The Jewish Sabbath Abrogated, Part 1 · Sermon 4
SERMON IV.
… the Commencement of the Sabbath, and that it was in the Wilderneſs of Sin. What a moral Law or Precept is. That the Morality of the fourth Commandment lies not in the preciſe ſeventh day. Four Arguments urg'd to prove this.
Gal. iv. 10, 11.
Ye obſerve days, and months, &c.
I Have, my Brethren, endeavour'd to ſhew and prove,
1. That God did not write the Law of … Seventh-day Sabbath in Adam's Heart; that … is no Law of Creation wrote in the Hearts of the Gentiles, and of all Mankind, and ſo no …atural or ſimple moral Precept.
2. That it was not given to Adam by any expreſs poſitive Command either before or immediately after he fell; and ſo none of the Pa…riarchs did obſerve it. We can find no original of the Seventh-day Sabbath (as to any obſervance of it) hitherto, therefore muſt look for its beginning or original, or any actual or expreſs Command for the obſervation thereof, ſomewhere elſe; which indeed we have in Exod. 16. 23.
True,The 7th day Sab. begun in the Wilderneſs of Sin. ſome of the Jewiſh Rabbins affirm that it was given to Iſrael, Exod. 15. 25. at Marah: There he made them a Statute and an Ordinance, and there he proved them. It is called a Statut… and Ordinance in the ſingular, not Statutes … Ordinances; and probably it might be the Statute of the Sabbath, tho 'tis not expreſſed … the falling of Manna, chap. 16. tho others by … figure think it may comprehend not only th… Sabbath, but all other Precepts of the Law.
I know that Dr. Owen ſeems not to be of opinion, that this Statute refers to the Sabbath neither can we determine the caſe, yet it is very probable it might be that. But we find … directly and expreſly commanded, chap. 16. 2… ▪ To morrow is the Reſt of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord, &c. And many learned Men do aſſe… that here was the Inſtitution, and original … the obſervance of it:Mr. Graſcome. Thus a late Writer expreſſes himſelf; The firſt time we find the obſervation of the Sabbath-day injoyned is … the Wilderneſs of Sin, before they came … Mount Sinai, where the ten Commandment… were deliver'd; as if it were purpoſely … diſtinguiſh the day, which is Ceremonial, an… of divine poſitive Inſtitution, from the Wo… ſhip it ſelf.
The words in Exod. 16. 23. expreſs plainly enough the Inſtitution of this day, by way of Information to the People, viz. To morrow is the Reſt of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord bake that which you will bake to day, &c. And when the day came or begun, Ver. 25.Moſes ſaid, Eat that to day, for to day is a Sabbath to the Lord▪ And in ver. 26. Six days ye ſhall gather it, but on the ſeventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there ſhall be none.
Obſerve by the way, that here is not one word on what day the Manna firſt fell, ſo that none can tell this was the ſeventh day from the Creation; but that it was the ſeventh day after the ſix days of its raining of Manna, is evi…ent.
But to return to our buſineſs in hand: Here, … …ay, is the original, or firſt beginning of the …bbath, that we read of, as to any Precept or …junction on the People, or any obſervation of … ▪ which was, as one obſerves, about a month …fore Moſes receiv'd the Law on Mount Sinai.
Some, it is true, would infer, that the Sab…th was known, and obſerv'd by the Jews be…re, becauſe (they ſay) it is here ſpoken of … a thing well known.
1. I anſwer in the words of our late Author:Graſcome's Hiſtory of the Sab. p. 76. This is a force put upon the words, and a groſs miſtake; for it is evidently ſpoken of as a new thing, elſe what means that frequent Inculcation to make the People take notice of it, if it had been familiar to them before? And what means the coming of the Rulers of the Congregation to Moſes to conſult him as on an unuſual and unknown matter?Exod. 16. 22.
2. And let me add, they were told that they ſhould gather it ſix days, and that there ſhould be none found on the ſeventh; and yet ſome of the People went to gather it on the ſeventh day, as not being yet well acquainted with their Sabbath, ver. 26, 27. and this diſpleaſed the Lord; and therefore Moſes again told them, ver. 29. See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the ſixth day Bread for two days.
