Notes on the Shorter Catechism

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■^ NOTES

SHORTER CATECHISM.

BY

ALFRED NEVIN, D.D., LL.D.

"Tram up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will
not depart from it." — Prov. xxii. 6.

"And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus."— 2 Tim. iii. 15.

PHILADELPHIA :

PEESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION
AND SABBATH-SCHOOL "WORK,

No. 1334 CHESTNUT KTKEET.

Enterpd according to Act of Congress, In the vear 1878, by

THE TRUSTEES OF THE

PEESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION,
In the OflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Westcott & Thomson,
Siereotypers and Eleclrolypers, PhUada.

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church
in the United States has said, " We believe that no
uninspired men have ever been able to exhibit, in as
short a compass, safer and sounder views of the doc-
trines of salvation than are contained in our Larger
and Shorter Catechisms." It may well be assumed
that many who love these precious standards of our
Church, and have not access to fuller sources of infor-
mation respecting them, will be gratified to glance at
the history of the Assembly in which they originated.

On June 12, 1643, in the reign of Charles I., an
ordinance of Parliament was issued calling an assem-
bly of divines to meet at Westminster on the first day
of the next month. This ordinance originated in a
grateful recognition of the blessings of Almighty God
upon the nation, and in a conviction that as yet many
things remained in the liturgy, discipline and govern-
ment of the English Church which necessarily re-
quired a further and more thorough reformation than
had yet been attained. The names contained in the
ordinance amounted to one hundred and fifty- one —
namely, ten lords and twenty commoners as lay
assessors, and one hundred and twenty-one divines.
Of this list, about twenty-five never appeared at the
Assembly, one or two having died about the time it

5

6 THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY.

met, and others fearing the displeasure of the king or
having a preference for the prelatic system. In order
to supply the deficiency thus caused, aud also occa-
sional diminution caused by death during the pro-
tracted sittings of the Assembly, the Parliament sum-
moned about twenty-one additional members, "who
"were termed the superadded divines.

On Saturday, the first day of July, the members of
the two Houses of Parliament named in the ordinance,
and many of the divines therein mentioned, with a
vast congregation, met in the Abbey Church, West-
minster. Dr. Twisse, who had been named in the or-
dinance as president, preached an elaborate sermon
from the text, " I "will not leave you comfortless ; I
"will come to you " (John xiv. 18). After the sermon
all the members present adjourned to Henry VII.'s
Chapel, and the roll of members being called, it ap-
peared that there "were sixty-nine clerical members
present on that the first day of the Westminster As-
sembly.

Our limits will only allow us to notice the Scottish
ministerial members of this body, so famous for its
intellectual force and adherence to truth. Henderson,
Gillespie, Rutherford and Baillie occupied a high and
commanding rank in the Scottish Church. The great
abilities of these eminent men attracted the attention
of the English of all ranks in a very remarkable man-
ner, and recommended the Presbyterian system of
church government much more efiectually than argu-
ments alone could have done. Nor was this strange.
Henderson "was a man of uncommon prudence and
«?agacity, profound judgment, decided eloquence and

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 7

the most attractive amenity of manners. He was one
of those gifted men whom the Ruler of all events
sends forth, in time of great emergency, to mould the
minds of his fellow-men and aid in working out the
will of the Most High. He was one of the most dis-
tinguished of an age fertile in great men, and, Avith all
due veneration for the names of Knox and Melville,
we do them no discredit when we place that of Hen-
derson by their side — the " first three " of the Church
of Scotland's worthies. Baillie, though greatly in-
ferior to Henderson in mental powers and somewhat
fickle in disposition, arising from a facile temper and
constitutional timidity, was one of the most learned
men of his time. Rutherford, in addition to his
scholarly attainments, was possessed of peculiar heav-
enly-mindedness. For his fidelity to principle the
deadly gripe of the Parliament, in his subsequent
history, was attempted to be laid on him. Not con-
tent with burning his work entitled Lex Rex, they
summoned him to appear before them at Edinburgh
to answer to a charge of high treason. He was at
that time lying on his death-bed. "Tell them," re-
plied he, " that I have received a summons already to
appear before a superior Judge and judicatory, and I
behoove to answer my first summons ; and ere your
day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks
come." Gillespie, though still a very young man, had
already proved himself to be endowed Avith powers and
possessed of acquirements of the very highest order ;
his learning Avas both extensive and singularly minute,
his intellect clear, acute and powerful, qualifying him
for eminence in debate, and his high and fervid elo-

8 THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY.

queuce was pervaded by that electric energy which is
an essential attribute of true genius.

The chief duties of tlie Assembly, of Avhich these
men were ornaments, were discharged when they had
prepared and laid before the Parliament directories of
ordination and worship. Its attention was occupied
almost entirely by the discussions respecting these till
toward the end of 1644. The Assembly then began to
prepare for composing a Confession of Faith and a
Catechism, and, according to its usual course of pro-
cedure, committees were appointed to draw up an out-
line, in regular systematic order, for its consideration.
But progress in these points was retarded by various
events. On the 22d of October, 1647, "the Larger
Catechism was ordered to be sent up to both Houses
of Parliament, by the prolocutor, attended with the
whole Assembly." Nov, 26, 1647, "the prolocutor
informed the Assembly that he had delivered the
Short Catechism and message to the House of Com-
mons [25th November] .... the Short Catechism be
printed as the Larger, and Scriptures affixed to the
margins of both the Catechisms." April 14, 1648,
" the prolocutor informed the Assembly he had deliv-
ered the Catechisms [to the House of Commons], and
was called in and told that they had ordered 600
copies with the proofs to be printed for the use of the
Assembly and two houses." (See Mimites of the West-
minster Assembly, Edinburgh, 1874.) After they had
been carefully perused by the Parliament, an order
was issued on the 15th of September, 1648, command-
ng them to be printed for public use.

By whom was the original outline of the Catechism

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLE. 9

prepared ? We find no separate committee named ex-
pressly for the purpose of drawing up the Catechism,
and we find repeated j^roofs of a very close connection
between the Catechism and the Confession. It may
reasonably be inferred, therefore, that both subjects
were conducted by the same committee, which was
composed of Drs. Gouge and Hoyle, and Messrs.
Herle, Gataker, Tuckney, Reynolds, Vines and the
Scottish ministers.

After the completion of the Catechism the business
of the Assembly was virtually at an end. But the
Parliament neither fully approved nor rejected the
Assembly's productions, nor yet issued an ordinance
for a formal dissolution of that venerable body. Ne-
gotiations were still going on with the king, and in
one of the papers which passed between His Majesty
and the Parliament he signified his willingness to
sanction the continuation of Presbyterian church
government for three years, and also that the Assem-
bly should continue to sit and deliberate, His Majesty
being allowed to nominate twenty Episcopalian divines
to be added to it for the purpose of having the whole
subject of religion again formally debated. To this
proposal the Parliament refused to consent, but it
probably tended to prevent them from formally dis-
solving the Assembly, so long as there remained any
shadow of hope that a pacific arrangement might be
effected with His Majesty.

In the mean time many members of the Assembly,
especially those from the country, returned to their
own homes and ordinary duties, and those who re-
mained in London were chiefly engaged in the exami-

10 THE ^WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY.

nation of such ministers as presented themselves for
ordination or induction into vacant charges. They
continued to maintain their formal existence till the
22d of February, 1649, about three weeks after the
king's decapitation, having sat five years six months
and twenty-two days, in which time they had held one
thousand one hundred and sixty-three sessions. They
were then changed into a committee for conducting
the trial and examination of ministers, and continued
to hold meetings for this purpose every Thursday
morning till the 25th of March, 1652, when Oliver
Cromwell having forcibly dissolved the Long Parlia-
ment, by whose authority the Assembly had been at
first called together, that committee also broke up, and
separated without any formal dissolution and as a
matter of necessity.

We only add that what the Westminster Assembly
did in the formation of a rule of faith and a form of
church government, and, as it hoped, for both nations,
was ultimately rejected by the English and adopted
by the Scotch. The Presbyterian Church in our
country derives its origin from that of Scotland, and
has taken its Confession of Faith, with some important
alterations relative to magistrates and civil govern-
ment, and its Catechisms, with only one slight alter-
ation, from the Scottish model. The present standards
of our Church were adopted by the Synod of New
York and Philadelphia, sitting in the latter city, in
May, 1789. In reference to the slight alteration — or
omission rather — just mentioned. Dr. Ashbel Green
says : " It was in the Larger Catechism, where, in
stating what is forbi iden in the second commandment.

THE WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY. 11

the original framers of the Catechism, among many-
things which they specify, mention this : ' tolerating a
false religion.' This clause, as a member of the Synod
that adopted our standards, I remember was rejected
very promptly — I think without debate — and by a
unanimous vote."

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Question 1. — What is the chief end of man?
Answer. — 3Ian's chief end is to glorify God and to
enjoy him forever.

President Humphrey says: "For myself, though I confess
with shame that when my mother used to give me my little
task and teach me The chief end of man, I would gladly have
been excused from both, and wondered what good thing they
could ever do me ; I subsequently found abundant cause to be
thankful for her fidelity and perseverance. I was astonished,
when I began to read the Bible seriously, and to collect and
arrange its doctrines, to find what a fund of definitions and im-
portant scriptural truths I had got treasured up for the occasion.
And how delightful it is to hear, as we sometimes do, the aged
disciple just on the verge of heaven repeating with thrilling
interest and feasting his soul upon the definitions of justification,
adoption, sanctifieation and the like, which, three-quarters of a
century before, were imprinted indelibly upon his memory in
the nursery !"

The daughter of a faithful minister who died in Pennsyl-
vania, in describing his final hour, says : " He summoned his
family to his bedside; gazing upon us all, he thus addressed us:
' My poor girls !' paused, and then asked : ' What is the chief
end of man?' This question I answered in the words of tlie
Shorter Catechism. After this not another word was spoken
by him ; he closed his eyes, and soon calmly and peacefully ex-
pired. At the time I did not feel that much had been said to
me by my dying father, as I had so often been asked, and an-
swered, the question before. Very different, however, has been
my opinion under a ripei judgment and experience. A volume

13

14 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

could not have embodied more. In no way could the moment-
ous importance of that weighty question have been presented so
as to secure for it a more abiding remembrance and a deeper
lodgment in the soul."

MIGHT WAT TO SEGIN^.

This question is with great propriety made the first
subject of attention in a system of theological truth.
Even in natural religion this is considered as the place
at which all inquiry and discussion must commence.
Dr. Hall says : " ' Man's chief end !' From man up to
God ! It was fitting that the Catechism should begin
in this noble manner. It is characteristic of the
strong, clear, positive religious truth that runs through
it. And as we conceive of the aim and object of life,
life is likely to be. Oh for grace to judge of it justly,
and to yield it up to God in Jesus Christ our Lord !"

A twofold end of man's life is here stated, or, rather,
one end, consisting in action and fruition.

I. GIOniFYING GOD.

The glory of God is essential and declarative. The
former belongs to him as light to the sun, and can re-
ceive no addition, because it is infinite. (Acts vii. 2 ;
Job XXXV. 7.) In this sense he is exalted above all
blessing and praise. Our goodness extendeth not to
him. (Ps. xvi. 2.) But " the heavens declare the glory
of God," all his works praise him. (Ps. xix. 1.) How?
By the impressions and displays of his perfections ; by
showing what he is and what he deserves. (1 Chron.
xvi. 29.)

In general, we are to glorify God in our " body "
and in our " spirit " — that is, by exertions peculiar to
each. (1 Cor. vi. 20.) As to the body, we are to do

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 15

this in guarding our health, watching our senses, regu-
lating our appetites, opposing idleness and intemper-
ance, yielding our members as instruments of right-
eousness unto God (Rom, vi. 13), and rendering our
natural refreshments and our secular callings sub-
servient to religion. (See 1 Cor. x. 31.) As to the
spirit, we are to glorify God in the understanding by
exploring his truth ; in the memory, by retaining his
word ; in the conscience, by fearing to offend him ; in
the will, by submitting to his commands and acqui-
escing in his dispensations ; in our affections, by loving
him above all ; and in our dependence, by rejoicing in
Christ Jesus and having no confidence in the flesh.
(Phil. iii. 3.)

In particular, we are to glorify God — I. By believ-
ing. (Rom. iv. 20 ; Acts viii. 37, 39 ; Dan. iii. 17 ;
Ps. xxxi. 5 ; John iii. 23 ; Heb. xi. 6 ; 1 John v. 10.)
II. By a penitent confession of sin. (Luke xxiii. 41 ;
XV. 18 ; Josh. vii. 19 ; Neh. ix. 33.) III. By laying to
heart any dishonor done to God. (Ps. Ixix. 9.) IV.
By acknowledging that he is the Author of all that is
good in us. (Ps. cxv. 1 ; 1 Cor. xv. 10.) V. By
praising him. (Ps. 1. 23; Ixxxvi. 12; Rev. v. 8, 10.)

VI. By our holy walk. (Matt. v. 16 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9 ;
1 John ii. 6.)

" Thus shall we best proclaim abroad
The honors of our Saviour God,
"When tlie salvation reigns within
And grace subdues the power of sin."

VII. By the cheerfulness of our lives. (2 Cor. vi. 10;
Ps. c. 2.) VIII. By our profession of the name of
God. (Rom. X. 10 ; Heb. x. 23.) IX. By faithful-

16 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

uess in his service. (John xv. 8 ; Luke vii. 47 ; Rom.
xiv. 8 ; 2 Cor. v. 15 ; Phil. i. 11.) X. By our readi-
ness to suffer for his sake. (Acts v. 41 ; 2 Cor. xi. 25-
27 ; John xxi. 18, 19 ; Rev. xii. 11.) XI. By prefer-
ring his glory to all other things. (Deut. xxxiii. 9 ;
John xil 28 ; Phil. i. 15.)

II. EJfJOTING GOD.

What is it to " enjoy God " ? To acquiesce or rest
in him as the chief good with complacency and de-
light. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) God is the proper portion of
the soul (Ps. xvi. 5), and without a saving interest in
him through Christ there cannot be any real or endur-
ing happiness. (Eccles. i. 2 ; Ps. xxx. 5 ; Ixiii. 3, 4, 6,
7 ; Ixxiii. 28.) There is, let it be observed, an insep-
arable connection between glorifying and enjoying God.
We must have conformity with him in grace before
we can have communion with him on earth or in
glory. (Ps. Ixxxiv. 4, 11 ; Matt. v. 8 ; 2 Thess. i. 10.)
God is enjoyed by his people in this life when they
cleave to him by faith, taste his goodness and delight
themselves in his gracious presence and the sensible
manifestations of his special love to them. (Josh,
xxiii. 8 ; Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; Rom. v. 5.)

"God has been cutting off one source of enjoyment after an-
other," said the Rev. Dr. Payson on a sick bed, " till I find I
can do without them all, and yet enjoy more happiness tlian
ever in my life before." — " It has pleased God lately to teach
me more than ever," said the Rev. Samuel Peirce, " that like-
ness to him, friendship for him and communion with him,
form the basis of all true enjoyment."

" The men of grace have found
Glory begun below,

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 17

And heavenly fruits on eartlily ground
P>oin faith and hope will grow."

The principal enjoyment of God, however, Is re-
served for heaven. (Ps. Ixxiii. 25-28 ; 1 Cor, xiii. 12 ;
Heb. iv. 9.) Here the enjoyment is only partial — there
it will be full and complete (1 John iii. 2) ; here it is
only in the seed, or first-fruits — there it will be in the
full harvest. (Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6.) That enjoyment will
be not only in inspection, but also in possession. (John
xvii. 4, 5 ; Rom. viii. 18.) His presence is the source
of happiness. (Ps. xvi. 11.)

" Blessed be God," said Dr. Preston, when dying, " though
I change my place, I shall not change my company, for I have
walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with God !"

FOn EVER.

"The thing I rejoice in is this," .said Halyburton, "that
God is altogether full, and that in the Mediator, Christ Jesu.s,
is all the fullness of the Godhead, and it will never run out."

An eminent minister, after having been .silent in company
for a considerable time, and being asked the reason, replied
that the powers of his mind had been solemnly absorbed with
the thought of eternal happiness. " Oh, ray friends," said he
with an energy that surprised all present, " consider what it is
to be for ever with the Lord — for ever — for ever — for EVER !"
(Ps. xvii. 15 ; xxxvi. 9 ; 1 Pet. v. 4.) How should the pros-
pect of being eternally under the divine rapture of joy stimu-
late to diligence in duty ! (1 Cor. xv. 10 ; 1 Thess. iv. 17.)

"CHIEF END."

These words mean that it is our great duty and in-
terest to " glorify God and to enjoy him for ever." Our
happiness is not our chief end, but the glory of God
itself, in aiming at which chiefli/ we cannot miss the
enjoyment of him. (Isa. ii. 11 ; xlii. 8; Ps. cxiii. 4.)
" 2

18 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

AVe may have other objects in view, such as providing
for ourselves and our families, and securing such a
portion of the good things of the world as are needful
and useful, but these are to be subordinate ends, and
subservient to the great end of our existence as already
stated. (Ps. Ixxiii. 25, 26 ; 1 Cor. x. 31 ; 1 Thess. iv.

II, 12; 1 Tim. V. 8.)

JtEASOKS.

Why are we thus to do ? I. Because we are rational
creatures. (Job xxxii. 8 ; xxxv. 11.) The inanimate
creatures glorify God (Ps. xix. 1 ; Isa. xliii. 20) ; how
much more should man who has been made " a little
lower than the angels " ! (Heb. ii. 7.) II. Because
God is our Creator, Preserver and Redeemer. (Ps.
c. 3; Isa. xliii. 21; Kom. xi. 36; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20.)

III. Because God has made all things for his own glory.
(Prov. xvi. 4 ; Isa. xliii. 21 ; 1 Pet. ii. 9.) IV. Because
God has given «s his word to direct, his Spirit to assist,
and promises his kingdom to encourage lis to glorify him.
(Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20 ; Rom. viii. 26 ; James ii. 5.) V.
Because God is the chief good, and in the enjoyment of
him consists man's highest happiuess. (Ps. iv. 6, 7 ;
Matt. xvi. 26 ; Ps. xvi. 5.) VI. Because nothing so
much secures our happy enjoyment of God as the con-
cern that his glory has in it. His promise of eternal
life to us stands upon the honor of his faithfulness.
(Heb. X. 23.)

Tlioraas Carlyle, who is still a power in literature, says:
" As I stand on the brink of eternity no truth so fully meets
ray wants or so satisfies my intellect as that stated in the
Shorter Catechism : ' JN'^an's chief end is to glorify God and
to enjoy him for ever.' '

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 19

Question 2. — What rule has God given to direct us
how ive may glorify and enjoy himf

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.

" Tliis lamp from off the everlasting throne
Mercy took clown, nnd in the night of time
Stood, casting on the dark her gracious bow,
And evermore beseeching men with tears
And earnest sighs to hear, believe and live."

POLXOK.

Colonel Allen, a celebrated infidel of this country, was one
day summoned from his library to the chamber of a dying
daughter, whom her pious mother instructed in the principles
of Cliristianity. As soon as he approached her bedside she
said to him: "Father, I am about to die. SliuU I believe in
the principles which you have recommended, or shall I believe
in what my mother has taught me?" He became extremely
agitated, his chin quivered, his whole frame shook, and after
waiting a few moments he replied, " Believe what you have
learned from your mother."

JL RULE NEEDED.

" Although the light of nature " ( Confession of Faith,
chap. i. 1) "and the works of creation and providence
do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom and power of
God as to leave men inexcusable (Rom. i. 19, 20; ii.
14, 15; Ps. xix. 1-3), yet are they not sufficient to
give that knowledge of God and of his will which is
necessary unto salvation." (1 Cor. i. 21 ; ii. 13, 14.)

WORD OF GOD.

The Bible is called " the word of God " in Luke xi.
28 ; Rom. ix 6. When great religious truths are to

20 NOTES >N THE SHOETER CATECHLSM.

be unfolded to men, existing words must be used as the
instruments of such teaching. The Bible is the utter-
ance of divine wisdom and love. " Word " (in Greek
Logos) is a name given to Him who " was made flesh
and dwelt among us" (John i. 14) as the Messiali, the
Lord Jesus Christ. It may denote tliat he is the me-
dium by which the Father declares his will.

HOW DO WE KNOW THAT THE SCIIIPTUMES ARE
INSI*IRED?

I. By their antiquity. They relate matters of fact
that have been from the foundation of the world. II.
By their miraculous preservation. They have with-
stood the eflTorts of their enemies in every age either
to destroy or corrupt them. III. By their depth.
The mystery they exhibit could never have been set
forth by man or angel unless it had been divinely re-
vealed. IV. By their purity. Their holiness is a
reflection of the very image of God. (Ps. xii. 6; cxix.
140.) V. By their predictions. (Ex. xii. 41 ; Dan.
ix. 26 ; Isa. vii. 14.) VI. By their impartiality. The
men of God who wrote them recorded their own fail-
ings. VII. By their mighty power and eflicacy.
They change the hearts of men. (2 Cor. iii. 3.)
They also comfort their hearts. (Rom. xv. 4; 2 Cor.
iv. 17; Lam. iii. 31; Ps. cxix. 50.) VIII. By the
miracles wrought in attestation of their divine origin
by the prophets and by our Lord and his apostles.
IX. By the majesty of their style. X. By the agree-
ment of all their parts. XI. By their scope, which is
to give all glory to God. XII. By their adaptedness
to man's necessities in every age and country. XIII.
By the full discovery they make of the only way of

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 21

man's salvation. XIV. By tlieir own testimony that
they are inspired. (2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 1 John v. 9 ; 1
Thess. ii. 13 ; 2 Pet. i. 21 ; Heb. ii. 4.) After all,
however, our full persuasion and assurance of the di-
vine origin of the Scriptures is from the inward work
of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the
word in our hearts. (1 John ii. 20, 27 ; John xvi. 13,
14; 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11.)

"I use the Scriptures, not as an arsenal to be resorted to
only for arms and weapons, . . . but as a inatcliless temple,
where I delight to contemplate the beauty, tlie symmetry and
the magnificence of the structure, and to increase my awe and
excite my devotion to the Deity tliere preached and adored." —
Boyle.

"Scarcely can we fix our eyes upon a single passage in this
wonderful book wliicli has not aflbrded comfort or instruction
to thousands, and been wet with tears of penitential sorrow
or grateful joy drawn from eyes that will weep no more." —
Payson.

" Whence, but from heaven, could men unskilled in arts,
In several ages born, in several parts,
Weave such agreeing truths? or how, or why,
Should all conspire to cheat us with a lie?
Unasked their pains, ungrateful their advice,
Starving tlieir gain and martyrdom their price."

Dryden.

Professor Dana, the foremost of living geologists, packs a
whole volume of argument into two sentences in holding that
if the first chapter of Genesis is proved to be the right natural
account of creation, then it must have been written by in-
spiration. " Examining it as a geologist," adds Professor
Dana, "I find it to be in perfect accord with known .science ;
therefore as a Cliristian I assert that the Bible narrative must
be inspired."

22 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

SCJtlPTlfRES.

This word signifies " writings." In the Bible Gog
has written to us the great things of his law and cove-
nant. (Hos. viii. 12.) Before God's will was com-
mitted to writing it was made known to the Church
by immediate revelation (Gen. ii. 16, 17 ; iii, 15) ; by
frequent appearances of the Son of God (Gen. xviii. 2,
compared with verses 5, 13; Judg. xiii. 11, compared
with verses 18, 19) ; by the ministry of angels (Gen.
xix. 1, 15; Heb. ii. 2), and of the patriarchs (Heb. xi.
7). The word of God was committed to writing, (1)
that the history and doctrine of the word might be
better transmitted to posterity than it could have been
by tradition (2 Pet. iii. 1) ; (2) that the truth might
be better propagated through the world ; and (8) that
there might be in the Church a standing rule of faith
and life by which all doctrines and all actions might
be tested. (Isa. viii. 20.)

THE OLD A.ND XEW TESTAMENT.

The Bible is called the Old and the New Testament
(that is, covenant or appointment), the term by which
God was pleased to indicate the relation or settled
arrangement between himself and his people. The
term was first applied to the relation itself (Ex. xxiv.
7 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 2 ; 2 Cor. iii. 6-14), and afterward
to the books in which the records of the relation are
contained. The Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi
are called the Old Testament. The Old Testament
was written mostly in Hebrew, and was the Bible of
the ancient Jewish Church. It was divided into three
parts — the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms (Luke
X.-&.IV. 44). The Scriptures from Mattliew to Eevelation

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 23

are called the New Testament It was written mostly,
if not wholly, in Greek, and fully unfolds the history
and doctrine of our divine Redeemer and the way of
salvation through him. Its parts are united in one
book, and called The Scriptures (or writings), because
they form a connected written history and are necessary
to illustrate, to explain and to confirm each other.

THE ONLY RULE.

The Scriptures as a rule are to direct and regulate
our faith and practice with a view to our attainment
of the " chief end of man." (Gal. vi. 16.) They are
the judge of controversies, the rock of infallibility ;
that only is to be received for truth which is in ac-
cordance with them. (Luke x. 26 ; Isa. viii. 20 ; Actb
XV. 15 ; Matt. iv. 10 ; Eph. vi. 17.) They are a suffi-
cient and complete rule. " 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 conse-
quence may be deduced from Scripture, unto which
nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new
revelations of the Spirit or traditions of men." (Con-
fession of Faith, 1, vi.) [See Ps. xix. 7 ; Rom. x. 8;
Ps. xix. 105, 130; 1 Cor. ii. 5 ; 1 Tim. iv. 7 ; 2 Tim.
iii. 15 ; Rev. xxii. 18.] The Scriptures are the only
rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy God.
We are not to rely on natural reason, for .t is utterly
unable, as we have seen, to give the smallest discovery
of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant (1 Cor. ii.
14), who is the only way of salvation for lost sinners.
(John xiv. 6.) Neither are we to depend on what
some call the " inner light," for whatever light may be

'24 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

in men without the word is but darkness. [See Luke
xvi. 29, 31; Isa. viii. 20; Acts iv. 12; 1 John iv. 1, 6.]

THE SCJilPrVBES THEin OWN INTERPRETER.

They are plain. (Rom. x. 8 ; Ps. cxix. 105, 130.)
All traditions are to be examined by the Scriptures.
(Isa. viii. 20.) Paul commends the Bereans, "because
they searched the Scriptures daily whether these things
Avere so." (Acts xviii. 12.) And he commanded the
Galatians to reject all teaching opposed to the truth
they had already received. (Gal. i. 8.)

now SHOTTZD THE SCRIPTURES BE STUDIED?

[See John v. 39 ; Col. iii. 16.] I. With reverence, re-
membering that in every line God is speaking to us.
II. With seriousness, remembering that it is a matter
of life or death to us. III. With affection. (Ps. cxix.
97 ; xix. 10 ; Luke xxiv. 32.) IV. With prayer, that
the Spirit who wrote the word may make it profitable
to us. V. With high appreciation of the truth. (Job
xxiii. 12.) VI. With faith, getting our hearts wrought
to a firm belief of them. (Luke xvi. 31 ; 1 John ii. 14 ;
2 Thess. ii, 13.) VII. With a desire to be sanctified
through the truth. It is not only a light to our eyes
to improve our sight, but also to our feet to improve
our walk. (Ps. Ixxxvi. 11 ; cxix. 105.) VIII. With
thankfulness. (2 Pet. i. 18.) IX. With adoration of
God's grace if we can say with David, " Thy Avord
hath quickened me." (Ps. cxix. 50.)

Sir Walter Scott, in liis final sickness, said to Lockhart, his
son-in-law, " Bring me the book." " What book?" said Lock-
hart. "Canyon ask?" said the exi)iring genius. "There ia
■jut one — the Bible."

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 25

Patrick Henry, the distinguished Virginia statesman and
orator, a little before his death remarked to a frierid, wiio
found him reading his Bible, "Here is a book worth more
than all other books which ever were printed, yet it is ray
misfortune never to have, till lately, found time to read it
with proper attention and feeling."

QuESTiox 3. — What do the Scriptures principally
teach f

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

This answer consists of two parts.

I. WHAT MAN IS TO BELIEVE CONCERNING GOD.

Faith is a dependence on the veracity of another or
belief on testimony. In Scripture the testimony which
is the ground of faith means generally the divine tes-
timony announced either by God himself or by his ac-
credited messengers. (John iii. 33 ; Heb. xi. 7.) Faith
may be dead if it be merely in the understanding,
admitting facts as true, but not realizing their bearing
upon ourselves. (James ii. 19.) True faith is the sub-
stance (or realizing) of things hoped for, the evidence
(or sure persuasion) of things not seen. (Heb. xi. 1.)
If genuine, it will work by love (Gal. v. 6), yielding
the fruits of a holy life and conversation. (Matt. vii.
20 ; James ii. 26.)

Observe: (1) It is necessary that we have a faith
concerning God. (Heb. xi. 6 ; Rom. x. 14.) (2) Only
in the Scriptures have we the revelation of God which
we need. (Ps. Iviii. 11 ; John i. 18 ; Rom. i. 20.) (3)
We are to believe what the Scriptures reveal concern-
ing God. (John xvii. 3 ; xx. 21 ; Acts xxiv. 14 ; Prov.

26 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ix. 10 ; ii. 1-5 ; Deut. xxxi. 12.) That there are diffi-
culties in the Bible caunot be denied. These diffi-
culties are a trial of man's faith, like our Lord him-
self in the state of humiliation and suffiiring, who to
some was precious, but to others a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offence. They call for docility and
humble submission to divine authority ; and wherever
these tempers are, revelation will be cordially received.

The following lines were found upon a blank page in Lord
Byron's Bible :

" Within this awful volume lies
The mystery of mysteries.
Oh happiest tliey of human race,
To whom our God has given grace
To hear, to read, to fear, to pray,
To lift the latch and force the way !
But better had they ne'er been born
Who read to doubt or read to scorn."

FAITH AND PRACTICE CONNECTED.

There is a most intimate connection between truth
and duty. Hence, belief concerning God is blended
with corresponding obedience in the answer before
us.

II. WHAT nUTY GOD REQUIItES OP MAN.

By the " duty " here designated is to be understood
that which is God's due, or that which we owe to God,
and are bound to do, with the powers we possess and
in the various relations we sustain. (Job xxviii. 28 ;
Mic. vi. 8 ; Luke x. 27.) As we have already seen,
it is not enough to believe the truth revealed if we do
not the duty required. (Josh, i. 7.) " Faith without

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 27

works is dead." (James ii. 26.) That they which
believe in God might be careful to maiutain good
works. (Titus iii. 8.) Neither is it enough to do
the duty required, though we do not believe the truth
revealed, for " he that believeth not God hath made
him a liar." (1 John v. 10.) Our practice is to be
regulated by the requirements of the Scriptures.

ORDER OF STATEMENT.

It will be observed that faith is here made the
foundation of our obedience, and not obedience the
foundation of our faith. (Titus iii. 8.) In the cove-
nant of works, which was made with man in his
innocency, doing or perfect obedience to the law was
the basis of the promised privilege of life. " The man
which doeth these things shall live by them." (Rom,
X. 5.) But this order is inverted in the covenant of
grace, or under the gospel revelation. The promise is
now to be believed, and the promised privilege — ^namely,
life — must be freely received, and upon this follows our
obedience to the law from gratitude and love. (Jer.
xxxi. 18, 19 ; Ps. xlv. 11 ; Rom. xvi. 26.)

" JPRINCirA-T.LT TEACH."

The Bible contains a good deal of biography and
history and many genealogies, and none of it is without
its use. But the principal or most important parts of it
are those which teach us what to believe and what to do.
If men were uninformed in regard to some of the
other parts of Scripture, they might still understand
the revealed parts of salvation ; and when real Chris-
tians differ, as they often do, about other things, the

28 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

difference is about the unessentials of religion. (See
John XX. 31 ; 2 Tim. i. 13 ; 1 Cor. vii. 12, 13 ; Ps.
cxix. 105.)

Amidst the great variety of books which Sir Isaac Newton
had constantly before him, that which he studied with the
greatest application was the Bible.

" I never knew happiness " (said Wilberforce a little before his
death) "till I found Christ as a Saviour. Read the Bible!
Let no religions book take its place. Through all my per-
plexities and distresses I never read any other book, and I
never knew the want of any other. It has been my hourly
study, and all my knowledge of ihe doctrines and all my ac-
quaintance with the experience and realities of religion have
been derived from the Bible only."

" My practice, since I was thirty years of age," said Presi-
dent John Quincy Adams to a friend, "has been to read the
Bible the first thing I do every morning. This practice I have
followed, with but few interruptions, for fifty years."

Question 4. — What is God f

Answer. — God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and un-
changeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice^
goodness, and truth.

A SPIBIT.

A spirit is a being that has none of the properties
of matter. " God is a Spirit, and they that worship
him must worship him in spirit and in truth." (John
iv. 24; Job x. 4; 1 Tim. vi. 16.) The angels are
spirits. (Ps. civ. 4; Heb. i. 14.) So are the souls of
men. (Zech. xii. 1 ; Eccles. xii. 7.) But God is " the
Father of spirits." (Heb. xii. 9.) As God is a Spirit,
it is absolutely unlawful and idolatrous to form any
external image of him with the hand or any internal

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 29

imaginary idea of him in the fancy. (Deut. iv. 12, 15 ;
Rom. i. 23.)

As a missionary in India was catechising the chiUlren of one
of the schools, a Brahmin interrupted liim by saying that the
spirit of man and the Spirit of God were one. In order to
show him the absurdity of such a declaration, tiie missionary
called upon the boys to i-efute it by stating the difference be-
tween the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. They readily
gave the following answers: "Tiie spirit of man is created —
God is its Creator; the sjiirit of man is fidl of sin — God is a
pure Spirit; the spirit of man is subject to grief — God is in-
finitely blessed and incapable of suffering. Tliese two spirits,
therefore," replied the boys, "can never be one."

infinu'E.

To be infinite is to be without m 'ar:-ure, bounds or
limits. Thus God differs from all created beings,
which are finite. He is infinite in his being and per-
fections. (Job xi. 7 ; xxxvi. 26 ; Ps. cxlv. 3.) He is
everywhere present. (1 Kings viii. 27 ; Ps. cxxxix. 7.)
As God is infinite in his glorious perfections, let us
adore where we cannot comprehend. (Rom. xi. 33 ; Isa.
vi. 3 ; Job xi. 7.) Let us be careful also not to limit
the Holy One of Israel (Ps. Ixxviii. 41) by confining
him within the narroAV compass of our reason.

The teacher of a Sabbath-school once asked liis class,
"Where is God?" One of the elder boys immediately an-
swered, "In heaven." The teacher, not satisfied with this
reply, again repeated the inquiry, when a lad younger than
the other answered, "Everywhere." Requiring still further
explanation, the question was again put, " Where is God ?"
when a third boy called out, "God is here." The views of
the teacher were now met, and he endeavored to impress upon
the minds of the children the important truth that God is in
heaven — God is everywhere — God is liere.

30 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ETERNAZ.

God has always existed and always shall exist.
" From everlasting to everlasting thou art God." (Ps.
xc. 2, 4 ; Job X. 5 ; Ps. cii. 12, 27 ; 2 Pet. iii. 8 ; 1 Tim. '
vi. 16 ; Heb. i. 8.)

One of tlie deaf and dnmb pnpila in tlie institution of Paris
being desired to express his idea of the eternity of the Deity,
replied, "It is duration, without beginning or end ; existence,
witliout bound or dimension ; present, witliout past or future.
His eternity is youth, without infancy or old age; life, witliout
birth or death ; to-day, without yesterday or to-morrow."

VNCIIANGEA B T.E.

I am Jehovah and change not. (Mai. iii. 6.) He is
the Father of lights, ^^ith whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turring. (James i. 17.) In such
passages as Gen. vi. 6 ; 1 Sam. xv. 11, in which God is
represented as having changed, he accommodates his
language to our conceptions — the change of his mind
signifies merely a change of dispensation. So, when
God is said to love a person whom he once hated, or
to hate one whom he once loved, he no more changes
than the sun does when the different parts of the earth
successively come into his light and retire into dark-
ness. The change is in themselves. God's immuta-
bility ensures the fulfilment of his promises (Isa. liv.
10) and the execution of his threatenings. He " will
by no means clear the guilty." (Ex. xxxiv. 7.)

BEING.

"Thou art the same." (Ps. cii. 27.) At every point
of God's existence it may be said to him, " Thou art."
His name, " I AM " (John viii. 58), implies that in his
being ; the distinctions of past, present ; and to come ;

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 31

have no place. (Ex. iii. 14 ; 1 Cor. viii. 6 ; 1 Tim. vi.
16 ; 2 Pet. iii. 8.)

WIS DO U.

The wisdom of God consists not only in knowledge,
but in the right use of his boundless stores of know-
ledge. He knows all things, and he turns his know-
ledge to the best account. (Job ix. 4 ; xxxiv. 21, 34
I Tim. i. 17; Ps. cxlvii. 5; cxxxix. 1 ; Heb. iv. 13
Ps. civ. 24; 1 Cor. ii. 6, 7; Eph. iii. 10; Isa. xl. 13, 14
xlvi. 10; Actsiv. 28.)

POWER.

By this is meant God's ability to do what he desires
or purposes to do. " If I speak of strength, lo, he is
strong." (Job ix. 19.) " I am the Almighty God."
(Gen. xvii. 1.) [See Dan. iv. 35 ; Ps. Ixxv. 5, 7 ; Isa.
xlvi. 10 ; Rev. xix. 16 ; Ps. viii. 3.]

BOLiy^ESS.

This is that essential uprightness or integrity of the
nature of God by which he infinitely delights in his
own purity and in everything that is pure, and so
agreeable to his will, and has a perfect hatred and
abhorrence of everything contrary to it. (Hab. i. 13 ;
Jer. xliv. 4.) "Glorious in holiness." (Ex. xv. 11.)
" Holy and reverend is his name." (Ps. cxi. 9.) " The
Holy One." (Job vi. 10.) [See also Isa. vi. 3 ; Ps.
XXX. 4 ; 1 Pet. i. 16.]

JUSTICE.

The justice of God is the rectitude of his nature, by
which he is moved to the doing of that which is right-
eous and equal. (Prov. xxiv. 12.) "Just and right is
he." (Deut. xxxii. 4.) " He is excellent in power and

32 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ill judgment." (Job xxxvii. 23.) " Justice and judg-
ment are the habitation of thy throne." (Ps. Ixxxix.
14.) God cannot but be just. His holiness will not
suffer him to do anything but what is righteous. (Heb.
i. 9.) [See also Ps. cxlv. 17; xcii. 15; xi. 7.]

GOOD]yx:ss.

The goodness of God is his essential property, by
which he is altogether good in himself and the Author
of all good. " Thou art good and doest good." (Ps.
cxix. 68.) He is " the Lord, the Lord God, merciful
and gracious." (Ex. xxxiv. 6.) He " is good to all,
and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Ps,
cxlv. 9.) He is in a special manner good to his people.
" Truly God is good to Israel. (Ps. Ixxiii. 1.) [See Ps.
xxxiv. 8.]

As a missionary in the South Sea Islands was one day read-
ing the sixteenth verse of the third chapter of John to the
natives, one of them exclaimed, "Can that be true? God
love the world when the world not love him ! God so love
the world as to give his Son to die that man miglit not die !
Can that be true?" When the missionary told him it ims
true, he burst into tears, retired to meditate in private on the
great love of God which had that day touched his soul.

TRUTH.

This is that essential perfection of God's nature by
which he cannot but fulfill and accomplish whatever
he has spoken, or do as he has said. (Num. xxiii. 19.)
" A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right
is he." (Deut. xxxii. 4.) "For thy mercy is great
unto the heavens and thy truth unto the clouds." (Ps.
Ivii. 10.) Plenteous in truth. (Ps. cxxxvi. 15. See

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 33

also 1 Kings viii. 56 ; Tit. i. 2 ; 1 Sam. xv. 29 ; Ps.
cxvii. 2 ; Heb. x. 23 ; vi. 18.)

The following account of the way in which the answer, just
considered, was prepared, is full of interest:

The commiltee to wliich was referred the question, Wltai is
Godf all felt the unapproachable sublimity of the divine idea
suggested by these words, but who could venture to give it ex-
pression in human language? All shrank from the sacred
task in awe-struck, reverential fear. At length it was resolved,
as an expression of the committee's deep humility, that the
youngest member should first make the attempt. He con-
sented, but begged that the brethren would first unite with
him in prayer for divine enlightenment. Then, in slow and
solemn accents, he thus began his prayer: "O God, thou art a
Spirit, infinite, eternal and unchaugcal)le in thy being, wisdom,
power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth." When he ceased,
the first sentence of his prayer was immediately written down
and adopted as the most perfect answer that could be con-
ceived ; as, indeed, in a very sacred sense, God's own answer
descriptive of himself. The youngest member of that com-
mittee was George Gillespie — the man, therefore, who was
thus guided to frame this marvellous answer.

Question 5. — Are there more Gods than one f
Answer. — There is but one only, the living and true
God.

TEACHING OF SCRIPTURE.

The Scriptures plainly teach that there is but one
God. (Deut. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6 ; Mark xii. 29,
32.) He is the " only God." (Deut. iv. 39 ; Isa xlv.
21 ; xlvi. 9. See also 1 Kings xviii. 39 ; Ps. xcv. 3 ;
xcvi. 5 ; Isa xxxvii. 16.)

EVIDENCE FROM REASON.

How is it evident from reason that there is hut one
Godf

3

34 NOTES ON THE SHOltTER CATECHISM,

1. There can be but ooe First Cause, that has ita
being of itself, and on which all other beings depend.
Hence there can be but one God, because there is but
one First Cause.

2. Because God is infinite, and there cannot be more
than one infinite being, forasmuch as one infinite being
sets bounds and limits to all other beings, and nothing
that is bounded and limited can be infinite. (See Jer.
xxiii. 24.) The argument has been thus stated: "One
infinite and perfect Being absolutely and necessarily
precludes a second. If two beings be sujjposed of
equal or similar attributes, neither can be infinite or
perfect, because it is manifest that if to either were
given the powers and prerogatives of the other, there
would be an increase of what was possessed before.
But what is infinite is perfect, and therefore, as God
is infinite and perfect (see on Question 4), there is and
can be but one God."

3. Because there could not be a uniform governing
of all things in the world to one certain end if the
infinitely wise Governor, who is at the helm, were not
one only. If there were two Omnipotents, then we
must always suppose a contest between these two.
(Isa. xliv. 6 ; Job ix. 12.) Throughout its whole extent
our globe exhibits proof of its having been formed by
the same almighty hand. Everywhere the dry land is
composed of the same materials, and the sea has the
same properties. Throughout the entire visible uni-
verse, indeed, we behold a unity and simpllcitii of de-
sign and end which most powerfully impress the con-
viction that one, and but one, glorious Being created it
at first, and upholds and governs it continually.

NOTES ON TPIE SHORTER CATECHISM. 35

THE LIVIXG GOD.

Why is God said to be the "living" God f Not
only in contrast with the gods whom the heathen wor-
ship, and which are without life and without under-
standing, but because he has life essentially in him-
self (John V. 26) ; is the great Author and Preserver
of the life of every living creature ; and gave existence
to all things. (Acts. xvii. 28 ; Jer. x. 18, 20 ; Gen. xvii.
1 ; 1 Tim. vi. 13.)

THE tutte god.

Wliy is God called the " true " God f Because all
other beings that are called and regarded as gods are
not really such ; they are false gods : those who worship
them are deceived. (Jei*. x. 10, 11, 15; John xvii. 3;
Ps. xcvi. 5.)

THE LlViya AXD TRUE GOD.

Wliy are " living " and " true " put together in the
answer ?

Because they are insepai'ably conjoined in the in-
finitely perfect nature of God. He who is the living
God is the only true God ; and the true God the only
living God. (1 Thess. i. 9.)

PJtACTICAT. T.ESSOXS.

From the truth that there is but one God the fol-
lowing things are evident:

1. There can be but one true religion in the world.
" One Lord, one faith." (Eph. iv. 5.)

2. We should present our bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable ser-
vice. (Rom. xii. 1.)

36 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

3. We should take heed of setting up more gods
than one. (Ps. xvi. 4 ; 2 Tim. iii. 4; Eph. v. 5.)

4. From gratitude that we possess a knowledge of
the only true God ; we should pity and pray for the
heathen Avho are living in idolatry, and try to send
them the Bible.

5. As God is one, they who serve him should be
one. This is what Christ prayed so earnestly for.
(John xvii. 21. See also Acts iv. 32 ; Ps. cxxxiii. 1.)

6. We should strive for assurance that God is ours.
What comfort is it to know that there is a God, and
that he is the only God, unless he be our God ? (Ps.
xlviii. 14.)

The Rev. Narayan Shesliadri, tlie eloquent converled Brah-
min who visited America in 1873, ways that the study of the
wonderful announcement made in the first words of the Bible,
of one personal Creator of the universe, existitig from all eter-
nity, was one of the chief means of turning him from idol-
atry. The same declaration has been made by many otliers
who have been brought from heathen darkness to the light of
faith in the One Living and True God.

Question 6. — Soiv many persons are there in the
Godhead f

Answer. — There are three persons in the Godhead;
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these
three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power
and glory.

TTIK GODHEAD.

By " the Godhead " is meant the divine nature and
essence. God is one, yet there are three distinct per-
sons subsisting in one Godhead. This is a sacred mys-
tery which the light of reason could nevei have discov-

NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 37

ered. The three Persons in the blessed Trinity are
dintiuguished, but not divided — three subsistences,
but one essence. Tliis is entirely a doctrine of reve-
lation.

An old writer ventures to shadow the doctrine by
this similitude : " In the body of the sun there is the
substance of the sun, the beams and the heat ; the
beams are begotten of the sun, the heat proceeds both
from the sun and the beams, but these three, though
difierent, are not divided ; they all three make one sun.
So in the blessed Trinity the Son is begotten of the
Father, the Holy Ghost proceeds from both, yet
thouuh they are three distinct Persons there is but
one God."

AJV USSEjyriAL DOCTRIXE.

That this doctrine of the Trinity is a fundamental
article is beyond all doubt, because without the know-
ledge and belief of the Trinity of Persons we would
remain ignorant of the love of the Father, the merit
of the Son and the sanctifying influences of the Holy
Ghost, in the purchase and application of redemption,
without which there could be no salvation. " This is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John
xvii. 3. See also John xiv. 17 ; i. 18 ; I John ii. 23 ;
V. 20 ; Rom. viii. 9 ; x. 14.)

PROOF FROM SCRIPTUh.]i:.

How can the Trinity of Persons be proved from the
Scriptures ?

By many express declarations. " In the beginning,
EloJiini" — literally Gods — "created the heavens and

38 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

the earth." (Gen. i. 1.) Here God speaks of himself in
the plural number. " The Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters." (Gen. i. 2.) Here is a dis-
tinct recognition of the First and Third Persons of the
Trinity. By the Word of the Lord, or Jehovah, were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the
breath, or spirit, of his mouth. (Ps. xxxiii. 6.) Here
the plurality already referred to is expressly limited to
three Persons — Jehovah, the Word and the Spirit, all
concurring in the creation of all things : accordingly,
we are told that all things were made by the Word
(John i. 3), and that the Spirit garnished the heavens.
(Job xxvi. 13.) The same truth is also evident from
Isa. Ixiii. 7, 9, 10, where we read of the loving-kindness
of Jehovah, of the Angel of his presence saving them,
and of their vexing his Holy Spirit. There are sev-
eral passages of the Old Testament in which God
speaks of himself as more than one. (Gen. i. 26 ; iii.
22 ; Isa. vi. 8 ; Gen. xi. 7.) The benediction of Aaron
(Num. vi. 24-26), in which there is a threefold repeti-
tion of the name Jehovah, corresponds with the Chris-
tian benediction. (2 Cor. xiii. 14.) The same construc-
tion may be put on the threefold ascription of holiness
to God by the seraphim, as recorded in Isa. vi. 3.

The New Testament Scriptures furnish the clearest
and most satisfactory testimony. (Matt, xxviii. 19 ;
John xiv. 26 ; xv. 26 ; 1 John v. 7 ; Titus iii. 5, 6 ;
Eph. ii. 18 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14 ; Gal. iv. 6. See also
Phil. ii. 6; Prov. viii. 23; Heb. i. 3; Col. ii. 9;
John i. 1 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16 ; Deut. vi. 5 ; compared with
Matt. xxii. 37 ; John x. 30 ; Rev. i. 8 ; Col. i. 16 ;
Matt. ix. 2; John xiv. 1-3 ; Heb. i. 6 ; John x pi. 13 ;

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 39

1 Cor. xii. 5, 6 ; Matt. xii. 32 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; Rom.
viii. 11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 19.)

THUEE PERSONS.

As already stated, there is only one essence of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, but in tl.is one
essence there is a threefold distinction, which we ex-
press by saying that there are three Persons. These
Persons are distinguished from each other by their
personal properties. Divine perfections are common to
them all — eternity, immutability, power, Avisdom and
goodness — but a personal property is something pecu-
liar to each, something which may be affirmed of one,
but cannot be affirmed of the other two. It is the
personal property of the Father to beget the Son. (Ps.
ii. 7 ; Heb. i. 5, 8.) It is the personal property of the
Son to be begotten of the Father, (John i. 14.) It is
the personal property of the Holy Ghost to proceed
from the Father and the Son. (John xv. 26.)

The Persons of the Trinity are further distinguished
by their operations. We cannot now understand how,
the nature being one, acts are performed by one Person
which cannot be ascribed to another, but the fact is so
stated in the Scriptures, and Ave are bound to receive
their testimony. (See John v. 17, 19 ; Isa. xlviii. 16.)

The Father is called the first Person, the Son the
second, and the Holy Ghost the third. This is the
order of their subsistence, and it is pointed out by their
internal relations, but it does not imply the priority
of one to another in time or in dignity. The three
Persons are co-eternal and co-equal, so that in
all things the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in

40 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Unity is to be worshiped. In proof of the divinity
of the respective Persons, see Eph. iv. 6 ; 1 Cor, viii.
6 ; XV. 24 ; John i. 1 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; John viii. 58 ; xxi.
17; Matt, xviii. 20; Heb. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. i. 2; Matt,
xxviii. 19; Acts v. 3, 4; Ps. cxxxix. 7; John xiv.
17 ; 1 Cor. ii. 10 ; John iii. 5 ; xv. 26 ; Rom. xv. 16.

The Key. Thomas DoolitQe pays: "May I not, for my ad-
monition, make use of what I have read of Augustine, who, as
he was walking by tiie seaside and meditating on the Trinity,
saw a child pouring the water of the sea into a shell having a
liole in the midst thereof, and demanded of tiie child what he
was doing. The child said, 'I am putting all the sea into this
shell.' Augustine answered, 'Thou playest the child; can a
shell, thiukest thou, comprehend all this sea?' The child re-
plied, 'So, good sir, do you who would by reason comprehend
the Trinity.' The child vanished. Augustine perceived it
was an angel, and was instructed by it that this doctrine was
above the reach of reason."

Question 7. — Whni are the decrees of God f
Answer. — The decrees of God are his eternal purpose
according to the counsel of his ivill, whereby, for his
own glory, he hath foreordained tvhatsoever comes to
pass.

No one will deny that there are divine decrees who
believes that God is an intelligent being, and considers
what this character implies. An intelligent being is
one Avho knows and judges, who purposes ends and
devises means, who acts from design, conceives a plan,
and then proceeds to execute it. AVhen various plans
are laid before us, and we prefer one to the rest, this
act of our minds is a decree or purpose by wltich our
subsequent conduct is regulated. The works of God,

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 41

in like manner, necessarily presuppose a decree, as the
plan of which they arc the development. It will cer-
tainly be admitted that God intended to create the
world before he actually created it; that he intend-
ed to make man before he fashioned his body and
breathed the breath of life into his nostrils ; that he
intended to govern the world which he had made ac-
cording to certain laws. And it will be further admit-
ted that when he resolved to create the woi'ld and to
make man, and to establish laws physical and moral,
he had some ultimate object in view. Having con-
structed a machine and set it in motion, he knew
what would be the result, aud this result was the true
reason, or the final cause, why the machine was con-
structed. This intention of the Deity is his decree.
In other words, the decree of God is his will, in which
the exertions of his power and the manifestations of
his other perfections originated.

« PURPOSE."

Though we speak properly of the " decrees " of God
inasmuch as they relate to many things, yet are we to
regard his decreeing act as one simple act only, because
of the perfect oneness or simplicity of his nature, on
account of which he could not but decree all things at
once, and because all things are naked and opened
unto his omniscient eye (Heb. iv. 13), aud because
also of his immutability. (Mai. iii. 6.)

ARGUMENT FROM FOREKNOWLEDGE.

That God foreknew all things we must believe, or
we cannot believe in the perfection of his nature. But
nothing can be foreknown Avhilst it remains uncertain.

42 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

Future events, then, to be foreknown, must be perfect-
ly certain. Now, before the events took place — innu-
merable ages before they took place — nothing could
make their occurrence perfectly certain but the deter-
mination of God.

PHOOF JTBOM SCRIPTURE.

The Scriptures make mention of the decrees of God
in many passages and in a variety of terms. (See Eph.
i. 9 11 ; Acts ii. 23 ; iv. 27, 28 ; xxvii. 23, 24 ; Rom.
viii. 29 ; Pi'ov. xvi. 33.)

" eternaij purpose."

When an apostle says, " Known unto God are all
his works from the beginning of the world " (Acts xv.
18), he virtually teaches that his decrees are eter-
nal, for his words import that at the commencement
of time the plan w'as arranged according to which his
works were to be executed. If they had not been de-
termined upon, they could not have been foreknown as
certain. Temporal decrees suppose the knowledge of
the Deity to be limited, and that he is receiving acces-
sions to it in the progress of time. (See Eph. i. 4 ; 2
Tim. i. 9 ; Rom. xi. 33 ; 1 Cor. ii. 7.)

"THE COUKSEZ OF HIS OWN WIZL."

This implies that the decrees of God are infinitely
wise, as what is done with counsel is said, according to
human modes of speaking, to be done advisedly, in
opposition to its being done rashly or with precipita-
tion. (See Eph. i. 11 ; Matt. xi. 26 ; Heb. vi. 17 ; Ps.
cxv. 2; Dan iv. 35 ; Isa. xlvi. 10.)

NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 43

FOit HIS owy^ oj.ort.

Eph. i. 12; Eev. iv. 11; Acts xv. 18, in connection
with Ps. civ. 31 ; Prov. xvi. 4 ; Rom. ix. 22, 23.

FOItEOJtDAIXJi:n WHATSOEVER COMES TO JPASS.

Ps. xxxi. 15 ; Prov. xvi. 33 ; xix. 21. The decrees
of God extend to things naturally and morally good
effectively, because he is the Author and efficient cause
of all good. ( Phil. ii. 1 3.) They extend to things moral-
ly evil permissively and directively only, yet God over-
rules them for good, contrary to the intention both of
the work and worker. (Ps. Ixxvi. 10. See Gen. xlv.
5-8 and 1. 20.)

" There is " (says an old and able Avriter) " a twofold
will of God — the will of God's precept and of his
decree. While the wicked resist the wnll of God's
precept, they fulfill the will of his permissive decree.
Judas betrays Christ — Pilate condemns him — the
soldiers crucify him ; while they resisted the will of
God's precept, they fulfilled the will of his permissive
decree. (Acts iv. 22.) Such as are wicked God com-
mands one thing, they do quite the contrary ; to keep
the Sabbath, they pi-ofane it ; while they disobey his
command, they fulfill his permissive decree. If a man
sets up two nets, one of silk, the other of iron, the silken
net may be broken, not the iron : God's commands are
the silken net. While men break the silken net of
God's command, they are taken in the iron net of his
decree, his decree to permit their sin, and to punish
them for their sin permitted." (See James i. 13, 17 ; 1
John i. 5 ; Eccl. vii. 29.)

44 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED— ME AKS NOT SUPER-
SEVEJD.

The divine decrees do uot, as some allege, render the
use of means unnecessary. God had decreed to pre-
serve Paul and those who were with him in the ship
(Acts xxvii. 24), yet lawful means were to be used ; the
sailors must not get leave to flee out of the ship, other-
wise the rest could not be saved (verse 31). No man
argues thus : " God hath decreed how long I shall live,
therefore I will not use means to preserve my life — not
eat and drink." God has decreed the time of our
lives in the use of means. So has he decreed our sal-
vation in the use of means, and as a man that refuses
food murders himself, so he that refuses to work out
his salvation destroys himself The means are decreed
as well as the end. " Prepared unto glory " (Rom. ix.
23) ; " Chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth." (2 Thess. ii.
13.) An old writer well says : " Hast thou a heart to
pray to God ? It is a sign no decree of wrath hath
passed against thee."

J^IBEliTT OF WILL NOT riOT.ATED.

Neither do the decrees of God destroy the liberty
of man's will or the contingency of second causes.
(See Matt. xvii. 12.) Voluntary agents may act freely,
and yet act in exact accordance with what is, upon the
whole, God's pleasure. In the execution of his de-
crees he does not change the nature of things, but
suffers rational agents to act freely and voluntarily,
as being under no more restraint or compulsion tlian
though there had been no such decree. For example,

NOTES ON THE SIIOllTER CATECHISM. 45

^vhat Pilate and the Jews did when they they cruci-
fied the Lord of glory was Avith full freedom of their
own will, aud yet they did nothing but what God's
hand and counsel determined before to be done. (Acts
iv. 27, 28.)

COMFORT FROM THE DOCTItlNE.

The immutability of God's decrees affords comfort.
1. In relation to his providence towards his Church.
The troubling of his Church is like the angel's troub-
ling the water. (John v. 4 ; Dan. xii. 6.) The wheels
in a watch move opposite to one another, but they all
carry on the motion of the watch ; so the wheels of
Providence often move contrary to our desires, but
still they carry on God's unchangeable purpose con-
cerning his Church. (Ps. xlvi. 5.) 2. In relation to
the salvation of the godly. (2 Tim. ii. 19. See also
Rev. iii. 5; John xiii. 1.)

GOD'S COUNSELS UlfFATnOHTAIiT.E.

Can we fathom God's counsels ? No, for his judg-
ments are a great deep. (Ps. xxxvi. 6.) Ought we not
therefore to acquiesce in them? Yes. (See 2 Sam. xv.
26.) May we question God's proceedings ? No, for his
thoughts are above our thoughts. (Isa. Iv. 9.)

The following conversation between Mr. Wesley and Mr Si-
meon is related by Dr. Dealtry in his sermon on the occa-<ion
of tiie death of the latter:

" Pray, sir," said Mr. Simeon, " do you feel yourself to be a de-
praved creature — so depraved that you would never have thoiight
of turning to God if God had not first put it into your heart?"

"Yes," siiys the veteran Wesley, " I do iudeed."

" And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to

46 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

God by anything- tliat you can do, and look for salvation solely
through the blood and rigliteousness of Clirist?"

" Yes, solely tlirough Christ."

" But, sir, supposing you were first saved by Christ; are you
not, sonieliow or other, to save yourself afterward by your
own works?"

" No ; I must be saved by Christ from first to last."

" Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of
God, are you not in some way or other to keep yourself by
your own power ?"

" No."

" What, then ! are you to be upheld every hour and every
moment by God, as raucli as an infant in its mother's arms ?"

'' Yes, altogether."

"And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God to
preserve you unto his heavenly kingdom ?"

" Yes; I have no hope but in him."

" Then, sir, with your leave, I will put up my dagger again ;
for tliis is all my Calvinism, this is my election, my justifica-
tion by faith, my final perseverance ; it is, iu substance, all that
I hold, and as I hold, it."

Question. 8. — How doth God execute his decrees f

Answer. — God executeth his decrees in the works of
creation and providence.

What is it for God to execute his decrees ? God
executes his decrees when he does what he eternally
purposed to do — when he brings to pass what he had
before ordained should be.

All God's decrees shall be executed. (Isa. xiv. 24 ;
xiv. 27; xlvi. 10; Dan. iv. 35.)

creation:

How do we know that God executed his decrees iu
the work of creation? (Rev. iv. 11. See Heb. i. 10;
Prov. viii. 22 ; 2 Pet. i. 3.)

NOTES ON THE SHOr.TEIl CATECHISM. 47
PROVIDENCE.

How do we know that God executes liis decrees in
the works of jirovidence ? " The Lord hath prepared
his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over
all." (Ps. ciii. 19 ; xxxiii. 18 ; cxxxix. 2 ; xciv. 9 ;
Isa. lix. 1 ; 1 Cor. iii. 7.) It is sometimes said that
though God's providence may rule in great things,
small events must be beneath his notice. Our Lord
expressly contradicts such a notion. (Matt. x. 29, 30.)
Besides, the smallest link in the chain is as necessary
as the greatest ; its failure would disarrange and dis-
locate the whole.

Let it be observed that whilst God executes the
work of creation entirely without means, by the word
of his power, he executes the work of providence, or-
dinai'ily, in the use of them. It should also be noted,
that whatever use God may make of second causes in
the execution of his decrees, yet they are merely in-
struments in his overruling hand to bring about his
glorious designs ; they are his servants, and must do all
his pleasure. (Acts iv. 27, 28. See on Question 11,
Gen. i. 1 ; Ex. xx. 11 : John i. 1, 2, 3 ; Ps. cxlviii. 5.)
Is not God still working ? " My Father (says Christ)
worketh hitherto, and I work." (John v. 17. See
Heb. i. 3 ; Ps. xlvii. 7, 8 ; Isa. Iv. 8 ; xlv. 7 ; xl. 22.)

