A Defense of the Sabbath Day, Chapter 3 · Commentary · Section 6 – Section 7
SECT. VI.
Thus we hauehave anſwered the Scriptures vvhichwhich they abuſe, & bring out of the Old Teſtament; in the next place vve come vntounto thoſe Scriptures which they alleage out of the New Teſtament, abuſeing them alſo: the firſt vvhereof is that Text, Act. 2.1.14. &c. Where Peter preached on Pentecoſt day, and alſo converted 3000 ſoules; and adminiſtred the Sacrament of Baptiſme vntounto them: and this Pentecoſt day, was on the Lords day; and therfore the Lords day muſt be a Sabbath day.
Here vntounto I anſwer (and in anſwering, I muſt be the larger, becauſe in this Text they put greate confidence, ſaying; heere vvas a Sermon, & heere vvas thowſands converted, & heere vvas the Sacrament of Baptiſme adminiſtred, & on this day the Holy Ghoſt deſcended; & vvhat vvould you hauehave more ſaith Mr. Gallard?) admit, that this Pentecoſt day, was our Lords day; yet foraſmuch as it vvas onelyonly our Lords day, vvhichwhich vve call White-Sunday; if it be a Sabbath, it doth not follow that any more Lords dayes in a yeere muſt be Sabbaths, then one, & that vponupon our White-Sunday.
2. I anſwer, it is not to be ſuppoſed, but it muſt be proued by them; that this Pentecoſt day, vvhereon Peter preached, vvas that yeere vponupon the Lords day, or Sunday: for it is houlden by many, that Pentecoſt day, doth follow according to the day of the MonethMonth variably, and not according to the day of the vveeke conſtantly: Waleus vponupon the 4th Com. Pag. 161. ſaith it is caled into queſtion of ſome whither this Pentecoſt day, fell then vponupon the Lords day or not. Yea, he addeth that Pentecoſt may fale on any day of the weeke. To this agreeth Aynſworth on Leuit. 23.11.15. alleaging it to be the opinion of Sondry Rabbines; and according to the Hebrew Canones; and tranſlations of the Chaldee, & Septuagint; that Pentecoſt followeth the day of monethmonth, and ſo is variable, being one yeere vponupon one day of the weeke, & an other yeere vponupon an other day of the vveeke: and herevnto alſo doe beare witneſſe, the Iewes whereſoeuer novv liuing; for they keepe their Feaſt of Pentecoſt by the accounte of the Moone; and one yeere vponupon one day of the weeke, and the next yeere vponupon an other. Wherefore ſince it is the moſt likely that Pentecoſt day then fell vponupon ſome other day of the weeke, as Saturday, or the like, hovv vvill they proue it fell novv vvhen Peter preached, on the Lords day, or Sunday?
3. I anſwer, but ſuppoſe we that it was the Lords day, wherin all this vvas done, it yet doth not follow, that this day was therfore a Sabbath day; for theſe actions, were no proper actions of a Sabbath day, & done onelyonly vponupon Sabbath dayes; for they were common weeke dayes actions & ſuch as might be, may be, and were done vponupon any day of the weeke: let vsus rune thorough the particulars briefly; and firſt for the Holy Ghoſtes deſcending; how will they make it appeare, that the Holy Ghoſt in his diſcent doth vvaite for a Sabbath day, to come downe in? vve reade of the Holy Ghoſts deſcending, in Act. 10.44. and in Act. 19.6. But not a vvord, that theſe dayes were Sabbath dayes. If notable actions done in a day, muſt ſanctify that day for a Sabbath day, vvhy are not good Friday, wherin Chriſt ſuffered, & Hallow Thurſday, vvherin Chriſt aſcended, made Sabbaths alſo? for theſe workes, vvere as behoofefull for the Church, as was the deſcent of the Holy Ghoſt. 