He hath given you the Sabbath; Doth not …his imply he had not given it to any before? To you, and none elſe; to you, and to none that went before you, as he ſpake to them afterwards, Deut. 5. 2, 3. As to his Laws and Covenant on Mount Sinai, the Covenant which God made with us in Horeb, the Lord made not this Covenant with our Fathers, but with us, even … who are alive this day.
Their Fathers had the Covenant and all the Precepts before materially, as to the ſubſtance of them, or what was ſimply moral; but the… had not this Covenant, nor thoſe Precepts formally given to them, and ſo not the preciſe ſeventh day.
3. If the People did know there was a Sabbath given in charge to Moſes before Manna it might refer to that chap. 15. yet they might not know what particular day it was to begi… on, or which day ſhould be the day of their firſt Sabbath, nor know yet how to keep it. Fo…
4. As the ſame Author notes, the caſe of th… Man who gather'd Sticks on the Sabbath-day▪ ſhews they were ſtill unacquainted with Sabbath-days Duties,Numb. 15. 32, 33. or rather wholly ignorant of the Penalty of the breach of it: they knew no… what they ſhould do with him, and this was whilſt they were in the Wilderneſs; and they put him in ward, for it was not yet declar'd what ſhould be done unto him. By which it appears (ſaith he) to be a new thing not yet adjuſted: for had it been a Law from the Creation, it is ſcarce poſſible that all Men ſhould have been ignorant whether any Puniſhment or not, or what Puniſhment did belong to the Violation of a Law of ſuch ſtanding.
Object. I know that Dr. Owen ſaith, Dr. Owen on the Sab. p. 62.if the original of the Sabbath was here, then the National Obſervation of it is introduced with a ſtrange abruptneſs, &c.
Anſw. To which I anſwer, that it doth not ſo appear to me; however, let every Man read the words of Moſes again, and how he repeats the ſame over and over, To morrow is the Sabbath, &c. To day is a Sabbath unto the Lord; …gain, The Lord hath given you the Sabbath: …an any thing be brought in more ſolemnly? …ut I ſee how Men will try their Wits to de…nd their own Scriptureleſs Notion of a Sabbath given in Paradiſe, as well as in pleading … other groundleſs Practices.
Object. But ſince you grant a Sabbath before … Law on Mount Sinai or Ceremonial Laws …ere given, doth not this prove it is a moral Pre…pt?
Anſw. No, not at all, becauſe we find that ſacrifices, and offering the Firſtlings of the …locks,Gen. 4. 7. & 7. 2. & 14. 20. & 28. 2. and firſt Fruits of the Ground, were offered to God from the beginning: and therefore ſhould we grant that the Seventh-day Sabbath had been practiſed from the beginning …ſo, yet that would no more prove it a moral …nd perpetual Law, than it proves the offering …f the Firſtlings of the Flocks, and the Firſt-…ruits, &c. to be perpetual Laws, or moral Duties; the Sabbath being a ſign and ſhadow as well as they were ſo. We come now to the …urth part of our firſt general Propoſition.
Object. The ſeventh-day Sabbath was given in the 20th. Chapter of Exodus, The grand Argument for the Jewiſh Sabbath conſider'd and anſwer'd.with all the other …ine moral and perpetual Commandments wrote in two Tables of Stone, by the finger of Jehovah himſelf; and therefore it obliged believing Gentiles to keep it, and all Mankind.
1. To this I anſwer, that if I can prove it is not the Duty of Gentile Believers, nor any Believers in Chriſt in all the World to keep the Seventh-day Sabbath from hence, I ſhall overthrow our Opponents ſtrongeſt Fort, and ſo utterly confute them; which I doubt not by God's Aſſiſtance I ſhall fully do, and in order hereto ſhall lay down three Propoſitions.
Firſt, The method propoſed in anſwering this Argument.I affirm the Morality of the fourth Commandment lies not in the obſervation of the preciſe ſeventh day from the Creation.
