needs not if there be as there is enough for it elsewhere in the Word And if you will allow a little Digression see Job 31. 26 27 28. which the Doctor p. 64. says may perhaps be Job's disclaimer of Sun-Worship which is somewhat towards it And see that of Eliphaz Job 22. 17 22. Receive I pray thee the law at his mouth that is Gods Mouth where the word Law is the same Hebrew Word used Exod. 16. 28. about the Sabbath and Job 22. 22. Lay up his words in thine heart so as whenever and where-ever Job lived t is certain he and his Friends had some knowledge of the Law and Words of God and if of the Law and Words of God why not of the Sabbath which is his Word and a part of his Law See also Job 1. 1 5 6 8 9. Job 2. 1 3. especially Job 1. 6. and Job 2. 1. which day at least some of the Hebrew Rabbies thought to be the Sabbath And although the Doctor p. 35. would make all that is offered in the Enquiry that the Ascension of Christ might be upon the Sabbath day Acts 1. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 12. to be a little matter and yet serving my turn I refer the Reader for that to the Enquiry p. 43. to which I add I do not yet see but that the Ascension day might be upon the Sabbath day according to Acts 1. 12. for I do not think those words that Mount Olivet the place of his Ascension is from Jerusalem a sabbath-days-journey Acts 1. 12. which of old was esteemed about two Miles are so expressed there by the Holy Spirit but for some special respect to the Sabbath day which words of a Sabbath-days-journey are no where else so expressed in the Scriptures that I find but I take it t is agreed by Geographers that Mount Olivet is about two Miles from Jerusalem In Exod. 16. 29. The Lord giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days abide every man in his place let no man go out of his place on the seventh day that is that day they were not to go abroad into the Field to gather Manna nor to do any other Work Exod. 20. 10. but they might go to the Holy Convocation Lev. 23. 3. And the Cities of the Levites were to reach 2000 Cubits from without the City East South West North Numb 35. 5. and in Josh 3. 3 4. when the Ark was born towards Jordan the People were to go after it yet there was to be a space between them and it about 2000 Cubits by measure and they were not to come nearer to it what those Cubits in measure did extend to the Jews could best tell us who thought it about two Miles which those in the Camp might travel to the Ark the place of their Publick Worship upon the Sabbath day Enquiry p. 43. 44 45. And it seems to me that Acts 1. 12. is so expressed to shew that Christ and his Disciples going from Jerusalem to Mount Olivet and the Disciples going from thence back again to Jerusalem was no breach of the Sabbath day But however this were I think the main question which is the true Christian Sabbath is built and established upon many other direct full Scriptures before and after cited which give no colour for denying What the Doctor offers for the Feast of Pentecost Acts 2. 1. p. 37. as to the day when it was which he thinks was on the First day of the Week I know no Word for that or other Ground but Conjectures and some uncertain Romish Traditions for what day the Fiftieth day was from the true day on which Christ and his Disciples kept the Passover Matth. 26. 17 18 19 20. I do not yet so certainly know and the Doctor p. 12. agrees that our Saviour kept his last Passover on one day and the Jews on another But the most probable Judgment I can make from Mat. 26. 17 18 19 20. from Acts 1. 12. and Acts 13. Acts 16. Acts 17. Acts 18. 4 c. is that it might be on the Sabbath day and this is certain that when the day of Pentecost was fully come the Holy Spirit was poured out Acts 2. 1. 2. But supposing what the Doctor agrees p. 12. that Christ kept it one day and the Jews on another I think I can prove by the Word that Pentecost was on the Seventh-day-Sabbath and not upon the first day of the Week But this also about what day it was not being yet so evident to all and the Sabbath being as I think clearly proved by other Texts I pass it by at present I pretermit divers things to which he recurs p. 38. and takes up again and again what he had written to before and then the Doctor adds A like place is that of 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Now concerning the collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gathering when I come What likeness there is between those two places I can see very little of and that this yields nothing at all for his purpose any man who will read it twice may easily discern yet he thinks it is plain from thence that the Frst day of the Week was weekly observed and was wont to be observed both by the Church of Corinth and by the Churches of Galatia which he thinks Paul supposes and takes for granted which are all meer Conjectures where I think 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may well be rendred one day of the Week without any offence To which place I think there is answer Enquiry p. 58. 59. to which I add If the Doctor by the Words was weekly observed and wont to be observed mean was weekly and wont to be observed as a Sabbath or as a weekly Day of Holy Rest without which he says nothing I reply that here is not one word of any Sabbath or Rest weekly or other Rest or of any Worship or Preaching or any such thing not one such word either at Corinth or Galatia or taking it for granted c. but the quite contrary that is an order that they should every one of them lay by in store for charitable Uses which does include the casting up their Accompts how else could they know how God had prospered them which the Doctor p. 39. says scornfully is a wise Objection which seems a true and plain Matter of Fact What that order was to the Churches of Galatia he says that I cannot tell but leaves out my next words unless it were to remember the Poor and to what is in the Enquiry p. 58. about an yearly Collection I add 2 Cor. 9. 1 2. where he said Achaia was ready a year ago and 2 Cor. 8. 10. others were forward a year ago But admitting that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here signifies First
