A Beam of Divine Glory, Part 1 · Chapter 11
CHAP. XI.
The Unchangeableneſs of God a ſweet Spring of Comfort to his People: Several conſolatory Concluſions thence.
AS God's Unchangeableneſs calls for much duty from, ſo it Miniſters much ſweet comfort to his poor Church and People: The truth is, there is ſcarce any ſuch Spring and Treaſury of Comfort as this is; God's Immutability (ſayes one) is the beſt Cordial to refreſh a fainting Soul. The great Cordial God ſent Iſrael in their diſtreſs, was this; I am that I am, I am an Unchangeable God, Exod. 3.14. and indeed that was enough for them: But more particularly there are ſeveral conſolatory Concluſions, which flow from God's Unchangeableableneſs, Concluſions which do carry ſtrong conſolation in them.
1. God being Unchangeable, his Glory ſhall live, and in due time ſhine forth conſpicuouſly before all; for this ſee Iſa. 42.8. I am the Lord, I am Jehovah, I am he who was, and is, and is to come, the Unchangeable God; Well, and what then? Why, My Glory will I not give to another, nor my Praiſe to Graven Images; my Glory ſhall not die but live, my Glory ſhall not be alwayes veiled and eclipſed; but it ſhall ſhine forth in perfect luſtre and ſplendor. One of the great burthens, that lies upon the People of God, is, the ſufferings of his Name and Glory: The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me, (ſayes David) Pſal. 69.9. God's Glory is veiled, his Name is blaſphemed, his Worſhip is interrupted, his Providence is denied, all his Attributes are obſcured, and his Honour every way thrown in the duſt, which makes holy Souls go mourning from day to day: But, my Beloved, here is that may comfort the Soul, God is Unchangeable, and therefore his Glory ſhall live, and ſhine forth again; the Veil ſhall in due time be taken away, and his Glory ſhall appear; yea it ſhall be as eminently illuſtrated and diſplayed, as ever it has been veiled and eclipſed. You know how God ſpeaks in reference to the Glory of his Name in anſwer to Chriſt's Prayer, Joh. 12.28. Father glorifie thy Name (ſayes Chriſt) and what anſwer does the Father give him? I have glorified it, and I will glorifie it again; q.d. I have hitherto taken care of my Glory, and I will take care of it ſtill. O, my Beloved, God's Glory has hitherto been dear to him, & he has hitherto maintained it in the World, and he is Unchangeable, and therfore his Glory is as dear to him, as ever it was, he is as jealous for it, as ever; he is alſo every way as able to vindicate & maintain it, as ever he was; and aſſure your ſelves, were it not that he knows how to make it ſhine forth ſo much the more illuſtriouſly and conſpicuouſly afterwards, he would not ſuffer it to be ſo veiled and eclipſed as ſometimes he does; yea, let me ſay, he is alwayes carrying on, as the intereſt of his Peoples Happineſs, ſo the concerns of his own Glory.
2. God being Unchangeable, his Church ſhall be preſerved and delivered, preſerved under, and in due time delivered out of all her troubles and afflictions; and what a ſweet thing is that? The poor Church of God is oftentimes plunged into very deep and ſore diſtreſſes, ſuch as are ready to ſink and overwhelm Her; ſhe is oftentimes afflicted, toſſed with tempeſts, and not comforted, Iſa. 45.11. Such indeed is Her condition at this day; and as good old Ely ſate trembling for the Ark of God, a Type of the Church, 1 Sam. 4.13. ſo it may be ſome may now ſit trembling for the Church of God, fearing how 'twill go with Her, and indeed he is not one of Sions Children, that is not concerned for Sions Afflictions. But loe! my Beloved, in the midſt of all ſuch fears and tremblings of heart, here is is ſtrong conſolation, God is Unchangeable, and being Unchangeable, he will certainly ſupport and deliver his Church, and that in the beſt way and fitteſt ſeaſon: God has never yet ſail'd his Church in Her afflictions: yea, 'tis admirable to conſider, how hitherto he has carried it towards Her under all Her diſtreſſes; how ſweetly he has ſupported Her, and how ſeaſonably he has delivered Her. When they were in Egypt, in the Iron Furnace when they were in the Wilderneſs; when they were in the Red Sea, when they were in Babylon, in Hamans time, and in Herods; when the Neck of the whole Church of God was upon the Block at once, as it were; And alſo all down along, through the times of Antichriſtian Tyrany and Perſecution to this very day. O how admirably has God wrought for them, both in ſupporting, and delivering of them? and certainly what he has done, that he can and will do for them again, as the caſe ſhall require: God is Unchangeable, His Hand is not ſhortned, that he