A. First, of creation ; secondly, of ^ actual providence. — Ps. xxxiii. 9 ; Heb. i. 2, 3.
Q. 2. What is the wo7'k of creation ?
A. An act or work of God's almighty power, whereby of nothing, in six days, he created heaven, earth, and the sea, with all things in them contained. — Gen. i. 1; Exod. xx. 11; Prov. xvi. 4.
Q. 3. Wherefore did God make man ?
A. For his own glory in his service ^ ^ and obedience. — Gen. i. 26, 27, ii. 16, 17; Rom. ix. 23.
Q. 4. Was man able to yield the service and worship that God required of him?
A. Yea, to the uttermost, being created upright in the image of God, in purity, innocency, righteousness, and holiness. — Gen. i. 26; Eccles. vii. 29; Eph. iv. 24; Col. iii. 10.
Q. 5. What was the 7'ide whereby man luas at first to be directed in his obedience?
A. The moral ^ or eternal law of God, implanted in his nature and written in his heart by creation, being the tenor of the covenant between God and him, sacramentally typified by the tree of know- ledge of good and evil. — Gen. ii. 15-17; Rom. ii. 14, 15; Eph. iv. 24.
' The very outwaid works of God ar > sufficient to convince men of Iiis eternal power and Godiiead, and to leave tliem inexcusable, if tiiey serve him not.
* Tiie glory of God is to be preferred above our own either being or well-being, as the supreme end of them.
' Tlie approaching unto God in his service is the chief exaltation of onr nature above the beasts that perish.
* God never allowed, from the beginning, that the will of the creature should be the measure of his worship and honour.
THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. 475
Q. 6. Do tue stand in the same covenant still, and have ive the same power to yield obedience unto God?
A. No; the ''covenant was^ broken by the sin of Adam, with whom it was made, ^ our nature corrapted, ° and all power to do good utterly lost.— ''Gen. iii. 16-18; Gal. iii. 10, 11, 21; Heb. vii. l9, viii. 13. • — "Job xiv. 4; Ps. li. 5. — "Gen. vi. 5; Jer. xiii. 23.
CHAP. VI. — Of God's actual Providence.
Q. 1. What is God's actual providence ?
A. The effectual working of his ^ ' * power, and almighty act of his will, whereby he sustaineth, governeth, and disposeth of all things, men and their actions, to the ends which he hath ordained for them. — Exod. iv. 11; Job v. 10-12, ix. 5, 6; Ps. cxlvii. 4; Prov. xv. 3; Isa. xlv. 6, 7; John v. 17; Acts xvii. 28; Heb. i. 3.
Q. 2. How is this pirovidence exercised towards mankind?
A. Two ways; first, * peculiarly towards his church, or elect, in their generations, for whom are all things; secondly, ** towards all in a general manner, yet with various and divers dispensations. — " Deut. xxxii. 10; Ps. xvii. 8; Zech. ii. 8; Matt. xvi. 18, xix. 2, 29; 1 Pet. V. "j.-y Gen ix. 5; Ps. Ixxv. 6, 7; Isa. xlv. 6, 7; Matt. v. 45.
Q. 3. Wherein chiefiy consists the outward providence of God to- wards his churchJ
A. In three things; — first, in " causing alP things to work together for their good ; secondly, in " niling and disposing of kingdoms, na- tions, and persons, for their benefit ; thirdly, ° in avenging them of then: adversaries. — "Matt. vi. 31-33; Rom. viii. 28; 1 Tim. vi. 17; 2 Pet. i. 3.— "Ps. cv. 14, 15; Isa. xliv. 28; Dan. ii. 44; Eom. ix. 17. — "Isa. Ix. 12; Zech. xii. 2-5; Luke xviii. 7; Rev. xvii. 14.
Q. 4. Doth God rule also in and over the sinful actions of tvicked men ?
A. Yea, he willingly (according " to his determinate counsel) suf- fereth them to be, for the manifestation of his glory, and by them
' Though we ])ave all lost our right unto the promise of the first covenant, yet all not restored by Christ are under the commination and curse thereof.
2 To this providence is to be ascribed all the good we do enjoy, and all the 'afflictions we undergo.
3 Fortune, chance, and the like, are names without things, scarce fit to be used among Christians, seeing Providence certainly ruleth all to appointed ends.
* No free-will in man exempted either from the eternal decree or the over- ruling providence of God.
5 Though the dispensations of God's providence towards his people be various, vet every issue and act of it tends to one certain end, — their good in his glory.
8 Almighty God knows how to bring light out of darkness, good out of evil, the salvatiou of his elect out of Judas's treachery, the Jews' cruelty, and Pilate's iu- justice.
4>76 THE PRINCIPLES OF
effecteth his own righteous ends. — 2 Sam. xii. 11, xvi. 10; 1 Kings xi. 31, xxii. 22; Job i. 21; Pro v. xxii. 14; Isa. x. 6, 7; Ezek. xxi. 19-21; Amos vii. 17; Acts iv. 27, 28; Rom. i. 24, ix. 22; 1 Pet. ii. 8; Rev. xvii, 17.
Q. 5. Doth the providence of God extend itself to every small thing 1