A Beam of Divine Glory, Part 1 · Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Several Propoſitions laid down for the obviating of Objections, and the vindicating of God's Unchangeableneſs from all cavil and contradiction.
THe next Work we have to do, is to vindicate the unchangeableneſs of God from all cavils and contradiction, and to obviate ſuch Objections as may ſeem to lie againſt it, which I ſhall do by making good theſe 4 Propoſitions.
1. The firſt Propoſition is this; That God's repenting, which we ſometimes read of in Scripture, is no way inconſiſtent with, or repugnant to the Truth and Glory of his Unchangeableneſs. Oftentimes, in Scripture, God is ſaid to repent, and he is ſaid to repent both of what he has done, and alſo of what he hath ſaid he would do. Firſt, He is ſaid to repent of ſome things he had done. So he is ſaid to repent that ever he made Man, Gen. 6.6. It repented the Lord that he had made Man on the Earth; and it grieved him at his heart. So it repented him that he had made Saul King, 1 Sam. 15.11. It repenteth me (ſayes God) that I have ſet up Saul to be King. Secondly, God is ſaid to repent of ſome things which he hath ſaid he would do. So Pſal. 135.14. The Lord will repent him concerning his ſenvants. So Jer. 26.19. The Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced againſt them; with many other places which might be mentioned: Thus God is ſaid to repent both wayes. Now repentance imports a change; and how then is God unchangeable? I Anſwer, Nevertheleſs unchangeable becauſe of his repenting; for, pray obſerve, when God is ſaid in Scripture to repent, 'tis to be underſtood not in a proper, but in an improper and alluſive ſenſe; not affective, but effectivè; not according to his internal Will, but an external Work: God is therefore ſaid to repent,Paenitere dicitur more hominum quia inſtar penitent is voluit diſſipare quod fecerat. Lyra. in Gen. 6.6. becauſe he doth as men do, when they repent, that is, he changeth his Deeds, yet without any change of his Will; yea,Deus panitere dicitur quando mutat factum. Pet. Mar. the change of his Deeds, is the execution of his unchangeable. Will: When Men repent, they ceaſe to do what they had begun, and they are ready to deſtroy what they had wrought; and thus God is ſaid to repent, not becauſe his mind is changed, but becauſe he ceaſeth to do what he did, or he deſtroyeth what he had made: thus he is ſaid to repent of his making Saul King, becauſe he meant to remove him from being King; and to repent of his making Man, becauſe he meant to deſtroy Man for his ſin. Now ſuch repenting does not argue the leaſt change in God, and therefore in the very ſame place where he is ſaid thus to repent, he is alſo ſaid not to repent, as 1 Sam. 15.11. & 29.11. he is ſaid to repent of making Saul King: And in verſ. 29. 'tis ſaid of him, that he will not lie, nor repent, nor is he a man that he ſhould repent; He can no more repent in a proper ſenſe, as repentance imports change, than he can lie; and when, as there 'tis ſaid of him, that he is not a Man that he ſhould repent, There is thus much implyed, That he muſt ceaſe to be God, and become Man, if he ſo repents as to note change in him. 'Tis a good and indeed a great Obſervation which one has upon this place; No repentance (ſayes he) can properly befal God, Proprie in Deum cum ſit immutabilis, ſapientiſſimus et beatiſſimus, nulla cadit paenitentia, ſed paenitet eum cum beneficia ſua retractat & revocat. A Lapidin 1 Sam. 15.11.—whereas he is immutable, moſt wiſe, moſt bleſſed; but he is ſaid to repent, when he retracts and revokes his benefits from a Perſon or People. In a word, he is ſaid to repent, quoad effectorum mutationem, as to the change of effects, but non quoad ſeipſum, not as to himſelf, in either his Nature or Will: But this will duplicate page duplicate page appear further in the next Propoſition. Therefore,
2. The ſecond Propoſition is this, That the non-execution and accompliſhment of ſome Threats and Promiſes of God, which we find in his Word, is no impeachment of his unchangeableneſs. True, there are many things both threatned and promiſed by God in his Word that do never come to paſs; God ſometimes threatens what he does not execute, as in the caſe of Hezekiah, 2 Kings 20.1, & 5. compared; and of Nineveh, Jonah 3.4. with 10. On the other hand God ſometimes promiſes that which is never accompliſhed, of which inſtances not a few might be given. Now does not this impeach and contradict his unchangeableneſs? I anſwer, No; neither the one nor the other of theſe is any way repugnant or contradictory thereunto: for, pray conſider, thoſe threatnings and promiſes which are not accompliſht, are not abſolute, but conditional threatnings and promiſes, threatnings and promiſes that have either an expreſs or implicit condition in them, which condition being wanting, the non-accompliſhment of the Threat or Promiſe is ſo far from being