The Practical Sabbatarian, Chapter 45
CHAP. XLV. Sabbath-holineſs doth as well become the Chriſtian, as the Jew, if we look back to the infancy of the Law.
THat the Sabbath was given to Adam, and in him to all his poſterity, to us Chriſtians, as well as to others, hath already been largely diſcovered: Now my task is to ſhew, that in the ſecond edition of the Sabbath upon Mount Sinai, it was given as a moral command, for every one to obey, and not as a ceremonial precept, whoſe force muſt end with the Jews, and their pedagogy; for we muſt know, that all ceremonies were buried in Chriſts grave, and their honour Dicitur Chyrographum eſſe deletum; i. e. ritus ceremoniales, jam abrogatos eſſe, q…ia ipſo debito perſoluto per Chriſtum, non aequum eſt has ſyngraphas extare, quae teſtificent nos eſſe debitores, et re…tum peccatorum noſtrorum nondum eſſe expiatum. Daven.was laid in the duſt with him; for when the Sun came, the ſhadows were to diſappear, and when Chriſt triumphed on the Croſs, then the hand-writing of Ordinances (as Ceremonies are uſually called) was blotted out, Col. 2. 14. Thoſe inferiour garniſhes of Religion, were then to be taken away.
Now to evidence the morality of the fourth Commandment, and that it concerns us Chriſtians, every way as much as the Jews, will be beſt attempted; by ſhewing, 1. Negatively, it is not Ceremonial. 2. Poſitively, it is clearly Moral, and binds us Chriſtians as much, as any Precept in the Decalogue; nor hath the Chriſtian more liberty to be looſe on a Sabbath, then he hath to caſt contempt on his Parents, to break the door of his neighbours houſe, or attempt the chaſtity of his neighbours wife; as much guilt is folded up in robbing God of his day, as in robbing man of his goods; the chain is as ſtrong to bind us in the fourth, as in the ſixth Commandment, and the ſin is the ſame to looſen the one, as well as the other: Every Command in the Decalogue is of equall Authority, which to reſiſt, is an equal provocation to the Legiſlatour.
The fourth Commandment, that bleſſed command for the Sabbath, is not Ceremonial: And here I muſt reaſſume a notable ſpeech of Biſhop Andrews, whoſe eminency and Biſhop Andr. Pattern of Chatechiſt. Doctr. p. 233.learning was not of an ordinary ſtature; This learned man puts the Query, But is not the Sabbath a Ceremony? and then anſwers, Do as Chriſt did in the cauſe of divorce, look whether it was ſo from the beginning; now the beginning of the Sabbath was in Paradiſe, before there was any ſin, and ſo before there needed any Saviours, and ſo before there was any ceremony or figure of a Saviour. Thus this learned Man clears the fourth Commandment of all ceremony. Ceremonies have in them aliquid oneris, ſome thing of burden, which cannot be aſſerted of the ſtate of innocency, in which the Sabbath Simul cum peccato introivit mors in hominem, ſicuti lictores intrant in bona, et domos reorum. Alap.was firſt ordained. Sin only layes load upon us; and as it firſt opened the door to death, Rom. 5. 12. ſo it firſt opened the gap to Ceremonies. It is obſerved by learned men, that the Evening and the morning was the firſt day, and ſo the ſecond, and ſo every day of the ſix dayes; But no Evening is attributed to the ſeventh day, to ſhew us, that no ſhadow of rite or ceremony firſt attended that bleſſed day. The Sabbath is the firſt-born of Inſtitutions, and was brought into the World without any wen of ceremony upon it: And though the Lord of it, Mark 2. 28. in his infancy was wrapt up in the meaneſt ſwadling-cloaths, ſuitable to the manger wherein he lay; yet the Sabbath in its firſt production was not wrapt up in beggarly elements, as ceremonies are called by the Gal. 4. 9.Apoſtle.
Nor needed that ſolemn preparation of a ſmoaking mountain, of a ſounding trumpet, of a flaming fire, to uſher in a Exod. 19. 18, 19.poor, flying, dying ceremony. A tranſient rite did not require ſo much pomp and ſtate. Beggars have not their trains to Deut. 5 5.go before them. We ſound not the trumpet at the lighting Terrae verò et montis velut ſalientis ad dei praeſentiam motus non ſunt quaerenda in naturâ, cum enim quaecun que facta ſunt, ad mirecula petineant. obſervetur dei gloria, cum agit immediatè, &c.of a candle. Surely ceremonies are but a candle light, which caſts but a faint light, and ſoon expires: nor doth it indeed comport with the infinite and unſearchable wiſdom of God, to preface a ceremony with ſo much grandeur and ſolemnity, a ceremony which muſt ſo ſoon be buried in the grave of oblivion. Short Leaſes are written in a little paper, and need no ſheets of Parchment. Iſrael trepidates, and ſhakes to hear thoſe noiſes, and ſee thoſe ſights which prepared the publication of the fourth Commandement among the reſt; and thought, their death ſhould have borne the date of the Exhibition of thoſe ten words. And therefore it muſt needs ſavour of preſumption, to call that a Ceremony, Riv.which was publiſhed with ſo much awful and tremendous ſolemnity.
Nor can the fourth Commandment be ceremonial, becauſe it was given by God himſelf. Now Divines rightly diſtinguiſh between Law and Ceremony: the Law comes Deut. 4. 13, 14.immediately from God; the Ceremonies were either inſtiuted by Moſes, or at leaſt given by him; God left thoſe Rudiments Joſh. 1. 2.to his Servant: But God himſelf wrote the fourth Commandement with his own finger, and proclaimed it with his own voice, nay, delivered it himſelf with all glorious ſolemnity: and therefore the Decalogue is called his Covenant, Deut. 4. 13. to ſhew the ſtability of it: God doth not draw his people into Covenant with himſelf upon the account of a Rite, nor tye himſelf to them, by the breaking thread of a Ceremony; his Covenant of Salt doth not ſo eaſily loſe its ſavour.
Let us hear the learned Andrews once more; this is a principle, ſaith he, that the Decalogue is the Law of Nature revived, and the Law of Nature is the Image of God; now in God there is no ceremony, but all muſt be eternal, and ſo in this Image, which is the law of Nature, and ſo in the Decalogue. And ſo I ſuppoſe the Biſhop of Wincheſter hath ſilenced the Biſhop White of the Sabbath, pag. 34. Decalogus eſt lex naturae rediviva.Biſhop of Ely, who wrote to a contrary purpoſe. To what is laid down by Biſhop Andrews, accords Chryſoſtome, when he calls the Law of the Sabbath, foreign, an unmoveable Law; and where there is no change, there can be no ceremony. And reverend Sprint hath a ſuitable ſpeech accommodated to this purpoſe; The obſervation of the ſeventh day, Sprint on the Sabbath, pag. 34.ſaith he, is of the Law of Nature, and whatſoever is found in the fourth Commandment appertaineth to the law of Nature. And ſo holy Maſter Walker; The obſervation of the ſeventh Mr. Walker an the Sabbath.day was eſtabliſhed before Chriſt was promiſed, and therefore it is not ceremonial, but of the law of Nature, and perpetual. Quod naturale eſt, puta diem ſeptimanae quem que deo ſacrum eſſe illud permanet, quod poſitum eſt, nempe illum diem, qui ſeptimus creationis eſt, diem eſſe Sabbati, &c. Jun.Thus the ſuffrages of thoſe who have been moſt eminent, do freely concur in eſtabliſhing this great truth, (viz.) that no ceremony can be found in the fourth Commandment; and let the adverſaries follow the ſcent of a ceremony with never ſo much diligence and ſpeed, they can no more overtake it, then the Aegyptians can find out the head of the River Nilus; or the Iſraelites trace Moſes his Grave: and this is, to ſeek the dead among the living, a little to allude to the ſpeech of the Angel, Luk. 24. 5.
