but the Sabbath and surely he understood his own Institution and was not mistaken in the Day And the Doctor p. 4. says The Words he Blessed and Sanctified it may be a strong Intimation for Mankind ever after to observe the Seventh day c. But he says is not expresly said And that the Seventh day Blessed and Sanctified Gen. 2. 2 3. is not only a strong Intimation as the Doctor but does include the Seventh day of every Week afterward in a continual Succession or Circulation of Days and Weeks I think is proved by the Words of Blessing and Sanctifying or making Holy the Seventh day which are comprehensive Words and from Exod. 20. 10 11. as that day of every Week which Men were and are to remember to keep Holy And God's Sabbatizing on the Seventh day was as I think that Man might keep the Sabbath day in the continual Circulation of Weeks in a Spiritual Rest And in this Scripture Gen. 2. 2. we have the Foundation for the Seventh day Sabbath where the Words are And on the seventh day God had ended his work which he had made and he rested or sabbatized on the seventh day from all his work which he had made Heb. 4. 4. Where it is said he spake of the Seventh day in this wise and God did rest the seventh day from all his works and Elohim blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made Gen. 2. 3. And from God's Sabbatizing here it is That the seventh day is called the sabbath Exod. 20. 9. 11. And throughout the Old and New-Testament from the Heb. root Shabath he kept Sabbath And the Lords Blessing the Seventh day Gen. 2. 3. makes it a day of his distributing the greatest heavenly Blessings upon all that obey his Voice And his Sanctifying the Seventh day shews it to be Consecrated and so separated from all common Works and earthly Employments and shews it to be Dedicated and Sanctified by him to his Worship as an Holy day and as his day i. e. the Lords day to be used in Holy Solemn Exercises of Religion as long as the World lasts till Believers come to that Sabbatism in Heaven which remains for the People of God Heb. 4. 4 8 9. And he that doubts the Seventh day Gen. 2. 2 3. does not include every Seventh day in the continual Succession of Weeks may see by comparing Exod. 20. that this Institution is not mentioned in Exod. 20. as then first given but as that which God had Instituted upon his creating the World and the keeping the weekly Sabbath was as absolutely necessary for the Spiritual good of those Believers and others who lived in the first Ages of the World after the Fall and of Adam and Eve also if they had not fallen as it is for us at this day to Contemplate his infinite Excellencies and mighty Works And p. 3. from Gen. 2. 2 3. and Exod. 20. 11. he does agree that God hath appointed after six days of ordinary Labour Man should observe a Seventh day of Holy rest and this in a continual Succession which I think goes far to resolve this question not a but the Seventh day only being first instituted Gen. 2. and afterward observed as a Sabbath throughout the Scriptures And if he agrees as he does p. 3. that it was the Seventh day that was Blessed and Sanctified Gen. 2. 3. and that this is a clear and ancient Testimony for the Holiness of time as he doth then till another Sanctified Day of the Week and another weekly time can be found which is Blessed and Sanctified by the Lord we are for ought I can see to rest or keep Sabbath upon the Seventh day as our Lord did by whom we have no other weekly Day or Time Consecrated or observed as Holy but only the Seventh day and the Doctor 's opinion of the Holiness of this time has confirmed and as I think established my Thoughts of the Holiness of the Seventh-day-Sabbath I agree also with him that the Law of the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commands Exod. 20. and am not only willing to think as the Doctor but am satisfied it was a Law before and that not only because we find it observed Exod. 16. before the Law given at Sinai Exod 20. in which Exod. 16. 25 26. the Seventh day is called a Sabbath to the Lord i. e. the Lord's day but especially as the Doctor acknowledges for that Gen. 2. 3. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Work and I do with the Doctor think this a clear Testimony and as ancient as the Creation for the Holiness of Time i. e. as far as I can possibly discern for the Holiness of the weekly Seventh day for there was no other weekly Day then or since made Holy that we can find in the Word but the Seventh day only and this alone will go very far to resolve and settle this question I agree also with the Doctor that the Law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments tho' then given to Israel is binding to us also p. 3. 4. And I think we have sufficient Evidence from the Scriptures that the Sabbath was observed from the Creation to the Flood tho' he thinks in the short History Moses gives of that time there be no mention made of such Observation from the Creation to the Flood For First on the Seventh day God Heb. Elohim had ended his Work which he had made and he Sabbatized on the Seventh day from all his Work which he had made Gen. 2. 2. The Example of God's keeping the first Seventh-day-Sabbath is one undeniable Evidence of the Seventh-day-Sabbath kept after the Creation For Gen. 2. 1. The heavens and the earth and all the Hosts of them were finished before the seventh day and so the Seventh day was kept after the Creation and before the Flood A second Evidence is the same repeated Gen. 2. 3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his Work which he had Created and Made Which Repetition of God's resting the Seventh day does strongly inculcate and inforce our Duty and certainly prove that God had rested the Seventh day after the Creation and before the Flood A third Evidence from the Case of Cain and Abel Gen. 4. 3. And in process of time Cain brought an offering to the Lord and v. 4. Abel also brought his offering In Process of Time Heb. Mikketz Jammin at the end of Days or at the cutting off of Days Enquiry p. 23. Which end or cutting off of days so far as God hath revealed seems to be the end of the Days of the Week when the reckoning of Days was cut off and after the Seventh day ended they were to begin to reckon again 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 and 't was the Seventh day the last day
