[2.] In making good. God hath given us the most solemn assur- ance : Heb. vi. 17, 18, ' God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.' He hath demitted himself to the terms of a covenant, given us a seal : Eom. iv. 11, ' And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of faith.' Pledge : 2 Cor. i. 22, ' Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of his Spirit in our hearts.' He hath stood upon his truth above all things : Ps. cxxxviii. 2, ' I will worship towards thy holy temple, and praise thy name, for thy loving-kindness, and for tliy truth ; for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.' One part of the word verifieth another ; in one part you have the promise. in another the accomplishment, the great promise of sending Christ : Heb. X. 5-7, ' Wherefore, when he cometh into the world, he saith. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou pre- pared me : in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure : then said I, Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God.' He would not go back, being willing to keep the promise afoot. It was on our part a handwriting against us, in testification of our guilt and need of expiation ; but on God's part an obligation of debt to pay our ransom. Still he accomplisheth promises in the return of prayers ; and though the great payment be in the other world, yet here God remembereth us still, accomplishing the intervening promises, and giving proof of his truth. So that they that are acquainted with his name will never distrust him : Ps. ix. 10, ' They that know thy name will put their trust in thee ; for thou. Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.' They that have known his way, and the course of his dealings, will have a confidence in him.
Prop. 5. They that would receive the word as the word of God, must be soundly convinced of, and seriously consider, this righteousness and faithfulness in the testimonies, which he hath commanded ; for till then the word worketh not on them : 1 Thes. ii. 13, ' For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, 3'e received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.' And till then they are but customary Chris- tians, and can never rightly believe nor obey : John iv. 42, ' Now we believe : not because of thy saying, for we have heard him our-
462 SERMONS UPON PRALM CXIX. [SeR. CLV.
selves, and know that tliis is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.' First their faith depends on the common tradition, or the tes- timony of the cluirch ; afterwards on the sure i^round of the word itself, in whicli tliey find such clearness and efficacy, that they cannot but yield to God. The authority of man is nothing to it, when our faith is bottomed on a surer ground, the authority of God speaking in liis word.
1. There must be sound conviction, or belief of this. This is called, ' The acknowledgment of the truth,' Titus i. 1, eirir/voicri,^ t?}? aKrjOeLa<i ; and Col. ii. 2, ' The riches of the assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.' An assurance that God will Iceep touch with me, that he will not delude me in the terms propounded in the gospel. This full persuasion of the truth of God's testimonies we must all aim at, and seek after. The assurance of my interest and my salvation is another thino-, and yet that I am not to neglect, but with this I am to begin.
2. There must be serious consideration ; for tliat improveth all truths, and maketh them active and effectual. God's complaint of his people is that they will not consider : Isa. i. 3, ' The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib ; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.' They do not lay truths in the view of conscience. Food without mastication and chewing nourisheth not. A thing not considered doth profit as little as if not believed, as a for- getting God is a kind of denying of him. Seriously then debate it with yourselves. You must consider the authority of God. Authority is that right which a superior hath to prescribe to such as are under him. Doth God usurp upon you when he giveth you a law ? or hath he left you in the dark, that you do not know whether this be his law, yea or no ? Are there no strictures of his majesty in the very economy and frame of it ? . Can any but a God speak at such a rate ? And for his justice, hath he commanded anything to your hurt ? No, it is all for thy good : Deut. vi. 24, ' And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always.' And for his truth, men may deceive and be deceived, and though they often speak truth, they do not always so ; but God seeth by his own light, not by discourse, but vision. Truth is his nature, from which he can no more swerve than from himself ; and what need he court a worm, and flatter us ? Thus should we urge our hearts.