Great Precious Promises, Sermon 5
SERMON V.
2 Pet. 1.4.
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
THere are three cardinal and excellent Graces that are exercised and taken up with the precious promises, there is the excellent grace of Faith, th… believeth the truth and the goodnesse of th… promise; there is the precious grace o… Hope, that with patience waiteth for th… accomplishment of the promise, and do… stay untill the vision speak: and that nobl… grace of Lov…, that loveth the thing that … promised; and taketh exceeding much de…light in the Promiser. If we may be allowe… to speak so, we think these strange revolu…ons and times we live in, are another Eccl…siastes, which doth fully preach forth th… vanity and emptinesse of all things that ar… below God: And wee do indeed conceiv… that it is the great design of God in the dar…ning of our pleasant things, and in makin… every gourd to wither, under the shaddow … which we use to repose our self, and in f…mishing all the gods of the earth, to bring h… own to delight themselves in this visib… Treasure, the promises of the everlasting Covenant, and in him who is the substance of them; and that since all things else … declared to be vanity, we might choise these, as our own portion for ever.
At the last occasion that wee spake upon these words, we were speaking unto the properties of the promises; and wee told you that there were …our of them holden forth. 1. The freedome of the promises. 2. The unchangeablenesse of the promises, of which two wee have spoken unto you; and now there remains other two to be spoken to, to wit, that the promises are exceeding great, and that they are exceeding precious, a sweet and excellent, though a rare conjunction, greatnesse and goodnesse here kissing one another, preciousn…sse and highnesse linked …ogether by the bond of Union: And we shall speak unto these two properties toge…her, and shall clear a little this thing, in what respects the promises of the Covenant may be called exceeding great and precious: And we conceive in short, they may be cal…ed so in these eight respects. First, They …re exceeding great, in respect of the great price that was laid down to purchase them, …here not being a promise of the everlasting Covenant above the head of which this may not be engraven in great letters, Here is the price and purchase of bloud: And no doubt …his ought highly to commend the promises, …hat they are bought at so infinite a rate. Must they not be great and precious things …hat so wise a Merchant did lay down so infinit a treasure for the purchasing of them 2. They may be called exceeding great an… precious, in respect of those great and pre…cious things that are promised in them. … not godlinesse a great thing, and this is with…in the bosome of a promise; Is not heave… an eternal enjoyment of God a great an… precious thing? and yet this lyeth withi… the bosome of a promise? Is not the know…ing of God as he is, our perfect conformit… with God, our victory over Idols, great an… excellent things; and yet all these are trea…sured up in the promises. 3. They maybe called exceeding great and precious, in re…spect of the great advantage that redound to a Christian through the enjoyment o… them: the promises of the everlasting Co…venant (if so we may speak) are the Pensi… that draws the draughts and lineaments o… the Image of Christ upon the soul, it is th… promises of the everlasting Covenant b… which we are changed from glory to glory, … it were by the Spirit of the Lord, and as Pete… doth here speak, the promises are such thing… whereby we are made partakers of the divin… nature. 4. They may be called exceedi… precious, in respect of that neer relation th… they have unto Jesus Christ; What are … the promises of the Covenant of Grace Are they not streams and rivolets that flo… from Jesus Christ; Christ is the fountai… out of which all these promises do spring and can this fountain that is sweet in it se… send forth any bitter waters? must they … be precious things that have such a nob… …escent? as to be streams of love flowing …ut from the Father to the Son, and from …im unto us, as the pouring out of the …yntment upon the beard of Aaron which ran …own the head unto the skirts of his gar…ents. 5. They may be called exceeding …recious promises, in respect they, or ra…her Christ in them are the object of precious …ith: What is the meat upon which faith …oth feed? is it not upon the promises of …he Covenant, and Christ the kernel of them: What are these things that faith taketh so …uch delight in, and is suported by? Is …t not the promises of the Covenant: …. They may be called exceeding precious, … that they are the things that guideth and …adeth us to precious Christ. There is not … promise within the Book of the Covenant, …ut, as it were, it cryeth forth with a loud …oice, O come to Christ; The promises are …ndeed the Star that leadeth us unto the …ouse where Christ dothly, and there is no …ccesse unto Jesus Christ but by a promise, Christ is to be found there, for he dwells within