The Doctrine of the Sabbath, Thesis 20
Thesis 20.
And if superiours in Families are to see their Gates preserved unspotted from such provoking evils, can any thinke but that the same bond lies upon Superiours in Common Wealths, who are the Fathers of those great Families, whose subjects also are within their Gates and the power of their Jurisdictions? the Civill Magistrate though he hath no power to impose new Lawes upon the Consciences of his subjects, yet he is bound to see that the Lawes of God be kept by all his Subjects; provided alwaies that herein he walke according to the Law and Rule of God, viz. that. 1. Ignorant Consciences in cleare and momentous matters be first instructed. 2. Doubting Consciences have sufficient means of being resolved. 3. Bold and audacious Consciences be first forewarned: hence it is that though he hath no power to make Holy daies and to impose the observation of them upon the Consciences of his subjects, (because these are his own Lawes) yet he may and should see that the Sabbath Day (the Lords holy Day) that this he observed, because he doth but see to the execution of Gods Commandement herein. By what Rule did Nehemiah not onelyonly forbid the breach of the Sabbath, but did also threaten bodily punishment upon the men of Tyre? (although they were Heathens, yet were they at this time within the Gates and compasse of his Jurisdiction: Nehem. 13.21.) certainly he thought himselfe bound in conscience to see that the Sabbath should not be prophaned by any that were within his Gates, according to this fourth Commandement. If Kings and Princes and civill Magistrates have nothing to do in matters of the first Table (and consequently must give any man liberty to Prophane the Sabbath that pretends Conscience,) why then doth Ieremy call upon Princes to see that it be not prophaned, with promise of having their Crownes and Kingdomes preserved from wrath if thus they do, and with threatning the burning up and consuming of City and Kingdome if this they do not Ieremy? 17.19.25.27. If civill Magistrates have nothing to do herein, they then have nothing to do to preserve their Crownes, Kingdomes, Sceptets, Subjects from fire and Bloud and utter ruine: Nehemiah was no Type of Christ, nor were the Kings of Israel bound to see the Sabbath kept as Types of Christ, but as nursing Fathers of the Common-Wealth, and because their own subjects were within their Gates and under their power; and therefore according to this morall Rule of the Commandement, they were bound not onelyonly to keepe it themselves, but to see that all others did so also. 'Tis true, civill Magistrates may abuse their power, judge, amisse, and thinke that to be the command of God, which is not; but we must not therefore take away their power from them, because they may pervert it and abuse it; we must not deny that power they have for God, because they may pervert it and turne the edge of it against God: for if upon this ground the Magistrate hath no power over his Subjects in matters of the first Table, he may have also all his feathers pul'd from him, and all his power taken from him in matters of the second Table; for we know that he may work strange changes there and perve…t Justice, and Judgement exceedingly: we must not deny their power because they may turne it awry and hurt Gods Church and people by it, but (as the Apostle exhorts, 1 Tim ….1.2.) to pray for them the more, that under them we may live a peaceable life in all Godlinesse and Honesty: its a thousand times better to suffer persecution for Righteousnesse sake and for a good Conscience, then to desire and plead for toleration of all Consciences, that so (by this cowardly device and lukewarme principle) our owne may be untoucht: it was never heard of untill now of late that any of Gods Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, faithfull Witnesses, &c. that they ever pleaded for liberty in errour, but onelyonly for the Truth, which they preacht and prayd for, and suffered for unto the death; and their sufferings for the truth with Zeale, Patience, Faith, Constancy, have done more good, then the way of universall toleration is like to doe, which is purposely invented to avoyd trouble. Truth hath ever spread by opposition and persecution; but errour being a Child of Satan hath fled▪ by a zealous resisting of it.
