with a lively Faith in God's Mercy through Christ Heb. 10.21 22. And having an High-Priest over the House of God Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience Prove that we are to receive it with a thankful remembrance of Christ's Death 1 Thes 5.18 In every thing give thanks 1 Cor. 11.26 For as often as ye eat this Bread and drink this Cup ye do shew the Lord's death till he come Prove that we are to receive the Sacrament being in Charity with all Men. Matth. 5.23 24. If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy ways First be reconciled to thy Brother and then come and offer thy gift 1 Cor. 13.2 Though I have all Faith so that I could remove mountains and have no Charity I am nothing Verse 13. And now abideth Faith Hope and Charity but the greatest of these is Charity The whole Duty of Man Reduced into QUESTIONS To be answered by a Single YES or NO PART IV. Sunday I. Duties to God Of God DO you believe in God Yes Are there any more God's than one No. Do you believe that God is an infinite glorious Spirit Yes Is not God distinguished into three Persons Father Son and Holy-Ghost Yes Of the Trinity Are these three Persons any more than one God No. Is not God the Father our Creator Yes Is not God the Son our Redeemer Yes Is not God the Holy-Ghost our Sanctifier Yes Though you cannot fully understand how these three Persons can be but one God are you bound to believe it Yes May we doubt of the truth of any thing which God reveals to us No. Of the Attriâ—utes of God â—r his Divine Excellencies Is not God a Spirit a good a gracious a holy a merciful a wife and just Spirit Yes Can we see God with our mortal Eyes No. Does he not govern and order all things here by his Providence Yes Is God every where present and does he know all things even the thoughts of every Man's Heart Yes Is not your Soul a thing of the greatest value in the World Yes Are you willing to have it saved and to pass to Heaven when you die Yes Of a future State Do you think that your Body shall alway lie in the Grave No. Do you believe your Body shall arise again out of it and be joined with your Soul and live together for ever in Happiness or Misery Yes If you should be damned and go to Hell is there any hope of ever coming out again No. Must you not believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ and love him and sincerely obey his Commands if you will be saved from Hell and obtain Heaven Of the Commands Yes Are you willing to know what these Commands are that so you may obey them Yes Were all Men liable to Damnation because Adam did eat the forbidden Fruit Yes Did Jesus Christ afterwards die for all Men that so they might be saved Yes But must we not believe in Christ and repent of our Sins and conscionably obey him if we will be saved by him Yes Is there any other name under Heaven by which we must be saved but the Lord Jesus Christ No. Seeing we must be saved by Faith in Christ are you desirous to know what true Faith is Of Faith Yes Is not Faith such a belief of the Gospel of Christ as makes us ready and willing to obey his Commands Yes Do you believe the Scripture to be the Word of God Yes Do you doubt of the truth of any thing contained in it No. Are you willing to perform those things which Christ would have you perform to the utmost of your Power Yes If you should at any time sin against him by not performing them will you confess it to God and sorrow for it and strive to do so no more Yes Of the threatnings Shall the threatnings of the Scripture come upon every one that does not repent of his Sins and amend his Life Yes Of the Promises Does not God promise in the Gospel great and glorious things to them that love and obey him Yes Shall you enjoy these Promises unless you perform the Conditions No. Are not these the Conditions That you are to believe in him The conditions of enjoying them Of Hope repent of your Sins love him and obey him Yes Do you hope to partake of the good things which God has promised Yes But can you hope for them aright unless you leave your Sins and heartily endeavour to do what God has commanded No. Can you hope for the Promises at all while you resolve to continue in your Sins No. Should you not instantly endeavour to get out of them and to please God that so you may hope aright Yes Though you have been a very great Sinner yet if you change your course repent of your Sins and believe in Christ is there not a very good Hope of your Salvation Yes Do you love God Yes Of the Love of God and the motives to it Have you not great reason to love him because he is good and great and kind and merciful and willing to have you saved Yes Seeing you love God can you do less than truly to labour to please him No. If you love him should you not desire to enjoy him Fruits of that Love Yes Are there not two ways of enjoying God in his Ordinances here