throw his enemies into hell fire, and carry all his elect to never-ceasing glories; and then he shall deliver up the kingdom to his father, that God may be all in alla.

Quest. How is Christ a Mediator in all these offices? Ans. A mediator signifies one that stands between God and us. As Christ is a Prophet, so he taught us his Father's will, and ties us to obedience: as he is a Priest, he is our Redeemer, having paid a price for us, even his most precious blood, and our advocate pleading for us, and mediating our pardon and salvation: as he is a King, so he is our Lord, our Patron, and our Judge; yet it is the kingdom of a Mediator, that is, in order to the world to come, but then to determine and end. And in all these, he hath made a covenant between God and us of an everlasting interest b.

Quest. What is the covenant which Jesus Christ, our Mediator, hath made between God and us?

Ans. That God will write his laws in our hearts, and will pardon us, and defend us, and raise us up again at the last day, and give us an inheritance in his kingdom c.

Quest. To what conditions hath he bound us on our part?
Ans. Faith and Repentance d.

Quest. When do we enter into this covenant?

Ans. In our baptism, and at our ripe years, when we understand the secrets of the kingdom of Christ, and undertake willingly what in our names was undertaken for us in our infancy e.

Quest. What is the covenant of faith which we enter into in baptism?

Ans. We promise to believe that Jesus Christ is the Messias, or he that was to come into the world; that he is the anointed of the Lord, or the Lord's Christ; that he is the Son of God, and the son of the Virgin Mary; that he is God incarnate, or God manifested in the flesh; that he is the Mediator between God and man; that he died for us upon the cross, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven, and shall be there till the day of judgment; that then

he shall be our judge; in the mean time he is the King of the world, and Head of the church.

Quest. What is the covenant of repentance?

Ans. We promise to leave all our sins, and, with a hearty and sincere endeavour, to give up our will and affections to Christ, and do what he hath commanded,-according to our power and weakness g.

Quest. How if we fail of this promise through infirmity, and commit sins?

Ans. Still we are within the covenant of repentance, that is, within the promise of pardon, and possibility of returning from dead works, and mortifying our lusts; and though this be done after the manner of men, that is, in weakness, and with some failings, yet our endeavour must be hearty, and constant, and diligent, and our watchfulness and prayers for pardon must be lasting and persevering h.

Quest. What ministries hath Christ appointed to help us in this duty?

Ans. The ministry of the word and sacraments, which he will accompany with his grace and his Spiriti.

Quest. What is a sacrament?

Ans. An outward ceremony ordained by Christ, to be a sign and a means of conveying his grace unto us.

Quest. How many sacraments are ordained by Christ?
Ans. Two: baptism, and the supper of our Lord.
Quest. What is baptism?

Ans. An outward washing of the body in water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: in which we are buried with Christ in his death, after a sacramental manner, and are made partakers of Christ's death, and of his resurrection, teaching us, that we should rise from the death of sin to the life of righteousness.

f Matt. xvi. 16. and i. 18. 1 Tim. iii. 16. Rom. xiv. 9. Acts, i. 9. and iii. 21. and xvii. 31. Rev. i. 5. and xvii. 14.

* Luke, i. 75. Tit. ii. 11, 12. 1 Pet. ii. 1, 2, 3. 2 Pet. i. 4, &c.

xii. 1, 2.

h 1 John, iï. 12. and v. 16, 17. Gal. vi. 1. and v. 24, 25.

Heb.

i Rom. x. 15. Eph. ii. 20. and iv. 11, 12. 1 Cor. 12, 28. 2 Cor. v. 20.

Quest. What is the sacrament of the Lord's supper?

Ans. A ceremony of eating bread and drinking wine, being blessed or consecrated by God's minister in public assemblies, in remembrance of Christ's death and passion m. Quest. What benefits are done unto us by this sacrament?

Ans. Our souls are nourished by the body and blood of Christ; our bodies are sealed to a blessed resurrection, and to immortality; our infirmities are strengthened, our graces increased, our pardon made more certain; and when we present ourselves to God, having received Christ's body within us, we are sure to be accepted, and all the good prayers we make to God, for ourselves and others, are sure to be heard n.

Quest. Who are fit to receive this sacrament?

Ans. None but baptized Christians, and such as repent of their sins, and heartily purpose to lead a good life o.

Quest. What other ministries hath Christ ordained in his Church, to help us, and to bring so many great purposes to pass?

