upon the Desires of many now published by it self is but a Part of our remaining Exercitations on that Epistle Nor am I without all hopes but that what shall be declared and proved on this subject may be blessed to an Usefulness unto them who would willingly learn or be established in the Truth An Attempt also will be made herein for the conviction of others who have been seduced into Paths inconsistent with the Communion of Saints the Peace of the Churches of Christ or Opinions hurtful to the Practice of Godliness and left unto the Blessing of him who when he hath supplyed seed to the Sower doth himself also give the encrease And these Considerations have prevailed with me to cast my Mite into this Sanctuary and to endeavour the right stating and confirmation of that Doctrine whereon so important a part of our Duty towards God doth depend as is generally confessed and will be found by Experience that there doth on this concerning a Day of Sacred Rest. § 4 The Controversies about the Sabbath as we call it at present for Distinction sake and to determine a subject of our Discourse which have been publickly agitated are Universal as unto all its concerns Neither Name nor Thing is by all agreed on For whereas most Christians acknowledge we may say all for those by whom it is denyed are of no weight nor scarce of any number that a day on one account or other in an Hebdomadal Revolution of Time is to be set apart to the publick Worship of God yet how that Day is to be called is not agreed amongst them Neither is it granted that it hath any Name affixed unto it by any such means that should cause it justly to be preferred unto any other that men should arbitrarily consent to call it by The Names which have been and amongst some are still in use for its Denotation and Distinction are the seventh Day the Sabbath the Lords Day the first Day of the Week Sunday So was the Day now commonly observed called of Old by the Graecians and Romans before the Introduction of Religion into its Observation And this Name some still retain as a thing indifferent others suppose it were better left unto utter disuse § 5 Those about the Thing it self are various and respect all the concerns of the Day enquired after Nothing that relates unto it no part of its respect to the Worship of God is admitted by all uncontended about For it is debated amongst all sorts of persons 1. Whether any part of Time be naturally and morally to be separated and set apart to the solemn Worship of God or which is the same whether it be a natural and moral Duty to separate any part of time in any Revolution of it unto Divine Service I mean so as it should be stated and fixed in a periodical Revolution otherwise to say that God is solemnly to be worshipped and yet that no time is required thereunto is an open contradiction 2. Whether such a Time supposed be absolutely and originally moral or made so by Positive Command suited unto General Principles and Intimations of Nature And under this consideration also a part of Time is called Moral Metonymically from the Duty of its Observance 3 Whether on supposition of some part of Time so designed the Space or Quantity of it have its Determination or Limitation morally or meerly by Law Positive or Arbitrary For the Observation of some part of Time may be Moral and the quota pars arbitrary 4 Whether every Law Positive of the Old Testament were absolutely Ceremonial or whether there may not be a Law Moral Positive as given to and obligatory of all mankind though not absolutely written in the Heart of man by Nature that is whether there be no morality in any Law but what is a part of the Law of Creation 5 Whether the Institution of the seventh Day Sabbath was from the Beginning of the World and before the Fall of man or whether it were first appointed when the Israelites came into the Wilderness This in itself is only a matter of Fact yet such as whereon the Determination of the Point of Right as to the Universal Obligation unto the Observation of such a Day doth much depend and therefore hath the Investigation and true stating of it been much laboured in and after by Learned men 6 Upon a supposition of the Institution of the Sabbath from the Beginning Whether the Additions made and Observances annexed unto it at the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai with the Ends whereunto it was then designed and the Uses whereunto it was employed gave unto the seventh Day a new State distinct from what it had before although naturally the same day was continued as before For if they did so that new State of the Day seems only to be taken away under the New Testament if not the Day it self seemes to be abolished for that some change is made therein from what was fixed under the Judaical Oeconomy cannot modestly be denyed 7 Whether in the fourth Commandment there be a Foundation of a Distinction between a seventh Day in General or one Day in seven and that seventh Day which was the same numerically and precisely from the Foundation of the World For whereas an Obligation unto the strict Observation of that Day precisely is as we shall prove plainly taken away in the Gospel if the Distinction intimated be not allowed there can be nothing remaining obligatory unto us in that command whilst it is supposed that that Day is at all required therein Hence 8 It is especially enquired whether a seventh Day or one Day in seven or in the Hebdomadal Cycle be to be observed Holy unto the Lord on the Account of the fourth Commandment 9 Whether under the New Testament all Religious Observation of Dayes be so taken away as that there is no Divine Obligation remaining for the Observance of any one Day at all but that as all Dayes are alike in themselves so are they equally free to be disposed of and used by us as Occasion shall require For if the Observation of one Day in seven be not founded in the Law of Nature expressed in the Original Positive Command concerning it and if it be not seated Morally in the fourth Commandment it is certain that the necessary Observance of it is now taken away 10 On the other extream whether the seventh Day from the Creation of the world or the last Day of the Week be to be observed precisely under the New Testament by vertue of the Fourth Commandment and no other The Assertion hereof supposeth that our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of the Sabbath hath neither changed nor reformed any thing in or about the Religious Observation of an Holy Day of Rest unto the Lord whence it follows that such an Observation can be no Part or Act of Evangelical Worship properly so called but only a Moral Duty of the Law 11 Whether on the
there can be no tolerable Reason assigned why he should mention the works of God from the foundation of the World with his Rest that ensued thereon and referr us to the seventh Day which without respect unto another Day to be introduced doth greatly involve his whole Discourse Again his use of this word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sabbatism which is framed and as it were coyned on purpose that it might both comprise the Spiritual Rest aimed at and also a Sabbath-keeping or Observation of a Sabbath Rest manifests his purpose When he speaks of our Rest in general he still doth it by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adding that there was an especial Day for its enjoyment Here he introduceth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Sabbatism which his way of arguing would not have allowed had he not designed to express the Christian Sabbath Adde hereunto that he subjoynes the especial Reason of such a Days observation in the next Verse as we have declared And here do we fix the Foundation and Reason of the Lords-Day or the Holy observation of the first Day of the Week the Obligation of the fourth Commandment unto a weekly Sacred Rest being put off from the seventh Day to the first on the same Grounds and Reasons whereon the state of the Church is altered from what it was under the Law unto what it is now under the Gospel And the Covenant it self also is changed whence the seventh Day is now of no more force than the old Covenant and the old Law of Institutions contained in Ordinances because the Lord Christ hath ceased from his works and entred into his Rest on the first Day § 26 Here we have fixed the foundation of the observation of the Lords-Day on the supposition of what hath been proved concerning our Duty in the Holy observance of one Day in seven from the Law of our Creation as renewed in the Decalogue The remaining Arguments evincing the change of the Day from the seventh unto the first by Divine Authority shall be but briefly touched on by me because they have been lately copiously handled and fully vindicated by others Wherefore 1 when the Lord Christ intended conspicuously to build his Church upon the foundation of his Works and Rest by sending the Holy Ghost with his miraculous Gifts upon the Apostles he did it on this Day which was then among the Jews the Feast of Pentecost or of Weeks Then were the Disciples gathered together with one accord in the observance of the Day signalized to them by his Resurrection Acts 2. 1. And by this doth their obedience receive a blessed confirmation as well as their persons a glorious endowment with abilities for the work which they were immediately to apply themselves unto And hereon did they set out unto the whole work of building the Church on that foundation and promoting the worship of it which on that Day was especially to be celebrated § 27 The Practice of the Apostles and the Apostolical Churches owned the Authority of Christ in this change of the Day of sacred Rest. For hence forward whatever apprehensions any of them might have of the continuance of the Judaical Sabbath as some of them judged that the whole service of it was still to be continued yet they observed this Day of the Lord as the time of their Assemblies and solemn worship One or two instances hereof may be called over Acts 20. 6 7. We came to Troas in five dayes where we abode seven dayes And upon 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 untill midnight I doubt not but in the seven dayes that the Apostle abode there he taught and preached as he had occasion in the houses of the Believers but it was the first Day of the Week when they used according to their duty to assemble the whole body of them for the celebration of the solemn Ordinances of the Church synecdochically expressed by breaking of Bread This they did without any extraordinary warning or calling together for in answer to their duty they were accustomed so to do Such is the account that Justin Martyr gives of the practice of all Churches in the next Age 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 On the Day called Sunday there is an assembly of all Christians whether living in City or the Countrey and because of their constant breaking of bread on this day it was called Dies Panis August Epist 118. And Athanasius proved that he brake not a Chalice at such a time because it was not the first Day of the Week when it was to be used Socrat. lib. 5. cap. 22 And whosoever reads this passage without prejudice will grant that it is a marvellous abrupt and uncouth expression if it do not signifie that which was in common observance amongst all the Disciples of Christ which could have no other foundation but only that before laid down of the Authority of the Lord Christ requiring it of them And I doubt not but that Paul preached his farewel Sermon unto them which continued untill midnight after all the ordinary service of the Church was performed And all the Objections which I have met withall against this instance amount to no more but this that although the Scripture sayes that the Disciples met for their worship on the first Day of the Week yet indeed they did not so do 1 Cor. 16. 