And the uſual expoſtulation of our Divines is, How came this Ceremony among the moral Precepts? How came it to ſhelter it ſelf there? Is not this to make the fourth Commandement like Nebuchadnezzars Image, partly Gold and Silver, durable Mettals, and partly Clay and mouldring earth? Doctor Bound poſitively aſſerts; The fourth Commandement can be no more partly Moral, and partly Ceremonial, than the ſame living Creature can be partly a Man, and partly a Beaſt. Biſhop Hooper ſaith, That all Biſhop Hooper on the ten Commandements.the Commandements are of one vertue and ſtrength, and therefore if one be in effect ceremonial, ſo may others too. The ſame ſpeaks Iraeneus, God did pronounce the Decalogue to all alike; but the other Laws were given by Moſes Iren contr. Valentin. lib. 4. cap. 13.unto the people of the Jews. So clearly doth this Father diſtinguiſh between Moral Laws pronounced by God, and Ceremonial Laws given by Moſes. Nay, Aquinas is Omnia praecepta decalogi ſunt moralia. Thom. 2da 2dae, quaeſt. 100. Artic. 2.ſenſible of this, when he pronounces all the Precepts of the Decalogue Moral; and would not this mixing Ceremonials with Morals in the ſame Decalogue produce confuſion and diſorder; or as Doctor Bound ſaith, Open a wide door to all kind of looſneſs and Atheiſm: And if this be true, that the Law for the Sabbath is Ceremonial, and all the reſt Moral, then we have onelyonly an Ennealogue, not a Decalogue, ſo God muſt loſe one of his ten words, and pay tythe of his. Deut. 4. 13.Commandements to the wild and deſultory fancies of men: for if the fourth Commandement be a Ceremony, it dies at the coming of Chriſt. But we have the juſt diviſion of the Commandements in Scripture, they were written in two Tables, we have their full number, they were ten, ſo many and no more: and therefore as we muſt not unite them into one Table, ſo we muſt not contract them into nine Commandements; and if this fourth Commandement be ceremonial, why is it not raſed out of the Commandements? How came it in, is a queſtion, and no leſs, how ſtays it in? The Papiſts caſhire the ſecond Commandement, and divide the laſt into two to make up the number, forbidding in the Caniſ. chatechiſ. quaeſt. 18.former to covet our Neighbors wife, in the latter to covet our Neighbours goods: and if we ſtill admit a Ceremony Sabbatum dierum eſt ordinarium, & perpetuum, & non inter figuras & ceremonias Judaicas annumerandum, &c. Wolph Chronol. lib. 2. cap. 1.in the midſt of the Commandements, why may not Atheiſts put a Ceremony upon the firſt, and Swearers put a Ceremony upon the third: Nay, Antinomians put a Ceremony upon them all? and ſo the two Tables ſhall be broken the ſecond time, and ſo rendred uſeleſs and impertinent to mankind? It is a ſage ſaying of Wolphius; The Sabbath is not to be reckoned among the Figures and Ceremonies of the Jews, both becauſe it was ordained in Paradiſe before the fall of Man, and alſo becauſe it is commanded in the Decalogue, which contains in it nothing ceremonial, nothing typical, nothing to be abrogated. As once it was the wonder of the people of Iſrael, Is Saul alſo among 1 Sam. 10. 12.the Prophets? And may we not with as much aſtoniſhment cry out, And is a Ceremony put in among the Moral Precepts? Nor is it ſuitable to God, who is a God of Order, to miſ-place a Ceremonial among Morals. Holy Greenham obſerves; Admitting one Ceremony into the Decalogue, why may there not be two, or three, or more? Concerning this mixture, we may ſay, many Hereſies by it are Ponitur quartum praecep…um inter mandata Decal…gi in quantum eſt praeceptum morale, &c. Aquin. 2da 2dae quaeſt. 122. Art. 4. … Hook. Eccleſ. Polit. lib. 3. cap. 11.crept into the Church, and it cannot be avoided if the fourth Commandement be ceremonial, and this is to confound the Ceremonial Law with the Moral. The learned Hooker, moſt ſagely, according to his manner, thus diſcourſes: The moral Commandements were uttered by God himſelf, in the preſence of the whole multitude, written by his own finger, given without reſtraint to time, how long, to place, where; Contrariwiſe, the Ceremonial Law given to Moſes onelyonly, and by him declared to the people, called Ceremonial Judgments, Ordinances, and limited only to the Land of Jewry. All that I ſhall add is, Take the fourth Commandement, and ſee it in this Glaſs, and then you will ſee how like a Ceremony it looks.
Doctor Ameſius will not have the Command for the Sabbath Ceremonial, becauſe it wears nothing of a Jewiſh Livery, whereby it may be appropriated to them, and ſo Inſtitutionem iſtam non Juiſſe ceremonialem, et temporalem, ex eo ſatis liquet quòd nihil habet proprium Judaeorū, aut temporis legis ceremonialis. Ameſ.made part of their tranſient Pedagogie. To ſet apart a day for God, is as neceſſary and congruous to Chriſtians, as to Jews. To remember the works of the Creation, and the Reſt in the cloſe of it, is no more unſeemly or impertinent for Chriſtians than for Jews, when both are Gods Creatures and Subjects: to ſee our Families keep the Sabbath, as well as our ſelves, doth as well befit the times of the Goſſpel, as the time of the Law, is every way as decent and comely: to forbear ſervile works on a Sabbath is as convenient for the Chriſtian Church, as the Jewiſh Synagogue. How then comes the Sabbath to be the Jews monopoly? for indeed it muſt be ſo, if it be a Ceremony: But if the Sabbath in the fourth Commandement hath nothing peculiar to the Jew, let us not loſe our claim in this bleſſed day, but let us receive our Inheritance, which was firſt given us in Paradiſe, and this Will further ratified on Mount Sinai. It is ſtrange, that ſo many ſhould ſo eaſily part with one of Gods ten words to an abrogated Jew, only to pleaſe a deſign, or gratifie an intereſt in ſome men; that the Sabbath being expired as a Ceremony at the coming of Chriſt, and ſo all days in the week lying common, it may lie in the power of the Church to erect a new Sabbath, which is a Trophy of their Plenipotentiary Grandeur: and this will make the Mitre look more ſplendid. But others plead the Ceremoniality of the fourth Commandement; that the Sabbath being abrogated and cancell'd as out of date, they may have no Sabbath, but of humane inſtitution, and then they may break it with more eaſe, than Sampſon did his Withs, and ſo ſtill lie in Dalilahs lap of pleaſure and delight, the noiſe of a Clerical Inſtitution being too faint to awaken them. But let every gracious heart more ſtudy duty then intereſt; and what becomes him in conformity to the will of God.
From the times of the Goſpel all Ceremonies are ended, they were all buried in Chriſts Grave (as was ſuggeſted before.) Lex Ceremonialis omninò per Chriſti adventum evanuit, ſed nullo modo ſequitur legem Decalogi quoad obligationem per Chriſtum deſuſſe, eſt enim lex illa non Moſaica, ſed naturalis, aeterna, & immutabilis. Alap.But the Sabbath went over Chriſts grave, for Mat. 24. 20. Chriſt commands his Diſciples to play, that their viſitation be not on the Sabbath day, which viſitation was many years after Chriſts Aſcention to the Father, So then, the Sabbath ſurvives after the deceaſe and Funeral of all legal Ceremonies. By the coming of Chriſt, the Sabbath ſuffered a change, but not a loſs; the circumſtance of time was altered, but the ſubſtance of the command was no way impaired; the Sabbath did only ſlide down, upon a new and moſt glorious occaſion, from the ſeventh day to the firſt.
