nothing more then when they come to specificate their tenent and shew how it is divine Sure it is that whatsoever is of divine ordination must be so either from God the Father in the law of nature or some positive precept of the old Testament Or from God the Sonne in some precept of the Gospell or from God the holy Ghost inspiring the Apostles * Iohn 16.13 leading them according to the promise of Christ into all truth Some therefore affirme a divine institution of the Lords day from God the Father grounding themselves upon the morality of the letter of the fourth commandement But this savouring too much of Iudaisme and the commandement speaking precisely of another day is generally exploded Others therefore pretend an institution from God the Sonne by Evangelicall law but being required to shew some word of Christs establishing this observation faile in their proof and are taken upon a Nihil dicit The third opinion therefore is now become most universall viz. That it is an institution from God the holy Ghost in and by the Apostles And this tenent is wisely taken up it being such a hiding place out of which men cannot so easily be drawn as out of the former especially considering that they extend to this purpose Apostolicall inspirations to the uttermost latitude for they were inspired say they what and how to teach the Church in all things And these inspirations whensoever they became notified to the Church were and are to be esteemed divine institution whether written or not written in Scriptures wherein they seeme to imitate young Respondents in Philosophy who use to shelter themselves under the secret qualities of naturall things which they know their Opponents cannot easily discover Or rather they are glad to plow with a Popish Heifar Tradition of which a Sacra nostrorum anchora est ubi nulla suppetat nostrarum falsitatum probatio Spal 2. de repub c. 11 ◠51. Spalatensis saith It is the very sacred anchor on which our men rely when they know not how otherwise to defend their falsehoods and against which themselves also have made ample invectives For the better clearing therefore of this point it is necessary something be said First of Apostolicall inspirations Secondly of Apostolicall traditions Concerning the first the Apostles we all know sustain'd a threefold person For we may consider them either as Apostles by extraordinary mission sent to plant the Gospell or as ordinary Pastors to govern the Churches already planted or thirdly as private persons As Apostles they were infallibly inspired with all truths upon all occasions which might plant the kingdome of Christ and bring men unto the obedience of the faith the end of their mission being to beare abroad Christs name Acts 9.15 To this purpose they were also furnish't with the gifts of Tongues Miracles Healings Discerning of Spirits being immediatly directed by the holy Ghost As Pastors they had a twofold worke First to perform the duties of the man of God exhorting reproving correcting instructing in righteousnesse Secondly as Elders to rule well erecting such goverment in their planted Churches as might best sort with the times and states in which they lived Thus considered no doubt but they were also inspired but not in like manner nor measure as before For their inspirations as pastors were only such irradiations influences and concurrences of the Spirit as are afforded at this day to the Pastors of the Church unlesse by some personall miscarriages they procure unto themselves spirituall derelictions Thus the spirit is at this day present in all Ecclesiasticall Synods nay even with private ministers using the right meanes in their places even in their privat labours For the promise of Christ reacheth also unto them and he is present with them unto the end of the world Where notwithstanding we must remember that as all dictates of Ecclesiasticall Synods or dictates of private Pastors are not to be esteemed divine precepts because they are subject to error as daily experience makes it manifest even in such persons and assemblies as are most regular nay when their resolutions are most conformable to the word of God yet they are not divine ordinances So it must be conceived of the Apostles considered as the Churches Pastors without any impeachment at all to their Apostolicall dignitie We know that even the Apostles considered as Pastours were subject to mistake as appeares by b Gal. 3.11 St Peter who living at Antioch as a Pastour was iustly reproued by S. Paul how ever c Hoc excedit modum fraternae correptionis quae Praelatis à subditis debetur Aquin. in 4. sent dist 19. art 2. Stap. de Doct. princip c. 14. Stapleton and Aquinas gloze it for not walking as behoved a Pastor or Minister of the Gospell And in another place Paul and Barnabas consulting the Churches Pastors in what manner and with what company they should set about the worke of the Ministry dissented from one another and d Acts 15.39 that in such heat as it makes it apparent they were not both if either directed by the Spirit but as God by his providence overruleth affections bringing by them his owne purposes to passe Nay plaine also it is that although as they were Apostles they delivered nothing but what they had received yet as Pastors and governours of particular Churches they delivered some things of themselves not as dictates of Gods spirit So e 1. Cor. 7.6 V. 