Sick and weake men are to be tender'd much, but Lunatick and Phranti… men are in best case when they are well fettered and bound: a weake Conscience is to be tendered, an humble Conscience tolerated; errours of weaknesse not wickednesse are with all gentlenesse to be handled; the liberty given in the raign of Episcopacy for Sports and Pastimes, and Maygames upon the Lords Day, was once loathsome to all honest minds; bat now to allow a greater Liberty, to Buy, Sell, Plow, Cart, Thrash, Sport, upon the Sabbath day, to all those who pretend Conscience, or rather, that they have no Conscience of one day more then another, is to build up Iericho, and Babel againe, and to lay foundations of wrath to the Land, for God will certainly revenge the pollutions of his Sabbaths: if God be troubled in his Rest, no wonder if he disturbes our peace: some of the Ancients thinke that the Lord brought the flood of Waters upon the Sabbath day as they gather from Gen. 7.10. because they were growne to be great prophane…s of the Sabbath; and we know that Prague was taken upon this day. The day of their sinne, began all their sorrowes which are continued to this day to the amazement of the World: when the time comes that the Lords precious Sabbaths are the dayes of Gods Churches Rest, then shall come in the Churches peace, Psal. 102.13.14. The free grace of Christ must first begin herein with us, that we may finde at last that Rest which this evill World is not yet like to see, unlesse it speedily love his Law more, and his Sabbaths better.
I could therefore desire to conclude this doctrine of the Sabbath with teares, and I wish it might be matter of bitter lamentation to the mourners in Sion, everywhere to behold the universall prophanation of these precious times and seasons of refreshing, toward which, through the abounding of iniquity, the love of many who once seemed zealous for them, is now grown cold: the Lord might have suffered poore, worthlesse, sorrowfull man to have worne and wasted out all his daies in this life in wearinesse, griefe, and labour, and to have filled his daies with nothing else but work, and minding of his own things, and bearing his own necessary cumbers and burdens here, and never have allowed him a day of rest untill he came up to heaven at the end of his life; and thus to have done would have been infinite mercy and love, though he had made him grind the Mill only of his own occasions, & feele the whip and the lash onelyonly of his daily griefs and labours, untill dark night came; but such is the overflowing and abundant love of a blessed God, that it cannot containe it selfe (as it were) so long a time from speciall fellowship with his people here in a strange land, and in an evill world, and therefore will have some speciall times of speciall fellowship and sweetest mutuall embracings; and this time must not be a moment, an houre. a little, and then away againe; but a whole day, that there may be time enough to have their fill of love in each others bosome before they part; this day must not be meerly occ… sionall at humane liberty and now and then, least it be too seldome, and so strangenesse grow between them; but the Lord (who exceeds and excels poor man in love) therefore to make all sure he sets and flxeth the day, and appoints the time, and how to meet, meerly out of love, that weary man may enjoy his rest, his God, his love, his Heaven, as much and as often as may be here, in this life, untill he come up to glory, to rest with God; and that because man cannot here enjoy his daies of glory, he might therefore foretaste them in daies of grace; and is this the requitall, and all the thanks he hath for his heart-breaking love? to turne back sweet presence and fellowship, and love of God in them, to dispute away these daies with scorne and contempt, to smoke them away with Prophannesse, and madde mirth, to Dreame them away with Vanity, to Drinke, to Sweare, to Ryot, to Whore, to Sport, to Play, to Card, to Dice, to put on their best Apparrell that they may dishonour God with greater pompe and bravery, to talke of the World, to be later up that d…y then any other day of the Weeke, when their own Irons are in the fire, and yet to sleepe Sermon, or scorne the Ministery, if it comes home to their Consciences; to tell Tales, and breake Jests at home, or (at best) to talke of Forraigne or Domesticall newes onelyonly to