Question: What is prayer?

Answer: Prayer is an offering up of our desires to God for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Question: Is it every one's duty to pray?

Answer: Yes: Men ought always to pray, Luke 18:1.

Question: Call a man be a good man who lives without prayer?

Answer: No: Every one that is godly shall pray, Ps. 32:6.

Question: Are we to pray daily?

Answer: Yes: Morning, and evening, and at noon, will I pray, Ps. 55:17.

Question: Are we to pray continually?

Answer: Yes: Pray without ceasing, 1 Thess. 5:17.

Question: Are we to pray in secret?

Answer: Yes: Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and shut thy door, Matt. 6:6.

Question: Are we to pray when we are in affliction?

Answer: Yes: Is any among you afflicted, let him pray, James 5:13.

Question: Are we to pray to God only?

Answer: Yes: For he only knows the hearts of all the children of men, 1 Kings 8:39.

Question: May we pray to departed saints to pray for us?

Answer: No: For Abraham is ignorant of us, Isa. 63:16.

Question: Is prayer the soul's ascent to God?

Answer: Yes: Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul, Ps. 25:1.

Question: Is it the soul's converse with God?

Answer: Yes: Pour out your hearts before him, Ps. 62:8.

Question: Are we in prayer to ascribe glory to God?

Answer: Yes: Give unto the Lord glory and strength, Ps. 96:7.

Question: And to ask mercy of God?

Answer: Yes: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find, Matt. 7:7.

Question: Are we to pray to God for things agreeable to his will?

Answer: Yes: If we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us, 1 John 5:14.

Question: Must we pray for pardoning mercy, and sanctifying grace?

Answer: Yes: Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need, Heb. 4:16.

Question: Are God's promises to be the guide of our desires in prayer?

Answer: Yes: Remember thy word unto thy servant, Ps. 119:49.

Question: And the ground of our faith?

Answer: Yes: For I hope in thy word, Ps. 119:81.

Question: Must we pray in the name of Christ?

Answer: Yes: Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, John 19:13.

Question: Relying on his righteousness alone?

Answer: Yes: For we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, Heb. 10:19.

Question: Must we pray in faith?

Answer: Yes: Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, Jam. 1:6.

Question: Depending on the assistance of the Holy Spirit?

Answer: Yes: For the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, Rom. 8:26.

Question: Must we in prayer make confession of sin?

Answer: Yes: I prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession, Dan. 9:4.

Question: And must we give thanks for mercies received?

Answer: Yes: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, Ps. 100:4.

Question: Must we be constant in prayer?

Answer: Yes: I gave myself unto prayer, Ps. 109:4.

Question: And humble in prayer?

Answer: Yes: For we are but dust and ashes, Gen. 18:27.

Question: And earnest in prayer?

Answer: Yes: Always labouring fervently in prayer, Col 4:12.

Question: Must we in sincerity set God before us in prayer?

Answer: Yes: Let us draw near with a true heart, Heb. 10:22.

Question: Must we pray in charity?

Answer: Yes: Lifting up pure hands without wrath, 1 Tim. 2:8.

Question: Will God hear and accept those who thus pray to him?

Answer: Yes: He never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain, Isa. 45:19.

Question: But will the love of sin spoil the success of prayer?

Answer: Yes: If I regard iniquity in my heart, God will not hear me, Ps. 66:18.


Question: What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?

Answer: The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer, but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught his disciples, commonly called, The Lord's Prayer.

Question: Do we need direction in prayer?

Answer: Yes: For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, Rom. 8:26.

Question: Should we pray to God for direction?

Answer: Yes: Lord, teach us to pray, Luke 11:1.

Question: Hath he given us direction in prayer?

Answer: Yes: Take with you words, and turn to the Lord, Hos. 14:2.

Question: Is the whole word of God of use to direct us?

Answer: Yes: I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth, Dan. 10:21. compare 2 Chron. 9:23.

Question: Is the Lord's Prayer to be used as a directory for prayer?

Answer: Yes: After this manner therefore pray ye, Matt. 6:9.

Question: And is it to be used as a form of prayer?

Answer: Yes: When ye pray, say, Our Father, Luke 11:2.


Question: What does the preface of the Lord's Prayer teach us?

Answer: The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which is, Our Father which art in heaven, teaches us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a Father able and ready to help us, and that we should pray with and for others.

Question: Is God our Father?

Answer: Yes: Doubtless thou art our Father, Isa. 63:16.

Question: Does he appoint us to call him so?

Answer: Yes: Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My Father, thou art the guide of my youth, Jer. 3:4.

Question: Is he our Father by creation?

Answer: Yes: Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us? Mal. 2:10.

Question: And by redemption?

Answer: Yes: Is not he thy Father that bought thee? Deut. 32:6.

Question: And by adoption?

Answer: Yes: I will be a Father to them, 2 Cor. 6:18.

Question: Is God a wise Father?

Answer: Yes: The Father of lights, Jam. 1:17.

Question: Is he a gracious Father?

Answer: Yes: The Father of mercies, 2 Cor. 1:3.

Question: Is he our soul's Father?

Answer: Yes: The Father of spirits, Heb. 12:9.

Question: Is he the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Answer: Yes: I bow my knee to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph. 3:14.

Question: Is he in him our Father?

Answer: Yes: I ascend to my Father, and your Father, John 20:17.

Question: Are we in prayer to call God Father?

Answer: Yes; Crying Abba, Father, Gal. 4:6.

Question: And to esteem him as a Father?

Answer: Yes: I will arise and go to my Father, and say unto him, Father, Luke 15:18.

Question: And is this comfortable in prayer?

Answer: Yes: For with thee the fatherless find mercy, Hos. 14:3.

Question: Is God our Father in heaven?

Answer: Yes: For the Lord's throne is in heaven, Ps. 11:4.

Question: Is heaven a high place?

Answer: Yes: And we must lift up our hearts with our hands to God in the heavens, Lam. 3:41.

Question: Is it a holy place?

Answer: Yes: And we must lift up holy hands, 1 Tim. 2:8.

Question: Is it a place of prospect?

Answer: Yes: And therefore our Father sees in secret, Matt. 6:6.

Question: Is it a place of power?

Answer: Yes: And therefore he is able to do above all that we ask or think, Eph. 3:20.

Question: Ought we therefore to pray with reverence?

Answer: Yes: For God is in heaven, and we upon earth, Eccl. 5:2.

Question: And with holy confidence?

Answer: Yes: For we have boldness and access with confidence, Eph. 3:12.

Question: For is God a Father who is able to help us?

Answer: Yes: My Father is greater than all, John 10:29.

Question: Does he know our wants?

Answer: Yes: Your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things, Matt. 6:32.

Question: Is he willing to help?

Answer: Yes: For the Father himself loveth you, John 16:27.

Question: Must we pray with others?

Answer: Yes: There were many gathered together praying, Acts 12:12.

Question: Must we pray for others?

Answer: Yes: We must make supplication for all saints, Eph. 6:18.


Question: What do we pray for in the first petition?

Answer: In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy Name, we pray, that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known, and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.

Question: Ought we to desire the glory of God in the first place?

Answer: Yes: That God in all things may be glorified, 1 Pet. 4:11.

Question: Is God glorified when his name is glorified?

Answer: Yes: They shall worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify thy name, Ps. 86:9.

Question: Is God's name glorified when it is sanctified or hallowed?

Answer: Yes: For he is glorious in holiness, Exod. 15:11.

Question: Ought we therefore to sanctify it?

Answer: Yes: Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, 1 Pet. 3:15.

Question: Are we to pray that we ourselves may be enabled to glorify God?

Answer: Yes: Open thou my lips and my mouth shall show forth thy praise, Ps. 51:15.

Question: And that we may live for that end?

Answer: Yes: Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee, Ps. 119:175.

Question: And be delivered for that end?

Answer: Yes: Bring my soul out of prison that I may praise thy name, Ps. 142:7.

Question: And are we to pray that others also may he enabled to glorify him?

Answer: Yes: That they may glorify our Father which is in heaven, Matt. 5:16.

Question: Do we here pray for the propagating of the knowledge of God?

Answer: Yes: That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations, Ps. 67:2.

Question: And for the conversion of souls to him?

Answer: Yes: Let the people praise thee, O God, let all the people praise thee Ps. 67:3.

Question: And for the success of the gospel?

Answer: Yes: That the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, 2 Thess. 3:1.

Question: Do we pray for the fruitfulness of Christians?

