fen* THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES //f Familiar and Praftical Improvement OF THE CHURCH CATECHISM. A Familiar and Practical Improvement OF THE CHURCH CATECHISM: DESIGNED TO RENDER. The Work of Catechifing more Eafy and Profitable ; AND THEREBY AFFORD ASSISTANCE TO MINISTERS, SCHOOLMASTERS,- PARENTS, And whoever may be entrufted witK> The Care and Inftru&ion of the RISING GENERATION. By the Rev. T. HAWEIS, LL.B. Re&or of ALDWINCKLE ALL SAINTS, Northampton/hire ; AND CHAPLAIN TO The Right Honourable the EARL of PETERBOROW. LONDON: Printed for EDWARD and CHARLES DILLY, in the Poultry, M.DCC.LXXY, . i ' PREFACE. TO ALL MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, SCHOOLMASTERS, PARENTS, AND Whoever are entrufted with the Care of the RISING GENERATION. MY BRETHREN, OR your afliftance in the im- portant work committed to your truft, the following little treatife goes forth into the world, The over-flow- ings 8508GO ings of infidelity and ungodlinefs are feen on every fide. Nor can it well be otherwife, whilft fo little attention is paid to the minds of children to incul- cate thofe principles of gofpel truth, which alone can enable them* through faith, to refill the allurements of an enfnaring world, and the feduclions of a corrupted heart. Shameful ignorance of the firft principles of the doctrines of Chrift is evident, and whilft the many fatisfy themfelves with the pro- feflion of Chriftianity, how few are able to give a fcriptural reafbn of the hope which is in them, much lefs to filence gainfayers with the words of found doctrine. The [ vu ] The obvious ufefulnefs of catechetical inftruftion, hath produced many helps of this fort. The prefent proceeds on a method, which, though it feems not hitherto much adopted, carries evident propriety along with it. Tender minds cannot be fuppofed to be acquainted with the long anfwers to queftions of- ten put in their mouths, which alfa burdening their memory gives them aa averfion to inftruftion : here the teacher is directed to explain himfelf fo as to be clearly underftood, and to engage, if poffible, the attention of his pupils, that they may, receiving inftruc~lion at his lips, anfwer intelligibly, not merely repeat by rote, but give fome evidence that [ viii ] that they underfland what they are taught. Recommended by near twenty years experience of its ufefulnefs, the method here propofed is fubmitted to the con- fideration of thofe who wifh to be pro- fitable in their generation. And may the gracious Shepherd who enjoined us to feed his lambs, accompany it with his divine benediction ! ALDWINCKLE, April *$ t 1775. A Familiar A Familiar and Praftical Improvement OF THE CHURCH CATECHISM. Q "IT 7" HAT is your name ? VV A. A Q. What do you call this Hame? A. My Chriftian name. I Q. Why do you call it your Chriftian name ? A. Becaufe it was given me, when at my bap- tifm, 1 made profeflion of being a Chriftian. j. But it is not a name merely that makes you a Chriftian, is it ? A. No. I muft have the fpirit and temper of a Chriftian, or the name will profit me nothing. Rev. iii. i. Gal. iii. 27. / $>. Who gave you that name ? //. My godfathers and godmothers. ^ Why do you call them godfathers and god- mothers ? B A. Becaufe [ 2 J A. Becaufe they undertook, as my fpiritual parents, to teach me the things belonging to God and godJinefs. ! Q Is it not a very wicked thing to undertake fuch a charge, and never attempt the performing it? A* Yes, very wicked. >. But don't you think that this is too often the A. Yes, I am afraid it is. C. Indeed my dear child you fay true; god- fathers and godmothers often ftand to obll^^their friends and relations, and when they have paid their fees, or partaken of the entertainment, and that oftentimes alfo accompanied with intemperance, and lewd converfation, they never trouble their heads about the folemn vow and profeffion they have made. ^. Will they not in the day of judgment, think you, have a dreadful account to make of fuch rafti engagements, and grievous negledt of the children's fouls ? A, No doubt they will. Their god-childrens fouls if loft by fuch neglect, will be required at their hands. C. I hope that I your minifter, and your parents, fliall endeavour if you have been thus neglected, to give the greater diligence that you may not con- tinue C 3 1 tinue in ignorance of your facramental engage- ments ? >. What was the outward form of your bap- tifm ? A. Water was fprinkled upon me in the name of the Father, Son and Huly Ghoft. j^. What was the thing figmfied by that fprink- ling of Water ? A. The fprinkling of the blood of Chrift upon my corifcience : i Pet. iii. 21. Heb. ix. 14. J-^. You warn perfons, when they are dirty and filthy, don't you? A. Yes. >. Was the water of baptjlm defigned to repre- fent any fuch warning ? A. It was. Heb x. 22. Tit. iii. 5. Ephef. v. 26. John iii. 5. / jg. Why ? were you, even when born, filthy ? A. Yes. >. How came that to be fo ? A. Becaufe I was conceived in wickednefs, and born in fin. Pfal. ii. 5. j^. What ? when you came into the world was you wicked, and defiled with fin ? A. Yes, 1 was a corrupted creature from the womb. Rom, v. 12. ^. If you were thus born wicked, and a finner, you deferved to perifh, did not you ? B 2 A. Yes. [ 4 ] A. Yes. I was by nature a child of wrath. Ephef. ii. 3. / ^. Would God have been juft in condemning you for the fin in which you were born ? A. Afluredly. Compare Rom. v. 14. with Gen. xviii. 25. Rom. iii. 5, 6. \ <$>,. What is the wages of fin ? A. Death. Rom. vi. 23. ^ What death ? A. Death temporal and eternal. Luke xii. 5. } ^. And does every babe that is born in fin de- ferve eternal death ? A, Yes. So God's word fays. Q. Many people call children little innocents, don't they ? A. Yes. >. But are they innocent ? A. No. >. And if they were innocent would they everdie? A, No, for death is only the wages of fin. J^. Are the feeds of all fin fowc in the nature of man before he is born ? A. Yes. Job xiv. 4. Pfal. li. 5. s j^. Is all the wickednefs therefore in the world the confequence of our being corrupted creatures by nature ? A. So the fcripture fays. Pfal. Iviii. 3, 4. t 5 ] 4>. It is very defirable to be delivered from the wrath you fpeak of, is it not ? A. Oh yes, very defirable. J|>. What would become of you if you were not delivered from it ? A. Body and foul would be caft into hell. Pfal. ix. 17. <$>. What can only deliver you from fin, and its wages, death and hell ? A. The blood of Chrift./ >. What doth that for you ? A. It cleanfeth from all fin. i John i. 7. / Q. Who is this Chrift you fpeak of? A. He is God the Son. John i. i. Mark i. u. ^. What did he for you ? A. He undertook to pay to God the Father a ranfom for ourjins. Heb. x. 9. Matt. xx. 28. j. How did he accomplifh this ? A. He became a little child, took our nature, in it fulfilled the law of God, and died upon a crofs./>' j^. What benefit could this obtain for you ? Did God accept his Son's facrifice for your fins ? A. Yes, he died the juft for the unjuft. i Pet. iii. 18. Rom. v. 19. Heb. 9. 12. x. 14. j|>. Do you fuppofe that the baptifm of your body in water reprefents the wafhing of your foul in the blood of Chrift ? B 3 A. I [ 6 ] A. I do. i Cor. vi. ii. Heb. ix. 14. ' J|>. It is not therefore the a& of the minifter, in Crinkling you, nor the water which waflies you that makes you a Chriftian indeed? A. No. This is but an outward fign of the in- ward and fpiritual grace, f $>. You don't fuppofe that all whofe names are in a parifli regifter, are therefore real Chriftians ? jf. No. . You are right my dear, only thofe, are true Chriftians who have the wafting of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghoft. Baptifm is a figure, and without the thing fignified by the fign, it can profit us nothing. All are admitted to the outward fign who are prefented by the commu- nicants as their fponfors. In the judgment of charity we receive fuch into the pale of outward profeffion, prefuming they will be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Time muft prove whether they are really of the number of God's faithful and ele& children. I hope you my dear little ones will be of that happy number, and be found experiencing what you learn to re- peat that the Holy Ghoft fan&ifieth you with all the ele& people of God. j|>. Were you in your baptifm admitted to any great blefTings and privileges ? A. Yes. . What [ 7 3 J^. What were they ? A. I was made a member of Chrift, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven. >j. What do you mean by being made a mem- ber of Chrift, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ? No outward form can ef- fect this, can it ? A. No. Gal iii. 26. Q Do you mean then, that the facramental fign and feal of baptifm, gave you a right to claim by faith under the covenant of promife, thefe great and diftinguifhed mercies f A. I do. Rom. iv. n. J3>. If you live and die in unbelief, impenitence, and wickednefs, you cannot be a child of God, can you ? A. No, affaredly. Gal. iii. 27. v. 24. C. Mind this my dear children, if you grow up to tell lies to be froward to quarrel one with another to hate your bibles to neglecl to pray to God to give you his grace and be like the many wicked examples around you, inftead of be- ing members of Chrift, children of God, and in- heritors of the kingdom of heavtn, you will be found members of the wicked one, children of the devil, and inherit wrath to the uttermoft. I pray the Lord Jefus Chrift, that your lot and portion B 4 may [ 8 ] may be with his chofen ones, who being baptized into Chrift have put on Chrift. II. C. You told me, when you were baptized, that you were admitted to claim fome great and diftin- guifhed privileges, what is the firft of them ? A, To become a member of Chrift. ^. What ? A member of Chrift's body as your hand and foot are members of your own body \ A, Yes. i Corvi. 15. xii. 12. Eph. v. 30. 4>. Chrift hath a natural human body, like yours, hath he not ? A. Yes. Q Hath he alfo a myftical body compofed of all faithful people, of whom- he is the head ? A. Yes. Eph. v. 23. i. 22. iv. 15. Col. i. 18. j^. Of which of thefe are you a member, of his natural or myftical body? A. Of Chrift's myftical body. j^. Is this any blefling, or advantage to you ? A. Yes, inexprefiibly great. . What were you before you were a member of Chrift ? A. Dead in trefpafies and fins. Eph.'ii. 1,2, 3. J^. How came you then to be alive unto God ? Are you grafted into Chrift ? A. Yej, [ 9 1 A. Yes. Eph. ii. 4, 5. C. But for this you muft have been as a dry branch, cut off and withered fie fuel only for the fire, John xv. 6. Q. If you are, a member of Chrift, doth he love you as his own flefh and blood ; feel for you j guard you j and will he never leave and forfake you ? A. So, I believe and hope. ^. Is it not then highly your duty, and (hould it not be your delight to love Chrift your head, and his people your fellow members? A. Yes afluredly. i John iv. 13, 2 1. j^. It is by fuch a Chriftian fpirit that you muft prove you belong to Chrift ? A. Certainly. John xiii. 35. j^. What is the fecond diftinguifhed privilege to which you are admitted in baptifm ? A. To become a child of God. J3>. Why ? Were you not born a child of God? A. No. I was his creature, but not his child, Q. How came this about ? A. By Adam's fin. Rom. v. 12. 4>. Who was he ? A. The firfl man. ^>. Was he the child of God ? Did God create him in his own image and likenefs ? A. Yes, Gen. i. 27. B 5 >. How t 10 ] 4>. How came he to forfeit his merci? '. A. He finned. $. Where? A. In Paradife. Q And did he lofe God's image and likenefs, by his fall into fin ? A. He did. i John iii. 8. ^. Did all his pofterity fuffer for his fall ? A. Yes, they fell in him. Rom. v. 12, 17, 19. ). Are none of the children of Adam now born children of God ? A. None. Q Are they born hi the likenefs of Adam, when bearing God's image, or when he had rft it by his fall ?< A. When he had loft it. Gen. v. 3. Q. Then you are a child of Adam by nature, are you ? A. I am. J^>. How come you then to fay you are a child of God ? Has God taken back any of Adam's pof- terity into this blefled relation again ? A. Yes, many. Q Hew is this done ? d. By adoption, and grace. ^. Do you mean by this, that God in his Son Chrift Jefus, and for his fake is pleafed gracioufly to pardon, and readmit into his family fome of tne fallen children of Adam ? A. t " ] A. I do. Eph. i. 4 7. 4>. And do you fuppofe that baptifm is appointed as the fign of your readmiflion into God's family ? A. Yes. Matt, xxviii. 19. ^. Is it a great favour and blefling to have God for your father I A, The greateft in the world. 4>. If you are God's child, you expect that God will love you provide for you watch over you and lead you in his holy ways. A. I truft he will. j^. What is your duty then if God is fo good to you, as to make you his child ? Should you love him as a father 3 fear him b depend upon his care c pray to him d fubmit to his providences 6 -. and be patient under his corrections ? A. Yes, no doubt I ought. C. I pray God for you, my dear children, that you may remember this. All that the tendereft father ever fhewed you of affedion and kindnefs is infinitely (hort of what your father in heaven hath done and is doing for his children; and if there cannot be a more {hocking character, thaa an un- natural, undutiful and difobedient child to an earthly parent : how much more wicked and un- grateful would you be, if you profefTed yourfelves a Prov. xxiii. 26. b Pfal. cxii, T. i Pet. v. 7. Matt, vi, 25, * Eph. vi, 18, Luke xviii. i, Heb. xii, 9, to to be children cf God, and yet lived and died as the children of the wicked one ? j^. What is the third privilege to which you were admitted at your baptifm ? A. To be an inheritor of the kingdom of hea- ven. 4>. You have heard then, I fuppofe, that there is a heaven and a hell, do you believe it ? A. Yes, I do. >. Which of thefe do you expect to go to when you are dead ? , A. To heaven, I hope. ^. I pray the Lord of life and glory, to bring you there, my dear child ! But do not all in general hope to go to heaven when they die r A. They do. 4>. But will every rjerfon go to heaven ? A. No, not every one. . Will not fome, yea many, very many, go into hell when they die, think you? A. I am perfuaded they will. Matr. vii. 13, 14. C. Yes, my dear children, all the wicked who die in tjieir fins, will be caft into hell j and broad is the gate, and wide the way that leadeih to deftruiStion, and many there be that go in thereat - t for ftrait is the gate, and narrow the way whic,h leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. This is an awful and alarming truth, which the many cannot be perfuaded to receive, becaufe they are [ '3 1 are not of that few. I hope you will be found of the blefled number, who {hall enter into the joy of their Lord. You fay you hope fo. Who are thofe therefore who fhall inherit the kingdom of heaven ? A. They that are members of Chrift and children of God upon earth. Rom. viii. 17. 4>. You don't think any others can be faved ? A. No. c ^>. Either of you, I dare fay, would think it a great thing if you were heir to the richeft man in the parifb, and to inherit all his wealth and fub- ftance, would not you ? A. Yes. C. Ah, my dears, if you were children of princes, and could inherit crowns and kingdoms, they would appear but poor things when you confider yourfelves as dying worms, in a dying world, what can we carry into the grave with us of thefe things? Nothing. Naked came we into the world, and in the fame condition muft the greateft prince, as well as the meaneft beggar, go out of it, and carry with him none of his pomp when he dieth. The only fubftamial and truly defireable portion under the fun is that which the children of God enjoy. They are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Chrift. If this be your ftate, if you had not bread to eat, or rags to cover your nakednefs, you would be richer than ijae wealth of worlds could make you, and and more honourable in the fight of God, the fountain of true honour, than the kings of the earth. I cannot make you heirs to a great eftate, or ennoble you ; but, my dear children, I can tell you how you may become children of God, and inheritors of his kingdom, which is far better. Don't you think fo ? A. I do. C. I hope you do. I am fure you will when you come to die. III. C. You have been telling me of the diftinguifhed privileges into which you were admitted at your baptifm. And I wifli you deeply and ferioufly to remember them. I think the leaft boy or girl of you all is old enough to know how defireable it is to have God for your father, and heaven for your home. And if fo, will be careful to feek in the firft place the kingdom of God, which you are called thus to inherit. This you engaged to do, when at your baptifm you were numbered among God's profeiling people, and being of too tender years to fpeak for yourfelves, your godfathers and godmothers folemnly engaged to teach you, as foon as you fhould be able to learn, what a folemn vow^ promife and profeflion you then made, by them your fureties. Whether they have discharged their [ 15 ] their duty or not, I know not. Dreadful care- leflhefs in this matter is but too common. But be that as it may, you are now of years to underftand what they engaged for on your behalf. And if you would receive any effectual blefling in confe- quence of your baptifm, and actually enjoy the high privilege of being Chriftiani, you muft be found walking before God as dear children. As you acknowledge this to be your bounden duty and fervice, I defire therefore to know, whether you can tell me, what did your godfathers and godmothers in your baptifm promife for you ? A. They did promife and vow three things in my name, ift. That I fhould renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the fmful lufts of the flefti. 2dly. That I fliould believe all the articles of the Chriftian faith. And 3dly. That I fliould keep God's holy word and commandments, and walk in the fame all the days of my life. j^). Well now mind .Three things you fay they promifed for you. What is the firft of them ? A. i. That I fhould renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the fmful lufts oftheflefli. j^. Very well. So that you fee that the firft article of your engagement with God, as the grateful return due for his infinite mercy and grace in calling you to his holy baptifm, is that you fhould fliould renounce, refift, oppofe, and manfully un- der Chrift's banner's fight againft a wicked devil, a wicked world, and a wicked heart. This is the Chriftian's warfare, and under the conduct of the great captain of his falvation he goeth on con- quering and to conquer. What is the firft enemy of Chrift and your foul which you engage to re- nounce and fight againft ?. A. The devil and all his works. j|>. You have heard that there is fuch a being as the devil, the grand enemy of God and man, have you not ? A. Yes. 4^. Do you know what he is in his nature? A. A wicked and fallen fpirit. C. My dear, you anfwer right. The devil is a wicked and fallen fpirit he hath not-a body as we have, he is a fpirit. God created him a glo- rioi/s archangel : in heaven pride entered into his heart, and he rebelled againft God and his anointed. He drew by his wiles multitudes of the angels to join him in his rebellion: for which God in juft judgment caft them down from their high eftate, and referves them in chains of darknefs, unto the judgment of the great day. Thefe wicked fpirits are permitted now to go to and fro in the earth to try the fidelity of the children of God, (carrying always their hell with them) and are malicioufly bent r i? ] - bent to feduce us from our allegiance, that we may (hare with them in their guilt and punifhment. Therefore we are called upon to refift the devil, that he may flee from us, that is, to rejedt his temptations and allurements to fin. Many foolifh perfons frighten little children with terrible ftories of the devil, and his coming to them, and as foolifli and abfurd pictures even in our prayer-books reprefent the devil as black, with horns and hoofs, and a tail, as if he were fome itrange beaft. But, my dears, all this is ridicu- lous, falfe and abfurd* He is a fpirit, and hath no body, nor parts of a body. Never did he ap- pear in any fuch fhape or form, 'tis a bug-bear ; you never need be afraid of fuch a phantom. No. If ever he appeared, he would not come in a figure to be loathed, but to be loved j and therefore St. Paul faith he transforms himfelf into an angel of light. If the devil appeared as he is, and we could fee his real character and defigns he would be ab- horred, and detefted. But the way he works is as a fpirit having accefs to our fpirits, prefenting to our fenfes fuch outward objects as would allure us to fin, and fuggefting to us that evil, which would make us in our fouls like himfelf. >. Are there many devils ? A. Yes, great multitudes. Mark v. 9, J3>. Is there a prince of the devils ? A. Is A. Yes. J^. Is his name particularly mentioned in fcrip- ture ? A. Yes. He is called by many names, Satan, Beelzebub, Apollyon, Abaddon. 4>. What is his work? A. To fin himfelf, and tempt others to commit fin. i John iii. 8. . May the children of the devil then be known in this world ? A. Yes. 4> : - How are they to be known ? A. By their works. Matt. vii. 20. j^. Are lyars the children of the devil ? A. Yes. John viii. 44. C. Mind now what you are faying, or you will be condemned out of your own mouth. The devil was a lyar from the beginning. Take care to fpeak the truth always if you would be God's chil- dren, and not have the devil for your father. j!^. Is fighting and quarreling and murder the work of the devil ? A, Yes. He was a murderer from the begin- ning. C. Take notice of this, and be always kind and loving one to another, and never quarrel, and fight and fcratch, and abufe one another. . Are r 19 i >. Are difobedient children the children of the Wicked one ? A. Yes. He is the fpirit that worketh in the children of difobedience. C. Well then, be lure be dutiful and obedient to your parents, do as they bid you, without mur- muring, and be more afraid of all fin and wicked- nefs, becaufe it makes you like the devil, than be- caufe you will be beaten if you are caught doing what Is evil. Your firft grand enemy is the devil, him you profefs to renounce and all his works. What is the fecond enemy of your foul that you renounce ? A, The pomps and vanities of this wicked world. >. Is this a good or a wicked world ? A. A wteked world. Q. But remember, the things of the world in themfelves are not evil ; for every creature of God is good, but the devil's children, who abufe the good creatures of God, make the wickednefs of the world. Are the generality of mankind good or evil ? A. Very evil. The whole world lieth in wickednefs. >. What do you renounce in this wicked world ? A. The pomps and vanities of it. C. The C. The pomp, pride, and vanities of the world are the things which the devil employs to fetluce and enflave mens hearts, and by thefe he maintains his kingdom in the world., Hence he is called the god of this world. The world and the things of it in themfelves, as God's creatures, are all good, but perverted by our corruption they become oc- cafions of evil : the wealth and honours of it mi nifter to mens pride and covetoufnefs. They love mammon more than God, and prefer gold to god- linefs, and the honour which cometh from man, to that which cometh from God only ; worfliipping and ferving the creature more than the Creator. Such pomps and vanities purfued naake the world to be called this wicked world. ^ ^. Are the pomps and vanities of the world confined only to the rich and great ? A. No. Q. Are poor perfons, fuch as you, children, or your parents, in danger from the pomps and va- nities of this wicked world ? A. Yes, as well as others. C. True, my dear, pride and covetoufnefs are bound up in the heart of every man, and the things of the world draw thefe forth into act, in whatever ftatton we are placed, if the grace of God does not reftrain the evil. A poor man may be as proud in a cottage, as the rich in a palace. A little girl, like I 21 ] like you, may be as proud of a fine ribband or a new gown, as the lady who is decked in bro- cade and diamonds. A labourer, who has learned to read and write may be as vain of his fcholarfhip among his equals, as the moft puffed up worldly wifeman, who looks down upon him with con- tempt, and the fame coveting of the wealth of the world pride in what they pofiefs and difcontent in what they want or are difappointed of, appears equally in the loweft as well as higheft ftations of life. Q. What further do you profefs to renounce ? A. All the fmful lufts of the flefh. .6). Why, are there any lufts of the flefh that are not fmful ? A. Yes. C. True. For we muft diftinguifh between cfefires of the flefh that are natural, and agreeable to God's order, and thofe which are otherwife. Moderate reft, convenient food and raiment, and bodily exercife, may be profitably as well as plea- fingly made ufe of; and marriage, we know is honourable among all, and the bed undefikd. Thefe are defires of the flefh, and only become finful by intemperate indulgence. Can you tell me then what lufts of the flefh as finfu) you have engaged to renounce? A. Adultery and fornication. . Are [ 22 ] Q. Are you not alfo to renounce all lewd de- fires, lewd looks, and lewd a&ions, lewd dreffes, lewd words, lewd books, or whatever would lead to fornication and uncleannefs ? A. Yes, afluredly. Prov. vi. 17. Rom. xiii. 14. j^. Are thefe things equally forbidden of God, as the proper deeds of lewdnefs } A. Yes. Matt. v. 28. j-^. Is drunkennefs, think you, a fmful luft of the flefh ? A. It is. Q. And gluttony ? A. Yes. C. They are fo. For they inflame the body, and ftir up wicked defires. And no man can take fire into his bofom, and not be burnt. 