the Lord blessed the * or Sabbath day seventh day and hallowed it PART I. The Contents The general Design of the Fourth Commandment the setting apart a Portion of our Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one The particular Duties either suh as appertain to the Substance of the Precept or such as are onely Circumstances thereof Of the former sort are 1. The Worshipping of God in private and by our selves the Morality whereof is evidenced from the particular Obligation each individual Person hath to the Divine Majesty 2. The Worshipping of him in consort with others which is also at large establish'd upon Principles of Nature and Christianity 3. The setting apart a Time for the more solemn performance of each As without which Religious Duties will be either omitted or carelesly perform'd but to be sure no Publick Worship can be because Men cannot know when they shall meet in order to it 4. Such a Rest from our ordinary Labours as will give us the leisure to intend them and free us from distraction in the performance of them BEING now to enter upon the Fourth Commandment about the Nature whereof there hath been so much Contention in the Church of England I cannot forbear to say There is all the reason in the World to believe it to be Moral in the main as having a place among those Commandments which contain nothing in them which is not confessedly Moral But because when we come to understand its general Design and particular Precepts we shall be much better able to judge whether or no and how far the Matter thereof is Moral I will without more ado apply my self to the investigation of them and shew to what Duties it oblig'd Now the general Design of this Fourth Commandment is the setting apart a Portion of our Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one That it designs the setting apart some Portion of our Time the very Words of the Commandment shew as not onely acquainting us with God's sanctifying a Seventh part but obliging the Jews in conformity thereto to rest from their ordinary Labours and observe it as holy unto the Lord. The onely difficulty is Whether it designs the setting apart of that Time for the Worship of God and particularly for the Publick one For the proof of the former part whereof though I cannot say we have the same clearness of Evidence from the Letter of the Commandment it self yet I shall not scruple to affirm That it may be inferr'd from thence by necessary consequence and not onely be prov'd to be a part of the Precept but the principal one For how is that day kept as holy which hath nothing holy performed in it Or what reference can it have to God as the Word holy implies where God is not at all honour'd in it Neither will it suffice to say That the very Resting on that day is of it self a Consecration of it unto God For as it becomes a Consecration onely by the Parties so resting in compliance with the Command and Ends of God so it supposeth at least that they should on that day order their Thoughts to him and rest from their ordinary Labours in contemplation of his Command and in remembrance of his resting from that great Work of the Creation Again Though to rest from their ordinary Labours especially as was before understood were a kind of devoting it unto God yet there being other and more acceptable ways of keeping it holy than by a simple Rest from them it is but reasonable to think when God caution'd the Jews so to remember it he design'd no less to be honour'd other ways Lastly Forasmuch as God not onely commanded to keep it holy but in this very Precept represents it as his own * But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God as in Isaiah ‖ Isa 58.13 under the Title of his holy day and the holy of the Lord he thereby manifestly implies that it should be dedicated to his Worship and not onely not be profan'd by ordinary Service but hallowed by his own For how is it God's Holy day but by being dedicated to his Service or how observ'd as such but by giving him his proper Service in it Whence it is that where the Prophet Isaiah gives it those Elogies he insers our honouring him from them as well as the not pleasuring of our selves Though therefore so much be not directly and in terminis express'd yet it is clearly enough imply'd that God design'd his own Honour and Service in it and commanded it to be set apart for the performance of it Lastly As God design'd the setting apart of a certain Time for his own Worship so more especially for the Publick one Of which though there be no Indication in the Commandment it self yet there is proof sufficient in the 23d Chapter of Levitious where we find not onely the forementioned Rest required but the day it self appointed for an holy Convocation as you may see ver 2. of that Chapter And accordingly though the Jews did generally look no farther than the Letter of the Law and some of them as is probable here content themselves with an outward Rest as by which they thought to satisfie the Commandment yet the generality of them have in all times look'd upon the Service of God as the End for which they were commanded to keep the Sabbath For thus Josephus in his second Book against Appion tells us Thorndike of Religious Assemblies ch 2. where this of Josephus and that of Philo are quoted That Moses propounded to the Jews the most excellent and necessary Learning of the Law not by hearing it once or twice but every seventh day laying aside their Works he commanded them to assemble for the hearing of the Law and throughly and exactly to learn it As in like manner Philo in his Third Book of the Life of Moses That the Custom was always when occasion gave way but principally on the seventh day to be exercis'd in Knowledge the Chief going before and teaching the rest increasing in goodness and bettering in Life and Manners I will conclude this Particular with that of St. James Acts 15.21 where to fortifie his Opinion concerning the prohibiting of Blood to the Gentile Christians he alledgeth for a Reason That Moses had in old time them that preach'd him being read in the Synagogues every Sabbath-day From all which put together it is evident that the Service of God and particularly the Publick one was the Thing designed in this Commandment The Jews themselves who were none of the most quick-sighted being able to discern it and accordingly both of old and in latter days framing their Practice after it The general Design of the Commandment being thus unfolded proceed we to the Particular Things under Command which for my more orderly proceeding in this Affair I will rank under two Heads to wit 1. Such as appertain to