Answer: Yes: That they may be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God, Phil. 1:11.

Question: And for the flourishing of the churches of Christ?

Answer: Yes: That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified, Isa. 61:3.

Question: Do we pray that God would glorify himself?

Answer: Yes: Father, glorify thy name, John 12:28.

Question: And are we sure he will do it?

Answer: Yes: For there came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it yet again, John 12:28.

Question: Do we pray that he would exalt his own name?

Answer: Yes: Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength, Ps. 21:13.

Question: And are we sure he will do it?

Answer: Yes: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth, Ps. 46:10.

Question: May we plead this with him?

Answer: Yes: What wilt thou do to thy great name? Josh 7:9.

Question: Do we pray that God would bring glory to himself out of all events?

Answer: Yes: To thy name give glory, Ps. 115:1.

Question: Even out of those events that seem contrary?

Answer: Yes: That the wrath of man may praise him, Ps. 76:10.

Question: Must we desire it concerning ourselves?

Answer: Yes: That we may be unto him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, Jer. 13:11.

Question: And concerning all our affairs?

Answer: Yes: That Christ may be magnified in my body both by life and death, Phil. 1:20.


Question: What do we pray for in the second petition?

Answer: In the second petition, which is, Thy kingdom come, we pray, that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

Question: Must we acknowledge our heavenly Father's kingdom?

Answer: Yes: The Lord is king for ever and ever, Ps. 10:16.

Question: And must we admire it?

Answer: Yes: We must speak of the glory of his kingdom, Ps. 145:11.

Question: Must we own him to be our King?

Answer: Yes: Thou art my king, O God, Ps. 44:4.

Question: Must we heartily wish well to his kingdom?

Answer: Yes: Seek ye first the kingdom of God, Matt. 6:33.

Question: Has Satan a kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom?

Answer: Yes: For he is the prince of this world, John 12:31.

Question: Does he rule where sin rules?

Answer: Yes: For he works in the children of disobedience, Eph. 2:2.

Question: Must we pray that that kingdom may be destroyed?

Answer: Yes: The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee, Zech. 3:2.

Question: Must we pray that the dominion of sin may be broken?

Answer: Yes: O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, Ps. 7:9.

Question: And that the power of the church's enemies may be crushed?

Answer: Yes: So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord, Judg. 5:31.

Question: And their policies blasted?

Answer: Yes: Lord turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness, 2 Sam. 15:31.

Question: And their projects defeated?

Answer: Yes: O my God, make them like a wheel, Ps. 83:13.

Question: Have we reason to hope that Satan's kingdom shall be destroyed in the hearts of believers?

Answer: Yes: For the God of peace shall tread Satan under your feet shortly, Rom. 16:20.

Question: And that it shall be destroyed in the world?

Answer: Yes: For I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven, Luke 10:18.

Question: So destroyed that it shall not destroy the church?

Answer: Yes: For the church is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, Matt. 16:18.

Question: Is the kingdom of Christ our Father's kingdom?

Answer: Yes: I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion, Ps. 2:6.

Question: Must we pray that that may be advanced?

Answer: Yes: Prayer shall be made for him continually, Ps. 72:15.

Question: That we and others may be brought into it?

Answer: Yes: That Christ may dwell in your heart by faith, Eph. 3:17.

Question: And kept in it?

Answer: Yes: That we may be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thess. 5:23.

Question: Are we to pray for converting grace?

Answer: Yes: Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, Jer. 31:18.

Question: And that others may partake of that grace?

Answer: Yes: That sinners may be converted unto thee, Ps. 51:13.

Question: Are we to pray for confirming grace?

Answer: Yes: That God would comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work, 2 Thess. 2:17.

Question: Are we to pray for the strengthening of faith?

Answer: Yes: Lord, increase our faith, Luke 17:5.

Question: And the increase of love?

Answer: Yes: This I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more, Phil. 1:9.

Question: Are we to pray for the advancement of the kingdom of light?

Answer: Yes: O send out thy light and thy truth, Ps. 43:3.

Question: And the kingdom of holiness?

Answer: Yes: The God of peace sanctify you wholly, 1 Thess. 5:23.

Question: And the kingdom of love?

Answer: Yes: That they all may be one, John 17:21.

Question: Must we pray for the sending forth of ministers in order hereunto?

Answer: Yes: Pray the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth labourers into his harvest, Matt. 9:38.

Question: And for the presence of God with them?

Answer: Yes: That utterance may be given to them, Eph. 6:19.

Question: Are we to pray for the prosperity of the church?

Answer: Yes: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, Ps. 122:6.

Question: And for the welfare of all who belong to it?

Answer: Yes: Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee, Ps. 70:4.

Question: And for the comfort of all good Christians?

Answer: Yes: Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, Eph. 6:24.

Question: Must we pray for the enlargement of the church?

Answer: Yes: My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved, Rom. 10:1.

Question: And for the reformation of it?

Answer: Yes: Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, Ps. 80:19.

Question: And for the defence of it?

Answer: Yes: Build thou the walls of Jerusalem, Ps. 51:18.

Question: And for the deliverance of it?

Answer: Yes: Command deliverances for Jacob, Ps. 44:4.

Question: May we pray in faith for the advancement and continuance of Christ's kingdom?

Answer: Yes: For of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Isa. 9:7.

Question: And have we reason to triumph in this?

Answer: Yes: Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth, Rev. 19:6.

Question: Is the kingdom of glory yet to come?

Answer: Yes: When the mystery of God shall be finished, Rev. 10:7.

Question: Are we to pray that that may be hastened?

Answer: Yes: Looking for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of God, 2 Pet. 3:12.

Question: Are we to desire our own removal to that glory at death?

Answer: Yes: Desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, 2 Cor. 5:2.

Question: Are we to pray that we may be ready for it?

Answer: Yes: Watch therefore, and pray always, Luke 21:36.

Question: And then that it may be hastened?

Answer: Yes: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, Luke 2:29.

Question: Are we to pray for Christ's second coming at the end of time?

Answer: Yes: Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus, Rev. 22:20.


Question: What do we pray for in the third petition?

Answer: In the third petition, which is, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, we pray that God by his grace would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to his will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.

Question: Is the will of God's commands the rule of our action?

Answer: Yes: We must understand what the will of the Lord is, Eph. 5:17.

Question: Are we to pray that we may conform to this rule?

Answer: Yes: That we may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God, Rom. 12:2.

Question: Must we pray that God would give us to know his will?

Answer: Yes: Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law, Ps. 119:34.

Question: And to know it fully?

Answer: Yes: That ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will, Col. 1:9.

Question: And to know it in doubtful cases?

Answer: Yes: Teach me thy way, O Lord, lead me in a plain path, Ps. 27:11.

Question: So all who are sanctified truly desire to know God's will?

Answer: Yes: What saith my Lord unto his servant? Josh. 5:14.

Question: When we know God's will, are we able of ourselves to do it?

Answer: No: We are not sufficient of ourselves, 2 Cor. 3:5.

Question: Must we therefore pray to God to make us able?

Answer: Yes: Now, therefore, O God, strengthen my hands, Neh. 6:9.

Question: And must we depend upon his grace?

Answer: Yes: I will go in the strength of the Lord God, Ps. 71:16.

Question: Must we pray to God to make us willing?

Answer: Yes: Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, Ps. 119:36.

Question: And to make us entirely willing?

Answer: Yes: Unite my heart to fear thy name, Ps. 36:11.

Question: Must we pray that we may be sincere in our obedience?

Answer: Yes: Let my heart be sound in thy statutes, Ps. 119:80.

Question: And that we may be exact in our obedience?

Answer: Yes: O that my ways were directed to keep thy commandments! Ps. 119:5.

Question: And that we may be universal in our obedience?

Answer: Yes: That we may stand complete in all the will of God, Col. 4:12.

Question: And that we may be armed against that which would divert us from our obedience?

Answer: Yes: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken thou me in thy way, Ps. 119:37.

Question: And must we pray that others also may do God's will?

Answer: Yes: That they may be perfect in every good work, to do his will, Heb. 13:21.

Question: Is the will of God's counsel the rule of his actions?

Answer: Yes: For he worketh all according to the counsel of his own will, Eph. 1:11.

Question: Must we desire that this may be done?

Answer: Yes: The will of the Lord be done, Acts 21:14.

Question: Rather than our own will?

Answer: Yes: Not as I will, but as thou wilt, Matt. 26:39.

