Selected quad for the lemma: virtue_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
virtue_n	day_n	keep_v	sabbath_n	798	5	10.4111	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A41123	Remains of that reverend & faithful servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. William Fenner, late minister of Rochford in Essex ... now compared with his own notes and published by Simeon Ash, William Taylor, Matthew Poole, John Jackson and John Seabrooke ...	Fenner, William, 1600-1640.; Ashe, Simeon, d. 1662.	1657 (1657)	Wing F696; ESTC R7304	478,746	332

of the day away when our minds run into the world we must curbe them and remember that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord our God Reas 3 Thirdly Another Reason is That our Cattel and Servants and Children may rest as well as our selves they are to labour six dayes and one of seven they are to rest Reas 4 Another Reason is Because he hath sanctified it therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it Now then if the Lord hath sanctified the seventh day and appointed it if he hath set it apart for that purpose for spiritual employments and not to be filled up with any thing else we are guilty of Sacriledge if we do not give him this as Levit. 27.28 the Lord saith Whatsoever is devoted unto the Lord that is most holy unto him now God saith he hath devoted the seventh day to himself therefore we are to keep it holy Nebuchadnezzar a very heathen when he knew that the Vessels came out of the Temple of the Lord he would not employ them to a common use Dan. 1.2 He put them into the house of his god which was the holiest place he had Reas 5 Fifthly This is necessary because we are apt to be worldly and carnal and non-resident from Prayer and from the Word and serious humbling of our selves before God if we be never so little taken off how suddenly do our minds cleave unto the world and grow vain and unfit and distempered Now if God should not once in seven dayes have a day to take us off from the world as six dayes are employed in worldly affairs so if there were not a seventh day to take us off there would be no hoe with us therefore there must be a whole day to accustom us and habituate us to the Service of God otherwise we should drown our selves in the world The Sixth Proposition is this That as it must be one of seven so it is not indifferent which of the seven dayes we keep holy but it must be that day whereupon God rested therefore it hath the name of a Sabbath Sabbath is nothing but rest The reason of the name is Two-fold First Because God rested upon that day And Secondly Because we are to rest upon that day The Seventh Proposition is this That all that is in the fourth Commandment is not essential to the Commandment the fourth Commandment delivers only these Two things First That God will have a seventh day Secondly That this seventh day is to be the day of Gods rest This is the whole meaning of the fourth Commandment now all other particulars in the fourth Commandment are not essential to the fourth Commandment as that God made Heaven and Earth in six dayes and rested the seventh day c. It is not essential to the fourth Commandment but because at that time when God delivered the Decalogue there was no greater work then the● Creation and the rest from that work was the rest from the greatest work in the world thee fore it was kept upon the last day of the week upon which God rested from the Creation Now the meaning of the fourth Commandment is in the eighth Verse all the other particulars are but Commentaries to open it to the Jewes Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy this is the fourth Commandment The Sabbath that is the day that God rested on and the day that we are to rest upon this is the holy day that is devoted to the Lord now it was kept upon the last day of the week because God created heaven and earth and rested upon that day and the Creation of heaven and earth was the greatest work that God then had done But then you will say Why doth the Commandment say That in six dayes God created Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day I Answer 1. It is no strange thing to see some things in the Commandments which are not essential to them because the Commandments were delivered to the Jewes though they concern the whole world yet the persons that actually stood before God when the Decalogue was delivered were only the Jewes Deut. 5.22 God spake to the Jewes now no wonder that God speaking to the Jews did speak divers particulars according to them and in their phrase which if we had been alive and they to succeed us God would have spoken according to us as he did according to them 2. Secondly We see plainly there are some things in the Commandments which do not concern the whole world but only the Nation of the Jewes as in the first Commandment I have brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of Bondage Thou shalt have no other gods but me That is the Commandment but though they together with the other were put into the Tables of Stone yet it concerns only the Jewes 'T is true indeed it is a type of our deliverance that we are delivered from Hell and Sin and Satan as they were delivered out of Egypt and the house of Bondage but literally these words belong only to the Jews and the Commandment is this Thou shalt have no other gods but me So it is for the fourth Commandment Again There is something in the Fifth Commandment that doth not concern us but only them Honour thy Father and thy Mother c. That thy dayes may be long in the Land which the thy God giveth thee that belongs only to the Jews it is meant particularly of the land of Canaan This then is the effect of the Commandment Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long in the Land of Canaan So that the first words are the Commandment and the later part belongs only to the Jewes So Deut. 5.14 the Fourth Commandment it was put into the Tables of Stone thus Remember the seventh day to keep it holy for the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God in it thou shalt do no manner of work thou nor thy Son nor thy Daughter c. that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou that belongs to us as well as to them but then it follows Remember thou wert a servant in the Land of Egypt Here you see the Jewes have another Argument besides the Arguments that we have but though we have not that Argument yet the Commandment stands still and the Commandment is only thus much namely That there must be a Seventh day and that seventh day God rested upon now whereas the Jewes kept the last day of the week that was only by a temporary Commandment because the making of heaven and earth was the greatest thing that God had then done and God rested from that upon that day but now if God work a greater work then the Creating of heaven and earth and rest from that then by vertue of the fourth Commandment we are to keep that day holy upon which he rested from that work Now I

