A DEFENSE OF THE Christian Sabbath In Answer to A TREATISE of Mr. Tho. Bampfield Pleading for SATURDAY-SABBATH BY IOHN WALLIS D. D. And Professor of Geometry in the University of OXFORD OXFORD Printed by L. Lichfield and are to be Sold by Chr. Coningsby at the Golden Turks-Head over against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street LONDON 1692. Imprimatur IONATH EDWARDS Vice-Can OXON Sep. 17 t. 1692. A DISCOURSE Concerning The Christian Sabbath SIR Iune 12. 1692. I Had a while since a Book sent me by the Carrier I know not well from whom of Mr. Thomas Bampfield which in the Title-Page is said to be Printed for the Author 1692. It is Concerning the Sabbath Which he thinks should rather be Observed on what we call Saturday than on what we call Sunday I should not on this Account give any Disturbance to the Peace or Practise of the Church where I live so that a Sabbath be duly Observed as to the Substantials of it though perhaps not upon what day I should chuse For I do not know and I believe no man living can tell me whether what we now call Sunday be a First a Second a Third or a Seventh day in a continued Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And what it is impossible for me to know I think will be no Crime to be Ignorant of Nor hath this Author any other way than common Tradition on which he is not willing that we should lay weight whereby to guess which is the First or which is the Seventh day in such a Circulation of Weeks either from the Creation or even from Christ's Time I am sufficiently satisfied that we ought to keep a Sabbath that is a day of Holy Rest after Six days of ordinary Labour according to the Fourth Commandment and this in a continued Course or Circulation But I am not certain nor can I be which is a First or a Seventh day in such a Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And therefore shall content my self to observe that day which I find observed in the Church where I live In Old England I observe the Sabbath which here I find And if I were in New-England I would observe the Sabbath which I find observed there Though I think it may be disputable whether they and we may be said to observe the same day the First Meridian passing between them and us And yet I would not advise to have it changed in either Now I can hardly think that God hath laid the great stress of so weighty a Point as whereon the main of Gods publick Worship doth much depend on such a Circumstance as is impossible for us to know and of which we may be modestly ignorant I should rather think that what Christ says of the Place Ioh. 4. 21 23 The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this Mountain nor in Ierusalem worship the Father but the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth is in good measure true of the Time also And as it is not so material whether in this or that Place God be Worshiped so he be Worshiped Aright so neither is it so material whether on this or that day as that a Sabbath or day of Holy Rest be duly kept The publick Worship of God was then in great measure confined to the Temple not indifferently in any place within thy Gates but in the place which the Lord thy God shall chuse to put his name there Deut. 16. 6 11 15 16. For which any other place may now be as well assigned that men pray every where lifting up holy hands c. 1 Tim. 2. 8. Privately in private places and Publickly in places appointed for the publick And I do not think we are now more confined to the Iewish Sabbath than to the Iewish Temple This premised I can agree with this Author in many things by him discussed I agree that Our Lord Iesus Christ according to his Divinity was God and is so the true God the God that made Heaven and Earth the God who delivered the Law upon Mount Sinai For though we do acknowledge in the Godhead a Trinity of Persons Father Son and Holy Ghost whereof Christ according to his Divinity is called the Second Person the Son of God or God the Son yet those Three Persons are but One God Nor do I know any other true God but One The God that made Heaven and Earth The Lord Iehovah The God of Abraham Isaac and Iacob The Lord God of Israel The Lord their God who brought them out of the Land of Egypt out of the House of Bondage and besides whom we are to have no Other God The God who delivered the Law to them on Mount Sinai And I do agree that Our Lord Iesus Christ is as to his Divinity this God the True God the onely true God and that he was so before his Incarnation How far each of those Actions are to be ascribed to this or that Person of the Trinity we need not be over solicitous What in the New Testament is more peculiarly ascribed to this or that of the Three Persons is in the Old Testament wont to be ascribed to God indefinitely without such particular application the doctrine of the Trinity being then not so distinctly discovered But I cannot agree that Christ as God and Man in contradistinction to the Father and Holy Ghost did all those things for he was not then Man I agree with him also that God who made the World in Six days Rested the Seventh day Gen. 2. 23. Exod. 20. 11. And that he Blessed the Sabbath day and Hallowed it And that accordingly he hath appointed after Six days of ordinary Labour Man should observe a Seventh day of Holy Rest and this in a continued succession But I should rather say that our Lord Iesus Christ is according to his Divinity that God who Blessed the Seventh day Gen. 2. than that the God who Blessed the Sabbath day is the Lord Iesus Christ as he doth p. 64. and elsewhere very often seeming to lay great stress upon it For he was not then the Lord Christ God and Man nor did he bless it as Christ but as God in Union with the Father and Holy Ghost not as contradistinguished from them I agree also that the Law of the Sabbath is one of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments delivered to Israel on Mount Sinai Ex. 20. But I am willing to think it was a Law before Not only because we find it observed Exod. 16. before the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai Ex. 20. but especially because of that in Gen. 2. 3. God blessed the Seventh day and Sanctified it because in it he rested from all his Work And those who are most averse to the Morality as it is wont to be called or the Perpetuity of the Sabbath or Day of Holy Rest and are yet very zealous for the Holiness of Places would be very fond of it if they could find so clear
that some of the Heathens as Iuvenal and Lucian do laugh or jeer at the Jewish Sabbath recutitaque Sabbata pallent and therefore did know of the Jewish Sabbath But not that they did observe it or so much as divide their Time by Weeks Now if we should admit that in some Families where the true Worship of God was preserved there be a strong presumption for 't is no more that they did observe a Sabbath that is a Seventh day of Holy Rest after Six days of ordinary Labour yet 't is a question whether that were just the Seventh day in a continual succession of Weeks from the Creation And if at any time there chance to be an intermission and the day forgotten it is impossible without a Miracle or a new Revelation that it can be restored again And if from thenceforth they would again keep a Sabbath as we find the Pass-over was revived by Hezekiah and Iosiah which had been long intermitted 2 Kings 23. and 2 Chr. 25. they must begin at adventure and thence continue it Now if we consider that the true Worship of God was oft reduced to some one family as in the time of Noah and perhaps of Abraham and even that Family sometimes corrupt enough as was that of Nahor from whence Abraham for that reason was removed and that of Laban where Iacob sojourned and how oft also the like happened we cannot tell It was very possible the Sabbath might be neglected as himself observes p. 63 it had been before and under the Captivity for a long time and made a Market-day as well as any other day of the Week like as the Temple was become a Market-place Mat. 21. 12 13. Ioh. 2. 14. 16. As was also the Pass-over in great measure from the time of Samuel till that of Iosiah 2 Chr. 35. 18. And the Feast of Tabernacles from the days of Ioshuah to Nehemiah Neh. 8. 17. And Circumcision for Forty years together in the Wilderness Iosh. 5. 5. Now if Circumcision and the Pass-over and the Feast of Tabernacles were thus neglected when they were at Liberty how much more the Sabbath when they were Bond-men in Egypt of which we have not the least mention from God's keeping a Sabbath Gen. 2. 3. till after Israels coming out of Egypt Exod. 16. Nor is there the least mention as I shew'd but now in any History Sacred or Profane so much as of dividing their time by Weeks all that time nor except that of Israel for many Ages after And though the Sun Moon and Stars Gen. 1. 14. are said to be for Signs and for Seasons for Days and for Years yet not a word is there of Weeks Nor could they indeed by their Motions distinguish Weeks as they do Months and Years And therefore though I find Years and Months to have been observed all the World over long ago yet Weeks no where that I know of ancient times but by the Nation of the Iews onely nor by them before their coming out of Egypt So that though I am willing to think the Sabbath ought to have been observed all that while yet there is too much reason to doubt it was not or if at all not without frequent intermissions which would in this case be fatal Now to argue as he doth that Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham were good men and are some of them said to walk with God and to keep his Commandments and therefore may be presumed to have kept a Sabbath is but a weak argument as to matter of Fact and to begg the Question For we are not to think them so good as to be guilty of no failings or omissions The Law of Marriage is certainly as Old if not Older than that of the Sabbath the tenour of which was he tells us p. 62. that they Two should be one flesh not they Three Four or Five yet he tells us also that Polygamy or having many Wives was frequently practised from Lamech to Malachi even by some eminent in the Church at that time and by them he supposeth held to be lawful And it may as well be thought the Law for the Sabbath might sometime within that Two Thousand Five Hundred Years be neglected and forgotten as that of Marriage In a time when there was no writing that we know of to preserve it And if once forgotten it could never as to that Seventh day be recovered And I would ask that Gentleman In case the day should chance to have been sometime forgotten as is very possible and not unlikely and that after such time upon finding the Book of the Law as in Iosiah's time 2 Kings 22. 