Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
Q. 2. How doth it appear that there is a God?
Q. 3. What is the Word of God?
Q. 4. How doth it appear that the Scriptures are the word of God?
Q. 5. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
What man ought to believe concerning God.
Q. 6. What do the scriptures make known of God?
Q. 7. What is God?
Q. 8. Are there more Gods than one?
Q. 9. How many persons are there in the Godhead?
Q. 10. What are the personal properties of the three persons in the Godhead?
Q. 11. How doth it appear that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with
the Father?
Q. 12. What are the decrees of God?
Q. 13. What hath God especially decreed concerning angels and men?
Q. 14. How doth God execute his decrees?
Q. 15. What is the work of creation?
Q. 16. How did God create angels?
Q. 17. How did God create man?
Q. 18. What are God's works of providence?
Q. 19. What is God's providence towards the angels?
Q. 20. What was the providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was
created?
Q. 21. Did man continue in that estate wherein God at first created him?
Q. 22. Did all mankind fall in that first transgression?
Q. 23. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
Q. 24. What is sin?
Q. 25. Wherein consisteth the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?
Q. 26. How is original sin conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity?
Q. 27. What misery did the fall bring upon mankind?
Q. 28. What are the punishments of sin in this world?
Q. 29. What are the punishments of sin in the world to come?
Q. 30. Doth God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
Q. 31. With whom was the covenant of grace made?
Q. 32. How is the grace of God manifested in the second covenant?
Q. 33. Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same
manner?
Q. 34. How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?
Q. 35. How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?
Q. 36. Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace?
Q. 37. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?
Q. 38. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?
Q. 39. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be man?
Q. 40. Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God and man in one
person?
Q. 41. Why was our Mediator called Jesus?
Q. 42. Why was our Mediator called Christ?
Q. 43. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?
Q. 44. How Doth Christ execute the office of a priest?
Q. 45. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
Q. 46. What was the estate of Christ's humiliation?
Q. 47. How did Christ humble himself in his conception and birth?
Q. 48. How did Christ humble himself in his life?
Q. 49. How did Christ humble himself in his death?
Q. 50. Wherein consisted Christ's humiliation after his death?
Q. 51. What was the estate of Christ's exaltation?
Q. 52. How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?
Q. 53. How was Christ exalted in his ascension?
Q. 54. How is Christ exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God?
Q. 55. How doth Christ make intercession?
Q. 56. How is Christ to be exalted in his coming again to judge the world?
Q. 57. What benefits hath Christ procured by his mediation?
Q. 58. How de we come to be made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath
procured?
Q. 59. Who are made partakers of redemption through Christ?
Q. 60. Can they who have never heard the gospel, and so know not Jesus Christ,
or believe in him, be saved by their living according to the light of nature?
Q. 61. Are all they saved who hear the gospel, and live in the church?
Q. 62. What is the visible church?
Q. 63. What are the special privileges of the visible church?
Q. 64. What is the invisible church?
Q. 65. What special benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by
Christ?
Q. 66. What is the union which the elect have with Christ?
Q. 67. What is effectual calling?
Q. 68. Are the elect only effectually called?
Q. 69. What is the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church
have with Christ?
Q. 70. What is justification?
Q. 71. How is justification an act of God's free grace?
Q. 72. What is justifying faith?
Q. 73. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
Q. 74. What is adoption?
Q. 75. What is sanctification?
Q. 76. What is repentance unto life?
Q. 77. Wherein do justification and sanctification differ?
Q. 78. Whence ariseth the imperfection of sanctification in believers?
Q. 79. May not true believers, by reason of their imperfections, and the many temptations
and sins they are overtaken with, fall away from the state of grace?
Q. 80. Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace,
and that they shall persevere therein unto salvation?
Q. 81. Are all true believers at all times assured of their present being in the estate
of grace, and that they shall be saved?
Q. 82. What is the communion in glory, which the members of the invisible church
have with Christ?
Q. 83. What is the communion in glory with Christ which the members of the invisible
church enjoy in this life?
Q. 84. Shall all men die?
Q. 85. Death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death,
seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ?
Q. 86. What is the communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the
invisible church enjoy immediately after death?
