ter of Exodus. The four first commandments containing our duty to God, and the other fix our duty to man n. Q. 99. What rules are to be observed for the right underStanding of the ten commandments ? A. For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be observed; 1. That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full conformity in the whole man unto the righteoufness there. of, and unto entire obedience for exer; fo as to require the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every fin o, will write upon thefe tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest. v. 2. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me, in the top of the mount, v. 3. And no man fhall come up with thee, c. v. 4. And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the firft; and Mofes rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two ftables of ftone. n Matth. xxii. 37. Jefus faid unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind. v. 38. This is the first and great commandment. v. 39. And the fecond is like unto it, Thou fhalt love thy neighbour as thyfelf. V. 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 99. Pfal. xix. 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the foul: the teftimony of the Lord is fure, making wife the fimple. James ii. 10. For whofoever fhall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Matth. v. 21. to the end. v. 21. Ye have heard, that it was faid by them of 2. That old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whofoever fhall kill, fhall be in danger of the judgment. v. 22. But I fay unto you, That whofoever is angry with his brother without a caufe, fhall be in danger of the judgment: and whofoever fhall fay to his brother, Raca, fhall be in danger of the council: but whofoever fhall fay, Thou fool, fhall be in danger of hell-fire.-v. 27. Ye have heard that it was faid by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery. v. 28. But I fay unto you, That whofoever looketh on a woman to luft after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. v. 33. Again, ye have heard that it hath been faid by them of old time, Thou shalt not forfwear thyfelf, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But 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 whatsoever is more than thefe, cometh of evil. v. 38. Ye have heard that it hath been faid, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. v. 39. But I fay unto you, that ye refift not evil. v. 43. Ye have heard that it hath been faid, Thou shalt love they neighbour, and hate thine enemy. v. 44. But I fay v. 34. unto 2. That it is fpiritual, and fo reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other powers of the foul; as well as words, works, and gestures p 3. That one and the fame thing, in diverse respects, is required or forbidden in several commandments 9. 4. That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary fin is forbidden r; and, where a fin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded : fo, where a promise is annexed, unto you, Love your enemies, blefs them that curfe you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which defpitefully use you,and perfecute you, &c. Rom. vii. 14. For we know that the law is fpiritual: but I am carnal, fold under fin. Deut. vi. 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy might. Compared with Matth. xxii. 37. Jefus faid unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind. v. 38. This is the first and great commandment. v. 39. And the fecond is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. q Col. ii. 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleannefs, inordinate affection, evil concupifcence, and covetoufness, which is idolatry. Amos viii. 5. Saying, When will the new-moon be gone, that we may fell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah fmall, and the fhekel great, and falfifying the ba. lances by deceit? Prov. i. 19. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain: which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. 1 Tim. vi. 10. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while fome coveted after, they have 7 erred from the faith, and pierced themfelves through with many forrow. 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 pleafure, not fpeaking thine own words. Deut. vi. 13. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and fhalt fwear by his name. Compared with Matth. iv. 9. And faith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. v. 10. Then faith Jefus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only fhalt thou ferve. Matth. xv. 4. For God commanded, faying, honour thy father and mother: and, He that curfeth father or mother, let him die the death. v. 5. But ye fay, Whofoever fhall fay to his father or his mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me. v. 6. And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Matth. v. 21, 22. (See letter o) v. 23. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remem breft 7 annexed, the contrary threatning is included t; and, where a threatning is annexed, the contrary promise is included v. w; 5. That what God forbids, is at no time to be done. what he commands, is always our duty and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times y. 6. That under one fin or duty, all of the fame kind breft that thy brother hath ought against thee; v. 24. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Eph. iv. 28. Let him that ftole, fteal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. are putteth not out his money to ufury, nor taketh reward against the inno cent. He that doth these things, fhall never be moved. And with Pfal. xxiv. 4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his foul unto vanity, nor fworn deceitfully. v. 5. He fhall receive the bleffing from the Lord, and righteoufnefs from the God of this favation. t Exod. xx. 12. Honour thy faro ther and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Compared with Prov. xxx. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and defpifeth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley fhall pick it out, and young eagels fhall eat it. Jer. xviii. 