8. which had been lost it did appear that a Sabbath should have been kept but was not as was there the case of the Pass-over Chap. 23. 21. What doth this Gentleman think in such case should be done Must they never Restore the Sabbath because they do not know the day Or must they begin upon a New Account I should think this latter and that it would be warranted by the Fourth Commandment notwithstanding his Objection No other day but the Seventh from the Creation is Commanded No Promise to the Observance of any other nor Threatning for the Omission Indeed in our days when so great a part of the World reckon by Weeks and we be stored with Astronomical Tables adjusted to the Motions of the Sun Moon and Stars and many Celestial Observations as for Instance that such a Year such a Day of such a Month there was an Eclipse on Monday morning or the like 't were more easy to rectify such an intermission But in those days when there was nothing of all this nor so much as the use of Writing that we know of older than Moses There was no way to rectify an interrupted Tradition All which is not said to disparage the Observation of the Sabbath day for which I have as great Veneration as he that pleads for the Saturday Sabbath But onely to shew that we can be at no Certainty and scarce a Conjecture which is the First Second or Seventh day of the Week in a continued Circulation of Weeks from the Creation And consequently I cannot think that the great stress of the Fourth Commandment is to be understood of just that Seventh day in every such Week from the Creation which I doubt cannot be known But rather that there should be a Weekly Sabbath that is after Six days of Work the Seventh should be a Holy Rest and then after another Six days of Work the Seventh should be again a Holy Rest and so continually which is as truly observed in the sunday-Sunday-Sabbath as in that of Saturday As when God requires the Tenth of our Increase it is not meant of the Tenth in Order for it should rather be the First in Order for he requires the First-fruits but the Tenth in Proportion So here the Seventh And this Author knows very well that it is signally noted by Expositors on the Fourth
and to rise from the dead the Third day and that Repentance and Remission of Sins was to be Preached in his Name among all Nations whereof they were to be his Witnesses and Apostles ver 44 45 46 47 48. And did renew his Promise of sending the Holy-Ghost and Power from on high v. 49. He did moreover at the same meeting not only upbraid them for their unbelief Mark 16. 14. but did Authorize them with a solemn Commission for the Work they were to be sent abqut to Go into all the World and Preach the Gospel to every Creature that he who believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he who believeth not shall be damned ver 15 16 and a Power to work Miracles ver 17 18 in confirmation of that Doctrine And to the same purpose Iohn 20 19. The same day at Evening in which he before appeared to Mary Magdalen and the rest being the First day of the Week the very day of his Resurrection where the Disciples were assembled at a private meeting for fear of the Iews the door being shut Iesus came and stood in the midst of them and gave them his Solemn Benediction saying unto them Peace be unto you And in Confirmation of his Resurrection shewed them his hands and his side ver 20. And then a Second time gives them his Solemn Blessing together with his Ordination or Commission for Preaching the Gospel and Planting the Christian Church Iesus saith to them Again Peace be unto you As my Father hath sent me even so send I you And when he had said this he breathed upon them and said unto them Receive the Holy Ghost Who 's soever Sins ye remit they are remitted to them and who 's soever Sins ye retain they are retained ver 21 22 23. All which being put together seems to me very like the Celebration if not the Consecration of a Christian Sabbath or day of Holy Rest and Religious Service 'T is all of it Sabbatical Work and there is a great deal of it 'T is not indeed expresly said That he did bid them thus to meet on such other First day of the Week as neither is it expresly said Gen. 2. 3. that God did then bid Adam and Eve to keep a Weekly Sabbath or that he did bid them to offer Sacrifice but it is very likely Christ might so order it and more likely than that he did not For that they did so meet we are sure and therefore 't is very likely if not a strong presumption that they were bid so to do For so we find it Ioh. 20. 26. After Eight days that is as we commonly speak in English on that day Sennight his Disciples were again within and Thomas with them who before was absent the door being shut then Iesus came and stood in the midst and said Peace be unto you as he had done the Week before and satisfyed Thomas who before doubted So that we have here Two Solemn meetings of the Disciples Two Weeks together the Two first after his Resurrection on the First day of the Week and Christ with them on both And I am sure we have not more for the First Sabbath Gen. 2. 3. On how many more such Sabbaths he so met with them I cannot tell That he oft appeared to them during the Forty days of his abode on Earth after his Resurrection we cannot doubt and its like it might be on these days The Cavil which here he makes to this place is so weak that I am sorry to see it from one who would seem to be serious As if Eight days after or after Eight days were not the same as what we would say a Week after or that day Sennight after For he must needs know that 't is not only the Common Scripture Language but the general Language of Latine and Greek Writers to reckon Inclusively that is to take in both the extreams and so it is even at this day I think in most Languages except English What we call a Sennight the French call huict jours Eight days and what we say a Fortnight is with them Quinze jours Fifteen days and so in all manner of reckoning A Fourth a Fifth an Eighth a Fifteenth and other Intervals in Musick are always so reckoned What we call a Third-day-Ague the Latins call a Quartan and what we call every other day they call a Tertian So they call Secundo Calendas i. e. Secundo die ante Calendas what we would say one day not two days before the Calends and they call tertio Calendas what is with us two days not three days before the Calends So nudius tertius is what we would say two days ago and nudius quartus is in our Language Three days ago not Four So Mark 8. 31. where Christ speaks of himself that the Son of Man should be killed and After three days rise again that is on the Third day after inclusively taken or after the Third day is come whereas according to the sense this Author would put upon the words it should rather have been said after one day for there was but one day between his Death and Resurrection And it is the same in sense with what he says Ioh. 2. 19. Destroy this Temple speaking of his Body And in Three days I will raise it up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as Mat. 26. 61. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is the Third day after inclusively And Mat. 27. 63. they tell Pilate This Deceiver said After Three days I will rise again 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 meaning thereby the Third day after inclusively and therefore they pray that the Sepulchre may be made sure till the Third day Whereas if as our Author would reckon upon his fingers by after Three days were to be understood when Three whole days after that should be past they need not set their Watch before the Fourth or Fifth day Thus Christ's Ascension is said to be Forty days after his Resurrection speaking of a Scripture Computation in Scripture Language which in our ordinary manner of Speech is but Nine and Thirty For Ascension-Thursday if Easter-day be not reckoned for one is but 39 days after Easter Upon a like Account that Christ tells us Mat. 12. 40. that as Jonas was three days and three nights in the Whales Belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth Not Three whole days and Three whole nights but till the Third was begun For by day and night is here understood the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or what we now call the Artificial day consisting of 24 hours day and night and till such Third day or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was begun Christ rested in the Grave otherwise though he were in the Grave part of Three days yet but Two nights So Luke 2. 21. When Eight days were accomplished for the Circumcision of the Child they called his name Iesus that is upon the Eighth