inconſiſtent with, that it ſtrongly argues the unchangeableneſs of God. I ſhall illuſtrate this by ſome inſtances, Jer. 18.7, 8, 9, 10. At what inſtant I ſhall ſpeak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to deſtroy it; if that Nation againſt whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what inſtant I ſhall ſpeak concerning a Nation, and concerning a Kingdom to build and to plant it, if it do evil in my ſight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I ſaid I would benefit them. Mark, here is both evil threatned, and good promiſed, but both under a condition; now if the condition, upon which the one is threatned, and the other is promiſed, be wanting, let it not be imputed to any change in God, if either the one or the other be not accompliſht: When an evil is threatned, and not executed; and when a good is promiſed, and not performed, the nonexecution of the one, and the non-performance of the other, is not becauſe God is not unchangeable, but becauſe the condition upon which the one was threatned, and the other promiſed, is found wanting. I might argue in like manner from Pſal. 7.12. Luk. 13. begin. Rev. 2.22. But let this one ſuffice inſtead of all the reſt. And to this purpoſe ſpeaks a learned Man.Deus mutatſententium ſed non decretum. Bradw. God (ſayes he) changes his Sentence, the outward threatning or promiſe, but not his Decree, not his inward Counſel or Purpoſe. And to the ſame effect is the ſaying of another;Si conſilium Dei ſpectamus, non poteſt eum poenitere; at ſententiae Dei per prophetas ſignificatae ſape mutantur. Pet. Mar. If (ſayes he) we reſpect the Counſel of God, that he does not, he cannot change, but his Mind and Will revealed by the Prophets, that is often changed. And 'tis a great ſaying of one of the School-men,Aliud eſt mutare voluntatem, aliud velle mutationem. Aquin. 'Tis one thing (ſayes he) for God to change his Will, and another thing to will a change: God often wills and determines a change, but he never changes his Will or Determination; thus where an evil is threatned, or a good promiſed, which is not accompliſht, the non-accompliſhment of it is not becauſe God is not unchangeable, but becauſe the threat or promiſe was conditional, and the condition thereof was wanting.
2. The third Propoſition is this, That none of thoſe changes, which ſeem to be attributed to God in Scripture, are really oppoſite to his unchangeableneſs. I grant, the Scripture ſeveral times repreſents God, ſeemingly at leaſt, under changes to us; ſometimes he is repreſented as being changed from an Enemy to a Friend, to be reconciled to them with whom he was offended before; hence we read of his being pacified towards ſinners, Ezek. 16.63. So Iſa. 12.1. Though thou waſt angry with me, (ſayes the Church to God) yet thine anger is turned away. Again, ſometimes God is repreſented as being changed from a Friend to an Enemy, to be at war with them with whom he was before at peace; So Job 30.21. Thou art become cruel to me; or, thou are turned or changed, q. d. Thou wert good and gracious, but now thou art ſevere and cruel: So Iſa. 63.10. He was turned to be their Enemy, and fought againſt them. Thus both theſe ways God ſeems to be repreſented under changes; and how then is he unchangeable? Nevertheleſs unchangeable for all this, and to vindicate God's unchangeableneſs notwithſtanding this, I would intreat you to conſider two Things.
1. Conſider, that God is unchangeable under the moſt various and changeable diſpenſations that he does or can walk in towards us. 'Tis true, the external diſpenſation changes, his outward courſe and carriage towards us is very changeable and various; now he ſmiles, and then he frowns; now he fills, and then he emtyes; now he lifts up, and then he caſts down; now he breaks, and then he binds up, &c. Thus the outward dealings and diſpenſations of God are very changeable and various; yet in and under all he himſelf changes not, but is ſtill the ſame, the ſame in his Being, and in his Bleſſedneſs; and the ſame in his Counſel, Covenant, and love to us. Hence Pſal. 25.10. All the Paths (that is, the providences and diſpenſations) of the Lord, are ſaid to be Mercy and Truth to his People: His Paths towards them are very various in themſelves, but God's Love and Grace is the ſame in all. The outward diſpenſation of God toward us, it may be, is changed; he did ſmile, but now he frowns; he did give, but now he takes away; he did form Light, but now he creates Darkneſs for us; and hereupon we apprehend that God Himſelf, his Heart, his Counſel, his Covenant, his Love is changed; but 'tis only in our apprehenſion; for indeed, and in truth, he is the ſame ſtill; the moſt variable of his diſpenſations, do not argue the leaſt variableneſs in him at all; and indeed, where he is a Friend, he is a Friend for ever; and where he is an Enemy, he is an Enemy for ever; the change is only in the external diſpenſation.
