continue any longer And thus I close with the fourth general Argument viz. It is not the Duty of believing Gentiles to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath from the Law of the Decalogue given by Moses Exod. 20. Fifthly No Precept to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath in the New Testament It is not their Duty to keep it by any Precept given by Christ or Precedent we have in the New Testament 1. That which is urged concerning Christ's not coming to destroy the Law c. we have answer'd as also that of Paul we do not make void the Law through Faith That Text also we have answer'd and turn'd the Sword against our Adversaries which says the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath and the Sabbath was 〈◊〉 made for Man 3. And also their great Proof in that of James if ye fulfil the Royal Law Jam. 2. 8 10. This I have given a full Answer to in this Discourse 4. I proceed to another pretended Argument viz. Pray that your flight be not in the Winter nor on the Sabbath-day Mat. 24. 20. Answ This Text some learned Men have not I am satisfied given the right sense of But let us premise three things 1. That Christ gave the old Names to Jewish Ordinances very often and so did his Apostles 2. That our Lord well knew how superstitiously zealous the unbelieving Jews were and would remain for their Sabbath Now pray mind the scope of this Text Christ shews how sudden their flight would be when Jerusalem was to be destroyed ver 16 17. and v. 19. he saith Wo to them that are with Child and them that give suck in those days But pray that your flight be not in the Winter nor on the Sabbath-day for then shall be great Tribulation 3. It is evident there is the same reason they should pray that their flight be not in the Winter as not on the Jewish Sabbath-day Why not in the Winter because of the difficulties of the Ways they might be deep and unpassable then whereby their Escape might be hinder'd Why not on the Sabbath-day because say some their Consciences would not admit them to fly then further than a Sabbath-day's Journy It is strange to me that our Lord should tell them a little before that it was lawful to save the Life of a sorry Animal a Brute on the Sabbath-day and bid a Man take up his Bed or bear a Burden on the Sabbath and now hint that it was not lawful or that they would so think to save their Lives by flying on the Sabbath-day believe this who will Was it not lawful to pull an Ox or Sheep out of a Pit on the Sabbath-day or for Men to carry their Goods out of their Houses on the Sabbath-day if a Fire should then happen I do not think they were ever so superstitiously blind Nay to preserve human Life our Lord shew'd was much more lawful on that day than the Life of Beasts But say some it would be grievous and uncomfortable to them to fly on that day in which they used to find so much delight Answ Our Lord gives a direct contrary Reason i.e. for then will be great Tribulation the unbelieving Jews should they fly on their Sabbath would severely handle them may be knock them on the head on this account our Lord bids them so to pray therefore this could not be the meaning of it Moreover he knew his own Disciples before that time came would be convinced that the Jewish Sabbath was ceased with other Legal Rites Therefore this I take to be the direct meaning of our blessed Lord viz. Because on the Jewish Sabbath-day the unbelieving Jews among whom you will remain or many of you when the Destruction of the City comes may be so strict and superstitious as to keep watch and ward at every Gate and Way that you will not be able to escape at least not above one of their Sabbath-day's Journey therefore pray your flight be not on that day This is all I can see in this Text. Both David and Elijah were fain to fly on the Sabbath-day See Pet. Heylin p. 137. Besides some learned Men from this Passage argue for the Christian Sabbath as 't is not unknown to our Opponents as Dr. Twiss and many more and that our Lord alludes to that Sabbath that he knew his Disciples would observe after his Death but I rather adhere to the former Exposition Obj. But the Women rested on the sabbath-Sabbath-day according to the Commandment Luke 23. 56. Answ The Men themselves I mean the Disciples before our Lord suffer'd were so ignorant that they knew not their Lord should die and some a great while after did not know that they should preach to the Gentiles and is it any wonder that these good Women should not know so soon that the Sabbath was abrogated Some after that were zealous for Circumcision c. and is that an Argument that Circumcision is our Duty Besides no new day for solemn Worship was then appointed nor till after our Lord rose from the dead Object Paul as his manner was and other Apostles observed the Jews Sabbath-day they preached in the Temple and Synagogue of the Jews on the Sabbath-day Answ 1. They never taught the Jews nor Gentiles to observe the Seventh-day Sabbath 2. No one Church as we read of ever met to celebrate any Gospel-Ordinance on the Jewish Sabbath-day 3. There is not one word of any Saint that ever kept it 4. All that is on Record is that the Apostles preached to the Jews on that day Why so because they could not preach to them but when assembled together and having a Commission first to preach the Gospel to them they went into the Temple and into their Synagogue and preach'd to them on that day and so did Paul at Mars-hill to the Athenians Acts. 17. 22. 16. 13. as well as to the Jews on their Sabbath 'T is said that Paul as his manner was went in unto them Act. 13. 14. and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures Acts 17. 2. Not saith one to solemnize the Sabbath after the Jewish manner from the observation whereof the Apostles Dr. Young p. 10 11. because of the Authority committed to them by Christ were far enough especially when Paul himself did most severely reprove the Colossians and Galations because some among them stood for the Sabbath and other Feasts of the Jews but because they then had a fit occasion of communing with the Jews met together that after the readings of the Law were over they might preach the Gospel with more fruit in such a concourse of People which upon other days they could not so easily obtain and for no other end as from the alledged Testimony is evident Which things let the Reader seriously weigh for at any time or in what place soever they could they preached the Gospel to the Jews therefore on the Sabbaths as well in their
Reason why any day besides this can be here intended Obj. The Prophet alludes to the general Gospel-day or else only to that very precise day on which Christ rose not that that day should successively be kept Answ We deny not but that the general Gospel-days of Grace came in with this day but in the days of the Gospel this Text also shews God hath made or appointed a particular Day to be observed with rejoycing and gladness of Heart not the seventh but the first Day For it is evident this day was the day when our Lord was made or became the Head-stone of the Corner viz. the day of his glorious Resurrection Where is the general Day of the Gospel called a Day made Is not this as much as that at the beginning the Lord blessed and sanctified the seventh day 'T is not there said he sanctified it for men successively to keep Now 1. Here is expressed a particular Day and what day 't is the Verses going before shew 2. 