1689 22.5
1689 London Baptist Confession
22.5. Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
The reading of the Scriptures, Preaching, and hearing the word of God, teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing with grace in our Hearts to the Lord; as also the Administration of Baptism, and the Lords Supper are all parts of Religious worship of God, to be performed in obedience to him, with understanding, faith, reverence, and godly fear; moreover solemn humiliation with fastings; and thanksgiving upon special occasions, ought to be used in an holy and religious manner.
Proof texts
- 1 Timothy 4:13 — [13] Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.
- 2 Timothy 4:2 — [2] preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
- Luke 8:18 — [18] Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
- Colossians 3:16 — [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
- Ephesians 5:19 — [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,
- Matthew 28:19, 20 — [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
- 1 Corinthians 11:26 — [26] For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
- Esther 4:16 — [16] “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”
- Joel 2:12 — [12] “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
- Exodus 15:1-19 — [1] Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. [2] The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. [3] The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name. [4] “Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea, and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea. [5] The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone. [6] Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. [7] In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble. [8] At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap; the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea. [9] The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them. I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’ [10] You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters. [11] “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? [12] You stretched out your right hand; the earth swallowed them. [13] “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode. [14] The peoples have heard; they tremble; pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia. [15] Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed; trembling seizes the leaders of Moab; all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. [16] Terror and dread fall upon them; because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone, till your people, O LORD, pass by, till the people pass by whom you have purchased. [17] You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain, the place, O LORD, which you have made for your abode, the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established. [18] The LORD will reign forever and ever.” [19] For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea.
- Psalms 107 — [1] Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! [2] Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble [3] and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. [4] Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; [5] hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. [6] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [7] He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. [8] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [9] For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. [10] Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, [11] for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. [12] So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help. [13] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [14] He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart. [15] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [16] For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron. [17] Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; [18] they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. [19] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [20] He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. [21] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [22] And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy! [23] Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; [24] they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep. [25] For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. [26] They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; [27] they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end. [28] Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. [29] He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. [30] Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. [31] Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! [32] Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. [33] He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground, [34] a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the evil of its inhabitants. [35] He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water. [36] And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city to live in; [37] they sow fields and plant vineyards and get a fruitful yield. [38] By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their livestock diminish. [39] When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow, [40] he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes; [41] but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks. [42] The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth. [43] Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.
For discussion
- The Assembly cited 1 Timothy 4:13 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
- 11 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
- WCF 21.1 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
- SD 22.1 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?