and in Heaven hereafter Yes Is it not a blessed thing to enjoy God here in Praying meditating and in hearing his Word and receiving the Sacrament Yes And will it not be a blessed thing always to enjoy him in the glories and happiness of Heaven Yes Would we have Heaven at a cheaper Rate than one short life of Love and Obedience No. Of the Fear of God As you love God so do you fear him too Yes Do you fear him so as to be afraid to offend him or displease him Yes Do we not displease and offend him when we sin against him Yes Of fearing Men more more than God Is it fit we should fear Man more than God No. Must we not rather displease any Man than God Yes Must we not trust in God in all Temptations Needs and Dangers Yes But though we trust in God must not we our selves resist the Temptation Yes And must we not pray for God's Grace to assist us to overcome it Yes Do we trust in him aright if we do not resist it and beg his Grace to help us No. Not to deliver our selves from any danger by Sin When we beg in any danger or Trouble may we try to get out of it by any Sin No. When we are sick or have lost any thing may we go to a Witch or Conjurer No. In all needs and troubles must we not
Lord Jesus Christ and through Christ of all the Faithful did make Heaven and Earth the World and all things in it seen and unseen out of nothing and by his Word only And thus I believe in God II. ARTICLE And in Iesus Christ his only Son our Lord. THE meaning is I do solemnly profess to believe firmly Jesus Christ my Lord to be the Son of God to be both God and Man That he is the Son of God by eternal Generation who did from Eternity derive his Godhead from the Father As Man he is the Son of God being conceived by the Spirit of God alone So that as he was God from all Ages so being born of a Woman he was made Man for me and my Salvation I believe there is no other Name under Heaven by which we must be saved but Jesus Christ Who though he be Lord of all things by right of the First Creation and constant preservation of them yet he is more peculiarly the Lord of us who by Faith are consecrated to his Service That as God by the work of Creation he is the Lord that made me That as God and Man by the work of Redemption he is the Lord that bought me That he came from Heaven to visit us in great Humility and died to satisfie God's Justice for our Sins I do believe this Holy Jesus who is both God and Man to be and do in all humility and thankfulness love and obedience take him for my Saviour my Advocate my Redeemer and my Lord. And thus I believe in Jesus Christ III. ARTICLE Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary THE meaning is I do declare that I stedfastly believe That this holy Jesus my Saviour when he was pleased to become Man for me was not conceived as other Men are but after a miraculous manner by the immediate and only Power of the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit of God was conceived in the Womb of a vertuous and holy blessed and pure Virgin known by the name of Mary Who being espoused to Joseph of Nazareth was yet before and after her Espousals a pure and unspotted Virgin Who after the natural Time of other Women brought forth the holy Infant the only begotten Son of God who was still God as well as an Infant His holy Mother still a most pure and immaculate Virgin A Virgin who was of the House and Lineage of David he being therefore called the Son of David And I Adore the infinite Wisdom of God who caused him to be born without the least shadow of Original Corruption who was to deliver us from the guilt of Sin I Adore the infinite Wisdom of God who caused his Conception and Nativity to be perfectly Immaculate that so being without Sin himself he might be a fit Sacrifice to atone for us Sinners And I Adore the infinite Wisdom of God who was pleased to order that he should be both God and Man who was to be the Mediator between God and Man and to reconcile God and Man And thus I believe he was conceived by the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary IV. ARTICLE Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell THE meaning is I do declare that I do assent to this as an undoubted Truth and firmly believe that Jesus Christ my Saviour who was both God and Man having published his Gospel among the Jews he was accused by them out of meer Malice and brought before a Man called Pontius Pilate who was the Roman Governor of the Country where Christ lived which was Judea With Grief and Love I profess to believe that they the Jews tumultuously prevailed with Pilate to sentence him to Death though he declared he found no fault in him The Death which he sentenced him to was that most shameful painful and accursed Death on the Cross Before that Sentence was executed the Jewish Rabble and the Roman Souldiers mocked spit upon buffetted scourged