The Practical Sabbatarian, Chapter 55
CHAP. LV. England bewailed for its great and general prophanation of Gods holy Sabbath.
I Muſt conclude this Treatiſe, as the Prophet Jeremy did his Writings, with lamentations. One great ſin which Agnoſcendum eſt abiiſſe nunc moribus noſtris chriſtianam libertatem, in nimiam & plus quam Ethnicam licentiam, ita ut die dominico omnia fiunt opera, praeterquam Bona. Riv. in Decal.captivated Iſrael was Sabbath-pollution, and the ſame ſin ſeems to threaten England with ruine and deſtruction. Now the Prophets tears, Jer. 9. 1. do well become the Peoples dangers; and when they are ſinking, faithful Miniſters ſhould be weeping. And here the lamentations over England may be divided into five Particulars, as Jeremy his Lamentations are divided into five Chapters.
1. We may bewail Englands open prophaneneſs upon Gods holy Sabbath. The Jews once made the due obſervation of the Sabbath, the character of a godly man, John 9. 16. and if that be Englands Shibboleth, how far is our Nation baniſhed from the confines of Piety? The woful declining of England both in matters of doctrine and practice concerning the Sabbath, is never ſufficiently to be bemoaned. In former times no reformed Church was ſo famous, either for ſoundneſs Dies feſtos ma… jeſtati altiſſimae dedicatos, nullis volumus voluptatibus▪ occupari. Leo & Anthemius Imper. à Baldwino allegati.in judgment, or warineſs in practice, in reference to the Lords day: But our Apoſtacy began to be too notorious, when ſports were allowed on that day, which are the births of fancy, and the Nurſes of corruption. Nay even at this day, notwithſtanding all pretences to reformation, how wofully is Gods Sabbath neglected, and ecclipſed by all manner of abomination; ſo that we may ſay with Biſhop Babington, The people of Iſrael might not gather Manna upon the Sabbath-day; and may we go to Fairs and Markets, to Wakes and wantonneſs, to Dancings and Drinkings upon the Lords day? Are theſe works for the Sabbath? Is O melior fides nationum in ſuam ſect am, quae nullam chriſtianorum ſolennitatem ſibi vendicat; non etiam diem dominicum, etiamſi cognoſſent nobis communicarent, ne Chriſtiani viderentur, & nos ne Ethnici pronunciaremur, non veremur. Tertul. de Idol. cap. 14.this to keep the holy day? Can this be anſwered to God? No ſurely, we ſhall never be able to endure his wrath for theſe things one day. Thus this learned and reverend Perſon. I may a little invert Tertullian, O the faith of the Nations, better then ours towards their own Sect; as who challenge not to themſelves any Chriſtian ſolemnity, no not that of the Lords day, had they known it, they would not communicate with us, leaſt they ſhould ſeem Chriſtians; and we Chriſtians fear not to be accounted Heathens. All the Invectives of former times may juſtly be levelled againſt England upon this account. What is the Sabbath among us, but our leiſure day for ſin and vanity? The covetous perſon is imployed in his works, and he follows his ſecular affairs only more covertly; the Formaliſt is buried in his ſloth; the Youth of the Nation are frisking and pleaſing themſelves with ſports and dalliances, with carnal delights, and ſenſual pleaſures, as if they offered Acts 14. 13.at the Shrine of Venus, or calculated their Sacrifices for a Acts 19. 28.wanton Jupiter: the carnal Goſpellers are refreſhing themſelves in their Recreations, and their walks; and how few on the Mount of God in ſacred and heavenly duties? foreign jovialiter vivere.Surely Plutarch had an eye to England when he derived Sabbath a Sabbos, which ſignifies to live riotouſly. Indeed the Sabbath of our Nation ſeems to have ſome ſuch derivation; Gods Sabbath cannot travel up and down England, but it falls among Thieves who rob and wound it: ſome wound it by prophane and looſe actions; others by ſinful omiſſions; and the moſt by ſloth and recreations. And thus Luke 10. 30.this bleſſed day lies bleeding, and where are any good Samaritans Abominanda & chriſtiano nomine indigna diei dominic… v…olatio, quae ſ…nct…ſſimum Dei Omnipoten…is cultum im…iorum exponit, ludibrio, & hinc omnis miſeriae, quae obſcuratum eccleſiae de…us evertit, & …inc calamitatis effluxit inundatio.to pour Oyl in to its wounds? And have we not found it by experience, that ſcarlet ſins and crimſon tranſgreſſions overflow the Nation, becauſe the Sabbath lies under diſuſe, and is covered with ſcorn and contempt? The holy obſervation of the Sabbath is that which brings on all duties of godlineſs; and the Sabbath being ſlighted and neglected, the Cataracts of prophaneneſs break in upon us, and we are lead to all methods of wickedneſs: And this is Englands skar; Gods preſence was never leſs diſcerned, and what is the reaſon, Gods day was never more contemned. Our Palladium is gone, and what can be expected but an entry of ruine and deſolation? And this, as Ezekiel ſpeaks, Ezek. 19. 14. Is a lamentation, and ſhall be for a lamentation. A learned man obſerves, That the prophaning of Gods day is ſin unbecoming the name of a Chriſtian, and is the ſpring of all thoſe calamities which over-flow a Nation. And yet this is Lam. 1. 7. Quis talia fande temperet à la…h…ymis? Virg.Englands Ichabod, and in this it hath betrayed its truſt, when the treaſure of Gods Sabbath was committed to it.