Convocation no manner of Work shall be done in them save that which every man shall eat that is they are to be kept as a Sabbath or day of Holy Rest ver 15 16. From the Fourteenth day at evening till the One and Twentieth day at evening ver 18. that is from the Fourteenth day at Midnight till the One and Twentieth at Mid-night And in like manner Lev. 23. 32. from Even to Even or Night to Night that is from Mid-night to Mid-night or from the end of one Evening to the end of the next Evening So in Levit. 23. 5. and Numb 28. 16 17. In the Fourteenth day of the First month is the Pass-over of the Lord and in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast Seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten c. Where it is manifest that the fourteenth day which is the Lords Pass-over is another day from the fifteenth which is the first day of the Feast For I will pass through the land of Egypt saith God this night that is the night of the Fourteenth day and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt Ex. 12. 12. And what time of the night it was we are told ver 28. And it came to pass at Midnight the Lord smote all the first born of the land of Egypt And to the same purpose Moses tells Pharaoh chap. 11. 4 5 6 7 Thus saith the Lord About Mid-night will I go out into the midst of Egypt And the first born of the land of Egypt shall dy from the first born of Pharaoh c. that ye may know that the Lord hath put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel So that the fourteenth day which was the Lords Pass-over continued till the Mid-night of that day and then began the fifteenth day which was the first day of the Feast Than which I think nothing can be more clear And Num. 33. 3. The fifteenth day of the first month is the morrow after the Pass-over In like manner Deut. 16. 6. Thou shalt Sacrifice the Pass-over at even at the going down of the Sun that is after the going down of the Sun or when the Sun is gone down at the season that thou camest forth out of Egypt which was about Mid-night Ex. 12. 21. Ex. 11. 4. What he offers from Gen. 1. 5. is easily answered The evening and the morning were the first day and so of the other days Whence he would have it thought that the day is to begin at the begining of the Evening Or as the Margin tells us it is in the Hebrew the evening was and the morning was the first day Or there was evening and there was morning day one for in such order the words stand in the Hebrew Or and was evening and was morning day one That is there was in the first day and so in the rest evening and morning or darkness and light And the Dark is put first because beginning the day from Midnight the dark is before the Light And by day one is meant the first day And it was moreover very agreable so to reckon For supposing Paradise the principal seat of Action the Sun may reasonably be supposed to be Created in the middle of the Fourth day Gen. 1. 16. in the Meridian of that place as in its greatest Splendor or if not in the Meridian of that place it must needs be in the Meridian of some place and wherever that be the day of 24 hours being there half past it must have begun at Mid-night foregoing And I doubt not but a Child born on Saturday night at Ten a Clock was to be Circumcised the next Saturday as being the Eighth day not on the Sunday after I have insisted the longer on this because I find him afterward moving another question about what time the Sabbath is to begin and end and lays great stress upon it as we shall see anon Of which I think we need not be further solicitous than to begin and end this day according as other days are accounted to begin and end in the places where we live I do not think the Fourth Commandment to descend to these Punctilio's But if he think it necessary to be more curious in it I take it to be very plain from what I have said that at the time of Christs Death and Resurrection it was accounted to begin very early in the morning while it was dark and continue till very late at night according as we now account our days from Midnight to Mid-night But I go on We have now found our Saviours Example as to the two First Sundays from his Resurrection if at least their first day of the Week be our Sunday imploying the day in Religious Exercises and Sabbatical Affairs with his Disciples How many more Sundays he so spent with them we cannot tell Which Examples of his Two first with their Imitation of him in others after of which we are to speak by and by and the Churches practise ever since looks so like the Celebration and Institution of a Christian Sabbath or day of Holy Rest and Religious Exercise as that we may warrantably do the like I am sure it is more than he can shew for the Saturday Sabbath in Gen. 2. 3. Save that men are apt to think a small thing an Institution and Ius Divinum for what they fansy but as to what they do not nothing will serve but Full Express Words We have next clear Evidence of a like Practise consonant to this Example in Act. 20. 7. On the first day of the Week when the Disciples came together to break bread Paul Preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and continued his Speech until Mid-night Which is so plain that he is much put to his shifts to avoid it That here is a Religious Assembly of the Disciples he doth not deny Paul was Preaching very late even till Mid-night and they met to break bread which I think is generally agreed by Interpreters to signify the Celebration of the Lords Supper and I know not well what clearer Character we need demand of a Religious meeting for Worship sutable to the Work of a Sabbath or Holy Rest. And it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which I think he will not deny though he seem to cavil at it to signify on the first day of the Week But he excepts that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 here translated Preached is elsewhere render'd Reasoned or Discoursed Be it so and if that word will please him better let it be so here he reasoned discoursed treated or did hold forth that I think will not alter the case and he continued or held on 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 this Discourse this Speech this Sermon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sermonem till Mid-night he held on this holding forth till Mid-night which I take to be the same with what we now call Preaching or very like it 't was a long continued discourse to a
the Feast of Unleavened Bread For though it were the fourteenth day at evening yet it was the fourteenth day not the fifteenth And Luke 23. 54. the evening after our Saviours Crucifixion on the sixth day when it was late at night as was shewed before and must be according to the story of what had been done before that time was yet but the preparation not the Sabbath the Seventh day being not yet begun For so we have it it was the preparation and the Sabbath drew on And the Women were then preparing their Spices and Oyntments yet rested the Sabbath day according to the Commandment So that the Sabbath day was not yet begun nor was it ended when the evening of the next day began but on the morning of the day following as was shewed above And as we shewed at large before the first day of the Week on which Christ rose began very early in the morning while it was dark and continued the same day till very late at night And this is the constant Language of the New Testament every where So that when the Congregation of Christians Acts 20. 7. did on the first day of the week assemble to break Bread and Paul Preached to them continuing his Sermon till Mid-night this must needs be on what we call Sunday and the morning following was Munday morning not Sunday morning as this Author would have it 'T is manifest therefore that there was a Religious Assembly of the Christian Congregation at Troas on the First day of the Week for celebration of the Lords Supper and Preaching and Paul with them Which I take to be the celebration of a Christian Sabbath However this he says is but One Instance True this is but one But we have heard of more before and shall hear of more by and by But this one is more than he can shew for more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Years from God's resting on the Seventh day Gen. 2. 3. till after Israel was come out of Egypt Ex. 16. during which time he would have us think the Seventh-day Sabbath was constantly observed And if he could shew any one such instance of Enoch Noah Abraham or other where such a Religious Assembly for the Worship of God was held on the seventh day in course from the Creation he would think his point well proved though no more were said of it than is of this Whereas now as to the time from thence to the Floud he brings no other proof but that Abel and Enoch and Noah were good men as no doubt they were and therefore it is to be presumed they kept a Sabbath and that upon the seventh day Which is to beg the question not to prove it From thence till Israels going into Egypt all that he brings to prove this matter of fact is but that of Gen. 13. 6. where speaking of Abram and Lot with the multitude of their Cattel it is said the land was not able to bear them that they might Dwell together for their substance was great so that they could not Dwell together and there was a strife between the Herd-men of Abrams Cattle and the Herd-men of Lots Cattle c. They could not Dwell together that is saith he they could not Rest together that is they could not keep a Sabbath together therefore he concludes they did use to keep a sabbath and that Sabbath was the seventh day in course from the Creation And is not this a goodly proof I should think if he would put a stress on the word Rest it should rather signify they could not live quietly together without their herd-mens quarrelling about their Pasture for so it follows in the next words there was a strife between their herds-men From thence till after their coming out of Egypt he brings no other proof but that of Ex. 5. 4 5. Where when Moses and Aaron had been pressing Pharaoh to let Israel go three days Iourney into the Wilderness to keep a Feast and Sacrifice to the Lord their God Pharaoh replies Wherefore do ye Lett or hinder the People from their Work you make them rest from their Burdens or you take them off from their Work that is says he you make them keep a Sabbath For the Word or Verb there Translated you make them Rest is he tells us a derivative from another Verb which signifies to Rest from which Verb the word Sabbath is also derived They did therefore Rest saith he that is keep a Sabbath and that Sabbath was every Week and it was on the seventh day in course from the Creation Alas how little do either or both of these places prove of what he would have to be granted him thence He tells us sometimes there were other Sabbaths besides that of the seventh day I am sure there were other Restings If Moses and Aaron had desired Pharaoh to excuse them from their Work one day in seven that on such day they might serve the Lord their God it would have looked like an Argument But when it is to go three days into the Wilderness to keep a Feast to the Lord what is this to a Weekly Sabbath This Seventh-day sabbath so runs in the mind of this Author that if any where he can lay hold of the word Rest it must presently prove a Seventh-day-sabbath Else who would have thought that because Abram and Lot could not dwell quietly together therefore they must needs keep a Sabbath and that upon the seventh day and in course from the Creation And the like of the Israelites in Egypt because Moses and Aaron are said to hinder them from their work Therefore they did constantly keep a weekly Sabbath and that upon the seventh day in course from the Creation He might have to better purpose alleged Pharaoh's seven fat kine and seven lean ones and the seven full Ears of Corn and seven empty for here we have the number seven signalized only these were Seven Years not Seven Days and the like of Nebuchadnezzar's being seven years turned out to the Beasts of the field Dan. 4. 25 32 33. Or that of the Clean Beasts and Fowls coming into the Ark by sevens Gen. 7. 2 3. But what is more to his purpose and which he should not have missed is that of Gen. 7. 4. and Gen. 8. 10 12. where we have the interval of seven days particularly mentioned For yet seven days and I will cause it to rain upon the Earth c. Chap. 7. 4. where God gives to Noah just a Weeks warning of the time when the Floud should begin during which interval if those days were Sabbath days he might remove himself and what was necessary into the Ark before the next Sabbath And toward the end of the Floud Noah sends out the Dove Chap. 8. 8. And he staid seven days and again sent forth the Dove ver 10. And he staid yet other seven days and sent forth the Dove c. ver 12. Where we have the Dove sent out three