cannot ſave; nor his Ear grown heavy, that he cannot hear, Iſa. 59.1. God being Unchangeable, he is as tender of, and careful for, his Church and People, as ever he was; being Unchangeable, he is every way the ſame to his People now, as he was formerly; the ſame in his Love to them, his Jealouſie for them, his Sympathy with them, & his Intereſt in them; he ſtands in the ſame Covenant-Relation to them, that ever he did; he is their King, their Head, their Husband, their Friend, their Father, their Shepherd now, as well as heretofore; and he is every way as able to help them, and accordingly will ſupport, and in due time deliver them, and this Faith ſees, and reſts aſſured of, Iſa. 51.9, 10, 11, 12. Awake, awake, put on ſtrength, O Arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancients dayes, in the Generations of old; Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the Dragon? Art thou not it which hath dryed the Sea, the Waters of the great Deep, that hath made the depths of the Sea a way for the ranſomed to paſt over? &c. So again, 2 Cor. 1.9, 10. But we had the ſentence of death in our ſelves, that we ſhould not truſt in our ſelves, but in God who raiſeth the dead, who delivered us from ſo great a death, and doth deliver; in whom we truſt that he will yet deliver us: Mark, Faith you ſee, argues from what God has done, to what he will do for his poor Church and People; And what bottom or ground has it ſo to do, but his Unchangeableneſs? Let Sion therefore, the Church and People of God take heed of that language, which ſhe ſpake of old, Iſa. 49.14. Sion ſaid, the Lord hath forſaken me, and my God hath forgotten me: And as Jacob elſewhere, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is paſſed over by my God; for God muſt change, e're this can be: True, God may permit his Church to be ſorely afflicted, as at this day; but 'tis but to illuſtrate his own Glory the more in Her ſupport and deliverance.
3. God being Unchangeable, his Enemies ſhall be deſtroyed, they ſhall all die and periſh; I mean his incorrigible, implacable Enemies, who will not ſtoop to the Scepter of his Kingdom. God may, and ſometimes does permit his and his Peoples Enemies to practiſe and proſper, and that for a long time together, he lets them alone in their ſins and oppoſitions againſt both himſelf and them; yea, he even fills their belly with his hid Treaſure, (as you have it) Pſal. 17.14. he lets them injoy ſome of the beſt of outward Comforts and contentments, and that in great fulneſs, which oftentimes proves a great burthen and temptation to his poor afflicted People, ſuch as is ready even to ſink and bear them down: So it was with the Pſalmiſt, Pſal. 73. beg. and 'tis ſo many times with us; but Remember that God is Unchangeable, and being Unchangeable, though he may permit his and his Peoples Enemies to practiſe and proſper for a time, yet not alwayes; no, they ſhall be deſtroyed, and that with a great deſtruction: Pray obſerve how things iſſued at laſt in that very Pſalm, Pſal. 73.10. &c. Surely thou didſt ſet them in ſlippery places, thou caſtedſt them down into deſtruction; how are they brought into deſolation as in a moment? they are utterly conſumed with terrors, &c. Pray obſerve, he was not more offended at, nor was he more ready to envy their proſperity before, than now he wonders at their ruine and deſtruction: So Pſal. 37.35. &c. I have ſeen the wicked in great power, and ſpreading himſelf like a green bay-tree, yet he paſſed away, and loe! he was not: yea I ſought him, but he could not be found; the tranſgreſſors ſhall be deſtroyed together, the end of the wicked ſhall be cut off. So Deut. 32.35, 36. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence, (ſayes God, in reference to his and his Peoples Enemies) their foot ſhall ſlide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things which ſhall come upon them make haſt, for the Lord ſhall judge his People, &c. Still you ſee, though God permit his and his Peoples Enemies to proſper for a time, yet at laſt they are deſtroyed, and as ſure as God is Unchangeable, they ſhall be deſtroyed. Pray compare but my Text with the verſe immediately preceeding, Mal. 3.5, 6. I will come near to you to judgment, (ſayes God) and I will be a ſwift witneſs againſt the Sorcerers, and againſt the Adulterers, and againſt falſe Swearers, and againſt all that oppreſs the Hireling in his Wages, the Widow and the Fatherleſs, and that fear not me, ſaith the Lord. q.d. I'le ſuddenly and terribly deſtroy all mine Enemies, all that go on in their ſinings againſt me: But how ſhall we be aſſured of this? He tells you in the next words, for