Two Treatises, Chapter 8
CHAP. VIII.
Opening that glorious Attribute of Divine Faithfulness as a third Chamber of Security to the people of God in times of distress and danger.
SEC…. I.
HAving viewed the Saints Refuge in the Power and Wisdom of God, we next proceed to a third Chamber of Safety for the Saints refuge. viz. The Faithfulness of God.
In this Attribute is our Safety and Rest amidst the confusions of the world and daily disappointments we are vexed withal through the vanity and falsenes of the Creature: As to Creatures, the very best of them they are but vanity, yea, vanity of vanity, the vainest vanity, Eccles. 1. 2. Every man in his best estate is altogether vanity, Psal. 39. 5. Yea, those that we expect most from, give us most of trouble, Micah 7. 5. Nearest Relations bring up the rear of sorrows, Iob 6. 15. My brethren have dealt deceitfully as a brook. Especially their deceit appears most when we have most need of their help, Psal. 142. 4. How great a mercy is it then to have a refuge in the Faithfulness of God, as David had, I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me, refuge failed me, no man cared for my soul. And likewise the Church, Micah. 7. 7. I will look unto the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. A time may come when you shall not know where to trust in all this world: Let me therefore open to you this Chamber of rest in the Faithfulness of God, against such a day, and this I shall do in a two sold consideration of it. viz.
1. Absolutely in its own Nature.
2. Relatively in the Promises and Providences of God.
1. Absolutely, and so the Faithfulness of God is his sincerity, firmness, and constancy in performing his word to his people in all times and cases. So Moses describes him to Israel, Deut. 7. 9. Know therefore that the Lord thy God he is God, the faithful God. And Ioshua appeals to their experience for the vindication of it, Iosh. 23. 14. Ye know in all your hearts, and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass, and not one thing hath failed thereof. And it is also fully asserted, Ier. 31. 35, 36, 37. and greatly admired even in the darkest day, Lam. 3. 23. Great is thy faithfulness. And it is well for us that his faithfulness is great, for great is that weight that leans upon it, even all our hopes for both worlds, for this world, and for that to come, Tit. 1. 2. In hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began.
It was a very dishonourable character that Suidas gave of Tiberius, Eorum quae appetebat ne quicquam prae se ferebat, & eorum quae dicebat, ne quicquam facere volebat. i. e. He never made shew of having what he desired to have, nor ever minded to do what he promised to do: But God is faithful, and that will appear by these following Evidences of it.
1. Evidence.
By his exact fulfilling of his Promises of the longest date. So Acts 7. 6. Four hundred and thirty years were run out before the Promise of Israel's deliverance out of Egypt was accomplished, yet Acts 7. 17. when the time of the Promise was come, God was punctual to a day: Seventy years in Babylon, and at the expiration of that time they returned, 2 Chron. 36. 21. Men may forget, but God cannot, Isa. 49. 15, 16.
2. Evidence.
By making way for his Promise through the greatest difficulties, and seeming impossibilities. So to Abraham when old, Gen. 18. 13, 14. Is there any thing too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time will I return unto thee, according to the time of life; and Sarah shall have a son. And likewise to the Israelites, Can these dry bones live? Ezek. 37. 3. Difficulties are for men, not God, Gen. 18. 14. What art thou O great Mountain, Zech. 8. 6. If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.
3. Evidence.
By fulfilling promises to his people, when their hopes and expectations have been given up. So Ezek. 37. 11. Our bones are dry, our hopes lost, we are cut off for our part. And Isa. 49. 14. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. There may be much unbelief in good men, their faith may be sorely staggered, yet God is faithful, men may question his promises, yet God cannot deny himself, 2. Tim. 2. 13.
4. Evidence.
By Gods appealing to his people and referring the matter to their own judgments, Micah 6. 3, 4, 5. O my people, what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? Testifie against me, for I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants, and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, remember now what Balak King of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal, that ye may know the righteousness of the Lord. q. d. If I have failed in a Punctilio of my promise, shew it; did not Balak and Balaam court me, and try all ways to win me over to them by multitudes of Sacrifices, yet I did not desert you. So Ier. 2. 31. O generation, see ye the word of the Lord, have I been a wilderness unto Israel, a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, we are lords, we will come no more unto thee? Isa. 44. 8.
