humble comportment while they pray Magna cum Ceremonia attentione sacris suis intersunt Turcae nam si vel digito scalpant caput perisse sibi precationis fructum â—rbitrantur quid eâ—im si cum Bassis sermo tibi habendus ergo multo magis si cum Deo Thinke of this yee that forget God hee will not bee mocked his truth is eternall heauen and earth shall passe but not one â—ot of his word shall passe if an Angell from heauen or diuell on earth if any priuate spirit shall deliuer vnto you rules of behauiour in the Church contrarie to this Canon of Gods owne spirit let him be accursed Anathema Let vs sing let vs worship let vs who feare God and honour the King fall downe and kneele before the Lord our maker Thus much of Dauids exhortation to praise God The reasons why we should praise follow Set downe First briefly God is our Creator therefore let vs worship and fall downe and kneele before the Lord our maker vers 6. He is our Redeemer therefore let vs sing vnto the Lod let vs heartily reioyce in the strength of our saluation vers 1. Secondly more at large from his Mercies in generall vers 3. 4. 5. Iudgements For the Lord is a great God Most mightie almightie able to doe whatsoeuer he will and more then he will too See the Creed In himselfe so great that the heauen of heauens cannot containe him much lesse any barren braine inwombe him and therefore Dauid here being not able to set downe the least peece of his greatnes in the positiue degree comes to the comparatiue shewing what he is in comparison of other A great King aboue all gods As being more excellent and mightie then any thing or all things that haue the name of God Whether they be Gods in Title Angels in heauen Princes on earth Opinion As gold is the couetous mans god bellicheere the Epicures god an Idoll the superstitious maÌ„s god Now the Lord is the King of all gods in title for he made them of all gods in opinion for he can destroy them Angels are his messengers and Princes his ministers all power is of the Lord. The manner of getting kingdomes is not alwaies of God because it is sometime by wicked meanes yet the power it selfe is euer from God and therefore stiled in scripture the God of gods as the Wise man saith higher then the highest for religion and reason tell vs that of all creatures in heauen an Angell is the greatest of all things on earth an Emperour is the greatest but the Lord as you see is greater then the greatest as being absolute Creator of the one and maker of the other Quantus Deus est qui Deos facit How great a God is hee that makes gods yea marres them too at his pleasure surely this is a great God a great king aboue all gods And therfore in what estate soeuer thou be possesse thy soule with patience reioyce in God be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might feare no man no diuell no other god he y â— is greater theÌ„ al these shal be thy defence he will performe whatsoeuer in his word he did promise concerning this life the next In his hand are all the corners of the earth A reason to proue that God is a great King aboue all gods he is a great God because a king of gods and he is a King of gods because in his hand are all the corners of the world subiect to his power and prouidence The most mighty Monarch on earth is king as it were but of a molehill a Lord of some one angle but in Gods hand are all the corners of the earth and the strength of the hils i. of most puissant potentates in comparison of whoÌ„ al other are low valleyes I say the strength height of the hils are his Antichrist doth extoll himselfe aboue all that is called God and the Pope doth make himselfe Lord of Lords vsurping the whole world for his diocesse yea hee hath a triple kingdome according to his triple crowne Supernall extended to heauen in canonizing Saints Infernall extended to hell in freeing soules out of Purgatorie Terrestriall extended ouer the whole earth as being vniuersall Bishop of the Catholique Church But alas vaine man hee is but a â—ox in an hole many corners of the earth are not his England God be praised is not his Scotland Holland Denmarke not his a great part of France the greatest part of Germany none of his many thousands in Portugall Italy Spaine none of his the great Cham the Persian the Turke the least whereof is greater then himselfe none of his And albeit all the Kings of the earth should be drunken with his abomination yet should he bee pastor vniuersall of the Church but as the diuell is prince of the world not by his owne might but by others weakenesse as Saint Paul said He is our