of Twenty Cubites long where it was by the Ministers of the Temple Christ's deadly enemies kept safe enough from any hand of earthly man none but a Messenger from Heaven could rent it again the Earth did quake and the Rocks rent which could not be but by an omnipotent Power all which made the Centurion and his Company though in all probability they were Heathens being Souldiers in Caesars Army cry out and say Truly this was the Son of God and if Souldiers who are commonly rude persons especially when they have such Masters as they had if they could not chuse but see this how much more should all men consider and take notice of God's Testimony so gloriously born on his behalf Thirdly The Resurrection of Christ proves it beyond exception Quest Yea but how shall that be proved clearly Answ There be three evident proofs of it 1. The witnesses of it are a considerable number not less than Five hundred at once 1 Cor. 15.6 7 8. and some of these died for this Testimony and what their holy Doctrine and Life was is to be seen in the New Testament and neither credit nor profit was to be gained by this Testimony besides two of these witnesses were such as had they not been extraordinarily convinced of the truth of it would not have believed it themselves Thomas proclaiming his unbelief till he felt and saw the print of the nailes and thrust his hand into his side which the Spear had made John 20.24 25. And as for Paul he persecuted this Testimony unto the death and had his hand in the blood of Stephen for it not altering his bloody purpose till by a Voice and a Light from Heaven he was smitten blind and unto the earth and he made to know that that Jesus whom he persecuted in his People was risien and ascended 2. The miserable excuse that was made to blind the Peoples understandings that they might not believe he was risen proves it evidently for he was laid in a Tomb which had a stone so great on the top of it that the good women were in care to get it removed when they came to anoint him Also there was a strong guard of Souldiers set to watch lest his Disciples should steal him who were so afraid of their own lives that they durst not meet but in the night an unlikely company to steal their Masters dead body from a band of Souldiers But now to make the world believe that these poor frighted men stole him away while they slept is most impossible for who can believe that the whole Guard should be asleep all at once or who can believe his Disciples durst venture to roul off that Stone in the midst of those Armed men to steal his Corps from them they being set there on purpose to prevent them from this act muchless was it possible for them to be able to give a just account whether he were stollen away or risen again if they had been all asleep indeed and it is not at all likely that those armed Souldiers ran from the Sepulchre to the High Priest in such a fear because the Disciples had stole him but indeed because the Angel of the Lord terrified them away from that fruitless work Neither yet can it enter into any mans heart to believe that ever the Priests and Elders of the Jews would ever go about to perswade the Governour to peace and reconciliation with those Souldiers that had so much neglected their duty to suffer him to be stole if indeed he had been stole but they would much rather have perswaded him to take them and hang them up every man of them for their negligence if it had not manifestly appeared that Jesus whom they caused to be crucified was indeed risen again from the dead Thirdly and lastly Besides the wonderful Miracles his Apostles did work in his Name the Gifts bestowed upon them so suddenly after his Ascention according to the Promise made to them the which we read of Acts 2.1 to the 11. proves it clearly for from whence could poor Fisher-men ignorant and unlearned at an instance attain such Gifts of Knowledge Courage Utterance as is there exprest but that it must needs be by the Power of the holy Spirit To all which I only ask this question I desire that the most unbelieving Jews will tell me what they expect from the Messiah they look for or what they can think he should be that Jesus Christ is not When this is soberly answered I will set Pen to Paper again if the Lord please that I live to see it in the mean time as one desiring the Salvation both of Jews and Gentiles I intreat all men to consider the main grounds of Religion and to get such sound Principles for the Foundation thereof as will substantially bear up the whole body of it A brief Answer to William Russel in a Book of his entituled No seventh-day-Seventh-Day-Sabbath in Christ's New Testament ALthough that which I have written already is enough to stop the mouths of all Opposers of God's most holy Law yet because the ignorance and folly of men is so great in this day I shall add a few words to what I have written already upon the occasion of a late Book I have seen intituled The seventh-day-Seventh-Day-Sabbath not Commanded by Jesus Christ in the New Testament