AN EXPLICATION OF THE DECALOGUE OR Ten Commandments WITH REFERENCE TO THE CATECHISM OF THE CHURCH of ENGLAND To which are premised by way of Introduction Several GENERAL DISCOURSES concerning GOD'S both NATURAL and POSITIVE LAWS By Gabriel Towerson sometimes Fellow of All-Souls College in Oxford and now Rector of Wellwyn in Hertfordshire Philo in Praefat. ad Librum de Decalogo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΔΙ ' ΑΥΤΟΥ ΜΟÎΟΥ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ÎΟΜΟΥΣ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΠΟΜΩΠ〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΑ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΔΙΑ ΤΟΥΠΡΟΦΗΤΟ Î¥ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΕΠ' ΕΚΕΙÎΟΥΣ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by J. Macock for John Martyn at the Bell in St Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXVI TO The Most Reverend FATHER in God GILBERT By Divine Providence LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY Primate of all England and Metropolitan AND One of His Majesties most Honourable Privy-Council c. May it please Your Grace I Have here attempted an Explication of that part of our Church-Catechism which respects the Decalogue or Ten Commandments Not out of any great opinion of mine own Abilities for such an undertaking of which they who know me know me to be sufficiently diffident but out of a due sense of the want of a just Discourse upon this Argument which by no Man that I know of hath been handled according to its worth It was once in my thoughts to have suppressed it till I could have finished an Explication of the whole Catechism as conceiving that that would have been more compleat and more acceptable to the World But considering with my self that it would require some time to revise what I have already done and much more to add to and perfect it and since what is now offered to Your Grace and with Your Graces Leave to the Publick view also is entire enough if I have acquitted my self in it as I ought I thought I should no way disoblige my Readers if I sent this part of it before the rest to try the Judgment of the World Especially since it is not impossible but that I may entertain a better opinion of my own Labours than they shall be found by more competent Judges to deserve If any thing may seem with Reason to make such a procedure improper it is that I have referr'd my self to those Parts that are not yet published for the proof of some things asserted here But as it is only for such things as have been abundantly proved by others and which therefore especially in loco non suo I might the better wave the confirmation of so they are for the most part if not only such as by the Laws of Discourse are to be supposed by all that will entreat of this Argument However if what is now tendred find acceptance that blot shall not long lye upon it and if not the imperfectness thereof will be the most pardonable quality of my Discourse or at least will be more excusable than my troubling the World with more In this Treatise I have endeavoured out of that heap which so copious a subject presents to select such matter as is most considerable and pertinent to deliver my sense concerning it in proper and intelligible expressions and lastly to confirm that by solid Reasons For other things I have not been much sollicitous and much less as Solomon speaks to find out acceptable words as conceiving such more proper to perswade than inform which is or ought to be the Design of an Explication If any taking occasion from this rude Discourse of mine shall oblige the World with a more perfect one he shall find me among the foremost to return him thanks for it Both because of the benefit I shall reap in common with others from it and also because I shall have the satisfaction of considering that if I have not been my self so fortunate in Explaining the Ten Commandments yet I have stirred up those that are and thereby have fulfilled a Commandment the observation whereof is of more advantage than the most accurate Explication of them all In the mean time as I hope these my Labours will not be altogether unuseful so I lay them at Your Grace's feet as a Recognition of those many favours You have been pleased to confer upon me and of that Duty I owe to the Church of England for the safe-guard whereof as Your Grace hath with great prudence and conduct happily presided in an Age wherein You have met with more than ordinary Discouragements so that God will still preserve Your Grace for the farther benefit thereof is the hearty Prayer of Your Grace's in all bounden Duty and Service GABRIEL TOWERSON THE DECALOGUE OR TEN COMMANDMENTS As they are described and explained by the Catechism of the Church of ENGLAND Quest YOV said that your Godfathers and Godmothers did promise for you that you should keep Gods Commandments Tell me how many there be Answ Ten. Quest Which be they Answ The same which God spake in the Twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage I. Thou shalt have none other Gods but me II. Thou shalt not make to thy self any Graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the Water under the Earth Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my Commandments III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy Son and thy Daughter thy Man-servant and thy Maid-servant thy Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore the Lord blessed seventh day and hallowed it V. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee VI. Thou shalt do no murther VII Thou shalt not commit adultery VIII Thou shalt not steal IX Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour X. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours House thou shalt not covet thy Neighbours Wife nor his Servant nor his Maid nor his Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Quest What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments Answ I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Quest What is