12. V. 25. V. 40. S. Paul I speake this by permission not of commandement to the rest speak I and not the Lord and I haue no commandement of the Lord and I giue my iudgment and againe after my iudgment Neither is f Non est consilium divini-spiritus sed pro eius maie state praeceptum Tert. Exhor ad Castit Tertullians glosse to be regarded for he was now infected with Montanisme when out of that Scripture to condemne all second Mariages as unlawfull he saith it is no advise but a binding precept for the Apostle speaks of himselfe and his owne judgment as contradistinct unto the Lord and the spirits revelation Ob. If any man say why then doth he adde that * V. 25. he hath obtayned mercy of the Lord to be faithfull and againe * V. 40. I thinke also that I haue the spirit of God Resp g Haec non absque Ironiâ dicta qua Pseudo-Apostolos taxat qui Paulum traducebant quasi alienus à spiritu Christi esset indignus qui coeteris Apostolis annumeretur Martyr in locu◠Peter Martyr will giue him satisfaction saying it was to adde the more weight and authority to his words in opposition to the false Apostles who were crept into the Church of Corinth and undervalved S. Pauls judgment But observe whether S. Paul to vindicate his reputation against them saith more or as much as some of our adversaries say of themselves upon all occasions when their dictates come to be
that this is meere sophisme supposing that which is in controversy viz. whether the word sanctified in that place doth signify destinated For if so then this interpretation is warranted from the letter it selfe If not this must be proved by some other medium for to say the text doth not warrant your exposition is only to deny that the world sanctified is in that place so to be understood which is the question Ob. Secondly it is said that the very connection of the words overthroweth this desination and restraineth the act of God spoken of in the third verse unto that period of time spoken of in the second verse else how can And the copulative tye all together Now plain it is that the words of the second verse are to be under stood of the time present immediatly after the creation for then God ended his works then he rested from his works therefore he then sanctified the seventh day to be forthwith observed by Adam and his posterity Answere Vnto this I answere that the connection between the verses is acknowledged that as God then actually rested so he then actually sanctified the day but that therefore he then commanded Adam to observe the day doth no way follow For that God did then sanctify that is destinate the day to be the Churches Sabbath in due time is one thing and to command Adam to observe it is another A man may determine with himselfe that one of his sons having many shall be his heire may we therefore conclude that he did presently put him into the inheritance the antecedent is true the consequent false Ob. Thirdly to interpret sanctified by destinated for times to come is not warranted by any other place of Scripture therefore it may justly be suspected in this Answere I answere that it is cleere enough by that which hath been already said that the word sanctified is put for destinated very frequently in Scripture a Es 13.3 The Medes were Gods sanctified ones that is destinated to be in time to come the destroyers of Babylon and the restorers of his Church b Ioh. 10.36 The father sanctified his sonne sent him into the World ordaining or destinating him to be the redeemer of the World And the same word which is here translated sanctified is used in the c Ier. 12.3 12. of Ieremy third verse to signify to prepare or preordaine And that it is so to be understood here also it shall I hope appeare by other places of Scripture in answere to that which followes Ob. Fourthly it is said that the great works of God as soone as they are wrought are forthwith to have their memorials observed and it is unreasonable to thinke that God working so great a work as the creation never to be forgotten would only destinate a day for its memoriall to be kept holy so many yeares after Answere But I answere that this is no new thing nor any way unreasonable For what were the great festivals of the Iews but the memorials of Gods great works wrought by his outstretched arme Yet were these ordaine â— in Sinai to be kept when they came into the land of Canaan forty yeares after neither were any of them observed before in the Wildernesse no not the d Numb 9.2 Passover save once that we read of which was by an especiall command from God himselfe Concerning this the words of c Exod. 13.5.11.12 Moses are plaine when the Lord hath brought thee into the land of the Canaanites c. then shalt thou keepe this service in this month So that I affirme two things First that although the great works of God are so done as to be had in remembrance yet many of them had never any set times appointed for their memorials by God himselfe unlesse perhaps by such a destination of which we speake Was not the drying of the earth from the flood much the same with creating the sea and dry land Yet Noah who was then as it were another Adam is not commanded to keep that day holy Was not the birth of our blessed Lord not to speake of his conception passion ascension c. as glorious as the first daies workes and was it not then also in a manner said let there be light a light to lighten the Gentils