speaks not there in regard of particulars but in the general it is dangerous to erre in any point but to erre in such a thing as is of this nature it is most woeful Reas 1. Because this is the foundation now it is a horrible thing in intellectuals in matters of theory to erre in fundamentals so it is in practicals it is an horrible thing for a man to erre in the very foundation of Religion in the first acquaintance with God in the very ground and bottom of all a man had need lay the foundation well because else the whole building falls effectual calling is the very ground of a mans going to God it is the very ground of a mans laying hold upon God and of the profession of Religion and all the building must come to nothing if this be not well laid God forbid I should go about to shake any man or call in question any mans Religion or hope or comfort I deny not people the professing of Gods name or the calling upon God or the coming to the Sacraments I do not deny them this but I beseech you be sure that you have a good foundation for all for all will come to nothing elss you remember what became of the mans house that was built upon the sands that had no foundation Mat. 7.26 When the winds came and the floods beate upon that house it fell the house came falling down as if it had never been built so have a care of the foundation it is a most miserable thing if the foundation be not well laid Secondly Because effectual calling is a thing that a man must have a thousand references unto before he die if he lives he must every day have a reference to this a man can do nothing but he must still have a reference to his effectual calling he must ever and anon be looking back to this God hath called me to his glory and vertue he will be driven to this whether he will or no it is like a mans evidence when any wrangling companion shall question his right in his estate he must have reference to his evidences and if he find them hardly currant what a stound will he be put unto if he find his evidences rotten and unsound he knows not what course to take why effectual calling is that which a child of God must have reference unto all the dayes of his life from the first estating of him in the Kingdom of God from the first bringing of him to partake of eternal life when David was in affliction in body and minde and doubts came upon him thick and threefold he was faine to have reference to his effectual calling and that comforted him Psal 119.50 This is my comfort in affliction for thy Word hath quickened me when he was in affliction of conscience and minde and body he began to look back time was when I was dead in sinnes and trespasses I never looked after God but thy Word hath quickened me this raised him up this was his comfort in his affliction the Lord had called him to his Kingdom and made him partaker of the work of grace and this cheared him had he not had reference to this he could have had no hold without this a man is as in a wilderness a lost man therefore what a feareful thing is it for a man to take himself to be effectually called when he is not it is as it were to lay a springe for a mans soul it is as a net for the devil to take a man and to carry him on in hopes and expectations and then when he looks back and sees his bottom and foundation he stands upon is nothing but conceit this is a miserable thing Thirdly Because it is the beginning of the works of God now what a thing is it for a man to strike out of the way at his beginning if a man have a journy to go if he go out of the way as soon as ever he goes out of doores he must needs be wide he had been better have stayed at home a man were better go out of his way at any time then at the beginning if he go ten miles and then go out of his way there is some hope it is not all in vaine he hath gone ten miles onward of his journy but for a man to go out of his way as soone as ever he steps out of doors he is cast further off then if he had never stirred a foot it is an excellent thing when a man begins well Gal. 3.3 Ye began in the Spirit c. though they struck out of the way afterwards and yielded to a great deale of carnal doctrine and fleshly propositions and were a world out of the way yet this was to great purpose that they began well St. Paul durst not but call them the children of God he could hardly tell what to make of them yet he saith little children ye have put on Christ and done thus and thus and went out to eternal life in a right manner therefore God will bring you in againe certainly you must come againe you began well you began in the Spirit but when a man in his very beginning shall erre his error was in principi● as ever he set out of doors he went clean contrary this man hardly ever returnes nay he had been better never to have stepped forth when a man steps into a way which seems good to him commonly that way is death to him when he hath gone a thousand miles as he thinks in the profession of Religion and hath gotten the apprehension in his own soul to be the child of God then to lay it down it goes to the heart of him he will build an high wall in his own imagination certainly it is thus indeed it is better to turne then go forward but it is the corruption of a mans heart he cannot abide to returne it will be a shame to him and there must be such a do that he is not able to beare it I do not desire to unsettle any man if a man hath but his fingers ends to lay hold upon Christ any truth to hang upon him let him hang God for bid I should shake such a one but if your error be in the beginning and if you have gone out of the way you were better to returne for you will never go right Vse 2. Here we may see the reason why the Scripture is so urgent to make our calling sure because this is the first entrance and admission into Jesus Christ there is an excellent place 2 Pet. 1.10 11. Wherefore the rather brethren give all diligence to make your calling and election sure for he that doth these things shall never fall for so an entrance shall be made unto you into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ make it sure why for if you do you shall never fall that is not all neither though this is a