Question: And must we acquiesce in it?

Answer: Yes: It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good, 1 Sam. 3:18.

Question: And must we pray that he will enable us to do so?

Answer: Yes: That we may be strengthened with all might, unto all patience and longsuffering, with joyfulness, Col. 1:11.

Question: Do the angels in heaven do the will of God?

Answer: Yes: They do his commandments, hearkening to the voice of his word, Ps. 103:20.

Question: Do they do it readily?

Answer: Yes: They fly swiftly, Dan. 9:21.

Question: Do they do it zealously?

Answer: Yes: For they are a flaming fire, Ps. 104:4.

Question: Do they do it with an eye to God?

Answer: Yes: For they always behold the face of our Father, Matt. 18:10.

Question: And are we to pray that God's will may so be done on earth?

Answer: Yes: That the kingdoms of this world may become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, Rev. 11:15.


Question: What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

Answer: In the fourth petition, which is, Give us this day our daily bread, we pray, that of God's free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them.

Question: Are we to pray for the good things of this life?

Answer: Yes: For the Lord is for the body, 1 Cor. 6:13.

Question: Must we go to God for them?

Answer: Yes: For he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things, Acts 17:25.

Question: Must we go to him for the comfort of them?

Answer: Yes: For he gives us richly all things to enjoy, 1 Tim. 6:17.

Question: Do we deserve the good things of this life?

Answer: No: We are less than the least of all God's mercies, Gen. 32:10.

Question: Must we therefore beg them of God as a free gift?

Answer: Yes: God gives the dew of heaven, Gen. 27:28.

Question: Are we to pray for riches?

Answer: No: Lest we be full, and say who is the Lord? Prov. 30:9.

Question: Are we to pray for dainties?

Answer: No: Be not desirous of dainties, for they are deceitful meat, Prov. 23:3.

Question: Are we to be content with such a competent portion of these things as God sees fit for us?

Answer: Yes: Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content, 1 Tim. 6:8.

Question: Are we to pray for that?

Answer: Yes: Feed me with food convenient for me, Prov. 30:8.

Question: And need we desire any more?

Answer: No: If God will be with me, and keep me in the way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come to my heavenly Father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, Gen. 28:20, 21.

Question: Are we to pray each day for the bread of the day?

Answer: Yes: For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, Matt 6:34.

Question: And must we pray for our bread honestly gotten?

Answer: Yes: For with quietness we must work, and eat our own bread, 2 Thess. 3:12.

Question: And have we encouragement to pray for this?

Answer: Yes: For godliness hath the promise of the life that now is, 1 Tim. 4:8.

Question: Do we herein pray for health?

Answer: Yes: For God is our life, and the length of our days, Deut. 30:20.

Question: And for success in our callings?

Answer: Yes: Establish thou the work of our hands upon us, Ps. 90:17.

Question: And for sleep?

Answer: Yes: For so he giveth his beloved sleep, Ps. 127:2.

Question: And for seasonable weather?

Answer: Yes: Ask ye of the Lord rain, Zech. 10:1.

Question: Must we pray for God's blessing on what we have?

Answer: Yes: For man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, Matt. 4:4.

Question: And is it then comfortable to us?

Answer: Yes: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer, 1 Tim. 4:5.

Question: Must we pray most earnestly for bread for our souls?

Answer: Yes: Lord, evermore give us that bread, John 6:34.

Question: Are we to pray for others' prosperity, as well as for our own?

Answer: Yes: I wish that thou mayest prosper, and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth, 3 John 1:2.

Question: And for the supply of the poor and needy?

Answer: Yes: That he will abundantly bless our provision, and satisfy our poor with bread, Ps. 132:15.


Question: What do we pray for in the fifth petition?

Answer: In the fifth petition, which is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, we pray, that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.

Question: Are our sins our debts to God?

Answer: Yes: There was a certain creditor that had two debtors, etc. Luke 7:41.

Question: Are they great debts?

Answer: Yes: Ten thousand talents, Matt. 18:24.

Question: Can we discharge these debts ourselves ?

Answer: No: We have nothing to pay, Luke 7:42.

Question: Are we liable to the prison of hell then?

Answer: Yes: Not to depart thence till we have paid the last mite, Luke 12:58,59.

Question: Is it possible to obtain the forgiveness of this debt?

Answer: Yes: There is forgiveness with thee, Ps. 130:4.

Question: Are we to pray for the forgiveness of these debts?

Answer: Yes: Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, Ps. 143:2.

Question: And to pray earnestly for it?

Answer: Yes: For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, Ps. 25:11.

Question: Must we plead God's mercies?

Answer: Yes: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions, Ps. 51:1.

Question: And Christ's merits?

Answer: Yes: Through the redemption that is in Jesus, Rom. 3:24.

Question: Must we pray for it every day?

Answer: Yes: When we pray, Give us our daily bread, we must pray, Forgive us our debts.

Question: Must we pray that God would ease us of the burden of sin?

Answer: Yes: Take away all iniquity, Hos. 14:2.

Question: And that he would cleanse us from the filth of sin?

Answer: Yes: Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, Ps. 51:2.

Question: And cure us of the wounds of sin?

Answer: Yes: Heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee, Ps. 12:4.

Question: And save us from the punishment of sin?

Answer: Yes: I will say unto God, do not condemn me, Job 10:2.

Question: Must we pray to God to give us that grace which will qualify us for pardon?

Answer: Yes: For Christ is exalted to give repentance and remission, Acts 5:31.

Question: And that he would give us the comfort of our pardon?

Answer: Yes: Make me to hear joy and gladness, Ps. 51:8.

Question: And must we, in order hereunto, be particular in confessing sin?

Answer: Yes: Declare, that thou mayest be justified, Isa. 43:26.

Question: Must we forgive those who have provoked us?

Answer: Yes: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, Col. 3:13.

Question: Must we bear them no malice?

Answer: No: Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye he condemned, Jam. 5:9.

Question: Must we be ready to be reconciled to them?

Answer: Yes: When ye stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any, Mark 11:25.

Question: Should we be merciful to those that we have advantage against?

Answer: Yes: Thou shouldest have had compassion on thy fellow-servant as I had pity on thee, Matt. 18:33.

Question: Is this required to qualify, us for the pardon of sin?

Answer: Yes: If Ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, Matt. 6:14.

Question: Will God forgive those that do not forgive?

Answer: No: If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive yours, Matt. 6:15.


Question: What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

Answer: In the sixth petition, which is, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, we pray, that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.

Question: Must we pray that we may not be tempted?

Answer: Yes: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation, Matt. 26:41.

Question: And that temptations may be removed?

Answer: Yes: I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me, 2 Cor. 12:8.

Question: And that we may not be overcome by them?

Answer: Yes: Let no iniquity have dominion over me, Ps. 119:133.

Question: Must we pray that God would not leave us to ourselves?

Answer: Yes: Incline not my heart to any evil thing, Ps. 141:4.

Question: And that he would not withdraw the assistance of his grace?

Answer: Yes: Take not thy Holy Spirit away from me, Ps. 51:11.

Question: But that he would strengthen us against every temptation?

Answer: Yes: Uphold me with by free spirit, Ps. 51:12.

Question: And that he would preserve us through it?

Answer: Yes: That our faith fail not, Luke 22:32.

Question: Have we encouragement to pray against temptation?

Answer: Yes: For God is faithful, who will not suffer us to be tempted above what we are able, 1 Cor. 10:13.

Question: And is prayer a part of our spiritual armour ?

Answer: Yes: Praying always, Eph. 6:13,18.

Question: Must we dread sin as the worst evil?

Answer: Yes: That I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, Neh. 6:13.

Question: And must we pray to be kept from it?

Answer: Yes: To be delivered from every evil work, 2 Tim. 4:18.

Question: And from all occasions of it?

Answer: Yes: Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, Ps. 119:37.

Question: Must we pray against pride?

Answer: Yes: That he may hide pride from man, Job 33:17.

Question: And against lying?

Answer: Yes: Remove from me the way of lying, Ps. 119:29.

Question: And against sensuality?

Answer: Yes: Let me not eat of their dainties, Ps. 140:4.

Question: And against uncleanness?

Answer: Yes: Create in me a clean heart, O God, Ps. 51:10.

Question: And against covetousness?

Answer: Yes: Incline my heart to thy testimonies, and not to covetousness, Ps. 119:36.

Question: And against all tongue-sins?