The Commandment for the Sabbath hath not ſo much as any character of a Ceremony in it.
It was not typical, it did not praenote any thing to be accompliſhed under the Goſpel. If that fancy of the Jewiſh Cabala be true, that the world ſhall continue but 6000 Quartum praeceptum eſt morale, quatenus praecipit, ut e ſeptem diebus unum conſecremus cultui divino, et quotenus tale, nunquam abrogari poteſt. Zanch.years, and then the day of Judgment ſhall follow, it might prefigure that, and yet no Ceremony proved, for the type muſt continue till the thing typified be fulfilled; ſo this rather evinceth the duration, then the abrogation of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath hath no particular relation to the Land of Canaan, the proper place of Ceremonies, nor yet to the Jews, the proper ſubjects of Ceremonies; (and this hath been proved before.) But now if it be objected that the Sabbath was a ſign between God and the Jews, Exod. 31. 13, 17. Ezek. 20. 12, 20. It is anſwered, the Sabbath was at that time a mark of difference and ſeparation betwixt the Jews and the Gentiles: But was it ſo as a ſeventh day? No, Eos, à quibus deus non celebatur merito ipſe neglexit. Aug. de Civit. dei l. 2. c. 14.that which cauſed the diſtinction, was the ſanctification of them upon that day, not any thing in the number ſeven: Gods ſepoſing of a time for them, and only for their ſanctification, was an argument he had a more ſpecial care of them then of other Nations, and they were his only people.
It was not impoſed upon the Jews as any burden or yoak: The Sabbath is a day of joy, not toil, our bleſſing, not our I… praefatione quarti praecepti, ita deus alloquitur Iſraelitas ſpeciatim, ut in eo tamen omnes gentes comprehendat. Beza.burden. In the explanation of the fourth Commandment, it is rather recited as an Ordinance of comfort and refreſhing, of mercy and favour, and not of rigour and ſeverity, of depreſſion and ſervitude. The Sabbath in its own nature is a day of relaxation to the body, and of reviving to the ſoul; a day of unbending the bow to the outward man, and of heavenly viſits to the inward man; there is no knot in the cord to hold out any ſharpneſs in this bleſſed Ordinance; the Sabbath is our term, not our task-maſter. On a Sabbath we are not ſent out to make brick without ſtraw, we are not to perform duties without promiſes of aſſiſtance, Rom. 8. Exod. 16. 29.26, 27. without promiſes of acceptance, John 14. 15. If we put our ſelves upon meeting Chriſt that day, he hath engaged himſelf, Mat. 18. 20. to give us the meeting. The Sabbath is not a task, but a gift, Ezek. 20. 12. not a ſymptom of ſervitude, but a ſign of love, Ezek. 20. 12. The golden knot between God and a people, and not the iron chain.
The Sabbath was not commanded in recognition of any ſpecial favour ſhewed to the Jews, it was a memorial of Gods creating the world in ſix dayes, and his own reſting on the Gen. 2. 3.ſeventh: But this being a benefit wherein all mankind are Per Sabbata quaſi per elementa omnes diſcerent deum creatorem et gubernatorem omnium. Alap.equally concerned, and enter common, the Jews can claim no property therein peculiar to themſelves; and ſo yet there is no tidings of a Ceremony, and ſo no cauſe of abolition. One very well obſerves, that ſeeing the ſame Authority is for the Sabbath, as is for marriage, one may as well conclude, the Law for marriage is Ceremonial, as well as the Law for the Sabbath; nay, we may ſeriouſly conſider, that whereas Mat. 19. 6.marriage is but once termed the Covenant of God, Prov. 2. 17. Levit. 23. 3.becauſe inſtituted by God in the beginning, the Sabbath Deut. 5. 14.is every where called the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, becauſe Exod. 20. 10.ordained by God in the ſame beginning, both of Exod. 16. 29.Time, State, and Perpetuity, and therefore no way Ceremonial.
It is a truth as unmoveable as the pillars of Heaven, that God hath given to all men univerſally a rule of life to conduct them to their end; now if the whole Decalogue be Gal. 2. 20.not it, what ſhall be? The Goſpel is a rule of our faith, John 5. 24.but not of our ſpiritual life which flows from faith, the Law therefore is the rule of life; now if nine of theſe be a compleat rule without a tenth, exclude that one, and then who ſees not an open gap made for all the reſt to go out alſo? For where will men ſtop if once this principle be laid, that the whole Law is not our guide and conduct? May not men juſtly ſay, the Decalogue is not a rule of life, and ſo a way laid open for all looſeneſs and enormity; and if the Sabbath be a Ceremony, we have but nine Commandments left.
Nor would the Scriptures make ſo much ado about a Ceremony; there is no part of Scripture wherein their is not ſomething remarkable about the Sabbath.
The inſtitution of it we find in Geneſis, where the Sabbath Gen. 2. 3.is one of the beſt flowers in the Garden of Eden.
The ſolemn promulgation of it we meet with in Exodus, Exod. 20. 8.when the mountain ſmoaks, fire flames, trumpet ſounds, at Exod. 19. 17. 13.the ſecond Edition of this perpetual ſtatute.
The manner of the ſanctification of it, we may take notice Levit. 16. 3….of in the Book of Levitious; God there turns paraphraſt for Levit. 23. 3.the further dilucidation of this law.
The prophanation of it is vindicated in the Book of Numbers, Numb. 15. 3….where God builds a wall about it with the ſtones, which ſtoned the man who gathered ſticks upon that bleſſed day.
The preſſing arguments for the ſanctification of it, we may Deut. 5. 14.obſerve at large in the Book of Deuteronomy; God knowing the advantage of Sabbath-holineſs, preſſes man urgently to purſue his own intereſt.2 Kings 4 23. 2 Kings 11. 5, 7, 9. 2 Chron. 36. 21. 1 Chron. 9. 32.
The hiſtorical part of the Bible hath ſome remembrance of it, either as obſerved, or prophaned.
There is in the Book of Pſalms, a Pſalm appointed for it, viz. the ninety ſecond Pſalm.
The Prophets are very frequent in complaining of the violation, Nehem. 13. 15, 16. 18, 19. Iſa. 56. 2. Ezek. 20. 12, 13. John 5 18. Luke 6. 6. Acts 13. 42. Acts 16. 13. Acts 20. 7.and in preſſing the obſervation of it.
The Goſpel hath often mention of it, and takes notice of Chriſts preaching, of his healing, of his debating caſes with his adverſaries upon that day.
The Acts of the Apoſtles have likewiſe touches both of the old and the new Sabbath.
The Epiſtles hint and inſinuate the inſtitution of a Chriſtian Sabbath, when the old Sabbath loſt both its place in the week, and its title in the Scutcheon, and now the Sabbath which cloſed, begins the week; and that holy feſtival 1 Cor. 16. 2.which was the Evening ſtar of the work of Creation, is the Morning ſtar of the work of Redemption.
The Revelation diſcovers Gods right to it, and gives it the title of the Lords day; beſides all this, the obſervation of Rev. 1. 10. Ezek. 20. 24. Ezek. 44. 24.the Sabbath is ranked by the Prophets among the moſt ſubſtantial and perpetual duties of Religion.
Now ſhall Scriptures be thus copious in mentioning, be thus powerful in preſſing, be thus ſevere in revenging a flying, dying Ceremony? Surely this muſt caſt too much contempt upon the bleſſed and eternal ſpirit of God.
Having followed the chaſe thus far, and yet ſtarting no Ceremony in the fourth Commandment; it would be enough to ſay, it not being Ceremonial, it muſt needs be Morall. But we will take a review of this bleſſed command; and upon our better ſearch, no doubt but its morality, and ſo its perpetuity will be more evident and perſpicuous.
