THE
BAPTIST CATECHISM,
COMMONLY CALLED
REACH'S CATECHISM:
OB.
A BRIEF INSTRUCTION
THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
AGREEABLY TO THE CONFESSION OF FAITH, PUT FORTH BY UPWARDS OP
AX HUNDRED CONGREGATIONS IN GREAT BRITAIN, JULY 3, 1689,
AND ADOPTED BY THE PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSO-
CIATION, SEPTEMBER 22, 1742.
"And these words, -which I command thee this day, SHALL BE IN
THINE HEART: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when
thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou
risest up." DBXJT. vi. 6, 7. .
PHILADELPHIA:
AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
118 ARCH STREET.
1851.
In the year 1677, a Confession of Faith was published
by the Baptists, in London and vicinity. This Confes-
sion of Faith was reprinted in the year 1689, having
been approved and recommended by the Ministers and
Messengers of above an hundred congregations in Eng-
land and Wales signed by Hanserd Knollys, William
KLffin, Benjamin Keach, and others.
The present Catechism was prepared by Benjamin
Keach, agreeably to this Confession of Faith, with the
following Preface :
TO THE READER
Having a desire to show our near Agreement with many other
Christians, of whom we hare great esteem ; we some years since put
forth a Confession of our Faith, almost in all points the same with
that of the Assembly and Savoy, which was subscribed by the Elders
\ and Messengers of many Churches, baptised on profession of their
faith: and do now put forth a short account of Christian principles,
for the instruction of our families, in most things agreeing with the
shorter Catechism of the Assembly. And this we were the rather
induced to, because we have commonly made use of that Catechism
in our families, and the difference being not much, it will be more
easily committed to memory.
As occasional variations have occurred in the nume-
rous editions which have been printed, this edition fol-
lows with few exceptions, the one published in London,
under the superintendence of Rev. John Bippon, in
the year 1794.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by the
AMERICAN 'BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in.
and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
THE
BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 1. Who is the first and best of be-
ings ?
A. God is the first and best of beings.
Q. 2. Ought every one to believe there is
a God?
A. Every one ought to believe iiere
is a God, and it is their great sin and
folly who do not.
Q. 3. Hoiv may we know there is a God?
A. The light of nature in man, and
the works of God, plainly declare there
is a God; but his word and Spirit only
do it fully and effectually for the salva-
tion of sinners.
Q. 4. What is the word of God ?
A. The holy scriptures of the Old and
New Testament are the word of God,
and the only certain rule of faith and
obedience.
3
4 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 5. May all men make use of tlie holy
scriptures ?
A. All men are not only permitted, but
commanded and exhorted, to read, hear,
and understand the holy scriptures.
Q. 6. What things are cliiefly contained
in the lioly scriptures?
A. The holy scriptures chiefly contain
what man ought to believe concerning
God, and what duty God requires of
man.
Q. 7. What is God?
A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal,
and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom,
power, holiness, justice, goodness, and
truth.
Q. 8. Are tliere more gods than one?
A. There is but one only, the living
and true God.
Q. 9. How many persons are there in
the Godhead.
A. There are three persons in the
Godhead, the Father, the Son, and Holy
Spirit, and these three are one God, the
same in essence, equal in power and
glory.
.THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 5
Q. 10. What are tlie decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are his eternal
purpose, according to the counsel of his
will, whereby for his own glory, he hath
fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass.
Q. 11. How does God execute his de-
crees?
A. God executes his decrees in the
works of creat|pn and providence.
Q. 12. Whaf^Jhe work of creation? -
A. The worft of creation is God's
making all things of nothing, by the
word of his power, in the space of six
days, and all very good.
Q. 13. How did God create man?
A. God created man, male and fe-
male, after his own image, in know-
ledge, righteousness, and holiness, with
dominion over the creatures.
Q. 14. What are Gods works of provi-
dence ?
A. God's works of providence are,
his most holy, wise, and powerful pre-
serving and governing all his creatures,
and all their actions.