the bounds of the everlasting Cove…ant, and there he will tryst with his people, …nd be found of them. And, 7. They may …e called exceeding precious, in respect that …he Saints have found such sweetnesse, and …uch unspeakable delight in these promises. Did not David find a great sweetnesse in the …romises when he cryed forth. The words of …hy mouth are better unto me, then thousands of …old and silver? Did he not find much sweet…esse in the promises, when he was constrained to cry out, Thy Law is sweeter unto me, then the honey and the honey comb? David in a manner was put to a nonplus, to find out any suitable similitude and significant resemblance, to point out the sweetnesse of the promises; though we may see the Christians of this time in a spiritual fever, they have lost their spiritual taste, so that they may say, if wee may allude unto that word, 2 Sam. 19.25. I am this day fourscore years old, and cannot discern between good and evil, can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink. They know not what it is to bee overcome with the sweetnesse that is to bee found in these excellent streams of divine consolation. Lastly, The promises may be called exceeding precious, in that the Sai…t… have a high and matchlesse account of them▪ Hence that word here rendered Precious, may likewise bee rendered Honourable, which speaketh forth that there is nothing th… hath so much of the esteem of a Christia… as the promises. Would ye put wisdom, o… riches, or honour, or what ye will in the ballance with the promises, they would cry forth, what should I profit to gain all these if I lose the promises. We shall say no more of this, but that the promises are indee… that Apple, the eating of which would mak… us in some respect, (and in humility be i… spoken) as God knowing good and evil: Th… promises are these things that doth elevat… the soul unto a divine conformity with God… And oh that this might be the fruit of them the promises are as cords let down to soul… sinking in the myrie clay, and in the horrible …it, do but lay hold upon them, and ye shall undoubtedly be drawn up, and he shall set your feet upon the rock, and order all your goings.
Now we come to speak of the third thing …n the words: which is the advantage and …nspeakable gain that floweth to a Christian …hrough the promises, holden forth in these words, That by them ye might be made par…akers of the divine nature; which words …oth not hold forth tha… there is any sub…tantial change of our natures unto the es…ence of God; but onelyonly it holds …orth this, …hat the soul that is taken up in believing of …he promises, they arise unto a liken…sse and …onformity to Him in Holinesse, Wisedome …nd Righteousnesse. And as to these ad…antages that come to a Christian through …he promises: 1. We must lay this for a …round, that the fruit of all cometh to him …hrough believing the promises, and in …aking application of them.
And the first is, That they do exceedingly …elp and promove that excellent and neces…ary work of mortification: This is clear …rom the words of the Text; As likewise …om 2 Cor. 7.1. Having these promises, …early beloved, let us cleanse our selves from … filthinesse of the flesh and spirit, perfecting …olinesse in the fear of the Lord. And the …fluence that the promises have upon San…ification, may be shown unto you in these …hree. First, They lay upon a Christian … …ivine bond and obligation to study holinesse, that since Christ hath signified and testifie▪ His respects unto us, in so ample and larg… a way as to give us such precious promise… we ought to endeavour to study holinesse which is that great reward of love that h… seeketh from us for all things that he hat… bestowed, and we receive, and this is th… meaning of that, 2 Corinth. 7.1. Secondly▪ The strength and furniture of a Christian fo… fulfilling and accomplishing of the work o… Sanctification, lyeth within the promises▪ Are not the promises of God unto a Christ…an, as Samsons lo…ks, in which their grea… strength dothly; and if once they cut them…selves off from the promises through misbe…lief, their strength doth decay, and … become as other men. Where must th… Christian go to for strength? Is it not to th… promise: Is it not the Name of the Lord▪ yea, this is the strength of a Christian unt… which he must resort continually. And thirdly, the promises of God they hold fort… that unspeakable reward that attendeth th… Christian that shall study holinesse. Ther… are several promises of the everlasting Cov…nant that cryeth forth to the Christian, t… him that overcometh will this promise b… accomplished, to him that overcometh sha… this truth be fulfilled, and this doth exceed…ingly provoke a Christian to wrestle with … his discouragements he meeteth with in th… way, he burieth all his anxieties within th… circle of his immortall Crown, which h… hopeth for, and seeth in the promise, and hi… hope maketh him dispence with his want… his expectation maketh him overcome his fears, and his looked for joy maketh him to dispence with his sorrows.
