his name in vaine Q. What is the meaning of this Commandement A. o Yee shall not sweare by my Name falsely neither shalt thou prophane the Name of thy God Lev. 19.12 That we doe not rashly and upon sleight occasions take his Name or word into our mouthes much lesse prophane or blaspheme it That we sweare not rashly or vainely or falsely Q. Is it lawfull to sweare at all A. It is otherwise the Psalmist would never have said that p Psal 63.12 All they that sweare by God shall be commended Indeed q Heb. 6.16 Exod. 22.11 some Controversies cannot well be ended without an oath But r Ier. 4.2 it must be taken in justice and judgement and truth that is as is confessed on all hands we may sweare only to doe such things as are lawfull and honest and make oath of such things only as are certainly knowne unto us Q. It is not good then to sweare but upon just and necessary occasion A. It is not for our Saviours command is Å¿ S. Mat. 5.34 Sweare not at all But let your Communication be Yea Yea Nay Nay For whatsoever is more then these commeth of evill Either of evill in thy selfe or in others Of evill in thy selfe when thou hast got a naughty custome of swearing or hast behaved thy selfe so ill that no man will beleeve thee without an oath Of evill in others when they are so mistrustfull that they will not beleeve any man without an oath Or when by reason of injuries or controversies between Neighbours thou art brought upon thy oath Q. Who sinne against this Commandement A. All common and usuall swearers all blasphemers and prophaners of Gods name or word all perjured persons all that sweare before they are resolved of the point in question all that sweare what they know not though never so true all they that enforce or entice or occasion any person to sweare that which is contrary to Gods word or honour or the truth or what is doubtfull unto himselfe Q. What 's the reason for this A. For the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine Though it be not so great a sinne as Idolatry or as the contempt or neglect of Gods worship though he threatens not to punish them in so deep a measure yet he will not hold them guiltlesse he will punish them according to the measure of their sinne though not so severely as unto the third and fourth generation Q. Which is the fourth Commandement A. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day Six dayes shalt thou labour c. Q. This precept begins not like the rest What conceive you to be the reason of this A. It begins with a Memento for these reasons I. Because it is not morall and perpetuall as the rest are II. Because it was but now newly given III. Because the Iewes were a people much given to the world much set upon their profit and so they might make a gaine they spared neither man nor beast Q. Was not this precept observed before this time A. Truly no we read indeed that t Gen. 2.2 on the seventh day God ended his worke and rested on the seventh day from all his worke which he had made And that u Ib. v. 3. God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it he had rested from all his worke But we find not any command given to man for keeping the seventh day or that any of those good men before Moses kept it holy Neither is any mention at all made of the Sabbath from Gen. 2. to Exod. 16. Q. What meet you with there A. There I find that when God had delivered the Children of Israel out of the hand of Pharao and all his host when he had brought them thorough the red Sea into the wildernesse when he had fed them with Manna and Quailes from Heaven that * Exod. 16.27 he ceased to raine downe this heavenly food on the seventh day x Ib. v. 25 26. that the people might take notice of the Sabbath There indeed the Lord commanded that y Ib. v. 29. no man goe out of his place on the seventh day And z Ib. v. 30. the people accordingly rested on the seventh day but it was only from gathering Manna and Quailes for ought can be thence collected Q. Is this all A. Yes For though God intimated unto them severall wayes that he had made this a day of rest yet he commands it not to be kept holy or to be set apart for his service till Exod 20. Q. What reason is there for this rest A. 1. That they might have a day to meditate upon the Creation and so to be put in mind of this their Creator 2. That they might learne to be holy as God is holy by making the seventh day an holy day to serve the Lord in 3. That they might learne of God to be mercifull and to give their servants rest as he had given them rest from their bondage For so saith the Lord Deut. 5.14 That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou Where he addes a second memento to this Commandement a Deut. 5.15 And REMEMBER saith he that thou wast a servant in the Land of Aegypt and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arme THEREFORE the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day So the same God that created the world brought them out of Aegypt Q. Doe we keep the same day holy A. No we keep the first day of the week holy that day whereon Christ arose from the dead Q. Did Christ arise from the grave on the first day of the week A. Scripture manifests it For we read that when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalen St Mark 16.9 Q. Is this agreeable to Gods command A. Though it be not agreeable to the letter it failes not of the meaning Though we keep not the seventh day we keep one of the seven which imitates Gods rest after our sixe dayes labour And an hard matter it is to prove that God gave over sending Manna upon the seventh day of the week and yet that day the people rested Q. From that time when God commanded the seventh day is it lawfull for man to alter the day A. A lesse blessing gives way to the greater Creation to Redemption Besides we know that shadowes and figures were to vanish when Christ came But the Sabbath was a shadow Col. 2.16 17. it was therefore to vanish when our Saviour had actually accomplished what was prefigured by the Sabbath The Apostles therefore after our Saviours Resurrection made the first day of the week the day of rest as appeares S. Joh. 20.26 1. Cor. 16.2 Apoc. 1.10 Q. Did the Apostles command us to keep this day A. No but we b 1. Cor.
11.1 according to Saint Pauls rule imitate the Apostles knowing that they were guided by the Spirit of God The Apostles began to keep this day the first day of the week and the Church of God hath done so ever since The practice of the Apostles is a sufficient warrant Q. Is it lawfull to doe no manner of worke on this day A. Not the workes of our trade or vocation to make a gaine thereby But upon that day we may doe workes of necessity and workes of charity Q. How prove you this A. By our Saviours Doctrine and practice 1. By his doctrine for c S. Mat. 12.1 3. c. he justified by Scripture that it was lawfull for his Disciples on the Sabbath day to gather eares of Corne and eate them And that it is as d S. Luc. 14.5 lawfull for us to pull our oxe or asse out of a ditch on the Sabbath day This for workes of necessity And for workes of charity or mercy he justifies them by his owne practice e S. Mat. 12.13 On the Sabbath day he healed the withered hand as also f S. Luc. 14.4 the man sick of the Palsie g S. Ioh. 9.14 On this day he opened the eyes of the blind And not only so but he gives us directions for the future assuring us that * S. Marc. 2.27 The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath Q. Which is the fifth Commandement A. Honour thy father and mother c. Q. Who are meant by Father and Mother A. I. Our naturall Parents II. The King and his Ministers that is all such as are placed in authority by the King III. All my governours teachers spirituall Pastors and Masters And in the last place all my betters Q. Of naturall Parents there 's no question but is the King my Father A. The Kings stile hath ever been h Pater Patriae the Father of his Country to put us in mind of our filiall duty and him of the Fatherly and tender affection he ought to bare to his Subjects And are not i Es 49.23 Kings and Queenes called the nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers of the Church To signifie to us who are the Sonnes of the Church what they are to us and how we ought to behave our selves towards them Q. How ought we to honour the King A. As Gods substitute and immediare Vicegerent for k 2. Chron 9.8 on the Lords throne he sits to be King for the Lord thy God So then he is next to God and lesse then God only Q. Wherein doth this honour consist A. l Pro. 2◠〈◊〉 v. 24.21 In fearing to displease him m 1. S. Pet. 2.13 in obeying him in reverencing and loving him o Rom. 13.6 7. in giving him what ever is due to him by the Law of nature the Law of God and the Law of the Land Q. How farre forth must we obey the King A. So farre forth as he commands nothing that is contrary to the Law of nature or the Law of God Q. May the King command what is evil A. He ought not If he doe p Act. 5.29 we must obey God and not man But though he may not command us to doe that which in it selfe is evill or unlawfull yet he may prohibite some things that in themselves are lawfull and honest though they seeme necessary for the preservation of a Common-wealth And this prohibition