5. Evidence.
The Faithfulness of God is abundantly cleared by the constant testimonies given unto it in all Ages by them that have tryed it, they have all witnessed for God, and attested his unspotted faithfulness to the generations that were to come. So did Ioshua 23. 14. All is come to pass; and so did Daniel, Chap. 9. 4. O Lord the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him: With▪ which David's testimony concurs, Psal. 146. 6. Happy …s he that hath the God of Jacob for his …elp, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made the heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is, which keepeth truth for ever. Thus his people have been witnesses in all generations, unto the faithfulness of God in his promises; the consideration whereof leaves no doubt or objection behind it.
SECT. II.
ANd if we enquire into the grounds and reasons why God is, and ever must be most Faithful in perfoming his Promises, we shall find it is built upon stable and unshaken pillars: viz.
1. The Holiness of his Nature.
2. The All-sufficiency of his Power.
3. The Honour of his Name.
4. The Unchangeableness of his Nature.
1. The Faithfulness of God is built upon the perfect Holiness of his Nature, by reason whereof it is impossible for God to lie, Tit. 1, 2. Heb. 6. 18. The deceitfulness of men flows from the corruption of the Humane Nature, but God is not as man that he should lye, neither as the son of man that he should repent; …hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numb. 23. 19. If there be no defect in his Being, there can be none in his working; if his Nature be pure Holiness, all his ways must be perfect Faithfulness.
2. It is built upon the All-sufficiency of his Power, whatsoever he hath promised to his people, he is able to perform it; men sometimes falsifie their promises through the defects of ability to perform them; but God never out-promised himself; if he will work none can lett, Isa. 43. 13. He can do whatsoever he pleaseth to do, Psal. 135. 6. The Holiness of his Nature engageth, and the Almightiness of his Power enables him to be Faithful.
3. The glory and Honour of his Name may assure us of his Faithfulness in making good the Promises, and all that good which is in the promises to a tittle; for wherever you find a Promise of God, you also find the Name and Honour of God given as security for the performance of it; and so his name hath ever been pleaded with him by his people, as a mighty argument to work for them, Ioshuah 7. 9. What wilt thou do to thy great name? q. d. Lord thine Honour is a thousand times more than our lives, it is no such great matter what becomes of us; but ah Lord it is of infinite concernment that the glory of thy Name be secured, and thy faithfulness kept pure and unspotted in the world. So again, Exod. 32. 11, 12. And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, for mifchief did he bring them out to …lay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people, q. d. It will be sad enough for the hands of the Egyptians to …all upon thy people, but infinitely worse for the tongues of the Egyptians to fall upon thy Name.
4. The unchangeableness of his Nature gives us the fullest assurance of his Faithfulness in the Promises, Mal. 3. 6. I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Gods unchangeableness is his peoples indempnity, and best security in the midst of dangers; whilst there is not yea and nay with God, there should be no ups and downs, offs and ons in our faith; that which gives steadiness to the Promises, should give steadiness also to our expectations for the performance of them; and so much briefly of the Faithfulness of God absolutely considered in the Nature and grounds of it.
2. Next let us view the Faithfulness of God, as it relates to the many great and precious Promises made unto his people for their security both in their,
Concernments.
1. Temporal
2. Spiritual
1. We find the Faithfulness of God pawned and pledged for the security of his people in their Spiritual and eternal concernments, against all their dangers and fears, threatning them on that account, and that more especially in these three respects.
1. It is given them as their great and best security for the Pardon of their sins, 1 Iohn 1. 9. If we conf…ss our si…s he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse …s from all unrighteousness. Our greatest danger comes from sin; Guilt is a fountain of Fears, a pardoned Soul only can look other troubles in the face boldly: As Guilt breeds fear, so Pardon breeds Courage, and Gods Faithfulness in the Covenant is as it were that Pardon-office from whence we fetch our discharges and acquittances, Isa. 43. 25. I, even I am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake. The promises of remission are made for Christs sake, and when made, they must be fulfilled for his own, that is his Faithfulness sake.
2. It is engaged for the perseverance of the Saints, and their continuance in the ways of God in the most hazardous and difficult times; this was the encouragement given them, 1 Cor. 1. 8, 9. Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Iesus Christ; God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Iesus Christ our Lord. Ah Lord! might those Corinthians say, the Powers of the World are against us, Suffering and Death before us, a Treacherous and fearful heart within us. Ay, but yet fear not, Christ shall confirm you, whosoever opposes you; though the World and your own hearts be deceitful, yet comfort your selves with this, your God is Faithful.
