whom none is able to withstand that with him nothing is impossible nothing is too hard for him and that he doth whatsoever he pleaseth in heaven and in earth and no thought of his can be hindered Q. What do you learn from Gods being Almighty A. From God's being Almighty I learn that we ought above all to fear him and to tremble at his presence as also to submit our selves unto him to humble our selves under his mighty hand and to walk before him and be perfect that is in all things obedient on the contrary to take heed how we provoke him to jealousie who is stronger than we and that we harden not our selves against him Q. What do you farther learn from God's being Almighty A. From God's being Almighty I farther learn that we ought to trust in him and not be afraid what man can do unto us for if God be for us who can be against us that we be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might and be fully perswaded that what God hath promised he is able also to perform Q What is meant by God's being Eternal A. By this that God is Eternal is meant that he is from everlasting to everlasting the beginning and the end which is and which was and which is to come that he is the same and his years have no end that he only hath immortality that is originally and from himself is uncorruptible unchangeable and liveth for ever and ever Q. What do you learn from God's being Eternal A. I learn from God's being Eternal that there is to be given unto him honour and glory for ever and ever that he is to be blessed from everlasting to everlasting and that we ought to trust in the Lord for ever for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength Q. You said that God is every where present what is meant thereby A. By this that God is every where present is meant that he fills heaven and earth yea the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him that his greatness is unsearchable so that there is no flying from his presence nor can any hide himself in secret places that God shall not see him Q. What do you learn from God's being every where present A. From God's being every where present I learn that we are to pray every where lifting up holy hands God being nigh unto all them that call upon him to all that call upon him in truth and if we pray to our Father which is in secret he which seeth in secret will reward us openly Q. What do you farther learn from God's being every where present A. I from thence farther learn that we ought to walk before him in truth and with a perfect heart and do that which is good in his sight that it concernsus to keep his precepts for that all our ways are before him and the eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good Q. Having seen what God is in his Nature and Attributes proceed we to the Works of God Tell me then who made the World and preserveth all things therein A. God the Lord alone made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their host the earth and all things that are therein the seas and all that is therein and he preserveth them all Q. What learn you from God's creating and preserving the World and all things therein A. I learn that God the Lord is worthy to receive glory and honour and power for that he hath created all things and through his pleasure they are and were created and because he preserveth man and beast and the whole earth is full of the goodness of the Lord our mouth should speak the praise of the Lord and all slesh bless his holy name for ever and ever Seeing that of him and through him are all things to him be glory for ever and ever Q Who governs the World and all things therein A. God that made the World and all things therein is Lord of heaven and earth he hath prepared his throne in the heavens and his Kingdom ruleth over all he doth whatsoever he pleaseth both in heaven and in earth and worketh all things according to the counsel of his own will Q. What learn you from God's governing the World and all things therein A. From God's governing the World and all things therein I learn that therefore the Earth should rejoice for justice and judgment are the habitation or establishment of his throne and mercy and truth shall go before his face and that from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof God's name is to be praised for who is like unto the Lord our God who dwelleth on high and humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in earth Q. What do you farther learn from God's governing the world and all things therein A. I do farther learn from thence that we should say whatsoever befalleth us with Eli it is the Lord that is the Lord hath appointed or permitted it let him do what seemeth him good and with Christ not my will but thine be done and with Job whether the Lord giveth or taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord Q. What do you yet farther learn from God's governing the World and all things therein A. I do yet farther learn from thence that we should commit our way and work unto the Lord and in all our ways acknowledge him who then will direct our paths that we should trust in the living God who is the Saviour of all men especially of them that believe and cast all our care and burthen upon him who careth for us and will sustein us Q. How did God create man A. God made man upright and created him in his own image Q. Wherein doth God's image in man consist A. God's image in man doth consist in knowledge righteousness and true holiness and in the dominion which God made him to have over the works of his hands Q. Did our first parents Adam and Eve continue in that good estate wherein they were created A. No they fell from it by sinning against God in that they did eat of the tree whereof God commanded that they should not eat Q. What then followed upon Adam's Transgression A. By that one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned for the wages of sin is death Q. Did God leave man to perish in this miserable condition or did he in love and pity to us provide a way and means for us to be saved from sin and death A. So God loved the