Secondly, That the Law of the ten Commandments, as formally given to Moſes, and written with the finger of God in two Tables of Stone, and given to the whole Houſe of Iſrael, were not given to the Gentiles, nor to any other People in the World, ſave the Strangers that were within their Gates, or were proſelyted to the Jewiſh Religion.
Thirdly, That the whole Law is changed▪ and that what was Ceremonial, or ſhadows … things to come, ceaſed at the death of Chriſt: and all Precepts of the Moral Law, or what … ſimply moral, as they were formally given by Moſes, are taken out of his hand, and put into the hands of Chriſt conſider'd as Mediator, our Lord, and only Lawgiver.
I ſhall now begin with the firſt of theſe Propoſitious.
Firſt, I ſhall give you the ſenſe of the Learned about a pure moral Precept.
Firſt, The Term Moral being but a ſcholaſtical Expreſſion, and not properly ſignifying that which is uſually underſtood by it,Cawdry's Chriſtian Sabbath, p. 1, 2, 3. ſay Mr. Cawdry and Mr. Palmer, we have ever judg'd it a Bone of Contention: Moral (relating to a Law) ſignifies in it ſelf any Precept ſerving to regulate the Manners of Men.
Dr. White ſaith,White on the Sab. p. 26. A Divine Law call'd Moral is a juſt Rule or Meaſure impoſed by God, directing and obliging to Obedience of things holy, honeſt, and juſt. The ſame is twofold, ſimply moral, or moral only by ſome external Conſtitution or Impoſition of God. Divine Law ſimply moral, commands or prohibits Actions good or evil, in reſpect of their inward nature and quality.
Dr. Owen ſaith,Owen on the Sab. p. 118. Moral Laws are ſuch as have the Reaſons of them taken from the nature of the things themſelves requir'd in them; for they are good from their reſpect to the nature of God himſelf, &c. Laws Poſitive, as they are occaſionally given, ſo they are eſteem'd alterable at pleaſure, being fixed by mere Will and Prerogative, without reſpect to any thing that ſhould make them neceſſary antecedently to their being given; they may by the ſame Authority at any time be taken away and aboliſhed.
Mr. Shepherd ſaith,Shepherd on the Sab. p. 6, 7. A Law ſtrictly and eſpecially moral, is that which concerns the Manners of all Men, of which we now ſpeak, and may be thus deſcrib'd, viz. It is ſuch a Law as is commanded, becauſe it is good; and it is not therefore merely good becauſe it is commanded. And thus Auſtin, ſaith he, deſcrib'd it long ſince. Alſo Cameron, and multitudes of other Writers and learned Men. But mere Divine poſitive Laws are commanded of God, and therefore good.
Some ſay, that is ſimply moral that is the Law of Nature, or which naturally obligeth all Men, and is diſtinguiſhed from Laws Ceremonial, and Judicial. Thus one expreſſeth himſelf, i. e. Primroſe of the Sab. p. 4.This Law Moral all Men take to be the Law of Nature, and reciprocally they take the Law of Nature for this Law, for that which is naturally and univerſally juſt.
Mr. Cawdry and Palmer ſay,Cawdry Sabbatum, p. 3. It implys any Law of God expreſt in Scripture, whether it can be prov'd natural or not, which from the time it was given to the end of the World binds all ſucceeding Generations of their Poſterity to whom it was given, and more eſpecially it obliges the Church, &c.
I think Mr. Baxter in this caſe has ſaid excellently well:Baxt. on the Sab. p. 77. Moral, ſaith he, ſignifieth that which by nature is univerſal and perpetually obligatory. He anſwers this Queſtion, Do not Divines ſay the Decalogue written in Stone is the Moral Law, and of perpetual Obligation? Anſw. Yes, for by moral they mean natural, and ſo take moral not in a large ſenſe, as it ſignifies a Law de moribus, as all Laws be whatſoever; but in a narrower ſenſe, as ſignifying that which by nature is of univerſal and perpetual Obligation.
