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Sermons Volume 4 · Thomas Manton

Sermons Volume 4, Sermons on Hebrews · Sermon 1

SERMON I.

HEB. VI.18.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong Consolation, who have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us.

TO give you the Occasion of these Words, we must look back into the Context. The Apostle proveth the firmness of the Promises, and yet the great need of Faith and Patience e're they be accomplished. He proveth both by the Instance of Abraham, who was long exercised in waiting, and had God's Promise ratified with the most solemn Assurance that can be conceived under Heaven, with an Oath, which is held sacred and inviolable among all Nations. But here some might object, That if Abraham had such a special Assurance from God, what is that to us? To this the Apostle replies, That tho God's Oath were given to Abraham, yet it concerns all the Heirs of Promise, every Believer hath the same ground of Certainty that Abraham had; so it is asserted, ver. 17. Wherein God willing more abundantly to shew unto the Heirs of Promise the Immutability of his Counsel, confirmed it by an Oath. There is an Emphasis in the Phrase, more abundantly. God's Oath was not given out of Necessity, but out of Condescension. Not out of Necessity, as if his Word was not valid and authentick without an Oath, but he would give his Oath, that over and above, and by all solemn ways of Assurance, the Lord would provide for our Certainty and Assurance, that we might have strong Consolation upon solid Grounds. That by two immutable things, &c.

In the Words we have the Purport, and the Aim of God's Oath, which is to give Believers more solemn Assurance. Take notice of three things.

1. The Ground of this Assurance, That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie.

2. The Fruit of this Assurance, That we might have strong Consolation.

3. The Persons to whom God hath given this Assurance, we who have fled for Refuge to lay hold of the Hope that is set before us.

Sutable to the three Parts, there are three main Points.

I. God's Word and Oath are the immutable Grounds of a Believer's Certainty and Confidence.

II. That the Fruit of this Confidence and Certainty is strong Consolation.

III. That the Persons to whom God hath deposited his Oath, and by it administreth so strong a Comfort and Consolation, are those who fly for Refuge to take hold of the Hope that is set before them.

Doct. I. That God's Word, and God's Oath, are the immutable Grounds of a Believer's Confidence and Certainty: for these are the two immutable things spoken of. I shall speak of each distinctly.

First; God's single Word is an immutable Ground; having this, you have enough. And so it will appear, if you consider the Power, and the Certainty of it.

1. The Power of God's Word. His Word is nothing else but the Declaration of his powerful Will, the Force of it was discovered in creating the World. God created all things by his Word; Psal. 33.9. He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. This whole Fabrick of Heaven and Earth, which we now behold with wonder, was made with a Word. And mark, God's creating Word, and Word of Promise, do not differ, they are both the Word of God; and there is as much Force and Power in this Word, I will take away the Heart of Stone, as there was in this Word, Let there be Light. There is as much Power in this Sentence, I will make your vile Bodies to be like to Christ's glorious Body, as there was in that Word, Let there be a Firmament. God's Word was powerful enough to make a World, when it was nothing before. All the Works of God subsist by the Force of his Word: Heb. 1.3. Vpholding all things by the Word of his Power. It is but for God to say, Let it continue, let it be, and either are accordingly. One Word is enough to undo the World, and one Word is enough to uphold and preserve it. God's Word is the Declaration of his Almighty and powerful Will; whatever he did in the World, he did it by his Word. Therefore if you have this immutable Ground, if God hath deposited and plighted his Word, you have enough to establish strong Consolation, for it is powerful to all Purposes and Intents whatsoever.