passe away the time, rather then to see God in his Workes and warme their hearts thereby: to thinke God hath good measure given him, if they attend on him in the Foore…oone, although the After-noone be given to the Devill, or sleepe, or vanity, or foolish pastimes; to draw neere to God in their bodies, when their Thoughts, and Hearts and Affections are gone a Hunting or Ravening after the World the Lord knowes where, but farre enough off from him: do you thus requite the Lord for this great love, oh foolish people and unwise? do you thus make the daies of your rest and joy, the daies of the Lords sorrow and trouble? do you thus weary the Lord when he gives rest unto you? was there ever such mercy shewen, or can there be any greater love upon Earth, then for the Lord to call to a wicked sinfull Creature, which deserves to be banisht for ever out of his Presence, to come unto him, enter into his Rest, take his fill of love, and refresh it selfe in his Bosome in a speciall manner all this day? And therefore can there be a greater sinne above ground committed out of Hell then thus to sinne against this love? I do not thinke that the single breach of the Sabbath (as to sport or feast inordinately) is as great a sinne as to murther a man (which some have cast out to the reproach of some zealous for the observation of the Sabbath day, truly the Lord knows) for I believe their milk sod over, if thus they said; but I speak of the Sabbath under this notion and respect, and as herein Gods great love appeares to weary, sinfull, restlesse man, as a day wherein all the treasures of his most rich and precious Love are set open; and in this respect let any man tell me what greater sinne he can imagine, then sinnes against the greatest Love? The same sinnes which are committed upon other daies in the Weeke are then provoking sinnes; but to commit these sinnes upon the Sabbath Day, is to double the evill of them: Drinking and Swearing, and Rioting, and vaine Talking, &c. are sinnes on the weeke-day, but they are now but single sinnes; but these are such like sinnes on the Sabbath Day are double sinnes, because they are now not only sinnes against Gods command, but also against Gods Sabbaths too, which much aggravates them; and yet men mourn not for these sinnes; had the Lord never made knowne his Sabbaths to his Churches and People in these daies, they might then have had some excuse for their sinne; but now to prophane them since God hath made them knowne to us; especially the English Nation and People to do it, upon whom the Lord hath shined out of Heaven with greater light and glory in this point of the Sabbath, above any other places and Churches in the World, what will they have to say for themselves, with what Fig-leaves will they hide this nakednesse before the Tribunal of God?
The Lord might have hid his Sabbaths from us and gone to another People, that would have beene more thankfull for them, and glad of them then we have beene; and yet he hath beene loth to leave us; and doe we thus require the Lord? surely he hath no need of the best of us, or of our attendance upon him upon these daies; its onelyonly his pitty, which seeing us wearied with sorrowes and wearying our selves in our sinnes, makes him call us back to a Weekly rest in his Bosome, who might have let us alone and tyred out our hearts in our own folly and madnesse all our daies; and do we thus requite the Lord? Certainly the time will come wherein we shall thinke (as once Ierusalem did in the daies of her affliction) of all our pleasant things we once had in the daies of our prosperity; …ertainly men shall one day mourne for the losse of all their precious time, who mispend it now, and (above al times) for the losse of their precious pleasant Sabbath seasons of refreshing, which once they had given them to finde rest and peace in; when …he smoke of their tormenting everlasting burning shall ascend for ever and ever, wherein they shall have no rest day nor night; you shall remember and thinke then with teares trickling down your dry che…ks, of the Sabbaths▪ the pleasant Sabbaths that once you had, and shall never see one of those daies of the Sonne of man more: you shall mourne then to see Abrahams bosome a farre off, and thousand thousands at rest in it, where you also might have bin as well as they if you had not despised the rest of God here in the bosome of his Sabbaths.