A SCRIPTURE Catechism 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A FORM OF Sound Words OR A Scripture-Catechism SHEWING What a Christian is to Believe and Practise in order to Salvation Very useful for Persons of all Ages and Capacities as well as Children Composed by the Pious and Learned JOHN WORTHINGTON D. D. Deceased LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to His most Sacred Majesty MDCLXXIII THE PREFACE THat the seasoning of Youth with Truth and the pure genuine Doctrine of Christianity is a business of mighty consequence cannot be in the least doubted by any that observe as who may not that the lamentable ignorance of the generality of those who are honoured with the name Christians and the gross Erroneousness and Misunderstanding of the Gospel that multitudes which yet make a great profession of it are manifestly guilty of are to be imputed to no one thing so much as to the neglect of that duty And that the want of pious education hath more than any other thing whatsoever rendred ineffectual the industrious endeavours of faithful Ministers for the good of Souls First this is apparently the grand and fundamental Cause of so many peoples gross Ignorance of that Religion which they are baptized into and have all their days lived under the preaching of and 't is not to be denied that those whose understandings gain none or but very inconsiderable improvement by hearing the Holy Scriptures read and the Doctrines they contain explained in the Church are almost universally such as whose Parents or those that had the charge of them took none or very little care to instruct at home And who doth not see also that the strange proneness of people to be misled and turned about with every wind of Doctrine is nothing so much to be attributed to their want of good Preaching as to their not being prepossessed and early anticipated with the wholesom words of our Lord Jesus Christ their not being timely antidoted with the Doctrine that is according to godliness against the poysonous Principles of the many Deceivers that are entred into the world and make such sad Havock of souls among our selves And as the constant experience of mankind assureth us that there is no such time for improving in other Sciences or Mysteries as Youth and that few become very considerable in any profession who have not studied it in their younger years so 't is rare to find any that have attained to but a competent proficiency in the great Mystery of Godliness in whom the grounds of it have not been laid in that age Therefore the wise man adviseth to remember our Creator in the days of our youth and to train up a Child in the way that he should go adding that when he is old he will not then depart from it And as S. Paul told Timothy who had a religious Mother and Grandmother that from a Child he had known the Scriptures which are able to make him wise to salvation so hath it always been the practice of truly pious Parents and Governours of Youth to take care that God and the good things of his Law may get the first possession of their Childrens hearts and not to neglect the well principling of them till they arrive at a mature and settledjudgment as well knowing that Young ones are ordinarily as much more docile and tractable than those of Ripe years as is a Twig more lithe and yielding than the body of a Grown Tree and that 't is far easier to prevent the fixing of evil habits in their Souls than to extirpate them being fixed Now in order to the better instructing of Youth the way of learning them Catechisms or Books containing and explaining the Substance of Religion by Questions and Answers is commended by the General and very Ancient practice of the Church of God but it must be acknowledged that through the too imprudent and unskilful composure of most Catechisms this way hath not proved so successful as it might with the blessing of God have been had due care and judgment been used about them 'T is easie to shew how much there is of mistake and men in them and that whereas God commanded the Jews to teach their Children his Laws and Statutes not any notions of their own they are generally too faulty in this particular And by this means have become greater propagators of some uncertain Speculations and even dangerous Errors than furtherances of useful and necessary knowledge and possessed the Learners of them both with a wrong notion of Christianity in general and such particular opinions as tend to enervate and make insignificant the wholsome Doctrine taught by them This great abuse hath very much been complained of by Wise and Good men and it was the affecting sense that the most pious and worthy Person our Authour had of it that prevail'd with him to compose this Catechism of whom by the way I cannot forbear notwithstanding the extremely narrow room I am here confin'd to to give this general and very short Account viz. That as he was highly valued by men capable of understanding the worth of that accomplishment for his excellent Learning so all Good men that had the happiness of knowing him could do no other than greatly love and honour him for the incomparably more noble endowment of a divine temper and most Christ-like spirit that appeared in him Among other there were no vertues he was more observed to be an Example of than a Dove-like innocence and simplicity a Lamb-like meekness humility and peaceableness the greatest benignity candor and ingenuity the most Christian that is unlimited and universal charity in which those that dissented from him in matters of Religion which is rare in these days had not only a real but great interest intire self-resignation to the will of God a very devout temper of mind towards him And those must needs conclude that he loved God and the souls of men in an eminent degree that observed how very publick spirited he was and wonderfully industrious in contriving and promoting designs for the bettering of the World and in exciting others to do the like To omit other lasting Monuments of his pious industry Mr. Mede's most elaborate Discourses by him collected and published in one great Volume will perpetuate his memory All that know what he hath there alone performed will pronounce him a most indefatigable pains taker for the publick good And I presume that those that shall consider the following Catechism will acknowledg it a no less laborious than judicious work and consequently that it is another very singular instance of his solicitous concern for their better part And as I said that the sense he had of the ill services that too many Catechisms do in the world was the occasion of his composing this so I verily believe that a more effectual course cannot well be taken for remedying of that mischief For first that so it may neither be too large nor yet defective he hath with
