A CATECHISM: BEING An Enlargement of the Church-Catechism The Method altered, AND The Doctrine proved by Scripture.
Intended, first for the sake of those that were not BAPTIZED in their INFANCY, or had no Godfathers and Godmothers: and since desired to be Published for their and others Benefit.
By N. M.
Imprimatur,
LONDON, Printed by J. D. for Jonathan Robinson, at the Golden Lyon in St. Pauls Church-yard, 1677.
A Catechism.
My Good Child, who made you?
God Almighty made me. Psal. 100. 3.
Wherefore did God make you?
God made me to serve and glorifie him, that I may be happy. Deut. 10. 12, 13. Isa. 43. 7. Ephes. 2. 10.
What Rule hath God given to direct us herein?
The Word of God contained in the holy Scripture. 2 Tim. 3. 16.
What may we learn from Gods Word?
The knowledg of God and of our selves, John 5. 39. with Chap 17. 3. 2 Tim. 3. 15. Psal. 119. 105.
What may we learn thence concerning God?
His Being, Persons, Properties, Works and Will. Deut. 4. 10. Psal. 147. 19, 20.
What is God?
God is a Spirit, having his Being and all Perfection eternally of Himself, infinitely great and good. John 4. 24. Exod. 3. 14. Job 11. 7.
How many Gods are there?
There is only one God. Isa. 44. 6. Mar. 12. 29.
How many Persons are there in the Godhead?
Three; The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: and these three are one. Mat. 3. 16, 17. Ch. 28. 19. 1 John 5. 7.
What are the chief Properties or Attributes of God?
God is Alknowing, Almighty, Infinit, most Holy, Just and Merciful, Good and Gracious; the True, Living and Eternal God. Psal. 147. 5. Gen. 17. 1. Jer. 23. 24. Isa. 6. 3. Exod. 34. 6, 7. Deut. 32. 14. 1 Thes. 1. 9. Ps. 90. 2.
What are the works of God?
The works of Creation and Providence. Gen. 1. 1. Jo. 5. 17.
How did God Create things?
God Created things of nothing, by his Word, and all very good. Heb. 11. 3. Gen. 1. 3, 31.
Wherein is Gods Providence manifested?
In preserving his Creatures, and in governing them. Psal. 36. 6. Psal. 103. 19.
What are the Principal Creatures which Gods providence doth specially preserve and govern.
Angels and Men. Gen. 32. 1, 2. Job 7. 20. Psal. 8. 5.
What are the Angels?
They are Ministring Spirits sent forth to minister to them that shall be Heirs of Salvation. Heb. 1. 14.
How may Gods Providence toward Man be consider'd?
As it orders Man in this life, and in the life to come. Eph. 1. 21.
As to this Life, What was Mans First State in which God made him?
God made Man upright, in his own Image, and his first State was Holy and Happy. Eccles. 7. 21. Gen. 1. 27, 28.
Who were the first Man and Woman?
Adam and Eve, our first Parents. Gen. 5. 2. chap. 3. 20.
Did our First Parents continue in that happy State in which God made them?
No, Psal. 49. 11.
How did they fall?
By the Devils fraud, and their own fault, in eating the forbidden Fruit. Gen. 3. 1, 4, 5, 6.
Are we all concern'd in Adams fault and Fall?
Yes, for by that one Mans Disobedience we were made Sinners, and in Adam we all die. Rom. 5. 19. 1 Cor. 15. 22.
What is now Mans Natural State?
It is miserable, Job. 5. 7. Ephes. 2. 3.
How did Man become miserable?
By Sinning against God. Isa. 59. 2. Rom 5. 12.
What is Sin?
Sin is the Transgression of the Law. 1 Jo. 3. 4.
Where is the Sum of Gods Law contain'd?
In the Ten Commandments. Deut. 4. 13.
Which be they?
The same which God spake in the Twentieth Chapter of Exodus saying;
I am the Lord thy God:—Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.
[Page 6] 2. Thou shalt not make to thy self any graven Image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thy self to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth Generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me, and keep my Commadments.
3. Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain.
4. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six dayes shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the Seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates: for in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
5. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy dayes may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
6. Thou shalt do no murder.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
[Page 7] 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbours wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his oxe, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbours.
What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments?
I learn two things, my duty towards God, and my duty towards my Neighbour.