guiltless to a sense more severe than the Words do of themselves import The forementioned Story shewing it to be alike or rather more severe than the visiting of the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children to the third and fourth Generation with which the former Commandment is enforc'd From the Business of the Gibeonites pass we to a no less famous Instance of God's displeasure against Zedekiah who after he had given an Oath of Fidelity to the King of Babylon yet no less impiously than foolishly brake it by rebelling against him For Shall he saith God by the Prophet Ezekiel prosper Shall he escape that doth such things or shall he break the Covenant and be delivered As I live saith the Lord God surely in the place where the King dwelleth that made him King whose Oath he despised even with him in Babylon shall he die Ezek. 17.15 16. And again vers 18. and so on Seeing he despised the Oath by breaking the Covenant when loe he had given his hand and hath done all these things he shall not escape Therefore thus saith the Lord God As I live surely mine Oath that he hath despised and my Covenant that he hath broken even it will I recompence upon his own head And I will spread my net upon him and he shall be taken in my snare and I will bring him to Babylon and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespass'd against me Which accordingly we find to have come to pass For the same Scripture informs us That because Zedekiah rebell'd against King Nebuchadnezzar who had made him swear by God God brought upon him the Army of the King of Babylon which took him and brought him to their Master where he had Judgment given upon him and after he had had his Sons slain before his Eyes had those miserable Eyes of his put out as you may see in Jeremiah chap. 39. Such was the displeasure of God against King Zedekiah for violating the Oath of God And if so we may be sure God will not hold any Man guiltless that so taketh his Name in vain The onely thing remaining to be prov'd is That God will not hold him guiltless who dishonoureth his Name in a Vow which accordingly I come now to evince In order whereunto I will consider first those who make unlawful or trifling Vows and then those who violate what they have made That God will not hold him guiltless who sins in Vowing will manifestly appear if we reflect upon his displeasure against the Profaner of his Name in an Oath For inasmuch as a Vow is more Sacred than an Oath because whilst in the latter God is onely cited as a Witness in a Vow we contract with him as a Party he who holds the Swearer guilty must be thought to do so much more to him who profanes his Name in a Vow and doth not onely apply it to a Sin or to an Impertinence but as I may so speak doth it to his face The Reason is the same in him who breaks the Vow he hath made and acts contrary to what he hath most solemnly promis'd to the Almighty he that so does as he contracted with God as with a Party so falsifying to him directly and immediately and consequently because so much the more dishonouring him the more liable to the severity of his displeasure And accordingly when Ananias and Saphira had agreeably to the Custom of those Times by a Vow dedicated the Price of their Possessions unto God God for a partial breach of that their Vow inflicted a sudden death upon them and made them feel the dreadfulness of that Name which they had profan'd So true is that of Solomon * Prov. 20.25 even in the Times of the Gospel That it is a snare to a man to devour that which is holy and after vows to make inquiry The forementioned Offenders having not onely been taken in the Snare but made to feel the Hands of the Fowler Thus which way soever Men take the Name of God in vain they incur the displeasure of the Almighty and though they are not always immediately punish'd yet they are so often enough to shew that God doth not hold any of them guiltless and that whom he now spares he will punish so much the more hereafter when he comes to render to every Man according to his Works What remains then but that I admonish if not for the Sacredness of the Name of God yet that at least for the security of their own Souls and Persons Men would not take that Name of his in vain For if either the Threat of God or the Exemplifications of it in those that have offended may be credited the taking of his Name in vain however such as to what it is apply'd to yet will not be vain as to the Consequences thereof For as it shall be with effect so a very direful one to those who are the Authors of it They shall not as they do often with Men find Commendation and Applause they shall not be look'd upon as so much the better bred or the greater Wits for it lastly they shall not as they do for the most part here find an Excuse for their Profanations and be absolv'd either from all Offence or all that is notorious God whose Name they take in vain and who is the most competent Judge of their Actings having promis'd or rather threatned that he will look upon them under another notion and not onely not hold them guiltless but look upon them as notorious Offenders And indeed thus far the Judgment of the World hath concurr'd with that of God as to condemn the taking of it to a Lie False Swearing and Perjury having not onely been branded with reproachful Punishments but the Authors thereof excluded from giving Testimony in any Courts of Judicature If other Profanations of God's Name have not found the like Censure it is not so much because they imagin'd them specifically different but because they are not so immediately destructive to Humane Society which Humane Judicatures are more particularly oblig'd to preserve But as that is accidental to the taking of God's Name in vain or at least makes the Crime to which it adheres onely gradually different from the other so the Judgment-seat of God takes notice of all that entrencheth upon his Honour and will therefore be sure not to hold them guiltless who any way take his Name in vain THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT Remember that thou keép holy the Sabbath day Six days shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant thy cattel and the stranger that is within thy gates For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day wherefore
