That the hand of God is in all things. 1

Isaiah, xlv. 7, I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil. I the LORD do all these things.

Psalm lxxvii. 11, 14, I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?

When God had created man he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil upon the pain of death.

Into what did God enter with man?-Into a covenant of life. 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. Why called a covenant of life?

Because, if man kept it, he was to live for ever. Gen. ii. 9, 16, 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. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. On what condition did the covenant proceed?

On condition of perfect obedience.

What do you understand by perfect obedience?
Completely doing what the covenant required.
Of what did the covenant forbid him to eat?
Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

Gen. ii. 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.

Upon the pain of what was he forbidden to eat of it?

Upon the pain of death.

What may we learn from this subject?-That the breaking of this covenant brought death into the world.

1 A careful observation of the dealings of providence, whether prosperous or adverse, tends much to improve our knowledge of the Scriptures and of the divine perfections, and to render our minds composed amidst the varied changes through which we may pass.

2 This tree was so called because by it God tried man's perseverance in good, or fall into evil, and because, by eating of its fruit, man experienced what it was to fall from good into evil.

Rom. vi. 23, For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1

13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

Who were our first parents?-Adam and Eve.

To what were they left?-To the freedom of their own will. 2 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 thercof, and did eat; and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. What is meant by being left to the freedom of their own will? -That God permitted them to do what they pleased.

From what did they fall?-From the estate in which they were created, or state of innocence. 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.

How did they fall from it?-By sinning against God.

Gen. iii. 6, 7, 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.

What does this subject teach us?

That man, in his best estate, was changeable.

Psalm xlix. 12, Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

14. What is sin?

1 The death brought into the world by the breach of this covenant was threefold, temporal, spiritual, and eternal. By temporal death we understand the separation of the soul from the body;-by spiritual death, the separation of the soul from God, or the loss of holiness and happiness; and by eternal death, the enduring of God's wrath, in soul and body, in hell for ever.

2 Man having been created after the image of God, had his will inclined only towards good, yet it was moveable to evil, and that only by man himself, to whom God gave a sufficient power to remain in his state of innocence, if he had pleased.

B

Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

What is meant by want of conformity to God's law?-The want of that agreement in conduct with what the law requires. 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.

Isaiah, i. 5, 6, Why should you be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

James, i. 15, Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Rom. vii. 8, But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Job, xxxi. 30, Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to his soul.

Prov. xxiv. 9, The thought of foolishness is sin; and the scorner is an abomination to men.

Gen. xxxix. 9, There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

What is it to transgress God's law?-To do any thing it forbids. 1 John, iii. 4, Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Must not sin then be the greatest of all evils?—Yes.

Rom. vii. 13, Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.

What do you mean by the forbidden fruit?

The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Why is it called forbidden fruit?

Because God told them not to eat it. Gen. ii. 17. See page 12.

The eating of this fruit may appear a very trifling matter to sin

Who tempted them to eat of it?-Satan.

Seeing that our first parents, when holy, yielded to temptation, what is our duty, who are sinners by nature?-To pray that God would enable us to resist and overcome temptation.

Psalm cxix. 34, Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

Matt. vi. 13, And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

16. Did all mankind fall in Adam's first transgression?

The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgression.

What was the first transgression?-Eating the forbidden fruit." Gen. iii. 11, And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Who sinned in Adam, and fell with him in his first transgression?-All mankind.

Rom. v. 18, Therefore, as by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Why did all mankind sin in him and fall with him?

one,

Because the covenant was made, not only for himself, but for his whole posterity. 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 all have sinned.

1 Cor. xv. 22, For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

ful man; but when weighed in the balance of the Almighty, it is found to be a most heinous crime, and the source of all sin.-It included unbelief, discontent, pride, ambition, rebellion, and murder. Unbelief, because our first parents gave more credit to Satan than to God:-discontent, because God had given them every thing proper for their convenience and delight;-pride and ambition because nothing would serve them, but to be equal with God in knowledge;-rebellion, because they had broken God's covenant of friendship;-and murder, because they were guilty of their own death, and the death of all their posterity.

2 Our first parents, in hearkening to the devil, and believing him, before they did actually eat of the forbidden fruit, were doubtless guilty of sin; but their eating of it is called their first sin, because it was the first sin finished, and an express violation of the positive precept.

What do you mean by his whole posterity?

All mankind descending from him by ordinary generation. Who did not descend from him by ordinary generation? Jesus Christ.

Luke, i. 35, And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God.

What may we learn from this subject?-That all, but Jesus Christ, are guilty and sinful in the sight of God.

Rom. iii. 10, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. 17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind? The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.1

What is meant by mankind being in a state of sin?

That they are sinful by nature, and love to commit sin.

Gen. viii. 21, And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth: neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Isaiah, i. 4, Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

Rom. vii. 19, For the good that I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do.

What is meant by a state of misery?

That unhappiness and suffering which are caused by sin. Rom. iii. 19, 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

Col. iii. 5, 6, Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.

James, iv. 1, 2, From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not; ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Man's first act of disobedience to his Maker is, by way of eminence, called "The Fall." He fell from the high pinnacle of holiness and happiness, into the depth of sin and misery.