The second advantage, is, That the faith of the promises do help a Christian to a spiritual and heavenly performance of the duty of prayer, and withall, maketh him delight in the performance of it: This is clear from … Sam. 7.27. where David believing the promises, it is subjoyned, Hee found in his heart to pray that prayer unto God; and if any will look unto the words of that prayer, they will see them running in a heavenly and spiritual strain, speaking him one much acquainted with God, and under most high and majestick apprehensions of his Glory, as is clear also, Psal. 119.147. I prevented the …awning of the morning and cryed; and as if David had said, would you know what made me thus fervent and diligent in prayer, …t was that, I hoped in his word; and hence …t is, that he hath so many prayers in that Psalm, all were occasioned through the …ith of the promises: As for instance, when …e cryed forth, Quicken me according to thy …ord, be mercifull unto me according to thy …ord. And we conceive, the faith of the …romises helpeth a Christian in his prayer to …hese four Divine ingredients of that duty. …. It maketh him pray with faith: when …nce he buildeth his prayer upon the pro…ises, then he venteth his prayer with much …onfidence of hope, according to that word, …sal. 65.3▪ where ye may see a man be…ieving, and praying when he is believing, and expressing his confidence mo… strangely in th…se words. As for our trans…gressions thou shalt purge them away; It i… not said, thou wilt purge them away, or we desire that thou should purge them away, bu… thou shalt, which speaketh forth both the confidence of Faith, and the boldnesse o… Faith: A Christian that believeth the promises, he can take the promise in his hand and present it unto God, and say fulfill this promise since thou wilt not de…y thy Name but art faithfull. 2. It maketh a Christian pray with much humility, for when he doth understand that there is nothing that he hath but it is the fruit, and accomplishment of … promise, he doth not boast as those tha… have received, but walketh humbly unde… his enjoyments: this is clear, Gen. 32 10▪ where we may see Iacob speaking to Go… with much humility, and in the ninth verse he is speaking to God with much Faith And 3. It maketh a Christian pray wi… much love: Would you know the grea… ground that we are so remisse in the exercis… of love in prayer, it is, because we build no… our prayers upon the promise. And 4. I… helpeth a Christian to pray with much fer…vency; when was it that David cryed to God? Was it not when he was believing the promise that past to him of old, we would not plead with God with such remissnesse i… we did believe the promises that are withi… the Covenant.
The third advantage is, That the faith o… the promises doth somtimes uphold a Christian under his spiritual disertions and tentations. Is it not certain, that sometimes he hath been ready to draw that conclusion, I am cast out of his sight, and shall no more behold him in the land of the living? when a promise hath been born in upon his spirit, hath supported him and made him to change his song, and to invert his conclusion. This is clear from Psal. 94.18. when I said, my foot slippeth, there is the conclusion of misbelief and dispair, yet thy mercy, O Lord, did hold me up, there is the gate at which faith doth bring in consolation, not from bygone experiences onelyonly; but certainly from that which he found in some precious promises that was born in upon his spirit: Many excellent cords of love hath Christ let down unto a soul, when they have been going down into the depths, and the weeds have been wrapt about their heads: It is clear likewise from Psal. 119.81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: as if David had said, I am in hazard to give over my hope, and to break my confidence: And would ye know what was it that supported me under such an estate, I hoped in thy word: Hath not this oftentimes been the song of a Christian in their darkest night, In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts do delight my soul: Faith will see a morning approaching in the time of the greatest trouble; and no doubt that promise that upholdeth a Christian in their doubting and most misbelieving condition, the lively impressions of that promise will remain a long time with him; and when first it is born in upon their spirits, they will see no small love shining forth in carving out such a promise to suit with such a providence as they are (it may be) meeting with for the time.