master to whom we giue our selues as seruants to obey So likewise the gods of the superstitious HeatheÌ„ haue not all the corners of the world for as themselues ingeniously confesse some were gods of y â— water only some of the wind some of corne some of fruite Nec omnia coÌ„memoro quia me piget quod illos non pudet As Heretikes haue so many Creeds as heads so the Gentiles as Prudentius obserued had so many things for their god as there were things y â— were good Quic quid humus pelagus coelum mirabile gignunt id duxâ—re Deos colles freta flumina flammas So that their god is not as our God euen our enemies being Iudges Other hold some parcels of the earth vnder him and some lay claime to the whole by vsurpation But all the corners of the world are his by right of creation as it followeth in the next verse The sea is his for hee made it An argument demonstratiue to shew that all the world is subiect to his power and therefore in the Creed after Almightie followeth instantly Maker of heauen and earth If any shall demaund why Dauid nameth heere first and principally the Sea before all other creatures answere may be giuen out of Plinie God who is wonderfull in all things is most wonderfully wonderfull in the Sea Whether we consider as Dauid elsewhere The 1. Situation of it 2. Motion 3. Innumerable creatures in it 4. Wonderfull art of sailing on it Yet God in the beginning made this vnruly foaming fuming beast and euer since ruled it at his becke for hee stilleth the raging of the Sea and the noise of his waues hee shutteth vp this barking curre in the channell as in a kennell he laieth vp the deepe as in a treasure house saying to the waters Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall it stay thy proud waues
Psalme 18. 47. Matth. 22. 39. So that Zacharias here remembring a great benefit begins his Hymne with thanks Benedictus Dominus Hereby signifying that it is our first and chiefe duty to be thankfull to blesse God who doth so wonderfully blesse vs in all the changes and chances of this mortall life to say with Iob The Lord giueth and the Lord taketh blessed be the name of the Lord. God be praised and the Lord be blessed is the language of Canaan whereas vnthankfulnesse is the diuels text and the blasphemies of wicked men are Commentaries vpon it The Lord For as Aristoâ—le said Praise is onely vertues due but none is good except God Other are to be praised in him so faâ—re forth as they haue receiued any gift or good from him onely the Lord worthy to be praised in and for himselfe God of Israel So called in two respects first in regard of his loue towards them as being his peculiar incloser out of the Commons of the wholeworld Deut. 7. 6. Psalme 76. Esay 5. Secondly in regard of their seruice to him hee is God of other will they nill they Psal. 99. 1. The Lord is King be the people neuer so impatient he sitteth betweene the Cherubims be the earth neuer so vnâ—uiet but Israel willingly submitted her selfe to serue him cheerefully with all her heart The Diuell is prince of the world because the wicked of the world be ready to giue place to his suggestions but the Lord is God of Israel that is of all good men because they resist Satan and yeeld to his gouernment desiring daily that his kingdome may come and his will be done in earth as it is in heauen He doth vse this title rather then another in generall to describe the true God and to distinguish him from the gods of the Gentiles who were not gods but 〈…〉 that is Diuels as Euthymâ—â—s obserues In particular this title did best fit his occasion because Christ the redeemer of the world was promised vnto the Iewes Abraham and his seed for euer and therefore blessed be the Lord God of Israel Why First for promising then for performing The promises of God touching the Messias are twofold 1. Made by himselfe to Adam Abraham Isaac vers 72. 73. 2. Made by his seruants As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which haue been since the world began vers 70. He spake The Prophet is but the voice God himselfe is the speaker as Iohn Baptist said I am the voice of him that crieth in the wildernesse By thâ— mouth In the singular number for albeit they were many yet they spake but one thing from one spirit as it were with one mouth Which haue been since the world began For all the Prophets haue foretold of these daies In the transfiguration Moses and Elias are said to talke with Christ signifying hereby saith Origen that the Law and the Prophets and the Gospell agree all in one And therefore Peter was vnwise to make three Tabernacles for one Holy Prophets holy by Place separated froÌ„ the prophane vulgar and consecrated to this high calling Grace for being hallowed and elected to this office they spake by the holy Ghost endued also with gifts of sanctification in so much that Prophets and holie men heretofore were voces conuertibiles as it is obserued out of the old Testament Gen. 20. 