world that he gave his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and that we should not perish but have everlasting life Q. What do the Scriptures inform us concerning this Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God A. The Scriptures inform us that he is the brightness of his Fathers glory and the express image of his person that in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily that he is over all God blessed for ever that he was fore-ordained before the foundation of the World and when the fulness of time was come God sent forth his Son made of a woman being conceived of the Virgin Mary by the holy Ghost and power of the most high that he was holy harmless and undefiled in his lise that he did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth that he went up and down doing good and was approved of God by miracles wonders and signs which God did by him that he died for our sins and was buried and rose again the third day according to the scriptures and in the sight of the Apostles while they beheld he was received into heaven and sate at the right hand of God from whence he shall come in like manner at the end of the world being ordained of God to judg the quick and the dead Q. How did Jesus Christ save us from sin and death A. Christ hath redeemed us from the Curse of the Law by being made a Curse or enduring a cursed death for us and God made him to be Sin or a Sacrifice for sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him he tasted death for every man and gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifie to himself a peculiar people zealous of good works Q. What do you learn from God's love in sending his Son to be the Propitiation for our sins A. I learn from thence that if God so loved us we ought also to love one another and that if God spared not his own Son but delivered him up for us all he will with him also freely give us all things Q. What do you farther learn from God's love in the gift of his Son A. I learn to say with the Apostle Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord JesusChrist who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace and to declare with the Elders before the throne that worthy is the Lamb that was slain and by his blood hath redeemed us unto God to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing unto him thererefore that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen Q. Who are those that shall receive forgiveness of sin and Eternal life and Salvation by Jesus Christ. A. They that believe in Christ and repent shall not perish but receive remission of sins and everlasting life and he is the Author of Eternal salvation to all them that obey him Q. Seeing then that Faith and Repentance and New Obedience are of absolute necessity to Salvation by Jesus Christ First what is true and saving Faith A. True and saving Faith is to believe with the heart that Jesus is the Christ that is that he was anointed and sent of God to be a Prophet Priest and King and to receive him as such Q. What is it to believe with the heart that Jesus Christ was anointed and sent of God to be a Prophet and to receive him as such A. To believe with the heart that Jesus Christ was anointed and sent of God to be a Prophet and to receive him as such is effectually and throughly to believe that he was anointed and sent of God to preach the Gospel whereby he hath brough life and immortality to light that he was sent to speak unto the world those things which he heard from God who gave him commandment what he should say and speak and therefore to hear him that is obey him in all things Q. What if we shall refuse or neglect to hear this Prophet and shall disobey his doctrine A. Every soul which will not hear this Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people for he that despiseth him despiseth him that sent him and if they escaped not that refused him Moses that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him Christ that speaketh from heaven And if the word spoken by Angels was stedfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward how shall we escape if we neglect so great Salvation Q. What is it to believe with the heart that Jesus Christ was anointed and sent of God to be a Priest and to receive him as such A. To believe with the heart that Jesus Christ was anointed and sent of God to be a Priest and to receive him as such is effectually to believe that he offered himself without spot to God and gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour to the end that he might make reconciliation for iniquity and put away sin by the sacrifiee of himself and therefore to look for redemption through his blood and not to expect salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved Q. Did Christ perform and execute all that belonged to his Priestly office here on earth or doth he yet continue a Priest in heaven A. Christ our High Priest having once offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever he with his own blood entered in once for all into heaven there to appear in the presence of God for us and he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them Q. What encouragement doth the belief of Christ's continuing and acting as a Priest in heaven afford unto us A. Seeing we have a great High-priest Jesus the Son of God that is passed into the heavens and is set down at the right hand of God and also maketh intercession for us we may come boldly that is freely to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need Q. What is it to believe with the heart that Jesus Christ is anointed of God to be King and to receive him as such A. To believe with the heart that Jesus Christ is anointed of God to be King and to