to their proper only object Thou shalt believe in me and put thy trust in me and love me and love those that doe love me and hate those that hate me and what I hate with a perfect hatred Sin thou shalt rejoyce in my favour and delight thy self in me nor shalt thou take any occasion of sadness but from my displeasure and let fall thy countenance when I hide mine thou shalt meekly submit to my disposals and burn with zeal for my glory thy soul shall cleave fast unto me and thou shalt serve me faithfully all the dayes of thy life Thou shalt behave thy self alwayes as in my presence and shalt have respect to me and be afraid of doing any thing that may offend me in the deepest retirements of thy most private thoughts for all things lye open and naked before me BEFORE ME. This is added to shew God's Omnipresence as a grievous aggravation of the sin that the setting up another God though never so secretly though never so much out of the sight of men will be a down right affront to the searcher of hearts to God who sees in secret and that he will not indure the competition of any rival for he alone is the God that made Heaven and Earth and whatsoever else fond superstition has found out for the object of worship is either the work of his hands or the work of mens hands This circumstance may justly affright us into a great circumspection and wariness for the ordering our thoughts and composing our desires of setling our spirits and governing the inward man since God's all piercing eye is upon us he understands even our thoughts afar of Some Interpreters render it Beside me And this though it be not so Emphatical as the other particle yet it more plainly infers the affirmative part of the precept i.e. Thou shalt have no other Gods but thou shalt have me for thy God The Hebrew affords a pretty note from the Syntax the Verb being of a different number from the Noun that Singular and this Plural as if it would be a solecism and irregular construction to own more Gods then one since there can be but one Infinite one first cause one supream and if we should fancie a Pluralitie of Gods in a coordination the one would bound and hinder and countermand the other and if we fancie them in a subordination 't is only the highest is God the rest are no Gods There are indeed as the Apostle sayes Gods many and Lords many i.e. such as are called Gods titular Gods yet we have but one God the Father of whom are all things and we in him and one Lord Iesus Christ through whom are all things and we through him for as he said immediately before We know that an Idoll is nothing in the world and that there is no God but one If now we would but search into our selves and make inquiry into our hearts how little I fear should we find of God there How full should we see our selves of superstition prophaneness Having plac'd worse things in God's stead then any of his own creatures which was the folly of Heathenism setting up self in the Throne serving divers lusts and pleasures preferring every vanity before him making our Belly our interest our sport our sin our God Setting not his fear before our eyes nor living at all to his glory and in short being by profession indeed Christians but in conversation Atheists who know that there is a God yet glorifie him not as God so that we may justly make use here of the Churches Prayer Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The second Commandement The first prescribes the object of our worship and forbids a false God This regulates the manner and way of worship and prohibits a false service of the true God And herein the confidence of the Roman-Church is to be admir'd which to defend its Idolatry fears not to commit sacriledge and casheirs this Commandement from being one of the ten thinking they make good amends by as absurdly parting the Tenth as they have audaciously remov'd this And what they say for themselves that they doe not worship the Image it self but God at or by or through the Image and that the service is transient to the Idoll and terminated upon God is no more then an ingenuous Idolater of Heathen Rome would have said seeing no man of understanding could be so blockish as to pay the civility of his devotions to a log of wood or to an Artist's phantasm and caress a dead thing but they surely meant their Adoration to the Deity represented and understood by that gross resemblance Possibly the vulgar sort lookt no farther then the Idoll it self which may I suppose without breach of Charity be thought of a great part of the Laity amongst these Christian Idolaters whose Ignorance is the mother of their Devotion who if they knew God better according to the first Commandement would not worship Images contrary to the second This Commandement hath two parts an Explication and a Reason The explication first of the object what is meant by Idoll set down in two terms Graven Image or any likeness amplified by Induction or a particular enumeration of things in Heaven above in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth which are the three great parts of the Univers wherein all things are contained by this means leaving no evasion for Idolatry no thing no place unnam'd that might be abus'd to such a purpose Secondly of the Act what the making to ones self means and that in two terms too Bowing down to them or Adoration and worship or service For so the word in the original expresses it forbidding the Dulia the lower worship as well as the Latria the higher and voiding that idle distinction of two sorts of religious worship The Reason is fetch'd from the nature of God represented here by four attributes His power for he is a strong God so the Hebrew word El signifies and so the Septuagint render it His jealousie He is a jealous God His Iustice demonstrated in his vengeance upon sinners And his mercy that he deals kindly with the righteous where he aggravates the guilt of the one and heightens the respect of the other by the title he gives them Those he stiles his enemyes and haters i.e. those which transgress his Laws especially this These his friends and lovers to wit that keep his Commandements And he is just and merciful not only to them but to their posterity after them also yet with this difference that his vengeance stops at the third or fourth generation but his kindness propagates it self to thousands THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE This do's not then simply forbid making Images or pictures nor condemn the Art of the graving toole and the Pencil as if carving and painting were sinfull employments Statues and Pictures may be had for
Mercyes to them and theirs after them who have a respect for me and a care to keep my commands Now if we would take notice how full the world is of Idolatry when neer three parts of four in the whole habitable world are Mahumetans and Pagans and the greatest part of Christianity is ingag'd in Image-worship what cause have we to fear the severest judgements of a jealous God How guilty has this Land of late been of the basest Idolatry in the blasphemous addresses to usurping powers and imputing the villanous artifices of wicked men to the holy Spirit of God How have schisms like armyes of locusts over-spred and eat up the Churches of God in these Nations every one severally inventing falâ—â— wayes of worship and setting up thâ—â— abomination of desolation How has Idolatry and Antichristian doctrine prevail'd amongst us and been eagerly assisted by a seeming opposition How many Corahs Dathans and Abirams have been own'd follow'd by giddy multitudes that have offer'd strange fire and maintain'd rebellion against the sacred orders and institutions of the Church What credit hath Sorcery and Astrology of late years gotten that many have forsaken their own prudence and God's providence too and given themselves up to a lying spirit How is Self and Sin made the great Idol of all our devotions and how do we every day provoke God to jealousy with our lusts Sure then we have great reason to pray in the Churches words Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law As the second gives order for the carriage of our Body so the third sets down a rule for the chief part of the body the Tongue That prescribes postures This regulates our speech That takes care for Gods Worship This for his Name It likewise consists of two parts the Precept it self and the Reason of the precept THOU SHALT NOT TAKE to wit into thy mouth thou shalt not mention make use of God's name in thy ordinary discourse And more particularly thou shalt not swear as the three Eastern Interpretations have it exactly to the Hebrew phrase for to lift up God's Name signifies to swear and so in the 24. Psalm He that hath not lift up his soul to vanity is expounded by the words immediately following That has not sworn deceitfully THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD. God's Name is here put not only for those appellations whereby he is distinguish'd but for the divine Attributes also for his Word and his Works and all other discoveries which he makes of his Essence power wisdom goodness as has been said before in the first Petition of the Lord's Prayer IN VAIN Idly to no purpose rashly upon every slight or silly occasion in common talk or in any frivolous matter without due reverence and heedfulness or falsly in the defence and justification of a lye and thus the word in its latitude includes the three qualifications of an Oath that it be made in judgement in justice and in truth The reason follows FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS THAT TAKETH HIS NAME IN VAIN i.e. He will not clear and acquit him and let him scape unpunish'd that shall dare to call the all-knowing God to witness a lye Two Observes that word Iehovah or Lord helps us to as having a double Emphasis One is that however a false or a vain swearer may pass as to the notice and penalty of humane Lawes God will find out the offender and punish him Another is that it is said here only the Lord whereas before 't was said the Lord thy God to shew that perjury and rash oaths are sins of that nature that God will not only punish his own people for but even the Heathens and Infidels whose Lord indeed he is but he is not their God And Heathen story is full of such examples wherein the breach of oath has been constantly followed with remarkable vengeance And that is intimated in that negative threat which signifies more then it speaks out He will not hold him guiltless meaning that he will most certainly punish The sense of the Command then is this Thou shalt not use my Name upon a design of cheat and to cover a lye thou shalt not forswear thy self by calling me to