7. and new Luk. 7. 16. Ioh. 9. 17. This may teach the Prophets in our time to be walking Sermons Epistles and holy Gospels in all their cariage toward the people Praedicat viua voce qui praedicat vita voce He doth preach most that doth liue best As it is said of Iohn the Baptist Cum miraculum nullum fecerit perpetuum fuit ipse miraculum So a good man doth alway preach though hee neuer comes in pulpit Whereas such a Minister as is no where a Minister but in the Church is like Achitophel who set his house in order and then hanged himselfe The word preached is as Aarons rod if in the Preachers hand it is comely but if he cast it from him it will happily proue a Serpent That which God hath ioyned together let no man put asunder Holinesse and Prophecie O Lord indue thy Ministers with righteousnesse that thy chosen people may be ioyfull As God is mercifull in making so faithfull in keeping his promise for he visited and redeemed his people Visited In the better part for visitation in mercie not in iudgement as Psal. 8. 4. Gen. 21. 1. If Christ did visit vs in our person let vs visit him in his members All of vs are his stewards and the good things he hath lent vs are not our owne but his either the goods of the Church and so wee may not make them Impropriations or else the goods of the Common-wealth and wee may not inclose them He is the best subiect that is highest in the Subsidie booke so he the best Christian that is most forward in subsiaijs in helping his brethren with such gifts as God hath bestowed vpon him The whole world saith S. Iohn lieth in wickednes sicke very sicke vnto death All wickednesse is weaknes euery sinne is a sore Couetousnes an insatiable dropsie Pride a swelling tympanie Lasinesse the Gentlemans gout Christ therefore the great Physition of the world came to visit vs in this extremitie we did not send for him hee came of his owne loue to seeke and saue that which was lost It is a great kindnes for one neighbour to visit another in sicknes but a greater kindnes to watch and pray with the comfortlesse yet the greatest kindnesse of all is to helpe and heale him Euen so and much more then so Christ loued y e world he came not only to see it but to saue it not only to liue among men but also to die for men as to visite so to redeeme The Lord did endure the crosse that the seruant might enioy the crowne the Captaine descended into hell that the souldier might ascend into heauen the Physition did die that the patient might liue Bernard pithily Triplici morbo laborabat genus humanum principio medio fine idest natiuitate vita morte Venit Christus contra triplicem hunc morbum attulit triplex remediuÌ„ Natus est vixit mortuus est eius natiuitas purgauit nostram mors eius destruxit nostram vita eius instruxit nostram As S. Paul in two words He died for our sinnes and rose againe for our iustification that is saith Aquinas he died to remoue from vs all that which was euill and rose againe to giue vs all that which was good All is infolded in the word Redeeme the which as Interpreters obserue generally doth implie that wee are deliuered from the hands of all our enemies and they be principally foure The World Flesh.
faith Other Confessions as the Nicene and Athanasian are receiued of the Church not as new but rather as expositions of this old For as the foure Gospels are indeed but one Gospell so the three Creeds are in substance but one Creed And therefore I thought good in my passage thorow the whole Seruice booke to touch vpon it a little giuing you rather a briefe resolution then a full absolution thereof Obserue then in it the Title The Creed of the Apostles Text I belieue in God c. In the title note the Worke Creed Authors Apostles It is called in English Creed of the first word Credo as the Pater Noster is of the two formost words Our Father in other languages Symbolum the which hath three significations 1. A shot 2. A badge 3. A ring A shot because euery particular Apostle conferred his particular article to this spiritual banquet at least the whole doth arise out of their common writings 2. A badge For as a souldier is knowne in the field by his colours and coate to what Captaine he doth belong