5. Q. How must you learn to know God and serve him? A By the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament, which are the word of God. "2 Tim. iii. 16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,-for instruction in righteousness. Luke xvi. 29. They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 2 Pet. iii. 2. That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, aud of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour. 2 Tim. iii. 15. From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise to salvation, 6. Q. What do the scriptures teach you of the knowledge of God? A. The scriptures teach me what God is in himself, and what he is in relation to us who are his creatures. See the scriptures under the two following questions: 7. Q. Who is God, considered in himself, and in his own nature? A. God in his own nature, is a Spirit, every where present, without beginning, and without end, most wise and powerful, most holy and merciful, most just and true. "John iv. 24. God is a Spirit. Jer. xxiii. 24. Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth. Ps. xc. 2. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God. Rom. xvi. 27. To God only wise be glory. Rev. iv. 8. Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is co come; Is. vi. 2. Holy, boly, boly, is the Lord of hosts. Ex. xxxiv. 6. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious. Deut. xxxii. 4. ▲ God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." 8. Q. What is God in relation to us who are his creatures? A. As the great God is our Maker who gave us our being, so he continually preserves us and does us good: He is our Lord and Ruler now, and he will be our Judge at last. "Ps. c. 3. Know ye that the Lord he is God, it is he who hath hath made us, and not we ourselves. Ps. xxxvi. 6. O Lord, thou preservest man and beast: Ps. cxix. 68. Thou art good and doest good. Ps. cii. 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens,-his kingdom ruleth over all. Ps. 1. 6. God is Judge himself. 9. Q. And how do the scriptures teach you to serve God? A. I must serve God by keeping all bis commandments, that is, by doing every thing that he requires of me, and avoiding every thing that he forbids me. "Deut. x. 12, 13. What doth the Lord thy God require of thee?-To keep the commandments of the Lord. Ex. xxiv. 3. All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. Ps. cxix. 101. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word." 10. Q. What commandments has God given to men? A. He gave the law of ten commandments to the Jews in the Old Testament, and they are summed up in two commandments for us in the New Testament, "Deut. x. 4. And he wrote on the tables (of stone) the ten commandments which the Lord spake unto you in the mount. Mat. xxii. 40. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." See question 21. 11. Q. Repeat the ten commaudments of God in short, which he gave in the Old Testament*. What is the first commandment? A. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 12. Q. What is the second commandment? A. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, or the likeness of any thing in heaven or earth, to bow down and worship it. *It is thought more proper in a catechism for children, to give the ten commandments in short, and not to write them down here in full length, which is not so needful for children, and would burden their memories. Christ himself and St. Paul have done the same thing, when they rehearsed several of these commands. See Mat. xix. 18. and Rom. xiii. 9. Note, A particular account of what is required and what is forbidden in these commandments, may be seen in the Assembly's Catechism. 13. Q. What is the third commandment? A. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. A. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. 15. Q. What is the fifth commandment? A. Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long. A. Thou shalt do no murder. 17. Q. What is the seventh commandment? 18. Q. What is the eighth commandment? 19. Q. What is the ninth commandment? A. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 20. . What is the tenth commandment? A. Thou shalt not covet any thing that is thy neighbour's. See all these commandments at large in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, from the first verse to the eighteenth. 21. Q. What is the sum of these ten commandments which is given us in the New Testament? A. The sum of the ten commandments is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself*. "Mat. xxii. 37, 38, 39. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 22. Q. What do you mean by loving God with all your heart? A. To love God with all my heart is to have the highest and best thoughts of him, to desire his favour above all things, and delight to please him always. "Nehem. ix. 5. Thy glorious name is exalted above all blessing and praise. Ps. Ixxiii. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire but thee. Ps. Ixiii. 3. Thy loving kindness is better than life. Ps. xl. 6. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea thy law is within my heart. 23. Q. How must you shew your love to God? A. By these three things: 1 By paying him constantly the worship that he requires of me. 2 By doing heartily whatsoever else he commands me. 3 By bearing patiently what he suffers to befal me. Note. Wheresoever the answer is divided into parts by figures, 1, 2, 3. the teacher may repeat the question at every figure, and thus make the child's answer more easy. As, Q. What is the first thing whereby you must shew your love to God? Q What is the second thing? &c. 1. "Deut. vi. 13. and Mat. iv. 10. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Ps. v. . In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. 2. Exod. xxxiv. 11. Observe thou that which I command thee. Ps. cxix. 34. I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 3. Rom. xii. 12.- -Patient in tribulation. Micah. vii. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." 