Q. 87. What are we to believe concerning the resurrection?
Q. 88. What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?
Q. 89. What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?
Q. 90. What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?
Having seen what the Scriptures principally teach us to believe concerning God, it follows
to consider what they require as the duty of man.
Q. 91. What is the duty which God requireth of man?
Q. 92. What did God at first reveal unto man as the rule of his obedience?
Q. 93. What is the moral law?
Q. 94. Is there any use of the moral law to man since the fall?
Q. 95. Of what use is the moral law to all men?
Q. 96. What particular use is there of the moral law to unregenerate man?
Q. 97. What special us is there of the moral law to the regenerate?
Q. 98. Wherein is the moral law summarily comprehended?
Q. 99. What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the ten
commandments?
Q. 100. What special things are we to consider in the ten commandments?
Q. 101. What is the preface to the ten commandments?
Q. 102. What is the sum of the four commandments which contain our duty to
God?
Q. 103. Which is the first commandment?
Q. 104. What are the duties required in the first commandment?
Q. 105. What are the sins forbidden in the first commandment?
Q. 106. What are we especially taught by these words [before me] in the first
commandment?
Q. 107. Which is the second commandment?
Q. 108. What are the duties required in the second commandment?
Q. 109. What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?
Q. 110. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to
enforce it?
Q. 111. Which is the third commandment?
Q. 112. What is required in the third commandment?
Q. 113. What are the sins forbidden in the third commandment?
Q. 114. What reasons are annexed to the third commandment?
Q. 115. Which is the fourth commandment?
Q. 116. What is required in the fourth commandment?
Q. 117. How is the sabbath or Lord's day to be sanctified?
Q. 118. Why is the charge of keeping the sabbath more specially directed to governors
of families, and other superiors?
Q. 119. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?
Q. 120. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to
enforce it?
Q. 121. Why is the word ``remember'' set in the beginning of the fourth
commandment?
Q. 122. What is the sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to
man?
Q. 123. Which is the fifth commandment?
Q. 124. Who are meant by ``father'' and ``mother,'' in the fifth commandment?
Q. 125. Why are superiors styled ``Father'' and ``Mother''?
A. Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him for ever.
A. The very light of nature in man, and the works of God, declare plainly that there
is a God; but his word and Spirit only do sufficiently and effectually reveal him unto
men for their salvation.
A. The holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the word of God, the only
rule of faith and obedience.
A. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the word of God, by their majesty and
purity; by the consent of all the parts, and the scope of the whole, which is to give all
glory to God; by their light and power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and
build up believers unto salvation: but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with
the Scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able to fully persuade it that they are the
very word of God.
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what
duty God requires of man.
A. The scriptures make known what God is, the persons in the Godhead, his decrees,
and the execution of his decrees.
A. God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection;
all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every where present, almighty,
knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth.
A. There is but one only, the living and true God.
A. There be three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;
and these three are one true, eternal God, the same in substance, equal in power and
glory; although distinguished by their personal properties.
A. It is proper to the Father to beget the Son, and to the Son to be begotten of the Father,
and to the Holy Ghost to proceed from the Father and the Son from all eternity.
A. The scriptures manifest that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the
Father, ascribing unto them such names, attributes, works, and worship, as are proper
to God only.
A. God's decrees are the wise, free, and holy acts of the counsel of his will, whereby,
from all eternity, he hath, for his own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever
comes to pass in time, especially concerning angels and men.
A. God, by an eternal and immutable decree, out his mere love, for the praise of his
glorious grace, to be manifested in due time, hath elected some angels to glory; and
in Christ hath chosen some men to eternal life, and the means thereof: and also, according
to his sovereign power, and the unsearchable counsel of his own will, (whereby he extendeth
or withholdeth favour as he pleaseth), hath passed by and foreordained the rest to
dishonour and wrath, to be for their sin inflicted, to the praise of the glory of his justice.
A. God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence; according to his
infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will.
A. The work of creation is that wherein God did in the beginning, by the word of his
power, make of nothing the world, and all things therein, for himself, within the space
of six days, and all very good.
