A53694:289
Exercitations concerning the name, original, nature, use, and continuance of a day of sacred…
Exercitations concerning the name, original, nature, use, and continuance of a day of sacred rest wherein the original of the Sabbath from the foundation of the world, the morality of the Fourth commandment with the change of the Seventh day are enquired into : together with an assertion of the divine institution of the Lord's Day, and practical directions for its due observation / by John Owen.
London: printed by R.W. for Nath. Ponder, 1671
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
§. 54 It hath hitherto been allowed generally, that the fourth Commandment doth at least include something in it that is Moral; or else indeed no colour can be given unto its Association with them that are absolutely so in the Decalogue. This is commonly said to be; that some part of our Time be Dedicated to the Public Worship of God. But as this would overthrow the Pretension before mentioned, that there can be no Moral Command about Time, which is but a Circumstance of Moral Duties, so the Limitation of that Time unto one Day in seven is so evidently a perpetually binding Law, that it will not be hard to prove the unchangeable Obligation that is upon all men unto the Observance of it, which is all for the substance that is contended for. To avoid this, it is now affirmed (Disquisit p. 14.) That, Morale Quarti Praecepti est, non unum Diem sed totum tempus vitae nostrae quantum id fieri potest, impendendum esse cultui Dei, quaerendo regnum Dei & Justitiam ejus, atque inserviendo aedificationi proximi: quo pertinet ut Deo serviamus, ejus beneficia agnoscamus & celeberemus, cum invocemus Spiritu, fidem nostram testemur confessione oris, &c. This is that which is Moral in the fourth Commandment; namely, that not one Day, but as much as may be our whole lives be spent in the Worship of God; seeking his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof, and furthering the edification of our neighbour. Hereunto it belongeth, that we should serve God, acknowledge and celebrate his Benefits, pray unto him in Spirit, and testify our faith by our Confession.
§. 54 It hath hitherto been allowed generally, that the fourth Commandment doth at least include something in it that is Moral; or else indeed no colour can be given unto its Association with them that are absolutely so in the Decalogue. This is commonly said to be; that some part of our Time be Dedicated to the Publick Worship of God. But as this would overthrow the Pretension before mentioned, that there can be no Moral Command about Time, which is but a Circumstance of Moral Duties, so the Limitation of that Time unto one Day in seven is so evidently a perpetually binding Law, that it will not be hard to prove the unchangeable Obligation that is upon all men unto the Observance of it, which is all for the substance that is contended for. To avoid this, it is now affirmed (Disquisit p. 14.) That, Moralc Quarti Praecepti est, non unum Diem sed totum tempus vitae nostrae quantum id fieri potest, impendendum esse cultui Dei, quaerendo regnum Dei & Justitiam ejus, atque inserviendo aedificationi proximi: quo pertinet ut Deo serviamus, ejus beneficia agnoscamus & celeberemus, cum invocemus Spiritu, fidem nostram testemur confessione oris, &c. This is that which is Moral in the fourth Commandment; namely, that not one Day, but as much as may be our whole lives be spent in the Worship of God; seeking his Kingdom and the Righteousness thereof, and furthering the edification of our neighbour. Hereunto it belongeth, that we should serve God, acknowledge and celebrate his Benefits, pray unto him in Spirit, and testifie our faith by our Confession.