Q. 15. What special act of providence
1*
6 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
did God exercise towards man, in the
state wlierein lie was created ?
A. When God had created man, he
entered into a covenant of life with
him, upon condition of perfect obedi-
ence, forbidding him to eat of the tree
of knowledge of good and evil, upon
pain of death.
Q. 16. Did our first parents continue
in that state wherein they were created?
A. Our first parents, being left to the
freedom of their own will, fell from the
state wherein they were created, by
sinning against God.
Q. 17. What is sin?
A. Sin is any want of conformity unto,
or transgression of the law of God.
Q. 18. What ivas the sin ivhereby our
first parents, fell from the state wherein
tliey were created ?
A. The sin whereby our first parents
fell from the state wherein they were,
created, was their eating the forbidden
fruit.
Q. 19 . Did all mankind fall in
first transgression?
..THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 7
A. The covenant being made with
Adam, not only for himself but for his
posterity, all mankind, descending from
him by ordinary generation, sinned in
him, and fell with him in his first trans-
gression.
Q. 20. Into what state did the fall
bring mankind ?
A. The fall brought mankind into a
state of sin and misery.
Q. 21. Wherein consists the sinfulness
of that state whereinto man fell ?
A. The sinfulness of that state where-
into man fell, consists in the guilt of
Adam's first sin, the want of original
righteousness, and the corruption of his
whole nature, which is commonly called
original sin, together with all actual
transgressions which proceed from it.
Q. 22. What is the misery of that state
whereinto man fell ?
A. All mankind, by their fall lost
communion with God, are under his
wrath and curse, and so made liable to
all the miseries in this life, to death it-
self, and to the pains of hell for ever.
'8 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 23. Did God leave all mankind
to perish in the state of sin and misery ?
A. God having, out of his mere good
pleasure, from all eternity, elected some
to everlasting life, did enter into a cove-
nant of grace, to deliver them out of
the state of sin and misery, and to
bring them into a state of salvation,
by a Redeemer.
Q. 24. Who is the Redeemer of Gods
elect?
A. The only Redeemer of God's elect
is the Lord Jesus Christ, who being the
eternal Son of God, became man, and
so was and continues to be God and
man, in two distinct natures, and one
person, for ever.
Q. 25. How did Christ, being the Son
of God, become man ?
A. Christ, the Son of God, became
man by taking to himself a true body,
and a reasonable soul, being conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the
womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of
her, yet without sin.
Q. 26. What offices does Christ ex-
ecute as our Redeemer ?
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 9
A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executes
the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and
of a king, both in his state of humilia-
tion and exaltation.
Q. 27. How does Christ execute the
office of a prophet ?
. A. Christ executes the office of a
prophet, in revealing to us, by his word
and Spirit, the will of God for our sal-
vation.
Q. 28. How does Christ execute the
office of a priest ?
A. Christ executes the office of a
priest, in his once offering up of himself
a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice, and
to reconcile us to God, and in making
continual intercession for us.
Q. 29. How does Christ execute the
office of a king ?
A. Christ executes the office of a king,
in subduing us to himself, in ruling and
defending us, and in restraining and con-
quering all his and our enemies.
Q. 30. Wherein did Christ's humili-
ation consist?
A. Christ's humiliation consisted in
10 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
"\
his being born, and that in a low condi-
tion, 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.
Q. 31. Wherein consists Christ's ex-
altation ?
A. Christ's exaltation consists in his
rising again from the dead on the third
day, in ascending up into heaven, in sit-
ting at the right hand of God the Father,
and in coming to judge the world at the
last day.
Q. 32. How are we made partakers of
the redemption purchased by Christ?
A. We are made partakers of the re-
demption purchased by Christ^ by the
effectual application of it to us, by his
Holy Spirit.
Q. 33. How does the Spirit apply to us
the redemption purchased by Christ ?
A. The Spirit applies to us the re-
demption purchased by Christ, by work-
ing faith in us, and thereby uniting us
to Christ in our effectual calling.
