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FREE CHURCHES. 



and sorrow, but above all he turns from it to 

 God with sincere desire to be forgiven and stead- 

 fast purpose to sin no more. 



22. Q. What is it to believe on the Lord Jesus 

 Christ? A. It means that we rely on him as our 

 Teacher, Saviour, and Lord, putting our whole 

 trust in the grace of God through him. 



23. Q. How are we enabled to repent and be- 

 lieve? A. By the secret power of the Holy Spirit 

 working graciously in our hearts, and using for 

 this end providential discipline and the message 

 of the Gospel. 



24. Q. What benefits do we receive when we re- 

 pent and believe? A. Being united to Christ by 

 faith, our sins are freely forgiven for his sake; 

 our hearts are renewed, and we become children 

 of God and joint heirs with Christ. 



25. Q. In what way are we to show ourselves 

 thankful for such great benefits? A. By striving 

 to follow the example of Jesus in doing and bear- 

 ing the will of our heavenly Father. 



26. Q. Where do we find God's will briefly ex- 

 pressed? A. In the Decalogue, or law of the Ten 

 Commandments, as explained by Jesus Christ. 



27. Q. Repeat the Ten Commandments. A. 

 (Repetition of the Commandments.) 



28. Q. How has our Lord taught us to under- 

 stand this law? A. He taught that the law 

 reaches to the desires, motives, and intentions of 

 the heart, so that we can not keep it unless we 

 love God with our whole heart and our neigh- 

 bor as ourselves. 



29. Q. What special means has God provided 

 to assist us in leading a life of obedience? A. His 

 word, prayer, the sacraments, and the fellowship 

 of the Church. 



30. Q. Where do we find God's word written? 

 A. In the Holy Bible, which is the inspired record 

 of God's revelation given to be our rule of faith 

 and duty. 



31. Q. What is prayer? A. In prayer we com- 

 mune with our Father in heaven, confess our 

 sins, give him thanks for all his benefits, and 

 ask, in the name of Jesus, for such things as he 

 has promised. 



32. Q. Repeat the Lord's Prayer. A. (Repeti- 

 tion of the prayer.) 



33. Q. What is the Holy Catholic Church? A. 

 It is that holy society of believers in Christ Jesus 

 which he founded, of which he is the only head, 

 and in which he dwells by his Spirit; so that, 

 though made up of many communions, organized 

 in various modes, and scattered throughout the 

 world, it is yet one in him. 



34. Q. For what ends did our Lord found his 

 Church? A. He united his people into this visible 

 brotherhood for the worship of God and the min- 

 istry of the Word and the sacraments ; for mutual 

 edification, the administration of discipline, and 

 the advancement of his kingdom. 



35. Q. What is the essential mark of a true 

 branch of the Catholic Church? A. The essential 

 mark of a true branch of the Catholic Church is 

 the presence of Christ, through his indwelling 

 Spirit, manifested in holy life and fellowship. 



36. Q. What is a free Church? A. A Church 

 which acknowledges none but Jesus Christ as 

 head, and therefore exercises its right to inter- 

 pret and administer his laws without restraint 

 or control by the state. 



37. Q. What is the duty of the Church to the 

 state? A. To observe all the laws of the state 

 unless contrary to the teaching of Christ; to 

 make intercession for the people, and particularly 

 for those in authority; to teach both rulers and 

 subjects the eternal principles of righteousness, 

 and to imbue the nation with the spirit of Christ. 



FRIENDS. 



38. Q. What is the duty of the state to the 

 Church? A. To protect all branches of the Church 

 and their individual members in the enjoyment of 

 liberty to worship God, and in efforts to promote 

 the religion of Christ, which do not interfere 

 with the civil rights of others. 



39. Q. What is a Christian minister? A. A 

 Christian minister is one who is called of God 

 and the Church to be a teacher of the Word and 

 a pastor of the flock of Christ. 



40. Q. How may the validity of such a minis- 

 try be proved? A. The decisive proof of a valid 

 ministry is the sanction of the divine head of 

 the Church, manifested in the conversion of sin- 

 ners and the edification of the body of Christ. 



41. Q. What are the sacraments of the Church? 

 A. Sacred rites instituted by our Lord Jesus to 

 make more plain by visible signs the inward bene- 

 fits of the Gospel, to assure us of his promised 

 grace, and, when rightly used, to become a means 

 to convey it to our hearts. 



42. Q. How many sacraments are there? A.. 

 Two only: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. 



43. Q. What is the visible sign in the sacra- 

 ment of baptism? A. Water: wherein the person 

 is baptized into the name of the Father and of 

 the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 



44. Q. What inward benefits does this signify? 

 A. The washing away of sin and the new birth 

 wrought by the Holy Spirit in all who repent and 

 believe. 



45. Q. What are the outward signs in the Lord's 

 Supper? A. Bread and wine: which the Lord 

 has commanded to be given and received for a 

 perpetual memorial of his death. 



46. Q. What is signified by the bread and wine? 

 A. By the bread is signified the body of our 

 Lord Jesus Christ in which he lived and died; by 

 the wine is signified his blood, shed once for all 

 upon the cross for the remission of sins. 



47. Q. What do they receive who in penitence 

 and faith partake of this sacrament? A. They 

 feed spiritually upon Christ as the nourishment 

 of the soul, by which they are strengthened and 

 refreshed for the duties and trials of life. 



48. Q. Why do Christians partake in common 

 of the Lord's Supper? A. To show their oneness 

 in Christ, to confess openly their faith in him, 

 and to give one another a pledge of brotherly 

 love. 



49. Q. What is a Christian's chief comfort in 

 this life? A. That in Christ he belongs to God, 

 who makes all things work together for good to 

 them that love him. 



50. Q. What hope have we in the prospect of 

 death? A. We are well assured that all who fall 

 asleep in Christ are with him in rest and peace; 

 and that even as he rose from the dead, so shall 

 we also rise and be clothed with glorified bodies. 



51. Q. What has Jesus told us of his second 

 advent? A. That at a time known only to God 

 he shall appear again with power, to be glorified 

 in his saints and to be the judge of all mankind, 

 and that for his appearing we should be always 

 ready. 



52. Q. What is the Christian's hope concern- 

 ing the future state? A. We look for the life 

 everlasting, wherein all who are saved through 

 Christ shall see God and inherit the kingdom pre- 

 pared for them from the foundation of the world. 



FRIENDS. Statistics. The statistical re- 

 turns of the Society of Friends for 1898, pub- 

 lished in January, 1899, show that the number con- 

 nected with it throughout the world was 113.877, 

 as compared with 112,413 in 1897. The gain, 

 1,464, was about 1.30 per cent. The chief gain 

 (1,301) was in the United States, where the mem- 



