of heaven and earth and in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord which was conceived by the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontins Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into hell The third day he rose againe from the dead he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead I beleeve in the holy Ghost The holy Catholick Church The Communion of Saints The forgivenesse of sins The Resurrection of the body and the life everlasting Amen Quest What doest thou chiefly learn in these Artieles Ans. First I learn to beleeve in God who made me and all the world Secondly in God the Son who redeemed me and all Mankind Thirdly in God the holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God Quest What else art thou bound to beleeve Ans. All other holy truths as they shall be administred to me especially all the promises of the Gospel to be relyed upon the commands to be obeyed Quest The second condition of the Gospel is to repent and what is that repentance Ans. After a hearty sorrow for and an humble acknowledgement of my sins a total departure from them Quest But are there no sinnes which may consist with this state of Gospel-repentance Ans. Yes Sins committed in ignorance through infirmity or by supprise in a sudden temptation if we be truly humbled for them and constantly strive against them Quest What sinnes are not consistent with that estate Ans. All wilfull and deliberate courses of sinning and a customary continuing in any known wickedness Quest The third condition of the Gospel of Christ being to obey his Commandments among which are accounted the Ten Commandments and what are they 1. THou shalt have no other Gods but me 2 Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likenesse of any thing that is in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my Commandments 3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain For the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his Name in vain 4. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day six dayes shalt thou labour and do all that thou hast to do but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God In it thou shalt do no manner of work thou and thy son and thy daughter thy man-servant and thy maid-servant thy cattell and the stranger that is within thy gates For in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth the sea all that in them is and rested the seventh day and hallowed it 5. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee 6. Thou shalt do no murther 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery 8. Thou shalt not steal 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife nor his servant nor his maid nor his oxe nor his asse nor any thing that is his Quest Are there not other Commandments of Christ besides these which are properly the precepts of the Gospel Ans. Yes many which may be observed by diligent hearing the Gospel preached and reading the books of the New Testament which together with the former Commandments are reduced to these three principal heads Quest What are they Ans. To live Godly Righteously and Soberly The first respects my duties to God The second to men The third to my self Quest what is it to live godly in such duties as respect God Ans. To perform to him all that worship and service that is due unto him publickly and privately Quest What duties art thou bound to perform to him publickly Ans. To joyn with the Congregation in the frequent receiving the holy Sacrament in the publick prayers and in hearing the Word of God read and preached And in all these behaving my self with such reverence of body and mind as befits the presence of so great a Majesty Quest What is that private worship which thou art bound as a Christian to perform to God Ans. To offer up unto him the daily sacrifice of prayer and praise giving him the exercise of the affections of my heart and all other parts and faculties of my soul and body to honour him with my substance in the maintenance of his worship and relieving the poor and to serve him truly all the dayes of my life Quest What is it to live righteously in respect of our duties to men Ans. To yeeld all honour and obedience to the civil Magistrate to submit my self to all my teachers spiritual Pastors and Masters to love honour and succour my Father Mother to be civil and respective to all my betters To invade no mans rights or dues nor to advantage my self by anothers losse and in all things both in word and deed to do to all men as I would they should do unto me Quest What is it to live soberly as to thy self Ans. Not to minde high things above my degree but to behave my self contentedly in my present condition to be temperate in eating and drinking to be chaste in all my desires and actions and to keep my soul and body undefiled members of Christ and as becomes the temple of the holy Ghost Quest For asmuch as no man can do any thing without the grace of God which he must continually call for by diligent prayer What therefore are the words of the Lords Prayer Ans. Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evill For thine is the Kingdom the Power and the Glory for ever and ever Amen Quest But is God to be sought by no prayers but this Ans. Yes Here let the Master enquire into the childes progresse in the preceding Forms or some other of that kinde according to its capacity 2 Tim. 1. 9. Tit. 3. 5. Eph. 2. 5. 8. 9. 2 Cor. 5. 18 Rom. 3. 24. Iohn 10. 28. 1 Ioh. 2. 25 Tit. 1. 2. 1 Thes. 5. 9 1 Tim. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Ezâ—. 18. 31. John 3. 15. Luke 13. 3. 1 Iohn 1. 9. Heb. 5. 9. 1 Thes. 2. 8. Ioh. 5. 47. Acts 8. 37. Ioâ—. 8. 31. 1 Cor. 8. 4.