and most vilely abused him I declare with Grief and Love that I believe this my Saviour was Crucified for me that is that his Hands and Feet were nailed to a Cross till he died I believe firmly that he Died as other Men and the reason of it was that he might reconcile the World to his Father and become a Sacrifice for all our Sins or that he might reconcile the Divine Justice and Mercy together that as Man he was to die to suffer in our stead as God he was to merit and make Satisfaction for our Sins and thus he became an infinite Satisfaction to an infinite Justice I entirely believe that when he had given up the Ghost and was dead that his dead Body was by Joseph of Arimathea wrapped in fine Linen and buried in a new Tomb I believe that he being dead and his Soul separated from his Body that he continued in the State of Separation or in the State of the Dead for a time and though between the time that he died and the third Day on which he rose again he did descend into Hell 't was not to suffer any thing there but to triumph over the Devil in his own Kingdom and Quarters and to shew him the Victory he had got over him To break the Iron Bars of these lower Prisons that they might open and shut for ever after only at his Command And thus I believe That he suffered under Pontius Pilate was Crucified dead and buried and descended into Hell V. ARTICLE The third Day he rose again from the dead THE meaning is I do solemnly profess That I assent to this as an undoubted Truth that Jesus Christ our Saviour though he was crucified and died for our Sins and by his Death had overcome Death did not continue long in the State of Death for his Soul was separated from his Body and his Body lay in the Grave but till the Third Day Upon the Third Day after he was buried reckoning that very Day on which he was buried for the First he by his own infinite Power as he was God did revive and raise himself by uniting the same Soul to the same Body and opened his Grave and came out of it and openly shewed himself alive for he conversed with his Disciples for the space of Forty Days after he arose from the Grave till he went away to Heaven And thus I believe that the Third Day he rose again from the Dead VI. ARTICLE He ascended into Heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty THE meaning is I do firmly believe that our dearest Lord after he rose out of the Grave stayed on Earth for the space of Forty Days In which time he ordered his Disciples how they should preach the Gospel and govern the Church and promised them the Holy Ghost At the End of the Forty Days he walks with them a Mile or Two out of the City of Jerusalem and when he had blessed them there comes down a Cloud and
in the sight of them all carried him through the Air into Heaven where he now sits to prepare a place for us and intercedes to God for all faithful penitent Sinners I believe he sits at God's right hand that is that he is there exalted to the greatest Power and Glory Not that God has Hands as we have for God is a Spirit and a Spirit has no Hands as we have But as with us the right Hand is a Place of Honour so I am fully perswaded that Jesus Christ is exalted in Heaven to the greatest Honour Power and Glory and there pleads and mediates with God for all those that believe in him repent of their Disobediences and live a New and Christian Life And thus I believe that he ascended in Heaven and sitteth at the right Hand of God VII ARTICLE From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead THE meaning is I do freely and fully assent to this as an undoubted Truth That Jesus Christ who is both God and Man at the End of the World shall certainly come again with Power and great Glory from the same Heaven into which he ascended attended by his Holy Angels to Judge all Mankind according as they have lived here That every Eye shall see him and they that pierced his Hands and Feet shall behold his Majesty his Terror and his Glory I believe that the World being dissolved and the Earth and all things thereon being burnt up the Lord Jesus shall sit in the Air in a Glorious Throne and shall judge the quick that is all those that shall be alive at his Coming and the dead that is all those that were dead before since the World began That the Records of their Conscience shall be laid open that is all that ever they thought or spake or did shall be brought to their Memory I believe firmly That he will judge them Righteously and them that have lived unholily irreligiously and died impenitently he shall sentence to eternal Darkness But them that have believed in him repented of and reformed their Sins and lived holy and good lives he shall adjudge to dwell with him in Heaven and Happiness for ever And thus I believe he shall come to judge the quick and the dead VIII ARTICLE I believe in the Holy Ghost THE meaning is