Didascalia Apostolorum

Historical source scan page 121

DIDASCALIA. 93 that belongs to sport or is foreign to the fear of God. (S. 4- as our Lord also taught us in the Psalm, in David, and saith thus, " Now there- PS- ii- 10 fore understand, ye kings, and be instructed, all ye judges of the earth ; serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before Him with trembling. Attend 11, 12 to discipline, lest the Lord be angry, and ye perish from the way of justice, because His anger is kindled but a little against you ; blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.") But it is therefore required of us that we keep feasts, and that we make our rejoicing with fear and trembling, for a believing Christian ought not to recite the hymns of the heathen, AP- c°n- V. xi. nor to approach those foreign customs, Jnor to1 remember the name of an idol, may this be far from believers ! for the Lord rebuketh in Jeremiah and saith, " They have forsaken Me, and sworn by those that are not gods," Jer. v. 7 (S. + and again He saith, " If Israel will return unto Me, let him return, Jer. iv. i saith the Lord, and if he will take away his abominations from his mouth, and will fear before My face, and will swear as the Lord liveth," and 2 again He saith, " I will take the name of the idols from your mouth." By Zech- *&• 2 sic means of Moses again He saith to them, " They have moved Me to jealousy Deut. with that which is no God, and with their idols they have made Me angry." And in all the Scriptures He speaketh against these things, and not only concerning the idols.) It is not allowed to believers to swear, not by ^plP.on' the sun nor by the moon, for the Lord God hath spoken thus by means of Moses, "My people, if ye see the sun and the moon, be not led astray Deut.iv.i9 by them, nor worship them ; for the Lord hath given them to you for lights upon the earth." (S. + and by means of Jeremiah again He saith, " Learn not according to the ways of the heathen, and be not afraid of Jer. x. 2 the signs of heaven.") And by means of Ezekiel He hath said thus, " And He brought me into the court of the house of the Lord, between the Ezek. viii. 16 porch and the altar, and I saw there men with their loins girt towards the temple of the Lord, and their faces opposite the East, and they were worshipping the sun. And the Lord said unto me, Son of man, is this a IT small thing to the house of Judah to commit these abominations here? and they have filled the land with iniquity. (S. + and they have returned to provoke Me to anger, and they are as mockers. I also will deal in fury ; is mine eye shall not spare, nor will I have pity ; even if they cry in Mine ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them." Ye see, beloved, how severely and bitterly the Lord giveth judgment in His wrath against those who worship the sun or swear by it.) It is therefore unlawful for the believer to swear either by the sun or by any of the signs of heaven (S. -1- or 1 S. and doctrines of assemblies, for it will happen that by means of hymns, he will