'T is a day made or instituted for singular use 3. It is a day made by the Lord to that end 4. For us to worship God in or to rejoice in before him with gladness of our Heart God meeteth him that rejoiceth and that remembers him in his ways 1. God hath made or instituted this Day for singular nay for the highest and chiefest End and Purpose 2. And what day have we cause to rejoice in keep and observe like this day For has not Redemption-work the preference of Creation-work The Glory of Creation-work was mar'd by Sin but Redemption-work Redemption-Grace restores the Image of God to us again and puts us into a far better condition than we were in at first In Redemption-work the glory of all God's Attributes shines forth so they did not in the first Creation The day of Christ's Resurrection is the day of our deliverance from Sin the Law Wrath Death Devils and all Enemies for ever This is the Day the Lord has made more honorable and glorious and more to be remembred than God's creating the Heavens and the Earth Are there any dare say that the first Creation ought more to be remembred than the second or the new Creation Or doth the Covenant of Works excel the Covenant of Grace or the Law the Gospel Did God's finishing his Work call for a day of remembrance and doth not Christ's finishing his Work call for the same Certainly it doth and therefore this is the day the Lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it◠And doth not the Apostle say Heb. 4. 9. upon the same foot of account There remaineth 〈◊〉 Rest i. e. a day of Rest to the People of God This is the day in which Christ our Surety received for us our free Justification i. e. our discharge from the Curse of the Law from Sin and Eternal Wrath. On this day Christ made an end of Sin finished Transgression and brought in everlasting Righteousness therefore this is the day the Lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it 1. The Lord made and created the Seventh-day and afterwards made it a Sabbath to answer the end and design of the old Creation and old Covenant So the Lord created the first day and when the new Creation was brought in he made it for a day of sacred Rest and for his solemn Worship answering the end and design of the new Creation 2. The Seventh-day Sabbath was made for Man under the legal and typical Church of Israel so the first-day was made for Man the new Man or for all the true Israel of God under the Gospel or for the Gospel-Church 3. God made the Seventh-day an honourable day answering his design in the first Creation and Christ has made this day a more honourable day answering his design in Redemption or new Creation 4. God made the Seventh-day a day of Rest because in it he ceased for ever from first-Creation Works and took complacency in his Works So the Lord Christ hath made the first day a day of Rest because in it he ceased for ever from the Works of Redemption never to die or offer any more Sacrifice for Sin and took complacency in his Work This is therefore the day the Lord hath made and we will rejoice and be glad in it How made saith one not by Creation for so it was made before 5. And as the seventh Day was instituted and confirmed before the Law was given to Israel Exod. 16. so the first Day was confirmed Act. 2. by the mighty effusion of the Spirit before any other Gospel-Precept was confirmed after the Resurrection of our Lord. It is called Dies Dominicus p. 71. saith Dr. Young Dominicum because as Austin notes the Lord made it this saith he perhaps will be of no great weight with some since the Lord made all days but he seems to have made this day after a special manner namely by his Resurrection from the dead the Commemoration of which Benefit exceeded the Memory of the old Creation or else because it was destinated for worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ c. Thus it was prophesied what Day Christ would ordain for his Service under the Gospel and which Believers should observe with Joy in his Worship Psal 118. compar'd with Acts 4. must needs saith Mr. Warren be meant the day of Christ's Resurrection and doth not the Spirit speak expresly this is the day the Lord hath made it is a day of the Lord 's making and will he that is Tillam make nothing of that what else can be made of it but a Prediction of a Divine Institution which is equivalent to a Precept especially when 't is expounded by an Apostolical Practice as this hath been what can a day made long before in respect of Creation be stiled the day which the Lord hath made then in respect to a Divine Institution an Institution then it is and that on the occasion of Christ's Resurrection Fifthly My next Argument to prove that the Lord hath appointed the first day of the Week as a day of Rest and solemn Worship shall be taken from those clear Examples we have in the New Testament of the Disciples and Churches of Christ meeting together in God's Worship upon this day 1. Let this be considered That that day which the Saints and Churches in the Apostles time observ'd must be the precise day in every week which ought to be kept till our Lord comes again And 2. That an Apostolical Precedent or Example is equivalent or of like Authority with an Apostolical Precept so that had we no more than this it would be a sufficient warrant for the observation of this day Now as the observation of the first day as I have proved hath its Rise Foundation and Institution from the Resurrection of our Lord from the dead so we find on that very day the Apostles were assembled Joh. 20. 19. tho Thomas was not there and our
â—4 The Stone which the Builders refused is beeome the Head-stone of the Corner This is the Lord 's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes Our Lord saith he expounds it of his Crucifixion and Resurrection This is the Day the Lord hath made And we desire to be built upon this Corner-stone We will be glad and rejoice in this day we will keep it as a glorious day a day of Thanksgiving and rejoicing in God Again he saith it was prophesied that the first day of the Week should be the Sabbath-day i. e. the Lord's Day Isa 11. 10. In that day there shall be a Root of Jesse which shall stand up for an Ensign to the People and to him shall the Gentiles seek and his Rest shall be glorious Not only the Father's Rest shall be glorious as when he had created the Heaven and Earth and rested on the Seventh-day but Christ's Rest shall be glorious for all Divines agree that the Prophet speaks of the Rest of Christ from the Work of Redemption As God the Father rested from his Work and his Rest was glorious for four thousand years together so Christ's Rest from his Work shall be glorious Thus Mr. Fenner Object Perhaps some will say This only refers to the Gospel Spiritual Rest which we have by Christ and not to a peculiar Day of Rest Answ The Rest spoken of here may be meant of that and from thence we have also a day of Rest allowed us And by comparing this with Heb. 4. I can't see but it clearly has respect to this Day of Rest the Lord's Day because the Seventh-day is called the Father's Day of Rest and the day of Christ's Resurrection is also Christ's Day of Rest as we have proved Object It may refer to the Great Lord's Day Rev. 20. 12. the Day of the last Judgment I saw the dead c. for a thousand years with the Lord is as one day Thus the Sabbatarians Answ 1. These men would have it to be any day rather than the very day the Holy Apostle means i. e. the First-day one while 't is the day of Christ's Birth or the day of his Death or some feast-Feast-day or else the day of Judgment whereas we find the Gospel-Church observed no day but the first-First-day of the Week the day of our Lord's Resurrection 2. There is a great difference between these two Phrases the Lord's Day and the Day of the Lord for such an Interpretation of the Lord's Day would render it an uncertain time and so directly cross the scope of John in setting down Mr. Ley Sund. Sab. 1. The Place where 2. The Day when 3. The Vision it self And as one observes it is void of all judgment to take it for the Day of Judgment for in the readiest construction of the words St. John spoke of a Day that was in being before he had the Vision and a Day well-known to the Churches at that time But was the Day of Judgment then come or hath it yet been There are more than a thousand years since John was on that Day in the Spirit c. This is an idle dream Mat. 24. 36. for of that day and hour knoweth no Man A Learned Writer answers four Questions on this Text Mr. Geo. Hughs of Plym Aphorisms of the Sab. p. 135. Rev. 1. 10. 