QUESTIONS, BY WAY OF EXAMINATION FOR THE ACCIDENTAL, ANNUAL, OR OTHERWISE INFREQUENT COMMUNICANT. 1. MY DUTY TO GOD. Do I believe and consider that God is the CREATOR, PRESERVER, and GOVERNOR of the world, and all things therein ?* See Col. i. 16. Nehemiah ix. 6. Ps. xxii. 28. Do I believe and consider the KNOWLEDGE of God, and therefore that he must see and know every thought of my heart, and every action of my life; and does that consideration make me take heed to all my ways? *The texts in this chapter are only given as references, because it is hoped that the reader may, in order to prove each separate point of examination, turn to his Bible himself, and so ascertain by his own work the rule of Faith by which he is to live. See Acts xvii. 28; Ps. xliv. 21; Jer. xxiii. 23. Do I believe and consider the GOODNESS of God, and does that consideration create in me love towards him, and does that love make me desirous in every way to please him? See Ps. xxxiii. 5; Matt. xix. 17; Matt. xxii. 37. Do I believe and consider the MAJESTY and GREATNESS of GOD, and does that consideration work in my heart awful and reverend thoughts concerning him, and do those thoughts, when I compare myself with him, make me humble? See Job xxxvi. 26, and xxxvii. 22; 1 Chron. xxix. 11; Ps. xxxiii. 8, and viii. 4. Do I believe and consider the Power of God, and does that consideration work in me a fear of his wrath, and a dread lest in any way I should displease him? See Ps. lxii. 11; 2 Chron. xxv. 8; Deut. vi. 13; Luke xii. 5. 322 BY W Do I CREATO world, a See Do I I. of God, know eve action of n make me t * The tex ences, becaus order to prove turn to his Bi! work the rule ... faith in all his promises, and a trust in all his words? See Isaiah lxv. 16. 2 Pet. iii. 9. Heb. vi. 18. Heb. xi. 13. Do I believe and consider that this God, of whom I speak as my Creator, Preserver, and Governor; of infinite knowledge, goodness, majesty, justice, power, wisdom, mercy, and truth, is ONE GOD? and that in this UNITY, there are three persons of equal substance, THE FATHER, THE SON, and THE HOLY GHOST; and does this consideration work in me wonder and admiration, without diminishing my faith? See Deut. vi. 4. Matt. iii. 16, 17. Creed of Saint Athanasius. John i. 1-3. Acts v. 3, 4. Mark ix. 24. Do I believe and consider that the second person in this ever blessed TRINITY is JESUS, the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and that He came into the world, born of the Virgin Mary, perfect God and perfect man, F F I and that by his blood shed upon the cross, am redeemed from the wrath of God, and saved from my sins? See Matt. i. 21. Acts ii. 36. John i. 1418. John xviii. 37. Matt. i. 18. John i. 1 and 14. Rev. v. 9. 1 John i. 7. Do I believe and consider that the third person in this ever-blessed TRINITY is THE HOLY GHOST; and that by His operation working within me, and communicated to me at baptism, I have been born again, and made the child of God, and by His operation still continuing to work within me, I am enabled (and by that alone) to do anything to please God? See John xiv. 26. John iii. 5. Rom. Do I then believe and consider that, as the result of this faith, my duty is to look upon my soul as not my own, but bought with a price, and my body as not my own, but the temple of the living God, and so take heed to all my ways? |