Commemoration of the Resurrection of our Saviour it is in reason to begin when that Resurrection did which we find to have been when it began to dawn towards day All therefore that can be meant in respect of us must be the Observation of such a portion of Time as their Day amounted to which is the space of Twenty four Hours or the Natural Day But even here it will be a hard matter to find any thing in Nature to evince our Obligation to it For though Nature it self perswade that a competent time be appointed for the Publick Worship of God yet that the Time so appointed should consist of just so many Hours this no Principle in Nature teacheth so far as I have been acquainted with them The onely thing that can found the Observation of such a Time is that Positive Law which is now before us But as I have already shewn the Letter thereof not to concern us as to the Day here requir'd so Christianity being apparently not so nice as to the observation of Circumstances we are in reason to measure our own Obligation as to the time of our Worship rather by the Equity than Letter of the Commandment which what that is I shall in due place declare Now though from what hath been said a Judgment may be made what we are to think of the Observation of a Seventh day and particularly of that Seventh day which was the Jewish Sabbath yet to make my Discourse so much the more compleat and because there want not particular Arguments to propugn my Opinion in those Particulars I will make it my Business to shew That there is no Obligation upon us Christians either from the Law of Nature or this particular Precept to observe either a precise Seventh day or that Seventh day which the Jews observ'd To begin with the former of these even the Observation of a Seventh which hath by some Men been pleaded for with so great earnestness concerning which I shall shew first That it hath no Foundation in the Law of Nature and secondly That it hath as little in this if consider'd in respect of us That it hath not in the former this one Character of the Law of Nature may suffice any sober Man to conclude For the Law of Nature prescribing onely such things to our Observation as are in their own Nature good before the superinducing of any Positive Law it would follow that the Observation of a Seventh day had a peculiar Goodness in it and that it ought to be observ'd though God had by no Positive Law enjoyn'd it But what Goodness can even they who profess to believe it Moral shew in a Seventh day more than in a Sixth or Eighth or any other Day whatsoever unless it be that God rested upon it from the Works of the Creation which is the Reason here alledg'd for its observance But first of all if God's resting upon it gave it any peculiar Goodness what need was there of his adding his Blessing and Command to oblige Men to the Observance of it For the Day being Holy without and before it it would have suffic'd to have declar'd That that was the Day on which he rested Again Forasmuch as Blessing and Sanctifying supposeth that which is so blessed and sanctified to have been before in the common condition of Things God's so blessing and sanctifying of the Seventh day supposeth that to have been of the nature of other Days and consequently not to be consecrated by his bare Resting on it Lastly Forasmuch as whatsoever Goodness there is in any thing it must be suppos'd to descend upon it by the Influence of the Divine if we suppose the Seventh day to have had any peculiar Goodness and Holiness we must also suppose it to have receiv'd it from the same Influx which cannot be affirm'd in the present case because that to which it is ascrib'd is not any Influence of the Divine Goodness but onely the Suspension of it I conclude therefore That God's Rest upon it did not give the Seventh day any peculiar Holiness and consequently because that is the onely Reason alledg'd that there is nothing of Morality in the Observance of it From Nature and Morality therefore pass we to the present Precept and inquire whether that induceth any Obligation upon us to observe it Give me leave onely to premise That the Question is not as is commonly deem'd Whether One in Seven be of necessity to be observ'd but Whether a Seventh day after Six days of Labour For though it be true that he who requires a Seventh day requires One in Seven yet requiring it with reference to God's Rest from his Six days of Creation he determines it to the last of those Seven because no other beside the last can answer it Which said I shall not stick to affirm That there is no Obligation upon us as to a Seventh because the Precept so considered related onely to the Jews For the evidencing whereof I will alledge that of Exodus chap. 31.16 17. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual Covenant It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed For as it is sufficiently known that the Covenant between God and the Israelites left no place for any that was not of their Nation or Religion so the Sabbath being for a Sign of that Covenant was consequently to extend no farther than the Covenant did and therefore also to no other than themselves The onely difficulty is Whether what is affirm'd of the Sabbath in particular be to be understood also of a Seventh day in the general For the resolution whereof we shall need to go no further than the close of that Place we have now before us For affirming the Sabbath whereof he speaks to be a Sign between him and the Children of Israel as it was an Image of his own Rest after his Six days work of Creation he thereby appropriates to them though not the Remembrance of the Creation yet the keeping such a Memorial of it and consequently of a Seventh day And indeed however some Men contend eagerly for a Seventh day as supposing thereby to advance the Authority of that which we Christians think our selves obliged to observe yet the granting of it to them would serve onely to discredit that Day for which they so contend For though the Lord's-day be One of Seven yet it is the First of those Seven and is not preceded by Six days of Labour but followed By which means it holds no analogy with the Design of the Institution because intended to commemorate the Six days of the Creation and that Rest which followed Neither will it suffice to say as perhaps it may be That the Analogy between it and that Rest it is propos'd to imitate may be salved