1. How will you prove this to be the First-day of the Week 2. How will it be made good that this Name imports a Sabbath 3. How can it be declared or proved that the Lord himself imposed this Name 4. What influence had John upon him in declaring this Name He gives excellent Answers to all these Querys I shall cite but a part of them 1. No indefinite or undetermined time is meant by this day as some would have it but 't is a distinct and determined day owned by the Lord the word is plain the Lord's Day noting one single day 2. Neither can it refer to the Seventh-day 't is as irrational to say this Lord's Day is the old Sabbath as to affirm the Lord's Supper means the Passover This Lord's Day was revealed after his coming in the Flesh but the Seventh-day long before As he was revealed newly in the Gospel to be the one Lord Jesus Christ our Mediator so a new day of his was revealed also which the Church never knew before viz. his Resurrection which was notoriously known to be the Lord's Day 3. He proves it can't be attributed to the day of his Nativity 4. That this Title the Lord's Day was not imposed upon any extraordinary time by reason of the great Revelation given out to John therein 1. He was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day before he received those Revelations therefore they could not be the ground of this Appellation To pretend to Prolepsis here is a miserable shift 2. He writes to the seven Churches in Asia and informs them of the Time known to them when he had these Revelations viz. the weekly Lord's Day It is the Day which he himself made to declare himself to be the Son of God the chief Corner-stone the Foundation of the Church Secondly He answers the second Question viz. That this Title imports a new Day of Rest to be his P. 140. for four Reasons One is this The word used here denoting the Lord's Day is but once to be found in the New Testament where we read of the Lord's Supper and all grant it signifieth an Ordinance where-ever the word is used and therefore so here Thirdly That the Lord Jesus himself put his Name upon this Day 1. The giving or bestowing of God's Name on any time thing or person is reciprocal with himself therefore none but the Lord could put his Name upon this day Who hath the disposing of the Lord's Name but himself Will you say the Apostles or the Church might do it What without the Lord's Commission or Command They would not they durst not God never intrusted any of them to bestow his Glory or call his Name upon any thing but only declaratively from himself 2. All Power in Heaven and Earth was given to the Lord Christ to settle his Church and to appoint Ordinances and to change Times according to the Father's Pleasure therefore he only authoritatively could change the Sabbath and put his Name upon this Day Fourthly To the fourth Query he saith The Influence of Power which the beloved John had in naming this Day is only ministeral or instrumental the Lord Jesus giveth it and he wrote it This is the highest of their claim who are Ministers by whom Souls are brought to believe the Gospel And no more was he but a faithful Messenger to declare that to be the Lord's Day upon which the Lord himself had fixed his Name And thus enough hath been said to prove that this day called the Lord's-day was the first day of the week but to put it further out of doubt in the last place 12. The
Antient Fathers whose Credit and Authority I see no cause to doubt have positively declared that it was the first day of the week that John called the Lord's-day The first I shall mention is Ignatius Epist ad Trall Magnes who was John 's Disciple and writes thus Let every one that loves the Lord Jesus Christ keep holy the Lord's-day which was consecrated to the Lord's Resurrection Ignatius saith my Author was not only contemporary with St. John but was his Disciple or Scholar now John according to the best account we can have from Chronology Dr. Wallis Christ Sab. Part. 1. p. 48 49. wrote his Revelation in Paâ—â—os whither he was banished by Domitian in or about the year of our Lord 96 after which he wrote his Gospel and dy'd anno 98 or 99. and Ignatius dy'd a Martyr under Trajan in the year 107. How long before his Death Ignatius wrote his Epistle to the Magnesians Dr. Young cites the same Passage also of Ignatius p. 53. we are not certain nor is it material In that Epistle to the Magnesians even according to the genuine Edition published by Bishop Vsher out of an antient Manuscript not that which is suspected he doth earnestly exhort them not to Judaize but to live as Christians not any longer observing the Jewish but the Lord's-day on which Christ our Life rose again It is manifest therefore saith he that within eight or ten years after John's writing the Lord's-day did not signify the Jewish Sabbath but the first day of the week on which our Saviour rose again Why should any longer doubt in this matter besure Ignatius well knew what day it was that John called the Lord's-day who for some years conversed with that beloved Apostle and Disciple of Christ I might to this saith this Author add the Testimony of Polycarp Polycarp who was also a Disciple of John and collected and published these Epistles of Ignatius and knew what St. John meant by the Lord's-day He proceeds to Justin Martyr Justin Martyr an 129. his second Apology who saith He was not converted to the Christian Religion till about the year 129. about thirty years after St. John 's Death yet he lived so soon after that he could not be ignorant of the Christian Practice and what they understood St. John to mean by the Lord's-day and how that Day was observed On that day commonly called Sunday there is held a Congregation or general meeting together of all Inhabitants whether of City or Country and there are publickly read the Memorials or Monuments of the Apostles or Writings of the Prophets Again the day called Sunday we do all in common make the meeting-day for that the first Day is it on which God from Darkness and Matter made the World and our Saviour Christ did rise from the dead c. In which places saith he tho it be not called Dominica * The Lord's but Dies Solis †Sunday because speaking to a Heathen Emperor yet it was then solemnly observed 'T is manifest therefore that the Lord's-day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dominica or Dies Dominicus was the known name of a Day so called when John wrote his Revelation that it was a day of Religious Worship contradistinguished to that of the Jewish Sabbath and so observed and so called by Ignatius within eight or ten years at most after John's writing that Book which he would not have done if he had not thought it to be so meant by his Master St. John And in what manner it was observed in their solemn Religious Assemblies Justin Martyr tells us He also adds Clemens Irenaeus Origen Tertullian c. To which I might add Pliny that liv'd under Trajan who tho a Heathen could observe how these morning Stars used to meet early on this day Warren on the Sabb. p. 195 196. and sing Hymns to Christ and not only sing his Praises but celebrate his holy Supper on the Lord's-day And 't is known to have been the common Question put to the Christians by the Pagans Dost thou observe the Lord's-day The usual Answer was I am a Christian I dare not intermit it O blessed Souls saith my Author because they were Christians they durst not intermit the Lord's-day tho they lost their dearest Lives for keeping it The learned Dr. Du-Veil cites not only Ignatius and Clemens On Act. 20. p. 150 151. but Theophilus Patriarch of Alexandria to the same purpose also Sedulius and divers other Antient Fathers as Austin Maximus Isidore and Gregorius Turonensis who speaketh thus This is the day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ which we properly call the Lord's-day Eusebius saith We keep holy the Lord's-day Dr. White cites Ignatius his Epistle ad Magnes Ep of Ely on the Sab. p. 74. Instead of the Sabbath let every Friend of Christ keep holy the Lord Christ's Day in memory of his Resurrection Note there is a Treatise of Ignatius that is excepted against called his Epistle to the Philippians as spurious see Mr. Perkins Prep to the Dem. of the Prolem This was also approved by Dr. Twiss after compared with the Latin Translation and two Manuscripts at Oxon. the Day wherein spiritual Life received beginning and Death was vanquished This Encomium saith the Doctor which this holy Martyr Ignatius hath stampt as an honourable Character upon the lord's-Lord's-day declareth what Esteem the Primitive Church entertained of this day Moreover Theodoret has this material Passage that they did no longer keep the Sabbath but led their Lives according to the Lord's-day in which our Life arose meaning our blessed Lord. Dionysius See Mr. Warren 's Jewish Sabb. p. 22 23. Bishop of Corinth saith We have spent holy the Lord's-day or passed thro it to the end Tertullian who flourish'd about the year 200 saith On the Lord's-day we hold it lawful to feast * Or unlawful to fast because it is a day of Joy and Gladness so that in his time the Title of Lord's-day was appropriated to the first day of the week Origen saith Origen an 226. The Lord rained Manna from Heaven first upon the first-Day which is the Lord's-day Alsted and upon the Sabbath none Let the Jews understand that even our Lord's-day was preferred before the Jewish Sabbath Chron. Patr. Athanasius 's Testimony is also full Athan. an 326. The Sabbath was of great esteem among the Antients but the Lord hath changed the Sabbath into the Lord's-day not we by our authority have slighted the old Sabbath but because it did belong to the Pedagogy of the Law when Christ the great Master came it became useless as the Candle is put out when the Sun shines He affirmed also that the Sabbath and Circumcision were both of them legal Observances Moreover I might cite Austin Ambrose Hierom and many more who all testify that the Lord's-day was the first day of the week and observed as the special Day in God's
sixteenth year after Christ he lays it positively down that the Sabbath was now abrogated with the other Ceremonies which were to vanish at Christ's coming Let no man judg you c. the Sabbath saith he is well match'd with Meats and Drinks New Moons and Holy Days which were all Temporary Ordinances and to go off the stage at our Saviour's entrance And that Paul means the Seventh-day Sabbaths he cites Ambrose Hierom Epiphanius Chrysostom Augustin and their particular Books that they understood Paul thus in Col. 2. 16. as he did Praefat. in Galat. Apocal 10. take what Hierom saith as follows There is no Sermon of the Apostles saith he either delivered by Epistle or by word of Mouth wherein he labours not to prove that all the Burdens of the Law are now laid away that all those things which were before in Types and Figures namely the Sabbath Circumcision the New Moons and the three Solemn Festivals did cease upon preaching the Gospel In the Context and from these Verses the weekly Sabbath no doubt is included For 1. It is part of the Hand-writing vers 14. 2. It is a Shadow c. vers 17. 3. They are commanded not to submit to the Censures of men herein vers 16. And whereas it is objected Object The Apostle doth not mean the Weekly Sabbath 1. It is certain that the primary and almost constant use of the word Sabbath Answ is to denote that weekly Day of Rest which God commanded the Jews to observe Read Mr. Baxter on the Subject and whereas it is applied to any other Days 't is in allusion to this because of the Rest from servile Work upon them in which respect they were like to the Weekly Sabbath as appears Levit. 16. 31. and Chap. 23 24 32 39. which are all the places where the word Sabbath is expresly applied to any other days And therefore the primary and almost constant use of the word ought not to be forsaken 2. Wherever the word Sabbaths is used absolutely as here without any expression in the Text to limit it 't is to be understood of the Weekly Sabbath The reason of which Rule is obvious because otherwise the Scripture would be of doubtful Interpretation and as 1 Cor. 14. 8. the Trumpet would give an uncertain sound 3. Therefore as I said wherever the word Sabbaths is used as here with distinction from Holy Days or Feasts and New Moons it must mean the Weekly Sabbaths otherwise the Apostle would be guilty of an unnecessary Tautology it being certain there is no other Day called a Sabbath in Scripture but what is included in those two words Therefore I conclude by Sabbaths in this Text not only may but must be understood the Weekly Sabbath and consequently it proves not only that Christians are not bound to observe the Jewish Sabbath but that they ought not so to do Take here what Mr. Baxter saith on this Text Baxter on the Lord's Day P. 167 viz. How plainly and expresly Paul numbereth Sabbaths with Shadows that cease see Col. 2. 16. to pass by other Texts and what violence mens own Wits must use in denying the Evidence of so plain a Text. The Reason that he saith not Sabbath but Sabbaths is against themselves the plural Number being most comprehensive and other Sabbaths receiving their name from this And the word Sabbath is always used in Scripture for a Rest which was partly Ceremonial See what Dr. Young in his excellent Dies Domin saith c. III. Moreover can any serious thinking Christian suppose that Paul the great Apostle of the Gentiles would thus write of Sabbath Days New Moons Times and Years without exception if the Seventh-day Sabbath had remained as the Sabbath of the Lord and the Day of Gospel-worship What speak thus without restriction or intimation and yet not include the Seventh-day Sabbath Had not that Day been comprehended and meant by Sabbath Days sure he had let this Church have known it it behoved him to be faithful to us who was our Apostle and so he says he was and had declared the whole Counsel of God Acts 20. yet makes no mention of any such Jewish Sabbath to be our duty to observe but the direct contrary that it was a Shadow and that we are not to be judged or condemn'd who regard it not any more than other Times as New Moons c. But saith the Seventh-day Sabbatarian Object The Ordinances of the Law were glorious therefore Paul could not refer to them when he speaks of beggerly Elements Thus Tillam When compared to the Ordinances of the Gospel Answ they may be called weak and beggerly as Paul shews speaking of the Law written in two Tables of Stone which he calls glorious 2 Cor. 3. 7. yet a ministration of Death and Condemnation vers 9. For even that which was made glorious had no Glory in this respect by reason of the Glory that excelleth vers 10. The Shadow seems glorious till the Substance comes but what Glory appears in it then None at all What is the Glory of the Moon when the Sun appears and shines forth splendidly So what signifies the Shadow of Rest to the true Antitypical Sabbath of Rest which we have in Christ we that believe do enter into Rest Besides St. Paul calls Jewish Ordinances Carnal Ordinances which terms as much eclipse their Glory as to call them weak and beggerly Elements Heb. 9. 10. Meats and Drinks and divers Washings and carnal Ordinances Carnal Ordinances no doubt include all the Jewish Sabbaths viz. Days Months Times and Years as well as Circumcision legal Washings and Sacrifices The Apostle calls them not only carnal weak and beggerly Elements but unprofitable There was a disannulling of the Commandment going before Heb. 7. 18. for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof Take here what Calvin saith tho I in some things differ from him For seeing in the Lord's Resurrection is found the end and fulfilling of the true Rest Instit 2. c. 8. Sect. 34. which the old Sabbath shadowed by that very day which set an end to those Shadows Christians are admonished not to stick to the shadowing Ceremony He it seems concludes that the Jewish Weekly Sabbath as well as their Fellows was a Shadow of that Rest we have in Christ Take also what another nameless Author saith concerning the Antient Fathers St. Paul sharply reproveth those who allowed yet the Jewish Sabbath i. e. they observed Days Months Times and Years as if he had bestowed his labour in vain upon them Gal. 4. 10 11. But more particularly in his Epistle to the Colossians Chap. 2. 16 17. Let no man judg you in respect of an Holy Day or of the New Moons or of the Sabbath-Days which were a Shadow of things to come but the Body is of Christ Yet notwithstanding all this care both of the Apostles in general and more especially of St. Paul to suppress this Error it grew up
it they knew noâ— what they should do with him and this was whilst they were in the Wilderness and they put him in ward for it was not yet declar'd what should be done unto him By which it appears saith he to be a new thing not yet adjusted for had it been a Law from the Creation it is scarce possible that all Men should have been ignorant whether any Punishment or not or what Punishment did belong to the Violation of a Law of such standing Object I know that Dr. Owen saith Dr. Owen on the Sab. p. 62. if the original of the Sabbath was here then the National Observation of it is introduced with a strange abruptness c. Answ To which I answer that it doth not so appear to me however let every Man read the words of Moses again and how he repeats the same over and over To morrow is the Sabbath c. To day is a Sabbath unto the Lord â—gain The Lord hath given you the Sabbath â—an any thing be brought in more solemnly â—ut I see how Men will try their Wits to deâ—â—nd their own Scriptureless Notion of a Sabbath given in Paradise as well as in pleading 〈◊〉 other groundless Practices Object But since you grant a Sabbath before 〈◊〉 Law on Mount Sinai or Ceremonial Laws â—ere given doth not this prove it is a moral Preâ—â—pt Answ No not at all because we find that sacrifices and offering the Firstlings of the â—locks Gen. 4. 7. 7. 2. 14. 20. 28. 2. and first Fruits of the Ground were offered to God from the beginning and therefore should we grant that the Seventh-day Sabbath had been practised from the beginning â—â—so yet that would no more prove it a moral â—nd perpetual Law than it proves the offering â—f the Firstlings of the Flocks and the First-â—ruits c. to be perpetual Laws or moral Duties the Sabbath being a sign and shadow as well as they were so We come now to the â—â—urth part of our first general Proposition Object The seventh-day Sabbath was given in the 20th Chapter of Exodus The grand Argument for the Jewish Sabbath consider'd and answer'd with all the other â—ine moral and perpetual Commandments wrote in two Tables of Stone by the finger of Jehovah himself and therefore it obliged believing Gentiles to keep it and all Mankind 1. To this I answer that if I can prove it is not the Duty of Gentile Believers nor any Believers in Christ in all the World to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath from hence I shall overthrow our Opponents strongest Fort and so utterly confute them which I doubt not by God's Assistance I shall fully do and in order hereto shall lay down three Propositions First The method proposed in answering this Argument I affirm the Morality of the fourth Commandment lies not in the observation of the precise seventh day from the Creation Secondly That the Law of the ten Commandments as formally given to Moses and written with the finger of God in two Tables of Stone and given to the whole House of Israel were not given to the Gentiles nor to any other People in the World save the Strangers that were within their Gates or were proselyted to the Jewish Religion Thirdly That the whole Law is changed and that what was Ceremonial or shadows 〈◊〉 things to come ceased at the death of Christ and all Precepts of the Moral Law or what 〈◊〉 simply moral as they were formally given by Moses are taken out of his hand and put into the hands of Christ consider'd as Mediator our Lord and only Lawgiver I shall now begin with the first of these Propositious First I shall give you the sense of the Learned about a pure moral Precept First The Term Moral being but a scholastical Expression and not properly signifying that which is usually understood by it Cawdry 's Christian Sabbath p. 1 2 3. say Mr. Cawdry and Mr. Palmer we have ever judg'd it a Bone of Contention Moral relating to a Law signifies in it self any Precept serving to regulate the Manners of Men. Dr. White saith White on the Sab. p. 26. A Divine Law call'd Moral is a just Rule or Measure imposed by God directing and obliging to Obedience of things holy honest and just The same is twofold simply moral or moral only by some external Constitution or Imposition of God Divine Law simply moral commands or prohibits Actions good or evil in respect of their inward nature and quality Dr. Owen saith Owen on the Sab. p. 118. Moral Laws are such as have the Reasons of them taken from the nature of the things themselves requir'd in them for they are good from their respect to the nature of God himself c. Laws Positive as they are occasionally given so they are esteem'd alterable at pleasure being fixed by mere Will and Prerogative without respect to any thing that should make them necessary antecedently to their being given they may by the same Authority at any time be taken away and abolished Mr. Shepherd saith Shepherd on the Sab. p. 6 7. A Law strictly and especially moral is that which concerns the Manners of all Men of which we now speak and may be thus describ'd viz. It is such a Law as is commanded because it is good and it is not therefore merely good because it is commanded And thus Austin saith he describ'd it long since Also Cameron and multitudes of other Writers and learned Men. But mere Divine positive Laws are commanded of God and therefore good Some say that is simply moral that is the Law of Nature or which naturally obligeth all Men and is distinguished from Laws Ceremonial and Judicial Thus one expresseth himself i. e. Primrose of the Sab. p. 4. This Law Moral all Men take to be the Law of Nature and reciprocally they take the Law of Nature for this Law for that which is naturally and universally just Mr. Cawdry and Palmer say Cawdry Sabbatum p. 3. It implys any Law of God exprest in Scripture whether it can be prov'd natural or not which from the time it was given to the end of the World binds all succeeding Generations of their Posterity to whom it was given and more especially it obliges the Church c. I think Mr. Baxter in this case has said excellently well Baxt. on the Sab. p. 77. Moral saith he signifieth that which by nature is universal and perpetually obligatory He answers this Question Do not Divines say the Decalogue written in Stone is the Moral Law and of perpetual Obligation Answ Yes for by moral they mean natural and so take moral not in a large sense as it signifies a Law de moribus as all Laws be whatsoever but in a narrower sense as signifying that which by nature is of universal and perpetual Obligation Now then that which I call a pure of simple Moral Law or Precept is that which is a Transcript
in the Regions and Climates aforesaid there be no such particular day as is expressed in the fourth Commandment yet there is a sufficient and equivalent space of time which may be measured by hours My answer is That the Law of the Decalogue requireth the keeping holy of such a Seventh-day as is distinguished from the day before and the day after by a new return arising presence and going down of the Sun But Time and Hours in general do not yield or constitute such a Day And saith another Author Mr. Ironside p. 133 There is no moral Law of Nature in Scripture but is it self possible to all in all parts of the World in regard of the thing commanded But a natural Sabbath-day as made to consist of 24 hours or of a Day and a Night is absolutely impossible for some men in some parts of the World to be observed If it be objected That this makes equally against the first Day as against the Seventh I answer We do not say the observation of the first Day is a moral Precept but merely positive No doubt but the Seventh-day was instituted for Israel whose Habitation was fixed in the Land of Canaan See a late Author on the Sabbath T. C. recommended by Dr. Bates and Mr. How c. 10. p. 40. The day of God's Rest saith he which is the seventh Day from the Creation is the same universal Day with all People but it can't be the same Day of the week with all People If the Day of God's Rest be Saturday with some it must needs be Friday or Sunday with others So likewise the time of Christ's coming to Judgment if it be saith he on the Saturday with some it will be on Friday or Sunday with others This he proves because the Earth is not plain but round The Jews saith he neither did nor could keep the very Seventh-day on which God rested in all places but as we according to God's Command work six days and rest the Seventh so did they And as Sunday with Christians was ever the day following six days of labour so was the Saturday with the Jews If this be so it can't be deny'd that the Seventh-day of God's resting cannot be kept by all nor do any know they do keep it Ninthly Christ Lord of the Sabbath can dispose of it as he pleases The morality of the fourth Commandment consists not in the precise Seventh-day Sabbath because of Christ's Lordship over it as Mediator That Commandment over which Christ was absolute Lord as the Son of Man cannot be moral for a moral Precept is part of God's Eternal Law Ironside p. 53 54. over which the Son of Man can have no power saith a Learned Author being made under the Law But Christ as the Son of Man Mat. 12. 8. was Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2. 27. as himself twice has told us Object So it is said he is Lord of the dead and living Answ This saith our Author is to play with the ambiguity of the words 'T is one thing for Christ to be Lord of the Church to guide govern perfect quicken raise and glorify her Eph. 1. 20 21 22. and another to be Lord of a Law or Constitution to moderate dispense with order alter and abolish it for in what other Construction can any one be said to be Lord of a Law Obj. Christ can't be said to refer to this because he had not then abrogated the Sabbath Answ 1. I have shewed that spiritual Rest signified by the seventh-day's Rest was given to all them that believed in Christ so that the Antitype being come the Type was a flying away and was in a dying state at that very time tho all typical Ordinances were not utterly abolished till his Death and Resurrection 2. 'T is as if our Lord should have said you magnify the Sabbath as if that was one of the greatest Commandments and the main end of Man's Creation but you must know the Sabbath was made for Man and not Man for the Sabbath as were all legal Rites and Ceremonies And if it be thus I that am the Messiah am by my Office Lord of the Sabbath and I can and will abrogate it and appoint another day in its room Certainly Man was made to discharge all pure moral Precepts they being originally stampt on his Heart as Christ who was made under the Law was ordain'd to keep the Law for us and not the Law made for him Man was made in the Image of God and under a holy Law and Covenant of perfect Obedience to serve his Creator and by the observation of that holy Law written in his Heart as the Law of his very Creation he bore the Image of God in the World Mark 2. 27. serving him in Righteousness and Holiness to the Glory of his Name and for this he was made yet Man was not made for the Sabbath but the Sabbath for him i. e. for his good in respect to his Body and Soul 1. As to his outward Rest c. 2. As a help to discharge all Duties of instituted Worship the better for the good of his Soul 3. And chiefly to point out or shadow forth to him the true Rest by Jesus Christ and so that typical Sabbath was to remain no longer than till that true Rest was come and finally established for then it could be of no further use to Man for which end it was chiefly appointed for him Object I know some object from these words the Sabbath was made for Man that therefore it was for every Man Answ The Woman was made for Man also but must every man have a Wife therefore God ne'r design'd that for such to whom he hath given the Gift to live without marrying So neither were all Men to have this Sabbath no none but they to whom it was given tho it was made for Man yet not for every Man in the World but only for the whole House of Israel and the proselyted Stranger within their Gate as I shall shew in the next place Tenthly The pure Morality of the fourth Command consists not in the observation of the precise Seventh-day Sabbath The simple Morality of the fourth Command lies not in one day in seven because it lies not in one day in seven but in a sufficient time for Rest and the Worship of God tho I do assert and stedfastly believe that by a positive Precept contain'd in the fourth Commandment one day in seven God will have observed to the end of the World which I think is the sum 〈◊〉 what the Learned mean by a Law positive â—â—ral Not that precise day for mind the words Exod. 20. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy In this Clause it does not directly point at one peculiar day more than another the Light of Nature requires a time and God positively lays claim to a seventh day or one day in seven perpetually to be observed as a day of Rest
gross Immorality who do not observe the precise Seventh-day Nay the like Consequences attend their Notion who through ignorance and an over-heated Zeal have also asserted the same Morality to consist in the observance of the first Day of the Week as is evident by what some Ministers in their Parish-Churches did formerly affirm One in Oxfordshire said That to do any servile Work on the Lord's Day is as great a Sin as to kill a Man Another in a Sermon in Norfolk See Dr. White on the Sab. said To make a Feast or Wedding-dinner on the Lord's Day is as great a Sin as for a Father to take a Knife and cut his own Child's Throat A Sabbatarian also I am told did lately say having a Child to put out an Apprentice he knew not any that kept the Sabbath whose Trade he liked and to place him with one that would cause him to work on that Day was as bad as Adultery or Theft or to that effect Another lately told us that we in not keeping the Sabbath or fourth Command broke all the rest or words to the same purpose 8. And from hence also which is the plain and necessary Consequence of their Principle either such must perish who live and die in a palpable violation of this pretended simple moral Precept without any sorrow or repentance or else that Men may be saved who live and die under the guilt of immoral Evil in the grossest sense For tho it is granted that a true Christian may be guilty in some sense of an Immoral Evil and who is not yet if a moral Precept be broke in the Letter of it or in the grossest sense as he that commits actual Adultery or Murder can such be saved living and dying in those Sins without any true sight of the Evil of them or Repentance for them nay that do not only live in the literal breach of this moral Precept as they call it but teach men so to do Object But they do it ignorantly Answ Ignorance of any Human Law tho the breach of it be death will not excuse any Man because the Law is published or they may know it So ignorance cannot excuse a man that breaks any Precept of the Moral Law of God 9. This Notion and Principle of theirs seems not only to admit of such Consequences naturally to attend it but they indeed express themselves very directly on this occasion even to shut out of the Kingdom of Heaven all that keep not the Seventh-day Sabbath or at least such who teach men to break it See what Mr. Soarsby saith New Testament Sab. p. 54 55. viz. The Decalogue in the New Testament is abundantly confirmed by many places in the Gospel which establish the Authority of the Law and Commandments of God to Christians both Jews and Gentiles Our Lord came not to destroy the Law but to fulfil it Some men saith he affirm contrary to both They who teach and do these Commandments shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven but such as break the least and teach men so to do shall be least in it that is have no part in it for unless Christians keep them better than the Scribes there is no entering into Heaven Mat. 5. 20. The Summary of the two Tables are the great Commandments on which hang all the Law and the Prophets The doing of these as written and read in the Law is the way to Eternal Life Luke 10. 26 27. Again he saith It is not the Hearer of the Law that shall be justified amongst the Romans as well as the Jews c. Two things note here 1. He takes it for granted that the precise Seventh-day Sabbath is one part of the Moral Law and so his design is as I conceive to shew that such as violate this Sabbath and teach men so to do have no part in Heaven 2. He says The doing of these is the way to Eternal Life mistaking the purport of our Saviour's words to the young Man who spake to him as one under the Covenant of Works to discover his Ignorance of the way to Heaven which is by Christ alone not by doing those Commands as written and read in the Law 't is not do but believe c. Is not this Man ignorant of the way to Eternal Life did our Lord come to ratify the Decalogue for us to keep and fulfil in our own Persons thereby to be justified and saved Here is not one word of the Righteousness of Christ No no but that Righteousness that must exceed the Righteousness of the Scribes is our own inherent Righteousness only True we say a sincere inherent Righteousness we must have for a meetness for Eternal Life but that is not our title to it or the way to it but the Righteousness and Merits of Christ alone Doth he not establish the Covenant of Works and Justification by the Law What Popish Doctrin is worse Also in a printed Paper given one Lord's Day at the Door * Of our Meeting-house Pag. 1 2. by some Sabbatarian you have these words Christ died to procure Grace to enable men to fulfil this Law Rom. 8. 3. not that 't is fulfilled in us that is in our head i. e. by Christ in our Nature for us but in us that is by us O woful stuff Besides doth Christ help us to fulfil the whole Law perfectly If so 't is by the Law thus fulfilled that we are justified and then also 't is not by the Obedience of one Man that we are made Righteous Rom. 5. Do not these men Rom. 10. 3. like the Jews go about to establish their own Righteousness Moreover their Doctrin renders all that keep not or violate their Sabbath to be guilty of the breach of the whole Law which they affirm this is one Point of i. e. a simple moral Precept and not the least Command neither I fear with these men Now my Brethren how are these young Men and others blinded who out of mistaken Zeal strive to bring in a Jewish Rite or the observation of the old Legal Sabbath in promoting of which Error they disperse such pernicious Books and Pamphlets as tend directly to establish the Covenant of Works to the utter destroying the Doctrin of the Gospel and the free Grace of God in our Justification by the Obedience of Christ alone and to the palpable hazard and perdition of their own and other Peoples Souls These Persons seek to sacrifice all that is truly valuable to the blind observation of a Day that obliges them to keep the whole Law 10. That the natural Consequence of their Principle and Practice P. 405 406. Their Principle tends to harden the Jews as Reverend Dr. Owen shews tends to the great scandal of the Christian Religion and to the hardening of the Jews in their Infidelity is apparent to all For the Introduction of any part of the old Mosaical System of Ordinances is a tacit denial of Christ's being
but not according to knowledg which God in time I hope by his Spirit will convince them of Quest If it be thus what think you of them that observe this Sabbath Answ As to such gracious Christians who observe it out of Conscience and because 't is put into the fourth Commandment do think it may be their Duty so to do but attempt not to affirm it is a moral Duty nor dare they neglect to observe the first Day provided they are in a Capacity being not Servants to observe both Days and make no noise nor disturbance about it but keep it to themselves I think it may be as to them a harmless Error And as to others I must leave them to the Lord and judg them not tho I judg and must condemn their Principle And let them take heed how they judg us in respect of the non-observation of a Jewish Rite c. or of Jewish Sabbath-days PART II. The Gospel-Sabbath or The Lord's-Day of Divine Institution Containing four Sermons lately preach'd on a special Occasion SERMON I. Shewing that our Lord Christ did certainly give Directions to his Disciples to observe the first Day of the week under the Gospel That Pentecost was the first Day of the week and that then the first Day was confirmed to be the day of Gospel-worship Mat. xxviii 20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you alway even to the end of the World OUR blessed Lord as Mediator having received all Power in Heaven and Earth as King Head Governor only Soveraign and Law-giver to his Church gave forth here his great Commission to his Discipleâ— In which 1. As our Annotators note He asserts his own Power 2. He delegates a Power to his Disciples 3. He subjoins a Promise to them 'T is a Power to congregate Churches and to proclaim free Justification and remission of Sins thro his perfect Obedience in his holy Life and thro the Death of his Cross as also Power to give forth Laws and Ordinances to his People and to give eternal Life to whomsoever he pleaseth This Power was essentially and inherently in him as God over all blessed for evermore but given to him as Mediator God-man our Soveraign Lord and Redeemer given him when he first came into the World but more especially given and manifested and confirmed to him when he rose from the Dead In which words we have 1. A Command expresly given Teaching them c. 2. The universality of this Command all things whatsoever I have commanded you 3. A gracious Promise annexed by way of Encouragement and lo I am with you alway c. Doct. That many things Christ commanded his Disciples to teach others The Doctrine raised are included or comprehended in this his great Commission which are not expressed This is evident so that if we would know what these things are which are not expressed we must have recourse 1. Either to what things they doctrinally preach'd or by their Example led the Gospel Churches into the practice of But 2. Let it be consider'd that we are obliged to believe that whatsoever the holy Apostles did teach Whatsoever the Apostles preached Christ gave them Command so to do or lead the Churches into the Practice of by their Example were such things as Christ commanded them and this Paul doth positively declare For I will not dare to speak of any of those things to make the Gentiles obedient by word or deed which Christ hath not wrought in me See 1 Cor. 14. 37. or commanded me And indeed should it be thought otherwise 1 Cor. 11. 23. it would render the Apostles unfaithful and guilty of bringing Innovations into the Churches either in respect of any one precise day of Worship or any matter or part of Worship to be perform'd I speak not now of the mode of Worship but any essential part thereof Now that Paul who was the Minister and great Apostle of the Gentiles did teach the Churches to observe the first day of the week by assembling together to discharge the Duties of Religious Worship is evident Nor can it be once supposed since he endeavour'd to take the Churches off from the observance of the Jewish Sabbath as I have proved that he should not direct them or discover to them what day of the week Christ had commanded his People to observe in the time of the Gospel they knowing especially that one day in seven the Lord declared in the fourth Commandment he would have perpetually sequestred to his Service as also the reasonableness or equitableness thereof Therefore my Brethren as I have endeavour'd to answer all the pretended Arguments brought to prove that we ought to observe the old Jewish Sabbath the simple Morality of the fourth Commandment they say consisting in the observation of that precise day So I shall now God assisting attempt to prove that we are obliged to observe the first day of the week as a day of Rest and solemn Worship to God while I esteem such as are for no special or particular day to be observed by Divine Authority both in private Families and in Church Assemblies to be strangely left of God and to be no friends to our sacred Religion but such as open a door to great Licentiousness and Profaneness If therefore any should say that there is no one precise day in seven of Divine Authority under the Gospel-Dispensation but that the Church may appoint what day she pleaseth I reply 1. What force or authority can such a human Precept have upon any Man's Conscience To appoint a weekly day of Worship is not in the power of the Church c. i. e. the observance of one day in every week free from all worldly Business if God requires it not 2. Then also it would follow that God doth admit vile Man to share or partake of equal Honour with himself i. e. that tho he will appoint the Ordinances of his own Worship and have all that Glory to himself yet Man shall have the honour to appoint the precise constant time of his Worship which is next in point of honour to the other 3. And by granting Men that Honour and Dignity it may let in by parity of reason a Power to alter and change if not add new Laws and Ordinances of Worship also 4. Besides it will also follow that the Church on the first day of the week doth not meet together by Divine Appointment if all days are alike but only by human Authority 5. Moreover perhaps one part of the Church may be for one day in four and another less zealous may be for one day in a fortnight nay one day in a month some may say is sufficient So that it would put all things into confusion for how can a human Law or the bare Authority of a Church without the Divine Appointment of Christ Jesus himself awe the Conscience Moreover perhaps some would be
and the Courts at Westminster Saturday is called Sabbati or Dies Sabbati True as supposing by Tradition this day of our week to be what the Jews called the Sabbath in their week but do you not know also in the same Records Sunday is called Dies Dominicus the Lord's-day And if those prove Saturday to be the Jewish Sabbath why should not these as well prove Sunday to be the Lord's-day All the difference is as to that you were quick-sighted but blind as to this You may observe also that the one is Sabbati or Dies Sabbati in the Genitive case in the same form with Dies Saturni and as the other days are but the Lord's-day is Die Dominico in the Ablative meaning I suppose that Saturday is the day which had been the Jewish Sabbath but this the day which is the Lord's-day Which different Construction seems plainly to intend in our Law a different import of the words by Dies Saturni or Dies Lunae we do not mean a Day instituted by Saturn or the Moon as by Dies Dominica we do mean the Day instituted by our Lord like as by Coena Dominica we mean the Supper instituted by our Lord So that these Records do you no Service at all but Disservice I shall here before I close add a few Syllogistical Arguments for our Opponents to answer Arg. 1. If the holy Spirit doth write the whole Moral Law of God in the Hearts of all true Believers but doth not write the Law of the Seventh-day Sabbath in their Hearts then the Seventh-day Sabbath is no Moral Precept but the former is true Ergo. Arg. 2. The holy Spirit doth convince all Gospel-Believers of all immoral Evils or of every simple moral Precept the holy Spirit doth not convince all Gospel-Believers it is an Evil not to observe the seventh Day as a Sabbath nor that this is a moral Precept Ergo 'T is not an immoral Evil to work upon that day c. Or thus Arg. 3. The holy Spirit guides all true Believers into all Truths that result from the holy Nature of God or that are good and therefore commanded the holy Spirit doth not guide all true Believers to observe the seventh Day as a Sabbath Ergo the Seventh-day Sabbath is no such Truth c. Arg. 4. If the New Testament be a perfect Rule of Faith and Practice and there is no Precept nor Precedent for the observance of the Seventh-day Sabbath the Seventh-day Sabbath ought not by us to be observed but the former is true Ergo 't is not our duty to observe that Day Arg. 5. If Christ and Paul after him have made known or declared the whole Counsel and Will of God or whatsoever we should believe observe and practise but have not made known or declar'd it is our duty to observe the seventh Day then 't is not our duty to observe it but the former is true Ergo. Arg. 6. If the Law of the Seventh-day Sabbath as given by Moses belonged wholly or was annexed to the Judgments of the Mosaical Oeconomy and the Judgments of the Mosaical Oeconomy belong not to the Gospel-Church then the Law of the Sabbath as given by Moses belongs not to us but this is so because Death was the Penalty of the breach thereof Ergo. Object What if we grant that all the ten Commandments belonged or were annexed to the Mosaical Oeconomy are all the ten Commandments abrogated therefore or not in force to us Answ I have shewed that the whole Moral Law is given forth by Christ considered as Mediator and that we are not obliged to observe them as given by Moses and the precise seventh Day being no simple Moral Precept but merely Judaical pertaining to the Covenant of Works our Lord hath not nor could confirm that Precept in the Gospel so that it appears the Sabbath only belonged to the Mosaical Oeconomy and will you affirm that of all the Ten. One Sabbatarian * Mr. Edw. Stennett on the Sab. p. 50. saith That all the ten Commandments had the Penalty of Death annexed to them to be inflicted by the Magistrate which saith he is an evident distinction between Moral Laws and Laws Ceremonial c. Again he saith Pag. 53. See the Snare broken the Sabbath having the same Penalty that the other nine have it convincingly proves the Morality of it Answ 1. This shews that none of the ten Commandments as given by Moses are in force to Believers or oblige the Gospel-Church but only belong'd to the Jewish Policy as formally deliver'd Exod. 20. and tho the Moral Law given by Christ as Mediator doth oblige us yet the precise seventh Day being no Moral Precept but only Judaical is gone it not being given forth anew in the Gospel nor could be given with its old Sanction viz. the Penalty of Death to be inflicted on such that break it because the Gospel-Church is no Political Body or Civil State they can't inflict Death on such as transgress this or other Precepts 2. Nay nor ought such to die that profane the holy Name of God or disobey their Parents or commit Adultery c. by any Law given by Christ in the Gospel * And do not such as affirm otherwise strangely Judaize those Temporal Punishments only belonged to the Mosaical Oeconomy many in the Gospel-Church before call'd were guilty of the gross breach of divers moral Precepts yet were not to be put to death Christ came not to take away Mens Lives but to save them both from temporal and eternal Death 3. Moreover it is a grand mistake to say that the Penalty of Death distinguisheth Moral Laws from Ceremonial for he that in the days of Atonement did not afflict his Soul Levit. 23. 29. must die or be cut off and whosoever toucheth the Mount shall be surely put to death Exo. 19. 13. And he that was not circumcised must die or he cut off so for divers other Sins †Exod. 30. 33 38. Lev. 7. 20 21 25 27. 17. 4 9. that were not Moral Precepts Pray read Heb. 10. 28. Paul shews that in this respect we are not come to Mount Sinai but to Mount Sion Heb. 12. 18. and sad it is to see any so left as to endeavour to carry the People back again to that fiery Law which was so terrible as the Apostle shews ver 21. But it is no marvel they do thus when they that intimate the Law and Covenant Exod. 20. was the Covenant of Grace If I have an Answer God sparing my Life you shall see what some of their chief Writers have said as to this and some other things that may seem more distasteful to all pious Christians Arg. 7. If the first Day was observed as a day of Worship by the Apostolical Church and no other day of the week then the first Day is that day of Worship which we should observe but the first Day was so observed c. Ergo. Arg. 8. If Moses as