I firmly believe That the Third Person in the adorable Trinity the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is God as well as the Father and the Son I believe him to be a Person distinct from both the Father and the Son eternally proceeding from both and equally sent by both and joint Author with both of our Salvation That though these are Three Persons yet are they but One God and though this cannot be fully understood in this World yet I believe it firmly I believe That as God the Father created me and God the Son redeemed me so this God the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit sanctifies me offers me his Grace and Assistance to do the Will of God is my Comforter and always 't is he that puts into my Mind good Desires and pious Purposes So that I believe intirely that he is not only of perfect Holiness in himself but also that he is the immediate Cause of all Holiness in us that by him all the Servants of God are enabled to do all things necessary to Salvation which by the force of Nature they cannot do That 't is he who enlightens our Understandings sanctifies our Will orders and commands our Affections that 't is by his Assistances imparted to us that we speak or do any thing of our Duty Thus I believe God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost not to be Three Gods but Three Persons and but One God And though I shall never in this Life fully comprehend this Mystery of the Trinity yet I firmly believe it And thus I believe in the Holy Ghost IX ARTICLE I believe in the Holy Catholick Church The Communion of Saints THE meaning is I do freely profess to believe That Jesus Christ did by the Preaching of the Apostles gather unto himself a Church consisting of Thousands of beliving Persons to which he daily added such as should be saved and will successively and daily add to the same to the End of the World That this Catholick that is Universal Church is the Corporation or general Family of all true Believers Or that Body or Society of Persons that profess Christ and his Gospel and is governed and continued under Bishops and Pastors lawfully called to that Office by whom the Word and Sacraments are duly Preached and administer'd under Christ their Head I firmly believe this Church of Christ to be One Holy and Catholick One in respect of our Faith One in respect of the Sacraments One in respect of being guided and directed by the same Spirit One in respect of One and the same Head Christ Jesus and One in respect of the same Hope of Glory and Immortality Holy in respect of its Head the Holy Jesus Holy by baptismal Dedication Holy in respect of its Design and End Holy in respect of the Holy Offices performed in it all which tend to produce Holiness and Holy in respect of its Calling Profession and Hope Catholick in respect of that Catholick Faith Truth and Doctrine which it teaches Catholick or Universal in respect of that Universal Obedience which it obligeth all Men to Catholick in respect of time that is it shall universally be continued to all Ages to the End of the World Catholick or Universal because 't is made up of all the particular Churches in the World Catholick in respect of that universal War which it always is to hold against all its Ghostly Enemies Catholick or Universal in this Sense that it is not limitted or confined to one Nation as the Church of the Jews was but by the Command and Appointment of Christ to be spread abroad and gathered from all Nations under Heaven I believe That of this Catholick Church part is on Earth and part in Heaven that is the Saints departed are the triumphant part of the Church and all true Believers Lovers and Obeyers of Jesus are the Church Militant And as I ever desire to be a Member of this Holy Catholick Church so I believe there is and ought to be a Communion of the Saints in it that is a Society or Fellowship one with another in all Holy Things As all Saints on Earth or all true Believers have in common One God One Christ One Holy Spirit One Lord One Faith One Baptism So I believe they ever did and ought to keep up a Holy Fellowship or Society with each other in all the common Christian offices and duties in Faith in professing the Gospel in hearing the Word in receiving the Sacraments in Charity and doing good to each other and in all common Christian offices of Piety and Devotion And I fully am perswaded that while the Saints or true Believers on Earth