so the Christian is distinguished by this Creed from all vnbeleeuers and misbeleeuers In token hereof by good order of the Church wee stand vp at the Creed openly to manifest our faith and allegiance to Christ Iesus our Generall 3. A ring The mettall whereof is digged out of the rich mines of the Bible refined with the fire of Gods holie spirit and accurately framed by the blessed Apostles It is the very wedding ring wherewith the Minister in our Baptisme married vs vnto Christ when as in the publike congregation Christ for his part solemnely protested by the mouth of his Minister that he would be our God and we likewise vowed for our part by Godfathers and Godmothers that wee would bee his people The Creede then ought to be respected as the signet on our right hand and as the mariage Ring on our Loues finger Now for the authors it is said to be the Apostles as some thinke made by themselues after they had receiued the holy Ghost and that before they departed out of Ierusalem to preach the Gospell vnto all nations Anno Christi 44. Imperatoris Claudij 2. Iulij 15. Other that it is the Apostles as being consonant to their doctrine their 's for the matter but not for the manner All agree that it is the Gospels abrigement which Christ taught his Apostles the Apostles the Church and the Church hath deliuered vnto vs in all ages and therefore though it be not the scripture of God yet it is the word and truth of God of greater authoritie then other Ecclesiasticall traditions whether they be Confessions of particular Churches or writings of priuate men The Text. The text hath two parts Articles Assent Amen Articulus ab arctando Passiue quia quiddam est arctatum in se. Actiue quia alios arctat ad credenduÌ„ In the profession or whole bodie of articles two points are remarkable The Act Obiect of faith Act I beleeue Where note the Personalitie I. Formalitie of faith beleeue in Howsoeuer one must pray for another saying Our Father yet euery one must beleeue for himselfe I beleeue Habacuck 2. 4. See Gospell on S. Thomas day Formalitie Beleeue in For as Augustine and Lombard teach there is great difference betweene Credere deum to beleeue there is a God Credere deo to beleeue God Credere in deum to beleeue in God Multi mali many bad men yea the Diuell himselfe doth beleeue that there is a God but a Christian ought to beleeue in God that is Credendo amare credendo in eum ire credendo ei adhaerere Confessing God to be his God in whom he puts all his trust and confidence manifesting his faith in deedes as well as in words according to that of Irenaeus To beleeue is to doe as God will The matter or obiect of the Creede concerneth God Essentially in Name God Attributes Almighty Maker of heaueÌ„ and earth Personally Father Sonne Holy Ghost Church Concerning the name Augustine saith it is impossible that foure letters and two syllables Deus should containe him whom the heauen of heauens could not containe Dei nomen mirabile nomen super omne nomen sed sine nomâ—â—e For if all the land were paper and all the water inkeâ— euery plant a pen and euery other creature a readie writer yet they could not set downe the least peece of his great greatnes De Deo cum dicitur non potest dici No name can expresse his nature fully yet he doth vouchsafe to be praised in our words and by our mouthes or rather indeed by his owne words and owne spirit for he must be called and called vpon as he hath reuealed himself in Scripture where hee is knowne by the name Iehoua or God and therefore this name is not properly communicable to any creature though analogically giuen to many In God Not gods as the Nicene Creed in one God For God as Bernard said is vnissimus the most one si non est vnus non est either one or none Attributes Almightie Maker of Heauen Earth God is able to doe whatsoeuer he will and more then hee will too more by his absolute power then hee will by his actuall Matth. 3. 9. â—6 53. He can neither lie nor die Dicitur enim omnipotens faciendo quod vult non patiendo quod non vult Creator His almightines doth proue that he is God and the creation of the world that he is almighty Ierem. 10. 11. Let any make a world saith Augustine and hee shall bee God Angels men and diuels can make and vnmake some things but they cannot make them otherwise then of some kinde of matter which was before neither can they vnmake them but by changing them into some other thing which remaineth after Only God made all things of nothing and can at his good pleasure bring them againe to nothing Nothing but nothing had this Lord almightie whereof wherewith whereby to build this Citie Of heauen and earth And all that therein is Exod. 20. 