but I desire thee good Reader not to expect that I should waste my time or be at the cost to follow William Russel with a Reply to that green-headed Piece of his that consisteth for the most part of it of Debates and Reasonings of other men but I shall apply my self to touch briefly some few passages asserted by William himself And first to that learned Assertion in the 12th page of his Book where he concludeth since his eyes were opened that the Ten Words being abolished as the first Covenant to do for Life they cannot continue as a Rule of Life the distinction is so nice that it is groundless To which I answer It is well you confess them to be the first Covenant and once given for Life the good Lord give thee and others Wisdom to take notice of the time when it was so given for it could never give Life therefore it must be in that day when it would have continued Life to eternity if it had been kept and therefore be not so witless as to think that when God gave his Law at Sinai as a Rule of Life for thy self confessest that so he did to Jews and Proselytes that then he intended it as a Covenant to do for Life for if he did he must intend to condemn them all for nothing is more evident than that they were all sinners and impossible it is that thou canst deny it to be against this Law they sinned For thou affirmest in the 37 page of thy Book That the New Covenant was not in force till after the Death of Christ therefore they could not according to thy judgement
Religion 〈…〉 with 〈◊〉 Law therefore as we love Religion and would see it prosper let uâ— be tender of the root Our Saviour tells us not one jor or tittle shall pass from this Law and that he that breaketh one of the least of them shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven Mat. 5.18 19. And James will not allow the breach of it in one point but requires the fulfilling of it Jam. 2.8 9 10 11. Quest Doth the Law stand in the same force and power now as when it was at first given because the Scriptures speak of it as old and done away dead to us and we to it with such-like expressions which make some think it doth not continue to be a Rule of life Answ First The Law continues the same in it self for ever and is an everlasting Rule of Godliness and Righteousness to all Generations as hath been proved nevertheless the Law hath no power to help our distresses which we lie in now since the Fall but our help cometh by our Lord Jesus alone As for example It cannot justifie us not sanctifie us look Rom. 3d 4th 7th chapters with many more Texts like them It cannot now give us life although once it was ordained for that purpose but it is now become the Ministration of Condemnation a killing letter out of whose power there were no escaping were not its cursing Office taken out of its hands by Jesus Christ look Rom. 7. 2 Cor. 3. with other-like places but I cannot now stand to discourse this at large it would require a Book of it self nevertheless I was willing to give thee a little hint or notice of these things to preserve thee from stumbling at this holy Law as many blind and ignorant souls do who will not have it at all that because it will not serve them therefore they will not have it cendemn them nor shew them their sin but this Office it will have in the world to the end of it Rom. 3.20 Quest If the whole and every tittle of the Law be for ever binding then the fourth Command must be binding also and that almost all men are against some think it abolished and that we are bound to keep no Sabhath at all others think it partly moral and partly ceremonial others think the Church had power to change it others think the Apostles and Church in their dayes changed it others think that a seventh part of time at the will and pleasure of man is sufficient instead of it Answ I answer in the words of the Prophet The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men that they are vanity Psal 94.11 for there is no ground for any of these thoughts but the fourth Command is like its fellows given at the beginning of the world and endures as long as the world endures Quest Will you speak a few words to prove its Perpetuity in particular Answ That I shall but seeing there are so many Treatises extant of so many Authors some dead and some living that have so fully proved it and answered all objections I shall say the less Brayborn Ocford Spitlehouse Stenit with many others I omit to name now yet notwithstanding I shall say something heat First It was given in a day of Innocency even the very first whole day of Adams being in the world which is enough to deliver it from all suspition of being ceremonial or changeable but a sanctified season to worship God in and to commemorate the Work of Creation for ever Quest The second of Genesis speaks of God's resting upon it and sanctifying it but is it plain that he gave it to Adam and so to the world Answ For answer to this when God sanctified the Sabbath it must be for Adam or for himself now it is so sorded to say or to think that he