do thus stedfastly keep up this Communion with each other in all holy things in Faith and Worship Love and Obedience they all have a Communion or Fellowship with the Blessed Trinity with the holy Angels and with the Saints departed So that as I am a member of Christ's Catholick or Universal Church so I ever desire to keep Communion or Fellowship with them in all Holy Things and that as Christ is our Common Head and we his Members and I never withdrawing my self from this Communion so my Faith may be accepted with theirs my Prayers offered up with theirs my profession of the Gospel may appear with theirs my Duty Love and Obedience may be accepted with theirs in the Day of the Lord Jesus And thus I believe the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints X. ARTICLE The forgiveness of Sins THE meaning is I believe that whereas every Sin whether of Thought Word or Action is a transgression of the Law of God and for every transgression the Sinner is liable to Eternal Punishment by the infinite Justice of God Yet that God in his unspeakable Mercy gave his Son Jesus and the Son gave himself to become a Surety for this Debt of ours and did offer up himself a Sacrifice by his Death to God's Justice and a satisfaction for us Thus reconciling God's punishing Justice with his pardoning Mercy Provided that the Sinner who had chosen amiss chosen the ways of Sin and Death would in Faith and with Repentance and new Obedience turn seasonably to God and chuse better I firmly believe the first remission is obtained by the Holy Sacrament of Baptism All original and actual Sin being there washed away to every one that duly partakes of that Sacrament But whereas alas 't is too true we have some way or other stained the white Robes which we had put on when we came from the waters of Baptism and because every disobedience since is a recession or going back from our Baptismal Purity for all such Sins God in much Mercy through the death of Jesus hath given us the Covenant of Repentance Which being but this a turning from Sin to God a lasting durable state of new Life and Reformation he has promised through the Merits and the Death of Jesus that if I have but this to offer up to him from a sincere and contrite Heart it shall be accepted to my Pardon and Forgiveness and he will be reconciled to me And thus I believe the forgiveness of Sins XI ARTICLE The Resurrection of the Body THE meaning is I do profess solemnly that I am fully perswaded of this infallible truth That as 't is appointed for all Men once to die so 't is determined that all Men shall arise from death That the Souls separated or parted from our Bodies are in the Hand of God and live That the Bodies of the Dead although turned to dust mouldered into ashes consum'd in flames or swallowed up of the waters devoured by beasts or fishes or any way scattered shall be gathered together again all the scattered dust pack'd together and in an instant be revived and come alive by the Soul 's being united to it again The same Flesh which died shall live the same Body which fell shall rise the same Soul infallibly be united to the same Body So that the Soul and Body are parted asunder by Death yet at the last day they shall be joined together at the Resurrection and shall no more be parted And this Resurrection I firmly believe shall be Universal of all Mankind no Man shall be left in the Grave or Dead That this shall be at the end of the World when Christ shall come to Judgment when the Trump shall sound or when the Arch-Angel shall lift up his Voice like a Trumpet the just and unjust shall both arise out of their Graves and live The Just shall arise to the Resurrection of Life and the Unjust to the Resurrection of Damnation And thus I believe the Resurrection of the Body XII ARTICLE And the Life Everlasting Amen THE meaning is I do freely declare that I believe this to be an undoubted truth That besides this Life here in this World which is but for a short time there shall be another Life in the other World which shall last for ever I firmly believe that after this finite Life here is over and the Soul departed and the Body dead that the Soul still lives and shall live for ever and after the Resurrection the Body shall live also and both shall live together for Eternity The Soul and Body of the unbelievers disobedient and impenitent shall live for ever and be Partners with the Devil and his accursed Spirits in Hell And that the Souls and Bodies of the Righteous after the Resurrection and after their Sentence shall enter into the fullness of their Master's Joy beyond all possibility of Sin and Sorrow suffering and temptation doubts or scruples fears or dangers where they shall have their Understandings clarified and enriched where the Will shall be satisfied where the Affections shall be all Love and all Joy where they shall securely and peacefully possess all that they breathed after panted sighed and languish'd for here and enjoy it not for Years or Ages but for all Eternity Amen THE meaning of that Word at the end of the Creed is I do declare that I do stedfastly believe all this and desire to live accordingly Question What dost thou chiefly learn in these Articles c. Answer First I learn to believe in God the Father c. THE meaning is