392 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. LIX'.
fathers till you do this. You dispersed the old Adam ; now if you had conveyed the stone, or some hereditary disease to them, surely you would seek a remedy for them, or direct them to one if you could tell them of one. Oh ! begin with them betimes. Timothy ' from a child had known the holy scriptures,' 2 Tim. iii. 15.
2. Observe again : faith believeth God's truth, however revealed, ordinarily or extraordinarily. Those that had extraordinary revela- tion, yet they had a need of faith. It is not said by the light of pro- phecy, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, but by faith. Though much of God's will was made known to him by an extraordinary way of revela- tion, yet he needs faith still. And you that have the promises of God's word have as much to depend upon as they that had oracles from heaven, and as good ground to trust him. They are commended for the strength of their faith in depending upon God, and you have the word of God to show for it ; promises to bear you up, to support you, and carry you forth ; that is ground enough for faith.
3. You may learn how the Lord convives at the infirmities of his children where the heart is sound. Isaac blessed Jacob by error, yet he blessed him by faith. Isaac purposed to bless Esau with the special bless- ing, either forgetting the promises (for some divines excuse him so). or misinterpreting the promise — 'The elder shall serve the younger,' thinking it concerned only his posterity, not the person of Esau, God. no further enlightening his mind, that his counsel and wisflom might the more be seen ; or out of inadvertency, not regarding the promise. But his heart was upright, and as soon as he seeth God in it, he per- sisteth not in his error ; he will not reverse the blessing, though Esau sought it with tears. And now the Lord winks at his infirmity, and saith, ' By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau.' AVhere we do not sin voluntarily and wilfully, but only out of error, incogitancy, or weak- ness, and the heart is upright with God, the Lord will pardon our in- firmities, he will put a finger upon the scar. Here is nothing said of Isaac's infirmity or weakness, but only his faith is mentioned.
Use. Take lieed of losing this privilege of having the covenant blessings continued in your line. To this end —
1. Take heed of cutting off yourselves from the communion of the church. All along, as the branches of the covenant began to grow wild, God still cut them off. Cain came of Adam in covenant with. God, but Cain was cut off because of his contempt of the privilege, and disobedience : Gen. iv. 16, ' He went out from the presence of the Lord.' What is the meaning of that ? Surely there is no going from the face of the Lord in one sense, from his all-seeing eye : Ps. cxxxix. 7, ' Whither shall I go from thy Spirit ? or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? ' But he went out from the communion of the church ; God having rejected him, and therefore the posterity of Cain are called sons and daughters of men ; but the po.sterity of Seth, in whom the line of the church was continued, are called the sons of God : Gen. vi. 2, ' The sons of God saw the daughters of men, and took them wives of all which they chose ; ' that is, those that were of Seth's line, which was the church line, matched into the stock of cursed Cain, who was cursed because he was cut off for his disobedience and contempt of God, therefore they are called ' the daughters of men.' Again, Ishmael was
VeR. 20] SERMONS UPON' HEBREWS Xi. 393
born of Abialiam. but now Isbmael was cut off for malignity and enmity at the power of godliness ; for mocking and scoffing at Isaac, which the apostle interprets to be a persecution of those that are born after the Spirit : Gal. iv. 29, ' As then, he that was born after the Spirit persecuted bim that was born after the flesli,' meaning Islimael and Isaac, ' so it is now ; ' therefore he was cut ofi'. Again, Esau in the text, he is cut ofiP. Why ? For profaneness, Heb. xii. 15, 16 ; therefore he lost his covenant privilege, because of his profaneness in slighting of it. And afterwards the Jews, they were cut off; though they were the natural branches, they grew upon a covenant root, yet they were ' cut off because of unbelief,' Eom. xi. 20. God bore with them after the shedding of the blood of Christ ; though they murdered the Lord of life, yet they continued, and their covenant privileges con- tinued to them ; but when once they contemned the everlasting doctrine of the gospel that was brought to them, and first offered to them, but they rejected it, then they were cast out of the covenant state. There- fore take heed lest for any of these things the Lord should break you off from this great privilege of a covenant state.