from them so far as they are sorrowfull This is not to Rest as God rested Again when are Believers supposed to Rest from these works it cannot be in this World For here we Rest not at all from Temptations sufferings and sorrows and in that mortification of sin which we attain unto yet the conflict is still continued and that with severity unto death Rom 7. 24. It must therefore be in Heaven that they thus Rest and so it is affirmed accordingly But this excludes the Rest in and of the Gospel from the Apostles discourse which renders it altogether unsuitable to his purpose This I have so fully demonstrated in the Exposition of the Chapter as that I hope it will not be gainsayed Thirdly there is no comparison in the whole discourse between the works of God and the works of Men but between the works of God in the Creation and under the Law on the one side and those in and under the Gospel on the other And the whole comparison is summed up and closed in this Verse § 21 It appears therefore that the subject of the Apostles Proposition in this place hath been mistaken It is another who is intended even Christ himself the Son of God and his Rest from his works which is here compared with the Rest of God from his at the foundation of the world to which end alone the mention of them was introduced verse 3 4. For First The Conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For whereby he brings in his Assertion manifests that the Apostle in these words gives an account whence it is that there is a new Sabbatism remaining for the people of God There remains a Sabbath-keeping for the people of God for he that is entred into his Rest is ceased from his works Had there not been a work laying the foundation of the Gospel-Church-state and a Rest of God in it and ensuing thereon there could have been no such Sabbatism for Believers for those things are required unto a Sabbath He had proved before that there could be no such Rest but what was founded in the works of God and his Rest that ensued thereon such a foundation therefore he saith this new Rest must have and it hath it This must be and is in the Works and Rest of him by whom the Church was built that is Christ who is God as it is expresly argued Chap. 3. vers 3 4. For as that Rest which all the world was to observe was founded in his Works and Rest who made the world and all things in it so the Rest of the Church under the Gospel is to be founded in his works and Rest by whom the Church was built that is Jesus Christ For he on the account of his works and Rest is also Lord of the Sabbath to abrogate one Day of Rest and to institute another Secondly The Apostle here changeth the manner of his expression from the plural absolutely We who believe or virtually in the name of a multitude the people of God into that which is absolutely singular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He that is entred A single person is here expressed with respect unto whom the things mentioned are asserted and of this change of phrase there can be no other reason given Thirdly The Rest which this person is said to enter into is called His Rest absolutely As God speaking of the former Rest calls it My Rest so this is the My Rest of another namely the Rest of Christ whereas when the entring of Believers into Rest is spoken of it is called either Gods Rest They shall enter into my Rest or Rest absolutely We that believe do enter into Rest but not their Rest or our Rest for it is not our own absolutely but Gods Rest whereinto we enter and wherein we rest But the Rest here is the Rest of him whose it is and who is the Author of ours Fourthly There is a direct parallel in the words between the works of the old Creation and those of the new which are compared by the Apostle For 1. There are the Authors of them which on the one side is said to be God as God did from his own that is God the Creator or God as Creator on the other He 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chap. 3. vers 3. that is He of whom we speak as the Apostle declares himself vers 13. for in these words a transition is made unto his treating of the Person of Christ. 2. The works of the one and the other are expressed The works of the Creator are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his proper works his own works the works of the old Creation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And there are the works of him of whom he speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his works those which he wrought in like manner as God did his own at the beginning that is the work of building the Church For these works must answer each other and have the same respect unto their Authors they must be good and compleat in their kind and such as Rest and Refreshment may be taken in and on them To compare the sins and sufferings of men with the works of God our Apostle did not intend 3. There is the Rest of the one and the other and these also have their mutual proportion Now God rested from his own works of Creation 1 By ceasing from creating only continuing all things by his Power in their order and propagating them unto his Glory 2 By his respect unto them and refreshment in them as those which expressed his Excellencies and set forth his praise and so satisfied his glorious design So also must he rest who is spoken of 1 He must cease from working in the like kind of works he must suffer no more die no more but only continue the work of his grace and power in the preservation of the new creature and the orderly increase and propagation of it by his Spirit 2 He takes delight and satisfaction in the works that he hath wrought for he sees of the