2. For the Sacrament of Baptiſme, the adminiſtration of this, is no proper worke for a Sabbath, but may be done in any common day: Elſe why doe vvee baptiſe children, on any day of the vveeke? and vvhy did Phillip Baptiſe the Eunuch on a trauailing day? Act. 8.38.39. Paul baptized Lydia & hir houſhold, vpō the Saturday Sabbath Act. 16.15. Sacraments were neuer appropriated to the Sabbath day, as vve may ſee in Circumciſion, it vvas on the 8 day, were it Sabbath day or not: the Paſſeouer, it was on the 14th day of the monethmonth, were it Sabbath day or not: & Chriſt did eate the Lords Supper, on Thurſday night, the night before he was crucified. 3. For Peters ſermon: we know preaching is no worke ſo proper vntounto the Sabbath day, as it may not be on any day of the weeke alſo: elſe, why preach wee on Lecture dayes, on any of the weeke dayes? preaching may be on any day of the weeke, according to that 2. Tim. 4.2. preach the word, be inſtant, in ſeaſon and out of ſeaſon. Chriſt preached on a vvorking day, to the Samaritan vvoman; his Diſciples being gone into the Citty to buy meate Ioh. 4.8. the Apoſtles preached daily in the Temple, and from houſe to houſe, Act. 5.42. thus it appeareth that theſe are ſuch actions, as may be done on any day of the weeke, & hovv then will it follow, that this day of Pentecoſt was Sabbath day, becauſe theſe actions vvere done in that day? theſe are farr from neceſſary conſequences I am ſuer. No maruaile they pretend neceſſary conſequences for the Lords day; and magnify their reaſon ſo highly, in the want of a Commandement for the day: I ſee novv, ther is ſome cauſe indeede, that they ſhould ſet a good face vponupon the matter, and hauing no Com. from Chriſt for the day, yet they ſhould make the world beleeue, that they hauehave good conſequences for the purpoſe; and doe you not ſee how good they are? had they neither conſequence, nor Com. for the day, they ſhould hauehave iuſt nothing for it; they had need therefore extoll their neceſſary conſequences.
Doe not vve on a Chriſtmas day, vvhen it falleth on a working day, or weeke day; both pray, & preach, & vſe the Sacraments, and reſt from laboures, and ſing Pſalmes, in the Congregation; and vvill any wiſe man ſay, thers neceſſary conſequence in it, that we keepe it for a Sabbath day? what vanities are theſe?
The vtmoſt that can be collected by good conſequence, from this Text, Act. 2. is that the Church kept this day of Pentecoſt for a Lecture day; like as vve hauehave Lecture dayes eueryevery vvhere on vveeke dayes, on Tewſdayes, or Thurſdayes, & the like.
Further it is to be noted that Peters Sermon heere, it vvas meerly occationall, & extraordenary, & therfore can not binde vsus to ordenary practiſe. For vponupon the extraordenary Myracle of the Holy Ghoſts deſeent, in clouen fiery tounges; ſome people vvere amazed & aſtoniſhed, & doubting ſaid, what may this be? Act. 2.12. Others mocked, and ſaid, the Apoſtles vvere full of new wine, and drunken, Act. 2.13. now here vvas greate occation for Peter to preach a Sermon vntounto them; partly to informe & inſtruct thoſe that vvere amazed & doubted; & partly to confute thoſe, vvho ſcoſted at the Apoſtles, as if they had bene drunken: ſo heere was matter enough to moue Peter to preach, though he had no reſpect vntounto the day, as a Sabbath day.
It is true hence a Miniſter, by conſequence, may gather ſuch a conſequent or doctrine as this, namely, that it is the duety of Miniſters, to preach the vvord, vponupon all occations: but for any to collect hence, not onelyonly that vve muſt preach vponupon all occations, but more then this, as namely, that vve muſt alſo euer more preach vponupon the ſame day, and in the ſame time, vvherin the Apoſtle Peter preached, that is vponupon the Lords day, vvhither there be extraordenaty occation or none, this is idle & abſurde; for the Text will not beare vsus out in any ſuch collections; nor can it be gathered hence, that vve are bound to preach at all, vponupon either one day, or vponupon an other, vnleſſe it be vponupon extraordenary occationes; ſuch as vvere Peters here in this Texte.