ordinary enjoyn'd even as to their not stirring from their Habitations Now concerning each of these Rests I shall not stick to affirm that according as before-stated they are not onely not obligatory to us Christians but superstitious That they are not obligatory will appear if we consider that the Sabbath it self is not For the Sabbath as was before-shewn being peculiar to the Jews to whom it was given as a Sign of the Covenant between God and them that Rest which gave it its Name and a great part of its Nature must be look'd upon as in like manner peculiar to them and consequently not obligatory to us But neither is it less evident that such a Rest would be superstitious if either impos'd or observ'd as Religious because placing Religion in that which however it might have some place in the Jewish yet is no part of the Christian because exhibiting that better Rest of which the other was a Type If therefore there be any Obligation upon us from the Rest here commanded it must be either to the Observation of that Spiritual Rest of which it was a Type or to such a Bodily one as is requisite to the Solemn Performance of God's Worship each of which I come now to consider Of the former of these Rests there is not the least doubt to be made that is to say of a Spiritual one or Rest from Sin For it being evident on the one hand that the Law of Moses was written for our Direction and Obedience as well that which is * See the Discourse concerning the Positive Laws of God c. Ceremonial as that which was Moral and Substantial and it being no less evident on the other that that of it which was Ceremonial was not written to oblige us to the Ceremony it self it follows because it was written for our Direction and Obedience that it was intended to oblige us to those Spiritual Duties of which the other were Types and Shadows Now forasmuch as the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews was a Type of some Christian Duty forasmuch as there is no Duty in Christianity which can better answer it than a Rest from Sin it follows that though we look not upon our selves as concern'd in the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews yet we look upon our selves as concern'd in that Rest of which it was a Type and accordingly cease from our Sinful Works as they did on the Sabbath from the Works of their several Employments Again Though the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews oblige us rather to the Thing signified by it than to the Rest it self though in the Circumstances in which it was enjoyn'd it was apparently Legal and consequently one of those Bondages from which Christ came to set us free yet so far forth as that is requisite to the performance of God's Worship there is no doubt it doth oblige us even as to the thing it self Because as was before shewn * See Part 1. of the Explic. of this Commandment a part of the Moral Law and subordinate to the main End of this But from hence as was there observ'd it will follow that we are to rest from our Employments both in and some time before the Time of God's Solemn Worship the Mind of Man being neither able to intend them both at once nor yet the Service of God alone with that freedom which it ought where the Cares of this World press too near upon it Which though it amount not to the strictnesses of the Jewish Sabbath yet will oblige us to such a Rest as will leave little leisure for other earthly Thoughts than what the Necessity of our Affairs or the Conveniences of Life will take up But as farther than this I neither shall nor dare press upon you the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews so even they who are more severe will not know how to free themselves if they should be press'd with their own Actions For who of them thinks himself a Sinner for gathering a few Sticks on the Christian Sabbath or going about to kindle a Fire on it The * Exod. 35.3 latter whereof was yet expresly forbidden the Jews as the ‖ Num. 15.36 former punish'd with death 2. Having thus shewn what kind of Rest was impos'd upon the Jews and withal how far we our selves are concern'd to observe it inquire we in the next place To whom and in what manner it appertain'd or rather into the latter onely the Commandment being express not onely for the resting of all sorts of Persons but also of the very Beasts themselves And first of all if the Question be concerning those who were sui juris or permitted so to be as to the Rest here enjoyn'd so there is no doubt that Rest appertain'd to them not onely as a Privilege but a Duty the Rest here spoken of being the Matter of a Command and consequently intended to oblige all those who were in a capacity to yield obedience to it On the other side if the Question be concerning Cattel which by the Tenor of the Commandment were to have a share in it so there is no doubt the rest here spoken of appertain'd to them onely by way of Privilege For being uncapable either of understanding or giving obedience to Laws they must be suppos'd to have been free from this and consequently what is said concerning their Rest to have appertain'd to them onely by way of Privilege Setting aside therefore both the one and the other as whose Case admits not of the least difficulty we will consider first of all the Case of Parents and Masters 2. Of Children and Servants And 3. and lastly because there is something particular in his of the Stranger that was within their gates For the first of these again there is no great difficulty in explicating their particular Concerns because the Commandment is clear not onely that they should rest themselves but oblige those who were under their Power to do so For those being more in their Parents and Masters Power than in their own the Command is in reason to be suppos'd to have appertain'd chiefly to them in whose Power their Labour or Resting was From Parents and Masters pass we to Children and Servants and inquire into their particular Concerns Where first of all there is no doubt for the Reason before alledg'd that it was no less their Duty than Privilege to rest from their Labours where they might be permitted so to do The onely doubt is whether it were incumbent upon them so to do though their cruel Masters should have us'd Threats or Chastisements to constrain them to their ordinary Labours For the resolution whereof I shall desire you first to consider that of Deut. 5.15 For it being manifest from thence that the great Design of the Rest enjoyn'd was that Servants should have ease from their Labours it is hard to suppose God would oblige them so to rest when a far greater Evil than their Labour impended on them For by this means God should