A. God created all the angels, spirits, immortal, holy, excelling in knowledge, mighty
in power, to execute his commandments, and to praise his name, yet subject to change.
A. After God had made all other creatures, he created man male and female; formed
the body of the man of the dust of the ground, and the woman of the rib of the man,
endued them with living, reasonable, and immortal souls; made them after his own
image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness; having the law of God written in
their hearts, and power to fulfil it, with dominion over the creatures; yet subject to
fall.
A. God's works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing
all his creatures; ordering them, and all their actions, to his own glory.
A. God by his providence permitted some of the angels, wilfully and irrecoverably, to
fall into sin and damnation, limiting and ordering that, and all their sins, to his own
glory; and established the rest in holiness and happiness; employing them all, at his
pleasure, in the administrations of his power, mercy, and justice.
A. The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created, was the
placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving him liberty to eat of the
fruit of the earth; putting the creatures under his dominion, and ordaining marriage
for his help; affording him communion with himself; instituting the Sabbath; entering
into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual
obedience, of which the tree of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
A. Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, through the temptation
of Satan, transgressed the commandment of God in eating the forbidden fruit; and
thereby fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were created.
A. The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but
for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in
him, and fell with him in that first transgression.
A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, any law of God, given as
a rule to the reasonable creature.
A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth in the guilt of Adam's
first sin, the want of that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption
of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all
that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually; which
is commonly called Original Sin, and from which do proceed all actual transgressions.
A. Original sin is conveyed from our first parents unto their posterity by natural generation,
so as all that proceed from them in that way are conceived and born in sin.
A. The fall brought upon mankind the loss of communion with God, his displeasure
and curse; so as we are by nature children of wrath, bond slaves to Satan, and justly
liable to all punishments in this world, and that which is to come.
A. The punishments of sin in this world are either inward, as blindness of mind, a
reprobate sense, strong delusions, hardness of heart, horror of conscience, and vile
affections; or outward, as the curse of God upon the creatures for our sakes; and all
other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employments;
together with death itself.
A. The punishments of sin in the world to come, are everlasting separation form the
comfortable presence of God, and most grievous torments in soul and body, without
intermission, in hell-fire for ever.
A. God doth not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery, into which
they fell by the breach of the first covenant, commonly called the Covenant of Works;
but of his mere love and mercy delivereth his elect out of it, and bringeth them into
an estate of salvation by the second covenant, commonly called the Covenant of Grace.
A. The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him with
all the elect as his seed.
A. The grace of God is manifested in the second covenant, in that he freely provideth
and offereth to sinners a Mediator, and life and salvation by him; and, requiring faith
as the condition to interest them in him, promiseth and giveth his Holy Spirit to all
his elect, to work in them that faith, with all other saving graces; and to enable them
unto all holy obedience, as the evidence of the truth of their faith and thankfulness
to God, and as the way which he hath appointed them to salvation.
A. The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but
the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under
the New.
A. The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises,
prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which
did all fore-signify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up
the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remission of
sin, and eternal salvation.
A. Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant
of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the word, and the
administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's supper; in which grace
and salvation are held forth in more fullness, evidence, and efficacy, to all nations.
A. The only Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being
the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fullness
of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct
natures, and one person, for ever.
A. Christ the Son of God became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable
soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
of her substance, and born of her, yet without sin.
A. It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that he might sustain and keep
the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death;
give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession; and to satisfy
God's justice, procure his favour, purchase a peculiar people, give his Spirit to them,
conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation.
A. It was requisite that the Mediator should be man, that he might advance our nature,
perform obedience to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have
a fellow-feeling of our infirmities; that we might receive the adoption of sons, and have
comfort and access with boldness unto the throne of grace.
A. It was requisite that the Mediator, who was to reconcile God and man, should himself
be both God and man, and this in one person, that the proper works of each nature
might be accepted of God for us, and relied on by us, as the works of the whole person.
A. Our Mediator was called Jesus, because he saveth his people from their sins.
A. Our Mediator was called Christ, because he was anointed with the Holy Ghost above
measure; and so set apart, and fully furnished with all authority and ability, to execute
the offices of prophet, priest, and king of his church, in the estate both of his humiliation
and exaltation.
A. Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in his revealing to the church, in all ages,
by his Spirit and word, in divers ways of administration, the whole will of God, in all
things concerning their edification and salvation.
A. Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering himself a sacrifice without
spot to God, to be a reconciliation for the sins of his people; and in making continual
intercession for them.
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, in calling out of the world a people to himself,
and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; in bestowing
saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their
sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, restraining
and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory
and their good; and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey
not the gospel.
A. The estate of Christ's humiliation was that low condition, wherein he for our sakes,
emptying himself of his glory, took upon him the form of a servant, in his conception
and birth, life, death, and after his death, until his resurrection.
A. Christ humbled himself in his conception and birth, in that, being from all eternity
the Son of God, in the bosom of the Father, he was pleased in the fulness of time to
become the son of man, made of a woman of low estate, and to be born of her; with
divers circumstances of more than ordinary abasement.
A. Christ humbled himself in his life, by subjecting himself to the law, which he perfectly
fulfilled; and by conflicting with the indignities of the world, temptations of Satan,
and infirmities in his flesh, whether common to the nature of man, or particularly
accompanying that his low condition.
A. Christ humbled himself in his death, in that having been betrayed by Judas, forsaken
by his disciples, scorned and rejected by the world, condemned by Pilate, and tormented
by his persecutors; having also conflicted with the terrors of death and the powers of
darkness, felt and borne the weight of God's wrath, he laid down his life an offering
for sin, enduring the painful, shameful, and cursed death of the cross.
A. Christ's humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing
in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which hath
been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.
A. The estate of Christ's exaltation comprehendeth his resurrection, ascension, sitting
at the right hand of the Father, and his coming again to judge the world.
A. Christ was exalted in his resurrection, in that, not having seen corruption in death,
(of which it was not possible for him to be held,) and having the very same body in
which he suffered, with the essential properties thereof, (but without mortality and
other common infirmities belonging to this life,) really united to his soul, he rose again
from the dead the third day by his own power; whereby he declared himself to be the
Son of God, to have satisfied divine justice, to have vanquished death, and him that
had the power of it, and to be Lord of quick and dead: all which he did as a public person,
the head of his church, for their justification, quickening in grace, support against enemies,
and to assure them of their resurrection from the dead at the last day.
A. Christ was exalted in his ascension, in that having after his resurrection often appeared
unto and conversed with his apostles, speaking to them of the things pertaining to
the kingdom of God, and giving them commission to preach the gospel to all nations,
forty days after his resurrection, he, in our nature, and as our head, triumphing over
enemies, visibly went up into the highest heavens, there to receive gifts for men, to
raise up our affections thither, and to prepare a place for us, where himself is, and
shall continue till his second coming at the end of the world.
A. Christ is exalted in his sitting at the right hand of God, in that as God-man he is
advanced to the highest favour with God the Father, with all fullness of joy, glory,
and power over all things in heaven and earth; and doth gather and defend his church,
and subdue their enemies; furnisheth his ministers and people with gifts and graces,
and maketh intercession for them.
A. Christ maketh intercession, by his appearing in our nature continually before the
Father in heaven, in the merit of his obedience and sacrifice on earth, declaring his
will to have it applied to all believers; answering all accusations against them, and
procuring for them quiet of conscience, notwithstanding daily failings, access with boldness
to the throne of grace, and acceptance of their persons and services.
A. Christ is to be exalted in his coming again to judge the world, in that he, who was
unjustly judged and condemned by wicked men, shall come again at the last day in
great power, and in the full manifestation of his own glory, and of his Father's, with
all his holy angels, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet
of God, to judge the world in righteousness.
A. Christ by his mediation hath procured redemption, with all other benefits of the
covenant of grace.
A. We are made partakers of the benefits which Christ hath procured, by the application
of them unto us, which is the work especially of God the Holy Ghost.
A. Redemption is certainly applied, and effectually communicated, to all those for whom
Christ hath purchased it; who are in time by the Holy Ghost enabled to believe in Christ
according to the gospel.
