N02384:1255
A complete body of divinity in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on the…A compleat body of divinity in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on the…
A complete body of divinity in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on the Assembly's Shorter catechism wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are unfolded, their truth confirmed, their excellence displayed, their usefulness improved; contrary errors & vices refuted & exposed, objections answered, controversies settled, cases of conscience resolved; and a great light thereby reflected on the present age. / By the Reverend & learned Samuel Willard, M.A. late Pastor of the South Church in Boston, and vice-president of Harvard College in Cambridge, in New-England. ; Prefaced by the pastors of the same church. ; [Six lines of Scripture texts]A compleat body of divinity in two hundred and fifty expository lectures on the Assembly's Shorter catechism wherein the doctrines of the Christian religion are unfolded, their truth confirm'd, their excellence display'd, their usefulness improv'd; contrary errors & vices refuted & expos'd, objections answer'd, controversies settled, cases of conscience resolv'd; and a great light thereby reflected on the present age. / By the Reverend & learned Samuel Willard, M.A. late Pastor of the South Church in Boston, and vice-president of Harvard College in Cambridge, in New-England. ; Prefac'd by the pastors of the same church. ; [Six lines of Scripture texts]
printed by B. Green and S. Kneeland for B. Eliot and D. Henchman, 1726
AN EXPOSITION OF THE ASSEMBLY's SHORTER CATECHISM: IN Two Hundred a… › Sermon 46 (Question 11 cont.)
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
SERMON XLVI.
[2.] THE other Part of Providence is Government. As God Created, so He Preserves the Creature for something: He hath some great Design in holding up the World, which may Countervail all the Col• he is a• upon it. He doth it that the Creature thus Made and Kept, may attain its End. Hence there is also Gubernation. The same Hand that Keeps it up, also Guides it.
First, OF Government in General, take this Description; It is that whereby God Directs & Leads The Creature in the Right Way, for the Attainment of its End.
FOR the clearing of this Description let […] observe these things: 1. THAT there is such a Providence as This Directing and Ruling the Affairs of the World, […] Ordering all the Actions of the several Creatures, will appear Necessary. For, as they could […] Make, nor Preserve, so neither can they Govern themselves. There is not Wisdom […] Strength enough in the best Created Being, to steer it self aright to it's Haven: Except […] who Made this great Vessel, and Upholds it, be also it's Pilot, it will never shape a Tr Course, but be Lost. He holds the Car and Compass, and sits at Helm: And though Rational Beings are called upon to Eye the Pole-s, yet did not He direct these, they would also miscarry: There are so many By paths in the Wilderness, through which they Travel, that if He did not Lead them, they would miss their Way and be Be-wildered. God having Made a World, doth not leave it to be managed by another, as the Shipwright doth his Ship. He only knows every Nook and Corner, every Rock, and Shelve, and Quick sand; and how to carry it Clear of all, into the Port i is Bound for. All Beings are from Him, and for Him; and He must Conduct them. Th Glory that God gains by the Creature is by i attaining its End: Should that be missed […] would be a Loser; but this He will not be, f want of His taking Care for the bringing it abou