2. Consider the Certainty of it. When the Word is gone out of God's Mouth, it shall not be recalled. The Lord prizeth his Faithfulness above all things. The Scripture must be fulfilled, whatever Inconveniences come of it. Mark the whole Course of Providence, and you will find that God is very tender of his Word, he valueth it above all his Works: Luke 21.33. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but my VVords shall not pass away. God is not so tender of Heaven and Earth, but that he will break it all to pieces, rather than not make good his Word; though it be a curious Frame and Fabrick, in which he hath displayed much of his Glory, yet that shall be dissolved. Heaven and Earth do only continue, till all that is prophesied of in the Word be fulfilled. We shall enjoy the Comfort of his Word in Heaven, when all these things are melted away with a fervent Heat. Nay, (which is more) God valueth his Word above the humane Life of Christ his own Son. If God passed his Word for it, his Son, who was the Delight of his Soul, equal to him in Glory, must come from Heaven, take a Body, and suffer a cruel Death. Lo I come: in the Volume of the Book it is written of me, I delight to do thy Will, O God, Psal. 40.7. God had passed his Word to the Church, that it should be so; therefore rather than he would go back from his Word, he sent Christ to die for a sinful World. There was no Promise of more difficulty for God to grant, nor for us to believe, than this of the Incarnation and Death of Christ; yet rather than go back from his Word, Christ must come and die an accursed and shameful Death.

Secondly; The main thing is, what ground of Consolation we have in God's Oath. And there I shall,

I. Shew the Reasons why God gives us his Oath over and above his Word.

II. The several Advantages which we have by his Oath in Believing.

I. For the Reasons why God should give this Oath. An Oath you know is given in Matters doubtful. Philo saith, An Oath is given for the manifestation of a Matter which is secret and doubtful, and which cannot otherwise be determined. To swear in Things apparent, and Matters clear, is to take the Name of God in vain. All Matters which are clear, are otherwise decided; Matters of Opinion, by Argument; Matters of Fact, by Testimony; Matters of Promise, by the single Word of the Party that promises, if he be a Person of Honour and Credit: but always an Oath supposes some Doubt and Controversy, that cannot otherwise be determined. And so much the Apostle intimates, when he says, Heb. 6.16. It is the End of all Strife or Controversy. Well then, God's Promises being of such absolute Certainty, why doth the Lord deposite his Oath with the Creature, since his single and bare Word is enough?

I answer, the Matter it self needs it not, but only in regard of us. We look upon the Promises with doubtful Thoughts; there is a Controversy between God and us: we have hard Thoughts of God, as if he would not be so good as his Word; therefore his Oath is given, not to shew the Doubtfulness of the thing that is sworn, but the Greatness of our Unbelief. Austin saith, Est exprobatio quaedam infidelitatis nostrae, God hereby upbraids us with our Unbelief, when he gives us an Oath for the Confirmation of any Matter. Briefly, God's Oath is given us for two Reasons, to shew us the Certainty, and to shew us the Excellency of our Priviledges in Christ.

Reason 1. To shew us the Certainty of our Privileges in Christ. The World makes it a Controversy and doubtful matter whether Christ came to die for Sinners, yea or no? whether God will save those that take Sanctuary at Christ? God saith, Ay, and we say, No; and how shall the matter be decided? Observe it, and you will find, that there are two things which we are apt to suspect in God; his good Affection in making the Promise, and his Truth in keeping the Promise. We suspect his good Affection, especially when we are in Pangs and Gripes of Conscience; and we suspect his Truth in Straits and Difficulties, whenever in the Course of God's Providence we are cast into such a Condition, that we think he hath forgotten his Promise. Now the Lord might be highly offended with us for those wicked Thoughts we entertain of his Majesty; but in a gracious Condescention he is pleased to put an End to the Controversy by an Oath. As if the Lord had said, Do you doubt of this? Will you put me to my Oath? Here I am ready to take it; and that the matter may no longer remain in Suspence, I sware by my Life, by my Holiness, by whatever you count sacred and excellent in me, That whoever among you, whatever he be, that is touched with a Sense of his Sin and Misery by Nature, if he will run to Christ for Refuge, take Sanctuary in Christ, if he doth belong to my unchangeable Purposes of Grace, I will surely without miscarrying bring him to a sure and eternal Possession of Glory; and for the present I will be a Father to him, and guide him and keep him as the Apple of mine Eye, I will be his present Help, his Guardian, his Counsellor, during the whole time of his Aboad in the World, where he is only liable to Dangers. This was the matter in Controversy, and this is the Substance of God's Oath. And I shall shew you how apt we are to distrust God in all this. We suspect (as I said) either his good Affection in making the Promise, or his Truth in keeping the Promise; so that we need this solemn way of Assurance. Therefore,

First; I shall speak to this, that we distrust his good Affection, and will not believe God upon his single Word: What should be the Reason that Nature is so abhorrent from this Certainty and Assurance, which so much concerneth our own Peace and Comfort? Take six Reasons.