Week must we read it at the end the Sabbaths because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is in the plural number when the Sabbaths meaning the Seventh-day Sabbaths were now at an end and the First-day Sabbath coming on in their place If that reading please him it will serve us as well But he is mistaken in his criticism 'T is true that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the plural number seems to be sometime put for a Week but not Weeks that I know of as he would have it And so it is commonly taken to be where we find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the first day of the Week but may as well be rendered the first day after the Sabbath And so is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular as Luke 18. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I fast twice in the week I suppose he would not have us render it I fast twice on the Sabbath day though it be in the singular number as if he did fast twice upon one day But thus rather I keep two Fasts to one Sabbath which is the same in sense with I fast twice in the Week In like manner as the Olympiad may be taken sometime for that particular year on which were the Olympick Games which were wont to return every fifth year inclusively that is as we use to speak the fourth year after the last Olympick sometime for the interval of four years from the end of one Olympick to the end of the next following So here Sabbatum may be sometime taken strictly for the Sabbath-day and sometime for the whole septiduum or week from Sabbath to Sabbath And so is Sabbata in the plural number taken also for a Sabbath-day Thus I take it to be here Mat. 28. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the Sabbath-day was ended in the same sense with that of Mark 16. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of the very same time when the Sabbath was past And in like manner Matth. 12. 1. At that time Iesus went on the Sabbath day through the Corn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sabbatis in the plural number And so it is in Mark 2. 23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet it is meant but of one day as appears by the parallel place where the same is again related Luk. 6. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so Mat. 12. 5 10 12. Mar. 3. 4. Luk. 4. 31. Luk. 6. 2 9. And 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Septuagint is commonly put for the Sabbath-day I will not say Allways because I have not examined it but in all the places which I consulted And even in the body of the Ten Commandments Exod. 20. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Remember the day of the Sabbaths in the plural number And again ver 10. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but the seventh day Sabbaths to the Lord thy God So Ex. 16. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sabbaths a holy Rest unto the Lord to morrow And Levit. 23. 3. six days shall work be done but the seventh is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Sabbaths of Rest ye shall do no work therein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is the Sabbaths of the Lord. Which are the signal places wherein the Sabbath is commanded And the like very often if not always in the Septuagint whose language the New Testament doth usually follow So that his criticism comes to nothing but only to shew how careless he is of what he says if at least he may seem to say somewhat Such is that when he tells us p. 136. that God who hath reserved a Tenth of our Substance hath reserved But a Seventh of Time As though he thought a tenth part to be more than a seventh part And many such negligences which I spare to mention But whether we render it Sabbath-day or Sabbath-days the sense is still the same And the Apostles design in all these places seems to be this that though to the Iews to whom it had once been a Law he doth allow a liberty till they should be better satisfied for each to follow his own judgment without censuring others as well in this of the Iewish Sabbath as in the business of Circumcision and the abstinence from Meats and their other Rites yet he would by no means suffer these to be brought upon the Gentiles as a new Yoke to which before they had not been subject I say as a new Yoke to which they had not been subject For though I do admit that by natural light or the Law of Nature man ought to allow a competent time for the solemn service of God and by a positive Law that it should be at least one day in seven that is after six days of Labour the seventh to be a day of Rest and so much to be intended in the Fourth Commandment Yet I do not think it to be so determined to this day in order as to be unchangable to after Ages We can be no ways sure that the seventh day in order from the first raining of Manna Ex. 16. was the seventh in order from the Creation And as they did observe it then in order from thence so when Christ or his Apostles by direction from him did put it into a new order this new order doth as well sute the words of the Fourth Commandment as that former I do the rather say that this to the Gentiles is a new Yoke because I find this to be given as a sign a covenant or distinctive mark given to the Jews as Gods peculiar People in contradistinction to other Nations just as Circumcision was So Exod. 31. 13. My Sabbaths ye shall keep for it is a Sign between me and you throughout your generations and ver 16. The Children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual Covenant and ver 17. It is a Sign between me and the Children of Israel for ever So Ezek. 20. 12. I gave them my Sabbaths to be a Sign between me and them and ver 20. They shall be a Sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord your God Just as it is said of Circumcision Gen. 17. 7. I will establish my Covenant between me and thee saith God to Abraham and thy seed after thee for an Everlasting Covenant to be a God unto thee and thy seed after thee and ver 10 11. This is my Covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee every male-child among you shall be Circumcised and it shall be a Token of the Covenant between me and you and ver 13. My Covenant shall be in your flesh an everlasting Covenant not as if Circumcision were to be for ever obligatory but rebus sic stantibus so long as things continued in that estate And so it is called Rom. 4. 11. He received the Sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith And such was the Bloud of the Paschal Lamb on the Door-posts
And if it had been on the seventh day how great a proof would this have been with him for a Seventh-day Sabbath This I take to be a Christian Sabbath and within the prospect of the Fourth Commandment And though it be not expresly called a Sabbath to avoid confusion or ambiguity because the word Sabbath in common speech was then appropriated to the Jewish Sabbath yet it is the same thing And if he doubt whether the Feast of Pentecost were on the First day of the Week as was that of the Resurrection he may be satisfied from Levit. 23. 15. where that Feast is appointed After mention made of the Pass-over ver 5. c. Moses proceeds to that of the Wave-offering v. 10 11. When ye be come into the land which I give unto you and shall reap the harvest thereof then shall ye bring a sheaf of the first-fruits of your harvest unto the Priest and he shall Wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for you on the morrow after the Sabbath the Priest shall wave it Whether by the Sabbath here mentioned be meant the Weekly Sabbath or the first day of the Feast of Unleavened-Bread is not material because in that year whereof we are speaking this first day of the Feast was on the Weekly Sabbath as is manifest from the story of Christs Crucifixion which was on the Sixth day of the Week and the next day being the Seventh day was the Feast of the Pass-over and the morrow after this Sabbath was the day of Christ's Resurrection as well as of the Wave-offering And then he proceeds ver 15 16 to the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the Wave-offering seven Sabbaths shall be compleat even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number Fifty days inclusively taken as the manner is in Scripture reckoning and must needs be so here It was called the Feast of Pentecost or the Feast of Weeks as Deut. 16. 9 10. which Feast of Pentecost was the morrow after the Sabbath on a first day of the Week And on this first day of the Week the morrow after the seventh day Sabbath here was a solemn Assembly for Religious Worship and a very large one both of Jews and Gentiles out of every nation under Heaven Parthians Medes Elamites c. And this solemnized by a Miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost in the gift of Tongues For we all hear say those of that great assembly every one in our own Tongue where in we were born the wonderful Works of God ver 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. With a long Sermon of Peter's on that occasion Which I take to be another celebration of the First day Sabbath and a very eminent one We are to observe also that in some of the places alleged to this purpose though but single instances there is an intimation of a frequent usage As in that Act. 20. ◠On the first day of the week the disciples being assembled to break bread Paul preached c. Is a fair intimation that on the first day they did use so to assemble If it were said amongst us About six a clock when they were come together in the College-Hall to supper such a thing happened Any unprejudiced person would take it for a fair intimation that they used to suppe about six a clock And if this Author could any where find in the book of Iob that On the seventh day of the week from the Creation when Iob and his friends were assembled for the joint service of God Bildad spake thus c. He would take this for a strong proof that the seventh-day Sabbath was then wont to be observed Much stronger than what he allegeth to that purpose Abram and Lot had each of them so many Cattel that they could not dwell or rest together without quarrellings amongst their servants And that of what Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron Why do you Hinder their work you make the people Rest from their burthens A like place is that of 1 Cor. 16. 