belief of this Rule of Faith be qualified A. It must be intire and universal I must neither add to not diminish from this Confession of Faith but I am obliged by my Baptismal vow to believe all and every Article of this Christian Faith Q. The last thing which your Sureties promised for you was to keep Gods Holy will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the days of your life How or by what means come you to know the will of God A. He hath revealed it in his Holy Word wherein he hath at large manifested how and in what manner he will be worshipped and served Q. For what end and purpose hath God made known his mind unto us A. That we might make it the Rule of our lives and walk according to that Rule all the days of our lives Q. Dost thou think that thou art bound to believe and do as they promised for thee A. Yes verily and by Gods help so I will and I heartily thank our Heavenly Father that he hath called me to this state of Salvation through Jesus Christ our Saviour And I pray unto God to give me his Grace that I may continue in the same unto my lives end Q. How comes it to pass that thou art bound to perform that promise which others made A. Because they only made it in my behalf when by reason of my tender Years I was uncapable of making of it in my own person which promise I am bound actually to perform when I come to years of discretion Q. Are you then able to perform that promise which was made on your behalf A. I am not by my own strength but by the grace of God I am which he hath faithfully promised to give to all those that heartily beg it Q. What think you of this Estate which by your Baptism you are placed in A. I think it is an excellent and blessed Estate as far excelling my natural condition as light doth darkness the one being a state of death and the other a state of life Q. How come you to have a right to this excellent condition A. By vertue of Christs sufferings who hath purchased this condition for me by his Death and Blood-shedding in which by the help and grace of God I do resolve to continue unto my lives end Q. Rehearse the Articles of thy belief A. I believe in God the Father Allmighty maker of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell the third day he arose again from the dead he ascended into Heaven and there be sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life everlasting Amen Q. What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy belief A. First I learn to believe in God the Father who hath made me and all the World Secondly in God the Son who hath redéemed me and all mankind Thirdly in God the Holy Ghost who sanctifieth me and all the Elect people of God Q. In which Article do you learn to believe in God the Father A. This I learn in the first Article I believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth Q. How many Gods are there A. There is but one only the true everliving and eternal God Q. How can that be when you profess that you believe in God the Father God the Son God the Holy Ghost How sayest thou then that there is but one God A. In the God-head indeed there are three Persons the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost but these three are but one God and this great truth St. John thus expresseth There be three that bare record in Heaven the Father the VVord that is Jesus Christ the Son of God the VVord incarnate and the Holy Ghost and these three are one Q. What is God A. God is a Spirit Infinite in all his Attributes and Perfections Q. How knowest thou that there is such a being as God A. Several ways by his wonderful work of Creation the Heavens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy work but especially by my own Conscience which this Infinite Being hath placed within me to accuse me of all those Crimes I commit against his Divine Majesty Q. Vpon what grounds do you call God Father A. He is my Father by Creation giving me at the first my Being he is also my Father by Adoption having through the Gate of Baptism received me into the number of his Servants and Members Q. How did God at the first create you A. By his Almighty and Infinite Power by vertue whereof he can do whatsoever pleaseth him both in Heaven and in Earth Q. And did he finish the Heavens and the Earth and all the rest of his Creation by his Power and Word alone A. Yes he spake and it was done he commanded and they were brought forth Q. In what time did God finish his Creation A. In the space of Six days and rested the Seventh day Q. Why did God at the first give you a Being A. To advance his Honour and to perform his sacred Will Q. Of what did God make Man A. He made his Body of the dust of the ground and breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life and so he became a living Soul Q. In which Article do you learn is believe in God the Son who redeemed you and all mankind A. In these And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified dead and buried he descended into Hell the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty from thence he shall come to judge both the quick and the dead Q. What is this Jesus Christ in whom you believe A. He is perfect God and perfect Man equal to the Father as touching his God-head but inferiour to the Father as touching his Man-hood Q. What Relation stands this Person in to God A. He is his only Son begotten of the Father before the world his first born from all Eternity Q. Why did this Eternal God take upon him our nature and so become Man A. That he might Redeem me and all mankind Q. But how can this be that God should be made Man A. He became Man not by turning the God-head into the nature of Man but by taking Mans nature into the God-head that so one person might be both God and Man Q. What need was there that so excellent a Person as the Son of God should thus abase himself A. Because there