1. Partly because Guilt is full of Suspicion: We hate those whom we have wronged; Proprium est humani ingenii odisse quos laeserit. First we hurt a Person, then we hate him; so out of Fear of Revenge we suspect all that he doth, all Acts of Kindness, all Tenders and Offers of Reconciliation which come from him. Let me exemplify it in Men. Thus David speaks of his Enemies, Psal. 120.7. I am for Peace, but when I speak, they are for War. David was the wronged Party, and Doeg and Saul's Courtiers had slandered him, and done him wrong; David was willing to forget all this Injury, and he comes with an Offer of Peace, but all Treaties of Peace are in vain. This you will find to be the Fashion of the World, when they have wronged a Person, never to trust him any more, lest they should give him Opportunity of Revenge. Thus do we deal with God, Conscience knows we have wronged him, flighted his Love, and put Affronts upon his Grace; and therefore though he makes the first Offer, we believe it not. Revengeful Man cannot think God will be so gracious and merciful, therefore we cannot believe those ample Purposes of Reconciliation. It breaks the Back of Patience to think of forgiving seven times; Must I forgive seven times, saith Peter? And therefore how can we believe the Lord will pardon so many thousand Affronts we put upon him Day by Day? Thus we wrong God, and sin away our Faith, and therefore are not capable of so rich a Comfort.

2. Partly because the way of Salvation is so rare and wonderful, that a Man can find no Faith for it. The Gospel is a Mystery, so called by the Apostle, 1 Tim. 3.16. Great is the Mystery of Godliness. Nature affords no Help here. Theology is natural, but not Christology. Nature believes there is a God, but not that there is a Christ. The Sun and Moon preach up a God, their Sound is gone out into all Lands, and proclaim every where that there is one Infinite and Eternal Power. And Conscience preacheth up a Judg. But all these natural Preachers are dumb and silent concerning Christ, not a Word concerning a Saviour and Mediator. It could not enter into the Thought of an Angel to pitch upon such a Remedy, if God had not revealed it to them by the Church; Eph. 3.10. To the Intent that now unto the Principalities and Powers in heavenly Places might be known by the Church the manifold Wisdom of God. The Angels did conceive of this great Mystery, by observing God's Dispensations to the Church. Well then, the way of Salvation being so rare and wonderful, we should never acquiesce and rest satisfied with bare Declarations, but we need God's Oath, that the Controversy may be determined. When an Angel came to bring Tidings of it to the Virgin Mary, though she were a holy Woman, and had such an extraordinary way of Assurance, yet you find her Unbelief out-starts her Obedience and Submission to the Will of God; How shall this be? Luke 1.34. The Incarnation of God, the Conception of a Virgin, the Death of Life it self, all these things are Riddles and golden Dreams to Reason; and without a higher Assurance than a bare Word, we should not be easily satisfied.