1 2. Nov concerning the Collection for the Saints as I have given order to the Churches of Galatia even so do ye and what that was we are told in the next words 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 gatherings when I come If it had been so said to 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 or to Iob Upon the Seventh day of the week do this or thus what a strong proof would this have been for the Observation of a seventh day Sabbath I think it is plain from hence that the First day of the week was weekly observed and was wont to be so observed both by the Church of Corinth and by the Churches of Galatia For So Paul doth not here advise it but suppose it or take it for granted What that order was to the Churches of Galatia our Author says he cannot tell 〈◊〉 thought it had been plain enough he bids the Corinthians do as he had bid the Galatians that is on the First day of the Week c. What further order he had given the Galatians it is not as to this point necessary for us to know But saith he if they must on that day lay by as God hath blessed them then they must on that day cast up their accounts tell their mony reckon their stock compute their Expenses c. which are not Sabbath-day Works A wise objection As though all this could not as well be done before so far as is necessary and on Sunday put so much into the poor mans box or give to the Deacons or Collectors as upon such account they should have found fit like as is now done in our Churches when there is occasion for such Collections Why doth he not make the same exception to that of Deut. 16. 10. concerning the Feast of Pentecost where they are to bring a tribute of a free-will-offering which says he thou shalt give unto the Lord thy God c. according as the Lord thy God hath blessed thee Doth he think that on the day of Pentecost which was to be strictly observed as a Sabbath a holy Convocation and no servile work to be done Lev. 23 1. they must cast up their accounts tell their money c. because they were to offer according as the Lord hath blessed them I think not But here comes in again his former trifling objection of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether it signify the first day of the Week Yet I am very confident himself doth really believe it doth here so signify and as to his own thoughts doth not doubt of it But perhaps thinks it a piece of wit or skill in Greek thus to object against his own judgment Yet since he will have it so and we must come again to Childs play I
the whole time of those Assemblings employed in Religious Exercises Preaching Celebrating the Sacrament Instructing and Blessing his Disciples and giving them Commission for Preaching the Gospel and Planting the Christian Church And again with the same Disciples on that day sen-night assembled with them and in like manner employed It was specially signalized also by the Miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost on that day in a great assembly of Iews and Gentiles on the day of Pentecost and the day employed in Preaching and other Religious exercises It was observed in like manner at Troas in preaching the Word Celebrating the Sacrament and other Religious Communion as things there usual on that day It was observed at Corinth not once onely but as a thing of course and so presumed by the Apostle when he gives particular Instructions concerning a Collection for the Saints to be made weekly on that day And in like manner in the Churches of Galatia with a like direction to them And we have no reason to suspect but that in other Churches also there was a like custome of observing that day And it is the onely day of the week unless the Seventh-day in order to the Iewish Sabbath that is so much as Mentioned by name after the Resurrection of Christ. At least I do not at present remember the Second Third Fourth Fifth or Sixth day of the week by name so mentioned Now what we have reason to believe was so generally observed after the Resurrection by Christ himself more than once by his Apostles and by the Christian Churches in their days we have reason to believe was according to Christs direction For we know very well that Christ did after his resurrection give commandments to the Apostles about things pertaining to the kingdome of God and â—â—â—â—ling the Christian Church What those Commandments were in particular we cannot tell but are to presume that what they did therein was pursuant of those commands and this in particular about observing the first day of the week which we call the Christian Sabbath And which in contradistinction to the Iewish Sabbath is called the Lords day Rev. 1. 10. And hath accordingly been so called and so observed ever since Which being so practised by the Apostles and so continued ever since I take to be a good warrant for us to continue it as a thing agreeable to the Will of God As to what he so often objects that there is no express command thereof recorded that is not such a command as our Author demands We are not to prescribe to God in what terms he shall make known his Will any more than the Pharisees Mat. 16. 4. were to prescribe to Christ what kind of signs he was to shew to testify his authority 't is sufficient if God do in his own way intimate what is his Will though it be it not with the formality of Be it Enacted And those who are willing to be taught of God will be content so to understand his meaning An approved Practise in the Worship of God frequently Repeated attested by Miracles encouraged by Christs own Example and that of the Apostles and the Christian Churches then and continued in the Christian Church ever since Is to me great evidence of the will of God and that there was a command for it though it be not recorded Like as I believe that there was very early a command from God to worship him by Sacrifice though that Command be not recorded But to that of its being so observed ever since he objects we have nothing but Tradition either that the Christian Sabbath hath been so observed or that it is called the Lords-day And Tradition is what he takes great pleasure to exclaim against If that be admitted saith he where shall we stop Very well I am not over fond of laying too great a weight upon Traditions at least not on all things that are pretended so to be But I pray How can he tell otherwise than by Tradition whether our Saturday or our Sunday be the Seventh day in course from the Creation Or if that be too hard a question whether of the two is the Seventh day of the Iewish week I know nothing but Tradition for it I cannot remember so long Nor have I so long kept so strict account of days as to be sure of it I trust to the common Computation of the world that our Sabbath is a continuation of that Sabbath which the Apostles kept And if so I am safe If not I cannot help it And because I think the Apostles Sabbath was on the first day of the Jewish week therefore I think ours to be so But if theirs was not neither is ours He would not have that of St. Iohn Revel 1. 10. I was in the spirit on the Lords-day to be understood of our Sabbath And why not He tells us 1. Some think it to be Christmass-day 2. Some think it to be Easter-day and 3. Some think it to be the Day of Iudgment And long Discourses we have upon all these Well! But doth he think it to be meant of any of these No. Then to what purpose are these alleged in disparagement of the Christian Sabbath But he seems to have so great displeasure against the Christian Sabbath that whatever he can think of to be Objected though he do not think it to be true he will be sure to Object that he may disparage the Day or perplex the Argument as if he were more concerned to beat down the Christian Sabbath than to set up the Iewish Not considering that by all this he is doing their Work who would have none at all For they know well that the Iewish Sabbath hath been long since laid aside without any great fear of returning and if they can but throw off the Christian Sabbath also 't is what they would have And 't is of a like import what he argues p. 84 for coming to the publick but once a day not twice as our manner is For those who care not to come at all if he dispense with them as to the One they will dispense with themselves as to the Other meeting I should rather think that the whole day being due to the Service of God publick and private it is to be parcelled out as to the number and times of publick meeting as might according to Christian Prudence be judged most conducing in this or that place to those ends and to common Edification and that to make such little Circumstances otherwise than as they conduce to those general ends a matter of Religious Observation or Divine Institution is a like extravagance as that of the Pharisees in laying like weight on their Traditions and that of the Papists on their numerous Superstitious Ceremonies And is as properly superstition as these I do not know this Author who thus argues against observing the Christian Sabbath and against publick meeting on that day more than once And therefore am not willing to