and the glory of his people Jsrael Yet the Angels which rejoyced to see that day had no commission to proclaime it holy neither did God himselfe appoint it for holy unlesse by destinating it to be hereafter observed by the precept and practice of the Church as we see at this day Secondly when God actually commands his Church the memorialls of his mercies there is many times a great distance set betweene the institution and the observation as appeares in the instances given in the Iewish festivals Ob. You perhaps will say that the reason is not the same betweene those feasts and this of the Sabbath and that they were put off till the sanctuary was built and the people setled in the land of Canaan because till then they could not with any conveniency haue beene observed But the Sabbath was the great festivall of all man-kind in memory of the creation and might without any incongruity have beene observed from the beginning Sol. Vnto this I answere that the Patriarches retained without question the memory of the creation with the manner and order thereof all which they received from their ancestors by tradition yet that in all probability they observed not the Sabbath for the selfe same reasons for which those other Iewish festivalls were put off in the wildernesse For the Sabbath also as well as those others had relation unto their bondage in Egypt and rest in Canaan f Deut. 5.15 Remember saith Moses that thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt and that the Lord brought thee out thence with a mighty hand therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to observe the Sabbath day Plaine therefore it is that the law of the Sabbath was grounded upon their deliverance out of Egypt for the one is rendred as a reason of the other So that howsoever it please some to tell us that the word Remember call'd the people back to consider the practice of this law in former ages and that this precept hath morality in it because of the word Remember yet they must give us leave to thinke Moses the best Expositor thereof saying remember thou wert a servant in the land of Egypt Ob. You will reply that it remembred them indeed of the bondage of Egypt but primarily of the works of creation for God rested the seventh day saith the commandement and therefore he blessed and sanctified it The Sabbath therefore was grounded upon the creation as well as upon their redemption nay this last seemes to be but accidentall and accessory to the former Sol. But who sees not that this is to little purpose For wee say with a Est duplex Sabbathi
which could not be without kindling of fires But I cannot conceive that any Mosaicall ceremony once instituted could be abolished till they were altogether nailed to the crosse especially having reference to any benefit which the faithfull receive from Christ as hath this of the Sabbath Now though the Iews rest were so strict and exact yet we may justly wonder at the penalty inflicted on the transgressors death since God passed over greater things with lesse censures as fornication and theft which are contrary to the Law and light of nature it selfe i Nisi eximium aliquid singulare fuisset in Sabbatho videri posset aequa atrocius iubere hominem interfici tantùm quoniam ligna deciderat Calv. in Exod. Calvin therefore saith rightly that unlesse there were some excellent and singular thing in the Sabbath more then is expressed in the letter it might seeme to savour of cruelty to put a man to death for gathering a few sticks and kindling a fire with sticks already gathered But saith he what was this great and excellent thing in the Sabbath Doubtlesse not the litterall rest for then the punishment should continue still the same and the precise observation of this rest ought to remaine It is therefore the mystery that is so excellent and highly esteemed of the Lord viz. that the faithfull should sanctify unto him an k Sabbathum commendatum est priori populo in otio corporali temporaliter ut sigura esset sanctificationis in requiem spiritus sancti Aug. ad Ian. ep 119. entire rest from all even the least servile works of sinne and Sathan leaving no one lust unmortified to raigne in them into which absolute liberty Christ will also at last bring us This is the meere reason why God doth by his Prophets so punctually stand upon the observation of the Sabbath because in the violation of the litterall rest they did in effect spurne at this spirituall rest which was the substance of that shadow If any man aske whether then under the Gospell no bodily rest be at all commanded we shall I trust in due time give him satisfaction herein when we come to those questions which concerne the Lords day The next thing in the letter of the commandement are the persons there named thy sonne thy daughter thy man servant thy maid servant cattell and stranger although l Damasc lib. 4. sidei vnbodox cap. 24. Damascen avoucheth it for Ceremoniall making children Servants Strangers a Type of our sinfull and naturall affections and the Oxe and the Asse figures of the flesh or sensuality Yet I rather consent with those amongst whom also are some of our adversaries in this question who affirme this passage to be partly Memorative looking back to their seruitude in Egypt partly Iudiciall teaching that mercilesse people that God expected that their servants nay their beasts should then at that time have