4J. What think you of floth, is that too a fmful luft of the flefh? A. Yes. C. The idle and flothful are ready for the firft temptation. When people fleep not for refrefh- ment, but loiter upon their beds to harbour evil thoughts, when bodily eafe and pleafure are their chief ftudy, when they are fauntering away their , time with companions as idle as themfelves or by promifcuous intercourfe of the fexcs in dances, revellings and fuch like, ftir up evil defires, the con- fequence cannot but follow that fenfual appetite will I 23 ] will enflave the body, and deftroy the foul. Re- member therefore, my dear children, and begin early to flee thef things. IV. C. Your godfathers and godmothers promifed three things for you at your baptifm, you fay, the firft of which was, that you fliould renounce the devil, &c. What is the fecond thing which they promifed for yon ? A. That I fliould believe all the articles of the Chriftian faith. Q. Is faith eflential to the character of a Chrif- tian ? A. Certainly. <$j. Shall every one that believes the articles of the Chriftian faith be faved ? A. Afluredly. Mark xvi. 16. >. What will become of thofe who believe not ? A. They that believe not fhall be damned. $> Where are the articles of the Chriftian faith to be fought and found ? A. In the Bible. J3>. Where are they fhortly collected and fummed up ? A. In the creeds commonly called the Apoftle's, the Nicene, and Athanafian. . Are j;j>. Are you bound to believe all the articles of the Chriftian faith ? A, Yes, all of them. Q. Your godfathers and godmothers promifed that you {hould believe all the articles of the Chrif- tian faith, did they not? A. They did. ^ But faith is the gift of God, is it not? A. Yes. Eph. ii. 8. C. You cannot therefore mean that it was in your godfather's or godmother's power to make you believe, what they undertook can only imply, that as foon as you {hould be able to learn they would inftrudt you in the principles of the Chrif- tian faith, fee that you were taught your creed and catechifm fet before you the evidence on which your faith ftands call upon you to hear fermons, becaufe faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God exhort you to a di- ligent attendance on all the means of grace, and pray for you that the means may be effe&ual to your r.eal converfion. More than this they could not engage for. Whether they have done fo or not (hould be their ferious enquiry, or much guilt will lie upon them. With regard to yourfelves, however, you will be left without excufe, if now that I am explaining to you thefe things, you {hould be inattentive and carelefs. It is a matter, my r 25 ] my dear children, of infinite importance to you, whether you live and die in faith and in God's favour or out of it. And therefore am I thus employed, that if it pleafe God he would make you to know by my mouth the things that make for your everlafting peace, and give you the true faith of his elect, that you may believe indeed to the faving of your foul. j. What is the third thing your godfathers and godmothers promifed for you ? A. That I Qiould keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the fame all the days of my life. J2>. Has true faith always a powerful influence on the practice ? A. Yes. Q. What doth it produce in the heart ? A. Love to God. Gal. v. 6. j^. Is there any real love of God but from faith as its root ? A. No. We love him, becaufe we believe he firft loved us. j^. What is the effence of true morality ? A. The love of God in the heart. Rom.xiii.io. ^. Can any of God's commandments be in any meafure kept, if we are not under the influence of the love of God ? 4. No, in no wife. C . Arc j. Are God's will and commandments altoge- ther holy, juft and good ? A. Yes. Rom. vii. 12. ^. Is the will of his providence always beft, and whatever he ordains, fhould you fubmit to it with entire refignation ? A. That is my bounden duty. Pfal. xxxix. q. Q Then you are never to murmur under po- verty, under ficknefs, under afflictions, under difappointments, under opprefllon ? A. I ought not. 4j>. But it is very trying and difficult to be thus wholly refigned to God's will and pleafure, is it not? A-. Yes. The flefti is ready to complain and - rebel. 0$j. This then fhould humble you, fhould it not, and fhew you what a poor fmner you are, and how fhort you come in keeping God's holy will ? A. Yes, it fhould. C. Well, fee that it doth then, and had you every day to the Saviour of finners, Jefus Chrift, for pardon and peace, for he is the advocate for his people when they fin, and pleads his blood as ' their perpetual propitiation. J^>. You engaged in your baptifm to obey God's precepts as well as fubmit to his providences, did you not ? A. Yes J. Yes. j. Are all God's commandments holy, moft meet for him to enjoin, and moft fit for you Co ebey ? A. Certainly. .. What is fin ? A. The tranfgrefllori of God's law. 4J. What is the wages of fin f A. Death eternal. Q What ? Doth every tranfgreffion of God'* commands deferve God's wrath and damnation ? A. Yes, it doth. j^>. That is a very dreadful thing then, is it not? A. Indeed it is. ^ Can there be fuch a thing then as a little fin, againft this holy God ? A. No. Q. Is he that offendeth in one point guilty of all? A. Yes. James ii. 10. C. True, for every fin little or great is an open renunciation of the authority of God over us. Q Do you think any perfon keeps the whole law and commandments of God ? A. No. All have finned. Rom. iii. 23. j|>. Yet you promife to walk in his command- ments all the days qf your life ? C * ^. I [ 28 ] A. I do. ^. You own this is your bounden duty then? A. No doubt it is. ^. Do you approve of God's law though it condemns you ? A. I do. God is righteous, but I am a finner. j^. You cannot therefore bear that God fhouid enter into judgment with you as having kept all his commandments ? A. No. I cannot indeed. In many things we all offend Q. Will your own beft obedience fave you ? A. No, in no wife. Q. Who then is your falvation ? A. Chrift. Afts iv. 12. 4>. Did he fulfil the law of God and all righte- oufhefs for you ? A. He did. Rom. x. 4. j^. Doth he juftify you then before God though a poor ungodly finner ? A. I truft he doth. j^. But tho' the commandments of God through your weaknefs and corruption cannot be kept per- fectly, and procure you life, as a covenant of works : they are ftill your rule of duty, are they not ? A. They are. >. And as fuch you take them for your guide, do you not ? A. I [ 29 3 A. I hope to do fo. C. I pray God you may, and every day get a deeper difcovery of God's mind and will, and ex- perience a warmer defire to be conformed to it. All God's children are obedient children, and though they place no dependance upon their obe- dience to juftify them before God, in whofe fight can no flefh living be juftified, yet do they watch and pray that their ways may be made diredl before God's face, and that they may be enabled to let their light fhine before men, adorning the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. V. C. I have been endeavouring fummarily to fet be- fore you on the one hand the great and diftinguifh- ed bleffings to which thofe who are truly baptifed into Chrilt are admitted, and on the other hand the obligations under which fuch baptifed perfons lie, of living by faith, renouncing all evil, and walking in God's ways. You, my dear children, were unable, when you were prefented at the font, to underftand either the privileges or the obliga- tions of your baptifm. You were infants but born of prfefling parents, to whofe children as well as themfelves the promifes are made -and as capable of admiffion into the pale of the church of C 3 Chrift, [ 3 ] Chrift, as an Ifraelitifh child was by circumciffbn to be admitted into it," to which rite taptifm fuc- ceeds alfo godly perfons, or thofc, who as par- takers of the Lord's table ought to be fo, fince none fhould dare to approach the Lord's table un- renewed in the fpirit of their minds, fuch godly perfons having undertaken for your early inftruc- tion, that you might be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord On all thefe ac- counts you were permitted, though infants, to be initiated under the feal of the covenant, baptifed into the number of God's people, and admitted in- to his church and all the privileges of it ; but now that you are grown to fome ability of underftand- ing what a folemn vow, promife, and profeffion they made for you : I as your minifter in the face of God and this congregation, do, as is my duty, alk of you, whether you really think you are bound to believe and do as they your godfathers and god- mothers promifed for you ? A. Yes verily, and by God's help fo I will j and I heartily thank our heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this ftate of falvation, through Jefus Chrift our Saviour : and I pray unto God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the fame unto my life's end. C. I am glad to hear you make fo full a con- fo gracious a purpofe. I pray God for you [ 3' 1 you that you may be found faithful. Mind my dear children what you are faying. You are novr taking upon yourfelves all that your godfathers and godmothers promifed in your name, and you will be falfe to God and your own fouls if you draw back from it will forfeit all the bleffings of bap- tifm and if you (hould have a lie in your mouth, with the crofs of Chrift marked on your forehead, you will have the wrath of God upon your fouls. Confider then ferioufly what you are anfwering. Do you really think you are bound to believe and do as they promifed for you ? Anfwer me. A. Yes, verily. Q But you do not undertake this I hope in your own ftrength ? A. No. Our ftrength is but weaknefs. Q. By what means do you hope to fucceed ? A. By God's help, fo I will. John xv. 5. j> ; Muft God therefore work in you both to will and to do of his good pleafure ? A. Yes. Salvation is from God alone. 4>. Do you fuppofe you are now admitted injo a ftate of falvation ? A. I do. j^. Through whofe merits ? A. Through Jefus Chrift our Saviour. >. Is there no falvation out of Chrift ? A. None. Acts iv. 12. C 4 . You [ 3* ] j. You were born a fmner, and as fuch were in a ftate of damnation, were you not ? A, I was by nature. ^j Is Chrift come to feeic and fave that which was loft ? A. Yes. J^. Is he a Saviour to the uttermoft to all that come to God by him ? A. He is. ^. Can they therefore never perifti whom he un- dertakes to fave ? A. No, never. John x. 28. 4J. Is not this matter of inexprefliblc comfort if we believe it truly ? A. It is. j^. Ought you not to be exceedingly thankful to God' for his unfpeakable mercy? A. I defire to be fo, and heartily thank our heavenly Father, who hath called me into this ftate of falvation through Jefus Chrift our Saviour. j^. Do you fuppofe, that God for Chrift's fake is now become your father ? A; I do. j>. I hope you will continue in this blefled ftate and relation unto your life's end, and I dare fay you defire fo to do, A, That is indeed my defire, >. What [ 33 ] j^. What means do you make ufe of for this blefled end and purpofe ? A. I pray unto God to give me his grace that I may continue in the fame (ftate of falvation to which I am admitted) unto my life's end. ^. Has God appointed prayer as the means ? A. Yes. He hath. Luke xv. 9 13. J2>. Is he the God that heareth prayer ? A. Yes. He is. John xiv. 13, 14. Jf>. And hath he promifed to give his Holy Spirit of all grace to them that aflc him ? A. He hath. Luke xi. 13. J3>. Then you depend upon God's grace alone to keep you from falling, and not upon your own ftrength or refolutions ? A. I depend upon his grace alone. j^. Is God able to keep you in that ftate of fal- vation into which he hath called you ? A. Yes, fully able. Q But hath he promifed to do fo whilft you call upon him ? A. Yes, he hath. Pfal. 1. 15. 4>. Why then you can never perifh, but muft have everlafting life ? A. That is my confidence. j^. Shall none be able to pluck you out of his hands ? A. None, C 5 Jg. But [ 34 ] j. But hath God promifed to pour out a fpirit of prayer and fupplication upon his children ? A* Yes, he hath j becaufe we are fons, he hath fent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, whereby %ve cry, Abba Father. C, Remember this, my dear children, to your great and endlefs comfort, your heavenly Father who brought you into this ftate of falvation, hath ordained the means and the end. The end is fal- vation. The means of abiding in it is prayer, for which he enables you, and to which he difpofes the hearts of his children, and then the confequence is infallible. I give unto my fheep, fays Chrift, eternal life, and they fhall never perifh, and none fhall pluck them out of my Father's hand, Oh be thankful then for your holy vocation and calling into this ftate of falvation, by Jefus Chrift our Sa- viour, and give all diligence in God's own appointed means and way, to make your calling and election fure. VI. C. Your godfathers and godmothers promifed te inftruft you in the articles of the Chriftian faith, can you repeat your creed. A. I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth : and in Jefus Chrift his only Son our. Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghoft, born of the Virgin Mary, fuffered under r 35 ] under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried j he defcended into hell j the third day he rofe again from the dead ; he afcended into heaven, and fitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he {hall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Choir, the holy Catholick church, the communion of faints, the forgivenefs of fins, the refurrelion of the body, and the life evcrlafting. Amen. C. This is your creed then, and it is compofed of various articles or joints clofely connected with each other. The knowledge of which are of the laft importance to your falvation. For this is eter- nal life to know thee, (fays St. John) the only true God and Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fent. This knowledge and eternal life are infeparably connected ; where God beftows the one we have an infallible certainty that it is the pledge of the other.. 4>. How come you by the knowledge of the true God'? A. From the Scriptures. Qj. Why ? Will not reafon teach you fufHciently concerning God ? A. It will not. j^. What ? Is your understanding darkened by nature, and will not all the wifdom of the world lead you to the knowledge of God ? A. My underftanding is darkened ; and the world by wifdom knew not God. i Cor. i, 21. C. True, C. True, my dear children, and never could have known him, if it had not pleafed God to re- veal bimfelf in his word. The works of God in- deed bear a ftamp upon them, that the hand which made them is divine, and in thcmfelves are fuited to prove the eternal power and godhead of their great Creator; but as the fun (runes only to en- lighten thofe who enjoy the faculty of vifion, but conveys no gleam to the blind : fo the works of creation and providence would ftill have left men without God in the world, if God had not revealed himfelf to us, and by traditionary notices, at firft, and then by the Scriptures, preferved the know- ledge of his being and perfections. Without this I greatly queftion whether fallen man, (notwith- ftanding the pride of philofophers) by any wifdom of his own, if left without tradition or the Scrip- tures, would know any more of God than the beafts which perifh. J^>. How many Gods are there ? A. But one living and true God. j^). How many ptrfons are in the one godhead? A. Three. ^. The Unity in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, is therefore to be worfliipped ? A. So I believe. ^. Do they who deny the three perfons in the one godhead, know or worfhip the Scripture God ? At They do not. . Is [ 37 3 j^. Is the God, they worfliip who deny the Trinity, as much an idol of their imagination, as if they worfliipped a ftock or a ftone ? A. Certainly. Eph. ii. 12. C. True, my dear, for it matters not what kind of God men worfliip : if they know not the Scrip- ture God, they are idolaters, nay, atheifts, for to be without the true God, is, in fad*, to have no God in the world. 4>. What names do thefe three perfons in the godhead bear ? A, The names of Father, Son, and Holy Ghofr. J2>. Are each of thefe by themfelves to be wor- fhipped as God and Lord ? A. They are. j^ : Are they in glory equal, and in majefty co- eternal ? A. So I believe. >. Then neither of them is before or after the other, neither greater nor lefs than the other. A. This I fteadfaftly believe. 4>. Hath God a body, or parts of a body ? A. No. Q. Is he a Spirit ? A. Yes. 4>. Is he poflefied of infinite perfections ? A. He is. j^. Is there none like unto God, or that can compare with him ? A. No, A. No, in no wife. j^. Is he almighty and able to do whatfoever pleafeth him ? A. Yes. Ecclef. viii. 3. 4>. Is he every where prefent ? A. Yes, he filleth heaven and earth with his prefence. Jf>. Is he infinite in wifdom and knowledge ? A. He is. J3>. Do you think he knoweth the very fecrets of your hearts ? A. I do. Pfal. xliv. 21. j^. Doth God know all that hath been, and all that flia!l be ? A. Yes. Known unto God from the beginning are all his works. j^. Is he infinitely good and gracious ? A. Yes. His mercy is over all his works. ^. Is he faithful and true to his promifes ? A. Afluredly. None ever trufted him and were confounded. j|>. Is he infinitely juft and righteous in all his works and ways ? A. He is. ^. But when you have removed all poffible im- perfeiSHon from him, and afcribed to him all ima- ginable excellence, do you think you can attain vinto the full and perfedt knowledge of God, or is he above the thoughts of all created beings, in- comprehenfible ? A. H [ 39 1 A. He is incomprehenfible. None can find out the Almighty to perfection. ^. You fay your knowledge of this blefled God is from the Scriptures, but can every perfon who reads the Scripture attain to this knowledge by the mere exercife of their natural reafon ? A. No. J3>. Is there any fupernatural afiiftance needfal in order to underftand the Scriptures ? A. There is. John vi. 45. Luke xxiv. 45. J3>. It is not by mere education or human teach- ing that you arrive at the knowledge of the true God, is it ? A. No. I muft be taught of God. j^. Cannot you underftand the Scriptures w'tli- out divine afiiftance ? A. Not to any faving purpofe. j^. Cannot a natural man with a good capa- city, and human learning, underftand the things which God's Spirit hath indited in his word ? A. No, in no wife. St. Paul faith, they appear fooliihnefs to him, neither can he know them be- caufe they are fpiritually difcerned. 4>. Muft you look up therefore to be taught of God'? A. I muft. j^. And doth all the wifdom which maketh wife to falvation, come from above,fromtheFather of lights? A. It doth. ^ May t 40 ] j^. May a poor unlettered man, under divine teaching, know much more'of the things of God, and the doctrines of truth, than the wifeft un- enlightened man, who leans only to his own un- derftanding ? A. No doubt he may. Matt. xi. 25. C. Well then, if this be the cafe, you fee, poor, ignorant, and unlearned perfons may know the true God, and the things that 'make for their ever- lafting peace, as well as the more poliftied part of mankind. Some of you perhaps may be neglected and not even taught to read your Bibles ; but if you hear me or others who read artd explain God's word unto you, and God gives you an underftanding to receive the truth in the light arid the love of it, manifefting himfelf to you as he doth not unto the world, you may be made a partaker of the faith of God's elect, and have a knowledge of Him, and his being, perfections, works and ways, which all the wifdom of a thoufand Univerfities could never communicate to you. I fpeak not this to difparage feminaries of learning, or to encourage a carelefs neglect of fo great an acquifition as knowledge. No. It is of all human things one of the moft defirable, and a lingular blefiing to have enjoyed a good education. It was fpoken to the honour of Mofes that he was learned in all the wifdom of the Egyptians, but when this know- ledge, as it often doth, puffs up the heart, and men [ 4 ] men depend upon their own reafon, and look for no higher teaching than men and books and ftudy can communicate ; then their wifdom becomes foolifhnefs, their attainments are no better than fplendid ignorance, and the meaneft, moft un- tutored Chriftian fees as much farther and deeper into the nature and perfections of the true God, and the things that mfke for his everlafting peace, as the light of the meridian fun difcovers objects with a brightnefs furpafling that of the glimmering of the glow-worm. VII. C. We have been confidering the firft great ob- ject of faith, the triune God, he that cometh to God muft believe that he is, according to his own revelation. You have told me, that in the unity of the godhead are three perfons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft. Which in order is firft of thefe divine perfons ? A. The Father. %. Is he God ? A. Yes. I believe the Father is God. ^. What do you particularly believe concern- ing God the Father ? A' That he made me and all the world. ^>. Is not the world eternal ? A, No. [ 42 3 A. No. j^. Had it a beginning ? A. Yes. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Q. What? Angels and men, and creatures of every kind ? A. Yes, all the hoft of them. ). So then from the higheft archangel to the Hie that is born and dies in a day, all are the work of God's hand? A. They are. ^. And is God the upholder and preferver of all?' A. Yes, in him they live and move, and havt their being. ^. Do all things depend upon his providence? A. They do. ^. Why do you give the title of Father to the firft perfon of the facred Trinity ? A. Chiefly becaufe he is the Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift. j^. Do you not alfo regard God in the relation of a Father, to you ? A, Yes, he is my reconciled God and Father in Chrift. Gal. iii. 26. 4>. Though God be the Creator of all, do fome of his creatures ftand in a nearer and more endeared relation to him than others ? A. They [ 43 1 A. They do. Jf>. Hath he chofen them in Chrift to be a kind of firft fruits of his creatures ? A. He hath. Jam. i. 18. ^>. Thefe therefore are called his cleft, arc they ? A. They are. Eph. i. 4, 5. C. This tuft chapter of the Ephefians is well worthy of your ferious perufal. I wifli your pa- rents, this evening, would read it over to you, for their own as well as your inftruvStion and edifica- tion. VIII. C. We are confidering the articles of our belief. The firft of which is faith in God the Father Al- mighty, Maker of heaven and earth. In the di- vine efience he is the firft divine perfon, and who is the fecond ? A, Jefus Chrift his only Son our Lord. . Is faith in Jefus Chrift neceflary to falva- tion ? A. Abfolutely neceflary. Ac"b xvi. 30, 31. ^. Whofoever believeth not in him, muft he, without doubr, perifh everlaftingly ? A. He muft. John iii. 36. J^. What is the meaning of the word Jefus ? Alt [ 44 1 A. It fignifies a Saviour. Matt. i. 21. j^. Do you ftand in need of a Saviour ? A. I do. J^. Why ? Are you a loft and helplefs finner ? A. Yes, wholly fo. Rom. v. 6. j|>. Is Jefus come to feek and fave that which is loft ? A. He is. j|J. You fay you are a loft and helplefs finner, in need of a Saviour ; do you think that for your fins you deferve to pcrifh ? A. I do. A. And can you make no compenfation to God for them to obtain your pardon ? A. No, none at all. Pfal. xlix. 7, 8. j^. What ? Are you by nature as weak as you are wicked ? A. I am wholly fo. Rom. v. 6. j^. Doth the guilt of fin condemn you and the power of it enflave you ? A. It doth. J3>. And have you withal many fpiritual ene- mies ? A. I have. The devil, the world, and my own wicked heart. Q* Then you may well cry out with the apoftle, Wretched man that I am, who fhall deliver me? and here is the anfwer, I thank God, through Jefus [ 45 ] Jefus Chrift my Lord Is it not a great mercy to have a Saviour to fly to in fuch a cafe ? A. Very great. >. And will not they be inexcufable who ne- glecl: fo great a falvation ? A. No doubt they will be. Heb. ii. 3. C. Take care then that it be not your own cafe, a Saviour is preached to you, able to the uttermoft to refcue you from the curfe and confequences of fin, from death and hell, and all your fpiritual enemies. Believe in the Lord Jefus Chrift, and you fhall be faved. 'Tis faith in him alone can bring you victory over your fears and foes, and make you finally more than conquerors. I pray the Lord for you, that he may work it effectually in your hearts. IX. C. You have told me that you believe in Jefus the feccnd perfon in the facred Trinity, as your only, and all fufHcient Saviour. We come now to confider the ground on which that faith is built: for it is not faying like the Roman governor, We have heard of one Jefus, that will do us any good, but being able to give a reafon of the hope that is in us, and knowing that foundation to be ever- laftingly ftrong on which we build our confidence. It [ 46 1 It is not babbling over the articles of our creed that makes us believers, but the underftanding what we fay, and having our hearts eftablifhed in the truth as it is in Jefus, elfe our Chriftianity is but an empty name, and our profeffion of faith, but as founding brafs and tinkling cymbal. J2>. Do you believe in Jefus then as the Chrijl? A. I do. Q What is the meaning of the word Jefus ? A. It fignifies anointed. C. Meffiah, Chrift, Anointed, are all words of the fame meaning, only in different languages. Jefus is the true Meffiah, anointed of God, and thereby both appointed by the divine will, and qualified by the divine Spirit, for the execution of the work of our falvation. Can you tell me who were by God's command under the Old Teftament appointed to be anointed for their offices ? A. Prophets, priefts, and kings. ^. You are right, and they were herein the types and figures of him who united all thefe offices in his own perfon, and is therefore by way of emi- nence ftiled, The Cbri/t. 4>. Is Chrift your Prophet? A. He is. Deut. xviii. 15. 4>. Was it the prophet's office to teach the mind and will of God to the people ? A, It wa. [ 47 ] %. Do you want a divine prophet and teacher ? A. I do. Q. Is there great blindnefs and fpiritual ignorance iii your natural underftanding ? y/. There is. Eph. iv. 18. >. And can no teaching but that of Jefus Chrift tffeclually remove it ? A. No other can be effectual, i Cor. i. 21. Jf>. Would you never know or feel the true ftate cf guilt and mifery in which you are born and live by nature, if Jefus did not teach you ? A. I fhould not. 2 Cor. iv. 6. John xvi. 8. j^ : But do not people readily confefs they are fmners ? A. They do. 4. But is there not a great difference between mens general confeflions of fin, and a real feeling conviction of it on the confcience ? A. Great difference indeed. j^. Muft the Spirit of Jefus give you a divine conviction of fin, before you can confefs it to any faving purpofe? A. He muft, or my confeflions will be otherwife mere words. 4. Can you favingly know any of the truths of God without this anointed Prophet's help ? J. No, he muft lead me into all truth. C. 1 [ 48 ] C. I pray God for you, my dear children, that he may, and that you may know him to be your prophet by blefled heart-felt experience. J|>. What is the fecond office which Chrift the anointed bears ? A. That of Prieft. >. Was it the office of the prieft under the law to offer up facrifices for the peoples fins ? A. It was. Heb. viii. 3. Q And did he pray for them, that God would accept the blood of atonement of the bead which was flain, and pardon, blefs, and fave them? A. He did. j^>. Do you think that in this the prieft was a type and figure of Chrift ? A. He was. Heb. ix. 9. Q Hath Jefus Chrift offered up to God the Father any facrifice for fin ? A. Yes, himfelf. Heb. vii. 27. 