A CATECHISM To be Learned for the Training up of YOUTH And Others, In the Grounds of Christian RELIGION. LONDON, Printed by Robert Ibbitson MDCLIII. A Catechism to be learned for the training up of Youth, and others in the Grounds of RELIGION. Question, WHat Religion are you of? Answer Christian Religion. Question, How is that distinguished from others? Answer, I received the sign of it in a Act. 2. 38, 39 Baptism, when I had clean b Ezek. 36. 24, 25. 1 Cor. 7. 14. water sprinkled upon me, whereby I was distinguished from the Heathen, and made visibly holy by the professed Faith of my Parents. Question. What doth Baptism teach you? Answer, It teacheth me three things; First, That I should repent, and forsake the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. Matth. 3. 11. Mark 1. 4. Secondly, That I should believe all things written in the Word of God. Mark 16. 16. And Thirdly, that I should keep Gods holy will and Commandments, & walk in the same all the days of my life. Rom. 6. 4. Question. Dost thou not think that thou art bound to believe and to do what thou art thus taught by Baptism? Answer, Yes Verily, and by Gods help so I will, and I hearty thank our heavenly Father, that he hath called me to this state of salvation through Jesus Christ our Saviour. And I pray God to give me his grace, that I may continue in the same unto my lives end. Heb. 6. 1, 2. Question. Rehearse the Articles of thy Belief. Answer. I a John 14. 1. believe in God the b Gal. 1. 1. Father c Gen. 35. 11. Almighty d Gen. 1. 1. maker of Heaven and Earth: And e Eph. 1. 17. in Jesus Christ f Joh. 3. 16. his only Son our Lord, g Mat. 1. 20. which was conceived by the holy Ghost, h Matth. 1. 23. born of the Virgin Mary, i Matth. 27. suffered under Pontius Pilate: Was crucified, dead and buried: k Matth. 28. The third day he risen again from the dead: l Act. 1. He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. m John 14. 26. I believe in the holy Ghost: n Matth. 28. 19 The holy Catholic Church. o 1 Cor. 14. 33. The communion of Saints: p Isa. 43. 25. The forgiveness of sins: q 1 Cor. 15. the resurrection of the body: r Matth. 19 29. and the life everlasting. Amen. Question. What dost thou chiefly learn in the Articles of thy Belief? Answer. First, I learn to believe in God the Father, who hath made me and all the world. Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed me, and all mankind that believe. Thirdly, In God the holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me, and all the Elect people of God. Question. You said that Baptism doth teach you that you should keep God's Commandments: tell me how many there be. Answer. Ten. Question. Which be they? Answer. THe same which God spoke in the xx chapter of Exodus, saying; I am the Lord thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 1. Thou shalt have no other Gods but me. 2. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven Image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in Heaven above, or in the Earth beneath, or in the Water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them: For I the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the Fathers upon the Children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and show mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my Commandments. 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain. 4. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the 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 seventh day, and hallowed it. 5. Honour thy Father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 6. Thou shalt do no murder. 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 8. Thou shalt not steal. 9 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy Neighbour. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy Neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. Question. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments? Answer. I learn two things: my duty towards God: & my duty towards my neighbour. Question. What is thy duty towards God? Answer. My duty towards God is a Joh. 14. 1. to believe in him, b Levit. 25. 15. to fear him, and c Deut. 6. 5. to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength, to d Exo. 34. 14. worship him, to e 1 Thes. 2. 13. give him thanks, to f Psal. 115. 9 put my whole trust in him, to g Psal. 105. 1. call upon him, to honour his holy Name and his Word, and to h 2 Tim. 1. 3. serve him truly all the days of my life. Question. What is thy duty towards thy neighbour? Answer. My duty to my neighbour is a Matth. 19 19 Rom. 13. to love him as myself, and b Luk. 6. 31. to do unto all men, as I would they should do unto me, to c Matth. 15. 4, 5, 6. love, honour, and secure my Father and Mother, To d Rom. 13. 1. submit myself to them that have authority over me, e Heb. 13. 