The fourth advantage in believing the promise, i…, that thereby we have an excellent help to patience and divine submission under our saddest outward afflictions: this is clear from Psal. 27.13. I had fainted unlesse I had believed to see the goodnesse of the Lord in the land of the living; and from Psal. 119.49, 50. where David telling his exercise in the 49. I hope, saith he, in thy word, Immediately he subjoyneth, This is my comfort in mine affliction, as if he had said, if I had not had the promises to be my comforters, I had sit alone and kept silence, and should have remained without comfort in the day of my adversity, and vers. 92. Vnlesse thy law had been my delight, I should have perished in my afflictions; and we conceive in short, the influence which faith upon the promises hath upon the patient bearing of the crosse, may be shown unto you in these two particulars; First, Faith it is an excellent Prophet, that alwayes prophesieth unto us good things. Would ye enquire at Faith at your midnight of affliction, what is its opinion of God and of your own estate; Faith would sweetly resolve you thus, Wait on God for I shall yet praise him for the health of his countenance. Faith knoweth not what it is to have a wrong construction of God; and therefore it is the noble interpreter of a Christians crosse: If sense, reason, and misbelief interpret your crosse, they will make you cry out unto God, Why art thou become unto as an enemie, or as a liar, and waters that sail? but if faith that noble Interpreter do interpret your crosses, it will make you cry out, I know the thoughts of his heart, that they are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give me an expected end. Faith letteth a Christian see a blessed ou…gate and issue of all the sad dispensations that he meeteth with. Faith, that is its divinity, I sow in tears, but I shall reap in joy, weeping may be at evening, saith Faith, but joy shall come in the morning. Secondly, It affordeth unto a Christian such soul refreshing consolation in the midst of their afflictions, that in a manner they forget their sorrows, as waters that passe away; this David doth divinely assert in Psal. 119.50. This is my comfort in mine affliction: The faith of the promises are indeed that tree which if they be cast into our waters of Marah, they will make them immediately become sweet.
The fifth advantage is, that the faith of the promises doth help a Christian to a greater distance with the world, and to live as a pilgrime, as is clear from Heb. 11.13. where these two are sweetly linked together, their imbracing of the promises by Faith, and confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims here on earth. And we shall show the influence that faith hath upon this, in these three. 1. It maketh a Christian see the end of all perfection here, and that there is nothing within this Glob of the World that is not vanity and vexation of spirit, Faith is that prospect through which a Christian hath most clear discoveries of the vanity of all things, and this doth exceedingly help him to live as a pilgrime. 2. It letteth a Christian see the endlesse perfections of heaven, and bringeth it within sight of that immense and everlasting hope, and this maketh him to live as a pilgrime, and to declare plainly that he seeketh a Countrey. And, 3. It doth exeedingly help him forward in that blessed work of weaning of affections from all things that are here; Would you know where a Believers heart is? It is in Heaven; would you know where his thoughts are? They are in Heaven; Would ye know where his conversation is? It is in Heaven; Would ye know where his hope is? It is in Heaven, his treasure is in heaven, and therefore his heart and his conversation is there, And Christ in him is the hope of glory: and indeed, more faith of the promises would constrain us all to subscribe that Confession of Faith that is in Heb 11.13.
The sixth advantage that attendeth the believing of the promises, is. That it is the mother of much spiritual joy and divine consolation, and maketh a Christian to be much in the exercise of praise: this is clear from Psal. 71.14. But I will hope continu…ally, and then immediately is subjoyned, And will yet praise him more and more; As likewise from Rom. 15.13. and from 1 Pet▪ 1.8. If a man would have his way to heaven made pleasant, and while they are sitting by the rivers of Babel, would bee admitted to sing one of the songs of Zion, then ought they …o believe the promises, and to choose them as their heritage for ever: and then hee may sing in hope, and praise in expectation, though he have but little in hand for the present: indeed when he looketh to his possession, there will not be so much matter of rejoycing, but when hee looketh upon his hopes and his expectations, hee may be constrained to cry …orth, Awake up O my glory, I my self will awake early.