I am the Lord, I change not, q.d. as ſure as I am God and Unchangeable, they ſhall be deſtroyed. O Sirs, though God permits his and his Peoples Enemies to proſper for a time, yet he alwayes certainly deſtroys them in the concluſion, and he will do ſo ſtill, becauſe he is Unchangeable: God is every way the ſame that ever he was, the ſame in Holineſs, Jealouſy, Juſtice, Power, that ever he was; He is as holy now as ever he was, and ſo does hate ſin as much, as ever he did; he is as juſt now, as ever he was, and ſo as ready and propenſe to take vengeance as ever; he is as jealous now, as jealous for his Name, Worſhip, Goſpel, and People, as ever he was, and ſo will as little bear with the oppoſers and abuſers of them; he is as wiſe and powerful now, as ever, and ſo as able to deal with his Enemies: 'Tis a great Scripture that Job 9.4. He is wiſe in heart, and mighty in ſtrength; Who ever hardened himſelf againſt him and proſpered. O never any yet did, and never any ſhall: No, but Pſal. 68.21. He will wound the head of his Enemies, and the hairy ſcalp of ſuch an one as goeth on ſtill in his treſpaſſes: Oh that all the Enemies of God and his People, and all rebellious impenitent ones, would lay this to heart.
4. God being Unchangeable, the purpoſes and promiſes of his Grace to his Church and People ſhall certainly be accompliſht. God's Heart, my Beloved, has been full of counſels and purpoſes of Love towards his People from all eternity, and he has alſo made many bleſſed Promiſes to them, Promiſes that are exceeding great and pretious, 2 Pet. 1.4. becauſe full of exceeding great and pretious things: Greatneſs and pretiouſneſs do not often meet together; many things are great, but then they are not pretious; and many things are pretious, but then they are not great; but in the promiſes of God to his Church and People, greatneſs and pretiouſneſs do meet: Now look what-ever purpoſes God has had in his Heart, and whatever promiſes he has made in this Word to his People, they ſhall all be accompliſht, becauſe he is an Unchangeable God, he is the ſame now, that he was when he took up thoſe purpoſes, and made thoſe promiſes, and therefore will aſſuredly make them all good in the due ſeaſon; and ſo much he tells us, Iſa. 46.9, 10, 11. I am God, (ſayes he) and there is none elſe; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times, the things that are not yet done, ſaying, My Counſel ſhall ſtand, and I will do all my pleaſure; I have ſpoken, and I'le bring it to paſs; I have purpoſed it, I alſo will do it: Mark, firſt, he aſſerts his Godhead and Unchangeableneſs, and then he tells you all his pleaſure ſhall ſtand, and be accompliſht. God being Unchangeable (Firſt) None can turn him, or make him alter his mind; Job 23.13, 14. He is in one mind, and who can turn him? and what his Soul deſiveth even that he doth; for he performeth the thing that is appointed for me, &c. The wiſeſt and moſt reſolved among men may poſſibly be wrought upon, and brought over from what they purpoſed; but 'tis not ſo with God. (Secondly) None can hinder him from, or in his making good his purpoſes and promiſes, Iſa 43.13. Before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who ſhall let it? Poor Soul, whoever thou art, that art one of the Lord's People, look back to the eternal counſels and purpoſes of his Love towards thee, and thou wilt find them a great Deep, a Fountain of infinite Sweetneſs; in them thou wilt ſee heaps of Love, and treaſures of Grace; and then turn thine eye to the promiſes of his Covenant, which thou wilt find unexpreſſibly ſweet, and exactly ſuitable to thy condition, to all thy wants, and then know aſſuredly that the whole, both of the one and the other, ſhall be accompliſht to thee in due ſeaſon: 'Tis true indeed, his Counſels may ſeem to us to be fruſtrated, and his Promiſes may for a time be deferred, and delayed, in ſo much that our haſty unbelieving hearts may be ready to conclude, that they will never be accompliſht; ſaying with the Pſalmiſt, Does his Promiſe fail for evermore? Pſal. 77.8. But, Soul, wait a while, and they ſhall all be made good to a tittle. Has he promiſed to pardon thee, to cleanſe thee, to give thee a new Heart, and a new Spirit, to write his Law in thine Heart? Has he promiſed to ſave thee, and lodg thee at laſt in his own Boſom? then know it ſhall all be accompliſht: Oh how ſweet is this! Oh to faſten upon a Promiſe, and ſee it ſure to be made good, as in God's Unchangeableneſs we may; there we may ſee all as ſure, as if 'twere already accompliſht. Oh what ſtrong conſolation does this afford? what unexpreſſible ſweetneſs will this give unto a Soul?
