PART III. The Cbristian's Moral Duty. Q. You said that your Sponsors did promise for you, that you should keep God's Commandments. Tell me how many there are? A. The same which God spake in the twentieth Chapter of Exodus, saying, I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. TABLE I. I. Thou shalt have none other gods but me. II. Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, and visit the sins of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and show mercy unto thousands in them that love me and keep my commandments. III. Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his Name in vain. IV. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbathday. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all that thou hast to do; but the seventh is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God. In it thou shalt do no manner of work, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, thy cattle, and the 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 the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. TABLE II. V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. VI. Thou shalt do no murder. VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. VIII. Thou shalt not steal. IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is his. Question. What dost thou chiefly learn by these Commandments? Answer. I learn two things; my duty towards God, and my duty towards my Neighbour. Question. What is thy duty towards God? Answer. My duty towards God is To believe in him, to fear him, And to love him with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my soul, and with all my strength: To worship him, to give him thanks: To put my whole trust in him, to call upon him: To honour his holy Name and his Word: And to serve him truly all the days of my life. Question. What is thy duty towards thy Neighbour? Answer. My duty towards my Neighbour is To love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me: To love, honour, and succour my father and mother: To honour and obey the civil authority: To submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters: To order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters: To hurt nobody by word or deed: To be true and just in all my dealings: To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart: To keep my hands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil speaking, lying, and slandering: To keep my body in temperance, soberness, and chastity: Not to covet nor desire other men's goods; But to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, And to do my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me. I. CONFIRMATION. What is Confirmation? Confirmation is the Laying-on of hands by a Bishop on those who have been baptized, that they may receive the Holy Ghost. 2. Why is the Laying-on of hands called Confirmation? "Confirmation" means "strengthening" and the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is received in it, is for the strengthening of the spiritual life. 3. Is Confirmation "joining the Church"? No; Confirmation, in the Bible sense of the ordinance, is not joining the Church, nor making a profession of religion, nor a renewing of our vows; it is the making strong of the baptized soul by the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost. 4. Is Confirmation closely associated with Baptism? Yes; Confirmation was not separated from Baptism till the seventh century; and then only in the Western part of the Catholic Church. In the Greek Church it is to this day administered immediately after Baptism. What does the Prayer Book say with regard to delaying Confirmation after Infant Baptism? The Prayer Book says (p. 273): "To the end that Confirmation may be ministered to the more edifying of such as shall receive it, the Church hath thought good to order, that none shall be Confirmed, but such as can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; and can also answer to such other Questions, as in the short Catechism are contained." 6. Does the Church direct Confirmation to be administered at any specified age? No, the Church does not direct Confirmation to be administered at any age which may be specified in terms of years and months; but she clearly directs (Prayer Book, p. 272) that "So soon as Children are come to a COMPETENT AGE, and can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments, and can answer to the other questions of the short Catechism, they shall be brought to the Bishop." 7. When then should you be confirmed? I may be young, but I am old enough to please God, and to ask Him to help me. I may be growing old, but I can never be too old to come to God for His help that I may live as His children ought to live. 8. What good will Confirmation do you? IO. II. I am God's child, and my duty to God is to love and serve and please Him. But I am very weak: I have tried and have failed. I need to be confirmed or made stronger; and God offers to give me His strengthening grace in Confirmation. How ought you to prepare for Confirmation? 1. My mind ought to be instructed. I should understand what Confirmation really means; and therefore I should regularly attend the preparation classes which have been arranged by my pastor. 2. My heart should be made ready. But only God can do that, and therefore I must ask Him to make me in earnest. What was Confirmation called in earlier times? In earlier times Confirmation was called "Imposition of hands," "Chrism," "the Seal." The name Confirmation" seems to have come into use about the Fourth Century. 66 What instances in the New Testament have The instances of Confirmation in the New (a) The Confirmation of the Samaritans by (b) The Confirmation of the disciples at Ephesus by the Apostle S. Paul. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews classes Confirmation with the "founda |