3. Partly because the Blessings and Privileges we have in Christ are so great, and the Persons which enjoy them so unworthy, as being nothing, and deserving nothing, that they exceed all Thought and Belief; 1 Cor. 2.9. Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entred into the Heart of Man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love him. Mark, all the ways by which we can gain any Knowledg of a thing, they come short; Sense, Fancy, Reason; Eye, Ear, Heart of Man cannot conceive, and cannot tell what to make of these excellent Privileges we have in Christ: they cannot furnish him with fit Notions and Apprehensions of such excellent Glory as is revealed to us in him. To illustrate it by the Creatures; If a Man had been by when God made the World, as the Angels were; if he had seen God laying the Foundations of all things, he would have wondred what God was about to do, for what rare Creature the Lord was about to frame this stupendious and wonderful Fabrick, arched with Heaven, floor'd with Earth, interlac'd with Waters, deck'd with Fruits and Plants, stored with Creatures, and glazed (if I may so speak) with Stars; who would ever have thought that all this Furniture and Provision was for Man, a handful of Dust, a poor Worm not six Foot long, that he might be Lord of all things, Vice-king and Deputy under God? Now if a Man would wonder at the Honour and Glory God put upon Man at his Creation, much more at the Privileges of our Redemption by Christ; they are Matters to be wondred at indeed; 2 Thess. 1.10. Christ shall be glorified in his Saints, and admired in all them that believe. This Place chiefly concerns the Angels, when God puts such Clarity and Splendour upon the Body, that they shall wonder what Christ is about to do with such a contemptible Creature as Man, that newly came out of the Grave of Rottenness and Dust. This Text I am upon, speaks of a Hope set before us. If this were but a little opened, (as our Ear hath received a little thereof) if we should tell you what Preparation Christ hath made to bring the Saints to Glory, with what a glorious Train of Angels he will come from Heaven, what Mansions he hath prepared for us in his Father's House, and all this for those that have nothing, and deserve nothing, unless it be Extremity of Misery: if a Man should tell you Christ would come in such a State, and entertain the Saints with such Dearness of Affection, and receive Sinners into his Bosom; that he would make them his Fellow-Judges, liken their Bodies to his own glorious Body for Brightness and Splendor; that such Pieces of Worms, and Clods of Earth shall be many times brighter than the Sun; I tell you this would require a strong Faith to believe it, and we had need of all the Averment and Assurance that can be given us under Heaven. If an Angel admires at the Saints, certainly inferiour Creatures will suspect it. Alas, what a valuable Price can we bring and pay to God for all this Glory? We that judg all things by the Laws of Reason and commutative Justice, (for we give nothing but upon valuable Consideration) what valuable Price can we bring to God? What Consideration can we give him for so great a Glory, and how shall we think ever to be Partakers of an Estate so disproportionable to our Merit and Condition? Therefore because our Privileges in Christ are so great and wonderful, we need not only God's Word, but also his Oath.

4. Partly, because we our selves are so false and fickle in all our Contracts with one another, especially in our Dealings with God, that we need to be bound with Promise upon Promise, and Oath upon Oath, and all little enough to restrain and hold us within the Bounds of Duty. Man is changeable, and breaks Vows, and Covenants, and Promises, and snaps them a-sunder as a Thread and Tow is burnt a-sunder with Fire, and will not be held with any Obligation. It is a Greek Proverb, Children play with Nuts, and Men with Oaths. It is too often so. Perjury, though it be monstrous and barbarous, and dissolves the Bonds of humane Societies and Confederacies, yet it is no rare thing in the World, especially in the latter times: they are said among other Sins to be infamous for Covenant-breaking; 2 Tim. 3.3. Truce-Breakers, &c. Thus we deal with one another. But if we should be more faithful to Men for the Safety of our Interest, yet how often do we break with God, and compass him about with Lies? 2 Sam. 23.5. He hath made with me an everlasting Covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. We are false and fickle, when God is sure. To Day we promise, to Morrow we fail: what Vow did we ever make to God and kept it? Now we are apt to judg of God's Promises by our own. It is usual with Man to transform God into his own Likeness, and to muse of him as we use our selves. The Heathens did it grosly, and by a sensible Picture; the Apostle chargeth it upon them, Rom. 1.23. They changed the Glory of God into an Image made like to corruptible Man. They shaped God into the Picture of Man, and still according to the particular Genius and Fancy of each Nation. The Spartans being a Warlike People, painted their Gods in Armour, suting most with their Disposition: the Ethiopians painted their Gods black, and their Devils white, because they were a black People. But now we do it all spiritually; Psal. 50.23. Thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thy self. We judg of God by our selves, and draw a monstrous mishapen Picture of him in our Minds, as if he were revengeful, fierce, fallacious, fickle and changeable as we are. Therefore to meet with this Sin, doth the Lord so often disclaim the Dispositions of a Man, that we should not fancy him according to the Lineaments of a Man; Hos. 11.9. I will not execute the Fierceness of mine Anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not Man. As if he had said, Do not measure me according to your Model, I am not revengeful as you are, and changeable as you are, this is not my Fashion. So Isa. 55.8, 9. For my Thoughts are not your Thoughts, neither are your Ways my Ways, saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my Ways higher than your Ways, and my Thoughts than your Thoughts. You see the Distance between Earth and Heaven is so wondrous great, that the Earth cannot reach it with its Mountains, Cedars, Turrets, Smoak and Vapors; it is so great, that a Star of the Heavens, as big as the Earth, seems to be but a Spangle: so infinitely more are the Workings of my Thoughts, and my Heart different from your Thoughts and your Heart. More particularly and sutable to the present Case; Numb. 23.19. God is not a Man that he should lie, neither the Son of Man, that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken it, and shall he not make it good? Man is as unstable as Water, his Point varieth according to the different Posture of the Times, and Situation of his own Interest and Advantage; but it is not so with me, saith the Lord. Men say and do not, but God's Yea is always Yea, and his No is always No. This was the Speech of Balaam, who was called a false Prophet, not from the matter of his Prophecy, but only from his Aims. But if you will have it from a more authentick Hand, you have it out of the Mouth of Samuel, 1 Sam. 15.29. The Strength of Israel will not lie, nor repent; for he is not a Man that he should repent. Mark the Reason, for he is not a Man. To be a Man, and to be changeable, is all one. Certainly the frequent Inculcation of such Passages in Scripture, sheweth, that we are apt to measure Infiniteness by our own scantling and size. And therefore this being Man's natural Thought, God in a Condescention, and by way of Check, is pleased to give the Creature this Assurance, we have his Word and his Oath. So that if we would but afford him the Favour we use to shew to an honest Man, we have no ground of Diffidence and Distrust.

