It may justly be doubted, whether our Saviour always from the beginning required the belief and profession of him to be the Messiah, as a necessary thing in order to become one of his disciples, and to receive his baptism, in those early days; since he studiously avoided the preaching up his own character as the Messiah, and concealed it from the public notice. Matt. xvi. 20. But after his resurrection, and new instituted form of baptism, none were to be baptized but those who professed Jesus to be the Christ, or the Messiah.

63 Q. Did he make any alteration in the form of baptism afterwards?

A. After his resurrection, just before his ascension to heaven, he bid his disciples, Go teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matt. xxviii. 19.

64 Q. When did he appoint the Lord's supper?

A. The same night in which he was betrayed, which was just after the feast of the pass-over, and a few hours before his death. 1 Cor. xi. 23.

65 Q. How did Christ appoint this ordinance to be performed?

A. Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you: and he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins; then he said, This do in remembrance of me; and afterward he sung an hymn. Matt. xxvi. 26. 1 Cor. xi. 24.

66 Q. Do these ordinances of the Gospel come in the room of any of the ceremonies of the Jewish law?

A. It has been generally supposed that baptism comes in the room of circumcision, and the Lord's supper in the room of the pass-over: but the proof of this does not belong to this place.

67 Q. How long is the ordinance of baptism to con tinue?

A. Till the end of the world; for our Saviour, upon giving his apostles and ministers commission to teach and baptize, promises to be with them to the end of the world, Matt. xxviii. 20.

68 Q.

continue?

How long is the ordinance of the supper to

A. He not only bid them do this in remembrance of him, but St. Paul saith, Hereby ye shew forth the Lord's death till he come; that is, till Christ come to judge the world. 1 Cor. xi. 24, 25, 26.

SECT. VII. Remarkable Occurrences in the Life of

Christ.

69 Q. WHAT other remarkable occurrences are recorded in the life of Christ, besides those that have been mentioned?

A. These that follow, namely,

1.

When Jesus Christ healed the servant of the centurian at Capernaum, he only sent a message of healing by his master, without going near him himself, to shew that he had power over diseases at a distance, and could command them to depart. Matt. viii. 5—13.

2. When he cast many devils out of the man of Gadara, who lived among the tombs, the devils asked leave to enter into a herd of swine; and when Jesus permitted them, they drove the herd of swine down a steep place into the sea, and drowned them; upon which the people desired Christ to depart out of their coasts. Mark v. 1-17.

3. When Jesus healed the man of the palsy at Nazareth, his own city, he forgave his sins, and then cured his distemper, as a proof of his power to forgive sin. Matt. ix. 1-8.

4. When the woman came to be cured of her bleed

she

ing, with a strong belief of his power and mercy, only touched the hem of his garment, and Jesus pronounced that her faith had made her whole. Matt. ix,

20-22.

5. He went through a corn-field with his disciples on the sabbath, and defended them in their plucking of ears of corn, and rubbing, and eating, from the accusation of

the Pharisees, who pretended this was a breach of the sabbath. Matt. xii. 1—8.

6. When the Jews demanded a sign of him, he refused to give them any but the sign of the prophet Jonah, that as Jonah was three days and nights in the whale's belly, so the Son of man should be three days and nights in the grave. Matt. xii. 38-40.

7. When he was told that his mother and his brethren stood without, and wanted to speak with him, he took occasion to say, that whosoever should do the will of his Father, were indeed his nearest relations, his brother, his sister, and his mother. Matt. xii. 46-50.

8. Though he wrought many miracles in his life, yet he wrought but few of them in his own country, because they despised him as the son of a carpenter, and would not believe in him. Matt. xiii. 54-58.

9. When Jesus walked upon the water towards his disciples in a storm, he called Peter out of the ship to walk upon the water too, and reproved him for his fearfulness and unbelief when he began to sink. Matt. xiv. 24-32.

10. He commended Peter for his confession of him as the Son of the living God, and promised to build his church upon this rock, this confession of Peter: but presently after he told his disciples of his sufferings and death, and reproved Peter severely for wishing that Christ might not suffer and die. Matt. xvi. 16–23.

11. When tribute money was required of him at Capernaum, he sent Peter to catch a fish, and told him he should find money in the mouth of it, which he did, and paid it to those that gathered the tax. Matt. xvii. 24-27.

12. When little children were brought to him that he should touch them, his disciples rebuked those that brought them but Jesus took them in his arms and blessed them, and said, Of such is the kingdom of God. Mark x. 13-16.

13. When a rich young man inquired of him what he should do to obtain eternal life? he tried him by saying "keep the commandments, or do this and live; for the

man that doth them shall live by them; as Rom. x. 5. But when the young man was so confident of his own righteousness, and so little sensible of his imperfections, as to reply, All these have I kept from my youth: what do I lack more? Our Lord then put him to a further trial, bid him sell what estate he had, give to the poor, and follow him as one of his disciples. At this the young man went away sorrowful, because he had great possessions: whence Jesus took occasion to say, It was hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. xix. 16-24.

14. When James and John desired to be made chief in his kingdom, and to sit on his right hand and on his left, Jesus took occasion to suppress ambition amongst all his disciples, and said, Whoever will be chief amongst you, let him be your servant; as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. Matt. xx. 20—28.

15. As he was travelling from Galilee to Jerusalem, Samaria lay in his way, and when the Samaritans would not receive him, some of his disciples would have called for fire from heaven upon them, as Elias did: but he severely reproved them, saying, they knew not what manner of spirit they were of; for the Son of man came to save men's lives, and not to destroy them. Luke ix. 51-56.

16. When our Saviour was entertained at Bethany, he gently reproved Martha for being too much cumbered with care to entertain and feast him, and commended her sister Mary, who sat at Jesus's feet, and heard his words: Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Luke v. 38-42.

17. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he went to the grave in company with Martha and Mary, his two sisters, and several Jews: he bid them take away the stone from the mouth of the cave and prayed to his Father, and then commanded Lazarus to come forth, who had been dead four days; and Lazarus obeyed him and came forth. John xi.

18. The Jews used to travel on foot from place to

place, yet when he went up to the last feast at Jerusalem, he rode into the city upon the colt of an ass, that the prophecy of Zechariah might be fulfilled, Zech. ix. 10, and a great multitude attended him as in triumph, crying, Hosannah to the Son of David; so that the children learned the song, and repeated it in the temple. Matt. xxi. 1-6.

19. When he found in the temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money, he made a scourge of small cords, and drove them all out of the temple, and overthrew the tables, with the money on them: and said, It is written, my house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves, and he went out of the city, and lodged that night at Bethany. Matt. xxi. 12, 13, 17.

20. When he returned from Bethany the next morning, he cursed a fig-tree that had only leaves and no fruit on it, to shew the doom of fruitless professors of religion; and presently the fig-tree withered away. This is said to be the only miracle of destruction that Jesus wrought, for all the rest were miracles of goodness. Matt. xxi. 17-20.

Conclusion of this Chapter.

70 Q. After we have heard this brief account of the transactions of the life of Christ, tell me what was the sum of that religion which Christ taught during his life? A. It consisted chiefly in these few articles:

1. He confirmed the doctrine of the one true God, and the revelation of his mind and will to men by Moses and the prophets.

2 He explained the moral law, and enforced the observance of it forever; and summed it up in short in two great commandments, namely, Love God with all your heart, and love your neighbour as yourself.

3. He continued the observance of the ceremonial law for the present, that is, wheresoever it did not interfere with the duties of the moral law; but where it did