travel of his soul and is satisfied and is in the possession of that Glory which was set before him whilest he was engaged in this work And these things sufficiently clear the Subject here spoken of namely that it is Jesus Christ the Mediator § 22 The Works that the Rest mentioned respects have been sufficiently intimated and I have so fully insisted on them in the Exposition of the third and fourth Verses of the third Chapter of this Epistle that I shall not here again repeat them In brief all that he did and suffered in and from his Incarnation to his Resurrection as the Mediator of the Covenant with all the fruits effects and consequences of what he so did and suffered whereby the Church was built and the new Creation finished belongs unto these works His Rest that ensued on these works hath two parts 1 A Cessation from his works which was
And hereby are we delivered from that anxious solicitude about particular instances in outward duties which was a great part of the yoke of the People of old For 1 Hence we may in all our duties look on God as a Father By the Spirit of his Son we may in them all cry Abba Father For through Christ we have an access in one Spirit unto tho Father Ephes. 2. 18. To God as a Father as one that will not alwayes chide that doth not watch our steps for our hurt but remembreth that we are but dust One who tyeth us not up to rigid exactness in outward things whilest we act in an holy spirit of filial obedience as his sons or children And there is great difference between the duties of servants and children neither hath a Father the same measure of them The consideration hereof regulated by the general Rules of the Scripture will resolve a thousand of such scruples as the Jews of old while servants were perplexed withall 2 Hence we come to know that he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth Therefore he more minds the inward frame of our hearts wherewith we serve him than the meer performance of outward duties which are alone so far accepted with him as they are expressions and demonstrations thereof If then in the observation of this Day our hearts are single and sincere in our aims at his Glory with delight it is of more price with him than the most rigid observation of outward duties by number and measure 3 Therefore the minds of Believers are no more influenced unto this duty by the curse of the Law and the terror thereof as represented in the threatned penalty of death The Authority and Love of Jesus Christ are the principal causes of our Obedience Hence our main duty lyeth in an endeavour to get spiritual joy and delight in the services of this Day which are the especial effects of spiritual liberty So the Prophet requires that we should call the Sabbath our delight holy and honourable of the Lord Isa. 58. 13. As also that on the other side we should not do our own pleasure nor do our own wayes nor find our own pleasure nor speak our own words And these Cautions seem to regard the Sabbath absolutely and not as Judaical But I much question whether they have not in the interpretation of some been extended beyond their original intention For the true meaning of them is no more but this that we should so delight our selves in the Lord on his holy Day as that being expresly forbidden our usual labour we should not need for want of satisfaction in our duties to turn aside unto our own pleasures and vain wayes which are only our own to spend our time and pass over the Sabbath a thing complained of by many whence sin and Satan have been more served on this Day than on all the Dayes of the Week beside But I no way think that here is a restraint laid on us from such Words Wayes and Works as neither hinder the performance of any religious duties belonging to the due celebration of the worship of God on the Day nor are apt in themselves to unframe our spirits or divert our affections from them And those whose minds are fixed in a spirit of liberty to glorifie God in and by this Day of Rest seeking after Communion with him in the wayes of his worship will be unto themselves a better Rule for their Words and Actions than those who may aim to reckon over all they do or say which may be done in such a manner as to become the Judaical Sabbath much more then the Lords-Day § 10 Thirdly Be sure to bring good and right Principles unto the performance of the duty of keeping a Day of Rest holy unto the Lord. Some of these I shall name as confirmed expresly in or drawn evidently from the preceding Discourses 1. Remember that there is a Weekly Rest or an holy Rest of one Day in the week due to the solemn work of glorifying God as God Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy We have had a Week unto our own occasions or we have a prospect of a Week in the patience of God for them Let us Remember that God puts in for some Time with us All is not our own We are not our own Lords Some time God will have to himself from all that own him in the World And this is that Time season or Day He esteems not himself acknowledged nor his Soveraignty owned in the World without it And therefore this Day of Rest he required the first Day as it were that the World stood upon its legs hath done so all along and will do so to the last Day of its duration When he had made all things and saw that they were good and was refreshed in them he required that we should own and acknowledge his Goodness and Power therein This duty we owe to God as God 2 That God appointed this Day to teach us that as he rested therein so we should seek after Rest in him here and look on this Day as a pledge of eternal Rest with him hereafter So was it from the beginning This was the