In relation to the works of God let it be observed — •
1. They are manifold. (Ps. civ. 24.) 2. They are hon-
orable and glorious. (Ps. cxi. 3,) 3. They are perfect.
(Deut. xxxii. 4.) 4. They ought to be studied. (Ps.
cxi. 3 ; xxviii. 5.) 5. They canuot be thoroughly dis-
covered. (Eccl. iii. 11: Ps. Ixxvii. 19.) 6. All his
works praise him. (Ps. clxv. 10.)

48 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

THE GREATEST WORK.

To which of the works in which God executes his
decrees does redeviption belong? To the pi'ovidence
of God, as the most glorious part of it toward men.

" Kederaption ! 'twas creation more sublime;
Redemption ! 'twas the labor of the skies;
Far more than labor ; it was death in heaven ;
A truth so strange, 'twere bold to think it true,
If not far bolder still to disbelieve."

PRACTICAL JOES SONS.

From the doctrine now stated we learn — 1. That in
God's plans the means as well as the results are em-
braced, and rendered certain to be employed. 2. That
we can come to a knowledge of God's decrees only by
the acts which he performs, and by the events which
he brings about or suffers to take place. 3. That all
the promises of God shall be punctually accomplished,
and not one of them fall to the ground. (Mark xiii.
31.)

" Nothing was more remarkable," says tlie biographer of
Mr. Newton, "than his constant habit of regarding the hand
of God in every event, however trivial it might appear to
others. In walking to his churcli he would say, 'The way of
man is not in himself, nor can he conceive what belongs to a
single step. When I go to St. Mary Woolnoth, it seems the
same whether I turn down Lathbury, or go through the Old
Jewry, but the going through one street, and not another, may
produce an effect of lasting consequence. A man cut do\#n
my hammock in sport, but had he cut it down half an hour
later, I had not been here, as the exchange of the crew was
then making. A man made a smoke on the seasiiore at the

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 49

time a ship passed, wliicli was thereby brouglit to, and after-
ward brougiit nie to England."

Question 9. — What is the tvorh of creation f
Answer. — The work of creation is, God's making all

things of nothing, by the word of his jiower, in the space

of six days, and all very good.

The world must have had a maker — it could uot
make itself. If one should go into a distant country and
see stately edifices there, he would never imagine that
these could build themselves, but that that there had
been some artificer there to raise such goodly structures ;
so the great fabric of the world could uot create itself
— it must have had some builder or maker.

DID NOT EXIST FROM ETERNITY.

There is not the slightest foundation for the opinion
of some ancient philosophers that the world existed
from eternity. This supposition is not only contrary
to Scripture, but to common sense and reason, which
tell us that what is created, and has a duration by
succession of time, must have had a beginning.

PROOF FROM SCRIRTURE.

That God created tlie world we know — I. From the
testimony of Scripture. (Gen. i. 1 , etc. ; Ps. xxxiii. 6,
9. See also Ps. civ., cxxxvi., cxlvi. ; Job xxxviii. and
xxxix. ; John i. 3.) II. From other considerations, such
as (1.) The origin of nations, as given by Moses.
This account could not have been invented by him
when there were some remembrances of it still in the
minds of many, which, however, in the course of time
4

60 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

became lost. (2.) The novelty of all other histories as
compared -with the antiquity of sacred history. (3.)
The age of man decreasing shows that there Avas at
first a greate ; strength in nature, and that it has de-
creased hitherto, not without some first cause. (4.)
The certain course of time from the beginning of the
world down to the coming of the Messiah. (5.) The
constitution and preservation of commonwealths. (6.)
The order of things in nature, which must of necessity
have been produced by some intelligent mind supe-
rior to all things. (7.) The excellency of the mind of
man and of angels. These intelligent beings have a
beginning. They must therefore have sprung from
some intelligent cause. (8.) The natural principles
and notions which are engraven upon our hearts. (9.)
The chidings or reproofs of conscience in the ungodly.
(10.) The ends of all things wisely ordered. (11.)
Finally, ail the other arguments which prove that there
is a God prove also that the world was created by him.
III. From philosophical arffuments, such, as (1.) There
is in nature no infinite progress of causes and effects,
otherwise nature would never attain its end. There-
fore, the world had a beginning. (2.) The world is the
first and most excellent of all effects. Therefore, it is
from the first and most excellent cause, which is God.
God the Father created the world through the Son
and Holy Ghost. (John i. 3 ; Gen. i. 2 ; Job xxxiii.
4.)

Ol-' NOTHING.

God made the world without any pre-existent mat-
ter. This is the difference between making and creor
Hon. In making there is some material to work upon.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 51

but in creation there is no pre-exi.stent matter. (See
Heb. i. 10; Gen. i. 2; 2 Cor. iv. 6; Heb. xi. 3.)

HY THE WOIiD OF HIS POWER.

The creation of all tilings out of nothing is an act
of divine power beyond our conception, because it is
totally different from the effects which our own power
or that of other creatures can accomplish. We must,
as has just been stated, have a subject upon which to
operate. "We must be furnished Avith materials for our
work, and then all we can do is to mix or join them
together, to separate them, to change their position and
arrange them in anew order. We may compress or
expand them, but we cannot add a single particle to the
mass. The description of the work of creation in the
book of Genesis is sublime, but simple. It was effect
ed without means, without labor, by a mere act of
volition. God " spake, and it was done, he command-
ed, and it stood fast." (Ps. xxxiii. 6-9 ; Isa. xl. 20
Heb. xi. 3 ; 2 Pet. iii. 5, 7 ; Isa. xliv. 24.)

JTiV THE SPACE OF SIX DAYS.

(See Exodus xx. 11.) God could have created all
things together, in a moment, but he took six days'
time to w^ork in, and rested on the seventh day. 1. Be-
cause he designed that the creation of ir after should
be a thing distinct and manifest from the formation of
the bodies of the world, which were made out of it.
2. That we might the better apprehend the order of
the creation, and thus discern his wisdom, goodness
and power. And, 3. That we might imitate him in
working but six days of the week, and in resting on the
seventh.

52 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

J.ND AZL VERT GOOD.

God made everything perfect, according to its kind
and degree. There was no defect or deformity ; all
was free from evil under every form. Creation was a
fair copy, without any blot, written with God's own
fingers. (Ps. viii. 3.) All the works of the divine
Hand were severally pronounced by their great Au-
thor to be very good. (Gen. i. 31.)

PRACTICAL LESSOyS.

As God is the Creator of the world — 1. We have a
strong support for our faith. (Ps. xxxiv. 8 ; Isa. Ixv.
18.) 2. We see the evil of sin that has cursed the
world. (Gen. iii. 17, 18, 19; Rom. v. 12.) 3. We
should wisely observe the works of creation. (Ps. cvii.
24 ; civ. 24.) 4. We should obey our Maker. (Acts
xvii. 28.) The fact that our bodies were made out of
dust, and that dust out of nothing, should keep down
pride. (Ps. Ixxii. 6.)

Plato, the Greek philosopher, was convinced of tlie existence
of a Deity upon observing that all the world could not make
so insignificant a creature as a fly.

Dean Swift (borrowing the idea from Cicero) says that he
will no more believe that the universe was formed by a fortui-
tous concourse of atoms than that the accidental jumbling of
the letters of the alphabet would fall by chance into an ingeni-
ous and learned treatise of philosophy.

The hand that built the palace of the sky
Formed the light wings that decorate a fly ;
The power that wheels the circling planets round
Rears every infant floweret on tiie ground ;
That bounty which the mightiest beings share
Feeds the least gnat that gilds the evening air.

James Montgomjjry.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 53

Question 10. — How did God create man f
Answer. — God created man, male and female, after

his oxen image, in hiowledge, righteousness, and holiness,

with dominion over the creatures.

Man is distinctly affirmed to be a creature of God.
(Gen. ii. 7. See also Acts xvii. 28.) When the earth
was prepared by the hand of the Almighty and en-
riched by his liberality, man was introduced into it as
his dwelling and placed at the head of its other inhab-
itants. In vain should God have displayed the wonders
of his power and wisdom if no being had been raised
up to contemplate them and to offer up the just tribute
of praise.

WHEN AKD HOW CUE AT ED.

The creation of man took place on the sixth day,
and was delayed till that time that the earth might be
prepared for his reception. (Gen. i. 26, 27.) Two
things in regard to it deserve particular attention : 1.
It was marked with unusual solenmity. While on the
other days nothing is heard but the simple and majes-
tic command, which is instantly obeyed, " Let there be
light," " Let the earth bring forth grass," on this occa-
sion there is something like what we call deliberation
and consultation — a sort of preparation for the work, as
if it were of superior importance. 2. The plural in-
stead of the singular pronoun is used. God said not
" Let me make man," but " Let ns make man after our
image." In the use of this plural word on this occa-
sion, there is generally supposed to be a reference to a
plurality of persons in the Godhead, which some con-
ceive to be iraplie:! in the plural name of God {Elohim),

54 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

and which is manifestly signified in several other pas-
sages of the Old Testament, that were quoted in the
exposition of Question 6.

31 ALE AND FTVyrALE.

God created man male and female. The sacred text
informs us that he called them Adam. (Gen. v. 2.)
Adam, in the Hebrew language, denotes earthy, and
both the man and woman were named Adam, or earthy,
to remind them of their original. The words man and
woman in the Hebrew language differ in nothing ex-
cept in the feminine form of the latter term. This, it is
believed, was intended to intimate that man and woman
are not only of the same nature, but, so to speak, the
counterparts of each other. The name Eve — that is,
Life — ^was not given to our first mother till after the fall.
It was then given by her husband Adam, undoubtedly
by divine direction, because, says the sacred record, " she
was " — i. e., was to be — " the mother of all living."

The sexes, having a common origin, were formed to
promote the happiness of each other. " The woman
(says Henry the commentator) was made of a rib out
of the side of Adam ; not made out of his head to
top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by
him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under
his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be be-
loved."

OF WHAT CUE AT JED.

Man's body was made of the dust of the ground —
immortal if he continued in righteousness, but mortal
if he fell, for mortality followed sin as a punishment.
(Gen. ii. 7 ; Job xxxiii. 6 ; Ps cxxxix. 14; Job x. 11 ;

NOTES ON THE SHOIITEK CATECHISM. 55

Prov. XX. 12.) His soul was made out of nothing. It
was immediately breathed iuto him by the Almiglity.
It was therefore rational, spiritual and immortal,
God created and united the soul and the body, so as
to constitute, by this union, one person, performing
such internal and external functions and actions as
ai'e peculiar to human nature, and which are just, holy
and pleasing to God. (Jer. xxxviii. 16 ; Prov. xx. 27 ;
Eccl. iii. 21 ; xii. 7 ; Ezek. xviii. 4.) Man was also
created " in the image of God." (Gen. i. 27.) This
innige may be conceived to consist in the essence of
the human soul, which is spiritual like the divine es-
sence. God created matter, but it was not made
after his image, because he is not himself material.
But the soul resembles him, because it is uncorapound-
ed, indivisible, innnortal, capable of thought and
activity. The image of God, however, principally
and properly consisted in the qualities of man's soul,
which w^erc similar to the perfections of his Maker.
In what did this image chiefly consist ?

1. KNOWLEDGE.

(Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10.) Man was not created in
a state of ignorance, nor only with those faculties by
the exercise of which he might acquire knowledge, but
in the actual possession of such a measure thereof as
was suited to his condition. He had a perfect know-
ledge of God, of his will and works, so far as was
necessary to render him happy and fit for universal
obedience.

2. niG HTEOVSNESS.

(Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Man, at his creation,
had not an imputed but an inherent rig]iteousm>s-i,

56 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

which consisted in a perfect conformity of all the
powers and faculties of his soul to the pure nature of
God and the moral law written upon his heart. (Ezek.
xxviii. 15 ; Eccles. vii. 29.)

3. HOIjINISSS.

(Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Man's affections were
holy and pure, free from all sin and defilement, free
from all disorder and distemper, and placed upon the
most holy, high and noble objects. All that was pure
and good was the object of his love ; all that was im-
pure and sinful was the object of his dislike and abhor-
rence. The outer life w'as in perfect harmony with the
inward state.

4. DOMINION OVJEJt THE CREATURES.

(Gen. i. 26 ; Ps. viii. 6.) Man was constituted the
lord of this lower world ; all the creatures were inspired
with respect for him and submitted to his government,
and he was at liberty to employ them for such ends as
an innocent being could desire to accomplish. He
might be said to have been created in the image of
God, because he was his representative and vicegerent.

Alas! the unspeakable difference between man's
present and former condition ! In our bodies what
seeds of weakness, distress and decay ! How are our
minds the sport of evil, ungovernable passions, ignor-
ant, wild, wayward, the seat of a thousand weaknesses
and follies ! In the moral world what scenes of pollu-
tion, fraud, tyranny, war and ravage ! In the natural
world what a host of enemies — famine, disease, storm
and tempest — everything a means of destruction ! (See
Lam. iv. 1 ; v. 16.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 57

When Galen, a celebrated physician, but athcistically in-
clined, had anatomized the human body and carefully survey-
ed the frame of it, viewed the fitness and usefulness of every
part of it, and the many several intentions of every little vein,
bone and muscle, and the beauty of the whole, lie fell into a
frame of devotion and wrote a hymn to his Creator.

Question 11. — What are God's works of providence f
Answer. — God's works of providence are, his most

holy, wise, and poiverful preserving and governing all

his creatures, and all their actions.

When God made the world, he did not leave it to
itself, but continued to uphold and control it.

mOOF OF THE DOCTRINE.

The Scriptures teach that there is a Providence.
(Ps. ciii. 19 ; John v. 17.) As God rested from the
works of creation (Gen. ii. 2), the declaration of the
Saviour just quoted must refer to works of Providence.
(See also Ps. xxxiv. 6 ; Acts xiv. 17.)

Providence is also proved by reason. The admir-
able order and harmony among such a vast variety of
creatures in the world, continuing for so many ages,
notwithstanding their different and opposite natures ;
the accomplishment of future events exactly accord-
ing to the predictions of them long before ; the revo-
lutions of kingdoms ; the orderly returns of seed-time
and harvest; and the preservation of a Church on
earth against the fury of hell and wicked men; — all
these plainly evince the existence of a superintending
Providence.

The firpt part of God's providence mentioned is

58 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

JPRESER VATION.

This is taught iu Ps. xxxvi. 6 and Heb. i. 3. God
preserves thiugs — (1) When he continues and upholds
them in being. (Ps. cxix. 89, 90, 91.) (2) When he
provides things needful for their preservation. (Ps.
cxlv. 15, 16 ; Neh. ix. 6 ; Ps. xxxiv. 20.)

The second part of God's providence is

G O VEBNMENT.

This is taught in Ps. Ixvii. 4 ; ciii. 20 ; cxlviii. 8 ;
Dan. vi. 22. God governs things when he rules over
them, disposes and directs them to his and their end.
(Ps. Ixvi. 7 ; Prov. xvi. 9.)

"ALT.."

God's providence is universal. It reaches — I. To all
places. (Jer. xxiii. 23, 24 ; Ps. cvii. 23, 24.) II. To all
persons, especially the persons of the godly. (1 Pet. v.
7; Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19; xxxiv. 10; Ivi. 8; xxiii. 5;
1 Kings xvii. 6 ; Ps. xxxvii. 9.) III. To all affairs
and occurrences in the world. (Ps. Ixxv. 6, 7 ; 1 Sam.
xi. 13 ; Ps. cxlvii. 9 ; Eccles. ix. 11 ; Prov. xxii. 2 ;
Matt. X. 30.)

As to the character of the divine providence, it is

J. HOLT.

(See Ps. cxlv. 17.) All the providential acts or
dispensations of God are, like himself, perfectly right-
eous, equitable, just and good. That his providence is
concerned iu the good actions of men cannot be denied.
(Phil. ii. 13.) But it may be asked, How is it con-
versant about sinful actions ? To this it may be re-
plied—1. God permits such actions. (Ps. Ixxxi. 11, 12;

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECPIISM. 59

Acts xiv. 16.) The permission of such actious, how-
ever, does not import that he approves of them ; for,
as he is infinitely holy, sin must always be the object
of his abhorrence ; and accordingly we find him tes-
tifying against the sins into which he permits men
to fall, uttering his threatenings against them and
actually punishing the sinners. (See Acts ii. 23.) 2.
God limits sinful actious. (Matt. xvi. 18.) " The re-
mainder of the wrath of man thou restrainest." " Hith-
erto shall ye come, and no farther." 3. God overrides
sinful actions, so as to accomplish great and good de-
signs by them, and thus he makes the wrath of man
praise him. (See Gen. i. 20; Heb. xii. 10; 2 Cor. iv.
17; Isa. X. 7; Hab. i. 12.)

II. WISE.

God is " wonderful in counsel and excellent in woi'k-
ing." (Isa. xxviii. 29.) His wisdom appears in every
process and operation in the natural world, by which
the wants of every living thing are consulted, provided
for and supplied ; or if we examine the moral world
the same wisdom is not less conspicuous. Good (as
we have just seen) is brought out of evil, light out of
darkness, and order out of confusion. The jarring
passions, views, interests and pursuits of men are so
overruled and directed as to be made to issue invari-
ably in the accomplishment of the designs of Heaven.
(See Acts xiv. 16 ; iv. 28 ; 2 Kings xix. 28.)

III. POWERFUL.

(See Dan. iv. 25 ; Ps. Ixvi. 7.) We see the power
of Providence in bringing about great events by small

60 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

and apparently contemptible means ; thus God makes
the ivorm Jacob to thresh mountains (Isa. xli. 15), and
by the foolishness of preaching saves them that believe.
(1 Cor. i. 21.) How few events have been productive
of such great changes of almost every description as
the Protestant Reformation ! Yet this Reformation
was chiefly effected by the instrumentality of an ob-
scure Augustinian monk ; for such was Martin Luther
when he connnenced the great and glorious work which
he was preserved and honored to accomplish. On the
other hand, the best concerted plans and the most
powerful preparations of earthly princes have been
often turned to confusion and brought to destruction
by causes which were overlooked or despised. Whom
God will protect, none can injure. Whom God will
destroy, none can save. " If God be for us, who can
be against us?"

FJiACTICAZ MJEFLECTIONS.

Let us (1) admire God's providence. 2. Quietly
submit to it. (Ps. xxxix. 9.) 3. If we are Christians,
believe that all the dispensations of providence will
combine for our good at last. (Rom. viii. 28.) 4.
Guard against immoderate ftar, since nothing can
befall us by chance. 5. Rest assured that God's prov-
idence will protect his Church, which is the apple of
his eye. 6. Long for the time when the mysteries of
providence shall be fully unfolded to us.

We are too apt to forget our actual depeiifience on Provi-
dence for the circumstances of every instant. Tlie most trivial
events may determine our state in tlie world, Turning up one
street instead of another may bring us into company with a

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 61

person wliom we should not otherwise have met; and this
may lead to a train of other events which may determine the
happiness or misery of our lives. — Richard Cecil.

"All these things are against me," thought good old Jacob
wlien he exclaimed in the bitterness of his soul, " Joseph is
not, Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin away?" And
it did seem as if these bereavements would " bring down his
gray hairs with sorrow to the grave." But it was all cleared
up when " he saw the wagons" which Joseph had sent to carry
him and all his numerous family down to Egypt, and save
them alive during the terrible seven years' fiimine. So Joseph
himself must have thought when his brethren cast him into
the pit, when they sold iiim as a slave to the Ishmaelites, and
when, upon the false charge of an adulterous woman, he was
tiirown into prison, without any hope of relief, or any prospect
of it, except by a violent and ignominious deatii. But liow
was it when he found himself suddenly raised to the viceroy-
ally of Egypt, and that God had sent him down to preserve the
life of his venerable father and of the very brethren who had
so cruelly sold him to the passing caravan ? Tiius is it evident
that " all things work together for good " to the people of
God,

QuESTiox 12. — What special act of providence did
God exercise towards man, in the estate xvherein he was
created f

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 knowledge
of good and evil, upon pain of death.

Mau, immediately after his creation, was placed in
a state of active employment. God " put him in the
garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

He was also placed in a state of trial ; that is, he
was ptit in such a condition as to show whether he

62 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

would obey or disobey his Maker. Having been crea-
ted a moral agent, possessed of understanding and will,
and therefore free and capable of obeying, it was in
every sense right and reasonable that he should be
tested as to his willingness to recognize his allegiance
to the God of infinite greatness and excellence, who
was infinitely deserving of his supreme love, reverence
and obedience. Accordingly, God revealed to him in
direct and definite terms his whole duty, and disclosed
to him the law by which his life was to be governed.

COVENANT OF ZIFE.

The immediate means of trial were reasonably and
benevolently selected. (Gen. ii. 15-17. See Hos. vi.
7, marg.) God had given to man with the bounty of a
God. Nothing was denied which was either necessary
or useftil. A trifling gratification of either taste or
curiosity was the utmost which he could expect from
disobedience. The continuance of all his enjoyments
was the reward of obedience.

The law, already referred to, under which our first
parents Avere placed is styled in the Scriptures the first
or old covenant, and is commonly called by divines the
covenant of works, in distinction from the new or second
covenant, of which Christ is the Mediator, and which
is called the covenant of grace.

THE TREE OF THE KXOWLEUGE OF GOOTt AXD
EVIT^.

Why did this tree receive the name it bore ? We
answer, " By the law is the knoAvledge of sin." By
the very prohibition to eat of this tree man was
taught that it was good to obey and evil to disobey.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 63

The knowledge of the good of obedience and the evil
of disobedience was intimated and inculcated as often
as he looked at the interdicted tree. It stood " in the
midst of the garden," that he might often see it, and that
the sight of it might constantly lead him to say, " There
is the tree which teaches me that it is good to obey
and evil to disobey."

OBJECTIONS.

It ha? been said that it was unworthy of God to in-
terpose his authority in a matter so trifling, and that
it is incredible that he would have exposed our first
parent to the hazard of ruining himself and his pos-
terity by eating an apple. But it is not difficult to
perceive that if God had an intention to make trial of
the dispositions of this newly-formed sul)ject, he could
not have chosen a more proper method. " A saying
of God," remarks Dr. Chalmers, " was involved in the
matter ; and heaven and earth must pass away ere a
saying of his can pass away. And so the apple became
decisive of the fate of a world, and out of the very
scantiness of the occasion did there emerge a sublime
display of truth and holiness. The beginning of the
world was, indeed, the period of great manifestations
of the Godhead, and they all seem to accord in style
and character with each other ; and in that very his-
tory which has called forth the profane and unthink-
ing levity of many a sinner may we behold as much
of the majesty of principle as in the creation of light
we behold of the majesty of power."

To the objection, " Why did God give Adam this
law, knowing that it would be transgressed ?" an old
writer replies : ] . It was Adam's fault that he did not

64 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

keep the law. God gave him a stock of grace to trade
with, but he of himself broke. 2. Though God fore-
saw Adam would transgress, yet that was not a suf-
ficient reason that Adam should have no law given
him ; for by the same reason God should not have
given his written word to men to be a rule of faith
and manners, because he foresaw that some would not
believe and others would be profane. Shall not laws
be made in the land because some break them ? 3.
God, though he foresaw Adam would break the law,
knew how to turn it to a greater good in sending
Christ. The first covenant being broken, he knew
how to establish a second and a better.

PECUT.IAItlTIKS OF THE COVEKAJfT OF TjIFE.

I. Its form was working : Do this and live. Work-
ing was the ground and condition of our justification.
(Gal. iii. 12 ; Rom. vii. 10.) Not but that working is
required in the covenant of grace : we are commanded to
work out our salvation and be rich in good Avorks.
But woi'ks in the covenant of grace are not required
under the same notion as in the first covenant with
Adam. Works are not for the justification of our per-
sons, but as an attestation of our love to God — not as a
cause of our salvation, but as an evidence of our adop-
tion. Works are required in the covenant of grace,
not so much in our own strength as in the strength of
another. (Phil. ii. 13,)

II. The covenant of works was very drict : God re-
quired of Adam and all mankind perfect obedience.
All things written in the "book of the law" (Gal. iii.
10, 12) must be done. The obedience was to be perfect

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECH.BM. 65

— 1. In respect to the matter of it ; all the powers of
soul and body were to be employed in God's service.
2. In respect of the principle ; namely, habitual right-
eousness and natural disposition and inclination to do
anything God required. 3. In respect to the end,
which was chiefly to be God's glory, swaying all the
actions. 4. In respect to the manner, with perfect
love and delight. 5. In respect to time, it was to be
(constant and perpetual. (Gal. iii. 10.) Thus the cove-
nant was very strict. There was no mercy in case of
failure.

III. The covenant of works was the covenant of in-
noceucy. It was made with man immediately after
his creation, when he had committed no sin. Nor had
it a mediator. It is the better covenant that is estab-
lished in the hands of a Mediator. (Heb. viii. 6.)

ZIFE.

The promise of life was included in the threatening
of death in the covenant of works. " In the day that
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," necessarily
implies, If thou dost not eat thereof thou shalt surely
live. (Gal. iii. 12.) The life thus promised was — 1.
The continuance of his natural life, consisting in the
union of his soul and body. 2. The continuance of
his spiritual life, consisting in the favor of G<.id (Lev.
xviii. 5), and his entering upon perfect immortality
and eternal happiness, both of soul and body, in
heaven after he had passed through the time of
his trial upon earth. (Rom. vii. 10.) That eternal
life was thus promised is evident from Matt. xix.
16, 17.

66 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

DEATEC.

(See Rom. vi. 23 ; v. 12 ; Ezek. xviii. 4.) The death
which God threatened as the punishment of man's sin
was — 1. Temporal death, consisting in the separation
of the soul from the body. To this man -was liable in
the day that he ate of the forbidden fruit, and not be-
fore. 2. Spiritual death, consisting in the separation
of the soul from God and the loss of God's image.
This death seized upon man in the moment of his first
sin. 3. Eternal death. Whose end is destruction.
(Phil. iii. 19.) Who shall be punished with ever-
lasting destruction from the presence of the Lord,
and from the glory of his power. (2 Thess. i. 9.)
Perdition of ungodly men. (2 Pet. iii. 7.)

LIGHT UPON THE DAUKNESS.

Blessed be God ! a new covenant more glorious
than the old has been made. The former has no
glory by reason of that which excelleth. More is
regained in Christ than was lost in Adam. (Rom.
V. 19.)

In the reign of King Charles I. the goldsmiths of London
had a custom of weighing several sorts of their precious metal
before the privy council. On this occasion they made use of
scales poised with such exquisite nicety that the beam would
turn, the master of the company affirmed, at the two-hundredth
part of a grain. Noy, the famous attorney-general, standing
by and hearing this, replied, " I should be loatii then to have
all my actions weighed in these scales." With whom I heart-
ily concur, says the pious Hervey, in relation to myself. And
since the balances of the sanctuary, the balances in God's hand,
are infinitely exact, oh what need have we of tlie merit and

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHlsM. 67

righteousness of Christ to make us acceptable in liis sight and
passable in his esteem.

Question 13. — Did our first parents continue in the
estate wherein they were created?

Answer. — Our first parents, being left to the freedom
of their oxvn will, fell from the estate wherein they were
created, by sinning against God.

The origin of moral evil is, Jn every view of the sub-
ject, an inexplicable mystery. It is one of the secrets
of the moral world. While no one can doubt or deny
the fact that it does exist — for we do not believe that
even professed atheists doubt it — yet to account for its
existence, or to explain the process or manner in which
it came into existence, is not, we suspect, within the
reach of the human faculties in the present life.

Newton says: "Many have puzzled themselves about the
origin of evil ; I observe tliere is evil, and that there is a way
to escape it, and with this I begin and end."

TB.E FREEDOM OF THEIR OWN WILL.

" As Adam was a moral agent," says Dr. Dick, " we
must hold that his will was free ; and that it was so is
manifest from the event, for he did turn aside from
the path of duty and make a choice which proved
fatal to himself and his posterity. ' God hath made
man upright, but they have sought out many inven-
tions.' (Eccles. vii. 29.) By freedom of will, however,
T do not mean that his mind was in a state of suspense
or of indifference to good and evil. I believe such a
state to be impossible, unless it be preceded by com-
plete ignorance of both ; and, if possible, to be crimi-

68 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

nal, because our knowledge of what is right and g».od
should immediately determine the choice. His mind
was not in equilibria like a balance, the scales of
which are pressed down by equal weights ; he was
averse to evil and inclined only to good, but he might
reject the good and choose the evil. He Avas not con-
firmed in purity, as angels and glorified saints are ; he
W'as a mutable creature, and might change by an act
of volition ; and in this consisted his freedom of will."
(Prov. ix. 12 ; James i. 13 ; Job xxxiv. 10 ; Isa. v. 4:
Matt. XX. 15 ; Hos. xiii. 9.)

FEIiZ, FKOM THE ESTATE IN WHICH THEY WERE
CREATED.

By " estate " is meant man's state of innocence, in
which he had his standing under God as his great
Lord and Creator — perfect conformity to him, inti
mate fellowship and communion with him, and an
ample dominion over all the works of his hand in
this lower world, as explained in Questions 10 anc
12. (Hos. xiv. 1 ; Rom. v. 12.)

INSTIGATION OF THE DEVITj.

The fall of man had not its origin in God, but was
brought about by the instigation of the devil and the
free will of man. The devil entered into a serpent ;
and therein, by seducing words, enticed the woman to
take and eat the forbidden fruit, and she gave to her
husband and he did eat likewise. (Gen. iii. 1-6.)

But notwithstanding the agency of Satan in it, the
fall of man must be laid at his own door, for he will-
ingly yielded to the temptation of the devil. (James i.

NOTES ON THE SHORTEH CATECHISM. 69

14.) From this yielding has proceeded our depravity
aud misery. (See Eecles. vii. 29 ; Job ix. 20 ; Jer. ii.
21 ; Gen. iii. 7 ; xix. 22-24.)

"BT SINIS'^IXG A.GAINST GOD."

Our first parents were sufliciently furnished with
everything necessary for yielding perfect obedience to
the divine will. They had, as we have seen, perfect
knowledge in their understanding, freedom and in-
clination to good in their will, and spotless holiness in
their hearts and affections. (Eecles. vii. 29.) Their
eating the forbidden fruit, therefore, was an act of
contempt and disobedience to God. (Hos. xiv. 1 ;
Rom. V. 12; James i. 15.) The fault was entirely
their own. God was in no sense the author of their
sin. Had Adam exerted the power Avhich he pos-
sessed, he would have stood.

ritACTICAL ZHSSOKS.

1. As Adam in the state of integrity fell, how un-
able are we, whose original righteousness is gone, to
s''.and in our strength ! 2. How important is it to
guard against temptation ! (Matt. iv. 3 ; vi. 13 ; xiii.
25, 26; 2 Cor. ii. 11 ; Rev. ii. 24.) 3. How impos-
sible is it for us to be our own saviour ! (2 Cor.
iii. 5.) 4. How much do we need an interest in the
second Adam to recover, and more than recover, that
which w'as lost by the first! (Ps. Ixix. 4.) Under
the first covenant the justice of God as an avenger of
blood pursues us; but if through faith in Christ we are
interested in the second covenant, we are in the citv of

70 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

refuge, the justice of God is pacified toward us. (Rom.
viii. 1.)

An old man once said, " For a long period I puzzled myself
about the difficulties of Scripture, until at last I came to the
conclusion that reading the Bible was like eating fish. When I
find a difficulty, I lay it aside and call it a bone. Why should
I choke on the bone when there is much nutritious meat to
use ? Some day, perhaps, I may find that even the bones may
aflbrd me nourishment."

Question. 14. — What is sin f

Answer. — Sin is any want of conformity unto, or
transgression of, the law of God.

That man's apostasy from God consisted in sin-
ning against him is evident from Lam. v. 16. That
sin is in the world, and also in us, may be proven by a
variety of arguments : 1. God declares that we are
all guilty of sin. (Gen. vi. 5 ; xviii. 21 ; Jer. xvii. 9 ;
Rom. i. 21 ; iii. 10 ; vii. 18 ; Ps. xiv. and liii. ; Isa.
Ixix.) 2. The law of God recognizes sin. (Rom. iii,
20 ; iv. 15 ; v. 20 ; vii. 7.) 3. Conscience convinces
and convicts us of sin. (Rom. i. 19 ; ii. 13, 14.) 4.
Punishments and death, to which all men are subject —
yea, our cemeteries, graveyards and places of execu-
tion— are all so many sermons upon the evil of sin, be-
cause God, being just, never inflicts punishment upon
any of his creatures unless it be for sin. (See Rom. v.
12 ; vi. 23 ; Deut. xxvii. 26.)

THE JO AW OF GOD.

Wha t are we to understand by this ? All the pre-
cepts cr commandments God has given to man as a
rule of his obedience. There was a bright and fair copy

NOTES 0:S^ THE SHORTER CATECHLS:M. 71

of this law ■written upon the heart of man in innocence,
but that being, in a great measure, lost by the fall,
God has -written again to us the great things of his law
in the Scriptures of truth. (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20. See
also Rom. ii. 14, 15.) We are not to regard all the laws
of God mentioned in Scripture as of binding force now
under the New Testament. The ceremonial law, which
was a shadow of good things to come, is now abrogated
since the coming of Christ in the flesh ; and many of
the judicial laws, in so far as they had a particular re-
lation to the state of the Jewish nation, are laid aside
but the vioral law is perpetually binding on all man-
kind in all ages and periods of the world. (Ps. cxix.
160.) Does sin suppose a law? Yes. (Rom. iv. 15;
V. 13.) Is sin the breach of a law ? Yes. (1 John iii.
4.) Is it God's law only that can make a thing to be
sin ? Yes. (Ps. li. 4.) Is every breach of God's law
sin? Yes. (1 John v. 17.) Are we to judge of sin
by the law? Yes. (Rom. iii. 20.) Could we discover
sin without some law? No. (Rom. vii. 7.) Is the
transgression of the law of nature sin ? Yes. (Rom.
ii. 14, 15.) Does the written law discover the root of
sin ? Yes. (Rom. vii. 7.)

SIN DEFIS^JED.

In the original language of the New Testament the
word for sin (hamartia) is derived from a word whose
primitive signification is, 1 1 miss the marl . This suggests
as perfect and extensive an idea of sin as perhaps can
be given. The law of God holds up to us a mark at
which we are to aim, or a rule or line to which we are
to conform. Everything which misses or falls short

72 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

of this mark, or which deviates from this rule or line,
is sin. (See Ps. iv. 4 ; 1 Thess. v. 22 ; 2 Cor. vi. 17 ,
Ps. xcvii. 10; Prov. xiv. 9; Ps. cxix. 11.)

^JVr WANT OF CONFOHMITT UNTO.

By want of conformity to God's law is meant both
an unsuitableness and disagreeableness to the law, and
a non-observation and non-obedience to it. This w^ant
of conformity includes — 1. Original sin, and that nat-
ural enmity which exists in the heart against the law
of God. (Rom. viii. 7.) 2. All sins of omission. The
former is a want of conformity of heart, the latter a
want of conformity of life, to God's law. (See Deut.
vi. 5 ; John xvii. 3 ; Ex. xx. 3 ; Deut. xxvii. 26 ; Gen.
iv. 7 ; Jer. xvii. 9 ; Rom. vii. 7 ; John iii. ; 1 Cor. ii.
14 ; XV. 28.)

TSAKSGHESSIOX OF.

The Latin w'ord travsgredior, " to transgress," signi-
fies to go beyond one's bounds ; the law of God is to
keep us within the bounds of our duty — sin is going be-
yond our bounds. As a sin of omission is a neglecting
or forgetting to do that good which the law commands
(James iv. 17 ; Matt. xxv. 30), so a sin of covimission
is a doing of what the law forbids. (Eccles. x. 8 ; Gal.
iii. 10 ; Ps. li. 4; 1 John iii. 4; Rom. vii. 14; viii. 7.)
Is nothing a sin, then, but what is against God's law ?
Nothing is a sin but what God has either expressly or
by consequence forbidden in his law.

A minister, explaining tlie distinction between sins of omis-
sion and commission, made use of the followin;^ simile by way
of illustration : " Behold yonder fire, which h tely burnt with

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 73

60 much briglitness ; it is now dull ; let it alone, and it will
soon go out, but if you jiour water on it you will put it out.
The first is an act of omission, the second of coiuiuission."

eviIj of si]>r.

In order to see this, let it be considered that — 1. Sin
is evil in its origin . It is of the devil. (John viii.
34.) 2. It is evil in its nature. It is compared to the
vomit of dogs (2 Pet. ii. 22), to the plague (1 Kings
viii. 38), to a canker. (2 Tim. ii. 17.) 3. It is high
treason against heaven (1 John iii. 4 ; Neh. ix. 26), a
contumacious affront to God (Lev. xxvi. 40 ; Job xv.
25), an act of base ingratitude. (Hos. ii. 8 : 2 Sam. xvi.
17.) 4. It is a foolish thing. (Luke xii. 20 ; Prov. i.
18.) 5. It is a polluting thing. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Tit. i.
15.) 6. It is a debasing thing. (Dan. v. 21 ; Ps.
xlix. 20.) 7. It is an enslaving thing. Satan bids
men sin, and they do it. (Acts v. 3.) 8. It is an of-
fensive thing. (Ps. xiv. 3.) 9. It is a painful thing.
(Jer. ix. 5.) 10. It is a disturbing thing. (Isa. Ivii.
21.) When Spira had sinned, he was in such horror
that he said he envied Cain and Judas. Charles IX.,
who was guilty of the massacre in Paris, was after-
ward a terror to himself; he was frightened at every
noise, and could not endure to be awakened out of his
sleep without music. Cain, in killing Abel, stabbed
half the world at a blow, but could not kill the worm
of his own conscience. 11. Sin, unrepented of, brings
the "second death" — a death always dying. "And
death and hell were cast into the lak(j of fire. This
is the second death." (Rev. xx. 14. See also Mark
ix. 44.)

74 KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

TUE GREATEST 5JJV;

The transcendent mercy of God has provided a
Saviour from sin. We may be " washed and sancti-
fied and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
by the Si^irit of our God." (1 Cor. vi. 11.) Guilty,
polluted, condemned and perishing as we are, we may
obtain forgiveness and salvation. (Mark xvi. 16.) To
reject this Saviour is the sin of sins ; this cuts the
soul ofi* from the provided remedy and seals its per-
dition ; this is the damning sin of unbelief! (Mark
xvi. 15.)

The Rev. John Newton paid of a certain clergyman that he
had never heard him preach but once, on which occasion he
iiad observed, " If you wish to know wliat a sinner is, he is a
young devil ; and if you wish to know what a devil is, he is an
old sinner."

The last words that Archbishop Usher was heard to express
were, "Lord, forgive my sins, especially ray sins of omis-4on."

" He made nie out a sinner fordoing nothing," said one un-
der the conviction of sin, and who in a revival had been
asked, " How were you awakened ?" It was a new thouglit to
the poor man, who had been comforting himseif with the plea
that he had done nothing very bad. But now he saw that his
greatest sin was the very thing in which he had been comfort-
ing himself — doing nothing.

" Who loves to sin, in hell his portion's given ;
Who dies to sin shall after live in heaven."

Question 15. — What ivas the sin ivhereby our first
parents fell from the estate wherein they were created f

Answer. — The sin, whereby our first parents fell from
the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the
forbidden fruit.

NOTES ON THE SHOllTER CATECHISM. 75
THE FAZT..

By the " estate " in which our first parents were
created, is meant the state of innocence, in which they
had their standing under God as their great Lord and
Creator. " God hath made man upright, but they have
sought out many inventions." (Eccles. vii. 29.)

PARADISE.

" The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden,
and there he put the man whom he had formed."
(Gen. i'l. 8.) Eden was the region in which the garden
of Paradise was planted. Its site cannot be determined.

THE FORBIDDEK FRUIT.

(See Gen. ii. 16, 17.) God did not forbid our first
parents to eat of the forbidden tree because there was
any inti-iur^ic evil in the fruit of it, it being as indifier-
ent in itself to eat of this tree as any other tree in the
garden ; but he forbade them to eat of the fruit of this
tree to try their obedience.

The trial man had was very fair, Adam was very
intelligent. He was in the full vigor of his powers.
He well understood God's will. The test to which he
was subjected was very slight,

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

It has been said that it was un-\vortliy of God to
interpose his authority in a manner so trifling, and
that it is incredible that he would have exposed our
first parent to the hazard of ruining himself and his
posterity by eating an apple. But to this Dr. Dick
replies : " The morality of an action does not depend
upon its abstract nature, but upon its relation to the

76 NOTES ON THE SHORTER v.'ATECHISM.

law of God. Men seem often to judge of actions as
they judge of material substances, by their bulk. What
is great in itself or in its consequences they will admit
to be a sin, but what appears little they pronounce
to be a small fault or no fault at all. Had Adam, it
has been remarked, been possessed of preternatural
power, and wantonly and wickedly exerted it in blast-
ing the beauty of Paradise and turning it into a scene
of desolation, they would have granted that he was
guilty of a great and daring offence, for which a curse
was justly pronounced upon him. But they can see
no harm in so trifling a matter as the eating of a little
fruit. Nothing, however, is more fallacious than such
reasoning. The essence of sin is the transgression of a
law ; and Avhether the law forbids you to commit mur-
der or to move your finger, it is equally transgressed
when you violate the precept. Whatever the act of
disobedience is, it is reliellion against the lawgiver, it
is a renunciation of his authority, it dissolves that
moral dependence upon him which is founded on the
nature of things and is necessary to maintain the order
and happiness of the universe."

x:lements of the sik of ovn Finsx PAiiE'yrs.

The conclusiveness of this reply is the more mani-
fest when we consider the elements of the sin of our
first parent. It involved — 1. Pride, ambition and an
admiration of self. (Gen. iii. 5, 6.) 2. Unbelief, for
he believed the devil rather than God. (Gen. ii. 17;
iii. 4.) 3. Contempt and disobedience to God, for eat-
ing the fruit was directly contrary to his command.
4. Ingratitude for having been created in the divine

NOTES ON TBE SHORTER CATECHISM. 77

image ai d for the enjoyment of eterual life ; he heark-
ened to the devil more than to God. (Gen. ii. 16.) 5.
The want of love to posterity ; he did not think that
he would, by sinning, lose those gifts for himself and
his posterity. (Rom. v. 12.) 6. Apostasy, or a mani-
fest falling away from God to the devil, whom he be-
lieved and obeyed rather than God, and whom he set
up in the place of God, separating himself from God.
Thus is it evident that the fall of man was no trifling
or single offence, but a sin manifold and horrible in its
nature.

AGEKCT OF SATAX.

We are told that it was by the instrumentality of a
serpent that our first parents were tempted to commit
the sin which forfeited their happy state. (Gen. iii.)
We find repeated instances in Scripture of God's mak-
ing use of inferior creatures and their natural organs
to teach great lessons to men. It was by giviug voice
to the ass that Balaam's rashness was reproved. (Num.
xxii. 22-35.) It was by means of a fish that Jonah's
disobedience was punished. (Jonah i. 17 ; ii. 10.)
Other examples also are to be found. (Matt. xvii. 27 ;
Luke V. 4-9 ; John xxi. 3-8.) Not only have the
devils become identified, as it were, with men, but they
have also instigated animals to strange unnatural deeds.
(Matt. viii. 28-34.) Quite analogous, therefore, is
Satan's using the serpent as the means of his machi-
nations in Eden.

ZESSO\S.

From our first pai-ents being seduced by Satan to
eat the forbidden fruit we may learn — 1. To resist the

78 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

first motions of sin in the heart and the temptations of
Satan to it (Ps. Ixvi. 18 ; James iv. 7) ; 2. That since
man, innocent, fell before the temptation, fallen man
must be an easy prey if not kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation. (1 Pet. i. 5.) Let
us therefore seek to be strong only " in the Lord and
in the power of his might"! (Eph. vi. 10.)

Mr. Tliomas, a missionary at Serampore, was one day, after
addressing a crowd of tlie native? on tlie banks of the Ganges,
accosted by a Brabniin as follows : " Sir, don't yon say that the
devil tempts men to sin ?" " Yes," answered Mr. Thomas.
"Then," said the Braiimin, "certainly the fault is the devil's;
the devil, tiierefore, and not man, ought to sufTer the punish-
ment." While the countenances of many of the natives dis-
covered their approbation of the Brahmin's inference, Mr.
Tliomas, observing a boat with several men on board descend-
ing the river, with that facility of instructive retort for which
he was so much distinguished, replied, "Brahmin, do you see
yonder boat?" "Yes." "Suppose I were to send some of my
friends to destroy eveiy person on board and bring me all that
is valuable in the boat; wlio ought to suffer punishment — I
for instructing them, or they for doing this wicked act?"
" Wiiy," answered the Brahmin with emotion, "you ought all
to be put to death together." "Ay, Brahmin," replied Mr.
Thomas ; "and if you and the devil sin together, the devil and
you will be punished together."

Question 16. — Did all mankind fall in Adam's first
transgression f

Answer. — The covenant being made ivith Adam,
not only for himself, but for his posterity, all mankind,
descending from him by ordinary generation, sin-
ned in him, and fell with him in his first trans-
gression.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHIWM. 79

THE COVEXANT.

Th J covenant referred to, is the convention entered
into between God and man concerning the method of
obtaining eternal happiness, which was accompanied
W'ith a threatening of death in the case of disobedience.
It is sometimes called the covenant of nature, because
it was entered into with man while he was in his nat-
ural state, which was a state of innocence. (Gen. ii. 16,
17.) It is more commonly called the covenant of
works ; and this denomination is evidently appropriate,
showing us at once what is its nature, and in what re-
spect it differs from the other covenant, which bestows
its reward not upon him who Avorks, but upon him who
believes. The transaction was federal on the part of
God, as he proposed a condition, sanctioned with a
promise and a threatening ; and on the part of Adam,
as he pledged himself to fulfill the condition.

NOT ONLY FOR HIMSELF, BUT FOR HIS POSTERITY.

By this is meant that the covenant was made Avith
Adam not only personally or individually, but in a
representative character ; so that if Adam had con-
tinued obedient to God as long as God chose to try
him, it would happen that his posterity would be born
with a sinless nature, and remain in an innocent and
happy condition. But, on the other hand, if Adam
should prove disobedient, his posterity would possess
his nature in its changed and fallen state. Thus it
appears that he acted not for himself alone, but for
them also. It was appointed that his conduct would
affect their character and condition.

80 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHLSM.

SCRIPTUItE PROOFS.

That the extension of Adam's fall reached all who
have sprung from hira is thus evident :

1. The Scriptures so testify. (Eph. ii. 3 ; Rom. v. 6,
19 ; Job xiv. 4 ; John iii. 5.)

2. Infants die, and are to be baptized. Therefore,
they must have sin. But they cannot sin by imitation.
It remains, therefore, that it must be born in them.
(Isa. xlviii. 8 ; Gen. viii. 21.) Ambrose says : " Who is
just before God, when an infant but a day old cannot
be free from sin ?"

3. Everything that is born has the nature of that
from which it has proceeded, as it respects the sub-
stance and accidents of the species to which it belongs.
But we are all born of corrupt and sinful parents ;
therefore we all by our birth inherit or become par-
takers of their corruption and guilt. (Gen. v. 3.)

4. By the death of Christ, who is the second Adam,
we obtain a twofold grace — we mean justification and
regeneration. It follows, therefore, that we must all
have derived from the first Adam the twofold evil of
guilt and corruption of nature, otherwise there had
oeen no necessity for a twofold grace and remedy.
The first Adam was the figure of the second (Rom. v.
14), if he was a public person, a federal head. On
this supposition Ave perceive the resemblance, but it
fails if there was no covenant with our great pro-
genitor, and the words of Scripture, as found in 1 Cor.
XV. 22, convey a false idea. Jesus Christ, who was
the surety of sinners, might with propriety be called
the second Adam, if the first Adam was the repre-
sentative of his seed : but if there is no legal relation

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 81

between liim and them, the appellation is not founded
on truth.

(See Rom. v. 18 ; vi. 15, 17 ; vii. 18 ; Gen. iii. 20 ; ix,
10; 1 Cor. XV. 49.)

BOW IS ADAM'S SIN MADE OUKS?

1. By imputation. It is ours not by imitation only,
but by imputation. (Rom. v. 12.) Is it asked, How
could Adam's posterity, being then unborn, fall in his
first sin? We answer, Because they were considered
as in him. (1 Cor. xv. 22.) They were in him virtual-
ly, as a natural root ; and representatively, as a cove-
nant head.

2. By propagation. Not only is the guilt of Adam's
sin imputed to us, but the pravity and corruption of
his nature are communicated to us as a poison is carried
from the fountain to the cistern. This is what is called
original sin. (Fs. li. 5.)

THE DEGEXERACT VNIVERSAI.

(Gen. vi. 12 ; Rom, iii. 10 ; Job xxv. 4.) Did our
Lord Jesus descend from Adam by "ordinary gene-
ration"? No. (1 Cor. XV. 47.) Did he then sin in
Adam? No. (Heb. vii. 26.) The body of Christ
was conceived in the womb of a virgin by the power
of the Highest, that his human nature might not be
stained or tainted with original sin, which is conveyed
by Adam to his posterity ; hence, that which was born
of the virgin is called " that holy thing." (Luke i. 35.)

A minister liaving preached on the doctrine. of original sin,
was afterward waited on by some persons wlio stated tlieir ob-
jections to wliat he had advanced. After hearing them, lie
said, " I hope you do not deny actual sin too ?" " No," they
6

82 NOTES ON THE SHO.ITER CATECHISM.

replied. Tlie good man expressed his satisfaction at their
acknowledgment, but to sliovv the absurdity of tlieir opin-
ions in denying a doctrine so plainly taught in Scripture,
he asked them, " Did you ever see a tree growing without a
root?"

" The fact is plain, that God governs the world and controls
every event, and yet the world is full of sin and woe. I can-
not discover the reason why it is so, though I can see that by
this means God will have an opportunity to make manifest
his abhorrence of sin, his justice and his mercy. Had it not
been so there had been no displays of punitive justice, no ran-
somed sinners, no bleeding Saviour, no songs of redeeming
love in heaven. Slill, much darkness overspreads tlie subject.
Restless curiosity starts many questions to wiiich no answer
can be found. Is my heart, nevertiieless, filled witli love to
this supreme Governor, ' wiiose judgments are unsearchable
and whose ways are past finding out' T'— Pliny Fiske.

Question 17. — Into what estate did the fall bring
mankind?

Answer, — The fall brought mankind into an estate
of sill and misery.

Wliy is man's apostasy from God called the fall f
Because man is not now where God set him at the
creation, but is fallen by his iniquity. (Hos. xiv. 1.)
Where did God place man at his creation? Upon the
high pinnacle of holiness and happiness. (Eccl. vii. 29 ;
Zech. ix. 11.) The word "estate" signifies condition.

Sim

That the fall brought mankind into a state of sin is
evident —

1. From Revelation. (Hos. xiii. 9.) Adam begat a
son in his own likeness (Gen. v. 3) ; that is, in the
moral character which he possessed after his apostasy.

NOTES OX THE SHORTER iJATECHISM. 83

But if this was the nature of theimmediite children of
Adam, it caunot even be suspected that it is not equally
the nature of his remote progeny, or that they do not
all bear the likeness of their common parent. Not a
shadow of reason can be given why one law should
have governed the birth and character of his imme-
diate descendants, and another the birth and cha-
racter of the rest. Paul says of " both Jews and Gen-
tiles that they are all under sin." (Rom. iii. 9 ; see
also V. 19.) He also declares that by the works of
the law no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God.
As, therefore, no flesh, no child of Adam, shall be justi-
fied by the tvorks of the law, it follows irresistibly that
every one is sinful. Our Saviour said to Nicodemus,
" Except a man be born again, he cannot see the king-
dom of God." (John iii. 3.) The only use or effect of
the new birth is that in it holiness is implanted in the
mind. But if auy man were sinless he could not need
regeneration nor be regenerated.

2. From Fact. The laws of all nations prove that
the human character is universally sinful. These laws
are made only to repress and restrniu sin, and are
forced upon mankind by iron-handod necessity. Nor
have they ever been able so far to change the cha-
racter of man as to exterminate even a single sin.
The religions of all nations prove the same thing, foi
the religion of every nation is expiatory; that is, it has
been so formed as intentionally to make satisfaction
for sin and to obtain reconciliation with a God ac-
knowledged to be offended. Again, the writings of all
nations confirm this doctrine. Man, as described by
history, is undeniably and always has been an evil.

84 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CA rECHTSM.

odious being. Not to multiply proofs, the state of
every man's heart and life proves the sinfulness of the
race. Every one knows that he has fears concerning
his future existence, which he would not have if he
was sinless. Every man knows that he does not per-
form all his duty and that he commits many positive
sins. Every man is conscious that he loves sin and
hates holiness.

Dr. Bhiir, when concluding a public discourse in which he
had descanted with liis usual eloquence on the amiability of
virtue, gave utterance to the following apostrophe : " O Virtue !
if thou wert embodied all men would love thee."

His colleague, the Rev. R. Walker, ascended the same pul-
pit on a subsequent part of the same Sabbath, and addressing
the congregation, said, " My reverend friend observed in the
morning that if Virtue were embodied all men would love her.
Virtue has been embodied, but how was she treated ? Did
all men love her? No ; she was despised and rejected of men,
who, after defaming, insulting and scourging her, led her to
Calvary, where they crucified her between two thieves."

The state of sin is put before the state of misery,
because there could be no misery if there were no sin,
sin being the procuring cause of all misery. (Eccles.
viii. 6.) By nature we are under the power of Satan,
who is called the "prince of the power of the air."
(Eph. ii. 2.) Before the fall man was free — now he is
enslaved ; before, a king on the throne — now, a cap-
tive in fetters. The devil rules all the powers and fac-
ulties of a sinner. 1, He rules the understanding ;
he blinds men with ignorance, and then rules them as
the Philistines first put out Samson's eyes, and then

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 85

boimd him. (2 Cor. iv. 4.) 2. He rules the will.
Though he cauuot force the will, yet he can, by a temp-
tation, draw it. (John viii. 44.) The sinner's condi-
tion is like that of the Prodigal, who went into a far
country, wasted his substance, began to be in want,
and was sent into the fields to feed swine. (Luke xv.
13-15.) "Evil pursueth sinners." (Prov. xiii. 21.)
All the creatures share in the sad effects of sin. (Gen.
iii. 17.) All our troubles, sorrows, losses, fears, be-
reavements, afflictions, are the product of sin. By it
death entered ("Rom. vi. 23) — death temporal, spirit-
ual and eternal. (Rev. xxi. 8.) Sin has shame for its
companion and death for its result. A wicked man
knows what sin is in the pleasure of it, but not what it
is in the punishment of it hereafter.

MEFTjECTIONS.

1. What sad thoughts should Ave have of the origi-
nal sin that has created so many misex'ies ! (Isa. in. 5,
6.) " What honey," says an old writer, " can be got
out of this lion ? What grapes can we gather off this
thorn ? It sets heaven and earth against us : while we
choose this bramble to rule, fire comes out of the bram-
ble to devour us."

2. How are all believers bound to Jesus Christ, who
has freed them from that misery to which sin has ex-
posed them ! " In whom we have redemption through
his blood." (Eph. i. 7.) Sin has brought trouble and
a curse into the world ; Jesus has sanctified the trouble
and removed the curse. This he does for all Avho do
not reject the only help of God's appointment. (Ps.
Ixxxi. 11 , /ohu V. 40 ; Rom. viii. 7.)

86 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

The Rev. Dr. Ives, wliost house was on Oxford Road, and
past which the criminals were carried weekly in carls to
Tyburn, used to stand at iiis window and say to any young
friends who might be near him, pointing out any of the most
notorious malefactors, " There goes Dr. Ives !" If an expla-
nation was asked, lie took occasion to expound the innate cor-
ruption of the human heart, and ai)pealed to the experience
of his auditors " whether they had not felt the movements of
those very passions, errors, prejudices, lusts, revenge, covetous-
ness, etc., whose direct tendency was to produce the crimes for
whicii these offenders satisfied the claims of public justice, and
wiiich were solely prevented from carrying them to the same
dreadful fate by the restraining grace of God."

Question 18. — Wherein coiiswts the sinfulness of
that estate whereinto man fell?

Answer. — The sinfulness of that estate whereinto
man fell, consists in, the guilt of Adam's first sin, the
ivant of original righteousness, and the conniption of his
whole nature, which is commonly called original sin;
together with all actual transgressions xohich p>'>'oceed
from it.

GJJIIjT.

Guilt means obligation to punishment on account
of sin. (Rom. vi. 23.) By Adam's sin his posterity
became liable to the punishment denounced against
himself. They became guilty through his guilt, which
is imputed to them or placed to their account, so that
they are treated as if they had personally broken the
covenant. (Rom. v. 19.) It is not satisfactory to say
that they are treated as sinners, although they are not
really such, because the question naturally follows,
How cm they be justly treated as sinners if they are

NC TES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 87

not guilty ? and the question is unaus^vel•al)le. " The
judgment was by one," or by one offence, " to condem-
nation." (Rom. V. 16.) Here we have an act of judg-
ment ascribed to God — who always judges according to
truth — the ground upon which it proceeded, the one
offence, the deed of one man, and the sentence express-
ed in the term condemnation. The apostle expresses
the same mournful truth by saying again, "Through
the offence of one many are dead." (Rom. v. 15.)
Besides, it is the doctrine of Paul that death came
upon us by the sin of Adam — not accidentally or natu-
rally, but by the operation of law. (Rom. v. 12.) But
this cannot be true if the imputation of Adam's guilt
be denied, for thousands of the human race die in in-
fancy before they are capable of committing actual
sin. (See Rom. v. 14.) How are all men guilty of
Adam's first sin? On account of their legal union.
(1 Cor. XV. 22.) As the righteousness of Christ, the
second Adam, is imputed to all believers, so the sin of
the first Adam is imputed to all his posterity. (Rom.
V. 19.)

TBE WANT OF OlilGINAZ KIGBTEOTTSNESS.

" Original sin," says Ursimts, " is the guilt of the
whole human race on account of the fall of our first
parents. It consists in a want of the knowledge of
God and of his will in the mind, and of an inclination
to those things which the law of God forbids, and an
aversion to those things which it commands, resulting
from the fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and
from them male to pass over into all their posterity,
thus corrupting our whole nature, so that all, on ac-

88 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

count of this depravity, are subject to the eternal wrath
of God, nor can we do anything pleasing to him, un-
less forgiveness be obtained for the sake of the Son of
God, our Mediator, and the Holy Ghost renew our na-
ture. (Rom. V. 14 ; Ps. li. 7.) It comprehends, there-
fore, these two things — exposure to eternal condemna-
tion on account of the fall of our first parents, and a
depravity of our entire nature since the fall. (Rom.
V. 12.) Original righteousness was not only a con-
formity of our nature with the law of God, but it also
included divine acceptance and approbation. In the
place of this conformity with the divine law we now
have depravity, and in the place of this approbation,
we have the displeasure of God, which has followed in
consequence of the fall." (For proof of this see Rom.
iii. 19; Gal. iii. 22; Ps. li. 5; Isa. i. 4; xlviii. 8;
Rom. iii. 10 ; viii. 7 ; Hos. xi. 7 ; Rom. vii. 21, 23 ;
iii. 23; Job xi. 12; Prov. xxii. 15.)

THE COItRUPTION OF HIS TFJBCOLE NATXTItE.

Original sin has —

1. Depraved the intellect. As in the creation " dark-
ness was upon the face of the deep " (Gen. i. 2), so with
the understanding, darkness is upon the face of this
deep. " The natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him ;
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned " — " having the understanding darkened, be-
ing alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance
that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart."
(1 Cor. ii. 14 ; Eph. iv. 18.)

2. Defiled the heart. (Jer. xvii. 9 ; Eccles. ix. 3.) In

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 89

thf heart are legions of lusts, obdi racy, infidelity, hy-
pocrisy ; it boils as the sea with passion and revenge.

3. The will. The sinner crosses God's will to fulfill
his own. (Jer. xliv. 16-18.) There is a rooted enmity
in his will against hojiness. " The carnal mind is en-
mity against God, for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be." " Ye will not come unto
me that ye might have life."

4. The affections. These are the lesser wheels, which
are strongly carried by the will, the master-wheel. Our
aflfections are misplaced, set on wrong objects. They are
as a sick man's appetite, which craves the things which
are noxious and hurtful to him. Their language con-
stantly is, "AVho will show us any good?" — that is,
earthly good. And they constantly lead every un-
sanctified child of Adam to "worship and serve the
creature more than the Creator, who is God over all,
blessed for ever."

5. The memory. It is prone to retain what is vain
and unprofitable, and to drop its hold on what is spirit-
ual and truly advantageous. It is mentioned as a gen-
eral characteristic of the wicked that they "forget
God," that " God is not in all their thoughts ;" and ex-
perience abundantly confirms this truth

6. The comcience. Sometimes it is violated till it
becomes seared " as with a hot iron." But when this
is not the case, it too often performs its office imper-
fectly, not reproving and condemning when it ought,
especially for secret sins. Sometimes it is so per-
verted that it calls evil good and good evil, puts light
for darkness and darkness for light. (Isa. v. 20.)