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 11
Q. 34. What is effectual calling ?
A. Effectual calling is the work of
God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of
our sin and misery, enlightening our
minds in the knowledge of Christ, and
renewing our wills, he doth persuade
and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ,
freely offered to us in the gospel.
Q. 35. What /benefits do they that are
effectually called, partake of in this life ?
A. They that are effectually called,
do in this life partake of justification,
adoption, sanctification, and the several
.benefits which in this life do either ac-
company or flow from them.
Q. 36. What is justification ?
A. Justification is an act of God's free
grace, wherein he pardoneth all our sins,
and accepts us as righteous in his sight,
only for the righteousness of Christ im-
puted to us, and received by faith alone.
Q. 37. What is adoption ?
A. Adoption is an act of God's free
grace, whereby we are received into the
number, and have a right to all the pri-
vileges of the sons of God.
12 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 38. What is sanctification ?
A. Sanctification is the work of God's
free grace, whereby we are renewed in
the whole man after the image of God,
and are enabled more and more to die
unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
Q. 39. What are the benefits which in
this life do accompany or floiv from justi-
fication^ adoption, and sanctification ?
A. The benefits which in this life do
accompany or flow from justification,
adoption, and sanctification, are, assu-
rance of God's love, peace of conscience,
joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace,
and perseverance therein to the end.
Q. 40. What benefits do believers re-
ceive from Christ at their death ?
c/
A. The souls of believers are at their
death made perfect in holiness, and do
immediately pass into glory, and their
bodies, being still united to Christ, do
rest in their graves till the resurrection.
Q. 41. What benefits do believers re-
ceive from Christ at the Resurrection ?
A. At the resurrection, believers be-
ing raised up, in glory, shall be openly
k THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 13
acknowledged and acquitted in the day
of judgment, and made perfectly bles-
sed both in soul and body, in the full
enjoyment of God to all eternity.
Q. 42. But what shall be done to tlie
wicked at their death ?
A. The souls of the wicked shall at
their death, be cast into the torments of
hell, and their bodies lie in their graves
till the resurrection and judgment of
the great day.
Q. 43. What shall be done to the wicked
at the day of Judgment ?
A. At the day of judgment, the bo-
dies of the wicked, being raised out of
their graves, shall be sentenced, together
with their souls, to unspeakable tor-
ments with the devil and his angels for-
ever.
Q. 44. What is the diity which God
requires of man ?
A. The duty which God requires of
man, is obedience to his revealed will.
Q. 45. What did God at first reveal
to man for the rule of his obedience ?
A. The rule which God at first re-
2
14 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
vealed to man for his obedience was the
moral law.
Q. 46. Where is the moral law sum-
marily comprehended ?
A. The moral law is summarily com-
prehended in the Ten Commandments.
Q. 47. Wliat is the sum of tJie Ten
Commandments ?
A. The. sum of the ten command-
ments is, to love the Lord our God, with
all our heart, with all our soul, with all
our strength, and with all our mind;
and our neighbor as ourselves.
Q. 48. What is the preface to the Ten
commandments ?
A. The preface to the ten command-
ments is in these words, " I am the Lord
thy God, which have brought thee out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house
of bondage."
Q. 49. What does the preface to the
Ten commandments teach us ?
A. The preface to the ten command-
ments teaches us, that because God is
the Lord, and our God and Kedeemer,
therefore we are bound to keep all his
commandments.
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 15
Q. 5 . W hich is the First commandment ?
A. The first commandment is, " ThoU
shalt have no other Gods before me."
Q. 51. What is required in the first
commandment ?
A. The first commandment requires
us to know and acknowledge God to be
the only true God, and our God, and to
worship and glorify him accordingly.
Q. 52. What is forbidden in the first
commandment ?
A. The first commandment forbids
the denying, or not worshipping and
glorifying the true God, as God and our
God ; and the giving that worship and
glory to any other, which is due unto
him alone.
Q. 53. What are we especially taught
by these words, "before rne" in the first
commandment ?