End of the appointment of this Day Now our Rest in God in general consists in two things 1 In our Approbation of the Works of God and the Law of our Obedience with the Covenant of God thereon These things are expressive of and do represent unto us the Goodness Righteousness Holiness Faithfulness and Power of God For these and with respect unto them are we to give Glory to him What God rests in he requires that through it we should seek for our Rest in him As this was the duty of man in Innocency and under the Law so it is ours now much more For God hath now more eminently and gloriously unveiled and displayed the Excellencies of his Nature and the Counsels of his Wisdome in and by Jesus Christ than he had done under the first Covenant And this should work us to a greater and more holy admiration of them For if we are to acknowledge that the Law is holy just and good as our Apostle speaks although it is now useless as to the bringing of us to Rest in God how much more ought we to own and subscribe to the Gospel and the declaration that God hath made of himself therein that so it is 2 In an actual solemn compliance with his Will expressed in his Works Law and Covenant This brings us unto present satisfaction in him and leads us to the full enjoyment of him This is a Day of Rest but we cannot Rest in a Day nor any thing that a Day can afford only it is an help and means of bringing us to Rest in God Without this design all our Observation of a Sabbath is of no use nor advantage Nothing will thence redound to the Glory of God nor the benefit of our own souls And this they
for the Relief and Salvation of the Elect and being solemnly renewed unto Abraham and his seed four hundred and thirty years before the giving of the Law unto his Posterity there was a blessed Relief provided therein against the Curse and Threatnings annexed to the first Covenant for all them that betook themselves unto it and made use of it Notwithstanding I say this Renovation of the first Covenant materially unto them they were so far freed from its Covenant Terms as that they had a Relief provided against what they could not answer in it with the consequences thereof 2. From the Nature and Tenor of the Covenant of Works so renewed amongst that people there was begotten in their minds such a Respect unto the Rigor of its Commands the manner of their Observance or of Obedience unto them with the dread of its Curse awfully denounced amongst them as brought a servile and bondage frame of Spirit upon them in all wherein they had to do with God by vertue of the Law and Rule of that Covenant This frame of Spirit as that which stands in direct Opposition unto the freedom and liberty purchased for us by Jesus Christ to serve God in Righteousness and Holiness without fear all our Dayes is much insisted on by the Apostle Paul especially in his Epistles to the Romans and Galatians And in their Observation of the Sabbath in particular they were under this bondage filling them with many scrupulous Anxieties which arose not from the Law of the Sabbath it self as originally given unto man in the state of Innocency but from the Accommodation of the Law thereof unto them after the Entrance of sin And hereby their Sabbath Rest became unto them a great part of their wearying burthensome yoke which is taken off in Christ. 3. This Law was yet proposed to that Church and People in the Manner and Form of a Covenant and not only materially as a Law or Rule This it had from the Promises and Threatnings which it was attended withall There was adjoyned unto it Do this and live and the man that doth these things shall live in them as also Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the Law to do them Not that it was hereby absolutely constituted a Covenant which eventually and finally they were to live or dye by for as we shewed before there was a Relief provided against that condition in the Promise but God gave the Old Covenant an especial Revival though with respect unto other Ends than were originally intended in it Hence this Covenant Form given unto it rendred the Obedience of that people in a great measure servile for it gendred unto bondage 4. The Law being attended with various Explanations and many Ordinances of Judgement deduced from the Principles of Moral Right and Equity contained in it was made the Rule of the Polity and Government of that people as an Holy Nation under the Rule of God himself who was their King For their Polity for the kind of it was a Theocracy over which God in an especial manner presided as their Governour and King And hence he affirms that when they would choose another King over them after the manner of the Nations that they rejected him from reigning over them though they resolved to adhere to his Laws and the manner of Government prescribed to them And this was peculiar to that people Hence the Sabbath amongst them came to have an absolute necessity accompanying it of an outward carnal Observance the neglect whereof or acting any thing against the Law of it was to be punished with Death 5. Unto this Renovation of the Covenant in the manner and for the ends expressed there was added a Typical Church State with a great number of Religious Laws and Ordinances in themselves carnal and weak but mystically significant of spiritual and heavenly things and instructive how to use the Promise that was before given for their relief from the Rigor and Curse of the Law or Covenant now proposed unto them And in all these things did the Covenant of God made with that people in the Wilderness consist The Foundation Matter Manner of Administration Promises and Threatnings of it were the same with the Covenant of Works but they were all accommodated to their Ecclesiastical and Political Estate with especial Respect unto their approaching condition in the Land of Canaan only there was in the Promise new Ends and a new Use given unto it with a Relief against its Rigor and Curse § 4 On the Account of the Accessions that were thus made to the Law and especially unto the Observation of the Sabbath is it often mentioned in the Scripture as that which God had in a peculiar manner given unto the Israelites in whose especial Worship it had so great a place many of their Principal Ordinances haveing a great Respect unto it it being also the only means of keeping up the solemnity of Natural Worship in their Synagogues among the people Acts 15. 