5. God being Unchangeable, the Saints are unchangeably happy, and have a bleſſed Aſſylum to flee unto under all thoſe changes and emergencies, that may at any time come upon them. Pray mark, my Beloved, God is the Saints God and Portion: and in him does their happineſs lye; He therefore being Unchangeable, they have an Unchangeable Happineſs, they are an happy People, and they will be unchangeably ſo. The Counſel of the Lord ſtandeth for ever, the Thoughts of his Heart to all Generations; and what then? Bleſſed is the Nation whoſe God is the Lord, and the People whom he hath choſen for his own Inheritance, Pſal. 33.11, 12. The Saints (as one well obſerves) are in all reſpects a bleſſed People, they are bleſſed in the pardon of their ſins: Bleſſed is the man whoſe ſins are forgiven, Pſal. 32.1. They are bleſſed in regard of the diſpoſition of their Souls: Bleſſed are the poor in Spirit, bleſſed are the Meek, bleſsed are they that hunger and thirſt after Righteouſneſs, Mat. 5.3, 4, 6. They are bleſſed in their Obedience and walking with God: Bleſſed are the undefiled in the way, Pſal. 119.1. They are bleſſed in their hopes and expectations: Bleſſed are they that wait for God, Iſa. 30.18. Thus they are every way, and in all reſpects a bleſſed People; but here lies the perfection and top-glory of their bleſſedneſs, and what indeed comprehends all the reſt in it, namely, that the Unchangeable God is their God and Portion: Happy is the People whoſe God is the Lord, Pſal. 144.15. Oh, this ſpeaks them to be infinitely and unchangeably happy, and accordingly they ſhould live upon him, and that under all their ſtreights and difficulties. Oh Sirs, what is there that this will not ſupport and comfort you under? Do your Friends and Comforts here change? however God your beſt Friend and Comfort changes not, and that is enough. Do times and ſeaſons change, and that for the worſe, from ſun-ſhine to ſtorms? Well, however Soul, thy God changes not, and that is enough to ſweeten all. Doſt thou thy ſelf change? changes and war are upon thee, and which is the worſt of it, thy Spirit changes, it will not keep even with God one hour; well ſtill thy God changes not, and that is enough. Do new temptations ariſe, and oldcorruptions break out a new? Does guilt revive, and recur upon thee? be it ſo, yet thy God is Unchangeable, and ſo can and will relieve and ſuccour thee now as well as formerly, and that is enough. Yea, do God's diſpenſations change towards thee? he did ſmile, now he frowns; he did lift up, now he caſts down; the light of his Countenance did ſhine brightly upon thee, now 'tis veild & clouded: Well, however, thy God himſelf changes not; his Heart, his Counſel, his Covenant, his Love are ſtill the ſame towards thee that ever they were, howbeit the diſpenſation be changed. Oh, this one word, God is Mine, and he is Unchangeable, has infinite ſweetneſs in it, and it ſpeakes me to be infinitely and unchangeably happy. Oh you that are the People of God, labour to ſee and rejoice in this happineſs of yours: Which that you may the better do, let me add onelyonly two ſhort Words to this, and I will ſhut up the whole Diſcourſe.