sanctified a Rest for himself that one would think that no man that is in his right mind would once imagine it As for outward Rest he cannot want Isa 40.28 and for inward Sanctification he can have as little want of that for who that owneth a God will not confess him to be perfect now if he had no need to sanctifie it for himself he did it for Adam or for no use at all but to judge him so vain in his actions is too great blasphemy for any to affirm that hath his reason and doth but use it Quest Have you any thing more to strengthen this proof Answ Yea when the Lord gave it with the other nine in the 20. of Exodus he placed it in the midst of his Law and wrote it with his own hand and put it into the Ark with its fellows and fenced it about with more Reasons to preserve it from violation than he did all the other six Commands following it and all those Reasons are of a moral nature not one of them otherwise so that here is no occasion given of mens so stumbling at it as they do but that the Duty is spiritual and mens hearts carnal and they love to be ruled by the flesh Quest But is there not ground to judge the Sabbath ceremonial from that 2d of the Colossians Answ Not at all if men did with care read and consider the Scriptures for evident it is that besides the New Moons and holy Dayes of which there were many there were four ceremonial Sabbaths in the seventh Month as appears Levit. 23.24 32 39. which if considered men would be wiser than to imploy that Text in that unworthy Service to take away the Seventh-Day-Sabbath especially seeing the Sabbaths there mentioned are of the nature of the New Moons holy Days shadows of things to come but the Seventh-Day-Sabbath appointed to commemorate the great Work past But further when God declared his ten Commandments in 〈…〉 of â—ny Sabbath but the Seventh-Day burgiveth his People in this Command as free leave to work the six dayes as if he never intended any other Sabbath should be kept at all and yet by Moses shortly after giveth command for them also All which sheweth plainly the difference between these two sorts of Sabbaths the one to contitute a Law for ever the other a shadow till the time of Reformation only Quest Seeing it is so opposed in the world speak one word or two more for its confirmation Answ Our Lord Jesus hath in the Now Testament sufficiently confirmed it First in general By telling that the Law in which the Sabbath is included shall remain in every jot and tittle of it till Heaven and Earth pass away and till all things be fulfilled now we know many great things spoken of in the Law and Prophets are not yet fulfilled neither is Heaven and Earth in any sence passed away and therefore the Sabbath must remain by that Rule without the diminishing of one tittle of it Mat. 5.17 18 19 20. these Texts are of a like import with that already named Luke 16.17 18. Jawes 2.8 10 11. Rev. 11.19 and 12.17
A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST Atheism and Error Wherein some Fundamental Points in Religion VIZ. 1. The Essence or Being of GOD. 2. The Divine Authority of the holy Scriptures 3. The Majesty Worth Use and Perpetuity of the Moral Law or Law of ten Commandments 4. Our Lord Jesus Christ being the true Messiah Are by way of Question and Answer handled and with much brevity and clearness proved To put a stop to that Currant of Atheism Ignorance and Error that runneth in this evil day To which is added A brief ANSVVER to William Russel in a Book of his entituled No Seventh-day-Sabhath in Christs New Testament As also A brief Word to the Dispute in Stone Chappel at Pauls London By W. SALLER LONDON Printed in the Year 1664. To the Reader Courteous Reader AS Ignorance Atheism and Prophaness hath alwayes abounded in the World so never more than at this day and not only so but even amongst the zealous and well meaning People of this Nation there have been all subtile endeavours used as far as the temper of the People could bear it to wheel them round about to the Gates of Rome again And these endeavours have not been without great success even in the Churches of Christ corrupting their Principles and wounding the very heart of Religion amongst some of them And besides this mortal growing disease there is a notorious carelesness in the most of preserving the Grounds of Religion in purity either by preaching or catechising insomuch as there is ground to fear our distempers will grow past remedy unless God by some gracious means or other put a stop to that Currant of Errour which through the Atheism of some and Ignorance of others is let out and runneth with a mighty stream the sence whereof hath engaged me to write these following lines which I entreat thee to read and consider And if thou beest not fully satisfied in every point if I may know the reason thereof in word or writing or in any such way as becomes a person fearing God and conscientiously willing to finde out the Truth in Love I shall do the best I can to satisfie thee But if I should be fallen upon by some