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Q59 Q61

Q60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

See also in WCF: 21.6, 21.7, 21.8 See also in WLC: Q100, Q117 Compare: The Ten Commandments Expounded
Ex. 20:8,10
[8] “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [10] but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
Ex. 16:25-28
[25] Moses said, “Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field. [26] Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none.” [27] On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. [28] And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?
Neh. 13:15-19,21-22
[15] In those days I saw in Judah people treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys, and also wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them on the day when they sold food. [16] Tyrians also, who lived in the city, brought in fish and all kinds of goods and sold them on the Sabbath to the people of Judah, in Jerusalem itself! [17] Then I confronted the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the Sabbath day? [18] Did not your fathers act in this way, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Now you are bringing more wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” [19] As soon as it began to grow dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed some of my servants at the gates, that no load might be brought in on the Sabbath day. [21] But I warned them and said to them, “Why do you lodge outside the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. [22] Then I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember this also in my favor, O my God, and spare me according to the greatness of your steadfast love.
Luke 4:16
[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.
Acts 20:7
[7] On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.
Ps. 92
[1] It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; [2] to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night, [3] to the music of the lute and the harp, to the melody of the lyre. [4] For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy. [5] How great are your works, O LORD! Your thoughts are very deep! [6] The stupid man cannot know; the fool cannot understand this: [7] that though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever; [8] but you, O LORD, are on high forever. [9] For behold, your enemies, O LORD, for behold, your enemies shall perish; all evildoers shall be scattered. [10] But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. [11] My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies; my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants. [12] The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. [13] They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. [14] They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, [15] to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Isa. 66:23
[23] From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the LORD.
Matt. 12:1-13
[1] At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry, and they began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. [2] But when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” [3] He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him: [4] how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests? [5] Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? [6] I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. [7] And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless. [8] For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” [9] He went on from there and entered their synagogue. [10] And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” — so that they might accuse him. [11] He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” [13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other.

Q1. In what sense is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. As it is dedicated by God, for man's sake and use that he may keep it holy to God.

Q2. In what manner should he keep it holy to God?

A. By a holy resting, and by holy exercises.

Q3. What should we rest from on the Sabbath?

A. Even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; or, which is the same thing, from all servile work, Neh. 13:15-23.

Q4. What is it that makes a work servile?

A. If it is done for our worldly gain, profit, and livelihood; or if, by prudent management, it might have been done the week before; or, if it be of such a kind as may be delayed till after the Sabbath, Ex. 34:21 - "Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh thou shalt rest: in shearing time,75 and in harvest thou shalt rest."

Q5. Why does God enjoin rest on the Sabbath so peremptorily and particularly, in the time of ploughing and harvest?

A. Because in these seasons men are most keenly set upon their labour; and may be in the greatest hazard of grudging the time of the Sabbath for rest.

Q6. If the weather is unseasonable through the week, do not reaping and ingathering, in that case become works of necessity on the Sabbath?

A. By no means; because any unseasonableness of the weather that may happen, being common and general, proceeds only from the course of God's ordinary providence, which we ought not to distrust, in regard of his promise, that, "While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest - shall not cease," Gen. 8:22.

Q7. If a field of corn is in hazard of being carried away by the unexpected inundation of a river, is it lawful to endeavour the preservation of them upon the Sabbath?

A. Yes: because the dispensation is extraordinary; the case not common nor general; and the damage likewise in an ordinary way, irrecoverable.

Q8. Are Christians, under the New Testament, obliged to as strict an abstinence from worldly labour, as the Jews were under the Old?

A. Yes, surely; for moral duties being of unchangeable obligation, Christians must be bound to as strict a performance of them now, as the Jews were then, Psalm 19:9.

Q9. Were not the Jews prohibited to dress meat on the Sabbath? Ex. 16:23.

A. They were prohibited such servile work as was requisite in preparing manna for food: such as the grinding of it in mills, beating it in mortars, and baking it in pans, Num. 11:8; but not all dressing of meat, for the comfortable nourishment of their bodies, any more than we.

Q10. How does it appear that they were allowed to dress meat on the Sabbath, for the comfortable nourishment of their bodies?

A. From our Lord's being present at a meal on the Sabbath day, to which there were several guests bidden, and consequently meat behoved to be prepared and dressed for their entertainment, Luke 14:1, 7.