Now then that which I call a pure of ſimple Moral Law or Precept, is that which is a Tranſcript of God's holy Nature, and therefore commanded, whether written in the Heart of innocent Adam, or in God's Word or Law; and doth univerſally and perpetually oblige the whole World to conform thereunto.
Now having let you know what is to be underſtood by a ſimple Moral Law, I ſhall ſhew that the Law of the preciſe Seventh-day Sabbath is not a Law of this nature, i. e. a pure moral Precept univerſally and perpetually obligatory on all Men: tho I deny not but there is that in the fourth Commandment which is moral in the ſenſe I have given, viz.
1. A time,Three things contain'd in the fourth Commandment. a ſufficient time to be ſet apart from all worldly Buſineſs, for Reſt, and the Worſhip of God; and this is all I can find ſimply moral in the fourth Commandment.
2. There is ſomething more contained in it, which God by a poſitive Command requir'd from the Soveraignty of his Will, as that which he ſees juſt and reaſonable; namely, that one day in ſeven be ſet apart as a day of Reſt, and for his Service, and that this ſhould be perpetual to the end of the World. I know Divines call this poſitively moral; and tho I cannot ſee reaſon ſo to call it, yet I grant as much I think as they mean thereby.
3. God did alſo command the whole Houſe of Iſrael under their Legal and Typical Church-…tate, to obſerve the ſeventh, or laſt day of the week in remembrance of his finiſhing the Works of the firſt Creation.
And now that the preciſe ſeventh Day was a …hadow or a ſign, I have and ſhall prove; and … was only a Law to the Iſraelites during that Typical Diſpenſation, and their Political Church-…tate, which Chriſt nailed to his Croſs, and …uried with all other Shadows and Legal Ceremonies.
But before I proceed, I might give you the Obſervations of divers Expoſitors on the order and manner of the Expreſſions in the fourth Commandment: As firſt, the eſſential part, Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy; not the ſeventh day. True, in the next words God declar'd that the ſeventh Day ſhould be the Jews Sabbath, whom he took into a Legal and Typical Covenant, and Church-ſtate, to be his own People: The ſeventh Day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; not thy God in Chriſt upon the terms of the new Covenant; no, no, but thy God in a legal, and external Covenant. And ſo their Sabbath was given to them upon the terms of the Law of Creation, or the Covenant of Works, which is a legal, relative, and external Covenant God enter'd into with the whole Houſe of Iſrael, or Nation of the Jews, even them and all their natural Seed as ſuch.
My Brethren, upon this foot of account was the Seventh-day Sabbath founded; not in Chriſt, or on a new Covenant bottom; nor given to New-Covenant Children as ſuch; but it wa… bottom'd upon the Covenant of Works, and only given to that People whom God brought out of the Land of Egypt, and redeem'd from Egyptian Bondage. And when he enters into that Covenant with them, he poſitively ſays therefore he gave them his Sabbaths,Deut. 5. 1. which was a ſhadow of a far greater Work than that … Creation, and of a greater Redemption th… that out of Egypt. I heard lately of one … ſaid, this was his chief reaſon of obſerving … Seventh-day Sabbath, becauſe it was given … God's Covenant-People, &c. not being able to diſcern between that legal and typical Covenant made with the whole Nation of Iſrael (which took in their fleſhly Seed as ſuch) an… the Covenant of Grace.
Moreover, Expoſitors obſerve concerning the cloſe of this Commandment, ver. 11. Wherefore God bleſſed the Sabbath-day, and ſanctified it, that 'tis not ſaid the ſeventh day here▪ but the Sabbath-day. One day in ſeven, and not the preciſe ſeventh Day from the Creation, is by a poſitive Command in this place intimated to be God's Will and Pleaſure to be obſerved to the end of the World.
But the preciſe Seventh-day Sabbath given to Iſrael. I ſhall prove is not the moral part of the fourth Commandment, but a ſhadow of what was to come, and principally refers to Chriſt, and to that ſpiritual Reſt Believers enter into when they firſt cloſe with him.