witness a known falshood and thus call some heavy vengeance upon thine own head But thou shalt when thou art call'd by the Magistrate thereunto bear faithfull witness to the truth which thou knowst and shalt make good thy promises Thou shalt not blaspheme my Name by rash and needless oaths nor upon every mean paultry occasion make mention of it but shew a reverence and a regard to it and take it into thy mouth with solemn care and weighty consideration When necessity so requires and Authority commands for the decision of strife and to put an end to controversie thou shalt swear by me and by me alone who onely know the secrets of hearts and am able to avenge the falshood Thou shalt have an awfull respect for every thing that belongs to me thou shalt peruse my word with diligence and attention reading and hearing and meditating in it day and night It shall never depart out of thy mouth Thou shalt honour my Ministers the Preachers of my Word the dispensâ—rs of my holy Ordinances Thou shalt magnifie and praise my Name in the remembrance of all my wondrous works Thou shalt take notice of my Iudgements and my mercyes and in all events speak well of my Name and whatsoever falls out in the affairs and interests of the world to say still the Name of the Lord be praised And to conclude Thou shalt walk in my fear in thy distress call upon my Name be frequent in Prayer and in praise lift up thy heart and thy voice to me who hear in Heaven and so order thy conversation that thou mayst not cause my Name to be evill spoken of but shalt live suitably to thy holy profession that all that see thy good works may glorifie me and by thy example may be taught to love and fear my Name Let us but take a view of our selves and see whether we are such as the Lord will hold guiltless Have not we taken the Lord's Name in vain when generally it has been used as a stale to base interest and a cloak for hypocrisie and tyranny when our Pulpits have prefix'd the Name of the Lord to the blackest designs and those who would be thought strictest in prosessing the Name of the Lord have set on foot rebellion under the title of the Cause of God when there has been such breaking of Oaths and making of Covenants against the Laws of God and man In so much that for our swearing backward and forward as the villany of these late times has taught men to doe we may justly be term'd the perjur'd Nation when our orthodox teachers have been thrown into corners with indigence and contempt that the basest of the
people might fill their hands and become Priests to a Tyrant's interest when prosperous villany has been bless'd in the Name of the Lord and suffering Innocence has been impleaded as guilty when swearing is in so much credit is look'd on as the Character of Greatness and rash oaths have the reputation of Gallantry when we that have the Name of God call'd upon us live unworthy of that calling make his Name be evill spoken of O! let us pray as the Church has taught us Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The fourth Commandement The third was the rule of our words the fourth of our works and that which is consequent to them rest That teaches us holy talk This instructs us in holy walking for so our Church-Catechism has resolv'd the sense of this Command to serve God faithfully all the dayes of our life so that 't is not the seaventh day onely but all seaven that we are to serve God in He that would serve God well on the Sabbath in a holy rest must first serve him in his week's labour and doing the work of the six dayes well The second and third concern the Manner of his worship This more especially the Time It hath also as the other two had two parts the Precept and the Reason of the precept The precept is attended with a large explication what is meant by Sabbath and what meant by Keeping it Holy First we may take notice of the extraordinary manner wherein it is deliver'd 't is usher'd in with a Memento Then what is to be remember'd the Sabbath and the Sanctification of it Then follows the explication What is the Sabbath by Opposition first to our dayes of work the other dayes of the week six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all thy work which indeed is precept too as well as concession no less a Command to oblige us to diligence in our calling then a Grant to give us leave to follow it And the injunction is twofold that we labour take pains in our imployment set our selves a work and that we finish and make an end of our business and doe all that we have to doe Then secondly by Position which punctually sets down the day But the seaventh day is the Sabbath What is it next to Sanctify the Sabbath or keep it holy To doe no work on that day nothing of our ordinary imployment wherein the strictness of the Command appears that all of the family as well as the Master all of the city as well as the Magistrate are concern'd being set down here by name Thou master and mistress or magistrate or whatever governour and thy natural dependencies thy son and thy daughter and thy acquired relations whether by Covenant or hire thy manâ—servant and thy maid servant or by purchase and possession thy cattle or by sojourning the stranger that is within thy gates The reason is taken from God's own example whereof we have first the Narration how he made all things in six dayes and rested the seaventh and then the Design of his so doing that he might appoint the Sabbath wherefore he blessed the Sabbath-day or as the Septuagint have it the seaventh day and hallowed it REMEMBER We are too apt all over to forget our duty wordlings especially in the pursuit of their earthly concernments would scarce make a stop at the Sabbath and therefore this Command summons them with a particular Alarum a word of much weight in the Hebrew Idiom where the Verb should be twice repeated Remember to remember i.e. be sure by all means to remember and denotes the former old custom of keeping the Sabbath even from the beginning of the world and therefore presents it here as an ancient institution to be remembred And it quickens our care not only for the observation of the day when it comes but for our preparation for it before it comes we must think of it all the week afore hand and provide for it that nothing may divert us from the celebration of it THE SABBATH-DAY A day of rest and leisure from the works of our ordinary calling that ceasing thus from our earthly affairs we may have opportunity to meditate on heavenly things and lift up our souls from the cares of this life to the contemplation of those joyes gloryes which those that serve God shall have in the world to come where there shall be an everlasting Sabbath TO KEEP IT HOLY To set it aside wholly for the service of God in publick by Prayer reading and hearing God's Word serving God in the solemn assembly in private by meditation and study of God's Book and other holy exercises We are to remember both the day and the keeping the day holy some are ready enough to remember the Sabbath as a time of leisure out of carnal indulgence but they are not so ready to remember the duty of the day to keep it holy and improve it for spiritual advantage SIX DAYES THOU SHALT LABOUR This as it declares the precept so it shews the equity of it if God allow us six we should not grudge him the seaventh Besides it has the force of a command and is deliver'd in the same manner as the other Commandements Thou shalt labour He that 's idle all the week has no right to the Sabbath-rest He that 's careless in doing his own work on the six dayes is unfit to be imployed in God's service on the seaventh The word many times hath a peculiar signification for the service of God and thus it will inferr that every day is a Christian's Sabbath and he is to be doing God's work even when he is doing his own AND SHALT DOE ALL THAT THOU HAST TO DOE Dispatch all thy business and leave nothing undone against the Sabbath that thou mayst be wholly vacant and have thy thoughts as well as thy body at rest and thy mind free from all distractions of worldly cares thou mayst have nothing else to think upon but the worship of God This calls upon us for diligence in our callings that we must not doe our work by halves but go thorough with it And it gives a Typical intimation too that we would in this week of our mortality set upon and accomplish the necessary work of Repentance Faith and Obedience that we may have all our accounts clear'd e're the eternal Sabbath come upon us when if we have left that work undone we shall have no time allow'd us to go on with it and bring it to an end BUT THE SEAVENTH DAY This is the Ceremonial part of the Command but that a seaventh should be kept is Moral For the Iews in memory of the Creation were to observe the seaventh Day which with us is Saturday as their Sabbath whereon God having made all things rested But Christians in memory of a greater work of Redemption led by Apostolical practise have constantly observ'd the first day of the week to wit
administer and receive the blessed Sacraments who have had no regard to the Feasts and Fasts other ancient usages of the Church but have set aside dayes of our own and have fasted for strife and given thanks for blood who doe not take care that we and our houses may serve the Lord nor make any account of this sacred time who spend the day in sloth and riot and vain sports and do not sanctifie it and keep it holy to the Lord who doe not improve the blessing of the Sabbath to the advantages of a holy life but continue still in gross ignorance and profaneness so that we may very well use the Churches Prayer Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The fifth Commandement This is the hinge of the two Tables the main joynt of the whole Law concerns the Magistrate who is God's Vicegerent ou earth and the keeper of both the Tables wherefore some assign it a place in the first Table God having a special care of civil order and peace in the societyes of men has therefore set this Commandement concerning the obedience to superiours by which peace and good order are preserv'd immediately after those of his own worship and in like manner back'd it with a reason whereas all the rest which follow are set down barely in way of Commands without the addition of any promise or threat So then this Command is made up of two parts the Precept it self and the Reason of the Precept the Precept shews the duty Honour and its object thy Father and Mother The Reason is a promise of long life and therefore the Apostle hath call'd it The first Commandement with a promise for the Third contains a threat and that of the Second is more threat then promise That thy dayes may be