5. Another Cause of this Unbelief is Enmity to the Gospel. There is a natural Contrariety in our Hearts both to the Privileges and Duties of the Gospel; and because we hate it, we do not easily believe it. The Pride of Man's Heart sets him against the Privileges of the Gospel, and carnal Liberty against the Obedience of it. Man is a proud Creature, and would be self-sufficient; he is loth to be beholden to God: as a proud Man loves a Russet Coat of his own, better than a Silken Garment that is borrowed of another. Thus the Apostle complains of the Jews, Rom. 10.3. They being ignorant of God's Righteousness, and going about to establish a Righteousness of their own, have not submitted themselves to the Righteousness of God. There needs some Submission and bearing down of the Pride of Man, all is borrowed: here Christ is all, and doth all; he hath merited for all, and suffered for all. Now this sutes not with the Pride of Man's Heart, who would be sufficient to himself, and establish a personal Merit in himself. And then especially is this Pride bewrayed, when a Man hath any thing to trust to and rest in, as civil Righteousness, or a formal Profession; it is a hard matter then to bring Men to submit to the Righteousness of God, to come hungry and thirsty for Christ's Righteousness. There is no Pride so deadly and mischievous, and opposite to the Gospel, as the Pride of Self-conceit, and Self-sufficiency; yet this is natural to us; therefore God doth not only say, but swear that we shall never enter into his Rest, unless we take this course, and run to this Hope that is before us. And as Pride opposeth the Privileges of the Gospel, so carnal Liberty opposeth the Obedience of the Gospel. Men are loth to stoop and submit to God's Terms: Christ is to be Lord as well as Saviour. Now the World will not hear of Laws and Restraints. You know the Nations were all for casting away the Bonds and Cords; Psal. 2.3. Let us break their Bands asunder, and cast away their Cords from us. In the latter Ages of the World, it is foretold in the Prophecies of Scripture, that the Church is in danger of turning to Libertinism: we cast away Yoke after Yoke, till we have left Christ nothing but an empty Title. How busy are Men now to find out a North-East-Passage, a nearer cut to Heaven; and therefore the Lord swears, and ratifies the whole Tenor of the Gospel by an Oath, to meet with our Enmity, and natural Contrariety, which makes us so apt to misbelieve.