of it we have then great need to be confirmed in those holy resolutions and good purposes and also strengthened against those fierce batteries and desperate assaults that will be made upon us We are now actually to renounce the Devil the VVorld and the Flesh to bid a bold and open defiance to all the works of Hell and Satan and therefore we must receive the assistance of the good Spirit of God which is the design and proper work of Confirmation And this doth evidently manifest not only the lawfulness but likewise the necessity of this Divine Rite in imitation of the excellent pattern of our Saviour Christ who is the head of the Church he entred this way upon his Duty and Work not being thereto urg'd by necessity but only to point out to us which is the most proper and compendious way to gain a competency of strength and power to enable us to perform our Christian duty him whom we are strictly charged to follow as dear Children was over shadowed with the Holy Ghost just when he was entring upon the performance of that weighty work about which he came down from Heaven Neither is this useful ministry only warranted unto us by the president of the Holy Jesus the great exemplar to all succeeding ages but also we find it diligently observed and duly practised in the first and purest ages of Christianity The blessed Apostles in imitation of their great Lord and Master and by vertue of that Authority they received from him confirm their converts after that by Baptism they are admited into the number of Christs Flock After the Disciples were endowed with power from on high by being miraculously inspired with the gifts of the Holy Ghost they communicate of the same Spirit to their Proselytes to help their imperfections and for this we have the plain express words of Scripture the relation whereof is recorded Acts 8.14 15 16 17. when the Disciples that were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent unto them Peter and John who when they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost for as yet he was fallen upon none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus then laid they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost Now if we do but duly observe these words they give us a clear and full account of the whole order of this Divine Ritual 1. Here are the Persons that are capable of this ministry those that are baptized and it is to such only that the great blessing of the Holy Spirit doth belong it is only those that through the Gate of Baptism are received into the number of Christs flock upon whom he will power down the gifts and graces of his holy Spirit by the ministration of his Embassadors 2. Here is the time when this Apostolick Rite is administred after Baptism When by this holy Sacrament they had engaged themselves in the practise of the true Christian Religion then was the season that the holy Apostles by the laying on of hands communicated unto them a larger measure of the holy Spirit to strengthen them in the performance of those Solemn engagements they then made 3. Here was the manner how Confirmation was by these devout Persons administred it was by Prayer and laying on of hands 4. Here are the only Ministers of this Rite two of the select Apostles Peter and John Philip the Evangelist who converted and baptized them gave not the Holy Ghost for he had not power so to do for this gift was proper only to the Apostles to none of the inferiour Pastors or Teachers And this very order doth the Church of England punctually observe in the administration of this Primitive Discipline she confirms none but those that are baptized and the time when she administers it is after baptisme and here indeed she something varies from the primitive practise who confirmed their converts presently after Baptism but she not until a considerable time afterwards until the baptized are grown to years of discretion to understand their Baptismal vow but there is very good reason for it in regard those Heathens which in the beginning were converted to the Christian Faith were at age when baptized to understand that promise they then made and so were in a fit capacity to be confirmed at that very instant She likewise administers this Rite by prayer and the laying on of hands as also the Administers hereof are the Bishops who succeed in the place and ordinary office of the Apostles So that the same thing that is now done in imposition of hands is no other than what was done by the first publishers of the Gospel such as were inspired and miraculously assisted by an infallible Spirit all deriving from the very same Authority Our Church doth no more than what was practised in the first and purest ages of Christianity even by those whose president is a very good Authority in this case And now I am not able to conjecture what can be said against the lawfulness of confirmation unless it should be objected that it was only ordained for a time viz. for the Apostles time and after it was to expire But if I can prove that this ministry was not temporary and relative only to the Apostles