not hard to say 't is probable that Aarons preaching to them all the words the Lord had spoken and their worshipping was upon the Sabbath day as will further appear in Exod. 5. 4 5 8 14 17 19. In Exod. 5. 1. Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh Thus saith the Lord God of Israel let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness and 't is not over hard to imagine what that Feast was which by comparing Exod. 14. where the Aegyptians were drowned Exod. 15. 1 22 23. where is Moses's song and the murmuring at Morah and Exod. 16. 1 23. it s likely was the Feast of the Sabbath Exod. 5. 2. Pharaoh said Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go and ver 3. Moses and Aaron said the God of the Hebrews bath met with us let us go we pray thee and sacrifice unto the Lord our God and ver 4. the King said unto them Wherefore do ye Moses and Aaron let the people or make them to cease from their work get you to your burdens and Exod 5. 5. Pharaoh said behold the people of the land now are many and you make them rest from their burdens You make them rest Heb. Vehishbattem which as I take it is in the conjugation Hiphil praeterit tense second Person plural number from the root Shabath he kept Sabbath and signifies and yemake them to keep sabbath from their burdens the very same root in Gen. 2. 2. God sabatized rested or kept Sabbath on the seventh Day from all his Work which he had made and from the same root Gen. 2. 3. and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made So as Pharaoh charges Moses and Aaron as making the Israelites to cease from their Work and as making of them to keep Sabbath from their Burdens And when the Word of God is so plain and full and certain and that by the Mouth of Pharaoh an enemy that Moses and Aaron did make the Israelites cease from their Work ver 4. and did make them keep Sabbath ver 5. For the Doctor to say against such a plain Word beside what was said before of Abel Abraham c. as he does p. 7. And I think sometimes afterward to the like effect that we have not the least mention of the Sabbath from Gen. 2. 3. 'till after Israels coming out of Aegypt may excuse my so long insisting on these Scriptures So we have here in Exod. 5. 5. express mention of the Israelites ceasing from their work and keeping the Sabbath and the Taskmasters exacting their daily Tasks every day Exod. 5. 13 14. shews this which are evidences for keeping the Sabbath before they came out of Aegypt and Exod. 5. 17. Pharaoh upbraids them as idle therefore ye say let us go to do Sacrifice to the Lord. And the Sacrifices though they were to be offered every day yet as a Feast-day were offered on the Sabbath And Exod. 8. 1 8 25 26 27 28. and Exod. 9. 1 13. and Exod. 10. 3 7 8 9 11 22 24 25. are agreeable to Exod. 3. 4. 5. and Exod. 12. 12 13. After the Plague upon the first Born Pharaoh to Moses and Aaron rise up get you forth and go and serve the Lord as ye have said also take your Flocks and your Heards as ye have said and be gone and bless me also And that excellent History does shew how the Lord delivered his people out of Pharaoh's hand and all his strugling to hinder the Service of God and to debar them of the liberty to offer Spiritual Sacrifices unto him did all contribute to make the Deliverance more compleat from that oppressing Bondage sedately to serve God and keep his Sabbaths as in Exod. 16. 23. where they had a Feast of Bread from Heaven ver 4. and I think ver 13. of Quails also besides their Flocks and Heards Exod. 12. 12 13. Another proof that Moses and Aaron and the Israelites had the knowledge of the Seventh-day-Sabbath and did observe it and that before the Law at Sainai is from Exod. 16. As to the Doctor 's Opinion of a new Institution of another Sabbath Exod. 15. 23 25. at Marah I answer that upon their murmuring there because the Waters were bitter which were there cured by a Tree which the Lord shewed Moses he made a Statute and an Ordinance and there he proved them ver 25. 26. said If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God and wilt do that which is right in his sight and wilt give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Aegyptians for I am the Lord that healeth thee which seems expresly the Statute and Ordinances before mentioned which Statute and Ordinance confirms the Lords Commandments and all his Statutes but alters none of them so that the conceit of a new Sabbath day here instituted without any word from God is a meer conjecture by learned Mr. Chafie as afterward and what that Statute and Ordinance was the Doctor says p. 4. We cannot tell which I think is enough to set aside all new Epocha here And Exod. 15. 27. from Marah they came to Elim where they encamped by other Waters And Exod. 16. 1. They journyed from Elim to the Wilderness of Sin and there they murmured again for want of Bread and Exod. 16. 2 3. the Lord to Moses I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day ver 4. And the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily ver 5. And at even the quails came up ver 13. And every man gathered the Manna every morning ver 4. 21. which was every Day of the Week except the seventh Day ver 22. So the Lord there reckons the days the sixth Day and the seventh Day after the same manner as at the first Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. And this as it seems was not at Elim nor at Marah but at another place and time viz. in the Wilderness of Sin which is between Elim and Synai Exod. 16. 1. But that the Lord there altered the way of numbring the days or instituted a new Sabbath day no such thing is there that I can find but reckons the sixth and seventh days which supposes the 1 2 3 4 and 5 to make up the Week in the same manner as Gen. 1. and Gen. 2. to which seventh Day as Exod. 5. 5. the Israelites in Aegypt were no strangers And the Sabbath ver 23. is here called the Holy Sabbath that is the Sabbath hallowed or sanctified by the Lord Gen. 2. 3. and the Sabbath is four times called the seventh Day from ver 26. to 30. But not a word