Q11. Were not the Jews forbidden to kindle fire in their habitations upon the Sabbath day? Ex. 35:3.

A. Yes, for any servile work, though it were even making materials for the tabernacle, (which is the work spoken of through the following part of that chapter;) but they were not forbidden to kindle fires for works of necessity or mercy, any more than Christians are.

Q12. Were they not ordered to abide every man in his place, and not to go out of his place on the seventh day? Ex. 16:29.

A. The prohibition only respects their going abroad about the unnecessary and servile work of gathering manna upon the Sabbath; otherwise, they were allowed to go out about works of necessity and mercy: and it appears from Acts 1:12, that they were allowed to travel a Sabbath-day's journey.

Q13. What was a Sabbath-day's journey?

A. Whatever was the tradition of the Pharisees about it, it appears to have been the distance of their respective dwellings, from the place where they ordinarily attended public ordinances, 2 Kings 4:23.

Q14. Are we not to rest on the Lord's day from lawful recreations, as well as from lawful worldly employments?

A. Yes; because we are expressly required, on this holy day, to abstain from doing our own ways, finding our own pleasure, and speaking our own words, Isaiah 58:13.

Q15. What are these recreations that are lawful on other days?

A. Innocent pastimes, visiting friends, walking in the fields talking of the news or common affairs, and the like.

Q16. Why are these recreations unlawful on the Lord's day?

A. Because they tend to divert the mind from the duties of the Sabbath, as much as, if not more than, worldly employments.

Q17. Is not the Sabbath a festival, or feast day; and consequently may not our conversation on it be cheerful and diverting?

A. It is, indeed, properly a feast day, but of a spiritual, not of a carnal nature: we may refresh our bodies moderately, but not sumptuously; and our conversation ought to turn wholly upon spiritual and heavenly subjects, or such as have that tendency, after the example of our Lord, Luke 14:1-25.

Q18. What should be the principal end of our six days' labour?

A. That it be so managed as in no way to discompose or unfit us for a holy resting on the Sabbath, or meeting with God on his own day.

Q19. What is a holy resting?

A. Not only an abstaining from our own work, or labour, but an entering by faith (in the use of appointed means,) into the presence and enjoyment of God in Christ, as the only rest of our souls, Heb. 4:3; that having no work of our own to mind or do, we may be wholly taken up with the works of God.

Q20. Why called a holy resting?

A. Because we should rest from worldly labour, in order to be employed in the holy exercises, which the Lord requires on this day; otherwise, as to bare cessation, our cattle rest from outward labour as well as we.

Q21. What are the holy EXERCISES in which we ought to be employed on the Lord's day?

A. In the public and private exercises of God's worship.

Q22. What are the public exercises of God's worship in which we should be employed?

A. Hearing the word preached, Rom. 10:17; joining in public prayers and praises, Luke 24:53; and partaking of the sacraments, Acts 20:7.

Q23. What is included under the private exercises of God's worship?

A. Family and secret duties.

Q24. What are the duties incumbent on us in a family capacity on the Lord's day?

A. Family worship, and family catechising, together with Christian conference, as there is occasion, Lev. 23:3. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your DWELLINGS, or private families; and therefore God is to he worshipped in them on that day.

Q25. What is family worship?

A. It is the daily joining of all that are united in a domestic relation, or who are dwelling together in the same house and family, in singing God's praises, Acts 2:47 reading his word, Deut. 6:7, and praying to him, Jer. 10:25.

Q26. How do you prove family worship to be a duty daily incumbent upon those who have families?

A. From scripture precept, and from scripture example.

Q27. How is family worship evinced from scripture precept?

A. Besides that this commandment enjoins every master of a family to sanctify the Sabbath within his gates, that is, to worship God in his family; there are also other scriptures, inculcating the same thing, by necessary consequence; such as, Eph. 6:18 - "Praying always, with ALL prayer and supplication;" 1 Tim. 2:8 - "I will therefore that men pray EVERY WHERE. "If with all prayer, then surely with family prayer; if EVERY WHERE, then certainly in our families.

Q28. What are the examples of family worship recorded in scripture for our imitation?

