A Short and Easie Catechism, Wherein the More Difficult Terms in the Assemblie's Shorter Catechism are Opened and Explained/Chapter 5
A SHORT and EASIE
CATECHISM, &c.
QUESTION.
DO you believe that there is a God?
Ans. Yes.
Quest. How do you know that there is a God?
Ans. By His Works, and His Word.
Quest. How do you know by his Works?
Ans. Because the Heavens and the Earth, and all Things were made by Him.
Quest. But could none make these but GOD?
Ans. No: For they could not make themselves, and none but GOD could make them.
Quest. What call you GOD's Word?
Ans. The BIBLE, or the Holy Scriptures.
Quest. What Use have we for the Bible?
Ans. It tells us what we should Believe, and what we should Do.
Quest. And do the Holy Scriptures make known GOD?
Ans. Yes; More clearly than His Works.
Quest. What is GOD?
Ans. He is a most Perfect Spirit.
Quest. How is he a Spirit?
Ans. Because He is not a Body.
Quest. Can God be seen with our Eyes, or handled with our Hands?
Ans. No: He cannot.
Quest. And hath he not understanding, Will, and Power, and other Good Properties?
Ans. Yes; He hath.
Quest. How is GOD Infinite?
Ans. All His Perfections are without Bounds.
Quest. How is he Eternal?
Ans. He hath neither Beginning nor Ending.
Q. What meaneth God's wisdom and understanding?
A. He knoweth all things.
Q. What means his Power?
A. He can do all things.
Q. What means his Holiness?
A. He Loveth what is Right, and hateth what is Evil.
Q. What means the Justice of God?
A. He Punisheth the Wicked, and Rewards the Righteous.
Q. What means the goodness of God?
A. He delights to give what may please and profit us.
Q. What means his Mercy?
A. He delights to help us in Trouble and Misery.
Q. What means his Truth?
A. He always speaks Right, and cannot Lie.
Q. Hath not God more properties than these?
A. Yes; more than can be told.
Q. Is not then our God a great God.
A. Yes; None can be so great as our God.
Q. Can there be more God's than one?
A. There can be but one True and Living God.
Q. Why so?
A. Because none but one can have all Boundless Perfections.
Q. May there be more Persons than one in the God head?
A. Yes; there may.
Q. How many Persors in the God-head are told us in God's word?
A. Three Persons.
Q. What are these?
A. The Father, and the Son, & the Holy Ghost.
Q. Can these three Persons be three Gods?
A. No: they are all three one God.
Q. And are they equal in Substance, Power, and Glory?
A. Yes, they are.
q. Did not this one GOD, Ordain, or Decree all things?
A. Yes; all things that come to pass in the World.
q. For what end did he design them?
A. For His own Glory.
q. And did he not make the world for the same bid?
A. Yes; He did.
Q.In what time did he make the World?
A. In six days time.
Q. What was there before the World was made?
A. Nothing, but God himself.
q. Doth not God, who made the World, preserve and guide it?
A. Yes; By his All-powerful providence.
q. Did not God make the Angels?
A. Yes; He did.
q. Did not some of the Angels fall?
A. Yes; and became Devils.
q. Did not God make Man?
A. Yes: He did.
q. Whereof did He make his Body?
A. Of the Dust of the Earth.
q. And what is his Soul?
A. A Spirit that is Immortal, or dyeth not.
q. Hath Man a Spirit as well as God?
A. Yes, for he was made after God's Image.
q. How was Man made in the image of God?
A. He was created in Knowledge, Righteousness, and Holiness.
q. But is Man a Spirit without bounds?
A. No: He is not.
q. For what end did God make Man?
A. To Glorifie and Enjoy Him.
q. What is it to glorifie God.
A. To shew forth the Perfections of His Nature, Word, and Works.
q. What way do we shew forth these?
A. When we delight in them our selves, tell them to others, and take care to be like them.
q. What is it to enjoy God?
A. It is to be delighted in His Company and Favours.
q. When do we enjoy God?
A. Now on Earth, and afterwards in Heaven.
q. Who was the first Man and Woman?
A. Adam and Eve.
q. Where did he put them at first?
A. Into Paradise or the garden of Eden.
q. What was Mans first Estate?
A. Holy and Happy.
q. How did God govern Man in that Estate?
A. By the Law, or Covenant of works.
q. What did God command Man, in that Law or Covenant?
