Q. 12. What is prayer?

A. It is a suppliant religious address, and implies indigence, desire, and expectation in the person offering it. (j)

Q. 13. What are the obligations to prayer?

A. The reasonableness of the duty; the personal good derived from the exercise; the efficacy of prayer in procuring the blessings desired; and the command of God. It is, therefore, great folly and sin to neglect this important and imperious duty. (k)

Q. 14. To whom should prayer be offered?

A. To God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Prayer may not be offered to the Virgin Mary, nor to any of the canonized saints, nor to angels, nor to any created being whatever, for this would be idolatry; nor may prayer be offered to God through them as mediators. (1)

Q. 15. In whose name should prayer be offered? A. In the name of Christ. He alone is the medium of intercourse with Heaven. Since the fall, there is no way of access to the throne of mercy, but by a Mediator. (m)

which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

(3) Luke xviii. 13. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

(k) Luke xi. 9. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened

unto you.

(4) Luke xi. 2. And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.-2 Cor: xiii. 14. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all.Acts vii. 59. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Col. ii. 18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.-Rev. xix. 10. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

(m) 1 Tim. ii. 5. For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.-Eph. ii. 18. For

Q. 16. In what manner should God be addressed in prayer?

A. With understanding, solemnity, and reverence, with deep sense of sinfulness and unworthiness, with love, penitence, humility, faith, gratitude, perseverance, and submission to the will of God. (n)

Q. 17. For whom is prayer to be offered?

A. For ourselves, our friends and enemies, for rulers and ruled, ministers and people, Zion and the world, for all who now live, and shall hereafter live; but not for the dead, nor for sinners in hell, nor for saints in heaven, nor for those who have committed the unpardonable sin. (0)

Q. 18. For what are prayers to be offered?

A. For those things which are lawful in themselves, and which tend to advance the glory of God,

through him we both have an access by one spirit unto the Father.

(n) Ps. xlvii. 7. For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding.-Heb. xii. 28. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.-Luke xviii. 13. God be merciful to me a sinner.— John iv. 24. God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth.-Heb. xi. 6. But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Eph. vi. 13. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.-Luke xxii. 42. Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.

(0) 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. I exhort, therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. -Matt. v. 44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.-P's. cxxii. 6. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.-Rev. xxii. 11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.-1 John v. 16. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: 1 do not say that he shall pray for it.

the welfare of the Church and the world, our own good, and the good of others.

Q. 19. In what do the devotional services of heaven differ from those of earth?

A. They differ in these respects: the devotional services of heaven are perfectly pure and holy, and consist chiefly of praise and thanksgiving.

Q. 20. May the habitual neglect of prayer consist with the Christian character?

A. It is difficult to conceive that it may. Prayer is justly denominated the breath of the Christian. (p)

CHAPTER XXVII.

Sabbath.

Q. 1. What is meant by the Sabbath?

A. A day of rest from secular pursuits and worldly pleasures, in devotement to holy services. Q. 2. Is the Sabbath a moral or positive institution?

A. In a sense it is both. The separation of a portion of time to the worship of God is dictated by the light of nature, and, therefore, of moral obligation. But the quantity of time, as well as the particular time, to be separated to the worship of God, is known only by Divine revelation, and is, therefore, of positive obligation.

Q. 3. What portion of time has God consecrated to be kept holy?

A. A seventh part-one day in seven. (a) Q. 4. Why should the Sabbath be observed as a holy day?

(p) Acts ix. 11. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus; for behold he prayeth.

(a) Exod. xx. 8-10. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, 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 cattle, nor thy stran ger that is within thy gates.

A. 1. Because it furnishes an opportunity for rest, serious reading and meditation, the religious education of children, Christian intercourse, and public social worship; 2. Because the reason and fitness of things require it; 3. and, Because God has established it to be perpetually kept as sacred to His service. (b) Q. 5. When was the Sabbath at first instituted? A. Immediately upon the close of the creation. Q. 6. What is the evidence of this?

A. 1. The fact, that the Scriptures represent it as then instituted; 2. The design of the institution, which is the commemoration of the Divine perfections, in the work of creation, and the preparation of man for the kingdom of heaven; and, 3. The fact that time was then, and onward, distinguished by weeks of seven days. (c)

Q. 7.

Was the command to keep the Sabbath renewed to the children of Israel?

A. It was, when God gave to them from mount Sinai the ten commandments. (d)

Q. 8. Is the sabbatical institution in force under the Christian dispensation?

A. It is. As evidence of this, we have, in addition to the fourth commandment of the decalogue, which is perpetually binding upon all men, wheresoever it is made known, the practice of the Apostles, of Him who is Lord of the Sabbath, and the prac

(b) Gen. ii. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.-Exod. xx. 8. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

(c) Gen. ii. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because 'that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.-Exod. xx. 11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. The phrase. 'in process of time, or more properly rendered, at the end of days, when Cain and Abel are said to have brought their offering to the Lord, most probably meant the Sabbath. A week was a well known period of time in the days of Jacob and Laban. Noah observed periods of seven days.

(d) Exod xx. 8. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy.

1

tice of the primitive Christians. The Sabbath, then, is a standing ordinance, and is, consequently, not abolished under the Christian dispensation; but continues in full force. (e)

Q. 9. Which day of the week was the Jewish Sabbath?

A. It was the seventh day of the week.

Q. 10. How long did the Jewish Sabbath continue? A. Till Christ's resurrection from the dead; when Christ came and broke down the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, and restored many things to their primitive state. The Jewish Sabbath, which was typical of the rest that He procured for His Church, was altered to the first day of the week. The Jewish Sabbath was abolished when the Mosaic dispensation ceased, and the things typified by it took place.

Q. 11. What is the evidence that the first day of the week is to be kept as the Sabbath, under the Christian dispensation.

A. 1. The fact, that Christ arose from the dead on this day; and, 2. The fact, that the Apostles and primitive Christians observed the first day of the week as the Sabbath. But this they would not have done, had it not met the approbation of the Lord of the Sabbath; and His will is a law, and, consequently, their example has all the force which can be attached to a precept or command. (ƒ) *

See (d) and (f.)

(f) Mark ii. 28. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.-The first day of the week is called the Lord's day in distinction from all other days, because it is designed to commemorate the resurrection of Christ.--Rev. i. 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.-On this day the Lord's Supper was administered, and the word of God was preached.-Acts xx. 7. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them.-It was the

*It is to be remembered, that the fourth commandment specifies no particular day to be kept as the Sabbath, only one in seven. The purport of the command is, Six days may be employed in labor, and the seventh, or one in seven, is to be observed as a day of sacred Elsewhere we are to look for the specification of the day of

rest.

the Sabbath.