Larger Catechism, week 30

Q. 122. What is the sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man?

A. The sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man, is, to love our neighbour as ourselves,^[646] and to do to others what we would have them to do to us.^[647]

Q. 123. Which is the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment is, Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.^[648]

Q. 124. Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?

A. By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents,^[649] but all superiors in age^[650] and gifts;^[651] and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family,^[652] church,^[653] or commonwealth.^[654]

Q. 125. Why are superiors styled father and mother?

A. Superiors are styled father and mother, both to teach them in all duties toward their inferiors, like natural parents, to express love and tenderness to them, according to their several relations;^[655] and to work inferiors to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in performing their duties to their superiors, as to their parents.^[656]

Q. 126. What is the general scope of the fifth commandment?

A. The general scope of the fifth commandment is, the performance of those duties which we mutually owe in our several relations, as inferiors, superiors, or equals.^[657]

Larger Catechism, week 29

Q. 119. What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required,^[630] all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them;^[631] all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful;^[632] and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.^[633]

Q. 120. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it?

A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it, are taken from the equity of it, God allowing us six days of seven for our own affairs, and reserving but one for himself in these words, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:^[634] from God’s challenging a special propriety in that day, The seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:^[635] from the example of God, who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: and from that blessing which God put upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for his service, but in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to us in our sanctifying it; Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.^[636]

Q. 121. Why is the word Remember set in the beginning of the fourth commandment?

A. The word Remember is set in the beginning of the fourth commandment,^[637] partly, because of the great benefit of remembering it, we being thereby helped in our preparation to keep it,^[638] and, in keeping it, better to keep all the rest of the commandments,^[639] and to continue a thankful remembrance of the two great benefits of creation and redemption, which contain a short abridgment of religion;^[640] and partly, because we are very ready to forget it,^[641] for that there is less light of nature for it,^[642] and yet it restraineth our natural liberty in things at other times lawful;^[643] that it cometh but once in seven days, and many worldly businesses come between, and too often take off our minds from thinking of it, either to prepare for it, or to sanctify it;^[644] and that Satan with his instruments labours much to blot out the glory, and even the memory of it, to bring in all irreligion and impiety.^[645]

Larger Catechism, week 28

Q. 115. Which is the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment is, 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 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 in the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath-day and hallowed it.^[621].

Q. 116. What is required in the fourth commandment?

A. The fourth commandment requireth of all men the sanctifying or keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word, expressly one whole day in seven; which was the seventh from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, and the first day of the week ever since, and so to continue to the end of the world; which is the Christian sabbath,^[622] and in the New Testament called The Lord’s day.^[623]

Q. 117. How is the sabbath or the Lord’s day to be sanctified?

A. The sabbath or Lord’s day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day,^[624] not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful;^[625] and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy^[626]) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship:^[627] and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.^[628]

Q. 118. Why is the charge of keeping the sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors?

A. The charge of keeping the sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves, but to see that it be observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own.^[629]

Larger Catechism, week 26

Q. 107. Which is the second commandment?

A. The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything 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 commandments.^[517]

Q. 108. What are the duties required in the second commandment?

A. The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his Word;^[518] particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ;^[519] the reading, preaching, and hearing of the Word;^[520] the administration and receiving of the sacraments;^[521] church government and discipline;^[522] the ministry and maintainance thereof;^[523] religious fasting;^[524] swearing by the name of God;^[525] and vowing unto him;^[526] as also the disapproving, detesting, opposing all false worship;^[527] and, according to each one’s place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.^[528]

Q. 109. What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising,^[529] counselling,^[530] commanding,^[531] using,^[532] and anywise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself;^[533] tolerating a false religion; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever;^[534] all worshipping of it,^[535] or God in it or by it;^[536] the making of any representation of feigned deities,^[537] and all worship of them, or service belonging to them,^[538] all superstitious devices,^[539] corrupting the worship of God,^[540] adding to it, or taking from it,^[541] whether invented and taken up of ourselves,^[542] or received by tradition from others,^[543] though under the title of antiquity,^[544] custom,^[545] devotion,^[546] good intent, or any other pretence whatsoever;^[547] simony;^[548] sacrilege;^[549] all neglect,^[550] contempt,^[551] hindering,^[552] and opposing the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed.^[553].

Q. 110. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it?

A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment, the more to enforce it, contained in these words, 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 commandments;^[554] are, besides God’s sovereignty over us, and propriety in us,^[555] his fervent zeal for his own worship,^[556] and his revengeful indignation against all false worship, as being a spiritual whoredom;^[557] accounting the breakers of this commandment such as hate him, and threatening to punish them unto divers generations;^[558] and esteeming the observers of it such as love him and keep his commandments, and promising mercy to them unto many generations.^[559].