may resort to the Book And to conclude Instead of further summing up what I have weakly written here in Reply to the Learned Doctor and others as I could I commend to the Reader a few Scriptures Gen. 2. 2 3 4. On the seventh day God ended his work which he had made and he rested the seventh day from all his work which he had made and God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because that in it he had rested from all his work which he had created and made and so the Sabbath is the day upon which God rested after his Work and which he Blessed and made Holy who is v. 4. Jehovah Aelohim the Lord God so the Seventh day is the Lords day Exod. 16. 29. The seventh-day-sabbath is said to be as it is a gift The Lord hath given you the sabbath and so we should take it as a Gift from him as his Gift and as the Lords day Exod. 20. 8 9 10 11. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy c. The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God and so the Seventh day is the Lords day Exod. 31. 13. The Lord calls them my sabbaths verily my sabbaths ye shall keep so the Sabbath is the Lords day it is a sign between me and you c. that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctifie you v. 14. and ye shall keep the sabbath because it is holiness to you v. 15. Six days work shall be done but the seventh is the sabbath of rest holiness to the Lord v. 16. the sabbath a perpetual covenant t is holiness to you v. 14. and holy to the Lord v. 15. v. 16. the sabbath a perpetual covenant and v. 17 a sign for ever For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed so the Seventh day is the Lords day And v. 18. The Lord gave to Moses to tables of testimony written with the finger of God And Exod. 32. 15 16. the tables were the work of God and the writing the writing of God upon which tables of testimony or witness the fourth command was one Exod. 35. 2. Six days shall work be done and on the seventh day it shall be to you holiness Lev. 23. 3. Six days shall work be done but the seventh day is the sabbath of rest an holy convocation ye shall do no work therein it is the sabbath of the Lord c. so the Seventh day is the Lords day Lev. 23. 32. from even unto even shall ye celebrate your sabbath which I think is directing in an Humiliation day which is there to begin in the Evening when they were to afflict themselves And I think states this part of the Question when the Days began that is in the Evening and when they ended that is at the next Evening which the Dr. p. 27. thinks began and ended at mid-night In Numb 15. 32. we have the case of the Man who gathered sticks not A but The Sabbath day which is a great certain undeniable example against the least prophaning of the Sabbath day Deut. 5. 12. Keep the sabbath day to sanctifie it as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee 13. Six days labour c. v. 14. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God c. so the Seventh day is the Lords day of Rest i. e. the seventh day is the Lords day Psal 119. 1 6. blessed are those who walk in his law and in keeping of his commandments there is great reward Psal 19. 11. Esai 56. 2. Blessed is the man who keepeth the sabbath from polluting it v. 4. 6. from polluting it Ezek. 20. 13 16 24 my sabbath they greatly polluted if we would be Blessed keep his Sabbaths and dont pollute them which it seems was Israels Sin of old Esai 58. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the sabbath a delight or delights the holy of the Lord so the Sabbath day is the Lords day honourable and shalt honour him not doing thine own ways nor finding thine own pleasure nor speaking thine own words v. 14. then shalt thou delight thy self in the Lord c. and is not that a desirable frame Ezek. 22. 1 2. The word of the Lord thou hast prophaned my sabbath v. 26. her Priests have violated my law c. and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths So the Sabbath day is the Lords day Ezek. 44. 4 5 15 24. in the prophesie of the new temple there is a promise that the Priests who shall come near unto the Lord to minister unto him they shall hallow my sabbaths So the Sabbath day is the Lords day Matth. 5. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law v. 18. For verity I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled dont think that Christ altered one tittle of the Law and so not one jot or tittle is yet passed from the Law Matth. 18. 8. Christ is said to be Lord of the Sabbath day and if Christ be Lord of the Sabbath day then the Sabbath day is the Lords day Mat. 24. 20. Pray that your flight be not on the sabbath day which flight was about 38 years after Christs Death which I think shews it was to continue after his Death that is as I think as long as the World lasts Matth. 28. 18 19 20. Christ to his Disciples go teach all nations teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and Christ with the Father and holy Spirit one Jehovah gave the commands as before Mark 1. 21. after Christs Baptism by John v. 9. Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God v. 14. repent ye and believe the Gospel v. 15. then he calls Simon and Andrew James and John and they followed him v. 16 to 20. and they went into Capernaum and straitway on the sabbath day he entered into the Synagogue and taught and Mark 2. 27. the sabbath was made for man for his good for his spiritual good Mark 16. 1 2. Jesus came into his own country and his disciples followed him and when the sabbath day was come he began to preach in the synagogue which also proves the Sab. made for the spiritual use of man Luke 4. 16 to 27. in v. 14. after his being tempted v. 13. Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee and v. 15. taught in their Synagogues and v 16. he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up and as his custom was he went into the Synagogue on the sabbath day and stood up for to read and preached the Gospel v. 17 to 29. and then he came down to Capernaum and taught them on the sabbath day besides divers other places in the Evangelists which do all prove