3. The Faithfulness of God is given by promise for his Peoples security in, and encouragement against all their sufferings and afflictions in this World, … Thes. 3. 2, 3. That we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men, for all men have not faith; but the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. He prays they may be delivered from absurd, treacherous and unfaithful men, who would trapan and betray them to ruine; but this is proposed as their relief, that when the treachery of men shall bring them into trouble, the Faithfulness of God shall support them under, and deliver them out of those troubles; they shall have Spiritual supports from God, under their deepest sufferings from men, 1 Pet. 4. 19.
2. Gods Faithfulness is engaged for his peoples indempnity and security amidst the Temporal and outward evils whereunto they are liable in this world▪ and that either to preserve them from troubles, Psal. 91. 1, 2, 3, 4. or to open a seasonable door of deliverance out of trouble, 1 Cor. 10. 13. In both or either of which the hearts of Christians may be at rest in this troublesome world; for what need those troubles fright us, which either shall never touch us, or if they do, shall never hurt, much less ruine us.
SECT. III.
HAving taken a short view of Gods Faithfulness in the Promises, it will be a lovely sight to take one view of it more as it is actuated, and exerted in his Providences over his people; believe it Christians, the Faithfulness of God runs through all his works of providence, whenever he goes forth to work in the World, Faithfulness is the girdle of his loins, Isa. 11. 5. It is an allusion to workmen who going forth in the morning to their labour, gird their loins or rein… with a girdle, now there is no work wrought by God in this world, But his faithfulness is as the Girdle of his Loins. The consideration whereof should make the most despondent believer, gird up the Loins of his mind, that is, encourage and strengthen his drooping and discouraged heart. Those works of God which are wrought in Faithfulness and in pursuit of his eternal purposes and gracious promises, should rather delight, than affright us, in beholding of them. It pluckt out the Sting of David's affliction when he considered it was in very faithfulness, that God had afflicted him, Psal. 119. 89, 90. But more particularly, let us behold with delight the faithfulness of God, making good six sorts of Promises to his People, in the days of their affliction and trouble, viz.
1. The Promises of Preservation.
2. The Promises of Support.
3. The Promises of Direction.
4. The Promises of Provision.
5. The Promises of Deliverance.
6. The Promises of Ordering and Directing the Event to their Advantage.
1. There are promises in the word for your preservation from ruine, and what you read in those promises you dayly see the same fulfilled in your own experiences. You have a promise in Psal. 57. 3. He shall send from Heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. Say now, have you not found it so, when Hell hath sent forth its Temptations to de…ile you? The World its persecu…ions to destroy your own heart, its unbelieving fears to distract and sink you, hath not your God sent forth also his mercy and his truth to save you? Hath not his truth been your shield and buckler? Psal. 91. 4. May you not say with the Church it is of his mercy you are not consumed, his mercies are new every morning, and great is his faithfulness, Lam. 3. 23.
2. As you have seen it actually fulfilling the promises for your preservation, so you may see it making good all the promises in his word for your support in troubles. That is a sweet promise, Psal. 91. 15. I will be with him in trouble: I will deliver him, you have also a very supporting promise in Isa. 41. 10. Fear not thou, for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. O, how evidently hath the faithfulness of God shone forth in the performance of his word to you in this respect! you are his witnesses, you would have sunk in the deep waters of trouble if it had not been so. So speaks David, Psal. 73. 26. My heart and my flesh faileth, but God is the strength of my heart; and my portion for ever. Have you not found it so with you as it is in 2 Cor. 12. 10. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. God's strength hath been made perfect in your weakness, by this you have been carried through all your troubles; hitherto hath he helped you.
3. As you have seen it faithfully fulfilling the promises for your preservation, and support; So you have seen it in the direction of your ways. So …uns that promise, Psal. 32. 8. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way that thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Certain it is That the way of man is not in himself, Jer. 10. 23. O how faithfully hath your God guided you, and stood by you in all the difficult cases of your Life! Is not that promise, Heb. 13. 5. faithfully fulfilled to a tittle▪ I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee? Surely you can set your seal to that in Ioh. 17. 17. Thy word is truth: had you been left to your own counsels you had certainly perished; as it is said of them, in Psal. 81. 12. I gave them up unto their own hearts lusts: and they walked in their own counsels.
