The Doctrine of the Sabbath Vindicated, Chapter 1
CHAP. I. Breerwood. Pag. 4. l. 29.
YOu are a teacher of Gods word, within the compaſſe of that word I will ſtay with you; and by it examine, with your patience, whether this frame of your Doctrine bee grounded on the rock, or on the ſand, on the firme rock of Gods Law, or on the fickle ſand of your own fantaſie miſunderſtanding the Law, and ſo whether it tend to the edification or ruine of the Church. For touching the commandement of the Sabaoth (vponupon which I averre this Doctrine of yours cannot bee grounded) lay it before you and conſider it well, and tell me, to whom is the charge of ſervants ceaſing from worke on the Sabaoth day given? Is it to the ſervants themſelves or to their maſters? It is given of ſervants I confeſſe, their worke is the matter of the Commandement. But I demand, whether it be given and impoſed to the ſervants themſelves, or to the maſters whoſe ſervants they are? For if the Commandement bee not given to them, then doe they not tranſgreſſe the Commandements, if by their maſters they bee ſet to worke, but the maſters to whom the Law was given, that the ſervant ſhould not worke, and conſequently the ſinne is their maſters and not theirs: ſo if the Law be not impoſed to them, then it requireth no obedience of them, it obligeth them not; therefore is neither the tranſgreſſion of it, any ſinne to them, but only to thoſe to whom it was given as a Law.
Anſwer.
Firſt, the Commandement is given to ſervants alſo, the Words are, Thou, nor thy ſervant, which referred to the former, Thou ſhalt doe no manner of worke, can have no other ſenſe than this; thou ſhalt doe no manner of worke, that art the maſter, nor thy ſeruant ſhall do no manner of worke aFather and ſonne, ſonne and daughter, bond and free, were bound religiouſly to obſerve it. Doct. Slater, in the Miniſters portion, pag. 95.: the Commandement of ceaſing from worke not giuen of him onelyonly, but to him alſo. For, how know you, that the commandement is given to the maſter but becauſe the Lord ſaith, thou (meaning, that haſt a ſervant) ſhalt doe no manner of worke? And can you bee ſo purblind as not to ſee, the Commandement is given aſwell to the ſervant, when it is thus delivered in the ſame forme, Thy ſervant ſhall doe no manner of worke? Nay, conſider, you the Publiſher (for, as for the Author hee knoweth already by the iſſue whether his collection hence were ſound or no, and if he might have the favour the Saints had that aroſeat our Saviours reſurrection, Iam perſwaded hee would judge this Treatiſe to the fire, and therefore) you the Publiſher I ſay, and all yee that feare God, and know that a bored eare is the beſt Sacrifice, conſider, The Commandement is given to the ſervant, as a ſervant, and as thy ſervant. I will not worke, maieſt thou ſay, but my ſervant ſhall, his worke is mine by Covenant. The Lord with whom there is neither bond nor free, interpoſeth, and ſaith not, thou ſhalt not command him to worke, but thus, thy ſervant ſhall not worke. What is this but to ſay, as ſervant and as thine, hee ſhall not worke. As if hee ſaid, at other times his worke is thine, but now his worke is mine: thy covenant ſhall not infringe his covenant with his God. As thy ſervant, he is not thine in thy workes or ſervile workes that day, but the Lords freeman, yet thy ſervant that day by thee to be injoyned to the Lords worke, Gods ſervant to be free from thy works. Thou muſt obſerve the Commandement in thine owne perſon, and preſerve it in the perſons under thy charge, thy ſervant muſt doe no manner of thy ſervile worke that day, but muſt bee thy ſervant to bee ordered for the Lords worke. Conſider it well and ſee, the matter forbidden is the ſervile cares and labors of the houſhold, both of maſters about ſervants, and of Servants towards their Maſters.
Secondly, and ſeeing we are afforded by your good leave to conſider the Commandement, let us with your patience (for I cannot but thinke the heart of any deceiving or deceived, is not onelyonly ſtumbled but convinced by the former words) weigh the Words of the precept, from which I thus reaſon:
Firſt, The ſervant, eo nomine as a ſervant, is commanded to remember the day, therefore as a ſervant the Commandement is given to him to ceaſe from his ſervile work, or the worke of a ſervant. For is hee to remember a part and not all the precept? Or may hee earth himſelfe in forgetfulnes, and put all on his maſters memory.