Prudence to interpose and of tacit Limitations implyed I doubt reserves a liberty inconsistent with the Word and Law of God and very hard to be defended For with those Limitations and if Humane Laws shall determine the Divine Laws in some Parts of the World bad Men may find Pretences for the rankest Atheism Theism Arrianism and Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit notwithstanding the First Command for the foulest Corruptions and Invasions on Christian instituted Spiritual Worship notwithstanding the Second for the highest Prophanations of the Name of the Divine Majesty notwithstanding the Third as well as for polluting the Sabbath notwithstanding the Fourth and for Rebellion Murder Adultery Stealing False-witnessing and Covetting notwithstanding the other Six And so it seems to me such Limitations c. have need of many Cautions to correct them Now before I answer the Doctor 's two Expedients I first Reply to somewhat more I find in Mr. Chafie's Learned Tract Mr. Chafie in p. 2. of his Epistle says That Christ the Son of God hath taken away the Jews Sabbath and Established another contrary to what God the Father instituted c. Now tho I hope he was a very Good as well as a Learned Man yet he seems not to have then had clear Apprehensions of Christ as creating the World and then resting nor of Christ as instituting the Sabbath Gen. 2. 2 3. nor of Christ confirming the Moral Law at Synai c. Exod. 20. nor of Christ making it perpetual in Matth. 5. 18. Luke 16. 17. And in that Tract Mr. Chafie speaks of one Sabbath at the Creation another in Exod. 16. and another at the Resurrection of Christ by which Notion he makes to have been three Sabbaths from whom I think the Doctor takes up if I mistake him not the like opinion of three Sabbaths wherein I think they are both out as before And hereafter for Mr. Chafie's Notion of one Seventh-day-Sabbath at the Creation and another Seventh-day Sabbath in Exod. 16. I doubt would make two Seventh-day-Sabbaths in one Week of seven Days which seems to me inconsistent and would make the First day more uncertain also besides the uncertainties of the Doctor Mr. Chafie's opinion p. 19 20. That God hath not bound men to any set time to begin their Week and chap. 8. p. 18. he says The Law-giver himself hath plainly pointed out unto us in this Law that is in the Fourth Command which is the Lords Day or Sabbath of the Lord and that is the day following the six days of Labour with Men and that in every nation however they begin their Week the Seventhday thereof is the Lords p. 20. l. 9. p. 44. l. 6 7. and his Epistle p. 7. l. 4. and that the Seventh day is not to be reckoned from the six days of God's Labour but from the six days of Labour with Men and so also in his Postscript but doth acknowledge chap. 11. p. 35. it hath been the general opinion not only of the Vulgar but of the Learned also which opinion of the Learned I think is right that the Seventh day commanded us in this Law hath Relation only to the six work-Work-days of the Lord God and not to the six work-Work-days with Men which opinion of Mr. Chafie's for Mans Day is I think contrary to Gen. 2. 2. for on the seventh day God ended his work c. and rested the seventh day from all his work so as t was the six days God wrought which were the six working-Working-days and the Seventh day God rested when he ended his Work which was and is the Holy and Blessed Sabbath which first appointment of the Lord I find no where changed and so Exod. 20. 9 10 11. Six days shalt thou labour but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord in it thou shalt not do any work c. For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy and so it seems very plain that the six Working-days are those on which the Lord wrought and the Resting or Sabbath day that which the Lord made Holy and Blessed and on which he Rested And Mr. Chafie in chap. 12. says God by his Law tyeth all Nations that at what time soever they begin the Week they work not on the Seventh day but sanctifie it Which would be true if men began the Week as the Lord directed in Gen. 1. but else by that Rule of Mr. Chafie's Friday in Turkey being their weekly Sabbath the Christians living in Turkey are bound by the Fourth Command to sanctifie Friday i. e. the sixth Day of the Week as the Lords Sabbath day because the Turks there so do And by the same Rule those Christians who live in any Heathen Nation where they Worship the Sun and observe Sunday there they must keep Sunday and Sanctifie it because the Heathens where they live so do And those Christians who live in those Christian Provinces who keep the Seventh day must keep the Seventh day as the Lords Day because others so keep it and for that reason And the like of those who live in any part of the World amongst the Israelites And those Christians who live in those Christian Countries where they keep the Seventh-day-Sabbath and the First day also must keep I know not which of them by Mr. Chafie's Rule And I take it as agreed we are not to keep two Days in a Week and that there are some such people of these sorts see Enquiry p. 119 c. Which Rule of Mr. Chafie's to resolve which is the Sabbath day commanded by the Practice of the Country where we live and that God hath not bound men when to begin their Week is to set up Mans Day as it seems to me against the Lords Day and I think the Doctor writes by for he seems to take it as he finds it Which Rule I doubt will agree neither with the letter or meaning of Gen. 2. 2 3. or of the Fourth Command What Mr. Chafie objects That by the different Horizons where-ever Paradice was which p. 17. he says is unknown no man can tell in the place where he liveth when to begin the Day of Gods resting at the Creation I Answer if our Sabbath did begin at the same instant of time that Gods first Rest did and Men were obliged to that instant then that were an hard objection But I know no place in the Word where it is said that every Sabbath afterward was to begin the same moment or time that the first Sabbath began in Paradice or at Synai c. Nor do I remember any thing so offered in any Writer But that the Sabbath then did and that Sabbaths afterward were to begin in the Evening everywhere as Time was distributed into Days at the Creation I think is before shewn and that every Day of the Week began in the Evening and lasted from Evening to Evening and that the