And this is Englands Apoſtacy from all the pious Proclamations Pſal. 74. 9.of thoſe noble Princes, who have ſate in its Throne: How did many of the Royal Princes, who have ſwayed the Scepter of this Nation, lay out their Authority for the ſuppreſſing King Ina, a We…t Saxon, K. Alured. K. Canutus. K Edw. the ſixth. Q. Elizabeth. King James. King Charles the firſt.of prophaneneſs, and promoting of godlineſs upon Gods holy day, which was their glory, and the ſplendor of our Nation: But the prophaneneſs of the preſent age upon this ſacred day, hath pluckt this Pearl out of their Crowns, and hath put an ecclipſe upon that glory of our Kingdom, wherein we much out-vied the tendreyes of other Nations; England formerly in this branch of holineſs out-ſhining the moſt reformed Churches.
And this is the ſin at this day, which is the troubler of our Iſrael, and ſeems to be a Cloud bigger than a mans hand, 1 King. 18. 44.which threatens a great deal of ruine, not of water, but of wrath, not ſhowers to drench the ground, but to drown the Inhabitant.
We may bewail the formall worſhip of Englands Sabbaths: this bleſſed day ſuffers in this Nation, not only by open Enemies, Ceremonia crebrò repetitae▪but by cold Suitors. This is the Errour of England, on her Sabbaths, we more mind the bending of the knee, than Deo nauſeam pariunt, quia peccatores impuro corde plen…que offenſis illas offerunt. Alap. in Iſaiam.the bowing of the heart, our Decency hides our Beauty, our Ceremony drowneth our Subſtance, and our Geſture ſwallows up our Godlineſs. In ſome places of this Nation, the Organ is the moſt pleaſing Oracle; and the cringing to an Altar is the onelyonly Embleme of humility; and the pleaſing of the Ear, ſtifles the devotion of the Soul. And is this to keep a Sabbath? What do we more than the Jews againſt whom God poured out his complaints? To tread Gods Courts, Iſa. 1. 12. To cry up the Temple of the Lord, Jer. 7. 4. And to celebrate a Sabbath with a bare appearance before God, or the nimble activity of a geniculation; Is not this to offer the Caſe inſtead of the Jewel, to give the bark of a ſervice, and the paring onelyonly of a ſolemnity? Ignatius could tell us in the very Ʋnusquiſque noſtrum Sabbatizet ſpiritualiter meditatione legis gaudens, & non in corporis refocillatione. Ignat. Epiſt. 6. ad Magn.infancy of the Goſpel, That we are to keep Gods day ſpiritually, in the meditation of Gods Law, not in the refreſhings of the outward man, &c. And Chryſoſtom ſpeaks much of foreign, ſpiritual works and exerciſes on the Lords day. Is not the turn of an eye, the action of the body, or the ſuppleneſs of the knee, not the ſweetneſs of the voice, or the exactneſs of the quaver, not the dexterity of an Anthem, which is venerati…n proper to Gods holy day: But a melting heart, an obedient mind, an attentive ear, the acting Luke 2. 25.of grace, and the enquiries after the Beloved, a Soul raiſed to experimental communion with God, ſuits more fairly and Jer. 31. 19.genuinely to the right obſervation of Gods holy day. This Ezek. 21. 12.extrinſical worſhip, onelyonly tongue deep, and knee deep, and which is not animated by a devout Soul, is Englands ſtain, and ſhould be Englands moan; and we ſhould do well to conſider cold Devotion uſually foreruns hot indignation: and it is onelyonly in the boſom of the Almighty, how ſoon he will further revenge the quarel of his Sabbath, not onelyonly as bemired by open prophaneneſs, but as ſlightly paſſed over by a ſpecious, cold, and formal obſervation.
