Milk for Babes, Title page 1 – Catechism 2
MILK FOR BABES; OR, A. MOTHERS CATECHISM for Her CHILDREN.
Wherein chief ſaving Principles of Chriſtian Religion, through the body of it, fit firſt to inform Children in;
are
1 Propounded.
2 Expounded.
3 Applied.
The ſum of which is ſet down in the following Pages; Together with the Queſtions and Anſwers which are the grounds of the Catechiſm.
Whereunto alſo annexed, THREE SERMONS; Preached at Andrews Holborn at a publike Faſt, and at Covent-Garden, upon ſeverall occaſions.
By ROBERT ABBOT Preacher of Gods Word at Southwick in Hantſhire.
PSA. 34.11.
Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
LONDON, Printed by John Legate for Philemon Stephens, dwelling in Pauls Church-yard at the ſigne of the gilded Lyon. 1646.
I Have peruſed this Catechiſm, intituled, Milk for Babes: and theſe three Sermons on ſeverall Texts. And approving them as pious and profitable, I licenſe them to be printed and publiſhed.
IOHN DOWNAME.
The Sum of the following Catechiſm, may be conceived thus.
IT ſpeaks to a threefold ſtate of ours. Our eſtate
1 Of Creation: Of which you may finde two points;
1 Our Creatour: who is
1 Confeſſed: Q. 1.
2 Diſtinguiſhed from the
Sonne: Q. 2.
Holy Gh. Q. 3.
3 Deſcribed:
1 By his unity in Trinity, Q. 4.
2 By his
Sufficiency.
Efficiency.
Q. 5.
2 His end in making us: which is
1 Propounded, Q. 6.
2 Amplified, by the
1 Manner: Q. 7.
2 Meanes teaching. Q. 8.
1 Commandement 1. Q. 9.
2 Commandement 2. Q. 10.
3 Commandement 3. Q. 11.
4 Commandement 4. Q. 12.
5 Commandement 5. Q. 13.
6 Commandement 6. Q. 14.
7 Commandement 7. Q. 15.
8 Commandement 8. Q. 16.
9 Commandement 9. Q. 17.
10 Commandement 10. Q. 18.
2 Of Corruption: of which it ſets down our miſery
1 By ſinne: Q. 19.
2 By puniſhment: Q. 20.
3 Of Renovation: Of which it teacheth us
1 The means working it [Chriſt Jeſus] Q. 20. Who is further deſcribed by his
1 Natures: Q. 22.
2 Work for uſe: Set down two wayes;
1 By the greateſt manifeſtation of it at the latter end: where two,
1 His Paſſion: Q. 13.
2 His poſſibility to undergo it.
2 By the efficacy of it: both in reſpect
1 Of the end: Q. 24.
2 Of the perſons for whom: Q. 25.
2 The means applying it [Faith] deſcribed.
1 By the nature of it: Q. 26.
2 By the working of it: in reſpect of
1 The beginning of it: Q. 27.
2 The growth of it: by means
1 Without us: which are two
1 The Word of Chriſt,
2 The Sacraments of Chriſt: Q. 28. which are deſcribed
1 By their Nature: Q. 29.
2 By their Number: Q. 30.
3 By their uſe: both of
1 Baptiſm: Q. 31.
2 Supper of the Lord: about which
1 What uſe of it: Q. 32.
2 To whom: Q. 33.
2 Within us, and by us, Prayer: Q. 34. Which is further deſcribed,
1 By the nature of it: Q. 35.
2 By the matter, The Lords Prayer, Q. 36. Expounded by the
1 Preface: Q. 37.
2 Petition 1. Q. 38.
3 Petition 2. Q. 39.
4 Petition 3. Q. 40.
5 Petition 4. Q. 41.
6 Petition 5. Q. 42.
7 Petition 6. Q. 43.
8 Concluſion: Q. 44.
A CATECHISM FOR Children, thorough the chief points of the Body of Divinity, to prepare them for the Lords Supper.
1 Queſtion.
WHo made thee?
A. God the Father.
2 Q. Who redeemed thee?
A. Jeſus Chriſt.
3 Q. Who ſanctified thee?
A. The Holy Ghoſt.
4 Q. How many Gods are there?
A. There are three perſons, and to us Chriſtians but one God.
5 Q. What is God?
A. He is that Almighty one, who made and governeth all things.
6 Q. Wherefore did God make thee?
A. To do him ſervice.
7 Q. How oughteſt thou to ſerve him?
A. As he hath commanded in his lawes?
8 Q. Which are theſe lawes?
A. Thoſe tenne words, which God wrote in two Tables of ſtone, and are ſet down in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
9 Q. What is the firſt Commandement?
A. Thou ſhalt have no other Gods before me.
10 Q. What is the ſecond?
A. Thou ſhalt not make to thy ſelf any graven image, nor any likeneſſe of things, that are in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the waters under the earth; thou ſhalt not bow down to them, nor worſhip 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 ſhewing mercy to thouſands of them that love me, and keep my Commandements.
11 Q. What is the third Commandement?
A. Thou ſhalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltleſſe that taketh his name in vain.
12 Q. What is the fourth Commandement?
A. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy: ſix days ſhalt thou labour, and do all thy work. But the ſeventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: In it thou ſhalt not do any work, thou, nor thy ſonne, nor thy daughter, thy manſervant, nor thy maid-ſervant, nor thy cattle, nor thy ſtranger that is within thy gates. For in ſix dayes 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.