6. Another Cause why those that are touched with a sense of Sin, suspect God's good Affection, is a Jealousy of Assurance, or a secret fear of presuming. All the Doubts and Scruples of a troubled Conscience come to this Issue, and may all be referred to this Head, a fear of presuming. Many will plead the number of their Sins, and how many Affronts they have put upon the Grace or God. Some will plead the Greatness and the Aggravations of their Sins, Relapses into Sin, Sins against Light, against the Advantages of Grace; but they all end in this one thing, a fear of being too bold with the Comforts of the Gospel, and that Comfort doth not belong to Persons in their case. This is the Cable-Rope which keeps them from floating out amain upon the Ocean of God's Mercy, as if the Lord delighted in their Grief rather than in their Assurance and Satisfaction. Usually thus it is with disturbed Consciences. Trouble that is once swallowed, is hardly got up again; and Men think Sadness is more pleasing to God than Comfort; and that Doubts sute with a Christian Frame rather than Confidence; and so they hug a Distemper instead of a Duty. Therefore the Lord is fain to swear that certain it is. Nay, it is not for nothing that this makes the Heart of Christ so joyful, that we live upon the Provision he hath made for us; Iohn 15.11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my Ioy might remain in you, and that your Ioy might be full. This is the very Aim of God's Oath, he would shew (as I shall further clear by and by) that our Assurance is more pleasing to him than our Doubting; that he is better pleased with our Comfort, nay, tho it rise up to strong Comfort, than with our Sorrow. Thus you see that Diffidence and Incredulity is deeply rooted in our Nature; yea Believers themselves are liable to many Doubts, out of the Relicks of Atheism and Unbelief that yet remains in them.

Secondly; I am to shew, that we are apt to suspect his Truth in keeping his Promise. When Straits and Difficulties come, and things go cross to our Expectation, we had need of more than God's single Word. There is not one of an hundred that lives by Faith, and can bottom his Comfort on a single Promise, and can rejoice in the Lord his God, when outward Supports fail. We are led altogether by Sense, and therefore in cross Providences we look upon Promises as words of course, and are apt to say, Where are his Promises, and the Soundings of his Bowels? and, where is the ready Help which God hath promised in the time of Trouble? And therefore as a Prop to the Soul, he hath backed his Promise with an Oath. Mark it, Christians! it is very usual, even with God's dearest Children, to unravel their Hopes, and to question all upon a cross Providence, as David, Psal. 116.11. I said in my haste, All Men are Liars. Why doth David retract that Charge, and impute it to his haste? The Apostle saith, Rom. 3.4. Let God be true, and every Man a Liar. We are changeable Creatures, our Beings are a Lie; to day we are, and to morrow we are not; and so our Promises are a Lie, we say, and do not; and therefore why doth David impute it to his haste, as if he had spoken something that were untrue? Certainly there was some blame in the Expression, for he acknowledgeth it was spoken in haste. The Speech hath respect to those Messages and Assurances which were brought to him from the Mouth of God by Samuel, Nathan, and other Prophets. They comforted him with God's Promises, and now he was Thunderstruck, blasted with some sore Affliction, far enough from the Case of a Man that had many Assurances from Heaven; now all Men are Liars, Prophets and all. Once more, Psal. 31.22. I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine Eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the Voice of my Supplications, when I cried unto thee. God hath cast off all care of David, he doth not look after a poor banished Man, which wandreth up and down in the Wilderness, a poor Flea that is chased and hunted to and fro. Such Pets and Passions of Distrust, such irregular and unbelieving Thoughts usually have we upon any cross Providence, when Sense contradicts the Promise. Always we find Sense and Distrust making Lies of God; therefore a single Promise will not serve the turn, but we need an Oath. Surely if God hath sworn, we may wait upon him. Doubts, now God hath passed his Oath, do but accuse him of Perjury. And therefore you shall see the Oath of God hath always been the Refuge of the Saints even in the worst of Times, when they seemed most of all to …lour upon their Hopes and Expectations. Hab. 3.9. The Affairs of the Church were at that time desperate; but saith the Prophet, Thy Bow was made quite naked, according to the Oaths of the Tribes, even thy Word. Selah. God for his Covenant and Oath's sake revived the Affairs of the Church, when they were at a desperate pass. It is there expressed in the Plural Number, Oaths, because they were often renewed with the Church; and they are called the Oaths of the Tribes, because this was the Church's Treasure, because of the Oath God made with the Tribes, for it is not meant of the Oaths the Church made with God. Look as the Covenant of Abraham is God's Covenant made with Abraham, and the Mercies of David were God's Mercies bestowed upon David: So the Oaths of the Tribes are not taken actively, for the Oaths which the Tribes deposited with God: but passively for the Oath God deposited with the Tribes, that is, the Church. God took this Bow out of the Case, and bestows the Arrows of his Vengeance upon the Adversaries of the Church. That this Exposition is true, it appeareth in what follows, even thy Word. Selah. There is his Word, and that confirmed by an Oath, the two immutable things; these relieve the sinking State of the Church. It goes ill with the Church along time, that we might have Experience what God can do. Look what Florus said of the State of Rome, Romani praelio saepe victi, bello nunquam; The Romans were often overcome in Battel, but never in War: So of the Church, they go by the worst in some particular Cases, and in some particular Times, that we might try God, and God may try us: but we are safe, God will remember the Oaths of the Tribes; the Oath of God will relieve the most desperate Case. It is rude Blasphemy to say, God will not make good his Oath. Thus you see why God would deposite his Oath.