Larger Catechism, week 25

Q. 103. Which is the first commandment?

A. The first commandment is, Thou shall have no other gods before me.^[445]

Q. 104. What are the duties required in the first commandment?

A. The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God;^[446] and to worship and glorify him accordingly,^[447] by thinking,^[448] meditating,^[449] remembering,^[450] highly esteeming,^[451] honouring,^[452] adoring,^[453] choosing,^[454] loving,^[455] desiring,^[456] fearing of him;^[457] believing him;^[458] trusting^[459] hoping,^[460] delighting,^[461] rejoicing in him;^[462] being zealous for him;^[463] calling upon him, giving all praise and thanks,^[464] and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man;^[465] being careful in all things to please him,^[466] and sorrowful when in any thing he is offended;^[467] and walking humbly with him.^[468]

Q. 105. What are the sins forbidden in the first commandment?

A. The sins forbidden in the first commandment are, atheism, in denying or not having a God;^[469] idolatry, in having or worshipping more gods than one, or any with or instead of the true God;^[470] the not having and avouching him for God, and our God;^[471] the omission or neglect of anything due to him, required in this commandment;^[472] ignorance,^[473] forgetfulness,^[474] misapprehensions,^[475] false opinions,^[476] unworthy and wicked thoughts of him;^[477] bold and curious searching into his secrets;^[478] all profaneness,^[479] hatred of God;^[480] self-love,^[481] self-seeking,^[482] and all other inordinate and immoderate setting of our mind, will, or affections upon other things, and taking them off from him in whole or in part;^[483] vain credulity,^[484] unbelief,^[485] heresy,^[486] misbelief,^[487] distrust,^[488] despair,^[489] incorrigibleness,^[490] and insensibleness under judgments,^[491] hardness of heart,^[492] pride,^[493] presumption,^[494] carnal security,^[495] tempting of God;^[496] using unlawful means,^[497] and trusting in lawful means;^[498] carnal delights and joys;^[499] corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal;^[500] lukewarmness,^[501] and deadness in the things of God;^[502] estranging ourselves, and apostatizing from God;^[503] praying, or giving any religious worship, to saints, angels, or any other creatures;^[504] all compacts and consulting with the devil,^[505] and hearkening to his suggestions;^[506] making men the lords of our faith and conscience;^[507] slighting and despising God and his commands;^[508] resisting and grieving of his Spirit,^[509] discontent and impatience at his dispensations, charging him foolishly for the evils he inflicts on us;^[510] and ascribing the praise of any good we either are, have or can do, to fortune,^[511] idols,^[512] ourselves,^[513] or any other creature.^[514]

Q. 106. What are we specially taught by these words before me in the first commandment?

A. These words before me or before my face, in the first commandment, teach us, that God, who seeth all things, taketh special notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God: that so it may be an argument to dissuade from it, and to aggravate it as a most impudent provocation:^[515] as also to persuade us to do as in his sight, whatever we do in his service.^[516]

Larger Catechism, week 24

Q. 101. What is the preface to the ten commandments?

A. The preface to the ten commandments is contained 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.^[436] Wherein God manifesteth his sovereignty, as being JEHOVAH, the eternal, immutable, and almighty God;^[437] having his being in and of himself,^[438] and giving being to all his words^[439] and works:^[440] and that he is a God in covenant, as with Israel of old, so with all his people;^[441] who, as he brought them out of their bondage in Egypt, so he delivereth us from our spiritual thraldom;^[442] and that therefore we are bound to take him for our God alone, and to keep all his commandments.^[443]

Q. 102. What is the sum of the four commandments which contain our duty to God?

A. The sum of the four commandments containing our duty to God is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with all our mind.^[444]

Larger Catechism, week 23

Q. 99. What rules are to be observed for the right understanding of the ten commandments?

A. For the right understanding of the ten commandments, these rules are to be observed:

1. That the law is perfect, and bindeth everyone to full conformity in the whole man unto the righteousness thereof, and unto entire obedience forever; so as to require the utmost perfection of every duty, and to forbid the least degree of every sin.^[422]

2. That it is spiritual, and so reacheth the understanding, will, affections, and all other powers of the soul; as well as words, works, and gestures.^[423]

3. That one and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden in several commandments.^[424]

4. That as, where a duty is commanded, the contrary sin is forbidden;^[425] and, where a sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is commanded:^[426] so, where a promise is annexed, the contrary threatening is included;^[427] and, where a threatening is annexed, the contrary promise is included.^[428]

5. That what God forbids, is at no time to be done;^[429] what he commands, is always our duty;^[430] and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times.^[431]

6. That under one sin or duty, all of the same kind are forbidden or commanded; together with all the causes, means, occasions, and appearances thereof, and provocations thereunto.^[432]

7. That what is forbidden or commanded to ourselves, we are bound, according to our places to endeavour that it may be avoided or performed by others, according to the duty of their places.^[433]

8. That in what is commanded to others, we are bound, according to our places and callings, to be helpful to them;^[434] and to take heed of partaking with others in what is forbidden them.^[435]

Q. 100. What special things are we to consider in the ten commandments?

A. We are to consider in the ten commandments, the preface, the substance of the commandments themselves, and several reasons annexed to some of them, the more to enforce them.