Let us therefore look upon this Commandment
In the order of it; Is it comely and good to have God to be our God, in the firſt Commandment? to worſhip him after his own heart and will, in the ſecond? to give him his worſhip, L… moralis perfectā, adeòque non externam tantùm obedientiam, ſed totius naturae conformitatem cum regulâ illâ, et normâ juſtitiae at que ſapientiae in Decalogo expreſſam poſtulat. Reliquae legis ſpecies de …ternâ tantùm …edient…â & …r…tione … ſcriptorum …, et officiorum politi…rum loq…ntur. Zepper.with all the higheſt reſpect, and reverence of his name, in the third? and is it not as comely, good, and ſuitable, that this great God and King ſhould have ſome magnificent day of ſtate, to be attended on by his poor ſervants, and creatures, both publickly and privately, with ſpecial reſpect and ſervice, as oft as he himſelf ſees meet, and which we cannot but confeſs to be moſt equal and juſt according to the fourth Commandment? In the firſt table, one Commandment is linked to, and depends upon another: God muſt be our God, and then he muſt be worſhipped, and with all … reverence to his name, and ſo there muſt be a ſet time … this; and who ſhall appoint this day of worſhip, but he who h…h appointed the manner of it? The cloſe co…nexion of the precept to another ſpeaks the inſeparability of it from the reſt and ſo its perpetuity with the reſt. And let us …, i… all the precepts of the ſecond table be moral, … onelyonly concern man; why ſhould any of the firſt table …ll ſhort of that glory, which do immediately concern … Shall mans weal be more cared for, then Gods worſhip? Nay, ſhall man have ſix Commandments, the greater … and all of them morally good, and God have bu… …our, … …eſſer number, and one, or more of them not ſo? May we not here ſay, (a little to invert that in the Prophet) are not all the Commandments equal? but are not mans cavils, & undue expoſitions unequal?
Let us look on the fourth Commandment in the ſite and poſition of it; it is put into the beſome of the Dec…logue, Pr…ceptum hoc q…ſi …ermedium inter praecepta primae et ſecundae tabulae, et ſanctificatio Sabbati, et quaſi nervus intelligentiae et obedientiae. Riv.that it might not …e …, as we put letters and things into our boſoms, which w… …re m…ſt chary of; it is the Golden claſp which joyns … Tables together; it is the ſinew in that … were written with Gods own finge… … precept which participates of the …; and the due obſervance of which, is as … wh…le Law: And as Chriſt was a … … and Man, Heb. 8. 6. ſo this bleſſed … hinge upon which the Precepts of the … God, and the Precepts of the Ʋt aliqua dies in ſeptimanâ ſit deo dedicata, praeceptum eſt ſtabile & aeternum.ſeco… … ▪ do principally turn; it no way being pro…ble, … who is ſpiritual and ſerious in the obſervation of Gods holy day, ſhould fly into Idolatry to break the ſecond, into theft, to break the eighth, or other groſs evils to violate the reſt of the Commandments. This Command Jacob. de Valent. ad curſ. Jud.for the Sabbath is ſet by God in the very heart of the Decalogue, and we are enjoyned obedience to it by a peculiar memento: And therefore to any unprejudiced mind, it is very unlikely, that this Commandment alone ſhould be overtaken with the ſhadows of the evening, ſhould fly away as Obſervatio ſabbati eſt caput Religionis, & totum cultum dei continet. Wil.an empty and uſeleſs ceremony. One tells us, The Command for the Sabbath is put in the cloſe of the firſt, and in the beginning of the ſecond table, to denote, that the obſervation of both Tables depends much upon the ſanctification of this day: And indeed let us break the claſp, and both tables will fall aſunder.
Let us look on this command in the reaſon of it. No command hath more reaſons to enforce it. 1. Its own equity: Quùm deus noſter ſingulari ſuâ ergà nos charitate è ſeptem diebus unum d…nt…xat inſtaurand… fidei noſtrae, at que adeò vitae aeternae ſanctificavit; deploratum ſanè ille ſe contemptorem demonſtrat, ſicut ſalutis pro priae, ſic et divinae beneficentiae, quicun que non ſtudeat, illum ipſum diem domino ſuo glorifi cando ſanctificare. Bucer.Shall man have ſix dayes for himſelf, and ſhall not God have one? It was Adams ingratitude, that he had but one tree forbidden him to eat of it, and yet he muſt eat of that tree: And ſurely it is the higheſt ſacriledge, when God forbids but one day in a week for our pleaſures and affairs, and yet we ſhould entrench upon that. Bucer well obſerves, If God be ſo bountifull to give us ſix dayes, we ſhould be ſo dutifull to give him one; If we have ſix dayes for our affairs, ſurely God muſt have one for his glory; If we have ſix for our labour, ſhall not God have one for his worſhip? And indeed our intereſt is more wrapt up in the obſervation of the ſeventh, then in all our toyle and gains on the ſix days. Gods day concerns our better part, the week dayes only our outward man.
2. Gods bounty in giving us a day for converſe with himſelf. The Sabbath is a day wherein Chriſt gives his viſits, the ſpirit works his wonders, the Father ſhews his face to the children of men; this bleſſed day is the morning ſtar of happineſs, the worlds choiceſt feſtival, and thoſe who are bleſſed with it, may ſay with the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 147. 20. God hath not dealt ſo with every Nation. It is Sabbath-enjoyment makes every Province a Goſhen, every place a Paradiſe, every nation a Canaan, and every City a Jeruſalem. The Sabbath is ſtil a ſign between him & his people, that he is among Ezek. 20. 20.them, and the foot-ſteps of his preſence remain with them.
3. Gods own pattern. God reſted on the ſeventh day, that he might be preſidential to us in our holy reſt. In the command for the Sabbath, God is not onelyonly our Soveraign to enact a law for us, but our example to ſet a copy before us; and therefore in this we muſt be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect, Mat. 5. 48. Philo Judaeus bids us ſpend the Sabbath in holy contemplation, and the ſtudy of ſpiritual wiſdome, In hoc deum ſequeremur operando ſex dies, ſeptimâ verò requieſcendo, vacando contemplationi, et ſtudio ſapientiae, ſequere deum; h…bes dei exemplum, et praeſcriptum. Phil. Jud.and in this follow God who is an example of holy reſt; ye have not onelyonly his preſcript, but his pattern. And indeed as Mr. Byfield obſerves, Gods example doth not court us, but bind us to an holy imitation.
4. Gods benediction which he ſheds on the Sabbath, is a reaſon to enforce the command. God bleſſed this day above all dayes; we may ſay of it, as once it was ſaid of the Virgin Mary in another caſe, Hail, thou art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee, thou art bleſſed among dayes. Morning and Evening doth not deſcribe this day, as it did other dayes; no Evening predicated of it, to ſhew its prerogative above all other dayes; this day is all light, all day, all ſun-ſhine, to prefigure our eternal joyes. God doth moſt delight to diſpenſe Luke 1. 28.his grace on this day. Heathen Princes are wont on their Coronation dayes to caſt about Gold and Silver, and Gen. 1. 5, 8.largely to ſcatter their donations: God on this ſolemn day is preſent with us in holy duties, and ſheds abroad in our hearts his holy graces; then he comes and ſpeaks with his people, and is magnificent in his royal and ſpiritual donations. And what need ſo many reaſons to preſs a rite, a ceremony, to urge a ſhadow, Col. 2. 17. A meer command is ſufficient to enjoyn a fainting ceremony, an ordinance calculated onelyonly for a time; there need not ſo many cords of reaſon to bind a ceremony upon us, which will ſoon die away, and be evaporate. Let this be ſuperadded; In the fourth Commandment God gives us reaſons, which are common to us Chriſtians, with the Jews: As namely,
1. Conformity to Gods Image, which is no leſs proper to us, then the Jews.
2. The memorial of the Creation; for which benefit, the Ex creatione, nos omnes poſſumus, et debemus deum agnoſcere, & cognoſcere. Alap.Patriarchs before the Law; and we ſince, are no leſs bound to be thankful to God, then the Jew.
