The Lords Day Vindicated, Tract · Section 15
SECT. XV.
THere are other Texts which he produces, Page 69.70. as Rom. 14.5, 6. Gal. 4.9, 10, 11. Col. 2.16, 17. from whence we hold and contend the Seventh day, to be everlaſtingly excluded from the Chriſtian future Sabbath; the chief being the Two latter of theſe. We ſay in Gal. by Days are meant the Jewiſh Seventh day; becauſe the Apoſtle mentions their Months, that is, their Obſervance of the New-Moon Feſtivals; Times: Which ſome apply to Eaſter, Pentecoſt, Feaſt of Tabernacles, &c. and Years; which ſome think is meant of the yearly Feaſt of Atonement and Expiation. Or it may be underſtood of the year of Jubilee, (if not the Great Jubilee every Fiftieth year, yet the leſs of every Seventh year;) which St. Paul probably obſerved them very Superſtitious in: But whatever the Difference may be in the particular Applications of theſe Terms, yet they generally hold, the more rare or ſeldom Jewiſh Feſtivals to be meant; and by Days then, what other Feſtival of the Jews can be underſtood, but the Seventh day? If he do not mean their Weekly Sabbath by Days, it cannot well be conceived what it ſhould be: We doubt not but by the latter Three Expreſſions, Months, Times and Years, are meant Jewiſh Feſtivals: And why Days ſhould not ſignify the ſame, cannot well be imagined. Beſides, we find that theſe Galatians were greatly infected with the falſe Leven of Judaical Doctors, who taught them to obſerve Circumciſion, &c. as is ſeen clearly by the Epiſtle, and ſeems to be the chief occaſion of Writing it; to turn them from, and ſortify them againſt, ſuch falſe Doctrins, and dangerous Obſervances. And therefore hence we conclude St. Paul condemns the Galatian Church, for keeping the Seventh-day-Sabbath, as well as other Judaical Rites and Feſtivals; and tells them he is afraid he had beſtowed his labour in vain upon them.
In that Text to the Coloſſians, we have the Obſervance of Sabbaths expreſly ſpken of; and thereby St. Paul diſcarded from their Obſervance, as Shadows, which were to vaniſh when Chriſt the Body was come: By which we contend, is meant the Weekly-Sabbath; becauſe that in the Scripture, is Chiefly, Moſtly, if not Solitarily the Acceptation thereof: And we have heard him again and again, aſſerting that 'tis the Intent of this Word every where. And I believe ſo, whenever it ſtands abſolutely, as here without ſome Annexion or other to alter its Signification. And what Reaſon can be given why here it ſhould not ſo be underſtood? that only here, and no place elſe in the Bible, it ſhould not be taken for the Weekly-Seventh-day? Moreover, here the Apoſtle ſeems plainly to intend their Annual, Monthly, and Weekly Feſtivals; their Annual, by Holy days; their Monthly, by New Moons; and ſo their Weekly, by Sabbaths: And there was no Weekly Feſtival, but the Seventh-day-Sabbath. Or if by Holydays we apprehend the Generality of Jewiſh Feſtivals, becauſe they were all Holydays as long as their Firſt Inſtitution laſted; yet then he condeſcends to ſome Particulars of them, as the Monthly and Weekly, which then muſt neceſſarily include the Sabbath; becauſe that was a Jewiſh Holyday. Yet again, If we ſhould grant, that under the laſt word Sabbaths, any other Feſtivals may be included or meant: Yet certainly the Weekly-Sabbath cannot be excluded, being the most famous Analogate comprehended under it; and therefore in ſuch an Expreſſion, cannot be excepted; though ſometimes the moſt famous Analogate be only meant, and excludes all others; yet never is it it ſelf not intended in ſuch Propoſitions. Withal, as we ſaid before of the Galatian Church, ſo we do of the Coloſſian; 'twas infected by falſe Teachers, that would make a Mixture of the Jewiſ, and Chriſtian Religion, and would have Moſes's Rites to be kept with Chriſt's Ordinances: And they know well enough, that by Sabbaths was meant the Seventh day; ſeeing 'tis always ſo accepted. Whence we may well conclude, that here is an expreſs exiling the Seventh-day-Sabbath out of the Church of Church. Heretofore we were called upon to ſhew one Text in which the Seventh-day-Sabbath was abrogated, and now we bring an expreſs literal one; yet it will not do, but many Objections are brought in againſt it: Which we ſhall ſucceſſively conſider and traverſe.