long on the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee HONOUR This shews a different degree and condition amongst men and God's Law maintains the distinction In all societyes there are some superiours some inferiours The Law is not for levelling Honour would not be a duty if all were equal Now Honour implyes respect and obedience subjection and service THY FATHER AND MOTHER whether thy natural parents or civil Magistrate or spiritual governour or whatsoever superiour which are all by a usual propriety of the Hebrew language styled Fathers Father having been the first dignity of the world and all rule and government whatsoever founded on the right of paternal Authority which aggravates an offence done to a superiour makes the offender as ungracious as one that dishonours his father Here are meant then all manner of persons in relation Parents and Children Magistrates and Subjects Ministers People Master Scholar Husband wife Master and Servants old young noble and base rich and poor c. Nor so onely but here is included also by the rule of contraryes the duty of superiours to their inferiours that they be kindly affected to them rule them in God's fear according to righteousness and faithfully mind the dutyes of their place Now the duty of Inferiors is only mention'd because they are the more likely to fail in their duty their neglect is of worse consequence Disobedience dissolving unloosening order and peace which are the bands of society whereas oppression does but strain and gird the tyes of government too close No Tyranny of the most wicked Prince can be so mischievous and destructive to the publick as the Rebellion of Subjects let them pretend never so much religion for it The great Interest of society is to obey since the resisting of a lawfull governour will in the end destroy government it self and bring all things into confusion THAT THY DAYES MAY BE LONG Long life is the promised reward of obedience but the disobedient shall not live out half their time but shall be cut off by some untimely death and by their seditious actings and wilfull oppositions forfeit their lives to the Law The Hebrew word may be rendred that they i.e. thy Father and Mother may prolong or lengthen thy dayes as if the parent's blessing could instate a dutyfull child into a long life This is sure that parents at first and afterwards civil Magistrates had power of life and death in their familyes and within their own territories and so might justly by Capital punishment shorten the lives of the disobedient UPON THE LAND WHICH THE LORD THY GOD GIVETH THEE Here is meant the Land of promise which the Israelites were now going to possess wherefore the Septuagint call it the good Land Which word is now wanting in the Hebrew copy though possibly express'd at first for taking that word in there are all the Letters of the Alphabet to be found in the Decalogue without it there will be one wanting And if Moses was the first Inventor of the Hebrew Letters as some think and it is probable he being the most ancient writer 't is as probable that there was a Specimen essay of them given in the Commandements the only speech which God hath by his own mouth utter'd This part belongs most properly to the Israelites wherefore 't is added that the Lord thy God gives thee but may be extended to us all And here are two or three notes in 't upon the Land that notes that the loyal and faithful shall not be turn'd out of his possessions live an exil'd life in forreign countryes but prolong his dayes and live in peace at home whereas rebels and traytors forfeit their estates and loose their fortunes by seeking unjustly to greaten them The Land or the good Land the Land of Canaan notes the Land of thy forefathers of ancient inheritance and a Land abounding with all conveniences of life to shew that obedience shall possess the ancient demeans of the family live in plenty when the rebellious shall seek their bread in a strange Land Which the Lord thy God giveth thee notes God's particular bounty to the obedient and that what they injoy comes with a blessing and is the fruit of a promise 't is as if he should have said obey thy Father and Mother and they shall give thee life and I will give thee Land In Deuteronomie are inserted these words That it may be well with thee and that thy dayes may be long for otherwise a long life spent in toil and hardship exercis'd with want and misery is a Curse rather then a Blessing and indeed the word which here signifyes the lengthning of dayes has also a signification of health for life of it self is not pleasant but a burden rather unless it be attended with those enjoyments blessings which make it comfortable as Health Peace Plenty Prosperity c. And such a life it is that is here promis'd as the reward of obedience But it seems in the ordinary oeconomy of Providence to fall out otherwise many times when the dutyfull child is caught away
put in execution punish transgressors reward well-doers preserve peace and good order amongst men Protect thy subjects with the Scepter and the Sword be diligent in thy office and know that thou hast a great account to make to him by whom Kings reign who is no respecter of persons Thou shalt not abuse thy power to license thy own lusts and become arbitrary nor oppress thy subjects with unjust taxes and insolent carriage nor yet by a fond clemencie indanger thy Authority and lessen that reverence which is due to thy place Ye People shall receive my Ministers as my messengers and Embassadors from God and obey those that are over you for they watch for your soul 's good and think them worthy of double honour and allowance who both govern and teach the Bishops and overseers of the flock and own them with all fair respect who labour amongst you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you and esteem them very dearly for their works sake and communicate freely to them in temporals who impart to you spirituals ye shall not slight their sacred function with disgraceful terms nor rent the Church with faction and schisms and heap to your selves teachers but submit your selves to all lawful orders constitutions and not be carryed about with every puff of doctrine nor entertain new-fangled opinions and unwarrantable practises in the wayes of my worship and Ecclesiastical Government And ye Pastors shall look to your selves and the whole flock over which the holy Ghost has made you overseers ye shall preach in season out of season ye shall doe all for edification and divide the word aright ye shall admonish exhort reprove and be burning as well as shining lights that ye may in your lives recommend the power of Godliness ye shall not Lord it over your brethren nor doe the work of the Lord carelessly Thou Servant shalt account thy Master worthy of all honour and shalt serve him with fear and trembling with singleness of heart as unto Christ and shalt doe him faithful service And thou Master shalt shew kindness forbearing threatnings knowing that thy Master also is in Heaven and shalt give thy servant comfortable maintenance and shalt not defraud the Labourer of his hire nor keep back thy servant's wages and thou shalt see to their carriage and govern them in my fear that they may become my servants also Ye Wives be subject to your Husbands and see that you reverence them Ye Husbands love your wives as Christ hath loved the Church and cherish them as your own flesh Ye young men rise up before a gray-head and have respect to the face of the aged Hearken to their advice and learn by their example And ye Old men behave your selves with that gravity and wisdom that ye may gain your selves the reverence of the younger sort and be as way-marks for the imitation of posterity In fine ye who have any advantage of learning wisdom honour estate c. or any other excellence above your brethren so imploy it and lay it out to their benefit that you may procure honour to your selves and God may have the glory To conclude whoever thou art carry thy self with honour and respect to every one in whom thou seest any part of God's Image and look on him as thy superiour who hath any gift or ability which thou hast not preferr thy equals pitty and help thy inferiours This Commandement as was said before being plac'd in the middle has an influence both wayes so as to secure both God's Worship and mans Propriety The Magistrates sword must defend the faith though it may not propagate it and if Authority be once trampled upon every one will doe as they did when there was no King in Israel what seemeth good in their own eyes When the hedge of Government is broken down neither Religion nor Law shall bound us all opinions and practises are current and 't will be an Usurper's interest to have the people divided Lives and Liberties Estates and Consciences and all lye open to arbitâ—ary force as a Prize for him that dares be most Villan And this has been England's case in the no less sad then wicked times of Anarchy and confusion when damnable Heresies broke forth numerous sects swarmed up and down when there was an intolerable Toleration of all Religions but the right when we comply'd with illegal powers and were aw'd by Courts of High Injustice when partyes bore rule as false to one another as they were injurious to the publick when our sins grew up and multiplyed with our calamityes and God's judgements and our provocations improv'd one another when our Oaths of Allegiance were eluded with the Solemn cousenage of a League and sinful combination when we were bewilder'd with the witch-crafts of Rebellion and knew not the things which belong'd to our peace but pretended to reform abuses by destroying the offices when with tumults and Libels we drove our Dread Soveraign from his home rais'd a war against him chas'd him as a Partridge over the mountains and offer'd violence to the Lord 's anointed when with undutyful hands we seized his Sacred Person confin'd him to prisons and vex'd his righteous soul when we for 't was our sins did it and we are all Accessary by a villanous mockery of Iustice brought him to his tryal sentenced him and which is more than our posterity will have the heart to believe done though we could find hands to doe it barbarously murder'd our Gracious King at his own Palace-gate adding all the direful circumstances of aggravation to that hellish impiety when ever since our Iosiah's death our great sin has been our punishment we have suffer'd in acting and been constantly exercis'd with unconstancy of wicked changes when Loyalty hath been persecuted as the greatest Crime and many have shorten'd their dayes for their faithfulness to their Prince and after that our Crown Head too was fallen when the Father of our Countrey liv'd in exile and our Mother the Church mourn'd in private and was sed with the bread of tears when Sacred Orders were despised and labourers thrust themselves into the harvest to cut down dignityes and profits root and branch when the Holy Ordinances were dispensed by the Ignorant and Civil Offices administred by the Base when there was no regard had to the Ancient and the Wise to the Noble and the Learned but contempt was powred out upon Princes In short when we have thus rebell'd against King and Priest and cast off Authority to purchase a freedom for schism and mischief what need have we hereafter to pray fervently with the Church Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law But as our Litanyes are requisite to deplore the national breach of this Commandement and deprecate it for the future so are our Thanksgivings due to Almighty God for his wonderful deliverance of us from those great in conveniencies and sins we labour'd under