2. the same practice is exemplified 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 The constant Day of the Churches solemn Assemblies being fixed he here takes it for granted and directs them unto the observance of an especial duty on that Day What some except that here is no mention of any such Assembly but only that every one on that Day should lay by himself what he would give which every one might do at home or where they pleased is exceeding weak and unsuitable unto the mind of the Apostle For to what end should they be limited unto a Day and that the first Day of the Week for the doing of that which might be as well to as good purpose and advantage performed at any other time on any other Day of the Week whatever Besides it was to be such a laying aside such a treasuring of it in a common stock as that there should be no need of any Collection when the Apostle came But if this was done only privately it would not of its self come together at his Advent but must be collected But all exceptions against these Testimonies have been so lately removed by others that I shall not insist farther on them § 28 That from these Times downwards the first Day of the Week had a solemn observation in all the Churches of Christ whereby they owned its substitution in the room of the seventh Day
themselves which yet stand in need of farther Direction for their due Observation which is added unto them by Positive Institution some call Moral Positive § 4 According to these Distinctions of the Nature of the Laws which God expresseth his Will in and by are mens Apprehensions different about the immediate and instrumental Cause of the Sabbatical Rest. That God was the Author of it is as was said by all agreed But say some the Law whereby he appointed it was purely Positive the matter of it being arbitrary stated and determined only in the Command it self and so the whole Nature of the Law and that commanded in it changeable And because Positive Laws did and alwayes do respect some other things besides and beyond themselves it is pleaded that this Law was Ceremonial and Typical that is it was an Institution of an outward present Religious Observation to signifie and represent some thing not present nor yet come such were all the particulars of the whole systeme of Mosaical Worship whereof this Law of the Sabbath was a part and an Instance In brief some say that the whole Law of the Sabbath was as to its general Nature positive and arbitrary and so changeable and in particular Ceremonial and Typical and so actually changed and abolished But yet it is so fallen out that those who are most positive in these Assertions cannot but acknowledge that this Law is so ingrafted into and so closed up with somewhat that is Moral and unalterable that it is no easie thing to hit the joint aright and make a separation of the one from the other But concerning any other Law expresly and confessedly Ceremonial no such thing can be observed They were all evidently and entirely arbitrary Institutions without any such neer Relation to what is Moral as might trouble any one to make a distinction between them For Instance the Law of Sacrifices hath indeed an answerableness in it to a great Principle of the Law of Nature namely that we must honour God with our substance and the best of our Increase yet that this might be done many other wayes and not by Sacrifice if God had pleased so to ordain every one is able to apprehend It is otherwise in this matter for none will deny but that it is required of us in and by the Law of Nature that some Time be set apart and dedicated unto God for the Observation of his solemn Worship in the world And it is plain to every one that this natural dictate is inseparably included in the Law of the Sabbath It will therefore surely be difficult to make it absolutely and universally positive I know some begin to whisper things inconsistent with this concession But we have as yet the Universal consent of all Divines Antient and Modern Fathers Schoolmen and Casuists concurring in this matter For they all unanimously affirm that the separation of some part of our Time to sacred uses and the solemn honouring of God is required of us in the Light and by the Law of Nature And herein lyes the fundamental notion of the Law now enquired after This also may be farther added that whereas this Natural dictate for the observation of some time in the solemn worship of God hath been accompanied with a Declaration of his will from the foundation of the world that this Time should be one day in seven it will be a matter of no small Difficulty to find out what is purely positive therein § 5 Others building on this Foundation that the Dedication of some part of our Time to the Worship of God is a duty Natural or Moral as required by the Law of our Creation not that Time in it self which is but a circumstance of other things can be esteemed Moral but that our observation of Time may be a Moral Duty do add that the Determination of one Day in seven to be that portion of Time so to be dedicated is inseparable from the same foundation and is of the same Nature with it That is that the Sabbatical Observation of one Dayes Holy Rest in seven hath a Moral Precept for its Warranty or that which hath the nature of a Moral Precept in it so that although the Revolution of Time in seven Dayes and the confining of the Day to that determined season do depend on Revelation and a Fositive Command of God for its Observance yet on fupposition thereof the Moral Precept prevails in the whole and is everlastingly Obligatory And there are some Divines of great Piety and Learning who do judge that a Command of God given unto all men and equally Obligatory unto all respecting their manner of living unto God is to be esteemed a Moral Command and that indispensible and unchangeable although we should not be able to discover the Reason of it in the Light and Law of Nature Nor can such a Command be reckoned amongst them that are meerly positive arbitrary and changeable all which depend on sundry other things and do not firstly affect men as men in general And it is probable that God would not give out any such Catholick Command which comprized not somewhat naturally Good and Right in it And this is the best measure and Determination of what is Moral and not our Ability of discovering by Reason what is so and what is not as we shall see afterwards § 6 Moreover there are some who stay not here but contend that the precise Observation of the seventh Day in the Hebdomadal Revolution lyeth under a Command Moral and indispensible For God they say who is the Soveraign Lord of us and our Times hath taken by an Everlasting Law this Day unto himself for his honour and service And he hath therein obliged all men to an holy Rest not on some certain fixed and stated time not on one Day in seven originally as the first Intention of his Command but on the seventh Day precisely whereunto those other considerations of some stated and fixed time and of one Day in seven are Consequential and far from previous foundations of it The seventh Day as the seventh Day is they say the first proper Object of the Command the other things mentioned of a stated Time and of one Day in seven do only follow thereon and by vertue thereof belong to the Command of the Sabbath and no otherwise Herein great Honour indeed is done unto the seventh Day above all other Ordinances of Worship whatever even of the Gospel it self but whether with sufficient Warranty we must afterwards enquire At present I shall only observe that this Observation of the seventh Day precisely is resolved into the Soveraignty of God over us and our Times and into an Occasion respecting purely the Covenant of Works on which bottoms it is hard to fix it in an absolute unvariable station § 7 It is the second Opinion for the substance of it which I shall indeavour to explain and confirm and therein prove a Sacred Sabbatical Rest unto God
nature soever on other Reasons the Covenant be between them whether that of Works or that of Grace by Jesus Christ. The seventh Day precisely belonging unto the Covenant of Works cannot therefore be firstly but only occasionally intended in the Decalogue Nor doth it nor can it invariably belong unto our absolute Obedience unto God because it is not of the substance of it but is only an occasional determination of a duty such as all other Positive Laws do give us And hence there is in the Command it self a difference put between a Sabbath Day and the arbitrary limitation of the seventh Day to be that day For we are commanded to remember the Sabbath Day not the seventh Day and the Reason given as is elsewhere observed is because God blessed and sanctified the Sabbath Day in the close of the Command where the formal Reason of our Obedience is expressed not the seventh Day Nor is indeed the joint Observation of the seventh Day precisely unto all to whom this Command is given that is to all who take the Lord to be their God possible though it were to the Jews in the Land of Palestina who were obliged to keep that Day For the difference of the Climate in the world will not allow it Nor did the Jews ever know whether the Day they observed was the seventh from the Creation only they knew it was so from the day whereon Manna was first given unto them And the whole Revolution and Computation of Time by Dayes was sufficiently interrupted in the dayes of Joshua and Hezekiah from allowing us to think the Observation of the seventh Day to be Moral And it is a Rule to judge of the intention of all Laws Divine and Humane that the meaning of the preceptive part of them is to be collected from the Reasons annexed to them or inserted in them Now the Reasons for a Sacred Rest that are intimated and stated in this Command do no more respect the seventh Day than any other in seven Six dayes are granted to labour that is in number and not more in a septenary Revolution Nor doth the Command say any thing whether these six dayes shall be the first or the last in the order of them And any day is as meet for the performance of the Duties of the Sabbath as the seventh if in an alike manner designed thereunto which things are at large pleaded by others § 54 It hath hitherto been allowed generally that the fourth Commandment doth at least include something in it that is Moral or else indeed no colour can be given unto its Association with them that are absolutely so in the Decalogue This is commonly said to be that some part of our Time be Dedicated to the Publick Worship of God But as this would overthrow the Pretension before mentioned that there can be no Moral Command about Time which is but a Circumstance of Moral