of the house Ex. 12. 7. to be a distinctive mark between the Israelites and the Egyptians as ver 13. The bloud shall be to you for a Token upon the houses where you are and when I see the bloud I will pass over you And so Ex. 11. 5 6 7. That ye may know how that the Lord doth put a Distinction between the Egyptians and Israel And our Author himself pag. 26. doth press the same and puts great weight upon it that this Seventh-day-sabbath is often called a Sign for ever between him and them and a perpetual Covenant to Distinguish his people from others that is the people of the Jews from other Nations And so to be a Sign for Ever as Circumcision is an Everlasting Covenant Now whatsoever was a Distinctive Mark of the People of Israel from other Nations as was that of Circumcision the Pass-over and the Seventh-day-sabbath was at an end and to cease when the partition-wall was broken down between Jew and Gentile when Christ had made both one and abolished in his flesh the Enmity even the law of Commandments contained in Ordinances to make of twain One new man to reconcile both in One body by the Cross having slain the Enmity thereby Eph. 2. 14 15 16. Or as it is Col. 2. 14. Having blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances which was against us and was contrary to us as separating us Gentiles from the Jews and so excluding us out of Gods Visible Church and nailing it to his Cross. From whence he there infers ver 16. Let no man Therefore judge you in meat or drink or in respect of a holy-day a Festival or of Sabbaths the proper name at that time of the Seventh-day Sabbath which things are a shadow of things to come but the body is of Christ these being but shadows or empty things whereas it is the body the Substance that Christ regards 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those are but shadow but 't is the Body that Christ looks at That is in our language those are only Circumstantials but 't is substance or the Substantials of Religion that Christ and Christianity respects And as it is meerly Circumstantial and doth not at all influence Religion whether in the Temple or other place God be worshiped Ioh. 4. 21. So whether on this or another day a Sabbath be kept If therefore those Sabbaths as is shewed were distinctive Marks or Signs of Gods peculiar Covenant or Contract with the Church of Israel as their peculiar God in contradistinction to other Nations then 't is manifest that those other Nations did not at all keep a Sabbath or not on that Day else how could this be a distinctive Mark and therefore to bring this now upon the Gentiles was to bring upon them a new Yoke I add further that this Iewish Sabbath as is shewed before seems to be not a Continuation of a former Sabbath from the Creation which I doubt was either not observed at all or had long before this time been forgot but rather a New Institution or Restitution after their coming out of Egypt from a new Epocha at Marah where God is said to have made a Statute and an Ordinance Exod. 15. 25. to which Commandment and Statute if they would hearken diligently and give Ear he would not bring upon them the Diseases which he had brought upon Egypt For saith he I am the Lord that healeth thee ver 26. Whereupon follows in the next Chapter a sabbath to be observed on the seventh-day from the first raining of Manna not from the first Creation And with reference to their Rest or Refreshing after their Labour or Bondage in Egypt as was that of the Pass-over to their being passed-over when the first-born of the Egyptians were slain For so he saith Exod. 31. 13. My Sabbath shall ye keep for it is a Sign between me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctifiy you or separate you to my self as a peculiar people a holy people and ver 16 17. The Children of Israel shall keep my Sabbaths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 Not that God was Wearied with his Work and needed Refreshment but he doth parallel his Rest after his Work of Creation with their Refreshment after their Labour in Egypt And that God had a particular respect to their Rest and Refreshment from their Labour and Bondage in Egypt is farther evident not onely from the General Preface to all the Commandments I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt out of the house of Bondage but from the Close of this Fourth Commandment as it is repeated in Deut. 5. 12 13 14 15. somewhat different from what is in Exod. 20. where instead of For in six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. Exod. 20. 11. we have Deut. 5. 15. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and a stretched out arm therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath-day Which shews that this Sabbath had a particular respect to that deliverance Now as God by Moses did upon a New occasion of their Rest from their Labour in Egypt give a New Epocha or Beginning to a Circulation of Sabbaths to be reckoned from thence in imitation of his own Resting from the Work of Creation Not by the Fourth Commandment for that speaks indifferently as to any Circulation but by this Ordinance at Marah or at Elim for 't is this determines the Circulation to the seventh day after the raining of Manna So might Christ as well by himself or his Apostles six another Epocha from his Resurrection as we have reason to think he did and this Equally within the prospect of the Fourth Commandment This Rest from the Egyptian Bondage being as much a shadow of what Christ regards as the substance as was the escaping of the Egyptian Destruction of which the Pass-over was the Memorial And accordingly this Circulation equally to cease with that of the Pass-over at the coming of Christ notwithstanding the continuance of the Fourth Commandment in a New Circulation from another Epocha It is not indeed expresly said that Christ Bid his Apostles so to do But as Moses is presumed to do what he did by Gods direction so the Apostles by Christs direction to whom he gave Commandments for that purpose Act. 1. 2 3. As to what he says so often that not one Iott or Tittle of the Law meaning that of the Decalogue is destroyed but doth still continue in force This as to the substance of the Duty I grant But if his meaning be that there is not a Word or Letter therein which doth not as literally belong
Commandment and other Writers about the Sabbath That this Commandment begins with Remember to keep Holy the Sabbath-day or the day of Rest not the Seventh day much less the Seventh day of the Week from the first Creation And what is that day of Rest the next Words tell us Six days shalt thou labour but the Seventh is the Sabbath c. That is after Six days of Labour the Seventh shall be a day of Rest. And in the close of that Commandment Ex. 20. 11. our Bibles have it wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath-Sabbath-day not as we commonly repeat it the Seventh day and hallowed it The Reason given to inforce it is For in Six days the Lord made Heaven and Earth c. and rested the Seventh day and accordingly should we after Six days of Work have a Seventh day of Rest and so onward If he thinks that to make a difference that we now reckon our Weeks to begin with the day of Rest and after that Six Working days which in a continued Circulation comes all to one I will allow that Gentleman if that will please him better to begin the Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh The Commandment says nothing of the Seventh day of the Week in a continued Succession from the Creation but the Seventh day after Six days of Labour And whereas he observes and would lay great weight upon it that it is hashebigni the Seventh the article ha answering to our the not a Seventh 'T is very true and very proper so to be For the meaning is not that after Six days of Labour there should be a Seventh for Rest no matter when but the Seventh day that is the next day after those Six But it is not said the Seventh in Course from the Creation Just as when it is said a Male-Child is to be Circumcised the Eighth day it is not meant of an Eighth day in Course from the Creation but the Eighth day from the Birth And in like manner Ex. 12. 16. In the Seventh day there shall be a Holy Convocation it is not meant of the Seventh day of the Week from the Creation but on the Seventh day of the Feast of unleavened Bread what ever day of the Week that happen to be And Exod. 16. 5 25. The Sixth and Seventh day there mentioned seem plainly to be not the Sixth and Seventh in course from the Creation which I doubt was not then known but from the first raining of Manna ver 4 5. He 'll say perhaps The Jews observed such Seventh day from the Creation and that was their Sabbath But that is more than he or I know or any man living They had I grant a Circulation of Seven days but from what Epocha we cannot tell And when Moses tells them on the Sixth day Ex. 16. 23. Tomorrow is the Rest of the Holy Sabbath It seems to be the fixing of a new Epocha from the first raining of Manna and then all his Arguments from the continual Observation of the Seventh day from the Creation till that time are at an end Whether this from the first raining of Manna be the same with that from the Creation no man can tell And there is Six to One odds that it is not Now that there is a new Course of Sabbath from a new beginning whereof this Seventh day from the first raining of Manna is the First and not a continuation of a former Course hitherto observed without interruption seems farther evident from this consideration Because if this were but a continuation of that uninterrupted Course of Sabbaths then the next Seventh day before it would have been a Sabbath also and to have been in like manner observed that is the next day before the first raining of Manna But on that day we find Exod. 16. 12 13. the Quails came up and covered the Camp without any Prohibition to gather them If therefore they might not now gather Manna because it was the Sabbath but might before gather Quails it should seem that was not a Sabbath And if it be not allowed upon occasion to fix a new Epocha then if the Circulation of Weeks from the beginning of the World which was then about 2500 years old did ever chance to have been interrupted and the day forgotten as in all likelyhood it might be in Egypt if not long before or if ever after it should chance so to be as in the days of Iosiah when the Book of the Law was lost and the Pass-over forgotten men must never keep a Sabbath thenceforth For then all his own Arguments return upon him No other day is Commanded 't is Will-worship no Promise to the Observance no Threatning for the Neglect I should rather think if that day were unknown as I believe it is Any day were better than None at all For Gods Commands do more respect the Substance of the Duty than the Circumstance of Time especially if they cannot both be had Circumcision was to be Administred on the Eighth day according to the Institution I do not mean the Eighth day of the Week but the Eighth day of the Childs Age and therefore on the same day of the Week on which the Child was Born But if by Accident or Default it were omitted it might be done any day after rather than not at all Abraham we know was 99 years old and Ismael 13 when they were Circumcised and what was the Age of other Males in Abraham's Family we cannot tell and a Proselyte at any Age was to be Circumcised though perhaps it were not remembred on what day of the Week he was Born and those who were born in the Wilderness for Forty years together were all Circumcised at once Iosh. 5. 