3. Reſt of our ſelves and families, a common neceſſity to us, as well as to them; therefore this Commandment appeareth moral, and to be given to us as well as to them. And ſeeing the reaſon of this 4th Commandment doth urge, as well as the reaſon of the ſecond, third and fifth Commandments, why ſhould not this Commandment tie us to the obſervation of it, as well Ratio immutabilis facit praeceptum immutabile.as the other, and why not Chriſtians, as well as Jews? Its reaſons are as ſtrong, why ſhould not its obligations be ſo too?
Let us look upon the fourth Commandment in the congruity of it, how agreeing to the principles of nature. The learned Twiſſe argues moſt profoundly; we are to diſtinguiſh three things in ſubordination, the latter to the former:
1. The firſt is, a time in general to be ſet apart for Gods worſhip.
2. The ſecond is the proportion of this time.Igitur deus benedictus cupiens Sabbatum, cujus ſanctimoniam tantis documentis approbaverat in aeternum ab omnibus coli; decem praeceptis illud inſeruit, quo ſcientes praecepta aeterna eſſe, etiam hoc quartum praeceptum inter ea habendum intelligerent. Manaſſeh Ben Iſrael.
3. The particularity of the day, according to the proportion ſpecified. Now the firſt ſeems of neceſſary duty by the very light of nature, to as many as know God, and acknowledge him to be the Creatour; and this is the higheſt degree of morality in the fourth Commandment. As to the ſecond we are ſomething to ſeek by the light of nature, as whether one day in a week, or one day in a month, or more, ſo that herein it is moſt fit we ſhould ſeek direction from God, who is the Lord of the Sabbath;
1. Becauſe the ſervice of the day is his; and it is but fit, he ſhould cut out what proportion of time he thinks fit and convenient.
2. Becauſe of the maintenance of uniformity therein, and leaſt otherwiſe there may be as many diviſions thereabouts, as there are Churches in the world. For reaſon of a conjectural nature is various, and therein commonly affection bears the greateſt ſway, and draws the judgement to comply with it; but when God hath determined a certain proportion of time, we ſhall find great congruity therein even to natural reaſon, more then in any other. Dr. Field, as Mr. Broad reports, profeſſeth; That to any one who knows the ſtory of the Creation, it is evident by the light of nature, that Conſentaneum eſt maximè rationi, ut poſt dies ſex opera rios, unus cultui divino conſecretur: Et hoc praeceptum manet, et eſt perpetuum et jure naturali et lumine conſtitutum.one day in ſeven is to be conſecrated to Gods ſervice. And Azorius the Jeſuite in his moral inſtitutions acknowledgeth, that it is moſt agreeable to reaſon, that after ſix working dayes, one day ſhould be conſecrated to divine worſhip. Now by the light of nature, it ſeems far more reaſonable, that one day in ſeven ſhould be employed in Gods ſervice, then one day in a month; for ſuch long ſtrides, and great chaſmes would quickly breed an eſtrangement between God and the ſoul: and if a ſeventh part of our time be conſecrate to God, better a ſeventh day, then the ſeventh part of every day, becauſe the Azor. Inſtit. Moral. Part. 2dae. cap. 1. lib. 2.worldly occupations of each of thoſe dayes muſt needs cauſe miſerable diſtractions. Thus reaſon may diſcourſe in a probable manner, when God hath gone before us to open a way to us. Certainly, when God hath once determined the proportion of time, it is ſo far to be accounted moral and perpetual, that it is to hold till God himſelf ſhall alter it: and as for the particularity of the day, according to the forementioned proportion, therein we ſhould be far more to ſeek, were we left to our ſelves: therefore this alſo is ordered by God himſelf, and that in great congruity, as appears Exod. 20. 11.to as many as are acquainted with the ſtory of the Creation; for the Lord having diſpatcht all his works in ſix dayes, and reſting on the ſeventh, commanded men to imitate him: This being thus ordered by the Lord of the Sabbath, Mark 2. 28.it muſt be in force of perpetual obſervation, as a requiſite determination of the morality of this Law, and it cannot be of an alterable nature, unleſs it be by the ſame Authority by which it was ordained.
Now by the fourth Commandment it is clear;
1. That God commanded ſome time to be ſet apart, and Hoc quartum praeceptum eſt magis morale qu…m ceremoniale, et ideò in Decalogo, ad qu…m omnes tenemur ſemper, praecipiendum erat. Gerſon.ſanctified to his ſervice.
2. The proportion of this time to be one day in ſeven.
3. That the particular day under this proportion, be the ſeventh, and that unto the Jews in correſpondency to the ſeventh day from the Creation, wherein God commanded them to reſt from all their works; but then when God manifeſts his pleaſure for the alteration of this day from the ſeventh to the firſt, we are to be an obedient people; thus far the worthy Twiſſe. (And that this change was made, will be further ſeen in the next Chapter) to all which may be added, ſuch Laws as neceſſarily flow from natural relation, both between God and man, as well as between man and man; theſe are good in themſelves, becauſe ſuitable and comly even to humane nature: for there is a comlineſs and decency Mat. 1. 6.which attend thoſe rules, to which our relation binds us: there are ſcarce any queſtion the duties of the ſecond Eph. 5 28, 29.table, becauſe they are ſo evidently comly, ſuitable, and agreeing to humane nature; as to honour Parents, to ſecure our neighbour, not to deſtroy him, &c. And ſhall not the morality of the rules of the firſt table be as evident and fully manifeſt? For if there be a God, and this God our God, according Quoad obſervationem unius diei in ſingulis hebdomadis, ſabbatum non eſt legis caremonialis, ſed moralis, quae immota eſt & perpetua. Ravanel.to the firſt Commandment, then it is moſt comly, moſt meet, moſt ſuitable to love him, to fear him, to truſt on him, to delight in him; and if this God muſt be worſhipped by man, in reſpect of the mutual relation between them, then it is comly and meet, to worſhip him with his owne worſhip, according to the ſecond Commandment; to worſhip him with all holy reverence, according to the third; and if he muſt be thus worſhipped, and yet at all times he cannot be ſolemnly honoured and worſhipped, in reſpect of our neceſſary and worldly employments, then it is very fit and comly for all men to have ſome ſet and ſtated time of worſhip, according to ſome proportion, which the Lord of time can only beſt make; and therefore a ſeventh part of time, which he doth make according to the fourth Commandment, is moſt ſuitable to man, and moſt comly for him to obey God in, and nothing more decent then for man to ſerve God in his own proportionated time.