A. They who, having never heard the gospel, know not Jesus Christ, and believe not
in him, cannot be saved, be they never so diligent to frame their lives according to the
light of nature, or the laws of that religion which they profess; neither is there salvation
in any other, but in Christ alone, who is the Saviour only of his body the church.
A. All that hear the gospel, and live in the visible church, are not saved; but only they
who are true members of the church invisible.
A. The visible church is a society made up of all such as in all ages and places of the
world do profess the true religion, and of their children.
A. The visible church hath the privilege of being under God's special care and government;
of being protected and preserved in all ages, notwithstanding the opposition of all enemies;
and of enjoying the communion of satins, the ordinary means of salvation, and offers
of grace by Christ to all members of it in the ministry of the gospel, testifying, that
whosoever believes in him shall be saved, and excluding none that will come unto him.
A. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall
be gathered into one under Christ the head.
A. The members of the invisible church by Christ enjoy union and communion with
him in grace and glory.
A. The union which the elect have with Christ is the work of God's grace, whereby
they are spiritually and mystically, yet really and inseparably, joined to Christ as their
head and husband; which is done in their effectual calling.
A. Effectual calling is the work of God's almighty power and grace, whereby (out of
his free and especial love to his elect, and from nothing in them moving him thereunto)
he doth, in his accepted time, invite and draw them to Jesus Christ, by his word and
Spirit; savingly enlightening their minds, renewing and powerfully determining their
wills, so as they (although in themselves dead in sin) are hereby made willing and
able freely to answer his call, and to accept and embrace the grace offered and conveyed
therein.
A. All the elect, and they only, are effectually called; although others may be, and often
are, outwardly called by the ministry of the word, and have some common operations
of the Spirit; who, for their wilful neglect and contempt of the grace offered to them,
being justly left in their unbelief, do never truly come to Jesus Christ.
A. The communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ,
is their partaking of the virtue of his mediation, in their justification, adoption, sanctification,
and whatever else in their life, manifests their union with him.
A. Justification is an act of God's free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all
their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for anything
wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction
of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.
A. Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction
to God's justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet inasmuch as God accepteth
the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them, and did provide
this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and requiring nothing
of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to
them of free grace.
A. Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit
and word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability
in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth
to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and
his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting
of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.
A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which
do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace
of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it
is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.
A. Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ,
whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have
his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly
care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God,
made heirs of all the promises, and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.
A. Sanctification is a work of God's grace, whereby they whom God hath, before the
foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are in time, through the powerful operation
of his Spirit applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them, renewed in their
whole man after the image of God; having the seeds of repentance unto life and all
other saving graces, put into their hearts, and those graces so stirred up, increased,
and strengthened, as that they more and more die unto sin, and rise unto newness
of life.
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit
and word of God, whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also
of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God's mercy
in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns
from them all to God, purposing and endeavouring constantly to walk with him in all
the ways of new obedience.
A. Although sanctification be inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ, in
that God in justification imputeth the righteousness of Christ; in sanctification his
Spirit infuseth grace, and enableth to the exercise thereof; in the former, sin is pardoned;
in the other, it is subdued; the one doth equally free all believers from the revenging
wrath of God, and that perfectly in this life, that they never fall into condemnation;
the other is neither equal in all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to
perfection.
A. The imperfection of sanctification in believers ariseth from the remnants of sin abiding
in every part of them, and the perpetual lustings of the flesh against the spirit; whereby
they are often foiled with temptations, and fall into many sins, are hindered in all their
spiritual services, and their best works are imperfect and defiled in the sight of God.
A. True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of God, and his decree and covenant
to give them perseverance, their inseparable union with Christ, his continual intercession
for them, and the Spirit and seed of God abiding in them, can neither totally nor finally
fall away from the state of grace, but are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation.
A. Such as truly believe in Christ, and endeavour to walk in all good conscience before
him, may, without extraordinary revelation, by faith grounded upon the truth of God's
promises, and by the Spirit enabling them to discern in themselves those graces to
which the promises of life are made, and bearing witness with their spirits that they
are the children of God, be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and
shall persevere therein unto salvation.