Answer: Yes: Set a watch, O Lord, before the door of my mouth, keep the door of my lips, Ps. 141:3.

Question: Must we pray especially against wilful sin?

Answer: Yes: Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins, Ps. 19:15.

Question: Must we pray that others also may be kept from sin?

Answer: Yes: I pray to God that ye do no evil, 2 Cor. 13:7.

Question: Must we pray to be delivered from other evil?

Answer: Yes: Keep me from evil that it may not grieve me, 1 Chron. 4:10.

Question: Must our eye be to God for our preservation?

Answer: Yes: Hide me under the shadow of thy wings, Ps. 17:8.

Question: May we take encouragement in this prayer from God's power?

Answer: Yes: For he is able to keep that which we have committed to him, 2 Tim. 1:12.

Question: And from his promise?

Answer: Yes: There shall no evil befall thee, Ps. 91:10.

Question: And from our own experience?

Answer: Yes: He that has delivered does deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver, 2 Cor. 1:10.


Question: What does the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer teach us?

Answer: The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which is, For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever, Amen, teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him; and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen.

Question: Are we in prayer to plead with God?

Answer: Yes: I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments, Job 23:4.

Question: Are our pleadings to move God?

Answer: No: For he is in one mind, and who can turn him, Job 23:13.

Question: Are they to move ourselves?

Answer: Yes: That we may stir up ourselves to take hold on God, Isa. 64:7.

Question: Can we in prayer plead any merit of our own?

Answer: No: We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, Dan. 9:18.

Question: Must we therefore take our encouragement from God only?

Answer: Yes: Defer not for thine own sake, O my God, Dan. 9:19.

Question: And must we depend on that encouragement?

Answer: Yes: Now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee, Ps. 39:7.

Question: May we plead that his is the kingdom?

Answer: Yes: Art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? 2 Chron. 20:6.

Question: And that his is the power?

Answer: Yes: There is nothing too hard for thee, Jer. 32:17.

Question: And that his is the glory?

Answer: Yes: Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name, Ps. 79:9.

Question: May we also plead his mercy?

Answer: Yes: Save me for thy mercy's sake, Ps. 6:4.

Question: And his promise?

Answer: Yes: Remember thy word unto thy servant, Ps. 119:49.

Question: And our own experience of his goodness?

Answer: Yes: Thou hast delivered my soul from death, wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling? Ps. 56:13.

Question: But must we especially plead the mediation of his Son?

Answer: Yes: Look upon the face of thine Anointed, Ps. 84:9.

Question: And may we hope to prevail in these pleadings?

Answer: Yes: For the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much, Jam. 5:16.

Question: Is it God's grace in us which alone qualifies us for his favour?

Answer: Yes: Thou wilt prepare their heart, and then thou wilt cause thine ear to hear. Ps. 10:17.

Question: Are we in prayer to praise God?

Answer: Yes: Every day will I bless thee, Ps. 145.

Question: Are we to ascribe kingdom, power, and glory to him?

Answer: Yes: Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sits upon the throne, Rev. 5:13.

Question: Must we acknowledge them to be his?

Answer: Yes: Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty, 1 Chron. 29:11.

Question: Must we acknowledge them to be his for ever?

Answer: Yes: Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, Ps. 145:13.

Question: And must we desire to be for ever praising him?

Answer: Yes: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being, Ps. 104:33.

Question: Is the work of praise good work?

Answer: Yes: It is pleasant, and praise is comely, Ps. 147:1.

Question: Does Amen signify our desire to be heard?

Answer: Yes: So be it, O Lord, Jer. 11:5.

Question: And our hope that we shall be heard?

Answer: Yes: We know that we have the petitions that we desired of him, 1 John 5:15.

Question: Is it therefore proper to conclude our prayers and praises with Amen?

Answer: Yes: Let all the people say, Amen. Hallelujah, Ps. 106:48.


Question: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever

Man's chief end is to glorify God, [1] and to enjoy him for ever [2]


Question: What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify him?

Answer: The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy him.

The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments [1] is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy him [2].


Question: What do the Scriptures principally teach?

Answer: The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man [1].


Question: What is God?

Answer: God is Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

God is Spirit [1], infinite [2], eternal [3], and unchangeable [4], in his being, [5], wisdom, power [6], holiness [7], justice, goodness and truth [8].


Question: Are there more Gods than one?

Answer: There is but one only, the living and true God.

There is but one only [1], the living and true God [2].


Question: How many persons are there in the Godhead?

Answer: There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.

There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory [1].


Question: What are the decrees of God?

Answer: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatever comes to pass.

The decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his own will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatever comes to pass [1].


Question: How does God execute his decrees?

Answer: God executes his decrees in the works of creation, and providence.

God executes his decrees in the works of creation [1], and providence [2].


Question: What is the work of creation?

Answer: The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of his power, in six normal consecutive days, and all very good.

The work of creation is God's making all things [1] of nothing, by the Word of his power [2], in six normal consecutive days [3], and all very good [4].


Question: How did God create man?

Answer: God created man, male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness with dominion over the creatures.

God created man, male and female, after his own image [1], in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness [2] with dominion over the creatures [3].


Question: What are God's works of providence?

Answer: God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.

God's works of providence are his most holy [1], wise [2], and powerful [3] preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions [4].


Question: What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the state wherein he was created?

Answer: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.

When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience [1], forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death [2].


Question: Did our first parents continue in the state wherein they were created?

Answer: Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the state wherein they were created, by sinning against God by eating the forbidden fruit.

Our first parents being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the state wherein they were created, by sinning against God [1] by eating the forbidden fruit [2].


Question: What is sin?

Answer: Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God.

Sin is any want of conformity to, or transgression of the law of God [1].


Question: Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?

Answer: The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.

The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself but for his posterity, all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression [1].


Question: Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?

Answer: The fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery.

The fall brought mankind into a state of sin and misery [1].


Question: Wherein consists the sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell?

Answer: The sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin, together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

The sinfulness of that state whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin [1], the want of original righteousness [2], and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin [3], together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it [4].


Question: What is the misery of that state whereinto man fell?

Answer: All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.

All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God [1], are under his wrath and curse [2], and so made liable to all the miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever [3].


Question: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the state of sin and misery?

Answer: God having, out of his good pleasure from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the state of sin and misery, and to bring them into a state of salvation by a Redeemer.

God having, out of his good pleasure from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life [1] did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the state of sin and misery, and to bring them into a state of salvation by a Redeemer [2].


Question: Who is the Redeemer of God's elect?

Answer: The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the eternal Son of God, became man and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person for ever.

The only Redeemer of God's elect is the Lord Jesus Christ [1], who being the eternal Son of God, became man [2] and so was and continues to be God and man, in two distinct natures and one person for ever [3].


Question: How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

Answer: 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 Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and born of her yet without sin.

Christ, the son of God, became man by taking to himself a true body [1] and a reasonable soul [2], being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, and born of her [3] yet without sin [4].


Question: What offices does Christ execute as our Redeemer?

Answer: Christ as our Redeemer executes the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his state of humiliation and exaltation.

Christ as our Redeemer executes the offices of a prophet [1], of a priest [2], and of a king [3], both in his state of humiliation and exaltation.


Question: How does Christ execute the office of a prophet?

Answer: Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by his Word, and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

Christ executes the office of a prophet, in revealing to us [1], by his Word [2], and Spirit [3], the will of God for our salvation.


Question: How does Christ execute the office of a priest?

Answer: Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and to reconcile us to God and in making continual intercession for us.

Christ executes the office of a priest, in his once offering up himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice [1], and to reconcile us to God [2] and in making continual intercession for us [3].


Question: How does Christ execute the office of a king?

Answer: Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself, in ruling and defending us and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

Christ executes the office of a king in subduing us to himself [1], in ruling and defending us [2] and in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.


Question: Wherein did Christ's humiliation consist?

Answer: Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.

Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition [1] made under the law [2], undergoing the miseries of this life [3], the wrath of God [4], and the cursed death of the cross [5]; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time [6].


Question: Wherein consists Christ's exaltation?

Answer: Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.

Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day [1], in ascending up into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God the Father [2], and in coming to judge the world at the last day [3].


Question: How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit.

We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us [1] by his Holy Spirit [2].


Question: How does the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

Answer: The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us and by it uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling.

The Spirit applies to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us [1] and by it uniting us to Christ in our effectual calling [2].


Question: What is effectual calling?

Answer: Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel.

Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit [1] whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery [2], enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ [3], and renewing our wills [4], he does persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel [5].


Question: What benefits do they who are effectually called, partake of in this life?

Answer: They who are effectually called, do in this life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the various benefits which in this life do either accompany, or flow from them.

They who are effectually called, do in this life partake of justification, [1], adoption [2], sanctification, and the various benefits which in this life do either accompany, or flow from them [3].


Question: What is justification?

Answer: Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins, and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

Justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardons all our sins [1], and accepts us as righteous in his sight [2] only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us [3], and received by faith alone [4].


Question: What is adoption?

Answer: Adoption is an act of God's free grace whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.

Adoption is an act of God's free grace [1] whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God [2].


Question: What is sanctification?

Answer: Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die to sin, and live to righteousness.

Sanctification is the work of God's Spirit [1] whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God [2] and are enabled more and more to die to sin, and live to righteousness [3].


Question: What are the benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

Answer: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, perseverance in it to the end.

The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification [1], are assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit [2], increase of grace, perseverance in it to the end [3].


Question: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at their death?

Answer: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, being still united to Christ do rest in their graves till the resurrection.

The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness [1] and do immediately pass into glory [2], and their bodies, being still united to Christ [3] do rest in their graves [4] till the resurrection [5].


Question: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?

Answer: At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed both in soul and body in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory [1], shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment [2], and made perfectly blessed both in soul and body in the full enjoying of God [3] to all eternity [4].


Question: What shall be done to the wicked at their death?

Answer: The souls of the wicked shall at their death be cast into the torments of hell, and their bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.

The souls of the wicked shall at their death be cast into the torments of hell [1], and their bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day [2].


Question: What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?

Answer: At the day of judgment the bodies of the wicked being raised out of their graves, shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels for ever.

At the day of judgment the bodies of the wicked being raised out of their graves, shall be sentenced, together with their souls, to unspeakable torments with the devil and his angels for ever [1].


Question: What did God reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?

Answer: The rule which God first revealed to man for his obedience is the moral law which is summarised in the ten commandments.

The rule which God first revealed to man for his obedience is the moral law [1] which is summarised in the ten commandments.


Question: What is the sum of the ten commandments?

Answer: The sum of the ten commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves.

The sum of the ten commandments is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves [1].


Question: Which is the first commandment?

Answer: The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.


Question: What is required in the first commandment?

Answer: The first commandment requires us to know, and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify him accordingly.

The first commandment requires us to know [1], and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God [2], and to worship and glorify him accordingly [3].


Question: Which is the second commandment?

Answer: 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 shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."


Question: What is required in the second commandment?

Answer: The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God has appointed in his Word.

The second commandment requires the receiving, observing [1], and keeping pure and entire all such religious worship and ordinances as God has appointed in his Word [2].


Question: What is forbidden in the second commandment?

Answer: The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images. or any other way not appointed in his Word.

The second commandment forbids the worshipping of God by images [1]. or any other way not appointed in his Word [2].


Question: Which is the third commandment?

Answer: The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.


Question: What is required in the third commandment?

Answer: The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works.

The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God's names [1], titles, attributes [2], ordinances [3], Word [4], and works [5].


Question: Which is the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment is, Remember 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 manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor they cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy 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.


Question: What is required in the fourth commandment?

Answer: The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as he has appointed in his Word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.

The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as he has appointed in his Word, expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself [1].


Question: How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

Answer: The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship, except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days [1], and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God's worship [2], except so much as is taken up in the works of necessity and mercy [3].


Question: Which is the fifth commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.


Question: What is required in the fifth commandment?

Answer: The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and performing the duties belonging to every one in their various positions and relationships as superiors, inferiors, or equals.

The fifth commandment requires the preserving the honour, and performing the duties belonging to every one in their various positions and relationships as superiors [1], inferiors [2], or equals [3].


Question: What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?

Answer: The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life and prosperity -- as far as it shall serve for God's glory, and their own good -- to all such as keep this commandment.

The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is, a promise of long life and prosperity -- as far as it shall serve for God's glory, and their own good -- to all such as keep this commandment [1].


Question: Which is the sixth commandment?

Answer: The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.


Question: What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

Answer: The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbour unjustly, or whatever tends to it.

The sixth commandment forbids the taking away of our own life [1], or the life of our neighbour unjustly [2], or whatever tends to it [3].


Question: Which is the seventh commandment?

Answer: The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.


Question: What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?

Answer: The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

The seventh commandment forbids all unchaste thoughts [1], words [2], and actions [3].


Question: Which is the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.


Question: What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?

Answer: The eighth commandment forbids whatever does or may unjustly hinder our own or our neighbour's wealth, or outward estate.

The eighth commandment forbids whatever does or may unjustly hinder our own [1] or our neighbour's wealth, or outward estate [2].


Question: Which is the ninth commandment?

Answer: The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.


Question: What is required in the ninth commandment?

Answer: The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own, and our neighbour's good name, especially in witness-bearing.

The ninth commandment requires the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man [1], and of our own [2], and our neighbour's good name [3], especially in witness-bearing [4].


Question: What is the tenth commandment?

Answer: The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife,nor his manservant, or his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's.


Question: What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

Answer: The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour, and all inordinate emotions and affections to anything that is his.

The tenth commandment forbids all discontentment with our own estate [1], envying or grieving at the good of our neighbour [2], and all inordinate emotions and affections to anything that is his [3].


Question: Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

Answer: No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but does daily break them in thought, word, and deed.

No mere man, since the fall, is able in his life perfectly to keep the commandments of God [1], but does daily break them in thought [2], word [3], and deed [4].


Question: Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

Answer: Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

Some sins in themselves, and by reason of various aggravations are more heinous in the sight of God than others [1].


Question: What does every sin deserve?

Answer: Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come.

Every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, both in this life and that which is to come [1].


Question: How may we escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?

Answer: To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past, and leads to holiness in the future.

To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, we must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ [1], trusting alone to his blood and righteousness. This faith is attended by repentance for the past [2], and leads to holiness in the future.


Question: What is faith in Jesus Christ?

Answer: Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive, and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is set forth in the gospel.

Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace [1], whereby we receive [2], and rest upon him alone for salvation [3], as he is set forth in the gospel [4].


Question: What is repentance to life?

Answer: Repentance to life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sins, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God, with full purpose to strive after new obedience.

Repentance to life is a saving grace [1], whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sins [2], and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ [3], does with grief and hatred of his sin turn from it to God [4], with full purpose to strive after new obedience [5].


Question: What are the outward means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us the benefits of redemption?

Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us the benefits of Christ's redemption, are the Word, by which souls are begotten to spiritual life; Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Prayer, and Meditation, by all which believers are further edified in their most holy faith.

The outward and ordinary means whereby the Holy Spirit communicates to us the benefits of Christ's redemption, are the Word, by which souls are begotten to spiritual life; Baptism, the Lord's Supper, Prayer, and Meditation, by all which believers are further edified in their most holy faith [1].


Question: How is the Word made effectual to salvation?

Answer: The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convicting and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith to salvation.

The Spirit of God makes the reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means of convicting and converting sinners [1], and of building them up in holiness and comfort [2], through faith to salvation [3].


Question: How is the Word to be read and heard that it may become effectual to salvation?

Answer: That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend to it with diligence, and prayer receive it with faith, and love, lay it up into our hearts, and practise it in our lives.

That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend to it with diligence [1], and prayer [2] receive it with faith [3], and love [4], lay it up into our hearts [5], and practise it in our lives [6].


Question: How do Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful?

Answer: Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful, not from any virtue in them, or in him who does administer them, but only by the blessing of Christ and the working of the Spirit in those who by faith receive them.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper become spiritually helpful, not from any virtue in them, or in him who does administer them [1], but only by the blessing of Christ [2] and the working of the Spirit in those who by faith receive them [3].


Question: What is Baptism?

Answer: Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ to be to the person baptised a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, and burial, and resurrection, of his being ingrafted into him, of remission of sins, and of his giving up himself to God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.

Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ [1] to be to the person baptised a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, and burial, and resurrection [2], of his being ingrafted into him [3], of remission of sins [4], and of his giving up himself to God through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life [5].


Question: To whom is Baptism to be administered?

Answer: Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.

Baptism is to be administered to all those who actually profess repentance towards God [1], and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to none other.


Question: Are the infants of such as are professing to be baptised?