time but was to descend to the Church and to continue with it for ever and hereby to become a perpetual and never-ceasing Ministry I cannot then conceive what there is farther to be objected against the justness and lawfulness of this Rite And first in order to this performance let it be observed that confirmation is established and passed by St. Paul if he may be supposed to be the Author or the Epistle to the Hebrewes into a Christian doctrine in that very Epistle we shall find the Apostle to make imposition of hands namely that which is the Ceremony in Confirmation by which it was usually known a fundamental point Heb. 6.1 2. I shall set downe the very words as tending very much to my present purpose Therefore leaving the principles of the Doctrine of Christ let us go on unto perfection not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of Faith towards God of the Doctrine of Baptism and of laying on of hands and of the Resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment Here are six fundamental points of St. Pauls Catechism which he laid as the foundation or beginning of the institution of Christianity and amongst these imposition of hands is reckoned as a part of the foundation and it appears very plaine to me that the Apostle intends the very same imposition of hands as was used in confirming the baptized in regard it is placed immediately after baptism as being a discipline which was to follow upon it in order to the building up of a Christian now this being a ground work of Christianity it must of necessity follow that it must have
A. Thus much I beg of him in the two first Petitions hallowed be thy Name thy Kingdom come wherein I desire that Satans Kingdom may be abolished and the kingdom of grace daily increased and therefore I pray unto God to send his grace unto me and to all people that so the Devil may lose ground and there may daily be added unto the Church such as shall be saved that so all may both in word and deed serve and worship the true God and reverently sanctifie and hollow his glorious Name Q. In which petition dost thou beg that we may obey him as we ought to do A. This I ask in the third petition Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven wherein I desire that both my self and all people may know what is that good that acceptable will of God and then make it the rule of our actions that his heavenly will maybe performed by us as it is by the blessed Angels in Heaven that is chearfully without grudging or murmuring readily without delay or procrastination sincerely without guile or hypocrisie constantly without intermission and universally without picking chusing Q. In which Petition do you pray unto God that he will send us all things that be needful both for our Souls and Bodâ—â—s A. This I beg in the fourth petition Give us this day our daily bread wherein I entreat God to take us into his fatherly care and tuition to provide for our subsistence to give us daily or day by day our bread that is all manner of food and sustenance that is requisite for us and withall to fend along with it his heavenly blessing that so it may nourish our bodies and make them fit for their several employments Q. Herein indeed you desire God to give you necessaries for your bodies but wherein do you desire him to give you necessaries for your soules A. The Holy Scripture besides this ordinary bread enformes us of bread that came down from Heaven that is Christ and his benefits represented in the holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper and this is that bread wherewith we desire God to feed out Soules which most certainly will nourish them to life eternal Q. In which Petition do you desire God to be mercifull unto us and forgive us our sins A. This I beg of him in the fifth Petition Forgive us our Trespasses wherein I beseech God to pardon unto me and all his servants all those crimes offences and trespasses what ever we are guilty of Q. But wherefore is that clause adjoyned to this Petition as we forgive them that trespass against us A. For very good reason to teach us how we must be qualified before we can be capable of Gods pardon we must be in charity with our brethren otherwise God will not be in charity with us for if we forgive not men their trespasses neither will our heavenly father forgive us our trespasses Q. In which petition do you desire God to save and defend us from all dangers ghostly and bodily and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness and from our ghostly enemy and from everlacting death A. This I beg of him in the sixth petition And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil Q. Doth God then lead his servants into temptation A. There are temptations of trial or probation and God doth lead his servants into these temptations either to exercise their graces or to chastize them for some miscarriage or to prevent them from some gross fall but besides these there are temptations of seduction and ruine which the Devil offers and God by withdrawing his grace suffers us to fall into them and therefore in this Petition I beg of God that he will continually defend us with his grace as with a sheild that so temptations may make no impression upon and that he will deliver us from all those spiritual evils and dangers that our soules are lyable unto howsoever occasioned whether by the treachery of Satan by the enticements of this world or by the provocation of our own lusts as also