Duties so the Limitation of that Time unto one Day in seven is so evidently a perpetually binding Law that it will not be hard to prove the unchangeable Obligation that is upon all men unto the Observance of it which is all for the substance that is contended for To avoid this it is now affirmed Disquisit p. 14. That Moralc Quarti Praecepti est non unum Diem sed totum tempus vitae nostrae quantum id fieri potest impendendum esse cultui Dei quaerendo regnum Dei Justitiam ejus atque inserviendo aedificationi proximi quo pertinet ut Deo serviamus ejus beneficia agnoscamus celeberemus cum invocemus Spiritu fidem nostram testemur confessione oris c. This is that which is Moral in the fourth Commandment namely that not one Day but as much as may be our whole lives be spent in the Worship of God seeking his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof and furthering the edification of our neighbour Hereunto it belongeth that we should serve God acknowledge and celebrate his Benefits pray unto him in Spirit and testifie our faith by our Confession § 55 An. It is hard to discover how any of these things have the least respect to the fourth Commandment much more how the Morality of it should consist in them For all the Instances mentioned are indeed required in the first Precept of the Decalogue that only excepted of taking care to promote the edification of our Neighbour which is the summ and substance of the second Table expressed by our Saviour by loving our Neighbour as our selves To live unto God to believe and trust in him to acknowledge his Benefits to make Confession of him in the world are all especial Moral Duties of the first Commandment It cannot therefore be apprehended how the Morality of the fourth Commandment should consist in them And if there be nothing else Moral in it there is certainly nothing Moral in it at all For these things and the like are claimed from it and taken out of its possession by the first Precept And thereunto doth the General Consideration of Time with respect unto these Duties belong namely that we should live unto God whilst we live in this World For we live in Time and that is the measure of our duration and continuance Something else therefore must be found out to be Moral in the fourth Commandment or it must be denyed plainly to have any thing Moral in it § 56 It is farther yet pleaded that the Sabbath was a Type of our Spiritual Rest in Christ both that which we have in him at present by Grace and that which remains for us in Heaven Hence it was a shaddow of good things to come as were all other Ceremonial Institutions But that the same thing should be Moral and a shadow is a contradiction That which is a shadow can in no sense be said to be Moral nor on the contrary The Sabboth therefore was meerly Ceremonial An. It doth not appear it cannot be proved that the Sabbath either as to its first Original or as to the substance of the Command of it in the Decalogue was Typical or instituted to prefigure any thing that was future Yea the contrary is evident For the Law of it was given before the first Promise of Christ as we have proved and that in the state of Innocency and under the Covenant of Works in perfect force wherein there was no respect unto the Mediation of Christ. I do acknowledge that God did so order all his Works in the first Creation and under the Law of Nature as that they might be suitable Morally to represent his Works under the New Creation which from the Analogie of our Redemption to the Creation of all things is so called And hence according to the Eternal Counsel of God were all things meet to be gathered into an Head in Christ Jesus On this account there is an Instructive Resemblance between the Works of one sort and of the other So the Rest of God after the Works of the old
yet surely there is nothing for it In the things that are so we have ground to expect the Assistance of the Spirit of Christ to enable us for their right observation to the Glory of God and our own edification or increase in Grace But it is a meer Precept of the Old Law as such And what the Law speaks it speaks unto them that are under the Law In all its Precepts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it exerciseth a severe Dominion over the souls and consciences of them that are under it And we have no way to extricate our selves from under that Dominion but by our being dead unto its power and Authority as such through the Death of Christ or an interest by Faith in the Benefits that through his fulfilling and satisfying the Law do redound to the Church But what is required of any one under the notion of the formal and absolute power of the Law is to be performed in and by that spirit which is administred by the Law and the strength which the Law affords and this indeed is great as to conviction of Sin nothing at all as unto Obedience and Righteousness Do men in these things appeal unto the Law unto the Law they must go For I know not any thing that we can expect Assistance of Gospel-Grace in or about but only those things which are originally moral or superadded unto them in the Gospel it self to neither of which Heads this observation of the seventh Day as such can be referred It is therefore a meer legal Duty properly so called and in a bondage frame of Spirit without any especial assistance of Grace it must be performed And how little we are beholding unto those who would in any one instance reduce us from the liberty of the Gospel unto bondage under the Law our Apostle hath so fully declared that it is altogether needless farther to attempt the manifestation of it Of the Lords-Day The Sixth Exercitation 1 Practice the end of Instruction and Learning 2 Practical observation of the Sabbath handled by many 3 Pleas concerning too much rigour and strictness in directions for the observation of the Sabbath 4 Extreams to be avoided in directions of sacred duties Extream of the Pharisees 5 The worse extream of others in giving liberty to sin 6 Mistakes in directions about the observation of the Lords Day 7 General directions unto that purpose proposed 8 Of the beginning and ending of the Sabbath The first Rule about Time 9 The frame of spirit required under the Gospel in the observation of the Lords Day 10 Rules and Principles for its due observation 11 Duties required thereunto of two sorts 12 Preparatory duties their necessity and nature 13 14 Particular account of them Meditation 15 Supplication 16 Instruction 17 18 Publick duties of the Day it self 19 What refreshments and labour consistent with them 20 Of private duties § 1 IT remains that something be briefly offered which may direct a practice suitable unto the principles laid down and pleaded For this is the End of all sacred Truth and all instruction therein This that great Rule of our blessed Saviour both teacheth us and obligeth us to an answerable duty If you know these things happy are ye if you do them Joh. 13. 17. words so filled with his wisdome that happy are they in whose hearts they are alwayes abiding The End then of our learning Scripture-Truths is to obtain such an Idea of them in our minds as may direct us unto a suitable practice Without this they are to us of no use or of none that is good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Knowledge without practice puffeth not buildeth up For as Austin speaks with reference unto those words Con. Faust. Man lib. 15. cap. 8. Multa quibusdam sunt noxia quamvis non sint mala Things not evil yea good in themselves may be hurtfull unto others And nothing is usefull but as it is directed to its proper End This practice is unto sacred Truth § 2 I confess our endeavours herein may seem less necessary than in the foregoing Discourses For there are many Treatises on this part of our present Subject extant in our own language and in the hands of those who esteem themselves concerned in these things With some they meet indeed with no other entertainment than the Posts did that were sent by Hezekiah through Ephraim Manasseh and Zebulun to invite them unto the Passeover they are laughed to scorn and mocked at 2 Chron. 30. 10. But wisdome is justified of her children Unto some they are of great use and in great esteem And for the most part in the main of their design they do agree So that the Truth in them is established in the mouthes of many witnesses without danger of dividing the minds of men about it But yet I cannot take my self to be discharged hereby from the consideration of this concern also of a sacred Rest under the Gospel the nature of our design requiring it And there are yet important Directions for the right sanctifying of the Name of God in and by the due observance of a Day of sacred Rest which I have not taken notice to have been insisted on by others and whereas a due improvement may be expected of the peculiar principles before discussed I shall go through this part of the Work also § 3 Besides there are not a few complaints and those managed at least some of them by Persons of sobriety and learning pretending also a real care for the preservation and due observance of all duties of Piety and Religion that there hath been some excess in the Directions of many given about the due sanctification of the Lords Day And there is no small danger of mistakes on this hand whilest therein is a pretence of zeal and devotion to give them countenance Of this nature some men do judge some rigorous prescriptions to be which have been given in this matter And they say that a great disadvantage unto Religion hath ensued hereon For it is pretended that they are such as are beyond the constitution of humane nature to comply withall of which kind God certainly requires nothing at our hands Hence it is pleaded that men finding themselves no way able to come unto a satisfaction in answer unto the severe Directions for duties and the manner of their performance which by some are rigorously prescribed have taken occasion to seek for relief by rejecting the whole command which is duely interpreted in such a condescension as they were capable of a compliance withall they would have adhered unto On this account men have found out various inventions to colour their weariness of that strict course of duty which they were bound unto Hence have some taken up a plea that every Day is to them a Sabbath that so they might not keep any Some that there is no such thing as a sacred Rest on any Day required of us by the Authority of Christ and therefore that all