rest and refreshing We have in the next place the prescribed time the seventh day even that day which God himselfe rested on which how and in what respects it was mysticall and figurative let others speak m Magdeb. Cent. 12. Petrus Alphonsus a Iew baptized in the Christian faith 1106 being then 40 yeares of age and having for witnesse of his baptisme Alphonsus that pious King of Aragon from whom he received the name of Alphonsus in honour of his worth and learning This Alphonsus I say presently upon his baptisme and being a Christian had many and great contestations with the Iewes from whom he revolted Amongst other things was questioned the law of the Sabbath which he affirmed to be Ceremoniall even in this very part thereof which concerned the time For said he as God the Father ended all his works in six daies and rested the seventh at the worlds Creation so the sonne finished his course also upon the same day and rested with it is finished on the seventh at the worlds redemption His conclusion therefore is that since that is accomplished of which the observation of the Sabbath was a signe it is altogether needlesse that any such observation should be longer continued And indeed it may well be thought to be more then casuall that Christ should pronounce his Consummatum est upon the Crosse much about the same time as we may probably conjecture in which God the Father made the woman last of all his creatures n Ipso die Sabbathi requievit in sepuichro postquà m sexto are consummavit omnia opera sua Aug in Gen. ad lit lib. 4. c. 11. St Augustine teacheth the same almost in the same words and o Omnes solennitates veteris legis fuerunt institutae in coÌ„memorationem alicujus beneficij divini vel iam exhibiti vel figurati ideo observantia Sabbathi in quâ commemoratur beneficium creationis figurabatur quies corporis Christi in sepulchro fuit potissima Durand lib. 3. dist 37. q. 10. ad quartum Durand also upon the third of the sentences and many others Lastly Gods example is proposed but upon this the Apostle hath a plaine comment when he saith he that entred into rest hath ceased from his own works as God did from his which being a reason of that which immediatly goeth before there remaineth a rest unto Gods people must needs make Gods resting from his works a Proto-type of our resting in Christ which is indeed the rest of God as St Chrysostome expounds it This day therefore of which the Commandement speaketh as of the day of rest is observed to have no evening annexed unto it as the others had when it is said the evening and the morning were the first day because Gods rest which we have in Christs is permanent to last for ever This p Ego vero non dubito quin Deus sex diebus condiderit mundum ac septimo quieverit ut documentum ederet summae operum suorum perfection is it a ut dum se typum proponit ad imitationem significat se ad veram fâ—licitatis metam suoâ— vocare Calv. in Exod. Mr Calvin puts to be out of question the meaning of the letter God saith he made all the world in six daies and rested the seventh to shew us the perfection of his works And therefore he proposed himselfe in the Commandement to be imitated by the Iewes in the Mosaicall law to teach them that he calls all them that believe in him to compleat perfect and everlasting happinesse even that spoken of Esai 66.23 CHAP. IX The Arguments for the affirmative examined THe first which is commonly famed for invincible and unanswerable is as weak as any of the rest All the Commandements of the Decalogue are Morall but still with that distinction and difference of Morality spoken of in the former Chap. All are Morall but every one in his proportion and degree and so is that of the Sabbath Morall it is for substance not circumstance Morall in regard of the purpose and intention of the Law-giver that some
home or abroad This done give not your selves a breathing while suffer neither Child nor Servant to have any recreation for this were to prophane the day Assemble therefore your selves together recount what the Afternoon hath brought forth doe also likewise after supper Nor yet are you by all this discharged of the duties of the holy Sabbath unlesse the former practices have made such deep impression in your phansies as to season the nights sleep with holy dreames which is the last duty of the Sabbath These things thus done you may not only well expect a blessing upon what you have heard but upon all that is yours the whole week after For so highly is the seventh day in Gods favour that he doth not only sanctify it but also blesse it Now let another come and say the commandements of the Decalogue be not all of the same rank but amongst these the fourth is partly Morall partly Ceremoniall The Morall part is that God must have set and standing times for his outward and solemne worship all which times are religiously to be observed But the letter concernes only the Iewes written indeed as other holy things of Moses for our edification and consolation of which every part if full For first we must consider that the Sabbath as it is there litterally expressed was a signe of the separation of the Iewes to be Gods people from all other nations of the world which is now by the coming of Christ abolished as all other peices of the wall of partition are taken down that the Gentiles may glorify God as it is written a Deut. 32.43 Reioyce ye Gentiles