be warie of doing ought which may indirectly or by casualty either deprive him of it or imbitter it to him but shalt by thy mild behaviour and offices of friendship and kindness help to make his life pleasant and lasting And now when we do but think how peccant the Nation hath been in this Command how we have murthered one another for hire and improved the heats of a civil war with private animosityes with a blind zeal the rage of a mistaken conscience thinking we have done God good service by sacrificing one another How we have pretended publick justice to our ambitious designs and pull'd all down that stood in our way to greatness How we entitled our selves to Saint-ship by binding Kings in chains and their Nobles in fetters of iron and accounted it our duty to God to kill and murder our fellow subjects and imbrew our hands in the blood of our Soveraign How still we are given to quarrel and are loath to lay down the cudgels of contention but are ready to justifie a wicked Cause to new troubles and a second tryal of war and by our discontents tempt providence to remove our peace How zealous and industrious we show our selves in promoting faction and making partyes How we sharpen our tongues and our pens to shoot bitter words against one another How peevish and sullen how easily provok'd and how hardly reconcil'd how eager upon slight occasion to break peace and part with charity and about things indifferent how not indifferent we are have we not very great cause to pray as the Church teacheth us Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The seaventh Commandement The sixth secures life This orders the preservation of chastity they both forbid any wicked attempt upon our neighbour's person That by curbing anger This by bridling lust That prohibits the killing This the defiling of our neighbour and indeed though Life be the first considerable yet Chastity is a greater care seeing that the abuse of the body by uncleanness draws along with it a greater danger to the injur'd person then murder as that which being commonly attended with consent makes the sufferer accessary and wrongs the soul no less then the body And possibly some such reason there might be for the transposing of these Commandements in some copyes and placing this of adultery and that of theft before murder the staining or impoverishing one being as bad as killing one out of the way and as good have no life at all as to live in disgrace or want THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTERY Thou shalt not through lust or intemperance or any wanton excess abuse thy own or thy neighbour's body or break the rules of chastity but shalt with great care keep a holy and a clean conversation and denying all ungodliness worldly lusts and unlawful pleasures preserve thy self pure from all filthy pollutions of the flesh Thou shalt be moderate in the use of all lawful pleasures and recreations and order them to serious ends to make thee more chearful in the service of me and the performance of the dutyes of life Thou shalt not greedily devour the creatures I provide for thy use and fill thy self with meats and drinks to indispose thee for prayer or business Thou shalt avoid surfeting and drunkenness and gluttony nor yet pinch thy self with unreasonable abstinence or sordid thrift but allow thy self honest and suitable refection and recreation Thou shalt not be too nice and dainty in the choice of food and other treatments of thy self but content thy self with that which is wholsom and agreeable to thy condition Thou shalt make a sober and a temperate use of my gifts and allowances be watchful and jealous over thy self at food in company in thy delights and pastimes and at thy leisures that the tempter may not take advantage of thee Thou shalt be careful of thy habit and attire that it be decent and comely not garish and immodest that it be fitted for warmth to hide nakedness not to shew pride Thou shalt in thy gesture and behaviour compose thy self to a chearful modesty so as to shew civility and courtesie not to discover wantonness or invite lust Thou shalt shake of sloath and take heed of idleness as that which betrayes to such temptations and breeds nurses lust Thou shalt not too much indulge thy self to sleep but take a competent share which may be convenient for thy health and employment to repair nature not to besot her Thou shalt keep thy vessel in holiness and forbear all gross uncleanness Thou shalt not wrong thy neighbour's bed nor offer violence or enticement to any one Thou shalt not use nor allow the use of stews nor frequent places of ill fame Thou shalt not burn with unnatural lusts nor practise secret villany or give thy self up to dishonourable passions and beastly sensuality but learn from the examples of my vengeance to stand in aw of my judgements for whoremongers and adulterers God will judge and thou shalt be holy as I am holy and pure that thou mayst see God Thou shalt avoid filthy communication and foolish speech and idle jesting but have thy discourse season'd with salt of discretion that it may not corrupt good manners but tend to edification Thou shalt not look upon any one to lust nor reach out a desire in thy heart after the appearances of beauty Thou shalt not be wanton in thy apparel or demeanour but behave thy self with bashfulness and with modesty complying with civil fashionable customs Thou shalt be ware of meetings shows playes sonnets dances and all other occasions which may prove invitements to ill for fear thou fall into the snare of the Divel Thou shalt in private have awful thoughts of my presence and when necessity or chance or duty brings thee forth into the publick and the sight of men so behave thy self with that circumspection that thou mayst not get any soil from converse nor disimprove thy self but better thy company obliging them with all civil respect and yet with the gravity of thy carriage checking vain thoughts and hindring the first opportunityes of ill it being easier to master lust in its beginning then to prevent it's growth Yet if thou canst not contain thy self in the limits of a single life thou shalt in my fear make use of that remedy which I have appointed and shalt pray to me to direct thee in thy choice that thou mayst have a woman of understanding Thou shalt not rashly or for carnal satisfaction enter into the holy state of matrimony but for my glory and mutual comfort shalt look upon marriage as an honourable institution Thou shalt not place thy affections where my law rules of honesty forbid it and shalt have a reverence for thy neer alliances and take heed of yoaking thy self unequally Thou shalt faithfully perform the marriage-covenant and have a loving and sweet respect to one anothers persons a quiet
and affectionate care for one anothers good this society having been the blessed ordinance of Paradise being the most solemn engagement of friendship To conclude in whatsoever estate of life whether single or married let thy conversation be clean and free from all pollution both of body soul and spirit and be not fashion'd to the world but keep thy self unspotted from it To reflect upon our selves we must confess our selves very guilty of the breach of this Commandement who are so full of uncleanness who serve divers lusts and pleasures and are lovers of pleasure more then of God who make provision for the flesh study our ease and carnal content give our selves up wholly to the lust of the eyes to the lust of the flesh and the pride of life who pamper our bodies and starve our souls who drink wine to excess and sit at it till it inflame us who spend our time in chambering and wantonness in sports and playes with that constancy as if recreation were the duty of our life and we had nothing else to doe in this world but to take our pastime in it who follow wicked counsel and lewd practises boast of sins many times we do not commit who are immodest in our attire wanton in our carriage filthy in our discourse abominable loath-some in our actions without shame of sin or fear of judgement who wallow in all sensuality and study fleshly delights who take up affected garbs imitate every foolish fashion who think we can never serve our selves enough nor our God little enough who are not asham'd of the appearances of evil but account our shame our glory and think it our gallantry that we dare seem lewd who have forgot modesty and know not what Temperance means who take marriage for an opportunity of sinning with a greater safety and use it as a market rather then an institution of God's and besides those purposes for which it was appointed who would willingly have no other God but our belly no other religion then Epicurism no other business or study but our ease and pleasure so that we have too just an occasion to make use of the Churches words Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The eighth Commandement The sixth and seaventh secure our persons This our goods and is the fence of propriety for estates are not to lye in common but are bounded with Laws that every one may know his own The seaventh forbids the community of wives This of other possessions And indeed the breach of this Command is the great disorder of society and the main drift of Laws is to secure estates to the owners and to judge of titles and to punish fraud and cousenage And the various condition of men as it serves to set forth the wisdom of God's Providence in contriving suitable accommodations to every family and person so it encourages industry seeing every one may by the labour of his hands provide for himself and exspect a success according to his diligence whereas were things put in an equality or