Selected quad for the lemma: rest_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
rest_n	day_n	new_a	sabbath_n	2,749	5	9.8172	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41191	A sober enquiry into the nature, measure and principle of moral virtue, its distinction from gospel-holiness with reflections upon what occurs disserviceable to truth and religion in this matter : in three late books, viz. Ecclesiastical policy, Defence and continuation, and Reproof to The rehearsal transpos'd / by R.F.	Ferguson, Robert, d. 1714.	1673 (1673)	Wing F760; ESTC R15565	149,850	362

or services The other is the consideration of the Divine Goodness But the consideration of his Justice being as ponderous to the contrary this is as inept to beget an assurance of our acceptance with God as the former Conscience through being guilty being also suspicious will hinder us in our expecting any thing from the Divine Goodness by continually objecting his justice to us But supposing we were sufficiently furnished with Notices of the Divine placability and that he will accept a Homage from us yet it still remains to be proved that precluding a supernatural Revelation we have any rational ground of belief that he will approve our manner of approach to him by Sacrifices I know no perfection in the Divine Being to which they are Naturally suited It is true I find a Late Author insinuating that the Religion of Sacrifices flows from the Nature and the Attributes of God requiring no other discovery than the Light and no other determination than the choice of natural Reason def and continuat p. 427 428. But I would fain know what property in the Divine Nature the Religion of Sacrifices flows from God is not capable of being fed or refreshed by the scent and smoke of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. 2. Sect. 24. Indeed Porphyry tells us that a great many thought so but I am sure it was a most foolish thought And besides what-ever flows from the Divine Nature and the Attributes of God the obligation to it is indissoluble nor can we be superceded the performance of it And by consequence the Worshipping of God by Sacrifices should both have obliged mankind in the state of innocencie and doth still indispensably oblige us Nor can the Christian Institution vacate any Duty that flows from the Nature of God Indeed the mysterious and gracious Counsels of Gods will in reference to our recovery from Wrath by the Sacrifice of his Son which he designed the bringing into light and the giving the world instruction about by this Medium render our being found in this Method of address to God while the end proposed in it continued very rational and justifiable but abstracting from that the mind of man can not entertain a more silly and ludicrous thought than that we should thereby honour God in a due and suitable way That we should adore and magnifie the Goodness and bounty of God in all the benefits we partake of and that we should use them soberly and discreetly improving them into motives of cheerfulness humility and advantages of service both in communicating to the wants of others and being the more alacrous in obedience our selves hath the authorisation of Reason for it and becomes that habitude we stand in to God as Rational Creatures But to reckon that the presenting God with slaughtered Animals is the most natural Symptome of Homage that Rational Creatures can express their thankfulness to him by Naturalis Ratio si recta esset sciret De●● t●libus non indigere neque ea à nobis requirere R●vet in cap. 4. Gen. Exercit. 22. Def. contin p. 431 I account it a sentiment only fit for them who never duly meditated what God is And in my conceit the missing of such an invention would have been so far from being flat stupidity that it would have argued a mind pregnant with generous thoughts of God The Second thing produced in proof that Sacrifices took their beginning from Humane Agreement is because there appears not any shadow of command for them when they were first practised and to say that the expression of worship by Sacrifices was commanded though ● is no where Recorded is to take the liberty of saying any thing without proof or evidence Eccl. Polit. p. 101. v. def contin p. 428. To this I reply that 't is not needful that every command relating to institutions be expresly and in terminis recorded 't is enough that it be colligible from the Scripture I know no Logick that will allow the sequel That because the command of a thing is not registred in so many words that therefore the thing it self is not of Divine Original The Reverend Person who reviewed and animadverted on the Ecclesiastical Polity told him that there was an Institution for the offering and burning Incense only with sacred fire taken from the Altar and that the Priests were consumed with fire from before the Lord for the neglect of it Yet there is no express command in the whole Scripture where that Institution is in terminis Recorded p. 272. This our late Author takes no Notice of in his Def. Contin but passeth it in deep silence as he doth all the most material things in the said Reply I shall only subjoyn one instance more to the same purpose The Observation of the Christian or First day-Sabbath will be allowed I suppose to have a Warrant in the Revelation of the Word yet there is not in the whole Gospel a Command in express Terms for the keeping of it There is indeed a precept in the Decalogue for the observance of one day in Seven as a Holy Sabbath to the Lord and there is an express determination founded on Gods Resting from his Works for the keeping the last day of the Hebdomadal Revolution during the Old Testament Oeconomy as a day of Sacred Rest. There are also various Arguments taken from the Creation of all things in and by Christ his Finishing and Resting from all the Works of the New Creation in and by his Resurrection his declaring that a Day of Rest accommodated to his own ceasing from his Works remains now for Believers Together with the Apostolical observation of the First Day of the week as a Sabbath to the Lord God's blessing his People in their attendance on him from time to time on that Day John Baptising it with the Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lord's Day c. All which do evince the change of the Day from the Seventh unto the First to be of Heavenly Original and founded in Divine Authority Yet there is not a Command 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the whole Sacred Code and Register for it In a matter of so great antiquity as Sacrifices when the Lord instructed his Church by Dreams Visions mental Impressions audible voice c. To affirm that there was no Divine Command for the Religion of Sacrifices because the Command is not expresly delivered is a very unwary and bold assertion It is enough for us if we can demonstrate that they acted not herein without a Divine Warrant though we cannot assign the manner in which it was prescribed and this we hope to make good to the satisfaction of all sober inquirers but to satisfie Scepticks and prejudic'd persons who have no mind to be convinced is more than any man can undertake The third Opinion then concerning the Original of Sacrifices is theirs who deduce them from the Institution of God himself And as this is the common sentiment