from the horrid danger that followes our complyance with these the evill of eternal death Q. Wherefore is it that you have so great confidence and trust that God will grant all these things that you have here prayed for A. First because his is the kingdom he is the King of all the earth a loving tender King willing to hear and relieve the wants of his subjects Secondly because his is the power he is a powerful King and thereby able to give plentiful and suitable returns to the requests of his humble suppliants Thirdly because his is the glory he is a glorious King and it is a clear manifestation of his glory and goodness to hear from Heaven a company of miserable wretches that deserve nothing of kindness at his hand and thereupon I say Amen so be it resting fully satisfied that God both hears me and will answer my requests as my necessities require Q. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Chrurch A. Two onely as generally necessary to Salvation that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Q. When did Christ ordain these Sacraments A. The first of them namely Baptism he hallowed in his own person by passing through the Waters of it and also immediately before his ascension he enjoyned his Disciples to Baptize all Nations And the other Sacrament he celebrated with his Disciples presently before his Passion and withal charged his Disciples and in them his whole Church to do it in remembrance of him Q. What is meant by Baptism A. It is derived from a Greek word which signifies to wash dip dive or sprinkle Q. Why is the other Sacrament called the Lords Supper A. Because it was instituted by the Lord of Glory at or after supper Q. How or in what sense are these Sacraments generally necessary to Salvation A. They are the Instruments or the means whereby the merits of Christ are conveyed and made over to us and by which God hath commanded us to receive them and therefore those that wilfully refuse and neglect them when they may be had do neglect the ordinary means of Salvation Q. What do you mean by this word Sacrament A. I mean an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace given unto us ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same and a pledge to assure us thereof Q. What is the end or final cause why Christ ordained Sacraments A. He ordained them as a means whereby great blessings and graces are conveyed to us and as a pledge to assure us of his favour and loving kindness Q. What is that grace which by Sacraments is conveyed unto us A. The whole obedience merit death and passion of our Saviour and the benefits that flow from thence Q. Is Christ alone the ordainer of Sacraments A. He onely hath right to institute a Sacrament in regard he is
duty of Catechizing yet they perform it so slightly and remisly that it is almost as good left undone possibly they will Catechise the six Sundays in Lent that is they will hear the younger sort by rote repeat over those arswers contained in the Catechism and when they are able to rehearse them readily they believe them sufficiently instructed in the Catechistical points although they understand very little of the true sense and meaning of what is contained therein and the truth of this is plain from hence if you do but propound to them one question out of order is it is not placed in the Catechism or vary but a very little in the words of the question from what it is in the Book they are not able to give an account of it I wish these persons would heartily consider that Canonical obedience they promised when entrusted with A PLAIN and BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE CHVRCH CATECHISM Q. VVHat is your name A. N. or M. Q. Why begin you your Catechism with this Question A. Because this name was given me when I was made a Christian so that whensoever I call to mind this my name I may remember that I am a Christian and what those duties are that this my Holy Profession binds me to observe and do Q. Who gave you this name A. My Godfathers and Godmothers in my Baptism wherein I was made a member of Christ the child of God and an inheritour of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. When was this name given you A. At my Baptism and therefore it is call'd my Christian name because it was given me when I was made a Christian a member of Christ Q. Was you then made a Christian A. Yes this favour was not bestowed upon me at my first birth but at my second when at my Baptism I was washed in the Laver of Regeneration then I was made a Christian admitted into the number of Christs visible members Q. In what condition was you then in before your Baptism A. I was in a weak and infirm capacity the powers and faculties of my soul being in no mean degree impaired and corrupted Q. How came you into this miserable estate A. By the fall of the first man Adam God made a Covenant with Adam and in him with all mankind wherein God on his part promised to confer on mankind divers mercies and Adam on his part promised an exact unsinning unerring obedience but Adam by eating the forbidden Fruit contrary to the express command of his Maker became disobedient and so broke the bond of the Covenant and hereby brought both himself and the whole Race of mankind into this wretched miserable estate Q. By what means was you raised out of this wretched estate A. By the meritorious sufferings of Christ the second Adam who by taking upon him our nature and therein performing exact unerring