Answer: The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptised, because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures for their baptism.

The infants of such as are professing believers are not to be baptised, because there is neither command nor example in the Holy Scriptures for their baptism [1].


Question: How is baptism rightly administered?

Answer: Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person in water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, according to Christ's institution, and the practice of the apostles, and not by sprinkling or pouring of water, or dipping some part of the body, after the tradition of men.

Baptism is rightly administered by immersion, or dipping the whole body of the person in water [1], in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, according to Christ's institution, and the practice of the apostles [2], and not by sprinkling or pouring of water, or dipping some part of the body, after the tradition of men [3].


Question: What is the duty of such as are rightly baptized?

Answer: It is the duty of such as are rightly baptized, to give up themselves to some particular and orderly Church of Jesus Christ that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

It is the duty of such as are rightly baptized, to give up themselves to some particular and orderly Church of Jesus Christ [1] that they may walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless [2].


Question: What is the Lord's Supper?

Answer: The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ; wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to his appointment, his death is shown forth, and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace.

The Lord's Supper is an ordinance of the New Testament, instituted by Jesus Christ; wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to his appointment, his death is shown forth [1], and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporeal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of his body and blood, with all his benefits, to their spiritual nourishment, and growth in grace [2].


Question: What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord's Supper?

Answer: It is required of them who would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of their faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience, lest coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.

It is required of them who would worthily partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine themselves of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body [1], of their faith to feed upon him, [2], of their repentance [3], love [4], and new obedience [5], lest coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves [6].


Question: What is meant by the words, until he come, which are used by the apostle Paul in reference to the Lord's Supper?

Answer: They plainly teach us that our Lord Jesus Christ will come a second time; which is the joy and hope of all believers.

They plainly teach us that our Lord Jesus Christ will come a second time; which is the joy and hope of all believers [1].


The Assembly's Shorter Catechism Explained

Question: What is the chief end of man?

Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Question: What is meant by man's chief end?

Answer: That which ought to be man's chief aim and design; and that which he should seek after as his chief happiness.

Question: What ought to be man's chief aim and design?

Answer: The glory of God. 1 Chron. 16:28, 29 - "Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, - give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name."

Question: What should he seek after as his chief happiness?

Answer: The enjoyment of God. Isaiah 26:8 - "The desire of our soul is to thy name, and the remembrance of thee."

Question: What connexion is there between the glorifying God, and the enjoyment of him?

Answer: The: are connected by rich and sovereign grace, persuading and enabling the sinner to embrace Jesus Christ as the only way to God and glory. Eph. 2:8 - "By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." John 14:6 - "I," says Christ, "am the way; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Question: Does the chief end exclude subordinate ends?

Answer: No; for, in aiming principally at the glory of God, men may use the supports of natural life for refreshing their bodies. 1 Cor. 10:31; and be diligent in their particular callings, that they may provide for themselves and their families, 1 Thess. 4:11, 12; 1 Tim. 5:8.

Question: Why ought the glory of God to be the chief end and design of man?

Answer: Because it is God's chief end in man's creation, preservation, redemption, and regeneration. Proverbs 16:4 - "The Lord hath made all things for himself;" and therefore it ought to be man's chief end likewise. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20 - "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

Question: How manifold is the glory of God?

Answer: Twofold; his essential and his declarative glory.

Question: What is God's essential glory?

Answer: It is what he is absolutely in himself. Exod. 3:14 - "I Am That I Am."

Question: What is his declarative glory?

Answer: His showing, or making known his glory, to, in, and by his creatures, Isaiah 44:23; 2 Thess. 1:10.

Question: Can any creature whatsoever add anything to God's essential glory?

Answer: No; for his essential glory is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, Job 35:7.

Question: Do not the heavens and the earth, and all inferior creatures, glorify God?

Answer: Yes; in a passive way, all his works praise him. Psalm 19:1, and 145:10.

Question: How ought man to glorify God?

Answer: Man:being endued with a reasonable soul, ought to glorify God in an active way, Psalm 63:4, by declaring his praise, Psalm 103:1, 2; and essaying to give him the glory due to his name, Psalm 96:7, 8.

Question: How was man to glorify God in a state of innocence?

Answer: By a perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience to his law, Gen. 1:27; and by giving him the glory of all his works, chap. 2:19.

Question: Has man answered his chief end?

Answer: No; for, "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," Rom. 3:23.

Question: Has God then lost his end in making man?

Answer: No; for God will glorify his justice and power upon some, and his grace and mercy upon others of Adam's family, Rom. 9:22, 23.

Question: Was ever God glorified by a perfect obedience since Adam's fall?

Answer: Never, until CHRIST, the second Adam, appeared as a new covenant head, Isaiah 42:21, and 49:3.

Question: How did Christ, the second Adam, glorify God, as our surety and representative on earth?

Answer: By finishing the work the Father gave him to do. John 17:4.

Question: What was the work the Father gave him to do?

Answer: It was to assume a holy human nature, Luke 1:35; to yield a perfect sinless obedience to the whole law, Mat. 3:15; and to give a complete satisfaction to justice, for man's sin, by his meritorious sufferings and death, Luke 24:26.

Question: How does Christ glorify God in heaven?

Answer: By appearing in the presence of God for us, Heb. 9:24, and applying, by the power of his Spirit, that redemption which he purchased by the price of his blood on earth, Titus 3:5, 6.

Question: When is it that a sinner begins uprightly to aim at the glory of God?

Answer: When, through a faith of God's operation, he believes in Christ: Acts 8:37, 39. - "The eunuch answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. - And he went on his way rejoicing."

Question: Can no man glorify God acceptably, unless he first believe in Christ?

Answer: No; for, "Without faith it is impossible to please him." Heb. 11:6; and, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin," Rom. 14:23.

Question: How is it that faith in Christ glorifies God?

Answer: As it sets its seal to the record of God, John 3:33; and unites us to Christ, from whom only our fruit is found, Hos. 14:8.

Question: Is not God glorified by the good works of believers?

Answer: Yes; "herein," says Christ, "is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit," John 15:8.

Question: What are these fruits brought forth by believers, by which God is glorified?

Answer: They may be summed up in faith working by love, Gal. 5:6; or, their aiming, in the strength of Christ, at universal obedience to the law, as the rule of duty. Phil. 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

Question: How should we glorify God in eating and drinking?

Answer: By taking a right to the supports of natural life, through the second Adam, the heir of all things, who has purchased a covenant right to temporal, as well as spiritual mercies, for his people, 1 Cor. 3:21-23; and thankfully acknowledging God for the same, 1 Tim. 4:4, 5.

Question: How must we glorify God in our religious worship, and other acts of obedience?

Answer: By doing all that we do in the name of the Lord Jesus, Col. 3:17; worshipping God in the Spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and having no confidence in the flesh, Phil. 3:3.

Question: What is it, next to the glory of God, we should aim at?

Answer: Next to God's glory, we should aim at the enjoyment of him, Psalm 73:25, 26.

Question: Why should we aim at the enjoyment of God?

Answer: Because he is the chief good of the rational creature, Psalm 116:7; and nothing else besides him, is either suitable to the nature, or satisfying to the desires of the immortal soul, Psalm 144:15.

Question: How may a finite creature enjoy an infinite God?

Answer: By taking and rejoicing in him, as its everlasting and upmaking portion, Psalm 16:5, 6, and 48:14.

Question: Did our first parents, in a state of innocence, enjoy God?

Answer: Yes; there was perfect friendship and fellowship between God and them; for, "God made man upright," Eccl. 7:29.

Question: What broke that blessed friendship and fellowship?

Answer: Sin: our iniquities have separated between us and our God, and our sins have hid his face from us, Isaiah 59:2.

Question: Can a sinner, in a natural state, enjoy God, or have any fellowship with him?

Answer: No; for, "What communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?" 2 Cor. 6:14, 15.

Question: How may a lost sinner recover the enjoyment of God, and fellowship with him?

Answer: As we lost it by our fall in the first Adam, so it can only be recovered by union with a second Adam, Rom. 5:18-19; for there is no coming to God but by him, John 14:6.

Question: When is it that a sinner begins to enjoy God?

Answer: When, having received Christ by faith, he rests upon him, and upon God in him, for righteousness and strength, Isaiah 45:24; and out of his fulness receives, and grace for grace, John 1:16

Question: What are the external means by, or in which, we are to seek after the enjoyment of God?