The seventh advantage is, That the faith of the promises is a notable mean to attain unto spiritual life: This is clear from Isa. 38.16. By these things, saith Hezekiah, do men live, (speaking of the promises) and in all these things is the life of my spirit. As likewise from Psal. 119.50. Thy word, saith David, hath quickned mee. O what spirituall and divine life doth attend that Christian that is much in the exercise of Faith upon the promises: And what is the great occasion that our hearts are oftentimes dying within us like a stone, and wee are like unto …hose that are free among the dead? Is it …ot because wee do not make use of the promises.
Eighthly, there is that advantage, that …aith of the promises, it maketh a Christian have an esteem of the thing that is promised: What is the reason that wee write …his above the head of the great things of …he everlasting Covenant, this is a Zoar, a little one? Is it not because we do not believe; great things sometimes to us have no beauty, and there is no comlinesse that appeareth in them why they should be desired▪ but if we had so much faith as a grain of mustard seed, we would cry forth. How excellent are these things that are purchased to the Saints, and how eternally are they mad… up that have a right but to one line of the everlasting Covenant, That is well ordered i… all things and sure.
And ninthly, The faith of the promise… is the door at which the accomplishment o… the promises doth enter in: according to tha… word, Luk. 1.45. Blessed are they that believe for there shall be a performance of these thing… that are spoken of the Lord unto them. If w… were more in waiting for the accomplishmen… of his promises, the vision should speak and should not tarry: And no doubt, a mercy coming to us as the fruit and performance o… a promise, will make it an exceedingly to freshfull thing; When a Christian getteth leave to sing that song which is in Isa. 25.9. Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him and he will come and save us: And when … mercy is the fruit and accomplishment of th… promise, there is a beautiful luster an… dy… upon that mercy, which no arte could … on, but only the finger of the love of God The smallest mercy then becometh a matchlesse mysterie of love, and the most matchles… mysteries of love without the exercise o… Faith, they become as things that are contemptible in our eyes, and we do not value …or praise them. Faith maketh our thoughts …o ascend, and misbelief makes our thoughts …o descend, in relation to the mercies of heaven.
Lastly, Besides all these advantages, We …ave these two mentioned in the Text: …. That by them we are partakers of the Di…ine Nature, and are brought up unto tha… …lessed conformity with God, which we had …ost in the fall. 2. That by them we escape …he corruptions in the world through lust: I …ntend not particularly to open up the nature of these things at this time, because I am only …o speak of the exercise of Faith in the promises. But O what excellent mercies are these …o get on the beauty of the Image of God, and …o get off these ugly defilements which were …he image of Satan upon our souls. O how …hould this commend the promises unto us, …hat by faith in them, we do all behold with …pen face as in a glasse, the glory of the Lord, …nd are changed into the same from glory to glo…y as it were by the Spirit of the Lord.
Now that which, secondly, we shall speak …o, shall be the advantages that results to a Christian from a spiritual observation of the Lords accomplishing his promises; for here ye see in the Text, the Apostle maketh …n observation of these excellent things that …re the fruit of these precious promises when they are accomplished. And the first …dvantage is, That it stampeth the soul of a B…liever with most divine impressions of …ove: This is clear, Isa. 38 15. where Hezekiah cryeth out, What shall I say, he hath spoken it, and himself hath done it, being as it were, astonished and overcome with th… apprehensions of the condescendency of God He is put to a non plus, and to what shall … say, Psal. 41.8, 9. As we have heard (sait… David) so have wee seen in the City of th… Lord of hosts, That is according to his promise, we have had suitable performance and he subjoyneth, verse 9. that which wa… both their exercise and their advantage, We… have thought of thy loving kindnesse, O God, i… the midst of thy Temple; as it were, the ob…servation of the performance of the promise made their thoughts wholly to bee taken up with the love of God: and no doubt, ther… is more love in performing one promise, the… eternity were sufficient to make a commen…tary upon. It is one wonder of condescendency, that God should obliege and bind himself to us by promises: and another depth of wonderfull love, that he should perfor… these bonds, and answer his words with performance.