11. Heauen is threefold where Soules are the glorious or heauen of heauens 1. Kings 18. 27. Fowles are the airy heaueÌ„ Gen. 1. 30. Stars are the firmament Gen. 1. 17. Earth containeth land and sea Psal. 24. 1. Nam omnipotens van eademque manus dei creaâ—â—t in coelo angelos in terra vermiculos non superior in illis non inferior in ist is Thus as one said almightie God is knowne ex postico tergo licâ—et non ex antica facie by his effects ad extra though not in his essence ad intra Seculum est speculum The creation of the world is a glasse wherein saith S. Paul wee may behold Gods eternall power and Maiestie which the diuine Poet paraphrastically The
creatures on earth and in heauen too serue vs Heb. 1. 14. In chusing a master euery man will shun principally three sorts of men his Enemie Fellow Seruant He serueth his greatest enemie who serueth the Diuell his fellow who serueth the lust of his flesh his seruant who serueth the world It is a base seruice to serue the world for that is to become a vassall vnto our seruant It is an vncertaine seruice to serue the flesh this master is so cholericke so weake so sickly so fickle that we may looke euery day to be turned out of his doores and that which is worst of all he is least contented when he is most satisfied Like to the Spaâ—â—ard a bad seruant but a worse master It is an vnthriftie seruice to serue the Diuell all his wages is death the more seruice we doe him the worse is our estate But he that serues God hath the greatest Lord who is most able and the best Lord who is most willing to prefer his followers and therefore let vs say with Simeon and boast with Dauid O Lord I am thy seruant I am thy seruant See the Epistle on Simons and Iudes day Depart Here first note the soules immortalitie Death is not exitus but transitus not obitus but abitus not a dying but a departing a transmigration and exodus out of our earthly pilgrimage vnto our heauenly home Fratres mortui non sunt amissi sed praemissi profectio est quam pâ—tas mortem A passage from the valley of death vnto the land of the liuing Dauid said of his dead child I shall goe to him but he shall not returne to mee Christ confirmes this Haue you not read what is spoken of God saying I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isack and the God of Iacob Now God saith Christ is not the God of the dead but of the liuing Abraham then is aliue Isack aliue Iacob aliue they cannot be said truly dead but as Simeon here departed The two receptacles of all soules after this life Hell and Heauen infallibly demonstrate this point Lazarus dieth and his soule is presently conueied by blessed Angels vnto the bosome of Abraham vnhappy Diues dieth and his soule is setcht and snatcht away by foule fiends vnto the bottomlesse pit of hell As Gods eternall decrees haue an end without a beginning so the soules of men haue a beginning without an end The soule and body part for a time but they shall meete againe to receiue an irrâ—uocable doome either of Come yee blessed or Goe ye cursed Secondly note that dying is the loosing of our soule from her bonds and fetters our flesh is a sinke of sinne the prison of the mind 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Qui gloriatur in viribus corporis gloriatur in viribus carceris And therefore when Plato saw one of his schoole was a little too curious in pampering his body said wittily What do you meane to make your prison so strong So that a soule departed is set at libertie like a bird that is escaped out of a cage The world is so full of euils as that to write them all would require another world so great as it selfe Initium vitae caecitas obliuio possidet progressum labor dolor exitum error omnia Childhood is a foolish simplicitie youth a rash heate manhood a carking carefulnesse old age a noisome languishing Diu viuendo portant funera sua quasi sepulchra dealbata plena sunt ossibus mortuorum It may bee said of an old man as Bias of the Marriner Nec inter viuos nec inter mortuos and as Plutarch of Sardanapalus and S. Paul of a widow liuing in pleasure that he is dead and buried euen while hee liueth and so passing from age to age we passe from euill to euill it is but one waue driuing another vntill we arriue at the hauen of death Epictetus spake more like a Diuine then a Philosopher Homo calamitatis fabula infoelicitatis tabula Though a King by warre or wile should conquer all the proud earth yet hee gets but a needles point a mote a mite a nit a nothing So that while we striue for things of this world wee fight as it were like children for pins and points And therefore Paul desired to be loosed and to be with Christ and 〈◊〉 as some Diâ—â—nes obserue praieth here to be dismissed as Ambrose doth read Dimitte Lord let loose Cyprian and Origen dimâ—â—tes in the future as if he should say Now Lord I hope thou wilâ— suffer me to depart Howsoeuer the word in the present imports that death is a goale-deliuery Nunc dimiâ—â—isseruum Now Lord thou settest free thy seruant as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is vsed Act. 16. 