4. As there are promises in the word for your preservation, support, and direction; So in the fourth place there are promises for your provisions, as in Psal. 34. 9. the Lord hath promised that They that fear him shall not want. When they are driven to extremity, he will provide, Isa. 41. 17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. And is not this faithfully performed? He hath given meat unto them that fear him: he will ever be mindful of his Covenant, Psal. 111. 5. In all the exigencies of your lives, you have found him faithful to this day; you are his witnesses that his providences never failed you, his care hath been renewed every morning for you; how great is his faithfulness?
5. You also find in the word some reviving promises for your deliverances. You have a very sweet promise in Psal. 91. 14. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: and again, Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee; you have done so, and he hath made a way to escape. Our lives are so many monuments of mercy, we have lived among Lyons, yet preserved, Psal. 57. 4. The burning Bush was an embleme of the Church miraculously preserved.
6. There are promises in the word for the ordering and directing all the occurrences of providence to your great advantages; so it is promised, Rom. 8. 28. That all things shall work together for good, to them that love God. Fear not Christians, however you find it now, whilst you are tossing to and fro upon the unstable waves of this world; you shall find to be sure when you come to heaven, that all the troubles of your lives were guided as steddily by this promise, as ever any Ship at Sea was directed to its Port, by the Compass or North-Star.
And now what remains, but that I press you as before,
1. To enter into this Chamber of Divine Faithfulness.
2. To shut the Door behind you.
3. And then to live comfortably on it in evil days.
1. Enter into this Chamber of God's faithfulness by faith, and hide your selves there. Every man is a Lye, but God is True, eternally and inchangeably faithful; O exercise your faith upon it, be at rest in it!
Now there are two great and weighty Arguments to press you to enter into this Chamber of divine faithfulness.
1. Arg. Is fetched from the nature of God who cannot lye, Ti…s 1. 2. He is not as man, that he should …ye. Numb. 23, 19. Neither the son of man that the should repent: hath he said, and shall he …ot do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Remember upon what everlasting steddy grounds the faithfulness of God is built. These are immutable things, Heb. 6. 18. This Abraham built upon. Rom. 4. 21. Being fully perswaded, that what he had promised, he was able also to perform. He accounted him faithful that promised. What would you expect or require in the person that you are to trust? You would,
1. Expect a clear promise, and lo, you have a thousand all the Scripture over; fitted to all the cases of your Souls and Bodies. This you may plead with God, as David, Psal. 119. 49. Remember the word unto thy Servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. So Iacob pleaded, Gen. 32. 12. Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good. These are Gods Bonds and Obligations.
2. You would expect sufficient power to make good what he promiseth. This is in God as a fair foundation of faith, Isa. 26. 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Iehovah is everlasting strength; Because of thy strength we will wait on thee. Creatures cannot, but God can do what he will.
3. You would expect infinite goodness and mercy inclining him to help and save you; why? So it is here, Psal. 130. 7. Let Israel hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy: and with him is plenteous redemption. So Moses, Exod. 33. 18. I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. The request was a view of God's Glory. The answer is, my goodness shall pass before thee, which hints to us, that though all God's Attributes be glorious, yet that, he most glories in, is his goodness: And then,
4. You would expect that none of his Promises were ever blotted or sta…ed by his unfaithfulness at any time, and so it is here, Iosh. 23. 14. not one thing hath failed, all are come to pass, all ages have sealed this conclusion, Thy word is truth, thy word is truth.
2. Arg. Besides all this you have the encouragement of all former experiences both others and your own, as a second Argument to press you to enter into this Chamber of Safety, the Faithfulness of God.
1. You have the experiences of others. Saints have reckoned the experiences of others that lived a thousand years before them, as excellent arguments to quicken their Faith. So Hos. 12. 4. He had power over the Angel and prevailed, he found him in Bethel and there he spake, Remember there was a Ioseph with us in Prison, a Ieremy in the Dungeon, a Daniel in the Den, a Peter in Chains, an Hez…kiah upon the brink of the Grave; and they all found the help of God most faithfully protecting them and saving them in all their troubles. Suitable so this is that in Psal. 22. 4. 5. Our fathers trusted in thee; they trusted and thou deliveredst them, they cried unto thee and were delivered, they trusted in thee and were not confounded.
2. Your own experiences may encourage your faith: So Davids did, 1. Sam. 17. 37. The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the Lyon, and out of the paw of the Bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. So did Paul's experience encourage his Faith, in 2 Cor. 1. 10. Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. Thus enter into the Faithfulness of God by Faith.
