TABLE OF CONTENTS OF CATECHISM, COMPENDIUM, CONFESSION OF FAITH, CANONS OF THE SYNOD OF DORDRECHT, AND LITURGY. A Prayer before the Explanation of the Catechism 82 82 A Prayer at the opening of the Consistory 85 86 87 A Prayer at the meeting of the Deacons 88 89 Form of Excommunication Form of Re-admitting Excommunicated Persons Ordination of the Ministers of God's Word........... Ordination of Elders and Deacons 107 .. 109 111 118 THE CATECHISM, OR METHOD OF INSTRUCTION IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, AS THE SAME IS TAUGHT IN The Reformed Churches and Schools in Holland, I. LORD'S DAY. Question 1. WHAT is thy only comfort in life and death? Answer. That I with a body and soul, both in life and death, b am not my own, but belong e unto my faithful Savicur Jesus Christ, who, with his precious d blood, hath fully e satisfied for all iny sins, and delivered ƒ me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me g that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair A can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be i subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his holy spirit, he also assures me j of eternal life, and makes k me sincerely willing and ready henceforth, to live unto him. c 1 Cor. 3. 23. d 1 Pet. Heb. 2. 14, 15. g John Mat. 10. 30. i Rom. 8. a 1 Cor. 6. 19, 20. b Rom. 14. 7, 8, 9. 1. 18, 19. e 1 John 1.7. f1 John 3. 8. 6. 39. and 10. 28, 29. h Luke 21. 18. 28. j 2 Cor. 1. 22, and 5. 5. k Rom. 8. 14. and 7. 22. Q. 2. How many things are necessary for thee to know, that thou, enjoying this comfort, mayest live and die happily? A. Three; the first, how great m my sins and miseries are the second, how I may be delivered n from all my sins and miseries: the third, how I shall express my gratitude o to God for such deliverance. Luke 24. 47. m 1 Cor. 6. 10, 11. John 9. 41. Rom. 3. 10, 19. n John 17.3. Eph. 5. 8, 9, 10. (3) IL LORD'S DAY. THE FIRST PART. Of the Misery of Man. Q. 3. Whence knowest thou thy misery? a Rom. 3. 20. Q. 4. What doth the law of God require of us? A. Christ teaches us that briefly, Mat. xxii. 37-40. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. b This is the first and the great command; and the second is like to this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commands hang the whole law and the prophets." b Luke 10. 27. Q. 5. Canst thou keep all these things perfectly? A. In no wise; c for I am prone by nature to hate God and my neighbour.d c Rom. 3. 10. 1 John 1. 8. d Rom. 8. 7. Tit. 3. 3. III. LORD'S DAY. Q. 6. Did God then create man so wicked and perverse ? A. By no means; but God created man good, a and after his own image, in b righteousness, and true holiness, that he might rightly know God his Creator, heartily love him, and live with him in eternal happiness to glorify and praise him.c a Gen. 1. 31. b Gen. 1. 26, 27. Col. 3. 10. Eph. 4. 24. c Eph. 1. 6. 1 Cor. 6. 20. Q. 7. Whence then proceeds this depravity of human na ture? A. From the fall and disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, d in Paradise; hence our nature is become so corrupt, that we are all conceived and born in sin, e d Gen. 3. 6. Rom. 5. 12, 18, 19. e Psa. 51. 5. Gen. 5. 3. Q. 8. Are we then so corrupt that we are wholly incapable of doing any good, and inclined to all wickedness? A. Indeed we are; ƒ except we are regenerated by the spirit of God. g f Gen. 6. 5. Job 14. 4. and 15. 14, 16. g John 3. 5. Eph. 2. 5. IV. LORD'S DAY. Q. 9. Doth not God then do injustice to man, by requiring from him in his law, that which he cannot perforin? A. Not at all; a for God made man capable b of performing it; but man, by the instigation c of the devil, and his own wilful disobedience, d deprived himself and all his posterity of those divine gifts. a Eccl. 7. 29. b John 8. 44. 2 Cor. 11. 3. c Gen. 3. 4, 7. d Rom. 5. 12. Q. 10. Will God suffer such disobedience and rebellion to go unpunished? A. By no means: e but is terribly displeased ƒ with our original as well as actual sins; and will punish them in his just judgment, temporally and eternally, as he hath declared, & "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them." e Psa. 5. 5. f Rom. 1. 18. Deut. 28. 15. Heb. 9.27. g Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. Q. 11. Is not God then also merciful? A. God is indeed merciful, h but also just; i therefore his justice requires, j that sin, which is committed against the most high majesty of God, be also punished with extreme, that is, with everlasting k punishment, both of body and soul. h Ex. 34. 6. i Ex. 20. 5. Job 34. 10, 11. j Psa. 5. 5, 6. k Gen. 2. 17. Rom. 6. 23. V. LORD'S DAY. THE SECOND PArt. Of Man's Deliverance. Q. 12. Since then, by the righteous judgment of God, we deserve temporal and eternal punishment; is there no way by which we may escape that punishment, and be again received into favour? A. God will have his justice a satisfied: and therefore we must make this full b satisfaction, either by ourselves, or by another. a Ex. 20, 5. b Deut. 24. 16. 2 Cor. 5. 14, 15. Q. 13. Can we ourselves then make this satisfaction? A. By no means; c but on the contrary we d daily increase our debt. c Job 9. 2, 3. and 15. 14, 15, 16. d Mat. 6. 12. Isa. 64. 6. Q. 14. Can there be found anywhere, one who is a mere creature, able to satisfy for us? A. None; for first, God will not e punish any other creature for the sin which man hath committed; and further, no mere creature can sustain the burden of God's eternal wrath against sin, so as to f deliver others from it. ⚫ Ezek. 18. 20. f Rev. 5. 3. Psa. 49. 8, 9. |