A Defense of the Sabbath Day, Chapter 5 · Commentary · Section 3 · Argument 21
ARGVM. XXI.
My 21th argumēt for the defence of Gods Sabbath proueth, that it muſt be morall & ſtill in force, or elſe we mancle & lame the royall Law of Gods commandements, receiuing & acknowledging but but ſome parceles & peeces thereof onelyonly: & doe deny that intire and whole Law of God, to be whole & intire to vsus, or to belong vntounto vsus in the Jntegrity & perfection thereof. And thus I argue.
If any man aboliſh the 7th day Saturday Sabbath, commanded in the Law of Gods 10 commandements, hee must alſo mancle and lame that royall Law of God, receiuing & acknowledging but ſome parceles and peeces thereof onelyonly, and he muſt deny that intire and whole Law of God, which was vttered by the voice of God, & wrote in Tables of stone by the finger of God, to be whole and intire to vsus, or to belong to vsus in the Jntegritie and perfection thereof.
But no man may mancle & lame that royall Law of Gods 10 commandements, receiuing but ſome parceles and peeces thereof onelyonly; nor deny that intire & whole Law of God, to be whole and intire to vsus, or to belong to vsus in the integrity and perfection thereof.
Therefore no man may aboliſh the 7th day Saturday Sabbath, commanded in the Law of Gods 10 commandements.
For the conſequence of the Major: becauſe this argument fetcheth all its force, from the wholneſse & Integrity of the law, it is needfull therefore that I ſhew, what the wholneſſe & perfection of the Law is: note therefore, that the Law is then ſaid to be whole, intire, & perfect, when it hath all the partes and percelles added to it, which God at the making of it, put and ioyned together, lacking none of them: like vsus we cale him an whole an perfect man, who hath all his ioyntes & partes which God gaue him when he made him: & as we cale that an whole and perfect Bible, which hath in it, both the old and New Teſtaments, together with all and eueryevery of the ſeuerall bookes & Chapters bound together, which at the firſt God ioyned together; and as that man is ſaid to be an whole and perfect man, who lacketh no limme or ioynt, of thoſe which God ioyned together whē he made him: & as that is ſaid to be an whole & perfect Bible, which lacketh neither Chapter nor verſe of all thoſe Chapters & verſes, which God deliuered in writing, from the Prophets and Apoſtles; ſo that is ſaid to be the whole intire, & perfect Law of God which hath all the partes and things commanded, which at firſt belonged to it, & which lacketh none of all thoſe precepts, which at the making and diuulging of that Law, God ioyned together. If then we would know, whither we hauehave the whole law of God intirly now or not we muſt hauehave recourſe vntounto the making & firſt diuulging of this Law: looke therefore into the twentyth Chapter of Exodus, and there you ſhall ſee this whole and intire Law of God, with all & eueryevery the members thereof, as God made it when he firſt proclaimed it vntounto his Church: thus you ſee both what the wolneſſe & integrity of Gods Law is, and where to find it whole and intire as God made it; & if any man ſhall diminiſh or deny, any one particle commanded in this Law, he muſt be ſaid to mancle & lame this Law: & the Law muſt be accounted but a lame, mancled & imperfect Law, like as if a mā lacketh but a ioynte of his hand or a finger, he is ſaid to be a lame man; and if a Bible wanteth but a leafe or a verſe, it is an imperfect Bible.
Now to apply this; Jn the Decalogue, God chargeth his people, to Remember the Sabbath day, and to ſanctify the Sabbath day, and to Rest on the 7th day; now this day caled Sabbath day, & 7th day, was our Saturday, as all men know: wherfore if any man will aboliſh this Saturday 7th day Sabbath, as not commanded now to be remembred, now to be ſanctified, and now to be reſted on, that man, doth mancle & lame the royall law of God: for he withholdeth one branch of Gods Law, which inioyneth the remembrance and ſanctification of the Saturday 7th day Sabbath, that man, receiueth and obeyeth but ſome parceles & peeces of Gods Law onelyonly: for he yeeldeth obedience but onelyonly vntounto ſome nyne, or nyne & an halfe of Gods tenn commandements; for he leaueth out that peece and parte which concerneth the Saturday Sabbath: and that man, muſt deny Gods intire & whole law, to be intire & whole vntounto vsus; or, to belong vntounto vsus, in the integrity & perfection thereof: for if the Law belonged vntounto vsus, in its integrity and perfection, then the Saturday Sabbath, which was once commanded in that Law, & ſo was a parte & a peece of the Law, it muſt now alſo be commanded in the Law, and ſo belong vntounto vsus now. Thus the conſequence is proued good, that whoſoeuer aboliſheth the old Sabbath day, he mancleth Gods Law, he yeeldeth obedience but vntounto percels and peeces of it, & he denyeth that Gods Law belongeth vntounto vsus, in its intigrity & perfection. For the Saturday Sabbath, ſerueth to make vp Gods Law, an intire, an whole, & a perfect Law; & without it, it is but a lame, imperfect, maimed, defectiue Law; like a lame man wanting an hand, or a finger of his hand; & like an imperfect & defectiue Bible, lacking a Chapter, or a verſe of ſome Chapter.