Answer: In all the ordinances of his worship, public, private and secret; such as the word read and heard, the sacraments, prayer, meditation, fasting, thanksgiving, and the like.

Question: Are the saints of God admitted to enjoy him in these?

Answer: Yes; they are the trysting-places2 where his name is recorded, and to which he has promised to come and bless them, Ex. 20:24 - "In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee."

Question: What scripture-evidence have we, of their enjoying God in the duties and ordinances of his appointment?

Answer: We find them much employed in religious duties, Song 3:1-3; and expressing the utmost regard for the ordinances of his grace, Psalm 84:1, 2.

Question: What satisfaction has the soul in the enjoyment of God?

Answer: Unspeakably more gladness than when corn, wine, and all earthly comforts, do most abound, Psalm 4:7

Question: Is there any difference between the enjoyment of God in this life, and that which the saints shall obtain in the life to come?

Answer: Not an essential, but a gradual difference, as to the manner and measure of it.

Question: What is the difference as to the manner of the enjoyment here and hereafter?

Answer: Here, the enjoyment is mediate, by the intervention of means; hereafter, it will be immediate, without any use of these means: "Now we see through a glass darkly; but then FACE TO FACE," 1 Cor. 13:12.

Question: What is the difference as to the measure of the enjoyment, in this life, and that which is to come?

Answer: In this life the enjoyment is only partial; in that which is to come, it will be full and complete, 1 John 3:2 - here, the enjoyment is only in the seed, or first fruits; there it will be in the full harvest, Psalm 126:5, 6.

Question: Is the partial enjoyment of God in grace here, a sure pledge of the full enjoyment of him in glory hereafter?

Answer: It is both the pledge and earnest of it, Eph. 1:13, 14; Psalm 84:11.

Question: Does the gracious soul, in that state, fully receive its chief end?

Answer: Yes; in regard that then it shall be brimful of God, and celebrate his praises with high and uninterrupted Hallelujahs through all eternity, Psalm 16:11; Isaiah 35:10.

Question: Why is the glorifying God made the leading part of man's chief end, and set before the enjoyment of him?

Answer: Because, as God's design in glorifying himself was the reason and foundation of his design in making man happy in the enjoyment of him, Rom. 11:26; so he has made our aiming at his glory, as our chief end, to be the very way and means of our attaining to that enjoyment, Psalm 50:23.

Question: Is our happiness, in the enjoyment of God, to be our chief end?

Answer: No; but the glory of God itself, Isaiah 42:8; in our aiming at which chiefly, we cannot miss the enjoyment of him, Psalm 91:14, 15.

Question: Is not our delighting in the glory of God, to be reckoned our chief end?

Answer: No; we must set the glory of God above our delight therein, otherwise, our delight is not chiefly in God, but in ourselves, Isaiah 2:11. Our subjective delighting in the glory of God belongs to the enjoyment of him, whose glory is above the heavens, and infinitely above our delight therein, Psalm 113:4.

Question: Whom does God dignify with the enjoyment of himself, in time and for ever?

Answer: Those whom he helps actively to glorify and honour him; for he has said, "Them that honour me, I will honour," 1 Sam. 2:30.

Question: Does any thing so much secure our happy enjoyment of God, as the concern that the glory of God has in it?

Answer: No; for as God cannot but reach the great end of his own glory, so, when he has promised us eternal life, in Christ, before the world began, Titus 1:2, we cannot come short of it; because it stands upon the honour of his faithfulness to make it good, Heb. 10:23 - "He is faithful that promised."

Question: How does it appear, that the enjoyment of God, which is connected with the glorifying of him, shall be for ever?

Answer: Because he who is the object enjoyed, is the everlasting God, Isaiah 40:28; and the enjoyment of him is not transitory, like the passing enjoyments of time, but the eternal enjoyment of the eternal God, Psalm 48:14.


The Assembly's Shorter Catechism Explained

Question: What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

Answer: The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us, how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Question: What necessity is there of a rule to direct us how to glorify and enjoy God?

Answer: It is necessary, because, since God will be glorified by the reasonable creature, nothing can be a perfect rule for that end, but his own revealed will, Rom. 12:2.

Question: Can man, by any wisdom or power of his own, ever attain to the glorifying of God, and the enjoyment of him, which he has come short of, by his fall in the first Adam?

Answer: No; his wisdom and knowledge in the things of God, are become folly and ignorance, Job 11:12; and his power to do good is turned into utter impotency, John 6:44.

Question: Where has God revealed the way, in which man may recover and attain the end of his creation?

Answer: In the word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, John 5:39 - "Search the scriptures..."

Question: How do you know the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the word of God?

Answer: By the print of God that is evidently to be seen upon them: for, as none works like God, Isaiah 43:13; so none speaks like him, John 7:46.

Question: What do you understand by the print or impress of God that is so discernible in the scriptures?

Answer: That majesty, holiness, light, life, and efficacy, which shine in the word itself, Rom. 1:16; Psalm 19:7.

Question: What may be said of those who do not see that print of God in the word, though they read it?

Answer: It may be said, "The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not," 2 Cor. 4:4.

Question: Since all men are spiritually blind by nature, is it not in vain for them to read the scriptures?

Answer: No; it is the will of God that they should read and search the scriptures, John 5:39; and the entrance of his word gives light and sight to them that are blind, Psalm 119:130.

Question: What should a man do that the Bible may not remain a sealed book to him?

Answer: Whenever he looks into the word of God, he should look up to God, the author of it, saying, "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law," Psalm 119:18. "O send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me," Psalm 43:3.

Question: By what arguments may we persuade men that are infidels, to receive the scriptures as the Word of God?

Answer: We may deal with them by rational arguments drawn from their antiquity; the heavenliness of the matter; the majesty of the style; the harmony of all the parts,though written in different ages; the exact accomplishment of prophecies; the sublimity of the mysteries and matters contained in the word; the efficacy and power of it, in the conviction and conversion of multitudes; the scope of the whole, to guide men to attain their chief end, the glory of God in their own salvation; and the many miracles wrought for the confirmation of the truth of the doctrines contained in them.3

Question: Can these or the like rational arguments, ever produce a divine faith?

Answer: No; for rational arguments can only produce a mere rational faith, founded on reason; but a divine and saving faith rests wholly upon the divine testimony inherent in the word itself; or upon a "Thus saith the Lord."

Question: How is this inherent testimony discovered?

Answer: By the same Spirit of God that dictated the word, 2 Pet. 1:21; he being an "Interpreter, one among a thousand," John 16:13.

Question: What is it that will fully persuade and assure a person that the scriptures are indeed the word of God?

Answer: "The Spirit of God bearing witness by, and with the scriptures in the heart of man, is alone able fully to persuade it, that they are the very word of God," John 16:13, 14; 1 John 2:27.4

Question: Whether does the authority of the scripture, for which it ought to be believed and obeyed, depend upon the testimony of the church, or wholly upon God?

Answer: "Wholly upon God, (who is truth itself,) the author thereof; and, therefore, it is to be received, because it is the word of God, 1 John 5:9; 1 Thess. 2:13."5

Question: Why cannot the authority of the scriptures depend upon the church?

Answer: Bec:use the true church of Christ depends, in its very being, on the scriptures; and therefore the scriptures cannot depend upon it, as to their authority, Eph. 2:20, 22.

Question: Are not the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, sufficient to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God?

Answer: These "do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable, Rom. 2:14, 15, and 1:19, 20; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation, 1 Cor. 2:13, 14."6

Question: What makes a further revelation, than nature's light, necessary?

Answer: The glory of the Divine perfections, particularly his mercy, grace, love, and faithfulness, Psalm 85:8, 10, 11; the gross ignorance and degeneracy of mankind, 1 Cor. 1:20, 21; the sublimeness of the things revealed, which otherwise had never been known by men or angels, John 1:18; it is also necessary for trying the spirits and doctrines of men, and for unmasking the impostures of the devil, 1 John 4:1-3.

Question: How does it appear that the scriptures are not an imposition upon mankind?

Answer: If the penman of the scriptures had inclined to deceive, they would have accommodated themselves to the dispositions of the people with whom they conversed, and connived at their lusts; but, on the contrary, we find they faithfully exposed the errors and vices of men, and impartially set themselves against every thing that corrupt nature is fond of; and that, though they were laid open to the greatest hardships and sufferings for so doing, Acts 5:29-41.

Question: What is the meaning of the word scriptures?