Againe, the ſervant as a ſervant is commanded to keepe the day holy. If any deny this, then God and Caeſar cannot have their due, God & callings cannot ſtand together, God and ſocieties muſt ſubvert each other; and is this your quiet peaceable doctrine, that ruines all and brings confuſion? Yeeld the Antecedent and then this concluſion will follow, that hee is a a ſervant commanded not to worke: For reſt on the day is injoyned, that holineſſe may be followed, and ceſſation from worke forbidden, to whom holineſſe is commanded, as the words runne, Remember the Sabbath or reſting day, to keepe it holy.
Beſides, That permiſſive mandate is not onelyonly given of, but to the ſervant, ſixe daies thou ſhalt labour and do all that thou haſt to do, therefore the command for the ſeventh daies reſt is not only given of, but to the ſervant: for the commands of both, reſpect the ſame perſons.
Likewiſe this Command, Thou ſhalt not do any work, is given to him that is contained in the word, Thou: but the ſervant as thy ſervant is contained in the word, thou; and is it not given to him then? For the words following expound the firſt Thou, Thou ſhalt not. Who meane you by this Thou? who but thou maſter, thy ſervant; thou father, thy ſonne; thou mother, thy daughter, &c.
Further, the Commandement is given to them to whom the reaſons of the Command reach, but they reach alike to thy ſervant as to thee; therefore the Command reacheth alike to thy ſervant as to thee. And if you ſay, yea, the reaſons reach to all alike to perſwade to ſanctifie, but not to all alike to forbeare work; It is falſe: for, beſides that there can be no ſanctification without ceſſation from ſervile workes, the reaſons do equally and ſtrongly bend to perſwade ceſſation from worke; as the reaſon from the right of the Lawgiver appropriating it to himſelfe and his worſhip, the equity of the Law which giveth ſixe for worke, and reſtraines but for one day, the example of God, and the ſpeciall bleſſing given to the day.
To come to handy-gripes with you: you yeeld, the ſervants worke is forbidden. I demand, Is it forbidden; becauſe it hinders the maſter onelyonly from ſanctifying the day, or the ſervant alſo? Surely, becauſe it hinders the ſervant cheifly, and not the maſter, or not chiefely: his worke croſſeth the end of the Sabbath in him, if therefore the command of ſanctifying the day bee to him as a ſervant, the command of ceaſing from worke is to him as a ſervant.
Let mee againe reaſon with you from the command; if the negative bee of the ſervant, and not to the ſervant, then alſo is the affirmative, which is this, Thou ſhalt doe the workes of holineſſe that day: and from hence will follow this groſſe abſurdity, that if the ſervant goe not to the aſſemblies, nor apply himſelfe to workes of holineſſe, and the maſter alſo doe not bid him, his maſter onelyonly ſinneth, and not the ſervant; becauſe according to your new learning, the maſter is charged with the ſervant for the workes of holineſſe, and the ſervants holineſſe that day is the matter only of the Command: the maſter and not the ſervant is the ſubject perſon commanded. This Command, Thou ſhalt doe the workes of holineſſe, is of the ſervants holy worke, but no precept to the ſervant. It may be you will flee off here-from, but you are caught in your owne net, as ſure as the negative precept hath his affirmative every way proportionable.