(See Eph. iv. 18 ; 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; Isa. xlviii. 4 ; Job

90 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

xxi. 15 ; Ge i. viii. 21 ; Jer. iv. 14 ; Rom. viii. 7 ; Tit.
i. 15 ; John iii. 6 ; Job xiv. 4 ; Ps. v. 5 ; Rom. v. 14.)
In regard to our bodies, which are the instruments
of corrupting the soul, and wliich are called " the flesh,"
and are represented as the seat and source of sin, they
have become mortal in consequence of sin; they are
polluted and defiled in all their members. Hence the
apostolic caution, " Neither yield ye your members as
instruments of unrighteousness unto sin." (Rom. vi. 13.)

ACTUAZ TRAJVSGJiESSIOy^S.

Actual sin is distinguished from original, as the act is
distinguished from the habit, or a fault of a person from
a fault of the nature. Omission of what is required is
an actual sin, because all omissions are either accom.
panied with some act of the will consenting directly or
indirectly to them, or they flow from some antecedent
act which is either the cause or occasion of omitting
the duty required.

Original sin is the cause of all actual sins. It is the
womb in which all actual sins are conceived. Hence
come murders, adulteries, rapines, envies, hatred, mal-
ice, pride, covetousness and every evil work. (JNIark
vii. 21.) It is the Trojan horse out of which a whole
army of impieties come. (Matt. vii. 18 ; Ps. Iviii. 3.)
Original sin produces actual sin naturally. (See Jer.
vi. 7 ; Jude 15.)

BEFLECTIONS.

One sin may have many sins in it. We are apt
to have slight thoughts of sin, and ask, " Is it not a
little one?" How many sins were in Adam's sin? Oh
take heed of any sin ! " There was but one crack in

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 91

the Ijiuteru, and tlie -wind has found it and blown
out the candle. How great a mischief one unguarded
point ol character may cause us ! One spark blew up
the magazine and shook the whole country for miles
around. One leak sunk the vessel and drowned all
on board. One wound may kill the body, one sin de-
stroy the soul."

A caviler once asked Dr. Nettleton, " IIow came I by my
wicked heart?" "That," lie replied, "is a question which
does not concern you so much as another — namely, how you
should get rid of it. You have a wicked heart, wliich renders
you entirely unfit for the kingdom of God, and you must have
a new heart or you cannot be saved ; and the question which
now most deeply concerns you is, how you shall obtain it?"
As the man manifested no wisii to liear anything on that sub-
ject, but still pressed the question liovv he came by his wicked
lieart. Dr. Nettleton told him that his condition resembled that
of a man who is drowning, while his friends are attempting to
save his life. As he ri.ses to the surface of the water he ex-
claims, " How came I here?" "That qnesiion does not con-
cern you now; take hold of this rope." "I3ut how came I
here?" he asks again. "I shall not stop to answer that ques-
tion now," replies his friend. "Then I'll drown," says the
infatuated man, and, spurning all proflered aid, sinks to the
bottom.

Dr. Milne says of Boston's Fourfold State, " It conducted me
to my own heart, discovered the evils which before lay hid in
the chambers of imagery, the monstrous ingratitude to God
which liad marked all my conduct, and the pollution of orig-
inal and actual sin with which my soul was contaminated. I
saw that I was necessarily under the strongest and most right-
eous obligations to God, and had never for one hour of my life
discharged these, but lived in rebellion against the Author of
my life ; so I was justly under the curse of God's righteous
law and exposed to everlasting misery."

92 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Question 19. — What is the misery of that estate
ivhereiuto man fellf

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

Man's misery by the fall consists in three things : 1.
In what man has lost. 2. In what man is brought
under. 3. In what man is liable to.

I. ZOST COMMUNION WITH GOD.

By " communion " here is meant friendship, fellow-
ship and favor. Before the fall Adam had the most
delightful intimacy, the most pure and sublime inter-
course, with his Maker in the uninterrupted enjoyment
of his gracious presence. Of this he was instantly and
totally deprived by the fall. He feared and fled from
the presence of God, and vainly attempted to hide
himself among the trees of the garden. (See Gen. iii.
8 ; Ps. V. 4, 5.)

" Behold him now.

So lately rich in happiness and blessed

With converse of tlie living God, o'erwhelmed

In misery, and tortured by the stings

Of conscious guilt."

From that unhappy hour till the present man in
his natural state has no desire after communion with
God. (Ps. X. 4; Job xxi. 14; 2 Cor. vi. 14; Amos iii.
3; Eph. ii. 12; iv. 18; see Gen. iii. 24.) God is
our chief good, and in communion with him consists
man's chief happiness ; therefore the loss of this com-
mu lion is man's greatest loss.

NOTES ON THE SHuRTER CATECHISM. 93

J I. UNDER HIS WRATH AND CURSE.

What is it to be under the "wrath" of God? To
be under his anger in the sad and dismal effects of it,
whether in a more visible or more secret way. (Ps. xi.
6 and 1. 21.) What is it to be under his " curse " ?
To be under the sentence of his law denouncing all
evil upon the transgressor. (Gal. iii. 10 ; Rom. i. 18 ;
Eph. V. 6 ; Isa. lix. 5 ; Eph. ii. 2 ; Gal. iii. 10 ; Prov.
iii. 33.)

What shall we say of the heathen ? Are they also
condemned ? Paul says of them : " For as many as
have sinned without law, shall also perish without
law." (Rom. ii. 12.) It is true they did not have the
law as the Jews had, and they have not heard the
gospel as we have. But they will not be tried by a
law which was never given to them, nor condemned
for not believing a gospel w'hich was never preached
to them. The light which they had will be the stand-
ard by which they will be tried. Tried by that, how-
ever, they are already found guilty before God. If
they are not guilty, then the darkness of heathenism is
a blessing ; and why jeopard their salvation by send-
ing the gospel to them, and thereby exposing them to
the perils of rejecting it? As to infants, we believe
that all infants dying in infancy are saved. " But
saved from what? To affirm that infants are saved is
to affirm that they need a Saviour. To admit that
they need a Saviour is to allow that they are sinners,
for Christ came to save sinners. We believe that they
are saved, for we believe that they are redeemed by
the blood of Christ and regenerated by the Holy
Ghost. Sharing in the curse of sin, they also share in

94 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

the song of the redeemed." How terrible is the jvrath
of God ! This wrath is not a passion as in us, but an
act of God's holy will, whereby he abhors sin and de-
crees to punish it. How did Haman's heart tremble
when the king rose up from the banquet in wrath !
(Esth. vii. 7.) But God's wrath is infinite ; all other
is but as a spark to a flame. "Who knoweth the
power of thine anger?" (Ps. xc. 11.)

III. AZT. MISERIES IJST THIS LIFE.

Man is subject in this world to many inward and
outward miseries. (See Job xx. 22 ; Eccles. i. 2.) We
come into this world with a cry, and go out with a
groan. (Ps. xc. 10. See also Job v. 7.) Whence all
our calamities — sorrows, sicknesses, bereavements, fears
and disappointments — but from sin ? It is on account
of sin that God has inflicted all these things upon the
human race. (See Gen. iii. 17-19 ; Ps. xxxviii. 3
Jer. V. 25 ; Rom. viii. 20 ; 1 John iv. 18.)

DEATH ITSELF.

What death is here intended? The death of the
body. Of this sin is the cause (Gen. iii. 19 ; Rom. v.
12 ; vi. 23) and the sting. (1 Cor. xv. 55, 56.) There
is an inseparable connection between sin and death
by the appointment of a righteous God. (Ezek. xviii.
4 ; Heb. ix. 27 ; Job xxiv. 19.) Is deatn a punish-
ment to all upon whom it is inflicted ? Tc this we re-
ply : 1. Though death be the consequence of sin in all,
yet to believers through Christ it is without a sting,
and it is an outlet from misery and an inlet to glory.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 95

" Deatli has no terrors for tlie Christian's soul ;
His sting's extracted, and his niiglity dart
Was blunted by its task on Calvary."

2. Death to the wicked and unbelievers is a dread-
ful punishment, being a king of terrors, as the grim
messenger sent to arrest the wicked and convey them
into future misery. (Prov. xiv. 32.)

THE PAINS OF UEJal,.

Do not sinners receive all their punishment in this
world? No. "^/ifer this the judgment." (Heb. ix.
27.) We are w-arned to " flee from tlie wrath to come.''
(Matt. iii. 7. See also xxiii. 33 ; Rom. ii. 8, 9 ; Luke
xii. 5 ; Heb. ii. 3.)

The pirate Gibbs, wliose name was for many years a terror
to commerce with the West Indies and South America, was at
last taken captive, tried, condemned and executed in the city
of New York. He acknowledged before his death that when
he committed the first murder and plundered the first ship his
compunctions were severe; conscience was on the rack and
made a hell within his bosom. But after he had sailed for
years under the black flag, his ccnscience became so hardened
and blunted that he could rob a vessel and murder all
its crew, and then lie down and sleep as sweetly at night as
an infant in its cradle. His rem >rse diminished as his crimes
increased. So it is generally. If, therefore, remorse in this
life is God's way of punisliing crimes, the more they sin the
less he punishes them ! How ibsurd !

How is hell represented in the Scriptures ? " The
breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth
kindle it." (Isa. xxx. 33.) " Their worm dieth not."
(Mark ix. 44.) " Between us and you there is a great

96 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

gulf fixed." (Luke xvi. 26.) " These shall go away
into everlasting punishment." (Matt. xxv. 46.) "It
is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God." (Heb. x. 31 ; Isa. xxxiii. 14.)

JFOR EVEJt.

" That mysterious thing,
Which liath no limit from llie walls of sense —
No chill from hoary time — with pale decay
No fellowship — but shall stand forth unchanged,
Unscorched, amid the resurrection-fires,
To bear its boundless lot of good or ill."

A lady, having spent the afternoon and evening at cards and
in gay company, when she came home found her servant-maid
reading a pious book. She looked over her shoulders and said,
" Poor melancholy soul ! what pleasure canst thou find in por-
ing so long over that book ?" That night the lady could not
sleep, but lay sighing and weeping very much. Her servant
asked her once and again what was the matter. At length she
burst out into a flood of tears, and said, " Oh ! it is one word I
saw in your book that troubles me ; there I saw the word eter-
nity ! Oh how liappy should I be if I were prepared for eter-
nity !" The consequence of this impression was that she laid
aside her cards, forsook her gay con)pany and set herself seri-
ously to prepare for another world.

Mrs. Susan Huntington of Boston in a letter to a friend
thus writes : " I am afraid I have never been brought truly to
submit all things to the disposal of God, especially to submit to
his righteousness in the condemnation of sinners. I fear I
have never yet seen aught of the dreadful evil of sin, and that
this is the source of tlie misgivings I sometimes experience as
to its just desert of eternal punishment. But Jehovah is — I
know he is — rigliteous in all his ways and holy in all his works ;
and he has said that the wicked shall be turned into hell,
where the worm dieth not and the fire shall never be quenched.
Hush, then, every murmuring, doubting thought, every rebel-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 97

lious, discontented feeling ! Oh for deeper views of the vileness,
the exceeding vileness, of sin — for stronger and more abiding
confidence in the rectitude and the goodness of God !"

What should all this teach us ? To flee from the
coming wrath to the New Testament altar, the satis-
faction and intercession of Christ, there being no name
by which we can be saved from sin and wrath except
the name of Jesus only. (Acts iv. 12.)

Question 20. — Did God leave all mankind to perish
in the estate of sin and viisery f

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

A young person, riding one day with a friend, asked him,
"What is your opinion of election, sir?" His friend judi-
ciously replied, "Stephen, you have learned frac.ions, decimals,
etc. ; do you understand them?" " Yes, sir." " Do you think
wiien you were in addition you could ?" "No sir." " Neither
can you, my dear boy, at present comprehend the deep things
of God." The youth appeared much interested, and during
tlie remainder of tiie journey he seemed to be absorbed in his
own reflections.

It may not be questioned that God might justly have
left all mankind to perish in their fallen state. As
the righteous Governor of the world he might have
proceeded to uphold the authority of his law by exe-
cuting its penalty upon the disobedient, and to give
an awful example of vengeance to the intelligent in-
habitants of the various provinces of his empire. His
7

98 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

goodness does not require that he should rescue his
rehellious subjects from the misery which they had
brought upon themselves, because he had already
given an ample display of it in their creation, and it
was still exhibited in the happiness diffused through
all the regions of innocence. Nor would he have been
a loser by it if they had all been left to perish. (Job
xxii, 2 ; Ps. cxliii. 2.) Instead of pursuing this course,
however, " the kindness and love of God our Saviour
toward man appeared." (Titus iii. 4. See also 2 Pet,
iii. 9 ; Ezek. xxxiii. 11.)

ELECTED SOME TO EVERLASTING LIEE.

" There is a remnant according to the election of
grace." (Rom. xi. 5 ; 2 Thess. ii. 13 ; Phil. iv. 3 ; Rev.
xiii. 8 ; Acts xiii. 48 ; John vi. 37.)

Mr. Winter was out in company witli an Arminian, who
spoke violently against the doctrine of election, "You be-
lieve election," .said Mr. Winter, " as firmly as I do." " I
deny it," answered the other; "on the contrary, it is a doctrine
I, detest." "Do you believe that all men will be saved on the
last day, or some only?" "Only some." "Do you imagine
that those some will be found to have saved themselves ?"
" No, certainly. God in Christ is the only Saviour of sinners."
"But God could have saved the rest, could he not?" "No
doubt." "Then salvation is peculiar to the saved?" "To be
sure." " And God saves them designedly, and not against his
will ?" " Certainly." " And willingly suffers the rest to per-
ish, though he could easily have hindered it ?" " It should
seem so." "Then is not this election? It amounts to the
same thing."

EMOM ALL ETERNITY.

" He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world." (Eph. i, 4; ix. 11; 2 Tim. i. 9; 1

2«0TES ON THE SHORTER CATECHLSM. 99

Thess. V. 9. See also Eom. viii. 30 ; ix. 11-13 ; Eph.
i. 11; Jolin vi. 39.)

OUT OF BIS MERE GOOD PLEASUJtE.

(2 Tim. i. 9 ; John xv. 16 ; Epli. i. 5, 11 ; Kom. ix.
15, 18 ; xi. 33.) Election does not result from faith
foreseen. We are not elected for holiness, but to
holiness. (Eph. i. 4.) We are not justified for faith,
but through faith as an instrument (Eph. ii. 8) ; not
for faith as a cause, but as a medium, and if not justi-
fied for faith, then much less elected. " As many as
were ordained to eternal life, believed." (Acts xiii. 48.)
They were not elected because they believed, but they
believed because they were elected. (Eph. i. 4-6.)
" As God (says our Confession of Faith, chap iii. sec.
vi.) hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath he, by
the eternal and most free purpose of his will, foreor-
dained all the means thereunto." (Eph. i. 4 ; ii. 10; 2
Thess. ii. 13.)

An old Avriter well says : " Hast thou an heart to
pray to God ? It is a sign no decree of wrath hath
passed against thee."

DIT> ENTER INTO A COVENANT OF GRACE.

A covenant is an agreement between two parties
who come under mutual engagements. Something is
to be done by one of the parties, in consequence of
which the other binds himself to do another thing in
return. How do we know that there was a covenant
transaction entered into for the salvation of all those
that are ordained unto life? (Ps. Ixxxix. 3. See also
Rom. viii. 3 ; Isa. xlii. 6 ; Tit. iii. 4, 5, 6, 7 ; Gal. iii.
21; Rem. iii. 20, 21, 22.) What is this covenant

100 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

called ? I. The covenant of peace (Ezek. xxxvii. 26),
because it seals up reconciliation between God and
humble sinners. II. A covenant of grace. It is thus
named — 1. Because it was with free, sovereign, rich
grace or favor that, when we had forfeited the first
covenant, God should enter into a new covenant after
we had cast away ourselves. 2. Because it is all made
up of terms of grace : that God will cast our sins
behind his back, that he will love us freely (Hos.
xiv. 4), and that he will give us a will to accept of
the mercy of the covenant and strength to perform
the conditions of the covenant. (Ezek. xxxvii. 26.)

THE COVENANT MADE WITH CHRIST.

With whom was the covenant of grace made? As
the covenant of works was made with the first Adam, fc-r
himself and his posterity, so the covenant of grace was
made with Christ, the second Adam, and in him with
all the elect as his seed, which are the Israel of God.
(Gal. iii. 16 ; Heb. vii. 22 ; viii. 6, 10 ; xiii. 20. See
also Rom. v. 15 ; Isa. xlii. 6 ; liii. 10, 11 ; Tit. i. 2.)
Was it the same covenant which was made with
Christ and the elect ? No ; for there was a covenant
made with Christ as mediator and the representative
of the elect, which was the foundation of all that grace
which was afterward promised in that covenant of grace
that the Father made with themselves in and through
Christ. (See Luke xxii. 29 ; Heb. vii. 22; Gal. iii. 16,
17; Ps. cxix. 122; Isa. xxxviii. 14; Zech. vi. 13.)

CONDITION OF THE COVENANT.

The covenant of grace is stri(;tly conditional as to
the Surety (Isa. xlix. 3), but is absolutely free to the

XOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 101

siuiK'r. (Jer. xxxi. 33, 34.) The proper condition of
the covenant of gi-ace is the fulfilling by Christ, as
representative and surety, of all righteousness owing to
God by his spiritual seed in virtue of the broken cove-
nant of works. (Matt. iii. 15 ; Phil. ii. 2 ; iii. 8, 9 ; Gal.
iii. 13 ; Eph. v. 2 ; Rom. v. 21.) The means by which
the elect have an actual interest in the things promised
in the covenant of grace is faith. (John iii. 16 ; Acts
xvi. 31.) Is not faith a condition of such an interest?
No; it is promised in the covenant itself (Zech. xii.
10), and therefore cannot be the condition of it. True,
it is said that Abraham's faith " was counted unto him
for righteousness " (Rom. iv. 3), but it was the object
upon which his faith terminated, and not his faith itself,
which was counted to him for righteousness. Faith is
an instrument and gift, and is necessary, as such, sav-
ingly to interest us in Christ (John i. 12), and to de-
termine us to acquiesce in his fulfilling the condition
of the covenant for us. (Isa. xlv. 24.) The covenant
of works made Avith Adam ran all upon " working,"
the covenant made with Christ, upon " believing."
(Rom. iv. 5.) In the first covenant, works were re-
quired as the condition of life ; in the second, they are
required as the evidences of life : in the first, for the
justification of our persons ; in ^he second, for the
attestation of our grace. (Tit. iii. 8.)

BY A MEDEEMEH.

(Acts iv. 12 ; John iii. 16. See also Gen. iii. 15 ;
Ps. ex. 1-4; Isa. liii. 3, 12.)

TO DELIVER THEyr, ETC.

(See on Questions 17, 18 and 19, John iii. 16.) " He

102 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISJr.

that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." (John
iii. 36.) Nothing more than this can be desired.
" This is all my salvation and all my desire." (2 Sam.
xxiii. 5.)

METHODS OF TMIAI,.

"VVe may try whether we are the covenant people of
God by the three following particulars : 1. Humility.
(1 Pet. v. 5 ; Phil. ii. 3 ; Ps. xxii. 6.) 2. Willingness.
(Ps. ex. 3.) 3. Consecration. (Deut. vii. 6 ; John x. 4.)

HOW TO BE ISr COVENANT WITIl GOD.

1. Seeking him by prayer. (Zech. xiii. 9.) 2. Break-
ing off the covenant with sin. (1 Sam. vii. 3.) 3. Get-
ting faith in the blood of Christ. (Eph. ii. 13. See
Rev. xxii. 17.)

From my cliildliood my mind had been full of objections
against tlie doctrine of God's sovereignty in choosing whom
he would to eternal life, and rejecting whom he pleased, leav-
ing them eternally to perish and be everlastingly tormented in
hell. It used to appear a horrible doctrine to me. But I re-
member the lime very well when I seemed to be convinced
and fully satisfied as to this sovereignty of God and his justice
in thus eternally disposing of men according to his sovereign
pleasure. But I never could give an account how or by what
means I was thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the
time that there was any extraordinary influence of God's Spirit
in it. However, my mind rested in it, and it put an end to
all these cavils and objections. — Jonathan Edwards.

A certain individual said to the Rev. Dr. Nettleton, " I can-
not get along with the doctrine of election." "Then," said he,
"get along without it. Yon are at liberty to get to heaven the
easiest way you can. Whether the doctrine of election is true
or not, it is true that you must repent and believe and love
God. Now, what we tell you is, that such is the wickedness
of your heart that you never will do these things unless God

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 103

hns determined to renew your lienrt. If you do not believe
tliat your heart is so wicked, make it manifest by comi)lyiiig
witli ihe terms of salvation. Why do you stand caviling with
the doctrine of election ? Suppose you should prove it to be
false, what have you gained? You must repent and believe
in Clirist after all. VViiy do you not immediately comply
with these terms of the gospel ? Wlieu you have done this
without the aid of divine grace, it will be soon enougli to
oppose the doctrine of election. Until you shall have done
this, we shall still believe that the doctrine of election lies at
the foundation of all hope in your case."

Question 21. — 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 conthiueth to be, God and
man, in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever,

J^ESrS CHRIST.

The name Jesus, or, as the Hebrews pronounce it,
Jehoshua or Joshua, signifies he who shall save. (Matt.
i. 21.) Christ is a Greek word, answering to the
Hebrew Messiah, the consecrated or anointed one.
(Heb. i. 9; John i. 41; Acts x. 38.)

RJiOEEMER.

This name is given by way of eminence to Jesus
Christ, the Saviour of the world, because he redeems
or delivers mankind from the bondage and burden of
their sins. (Isa. lix. 20 ; Job xix. 25.) As this title
implies, we were by nature in bondage and captivity
to sin, Satan, the world, death and hell, through the
breach of the first covenant, hence called lawful cap-
tives. (Isa. xlix. 24 ; 1. 1.) Redemption is deliverance
from bondage by means of a ransom. Thus Christ

104 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

has ransomed sinners from their thraldom to the guilt
and power of sin by dying in their place. (Rom. iii,
24; Gal. iii. 13; 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20; 1 Pet. i. 18, 19;
Eph. i. 7 ; Tit. ii. 14.) The Scriptures invariably at-
tribute redemption to the death of Christ, which is the
redemption price (Matt. xx. 28 ; 1 Tim. ii. 6 ; Rev. v.
9) ; and though he was perfectly innocent, yet his
being substituted for the guilty has nothing in it in-
consistent with justice, especially since he voluntarily
undertook to suffer and die, and since he had an abso-
lute right over his own life, being both God and man.
(John X. 18.) Christ is the only Redeemer. An angel
could not have undertaken the work, for he charges
his angels with folly. (Job iv. 18.) None but himself
was capable of the vast undertaking. (See Isa. Ixiii. 5 ;
Acts iv. 12.) In addition to being Redeemer hy pur-
chase, Christ is so by conquest. (Isa. xlix. 25 ; Col. ii.
15.) The name Lord belongs to both natures of
Christ. His human nature paid the price of our re-
demption by dying for us, and the divine gives and
offers to the Father this price, and applies it unto us
by the Spirit. (See Ps. Ixxxiii. 18 ; Matt, xxviii. 18.)

OF GOD'S ELECT.

Christ " gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. ii.
6 ; John iii. 14, 15.) But he was in a special manner
the Redeemer of God's elect. (John x. 15.) Their
sanctification w'as particularly designed in Christ's
undertaking. (John xvii. 19.) Their salvation was
particularly designed in it. (John xvii. 2.)

BEING THE ETEKNAZ SO\ OF GOD.

(Matt. xvi. 10 ; Col. i. 17 ; Heb. i. 8 ; 1 John v. 20 ;

NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 10/:

Rom. ix. 5 ; Phil. ii. 6.) He is one with the Father.
(John X. 30.) He is to be worshiped as God. (John
V. 23 ; Heb. i. 6.) He was begotten by the Father
before all Avorlds. (Ps. ii. 7.) He is the only-begotten
Son of God. (John i. 14.)

KECAME MAN.

Our Lord subsisted in the Godhead, not only as a
distinct but as a divine person, before he assumed our
nature. (See John xvi. 28.) He had a personal glory
with the Father before time. (John xvii. 5.) His go-
ings forth as a divine person were before all worlds.
(]\Iie. V. 2.) He did not only subsist as a distinct per-
son before he became incarnate, but he was also a divint.
person. (John i. 1, 3 ; Phil. ii. 6-8.) This divine per-
son, who was in the form of God, actually assumed our
nature into union with his divine nature. (John i. 14 ;
1 Tim. iii. 16.) The nature he assumed was our na-
ture— not simply like ours, formed out of nothing, but
made of the seed of David according to the flesh, bone
of our bone, and flesh of our flesh. (Heb. ii. 14.)
This was his own personal act. The Father, by the
agency of the Spirit, prepared for him a body, but the
act of assumption was exclusively his own. (Heb. ii.
16.) It was necessary that Christ as Redeemer should
become man — 1. That he might be capable of suffln*-
ing death for sinners. (Heb. ix. 22.) 2. That he
might be their High Priest to reconcile them to God.
(Heb. ii. 16, 17.)

GOD AXn MAN IN TWO DTSTTNCT NATUBES.

It was also necessary that Christ as Redeemer shculd
be God as well as man — 1. Because he could not

106 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Otherwise have borne up under the weight of wrath
which was laid upon him for the sins of men ; and 2.
Because his sufferings would have been but of finite
extent, and so could not have made satisfaction to
God's infinite justice, which was offended by sin.
Though there is an intimate union between the two
natures of our Lord, yet they are not confounded, nor
their properties mixed. By this union his divine nature
did not become finite, neither did his human nature
become infinite. They continued to retain their
distinct properties or attributes. They have distinct
understandings and distinct wills, though their opera-
tions are always in unison. Thus, though as God he
knew all things, yet as man he is said not to have
known the day of judgment (Mark xiii. 32 ; Matt.
xxiv. 36) ; and though as God he is omnipotent,
yet as man he is said to have been crucified in
weakness. (2 Cor. xiii. 4.)

onf: PEnsoy.

The union did not change our Lord's personal iden-
tity. His person was one before he became incarnate,
and it continued to be one after he was manifested in
the flesh. The Son given, and the Child born, are one
person. The incarnation produced no change in his
divine person. Such a change would have been incom-
patible with his true and proper divinity. The change
was purely relative. He who, previous to his incarna-
tion, subsisted simply as a divine person, had, posterior
to it, a human nature subsisting in his divine person
by a personal union. (See Isa. ix. 6 ; Rom. ix. 5 ; Matt.
i. 23 ; John i. 14.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISJI. 107
J'OK EVER.

" Because he continueth for ever, he hath an un-
changeable priesthood." (Heb. vii. 24.) The union of
the divine and human nature in Christ will never be
dissolved. This union is an everlasting security for
the perpetuity of the union between Christ and believers,
for he has said, " Because I live ye shall live also."
(John xiv. 19.)

At a weekly meeting for religious conversation, some South
Sea Island converts (as Rev. John Williams informs us) thus
talked with each other concerning Christ: "Give us some
oilier proof that he was God," said another. "The various
miracles that he wrought," was the reiiiy. " But did not
Peter and all the apostles work miracles?" " Yes, but they
(lid their miracles with borrowed power; and wlien they re-
turned, did they not tell Jesus that they did all in his name
and not in their own ?" Another said, "Is not the star that
led the wise men from the East a proof of the divinitv of
Jesus?" "But, if really God, would he have been laid in a
manger?" "Yes," said another, "for did he not humble
himself and lay aside his glory as God? If he had come in
his glory, would not man have exceedingly feared? We
know wliat Moses said." Another said he believed Christ
was God, because he said, "I and my Father are one;"
and "I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last."
Another believed it " because he is to judge the world, and
must therefore be God." Another said, " He himself has
promised where two or three are met in my name, there am I
in the midst of them, and I will be with you always, even to
tlie end of the world. Now, how can he fulfill these promises?
WHiile we are gathered here to worship and pray, others are
gathered in distant lands— some in Britain— and ho v can he be
with them all if he is not God ?"

Question 22.— How did Ch-id, being the Son of
God, become man f

108 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Answer. — Christ, the Son of God, became man, hy
talcing to himself a trite body and a reasonable soul; be-
ing conceived hy the power of the Holy Ghost, in the
womb of the virgin Mary, and horn of her, yet withovi
sin.

In referring to the subject of this answer an able
writer says : " What is the greatest wonder that the
world ever saw ? The incarnation of the Son of God.
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us." (John
i. 14.) Two natures infinitely distinct and united in one
person. Astonishing, glorious, mysterious fact ! Well
might the inspired apostle in contemplating it exclaim,
" Without controversy, great is the mystery of godli-
ness ; God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the
Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, be-
lieved on in the Avorld, received up into glory." (1 Tim.
iii. 16.)

CUB 1ST THE SON OF GO J) BECAME MAN.

" Forasmuch, then, as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of
the same." (Heb. ii. 14.)

A TBT/E BODY.

It was a voluntary act in Christ the Son of God to
become man. He took on him the human nature that
he might be thereby fitted to be our Redeemer. (Heb.
X. 6, 7 ; ii. 14, 16.) It was real flesh he took, not the
mere shape, image and appearance of a human body,
as some ancient heretics alleged. Hence he is called
man and the Son of man. He was conceived and
born, he was subject to hunger, thirst and weariness,
'.ili e other men ; he was crucified, dead, buried, and

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 109

rose again, none of wliich could be affirmed of him if
he liad not had a true or real body. (See Luke xxiv.
39 ; Ts. Ixxx. 17 ; Matt. i. 20, 25 ; Gal. iv. 4 ; Heb. x.
5 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; John i. 1.)

A.XI} A REASONABLE SOUL.

That Christ took a rational soul is evident from
the fact that this is expressly mentioned by himself,
w hen he said in his agony, " My soul is exceeding sor
rowful, even unto death " (Matt. xxvi. 38), and wheu
ou the cross he committed his soul to his Father. Be-
sides, there is the same evidence that he possessed this
essential part of our nature as there is that it belongs
to any other man, his thoughts, his reasonings, his
feelings, his affections, his joys and sorrows, his hopes
and fears, being all indications of the existence of that
living and intelligent principle, of the operation of
which we are conscious in ourselves, and to which
we give the name of the soul. (See Heb. iv. 15 ; Isa.
liii. 10.)

BEING CONCEIVEJ), ETC.

(Gal. iv. 4, 5.) Was there no other way for the re-
storing of fallen man but this, that God should take
flesh ? " We must not," says an old writer, " ask a
reason of God's will ; it is dangerous to pry into God's
ark ; we are not to dispute, but adore. Tiie wise God
saw this the best way for our redemption, that Christ
should be incarnate; it was not fit for any to satisfy
God's justice but man ; none could do it but God ;
therefore, Christ being both God and man, he is the
fittest to undertake this work of redemption." What
was the peculiar agency of each person cf the adorable

110 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Trinity iu this wonderful work ? The Futher prepares
a body or human nature for tho Son (Heb. x. 5) ; the
Holy Ghost /orj/is it, by his overshadowing power (Luke
i. 35) ; and t'le Son assumes the entire human nature to
himself (Heb. ii. 14, 16. See also Gen. iii. 15 ; Gal. iv.
4 ; Gen. xii. 2 ; John viii. 28.)

BORN OV THE YIROIN MAJtY.

Why was Christ born of the Virgin Mary? 1. Be-
cause this had been predicted. (Isa. vii. 14 ; Gen. iii.
15 ; Matt. i. 23 ; Luke i. 34, 35.) 2. Because Christ
was to be a High Priest, pure and holy. Had he been
born after the ordinary course of nature, he had been
defiled. By his birth he was kept free from the con-
tagion of original sin, which is conveyed to all Adam's
posterity by natural generation. 3. That the truth of
the human nature assumed by the Son of God might
thus be signified. 4. That we may know that Christ
has descended from the fathers, from whom Mary
also was — that is to say, that he was the true seed
of Abraham, being born from his seed, and that he
was the Son of David, being born from the daughter
of David, according to the prophecies and promises.
5. That the birth of Christ might be a sign of our
spiritual regeneration, which is not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God.

When was Christ born ? " When the fullness of time
was come " (Gal. iv. 4) ; that is, the determinate time
that God had set. More particularly, this fullness of
time was, when all the prophecies of the coming of the
Messiah were accomj^lished, and all legal shadows and

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. Ill

figurtis, by which he was typified, were abrogated, and
the world prepared for his coming by the providence
of God.

WITHOUT siy.
(Luke i. 31 ; Heb. iv. 15. See 1 Pet. ii. 22 ; Heb.
vii. 26.) Christ could not have satisfied for our sin
if he had had any sins of his own, for he must through
the eternal Spirit offer himself without spot. (Heb. vii.
26 ; ix. 14.)

WHY WAS CnniST IJSCAIUiATE?

1. As a deep humiliation. He " emptied himself."
As he became the substitute and representative of
sinners, it was necessary that he should take the hum-
ble rank of the guilty. He descended, therefore, from
the height of heaven to the humblest condition of
earth.

2. That he might familiarize himself with the hu-
man condition, as a qualification for his office as our
High Priest. The compassion of his Godhead resulted
from the perfection of his nature, his feelings of hu-
manity from personal experience, and both together
form one fit and sympathizing High Priest, and lay a
foundation for our trust under all the sorrows and
trials of life. (See Heb. ii. 11-18.)

3. To embody and exemplify his own religion. In
the entire spirit and conduct of our Lord we see his
doctrine liviag and acting. He hath left us an exam-
ple that we should tread in his steps. (1 John ii. 6 ; 2
Pet. ii. 21.) His example was divine, and yet human
— a perfect model.

4. The crowning purpose of our Lo.'d's incarnation

112 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

was, that he might suffer for the sins of men. He
was " made flesh " that he might hunger and thirst,
endure the contempt of the people, weep over Jerusa-
lem, feel the hour and the power of darkness, agonize
in the garden, and die upon the cross, and thus pay the
penalty, the rigid satisfaction, death for death, and re-
deem a guilty world.

In the year 1811 the Moravian missionaries in Labrador
determined on the introduction of the gospel in tlie northern
parts of that land. They embarked in company with a Chris-
tian pilot wlioni they had obtained, named Jonathan. The
sacrifices which this man made to accompany them were very
great. At Hopedale he was considered the principal person
or chief of his nation, but being made a partaker of the same
spirit by which the missionary brethren were actuated, he was
willing to sojourn among strangers, where he would have no
pre-eminence, and to expose himself to unknown hardships
and dangers, sustained only by the hope that tlie projected
voyage might open the way for the introduction of the gospel
among a portion of his countrymen still sitting in darkness
and the shadow of death. When any of his countrymen rep-
resented to him the danger of the expedition, he used to say,
" Well, we will try, and shall know better when we get there ;"
and once he said, " When I hear people talk about the danger
of being killed, I think Jesus went to death out of love to us ;
what greater matter would it be if we were to be put to death
in his service, should that be his good pleasure ?" So effectual-
ly had he been tauglit that Christ died for all, that we who
live should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Hina
who died for us and rose again. Nor was this a mere empty
boast ; this generous principle of devotedness to Jesus evidently
actuated our Esquimaux captain during the severe trials of a
most perilous voyage ; his ciieerful, firm and faithful conduct
under all circumstances being quite consistent with his Chris-
tian profession.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 113

Question 23. — What offices doth Christ execute as
our Redeemer f

Answer. — Chrut, as our Redeemer, exeeuteth the
offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in
his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

The general office with which our Redeemer was in-
vested is that of Mediator between God and man. (1
Tim. ii. 5. See on Question 29.) This mediatory
office he a'ways and invariably sustains, and the others
are only pa: ticular and constituent parts of it ; that is,
the office of Mediator is never laid aside or suspended
by Christ when he acts as Prophet, Priest and King
of his Church. Sin had separated between us and
God, and sin could only be expiated by sacrifice ; hence
the necessity of his priesthood. If he had not been a
priest he could not have been a prophet and a king,
it being evident that unless salvation had been obtain-
ed for us it could not be revealed and applied. "We
are alienated from the life of God by the ignorance
that is in us, because of the blindness of our hearts ;
hence the necessity of Christ's prophetical office. We
are under bondage to sin, Satan and the present evil
world ; and not only captives, but also willing captives,
and hence the necessity of his hinglij office. Thus his
official character is complete, as it is commensurate
with the utmost extent of our miseries and want.s.
(See Col. i. 19 ; John iii. 34; Matt. xi. 27 ; John v. 22,
26 ; xiv. 6.)

OFFICES.

Christ is a Redeemer in office. (1 Pet. i, 20 ; Acts v.
31 ; John vi. 27 ; Heb. iii. 2.)

114 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
CHJilST.

Our Saviour is called in the Old Testament tht
Messiah, and in the New Testament the Christ, and
both terms import that he was the Anointed One.
This designation is given to him in allusion to the
rite by which persons were consecrated to their offices
under the former dispensation — namely, by being
anointed with oil. This rite was observed in the case
of the three offices which were most celebrated, those
of prophet, jDriest and king. We have an example of
the first in Elisha ; of the second in Aaron and his
sons ; and of the third in David and Solomon. In al-
lusion to this rite our Redeemer was called the Messiah
or the Christ, to signify, not that he was consecrated
by the same rite, but that he was solemnly appointed
to his office by his Father, and furnished with all the
requisite qualifications. He was anointed, says the
Scripture, " with the Holy Ghost." (Acts x. 38.) This
anointing took place — 1. At his conception, when he
was sanctified by the Holy Ghost, endowed with all
the graces Avhich can adorn human nature, and with
those faculties which, being afterward developed,
excited admiration even in his youth, for at the
age of twelve he astonished the doctors of Jerusalem
by his wisdom both in asking and answering questions.
2. At his baptism. (Matt. iii. 16.) The Spirit coming
down from the opened heavens in a visib e form rested
upon him, to signify, in conjunction with the voice
which proceeded from the excellent glory, to all who
were present, that God recognized him as his Sou, and
bestowed upon him an abundant measure of heavenly
influences. In this manner he was publicly installed

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHIS^M. 115

in his office and fitted for the discharge of his dt ties.
(See Isa. xi. 2-5.)

The particular offices to which our Saviour waa
anointed were the three already mentioned as existing
among the Jews — the prophetical, the sacerdotal, and
the regal. The fii-st is ascribed to Christ in Deut.
xviii. 14; the second in Ps. ex. 4; and the third in
Ps. ii. 6. Here observe — 1. That the anointing re-
lated to the human nature of the Saviour. The person
of Christ was anointed in the human nature, which was
the immediate receptacle of all gifts and graces (Ps.
Ixviii. 18) : "Thou hast received gifts for men ;" mar-
gin, in the man — that is, in the human nature. 2. All
these offices never centred in any one person but in
Christ alone. In order, as it would appear, to show the
unequaled dignity of our blessed and glorious Ke-
deemer, none of those who were typical of him under
the Old Testament were ever clothed with them all.
Melchisedec was a king and a priest, Moses Avas a ru-
ler and a prophet, Jeremiah was a priest and a prophet,
David was a king and a prophet, but Christ alone
Avas prophet, priest and king.

ESTATE OF HUMILIATION A\I) EXALTATION.

To " execute " an office is to do or perform what
belongs to the office. Christ executed all these offices—
1. In his state of humiliation — that is, during his resi-
dence here on earth. (See on Questions 27, 28. John
xvii. 4.) 2. In his exaltation — that is, since he returned
to heaven. (Heb. ix. 24.) Is he then an all-sufficient
Saviour? Yes. (Heb. vii. 25.) And is he as willing
to save as he is able ? Yes. (John vi. 37.)

116 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

THE ORDER JJV WHICJl THE OFFICES JLRE
EXECUTED.

It should be observed that the order in which the
offices of Christ are here stated, is the very order in
which they are executed. In the salvation of the soul,
as in the creation of our world, he commences with
the diffiision of light. The knowledge of ourselves
and of the Saviour is necessary to the production of
faith, by which his righteousness is embraced as the
only foundation of our acceptance with God. Con-
version consists in "the opening of the blind eyes
and the turning of the soul from darkness to light;"
and this is the work of his prophetical office. When
our Prophet manifests himself to us by his word and
Spirit in his mediatorial character, we come to him
as our Priest whose sacrifice has expiated our guilt,
and submit to him as our King whose service is per-
fect liberty, and whose power will defend us from
every evil.

When faith closes Avith Christ, does it accept him
in all his offices? Yes, for Christ is never divided.
We must have him wholly or none of him. (John viii.
24.) His investiture with this threefold office encour-
ages us to employ him in every one of them, that in
like manner as he is 7nade over of God unto us, so we
may actually have him for our "wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption." (1 Cor. i. 30.)

Clementine Ctjvier. — Tiiis lovely, honored and accom-
plislied young lady says in a letter to a friend : " I want to
tell you how happy I am. My heart has at length felt what
my mind has long understood. The sacrifice of Chvkt ausivers
to all the wishes and meets all the wants of my soid ; and since I

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 117

have been enabled to embrace witli ardor all its provisions,
my heart enjoys a sweet and incomparable tranquillity.
Formerly, I vaguely assured myself that a merciful God
would pardon me, but now I feel that I have obtained that
pardon, tliat I obtaiji it every moment; and I experience in-
expressible delight in seeking it at the foot of the cross."

Question 24. — Hoio doth Christ execute the office of
a prophet f

Akswer. — Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in
revealing to ns, by his word and Spirit, the will of God
for our salvation.

THE OFFICE OF A PBOFMET.

"When we contemplate Jesus Christ simply as a
divine person, we must consider him as the uncreated
Source of all intelligence and wisdom. (John i. 9.)
In his mediatorial character, however, he speaks not
properly in his own name, but in the name of Him
"who gave him his commission, and brings to us his
Father's message. Hence, we say that he was invested
with the prophetical office, the term office implying
that he acted a subordinate part and by the authority
of another. (See his own declarations : John vii. 16,
17; xii. 49, 50; Rev. i. 1.)

J^AMES GIVEN TO CHRIST AS A PROPHET.

He is called— 1. "The Counsellor" (Isa. ix. 6), be-
cause in him " are hid all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge." (Col. ii. 3 ; John xii. 46.) 2. " The
Messenger of the Covenant." (Mai. iii. 1.) 3. "A
Lamp." (2 Sara. xxii. 29.) 4. " The Morning Star."
(Rev. xxii. 16.) 5. An "Apostle" (Heb. iii. 1), be-
cause he is the great Ambassador of heaven sent to

118 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

declare tlie will of God to men. 6. A " Witness "
(Isa. Iv. 4; Rev. iii. 14), because, being a son of Adam
(Luke iii. 38), he was the more fit to attest the will
of God to men, and being the eternal Son of God, was
therefore liable to no error or mistake in his testimony.
7. An "Interpreter," because the mystery of godliness
lies so far beyond the reach of our natural understand-
ing, that we could never savingly comprehend it unless
the Son of God gave us an understanding " that we
may know Him that is true." (1 John v. 20. See also
Luke xxiv. 45 ; Isa. xlviii. 17 ; John iii. 2 ; Rev. xxii.
6 ; Heb. i. 2; 1 Pet. i. 11 ; Matt. vii. 29.)

J^ITMUSS OF CMRIST FOR HIS PROPHETIC J.L
WORK.

Considered as God, he is in the bosom of the Father,
and has the most perfect knowledge of his nature, per-
fections and purposes, and when he unfolds these to
men he testifies what he has seen. (John i. 18; Matt.
xi. 27.) Viewed as man, he has a peculiar fitness for
communicating these mysteries to the human race in
such a way as to prevent them from losing the bene-
fit of his instructions by his overwhelming majesty.
(Heb. xii. 18-24.) With regard to Christ's official
gifts, "it pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell." (Col. i. 19.) The Divine Spirit, in
his grace and gifts, was conferred first upon Christ
as the Head of the Church to qualify him for his
work in his assumed nature, and to be communicated
by him to the members of his mystical body. (Isa.
xi. 2, 3 ; John iii. 34.) He is fiill of grace and
truth. (John i. 14. See Ps. xlv. 2 ; Isa. 1. 4 ; Luke
iii. 21, 22.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTEll CATECHISM. 119
BY IT IS WORD.

We owe it entirely to our Lord Jesus Christ in his
prophetic character that we have a Bible. (2 Pet. i.
21.) But the blessed Spirit who proceedeth from the
Father and the Son is specially considered in this
work as "the Spirit of Christ." (See 1 Pet. i. 10,
11.) As the planetary stars that rule the night
shine in light borrowed from the sun, so the proph-
ets derived all their light from the Sun of Right-
eousness, and when he arose with healing under his
wings their glory was eclipsed by his superior lustre.
There is every reason to believe that all the appear-
ances of Deity under that economy to converse with
men were appearances, not of God in his absolute
character or in the person of the Father or Spirit,
but in the person of the Son and in the character
of Mediator. At the close of the Jewish dispensa-
tion Christ appeared in human nature as the Prophet
of the Church. (Heb. i. 2 ; Col. iii. 16 ; Matt. xiii. 16,
17.) Nor did the exercise of his prophetical office
terminate with his abode on earth. He continues by
the written word and the ministers of the gospel,
commissioned to act in his name, to speak to us from
heaven. (Heb. xii. 25, 26.)

AND SPiniT.

The Holy Spirit, by whose inspiration the sacred
Scriptures were penned, opens the eyes of the human
understanding to perceive the moral glory, beauty
and excellence of divine truth, beyond any attain-
ment made by mere learning or study without this
heavenly aid. (Ps. cxix. 130 ; John xiv. 20 ; isa. liv.
13; 1 Cor. ii. 14.)

120 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
THE WILT, OF GOD

means the whole counsel of God, or whatever God
would have us know, believe and do in order to sal-
vation. In gene)al, it may be observed that Avhile
Jesus corrected the false notions of religion and the
perverse interpretations of the law of Moses which
prevailed among the Jews, he unfolded the character
of God in all its perfection, called the attention of
men to the cultivation of piety and holiness as alone
acceptable to him, exhibited himself as the Messiah
whom they expected, and gave intimations of the
design of his mission and the nature of the salva-
tion which he had come to accomplish.

FOR OUR SAZiVATTON.

Many kinds of knowledge can only amuse and in-
struct, but that which Jesus communicates is designed
to save the soul from the wrath of God and prepare it
for the employments and enjoyments of heaven. (John
XX. 31 ; Isa. xlix. 6.)

HOW MAY WE HAVE CHRIST FOR OUR TEACH Ell?

1. By seeing our need of his teaching. (Rev. iii. 18.)
2. By going to him to teach us. (Ps. xxv. 5 ; Luke xi.
1 ; Ps. xiii. 3.) 3. By waiting upon the means of
grace which he has appointed. (Eph. iv. 11.) 4. By
walking according to the knowledge which we have
already. (John vii. 17.)

The comforting influence of the precious truths of the Bible
at a dying hour, was manifested in the case of a poor soldier
»vho was mortally wounded at the battle of Waterloo. His
companion conveyed him to some distance and laid him down

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 121

under a tree. Before he left him the dying soldier entreated
liim to open liis i^napsaei^, and take out Iiis pocket Bible, and
read to him a small portion of it before he died. Wben asked
what passages he should read, he desired him to read John
xiv. 27 : " Peace I leave with you ; my peace I give unto you ;
not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart
he troubled, neither let it be afraid." "Now," said he, " I die
happy. I desire to have peace with God, and I possess the
peace of God which passeth all understanding." A little
while after one of his officers passed him, and seeing him in
such an exhausted state, asked him how he did. He said, "I
die happy, for I enjoy the peace of God wliicli passeth all
understanding," and then expired. The cflScer left him and
went into tlie battle, where he was soon aftei mortally wound-
ed. When surrounded by his brother-officers, full of anguish
and dismay, he cried out, "Oh, I would give ten thousand
worlds, if I had them, that I possessed that peace which glad-
dened the heart of a dying soldier whom I saw lying under
a tree I for lie declared that he possessed that peace of God
which passeth all understanding. I know nothing of this
peace. I die miserable, for I die in despair."

Question 25. — Sow doth Christ execute the office of
a priest f

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

A priest is a public person who in the name of the
guilty deals with an offended God for reconciliation
by sacrifice, Avhich he offers to God upon an altar, be-
ing thereto called of God, that he may be accepted.
A priest was needed to be an umpire, to mediate be-
tween a guilty creature and a holy God. (Hob. v. 1-
4.) All the priests of the Old Testament weie types

122 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

of Christ, yet tlie typical character of the high priest
was the most notable of them all, because in him there
were many things — as, for example, offering sacrifices
and making intercession for the people — that repre-
sented Christ, the true and great High Priest of the
Church.

CHRIST'S SUPJERIORITT.

The superiority of Christ as a priest over all who
sustained that office in the Mosaic ritual is evident —
1. From the superiority of his nature and person.
The Jewish priests were but men ; he was " the true
God and eternal life." They were sinful men, and
needed to offer " first for themselves and then for the
people;" he had no sins of his own, but was holy,
harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. 2.
From the manner of his investiture or installation.
" Those priests were made without an oath, but this "
— that is, Christ — "with an oath, by Him that said
unto him, " The Lord sware, and will not repent. Thou
art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec.''
By so much is Jesus made a surety of a better testa-
ment. 3. From the efficacy and perfection of the
sacrifice offered by our Redeemer. It was infinitely
superior to those sacrifices which were but types of
his. " It is not possible that the blood of bulls and of
goats should take away sins. But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on
the right hand of God. For by one sacrifice he hath
perfected for ever them that are sanctified." 4. From
the unchangeableness and perpetuity of the priestly
office of Christ. " They truly were many priests, be-
cause they were not sufiered to continue, by reason of

NO PES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM. 123

death : but this man, because he eontinueth ever,
hath an unchangeable priesthood."

DiriNKLY APPOINTED.

Christ was called and anointed by God to the office
of priest. (See Heb. v. 4-6 ; vii. 21.)

The priestly office of Christ has two parts: First, his

SA TISFACTIOK.

This, again, consists of two branches — 1. His active
obedience. (Matt. iii. 15.) He did everything which
the law required, his holy life was a perfect com-
mentary upon the law of God, and he obeyed the law
for us. 2. His passive obedience. Our guilt being
transferred and imputed to him, he suffered the penal-
ty which was due to us. The paschal lamb slain was
a type of Christ who was offered up in sacrifice for us.
Sin could not be done away without blood. (Heb. ix.
22.) Christ was not only a Lamb without spot, but a
Lamb slain. How do we know that Christ, as priest,
made atonement for sin? (Heb. ii. 17.) Did he do
this by the sacrifice of himself? (Heb. ix. 26.) Was
he himself the priest? (Heb. ix. 14.) Was he himself
the sacrifice? (Isa. liii. 10.) Was he himself the
altar? (See Heb. xiii. 10.) Did Christ oflfer himself
voluntarily ? (See John x. 18 ; Luke xxiii. 46.) Which
of the tAvo natures of Christ was the sacrifice ? The
human nature, soul and body (Isa. liii. 10 ; Heo. x.
10), which were actually separated by death. (John
xix. 30.)

For additional proof that Christ oflTered himself a
sacrifice to satisfy tHvine justice and reconcile us to

124 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

God, see Matt. xx. 28 ; Col. i. 20 ; Rom. v. 6 ; viii. 34 ;
1 John ii. 2 ; 1 Pet. ii. 24 ; iii. 18 ; Rev. v. 9 ; xiii. 8.

ONCE OFFERING.

Christ only offered up himself once a sacrifice. (Heb.
ix. 28.) This offering need not be repeated, because
as once dying was the penalty of the law, so once suf-
fering unto death was the complete payment of it in
regard of the infinite dignity of the sufferer. (Heb.
ix. 27, 28 ; x. 14.)

The other part of Christ's priestly office is

INTER CESS ION.

(Isa. liii. 12.) Our great High Priest, in his inter-
cession, prays to and pleads with God, as our Advocate,
that through the merit of his death we may be actually
reconciled, our persons accepted, our sins pardoned, our
consciences quieted, our prayers answered, and at last
our souls saved. (1 John ii. 1 ; John xiv. 14.) This
intercession is made for us at the right hand of God in
heaven. (Rom. viii. 34.) And it is made for us con-
tinually. Our Advocate never dies.

PRACTICAL REFLECTIONS.

1. In the bloody sacrifice of Christ see the horrid
nature of sin. The sight of Caesar's bloody robe in-
censed the Romans against them that slew him. The
sight of Christ's bleeding body should fill us with
hatred of sin. 2. In the sacrifice of Christ see God's
justice and mercy displayed. (Rom. xi. 22.) 3. From
the sufferings of Jesus learn his strong affection for
sinners. 4. Let us by faith apply the blood of Christ
to ourselves. (Phil. 'ii. 8.) 5. If Christ is our Inter-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 125

cessor, then we kuow where Ave must chiefly fix our
eyes when we engage in prayer. 6. If Christ be pray-
ing for us, then his Spirit is praying in us. (Gal. iv. 6;
Rom. viii. 26.) By this interceding of the Spirit with-
in us we may know th^t Christ is interceding above
for us. 7. How sad the condition of the unbeliever !
He has none in heaven to speak a word for him. The
law and conscience and the Judge are against him, and
there is no friend to plead his cause.

The gardener of Elizabeth (consort of Frederick II.) had one
little daugliter, with whose religious instruction he had taken
great pains. When she was five years old, the queen met her
one day, and was so ranch pleased with her that a short time
after, the artless child, at the queen's request, was brought to
the palace. She approached the queen with intanght courtesy,
kissed her robe and modestly took her seat, which had been
placed for her, by the queen's order, near her own person.
From this position she could overlook the table at which the
queen was dining with the ladies of the court, and they
watched witii interest to see the effect of .so much splendor on
the simple child. She looked carelessly on the costly dresses
of the guests, the gold and porcelain on the table and the
pomp with which all was conducted, and then, folding her
hand.s, she sang with her clear, childish voice these woj'ds :

" Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
Are all my ornament and dress;
Fearles.s, with these pure garments on,
I'll view the splendor of thy throne."

All the assembly were struck with surprise at seeing so much
feeling, penetration and piety in one so young. Tears filled
the eyes of the ladies, and the queen exclaimed, " Ah, happy
child ! how far are we below you !"

A soldier on frrlough went into the office of a certain judge

126 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

in an Eastern city and waited for an audience. The judge was
most busily employed, and after giving a hasty glance at the
suppliant resumed Ids work. The soldier, after one or two in-
effectual attempt to secure his attention, placed an open letter
before the judge. On glancing at the signature and perceiving
it to be his son's, he paused at once and read the letter, while it
besought him to show kindness to this sick comrade, who had
gone home to die, "for Charlie's sake." The judge arose at
once, took the poor soldier by the hand to his own home, and
dressing him in a suit of "Charlie's" and giving him his va-
cant room, showed him all possible attention, and took the
greatest care of him, " for Charlie," his own dear son's, "sake."
He said he could not do enough for him, because Charlie desired
it. Our Advocate with the Father is the precious Son, to whom
notliing can be refused.

Question 26. — Hoio doth Christ execute the office
of a king f

Answer. — Christ executeth the office of a Idng, in
subduing ^is to himself, in ruling and defending iis, and
in restraining and conquering all his and our enemies.

CHItlST A KINO.

That Christ is a King is everywhere taught in the
Scriptures. (Ps. ii. 6 ; Isa. ix. 6 ; Luke i. 33 ; Heb. i.
8 ; John xviii. 36 ; Rev. xix. 16.)

JSXTENT OF DOMIXION.

Over what a molehill does the most extensive world-
ly monarch reign ! Jesus claims unbounded empire.
All kings and rulers are subject to him ; they are amen-
able to his authority, they rule by his permission, they
are controlled by his power. He girds them and
guides them, though they know him not. As far as
they move in the direction of his purpose they are

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 127

invincible; when they oppose it a straw checks and
overthrows them. He is peculiarly King in Zion.
He is " Head over all things to the Church." (Eph. i.
22.) As Mediator "all power was given unto him
in heaven and in earth." (Matt, xxviii. 18.) God has
anointed and sealed him to his regal office. "Him
hath God the Father sealed." (John vi. 27.)

svudtiing us to himself.

Christ as a King subdues his people to himself.
(Tit. iii. 3-8 ; Col. i. 21.) He finds them, like the
rest of the world, lying in wickedness, the captives of
Satan and the slaves to sin, in bondage to both. He
delivers them by the instrumentality of his word ap-
plied by the power of his Spirit. (Ps. ex. 3 : Hos. xi.
4; Lukei. 17 ; 2 Cor. x. 4.)

ItULING US.

How does Christ rule his people? 1. By givino-
them laws to which they are to conform their hearts
and their lives. (Isa. xxxiii. 22.) 2. By annexing or
adding to his laws threatenings of punishing the dis-
obedient and promises of rewarding the obedient. (Rev.
ii. 23.) 3. By appointing church officers not only for
declaring and publishing his laws, but also for the ex-
ecution of some threatenings, who, having the key of
discipline, as well as the key of doctrine, committed to
them, are to rule under him in the Church, and have
power of binding and loosing, of administering church
censures and relaxing or removing them. (INIatt. xvi.
19.) 4. And chiefly, Christ rules his people inwardly
by his Spirit, whereby he writes his law in their hearts,
working in them a disposition and strength to yield to

128 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

him that obedience which he requires. (Heb. viii. 10 ;
2 Cor. iii. 3 ; x. 5.)

DEFENDING VS.

Christ defends his people — 1. From their temptations.
He gives them all the instructions, precepts, warnings,
reproofs, threatenings and promises which are con-
tained in his word ; and by these they are prompted to
suspend the dangerous purpose, to watch against the
rising sin, to oppose with vigor the intruding temptation,
and to pray for the assistance of the Holy Spirit, which
every one that asketh shall receive. 2. From their sins.
In the present world, where all things are imperfect,
this deliverance, indeed, partakes of the common na-
ture, yet it is such as to secure them from every fatal
evil, and such as we know to be one of those things
which work together for their good. Their progress in
holiness, though slow, yet is such as to give them hope
and comfort. 3. From evil men. They may be, and
are, maligned, calumniated, despised and persecuted, but
this is overruled so as to wean them from that love of
the world, that desire of human favor and that thirst
for human applause which so naturally charm the
eyes and fascinate the hearts even of Christians, and
which are wholly inconsistent with the law of God.
4. From death. Jesus for his people has taken the
sting from death and the victory from the grave. (Fs.
iii. 2, 3 ; cxxiv. 2, 3 ; Isa. xxvii. 2, 3 ; 2 Tim. iv. 1.)

JRESTRAINIX6 AND CONQUERTNO ALL HIS AND
OUR ENEMIES.

(See 1 Cor. xv. 25.) Whence is it that this glorious
King and his subjects have the same enemies F He

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 129

and they make up that one body of which he is the
Head and they are the members (1 Cor. xii. 12), and
therefore they cannot but have common friends and
foes. (Zech. ii. 8.) What is it for Christ to restrainhls
and his people's enemies ? " It is to overrule and disap-
point their wicked purposes (Isa. xxxvii. 29), to set
limits to their wrath, and to bring a revenue of glory
to himself out of the same. (Ps. Ixxvi. 10.) What re-
straints does he put upon them ? He bounds them by
his power, as to the kind, degree and continuance of
all their enterprises and attacks upon his people. (Job
i. 12; ii. G.) What is it for Christ to conquer all his
and his people's enemies ? It is his taking away their
power, so that they cannot hurt the least of his little
ones with respect to their spiritual state. (Luke x. 19.)
How does he conquer them ? He has always conquer-
ed them in his own person as the Head of the new cov-
enant by the victory he obtained over them in his death
(Col. ii. 15), and he conquers them daily in his members,
when he enables them by faith to put their feet upon
the neck of their vanquished focb. (Rom. xvi. 20.)

Ought we to rejoice in Christ's dominion ? Yes. (Ps.
cxlix. 2.) Must we accept him for our King? Yes.
(Matt, xi. 29.) Must we pay tribute to him ? Yes.
(Isa. xvi. 1.) Must Ave obey him? Yes. (Heb. v 9.^

In a missionary speecli an old native convert of Rnrotonga,
nmong otlier things, observed ; " I have lived during the reign
of four kings. In the first I was but young ; we were con-
tinually at war, and a fearful season it was ; watching and hid^
ing with fear, were all our engagements. During the reign of
the second, we were overtaken with a severe famine, and all
expected to ptrish. . . . During the tliird, we were conquered
and became the prey of two other settlements in the island ;
9

130 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

tlien if a man went to fisli lie rarely ever returned, or if a
woman went any distance to fetch food she was rarely ever
seen again. . . . But during the reign of this third king we
were visited by another King — a great King — a good King — a
powerful King — a King of love — Jesus, the Lord from heaven.
He has gained the victory — he has conquered our hearts; we
ate all his subjects; therefore we now have peace and plen-
ty in this world, and hope soon to dwell with him in hea-
ven."

Question 27. — ]V7ierem did Chrlsfs humiliation
consist f

Answer. — Christ's humiliation consisted in his being
horn, 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.

" A distinction," says Dr. Dick," has been made be-
tween the condescension and the humiliation of Christ,
the former consisting in the assumption of our na-
ture, and the latter in his subsequent abasement and
sufferings. The reason why the assumption of our
nature is not accounted a part of his humiliation
is, that he retained it in his state of exaltation. The
distinction seems to be favored by Paul." (Phil. ii.
7,8.)