13 Q. What is the fift Commandement?
A. Honour thy Father, and Mother: that thy dayes may be long upon the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
14 Q. What is the ſixt?
A. Thou ſhalt not kill.
15 Q. What is the ſeventh?
A. Thou ſhalt not commit adultery.
16 Q. What is the eight?
A. Thou ſhalt not ſteal.
17 Q. What is the ninth?
A. Thou ſhalt not bear falſe witneſſe againſt thy neighbour.
18 Q. What is the tenth Commandement?
A. Thou ſhalt not covet thy neighhours houſe, thou ſhalt not covet thy neighbours wife, nor his man-ſervant, nor his maid-ſervant, nor his oxe, nor his aſſe, nor any thing that is thy neighbours.
19 Q. Art thou able to keep theſe commandements?
A. No: let me do what I can, yet I break them every day, more then I can expreſſe.
20 Q. What puniſhment is appointed for the breakers of Gods commandements?
A. Gods curſe, which is the everlaſting deſtruction of body, and ſoul.
21 Q. How ſhalt thou eſcape this curſe?
A. OnelyOnly by Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
22 Q. What is Jeſus Chriſt?
A. He is the eternall ſonne of God, made man.
23 Q. What hath Chriſt Jeſus done for thee?
A. He ſuffered the pains of death for me.
24 Q. Seeing Chriſt was God, how could he dye?
A. He was God, and man: as he was God he died not, but as man he died for my ſinnes, and roſe again for my juſtification.
25 Q. Are all men ſaved by Chriſts death?
A. No, onelyonly they are ſaved, who have a true faith.
26 Q. What is this true faith?
A. It is the reſting of the ſoul upon Chriſt for ſalvation.
27 Q. How muſt this faith be wrought in thee?
A. The Holy Ghoſt muſt work it in my heart, by the preaching of the Goſpell.
28 Q. How is this faith confirmed in thee?
A. By hearing the ſame Goſpell preached, and uſing the Sacraments.
29 Q. What are Sacraments?
A. They are ſignes, and ſeals, of the righteouſneſſe of faith.
30 Q. How many Sacraments are there?
A. Two onelyonly: Baptiſme, and the ſupper of the Lord.
Q. What benefit haſt thou by Baptiſme?
A. A new eſtate in Chriſt, and ſo, the forgiveneſſe of my ſinnes, if I, repenting, do believe according to the Covenant of Baptiſme.
32 Q. What benefit haſt thou by the Lords ſupper?
A. The body, and bloud of Chriſt, verily, and indeed taken, and received by my believing ſoul.
33 Q. How muſt thou reverently prepare for this Sacrament?
A. I muſt examine my ſelf, whether I have deſire, repentance, faith, thankfulneſſe, and charity, fit for the Lords table.
34 Q. Is not prayer an excellent means alſo to make thy faith grow?
A. Yes: it is a ſpeciall means appointed by God.
36 Q. What is prayer?
A. A religious moving of our ſouls to God, to draw us into communion with him, againſt ſin, for grace, and all bleſſings.
37 Q. Where canſt thou more fully learn the matter of prayer?
A. In that which is commonly called the Lords prayer.
38 Q. What is the enterance into this prayer?
A. Our Father which art in heaven.
39 Q. What is the firſt petition?
A. Hallowed be thy Name.
40 Q. What is the ſecond?
A. Thy Kingdome come.
41 Q. What is the third petition?
A. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
42 Q. What is the fourth Petition?
A. Give us this day our daily bread.
43 Q. What is the fift petition?
A. And forgive us our treſpaſſes, as we forgive them that treſpaſſe againſt us.
44 Q. What is the ſixt?
A. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evill.
45 Q. What is the concluſion of this prayer?
A. For thine is the Kingdome, the power and the Glory, for ever. Amen.
A briefer Catechiſme to be opened at firſt.
Queſtion.
GIve me the ſumme of Religion in one ſentence?
A. A ſinner, being juſtified by faith, is bound to live a godly life.
Here conſider three things:
1 Thy danger: A ſinner; therefore ſubject to the miſeries of this world, and that to come.
2 Thy deliverance: Being juſtified by faith; and therefore in Chriſt, by the Covenant of grace for forgiveneſſe, and all other things promiſed.
3 Thy duty: Is bound to live a godly life; and therefore from Chriſt bound in the Sacraments to faith working by love.
Or more fully thus:
Q. Give me the ſumme of Religion in four words?
A. My Generation, Degeneration, Regeneration, and Glorification.
Here thou muſt conſider;
1 What thou art from God: A creature, brought into the world from thy parents.
2 What thou art in and from Adam: A ſinner, ſubject unto all miſeries, even to the nether-moſt hell.
3 What thou art in Chriſt: A new creature, delivered from the curſes of the law, that thou maiſt embrace the bleſſings of the Goſpell.
4 What thou art from Chriſt: walkin a new courſe, till thou comeſt unto Glory.
Or the words of Scripture, thus:
Q. Tell me: what is thy Religion?
A. 1 It is the faith of Gods Elect, and the acknowledgement of the truth which is after godlines. Tit. 1.1.
2 It is my holding faſt of the form of ſound words which I have heard in faith and love, 2 Tim. 1.13.
3 It is all things pertaining to life, and godlineſſe. 2 Pet. 1.6.
4 It is the knowledge and ſervice of God. 2 Chron. 28.9.
5 It is faith working hy love. Gal. 5.6.
None of theſe deſcriptions are contrary either to other, but ſubordinate: and provided; you comprehend under them, what is neceſſarily to be believed, and to be practiſed, all is well.