2. Let me beg you to be sure to shut the doors behind you, against all unbelieving doubts, jealousies, and suspicions of the faithfulness of God; the best men may find temptations of that nature; so did good Asaph though an eminent Saint, Psal. 77. 78. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? Doth his promise fail for ever more? These jealousies are apt to creep in upon the minds of men, especially when,
1. God delays to answer our Prayers as soon as we expect the return of them, we are all in hast for a speedy answer, forgetting that seasons of Prayer are our seed-times; and when we have sown that precious seed, we must wait for the Harvest, as the Husbandman doth. Even a precious Heman may find a faint qualm of unbelief and despondency seizing him by the long suspension of Gods answers, Psal. 88. 9, 10, 11.
2. Twill be hard to shut the door upon unbelief, when all things in the eye of our sense and reason seem to work against the Promise. It will require an Abraham's Faith at such a time to glorifie God by believing in hope against hope, Rom. 4. 18. If ever thou hop…st to enjoy the sweet repose and rest of a Christian in evil times, thou must resolve whatever thine eyes do see, or thy senses report, to hold fast this as a most sure conclusion; God is faithful, and his word is sure, and that although Clouds and darkness be round about him, yet righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne, Psal. 97. 2.
O that you would once learn to keep house upon Gods Faithfulness, and fetch your daily reliefs and supports thence, whensoever you are pressed and assaulted, either,
1. By Spiritual troubles. When you walk in darkness and have no light, then you are to live by acts of trust and recumbency upon the most faithful one, Isa. 50. 10. Or,
2. By Temporal distresses, so did the People of God of old, Hab. 3. 17, 18. He lived by Faith on this Attribute when all visible comforts and supplies were out of sight.
But especially let me warn and caution you against five principal enemies to your repose upon the Faithfulness of God, viz.
1. Distracting cares, which divide the mind, and eat out the peace and comfort of the heart, and which is worst of all, they reflect very dishonourably upon God, who hath pledged his Faithfulness and Truth for our security; against which I pray you bar the door by those two Scriptures, Phil. 4. 6. Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And that in 1 Pet. 5. 7. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.
2. Bar the door against unchristian despondency, another enemy to the sweet repose of your Souls in this comfortable and quiet Chamber of Divine Faithfulness; you will find this unbecoming and uncomfortable distemper of mind, insinuating and creeping in upon you, except you believe and reason i… out, as David did, Psal. 42. 11. Why art thou cast down O my soul, and why disquieted within me? Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him.
3. Bar the door of your heart against carnal policies and sinful shifts, which war against your own Faith, and Gods Faithfulness, as much as any other enemy whatsoever. This was the fault of good David in a day of trouble, 1 Sam. 27. 1. And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines. Alas poor David, nothing better than this? Time was when thou couldst think on a better way, when thou couldst say at what time I am afraid I will trust in thee. How dost thou forget thy self in this strait? Doth thy old refuge in God fail thee now? Can the Philistines secure thee better than the Promises? Wilt thou fly from thy best friend, to thy worst enemies? But what need we wonder at David who find the same distemper almost unavoidable to our selves in like cases?
4. Shut the door against discontents at, and murmurings against the dispositions of Providence, whatever you feel or fear; I perswade you not to a Stoical Apathy, and senselesness of the evils of the times, that would preclude the exercise of Patience: If the Martyrs had all had the dead Palsie before they came to the fire, their Faith and Patience had not triumphed so gloriously as they did; but on the contrary, beware of grudgings against the ways and will of God, than which nothing militates more against your Faith and the peace and quietness of your hearts.
5. To conclude, shut the door against all suspicions and jealousies of the firmness and stability of the Promises, when you find all sensible comforts shaking and trembling under your feet; have a care of such dangerous questions as that, Psal. 77. 8. Doth his promise fail? These are the things which undermine the foundation both of your faith and comfort.
3. In a word, Having sheltered your Souls in this Chamber of rest, and thus shut the doors behind you; all that you have to do, is to take your rest in God, and enjoy the pleasure of a resigned Soul into the hands of a Faithful Creator, by opposing the Faithfulness of God, to all the fickleness and unfaithfulness you will daily find in men, Mica. 7. 6, 7, Yea to the weakness and fading of your own natural strength and ability, Psal. 73. 26. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever. And so much of the Third Chamber prepared for Believers in the Name of their God.