A. Among others, there are the examples of Abraham, Gen. 18:19; of Joshua, chap. 24:15 - "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord;" of David, 2 Sam. 6:20; or Cornelius, Acts 10:2; and especially the example of our blessed Lord, whom we find singing psalms, Matt. 26:30, and praying with his disciples, who were his family, Luke 9:18.

Q29. What should be the subject matter of family catechising?

A. What they have been hearing through the day, together with the principles of our religion, as laid out in the Shorter Catechism, with the helps that are published upon the same, which masters of families ought to use for their assistance in this work.

Q30. What are the proper seasons of Christian conference on the Sabbath?

A. At meals, and in the interval of duties: our speech should he always, but especially on the Lord's day, "seasoned with salt," Col. 4:6.

Q31. What are the secret duties in which we ought to he exercised on the Lord's day?

A. Secret prayer, reading the scriptures, and other soul-edifying books, meditation upon divine subjects, and self-examination.

Q32. With what frame and disposition of soul should we engage in the public and private exercises of God's worship?

A. With a spiritual frame and disposition, Rev. 1:10 - "I was IN THE SPIRIT on the Lord's day."

Q33. What is it to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day?

A. It is not only to have the actual inhabitation of the Spirit, which is the privilege of believers "every day," Ezek. 36:27; but to have the influences and operations of the Spirit "more liberally let out," Luke 4:31, 32, and his graces in "more lively exercise," than at other times, Acts 2:41.

Q34. What moral argument have we from the ceremonial law, for offering a greater plenty of spiritual sacrifices to God on the Sabbath, than upon other days?

A. The daily sacrifice, or continual burnt offering, was to be doubled on the Sabbath, Num. 28:9; intimating, that they were bound to double their devotions on that day, which was consecrated to God to be spent in his service.

Q35. How much of the Sabbath is to be spent in the public and private exercises of God's worship?

A. The WHOLE of it, from the ordinary time of rising on other days, to the ordinary time of going to rest; "except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy."

Q36. What is to be understood by works of necessity?

A. Such as could not be foreseen, nor provided against the day before, nor delayed till the day after the Sabbath.

Q37. What instances may be given of such works of necessity on the Lord's day?

A. Flying from, and defending ourselves against an enemy; quenching of fire, accidentally or wilfully kindled; standing by the helm, or working a ship at sea, (provided they do not weigh anchor, nor hoist sail from harbours or firths, on the Lord's day,) and the like.

Q38. What are the works of mercy which may be done on the Sabbath?

A. The moderate refreshment of our bodies, Luke 6:1; visiting the sick, preparing and administering remedies to them, Luke 13:16; feeding our cattle, ver. 15; and preserving their lives, if in danger, chap, 14:5; and making collections for the poor, 1 Cor. 16:2.

Q39. What cautions are requisite about works of necessity and mercy?

A. That these works be real, and not pretended; that we spend as little time about them as possible; and that we endeavour to attain a holy frame of spirit while about them.

Q40. How does it appear that works of necessity and mercy are lawful on the Lord's day?

A. Because, though God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day, yet he did not rest on it from preserving what he had made.

Q41. "Why is the charge of keeping the Sabbath more especially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?"

A. "Because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge: and because they are prone oftentimes to hinder them by employments of their own."76

Q42. Ought not magistrates to punish those who are guilty of the open and presumptuous breach of the Sabbath?

A. Undoubtedly they should; and they have the example of Nehemiah for a precedent, worthy of their imitation in this matter, chap. 13:21.

Q43. What is the most effectual way for the civil magistrate to suppress Sabbath profanation?

A. To be impartial in the execution of the laws against Sabbath breaking, especially upon those who are of a more eminent rank and station, because they ought to be exemplary to others, Neh. 13:17 - "Then I contended with the NOBLES of Judah; and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?"

Q44. "Why is the word REMEMBER set in the beginning of the Fourth Commandment?"

A. "Partly, because we are very ready to forget it; and partly, because in keeping it, we are helped better to keep all the rest of the commandments."77

Q61. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment forbids the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.

Q1. Must we rest on the sabbath day?

A. Yes: Six days may work be done, but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, Exod 31:15.

Q2. Must we rest from worldly employments?

A. Yes: Ye shall hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein, Jer. 17:24.

Q3. And from recreations?

A. Yes: Not finding thine own pleasure, Isa. 58:13.

Q4. Is this to signify our being dead to this world?