We may bewail the ſinful abridgments which England puts up upon Gods holy day. In former times, and ſo now in theſe later years, two or three hours ſignifie a Sabbath among us; Dominicis diebus tantùm divino cultuia little time in publick is our Sacrifice upon the Lords day: the Lord may here put the expoſtulation, Mal. 3. 8. Do ye ſervi…dum eſt, ſicut Antiquis praeceptum erat de Sabbato, dominicum diem religi…sâ ſolennitate celebremus. Aug.ſay, wherein have you robbed me? It may be anſwered, not in tythes, but in time; not in the Prieſts allowance, but in the Lords day. If the people come to divine ſervice, and to the pittance of a Sermon in publick, they have then liberty to ſport it in the helds, or to frisk …t in a Maurisk dance; to be ſocial in an Ale-houſe, to be frolick in a Tavern without the controule of an Officer, or the ſtroke of a Magiſtrate. This is Englands ſin, and this ſin was formerly puniſhed by a Civil, and hath lately been purſued by a forraign War.
But we may truly ſay with our Saviour, Mat. 19. 8. Improperandum eſt contra eos, qui unam, aut du…s horas ex integro die deo deputant, & ad Orationem veniunt vel in tranſitu, & verbum audiunt, quaſi feſti…anter, praecipuam verò curam, erg… ſollicitudinem ſeculi, et …ent…is expendunt. Orig. Homil. 2. in Numer. Iren. lib. 4. cap. 30.From the beginning it was not ſo. Auguſtin tells us, Upon the Lords day, we are to be wholly taken up in divine worſhip; nor are we to abridge the Lords day, more then the Jews did their Sabbath, which was wholly kept to the Lord. And this worthy and learned man was run into a kind of paſſion againſt thoſe who would ſpend ſome time only of this day in divine worſhip, and the reſt in ſenſual pleaſures. Origen was very invective againſt thoſe, Who would depute two or three hours to prayer, or to hear the Word in tranſitu, by the by, but their chief care was to conſult the World or their belly, and to ſpend th…ir time in profits or delights. Chryſoſtome tells us, his opinion was fully, That one day in ſeven was to be conſecrated wh…lly to the worſhip of the Common … of all, and to his ſervice. And Irenaeus, who trod upon the heels of the Apoſtolical times, freely acknowledgeth, That we are to perſevere in divine worſhip upon Gods holy day. Nay, the Fathers, gathered in a Die dominico ad nihil aliud vacandum, niſi a… Orationem, et alia pietatis munia.full aſſembly, declar… their judgement; That we being ſequeſtred from all ſervile w…rk, muſt perſevere in the praiſe of God, and in holy thanksgivings …n the Lords day. And ſo the Fathers in the Council of …i…li, We muſt (ſay they) be vacant for nothing upon a Lords day, but holy Prayer, and other duties …ncil. Ferojul. Can. 13. A. D. 791.of piety. And the fiftieth Canon of the Council of Paris is very remarkable, We muſt meet (ſay they) upon the Lords day, wherein the Lord our life aroſe from the dead, and granted us hope of our Reſur…ection, and wholly abſtain from our own delights, or ſecular empl…yments, and only be filled with ſpiritual joyes, and heavenly praiſes, and this with all endeavour of heart, and this is our vacation on that day. Chryſoſtome in one of his Homilies upon Geneſis, ſeems to order our very geſtures A veſhertino ingreſſu ad altare in Sabbato Judaico, uſ que ad ſequentem veſperem in die dominico in officiis ſacris peragendis perſeverandum eſt. Concil.on the Lords day, and ſaith, our eyes and our hands, all this day muſt be lift up, and ſtretcht out to God. And a venerable Council gives us this direction; from the evening of the Jewiſh Sabbath, to the evening of the Lords day, we muſt perſevere in holy duties.