Now let the caſe be reaſoned, with any religious Soul, yea, with any rational man; Is it not a point of moral equity to pay tribute out of all our times to the Lord of time, who holds our Souls in life, and in whoſe hands our time and breath is? Do we not owe him a piece of every day, and ſhall we think it too much to give him a day in every week? Shall he give us ſix, and ſhall we deny him one? And is it juſt and meet that ſince mans life upon earth is but a pilgrimage, and he hath no abiding City here, but looks for one above, that Heb. 13. 14. Ne pigeat nos murdo valedicere, ut ad Chriſtum veniamus, fluxitatem vitae praeſentis ob oculos ponentes. Ne que enim indigenae, ſed hoſpites ſumus in hoc mundo, non habentes civitatem ſed domicilium. Par.he ſhall ſpend all his time and thoughts upon the trifles of the world; but rather (as ſome time every day, ſo alſo) ſome one day in every week, to retire himſelf from the world, and to draw near to God, and to enjoy communion with him, with whom he looks to live for ever? Again, in reſpect of Servants, and Cattle, is it not grand equity and reaſon, that one day in the week they ſhould enjoy ſome relaxation, and not always toyl in their ſervitude and bondage? that poor drudging Servants, who bear Gods Image as well as our ſelves, ſhould have a breathing-time, one day in a week, a day of weekly Reſt for their wearied bodies, and one holy day in a week for their precious Souls? Can we in equity afford them leſs? and what meeter proportion for the ſolemn ſervice of God, than one day in ſeven; when Natura non habitandi, ſed commorandi diverſorium hic nobis dedit. Sen.Experience tells us, that the neceſſities both of civil and ſoul affairs, require a mutual interchange of ſpeedy diſpatches, and quick returns, which cannot be leſs then one day in ſeven, and not well more? and therefore Gods proportionating this time in the fourth Commandement is moſt ſuitable to the infinite wiſdom of the Divine Legiſlator; as once Ptolomaeus Philadelphus ſaid of all Gods Laws. And this one day in ſeven, was the tribute which was paid to God in the times of the old Teſtament, and much more is it due in the times of the new. This proportion of time is moral and perpetual, being of Gods aſſignation, of the Churches conſtant obſervation, and of it ſelf a moſt exact proportion: and this fourth Commandement is holy, juſt, and good (to uſe the Apoſtles Language) and ſo never was ſubject to Rom. 7. 12.the decays and inſtability of a withering Ceremony.
Let us look upon the fourth Commandement in the ſpirituality of it. The corruption of our nature, found in the manifeſt Nitimur in vet…um. Elementa ſunt ceremoniae l… q…, et ſunt infi…ma …eſſecta mutili, imp…entia, … ….oppoſition of wicked men, and in the ſecret unwillingneſs of good men, to ſanctifie ſincerely the Sabbath-day, ſufficiently demonſtrates that this Commandement is holy, ſpiritual, and heavenly: Rites and Ceremonies are but the trappings of Religion at the beſt, the ſplendid O…aments which ſet off Divine Worſhip in the Jewiſh Pedagogie: Paraeus well obſerves, That the ceremonies of the Law are called beggerly Elements, ab inutili effect…, from their inefficaciouſneſs to profit, they bring nothing to the comfort of the Soul, they contribute nothing to eternal ſalvation: How ſhall a Ceremony heal a ſick Soul, relieve a trembling Soul, or raiſe… dead Soul? They are all but as Elijahs Staff, which can … no good to the dead; they only point at Chriſt, Who is the way, the truth, and the life; they are only the Gnomon on John 14 6.the Dial; but Chriſt is the Sun: But now the fourth Commandement is no ſuch thing, it commences war with 2 Kings 4. 31.our luſts: If we are covetous, we muſt not work this day; If we are voluptuous, we muſt not ſenſualize this day; If we are prophane, we muſt not ſin againſt the holineſs of this day; we have a Memento to ſtop us.Exod. 20. 8.
This Commandement, like Grace, ſets up its Standard againſt all the Cavils and corruptions of mans heart: And can a dying Ceremony rally up this force to encounter mans potent luſts? As Biſhop Davenant tells us, the Schoolmen give us a threefold reaſon why legal Ceremonies ceaſed at Chriſts coming:
1. Becauſe they were obſcure in point of ſignification.
2. Imperfect in point of operation.
3. Burdenſom in point of obſervation. Now to charge theſe defects upon the fourth Commandement, is not only to Triplicem cauſam afferre ſolent ſcholaſtici, cur ceſſare oportuit legales ceremonias poſt Chriſti adventum, Primo: Quia obſcura erant quoad ſignificationem; Secundo, Quia imperfectae erant, quoad ef ficaciam; tertio, Quia oneroſae erant quoad obſervationem. Daven.challenge Divine wiſdom, but alſo to confute common Experience. The Commandement for the Sabbath is clear, without a Mask, and plainly tells us, we have a day every week for converſe with the moſt High. This Command, like Moſes who delivered it, hath its face ſhining, that every one may take notice of it.
2. The Command for the Sabbath is perfect, without defects, for God would never have written an imperfect Command with his own finger, and it is wonderfully efficacious. How often on the Sabbath are ſturdy ſinners appaled, prophane perſons converted, doubting Souls ſatisfied, weak Chriſtians ſtrengthned, ſecure Profeſſors awakened, and all varieties of Divine operation accompliſhed? The Sabbath is the reſt-day of man, but the working-day of the bleſſed Spirit. Powerful Acts of divine Grace are exerted on this day.
3. The Command for the Sabbath is full of indulgence. The Sabbath muſt be our delight, Iſa. 58. 13. It is our honour, not our burden: This bleſſed day is the Saints ſpiritual work-day, and his weekly jubilee. Thus the fourth Commandement is diametrically oppoſite to the very nature and purport of a vaniſhing Ceremony.
Further to evidence the ſtability and morality of the fourth Commandement, let us conſider the circumſtances with which it was attended.
1. There is no Commandement excepting the ſecond (which likewiſe the Papiſts ceremonialize into nothing) which is in words larger, or in reaſons fuller, then this of the Sabbath: as if the Lord had foreſeen that theſe Commands would meet with the greateſt batteries of oppoſition, they being moſt contrary to the wiſdom of the fleſh; The one oppoſed by ſuperſtition, and the other by prophaneneſs.
2. The fourth Commandement is both Negative and Affirmative; the other Commands are either Negative or Affirmative.
3. There is a Memento prefixed to this Command, which Exod. 20. 8.Note is not prefixed to any other; and is a Note, as ſome of our Divines obſerve, of ſpecial obſervance and animadverſion: Calvinus.It is a peculiar Aſterisk annexed to this Precept, requiring Muſculus.more than ordinary attention, and more than common Zanchius.practice.
4. No ſuch particulars as in this Commandement; Thou, Exod. 20. 10.thy Son, thy Daughter, thy Man-ſervant, thy Maid-ſervant, thy Cattle, the Stranger.
5. No ſuch reaſons affixed to any Commandement.
1. God hath given us ſix days.
2. It is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.Ceremoniae ſunt umbra, quia ſicut umbra per ſe nihil valet, aut poteſt, ſed corporis proprium eſt, ſic illae ceremoniae per ſe nihil poſſunt ad remiſſionem peccaterum, ſanctificationem, aut ſalutem, Daven.
3. God reſted on the ſeventh day.
4. The Lord hallowed the ſeventh day.
6. No ſuch works intimated in any Commandement; works to be avoided, all civil and ſecular works; works to be accompliſhed, all works tending to the ſanctification of this bleſſed day: All theſe circumſtances are ſet down, and made more obſervable, and notable to us, by the unſpeakable wiſdom of God. Now ſuch a train of circumſtances would never have attended a beggerly Element, Gal. 4. 9. Kings make not a Proclamation with enforcing Arguments, for things trivial or contemptible: Nor would God have embroidered this Commandement with ſuch rich circumſtances; had it been onelyonly a Ceremony, which will ſoon faint away and give up the ghoſt; had it been onelyonly a ſhadow, 2 Col. 17. which is full of darkneſs and fugacity.
Moreover, the morality of the fourth Commandement will be yet more conſpicuous, If we look on the Solemnities Exod. 20 8. Deut. 5. 22. Exod. 31. 18. Deut 9. 10. Exod. 32. 16. Deut. 10 4.by which it was honoured.
1. It was as the reſt of the Decalogue, pronounced and promulgated by the immediate voice of the incomprehenſible Jehovah with thundering and lightning, thoſe Heralds of Divine Majeſty; and all this in the common audience, and to the great amazement of the people of Iſrael.
2. It was, with the reſt, written and engraven upon Tibles of ſtone, not on leaves of Paper, not on ſheets of Parchment, but on Tables of ſtone; and not by ſome Scribe, or Amanuenſis, but by Gods own bleſſed ſinger; and on ſtone, as to denote the hardneſs of mans heart, and how difficultly he would comply with this Command, ſo likewiſe to ſhew the continuance and perpetuity of the Commandement it ſelf.
3. According to Gods own appointment, this Commandement with the reſt, was put into the Ark of the Teſtimony, Deut. 10. 2.within the moſt holy place of the Tabernacle, as 2 Chron. 5. 10.being a chary Treaſure, not to be loſt in their frequent removes. And the two Tables are called the Tables of Heb. 9. 4.the Covenant, Deut. 4. 13. all denoting the importance and ſtability of this, with the other Commandements.Exod 20. 2.
4. This Command with the reſt, had the ſame Proeme, containing a general motive to provoke the people to obedience. Praeceptum hoc quartum ſuit ore dei promulgatum, digito dei inſcriptum, et in area dei reconditum. Inquiunt Chryſoſtomus et Theophylactus tempore Moſis fuiſſe ſolas tabu…as legis in area, ſed poſtea à Jremia urnum … Mannae … vir…m …aro… in A…a fuiſſe rep…ſi…a. … Catharinus tempore Moſis omnia f…ſſe in Area, ſed temp…re Solomonis ſolas …bulas l…g…s.God being as tender of conformity to the fourth, as to any other Commandement. And thus this Commandement partakes of the ſame Honours and Prerogatives with the three before it, and the ſix after it: And how comes it then, that it ſhould be worſe metal than the reſt, and be embaſed with a notion of a Law, and elementary Ceremony? Chryſoſtom and Theophylact obſerve; that in the time of Moſes, onelyonly the Tables of ſtone were in the Ark, and that afterwards in the time of the Prophet Jeremy, Aarons Rod and the Pot of Manna were put in. And Catharinus ſaith, That in the time of Moſes, all the forementioned Particulars were in the Ark; but in the time of Solomon there were onelyonly found the two Tables of ſtone, upon which were written the ten Commandements. However it is, ſtill the Tables of ſtone were in the Ark, to ſhew, that in all times God was tender of his Decalogue, where the fourth Commandement was placed: Surely ſuch providential care would never have attended the wing of a flying Ceremony.
This fourth Commandement will further commence moral, if we take notice of the motives by which it was enjoyned: The firſt Commandement hath but one reaſon annexed to it; the third Commandement hath but one reaſon appendant Filius qui honorat p…ren…es, licet cite moriatur, tamen diu vixit. N…m tempus eſt menſura non otii, ſed operis et actienum non malarum, ſ…d bonarum.to it; the fifth Commandement but one reaſon to reinforce it; Nay, the ſecond Commandement hath onelyonly two reaſons to engage obedience to it: But now in the ſourth Commandement, the Lord goes beyond all this, and binds with a threefold Cord, which cannot eaſily be broken; for God ſetteth down three reaſons, as ſo many forcible and pregnant motives to induce, or rather to inforce obedience; not onelyonly to command the excellency, but to ſhew the neceſſity of keeping this Commandement.Abulenſ.
1. God ſhews us the equity of the Command; If man may have ſix days, ſurely God may have one.
2. God ſhews us the Preſidency of himſelf, he goes before Vatab. in Gen. 2. 3.us in Sabbath-reſt; and this bleſſed Pattern is a ſtrong Argument for imitation.Jun. in Gen. 2. 3.
3. God intimates to us, it is a bleſſed day, beſides the bleſſings of other days, by the Law of Nature; this day hath Peter. Martyr in Gen. 2. 3.a peculiar bleſſing of holineſs, it is a day of divine muniſicence, wherein God featrers his Diamonds, his choiceſt bleſſings Bulling. in Roman.among his obedient Worſhippers. And was not the fourth Commandement a ſtanding Rule of conformity, Hoſpin. de Origin.what need the twiſting of ſo many Arguments? and why doth God more conſult mans practice in the preſſing of this, Templ. lib. 2. cap. 14.than any other Commandement? Surely Gods jealouſly, leaſt it ſhould be violated, ſhews not onelyonly the eminency of this Precept, but its abiding morality.
Divines generally conclude, That the ſubſtance of the fourth Commandement lies in this Clauſe, viz. Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy; and this is the preceptive part: Quod naturale eſt putà diem ſeptimum quemlibet deo ſacrum eſſe, illud quidem permanet. Jun.For the other three parts of the Commandement, viz. The Directive, ſix days ſhalt thou labour, but the ſeventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; Nay, the argumentative part; For in ſix days the Lord made Heaven and Earth, and reſted the ſeventh day: And the benedictive part, Therefore the Lord bleſſed the ſeventh day and hallowed it; all theſe onelyonly inforce the Command: but the ſumme and ſubſtance of the Command lies in the firſt clauſe, Remember the Sabbath-day to keep it holy. And ſhall not the keeping of a Sabbath to God be moral and perpetual? The ſpending of a ſeventh part of every week in holy ſervice, and ſpiritual worſhip, ſhall not that be ſtanding and permanent? Doth not the neceſſity of our Bodies require a ſeventh days reſt, and the Exigence of our Souls a holy reſt? Surely we will not ſink below the dregs of Paganiſm, who Recordare diei ſabbati, ut ſanctifices illum; Haec verba ſunt ipſa praecepti quarti moralis ſub. ſtantia Zanch.had their ſet times of ſacred ſolemnity to their Idol Gods? And the Church of Chriſt in all Ages had its Sabbath, when it was moſt clouded with Superſtition and Idolatry: the Sabbath was never ſuſpended by any Emperors Edict, nor Excommunicated by any Popes Bull: Sion never wanted her Sabbaths, when ſhe lay in her loweſt aſhes. Surely then to keep a Sabbath to God is moſt fully and entirely moral; and this is, as Zanchy ſaith, The ſubſtance of the fourth Commandement; the other part of it, being taken up either in explication, how we muſt obſerve it, or in reaſon and argumentation, why we muſt obſerve it; Or in motive, and inſinuation, that we muſt obſerve it: It is a bleſſed day, and bleſſings are the greateſt courtſhip to the Soul. And in one of the Homilies of the Church of England, we meet with Homil. of time and prayer.theſe words: By the fourth Commandement we ought to have a time, as one day in a week, and this appertaineth to the Law of Nature, as a thing moſt godly, moſt juſt, moſt needful for the ſetting forth of the glory of God, and therefore ought to be retained, and kept of all Chriſtians. Thus the Church of England layes down this as a fundamental, that every ſeventh day (not in order but in number) be conſecrated to God.
The fourth Commandment hath all the Characters of a moral law.
1. It is not reverſed or repealed in the Goſpel; for though the old Sabbath be reverſed, yet the Commandment for … day in ſeven is not; and indeed, why ſhould it … the whole Decalogue is Gods royal law, Jam… … the golden rule of our obedience?
2. It is ratified in the Goſpel, and that many …
1. In general, together with the Decalogue, … ….Whoſoever ſhall break one of the leaſt of theſe Command…nt and teach men ſo, ſhall be called the leaſt in the King … Heaven. Now the fourth Commandment is one of the… commands, which it is ſo dangerous to break and … late.
2. By the deſignation of the Lords day, of the ſame number, …. c. 11.of the ſame uſe and profit, which is a real ratification of this law.