laid up in one common stock the idle would live upon the labours of the painful and he that were strongest would invade other's right and make himself master of the greatest share Well then has this Commandement provided that men may not think to thrive by idleness or unjust means THOU SHALT NOT STEAL Thou shalt doe thy neighbour no wrong in his estate but in all worldly concernments observe such a rule of justice and equity in thy dealing that thou neither injure him nor thy self Thou shalt not directly nor indirectly play the thief by taking away that which belongs to another either privily and without his knowledge or openly and by force without his consent Thou shalt not goe shares with thieves not consent to them Thou shalt restore what thou find'st to the right owner nor conceal and keep it by thee Thou shalt not take bribes nor set justice to sale Thou shalt not inveagle persons nor steal goods Thou shalt be faithful in thy stewardship and just in all thy accounts Thou shalt perform thy trusts and be upright in thy place Thou shalt not meddle with any thing dedicated to my service and the use of the Church or think sacriledge an improvement of estate Thou shalt not remove the ancient bound and land mark nor encroach upon thy neighbour's possession Thou shalt not defraud the labourer of his hire nor detain his wages which he hath earned with his sweat Thou shalt be true and just in all thy dealings in buying and selling thou shalt consider and prize things according to their worth Thou shalt not cheat and over-reach in bargains by putting of false wares or using false weights and measures by raising prices and setting up monopolyes Thou shalt not borrow or take up upon trust without intention to pay Thou shalt not oppress the poor nor exact more of him then he 's well able to part with Thou shalt make punctual restitution of any thing receiv'd and be exact in the discharge of thy debts and in all engagements use conscience Thou shalt not purchase preferment in the Church nor buy or sell places of justice or publick trust which are to be rewards of merit not the acquists of money Thou shalt be grateful to thy benefactors acknowledge their courtesies and to thy ability make requital Thou shalt not study thy own gain alone but be helpful to thy poor neighbour and be mov'd with charity towards him lending and not hoping for any thing back forbearing him and sometimes forgiving if thy condition will permit and his require it Thou shalt not put thy money out to biting usury so as to oppress and disable the debtor Thou shalt honestly return any pledge or pawn which is put into thy hand Thou shalt doe good with thy estate and forget not to communicate and to distribute Thou shalt be merciful as I am merciful feeding the hungry cloathing the naked visiting the sick relieving the prisoner and shewing kindness to strangers Thou shalt be liberal free hearted open handed in thy alms-doings and upon occasions of pâ—blick necessity or design Thou shalt not be niggardly or sordid in thy way of life or hard-hearted or uncharitable nor yet unthrifty lavish so as to disable thy estate Thou shalt not trouble thy self with unquiet thoughts and carking cares for this life what thou shalt eat and wherewith all thou shalt be cloath'd Thou shalt not be covetous to gather wealth any how and deny thy self those enjoymeâ—ts which God hath allow'd thee Thou shalt know how to want and how to abound Thou shalt not murmur and repine at God's disposals but submit to his wisdom trust his providence and rest fully satisfied with thy present condition assuring thy self that a contended mind and an estate well got be it never so little is better then much riches Thou shalt not be too sparing nor too profuse but
thriftly husband thy means that they may hold out to secure thee against want and to enable thee for Charity Thou shalt not live an idle life nor take ill courses and follow dishonest wayes of get as cheating gaming c. but shalt take pains in some honest calling and shalt learn to labour and get thy own living in that state of life wherein God shall place thee that thou mayst eat the labour of thy hands and it may be well with thee that thou mayst provide things fashionable for thy self and thy relations and mayst have wherewith to exercise Charity toward them that are in want Let us now take a view of our selves how our carriage has answer'd this Command Was ever more injustice and illegal oppression then of late years amongst us Has not covetousness been the root of all our evils Have not the possessions of the Crown and the Church been made the spoils of War and the reward of villany Have not men of quiet spirits been render'd Delinquents for their estates and their greatest crime been their wealth when 't was enough to make one Malignant to have any thing to loose and the great art of the Usurpers was to secure their fears jealousies by satisfying their avarice and make good their title to government by getting the riches of the people in their power What plundring and pillaging what rifling and robberies have been practis'd what Sequestrations Compositions Decimations Contributions and other unheard of injuries and insolencies have been Committed upon the loyal gentry and poor commonalty what havock has been made of Sacred things and how has Sacriledge been justified by her children when Intruders have been bold to expostulate with God and quarrel the Iustice of man that they are forc'd to give place to the right owners and restore unjust possessions How have the noble and the learned been turn'd out by force of their ancient demeans and just preferments to seek their bread How have the old bounds been remov'd and the publick coffers exhausted How are great estates amass'd by cheat and couâ—enage and private men swoln up with ill-got wealth How is charity neglected hospitality shut out of doors and the love to the poor grown cold How many idle dishonest wayes of living are kept on foot How does the number of Beggers daily increase to the shame of authority that neither imployes the able nor relieves the weak How miserable and close are men upon honest designs How profuse and lavish upon their lusts How doe we murmur at the disposals of providence and how ready are we with our private discontents to disturb the publick peace What need then have we to cry out with the Church Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law The ninth Commandement The eighth requires truth in our dealings This in our discourse and speech That provided for our estate and fortune This for our credit and reputation That secures our Goods This our Good name which is of deerer concern then any other possession for a good name is better then life it self Murder Adultery Theft are forbidden in the other three This prohibits a Lye which is the cloak and cover of all other sins and likely accompanyes them especially this last to a proverbial observation A Lyar and a Thief THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS Thou shalt not be a lying witness sayes the Vulgar i.e. Thou shalt not make or tell a lye concerning or against thy neighbour The Greek doubles it Thou shalt not falsly witness a false testimony taking in the distinction of a lye into material and formal To speak an untruth and say that which in it self is not so though I perhaps may think it so is a material Lye for though I am true to my own thought by speaking as I think yet I am not right to the thing this is a false testimony Again to speak contrary to my own sense though possibly the thing I say be true is a formal Lye for though I be mistaken and the thing be otherwise then I think it is yet if I speak otherwise then I think I lye and this is to witness falsly So then we have a double care lyes upon us to speak according to the thing and according to our thought when our words agree with our thoughts and our thoughts agree with the things themselves when the mind represents the object aright and the tongue doth as truly report the mind The Hebrew as if it meant mainly the concerns of truth in judicial proceedings has it thus Thou shalt not answer as a witness of falshood to wit when the Magistrate puts a question to thee and requires to know the truth But the meaning of it is to be enlarg'd to all affairs and so in Deuteronomie 't is express'd a witness of vanity which implyes rash censure reproaches and vain speeches c. AGAINST THY NEIGHBOUR or for thy neighbour in thy neighbour's cause and behalf c. for the preposition carryes a great latitude of sense And 't is no less a wrong to Truth and Iustice to speak a Lye in favour as to speak it out of maliceÌ„ 't is Iustice and Truth which are consider'd in Gods Commands more then interest and benefit Who our neighbour is our Saviour in his Parable has told us all mankind all that we have or may have to doe with whether they live neer or far off though God does allow in some cases degrees of charity according to Relation neighbour hood countrey c. The meaning of this Commandement is this Thou shalt in all thy discourse take heed to Truth and speak according to thy conscience nor shalt thou conceal what thou knowest when my glory or the benefit of thy neighbour requires it Thou shalt not give in a false evidence nor plead a wrong cause nor favour injustice nor tell a lye to advantage Thou shalt not knowingly say that which thou thinkest to be false with a purpose to deceive others nor shalt thou be over confident in affirming what thou art not sure of Thou shalt not basely dissemble and pretend one thing and mean another for God is the God of truth Thou shalt not speak or think ill of any one in thy heart by entertaining evil surmises and taking up a reproach or ill report against him Thou shalt not be curious to spye out his faults nor critical and censorious nor shalt thou slander him with thy tongue or speak ill of him behind his back and flatter him to his face but thou shalt make the best of his actions put the fairest interpretation upon his carriage Thou shalt speak all the good of him thou knowst and cover his failings believe and hope the best and not give ear to all thou hearest in all thy converse shew thy self ingenuous and open breasted to think no evil of him and to acknowledge what thou seest good in him and be