BEING SORN.

Jesus Christ did not bring his assumed nature from
heaven, nor was it formed like the body of Adam out
of the dust of the ground. " He was conceived by the
Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary." He became
incarnate. " The word was made flesh." It was real
flesh Christ took— not the image of a body, as some

I

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 131

ancient heretics held, but a true body. Hence he is
said to be " made of a woman." (Gal. iv. 4.) As the
bread is made of the wheat and the wine is made of
the grape, so Christ is made of a woman. His body
was part of the flesh and substance of the Virgin. In
the creation man was made in God's image ; in the
incarnation God was made in man's image. "As," says
Ursinus, " we are born of God. because he made us, so
Christ Avas conceived by the Holy Ghost because it was
by his virtue and operation that he was conceived, and
not because he was formed from the substance of the
Holy Ghost." (Luke i. 35. See also Col. ii. 9 ; John
i. 14 ; Heb. ii. 16 ; 1 Tim. iii. 16.)

ly^ A zow coyrniTiom

Jesus Avas born of that which, though once an hon-
orable, was then a poor family. (Isa. liii. 2.) He was
born of a poor woman. (Luke ii. 24 ; compare Lev.
xii. 8.) His supposed father was a poor man. (Matt,
xiii. 55.) He was born in a poor place and in poor
circumstances. (Mic. v. 2 ; Luke ii. 7.) He had not
the respect paid to him that was due to an incarnate
Deity. (John i. 10, 11.) He was not born honorably,
for " he took upon him the form of a servant." (Phil,
ii. 7.) He was not born wealthy, for " though he was
rich, yet for our sakes he became poor." (2 Cor. viii.
9.) Let us remember that we are describing the state
of Him who is now " King of kings " and " Lord of
lords," and was then " God over all, blessed for ever."
He made " himself of no reputation " (Phil. ii. 7) ; or,
as the phrase might be better translated, " he emptied
himself" Though he did not divest himself of his

132 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

glory literally, he did so economically ; that is, he as
effectually concealed it as if he had laid it entirely
aside. No trace of divine perfections could be seen
in a new-born child. He who is greater than all ap-
peared in the lowest stage of human existence. This
was humiliation indeed. Never let a poor disciple of
Jesus blush or complain, nor let any fail to admire the
grace by Avhich he thus interposed to rescue fallen man.
(2 Cor. viii. 9.)

MADE UNDER THE LAW.

It was a most amazing condescension that the Lord
and Lawgiver of heaven and earth should become sub-
ject to the law which he had enacted for humble and
inferior creatures, especially when he did it to fulfill
that law in the place of those very creatures after they
had transgressed it and incuri'ed its penalty. Jesus was
made " under the law." He subjected himself to it.
(See Gal. iv. 4; Luke ii. 21, 22; xlii. 51 ; Matt. xvii.
24, 27 ; iii. 15 ; Ps. xl, 8.) By being made under the
law Jesus was made under the curse. (Gal. iii. 13.)
The law made no concession to his dignity ; it waived
none of its rights in his favor.

THE MIS EMI ES OF THIS T.IFE.

Jesus was tempted. (Matt. iv. 1.) Endured the con-
tradictions, reproaches and indignities of wicked men.
(Heb. xii. 3 ; Matt. x. 55.) Underwent the sinless in-
firmities of the flesh, such as weariness, hunger, thirst
and the like in regard to his body, and grief and sor-
row in i-egard to his soul. (John iv. 6 ; Matt. iv. 2 ;
viii. 20 ; Isa. liii. 3 ; Rom. viii. 3 ; Heb. iv. 15.)

NOTES ON THE SIIOItTER CATECHISM. 133

THE iritATn of god.

Christ suffei-ed the utmost etiects of God's holy and
righteous displeasure agaiust sin. (Ps. xc. 11.) The
union of tlie human nature with his divine person, by
which it was impossible it could sink under the weight,
made him capable of supporting that wrath. He en-
dured it chiefly in his agony in the garden. (Matt. xxvi.
38 ; Luke xxii. 44 ; Matt, xxvii. 46.) He underwent
it as the Surety of his people. (Isa. liii. 6.) Though the
sin of the world which he was bearing was the object
of God's infinite hatred, yet the glorious Person bear-
ing it was even then the object of his infinite love.
(Isa. liii. 10.)

THE CURSED DEATM OF THE CROSS.

The death of the cross was called a cursed death, be-
cause they who endured it were separated from all
good and devoted to all evil. Christ, although sinless
in himself, was separated from all happiness and de-
voted to all misery while he suffered on the accursed
tree. God spared him not, but gave him up to this
awful death for us all. (Phil. ii. 8 ; Gal. iii. 13 ; Matt,
xxvii. 46.)

BURIED, AND CONTINUING UNDER THE x'OWER
OF DEATH.

" Christ's humiliation after his death (says The
Larger Catechism) consisted in his being buried and
continuing in the state of the dead, and under the
power of death, till the third day, which hath been
otl;erwise expressed in these words, — he descended into
hell." (1 Cor. XV. 3, 4; Matt. xii. 40 ; Ps. xvi. 10, com-
pared with Acts ii. 24, 25, 26 ; Rom. vi. 9.) The re-

134 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ceptacle of oux- Saviour's soul was Paradise, and the
place of his body was the grave. Death aud the
grave were not able to maintaiu their dominion ovei
Christ, because of the complete payment of all de-
mands made upon him as a Surety. (Rom, vi. 9 ; 1
Cor. XV. 4 ; Eph. i. 7.)

PRACTICA.Z, LESSONS.

Christ's humiliation teaches us — 1. To humble our-
selves. 'Tis the humble saint that is Christ's pic-
ture. (Matt. xi. 29.) 2. That as he died for our sins,
so Ave should die to sin, and not be unwilling to suffer
and die for his sake if called thereto. (Rom. vi. 8, 11 ;
1 Pet. iv. 1.) 3. That the grave, being " the place
where the Lord lay " (Matt, xxviii. 6), must be sweet
to a dying saint. (1 Thess. iv. 14.)

In a portion of the American territory from which the red
man has now been driven, at a protracted meeting lield in the
wild forest, the subject of "Ciirist and him crnciiied" was
illustrated with surpassing beauty and grandeur. The preaclier
spoke of the Good Slieplierd who came into the world to seeic
and to save tlie lost. He drew a picture of Gethsemane and
the unbefriended stranger who went there. He told of the
rude buffetings which he met from the heartless soldiers. He
pointed to him as he hung bleeding on the cross. The con-
gregation wept. Soon there was a slight movement in the as-
Ferably, and a tall son of the forest, with tears on his red
cheeks, approached the pulpit and said, " Did Jesus die for
me — die for poor Indian ? Me have no lands to give to Jesus,
the white man take them away ; me give him my dog and my
rifle." The minister told him Jesus could not accept these
gifts. "Me give Jesus my dog, my rifle and my blanket;
poor Indian, he got no more to give — he give Jesus all." The
minister replied that Jesus could not accept them. T!ie pool

NOTES OX THE SHOirJEU CATECHISM. 135

ignorant but generous child of the forest bent liis head in sor-
row, and meditated. He raised his noble brow once more, and
fixed his eye on the preacher while he sobbed out, "Here is
poor Indian; will Jesus have him?" A thrill of unutterable
joy ran through the souls of minister and peoi)le as this fierce
son of the wilderness now sat, in his right mind, at the feet of
Jesus. The Spirit had done liis work, and he who had'been
so poor received the earnest of his inheritance.

Question 28. — Wherein consisteihChrisVs exaltation f
Answer. — Christ's exaltation consisteth in his rising
again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up
into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Fa-
ther, and in coming to jndge the world at the last day.

The two states in which our Redeemer is presented
to us in the last question and in this, though very dif-
ferent in themselves, were both necessary to the exe-
cution of his offices. The one exhibits him humbled
and abased, the other exhibits him exalted and glori-
fied. In the one we see the Sun of Righteousness in the
eclipse ; in the other we see it coming out of the ob-
scuration and shining in its full splendor and glory.

EXALTATION.

Christ has not been exalted in respect of his God-
head, for that cannot be exalted higher than it is, but
he is exalted as Mediator; his human nature is exalted.
There was thus a manifestation in the human nature
(which had concealed it for a while) of the same glory
of which he was eternally possessed as the Son of God.
(John xvii. 5.) His exaltation immediately follows his
humiliation, because it is the proper reward of it. (Phil,
ii. 8, 9 Luke xxiv. 26.)

136 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

RISING AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.

Ancient prophecy foreshadowed Christ's resurrection
(Ps. xvi. 10), and ancient history typified it. (Jonah
i. 17 ; Matt. xii. 40.) In his teaching he repeatedly
told his disciples that he should be put to death and
rise «gain. (Matt. xvi. 21 ; xvii. 9.) After his resur-
rection, Jesus appeared to some or other of the apos-
tles, or their companions, eight times. He appeared
to Mary Magdalene alone (Mark xvi. 9), to her in
company with several other women (Matt, xxviii. 9),
to Peter (1 Cor. xv. 5), to the two disciples going to
Emmaus (Luke xxiv. 13), to the apostles in Jeru-
salem (John XX. 19 ; Luke xxiv. 13), to the apostles
a second time (John xx. 26), to Peter and several of
the disciples (John xxi. 1), and to above five hundred
brethren at once. (1 Cor, xv. 6.) Could all these dif-
ferent persons have been deceived in these appearances
of one with whom they had been for so long a time
perfectly well acquainted ? (See also Acts i. 3 ; ii. 24 ;
Rom. xiv. 9 ; Rev. i. 18 ; 1 Pet. i. 21 ; Matt, xxviii. 6 ;
Acts X. 40, 41.)

THE THIRD nAT.

As our Lord was in the tomb a part of three days,
and it was customary with the Jews and agreeable to
the language of Scripture to represent an event as ex-
tending through all the days on which any part of it
took place, there was a complete fulfillment, according
to the current use of language, of the declaration that
" the Son of man shall be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth." (Matt. xii. 40 ; John ii. 19.)
Jesus rose upon the first day of the week, which is ever
since called " the Lord's Day," and is to be observed to

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 137

the end of the woi'ld as the Chridian Sabbath. (Acts
XX. 7.)

ASCEyniNG INTO HEAVKX.

(See Luke xxh 51 ; Acts i. 9.) Christ's ascension
was forty days after his resurrection. (Acts i. 2, 3.)
He ascended — 1, That his mediatorial person might
be glorified. (John xvii. 5.) 2. That he might, as
Head of the Church, take possession of heaven for
all his members. (Heb. vi. 20.) We are taught by
the ascension that heaven is a place ; also to set our
affection on things above. (Col. iii. 2. See also John
xvi. 17 ; xiv. 2 ; Eph. iv. 8 ; Heb. ix. 12.)

SITTING AT THE MIGHT HAND OF GOD THE
EATUER.

(Mark xvi. 19.) The right hand is the place of
honor. (See 1 Kings ii. 19.) In the position assigned
to our Saviour in heaven he is invested with great
dignity and glory. His human nature is elevated
above men and angels. His saints will sit down
with him upon his throne. They will share in his
glory, but not in equal measure. Their glory will
be similar, but not in the same degree. (Rev. v. 11,
12; Heb. ii. 9; Rom. viii. 29; Ps. xvi. 11.) The
" right hand " is the emblem of power. (Matt. xxvi.
64; Ps. ex. 1; Dan. vii. 13, 14; Matt, xxviii. 18;
Phil. ii. 9-11.) The legal priests stood, their posture
denoting that they were constantly engaged in the
service of the altar, but had not accomplished the
design of their office. (Heb. x. 11-13.) But Jesus,
when he entered heaven, sat doun at the right hand
of God, his posture signifying that his work is fin

138 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM

ished, his oblation has been accepted. (Sees Rom
viii. 34; Acts vii. 56; Phil. ii. 9.)

COMING TO JVDGE THE WOSLn.

Jesus has been constituted Judge of the whole world.
(John V. 22.) At the day of judgment he shall be
exalted pre-eminently. He shall wear the same robes
of majesty as the Father, and he shall come with all
his holy angels. (Mark viii. 38; Matt. xxv. 31.) He
who was led to the bar with a band of soldiers shall
be attended to the bench with a guard of angels.
Christ shall judge his judges. He shall judge Pilate
that condemned him. Kings must leave their thrones
and come to his bar. All will appear before his judg-
ment-seat to receive the things done in the body,
whether they have been good or evil. (Acts xvii. 31 ;
Rev. i. 7 ; Heb. ix. 28.)

" Christ has taken our nature into heaven to represent us,
and has left us on earth with his nature to represent him." — John
Newton.

QuESTiOK 29. — How are we made 2}ci'>'taJcers of the
redemption jmrchased by Christ f

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

hedemption.

This term is borrowed from certain pecuniary trans-
actions among men, as the release of an imprisoned
debtor by liquidating his debt, or the deliverance of a
ca.ptive by jiaying a ransom. These are traui^actious

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM, 139

witlivvhich mankind in general, and especially the Jews
and primitive Christians, have been perfectly familiar.
Accordingly, both in the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures
the deliverance of man from sin is frequently repre-
sented by language borrowed from such negotiations.
The term before us is of this nature. It involves all
the ideas included in atonement. It supposes sin, which
is the cause of imprisonment or captivity. It supposes
deliverance by a substitute, the captive or debtor being
unable to effect his own escape. And of course it sup-
poses also a clear emancipation or restoration as the
result of the ransom being paid. (Sae Matt. xx. 28 ; 1
Pet. i. 18, 19.)

I'URCITASED KT CHRIST.

" The Lord Jesus, by his perfect obedience and sac-
rifice of himself, which he, through the eternal Spirit,
once offered up unto God, hath fully satisfied the jus-
tice of his Father and purchased not only reconcilia-
tion, but an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of
heaven for all those whom the Father hath given unto
him." — Confession of Faith, chap. viii. sec. 5. (Rom. v.
19 ; iii. 25, 26 ; Heb. x. 14 ; Eph. v. 2 ; i. 11, 14 ; John
xvii. 2; Heb. ix. 12, 15. See also Heb. v. 9; 1 Cor.
vi. 20 ; Ps. Ixvii. 18 ; Isa. Ixi. 1 ; Iv. 1 ; Mark xvi. 15 ;
John xiv. 22.)

WJE ARE MADE PARTAKERS.

It is not enough for us that there is a redemption
purchased, for there are those who deny the Lord who
bought them. (2 Pet. ii. 1.) It is not enough to hear
of it, for to some it is " a savor of death unto death."
(2 Cor. ii. 16.) It is not enough to have a name among

140 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

the redeemed. (Rev. iii. 1.) It is also necessary that we
be partakers of the purchased redemption. Although,
as a consequence of Christ's having paid the price of
his precious blood, the salvation of his people was cer-
tain, yet something further was necessary to make them
actual partakers of it. As they come into the world
in a state of guilt and depravity, are " by nature chil-
dren of wrath even as others," they must undergo a
change both relative and real — relative, in respect of
the law, by being acquitted of its charges ; and real, in
respect of their views and dispositions. (See Acts xxvi.
18.) The order of the divine procedure toward them
is represented in Rom. viii. 29, 30. (See also Heb. ii.
14 ; CoL ii. 6 ; i. 27.)

EFFJSCTUAT. API'LICATIOJV.

When may the application of redemption be said to
be effectual? When it produces the saving effects for
which it is designed. What are these saving effects ?
The opening of sinners' eyes, and turning them from
darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.
(Acts xxvi. 18.) The purchase of redemption is a work
done xvitlwut us, but the appUcatlon of it takes place
within us.

HY HIS aOLT SPIRIT.

The external means which God employs in the ap-
plication of redemption are his ordinances, and par-
ticularly his word, read and heard (2 Tim. iii. 15, 16;
Rom. X. 17); but conversion is effected by the Holy
Spirit. (1 Thess. i. 5 ; 2 Thess. i. 11.) Each person of
the Godhead has a peculiar province in the work of re-
demption. As it originated with the Father, on whose
love the eternal purpose of saving sinners was founded,

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 141

and was obtained by the obedience and death of the
Son, so it is applied by the Holy Ghost, the author of
spiritual wisdom and faith and holiness and consola-
tion. Hence this office is expressly ascribed to him.
He is called the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Christ. (Eph. i. 17.) God promises to
put his Spirit within us, that we may walk in his stat-
utes and keep his judgments, and do them. (Ezek.
xxxvi. 27.) In a word, we are said to he " born of
the Spirit." (John iii. 5. See also Tit. iii. 5, 6 ; John
vi. 63 ; xvi. 15 ; xiv. 26.) Why is the Spirit, the third
person of the adorable Trinity, in the application of
the work of the redemption called the Holy Spirit ? Be-
cause he is essentially holy, and because all his works
and operations are of a like nature or character with
himself (Ps. li. 11 ; Eom. xv. 16.) Why is redemption
said to be applied by the Spirit of Christ or " his Holy
Spirit " ? Because the Spirit is sent for this work more
immediately by Christ, and through his mediation, as
the leading fruit of his purchase. (John xiv. 16.)

EVIDENCE OF BEING REDEEMED.

How shall we know that we are in the number of
them that are redeemed by Christ? Those of whom
this is true are — 1. Reconciled to God ; their enmity is
taken away; their judgments approve, their wills in-
cline to that which is good. (Col. i. 21.) 2. They are
redeemed from the world. (Gal. i. 4.) They are " dead
to the world," its honors, profits and preferments.
They are "risen with Christ." (Col. iii. 1.)

When Bisliop Butler lay on his deathbed lie called for his
chaplain and said, "Though I have endeavored to avoid sin

142 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

and to please God to tlie utmost of my power, yet from the
consciousness of perpetuiil infirmities I am still afraid to die."
"My lord," said the chaplain, "you have forgotten that
Jesus Christ is a Saviour." "True," was the answer; "but
how sliall I know that he is a Saviour for me?" " My lord,
it is written, ' Him that cometli unto me I will in no wise cast
out.'" "True," said the bishop, " and I am surprised that
though I have read that scriplure a thousand times over, I
never felt its virtue till this moment ; and now I die
hiippy."

"In my preaching," said Banyan, "T could not be satisfied
unless some fruit did appear in my work." "I would think
it a greater happiness," said Matthew Henry, " to gain one soul
to Christ than mountains of silver and gold to myself. If I do
not gain souls, I shall enjoy all my other gains with very little
satisfaction ; and I woukl rather beg my bread from door to
door than not undertake this great work." Doddridge, writing
to a friend, remarked, " I long for th-e conversion of souls more
sensibly than for anything besides. Methinks I could not only
laljor, but die for it with pleasure."

The Eev. Pliny Fiske in his diary thus writes : " There is
nothing I desire so much for myself and ray friends as the in-
fluence of the Holy Gliost. I am clearly convinced that my
sins will prevail and my lusts increase their strength in spite
of all my efibrts, unless the Holy Spirit purify and elevate
my affections. I am persuaded that he can give me humility,
repentance, benevolence, faith, love and every grace. Blessed
agent in the work of salvation ! it is thine to sanctify. Oh, let
thy purifying influences come into my soul and make me
holy !"

Question 30. — How doth the Spirit apjjly *o us the
redemption purchased by Christ f

Answer. — The Spirit applieth to us the redemption
purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby
uniting 'US to Christ in our effecltial calling.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 143
TTNITING US TO CHItlST.

We cannot have any share in the redemption pur-
chased by Christ without union to him, because all
purchased blessings are lodged in him and go along
■with him. The union between Christ and his disciples
is not a mere figure of speech, but a reality. They are
one, not merely in sentiment and affection, by consent
of mind and heart, but by a real conjunction. This
union is — 1. Spiritual. In forming an idea of it we must
elevate our conceptions higher than the most intimate
connection which can be formed between two indi-
viduals by the operations of intellect and will. The
same Spirit lives in our exalted Redeemer and in his
people upon earth, and hence, although separated from
him and from one another, they are but one. 2. In-
dissoluble. He will not dissolve it, for those whom he
loves he loves to the end. Nor will they, for as he
prays that their faith may not fail, so the Spirit, dwell-
ing in their hearts, preserves it amidst the dangers to
which it is exposed. There may, indeed, be a tem-
porary turning from Christ, in consequence of the de-
cline of grace or the suspension of the activity of the
spiritual principle, but there can be no total or final
falling away from grace.

How can we be united to Christ, seeing he is in
heaven and we on earth ? Although the human na-
ture of Christ be in heaven, yet his person is eveiy-
where. (Matt, xxviii. 20.) Where can he be found
on earth, in order to our being united to Jiim? In the
word, which is nigh to u?, and Christ in it. (Rom. x.
8,9.)

144 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
FROOF OF THE DOCTRINE.

(1 Cor. vi. ] 7 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; Rom. vi. 4 ; Eph. ii. 5, 6 ;
Col i. 18 ; Eph. V. 30 ; John i. 16 ; xv. 5; Isa. xxviii.
16; 1 Pet. ii. 5. See also Heb. ii. 11; John x. 28;
Rev. xiv. 13 ; 1 Thess. iv. 14.)

FAITH.

The principal bond of union between Christ and his
people is the Spirit, who, being in him and in them,
makes them truly one. But as the union is mutual,
something is necessary on their part, to complete it ;
and this is faith or believing. Hence, Christ is said
to dwell in our hearts by faith. (Eph. iii. 17.) Faith
is everywhere commanded in the Scriptures. (See 1
John iii. 23 ; Mark i. 14, 15 ; John vi. 35.) There is
an historical faith, which is the believing the truths re-
vealed in the word, because of divine authority ; a tem-
porary faith, which soon vanisheth (Matt. xiii. 21) ; a
miraculous faith, which was granted to the apostles to
work miracles for the confirmation of the gospel, and
which Judas had, who, after casting out devils, was
himself cast out to the devil ; a true justifying faith,
which consists in a cordial approbation of the Saviour,
a hearty consent to his offers, an acceptance of him in
his entire character, as made of God unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption
(1 Cor. i. 30.) Though faith is our act, yet it is God's
gift. (Eph. ii. 8 ; Col. ii. 12.)

HOW IS FAITH WROUGHT IN ITS?

By the blessed Spirit, who is called the " Spirit of
grace" (Zech. xii. 10), because he is the spring and
efficient applier of all grace. " Faith," says an old

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHLSM. 145

wiiter, "is the chief work which the Spirit of God
works iu a man's heart. la making the world God
did but speak a word, but in working faith he puts
forth his arm. (Luke i. 51.) The Spirit's working
faith is called the exceeding greatness of God's power.
(Eph. i. 19, 20.) What a power was put forth in
raising Christ from the grave when such a tombstone
lay upon him — ' the sins of all the world ' ! Yet he
was raised up by the Spirit ; the same power the Spirit
of God puts forth in working faith." (See Epli. ii. 18,
22 ; iii. 17 ; Rom. viii. 9.)

Mrs. Roiniiiiie was once in company with a clergyman at
Tiverton vvlio spake witli no little zeal against what lie
called "irresistible grace,'" alleging that "such grace would
be quite incompatible with free will.'' " Not at all so," an-
swered Mrs. Komaine; "grace operates effectnally, yet not
coercively. The wills of God's people are drawn to him and
divine things, just as your will would be drawn to a bishopric,
if you had the oiler of it."

JiV OUIt EFFECT UAIj CALLING.

The common call will not unite us to Christ. (Matt.
xxii. 14.) It is in our effectual calling that this is
done. (1 Cor. i. 9.) " Whom he called, them he also
justified." (Rom. viii. 30. See Notes on next Ques-
tion.)

TMPB O VEMENT.

What improvement ought both saints and sinners to
make of the doctrine of union with Christ f Saints
ought to show that Christ is in them, by endeavor-
ing that his image sliine forth in their conversation,
studying to " walk worthy of the Lord unto all plea-
sing." (Col. i. 10.) Sinners ought to seek after this

10

14G NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

h:ippy relation to Christ while he is yet standing at
their door aud knocking (Rev. iii. 20), and while the
gates of the city oj refuge are not yet closed. (Zech.
ix. 12.)

That active and useful Christian, Harlan Page, is said to
liave been liabitwally impressed with the necessity to every
man of being born again. As soon as any pei-son came into
liis presence it seemed to be the first question of his mind,
" Is this a friend or an enemy of God ?" The next thing was,
if impenitent, to do something for his conversion, or if a
Christian, to encourage iiim in duty. Whatever else he saw
in an individual, he felt that it availed him nothing unless he
had received Ciirist into his heart by a living faitii. This he
felt and urged to be the sinner's first, great aud only duty in
which he could be acceptable to God.

Question 31. — What i^- effectual calling f
Answer. — Effectual calling is the work of God's Spirit,
whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlighten-
ing our ini)i.ds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing
our ivilk, he doth persuade and enable tis to embrace
Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

X:FFECTUATj callixo.

There is au external and general call of providence,
and especially of the word, by which all sinners are
freely invited to Christ, that they may have life and
salvation by him. (See Ps. xix. 1 ; ]\lic. vi. 9 ; Isa. Iv.
1 ; Rev. xxii. 17 ; Matt. xx. 16 ; xxii. 3.) This out-
ward call shows men what they ought to do in order
to salvation, and renders them inexcusable in case of
disobedience. Effectual calling is the internal call of
the Spirit, accompanying the outward call with saving
powej- and efficacy upon the soul. (John vi. 45, 63 ;

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 147

Miitt. xxii. 14; 2 Thcss. ii. 13,14; 2 Cor. iii. 3,6;
Rom. viii. 2 ; 2 Tim. i. 9, 10 ; Eph. ii. 1-5.) With
this calling sauctification is iuseparably connected. It
is a holy calling. (2 Tim. i. 9 ; 1 Pet. i. 15 ; ii. 9 ; Gal.
i. 6.) The outward call may bring a man to the pro-
fession of Christ ; the inward brings him also to a pos-
session of Christ. This call is

THE WORK Of GOD'S SVIItTT.

An ad is a single exertion or operation, and takes
place and is finished at once. A work is a series or
continuation of acts or operations, and continues for
some length of time. As effectual calling consists, as
the answer shows, of several progressive steps, it is, of
course, a work. It should be noted, however, that the
several steps or gradations of advance in this work,
although capable of being separately considered, are
not so separated in experience as that one is always
completed before another is begun. On the contrary,
he who is effectually called seldom, perhaps, thinks of
the several parts or steps of his calling till the whole
is completed, when by reflection he may perceive
that he has shared in all. Effectual calling is termed
a work of GotVs Spirit, because it relates to the appli-
cation of redemption, which is the special work of the
Holy Spirit. (John xvi. 14. See also 2 Cor. iii. 5 ;
Jer. xxxi. 18; Isa. Ivii. 17, 18; Acts xvi. 14; Rom.
ix. 16; John vi. 37.) Four steps ai-e specified as
being the S])irit's work:

1. coNviNCiya us of our sijn- and misery.

(See on Question 17.) There is an actual necessity
that wc should be convinced oi our sin. (Matt. ix. 12.)

148 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

We must be convinced of the fact of it (Ps. 1. 21), of
the fault of it (Jer. ii. 10), of the folly of it (2 Chron.
xvi. 9), of the filth of it (Jer. ii. 23), of the fruit of it
(Isa. lix. 1, 2), and of the fountain of it. (1 Kings viii.
38.) We must also be convinced of our misery (Rev.
iii. 17 ; Matt. iii. 7 ; Rom. vii. 9), and of the possibility
of our being helped by the grace of God. (Luke xv. 7 ;
Matt. xi. 28.) The Spirit works in our minds a con-
viction of our sin and misery, when he gives us a clear
sight and full persuasion of the dreadful wrath of God,
and the eudless miseries of hell which we have deserved
for sin, and to which we are every hour exposed ; which
wounds our hearts and consciences and fills us with
perplexing care what to do to be saved. (John xvi. 8 ;
Acts ii. 37 ; Jer. 1. 5.) This he does by the law.
(Rom. iii. 20 ; Gal. iii. 10.) All who are effectually
called are thus convinced. All, however, have not an
equal measure of this conviction — some more and some
less, as in the instances of Paul and Lydia. (Acts ix. 6,
as compared with chap. xvi. 14.) But all have enough
to make them feel their guilty and lost condition and
their need of Christ.

». enTjIGHtening oun mijstds in the knowledge

OE CUIilST.

"The understanding is opened to understand the
Scriptures, to discern with some clearness the plan of
salvation by Christ, to perceive the practical use of his
offices, to receive the knowledge of his atonement, right-
eousness and fullness — to see, in a word, that he is a
Saviour of matchless excellence, inexhaustible suffi-
ciency and unspeakable suitablencc^s. The anxious

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 149

sinner sees with an impression never known before,
that Christ Jesus is indeed a Saviour — exactly fitted to
his state and necessities ; able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by him ; and willing to save
Avithout money and without price. He sees, too, that
Christ is freely tendered, sincerely offered, with all his
benefits, to every one who is willing to accept him."
(See Hos. vi. 1 ; xiii. 9 ; Eph. i. 17, 18 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 ,
Ps. Ixxxix. 19; Zech. ix. 12; Phil. iii. 8.)

3. AXD JtENEWIXG OUR WILLS.

(See Ps. ex. 2, 3.) The will is naturally wicked
and rebellious, fult of enmity against Christ and the
way of salvation through him. (John v. 40.) Nor
can any man change or renew his own wall. (Jer. xiii.
23.) The renovation of the will consists in working
in it a new inclination or propensity to good, and a
fixed aversion to Avhatever is evil. The Spirit, in re-
newing the will, does not use any violence or compul-
sion. God here acts by his almighty power, without,
however, forcing our Avill ; for, communicating to us
spiritual properties, he gives us to will and to do of
his good pleasure. His influence, therefore, cannot be
resisted by the hardness of a man's heart, since it re-
moves that hardness, and is the converting of hearts
of stone into hearts of flesh. (Ps. cxix. 36 ; Ezek.
xxxvi. 26.)

4. DOTIT PEJtSUADE AND ENABLE US, ETC.

Christ is " offered to us in the gospel." (Rev. iii. 20.)
He is "freely" offered. (Isa. Iv. 1.) We are concerned
to embrace that offer. (Prov. ix. 5.) What is it to

150 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

"embrace" Christ? It is, like Simeon, to clasp him
in the arms of faith with complacency and delight.
(Luke ii. 28.) Where is it that faith embraces him?
In the promises of the gospel. (Heb. xi. 13.) What
warrant has faith thus to embrace him ? His Father's
gift (John iii. 16) and his own offer of himself (Lsa.
xlv. 22.) God conducts us to Christ, not like slaves
driven to tlieir task by the terror of punishment, but
in a manner suitable to our rational and moral nature.
His power, although able to subdue opposition, is of
the mildest and most gentle kind. While he com-
mands, he persuades ; while he draws, the sinner comes
without reluctance; and never in his life is there a
freer act of volition than when he believes in Christ
and accepts of his salvation,

A person once said in the presence of Dr. jSTettleton, that to
inculcate upon sinners their dependence on God for a new heart
is suited to discoui-age effort and to lead them to sit down in
despair. He replied : " The very reverse of tliis is true. Sup-
pose a number of men are locked up in a room playing cards;
some person informs them that the roof of the building is on
fire, and that they must make their escape or they will perish
in the flames. Says one of them, ' We need not be in haste ; we
shall have time to finish the game.' 'But,' says the person
who gave the alarm, ' your door is locked.' ' No matter for
that,' he replies ; ' I have the key in my pocket, and can open it
at any moment.' 'But I tell you that the key will not open the
door.' 'Won't it?' he exclaims, and rising from the table flies
to the door and exerts himself to the utmost to open it. So
sinners, while they believe there is no difficulty in securing
their salvation at any moment, quiet their consciences and
silence their fears. But when they are taught that such is the
wickedness of their hearts that they will never repent unless
God interposes by his regenerating grace, they are alarmed

NOTES ON THE SHORTEU CATECHISM. 151

and be.sjin to inciuire in deep distress what tliey shall do to
be saved."

The Rev. Thomas Doolittle used to catechise the members,
and especially the young people, of his congregation every
Lord's Day. One Sabbath evening, after having received an
answer in the words of the Assembly's Catechism, to the ques-
tion, " What is effectual calling ?" and having explained it, he
proposed that the question should be answered by changing the
words MS and our into me and my. Upon this proposal a solemn
silence followed ; many felt its vast importance, but none had
courage to answer. At length a young man rose up, and with
every mark of a broken and contrite heart, by divine grace
w;is enabled to say : " Effectual calling is the work of God's
Spirit, whereby, convincing me of my sin and misery, enlighten-
ing my mind in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing my will,
he did persuade and enabled me to embrace Jesus Christ, freely
offered to me in the gospel." The scene was truly affecting.
The proposal of that question had commanded unusual solemn-
ity. The rising up of the young man had created high expec-
tations, and the answer being accompanied with proofs of un-
feigned piety and modesty, the congregation was bathed in
tears. This young man had been convicted by being cate-
chised, and to his honor, Mr. D. says, " From being an ignor-
ant and wicked youth, he had become an intelligent professor,
to God's glory and my much comfort."

Question 32. — What benefits do they that are effectu-
ally called partake of in this life f

Answer. — They that are effectually called do in this
life partake of justifi,cation, adoption, sanctlfication, and
the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany
or flow from them.

All those are happy who, as we have seen in consider-
ing the pi'cc ^ling question, are " effectually called " and
"embrace Jesus Christ." They enjoy communion with
Christ. 1. Communion of intercourse — that is, that near

152 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

intimacy aud sweet freedom which Christ aud his peo-
ple have with one another. (Isa. Iviii. 9.) 2. Commu-
nion of interest, consisting in their actual title to and
possession of Christ himself and his purchased bless-
ings. (Song ii. 16; 1 Cor. i. 30. See also Eph. ii. 5 ; 1
Thess. ii. 12; Rom. iv. 16.) They are happy even in
this life. (Eph. i. 13.) They are dignified and preferred.
(1 Pet. ii. 9.) They are brought near. (Eph. ii. 13.)
They are enlightened. (Isa. ii. 5.) They are taken into
the communion of saints (Heb. xii. 22), and into com-
munion with the holy angels. (Heb. xii. 22.) They are
entitled to the best possessions. (1 Cor. iii. 22.) They
enjoy the best blessings. (Eph. i. 3.) They are happy
both for soul and body. (2 Pet. i. 3.) How are all
these benefits connected with effectual calling? By a
connection established in the eternal purpose and coun-
sel of God, in which all these blessings or benefits are
sweetly linked together. (Rom. viii. 30.)

Said John Newton to a gay friend, " I need not turn deist to
enjoy the best and the most that this life can afford." Newton
had a right to say this, and so he believed. He had, as lie says,
" experienced the good and the evil on both sides." He had
been a man of pleasure and of impiety, and knew how to esti-
mate them. Then he says to his friend, " If you were to send
me an inventory of your pleasures, how charmingly your time
runs on, and how dexterously it is divided between the coffee-
house, play-house, the card-table and tavern, with intervals of
balls, concerts, etc., I could answer that most of these I have
tried, and tried again, and know the utmost they can yield, and
have seen enough of the rest most heartily to despise them all.
You know all that a life of pleasure can give, and I know it
likewise." So far they were equal. But Newton had another
experience, found " in the pardon of his sins, communion with
God, calm reliance on the divine Providence, the cheering pros-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 153

peot of a better life, with foretastes of heaven in liis soul." Sup-
posing that such pleasures would be despised, he adds, " But
here lies the difJerence, my dear friend. You condemn that
which you have never tried." An all-sufficient answer is this
to every one who questions the superiority of religion.

J US TIFICA TIOJV.

All the blessings here enumerated flow from our
union to Christ. (1 Cor. i. 30.) Justification is a
legal term, used to imply the declaring or account-
ing of a person just or righteous before God. If any
one were free from sin, if he perfectly obeyed God's
commandments, he would naturally be pronounced, for
he would 3'eally be, just — not exposed to the penalty of
transgression. (Rom. ii. 13.) But mankind, as sinful,
are not just in this sense, and cannot be so treated. (Ps.
cxliii. 2 ; Rom. iii. 19, 20, 23 ; 1 John i. 8.) If, then,
they are to be freed from the condemnation of sin, if
they are to be dealt with as those not amenable to God's
law, it must be, not by the establishment of their inno-
cence, but by the remission of their guilt. Justification
is an unspeakable benefit. (Ps. xxxii. 1.)

What is the connection between effectual calling and
justification ? " Whom he called, them he also justi-
fied." (Rom. viii. 30 ; 2 Cor. v. 21.) In efiPectual call-
ing, sinners, being united to Christ by faith, have
thereby communion with him in his righteousness, for
justification, (Phil. iii. 9.)

ADOPTION.

Adoption is an act whereby one takes another into
his family, owns him for his son and appoints him his
heir. It obtained among the Greeks and Romans and

154 NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

mauy other nations. We meet, however, Avith few or
no traces of it among the Jews. In theology it denotes
that act by which God takes into his family and in-
vests with a title to heaven all who believe in Jesus
Christ. (John i. 12 ; 1 John iii. 1.) This is also an un-
speakable benefit. (Rom. viii. 17 ; Eph. i. 5.) Adop-
tion is connected with eflfectual calling thus : In virtue
of the union which takes place in effectual calling, be-
lievei's stand related to Christ as having a new kind
of interest in God as his Father, and consequently their
Father in hitn. (See John xx. 17 ; Eph. i. 3 ; Rom. viii.
15; Gal. iii. 26.)

SANCTIFICA TION.

Sanctification is renewal after the image of God. It
is the end, so far as respects us, of our election ; it is a
capital promise and distinguishing blessing of the cov-
enant of grace, a precious fruit of redemption by the
blood of Christ, the design of God in regeneration, the
primary intention of justification, the scope of adop-
tion, and absolutely necessary to glorification. So that
in the sanctification of a sinner the great designs of all
the divine operations respecting that most glorious of
all the divine works, redemption, are united. Believers
are " sanctified in Christ Jesus." (1 Cor. i. 2.) They
are made " partakers of his holiness." (Heb. xii. 10.)
How is effectual calling connected w^ith sanctification ?
In virtue of the union which takes place in effectual
calling, believers are related to Christ as tlie Lord
their strength, their quickening and influencing Head,
who of God is made unto them sanctification. (1 Cor.
i. 30.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 155
AN^D THE SEVEBAT, BENEFITS.

Of what other benefits do believers partake? Every-
thing essential to their comfort, usefulness and prepa-
ration for heaven. (Ps.lxxxiv.il.) They receive " the
gift of the Holy Ghost." (Acts ii. 38.) Everything
shall turn to their advantage. (Rom. viii. 28.) They
shall have a happy death. (Rev. xiv. 13.) They shall
have a happy resurrection. (1 Cor. xv. 20.)

IMPJt O VEM ENT.

In view of the benefits of which believers are par-
takers, they ought through grace, in the use of all the
means and ordinances of God's appointment, to " give
all diligence to make their calling and election sure."
(2 Pet. i. 10, 11.) They ought to walk holily. Theirs
is a holy calling. (2 Tim. i. 9.) They are called to be
saints. (Rom. i. 7 ; 1 Pet. i. 15.) When Antigonus was
about to commit a vile sin, one reminded him that he
was a king's son. Christians should ever remember
that they are of the blood-royal of heaven. (1 Thess.
iv. 7.) Holiness is the livery or silver star the godly
wear. (Isa. Ixiii. 18.) They are anointed with the con-
secrating oil of the Spirit. (1 John ii. 20.) Sinners
also should make it sure that they are effectually call-
ed by coming at the call. " Behold, Ave come unto
thee, for thou art the Lord our God." (Jer. iii. 22.)

A minister of the seventeenth century, having finished prayer,
looked round upon the congregation, and observing a young man
who had just been put into one of the pews very uneasy in his
situation, adopted the following singular expedient to detain
him : Turning to one of the members of his church who sat in
the gallery, he asked him this question aloud : " Brother, do you
repent of coming to Christ ?" " No, sir," he replied. " I never

156 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

was happy till I came. I only repent that T did not come tc
him sooner." The minister then turned to the opposite gallery,
and addressed himself to an aged member in the same manner :
" Brother, do you repent of coming to Christ?" "No, sir," said
he; "I have known the Lord from my youth upward." He
then looked down upon the young man, whose attention was
fully engaged, and fixing his eyes upon him, said, " Young
man, are you willing to come to Christ?" This unexpected
address from the pulpit so affected him that he sat down and
• concealed his face. The person who sat next him encouraged
him to rise and answer the question. The minister repeated,
"Young man, are you willing to come to Christ?" With
a tremulous voice he replied, "Yes, sir." "But when, sir?"
added the minister in a solemn and loud tone. He mildly an-
swered, " Now, sir." " Then stay," said he, "and learn the word
of God, which you will find in 2 Cor. vi. 2 : ' Behold, nnw is the
accepted time: behold, now is the day of salvation.'" By tliis
sermon he was greatly affected, and came into the vestry, after
the service, bathed in tears. The reluctance to stay which he
had discovered, was occasioned by the strict injunction of his
father, who threatened that if he went to hear the fanatics he
would turn him out of doors. Having now heard the gospel,
and being unable to conceal the feelings of his mind, he was
afraid to meet his father. The minister sat down and wrote an
affectionate letter to him, which had so good an effect that both
father and mother came to hear for themselves. They were both
brought to a knowledge of the truth, and together with their son
were joyfully received into Christian communion.

Question 33. — What is justification ?

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

Justification, in common language, signifies a vindica-
tion from any charge which affects the moral character,

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 157

but in theology it is used for the acceptance of one, by
God, wlio is, and confesses himself to be, guilty. (See
on Question 32.) We all need to be justified, for we
are " all grilty before God." (Rom. iii. 19.) It is not
enough thi t we justify ourselves. (Job ix. 20.) Nor
if= it enough that our neighbors justify us. (Luke xvi.
15.)

GOD'S FUEE GRACE.

Justification is God's act. (Rom. viii. 33 ; Mark ii.
7.) And it comes from his free grace. The cause
(says an old writer), " the inward impellent motive or
ground of justification, is the free grace of God." We
are justified freely by his grace (Rom. iii. 24j, which
Ambrose expounds, " not of the grace within us, but
the free grace of God." If it be asked how it is an
act oi free grace by which we are justified, since it is
through the redemption that is in Christ, the answer
is this : The redemption that is in Christ is the channel
through which justifying grace freely flows to us. It
was infinite grace that provided a Saviour, pure grace
thai led the soul to the Saviour and gave it an interest
in him ; and therefore an act of free grace is clearly
performed when the sinner is declared to be justified
in virtue of his righteousness. To the Saviour him-
self it is indeed an act of strict justice that his people
should be justified, since he has paid the full price of
it. But to his people, who receive the benefits of his
redemption, it is grace from the foundation to the
tops tone.

A.N ACT.

Justification is called an act, because, like the sen-
tence or decision of a judge, it is done and completed

158 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

at once, and not carried on gradually like a work of
time. It denotes an act of jurisdiction, and not an
inward change upon the soul. This is evident from its
being opposed to condemnation, Avhich all own to con-
sist, not in the infusing of wickedness into a person,
but in passing sentence upon him according to the de-
merit of his crime. (Ps. cix. 7.) To justify a person,
then, is not to make him righteous, but to declare him
to be so, upon a legal ground, and trial of a judge.
(Isa. xliii. 25, 26.)

Our justification consists in two things : 1. In the
pardon of all our sins. (Acts xiii. 39 ; see also Rom.
viii. 1; Isa. Ivii. 5; Heb. viii. 12; Mic. vii. 19.) 2.
In the acceptance of our persons as righteous. (Eom.
V. 1, 3 ; Eph. i. 6.) Wherein do pardon and acceptance
differ? Pardon sustains us as innocent in law, and
frees us from the sentence of death, but acceptance
sustains us as positively and perfectly righteous in law,
and entitles us to eternal life. (Eph. i. 6 ; 2 Cor. v.
21.) In whose sight are we accepted as righteous ? In
the sight of God as a just judge. (2 Cor. v. 21.) How
can a holy and righteous God, whose judgment is ac-
cording to truth, accept sinners as righteous ?

ONLY FOR THE JtlGHTEOZrSXESS OF CHRIST
IMFUTED UNTO US.

By "the righteousness of Christ" we are to under-
stand his obedience and suffering. (Phil. ii. 8.) It is
ordinarily distinguished into his obedience, active and
passive. (Dan. ix. 4, etc.) By the former is meant his
holiness of nature and righteousness of life. (Rom. v.
19.) By the lutt'n- is meant his satisfactory sufferings,

KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 159

which aie a full compcBsation for all the injury done
to the hcnor of God by our sin. (Eph. v. 2.) Christ's
righteousness is the only ground or medium of our
justification. (Rom. iii. 24, 26, 28 ; Eph. ii. 9 ; Isa.
Ixiv. 6 ; 1 Cor. i. 30 ; Isa. liii. 11 ; 1 John i. 7 ; Rom.
V. 9; iv. 25; Isa. xlv. 24.) How is it, then, said
(James ii. 24), " Ye see then how that by works a man
is justified, and not by faith only ?" The ansAver is.
Works declare us to be righteous before men, but they do
not make us righteous before God. They are evidences
of our justification, not cavses. Besides being the fruits
of a true and living faith (James ii. 18), they adorn
the profession of the gospel (Tit. ii. 11, 12; iii. 8),
stop the mouths of adversaries (1 Pet. ii. 15), and
glorify God. (John xv. 8.) The righteousness of Christ
is imputed to us when, though it be subjectively in
Christ or the righteousness Avhich he wrought, yet
by God it is accounted ours as if we wrought it
ourselves in our own persons. (Rom. iv. 6 ; viii. 4 ; 2
Cor. V. 21 ; Rom. iii. 22, 24 ; Gal. iii. 12 ; Rom. v. 19.)

nJECEIVEIt BY FAITH ALOKE.

The righteousness of the Redeemer is of no avail to
those for whom he acted as Surety in his obedience and
sufiering, until it is applied. We must receive his right-
eousness (Rom. V. 11), and receive it hy faith, which is
not only an assent to the testimony of God concerning
his Son, but the reliance of the soul upon his atone-
ment and righteousness as the only ground of accept-
ance with God. (See Acts x. 43 ; xvi. 31 ; Hub. ii. 4 ;
Jer. xxiii. 6.) The dignity is not in faith as a grace,
but relatively as it lays holds on Christ's merits. We

160 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

are to understand the expression " that Abraham be-
lieved God, and it was counted unto him for righteous-
ness " (Rom. iv. 3) in consistency with Paul's uniform
doctrine that a sinner is just before God only in the
righteousness of Christ, and regard him here as using
a metonymy by which the efficient is put for the effect,
or the instrument for the end accomplished by it. Faith
is merely the hand that receives and applies the right-
eousness of Christ by which we are justified.

INFERENCES.

1. The happy state of believers. (Rom. v. 1.) 2.
The excellence and necessity of faith. 3. The great-
ness of sin is no bar to faith. (2 Cor. v. 21.) 4. Be-
lievers ought to be exceedingly humble. God must
have all the glory of their salvation. (Rom. iii. 27 ; 1
Cor. XV. 10.)

Bishop Asbury, being asked his tlionglits on imputed right-
eousness, observed : " Were I disposed to boast, ray boasting
would be found true. I obtained religion near tlie age of tliirteen.
At the age of sixteen I began to preach, and traveled some time
in Europe. At twenty-six I left my native land and bade adieu
to my weeping parents, and crossed the boisterous ocean to spend
the balance of my days in a strange land, partly settled by sav-
ages. I have traveled through heat and cold for forty-five
years. In thirty years I have crossed the Allegheny Moun-
tains fifty-eiglit times. I have often slept in the woods with-
out necessary food or raiment. In the Southern States I have
waded swamps and led my horse for miles, where I took colds
tliat brought on tlie diseases whicli are now preying on my sys-
tem and must soon terminate in death. But ray mind is still
the same — tliat it is through the merits of Christ I am to be
saved."

"It has been often observed that the schoolmen tlieuiselves, in

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 161

their meditations and devotional writings, speak a language quite
different from that which they use in their disputes and contro-
versies ; and I had rather learn what men really tliink on this
head from their prayers than from their writings. Nor do I re-
member that I ever heard any good man in liis prayers use any
expression about justification wherein anylliing of self-right-
eousness was introduced. Nor have I observed that any public
liturgy, the mass-book excepted, guides men in their prayers
before God to plead anything for their acceptance with him, or
as the means or condition thereof, but grace, mercy, the right-
eousness and blood of Christ alone." — Owen.

Question M.— What is adoption f

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.

ADorrioy.

Two kinds of adoption are ascribed to God — common
and special. Common or general adoption is his taking
some part of mankind into his family of the visible
Church. (Rom. ix. 4.) Circumcision was the badge
of this under the Old Testament (Gen. xvii.), and bap-
tism is so under the New. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) Special
adoption is his bringing a child of the devil into his
family of the invisible Chui'ch, and giving him a right
to all the privileges of the sons of God. (Col. i. 13;
Gal. iv. 5, 6 ; 2 Cor. vi. 18.) Though by nature the
children of wrath (Eph. ii. 3), all believers are the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Gal.
iii. 26.)

AX ACT OF GOD'S FREE GRACE.

Adoption is an act, because it is completed at once,
and not carried on gradually like a work of time. (See
11

162 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

on Question 33.) Men do not deserve to be made
God's children. (Jer. iii. 19.) They are altogether
unworthy of such a favor. (Luke xv. 19.) It is be-
stowed upon them notwithstanding their unw^orthiness.
(2 Cor. vi. 18.) It is an act of God's jree grace. (1
John iii. 1.) By it they are received into the number
of God's children. (Rom. ix. 26.) They are thus re-
ceived upon their believing. The Greek word for
" power" in John i. 12 signifies dignity and preroga-
tive ; he dignifies them to become the sous of God.

ItECEIVEI) INTO THE NUMBER.

The " number " of the sons of God is constituted by
all the individuals who compose the whole body of the
elect, both angels and men. For holy angels are also
denominated the sons of God, as in Job, where it is said*
" the morning stars sang together and all the sons of
God shouted for joy." Holy angels, however, are the
sons of God, so to speak, by birth, and not by adoption.
They have retained that sinless and happy state in
which they were at first created.

A.LL TUE I-UiriLEGES OF THE SONS OE GOD.

Consider the cost of these privileges. (Gal. iv. 5.)
Consider their greatness. Believers can call God
Father. (Rom. viii. 15 ; Jer. iii. 19 ; Luke xv. 18.)
They can look upon all good Christians as their
brethren. (Matt, xxiii. 8.) They all make one family.
(Eph. iii. 15.)

" Oh, sweet it is through life's dark way
In Christian fellowship to move,
Illumed by one unclouded ray,

And one iu faith, in liope, in love I"

I

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 163

They are privileged persons. They will be protected
from temporal and spiritual evils. (Ps. cxxi. 7 ; xci.
10.) All needful things shall be provided for them,
both for scul and body. (Ps. xxxiv. 10.) They shall
be bettered by affliction (Heb. xii. 10), as the furnace
makes gold purer. They shall have an audience and
an answer to their prayers. (1 John v. 14, 15.) They
have an interest in all the promises, which are chil-
dren's bread. The promises to them are sure ; God's
truth, which is the highest pearl in his crown, is
pledged for their fulfillment. In the dark night of
desertion God has promised to be a sun to us in temp-
tation, to enable us to tread down Satan. (Rom. xvi.
20.) Does sin prevail ? He has promised to take
away its kingly power (Rom. vi. 14.) Oh, the pre-
ciousuess of the promises! Believers are heirs of them
all. There is not a promise in the Bible but they may
say, This is mine. To crown all, they have a sure title
to the kingdom of heaven. (Rom. viii. 17.)

IMPB O VEMENT.

1. We should extol and magnify God's mercy.
Adoption is a free gift ; we have enough in us to move
God to correct us, but nothing to move him to adoj^t
us ; therefore we should bless Him with our praises who
hath blessed us in making us his sons and daughters.
2. We should resemble our Father (1 John iii. 2),
know his voice (John x. 4), delight in his company
(Rom. viii. 15), be deeply concerned for his absence
(Job xxiii. 3) and out of love to him that begat have
great love to all them that are begotten of him. (1 John
v. 1.) 3. We should submit to him. (Heb. xii. 9.)

164 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

4. We should in trusting faith depend on him. (Matt
vi. 32.)

Mrs. Susan Huntington, upon the loss of her mother, writes.
"Oh to be adopted, taken into God's famil}' — to liave him ex-
ercise over ns the endearing, tlie watchful attention and care
of our omniscient and almighty Parent! But he promises to
be the Father of those only who, disclaiming all other depend-
ence, fly to him through Jesus Clirist, as their best, their only
portion ; who feel the vanity of all human helpers, who love
him with a filial and holy love, and who manifest their attach-
ment by a hatred of sin which he hates, by a pursuit of the
holiness which he enjoins, by a life of universal obedience to
his law."

A priest in Ireland, who was making the Scriptures his daily
study, and was an advocate for the sciiools in that country,
which most of the priests oppose, met one of tlie sciiolars going
to school, and asked him what book it was he carried under his
arm ? " It is a will, sir," said the boy. " What will ?" rejoin-
ed the priest. "The last will and testament that Jesus Clirist
left to me and to all who desire to claim a title in the property
therein bequeathed," replied the boy. "What did Christ leave
you in that will?" "A kingdom, sir." "Where does that
kingdom lie ?" " It is the kingdom of heaven, sir." " And do
you expect to reign as a king there?" " Yes, sir, as joint heir
with Christ." "And will not every person get there as well
as you ?" "No, sir; none can get there but those that claim
their title to that kingdom upon the ground cf the will." The
priest asked several other questions, to which the boy gave
such satisfactory answers as quite astonished him. " Indeed,"
said he, " you are a good little boy ; take care of the book
wherein God gives you such jirecious promises ; believe what
he has said, and you will be happy here and hereafter."

Question 35. — What is sanctlficatmi f
Answer. — Sandification is the work of God's free
grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after

NOTES 0\ THE SilORTEil CATECHISM. 165

the image of God, and are enabled more and more to
die unto sin, and live unto rigldeousness.

WHEItlSIN DOES SANCTIFICA.TIOX DIFFER FM031
JUSTIFlCATIOJSr AND ADOPTION?

1. Justification and adoption are acts of God with-
out us. 2. Justification and adoption make only a
change of relation — sanctification makes a change of
heart. In the first two a man's state is changed ; the
other changes his character. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; 1 Pet.
iii. 4 ; Ps. li. 6.) 3. Justification and adoption are per-
fect at first; sanctification is carried on by degrees
to perfection.

THE WORK OF GOD'S FREE GRACE.

Sanctification is called a work, because it is not, like
an act, completed at once, but is continued progress-
ively through the whole life. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; Col. i.
10; 2 Cor. x. 15; Eph. ii. 10.) It is called a work
of God's free grace, because God is the agent by whom
it is performed, and his free grace is displayed in ef-
fecting it, inasmuch as there is not an individual who
is the subject of it but might have been justly left to
perish in his sin and pollution. (Jude 1 ; 1 Pet. i. 2 ;
Tit. iii. 5.)

RENEWED IN THE WHOIE MAN AFTER TSE
IMAGE OF GOD.

Sanctification is a renovation of the ^cdure. (Eph.
iv. 24.) None can have sanctified life who have not a
renewed nature. (Matt. vii. 18.) By " the whole man "
is meant both sotil and body — all the powers of the one
and members of the other. (2 Cor. vii. 1 ; 1 Thess. v.
23.) Sanctification extends as far as original corrup-

166 NOTJS ON THE SHOETEE CATECHISM.

tion. Thus it is said, " The very God of peace sanctify
you wholly." (1 Thess. v. 23.) He is not a sanctified
person who is good only in some part, but who is all
over sanctified ; hence in Scripture grace is called " a
new man " (Col. iii. 10), not a new eye, or a new tongue,
or a new will, or a new memory and affections, but a
" new man." A good Christian, though he be sancti-
fied but in part, yet is sanctified in every part. After
whose image is the whole man renewed? After the
image of God, consisting in knowledge, righteousness
and holiness. (Col. iii. 10 ; Eph. iv. 24.) Before we
are renewed in the whole man, we bear the image of
i]\Q first Adam after the fall, having his nature corrupt-
ed. (Gen. V. 3.) Nor can we be renewed in the whole
man, without being united to the second Adam. (Acts
XV. 9 ; xxvi. 18 ; 1 Cor. i. 2.)

The fruit of the sanctification of our nature is the
sanctification of our life. The first strengthens us in
holy and generous dispositions, but in the last we exert
that strength in holy thoughts, words and actions.
(Matt. xii. 35.) Sanctification has two parts :

I. DYING ZTNTO SIN.

This is a privative part — mortification, which lies in
the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven
which sours, and to leprosy which defiles. Sanctifica-
tion purges out " the old leaven." (1 Cor. v. 7.)
Though it takes not away the life, yet it takes away
the love of sin.

II. LIVING UNTO ItlGHTEOUSNESS.

This is a positive part — vivification, which is the
i!piritual refining of the soul, called in Scripture " a

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM, 167

rene\\ing of the mind " (Rom. xii. 2) attl a " partak-
ing of the divine nature." (2 Pet. i. 4.) Tlie priests
in the law not only were washed in the great layer,
but also adorned with glorious apparel (Ex. xxviii. 2) ;
so sanctification not only washes from sin, but adorns
with purity.

MORE AX^D MORE.

Sauctificatior, as already hinted, is progressive. It
admits of degrees. It is compared to seed which grows,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the
ear. It is like the morning sun, which grows brighter
to the full meridian. (See 2 Cor. vii. 1.) We are
commanded to " grow in gi'ace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Pet. iii.
18.) Like the ancient painter, who, when he had
drawn a picture, was ever improving it with his pencil,
we, in whom the image of God is drawn but imperfectly,
must still be drawing it in more lively colors. If our
sanctification does not grow, it is because it does not
live. It must go forward, and it will only be perfected
in our glorification, when we shall be made free from
sin and fully conformed to the image of God. (1 Cor.
xiii. 10, 11.)

NECESSITY OF SANCTfFTCATIOy.

It is necessary, not for justification before God, but
for evidencing our justification and faith (James ii.
10), for glorifying God (Matt. v. 16), for showing forth
his praise (1 Pet. ii. 9), for adorning the doctrine of
God our Saviour (Tit. ii. 10), for proving cur union to
Christ (John xv. 5, 6), for promoting inward peace
and rejoicing (Ps. cxix. 165; 2 Cor. i. 12) foj- main-

168 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

taining fellowship and communion with God (John xiv.
21, 23), for making us meet for heaven (Heb. xii. 14),
for making us useful to men (Tit. iii. 8), and for stoj>
ping the mouth of calumny when we are reproached as
evil-doers, (1 Pet. iii. 16.)

EVIDENCES OF SANCTIFICATION.

These are a cordial respect to all God's command-
ments, loving them because they are holy ; a hatred of
all sin, and avoiding the appearance of ..evil ; a spirit of
watchfulness and warfare against sin ; a delight in doing
good ; communion with God ; a conversation becoming
the gospel ; an habitual use of the precious promises of
God, particularly with a view to increasing holiness ;
and a constant improvement of the blood of Christ by
faith and prayer for cleansing from the filth as well as
the guilt of sin.

MOTIVES TO SANCTIFICATIOy.

These are the holiness, conmiand and love of God,
Christ's dying to save and sanctify us, and the great
dignity of holiness. (1 Pet. i. 16 ; 1 John iv. 19; Tit.
ii. 14.) Sanctification is also a great privilege as Avell
as duty. (Phil. ii. 12, 1 3.) It is the end of Christ's of-
fices, death, exaltation, and of all the precepts, prom-
ises and providences of God. (Tit. ii. 14 ; Heb. ii. 10,
11.)

John Newton, in his old age hearing tliis Scripture repeated,
"By the grace of God I am what I am," paused for some mo-
ments, and then offered this affecting soliloquy: "I am not
what I ought to be. Ah, how imperfect and deficient ! I am
not what I wish to be. I abhor tliat wliich is evil, and I woulil
cleave to that which is good. I am not what I hope to be.
Soon, soon shall [ put off' mortality, and with mortality all sin

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 169

and imperfection. Tliongli I am not what I ou(/fit to be, what
I wish to be, and what I hope to be, yet I can truly say I am
not wliat I once was, a shvve to sin and Satan ; I can heartily
join with tiie apostle, and acknowledge, By the grace of God I
am wliat I am.' "

Question 36. — What are the benefits which in this
life do accompany or fioiv from justification, adoption,
and sanctification f

Answer. — The benefits ivhich in this life do accom-
pany or flow from, justification, adoption, and sanctifica-
tion, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy
in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance
therein to the end.

There are five benefits springing from the sources
specified. They all relate to this life, but there are
others in death, and the best of all are in the life to
come.