35. Luke 23. 17. Nam quid longa dies nobis nisâ— longa dolorum Colluuies longs patientia carceris aets In peace There are three kinds of peace Externall Internall Etâ—rnall Peace of World Mind God Or more plainly peace between Man and man God and man Man and himselfe The last kind is meant here though assuredly Simeon had all three for our peace with God and so farre as is possible loue toward all men breedes in vs a third peace the which is the contentation of our minde and peace of conscience for which euery man ought to labour all his life but at his death especially that comfortably departing he may sing with old Simeon Lord now lettest c. I know many men haue died discontent and rauing without any sentiment of this comfortable peace to mans imagination and yet notwithstanding were doubtlesse Gods elect children For as Augustine many works of God concerning our saluation are done in and by their contraries In the creation all things were made not of something but of nothing cleane contrary to the course of nature In the worke of redemption he doth giue life not by life but by death and that a most accursed death Optimum fecit instrumentum vitae quod erat pessimum mortis genus In our effectuall vocation he calles vs by the Gospell vnto the Iewes a stumbling block vnto the world meere foolishnes in reason more likely to driue men from God then to winne and wooe men to God And when it is his pleasure that any should depend vpon his goodnesse and prouidence he makes them feele his anger and to be nothing in themselues that they may relie altogether vpon him And thus happily the child of God through many tribulations and to our thinking through the gulfe of desperation enters into the kingdome of heauen The loue of God is like a Sea into which when a man is cast he neither seeth banke nor feeleth bottome For there is a two-fold presence of God in his children 1. Felt and perceiued 2. Secret and vnknowne Sometime God
custome in sinne wee fill vp our periods with vnnecessarie oathes Wickednesse as when a wretch in his discontented humor shall binde himselfe with an oath to doe some notable mischiefe So certaine Iewes Acts 23. sware that they would neither eate nor drinke till they had killed Paul or when he shall despitefully sweare to vex the good spirit of God and to trample the bloud of Christ vnder his feet if cardes or bowles or dice runne against him he will make his tongue to runne so fast against God or when he doth sweare by heauen or earth or any other creature in stead of the Creator An oath is an inuocating of God he therefore that sweares by the light makes light his God hee that sweares by the Masse doth make that Idoll his God A man may forsweare himselfe three waies as Lombard out of Augustine whē he doth sweare 1. That which is false and hee knowes it false 2. That which is true but hee thought it false 3. That which is false but hee held it true The two first kinds are abominable namely when a man sweares either that hee knowes to be false or thinks to be false but the third in the Court of Conscience is no sinne because it is with forswearing as with lying Periurie is nothing else but a lie bound with an oath As then a man may tell an vntruth and yet not lie so likewise sweare that which is false and yet not sweare falsly Thou shalt sweare in truth that is as thou shalt in thy conscience and science thinke to be true for doubtlesse it is a lesser offence to sweare by a false god truly then to sweare by the true God falsly it is a sinne to lie but a double sinne to sweare and lie The 4. Commandement THe fourth Commandement doth set downe the time and place of Gods holy worship the time expresly Remember thou keepe holy the Sabbath day the which insinuates also the place for God was publikely worshipped in his Sanctuarie in his Tabernacle in his Temple Leuiticus 19. 