Priest as well as Prince as under the Law the Tribe of Levi was in their stead set apart for that Office so our Saviour to observe the same Method chose the Twelve out of his Disciples and Commission'd them and them onely to go and teach all Nations and baptize them into his most excellent Religion adding in the close of it That he would be with them to the end of the world Which being not to be understood of them in their own Persons because they are long since fallen asleep it remains we understand it of Persons Commissionated by them and so on to the present Age For all power as our Saviour affirms being given unto him and he Delegating the Ministerial one to those his Apostles whatsoever Power of that nature can be pretended to must derive it self from them unless in case of extreme necessity or an immediate Commission from Heaven And accordingly as the Apostles ordain'd Elders in every City and transferr'd that their Power upon others so the Chain of Succession hath been maintain'd by the same means without any considerable interruption till of late some have dared to invade it Which is so much the more to be wondred at because as no man among the Jews took that honour to himself but he that was called of God as was Aaron so the Author to the Hebrews who tells us so much adds Cap. 5.4 5. That even Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest but he that said unto him Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee Again 4. Fourthly As to own the Lord for our God it is requisite to set apart some Men to Minister before the Lord in the Congregation so is it much more when set apart to respect them highly for their Work sake and minister to them of the good things we enjoy For as next to the immediate dishonour of the Divine Majesty there cannot be a greater affront to him than to throw contempt upon those Persons whom he hath taken so nearly to himself so God-himself calls the defrauding them of their Maintenance the robbing of himself and moreover represents it as a Crime which even the Heathen did abhor as you may see Mal. 3.8 Neither let any Man say That this is to be understood onely of the Jewish Priests whose Maintenance as well as Function was immediately appointed by himself For as there is no doubt the Evangelical Priesthood is much dearer to him than the Legal and therefore what was said concerning the former to be à fortiori applicable to the latter so St. Paul tells us in his first Epistle to the Corinthians That like as they which waited at the Altar were by the command of God to be partakers with the Altar 1 Cor. 9.14 even so hath the Lord ordain'd that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9.14 5. Lastly which may comprehend many of the former Acknowledgments and hath therefore this place assign'd it Toward the owning the Lord for our God it is requisite we should own him by the Liberality of our Hand or as the Book of Proverbs expresseth it Honour him with our Substance in token of having receiv'd it from him For this being grounded upon a natural Reason and beside that not onely an usual Testimony of Respect to Kings but a Respect that was sometime paid our Saviour by the Wise-men that came to worship him it may seem but reasonable to think that we are under the same Obligation especially when we find also the Bread and Wine of the Sacrament to have been tender'd as an Acknowledgment of God's Sovereignty over the World as well as of the Redemption of it by his Son The onely Question that can be made is To whom these Offerings do belong now Sacrifices are banish'd out of the Church But as that will not be difficult for him to resolve who shall reflect upon the fore-going Discourse so if we cannot find any other we have the Poor always at hand to whom whatsoever is this way done our Saviour tells us is as done unto himself and therefore also in some measure to the Divine Majesty Such is the having the Lord for our God as is here enjoyn'd such the Tribute that is due to him from our Souls and Bodies and Substance And happy they that shall so own him because they are assur'd of a reciprocal Acknowledgment and they shall be own'd as his People who have this Sovereign Lord for their God PART VII That we ought to own the God of Israel both as the True God and ours which is the Second Capital Precept and how that is to be performed The like inquir'd concerning the Third even The having no other Gods beside him Which is shewn to exclude first the substituting of any other in his room where the Heathens worshipping of the Host of Heaven Dead Men Beasts or Inanimate Creatures is noted and censured Secondly The receiving other Gods into Copartnership with him where the Papists Practice in Worshipping Saints and Angels is considered and reproved THAT we ought to have the One True God for our God hath been the Design of several Discourses to shew together with the Ways and Means by which we are to acknowledge him My proposed Method now leadeth me to evince II. That we are to look upon the God of Israel as such and to pay him the Acknowledgments before remembred But so that we are to go no further for a proof the Preamble to the Ten Commandments shews he who requireth us to have no other gods before him declaring himself in that Preamble to be that Lord which brought them out of the Land of Egypt The onely thing whereof there can be any doubt is What Grounds there are so to own the God of the Israelites and how those Acknowledgments ought to be circumstantiated to refer them unto him Neither the one nor the other whereof will be hard for him to resolve who doth but attentively consider them For as the Scriptures of the Old Testament furnish us with Arguments enough to believe the God of Israel to be the True witness those stupendious Miracles it declareth him to have effected and those holy and equitable Laws which he promulg'd so it is easie to see we shall then refer all our Acknowledgments to him when we pay them in obedience to those Scriptures by which he hath declar'd himself to the World For this will shew us not to worship an unknown and uncertain Deity as we find the Athenians and many other Heathens did but him who manifested himself to the Israelites in Egypt by many Signs and Wonders as afterwards by bringing them out with an high hand and by those Wonders which he shew'd upon Mount Sinai And having said thus much concerning the owning the One True God and the God of Israel I shall now proceed to III. The third and last thing contained in this Commandment even The not having any other gods