4>. And doth he ever live to pray and make in- terceflion for us ? A. He doth. Heb. vii. 25. Q. Do we want fuch an High-Prieft ? A. Oh yes, exceedingly. j^. What would become of us if he had not offered up himfelf for us ? A. We muft have perifhed. John xi, 50. . And [ 49 1 Q. And could we ever now approach God with acceptance, if we had not Jefus as our advocate with the Father ? A. We could not, John xiv, 6. 4>. So then all our hopes of pardon for our fins, and every anfwer to our prayers, depend entirely upon the facrifice and interceffion of our High* Prieft, Chrift Jefus. A. They do. j^. What is the third office to which Jefus is anointed ? A. To be the King of his people, ^. Is it the office of a king to defend his fub- jecls from their enemies ? A. It is, ^. Do you think that Jefus your anointed King is able and willing to put all your fpiritual enemies under your feet ? A* I do. Luke i. 71. ,*>. Are you bound to pray to him, and depend upon him for this purpofe ? A. No doubt I am. Pfal. xxii. 5. 4>. And is this the true exercife of faith in him as your Saviour Chrift? A. It is. 4k Is it the office of a king to confer favours and honours on his fubjecls ? A, Yes, Hath [ 50 ] Jg. Hath the Lord Jefus any favours and honours to confer ? A. He hath, the greateft imaginable. 4>. Doth he give grace and glory ? A. He doth. 4J. And fliall his people live and reign as kings nd priefb with him in heaven ? A. So hath he promifed. Rev. i. 6. j^. You fay Chrift is thus anointed to be the Prophet, Prieft, and King of his people, when did God thus folemnly confecrate and fet him apart for thefe offices ? A. At his bapcifm. j^. Did God give any vifible and miraculous fign of his confecration ? A. Yes. The Spirit of God as a dove defcendtd from heaven upon him. j^. And did Gud the Father audibly proclaim him to the world ? A. Yes. There came a voice from heaven, faying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleafed. j^>. Did Jefus as the anointed, receive any qua- lification for the difcharge of the great offices, to which God the Father thus glorioufiy appointed' him ? A. Yes, the Father gave not the Spirit by mea- fuie unto him. 4>. Do you believe he received from the Father in his human nature all fulnefs of grace, wifdom, and power, to enable him to finifh the work which he had given him to do ? A. I do. C. I hope you do, and that every day, through an increafing acquaintance with the Seriptures, you will be going on to the full aflurance of hope unto the end. It is a great thing to believe. God alone can beftow this heavenly gift on the heart. I can inflruft you, and you may hear me, and underftand the import of the words, but it is God muft give you to believe. Confcflion with the lip and tongue that Jefus is the Chrift, is eafily made, but experimentally to know him to be fuch, is a divine work in the heart ; we may fpeak and hear of him as a Prophet, Prieft, and King; but it is of the unfearchable riches of his grace, if you and I are by him as our Prophet, brought out of na- ture's darknefs into God's marvellous light, if we are enabled to take him as our Priefl, flying to his blood and righteoufnefs-, and interccflion for peace and acceptance with God under all cur guilt, cor- ruption, and backflidiflgs, and to commit our fouls to him as our King, to be protected, comforted, faved from all our fears and foes. Therefore, Icaft we (hould take up with forms of words or vain profeffion, inftead of experimental knowledge, doth D 2 St. [ 52 1 St. John fo awfully warn us, that no man can fay that Jefus is the Chrift, but by the Holy Ghoft. X. Q. Whofe Son is Jefus Chrift ? A. The Son of God. Matt. xvi. 16. Q. Are there not other fons of God befides ? are not angels and men called fo in Scripture ? A> They are. j^. Is Chrift the Son of God in a peculiar fenfc to which no creature can pretend ? A. He is. Matt. xi. 27. 4J. Is he therefore diftinguiflied as God's only Son ? A. Yes, he is the only begotten of the Father. J3>. Are the Father and Son one in the glory of the undivided Godhead ? A. They are. John x. 30. C. This myfterious union is far above our com- prehenfion, and our finite knowledge cannot de- clare his generation. One thing only we are af- fured of in Scripture, that He is very God of very God, the fame with the Father in nature, fubftance, and glory. That he was in the beginning with God, and was God ; that he is the true God ; is in the form of God ; equal with God; and diftin- guilhed by the fame names, titles, and attributes [ 53 ] as the Father ; known by the fame works of crea- tion and providence, and claiming the fame worfliip and honour from angels in heaven, and men upon earth. So that either Jefus Chrift, is, as the onJy Son of the Father, God over all, bleffed for ever, or the Scriptures deceive us, for either they reveai to us no God at all, or Jefus Chrift is that God. j^. Do you think it of the higheft importance to be grounded in the faith of this truth ? A. I do. C. No doubt it is mcft important to believe this 4 for on the glory of the Godhead of the Son depends all the fufficiency of his undertaking. Lefs than God manifeft in the flefli, he had been unable to make an end of fin, to finilh tranfgreffion, and bring in everlafting righteoufnefs. To accomplifk thefe great ends it became neceflary, that he by \be eternal Spirit fhould in our ftead offer himfelf without fpot unto God. And as God he purchafed the church with his own blood. All guilty fears and doubts vanifh, and folid confidence, hope and peace, fpring up in the confcience, when knowing in whom we have believed, our fouls repofe on the incarnate Jehovah. j^. Is the name Jehovah peculiar to the mod high God ? A. It is. ^ Is this name ever given to Jefus Chrift? D 3 A. Yes. [ 54 1 A. Yes. Exod. xix. 3. to the i^th verfe, com- pared with Acts vii. 38. And again, Ifa. vi. i. to the 5th verfe, compared with John xii. 41. C. Your proofs are pertinent and ftrong. And what is very remarkable, thefe two paflagcs, where the Jehovah of the Old Teftament is exprefsly f. Are the attribute* of deity afcribed to him, as almighty 2 , eternal b , felf-exiftent c , omnifcient d , omniprefent 6 ? A. They are. Q. Are the peculiar works of God, thofe of creation and providence, attributed to him ? A. They are. Col. i. 16, 17. John i. 3. Heb. i. 3. a Rev. i. 8. b Pfal. xc. z. c John viii. 5. K Afts i, 24. e Matt, xviii. so. . Doth [ 55 ] ^. Doth he claim the prerogative of forgiving fins, and anfwering the prayers of his people, and giving life eternal ? A. He doth. Matt. ix. 2 6. Mark. xi. 7. Matt. xxi. 22. John v. 21. John v. 19. j-5. Doth he claim and receive equal honours and worfliip with the Father? A. He does. Phil. xi. 6. John x. 30. xiv. 9, 10. v. 23. Heb. i. 6. j^. And is this worfhip and honour ud him by angels and men ? A. It is. Ifa. vi. I 5. Rev. iv. 8. vi. 10.. Ah vii. 59. j>>. Doth all this, collectively taken, prove Jefus Chrift to be very God ? A, Without all doubt it doth. Jf>. Would it be the higheft blafphemy to afcrib* to him thefe divine honours and pay him this wor- fhip if he were not very God ? A. It would be fo. j>. If he be thus infinitely glorious in his nature, you ought to place the firmeft confidence in his work as your Saviour, ought you not ? A. I fhould do fo. C. I pray God that you may, and be enabled with comfort to commit your poor and finful foul to the pardoning love and gracious care of your D 4 Saviour [ 56 ] Saviour and your God. Then through the mercy Of the moft Highcft you (hall n XI. C. You profefs to believe in Jefus Chrift the only Son of God, as one in nature, and of one fubftance with the Father, what relation doth he particularly bear towards you, and what efpeciaj intcreft have you in him ? A. He is our Lard. Q Is he constituted and appointed Lord of all things ? A. He is. Heb. i. 2. J2>. Doth he, as Mediator, enjoy this particular power and authority, for the good of his church and people ? A. He doth. j^. Is all created nature put under his feet ? A. It is. He doth whatsoever pleafeth him in the hofts of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. j^>. All muft bow before him therefore, whether they will or no ; but have fome a nearer relation to him than others ? A. Yes,, his redeemed people. j^. Are they peculiarly his care ? A. They are. Mai. iii. 17. t 57 ] '-' Q Is he their guardian and protestor ? A. He is. Ifa. xxvii. 3. j^>. Is he the Lord our righteoufnefs ? A. So he is called. Jer. xxiii. 6. g)* Muft we be found in his divine righteouf- nefs, if we would ftand complete before the throne of God? A. We mutt, and in this righteoufnefs only. Phil, iii.g. 4>. If he is our Lord, ought we not to truft him as near to help in every time of need ? A. Certainly. Pfal. cxlv. 18. ^. And hath he not a right to our firft affec- tions, and chearful fervice I A. Afluredly he hath. Pfal, xxxu 23. . But do not many fay, Lord, Lord, who- very much neglet the commands of Jefus Chrift ? A. They too often do. J^. Then it is not every one that faith, Lord, Lord, who enters into the kingdom of heaven ? A. No. Matt. vii. 21. 4>. What will be the end of thofe who confefs him in words, and deny him by wicked works ? A. They muft without all doubt perifb everlaft- ingly. Matt. vii. 23. ^. Ought you not therefore betimes to think about loving, ferving, and pleaflng Jefus Chiift ur Lord f D 5 J.1 [ 58 ] A. I ought to do fo. C. My dear children, I hope through the grace of God you will do fo : and not merely learn by rote the words of your creed, but feel and evidence the influence of divine faith upon your hearts by your works; yielding up body, foul and fpirit, to the fervice of your liege Lord and gracious mafter Jefus Chrift. XII. C. We have been confidering the Godhead and glory of our Redeemer and Saviour Jefus Chrifr., whom truly to know is everlafting life. We come now to the confideration of his human nature, in which united to the divine he fulfilled the great work of the finner's falvation, and as God and man in one Chrift now lives and reigns for ever and ever, to the comfort of his chofen, and to the confufion of his enemies. It was needful in mak- ing peace between an offended holy God, and the fmful fons of men, that the perfon who undertook to be the repairer of the breach fhould partake of both natqres, and be a proper dayfman, as Job calls him, to lay his hand upon us both. In our nature* as a furety to fatisfy the righteous demands of God's jaftice and holy law, and as God-man, to give to his facrifice and obedience, when he became incar- nate [ 59 ] nate for us men, and for our falvation, that tran- fcendent excellence, completenefs, and all-fuffi- ciency, that the Father, well-pleafed for his righ- tcoufnefs fake, and glorified in the higheft by the work of our great furety, might, confiftent with his own perfections juftify, fan&ify, and glo- rify, through the riches of his grace, thofe who in themfelves were ill-deferving, yea hell-deferving, helplcfs, and defperate. ' Proceed we therefore to the incarnation, fufFerings, death, refurre&ion, and mediatorial glory of our God and Saviour Jefus Chnft. 4>; Was God's only Son, our Lord, incarnate and made flefli ? A. He was. John i. 14* .^. Had he a human body and reafonable foul, j'jft as the other children of men ? A. He had, being in all things made like unto his brethien. Heb. ii. 14. j^. One thing only excepted. All the fons and daughters of Adam are conceived in fin and born in wickednefs, but was the Son of God ? A. No, in him was no fin. J^ ; By what means was this ordered, that he fiiould take our nature without the fin which had, corrupted it throughout ? A. He was conceived of the Holy Ghoft, and born of the Virgin Mary. 4>. Was r 60 j jS>. Was it neceffary that he who in our nature was to make atonement for others, fhould himfelf be without fin ? A. It was. i John iii. 5. Heb. vii. 26. jf>. Had fm been found in him, he would not have been a Lamb without fpot or blemifh, to take away the fin of the world. Was it alfo necefTary that the human nature of Chrift fhould be thus holy, harmlefs, undefiled, and feparate from fin-, ners, in order to be taken into perforftl union with the uncreated WORD? A. It was. ^. Do you believe that by' the miraculous and inconceivable agency of the Holy Ghoft, a body was prepared from the Virgin Mary, of fpotiefs purity, and infeparably united with the pcrfon of the Son of God ? A. That is my faith. Luke i. 35. j^. Was the Virgin Mary a Jewels ? A. Yes. Q. And were not herfelf, and hufband Jofcph, both of the royal houfe and lineage of David ? A. They were. Luke ii. 4. J;^. Had God promifed to David, that of the fruit of his loins, the Mefliah Ihould fpring ? A. He had. Ats ii. 30. j^. Did not Jofeph and Mary go up to Beth- lehem, David's eity, to be taxed ? A. They A. They did. ^. That was a proof, therefore, they were his defcendants ; and was Chrift born at Bethlehem I A. He was. ^. Had it been foretold that fo it {nould be ? A. It had. Micah v. 2. ^. In what fort of place was Chrift brought forth ? A. In a ftable : becaufe there was no room for them at the inn. 4>. Was not this a vaft inftance of humility, that the Son of God (hould ftoop fo low as to take our nature, and with fuch abafing circumftances r" A. It was. 4>. Ought we not to follow the example of his great humility ? A. We ought afluredly to do fo. j-^. Does not this condemn all who murmur and repine at their poverty and low eftate ? A. It doth. C. Well, take notice of the child Jefus, my dear children, and learn to be pleafed with your ftation. The meaneft of you hath a better houfe to cover you then he was born in. His cradle was a manger;, his father a poor carpenter ; and when he grew up, he had not where to lay his head. Oh how mould the view of the humiliation of Jefus reconcile us to every condition, fweeten, our lot wherever God bath [ 62 ] hath caft it, and teach us, in whatever ilate we are, therewith to be content. XIII. C. We have been confidering the incarnation of the Son of God, that amazing work, which angels with aftonifhment, defire to look into, admiring and adoring the condefcenfion of our Immanuel. He bowed the heavens and came down, and took upon him the nature of man, and being found in fauhion as a man, he humbled himfelf. Oh the depths of his love ! He humbled himfelf to death, even the death of the crofs. He became man for our falvation, he took our nature that he might bear our iniquities, and in the place of finners fuffer, what we had deferved r making atonement by his blood ; fatisfying the juftice of a holy Gcd j and purchafing by his obedience unto death, even the death of the crofs, that life and glory, which we by fin had forfeited, and through our defperate corruption were for ever unable to regain. Tell me therefore, 4>. Do you believe that Jefus Chiift fufFered i J. I do. j-i). Under whom ? A. Pontius Pilate. .. Was [ 63 ] jS>. Was he at that time the Roman governour of Judea ? A. He was. . And did God the Father lay upon him the iniquity of us all ? A. Yes, of us all. Ifa. liii. 6. j^). Did he die the juft for the unjuft ? A. He did. i Pet. iii. 18. j^>. Are all the fins of the redeemed paid for in the precious drops of Jefus' blood ? A. They are. i Pet. i. 18, 19. ^. If the Lord then took him as our furety, and accepted his offering as our ranfom, is it righteous and juft in God the Father to forgive us our fins I A. It [ 4 3 An It is. i John i. 9. ^. Is he bound by his own juftice to pardon the believer in Jefus ? % A. He is. He hath accepted the furety for the finner. J3>. Could nothing (hort of this price ranfom us from our iniquities ? A. Nothing. Acts iv. 12. J>. The crofs of Chrift in this view fhews us in the ftrongeft light the dreadful nature of fin, doth it not ? A. It doth. J2>. Did Chrift die upon the crofs ? A. Yes. J>. Was it neceflary that he fhould die ? A. It was. Heb. ii. 14.. j^. V/as death the wages of fin ? A. It was. ^>. And did Chrift by the grace of God tafte of death for every one of his redeemed ? A. He did. j^. What is the fting of death ? A. Sin. ^. Hath Chrift taken away that fting ? A. He hath, i Cor. 15. 57. Q Ought a believer in Jefus now to be afraid of death ? A. No. In no wife. Rorn. viii, 37. Who L 6 5 ] j. Who hath the power of death ? A. The devil. >. Hath Chrift deftroyed the devil's power, by dying for us ? A. He hath. Heb. ii. 14. J:^. Is the ferpcnt's head broken by the bruifed heel of Jefus? A. It is. Gen. in. 15. j=. Is it not a great comfort to be able to triumph over fin, fatan, death, and hell ? A. The greateft in the world. j^ ; And what is it, that gives us this vi&ory \ A, Our faith. j^>. But have all men faith ? A. No. 2 Thefl'. iii. 2. . Do not many who call themfelves believers, deceive themfelves ? A. Yes, greatly. Rev. iii. 9. J^. Do they not live under the guilt and power of fin, and the fear of death ? A. They do. 4*. Hath Chrift for them died in vain ? A. He hath. C. Remember this, my dear children, it is not every one who talks of a crucified Jefus that really believes on him. They who know nothing of the evil of fin, for which he died, they who live con- tentedly under the power of fin they who never felt [ 66 1 felt their hearts pierced with a fenfe of the Re- deemer's fufferings they who have not yet learned to loath themfelves and fin never truly knew or believed in a dying Redeemer ! May a fenfe of his amazing grace affect your confeiences ! May you be enabled to look on him whom they have pierced and mourn ! May you find the efficacy of his crofs in your hearts ! May you be enabled to glory in it daily! Triumphing over guilt treading down fatan as a vanquished foe defying death and its fling and looking forward with joyful hope, in the confidence, that to live is Chrift, and to die is gain. XIV. C The humiliations of the Son of God have been the fubject of our laft lecture : and fuch humiliations as every time we reflect upon them, fhould fill our inmoft fouls with deepeft abafement, and warrheft gratitude towards him. By his fuf- ferings we are eafed ; by his ftripes we are healed j by his death we have life. But for him our ftate had been as fearful and defperate as that of devils : By him we have now fecured to us blifs and blefied- nefs equal, perhaps fuperior, to that of angels. Though we muft follow our matter through the grave,, the gate of deaih, he hath trod the path, the the marks of his footfteps are feen there, and he faith to us, as to the patriarch going down into Egypt, fear not to go down ; I will go down with thee, and I will furely bring thee up again. This will make the confidcration of the next article of the creed comfortable to us. Q. Was the body of Jefus buried when it was taken from the crofs ? A. Yes. >. Was it laid in a tomb hewn out of a ro.k, where nobody had been ever laid I A. It was. Luke xxiii. 53. <%. What became of the human foul of Jefus ? A. It went to Paradife. Luke xxiii. 43. >. Is this what you mean by defcending into hell, or hades ? A. Yes, Q. You do not fuppofe that the foul of Jefus actually entered into the place and ftate of the damned ? ' A. No. ^ Had he finished the work of fuffering on the crofs ? A. He had. John xix. 30. j^. You believe, therefore, that in death the body and foul of Jefus underwent the fame change as do all his people ? A. I do. >. Muft [ 68 ] <$>. Muft your body and foul be fhortly feparated by death ? A. They muft. ^. Muft the grave be the place of your abode ? A. Yes, afluredly. ' ^. Is it not natural for us to dread this fepara- tion of body and foul I A. Very natural. 4>; Don't you ihudder when you look into a grave and fee the duft and rotten bones, like to which you muft fhortly be ? A. Yes. ' j. Will it not be very dcfircable to know how to overcome thefe fears ? A. Very defireable. C. Well then, look to the livid corpfe of Jefus, laid in the cold tomb ; this will perfume that pit of putrefaction, and open in the grave ar door of hope. The bed of clay, is now become a bed of rofes, and Jike the fweet fleep of a labouring man. Death will be to a believer in Jefus, a gentle fhort re- pofe, from whence in the refurre&ion day he will rife refrefhed, and blooming in all the vigour of immortal health and beauty. XV. The XV. The Scriptures which fpake of the fufferinga of Jefus, we have feen fulfilled in his crucifixion, death and burial. We proceed now to the glory which they had foretold, fliould fhortly follow; it being determined and engaged for in the everlaft- ing covenant, that God the Father would not leave his foul in hell, nor fuffer his Holy One to fee cor- ruption j the path of life was to be fhewn him through the grave, and Jefus, the conquering Je- fus was appointed to lead his captivity captive. When he entered, the territories of death, as his people's reprefentative, it was not to lie down among the flain, but to vanquifh for them, and binding this king of terrors as a captive foe, to rife the conqueror of death and hell, and openly pro- claim his victory, to the exaltation of his own ho- nour, and for their eternal comfort and triumph. Q. How long lay the body of Jefus in the grave ? A. Part of three days. Friday evening, all Sa- turday, and till Sunday morning. j|>. Did he rife the third day according to the Scriptures ? A. He did. >. Have we the ftrongeft evidence imaginable cf this truth, that Jefus rofe again ? A, We C 70 ] A. We have. j|>. And was it needful we fhould ? A. Yes. ^. Did much depend upon it ? A. Yes. Our whole falvation. Q. Is this the hinge upon which the great proof turns, that Jefus Chrift is our Saviour ? A. It is. J^>. If Chrift be not rifen from the dead, is our preaching vain, and faith vain, are we yet in our fins ? A. We are. i Cor. xv. 17. j|>. Did Chrift go into the grave as a public perfon, as the reprefentative and furety for his people ? A. He did. f 4. If he had not rifen, could we hope that our ranfom was paid, and his fuffering accepted ? A. We could not. j^. But is the matter now certain, that God for his fake juflifies the ungodly ? A. Yes. He was delivered for our offences, and raifed again for our juftifkation. Q. Can nothing now condemn thofe for whom Chrift died ? A. Nothing. They are juftified from all things, and fhall never enter into condemnation, but are pafled from death unto life. [ 7' 3 <. If it was fo important to us that Jefus fhould rife again, ought we not to be well acquainted with the proofs of his refurre&ion ? A. Surely, we ought. S. Is our faith built upon this evidence ? A. It is. j^. Ought every one who calls himfelf a believer, to be able to give a reafon of the hope that is in him I A. Certainly he ought. C. Acquaint yourfelves therefore with the Scrip- ture?, that you may not merely repeat your creed, but feel the convi&ion which arifes from the fulleft evidence of the truth. j9. Was every poflible precaution taken by the murderers of Jefus, to prove him an impoftor ? A. Yes. J9. Did they not make the fepulchre as fure as they could, placing a guard of foldiers at the en- trance, rolling a great ftone to the door, and fet- ting the public feal upon it? A. They did. C. They were in hopes on the third day to take the body out of the grave, and (hewing it to the people, to prove Jefus a deceiver ; becaufe he refted the proof of his miffion and doctrine upon his re- furreclion ; for he had faid to them, when they demanded evidence of his being fent from God as the true Mefliah, Deftroy this temple, pointing to r 7* ] to his body, and in three days I will raife it up again. >. What was become of Chrift's difciples when he was feized and executed ? A. They all forfook him and fled. j^. Was there any danger of their attempting to refcue the body ? A. None in the world, j^. Could they have reaped any advantage from the attempt if they had fucceeded. A. No. In no wife. Q Then they had no intereft to propagate a delufion ? A. No. If they had not the fulleft conviction of the fad themfelves, they muft have been of all men moft miferable to have aflerted it. J2>. Did the precautions that had been taken ferve the ftronger to prove the fact of the refur- reclion ? A. Yes, in the ftrongeft manner. xL* Who were the firft witneflls of the refur- re&ion ? A- The foldiers who guarded the body. j>. Can you tell me any of the circumftances? A. Yes. There was a great earthquake. An angel of the Lord defcended from heaven in glory, and rolled the flone from the grave, and the keepers were fo terrified and affrighted, that they deferted r 73 ] deferted their poft, and ran into the city and told what they had feen. 3> ; Were not the high priefts and pharifses very deiircms to fmother their report ? A. They were. j^. Did they give them a large fum of money, and a promife to fcreen them from the governour's anger for deferting their poft, if they would tell a lie? A. They did. ^. And what was the lie they put in the foldiers mouth ? A. That Jefus's difciples came by night, whilft they flept, and frole him away. C. How improbable a ftory, how impracticable an attempt ! Would a whole band of foldiers be afleep at once : afleep when fuch a charge was com- mitted to them afleep, when if found fleepingthey knew they would be put to death by their military laws .'If one or another flumber'd, would many, would the whole band, all fall afleep -all at the iame time ? And were the difciples men fo daring as to attempt a refcue in the face of danger fo im- minent ! Thofe cowards who, when their mafter was alive forfook him and fled even the moft zealous and courageous of them all, Peter, fo fright- ed when only queftioned by a fcrvant maid, thft he denied him, yea, curfed and f w ore he never E kne\y I 74 ] kew him : would thefe at the hazard of their lives, nay, almoft with a certainty of death before them, dare to approach the fepulchre ? Could they hope to find a whole band of foldiers fo negligent as to be all afleep ? Could they dare even if that was the cafe, to pafs through the midft of them, break open the fepulchre, roll back a vaft ftone that required fo great ftrength to remove, fetch out the dead body, and carry it off, and make no noife, not awakeone of this numerous guard? How credulous inuft they be who could entertain fuch a fuggef- tion ? Infidels always are conftrained to believe more than even God's word requires of his people, though they dare fo often ridicule the followers of Jefus as credulous. But what intereft had the dif- ciples to do this? Could they gain their ends, and have the refurreclion credited, were they likely to receive benefit by the delufion ? Juft the very con- trary j fhame, contempt, poverty, difgrace, hatred, fufferings of every Jcind, yea, the moft tormenting deaths were to be the certain rfuit of their tefti- mony ? Could ever man in his fenfes take fuch a ftep. Would multitudes thus expofe themfelves without the fullcft conviction of the truth which they aflerted, and the importance of it to their own eternal happinefs, and that of mankind ? So far we hear the firft evidence. . Wha [ 75 ] G). Who are next evidences of the refurredioa. of Jefus ? A. His difciples. Q Did they fee him after he rofe ? A. Yes, many times. j^>. How long ? ^. During forty days. j^. Were they numerous or few ? A. A great many. 4>. How many at one time faw him ? A, Above five hundred. ^. Did they converfe, and eat and drink with him ? A. They did. j^. Might they not be miftaken in the perfon ? A. No. Certainly not. ^. Did the fhangenefs of the thing, and the weight of the confequences flowing from it, make them n quire the ftrongeft proof of. Jefus, that it w.s he himfelf ? A. It did. J5>. Did Jefus gracioufly fatisfy their doubts, filence their unbelief, and give them full conviaion that he was the very perfon after his refurreaion, whom they had feen fuffer on the crofs I A. He did. $>. By what means ? E 2 A. He t 76 ] A. He converfed, eat and drank with them during forty days, and to remove all poffibility of doubt, he {hewed them his hands where the nails had fattened him to the crofs, and his fide where the foldiers fpear had entered into his heart, and bid them feel the marks, and be convinced that it was no phantom but real flefli and bones, even he him- felf their former and well known matter. ). Were they all convinced of the truth ? A* They were. Q. Did they give the ftrongeft evidence that they were fo by fealing it with their blood ? A. They did. J3>. Then we have the fulled evidence that they could not be impofed upon themfelves, and have given us the ftrongeft proof that man can give, that they meant not to impofe upon others ? A, We have, to the utmoft. 