with his people It did also shew them the pronenesse of our corrupt nature to doe our own wills and to fulfill our own lusts not suffering the Lord to rule in us by his Spirit whereas he requires perfect conformity of the whole man with an utter cessation from all his servile works of sinne and Satan It did in the third place lead them unto Christ who alone gives us test from these cruell Taskmasters who hath crucified the body of sinne in us and triumphed over Satan in his crosse And therefore as God the Father having made the World in sixe daies rested the seventh so God the Sonne finished all things which were written of him for our redemption on the sixt day and began his rest on the seventh obtaining for us the rest both of grace and glory The rest therefore of the Sabbath given in such severe precepts unto the Iewes doth lead us Christians under the Gospell unto the rest of sanctification which we must endeavour to keep inviolable with all watchfulnesse not suffering the least fire to be kindled in any of our lusts And as it doth thus edify so it ministreth no small comfort assuring us that as God rested from all his works and Christ from his so we also by degrees shall enter into rest in the Church militant till it be perfectly consummated in the Church Triumphant as the Apostle saith b Heb. 4.9 there remaineth a rest for Gods people Now let the indifferent Reader judge whether the former of these doe not burthen and indeed ensnare the consciences of men with many outward unprofitable impossible performances even to superstition and without end whereas this latter doctrine containes the very pith and marrow of Religion promotes the care and study of true sanctification and is most quickening and cordiall to weak and tender consciences But not to stray in this by-path any farther it were much to be wished as one of the greatest blessings of God upon his Church that a Sacra Theolegia pium prudentem Lectorem requirit Brad. L. 2. c. 31. Bradwardines rule were once well observed on all hands the study of Theology saith he requires both a pious and a prudent Reader pious in himselfe prudent in his doctrine a dove for the one a serpent for the other When these are divided in the Ministers divisions must needs be amongst the people and a house divided cannot long continue One looks at the holinesse of his Minister another to the learning of his neither as they ought and therefore the one straines at Gnats the other swallowes Camels both pester the Church the one with loosenesse the other with singularity He that is licentious like the Camels of the Ishmaelites carrying many a sweet burthen but never tasting them Against whom b Erasm Dial. Erasmus hath a bitter Satyr in his Cyclops Evangeliophorus is in shew a friend of the Churches peace a zealous promoter of the goverment thereof but indeed an enemy occasionally increasing that faction which he verbally cries downe For men think of him and all his disciplinarian invectives as c Non nisi magnum bonum à Nerone damnatum Tert. Ap. c. 5. Tertullian speaks of Nero and his persecuting the Gospell it must needs be some good thing which so wicked a man as he condemned In vaine doe these Vipers goe about to devoure with their mouthes that faction which themselves either breed or cherish at least by their lives On the other side he that is singular whom with Aelians Tiger either the sound of a Bell or musick of a Timbrell causeth to run mad cares not whether he runs and drawes others after him so long as he runs as the phrase is on the right hand By this meanes his duties in Religion daily grow and multiply as either his own or some other mans head and fancy runs this is Idolatry that superstition this is prophane that is abomination and Antichristian and what not And he that dares think otherwise is tantùm non Anathema But did these men rightly consider of errours they should find little difference in regard of their malignity He that fals from a bridge hath as little safety as comfort though it be on the right hand Nay it would be no paradoxe to affirme that errours of this kind are most dangerous being lesse discerneable in themselves lesse burdensome to the conscience lesse hopefull to be reformed and being indeed the illusions of Satan transforming himselfe into an Angell of light in which shape he becomes the fowler Divell CHAP. XI Wherein the name of the Christian mans Feast day is proposed with those arguments which seem to conclude for the name Sabbath THe names of things if rightly given serve much to disover their natures On the other side a Omnia periâ—litanâ—ur alitèr accipi quà m sunt amittere quod sunt dum aliter accipiuntur si aliter quà m sunt cognominantur Tert. de car Chr. Tertullian saith well all things are in danger to be mistaken if they retaine not their true and proper names Being therefore to treat of the Christian festivall and the Questions moved concerning the same the first thing which offers it selfe is whether it must or fitly may be stiled the Sabbath day The affirmative tenent is supported by these reasons First those names which God himselfe