Reason 2. God sweareth, as for the confirmation of his Grace in Christ, and to shew the certainty of our Privileges in Christ; so for the Commendation and Excellency of them. An Oath is not lawful but in weighty Matters; it must be taken in Iudgment, as well as in Righteousness and Truth, Jer. 4.2. In Iudgment, that is, considerately, upon weighty Occasions. It is a profaning the Name of God, and of such a solemn Ordinance and part of Worship, to make an Oath to lacquey upon Trifles, and upon every small Matter; it must be in Matters of weighty Concernment. There is a severe Penalty and Sanction annexed to the taking of God's Name in vain, either rashly or falsly; The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain. So whatever is established by God's Oath, must needs be great and excellent. Certainly God would not swear but in weighty Matters: Therefore one of his Aims was, that we might the more regard our Privileges in Christ. The Apostle proveth the Excellency of Christ's Priesthood by the Oath wherewith it was ratified; Heb. 7.20, 21. And inasmuch as not without an Oath he was made Priest: For those Priests were made without an Oath, but this with an Oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware, and will not repent, &c. He alludes to Psal. 110.4. where God is brought in, saying to Christ, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec. Such Administrations as are confirmed with an Oath, have upon them a Seal and Mark of special Excellency. The Lord foresaw, that as we were apt to disbelieve the Gospel, so also to despise it: and therefore to shame us for our Neglect as well as our Unbelief, to awaken our Attention, and quicken our Speed and earnest Pursuit, the Lord swears; his Word should be regarded, much more his Oath. When we are busy about the World, and neglect the Great Salvation, we put a Scorn upon God, as if the things he hath confirmed by Oath, were not worth the looking after. When we prefer worldly Comforts as more certain, O what an Injury is this to the Oath of God! We read of the sure Mercies of David, but you are all for lying Vanities: We are naturally for the Comforts that are before us, and look upon it as a Riddle to grow rich in Promises, and to live by Faith. Are uncertain Riches more to be trusted, and a better Refuge and Sanctuary for your Souls than God's Oath? It is a sign you slight his Confirmation and Commendation, and so count him false and foolish in all the things he proposeth to you. God forbid (say you) that we should be guilty of such a Blasphemy! You do it not in Word, but this is the necessary Interpretation of your Actions. If a Man should offer you a good Bargain upon very easy Terms, that would bring you a thousand Pounds Profit, and should confirm it by Oath; tho you did not tell him, that he did deceive you with Words, yet if you go away never heeding it, but should run after smaller Matters which you purchase with great hazard, would not this argue you counted him but false and foolish, or the thing not worth the taking and looking after? So when God hath pawned his Oath, that his Grace and immutable Counsel for Salvation belonged to you, if you would but take Sanctuary in Christ, do you not count him false and foolish in the Proposal, when you run after carnal Satisfactions, which are purchased with the loss of your Souls?