the Sabbath made for the spiritual good of Man And so I think we have enough to prove that our Lord Jesus Christ kept the Sabbath during his life and that perfectly for he was a lamb without spot or blemish 1 Pet. 1. 19 c. and that the Seventh day Sabbath was made holy for the spiritual Good of Man Luke 16. 17. it is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass then one tittle of the Law to fail which one would think are strong words and of Authority in this case And Heaven and Earth are not yet passed and so not one tittle of the Law does yet fail and if this Scripture be true as it surely is it mightily proves the Seventh day to be the Sabbath Ezod 20. 10. which Seventh day in the Fourth Command is more then a tittle Luke 23. 54 55 56. And when he was Crucified Dead and Buried and the Sabbath drew on the Women followed after and beheld the Sepulchre and how his Body was laid and they returned and prepared Spices and Ointments and rested not A but The Sabbath day according to the Commandment that is according to the Fourth Commandment and so the Seventh day was not altered then and so kept not A but the Sabbath day after Christs Death and Burial as in probability all other Believers then did for I do not remember to have read of any that deny it John 14 15. If ye love me keep my commandments Exod. 20. 6. Deut. 7. 9 John 14. 21. he that hath my commandments and keepeth them he it is that loveth me 23. If a man love me he will keep my words John 15. 10. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love 14. ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you Are we Friends of Christ and would we abide in his Love then keep his Commands Acts 13. 13 14. Paul and his Company went into the Synagogue at Antioch on the Sabbath day and v. 15. After the reading of the law and the prophets v. 16. Paul stood up and preached Christ to them from v. 16. to 41. and v. 42. the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath not the next Morning upon the First day of the Week but the next Sabbath and so after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ and after the Disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit Acts 2. 1 4. T is certain Paul kept the Sabbath and Preached to Jews and Gentiles not upon the First day of the Week but upon the Sabbath day And we have the like Acts 13. 44. the next Sabbath day not the next Morning almost the whole City came together to hear the Word of God and v. 47 48. as many of the gentiles as were ordained to eternal life believed so divers Gentiles were here converted unto Christ on the Sabbath day v. 49. the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region and v. 52. the disciples were filled with joy and with the holy spirit and is not this a desirable frame and doe not all these prove that the Sabbath was made for the spiritual good of Man And Acts 14 1. In Iconium Paul and Barnabas went both together into the Synagogue of the Jews and so spake that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed a great multitude and v. 3. The Lord gave testimony to the word of his grace by signs and wonders done by them Acts 16. 1 3 12 13 14 15. at Philippi Paul and Timothy on the Sabbath day went out of the City by a Rivers side where Prayer was wont to be made and spake to the women which resorted thither where Lydia was converted whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul and was baptized and her Houshold which Scriptures with many others do shew and I think prove that the Sabbath was not altered but did continue after Christs Ascension and was observed Acts 17. 1. to 4. at Thessalonica where was a Synagogue of the Jews Paul as his manner was as Christs manner was Luke 4. 16. went in unto them and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures alledging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from the Dead and that this Jesus whom he preach'd unto them is Christ and some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks that is of the Gentiles a great multitude and of the the chief Women not a few were converted to Christ upon the Sabbath day so the Law for keeping Holy the Sabbath was not then passed away And Acts 18. 1 2 4 5 19. at Corinth Paul Reasoned that is Greek Preached in the Synagogue every Sabbath and perswaded the Jews and the Greeks that is the Jews and Gentiles And what greater and stronger and clearer Evidence and Proof for the Seventh-day-Sabbath can Man desire then these plain Scriptures are and that it was at first Instituted Blessed and made Holy and throughout the Scriptures of Old and New Testament used for the conversion and eternal good of Man Rom. 3. 