shall be broken fulfilled both in the paschall a Numb 9.12 Lamb and b Ioh. 19.36 Christ our passover Out of Egypt have I called my Sonne first verified of c Hos 11.1 Israel his adopted Sonne then of d Math. 2.15 Christ his naturall Sonne A voyce was heard in Ramah understood first of the captivity of the Iewes foretold by the e Jer. 31.15 Prophet then f Math. 2.18 of the number of the Innocents by the cruelty of Herod As it is in these and divers other places of this kind so it is in the letter of the fourth Commandement where either we have two literall sences one for the Iewes Sabbath an other for the Christians or at least one literall sence twice fulfilled once under Moses and once under Christ Now whatsoever is commanded the Church in the Scripture under any literall Sence is of divine institution But the Lords day is commanded in the fourth precept though not in the first yet in the second literall sence Therefore c. Fourthly that which was foretold and typified in the old Testament is of divine institution in the new for where the ceremony is commanded the Iew the substance is commanded the Christian for example where unleavened bread is commanded them there sincerity and truth is commanded us But the Lords day was thus typified and foretold in the Testament This the Rabbins themselues have observed in sundry passages First in the words of God saying let there be light therefore the Messiah should rise the first day of the week Secondly from the fall of Adam on the sixt day therefore the Messiah should suffer that day rest in the grave the seventh and rise the next Thirdly from the words of Boaz to Ruth g Ruth 3.13 sleep untill the morning therefore the Messiah should sleep in the grave all night and rise in the morning Fourthly from the cloud covering the people first on this day from Aaron and his sonnes executing their Priesthood first on this day from the Princes of the congregation who made their offerings towards the erecting of the Tabernacle on this day From the fire also which first came down from heaven and consumed the Sacrifices upon this day And if any man be so prophane hearted as not to be convinced by these grave collections of the Iewish Rabbins he shall find the same averred by the Fathers and Synods in the Church of Christ Both h Hic dies octavus i. e. SabbathuÌ„ primus praecessit in imagine quae imago cessavit superventente post-modâ—â— veritate Cyp. ad Fid. Ep 59. Saint Cyprian and i Sanctos patrer plenos spirita octavae dieâ— sacramentum non latebat quo figuraâ—atur resurrectio nam pro octavâ— Psalmus inscribitur octava lic circumciâ—e bantur â—â—â—â—nteâ— Aug. ad Lan. Fo. 119. Saint Austin make the Administration of the Circumcision on this day a Type and Figure of its future observation The Synod called Foro-Iuliensis affirmes that Isaiah prophesied of this day An other Synod held at Matiscon said expresly that this day which was intimated unto us by the shadow of the Iewes seventh-day is made known unto us both by the Law and Prophets what can be more evident Fiftly that day which the Lord himselfe hath made must needs be a day of the Lords own instituting for to make and to ordaine and appoint are in this case termes equivalent But the Lords day is a day of the Lords own making and appointing k â—pse est dâ—e◠〈◊〉 perpetâ—â—â— ipse nobis per septimae dici umbram insinuatus noscitur in lege Prophetis Câ—nâ— â—â—â—atis c. â— Syn For. c. 13. so saith the Prophet David l Psal 118. This is the day which the Lord hath made And therefore m Exultemus Laetemur in eo qui à lumine vero nostras tenebras fugaturus illuxit nos ergo constituamus diâ—m dominicam in frequentationibus usque ad cornua altaris Arnob. in locum Arnobius upon this place saith let us also make our Lords day a great day since God himselfe hath so made it A learned Prelate also of our Church hath a Sermon extant upon that text much to the same purpose Therefore c. Sixtly that day which the Lord ever doth and will blesse unto his Church and people which religiously observe it is doubtlesse a day of his own ordaining and appointing therefore sanctified and blessed are put together in the Commandement But God hath and continually doth and ever will blesse this day with groth of grace and all spirituall blessings in Christ to all such as Religiously observe it Therefore c. Seventhly that which the example of God the Creator resting from all his works was to the Iewes in regard of their Sabbath that also the example of God the Redeemer is and must be to us that are Christians in regard of ours But the example of God the Father resting from his works was a sufficient institution of the Iewes Sabbath for therefore they rested because God rested it should therefore be a sufficient Institution unto us under the Gospell to rest on the Lords day because in it Christ rested Eightly If a day of holy rest were instituted by God the Father in memory of the worlds Creation which was the lesse much more was there a day of holy rest instituted by God the Sonne in remembrance of the worlds redemption which was the greater The consequent is authorized by n Athan Hom. de â—â—â—en Athanasius in his Homily of the Sower But a day of holy rest was ordained by God the Father in memory of the Worlds creation as is undenyable Therefore c. Ninthly Certaine it is that nothing but divine authority can bind and overcome the Conscience in regard of any outward observations in their own natures indifferent for the Conscience is a Throne in which God only sits and commands But the conscience is bound and over-awed to the observation of the Lords day as all men confesse and feel by experience unlesse they