Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter XXI

Of Religious Worship, and the Sabbath Day

1
The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.405 But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.406
405
Romans 1:20Acts 17:24Psalm 119:68Jeremiah 10:7Psalm 31:23Psalm 18:3Romans 10:12Psalm 62:8Joshua 24:14Mark 12:33
406
Deuteronomy 12:32Matthew 15:9Acts 17:25Matthew 4:9-10Deuteronomy 4:15-20Exodus 20:4-6Colossians 2:23
2
Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to Him alone;407 not to angels, saints, or any other creature:408 and since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.409
407
Matthew 4:10John 5:232 Corinthians 13:14
408
Colossians 2:18Romans 1:25
409
John 14:61 Timothy 2:5Ephesians 2:18Colossians 3:17
3
Prayer, with thanksgiving, being one special part of religious worship,410 is by God required of all men:411 and that it may be accepted, it is to be made in the name of the Son,412 by the help of His Spirit,413 according to His will,414 with understanding, reverence, humility, fervency, faith, love, and perseverance;415 and, if vocal, in a known tongue.416
410
Philippians 4:6
411
Psalm 65:2
412
John 14:13-141 Peter 2:5
413
Romans 8:26
414
1 John 5:14
415
Psalm 47:7Ecclesiastes 5:1-2Hebrews 12:28Genesis 18:27James 5:16James 1:6-7Mark 11:24Matthew 6:12Matthew 6:14-15Colossians 4:2Ephesians 6:18
416
1 Corinthians 14:14
4
Prayer is to be made for things lawful;417 and for all sorts of men living, or that shall live hereafter:418 but not for the dead,419 nor for those of whom it may be known that they have sinned the sin unto death.420
417
1 John 5:14
418
1 Timothy 2:1-2John 17:202 Samuel 7:29Ruth 4:12
419
2 Samuel 12:21-23Luke 16:25-26Revelation 14:13
420
1 John 5:16
5
The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear,421 the sound preaching422 and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith and reverence;423 singing of psalms with grace in the heart;424 as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God:425 beside religious oaths,426 vows,427 solemn fastings,428 and thanksgivings, upon special occasions,429 which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in a holy and religious manner.430
421
Acts 15:21Revelation 1:3
422
2 Timothy 4:2
423
James 1:22Acts 10:33Matthew 13:19Hebrews 4:2Isaiah 66:2
424
Colossians 3:16Ephesians 5:19James 5:13
425
Matthew 28:191 Corinthians 11:23-29Acts 2:42
426
Deuteronomy 6:13Nehemiah 10:29
427
Isaiah 19:21Ecclesiastes 5:4-5
428
Joel 2:12Esther 4:16Matthew 9:151 Corinthians 7:5
429
Psalm 107Esther 9:22
430
Hebrews 12:28
6
Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now under the Gospel either tied unto, or made more acceptable by any place in which it is performed, or towards which it is directed:431 but God is to be worshipped everywhere,432 in spirit and truth;433 as in private families434 daily,435 and in secret each one by himself;436 so, more solemnly, in the public assemblies, which are not carelessly or wilfully to be neglected, or forsaken, when God, by His Word or providence, calls thereunto.437
431
John 4:21
432
Malachi 1:111 Timothy 2:8
433
John 4:23-24
434
Jeremiah 10:25Deuteronomy 6:6-7Job 1:52 Samuel 6:182 Samuel 6:201 Peter 3:7Acts 10:2
435
Matthew 6:11
436
Matthew 6:6Ephesians 6:18
437
Isaiah 56:6-7Hebrews 10:25Proverbs 1:20-21Proverbs 1:24Proverbs 8:34Acts 13:42Luke 4:16Acts 2:42
7
As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment, binding all men, in all ages, He hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him:438 which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week,439 which, in Scripture, is called the Lord's Day,440 and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.441
438
Exodus 20:8Exodus 20:10-11Isaiah 56:2Isaiah 56:4Isaiah 56:6-7
439
Genesis 2:2-31 Corinthians 16:1-2Acts 20:7
440
Revelation 1:10
441
Exodus 20:8Exodus 20:10Matthew 5:17-18
8
This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations,442 but also are taken up the whole time in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.443
442
Exodus 20:8Exodus 16:23Exodus 16:25-26Exodus 16:29-30Exodus 31:15-17Isaiah 58:13Nehemiah 13:15-19Nehemiah 13:21-22
443
Isaiah 58:13Matthew 12:1-13

See also

Westminster Shorter CatechismQ45Which is the first commandment?Q46What is required in the first commandment?Q47What is forbidden in the first commandment?Q48What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?Q49Which is the second commandment?Q50What is required in the second commandment?Q51What is forbidden in the second commandment?Q52What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?Q57Which is the fourth commandment?Q58What is required in the fourth commandment?Q59Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?Q60How is the sabbath to be sanctified?Q61What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?Q62What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
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