You shall then mourne and wring your hands, and teare your haire, and stampe and grow mad, and yet weepe to think that if you had had a heart to have spent that very time of the Sabbath in seeking God, in drawing neare to God, in resting in God, which you dispend in idle Talke, and Idlenesse, in Rioting and Wantonnesse, in Sports and Foolishnesse upon this day, you had then been in Gods Eternall Rest in Heaven, and for ever blessed in God. Its said Ierusalem remembred in the day of her affliction all her pleasant things, when the Enemy did mock at her Sabbaths; and so will you remember with sad hearts the loose of all your pretious seasons of grace, especially then, when the Devills and Heathens and damned Out…asts, who never had the mercy to enjoy them, shall mo…k at thee for the losse of thy Sabbaths. Verily I cannot thinke that any men that ever tasted any sweetnesse in Christ or his Sabbath, and felt the unknown refreshings of this sweet Rest, but that they will mourne for their cold affections to them and unfruitfull spending of them before they die; otherwise never goe about to bleare mens eyes with Discourses and Invectives and Disputes against them, or with carnall Excuses for your licentious spending of them; for doubtlesse you taste not, and therefore know not what they are; and you will one day be found to be such as speake evill of the things you know not. Heare ye despisers and wonder, and perish; is the infinite Majesty and glory of God so vile in your eyes that you do not thinke him worthy of speciall attendance one day in a Weeke? doth he call you now to Rest in his Bosome, and will you now kick his Bowels, despise this Love, and spit in his Face? doth he call upon you to spend this day in holinesse, and will you spend it in Mirth, and Sports and Pastimes and in all manner of licentiousnesse? Hast thou wearied God with thine iniquities, and thy selfe in thine iniquities all the weeke long (for which God might justly cut thee off from seeing any more Sabbath) and doth the Lord Jesus (instead of recompencing thee thus) call you back againe to your resting place? and will you now weary the Lord againe, that he cannot have rest or quiet for you one day in a Weeke? Oh that we could mourne for these things: And yet walke abroad the face of the whole earth at this day, and then say where shall you finde almost Gods Sabbaths exactly kept? viz. with meet preparation for them, delight in them, with wonderment and thankfulnesse to God after the enjoyment of them? all the world knowes to whom the barbarous Turks do dedicate their Frydayes, the Jewes also how they sanctifie their saturdayes, to the Lord Iehovah indeed, but not unto the Lord their God. What account the Papists put upon the Sabbath's not only their writings (which level it with all other Holy-dayes) but also their loose practice in sports and revellings upon this day beare sufficient witnesse: and oh that we had no cause to wash off this spot with our teares from the beautifull and pleasant face of the glorious grace and peace, which once shined in the German Churches, by whose Graves we may stand weeping and say, this is your misery for this your provoking sin: Scotland knows best her own integrity, whose lights have been burning and shining long in their clearnesse in this particular. But England hath had the name, and worn this Garland of glory, wherewith the Lord hath crowned it above all other Churches. But how hath that little flock of slaughter, which hath wept for it, and preacht, and printed, and done and suffered for it, beene hated and persecuted? who have been the scorne and shame, and reproach of men, but a company of poor weaklings, for going out a few miles to hear a faithful, painful Preacher, from those idle Shepheards, who either could not feed them with knowledge and understanding at home or else would not do it through grosse prophanesse, or extream idlenesse? And now, since God hath broken the yoke of their oppressors, and set his people at liberty to returne to Sion and her solemne assemblies as in dayes of old, and hath given to them the desires of their hearts, that they may now be as holy on the Sabbath as they will, without any to reproach them, at least to countenance such reproaches of them: now I say when one would think the precious Sabbaths (which so many of Gods servants in former time have brought down to this generation, swiming in their teares and prayers, and which many in these dayes have so much looked and longed for) that every eye should be looking up to Heaven with thankfulnes for these, and that every heart should embrace Gods Sabbaths with teares of joyfulnesse, and bid this dear and precious friend welcome, and lie and rest in their bosome; and so I doubt not but that England hath yet may a corner ful of such precious Jewels, to whom Gods Sabbath… are yet most precious and glorious, and who cannot easily forget such blessed seasons and meanes in them, whereby (if ever the Lord did good unto them) they have been so oft refreshed, and wherein they have so oft seen God, wherein they have so oft met with him, and he with them; but whose heart will it not make to relent and sigh, to hear of late a company (not of ignorant debosht persons, malignants, prelatical, and