A. Assurance of grace and salvation not being of the essence of faith, true believers
may wait long before they obtain it; and, after the enjoyment thereof, may have it weakened
and intermitted, through manifold distempers, sins, temptations, and desertions; yet
are they never left without such a presence and support of the Spirit of God as keeps
them from sinking into utter despair.
A. The communion in glory, which the members of the invisible church have with Christ,
is in this life, immediately after death, and at last perfected in their resurrection.
A. The members of the invisible church have communicated to them in this life the
first-fruits of glory with Christ, as they are members of him their head, and so in him
are interested in that glory which he is fully possessed of; and, as an earnest thereof,
enjoy the sense of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, and hope of
glory; as, on the contrary, sense of God's revenging wrath, horror of conscience,and
a fearful expectation of judgment, are to the wicked the beginning of their torments
which they shall endure after death.
A. Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed unto all men to die; for
that all have sinned.
A. The righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day, and even in death
are delivered from the sting and curse of it; so that, although they die, yet it is out
of God's love, to free them perfectly from sin and misery, and to make them capable
of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon.
A. The communion in glory with Christ, which the members of the invisible church
enjoy immediately after death, is, in that their souls are then made perfect in holiness
and received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and
glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies, which even in death continue
united to Christ, and rest in their graves, as in their beds, till at the last day they are
again united to their souls and live and reign with him upon the earth a thousand
years. Whereas the souls of the wicked are at their death cast into hell, where they
remain in torments and utter darkness, and their bodies kept in their graves, as in
their prisons, until the resurrection and judgment of ungodly men, after the millennial
reign of Christ.
A. We are to believe, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and of the unjust: when Jesus Christ returns the just that are then found alilve shall
in a moment be changed; and the self-same bodies of the dead in Christ which are laid
in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the
power of Christ. The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ, and by virtue of his
resurrection as their head, shall be raised in power, spiritual, and incorruptible, and
made like to his glorious body in the first resurrection. The bodies of the wicked shall,
after a thousand years, be raised up in dishonour by him, as an offended judge in the
second resurrection.
A. Immediately after the second resurrection shall follow the final judgment of men
and angels, the destruction of the earth by fire, and the ushering in of the new heaven
and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
A. After their resurrection, the wicked shall be judged, and, upon clear evidence, and
full conviction of their own consciences, shall have the fearful but just sentence of
condemnation pronounced against them; and thereupon shall be cast out from the favourable
presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ, his saints, and all his holy
angels, into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torments, both of body and soul,
with the devil and his angels for ever.
A. After the resurrection, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds; shall
be openly acknowledged and acquitted; shall join with him in the millennial reign,
and the judging of reprobate men and angels; and shall be received into heaven, where
they shall be fully and for ever freed from all sin and misery; filled with inconceivable
joys; made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable
saints and angels, but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father,
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity. And this is the perfect
and full communion, which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ
in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment.
A. The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.
A. The rule of obedience revealed to Adam in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind
in him, besides a special command, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, was the moral law.
A. The moral law is the declaration of the will of God to mankind, directing and binding
every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in
the frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body, and in performance of all
those duties of holiness and righteousness which he oweth to God and man: promising
life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the breach of it.
A. Although no man, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral
law; yet there is great use thereof, as well common to all men, as peculiar either to
the unregenerate, or the regenerate.
A. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of
God, and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly; to convince them of their
disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives: to
humble them in the sense of their sin and misery, and thereby help them to a clearer
sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of his obedience.
A. The moral law is of use to unregenerate men, to awaken their consciences to flee
from the wrath to come, and to drive them to Christ; or, upon their continuance in
the estate and way of sin, to leave them inexcusable, and under the curse thereof.
A. Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral
law as a covenant of works, so as thereby they are neither justified nor condemned;
yet, besides the general uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use,
to show them how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, and enduring
the curse thereof in their stead, and for their good; and thereby to provoke them to
more thankfulness, and to express the same in their greater care to conform themselves
thereunto as the rule of their obedience.
A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments, which were
delivered by the voice of God upon Mount Sinai, and written by him in two tables of
stone; and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus, the first four commandments
containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man.
