d Col.

c Matt. 4 10; John, 5: 23, and 2 Cor. 13: 14. 2: 18; Rev. 19: 10; Rom. 1: 25. e John, 14: 6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Eph. 2: 18; Col. 3: 17.

III.

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 name of the Son," by the help of the Spirit, according to his will, with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance:1 and when with others in a known tongue.m

f Phil. 46. g Psal. 65: 2. h John, 14: 13, 14; 1 Pet. 2: 5. i Rom. 8: 26. k 1 John, 5: 14. 1 Psal. 47: 7; Eccl. 5: 1, 2; Heb. 12: 28; Gen. 18: 27; James, 5: 10; Mark, 11 24; Matt. 6: 12, 14, 15; Col. 4: 2; Eph. 6: 18. m 1 Cor. 14: 14.

IV.

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.

་

n 1 John, 5: 14. 01 Tim. 2: 1, 2; John. 17: 20 ; 2 Sam. 7:29; Ruth, 4: 12. p 2 Sam. 12:21, 22, 23, with Luke, 16: 25, 26; Rev. 14:13. q1 John, 5: 16.

V.

The reading of the Scriptures, and hearing the word of God,

u

preaching,s singing of

Psalms, as also the administration of Bap

W

tism and the Lord's Supper, are all parts of re ligious worship of God, to be performed in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; solemn humiliations, with fastings, and thanksgiving upon special occasions, are in their several times and seasons to be used in an holy and religious manner.z

r Acts, 15 21 ; Rev. 1: 3. s 2 Tim. 4: 2. t Jam. 1: 21, 22; Acts, 10:33; Matt. 13: 19; Heb. 4: 2; Isaiah, 66 2. u Col. 3 : 16; Eph. 5 : 19; Jarnes, 5: 13. w Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 11: 23 to 29; Acts, 2:41, 42. x Joel, 2 : 12; Esther, 4; 16; Mark, 9:29; 1 Cor. 7: 5. y Psal. 107, per tot.; Esther, 9: 22. z Heb. 12 28.

b

VI.

Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now under the Gospel either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed. But God is to be worshipped every where, in spirit and in truth, as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly nor wilfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God by his word or providence calleth thereunto.o

a John, 4:21. b Mal. 1: : 11; 1 Tim. 2: 8. c John, 4: 23, 24. d Jer. 10: 25; Deut. 6:6, 7; Job, 1:5; 2 Sam. 6: 18, 20; 1 Pet. 3: 7; Acts, 10: 2. e Matt. 6:11. f Matt. 6:6; Eph. 6 18. g Isa. 56: 6,7; Heb. 10: 25; Prov. 1: 20, 21, 24, and 8: 34; Acts, 13: 42; Luke, 4: 16 Acts, 2:42.

VII.

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 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 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, which in Scripture 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.m

k

h Exod. 20 8 to 11; Isa. 56: 2 to 7. i Gen. 2:2, 3 1 Cor. 6: 1, 2; Acts, 20: 7. k Rev. 1: 10. 1 Exod. 20: 8, 10, with Matt. 5: 17, 18. m Col. 2:16, 17; Heb. 4:9,

10.

VIII.

This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts and ordering their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest all the day from their own works, words, and thoughts, about their worldly employments 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."

58

n Exod. 20: 8, and 16: 23 to 30, and 13: 12 to 18; Isa. 13; Neh. 13: 15 to 23. o Isa. 58: 13; Matt. 12: 1

to 14.

CHAP. XXIII.

OF LAWFUL OATHS AND VOWS.

a

I.

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 asserteth, or promiseth, and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth.

a Deut. 10:20. b Jer. 4: 2; Exod. 20:7; Lev. 19; 12; 2 Cor. 1:23; 2 Chron. 6: 22, 23.

II.

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 matters of weight and moment an oath is warranted by the word of God under the New Testament as well as under the Old, so a lawful

oath being imposed by lawful authority in such matters ought to be taken.f

c Deut. 6 13. d Exod. 20: 7; Jer. 5:7; Matt. 5: 34, 35, 36; James 5: 12. e Heb. 6: 16; 2 Cor. 1: 23; Isa. 65: 16. f 1 Kings, 8: 31; Neh. 13: 25; Ezra, 10: 5.

III.

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 is fully persuaded is the truth: neither may any man bind himself by an oath to any thing but what is good and just, and what he believeth so to be, and what he is able and resolved to perform : yet it is a sin to refuse an oath touching any thing that is good and just being lawfully imposed by authority.'

g Exod. 20: 7; Jer. 4: 2. h Gen. 24: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9. i Num. 5: 19, 21; Neh. 5: 12; Exod. 22: 11.

IV.

An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of words, without equivocation or mental reservation. It cannot oblige to sin; but in any thing not sinful being taken, it binds to performance, although to a man's own hurt;1 nor is it to be violated, although made to heretics or infidels.m

k Jer. 4: 2; Psal. 24: 4. Psal. 15: 4. m Ezek. 17: 16, with 2 Sam. 21: 1.

11 Sam. 25: 22, 31, 33, 34; 18, 19; Josh. 9: 18, 19,