1. ASSURANCE OF GOD'S LOTJE.

This certainly is not a bare conjectural and probable
persuasion grounded upon a fallible hope (Heb. vi. 11,
19), but an infallible assurance of faith founded upon
the divine truth of the promises of salvation (Heb. vi.
17, 18), the inward evidence of those graces unto which
these promises are made (2 Pet. i. 4, 5, 10, 11 ; 1 John
iii. 14; i. 3 ; 2 Cor. i. 12), the testimony of the Spirit
of adoption witnessing with our spirits that we are the
children of God (Rom. viii, 15, Ifi), which Spirit is tlie
earnest of our inheritance wheroby we are sealed to
the day of redemption. (Eph. i. 13, 14; 2 Cor. i. 21,
22 ; 2 Pet. i. 10.) " I know whom I have believed,"
said Paul. (2 Tim. i. 12.) Here was the faith of sense,
the reflex act of faith. And again, " Christ hath loved

170 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

me." (Gal. ii. 20). Here was faith flourishing into
assurance. Tliis assurance is an unspeakable comfort.
(Rom. V. 5.) What is the difference between the as-
surance of faith and the assurance of sense f The object
of the assurance of faith is " Christ in the promise "
(James ii. 23), but the object of the assurance of sense
is "Christ formed in the soul" (2 Tim. ii. 12) ; or, which
is the same thing, the assurance of faith is founded on
the infallible word of God, who cannot He, but the as-
surance of sense upon the person's present experience
of the communications of divine love. Is personal as-
surance absolutely necessary to salvation ? No ; a man
may be saved, and in Christ, without it. (Isa. 1. 10.)
It is by FAITH we are saved, not by the assurance
of it. What sins usually eclipse our assurance ? Neg-
ligence in duty starves it (2 Pet. i. 10), and sinning
against light stabs it. (Ps. Ii. 8.)

'^. PEACE OF CONSCIENCE.

Peace of conscience is a holy quiet of mind arising
from the views of our being in favor with God. (Rom.
V. 1. See also John iii. 21 ; Isa. xxxii. 17 ; John xiv.
27.) Unbelievers cannot have peace of conscience, but
many of them have a false peace. (Isa. Ivii. 21.) The
difference between true and false peace of conscience is,
that the one stirs up against sin, the other encourages
in sin. (2 Cor. i. 12.) Those that are justified should
labor after peace. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) It should govern them.
(Col. iii. 15.) It will preserve them. (Phil. iv. 7.) It
will comfort them in the day of trouble. (2 Cor. i.
12.) It is therefore their interest to secure it. (Acts
xxiv. 16.)

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 171
3. ,TOT Jjr THE HOLY GHOST.

Joy ill the Holy Ghost is that inward elevation of
soul wliich flows from the lively exercise of faith, feast-
ing on Christ in the promise. This joy is described in
Scripture as hidden, permanent and unspeakable. The
peculiar seasons of this joy are the times of special
manifestation after a dark night of desertion, the time
of tribulation for Christ's sake, the time of God's re-
markable appearance for his Church, and sometimes in
and about the time of death. But it is not confined to
such seasons, and may be experienced at other times.
By its humbling, sanctifying and quickening effects it
distinguishes itself from all the false joys of fanaticism
and hypocrisy. (See 1 Pet. i. 8 ; Phil. iv. 4 ; Neh. viii.
10 ; Rom. v. 3 ; Ps. iv. 7.)

4. INCHEASX: OF 6RA.CE.

A Christian grows in the exercise of grace. His lamp
is burning and shining ; therefore we read of a lively
hope. (1 Pet. i. 3.) He grows in the degree of grace.
He goes " from strength to strength " (Ps. Ixxxiv. 7),
from " faith to faith " (Rom. i. 17), and his " love abounds
more and more." (Phil. i. 9.) Grace is " seed " (1 John
iii. 9), and it is the nature of seed to grow. It does
not lie in the heart as a stone in the earth, but as seed
in the earth, which will spring up, first the blade, and
then the ear, and then the full corn in the ear. It can-
not but grow from the sweetness and excellency of it.
He that has grace is never weary of it, but still would
have more. (Job xvii. 9; Prov. iv. 18 ; 2 Pet. iii. 18;
Phil. iii. 14 ; Matt. xxv. 29 ; Hos. xiv. 5.)

172 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

" Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
E'en though it he a cross

That raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee."

S. FERSEVERAJfCE THEREIN TO THE END.

How do we know that all truly justified, adopted and
sanctified persons do persevere in grace to the end, and
shall assuredly attain the heavenly inheritance? 1.
From God's everlasting, unchangeable love, and his
faithfulness to his promises of perseverance, as well
as of heaven, which he has made to them. 2. From
their union and relation to Christ, and his undertaking
for them. 3. From the constant abode and indwelling
of the Spirit of God in them. 4. From the nature of
grace, which is an abiding seed that can never be
totally extirpated. (Phil. i. 6; Luke viii. 15; 1 John
ii. 19; Rom. viii. 30; Ps. xxxvii. 24; Luke x. 42;
Rom. xi. 29; 1 Pet. i. 5; John x. 29 ; 1 Cor. x. 13;
Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Luke xxii. 32 ; 1 John ii. 27 ; Ps.
Ixxxix. 34; 2 Tim. iv. 18.)

" Grace led my roving feet

To tread the lieav'nly road,
And new supplies each hour I meet
While pressing on to God."

IMPROVEMENT.

What improvement should be made of the connection
of the benefits and blessings that " accompany and flow
from justification, adoption and sanctification " ? It
should excite in us a desire after the saving; kuowledy-e

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 173

of the truth as it is in Jesus, ia whom all the lines of
divine truth meet, as in their centre (Eph. iv. 21), and
to admire the infinite goodness and wisdom of God,
who has so linked all the blessings of the covenant iu^o
one another, that they who are possessed of one are
possessed of all. (1 Cor. iii. 22, 23.)

The Rev. Samuel Pierce toward the close of his last and very
painful sickness writes to Dr. Ryland : " Now I see the value of
tlie religion of the cross. It is a religion for a dying sinner. It
is all that the most guilty, the most wretched, can desire. Yes,
I taste its sweetness and enjoy its fullness witii all the gloom of
a dying bed before me. ... I was delighted !he otlier day, in
re-perusing tlie Pilgrim's Progref<s, to observe that when Christian
came to the top of hill Difficulty he was put to sleep in a cham-
ber called Peace. ' Wiiy, how good is tlie Lord of the way to
me !' said I. ' I have not reached the summit of the Iiill yet,
but, notwithstanding, he puts me to sleep in the chamber of
Peace every night.' . . . True, it is often a chamber of pain, but
let pain be as formidable as it may, it has never yet been able
to expel tliat peace which tlie great Guardian of Israel has ap-
pointed to keep my lieart and mind through Christ Jesus."

Question 37. — What benefits do believers receive
from Christ at death f

Answer. — The soids 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.

AT THEIR DEATH.

" Death has passed upon all men, because all have
sinned." But for the righteous an atonement has been
made, by which their guilt has been expiated. How,
then, it may be asked, comes it to pass that they are sub-

174 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ject to death, -which is acknowledged to be the penalty
of sin ? But with equal reason may it be asked, Why
are believers, since Christ has atoned for their sins, not
completely delivered from the pollution of sin as soon
as they believe ? Why does it remain in them to taint
their duties and to impede their consolation? Why
are they still exposed to the malignity of Satan ? Why
are they compelled to carry a heavy burden of afflic-
tion ? These things are as inconsistent with our no-
tions of the effect of a perfect expiation of sin, as their
subjection to temporal death. Besides, in the present
state we must walk by faith, and not by sight ; in
other words, we are to be regulated in the choice and
practice of religion not by the evidence of sense, but
by the evidence of testimony. But were it known ex-
actly, by the exemption of the righteous from temporal
death, who are the objects of God's love and who are
not — that is, were it known in any other way than by
the testimony of Scripture — the province of faith would
be greatly circumscribed, and we should then see what
we are now called to believe. Believers die in virtue
of the promise of the covenant of grace, in which death
is made over to them deprived of its sting, as a part
of Christ's legacy. (1 Cor. iii. 22.)

MADE PERFECT JTJV HOLINESS.

The souls of believers do not die with their bodies.
They go to a " house eternal in the heavens." (2 Cor.
V. 1.) They cannot properly die, for they are spiritual,
and not constituted of parts, and so cannot be dissolved.
(Matt. X. 28 ; Luke xxiv. 39.) God will not suffer
them to return to nothing. They are active after the

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 175

death of the body. (Heb. xii. 23.) He has promised
eternal life to his saints. (Matt. xxv. 46.) He called
himself the " God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and
the God of Jacob" long after their death, as an evi-
dence that their souls were living. (Matt. xxii. 32.)
Are believers perfect in this life? No. (Phil. iii. 12.)
Why must the soul be made perfect at death ? Because
the purity of the heavenly state admits no sin or imper-
fection. (Rev. xxi. 27.) What is the state of perfect
holiness ? Freedom from sin or the least inclination
to sin. (Eph. V. 27.) In what else does perfection
consist? In the attainment of the highest measures
and degrees of holiness of which a creature is capable.
(Eph. iv. 12, 13.) Holiness is the beauty of God and
angels; it makes heaven. What is happiness but the
quintessence of holiness ? Here a Christian's grace is
imperfect ; he cannot write a copy of holiness -without
blotting. He receives but the "first-fruits of the
Spirit." (Rom. viii. 23.) But at death believers shall
arrive at perfection of grace ; then their sun s.hall be
in its meridian splendor ; then shall they not need to
pray for increase of grace, for they shall be as the an-
gels; their light shall be clear as well as their joy
full. (Heb. xii. 23 ; 1 Cor. xiii. 12 ; Eph. iv. 13 ; Rev.
xxii. 11.)

" The ransomed shout to their glorious King,
Where no sorrow shades the soul as they sing,
But a sinless and joyous song they raise.
And their voice of prayer is eternal praise."

PASS INTO GLOJIY.

The souls of believers at death pass into — 1. A gloH-
ous place — their Father's house in heaven, where there

176 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

are mansions prepared for tliem by Christ. (John xiv.
2.) 2. A glorious company — the company of God and
Christ, of angels and of " the spirits of just men
made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23. See also 2 Cor. v. 6-8 ;
Heb. xii. 22-24.) The seeing of God, the loving of
God, and being beloved of God, will cause a jubila-
tion of spirit and create such holy raptures of joy as
are " unspeakable and full of glory." (1 Pet. i. 8.)
And as in heaven knowledge is perfected, they shall
not only know their godly friends and relations, but
know even the glorified saints whom they never saw
before, and be infinitely delighted in each other's com-
pany. (Matt. xvii. 4.) 3. A glorious state — a state of
dignity and honor, reigning as kings, with white robes
and golden crowns. (2 Tim. iv. 8.) They shall have
" a weight of glory," and an " eternal " weight. (2
Cor. V. 17.) Eternity is written upon their joys;
tlipir garlands, made of the flowers of Paradise, fade
not. (1 Pet. V. 4.)

TMMJETHATELT.

The souls of believers do not sleep with their bodies
— do not enter into an intermediate state or into a place
which the Church of Rome calls purgatory. " We are
confident," says Paul, " and willing rather to be absent
from the body and to be present with the Lord." He
had said before, " Therefore we are always confident,
knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we
are absent from the Lord." (2 Cor. v. 8 and 6.) It is
impossible to express in a clearer manner the imme-
diate transition of the soul from its present habitation
into the presence of Christ. AVhat detains us from his
presence is our continuance in the body. What intro-

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 177

duces us into it is our departure from the body. Our
presence with hiui succeeds our absence from the body,
without any interval. (See also Acts vii. 59 ; Luke xxiii.
43 ; 2 Cor. v. 1 ; Phil. i. 23 ; Luke xvi. 22.)

THEIR BODIES BEING STILT^ UNITED TO CHRIST.

The bodies of believers sleep in Jesus. They are a
part of Christ's mystical body. (1 Thess. iv. 14 ; Rev.
xiv. 13.) Even death does not break the bond of this
union. The grave is their dormitory, where they quiet-
ly repose in Christ. There they rest from all toil and
trouble (Job iii. 17), and will continue to rest until
awakened by the trumpet of the archangel. The Spirit
of Christ keeps possession of every particle of their
dust, which he will quicken and rebuild as his temjyle
at the last day. (Rom. viii. 11.)

THE RESURRECTION.

The doctrine of the resurrection is plainly revealed.
(Acts xxiv. 15 ; Job xix. 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 22 ; Dan. xii.
2 ; John v. 28, 29.) The dead shall be raised with the
same bodies which they had when alive before. If they
Avere not, it could in no proper sense be called a resur-
rection, but a new creation. Besides, the first body was
an instrument of righteousness or sin, and therefore
shall share in the reward or punishment.

" My first convictions on tlie subject of religion were confirmed
by observing that really religious persons had some solid happi-
ness among them, which I felt the vanities of the world could
not give. I shall never forget standing by the bedside of my
sick mother. 'Are not you afiaid to die?' I asked. 'No.' 'No!
Why does the uncertainty of another state give you no con-
12

178 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

cern ? ' Because God has said, " Fear not. When thou passesi
through the waters I will be with thee ; and through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee." Let me die the death of the
righteous.' " — R. Cecil.

The Eev. John Wesley, after a long life of great labor and
usefulness, being sixty-five years in the ministry, concluded his
course, as might have been expected, in peace and holy joy.
Having been laid on the bed from whence lie rose no more, he
called to those who were with him to " pray and praise." Soon
after he again called upon them to " pray and praise," and taking
each by the hand and affectionately saluting them, bade them
farewell. Attempting afterward to say something which they
could not understand, he paused a little, and then, with all the
remaining strength he had, said : " The best of all is, God is
with us." And again, lifting his hand, he repeated the same
words in a holy triumph, " Tlie best of all is, God is with ,is."

Question 38. — What benefits do believers receive
from Christ at the resurrection f

Answer. — At the resurredion, believers, being raised
up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted
in the day of judgment, and viade perfectly blessed in the
full enjoying of God to all eternity.

The benefits here specified may be considered in
three respects : 1. In respect of the resurrection itself.
2. In respect of the day of judgment after the resur-
rection, 3. In respect of heaven after the day of
judgment.

ItAISKD UP IN GLORY.

The doctrine of the resurrection is a fundamental
article of our faith. The apostle puts it among the
principles of the doctrine of Christ. (Heb. vi. 2.) (For
proof that the bodies of believers will be raised see 1
Cor. XV. 52; Acts xxvi. 8; 1 Cor. xv. 13; John xi.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM, 179

25 ; Matt. xxii. 29.) It must not be supposed, how-
ever, that none but the bodies of the righteous will be
raised. All that are in the graves shall hear Christ's
voice and come forth. (John v. 28; Acts xxiv. 15;
Rev. XX. 12.) Some hold that the soul will be clothed
with a new body, but then it were improper to call it a
resurrection ; it would be rather a creation. (See Job
xix. 26 ; 1 Cor. xv. 53.) What is meant by the
"glory" in which the bodies of believers shall be rais-
ed ? They shall be incorruptible, glorious, powerful
and spiritual bodies. (1 Cor. xv. 42-44.) They shall
leave all the seeds of corruption behind them in the
grave, be for ever incapable of any pain, sickness or
death, and have an everlasting youth and vigor. (Isa.
xxxiii. 24.) They shall " be fashioned like unto his
glorious body," full of splendor and brightness. (Phil.
iii. 21 ; Matt. xiii. 43.) They shall be able to bear up
under an exceeding and eternal weight of glory, and
" rest not day and night " in praising and serving God.
(2 Cor. iv. 17 ; Rev. iv. 8.) Though they shall retain
the essential properties of bodies, yet they shall have
spirit-like qualities and endowments, being of an act-
ive nature and of a most refined constitution.

opr.yr.T a.cknowijJedged an^d a.cqxtittej>.

There must be a day of judgment, that there may
be a day of retribution, when God may render to every
one according to his work. Such a day is revealed in
the Scriptures. (Rom. xiv. 10; Eccles. xii. 14; Ps.
xcvi. 13 ; Dan. vii. 9, 10.) What is meant by Christ's
acknowledging believers? That he will own the special
relatio]! betwee him and them. (See Matt. xxv. 34-

180 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

40 ; X. 32; Mai. iii. 17 ; John xii. 26.) He will con-
fess them before his Father, angels and men. (Rev. iii.
6.) He will openly acknowledge them, to remove all
aspersions and censures that now are cast upon them.
(Isa. Ixvi. 5.) This acknowledgment will put a fuh
end to all doubts, fears and jealousies of themselves.
(1 Cor. iv. 15.) It will also produce in them joy un-
speakable and transcendent ; hence called time of re-
freshing. (Acts iii. 19.) What is meant by Christ's
acquitting believers ? His declaring the pardon of all
their iniquities and the injustice of all the calumnies
and reproaches ever cast upon them. In this life be-
lievers are acquitted secretly, out of the sight of the
world, and frequently without any intimation of it to
themselves ; but then the acquittal shall be pronounced
in the most solemn and public manner. (2 Thess. i.
10 ; Matt. XXV. 35.)

MADE I^ERFECTZT JiZESSED.

The perfect blessedness of believers in heaven will
consist — 1. In their perfect freedom from all evil, and
that both of sin and misery. (Eph. v. 27.) 2. In
their full enjoyment of God, the chiefest good. This
enjoyment implies — 1. That they shall have the glo-
rious presence of God with them. (Rev. xxi. 3.) 2.
That they shall have the immediate and beatific vision
of his face. (Rev. xxii. 4; 1 Cor. xiii. 12; 1 John iii.
2.) 3. That they shall have both a full persuasion
and sense of God's love to them, and perfect love in
thpir hearts toward him, which necessarily results or
arises from the vision of God in heaven. 4. That
they shall have fullness of joy. (Ps. xvi. 11 ; Jude 24.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 181
A.LL ETERNITY.

The crowning glory of the happiness of believers in
heaven is the eternity of its duration. (Matt. xxv. 46.)
They then enter upon a career which will uever be
finished. Ages will run on more rapidly than hours
among mortals, but thousands of ages will take noth-
ing from their felicity. God has made them by his
gift what he himself is in his own nature, and of them,
as well as of him, it may be said that their years shall
have no end. Whilst all saints will be perfectly happy
in heaven, yet they will be as vessels of different sizes
which are all full, although some contain a greater
quantity than others. The following passages teach a
diversity of degrees of glory : Matt. xxv. 15 ; 2 Cor.
ix. 6 ; Dan. xii. 3.

Lord Henry Otho, a follower of John Huss, having received
sentence of condemnation from his popish judges, said: "Kill
my body, disperse my members whither you please, yet do I
believe that my Saviour will gather them together again, and
clothe them with skin, so that with these eyes I shall see liim,
with these ears I shall hear him, with this tongue I shall praise
him, and rejoice with this heart for ever." As he was going to
the scaffold he said to the minister, " I am sure that Clirist Jesus
will meet my soul with his angels. This death, I know, shall
not separate me from him." After he had prayed silently, he
said, " Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. Have
pity on me through Jesus Christ, and let me see thy glory ;"
and so he received the stroke of the sword.

An infidel and profligate youth, who had formerly disregarded
all the pious injunctions of his parents, on one occasion went
with them to hear a popular minister who had come to the town
where they dwelt. The subject of discourse was the lieaven-
ly state; and the minister described in glowing language the
natu-e of the happiness, employment and company of the spirits

182 yOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

of just men made perfect. On his return home the youth ex
pressed his admiration of the speaker's talents. " But," said
he, turning to liis mother, "I was surprised that wliile the smile
of approbation was visible in the countenances of all around
me, you and my father appeared gloomy and sad, and more
than once were in tears. I was surprised," continued the youth,
" because I thought that if any could claim an interest in tlie sub-
ject, you were the happy persons." "Ah, my son," replied the
anxious mother, "I did weep ; but it was not because I feared my
own personal interest in the subject, or that of your affectionate
and pious father. I wept when I thought of you. It is the fear
that YOTJ, the son of my love and the son of my vows, would
be banished at last from the delights of the celestial paradise,
which caused my bursting heart to seek vent in tears." "I
supposed," said the father, turning to his wife, " those were your
reflections. The thought of the spiritual condition of our son
forcibly impressed my own heart, and made me weep too."
The pointed yet cautious and tender admonition of the mother,
wisely sanctioned by the husband, found its way to the heart of
her child, and terminated in his saving conversion to God.

Question 39. — What is the duty which God requireth
of vianf

Answer. — The duty ivhich God requireth of man is
obedience to his revealed ivill.

The maxim so often heard from the lovers of lax
principles, " that it is no matter what a man believes
if his life be good," is a compound of absurdity and
falsehood. In the sight of God ■principle is every-
thing, and principle refers to the understanding as
well as to the heart. It is consequently of infinite
importance that our faith, as to the essentials of re-
ligion, be right, because this is the foundation and
vital sfring of duty. It is also evident that the
authors of our Catechism acted with great propriety

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CAIECHISM. 183

in stating the essential articles of faith, or the things
to be believed, before they gave a detail of duties, or
things to be done.

OJiLTOATIONS TO OBEDIENCE.

Our obligation of obedience to God arises from his
universal supremacy and sovereign authority over us
as rational creatures (Lev. xviii. 5), who depend en-
tirely upon him for life and breath and all things.
(Acts xvii. 25.) Christians have a motive, above oth-
ers, to the duties of obedience, inasmuch as they have
the revelation of God's free love, mercy and grace in
Christ bringing salvation to them, which should teach
them to live soberly, righteously and godly in this pres-
ent world. (Tit. ii. 11, 12.)

RUT.E OF OBEDIENCE.

The rule of our obedience to God is his revealed will
in his word. (2 Tim. iii. 16 ; Mic. vi. 8 ; Isa. viii. 20.)
The secret will of God is his purpose or decree respect-
ing that which comes to pass. (Eph. i. 11.) We are
not to regard fulfilling of it as any part of required
obedience, for it is unknown to us. It is the rule of
God's conduct, not of ours. It ascertains future events,
but does not prescribe our duty. God only can require
obedience of man for his own sake. He is the only
Lord of the conscience ; and though we are to obey
magistrates, parents and masters, yet we are chiefly to
do this because God requires us so to do, and if they
command us to do anything which Gods forbids, we
are to refuse obedience, and to obey God rather than
any man in the Avurld. (Acts iv. 19.)

184 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

CHAn.lCT ERISTICS OF TRUE OBEDIENCE.

Obedience must be — 1. Sincere. "Fear the Lord
and serve him in sincerity and in truth." (Josh. xxiv.
14.) 2. Universal. "Then shall I not be ashamed,
when I have respect unto all thy commandments." (Ps.
cxix. 6.) 3. Devout and fervent. " Fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord." (Rom. xii. 11.) 4. Free and cheer-
ful. " If ye be willing and obedient." (Isa. i. 19.) 5.
With delight. " I delight in the law of God after the
inward man." (Rom. vii. 22.) 6. Constant. " Be thou
in the fear of the Lord all the day long." (Prov. xxiii.
17 ; Ps. cvi. 3.) 7. In and through Christ. " He made us
accepted in the Beloved." (Eph. i. 6.) Not our obedi-
ence, but Christ's merit, procures acceptance. We must
in every part of worship and service present Christ to
God in the arms of our faith. Unless Ave serve God
thus, we rather provoke than please him.

I'RACTICAI INFERENCES.

1. It is highly sinful and dangerous to disobey the
known will of God in anything. (Rom. i. 18.) 2.
That is a blessed man who conscientiously labors to
obey the will of God so far as he can discover it.
(John xiii. 17 ; Gal. vi. 16.) 3. It is highly sinful
and dangerous to give commands to others, or obey
commands from others, which are not according to
God's command. (Hos. v. 11 ; Jer. v. 31.)

Dr. F , the chaplain of Newgate, relates the incident, that

when a reprieve arrived for one under sentence of death, he re-
turned a Bible and prayer-book, which the doctor had given him,
with his thanks, observing that he had no further need of them
now. So much is it beyond the power or di- position of unas-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER OATECHfcM. 185

sisted nature to attend any longer to the requisitions of God than
while the terrors of the law and the dread of wrath are impend-
ing, and so little is this state of feeling worth, if that be all !

Antonio Guevaza used to say " that heaven would be filled
with such as liad done good works, and hell with such as in-
tended to do tliein." A very suitable hint to those who put off
their convictions to what they think will be a moi-e convenient
season.

As Mrs. Judson one day was reading with a Burrnan convert
Christ's Sermon on the Mount, he was deeply impressed and
unusually solenm. " These words," said he, " take hold of my
very heart ; they make me tremble. Here God commands us
to do everything that is good in secret, not to be seen of men.
How unlike our religion is this ! When Burmans make offer-
ings to the pagodas, they make a great noise with drums and
musical instruments, that others may see how good tliey are.
But this religion nuikes the mind fear God. It makes it, of its
own accord, fear sin."

Question 40. — What did God at first reveal to
man for the rule of his obedience f

Answer. — The rule which God at first revealed to
man for his obedience, was the moral law.

I.AWS OF GOD— BOW HISTINGUISHUI).

" The chief difference," says Ursiuus, " between the
moral law and the cei'emonial and judicial law lies in
their obligation, manifestation, duration and use. The
moral latv is known naturally, binds all men, and that
perpetually ; it is different, however, with the ceremo-
nial and judicial law. The moral law requires obedi-
ence which is both internal and external ; the cther«
merely require that which is external. The precepts
of the moral laiv are general, having respect to all men,
whoever they may be ; the others are special, and do

186 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

not thus apply to all men. The precepts of the moral
law are the ends of the others, whilst they again are
subservient to those Avhich are moral. The ceremonial
and civil laws were also types and figures of other
things for which they were instituted ; it is different,
however, with the moral law. The moral law does
not give place to the ceremonial ; it, on the other
hand, gives place to the moral."

THE MORAL LAW.

God revealed this " rule of obedience " to Adam by
writing it on his heart in creating him. (Gen. i. 27 ;
Eccles. vii. 29.) It is called a laio, because it not only
directs, but binds us, to our duty. As the moral law
was at first revealed that it might be a rule of man's
obedience, so it continues to be to all men, in every na-
tion, to the end of the world. Is it asked, " How can
the moral law be a rule of obedience to the heathen
world, who are without the light of the Scriptures to
make it known to them?" The answer is. Though
without the light of the Scriptures there cannot be so
clear a discovery of the moral law, yet by the light
of Nature it is made known to all nations in some
measure, sufficient to leave the very heathen Avithout
excuse for their disobedience. (Rom. ii. 12, H, 15;
Jude 10.)

THE RULE AXD THE REASON.

It should be observed that the moral law is to be re-
garded not only as the rule of our obedience, but also
as the reason of it. We must not only do what is com-
manded and avoid what is forbidden in the law, but
we must also do good for this very reason, that God

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 187

requires it, and avoid evil because he forbids it. "I
am the Lord your God ; ye shall therefore keep my stat-
utes and my judgments." (Lev. xviii. 4, 5.)

PROPERTIES OF THE MO RAIL JO AW.

It is spiritual and holy, just and good, perfect and
exceeding broad. (Rom. vii. 12, 14; Ps. xix. 7-10.)
It is spiritual, reaching to our hearts, and requiring
obedience from spiritual motives in a spiritual manner
and to spiritual ends. (Luke i. 74 ; Jer. iv. 14.) It is
holy, being the transcript of God's holiness, command-
ing everything holy and condemning all impurity. (1
Pet. i. 15, 16 ; Matt. v. 48.) It is jud, binding us to
give every one his due, and requiring no more than
God originally gave man ability to perform. (Ps. cxix.
128.) It is good ; the keeping of it tends greatlv to
God's glory and our advantage. It is perfect, a com-
plete standard of right and wrong, requiring every
duty in the highest degree. (Matt. v. 48 ; Ps. cxix. 9.)
It is exceeding broad ; it binds our whole nature at all
times and in every situation, and requires many duties
in every case and season.

IS LIFE ATTAINABIE BY OBEDIENCE?

If any could yield perfect obedience to the moral
law, he might attain life thereby, but all being sinful
by nature, perfect obedience is impossible, and life
thereby is unattainable; therefore the law was not
given to man after his fall, that it might give life.
(Gal. iii. 12, 21, 22; Rom. iii. 19.) "Wherefore,"
says the apostle, " the law was our schoolmaster to
bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by
faith." ((iral. iii. 24 ; Rom. x. 4.) As we are to prize the

188 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

moral law highly as the rule of life (Fs. cxix. 10.5), so
we are to bless God for the gospel dispensation by
which we can attain to justification and salvation.
(Heb. xii. 22.)

OBLIGATION OF THE MORAI LAW ON BELIEVEItS.

The moral law is abrogated to believers as a cove-
nant of works. It is also abrogated to them as to it?
condemning power. (Gal. iii. 13; Rom. ii. 1.) But as
it has a power of binding the conscience as a standing
rule for our obedience, it remains still in its fiill vigor
and authority. It still directs us as to what we ought
to do, binds the conscience to the performance of it,
brings guilt upon the soul if we transgress it, and re-
duces us to the necessity either of bitter repentance or
of eternal condemnation. Jesus Christ has adopted
the moral law into his religion — re-enacted it, if we may
so speak, by his authority — and commanded all his dis-
ciples to conform to it.

A Good Sort of Cowaudice. — To be such a coward as not
to dare to break any one of God's commandments is to be the
most valiant person in the world, for such a one will choose the
greatest evil of suflering before the least of sinning, and, how-
ever the jeering Ishmaels of the world may be ready to re-
proach and to laugh one to scorn for " this niceness and scrupu-
losity," as they term it, yet the choice is a very wise one.

A certain preacher in the west of England, remarkable for
his opposition to the moral law as a rule of life to believers,
was preaching on a week-day evening at a village in a cotta(;e
full of poor people, when, declaiming in his usual way against
the law, and seeming at a loss for expressions sufHcient to de-
grade it, he said, "The law is dead; it is fallen; it is done
with." Having just then occasion to use his handkerchief, he
spread it out, and holding a corner in each hand, said, " Th»

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 189

law, my friends, has fallen down before the believer like this
handkerchief;" then letting it go from his hands, it unfortu-
nately fell on the candles and extinguished tiiem, leaving the
preacher and all his hearers in darkness — a very just though
accidental representation of that mental and practical darkness
which such preaching is likely to produce.

Question 41. — Wherein is the moral law summarily
comprehended f

Answer. — The moral law is summarily conijyrehended
in the ten commandments.

"THE TEX COMMANDMENTS."

The popular name " Ten Commandments " is not that
of Scripture. In Ex. xxxiv. 28, Deut. iv. 13, x. 4 the
Hebrew has " ten words." The number " ten " was then
and at all times, among the Israelites, the received sym-
bol of completeness. Hence, from these being ten words,
we may learn — 1. The 'perfection of this law, that no
more was needed to be added. (Ps. xix. 7.) 2. The
excellence of it, being so short and yet so perfect.

now " svmmahilt comprehended."

The moral law is said to be " summarily " compre-
hended in the ten commandments — 1. Because the
sum and chief heads of the law are therein contained ;
and 2. Because much more is included in every com-
mand than is expressed.

THE. GIVING OF THE I AW.

The ten commandments were first promulgated by
God himself. (Ex. xx. 1.) It Avas tlie triune God
considered as in the person of the Son who was the
speaker of them, as is evident from Acts vii. 37. 38,

190 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

where the prophet whom the Lord was to raise up
unto the Jews of their brethren, like unto Moses, is
expressly called the angel which spake to him in
Mount Sinai. (See also Heb. xii. 25, 26.) When God
had spoken these commandments in the hearing of all
Israel, he made or engraved them with his own finger
on the tables of stone. They were written on stone to
show the perpetual obligation of the law, and to rep-
resent the natural hardness of our hearts in which the
Spirit writes it. (Jer. xxxi. 33 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.)
Each of these tables was written on both sides. (Ex.
xxxii. 15.) This signified that nothing was to be
added to the words of the law or taken aWay from
them (Deut. iv. 2), and likewise that the whole man,
soul, spirit and body, must be sanctified wholly. (1
Thess. V. 23.) The law was given upon a mount that
burned with fire and with blackness and darkness and
tempest. (Heb. xii. 18.) So terrible was the sight to
Moses that he said, " I exceedingly fear and quake."
(Heb. xii. 21.) It struck an awe upon the people, for
they said, "All that the Lord hath said will we do
and be obedient." (Ex. xxiv. 7.) And should not we
be moved by the consideration of it ? " Knowing the
terror of the Lord, we persuade men." (2 Cor. v. 11.)

JtXTLES FOR VNDERSTANDIKG TH^ COMMAND-
MENTS.

1. Every command requires many duties and forbids
many sins which are not expressly named in it. 2,
Wherever a duty is required, the contrary sin is forbid-
den ; and wherever a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty
is required. 3. Wherever a sin is forbidden, all sius

I,OTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 191

of the same kind, aud all occasiuns, causes or appear-
ances of those sins, are forbidden ; and wherever any
duty is commanded, all duties of the same kind, and
all the means of performing them, are commanded. 4.
Whatever we ourselves are bound to do, we are obliged
to do what in us lieth to cause others to do the same.
5. That which is forbidden may never be done, but
actions required are only to be performed when God
gives opportunity. 6. The same sin is forbidden and
the same duty required in different respects in many
commandments. 7. In a command partly moral and
partly positive, as in that relating to the Sabbath,
obligation to the duties of the second table often
supersedes our obedience to that command of the first
table. 8. The connection between the commands is so
close and intimate that whosoever breaks one of them
is guilty of all. (James ii. 10.) 9. The commands are
spiritual, reaching to the thoughts and motions of the
heart as well as to the Avords aud actions of the life.
Our Saviour was particular in inculcating this. He
taught that causeless anger is a breach of the sixth
commandment, and impure desire a violation of the
seventh.

An Antinomian one day called on Rowland Hill to bring him
to an account for preaching what he regarded as a severe and
legal gospel. "Do you, sir," asked Mr. Hill, "hold the ten
commandments to be a rule of life to Christians ?" " Certainly
not," replied the visitor. The minister rang the bell, and on
the servant making his appearance, he quietly added, " John,
show that man the door, and keep your eye on him until he is
beyond the reach of every article of wearing apparel or other
property in the hall."

192 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Question 42. — JV/iat is the sum of the ten command-
ments f

Answer. — The sum of the ten comviandments is. to
love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our
soul, ivith all our strength, and u'ith all our mind ; and
our neighbor as ourselves.

There is no duty required nor sin forbidden by God,
but it falls under one at least of the ten command-
ments, and sometimes under more thau one ; and there-
fore to the right and genuine interpretation of the law
we must take in whatsoever the prophets, apostles or
our Lord himself has taught as comments and exposi-
tions upon it, for the Decalogue is a compendium oi'
all they have taught concerning duty to God and duty
to man.

Our Saviour, indeed, epitomizes this very epitome
itself, and reduces the ten precepts to two — love to God,
which comprehends all the duties of the first table ;
and love to our neighbor, which comprehends all the
duties of the second table ; and he tells us that " upon
these two hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt.
xxii. 37-40.) And certainly a due love of God and
our neighbor will make us careful to perform all the
duties of religion to the one and of justice to the other,
and keep us from attempting any violation to his honor
or violence to their right ; therefore the apostle tells us
that " love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. xiii. 10) ;
and (1 Tim. i. 5) that " the end of the commandment
is charity," or love ; the end — that is, the completion
or the consummation — of the commandment is love,
both to God and to one another. The sum of the ten
commandments is, to love the Lord our God with a

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 193

supreme love, and men with a sincere love in and for
him.

Lori: TO GOD.

It is not necessary to distinguish the exercises of
love as they separately flow from each of those powers
or principles of our nature which are designated by
the words, heart, soul, mind and strength. These ex-
pressions were chosen, as they are admirably adapted,
to show that all our faculties, with all their energies,
are to be exerted to the utmost in the love of God.
To be more specific, supreme love to God is — 1. Lov-
ing him purely and absolutely for himself, for the ex-
cellences that are in him. (Canticlas i. 3 ; Ps. cxvi.
1.) 2. Devoting the whole man to God and Christ,
so that in life and death that man designs the glory
of God as his main end. (Rom. xiv. 7, 8.) 3. It
causes the soul to depreciate and slight all other things
in comparison with God's glory and an interest in
Christ. (Acts xx. 24 ; Phil. iii. 8.) 4. It centres the
soul in God as its only rest. (Ps. cxvi. 7 ; 2 Thess. iii.
5.) We must love God with a supreme love, because
such a love only suits the transcendent excellency of
God, commands all we are and have for God, and is
the only love that will continue to the end. (Rom. viii.
35. See also 1 John iv. 8, 19; Prov. viii. 17; Rom.
viii. 28 ; 1 Cor. ii. 9.)

SIGNS.

The visible signs of love to God are — 1. Desire for
communion with him. (Isa. xxvi. 8 ; Ps. xlii. 2 ; Ixxiii.
25.) 2. Taking contentment in notliing without him.
(Ps. xliii. 5.) 3. Hating that which would separate
between him and us, and that is sin. (Ps. cix. 128.)

191 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

4. Sympathy with him. (Ps. cix. 136.) 5. Lal-oring
to reader him lovely to others. (Cant. v. 11.) 6
Weeping bitterly for his abser,ce. (John xx. 11.) 7
Willingness to do and suffer for him. (1 Cor. xiii. 7 ;
2 Tim. iv. 6; Kev. xii. 11.) What shall we do to
love God aright? 1. Wait on the preaching of the
word, in which God is exhibited in all his glory. 2.
Beg of God that he will give us a heart to love him.
3. If we have love to God, keep it flaming upon the
altar of our heart. Through neglect of duty or too
much love of the world, our love to God will cool.
(Rev. ii. 4.)

OVn NlOIGllBOS,.

We are to understand by this expression all man-
kind to whom we have any way access to be usefid
either as to their temporal or spiritual good. (Luke
X. 36, 37.) Lawful self-love is an aiming at our own
happiness in subordination to the glory of God, which
ought to be our chief and ultimate end. (1 Cor. x. 31.)
We are to love our neighbors as ourselves — as truly as
ourselves. (Rom. xii. 9.) We should do to them all
the good we would from a welhinformed judgment wish
them to do to us in like circumstances. (Rom. xii. 9-
21 ; Matt. vii. 12.) As fruitfully as ourselves. (1 Cor.
X. 33.) As constantly as ourselves. (Heb. xiii. 1. See
Rom. xii. 15 ; xv. 2, 3 ; Gal. vi. 2 ; James v. 16.)
We should love all men in general with a love of
benevolence, and likewise of beneficence, according
to our ability (Gal. vi. 10), but we should love the
saints with a love of complacency and d(;light. (Ps.
XV. 4 ; xvi. 3.) We must love even our enemies, in

KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISJr. 195

forgiving, praying for and rendering them good for
evil. (Matt. v. 44; Luke vi. 27, 28, etc.)

A martyr wns a.sked wlietlier lie did not love his wife and
children, who stood weeping by him. "Love them? Yes,"
said he. " If all the world were gold and at my disposal, I
would give it all for the satisfaction of living with then),
though it were in a prison. Yet in comparison with Christ
I love them not."

The Rev. John Howe, one of the chaplains of Cromwell,
was applied to by men of all parties for protection, nor did he
refuse his influence to any on account of difference in religious
opinions. One day the Protector said to him, " Mr. Howe,
you have asked favors for every one besides yourself; pray,
when does your turn come?" He replied, " My turn, my
Lord Protector, is always come when I can serve another."

Question 43. — Wiat is the preface to the ten com-
mandments f

Answer. — The preface to the ten commandments is
in these words, I am the Lord thy God, tvhich have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the hotise
of bondage.

Question 44. — What doth the preface to the ten
commandments teach usf

Answer. — The preface to the ten commandments
teacheth us, that because God is the Lord, and our God,
and Redeemer, therefore we are boiuid to keep all his
commandments.

A " preface " is something* spoken before, or a pre-
paratory introduction to, the following discourse. This
preface carries an equal respect and reverence to iill the
commandments.

196 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
A J>ESCRIFTION OF GOD.

Here we have a description of God — 1. By his es-
sential greatness — I am the Lord, or, as it is in the
Hebrew, Jehovah. By this great name God sets forth
his majesty. 2. By his relative goodness — thy God.
Had God only called himself Jehovah, it might have
terrified us and made us flee from him, but when he
says " thy God," this may allure and draw us to him.
God becomes our God through our faith in Jesus
Christ. Being " Immanuel, God with us," he restores
friendship between God and us, and brings us within
the verge of the covenant, and so becomes our God.

THREE JtEASOXS.

There are, it will be observed, three reasons or argu-
ments stated, to oblige and persuade us to keep all God's
commandments : 1. Because God is the Lord. 2. Be-
cause God is our God. 3. Because God is our Re-
deemer. As fear and love are the two passions by which
we are swayed in all the actions of our lives, so God
accommodates himself to our constitution, and pro-
claims, first, his authority, to beget fear, and then his
benefits and mercies, to engage love. And both these
he proclaims that, having so strong an obligation on
our very natures as the motives of love and fear, he
might the more readily influence us to obedience.

EGYPT— HOUSE OF BONDAGE.

" Egypt" and " the house of bondage " are the same,
only they are expressed" under diSerent ideas. By
Egypt is meant a place of affliction, such as the Israel-
ites experienced under their cruel taskmasters. God
mentions this deliverance out of Egypt because of its

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 197

strangeness and its greatness. Egypt is a synonym for
an ungodly world which captivates the heart of man.
and from which the grace of God releases the renewed
soul.

CAJJTIOK.

It is not by any means to be inferred from the preface
to the Decalogue that it was not given as a revelation
of God's will to mankind at large, but w^as simply and
exclusively intended for the Israelites, binding, indeed,
on them so long as the peculiar policy lasted under
which they were placed, but also ceasing as an obliga-
tory rule of conduct when that w'as abolished. On this
ground the gospel itself will be found scarcely less im-
perfect, and we might almost at every step question the
fitness or obligation of its precepts in respect to men in
general ; for it carries throughout a I'eference to exist-
ing circumstances, and by much the fullest development
of its principles and duties, that contained in the Epis-
tles, was given directly and avowedly to particular per-
sons and churches, with the primary design of instruct-
ing them in the will of God. (See Ex. i. 13 ; Ps. cxxxvi.
11 ; Jer. vii. 22, 23 ; Heb. iv. 2 ; Rom. iii. 29.)

GROUNDS OF obligation:

We are bound to keep God's commandments — 1. Be-
cause he is the Lord. He is our Creator and supreme
Sovereign, and we owe to him all obedience, as we are
his creatures and subjects. (Ps. c. 2, 3 ; Jer. x. 7.) 2.
Because he is our God, and as such he has taken us
into covenant and brought us into a special relation to
himself, and thus laid a greater obligation upon us to
do him service. (Deut. xi. 1.) 3. Because as our Be-

198 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

deemerhe has redeemed us for this end, that, being free
from the slavery of sin and Satan, we might be encour-
aged and enabled to yield obedience to him. (1 Cor. vi.
19, 20; Luke i. 74, 75 ; Isa, Ixi. 1 ; Ps. cxxx. 8 ; John
viii. 36 ; Tit. ii. 14 ; Isa. i. 18.)

I AM TBT GOD.

God makes the declaration of his grace in the pres-
ent time, I am, and not in the future, I will be, thy God,
in order to show that his covenant of promise is always
a solid ground and foundation for the present actings
of faith in every case and circumstance in which we
can be situated. (James ii. 23.) He also addresses the
sinner in the singular number, I am thy God, that
every individual sinner to whom the revelation of his
grace may come should believe it with a particular
applicatory faith. (Zech. xiii. 9.)

phacticaz zessons.

1. How great is the condescension of God to man
that he Avill use arguments to induce him to obedience,
when he might exact it only by his sovereignty and
j\istly condemn us for our disobedience! (2 Cor. v. 20.)
2. The more mercy any receive from God, the more
obligations are laid on them to obey him. (Ps. cxvi.
1, 2.) 3. The more mercies and favors any man sins
against, the greater is that man's sin and the sorer will
be his punishment. (Amos iii. 2.) 4. God's expecta-
tions are greater where his mercies and favors have
been so. (Isa. v. 4.) 5. The memorials of God's mer-
cies are to be kept by us to stimulate us to constant
and cheerful duties of obedience. (Ex. xvii. 14; Ps.
ciii. 2, 3.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 199

A friend, calling on the Rev. Ebenezer Erskine during his
last illness, said to liini, "Sir, you liave given us many good
advices. Pray, what are you now doing with your own soul?"
" I am doing with it," said he, " what I did forty years ago. I
am resting on that word, / am the Lord tin/ God; and on this
I mean to die." To another he said, " The covenant is my
charter, and if it had not been for that blessed word, / am the
Lord thy God, my hope and strength had perished from the
Lord." The night on which he died, his eldest daughter was
reading in the room where he was, to whom he said, " What
book is that you are reading, my dear?" "It is one of your
sermons, sir." " What one is it ?" " It is the sermon on that
text, / ain the Lord thy God." "Oh, woman," said he, "that is
the best sermon I ever preached." And it was most probably
the best to his soul. A little afterward with his finger and
thumb he shut his own eyes, and laying his hand below his
cheek, breathed out liis soul into the hands of his living Re-
deemer. Happy the man that is in such a state ! Happy the
man whose God is the Lord !

Children should be early taught that the Bible is the great
authority, and that when it speaks upon any point the question
is settled for ever. They should be taught to go directly to the
Scripture to find what is good and what is bad, what is true and
wh it is false. Thus, with the blessing of God, they will acquire
the habit of constantly subordinating their own notions and in-
clinations to the plain declarations of Scripture. It is a good
sign to have a child often use the expression, " 2'he Bible says so."

Question 45. — Which is the first commandment?
Answer. — The first commandment is, Thou shalt
have no other gods before me.

Question 46. — What is required in the first com-
mandment f

Answer. — The first commandment requireth its to
knotv and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and
our God ; and to worship and glorij'g him accordingly.

200 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Question 47. — What is forbidden in the first com'
mandmeni f

Answer. — The first commandment forhiddeth the de-
nying^ or not ivorshiping and glorifying, the true God
as God, and our God, and the giving of that tvorshlp
and glory to any other which is due to him alone.

Question 48. — What are ice especially taught by these
words, "before me," in the fi^rst commandment?

Answer. — These words, " before me," in the first covi-
niandmeiit, teach us, that God, tvho seeth all things,
taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin
of having any other god.

The first table of the Decalogue, which embraces the
first four commandments, enjoins the duties which we
owe to God ; the second table, the duties which we owe
to our neighbor; yet in such a way that the former are
referred immediately, the latter mediately, to God.

This commandment may well lead the van, and be
set in front of all the commandments, because it is the
foundation of all true religion. Thou. The command-
ment runs in the second person singular, because it
concerns every one, and God would have us take it as
spoken to us by name. It is imj)ortant that we should
feel ourselves individually addressed, because, though
forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt
to shift off duty from ourselves to others. Another
god is any and every thing to Avhich we may attribute
the properties, attributes and works of the true God,
even though the thing itself does not possess them, and
even though they are inconsistent with its nature.
Before me, or in my sight, as if he would say, Thou

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISAf. 201

shalt have no other gods, Dot only in the -wonh and
actions in the light of men, but thou shalt have none
besides me in the secret chamber of thy heart, for noth-
ing is concealed from my view ; I am the searcher of
hearts and the trier of the reins of the children of men,
and all things are naked and open to my view. (See
Ps. 1. 7 ; Ixxxi. 8, 9 ; Deut. xiii. 7 ; Jer. xliv. 3, 4.)
Inferences: 1. It is a special mercy to be born in a
land where the true God is known and worshiped.
(Ps. cxlvii. 20.) 2. It is a great and dreadful sin to
live without the worship of God in the world. (Eph.
ii. 12.) 3. Christians must not comply with idolatrous
and superstitious worship when they are cast into
idolatrous places, however great the danger may be.
(Ps. xvi. 4.) 4. The supreme love, fear and trust of
the soul are God's peculiar right and due. (1 John ii.
15; Job xxxi. 24-28.) 5. God's eye discovers the
closest idolatry in the world, whether it be in secret
devotions (Ezek. viii. 12) or inward affections. (Col.
iii. 5.) 6. A high and full condition in the world is a
dangerous condition, and lies most exposed to the dan-
ger of heart-idolatry. (Prov. xxx. 9 ; Mark x. 24.)
7. In covenanting with God and avouching him for
our God, we must wholly renounce all others, and take
God alone for our portion and the object of our love
and dependence.

WHAT IS HEQUIIiED.

Three duties are required in the first commandment :
I. To know God. (1 Chron. xxviii, 9.) We must
know (1) that God is, or that there is a God, (2.)
What G( d is in all those glorious attributes and per-

202 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

fections whereby he has made himself known. II.
To acknowledge God. (Deut. xxvi. 17.) (1.) We ought
to acknowledge him to be the only true God. (1 Cor.
viii. 6.) (2.) We ought to take and own God for
our God. (Fs. xlviii. 14.) III. To worship and glo-
rify God. (Matt. iv. 10.) We ought to worship and
glorify God as the only right object of divine worship
and honor. (1.) In our minds, by thinking, meditating,
remembering and highly esteeming him. (Mai. iii. 16 ;
Ps. Ixiii. 6 ; Ixxi. 19.) (2.) In our wills, by choosing
him for our chief good and devoting ourselves to his
service. (Josh. xxiv. 23.) (3.) In our hearts, by lov-
ing, desiring, fearing, believing and trusting in him,
grieving for our sins against him, hoping in him, de-
lighting and rejoicing in him. (Deut. x. 12 ; Isa. xxvi.
49 ; Ex. xiv. 31 ; Ps. xxxviii. 18 ; cxxx. 7 ; xxxvii. 4.)
(4.) In our lips, by calling upon him and speaking
well of his name. (Phil. iv. 6 ; Ps. cxlv. 21.) (5.) In
our lives, by yielding all obedience to him, being zeal-
ous for his glory, careful to please him, fearful of of-
fending him, and by walking humbly before him.
(Jer. vii. 23 ; John ii. 17 ; Col. i. 10 ; Gen. xxxix. 9 ;
Micah vi. 8.)

WHAT IS FOJtBIDDEN.

The sins more generally forbidden in the first com-
mandment are atheism, profaneness and the worship
of false gods.

It is a sin to deny the being of God. (Ps. xiv. 1),
or his omniscience (Ps. xciv. 7), or his justice (Ps x.
13), or his holiness (Ps. 1. 21), or his goodness (Matt.
XXV. 24), or his faithfulness (2 Pet. iii. 4), or his prov-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 203

idence (Ex. xvii. 7), or his power (Ps. Ixxviii. 19) ; and
it is a great sin to admit the existence of God and yet
be practically atheistical. (Tit. i. 16.) The profane-
ness forbidden is our not worshiping and glorifying
God as God, and our God in Christ. (Mai. i. 6.) The
worship of false gods forbidden is — I. Gross or open
— the external worshiping of sun, moon, stars, angels,
men, demons or any other creature instead of God. (2
Kings ii. 7 ; Rom. i. 24, 25 ; 1 Cor. i. 21.) II. Secret
or spiritual idolatry. We may make imaginary be-
ings a god when we boast of false gifts, ascribe events
to Avhat men call fortune, luck or chance. We may
make a god of ourselves, our wisdom, will, righteousness,
strength, beauty, appetites, riches, reputation, etc. (Isa.
xiv. 13, 14; Rom. x. 3; Isa. x. 13, 14; 1 Pet. iii. 3,
4; 1 Tim. ii. 9, 10; Phil. iii. 19 ; Col. iii. 5.) It is a
sin to love anything more than God. (Ezek. xlv. 4;
Isa. xlii. 8 ; Matt. x. 37 ; Jer. xvii. 5 ; Hos. ii. 13.)

Lord Rocliester was one day at an atlieistical meeting in the
] ouse of a person of qnality. He undertook to manage the
cause, and was tiie principal disputant against God and relig-
ion, and for his performance received the applause of the whole
company. " Upon which," says he, " my mind was terribly
struck, and I immediately replied thus to myself: Good God !
that a man that walks upriglit, that sees the wonderful works of
God and has the use of his senses and reason, should use them
to the denying of his C'reator!"

Rev. Dr. Witiierspoon was once on board a packet-ship
wliere, among other passengers, was a professed atheist. Tiiis
uniia[>py man was very fond of troubling every one with his
jieculiar belief, and of broaching tlie subject as often as he
could get any one to listen to him. He did not believe in a
Gixl and a future slate — not lie ! By and by there came on a
tLi-rib!e storm, aud the prospect was that all would be drown-

204 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

ed. There was much consternation on board, but no one was as
greatly frightened as the professed atheist. In his extremity
he sought out tlie clergyman, and found him in the cabin
calm and collected in the midst of danger, and thus addressed
him: "Oil, Dr. Witherspoon ! Dr. Witherspoon ! we're all
going; we have but a siiort time to stay. Oh how the vessid
rocks ! We're all going ; don't you think we are, doctor?" The
doctor turned to him with a solemn look and replied in broad
Scotcli, " Nae doubt, nae doubt, man; we're a' ganging, but
you and 1 dinna gang the mme way." Tlie poor man was speech-
less ; and the wortliy doctor, who had not said much before,
then took the opportunity of setting before him the guilt and
folly of his conduct.

Question 49. — Which is the second eommandvient f
Answer. — The second commandment is, Thou f<halt
not make unto thee any graven image, or anj/ 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 in-
i(juity of the fathers upon the children unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate me: and show-
ing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep
my commandments.

Question 50. — What is required in the second com-
maiidment ?

Answer. — The second commandment requireth the
receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all
such religious worship and ordinances as God hath ap-
pointed in his word.

Question 51. — What is forbidden in the second com-
mandment f

Answer. — The second commandment forbiddeth the

NOTES ON THE SHOllTER CATECHISM. 205

icorshiping of God by images, or any other wciy not ap-
jioiided in his word.

Question 52. — What are the reasons annexed to the
second coiaviandment f

Answer. — The reasons annexed to the second com-
mandment are, God's sovereignty over us, his propriety
in us, and the zeal he hath to his own tvorship.

In this commandment we have two points — the pre-
cept itself, and the sanction of the precept — each of
which is twofohl.

Tlie precept runs negatively in the several prohibi-
tions, both tending to the same end and effect — the one
forbidding images to be made, the other forbidding
tliem to be worshiped. The sanction contains a severe
threatening against those that shall presume to violate
this command, and also, for the encouragement of obe-
dience, a gracious promise.

The difference between the first and the second com-
mandment ought to be distinctly noted. The first re-
lates to the object of worship, and the second to the
mode or manner of that worship ; the first forbids the
worship of any other than the true God ; the second
forbids the worshiping even of the true God by the
use of images or any other visible symbols ; the first
impliedly requires all right worship of Jehovah ; the
second prohibits all that is even circumstantially wrong
in his worship.

WHAT IS FORBITHiEN.

Thou shalt not make. The prohibition is general.
Thou shalt not imagine or invent, or imitate the
inventions of others. Thou shalt not make, or cause

206 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

to make. lu a word, thou shalt uot be in any Avay ac-
cessory to the corrupting of divine worship with any
resemblance (or image) or human device at all. The
former is a particular word, signifying the then most
particular kind of imagery, but the other is a word of
most large and general sense, and is put for all kinds
of similitude and representation.

Anything that is in heaven above, etc. Neither the
sun, moon or stars in the heavens, nor men on earth,
nor beasts, creeping things and fishes in the water, all
of which were common objects of idolatry. Of course
the commandment forbids not the making of an image
for civil use (Matt. xxii. 20), but it does forbid the
setting up an image for religious use or worship. God
is to be adored in the heart, not painted to the eye.

Thou shalt not boiv down, etc. " The advocates of
image-worship," says Dr. Dick, " endeavor to evade
the precept by subtle distinctions. They tell us that
there are two kinds of adoration, the one absolute and
the other relative, and that the image is the object only
of relative worship ; that is, the worship does not ter-
minate upon the image itself, but passes from it to the
original. Again, they tell us that in an image two
things are to be considered — the matter of which it is
composed, gold, silver, wood or stone, and its repre-
sentative character. Considered as a material sub-
stance, it ought not to be adored, but as an image or
representation it is entitled to respect. These, how-
ever, were the identical distinctions by which the hea-
thens attempted to vindicate themselves when they were
accused of idolatry by the Christians. As papists find
it necessary to defend themselves with the arguments

NOTES ON THE SHORTEU CATECHIS^f. 207

of the heathens, it is plain that they are gnilty of the
same crime and involved in the same condemnation.
All their subtilties vanish before the plain words of
the precept, ' Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them.' " (See Kom. i. 25 ; Hab. ii. 18 ; Acts
xvii. 29 ; Isa. xl. 18 ; Eev. xix. 10 ; xxii. 9.)

WJIAT IS REQUIRED.

It is right that God should appoint the means of his
own worship, because he onli/ knows sufficiently what
means of worship best suit his own honor and our ad-
vantage, and he only can authorize and make means
effectual. (Deut. xii. 32 ; v. 32 ; James iv. 12.) The
instituted means of worshiping God are his ordi-
nances which he has appointed in his word. (Ps.
cxlvii. 19, 20 ; Pro v. viii. 34.) They are called ordi-
nances, because they are established by the supreme au-
thority and will of God. (Deut. vi. 1.) They are prin-
cipally meditation, self-examination, prayer, reading,
preaching and hearing God's word, administering and
receiving the sacraments, singing of psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, religious fasting, thanksgiving, in-
struction of families, religious conference, vows, and
church government and discipline. (Ps. cv. 2 ; 2 Cor.
xiii. 5, etc.) The worship and ordinances which God
has appointed in his word are to be received; that is,
we are to take them simply on the divine authority,
without caviling or objecting to any of them. They are
to be observed ; that is, practically treated as of God's
appointment. They are to be kept pure; that is, free
from all human corruptions. And they are to be kept
entire ; that is, nothing is to be added to them or sub-

208 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

tracted from them, and there is to be an entireuess in
observing them both on the part of churches and in-
dividuals. (Matt. XV. 9 ; Ps. cvi. 39 ; Lev. x. 1 ; Mai.
i. 13, 14; Rom. i. 21.)

It E AS ox S AXNEXED.

1. For I the Lord. The peculiar feeling with which
Jehovah regards all rivalry in the affections and
homage of his subjects is here called "jealousy,"
implying a peculiar sensitiveness to everything that
threatens to trench upon the honor, reverence and
esteem that he knows to be due to himself. " Some,"
says an eminent theologian, " consider the visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children as peculiar to
the Jews, who were placed under a dispensation of tem-
poral rewards and punishments, and understand it to
import that under such a dispensation, by the overrul-
ing providence of God, a man's family would be placed
in such circumstances as would accord with his conduct,
or that their degradation and suffering would be the ef-
fect of his sins." " A nobleman," says Dr. Cumming,
" rebels against his prince ; he loses his coronet, and
his family suffers for centuries afterward. A father,
through gambling, loses all his property, and his chil-
dren and his children's children suffer. A parent be-
comes a drunkard and a debauchee, wastes his health
and injures his constitution, and his offspring are dis-
eased to the third and fourth generation. Now, what
is all this but the sins of the fathers visited upon the
children in the arrangements of a Providence we can
see, and in occurrences of daily life?"

2. And showing mercy. INIercy is the darling attri-

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 209

bute of God, for if the judgments reiich to the third or
fourth, tlie mercy descends to thousands of genera-
tions, and we must wait all the widening and coming
cnlargenieuts of the l)lessedness in reserve for the hu-
man family, ere we can compare aright the goodness
with the severity of God. (See Ezek. xviii. 14, 17, 25.)

Mr. Scott, the venerable expositor of the Bible, speaking of
liis early years, says : " A hymn of Dr. Watts, entitled ' The
All-seeing God,' at this time fell in my way. I was much afiect-
ed by it, and having committed it to memory, was frequently re-
peating it, and was thus continually led to reflect on my guilt
and danger. Parents,'' he adds, "may from this inconsider-
able circumstance be reminded that it is of great importance to
store their children's memories with useful matter, instead of
suflering them to be furnished with such corrupting trash as is
commonly taught them. They know not what use God may
make of these early rudiments of instruction in future life."

A lady who once heard Mr. Komaine, expressed hei-self
greatly plea.sed with his discourse, and told him afterward that
she thought she could comply with his doctrine and give up
everytliing but one. " xVnd what is that, madam ?" " Cards,
sir." "You think you could not be happy without them?"
" No, sir ; I know I could not." " Then, madam, they are your
god, and they must save you." This pointed and just reply is
said to have issued in her conversion.

Question 53. — Which is the third commandment f
Answer. — The third commandment is, Thou shall
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.

Question 54. — What is required in the third com-
mandment f

Answer. — The\hird commandment requireth the holy

14

210 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

and reverent use of God's names, titles, attribides, ordi-
nances, word, and %vorks.

Question 55. — What is forbidden in the third com-
mandment f

Answer. — The third commandment forbiddeth all
profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh
himself known.

Question 56. — What is the reason annexed to the
third commandment f

Answer. — The reason annexed to the third command-
ment is, that however the breakers of this commandment
may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God
will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.

This commaudment has three parts : 1. A negative
expressed. 2. An affirmative implied. 3. A threat-
ening denounced.

THU NAMtJ 01<' GOD.

This expression signifies in the Scriptures — 1. The
attrlbides of God. (Gen. xxxii. 29 ; Ex. iii. 15 ; xv.
3.) 2. God himself (Ps. v. 11 ; cxvi. 13 ; vii. 17 ;
Deut. xvi. 2 ; 1 Kings v. 5.) 3. The will or com-
mandment of God. (Deut. xviii. 19; 1 Sam. xvii. 45.)
4. The worship of God — confidence, prayer, praising
and professing God. (Mic. iv. 5 ; Acts xxi. 13.) In
a word, by God's "name" is meant anything by which
God may be known, as a man is known by his name.

nilAT IS FORBIDDEN.