I do according to this my confession of Faith firmly and as I hope to see the Face of God believe in God the Father who is the first Person of the adorable Trinity who created me and all Men who made the whole World and all Things therein out of nothing Secondly I do likewise firmly believe in God the Son Jesus Christ my Saviour who is the second Person of the Adorable Trinity Perfect God and perfect Man equal to the Father as touching his Godhead but inferiour to the Father as touching his Manhood who redeemed me and all Men by his Death and who has satisfied God's Justice for my Sins upon my Faith and my Repentance my future Love and Obedience Thirdly I do also firmly believe in God the Holy Ghost or holy Spirit who is the third Person of the adorable Trinity who proceeds from the Father and the Son and is co-equal and co-eternal with them It is he who is my Guide my Sanctifier my Comforter who puts into my Mind good desires pious purposes and devout resolutions who offers me his Grace and Assistance to do God's Will so truly that he is said to be grieved when I refuse it And although I cannot fully understand in this Life how these three Persons can be but one God yet I do fully and firmly assent to it as an undoubted truth that it is so without which Belief I cannot
to keep this Law That is Lord pity and pardon all our past breaches of this Commandment and so incline our Hearts to Love and Obedience for the future that through thy Grace we may most sincerely keep this Law of thine for the remainder of our days VIII COMMANDMENT Thou shalt not steal Duties commanded THE meaning is Thou shalt render to every Man this due and permit all Men peaceably to enjoy their own Thou shalt by just and lawful means not only further thy own but also thy Neighbour's Wealth and outward Estate Thou shalt in all things do unto others as thou wouldst they should do unto thee were they in thy condition and thou in theirs Thou shalt live in a Lawful Calling and be diligent in that Calling that so thou mayest avoid all temptation to the breach of this Commandment Thou shalt be Just and Upright in all thy Bargains Contracts and Dealings Thou shalt be so frugal and provident of thy Estate and so contented with it that thou mayest fly all Inticements to Fraud and Injustice Thou shalt buy and sell by Just Weights and Measures Thou shalt conscionably pay Debts and Wages Not only thy own proper Debts but also those for which thou art bound and become a Surety if the Principal cannot or will not Thou shalt use this World so as not to abuse it but be upright and faithful in trusts trade and agreements Thou shalt be willing to give and lend and remit and forgive according to thy Ability and Prudence and thy Brother's Necessities Although thou mayest go to Law for a considerable and just Right yet if thou art forced to do it thou shalt contend more for Right than Victory and still carry a friendly Christian and charitable temper towards the Party Thou shalt manage all thy temporal Blessings or the Goods of this World with Thankfulness to God Sobriety to thy self and Charity and Justice to all beside Thou shalt surely make restitution or satisfaction according to thy Power for such wrongs as thou hast done to any when they come to thy knowledge Thou shalt either by thy self or others make that restitution to himself if he be living and thou canst find him Or to his Heirs or Executors if he be dead Or to the Poor if thou knowest him not This being commanded the chief things forbidden are these Thou shalt not injure any Man in his Possessions or Estate by open Violence or Robbery by secret theft by fraud or cozenage extortion oppression or any injustice Thou shalt not use false Weights or Measures If thou find any thing thou shalt not by any means keep it from the owner if thou know him or canst understand who ' t is Thou shalt not refuse to pay thy Debts if thou art able It is not fit thou shouldst take Use Sins forbidden or Interest of the Poor and Needy Thou shalt not rob God of his Dues by Sacrilege and detaining Tithes Nor the King of his Dues by withholding his Tribute and Custom Thou shalt inherit nothing of another's that is committed to Trust and Charge Thou shalt not use deceit fraud and cozenage in Bargains Contracts Buying and Selling and Coin If thou art a Seller thou shalt not conceal the faults of the thing sold either by denying them or by using arts and tricks to hide those faults of it If thou art a Seller thou shalt not pick out ignorant Chapmen that thou mayest by reason of their unskifulness put off thy faulty Wares upon them If thou art a Seller thou shalt not take advantage of the ignorance indiscretion or necessity of the Buyer to over-reach him or over-rate the thing sold If thou art a Buyer thou shalt not take advantage of the Ignorance of him that knows not the worth