obedience according to the conditions of the first Covenant and tasting death upon the Cross for every man hath hereby satisfied for the sins of Adam and for the sins of all mankind and by this means delivered me with the rest of mankind out of this desperate condition Q. How come you to have a right to those benefits purchased by Christ A. By Baptism which is the Seal of the second Covenant at the setting on of which Seal these three Priviledges are bestowed to become a member of Christ a child of God and an inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. Are all them that are Baptized members of Christ A. All that are Baptized in the name of Christ and profess the Christian Religion may be term'd members of his visible Body but those only who both by profession and practice are sincere Christians belong to his mystical Body that is are united to him live in him and are informed by his Spirit these are indeed Gods real Children by Adoption and Grace and shall in the end be made inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven Q. What did your Godfathers and Godmothers promise for you A. They did promise and vow three things in my name first that I should renounce the Devil and all his works the pomps and vanities of this wicked world and all the sinful lusts of the flesh secondly that I should believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith And thirdly that I should keep Gods holy will and Commandments and walk in the same all the days of my life Q. Why are you bound according to the first part of your Batismal promise to renounce the Devil and all his works A. Because these are enemies to God and hateful in his sight and before I renounce all that God hates it is impossible that I should be so nearly united to him as to be his true child and member Q. What is the Devil A. The Devil is an evil Spirit who once was an Angel of light but for his Pride and Rebellion was thrown from Heaven into the horrid Regions of Darkness Q. What are the works of the Devil A. The works of the Devil are all manner of sin and wickedness even whatsoever contradicts the Will and Commands of God and defiles our own Souls Q. Why are these stiled the works of the Devil A. Because he was the first Author of Sin Rebellion and Disobedience he in the beginning acted it against God learnt it our first Parents and makes it his whole employment daily to infuse it into the hearts of all mankind Q. What do you mean by the pomps and vanities of this wicked world A. By these I mean all manner of secular honours pleasures and preferments all those perishing delights and transient vanities which this world may present unto us to withdraw our hearts from intending the due performance of that promise we made at our Baptism Q. What are the sinful lusts of the flesh A. The sinful lusts of the flesh are all those abominations and impieties which our rebellious flesh lusteth after and provoketh us to run into Q. The next thing which you say that your Sureties promised for you is to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith what is it to believe or what is Faith viz. that Faith which on your behalf was promised at your Baptism A. Faith is such an hearty perswasion of the truth of Gods promises and of every thing else that he hath spoken as makes us obedient in all things to his commands Q. What is the object of this Faith or what is it that we are bound to believe A. I am to believe that Form of sound words and wholesom Doctrine which Christ and his Apostles delivered to the World and that we have epitomized and briefly summ'd up in that Confession of Faith commonly called the Apostles Creed Q. Why is this Confession of Faith called the Apostles Creed A. It is so called either because the Apostles were the Authors of it it being composed by them or else because it is an abridgment of the Doctrine delivered by the Apostles Q. How must your
life from the same Root Q. What is the second benefit that belong to be Members of the Church A. Forgiveness of Sins Q. What is Sin A. Sin is the transgression of the Law of God Q. What is the punishment due unto sin A. Eternal death the wages of sin is death Q. Is not all mankind lyable to this punishment in regard as the Scripture affirms all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God A. All mankind was once in a state of death and dammnation Q. How then came this benefit of the forgiveness of sins to be made over to them A. The Son of God by his active obedience fulfilling every title of the Law and by his passive obedience suffering the wrath of God due to us for the breach of the Law hath made full satisfaction on our behalf reconciled us to God by vertue of which reconciliation our sins are forgiven Q. To whom doth this favour belong A. To the Members of the Church Q. Shall all those that are Members of the Church partake of this benefit A. All those that by Baptism are received into the Church by that Sacrament receive the remission of those sins which they were guilty of before they were baptized and hence it is that in the Nicene Creed we profess to believe one Baptism for the remissioâ— of sins also after they be thus made Members of Christ they receive remission of their future sins by repentance Q. What is the third benefit that bâ—longs to the Members of this Church A. The Resurrection of the Body Q. Can the body then arise out of thâ— Grave when as it is mouldred in crumbs and dust A. It shall most certainly