1. Some think it muſt be underſtood of Ceremonial Sabbaths only; becauſe elſe 'twould reach the Firſt-day-Sabbath, as well as the Seventh. But there is no fear of that, for the Firſt day is never called Sabbath in the Scripture; and therefore cannot be meant; and wee ſay the Seventh-day-Sabbath, was both poſitive and ceremonial, for he himſelf allows it to ſignify the eternal Reſt above. 2. He Objects that one place names no Sabbath, but only Days; the other indeed names Sabbaths, (which he would have interpreted Weeks, for which I can ſee no Reaſon; but much againſt it; and therefore ſhall ſay nothing till he produce his Reaſons for it.) And all the weight of this Argument is but a ſilly Conjecture of the meaning of the word Sabbaths: But we have ſeen before, that this is not a ſilly Conjecture, but grounded upon the very uſual Acceptation of the Word, upon the Connection of the adjoyned things, upon the State of the Churches unto whom he writ; and upon the deſign of his Epiſtles to them. But I am ſure what follows, is not ſo much as a Conjecture, but a very great Overſight; for he tells us, that he finds the word (Sabbaths) in the Plural Number, no where in the New Teſtament aſcribed to the Seventh day. It was then becauſe he would not be at the pains to ſind it; for 'tis in all theſe places, Mat. 12.5, 10, 12. Mark 3.4. Luke 4.31. and 6.2, 9. In all theſe places he will find it ſo; and in the Original Greek, the word is Sabbaths, without a Verbal Superaddition of days; which he himſelf muſt be inforced to acknowledge, ſpoke of this day.
3. The Seventh day he faith was never in Queſtion in any of theſe Epiſtles, and if there be no ſuch Queſtion about altering it, how can ſuch a Senſe be impoſed, &c. Juſt ſo I may ſay the New-Moon Obſervation, and the Annual Feſtivals, are no where queſtioned in theſe Epiſtles; (nor any where elſe that I remember, expreſly to be lain aſide) How therefore can ſuch a Meaning be put upon Years and Months, as to include the Judaical? ſeeing Sabbaths are as plain and clear for the Seventh days, as any of the former, for what they are underſtood here. We have ſtill the Thred-beaten Plea of the Moral Law introduced and improved; when I aſſert, that neither he nor all the World can ever prove the Seventh-day-Sabbath to be part of the Moral Law, Quatenus Moral. His Fourth Anſwer plainly confounds Sabbaths with Years and New-Moons; which the Apoſtle clearly diſtinguiſhes, and of all the reſt I may truly ſay, they are but meer ungrounded Conjectures, to baffle an expreſs Text of Scripture: But here he has a very ſtrange Fancy, That by Days may be meant the Firſt day; becauſe the Heathen worſhiped the Sun on that day: And ſo then every day; becauſe the Heathen worſhiped diſtinct Idols every day: And ſo we ſhould have no Conſecrated day at all, neither Firſt nor Seventh, nor any other. All the reſt that follows here, are but (as he expreſſes) his own Thoughts, and as well grounded, as that Thought of his, That the Firſt day was not obſerved by Chriſtians: When yet we have found them ſeveral times aſſociated on that day; and Chriſt appearing ſeveral times in the midſt of them; and at Troas Aſſembled on that day; and St. Paul Preaching and Adminiſtring the Lords Supper to them, and therein to Harmonize with the Church of Galatia; (which I ſuppoſe proved againſt Objections) neither of which can be ſaid concerning the Seventh day: Only there were Aſſemblies of the Jews on that day; and St. Paul took the Advantage on theſe days to Preach to them. But what is this to Chriſts Diſciples and Followers? We may therefore (according to his own Rule, That which appears not, is not at all) conclude, that the Seventh day was never obſerved by the Diſciples and Followers of Chriſt, after his Reſurrection, as a day conſecrated to Publick Worſhip; becauſe we never read in the Scripture, that they did ſo meet. Whereas the contrary is ſeen by the Firſt day. So I diſmiſs this Thought, and the others as no more likely.