of what he sells If thou art a Buyer thou shalt not take advantage of the necessities of the Seller nor grate and lie hard upon him because his wants compel him to sell though at any rate Thou shalt not be guilty of the Sin of Covetousness by getting or keeping any thing by unlawful unjust or uncharitable means or to permit any Interest to rob thee of thy Innocence or thy Duty Thou shalt not torment thy self with immoderate inordinate anxious vexatious distracting and distrustful Cares Thou shalt not be guilty of commencing Contentions and Vexatious Law-suits either for Revenge Stoutness of Humour or to defend an inconsiderable Right Thou shalt not refuse to pay what thou hast borrowed Thou shalt not defraud Orphans Widows or detain Hirelings Wages Thou shalt not take Bribes to pervert Equity and Justice Thou shalt not break thy Faithful Promises tho' made to thy own disadvantage or refuse to stand to thy Bargain Thou shalt not refuse to make Restitution Thou shalt not by wasteful Prodigality Negligence Sloth or Idleness or covetous Gaming waste thy own or other Mens Estates and Possessions Seeing all these things are breaches of this Commandment if we seriously consider as me ought what it is that is enjoined us in it as well as what 's forbidden and then reflecting upon our own Lives find any of the Duties of it neglected by us or any of the Sins against it adventured on in Thought Word or Action how earnestly and devoutly should we say with the Church Lord have Mercy upon us and incline our Hearts to keep this Law That is Lord pity and pardon all our past breaches of this Commandment And so incline our Hearts to thy Love and Obedience for the future that through thy Grace we may most sincerely keep this Law of thine for the remainder of our Days IX COMMANDMENT Thou shalt not bear false Witness against thy Neighbour THE meaning is When thou art called by a Magistrate to be a Witness Duties commanded thou shalt speak the truth of thy Neighbour that is any other Man Thou shalt labour as much as lieth in thee to preserve the good name of thy Neighbour Thou shalt as far as thou canst with Justice and Charity to others conceal or excuse thy Brother's Infirmities Thou shalt judge the best and speak the best of him Where thou knowest him innocent thou shalt be ready to vindicate his good-name on all occasions Thou shalt put as candid and fair Interpretations upon his Actions as they will bear Thou shalt be loth to hear slow to believe and unwilling to spread an evil Report Thou shalt be courteous and affable to all Men. Thou shalt religiously observe Truth in Speaking Thou shalt be charitably tender of thy Neighbour's good-name for how can I love him if I take that from him which I know to be very dear to him As these things are commanded so the things following are forbidden Sins forbidden Thou shalt neither in Judgment nor in ordinary Discourse speak what is untrue of thy Neighbour Thou shalt raise a false Report of non Man Thou shalt wound no Man with the Sword of the Tongue openly or secretly Thou shalt not by whispering
slandering backbiting detraction or defamation injure the good-name of any Man Thou shalt not raise Jealousies and Suspitions of thy Neighbour causelesly Thou shalt bear no false Witness of thy self by bragging or boasting thy self Thou shalt not be a Tale-bearer thy self nor readily hear and encourage Tale-bearers Thou shalt not be a Dissembler or Flatterer Thou shalt in no case tell a Lye or counsel or pervert Right and Truth by Equivocations Thou shalt not mock and scoff at the Infirmities of others Thou shalt not be guilty of false Accusations false Pleadings false Testimonies or false Sentences in Courts of Judicature or Judgment Thou shalt not give rash severe and unmerciful Censures of other Men. Thou shalt not be a Railer or Reviler nor report and scatter false or doubtful Reports of thy Brother Thou shalt not be a Busie-body in other Mens matters Thou shalt not be guilty of false Acts or Forgery in any Deed or Writing Thou shalt neither deny conceal or oppose the truth Thou shalt not observe and judge other Mens Words and Actions severely and without Mercy Thou shalt not divulge or publish the faults of others without a design to do thereby Charity or Justice to some other Person Here now if we duly consider and seriously weigh what 't is that is enjoined us in this Commandment and what is forbidden in it and then reflecting upon our own Hearts and Actions find any of the Duties of it neglected by us or any of the Sins against it sadly adventured on in Thought Word or Action how affectionately should we say with the Church Lord have Mercy upon us and incline our Hearts to keep this Law That is Lord pity and pardon all our past breaches of this Commandment and so incline our Hearts to love and obey thee for the future that through thy