3. This law of the Sabbath is neither weak nor unprofitable, but exceeding uſeful for the ends for which it was firſt intended, which was the glory of God, the good of ſouls, and the preſervation of Religion. It was the ſpeech of a Learned man, Let any man ſhew me in this law either weakneſs ….or unprofitableneſs, I yield, and bid it vaniſh; but it hath, and will have as much ſtrength and force, as any Law can have from the Author, Conſent, Multitude, Cuſtom, and expreſs approbation of all Ages. Profit it hath too, and hath been preſerved without any mans complaint for the thing it was deſigned to.
4. This fourth Commandment is part of the Decalogue which is an immatable and eternal law, and was delivered with as much ſolemnity and Majeſty as any other Law.
To urge no more arguments, ten is the perpetual number of Gods Commandments, ſo delivered by God, Deut. 4. 13. Q…rtum praecep…um … morale, qua… praecipit ut è ſeptem diebus unum conſecremus cultui divino, & proinde quat…nus tale nunquam fuit abrogatum nec abrogari …teſt. Aquin.and ſo preſerved by Moſes, ſo received in all the Churches of God to this very day. Now this law for the Sabbath is one of the ten, and therefore perpetual to hold up the number, unleſs with the Papiſts we will cleave more Commandments, to make way for the flight of this divine law of the Sabbath: And the ten Commandments being Gods Covenant, Deut. 4. 13. We may neither adde thereunto, nor take therefrom: Mans Covenant being once confirmed, no man diſanulls it, or takes away any clauſe in it; and may any take from the Covenant of the Lord? Then as this Covenant is perpetual, conſiſting of the number of ten words, no foreign. Gal. 3. 15. Hominis licet ſit Teſtamentum, tamen ſi ſit approbatum, nemo illud reji…it, aut illi a liquid addit. Vatabl.fewer in the Tables which were firſt written, Deut. 4. 13. nor in the tables which were written the ſecond time, Exod. 34. 1. 28. nor was any thing added in the recapitulation and rehearſal of them, Deut. 5. 22. Therefore moſt irrefragably this fourth Commandment, as one of the ten words, remains perpetual, as is the Covenant it ſelf.
This truth of the morality of the fourth Commandment is ſo evident, ſo clear, ſo indiſputable, that all varieties come in to give their free aſſent, and full atteſtation: Ask a Jew, and Manaſſeh Ben Iſrael will tell you, Therefore the bleſſed Manaſſeh Ben Iſrael. Chryſoſt. homil. 19. in Geneſ. Ideo deus diem ſeptimum ſanctificavit, ut homo ſciret in circulo hebdomadae diem unum eſſe cultui divino tribuendum. Par.God deſiring that the Sabbath may be obſerved for ever of all, whoſe ſanctity by ſo many Commandments, he hath commended, placed it in the Decalogue, and made it one of his ten Commandments, to the end that we knowing theſe precepts to be everlaſting, we ſhould underſtand that this Commandment alſo was to be accompliſhed amongſt them. What more fair, more full, more ſatisfactory? Ask one of the Fathers, Chryſoſtom tells us, That from the beginning God hath intimated to us this Doctrine, inſtructing us to ſet apart one day in the circle of a week for ſpiritual exerciſes. Ask a School-man, Jacobus-de Valentia tells us, That the Commandment for the Sabbath is moral for the conditions of it.Naturale eſt diem ſeptimum quem que deo ſacrum eſſe. Jun. Morale eſt ut ex ſeptem diebus unus cultui divino conſecretur. Conrad. Dieteric.
1. In regard of the reſt.
2. In regard of the ſanctification of that reſt: far the Sabbath was firſt given to man for his reſt, that he might ceaſe from all his worldly labours, and ſo he might with more eaſe and facility be a commodated to the ſervice and worſhip of God; and one day in the week muſt be dedicated to God for this ſanctification and worſhip; and thus the precept is ſtable and everlaſting. Ask a Jeſuit, Azorius tells us, It is a moſt rational Morale eſt ſanctificare unum è ſeptem dieb…. Bald. caſ. Conſcien. circa Feſta, l. 2. c 13. caſ. 2.thing, that after the works of ſix dayes, the ſeventh ſhould be a reſt conſecrated to God and his worſhip; nay, ask a Cardinal, whoſe Princely altitude might lift him above the tenure of this truth, Bellarmine tells us, The Divine law required, that one day in a week ſhould be ſequeſtred for holy worſhip. Ask a more inferiour Romaniſt, Terus tells us, God will have one day in a week at leaſt to be allowed him. Ask a Lutheran, V…luit deus ad minus unum diem in hebdom…da ſibi impendi. Ferus.Baldwin tells us, It is moral to ſanctifie one day in ſeven. Ask a Proteſtant either of a Forraign Nation, Zanchy tells us, The fourth Commandment is moral, as it biddeth us dedicate one day in a week for the ſervice of God, and ſo Junius, God therefore ſanctified the ſeventh day, that man might know that in the weekly circuit, one day is to be beſtowed upon the publick worſhip of God. Or of our own Nation; thus the Reverend Hooker, We are to account the ſanctification of one day in a week, a duty which Gods immutable law doth exact for ever. So Dr. Donne, God required a ſeventh part of our time for his exteriour worſhip. But I will not tire or cloy the Reader with a multiplicity of allegations; only this is very obſervable, that all theſe Divines fix the morality of the command upon the ſeventh day in number, and not in order, as ſome incautelouſly and erroncouſly do.
Nay the Morality of the fourth Commandment ſhines Stella.with ſo many beams of light and conviction, that the very adverſaries may be ſubpoenaed in by their own Conſciences and Writings, to give in their teſtimony and aſſent unto it. Thus Stella the Papiſt, In the ſanctification of the Sabbath, this is Moral, to obſerve one day in the week. Arminius, the King James his Declar. againſt Vorſtius.great enemy of God, as King James calls him, tells us, It is Moral to ſet apart one day in ſeven for Gods ſervice: And thoſe who are adverſaries to this truth in particular, accord in the ſame confeſſion. Dr. Heylin ſaith, The Decalogue contains the Moral law, or the law of nature, a Law univerſal Dr. Heylin his hiſt. of the Sab.in it ſelf, and general, equally appertaining to Jew and Gentile: We can deſire no more then this full confeſſion. Mr. Primroſe confeſſeth, That the Sabbath is Moral in its foundation, end, marrow, and principal ſubſtance, and that a ſtinted time is Moral, and grounded on the principles of nature, Primr. par. 2. c. 6. Sect. 15. 19.and therefore the Gentiles had their ſet dayes of Religion, and this is ratified by the Goſpel. Nay, the Learned Ironſide freely acknowledges, That all the Commandments of the Decalogue are Moral, and ſo is that of the Sabbath, it is Moral for ſubſtance, but not for circumſtance. Now the acknowledgment of an Adverſary is very evidential to the truth Ironſ. Quaeſt. 2. c. 9.of a poſition: Thus every way the fourth Commandment, that holy, that juſt, that good precept for the Sabbath, hath been vindicated from the imputation of a Ceremony, and it is Rom. 7. 12.too much to be feared, it was the body of a deſign caſt that ſhadow upon it. The worthy Twiſſe roundly concludes, Never Lex Deca…ogi, eſt lex moralis & aeterna. Wol.any man was found to deviſe any ceremoniality in reſting one day in ſeven; they may as well give themſelves to deviſe a ceremoniality in ſetting apart ſome time in general, for Gods holy worſhip and ſervice: So then the fourth Commandment being a Moral law, it binds all perſons, Chriſtians as well as Jews; it binds in all places, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as in Paleſtine and Judea; it binds at all times, ſince the coming of our dear Redeemer, who drew a line over all Ceremonies, and expunged them, that they ſhould have no more exiſtence in the Church of God, as well as before Mat. 4. 2.this glorious Sun appeared to beautifie and revive the world.