come to the Eighth Proposition That this Fourth Commandment concerning a Sabbath day concerning the keeping of a Seventh day holy is a continual Commandment alwayes to abide in the Church of God I will prove it by divers Arguments that it was not to continue only in the time of the Jewes but it is to abide alwayes in the Church to the coming of the Son of man there is not a jot of Ceremony in the fourth Commandment Reas 1 The First Reason is Because God did institute the Sabbath before there was any room for Ceremonies it was commanded to Adam in his Innocency Now all Ceremonies did prefigure Christ and before Adam fell there was no Promise of the Seed of the Woman nor no need of it and so no need of a Figure to represent it but before Adam fell the Sabbath was prescribed Gen. 2.2 3. On the seventh day God rested from all that he had made so that God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it So that you see God having rested upon this day he sanctified it and put holiness upon it therefore we are not to name that Common which he hath named Holy now though we do not read of Adams keeping this day nor Abels nor Enochs nor Noahs nor Abrahams nor Isaacs nor Jacobs yet it doth not follow it was not kept for Moses doth not take in hand to set down the actions of the Fathers but only generally for you see what a short story we have of Methushelab a good man though he lived a thousand years almost yet we have scarce Three Syllables concerning him Now sith Moses did not undertake to set down all that they did therefore they might keep the Sabbath though he did not set it down neither afterwards doth he set it down for 319. years and 111. years which 430. years to the time of the Judges we have nothing spoken of concerning the Sabbath therefore seeing God did Institute it to Adam in his Innocency that is enough but what though the Fathers had not kept it holy doth it therefore follow that we must not keep it holy They had many wives doth it therefore follow that we must have many wives So suppose they did not sanctifie the seventh day though wee can see no proof that they did not yet this is enough That God did sanctifie it before any Ceremony was Again Though we do not read that they practised this yet the Scripture doth intimate to us that they did it Reas 2 The Second Argument to prove this is out of Exod. 16.23 before the Law was delivered upon Mount Sinai before the Commandment was spoken from Horeb yet you may see that the Sabbath is spoken of and the Lord doth finde fault with Israel for not keeping of it which intimateth it was a day they well knew and the Lord saith afterwards to Moses How long will ye refuse to keep my Laws and Statutes As in vers 28. the Lord there speaks of a Sabbath as a day well known unto them that it was commanded to be sanctified by them and this was before the delivering of the Ceremonial Law therefore it is not a ceremonial Law but a positive Law equipollent with the moral Law Reas 3 A Third Reason is Because it was written by the finger of God in Tables of stone and put into the Ark Exod. 31.18 and Deut. 10.12 the Commandments were written upon Two tables of stone and by the finger of God Now all Divines in all ages agree upon this that the writing of this Commandment in the Two tables of stone is an evident Argument of the morality of it For as a Reverend Divine saith Not to think the Fourth Commandment to be moral is the way to all Atheisme for if one should say the Fourth Commandment is not moral but ceremonial another might step up the next year and say the Second and the Fifth is not So that whereas the Law is written by the finger of God in tables of stone if we root it out of the tables of stone we shall root it out of the heart of man therefore the writing of it in the tables of stone is an evident Argument of the morality of it to all ages A Fourth Argument is this The Lord doth urge this Commandment Reas 4 more then any other Commandment in the Decalogue so that a man may question the First or Second or any of the Ten as well as this for first we know that God hath made this Commandment larger then any of the rest Secondly hee hath made it stronger and urged it with more arguments then any of the rest 3. He hath fixed a memento remember before it As who should say Be carefull of this and take heed of forgetting it take heed of those that shall teach you the contrary that this Commandment is not morall 4. It is negatively delivered and affirmatively the other delivered only one way either affirmatively only as the Fifth Honour thy Father and Mother or else negatively only as all the rest There is never a Commandment delivered both negatively and affirmatively but only the Fourth as Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy there it is delivered affirmatively And afterwards it is delivered negatively In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter c. The Lord hath delivered it both wayes noting that this Commandment is equall and equipollent with the other and the Lord did this in infinite wisdome because he had not written this Commandment in the heart of man by the light of nature therefore the Lord did urge it more with Arguments that what was wanting in the light of nature might be supplyed by the pressing of Arguments 5. Another Argument is Because if this be not morall then we have Reas 5 not Ten morall Commandments there are but Nine now this is false for the Scripture tels us that the Commandments are Ten as Deut. 10.4 it is not an Ecclesiasticall thing but the Lord hath said it as you may see there And he wrote upon the Tables according to the first writing the Ten Commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the Mount out of the midst of the fire The Lord spake Ten Commandments now if the Fourth Commandment be not morall there be not ten Commandments And you may as well deny the Articles of the Faith and the Petitions of the Lords Prayer as the ten Commandments The Sixth Argument is this Christ tels us plainely that it is a Reas 6 morall Commandment Matth. 24.20 Pray saith he that your flight be not in the winter nor on the Sabbath day Our Saviour Christ here prophesied of the destruction of Jerusalem which was forty yeares after Christs Ascension when all Ceremonies were ceased as Paul had proclaimed before the destruction of Jerusalem That if any man would be circumcised Christ should profit him nothing Galat. 5.2 That is if he would keep the Ceremonial Law Now Christ bids those that should