arise â—gain and he re-united to the Soâ— when together they shall render an account of all their actions performed iâ— this life Q. Shall the very same bodies arise that now we bare about with us A. They shall be the same for substance but not for qualities whereas they are now Earthly Mortal and Corruptible bodies they shall then be Spiritual Immortal and incorruptible Q. How can this possibly be that the same body which is devoured by Worms should again be raised A. This is performed by Gods infinite and unlimited power who shall call to the dead arise ye dead and come away to judgement and the dead shall hear his voice and obey it Q. VVhat necessity is there that the same body should arise A. The same body must arise and no other to magnifie Gods justice that so the same individual body that was a copartner in sin may be punished that which did partake in righteous actions and sufferings may be rewarded Q. Shall all bodies in general arise A. The bodies both of the Godly and wicked of the just and unjust all that ever lived shall arise and live again to eternal Ages Q. When shall this general resurrection be A. At the last and great day of accounts when the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout and with the voice of the Arch-angel and with the Trumpet of God Q. What is the fourth benefit that belongs to the Members of this Church A. The life everlasting Q. To whom doth this belong A. To all in general for although the life everlasting is frequently used to signifie that reward which in another life is bestowed upon the righteous yet the wicked shall live eternally Q. What shall then be the difference betwixt the godly and the ungodly in this respect A. The godly shall live to all eternity in unspeakable joys and never fading glories and the wicked shall live eternally or they shall remain alive in Soul Body to endure the Torments to be inflicted upon them by the justice of God for all the sins committed by them whilst they were in the body Q. Do you think that it is enough barely to believe all these Articles of your Faith A. As I am bound to believe them so it is my duty to frame my practice answerable to this my belief so that I must not only know what these words signifie but likewise I must perform such actions as are agreeable thereto Q. Is this all that your Baptismal vow and promise requires from you A. No it not only enjoyns me to believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith but also I am thereby bound to keep Gods holy Will and Commandments and to walk in the same all the dayes of my life Q. When was these Commandments given A. God speak them to Moses upon Mount Sinai who wrote them upon Tables of Stone made them known to the people of Israel for the regulating of their manners Q. If these Commandments are part of Moses his Law then certainly they were abrogated by the coming of Christ A. This Law was before Moses was although not literally recorded and it shall continue after him to the end of the World and therefore it is called the Moral Law because it is to be a perpetual rule of good manners to mankind Q. To whom did God make it known before Moses A. He did implant it in mans nature by Creation and for this reason St. Paul calls it the Law of Nature but when mans light and knowledge was decayed and impaired by the fall of Adam God again renewed this Law to his Servant Moses and likewise our blessed Lord in his first Sermon that most excellent Sermon he preached on the Mount reinforces this Law and rescues it from those corrupt glosses the Scribes and Pharises had put upon it Q. How many Commandements doth this moral law contain A. Ten. Q. Which be they A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying I am the Lord thy God which brought thee out of the Land of Aegypt out of the house of Bondage 1. Thou shalt have none other gods but me 2. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above or in the Earth beneath or in the waters under the Earth thou shalt not how down to them nor worship them For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God and visit the iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me and shew mercy unto thousands unto 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 guiltless that taketh his name in vain 4. Kemmember that thou keep holy the Sabbath-day six dayes shalt thou labour and do all that thou vast to do but the Seventh day is the Sabboth 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 the Cattel and the Stranger that is within thy Gates for in six dayes the Lord made Heaven and Earth the Sea and all that in them is and rested the Seventh day wherefore