as tender of his reputation as of thy own Thou shalt not be double-minded nor hasty in thy promises nor false in thy purposes but sincere and constant that thy sayings and doings may agree Thou shalt bridle thy tongue and avoid foolish speaking and let no rotten communication come out of thy mouth but with steady gravity weigh thy words aforehand speak to edification Thou shalt not discover secrets committed to thy trust nor vainly babble of every thing thou know'st nor yet conceal necessary truths but be faithful and trusty in thy silence and discreet in thy speech Thou shalt not be churlish of difficult address and hard to be spoke with nor yet full of insignificant complement and artificial craft but shalt shew thy self courteous and affable ready to hear and to answer Thou shalt not be clownish and rude in thy converse nor yet act the buffoon by abusing Scripture or jeering thy betters or other foolish drollery but use civil chearful language and according to thy company and occasion fit thy discourse Thou shalt not be over-forward and magisterial in finding faults nor yet cowardly and fearful of displeasing but tell thy neighbour freely of his sin when thy duty requires it of thee and opportunity invites Thou shalt not impudently proclaim thy sin and brag of thy evil doings nor be too confident in boasting of thy gifts but leave it rather to a stranger to commend thee nor yet to shift duty or out of vain glory speak meanly of thy self and lessen thy endowments but shalt put a just value upon thy self and thy parts that they may be useful and be wanting in no fair and modest way to keep up thy credit and maintain thy reputation Above all thou shalt by a blameless conversation indeavour to keep a good conscience before God and a good name among men and do those things which may make thee well spoken of And yet thou shalt not be over fond neither of thy reputation so as to affect applause but design rather to live to conscience then to same and whilst thou dischargest thy duty not to look on good report as thy reward nor to be discouraged by evil report from doing good and to mind more what thou dost then what others say or think of thee and refer thy self to God who sees in secret and will make righteous judgement If we call our selves to an account for this Commandement and say we have no sin we deceive our selves and there is no Truth in us How has Truth fail'd amongst us How have our Prophets who should have been the Ministers of truth prophesied lyes in the Name of the Lord calling good bad and bad good and pretended the Lord sent them when he sent them not How have our Courts of Iustice been fill'd with falshoods and iniquity been enacted by a Law How have false witnesses and wicked Iudges rose up and sentenced the righteous and condemned the innocent How has Iustice been perverted to wrong ends and Law been made an instrument of oppression How have we in this Hypocritical age lyed and dissembled to one another and spoken with a heart and a heart with flattering lips and a deceitfull tongue How have we flatter'd the wicked whom God hated and slander'd the footsteps of the righteous How disingenuous are we how quick-sighted to spye moats in others eyes and not see the beams in our own How apt to magnifie our selves and think meanly of others How ready to believe every flying report to take all things that another does in the worst sense How little trust or honesty to be met with How perfidious and false how cunning and close how ill-natur'd and sullen have most men been With what starch'd graviâ—y and pretences of sanctity have we impos'd upon one another What vain babling and filthy talk obscenity and scurrility are abroad in the world How forward are we to censure others to speak the worst of every body and to find fault with our superiours and meddle with things that concern us not How doe we prize the commendation of men and yet slight conscience and cannot endure to be spoken ill of nor yet be at the pains to doe well How highly doe we esteem reputation and value a good name and yet care not our selves to be good and lead a blameless life free from great offences Lord have mercy upon us and incline our hearts to keep this Law All the other Commandements doe more immediately order the outward man the first and the tenth look inward and regulate the thoughts and the desires The first Commandement is the ground-work oâ— Religion and the tenth the top-stone of Morality That injoyning the Fear of God and This requiring Contentedness and self-denyal Atheism affronts the Worship of God and Covetousness disorders the Society of Men That will acknowledge no God and This will have no Neighbour Wherefore 't is well plac'd at the bottom of the second table as the Master-sin the great enemy of Charity and that which all the other transgressions resolve themselves into The other precepts indeed hold thy hand that thou mayst doe thy neighbour no wrong This holds thy heart that thou mayst wish him none Here is the sin forbidden Thou shalt not Covet and the object particularly express'd either for profit or pleasure Thy Neighbour's house his wife his man servant his maid his ox and his ass and then generally propos'd nor any thing that is thy neighbour's THOU SHALT NOT COVET or desire This strikes at inordinate affections at concupiscence which is that root of bitterness Thou shalt not out of envy to thy neighbour or out of love to thy self for so one of the words in Deuteronomie signifies Thou shalt not desire to thy self desire any thing away from him THY NEIGHBOUR'S HOUSE his convenience of habitation the place of his abode where he has pitch'd his tent for his security and gather'd the comforts of his life about him be it a fairer or stronger building seated in a better aire encompass'd with better neighbours and furnish'd with better commodities of life THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOUR'S WIFE This is not a distinct command from the former for 't is the act not the object which makes the sin and so the Apostle quotes it Thou shalt not covet and 't is plain that House Wife are not meant for several precepts though the one be coveted out of Avarice the other out of Lust for here follow other things in the former way of coveting as the Ox and the ass but for particular instances only the enumertaion therefore ending with an c. and all that is thy Neighbour's The House is reckon'd first and then the housekeeper the Wife to teach the man that he must first provide a livelyhood and way of subsistence before he think of a wife and to put the woman in mind that she ought to be a Hous-wife not to be a gadder abroad or live at random
Self-denyal which is the principle of Christianity Self-preservation has been set up and Interest made our Idol when we have been so far discontented at our present condition that we have over-run all orders to mend our private fortunes have ruin'd the publick when we walk disorderly and are immoderate in the use of our pleasures and are taken up with the love of the world and impure affections and cannot rellish the things of God when we cannot indure one another and require that of others we would not allow them and set our selves at irreconcileable distances when we indulge our selves in carnal joyes and have no compassion for our suffering Brethren when our hopes depended on an arm of flesh and the fear of man deterred us from our duty so that we would not trust God for our delivery in the performance of our duty when every small thing puts us into passion and in our zeal we design a revenge on the person more then a reformation of his vice when we follow the guidance of a deluded conscience and mistake both covetousness and ambition for zeal when we prefer publick mischief before our own disappointments and had rather Church State should be indanger'd then our design should miscarry when we hug temptations and make much of our lusts and lull them on the pillows of ease and security when we wish for things unlawful and take unlawful courses to get them when all our desires are let out for carnal satisfactions and we make it the great business of our lives to provide for our content and yet can never be contented When by our covetousness and evil concupiscences we have thus broken not only this but all Gods Laws and Commandements we may very well desire God's pardon for what is past and his assistance for the time to come in the Churches form Lord have mercy upon us and write all these thy Laws in our hearts we beseech thee FINIS AN EXPLANATION Of the SACRAMENTS The II. SACRAMENTS Baptism GOe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy Ghost Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every ereature He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned The Lords SUPPER THe Lord Iesus the same night in which he was betraid took bread And when he had given thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said Take eat this is my body which is broken given for you this do in remembrance of me Likewise also he took the cup after supper and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it For this is my bloud of the New Testament which is shed for you for many for the remission of sinnes This doe ye as â—ft as ye drink it in remembrance of me Of the SACRAMENTS THe Sacraments That is to say Holy Rites or Ceremonies or mysteries used in the Church appointed by Christ himself Now Sacrament is a military term and signifyes that oath whereby souldiers were wont to engage to be true and faithfull to their General in the War against the enemyes of their countrey And thus it is with us Christians who have vow'd obedience to Christ the Captain of our Salvation and sworn to fight under his Banner that we may by his strength overcome the world the flesh and the Divel The Sacraments are but two Holy Baptisme and the Holy Supper which come in the place of Circumcision and the Iewish Passeover By Baptism we are admitted into the bosom of the Church and as it were entred into God's family being by nature aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and of the children of wrath become heirs of the promise The Supper affords us a spiritual repast and by it we grow up and are intimately united to Christ and are preserved and fed to life everlasting There are two things to be considered in a Sacrament an outward Sign and an inward Grace signified Sign in Baptisme is Water which washeth the filth of our body the Thing signified is the Blood of Christ whereby our souls are cleansed from the filth of sin The outward Elements in the Supper are Bread and Wine by which the strength of nature is repair'd and maintain'd The Things signified are the Body of Iesus crucified and his Blood shed which being partaken by Faith doe heighten our graces and nourish the souls of believers Baptisme then is the laver of regeneration and the Supper is the Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. In a word the Sacraments are annexed to the Word of God as the seals of the promise conveyances of grace and evidences of