we are bound to obey Q. How prove you this A. q Jer. 35.6 7. Jonadab commanded the Rechabites his sonnes that neither they nor their Children should 1. drink wine for ever And that they should neither 2. build house nor 3. sow seed nor 4. plant Vineyard nor 5. have any We know that in themselves all these things are lawfull and honest and yet r Ib. v. 8. they obeyed the voyce of their Father Jonadab in forbearing these And God commends them and rewards them for it for his promise to them is this ſ Ib. v. 19.20 Because yee have obeyed the commandement of Jonadab your Father and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he hath commanded you Jonadab the Sonne of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever And the King hath an higher power over us then our Parents have Q. Are you sure of this A. This is learned by daily experience If my Father command me one way and the Kings Officer another I must obey the Kings Officer and not my Father The reason is because as I am subject to my Father so is my Father subject to the King The King therefore may punish my Father for his countermand and me for obeying it Indeed my Father is but the Father of a Family but the King is the Father of all his Country that is of all the Families in His Dominions He hath therefore Power both over me and my Father Besides t Ro. 13.4 the King hath the Power of the Sword of life and death which a Father hath not For if my Father kill me the King ought to question him and to execute Iustice upon him for this wicked Fact Q. May no man controule or forbid what the King commands A. Surely no for u 1. S. Pet. 2.13 the King is Supreme the highest power under God All other Civill powers are to be obeyed so farre forth * Ib. v. 14. as they are sent by the King as they have Authority from him and no further To be otherwise taught is but to be trained up to Rebellion For the King is not only the Fountaine of Honour but the Fountaine of all Civill power within his owne Dominions as the Apostles justifie Rom. 13.1 S. Pet. 2.14 Q. But suppose the King command that which is utterly unlawfull and contrary to Gods word may we disobey A. Disobey him we may to obey God That is we must preferre Gods command before the Kings And this cannot justly be called disobedience but obedience since we x Ro. 13.1 obey the higher Powers namely God from whom he hath this Power Q. And may we resist in this or such like cases A. We may not since that God who hath charged obedience upon us y Ib. v. 2. Non resistit quod subiectum est Aug. de verâ Relig. c. 35. hath forbidden resistance upon paine of damnation Q. What is to be done in these streights A. When we may not submit to the command injoyned we must submit to the penalty inflicted Thus did the Apostles of Christ and thus must we Q. What if the King be a Tyrant or Persecuter of the Orthodoxe Faith A. * Magistratibus ex animo deferendus est honor etiam tyrannis Beza in Act. 23.5 Yet we must submit as is prescribed After this manner the Apostles and their Scholars submitted to Nero Domitian Julian c. Q. What is due to the King by the Law of God A. z Ro. 13.1 Subjection
in Symb n. 13. Framed it was for this purpose that it might be the token of their unanimity and faith and that r Per quod agnosceretur is qui Christum verè secūdum Apostolicas regulas praedicaret Ib. n. 11. thereby it might evidently be seen who preached Christ truly according to the Apostles rules and who not It had been also contrary to the Apostles open profession who affirme that ſ 1. Cor. 2.1 they came not with excellency of speech or of wisedome but that t Rom. 6.19 they spake after the manner and custome of men Q. You take then the words of this Creed in the literall and plaine sense A. I doe so for u 1. Cor. 3.1 we are not taught at first as spirituall but as carnall men as babes in Christ because * Ib. v. 2. we are not able to beare strong meat we must be fed with milke And I have learned that x Hooker Eccles Pol. l. 5 §. 