corrupt and carnal men) but of such who have many of them in former times given great hopes of some feare of God, and much love to Gods Ordinances and Sabbaths; and now (what hurt the Sabbaths Ordinances of the Lord Jesus therein have done them, I know not, but) it would break ones heart to see what little care there is to sanctifie the Sabbath, even by them who think in their judgments that the day is of God. What poore preparation for it, either in themselves or families! what little care to profit by it, or to instruct and catehize their families, and to bring them also it love with it! what, secret wearinesse and dead-heartednesse (almost wholly unlamented) remains upon them! what earthly thoughts, what liberty in speech about any worldly matter, presently after the most warning Sermon is done! that the Lord Jesus hath scarce good carcasses and outsides brought him which cannot but threaten more crows to pick them unlesse they repent: and yet this is not so sad as to see the loosenesse of mens judgments in this point of the Sabbath, whereby some think a Sabbath lawful, but not necessary (in respect of any command of God;) nay some think it superstition to observe a weekly Sabbath, which should be every day (as they imagine,) they have allegorized Gods Sabbaths, and almost all Gods Ordinances out of the world, and cast such pretended Antichristian filth and pollution upon them, that spiritual men must not now meddle with them; nay verily, all duties of the moral Law, and fruitful obedience and holy walking, and sanctification, graces, and humiliation, and such like, are the secret contempt of many, and the base drudgery for a …ll-horse and legal Christian, rather then for one that is of an Evangelical frame; and herein Satan now appears with the ball at his foot, and seems to threaten in time to carry all before him, and to kick and carry Gods precious Sabbaths out of the world with him, and then farewel dear Lord Jesus with all thy sweet love and life, if Sabbaths be once taken from us by the blind and bold disputings of wretched men; authority as yet upholds them (which is no small mercy) and the savour of Christs sweetnesse in them, and the external brightnesse of the beauty of them, do still remaine on many with that strength and glory, that it is not good policy for the prince of darknesse now to imploy all his forces against the gates of the Sabbath: but the time hastens wherein the assault will be great and fierce, and I much fear that for the secret contempt of these things, the Lord in dreadful justice will strengthen delusions about this day to break forth and prosper; and then pray you poor Saints of God and hidden ones, that your flight may not be in the Winter, nor on the Sabbath day: but woe then to them that give su…k, woe then to the high Ministry that should have kept these gates, woe then to that loose and wanton generation rising up, who think such outward formes and observation of dayes to be too course and too low and mean a work for their enobled spirits which are now raised higher and neerer God then to look much after Sabbaths or Ordinances, graces or duties, or any such outward forms; for I doubt not but if after all the light and glory shining in England concerning Gods Sabbaths, if yet they are not thereby become precious, but that the Lord will make them so by his plagues, if this sin once get head, God will burne up the whole world, and make himself-dreadful to all flesh, untill he hath made unto himself a holy people, and a humble people, that shall love the dust, and take pleasure in the very stones of his house, and love the place where his Honour dwels, and long for the time wherein his presence and blessing shall appear and be poured out upon the Sabbath day. It's matter of the greatest mourning, that they above all other should trouble Gods rest, wherein perhaps their souls have found so much rest, or might have done; that in these times, wherein the Lord Jesus was coming out to give unto his house his Ordinances, and unto his people his Sabbaths and dayes of rest every way, that now they above all others should offer to pull them out of his hand, tread them under foot, and hereby teach all the prophane rout in the world to do the like with a quiet conscience, and without any check by their reasonings; that now when God is wasting the Land, and burning down its glory, for the sins against his Sabbaths, that just at this time, more then ever, they should rise up to polute and prophane this day. The Lord grant his poor people to see cause at last to mourn for this sin, that the rest of the Sabbath may be rest to their souls, especially in this weary hour of Temptation, which is shaking all things, and threatens yet greater troubles unto all flesh. The Lord Jesus certainly hath great blessings in his hand to poure out upon his people in giving them better dayes, and brighter and more beautiful Sabbaths, and glorious appearances; but I fear, and therefore I desire that this unwise and unthankful generation may not stand in their own way, lest the Lord make quick work, and give those things to a remnant to enjoy, which others had no hearts to prize.
FINIS.
End of the text · Thomas Shepard, The Doctrine of the Sabbath (1650)