I know Divines call one Day in ſeven a moral poſitive, as I juſt now told you: by moral they …, as I conceive, that which ought perpe…ally to be obſerved; but that Day which God from the Soveraignty of his Will commanded the Jews, was 'tis plain the ſeventh: and when Chriſt came, who has given us the true Reſt, and roſe from the dead, he appointed, as I ſhall hereafter prove, the firſt Day of ſeven upon the account of his finiſhing his Work, i. e. the work of Redemption, as God commanded the Iſrae…tes to keep the ſeventh-day, becauſe on it he …eſted when he had finiſhed his Work, viz. …hat of Creation.
Now then, tho there is ſomething naturally …nd ſimply moral in the fourth Commandment; …nd tho God doth here intimate from his own …rerogative or Arbitrary Will, that he will …ave one day in ſeven perpetually obſerved as a …ay of Reſt and ſacred Worſhip; yet that …art of it that ſpeaks of the ſeventh-day was …erely poſitive and typical, and ſo ceaſed with …he Covenant of Works.
Indeed Dr. Owen has excellently ſhewed how his Commandment is of a mixt or compound …ature, partly ſimply moral, partly poſitively …oral, and partly typical or Ceremonial: the …ſt he refers to the preciſe ſeventh day, when he ſays,P. 120, 121. It was inſtituted for an outward preſent religious Obſervation, to ſignify and repreſent ſomething to come: And ſuch, ſaith he, were all the particulars of the whole Syſtem of the Moſaical Worſhip, whereof the Law of the Sabbath was a part. And in …rief, the whole Law of the Sabbath was, as … its general nature, poſitive and arbitrary, …nd ſo changeable, and particularly ceremo…ial and typical, and ſo is actually changed and aboliſhed.
Now to proceed: The preciſe Seventh-day Sabbath cannot be a ſimple moral Precept, and therefore in that lies not the Morality of the …ourth Commandment. In order to prove this, …et me lay down this Propoſition, viz. If the Law of the obſervation of the preciſe ſeventh Day hath not in it one Character of a Law that is ſimply moral; then the Morality of the fourth Commandment doth not confiſt in the obſervation of that preciſe Day: but that it has not one Characte… of ſuch a Law, I ſhall endeavour to prove,
Firſt, That the preciſe ſeventh Day is not the Morality of the fourth Commandment, proved largely.A ſimple moral Precept (that I me… which is naturally moral, obliging all Manki… for ever) as to the very matter of it, or this it ſelf as ſo conſidered (abſtracted from … poſitive Command) is naturally holy, as …ſulting from the Nature of God.
But the ſeventh Day (in which our Breth… place the eſſence or ſubſtance of the four… Commandment, or the Morality of it) is … more holy naturally than any other day of … week.
Object. If they ſay, but God ſanctified th… Day.
1. I anſwer, they will not ſay that God added any inherent Holineſs to that Day.
2. But if they ſhould ſay he did, then … would overthrow the Morality of it, i. e. as … this firſt property of a ſimple moral Precept for then it will follow it was made holy … an Act of God's Arbitrary Will and Pleaſure▪ and that it was not ſo naturally, as that Day was created, or proceeded from the Holineſs of God: becauſe, as we have ſhew'd, all pu… moral Precepts as to the matter of them are not good merely becauſe God commands them, … are in themſelves good as reſulting from the Holineſs of his Nature.
For evident it is, that every Day of the … had one and the ſame efficient Cauſe, namely▪ Divine Creation; and all days and things Go… made were very good; and God's ſanctifying the ſeventh Day was but his ſetting it apart fo… ſome holy uſe:Dr. Owen on the Sab. p. 82. the Day, ſaith Dr. Owen, was not capable of any inherent Holineſs. God then ſanctified, ſays he, this Day, not that he kept it holy himſelf, which in no ſenſe the Divine Nature is capable of; nor that he purified it and made it inherently holy, which the nature of the Day is not capable of, nor that he celebrated that which in it ſelf was holy [mark that well] but he ſet it apart to holy uſe. So that from hence it follows, if the Morality of the fourth Commandment lay in the preciſe ſeventh Day, it wants the firſt Character of a ſimple moral Precept. God might have ſet apart at firſt any other day if he had pleaſed, as well as the ſeventh.