4. Did the angels from heaven bear teflimony to this fa& ? A. They did. Luke xxiv, 6. ^. Did God alfo himfelf fet his fcal to this truth ? A. Yes. 4>. How. A^ By the figns and miracles which the fuft preachers of the gofpel were enabled to work in proof [ 77 ] proof of the truth which they advanced. Mark xvi. 20. Q Have we ourfelves any prefent proof of the fa& in our own experience ? A. We have, , 4>. Was the gift of the Holy Ghoft on the day of pentecoft, and are all the gifts and graces of th* Spirit now beftowed on the redeemed, evident proofs that Jefus is alive for evermore ? A. They are. Ac~b ii. 33. >* Then our faith doth not reft merely on out- ward evidence however ftrong or forcible, every true believer hath the witnefs in himfelf, hath be not? A. He hath, j John v. 10. C. Mind this, my dear children. Men may learn to talk of the refurreftion of Jefus, and learned men may fupport it by thefe arguments which I have advanced, ami many others j but if we are only taught of men, and reft upon human reafonings merely, our faith ftanding only on the wifdom of men and not on the power of God, will not endure the teft in the day of trial. We muft have the internal evidence of the refurreaion of Jefus in our hearts, as quickened by his Spirit from the death of fin unto the life of righteoufnefs, and then we fhall be able with divine evidence to fay, J know in whom I have believed. This is that faith E 1 of t 78 ]. of God's operation that is peculiar to the redeemed and infeparable from falvation. I pray God that you may be poflcfTed of this unfpeakable gift, and whilft you are enabled to give a pertinent anfwcr to him that afketh you a reafon of the hope that is in you, that you may enjoy a ftill fuller evidence in your own confcience, than the ftrongeft argu- ments, and moft conclufive reafoning can convey to other?, even the anfwer of a good confcience towards God, through the refurredtion of Jefus frcm death, having inward experience of the fact from this blefled effect produced by his Spirit in your hearts. XVI. J->. How long did our Lord Jefus continue upon earth after his refurre&ion ? A. Forty days. <2>. What became of him afterwards \ A. He afcended into heaven. J. Who faw him afcend \ A. His difciplcs. J^>. How did he afcend ? A. His body went up, till a cloud received him out of their fight. 4>. Did Chrift go up into heaven as the head and reprefentative of his chofen people? [ 79 J A. He did. Heb. vi. 20. 4>. Then it was needful for m that he ffiouW go thither ? y/. So he afTures us. John xvi. 7. . Hath he by entering into heavew for us, opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers ? A. He hath. 4^. Were we by fin excluded from God's pre- fence I A. We were. Heb. i. 13. Jg. But have we now accefs to the holieft of all through the blood of Jefus ? A. We have. Heb. x. 19. ). Has he promifed to go before to prepare a place for us ? yf. He hath promifed fo to do. John xiv. 2. ^. And will he fulfil it ? A. I truft he will. Q Then you expecl to be with him where he is, to behold his glory ? A. I do. J2>. But will not all your manifold iniquities prevent you ? A. No. There is no condemnation to them that are- in Chrift Jefus. They cannot perim for whom he died, and rofe again. Rom. viii. i. J2>. Did Chrift promife to fend to his difciples a comforter after he was gone ? 4 A, He I 80 J A. He did. John xvi. 7. ^. Who is that comforter ? A. The Holy Ghoft. <. And did Chrift fend him? A+ Yes. At the clay of pentecoft. ^. Befides the miraculous gifts of the Spirit which he then gave unto men, doth he continue to minifter to all his people the fame Spirit for their comfort, light, and fanclification ? A. He doth. Matt, xxviii, 20. Rom. viii. 9. Q. Are you to expect the fame Spirit to be fent into your hearts, as was given to the primi- tive Chriftians ? A. Afluredly. i Cor. xii. 13. ^. Is his influence as neceflary for every good work now, as- it was to inable the apoftics to work miracles then ? A. It is. John xv. 5. ^. Has Chrift taken pofieflion on your behalf of the heavenly inheritance ? A. He hath. Eph. ii. 6. >. Then all your title to glory depends on his finifhed work ? A. Entirely. Phil. iii. 9. Col. ii. 10. ^. Do you expe& to be with Chrift on ac- count of your own goodnefs, or merely through the riches of his grace ? A By grace j only by grace I am faved. J?. Is ^. Is Chriff gone up as a conqueror ? A. Yes. He hath led my captivity captive. 4>. Then all your foes are really vanquiihed I A. They are. Q* Can any of them now pluck you out of the all-conquering Jefus' hand ? A. No. None. John x. 28. j^. Then your redemption in him is now com- pleat and everlafting ? A. It is. Heb. ix. 12. j9. If this be true, ought you not in affection, to be following Chrift into the heavens? A. Yes. I am bound to d'o fo. .^X Should your heart be now with him ? A. Certainly, Col. iii. I, 2. <*>. Ought you confidently to truft upon him as your captain, leading you afluredly to conqueft and; a crown ? A. I ought to do fo. j^. Is this the honour he expects from his peo- ple, that they fhould thus truft and not be afraid? A. It is. j^. Is it your duty and privilege to draw near to Jefus in the heavens, to receive out of his fulnefs the gifts which he now hath to beftow ? A\ It is my bounden duty, and higluft privi- >ge, E And j. And will he affuredly give his Holy Spirit to them that aft him ? A. Yes, as fure'y as he is in heaven. C. WeH, my dear children, fee that you corre- fpond in practice with thefe your profeffions.. It is Hot confeffing Chrift in word and tongue, but ui deed and in truth, which can prove us real believers of his afcenfion into heaven. Many 'pretend to fay they believe him to be there^ whofe affections are fet upon things on earth, not in heaven : many fay he hath led captivity captive, who continue ferving divers lufts and pleafures : many talk of the gifts of his Spirit, whofe hearts remain totally unrenewed, and whofe fpirit is earthly, fenfual, devilifh. Thefe give the lie in works to the profeflions they make, and fhe\v that they have as yet no vifible part in the kingdom of God and of Chrift. But I hope better things of you, that you will early remember your blefied Mafter, and, as one of our own gracious collects has taught us, be without ceafing found at his footftool in prayer for his Spirit ta raife your affections to high and heavenly things, and in heart and mind thither afcend, where Jefus Chrift is gone before. XVH. We have feen the mighty Jefus afcending to the glorious abode, from whence in love to us men, and and for our falvation, he had come down. May we ever in heart follow him thither, till the blefled feafon arrives when he fhall take us to his king* dom, to live and reign with him for ever. He is himfelf fet down on his throne, and has engaged to bring us to fit down with him in glory everlafting. 6). Where is Jefus Chrift at prefent ? A. He futeth at the right hand of God the Fa- ther Almighty. j>>. Is he as man, the mediator, exalted of his Father to this ftate of tranfcendant dignity? A. He is. Becaufe he humbled himfelf to death, even the death of the crofs, therefore God hath highly exalted him, and given him a name above every name. j|>. In his divine nature he could not be exalted, being in himfelf God over all, blefled for ever, you mean he is exalted in his office-character as mediator? A. I do fo. C. When he is faid to be in one place at the right hand of God, we mean not that his Godhead can be circumfcribed. He filleth heaven and earth with his prefence. But as mediator he is now at the right hand of God, put in full poffeflion of all the fpiritual bleflings in heavenly things for his people's ufe, and from thence he difpenfes fovereignly to them according to their wants, and the good plea- fure of his will. Tell me then particularly, who furniflies iurnifhes his ministers and people with gifts and graces for ail the work and fervice, to which he calls them ? A. Jefus at the right hand of God. >. Is he alfo there appearing in the prefence of God for us as an advocate, if any man fin ? A. He is. i John ii. I, >. And is it in virtue of his pleading for us that we find favour with God ? A. Entirely fo. Rom. viii. 33, 34. J^. Doth he there pray for his people ? A. Yes, he ever liveth to make intirceffion for us. j^. Are we not alfo bound to pray for our- felves ? A. Undoubtedly. He hath injoined us fo to do. >. But would our prayers have any effect, or enter into heaven if he did not prefent them before the throne ? A. No. The prayers of God's faints afcend up before God, out of the great angel's hands, with his incenfe. Rev. viii. 3. J|>. Then we can only receive an anfwer of peace, when we pray in faith, looking unto Jefus? A. Without this, all our prayers would be wholly ineffectual. John xiv. 6. 4>. Are we now fure of being heard when we pray ? A. Yes, [ 85 1 A* Yes. Whatfoever we afk in Chrift's name, believing, we fliall receive. j^. Is not this the ftrongeft encouragement, to be much and often in this blefled work ? A. It is. Chrift's people mould always pray and not faint. 4>. Is Chrift at the right hand of God alfo Lord ofali? A. He is. He hath now taken the kingdom for his own, and all power is given to him in heaven and on earth. . Doth Chrift always make his people to triumph ? A. It is their privilege to do fo. 2, Cor. H. 14.. J^. Hath he power to forgive fins . ? A. He hath. Matt. ix. 6. Q. Then we may truft him for pardon and peace with God ? A. Yes. He is our peace. j^>. Have you not very wicked and corrupted hearts ? A. Yes. Jer. xvii, 9. . Cannot [ 86 ] Q Cannot you mend and change them by your wn power ? A. No. Rom. v. 6. J3>. Whence then cometh your help ? A. From Jefus at the right hand of God. j^ Can he fubdue your moft deep-rooted int- quities ? A. Yes. He is able to fave to the uttermoft. >. Muft he reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet ? A. Hemuft. J|. What is the laft enemy to be deftroyed ? A. Death. 4>. When he hath as Mediator effected the final falvation of his people, fhall he then deliver up the kingdom to the Father? A. He fhall. j^. But will he as God-man reign with and over them for ever and ever ? A. He will. Dan. vii. 14. ). Well then, if this be your faith indeed, it muft be influential upon your heart and conduct : if you profefs to look- to Jefus on the throne of glory, are you bound to fubmit with chearfulnefs to whatever he commands ? A. Certainly. j|>. But do not many call him Lord, and yet refufe to do what he commands ? A. Yes, [ *7 3 A Yes, 'tis to be feared, too many, 4j>. Are all the difpenfations of his providence to be fubmitted to with refignation ? A. Yes, for he doth all things well. Q. Then to murmur or repine is rebeUiou againft Jefus on the throne I A* No doubt it is. j^. Are you bound to truff him then with all your concerns of body or foul in time or eternity ? A- I am. 4>. Can you glorify him by any means fo much as by this confident dependence on his power,, care, faithfulnefs, and love ? A. By no other way, like this. >. From whence fiiall he come? A. From heaven, i ThefT. iv. 16. 4>. What will be his bufinefs when he comes-? A, To be our Judge. <%. Whom (ball he judge? A. All mankind, the quick or living, and the ta*. Will L 9 1 j. Will the eternal ftate of all men be deter- mined by him ? A. It will. J2>. Is it not an awful confide ration to think of appearing before our eternal Judge? A. Very awful. *>>. How will men be judged ? A. According to their works, whether they be good, or whether they be evil. xL- Ought not then the apprehenfion of giving an account to God in judgment to have a weighty influence on your temper and condu. Shall we give an account for every fee ret thought, and every idle word ? A. We fliall. Ecclef. xii. 14. C. How careful then {hould we be over our words and works, that we may find mercy with the Lord at that day ? But you dont imagine that you can justify yourfelves before him by your works ? A. No. In his fight can no flefh living bejuf- tified. ^. How then will you have boldnefs to ftand in the day of judgment ? A* I will .make mention of his righteoufnefs only. Pfal. Ixxi. 16. 6). Can [ 9 1 J^. Can you be prefented without fpot before God any other way ? //. No. If he mark what is amife in us, who can abide it ? j^. Then you muft be juftified before God by faith at the day of judgment as well as this mo- ment ? A. Yes, The juft (hall live by faith. jg. Yet you fay we are to be judged by our works, are thefe then to prove the reality of our faith ? A* They are. Jam, ii. 18, JJ. Is a true faith to be known by good works, as a living tree by its fruits? A. It is. Q* Though our works cannot ftand in the judgment becaufe at beft poor and imperfect, yet will they follow us to witnefs the reality of our faith, as working by love \ A. They will. Rev. xiv. 13. Q Will they who by wicked works prove the bypocrify of their profeflion, be found infidels in fa& at that day ? A. Afluredly. ^. Who then will be damned ? A. Thofe who believe not. ^. But have not all men faith ? A> No, very few. 2 ThefT. iii. 2. Matt. vii. 14. . Does [ 9- 1 .$. Does not every body in the church repeat this article of their creed ? A. They do. j^. The-n you fuppofe many fpeak thefe words, who never feel their power and truth I A. Indeed I do. C. 'Yes, my dear little pupils, lip profeflion is general, the faith of God's cleft rare. Our Lord when he conies fhall fcarce find it upon earth. Be aflured, they whole hearts and lives are not affe&ed by the views of approaching judgment, do not really believe it. Though they may have taken up the matter as a notion, it does not influence them as a fixed principle. Hence among the mul- titude of nominal believers, who fay they expect Jefus as their judge, you fee fo many living habi- tually under the power of thofe fins, concerning which he hath exprefsly faid, that they who do fuch things {hall not inherit the kingdom of God* %. When will Chrift come to judge ? A. Of that day and hour knoweth no man. Q. May it be this very day or night ? A. It may. J-^. Then ought we to be always ready ? A. Yes, furely. Luke xii. 40. j^>. Will he come in a day when men lock not for him, and in an hour they are not aware of? A. So he has told us. s>. Will j. Will his coming he a matter of joy to his people ? A. Yes, he will come to be glorified in his faints, and to be admired of all that believe. j^. Is this the character of his people, believing faints ? A. It is. C. See then that you be found among the bitted number, if fo, you will be glad to meet your Mafter in the clouds, and be enabled to fay, come quickly, Lord Jefus. When others ar* crying to rocks to cover them, and hills to hide them from tb-2 prefenee of the Lamb, you will be lifting up your heads, knowing that your redemption draweth nigh. When the wicked fhall be caft into helf, and all the nations who forget God : an abundant entrance Ihall be miniftrcd to you into the everlaft- ing kingdom of our God and Saviour Jefus Chrift. Go then, my dear children, from your earlieft in- fancy, remember Jefus the judge ftandeth at the door : live under the habitual imprefiion of his coming : confider yourfelves in jeopardy every hour, and therefore every hour walk, as thofe who are liftening for the archangels trumpet. Then that found (hall not bring terror or difmay to you, but as the filver trumpet of jubilee call you up from your banifhment below, to your inheritance, incorruptible, [ 93 ] incorruptible, undefiled, that fedeth not away, reserved for you in heaven. XIX., 6>. Which is the third perfon of the ever blefied Trinity, in whom you profefs to believe ? A. I believe in the Holy Ghoft. s>. Is the Holy Ghoft God ? A. Yes. He is one with the Father and the Son, in the glory of the undivided Godhead. . Is this exprefsly declared in Scripture ? A. Yes. Aas v. 3, 4. js>. Were you baptized in his name ? A. I was, equally with the Father and Son. 6>. Is he fet forth in fcripture as the objed of divine adoration ? A. He is. 2 Cor. xiii. 14. ^. What is his peculiar office in the work of redemption? A. He fandifieth me, and all the cleft people of God. 6). Is there nothing pure and holy but what proceeds from his divine infpirations ? A. Nothing. For from him alone all holy defires, all good counfcls, and all juft works do proceed. . Cannot [ 94 ] Q Cannot any man do the leaft thing pleafing to God, unlefs he is led by the Spirit of God ? A. No. For they that are in the flefti cannot pleafe God. j^>. Muft we then be born of the Spirit before we can enter the kingdom of God ? A. We muft, or elfe can never fee God in glory. John iii. 3. ^. What means doth the Holy Ghoft ufe to quicken you to newnefs of life ? A. Generally the word of God, or his provi- dences. j^>. What is his firft work upon the confcience ? A. He convinces of fin. John xvi. 8. ^. Do you never truly feel your guilt and mifery till the Spirit of God quickens your confcitnce to fenfibility ? A. No, till then I am dead in trefpafles and fins. Eph. ii. i. j|>. Muft he alfo take the things of Chrift: and (hew them unto you ? A. Yes, or I ftiall never favingly know him as my God and Saviour. j. Can no man then fay that Jefus is the Chiift but by the Spirit of God ? A. No man. I Cor. xii. 3. C. True, my dear child. As far as the lip goes a man may fay he is the Chrift, but no man can [ 95 1 can make that confeffion with any experimental fenfe of his all-fufficiency to fave, till the Holy Ghoft hath difcovered to the confcience the glory of the perfon of our God-man Jefus, and the per- fection of his work on the behalf of poor linners : convincing us of that everlafting righteoufnefs, in which we muft ftand com pleat before the throne of God. John xvi. 10. 4>. Is the Holy Ghoft alfo, the author of all divine comfort to the Tinner's confcience ? A. He is. John xiv. 16. j^. Doth he flied abroad a fenfe of the love of God in our hearts ? A, He doth. Rom, v. 5. j^. Is it his office to bear witnefs to his own work in the hearts of the redeemed ? A. It is. For the Spirit itfelf beareth witnefs with our fpirits that we are the children of God. Rom. viii. 16. 4>. Is it any prefumption then to be perfuaded that we are now in God's favour ? A. No. It is the privilege of all God's people, i John iv. 13. 4>. You fay the Holy Ghoft thus fandtifies you and all the ele& people of God, do you believe there is an elet or cruofen people ? A. I do. jg. Did r 9 6 j <, Did God appoint any of the children of men from the beginning unto falvation ? A. He did. 2ThefT. 11.13. Q Was this defignation and appointment before they had done good or evil ? A. It was. He hath chofen us in Chrift before the foundation of the world. Eph. i. 4. J3>. Did Chrift as the Redeemer undertake ex- prefsly for as many as the Father had given him ? A> He did. John vi. 39. Q. Are thefe called peculiarly his (heep ? A. They are. John x. 16. j|>. Did he die for them particularly ? A. He did. John x. 15. *>. Is every individual man in the world chofen in Chrift Jefus, and fanftified by the Holy Ghoft ? A. No, certainly. 4>. How can you then know whether you be- long to God's cleft or not ? A. By the fan edification of the Spirit unto obe- dience, and the fprinkling of the blood of Jefus Chrift. i Pet. i. 2. jj> ; Does this doctrine of God's election tend to make men carelefs in their lives and conduct? A. No, in no wife. He hath chofen us that we fhould be holy and without blame before him in love. Eph, i. 4. C. What 1 97 1 C. What God then hath joined thus together, we may not put afunder. j?>. Is it an encouragement to us to ftrive againft fin, and to perfect holinefs in the fear of God, that he worketh in us to will and to do of his good pleafure ? A. Yes, the greateft in the world. Q. Will the preemption of being elected, lead us to careleffnefs and fecurity ? A. No, furely, but to give all diligence to make our calling and election fure, working out our own falvation with fear and trembling. C. Certainly, my dear children, and very dark are they refpeding God's word, who fuppofe the riches of God's love to his elet people, fhould be made by them an occafion of fin. The truly chofen of God, are created in Chrift Jefus unto goad works, God having before ordained that they fhould walk in them ; he hath predeftinated them to be conformed to the image of his Son : and this is his will concerning them, even their fan edification. 'Tis true the beft things are liable to abufe. Falfe profeflbrs have often dared to challenge God as their God, and vaunted themfelves as his ele<5r, whilft their lives huve given the lie to their lips. Through fuch men the adverfaries of the Lord have taken occafion to blafpheme, but the foundation of God ftandeth fure, having this feal, the Lonl F knoweth knoweth them that are his. And if you and I claim. a part among his elet, the next fentencc bids us fhew it; let everyone that nameth the name of Chrifr, depart from iniquity. It would be folly, yea, the heighth of prefumption to fancy ourfelves God's elect, if we are ftrangers to the power of his Spirit, and^ prove by our lives and tempers that we are habitually the flaves of fin and corruption. As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the fons of God. Mind this, my dear children, and remember the exprefs words of your catechifm, that if you are a true believer, tht Holy Ghoft fanftifath you as one of the elecT: people of God. XX. C. We have been confidering the great object of faving faith, the triune God. We have fet forth to you the perfons of the undivided Godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, in glory equal, in inajefty coeternal, and have declared to you the feveral offices, which each gracioufly fuftains in the ceconomy of the Tinners falvation, as thtir Creator, Redeemer, and San&ifier. We come now to that glorious body of which Chrift is the living head, and to the tranfcendent privileges which he hath procured for every individual member of it. t 99 ] ^. Is Chrift the head of his people ? A. He is. Col. i. jg. $>. What is their general name ? A. The church. Col. i. 24 ^ : Do you fuppofe the church to be the build- ing, or the people? A. The people. A&s xiv. 27. ^. Does it comprehend all believers in every age. and nation ? A. It does. ^ ; You do not imagine that any particular church, as the church of England, or Scotland, or Germany, is alone the true church of Chrift ? A. No. They are but different members of the catholic church. ^ : You call it therefore catholic^ don't you, or univerfal ? A. I do. ^ But you do not think that all who call them- felves of the church belong to it ? A. No. Many have a name to Jive, but are dead. >. Is this catholic church, holy ? A. Yes. ^. Are the true members, therefore, of the catholic church called to be faints or holy ? A. Certainly, i Cor. i. 2. F 2 &. Can j^. Can a perfon who lives in ungodlinefs, have a real part and intereft in the holy catholic church ? A. No. *$>. But do not many call themfelves Chriftians and churchmen, whofe works prove they are of the fynagogue of fatan ? A. Yes, very many. j-^. If the church is ctiholic^ you ought not then rafhly to excommunicate or condemn thofe who profefs faith in the fame God and Saviour, though they may differ from you in modes of worfliip ? A. No, to be fure. C. No, indeed we ought not. This fpirit of " bitternefs, and narrow bigotry is utterly unbecom- ing a living member of Chrift's holy catholic church : whether men pray with a form in public or without one, whether the minifter officiates in a cloak or a furplice ; whether they (land or fit at the Lord's fupper, thefe and the like uneflential differences enter not into the reality of church memberfhip. They who hold the head Chrift, are our brethren in the Lord ; and they who are not vitally united to him, though they fhould have a name in the beft conftituted particular church, it will ftand them in no ftead, they have no part or lot in Chrift Jefus, and are but as a branch dried up and withered, that hangs to the tree, but re- ceives ceives no nourishment from it, which men gather and caft into the fire, and it is burned. *>. Does it fhew an anti-ehriftian fpirit for any particular church to affume the name of catholic, in exclufion to all others? A. It doth. 6). Is this the cafe with the church of Rome ? A. It is. C. That very church, whofe corruptions are fo defperate, and idolatry infamous, dares to aflume infallibility, and to damn all who differ from her. Blefled be God we are reformed from her abomi- nations. ^. Do you think 'tis effential to the being of a church, that the word of God fliould be truly preached, and the facraments duly miniftred ? A. I do. 6). Does the church of England particularly provide for this ? A. Yes, with all poffible care. ^. How? A. By requiring fubfcription from her miniflers, to the great at tides of the Chriftian faith ? Q, Hath not every member of the church of England, a demand upon their minifter, to preach conformably to the articles he hath fubfcribed ? J. To be fure. F 3 . Arc [ 101 ] j^. Are all the emoluments of the church be- " flowed as the reward for fo doing ? A. They are, $_. Muft it then be very criminal to take the pay of the church of England under fubfcription to her articles, and preach contrary to them ? A. Very criminal. It is glaring hypocrify, and fcandalous and avowed fraud. <%>. If the due adminiftration of the facraments are eflential to the being of a church, what think you of thofe who being of years of difcretion, ne- glect them ? .A. They fhew they belong not to Chrifr, and have no part in his church. j^. Suppefe a perfon comes into the church, and inftead of ferioufly hearing God's word preach- ed, carelefsly falls afleep, or goes away and mocks, and ridicules the word, do you think fuch a one a member of Chrift's holy catholic church ? A. No certainly. C. Well, my dear little ones, I pray God that you may be not in name but in deed true church- men j that you may attend upon the ordinances, feel the power of the word preached, enjoy the comfort of the holy facraments, and be every day growing up into him who is your head, Chrifr, proving that you are living members of his myflical body, by the purity of your tempers and conduct, walking [ io 3 J walking as becometh faints, in all holy converfa- tion and godlinefs ; (hewing the true catholic fpirit of univerfal love to every brother in the fame Lord, and praying that all our differences may be com- pofed, our breaches repaired, our divifions healed, and that we may in one place, and with one mind and mouth, glorify God the Father, Son, and Spirit, rejoicing in the felicity of his chofen, and giving thanks with his inheritance. XXI. C. Having confidered the holy catholic church as the collective body of all faithful people, we proceed to examine the bleffings and privileges peculiar to every true member of it. ^. What is the firft of thefe ? A. The communion of faints. 