17. To obey spiritual Pastors and Teachers, f Luk. 14. To order myself lowly, and reverendly to all my betters, g Psa. 101. 7. To hurt no body by word or deed, h Psa. 101. 6. To be true and just in all my deal, i Psa. 101. 4. To bear no malice, nor hatred in my heart, k Psa. 101. 7. To keep my hands from picking and stealing, l Psa. 39 1. my tongue from evil speaking, m Psa. 101. 7. lying and n Psal. 101. 5. slandering, To keep my body in o Gal. 2. 3. 5. temperance, p 1 Pet. 4. 7. soberness, and q Psal. 101. 3. chastity, r Rom. 13. 9 not to covet nor desire other men's goods s 1 Cor. 7. 20. but to learn and labour truly to get my own living and ᵗ to do my duty in that state of life unto the which it shall please God to call me. Question. My good friend know this, that thou art not able to do these things of thyself; nor to walk in the Commandments of God, and to serve him without his special grace, which thou must learn at all times to call for by diligent prayer. Let me hear therefore if thou canst say the Lord's Prayer. Answer. Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name: Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven: give us this day our daily bread: And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us: And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. Question. What desirest thou of God in this Prayer. Answer. I desire my Lord God our heavenly Father, who is the giver of all goodness, to send his grace unto me, and to all people: that we may worship him, serve him, and obey him, as we ought to do. And I pray unto God, that he will send us all things that be needful both for our souls and bodies, and that he will be merciful unto us, and forgive us our sins: and that it will please him to save us and defend us from all dangers ghostly and bodily: and that he will keep us from all sin and wickedness, and from our ghostly enemy, and from everlasting death. And this I trust he will do of his mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jesus Christ: And therefore I say Amen. So be it. Question. How many Sacraments hath Christ ordained in his Church? Answer. Two only as generally necessary to salvation, that is to say, Baptism and the Lords Supper, 1 Cor. 10. 2, 3. Question. What meanest thou by this word Sacrament? Answer. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself, as a means whereby we receive the same, and as a pledge to assure us thereof, Rom. 4. Question. How many parts be there in a Sacrament? Answer. Two the outward visible sign, and the inward spiritual grace. Question. What is the outward visible sign or form in baptism? Answer. a Ezek. 36. 25. Water wherein the person baptised is dipped, or sprinkled with it, b Matth. 28. 19 in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghost. Question. What is the inward and spiritual grace. Answer. A death unto sin and a new birth unto righteousness, for being by nature born in sin, and the children of wrath, we are hereby made the children of grace, Ro. 6. Question. What is required of persons to be baptised? Answer. a Matth. 3. 6, 7, 8. Repentance whereby they forsake sin, and b Act. 16. 30, 31, 32, 33. faith, whereby they steadfastly believe the promises of God made to them in that Sacrament, Question. Why then are Infants baptised, when by reason of their tender age they cannot perform them? Answer. a 1 Cor. 7. 14. Act. 2. 38, 39 Gen. 17. The Parents being visible believers their Infant children have a right to water Baptism, by virtue of the promise to believers and their children under the Gospel, as the male children had to Circumcision under the Law. Question. Why was the Sacrament of the Lords Supper ordained? Answer. For the continual remembrace of the Sacrifice of the death of Christ, and the benefits which we receive thereby, 1 Cor. 11. 26. Question. What is the outward part or sign of the Lords Supper? Answer. Bread and Wine which the Lord hath commanded to be received, 1 Cor. 11. 23, 24, 25. Question. What is the inward part or thing signified? Answer. The body and blood of Christ, which are verily and indeed taken and received of the faithful in the Lord's Supper, John 6. 55. Question, What are the benefits whereof we are partakers thereby? Answer, The strengthening and refreshing of our souls to eternal life, by the body and blood of Christ, as our bodies are to a temporal life, by the bread & wine. John 6. 56, 57 58. Question, What is required of them that come to the Lords Supper? Answer, a 1 Cor. 11. 28. To examine themselves, whether they repent them truly of their former sins, steadfastly purposing to lead a new life, have a lively Faith in God's mercy through Christ, with a thankful remembrance of his death, and be in charity with all men, b 1 Joh. 1. 3. 1 Cor. 14. 33. And to have fellowship with the Saints in Church Communion. FINIS.