31. Do we then make void the law through Faith be it not yea we establish the law Rom. 7. 12. The law is holy and just and good Rom. 7. 14. we know that the Law is Spiritual Rom. 10. 4. Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to every one that believeth And 1 Cor. 9. 21. Paul was under the law to Christ and 1 Cor. 11. 1. he saith be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ who 1 Cor. 15. 3. dyed for our sins and 1 John 3. 4. sin is the transgression of the law but Gal. 3. 11. no man is justified by the law v. 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law v. 21. Is the law against the promises of God God forbid or be it not v. 24. but our schoolmaster unto Christ that we might be justified by faith who Tit. 2. 14. gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all anomy or contrariety in Opinion or Conversation to the law of God and Heb. 8. 10. the Lord saith I will put my laws into their minds and write them in or upon their hearts which surely is greatly desirable that his Law be written on our Hearts And we have the like promise Heb. 10. 15 16 17. saith the Lord I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them which Law in Jam. 20. 8. is called a Royal Law that is the Kingly Chief and universal Law under which all other Laws of God are comprehended which Christ the Lord and King over all hath prescribed and commanded 1 John 1. 10. If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar 1 John 2. 3. and hereby we know that we know him if we keep his commandments v. 4. he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is mistaken v. 6. he that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk even as he walked and Christ kept the sabbath and 1 John 3. 22. whatsoever we ask we receive of him because we keep his commandments and 1 John 5. 3. for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments 2 Ep. of Joh 6. this is love that we walk after his commandments Rev. 12. 17. The Dragon was wroth and went to make War with those who kept the Commandments of God and have the Testimony of Jesus Christ and Rev. 14. 1◠Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and Rev. 22. 14. Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city FINIS ERRATA PAge 3. line 28. for Cronologies read Cronologers p. 4. l. 5. r. one p. 5. l. 15. for v. 19. r. v. 16. p. 5. l. 39. r. but p. 9. l 27. dele and p. 10. l. 15. for Jashebeth r. Lashebeth p. 12. l. 15. for Morah r. Marah p. 13. l. 14. dele 22. l. 15. for Exod. 12. 12 13. r. Exod. 12. 32. p. 15. l. 4. for 23. r. 2 3. p. 16. l 28. for 15. r. 14. p. 18. l. 37. dele 14. p. 19. l. 26. for v. 5. r. v. 6. p. 21. l. 1. dele 42. p. 23. l. 18. for 6. r. 16. l. 21. dele 21. 46. p. 24. l. 23. for one r. One p. 29. l. 40. for Num. 6. r. Num. 9. p. 33. l. 5. for 30. r. 13. l. 35. for 30. r. 13. p. 34. l. 18. dele it p. 41. l. 23. for sacrificis r. and sacrifices p. 46. l. 6. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 7. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. l. 6. for 15. r. 5. and for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 8. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 9. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. 17. for must be one r. must be are p. 49. l. 32. dele and p. 50. l. 6. for Apostles r. Apostle l. 9. for day r. days l. 14. for other r. others p. 53. l. 11. for was r. is p. 54. l. 34. for put p. 58. l. 21. for Anp r. And l. 26. dele as p. 63. l. 31. for His r. ' T is p. 64. l. 17. for or r. of l. 23. for his r. ' t is p. 65. l. 20. r. as before and hereafter p. 72. l. 30. r. degrees
21 23. 1 Tim. 2. 8. God is a Spirit and his true worshippers did do and shall worship him in spirit and in truth And I know no colour now for the Holiness of Places for which yet as the Dr. p. 3. some are zealous I agree with him that Christmas is of Human Institution which I think he admits by the words so be it p. 3. which I think does also lay aside all other Holy Days which are but of Human Institution and p. 13. about Christmas the Doctor says It is not agreed amongst Chronologies either what Year or what Month much less what day of that Month our Saviour was Born yet he says we keep December the 25th in memory of his Birth as supposing him to have been then Born And p. 45. he says No Man at this Day knows what Day it was and p. 13. That we are at so great uncertainty as we reckon the Year 1692 from his Circumcision to begin the first of January and the same Year his Conception not till the 25th of March after as if his Birth and Circumcision had been a quarter of a Year before his Conception And so the Doctor leaves those days If I mistake not utterly uncertain In p. 12. he tells us The Pascal Tables which should direct us what day to keep Easter on do put us further out then if we had none at all I agree with the Doctor p. 2 3. that our Lord Jesus Christ according to his Divinity was God and is so the true God the God that made Heaven and Earth the God who delivered the Law at Mount Synai and I think those three the father the Son and the Holy Spirit are on Jehovah Deut. 6. 4. 5. Jehovah Aelohenu Jehovah our Mightiest is Jehovah Aechad is one Jehovah was is and will be one Jehovah i. e. the Lord our God is one Lord and Mark 12. 29 30. The Lord our God is one Lord which are the words of Jesus And I agree also that the Blessing and Sanctifying the seventh Day Gen. 2. 