And hereby are we delivered from that anxious solicitude about particular instances in outward duties which was a great part of the yoke of the People of old For 1 Hence we may in all our duties look on God as a Father By the Spirit of his Son we may in them all cry Abba Father For through Christ we have an access in one Spirit unto tho Father Ephes. 2. 18. To God as a Father as one that will not alwayes chide that doth not watch our steps for our hurt but remembreth that we are but dust One who tyeth us not up to rigid exactness in outward things whilest we act in an holy spirit of filial obedience as his sons or children And there is great difference between the duties of servants and children neither hath a Father the same measure of them The consideration hereof regulated by the general Rules of the Scripture will resolve a thousand of such scruples as the Jews of old while servants were perplexed withall 2 Hence we come to know that he will be worshipped in spirit and in truth Therefore he more minds the inward frame of our hearts wherewith we serve him than the meer performance of outward duties which are alone so far accepted with him as they are expressions and demonstrations thereof If then in the observation of this Day our hearts are single and sincere in our aims at his Glory with delight it is of more price with him than the most rigid observation of outward duties by number and measure 3 Therefore the minds of Believers are no more influenced unto this duty by the curse of the Law and the terror thereof as represented in the threatned penalty of death The Authority and Love of Jesus Christ are the principal causes of our Obedience Hence our main duty lyeth in an endeavour to get spiritual joy and delight in the services of this Day which are the especial effects of spiritual liberty So the Prophet requires that we should call the Sabbath our delight holy and honourable of the Lord Isa. 58. 13. As also that on the other side we should not do our own pleasure nor do our own wayes nor find our own pleasure nor speak our own words And these Cautions seem to regard the Sabbath absolutely and not as Judaical But I much question whether they have not in the interpretation of some been extended beyond their original intention For the true meaning of them is no more but this that we should so delight our selves in the Lord on his holy Day as that being expresly forbidden our usual labour we should not need for want of satisfaction in our duties to turn aside unto our own pleasures and vain wayes which are only our own to spend our time and pass over the Sabbath a thing complained of by many whence sin and Satan have been more served on this Day than on all the Dayes of the Week beside But I no way think that here is a restraint laid on us from such Words Wayes and Works as neither hinder the performance of any religious duties belonging to the due celebration of the worship of God on the Day nor are apt in themselves to unframe our spirits or divert our affections from them And those whose minds are fixed in a spirit of liberty to glorifie God in and by this Day of Rest seeking after Communion with him in the wayes of his worship will be unto themselves a better Rule for their Words and Actions than those who may aim to reckon over all they do or say which may be done in such a manner as to become the Judaical Sabbath much more then the Lords-Day § 10 Thirdly Be sure to bring good and right Principles unto the performance of the duty of keeping a Day of Rest holy unto the Lord. Some of these I shall name as confirmed expresly in or drawn evidently from the preceding Discourses 1. Remember that there is a Weekly Rest or an holy Rest of one Day in the week due to the solemn work of glorifying God as God Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy We have had a Week unto our own occasions or we have a prospect of a Week in the patience of God for them Let us Remember that God puts in for some Time with us All is not our own We are not our own Lords Some time God will have to himself from all that own him in the World And this is that Time season or Day He esteems not himself acknowledged nor his Soveraignty owned in the World without it And therefore this Day of Rest he required the first Day as it were that the World stood upon its legs hath done so all along and will do so to the last Day of its duration When he had made all things and saw that they were good and was refreshed in them he required that we should own and acknowledge his Goodness and Power therein This duty we owe to God as God 2 That God appointed this Day to teach us that as he rested therein so we should seek after Rest in him here and look on this Day as a pledge of eternal Rest with him hereafter So was it from the beginning This was the End of the appointment of this Day Now our Rest in God in general consists in two things 1 In our Approbation of the Works of God and the Law of our Obedience with the Covenant of God thereon These things are expressive of and do represent unto us the Goodness Righteousness Holiness Faithfulness and Power of God For these and with respect unto them are we to give Glory to him What God rests in he requires that through it we should seek for our Rest in him As this was the duty of man in Innocency and under the Law so it is ours now much more For God hath now more eminently and gloriously unveiled and displayed the Excellencies of his Nature and the Counsels of his Wisdome in and by Jesus Christ than he had done under the first Covenant And this should work us to a greater and more holy admiration of them For if we are to acknowledge that the Law is holy just and good as our Apostle speaks although it is now useless as to the bringing of us to Rest in God how much more ought we to own and subscribe to the Gospel and the declaration that God hath made of himself therein that so it is 2 In an actual solemn compliance with his Will expressed in his Works Law and Covenant This brings us unto present satisfaction in him and leads us to the full enjoyment of him This is a Day of Rest but we cannot Rest in a Day nor any thing that a Day can afford only it is an help and means of bringing us to Rest in God Without this design all our Observation of a Sabbath is of no use nor advantage Nothing will thence redound to the Glory of God nor the benefit of our own souls And this they
his Rest and thereby made known unto us that we should keep this Day as a day of an Holy Rest unto him and as a pledge that we have again given unto us an entrance into Rest with God 6 We are then to Remember that this Day is a pledge of our eternal Rest with God This is that whereunto these things do tend For therein will God glorifie himself in the full accomplishment of his great design in all his Works of Power and Grace And this is that which ultimately we aim at We do at best in this World but enter into the Rest of God the full enjoyment of it is reserved for Eternity Hence that is usually called our everlasting Sabbath as that state wherein we shall alwayes Rest with God and alwayes give Glory unto him And this Day is a pledge hereof on sundry accounts 1 Because thereon God as it were calleth us aside out of the World unto an immediate converse with himself Israel never had a more dreadfull Day than when they were called out of their Tents from their occasions and all worldly concerns 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in occursum Jehovae to a meeting with the Lord Exod. 19. God called them aside to meet and converse with him But it was unto Mount Sinai that he called them which was altogether on a smoak because the Lord descended in fire vers 18. Hence although they had been preparing themselves for it sundry Dayes they were not able to bear the terror of Gods approach unto them But under the Gospel we are this Day called out of the World and off from our occasions to converse with God to meet him at Mount Sion Heb. 12. Here he doth not give us a fiery Law but a gracious Gospel doth not converse us with Thunder and Lightning but with the sweet still voice of mercy in Jesus Christ. And as this requireth due thoughts of heart in us to prepare us for it so it is in it self a great and unspeakable Priviledge purchased for us by Christ. And herein have we a pledge of Rest with God above when he shall call us off from all Relations all occasions of life all our Interests and Concerns in this World and eternally set us apart unto himself And undoubtedly that it may be such a pledge unto us it is our duty to take off our minds and souls as far as we are able from all occasions of life and businesses of this World that we may walk with God alone on this Day Some indeed do think this a great bondage But so far as they do so and so far as they find it so they have no interest in this matter We do acknowledge that there are weaknesses attending the outward man through the frailty and imbecillity of our natures and therefore have before rejected all rigid tiresome services And I do acknowledge that there will be repisning and rebelling in the flesh against this duty But he who really judgeth in his mind and whose practice is influenced and regulated by that judgement that the segregation of a Day from the World and the occasions of it and a secession unto communion with God thereon is grievous and burdensome and that which God doth not require nor is usefull to us must be looked on as a stranger unto these things He to whom the worship of God in Christ is a burden or a bondage who sayes behold what a weariness it is that thinks a Day in a Week to be too much and too long to be with God in his especial service is much to seek I think of his duty Alas what would such Persons do if they should ever come to Heaven to be taken aside to all eternity to be with God alone who think it a great bondage to be here deiverted unto him for a Day They will say it may be Heaven is one thing and the observation of the Lords-Day is another were they in Heaven they doubt not but they should do well enough But for this observation of the Lords-Day they know not what to say to it I confess they are so they are distinct things or else one could not be the pledge of the other But yet they both agree in this that they are a separation and secession from all other things unto God And if men have not a principle to like that in the Lords-Day neither would they like it in Heaven should they ever come there Let us then be ready to attend in this matter to the Call of God and go out to meet him For where he placeth his Name as he doth on all his solemn Ordinances there he hath promised to meet us And so is this Day unto us a pledge of Heaven 2 It is so in respect of the duties of the Day wherein the sanctification of the Name of God in it doth consist All duties proper and peculiar to this Day are duties of communion with God Everlasting uninterrupted immediate communion with God is Heaven Carnal Persons had rather have Mahomets Paradise than Christs Heaven But this is that which Believers aim at eternal communion with God Hereof are the duties of this Day in a right holy performance an assured pledge For this is that which in them all we aim at and express according to the measure of our light and Grace Hereon we hear him speak unto us in his Word and we speak unto him in Prayers Supplications Praises Thanksgivings in and by Jesus Christ. In all our aim is to give Glory to him which is the End of Heaven and to be brought nearer to him which is its enjoyment In what God is pleased hereby to communicate unto our souls and in what by the secret and invisible supplyes of his Grace and Spirit he carryes out our hearts unto lye and consist those first fruits of Glory which we may be made partakers of in this World And the first fruits are a pledge of a full harvest God gives them unto us for that End that they may be so This then are we principally to seek after in the celebration of the Ordinances of God whereby we sauctifie his Name on this Day Without this bodily labour in the outward performance of a multitude of duties will profit little Men may rise early and go to bed late and eat the bread of care and diligence all the Day long yet if they are not thus in the Spirit and carried out unto spiritual communion with God in the services of the Day it will not avail them Whatever there be either in the service it self performed or in the manner of its performance or the duration of it which is apt to divert or take off the mind from being intent hereon it tends to the prophanation rather than the sanctification of this Day 3 The Rest of the Day is also a pledge of our Rest with God But then this Rest is not to be taken for a meer bodily cessation from labour but in that extent wherein it
