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3. Prayer with thanksgiving, being one special part of natural worship, is by God required of all men. But that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the 2 name of the Son, by the help 3 of the Spirit, according to his will; with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance; and when with others, in a 5 known tongue.

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4. Prayer is to be made for things lawful, and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter; but not for the dead, nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.

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5. The reading of the Scriptures, preaching, and 10 hearing the word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing with grace in our hearts to 11 the Lord; as also the administration 12 of baptism, and 13 the Lord's Supper, are all parts of religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover, solemn humiliation,14 with fastings, and thanksgivings, upon 15 special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious

manner.

6. Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the gospel, tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is 16 performed, or towards which it is directed; but God is to be worshipped everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in 17 private families 18 daily, and 19 in secret, each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly, nor wilfully to be 20 neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calleth thereunto.

7. As it is of the law of nature, that in general a proportion of time, by God's appointment, be set apart for the worship of God, so

1 Psalm xcv. 1–71, xv. 2.

2 John xiv. 13, 14.

3 Rom. viii. 26.

4 1 John v. 14.

51 Cor. xiv. 16, 17.

6 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2; Sam. vii. 29.

7 2 Sam. xii. 21–23.

81 John v. 16.

91 Tim iv. 13.

10 2 Tim. iv. 2; Luke viii. 18.

11 Col. iii. 16; Eph. v. 19.

12 Matt. xxviii. 19, 20.

13 1 Cor. xi. 26.

14 Esther iv. 16; Joel ii. 12.

15 Ex. xv. 1, etc.; Psalm cvii.

16 John iv. 21; Mal. i. 11; 1 Tim. ii. 8.

17 Acts x. 2.

18 Matt. vi. 11; Psalm lv. 17.

19 Matt. vi. 6.

20 Heb. x. 25; Acts ii. 42.

by his word, in a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, he hath particularly appointed one day in seven for a 1 Sabbath to be kept holy unto him, which from the beginning of the world, to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ was changed into the first day of the week,2 which is called the Lord's day; and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath; the observation of the last day of the week being abolished.

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8. The Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparation of their hearts, and ordering their common affairs aforehand, do not only observe an holy 3 rest all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employment and recreations, but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of his worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.

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CHAPTER XXIII.

OF LAWFUL OATHS AND vows.

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1. A lawful oath is a part of religious worship wherein the person swearing in truth, righteousness, and judgment, solemnly calleth God to witness what he sweareth, and to judge him according to the truth or falseness thereof.

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2. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence; therefore to swear vainly or rashly by that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful and to be abhorred; yet as in matter of weight and moment, for confirmation of truth,8 and ending all strife, an oath is warranted by the word of God; so a lawful oath being imposed, by lawful authority, in such matters ought to be taken.

1 Exodus xx. 8.

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2 1 Corinthians xvi. 1, 2; Acts xx. 7;

Rev. i. 10.

3 Isa. lviii. 13; Neh. xiii. 15-23.

4 Matt. xii. 1–13.

5 Exodus xx. 7; Deut. x. 20; Jer. iv. 2.

6 2 Chron. vi 22, 23.

7 Matt. v. 34-37; James v. 12.

8 Heb. vi. 16; Cor. i. 23.

9 Neh. xiii. 25.

3. Whosoever taketh an oath, warranted by the word of God, ought duly to consider the weightiness of so solemn an act, and therein to avouch nothing but what he knoweth to be truth; for that by rash, false, and vain oaths, the 1 Lord is provoked, and for them this land mourns.

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4. An oath is to be taken in the plain and 2 common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation.

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5. A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone,3 is to be made and performed with all religious care and faithfulness; but popish monastical vows, of perpetual single life, professed 5 poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious, and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself.

CHAPTER XXIV.

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OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATE.

1. God, the supreme Lord, and king of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under him over the people, for his own glory, and the public good; and to this end hath armed them with the power of the sword, for defence and encouragement of them that do good, and for the punishment of evil-doers.

2. It is lawful for Christians to accept and execute the office of a magistrate, when called thereunto; in the management whereof, as they ought especially to maintain 8 justice, and peace, according to the wholesome laws of each kingdom and commonwealth; so for that end they may lawfully now under the New Testament 9 wage war upon just and necessary occasions.

3. Civil magistrates being set up by God, for the ends aforesaid, subjection in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath 10 but for conscience'

sake; and we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings, and all that are in authority,1 that under them we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.

CHAPTER XXV.

OF MARRIAGE.

1. Marriage is to be between one man and one woman; 2 neither is it lawful for any man to have more than one wife, nor for any woman to have more than one husband at the same time.

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2. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help3 of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with a legitimate issue, and for 5 preventing of uncleanness.

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3. It is lawful for 6 all sorts of people to marry, who are able with judgment to give their consent; yet it is the duty of Christians to marry [only] in the Lord; and therefore such as profess the true religion should not marry with infidels, or idolaters; neither should such as are godly be unequally yoked, by marrying with such as are wicked in their life, or maintain damnable heresy.

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4. Marriage ought not to be within the degrees of consanguinity 9 or affinity forbidden in the word; nor can such incestuous marriage ever be made lawful, by any law of man or consent of parties 10 so as those persons may live together as man and wife.

CHAPTER XXVI.

OF THE CHURCH.

1. The catholic or universal church, which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisi

1 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2.

2 Gen. ii. 24; Mal. ii. 15; Matt. xix. 5, 6.

3 Gen. ii. 18.

4 Gen. i. 28.

5 1 Cor. vii. 2, 9.

6 Heb. xiii. 4; 1 Tim. iv. 3.

7 1 Cor. vii. 39.

8 Neh. xiii. 25-27.

9 Lev. xviii.

10 Matt. vi. 18; 1 Cor. v. 1.

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ble, consists of the whole 1 number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

2. All persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation,2 are and may be called visible saints;3 and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.

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3. The purest churches under heaven are subject to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become 5 no churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan; nevertheless Christ always hath had, and ever shall have, a kingdom in this world, to the end thereof, of such as believe in him, and make professions of his name. 4. The Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is 8 [no other] than Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

5. In the execution of this power wherewith he is so entrusted, the Lord Jesus calleth out of the world unto himself, through the ministry of his word, by his Spirit,9 those that are given unto him by his Father, that they may walk before him in all the 10 ways of obedience, which he prescribeth to them in his word. Those thus called, he commandeth to walk together in particular societies, or 11 churches, for their mutual edification, and the due performance of that public worship which he requireth of them in the world.

1 Heb. xii. 23; Col. i. 18; Eph. i. 20, 22, 23, v. 23, 27, 32.

2 1 Cor. i. 2; Acts xi. 26.

3 Rom. i. 7; Eph. i. 20–22.

4 1 Cor. xv.; Rev. ii., iii.

5 Revelation xviii. 2; 2 Thessalonians

ii. 11, 12.

6 Matt. xvi. 18; Psalm lxxii. 17, cii. 28; Rev. xii. 17.

7 Col. i. 18; Matt. xxviii. 18-20; Eph. iv. 21, 22.

8 2 Thess. ii. 2-9.

9 John x. 16, xii. 32.

10 Matt. xxviii. 20.

11 Matt. xviii. 15–20.