Who is like unto thee, O Lord; glorious in holinefs? Exod. xv. 10.

Far be it from God, that he should do wickednefs; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity. Job xxxiv. 10.

God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. Fam. 1. 13.

LESSON XIX.

GOD is incomprehenfible.

Behold, God is great; and we know him not. Job xxxvi. 26.

Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. Job xxxvii. 23.

God hath done great things, and unfearchable. Job v. 9.

What man knoweth the things of a man, fave the fpirit of man which is in him? Even fo the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God. I Cor. ii. II.

Canft thou by fearching find out God? Canft thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Job xi. 7.

CHA P. II.

Concerning the Nature and Condition of MAN. LESSON I.

The original Formation and State of MAN.

THE

HE Lord God formed man of the duft of the ground, and breathed into his noftrils. the breath of life: and man became a living foul. Gen. ii. 7.

God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him. Gen. i. 27. Thou makeft him to have dominion of the works of thy hands: and haft put all things in fubjection under his feet.

All fheep and oxen; yea, and the beasts of the field: The fowls of the air, and the fishes : of the fea: and whatfoever walketh through the paths of the fea. Pfal. viii, 6, 7, 8.

The Lord God planted a Garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the fight, and good for food: The tree of life alfo in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Gen. ii. 8, 9.

And the Lord God commanded the man, faying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;

But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt furely die.

And the Lord God faid, It is not good that the man fhould be alone: I will make him an help meet for him. Gen. ii. 16, 17, 18.

She fhall be called woman, because fhe was taken out of man. Gen. ii. 23.

When the woman faw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be defired to make one wife, the took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave alfo 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 fewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Gen. iii. 6, 7. See the whole chapter.

Unto Adam alto, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of skins, and cloathed them. Gen. iii. 21.

The prefent State of Man by Nature.

It is appointed unto all men once to die. Heb. ix. 27.

By one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and fo death paffed upon all men. Rom. v. 12.

For in Adam all die. 1 Cor. xv. 226

What man is he that liveth, and shall not fee death? Pfal. lxxxix. 47.

Man dieth and wafteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghoft, and where is he? Job xiv. 10.

He fhall return no more to his houfe, neither fhall his place know him any more. Job vii. 10.

There is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not ceafe. Fob xiv. 7.

But man lieth down, and rifeth not till the heavens be no more. fob xiv. 12. C 6

LES

LESSON V.

The Shortnefs and Uncertainty of this Life. Man that is born of a woman, is of few days. Job xiv. 1.

For what is all our life? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanifheth away. James iv. 14.

All flesh is as grafs, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: The grafs withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. I Pet. i. 24.

The days of man arc but as grass: for he flourisheth as a flower of the field.

-As foon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone; and the place thereof fhall know it no more. Pfal. ciii. Pfal. ciii. 15, 16.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Pfal. xc.

12.

LESSON VI.

The Pain and Trouble he is fubject to.. Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upwards. Job. v. 7.

For all his days are forrows, and his travel grief. Eccl. ii. 23.

His fefh upon him fhall have pain, and hist foul within him fhall mourn. fob xiv. 22.

Sore is the travel which God hath given to the fons of men to be exercised therewith. Eccl. i. 13.

All things are full of labour, man cannot utter it. Eccl. i. 8.

The Vanity of human Condition.

Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Pfal. xxxix. 6.

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh? Eccl. i. 3..

And of the vexation of his

hath laboured under the fun.

heart wherein he Eccl. ii. 22.

The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are but vain. Pfal. xciv. 11.

As for the children of men, they are but vanity. Pfal. Ixii. 9.

We are but of yesterday, and know nothing. Job. viii. 9.

If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. 1 Cor. viii. 2.

Where fhall wifdom be found: And where is the place of understanding?

-Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of the living. Job xxviii. 12, 13.

Great men are not always wife, neither do the aged understand judgment. Job xxxii. 9.

Boaft not thy felf of to-morrow; for thou knoweft not what a day may bring forth. Prov. xxvii, I.

LES