Benefits they receive from them or be rendred inexcusable if they did not But then if we add farther That they who have instituted those Days have moreover fitted them with such Services as may both explain their meaning and the use we are to make of them so it will be impossible for those who shut not their Ears as well as their Eyes to be ignorant of those Truths the Notices whereof they are intended to convey But beside that such Institutions minister to the Instruction of the weaker sort which God knows are both the most and most carefully to be provided for they are also of excellent use to bring the Occasion thereof to the remembrance of the Strong and oblige them to consider what they know For being plac'd so near as the Church can fix them upon the Returns of the same Periods of Time wherein they are recorded to have hapned and being moreover distinguish'd from other Days by visible Solemnities and the Commemoration of that remarkable Work which they sometime produc'd the notice of them is in a manner thrust upon us whether we will or no And though we may be so bruitish as not to remember them with those Affections which becomes us yet it is made impossible for us to forget them Lastly As the setting aside particular Days for particular Accidents is of excellent use to bring them to the remembrance of the Strong and oblige them to consider what they know so they minister an occasion shall I say or rather an incitement to us all more particularly to consider them and improve them to our utmost advantage For as it is easie to suppose those things will be but superficially consider'd which are not allow'd a distinct consideration so the thus separating them from each other lays a kind of necessity upon Men to look more nearly and narrowly into them and weigh all the Advantages which they contain By which means they who otherwise perhaps would have had but a slight taste of any shall suck them in in greater proportions and not onely find in themselves a fuller perception of their Sweetness but a more grateful sense of his Goodness from whom they come Thus for example whilst the Feast of our Saviour's Nativity doth not onely admonish us of that but in a manner determine our Thoughts to it we have thereby both an opportunity and an engagement I will not say so much to dive into the Mystery as to contemplate the Goodness of him who was so incarnate passing through all those Stages through which his Goodness and Condescension did from the Assumption of a Humane Body to all those humble and even contemptible Circumstances in which he was pleas'd to assume it Such are the Advantages of the Fasts and Feasts of the Church wheresoever they are diligently intended It remains that we inquire in what account they are to be held the third thing propos'd to be discours'd of And here not to tell you because no Man for ought I know hath ever taken upon him to affirm it That such Days have no inherent Holiness in them nor yet because the Church doth not represent them as Apostolical Institutions though the Feast of Easter have a fair pretence to it and much less as Divine Commands it shall suffice me to represent them as set apart by the Church of God for the Commemoration of those Things whose Titles they bear For though this do not make them equal to such as have the Command of God for their Institution nor yet to that Lord's-day which with great probability pretends to an Institution by the Apostles yet as it separates them from the Rank of Ordinary Days and consequently obligeth us so to look upon them so it particularly obligeth us to intend those several Offices for the performance whereof they are set apart For if for instance it be in the Power of the Church to set apart certain Days for the Commemoration of the Divine Goodness towards us there is no doubt but it is the Duty of particular Members to comply with their Institutions and make the Mercies which they so commemorate the Occasion of their Thanks and Praise This onely would be added That as what is so determin'd by the Church may by the Laws of the same be taken away if the Profit or Necessity thereof do so require so particular Persons may without Sin omit the Solemnization of them if the necessity of their Affairs shall so require For if the Sabbath it self was to yield to Necessity much more those Festivities which pretend not to the Institution of the Divine Majesty Care onely would be taken Vid. Daven in Col. 2.16 that under a false pretence of Necessity Men violate not the Order of the Church For so doing they shall offend against God as well as it because profaning those Days which were set apart for his Worship and Service 2. Having thus consider'd the Determination of the Time of our Worship which I said to be one of the Circumstantials of this Commandment proceed we in the next place to consider the Manner of its Observation where again these three things would be inquir'd into 1. What kind of Rest it was to be observed with 2. Whether it admitted of any Recreation And 3. Lastly With what Holy Offices to be celebrated Subjoyning to each as being the principal thing we are to aim at how far we our selves are concern'd 1. I begin with the first of these even the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews in the Observation of their Sabbaths Concerning which I shall shew 1. What kind of Rest it was 2. To whom and in what manner it appertain'd 1. For the Rest enjoyn'd the Jews it was evidently strict enough and such as excluded all kind of Labour which was not either plainly Necessary or was not grounded upon Pious and Charitable Considerations such as were the Circumcising of Children upon the Sabbath slaying of Oxen for Sacrifices or lending Help to the Distressed For beside that here and elsewhere the Voice of God is not as it is in some others * See Lev 23.7 8. That they should do no servile work but that they should do no manner of work upon it beside secondly that they were forbidden so much as to kindle a fire on it as you may see Exod. 35.3 the Rest seems to have been so strict as not onely to restrain Men from Labour but even from moving from their Places For abide ye saith God Exod. 16.29 every one in his place let no man go out of his place on the seventh day And though there is no doubt this was to admit of some relaxation because that would have hindred them from resorting to the Solemn Assemblies for the holding whereof I have shewn the Sabbath to be set apart yet it is apparent enough from the End of its Institution and the Jews * Vid. Act. 1.12 Selden de Jure Nat. c. l. 3. c. 9. Practice that there was somewhat more than