Answer: It signifies writings; and the word of God is emphatically so called, because God has therein written to us the great things of his law and covenant, Hos. 8:12.

Question: Why was the word of God committed to writings?

Answer: "For the better preserving and propagating of the truth; and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church, against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, Luke 1:3, 4; Proverbs 22:20, 21."7

Question: How was the will of God made known to the church, before it was committed to writing?

Answer: By immediate revelations, Gen. 2:16, 17, and 3:15; by frequent appearances of the Son of God, delighting, beforehand, to try on the human likeness, Gen. 18:2, compared with v. 3, Judg. 13:11, compared with verses 18, 19; by the ministry of the holy angels, Gen. 19:1, 15; Heb. 2:2, and of the patriarchs, Jude, ver. 14, 15; Heb. 11:7.

Question: Why are the scriptures of the Old and New Testament called the word of God?

Answer: Because "all scripture is given by inspiration of God," 2 Tim. 3:16, being immediately indited by the Holy Ghost, 2 Pet. 1:21.

Question: Why are they commonly called the Bible?

Answer: The word BIBLE signifying a book; the holy scriptures are so called by way of eminence, because they are incomparably the best of all books, as containing the invariable grounds of faith in Christ, for life eternal, John 20:31 - "These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that, believing, ye might have life through his name."

Question: Why are the holy scriptures called a Testament?

Answer: Because they are the last will of the glorious Testator, first typically, and then actually confirmed by his death, concerning the vast legacies therein bequeathed to his spiritual seed: Heb. 9:16, "Where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator."

Question: Why are the writings of Moses and the prophets called the Old Testament?

Answer: Because the will of the Testator, Christ, was veiled, legally dispensed, and typically sealed by the blood of sacrificed beasts, upon which account it is called comparatively faulty, Heb. 8:7, 8; and was therefore to vanish away, verse 13.

Question: To whom were the oracles of God, under the Old Testament, committed?

Answer: To the church of the Jews, Rom. 3:1, 2 - "What advantage hath the Jew? Much every way: chiefly, because unto them were committed the oracles of God."

Question: Why are the scriptures from Matthew to the end of the Revelation, called the New Testament?

Answer: Because they contain the most clear and full revelation, and actual ratification of the covenant of promise, by the death of Christ the Testator, who is also the living Executor of his own testament, Rev. 1:18 - "I am he that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore." John 14:19 - "Because I live, ye shall live also."

Question: Will this New Testament dispensation of the grace of God ever undergo any other alteration?

Answer: No; it will remain new and unalterable, till the second coming of the Lord Jesus, Mat. 26:29.

Question: Do the scriptures of the Old Testament continue to be a rule of faith and practice to us who live under the New?

Answer: Yes; because they are the record of God concerning Christ, as well as the scriptures of the New Testament; for all the prophets prophesied of him; to him they did all bear witness, Acts 10:43; and Christ commands all to search them, because eternal life is to be found in them, and they testify of him, John 5:39.

Question: How could the Old Testament be of force when it was not confirmed by the death of the Testator?

Answer: The death of Christ, the Testator, was typified in all the expiatory sacrifices of that dispensation; hence is he called, "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," Rev. 13:8.

Question: Is not that typical dispensation now quite abolished, under the New Testament?

Answer: Yes; for it was promised, that the Messiah should "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease;" and accordingly, "Christ being come, - neither by the blood of goats nor calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us," Heb. 9:11, 12.

Question: Why was that ceremonial dispensation abolished?

Answer: Because it was only a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things; that is, not the very things themselves, Heb. 10:1.

Question: Wherein does the New Testament excel the Old?

Answer: Amongst other things, it excels it in respect of evidence, worship, extent, gifts, and duration.

Question: Wherein does the New Testament excel the Old in respect of evidence?

Answer: The Old Testament speaks of a Messiah to come, but the New presents him as already come, John 1:29, 41; The Old was dark and cloudy, but the New clear and perspicuous, 2 Cor. 3:18.

Question: How does it excel in respect of worship?

Answer: The worship of the Old Testament was a yoke of bondage; but the worship of the New is free, spiritual, and easy, Gal. 5:1.

Question: How does the New Testament excel in respect of extent?

Answer: The Old was confined to the Jews, Psalm 147:19, 20, and a few proselytes among the Gentiles, Ex. 12:48; but the New extends to all the world, Mark 16:15; and its converts are vastly more numerous than under the old dispensation, Rev. 7:9.

Question: How does it excel in respect of gifts?

Answer: The gifts of the Spirit are more plentiful, and more efficacious under the New, than under the Old, Acts 2:17, 18.

Question: How does the New Testament excel in respect of duration?

Answer: The dispensation of the Old Testament, by types and sacrifices, was only for a time, Heb. 8:13; but the dispensation of the New, is to continue unalterable to the end of the world, Matt. 28:20.

Question: Why are the scriptures said to be the only rule to direct us, how we may glorify and enjoy God?

Answer: Because none but God, the author of the scriptures, could, by them, show the way, how he himself is to be glorified and enjoyed by fallen sinners of mankind, Micah. 6:6, 9; Matt. 11:25, 28.

Question: Although the light of nature, or natural reason, should not be the only rule, yet may it not be admitted as a sufficient rule, to direct us how to glorify and enjoy God?

Answer: By no means; because of its utter incapacity to give the smallest discovery of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, 1 Cor. 2:14, who is the only way of salvation for lost sinners of Adam's family, John 14:6.

Question: Is it enough to assert, that the word of God is the principal rule to direct us?

Answer: No; because this would leave room to conceive of another rule, beside the scriptures, which, though it might not be called the principal one, yet might be in itself abundantly good and sufficient for directing sinners to their chief end; which is false, and contrary to scripture, Luke 16:29, 31; Isaiah 8:20; Acts 4:12.

Question: Wherein consists the perfection of the scriptures?

Answer: It consists in this, that, "the whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture, 2 Tim. 3:15-17; Gal. 1:8, 9."8

Question: Are plain and necessary scripture consequences to be admitted as a part of the rule, as well as express scriptures?

Answer: Yes; as is evident from the instance of our Lord, in proving the doctrine of the resurrection against the Sadducees, Matt. 22:31, 32 - "As touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."

Question: Are the scriptures a clear and perspicuous rule?

Answer: All things necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are so clearly laid down in one place of scripture or another, that every one, in the due use of ordinary means, may attain to a sufficient understanding of them, Psalm 119:105, 130.9

Question: Are human and unwritten traditions, how ancient soever, to be admitted as a part of the rule?

Answer: No; all human traditions are to be examined by the scriptures; and, "if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them," Isaiah 8:20.

Question: Can the heathens, by all the helps they have, without revelation, attain to such a knowledge of God, and his will, as is necessary to salvation?

Answer: By no means: for they are declared to be "without God, and without hope in the world," Eph. 2:12. "And where there is no vision, the people perish," Proverbs 29:18; there being "no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved," but that of Jesus, Acts 4:12.

Question: Is the light within men, or the Spirit without the word, which is pretended to by the Quakers, and other enthusiasts, to be used as any rule for our direction?

Answer: No; because whatever light or spirit is pretended to, without the word, it is but darkness, delusion, and a spirit of error, 1 John 4:1, 6.

Question: In what language were the scriptures originally written?

Answer: The Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew, and the New Testament in Greek.

Question: Why ought the scriptures to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation where they come?

Answer: Because sinners of mankind have a right to, and interest in the scriptures, Proverbs 8:4; and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, John 5:39.

Question: Who is the supreme judge, in whose sentence we are to rest in determining all controversies of religion, and examining the decrees and doctrines of men?

Answer: "No other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the scripture, Matt. 22:29; Acts 28:25."10

Question: Why are the books called the Apocrypha to be rejected as no part of the canon of scripture?

Answer: Because they were not written in the original language of the Old Testament; nor acknowledged for scripture by the Jews, to whom the oracles of God were committed; and have nothing of that impress of majesty, holiness, and efficacy, which shines so conspicuously in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; and because they were written after Malachi, whose book is called, the end of the Prophets; and contain many false things, contradictory and heretical.

Question: Wherein consists the incomparable excellency and usefulness of the scriptures?

Answer: They are the well furnished dispensatory of all sovereign remedies, Psalm 107:20; the rich magazine of all true comfort, Rom. 15:4; the complete armoury of all spiritual weapons, Eph. 6:13-18; and the unerring compass to guide to the haven of glory, 2 Pet. 1:19.