Secondly, The ſeventh Day never known univerſally to be a Sabbath.Every Precept or Law ſimply moral (which obliges all Men to Obedience perpetually) muſt be made known to all Men either by the Law of Nature, or by Revelation from God himſelf in ſome ſupernatural way: the Righteouſneſs of God requires this, becauſe the Violation of ſimple moral Precepts is damnable. (1.) Now were there ſuch a Law written in Mens Hearts, I mean to keep the ſeventh Day, ſome one Man or another would that way have known it. But no Man hath ever ſo known it, therefore no ſuch Law is written in any Man's Heart; and if not one Man that way ever knew it, then not all Men univerſally beſure. (2.) And as the Law of the Seventh-day Sabbath is not revealed to all the World by the Lord this way, ſo he never gave any Commiſſion to Moſes, nor to any of his Prophets to promulgate it, or reveal it to all Mankind; therefore I argue, it wants the ſecond Character of a ſimple moral Precept.
Thirdly, That Law which upon urgent neceſſity may be omitted or laid aſide, or be broken, can be no Precept ſimply moral; but the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath, upon divers urgent neceſſities, might be omitted or broken: Joſh. 6. 15.the Jews themſelves might war, and go to battle on that day;1 King. 20. 29. and our Saviour ſhews they might pull a Sheep or any other Beaſt out of a Pit or Ditch on the Sabbath-day;Joh. 5. 10. nay, our Lord wrought with his Hands, and made Clay on that day, did many Miracles, and commanded the Man he healed to bear a Burden, i. e. to carry his bed on that Day.
But Precepts ſimply moral, in reſpect of the negative part, oblige perpetually, and by no means muſt be tranſgreſſed; for, as a Divine ſaith, A Man muſt not tell a Lye to ſave the World. Can any pretended neceſſity make it lawful to worſhip another God, or prophane his Name, or ſteal, murder, or commit Adultery? I know what is ſaid about the Iſraelites borrowing of the Egyptians; and of God's commanding Abraham to ſlay his Son: but thoſe actions are to be accounted for, as being extraordinary caſes.
Obj. Works of Mercy may be done on the Sabbath-day, and Chriſt ſpeaks of Works of Mercy.
Anſw. Of what nature are works of Mercy? I hope not of a higher concern than the diſcharge of a ſimple moral Precept. And can one ſimple moral Precept have more Sanctity in it than another? What, violate the very letter of one moral Law, to do that which is but implyed as the neceſſary conſequence of another! nay, break a Command of the firſt Table, to keep a Command of the ſecond Table! This is a hard caſe.
Fourthly, That Law or Precept which is equalled to, or compared with Sacrifices, is no ſimple moral Precept: but ſuch is the Law or Precept of the Seventh-day Sabbath; therefore 'tis not a ſimple moral Precept.
That our Saviour himſelf doth equal it to, or compare it with Sacrifices, ſee Mat. 12. 3, 4, 5, 6.
1. Our Lord juſtifies his Diſciples in plucking the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath-day, and compares their ſo doing to David's eating the Shew-bread, verſ. 3. which was unlawful by a mere poſitive Law.
2. He ſhews them how the Prieſts in the Temple prophaned the Sabbath, and were blameleſs, verſ. 5. Some think they ſlew Beaſts on that Day; however our Lord ſaith, they prophaned the Sabbath, &c.
But then, ſays he, If ye had known what that meaneth, I will have Mercy and not Sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltleſs, verſ. 7. What can he intend leſs than this; viz. If ye had known the difference between a pure moral Precept and ſuch a Precept as is nothing more than a Sign, a Shadow, like thoſe of Sacrifices, or a mere poſitive Law that I am Lord of, and can take away, and give another at my pleaſure, you would not have condemn'd the guiltleſs. For tho all God's mere poſitive Precepts have great Sanctity in them, and ought carefully to be kept; yet when a ſimple moral Duty comes in competition with ſuch as are but poſitive or ceremonial, the leſſer muſt give place to the greater; as we commonly ſay, Of two evils chooſe the leaſt.