ready to perish to supply Cattel with necessary food is allowed by all and hath been by many spoken unto 5. For Sports and such like Recreations and their use on this Day I referr the Reader to Laws of sundry Emperors and Nations concerning them See of Constant. leg omnes cap. de Feriis Theodosius and Arcadius ibid. and of Leo and Authemius in the same place of the Code of Charles the Great Capilular lib. 1. cap. 81. lib. 5. cap. 188. The Sum of them all is contained in that Exhortation which Ephram Syrus expresseth in his Serm. de diebus Festis Festivitates Dominicas honorare studiose contendite celebrantes eas non panegyrice sed divine non mundane sed spiritualiter non instar Gentilium sed Christianorum Quare non portarum frontes coronemus non choreaes ducamus non choram exornemus non tibiis citharis auditum affaeminemus non mollibus vestibus induamur nec cingulis undique auro radiantibus cingamur non comessationibus ebrietatibus dediti simus verum ista relinquamus eis quorum Deus venter est gloria in confusione justorum § 20 For private Duties both Personal and Domestical they are either antecedent or consequent unto the solemn publick Worship as usually for Time it is celebrated amongst us These consisting in the known Religious Exercises of Prayer Reading the Scripture Meditation Family Instructions from the Advantage of the publick Ordinances they are to be recommended unto every ones Conscience Ability and Opportunity as they shall find strength and Assistance for them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 These Books following are to be sold by Nath. Ponder at the Peacock in Chancery-lane near Fleetstreet EXercitations on the Epistle to the Hebrews also concerning the Messiah Wherein the Promises concerning him to be a Spiritual Redeemer of Mankind are explained and vindicated His Coming and Accomplishment of his Work according to the Promises is proved and confirmed The Person or who he is is declared The whole O economy of the Mosaical Law Rites Worship and Sacrifices is explained And in all the Doctrine of the Person Office and Work of the Messiah is opened The nature and demerit of the first Sin is unfolded The Opinions and Traditions of the Antient and Modern Jews are examined Their Objections against the Lord Christ and the Gospel are answered The time of the coming of the Messiah is stated And the great Fundamental Truths of the Gospel vindicated With an Exposition and Discourses on the Two First Chapters of the said Epistle to the Hebrews By I. Owen D. D. in Polio Price 14 s. bound Times of the Bible Veyled in Cubits Shekels Talents Furlongs Chapters Verses Letters of the Scripture With the Dayes Hours Watches Weeks and Months of the Jewish Year By I. S. in Quarto Price 6 d. stitch'd A Practical Exposition on the 130th Psalm Wherein the Nature of the Forgiveness of Sin is declared the truth and reality of it asserted and the Case of a Soul distressed with the Guilt of Sin and relieved by a discovery of Forgiveness with God is at large discoursed By John Owen D. D. John 5. 39. Search the Scriptures In Quarto-Price 4 s. bound A Brief Declaration and Vindication of the Doctrine of the Trinity As also of the Person and Satisfaction of Christ. Accommodated to the Capacity and Use of such as may be in danger to be seduced and the establishment of the Truth John 5 39. Search the Scriptures By John Owen D. D. in Twelves Price ◠s. bound The Unreasonableness of Atheism Made manifest in a Discourse to a Person of Honour By Sir Charles Wolseley Baronet The Second Edition Revised and Enlarged by the Author In Large Octavo Price 1 s. 6 d. bound There is now published a New Treatise written by Mr. Thomas Brooks called Londons Lamentations Or A sober serious Discourse concerning the late Fiery dispensation wherein the procuring causes and the final causes of that dreadful dispensation are laid open with the Duties that are incumbent both upon those who have been burnt up and upon those who have escaped those consuming Flames with thirteen Supports to bear up the hearts of such as have been Sufferers Here are many great Objections answered and many weighty Questions resolved and variety of Arguments to prove that a little that the righteous man hath is better than the Riches of the wicked with several other Points of grand importance all tending to the cooling quieting setling refreshing upholding and comforting of all that have been Sufferers by the late Fiery calamity Price 4 s. bound Exercitations concerning the Name Original Nature Use and Continuance of a Day of Sacred Rest. By I. Owen D. D. in Large Octavo
supposition of a Non-obligation in the Law unto the Observance of the seventh Day precisely and of a New Day to be observed Weekly under the New Testament as the Sabbath of the Lord on what Ground it is so to be observed 12 Whether of the Fourth Commandment as unto one Day in seven or only as unto some part or portion of Time or whether without any respect unto that Command as purely Ceremonial For granting as most do the necessity of the Observation of such a Day yet some say that it hath no respect at all to the Fourth Decalogical Precept which is totally and absolutely abolished with the residue of Mosaical Institutions others that there is yet remaining in it an Obligation unto the Sacred Separation of some portion of our Time unto the solemn Service of God but indetermined and some that it yet precisely requires the Sanctification of one Day in seven 13 If a Day be so to be observed it is enquired on what Ground or by what Authority there is an Alteration made from the Day observed under the Old Testament unto that now in use that is from the last to the first Day of the Week Whether was this Translation of the solemn Worship of God made by Christ and his Apostles or by the Primitive Church For the same Day might have been still continued though the Duty of its Observation might have been fixed on a new Reason and Foundation For although our Lord Jesus Christ totally abolished the old solemn Worship required by the Law of Commandments contained in Ordinances and by his own Authority introduced a new Law of Worship according unto Institutions of his own yet might Obedience unto it in a solemn manner have been fixed unto the former Day 14 If this were done by the Authority of Christ and his Apostles or be supposed so to be then it is enquired Whether it were done by the express Institution of a New Day or a directive Example sufficient to design a particular Day no Institution of a new Day being needful For if we shall suppose that there is no Obligation unto the Observance of one Day in seven indispensibly abiding on us from the Morality of the Fourth Command we must have an express Institution of a new Day or the Authority of it is not Divine and on the supposition that that is so no such Institution is necessary or can be properly made as to the whole nature of it 15 If this Alteration of the Day were introduced by the Primitive Church then whether the continuance of the Observation of one Day in seven be necessary or no. For what was appointed thereby seems to be no farther Obligatory unto the Churches of succeeding Ages than their concernment lyes in the Occasions and Reasons of their Determinations 16 If the continuance of one Day in seven for the solemn Worship of God be esteemed necessary in the present State of the Church then Whether the continuance of that now in general Use namely the First Day of the Week be necessary or no or whether it may not be lawfully changed to some other Day And sundry other the like Enquiries are made about the Original Institution Nature Use and Continuance of a Day of Sacred Rest unto the Lord. § 6 Moreover amongst those who do grant that it is necessary and that indispensibly so as to the present Church State which is under an Obligation from whence ever it arise neither to alter nor omit the Observation of a Day weekly for the publick Worship of God wherein a Cessation from labour and a joint Attendance unto the most solemn Duties of Religion are required of us It is not agreed whether the Day it self or the separation of it to its proper Use and End be any Part in it self of Divine Worship or be so meerly relatively with respect unto the Duties to be performed therein And as to those Duties themselves they are not only variously represented but great Contention hath been about them and the manner of their Performances as likewise concerning the Causes and Occasions which may dispense with our Attendance unto them Indeed herein lyes secretly the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and principal Cause of all the strife that hath been and is in the World about this matter Men may teach the Doctrine of a Sabbatical Rest on what Principles they please deduce it from what Original they think good if they plead not for an exactness of Duty in its Observance if they bind not a Religious carefull Attendance on the Worship of God in Publick and private on the Consciences of other men if they require not a Watchfulness against all Diversions and Avocations from the Duties of the Day they may do it without much fear of Opposition For all the concernments of Doctrines and Opinions which tend unto Practice are regulated thereby and embraced or rejected as the Practice pleaseth or displeaseth that they lead unto Lastly On a precise supposition that the Observation of such a Day is necessary upon Divine Precept or Institution yet there is a Controversie remaining about fixing its proper bounds as to its Beginning and Ending For some would have this Day of Rest measured by the first Constitution and limitation of Time unto a Day from the Creation namely from the Evening of the Day preceding unto its own as the Evening and the Morning were said to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 One Day Gen. 1. 5. Others admit only of that proportion of Time which is ordinarily designed to our labour on the six Dayes of the Week that is from its own Morning to its own Evening with the Interposition of such Diversions as our labour on other Dayes doth admit and require § 7 And thus is it come to pass that although God made man Upright and gave him the Sabbath or Day of Rest as a token of that Condition and Pledge of a future Eternal Rest with himself yet through his finding out many Inventions that very Day is become amongst us an Occasion and Means of much Disquietment and many Contentions And that which is the worst Consequent in things of this nature that belong unto Religion and the Worship of God these Differences and the Way of their Agitation whilst the several Parties htigant have sought to weaken and invalidate their Adversaries Principles have apparently influenced the minds of all sorts of men unto a neglect in the Practice of those Duties which they severally acknowledge to be incumbent on them upon those Principles and Reasons for the Observation of such a Day which themselves allow For whilst some have hotly disputed that there is now no especial Day of Rest to be observed to the Lord by vertue of any Divine Precept or Institution and others have granted that if it be to be observed only by vertue of Ecclesiastical Constitution men may have various pretences for Dispensations from the Duties of it the whole due Observation of it is much lost