A. For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be observed:
1. That the law is perfect, and bindeth every one to full conformity in the whole man
unto the righteousness thereof, and unto entire obedience for ever; so as to require
the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin.
2. That it is spiritual, and so reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other
powers of the soul; as well as words, works, and gestures.
3. That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden in several
commandments.
4. That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden; and, where a
sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded: so, where a promise is annexed, the
contrary threatening is included; and, where a threatening is annexed, the contrary
promise is included.
5. That what God forbids, is at no time to be done; what he commands, is always our
duty; and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times.
6. That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together
with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto.
7. That what is forbidden or commanded to ourselves, we are bound, according to our
places, to endeavour that it may be avoided or performed by others, according to the
duty of their places.
8. That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, according to our places and
callings, to be helpful to them; and to take heed of partaking with others in what is
forbidden them.
A. We are to consider, in the ten commandments, the preface, the substance of the
commandments themselves, and several reasons annexed to some of them, the more
to enforce them.
A. The preface to the ten commandments is contained in these words, I am the Lord
thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Wherein God manifesteth his sovereignty, as being JEHOVAH, the eternal, immutable,
and almighty God; having his being in and of himself, and giving being to all his words
and works: and that he is a God in covenant, as with Israel of old, so with all his people;
who, as he brought them out of their bondage in Egypt, so he delivered us from out
spiritual thraldom: and that therefore we are bound to take him for our God alone,
and to keep all his commandments.
A. The sum of the four commandments containing our duty to God, is, to love the Lord
our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with
all our mind.
A. The first commandment is, ``Thou shalt have not other gods before me.''
A. The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging
of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly,
by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honouring, adoring, choosing,
loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing
in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks, and yielding
all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things
to please him, and sorrowful when in any thing he is offended; and walking humbly
with him.
A. The sins forbidden in the first commandment, are, Atheism, in denying or not having
a God; Idolatry, in having or worshipping more gods than one, or any with or instead
of the true God; the not having and avouching him for God, and our God; the omission
or neglect of any thing due to him, required in this commandment; ignorance, forgetfulness,
misapprehensions, false opinions, unworthy and wicked thoughts of him; bold and curious
searchings into his secrets; all profaneness, hatred of God; self-love, self-seeking, and
all other inordinate and immoderate setting of our mind, will, or affections upon other
things, and taking them off from him in whole or in part; vain credulity, unbelief, heresy,
misbelief, distrust, despair, incorrigibleness, and insensibleness under judgments, hardness
of heart, pride, presumption, carnal security, tempting of God; using unlawful means,
and trusting in lawful means; carnal delights and joys; corrupt, blind and indiscreet
zeal; lukewarmness, and deadness in the things of God; estranging ourselves, and apostatizing
from God; praying, or giving any religious worship, to saints, angels, or any other creatures;
all compacts and consulting with the devil, and hearkening to his suggestions; making
men the lords of our faith and conscience; slighting and despising God and his commands;
resisting and grieving of his Spirit, discontent and impatience at his dispensations,
charging him foolishly for the evils he inflicts on us; and ascribing the praise of any
good we either are, have, or can do, to fortune, idols, ourselves, or any other creature.
A. These words [before me] or before my face, in the first commandment, teach us,
that God, who seeth all things, taketh special notice of, and is much displeased with,
the sin of having any other God; that so it may be an argument to dissuade from it,
and to aggravate it as a most impudent provocation: as also to persuade us to do as
in his sight, whatever we do in his service.
A. The second commandment is, ``Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.''
A. The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and
keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted
in his word; particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ; the reading,
preaching, and hearing of the word, the administration and receiving of the sacraments;
church government and discipline; the ministry and maintenance thereof; religious
fasting; swearing by the name of God, and vowing unto him: as also the disapproving,
detesting, opposing, all false worship; and, according to each one's place and calling,
removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.
A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding,
using, and any wise approving any religious worship not instituted by God himself;
tolerating a false religion; the making any representation of God, of all, or any of the
three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness
of any creature whatsoever; all worshipping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of
any representation of feigned deities, and all worship of them, or service belonging
to them; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to it, or taking
from it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves, or received by tradition from others,
though under the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretence
whatsoever; simony; sacrilege; all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship
and ordinances which God hath appointed.