4>. Are there any fuch perfons as faints now up- on the earth ? A. Yes. Q Is every member of Chrift's church called to be a faint ? A. He is. Col. i. 2. 4>. Is it their relation to him which gives them a right to this title ? A. It is. F 4 . People r io 4 j J^. People are ufed to think that there are ao faints but thofe who have a red letter in the kalendar before their name, Jbut is not every believer in Je- fus as truly a faint as Peter or Paul ? A. To be fure he is. Q We are ufed to look up to the faints as beings exalted upon a pedeftal, and to think that they were not men of like paflions with ourfelves, that they were perfect creatures, and that it would be a kind of prefumption to attempt being like them; but do you fuppofe there was ever a faint of God upon earth without fin ? A. Certainly not. i Kings viii. 46. $>. Were they cornpafled about with infirmity as well as we ? A. They were. A6ls xiv. 15. j^. Hath the book of God concealed the ble- mifties of the moft eminent prophets and apoftles ? A. No, in no wife. >. May not a man be in his own eyes a poor finner, and yet conndered as a faint in the fight of God? A. To be fure he may ; in Chrift j who is our fan&ification. j^. Is every faint of God called to be a holy man in his life and converfation ? A. Certainly. As he who hath called us is holy, fo fhould we be in all manner of conveifation. . But [ 105 ] 4>. Hut do we not in many things all offend ? A. AfTuredly we do. Jam. iii. 2. j. May we, notwithstanding our manifold in- firmities, confider ourfelves as God's faints ? A. Certainly : if we hold faft the head Chrift. j^. Can any hold communion and fellowfhip with the faints, who is not a faint himfelf ? A. No. What communion hath he that be- lieveth with an infidel ? j^. Do the faints in heaven and earth hold com- munion? A. Yes. We being many are one body, and members one of another. Q. Are they our fellows, and companions ? A. They are. j$>. Ought you then to pray to them ? A. No. That were grofs idolatry. 4>. You may, however, blefs God for their good examples, and pray to be followers of their faith and patience ? A. To be fure, I ought to do Co. Q. Don't you think it is very finful to ridicule the people of God, and give them the name of feints in derifion ? A. Very finful. J3> Are mockers regarded of God as perfecutors. in Scripture ? A. They are. Gal. iv, 29. Gen, xxt. 9. F 5 %. Ought [ 106 ] 4>. Ought you to be afhamed of the feoffs of the wicked ? A. No, in no wife. >. Then, let the reproach caft on them be never fo great, fliould you delight in the faints which are in the earth ? A. I fhould. ^. Do the faints of God meet to hold facred communion together ? .. A. They do? j^. Wherein doth this communion confift ? A. In mutual love, exprefied by kindnefs in word and deed towards each other. j^. Do they join in prayer and praife, and at the Lord's table? A. Yes ; they thus maintain fellovvfhip with Chrifl their head, and with one another. ^. May you be fuie that a perlbn who does not pray, and praife God ; neglecls the table of the Lord ; and the fociety of the faints, hath no part or lot among them? A, Certainly. The tree is known by its fruits. C. Remember this, and as you profefs to believe a communion of faints, fee that you belong to them, live in fellowship with them, walk as be- :cometh your name and profeflion, and be followers of thofe who through faith and patience inherit the promises : you will then fhortly join them, and from C 107 1 from a fuffering faint in the church militant upon earth, become a glorified faint in the church tri- umphant in heaven. XXII. j>. What is the fecond privilege peculiar to the members of the holy catholic church ? A. The forgivenefs of fin. j^. Are you a finner ? A, I am. j^>. Were you born in fin ? A. Yes. j^. And have you committed aclual fin in thought, word, and deed, times innumerable ? A. I have. Q Are you a great finner, greater than you can exprefs ? A. I am. For who can underftand his errors ? Pfal. xix. 12. j^). What is the wages of fin ? A. Death fpiritual, temporal, and eternal. j9. MU ft you fuffer this as a finner ? A. Undoubtedly I muft, if my fins are not for- given. Q. Cannot you do any thing to procure your pardon ? A, No. L 108 1 A. No. I am utterly helplefs, and weak as I am wicked. Rom. v. 6. ^ If you are forry for your fins, will not that avail ? A. No. For forrow pays no debts. ^. If you refolve to do better, will not that gain your pardon ? A. No. Becaufe if I do all that I am command- ed, I do no more than is my prefent duty, and that cannot compenfate for paft tranfgreflions. ^. Don't you think many truft to what they call their repentance, to a little forrow, and a hafty refolution ? A. I am afraid they do. ^. Is it exceedingly dangerous to the foul, to be miftaken in this matter ? A. No doubt it is. 4>. Muft we defpair of any power in ourfelves tp help ourfelves ? A. We muft, or perifh. ^. Who is Chrift come to fave ? A, The loft and defperate. Luke xix. 10. Q Is it a defireable thing to feel and know thi* to be our true condition ? A. Moft deiireabie. Q. Is a true conviction of our ftate, as helplefs finners, the way to relief from our fins ? A. Yes, [ I0 9 ] A. Yes. Chrift invites all that are weary and heavy laden to his reft. Matt. xi. 28. J|>. Is all our hope of pardon and forgivenefs, grounded entirely upon the free mercy of God in Chrift Jefus ? A. We can have no other fcriptural hope. J3>. Has Chrift undertaken, as the friend of fin- ners, to pay a full ranfom for them ? A. He hath, i Tim. ii. 6. j^. Was this ranfom paid on the crofs and ac- cepted ? A. It was. He was delivered for our offences, and raifed again for our juftification. J3>. Is God now righteous anJ juft to forgrve the fins of every believer in Jefus ? A. His truth and juftice engage him fo to do. J^ ; Is the blood of Chrift once filed on the crofs, fufficient to cleanfe from all fin ? A. It is. i John i. 7.. 6>. Is it as eafy for him to fave from many fins, as. from few ? A. No doubt it is : for he is a Saviour to the ut- termoft. Heb. vii. 25. 4>. Do finners perifh becaufe of their iniquities merely ? A. No, but becaufe of their unbelief. They will not come to Chrift that they might have life. $. Is C no ] 4. Is every one who pleads by faith the blood of Chrift, entitled to the pardon of fin ? A. He is. Ab xiii. 39. j^>. How can we be fure of this ? A. We have God's word, yea, his oath, to en- gage our confidence. Heb. vi. 18. j^>. May any man know that his fins are for- given ? A. Yes, furely, foSt. John faith, j John ii. 12. J|>. Is it preemption to fay, my fins are for- given ? A. No certainly. It cannot be prefgmption to believe that God will be true to his own promifes. 4>. Nay, is it finful to doubt it ? A. Surely it is. j^. What do you think of thofe who revile, as proud and prefumptuous, thofe who believe their fins are pardoned ? A. I think they don't believe the creed which they fo often repeat. >. If our fins are pardoned, then there remains no condemnation ? A. No. None to them who are in Chrift Jefus. ^. Is it not a very comfortable thing, in the profpe. What is the third privilege peculiar to the members of the^oly catholic church ? A. The refurreaion of the body. 6>. Will men rife again with the fame bodies ? J|>. Will the qualities of the refurre&ion-body be different from the prefent ? A. Yes. This corruptible muft put on incor- ruption, this mortal immortality, and this natural body become fpiritual. Q How will this great change be effe&ed ? A. By the power of Chrift. The trumpet fhall found, and the dead (hall be raifed, and thofe who are alive, be changed in a moment. j>>. What will follow the refurre&ion ? A. The judgment. jj). Muft every man then give an account of the things he hath done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be' good, or whether it- be evil r A. They muft. 4>. But if all men rife again, what is the pri- vilege of Chrift's people above others ? A. They fliall rife firft and their bodies be fa(hioned like to Chrift's glorious body, i Theff". iv. 16. Phil. iii. 21. j>. What will be the cafe of the ungodly and the finner ? A. They will awake to fhame, and everlafting contempt. j^>. Is the confederation of a glorrous refurrec- tion, a ftrong fupport againft the fears of death ? A, A very flrong one, >. Will I "3 ] Jg. Will not the change be unfpeakably to oar advantage ? A. Yes. When our earthly houfe of this taber- nacle is diflblred, we have a building of God, a houfe not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, j^. Should this reconcile us to part with our deareft friends and relatives in the Lord ? A. It fliould. For we forrow not as thofe who have no hope. j^. Shall we certainly meet again ? A. Yes, afluredly, we fhall go to them, though they cannot return to us. J2>. Will it be a joyful meeting ? A. Yes j never to part again. ^. Shall we know each other in that day ? A. It feems fo. Dives knew Lazarus, and we are told of feeing Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom. C. Prepare then for this great change. Live as expecting the archangel's trumpet, and be more careful to fecure a glorious refurre&ion body, than about this wretched clod, and the meat which pe- rifheth ; then whenever your fummons comes you will welcome it, and fpringing from the duft, will lift up your heads with tranfport, and triumph in the great day of the Lord, knowing your redemp- tion draweth nigh, and being caught up to meet him in the air, you will thenceforth forever be with the the Lord. Comfort your hearts therefore with thefe words. XXIV. C. We are now come to the laft article of our creed, that confummation fo devoutly wifhed for by every redeemed firmer, when he (hall enter into the reft that remaineth for the people of God, and be in pofieffion of that joy and felicity both in body and foul, in Chrift's kingdom of eternal glory, which is as inconceivable, as it will be enduring. Tell me then, what is the laft .privilege peculiar to members of the holy catholic church ? A. Life everlafting. ^ Will death itfelf be then deftroyed ? A. Yes. The laft enemy which (hall be deftroyed is death. ^. Where will the abode of God's people be ? A. In heaven. ^. What will be their bleflednefs there ? A. The fruition of his glorious Godhead. ^ Will they be like him ? A. Yes. They will awake up in his perfect image, and be as happy as he can make them. j^>. What will be their employment ? A. To love and praife, like the angels. ^. Who will be their companions ? A. All [ H5 ] A. All the heavenly hoft. 4>. Is the glory of heaven beyond all our prefent conceptions ? A. Yes. Eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, neithep hath it entered into the heart of man, what good things God hath prepared for thofe that love him. ^. Is their ftate defcribed as of tranfcendent dignity ? A. It is, in the higheft terms they have crowns of gold upon their heads conquering palms in their hands robes of righteoufnefs to cover them, and thrones of glory yea, they (hall fit down with Chrift on his throne, as he is fat down with the Father on his throne. j^. What will become of the impenitent and un- believing ? A. They will be driven from Chrift's judgment feat, into everlafting fire, with the devil and his angels. ^. Why do you fay, amen, at the end of the creed ? A. Becaufe I exprefs thereby, both my con- fidence in thefe truths, and my prayer that the fe privileges may be mine. j^. And do you hope they will be yours ? A. So I truft, through the mercy of my God in Jefus Chrift. C. Hold C. Hold fart then this hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, hath promifed before the world began. He is faithful, and they that have grace to truft him, will not be difappointed of their hope. The conflict is fhort, the crown is in view, the victory fure, fight therefore the good fight of faith, that you may lay hold on eternal life. Yet a little while and Chrift, who is our life, fhall appear, and then (hall we appear with him in glory, and live and reign with him for ever and ever. Amen. XXV. C. We have at large examined the fevcral articles of the creed, which contain the true confeflion of faith of God's cleft. This was the fecond thing engaged for by our godfathers and godmothers at bur baptifm, that we fhould believe them, and what did they promife and vow thirdly in your name ? A. That I fhould keep God's holy will and com- mandments, and walk in the fame all the days of my life. 4>. Where do you find God's holy will and commandments particularly revealed to you ? A. In the 2Oth chapter of Exodus. >. Did God deliver them to Mofes on mount Sinai, written upon two tables of ftone? A. Ks A. He did. S^ How many commandments were there writ- ten? /. Ten. 4>. Do thefe ten commandments contain the whole of what is called the moral law ? A, They do. Q. Is perfection of obedience required by the lavTofGod? A. It is. J3>. Is there a curfe denounced upon every man, that continueth not in all the things written in the book of the law, to do them ? A. There is. Deut, xxvii. 26. . Then you cannot be juftified before God, on account of your difobedience ? A. No. By the deeds of the law fhall no flefh living be juftified. 4>. Is the law holy, juft, and good, notwith- ftanding it condemns you f A. Yes furely. The Lord is righteous, and we are Tinners. ^ If the law is broken by you, and muft con- demn you for paft tranfgreflion, can you at prefent keep it in perfection ? A. No, A. No. In many things we all offend, and if we fay we have no fin, we deceive ourfelves, and the truth is not in us. ). Wherefore then ferveth the law, if obedience to it cannot juftify you before God, hath it any other ends ? A. Yes, many and great. J|>. Can you tell me what ? A. i ft. By the law is the knowledge of fin. j^. Is this neceflary that you fhould be brought to a fight and fenfe of your fins ? A, Yes, for the whole need not the phyfician, but thofe who are Tick. j^. How doth the law give the knowledge of fin? A. By holding up the perfection it requires, and fhewing me how fhort I come of the glory of God. ^. What' other end hath it ? A. 2dly. It is afchoolmafter to bring us to Chrifr, that we might be juftified by faith. j^. Doth the curfe it denounces drive the finner who feels it, to fly for refuge to the grace of the gofpel ? A. It doth. J|>. Then it cannot be a covenant of life to you ? A. No. It is called the miniftration of death. 2 Cor, iii. 7. I "9 ] s>. ButifyouarenowjuftinedbyfaithinChrift, h the law abolifhed, and doth it ceafe to bind the confcience ? A. No, in no wife. Though it h no longer a covenant of life, it remains a rule of duty. ^>. Do we then by faith make void the law ? A. God forbid. Yea, we eftablifh the law. J^ ; What is the fum and fubftance of the moral law? A. Love to God and our neighbour ? J^. Hath faith any influence upon the confcience to produce this Jove? A. Yes, the ftrongeft imaginable. J^. Doth God fan&ify his people through the power of faith? A. He doth, as we are told. Ads xv. 9. 4>. When you promife therefore obedience to God's holy will and commandments, you do it, as a believer in Jefus ? A. I do. 4JJ. Muft all your fervices be accepted for, and in him ? A. They muft. We are accepted in the beloved, and our fervices are well pleafing to God, through Jefus Chrift. ^. Can you do any fervice acceptable to God, but as you live by faith ? A. None. [ ,20 ] A. None. For without faith it is impoffible to pleafe God. Qj. Hath the do&rine of faith then an unfavour- able influence upon morality ? A. Juft the very reverfe. It worketh by love. And this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. ^. Do you imagine that they who oppofe the doctrines of faith and grace, are real enemies to true holinefs ? A. Afluredly. For they oppofe that which only can purify the heart, and that God requires in the firft place. J3>. As a believer in Jefus, do you purpofe to follow his holy mind and will, as far as it is re- vealed to you ? A. I do. J^. But have you ftrength to accomplifh your holy purpofes ? A. Not in my-felf. In me, that is, in my fldh, dweileth no good thing. jS>. Whence cometh your help ? A. From Chrift alone, whole ftrength is made perfect in my weaknefs. jj. How do you draw out of his fulnefs ? A> By the prayer of faith. . Ar 'j. Are you then created of God in Chrift Jefus unto good works, God having before or* dained that you (hould walk in them ? A. As a believer, I am. >> And muft you henceforth live for him who died for you ? A. The love of Chrift conftraineth me to judge that I ought to do fo. C. May the Lord enable you with his grace for all the good pleafure of his will, and work in you the work of faith with power; adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things, and let your light fo fhine before men that they may fee your good works, and glorify your Father which is ift heaven. True faith ever wrought the moft power- ful change on the heart and temper, and the bJood of Chrift fprinkled there infallibly purges -the eon- fcier.ce from dead works to ferve the living God. XXVI. C. The commandments of God, though no longer a covenant of life, are the rule of moral duty; and whilft as a fchool-mafter they lead us to Chrift that we might be juftified by faith, they point out the path in which under the influence of faith working by love, we are called to walk as children of God. G What j. What do you chiefly learn by the command- ments ? A. I learn two things, my duty towards God, and my duty towards my neighbour. 4>. 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 foul, and with all my flrength ; to worfhip him, to give him thanks, to put my whole truft in him, to call upon him, to honour his holy name, and his word, and to fierve him truly all the days of my life. J^. This is the fubftance of the firft four com- mandments. What is the firft commandment ? A. Thou fhalt have none other Gods but me. j^. Is there any other God, but the Lord ? A. There is no other. J^. But have not men fet up many falfe Gods ? A. They have. $>. How is the true God to be known ? A. From the revelation he hath made of him- felf in the Scriptures. ^. Muft our acquaintance with God be derived from the Bible, before we can worfliip, ferve and obey him as we ought to do ? A. It muft. 3>. What is chiefly required by this command- meat? 4 That I "3 3 A. That I fliould believe in him. J>. Is all our knowledge of the true God matter of faith ? A. It is. >. Do you fuppofe that human reafon without a revelation from God, would ever have led us to know God ? A. No. In no wife, i Cor. i. 21. j. What fliould your knowledge of God and faith in him lead you to in the firft place ? ^. To fear him. ^. Muft you fear offending him as the greateft of al'l evils ? A. I ought to do fo. ^. Should no fear of any creature ever fway or influence you to aft contrary to his will ? A. No in no wife. j^. Suppofe you were threatened to be burnt at a ftake for your duty towards God, ought you to lay down your life rather than fin againft him ? A. Yes, affuredly. j. Why muft you thus fear him ? A. Becaufe all others can only deftroy the body, but he can caft both foul and body into hell. jg. Ought you to fear offending not merely as a flave through fear, but as a child ? A. Certainly. If I were not punifhed for it, I fliould fear the very offence. G a Should [ 124 ] ^. Should you love God-as well as fearfeimi A. Certainly. J3>. How much. A, With all my heart, and mind, and foul, and ftrength. >. Ought you to love nothing in comparifon with him ? A, No. Nothing in comparifon with him. Pfal. Ixxiii. 25. j^. Does this commandment enjoin you to wor- fhip him ? A. It doth. Q. What worfhip doth God require inward or outward ? A. Both. J^. Doth he demand our hearts ? A. He doth. >. Will it fignify any thing to give him the lip and the knee if the heart be far from him ? A. It will not. Matt. xv. 8. J|>. Will the pretended prayers of thofe who draw near to him with their lips whilft their heart is far from him condemn them ? ^ They will. Their very prayers are turned in to fin. 4>; Are you alfo hereby engaged to thank God continually A> I am. Are j^.. Are you receiving many bleflings from him? A. Yes, very many. 4>. Should you not therefore acknowledge it to his glory ? A. That is my bounden duty. j^. Muft you put your whole truft in him ? A. I fhould do fo. j^>. Muft you depend upon him for all your concerns of body and foul, in time and to eternity ? A. Yes, for all. 'jf. Do you think you hav'e always thus feared, loved, worshipped, and trufted in God with all your heart ? A. No. In many things we all offend. j^. How will you then at prefent gain peace in your confcicnce ? A. Through faith in Jefus Chriil. Rom. v. i. j|>. Is he the end of the luw for righteoufnefs to every one that believeth ? A. He is. j>> : Should it not humble you before God, when you fee how more you come of his holy law ? A. It ought fo to do. j^. And mould it ftir you up to call upon him for grace, and ftrength to cleave to him more faith- fully ? A. Certainly it fiiould. G 3 ^. Do Q Do you think there are at prcfent any ido- laters ? A. Yes, very many. %. Who are they r A. All who love, fear, and trufl in any creature more Chan the living God. C. True, my dear child. Take care,, therefore, that the cafe be not your own. If you have taken the Lord for your God, let none rival him in your hearts. Set him always before you. Live in- the fenfe of his prefence. Believe he fees, hears and notices all that pafies. Fear, therefore, to fin a- gaiuft him. Love him unfeignedly, fenfible of his infinite grace to you, and your infinite obligations. Love him above all things, delighting in him as your portion, and defining conformity to his image, as your greateft felicity. Truil him, in ficknefs, in health, in poverty, in diftrefs, in every trial, in every affliction, whether of body or foul: and never ceafe crying to him from the heart, that he will be your God, and manifeft himfelf unto you as he doth not unto the world j then, though you cannot endure the feverity of his judgment, you (hall enjoy the experience of his grace in Chrift, in pardoning what is amifs, ftrengthening what is weak, and perfecting that which is lacking : Ac- cording to his own fure word of promife, I will be their God, and they (hall be my people, and I will put [ 127 J put my laws into their hearts, and in theis minds will I write them, and their fins and iniquities will I remember no more. XXVII. C. The firft commandment enjoined the worfliip of the true God, the fecond direds the acceptable manner of worshipping him ; for we are not al- lowed to follow our own will and fancy, but mufl attend to his revealed word, what is the fecond commandment ? A. Thou (halt not make to thyfelf any graven image, nor the likenefs of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou (halt not bow down to them, nor wor(hip them : for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, and vifit the fins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth gene- ration of them that hate me ; and (hew mercy unto thoufands in them ihat love me, and keep my com- mandments. Q What does this commandment forbid ? A. All image worihip. ^. Are the papifts therefore guilty of idolatry, when they worfhip the images of our Lord, his crofs, and the figures of dead men ? A. Yes, of grots idolatry. G 4 . Is 4>. Is it poffible to form any real refemblance to the Godhead ? A. No. Q Why? A. Becaufe God is a Spirit. ^. How muft he then be worlhippcd ? A. In fpirit and in truth. 4>, May we form no bodily reprefentation of him even in our minds ? A. No. ^. In what way are we to exprefs our worfhip of God ? A, I am to call upon him. to give him thanks to hear, read and meditate upon his holy word and to be found in the ufe of his facraments, and all his inftituted ordinances. C. You anfwer very rightly. Is prayer the duty of every rcafonable creature I A. It is. j^>. Muft we therefore conclude that all who live without prayer live without God in the world? A. Afluredly. j^>. Is every prayerlefs perfon a practical atheift? A. Undoubtedly he is. j^>. What is the nature of true prayer ? A. Prayer is the defire of the foul after God, and Jiis mercies, proceeding from a ferife of our necefli- ties, and refting on the truth of his promifes. Q. Very [ "9 ] C. Very well. Then you fee there can be DO real prayer, without thefe three things, i. A fenfe of our necefiities. 