho Sacrifices were not so in their Nature Good as to be of Perpetual Use and Everlasting Obligation Yet as they made up a considerable Part of the divine Worship of almost all Nations until the Incarnation of our Saviour so I think they also are no improper Instances in our present purpose What Law of Nature only shou'd dictate them is very hard to shew Reason indeed teaches to worship God after the best manner that we can But I cannot imagin that any Principle of Reason only teaches that to burn the Fat of Beasts or the Fruits of the Earth can be an acceptable way of honouring God or of expressing our Dependance and Thanks Or that the Light of Nature only cou'd ever guide and determin Mankind so universally to such Sacrifices Which our best Reason teaches us are in themselves not acceptable but only valued as Types and Figures of a better Sacrifice to come Nor can I believe but that the setting apart one Day in seven for the Worship of God our Creator was what he Ordained and Commanded from the beginning For tho some wou'd have those Words Gen. 2. 2 3. to be spoken by way of Anticipation yet that is precariously asserted and without any Proof Whereas there are several good Reasons to be alleged for the more early Original of that divine Institution 1. Because the reason of keeping that Day holy is so expresly founded on the