21. Thus God sayes concerning them that he gave them his Sabbaths in the Wilderness to be a sign between him and them Ezek. 20. 10 11 12. And it is said of the same time Nehem. 9. 14. That he made known unto them his holy Sabbath that is in the manner and for the Ends expressed Nor is there any need why we should say that he gave them intends no more but that he restored the knowledge of the Sabbath amongst them the memory whereof they had almost lost although that Interpretation of the Expression might be justified For he sayes no where that he then gave his Sabbaths but that he then peculiarly gave them unto that people and that for the Ends mentioned For the Sabbath was originally a Moral Pledge and Expression of Gods Covenant Rest and our Rest in God And now was it appointed of God to be a sign of the especial Administration of the Covenant which was then enacted Hence it is said that he gave it them as a perpetual Covenant Exod. 31. 16. that they might know him to be the Lord that sanctified them v. 13. that is their God according to the Tenor of that Covenant which was to continue throughout their Generations that is until the New Covenant should be brought in and established by Christ. Thus was it peculiarly given unto them and so far as it was so as it was a sign of their Covenant as it was then first given so it is now abolished For § 5 The Renovation and change of the Covenant must and did introduce a change in the Rest annexed unto it For a Sabbath or an holy Rest belongs unto every Covenant between God and man But as for the kind and nature of it as to its Ends Use and Manner of Observation it follows the especial kind or nature of that Covenant wherein we at any season walk before God Now the Original Covenant of Works being in this Representation of it on Sinai not
those Works and Rest of God or it could not be proposed as the reason of their suitable practice and for this end did God so Work and Rest. The Law therefore of this holy Rest he reneweth in the Decalogue amongst those other Laws which being of the same nature and original namely branches of the Law of our Creation were to be unto us moral and eternal For God would no longer entrust his mind and will in that Law unto the depraved nature of man wherein if he had not in the best often guided and directed it by fresh extraordinary revelations it would have been of little use to his glory but committed it by vocal revelation to the minds of the people as the doctrinal object of their consideration and recorded it in tables of stone Moreover the nature of the first Covenant and the way of Gods instructing man in the condition of it by his Works and Rest had limited this holy Day unto the seventh Day the observation whereof was to be commensurate unto that Covenant and its administration however the outward forms thereof might be varied § 7 On these suppositions we lay and ought to lay the observation of the Lords Day under the New Testament according to the institution of it or declaration of the mind of Christ who is our Lord and Law-giver concerning it 1. A new work of Creation or a work of a new Creation is undertaken and compleated Isa. 65. 17. Chap. 66. 22 23. 2 Pet. 3. 13. Rev. 21. 1. Rom. 8. 19 20. 2 Cor. 5. 17. Gal. 6. 15. 2. This new Creation is accompanied with a new Law and a new Covenant or the Law of faith and the Covenant of Grace Rom. 3. 27. Chap. 8. 2 3 4. Jer. 31. 32 33 34. Heb. 8. 8 9 10 11 12 13. 3. Unto this Law and Covenant a Day of holy Rest unto the Lord doth belong which cannot be the same Day with the former no more than it is the same Law or the same Covenant which were originally given unto us Heb. 4. 9. Rev. 1. 10. 4. That this Day was limited and determined to the first Day of the Week by our Lord Jesus Christ is that which shall now further be confirmed only I must desire the Reader to consider that whereas the Topical Arguments whereby this Truth is confirmed have been pleaded improved and vindicated by many of late I shall but briefly mention them and insist principally on the declaration of the proper grounds and foundations of it § 8 As our Lord Jesus Christ as the eternal Son and Wisdom of the Father was the immediate cause and Author of the old Creation Joh. 1. 3. Col. 1. 16. Heb. 1. 2 10. so as Mediatour he was the Author of this new Creation Heb. 3. 3 4. He built the House of God he built all these things and is God Herein he wrought and in the accomplishment of it saw of the travail of his soul and was satisfied Isa. 53. 11. that is he rested and was refreshed Herein he gave a new Law of life faith and obedience unto God Isa. 42. 4. not by an addition of new Preceps to the moral Law of God not virtually comprized therein and distinct from his own positive institutions of worship but in his revelation of that new way of obedience unto God in and by himself with the especial causes means and ends of it which supplyes the use and end whereunto the Moral Law was at first designed Rom. 8. 