himself h, fo more folemnly in the public affemblies, which are not carelessly or wilfully to be neglected or forfaken, when God, by his word or providence, calleth thereun-. to i. VII. As it is of the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be fet apart for the worship of God; fo in his word, by a pofitive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men in all ages, he hath particularly Job faid, It may be that my fons have finned, and curfed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually. 2 Sam. vi. 18. And as foon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings, and peace-offerings, he bleffed the people in the name of the Lord of hofts. v. 20. Then David returned to blefs his houfehold. 1 Pet. iii. 7. Likewife, ye hufbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker veffel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. Acts x. 2. A devout man, and one that feared God with all his houfe, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. g Matth. vi. 11. Give us this day our daily bread. h Matth. vi. 6. But thou, when thou prayeft, enter into thy closet, and when thou haft fhut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in fecret, and thy Father which feeth in fecret, fhall reward thee openly. Eph. vi. 18. Praying always with all prayer and fupplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perfeverance, and fupplication for all faints. i If. lvi. 6. Alfo the fons of the franger, that join themselves to the Lord, to ferve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his fervants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and ta v. 7. keth hold of my covenant: Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my houfe of prayer: their burntofferings and their facrifices fhall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine houfe fhall be called an house of prayer for all people. Heb. x. 25. Not forfaking the affembling of ourfelves together, as the manner of fome is; but exhorting, one another: and fo much the more, as ye fee the day approaching. Prov. i. 20. Wisdom crieth without, fhe uttereth her voice in the streets: v. 21. She crieth in the chief place of concourfe, in the openings of the gates in the city fhe uttereth her. words, faying, v. 24. Because I have called, and ye refused, I have ftretched out my hand, and no man regarded. Prov. viii. 34. Bleffed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the pofts of my doors. Acts xiii. 42. And when the Jews were gone out of the fynagogue, the Gentiles befought that thefe words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Luke iv. 16. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought and, as his cuftom was, he into the fynagogue on the Sabbath-day, and food up for to read. Acts ii. 42. And they continued ftedfastly in the apostles doctrine, and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. up: went larly appointed one day in feven for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto him k; which, from the beginning of the world to the refurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week, and, from the refurrection of Chrift, was changed into the first day of the week, which in fcripture is called the Lord's day m, and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Chriftian Sabbath n. VIII. This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs before hand, do not only obferve an holy reft all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments and recreations o, but alfo are taken up the whole time in the pu VII. k Exod. xx. 8. Remember the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy. v. 10. But the feventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy fon, nor thy daughter, thy man-fervant, nor thy maid-fervant, nor thy cattle, nor thy ftranger that is within thy gates. V. II. For in fix days the Lord made heaven and earth, the fea, and all that in them is,and refted the seventh day: wherefore the Lord bleffed theSabbath-day, and hallowed it. If. lvi. 2. Bleffed is the man that doth this, and the fon of man that layeth hold on it : that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. v. 4. For thus faith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and chufe the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant. v. 6. 7. (See in letter i.) / Gen. ii. 2. And on the feventh day, God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the feventh day from all his work which he had made. v. 3. And God blessed the feventh day, and fanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created : blic and made. I Cor. xvi. 1. Now concerning the collection for the faints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even fo do ye. v. 2. Upon the first day of the week, let every one of you lay by him in ftore, as God hath profpered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. Acts xx. 7. And upon the first day of the week, when the difciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his fpeech until midnight. m Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. n Exod. xx. 8. 10. (See letter k.) With Matth. v. 17. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. v. 18. For verily I fay unto you, Till heaven and earth pafs, one jot or one tittle fhall in no wife pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. VIII. Exod. xx. 8. (See letter k.) Exod. xvi. 23. And he faid unto them, This is that which the Lord hath faid, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which ye will bake to day, blic and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of neceffity and mercy p. day, and feethe that ye will feethe; and that which remaineth over, lay ap for you, to be kept until the morning. v. 25. And Mofes faid, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord: to-day ye fhall not find it in the field. v. 26. Six days ye fhall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there fhall be none. v. 29. See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the fixth day the bread of two days: abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the feventh day. v. 30. So the people rested on the feventh day. Exod. xxxi. 15. Six days may work be done, but in the feventh is the Sabbath of reft, holy to the Lord: whofoever doth any work in the Sabbath-day, he fhall furely be put to death. v. 16. Wherefore the children of Ifrael fhall keep the Sabbath, to obferve the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. V. 17. It is a fign between me and the children of Ifrael for ever: for in fix days the Lord made heaven and earth, and en the feventh day he rested, and was refreshed. If. lviii. 13. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and fhalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words. Neh. xiii. 15. In those days faw I in Judah, fome treading wine-preffes on the Sabbath, and bringing in fheaves, and lading affes; as alfo wine, grapes, CHAP. and figs, and all manner of burdens which they brought into Jerufalem on the Sabbath-day; and I teftified against them in the day' wherein they fold victuals. V. 16 There dwelt men of Tyre · also therein, which brought fish, and all manner of ware, and fold on the Sabbath, unto the children of Judah, and in Jerufalem. v. 17. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and faid unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and prophane the Sabbath-day? v. 18. Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Ifrael, by profaning the Sabbath. v. 19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerufalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates fhould be fhut, and charged that they fhould not be opened till after the Sabbath: and fome of my fervants fet I at the gates, that there fhould no burden be brought in on the Sabbath-day. V. 21. Then I teftified against them, and faid unto them, Why lodge ye about the wall? If ye do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath. V. 22. And I commanded the Levites, that they fhould cleanse them.. felves, and that they fhould come and keep the gates, to fanctify the Sabbath-day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. p If. lviii. 13. (See in letter o.) Matth. xii. 1. to the 13th verfe. I. Deut. A CHAP. XXII. Of lariful Oaths and Vows. Lawful oath is a part of religious worship a, wherein upon juft occafion, the perfon fwearing, folemnly cal leth God to witnefs what he afferteth or promifeth, and to judge him according to the truth or falfehood of what he fweareth b. II. The name of God only is that by which men ought to fwear, and therein it is to be ufed with all holy fear and reverence c: therefore to fwear vainly or rafhly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to fwear at all by any other thing, is finful, and to be abhorred d. Yet as, in matters of weight and moment, an oath is warranted by the word of God, under the New Testament, as well as under the Old e; fo a lawful oath being impo I. a Deut. x. 20. Thou fhalt fear the Lord thy God; him fhalt thou ferve, and to him fhalt thou cleave, and fwear by his name. i b Exod. xx. 7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Lev. xix. 12. And ye fhall not fwear by my name falfely, neither fhalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. 2 Cor. i 23. Moreover, I call God for a record upon my foul, that to fpare you, I came not as yet unto Corinth. 2 Chron. vi. 22: If a man fin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, to make him fwear, and the oath come before thine altar in this houfe: v. 23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy fervants, by requiting the wicked, by recompenfing his way upon his own head, and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteoufnefs. II. c Deut. vi. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and ferve him, and fhalt fwear by his name. fed d Exod. xx. 7. (See letter b.) Jer. v. 7. How fhall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forfaken me and fworn by them that are no gods: when I fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and affembled themselves by troops in the harlots houfes. Matth. v. 34But I fay unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne. V. 37. But let your communication' be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay for whatfoever is more than thefe, cometh of evil. Jam. v. 12. But above all things, my brethren, fwear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea, be yea, and your nay, nay; left ye fall into condemnation. e Heb. vi. 16. For men verily fwear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all ftrife. 2 Cor. i. 23. (See letter b.) If. lxv. 16. That he who bleffeth himself in the earth, shall blefs himself in the God of truth, and he that fweareth in the earth, fhall fwear by the God of truth because fed by lawful authority, in fuch matters, ought to be taken f. III. Whofoever taketh an oath, ought duly to confider the weightinefs of fo folemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he is fully perfuaded is the truth g. Neither may any man bind himfelf by oath to any thing but what is good and juft, and what he believeth fo to be, and what he is able and refolved to perform b. Yet it is a fin to refufe an oath touching any thing that is good and juft, being impofed by lawful authority i. because the former troubles are forgotten, and becuase they are hid from mine eyes. f1 Kings viii. 13. If any man trefpafs against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to fwear, and the oath come before thine altar in this houfe. Neh. xiii. 25. And I contended with them, and curfed them, and smote certain of them, and pluckt off their hair, and made them fwear by God, faying, Ye fhall not give your daughters unto their fons, nor take their daughters unto your fons, or for yourfelves. Ezra x. 5. Then arofe Ezra, and made the chief priefts, the Levites, and all Ifrael to fwear, that they should do according to this word: and they sware. III. g Exod. xx. 7. (See letter b.) Jer. iv. 2. And thou shalt fwear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judg. ment, and in righteoufnefs; and the nations fhall blifs themfelves in him, and in him fhall they glory. h Gen. xxiv. 2. And Abraham faid unto his eldest fervant of his houfe, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: v. 3. And I will make thee fwear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a IV. An wife unto my fon of the daughters of the Canaanites, amongst whom I dwell. v. 5. And the fervant faid unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: muít I needs bring thy fon again unto the land from whence thou cameft? v. 6. And Abraham faid unto him, Beware thou, that thou bring not my fon thither again. v. 8. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou fhall be clear from this my oath: only bring not my fon thither again. v. 9. and the fervant put his hand under the thigh of A braham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter. i Numb. v. 19. And the priest fhall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lien with thee, and if thou haft not gone afide to uncleannefs with another inftead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that caufeth the curfe. v. 21. Then the prieft fhall charge the woman with an oath of curfing, and the pricft fhall fay unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curfe and an oath among the people, when the Lord doth make they thigh to rot, and thy belly to fwell., Neh. v. 12. Then faid they, We will restore them, |