A. These words " before me," in the
first commandment, teach us, that God,
who sees all things, takes notice of, and
is much displeased with the sin of having
any other God.
Q. 54. Which is the Second command*
ment?
16 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
A. The second commandment is,
" Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth. Thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them; for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, unto the third
and fourth generation of them that hate
me : and showing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me and keep my com-
mandments."
Q. 55. What is required in the second
commandment?
A. The second commandment requires
the receiving, observing, and keeping
pure and entire, all such religious wor-
ship and ordinances, as God has ap-
pointed in his word.
Q. 56. What is forbidden in the se-
cond commandment?
A. The second commandment for-
bids the worshipping of God by images,
or any other way not appointed in his
word.
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 17
Q. 57. What are the reasons annexed
to the second commandment ?
A. The reasons annexed to the se-
cond commandment, are, God's sove-
reignty over us, his property in us, and
the zeal he has for his own worship.
Q. 58. Which is tlie Third command-
ment ?
A. The third commandment is, Thou
shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain : for the Lord will not
hold him guiltless that taketh his name
in vain."
Q. 59. What is required in the third
commandment ?
A. The third commandment requires
the holy and reverend use of God's names,
titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and
works.
Q. 60. What is forbidden in the third
commandment ?
A. The third commandment forbids
all profaning and abusing of any thing
whereby God makes himself known.
Q. 61. What is the reason annexed to
the third commandment ?
2*
18 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
A. The reason annexed to the third
commandment is, that, /however the
breakers of this commandment may; es-
cape punishment from men, yet the
Lord our God will not suffer them to
escape his righteous judgment.
Q. 62. Which is the Fourth command-
ment ?
A. The fourth commandment is, " Re-
member 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 the stranger that is with'in
thy gates : for in six days the Lord made
heaven and earth, the sea, and all that
in them is, and rested the seventh day :
wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath
day and hallowed it."
Q. 63. What is required in the fourth
commandment ?
A. The fourth commandment requires
the keeping holy to God one whole day
in seven, to be a Sabbath to himself.
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 19
Q. 64. Which day of the seven hath
God appointed to be the weekly Salfoath?
A. Before the resurrection of Christ,
God appointed the seventh day of the
week to be the weekly Sabbath, and the
first day of the week, ever since, to con-
tinue to the end of the world, which is
the Christian Sabbath.
Q. 65. How is the Sabbath to lie sancti-
fied ? :
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by
a holy resting all that day, even from
such worldly employments and recrea-
tions as are lawful on other days, and
spending the whole time in the public
and private exercises of God's worship,
except so much as is to be taken up in
the works of necessity and mercy.
Q. 66. What is forbidden in the fourth
commandment ?
A. The fourth commandment forbids
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 works about world-
ly employments or recreations.
20 ..THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 67. What are tlie reasons annexed
to the fourth commandment ? ";
A. The reasons annexed to the fourth
commandment, are, God's allowing us
six days of the week for our own lawful
employments, his challenging a special
property, in the seventh, his own exam-
ple, and his blessing the Sabbath day.
Q. 68. Which is the Fifth command-
ment ?
A. The fifth commandment is, " Ho-
nor thy father and thy mother, that thy
days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee."
Q. 69. Wliat is required in the fifth
commandment ?
A. The fifth commandment requires
the preserving the honor, and perform-
ing the duties, belonging to everyone in
their several places and relations, as su-
periors, inferiors, or equals.
Q. 70. What is forbidden in the fifth
commandment ?
A. The fifth commandment forbids
the neglecting of, or doing any thing
against the honor or duty which belong-
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 2 1
\
eth to every one in their several places
and relations.
Q. 71. What is the reason annexed
to the fifth commandment ?
A. The reason annexed to the fifth
commandment, is, a promise of long life
and prosperity, (as far as it shall serve
for God's glory and their own good,) to
all such as keep this commandment.
Q. 72. Which is the Sixth command-
ment ?
A. The sixth commandment is, " Thou
shalt not kill."
Q. 73. What is required in the sixth
commandment ?