Days began at or about Sun-set and supposing the Darkness and light were the Evening and Morning of the three first Days Gen. 1. 5 8 13. sure the Days then did not begin at mid-night when Darkness began the Day and Darkness and Light made up the First day and so the Second day and so the Third day which Word I think may settle that Point that the Days did not begin at mid-night Suppose also the Sun Created as it was the Fourth day and went round the Earth every day after it was created as it did and does to this Day But on what part of the Fourth day the Sun was created is not certainly revealed that I know The Fowls and the Fishes were created upon the fifth day And Adam was created on the Sixth day and being created in the image of God was made capable of knowing and contemplating the Perfections of him that created him and of observing and keeping Holy the Seventh day which presently after his Creation was Consecrated or made Holy and Blessed to let him into that Spiritual and Heavenly Life and Rest which his State of Innoceney made easie and pleasant to him And in Reply to one of the Doctor 's Expedients we may also suppose the Sun when set in the Firmament Gen. 1. 17. travelled Westward round the Earth daily as it still doth Now when the Sun did set the Fourth day then the Fifth day began at Paradice and when the Sun did set there next the Sixth day began there and when the Sun did next set there the Seventh day began there and that first Seventh day was probably as long as the other Days of the Week were and are And as the Posterity of Adam and so of Noah travelled East West North or South by degrees the Earth was overspread Gen. 9. 19. and into whatever Country they came as the Sun did set so every Day of the Week began and so on to this day I Write as plain as I can So as the weekly Seventh day did begin as the Sun did set in every place round the Earth from Paradice Westward till the Sun came about in 24 hours to Paradice again And for an instance and for certainties sake I will begin with the Eleventh of March the vernal Aequinox 1692 3 which falls out to be the Seventh day of the Week And the Seventh day at the Creation did begin as the three First days and the other Week-days did that is in the Evening as Mr. Chafie and many other Learned Men do agree at or about Sun set as I think is before shewn and lasted 24 Hours from Evening to Evening according to Gen. 1 and Gen. 2. And the Sabbath day then was as it still is proportionably as long as the other Six Days of the Week allowed for Work or rather wherein we are commanded to work every of which six Days hath a Night or Darkness as well as Day Light in which Night or Darkness if need be Men may as lawfully work as in the Day Light tho generally the Day is made for Work and the Night for Rest And so the Sabbath day hath an Evening and a Morning that is a Night and Day of Holy Rest in which Night we may take Rest as in other Nights As for those who begin the Sabbath day in the Morning they lose the Evening that is the Night of that Day which being no part of the Sixth day nor to such any part of the Seventh day yet 12 Hours of time between the End of the Sixth and Morning of their Seventh day would cease to them to be any part of the Week if their Opinion would hold who begin the Sabbath in the Morning unless they continue their Sabbath till the next Morning and so turn God's first Institution upside down Others who begin and end the Sabbath day at mid-night being then generally asleep at both when they begin and end it they cannot tell when they begin or end it and so must needs loose those Meditations which are peculiar to the one and to the other and how any can begin or end it at mid night I know not But supposing as before the Evening in all Parts of the Earth begins and ends the Day then it is easie for all to know the beginning and ending of it And as the Evening and Morning made up every Day of the Week in Paradice so Evening and Morning as Mankind came about the Earth made up every Day of the Week everywhere else and as the Evening of the Seventh day came so the Sabbath began and the Sabbath ended everywhere as the rest of the Days of the Week ended that is the Evening after And if this be the true Scheme of Days then somewhere in the Round of the Earth every Inhabitant of it the 11th of March 1692 3. may not only keep the Sabbath but certainly know when it begins and ends and will have also their full six Nights and Days in the Week for their Work and Callings And so as Adam or his Posterity and so as Noah or his Posterity travelled into any part of the Earth East West North or South where ever they came after six days of Travel or other Labour they might as the Sun did set Rest the Seventh day And all the tying up all parts of the Earth to the precise time or moment of the Lords resting in the Evening of the first Seventh day at the Creation and that the Seventh day Sabbath everywhere over the Earth ever after must begin and end the same minute the first Sabbath began and ended whether it be at mid-day or mid night or any other part of Night or Day seems a meer cramping of the Question without any Ground for it that I know from the Word Whereas if the days begin in the Evening as I think they do and if the Evening and the Morning do constitute and make up a day as they do then all the Scruples raised when every Day of the Week and in particular when the Seventh day-Sabbath all over the Earth doth begin and end are resolved that is in the Evening and so the two long days in Joshuah's and Ezekiah's times make no alteration of Days as in the Enquiry And so the Evening and the Morning make up every Day of the Week to us in England and to every other Nation in the Earth and for any other certain way to resolve when the days do begin and end but by Gods first appointment I know not for else it would put the most skilful Mathematicians everywhere to a stand when to begin and end the Days and leave all Computations of Days and Weeks and Time in uncertainties and great disorder I take the 11th of March the vernal Aequinox because Astronomers agree the Sun to be then in the Aequator as it is the 11th of September at the Autumnal Aequinox at which times the Days and Nights are by them said to be equal all over the Earth