5. He farther ſaith that 'tis uncertain, and therefore as ſuch, I or'e look it. 6. He ſaith from Paul's conſtant keeping the Seventh-day-Sabbath, that he cannot be ſuppoſed to condemn his own conſtant Practice: But how he did this, we have already ſeen; and therefore ſhall not ſtop here. 7. That St. Paul commends the Whole Moral Law, as Juſt, Holy and Good; and therefore can never be thought to condemn it here. Here we have anew theatrized the Moral Law, which we acknowledge the Apoſtle doth ſtrenuouſly urge, and never oppoſed any one Tittle thereof. But yet he here decries the Seventh-day-Sabbath, as very conſiſtent with, and agreeing to all his Zeal for the Moral Law; becauſe that was never of the Subſtance of it: Neither is it either Holy or Juſt, or Good: (I mean not in, and of it ſelf; as all that is truly and naturally Moral is; but by Gods commanding it: We acknowledge it to be poſitively Moral.)
8. The laſt Anſwer, is from Math. 24.20. Pray you that your Flight be not in the Winter, nor on the Sabbath-day. Upon which place he lays ſo great a Streſs, as to ſuppoſe it a ſufficient Proof for the Obſervation of the Seventh day, as our bounden Duty. For here he takes for granted, that this Sabbath here ſpoken of, is the Seventh day; that the Flight here ſpoken of, is that (at neareſt) of the Deſtruction of Jeruſalem and the Temple, about Forty Years after Chriſt: And therefore our Saviour knowing what a great Trouble of Spirit 'twould be to gracious and devout Souls, to be forced to flee for their Lives on that day, whereon they ſhould have been Glorifying their God, and Refreſhing their own Souls in Religious Duties, and Holy Communion with the Father and the Son; He exhorts them to Pray againſt ſuch an Evil, thereby implying (as he would have it) the Continuance of that Sabbath; and his own Confirmation thereof till then, and ſo forever. Wherein (I think) I have (I am ſure I intended to have) given all the ſtrength of what he hath written from hence, and not concealed or leſſened any whit of it. Unto which I proceed to anſwer that,
1. Some underſtand this to be a proverbial kind of Speech, to expreſs the Difficulty and Irkſomneſs of a thing; that 'twill be as tedious as a Journy in a Cold, Snowy, Dirty Winter; or as a Flight to a ſuperſtitious Jew upon a Sabbath-day. 2. Others apprehend it to be ſpoken to the Diſciples in this Senſe, Pray that your Flight may not be on the Seventh-day-Sabbath; Becauſe thereby you will greatly offend the ſuperſtitious Jews, who will deem you as Profaners of that day hereby, and ſo will be ſo far from Pitying and Relieving you, that they will hate and michief you all they can: As we know the Jews were great Enemies to them, becauſe they were ſo to their Ceremonial Worſhip (as they deemed them) and to their Sabbaths too; and hence were ſo far from ſheltring them from, that they betrayed them to, and delivered them up into the Hands of Heatheniſh Perſecutors. 3. It may well be interpreted ſpecifically of a Sabbath, and not numerically of the Seventh day only: And ſo 'tis as if our Lord had ſaid, pray that on what ever day your Solemn Reſt for Religious Worſhip, and Divine Service ſhall be; that on that day your Flight may not be; for 'twill then be very grievous, and more intolerable, than on any day of the Week: And ſo includes, yea, primarily intends the Firſt day, the Dominical day. But 4. To be as fair as we can with him, and to grant all that he does deſire, we will ſuppoſe that our Saviour did mean by his words, what they, 'tis moſt probable, did underſtand by them, even the Seventh