3. was by Jehovah the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit which goes far in this Question and I think proves the seventh Day to be the Lord's Day And when he has acknowledged the Father Son and the Holy Spirit to be three yet but one God the Lord Jehovah c. he adds p. 3. But he cannot agree that Christ as God and Man in Contradistinction to the Father and Holy Spirit did all those things for he that is Christ was not then Man Which Words of the Doctor of what he does agree and what he cannot agree insinuates as if I had said that Christ as God-Man did all those things which the Doctor cannot agree whereas he must needs know that is not so for I neither say nor ever thought till that I read it in Mr. G. T. and the Doctor that Christ was Incarnate at the making of the World or at his giving of the Law on Sinai so as the Doctor has not well surmized in this and any Reader may see it is not so for Christ took our Nature on him about 4000 years after the Creation and I find not a word of any Contradistinction between the Father and the Holy Spirit and the Son in the Enquiry but the direct contrary viz. their oneness with the Son in those Works which they both cannot but know And he adds p. 3. what he should rather say about our Lord Jesus Christ's blessing the seventh Day because he was not then the Lord Christ God and Man c. seems to make the Surmize somewhat worse upon which he says that I p. 64. lay great stress for neither I nor any other that I know has said or thought that Christ when he Blessed the seventh Day was then in the Flesh so that in this I think the Doctor blamable But the Doctor does acknowledge that the Son is Jehovah i. e. that he is Lord for which see Enquiry p. 9. 10. c. and I think he does believe that the Son of God is Jesus that is the Saviour the only Saviour and that he is Christ that is the anointed for that Glorious Blessed Work of Redemption that is the Messiah he is called as I think often in the Old-Testament For the Father has chosen us in him before the foundation of the World in him that is in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ as Christ is expresly named Eph. 1. 2 3 4. And in Colos 1. 16. speaking of Christ as he by whom all things were created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth v. 17. and he is before all things he that is Christ is expresly Colos 1. 2 3. there named the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ who v. 19. created all things and Christ is named our Lord Jesus Christ in every Epistle from Rom. to the Heb. for so far I searched a little and that frequently and sometime after also Mr. G. T. whom the Doctor in this Objection seems to follow writes of this great Mystery in two or three places under the like and greater mistakes and so at present I leave him But for the Doctor to impose upon his Readers herein as he does p. 2 3. seems blameable And why he thus begins in a Case which relates to the Deity of Christ with such Insinuations for which he has no colour that I know from the Enquiry wherein Christ's Deity and his being Jehovah is directly affirmed unless it be at first to infuse some Prejudice I am not willing to conjecture And as to this if the Holy Spirit by Paul names Christ the Lord Jesus Christ and our Lord Jesus Christ in whom the Father hath chosen his before the foundation of the world by whom all things were created and who was before all things I see no reason why Mr. G. T. and the Doctor should vary from the Apostles expressions and divers other Scriptures And such Artifices the Reader may discern afterward I agree also with the Doctor That God who made the world in six days rested the seventh day Gen. 2. 2 3. Exod. 20. 11. And that he blessed the sabbath day and hallowed or Sanctified it Doctor p. 3. and here he does read it not a seventh bue the seventh Day the same Hebrew word here in Gen. 2. 2 3. Hashebigni which is used in Exod. 20. 10 11. which some would render there a seventh and the Reason and Sence of Gen. 2. 2 3. does require that it be rendered as the word signifies the Seventh Day for no man that I know does imagine that the Lord Gen. 2. 2 3. Blessed and Sanctified any other Day of the Week for Rest but that only on which he Rested and that was expresly not a but the Seventh and no other day of the Week and so I think for all after Seventh days in the Circulation of after Weeks and Christ in the time of his Incarnation kept not a Sabbath
third Day and all Scholars know that Greek Prepositions and Particles are often variously rendered as the reason of the place where they are used does require And if this place in Mark 8. 31. be so rendered in three Days i. e. after the third Day is come that agrees with all the above cited Scriptures for his rising the third Day and so Grotius and Beza and other Annotators on Mark 8. 31. And there is this difference as before that after eight days is no where explained to be the eighth day including the first of the eight or excluding the day after the eighth nor explained by in eight days as after three days in Mark 8. 31. is expresly explained by many Scriptures to be the third day and as above in three days i. e. till the third day What is offered p. 22. from Luke 1. 59. on the eighth day they came to Circumcise John was according to the Institution Gen. 17. 