The second advantage is, That the observing of accomplishment of promises doth bring in to the soul new discoveries of God this is clear, Exod. 6.3. where God th… speaketh to Moses: I was known (saith he) unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and unto Iacob by the name of the Almighty, but by the nam… of Iehovah was I not known unto them, tha… is, by the Name of giving an accomplishment unto my promises, that Name was no… discovered unto them, but should bee mad… known unto their posterity, in the day whe… …is promises should passe unto performances▪ …nd hence it is also, that when the Lord is …peaking of the accomplishment of great pro…ises, he doth so often in the Scripture sub…yn that word, Ye shall know that I am Ieho…ah, or the Lord, Isa. 49.23, 52. and 60.16. …nd indeed we do daily find it so; for, is not …very accomplshment of a promise, a new …iscovery of the wisdome of God, that shineth … the suitable tyming of the accomplishment …f a promise: Is not every accomplishment …f a promise a new discovery of the faithful…esse of God, that hee will not alter that which hath gone out of his mouth? And is …ot every performance of the promise a new …iscovery of the love of God, that hee desir…th to magnifie his mercies above all his work, and a new discovery of the power and …mnipotency of God, that can bring forth the …erformance of his promise, notwithstand…ng of all things that are in the way, yea, …ake things that are not to bee, and bringeth to …ought things that are.
The third advantage is, That it helpeth … …hristian to have high apprehensions, and …ajestick uptakings of God: This is clear, … Tim. 1▪ 15 compared with vers. 17. whe…e Paul closing with that promise, That Christ …ame in the world to save sinners, and behold…ng in the accomplishment of it, in himself, …is heart (as it were) i… elevated within …im, and he cryeth forth. Now unto the King …ternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, …e honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen. There is an Emphasis in that word, Now, … if Paul had said, I could never praise and ex…toll him till now, and I am so much bound … Christ that I will not delay this exercise on… moment, now I will blesse him, and it is clea… from Mic. 7.18. where the accomplishmen… of the promises that are there, made th… Church cry out, Who is like unto thee, he be…came matchless unto them through the performance of the promises. And so we conceiv… that these who are much in spiritual observation of the performance of the promises, they will see precious draughts of the Majesty o… God engraven upon them; so that they wil… bee constrained to cry out▪ that hee above … mighty, that his Name is Iehovah, and in hi… is everlasting strength, upon which we ough… to rely in our greatest straits.
The fourth advantage is, The observing of the accomplishment of the promises, wil… help a Christian when hee is redacted unto new straits, to be much in the exercise of faith upon God; his former experience will produce hope in his soul; for there is not … discovery of the faithfulness of God, but hat… a voice, and cryeth out, O believe him who i… able to give a clear being unto his word: Thi… is clear from Psal. 56. at the close. Thou has… delivered my soul from death, saith David, an… then he subjoyneth, Wilt thou not deliver m… feet from falling: that is▪ I am certainly per…swaded, thou wilt likewise perform that wor… unto me. And from Psal. 37.2, 3. he giveth that tittle unto God, vers. 2. that he performeth all things for him, and then he doth subjoyn. Hee shall send from heaven and save mee: …nd (by the way) the soul that can give God …at tittle and stile. That hee performeth all …hings for them, that soul must of necessity be … a choise and excellent state: And the point … likewise clear from 2 Cor. 1.10. where Paul saith, God hath delivered me, and he doth …eliver me; and from hence he draweth that …onclusion of Faith, And hee will yet deliver …. We confesse somtimes our former ex…eriences of the faithfulnesse of God, they do …ot support our faith when wee are redacted …nto new difficulties, which is either occasio…ed through the greatnesse of the strait that …e are now put to, (in our apprehensions) …bove that which we were put to before; so …hat though God did deliver us when we were …unning with footmen, yet we have no faith to …elieve that hee shall deliver us when we are …bout to contend with horses: or else it is, …hrough the unfaithfulnesse of our walk, in …ot answering the precious dispensations of Christ in accomplishment of his promises, for …his maketh us that we cannot with boldness …ake use of his Word when we are brought …nto a new strait, a guilty conscience is the …ther of misbelief.