the Spirit by which he doth effectually apply to believers the love of the Father and the merits of the Son assuring their hearts confirming their Faith fastning their Hope and enlarging their Charity Of BAPTISM THe Institution of Baptisme was after this manner When Christ had with his Blood sealed the truth of his Doctrine and purchased to himself a Church i.e. a peculiar people the chosen ones of God whom he fore knew from all eternitie for he was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world was laid and had made good this his purchase by his resurrection in that the bands of death sell off and he was released out of the prison of the grave having paid the debt for which he as our surety suffered it was then convenient that this Church thus purchased should be gathered and the chosen ones be called and converted to the saith by the preaching of the Word and distinguished from the rest of the world by a profession of the Gospel and the use of holy ordinances Wherefore being himself to depart hence to ascend to Heaven he leaves his Disciples with instructions how to propagate the faith and to order the affairs of his spiritual Kingdom to the end of the world and to proclaim throughout all quarters of the world the good tidings of peace and pardon to all such as should by faith and repentance come in and give up their names to Christ It being God's will that all should be say'd and come to the knowledge of the truth Whereupon he sends the Apostles to preach and by Baptisme i.e. by a solemn rite of washing with water receive into the bosom of the Church as many as should profess faith in him giving them this commission before his departue as it is set down by the Evangelist Goe ye and teach all Nations baptizing them c. Baptism having bin formerly us'd by Iohn the forerunner of our Saviour and honour'd by the example of our Saviour himself who at his Baptism was signally own'd from Heaven for the Son of God the Spirit also in the shape of a Dove lighting upon him Our Saviour in these words wherein he appoints the form and use of Baptism partly
beneath or that is in the water under the earth Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them nor serve them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandements III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain For the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his Name in vain IV. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy Six dayes shalt thou labour and do all thy work But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy man servant nor thy maid servant nor thy cattell nor thy stranger that is within thy gates For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea and all that in them is and rested the seventh day Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it V. Honour thy father thy mother that thy dayes may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee VI. Thou shalt not kill VII Thou shalt not commit adultery VIII Thou shalt not steal IX Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his man servant nor his maid-servant nor his ox nor his ass nor any thing that is thy neighbours THE TEN COMMANDEMENTS GOD when he had erected the stately frame of the World and furnished the scene of nature with various kinds of creatures prescribed an order course in which every thing should move for his command doth as well determine the actings of his creatures as it did produce their beings Thus the great wheel of nature keeps an orderly and constant course and as in a watch or some other curious piece of workmanship every small parcel of his work observes the rule of it's motion and is by that principle the workman's hand put into it guided to those ends for which it was made And this is the Law of Creation by which all creatures pay an obedience to their Creatour for as they depend upon his power to Be so 't was fit they should be directed by his wisdom to Act. This is indeed the Law of Nature which God as supreme Soveraign and absolute Lord and proprietour of all things has the sole right of imposing By this the heavenly bodyes dispense their influences and steer their motions which when excentrical are not irregular The Sun knows his place of rising and setting and it must be miracle that either stops him in his wonted rode or puts him back The Moon is constant to her changes and all the stars fixt to their stations nor doe the wandring stars rove out of those bounds which God hath set them The very inconstancy of weather and vicissitude of seasons is order'd by this Law and when any thing in the Elements happens extraordinary as that fire should refuse to burn water deny to drown c. 't is because a more particular warrant hath superseded the general commission which was sign'd at first for the law giver has power to alter his own laws make what exceptions he please which was the ground of Abraham's Faith who though by the general precept forbidden to kill any one yet upon special command thought himself obliged to sacrifice his own and onely Son To this Law are subject the Sea also ebbing and flowing from towards the shore God having appointed it its bounds beyond which it may not go and the Earth with all plants and fruits which grow on the surface of it and stones and minerals in the bowels of it according to the rules of each kind Of this Law a paricular branch is that which we call natural instinct whereby living creatures which are indued with sense and motion and a faculty of propagating their like to wit Birds Beasts Fishes and creeping things are regulated in the managery of their care and converse Hence springs that tender affection which all damms have for their young ones the conjugal fidelity of pairs the rules of order and government amongst societies such as Sheep Bees c. After this manner it pleas'd the faithfull Creatour to provide a Law for the well-being of his creatures without which the universe would have been still a meer Tohu and Bohu void and without form This is that ligament which binds the jarring Elements in a league of amity and sets every thing a work quietly to its own ends so as to preserve the whole and were it not for this all things would run into confusion But man being a creature of a more excellent make and having the imprese of divinity stamp'd upon him being made in the likeness of God was not to be coop'd up within the same measures as his fellow-creatures and be guided to his duty by blind instincts and a reason without him but had a greater latitude as of knowledge so of liberty allow'd him for it was thought fit that he who was to have dominion over the rest and to act Soveraign among other creatures should be intrusted with the government of himself Wherefore he had an understanding a will given him whereby he might see and choose his rule and might determine himself to a generous obedience And these faculties of his were as all things else were that God made at first very good his understanding right and wise his will holy and just of perfect sufficience to lead him to the right and of as perfect an indifference to leave him to the wrong besides his affections pure and free from all disorder Now that man might not pride himself in the reflection upon his own excellencies and that God might from this his Vicegerent and Prince of the Creation have some small acknowledgment of subjection it pleased him to make a command of tryall in a slight matter indeed the eating of an Apple but loaded with a grievous threat In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dy the death The breach of so easy an injunction upon so solemn a denunciation aggravating the ingratitude and the contempt of the offender And see how hard it was to persist in good even for him who before never knew evill How slippery a State Innocence when there is but the least temptation to debauch it How frail a thing the best of men if he be left to himself A toy tempts Adam from his obedience and his happiness together and from Eve's hand which administred the sin he took his death too Then were forfeited all the glorious priviledges of his Creation then were defaced all the resemblances of divine perfections then was his soul as well as body left naked of all graces and virtues his original righteousness turn'd into original sin then were his dayes cut short by
Law of the Lord must meditate in it day and night that so he may time his duties aright and be like the tree planted by the river side which bringeth forth its fruit in due season and thus whatsoever he does shall prosper GOD SPAKE Three months after the children of Israel's departure out of Egypt when they had pitch'd their Tents in the wilderness of Sinai when they had fresh in memory that wonderful deliverance which God wrought for them in their passage over the red-Sea from Pharaoh and his hoast besides those many dreadful miracles which he had shown in Egypt God mindful of the Covenant which he had made with Abraham and his seed the Israelites being now in a convenient place in a desert retired from the observation as well as the invasion of their enemies strikes a league with them that if they will obey his voice and keep his Covenant he will own them for his peculiar people and upon their acceptance of these terms after two dayes solemn preparation the Divine Majesty came down with Thunders and Lightnings and thick Clouds and seated himself upon the top of the Mount Sinai in the midst of fire and smoke with the noise of Trumpet that the Mountain and the Camp both shook with fear and whether by the ministry of an Angel or rather by some other more immediate way with audible voice face to face pronounced the tenour and conditions of the Covenant comprehended in the words of the Law ALL THESE WORDS Christ the second Person is called the Word but he is the word begotten as the Word is the immediate and essential issue of the Mind The whole Scripture too is God's Word that is was by God inspired into the holy pen-men they writing according to the dictates of the Spirit whence that form of speech especially among the Prophets Thus saith the Lord and The Word of the Lord came unto me But these Words God himself utter'd which therefore call for the more heedfull attention and awfull regard If the Lyon roares shall not the beasts of the forrest tremble every word should sound in our eares like a clap of Thunder cause an Earth-quake in our bowels for the Highest hath utter'd his voice even a mighty voice All these words too which requires an universal obedience We are not to pick and choose but receive them all with a like readiness of Faith as the clear manifestations of God's will God at the first