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CHAPTER II.

Promises to Duties of the Second Table.

I.-To Obedience to Parents.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honour thy father and mother, (which is the first commandment with promise,) that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. Eph. vi. 1-3.

But if any widow have children or nephews [grandchildren], let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God. I Tim. v. 4.

My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy about thy neck.

head, and chains Prov. i. 8, 9.

My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee, when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee, and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee. Prov. vi. 20-22.

Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you; therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel Jonadab shall not want a man to stand before Me for ever. Jer. xxxv. 18, 19.

Good Education.

Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord. Col. iii. 20.

II.-To Good Education.

And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thine house and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. Deut. xi. 19-21.

For I know him [Abraham], that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him. Gen. xviii. 19.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Pr. xxii. 6. To Correcting of Children.-Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Prov. xxii. 15.

Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die: thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Prov. xxiii. 13, 14.

The rod and reproof give wisdom; but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest, yea he shall give delight unto thy soul. Prov. xxix. 15, 17.

III.-To a Good Wife.

A gracious woman retaineth men riches.

honour, and strong Prov. xi. 16.

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband; but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. Prov. xii. 4.

Every wise woman buildeth her house.

Prov. xiv. I.

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Strength and honour are her clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come. Her children arise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. Prov. xxxi. 10, 25, 28, 30, 31.

IV.-To Faithful Servants.

A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren. Prov. xvii. 2.

The king's favour is toward a wise servant.

Prov. xiv. 35.

shall eat the fruit

Whoso keepeth the fig-tree thereof, so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured. Prov. xxvii. 18.

Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice as men-pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; with good-will doing service, as to the Lord and not unto men: knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Eph. vi. 5-8.

Good Rings and Magistrates.

Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. . . . Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For ye serve the Lord Christ. Col. iii. 22, 24.

V.-To Good Kings and Magistrates.

And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel. Deut. xvii. 18-20.

The throne is established by righteousness.

Prov. xvi. 12.

Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is upholden by mercy. Prov. xx. 28.

The king that faithfully judgeth the poor, his throne shall be established for ever. Prov. xxix. 14.

In that day shall the Lord of Hosts be-for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. Isaiah xxviii. 5, 6.

VI.-To Obedient Subjects.

Whoso keepeth the commandment [the king's] shall feel no evil thing; and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment.

Eccles. viii. 5.

Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake; whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. 1 Pet. ii. 13-15.

VII.-To Faithful Ministers.

Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. Luke xii. 42-44.

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Matt. xxviii. 20.

Take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine; continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. 1 Tim. iv. 16.

The elders which are among you I exhort. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof not by constraint but willingly, not for filthy lucre but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And, when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

And they that be wise shall shine as of the firmament; and they that turn eousness as the stars for ever and ever.

I Peter v. 1-3.

the brightness many to rightDan. xii. 3.

These things saith He that holdeth the seven stars

in His right hand.

Rev. ii. I.

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