2. Faith in the promifes of God through Chrift that he will hear, and help us. 3. A heart-felt defire of relief, that urges us to diligence and importunity in waiting upon God. J^>. Will no form of words make a prayer if the heart be not thus affected ? A. Certainly not. j^>. Do you not therefore think that many de- ceive themfelves in this matter, who fuppofe they have faid their prayers when they have read fo many words out of a book ? A. I am afraid they do. C. And fo am I too. Many there are who go on in formality reading their prayers, morning and evening, and call this praying, who perhaps have ufed the fame book, and the fame words for years, and years together, without ever thinking whether they felt, what they faid, or expected an anfwer to their petitions, fuppofing the work is done merely, when they have come to the Amen. This is grofs felf-delufion, and hypocrify, and fuch formal un- meaning fervices, can only bring a curfe inftead of a blefllng upon the foul. If we read a volume of prayers every day, and knelt till our knees were as hard as a camel's, if our conference was not affeft- ed, our heart fenfible, our faith in exercife and G 5 real [ '30 } real defire after God, dictated our words, all our reading would be but as founding brafs or tinkling cymbal, and not a word of real prayer be found in ten thoufand million of fuch formal ats of de- votion. 4>. Is a compofed form of words necefiary in order to prayer ? A. No. ^. Ought every man to pray as he feels his heart affe&ed, even as the hungry beggar afks an alms ? A. To be fure, this is moft natural. >. You don't think we are heard for our fine fpeaking, or much fpeaking ? . A. No certainly. j^. Do you fuppofe a compofed form of words unlawful? A. No. Not if they exprefs what I really feel. C. So I apprehend, and as to the expedience^ every man muft be the beft judge for himfelf. In public worfhip, it is my own opinion, that a form of found words is preferable to free prayer in gene- ral j in private, though I would not refufe any ufeful affiftance, nor prefcribe invariable rules, I (hould prefer fpeaking the prefent feelings of the heart as they arife, lefs curious about the expreflaon, and more felicitous about the matter. . Are C 13' 1 4>. Are you to thank and praife God for the bleflings you receive, as well as pray to him for the mercies you need ? A. That is my bounden duty. Q. How are you to exprefs your thanks ? A. With my lips, and in my life. >. How do you exprefs your thanks in your lips ? A. In prayer acknowledging the mercies of the Lord : and fpeaking in pfalms and hymns and fpi- ritual fongs, finging and making melody in the heart unto the Lord ? j^. Is pfalm and hymn finging a part of God's worihip ? A. It is. 4>. What think you of thofe who ridicule thefe things ? A. That they are profane, and defpifen of God and godlinefs. j^. How are you to exprefs your thankful nefs in your life ? A. By glorifying God in my body and in my fpirit which are his. ^. What is your duty with regard to the word of God ? A. To read, mark, larn, and inwardly digeft it. . Were [ '3* 1 >. Were not your godfathers and godmothers at your baptifm charged that they fhould call upon you to hear fermons ? A. Yes they were. j^. Are you bound therefore to a confqjentious attendance upon the miniftry of God's word ? A. I am. j^. Should you fearch the Scriptures diligently, to prove all things, and hold faft that which is good ? A. I fhould do fo. J^>. You are not to take your minister's word therefore, nor any other pertons, without examin- ing for yourfelves, ought you.? A. No. J3>. Is it a part of your duty towards God, to enquire out of his own word what is his holy will ? A. Afiuredly it is. Q* Do you fuppofe they can have any regard for God or their fouls, who never open their bibles for weeks and months together ? A. To be fure, they feem to have none. Q. How fhould you fearch the Scriptures in order to know God's mind and will ? A. I. Humbly, fenfible of my fpiritual igno- rance. 2. Diligently, as knowing it of the laft importance to my falvation that I, hold the truth. 3, With prayer for divine illumination. C, True, [ '33 ] C. True, my clear child, and the meek will he teach his ways. In this method of feeking after God, he will inftruct you, and make you wife un- to falvarion. Of the facraments I {hall fpeak to you in another place, referving what I have to fay till then ; I fhall only add to what I have remark- ed above, that when we reflect upon the coldnefs, deadnefs, and hypocrify of our prayers, the for- mality of our devotion, the languor of our praifes, the neglect of God's word, our inattention to, and unprofitablenefs under it, we have much reafon to feel our confciences condemned, and to cry, as we are taught to do after every commandment is read, Lord have mercy upon us. For under no one of them, can we ftand juftified by our obedience, ^. Is God jealous of his honour and glory ? A. Yes. He is a jealous God, vifiting the ini- quities of the fathers upon their children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate him, and (hewing mercy unto thoufands in them that love him, and keep his commandments. 4. It is a dreadful thing to hate God, is it not? A. Yes. Truly diabolical. j^. But do not thofe who negleft God, reftrain prayer, and caft his word behind their backs, ex- prefs therein their hatred to him ? A. No. r 34 ] A. No doubt they do ; for their conduct: faith moft ftrongly, depart from us, for we defire not the knowledge of thy. ways. J^. How does God vifit the iniquities of the fa- thers upon the children ? A. The children fuffer in confequence of the temporal miferies, which their ungodly parents bring upon themfelves. j^. Is it a great blefiing to have godly parents? A. Yes. God iheweth mercy unto thoufands in them that love him, and keep his command* ments ? (7. You fee, therefore, the beft patrimony a pa- rent can leave you, is the favour of his good ex- ample, and the moft valuable portion the blefiing of God promifed to the defendants of thofe who love him and keep his commandments. You may, perhaps, of this world have very little to leave be- hind you ; be it therefore the more your care to tranfmit to pofterity the mercy herein promifed, and that will be better for them than thoufands of gold and filver. xxvni. j^. What is the third commandment ? A. Thou Ihalt not take the name of the Lord thy [ '35 ] thy God in vain ; for the Lord will not hold him guiltlefs, that taketh his name in vain. j^. What does this commandment enjoin ? A, A reverent mention of the holy name of God, and of whatever belongs to him. Q. Does this commandment forbid all profane curling and fwearing ? A. It doth. Jl}. What think you of thofe, who, in their common conversation, make ufe of the name of God, Jefus, Chrift; and cry without thinking, good God, Lord have mercy upon me, and the like ? A. They tranfgrefs grievoufly againft this com- mandment. *j>. Is it not fhocking to hear the name of God fo blafphemed ? A. It is. C. Indeed it is, my dear children j and women as well as men almoft univerfally fall into this fhocking profanenefs. If their oaths are not fuch horrid imprecations as fill the mouths of male blafphemers, ihey make perhaps a more frequent, light, wanton, and irreverent ufe of the name of the Moft High, than even men do, as I have often obferved ; and from the exceffive frequency of do- ing it, are even infenfible of what they fay, and when reproved, I have, by experience, known them [ 13* J them deny they did it, when the very next fentence repeated the tranfgreffion. Never take this holy name in your mouth. A child of God never hears it done, but it grieves him. J^. Is great guilt brought upon the con- fcience, by the light and wanton ufe of God's name ? A. Afluredly. God will not hold him guiltlefs who taketh his name in vain. Q Can people take God's name in vain in their prayers ? A. Yes ; when they pretend to fpeak to God, without a reverential fenfe of his prefence on their hearts. JS^. Is God's word to be made ufe of with re- fpetf ? A. Yes. j^. What think you of thofe who turn it into ridicule, jeft upon ir, and in their common talk, er, perhaps over their cups indecently, and irre- verently, quote the word of God ? A. Such defpifers of God's word, will one day ihortly, wonder and perifh. j^. Is God provoked when his people are treated ill? A. He is greatly. He that toucheth them, toucheth the apple of his eye. C. Yet '[ 37 C. Yet the world is even ready to brand their profeflion as hypocrify to blazon their failings and malign their graces to give an invidious turn to whatever can be mifreprefented and always to have their ears open to hear, and their hearts open to believe every railing accufation brought againft them. j|>. Is it very criminal to be thus defpifers and revilers of thofe that are good ? A. Very criminal. What is done to the leaft of his people, God will regard as done againft him- felf. j^>. May we not by our conduft difhonour God's name ? A. Yes, highly : if by any evil thing, we give occafion to the adverfaries of the Lord to blafpheme : as David did. Q. Are we bound in our converfation with each Other, to fet forth God's glory ? A. This fhould be our defire. j^. Should we fpeak good of God's name ? A. This is the beft ufe of our tongues, to be employed to his glory, and for the good of men's fouls. C. Yes, my dear children, it is fo. But when propha"nenefs is fo triumphant, to open our mouths with a view to glorify God's holy name, is looked upon as fome ftrange thing. A word dropt of fe- I '38 1 rious converfation, makes often a dead paufe, in company j and the gentleft reproof of thofe, who take God's name in vain, is thought rudenefs and ill-manners. You muft be content to be unlike the world, therefore, if you would not be con- demned with it. And in this one particular, among others, the difference muft appear, that living un- der an abiding fenfe of his prefence on your heart, you never, but with awful reverence, make men- tion of that high and holy name, the Lord thy God. XXIX. ' J^. What is the fourth commandment ? jf. Remember that thou keep holy the fabbath day. Six days {halt thou labour, and do all that thou haft to do ; but the feventh day is the fab- bath of the Lord thy God ; in it thou (halt do no manner of work, thou, and thy fon, and thy daugh- ter, thy man-fervant, and thy maid-fervant, thy cattle, and the ftranger that is within thy gates ; for in fix days the Lord made heaven and eanb, the fea, and all that in them is, and refted the fe- venth day; wherefore the Lord blefled the feventh day, and hallowed it. C. We are called upon every day to glorify God, and no one fliould pafs over us, without ails of worftiip [ '39 1 worfhip to him in whom we live, and move, and have our being } but one day out of feven is pecu- liarly and wholly appropriated for this blefled end and purpofe, that abftracled from all worldly con- cerns, we might be wholly employed in fpiritual matters, remembering the great works of crea- tion, and redemption, and in all holy exercifes preparing for the work of an eternal fabbath, when we (hall reft from all our labours, and ferve God day and night in his temple and go out no more. J^. Is the day of reft which we obferve, different from the jewiih fabbath ? A. It is. J2>. What day do we obferve I A. The firft day of the week. J2>. Why is this change ? A. To commemorate our Lord's refurreclion. 4>. Was this the apoftolic practice ? A* It was. John xx. 19. A&s xx. 7. I Gor. xvi. 2. >. What is required in order to the fantifica- tion of the Lord's Day ? A. I. A reft from all ordinary bufincfs. 2. An employment of our time in the exercifes of religion to the glory of God, and the edification of our fouls. ^. May no work be done on the fabbath day ? A. Works A. Works of neceffity, mercy, and charity are always excepted. C. True, if our ox falJ into a pit on the fab- bath day, we may draw him out. The fick, in- firm, and infants, are to be attended. And fome employments can admit of no interruption without the moft hurtful confequences. In thefe cafes the fabbath was made for man, not man for the fab- bath : but thefe few exceptions affect not the gene- ral fcopeof the commandment. <%. Our ordinary bufmefs then, you fay, muft be wholly laid afide. A. It muft. j^. May we not think about it, or talk about it? A. No furely. Worldly thought? and 1 contriv- ances, are as much a breach of the fabbath, as any outward labours. >j. May we not buy or fell on the Lord's day ? A. No, in no wife, Q. How fhould we then employ our time on this day? A. In religious exercifes, and heavenly difcour- fes, and meditations. jfj. Should we ferioufly attend the public wor- fcip? A. Yes. Early in our places collected not wandering in prayer attentive to the word preach- ed L HI ] ed and ferioufly examining our confciences there- by. Q Should you in the evening as well as morn- ing, be in the houfe of God ? A. Yes, furely. j^ May you not take your pleafure in the even- ing, in idle vifiting, and common difcourfe ? A. No, The whole day is to be employed in God's fervice. C. True, my dear children. It is the Lord's day, and we rob God when we employ any of the hours contrary to the defign and inftitution of his facred reft. They who have families, fhould begin and end it with prayer and praife catechifing their fervants and children enquiring what they heard at church examining their progrefs in religious knowledge .and further inftru&ing them. They who have none, fliould be employed in private prayer and meditation on what they read, or hear from God's word in religious converfation among friends, building up each other in our moft holy faith and all in their feveral ftations, keeping in view the great end of the fabbatical reft, wen to prepare for the great change, and be ready for the eternal reft which remaineth for the people of God. jf>. What think you of thofe, who make the fabbath a day of diveriion, and idlenefsj riding-out, and and making parties of pleafure what of thofe who are glad of any excufe, to abfent themfelves from the houfe of God .what of thofe who having fpent the morning at their glafs, inftead of upon their knees, go to church to be admired, and gazed at ; laughing perhaps, talking, bowing, and more at- tentive to each other, than to that God, whom they pretend to worfhip ? What think you of thefe, do they hallow the fabbath ? A. No. They are profane fabbath breakers. j. Is the fabbath a burden to a child of God ? A. No. It is his delight. ^. Does he take pleafure in the holy ordi- nances \ A, He doth. As David fays, I was glad when they faid unto me, we will go into the houfe of the Lord and again, it is good for me to draw nigh unto God. ^. Is it a bad fign when people feem weary of the fabbath day, and wifji it over ? A. A very bad one. j^. If they are weary of ferving God a few hours, what would they do in heaven, where the fabbath is eternal f A. They can have no part nor lot there, j^. Are we bound, as far as our power or in- fluence reaches, that others fhould keep holy the fabbath day as well as we I A, Cer- [ H3 1 A. Certainly ; even to our man-fervant and maid-fervant, and the ftranger within our gates. 4>. Should every head of a family, therefore, contrive that thofe under his roof, may have all poffible opportunity of attending the worfhip of God? A. To be fure, they (hould. C. The fervant on the Lord's day, {hould be free as his matter : and every godly matter will en- deavour he (hall be fo. We mutt not detain thofe to ferve tables, who (hould be ferving God in his hpufe. Many make the fabbath a featt day i and think more then of good eating and drinking, than on any day of the week : their fervants muft be toiling for their dinners, when they (hould be re- ceiving the bread of life under the word ; whilft their matters, fed to the full, deep at home, or perhaps at church, the afternoon, I lay it down as a certain truth, that they can have little rrgard for their fervants fouls, or the fan&ification of the fabbath, who cannot, on that day, be content with a flight repaft, not to detain them at home i be- fides that, as it is proved by experience, how much a hearty meal often difpofes to deep and ftupefies, they who have a real delight in approaching to God, will be careful, by peculiar temperance, on that day to avoid whatever might dull their atten- tion, and in Jifpofe them for an enlivened enjoy- ment [ 144 3 ment of the public and private worfhip of God. Some may, perhaps, think thefc obfervations too minute j but it is in thefe little things, if you will call them fo, that a real concern for the fan edifi- cation of the fabbath, efpecially appears, and the effects of attending to thefe remarks, will be found, I am perfuaded, of real, yea, of eternal import- XXX. C. The fifth commandment is of the moft ex* tenfive nature, taking in the vaft circle of relative duties of every kind; and in the confcientious at- tention to the difcharge of them, the power of vital godlinefs appears in the moft ftriking and convinc- ing manner. The mod flaming profefllon abroad, and the moft zealous labours to propagate the gof- pel, re evidences comparatively fmall of the truth of our Chriftianity, when compared with the fpirit and temper which we manifeft among thofe who are neareft to us, and conftant obfervera of our con- duit at home. There no difguife conceals the hy- pocrite, but what we really are, we fhall appear, and a blefied teftimorty will it be to the reality of our profeffion, if they who are neareft and moft in- timately converfant wih us, behold us habitually under the influence of the commandments of the Lord, [ 145 ] Lord, and walking worthy our hig^i vocation and calling. To be a good parent, an obedient child ; a tender hufband, a faithful and gentle wifej a kind mafter, a diligent fervant, and the like, ma- nifefts more furely that we are of God, than if we gave all our goods to feed the poor, and our bodies to be burned. ^. What is the fifth commandment ? A. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee* j^. Is this commandment confined only to our parents ? A. No* It extends to all fuperiors. ^. Does it not comprehend alfo reciprocally, the duty which all parents owe their children, and fu- periors their inferiors ? A. It doth. 'Q. Are our obligations to each other, therefore, mutual ? A. They are. .<. What is the firft great mutual relation? A. Between parents and children. Q. What is the parent's duty towards their chil* dren ? A. i . To fet before them a good example. 2. To teach them the knowledge of God's re- vealed mind and will in his word. H 3. To g. To encourage them when they behave well. 4. To be gentle towards them ; always diftin- guifhing between their childifli follies, and criminal conduct. 5. To correct them, faithfully, in meafure, never in anger, and to inform them of the caufe and neceffity of fuch correction. 6. To provide for them, and take care to difpofe of them in the world, fo as that they may be en- abled to provide for themfelves. 7. To advife, though not conftrain them in the article of marriage. 8. To pray with them, and for them. >. Do not many parents hurt their children by fooli/h fondnefs, and finful indulgence ? A. I am afraid they do. ^. What is the duty of children towards their parents ? A. i. To honour their perfons, as being of God moft immediately entrufted with the care of their childrens bodies and fouls, and all the concerns of both. 2. To obey all their lawful commands with chearfulnefs, and diligence. 3. To receive with thankfulnefs, and attention .all their inftrulions. 4. To fubmit with all humility to their reproofs, Cr corrections, forry for having offended, and more troubled [ J47 ] troubled for the fault, than hurt by the chaftife- ment. 5. To be content and fatisfied with their difpofal of them in life, perfuaded that they are better judges than their children. 6. To bear with their infirmities. 7. To provide for them if neceflitous. 8. To contribute in every way to their comfort, and advantage, endeavouring to requite them for all their paft kind care. ^. Does the commandment enjoin "an equal honour to the mother as well as the father ? A. Yes, afluredly. J3>. Is all irreverence therefore, difobedience, in- attention, murmuring, undutifulnefs, and the like, to either parent ?ery fmful in the fight of God ? A. No doubt it is. ^. Can they be God's children who (how fucft a temper and conduct towards their parents? A. No. In no wife. jg: What is the next great relative duty ? A, Between hufbands and wives. j|>. Is marriage a divine inftitution, and honour^ able among all ? A. It is. ^>. What is the mutual duty which hufbands and wives owe each other ? Hz A. i. To { i 4 8 ] A. i. To confider each other as no longer two but one flefli. 2. To have the falvation of each other's fouls firft in their view. 3. To ftudy mutually how to pleafe and render each other's life moft comfortable. 4. To (hare each other's comforts, and to fup- port each other's crofles. 5. To bear with each other's infirmities and faults, remembering that a corrupted creature muft not expect perfection in his fellow. 6. To confult together in all matters of moment, refpe&ing their affairs OF children's good. 7. To be faithful to each other in affection, and never defile the purity of their mind or bodies, by any defire, or act contrary to the near and holy relation in which they {land. j^>. But are there not fome duties annexed more peculiarly to each party feverally ? A. There are. Q. What is required of the hufband particu- larly? A. i. To love their wives. , 2. To give them honour. 3. Not to be bitter againft them. 4. To provide for them things honefl in the fight of all men. 5. To rule well their own houfes. . What [ '49 J $). What is efpecially the wife's duty? A. i. To reverence their hufbands. 2. To be obedient in all things. 3. To be keepers at home. 4. To manage the interior of the family with diligence, oeconomy, and difcretion. 5. To cultivate above all things the ornament of a meek and quiet fpirit, which is in God's fj-ght of great price. 4>. What think you is the caufe of fuch unhap- pinefs as is often found in the marriage ftate ? A. Becaufe the moft meet together merely as brute beafts, to fatisfy their carnal lufts and appe- tites, and not reverently, advifedly, foberly, and in the fear of God j without duly confidering either the ends, or the duty of the marriage ftate. 4>. What is the third relative duty which comes under this command ? A. The duty of mafters and fervants. j^. What is the duty of mafters and miftrefles towards their fervants? A. i. To confider themfelves as placed in this fuperior ftate for the glory of God, and the good of the fouls committed to their care. 2. To be an example to thofe who ferve them in all holy converfation and godlinefs. 3. To maintain the worfhip, and cultivate the fear of God among all who are under their roof. H 3 4- To t 150 ] 4. To be reafonable in their commands. 5. To treat them with gentlenefs, not a lion in their houfe, and frantic among their fervants. 6. To give them that which is juft and equal for their fervice, and with exaft pundtuality when due. 7. To inftru& them in the knowledge, and en- courage thenv in the practice of whatever is for the benefit of their foith j and to provide proper food and nourifhment for their bodies, confidering them- felves that they have a matter in heaven, to whom they muft account for the truft committed to them, and that there is no refpeft of perfons with him. 4>. What is the duty of fdrvants towards thei matters and miftrefles ? A. i. To confider their ftation as of divine ap- pointment, and therefore to ferve in finglenefs of heart, as unto Chrift. 2. To honour and refpeft their perfons, as God's vicegerents in that family. 3. To addrefs them with reverence, and always fpeak of them with refpedl. 4. To be obedient to all their lawful commands, 5. To be patient under reproof, never anfwer- ing again. 6. To be honeft; not purloining the fmalleft trifle, but fhewing all good fidelity in every thing committed to their care, 7. To 7. To be induftrious ; not labouring as eye fer- vants and men pleafers, but as the fevvants of Chrift, doing the will of God from their heart. 8. To be frugal ; never making the leaft wafte, careful of their interefts, as of their own. 9. To be thankful for all the inftrudion and kindnefs they receive. Laftly. To pray for the divine bleffing upon their matters and miftreffes, and upon all the bufi- nefs in which they are engaged. jg. What is the fourth relative duty ? A. Between minifters and people. Q. Is the miniftry a divine inftitution ? A. It is. j^. Ought no man to take this honour to him- felf, unlefs he be inwardly moved by the Holy Ghoft ? A. No, in no wife. j^. What is the duty of a minifter in this view ? A. i. To confider himfelf an ambaflador for Chrift, and to feel the weight of that employ- ment. 2. To preach the word of God with all plain- nefs> fuited to the capacities of the hearers with Jaitbfulnefs, not afraid of the faces of men with diligence^ in feafon and out of feafon with all wlf- dom> rightly dividing the word of truth, that he may give to every man his portion in due feafon. H 4 3- To [ 152 J 3. To give themfelves wholly up to the fervice, unencumbered, as may be, from worldly avoca- tions. 4. To bear meekly the oppofition of men of per- verfe minds. 5. To endure perfeveringly, not difcouraged by difficulties, or the little fuccefs they may meet with. 6. To be the example of the flock, and to have their practice conformed to their preaching. 7. To be often at a throne of grace for the di- vine benediction upon their labours, that they may not be in vain in the Lord. J3>. What is the duty of the people ? A. i. To reverence and highly efteem their minifters for their work and their mafter's fake. 2. To receive with meeknefs the engrafted word, and diligently attend the miniftratiort of it. 3. To fupport them with a proper provifion of temporal things, the labourer being worthy of his. hire. 4. To be followers of them as they are of Chrifh 5. To further their fuccefs with their utmoft countenance and influence. 6. To pray for them, that they may be enaMed to be faithful, and for the abundant fuccefs of their labours in the ccuiverfion of men's fouls.. . What r -153 ] 4>. What is the fifth relative duty ? A, Between magiftrates and fubjecls. ^. What is the duty of magiftrates ? A. i. To remember by whofe authority they are appointed, and that they are anfwerable to the King of Kings 2. To exert the power with which they are 5n- vefted for the glory of God, and the good of their {tibjects, being a terror to evil doers, and giving praife to them that do well. 3. To confider their offices not as a private emolument, but a public truft, and therefore la- bouring confcientioufly for the public benefit. jS^. What is the duty of the fubjecls towards their magiftrates ? A. i. To honour them as God's minifter* in their feveral offices. 2. To fubmit to their juft commands, not merely from fear of wrath, but for confcience false. 3. To avoid carefully all ralh cenfures on them or their proceedings ; which may render their per- fbns contemptible, or their authority defpifed. 4. To contribute to the neceflary expences of government ; duly paying tribute and cuftom. 