A. To love, honour, and obey his Creator.
q. What did God promise to Man upon his obedience?
A. Life, or Happiness here, and hereafter.
q. What did God threaten, if he disobeyed?
A. Death and Misery, here and hereafter.
q. What is did God give Man of Happiness?
A. The Tree of Life.
q. What was the sign of his Misery?
A. The Tree of Kowledge of good and evil.
q. Might innocent man eat of the Tree of Life?
A. Yes; He might.
q. Might be have Eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil?
A. No: for God forbad him.
q. Why did God forbid bim?
A. To take a Tryal of his Obedience.
q. Did Man continue to obey that Law or Covenant?
A. No: He brake it.
q. How did he break it?
A. By Eating the Forbidden Fruit.
q. Who tempted Adam to eat thereof?
A. Eve his Wife.
q. Who tempted Eve?
A. The Devil in the Serpent.
q. What hurt got Adam by his sin?
A. He fell under the curse of God's Law.
q. What hurt doth Adam's sin to us?
A. It makes us sharers of the same curse.
q. Why so?
A. Because we are all Children of that Sinfull Father.
q. What Estate then, are we born in?
A. In an Estate of Sin and Misery.
q. Is not sin either Original or Actual?
A. Yes, it is.
q. What call you Original sin?
A. It is the Sin of our Nature.
q. What is that to say?
A. We are forward to Evil, and backward to Good.
q. What is Actual sin?
A. It is a breaking of God's Law.
q. What way do we break it?
A. By neglecting what he bids us do, and doing what he forbids us.
q. What is the misery which sin brings upon us?
A. Trouble in this world, Death, & Damnation.
q. How are we delivered from that Estate of sin and misery?
A. By a Saviour and Redeemer.
q. What mean you by a Redeemer?
A. One that buys us back again.
q. What doth he buy us back from?
A. The slavery of Sin and Satan, and Eternal Death.
q. Who is our Redeemer?
A. Jesus Christ is our blessed Redeemer.
q. And what price did he give for us?
A. The Price of His Own Blood?
Q. Who is this Jesus Christ?
A. He is the Eternal Son of God.
Q. Is not he also Man?
A. Yes; He is both God and Man in one Person.
Q. Why was he Man?
A. That he might shed his Blood and die for us.
Q. Why was he God?
A. That His Death might be of Value, and His Power great enough to Save us.
Q. Why is he called Lord?
A. Because, he is Lord of Heaven, and Earth.
Q. Why is he called Jesus?
A. Because, he saves his People from their Sins.
Q. Why is he called Christ, or Messiah?
A. Because, he is anointed with the Holy Ghost.
Q. How many Offices hath our Redeemer?
A. Three; Of a Prophet, Priest, and King.
Q. Why hath he these three Offices
A. To answer the three parts of our necessity.
Q. What are these?
A. Ignorance, Guilt, and Enmity.
Q. What doth Christ as a Prophet?
A. He cures our Ignorance.
Q. How doth he cure our Ignorance?
A. By Teaching us the Will of God.
Q. What doth Christ teach us?
A. By his Word and Spirit.
Q. What doth Christ as a Priest?
A. He takes away the Guilt of our Sins.
Q. What way doth he that?
A. By Dying for our Sins, and Pleading for us with the Father.
Q. What doth Christ as a King?
A. He Cures our Enmity.
q. How doth Christ cure our Enmity?
A. He makes us His willing People, and Defends us against our Enemies.
q. Who are our Spiritual Enemies?
A. The World, the Devil, and the Flesh.
Q. What doth Christs Offices require of us?
A. They require a suitable Duty.
Q. What requires his Prophetical office?
A. That we take pains to Learn what he Teaches us.
Q. What requires his Priestly Office?
A. That we seek the Pardon of our Sins; and all good things, through His Blood, and Intersession.
Q. And what doth His Kingly Office require?
A. That we take Care to keep his Law.
Q. And what more?
A. To seek his help in all our Straits.
Q. Did Christ Exercise all these Offices, since the fall of Man?
A. Yes, He did.
Q. Where did he Exercise them?
A. In Heaven, and upon the Earth.
Q. When in Heaven?
A. Before his Birth and after his Resurrection.
Q. When on Earth?
A. From his Birth to his Resurrection.
Q. How long did Christ live upon the Earth?
A. Some more than Thirty Years.
Q. What did Christ when he was upon the Earth?
A. He Preached the Gospel, and wrought Miracles.
Q. What were his Miracles?
A. By a Word, or Touch, he healed the Blind, Deaf and Dumb, and raised the Dead; and many such Works.
Q. For what end did he work these Miracles?
A. To assure us that he was God, and that he was sent from Heaven to save Sinners.
Q. What kind of Death did Christ die?
A. The Painful, Shameful and Accursed Death on the cross.
Q. And what became of him after Death?
A. He was Buried, and lay three Days in the Grave.
Q. Did he still continue in that estate?
A. No; He arose on the third Day.
q. How did that appear?