Grace we may sincerely and acceptably keep this Law of thine for the remainder of our Days X. COMMANDMENT Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's House c. Sins forbidden THE meaning is Thou shalt not wish or desire to be possessed of what is thy Neighbour's by his loss or without his Consent Thou shalt not consent to any motions of thy Heart of contriving how thou mayest unjustly come by any thing that is another's Thou shalt not envy the Prosperity of any Man or grieve at it Thou shalt not repine or murmur or be discontented with thy own state and condition Thou shalt not inordinately seek or desire Riches Honours or Pleasures Thou shalt not torment thy self with vexatious carking distracting perplexing distrustful Cares Thou shalt not by Idleness and refusing to labour in an honest Calling bring upon thy self the temptation of coveting what is another's Thou shalt not neglect to stifle Sin in the first inward seeds and motions of it in the very Thoughts and Intentions for even those are hateful to a Holy God These things being forbidden the things commanded are Duties commanded If thou hast any Temptation to come by any thing of thy Neighbour's unjustly thou shalt resist it and labour to mortifie crucifie and subdue it Thou shalt cast off all such motions of thy Heart Thou shalt be content with thy own state and condition whatever it is without any desire of change murmuring repining or disquieting of others Thou shalt be well pleased and thankful for the Portion which God in his Wisdom has chosen for thee Thou shalt keep thy Heart clean from all consent approbation desires and intentions of Injustice Wrong or Uncharitableness to any Man Thou shalt diligently and honestly labour in the Vocation to which God hath called thee Thou shalt be well pleased that those things be thy Neighbour's which God hath given him Thou shalt stop and stifle all Sin whatever in the beginning and never permit thy Heart to consent to it This being the last of the ten Commandments if now upon the whole we duly weigh and seriously consider as we ought what 't is that is enjoined us in this and the other Commandments as also what is forbidden in them and then reflecting upon our own Hearts and Lives find any of the duties of them neglected by us or any of the Sins against them sadly adventured on in Thought Word or Action how affection rely should we say with the Church Lord have Mercy upon us and write all these thy Laws in our Hearts we beseech thee That is Lord pity and pardon all our past breaches of these Commandments and so incline our Hearts to Love and Obey thee for the future that through thy Grace all these Laws of thine may be written in our Hearts and expressed in our Lives most sincerely and acceptably kept for the remainder of our days Question What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments Answer I learn two things My Duty towards God and my Duty towards my Neighbour THE meaning is I learn by these Commandments the chief parts of my Duty towards God and Man By my Neighbour is meant any other Person besides my self though he be of another Nation and Religion yea though he be my spiteful and professed Enemy Which Commandments and Holy Will of God's I am to obey and keep and walk in all the days of my Life as was promised in my Name I should do when I was Baptized And I will henceforward labour to do accordingly Question What is thy Duty towards God Answer My Duty towards God is to believe in him to c. THE meaning is 'T is my indispensable Duty to God to believe him to be the only true God To be three Persons and but one God To fear him that is to be afraid to offend him To fear him in all actions more than Man so to fear him as alway to chuse rather to displease any Man than God To love him with all my Heart Mind Soul and Strength is so to love him as to love nothing equal with him or above him To love him so as above all things to desire to please him and to desire to enjoy him To Worship him with my Soul and Body Inwardly with my Soul and outwardly with my Body In Prayer to worship him with an humble Soul and an humble Body With the devout affections and humiliations of the Soul and with the lowly and reverent gestures of my Body To give him Thanks for all his Mercies temporal and spiritual whether to my Soul or Body either with reference to this Life or that to come To put my whole Trust in him in all needs wants and dangers whatever whether of Soul or Body for deliverance support and aid So to trust in him as never to seek to deliver our selves by any unjust or unlawful means To call upon him in all such needs and dangers for relief and assistance by Prayer So to Honour his Holy Name as not to use it irreverently vainly falsely or wantonly by any Perjuries Oaths or other Prophanations of it So to Honour his Word as to believe all the parts