The Lords Day, Book 1 · Chapter 9
CHAP. IX.
That one day in a week is under the Goſpel alſo to be ſanctified. The Morality of the fourth Command, which is perpetual, requireth this. Chriſt hath not aboliſhed the Law. How the Sabbath may be ſaid to be a ſign between God and the Church.
THus far of the firſt Epocha, in which we have found, that from the beginning of the world, one day in the weekly compaſs was to be ſet apart for the ſolemn performing of the worſhip of God: and for the ſecond, from Moſes to Chriſts reſurrection, none doubteth, therefore I'le add nothing of it: and will come to the third Epocha, of which is the greateſt controverſie, namely, Whether under the Goſpel, in the compaſs of a week, one day be to be ſanctified? Some men of great name do deny this, and ſome do ſtrongly affirm it: which later opinion being grounded upon ſo many teſtimonies and reaſons of the ancients, and the continual practiſe of the Chriſtian Church, I freely embrace: for this is neither a new, nor an unheard of aſſertion, but by ſeveral Divines of a well exerciſed judgment, is ſufficiently manifeſted to all pious ſouls, and prone to the fear of God: in demonſtrating whereof, they have recourſe to the morality of the fourth Command in the Decalogue, whoſe moral part is perpetual: for it is one of the ten words of God, engraven by his own hand in Tables of Stone, Exod. 35. 28. Deut. 4. 13. out of which number, if the Sabbath ſhould be expunged, there would only nine remain. Now the Moral part of the Decalogue (which remaineth alſo in the new Law, Bonavent. l. 3. q. 37. p. 781.) as Alexander Hales aqu. 32. fol. 134.once wittily, is ſaid to be ſo two manner of wayes, one way which is of the very eſſence of the Decalogue, according to the primary intention, and ſo vacation to a time indeterminately is moral in the Decalogue: another way it's ſaid to be moral, in the Decalogue, which is to determine the Decalogue, and according to this vacation on the Lords day, is moral in the Decalogue, in the time of grace, as the ſeventh day in the time of the Law, and that is moral by diſcipline, i. e. by Divine inſtitution: and therefore, even by the ſole inſtinct of nature, it muſt needs be granted, that man at ſome time muſt attend upon God: yea, nature it ſelf dictates, that ſufficient dayes be ſet apart to perform his worſhip. And who is to determine thoſe dayes, but him, whoſe the day and night are? Pſal. 74. 15. So Alexander Hales. The obſervance of a day indeterminately, that at ſome time we ſhould attend on God, is moral in nature, and immutable; but the obſervance of a determinate time, is moral by diſcipline, by the adding of Divine institution. Afterwards he ſaith, when that time ought to be, is not for man to determine, but God: becauſe it is his part to define the certain time for worſhip, whoſe it is to preſcribe the worſhip it ſelf: it pertaineth not to inferiours, whoſe part it is to perform offices to others, to determine of a fit time to perform them in: Superiours, to whom they are to be exhibited, do preſcribe others, when, ex officio, they ought to attend theſe.
Nor can it be otherwiſe, becauſe if the way of ſetting apart the time for worſhipping God in ſhould not depend upon Divine inſtitution, the mind of man would hang pendulous in this buſineſs: neither would it appear to us, what dayes would be ſufficient: ſince, if we look at Gods benefits conferred upon us, it would not be ſufficient to conſecrate the whole courſe of our life to this work: and if we look at our covetouſneſs, and ſloth, how many of us would ſuffer the very leaſt part of our time (ſaith the famous Mr. D. G.) to be cut off either from our labour or reſt? A certain time is therefore to be defined of God, at leaſt for their ſakes▪ who attend more▪ upon this world than God, ain Gal. 4.as Hierom: and left the conſcience of men ſhould ſtick in doubt, or God be defrauded of his due worſhip, very reaſon it ſelf ſeemeth to require, that a certain day ſhould be aſſigned by the moſt Bleſſed and Almighty God; eſpecially, when, as bin ſent. 3▪ diſtinc. 37: q. unica.Scotus ſaith, ain Gal. 4.man is bound to no act pro tempore indeterminato, to which he is not bound pro aliquo ſignato: becauſe, if then worſhip be not to be exhibited to God, by like reaſon not now, and by the ſame reaſon of every other time.