bely their consciences Therefore c. Tenthly That day which the Church observeth in regard of some mysticall signification therein contained is a part of Gods worship and must therefore be under precept unlesse we will worship God after our own fancies But the Church observes the Lords day in regard of some mysticall doctrine therein contained the Lords resurrection our own future glorification therefore it must be under precept Eleventhly Whatsoever is not under divine precept is mutable and may utterly be abolished in the Church of God by the authority of the Governors thereof but the Lords day cannot by any humane authority whatsoever be changed and abolished Therefore c. Twelfthly If the observation of the Lords day be not of divine but only Ecclesiasticall constitution then are all festivalls or holy-daies of the yeare of equall dignity and honour with it But it were little lesse then blasphemy to affirme
Sabbath in Paradise And if he sinned the sixt day as most conceiue this was a bad preparation to the next dayes Sabbath such as was likely to disturb the whole work If he stood the sixt day and sinned the seventh long he stood not all agree was the day of his fall think you the day of his Sabbath That he entred upon the dominion of the creatures upon the seventh day contradicts the very Text it selfe which saith they were delivered up unto him upon the sixt day unlesse we like to interpret Moses by the figure Anticipation in that Chapter which is so much condemned in the next That time was first divided by weeks afterward by months which is the very pillar of all the rest is as weakly as confidently affirmed For not to speak of the circle here used the division of time into weeks being brought to proue the Sabbath to haue beene from the beginning the Sabbath being blest sanctified from the beginning to proue this division of time by weeks no such thing can be concluded from that Text unlesse we grant that all separated and sanctified daies and such were all the Iewish Festivalls are presently to be the divisions of time On the other side sure we are that man in the beginning was put to Schoole unto the creature and that the Sunne and Moone were purposely set in the Firmament to shew him times and seasons Is it now probable or can it stand with the intention of the Creator that man should come by the divisions of times otherwise then by observing the Sunne and Moone especially since the Changes of the Moon doe so punctually lead us unto weeks In the next place it was wisely foreseene that a positiue precept serues not our turne and therefore we fetch about for a morality also therein which cannot be without sundry suppositions That nature tels us of time to be set apart for Gods worship is most true but that shee directs us to this in speciall or that in particular is fallaciously collected For what if the creature be under the absolute power of the Creator are therefore no Circumstantials left to the discretion of the Church in holy things What though some particular persons would unequally carue therein as Prometheus did betweene himselfe and Iupiter would the Church alwaies assisted by Gods spirit think we doe the like So for the comfortable performance which is pretended I would aske which is more comfortable when we haue some things voluntary which may be a free gift or when we are fettered in our performances like flaues more then sonnes Lastly that uniformity in publique actions cannot be observed unlesse God interpose his immediate authority savours of something else then Sabbatharian tenents If those daies are alwaies holy which are honoured with some notable work of God I see no reason why the day of our Saviours incarnation and hypostaticall union the most unsearchable a Nunquam ' Deus adeò grande fecit miraculum in caelo aut terrâ sive resuscitando mertuos sive illuminando caecos sic de aliis sicut est miraculum hoc ' unionis humanitatis addivinitatem Gers parte 4 â ser de Nativitate and glorious work ad extra or Friday wherein was finished the work of our redemption should not be a Sabbath as b Euseb lib. 4. c. 18. Constantine made it Surely although all Sabbaths haue beene kept upon daies chalked out by Gods famous works yet all daies thus chalked out haue not been forthwith Sabbaths by divine institution That the proportion of one in seven to be kept Sabbath cannot be ceremoniall that never any found any Ceremony therein is utterly untrue For to omit others c Videri ergo possit Dominus per diem septimum populo suo delineasse suturam sui Sabbathi perfectionem Cal. de 4. prae Sic eliam Clemens Alexandrinus ex Elatone lib. 5. Stlomaâ— Calvin hath long since observed that it did not only historically teach the Iewes the perfection of the works of nature but mystically also the perfection of the works of grace and that nothing should be wanting unto us in the person of the promised Messias the number of seven being the number of perfection Alike solid is that which followeth that the Rest of the seventh day had relation unto Christs rest only in the Graue but was not mystically referred unto the grace of the Gospell which is contrary both to the Scripture and to the streame of all Divines Ancient and Moderne And what if the Iews were partakers of the grace of Christ yet were they led thereunto by the hand as children in these and the like figures and how doth this hang together