I confeſſe that thoſe tene Miniſters, Gods aduerſaries and myne in this point, goe aboute like botching Taylers, or ſowterly Coblers (for I cannot more aptly and fitly reſemble their action) to make vp this breach againe, by adding a peece of new cloth to fill vp the rent, and ſo they ſuppoſe to auoide this blow, and to make vp the Law againe an intire and perfect law: now howeuer it is commendable to peece & mend old garments, yet it is altogether inſufferable, for any to play the botch er and cobler with Gods lawes: the new peece wherewithall they would fill vp this rent, & make vp this breach, it is the Lords day or firſt day of the weeke, & this day muſt now be thought & firmely beleeued, to be put into the old Law of the Decalogue, & then we ſhall hauehave 10 commandements againe wholly & compleatly: but as once it was vnlawfull to weare a garment of Linſey wolſey, and to bring profane and common perſones into the Temple, ſo is it now, to mingle humane inſtitutiones with Diuine ordinances, and to bring a day appointed by man, into the Morall, eternall, and ſacred Law of God: for the Lords day hath no higher inſtitution then the ordinance of the Church; and will they peece and mend vp the Diuine Law of God, with the peece of an humane ordinance? but admit that the Lords day were of Diuine ordination, yet is this peece too bigg or too little, to ſtand in the breach of the 4th commandement, as formerly I hauehave ſhowne, becauſe it cannot agree to the 4th com. beſides, to ſee the vnskilfulneſſe of theſe peecers; they confeſſe that this Lords day Sabbath is a new ordinance, pertaining to the new Teſtament, as are Baptiſme & the Lords Supper, & yet they will attempt to mende vp the breach of the old Law, with a peece taken out of the new Teſtamēt: thus the old law, ſhall be partly old, partly new; partly Law, & partly Goſpell; a new kind of botching. They ſaied indeed a Cobler ſhould anſwer my booke, and ſee now if they be not as good as their word; is not this worke of theirs Coblers worke?
Hauing proued the Major, I come vntounto the Minor, & here I am to proue, that no man may ſo wreſt the Scriptures, as thereby to mancle & lame the Royall Law of God, no man may receiue & obey but ſome percels & peeces of it onelyonly; & that no man may deny the whole and intire Law of God, to belong to vsus wholly, fully, and in the integritie and perfection thereof: me thinke none ſhould deny this Minor; if any will. 1. He is guilty of doeing violence, to the Law, and of being partiall in Gods Lawes, this was the ſinne of thoſe Prieſts laied to their charge by God, who had polluted the Sanctuary, & done violence to the Law, Zeph. 3.4. and againe, yee hauehave not kept my waies, but hauehave bene partiall in the Law: Malach. 2.9. yea, he muſt hold it Iewiſh & Iudaiſme in any that will be intire & perfect in Gods Law, that is, that will hauehave an indifferent and vnpartiall reſpect vntounto all the partes thereof: for he that is intire and perfect in the Law, will hauehave reſpect vntounto Gods Sabbaths, which they muſt count Iudaiſme.
2. I finde it in Polanus Syntag: pag. 353. that Papiſts doe deny the ſecond Commandement againſt worſhiping of Jmages, to be Morall and appertaine vntounto Chriſtianes: to the like purpoſe I find in Willet on Exod. 20. pag. 342. 343. theſe paſſages. The commandement (ſay Papists) of aboliſhing and deſtroying Images, was ceremoniall, & therefore it concerneth not Chriſtians now. And againe, The ſecond praecept against the making of Images was onelyonly temporall, & concerned the Iewes. Thus Papiſts are partiall in the Law, and deny its integrity: now if we may deny the Integrity of the Law, tell me why Papiſts may not doe ſo too?
3. If any will deny this Minor by the iudgement of M. Perkins he denieth himſelfe to be regenerated: ſee M. Perkins in his Commentary on the Galatians, Chap. 5. v. 4. pag. 311. where treateing of the Law, thus he writeth, The Law it is wholly copulatiue: all the partes of it are linked one to an other: he that is bound to one Commandement, is bound to all: he that keepes one indeede, keepes all: he that breakes one, in reſpect of the diſpoſition of his heart, is a breaker of all, Iam. 2.10. he that makes no conſcience to keepe ſome one commandement, if occaſion be offred, will breake any: Hence it followes, that true regeneration is that which is a reformation & chang, according to the whole Law of God: Ioſias turned to God according to the whole Law. Zacharie & Eliſabeth, walked in all the Commandements of God. Dauid ſaith, he ſhall not be confounded, when he hath reſpect vntounto all the Commandements of God. Here you ſee M. Perkins vrgeth it, as a note of true regeneration, that men be reformed according to the whole Law; and exemplifies it by that of Ioſias, Zacharie & Elizabeth, & the prophet Dauid: if that regeneration then be a reformation, according to the whole Law, then is the whole Law ſtill in force, & ſo men may not deny its Integrity & wholneſſe, men may not mancle & lame it; vnleſſe it grieueth them that the 10 Commandements ſhould be all Morall.
To conclud, we muſt either reaſſume and reedify Gods ancient Sabbaths, or elſe we muſt reiect and demoliſh the integrity and perfection of Gods royall Law.