Chur~h of the Ga!4ti•m, and why lbou\d this Day be .chofeh for their Col\cl\lons but Only becaufe t he Affemblies of Chrifthns were held on this J?ay, and ro gave~ hettef Conveniency to gather their Charity than at any other time? Rl"V. ' · to. Again; St.1ohn faith of himfelf, tlJat he was. ifz the Spirit on the Lorrl's-D.1y; which is no othe.r but this our Chriftian Sabbath; that hath received this Title and Deno'min<l;tion from our Lord C~rift.. For what fome fay, that the Lord's·Day means no more than the nay of the Lord's appearing to hi(n, ~nd reVealing t1'10fe m:my ni.yfterioiJs Vifions, in vain antl dilate, and fcarce agreeable to the Senfe and Gravity of Scripture..Expreffion. It . fi&nifies . therefare this Day, -wherein the Apoftle being in alllike\ihood .taken up w1th Spiritual Medications, Cod was preafcd to gratify him with tbe Revelation _of thofc great Things, Which were afterwards to take their Elfefr and Accomp\ilbment. Now put the force of thefe Scriptures togethef, <ind they will certainly amount to the full proofof the lnftitution of this Fi.rll-Day Sabbath. lt is called the Lord's. Day; it was appointed and ufed for the .Allemblies df the Saints, for the preaching and hearing of the Word, and Adminifrration of the Sacrament, for the Colln~ion of Alms for the Relief of the Poor; and this not in one Chntch only, but in other Churches- of the Sai'nts; and that likewife not at fome more folemn timesonly., but·weekly. Put thefe together, and What more plain and evident Proof can a thing of !>his nature admit of? Se"ndly; A Second Argument to prove this Change, fha\\ be that which with a\\ Sober Men may be fufficiently valid, which is the conftant and uninterrupted ~ra·a:. ice of the Church in all Ages ; from the time of Man's Redemption by the DeatH and Refurrefrion of Chrift, to this very prefent Day. Chrift himfelfbegan the SanCtification of it by his Refurredion ; on the fame Day he appeared to his Difciples, and he himfelf informs them of his Refurretl:ion, 'John 20. 19. I have already declared unto you the PraCtice of the Apoftles; and for the PraCtice of the Primitive Church immediately after the Apoftles, all Ecclefiaftical Hiftories do with one confent, teftify that the folemn Affemb\les of Chriftians were held on this Day. Which unvaried Cuftom and Obfervation of the Church of Chrift ought to be of great weight with all folid and ferious Chriftians; and ifwe add to this likewife the una.. nimous Confent ot the mort holy and fpiritual Men, who are generally found to be the moll: ftrit\ Obfervers of the Lord's..Day; and \aft\y, the great B\effing, that God bath po11red out upon his People in the plentiful Effufion of hiS Gnke and Spirit on them in his holy Ordinances celebrated on this Day, it Will be paft all.quefi:ion and debate, that this is the Day that the Lord bath made for himfelf, and t herefore let us be glad and rejoice therein . We have thus confidered the In1l:itutio11, Morality, and Change of the Sabbath: All which arc the more abftrnfe and intricate, ~rtly from the Silence of the Scrip... tures, which leave us to colleCt the Truth, by Inferences and DeduCl:ions; and partly from the different Opinions of Learned Men, whofe Quefiesand Difpotes abont the[e Points arc fo various and endlcfs; that, as Mald4nate faid of Luke 2. 34· The place had bte~ m11ch eajier underftood, if no Man had attempted to expound it ; fo 1 may fay of the Q!tefrions in hand, It had been much eafier to determine them, if no Man had debated them. I have endeavoured to make them as plain and perfpicuous as the nature of the SubjeCt would permit, laying a fide all contentious Arguments and necdlefS Cavils, both of one fide and the other· The fourth General propouuded, remains now to be '<:onfidered; which as it is of ~reater concernment than the refr, fo it is of equal Difficulty; and ~hat is concct'ln... 1ng the Sant\ification of the Sabb;lth. In treating of which I lhall obferve the fame Method, and fatisfy my felf in laying down pofitively what Scriptilre and Reafon dit\ate, without ingaging in tho(e tedious Difputes about it, whicn rltight make this · Dilco?rfe both unpleafing and uprofitable.. . . . ThiS Commandment therefore fpeaks of ·a twofold Sant\ificattO!l< of 1:h!S Day. 'The one which it bath already received from God ; tbe otlier wnich it oi1ght to re• ceive from Man. And the former is given as a Reafon of, and Mo!ive unto tlfe latterFirft,
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