ADVERTISEMENT There is 〈◊〉 Printed a Book Intituled A Treatise of the Holy Trinunity in two Parts The First asserteth the Deity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Vnity of Essence with God the Father The Second in Defence of the former answereth the chiefest Objections made against this Doctrine By I. M. Chap. I. THe Case is briefly stated Chap. II. Sheweth that there is but one God the Creator and Former of all things Chap. III. Asserteth a Plurality of Divine Subsistences Chap. IV. Of the Father Chap. V. Proveth the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ 1. By his Names 2. That God in the Old Testament in divers Places is Christ in the New 3. By seven particular Texts of Holy Scriptures 4. That Christ pre-existed his Incarnation in his Divine Nature and is no Angel incarnate but is Coeternal with the Father 5. His Deity is proved by his Works And 6. By Divine Worship given to him Chap. VI. Proveth the Deity of the Holy Ghost 1. That he is a Divine Person 2. His Deity is asserted from several Texts of Scripture 3. By his Works 4. By Divine Worship given to him Chap. VII Proveth the Unity of the Holy Trinity Chap. VIII Containeth some Explications of the Holy Trinunity 1. Of the Essential Being of God 2. Of the Divine Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit 3. Of the Distinctions of the Divine Nature and the Persons and some Shadows by way of Comparison of the incomparable and inconceivable Being of God and of the Union of Christ's two Natures PART II. Chap. I. Answereth Objections against the Scriptural Proofs of Christ's Deity Chap. II. Answers to Objections drawn from several Texts of Scriptures Chap. III. Answers to several Arguments against the Deity of Christ Chap. IV. Answers to several Objections against the Scriptures that prove the Deity of the Holy Ghost Chap. V. Answers to some Objections drawn from divers Scriptures to disprove the Deity of the Holy Spirit Chap. VI. Answers to some Scriptures from whence our Adversaries assert that the Father only is the true God With a general Answer and Conclusion Price bound one Shilling A REPLY TO Doctor Wallis HIS DISCOURSE Concerning the Christian SABBATH By THO. BAMPFIELD LONDON Printed for Thomas Fabian at the Bible in Cheapside near Bread-street End 1693. A REPLY TO Dr. WALLIS's DISCOURSE Concerning the Christian Sabbath SIR A Little after the Printing the Enquiry Whether the Lord Jesus Christ made the World and be Jehovah and gave the Moral Law And whether the Fourth Command be Repealed or Altered There was Reprinted a Tract of Mr. Chafies on the Fourth Command I think as Answer to that part of the Enquiry which referred to the Fourth Command and then another by one Mr. G. T. both which I had no sooner Examined but another was Published by John Wallis D. D. Which Discourse of the Doctor 's as containing the strength of what is said for the First Day I hold my self principally concerned to consider I find the Doctor p. 1. would not on the account of the Day whether the Seventh or the First give any Disturbance to the Peace or Practice of the Church where he Lives so that a Sabbath be duly observed tho' perhaps not upon what Day he should choose What Day he would choose I know not but hope it would be the Day the Lord hath Chosen and Blessed But the Question is not what Day he would choose to rest upon but what day we ought to choose and I am willing to hope he would choose that Day which after the best Judgment I can make upon his Book I think is the Seventh Day and that he means that Day by that otherways Doubtful Expression And I think the Word is the Rule of Worship c. And not the Practise of the Church where we live Nor know I certainly what Church may be meant for that he and I live in an Age wherein there are variety differing a little from one another nor am I willing to disturb the true Peace of the Churches of Christ but if in any thing they be defective in their Judgment or Practice their Peace lies in their returning to their Obedience which is better than Sacrifice 1 Sam. 15. 22. And till the Lord bring that about I see little likelyhood the Sabbath should be duly observed or have the full Blessing bestowed on it which is annexed to it Nor do I think the true Sabbath is so hard to be found as he supposes to whom I may say as Moses to the Israelites Deut. 30. 11 12 13 14. This Commandment is not hid from thee neither is it far off 'T is not beyond the Seas that we should need to go round the Earth to fetch it as the Dr. p. 79. pleasantly adviseth but the Word is very nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thine Heart that thou mayst do it He says also p. 1. That he does not know whether Sunday be a first or second a third or a seventh Day in a continual Circulation of Weeks from the Creation or from Christ's time and if so he is at a great uncertainty and I do not wonder if he be yet to choose his Day which Expressions in his first Page may give some Light to state this Question for if he does not know from Christ's time which Day of the Week Sunday as he calls it is I see very little reason why he should observe it He adds And what it is impossible for him to know he thinks will be no Cirme to be ignorant of and if he do not know what Day of the Week Sunday is and much more if it be impossible for him to know it I see no reason at all why he should write a Book for the Observation of a Day impossible for him to know All the Christian and Hebrew Churches in the World I think are agreed that Sunday is the first Day of the Week which Day I presume by the rest of his Book the Doctor observes and if we be right in that as I think we are that Sunday is the first Day it will be no great Task by telling seven to resolve which is the seventh Day But notwithstanding the impossibility for him to know what Day of the Week Sunday is he is sufficiently satisfied that we ought to keep a Sabbath and so am I and I think we may be sufficiently certain which is the seventh Day in the weekly Circulation and am willing to observe that Blessed and Sanctified Day and Time which I think is the Lord's Day and not changed and so not hard to be found And I do not think God has left the stress of a Point whereon his Publick Worship doth somewhat depend upon a thing impossible for us to know by his Word and Works he can make this plain to all First I agree with him that the place of Worship under the Gospel p. 2. is not so material whether this or that John 4.