30. Yee shall keepe my Sabbaths and reuerence my Sanctuarie The Sabbath as one calles it is Gods schooleday the Preachers are his Vshers and the Church is his open schoolehouse This Commandement is hedged in on euery side lest we should breake out from obseruing it with a caueat before Remember and two reasons after one drawne from the equitie of the law Six daies shalt thou labour As if God should speake thus If I permit thee sixe whole daies to follow thine owne businesse thou maiest well affoord one onely for my seruice but sixe daies shalt thou labour and doe all thine owne worke therefore hallow the seuenth in doing my worke Six daies shalt thou labour A permission or a remission of Gods right who might challenge all rather then an absolute commandement for the Church vpon iust occasion may separate some weeke daies also to the seruice of the Lord and rest from labour Ioel 2. 15. Blow the trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie Daies of publique fasting for some great iudgement daies of publique reioicing for some great benefit are not vnlawfull but exceeding commendable yea necessarie Yet this permission is a commission against idlenesse because euery man must liue by the sweat of his browes or sweat of his braines hauing some profession or occupation or vocation wherein he must labour faithfully Another argument is taken from the Law-giuers example For in six daies the Lord made heauen and earth and rested the seuenth day God requires no more then himselfe performed his owne practise is a Commentarie vpon his law This may teach all Magistrates all masters all superiors who prescribe lawes vnto other to become first an vnprinted law themselues If the Prince will haue his Court religious himselfe must be forward in deuotion if the father will haue his children possesse their vessels in chastity then himselfe must not neigh after his neighbours wife When Sabbath breakers are rebuked all their answere is other and that the most doe so If they will follow fashion and example let them follow the best Fashion not your selues like the world but be ye followers of God who framed the whole world in six daies and rested the seuenth he rested from creating not gouerning from making of new kinds of creatures not singuler things he is not as Epicurus imagined idle but alway working Iohn 5. 17. My father worketh hitherto and I worke The Commandement it selfe is First propounded briefly Keepe holy the Sabbath day Then expounded more largely shewing 1. What is the Sabbath day namely the seuenth 2. How it must bee sanctified In it thou shalt doe no manner of worke Keepe holy This day hath no more holinesse in it selfe then other times only God hath appointed it to holy vses aboue other and therefore wee must keepe it more holy then other The Sabbath There is sabbathum Pectoris of the mind Temporis of time The sabbath of the mind is double Internall peace of conscience in the kingdome of grace Eternall rest of body and soule in the kingdome of glory When as we shall rest from our labors all teares shall be wiped from our eies and cares from our heart Among the Iewes the sabbath of time was of Daies Yeeres Daies Lesser euery seuenth day Greater as when the Passeouer fell on the Sabbath as it did when Christ suffered Yeeres Euery seuenth yeere a Sabbath of rest to the land Euery seuen-times seuen yeere which was 49. and then followed in the 50. yeere the Iubile This Sabbath is of daies expressely kept holie the seuenth day There is A naturall day which is the space of 24 houres a night and a day Gen. 1. 5. An artificiall day the space of 12. houres as Christ Iohn 11. 9. from the Sunne rising to the Sunne setting of which I thinke this Commandement is vnderstood For albeit the Iewes counted the Sabbath from euening to euening yet it was but as they reckoned other daies not to sit vp and watch all night but to spend in Gods seruice so much of the naturall day as may be spared without hurting the body The seuenth is the Sabbath It is the iudgement of the most and best Interpreters that the Sabbath is morale quoad genus but ceremoniale quoad speciem Ceremoniall for the manner albeit morall for the matter I say ceremoniall it regard of the particular as the strict obseruation of the same day and same rest precisely to keepe the Saturday and strictly to cease from all labour as the Iewes did was a shadow therefore abrogated by the comming of the body Christ. The blessed Apostles herein led by the spirit of truth and as some thinke by Christs owne example altered and so by consequence abrogated the particular day Consentaneum est Apostolos hanc ipsam ob causam