12. He that is eight days old shall be circumcised which Institution does actually include the day of Birth for that the day of Birth is one day and seven days more do accomplish eight days Luke 2. 21. but 't is no where said of that that I know that 't was after eight days that they were to be Circumcised But if after eight days did include the first of the eight days and did exclude the day after the eighth day yet here is no abrogating the Seventh-day-Sabbath nor any instituting the first day not any word to any such purpose but this seems an occasion taken by our Lord after eight days after his Resurrection when Thomas was with the rest of the Disciples who was not present at Christs first appearing to them to cure his unbelief and to confirm the Faith of the rest of the Disciples and of all others in these two great Doctrines one of the Deity of Christ whom Thomas there openly and expresly owns to be the Lord his God My Lord and my God John 20. 28 29. The other of the Resurrection of Christ which till then Thomas said he would not believe John 20. 24 25. In which two great Doctrines the rest of the Disciples were before confirmed as in the Enquiry From p. 23. to p. 28. the Doctor would make the day begin at mid-night and to end at mid-night according to the Roman account and that to be the Evening and the Morning Gen. 15. and from mid-night to mid-night to be the day And though I am not willing to contend about terms what is the Natural and what the Artificial day yet I may not admit the Days of the Week to be any other than what God first fixed in the Scriptures that is the Evening and the Morning 'T is true the Day as distinguished from the Night begins in the Morning and ends in the Evening and the Night or Darkness as distinguished from Day begins in the Evening and ends in the Morning but the whole day consisted of Evening and Morning that is of Night and Day and we find Gen. 1. 3. that when Light was Created Let there be light Ver. 4. God divided the light from the darkness Ver. 5. And God called the light Day and the darkness he called Night and the evening and the morning were the first day And so the Light was the Day and Darkness the Night as distinguished from one another but one Day or the First Day of the Week consisted of Evening and Morning that is of Darkness and Light which was the First day And so Ver. 8. the evening and the morning were the second day and ver 13. the evening and the morning were the third Day and ver 19. the evening and the morning were the fourth Day and ver 23. the evening and the morning were the fifth Day and ver 31. the evening and the morning were the sixth Day and the seventh day God rested or Sabbatized Gen. 2. 2 3. where Seventh day is thrice mentioned And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it or made it Holy which making it Holy I think resolves the main Question which Days of the Week consisting of Evening and Morning that is of Darkness and Light and so beginning in the Evening and ending the Evening after is there appointed and fixed and material and plain and may not be altered And our manner of reckoning of days here I think is not in question now between us P. 22. He takes notice about what time Mary Magdalen came to the Sepulchre on the day of Christs Resurrection And upon Luke 23. 55 56. When they beheld the Sepulchre and how the Body was laid the Doctor says that was on the sixth day at night which night I cannot find in the word that it was at Night and they returned and prepared Spices and Ointments and rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment which is true that they returned prepared Spices rested and kept the Sabbath which was not A but the Seventh-day-Sabbath after the Death of Christ whilst his Body was in the Grave and he in Paradice i. e. in Heaven But I know no word for that that Christ was buried in the Night but towards the end of the sixth Day and if it were not at Night the Doctor ought not so to write And from Luke 24. 1. Matth. 28. 1. Mark 16. 1. John 20. 1. The Doctor would observe p. 23. that the Sabbath according to their Account did not end till towards the Morning of the next day but it being not said in either of those places or elsewhere that I find in the word that the Sabbath did not end till towards the Morning but that Christ was risen when the Sabbath was past Mark 16. 1. Early in the morning of the first day ver 2. This proves against him as I think that the Sabbath was ended before viz. the Evening before And yet the Doctor says it is manifest that at this time as well the Sabbath as other days were by them reckoned not from Evening to Evening but rather according to the Roman account from mid-night to mid-night And to prove it says it was sometime after the ninth hour i. e. our three a Clock in the Afternoon that Christ gave up the Spirit Mark 15. 34 37. and later when they brake the Thieves Legs and later when Joseph begged his Body took it and buried it by which he would prolong the time to run it up into the Night for which Night we find no Word and for which I see no Reason nor know any other to whom his sence of this prolonged time is manifest the general sence of Learned Cristians being as I think against him All those things being well consistent before the Sabbath drew on and our Lords giving up the Spirit the begging of his Body taking it and burying it in a Tomb prepared might all be in a very little time for John 19. 42. The sepulchre was nigh at hand which surely was so little time as to