4 5 9. though not all born on the same day of the Week The Pass-over was appointed to be eaten standing with their Loyns girt their Shoes on their feet and their Staffs in their hand as in hast to be gone Ex. 12. Yet our Saviour seemeth to have Eaten it Sitting or rather Lying And none of them were to stir out of doors till morning Ex. 12. 22. Yet Christ and his Disciples went out the same night to the mount of Olives and thence to Gethsemane Mat. 26. 30 36. The Shew-bread was to be eaten by the Priests only yet our Saviour observes that David did eat of it on a special occasion without blaming him for so doing The Rechabites are commended Ier. 31. for obeying the Command of Ionathan their Father not to drink Wine nor build Houses but to dwell in Tents c. Yet did they upon Nebuchadnezzar's Invasion quit their Tents and repair to Ierusalem nor is it reputed a Disobedience The Paschal Lamb was to be kill'd the Fourteenth day of the First Month at Evening Yet if we consider how little knowledge they had in those days of the Sun and Moons motions and if we consider what the Jewish Writers tell us of their very uncertain Method of judging which
them the Lords Supper and afterward the same day to those assembled at Ierusalem with other Sabbatical works and solemnly Blessing that Convention And if our Author by blessing the Seventh day Gen. 2. would have us understand an Institution or Command to observe it We have as much here Christ joined in this Assembly and Blessed it For so much is intimated in that his solemn Benediction a first and second time Ioh. 20. 19 21. Peace be unto you and he Breathed on them saying Receive ye the Holy Ghost He did so a second time on the same day the next Week he Assembled with them in Religious Services and Blessed them He did according to his Promise made on that First day of his Resurrection send on them that miraculous Effusion of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost which being the Fiftieth day from his Resurrection was therefore the first day of the week as was that of the Resurrection On which day of Pentecost we find them also otherwise exercised in Religious Employments and attested further by a miraculous conversion of three thousand souls We find St. Paul at Troas Act. 20. Preaching to the Disciples assembled as it seems their manner was on the first day of the week to break bread that is to celebrate the Lords Supper That such Assemblies were wont to be at Corinth on the first day of the Week the Apostle presumes or takes for granted and gives direction for a Collection to be then made 1 Cor. 16. And he had so done before as he there signifies to the Churches of Galatia presuming or taking for granted that they also did so use to meet on the first day of the Week And we have no reason to doubt but that such Meetings were wont to be in other Churches We cannot doubt but that other of the Apostles did disperse themselves in other parts of the World though we have not a like account of their Travels as we have of Paul's recorded by St. Luke But we are to presume though it be not recorded that their Doctrine and Practise was consonant to his and that accordingly they had such weekly meetings on the Lords Day as these Churches had of whom we have the History Hence that day had the name given of the Lords day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as we find it called Rev. 1. 10. as that of the Sacrament is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Lords Supper 1 Cor. 11. 20. which name it retaineth to this day and for such purpose And all this I think is sufficient for us to continue our Observation of the same day I am sure 't is much more than he can shew for his seventh-day Sabbath for more than two thousand five hundred years from the first Creation It is not necessary that we have express words of Command Recorded We have no Record in Scripture of such express words of Command for the Seventh-day Sabbath till after Israels coming out of Egypt nor for the Worshiping of God by Sacrifice nor for other things which yet were Duties before any Record of such express words of Command It is enough if we can otherwise Collect it to be Gods Will according to the best light we have If this Gentleman think himself obliged to keep the Jewish Sabbath also this doth not hurt us This I think was the case of the Christian Iews at first I do not much question but that they did as other Christians observe the Lords Day The doubt was whether they were not to observe also the Jewish Sabbath as before they did And these Believers who were yet zealous of the Law and thought themselves obliged together with Christianity to observe the Law of Moses did no doubt think themselves equally obliged to the Iewish Sabbath Those who thought themselves obliged to be Baptized and to be Circumcised also thought themselves in like manner obliged to observe the Lords day and also the Iewish Sabbath And till they should be better satified the Apostles permit the Iews so to do If this do not satisfy him I have yet two Expedients for him 1. Let him begin his Week on Monday and then Sunday will be the Seventh day Whether the Seventh in course from the Creation I cannot tell nor can any Man living inform me But it will at least be the Seventh day of His Week 2. If he be not satisfied with this My next Expedient is thus Let him take a Voyage round the World as Sir Francis Drake did Going out of the Atlantick Ocean West-ward by the Streights of Magellan to the East-Indies and then from the East returning by the Cape of Good Hope the usual way homeward And take with him as many as please of those who are of his mind And let them keep their Saturday-Sabbath all the way When they come home to England they will find their Saturday to fall upon our Sunday and they may thenceforth continue to observe their Saturday-Sabbath on the same day with us Which is the second Expedient If you ask How this can be I will make it very plain that so it will be and so it must be For Supposing the Earth to be Round and the Sun moving from East to West you must allow that it comes sooner to the Eastern parts than to the Western It will sooner be Noon in Holland than in England and sooner here than in Ireland If you ask How much sooner We say that Fifteen Degrees of Longitude West-ward makes it an Hour later As if he Embark about Dover Yarmouth or other Port on the East-side of England and Sail as far West-ward as the West of Ireland or a little farther it will be an Hour later and not be Noon there till it be One a Clock at the place where he Embarked And so in proportion an Hour for every Fifteen degrees And accordingly when he hath gone round the whole Circle of Three hundred and Sixty Degrees that is Four and twenty times Fifteen it will be later by Four and twenty hours That is it will be but Saturday-noon with him when it is Sundaynoon with those who staid here That is His Saturday will be Our Sunday And thenceforth his Saturday-Sabbath will be the same day with our Sunday-Sabbath ever after And this I think should fully satisfy him For he tells us p. 39. The variety of the time of the Sun-rising or setting in different Climates doth no way disturb for that a day longer or shorter is still a day and but a day Most certain it is he who shall have thus Sailed round the World will have had one day fewer than those who staid here So it was with Sir Francis Drake and his Company And so it hath been with all who have taken such a Voyage as many have done for it is not a rare case and so will be to any who shall so do What he would resolve upon this case or what he thinks Sir Francis Drake was to do when this happened I cannot
tell If he would go on to reckon the days according as they had happened to him in his Voyage then this Expedient must fully satisfy him For then he keeps his Saturday-Sabbath on our Sunday If he thinks the account should be rectified when or before he comes home and call the days thenceforth as he finds those to do that staid here what shall be come of that day he hath lost and which day of the Week shall he reckon that to be And When must he rectify that account when he comes home or somewhere by the way For it would be just the same if before he come at England he should have landed in France or Spain or on the Coast of Africk or even at the East-Indies and all the way from thence he would still be a day behind them And so he would be with every Ship that in his way he should meet with If he and such other Ship meet at the Isle of St. Helens to take fresh water his Saturday will be their Sunday and on which of the two days are they to keep their Sabbath or must they keep it one on the one day and the other on the other If he say that the account is to be rectified by the way before he comes home then Where or When and by What rule For when ever he doth so rectify it he must then begin to call Sunday what just before he was to call Saturday If he say This must be left to Discretion when and where Then must it be matter of discretion and not determin'd by the Fourth Commandment on which of the two days in question the Sabbath shall be kept But then here will again come in our amazing demand as p. 48 86 87. What man or men without an high Usurpation of the Divine Authority contrary to the First Commandment shall with pretended good intentions assume an authority of their own heads to appoint for this or that place suppose the Streights of Magellan what day shall be the Lords holy Sabbath Who but our Lord Iesus Christ that is Lord of the Sabbath hath power to institute a Sabbath day If the Church or any part thereof be once admitted to have such Power what Bolts or Locks will be strong enough for such a Door to keep it from letting in upon the Churches of Christ what soever pleaseth those in Power I shall not much trouble my self to answer all this Warmth But when that is over if at or near the Streights of Magellan a place I think not inhabited or not by Christian