the Lord blessed the Seventh day and hallowed it 5. Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes 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 7. Thou shalt not bare false witneses 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 Ox nor his Ass nor any thing that is his Q. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments A. I learn two things my duty towards God and my duty towards my Neighbour Q. In which of these Commandments do you learn you duty towards God A. In the four first commonly called the first Table Q. In which of them do you learn your duty towards your Neighbour A. In the six last commonly called the second Table Q. What is your duty towards God A. My duty towards God is to believe in him to fear him and to love him with all my heart with all my mind with all my soul and all my strength to worship him to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him to call upon him to honour his holy name and his word and to serve him truly all the dayes of my life Q. In which of the four first Commands do you learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him with all your heart with all your mind with all your soul and with all your strength A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the first of the Commandements Thou shalt have no other Gods but me in which precept I am bound first to believe that there is a God secondly I am to believe that there is but one God thirdly I am to believe in the true everliving God and to have him for my God and when I have thus chosen him to be my God it can be no less than my duty to stand in awe of so glorious a Majesty and to be fearful of displeasing him and also to love him above all things and for himself alone and to love him not faintly or languidly but sincerely and cordially with my whole mind with all my soul and with all my strength Q. Is this all that you learn from this Command A. No every Command besides that duty it positively enjoyns also forbids the contrary vice as likewise that command which forbids a vice also enjoyns the contrary vertue so that by this command I not only learn to believe in God to fear him and to love him but also I am forbidden infidelity not to believe the one true God or those Laws he hath delivered to the world careless presumption not fearing to offend him hatred of him or of whatsoever he commands Q. In which of these four first commands do you learn to worship this true everliving God to give him thanks to put your whole trust in him and to call upon him A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the second Commandment Thou shalt not worship any graven Image wherein as I am expressly forbidden the making any graven Image or the worshipping of them when made so also I am implicitely enjoyned to worship that supream infinite Majesty of Heaven and Earth uprightly and sincerely with all bodily worship and external forms of address to adore him with all humility and reverence in all my wants to call upon him who is a ready help in time of need and when he hath fulfilled my desires to give him hearty thanks for his mercies in all straits and dangers to put my whole trust in him who is a sure rock of defence in a word in all respects to pay him that homage reverence and adoration as his greatness and goodness requires from me Q. Wherefore are you bound to worship no Idol nor any representation of God but onely the true God A. Because he is a jealous God and will not suffer the least contempt that is offered to his honour to pass by unpunished Q. In which of these commands dost thou learn to honour his Holy name A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the third command Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain wherein I am bound to honour Gods Holy Name by not abusing of it in my daily communication not using it rashly foolishly or vainly in my common discourse not cursing either my neighbour or any of his possessions in Gods name not swearing by his name falsly or at all unless it be in a just cause before 〈◊〉 lawful Magistrate for the deciding of some controversie As also by this precept I am obliged to honour Gods name by esteeming highly of it and speaking of it with reverence and sobriety and at all times and upon all occasions praising magnifying exalting and honouring the most holy and reverend name of God his Attributes or any thing whereby he hath made himself known unto us Q. What punishment do you incur if you are failing in your duty in this respect A. God will proceed against me as against a malefactor or guilty person and although possibly in this life I may escape without chastifinent yet in another I cannot but expect to be severely punished Q. In which command do you learn to serve God truly all the dayes of your life A. This part of my duty towards God I learn in the last of these four commands Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath Day wherein I am bound to devote that time to the worship and service of God which the Church by her authority hath set apart for that purpose Q. Are you not then bound to observe the Sabboth day that is the seventh day on which God rested from the works of his creation A. I am bound to observe one day in seven as a Sabboth that is a day of rest but the primitive Christians instead of the Jewish Sabboth which was to be abolished after the Resurrection of Christ made choice of the first day of the week on which he arose from the grave to be observed as the Christian Sabboth and also honoured it with the title of the Lords day Q. What are the duties required for the right observation of this day A. They are two Sanctification and Rest Q. How must this day be Sanctified A. In must be sanctified by setting it apart to the Worship and service of God Q. What is that service of God which on this day must be performed A. It may be reduced to these three heads either that publique service we are obliged to perform in the Church or that charitable service we are to do towards our neighbour or that private service we are to perform at our own houses Q. Wherein consists that publique service of God we are bound to perform on this day A. It consists in meeting together at the house of Prayer the Church and unanimously joyning together