Thirdly, and ſeeing ſtore is no ſore, where each apart will make a party good bQuae proſ…nt ſingula multa juvant., I adde: He that gave the Law, knoweth beſt the meaning of his owne Law; let us ſee from his Word in other Texts the perſons that ſtand expreſſely charged. To whom is it given? In Ier. 17. 20. to the Kings of Iudah, to all Iudah, to all the Inhabitants of Ieruſalem that entred in by thoſe gates was this Command given of ceaſing from work; of bearing no burden on the Sabbath day: Were the Iewiſh ſervants none of Iudah, none of Ieruſalems inhabitants, none of thoſe that entred in and went out by Ieruſalems gates? To whom is the Command of the Sabbath reſt given? In Exod. 34. 21. to him that ſerves, theſe are the words of the Text, Sixe dayes thou ſhalt ſerve cforeign, but on the ſeventh day thou ſhalt reſt: in eating time and in harveſt thou ſhalt reſt. Now who ſerveth ſo properly as a ſervant; and is not the originall word the ſame that notes is that ſerving, and a ſervant dforeign, ſave that one is the Verbe, and the other the Noune? And what ſerving doth it ſignifie? No other than that ſervice of ſervants, eforeignof houſhold ſervants, of ſuch as till the ground. There can bee no way toServitus, miniſterium, ſamulatus, cultura. exclude the ſervant at all from the charge of this precept.
Fourthly, beſides all this, how is your doctrine built on the words of this Commandement; the Law ſaith, Thou and thy ſervant ſhall doe no worke; you ſay, it onelyonly ſaith, Thou ſhalt not command thy ſervant to worke. Againe, take your ſaying, the Law bindeth the Maſter from commanding, and will this follow, therefore it binds the ſervant to obey his maſter, if he ſhould be ſo wicked as to command what God prohibits him. This is a plaine non-ſequitur, and can not hold together by all the Geometry in the World, nor can any Carpenter make this joyne, but ſuch looſe reaſonings hold beſt for them that would goe in a broad way. Now weaken theſe following arguments if you can.
Fifthly, hee that is circumciſed is bound to keepe the whole Law, and none is bound by your owne confeſſion, but he to whom the Law is given: the Iewiſh ſervant then, being circumciſed, was bound to keepe this Law as given to him. The circumciſed, ſaith the Apoſtle, is a debtor to doe the whole Law fGal. 5. 3..
Sixthly, he that wrought on the Sabbath being a ſtranger, was not fit for communion and ordinary converſing with the Iewes, as appeareth by the words of the Commandement, that charged the ſtranger within the gate to reſt that day, and by the practice of Nehemiah, that drave ſuch from within and without the Citie Ieruſalem, and by a like inſtance of leaven at the Feaſt of the Paſſeover, and of unleavened bread. For if the ſtranger that ſojourned onelyonly, and was not borne in the Land, did this while eate that which was leavened, he was to be cut off from the Congregation of Iſrael gExod. 12. 19. See Junius on the place.. Now ſhall the ſervant be left to the ſubjection to that command, that makes him unfit for communion with the people of God? God forbid. Yet thus would you provide for ſervants, and be ſuch a ſinner againſt their ſoules.
Seventhly, how much better might you have tuned to Lyra's Harpe, than to runne a new ſtraine; he ſaith thus hNon loquitur de adultis, qui jam ſciebant legem Sabbati, quia prohibiti ſunt ſimul cum parentibus: ſed hoc additur propueris ignorantibus legem, qui non debebant permitti dparentibus aliquid operari in diem Sabbati. Lyra., he ſpeaketh not of thoſe of ripe age, which did now know the Law of the Sabbath, becauſe they are forbidden together with their parents: but this is added for childrens ſake, that knew not the Law, which ought not to bee permitted to doe any workes on the Sabbath day. This interpretation hee had from Rabbi Solomon. I doe not ſay, it is the truth of the place, but this I ſay, you have neither truth nor patron for your abortive opinion.
Let all Chriſtians be warned how they receive every one that pretends Scripture; all Heretikes were ſuch, according to that of Irenaeu…, they were evill Expoſitors of things well ſpoken iPravi expoſitores probè dictorum. Iraeneus l. 1. adverſ. Haereſ. in prooem.: Satan laid his moſt dangerous aſſaults againſt Chriſt, and would perſwade them by Scripture too. Behold here one profeſſing to ſtay within the compaſſe of the Word, and by a futilous diſtinction of of, and to, erres from the A. B. C. Such words fiet like a Canker or Gangreene k2 Tim. 2. 17, 18. foreign..
It ſhall be your wiſedome, not to ſerve God by diſtinctions, and to learne Divinitie of your Teachers, and not Diviſions of Sophiſters.