There is a taxation of one in seven under the Gospell therefore that which the Iewes had under Moses could not be ceremoniall That we under the Gospell keep the fourth Commandement is most true understood in generall of the substance of the Commandement for times of publique worship but in nothing else For thought it say Remember the Sabbath day not the seventh yet immediatly it addeth by way of exposition the seventh is the Sabbath and which it meaneth of the seventh even the next after the creatioÌ„ We must not then make God wise according to our fancies by making his word a Lesbian rule broken asunder and patched together at our own pleasures But say it speaks of a Sabbath in generall how doth it speak of a seventh day-Sabbath in speciall under the Gospell or of the Lords day in particular This therefore must be helped with another heap of superstâ—â—ons Christians you say must not giue a worse time unto the Lords service then did the Iewes must it therefore be just the same that a better would proue a publique grievance is a plausible put off why might we not giue him every sixt day if the whole Church should think it fit would it not be all one upon the matter to Trades-men Labourers But the Lord hath marked out unto us his own day by his own resurrection This is most true and therefore the Church alwaies hath and I doubt not but ever wil obserue it to the worlds end though only by the Churches authority But supposing it to be our Sabbath must it not be kept for time and manner as that of the Iewes was If it be not the Iewish why should we keep the Iewish time of just so many houres with the Iewish manner of rest for such or such cessations As for the rest he that is a Teacher of prophanenesse and an Abettour of licentiousnesse an untempered morter-dauber let him be accursed The other patterne of doctrine therefore in this point is That God created man in that high measure of knowledge as made him little lower then the Angels Psal 8.5 That man continued in this estate but a very short time perhaps not many houres That notwithstanding his fall a great part of his wisdome remained with him especially his naturall knowledge of the creature and the worlds creation That God admitting fal'n man into the state of grace through repentance was pleased to converse with him though not so familiarly as otherwise he would haue done by apparitions and revelations That the light of nature remaining taught him that this God must be publiquely worshipped That he being not unmindefull of his fall and the curse which thereby was brought upon him death and being instructed in the faith of the Messias to be slaine hence God came to be publiquely worshipped by the sacrifices of slaine beasts That the set time of this publique sacrificing is not mentioned in Scripture That the place in the second of Genesis was written by Moses after the Law was given and had relation thereunto That nothing can be averred of the Patriarchs practice till Israels comming into the wildernesse and the fall of Manna That the Law delivered in the fourth precept is morall for substance as that God must haue times for publique worship Ceremoniall for circumstance in the rest binding the Iewes only leading them partly backward to their state in Egypt the fall of Manna partly forward to good things to come in Christ That Christ therefore and the Gospell being exhibited this circumstantiall Sabbath must cease but expired not quite untill the destruction of the Temple That during this while the Apostles kept the Iewish Sabbath as they did other Ceremonies That withall they kept in a manner the Lords day also for breaking of bread though this was not alwaies done upon that day only That whatsoever the Apostles did in the Churches by them planted was not by Apostolicall authority they being the Churches Pastors as well as Christs Apostles That the discipline of the Church of which the time and manner of publique Assemblies is not the least part was established by them as Pastors not Apostles and might afterward receiue such changes as the state of succeeding times should require That therefore the institution of the Lords day is by Ecclesiasticall authority and that this is a sufficient tye of conscience to all such as list not to be obstinately wilfull That the Lords day thus established must be observed and set apart for Gods publique worship and all meanes used for the supporting thereof That those that joyne not with the Congregation therein are guilty of prophanation That whatsoever doth hinder this in any man of which no generall rule can be given ought to be avoided by him and that herein every mans experience can best informe him That such things as are used only as diversions of the minde and recreations of the body are lawfull on this day so they offend not in any other circumstance That those that are inclined and inabled to private holy exercises performed without fraud or sinister respect doe that which is most profitable and commendable though not bound thereto by the Law of the Lords day That all men should be watchfull over themselues to keep a spirituall Sabbath from the servile works of sinne throughout the whole course of this life having alwaies an eye to that Sabbath of Sabbaths promised us in the kingdome of GOD our Father and of his deare Sonne IESUS CHRIST to whom be honour and glory now and for ever more Amen FINIS