What is thy duty towards God?
My duty towards God is, 1. To Believe in him; to Fear him, and to Love him with all my Heart, with all my Mind, with all my Soul, and with all my Strength. 2. To Worship him, to give him Thanks; to put my whole Trust in him, to Call upon him. 3. To honour his holy Name and his Word. 4. And to serve him Truly all the dayes of my Life.
What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour?
My duty towards my Neighbour is to Love him as my self, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me. 5. To Love, Honour and Succour my Father and Mother; to Honour and Obey the King and all that are put in Authority under him: to submit my self to all my Governors, Teachers, Spiritual Pastors and Masters, to order my self lowly and reverently to all my Betters. 6. To hurt no body by Word or Deed; to bear no Malice nor Hatred in my Heart. 7. To keep my Body in Temperance, Soberness and Chastity. 8. To be true and just in all my dealings; to keep my hands from picking and stealing, 9. And my Tongue from evil speaking, lying and slandering 10. Not to covet nor desire other Mens Goods, but to learn and labour truly to get [Page 8] mine own Living; to be content and to do my duty in that state of Life unto which it shall please God to call me.
Doth any Man now upon Earth keep the Law without offendiug in any point?
No, for there is not a just man upon Earth that doth good and sinneth not, Eccles. 7. 20.
What misery hath Man brought on himself by Sin.
Man by Sin hath made himself liable to the Wrath of God; to all miseries in this Life: and to Death Temporal and Eternal. Rom. 1. 18. Gen. 3. 17. Rom. 6. 23.
Can any man by his own Power free himself from this miserable State?
No. Psal. 49. 7, 8, 9. Rom. 5. 6.
Is there any hope of deliverence for us?
Yes. Ezra 10. 2.
By whom?
By a Mediator and Redeemer. Gen. 3. 15. Luke 24. 21.
Who is our Mediator and Redeemer?
Our onely Mediator and Redeemer is the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Tim. 2. 5.
Who is Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ is the onely begotten Son of God, being God and Man in one Person, most holy and without Sin. Jo. 3. 16. Mat. 1. 23. Dan. 9. 24. Acts 3. 14. 1 Jo. 3. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 22.
What Offices hath Christ our Mediator undertaken for us?
He is 1 a Prophet to Teach us.
2. A King to Rule and Save us.
3. A Priest to make Satisfaction and Intercession [Page 9] for us. Acts 3. 22. Mat. 11. 27. ch. 2. 2, 6. Act. 5. 31. Heb. 7. 21, 25, 27.
How hath Christ made satisfaction for us?
By the Sacrifice of his Death, in dying for our Sins. Mat. 20. 28. 1 Cor. 15. 3. Heb. 9. 26.
What Death did Christ suffer for us?
The cursed death of the Cross. Gal. 3. 13.
Did Christ free himself from Death?
Yes; for the Third day he rose again from the Dead. 1 Cor. 15. 4.
Whither went Christ after his Resurrection?
He was received up into Heaven, and sat on the right hand of God, where he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Mark 16. 19. Heb. 7. 25.
How are we made partakers of the Benefits of Christs mediation?
By a true and lively Faith in Christ. Heb. 3. 14.
What is a true and lively Faith?
It is a Grace whereby we receive the Lord for our God, and Christ for our Lord and Saviour, and heartily consent to his Gospel as true and good, so that we obey it in our lives, and trust in him alone for our Salvation. Jo. 14. 1. chap. 17. 3. chap. 1. 12. chap. 3. 33. Rom. 16. 26. Gal. 5. 6. 2 Cor. 1. 9. 2 Tim. 1. 12.
Rehearse the Articles of thy Belief.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth: and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilat, was Crucified dead and buried; he descended into Hell: the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty: [Page 10] from thence he shall come to judg the quick and the dead. I Believe in the Holy Ghost: the holy Catholick Church: the Communion of Saints. The Forgiveness of Sins. The Resurrection of the Body: And the Life Everlasting, Amen. Mat. 1. 20, 25. Act. 2. 31. Act. 5. 3, 4. 1 Cor. 3. 17. chap. 12. 12, 13. Eph. 4. 4, &c. Act. 2. 41. 44, 45. Eph. 1. 7.
What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles of thy Belief?
