Thomas Tillam was a prominent preacher at Hexham, to the north of London. His vigorous exhortations, usually based on graphic adaptations of Revelation, brought scores of people to baptism by immersion. Jealous rivals soon complained of his preaching methods to Hansard Knolleys -- whose London congregation provided leadership for many baptists. In 1653 Tillam was called to give an account of himself.
The particular issue of dispute which provoked this was Tillam's adoption of the laying on of hands on all believers at baptism. This newly discovered ordinance was not accepted by Knolley's congregation, which then revoked its support of Tillam's ministry. Essentially, this meant that Tillam had no money or credentials with which to preach.
Feeling betrayed, Tillam set out to find other congregations which might share his views on baptism, prophecy and laying on of hands. This search led him to Dr. Peter Chamberlen, who guided the only baptist congregation which supported the Fifth Monarchy Movement.
The Fifth Monarchy movement was what we might describe today as a semi-political pressure group which drew support from "fundamentalist" congregations. It expected Christ's Kingdom (the Fifth Monarchy to follow the four Kingdoms described in Daniel 2) would soon be literally established on earth. To prepare for this, they advocated that England quickly pattern its government and laws on Biblical prescription.
This link, and the firm friendship which grew from it, would prove important for the Sabbath idea as well as the long term establishment of Sabbath-keeping congregations in England -- and later the United States. In normal times these two men would never have met. Chamberlen was a clean shaven aristocrat and former Royal Physician who wore his hair long and powdered. He and his father had invented forceps for use in childbirth and had the influence to undertake many good-works for the community. Tillam, who believed that real men had short hair and long beards, came from a very different social position.
Another baptist and moderate Fifth Monarchist was Henry Jessey. He was a gifted preacher with a sound knowledge of Hebrew -- who believed that the King James version had lacked an understanding of Israel's calendar and customs. Jessey was active in the campaign to readmit the Jews to England in the 1650's.
The Jews had been expelled from England in the twelfth century, and this fact created some awe regarding what the Jews actually were. Some had an irrational fear, and others, such as those who observed the Sabbath, wanted to know much more about "God's chosen people." Jessey observed a number of what opponents described as "Jewish laws"-which certainly included the Sabbath. He knew that the "lost tribes" were to play a part in end time prophecy and made attempts to identify who they were -- even postulating that they may be the American Indians. He was never to know that the truth was closer to home!
By 1655 Tillam had moved to Colchester. There his gifts as a preacher impressed the local mayor who invited him to use the parish church. Enlivened by this opportunity, Tillam had baptized over one hundred people in a few short months. It is also probable that Tillam came to know Brabourne who lived in the area.
Early in 1656, Tillam began holding services in the parish church on Saturday. Exactly how he arrived at the notion of the Saturday Sabbath is not clear. Through this period he had remained in regular and close contact with Chamberlen, whose London congregation adopted the Sabbath about the same time. Another possible link is that Chamberlen probably knew Ockford.
Displeased with Tillam's innovation, the authorities had him imprisoned. Like many seventeenth century religious prisoners, Tillam occupied himself in writing and produced his most memorable work: The Seventh Day Sabbath Sought Out and Celebrated was published in 1657 and brought a rush of condemning response. In more than two hundred pages, Tillam developed the link between the Sabbath and Biblical prophecy, first suggested by Ockford, into a detailed scenario. The Sabbath, said Tillam, "...is in these very last days become the last great controversy between the Saints and the Man of Sin, The Changer of Times and Laws".
Tillam was the first to call the Sunday Sabbath the Mark of the Beast, a cry many later Sabbath-keepers would take up. Tillam had one disagreement with Chamberlen on this subject. While Chamberlen felt that Sabbath observance negated all significance of Sunday, Tillam believed that the resurrection could be celebrated on Sunday, so as not to cause divisions between Christians.
Perhaps the strongest agreement of the pair was that their adoption of the Sabbath would aid the conversion of the Jews -- a sure sign that Christ's return was near. As Chamberlen wrote to Tillam, "The Jews of London are very much affected with our keeping the Sabbath.... I perceive it is a great stumbling block to them, ... that Christians violate the Sabbath."
Tillam's book was written as an answer to a pamphlet against Sabbath keeping by William Aspinwall, a leading Fifth Monarchist. Aspinwall systematically dissected the arguments of Ockford and another Sabbath-keeper, John Spittlehouse, in an effort to ridicule both the Sabbath and Sabbath-keepers.
Spittlehouse, spokesman for Chamberlen's congregation, had published his advocacy of the "unchangeable morality" of the Sabbath in mid 1656. Aspinwall's abuse did not quell Sabbath enthusiasm. Almost immediately, Spittlehouse and William Sellers presented a (perhaps naive) petition to the Chief Magistrates, asking that the Sabbath be established in law. The task must have seemed easy, as English law now supported all the arguments in favor of Sabbath-keeping. All they had to do was convince the lawmakers that the supposed Sunday texts of the New Testament did not change the Sabbath to Sunday. Their confident appeal was, to their dismay, unceremoniously rejected.
The Sabbath had now become an issue of controversy among baptists, many of whom now observed it. Jeremiah Ives, a popular baptist controversialist, decided to meet the arguments head on: he challenged Tillam, Chamberlen and one Matthew Coppinger to a public debate on the issue. The three agreed, and for three days in 1658, the Stone Chapel in St. Paul's Cathedral was crowded with eager listeners.
Each side considered itself the winner. Whatever the case, it was soon after that two able preachers added their voices to the defence of the Sabbath: Edward Stennet and John James.
Stennet had been a chaplain for the Parliament during the Civil wars -- and, though not a Fifth Monarchist, he did expect Christ to return in his lifetime. His defence of the Sabbath was published in 1658. In it he argued for the perpetuity of the Ten Commandments, which he dubbed the "Royal Law" (James 2:8).