given them immortal soules so he hath not left them without a meanes of being proportionably blessed nor made them for destruction nor appointed them to wrath Quest What assurance hast thou that those promises do oblige to thy particular interest in them Ans. Because they are general and conditional Quest It is well said For the promises being general thou art secured God hath not passed upon thee an irreversible decree to an hopelesse dissertion and being conditional thou art encouraged to undertake the task Christ hath appointed whatsoever it is But name to me some Texts that signify a proof that they are generall Ans. Saint Paul saith God would have all men come to the knowledge of his truth and be saved S. Peter saith that he would not that any should perish but that all should come to repentance And his oath confirms me in a beleef That he willeth not nor delighteth in the death of a sinner Quest Forasmuch then that all men shall not be saved it followes necessarily that the promises are conditional that is that eternal life shall certainly be given to all them and none but them that perform the conditions What therefore are they Ans. To beleeve to repent and to obey the Commandments of Christ Quest How doth it appear to thee that eternal life is promised on those conditions Ans. For the first Saint John saith He that believeth in him shall not perish but have life everlasting For the second our Saviour saith except we repent we shall all likewise perish and St. Iohn saith If we confess our sins God is just and faithfull to forgive them For the third Saint Pâ—ul saith that Christ became an Authour of salvation to all them that obey him and the reason of the condemnation of the wicked shall be that they obeyed not the Gospel of Jesus Christ CHAP. II. Quest NOw conceiving thou considerest the necesary concernment of these conditions to salvation and that without or besides them there be no other declared conditions by which to hope for mercy It is requisit thou shouldst understand them fully and apart And first what is faith Ans. It is a cleare assent of the understanding to the whole word of God and to all things contained therein especially to the whole doctrine of Christ and in that to all the promises to be relyed upon and the commands to be obeyed Quest God as he is represented to us in his word being the primary object of Faith What art thou to believe concerning God Ans. That there is one only God who is an infinite spiritual essence omnipotent omniscient omnipresent and everlasting who by the word of his power made and by his providence governeth and disposeth all things both in heaven and earth Quest In what further mystery is God propounded in the Scriptures to our belief Ans. That there be three distinct persons of and which are the same One God distinguished by the names of Father Son and Holy Ghost which are all coequal coessential and coeternal The first so called as he is Father of the Lord Iesus Christ by an eternal and therefore unconceivable generation The second person called God the Son as so begotten of the Father The third God the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father and the Son Quest God represented to us in Christ as to the work of Redemption being chiefly in the Gospel propounded to our faith What doest thou beleeve concerning that Ans. That after the fall of Adam in Paradise by which himself and his posterity fell into a state of death from which they could never have been recovered by any possible satisfaction of Gods justice that was offended Christ being the promised seed God sent in the fulnesse of time and gave to be a Redeemer for them that by his sufferings he might satisfy his justice that all they which should accept such conditions as he hath propounded might partake of that redemption be delivered from death reconciled to God and live for ever Quest In what manner did or doth Christ work that redemption Ans. By the exercise of his three offices as a Prophet a Priest and a King The first he performed by preaching the Gospel and therein the condition of salvation The second by offering up himself a sacrifice upon the Crosse and now at the right hand of God by making intercession for us And the last by his dominion over and government of his Church subduing his enemies and protecting his Saints and servants Quest There being a more particular faith required of Gospel-beleevers such as shall be imputed to them for righteousnesse and accepted to a condition of justification as was the faith of Abraham What is that faith Ans. A particular reliance upon the promises of Christ without wavering with a clear resignation of the heart to obey Christ in all his commands which faith being tryed and approved by God to be sincere by following acts of such relyance and obedience as was Abrahams it s then accounted through Gods free mercy in Christ for righteousnesse and accepted as a condition of justification excluding the works of the law as circumcision and other legal performances but â—â—cluding the good works of the Gospel to a holy life such as make and evidence beleevers to be truly faithful and their Faith to have been true and sincere Quest Is not a particular confidence in thy self and a present assurance that thou art accepted in Christ to a justification and infallible salvation the very Gospel-faith Ans. No for as there is no promise that God will grant any such assurance in this life by any direct act of faith nor any degree of perswasion otherwise then may be collected from the performance of the conditions so it necessarily follows that whatsoever degree of assurance we may have of our present safeestate towards God is but an effect of faith and our holy walking with God in all the conditions Now forasmuch as most of Gods servants are very defective when they come to proportion their particular estates by the strict rules of Gospel-holinesse though they may be in a very safe condition towards God may yet through an humble sense of their own failings more or lesse want such applications of certitude The assurances which the Gospel mentions signify the infallibility of the object that is the promises to be infallibly certain upon such conditions and not a necessity of a perpetual application of them with such certitude as to the subject our selves Though we must always be endeavouring to make those promises sure to us by our universal obedience to all Gospel-commands But when such assurances are upon any other ground ordinarily pretended they may justly be suspected to be but vain presumptions and unreasonable confidenciâ—s Quest