stood into him as our Creator Preserver and Benefactor There was in mankind an ability of soul of ascending unto the knowledg of the invisible Being and First cause by the effects of his Power Wisdome and Goodness of knowing as much of God as was needful for our living to him and our dependance on him in that state and under that Covenant that we then stood From which there could not but have resulted a clearer and more distinct knowledg than we can now imagine of that love Gratitude Reverence which we owed to him and these would have been attended with a recognition of our own nothingness a dependant frame of spirit and a resignation of our selves and all things to his will The Second was the consideration of our selves that amphibious kind of Nature we are made with it is Hierocles's expression being allied in our constitution and make to several Species of creatures And the observing the Subordinations of the parts of our Composition one to another That the Animal and sensitive powers are to be governed by the Intellectual and Rational From which would have arisen a plenary and steady knowledg of the unsuitableness of earthly things to constitute us happy That our Blessedness lay not in the pleasing of our senses and gratification of our Animal part In a word that the Soul was to be principally regarded and that Reason was to be our only conductor which I suppose was enough to have precluded all intemperance incontinence and the subjecting of our selves to the Animal life c. A third way was an ability of penetrating more fully than now we can into the natures of the several creatures their fabricks orderly operations various instincts relations both to us and one an other in all which as in a glass much of our duty had we abode in the state of integrity would have become plain and evident to us If notwithstanding the fall and all that darkness and confusion which hath ensued thereupon We abide still directed to the creatures for the learning many parts of our duty See Iob. 12.7 Prov. 6.6 Jer. 8.7 Deut. 32.11 Should we not have been capable of learning more from them and that more clearly and distinctly when there was no tincture of sin or shadow of darkness on the mind nor fallacious medium in the whole Creation A Fourth was an ability of mind of knowing the Relation which we stood in one to another How that we were not self-sufficient but brought forth under a necessity of mutual assistances and that we could not subsist without the mutual aids of love and friendship That we arose not like mushromes out of the earth nor were digged out of parsly-beds neither came into the World by a fortuitous Original That we sprung not Originally from diverse Stocks much less were created at first multitude of us together But that the whole race of mankind was propagated from one single Root That each of us was intended as a part of the Rational System and made for society and fellowship From all which we should have been able by easy deductions and short dependencies to have argued out the whole of those duties we are under the Sanction of either to parents children or neigbours In a word doing as we would be done by which epitomiseth the whole duty that one man oweth to another would have proved the natural issue of the foregoing considerations The Fifth and last way was through observing Gods order and method in the Works of Creation As the works of God themselves were to be instructive unto man not only of the Being Power Wisdome and Goodness of God but of the Moral duties that God expected from us Psal. 19.1 Rom. 1.20 21. So God's Order and Method in the Production and Disposal of his Works into their several Relations and Subordinations was likewise intended to be instructive to mankind and it was the will of God that we should learn our duty thereby Thus the Preeminence of the man over the Woman is confirmed by the Apostle from the order of the Creation I suffer not saith he the Woman to usurp over the man for Adam was first formed then Eve 1 Tim. 2.12 13. Christ himself establisheth Monog●my upon the same foundation namely God's Method of Creation at first From the beginning of the Creation he made them Male Female for this cause shall a Man cleave to his Wife and they two shall be one flesh Marc. 10.6 38. Thus also with respect to God's order in the Creation did the observation of the Sabbath become a part of the Law of Nature And on the seventh Day God ended his Work which he had made and he rested on the Seventh Day from all his Work which he had made and God blessed the Seventh Day sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work See Dr. Owen of Sacred Rest Ex●●cit ● which he had created and made Gen. 2 2 3. All these instances do fully evidence that there was both a sufficiency of objective light in the things themselves to instruct man into his duty and of Subjective light in man to discern improve it to the ends aforesaid Nor doth it at all weaken what is said that the Light of Reason as it reside's in us now seems defective and insufficient to direct us unto the knowledg and observance of these things For it is enough that we have proved them to have been originally designed by God for these ends and that there is ground and evidence in the things themselves to conduct to them Nor is the ex●ent and effects of Primitive light to be measured by the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Ruines of it which remain in us since the fall Alas our present light is faint Languid Scant Superficial Distracted leaving us under uncertain guesses dubious hallucinations exposing us to fallacious and delusive appearances unable to minister due indications of vertue and vice even in such things as according to All come under the Sanction of the Law of Creation Witness the Idolatry Uncleanness Rapine c. that Nations and Persons pretending to the greatest improvement of Reason and natural Light have lived in But Original Light was pure clear certain not tinctur'd with false images and colours nor darkness by lust and sensuality capable if it had been exercised and attended to of preserving us secure as well from Doubt as Error § 5. God having thus prescribed a Law to man the Notices of which lay sufficiently plain in the exercising of his faculties He also endowed him with a proportionate strength for the observance of the precepts of that Law That a law be obligatory it is necessary that it enjoyn nothing but what is possible to be performed That none can be bound to impossibilities is an indubitable axiom It is not consistent with the Wisdome Justice Righteousness and Goodness of God to command that which we never had strength for the performance of nor can he