2 3. Chap 10. 3 4. whereby he becomes the Author of eternal salvation unto all that do obey him Heb. 5. 9. This Law of life and obedience he writes by his Spirit in the hearts of his people that they may be willing in the day of his power Psal. 110. 3. 1 Cor. 3. 3 6. Heb. 8 10. not at once and in the foundation of his work actually but only in the causes of it For as the Law of nature should have been implanted in the hearts of men in their conception and natural nativity had that dispensation of righteousness continued so in the new birth of them that believe in him is this Law written in their hearts in all generations Joh. 3. 6. Hereon was the Covenant established and all the promises thereof of which he was the Mediatour Heb. 8. 6. And for an holy Day of Rest for the ends before declared and on the suppositions before laid down evincing the necessity of such a Day he determined the observation of the first Day of the Week For § 9 First On this Day he rested from his works in and by his Resurrection for then had he laid the foundation of the new Heavens and new Earth and finished the works of the new Creation when all the Stars sang together and all the Sons of God shouted for joy On this Day he rested from his works and was refreshed as God did and was from his For although he worketh hitherto in the communication of his Spirit and Graces as the Father continued to do in his works of providence after the finishing of the works of the old Creation though these works belonged thereunto yet he ceaseth absolutely from that kind of work whereby he laid the foundation of the new Creation henceforth he dieth no more And on this Day was he refreshed in the view of his works for he saw that it was exceeding good Now as Gods Rest and his being refreshed in his work on the seventh Day of old was a sufficient indication of the precise Day of Rest which he would have observed under the administration of that original Law and Covenant so the Rest of our Lord Jesus Christ and his being refreshed in and from his works on the first Day is a sufficient indication of the precise Day of Rest to be observed under the dispensation of the new Covenant now confirmed and established And the Church of Christ could not pass one Week under the New Testament or in a Gospel-state of worship without this indication For the Judaical Sabbath as sure as it was so and as sure as it was annexed unto the Mosaical administration of the Covenant was so far abolished as not to oblige really the Disciples of Christ in conscience unto the observation of it whatever any of them might for a season apprehend And if a new Day was not now determined there was no Day or season appointed for an observance of an holy Rest unto the Lord nor any pledge given us of our entring into the Rest of Christ. And those who say that it is required that some time be set apart unto the ends of a Sabbatical Rest but that there is no divine indication of that time when not what it is or shall be if we consider what are the ends of such a Rest as before declared must allow us to expect firmer proofs of their uncouth Assertion than any as yet we have met withall § 10 Accordingly this Indication of the Gospel Day of Rest
it this is my Rest aná here will I dwell 2. God being thus entred into his Rest. in like manner as formerly two things ensue thereon 1 That the people are invited and encouraged to enter into the Rest of God This the Apostle treats concerning in this and the foregoing Chapter And this their entrance into Rest was their coming by Faith and Obedience into a participation of the Worship of God wherein he Rested as a means and pledge of their everlasting Rest in him And although some of them came short hereof by reason of their unbelief yet others entred into it under the conduct of Joshua 2 Both these his own Rest and Rest of the people God expressed by appointing a Day of Rest. This he did that it might be a token sign and pledge not now as given to this people absolutely of his first Rest at the Creation but of his present Rest in his instituted Worship and to be a means in the solemn observation of that Worship to farther their entrance into his Rest eternally Hence had the seventh Day a peculiar Institution among that people whereby it was made to them a sign and token that he was their God and they were his people And here lies the foundation of all that we have before discoursed concerning the Judaical Sabbath in our fourth Exercitation It is true this Day was the same in order of the Dayes with that before observed namely the seventh Day of the Week But it was now re-established upon new considerations and unto new ends and purposes The time of the change of the Day was not yet come for this Work was but preparatory for a greater And the Covenant whereunto the seventh Day was originally annexed being not yet to be abolished that day was not to be yet changed nor another to be substituted in the room of it Hence this Day became now to fall under a double consideration First as it was such a proportion of time as was requisite unto the Worship of God and appointed as a pledge of his Rest in his Covenant Secondly as it received a new Institution with superadded ends and significations as a token and pledge of Gods Rest in the Law of Institutions and the Worship erected therein So both these states of the Church had these three things distinctly a Rest of God on his Works for their foundation a Rest in Obedience and Worship for man to enter into and a Day of Rest as a pledge and token of both the other § 18 Thirdly The Apostle proves from the words of the Psalmist that