railing Scorner or one whose Confidence out-runs his Understanding and all sober mens also it is like I may take little notice of him So commending my Lines to thy consideration and my prayers to the Lord for thy profiting as also desiring a share in thine if thou beest one that usest to call upon his Name I rest Thy Friend and Servant in the Work of CHRIST W. S. A Preservative against ATHEISM and ERROUR Question VVHat do you judge is the needful work of the day Answer The day calls for many needful works and amongst the rest this for one The laying down such foundations and principles of Religion and Godliness as may through God's blessing recover Religion into its antient Purity and preserve it therein Quest What do you think of the many Catechisms that have been imployed in this service Answ Many have done worthily in opening he Commandments of God and in shewing the use of Christ's Ordinances and several parts of Truth have been usefully opened but yet through their not knowing or not considering how the world is over-spread partly with Atheism and partly with Ignorance have missed of that which is the main and said little or nothing to that which is of most concernment Quest What are those weighty Truths or some of them that should be further spoken to Answ This for one namely The undoubted and unquestionable Being of a God Quest Do you judge that needful Answ Yea for it is not so long since Atheism appeared with an open face in the Ranters and how it appears in the lives of multitudes is too manifest For how do men at this day swear for or against any thing that stands with their present advantage and laugh at that in private as superstitious and ridiculous which they in publick subscribe to as if it were good and sutable to the mind of God with many like Abominations which men could never constantly run on in the course of doing if they did from the heart believe that there is a God For what is more inconsistent with the Being of a God than to own and countenance such works of Iniquity Quest How will you prove convincingly there is a God Answ First It is proved by the Creation of the World for it is altogether impossible for the visible Creation to give it self a being I mean there is no thing which the eye of man can behold which could possibly give it self a being muchless could it give a being to any thing lese As for example Where can any Man find a creature in heaven or in earth indued with Reason and Understanding and so accomplished with Skill to bring to pass such excellent works as he himself can do and yet could he not make himself But it is evident to reason that the first of mankind must have their Being from God muchless could Man have stretched out his hand to the Heavens and have set them at such a wonderful distance from the Earth and have stretched them round about it and so bespangled it with Stars and have given a Being to the Sun Moon and have commanded them to keep their course to all Generations neither could he have made the Earth and the Seas and have stocked them with such variety of Creatures and bound them in a round lump together and commanded this bulkie massie piece to stand firm in the midst of the Heavens these and such-like Works are too wonderful for any but only for Himself who is in Mercy Power Wisdom Fore-knowledge and all eternal Excellency Matchless and Infinite Quest But may it not be objected by an Atheist that all things are by Nature Answ It may and is so objected commonly but the answer is ready at hand thus If it should be supposed that all things are by Nature yet then of necessity this cannot be denied that Nature must be accomplished with such an Almighty Power unsearchable Wisdom and wonderful Love to the whole Earth and especially to Mankind together with all those most glorious Perfections which we commonly ascribe to God for most evident it is that He that wrought out the Being and Well-being of all things is most richly furnished with the very highest Perfections of all Excellency and Goodness and this is no less than to confess the Being of a God Quest Have you any other proof that there is a God Answ The works of Providence do further evidence the Being of a God as first The constant Preservation of the whole Creation that all the hosts of Men and Beasts Fowls and all living Creatures should be in a constant course of Providence fed every day for thousands of years together it evidently shews the Fatherly-care Faithfulness Wisdom and Bounty of a God Again if God doth alter his wonted course at any time and make