First I learn to Believe in God the Father, who made me and all the World. Isa. 45. 12.
Secondly, in God the Son, who Redeemed me, and all Mankind. 2 Cor. 5. 14. 15.
Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who Sanctifieth me, and all the Elect people of God. 2 Thes. 2. 13, 14.
What must we do for the obtaining and encrease of Faith?
We must observe Gods Ordinances, especially his Word, Prayer and Sacraments. Luke 11. 13. Rom. 10. 17. Luke 17. 5. Mat. 28. 20.
How must we read and hear Gods Word?
With reverence and attention, with a desire, resolution and care to do all that God commands us. Jam. 1. 21. Heb. 2. 1. Luke 11. 28. Jo. 15. 14.
My good Child, art thou able of thy self to do all these things?
I am not able to do these things of my self, nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to serve him without his special Grace. 2 Cor. 3. 5. 1 Cor. 15. 10.
What must thou do to obtain Gods special Grace and all other Blessings?
I must learn to call upon God by diligent Prayer. Mat. 7. 7. 1 Thes. 5. 17.
What must thou render for Grace and Blessings received?
I must render praise and thanks to God. Psal. 103. 2. 2 Cor. 9. 15. 1 Thes. 5. 18.
Let me hear therefore if thou canst say the Lords Prayer.
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 trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Mat. 6. 9. &c.
What dost thou desire of God in this Prayer?
I desire my Lord God, our heavenly Father, who is the Giver of all goodness, to send his Grace unto me and to all people; that we may Worship him, Serve him, and Obey him, as we ought to do. And I pray unto God, to send us all things that be needful, both for our Souls and Bodies. And that he will be merciful unto us, and forgive us our sins. And that it will please him to save and defend us in all dangers Ghostly and Bodily. And that he will keep us from all Sin and Wickedness and from our Ghostly Enemy; and from Everlasting Death. And this of his Power he can, and I trust he will do, of his mercy and goodness through our Lord Jesus Christ: and therefore I give Praise and Glory to him, and say, Amen.
How many Sacraments hath Christ Ordained in his Church?
Two only, as generally necessary to Salvation; that is to say, Baptisme, and, The Supper of the Lord. Mat. 28. 19. 1 Cor. 11. 23, 24, 25.
What meanest thou by this word Sacrament?
I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and Spiritual Grace given unto us, Ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and a Pledge to assure us thereof. Rom. 4. 11. Act. 22. 16. 1 Cor. 11. 23. &c.
How many parts are there in a Sacrament?
Two, the outward visible Sign; and the inward Spiritual Grace.
What is Baptism?
Baptism is a Sacrament whereby we are solemnly received into Christs Church, and dedicated to his Service. John 4. 1. Gal. 3. 27.
What is the outward visible sign or Form in Baptism?
Water, wherein the Person is Baptized In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Acts 8. 36. Mat. 28. 19.
What is the inward Spiritual Grace?
A death unto Sin, and a new birth unto Righteousness: for being by Nature born in Sin, and Children of Wrath, we are hereby made the Children of Grace, Members of Christ, and Heirs of God, and of the Kingdom of Heaven: So that we sincerely perform what is required of us, and promised by us, or our Sureties for us in this Sacrament. Rom. 6. 4. Jo. 3. 6. Eph. 2. 3. Tit. 3. 5. 1 Cor. 12. 13. Rom 8. 16, 17. 1 Pet 3. 21.
What is required of Persons to be Baptized?
Repentance, whereby they forsake Sin, and Faith, whereby they stedfastly believe the Promises of God made to them in that Sacrament. Act. 2. 38. chap. 8. 37.
Why then are Infants Baptized, when as by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them?
Because they are born of Christian Parents, and because by their Sureties they promise those things, which promise, when they come to Age, themselves are bound to perform. 1 Cor. 7. 14.
What Promise and Vow ought Persons to be Baptized to make, or their Sureties in their Name?
They ought to Promise and Vow Three things:
- First, That they will renounce the Devil and all his Works, the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked World: and all the finful Lusts of the Flesh.
- Secondly, That they will believe all the Articles of the Christian Faith.
- Thirdly, That they will keep Gods holy Will and Commandments, and walk in the same all the dayes of their Life. 1 Pet. 3. 21. chap. 5. 9. 1 John 2. 15, 16. Acts 8. 37. Rom. 6. 4. 1 Cor. 7. 19.