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
this Reply too large And he there makes the Sabbath abolished By which affirmings he may make other Commands abolished if his Sayings and Comments may pass for Doctrine to abolish and overthrow any part of the Law of God And adds there That it is as meerly circumstantial as the place of Worship is whether a Sabbath be kept on this or another day which is the Doctor 's Opinion I think directly against Gen. 2. 2 3. and against the Moral Law Exod. 20. 9 10 11. Established and made perpetual by Christ Matth. 5. 17 18. Luke 16. 17. besides his indifferency to this or another day My taking notice of the Doctor 's Allegations about Facts which much concern this question may be excused for that otherways some Readers may take them for true and so be misled in their judging this Case and many I have passed by which observing Readers may note Pag. 61. he repeats from Exod. 31. 13. that the Sabbath is a Sign and yet p. 60. 61. doubts was either not observed at all or long before this time had been forgot To which I Reply if the Sabbath were a Sign and such a perpetual Sign to be kept throughout their Generations as it was as the Doctor and if it were a perpetual Covenant between the Lord and them as it was as the Doctor and made known to them as before then surely they knew what day of the Week it was and forgot it not but observed it as they do every where where they live to this day which the Doctor has no reason that I know to doubt And if that were so that the Sabbath was long before forgot and if the days of the Week are all uncertain and none can tell which was which Where are we then but in utter uncertainties And these Objections from the Seventh-day-Sabbath being abolished and a perpetual Sign and yet forgot and uncertain contradict one another Pag. 61. he says God had a particular respect to their Rest from their Bondage in Aegypt by the Preface to all the Commands I the Lord thy God which brought thee out of Aegypt and by the close of this Command as repeated Deut. 5. 15. I Reply be it so yet that was such a Deliverance as the Gentiles then had a share in and as concerned all the People of God at that time in the World to take special notice of and such a Deliverance as is celebrated by all the Christians in the World to this day and doubtless will be so by all such to the end of the World and is celebrated as such I think in the English Common Prayer Book See their Catechism He there again recurs to Exod. 16. for a new Epocha of days which is Replyed to before that I find no such thing there as a new Epocha And pag. 62. he says As God by Moses did give a new Epocha or Beginning to a Circulation of Sabbaths at Marah so might Christ by himself or his Apostles fix another Epocha from his Resurrection I Reply that neither of these Epocha's being found in the Word I think the Doctor blameable for saying God did give a new Epocha by Moses which we do not read he did give and if it be not in the Word Why does the Doctor affirm that God by Moses gave it And he says It is not expresly said that Christ did bid his Apostles to fix another Epocha from his Resurrection yet he says he gave them Commandments for that purpose Acts 1. 2 3. Now for the Greatest Man living to say Christ gave them Commandments for that purpose without a word from Christ for that purpose seems to me highly blameable Every word of God is pure add thou not unto his words least he reprove thee Prov. 30. 5 6. We do suppose with Reason the Commandments given by Christ to the Apostles were to preach the Gospel to disciple all Nations to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and to teach all things he had commanded them Matth. 28. 19 20. And see Mark 16. 15 16 17 18. Luke 24. 46. to 52 c. And we have other Commandments of Christ to some of his Disciples John 21. 1 2. where he gave this to Peter and in Peter I think to all the rest and to all succeeding Ministers of Christ ver 15. feed my Lambs ver 16 17. feed my Sheep ver 19. follow me which things did and do pertain to the Kingdom of God of which things Acts 1. 3. Christ spake but what Commandments in particular Christ gave to the Apostles for a new Epocha does not appear that I know there or elsewhere in the Word But when they are produced I hope his Ministers and Churches will receive them and what else the Apostles had by Inspiration of the Holy Spirit after Christs Ascension concerning the ordering of his Churchse and rightly constituted Offices or concerning any thing else which are recorded in the Scriptures we readily embrace And I may request the Doctor to take heed how he grafts any other Commandments for any purpose on Christ but what are written in his Word and if there be no such Commandment from Christ in the Word for that purpose for his Apostles to fix another Epocha from his Resurrection Why does the Doctor affirm it if his Cause were good yet such means to defend it I think cannot be justified and such affirmations in Facts material to the main question I think ought to be reproved As to what is said p. 62. That not one jott or tittle of the law meaning the Decalogue is destroyed I think he means that in Matth. 5. 17 18. but doth still continue in force and that we are all under that Law as to the substance of the Duty I Reply that he there again acknowledges that we are all under that Law that is under the Ten Commands and that they still continue in force And if so I would ask the Doctor one Question who asks me Divers Who can resolve us what is and what is not Substance in Gods Commands but God himself who gave them he knows what bad work several have made by endeavouring to mangle them especially those of the first Table and indeed those of both Tables For what is said p. 62. that Matth. 24. 20. Pray that your flight be not in winter nor on the sabbath day which flight was about thirty eight Years after Christs Resurrection that that makes nothing at all to my purpose I think a fair answer to that is in the Enquiry p. 73. 74 to which I add that we cannot as well argue from hence that it were a Sin to Labour in Winter as on the Sabbath day as the Doctor p. 63. for that the Sabbath and Winter stand on different Reasons which are obvious the Sabbath was commanded and the Winter bad to fly in because of the Cold Wet c. and work was not forbidden in Winter which was forbidden on the