A. He conversed with his Disciples fourty days thereafter.
q. And whither went he again?
A. He ascended up to Heaven, in the sight of many Witnesses.
q. Where is he now?
A. At the Right Hand of His Father.
q. What doth that mean?
A. He Governs the World, in the highest Power and Glory.
q. And will Christ come again?
A. Yes; at the Last Day.
q. How get we benefit of Christ and his Offices?
A. By obeying his Gospel.
q. What is the Gospel?
Ans. It is the Good News of the Covenant of Grace.
q. What doth the Covenant of Grace offer?
Ans. It offers us Grace and Glory through CHRIST.
q. And what doth Christ require on our part?
A. Faith in Christ, and Repentance.
q. What is Faith or Believing?
A. To be perswaded of the Truth of Christ's Word.
q. And what do you mean by believing on Christ?
A. It's to receive and make use of Christ as offered in the Covenant of Grace.
q. What are the benefits of the covenant of grace which we receive in this Life?
A. Justification, Adoption, and Sanctification.
q. What is Justification?
A. It's the Pardon of our Sins through Christ's Blood.
q. How doth God Adopt us?
A. By owning and dealing with us as His children through Christ.
q. What is Sanctification?
A. It's the renewing of our Natures, by the Grace of God's Spirit.
q. What doth God's Spirit work in us?
A. He enables us to love Good, and hate Evil.
q. What is repentance?
A. It's a turning from Sin with grief, and the study of Holiness.
q. What is it to be Holy?
A. It's to keep the Moral Law of God.
q. What is the Moral Law?
A. The Ten Commandments.
q. What is the Sum of the Ten Commandments?
A. Sincere Love to God and our Neighbour.
q. How many of these teach us our love to God?
A. The first four Commandments.
q. How many teach us our love to Man?
A. The last six Commandments.
q. What are the outward means of the Covenant of grace?
A. The Word, Sacrament and Prayer.
q. How must we use the word of God?
A. We must take pains to Understand, Believe, and Obey it.
q. What is a Sacrament?
A. An outward Sign of inward Grace.
q. Which are the two Sacraments?
A. Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.
q. What is the outward sign in Baptism?
A. Washing with water.
q. What doth that washing with water signifie?
A. That God is willing to wash away our sins by Christ's Blood.
q. What doth our receiving of Baptism signifie?
A. Our promise to keep his Covenant.
q. What are the outward signs in the Lord's Supper?
A. Giving and Receiving Bread and Wine.
Q. And what is the inward thing signified?
A. The virtue of Christ's body and Blood, for our growth in Grace.
Q. To whom must we Pray?
A. To God alone.
Q. In whose Name must we Pray?
A. In the Name of Christ.
Q. What doth that mean?
A. When we seek all things for His sake.
Q. How long are we to make use of these means?
A. All the days of our Life, here on Earth.
Q. What becomes of us at the end of this Life?
A. We must meet with Death and Judgement.
Q. What is Death to the Godly?
A. A Passage into Heaven.
Q. And what is Death to the wicked?
A. A Passage into Hell.
Q. Where is Heaven?
A. Above the Clouds and Stars.
Q. And where is Hell?
A. Down below.
Q. Will all the Dead rise out of their Graves?
A. Yes; at the Resurrection.
Q. What follows after that?
A. The great and last Judgement.
Q. Who will be the Judge?
A. Christ will be the judge of the Quick and the Dead.
Q. Where will be set his Throne?
A. In the AIR.
Q. What will his Sentence be to the Godly?
A. Come ye Blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you, from the Foundation of the World.
Q. What will his Sentence be to the wicked?
A. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels.
q. What will follow after that?
A. He'll take the Godly up to Heaven, and thrust the Wicked down to Hell.
q. How long will they abide there?
A. For evermore.
FINIS.