Beſides, he that will not think much to compare the reaſon of the preſent age, with the times of Adam, the Patriarchs, and the Jews, he ſhall ſee it equal and juſt to ſet apart in every ſeven dayes, one whole one for the worſhip of God. For why ſhould the Lord indulge a further liberty to the men of our age, in his ſervice, than he granted them? eſpecially when God, ſince he hath repealed his Goſpel, is more propitious to us, than to them. Farther, if we weigh the nature of our preſent men, we ſhall find for certain, that no leſs time is required to the inſtructing of them, than of the ancients. And to conclude, relaxation from labour is no leſs neceſſary in this age, to ſervants, and thoſe that live under other mens government, than to men in former ages. He that without prejudice weigheth theſe things, cannot deny, that one day in ſeven is as well to be ſet apart for the publick worſhip of God by Chriſtians, as men of the former age. I will add nothing of the nature of the Decalogue, never abrogated by the bleſſed coming of Chriſt. Faith in Chriſt makes not void the Law, the matter of which, all men acknowledge to be written in mens hearts from the Creation, the great Apoſtle being witneſs: although we acknowledge with the ſame Apoſtle, Gal. 4. and Col. 2. that the ceremonial and typical obſervation thereof, being fulfilled by Chriſts coming in the fleſh, be now ceaſed. This doth alſo Irenaeus witneſs, adv. haereſ. l. 4. c. 31. who affirmeth, that God ſpoke the words of the Decalogue immediately by himſelf, and thereupon they remain permanent, and fixed with us, admitting of extenſion and augmentation, but no diſſolution by the coming of Chriſt in the fleſh. So St. Auſtin in Pſalm 32. Fulfill the Law, ſaith he, which the Lord thy God came not to diſſolve, but to fulfill.
And certainly, no body that throughly weighs with himſelf the morality of that precept, will doubt, that the ſolemnity of the Lords day grew up by vertue of the fourth Command in the Decalogue: For it is granted of all, that the ſubſtance of the Command, included in theſe words, (Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day, i. e. the day of reſt, not as the ſeventh day) is moral, and to be continued for ever. But if the Lords day feſtivity be not bottomed upon the authority of this command, then that morality doth plainly periſh: when now there is not any other weekly Sabbath, beſides the Lords day; without which, as I ſaid, the Moral part of the Sabbath in the New Teſtament would not remain. By right therefore, as Alexander Hales hath it, the vacation of the Lords day is the Moral part of the Decalogue in the time of grace, as the ſeventh day in the time of the Law.
Moreover, ſome may with great reaſon doubt, why the Jewiſh Sabbath ſhould be tranſlated to the Lords day, (which yet we ſee hath been done for above one thouſand ſix hundred years) if ſo be that Chriſtians be not obliged to obſerve the fourth Command, as it is moral: whenas otherwiſe there would be no need of any feſtival to ſucceed in place of the ancient Sabbath: But becauſe that Law doth perpetually bind all the worſhippers of God to the obſervation of the Sabbath, it neceſſarily follows, that the day on which the Sabbath is to be obſerved, muſt be determined by ſome poſitive Law, and is deſigned by God for this purpoſe, to be the ſeventh day in the Old Covenant, and the the firſt in the New. For it's not for man, ſaith Alexander Hales, quaeſt. 32. fol. 128. to determine, but God, when that time is, &c. It's in Gods power only, to define a fit time for performing his worſhip.
But we read this queſtion of the Morality of the fourth Command, diſcuſſed at large by divers: amongſt whom, the famous Wallaeus doth it moſt excellently, who, to the great fruit of the Church, hath copiouſly taught us, what is Ceremonial, and what Moral, in writing of that Command of the Sabbath. I will not therefore add any more about this queſtion, but do ſend the Reader to the learned labours of others, in which this queſtion is examined. I will only add this one thing for a concluſion, out of the obſervations of this Learned Divine, namely an explication of the Sabbath's being a ſign between God and men.