make for true Peace which Gods Word when it is obeyed does most certainly do and the foolish Questions are those which cross his Law and Word and are contrary to it and striving against his Law and Word is one of the worst Fruits of the Flesh which Wars against his Will and to use some of his Words in whomsoever that Temper is found I doubt it is for want of true Love and other Fruits of the Holy Spirit And when some study to spin out Disputes into so fine a Thread as to make the day begin and end at one time which God has so firmly settled to begin and end at another Gen. 1. 5 8 13 19 23 31. and to make the Week days all uncertain which is which c. is to make that dark and difficult which the Scriptures and Works of God have made plain I think within we complain of the Romanists and I think of others also and deservedly for loading their Worship with Ceremonies the number of which besides that they are meer humane Inventions and so of no spiritual Use are a burden which has broken down many eminently Holy and Learned in this Age and which divert the Mind from Spiritual Worship And I think it also somewhat of the same Mischief when Mens Minds are amused with uncertain dark Speculations whereby they are endeavoured to be turned away from plain and easie Obedience and Ground is layen for perpetual Doubts and Scruples whilst the Word says one thing and some of great Learning and Influence do and teach another And as to the Point in question I may say as the Doctor p. 70. I have upon the whole said as I weakly can so much as I think may satisfie others if they consider it without Prejudice a temper which the Holy Spirit can give his People and I know when men have long espoused a Notion by which they have a benefit which Notion if they let go they loose or endanger that benefit It is no great wonder if they go on in their old way till God does awaken them but whether they go on with or without Doubts and Scruples I know not Nor do I know any thing can be so plainly said no not from direct Word and Law of God which by an Ingenious and Learned Man may not be cavilled at if he be so minded and God will suffer him and when the Lord has as it seems to me so plainly declared his Will if some will not submit to it who else can help it And when I have thus said I leave the Success to the Lord. Pag. 71. he mentions a late Book on this Subject to which I had drawn such Answer as I then could before I saw the Doctor 's but finding as far as I remember nothing therein in this case but what is offered with great Advantage by the Doctor or what may be answered by observing Readers I think to say but a little more to it P. 5. of his Preface he says Suppose the Authors he means the Author of the Enquiry Notion be Orthodox and the contrary that is his own Heterodox he gives us the pernicious tendencies thereof That is as I understand him suppose it to be the mind of Christ and a Sound and Orthodox Opinion that the Seventh day is the true Christian Sabbath which is a fair and I think a true Supposition yet he is against the Communicating of it as pernicious which seems to me somewhat harsh and suppose his own Opinion Erroneous and Heterodox yet he is for it and would not as I understand him have it contradicted to which I only Reply that I doubt the ancient Prophets the Apostles and the Reformers from Rome c. were not of that mind In his little Book he has these and other Reflections on the Author of the Enquiry or on that he there offers or on those who receive it c. As Judaical fanciful baffled absurd Heterodox and impious scrupulous superstitious a Weed and Thorn rotten Premises sandy Foundations false Measures Proofs invalid which it pitties him to see uncharitable rigorous deluded Brain of silly Zealots impertinency empty false Premises silly Conjectures against all Reason and common Sense c. which seem to me blameable And he hopes p. 56. himself has written by Gods Assistance and Guidance and p. 163. by Gods Assistance and p. 116. by Gods Help and he hopes his Guidance Which Expressions I think may be used sometimes and in some Cases but men should take heed how they use them as if they were divinely inspired when they use them so interwoven Pag. 70. to p. 79. the Doctor sums up what he has offered with all the advantages of a Learned Man as he sometimes does before with new words on which I might make some Remarks In that about the Fifth Command p. 82. he tells us His Humane Law that is to determine who is to be reputed the Father and this he applys first to natural Parents which as cases may be put may fall very heavy upon many Children whose Parents were married but not according to Human Law And that General Rule from Humane Law if I mistake him not he understands as determining the Law of God for he says p. 81. There be many things which the Word of God or the Divine Law doth determine in Thesi that is in a general Position which when in Hypothesi they come in practice will require the intervention of Prudentials or Humane Laws and he there and p. 82. puts cases upon the Eighth Seventh Sixth and Fourth Commands So his General Rule is applyed to Laws in both Tables And what he there says as to Natural Parents the like he says as to other Superiours as well as Natural Parents and those Laws which seem absolute says he have yet their tacit Limitations implyed To which I Reply That I think every Man should beware how he sets up Humane Laws to determine against Gods Law in any case for if Gods Law determine one thing to be a Duty or a Sin and Mans Law determine the contrary we are I think to obey God Acts 4. 19. whose Laws are Superiour to all Humane Laws And he that in the Duties required in either Table does allow the intervening or coming in of Prudentials or Humane Laws to controul or to determine the Word of God or the Divine Law under that colour or tacit Limitations implyed and of room for Prudence to interpose does I doubt unlord the Word and Law of God Mark 7. 13. which unlording the Word or making it of no effect Mark 7. 13. is also spoken by our Lord there in the case of the Fifth Command v. 9. to 13. and does open a gap to enervate that Law of God So that for any to say that his Hunane Law that is to determine who is to be reputed my civil Parent that is who is my lawful Prince whatever the Law of God determines in that case under the subtile Words of Room for