there was yet to be a Third state of the Church an especial state under the Messia which he now proposed unto the Hebrews and exhorted them to enter into And in this Church-state there is to be also a peculiar state of Rest distinct from them which went before To the constitution hereof there are Three things required First that there be some signal work of God compleated and finished whereon he enters into his Rest. This was to be the foundation of the whole new Church-state and of the west to be obtained therein Secondly that there be a spiritual Rest ensuing thereon and arising thence for them that believe to enter into Thirdly that there be a new or renewed Day of Rest to express that Rest of God and to be a pledge of our eâ—tring into it If any of these or either of them be wanting the whole structure of the Apostles discourse will be dissolved neither will there be any colour remaining for his mentioning the seventh day and the Rest thereof These things therefore we must farther enquire into § 19 First the Apostle sheweth that there was a great work of God and that finished for the foundation of the whole This he had made way for chap. 3. vers 4 5. where he both expresly asserts the Son to be God and shews the Analogie that is between the Creation of all things and the building of the Church that is the works of the Old and New Creation As then God wrought in the Creation of all so Christ who is God wrought in the setting up of this new Church-state And upon his finishing of it he entred into his Rest as God did into his whereby he limited a certain Day of Rest unto his people So he speaks There remaineth therefore a Sabbatism for the people of God For he that is entred into Rest hath ceased from his works as God did from his own A new Day of Rest accommodated unto this new Church-state ariseth from the Rest that the Lord Christ entred into upon his ceasing from his works And as to this Day we may observe 1 That it hath this in common with the former Dayes that it is a Sabbatism or one day in seven which that name in the whole Scripture use is limited unto For this portion of time to be dedicated unto Sacred Rest having its foundation in the light and Law of Nature was equally to be observed in every state of the Church 2 That although both the former states of the Church had one and the same Day though varied in some Ends of it now the Day it self is changed as belonging to another Covenant and having its foundation in a work of another Nature than what They had respect unto 3 That the observation of it is suited unto the spiritual state of the Church under the Gospel delivered from the bondage frame of spirit wherewith it was observed under the Law And these things must be farther confirmed from the Context § 20 The foundation of the whole is laid down v. 10. For he that is entred into his Rest is ceased from his works as God from his own Expositors generally apply these words unto Believers and their entring into the Rest of God whether satisfactorily to themselves and others as to their design coherence scope or signification of particular expressions I know not The contrary appears with good evidence to me For what are the works that Believers should be said here to Rest from Their sins say some their labours sorrows and sufferings say others But how can they be said to Rest from these works as God rested from his own For God so rested from his as to take the greatest delight and satisfaction in them to be refreshed by them In six dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed Exod. 31. 17. He so rested from them as that he rested in them and blessed them and blessed and sanctified the Time wherein they were finished We have shewed before that the Rest of God was not only a cessation from working nor principally but the satisfaction and complacency that he had in his works But now if those mentioned be the works here intended men cannot so Rest from them as God did from his But they cease from them with a detestation of them so far as they are sinfull and joy for their deliverance
eminent and answered Gods Rest from his own 2 Satisfaction in his works and the glorious product of them as those which had an impression on them of his Love and Grace Psal. 16. 7. § 23 It remains only that we enquire into his Entrance into his Rest both how and when he did so even as God entred into his on the seventh day for this must limit and determine a Day of Rest to the Gospel-Church Now this was not his lying down in the Grave His Body indeed there rested for a while but that was no part of his mediatory Rest as be was the founder and builder of the Church For 1 It was a part of his Humiliation Not only his Death but his abode and continuance in the state of Death was so and that a principal part of it For after the whole Humane Nature was personally united unto the Son of God to have it brought into a state of Dissolution to have the Body and Soul separated from each other was a great Humiliation And every thing of this nature belonged unto his Works and not his Rest. 2 This separation of Body and Soul under the power of Death was poenal a part of the sentence of the Law which he underwent And therefore Peter declares that the pains of Death were not loosed but in his Resurrection Act. 2. 24. Whom God saith he hath raised up loosing the pains of Death because it was not possible that he should be holden of it Whilst he was held of it he was under it penally This therefore could not be his Rest nor any part of it Nor did he in it enter into his Rest but continued in his Work Nor 2dly did he first enter into his Rest at his Ascension Then indeed he took actual possession of his Glory as to the full publick manifestation of it But to enter into Rest is one thing and to take possession of Glory another And it is placed by our Apostle as a consequent of his being justified in the Spirit when he entred into Rest 1 Tim. 3. 