2. Conſider, that the change is in us, and not in God, God is alwayes the ſame, but we are not the ſame; when God is pacified towards thoſe with whom he was offended, they are changed, not he, he is the ſame he was; and when he is angry with Saints, with whom he was before at peace, they are changed, not he: the change was in Job, not in God, when he ſaid, thou art turned to be cruel to me; the change was in the Church, not in God, when he was ſaid to be turned to be their Enemy. God (ſays a worthy Divine) is the ſame, his Love is the ſame, his Wrath is the ſame, his Mercy is the ſame, his Juſtice is the ſame, and that for ever; but we changing are caſt ſometimes under the effects of his Love, and ſometimes under the effects of his Wrath; we are ſometimes under the ſaddeſt droppings of his Juſtice, and ſometimes under the ſweeteſt influences of his Mercy. As a man that changes his Aſpect, and turns about his Body to another Point of the Heavens, that part of the Heavens which was before at his right hand, is now at his left. Not but that the Heavens are as they were, they change not, either their Poſition or Motion, but the Man hath changed his. So the Wrath and Love, the Juſtice and Mercy of God ſtand alwayes at the ſame point, but we turn, ſometimes Juſtice-ward, ſometimes Mercy-ward; now we face his Wrath, and then his Love; thus the change is in us and not in God, and ſo he remains unchangeable ſtill.
4. The fourth Propoſition is this, That God's Unchangeableneſs does no way exclude or invalidate the uſe of means: If God be unchangeable, then to what purpoſe is the uſe of means? Why do we Pray, or Hear, or uſe any means in order to our eternal Good? Why, my Beloved, God's Unchangeableneſs does no way exclude or invalidate the uſe of means; for pray conſider, (Firſt) That God wills the Means as well as the End, and the Means in order to the End; he wills our Praying as well as our Pardon, our Hearing as well as our Happineſs, our Sowing as well as our Reaping, our Sowing in the uſe of Means, as well as our Reaping in the Harveſt of Mercy. He wills our believing as well as our bleſſedneſs, he wills the one as well as the other; yea, he wills the one in order to the other, and that with the ſame abſolute immutable and eternal will; He hath ordained we ſhould walk in good works, Eph. 2.10. and he ha h choſen us to Salvation, through the ſanctification of the Spirit, and the belief of the Truth, 2 Theſ. 2.13. — (Secondly) Conſider, that as God wills the Means as well as the End, ſo through the uſe of theſe it is, that he gives out himſelf and his bleſſings to us, and at laſt brings us to the End: God makes a Covenant with his People, and therein layes himſelf under bonds to do great things for them, as great as a God can do; but he will have them pray for them, nor will he do them but in a way of Prayer, Ezek. 36.37. and God tells us, that he never ſaid to the Seed of Jacoh, Seek ye me in vain, Iſa. 45.19. Indeed, God is not wanting to his People in the uſe of mean: The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to the Soul that ſeeks him, Lam. 3.26. Ordinarily God will not communicate himſelf and his love any other way, and that Soul that neglects this, puts himſelf out of the way of the Manifeſtations and Communications of God and his Love: Indeed, God has, as it were, tied himſelf to Souls under a conſcientious uſe of means to do them good; Ask, and you ſhall receive; ſeek, and you ſhall find; knock, and it ſhall be opened to you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and every one that ſeeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it is opened: As you therefore value communion with God, and the manifeſtations of his Love, take heed of laying aſide the uſe of means. — (Thirdly) Conſider, that theſe things we call means, ſuch as Prayer, Hearing, and the like, are inſtances of our Homage, Worſhip, and Obedience to God; hereby we worſhip God, and give ſo far the Glory to him that is due unto his Name; and conſequently to caſt off theſe, is to caſt off the Worſhip of God, and to deny we owe Homage to him. Lay all theſe together, and our Propoſition is clear, that God s Unchangeableneſs does no way exclude or invalidate the uſe of means; and when we uſe means; 'tis not to change, but fulfil the Mind of God, 'tis not to alter, but to accompliſh his Counſels, and bring us into the fruition of them. Thus by theſe Propoſitions, I have vindicated the unchangeableneſs of God from cavil and contradiction, and it remains a truth, that the Lord Jehovah is an unchangeable God.