The taking of God's name in vain. We do this — ■
1. When we speak lightly and irreverently of it.
(Deut. xxviii. 58.) 2. When we profess his name.

NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHIS]\r. 211

but do not live aiiswerably to it. (Tit. i. 16.) 3.
Wheu we use it iu idle discourse, as when, in ordi-
nary conversation and without a holy awe upon our
hearts, we introduce such expressions as " O God !"
*' 0 Christ !" or as " God shall save my soul !" etc.
4. When we worship God with our lips, but not our
hearts. (Prov. xxiii. 26 ; Isa. xxix. 13.) 5. When we
pray to him, but do not believe in him. (Rom. iv. 20 ;
1 John V. 10.) 6. When we in any wise profane or
abuse his word ; for instance, in speaking scornfully
of it (2 Pet. iii. 4), in speaking jestingly of it (Prov.
i. 26), and in forcing the interpretation of it, as, for
example, the covetous man does when, being told
that covetousness is idolatry, he attempts to support
his covetousness by sucli passages as these : " Six days
shalt thou labor," and " He who provides not for his
family is worse than an infidel." 7. When we swear
by his name. Many seldom mention God's name but
in profane oaths ; for this sin the land mourns. 8.
When any wicked action is baptized with the name
of religion. 9. By rash and unlawful vows. (Ps. Ixvi.
13; Judg. xi. 31, 34.) 10. When we speak evil of
God by murmuring at his providences, as if he had
dealt hardly with us. (Ps. Ixxvii. 19; Gen. xviii. 25;
Num. xiv. 27.) 11. Wheu we falsify our promise,
saying, " If God spax-e our life we Avill do this," and
never intend it. 12. When we take a false oath.

WHAT IS MEQUIRED.

That we should have a care to reverence and honor
the name of God. We reverence or hallow God's name
when we profess it. It is an honor done to him w'hen

212 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

we meet in his holy assembly. But this is not enough,
(Matt. vii. 23.) We must go further. Therefore we
sanctify God's name when we have a high appreciation
and esteem of him ; set him highest in our thoughts —
when we trust in his name (Ps. xxxiii. 21 ; Rom. iv. 20 ;
1 John V. 20) ; when we never mention it but with the
highest reverence (Gen. xiv. 20 ; Neh. ix. 5) ; when we
love it (Ps. V. 11) ; when we render him spiritual and
holy worship (Lev. x. 3 ; Rom. xii. 11) ; when we sanc-
tify his day (Jer. xvii. 22 ; Rev. i. 10) ; when we ascribe
the honor of all we do to him (Ps. xevi. 8 ; 1 Cor. xv.
10) ; when we obey him (Ps. xl. 8 ; Matt. ii. 11 ; Gen.
XX. 16, 17) ; when we exalt God's name in our praises
(Ps. Ixxi. 8 ; Rev. v. 13) ; when we sympathize with him,
being grieved when his name suffers (Neh. ii. 2 ; Isa.
xxxvii. 17 ; 2 Kings xix. 14) ; when we honor the Son
as we honor the Father (John v. 23 ; Ps. viii. 5 ; Heb.
i. 3 ; Col. ii. 9) ; when we stand up for his truth ; when
we seek by counsel, prayer, example and effort the sal-
vation of others (Josh. xxiv. 15 ; Col. iv. 12) ; when we
prefer the honor of God's name before the dearest things
(Ps. Ixix. 7 ; Heb. xi. 26 ; Acts v. 41) ; and when we
are characterized by a holy walk and conversation. (1
Pet. ii. 9.)

THU ItEASOy ANNEXED.

AVhy is it that those who profane God's name " es-
cape punishment from men " ? 1. Because no laws of
men do or can reach all profanations of God's name.
2. Because such laws as reach blasphemy, perjury,
swearing and the like grosser profanations of God's
name are not executed by many in authority, who
oftentimes, being profane and wicked persons them-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 213

selves, are more ready to punish those that hallow
God's name than those that profane it. "What is the
import of the threatening, "the Lord will not hold
him guiltless " ? It is a form of expression by which
less is said than is intended. It imports that God
will hold him guilty in a peculiar manner, who pre-
sumes to profane or abuse his name, so that divine
vengeance shall be infallibly certain against him.
(Zech. V. 3.) In what light does the Scripture rep-
resent those who take God's name in vain ? As his
open and avowed enemies. (Ps. cxxxix. 20.) How
does it appear that divine vengeance is infallibly cer-
tain against the profaners of God's name ? It appears
from the terms of the threatening. The Lord rvill not
hold him guiltless ; that is, so sure it is that this sin
shall then be taken particular notice of as a main ar-
ticle in the list of sins which are to be accounted for
(Mai. iii. 5; Deut. xxviii. 59; Matt, xxiii. 13; Isa,
xxviii. 13 ; Ezek. xvii. 18 ; Zech. v. 3 ; Ps. Ixiv. 8.)

" Once, when I was returning from Ireland," says Rowland
Hill, " I found myself much annoyed by the reprobate conduct
of the captain and mate, who were sadly given to the scanda-
lous habit of swearing. First, the captain swore at the mate,
then the mate swore at the captain, then they both swore at the
winds, when I called to them with a strong voice for fair play.
' Stop ! stop !' said I. 'If you please, gentlemen, let us have fair
play. It's my turn now.' 'At what is it your turn, pray?'
said the captain. 'At swearing,' I replied. Well, they waited
and waited until their patience was exhausted, and then wanted
me to make haste and take my turn. I told them, however, that
I had a right to take my own time and swear at my own conve-
nience. To this the captain replied with a laugh, ' Perhaps you
don't mean to take your turn?' 'Pardon me, captain,' I an-

214 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

swered, 'but I do as soon as I can find the good of doing so.'
My friends, I did not hear another oath on the voyage."

Within the first month after the Declaration of Independence
Washington gave a noble testimony against profaneness by de-
claring in his public orders that " he hopes the officers will, by
example as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both
they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the
blessing of Heaven on our arms, if we insult it by our impiety
and folly. Added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without
any temptation, that every man of sense and character despises
it."

Question 57. — Which is the fourth commandment f
Answer. — The fourth commandment is, Remember
the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou
labor, 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 : ivherefore the Lord
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Question 58. — What is required in the fourth com-
mandment ^

Answer. — The fourth commandment requireth the
keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed
in his word ; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a
holy Sabbath to himself.

Question 59. — Which day of the seven hath God
appointed to be the weekly Sabbath f

Answer. — From the beginning of the world to the
resurrection of Christ, God appoi)ited the seventh day

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 215

0/ the week to he the weekly Sabbath ; and the first day
of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the
world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Question 60. — Ho^v is the Sabbath to be sancti-
fied?

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 spend-
ing the whole time in the public and private exercises of
God's worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the
tvorks of necessity and mercy.

Question 61. — What is forbidden in the fourth
coynmandmeni f

Answer. — The fourth commandment forbiddeth the
omission or careless performance of the duties required^
and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that
which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts,
words, or ivorks, about our worldly employments or recre-
ations.

Question 62. — What are the reasons annexed to the
fourth commandment ?

Answer. — The reasons annexed to the fourth com-
mandment are, God's allowing us six days of the week
for our own employments^ his challenging a special pro-
priety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing
the Sabbath day.

HEMEMBEie.

The origin of the Sabbath is stated in Genesis
ii. 1-3. It did not take its rise, like other sacred
days and seasons, with the Jewish system of worship

216 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATEOHISM.

which uas to ] ass away, nor was it instituted for any
ceremonial reason, such as existed iu the case of sacri-
fices and of the priestly office.

miil'ETUITY OF THE SABBATH.

In proof of this let it be observed — 1. This precept
is united with other commands of the moral law, which
are acknowledged to be binding on men of every age
and eveiy country. 2. It was spoken, together with
the other nine, Avith an awful and audible voice from
the midst of the thunders and lightnings which envel-
oped Mount Sinai. 3. It was written by the finger of
God on one of the two tables of stone originally pre-
pared by himself, and destined to contain nothing but
this and the other precepts of the Decalogue. 4. This
command is delivered in the same absolute manner as
the other nine. There is no limitation in the phrase-
ology in which it is embodied. For what ends was the
Sabbath instituted ? To give the laborious classes of
mankind an opportunity of resting from toil ; to be a
commemoration of the wisdom, power and goodness of
God in the creation of the universe ; to furnish an op-
portunity of increasing holiness in man while in a state
of innocence ; to furnish an opportunity to fallen man
of acquiring holiness and of obtaining salvation. In
every one of these respects the Sabbath is as useful,
important and necessary to every child of Adam as it
was to the Jews.

CHAXOE OF THE HAT.

Although we cannot produce any positive precept
for the change of the day from the seventh to the first,
yet we have the example of the apostles and of the

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 217

primitive Church, wiio were under the guidance of the
Spirit in all things relative to doctrine and worship.

Immediately after the resurrection of Christ the dis-
ciples began to assemble on the first day of the week,
and by meeting repeatedly with them on that day he
gave countenance to the practice. It Avas continued
after his ascension and after the mission of the Holy
Ghost, whose office it was to lead them into all the
truth. Thus at Troas, when the disciples came to-
gether on the first day of the week, Paul preached to
them (Acts xx. 7), and the time of meeting is mani-
festly mentioned as the usual one. On that day the
Corinthians were commanded to lay by them in store
as the Lord had prospered them (1 Cor. xvi. 2) ; and it
is reasonable to think that the first day was specified
as the proper time to make collections for the poor be-
cause it was consecrated to religious duties. It is un-
doubtedly the same day to which the beloved disciple
refers when he says, " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day" (Rev. i. 10) — the day which Jesus Christ pecu-
liarly claimed as his own, or the first day of the
week, which is consecrated to his honor.

If the finishing of the works of creation w'as a rea-
son why the Lord blessed the seventh day and hal-
lowed it, there is a reason at least equally strong for
the consecration of the first day, on which our Saviour
rose from the grave,

OBSERTAJfCE OF THE DAT.

This precept requires us to set apart for rest, refresh-
ment and the service of God one day of every seven.
It requires us to abstain from our worldly employ-

218 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM, *

ments, manual and mental, from the labors of the body
and the labors of the mind about secular studies, and
from all unnecessary words and thoughts respecting
such subjects. It requires us to spend the time in de-
votional exercises, in prayer, religious reading and medi-
tation, in the instruction of our families and pious con-
versation with them and our friends, and in attendance
upon the public ordinances of grace. It requires us to
abstain from secular recreations and amusements, be-
cause we cau very well dispense with them for one day,
since we are at liberty to use them on the other six ;
they would engross a portion of the time which is sa-
cred to other purposes, and would dissipate our thoughts
and indispose us for the proper duties of the Sabbath.
Thou, nor thy son, etc. The family of the house
and all belonging to it. By the gates are meant the
doors of the private house, and also, as the command-
ment applies to rulers, the entrances to the city or
village. (Deut. xiv. 21.) The general character of
the prohibition is illustrated in detail, as, for exam-
ple, Neh. xiii. 15 ; Jer. xvii. 21 ; Amos viii. 5 ; Num.
XV. 32.

RT:AS0N AJfKJEXED.

For in six days, etc. The reason is historical. It
refers to the original division of time into six days of
work, and a seventh day of rest, on the occasion of the
creation of man. Then God not only rested after the
six days of creation, but blessed the Sabbath day and
hallowed it. He thus instituted a seventh-day Sabbath
of perpetual obligation, and therefore now enforces its
constant remembrance and observance.

KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHLSM. 219

RESVLT OF EXPEIilJCNCJE.

A committee was appointed in the legislature of Pennsylva-
nia, who made a report witii regard to the employment of la-
borers on the canals. In tliat report they say, in reference to
tliose who had petitioned against the employment of the work-
men on the Sabbath : " They assert, as the result of their expe-
rienco, that both man and beast can do more Avork by resting
one day in seven tlian by working on the whole seven." Tliey
tlien said, "Your committee feel free to confess that their own
experience as business-men, farmers or legislators corresponds
with the assertion."

Mr. Philip Henry used to call the Lord's day the queen of
days, the pearl of the week, and observed it accordingly. His
common salutation of his family or friends on the Lord's day
in the morning was that of the primitive Christians : " The Lord
is risen ! he is risen indeed !" making it his cliief business on
that day to celebrate the memory of Christ's resurrection; and
he would say sometimes, "Every Lord's day is a true Chris-
tian's Easter day."

Question 6o.— Which is the fifth commandment f
Answer, — The fifth commandment is, Honor thy
father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon
the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Question 64. — What is required in the fifth com-
mandment f

Answer. — The fifth commandment reqicireth the pre-
serving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging
to every one in their several places and relations, as su-
periors, inferiors, or eqxials.

Question 65. — What is forbidden in the fifth com-
mandment?

Answer. — The fifth commandment forbiddeth the ne-
glecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and

220 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISJkf.

duty which helongeth to every one in their several places
and relations.

Question 66. — What is the reason annexed to the
fifth commandment f

Answer. — The reason annexed to the fifth command-
ment 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 laws of the second table of the Decalogue
commence with this commandment.]

By the terms " father " and " mother " are meant
" not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and
gifts, and especially such as, by God's ordinance, are
over us in places of authority, whether in family,
church, or commonwealth." {Larger Catechism, Q,
124.) Superiors are styled father and mother, " to
teach them in all duties toward their inferiors, like
natural parents, to express love and tenderness to
them according to their several relations, and to work
inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in
performing their duties to their superiors, as to their
parents." (lb., Q. 125.)

WHAT IS JREQUIJtED.

The honor to be preserved and the mutual or cor-
relative duties to be performed by superiors and in-
feriors, refer to the places and relations of rulers and
ruled, husbands and wives, parents and children, mas-
ters and servants, ministers and people, old and young,
and the possessors of superior and infei'ior gifts and
graces. In all these relations there is a subordination
of rank or character which is clearly recognized in

NOTES OX THE SHORTER aVTECHISM. 221

the Scriptures. It is the duty of children (1) to rev-
ereuce their pareuts. (Lev. xix. 3 ; Mah i. 6 ; Pr(jv.
xxiii. 22; 1 Kiugs ii. 19; Prov. xxxi. 28.) (2.) To
obey their parents. (Eph. vi. 1 ; Prov. i. 8 ; Heb. xii.
9 ; Prov. xxiii. 15 ; 1 Tim. v. 4 ; Gen. xxviii. 7 ; Luke
XV. 2.) (3.) To be respectful to the aged. (Lev. xix.
32 ; 1 Pet. v. 5.) It is the duty of parents (1) to be
tender of their children. (Isa. xlix. 15 ; Ps. ciii. 13 ;
Mai. iii. 17 ; Prov. xiii. 24.) (2.) To pray for their
children. (Job i. 5 ; Gen. xxxiii. 5.) (3.) To bring
up their children in the fear of God. (Eph. vi. 4;
Deut. vi. 7 ; Gen. xviii. 19 ; Ps. ci. 2 ; Gen. xxii. 16.)
It is the duty of servants to honor their masters and
mistresses. (1 Tim. vi. 1 ; Eph. vi. 5 ; Titus ii. 10 ; Col.
iii. 22.) It is the duty of masters to be just to
their servants. (Col. iv. 1 ; Eph. vi. 9.) It is the
duty of wives to be respectful to their husbands. (Eph.
v. 33 ; Titus ii. 4 ; Col. iii. 18.) It is the duty of hus-
bands to love their wives. (Col. iii. 19 ; Eph. v. 33 ; 1
Pet. iii. 7.) It is the duty of husbands and wives to be
pleasing to one another. (1 Cor. vii. 33, 34; 1 Pet. iii.
7 ; 1 Cor. vii. 16.) It is the duty of the ruled to rev-
erence their rulers. (1 Pet. ii. 17 ; Tit. iii. 1 ; Rom. xiii.
1 ; 1 Tim. ii. 2.) It is the duty of people to love and
respect their ministers. (1 Thess. v. 12, 13 ; Heb. xiii.
7 ; Gal. vi 6.) It is the duty of equals to be kind one
to another. (Rom. xii. 10 ; 1 Pet. v. 5.)

WHAT IS £'OItBTIiI)WN.

To neglect the honor and dut;>- which belong to
every one in their several places and relations, is not
only to omit the performance of such relative duties

222 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

altogether, but even when they are performed to do
them without any regard to the command and author-
ity of God enjoining them. (Isa. xxix. 13.) To do
anything against the honor and duty which belong to
every one, is to commit those sins Avhich are the very
opposite of the relative duties incumbent on us. (Rom.
ii. 22.) What are the sins of inferiors against superi-
ors? " Envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against
their persons and places in their lawful counsels, com-
mands and corrections." (Larger Catechism, Ques.
128.) AVhat are the sins of superiors? " Command-
ing things unlawful, or not in the power of inferiors to
perform, counseling, encouraging or favoring them in
that which is evil," and " dissuading, discouraging or
discountenancing them in that which is good." (lb.
130.) What are the sins of equals? "Envying the
gifts, grieving at the advancement or prosperity one
of another, and usurping the pre-eminence one over
another." (lb. 132.)

JtEASON- ANXEXED.

The promise of long life includes not only the con-
tinuance of life for a long time, which may be so ac-
companied with miseries that death may be moi-e de-
sirable, but also the blessing and prosperity of life.
(Eph. vi. 2, 3 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ; Prov. iii. 1, 2.) Though
all good children may not prosper in this world, yet
they are most likely to prosper (Prov. xxii. 4), and
they shall prosper as far as is for their own good and
for God's glory. (Ps. 1. 15.) " Even for the Israelites,"
says Calvin, " long life in that land was not in itself a
blessing, but only so far as it was a pkdgt of divine

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 223

grace. Therefore, if God early removes from this Jife
an obedient son, he in no less mindful of his promise
than if he had given a hundred acres of land to every-
one to whom he had promised one. All depends on
our understanding that a long life is promised us, so
far as it is a blessing from God, but it is a blessing so
far as it is a pledge of grace ; and this God can often
accord more richly and more certainly to his servants
in their death, which leads to eternal life."

On his way to Wasliington to enter upon tlie duties of tlie
Presidential chair. General Harrison made a visit to his native
place in Virginia, and liere, fur tiie last time, saw the iiome of
his infancy. He jiassed through the house from room to room
until, upon arriving at a retired bed-chamber, he burst into
tears, saying to a friend who accompanied him, "This is the
R[)ot wiiere my mother used to pray with me." Tliis was the
hidden influence whicli liad followed him througli all the ex-
citing scenes of his eventful life.

Tiiere is too little respect paid to parental authority at the
present day. It is grievous to go into many families and hear
the language daily used by the children. Tiiere is truth as
well as rhyme in a couplet by Randolph :

"Whoever makes his parent's heart to bleed,
Shall have a child that will revenge tlie deed."

One thing is certain — an undutiful son and a disobedient
daughter cannot long prosper. For a season they may appear
well to the eye of a stranger, but tiieir self-will and stubborn-
ness are soon discovered, and they aredes[)ised.

One day some men who had been condemned to liard labor
on the public worlcs for various crimes were occupied in re-
pairing one of the Vienna streets. There passed tiiat wav a
good-looking, well-dressed young man; he stopped near one
of the convicts, embraced him aflectionately, and then went on.

224 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

A ptate official had been at his window during this scene,
and was much astonished at it. He iiad the young man brought
to iiim, and said : " My friend, there is something very pecu-
liar in embracing a convict in the sti-eet. Wliat will people
think of you ?"

The young man said nothing for a few moments, but soon
recovering himself, he replied: "My lord, I only followed
the dictates of duty and my heart, for the convict is my
father."

Touched by these words and admiring tlie noble conduct of
the young man, the official hastened to tell the emperor wliat
had happened. The sovereign recognized the beauty of this
filial act, and gave the convict's son an important post. He
wished at once to show that the punishment of crime should
be individual and not general, and that nothing should inter-
fere with the divine precept, " Honor thy father and thy
mother."

Question 67. — Which is the sixth commandment f
Answer. — The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not
kill.

Question 68. — What is required in the sixth coni-
maudment f

Answer. — The sixth commandment requireth all laio-
ful endeavors to f reserve our own life, a)id the life of
others.

Question 69. — What is forbidden in the sixth com-
viandment f

Answer. — The sixth commandment forbiddeth the
taking away of our oivn life, or the life of our neigh-
bor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.

" It must be noticeable to every reader of the Deca-
logue that its commands are nearly all prohibitions.
There are but two exceptions in the ten — the com-

NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM. 225

mandmeut of the Sabbath and that of respect to
parents. All the rest enjoin upon man not to per-
form, but to abstain. This fact exhibits sin as an ever-
acting principle which man is called upon to thwart.
This principle acts against God and against our fel-
low-man, and its cessation of energy can only be
founded on a love to God stronger than love to self,
and a love to our neighbor equal to the love of self,
So when God commands us to cease from sin he is
really bidding us to be holy."

This sixth commandment chiefly respects the life
of man. The love of life is the strongest of all our
natural instincts, and the wisdom and benevolence of
our Creator in making it so is obvious, since on the
preservation of our life depend all the purposes of our
existence.

I. A WFUr, EJSDEA J O US.

Dear, however, as life is to every human being, we
are not to use for its preservation any other than " law-
ful endeavors," and must be ready to resign it rather
than violate our duty to Him who gave it. The cases
are not a few in Avhich duty must be preferred to life.
Of such a preference the whole host of Christian mar-
tyrs have exhibited noble examples. Our Saviour has
told us in the most emphatic language that if we do
not love him more than " our own life " we cannot be
his disciples. (Matt. x. 33 ; xvi. 25, 26.) What lawful
endeavors should we use for the preservation of our
own life? The "just defence thereof against violence,
a sober use of meat, drink, physic, sleep, labor and re-
creation." (Larger Catechism, Qwestion 135.) By what
means shruld we endeavor to preserve the life of oth-

15

226 NOTPB ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

ers ? " By resisting all thoughts and purposes, subdu-
ing all passions, and avoiding all occasions, temptations
and practices which tend to the unjust taking away the
life of any." We are restricted by the answer to "law-
i'ul endeavors," in order to caution and guard us against
the unlawful means which some have used for the pres-
ervation of their lives. (Gen. xii. 12, 13.)

FOnjtlDDEN.

As there is no object expressed in this commandment,
it prohibits suicide as well as homicide. It is absolutely
unlawful in any case whatever to desert our station or
leave the world without the permission and allowance
of the sovereign Lord of our life. (Acts xvi. 27, 28 ;
Job xiv. 14.) Any instances the Scripture gives of
self-murder are in men of the most infamous character,
such as Saul, Ahithophel, Judas and others of the like
stamp. (1 Sam. xxxi. 4 ; Matt, xxvii. 5.) Magistrates,
as God's ministers in executing vengeance, are in some
cases commanded to put men to death, and in others it
may be allowable because conducive to the public good.
(Rom. xiii. 4.) Witnesses or executioners may also
concur in such capital punishments without the guilt
of murder. We may doubtless take away another's
life in defence of our own, for he who assaults another's
life by that action forfeits his own, and there is no op-
portunity of referring the cause to the civil magistrate.
Some wars are necessary and unavoidable to one party
because of the injurious conduct of the other, and the
blood shed in them is not imputed as murder ; yet the
guilt of it must rest somewhere, and few wars indeed
are so entered upon and conducted as to leave any of

NOTES 0\ TPIE SHORTER CATECHISM. 227

the conteuding parties free from blood-guiltiiioss. The
dueb'st is a proud, unjust and revengeful muiderer
of the most atrocious kind, and in general he is dis-
tinguished from all other criminals by an habitual
determination to commit the sin whenever he shall
be tempted to it. All fighting for wages or prizes or
renown violates this command, and the blood thus
shed is murder. (Gen. iv. 10 ; ix. 6 ; Prov. xxviii.
17 ; John viii. 44 ; Ps. li. 14.)

This commaadment likewise prohibits us to assault,
maim or wound others or to assist those who do, to
tempt men to crimes that destroy their constitutions or
endanger their lives, either from the sword of justice
or the resentment of the injured party — nay, to entice
them, by the prospect of a large reward, to such enter-
prises and labors as are known generally to shorten
life. The spiritual import of it prohibits all envy, re-
venge, hati-ed or causeless anger, all that insulting lan-
guage which provokes to wrath or murder, and all the
pride, ambition, covetousness which prompt it. That
man, indeed, will be condemned as the hater and mur-
derer of his brother who, seeing his life endangered
by the w^ant of food, raiment or medicine, and having
ability to relieve him, selfishly neglects to do it. (1
John iii. 13-17 ; Matt. v. 22 ; Rom. xii. 19.) The spirit
of this commandment extends to a proper concern, also,
for our own souls and those of others.

"What do you mean to do with K ?" said a friend of

Theodore Hook, alluding to a man who had grossly vilified
him. "Do with him?" rejoined Hook; "why I mean to. let
hiin alone most severely."

Thomas Watson well remarks that surfeiting shortens life:

228 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

" More die jf it than by the sword. Many dig their graves
with their teeth. The cup kills more than the cannon."

In a schoolroom in Boston a little boy about seven years of
age was sitting beside his sister, about five years old. George
got angry with his sister about something, doubled up his fist
and struck her on the head. The little girl was just going to
strike him back again when tlie teacher, seeing it, said, " My
dear Mary, you had better kiss your brother. See how angry
and unhappy he looks!" Mary looked at her brother; he
looked sullen and wretched. Her resentment was soon gone,
and love for her brother returned to her heart. She threw
both her arras around his neck and kissed him. The poor boy
was wholly unprepared for such a kind return for his blow.
He could not stand before the generous affection of his sister.
His feelings were touched and he burst into tears. His gentle
sister took the corner of her apron and wiped away his tears,
and sought to comfort him by saying, " Don't cry, George ; you
did not hurt me much." But he only wept the more.

Question 70. — Which is the seventh commandment f
Answer. — The seventh commandment is, Thou sha.lt
not commit adxdtery.

Question 71. — What is required in the seventh com-
niandment f

Answer. — The seventh commandment requireth the
preservation of our own and our neighbor's chastity, in
heart, speech^ and behavior.

Question 72. — What is forbidden in the seventh
commandment f

Answer. — The seventh commandment forbiddeth all
unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

Leighton, in explaining this precept, says : " I purpose
not to reckon up particularly the several sorts and

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 22&

degrees of sin here forbidden, for chastity is a delicate,
tender grace, and can scarcely endure the much nam-
ing of itself, far less of those things that are so con-
trary to it. Though in the law of God, given to the
people of the Jews, there is express mention of the
gross abominations of this kind, because practiced by
the Gentiles, and to be forbidden them, and though
the apostle, writing to the Gentiles newly converted
from these abominations, of necessity mentions par-
ticulars of them, yet, further than that necessity of re-
proving them Avhere they are in custom requires, he
hates the very naming of them. (Eph. v. 3-12.) As
the old Roman satirists, while they seem to reprove
vice, rather teach it, by their impudent descriptions
of it, the new Roman casuists, some of thein, are as
foul that way." It may suffice to regulate us in this
if we believe this truth : that whatsoever i>s in this
kind, besides the lawful use of marriage, is a breach
of this holy law of God, whether it be in action or in
words, or so much as in thought. And if th's be true
— as it is, if we believe truth itself, our Saviour's inter-
pretation— that an unchaste look or though* makes a
man guilty, then surely whatsoever is beyond these is
more grossly sinful.

If you would be freed from the danger and importu-
nity of this evil, make use of these usual and very
useful rules : 1. Be sober and temperate in diet — with-
draw fuel. 2. Be modest and circumspect in your
carriage. Guard your eyes and ears and watch over
all your deportment. Beware of undue and danger-
ous familiarities with any upon what pretence soever.
3. Be choice in your society, fur there is much in that.

230 NOTES ox THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

4. Til general, flee all occasions and inceutives to un-
t leanness.

But the solid c are must begin within, otherwise all
outward remedies will fail. Then — 1. Seek a total,
entire change of heart and to have the sanctifying
Spirit of grace within you. 2. Labor to have the
heart possessed with deep apprehension of the holiness
and purity of God, and then of his presence and eye
upon all your actions and thoughts. 3. Acquaint
yourself with spiritual enjoyments. 4. Increase in the
love of Christ. Alas the misery which the sin here
forbidden produces ! (See 1 Thess. iv. 4 ; Rom. xii. 1 ;
1 Cor. vi. 19, 20 ; iii. 17 ; vii. 34 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22 ; James
i. 15; Col. iv. 6 ; Zeph. iii. 9; 1 Pet. iii. 1 ; 1 Tim. ii.
9 ; Jude 23 ; Prov. v. 8 ; Job xxxi. 1 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1 ;
Gal. V. 24 ; Eph. v. 3 ; 1 Cor. vi. 10 ; Matt. v. 28 ;
Ezek. xxiii. 19 ; Eph. v. 4 ; iv. 29 ; Gal. v. 19 ; Rom.
xiii. 13; Eph. v. 11 ; 1 Cor. vi. 13; Eccles. vii. 26.)

William Kelly, of the Isle of Man, was very earnest and
affectionate in his exhortations to his young friends, and used
often to repeat to them that passage in the 119th Psalm;

"How sliall the young preserve tiieir ways
From all pollution free?
By making still their course of life
With thy commands agree."

And he would conclude by saying, " Remember the word all."

Dr. Hugh Latimer, one of the primitive Reformers, was made
bishop of Worcester in the reign of Henry VIII. It was the
custom of those times for each of the bishops to make presents
to the king on New Year's Day. Bishop Latimer went with
the rest of his brethren to make the usual offering, butinftead
of a purse of gold he presented the king with a New Testa-

NOTES OX Tl/E SHORTER CATECHISM. 231

merit, in -wliicli was a leaf doubled down to tliis passage:
" "Wlioremonorers and adulterers God will judge."

Tlie pious M'Clieyne of Scotland remarks: "Eve, Achan,
David, all fell through the 'lust of Ihe eye.' I should make a
covenant with mine, and pray,' Turn away mine eyes from be-
holding vanity.' . . . Satan makes unconverted men like the
deaf adder to tiie sound of the gospel. I should pray to be
made deaf by the Holy Spirit to all that would tempt me to
sin. I ougiit to meditate often on heaven as a world of holi-
ness— where all are holy, where the joy is holy joy, the work
lioly work ; so that without personal holiness I never can be
there."

Question 73. — Which is the eighth commandment?
Answer. — The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt
not steal.

Question 74. — llliat is required in the eighth, com-
mandment f

Answer. — The eighth comviandment requireth the
lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and oxd-
ward estate of ourselves and others.

Question 75. — What is forbidden in the eighth com-
viandment f

Answer. — The eighth commandment forhiddeth whai-
soever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our
neighbor's, wealth or outward estate.

To steal is to take privately tlie property of others
with an intention to convert it to our own use. To
rob is to take the same property for the same purpose
openly and with violence. The crime of stealing has
its origin in that spirit of covetousness which prompts
us to wish inordinately for the enjoyments and posses-
sions of others. This spirit wlien indulged continually

232 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

acquires strength, and in many instances becomes ulti-
mately so powerful as to break over every bound of
right and reputation. He who indulges covetousuess
will find himself in danger wherever there is a
temptation.

The following sorts of thieves have been specified:

1. The highway tliief. (Lev. xix. 13.) 2. The house-
thief, who steals liis employer's money or goods. 3.
The thief that under the pretence of law robs his
client of his property. 4. The shop-thief, who uses
false weights and measures, or puts excessive prices
on his commodities. (Amos viii. 5 ; Hos. xii. 7 ; Lev.
xix. 13; XXV. 14; 1 Thess. iv. 6.) 5. The usurer, who
takes of others even to extortion, takiuo; advantage
of their necessity. (Luke xix. 8.) 6. The trustee, who
appropriates the property committed to him to his own
use. 7. The borrower, who borrows money from oth-
ers with an intention never to pay them again. (Ps.
xxxvii. 21 ; 2 Kings iv. 7.) 8. The man who receives
goods which he knows or has good reason to believe
have been stolen.

It is possible for a man to steal from himself — 1.
By niggardliness, not allowing himself what is fitting.

2. By prodigality, wasting his estate. 3. By idleness,
spending the time in pleasure and vanity, which God
has given him to work out his salvation. 4. By surety-
ship. (1 Cor. vi. 10.)

We ought to forbear all manner of theft and en-
deavors to enrich ourself by the wronging of othei's,
because it is the express prohibition of God written
in the Word, and most agreeable to the law of Nature
u'ritten upc n the heart ; as also because the riches got

NOTES ON THE .SIIOUTER CATECHISM. 23S

bj theft aud wrong are a(;companied with God's curse,
and, if not here, God's vengeance is sure to overtake
such persons as are guilty of theft and unrighteousness
in the other workl. " This is the curse that goeth forth
over the face of the whole earth : for every one that
stealeth shall be cut off on this side : and it shall enter
into the house of the thief, and shall consume it, with
the timber thereof and the stones thereof" (Zech. v.
3, 4.) "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth
them not ; so he that getteth richas, and not by right,
shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his
end shall be a fool." (Jer. xvii. 11.) "Go to now, ye
rich men, weep aud howl for your miseries that shall
come upon you : ye have heaped treasure togethei- for
the last days." (James v. 1, 3.) We may be kept from
the sins forbidden in this eighth commandment, by mor-
tified affections to the world through Christ's death and
Spirit, by raised affections to the things above, by a love
of justice, by prayer, by faith in God's promises and
special providence in making all needful provision with-
out this sin for his people.

Mr. Boston states in liis memoirs that having been employed
when a young man for some time by a notary, his employer
failed to pay him for his services. Seeing a neglected book
lying in tlie notary's chamber, he secretly took it away, think-
ing he might lawfully use this method of paying himself; but
on further reflection lie viewed his conduct as sinful and incon-
sistent with strict justice. Impressed with this conviction, lie
t ^placed the book with the same secrecy in wiiich he iuid taken
it away. An amiable instance of that tenderness of conscience
for wliich the venerable man was remarkable.

A beggar asking Dr. Smollett for alms, he gave him, through
mistake, a guinea. The poor fellow, perceiving it, hobbled after

234 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

him to return it, whereupon Smollett returned it to him with
another guinea as a reward of his honesty, exclaiming at tlie
same time, " "What a lodging has honesty taken up with !"

Question 76. — Which is the ninth commandment f
Answer. — The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt
not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Question 77. — What is required in the ninth com-
raandment f

Answer. — The ninth commandment requireth the
maintaining and promoting of truth between man and
man, and of our own and our neighbor s good name, es-
pecially in witness-bearing.

Question 78. — What is forbidden in the ninth com-
mandment f

Answer. — The ninth commandment forhiddeth what-
soever is prejudicial to trxdh, or injurious to our own or
our neighbors good name.

This precept differs from the three preceding in the
fact that whilst they have respect to injuries done by
deeds or actions, this has reference to wrong done by
words. The predominant sense of " bearing witness "
is clearly indicated by the verb thus rendered, yet the
term is of large import, equivalent to xdter, jjronounce,
declare ; and while the letter admits, the spirit of the
precept requires, that it should here be understood as
forbidding everything that is contrary to strict veracity
in our communications with our fellow-men. We say
" with our fellow-men," for though the phrase " against
thy neighbor " might seem to limit it to the narrower
circle of our immediate neighbors, yet the interpreta-
tion given to the term by our Saviour in the parable

KOTES ON THE SHOIITER CATECHISM. 235

of the Good Samaritan plainly teaches us tliat a more
extended application is to be assigned to it.

The guilt of every species of lying, when perpetra-
ted under the solemnities of an oath, is enhanced by
these considerations : The sin in almost all cases is
more deliberately committed. The person to whom
an oath is administered has every opportunity which
he can wish, for summoning up to the view of his mind
every motive to the performance of his duty and every
inducement to abstain from falsehood. These induce-
ments also are the strongest conceivable. God in a
peculiar manner is present to his thoughts — the God
of truth, who has declared that all liars shall have their
part in the lake which burneth tvifh fire and brimstone.
His soul is put at hazard on his utterance of truth or
falsehood. If he speaks falsehood, he voluntarily con-
signs himself to perdition. If he is guilty of perjury,
he is ruined also for this world. The stain is too deep
ever to be wiped away. At the same time he does
what is in his power to cut up confidence by the roots.
" An oath for confirmation,^^ says Paul, " is to them
an end of all strife." (Heb. vi. 16.) If the con-
fidence reposed in an oath could be reposed no more,
human disputes must either be unsettled or terminated
by the strength of the arm, and to this end he who per-
jures himself does all in his power to conduct them.

But, as already intimated, the scope of the prohi-
bition embraces a multitude of aberrations from the
strict law of sincerity and veracity embodied in this
precept, which, at the same time, have nothing to do
with judicial proceedings. Lies are commonly distin-
guished iut ) three kinds : First, malicious or pernicious

236 NOTES ON THE SHORTEE CATECHISM.

lies, or lies the design of which is to do mischief. These
are universally condemned. Secondly, jocose lies, oi
lies told for the purpose of amusement and merriment.
However common these are, and however lightly they
are thought of, a strict moralist will condemn them
also, because truth is too sacred to be trifled with.
Third, officious lies, which are so called because they
are intended to promote the benefit of others. Equivo-
cation is another species of falsehood, and consists in
the studied use of terms which bear two different senses,
in one of w^hich the speaker understands them, while
he means them to be understood in the other by t*he
person addressed. He violates truth because he in-
tends to deceive. It is violated also by mental reser-
vation, which has been justified by popish casuists, but
deserves universal execration, because it subverts all
faith and confidence between man and man.

Not only, however, does this commandment foi'hid
all lies against our fellow-beings, and even injurious
thoughts, groundless suspicions and secret prejudices
or envy of the praises and commendations which they
receive, but it also requires sincerity, truth, fidelity, can-
dor and caution in all our conversation and conduct,
and a disposition to honor in every man what is hon-
orable, to commend what is commendable, to vindicate
and excuse what can be vindicated and excused, and
to conceal what may be lawfully concealed, and in
every respect to consult his reputation, and even to
rejoice in his credit and renown, as we should were it
our own.

(See Ps. xxxix. 1 ; Zcch. viii. 1 6 ; Prov. xiv. 5 ; 2
Cor. X. 16 ; Phil. iv. 8 ; 1 Pet. iv. 8 ; Col. iii. 9 ; Prov.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM 237

xii. 22 ; Ps. cxix. J 63 ; Prov. xxvi. 18, 19 ; xxi. 6 ; Ps.
XXXV. 11; Prov. x. 18; James iv. 11; Lev. xix. 16;
Acts xxiii. 5 ; 1 Pet. iii. 9.)

It was a law of the Scythians that the man who told a lie in
connection with an oath should lose his head, because such an
offence was adapted to take away all truth and mutual conti-
dence among men.

"God," says Watson, "hatli set two fences to keep in the
tongue — the teeth and the lips; and this commandment is a
third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil."

Slandering is to report things of others unjustly. Holiness
itself is no shield from slander. You may smite another and
never touch him. The woivds of the tonf/ue no pliysician can
Ileal, and to pretend friendship to a man, and yet slander him,
is most odious.

Question 79. — Which is the tenth commandment f
Answer. — The tenth commandment is, Thou shaltnoi
covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid ser-
vant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbor'' s.

Question 80. — What is required in the tenth com-
mandment f

Answer. — The tenth commandment requireih full con-
tentment u'ith our oxm condition, with a right and chari-
table frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that
is his.

Question 81. — What is forbidden in the tenth com-
viandment f

Answer. — The tenth commandment forbiddeth all
discontentment tvith our own estate, envying or grieving
at the good of ovr neighbor, and all inordinate motions
and affections to any thing that is his.

238 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

This commandment refers to the thoughts, inculcates
disinterestedness, and prohibits indulging a desire after
that which belongs to another. The all-wise Lawgiver
knew both the blindness of man's mind and the hypoc-
risy of his heart, as shown in being less concerned
about his state of mind than his outward conduct, and
therefore takes away all pretext and deprives him of
all excuse, by giving this last commandment concerning
the heart, and so teaching him the exact and spiritual
nature of all the rest.

CO VETO VSNESS.

This precept forbids — 1. Covetousness in general:
Thou shall not covet. A man may be said to be given
to covetousness — (1.) When his thoughts are mainly
absorbed by the world. (2.) When he is more anxious
to get earthly things than to prepare for heaven. (3.)
When his conversation is chiefly about the world.
(John iii. 31 ; Eccles. x. 12.) (4.) When he over-
loads himself with worldly business. (5.) When his
heart is so set upon the world that to get it he cares
not what indirect unlawful means he uses. (Hos. xii.
7,8.)

This precept forbids covetousness in particular. The
special objects here enumerated are not exhaustive, but
only representative of a large class. The last clause
denotes the wide range from which the enumerated
objects are taken as specimens. The house, the wife,
the servants, the cattle, represent the four principal de-
partments of a man's earthly establishment — namely,
his material possessions, his family, his household and
his "live-stock." They illustrate and tend to define

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 239

the comprehensive phrase, " any thing that is thy
neighbor's."

Covetousness is — 1. A subtle sin. It is called "a
cloak " (1 Thess. ii. 5), because it cloaks itself under
the name of frugality and prudence. 2. It is a dan-
gerous sin. It hinders the efficiency of the preached
word (Matt. xiii. 7), and makes men have "a wither-
ed hand " which they cannot stretch out to the poor.
(See Luke xvi. 14.) 3. It is a mother-sin, a radical
vice. (1 Tim. vi. 10.) 4. It is a sin dishonorable to
religion. How disgraceful for those who say their
hopes are above, to have their hearts below — for
those who say they are born of God to be buried in
the earth ! 5. It exposes to God's abliorrence. 6. It
shuts men out of heaven. (Eph. v. 6.)

JtEQTTIJtED.

By " full contentment with our condition " is meant
a cheerful acquiescence in the lot which God, in his
holy and wise providence, is pleased to carve out for
us in this world. (Heb. xiii. 5.) Though the perfec-
tion of no grace is attainable in this life, yet a great
measure and eminent degrees of grace, particularly
that of contentment, may be, and have been, attained by
Christians in this world. (Phil. iv. 11.) We may at-
tain true contentment by looking above all the enjoy-
ments of time as transitory and vain, to God himself
as our chief good and eternal inheritance. (Ps. Ixxii.
10 ; xvi. 5, 6.) For reasons of contentment under
adverse providences see Hos. vii. 9 ; Lam. iii. 39 ;
James ii. 5 ; Luke xxii. 28, 29 ; Matt. xxv. 34 ; 2 Cor.
iv. 17; Heb. xii. 10. We may be said to have "a

240 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neigh-
bor and all that is his " when our inward motions ana
affections are influenced by grace to sway and deter-
mine us to promote and rejoice in the welfare of our
neighbor, both as to his spiritual and temporal con-
cerns. (1 Cor. xiii. 4-8.)

FORBIDI>EN.

The sins forbidden in this commandment are — 1.
All sinful and inordinate desires and motions after
other men's enjoyments. (Col. iii. 5.) 2. All cruelty
and incompassionateness to others in necessity, and
keeping back from them that which is made theirs by
God's command. (Prov. xi. 24 ; Lev. xix. 9, 10.) 3.
The detaining of the hireling's wages when it is due.
(Hab. ii. 9-11.) 4. All inward grudgings at the en-
joyments of others, and envyings of them, whether per-
taining to the mind or the body. (1 Cor. xiii. 4.)

Men first break the tenth commandment by coveting, and
tben tliey break tlie eighth by stealing. It was an excellent
appeal that Samuel made to the Hebrew people : "Witness
against me before the Lord, and before his anointed ; whose
ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have
I defrauded ?" And it was a brave speech of Paul, "I liave
coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel." Whence was
this? It was from contentment. " I have learned in whatever
state I am, therewith to be content."

In speaking of contentment, Philip Henry used to say:
" When the mind and the condition meet, there is contentment.
Now, either the condition must be brought up to the mind — and
that is not only unreasonable, but impossible, for as the condi-
tion riseth tlie mind riseth with it — or else the mind must be
brought down to the condition, and that is both possible and

NOTES ON THE SiTORTER CATECHISM. 241

reasonable." And he observed, "that no condition of life
will of itself make a man content without the grace of God,
for we find Haman discontented in the court, Ahab discontent-
ed on the throne, Adam discontented in Paradise ; nay — and
higher we cannot go — the angels that fell were discontented
even in heaven itself."

Question 82. — Is any man able perfectly to keep the
commandments of God f

Answer. — No mere m,an, since the fall,is able, in this
life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God ; but doth
daily break them in thought, ivord, and deed.

To keep " perfectly " the commandments of God is
to keep all the commandments of God and at all times,
without the least breach of them in regard of disposi-
tion, inclination, thought, affection, word or conduct.
(Gal. iii. 10; Matt. v. 21, 22; xxii. 37-39 ; James ii.
10.) That every man oiight to keep all the command-
ments of God perfectly is evident from Deut. xviii. 13
and xii. 32. And the reason of tliLs is obvious. God
requires and has a just title to our perfect obedience,
and it tends to the advantage of ourselves and others.

SINCE THE FALL.

Adam kept the law in his innocent state (Eccles. vii.
29 ; Gen. i. 27), and Christ perfectly kept it. (Matt. v.
17; Heb. iv. 15.) But since tlie fall no mere man —
i. e. no one of Adam's family descending from him
by ordinary generation (see Acts xvii. 26) — has ever
been able to keep the commandments perfectly. Do
not Christians obey the law perfectly ? No, " for there
is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sin-
ueth not." (Eccles. vii. 20.) Christians keep the com-

16

242 NOTES ox THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

raaiidments of God sincerely, but uot perfectly. (See 2
Cor. i. 12 ; Ps. cxxx. 3 ; Kom. vii. 18, 19.) The Lord's
Prayer, which is to be used daily, has this petition :
" Forgive us our debts," or sins. But though no Chris-
tian on earth ever attained absolute perfection, so as to
obey God in all things, at all times, without any sin, yet,
as already remarked, all Christians ought to endeavor
after perfection, that they may attain higher and higher
degrees of personal holiness. (Matt. v. 48.) Such an
aim and effect are essential to the authentication of
Christian character. Is it asked, Why does God suffer
such impotency to lie upon man that he cannot pei'-
fectly keep the law ? the answer is : 1. To humble us.
We are self exalting creatures, but when we come to see
our deficiencies and failings, and how far short we come
of the holiness and perfection God's law requires, this
is a means to pull down our plumes of pride, lay them
in the dust and lead us to Aveep over our inability,
blush over our leprous spots, and say, as Job, " I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes." 2. God suffers
our impotency to remain upon us, that we may have
recourse to Christ to obtain pardon for our defects, and
to sprinkle our best duties with his blood.

THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED.

Do we sin daily ? Yes ; " in many things we offend
all." (James iii. 2.) Do we daily sin in thought? Yes ;
"the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth."
(Gen. viii. 21.) Are we guilty of many tongue-sins?
Yes ; " in the multitude of words there wanteth not
sin." (Prov. x. 19.) Are the best guilty of many de-
fects? Yes ; for often "the spirit indeed is willing but

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHLSM. 243

the flesh is weak." (Matt. xxvi. 41.) And of many
inadvertencies ? Yes ; " they are overtaken in a fault."
(Gal. vi. 1.) Can we tell how often we offend? No ;
" who can understand his errors ?" (Ps. xix. 12.) Should
we not, therefore, have recourse to Christ daily by faith
and repentance ? Yes ; " if any man sin, we have an
advocate with the Father." (1 John ii. 1.)

Note, 1. That we are wholly indebted to the free grace
of God for salvation and eternal life (Tit. iii. 5), and not
to anything in ourselves, who are, at best, but unprofit-
able servants. (Luke xvii. 10.) 2. That a dreadful
curse must needs lie on all unbelievers that are out of
Christ. (John iii. 36 ; Gal. iii. 10.) 3. That all God's
people should sigh under their unhappy sinful inclina-
tions. " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver
me from the body of this death ?" (Rom. vii. 24), and
long to be with Christ in the perfect state, and with
" the spirits of just men made perfect." (Heb. xii. 23.)

Dr. Gill once preaching on human inability, a gentleman pres-
<jnt was much otlendecl, and took him to task for degrading human
nature. "Pray, sir," said tiie doctor, "wliat do you think that
man can contribute to his conversion ?" He enumerated a variety
of particulars. "And have you done all this?" said the doctor.
" Why, no, I cannot say I have yet, but I hope I shall begin
soon." " If you have these things in your power, and have not
done them, you deserve to be doubly damned, and are but ill
qualified to be an advocate for free-will when it has done you
so little good."

A woman professing to be under deep conviction went to a
minister, crying aloud that she was a sinner. But when he came
to examine her in what point, though he went over and ex-
plained all the ten commandments, she would not own that she
had broken ore of them !

244 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Question 83. — Are all transgressions of the law
equally heinous f

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

MOJRE BX:iNOT7S.

What is it for sin to be " heinous " ? Sins are hein-
ous as they are grievous and offensive to God. (Ezek.
viii. 6, 13, 15.) Are not all sins hateful and offensive
to God ? Yes, but not equally so. (Matt. vii. 3 ; John
xix. 11.) Every sin has a voice to speak, but some sins
cry. As some diseases are worse than others, and some
poisons more venomous, so some sins are more heinous.
(Ezek. xvi. 47 ; Jer. xvi. 12.) Every sin is done in
the sight of God, who is the best judge of the heinous-
ness of sins. (Ps. li. 4 ; Job xxxvi. 9 ; Hab. i. 13.)

IK THEMSELVES.

For sins to be heinous " in themselves " is to be
heinous in their own nature, though no other aggravat-
ing circumstances should attend them. Sins committed
more immediately against God, or the first table of his
law, are more heinous in their own nature thau sins
committed more immediately against man or any pre-
cept of the second table. Likewise, some sins against
the second table are more heinous in themselves than
other sins against this table. For example, blasphemy
against God is more heinous in its own nature than de-
faming or speaking evil of our neighbor (1 Sam. ii.
25), and adultery is more heinous than theft. (Prov.
vi. 33-35 )

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISK. 245
AOGJtA VA TION8.

Sius are aggravated by the following circumstances:
1. From the person offending or offended. The sins of
superiors in gifts, graces, age or station, as parents,
husbands, masters, magistrates, professors of religion
or ministers, are more heinous than the same sins com-
mitted by their respective inferiors. (Hos. v. 1 ; Rom.
ii. 24, 21.) This is so because their sins prostitute
more of the image or authority of God lodged in
them, and do more to harden and encourage others in
sin. (1 Kings xii. 25-33.) So, too, as previously hint-
ed, sins committed immediately against God, or Christ
as Mediator, or the Holy Spirit, are more heinous than
like sins committed against men ; sins against many
are more heinous than like sins against few ; sins
against Christians, particularly weak ones, more hein-
ous than like sins against others ; sins against supe-
riors more heinous than like sins against inferiors ; and
sins against men's souls than like sins against their
bodies.

2. From the means against which they are committed.
Sins committed against the express letter of the law,
clear revelation, manifold warnings, reproofs, convic-
tions, vows, resolutions, mercies, judgments, etc., are
more heinous than the same sins committed in con-
trary cases, because, besides the sin itself, there is an
abuse of those clear revelations, etc. (Isa. xxvi. 10;
Luke xii. 47.)

8. From the quality of the offence. Sins committed
in word and deed, or which cannot admit of lestilu-
tion, are more heinous than like sins only conceived in
thought, 01' which admit of restitution.

246 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

4. From the place in which thetj are committed. Thus
sins committed in a land of light are more heinous than
the same sins committed in a place of darkness ; sins
in a place of great deliverance and mercies than the
same sins in another place (Ps. cvi. 7) ; and sins in a
public place, whereby others may be enticed and de-
filed, than the same sins in secret places. (2 Sam. xvi.
22.)

5. From the time when they are committed. Thus
sins may be more heinous from having been committed
on the Sabbath ; sins after trouble and affliction more
heinous than the same sins at another time (2 Chron.
xxviii. 22 ; Isa. i. 5) ; and sins after repentance and
engagements to be the Lord's, than the same sins be-
fore such repentance and engagements.

6. From the manner in which they are committed. If
by contrivance (Mic. ii. 1) ; by delight (Prov. ii. 14) ;
■without blushing (Isa. iii. 9) ; with boasting (Phil. iii.
19) ; by frequent repetition. (Num. siv. 22.) We
should take notice of these aggravations in our con-
fessions. (Lev. xvi. 21.)

The most heinous of all the sins in the world is the
sin against the Holy Ghost. (See Matt. xii. 31 ; Mark
iii. 29 ; 1 John v. 16 ; Heb. vi. 4-8 ; x. 26, 29 ; Tit.
iii. 10, 11.) "This sin," says Ursinus, "is a denial of
the acknowledged truth of God, and a willful opposition
to it in connection with his will and works, concerning
which the mind has been fully enlightened and convinc-
ed by the testimony of the Holy Ghost ; all of which
proceeds, not from fear or infirmity, but from a deter-
mined hatred to the truth and fi'om a heart filled with
'jitter malice." This sin shall not be forgiven — not be-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 247

cause the blood of Christ is not sufficient to wash it
away, for his blood " cleanseth from all sin," but be-
cause those who are guilty of it willfully, maliciously
and perseveringly reject the testimony of Christ speak-
ing by the Holy Ghost in his word.

" Once I was blind to the evil of sin in general, and in par-
ticular to the number and aggravation of my own transgres-
sions. Except for some overt transgression I felt but little
consciousness of guilt. But I have since realized that sin is an
evil and bitter thing, and that my own sins are exceedingly nu-
merous and aggravated. Many things which once appeared
lawful, and even laudable, appear now exceedingly sinful and
odious ; and never more so, I think, than when all thought of
punishment is out of mind. When I think of my sins as vio-
lations of God's reasonable and holy law, they appear inexcu-
sable and criminal beyond description. When I consider them
as committed against God, they look like a compound of the
most presumptuous rebellion, the most wanton ingratitude, the
most wicked irreverence. When I dwell on their tendency, as
it respects my fellow-sinners, they seem to be unmixed malevo-
lence."— Pliny Fiske.

Kespecting the danger of what some improperly call little
sins, it has been said, " A small penknife will take away life
as well as a large sword."

Question 84. — What doth every sin deserve f
Answer. — Every sin deserveth God's wrath and
curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.

" A principal design of this answer doubtless was,"
says Dr. Ashbel Green, "to oppose the absurd and
dangerous distinction which is made in the Romish
Church between some sins which are represented as
venial — that is, such as are in their nature so small
and trivial that they may be expiated by jpenance or

248 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

by some other mode of making satisfaction for them
by the offenders — and other sins which are mortal —
that is, such as subject the parties committing them
to the penalty of death, even death eternal."

evitj of sin.

The evil of sin consists principally in the offence it
gives and the wrong it does to God. (Ps. li. 4.) It is
enmity to God. (Rom. viii. 7 ; Lev. xxvi. 40 ; Acts v.
39 ; vii. 51.) It is called hatred of God (Rom. i. 30),
rebellion against God (1 Sam. xv. 23), contempt of
God. (2 Sam. xii. 9.) It wrongs all God's attributes.
It slights his sovereignty (Ex. v. 2), resists his
power (1 Cor. x. 22), despises his goodness (Rom.
ii. 4), impeaches his justice (Ezek. xviii. 25), clouds
his holiness. (James ii. 7.)

By sin's deserving God's wrath and curse is meant,
hat it is worthy of it. The desert of sin is not separa-
ble from the nature of it. As sin is the very opposite
of God's holy nature and righteous law, it cannot but
deserve his wrath and curse. (Rom. i. 32. See also
Gal. iii. 10.) " The wages of sin is death," says the
apostle. (Rom. vi. 23.) He makes no distinction be-
tween one kind of sin and another ; and by the loages
of sin he manifestly means the desert of sin. Death,
therefore, according to him, is the desert of every sin ;
which is precisely what our Catechism affirms, for by
death in this place, the context proves beyond a ques-
tion, we are to understand everlasting punishment, which
is the same thing that is intended in the answer before
us by " the wrath and curse of God, both in this life
and in that which is to come," all the sufferings of this

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 249

life being the deserved effects of sin, and the eom-
meneeraent to every finally impenitent sinner of the
wratH of God to endless ages. It is scarcely necessary
to say that by the wrath of God is not meant anything
like passion, which always implies change, and there-
fore imperfection, Avhich we know cannot belong to the
Supreme Being, By the wrath of God we are to un-
derstand " that most pure and undisturbed act of his
will which produces most dreadful effects against the
sinner." (See Ezek. vii. 27 ; John iii. 36 ; Rom. ii. 5,
6, 8 , Deut. xxviii. 15 ; Col. iii. 6 ; Prov. i. 26.) Whilst
every sin deserves God's wrath and curse, greater sins
deserve greater wrath, and shall be punished accord-
ingly.

rnACTICAIj LESSORS.

1. We learn the safety of believers. Christ has freed
them from the desert of their sins. (John iii. 18;
Zeph. iii. 17; Hos. xiii. 14; Rom. iv. 25; viii. 1, 33,
34.) 2. The impossibility of satisfying God's justice
for the least sin that ever we committed. (Job vii. 20 ;
Ps. cxxx. 3.) 3. The necessity of a Mediator between
God and us. (Ps. xl. 6, 7.) 4. The amazing love of
God in transferring the guilt and punishment of sin
to the glorious Surety. (2 Cor. v. 21.) 5. The wonder-
ful patience of God in not bringing this wrath and
curse upon us all this while. (Ps. ciii. 8, 10.) 6. The
importance of laboring to prevent the wrath we have
deserved. How careful are men to prevent poverty
or disgrace ! Oh, labor to prevent God's eternal wrath,
that it may not only be deferred, but also removed !
This can be done, and only done, by getting an interest
in Jesus Christ. (1 Thess. i. 10.)

250 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

The heinonsness of any sin is not to be judged of by liu
magnitude of the object about which it is conversant, orlht
grossness of tlie outward action. Wlien the Lord expressly
says, "Thou shall not," and his rational creature says, "I
will," whether the contest be about an apple or a kingdom,
it is stubbornness and rebellion.

A venerable minister at H preached on the subject of

eternal punishment. On the next day it was agreed among
some thoughtless young men that one of them should go to
him and endeavor to draw him into dispute, with the design
of making a jest of him and his doctrine. The wag accord-
ingly went, was introduced into the minister's study, and com-
menced the conversation by saying, " I believe there is a small
dispute between you and me, and I thought I would call this
morning and try to settle it." " Ah," said the clergyman,
"what is it?" "Why," replied the wag, "you say that the
■wicked will go into everlasting punishment, and I do not think
that they will." "Oh, if that is all," answered the minister,
"there is no dispute between you and me. If you turn to
Matt. XXV. 46, you will find that the dispute is between you
and the Lord Jesus Christ ; and I advise you to go immediate-
ly and settle it with him."

Question 85. — What doth God require of us, that
we may escape his tvrath and curse, due to us for sin f

Answer. — To escape the wrath and curse of God,
due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus
Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all
the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us
the benefits of redemption.

Our greatest concern is to inquire what is to be done
by us " that we may escape the wrath and curse of
God due to us for sin." (Mic. vi. 6.) A convinced
conscience will put us upon this inquiry. (Acts ii. 37.)
We must be serious and solicitous in this inquiry.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHIiJM. 251

(Acts xvi. 30.) We must be prompt in this inquiry.
(Isa. xxi. 12.) We must make this inquiry with reso-
lution. (Jer. L 5.) We must apply ourselves to Christ
with this inquiry. (Matt. xix. 16.)

THMEIS THINGS MEQVIJtED.

God requires three things of us that we may escape
his wrath and curse due to us for sin : 1 . Faith in
Jesus Christ. 2. Repentance unto life. 3. The dili-
gent use of all outward means whereby Chi-ist com-
municates to us the benefits of redemption.

Are the things which God requires of us in man's
power to perform ? No. Though they are our duties,
yet we have no power in ourselves by nature to perform
them, but the power is of God. (2 Cor. iii. 5.) Why
does God require those things fi'om us when he knows
we cannot perform them ? To show us our duty, con-
vince us of our weakness, and chiefly to excite us to
embrace his gracious promise, that we may receive
them from Christ as our free privilege. Does God re-
quire anything of us in point of duty without prom-
ising suitable strength for the performance of it ? No ;
for he has said, " I will cause you to walk in my stat-
utes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
(Ezek. xxxvi. 27.)

FAITH.

God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, because by
such faith we have an interest in him and in his im-
puted righteousness and the promise he has made to us
of remission and salvation. (Phil. iii. 9 ; Acts x. 43 ;
Eph. ii. 8.) Faith is placed first, because till we have

252 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

faith we can neither repent nor rightly attend on God's
ordinances. (Rom. xiv. 23.)

JtEl'EJSTANCE UNTO LIFE.

God requires of us repentance unto life, because the
promise of forgiveness of sin is made to repentance
as a concomitant of faith, and it is not for God's honor
to pardon and save any that go on still in their tres-
passes. (Acts iii. 19 ; xx. 21.)

OUTWAltD MEANS.

God requires of us the use of all outward means to
escape his wrath and curse, because, although he could
save without means, yet it is his will to appoint means
which have been instituted by him. We cannot ex-
pect the benefits of redemption and salvation to be com-
municated to us in any other way. (1 Cor. i. 21 ; Acts
viii. 22.) By a " diligent use " of such means is
meant an embracing every opportunity offered in provi-
dence for attending upon God in them, looking earn-
estly for his blessing upon them, by which alone they
become efficacious for our spiritual benefit. (1 Cor. iii.
6, 7.) The external ordinances should be used dili-
gently, because our eternal salvation is so connected
with the right use of them. (Isa. Iv. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7.) Do
all believing and penitent sinners escape God's wrath
and curse? Yes, they do, and shall for ever escape it.
(Rom. viii. 1 ; Col. i. 12, 13 ; John v. 24.)