The fifth advantage is, That the accom…lishment of the promises doth occasion …uch spiritual joy & rejoycing unto his own. We told you, the giving of the promises occa…oneth joy, and when the promises travelleth … birth and bringeth forth, that occasioneth …uch more spiritual joy: this is clear from Psal. 28.7. The Lord is my strength and my shield, my heart trusted in him, and I was hel…ed: And he draweth this excellent conclusio… from it, Therefore my heart greatly rejoycet… and with my soul will I praise him, And we… conceive, that sometimes, that God tryste… the accomplishment of the promises wi… some precious manifestation of himself to th… soul, which maketh them to rejoyce with jo… unspeakable, and full of glory; but however this is the matter of a spiritual song, Th… mercy and truth have met together, and righte…ousnesse and peace are kissing one another: Is i… not a pleasant matter of a song to behol… love making promises, and to behold faithful…nesse accomplishing them?
And the last advantage is, That the observation of the accomplishment of promise… doth strengthen a Christians faith in his inte…rest in God; so that now many disputings ar… silenced, and many questions now are out o… the way, this is clear Psal. 31.21, 22. Davi… confesseth his quarrelling before, but whe… once the Lord had shewed his marvellous lovi… kindnesse in a strong city, then all his quarrel… was against himself, because he had quarrelled and did say in his haste, I am cut off from befor… thine eyes.
And now wee shall only speak a little un…to some duties that wee would presse upo… you, from that which wee have spoken▪ And the first duty is, That Christians would bee much in waiting for the accomplishmen… of the promises, and standing upon thei… watch tower untill the vision shall speak ▪ And wee shall only give you these to enforce …t. 1. It is commanded that you should so do: this is clear from Psal. 27. at the close, where David presseth that duty very much, Wait on the Lord, saith hee, and if …hat be not enough, he will repeat that command in that same verse: Wait I say on the Lord: and no doubt the doubling of it …peaketh not only advantage that is in it, but …ur difficulty to obey it, and the great necessity that wee have to go about it: and …hat same word is repeated by David, Psal. …1.24. Bee of good courage, which is that …ame, to wait upon the Lord. 2. These that wait patiently for the accomplishment of …he promises, God will strengthen them to …ait: this is clear from Psal. 27. at the close, Wait on the Lord, and when wee are Hagar …ike, casting away the childe of hope, hee …ill open our eyes, and give us refreshment, …y which wee may bee supported under our …isquietment, and hee shall strengthen thine …eart: And there is this. 3 There shall …e a speedy accomplishment of the promises: … is not long before all the mercies that ever … Lord hath promised, and thou hast be…yed, shall be told down to you, as it were, … one sum, principal and interest: as is clear … Hab. 2.3. where hee positively assert…h, That the vision will come, and will not …rry. There is indeed a pleasant seeming▪ …ntradiction in that verse, hee had said be…re, that the vision would tarry, and yet here … …aith, Tho vision will not tarry, but will … come: in which ye may see the divini… both of sense and faith, and that noble contradiction that is between their assertions, Sense asserting that the promise doth tarry too long, and Faith crying out, it will surely come, it will not tarry; which i… set down, 2 Pet. 3.9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. 4. Promises that come unto us through the most strong and lively exercise of Faith, and that are expected and longed for by us before they come, they are most relishing and sweet, and these mercies come unto us with a binding tye of love: this is somewhat pointed at in Isa. 25.9. where the Church cryeth forth, Lo, this is our God, wee have waited for him, wee will bee glad and rejoyce in his salvation ▪ their waiting and expecting of the promise to be accomplished in its time is there the fountain of their song and of their spiritual joy: I think sometimes a Christian is like that misbelieving Lord, 2 King. 7.2. that though they meet with the accomplishment of a promise, yet they do not taste of the sweetnesse that is in it, because they did not believe the Word of the Lord.