Since, ſaith he, it is in bred by nature,How the Sabbath is a ſign between God and the Church. in all Nations, that in the external worſhip of that Deity which they take for ſupreme, they ſhould have ſome Symbole of Document, which may ſhew to others, whom they take for God: as may be obſerved in the ſacrifices of Bacchus: and therefore in the Revelation, they that worſhipped God and the Lamb, are read to have the mark of God in their foreheads, Rev. 14. 1. and they that worſhipped the Beaſt, received his mark in their forehead, or hand, Rev. 14. 9. which were nothing elſe but external tokens, by which they would plainly ſignifie, that they worſhipped either God or the Beaſt: So of old we read that the Sabbath was inſtituted of God, that it might be a ſymbole or ſign, to manifeſt to all the world who was the God of the Jews. So Ezek. 20. 20. the Sabbaths are ſaid to be ſigns between God and them, that it might be known that the Lord was their God. Now what it was that was ſhewn by that ſign, Moſes tells us in divers places; eſpecially in Exod. ch. 31. 16, 17. Therefore the children of Iſrael ſhall obſerve the Sabbath, throughout their generations, for a perpetual Covenant. It is a ſign between me and the children of Iſrael for ever; (he ſpeaks of the Sabbath) for in ſix dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth, and on the ſeventh day he rested, and was refreſhed. As if he ſhould ſay, the pious obſervation of the Sabbath amongſt them, when every ſeventh day returns, doth intimate, that the Almighty Creatour of Heaven and Earth is their God. In this ſenſe, Athanaſius de Sabbatho & Circumciſione, ſaith, The Sabbath is a ſign, whereby the day might be known on which the Creation was finiſhed: which being known, they might aſcend to the knowledge of the Creatour. And by obſerving the Sabbath, they attained unto that two manner of wayes. Firſt, inaſmuch as one day of the ſeven was ſolemn, or becauſe after they had ended their labours in the ſix dayes, they muſt reſt on the ſeventh. Secondly, by determining that reſt on the laſt day of the weekly compaſs: both wayes the Jewes ſignified, that they worſhipped none other, than God the Creatour of Heaven and Earth: becauſe, whereas they ſanctified the ſeventh day, after the ſix dayes labours were ended, they openly profeſſed, that they were worſhippers of that God, who created Heaven and Earth, and having finiſhed his labour, in beautifying that ſtupendious work, on the ſeventh day he ceaſed from working: for which cauſe, he enjoyned them the obſervation of the ſeventh day; that they might follow his fore-going example, both in working and in reſting. He hath commanded, ſaith Philo, de Decalogo, that whoſoever received theſe Inſtitutions, as in other things, ſo in this alſo, they ſhould follow God, in working ſix dayes, and reſting the ſeventh, and attending on the contemplation of things, and ſtudy of VViſdome, &c. Afterwards, Follow God, thou hast Gods example and preſcript in working ſix dayes.
And farther, they ſet apart no other day in the weekly courſe, but the ſeventh, for the exerciſes of piety, that they might profeſs they were the ſervants of that God, which redeemed the Iſraelites out of the Land of Egypt, and brought them out of the houſe of bondage: which is collected from the repetition of the Decalogue, Deuteronom. 5. 15. where Moſes, omitting the argument taken from the Creation, which he had uſed in the Decalogue, doth excite them to ſanctifie the Sabbath, from their being freed out of the Land of Egypt; namely, becauſe whenas they ſerved in the Land of Egypt, the Lord their God brought them out thence, with a ſtrong hand, and ſtretched out arm: and therefore he commanded them, that they ſhould obſerve the very day of the Sabbath, (in whoſe morning watch they came out of Egypt, as the Learned Junius obſerves in his notes on Deuteronom. 5. out of Exod. 12. 15.) This ſeems to have been the cauſe of appointing this day, rather than any other. And thus much of the Jews Sabbath, whereby, as by a manifeſt document, they profeſſed to worſhip the Lord, the Creator of this univerſe, and their mighty Redeemer out of Egypt, for which cauſe the Sabbath was had for a ſign between God and them.