5. To pray for them, that they may be endued with fuch wifdom and integrity, that under their government, we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, in all godlinefs and honefty. H 5 Jg. What r 154 j J. What is the fixth relative duty ? A. Between the more elevated in rank and for- tune, and the lower ftations in life. J2>. What is the duty of the more elevated in rank or fortune. A- I. To confider themfelves under God, as en- trufted with many talents, for which they muft give an account. 2. To be condefcending and kind to their in- feriors, not treating them as a different race of be- ings. 3. To affift them with their purfe and influence when opprefled or indigent. g). What is the duty of the lower ranks in life to their fuperiors ? A. To refpedl: the order of God in the diftin&ion he hath made, to pay honour to whom honour is- due, to addrefs them with fbbmiflion, to give them the place of pre-eminence, not to envy them, their fuperiority, nor be discontented with their own lot* 4>. What is the laft relative duty r A* Between the aged, and younger perfons. ^. What is the duty of the aged ? A. i. To- be examples to the younger, of gravity ^ fobriety, meeknefs, deadnefs to the world, and hea- venly rrtindednefs, 2. To [ 155 1 2. To advife them from their own long expe- rience. 3. To rebuke the carelefs and encourage the deferving. jg. What is the duty of young perfons ? A. I. To honour the face of an old man. 2. To obferve a refpeaful filence before them. Swift to hear, flow to fpeak. 3. Never to mock their infirmities. C. Thefe are indeed our duties: and vaft the extent of them. The moft fuperficial review of the paft, muft convince every thinking mind, how often and in how many things we have offended j and whilft we are called to ufe greater diligence in future, we cannot but feel the vaft propriety with which our church puts this humbling cry into our lips after this commandment is read, Lord have mercy upon us." * T is well for us that we have an advocate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous, who is the propitiation for our fins } and that with regard to juftification of life, we are not under the law, but under grace. XXXI. Q. What is the fixth commandment ? A. Thou (halt do no murder. #. Is [ 156 3 j. Is the accidental killing another, without malice or defign, murder ? A. No. ^. What conftitutes the act of murder ? A. That it be wilful, and of malice afore- thought. j^. Does the commandment extend no farther than the atrocious crime of actual murder ? A. Yes, a great deal further. 4>. What docs it forbid ? A. It forbids us to hurt any body by word or deed : to bear no malice or hatred in our heart. j^. Is all anger and paffion murder in the heart? ' A. AfTuredly. Matt. v. 22: ( j^>. What think you of quarrels, abufive lan- guage, and railing ? A. The Scripture faith they that do fuch thinga are in danger of hell fire. Matt. v. 22. j^. Is it unlawful for us even to envy or be jealous of, another's profperity ? A. It is. 4*. Do you think any provocation can juftify hatred ? A. No, in no wife. He that hateth his brother is a murderer, j John iii. 15. j^. Does this commandment extend to every in- jury done to his foul as well as his body ? A. It doth. . Arc [ 157 ] 4. Are we murderers in God's account, if we lead others into fin by our example, felicitation cr countenance ? A, To be fure we are. For thereby we injure and deftroy the foul, which is much more precious than the body. j^>. What doth this commandment enjoin ? A. All kindnefs and regard, in heart, word, and conduct towards our neighbours. Q. When do we poffefs tru kindnefs of heart towards them J A. i . When we feel a cordial complacence in their profperity, whether fpiritual or temporal. 2. Whe.n we are difpoftd to put the moft favour- able conftru&ion on every thing they fay or do. 3. When we are forbearing and forgiving under provocations. 4. When we feel a tender cotnpaffion for their fouls and bodies under any afflictions, fufferings, oc trials of eitner. 4>. Howf fhould we exprefs our kindnefs ia. word ? A. i. To be courteous, in our fpeech. 2. To be edifying. 3. To fay whatever may be for our neighbour's credit, or advantage, avoiding every expreflion, of yj backbiting, (lander, refentmcnt, difdain, or ridicule, [ '58 ] ridicule, and every word that might injure or grieve him. j9. How muft we {hew our kindnefs in our con- dul? A. By all civility acls of friendfhip good ex- ample and readinefs to affift them in every danger, diftrefs and difficulty. Q Are we forbid by this commandment to in- jure ourfelves as well as others ? A. Certainly we are. All wilful injuries done to our own bodies or fouls, as they are branches of felf-murder, are equally fordidden. jj>. Muft the whole world and every perfon in it, if tried by the purity of this law, be found guilty before God ? A+ No doubt they muft. j^. Are you and I therefore conftrained by it ta confefs ourfelves murderers ? A. We are guilty. j. And unlefs we are pardoned this crime, mufl we perifh ? A. We muft. j^. Is there need, therefore, that when this com- mandment is read, we Ihould cry, Lord have mercy upon us ? A. Yes ; great need. j. Should not a fenfe of this keep us very low before God 2 Alt [ "59 1 A. It ought. ^. And fhould it not make us prize highly our redemption in Chrift, whereby we are delivered from the curfe of a broken law ? A. It fhould. >, Is there not great need of amendment in the beft? A. Very great. . Muft we therefore be daily on our knees for grace to incline our hearts to keep this law ? A. Such is our bounden duty. C. It is indeed. May the Lord of life and love pour out a fpirit of prayer and Application upon you! XXXII. . What is the feventh commandment ? A. Thou {halt not commit adultery. 4>. Does the commandment extend farther than the outward acl here forbidden ? A. Yes. It extends to every defire and thought of the heart. j^. Who explains it thus ? A. Our Lord in his fermon on the mount. Matt. v. 28. $>. What do you underftand as forbidden by this commandment ? A, All acts, words, and defires of impurity, and all all intemper'ance, floth, and whatever elfe naturally ieads to thefe. J2>. Where does the Scripture condemn thefe impure atttons ? A. Heb.xiii. 4. Gal. v. 19 21. Rom.i. 24 26. Q* What Scriptures condemn impure wards? A. Eph. v. 3, 4. Col. iii. 8. 4>. Where are impure defer es condemned ? 4. Matt. v. 28. i ThefT. Iv. g 5. 4>. What do you call intemperance ? A. Gluttony and drunkennefs. J^. Do thefe inflame, and ftirup impure defires ? J. They do. Ezek. xvi. 49, 50. Jer. v. 7, 8. j^. Are they thus doubly criminal ? A. Yes ; both in themfelves, and in their con- fequences. j^. Is idlenefs and (loth contrary to the fpirit of this commandment? A. It is. Jf>. What elfe is here forbidden ? A. Loofe company indecent drefs immodeft piftures and lewd books. j^. What is required by this command ? A. To keep nay body in fobernefs, temperance,, and chaftity. C. I hope, through God's grace, you will be enabled fo to do. We carry about in thefe fallen bodies our .great fnare. Luft is the rock on 'which [ 161 I which millions fplit and perifh. To gratify a momentary paffion, they madly plunge body and foul into hell. Shortlived are the pleafures of fin, but eternal are the torments that fucceed them. Be early therefore on your guard. It is eafier here to fty from our enemy, than contend with him : eafier to beat down the body and keep it in fub- jedion, than to efcape from the pollutions that are in the world, when we have finfully indulged our appetites and floth in making provifion for the flefh to fulfil the lufts thereof. A child of God, there- fore, whether he eats or drinks, defires to do it to the glory of God. He eats with moderation to fatisfy, not to pamper appetite j and drinks to quench his thirft, not to inflame it ; his fleep dege- nerates not into indolence ; he is not flothful in his calling ; and his recreations are temperate and innocent. Happy the man that thus walks. Even in this world he taftes, higher, purer, and more folid enjoyments, thou they who caft the reins on the neck of their paflions, and his profpefts in the world to come, are full of glory. The holy Jefus having promifed, Blefled are the pure in heart for they (hall fee God. XXXIII. J|>. What is the eighth commandment ? A. Thou A. Thou (halt not fteal. Q What is here forbidden ? A. Injuftice of every kind, whether committed by open violence, or fecret fraud. 4J. Are there other methods of dealing befides houfebreaking, robbing on the highway, and pick- ing pockets f A* Yes, very many. >. Is there much injuftice committed in worldly dealings and bufinefs ? A. There is. ^. What think you, in buying and felling may we take advantage of the ignorance or neceffity of thofe we deal with ? A. No, in no wife. jg. May we not afk for our goods a greater price than we ought or mean to take ? A. Certainly not. Q Suppofe you take bad money, may you not put it away again ? A. No. Jg. Suppofe you bought a horfe or any other bead, and found it had faults which would leflen its value, would it be robbery to conceal them, when you fold it ? A. No doubt it would be errant knavery. Q. What think you of running in people's debt, without t '63 ] without a defign, or reafonable profpect of being able to pay them ? A. I think it as bad, or worfe than robbing their houfe. 4J. Is it theft to fell by fhort weight and mea- fures ? A. Afiuredly it is. ^. May you take advantage of the ncccfiitous, to buy from them at an undervalue, or to lend them at an unreafonable intereft ? A. No. This were cruel oppreflion. j^>. May we not make always as good a bargain as poflible, buy and hire as cheap, and fell as dear as we can ? A. Worldly men call this wifdom, but God, in the day of judgment, will brand them as thieves and as robbers. jg. Is it any fin to withhold our taxes if we can, or pay as (mall a portion of them as poflible, or buy uncuftomed goods ? A> Yes, to be fure. It is as great a fin to cheat the public as any individual ? j^. May we never conceal from the perfon what is his due, or pay him as {mall a portion as we can ? A. The wicked do fo, but every fuch tranfa&ion is criminal before God. I 164 ] 4k Does the world count fuch things as thefe ftealing ? A. Many, I fear, do not. 4k Can a man have any pretenfions to the character of an honeft man who does thefe things ? A. No more than a highwayman. 4k Is gaming criminal, where fuperior fkill^ gives evident advantage ? A. Certainly it is. 4k Does the fervant or labourer rob their maf- ters, when they are idle, or do their work flo- venly ? A. Thejrdo. 4k May not a fervant give away, or ufe little matters in the houfe, though not allowed to-do Co? A. No. This is diret thieving. 4k May a perfon fpend extravagantly upon their perfons, or tables, or equipage, or pleafures, what their family may afterwards need ? A. No. This is robbing their heirs. 4k Is ^ equally unjuft, covetoufly to withhold from their family, what is needful, and proper for their rank and iiation ? A. Certainly it is. 4JJ-. Do we owe any thing to the poor ? A. Yes, our alms and bsnevolence. . Is I 1*5 ] J. Is it robbery of them, when we withhold the affiftance they need, and we can afford and ought to beftow upon them ? A. No doubt it is. J^. If all this is true, dont you think an honeft man is a rare character ? A, Yea, verily. One perfectly fuch is no where to be found. jij>. What does this commandment enjoin ? A. To be true and juft in all my dealings ; to do unto others, as if our circumftances were re- verfed, I could with juftice expect they fliould do unto me ; and to learn and labour truly to get my own living, and to do my duty in that ftate of life, into which it hath pleafed God to call me. 4. What muft be done if you are convinced you have been difhoneft ? A. I muft humble my foul before God, and make reftitution to the utmoft of my abilities. XXXIV. j|>. What is the ninth commandment ? A. Thou fhalt not bear falfe witncfs againft thy neighbour. C. The fixth guards his life, the feventh his chaftity, the eighth his property, and the ninth his reputation. J>. The [ 166 ] J^. The crimes of perjury, forgery, and the groflcr ads of falfe witnefs are evident, does the commandment lay a reftraint upon the heart and tongue ? A. It doth. j^. What is forbidden by it ? A. i. A cenforious, and ra(h judging temper. 2. The malicious pleafure of hearing others faults. 3. All {lander and evil fpeaking. 4. Lying. 5. Tale bearing. j. What does the commandment enjoin ? A. i. A tender regard for our neighbour's cha- rafter. 2. Candour in our judgment of him, always leaning to the favourable fide. 3. To caft a veil over the faults we cannot but fee and condemn, and not blazon them to the world. 4. To vindicate the abfent, and difcountenance detraction. 5. To fpeak the truth in fimplicity. j^. May we fin againft this commandment even when we fpeak truth ? A, Yes, greatly ; if we make our neighbour's faulti the matter of our converfation, without any evident [ '67 J evident charitable neceffity, or defire to glorify God. ^ What think you of thofe who affeft to be wits, and delight to criticife upon and cenfure others, expofmg their miftakes, follies, or infirmi- ties, for the entertainment of their company ? A. Their fpirit is malignant, and their tongue* fet on fire of helJ. Jg. Is not the general convention of the world chiefly built upon the violation of this command ? A. I am afraid it is. j^. Is it the lefs criminal for being common ? A. No certainly, rather the more. ^. Should we not, therefore, take great heed to our lips, that we offend not with our tongue ? A. It needs conftant and jealous watchfulnefs and reftraini. Jg. Are we criminal if we join in the laugh, and countenance the ridicule or flander which we hear ? A. Certainly. If we find it improper to bear any other teftimony, our filence and ferioufnefs at leaft fliould fpeak our difapprobation. Jg. Have we not all much guilt, think you, lying upon our confciences in this behalf? A. Very much indeed. C. We need therefore to feek mercy under this broken law, as well as the reft, and to fly for re- fuge [ 168 ] fuge to the Saviour of the miferable and the defpe- rate. Wo were to us, if by our own words we were to be juftified or condemned eternally. We muft inftantly plead guilty, and perifh ; blefled be God that there is help laid on one mighty to fave, and that we have in our Jefus a Redeemer com- plete and perfect, who did no fin, neither was guile found in his mouth, XXXV. .*>. What is the tenth commandment ? A. Thou (halt not covet thy neighbour's houfe, thou fhalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his fervant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his afs, nor any thing that is his. ^. Did not the other commandments forbid evil defires, as well as evil acts I A. They did. Q. Wherein does this commandment differ therefore from them? A. This condemns the corruption of our na* ture, and that principle of iniquity, from whence all unholy defires, evil words, and works do pro- ceed. J2>. Does the law require perfect purity of na- ture, as well as purity of temper and practice ? A, It doth. ( J?. And r -69 i ^. And is it as much broken by the corruption we brought with us into the world, as by any outward ab of fin ^? A. It is. ^. Does the apoftte look upon this as highly criminal ? A. He calls it the fin exceeding finful. ^. Are the very rifings of evil defire criminal, even when not indulged, confented to, or accom- plifhed ? A. They are. 4>. Is this the fault and corruption of every man's nature-? A. It is. 4>. Is all coveting finful f A. No. Jf>. May we defire to remove any thing incon- venient to us, or to poflefs any convenience which our neighbour can without injury part with} pro- vided we make him proper fatisfaclion, and are content and fatisfied if he refufe it us ? A. We may fo far defire without evil, j^. But fliould we be difcontented with his re- fufal, or continue to covet it, is it then fmful I A. It is. J3>. Are we then tranfgren^rs of the whole law, in nature, temper, and practice ? A. We are wholly condemned by it. 1 & We [ '70 ] j. We can never, therefore, hope to be juftified before God, by our obedience to a law, that we have fo entirely broken ? A. No, furely. That would be the height of folly. ^. Where then is our hope ? A. In Chrift, who hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, and by his obedience to death is become the end of the law for righteoufnefs to every one that believeth. C. Remember this. Chrift is precious to the perifliing finner who feels the fentence of a broken law lying upon his guilty confcience, and behold* the great Redeemer refcuing him from the impend- ing ruin. Then the heart cleaves to him in affec- tion, feels the grateful refentment that fprings from a fenfe of his wondrous grace, and conftrained thereby is powerfully engaged and inclined in all holy obedience, to love and ferve a pardoning God. XXXVI. C. My good child, know this, that thou art not able to do thefe things of thyfelf, nor to walk in the commandments of God, and to ferve him, without his fpecial grace, which thou muft learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. Let me hear therefore if thou canft fay the Lord's Prayer. A. Our A. 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. And forgive us our trefpaflesj as we forgive them that trefpafs againft us. And lead us not into temptation j but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever, Amen* G. This is the Lord's Prayerj fo called, becaufe our Lord himfelf dilated the words for our ufe, and left them as a model or dire&ory, that we fhould pray in this manner. Without God's fpe- cial grace we have no power either to believe or obey* From him muft come the ability for all that he requires, and he hath promifed to give his holy Spirit to thofe that afk him. Whofoever, therefore, carelefs and profane, lives without prayer, renounces all the baptifmal engagements, and manifefts a contempt of that grace which alone bringeth falvation. Not that repeating the Lord's Prayer or any other form of words, is praying, if the heart be not engaged. Many teach children their prayers, without teaching them to pray, and many from children get a habit and form of faying their prayers at night, and fomctimes in the morn- ing, who do it without any fpiritual underftanding r real profit to their fouls j it will be neceflary, I 2 therefore, '7* ] therefore, before we enter upon the Lord's Prayer, that you (hould underftand the nature of prayer in general, its ufe, and defign, that fo you may pray with the fpirit, and pray with the underftand- ing alfo. Tell me then, to whom muft prayer be addrefled ? A. To God through Chrift. 4>. Is it idolatry to direct our prayers to any other being belides the moft high God ? A. It is. 4>. Can faints or angels, or any creature, hear and help us ? A. No. In no wife, ^\ May we ufe their mediation or interceflion ? A, No. There is but one Mediator between God and man, the man Chrift Jefus. j^. Is this one of the horrid errors of popery ? A. It is. ^. Are there different kinds of prayer ? A. Yes. . What are they ? A. i. Private prayer. 2. Social prayer in our families, and among the faithful. 3. Public prayer in the great congregation. 4>. Can a man pray without fpeaking ? A Yes, In his heart"; . Does I '73 ] 4> : Does God hear a fecret ejaculation, and the groanings and deflres that never were uttered ? A. Yes, certainly. >. Are thefe often the moft fervent and ac- ceptable prayers ? A. They are, breathing the pureit langu?ge of the foul. ^. Is there any real prayer unlefs the heart be engaged ? A. No. Words without fenfibility, are but empty founds, and ufelefs form. >. What is eflemial then to the nature of true prayer ? A. A heartfelt fenfe of want ftirring up defire of relief, and faith in the promife of God, that in Chrift, he will hear and help us. J2>. Can there be no acceptable prayer without thefe ? A. Certainly not. j^. Will reading the beft prayer that ever wa compofed, fignify any thing, if you do not feel the wants there exprefled, and believe the promifes there pleaded for ? A. To be fure, it can fignify nothing. It is hypocrify, not prayer. Q. How often fhould we pray ? A. Always, when we feel our hearts difpofed, and our wants call for relief, I 3 3- Are [ *74 1 J. Are there every day particular times that ftatedly call for prayer ? A. Yes. In the morning when we rife, to beg God's blefling on the day, and at evening when we lye down, to commend ourfelves to his care, and thank him for his mercies. Jf>. Is it proper through the day to pray ? A. Yes. At any time when we have leifure, and particular defire for fuch fccret communion wfth God. >. Should the matters and miflreffes of familiet daily call their hcmfeholds together at the throat of grace ? A. It is moft commendable, an^ Chriftian-like fo to do. *j>. Do you think, that our Lord's injunctions that men ihouid always pray and not faint, are much regarded I A* I am afraid they are not. C. Indeed, I fear, but very little. How few live habitually ia the exercife of private prayer \ The moft riftng up and lying down, as forgetful of God as the beafts that perifti. How few fami- lies call upon the name of the Lord ! Where in fome places through a town, through a village, {hall we find fuch a thing as the word of God daily read, and the family called together for God's worfhip ! And if with 3 few the prejudices of [ ^75 J education are not worn quite off, and the prayers taught them when children, are formally repeated, how carelefs is the manner, perhaps in bed, or half afleep, without any ferious impreflion of the im- portance of the fubjea. I hope you, my dear chil- dren, will be particularly attentive to a matter which I fo often inculcate : fully perfuaded, that till finners are brought to their knees, and Jed to feek mercy and ftrength at a throne of grace, all our labours are fruitlefs, and our teaching in vain. They who live prayerlefs muft die hopelefs,' and cannot expeft the favour and bleffing of God, which they would not even be at the pains to feefc. XXXVII. C. I informed you the laft time we met concern- ing the nature of prayer in general; we come now to the Lord's Prayer in particular, which confifts of three parts, the invocation, the petitions, and the doxology, or afcription of praife and glory to God. J^. Whom are you taught to invoke or call UDOR in this prayer of our Lord ? A. Our Father which is in heaven. Q Is God your Father ? A. He is. jg. Was you his child by nature ? I 4 A. No. t >?6 ] A. No. I was born a child of wrath. j^. How then come you to be now God's child I A. Through faith in Jefus Chrift. Q. If God is your Father, is this an encou- ragement to pray to him ? A. It is. ^. If you are a child, ought you to have the fpirit of a child, confidence, love, and filial fear ? A. I ought. J3>. Does God give this to his children I A. He doth. Gal. iv. 6. Becaufe we are ions, God hath fent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, whereby we cry,, Abba,, Father. ^. Why do you call him Our Father ? A. In token of my communion in fpirit and prayer wi:h all the diildren b^God in every place* J2\ Are you bound therefore by your prayers to love them as brethren ? A. Afiuredlyj cr-elfe my practice would con- tradicl: my prayers. Q. Doth God fill hea.yen an-J earth with his prefence ? A. He doth. 4L Why d y ou tne r* addrcfs him a$ in heaven ? J. Becaufe there he fixes his throne, and makes the tnoft tranfcendent mAnifeftations of his prcfence and glory, It [ i?7 J $>. If God is in heaven, and we worms and duft of the earth, how fhould we approach him? A. With reverence and godly fear, under the decpcft fenfe of our vilenefs and his Majefty., xxxvur. >. What is the firft. petition of the Lord's Prayer ? A. Hallowed be thy name. J^. What do you underftand by the name of God? A. Himfelf, as manifefted to us in all his divine perfections. Q. What do you mean by the word hallowed? A. I mean that God may be glorified in us and by us, and that the honour due unto his name may be rendered to him by me and all his reafon- able creatures,. ^. How are we to hallow God's name as holy? A. By a hearty approbation of all his revealed' will, and a humbling fenfe of my fmfulnefs. Q How muft you hallow God's name as mer- ciful? A. By trufting on his mercy, as declared in Jefus Chrift. . How are we to hallow God's name, as al- infinite in wlfdom, faitbfulnefi and truth? I Ai I f 178 ] A. I am called to fear his difpleafure as the greateft evil to refign myfelf to all his difpenfa tions and to depend upon the certainty of his promifes. C. Thus, in all his perfections, God is to be glorified, and his name hallowed j our hearts, our lips, our lives, (hould abidingly correfpond with,, and be under the influence of our prayers. But for this we need God's grace, who alone can enable bis people to render him any acceptable fervice. 4>. Muft you, before you can fpeak this peti- tion, truly feel the want of God's grace, fenfible how fhort you come of his gloify ? A. I muft, or elfe I fpeak without meaning. C. Obferve, therefore, before you pray, the real fenfations of your heart, that your worfhip may be fmcere, and your~ prayers the real language of your foul, not the vanity of words, or the facrince o fools, who know not that they do ei(il. XXXIX. jg. What is the fecond petition in the Lord's Prayer ? A. Thy kingdom come. $>. What kingdom do you pray for in this pe- tition ? 