endued them with living, reasonable, and immortal souls ; made them after his own image, in knowledge,P righteousness and holiness ; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfil it,s with dominion over the creatures;t yet subject to fall.v

Q. 18. What are God's works of providence?

A. God's works of providence are his most holy,w wise, and powerful preserving, and governing all his creatures ;z ordering them, and all their actions,a to his own glory.b

n Gen. ii. 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. Compared with Job xxxv. 11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven. And with Eccl. xii. 7. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. And with Mat. x. 28. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. And with Luke xxiii. 43. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

o Gen. i. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them.

p Col. iii. 10. And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him.

q Eph. iv. 24. And that ye put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

r Rom. ii. 14, 15. For when the Gentiles who have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves: which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or else excusing one another.

s Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, That God hath made: man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

t Gen. i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

v Gen. iii. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.

18. w Psal. cxlv. 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

z Psal. civ. 24. O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Isa. xxviii. 29. This also cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

y Heb. i. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high.

Q. 19. What is God's providence towards the angels ?

A. God, by his providence, permitted some of the angels, wilfully and irrecoverably, to fall into sin and damnation, limiting and ordering that, and all their sins, to his own glory;d and established the rest in holiness and happiness, employing them all,f at his pleasure, in the administrations of his power, mercy and justice.g

z Psal. ciii. 19. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

a Mat. x. 29, 30, 31. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Gen. xlv. 7. And God sent me before you, to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

b Rom. xi. 36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Isa. Ixiii. 14. As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord caused him to rest; so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

19. c Jude 6. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day. 2 Pet. ii. 4. For, if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. Heb. ii. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham. John viii. 44. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.

d Job i. 12. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power, only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. Mat. viii. 31. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

e1 Tim. v. 21. I charge thee before God, and the Lord, Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. Mark viii. 38. Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. Heb. xii. 22. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.

f Psal. civ. 4. Who maketh his angels spirits: his ministers a flaming fire.

g 2 Kings xix. 35. And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians, an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. Heb. i. 14. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Q. 20. What was the providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created?

A. The providence of God toward man in the estate in which he was created, was, the placing him in paradise, appointing him to dress it, giving liberty to eat of the fruit of the earth; putting the creatures under his dominion,1 and ordaining marriage for his help ;k affording him communion with himself; instituting the Sabbath ;m entering into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience," of which the tree of life was a pledge; and forbidding to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon pain of death.P

20. h Gen. ii. 8, 15, 16. And the Lord, God, planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And the Lord, God, took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. And the Lord, God, commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.

i Gen. i. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

k Gen. ii. 18. And the Lord, God, said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Gen. i. 26 to 29. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat. Gen. iii. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord, God, walking in the garden, in the cool of the day and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, God, amongst the trees of the garden.

m Gen. ii. 3. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made.

n Gal. iii. 12. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doth them shall live in them. Rom. x. 5. For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doth these things, shall live by them.

o Gen. ii. 9. And out of the ground made the Lord, God, to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food: the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

p Gen. i. 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.

Q. 21. Did man continue in that estate wherein God at first created him?

A. Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, through the temptation of Satan, transgressed the commandment of God, in eating the forbidden fruit; and thereby fell from the estate of innocency wherein they were created q

Q. 22. Did all mankind fall in that first transgression?

A. The covenant being made with Adam as a public person, not for himself only, but for his posterity; all mankind descending from him by ordinary generation." sinned in him. and fell with him, in that first transgression.s

Q. 23. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind ?

A. The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.t

21. q Gen. iii. 6, 7, 8, 13. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise; she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. Eccl. vii. 29. Lo, this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions. 2 Cor. xi. 3. But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

22. r Acts xvii. 26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.

s Gen ii. 16, 17. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. (Compared with Rom. v. 12 to 20.) Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For if through the offence of one, many be dead; much more. For, the judgment was by one to condemnationFor, if by one man's offence, death reigned by one; much more Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so For, as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience- And with 1 Cor. xv. 21, 22. For, since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

23. t Rom. v. 12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that

Q. 24. What is sin?

A. Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of any law of God, given as a rule to the reasonable creature.v

Q. 25. Wherein consisteth the sinfulness of that estate whercinto man fell?

A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth in the guilt of Adam's first sin,w the want of that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually ; which is commonly called original sin, and from which do proceed all actual transgressions.y

all have sinned. Rom. iii. 23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

24. 1 John iii. 4. Whosoever committeth sin, transgresseth also the law for sin is the transgression of the law Gal. iii. 10, 12. For as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doth them, shall live in him.

25. w Rom. v. 12, 19. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. For, as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made right

eous.

x Rom. iii. 10 to 19. As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable: there is none that doth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways: and the way of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now, we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Eph. ii. 1, 2, 3. And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Rom. v. 6. For, when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Rom. viii. 7, 8. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh, cannot please God. Gen. vi. 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.