24. What worship doth God require of you? A. I must hearken diligently to his holy word, and praise him for his greatness and goodness; I must pray to him daily for what mercies I want, and give him thanks for what I receive. *The nine following questions and answers, are employed in duties and sios relating to God and man, because this matter comes more within the knowledge and practice in children: perhaps this account may be thought too long by some persons in so short a catechism. To others it may not seem so complete and particular as they might expect, because the repetition of those particulars, which are plainly and clearly expressed in the very words of the ten commandments, is avoided here. Repetitions of the same thing, are not needful in such a compendium, or short view of religion. "Deut. xxviii. 1. If thou shalt hearken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God-be will set thee on high. Ps. lxxxv. 8. I will hear what God the Lord will speak. Ps. cxlv. 5. Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. Ps. cxxxv. 3. Praise ye the Lord for be is good. Col. iv. 2. Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving. Ps. lv. 17. Evening and morning and at noon will I pray. Ps. cxviii. 1. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Eph. v. 20. Giving thanks always for all things unto God. 25. Q. And what do you mean by loving your neighbour as yourself? A. To love my neighbour as myself is to do to all other persons, as I could reasonably desire them to do to me if I were in their place. “Mat. vii. 12. All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." 26 Q. How must you shew your love to your neighbour? A. These three ways. 1. By honouring and obeying those that are set over me. 2. By speaking the truth and dealing honestly with all who are about me: 3. By wishing well and doing good to all mankind, whether they be friends, strangers, or enemies. See the note at Q. 23. 1. "Rom. xiii. 1. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers. Heb. xiii. 17. Obey them that bave the rule over you. 2." Eph. iv. 25. Let every man speak truth with his neighbour. Rom. xiii. 7. Render to all their dues. Rom. xii. 17. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 3. Verse 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another. Gal. vi. 10. Let us do good to all men, especially to the household of faith. 1 Pet. ii. 17. Love the brotherhood. Deut. x. 19. Love ye the stranger. Mat. v. 44. Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you." 27. Q. You have told me the duties you must do; can you tell me also the sins you must avoid ? A. I must avoid all the sins of the heart, the sins of the tongue, and the sinful actions of life. "Prov. iv. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence. Mat. xv. 19. Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts. Ps. xxxiv. 13. Keep thy tongue from evil. Verse 14. Depart from evil and do good. Col. iii. 9. Ye have put off the old man, that is, sinful nature, with his deeds." 28. Q. What are the sins of the heart ?* A The sins of the heart are these, a neglect of God, pride and stubbornness, malice and envy, with all other evil thoughts and unruly passions, "Ps. x. 4. The wicked will not seek after God. God is not in all his thoughts. Prov. xvi. 5. Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Jer. vii. 24. They walked in the imagination [margin stubbornness] of their evil heart. Eph. iv. 31. Let all bitterness and wrath-be put away from you, with all malice. Gal. v. 26. Let us not be desirous of vain glory-envying one another. Mat. xv. 19. Out of the heart of man proceed evil thoughts. Gal. v. 24. They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affections, or passions, and lusts. Mat. v. 22. Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." 29. Q. What are the chief sins of the tongue? A. The chief sins of the tongue are swearing and cursing, abusing the name of God or any thing that is holy, scoffing and calling ill names, lying and filthy speaking. "James v. 12. Above all things, my brethren, swear not. Rom. xii. 14. Bless and curse not, Lev. xix. 12. Neither shalt thou profane the name of by God, 2 Pet. iii. 3. Scoffers walking after their own lusts. Prov, xix. 29. Judgments are prepared for scorners. Mat. v. 22. Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. 1 Pet, iii. 9. Not rendering railing for. It would have been too tedious and improper here to enumerate every particular sin of heart, lip and I fe. Such only are mentioned as children may understand, and of which children are sometimes guilty. See a larger account in the Preservative from Sin and Fully. railing. Col. iii. 8. Put off all these, anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth: Lye not one to another:" 30. Q. What are those sinful actions which you must avoid? A. Sinful actions are such as these, gluttony, drunkenness and quarrelling, wanton carriage and mispending of time, especially the Lord's day, doing dishonour to God or injury to man. "Luke xxi. 34. Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness. James iv. I. Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not from your lusts? Thess. iv. 11. Study to be quiet, and to do your own business. Rom. xii. 11. Not slothful in business. Rom. xii. 13. Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness. Rom. ii. 23. Through breaking the law thou dishonourest God. Rom. xiii. 9, 10. Love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour." 31. Q. Have you never broke the commands of God, and sinned against him. A. My own beart and conscience tell me, that I have broke God's holy commandments, and sinned against him both in thought, word and deed. "Prov. xx. 9. Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? James iii. 2. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man. In many things we offend all. Eccl. vii. 20. There is not a just man upon earth that doth good, and sinneth not." 32. Q. How do you know that you have sinned in thought, word and deed against the blessed God? A. I have let evil thoughts run too much in my mind, and spoken too many evil words. I have too often done such deeds as are evil, and neglected what. is good. See the scriptures under the former question. 33. Q. Whence comes it to pass that you have been such a sinner? A. I was born into the world with inclinations to that which is evil, and I. have too much followed these inclinations all my life. "Ps. li. 5. Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Gen. viii. 21. The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. Ephes. ii. 3. We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as others." 34. Q. How came you to be born with such inclinations to evil? A. All mankind are born in sin, because they come from Adam, the first man who sinned against God. "Job xiv. 4. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one Job xv. 14. What is man, that he should be clean; or he who is boru of a woman, that he should be righteous? Rom. v. 12, By one man sin entered into the world. Verse 19. By one man's disobedience many were made sinners." No more of original sin is expressed in this catechism, than almost all christians acknowledge; nor indeed are children well capable of taking in any deeper accounts of this doctrine. 35. Q. But why did you follow these evil inclinations? Was it not your duty to resist them when you knew they were evil? A. I ought to resist every sinful inclination, and therefore I have no suffi. cient excuse for myself before the great God. "Rom. vi. 12. Let not sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Rom. i. 20, 21. They are without excuse, because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, but became vain in their imaginations. Rom. iii. 19. Every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God." 36. Q. What do you deserve because of your sins? A. My sins have deserved the wrath and curse of the almighty God who made me. "Ephes. v. 6. Because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience, Gal. iii. 10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. Isa. xxvi. 11. He that made them will not have mercy on them." Note. The curse of God falling on man for sin is, when the great God solemnly gives up, or appoints a person to suffer pain, shame, or death, or all these together on the account of sin. 37. Q. Is the wrath of God so terrible that you cannot bear it? A. The wrath of God is terrible indeed, for he can make sinners suffer all the miseries of this life, the pains of death, and the torments of hell for ever. "Nahum. i. 6. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger; Rom. i. 32. The judgment of God is, that they which commit such things are worthy of death. Luke xi, 5. Fear him who after he hath killed bath power to cast into hell. Mark ix. 45. Into the fire that never shall be quenched." 38. Q. How do you hope to escape God's wrath which your sins have deserved ? A. God is merciful, and has sent Jesus Christ into this world to become the Saviour of sinful creatures, as the gospel teaches us. condemn the world, Thou shalt call his Thess. i. 10. Jesus "John ii. 17. God sent not his Son into the world to but that the world through him might be saved. Mat. i. 21. name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. 1 which delivered us from the wrath to come, 1 Tim. i. 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, Jesus Christ came into the world to save 'sinners." 39. Q. What is the gospel? A. The gospel is the glad tidings of the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, which was foretold in the Old Testament, but is plainly revealed in the New. "Gal. iii. 8. The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, in thee shall Luke ii. all nations be blessed, that is, verse 16. In thy seed, which is Christ. 10. I bring you good tidings of great joy-for unto you is born this day— a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. See 1 Cor. xv. 1, 3, 4. Rom. iii. 21, 22. Mark xvi. 15, 16." 40. Q. Who is Jesus Christ? A. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was with God before the world was made, but he became the Son of man, and dwelt with men about seventeen hun dred years ago. "John x. 36. I said, I am the Son of God. John xvii. 5. Now, O Father, glorify thou me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Jobn i. 1, 14. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God—and the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us John v. 27. He is the Son of man." 41. Q. But is not Jesus Christ God as well as man? A. Though he be a man yet he is God also, for he is a glorious person, in whom God and man are joined together, and his name is Emmanuel, or God with us. "John i. 2. The word was with God, and the word was God. I Tim. ii. 5. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, Col. ii. 2. In him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead bodily. Rom. ix. 5. Who is over all, God blessed for ever. Mat. i. 23. A virgin-sball bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted, is, God with us. 1 Tim, iii.16. God was manifested in the flesh." 42. Q. What did Jesus Christ do on earth in order to save sinners?. A. He did three things: 1. He made known to men the will of God by his preaching. 2. He set them a pattern of holiness by his own practice. 3. He obtained pardon of sin and everlasting life for them by his obedience unto death. Note, as before in questions 23, 26. Wheresoever the answer is divided into parts by figures 1, 2, 3. the teacher may repeat the question at every figure, and thus make the child's answer more easy, as Q. What is the first thing that Christ did? &c. Q. What is the second thing? &c. 1. "Is lxi. 1. The Lord hath appointed me to preach good tidings, that is, the gospel, John xv. 15. All things that I have heard of my Father have I made known unto you. 2. "John xiii. 15, I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. 1 Pet. ii. 21. Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. |