A. The reasons annexed to he second commandment, the more to enforce it, contained
in these words, For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments;
are, besides God's sovereignty over us, and propriety in us, his fervent zeal for his own
worship, and his revengeful indignation against all false worship, as being a spiritual
whoredom; accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threatening
to punish them unto divers generations; and esteeming the observers of it such as love
him and keep his commandments, and promising mercy to them unto many generations.
A. The third commandment is, 11Thou 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.''
A. The third commandment requires, That the name of God, his titles, attributes, ordinances,
the word, sacraments, prayer, oaths, vows, lots, his works, and whatsoever else there
is whereby he makes himself known, be holily and reverently used in thought, meditation,
word, and writing; by an holy profession, and answerable conversation, to the glory
of God, and the good of ourselves, and others.
A. The sins forbidden in the third commandment are, the not using of God's name as
is required; and the abuse of it in an ignorant, vain, irreverent, profane, superstitious,
or wicked mentioning or otherwise using his titles, attributes, ordinances, or works,
by blasphemy, perjury; all sinful cursings, oaths, vows, and lots; violating of our oaths
and vows, if lawful; and fulfilling them, if of things unlawful; murmuring and quarrelling
at, curious prying into, and misapplying of God's decrees and providences; misinterpreting,
misapplying, or any way perverting the word, or any part of it, to profane jests, curious
and unprofitable questions, vain janglings, or the maintaining of false doctrines; abusing
it, the creatures, or any thing contained under the name of God, to charms, or sinful
lusts and practices; the maligning, scorning, reviling, or any wise opposing of God's
truth, grace, and ways; making profession of religion in hypocrisy, or for sinister ends;
being ashamed of it, or a shame to it, by uncomfortable, unwise, unfruitful, and offensive
walking, or backsliding from it.
A. The reasons annexed to the third commandment, in these words, [the Lord they
God,] and [For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain,] are,
because he is the Lord and our God, therefore his name is not to be profaned, or any
way abused by us; especially because he will be so far from acquitting and sparing
the transgressors of this commandment, as that he will not suffer them to escape his
righteous judgment, albeit many such escape the censures and punishments of men.
A. The fourth commandment is, 11Remember the sabbath-day, to keep it holy. Six days
shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord
thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within the
gates. For in six days 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.''
A. The fourth commandment requireth of all men the sanctifying or keeping holy to
God such set times as he hath appointed in his word, expressly one whole day in seven;
which was the seventh from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ,
and the first day of the week ever since, and so to continue to the end of the world;
which is the Christian sabbath, and in the New Testament called The Lord's day.
A. The sabbath or Lord's day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day, not only
from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments
and recreations as are on other days lawful; and making it our delight to spend the
whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy)
in the public and private exercises of God's worship: and, to that end, we are to prepare
our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably
dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of
that day.
A. The charge of keeping the sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families,
and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see
that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone
ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own.
A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required,
all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them;
all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful; and by all
needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it, are taken
from the equity of it, God allowing us six days of seven for our own affairs, and reserving
but one for himself, in these words, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
from God's challenging a special propriety in that day, The seventh day is the sabbath
of the Lord thy God: from the example of God, who in six days made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: and from that blessing
which God put upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for his service, but
in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to us in our sanctifying it, Wherefore the Lord
blessed the sabbath-day and hallowed it.
A. The word remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment, partly,
because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation
to keep it, and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments, and
to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption,
which contain a short abridgment of religion; and partly, because we are ready to forget
it, for that there is less light of nature for it, and yet it restraineth our natural liberty
in things at other times lawful; that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly
businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either
to prepare for it, or to sanctify it; and that Satan with his instruments much labour
to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.
A. The sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man, is, to love our
neighbour as ourselves, and to do to others what we would have them to do to us.
A. The fifth command is, ``Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be
long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.''
A. By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents,
but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are over
us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.
A. Superiors are styled Father and Mother, both to teach them in all duties toward
their inferiors, like natural parents, to express love and tenderness to them, according
to their several relations; and to work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness
in performing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents.