It is not surprising that, given the opportunity, Laud's opponents reasserted this doctrine and provided for strict Sabbatarian discipline. Yet their rebuttal of anti-sabbatarian propaganda and firm measures in support of the Sabbath did not meet with resounding success; for the abuses they found in 1641 were still a source of concern in 1662.

This was not for want of effort. Although no Sabbatarian books had been legally published since 1633, no less than nine works appeared in 1641. All seem to have been written prior to 1640 and stress a common theme: the orthodoxy of the scholastic interpretation and the importance of strict Sabbatarian discipline. Many other works were to follow, most notably the massive work of Daniel Cawdrey and Herbert Palmer, both members of the Westminster Assembly. These theological labours were not directed simply at proving the biblical basis for Sabbatarian doctrine and discipline, but also defended the place of this teaching in English Church tradition. Their assertions that recreations traditionally had been prohibited were exaggerated at best and often wrong. However, given the polarization of attitudes in the 1630s, it is little wonder tha Sabbatarians resorted to such claims, asserting what had been attempted, but never accomplished in the Jacobean Church.

With power now in their hands, Laud's opponents lost little time in establishing strict Sabbatarian discipline. On September 1641, the Commons resolved that, ‘the Lord's day should be duly observed and sanctified; that all dancing, or other sports either before or after divine service be forborne and restrained; and that the preaching [of] God's word be promoted in the afternoon'.