Further, vve may aſwell coliect hence alſo concerning the place, as the time; ſaying, that vve muſt euermore preach in a populouſe and famouſe Citty alſo, as London, Norwich, and the like; for Peter preached in Ieruſalem, a famouſe Citty. And alſo, when vve preach there, we muſt keepe that day for a Sabbath day too.
4. My 4th & laſt anſwer to this text is, by ſhewing their abſurd conſequence hence: for, if that the coming downe of the holy Ghoſt, & Peters ſermon, & the convertion of 3000. & the baptizing of them, &c. did declare the day to be a Sabbath day, wherein they were done; then is Pentecoſt, a Iewiſh ceremoniall feaſt day, moralized, & made a Chriſtian Sabbath day: and ſo Iewiſh abrogated ceremonies, ſhall be reuiued in the Church: the reaſon thereof is, becauſe the holy Ghoſt doth not call this day here, Lords day, or firſt day of the weeke; but he calleth it Pentecoſt day; and when the day of Pentecoſt was come, Act. 2.1. This day, might be called by 3 ſeuerall names, as 1. Lords day. 2. The firſt day of the weeke: and 3. Pentecoſt day. Now in that the holy Ghoſt, reiecteth both thoſe names, of Lords day, and firſt day of the weeke, which ſhould make for their purpoſe; & chooſeth this name Pentecoſt day, which was a ceremoniall day, it followeth, that if theſe actions, had any force or virtue to declare the day whereon they were done, to be a Sabbath day, they ſhewed vsus, that this day conſidered not as Lords day, but as Pentecoſt day, is our new Sabbath day. Suppoſe we, that vponupon a Friday, there fall ij holy dayes, the one Gowries day, the other King Charles his Coronation day: here this one day, may hauehave 3 names, as Friday, Gowries day, and the Kings Coronation day: if now an Acte of Parliament be made, hauing relation to this day, and calleth it Coronation day, rather then by thoſe other ij names: vvill not eueryevery one thinke that that Acte hath rather reference to this day, conſidered as King Charles his Coronation day, then to it conſidered as Friday, or as Gowries day? ſo tis here, no man can thinke, but that the holy Ghoſt, in relation of theſe things done on this day, and naming it Pentecoſt day & not Lords day, had rather reference vntounto it conſidered as Pentecoſt day, to make it a Pentecost Sabbath, then to it as Lords day, to make it a Lords day Sabbath.
Furthermore, I make it appeare, that if we imitate Peter here, and the Church at Ieruſalem, vve muſt keepe the Lords day, as a ceremoniall day, & as Pentecoſt day; for they all kept it ſo, as Ieruſalem, Act. 2.1. and this I thus proue; 1. It is graunted by all that the Ceremonies of the lavv, had 40 or 50 yeeres, vntill the deſtruction of the Temple, allovved for their honourable buriall: Whereby is intimated, that vntill then the Legall Ceremonies vvere in vſe at Ieruſalem. 2. It is cleere by Scripture, ſee Act. 21.20.17. vvhere the Apoſtles teld Paul, that all the belecuing Iewes, vvere ſtill zealouſe of the Law: Yea further, the Apoſtles perſwaded Paul, that novv he being come to Ieruſalem, that hee vvould Iudaize alſo, by purifying himſelfe, & contributing &c. v. 24. and all vvas done to this end, that the beleeuing lewes, might thinke nothing to the contrary, but that Paul himſelfe alſo kept the law; to vvit, the Ceremoniall Lavv: by vvhichwhich paſſages, it is more then manifeſt that at Ieruſalem, the Apoſtles, and all the beleeuing Jevves, they ſtill obſerued the ceremoniall lavv, and that zealouſly; novv this vvas all long after Pentecoſt day; ſo that, if they kept the ceremoniall lavv, ſo long after Chriſt, much more then at Pentecoſt, vvhichwhich vvas vvithin 6 or 7 vveekes after