A. The sixth commandment requires
all lawful endeavors to preserve our own
life and the life of others.
Q. 74. What is forbidden in the sixth
commandment ?
A. The sixth commandment abso-
lutely forbids the taking away our own
life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly,
or whatsoever tendeth thereto.
Q. 75. Which is the Seventh command-
ment?
22 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
A. The seventh commandment is,
" Thou shalt not commit adultery."
Q. 76. What is required in the seventh
commandment ?
A. The seventh commandment re-
quires the preservation of our own and
our neighbor's chastity, in heart, speech,
and behavior.
Q. 77. What is forbidden in the seventh
commandment ?
A. The seventh commandment for-
bids all unchaste thoughts, words, and
actions.
Q. 78. Which is tlie Eighth command-
ment ?
A. The eighth commandment is,
" Thou shalt not steal."
Q. 79. What is required in the eighth
commandment ?
A. The eighth commandment requires
the lawful procuring and furthering the
wealth and outward state of ourselves
and others.
Q. 80. What is forbidden in the eighth
coinmandment ?
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 23
A. The .eighth commandment forbids
whatsoever does or may unjustly hinder
our own or our neighbor's wealth or
outward state.
Q. 81. Which is the Ninth command-
ment ?
A. The ninth commandment is, " Thou
shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbor."
Q. 82. What is required in the ninth
commandment ?
A. The ninth commandment requires
the maintaining and promoting of truth
between man and man, and of our own
and our neighbor's good name, especially
in witness bearing.
Q. 83. What is forbidden in the ninth
commandment ?
A. The ninth commandment forbids
whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or
injurious to our own, or our neighbor's
good name.
Q. 84. W7iich is the Tenth command-
ment ?
A. The tenth commandment is, " Thou
shalt not covet thy neighbor's house,
24 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
tliou 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."
Q. 85. What is required in the tenth
commandment ?
A. The tenth commandment requires
full contentment, with our own condi-
tion, with a right and charitable frame
of spirit towards our neighbor, and all
that is his.
Q. 86. What is forbidden in the tenth
commandment ?
A. The tenth commandment forbids
all discontentment with our own state,
envying or grieving at the good of our
neighbor, and all inordinate motions and
affections to any thing that is his.
Q. 87. Is any man able perfectly to
keep tJie commandments of God ?
A. No mere man, since the fall, is able
in this life, perfectly to keep the com-
mandments of God, but doth daily break
them in thought, word, or deed.
Q. 88. Are all transgressions of the law
equally heinous ?
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 25
A. Some sins in themselves, and by
reason of several aggravations, are more
heinous in the sight of God than others.
Q. 89. What does every sin deserve ?
A. Every sin deserves God's wrath
and curse, both in this life, and in that
which is to come.
Q. 90. What does God require of us,
that we may escape his wrath and curse,
due to us for sin ?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of
God due to us for sin, God requires of
us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto
life, with the diligent use of all the out-
ward means whereby Christ communi-
cates to us the benefits of redemption.
Q. 91. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving
grace, whereby we receive and rest upon
him alone for salvation, as he is revealed
as the free gift of God to us, in the gos-
pel.
Q. 92. What is repentance unto life ?
A. Eepentance unto life is a saving
grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense
of his sins, and apprehension of the
3
26 . THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief
and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto
God, with full purpose of, and endeavor
after, new obedience.
Q. 93. What are the outivard means
whereby Christ communicates to us the
benefits of redemption ?
A. The outward and ordinary means
whereby Christ communicates to us the
benefits of redemption, are his Ordinan-
ces, especially the Word, Baptism, the
Lord's Supper, and Prayer; all which
means are made effectual to the elect,
through faith, for salvation.
Q. 94. How is the Word made effec-
tual to salvation ?
A. The Spirit of God makes the read-
ing, but especially the preaching of the
word an effectual means of convincing
and converting sinners, and of building
them up in holiness and comfort, through
faith unto salvation.
Q. 95. How is the word to be read
and "heard ?