a Colony be planted by some from hence and some from the East-Indies those who come thither from hence will according to their account call that Saturday which those who come thither from the other side will according to their account call Sunday Must they have no Sabbath at all that 's against the Fourth Commandment Or must they by consent agree upon the day this I should think if he would give me leave Or must they keep it some upon one day some on the other This I would by no means advise if it may be avoided Because it would be a manifest confusion and disorder And they would not both if either be the Seventh-day in course from the Creation And which of them is so is not possible for any man to know And it would be more for common Edification that they do agree upon a common day And not much matter whether of the Two This Gentleman if he can consider of it calmly I am apt to think will be of the same mind and think it better to have such a Sabbath than none at all and that the little circumstance whether on this or that day should be disregarded in comparison of the Substantials of the Duty There be many things which the Word of God or the Divine Law doth determine in Thesi which when in Hypothesi they come in practise will require the intervention of Prudentials or Humane Laws The Eighth Commandment says I must not Steal or take unduly from my Neighbour what is His But What is Mine and what is my Neighbours will depend much upon Humane Laws and what shall be reputed a Trespass on my Neighbours land or a forfeiture of his right The Seventh Commandment says Thou shalt not commit Adultery But it will depend much upon Humane Law what shall be reputed a Good Marriage The Sixth Commandment says Thou shalt not Kill But it will much depend upon Humane Law what shall be reputed Self-defense or a Just War or a Forfeiture of Life The Fifth Commandment requires us to Honour and Obey our Parents But in many cases 't is Humane Law that is to determine who is to be reputed the Father If a Widow be left whith Child by a former Husband and marry another before that Child be born which sometime happens 't will be a point in Law not in Divinity to whether of the Two Fathers this Son shall be Heir And if my Father require me to part with what Estate is my own 't will be a point in Law how far I am required to obey such a Command And the like as to other Superiours as well as Natural Parents And those Laws which seem Absolute as Thou shalt not Kill Thou shalt not Steal c. Have yet their Tacite Limitations implied For no man doubts but there are cases wherein to Kill may be lawful as in Self-defense in a just War and for Capital Crimes And in such cases to take from our Neighbour what was His. And notwithstanding the Command of Honour thy Father and Mother or that of Children obey your Parents in all things there may things happen wherein we are not obliged to do what they bid us And in all such cases there is room for Prudence to interpose Not to Abrogate or Repeal a Law of God But to judge what is the true Intent of that Law So not withstanding that Command of the Sabbath In it thou shall do no manner of work yet our Saviour tells us The Priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless and against the Pharisees superstitious rigour he argues not onely from his own Authority The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath-day But from the Reason of the Law The Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath and consequently is so to be understood as may be for the Good of Man spiritual and bodily not for his Hurt And our Author allows the emergent cases of Necessity and Mercy And no man doubts but that if a House be on Fire we may Labour to quench it In all which cases Prudence may be used but must not upon that pretense be Abused Not as if it were left to our Prudence whether or no the Law of God shall be Obeyed But what is in such cases the true Intendment of the Law of God And there needs no other Locks or Bolts as our Author speaks to confine Prudence in such
shewed to the High-Priests the things which were done who calling a Councel gave the Souldiers Money to say His Disciples came and stole him away while they were asleep undertaking to secure them in case the Governour should come to hear it Upon this news being brought by the Women to the Disciples Two of them from the rest went to the Sepulchre to enquire into the business and brought an account of it to the rest who were Astonished at it And all this happened before the Two Disciples began their Journey to Emmaus for they discoursed of it by the way and told it to Iesus who fell into their Company Luk 24. 19 20 21 22 23 24. Now their Journey from Ierusalem to Emmaus was about Threescore Furlongs ver 13. which our Author rightly computes to be about Seven miles and an half of our miles which they Travelled on foot for 't is said they walked Mark 16. 12. and Iesus in their company Preaching to them out of Moses and the Prophets the Doctrine of Christ's Death and Resurrection When they came near to Emmaus it was towards Evening and the day far spent Luk. 24. 29. they did there abide for some time and Iesus with them continuing to Preach on the same Subject and was at length known to them by breaking of Bread ver 30. 35. After which they returned to Ierusalem and told these things to the Disciples then gathered together ver 33. By which time having now walked another Seven miles and an half we may reasonably suppose it to be pretty late at night For when they first approached to Emmaus it was then so late as that it was not thought convenient unless upon some such great occasion to Travel further ver 28. Yet after they were come back to Ierusalem Christ then appeared himself to the Disciples blessing them reproaching their unbelief confirming their Faith giving them Instructions and Commission for Preaching the Gospel and Planting the Christian Church And it was yet but the same day at evening being the First day of the Week Joh. 20. 19. on which he rose but now late at night when the doors were shut that is if I mistake not so late as that it was time to shut up doors as men use to do towards bed-time Not as if Christ came in through the Key-hole any more than did the Two Disciples that came from Emmaus or did Penetrate the doors as the Papists would have us think in favour of their Transubstantiation For they were not so shut but that they could be opened again upon occasion to let him in as they had been to let in those Two that came from Emmaus as well as to let in Peter late at night Act. 12. 16. So that from very early in the Morning while it was dark till very late night and about Mid-night was the same day the first day of the Week 'T is manifest therefore that about our Saviours time according to the Computation of the New Testament both the Jews and the Four Evangelists did reckon their days from mid-night to mid-night And if they did not so reckon Christ could not be said Mat. 12. 40. to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth For it was Evening when Ioseph begged the Body of Iesus and later yet before he had buried it and yet this must be reckoned part of the Sixth day olse he had not been three days in the Grave or heart of the earth And I think they were so reckoned in the times of the Old Testament also Which though it be not so much to the present purpose yet if you will pardon this digression I will tell you why I think so It is I know an Opinion taken up by some and I find it is grown pretty current even amongst Learned men that the Jews in the time of the Old Testament did reckon their days from Evening to Evening whether they mean from Sun-set to Sun-set or from Six a Clock to Six a Clock I cannot tell nor perhaps are they all agreed as to that point But I take it to be a mistake which being at first taken up without sufficient ground hath since passed without further examination from hand to hand We find Exod. 12. 6. the Pass-over was to be killed in the First month on the Fourteenth day in the Evening which I think is agreed by all to be the Evening at the end of the Fourteenth day not that at the end of the Thirteenth for the next morning was the Fifteenth day which evening therefore belonged to the Fourteenth day But it is noted in the Margin of our Bibles that it is in the Hebrew between the two Evening s. You 'l ask perhaps what are those two Evenings I 'le tell you what I think they are The word Day you know is taken in a double sense Sometimes for what we call the Natural day as it is contradistinguished to night from Sun-rising to Sun-setting sometimes for what we call the Artificial day or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so as to take in both day and night Our Saviour tells us there are Twelve hours in the day meaning the Natural day But in the Artificial day of which we are now speaking there be Four and Twenty hours Some please to call that the Natural day which I call the Artificial for all do not use the words in the same sense But that matters not so long as we understand one another Now by the word Evening is understood the end of the day Which as to the Natural day is at Sun-set but as to the Artificial day it is I think at Mid-night And consequently between the two Evenings is as much as to say after Sun-set and before Mid-night And this is what in our Language we commonly call the Evening which is in the Hebrew between the two Evenings that is between the end of the Natural day and the end of the Artificial day and within this time was the Passover to be Killed Rosted and Eaten Nothing of it was to remain till the Morning that is not after Mid-night for as soon as Mid-night is past Morning begins And within this time all Leaven was to be put away that is before the Mid-night of the Fourteenth day Which is so fair an account of it as that we need not scruple to embrace it And it was the Fifteenth day that was the first day of the Feast of Unlevened bread all Leven being put away before Mid-night and this Fifteenth day was to be kept as a Sabbath and a Holy Feast to the Lord ver 14. on what ever day of the Week it chanced to fall And so was the One and Twentieth day which was the last of those Seven days Seven days shall ye eat Unleavened bread even the first day ye shall put away or shall have put away leaven out of your house And in the First day there shall be an Holy Convocation and in the Seventh day there shall be an Holy