16. But this his entrance into Rest was in by and at his Resurrection from the dead For 1 Then and therein was he freed from the sentence power and stroke of the Law being discharged of all the Debts of our sins which he had undertaken to make satisfaction for Acts 2. 24. 2 Then and therein were all Types all Predictions and Prophesies fulfilled which concern the work of our Redemption 3 Then therefore his work was done I mean that which answereth Gods creating work though he still continue that which answers his work of preservation Then was the Law fulfilled and satisfied Sathan subdued Peace with God made the Price of our Redemption paid the Promise of the Spirit received and the whole Foundation of the Church of God gloriously laid on his Person in his Works and Rest. 4 Then and therein was he declared to be the Son of God with power Rom. 1. 4. God manifesting unto all that this was he concerning and unto whom he said Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Acts 13. 33. § 24 Thus did the Author of the New Creation the Son of God the Builder of the Church having finished his works enter into his Rest. And this was as all know on the morning of the first day of the week And hereby did he limit and determine the Day for a sacred Sabbatical Rest under the New Testament For now was the Old Covenant utterly abolished and therefore the Day which was the pledge of Gods and Mans Rest therein was to be taken away and was so accordingly as we have shewed As the Rest from the beginning of the World had its foundation from the works of God and his Rest which ensued thereon which was determined unto the seventh Day because that was the Day wherein God ceased from those works which Day was continued under the legal administration of the Covenant by Moses so the Rest of the Lord Christ the Son of God is the foundation of our Rest which changing the old Covenant and the day annexed unto it he hath limited unto the first Day of the Week whereon he ceased from his works and entred into his Rest. And hereby the Apostle compleats the due Analogy that is between the several Rests of God and his people which he hath discoursed of in this Chapter For as in the beginning of the World there was first the work of God and his Rest thereon which made way unto a Rest for his people in himself and in his worship by the contemplation of his works that he had made on whose finishing he rested and a Day designed determined blessed and sanctified to express that Rest of God whence mention is made of those works in the command for the observation of that Day seeing the workship of God in and on it consisted principally in the glorifying of him by and for those works of his as also to be a means to further men in their entrance into eternal Rest whereunto all these things do tend and as at the giving of the Law there was a great Work of God and his Rest thereon in his establishing his Worship in the Land of Canaan which made way for the peoples entring into his Rest in that Worship and Countrey and had a Day of Rest enjoyned unto them to express the one and the other as also to help them to enter finally into the Rest of God so now under the Gospel there is a Rest answering all these in and by the instances which we have given § 25 And this is that which the Apostle affirms as the substance of all which he hath evinced Namely that there is a Sabbatism for the people of God v. 9. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The word is framed by our Apostle from an Hebrew original with a Greek Termination And he useth it as that which is comprehensive of his whole sense which no other word would be For he would shew that there is a Sabbatical Rest founded in the Rest of God remaining for the Church and therefore makes use of that word whereby God expressed his own Rest when he sanctified the seventh Day for a Day of Rest thereon That Day of Rest being removed and another on a new foundation namely the Rest of Christ upon his works introduced he calls it a Sabbatism or a Sabbath-keeping He doth not do this only and separately averring the necessity of a Sabbath-observation in the first place distinctly from a Spiritual Rest in Christ with an Eternal Rest ensuing thereon but in the manner and Order before laid down wherein the necessity of such a Day is included And besides the evidence that ariseth from the consideration of the whole Context there are two things which make it undeniably evident that our Apostle asserts an Evangelical Sabbath or Day of Rest to be constantly observed in and for the Worship of God under the Gospel For first without this design