1. Conſider, that as your God is unchangeable, ſo you are unchangeably intereſted in him. This Unchangeable God is unchangeably your God; what though God be unchangeable (may ſome poor Soul ſay) what will that avail me? my intereſt in him I fear will change, and fail, there will ſhortly be an end of that; No Soul, the Unchangeable God being indeed thine, he is thine for ever: ſo the Church, This God is our God for ever and ever, Pſal. 48.14. O Soul, thou, through infinite, free, and rich Grace, haſt a Covenant-intereſt in and relation to the Unchangeable God, and this Intereſt and Relation of thine is a firm, laſting, and Unchangeable Intereſt and Relation: Nothing that either Men, Devils, or Luſts can do, can poſſibly break or null it: and ſo he tells us, Pſal. 89.30, 31, 32. of which we have ſpoken before. I ſhall here onelyonly add a ſaying or two of Auſtin; The chief good, (ſaies he) which is God, Summum bonum nec invitis confertur, nec invitis aufertur.is neither given to ſuch as are unwilling to have him, nor taken away from ſuch as are unwilling to part with him: and elſewhere,Te nemo umittit niſi qui dimittit, & qui te demittit, quo it aut quo fugit, niſi a te placito ad te natum? Aug. Conf. lib. 4. Cap. 9. No man does or can loſe thee, O God, (ſaies he) unleſs he that is willing to loſe thee and go without thee, and he that willingly parts with thee, whither does he go? Whither does he flee? but from thee ſmiling, to thee frowning; from thee a reconciled Father to thee an angry Judge? O Soul, as long as thou art willing to have God thine, ſo long he ſhall be thine; yea, more, thine intereſt in him depends not upon thy willingneſs of it, but upon his Unchangeable Love and Covenant; and his Love and Covenant both muſt change, e're thine intereſt in him can fade and change.
2. Conſider, as your God is Unchangeable, ſo after a while you ſhall unchangeably enjoy him, and be with him, your Viſion and Fruition of him ſhall be Unchangeable.Beatitudo electione inchoatur, adeptione impletur. Our happineſs (ſaies Auſtin) is begun here in Election, but 'tis perfected hereafter in Fruition. You that have choſen the Unchangeable God, you ſhall after a few dayes injoy the God whom you have choſen; your happineſs is great in your chuſing of him, but how much more great will it be in your injoying of him? Pſal. 73.24, 25. Thou ſhalt guide me by thy Counſels, and afterwards receive me unto glory; whom have I in Heaven but thee; and there is none upon Earth I deſire beſides thee, q.d. I have choſen, and I do again chuſe thee, for my God and Portion, and ſome injoyment I have of thee here, and more I ſhall have hereafter in Heaven; I ſhall e're long be taken to injoy thee in thy Glory, fully, immediately, and for ever; for thou art mine, and I have made a ſolemn choice of thee. O Saints! the Unchangeable God is yours, and ſome communion you have with him here in the waies of his Grace, which is ſweet and happy; but after you have injoyed him in the waies of his Grace a while here, you ſhall be taken to the Unchangeable injoyment of him in his Glory Above, which will be infinitely more ſweet and happy; your injoyment of him here is low and remote, as well as changeable, and unconſtant; but your injoyment of him Above will be full, cloſe, and Unchangeable: here you have now and then a gracious viſit from him; he viſits you in this Duty, and that Ordinance, in this Mercy, and in that Affliction; but Oh how ſhort many times are thoſe viſits of his? Alas! he is gone again in a moment: but after a while you ſhall injoy him in his Glory, and there you ſhall not have a ſhort viſit now and then onelyonly, but his conſtant preſence for ever: We ſhall be ever with the Lord, 1 Theſ. 4.17. Oh bleſſed Souls! there he will unchangeably delight in you, unchangeably ſhine upon you, unchangeably communicate himſelf in his Grace and Glory to you; Oh how ſweet and bleſſed will this be! Well, for a cloſe of all: Saints, the Unchangeable God is unchangeably your God, and howbeit your viſions of him be yet but dark, and your communion with him but low; yet wait a while, and the day will break, and all your ſhadows ſhall flee away, you ſhall change your ebbing Waters for a full Tyde, your Glimmerings and Dawnings for a noonday, your imperfect beginnings for a full and perfect conſummation of communion with him: Howbeit there be now a Veil upon his Face, that you cannot behold him; yet wait awhile, and the Veil ſhall be taken away, and you ſhall behold his Face, his Glory for ever; and that ſo, as to be fully changed into the Image thereof, and eternally ſolaced and ſatisfied therein, ſuitable to that word, Pſal. 17.15. (with which I'le cloſe all) As for me I will behold thy Face in Righteouſneſs; I ſhall be ſatisfied when I awake with thy likeneſs. Amen.