under an Obligation unto all those Duties which the Nature of God and his own and the Relation of the one to the other made necessary Under this consideration alone it was required by the Law of mans Creation that some time should be separated unto the solemn Expression of his Obedience and due Performance of the Worship that God required of him For in vain was he indued with intellectual Faculties and appointed unto society if he were not to honour God by them in all his Relations and openly express the Homage which he owed him And this could not be done but in a Time appointed for that purpose the neglect whereof must be a deviation from the Law of the Creation And as this is generally acknowledged so no man can fancy the contrary Here then do we fix the necessity of the separation of some time to the Ends of a Sabbatical Rest even on the Nature of God and man with the Relation of one to the other For who can say no part of our time is due to God or so to be disposed Secondly Man in his Creation with respect unto the Ends of God therein was constituted under a Covenant That is the Law of his Obedience was attended with Promises and Threatnings Rewards and Punishments suited unto the Goodness and Holiness of God For every Law with Rewards and Recompences annexed hath the nature of a Covenant And in this case although the Promise wherewith man was incouraged unto Obedidience which was that of Eternal Life with God did in strict Justice exceed the worth of the Obedience required and so was a superadded Effect of Goodness and Grace yet was it suited unto the Constitution of a Covenant meet for man to serve God in unto his Glory and on the other side the Punishment threatned unto Disobedience in Death and an everlasting separation from God was such as the Righteousness and Holiness of God as his Supream Governour and Lord of him and the Covenant did require Now this Covenant belonged unto the Law of Creation For although God might have dealt with man in a way of absolute Soveraignty requiring Obedience of him without a Covenant of a Reward infinitely exceeding it yet having done so in his Creation it belongs unto and is inseparable from the Law thereof And under this Consideration the Time required in general for a Rest unto God under the first general notion of the Nature and Being of man is determined unto one Day in seven For as we shall find that in the various dispensations of the Covenant with man and the change of its Nature yet so long as God is pleased to establish any Covenant with man he hath and doth invarilably require one Day in seven to be set apart unto the Assignation of Praise and Glory to himself so we shall see afterwards that there are indications of his mind to this purpose in the Covenant it self Thirdly Man is to be considered with especial Respect unto that Covenant under which he was created which was a Covenant of Works For herein Rest with God was proposed unto him as the End or Reward of his own works or of his Personal Obedience unto God by absolute strict Righteousness and Holiness And the peculiar form of this Covenant as relating unto the way of Gods entring into it upon the finishing of his own works designed the seventh day from the Beginning of the Creation to be the Day precisely for the Observation of an holy Rest. As men then are alwayes rational creatures so some portion of Time is by them necessarily to be set apart to the solemn Worship of God As they are under a Covenant so this time was originally limited unto one day in seven And as the Covenant may be varied so may this day also which under the Covenant of Works was precisely limited unto the seventh day and these things must be further illustrated and proved § 11 This was the State and Condition wherein man was originally created Our next enquiry is after the Law of his Creation commonly called the Law of Nature with what belongeth thereunto or what is required of us by vertue thereof Now by the Law of Nature most understand the Dictates of Right Reason which all men or men generally consent in and agree about For we exclude wholly from this consideration the Instinct of Brute Creatures which hath some Appearance of a Rule unto them So Hesiod of old determined this matter speaking of them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They devour one another because they have no Right or Law amongst them Hence the Prophet complaining of force and violence amongst men with a neglect of Right Justice and Equity sayes men are as the Fishes of the Sea as creeping things that have no Ruler over them Habbuk 1. 14. They devour one another without regard to Rule or Right As he in Varro Natura humanis omnia sunt paria Qui pote plus urget pisces ut saepe minutos Magnu ' comest ut aves enecat accipiter Most learned men therefore conclude that there is no such thing as Jus or Lex Naturae among irrational creatures and consequently nothing of Good or Evil in their Actions But the consent of men in the Dictates of Reason is esteemed the Law of Nature So Cicero Tuse 1. Omni in re consensio omuium Gentium Lex Naturae putanda est The common consent of all Nations in any thing is to be thought the Law of Nature And Aristotle also Rhetoric lib. 1. cap. 14. calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a common Law unwritten pertaining unto all whose Description he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That which is common is according to Nature For there is somewhat which all men think and this is common Right or injustice by Nature although there should be neither society nor compact between them And this he confirms out of Empedocles that it is that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not which is just to some and unjust to others 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But it is Right amongst all spread out with immense Light by the broad ruling Skie The like he affirms in his Ethicks lib. 5. cap. 10. defining it to be that which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which hath alwayes or every where the same Force or Power and doth not seem or not seem so to be This his Expositors affirm to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 amongst the most of men who live according to the light of Nature with the Principles of it uncorrupted This 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the Dictates of Reason So 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Right Reason is the same with many as jus naturae or naturale Tully in his first de Legib. pursues this at large Est unum jus saith he quo devincta est hominum societas quod Lex constituit una Quae Lex est recta Ratio prohibendi imperandi
nor any Rest to follow thereon For that Rest was not a cessation from working absolutely much less meerly so Hence did he learn the Nature of the Covenant that he was taken into namely how he was first to work in Obedience and then to enter into Gods Rest in Blessedness For so had God appointed and so did he understand his Will from his own present State and Condition Hence was he instructed to dedicate to God and his own more immediate communion with him one day in a Weekly Revolution wherein the whole Law of his Creation was consummate as a Pledge and Means of entring eternally into Gods Rest which from hence he understood to be his End and Happiness And for the sanctification of the seventh Day of the Week precisely he had it by Revelation or Gods sanctification of it which had unto him the nature of a Positive Law being a Determination of the day suited unto the Nature and Tenour of that Covenant wherein he walked with God § 21 And by this superadded Command or Institution the mind of man was confirmed in the meaning and intention of his innate Principles and other Instructions to the same purpose in general All these things I say the last only excepted was he directed unto in and by the innate Principles of Light and Obedience wherewith the Faculties of his soul were furnished every way suited to guide him in the whole of the Duty required of him and by the farther Instruction he had from the other Works of God and his Rest upon the whole And although it may be we cannot now discern how in particular his Natural Light might conduct and guide him to the Observance of all these things yet ought we not therefore to deny that so it did seeing there is evidence in the things themselves and we know not well what that Light was which was in him For although we may have some due Apprehensions of the substance of it from its remaining Ruines and Materials in our lapsed condition yet we have no acquaintance with that Light and glorious Lustre that extent of its directive beams which it was accompanied withal when it was in him as he came immediately from the hand of God created in his Image We have lost more by the Fall than the best and wisest in the world can apprehend whilst they are in it much more than most will acknowledge whose principal design seems to be to extenuate the sin and misery of man which issueth necessarily in an undervaluation of the Love and Grace of Jesus Christ. But if a natural or carnal man cannot discern how the Spirit or Grace of the New Covenant which succeeds into the room of our first innate Light as unto the Ends of our living unto Gods glory in a new way directs and guides those in whom it is unto the Observance of all the Duties of it let us not wonder if we cannot easily and readily comprehend the Brightness and Extent and Conduct of that Light which was suited unto an estate of things that never was in the world since the Fall but only in the Man Christ Jesus whose Wisdom and Knowledge in the Mind and Will of God even thereby without his superadded peculiar Assistances we may rather admire than think to understand § 22 Thus then were the Foundations of the Old World laid and the Covenant of mans Obedience established when all the Sons of God sang for joy even in the first Rest of God and in the expression of it by the sanctification of a Sacred Rest to return unto him a Revenue of Glory in mans Observance of it And on these grounds I do affirm that the Weekly Observation of a Day to God for Sabbath Ends is a Duty Natural and Moral which we are under a perpetual indispensible Obligation unto namely from that Command of God which being a part of the Law of our Creation is Moral indispensible perpetual And these things with the different Apprehensions of others about them and Oppositions unto them must now be farther explained and considered For that we now enter upon namely