A certain man in Hindostan had inquired of various de-
votees and priests how he might make atonement for his
sins ; and he was directed to drive iron spii<es, sufficiently
blunted, through his sandals, and on these spikes he was di-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 253

rected to place his naked feet and to walk about four hundred
and eighty miles. If through loss of blood or weakness of
body he was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and
strength. He undertook the journey, and while he halted
under a large siiady tree where the gospel was sometimes
preaclied, one of the missionaries came and preached in his
hearing from these words : " The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin." While he was preaching, the man rose up, threw
off his torturing sandals, and cried out aloud, " This is what I
want ;" and he became an earnest witness that the blood of Jesu.s
Christ does cleanse from all sin indeed.

" Mamma," said a little child, " my Sabbath-school teacher
tells me that this world is only a place in which God lets us
Jive a while that we may prepare for a better world. But,
mother, I do not see anybody preparing. I see you preparing
to go into the country, and Aunt Ellen is preparing to come
here. But I do not see any one preparing to go there. Why
don't you try to get ready ? You scarce ever speak about
going."

Question 86. — What is faith in Jesus Christ f

Answer. — Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace,
tvhereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salva-
tion, as he is offered to ils in the gospel.

The faith to which the answer to this question re-
fers, is justifying faith, or the faith by which a sinner
obtains an interest in Jesus Christ and the blessings
of salvation. It is called justifying faith on ac-
count of the design to which it is subservient, and
in this view its exclusive object is that part of revela-
tion which relates to the Saviour, or the gospel strictly
so called.

Why is faith called a grace f Because it beautifies
our soul and is fi-eely given by God to us. Why is it
called a saving grace ? Because it interests us in Christ

254 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

and his salvation. Faitli is a saving grace, not by the
act of believing as an act, for then it would save as a
work, whereas we are saved by faith in opposition to
all works ; but faith is a saving grace as an instru-
ment, apprehending and applying Jesus Christ and
his perfect righteousness, whereby alone we are saved.
(John iii. 16 ; Acts xvi. 31 ; Rom. iii. 22.) It is the
hand that is stretched out to receive Christ in the
promise. (Ps. Ixviii. 31 ; Mark xvi. 16.)

OBJECT.

The primary object of faith is the person of Christ,
and the secondary are his benefits. (Phil. iii. 8, 9.)
Nothing can fill the eye or hand of faith but Christ
only, or God in him. (Ps. Ixxiii. 25.) Nothing will
relieve the mind of a criminal doomed to die, but
authentic information that his sovereign is willing to
pardon him, and nothing will set the convinced sin-
ner free from the terror which he feels, but the know-
ledge of the mercy of God through the mediation of
his Son. The object, then, of justifying faith is Christ
crucified — Christ as having borne our sins in his own
body on the tree, his blood shed as a propitiation for
sin, and the everlasting righteousness which he brought
in as the foundation of hope to those Avho had no hope
in themselves. May not a man look partly to Christ
and partly to his own works and duties for righteous-
ness? No ; he must look to Christ, and exclude every-
thing else, or he cannot be justified. (Phil. iii. 9.) Is
it enough to look to the person of Christ only in be-
lieving ? No ; we must look to the person of Christ as
clothed with all his offices. (Acts xvi. 31.) Our 'guor-

NOTES ON' THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 255

ance needs him as a Prophet, our guilt as a Priest, our
sins and enemies as a King. (See John xiv. 1 ; Eom i.
17; X. 8; Phil. i. 29; Heb. iii. 19.)

EZEMEXTS.

Faith is here represented as " receiving Jesus Christ "
(John i. 12) and "resting" on him. (Ps. Ixxiii. 25.)
There are other representations of faith in Scripture.
It is called a persuasion, a looking, coming, running,
fleeing, flying and entering with Christ, a testing and
leaning on him, a believing, trusting, living, dwelling
and walking in him, etc. (See Heb. xi. 13 ; Isa. xlv.
22 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; Prov. xviii. 10 ; Isa. xl. 31 ; Heb. vi.
9 ; Isa. Ix. 8.) These various representations show
the extensive improvement which faith as a habit
makes of Christ in his manifold relations to usl
When the flesh and blood of Christ are exhibited as
meat indeed and drink indeed, faith is called eating
and drinking of the same ; when he is held forth as
a refuge, faith is a flying to him for safety (Heb. vi.
18) ; when he is called a door, faith is an entering in
by him. (John x. 9.) The seat or habitation of faith
is not only the head or understanding, but principally
the heart and will, (Rom. x. 10 ; Acts viii. 37.) The
mere assent of the understanding to the truths of
Scripture is not such a faith as will save the soul.
Saving faith is the receiving of Christ by the full and
hearty consent of the heart. (John i. 12.) In the an-
swer this faith is called a " receiving " of Christ, be-
cause he, as the glorious object of it, is revealed in
Scripture under the notion of a gift (2 Cor. ix. 15),
presented to such as are quite poor and have nothing

256 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

of their own. It is also called a " resting " on Christ,
because he is revealed in the word as a firm founda-
tion (Isa. xxviii. 16) on which we may lay the weight
of our everlasting concerns with the greatest confidence
and satisfaction. (Ps. cxvi. 7.) The soul, convinced of
its lost condition, lays hold on Christ, relies upon him
and puts confidence in him, and in him alone, for sal-
vation. (See John iii. 33; Matt. xi. 29; 1 Tim. i. 15 ;
Col. ii. 6 ; Rom. v. 11 ; Acts v. 31.)

OFFERED IN THE GOSPEL.

We are to receive and rest upon Christ upon the
warrant of his being oflfered. He is oflTered to us sin-
ners of Adam's race in contradistinction to the angels
that fell. (Heb. ii. 16.) This offer is made in the gos-
pel. (Luke ii. 10 ; 1 John ii. 25; Prov. viii. 4.) It is
made in the form of a deed of gift or grant, in which
God the Father makes over his Son, Jesus Christ, to
mankind lost, that whosoever of them shall receive this
gift shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John iii.
16.) That the universality of Heaven's grant infers a
universal warrant to believe is evident, because if there
were not such a gift and grant of Christ as warranted
all to receive him, the unbelieving Avorld could not be
condemned for rejecting him, as we find they are. (John
iii. 18.) Christ is oflTered in the gospel freely (Isa. Iv.
1), wholly (1 Cor. i. 30), particularly. (John vii. 37;
Ix. 35 ; 1 Tim. i. 15.)

" My confidence is," said the pious Dr. Doddridge shortly
before his death, " not that I have lived such or such a life or
served God in this or the other manner. I know of no prayer

NOTES ON THE SHORTEE CATECHISM. 257

I ever Dffered, no service I ever performed, but there has been
Buch a inixture of what was wrong in it that, instead of recom-
mending me to the favor of God, I needed liis pardon through
Christ for the same. Yet I am full of confidence, and this is
my confidence : There is a hope set before me. I have fled, I
still fly, for refuge to that hope."

"It is just a year this day," says Mrs. Judson, "since I en-
tertained hope in Christ — about this time in the evening, when
reflecting on the words (jf the lepers, ' If we enter into the city,
then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there; and if
we sit still liere, we die also,' and I felt that if I returned to the
world I should surely perish. If I stayed where I then was, I
should perish, and I could but perish if I threw myself on the
mercy of Christ. Then came light and relief, and comfort such
as I never knew before."

Question 87. — What is repentance unto life?

Answer. — Repentance unto life is a saving grace,
loherehy a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin,
and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ,
doth, with grief and haired of his sin, turti from it
unto God, unth full purpose of, and endeavor after,
new obedience.

This means of salvation is called " repentance unto
life," because it proceeds from and is an evidence of
spiritual life, and issues in eternal life. (Acts xi. 18.)
It is also so called to distinguish it from the sorrow of
the world, which worketh death (2 Cor. vii. 10), and
from legal repentance. Legal aud evangelical repent-
ance differ — 1. In their order. The former goes before
ftiith in Christ, the latter follows after it. (Zech. xii.
10.) 2. Ii their cause. The former flows from the
view of G )d's justice and wrath in his threatenings
and judgments, the latter flows from the view of God's

258 NOTES ON THE SlIOKTER CATECHISM.

holiness and love manifested in the death of Christ
and the precepts of the law. 3. In their object. In
the former we are affected chiefly with the guilt of
sin and with gross sins, but in the latter we are affect-
ed chiefly with the filth of sin, the dishonor done to God
by it, and with secret and beloved sins. (Gen. iv.) 4.
In their fruits. The former turns us only from some
acts of sin, and worketh death by exciting lust and
filling us with wrath against God because of his justice
and holiness, but the latter turns us from the love of
every sin and leads to eternal life. (1 Kings xxi. 27.)
Repentance is a " grace ;" that is, an unspeakable and
unmerited favor. (2 Tim. ii. 25 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.)
It is a " saving " grace. (2 Cor. vii. 10.) By faith the
redeemed of the Lord become entitled to heaven, and
by repentance they become prepared or qualified for
its employments and enjoyments.

TRVE SENSE OF HIS SIN.

The true sense of sin which is requisite in repent-
ance, consists in such an inward feeling of our miser-
able and lost estate, by reason of the wrath and curse
of God and the everlasting punishment to which, for
our sins, we are exposed, as puts us into great perplex-
ity and trouble of spirit, so that our consciences, being
thereby pricked and wounded, can find no quiet and
take no rest in this condition. (Acts ii. 37 ; Josh. vii.
20 ; Ps. Ii. 4, 5 ; Job xl. 4 ; Ps. cxxx. 3.) There is
need of this sense of sin to true repentance, because
without this sense of sin sinners will not forsake sin,
nor apply themselves to the Lord Jesus for pardon
and healing. (Matt. ix. 12, 13.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 259

jlPPREHEySlON OF TELE MERCY OF GOD IIST
CHRIST.

When there is a distinct apprehension of the mercy
of God in Christ, it furnishes the only pure as well
as the most powerful motive to genuine repentance.
While the soul is filled with self-abhorrence in the
view of having sinned against a merciful God and
Saviour, it is melted into genuine sorrow for all its
sin, made to look on it with the greatest detestation,
and at the same time is filled with humble love and
adoring gratitude to God, and with a most intense de-
sii'e to avoid offending him in time to come. (Ps. cxxx.
4 ; Rom. ii. 4 ; Matt. iii. 2.) There cannot be true re-
pentance where there is a despair of mercy. (Jer. ii.
25.) We have reason to hope for that mercy. (Isa.
Iv. 7.)

GRIEF AND HATRED OF Siy.

The grief which is an ingredient of true repentance
is a real, inward and abiding sorrow for sin as offensive
and dishonoring to a holy and gracious God. (Job xl.
4, 5 ; Acts ii. 37 ; Ezek. vii. 16 ; Matt. xxvi. 75 ; Zech.
xii. 10.) The hatred of sin which accompanies true
repentance is not only a loathing and abhorring of our
sin, but of ourselves on account of it. (Isa. vi. 5 ; Ps.
cxix. 128 ; Job xlii. 6 ; Ezra ix. 6 ; Luke xviii. 13.)

TURK FROM IT UNTO GOD.

We must turn from sin as well as grieve for it. (Isa.
Iv. 7 ; Prov. xxviii. 13.) Though repentance begins
at the heart, it does not rest there, but goes into the
life. What a change did it make in Paul ! (Acts xxvi.
9 ; Phil. iii. 8.) What a change did it produce in the

260 NOTES ON THE SHOETER CATECHISM.

jailer ! (Acts xvi. 33.) " Break off thy sins by right-
eousness." (Dan. iv. 27.) The breaking off of sin must
be — 1. Universal, a breaking off of all sins. 2. Sincere;
it must be from the heart. (Ezek. xviii. 31.) 3. Per-
petual. (Hos. xiv. 8.) Turning from sin, however, is
but the negative part of religion ; there must also be
a sincere turning to God. (Ps. cxix. 59 ; Acts xi. 23 ;
Jer. iii. 22 ; Josh. xxiv. 24.) We are to have " re-
pentance towai-d God." (Acts xx. 21.) We are not
only to cease to do evil, " but learn to do well." " 'Tis
not enough," says an old writer, " when we repent, to
leave old sins, but we must engage in God's service,
as when the wind leaves the west it turns into a con-
trary corner. The repenting Prodigal did not only
leave his harlots, but also did arise and go to his
father. (Luke xv. 18.) In true repentance the heart
points directly to God, as the needle to the north
pole." (See 2 Cor. vii. 11.) The " purpose " of duty to
God, into which the true penitent enters, is a purpose
or resolution to return to the practice of every known
duty (Ps. cxix. 106), and to spirituality in it. (Phil,
iii. 3.) It is a " full " purpose, because it is a deter-
mined one and immediately put in execution. (Ps.
cxix. 60.) It is connected with " endeavor," because
purposes without endeavors are like blossoms without
fruit. (Matt. xxi. 30.) The "obedience" mentioned
IS " new," because it proceeds from a new principle
(Matt. vii. 17), is influenced by new motives, is direct-
ed by a new rule, and has a new end — the glory of
God. (Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) None that truly repent
do in this life perform new obedience fully without
any failur ) or defect, but they diligently endeavor to

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 261

do it, and wherein they fall short it is their grief and
trouble. (Ps. xxxviii. 17.)

"Which is the most delightful emotion?" said an instructor
of the deaf and dumb to his pupils after teaching them the
names of our various feelings. The pupils turned instinctively
tc their slates to write an answer, and one with a smiling
countenance wrote Joy. It would seem as if none could write
anything else ; but another with a look of more thoughtfulness
put down Hope. A third with beaming countenance wrote
Gratitude. A fourth wrote Love, and other feelings still
claimed the superiority on other minds. One turned back
with a countenance full of peace, and yet a tearful eye, and the
teacher was surprised to find on her slate, " Repentance is the
most delightful emotion." He turned to her with marks of
wonder and asked, " Why ?" " Oh," said she in the expressive
language of looks and gestures which marks these mutes, "it is
so delightful to be humbled before God !"

" I pay more attention," says Mr. Booth, " to people's lives
than to their deaths. In all the visits I have paid to the sick
during the course of a long ministry, I never met with one that
ever recovered from what he supposed the brink of death, who
afterward performed his vows and became religious, notwith-
standing the very great appearance there was in their favor
when they thought they could not recover."

Question 88. — What are the outward and ordinary
means whereby Christ communicateth to ics the benefits
of redemption ?

Answer. — The outward and ordinary means xvhereby
Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption
are, his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and
prayer ; all which are made effectual to the elect for
salvation.

By " the benefits of redemption " we are to under-
stand all the blessings of Christ's purchase, whic h may

262 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

be summed up in grace here and glory hereafter. (P&
Ixxxiv. 11.) It is Christ that communicates these bless-
ings. " Of his fullness have all we received." (John i.
16.)

OXTTWAJRD JilfD ORDINARY MEANS.

The " means " here specified are called " outward "
to distinguish them from the Spirit and his grace,
which are the inward means of salvation. (John iii.
5, 6.) They are called " ordinary," because the Lord
has not wholly limited and bound up himself to his
ordinances, for he can in an extraordinary way bring
some out of a state of nature into a state of grace, as
Paul, who was converted by a light and a voice from
heaven. (John iii. 8.) But the ordinances are the
most usual way and means of conversion and salva-
tion, without the use of which we cannot, upon good
ground, expect that any benefit of redemption should
be communicated to us. (Ex, xx. 24 ; Ezek. xxxvi. 37 ;
xxxvii. 28.)

niS ORDINANCES.

Nothing makes anything a divine ordinance but the
institution or appointment of God. (Matt, xxviii. 20.)
The three great gospel ordinances are " the word, sacra-
ments and prayer." (Acts ii. 41, 42.) They are called
Christ's ordinances, because they are all of them insti-
tuted and prescribed by him in his word, as the only
King and Head of his Church, to be observed in it
to the end of the world. (Matt, xxviii. 20.) May not
men institute ordinances of divine worship? No;
this in Scripture is condemned as will-worship. (Col.
ii. 20, 21, 23.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 263
THE WORD.

By this phrase is meant the whole revealed will of
God contained in the Bible, consisting of the Old and
New Testaments. No part of this word is superfluous,
but some portions of it are more practical than others,
and on that account ought to be more frequently pe-
rused and more diligently studied. It is an error which
cannot be committed without suffering loss, to omit the
attentive and repeated reading of the whole of the Sa-
cred Scriptures. In the word we have God's will re-
vealed, and by it the intellectual and moral powers of
man are influenced in subservience to his purpose, for
God deals with him in religion as a rational being.
What is the special usefulness of the word for commu-
nicating the benefits of redemption ? In it these bene-
fits are exhibited and offered to sinners of mankind as
the ground of their faith, that believing they may be
possessed of them all. (John xx. 31.)

SACRAMENTS.

Some suppose the word sacrament is borrowed from
sacramentum, a Latin word, which signifies an oath,
and particularly the oath by which the Roman soldiers
bound themselves to fidelity to their commander, and
that the word is applied to the symbolical institutions
of the Church because in these we, as it were, enlist
under the banner of Jesus Christ and engage to follow
him whithersoever he leads us. But it is probable that
the symbolic ordinances of our religion were called
sacraments because they were considered as mysteries,
on account either of the recondite sense of the sym-
bols or of the air of mvstorv with wdiich the s icred

264 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Supper was celebrated in the ancient Church. The
special usefulness of the sacraments for communicating
the benefits of redemption is, that they represent to
our senses what the word does to our faith, and are
designed for the confirmation of it. (1 Cor, x. 16;
Rom. iv. 11.)

rjiA.TER.

" The prayer of faith," says an old writer, " fetches
home to the soul all the good that is wrapped up both
in the word and in the sacraments." (Mark xi. 24.)

MADE EFFECTUAL.

The means have no inherent efficacy in themselves
to produce the blessings of redemption. They must be
made effectual to salvation. Mean,'! are not ends, and
are never rested in till the end is attained, for which
alone they are used. The ordinances are made effect-
ual to salvation by being made means not only of re-
vealing and offering salvation, but also of giving the
real possession of it to us. (Eph. i. 13, 14.)

ELECT.

Are gospel ordinances made effectual to all for sal-
vation ? No. (1 Cor. X. 5.) Are they made efieciual
to the elect ? Yes. (Acts xiii. 48.)

sazvation:

By this is meant not only a begun deliverance from
all sin and misery, and a begun possession of all hap-
piness and blessedness in this life (John iii. 15), but
likewise a total freedom from the one, and a full and
uninterrupted enjoyment of the other in the life to
come. (Rev. xxi. 4.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 265

On a certain occasion, when a minister was speaking of the
neglect of family duties — of reading the Scriptures and of fam-
ily prayer — a little girl, who listened attentively and perceived
that the preacher i as describing a neglect that she had herself
noticed at home, whispered to her mother, " Ma, is the minister
talking to jou ?" To the mother this simple question was more
powerful than the sermon. She was immediately brought under
deep convictions of sin, which resulted in her hopefid conver-
sion to God.

" It was our communion last Sabbath," wrote Mr. Patterson
to his friend Mr. Ede, " and I think I never felt my soul e ore
drawn forth to Jesus and away from myself and every creature.
And oh, if communion on earth be so sweet, what must i' be
in heaven, where there is no wandering heart and no tempting
devil and no ensnaring world ! . . . The marriage supper has-
tens. Oh, how little have we seen of Christ ! There is enougli
in hira to fill men and angels with new wonder to all eterni^y."

Question 89. — How is the loord made effectual to
salvation f

Answer. — The Spirit of God maheth the reading,
but especially the preaching, of the ivord, an effectual
means of convincing and converting sinners, and of
building them up in. holiness and comfort, through faith
unto salvation.

THE WORD.

By this expression is meant the whole of divine rev-
elation contained in the Scriptures of the Old and
New Testaments, which though ministered by men,
yet is no other than the very word of God, and is to
be received as such. (1 Thess. ii. 13.) (See p. 26S.)

AN EFFJECTVAJL MEANS.

The Holy Spirit makes the word effectual for our
salvation. (1 Thess. i. 5; ii. 13; Acts ix. 21 ; Rom. i.

266 NOTES ox THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

16.) The word is a means of conviction, because it
shows what is sinful, and exhibits the nature, aggrava-
tions and wages of sin. (1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25 ; Fs. xix.
11 ; Acts ii. 37 ; Heb. iv. 12 ; Jer. xxiii. 22.) It is a
means of conversion, because it shows why, from what
and to what we should turn, and by it the Spirit of
God conveys his converting grace, or the new nature,
into our heart. (Mai. ii. 6 ; Rom. x. 17 ; Luke viii.
11 ; Ps. xvii. 4.)

JSOZINJSSS AND COMFORT.

Christians are said to be built tip in holiness, because
the work of sanctification, like a building, is gradually
carried on toward perfection until death. (Prov. xiv
18.) The word builds up Christians in holiness — 1
As it is a means to work them into a greater conform-
ity to the image of God, and to cause an increase of
every grace in them. (2 Cor. iii. 18 ; 1 Pet. ii. 2.) 2.
As it reproves, corrects, instructs in righteousness, and
thereby perfects them more and more, and fits them foi
good works. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) 3. As it is a means
of pulling down strongholds in the soul, and more and
more subduing all thoughts and affections to the obe-
dience of Christ. (2 Cor. x. 4, 5.) 4. As it is a means
to strengthen Christians against the temptations of the
devil and the corruptions of their own hearts. (Eph.
vi. 13, 17 ; Matt. iv. 10 ; Ps. cxix. 9.) 6. As it is a
means to establish Christians in the truths and ways of
God, and to strengthen them against error and entice-
ments to sin. (Rom. xvi. 25 ; Eph. iv. 14.) The word
builds up Christians in comfort, by conveying with
power to their souls the great and precious promises,

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATEJHISM. 267

which contain all the grounds of real and lasting com-
fort. (Gal. iii. 29; iv. 28; Rom. xv. 14; Isa. xl. 1, 2;
1 Johnii. 25; 1 Thess. i. 6.)

BEADiya THE WORD.

This is the first appoiutraent of the Lord in reference
to the word, that it may be read by all. (Deut. vi. 7 ;
xvii. 19; xxxi. 9,11.) The reading of it apart by
ourselves is necessary for every one, because it is a
BVford for defence (Eph. vi. 17), a lamp for direction
(Ps. cix. 105) and food for nourishment (Jer. xv. 16) ;
in all which respects it is necessary for every Christian
traveling Zionward. (2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.)

PREACHING THE WORD.

The word of God is to be preached only by such as
are sufficiently gifted (Mai. ii. 7), and also duly ap-
proved and called to that office. (Rom. x. 15 ; 1 Tim.
iv. 14. See also 2 Tim. iv. 2; Rev. ii. 7.) The
preaching of the word is " especially " made an effectual
means of convincing, converting and edifying those
who have it. Inspiration testifies that " faith cometh
by hearing," and all experience, from the days of the
apostle who wrote these words to the present hour,
bears witness to the truth of his declaration. Proba-
bly a hundred, perhaps a thousand converts, have in
every age been made by the ear for one that has been
made by the eye. In the matter of edification the
proportion may have been less, but it has always been
great in favor of hearing beyond that of reading
(Acts ii. 37 ; iv. 4; vi. 7 ; xi. 20, 21.)

268 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

through: faith.

The word is made effectual "through faith." (1
Thess. ii. 13 ; Rom. i. 16.) Thus it accomplishes the
eud for which sinners are convicted, converted and
edified — viz. their salvation, complete and eternal.

IKFEREJfCES.

1. The enjoyment of the Scriptures, and an able,
faithful ministry to expound and apply them, is a
special mercy to any people. (Ps. cxlvii. 19, 20.) 2.
Man cannot expect special and spiritual blessings from
God in the Avillful neglect of the ordinances. (Prov.
xxviii. 9.) 3. Sad is their condition who will sit all
their days under the word to no purpose. (2 Cor. iv.
3, 4.) 4. Christ's ordinances and ministers should be
most welcome to the people to whom God sends them.
(Isa. lii. 7.)

A certain libertine of the most abandoned cliaracter happened
one day to stroll into a church, where he heard the fifth chap-
ter of Genesis read, reciting that so long lived such and such
persons, and yet the conclusion was "tiiey died." Enos lived
nine hundred and five years, and he died; Seth nine hundred
and twelve, and he died; Methuselah nine hundred and sixty-
nine, and he died. Tlie frequent repetition of the words " he
died," notwithstanding the great length of years they had lived,
struck him so deeply with the thought of death and eternity
that, through divine grace, he became a most exemplary
Christian.

Question 90. — Hoiv is the word to be read and
heard, that it maij become effectual to salvation?

Answer. — That the word may become effectual to
salvation, we must attend thereunto ivith diligence, prejj-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 269

aration, and prayer ; receive it uith faith and love, lay
it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.

What is meant by the word " becoming effectual to
salvation " ?

The word of God is said to work effectually, when
it has that good effect upon us for which it was ap-
pointed of God — namely, when the word works pow-
erful illumination and thorough reformation. ''To
open their eyes and turn them from the power of
Satan unto God." (Acts xxvi. 18.) The opening
their eyes denotes illumination, and turning them
from Satan to God denotes reformation.

ATTEND THEREUNTO.

As it is from the word of God alone that we can
learn the way of salvation, it is obviously not too much
to say that an attention to the word of God should be
regarded as the principal object of our existence in this
world, and that we ought to treat it accordingly. How
few, alas ! do this ! and yet in doing it consists our giv-
ing that attention to the divine word, the revealed
truth of God, which our duty demands, which our
safety requires, and which the answer before us en-
joins. (Deut. xxxii. 47.)

DILIGENCE.

To attend to the reading and hearing of the word
is the main business of our life — to have it chiefly at
heart, because the word contains "that good part
which shall not be taken away." (Luke x. 42.) By
attending to the word with "diligence," is meant a
careful observing and embracing of every seasonable

270 NOTES ojsr the shorter catechism.

opportunity that may offer in Providence for reading
and hearing the same. (Prov. viii. 34.)

PREPARA TlOJif.

We are to make some special preparation for read-
ing and hearing the word of God if we hope to ex-
perience its salutary and saving effects, as the human
mind is so constituted that it cannot readily pass from
one subject to another of a different character without
some preparation ; and least of all is it reasonable to
expect this when the transition is to be made from
sensible objects to spiritual contemplations. In mak-
ing this preparation Ave should meditate on the great-
ness and goodness of God, the Author of the word, on
its own excellence, stability and fullness, on the excel-
lency of Christ, the subject and confirmer of it, and on
our own vileness, etc. (Ps. xlv. 1.) This will make us
read and hear the word with faith, love, humility and
thankfulness. We should also examine ourselves con-
cerning our state and our present condition (Lam. iii.
40), that we may with knowledge and care apply what-
ever portions of the word suit our case. (James i. 21.)

PRATER.

Prayer is requisite for reading and hearing the word
in a right manner, because as it is God alone who can
dispose our hearts for the right performance of those
religious exercises, so he ought always to be addressed
and supplicated for that end. (Ps. cxix. 18.) We
should pray that what we read or hear may be " the
power of God unto salvation " (Rom. i. 16), or an ef-
fectual means in his hand for convincing, converting
and edifying our sools. (John vi. 63.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 271
READ.

To be somewhat more particular, in order that the
word of God may conduce effectually to our salva-
tion we must — 1. Have a reverent esteem for it.
This book is to be valued above all other books. It
is a golden epistle, indited by the Holy Ghost, sent us
from heaven. 2. Peruse it with intenseness of mind.
Search the Scriptures. (John v. 39.) The Greek word
signifies to search as for " a vein of silver." The Be-
reans "searcned the Scriptures daily." (Acts xvii. 11,
18, 24.) 3. We shcild delight in it. (Jer. xv. 16 ; Ps.
cxix. 24, 50.)

HEARD.

We must hear the word with a spiritual appetite.
(1 Pet. ii. 2) ; with earnestness (James i. 19) ; with
reverence (Neh. viii. 5); with care (Luke viii. 18);
with meekness (James i. 21) ; with a holy fear (Isa.
Ixvi. 2) ; not as the word of men, but as the word of
God. (1 Thess. ii. 13.)

FAITH AND ZOVE.

The faith required implies in general a believing
assent to the divine authority of the whole Scriptures.
(1 Thess. ii. 13 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16 ; 2 Pet. i. 21.) It im-
plies in particular — 1. A believing assent to the truth
and excellency of all Scripture history, especially the
history of our Lord Jesus Christ in his birth, life,
death, resurrection and ascension. 2. A believing as-
sent to all Scripture prophecy. 3. A believing assent
to the truth and excellency of all Scripture doctrine.
4. A believing assent to the truth and righteousness
of all Scripture threatenings. 5. A believing assent

272 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

to the holiness, righteousness and goodness of al.
Scripture precepts. 6. A believing application of
all Scripture promises. (Heb. iv. 2 ; John iv. 1 ; Prov.
XXX. 5.) The love required in reading and hearing
the word of God is love of the word because it is
the word of God. (Ps. cxix. 159, 167.)

IjAY it up IJ!f OUR HEARTS.

We must not only be attentive in reading and hear-
ing, but retentive afterward. (Heb. ii. 1 ; Ps. cxix. 11 ;
Mark iv. 15.) Our memories should be like the chest
of the ark where the Law was put.

PRACTICH IT IK OUR LIVES.

We must live on the truth which we read and hear.
(Ps. cxix. 166.) What is a knowing head without a
fruitful heart? "Filled with the fruits of righteous-
ness." (Phil. i. 11.) It is obedience crowns hearing;
no receiving of the word of God will ever save the
soul which does not reform the life. (James i. 22;
John xxiii. 17 ; Phil. i. 27 ; Ps. cxix. 105.)

Some years ago a vessel which was blessed with a pious chap-
lain, and was bound to a distant part of the world, happened to
be detained by contrary winds over a Sabbath at the Isle of
Wight. The chaplain improved the opportunity to preach to
the inhabitants. His text was, " Be clothed with humility."
Among his hearers was a thoughtless girl who had come to
show her fine dress rather than to be instructed. The sermon
was the means of her conversion. Her name was Elizabeth
Wallbridge, the celebrated Dairyman's Daughter, whose inter-
esting history, by the Eev. Legh Kichmond, has been printed
in various languages and widely circulated, to the spiritual
benefit of thousands. What a reward was this for a single
sermon preached "out of season" !

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 273

A New England clergyman, enforcing on his congregation the
ntcessity of practical godliness, and contrasting the early Chris-
tians with those of the present generation, very pioperly re-
marked, " We have too many resolutions and too little action.
'The Acts of the Apostles' is the title of one of the books of
tlie New Testament ; their resolulions have not reached us."

Question 91. — Hoiv do the sacravients become effect-
ual means of salvation f

Answer. — The sacraments become effectual means of
salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him thai
doth administer them; hut only by the blessing of Christ,
and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith re-
ceive them.

SACRAMEyTS.

The word " sacrament " primarily signifies a solemn
oath taken by soldiers when they enlist themselves
under a prince or general. Though this word is not
found in Scripture, yet the thing intended by it is, and
that brings the word into use. (See Rom. iv. 11 ; vi. 3,
4.) The reason why God has instituted sacraments is
his condescension to our infirmity. " He knoweth our
frame ; he rememberetJi that we are dust." Although
it is the design of religion to withdraw us from the
government of our senses, yet since it does not propose
to make us totally different creatures, and since, from
our natural constitution, our senses have a powerful
and necessary influence upon us, he has been pleased
to render them subservient to the purposes ot religion.
What we hear often awakens very strong emotions in
our minds, but it is an old remark that the impres-
sions of the eye are more vivid than those of the ear.
"If thou wert an incorporeal being," says Chrysostom,

13

274 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

" God would have delivered his gifts to thee naked aiK
incorporeal ; but since thy soul is connected with a body-
he has delivered things intellectual by sensible signs."
By " salvation " is meant our complete and final
deliverance from sin and misery, both temporal and
eternal. (Matt. i. 21 ; 1 Thess. i. 10.) " Means " of
salvation signify any appointments of God whereby he
promotes and accomplishes his design of saving our
souls. (Rom. i. 16.) "Effectual" means are such as
ftilly obtain and accomplish the end for which they
were appointed. (1 Thess. ii. 13.)

NOT FROM ANY VIRTUE IN TIIE3I.

The meaning of these words is, that the sacraments
have not, as the Roman Church maintains, any virtue
or efficacy in themselves, but are only among the out-
ward and ordinary means of grace, which can have no
more efficacy of themselves to confer any saving benefit
than the rainbow, of itself, has to prevent a deluge.
That this is true is evident from the fact that if the
sacraments had any innate or intrinsic virtue to confer
grace or salvation, then grace or salvation would be
infallibly connected with the external use of them.
But we find that Simon Magus, after he was bap-
tized, remained still in the gall of bitterness and bond
of iniquity (Acts viii. 13, 23) ; and we know that in
the primitive Corinthian Church a number of those
who had partaken of the Lord's Supper, so far from
being placed in a state of salvation by the act, had
most grievously sinned in that very act, and were vis-
ited in consequence with temporal judgments to bring
them to repentance. (See 1 Cor. xi. 27-32.) The gos-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER aiTECPIISM. 275

pel does not produce its effects ex opere operato, or by
the mere sound of the words in our ears, but by the
power of the Spirit opening the understanding and
heart to receive it. AVhat ground is there for sup-
posing that the mode of operation is different in the
sacraments, or that here alone these words are not
true, "Neither is he that planteth anything, nor he
that watereth, but God that giveth the increase " ? (1
Cor. iii. 7. See also Luke xiii. 26 ; 1 Tim. iv. 8 ;
Eom. ii. 25, 29.)

on IN HIM WHO AnMINISTEltS THEM.

The Roman Church also maintains that the efficacy
of the sacraments depends on the will of the priest who
dispenses them, and is communicated or withheld just
as he intends or purposes at the time of the adminis-
tration. But this is an absurd and impious tenet. It
was never pretended that the intention of the preacher
is necessary to give efficacy to the word, and it is al-
together arbitrary to suppose it to be necessary to the
efficacy of the sacraments. As the latter were insti-
tuted by God, and not by men, nothing besides his
blessing can rationally be conceived to be requisite to
accomplish their design, but the administration of them
according to the prescribed form. The intention of
the administrator has as little to do with the effect as
the intention of the physician has with the success of
the medicine which he gives to his patient, or the in-
tention of the husbandman with the fertility of the soil.
God has not suspended our salvation upon the precari-
ous volition of other men, over whom we have no power.
(1 Cor. iii. 5; Acts i. 17, 24; viii. 13, 23.)

276 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
ONI^r JiT THE JiLESSIXG OF CMRIST.

Having stated on what the efficacy of the sacraments
does not depend, the answer before us affirms how they
become effectual means of salvation. (See Matt, xviii.
20 ; xxviii. 20.)

WOltmiNG OF THE SFIJtIT.

By the working of the Spirit, the effect and evidence
of Christ's blessing and presence, Christ puts life and
virtue and efficacy into his sacraments and ordinances,
without which they would be wholly dead and alto-
gether ineffectual. (1 Cor. xii. 13 ; John vi. 63 ; xv. 5.)

WHO JiT FAITH RECEIVE THEM.

To receive the sacraments by faith is to apply Christ
and the benefits of his purchase as represented and ex-
hibited to us in them. (Luke xxii. 19, 20.) The Spirit
by the sacraments does not work effectually to the sal-
vation of all that receive them, but of all that hy faith
receive them. (Mark xvi. 16.)

INFERENCES.

1. Men enjoying all the ordinances of the gospel
and partaking of the sacraments annexed to the cove-
nant of grace may yet perish for ever. (1 Cor. x. 3-5 ;
Luke xiii. 26, 27.) 2. We should not idolize some
ministers for the excellency of their gifts, and slighl
others whom, though equally sound and faithful, we
may deem inferior in outward gifts, seeing it is not in
any man to make the means effectual. (1 Cor. iii. 7.)
3. We should cry earnestly for the Spirit and blessing
of Christ in the sacraments, and beware of resting in
them. (Sol. Song iv. 16; Ps. ci. 2.)

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 277

A gentleman of intelligence, who was born of Catholic parents
and educated in the Catholic Church, but left it for Protestant-
ism, said to his brother, who is still a Catholic, " Why, brother,
a-s long as I was a Catholic I never knew that there was a Holy
Spirit." And what do you think was the brother's reply ? " Well,
I don't know that there is one now." The narrative of what
passed between these two men strikes one with great force. A
religion without a Holy Spirit! and this the religion, according
to the computation of Bishop England, of two hundred millions
of mankind ! It made me sorry. My religion, thought I, would
be very imperfect without a Holy Spirit. I want a Sanctifier as
well as a Surety. I want one to act internally upon me, as well
as to act externally /or me. What should I do with my title to
heaven without a. fitness for it? As a sinner I am ec^ually des-
titute of both. There can be no heaven without holiness. And
whence has any man holiness but from the Holy Spirit ? And
is it likely he will act within us when he is not acknowledged ?
— Rev. Dr. Nevins.

Question 92. — What is a sacrament f
Answer. — A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted
by Christ, ivherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the ben-
efits of the neio covenant are represented, sealed, and
applied to believers.

SACJtAMENT.

(For explanation of this term, see notes on Ques-
tion 91.)

hoIjY ordinance.

A sacrament is so called in the answer before us,
because the elements which compose it have been set
apart from a common to a sacred use, because it is de-
signed to promote holiness in those who receive it;^ and
because they are, by profession, a holy or peculiar peo-
ple. (1 Cor. ix. 13; Isa. lii. 11.)

278 KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
INSTITUTEU BY CHRIST.

It is essentially necessary that a sacrament have
Christ's express and immediate warrant and institution,
otherwise it does not deserve the name. (See Matt,
xxviii. 19, 20 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24.) Why must sacra-
ments be expressly or immediately instituted by
Christ? Because he alone is the Head of the Church,
and has the sole power and authority to institute sac-
raments and other ordinances in it. (Eph. i. 22, 23.)

SENSIBLE SIGNS.

Each sacrament has two parts — 1. The sign. 2.
The thing signified. (Ex. xxiv. 8 ; 1 Cor. x. 4.)
By the sign we are to understand that outward thing
in the sacrament which may be seen, felt or tasted.
By the thing signified we are to understand Christ
and the benefits of the new covenant. The sign and
thing signified differ in this respect : the former is
something natural and sensible, but the latter is spirit-
ual. Outward signs are of use — 1. To inform our
understanding. (Gal. iii. 1.) 2. To refresh our memo-
ries. (Josh. iv. 7.) 3. To stir up our affections. (Zech.
xii. 10.) 4, To transmit the things of God from gene-
ration to generation. (Ex. xii. 26.)

CHRIST AND TSE BENEFITS OF THE NEW COV-
ENANT.

By the new covenant is meant the covenant of grace,
so called because it succeeded to the covenant of works,
which was broken by our first parents when they lost
their innocence by eating of the fruit of the forbidden
tree. The uses of a sacrament, in reference to Christ

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 279

and the benefits of the new covenant, ai'C — 1. To repre-
gent Christ and the benefits of the new covenant (Gen.
xvii. 10.) 2. To seal and apply Christ and the bene-
fits of the new covenant. (Rom. iv. 11.) What is meant
by the sign's representing Christ and his benefits?
Its carrying a resemblance of him and his benefits. (1
Pet. iii. 21 ; 1 Cor. xi. 23-29.) What is meant by the
sign's sealing Christ and his benefits ? Its confirming
our interest in Christ and his blessing. (Rom. iv. 11 ;
1 Pet. iii. 21.) Though our interest in Christ and his
promise is not thus made firmer in itself, yet the sign
shows the firmness of it and tends to strengthen our
faith in Christ and his promise. (See Rom. iv. 11 ;
John XX. 27.) What is meant by the sacramental
sign's applying Christ and his benefits ? That by the
right and lawful use of this sign Christ and his bene-
fits are really communicated, conveyed and made over
to the worthy receiver. (1 Cor. xi. 24 ; Gal. iii. 27 ;
Gen. xvii. 7.) In the use of the sacraments there is
a present experience and enjoyment of these benefits.
Probably there are few of the people of God who
would not be ready to testify that some of their sacra-
mental seasons have been those in which their graces
were in the most delightful exercise, their communion
with Christ and his people the most sensible, and their
assured hope and expectation of the heavenly *.nher-
itance the most lively, strong and satisfying. Are
Christ and the benefits of the new covenant separable
from one another ? No, for " he that hath the Son
hath life " (1 John v. 12), and whosoever has Christ
has all things along with him — " all things are yours,
and ye are Christ's." (1 Cor. iii. 21.)

280 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
XO BELIEVERS.

A sacrament represents, seals and applies Christ and
the benefits of the new covenant — not to all that partake
thereof, but to believers only, faith being the eye of the
soul to discern the things represented, and the hand
of the soul to receive the things sealed and applied in
the sacrament.

PSACTICAZ ZESSOKS.

1. We see that the abuse of such holy and solemn
mysteries is a sin of dreadful aggravation, and such as
God will punish. (1 Cor. xi. 27.) 2. We learn the
tender care and love of Christ over the Church in in-
stituting such useful and comfortable ordinances for
us.

'• On Sabbath last," says a good man, "we were enabled to keep
our New Testament Passover ; it was a good day— a day of
salvation. At tlie sacred banquet my hard lieart melted and
the tears flowed })lentifiilly from my eyes, but they were tears
of joy; ray heart was full. On Monday, Mr. B preach-
ed from these words: 'And one shall say, lam the Lord's.'
Oh wliat a sermon to me! My heart made the happy claim
and cheerful surrender again and again. My soul said, 1 am
the Lord's, and with my hand I subscribed it, and I hope and
believe will never unsay it.

' Sweet was the hour I freedom felt

To call ray .Jesus mine —
To see his smiling face, and melt
In pleasures all divine.'

Truly I am (hy servant, I am thy servant the son of thine
handmaid, thou hast loosed my bonds. Why me, O Lord ?
Why me? What am I, or what is my father's house, that
thou hast brought me hitherto?"

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 281

Question 93. — Which are the sacraments of the
New Testaynent f

Answer. — The sacraments of the New Testament
are, Baptism, and the Lord's Supper.

When the sacraments of the New Testament are
specially mentioned, there is an implication that there
were also sacraments under the Old Testament. Such
is the fact ; and it is a fact to be noticed, because we
believe that the Christian dispensation was engrafted
on the Mosaic, both dispensations being equally given
under the covenant of grace, and the latter being only
the completing or perfecting of the former.

SACRAMENTS VNDEB THE OLD TESTAMENT.

The ordinary sacraments under the Old Testament
were two — Circumcision and the Passover. (Gen. xvii.
24 ; Ex. xii.)

SVPEJtSEDEI) BY CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS.

The sacraments of the Jewish Church have been
superseded by the Christian sacraments. This is plain
with respect to the Passover, for immediately after
the celebration of it the Lord's Supper was instituted,
and an intimation was thus given that the latter was
thenceforth to supply the place of the former. Be-
sides, the apostle Paul obviously refers to the change
when he describes the new ordinance by terms bor-
rowed from the old. (See 1 Cor. v. 7, 8.) That bap-
tism has come in the room of circumcision may be
inferred from two considerations — that, like circumcis-
ion, it signifies our purification from sin, and that it
is the ordinance by which we are admitted into the

282 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

communion of the visible Church. As Paul connects
the Passover and the Lord's Supper, so he connects
circumcision and baptism, leading us to conclude that
there is a change or substitution in the one case as
well as in the other. (Col. ii. 11, 12.)

jiGJtEEMEJSfT OF SACRAMENTS OE THE OLD AND

NEW TESTAMENTS.

The sacraments of the Old and New Testaments
agree in having God for their author, and in the things
which are signified ; for the sacraments signify, promise
and offer the same blessings — viz. the forgiveness of
sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost through Christ
alone, as the following passages of Scripture prove :
" Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and to-day and for
ever." (Heb. xiii. 8 ; 1 Cor. x. 2, 3, 4; Col. ii. 11 ; 1
Cor. v. 7.) Without Christ, who is the thing signified
in the sacraments of both Testaments, no one ever has
been saved or can be saved. It follows, therefore, that
the fathers who lived under the Old Testament had
the same communion with Christ which Ave also have,
and that this was signified no less to them by the word
and sacraments than it is now to us under the new
covenant.

JDIFEEJtENCE OF SACRAMENTS OF THE OLD AND
NEW TESTAMENTS.

The sacraments of the Old and New Testaments
difier mainly in the following particulars : 1. In signi-
fication. The Old signify Christ who was to come ; the
New show his death as having already taken place.
2. In duration. The Old were to continue merely to
the coming of the Messiah ; the New will continue to

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 2S3

tlie end of the world. 3. In extent of obligation. The
sacraments of the Old Testament were binding merely
upon the Jews, for godly persons of other nations were
not required to be circumcised ; the sacraments of the
New Testament are binding upon the whole Church, to
whatever nation they may belong. (Matt. xxvi. 27 ;
xxviii. 19) 4. In clearness. Those of the Old Testa-
ment were more obscure, inasmuch as they shadowed
forth things that were to come ; those of the New
Testament are better understood, because they de-
clare things which have already come to pass, and
which have been fulfilled in Christ.

DIFFEUENCE OF CHRISTIAN SACRAMENTS.

In what do baptism and the Lord's Supper differ?
Baptism seals an entrance into the Church and cove-
nant of grace, is administered but once, and to infants
as well as others ; but the Loi'd's Supper is a seal of
spiritual nourishment, is to be frequently received,
and by such only as can examine themselves.

Ij AWFUL ADMINISTRATION.

Who may lawfully dispense the sacraments of the
New Testament? Neither of them may be dispensed
by any but a minister of the word lawfully ordained.
(1 Cor. iv. 1.)

Wliat! seven sacraments? How is this? I read in the
Bible of only two. Whence have they the other five f Oli,
they came from tlie other source of Cliristian doctrine (?) — tra-
dition. It is true tlie apostles wrote of only two sacraments;
but Catholics would have us believe that theypreac/iec/ and con-
versed about five others, and those that heard them spoke of
these aacrameuts toothers, and they to others still; and so the

284 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

story passed from lip to lip until the Council of Trent (I be-
lieve it was) concluded that something had better be written
about those five extra sacraments. I wonder that was never
thought of before. It is surprising that it never occurred to
the apostles, when they were writing their Epistles, to say a
syllable about these seven sacraments. I may be very hard to
please, but I cannot help feeling a desire to have Scripture as
well as unwritten tradition in support of a doctrine or practice
called Christian. I like to be able to trace a doctrine all the
way back to the Bible, and to find it originating in the very
oracles of God themselves. — Rev. Dr. Nevins.

Question 94. — What is baptism f

Answer. — Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the wash-
ing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son.,
and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingraft-
ing into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the cove-
nant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.

After his resurrection Jesus gave the following com-
mission to his disciples : " Go ye therefore and teach,"
or make disciples of, "all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father, and of the Sou, and of the Holy
Ghost, teachiug them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you : and lo ! I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world." (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20.)
Baptism had been previously administered to those who
acknowledged him as the Messiah and desired to be ad-
mitted into the number of his followers — not, however,
by himself, but by his disciples. (John iv. 1-3.) We
cannot, therefore, consider the ordinance as new when
he gave a commission to the apostles prior to his as-
cension, but it then received a more extensive appli-
cation, as they were authorized to administer it to men
of e\ery nation.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 285
WATER.

Baptism is performed by the application of water
to the body. The water is emblematical of the blood
of Christ. (Rev. i. 5.) It resembles his blood — 1. In
the freeness of it to all. (Isa. Iv. 1.) 2. In its refresh-
ing quality. (John vi. 35.) 3. In its cleansing prop-
erty. (Heb. ix. 14.) 4. In the necessity for it, for as
the body cannot live without water, so neither can the
soul without Christ's blood. (Heb. ix. 23.) 5. In the
essential importance of its application. As water neither
refreshes nor purifies the body without application, so
neitlier does Christ's blood refresh or purify the soul
till applied. (1 Cor. i. 30. See also John i. 31 ; Isa,
lii. 15 ; 1 Cor. vi. 11 ; 1 Pet. iii. 21.)

WASHING.

The word baptism signifies xvashing, dipping or sprink-
ling. (Mark vii. 4; Heb. ix. 10.) " Dipping of the per-
son into the water is not necessary, but baptism is
rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water
upon the persons." (^Confession of Faith, chap, xxviii.
§ 3.) How does it appear from Scripture that baptism
is rightly admiuistered by pouring or sprinkling water
upon the person ? From repeated instances of the ad-
ministration of baptism by the apostles in this man-
ner, particularly when three thousand were baptized
bv them (Acts ii. 41), water must have been sprinkled
upon them, as the apostles could not have had time in
a part only of one day to take them one by one and
pluuge them into it. Nor is it probable that the jailer
(Acts xvi. 33) had such store of water in the night
season as was sufficient for himself and whole family
to be dipped iuto, or that they went abroad in quest

286 NOTES ox THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

of some river for that purpose. It is much more rea-
soaable to infer that in both the above instances they
were baptized by sprinkling. The same may be said
of Paul's baptism (Acts ix. 18) and of the baptism of
Cornelius and his friends. (Acts x. 47, 48.)

" When a word is used to denote an action which is
figurative," says Dr. Dick, " it seems a fair way of de-
termining its sense to observe how the thing which the
action represents is in other places expressed. As the
water in baptism is emblematical of the influences of
the Spirit, we may bring to the illustration of the term
to baptize the passages of Scripture which speak of the
communication of these influences ; and there is not
one of them which alludes to immersion. The Holy
Ghost is said 'to fall' upon men, to be 'poured out'
upon them ; and in reference to the same subject God
promises ' to sprinkle clean water upon us,' ' to be as
the dew unto Israel,' and that his grace shall ' come
down as rain upon the mown grass, and as showers
which water the earth.' If water is a significant em-
blem of the Spirit because it purifies, is it not reason-
able to suppose that a resemblance was intended be-
tween the application of the water and the manner in
which the communication of the Spirit is described ?
It is by no means probable that God should speak of
his own operations in one way and symbolically repre-
sent them in a diflferent way — that he should promise
to sprinkle or pour out his Spirit upon us, and, to con-
firm this promise, would command us to be plunged
into water. There would be no analogy in this case
between the promise and the seal, and the discrepancy
would give rise to a confusion of ideas."

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 287
THE NAME.

Baptism is to be administered " in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ;" and
as this is in acr'^rdance with the express and particular
command of Christ himself (Matt, xxviii. 19), it must
be held as essentm to the validity of the ordinance
that these words '^f the original institution be used in
every instance of its administration. The Greek prepo-
sition ek, which, in the common version of our Bible,
is in this place rendered in, properly denotes into, and
is so rendered in many other passages of the New Tes-
tament. Christians are therefore baptized "into the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost." The administration of baptism in this form
signifies — 1. That we are baptized by the authority of
the persons of the Holy Trinity. 2. That we are bap-
tized into the faith and profession of the Holy Trinity.
3. That we are dedicated to the service of these divine
persons — that we are engaged to offer religious worship
to them as separately and conjunctly the proper objects
of it, and to yield unreserved and uninterraitted obedi-
ence to their law as revealed in the Scriptures. (See 1
Cor. i. 13 ; Eph. iv. 5.)

SIGNIFY AND SEAL.

There is signified and sealed and engaged on God's
part by our being baptized into his name — (I.) His
engrafting us into Chrid. By this is meant our being
cut off from our old stock of nature and being joined
to Jesus Christ, whereby we come to draw virtue froni
him as our root, that we may grow up in him and bring
forth fruit to him. (John xv. o; Rom. xi. 17.) (H.)

288 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Mis making us partakers of the benefits of the new cove-
nant. (Rom. vi. .3.) These benefits are — 1. Admission
into the visible Church. (Matt, xxviii. 19.) 2. Remis-
sion of sins by Christ's blood. (Acts ii. 38.) 3. Re-
generation and sanctification by Christ's Spirit. (Tit.
iii. 5.) 4. Adoption, together with our union to Christ.
(Gal. iii. 26, 27.) 5. Resurrection to everlasting life.
(1 Cor. XV. 29 ; Rom. vi. 4, 5.)

ENGAGEMJi:NT TO BE THE LORD'S.

The consequence of its being signified and sealed to
us in baptism that we partake of such great and glori-
ous benefits is, that on this account "we enter into an
Dpen and professed engagement to be wholly and only
the Lord's." (Larger Catechism, Question 165.) We
engage to be his wholly in all that we are, soul, spirit
and body (1 Cor. vi. 19, 20), and in all that we have,
whether gifts, graces or worldly comforts. (1 Chron.
xxix. 14.) We engage to be his only, in opposition to
all his rivals and competitors, every one of whom we
profess to renounce in baptism. (Hos. xiv. 8.) These
rivals and competitors with God are sin (Rom. vi. 6),
Satan (Acts xxvi. 18) and the world. (John xvii. 14.)

The Kev. Pliilip Henry, for the use of his children, prepared
tins short form of words, sliowing what is implied in baptism,
taught it to his children, required them to repeat it every Sab-
bath evening after their recitation of the catechism, and was
wont to add : " So say and so do, and you are made for ever. I
take God the Father to be my chiefest good and highest end.
I take God the Son to be my Prince and Saviour. 1 take God
the Holy Ghost to be my Sanctifier, Teacher, Comforter and
Guide. I take the word of God to be my rule in all my ac-
•io 's, and the people of God to be my people in all conditions.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 289

I do likewise devote and dedicate unto the Lord my whole self,
all I am, all I have and all I can. And this I do deliberately,
sincerely, freely and for ever." He also took pains with his
children to lead them into the understanding of it, and to per-
suade them to a free and cheerful consent to it. And when they
grew up he made them all write it over severally with their
ovra hands, and very solemnly set their names to it ; which he
told them he would keep by him, and it should be produced as
a testimony against them in case they should afterward depart
from God and turn from following after him.

Question 95. — To ivhom is baptism to be adminis-
tered f

Answer. — Baptism is not to be administered to any
that are out of the visible church, till they profess their
faith in Christ, and obedience to him: but the infants
of such as are members of the visible church, are to be
baptized.

Neither of the two sacraments "may be dispensed
by any but a minister of the word, lawfully ordained."
(Confession of Faith, chap, xxvii. § 4. 1 Tim. iv. 14.)
Why should ministers lawfully ordained, and no other
persons, dispense the sacraments of the New Testa-
ment? Because they only are the stewards of the
mysteries of God (1 Cor. iv. 1), and have the sole
commission and authority from Christ to preach and
baptize. (Matt, xxviii. 19.)

OCT OF THE VISIBLE CHURCH.

The apostles were sent to teach or make disciples of
all nations by instructing them in the religion of Christ,
and when those whom they had addressed, acquired a
competent measure of knowledge and recognized Jesus

19

290 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Christ as their Lord and Saviour, they were then to bap-
tize them. (Acts viii. 37.)

FAITH— OJiEDIENCJE.

To profess faith in Christ is to profess a belief of all
the doctrines of the Christian religion. (Acts viii. 37.)
To profess obedience to Christ is to declare a willing-
ness and purpose to yield subjection to all his com-
mands, ordinances and institutions. (Acts ii. 46.)
That a profession which implies a saving reception of
evangelical truth is to be made by all who receive bap-
tism in adult age, may be gathered from the command
to " teach " the recipients of this sacrament — to dis-
ciple them it is in the original — to observe all things
whatsoever which Christ delivered to his apostles
(Matt, xxviii. 19, 20) ; for the injunction here given
manifestly related to a teaching which should be ef-
fective, and which appears to be so at the administra-
tion of the ordinance.

INFANTS.

Thus far, the answer relates only to adults, or such
as are grown up to ripeness of age. Now it proceeds
to speak of infants, who can make no such profession
of faith and obedience. It is no objection to the doc-
trine that the children of believing parents are to be
baptized in their infancy, that infants cannot under-
stand the mystery of baptism. Neither could the
child that was to be circumcised understand circum-
cision, yet the ordinance of circumcision was not to be
omitted or deferred. An infant, though it understand
not the meaning of baptism, yet may partake of the
blessing of baptism. The little children that Christ

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 291

took in his arms understood not Christ's meaning, but
they had Christ's blessing. (Mark x. 16.) That the
chikb'en of believing parents may and should be bap-
tized in their infancy is evident from many considera-
tions, among which are the following: I. Infant chil-
dren, being Abraham's seed, were taken into covenant
with God and ordered to have the sign of the covenant
(circumcision) applied to them, and that grant was
never reversed. Gen. xvii. 10. See also Col. ii. 11,
12, which shows that baptism now occupies the place
of circumcision. That the privilege of infants being
made visible church members was never taken away
under the gospel is evident — (1) from the words of the
apostles, " Eepeut and be baptized, for the promise is
to you and your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts
ii. 38, 39. See also Rom. xi. 17 ; iv. 11 ; Matt. xix.
14.) (2.) Because if this privilege were repealed we
would have some notice of its repeal in the Scripture ;
but we have no notice or signification of God's will to
repeal this privilege throughout the whole book of
God. (3.) Because Christ did not come to take away
or straiten the privileges of the Church, but to enlarge
them ; and who can upon Scripture grounds imagine
that it was the will of Christ that the infants of the
Jewish Church should be church members, but the in-
fants of the Christian Church should be shut out like
heathens and infidels ? II. As children during their
infancy are capable of grace, they are capable of bap-
tism. If they can have the thing signified, they should
have the sign. (Mark x. 14 ; Acts ii. 39 ; x, 47 ; Isa.
xliv. 3 ; Luke i. 15.) III. As infants may be among

292 NOTES ON THE SHORTEil CArECHISM.

the number of God's servants, there is no reason
why they should be shut out of God's family. (Lev.
XXV. 4l', 42.) IV. The children of the faithful,
though they are not free from original sin, yet as soon
as they are born have a covenant holiness, and so a
right and title to baptism, which is the token of the
covenant. (1 Cor. vii. 14.) V. A sacrament which
God has instituted to be a solemn rite of initiation
into the Church, and which is designed to distinguish
the Church from all the various sects, ought to be ex-
tended to all, of whatever age they may be, to whom
the covenant and reception into the Church rightfully
belong. Baptism is such a sacrament. Therefore it
ought to be administered to all ages, and as a neces-
sary consequence to infants also, for to whom the final
cause belongs, to him the effect is properly and neces-
sarily attributed. (Josh. xxii. 25 ; Acts iii. 25.) VI.
The Scriptures mention whole families baptized, as the
household of Lydia, Crispus and the jailer (Acts xvi.
15, 33), in which it is not easy to suppose there were
no little children. (See Luke ii. 21.) VII. The opin-
ion of the Fathers and the practice of the Church
prove infant baptism. It is strongly asserted by Ire-
nseus, Basil, Lactantius, Cyprian and Austin. Paul
informs us that he baptized the whole house of Ste-
phanas. (1 Cor. i. 16.) Origen, who possessed more
information than any man of his day, and who lived
near the time of the apostles, says : " The Church re-
ceived a tradition or order from the apostles to give
baptism to little children also," Augustine, who was
born in the middle of the fourth century, affirms: "The
whole Church practices infant baptism. It was not in-

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 293

stituted by councils ; it was always in use." Pelagius,
who lived at the «ame time, and who had visited the most
noted churches in Europe, Asia and Africa, declares
that he never heard of any one, even the most impious
heretic, who asserted that infants were not to be bap-
tized,

"There never was any age, at least since Abraham, in which
the children, whether of Jews or proselytes, that were admitted
into covenant, had not some badge or sign of their admission.
The male children of Abraham's race were entered by circum-
cision. The whole body of the Jews, men, women and chil-
dren, were in Moses' time baptized. After which the male
children of proselytes that were entered with their parents were,
as well as their parents, admitted by circumcision, baptism and
a sacrifice. Now, after that circumcision and sacrifice were to
be abolished under the gospel dispensation, there was nothing
left but baptism or washing for a sign of the covenant and of
professing religion. This our Saviour took, probably, as being
the easiest and the least laborious of all the rest, and as being
common to both sexes, making no diiference of male or female,
and enjoined it to all ivho nhould enter into the kingdom of God.
And St. Paul does plainly intimate to the Colossians (Col. ii.
11, 12) that it served them instead of circumcision, calling it
the circunicision of Christ or Christian circumcision." — Wall's
Hist. Inf. Baptism.

Question 96. — What is the Lord's Supper f
Answer. — The Lord's Supper is a sacrmmiit, xvhere-
in, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according
to Chrid's appointment, his death is showed forth ; and
the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal 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.

294 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
f>ACRAMENT.

(For explanation, see notes on Questions 88 and 95.)

NAMES OF THE SACRAMENT.

This sacrament is called — I. The Lord's table. (1
Cor. X. 21.) This name shows with what reverence
and solemn devotion we should approach to these holy
mysteries ; the Lord takes notice of the frame of our
hearts when we come to his table. (Matt. xxii. 11.)
II. The Lord's Supjjer. (1 Cor. xi. 20.) This title is
given to it — (1) because it was instituted immediately
after eating the Passover (Matt. xxvi. 26), which was
always at night (Ex. xii. 6, 8) ; (2) because the Lord
Jesus was the sole Author of it ; and (3) because it is a
spiritual feast. (1 Cor. xi. 23.) His design in institut-
ing it on " the same night in which he was betrayed '^
was to show that it was to come in the room of the
Passover, which was abolished by his death, to manifest
his great love to his people in giving them such a sol-
emn pledge of it when entering on his sufferings, and
to stir us up the more affectionately to remember his
death therein. III. The communion. (1 Cor. x. 16.)
This name indicates — (1) that this ordinance is only for
believers, because none else can have communion with
Christ in these holy mysteries ; and (2) that this or-
dinance is a bond of that love and union which should
be among Christians. (1 Cor. x. 17.)