his reſurrection: Wherefore, vve are to thinke that theſe Iewes, at Jeruſalem, kept Pentecoſt, as a Iewiſh ceremoniall Sabbath day; vvhereof you may reade Leu. 23.15.21. and ſo by conſequence it follovveth, that if theſe vvorkes of the holy Ghoſts deſcending, and of Peters preaching, &c. doe declare this Lords day, to be a Sabbath day; that then vve muſt hauehave a Pentecoſt Sabbath day, rather then a Lords Sabbath day; a ceremoniall Sabbath day, not a Chriſtian Sabbath day; and the Lords day, is not to be kept as Lords day, but as Pentecoſt day. Behold then the abſurdety, of theſe men, who glorie ſo much in this text, Act. 2.1. as being ſo ſtrong for their new Sabbath day, when as they may by the ſame reaſon, bring into the Church againe, this ceremoniall abrogated day of Pentecoſt: behold how vnconſcionably they deale vvith the Scriptures, and vvord of God, making them a noſe of vvaxe; turning it vvhichwhich vvay they pleaſe as may beſt fit their fancies: if any conſcience be left in them, they had need (I auowch it) aſke God mercy vponupon their knees, for ſuch abuſes offred vntounto his ſacred vvord.
For concluſion, let the patrones of this Lords day Sabbath remember, that this is their taske, if they will proue the Lords day a Sabbath. 1. They muſt proue, that this Congregatiō Reſted from labour all this day; and that in conſcience of it as a Sabbath day; not occationally &c, nor as pentecoſt day: for, reſt from labour is a parte of the Sabbath dayes duety. 2. they muſt proue, that theſe holy actiones which were performed, of preaching & the like, that they were done by Peter & the reſidue, in conſcience of the 4th com. for, Peter might preach in conſcience of that com. which Paul gaue 2. Tim. 4.2. preach the word, be inſtant, inſeaſon & out of ſeaſon. Theſe are the ij maine things beſids many others, which they ſhould proue; but theſe they can paſſe ouer, whith out any word tending this way.
SECT. VII.
An other text they alleage out of the new Teſtament, to vvit, Ioh. 20.19. vvhere mention is made, that Chriſt appeared to his Diſciples; and it vvas vponupon the Lords day too; and this reaſon is currant in eueryevery mans mouth, Miniſters & people; Why Chriſts apparitions (ſay they) vponupon the Lords day, proue it to be a Sabbath day &c. but Miniſters begine to be aſhamed, to vſe this ouer worne argument any longer; & well they may be aſhamed of it: but that it is ſo frequent now in peoples mouths, we may thanke Miniſters for it; for it is one of their ovvne arguments, vvhichwhich they hau put into peoples heades; & an erroniouſe conceipt once faſtened in the minds of people, by their Miniſters, vvill hardly be remoued, be it neuer ſo idle.
But in one vvord, to ſhew their abſurdety and abuſe of this Text of Scripture alſo (for they make a practiſe of abuſing the Scripture) if Chriſts apparition, doth declare that day to be a Sabbath day, vvherin hee appeared to his Diſciples, then was a fiſhing day, a Sabbath day alſo; for Chriſt appeared to his Diſciples on a fiſhing day, whe they vvere a fiſhing at the Sea of Tiberias, ſee Iob. 21.1.2.3.4. Yea, then muſt Hallow Thurſday be a Sabbath day alſo, for then Chriſt appeared againe to his Diſciples, vvhen he aſcended from them, vp into heauen, Act. 1.9.11. Yea vve muſt keepe Fowrty Sabbathes together, once in a yeere, for Chriſt appeared to his Diſciples, being ſeene of them, by the ſpace of 40 dayes, Act. 1.3. and thus much for this text. vvhereby you ſee, how the Holy Scriptures hauehave bene abuſed, & the Holy Ghoſt is made to ſpeake what he neuer meante: vvere it not high time therfore, that theſe things vvere reformed?