Therefore it is said, Heb. vi. 17, 18, ' God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, con- firmed it by an oath ; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation,'! tV^vpay TrapaKXrjcnv, that is, a valiant, strong, prevailing consolation, such as swalloweth up all worldly griefs, as Moses his serpent did the sor- cerers' serpents, or as the fire doth the fuel. God's word, his promise, his covenant, is sufficient to assure us of all the good that he has engaged to bestow upon us ; yet God, considering of our infirmity, hath bound his word with an oath. His word cannot be made more true, but yet it may be made more credible. Now two things make a thing more credible: (1.) The quality of the person speaking; (2.) The manner of the speech. If God doth not simply speak, but solemnly swear, we have the highest cause imaginable to rest assured and abundantly satisfied in the word and oath of God. An oath amongst men is the strongest, surest, most sacred, and inviolable bond ; ' For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confir- mation is to them an end of all strife,' Heb. vi. 16. The end of an oath among men is to help the truth in necessity, and to clear men's innocency, Exod. xxii, 11. 0 sirs ! God doth not only make his covenant, but swears his covenant ; ' My covenant,' saith the psalmist, ' will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips ; once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David,' Ps. Ixxxix. 34, 35. This is as great and deep an oath as God could take ; for his holiness is himself, who is most holy, and the foundation of all holi- ness. 2 God is essentially holy, unmixedly holy, universally holy, transcendently holy, originally holy, independently holy, constantly holy, and exemplarily holy. Now for so holy a God to swear once for all by his holiness that he will keep covenant, that he will keep touch with his people, how abundantly should it settle and satisfy them ! Ah ! my friends, hath God said it, and will he not do it ? Yea, hath he sworn it, and will he not bring it to pass ? Dare we trust an honest man upon his bare word, much more upon his oath ; and shall we not much more trust a holy, wise, and faithful God upon his word, upon his covenant, when confinned by an oath ? The cove- nant of grace is sure in itself ; it is a firm covenant, an unalterable covenant, an everlasting covenant, a ratified covenant ; so that heaven and earth may sooner pass away, than the least branch or word of his covenant should pass away unfulfilled. Mat. v. 18.
(1.) Let us but cast our eyes upon the several springs from tvhence the covenant of grace flows ^ and then we cannot but strongly conclude that the covenant of grace is a sure covenant. Now if you cast your eye aright, you shall see that the covenant of grace flows from these three springs.
First, From the free grace and favour of God. There was nothing in fallen man to invite God to enter into covenant with him ; yea, there was everything in fallen man that might justly provoke God to aban- don man, to abhor man, to revenge himself upon man. It was mere
* Who shall doubt when God doth swear, who cannot possibly deny himself or forswear himself ?
" See my Treatise of Holiness, p. 585 to p. 595. [Vol. iv., as before — G.]
THE COVENANT OF GRACE PROVED AND OPENED.
grace that made the covenant, and it is mere grace that makes good the covenant. Now that which springs from mere grace must needs be nnexceptionably sure. The love of God is unchangeable ; ' whom he loves he loves to the end,' John xiii. 3 ; whom God loves once he loves for ever. He is not as man, soon in and soon off again, Mai. iii. 6 ; James i. 17 ; soon in, and as soon out, as Joab's dagger was ! Oh no ! his love is like himself, lasting, yea, everlasting : ' I have loved thee with an everlasting love,' Jer. xxxi. 3. Though we break off with him, yet he abides faithful, 2 Tim. ii. 13. Now what can be more sure than that which springs from free love, from everlasting love ? Eom. iv. 16. Hence the covenant must be sure. The former covenant was not sure, because it was of works ; but this covenant is sure, because it is of grace, and rests not on any sufficiency in us, but only on grace.
Secondly, The covenant of grace springs from the immutable counsel of God: Heb. vi. 17, ' God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath.' Times are mutable, and all sorts of men are mutable, and the love and favour of the creature is mutable ; but the counsel of God, from which the covenant of grace flows, is immutable, and there- fore it must needs be sure, Isa. xl, 6 ; Ps. cxlvi, 3, 4 ; Jer. xxxiii. 14. The manifestation of the immutability of Gods counsel is here brought in, as one end of God's oath. God swears, that it might evidently appear that what he had purposed, counselled, determined, and pro- mised to Abraham and his seed should assuredly be accomplished ; there should be, there could be, no alteration thereof. His counsel was more firm than the laws of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not, Dan. vi, 13. Certainly God's counsel is inviolable : ' My counsel shall stand,' Isa. xlvi. 10; Ps. xxxiii. 11, ' The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations ;' Prov. xix. 21, ' Nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.' The immutability of God's counsel springs from the un- changeableness of his essence, the perfection of his wisdom, the infiniteness of his goodness, the absoluteness of his sovereignty, the omnipotency of his power. God in his essence being unchangeable, his counsel also must needs be so. Can darkness flow out of light, or fulness out of emptiness, or heaven out of hell ? No ! no more can changeable counsels flow from an immutable nature. Now the covenant of grace flows from the immutable counsel of God, which is most firm and inviolable, and therefore it must needs be a sure cove- nant. But,
Thirdly, The covenant of grace springs from the purpose of God, resolving and intending everlasting good unto us. Now this purpose of God is sure; so the apostle, 2 Tim. ii. 19, ' The foundation of God standeth sure.' i That foundation of God is his election, which is compared to a foundation ; because it is that upon which all our good and happiness is built, and because as a foundation it abides firm and sure. The gracious purpose of God is the fountain-head of all our spiritual blessings. It is the impulsive cause of our vocation,
1 Our graces are imperfect, our comforts ebb and flow ; but God's foundation stands
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