sins ye remit they are remitted and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained From the Confession and Absolution pass we to the Lord's Prayer according as our Liturgy doth in the Repetition whereof there is but reason we should rally together all the Forces of our Soul and intend it with all our Heart and Strength I say not onely in respect of its Author though that certainly should procure its Regard but in respect of its signal Use and Advantage For whereas in our other Prayers we may ask amiss whether in respect of the Things themselves or the Order of our Petitions here we are sure not to offend because the Prayer we so utter contains all that is to be desired and in that manner and order wherein it ought Again whereas in the long continuance of our Devotions our Thoughts may be apt to flag or wander from that Subject which they have before them we have an opporunity to make some amends for it by intending this excellent Prayer wherein all those Petitions are summ'd up The Mind being thus prepar'd by Confession of Sin and the Devotion which the foremention'd Prayer suggests it may not be unsuitable for us to sound forth the Praises of God which is the next thing the Liturgie suggests For though the Psalms which it makes use of for this purpose are generally read and therefore look'd upon by some as onely matter of Instruction yet as care hath been taken that they should be sung where they may be which shews for what use they were design'd so it is apparent from the Psalms themselves that they were intended not so much to instruct us as to be Instruments in praising God for the several Blessings they commemorate And indeed as its Strains are all admirable and worthy that Spirit by which they were first suggested so they are fraught with such variety of Matter that there is no State or Condition of Life which may not find somewhat in them suitable to it If we lie under the Conscience of Sin the 51 Psalm will fit us as containing both an ingenuous Acknowledgment of it and an earnest Prayer for the Pardon of it If we find in our selves that Pardon the 32. will be a fit matter for our Devotion because compos'd by David after an Absolution from his If we lie under any Sorrow by reason of the Prosperity of the Ungodly we have the 72 Psalm to entertain us the Subject whereof is no other than to shew both the certainty and suddenness of their downfal If we have receiv'd any great Deliverance from them the Eighteenth will furnish us with Words to express our Resentment of it as being David's Triumphant Song when God had given him rest from his In fine whatever it be here our Condition may be fitted from the sorest Evils we lie under to the greatest Blessings we are in a capacity to enjoy Neither will it suffice to say That each particular Psalm cannot fit all the Conditions before remembred For as it is not to be expected that they should so an Advantage may be made of them even by those States and Conditions with which they seem but ill to accord Thus for example if the Psalm be a Psalm of Joy and Thanksgiving and it may be too for those very Mercies under the want whereof thou now labourest yet being agreeable enough to the Condition of other Men thy Charity will teach thee how to make use of it by prompting thee to rejoyce with those to whom it is more accommodable In like manner though the Psalm should spend it self in Complaints which thou through the Mercy of God findest little cause for yet so long as there want not such to whose Condition they are agreeable enough there is place for the same Charity and an Invitation to mourn with and for them Which Answer is of so much the more force because we are not now entreating of Private Worship which as much as may be ought to be adapted to our own particular Concerns but of the Publick Worship of God which is to extend it self to the Concernments of all As little ground of Exception is there against the use of the Magnificat because in the strictness thereof proper to her that made it For beside that the Repetition of it is one of the most signal Completions of all Generations calling her Blessed according as she there foretold each of us hath so much Interest in the Birth of our Saviour especially if he be also born in us that it can be no way improper to say My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour If there be any thing in that or other the like Psalms peculiar to the Makers of them it will be no hard matter for a diligent Observer so to accommodate them to himself as to make them fit his Mouth provided he take care to suit his Heart to them and to that Heavenly Spirit wherewith they were fram'd Sure I am what is now thought an Objection against them was not thought so by St. James or St. Paul the former whereof invites to the Private Singing the latter to the Teaching and Admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and spiritual Songs For what other Psalms can we think intended than those of David which before and since that time have in a manner appropriated that Title unto themselves I will conclude this Particular with that Doxologie wherewith they are clos'd of giving Glory to each Person in the Trinity For whilst we thus direct them to the Son and to the Holy Ghost as well as to the Father we fit them yet more to our Mouths because making them to proclaim the Honour of our Saviour and of that Spirit which he hath pour'd out upon his Church Such are our Concernments in the Duties before remembred and not unlike are those in the Duties that remain and therefore in stead of prosecuting them any further I shall subjoyn this general Advertisement which each one may make use of as occasion requires to wit That as the Remainder of our Service doth ordinarily consist in Reading or Preaching the Word in Confession of Faith and in Prayer so Men will satisfie the first by a diligent and affectionate Intention the second by a Resolution to adhere to that Faith which they profess and the third and last by a hearty and fervent Devotion The Morning-Sacrifice being thus offer'd up to God Custom and our own Necessities licence us to retire to our own Homes there to give our selves that Repast and other Relaxation that is due Which Particulars I the rather alledge to confront the Practice of some Men whom Superstition more than any well-guided Zeal hath influenc'd For is it any other to turn a Festival into a Fast and keep that Day as a Day of Humiliation which was the happy Parent of the greatest Joy Nay is it not in some measure an Affront to that Blessed Work by which it became separate