Dost not thou think that thou art bound to believe, and to do, according to this Promise?
Yes verily and by Gods help so I will: and I heartily thank our Heavenly Father that he hath called me to this State of Salvation, through Jesus Christ our Saviour.
And I pray unto God to give me his Grace, that I may continue in the same to my lifes end [Page 14] Act. 26. 22. Colos. 1. 12, 13. Act. 13. 43. Mark. 13. 13.
Wherfore was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper Ordain'd?
For the continual remembrance of the Sacrifice of the Death of Christ, and of the benefits that we receive thereby. 1 Cor. 11. 25, 26.
What is the outward part or sign in the Lords Supper?
Bread and Wine, which the Lord hath commanded to be received. Math. 26. 26, 27.
What is the inward part or thing Signified?
The Body and Blood of Christ, which are verily, and indeed taken and receiv'd by the Faithful in the Lords Supper. Mat. 26. 26, 28. 1 Cor. 10. 16.
What are the benefits whereof the Faithful are partakers thereby?
The strengthening and refreshing of their Souls by the Body and Blood of Christ; as our Bodies are by Bread and Wine. Jo. 6. 55, 56, 57. Psal. 104. 15.
What danger do they incur, who Prophane this Sacrament and eat and drink Unworthily?
They are guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord, and eat and drink Damnation to themselves, not discerning the Lords Body. 1 Cor. 11. 21, 22. with vers. 27, 29.
What danger do they incur, who neglect to receive this Sacrament?
They break Christ's Commandment, and provoke him to Wrath against themselves by rejecting one of the means and signal pledges of his Grace. Mat. 5. 19. Luk. 14. 18. with vers. 24. chap. 22. 19.
What is required of them that come to the Lords Supper, that they may avoid these dangers, and receive benefit by it?
They must examine and judge themselves, and repent them truly of their former Sins, stedfastly purposing to lead a new life, have a lively Faith in Gods mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his Death, and be in Charity with all men. 1 Cor. 11. 28, 30.
Revel. 2. 4, 5. Heb. 10. 21, 22. 1 Cor. 11. 26. chap. 16. 14. Mat. 5. 23, 24.
Now as to Gods Providence in ordering Men after this Life: what dost thou believe concerning Mens Souls at Death?
The Spirit then returneth to God who gave it, to be disposed of by him. Eccles. 12. 7.
What concerning their Bodies?
They return to the Earth, as they were, but shall be raised again in the Resurrection at the last Day. Eccles. 12. 7. Jo. 11. 24. 1 Cor. 15. 52.
What is appointed for all men after Death?
After Death the Judgment. Heb. 9. 27.
Shall the final State of all men be alike?
No. But as Men have been good or bad here, so their final State shall be happy, or miserable. Isa. 5. 10, 11. Jo. 5. 29.
When shall the great difference of Mens States be manifested?
In the day when Christ shall judg the World. Rom. 2. vers 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. with vers. 16.
What shall be done then?
Christ shall come in the Glory of his Father with his Angels: and then he shall reward every Man according to his Works. Mat. 16. 27.
What shall be the Reward of the Righteous?
The Righteous shall go into Life Eternal, and Inherit the Kingdom prepared for them; and enjoy unspeakable Happiness and Glory with Christ and his Saints in Heaven. Mat. 25. 34, 46. Jo. 17. 24. I Cor. 2. 9.
What shall be the Reward of the Wicked?
The Wicked shall be cast into Hell Fire, and suffer unconceiveable Torments with the Devil and his Angels for ever. Psal. 9. 17. Mat. 25. 41, 46. Mark. 9. 44.
Let us hear the Conclusion of the whole matter.
What is the use, that we should make of all this?
That we do our whole duty, fear God, and keep his Commandments; Repent of our Sins, and believe in Christ, and live good lives: that so doing, we may serve and glorifie God in this Life, and be eternally Happy in the Life to come. Which God of his mercy grant, for our Lord Jesus Christ his sake: to whom with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be Honour and Glory now and for ever, Amen. Eccles. 12. 13. Act. 20. 20, 21. Titus 2. 11, 12. Luk. 1. 74, 75. 2 Thes. 1. 10, 11, 12. 1 Pet 5. 10, 11.