creation for every dayes work spoke and it was done Oh! that he would so speak to our hearts that his Spirit may accompany his Word and help us to doe what he commands us to doe O Lord give us strength to perform thy Commands and then command what thou wilt SAYING The Rabbins have a tradition or fiction that God pronounc'd the Law twice over the first time with that hast as if the whole Law had been but one word but at the second going over leisurely and distinctly Whereupon they say that in this portion of Scripture the accents are upon every word doubled to denote that double delivery the one a note of speed the other of stop and pause This I suppose they gather from the two words here used as if he spoke them in hast and said them at leisure or whether they thought it fit the Law should be delivered twice by word of mouth as well as twice written upon tables Whether this were so or no matters not much only it should be our prayer and endeavour that they might be spoken over twice to us to the ear first and then to the heart to the inward man as well as to the outward though we have not the advantages of those terrours and dreadful circumstances wherewith the Law was at first delivered to prepare us with a prostrate humility and a devout reverence yet let us imagine that we hear the trumpet sound to judgement and awaken our attention and let us think we see the flames of Hell those everlasting burnings whither the transgressors of this Law must be dispatch'd and possess our souls with fear and hearken what the Lord will say to his servants The Preface Had God surpris'd them with this terrible appearance they might have been swallow'd up in their fears and been lost in those dazling amazements therefore he gave them two dayes time to prepare themselves here before he makes known to them his Law he acquaints them with the Lawgiver and that he might put their affections into a suitable temper for so solemn an occasion he makes an Introductory Preface wherein he lays down the arguments of their obedience taken partly from his power Soveraignty in that he is the Lord partly from his mercy and kindness seen first generally in that relation wherein he plac'd himself to them as being their God and more particularly discover'd in a late great deliverance he wrought for them and that both in respect of place out of a strange country he had brought them forth out of the Land of Egypt and in respect of condition out of a slavish and toilsom drudgery out 〈◊〉 the House of bondage I Who now speak to thee from the midst of fire out of the thick cloud the fear of thy Fathers Abraham Isaac and Iacob I that appear'd to Moses in the burning bush cloathed with Majesty and dread I who have carried thee upon Eagles wings and have brought thee thus to my self to shew my statutes unto thee and to make known my laws Hear O Israel and fear and observe to do for I AM THE LORD The maker of all things the absolute Soveraign of the World Iehovah the Fountain of beings who give being also to my word and promise there is nothing resists my will for my power is infinite wherefore stand in aw and fear before me the subjection and homage of all creatures being due to me by right of creation all things are my servants for from me and to me are all things I spake the Word and they were are created I made all things according to my good pleasure and for my own glory and men more especially for my service and amongst all the sons of men I have chose you for my select people for I am THY GOD by Covenant as well as by Creation by promise no less then by providence I made my self known to thy Fathers and engag'd my loving kindness to them and to their posterity after them I took a particular care of you when you were but few in number that the Nations about you might do you no harm I supported you under your burdens in Egypt and multiply'd you when you were sorely oppress'd in so much that of seventy persons you are become a great people I have own'd you as my charge and have done wondrous things for you in the land of Cham and HAVE BROUGHT THEE OUT with a strong hand and stretched out arm in the sight pursuit of Pharaoh all his hoast
Sunday as their Sabbath whereon our Saviour rose again from the dead and shew'd himself to his Disciples Another difference betwixt us is that we are not obliged to that Iudaïcal strictness but are allow'd a chearfull freedom yet not so as to make it a day of pastime for it follows that it is THE SABBATH OF THE LORD THY GOD as appointed by him or To the Lord thy God as dedicated to his especial service a day wherein thou art to contemplate the works of the Lord wrought in the Creation and the mercyes of thy God shown forth in thy Redemption a time set apart not for thy business much less for thy sport but for God's glory and publick worship to be spent wholly in performances of holy dutyes IN IT THOU SHALT DO NO MANNER OF WORK Nothing of common drudgery of thy ordinary vocation of thy weeks work none of thy work for it 't is not meant that we should sit still and doe nothing but works of piety as going to Church and the Priest's offering their Sacrifices in the Old Law c. are God's work and works of necessity as provision of food c. are the works of Nature and works of Charity as healing the sick taking the oxe or ass out of the pit c. are works of Grace And these must and may be done without any violation of the Sabbath THOU God here cals all the family to an account so careful he is of his own day And whereas in the other Commandements Thou is directed to every body here it carryes a special warrant to the superiour seeming to require of him that he not onely keep it himself in his own person but take care also that all in his charge keep it too Thou whether thou art magistrate master or mistress of the house father tutor or whatever governour imploy thy authority to see my Sabbath duely observ'd Yet not so as that the superiours negligence shall be an excuse for the inferior's for they are all spoken too here by name AND THY SON Children are naturally more apt to neglect their duty then able to perform it or indeed willing to understand it They must be taught it then and kept to it Acquaint thy son therefore with my wayes and instruct him in my fear Train him up in good courses that he may not be prepossess'd with vicious customs Bring him to Church let him be couversant in Scripture and learn the principles of Religion and seek me early that he may grow up as in stature so in wisedom and grace and favour with God and good men AND THY DAUGHTER No age nor sex priviledg'd from Sabbath-duty And these two words include all inferiours who are not in a servile condition all children pupils scholars citizens subjects whose respective governours are particularly to heed their observance of this day THY MAN-SERVANT AND THY MAID SERVANT All thy servants whether hired or bought all that doe thee work and receive thy wages Neither thy Avarice nor their own lust shall imploy them and cause them to absent themselves from my service Servants that day 〈◊〉 God's servants and their master's fellow-servants yet to be commanded and overlook'd by their masters that they do serve God And indeed it is the master's great interest to see that this day be well observ'd in his family since he cannot well expect that his own work should prosper if God's work be neglected or that those servants will be faithfull in his service who doe not care to serve God THY CATTLE The Greek reads here as 't is express'd in Deuteronomie and thy oxe and thy ass and thy cattle i.e. all labouring beasts which man makes use of for tillage of the ground for carriage of burdens for going of journeys c. that they also may rest from their usual labour and may have a time of refreshment for there is a charity too due to these brute-servants and the good man is mercifull to his beast But does God take care of oxen Though they have a share in his providence yet what are they concern'd in his Law which is spiritual and holy 'T is for man's sake whom they serve in whose charge they are that they are here mention'd And indeed should the cattle have been left out it might have look'd like an allowance to worldly-minded men to have set them on work the attendance of that would have prov'd the imployment of men too for that beasts will hardly work alone without the direction oversight of men NOR THY STRANGER THAT IS WITHIN THY GATES He that sojourns with thee within thy city so the Magistrate is concern'd or thy guest in thy house and so 't is the duty of the Master of the family to see that strangers of what countrey or religion soever comply with this Law and doe not violate the Sabbath-rest by travell keeping market following their merchandise or any other worldly occasions The Hebrew words are sometimes taken in a special strict sense so as that the stranger means one of another countrey converted to the Iewish profession and observances call'd otherwise a Proselyte and the Gates being the place of session or assize where the Iudges and Magistrates met for the tryall and decision of causes mean the civil power and jurisdiction But they are here questionless to be taken in the larger and more common sense FOR IN SIX DAYES THE LORD This is the reason of the Command and shews farther the equity of it that we would not think much to doe as God himself did and indeed the morality of it too for this reason concerns all mankind Heathen as well as Iew wherefore to intimate the universal obligation it hath it sayes not the Lord thy God as before but only the Lord. MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH THE SEA AND ALL THAT IN THEM IS He finish'd the work of creation and did all which he had to do in that first week of the world And it would be worth our imitation to consider how God takes a review of every day's work and it would be well for us that we could every night before we take our natural rest take account of our actions and see that they are good and at the weeks end before we enter upon this spiritual rest survey the work of the whole week and say of it not that it were exceeding good but that at least it were not exceeding evil Two things in the method of God's working may be worth our particular notice that the evening is mention'd still before the morning as if God had taken counsel o're night what he should doe next day and that God made man last on the very Sabbath-eve as if he had made him for no other purpose then to keep the Sabbath in the admiration of his works and the celebration of his praise AND RESTED THE SEAVENTH DAY God might have been working on still and set forth his power in new productions for Omnipotence cannot be