But Englands practice hath been a contradiction to theſe golden rules, and to theſe golden times. When our evening ſervice hath been done, we have laid aſide the privacies of divine worſhip, and ſome to the Green to bowls, ſome to the Trall. Can. 90.Ring to dances, ſome to the ſtreet to Cudgels, and to other ſports, which feed the corrupt heart of an inconſiderate multitude. But in this, while our Country is a Baalim, our Cloſets Judg. 3. 7.ſhould be a Bochim; and others wantonneſs ſhould be our wound, and whilſt their hearts are a ſpring of vanity, Jer. 9. 1.our heads ſhould be a fountain of tears.
We may bewail the unpuniſhed liberty which is uſed in England, upon Gods holy day. Sabbaths are prophaned, and the Jer. 5. 31.people love to have it ſo, and the Magiſtrates love to leave it ſo; this is an Evil to be deplored among us: The things which are Caeſars, are given to Caeſar; (and good reaſon too, when we have a divine Command for it, Mat. 22. 21.) But the things which are Gods, are not given to God. Gods day ſuffers, and none ſuffer for his day. We have not only the Nehem. 13. 21.merchandiſe of wares, but the merchandiſe of hell upon the Lords day; but where are the Nehemiahs to reſtrain them? This is Englands ſin, and this calls for Englands moan; the Heads of our Tribes are not Zealous for the Lord of Hoſts. The day of God is torn by the Oaths of the Miſcreant, it is ſtained by the exceſſes of the intemperate, it is painted over by the cold worſhip of the hypocrite, it is curtailed by the ſhort ſervices O quàm redarguendi ſunt Judaei, qui ſep timam vitae partem, otio, et voluptatibus impendunt? Senec.of the formaliſt; Taverns and Ale-houſes, if not Stews and Brothel-Houſes are frequented and filled on this ſacred day, and all theſe debaucheries acted with impunity: And men do on Gods day what is right in their own eyes, not becauſe there is no King, but becauſe there is no awe of God in Iſrael. Surely if when there was almoſt a Tribe cut off in Iſrael, there was nothing but moans and lamentations, how much more when a Sabbath, the day of God and our ſouls, is Jud. 15. 6.almoſt loſt in a Nation; for this; let tears be our drink, and Jud. 21. 2.aſhes our meat day and night. And when the Magiſtrates Pſal. 42. 3.become Gallioes for the things of God, let the people become Jeremies for the day of God: Sabbath decayes will ſoon make a bankrupt Nation.
Nay laſtly, we may bewail the puniſhed purity of Englands Sabbaths. The people of God cannot be ſo good as they will, on Gods holy day. How often are the Saints in the midſt of Lew Sabbati opera humana, non divina prohibuit. Tertul.their weeping eyes, bended knees, melting hearts, mounting minds, when congregated in ſecret to ſeek Gods face, and to meet with Chriſt their beloved? How often, I ſay, are they interrupted, ſurprized, haled away by Officers, and the Sanctuary leads them to a Priſon, their Piety is uncharitably called treachery, and their devotion is unreaſonably interpreted Sedition. This is Englands miſery and unhappineſs; the Priſons are filled with ſpiritual worſhippers, and the Nation is filled with carnal Goſpellers: Prophaneneſs is uncontrouled, but the moſt reſined ſervice of God is liable to poenalties, Tertullianus de Cor. Mil. & Plin. Sec. in Epiſt. ad Trajanum Imper. De Amelucanis coetibus Chriſtianorum in die dominigo mentionem faciunt.and purſued with force and violence; not becauſe it is unſuitable to Gods will, but it is inconformable to mans law. Now as the Primitive Chriſtians, we muſt have our caetus antelucanos, our early, becauſe unknown, meetings on Gods holy day, but ſurely it muſt needs be a great evil, to rout the ſtars when gathered in a conſtellation, to huſh away the Doves when they ſtock to the windows; and ſtrange it is, that mans wrath ſhould be there where Gods preſence is, in the aſſembly of the Saints. But that the people of God, meeting on the day of God, in the name of God, for fuller communion Mat. 18. 20.with, and enjoyment of God, in obedience to the command Dan. 12. 3.of God ſhould meet with frowns and diſguſts, ſhould feel the ſharpneſs of a Law, or undergoe the keenneſs of Mat. 13. 43.the Magiſtrates ſword; and all this in a Proteſtant Nation, Iſa. 60. 8.whoſe uſuall Motto was Mildneſs; This is a lamentation, and Pſal. 89. 7.ſhall be for a lamentation.Iſa. 4. 5. Ezek. 19. 14.
FINIS.