A. We must attend thereunto with
diligence, preparation, and prayer, re-
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 27
ceive it with faith and love, lay it up in
our hearts, and practise it in our lives.
Q. 96. Wliat is Baptism ?
A. Baptism is an ordinance of the
New Testament, instituted by Jesus
Christ, to be unto the party baptized a
sign of his fellowship with him, in his
death, and burial, and resurrection, of
his being ingrafted into him, of remis-
sion of sins, and of his giving up him-
self unto God, through Jesus Christ, to
live and walk in newness of life.
Q. 97. To whom is baptism to fie ad-
ministered ?
A. Baptism is to be administered to
all those who actually profess repentance
towards God, faith in, and obedience to
our Lord Jesus Christ ; and to none
other.
Q. 98. Are the Infants of such as are
professing believers to be baptized ?
A. The infants of such as are pro-
fessing believers are not to be baptized :
because there is neither command nor
example in the Holy Scriptures, or cer-
28 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
tain consequence from them, to baptize
such.
Q. 99. How is baptism rightly admin-
istered ?
A. Baptism is rightly administered
by immersion, or dipping the whole
body of the person in water, in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit, according to Christ's
institution, and the practice of the Apos-
tles, and not by sprinkling or pouring
of water, or dipping some parts of the
body, after the tradition of men.
Q. 100. What is t7ie duty, of such as
are rightly baptized ?
A. It is the duty of those who are
rightly baptized, to give up themselves
to some particular and orderly church
of Jesus Christ, that they may walk in
all the commandments and ordinances
of the Lord blameless.
Q. 101. Wliat is the Lord's Supper ?
A. The Lord's Supper is an ordinance
of the New Testament, instituted by
Jesus Christ, wherein by giving and re-
ceiving bread and wine, according to his
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 29
appointment, his death is showed forth,
and the worthy receivers are, not after
a corporeal and carnal manner, but by
faith, made partakers of his body and
blood, with all his benefits, to their spi-
ritual nourishment, and growth in grace.
Q. 102. Who are the proper subjects of
this ordinance ?
A. Godly persons who have been bap-
tized upon a personal profession of their
faith in Jesus Christ, and repentance
from dead works.
Q. 103. What is required to the worthy
receiving of the Lord's Supper.
A. It is required of them that would
worthily (that is, suitably,) partake of
the Lord's Supper, that they examine
themselves, of their knowledge, to discern
the Lord's body ; of their faith, to feed
upon him ; of their repentance, love, and
new obedience : lest, coming unworthily,
they eat and drink judgment to them-
selves.
Q. 104. What is Prayer ?
A. Prayer is an offering up our de-
sires to God, by the assistance of the
3*
30 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Holy Spirit, for things agreeable to bis
will, in the name of Christ, believing;
with confession of our sins, and thankful
acknowledgment of his mercies.
Q. 105 What rule lias God given for
our direction in prayer ?
A. The whole Word of God is of use
to direct us in prayer, but the special
rule of direction is that prayer, which
Christ taught his Disciples, commonly
called The Lord's Prayer.
Q. 106. What does the preface to tlie
Lord's Prayer teach us ?
A. The preface of the Lord's Prayer,
which is, "Oar Father, which art in
heaven," teaches us to draw near to God,
with all holy reverence and confidence,
as children to a father, able and ready
to help us, and that we should pray with
and for others.
Q. 107. What do we pray for in the
-first petition ?
A. In the first petition, which is
" Hallowed be thy name," we pray, that
God would enable us and others to
glorify him m all that whereby he makes
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 31
himself known, and that he would dis-
pose all things to his own glory.
Q. 108. What do ive pray for in the
second petition ?
A. In the second petition, which is,
"Thy kingdom come," we pray that
Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, and
that the kingdom of grace may be ad-
vanced; ourselves and others brought
into it, and kept in it ; and that the king-
dom of glory may be hastened.
Q. 109. What do we pray for in the
third petition ?