Ans. Jesus Christ hath appointed ministers and ambassadors of his own to preach his word to us, to pray for us, to exhort and to reprove, to comfort and instruct, to restore and reconcile us, if we be overtaken in a fault; to visit the sick, to separate the vile from the precious, to administer the sacraments, and to watch for the good of our souls P.

Quest. What are we tied to perform towards them?

Ans. To pay them honour and maintenance, to obey them in all things according to the Gospel, and to order. ourselves so, that they may give account of our souls with cheerfulness and joy 9.

Quest. Which are the commandments and laws of Jesus Christ?

Ans. They are many, but easy; holy, but very pleasant to all good minds, to such as desire to live well in this world, and in the world to come: and they are set down in

m 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24, 25. Matt. xxvi. 26. Mark, xiv. 22. Luke, xxii. 19. n 1 Cor. x. 16. Matt. xxvi. 28. • 1 Cor. xi. 27, 28, 29. Gal. i. 6. James, v. 14.

P 1 Cor. v. 18.

4 Gal. vi. 6.

Acts, xx. 28. 1 Pet. v. 2. 1 Tim. v. 17. Heb. xiii. 17.

the sermons of our blessed Lord, and of his apostles; but especially in the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of St. Matthew ".

AN EXPOSITION

OF

THE APOSTLES' CREED.

I believe in God.

I BELIEVE that there is a God who is one, true, supreme, and alone, infinitely wise, just, good, free, eternal, immense, and blessed, and in him alone we are to put our trust a.

The Father Almighty.

I believe that he is, 1. The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; and, 2. Of all that believe in him, whom he hath begotten by his word, and adopted to the inheritance of sons: and because he is our Father, he will do us all that good to which we are created and designed by grace; and because he is almighty, he is able to perform it all; and, therefore, we may safely believe in him, and rely upon him".

Maker of heaven and earth.

He made the sun and the moon, the stars, and all the regions of glory; he made the air, the earth, and the water, and all that live in them; he made angels and men, and he who made them, does, and he only can, preserve them in the

a

Read also Rom. xii. Eph. v. and vi. 1 Thes. v.

Luke, vi. 35. Deut. x. 17. and vi. 4. Mark, xii. 29, 32. 1 Cor. viii. 4.

John, xvii. 3.

3. and cxlvii. 5. 137. 1 Chron.

1 Tim. i. 11.

1 Thess. i. 9.

Rom. xvi. 17. xvi. 34. Psal.

Psal. xc. 2. and xciii. 2. and 1xxvii. 13. and xcv. 1 Tim. i. 17. 2 Chron. xix. 7. Psal. cxix. xxxiv. 8. and cxxxv. 6. Exod. xxxiii. 19.

b John, viii. 58. Rom. viii. 29, 32. 1 Cor. viii. 6. and xv. 24. Matt. xxiv.

same being, and thrust them forward to a better; he that preserves them, does also govern them, and intends they should minister to his glory: and, therefore, we are to do worship and obedience to him in all that we can, and that he hath commanded c.

And in Jesus Christ.

I also believe in Jesus Christ, who is, and is called a Saviour, and the Anointed of the Lord, promised to the patriarchs, whom God anointed with the Holy Spirit, and with power to become the great Prophet, and Declarer of his Father's will to all the world, telling us how God will be worshipped and served; he is anointed to be the Mediator of the new covenant, and our High Priest, reconciling us to his Father by the sacrifice of himself; and to be the great King of all the world: and by this article we are Christians, who serve and worship God the Father through Jesus Christ d.

His only Son.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, he alone, of him alone: for God, by his Holy Spirit, caused him to be born of a virgin : by his power he raised him from the dead, and gave him a new birth, or being in the body: he gave him all power and all excellency; and beyond all this, he is the express image of his person, the brightness of his glory, equal to God, beloved before the beginning of the world, of a nature perfectly divine; very God by essence, and very man by assumption; as God, all one in nature with the Father; and as man, one person in himself e.

Our Lord.

Jesus Christ, God's only Son, is the heir of all things and persons in his Father's house: all angels and men are his servants, and all the creatures obey him; we are to believe

с

Isaiah, lxv. 17. and Ixvi. 12. Acts, iv. 24. Psal. xxxvi. 7, 8. Matt. v. 26. and x. 29, 30. Rev. xiv. 7. Matt. iv. 10.