Larger Catechism, week 22

Q. 95. Of what use is the moral law to all men?

A. The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and the will of God,^[404] and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly;^[405] to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives:^[406] to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery,^[407] and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ,^[408] and of the perfection of his obedience.^[409]

Q. 96. What particular use is there of the moral law to unregenerate men?

A. The moral law is of use to unregenerate men, to awaken their consciences to flee from wrath to come,^[410] and to drive them to Christ;^[411] or, upon their continuance in the estate and way of sin, to leave them inexcusable,^[412] and under the curse thereof.^[413]

Q. 97. What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?

A. Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law as a covenant of works,^[414] so as thereby they are neither justified^[415] nor condemned;^[416] yet, besides the general uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use, to show them how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, and enduring the curse thereof in their stead, and for their good;^[417] and thereby to provoke them to more thankfulness,^[418] and to express the same in their greater care to conform themselves thereunto as the rule of their obedience.^[419]

Q. 98. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?

A. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments, which were delivered by the voice of God upon Mount Sinai, and written by him in two tables of stone;^[420] and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The four first commandments containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man.^[421]

Larger Catechism, week 21

Q. 91. What is the duty which God requireth of man?

A. The duty which God requireth of man, is obedience to his revealed will.^[397]

Q. 92. What did God at first reveal unto man as the rule of his obedience?

A. The rule of obedience revealed to Adam in the estate of innocence, and to all mankind in him, besides a special command not to eat of the fruit of the tree knowledge of good and evil, was the moral law.^[398]

Q. 93. What is the moral law?

A. The moral law is the declaration of the will of God to mankind, directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in the frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body,^[399] and in performance of all those duties of holiness and righteousness which he oweth to God and man:^[400] promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the breach of it.^[401]

Q. 94. Is there any use of the moral law to man since the fall?

A. Although no man, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral law:^[402] yet there is great use thereof, as well common to all men, as peculiar either to the unregenerate, or the regenerate.^[403]

Larger Catechism, week 20

Q. 87. What are we to believe concerning the resurrection?

A. We are to believe that at the last day there shall be a general resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust:^[379] when they that are then found alive shall in a moment be changed; and the selfsame bodies of the dead which were laid in the grave, being then again united to their souls forever, shall be raised up by the power of Christ.^[380] The bodies of the just, by the Spirit of Christ, and by virtue of his resurrection as their head, shall be raised in power, spiritual, incorruptible, and made like to his glorious body;^[381] and the bodies of the wicked shall be raised up in dishonour by him, as an offended judge.^[382]

Q. 88. What shall immediately follow after the resurrection?

A. Immediately after the resurrection shall follow the general and final judgment of angels and men;^[383] the day and hour whereof no man knoweth, that all may watch and pray, and be ever ready for the coming of the Lord.^[384]

Q. 89. What shall be done to the wicked at the day of judgment?

A. At the day of judgment, the wicked shall be set on Christ’s left hand,^[385] and, upon clear evidence, and full conviction of their own consciences,^[386] shall have the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them;^[387] and thereupon shall be cast out from the favourable presence of God, and the glorious fellowship with Christ, his saints, and all his holy angels, into hell, to be punished with unspeakable torments, both of body and soul, with the devil and his angels forever.^[388]

Q. 90. What shall be done to the righteous at the day of judgment?

A. At the day of judgment, the righteous, being caught up to Christ in the clouds,^[389] shall be set on his right hand, and there openly acknowledged and acquitted,^[390] shall join with him in the judging of reprobate angels and men,^[391] and shall be received into heaven,^[392] where they shall be fully and forever freed from all sin and misery;^[393] filled with inconceivable joys,^[394] made perfectly holy and happy both in body and soul, in the company of innumerable saints and holy angels,^[395] but especially in the immediate vision and fruition of God the Father, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, to all eternity.^[396] And this is the perfect and full communion, which the members of the invisible church shall enjoy with Christ in glory, at the resurrection and day of judgment.