the consideration of the Judgement and Opinions of others about these things with the Confirmation of our own § 23 In the Enquiry after the Causes of the Sabbath the first Question usually insisted on is concerning the Nature of the Law whereby its Observation is commanded This some affirm to be Moral some only Positive as we have shewed before And many Disputes there have been about the true Notion and Distinction of Laws Moral and Positive But whereas these Terms are invented to express the conceptions of mens minds and that of Moral at least includes not any absolute determinate sense in the meaning of the Word those at variance about them cannot impose their sense and understanding of them upon one another For seeing this Denomination of Moral applyed unto a Law is taken from the subject matter of it which is the Manners or Duties of them to whom the Law is given if any one will assert that every command of God which respects the manners of men that is of all men absolutely as men is Moral I know not how any one can compel him to speak or think otherwise for he hath his liberty to use the Word in that sense which he judgeth most proper And if it can be proved that there is a Law and ever was binding all men universally to the Observation of an Hebdomadal Sacred Rest I shall not contend with any how that Law ought to be called whether Moral or Positive This contest therefore I shall not engage into though I have used and shall yet further use those terms in their common sense and acceptation My way shall be plainly to enquire what force there is in the Law of our Creation unto the Observation of a Weekly Sabbath and what is superadded thereunto by the Vocal Declararion of the Will of God concerning it § 24 And here in the first place it is generally agreed so that the Opposition unto it is not considerable nor any way deserving our notice that in and by the Light of Nature or the Law of our Creation some Time ought to be separated unto the Obserservance of the solemn Worship of God For be that Worship what it will meerly Natural or any thing superadded by voluntary and arbitrary Institutions the Law for its Observance is natural and requires that Time be set apart for its Celebration seeing in time it is to be performed When there was but one Man and Woman this was their Duty and so it continued to be the Duty of their whole Race and Posterity in all the Societies Associations and Assemblies whereof they were capable But the first Object of this Law or Command is the Worship of God it self Time falls under it only consequentially and reductively Wherefore the Law of Nature doth also distinctly respect Time it self For we are bound thereby to serve God with all that
or teach men to break any one of them And men make bold with him when they so confidently assert that they may break one of them and teach others so to do without offence That this reacheth not to the confirmation of the seventh Day precisely we shall afterwards abundantly demonstrate In like manner St. James treats concerning the whole Law and all the Commands of it Chap. 2. 10 11. And the Argument he insists on for the Observance of the whole namely the giving of it by the same Authority is confined to the Decalogue and the way of Gods giving the Law thereof or else it may be extended to all Mosaical Institutions expresly contrary to his Intention § 49 It is known that many things are usually objected against the Truth we have been pleading for namely the Morality of a Sacred Rest to God on one Day in seven from its Relation to the Law of Creation and the Command for it in the Decalogue And it is known also that what is so objected hath been by others solidly answered and removed But because those Objections or Arguments have been lately renewed and pressed by a Person of Good Learning and Reputation and a new Reinforcement indeavoured to be given unto them I shall give them a new Examination and remove them out of our way § 50 It is then objected in the first place Disquisit de Moralitate Sabbati p 7. That the Command for the Observation of the Sabbath is a Command of Time or concerning Time only namely that some Certain and Determinate Time be assigned to the Worship of God and this may be granted to be Moral But Time is no part of Moral Worship but only a Circumstance of it even as Place is also Therefore the Command that requires them in particular cannot be Moral For these and the like Circumstances must necessarily be of a Positive Determination § 50 An. 1. The whole force of this Argument consists in this that Time is but an Help Instrument or Circumstance of Worship and therefore is not Moral Worship it self nor a part of Moral Worship nor can so be But this Argument is not valid For whatever God requires by his Command to be religiously observed with immediate respect unto himself is a Part of his Worship And this Worship as to the kind of it follows the Nature of the Law whereby it is commanded If that Law be meerly Positive so is the Worship commanded however it be a Duty required by the Law of Nature that we duly observe it when it is commanded for by the Law of Nature God is to be obeyed in all his Commands of what sort soever they are If that Law be Moral so is the Duty required by it and so is our Obedience unto it The only way then to prove that the Observation of Time is no part of Moral Worship is this namely to manifest that the Law whereby it is required is Positive and not Moral for that it is required by Divine Command of the one sort or the other is now supposed And on the other side from the Consideration of the thing it self naturally as that it is an Adjunct or Circumstance of other things no consequence ariseth to the determination of the Nature of the Law whereby it is required 2. Time abstractedly or one Day in seven absolutely is not the adequate Object of the Precept or the fourth Commandment But it is an Holy Rest to be observed unto God in his Worship on such a Day And this not an Holy Rest unto God in general as the Tendency and End of all our Obedience and living unto him but as an especial Remembrance and Representation of the Rest of God himself with his Complacency and Satisfaction in his Works as establishing a Covenant between himself and us This is the Principal subject of the Command or a stated Day of an Holy Rest unto God in such a Revolution of Dayes or Time This we have proved to be Moral from the Foundation and Reason of it laid and given in the Law of Nature revived and represented in the fourth Command of the Decalogue Now though Place be an inseparable circumstance of all Actions and so capable of being made a circumstance of Divine Worship by Divine Positive Command as it was of old in the Instance of the Temple yet no especial or particular Place had the least Guidance or Direction unto it in the Law of Nature by any Works or Acts of God whose Instructive Vertue belonged thereunto and therefore all Places were alike free by Nature and every Place wherein the Worship of God was celebrated was a natural Circumstance of the Actions performed and not a Religious Circumstance of Worship until a particular Place was assigned and determined by Positive Command for that purpose It is otherwise with Time as hath been shewed at large And therefore although any place notwithstanding any thing in the Law of Nature might have been separated by Positive Institution unto the Solemn Worship of God it doth not thence follow as is pretended that any Time a Day in a Monthly or annual Revolution might have been separated unto the like purpose seeing God had given us Indication of another Limitation of it in the Law of Creation § 51 It is farther objected Disquisit p. 8. That in the fourth Commandment not one Day in seven but the seventh Day precisely is enjoyned The Day was before made known unto the Israelites in the Station at Mara or afterwards at Alesh namely the seventh Day from the foundation of the world This in the Command they are required to observe Hence the words of it are that they should Remember 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that same Sabbath Day or that Day of the Sabbath which was newly revealed unto them This Command therefore cannot be Moral as to the Limitation of Time specified therein seeing it only confirms the Observation of the seventh Day Sabbath which was before given unto the Hebrews in a Temporary Institution And this is insisted on as the principal strength against the Morality of the Command I shall first give you in my Answer in general and then consider the especial improvements that are made of it 1. Instances may be given and have been given by all Writers concerning the Hebrew Tongue wherein the prefixed Letters sometimes answering the Greek Praepositive Articles are redundant and if at all emphatical yet they do not at all limit specifie or determine See Psal. 1. 4. Eccl. 2. 14. Lev. 18. 5. The Observation therefore of prefixing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which may possibly denote an Excellency in the thing it self but tends nothing to the Determination of a certain Day but as it is afterwards declared to be one of seven is too weak to bear the weight of the Inference intended Nor will this be denyed by any whoever aright considered the various use and frequent redundancy of that Praefixe 2. The Sabbath or
hath before been at large described These are some of the Rules which we are to have a respect unto in our observation of this Day A due application of them unto particular occasions and emergencies will guide us through the difficulties of them Therefore did I choose rather to lay them thus down in general than to insist on the determination of particular Cases which when we have done all must be resolved into them according to the light and understanding of them who are particularly concerned § 11 It remains that we offer some Directions as to the duties themselves wherein the sanctification of this Day doth consist And this I shall do briefly It hath been done already at large by others so as that from thence they have taken occasion to handle the nature of all the Religious duties with the whole manner of their performance which belong to the service of this Day which doth not properly appertain unto this place I shall therefore only name the duties themselves which have a respect unto the sanctification of the Day supposing the nature of them and the due manner of their performance to be otherwise known Now these duties are of two sorts 1 Preparatory for the Day and 2 Such as are actually to be attended unto in it § 12 1 There are duties preparatory for it For although as I have declared I do not judge that the preceding Evening is to be reckoned unto this Holy Rest as a part of it yet doubtless it ought to be improved unto a due preparation for the Day ensuing And hereby the opinion of the beginning of the Sabbatical Rest with the Morning is put into as good a condition for the furtherance of the duties of Piety and Religion as the other about its beginning in the Evening preceding Now Preparation in general is necessary 1 On the account of the Greatness and Holiness of God with whom in an especial manner we have to do The Day is his The duties of the Day are his prescriptions The Priviledges of the Day are his gracious concessions he is the beginning and ending of it And we observed before on this Day he calleth us aside unto a converse with himself And certainly some special preparation of our hearts and minds is necessary hereunto This belongs to the keeping of our foot when we go to the House of God Eccl. 5. 