The second duty that wee would press… from what we have spoken, is, That Christians would close with the promises for their everlasting inheritance, since the promise… of the Covenant are exceeding great, and ex…ceeding precious, and the advantage that lyet… in them is unspeakable. O! should no… these things proclaim aloud unto us, Clos… with the promises …s your portion for ever. … think, one that hath a right to the promises and hath entered himself heir unto the … …nheritance; he may sometimes rejoyce in …hat threefold mystery of the Gospel, that …o a naturall man can hardly appear other …hen a contradiction. 1▪ He may sometimes, … have nothing, and yet I possesse all things; …or when hee looketh unto his being in the word, hee is as poor Lazarus, having no …lace whereon to lay his head; but when …ee casteth his eye unto his spiritual inheri…nce, then hee beholdeth his treasures, and … constrained to cry out, I possesse all things. … ▪ Sometimes hee may cry forth, I am …ich, and yet I am exeeeding poor; he may be …ch in hopes, and yet poor in his possessions. …here is much of a Christians treasure that … in hope; hope is that thing that will …ake the Christian sweetly quite all other in …mparison of that: that is the motto of the …hristian, spero meliora which he holdeth … in his flag, even in the great…st storm, … at length hee findeth it true, that hope …aketh not ashamed. 3. Sometime the Chri…an will cry forth▪ I am alwayes sorrowing, … yet alwayes rejoycing: when hee casteth … eye upon himself, he will sit down and … his couch with tears, but when with … other eye he reflecteth upon Jesus Christ▪ …ee will rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full … glory; a Christian can both weep and re…ce at one time, and again hee can rejoyce … weep: No doubt, the reflecting upon … immense hope, and that everlasting …, will make a Christian rejoyce under … his disquietmen…s and anxieties in the …, he can look to the back of time, and behold a glorious inheritance. A Christia… hath the eye of an eagle that can behold an… discern things afar of.
The third duty that we would presse upo… you, is, To long for the day when all the promises of the Covenant of Grace shall receiv… their compleat accomplishment, and when … shall be entered into the everlasting fruitio… of all these things wherein your blessedness… lyeth. There is a threefold come that Chris… speaketh to the soul that is united unto him all which they sweetly obey. There is tha… first come, which is in Matth. 11.28. Com… unto me all ye that are weary and heavy loaden And there is that second come, Isa. 26. Com… my people, enter into the chambers, which is t… entertain that excellent correspondency wit… him in troublesome times: And there is th… third matchlesse come, when Christ shall sa… to his own in the day of their standing befor… the tribunal, Come, O blessed of my Father ▪ Shall we say it, that if we had faith …s a … of mustard seed, we would cry forth, Why … his chariot so long in coming; and did we … or made a high account of the matchless pr…mises of the boundlesse Covenant, we wou… cry forth, O that our time would flee away … the ships of desire. I shall say no more but th… Christ is gone up with a shout unto heaven, an… shall come again with the sound of a trumpe… sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises un… our God, sing praises.
The last thing that we would presse up… you is, That ye would mark the time of … accomplishment of the promises. And as … …his, I shall say but these: 1. That ordina…ily the time of the accomplishment of the promises, is the time when sense, reason, and probability doth most contradict them: this …s clear, Ezek. 37. in the fulfilling of the promises that were past to Iudah in their capti…ity, was it not when they were as a valley of dead bones, and their hopes were in a manner cut off for their part, from the 11. verse of …hat chapter, compared with the 12. And 2. That the time of the accomplishment of …he promises, ordinarily i… a praying time: …his is also clear from Dan. 9.2, 3. and from Ier. 29.12. compared with the 11. vers. and …he 10. thus saith the Lord, the time when he will visit them, and perform his good word …o them, in causing them to return, it shall be a time when they shall call upon me, and shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken …nto them. And, 3. the time of the accomplishment of his promises, it is a time when our thoughts of the promises are high and …arge, when once we begin to value our mercies, this is a sign that our mercy is near, and …t is bringing forth: However, it is our duty …o wait on Him who can give a being unto his Word, and sweetly perform his promises. We ought not to limit infinit wisdom, nor to …ay unto him that is infinite in strength, How …an such a thing be? but answer all objections of misbelief with this, God hath spoken it, …nd he will also do it, and drown all our ob…ections of misbelief in that glorious and my…terious Name of His, I am that I am. To Him be praise.