7. At what inftant I fhall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to deftroy it: v. 8. If that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will :repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. Exod. xx. 7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltlefs that taketh his name in vain. Compared with Pfal. xv. 1. Lord, who fhall abide in thy tabernacle? who fhall dwell in thy holy hill? v. 4. In whofe eyes a vile perfon is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord: he that fweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. v. 5. He that w Job xiii. 7 Will you speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him? v. 8. Will ye accept his perfon? Will ye contend for God? Rom. iii. 8. And not rather, (as we be flanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say) Let us do evil, that good m come? whofe damnation is j Job xxxvi. 21. Take heed, re not iniquity for this haft chofen rather than affliction. I xi. 25. Chufing rather to fuffe fliction with the people of God, 1 to enjoy the pleasures of fin f feafon. x Deut. iv. 8. And what na is there fo great, that hath stat and judgments fo righteous, a this law which I fet before this day? v. 9. Only take hee thyfelf, and keep thy foul diliger left thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and left they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy fons, and thy fons fons. y Matth. xii. 7. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have are for bidden or commanded together with all the causes, means, occafions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereuntoz. 7. That what is forbidden or command to ourselves, we are bound, according to our places, to endeavour that it may be avoided or performed by others, according to the duty of their places a. are 8 That, in what is commanded to others, we bound, according to our places and callings, to be help have mercy and not facrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltlefs Matth. v. 21, 22. 27, 28. (See in letter before). Matth. xv. 4. For God commanded, faying, Honour thy father and mother and, He that curfeth father or mother, let him die the death. v. 5. But ye fay, Whosoever fhall fay to his father or his mother, it is a gift by whatfover thou mighteft be profit ed by me. v. 6. And honour not his father or his mother, he fhall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Heb. x. 24. And let us confider one other, to provoke unto love and to good works: V. 25. Not forfaking the affembling of ourselves together, as the manner of fome is; but exhorting one another and fo much the more, as ye fee the day approaching. 1 Thess. v. 22. Abftain from all appearance of evil. Jude 23. And others faye with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment fpotted by the flesh. Gal. v. 26. Let us not be defirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Col iii 21. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, left they be difcouraged. a Exod. xx. 10. But the feventh Hh ful 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. Lev. xix. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou fhalt in any wife rebuke they neighbour, and not fuffer fin upon him. Gen. xviii. 19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they fhall keep the way of the Lord, to do juftice and judgment: that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. Jofh. xxiv. 15. And if it feem evil unto you to ferve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will ferve, whether the gods which your fathers ferved, that were on the other fide of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whofe land ye dwell: but as for me and my houfe, we will ferve the Lord. Deut. vi. 6. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart. v. 7. And thoù shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and fhalt talk of them when thou, fitteft in thine houfe, and when thou walkeft by the way, and when thou lieft down,and when thou rifeft, up. 2 Cor. ful to them b; and to take heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them c. Q100. What special thing are we to confider in the ten commandments? A. We are to confider in the ten commandments, the preface, the fubftance of the commandments themselves, and feveral reasons annexed to fome of them the more to enforce them. Q. 101. What is the preface to the ten commandment? A. The preface to the ten commandments is contained. in these words, I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage d. Wherein God manifefteth his fovereignty, as being JEHOVAH, the eternal, immutable, and almighty God e; having his being in and of himself f, and giving being to all his words g, and works h: and that he is a God in covenant, as with Ifrael of old, fo with all his people i; who, as he brought them out of their bondage in Egypt, fo he delivereth us from our fpiritual thraldom k; and b2 Cor. i. 24. Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye ftand. that mighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them. b Acts xviii. 24. God that made the world, and all things therein, c 1 Tim. v. 22. Lay hands fud- feeing that he is Lord of heaven dently on no man, neither be par- and earth, dwelleth not in temples taker of other mens fins: keep thy-made with hands. v. 28. For in him felf pure. Epeh. v. 11. And have we live, and move and have our no fellowship with the unfruitful being; as certain also of your own works of darkness, but rather re- poets have faid, For we are also his them. prove offspring. e 101. d Exod. xx. 2. è If. xliv. 6. Thus faith the Lord the King of Ifrael, and his redeemer the Lord of hofts. I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. fExod iii. 14. And God faid unto Mofes, I AM THAT I AM: and he faid, Thus fhalt thou fay unto the children of Ifrael, I AM hath fent me unto you. g Exod. vi. 3. And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Ifaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Al i Gen. xvii. 7. And I will eftablifh my covenant between me and thee, and thy feed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant; to be a God unto thee, and to thy feed after thee. Compared with Rom. iii, 29. Is he the God of the Jews only is he not alfo of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles alfo. k Luke i. 74: That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might ferve him without fear, V. 75 |