A. In the third petition, which is,
" Thy will be done on earth as it is in
heaven," we pray, that God by his grace,
would make us able and willing to
know, obey, and submit to his will in
all things, as the angels do in heaven.
Q. 110. What do we pray for in the
fourth petition ?
A. In the fourth petition, which is,
"Give us this day our daily bread,"
we pray, that of God's free gift, we may
receive a competent portion of the good
things of this life, and enjoy his blessing
with them.
32 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
Q. 111. What do we pray far in the
fifth petition ?
A. In the fifth petition, which is,
" And forgive us our debts, as we for-
give our debtors/' we pray, that God,
for Christ's sake, would freely pardon
all our sins: which we are the rather
encouraged to ask, because by his grace
we are enabled from the heart to forgive
others.
Q. 112. WJiat do we pray for in the
sixth petition ?
A. In the sixth petition, which is,
" And lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil," we pray, that God
would either keep us from being tempt-
ed to sin, or support and deliver us when
we are tempted.
Q. 113. What does the conclusion of
the Lord's Pi*ayer teach- us ?
A. The conclusion of the Lord's Pray-
er, which is, " For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever,
Amen," teaches us to take our encou-
ragement in prayer from God only, and
in our prayers to praise him, ascribing
kingdom, power, and glory to him. And
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 33
in testimony of our desire, and assurance
to be heard ; we say, AMEN.
THE LORD'S PRAYER.
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done, in earth as
it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread. And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors. And lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.
Happy tlie children who betimes
Have learned to serve the Lord ;
"Who through his grace, escape the crimes
Forbidden in his word.
Should they be early hence removed,
He will their souls receive ;
For they whom Jesus here has loved,
With Him shall ever live.
THE LAW OF GOD,
CONTAINED IN
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
GIVEN BY GOD AT MOUNT SINAI,
EXODUS, CHAPTEBS xix AND xx.
AND it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there
were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount,
and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud ; so that all the people
that was in the camp trembled. And Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp to meet with God ; and they stood at the nether part
of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because
the Lord descended upon it in fire ; and the smoke thereof ascended
as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked- greatly. And
when the yoice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and
louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
And God spake all these words, saying :
I AM THE LORD THY GOB,
WHICH HAVE BROUGHT THEE OUT OF THE LAOT) OF EGYPT, OUT OP THE HOUSB
OF BONDAGE.
I. Thou shalt have no other gods before ME.
II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven
image, or any likeness of any thing that is in
heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth : Thou shalt
not bow down thyself to them, nor serve , them :
for I THE LORD THY GOD am a jealous God, visit-
ing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of
them that love me and keep my commandments.
III. Thou shalt not take the name of THE LORD
THY GOD in vain ; for the LORD will not hold him
guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
(34)
THE BAPTIST CATECHISM. 35
IV. 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 :
wherefore the LORD blessed the SABBATH-DAY and
hallowed it.
Y. Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy
days may be long upon the land which THE LORD
THY GOD giveth thee.
VI. Thou shalt not kill.
VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
VIII. Thou shalt not steal.
IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against
thy neighbour.
X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house,
thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his
man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor
his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
THE SPIRIT OF THE WHOLE LAW.
One of the Pharisees asked Jesus, saying, Master, which is the great
commandment in the law ?
JESUS SAID UNTO HIM,
Thou shalt love THE LORD THY GOD with all
36 THE BAPTIST CATECHISM.
thy heart, and with all thy soul, arid with all thy
mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law
and the prophets.
MATTHEW xxii. 36-40.
OUR SAVIOUR'S NEW COMMANDMENT.
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye
LOVE ONE ANOTHER i as I have loved you, that ye
also love one another.
By this shall all men know that ye are my disci-
ples, if ye have love one to another.
JOHN xiii. 34, 35.
To be a lamb in JESUS' fold,
I covet more than mines of gold ;
For earth, with all her gaudy toys,
Can ne'er afford such lasting joys.
Soon I must quit this vale of woe,
And close my eyes on all below ;
Then may my happy spirit rise
To join the chorus of the skies !
THE END.
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