which we have heard and known, and such as our fathers have told us: we will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, &c. that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children, that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, &c. -Ps. lxxviii. 2-8. Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.-Ps. cxxvii. 3-5. cxxviii. 3. Gen. iv. 1.25. xv. 2,3. xxv. 21. xxx. 22-24. 1 Sam. i. 5, 6. 10,11. Luke i. 24, 25. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.-Prov. i. 8. iv. 1, &c. vi. 20, A wise son maketh a glad father but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.-Prov. x. 1. xvii. 25. A good man leaveth an inheritance to his childrens' children, &c. He that spareth his rod, hateth his son : but he that loveth him, chasteneth him betimes.-Prov. xiii. 22. 24. Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.-Prov. xix. 18. Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.-Prov. xx. 20. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.-Prov. xxii. 6. 15. son, and he shall give thee rest, &c. -Prov. xxix. 15. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. -Prov. xxx. 17. The sons of Jonadab commended by God himself for their obedience to their father's commands, and rewarded.-Jer. xxxv. 5-10. 16. 19. Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive.-Jer. xlix. 11. In thee have they set light by father and mother.-Ezek. xxii. 7. A son honoureth his father.-Mal. i. 6. He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.Mal. iv. 6. I am come to set a man at variance against his father, &c. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me.-Matt. x. 35. 37. God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, &c.— Matt. xv. 4—6. Jesus went down with his parents, &c. and was subject unto them.Luke ii. 51. For the children ought not to lay for the parents, but the parents for the children.-2 Cor. xii. 14. up Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right honour thy father, &c. And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.-Eph. vi. 1—4. Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord: fathers, provoke not your children, lest they be discouraged,— Col. iii. 20, 21. One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity.-1 Tim. iii. 4. If any widow have children, &c. let them learn to shew piety at home, R and to requite their parents: for that is good and acceptable before God, &c. If any provide not for his own house, &c. If any man or woman that believeth, have widows, let them relieve them, &c.-1 Tim. v. 4. 8. 16. Perilous times shall come, &c. Men shall be disobedient to parents, &c. without natural affection.-2 Tim. iii. 1-3. Teach the young women, &c. to love their children.-Titus ii. 4. SECT. III. Masters to their Servants, and Servants to their Masters. HAGAR despised her mistress. When Sarah dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Gen. xvi. 4. 6-9. See the faithfulness and industry of Abraham's servant, in the business of fetching a wife for his master's son.-Gen. xxiv. With all my power I have served your father, and your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times.-Gen. xxxi. 6, 7. Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant, poor and needy, of thy brethren, or of thy strangers, &c. At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down upon it for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon it.-Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. Levit. xix. 13. : If I did despise the cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when they contended with me: what then shall I do, when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb, make him? And did not one fashion us in the womb? Job xxxi. 13-15. As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord, &c.-Ps. cxxiii. 2, &c. The king's favour is toward a wise servant, &c.-Prov. xiv. 35. A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, &c.-Prov. xvii. 2. Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, &c.-Prov. xxx. 10. Woe unto him, &c. that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work.Jer. xxii. 13. A servant honoureth his master, &c. If I be a master, where is my fear?-Mal. i. 6. I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against those that oppress (or defraud) the hireling in his wages, &c.-Mal. iii. 5. The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. -Matt. x. 24. The parable of the unjust steward. Which of you, having a servant plowing, or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat; and will not rather say unto him, Make ready, wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, &c. and afterward thou shalt eat and drink. Doth he thank that servant? &c. I trow not.-Luke xvii. 7—10. : Art thou called being a servant? care not for it but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman, &c. Let every man wherein he is called, therein abide with God.-1 Cor. vii. 21, 22. 24. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with eye-service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ, &c. from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord, and not to men, &c. And ye, masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing (or moderating) threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven: neither is there respect of persons. with him.-Eph. vi. 5-9. Col. iii. 22-24. Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal: knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.-Col. iv. 1. Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren: but rather do service, because they are faithful (or believing) and beloved partakers of the benefit: these things teach and exhort. If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, &c. he is proud, knowing nothing, &c.-1 Tim. vi. 1-4. Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again (or gainsaying): not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.-Titus ii. 9, 10. Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries, &c. Behold, the hire of the labourers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord. James v. 1. 4. : Servants, be subject to your mas ters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when ye be buffetted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even here unto were ye called.-1 Pet. ii. 18-21. SECT. IV. Magistrates to Subjects, and Subjects to Magistrates. See Magistrates and Magistracy at large. CHAP. XVII. BELIEVERS, THEIR DUTY TOWARD ALL MEN, THOSE WHO ARE WITHOUT, UNBELIEVERS, ENEMIES. SECT. I. In General. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless, &c.-Exod. xxii. 21, 22. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling-block (or offence) before the blind, &c.-Levit. xix. 13,14. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, &c. Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers, &c.-Deut. x. 18, 19. Job xxxi. 32. Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? &c. he that doeth no evil to his neighbour.-Ps. xv. 1. 3. Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother, and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.-Zech. vii. 9, 10. viii. 16, 17. Prov. iii. 29. Isa. lviii. 6, 7. : Give not that which is holy unto the dogs: neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rent you. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.— Matt. vii. 6. 12. Luke vi. 31. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye there fore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.-Matt. x. 16. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward men, Acts xxiv. 16. Recompense to no man evil for evil: provide things honest in the sight of all men.-Rom. xii. 17. Levit. is good, both among yourselves, and xix. 18. to all men.-1 Thess. v. 14, 15. Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law, &c. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour. Rom. xiii. 7-10. Give none offence, neither to the Jews nor to the Gentiles, &c. even as I please all men in all things, not seek ing mine own profit.-1 Cor. x. 32,33. Charity thinketh no evil.-1 Cor. xiii. 5. Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.-2 Cor. viii. 21. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others, &c. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless (or sincere) the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine (or shine ye) as lights in the world.-Phil. ii. 4. 14, 15. Let your moderation be known unto all men: the Lord is at hand.Phil. iv. 5. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, &c. Let your speech be always with grace, &c. that ye may know how to answer every man.— Col. iv. 5, 6. The Lord make you to increase and abound in love, &c. toward all men. -1 Thess. iii. 12. Eph. v. 2. That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, &c. That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing (or of no man).1 Thess. iv. 11, 12. We exhort you, brethren, &c. be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man but ever follow that which That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, charity, patience. The aged women likewise, &c. In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works, &c. sound speech that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.-Titus ii. 2, 3. 6-8. Put them in mind, &c. to be ready to every good work, &c. To be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men for we, &c. -Titus iii. 1-3. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and envies, and all evil speakings, &c. abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul; having your conversation honest amongst the Gentiles, that whereas they (or wherein they) speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, &c. Honour (or esteem) all men.-1 Pet. ii. 1. 11, 12. 15. 17. Job xvii. 5. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience; that whereas they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ, &c.-1 Pet. iii. 15-17. SECT. II. In particular: not to judge them, or speak evil of them. THOU givest thy mouth to evil, &c. thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, &c. thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself, &c.-Ps. 1. 19—21. Judge not, that ye be not judged : for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.-Matt. vii. 1, 2. Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come.-1 Cor. iv. 5. Charity, &c. thinketh no evil.1 Cor. xiii. 5. Put them in mind to speak evil of no man, &c. for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient. -Titus iii. 1-3. Speak not evil one of another, &c. who art thou who judgest another?James iv. 11, 12. Wherefore laying aside, &c. all evil speakings.-1 Pet. ii. 1. SECT. III. Be just, righteous, true, and faithful to and with them, in all things of Trust and Dealing. LABAN's unjust dealing with Jacob. -Gen. xxxi. 38, &c. That which is altogether just (or justice) shalt thou follow, that thou, &c.-Deut. xvi. 20. Ye shall not, &c. deal falsely, neither lie one to another. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him, &c. ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meteyard, in weight, or in measure: just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have: I am the Lord your God.-Levit. xix. 11. 13.35,36. Jobxvii. 5. Levit. xxv. 17. If thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another.-Levit. xxv. 14. Thou shalt not have in thy house divers measures, a great and a small. -Deut. xxv. 14. Ziba, by his politic dealings, and lie to David, rendered Mephibosheth obnoxious to David's displeasure, and thereby obtained all his possessions. -2 Sam. xvi. 1—4. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness.-Ps. xi. 7. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight.-Prov. xi. 1. xvi. 11. Micah vi. 10, 11. Divers weights (or a stone and a stone) and divers measures (or an ephah and an ephah), both of them : God complained against Israel: none calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth.-Isa. lix. 4. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong: that useth his neighbour's service without wages, &c.-Jer. xxii. 13. In thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger. Ezek. xxii. 7. 29. Daniel was faithful in his trust, neither was there any error or fault found in him.—Dan. vi. 4, 5. What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly? &c.-Micah vi. 8. The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity.Zeph. iii. 5. Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother?—Mal. ii. 10. John said unto the Publicans, Exact no more than that which is appointed you, &c. And to the soldiers he said, Do violence to no man, &c. be content with your wages, &c.— Luke iii. 13, 14. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much, &c.— Luke xvi. 10-12. Render therefore to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute, &c. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another.-Rom. xiii. 7, 8. |