A. Yes: For he that is entered into his rest has ceased from his own works, Heb. 4:10.

Q5. And to awaken us to think of leaving it?

A. Yes: For here we have no continuing city, Heb. 13:14.

Q6. Must this rest be dedicated to God?

A. Yes: It is a holy day, a sabbath of rest to the Lord, Exod. 35:2.

Q7. Must we spend time on that day in the public exercises of God's worship?

A. Yes: For it is a holy convocation, Lev. 23:3.

Q8. Must we do so every sabbath, as we have opportunity?

A. Yes: From one sabbath to another shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord, Isa. 66:23.

Q9. And must we not absent ourselves from public worship?

A. No: Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together, Heb. 10:25.

Q10. Must we spend time on that day in the private exercises of religion?

A. Yes: It is the sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings, Lev. 23:3.

Q11. Did the disciples of Christ thus spend the first Lord's day?

A. Yes: For on the first day of the week the disciples were assembled, John 20:19.

Q12. Must we prepare for the sabbath day beforehand?

A. Yes: It was the preparation, and the sabbath drew on, Luke 23:54.

Q13. Must the sabbath be a day of holy joy?

A. Yes: We will rejoice and be glad in it, Ps. 118:24.

Q14. Must it be a day of praise?

A. Yes: The psalm for the sabbath day begins, It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord, Ps. 92:1.

Q15. Must we be spiritual in the duties of the day?

A. Yes: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, Rev. 1:10.

Q16. And must we take pleasure in them?

A. Yes: Call the Sabbath a delight, Isa. 58:13.

Q17. Are works of mercy and charity proper for a sabbath day?

A. Yes: Ought not this woman to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day, Luke 13:16.

Q18. And may works of necessity be done on that day?

A. Yes: Do not you on the sabbath lead your ox, or your ass, to watering, Luke 13:15.

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Q59: Which day of the seven hath God appointed … Q61: What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

The Ten Commandments

The moral law and what God requires of man

Q39. What is the duty which God requireth of man?

A. The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.

Q40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?

A. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law.

Q41. Wherein is the moral law summarily comprehended?

A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.

Q42. What is the sum of the ten commandments?

A. The sum of the ten commandments is, To love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.

Q43. What is the preface to the ten commandments?

A. The preface to the ten commandments is in these words, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Q44. What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us?

A. The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us, That because God is the Lord, and our God, and Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments.

Q45. Which is the first commandment?

A. The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Q46. What is required in the first commandment?

A. The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly.

Q47. What is forbidden in the first commandment?

A. The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to him alone.

Q48. What are we specially taught by these words, 'before me', in the first commandment?

A. These words, before me, in the first commandment teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.

Q49. Which is the second commandment?

A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Q50. What is required in the second commandment?

A. The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in his Word.

Q51. What is forbidden in the second commandment?

A. The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in his Word.

Q52. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?

A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.

Q53. Which is the third commandment?

A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Q54. What is required in the third commandment?

A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverend use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.

Q55. What is forbidden in the third commandment?

A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.

Q56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?

A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

Q57. Which is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, 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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. 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.

Q58. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.

Q59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?

A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.

Q60. How is the sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

Q61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission or careless performance of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.

Q62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?

A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God's allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath day.

Q63. Which is the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Q64. What is required in the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to everyone in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.

Q65. What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to everyone in their several places and relations.

Q66. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?

A. The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.

Q67. Which is the sixth commandment?

A. The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.

Q68. What is required in the sixth commandment?

A. The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

Q69. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

A. The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbour, unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.

Q70. Which is the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Q71. What is required in the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbour's chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.

Q72. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?

A. The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

Q73. Which is the eighth commandment?

A. The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.

Q74. What is required in the eighth commandment?

A. The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.

Q75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbour's, wealth or outward estate.

Q76. Which is the ninth commandment?

A. The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Q77. What is required in the ninth commandment?

A. The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness bearing.

Q78. What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?

A. The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own, or our neighbour's, good name.

Q79. Which is the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.

Q80. What is required in the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbour, and all that is his.

Q81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

A. The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

Q82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

A. No mere man, since the fall, is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.

Q83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

A. Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

Q84. What doth every sin deserve?

A. Every sin deserveth God's wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.