4. The t 179 ] A. The kingdom of God's grace upon earth, and of his glory which we are expefting in heaven. J^. What do you mean by coming? A. That it may be fet up in my own heart, and in all the cleft people of God. j$>. Whofe fubjedt was you born ? A, The fervant of fin and fatan. j^. How is your fine to be changed ? A. By God's grace, who delivers his people from the kingdom of darknefs, and tranflates them- into the kingdom of his dear Son. Q. Are you to beg this bleifing from him irr prayer ? A. Yes. He hath promifed his holy Spirit to 1 thofe that afk him. 4>. If you pray that the kingdom of grace may be eitablifhed in your hearts, fhould you condemn- and lament whatever in your temper and conduct is contrary to God's glory, and diflionourable to you as his fubjedl ? A. I ought to do fo indeed, and feek to be more faithful. Q. Would you not pthcrwife be condemned by your own prayers ? A. To be fure, I (hould. Q Do you defire that God's kingdom may b* widely fpread through the world I A* I do* t o ] jf>. In order to this, what do you here praj- for? A. That God would raife up faithful rninifter? r preaching with fervency and zeal the gofpel of the kingdom, and that he would make their labours abundantly effedtoal to the coaverfion, edification, aid comfort of his people throughout the world. j^. Does all the bleffing and fuccefc of the mi- nifters come from the power of God, in anfwer to the prayers of his people ? A. It doth, and without this Paul might plantj and Apollos water in vain. Q. Do you alfo in this prayer defire that God's kingdom of glory everlafting may come ? A. I do. 4j>. Is it then the defire of every faithful foul to depart and be with Chrift? A. It is. j^. Will not your heart and affections therefore be in heaven now, if your prayers are fincere ? A. Certainly they will. Q. Suppdfe God was to anfwer immediately this, prayer^ and haften hi& kingdom, would it not be terrible to many who are repeating this petition? A. I am afraid it would. Q. Does not this prove the hypocrify of thofe who pray, for that* which, fo far from defiring as a. mercy, they dread as the greateft evil ? A. No [ i.8 1 J J. No doubt it doss. C. Alas ! how many more repeat this prayer H* hypocrify, than in fincelity? How little are thefe- awful words pwidered before they are uttered ! How few think what they are asking, and how ftartled would they be to have God inftantly de- clare the grant of their requeft ; to hear the arch- angel's trumpet, to behold a diffolving world, and to meet the Judge of all coming in the clouds of heaven, to take the kingdom for his own ! Yet is all this implied in the meaning of thy kingdom come, and none can take it fafely. in their lips, who have not fome good hope through grace, and who cannot from their hearts join the Bride and Spirit in crying, Come Lord Jefus, come quickly even fo. Amen*. XL., jg. What is the third petition of the Lord's Prayer ? A. Thy will be done on. earth as it is itt heaven. C. God's name is truly hallowed, and h'is king- dom then eftablifhed in the earth, when this is r?ally the cafe. 4>. How is. the will, of God made known to us ? 4. By his precepts, and by his providences. ^. Where r 182 i j^. Where are you to learn the preceptive will tf God ? A. In his revealed word. J^. Is it from the Bible alone that we know how to walk and to pleafe God ? A. It is. . Should not thofe who pray for this, there- fore, diligently read and meditate upon their Bi- Wes? A. To be fure, they fhould. j^. What think you of thofe who fo often fay this prayer, and fo feldom examine their Bibles, to know what is the will of God ? A. I think it is impoffible they fhould mean what they fay. J^. How muft you perform the will of God fo- liar as it is known to you ? A. As it is done in heaven. Jg. How do the angels in heaven fulfil God's Will ? A. In perfe&ion, without defeft or delay, and' with delight, as conftituting their own happi- nefs. ^. And do you think that you thus do the will of God upon earth ? A. No. I come very fhort of it, and through: the weaknefs of my nature cannot walk thus up- right with God. [ **3 3 4>. Is not this a. matter that we fhould Be forry for ?" .//. Yes. It is a grief, aad caufe of humiliation to all the redeemed of the Lord. s>. But though, they do not and cannot attain to this perfe&ion here below, do they approve of it, and long for it, as a thing moft defirable? A. No doubt they do. They could not be God's children otherwife. Q. Will they ever attain it ? A. Oh yes. I hope fo, We (hall be fhortly like the angels,, awaking up in God's perfeft like- uefs, and being for ever fatisfied with it. j*). Will this be the ftnal bleffed anfwer to our prayers ? A. ItwilL 3>. Do you defire that others- {hould do God's will as well as you \ A. I would that all his reafonable creatures upon earth ferved him thus in their feveral vocations and callings. 6). Does charity,, therefore, teach you to make prayers and fupplications for all men ? A, It doth. 4>. And do your prayers oblige you to fet an edifying example in all holy converfation and god- linefs before thofe for whom you pray ? A They [ .8 4 J jf. They do : or I fliould be condemned by my own prayers. 4>. Is God's providential, as well as his preceptive will to be obeyed ? . A. It is. 4. Does every thing that happens to us come by divine direction ? A. It doth. j^. May we never murmur or fret under the heavieft afflictions, or feverefl difappointments ? A. We may not.. 4>. Why ?. A. Becaufe it is the Lord's doing. Q. And doth he always what .is righteous, juft and good ? A. He cannot do otherwife. J|H What is all impatience, therefore, under our crofTes ? A. Rebellion againft God. jg. And is not our folly as great as our fin when, we repine ? ,. A. It is, for we quarrel with the difpenfations of. him, whofe goodnefs and wifdorais infinite. J3>. Yet this folly and fin do we not frequently, fall into ? A* We do to our ftiame. Jg. What effeft fliould that have upon us? A. Itfhould teach us more of the vilenefs of our fallen nature, and ftir us up to more importunity and diligence in prayer for grace to help in every time of need. C. I pray God it may have this effed upon us. Our very failings will then do us good in the iflue, when they lay us thus lower in our own eyes, and drive us nearer to God in the fpirit of prayer and Applications j and he who is able to keep us from falling^ and to reftore us when our footfteps flip, hath promifed to hear our cry and to help us. \M ould to God that we were but as ready to pray as he to hear, and as diligent to aflc, as he is in Clmft Jefus willing to give, not only more than we deferve, but even more thari we can defire. XLt. 4>. What is the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer ? A. Give us this day our daily bread. <%. What do you mean by bread ? A. Every thing needful for bodily fuftenance* j^. Does every creature depend upon God for his provifion I A. All are fed by his bounty, and depend on his providence. $. Cannot [ 1(6 ] j. Cannot all the power and wifuom of msta produce a fingle grain of corn or blade of grafs ? J. No. It is God alone who bringeth food out of the earth. Pfal. civ. 14, 15. Jg. Do we defervc the leaft morfel we put in pur mouths ? A. No. We have by fin forfeited all God's fiercies. Jg. How are they reftored to us ? A. In Chrift, he giveth us all things richly to enjoy. Jg. Are we to profefs our daily dependence upon God in Chrift as our Father, who feeds his chil- dren? A* That i& our bounden duty. Q. And is it not our higheft privilege that we have a Father to go to, who is able and willing to fupply all our wants ? A. No doubt it is. ^. How often muft you afk of God to feed and nourifh you ? A. Every day. j^. How much may you afk ? A* Only the bread of the day. J2\ If God gives you bread to-day, are you to> ttuft on him for the morrow ? A. I am, . Doth 4J. Doth this dependence on God's providence make our care and labour unneceflary ? A. No, in no wife. We nvuft ufc all appointed means, and depend on him for the blefling, and fuccefs. j^. Suppofe a poor man fhould fay, I will- pray, and wont work, would that be trufting God ? A. No. It would be tempting, not trufting him. 4>. Arc we to be thankful if God hears our prayers, and give us bread to eat, and raiment to put on \ A. Yes. Jg. What? if the bread be coarfe and fcarrty, and the raiment poor and thin ? A. Yes. We have no claim for any mercy, all he gives is more than we could demand, and therefore calls for our thanks. Beggars muft not be chufers, ^. Muft we break our bread to the hungry, Uufting upon a fre(h fupply * A. Yes. Though we may not be profufe, w muft not be niggards. Q Do we pray for others as well as ourfelves * A. Certainly. ^. Can we then with any confcience harden our againft their wants^ when we are pretending to [ i88 J to pray God to relieve them, and do not give, what he hath put into our hands ? A. The prayers of fuch are an abomination to the Lord. XLII. jg. What is the fifth petition of the Lord's Prayer ? . A, Forgive us our trefpafles,, as we forgive them that trefpafs agaiuft us J3>. Have we daily caufe to pray for the fofgive- nefs of our fins \ A. We have, becaufe we daily offend. j^. Is it neceflary, therefore, that we fhould have a feeling fenfe of this, when we pray ? A. No doubt it is. ^. For whofe fake may we hope for the pardon of fin? A. For Chrift's Cake only. J3>. Can we never deferve forgivenefs for OUF penitence, or our prayers ? A. No, in no wife. j. Have we reafon to hope that God for Chrift'* lake will hear and pardon us ? A. He hath procnifed to do fo. j^. Muft we approach him, therefore,, in faith, |erfuaded of his anfwering us in mercy ? A. Thi& A. This is eflential to all true prayer. ^. Can any perfon be fure that his fins are forgiven ? A. No doubt he may : for this is the privilege of every bejiever. ^. Do you think there is no preemption in this confidence ? A. No, certainly. It can never be prefumptron to believe what God has promifed. ^>. But are there not many who are in doubt and fear about their pardon and acceptance, of whom we cannot but hope well ? A. I believe very many. >,. How comes this about ? A. Through their remaining unbelief, and the weaknefs of their faith* ^ May there not be true faith where it is but weak ? A. To be fure there may. ^. A re our doubts, and fears, and unbelief, to be lamented and condemned ? A. They are, as well as our other fins. ^>. Should every believer defire to attain to higher and fuller afiurance in his confcience ? A, This is moft defirable, and fliould be one great end of our prayers. Q Can all fins, the greateft, be forgiven ? A. They jf. They can, for the blood of Chrift cleanfetk from all fin. 4J. Hath the greateft criminal as free accefs to the throne of grace, and will he find in Chrift as fure a welcome as the greateft faint ? A. There is no difference. Whofoever cometh to God by Chrift, fhall be in no wife caft out. ). Is not this a great encouragement to finners to return to God \ A. Afluredly. The goodnefs of God leadcth US to repentance. Q. Muft we forgive others as we hope God will forgive us ? A. Yes. A fenfe of his pardoning love will work love in our hearts. .<>>> Muft we forgive our greateft enemies ? A. Wemuft. ^. Can any offend us fo highly as we have offended God ? A. No. That is impoflible. j^. Yet we hope to be forgiven, ought we not therefore to forgive ? A. To be fure we ought* J^. If we bear malice and hatred in our hearts^ will our prayers do us any good ? A. No. They muft bring down a curfe inftead f a bkfling. G. Remember, ( '9i J C. Remember, therefore, fcrioufly the import of your own prayers, as nothing can have a more powerful influence upon your confcience, to make you patient, forbearing, forgiving 5 and the bleifing will return upon your own heart, however un- grateful returns you may meet with from others. For whilft you are in faith praying for pardon, and walking in brotherly love, you will be enabled to maintain a fweet fenfe of God's rich grace to your own foul, and know that your fins are forgiven you for Chrift's name fake. XLIII. ^. What is the laft petition in the Lord's Prayer ? A. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver ut from evil. Q Though God tries his people, doth he never tempt them to commit evil ? A. No. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man ? j^>. What do you mean then by not being led into temptation ? A. That through his good providence tempta- tion to evil may be removed from me, or that I may be fupported againft it. . Muft we look up to God for his providential protection from all bodily danger ? A. We muft, for we are in jeopardy every hour. ... J3>. But whence come our greateft dangers ? A. From fin, fatan, the world, and our own hearts. j^. Are thefe moft to be feared, and to be made the matter of our prayer ? A. They are. 6>. Wfaofe [ '93 ] 4>. Whofe work is temptation to evil ? A. The devil's. J^. How doth he tempt us ? A. By prefenting to us fuch things in the world as are fuited to draw forth the corruption of ouf hearts. ^. You have great enemies then to ftruggle with, whence comes your ftrength for the conflid? A. From God alone. ^. Muft not thofe who do not pray, therefore, be led captive by the devil at his will ? A. A (lured Jy. 4> ; If we are left for a moment to ourfelves, are we liable to fall into the grofleft crimes ? A. We are. The highcft faint of God is only kept, whilft he is looking up to God. J^ ; Thenfhould not our lateft breath be prayer f A, It fhould. C. I pray God you may find it fo by your own blefied experience. Ceafelefs in your cries at a throne of grace for all the bleffings which God in Chrift hath promifed to bellow, and for deliverance from all the miferies and evils which a fallen finner hath deferved ; that fo you may experience God's love in his pardoning grace, and providential keep- ing, and efcaping the bitter pains of eternal death, may come to his prefence and kingdom in glory everlafting, K XLIV.jg.What XLIV. <^. What is the doxology, or afcription of praife to God, which concludes the Lord's Prayer ? A. " For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen." 4>. Is God to be the object of our adoration and praife ? A. Yes. This is the honour due unto his name,. 4>. Is it matter of comfort to us, as well as glo- rious to him, to afcribe this praife to him ? A. It is. >. What comfort arifes to us from hence ? A. If the kingdoms are his, and all power in him, then we are fure he is able to hear and an- fwer, and all things being under his government, he will glorify himfelf in mercy on thofe who call upon him faithfully. j!^. Why do you fay Amen at the end of this prayer ? A. To teftify my faith, that God will do this of his infinite mercy and goodnefs, through Jefus Chrift our Lord, therefore I fay Amen. So be it. C. You fee now the import and meaning of the Lord's Prayer, which, if ufed as a form* is fliort, full, and weighty : if ufed as a model, will aflift you [ '95 ] you in all your devotions, and fuitably clofe, and fum up your prayers. I fhall add no more to what I have faid, than ferioufly to recommend to you the confideration of your own words, the neceflity of frequent and importunate prayer, and the blefied effects that will flow from thence, adding this one word of warning to you, that in the day of judg- ment, many who call themfelves Chriftians, will find among their chiefeft crimes what they trufted upon, and performed as their choiceft duties : their faithleflhefs, carelefihefs, inattention, and formality in their approaches to God, will fill up the meafure of their iniquities, and doom them to the portion of hypocrites condemned by their own prayers. XLV. C. The appointed means of grace, in the ufe of which the child of God is enabled to walk before him and pleafe him, are the word of God, prayer, and the facraments. We come to confider the laft of thefe which concludes the Church Catechifm. Tell me, therefore, how many facraments hath Chrift ordained in his church ? A. Two only, as generally ncceflary to falva- tion, that is to fay, baptifm, and the fuppcr of the Lord. K 2 . Though I 196 ] j^. Though they are generally necefTary, may not fome be faved without them ? A. It is poflible that fome may die in the faith, who may be fo circumftanced as to be debarred of the ufe of the facraments. j^. " What meaneft thou by this word facra- sientr" A. " I mean an outward and vifible fign of an " inward and fpiritual grace, given unto us ; or- " dained by Chrift himfelf, as a means whereby " we receive the fame, and a pledge to aiTure us " thereof." J3>. Is the outward and vifible fign of any effi- cacy, unlefs attended with the inward and fpiritual grace ? A. No. Q Do not many content themfelves with the (hadow inftead of the fubftance, and if they have had water poured upon them, and eat at the Lord's table, conclude themfelves Chriftians ; holding the form whilft they deny the power of godHnefs? A. I am afraid they do. jS). What is the outward vifible fign or form in baptifm ? A. " Water, wherein the perfon is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft." jg. What is the inward and fpiritual grace ? A. A [ 197 ] A. A death unto fin, a new birth unto righte- eufnefs, for being by nature born in fin the chil- dren of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace. $>. It is not therefore the water merely, but the real death unto fin, and new birth unto righteouf- nefs, that makes you a child of grace ? A. To be fure. ^. Do you think an infant may receive this heavenly gift, of a death unto fin, and new birth unto righteoufnefs ? A. I do. j^. Can any man be faved who is not born a- garn ? A. No, certainly. Q. But you believe infants may be fave.d? A. I have Scripture warrant to believe fo. j^. If they are the ele& children of God, and prefented as fuch in his houfe, ought we to forbid water ? A. No, in no wife. C. You, my dear children, are too young yet to enter into controverfy, or to judge of the unhap- py divifions that have entered into the Chriftian world. Baptifm has afforded a handle of great contention, and fome fpecious arguments have difturbed the peace of many a gracious foul, and led them to undergo the form of dipping, as if K 3 they [ i-9* J they had not been already baptifed. The Anabap- tifts of our day are, I think, the moft dangerous feducers of the faithful from the church of England, and moft zealous to draw away difciples after them. I condemn not thofe who follow the convictions of their confcience, I am perfuaded there are many among their teachers who are faithful to the great Matter. But good men may err, and I with to teftify my fentiments, and to guard you againft their errors. All the waters of the ocean cannot make a child of the devil a chrld of God. And the Greek word for baptifm, as every body knows who is acquainted with it, is ufcd in the New Teftament for a partial wafhing or pouring of water, as well as for total immerfion. Though I apprehend, it is not on immerfion or fprinkling, that the chief flrefs of the argument urged by the Anabaptifts, lies, but in the neceffity of the adual exercife of previous faith and repentance, without which, either, as they fuppofe, is ufelefs. But as children are incapable of this, therefore they refufe them baptifm, and require them if baptifed before, to be rebaptifed. It appears to me that this argu- ment goes too far. For if none are to be baptifed but thofe who are in the actual exercife of faith,, who can judge the heart ? How eafy is it to copy a confeflion of faith ? and for a hypocrite to gain admiffion? Of what efficacy then is his immer- fion ? [ *99 J fkm ? Should he be afterwards converted and runt- ed to God, is he to be baptifed again ? if not, vrhy fiiould an infant, more than an adult, be rebaptifed ? Who can prove that an infant may not be capable f fpiritual regeneration ? if they can be faved, muft they not be regenerate ? if regenerate, who can forbid water that thofe fliould not be baptifed, who have received the Holy Ghoft ? And how me- lancholy a profpect does this afford to the Anabap- tift parent, if he confiders every child dying un- baptifed as perifhing ? The practice of our church I honour, and vindicate ? 'tis fcripture, 'tis reafon. God only knows thofe that are his. All who profefs faith, where nothing appears contrary to fuch profeflion, we receive into the outward pale of ChrifVs church. We are aflured of Chrift's regard for little children, declared by his benedic- tion, and cenfure of thofe who would have kept them from being prefented to him j we know their angels do always behold the face of our Father which is in heaven ; we fee a Hebrew child cir* cumcifed the eighth day, and receiving the fign of the righteoufnefs of faith j though we know how few real Ifraelites were found among the adults : we fee the man after God's own heart, confoled on the lofs of his beloved infant, that he fhould go to the child, though the child ftiould not return to him. The confolation could not be that he {hould K 4 lit [ 200 ] lie in the grave with him if they were to b eter- nally feparated, but that they fhould meet again in the world of the blefied : thefe hints and many more 'arguments which might be urged, but I may not enlarge, evidently (how the falvability of in- fants, and as regenerate perfons give them a right to baptifm. It is not for us to determine who will finally be faved. It is enough that fome infants (I will not fay all) maybe faved. Our church adminifters to them the ordinance of baptifm only, as they are received into the number of God's faithful and elect children, trufting that he will gracioufly accept us in the charitable work of bringing them to his holy baptifm, every precau- tion in the moft folemn manner being taken, and every engagement of the moft folemn kind entered into for their being taught as foon as they (hall be able to learn, the meaning and folemn importance of the profeflion they have made. Adults by them- felves, infants by their fureties, make profeflion of repentance and faith, time muft prove who are the elect, and who are the reprobate. An elect child,, come to years of maturity, needs no repetition of the outward fign. A reprobate, if he was warned a thoufand times, cannot lofe his Ethiopian hue. j^ : What is the other facrament? .//. The fupper of the Lord. Q Why is it fo called ? A. Becaufe [ 201 ] jf. Becaufe inftituted by our Lord the night he was betrayed. . Why was this ordained ? A. " For the continual remembrance of the " facrifice of the death of Chrift, and of the bene- " fits which we receive thereby." Q. Was the death of Chrift a true facrifice ? A. Jt was. J^. What is the outward fign of the Lord's fupper ? A. " Bread and wine, which the Lord hath ** commanded to be received.*' j^>. What is the inward part or thing fignified ? A. The body and blood of Chrift, which are verily and indeed taken and received by the faithful in the Lord's fupper ? j^>. Do you fuppofe that the bread and wine are turned into the human body of Chrift ? A. No, in no wife. J^. Is the bread and wine as much bread and wine after confecration as before ? A, To be fure it is. J3>. How come they then to be verily and indeed the body and blood of Chrift to the faithful re- ceiver ? A. They feal to him, all the bleflings purchafed by the broken body and blood fhcdding of the Son of God. ^>. What [ 202 ] 4>. What are the bleflings and benefits whereof we are partakers hereby ? A. " The ftrengthening and refre(hing of our ' fouls by the body and blood of Chrift, as our " bodies are by the bread and wine." j^. Doth true faith as really bring to the foal refreshment and ftrength, as bread and wine taken, refrefhes the weary body ? A. It doth. j^. Then we muft have experience of this, if it be real, muft we not? A. Affuredly. J*P. Without this experimental refrefhmenfy can- this facrament do us any good ? A. No. We have elfe, only taken the bread and wine, and not the body and blood of Chrift. . Is the Lord's fupper a means of ftrengthen- ing faith ? A. It is. The fight of the fymbols of a Sa- viour's crucified body, tends to fix our faith more firmly upon him. 4>. Is it a pledge of fpiritual bleflings ? A. It is. God doth therein aflure us of his good will towards, and that we are very members incor- porate into the body of his dear Son. 4>. What is required of them that come to the Lord's fupper I A. To [ 203 J A. e< To examine themfelves, whether they " repent them truly of their former fins, fted- " faftly purpofing to lead a new life ; have a lively " faith in God's mercy through Chrift, with a " thankful remembrance of his death ; and be in " charity with all men." .*. Does a child of God every day live in the cxercife of repentance ? A. He doth, as every day contracting frefli guilt upon his confcience. 4>. Muft we confidently truft on Chrift's blood to pardon; on his grace to fupport; on his Spirit to comfort us ; looking up with joyful hope to the- day of his appearing and glery? A. To be fure, We do thus fhew forth the Lord's death, and our comfortable confidence of an intereft therein till he come. j^. Will this engage us to lead a new life ? A. Nothing can be fo effectual thereunto, as faith in a crucified Jefus. j^. Have we caufe to exercife great thankfulnefs at the Lord's table ? A. Oh yes. We can never enough be thankful for this facrifice, from whence there defcend to us fuch tranfcendeut bleffings. 4>. Should we be found in the exercife of love and charity to all men ? A. No A. No doubt we fhould, If when enemies we were reconciled to God by his death from whom dare we withhold our love and forgivenefs ? j^. Do all who come to the Lord's table receive this {lengthening and refreftiment to their fouls? A, No. >. Why ? A. Becaufe they eat and drink unworthily. ^. What do you mearv by eating and drinking unworthily ? A. I mean, i. When they complain of the bitter remembrance, and intolerable burden of fin; without any heartfelt ienfe of that bitternefs and burden. 2. When they are Grangers to the faith of the operation of God, and never knew any fpiritual refrefhment and ftrength from an inward expe- rience of the love of God in their hearts. 3. When, inftead of amending their lives, they continue afcer the Lord's Tapper as before, in the allowed indulgence of their fins. 4. When they have no heart-felt thankfulnefs for that amazing manifeftation of God's love in the gift of his Son. 5. When they live in malice, hatred, flander, and the like tempers fhewing evidently, that they are Grangers to the fpirit of a loving, dying Jefus. C. Your [ 205 1 C. Your anfwers are pertinent, and I would to God, that there were fewer who frequent the Lord's table to whom they were applicable. But it is terrible to refleft ! of the many who come to the Lord's fupper, how few approach with a true heart in full affurance of faith to take this holy facrament to their comfort! fome (horrible to mention!) come merely to qualify themfelves for a worldly employment fome, becaufe it is the cuftom at the three great feftivals fome, becaufe they have read the week's preparation, and made up themfelves, by a week's preceding unufual ftrift- nefs profaning thus the facred ordinance formal vifitors, not real votaries and inftead of the heart- felt attachment to Chrift,-of an awakened fmner, and penitent believer, fubftituting the cold and unmeaning expreflions of a wretched book, that only can teach the lips to lie, without the lead fenfibility in the foul. Much as I wilh your early attendance on the Lord's table, yet more do I defire you ferioufly to examine yourfelves before you prefume to eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For as the benefit is great to the faithful, fo is the danger great to the hypocrite and unbe- liever, eating and drinking damnation to himfelf, not difcermng the Lord's body. You, my dear children, muft be confcious how much pains and care I have taken to inform your underftandings, fo [ 206 ] fo that you will be without excufe, if you negleft fo great a falvation. I pray God that he may fend his Holy Ghoft into your hearts, and give you to receive the truth in the light and the love of it, that fo you may live in the exercife of daily com- munion with a pardoning God, and thus be ha- bitually ready, and pleafed to approach the table of your Lord, happy in the prefent experience of his dying love, and rejoicing in the profpet of the