day, to be that Sabbath on which they were to deprecate their Flight: Yet this will be alſo far enough from ſo clear a Proof for him as he imagines. For we know 'tis uſual in the Holy Writers, to ſpeak of Evangelical days, and of the Worſhip of God in them, under Legal Metaphors; to wit, by Sacrifices, by erecting of Altars, by coming up to the Temple, &c. as all that know the Stile of the Prophets, cannot but be acquainted with; becauſe theſe were then the Services which that People performed, and they knew no other; and probably would not have endured the mentioning of any other. So here, our Saviour ſpeaks indeed literally of the Seventh-day-Sabbath, becauſe the Jews and his Diſciples (who were Jews) knew yet of no other, neither were prepared to hear of the future ſubſtituting of another day in its place. Yet this does no more confirm the Seventh day to be the future Sabbath, than thoſe other Scriptural Sayings, do the Ceremonial Rites to be the Evangelical Worſhip; or the external Modes of ſerving God in the times of Reformation, and when the Body and Subſtance of theſe Signs and Figures were exhibited.
Beſides, we ſay our Saviour did very well foreſee that many of his Diſciples (as we know the Churches of Galatia, and Coloſſe; and thoſe of Jeruſalem, with James did) would many years after his Deceaſe, dote upon the judaical Ceremonies, and would reverence them out of Conſcience to God, their Author and Impoſer; And ſo alſo on the judaical day. And therefore our Lord fore-apprehending this, bids them to deprecate their Flight on ſuch a day, which their own Conceits and falſe Apphrehenſions of things, would make more grievous and burdenſom to themſelves; not his Injunctions, or the real Obligation of the day. And there is nothing more common than this way of ſpeaking according to Mens Apprehenſion of things, without any the leaſt Approbation of that Apprehenſion. So we find our Saviour ſpeaking in his Diſcourſes of the Jews Circumciſion, very commendably and honourably; yet I hope this did not confirm it for the future. But here it may be objected, But he did not Propheſie of its future Obſervance, or require any thing of them, upon a Suppoſition of its Continuance afterwards; and therefore this is nothing to the purpoſe. But we know he could not but foreſee that they would obſerve it, and keep it up in the Churches after his Departure from them and its Abrogation; and ſo theſe Speeches of his would then be upon Record, and probably made a Plea for its Uſe: (eſpecially ſeeing he never did, as I remember, ſpeak any thing againſt it, or expreſly of its future Extruſion out of the Churches) Which Speeches of his cannot Authorize their future Practice Neither can our Saviours foreſight of their ſuperſtitions and miſtaken Obſervance of the Seventh day, and his Command for their Eaſe-ſake upon that Previſion, authorize the Continuance thereof. Therefore ſeeing there are ſo many Solutions given to this Plea, againſt the Apoſtles meaning of the Seventh day; when he condemns them for their Obſervance of Days and Sabbaths; (whereof ſome one may be deemed ſufficient; but much more all together:) It cannot by any impartial, judicious Perſon, be thought of any Prevalency to evade an expreſs Prohibition of the Apoſtle, of the Obſervance of that day; which we contend his Prohibition of Sabbaths to be; the Seventh being the moſt famous of all Sabbaths: Being that which is moſtly, if not only intended by that Expreſſion in Scripture, and in that very word, whereby the Holy Ghoſt in the New Teſtament, intends and means the Seventh-day-Sabbath.