may do well to consider who plead for the observation of the seventh Day precisely For they do profess thereby that they seek for Rest in God according to the tenor of the first Covenant That they approve of and that they look by that profession to be brought to Rest by though really and on other Principles they do otherwise Whatever then be the Covenant wherein we walk with God the great Principle which is to guide us in the holy observation of this Day is that we celebrate the Rest of God in that Covenant approve of it rejoyce in it and labour to be partakers of it whereof the Day it self is given us as a pledge We must therefore 3 Remember that we have lost our original Rest in God by sin God made us upright in his own Image meet to take our Rest satisfaction and reward in himself according to the tenor of the Law of our Creation and the Covenant of Works established thereon Hereof the seventh Day was a Token and Pledge All this we must consider that we have lost by sin God might justly have left us in a wandring condition without either Rest or any pledge of it Our Reparation indeed is excellent and glorious yet so as that on our part the loss of our former estate was shamefull and in the Remembrance whereof we ought to be humbled And hence we may know that it is in vain for us to lay hold of the seventh Day again which is but an Attempt to return into the Garden after we are shut out and kept out by a Flaming Sword For although it was made use of as a Type and shadow under the Law yet to us who must live on the substance of things or not at all it cannot be possessed with robbery and is of no use when attained For we are to remember 4 That the Rest in God and with God which we now seek after enter into and celebrate the pledge of using the means for the farther enjoyment of it in the observation of this Day is a Rest by a Recovery by a Reparation in Jesus Christ. There is now a new Rest of God and a new Rest for us in God God now Rests and is refreshed in Christ in his Person in his Works in his Law in the Covenant of Grace in him in all these things is his soul well pleased He is the Brightness of his Glory and the express Image of his Person making a far more glorious Representation of him than did the works of Creation of old which yet he had left such impressions of his Goodness Power and Wisdom upon as that he Rested in them was refreshed on them and appointed a Day for man to Rest in his Approbation of them and giving Glory to him for them How much more is it so with him with respect unto this glorious Image of the invisible God This he now dealeth with us in For as of old he commanded light to shine out of darkness whereby we might see and behold his Glory which he had implanted and was implanting on the work of his hands so now he shines into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of his Glory in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. 6. That is enableth us to behold all the excellencies of his nature made manifest in the person and works of Jesus Christ. The way also of bringing them unto him through Christ who had by sin come short of his Glory is that which he approveth of is delighted with and resteth in giving us a pledge thereof in this Day of Rest. Herein lyes the principal duty of this Dayes observances namely to admire this Retriveal of a Rest with God and of a Rest for God in us This is the fruit of eternal Wisdom Grace and Goodness Love and Bounty This I say belongs unto the sanctification of this Day and this ought to be our principal Design therein namely in it to give Glory unto God for the wonderfull Recovery of a Rest for us with himself and an endeavour to enter by Faith and Obedience into that Rest. And for those ends and purposes are we to make use of all the sacred Ordinances of Worship wherein and whereby this Day is sanctified unto the Lord. 5 That in the Observation of the Lords-day which is the first day of the week we subject our consciences immediately to the Authority of Jesus Christ the Mediator whose Day of Rest originally it was and which thereby and for that Reason is made ours And hereby in the observation of this Day have we fellowship with the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. Of old there was nothing appeared in the Day whilst the seventh Day was in force but the Rest of God the Creator and his Soveraign Authority intimated unto us thereby for the observing of an Holy Rest unto him according to the Tenor of the first Covenant But now the immediate Foundation of our Rest on the Lords-day is the Lords Rest the Rest of Christ when upon his Resurrection he ceased from his works as God did from his own This gives great direction and encouragement in the duty of observing this Day aright Faith truely exercised in bringing the Soul into an actual subjection unto the Authority of Christ in the observance of this Day and directing the thoughts unto a contemplation of the Rest that he entred into after his works with the Rest that he hath procured for us to enter into with him doth more thereby towards the true Sanctification of this Day than all outward Duties can do performed with a legal Spirit when men are in bondage unto the Command as taught to them and dare not do otherwise God in several places instructs the Israelites what account they shall give unto their Children concerning their observation of sundry Rites and Ceremonies that he had instituted in his Worship Exod. 13. 14. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come saying What is this that thou shalt say unto him By strength of hand the Lord brought us out of the Land of Egypt c. It was in remembrance of such works of God amongst them whereof those Rites were a Token and Representation And we have here a special observance in the Worship of God what account can we give unto our selves and our Children concerning our observation of this Day Holy unto the Lord Must we not say nay may we not do so with joy and rejoycing That whereas we were lost and undone by sin excluded out of the Rest of God so far as that the Law of the observation of the outward pledge of it being attended with the Curse was a burden and no relief unto us our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God undertook a great work to make peace for us to redeem and save us and when he had so done and finished his work even the erecting of the new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness he entred into