59. in Scripture where a literall construction will stand the furthest from the letter is commonly the worst Q That then we may fully discerne whether it may be taken in the usuall and ordinary sense let us take it asunder and weigh the particular words in the severall Articles How many Articles are there in this Creed A. Twelve Q. Which is the first A. I beleeve in God the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth Q. How understand you these words A. Accordingly as I utter them namely that God the Father is the God of all might and power and that y Act. 14 15. he made or created Heaven and Earth and the Sea and all things that are therein all these of nothing Q. Which is the second Article A. And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. Q. Is he also God A. The Sonne of the same substance and nature with the Father z Nicene Creed God of God very God of very God a Athan. Creed Coeternall to the Father and coequall and our Lord with the Father Q. Is he also Almighty A. Without question he is b Col. 1.16 for by him were all things created that are in Heaven and that are in Earth visible and invisible and c Ib. v. 17 by him all things consist Q. The third Article A. Who was conceived by the holy Ghost borne of the Virgin Mary Q. What is the meaning of this Article A. That d Gal. 4 4. in the fulnesse of time e Nicene Creed he was incarnate or made flesh of the Virgin Mary by the holy Ghost Q. Was he who is above and f Col. 1.17 before all things made flesh A. He that from all eternity is God with the Father in time was made man g Athan. Creed God of the substance of the Father begotten before the worlds and man of the substance of his mother borne in the world Perfect God and perfect man of a reasonable soule and humane flesh subsisting Q. Is not the holy Ghost his Father also A. No for in his Incarnation he took nothing of the Holy Ghost Only the Holy Ghost took the Seed of the Virgin Mary and made it flesh without the help of man or sense of the woman Which flesh united to the soule the second person in the Trinity assumed into his owne person and became h Ib. one Christ One I say not by conversion of the Godhead into flesh but by taking of the manhood into God Q. Is he not one as he is the Sonne of God and another as he is the Son of man A. No though he consist of two natures he is but one person i Ib. For as the reasonable soule and flesh is one man so God and man is one Christ Q. May then the Virgin Mary be said to be the Mother of God A. She may because she is mother of that man who is God k Ib. not by confusion of substance but by unity of person As Abraham is the Father of Isaac though not the Father of his soule so is she the mother of the second person in the Trinity though not the mother of his Godhead Q. Which is the fourth Article A. He suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried he that very person that is the sonne of God and was borne of the Virgin Mary Q. Why did he suffer all this A. l Nicene Creed For us men and for our salvation for m 1. S. Pet. 2.24 he bare our sinnes in his owne body that we being dead unto sinne should live unto righteousnesse by whose stripes we are healed He suffered here that we might not suffer hereafter he endured the cursed death that we might escape the curse of the Law he dyed for a time that we might live for ever he was buried that he might sanctifie the grave and make it a place of rest for us Q. Did the second person in the Trinity suffer A. His person suffer'd though not each nature in his person As man but not as God for God cannot suffer Q. Who did he suffer for A. For all the sonnes of Adam He took not therefore upon him the person but the nature of man that so he might perfect this great worke of Redemption for all that are of the same nature with him Q. Are you sure of this A. The Scriptures have taught me so n S. John 8.16 So God loved the World saith our blessed Saviour that he gave his only begotten Sonne to the end that ALL THAT BELEEVE IN HIM should not perish but have life everlasting And St John o 1. S. Joh. 2.1 2. If ANY MAN sinne WE have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the propitiation for our sinnes and not for ours only but also for the sinnes of the WHOLE WORLD And Saint Paul assures us that p Heb. 2.9 Christ tasted death for EVERY MAN What would we more Q. This is comfortable doctrine A. It is so and to this agrees the doctrine of my mother the Church of England who hath taught me q Artic. 17. to receive Gods promises in such wise as they are GENERALLY set forth to us in holy Scripture assuring me that our Saviour r Prayer before the Communion upon the Crosse made a full PERFECT and sufficient sacrisice oblation and SATISFACTION FOR THE SINNES OF THE WHOLE WORLD yea ſ Artic. 31. FOR ALL THE SINNES OF THE WHOLE WORLD both originall and actuall Q. How comes it then to passe that so many are damned A. Either for want of Faith or for want of obedience and repentance for t S. John 1.12 to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the Sonnes of God Q. Which is the fifth Article A. He descended into Hell the third day he rose againe from the dead Q. How understand you this Article A. Literally as I doe the rest Q. Did Christ goe downe