1. namely to consider what we are to do whither we are going to whom we make our approaches in the solemn worship of God The Rule which he gives Lev. 10. 3. is moral perpetual or everlasting I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me and before all the people I will be glorified He loves not a rude careless rushing of poor sinners upon him without a sense of his Greatness and a due reverence of his Holiness Hence is that advice of our Apostle Heb. 12. 28 2. 9. Let us have Grace be graciously prepared in our hearts and minds whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire And this will not be answered by meer bodily postures of veneration Hence there is a due preparation necessary 2 It is so from our own distractions and intanglements in the businesses and occasions of life I speak not of such who spend the whole Week in the pursuit of their lusts and pleasures whose Sabbath-Rest hath an equal share in prophaneness with all other parts of their lives But we treat of those who in general make it their design to live unto God The greatest part of these I do suppose to be engaged industriously in some Calling or course of life And these things are apt to fill their minds as well as to take up their time and much to conform them to their own likeness Much converse with the world is apt to beget a worldly frame in men and earthly things will taint the mind with earthlyness And although it be our duty in all our secular occasions also to live to God and whether we eat or drink to do all things unto his Glory yet they are apt to unframe the mind so as to make it unready unto Spiritual things and Heavenly contemplations There is a Command indeed that we should pray alwayes which at least requires of us a readiness of mind to lay hold of all occasions and opportunities for prayer yet none will deny but that there is great advantage in a due preparation for that and all other Duties of Religion To empty therefore and purge our minds of secular earthly businesses designs projections accounts dependencies of things one on another with reasonings about them as far as in us lyeth is a Duty required of us in all our solemn approaches unto God And if this be not done but men go full of their occasions into Religious services they will by one means or other return upon them and prevail upon them to their disturbance Great care is to be taken in this matter and those who constantly exercise themselves unto a good conscience herein will find themselves fitted for the Duties of the Day to a good success § 13 For these preparatory Duties themselves I should referr them to three Heads if the Reader will take along with him these Advertisements 1. That I am not binding burdens on men or their consciences nor tying them up unto strict observances under the consideration of sin if not precisely attended unto Only I desire to give direction such as may be helpfull unto the Faith and Obedience of those who in all things desire to please God And if they apply themselves to those wayes in other instances which they find more to their own edification all is done that I aim at 2. That I propose not these Duties as those which fall under an especial command with reference unto this season but only as such which being commanded in themselves may with good spiritual advantage be applyed unto this season Whence it follows 3. That if we are by necessary occasions at any time diverted from attending unto them we may conclude that we have lost an opportunity or advantage not that we have contracted the guilt of sin unless it be from the occasion it self or some of its circumstances § 14 These things premised I shall recommend to the Godly Reader a threefold preparatory Duty to the right observation of a Day of Holy Rest unto the Lord. 1 Of Meditation 2 Of Supplication 3 Of Instruction unto such as have others depending on them 1 Of Meditation and this answers particularly the Reasons we have given for the necessity of these preparatory Duties For herein are the minds of Believers to exercise themselves unto such Thoughts of the Majesty Holiness and Greatness of God as may prepare them to serve him with reverence and Godly fear The nature of the Duty requires that this Meditation should first respect God himself and then the Day and its Services in its Causes and Ends. God
meer cessation from working It is not absolutely so for God worketh hitherto And the Expression of Gods Rest is of a Moral and not a Natural signification For it consists in the Satisfaction and Complacency that he took in his Works as effects of his Goodness Power and Wisdom disposed in the Order and unto the Ends mentioned Hence as it is said that upon the finishing of them he looked on every thing that he had made and behold it was very good Gen. 1. 31. that is he was satisfied in his works and their disposal and pronounced concerning them that they became his infinite Wisdom and Power so it is added that he not only rested on the seventh Day but also that he was refreshed Exod. 31. 17. that is he took great complacency in what he had done as that which was suited unto the End aimed at namely the expression of his Greatness Goodness and Wisdom unto his Rational Creatures and his Glory through their Obedience thereon as on the like Occasion he is said to rest in his Love and to rejoyce with singing Zeph. 3. 17. Now in the Work and Rest of God thus stated did the whole Rule of the Obedience of man originally consist and therein was he to seek also his own Rest as his Happiness and Blessedness For God had not declared any other way for his Instruction in the End of his Creation that is his Obedience unto him and Blessedness in him but in and by his own Works and Rest. This then is the first End of this Holy Rest. And it must alwayes be born in mind as that without which we can give no glory to God as rational creatures made under a Moral Law in a dependance on Him For this he indispensibly requireth of us and this is the summ of what he requireth of us namely that we glorifie him according to the Revelation that he makes of himself unto us whether by his Works of Nature or of Grace To the solemnity hereof the Day enquired after is necessary To express these things is the General End of the Sabbatical Rest prescribed unto us and our observation For so it is said God wrought and rested and then requires us so to do And it hath sundry particular Ends or Reasons First That we might learn the satisfaction and complacency that God hath in his own works Gen. 2. 2 3. That is to consider the impressions of his Excellencies upon them and to glorifie him as God on that Account Rom. 1. 19 20 21. For hence was man originally taught to Fear Love Trust Obey and Honour him absolutely even from the manifestation that he had made of himself in his works wherein he rested And had not God thus rested in them and been refreshed upon their compleating and finishing they would not have been a sufficient means to instruct man in those Duties And our Observation of the Evangelical Sabbath hath the same respect unto the works of Christ and his Rest thereon when he saw of the Travel of his soul and was satisfied as shall afterwards be declared Secondly Another End of the Original Sabbatical Rest was that it might be a pledge unto man of his Rest in and with God For in and by the Law of his Creation man had an End of Rest proposed unto him and that in God This he was to be directed unto and incouraged to look after Herein God by his Works and Rest had instructed him And by giving him the Sabbath as he gave him a Pledge thereof so he required of him his Approbation of the Covenant Way of attaining it whereof afterwards Hence Psal. 92. whose Title is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Psalm a Song for the Sabbath Day which some of the Jews ascribe unto Adam as it principally consists in contemplations of the Works of God with holy Admirations of his Greatness and Power manifested in them with praises unto him on their Account so it expresseth the Destruction of ungodly sinners and the salvation of the Righteous whereof in that dayes Rest they had a pledge And this belonged unto that state of man wherein he was created namely that he should have a pledge of Eternal Rest. Neither could his Duty and capacity be otherwise answered or esteemed reasonable His Duty which was working in Moral Obedience had a natural Relation unto a Reward And his Capacity was such as could not be satisfied nor himself attain absolute Rest but in the Enjoyment of God A pledge hereof therefore belonged unto his condition Thirdly Consideration was had of the Way and Means whereby man might enter into the Rest of God proposed unto him And this was by that Obedience and Worship of God which the Covenant wherein he was created required of him The solemn Expression of this Obedience and Exercise of this Worship was indispensibly required of him and his posterity in all their Societies and Communion with one another This cannot be denyed unless we shall say that God making man to be a sociable creature and capable of sundry Relations did not require of him to honour him in the Societies and Relations whereof he was capable which would certainly overthrow the whole Law of his Creation with respect unto the End for which he was made and render all societies sinful and rebellious against God Hereunto the Sabbatical Rest was absolutely necessary For without some such Rest fixed or variable those things could not be This is a Time or season for man to express and solemnly pay that homage which he owes to his Creator And this is by the most esteemed the great if not the only End of the Sabbath But it is evident that it falls under sundry precedent Considerations § 10 These being the proper Ends and Reasons of the Original Sabbatical Rest which contain the true Notion of it we may nextly enquire after the Law whereby it was prescribed and commanded To this purpose we must first consider the state wherein man was created and then the Law of his Creation And for the state and condition wherein man was created it falls under a threefold consideration For man may be considered either 1. Absolutely as a Rational Creature or 2. As made under a Covenant of Rewards and Punishments or 3. With respect unto the especial nature of that Covenant First He was made a Rational Creature and thereby necessarily in a Moral Dependance on God For being endowed with Intellectual Faculties in an immortal soul capable of eternal Blessedness or Misery able to know God and to regard him as the first Cause and last End of all as the Author of his Being and Object of his Blessedness it was naturally and necessarily incumbent on him without any farther considerations to Love Fear and Obey him to trust in him as a Preserver and Rewarder and this the order of his nature called the Image of God enclined and inabled him unto For it was not possible that such a creature should be produced and not lye