Evening PRAYER for a Family Our Father c. Confession O Most infinite and Glorious Majesty Lord God of heaven and earth who hast granted us poor creatures and wretched sinners the mercy to appeal unto thee as unto a merciful and Gracious Father who might justly for our sins stand now confounded at thy presence as before the face of an angry Judge For Lord who have ever provoked thee to anger if we have not who were ever justly accounted sinful if we are not For if thou accountest our sins by our time what moment is it in which we have not offended thee if by the instruments of action what faculty of the mind affections of the heart what sense or member of the body have not been employed to sin against thee if thou numbrest our sins by thy holy lawes which of them that concern either our duties to thee our God our righteous carriage to others or the sober use of our selves or thy blessings have we not transgressed So that there appears a numberless number of sins before us such as become an heavie burthen too heavie for us to bear And yet O Lord as if it had not been enough to have thus offended thee in the former part of our lives we have this day added to the sad account by many sinful imaginations which we have given our mindes leave to multiply by many offensive sinful words by many omissions of serving thee and doing good to others and by many acts that cannot but displease thee That shouldst thou deal with us accordingly thou mightest justly cast us off from thy protection deprive us of our present comforts and sweet enjoyments and make us miserable by the effects of thy wrath here and eternally Petition for Pardon and grace But O Lord of mercy though thou hatest sin in it self and wicked men that continue in it yet are thy armes alwayes open to accept and thy mercies ready to pardon all them that acknowledge and forsake their sins We beseech thee therefore O Lord enable us truly to repent us of all our sins that we may sorrow for them and sincerely abhorre them that we may have real purposes against them and faithfully forsake them all the dayes of our lives And then O Lord be graciously pleased to forgive all those our sins unto us acquit us of the guilt unload us of the burthen of them and do thou accept of the blood of Christ in full satisfaction for them O Lord impute them not unto us either to punish us for them in this world with miseries and sad accidents or in the world to come with eternal torments And Lord do thou help us for the time to come with thy grace or we yet perish O enlighten our understandings and judgements with all spiritual wisdom that we may know and approve the things that are excellent incline our wills to pursue them and ingage all our affections to them Wean us from the love of the world and let our soules hunger and thirst after righteousnesse Grant that we employ our selves in all our worldly labor cares for the things of this life with affections so subordinate to spiritual things that we may first seek the Kingdom of God and its righteusnesse and use the world as if we used it not Lord keep us intire in our obedience to Christ that we may upon no temptation depart from the strict holiness of the Gospel Lord make us humble meek peaceable just and charitable make us zealous for thy glory and truth careful of doing good to others and of keeping our selves undefiled members of Christ to our last end Through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour Amen Here I also desire the supplicant may interpose the reading of Psalmes a Chapter and the Beleef as in the Morning Service The Thanksgiving O most blessed Lord God who art the fountain of blessing and Father of mercies who by thy providence orderest all our particular conditions for us in which we every where observe great evidences of thy love and goodnesse to us We humbly acknowledge our necessary dependence upon thee and do confess to thy Glory that every comfort we enjoy is of thy free gift and bounty We desire therefore according to our bounden duty to offer up unto thee this evening sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for all thy mercies and sweet providences to us Especially our souls magnify thy divine love that thou hast given us thy Son our Iesus to pay the price of his blood to satisfy thy justice for all our sins That thou hast engaged us by being born and living under the meanes of Grace to make profession of the faith of Christ and that thou hast not set us in the region and shadow of death We bless thee O Lord that thou hast given us power in any measure to love or fear thee to desire and intend heavenly things and that thou hast not given us up to a reprobate mind nor to be led away with the errour of the wicked to fall from our stedfastness We praise thy Name for the blessings of this life for the present estate and condition in which thou hast placed us and therein for our portion of health peace friends and provisions to live all which before this time thou mightest have justly taken from us for our manifold provocations Blessed be thy providence for the mercies of this day past thou hast given us hearts in any measure to serve thee and hast sweetened our affaires and enjoyments with any proportion of peace and contentment That we have been delivered from all fearful accidents such as might have made us to sit down in wo and filled our souls with amazement and sorrow Lord place us this night also under thy divine protection and providence Free us from all terrors and affrightments and the sudden surprise of any danger or accident and when we awake and rise grant O Lord that we may proceed in the way of good living and so persevere in it all the dayes of our lives that when we come to our last sleep and period of our time we may rest in and with thee to all eternity through thy infinite mercies in Iesus Chhrist our Saviour Amen Let the intercession be the same that is used in the morning Service The lesser CATECHISM FOR CHILDREN BY VV. SMYTH THE Lesser CATECHISME for Children QUESTION VVHat is the best thing to be desired and laboured for ANSWER To be saved Quest How is it to be obtained Ans. By the free gift of God in Christ Quest To whom will he give so great an happinesse Ans. To all them that perform the conditions of the Gospel-Covenant Quest What are those conditions Ans. These three to Beleeve Repent and Obey the Commandments of Christ Qu. Thousaidst thou must believe And what are the Articles of thy Christian faith as they are contracted into one summe called the Apostles Creed Ans. I beleeve in God the Father Almighty Maker