But if the preciſe Seventh-day Sabbath was a pure moral Precept, equal with, and of the ſame nature of that Precept of ſhewing Mercy, there had been no ground for our Lord thus to have anſwered the Jews: for if it had been duplicate page duplicate page ſo, no doubt he would have ſaid, I muſt indeed blame my Diſciples, becauſe they have broke one of God's righteous Precepts, whoſe Nature and Quality is above that of David's eating of Shew-bread, or Sacrifices. But he who was the great Expounder of the Law, knew beſt the vaſt difference between a moral Precept, and ſuch as their Sabbath and Sacrifices were.
Our late Annotators on this place, expreſs themſelves to this purpoſe: The meaning is, that God preferreth Mercy before Sacrifices; where two Laws in reſpect of ſome Circumſtances, ſeem to claſh one with another, ſo as we cannot obey both, our Obedience is due to the more excellent Law. Now, ſaith our Saviour, the Law of Mercy is the more excellent Law; God prefers it before Sacrifice; which had you conſidered, you would never have accuſed my Diſciples, who in this point are guiltleſs. Why a more excellent Law? Is it not becauſe the one is a moral Law proceeding from God's Nature, and the other but merely poſitive and Typical, and ſo arbitrary? And why do the Annotators apply that to Sacrifices? Our Lord remotely refers to that, but directly and immediatly to the Seventh-day Sabbath, and mentions Sacrifices to ſhow that the preciſe Seventh-day Sabbath was no moral Law, but of the ſame nature with the Law of Sacrifices, and that of the Shew-bread.
Beſides, our Saviour's bringing in (on this occaſion) thoſe words, for the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath, clearly ſhews that he as Mediator had power to change, diſpoſe of, or take away the Law of the Seventh-day Sabbath: for what a Perſon is Lord of, he may do what he will with. So that it may be lawful for any man to do any work on that Day, when it ceas'd and was aboliſhed, as indeed it now is, with all other Shadows and legal Ceremonies.
But none ſure will ſay, Chriſt as the Son of Man, or as Mediator, is Lord of any pure moral Precept; ſo that he can give liberty to men to worſhip other Gods, or to make graven Images and bow down to them, or take God's holy Name in vain, or commit Murder, Adultery, or ſteal, &c. No, no, it would be Blaſphemy with a witneſs to ſay this; ſuch is the vaſt difference between Laws that reſult from the nature of God, and mere poſitives, ſhadowy and Ceremonial Precepts, which were given for a time as an Act of God's Prerogative and good Pleaſure, and when the Antitype is come, were to ceaſe for ever.
Obj. But what ſay ſome? If Chriſt brake the Seventh-day Sabbath, he ſinned: thus a raſh Perſon lately expreſt himſelf.
Anſ. 1. Becauſe our Lord came not to deſtroy the Law, &c. but to fulfil it, and was obliged exactly to keep the whole moral Law of God (that it might be imputed to us with his paſſive Obedience, to juſtify us before God, as his full and perfect Righteouſneſs) that therefore he was obliged to conform to all Typical and Ceremonial Laws, of which he himſelf was the Antitype, none I think ever aſſerted; he had another way to fulfil all ſuch Laws, than by his actual Obedience to them. And,
2. Let it be conſidered in reſpect to the Typical Sabbath, the Antitype being now come, which was that Evangelical Spiritual Reſt in and by Chriſt, which all entered into that believed in him at that time: for having given reſt to all that came to him, he had thereby in part fulfilled that figurative and typical Law; and by his ſhewing ſuch ſtrange indifference about his obſervance thereof, and his carriage towards it at every turn, did clearly intimate that that Typical Sabbath was departing, or in a dying condition, tho not quite dead, till he himſelf ſuffered and dyed on the croſs; and was afterwards gradually, and decently buried, it having, as one obſerves, an honourable Funeral, when further light was given to God's People about it. But no more at this time.