this were indeed true we might well give over writing Books about Religion for there could be no possibility of Salvation neither for Jew nor Gentile For if Christ were a sinner his blood could take away no sin and a sinner he must needs be if he broke Sabbath and taught others so to do in a very high degree although the Sabbath had been but ceremonial for there was no shadow of the Law could be neglected the smallest of all the Ceremonies without sin till by Christs Death they were abolished But if William had had so much charity for his Saviour as to have judged him a better expounder of the Law than the Pharisees he had not fallen into this blasphemy Is it not enough for the Pharisees to lay that sin to his charge but you must second it to the hardening of the poor Jews and the destroying of the Faith of the Gentiles as much as in you lieth Therefore if the Sabbath-keepers be ignorant of Christ's Mediation as you tell your Reader they be if they come to you for knowledge they are like to be well helpt up As for your discourse about what is naturally moral and positively moral it is not worth a dispute there is so little between them the one as truly binding the Conscience as the other but for the Sabbath I have some reason to believe that it is naturally moral First There was never any people professing a God but kept one day in seven for his Worship And there is no Precept of the first Table that men do come nearer to ordinarily that have not the express Letter of the Law for their Rule Secondly The time is yet to come that ever I heard or saw any man dispute or write or preach against the Sabbath but he at that very time and in that very work asserted some thing that did plainly manifest that it was fairely written in his heart or else run himself upon this Rock that he shamefully broke the fifth Commandment to dispute down the fourth as I could give instance if need were But answer The first is Wherefore I am so sharp in my Answer to W. Russel To this I say I am taught of Solomon so to do in such a case as this Prov. 26.3 4.5 2. I was in fear he would greatly dishonour the Gospel when he was going to print and desired to see his Copy and to reason with him first but he would not and 't is just to lash him that is past Counsel The second Question I expect is Wherefore I do not as well answer Mr. Ives as he To this I say For his Book Mr. Braborn hath answered it but for his dispute I have in part and shall in a few words more give some little account of it the naming whereof is answer enough When he began he denied the seventh-day-Seventh-day-Sabbath upon this account That it was never given to the Gentiles neither by the Law of Nature nor by the Law of Moses nor yet by the Law of Christ and his whole discourse was to this effect so that the Appendix of his dispute is in those words which to answer is enough and truly the answer to them is needless if we lived in an Age where Wisdom is to be found For what man of any reasonable understanding but must needs see that this Arrow is shot at the heart of the Scriptures as well as the Sabbath the whole Old Testament being as well denied to be a Rule of Life to the Gentiles as the fourth Commandment for all men know that as many as ever the Old Testament was given to the Sabbath was given to and he all along throughout the whole dispute made it his business to deny the Sabbath was ever given to any People or the observation thereof required at their hands save the Stock of Israel and those that Proselyted themselves and came and lived in the Confines of Palestina and it was no slip of the tongue nor an Arrow shot at a venture but his mind and intention to exclude all the Scriptures that ever were written to the Jews from being any Law or Rule of Life to us Gentiles is manifest in that he denied the Gospel of Matthew the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Epistle of James only for that reason because they were written to the Jews and so concerned not us Gentiles And his exception against the Sabbath was not that which is common to some others namely that it was of a differing nature from the other nine but because it was Moses's Law and therefore never given to the Gentiles I need give no answer to this having said enough to this point before in the former part of my Book neither when I began to write did I intend to meddle with disputes but did think this Errour so sordid that it would die of it self and I had no pleasure to give it a resurrection but finding the contrary that it is as a spreading Leproâ—â— spanâ— there be yet some no wiser than to build upon this man as an Orâ—â—â—â— therefore I have given thee good Reader a true account of that Dispute so much magnified Now for to follow these men with any further reply than barely to discover their Errours I cannot see it reasonably to be expected until first themselves have declared what Books or parts of Books of the New Testament they do own as a Rule of Life to bind the Consciences of believing Gentiles that we may know by what Texts of holy Scripture the controversy shall be decided for if we should prove the Sabbath a duty from Matthew the Acts or James and they or any of them that deny the ten Commandments should answer These Books were given to the Jews and concern not the Gentiles all our labour is lost but when you have called a Council and agreed this among your selves then shall you have a fuller Answer if it be needful and required if I live to see it THE END