XLVIII. LORD'S DAY.

Q. 123. Which is the second petition?

A. a" Thy kingdom come;" that is, rule us so by thy word and spirit, that we may b submit ourselves more and more to thee; preserve and c increase thy church; destroy the d works of the devil, and all violence which would exalt itself against thee; and also, all wicked counsels devised against thy holy word; till the full e perfection of thy kingdom takes place, f wherein thou shalt be all in all.

a Mat. 6. 10. b Mat. 6. 33. Psa. 119. 5. c Psa. 51. 18. d 1 John 3. 8. Rom. 16. 20. e Rev. 22. 17, 20. f1 Cor. 15. 28.

XLIX. LORD'S DAY.

Q. 124. Which is the third petition?

A. a" Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;" that is, grant that we and all men may renounce b our own will, and without murmuring c obey thy will, which is only good; that so every one may attend to and d perform the duties of his station and calling as willingly and faithfully, as the e angels do in heaven.

a Mat. 6. 10. b Mat. 16. 24. Tit. 2. 12. 42. d 1 Cor. 7. 24. Eph. 4.1. e Psa. 103. 20.

L. LORD'S DAY.

Q. 125. Which is the fourth petition?

c Luke 22.

A. a" Give us this day our daily bread;" that is, be pleased to provide us with all things b necessary for the body, that we may thereby acknowledge thee to be the only fountain of all c good, and that neither our care nor industry, nor even thy gifts can d profit us without thy blessing; and therefore that we may withdraw our trust from all creatures, and place e it alone in thee.

a Mat. 6. 11. b Psa. 145. 15. Mat. 6. 25, &c. c Acts 7. 25. and 14. 17. d 1 Cor. 15. 58. Deut. 8. 3. Psa. 127. 2. e Psa. 62. 11. and 55. 22.

LI. LORD'S DAY.

Q. 126. Which is the fifth petition?

A. a "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors;" that is, be pleased for the sake of Christ's blood, b not to impute to us poor sinners, our transgressions, nor that depravity, which always cleaves to us; even as we feel this evidence of thy grace in us, that it is our firm resolution, from the heart to c forgive our neighbour.

a Mat. 6. 12. b Psa. 51. 1. 1 John 2. 1, 2. c Mat. 6. 14, 15.

LII. LORD'S DAY.

Q. 127. Which is the sixth petition?

A. a "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;" that is, since we are so weak in ourselves, that we cannot stand b a moment; and besides this, since our mortal enemies, c the devil, the d world, and our own e flesh cease not to assault us; do thou therefore preserve and strengthen us by the power of thy holy spirit, that we may not be overcome in this spiritual warfare; ƒ but constantly and strenuously may resist our foes, till at last we g obtain a complete victory.

a Mat. 6. 13. b Rom. 8. 26. Psa. 103. 14. C 1 Pet. 5. 8. d Eph. 6. 12. John 15. 19. e Rom. 7. 23. Gal. 5. 17. f Mat. 26. 41. Mark 13. 33. g1 Thes: 3. 13. and 5. 23.

Q. 128. How dost thou conclude thy prayer?

A. h" For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever;" that is, all these we ask of thee, because thou, being our King and almighty, art willing and able to i give us all good; and all this we pray for, that thereby not we, but thy holy name j may be glorified for ever. h Mat 6. 13. i Rom. 10. 12. 2 Pet. 2. 9. j John 14. 13. Psa. 115. 1. Phil. 4. 20.

Q. 129. What doth the word " Amen" signify?

A. "Amen" signifies, it shall truly and certainly be: for my prayer is more assuredly heard of God, than I feel in my heart that I desire these things of him..

k2 Cor. 1. 20. 2 Tim. 2. 13.

A COMPENDIUM

OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.

Question 1. HOW many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou enjoying real comfort mayest live and die happily?

Answer. Three: first, how great my sins and miseries are: the second, how I may be delivered from all my sins and miseries: the third, how I shall express my gratitude to God for such deliverance.

THE FIRST PART.

OF THE MISERY OF MAN.

Q. 2. Whence knowest thou thy misery?
A. Out of the law of God.

Q. 3. What hath God commanded thee in his law? A. That is contained in the ten commandments, which he hath revealed in scripture, as follows:

Exodus xx. and Deut. 5. 4, 5, &c. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

I. Com. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, nor 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 showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my command

ments.

III. 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.

IV. 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 man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy 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 subbath day, and hallowed it.

V. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee:

VI. Thou shalt not kill.

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

VIII. Thou shalt not steal.

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Q. 4. How are the ten commandments divided?

A. Into two tables.

Q. 5. Which is the sum of what God requires of thee in the four commandments of the first table?

A. That I love the Lord my God, with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength: this is the first and great commandment.

Q. 6. Which is the sum of what God commands thee in the six commandments of the second table?

A. That I love my neighbour as myself: on these two commandments hang the whole law and the prophets. Q. 7. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly?

A. In no wise: for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbour; and to transgress the commandments of God in thought, word, and deed.

Q. 8. Hath God created thee naturally so wicked and perverse?

A. By no means: but he created me good and after his own image, in the true knowledge of God, in righteousness and in holiness.

Q. 9. Whence then proceeds that depravity which is in thee?

A. From the fall and disobedience of Adam and Eve in Paradise; hence our nature is become so corrupt, that we are all conceived and born in sin.

Q. 10. What was that disobedience?

A. That they did eat of the fruit of the tree, which God had forbidden them.

Q. 11. Does the disobedience of Adam concern us?

A. Certainly: for he is the father of us all; and we have all sinned in him.

Q. 12. Are we then incapable of doing any good of ourselves, and prone to all manner of wickedness?

A. Indeed we are: unless we are regenerated by the spirit of God.

Q. 13. Will God suffer such disobedience and corrup tion to go unpunished?

A. By no means: but in his just judgment will punish them, both in time and eternity, as it is written: "cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them."

THE SECOND PART.

OF MAN'S DELIVERANCE.

Q. 14. By what means canst thou escape this punishment, and be again received into favour ?

A. By such a Mediator, who is in one person very God, and a real righteous man.

Q. 15. Who is that Mediator?

A. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who in one person is true God, and a real righteous man.

Q. 16. Could not the angels be our Mediators?

A. No: For they are neither God nor men.

Q. 17. Cannot the saints be our Mediators?

A. No: For they themselves have sinned, and have obtained salvation by no other means, than through this Mediator.

Q. 18. Shall all men then be saved by the Mediator, Jesus, as they are all condemned in Adam?

A. No: but those only who receive him by a true faith: as it is written, John 3. 16, " for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Q. 19. What is true faith?

A. It is a certain knowledge of God, and of his promises revealed to us in the gospel, and an hearty confi dence that all my sins are forgiven me, for Christ's sake.

Q. 20. What is the sum of that which God hath promised in the gospel, and commanded us to believe?