xxiv. 26 might eat no Corn in the green Ear. And at this Q. How far are Christians obliged to any Imita- A. They are certainly bound not to appear before the Lord with empty Hands. It is not enough to give at other Times, but it is a proper Piece of the Worship to be practised at holy Scasons. For the Actions of Men in holy Affemblies are not like their private Actions at other Times; for all the Actions in public are to be accounted as one Action of the whole Body, every Prayer, the Prayer of all as one. Whatsoever Worship God requires of any one alone, the same he requires also of all met together as one, being God of the Body as a Church, as well as of any one Member as a Chriftian. In reference to Offerings in holy Assemblies, thus St. Paul ordains, thus the primitive Christians 1 Cor. xvi. practised, as is plain from Justin Martyrand Irenæus. 2. Q. How are Festivals profaned? A. When they are not regarded nor distinguished from Common Days; when they are made Instruments of Vice and Vanity ; when they are spent in Luxury and Debauchery; when our Joy degenerates into Sensuality, and we express it by Intem, perance perance and Excess. And it is a very great Ag- Q. What are the Advantages of a serious Obfer- A. It testifies our great Regard to the Institu tions of the Church, and our Obedience to our Heb. xiii. fpiritual Superiors, to whom we ought to submit, as to those that watch for our Souls. It fixes in our 7. A Lonighty God, who haft eftablished in thy The P R A Y E R S. 1. Fora right Observa. sion of Holy nors, for the perfecting of rb. Saints, for the Work of make me careful to observe all those Inftitutions, my 1 my Rejoicing may be accompanied with Tempe- II. O LORD God, in whose Sight the Death of for the thy Saints is precious, and though their De- Imitation parture is taken for Misery, yet is their Hope full Saints. of Immortality; and having been a little chastised, they are now greatly rewarded, let the Memory of what they endured, support thy Servants who are engaged in Combats and Trials here below. Abate the Power and Malice of their Enemies; that all those those who hatc and persecute thy Church, may be brought to Repentance, or miscarry in their cruel Designs against it; that thy Name may be celebrated to all Generations; that thy Kingdom and thy Coming may be hastened ; that thy Saints may obtain the Consummation of their Bliss, by the Resurrection of their Bodies, and receiving the Crown of Righteousness, which thou haft prepared for all that put their Trust in thee; and that I with them may praise thy Name for ever and ever. Amen. CH A P. I. The Lord's Day. priated to his immediate Service? A. Setting it apart for the Exercises of Religious Duties, both in Public and Private ; abstaining from the Works of our ordinary Calling, or any other worldly Affairs and Recreations, which may hinder our Attendance upon the Worship of God, and are not reconcileable with solemn Arfemblies, and may defeat those Ends for which the Day was separated from common Uses. Q.What Day was anciently set apart to this Purpose? Ā. The Seventh: For God having in six Days made Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all that in them is, he rested the seventh Day, and hallowed it. Q. What mean you by God's resting from his Works? A. That Gen. ii. 3. : A. That the Creation of all Things was finished, and the World entirely made ; this resting of God being spoken after the Manner of Men; and implieth not any Weariness in him, for the Crea- Isaiahı xl. tor of the Ends of the Earth fainteth not ; neither is 21. weary. It was by the Ancients made the Symbol of the Rest of the Just from all their Labours; when all Grief, Sorrow, and Sighing, shall fly away, and God shall be all in all. Q. Why was the seventh Day, called Saturday, commanded to be observed by the Jews ? A. To be a Sign to testify what God they wor- Ezek. ix, hipped, whereby they professed that Jehovah, and 20. no other, was the God of Israel, and consequently was an admirable Institution to secure them from Exod. Idolatry. For, by fanctifying the seventh Day, xxxi. 13. after they had laboured fix, they avowed themselves Worshippers of that only God, who created the Heaven and the Earth, and having spent fix Days in that great Work, rested the seventh Day; and therefore commanded this suitable Distribution of their Time, as a Badge that their religious Service was appropriated to him alone. And by fanctifying that seventh Day, namely Sam turday, they professed themselves Servants of Jebevab their God, in a Relation and Respect peculiar and proper to themselves, viz. that they were Servants of that God who redeemed Ifrael out of Deut. » the Land of Egypt, and out of the House of Bondage. 15. For upon the Morning-watch of that very Day they kept for their Sabbath, he overwhelmed Phiraob, and all his Hoft, in the Red Sea, and saved Israel that Day out of the Hand of the Egyptians. Q. How far, and in what Manner, doth the Oba fervation bind Christians ? A. The Christian, as well as the Few, after six Days spent in his own Works, is to fanctify the Seventh, that he may profefs himself thereby a Servant |