Their tongue is as an arrow, &c. | Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord.-Jer. ix. 8, 9. What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? &c. Shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail ? &c. For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, &c. Woe unto thee, &c. Wilt thou not be made clean? &c. Jer. xiii. 21, 22. 27; xiv. 11, 12. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, &c. such as are for death, to death, &c. Who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? who shall bemoan thee? &c. Thou hast forsaken me, saith the Lord.-Jer. xv. 1, 2.5, &c. Ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: therefore will I cast you out of this land, &c.-Jer. xvi. 12, &c. The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; and with a point of a diamond, it is graven upon the tables of their hearts, &c.-Jer. xvii. 1. 23. 27. Return ye, &c. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, &c.-Jer. xviii. 11, 12. 15, &c. The land is full of adulterers: for because of swearing (or cursing) the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up.-Jer. xxiii. 10. 39, 40. As the evil figs, &c. so will I give the king and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt; and I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach, &c. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they be consumed from off the land.-Jer. xxiv. 8-10; xxv. 7—11. Thus saith the Lord, If they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purpose to do unto them, because of the evil of their doings, &c. If ye will not hearken, &c. then will I make this house like Shiloh; and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.-Jer. xxvi. 2-6. God threatened and punished many for prophesying falsely, and for uttering lies to Israel.-Jer. xxviii. 15— 17; xxix. 21. 31, 32. Thus saith the Lord, Thy bruise is incurable, &c. for the multitude of thine iniquity; because thy sins were increased, I have done these things unto thee.-Jer. xxx. 12-15. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel, &c. this city, &c. shall be delivered into the hand, &c.—Jer. xxxii. 32. 36, &c.; fulfilled, xxxix. Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, and to the pestilence, &c. -Jer. xxxiv. 17. This Jerusalem, &c. hath changed my judgments into wickedness, more than the nations, &c. Therefore thus saith the Lord, I, even I, am against thee, &c. therefore the fathers shall eat the sons, &c.-Ezek. v. 5—10. When God had shewed Ezekiel Judah's abominations, he saith unto him, Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eyes shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry, &c. yet will I not hear them. -Ezek. viii. 18; ix. 8—10; vii. 3, 4. 8, 9. But as for them whose heart walketh, &c. I will recompense their way upon their own head. The glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city.-Ezek. xi. 21–23. When the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls, &c.-Ezek. xiv. 13—20. Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness, were Sodom's sins, for which God took her away.-Ezek. xxi. 49, 50. himself from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord. — Hosea v. 5-7; Zech. vii. 11—13. They consider not, &c. now their own doings have beset them about, they, &c. Woe unto them, for they have fled from me; destruction unto them, because they have transgressed, &c. They return, but not to the Most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword, &c.-Hosea vii. 2. 13—16. Thus saith the Lord God, Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you, &c.-Ezek. xx. 3, 4. God reckons up many sins of Jerusalem, and then says, Can thine heart endure? Can thine hands be strong in the days that I shall deal with thee?-Hosea ix. 12. 15. I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it and I will scatter thee, &c.Ezek. xxii. 1—15. Woe to them when I depart from them: for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house; I will love them no more, &c. When the righteous man turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.-Ezek. xxxiii. 12, 13. 18. The heathen shall know, that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me; therefore, &c.Ezek. xxxix. 23, 24. The kings of Babylon punished for their pride, &c.-Dan. iv. 31, 32; v. Let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, &c. lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, &c. and I will not have mercy upon her children, &c.-Hosea ii. 2-5. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? &c. mine heart is turned within me, &c.Hosea xi. 8, 9; vi. 4. They hate him that rebuketh in the gate they abhor him that speaketh uprightly, &c. I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies, &c.-Amos v. 10-12. 21–23. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, &c. that put far away the evil day, &c. that lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, &c. that chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David: that drink wine in bowls, &c. but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; therefore now shall they go captive, &c. I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces. The Lord hath a controversy with the land, because no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God is in the land: by swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood: therefore shall the land mourn, &c. Ephraim is joined to idols:Amos ix. 2, &c. let him alone.-Hosea iv. 1-17. Amos vi. 1.3-8; Isa. v. 11-13,22. Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up, &c. thence will I, &c. They shall cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them; he will even hide his face from them: as they behaved themselves ill in their doings, &c. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity; the heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing.-Mal. i. 14. : and the prophets thereof divine for money; yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord I will be a swift witness against among us? none evil can come upon the sorcerers, and against the adulus: therefore shall Zion for your terers, and against false swearers, and sake be plowed as a field, and Jeru- against those that oppress the hiresalem shall become heaps, &c.-ling in his wages, the widow and the Micah iii. 3-5. 10-12: i. 1—6. fatherless that turn aside the stranGod warned Nineveh of her deso- ger, &c. Ye are gone away from lation for her sins, if she repented mine ordinances, &c. ye are cursed not.-Jonah i. 2; iii. 2-4. with a curse, for ye have robbed me, &c. your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord: yet ye say, What have we spoken so much. against thee? ye have said, It is in vain to serve God, &c.-Mal. iii. 5. 7. 9. 13, 14. Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, &c. for the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel; O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me: for I have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, &c. There are yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, &c. the rich men thereof are full of violence, &c. therefore also will I make thee sick, &c.-Micah vi. 2-4. 1013; Amos ii. 4, &c. Several woes pronounced against persons for divers sins.-Hab. ii. 6. 9. 12. 15. 19: Micah ii. 1, &c. I will punish the princes, and the king's children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel, &c. all those who leap on the threshold, which fill their masters' houses with violence and deceit, &c. I will punish the men that are settled on their lees, and say in their heart, the Lord will not do good, neither will he do evil, &c. and I will bring distress upon men, &c. because they have sinned, &c. He shall make a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. Zeph. i. 8, 9. 12. 17, 18. Is this a time for you to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? &c. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house: therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit, and I called for a drought upon the land. Hag. i. 4. 9-11. Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth and Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.-Mal. iv. 1. Christ pronounceth a woe against Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, for not repenting.-Matt. xi. 21–24; xii. 41, 42. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets : fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias, &c. whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together? &c. and ye would not behold your house is left unto you desolate.-Matt. xxiii. 31-38. Ananias and Sapphira, for their lying to the Holy Ghost, and Herod, for pride, slain.-Acts v. 5. 10; xii. 21-23; xiii. 10, 11. Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, &c. wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves; who changed the truth of God into a lie, &c. for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections, &c. God gave them over to a reprobate mind.-Rom. i. 21, &c. Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?-Rom. ii. 3. We are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, against them which commit such things, &c. who will render to every man according to his deeds.-Rom. ii. 2-6; Gal. vi. 7, 8: Eph. v. 5, 6; Col. iii. 5, 6; Heb. xiii. 4. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep, &c.-1 Cor. xi. 30, 31. The apostle reckons up some of the sins and punishments of Israel; and concludes, Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.-1 Cor. x. 5—11. Now the works of the flesh, &c. adultery, &c. they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.-Gal. v. 19-21; 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Eph. v. 5. If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.-Heb. x. 26, 27. If any shall worship the beast, &c. the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, &c.—Rev. xiv, 9, 10. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, &c. Behold, I come quickly, &c.-Rev. xxii. 11. The great judgments denounced against Babylon, for her great sins and persecutions.-Rev. xviii. See more on the Duty of Obedience in this chapter. SECT. 15-To own and profess the true God and our Lord Jesus Christ boldly before Men; and to wait for Christ's second coming. To own and confess the true God and our Lord Jesus Christ before Men. I. I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.-Job xix. 25. I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed, &c. I am a companion of all them that fear thee.-Ps. cxix. 46. 63; xvi. 2, 3. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth.-Isa. lix. 4. Our God whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king: but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods.-Dan. iii. 17, 18. When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God.-Dan. vi. 10. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven: but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. -Matt. x. 32, 33: Luke xii. 8, 9. A damsel came unto Peter, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest, &c. And again he denied with an oath, saying, I do not know the man, &c. Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.-Matt. xxvi. 69, 70. 72. 74. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.-Mark viii. 38. The parents of the blind man durst not confess Christ, but answered, He is of age, ask him. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews; for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, that he should be put out of the synagogue; therefore said his parents, He is of age, ask him, &c. But the son confessed him. -John ix. 19-23. 30, &c. Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.-John xii. 42, 43. Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.-Acts ii. 36. The God of our fathers hath glorified his Son Jesus, whom ye delivered up, &c. but ye denied the Holy One and Just, &c. and killed the Prince of life, &c.—Acts iii. 13-15. Be it known unto you all, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, &c. even by him doth this man stand before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought by you builders, &c. We cannot but speak, &c.-Acts iv. 10, 11. 20. Did we not straitly command you, that you should not teach in this name? &c. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men: the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom ye slew, &c. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, &c.— Acts v. 28-31. Be it known to you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.-Acts xiii. 38. This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers.Acts xxiv. 14. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the name of the Lord Jesus, &c. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.-Rom. x. 9, 10. As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew (or shew ye) the Lord's death till he come.1 Cor. xi. 26. And many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.-Phil. i. 14. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, &c. that at the name of Jesus, &c. and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil. ii. 9-11. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, &c. I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed.— 2 Tim. i. 8. 12. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.-2 Tim. ii. 12. They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him: being abominable, and disobedient, &c.Titus i. 16. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.-Heb. xiii. 13. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.-1 John iv. 15. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, where Satan's seat is: and |