GiriNa AND JtECEiriNO BREAD AND WINE.

Bread is to be used in this sacrament, for Jesus
* took bread " (Matt. xxvi. 26.) This denotes it to be

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISJI. 295

a strengthening ordinance, for bread strengthens man's
heart. (Ps. civ. 15.) Wine is to be used in this
sacrament, for our Saviour " took the cup." (1 Cor.
xi. 25.) Tliis denotes it to be a refreshing ordinance.
(See Ps. civ. 15.) The bread and wine signify the
body and blood of Christ. (1 Cor. xi. 24, 25.) By
Clirist's body and blood are to be understood his incar-
nation and satisfaction for the complete accomplish-
ment of our redemption. (John vi. 51.) The breaking
of the bread is a part of the ceremony, because a part
of that which is signified — viz. the breaking of the
body of Christ — answers to it. (1 Cor. xi. 24.) So the
wine is separated from the bread, to signify the violence
of his death when his blood was spilt and separated
from his body. The bread and the wine must be given
and received. Jesus took bread and " gave it to the dis-
ciples"— "took the cup and gave it to them." (Matt.
xxvi. 26, 27.) That the people are to partake not
only of the bread, but also of the cup, is evident from
our Lord's words, " Drink ye all of it " (Matt. xxvi.
27), as well as from the apostle's direction to the Cor-
inthians. (1 Cor. xi. 26, 28.) The " giving " the bread
and wine intimates to us that Christ is the free gift of
God to sinners of mankind for salvation and eternal
life. (John iii. 16.) The " receiving" the bread and
the cup imports that our receiving of Christ is founded
on the gift and grant that is made of him in the word
(John iii. 27), and the eating a part of the bread and
drinking a part of the wine imply that there ought
to be an application of Christ to the soul in particular,
in virtue of the particular endorsement of the promise
to 3very one that hears the gospel. (Acts ii. 39.)

296 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
niS DEATH IS SHOWED FORTS.

The Lord's Suj^per is a commemoratiDg ordinance
(Luke xxii. 19.) It is a confessing ordinance. (1 Cor.
xi. 26.) It is a memorial of his death, which serves
not only to perpetuate the knowledge of that event,
but also to signify in what esteem it is held and what
importance is attached to it by his followers. It is
commemorated not merely as the death of a friend and
benefactor, of a teacher distinguished by his wisdom
or of a saint illustrious for his virtues, but of a Ke-
deemer who laid down his life as a ransom for our
souls.

TDE WORTHY RECETFERS.

Paul, in rebuking the Corinthian Church (1 Cor.
xi. 23-34) for a scandalous profanation of this sacred
institution, twice speaks of eating and drinking " un-
Avorthily." The meaning of the apostle in this word
manifestly is, a manner unsuitable to the nature of the
ordinance, which in the case of the Corinthians was a
grossly profane, carnal and irreverent manner. The
general truth, therefore, taught by the apostle is that
all who partake in a manner suited to the nature of the
ordinance, partake worthily, and that those who partake
in any way or manner not suited to the nature of the
ordinance, partake iinivorthily. None are worthv re-
ceivers of this sacrament but true believers, and they
are worthy not on account of any worthiness in them-
selves, for they have nothing of their own of which
they can boast, but because they are united to Christ,
and have all that grace from him which enable? them

NOTES ON THE SHORTER Ci^ TECHISM. 297

to partake in a suitable and becoming manner. (2
Cor. iii. 5.)

PAJiTAKEBS OF HIS BOOT AND lil.OOD.

The participation here meant is not corporal, but
spiritual, and embraces — 1. Faith in Christ's suffer-
ings and death. 2. The forgiveness of sins, and the
gift of eternal life through faith. 3. Our union with
Christ through the Holy Spirit, who dwells both in
Christ and in us. 4. The quickening influence of the
same Spirit. In other words, it is to believe, to obtain
the remission of sins by faith, to be united with Christ
and to become partakers of his life, or to be made
like unto Christ by the Holy Spirit, who works the
same things both in Christ and in us. (Ps. xvi. 5, 6 ;
Matt. xxvi. 28, 29 ; John xx. 22 ; Luke xxii. 30.) These
great blessings are called "His—i. e. Christ's — ben-
efits," because he is the purchaser (Tit. ii. 14), proprie-
tor (John iii. 35) and dispenser of them. (Eph. iv. 8.)

spirituaIj novristiment and growth in

GRACE.

Believers receive spiritual nourishment and growth
in grace in and by this sacrament — 1. As they draw
virtue from Christ's death for the crucifying of the
flesh, for mortifying and purging away sin, which hin-
ders their spiritual nourishment and growth. 2. As
the Lord conveys by his Spirit, and they receive in this
sacrament by faith, further supplies of his grace, which
by his death he has purchased for them, and which in
his covenant of grace (of which tins sacrament is a
seal) he has promised to them. (1 Cor. v. 7, 8 ; 2 Ptt.
iii. 8 ; Matt. xxvi. 28.) S|:iritual nourishment and

*298 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

growth in grace are indicated by more enlarged views
after the sincere milk of the word (1 Pet. ii. 2), more
living by faith and not by sense (2 Cor. v. 7), more
inward opposition to sin (Ps. Ixvi. 18), and outward
tenderness in deportment (Ps. xxxix. 1.)

" It is enough for me that my Saviour inclined to this mode
of being remembered, and exjjressed such a wisli ; the least I
can do is to comply with it. He did not express a great many
wishes. I cannot help regarding it as unkind that this one
wish of Jesus should not be complied with ; and especially
wlien I consider wh;it a friend he was, what a benefactor. . . .
All his wishes, I think, should be complied with, buttliis was
his last. He was going to suffer, he was to die in a few hours ;
and such a death too ! and for them for wiiom he made tlie re-
quest that they miglit never die. ... I wonder these words,
broken for you,' do not break the heart of every one who
refuses." — Hev. Dr. Nevins.

"Supposing the doctrine of transubstantiation had been de-
livered in Scripture in the very same words that it is decreed
in the Council of Trent, by what clearer evidence could any
man prove to me that such words were in the Bibie, than I
can prove to him that bread and wine after consecration are
bread and wine still? He could not but appeal to my eyes to
prove such words to be in the Bible, and with the same reason
and justice miglit I appeal to several of his senses to prove to
liim that the bread and wine after consecration are bread and
wine still." — Archbishop Tillotson.

Question 97. — What is required to the worthy re-
ceiving of the Lord's Supper?

Answer. — It is required of them that would worthily
partake of the Lord's Supper, that they examine them-
selves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord's body, of
'heir faith to feed upon him, of their repentance, love,

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 299

and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat
and drink judgment to themselves.

WORTHY JlJECEiriyG OF THE ZOltD'S SUPPEIt.

(See on Question 96.) To receive tlie Lord's Sup])LH-
\vorthily, is not to receive it meritoriously, as if we were
to bring any merit or worth of our own thereto, for so
none can be worthy of Chi-ist or any of his benefits.
We receive the Lord's Supper worthily, when we receive
it with due preparation before we come to it, and with
suitable behavior when we are at the table of the Lord.
" We are all unworthy by nature and in ourselves," says
Ursiuus, " but we are made worthy by the grace of
Christ if we come with faith and a good conscience."
No one ought therefore to absent himself because of
his unworthiness, seeing that all who come with faith
and penitence are counted worthy guests. (Isa. Ixvi. 2.)
The preparation required for the ordinance is habitual
and actual. By the former is meant that the persons
who receive it be in a state of grace ; by the latter, that
their graces be drawn forth into exercise. (Amos iii.
12; Eph. iv. 24; 2 Chron. xiii. 18; 1 Cor. v. 7; Ps.
xxvi. 6.)

EXAMINE THEMSELVES.

Self-examination is at all times a duty of great im-
portance, and one in which every Christian ought to
be much employed. No day should ordinarily pass
without some attention to it, and no Lord's day should
go by without attending to it more particularly. But
in the immediate prospect of the holy communion, un-
less prevented by uncontrollable circumstances, there
ought to be a formal, extensive and thorough exam-

300 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

ination. (1 Cor. xi. 28.) In order to this there must
be — 1. A solemn retiring of the soul. We should
"withdraw to our closet, that we may be more intent
in the work. (Num. ix. 13.) 2. We must set up a court
of conscience, and keep a register there, that by strict
scrutiny we may see how matters stand between God
and our soul. (Ps. Ixxvii. 6.) 3. We must make the
Holy Scripture, not fancy or the good opinion of oth-
ers, the rule or measure by which our self-examination
is conducted. (Isa. viii. 20 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; Lara. iii. 40;
1 Cor. xi. 31.) This examination must have respect
to

KNOWLEDGE TO DISCEJtN TBE LOJtD'S BODY.

There must be some understanding of the person,
offices and righteousness of Christ, of the fullness,
freedom and stability of the covenant of grace, of the
nature, use and end of the sacrament of the Supper,
and likewise of our manifold sins and wants. Why
is such a knowledge necessary ? To " discern the Lord's
body." What is it to discern the Lord's body in this
sacrament? It is to view the meritorious atonement
made by the Son of God in our nature through the
symbols of bread and wine, which are designed to sig-
niiy and represent the same. (1 Cor. xi. 29.)

FAITH TO ri<:EJ) VPON HIM.

" We partake aright," says an able writer of the last
century, " when we come in faith. Faith has a twofold
act — an adhering and an applying. By the first act
we go over to Christ; by the second act we bring
Christ over to us. (Gal. ii. 20.) Faith is the eagle eye
that discerns the Lord's body. Faith causes a viitual

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 301

contact, it touches Christ. Christ said to Mary, " Touch
me not." etc. (John xx. 17.) She was not to touch
him wiih the hands of her body, but he says to us,
" Touch me — touch me with the hand of your faith."
Faith makes Christ present to the soul. The believer
has a real presence in the sacrament. The body of the
sun is in the firmament, but the light of the sun is in
the eye. Christ's essence is in heaven, but he is in a
believer's heart by his light and influence. (Eph. iii.
17.) Faith is the palate which tastes Christ. (1 Pet.
ii. 3.) Faith causes the Bread of life to nourish.
Faith makes us one with Christ. (Eph. i. 23.) Other
graces make us like Christ ; faith makes us members
of Christ. (2 Cor. xiii. 5 ; Heb. xi. 6 ; Acts xv. 9 ;
Phil. iii. 8; Tit. iii. 7.)

MEPENTANCE, LOVE AND NEW OBEDIENCE.

How may we know that our repentance is true and
saving? If our sin is imbittered to us by the views
of Christ and the love of God — if we seriously repent
of all known sins and resolve on every known duty.
(Zech. xii. 10 ; Ps. li. 4.) We may know our love to
God is true, if we are careful to please him, afraid to
offend him, and prize his presence in gospel ordinances.
We may know that our love to Christ as Mediator is
true, if we love him in all his offices, relations, ordi-
nances and people, and love him as a pattern of holi-
ness as well as a purchaser of happiness. (John xiv.
21.) We may know if our love to the saints is a gra-
cious love, if we love them all, poor or rich, and even
though they have injured us and maintain some opin-
ions different from us, and love them in proportion to

302 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

the appearance of Christ's image in them. (Ps. cxix.
63.) We may know if our obedience is of a gracious
nature, if we habitually study obedience to all the com-
mands of God, and depend on Christ, as our only right-
eousness and strength, for assistance in our obedience
and acceptance of it. (Isa. xlv, 24 ; 1 Cor. v. 8.)

XTJSr COMING VNWORTHIIjT.

The sin of unworthily receiving the Lord's Supper is,
that such are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord
— that is, they are guilty of an affront and indignity
which they offer to the Lord's body and blood. (1 Cor.
xi. 27.) The danger of our unworthily receiving the
Lord's Supper is the eating and drinking judgment to
ourselves — that is, provoking the Lord by our unwor-
thy receiving, to inflict temporal, spiritual and eternal
judgments upon us. (1 Cor. xi. 29, 30.)

What is the duty of worthy receivers after the sacra-
ment ? Heartily to bless God for Christ and the bene-
fits of his blood (Matt. xvvi. 30) ; to double their
care and watchfulness against sin (Eph. iv. 30) ; to
grow more fruitful in all spiritual obedience. (Col. i.
10.)

" I do not go to the Lord's table to give, but to receive — not
to tell Christ how good / am, but to think how good he is. The
words are, 'Do this in remembrance of me,' as if the Saviour
said, ' Kemember who I am and what thou art ; remember me
as thy Saviour, as thy Master ; remember my love and thy obli-
gations ; remember me as hating thy sin, as bearing thy sin ;
remember me and fear not; remember me and sin not; re-
aiember me to live for me, by me, with me.' " — Rev. Thoinaa
Adam.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 303

Question 98. — Jlliat is prayer f

Answer. — Prayer is an offering vp of our desires
unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name
of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful ac-
knowledgment of his mercies.

It is natural for man to pray. The child of God
learns it as soon as he learns to speak. The child does
not first require instruction concerning prayer. He em-
ploys it as a practice that is self-understood, and soon be-
comes an admonisher to us concerning this duty. The
eternal world of God to which prayer ascends is to
him a well-known home, and it may almost be said his
first and dearest words are the words of prayer. And
when the old man of many years can scarcely any longer
collect the thoughts of his spirit which refer to the things
of this Avorld, and they are confused or have altogether
vanished, yet the word of prayer remains in his heart
and comes forth from his lips ; the prayer of his youth
is that which is last forgotten.

It is sometimes objected that prayer cannot possibly
have any influence in obtaining what we need and re-
quest from God, because all his purposes are fixed and
immutable. To this it may be replied that what the
Scriptures teach in regard to the direct influence of
prayer in obtaining what it seeks from God, is just as
reasonable as, and no more difficult to be understood
than, that ploughing and sowing should have an im-
mediate and indispensable influence in the production
of a crop. In both cases the divine purpose is equally
certain, and in both the influence of means or second-
ary causes is precisely the same. (Luke xviii. 1 ; Ps.
xxxii. 6 ; 1 Thess. v. 17 ; Matt. vi. 6.)

304 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
^JV^ OFFERING UP OF OVR DESIRES.

Our petitions are called our desires, because the words
of our mouth, without the desires of our heart, are noth-
ing but empty sounds in the ears of God. (Isa. xxix. 13.)
Our desires flow from a sense of need. We cannot have
any earnest desire after that with the want of which we
are no way affected, for " the full soul loatheth a honey-
comb." (Prov. xxvii. 7.)

VNTO GOD.

Prayer is not to be made to any but God. The pa-
pists pray to saints and angels, but they know not our
grievances. "Abraham be ignorant of us." (Isa. Ixiii.
16.) And all angel-worship is forbidden. (Col. ii. 18,
19.) God only knows the hearts of all the children
of men. (1 Kings viii. 30.) God only hears prayer.
(Ps. Ixv. 2 ; 1 Kings xviii. 37.) God only can help.
(2 Kings vi. 26, 27; Matt. iv. 10 ; Ps. xxxiv. 15 ; cxlv.
18, 19.)

FOR THINGS AGREEARLE TO HIS WIIL

We may not pray for the fulfilling of any sinful de-
sires. (James iv. 3.) We may and ought to pray to
God only for such things as are agreeable to his will.
What are the things agreeable to God's will for which
we may pray? All things which are agreeable to God's
revealed will in his word, such as the pardon of our
sins, the supplies of his grace, spiritual life and strength
here, eternal life and glory hereafter, deliverance from
spiritual and eternal evils ; also whatever temporal good
things of which we stand in need, and all those things
which either expressly or inclusively he has promised

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 305

in his covenant to us. (1 John v. 14; Heb. iv. 16 ; Ps.
cxix. 49, 81.)

jrJV^ THE NAME OF CHRIST.

Our prayers are to be directed to God only through
Christ and in his name, for the merit and satisfaction
of Christ alone give success and acceptance to our
prayers. It was in this way that Daniel prayed and
asked to be heard for the Lord's sake. (Dan. ix. 17.)
Christ also commands us to pray to the Father in his
name. (John xiv. 13.) Our prayers must be placed
upon our altar, even Chi'ist, so shall they be accept-
able to God. (Heb. x. 19 ; Rev. viii. 4 ; 1 Tim. ii. 5.)

WITH CONFESSION OF OUR SIXS.

Confession of sin is another important part of prayer.
In standing as parties with God it is indispensable that
we should distinctly recognize our true character ; and
as we are sinners, the full and free admission of this
humiliating fact should make a part of all our pray-
ers. We should confess all our sins, with the several
aggravations of them. (Ps. xxxii. and li.) This we
should do to testify our belief of God's holiness and
omniscience, and to affect our hearts with a sense of
our vileness and unworthiness before him. (Dan. ix.
3-19; Ps. XXV. 11.) The confession of our sins is to
be made in an humble and affectionate manner, with
faith's views of a crucified Christ as the propitiation
for them. It should also be made with grief and
hatred of our sins (Luke xviii. 13), and with full
purpose, in the strength of grace, to forsake them.
(Job xxxiv. 32.)
20

306 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
THANKFUL, ACKNOWLEDGMEKT OF BIS MFItCTES.

The third part of prayer is thankful acknowledg-
ment of God's mercies, temporal and spiritual, here,
and the promises of life and happiness in the other
world, which we ought to acknowledge with admira-
tion, faith, love, joy and every kind of suitable affec-
tions. Thanksgiving in prayer is necessary as an
acknowledgment of the goodness of God and to stir
up our heart to love him. (Ps. c. 4 ; cxvi. 17 ; Phil,
iv. 6.)

We must be constant in prayer. (Ps. cix. 4.) Hum-
ble in prayer. (Gen. xviii. 27.) Earnest in prayer
(Col. iv. 12.) Sincere in prayer. (Heb. x. 22.) Chari-
table. (1 Tim. ii. 8.) God will hear and accept those
who thus pray to him. (Isa. xlv. 19.) But the love of
sin will prevent the success of prayer. (Ps. Ixvi. 18.)

In the life of Pliilip Henry it is said " he and his wife con-
stantly prayed together, morning and evening." He made con-
science of closet-worship, and abounded in it. It was the caution
and advice which he frequently gave to his children and friends,
" Be sure you look to your secret duty. Keep that up, whatever
you do. The soul cannot prosper in the neglect of it. Apostasy
generally begins at the closet-door."

Two young men, members of a family the greater number of
which was devoted to God, left the house of their widowed mother
to reside in a distant State. After a little while they imbibed
exceedingly erroneous views of religion, and were thus exposed
to the utmost danger. Their sisters heard of their errors, and
resolved to seek their deliverance from them by earnest prayer.
They agreed separately to spend half an hour at sunset every
Saturday evening in fervent supplication for their brothers.
The Hearer of prayer was not unmindful of their requests.
The two brothers were awakened to a sense of tiieir danger,
and hopefully converted to God.

NUTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 307

Question 99. — What rule hath God given for our
direction in prayer f

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, com-
monly called, The Lord's Prayer.

DIRECTION ly PMAYER.

Why do we need direction in prayer? Because man
is naturally a stranger both to God and himself, being
ignorant both of the glorious perfections of God (Rom.
iii. 11) and of his own sins and wants. (Rev. iii. 17 ;
Rom. viii. 26.)

The " whole word of God " is generally useful for
our direction in prayer, as it contains plenty of mat-
ter for prayer, guides us to the manner of it, and
abounds with a variety of expressions which most fitly
may be used in it. It directs us — 1. By its prayers.
They show us to whom, for what, and for whom and
in what manner we should pray. (Dan. ix. 14; 1
Kings viii.) 2. By its threatenings and histories of
God's judgments. They show us what sins we ought
to confess, and what evils we should pray to have pre-
vented or removed. 3. By God's merciful providences.
They encourage us to prayer, and show us what good
things God is ready to bestow. 4. By its doctrines.
They show us what God is and is disposed to do, what
we are and need, and in what manner we may come
to God for the supply of our wants. 5. By its precepts.
They show us what sins we ought to confess and from
what sins to seek deliverance, what graces we should
desire and what duties we need strength to perform.

308 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISir.

6. By its promises. Tliey show us the various condi-
tions we may be in, and what blessings God has en-
gaged and is ready to give us.

SPECIAL JtVLE.

The " form of prayer " here referred to is in Mat-
thew (vi. 9) prefaced with the words, " After this man-
ner therefore pray ye," or, as the original word may be
more simply rendered, " thus ;" and in Luke (xi. 2),
" When ye pray, say." Evidently it was not our Lord's
meaning that we should use this prayer exclusively,
for the second form of it (in Luke) varies considerably
from that in Matthew. It was -intended as a model
rather than a mould. Highly appropriate as it is both
in public and private devotion, it was never intended
to confine within the limits of its few sentences the free
spirit of prayer. It was given rather as a specimen, by
the spirit and order of whose several parts we should
guide our own spontaneous petitions, than as a rigid
and imperishable enclosure in which all our pious ac-
knowledgments and supplications should be compress-
ed. It was intended not so much as a sacred formulary,
as for divine instruction as to Avhat petitions are univer-
sally good, universally necessary, universally acceptable,
as well as to inculcate simplicity and brevity in the ex-
pression. The example of our Lord himself, of the
apostles of the Church in all ages, shows how full
and varied are the utterances of the human heart when
it breathes itself out unrestrainedly unto God in prayer.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

AI>MIItAIiZ,ENJESS OF THE LORD'S rRAI ER.

From its delivery to the present hour this prayer

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISiM. 309

has excited the admiration of the wise and good
throughout the world, and down through all these
centuries it has been the single golden link running
through the ages, that has bound together in one the
whole vast company of the prayerful. Even the
stupid infidel and the shallow scoffer have not failed to
perceive its beauty, sublimity and comprehensiveness.
It is little in words, but great in substance; so short
that the weakest memory may retain it, and yet so full
that it comprehends all things which relate to ourselves
or others, to our bodies or souls, to time or eternity ;
proper for all exigencies and occasions — as well for the
last ages of Christianity as the first — as well for the
private devotions of the closet as the public service of
the temple, including every part of religious worship,
supplication and intercesssion, confession and depreca-
tion, resignation and thanksgiving ; adapted to all
periods of life, to all kinds of character, to all coun-
tries and capacities, and suited to all conditions — equal-
ly proper for high and low, rich and poor. The child
may lisp its simple sentences as soon as it knows how
to pray ; it comes with no less fitness from the wrink-
led lips of age. It may be taken up and used alike
by the penitent in the first hour of his return to God,
the struggler in the thick of the spiritual conflict,
and the believer in the highest soarings of his faith
and love. The youngest, the oldest, the simplest,
the wisest, the most sin-stained, the most saintly,
can find nothing here unsuitable, unreasonable.
It gathers up into one what they all can and should
unite in saying as they bend in supplication before
God.

310 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

Ill a certain town there had been no revival for many years;
the church was nearly run out, the youth were all unconvert-
ed, and desolation reigned unbroken. Tliere lived in a retired
part of the town an aged man, a blacksmith by trade, and of
80 stammering a tongue that it was painful to hear him speak.
On one Friday, as he was at work in his shop alone, his mind
became greatly exercised about the state of the church and of
the impenitent. His agony became so great that he was in-
duced to lay aside his work, lock the shop-door and spend the
afternoon in prayer.

He prevailed, and on the Sabbath called on the minister and
desired him to appoint a conference-meeting. After some
hesitation the minister consented, observing, however, that he
feared but few would attend. He appointed it the same even-
ing at a large private house. When evening came more
assembled than could be accommodated in the house. All
were silent for a time, until one sinner broke out in tears and
said if any one could pray he begged him to pray for him.
Another followed and another, and still another, until it was
found that persons from every quarter of the town were under
deep convictions. And what was remarkable was, that they
all dated their conviction at the hour when the old man was
praying in his shop. A powerful revival followed. Thus this
old stammering man prevailed, and as a prince had power
with God. — Mev. Charles G. Finney.

Question 100. — What doth the preface of the Lord's
Prayer teach us f

Answer. — The preface of the Lord's Prayer, which
is, " Our Father, which art in heaven," teacheth tts 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.

The Lord's Prayer consists of three parts — 1. A
jTeface. 2. Petitioas. 3. The conclusion.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 311
OVR FATHEJt, WHICH AJtT IN HEAVEH.

Praver cannot begin in a more beautiful or more
lovely way than with these words and this address
to God. Father! Tliis is the most beautiful name
that men can give to God ; it is the true name by
Avhich the children of God call their Father ; it is
the name of a child's simplicity as well as the name
of the highest knowledge of the divine nature. For
to learn to know God aright means simply to learn
to know him as our Father. This is the knowledge
Avhich we owe to Christ. My Father, your Father.
For we call him so not merely because God is the
Father of all men, by being Creator and Preserver
of all, but we call him Father as in Christ he has
become our !^ather, while we in Christ have become
his children. (Gal. iv. 6 ; Luke xv. 18 ; Hos. xiv.
13.)

We have here grouped together the three principles,
which settle man's just relations to this and to the
next world : 1. The filial. We see in the Most High
a Father. (Acts xvii. 28; Col. i. 20-22; John i. 12.)
This representation of God as a Father of those who
worship him, teaches us that he stands in a relation
toward them similar to that in Avhich a father stands
to his children, and that he regards them in a manner
similar to that in which a father regards and acts to-
ward his children — really loving them and disposed
to bestow on them everything that is necessary to their
true happiness. 2. The fraternal. We come not with
our private needs and vows alone, but with those of
our race and household. Our Father. The renewal
of the parental reknits the fraternal tie. Believers

312 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

in all their prayers shojuld think of others as well as
themselves. Though we go alone into the closet, we
are not accepted there if we go in selfishness and isola-
tion. (Acts xii. 12 ; Eph. vi. 18.) 3. The celestial^
Though we are now of the earth and attached to it
by these mortal and terrene bodies, Ave are not origin-
ally from it, nor were we made to be eternally upo7i it.
We are of heaven and for heaven, for there and not
here our Father is, and where he is our true home is.
(Isa. Ixiii. 16 ; Jer. iii. 4; Mai. ii. 10 ; Deut. xxxii. 6 ;
2 Cor. vi. 18.)

The term " heaven " in the answer signifies the abode
or habitation of God, of the holy angels and blessed
men. (Isa. Ixvi. 1 ; John xiv. 2.) God is indeed
everywhere by his immensity, but he is said to exist
and dwell in heaven, because he is there more glorious
than in the world, and there manifests himself imme-
diately. (Ps. xi. 4.) There must be a region of the
universe in which God confers their full reward upon
his holy creatures, and he is said to be in it because he
there gives the highest manifestations of his goodness
and glory. As it is a natural thought that this place
is elevated above this terrestrial and the visible crea-
tion, we point upward when we are speaking of the
habitation of the Divinity, as our Saviour lifted up his
eyes when he prayed, acting on that occasion under
the influence of the ideas and feelings of a man. (1
Cor. ii. 9 ; Rev. vii. 16, 17 ; 1 Fet. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. v. 1.)
It is the presence of God that makes heaven.

JtEVEUENCE AND CONFIDENCE.

The representation of God as " in heaven " teaches

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 313

US to approach him with confidence, because if he is
our Father, and is possessed of iufiuite goodness,
which he especially displays in heaven, then he will
also give us all things necessary for our salvation. If
this our Father be also Lord in heaven and possessed
of infinite power, so that he can help us in our need,
then he can also easily grant unto us what we ask at
his hands. (Luke xi. 13 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 11 ; Phil. ii. 13.)
This representation of God also teaches us to draw
near to him with reverence. For since our Father is
so great a Lord — even one that is heavenly, who rules
everywhere and has power to cast both soul and body
into hell — we ought to reverence him and come into
his presence with the greatest humiliation of soul and
body. By the words " Our Father " we express God's
nearness to us ; by the phrase " in heaven," his distance
from us. (See Eccles. v. 2 ; Isa. Ixvi. 1.) By the latter
we learn God's ability to help us ; by the former, his
willingness to do so. Holy, loving familiarity suggests
the one, awful reverence the other. The whole address
tends to produce the right disposition of prayer, the
mixture of joy and fear, confidence and reverence.
(Ps. ii. 11; Eph. iii. 12; John x. 29; Matt. vi. 32;
John xvi. 27.)

rHAY WITB AND FOR OTHERS.

Here, as already hinted, is another lesson which the
words " Our Father " teach us. What is it to pray
" with " others ? To be the mouth of others to God,
or to join with them in family or social worship.
What is it to pray " for " others ? To express our
concern about them, or our sympathy with them, before

314 KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

God as sincerely and ingenuously as we would do with
reference to ourselves were we in the same circum-
stances. (Ps. XXXV. 13.) Who are these "others" for
whom we should pray ? Not only Christians, but all
men ; we must pray not only for the Church in gene-
ral, but also for the nation wherein we live, for magis-
trates and for ministers ; and not only for our friends,
but also for our enemies, for the race to which we be-
long. (Ps. exxii. 6 ; 1 Tim. ii. 1, 2 ; Matt. v. 44 : Eph.
vi. 18.)

One of the members of Christ's flock was reduced to great
poverty in his helpless old age, and yet he never murmured.
A kind-hearted neighbor who met him on the road said to him,
" You must be badly off; I cannot tell how you maintain your-
self and your wife, and yet you are always cheerful." "Oh,
not so," replied the old Christian ; " we are not badly off; we
have a rich Father, who does not suffer us to want." " Your
father not dead yet ! he must be very old indeed." " My
Father never dies, and he always takes care of me." That
aged Christian was a daily pensioner on the providence of his
merciful and covenant-keeping God.

" Some impressions," says a young man, afterward a mission-
ary to the heathen, " of the importance and necessity of true
religion were made upon my mind at a very early period. The
first particular one that I recollect was, I think, when I was
about five years of age. There happened one day a very vio-
lent storm of thunder and lightning in our neighborhood, on
which occasion a few Christian friends who lived near us, ter-
rified by its violence, came into my father's house. When un-
der his roof in a moment there came a most vivid flash, fol-
lowed by a dreadful peal of thunder, which much alarmed the
whole company except my father, who, turning toward my
mother and o u- friends, witli the greatest composure repeated
these words of Dr. Watts :

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 315

" 'The God that rules on high,

An d thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky,

And manages the seas —
This awful God is ours,

Our Father and our love,' etc.

Thei=e words, accompanied with such circumstances, sank
deep into my heart. I thought, How safe and happy are those
who have the great God for their Father and Friend ! but being
conscious that I had sinned against him, I was afraid he was
not my Father, and that, instead of loving me, he was angry
with me ; and this, for some time after, continued to distress
and grieve my mind." He then proceeds to say that these
early impressions were succeeded by others occasioned by pa-
rental admonitions, the death of a sister, the conversation of
pious friends and the reading of useful books, which termi-
nated in his conversion.

Question 101. — What do we pray for in the first
petition f

Answer. — In the first petition, ivhich is, " Hallotved
be thy name," we pray, that God tvould enable us, and
others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh
hiviself known, and that he would dispose all things to
his own glory.

" But holiest rite or longest prayer

That soul can yield or wisdom frame,
What better import can it bear

Than 'Father, hallowed be thy name'?"

This is the first petition we address to God. We
pray first not for ourselves, but for him and his honor
—that to hiia there may be the honor which is due.

"When the blessed spirits bow themselves before hiiu

316 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

aud praise him, they say, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty!" That is the cry of the heavenly hosts
that stand about his throne. Aud all creatures give
honor to Him who has created and rules them. And
wheu we men draw near his thi*one to pray, we should
bow our faces before him, and all our thoughts should
incline to him, and say. Holy. That is the first word
of petition that we send up to Him that is enthroned on
high — Holy. To Him to whom all honor in heaven and
earth belongs our souls and our lives should also give
honor. For not only our thoughts should be a prayer,
but our lives, our whole lives, should be prayers.

THE NAME OF GOD.

The name of God signifies — 1. God himself. (Ps. v.
11 ; ix. 2, 10 ; cxvi. 13 ; 1 Kings v. 5.) 2. The attrib-
vtes and works of God. (Ex. xvi. 3; xxxiv. 14.) 3.
The command, will and authoriti/ of God. (1 Sam. xvii.
45; Matt, xxviii. 19.) 4. The worship, trust, praise
and profession of God. (Acts ii. 38 ; xxi. 13.)

SALZOWED.

The word "hallowed" is nearly synonymous with
*' sanctified " or " glorified." God's name may be hal-
lowed by us in three ways : 1. In our hearts, by enter-
taining suitable conceptions of him. 2. By our lips,
when we acknowledge his divine perfections and tell
of all his wondrous works. 3. In our lives, when the
consideration of these divine perfections engages us to
suitable obedience. This petition forbids cursing and
swearing, perjury and blasphemy. It forbids all lip-
service, all hypocritical genuflexions, all mummeries
of worship where the heart is not engaged. In pre-

KOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 317

senting this petition we pray that we may be enabled
to glorify God. (Ps. li. 15 ; cxix. 175 ; cxlii. 7 ; Matt.
V. 16.)

OTHERS.

When we pray that God woidd enable "others" to
glorify him as well as ourselves, we in effect pray that
all atheism, infidelity, idolatry, impiety, superstition,
ignorance and false religion may be banished from the
■world, and that the only living and true God may be
worshiped and honored all over the earth, and by
every intelligent creature. (Isa. xi. 9 ; xxiv. 16 ; Ps.
Ixvii. 1-3.) This, in fact, is the very petition which
the Lord Jesus himself put up on another occasion.
(John xii. 28 ; Ps. Ixxvii. 2, 3 ; 2 Thess. iii. 1 ; Phil,
i. 11 ; Isa. Ixi. 3.)

DISPOSE ALT, THIN^GS TO HIS OIVX GLORT.

God disposes all things to his own glory, by bringing
a revenue of gloxy to himself even out of those things
that seem most opposite to it. For example, he does
so in relation to the persecution of believers, by over-
ruling them to the furtherance of the gospel (Acts xi.
19-21), and in relation to the falls of believers, by
overruling them in such a manner as that they are
made more humble, watchful and circumspect for the
future. (Ps. li. 3 ; Ixxvi. 10.)

PIACE THE PETITION OCCUPIES.

" This petition," says an old writer, " is placed first,
to show that the hallowing of God's name is to be pre-
ferred before all things. It is to be preferred before
life, for we are to pray for it before we ask for ' daily
bread.' It is to be preferred before salvation, for

318 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

God's glory is worth more than the salvation of
men's souls. The time Avill come when some of the
other petitions will be useless and out of date; we
shall not then need to ask for bread, because there
shall be no hunger ; nor for forgiveness, because there
shall be no sin ; nor to be kept from temptation, because
there is no old serpent there to tempt; yet the hallow-
ing of God^s name shall be of great use and request in
heaven. We shall there be ever singing hallelujahs,
which is nothing else but the hallowing of God's name.
Every person in the blessed Trinity — God the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost — must have this honor to be hal-
lowed, their glory being equal and their majesty co-
eternal."

Among the dying sayings of the heavenly-minded David
Brainerd, President Edwards has recorded the following :
" My heaven is to please God, and to glorify him, and give all
to liim, and to be wholly devoted to his glory ; tliat is my re-
ligion and that is my happiness, and always was ever since I
supposed I had any true religion ; and all those tliatare of that
religion shall meet me in heaven. I do not go to heaven to
be advanced, but to give honor to God. It is no matter where
I shall be stationed in heaven, whether I have a high or a low
seat there, but to love and please and glorify God is all."

Question 102. — What do ive pray for in the second
petition ?

Answer. — In the second petition, which is, " Thy king-
dom come" we pray, that Satan's kingdom may he de-
stroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced,
ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it, and
'Juit the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 319

TRY KIN^GDOM

" God's kingdom," says an eminent divine, " is the
government in which he rules as King." Where is
this kingdom? ^

He rules over heaven and earth, and his power ab-
solutely embraces all space and all time. But higher
than this kingdom of power is his kingdom of grace,
in which his love rules and his eternal counsel con-
cerning the redemption and salvation of men fulfills it-
self. This kingdom is God's eternal and first thought,
for this kingdom is the goal of all his ways. For he
has willed and created the world only because he has
willed this kingdom of salvation, and the entire his-
tory of his revelation is the progressive realization of
this kingdom. But in Jesus Christ it has also come to
earth, and has diffused itself through the word of the
gospel. It does not spring from the earth, and is not
established by earthly means. Its foundation lies in
the heart of eternal grace, and its power is the Holy
Ghost and his word. The kingdoms of outward form
indeed appear to leave no space for it on earth, for
they have divided the whole world between them, and
he who has an eye only for that which the senses ob-
serve, sees nothing of it, for it is a kingdom of the
Spirit. But high above all earthly kingdoms this king-
dom soars, and deeper than all othei*s are its founda-
tions planted. Hence, where no earthly force reaches
its power extends — namely, in the hearts of men — and
when the time of the kingdoms of the world has come
to an end, the time of the kingdom of God will only
rightly begin.

320 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.
WHAT THE PETITION IMPLIES.

This petition implies an earnest desire that the king-
dom of God may be set up in our own hearts (Luke
xvii. 21), reducing all within us to subjection to Christ,
our King ; that it may be set up in the hearts of our
children, relatives, servants, friends, neighbors ; that the
word of the kingdom may in all nations be " preached
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ;" that
Christian churches may be established in every region
of our earth, and that " the kingdoms of this world " may
become " the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ ;"
that every opposing power may be put down, and God
be all in all. The final setting up of this kingdom has
been long predicted. (Gen. iii. 15 ; Rom. viii. 21, 22 ;
Rev. xi. 15 ; xxii. 20. See also Jer. xxxi. 8 ; 2 Thess.
ii. 17; Phil. i. 9; Ps. xiiii. 3; 1 Thess. v. 23; John
xvii. 21 ; Matt. ix. 38.)

BROUGHT INTO IT AND KEPT IN IT.

How are persons brought into God's invisible king-
dom of grace ? By regeneration, justification and adop-
tion, (Col. i. 12, 13 ; Acts xxvi. See on Questions 31,
33, 34.) How^ are they kept in it ? By sanctification,
assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in
the Holy Ghost, increase of grace and perseverance
therein to the end. (See on Questions 35, 36.) Why
need believers pray for the coming of God's kingdom
of grace with respect to themselves when they are al-
ready in it ? They need to pray that it would come to
them more and more. (Phil. iii. 9-14.) Are not Chris-
tians " kept by the power of God, thi'ough faith unto

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 321

salvation " ? (1 Pet. i. 5.) Why, then, should they pray
to be kept in it ? Because perseverance, being a prom-
ised privilege, should on that account be prayed for.
(Ps. cxix. 28.)

THE KINGDOM OF GLOJtY HASTENED.

We request in our praying that the kiugdom of God's
glory may come — that this kingdom of glory may be
hastened, which will appear and be manifested to the
whole world at the second coming and appearance of
the Lord Jesus to judgment. (Rev. x. 7 ; 2 Pet. iii. 12 ;
2 Cor. V. 2 ; Luke ii. 29 ; Rev. xxii. 20.)

In his account of his views and feelings soon after he received
the hope of salvation, President Edwards says: "I had a great
longing for the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the world.
My secret prayer used to be in great part taken up in praying
for it. If 1 heard the least hint of anything that happened in
any part of the world, that appeared to me in some respect or
other to have a favorable aspect on the interest of Clirist's king-
dom, my soul eagerly catched at it, and it would much animate
and refresh me. I used to be earnest to read public news-letters
mainly for that end, to see if I could find some news favorable
to the interests of religion in the world." " He regarded," says
the Puritan, " the history of this world as the history of redemp-
tion. Every event furnished him Avith an occasion of thanks-
giving or of prayer."

Question 103. — What do we pray for in the third
petition f

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

21

322 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHLSM.
THY WILL.

God's will may be considered either as preceptive or
providential. To the former reference is here made,
for God's providential will is done in earth equally as
in heaven. Or, if the latter is also referred to, that
submission, acquiescence and satisfaction in it which
angels feel and express, may be intended.

TO KlfOW.

We must pray God to make us able and willing to
know his will. (2 Cor. iii. 5 ; Gal. i. 15, 16 ; Eph. i.
17, 19 ; V. 8.) How must we know God's will? Not
speculatively and rationally only, but spiritually also.
(1 Cor. ii. 14.) Why is knowing God's will placed
here before obeying, etc. ? Because the understanding
is the leading faculty, without which it is impossible
there should be any obedience. (Prov. xix. 2 ; Jer.
V. 4. See also Eph. v. 17 ; Rom. xii. 2 ; Ps. cxix.
34; Col. i. 9; Ps. xxvii. 11.) All who are sanctified
truly, desire to know God's will. (Josh. v. 14.)

OBEY.

The bare knowledge of God's will is inefficacious ;
it does not improve the heart. Knowledge alone is like
a winter sun, which has no heat or influence ; it does
not warm the affections or purify the conscience. Ju-
das was a great luminary ; he knew God's will, but
he was a traitor. Knowing without doing God's will,
indeed, will make one's case worse. (Luke xii. 47.)
Many a man's knowledge is a torch to light him to
hell. In this petition we pray for active obedience.
We pray that we may be sincere in our obedience (Ps.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 323

cxix. 80), that we may be exact in our obedience (Ps.
cxix. 5), that we may be uuiversal in our obedience
(Coh iv. 12), that we may be armed against that
which would divert us from our obedience (Ps. cxix.
37), and that others also may do God's AvilL (Heb.
xiii. 21.)

STTBIIHT.

We pray also for passive obedience. We are by na-
ture prone to repine and murmur against the provi-
dence of God, especially in afflictive dispensations.
(Num. xiv. 2.) In this petition we ask that God, by
his grace, would make us able and willing to sub-
mit to all his dealings with us, even when they seem
to be adverse. When do we submit to God's afflictive
dispensations? When we justify God in them (Dan.
ix. 7), and acknowledge that he " hath punished us
less than our iniquities deserve." (Ezra ix. 13.)

" Whate'er tliy lot, whoe'er thou be,
Confess thy folly, kiss tlie rod,
And in thy chastening sorrow see
Tlie liand of God.

"A bruised reed lie will not break,
Afflictions all his children feel ;
He wounds them for his mercy's sake ;
He wounds to heal."

AS THE ANGELS DO IK HEATEN.

. It ought to be the prayer and care, the study and
endeavor of every Christian, that the commanding
will of God may be done by himself and by all men
on earth as it is by the saints and angels in heaven,
with entireness, harmony, cheerfulufss, diligence, con-

324 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

stancy and ineffable delight. (Heb. ii. 4; viii. 11.
See also Luke xxii. 42; Acts xxi. 14; Matt. xxvi.
39.) Nor should the knowledge of the fact that in
this life, through the imperfection of our nature, we
shall never do the will of God in the same absolutely
perfect way as it is done in heaven, be regarded as a
reason why we should lower the object of our desires
or the aim and earnestness of our endeavors. This
petition is instinct with the very life of missionary en-
terprise, and the Church cannot offer this clause of the
divine prayer in the full spirit of its power without be-
coming a missionary Church. There are some who see
in it an intimation that our earth is to be one part, at
least, of the final and glorious abode of the saints.
(See 2 Pet. iii. 13.)

A clergyman once paid a visit to a deaf-and-dumb asylum
in London for tlie express purpose of examining the children
in the knowledge they possessed of divine truth. A little boy
on this occasion was asked in writing, " Who made the world ?"
He took np the chalk and wrote underneath the question, " In
the beginning God created ti>e heaven and the earth." The
clergyman tlien inquired in a similar manner, " Why did Jesus
Christ come into the world ?" A smile of delight and grati-
tude rested on the countenance of the little fellow as he wrote,
" This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." A tiiird
question was then proposed, eminently adapted to call liis most
powerful feelings into exercise : " Why were you born deaf
and dumb, while I can hear and speak?" "Never," said ."in
eye-witness, "shall I forget the look of holy resignation and
chastened sorrow which sat on his countenance as he took up
the chalk and wrote, ' Even so. Father, or it seemed good in
thy sight.' "

"I have had six children," said Mr. Elliot, "and I bless

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 325

God for his free grace they are all witli Clirist, and my mind
is now at rest concerning them. My desire was tliat they
sliould have served Clirist on earth, but if God will choose
to have them rather serve liim in heaven, I have nothing to
object to it. His will be done."

There was a good woman who, when she was sick, being
a^ked whether she was willing to live or die, answered,
"Which God pleaseth." "But," said one standing by, "if
God .should refer it to you, whicii would you choose?"
"Truly," said she, "if God should refer it to me, I would
even refer it back to him."

Question 104. — What do we pray for in the fourth
petition f

Answer. — In the fourth petition, which is, " Give tis
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 ivith them.

This petition is placed after the three former peti-
tions, because those concern immediately and generally
God's glory in the advancement of his name, kingdom
and will, which ought to be preferred to all our per-
sonal concerns. (Ps. Ixix. 9; Acts xxi. 13.) It is put
before the following petitions, not for its worth, but
for its order, for we can have no spiritual blessings un-
less we have a natural being in tliis life.

JiREAD.

Bread is one principal part of the things which are
needful for the body, and here, as is often the case, it is
put for the whole. It comprehends all temporal bless-
ings, and such as are necessary for the sustenance of
life, as food, raiment, health, civil peace, etc. This is
evident frd m the design of the petition, for we pray for

326 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

bread from our necessity. But there are many other
things besides bread necessary for us. Therefore we pray
for them also under the term bread. This synecdoche
often occurs in the Bible. (Gen. iii. 19 ; Ps. xli. 9.)
Christ furthermore comprehends all temporal blessings
under the term bread — 1. That he might restrain our
desires, and teach us to pray only for such things as
are necessary for the support of life and for the ser-
vice of God and our neighbor, both in our common and
proper calling. 2. That he might teach us to pray
not only for such things as are necessary, but also that
the use of them might be made profitable to us, and
tend to our salvation, inasmuch as these things profit
us nothing without such use.

DAIT.T.

We are taught to ask " daily " the supply of the
needs of life — 1. That we should not have anxious
care for the future ; and, 2. Because we are not war-
ranted to ask, even of the necessaries of life, very large
supplies, which may serve for weeks, months or years
to come, but are as children continually to exercise
the spirit of entire dependence on our heavenly Fa-
ther's care, and complete confidence in it. (Acts xvii.
25; 1 Tim. vi. 17; Matt. iv. 4; vi. 34.) The richer
sort of persons, in offering this petition, do in efiect
say, " Let the bread which is ours come to us this day
sanctified by thy almighty hands."

OUM.

The " our " points to necessary labor, the true way
of asking and receiving according to God's original
appointment for man in Gen. iii. 19, independently of

NOTtS ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 327

which we eat not our own bread (2 Thess. iii. 12 ; 1
Thess. iv. 11, 12), but another's. It shows that our
food and raiment must be of God's giving — that is,
honestly and fairly earned, " for," as an old writer re-
marks, " to him God gives bread who earns it by right-
eous means, but to him who earns it by sin the devil it
is who giveth." It points also to the obligatory commu-
nication and fellowship, since as we in " our " and " us "
pray with and for one another, so we may not hold
anything that we receive, exclusively and covetously
for ourselves. (Isa. Iviii. 7 ; comp. 1 Sam. xxv. 11.)

COMPETENT I'ORTIOX'.

God, who has placed men in different situations, has
himself rendered a larger share of worldly good things
necessary to a man of rank, for example, than an ob-
scure person — to the father of a numerous family than
to him who is childless. Our Saviour has in his wis-
dom employed a general expression which admits of
considerable latitude of application, and authorizes us
to pray for sufficient bread, for a competent portion, for
all that our station requires. The prayer of Agur will
serve as a model, and will show us that, although we
should not presume to dictate to God, yet there are
two extremes from which we may pray to be preserved,
as there is danger to be apprehended from both. (See
Prov. XXX. 7-9.)

Our praying that God would give us this competent
portion imports our desire to receive it as God's free
gift. (Gen. xxvii. 28 ; xxxii. 10.) We also thus ac-
knowledge that in Adam and by our own sin we have

328 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

forfeited our rights to all the outward blessings of this
life, an i deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God.
(See Gtn. ii. 17 ; Jer. v. 25.) "The tree of mercy,"
says one, " will not drop its fruit unless shaken by the
hand of prayer. Whatever we have, if it do not come
in the way of prayer, it doth not come in the way of
love; it is given, as Israel's quails, in anger. If every-
thing be a gift, we do not deserve it ; we are not fit
for it unless we ask for this alms."

EISJOT HIS BLESSING.

Why do we ask for temporal enjoyments from God,
when we labor for them with our hands ? Because it
is God who giveth us opportunities and strength for
labor, success in it, and a blessing with it. (Deut. viii.)
It is our duty to crave God's blessing on our food, and
return him thanks for it. (Ex. xxiii. 25.) AVe must
pray for God's blessing on all we have (Matt. iv. 4),
for the prosperity of others (3 John 2), and for the
support of the poor and needy.

The Eev. Mr. Winter observes that in a time when lie was
destitute and knew not where to look for a supply, he received
a letter of which the following is a copy, and which he kept, as
he said, to record the kind providence of the Lord : " Dear and
Kev. Sir: I enclose you twenty pounds, as I suppose your purse
may be low. I commend you to the grace and love of Jesus ;
may he long shine upon you and bless you ! My dear friend,
yours affectionately, John Thornton."

Some never unite in any form of social prayer but on the
Sabbath. To suit their hebdomadal devotions this (fourth)
petition should have run, "Give us this week our weekly
Dread." But as it now is, we have the supplies of the other six
days unasked for. We acknowledge our dependence on God
for only a seventh part of oir time. — Dr. Nevins.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECIII8>r. 329

Professor Francke relates tliat at one time all Iiis provision
was spent; "but in addressing myself," says he, "to the Lord,
I found myself deeply affected with the fourtli petition of the
Lord's prayer, Give us this day our daily bread; and my
tliougiits were fixed in a more especial manner upon the words
this day, because on the very same day we had great occasion
for it. "While I was yet praying a friend of mine canie before
my door in a coach, and brought the sum of four hundred
crowns."

Question 105. — What do xve pray for in the fifth
petition ?

Answer. — In the fifth petition, which is, "A7id for-
give lis our debts, as ive forgive our debtors," xoe pray,
that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all
our sins; tvhich we are the rather encouraged to ask,
becatise by his grace we are enabled from the heart to
forgive others.

OUIi DEBTS.

As bread in this prayer comprehends all the neces-
saries of life, so forgiveness of sins comprehends the
substance of all that is necessary for the well-being of
our souls. Sin is the only bar between God and man ;
if, therefore, this be removed, there is nothing left to
impede the most ample communi cations of his favor.
Sins are called debts —not properly, but metaphorically.
All that belongs to a debt will not apply to a crime.
The former, as being a mere private obligation, may
be remitted by the creditor, if he please, without any
satisfaction ; but the latter, being a public evil, com-
mitted against God as the Governor of the world, can-
not be consistently forgiven without an atonement
which shall effectually distinguish that forgiveness

330 NOTES ON THE SHOKTER CATECHISM.

from connivance. There is a sufficient resemblance,
however, between them, to justify the use of the term.
We owe to God, as his creatures, supreme love and
unreserved obedience, and in default of paying it
fall under an obligation to punishment. As a rebel
against the state forfeits his life, which is his all, to
his injured country, so, as rebels against God, we have
forfeited our souls, which are our all, to his injured
government. (See Luke vii. 41, 42 ; Matt, xviii. 24 :
Luke xii. 58, 59.) Forgive us our debts — i. e., remit
the penalty of our offences, and hold us as if we had
not sinned. (Job vii. 21 ; Ps. xxxii. 1 ; Isa. xliii. 25 ;
xliv. 22 ; Jer. xxxi. 34 ; Mic. vii. 19 ; Mark ii. 7.)

FREMLT PAIfDON.

Higher than bodily want is the spiritual want of the
soul. But of ail that our souls need, forgiveness is the
most necessary. For of all that oppresses the soul our
guilt is the heaviest. And before we begin the work
of improvement, and before we can perform works of
love, we must first have a free and joyful conscience,
and forgiveness from our God must be certain. We
all need this forgiveness. Only one man of all had
no need to offer this prayer — the Redeemer of our
sins — and he alone. All the rest of us need forgive-
ness, forgiveness from God. For all our sins, manifold
as they are, and whosoever be the persons against w^hom
they have been committed, are still in their ultimate
foundation sins against God. "Against thee, thee only,
have I sinned." Only he can forgive us. Even our
secret faults are meant, even those of which we know
nothing. For our sins reach much farther than our

NOTES OX THE SHORTER CATP^CIIISM. 331

knowledge, even to the deepest fouudutioii of our
beiug. Agaiust all these sins there is for us all only
one way of deliverance ; that is the way of forgiveness
and of the humble prayer, " Father, forgive !"

God pardons us freely. (Ps. xxv. 11.) And he does
this for Christ's sake. (Rom, iii. 25.) Is it asked. How
can God be said to pardon our sins freely when he does
it on account of the righteousness of Christ imputed to
us? the answer is, God's accepting of Christ as our
Surety and his fulfilling all righteousness in our room,
were both of them acts of rich, free and sovereign
grace. (Ps. Ixxxix. 19; Luke xii. 50.) Though the
pardon of our sins be of debt to Christ, yet it is free
to us. (Eph. i. vii. See Ps. xxv. 11 ; xli. 4; li. 1, 2;
cxliii. 2; Rom. iii. 24; Hos. xiv. 2; Job x. 2.)

AS WE FORGIVE OUR DEBTORS.

In Luke xi. 4 it is, " for we also forgive," etc. The
word as, meaning according as, like as, is not a note of
equality, but similitude — not that we equal God in for-
giving, but imitate him. It has also in a measure the
sense of inasmuch as. The willingness of the suppli-
ant is by no means a ground upon which God can be-
stow on him forgiveness, but rather a subjective condi-
tion without which he has no boldness to entreat the
forgiveness of his own sins. (See Matt. vi. 14, 15;
James ii. 13; 1 John iv. 18, lb.) This condition
or qualification requires that we forgive cordially
(Jer. xxxi. 34; Matt, xviii. 35), fully (Ps. ciii. 3),
often. (Isa. Iv. 7 ; Matt, xviii. 21.) It is a very strik-
ing consideration that this petition is so framed that,
if presented in an unforgiving spirit, it is indeed an

332 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

imprecation of divine vengeance. He who does not
forgive his neighbor his trespasses, when he uses this
prayer in effect asks God not to forgive him his tres-
passes ; and if he continues in his present temper, there
is no doubt that his prayer will be answered. (Col. iii.
18 ; James v. 9 ; Mark xi. 25 ; Matt, xviii. 33 ; vi. 14,
15.)

Rev. Cliarles Simeon says : " To pass by a transgression is
more becoming the gospel than to resent it. A man strikes
me with his sword and inflicts a wound. Suppose, instead of
binding up tiie wound, I am showing it to everybody, and af-
ter it has been bound up I am taking off the bandage continu-
ally, and examining the depth of the wound and making it
fester, till my limb becomes greatly inflamed and my general
health is materially affected; is there a person in the world
who would not call me a fool ? Now, such a fool is he also
wlio, by dwelling upon little injuries or insults or provoca-
tions, causes them to agitate and influence his mind. How
much better were it to put a bandage over the wound and
never look at it again !"

Question 106. — What do we pray for in the sixth
petition f

Answer. — In the sixth petition, tvhich 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.

I'ETITIOX FOR THE JFUTTTRE.

As the prayer for daily bread raises us above care
for to-day, and the prayer for the forgiveness of sins is
meant to quiet us concerning t\\Q past, so is the prayer
against temptation a weapon for the uncertain future.

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 333

It consists of two parts : 1. Deprecatory. 2. Peti-
tionary.

JLEAD US NOT IXTO TEMPTATION.

The Greek word rendered lead is only used seven
times in the New Testament. Excepting in the Lord's
Prayer our translators have always rendered it " bring
into." (Luke v. 18, 19 ; Acts xvii. 20; 1 Tim. vi. 7 ; Heb.
xiii. 11.) "Temptation" means " ti'ial." God never
puts evil into our hearts or stirs it up there by any
positive influence. (James i. 13.) In the former re-
spect our own lusts tempt us (James i. 14) — in the lat-
ter, Satan or wicked men. (Matt. iv. 3.) But Provi-
dence may permit us to be brought into such circum-
stances as have a tendency to give our corruptions and
the temptations of Satan and his agents peculiar ad-
vantage against us. This the Lord sometimes does, to
prove the reality or power of our grace, the sincerity
or hypocrisy of our pi'ofession, or the remaining preva-
lence of sin. (Gen. xxii. 1 ; Job i. 11.) "A saint's whole
life," says Austin, " is a temptation."

This petition asks that God would graciously prevent
us from being brought into circumstances of strong
temptation ; that he would not leave us to struggle
with it in our own strength ; that he would instruct
us to avoid and enable us to overcome our tempta-
tions. He who would honestly and acceptably pre-
sent this petition, must guard against going into
temptation. (Gal. vi. 1 ; Matt. xxvi. 41. See also 2
Cor. xii. 8; Ps. cxix. 133; cxli. 4; li. 11, 12; Luke
xxii. 32; 1 Cor. x. 13; Eph. vi. 13, 18.) But when
ia the course of God's good providence and the pur-

334 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

suit of a known duty we find ourselves involved in
circumstances of trial, then we are taught to " count
it all joy " (James i. 2), for then it may be humbly
hoped that the tempter beholds in us that living prin-
ciple of earnestness which it is the whole business of
himself and his accursed emissaries to assail, and, if
possible, to destroy. (See 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; Heb. iv.
15.)

nur deTjIvek us from evil.
Here we confess that evil is in us and near us, and
on evei-y side, and that we have no power to deliver
ourselves from it. We apply to the Strong for strength.
We cast ourselves on him for protection. In these
words we pray not only to be kept from evil, but also
that we may make progress in piety. (Tit. ii. 12 ; Rom.
xii. 9 ; Isa. i. 16 ; 2 Cor. vii. 1.) The evil we seek to
be delivered from is — 1. The evil of our own heart.
(Rom. vii. 23; Heb. iii. 12.) 2. The evil of Satan.
(Matt. xiii. 19; 2 Cor. ii. 11 ; Eph. vi. 12; 1 Pet. v.
8.) 3. The evil of the world. (Gal. i. 4.) 4. The
evil of God's wrath. (Rom. vi. 23 ; Rev. xxi. 8.) The
many expressions in the Psalms (liv. 5 ; lix. 1, 10; cxliii.
12, etc.) which speak of enemies, and pray for victory
or deliverance, may be considered in their spiritual
meaning to look in the direction of the present peti-
tion. On Christian lips they convey a desire akin to
that here expressed. (1 Chron. iv. 10 ; Ps. xvii. 8 ;
xci. 10; 2 Tim. i. 12; 2 Cor. i. 10.)

A plain countryman, who was effectually called by divine
grace under a sermon from Zech. iii. 2, was some time afterward
accosted by a quondam companion of his drunken revelries,
and strongly solicited to accompany him to the ale-house. But

NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM. 335

the good man strongly resisted all his arguments, saying, "1
am a brand plucked out of the fire." His old companion not
understanding this, he explained it thus: "Look ye," said
he, "there is a great difference between a brand and a green
stick. If a spark flies upon ^ brand tliat has been partly
burned, it will soon catcli fire again, but it is not so with a
green stick. I tell you I am that brand plucked out of the
fire, and I dare not venture into the way of temptation for fear
of being set on fire."

Question 107. — What doth the conclusion of the
Lord's Prayer teach usf

Answer. — The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer,
which is, " For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glorij, for ever. Amen" teacheih 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 as-
surance to be heard, we say. Amen.

FOR THINE IS THE KIXGDOM.

Some refer this to David's doxology. (1 Chron. xxix.
11.) It has reference as a plea to the first three peti-
tions of the prayer — " Thy kingdom come," for thine
is the kingdom. Thou hast the government of the
world and the protection of thy saints, thy willing
subjects, in it. (2 Chron. xx. 6.) " Thy will be done,"
for thine is the poiver to maintain that kingdom and
to make good all thine engagements to thy people.
( Jer. xxxii. 17.) " Hallowed be thy name ' for thine
is the glory, as the end of all that which is done for the
saints in answer to their prayers, for their praise
waiteth for thee. (Ps. Ixv. 1 ; Ixxix. 9.) It is our
duty to plead with God in prayer, to fill our mouth

336 NOTES ON THE SHORTER CATECHISM.

with arguments (Job xxiii. 4) — not to move God, but
to affect ourselves, to encourage our faith, excite our
fervency, and evidence both. (Job xxiii. 13; Isa. Ixiv.
7.) Some see in this threefold doxology an ascription
of praise to each of the Persons of the Trinity.

JJV OUR FRATERS TO PRAISE HIM.

In prayers we are to praise God. (Ps. cxlv. 2.) This
is the way to obtain further mercy, as it qualifies xis to
receive it.

AMEN.

To the whole prayer the Hebrew word "Amen" is
subjoined. In this connection the word signifies — 1.
So let it be, or let that come to pass which we ask.
2. May God, who is not unmindful of his promise,
certainly and truly hear us! (Jer. xi. 5; 1 John v.
15; Ps. cvi. 48.)

THE END.

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