AND SINFULNESS OF STAGGERING. 227
his promises, are full of sincerity; so that none need fear to cast him- self on them : they shall be real unto him. Now, concerning this, observe, —
[1.] That God' s promises are not declarative of his secret purposes and intentions. When God holds out to any a promise of the pardon of sin, this doth not signify to any singular man that it is the pur- pose of God that his sin shall be pardoned. For if so, then either all men must be pardoned to whom the word of promise comes,— which is not; or else God fails of his purposes, and comes short of his intend- ments,— which would render him either impotent, that he could not, or mutable, that he would not, establish them. But " who hath re- sisted his will?" Rom. ix. 19. He is the Lord, and he changeth not, Mai. iii. 6. So that though every one to whom the promise is held out hath not tlie fruit of the promise, yet this derogates not at all from the sincerity of God in his promises; for he doth not hold them forth to any such end and pui-pose as to declare his intentions concerning particular persons.
[2.] There are some absolute promises, comprehensive of the cove- nant of grace, which, as to all those that belong to that covenant, do hold out thus much of the mind of God, that they shall certainly be accomplished in and towards them all. The soul may freely be in- vited to venture on these promises, with assurance of their efficacy towards him.
[3.] This God principally declares in all his promises of his mind and purpose, that every soul to whom they shall come may freely rest on; to wit, that faith in the 2'>'>'oniises, and the accomplishment of the promises, are inseparable. He that belie veth shall enjoy. This is most certain, this God declares of his mind, his heart, towards us, — that as for all the good things he hath spoken of to us, it shall be to us according to our faith. This, I say, the promises of God do signify of his purpose, that the believer of them shall be the enjoyer of them. In them " the rio-hteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith," Rom. i. 17; — from the faith of God reveahng, to the faith of man receiving. So that, upon the making out of any promise, you may safely conclude that, upon believing, the mercy, the Christ, the deliverance of this promise is mine. It is true, if a man stand dis- puting and staggering whether he have any share in a promise, and close not with it by faith, he may come short of it; and yet without the least impeachment of the truth of the promise or sincerity of the promisor, — for God hath not signified by them that men shall enjoy the good things of them whether they believe or not. Thus far the promises of grace are general, and carry a truth to all, that there is an inviolable connection between believing and the enjoyment of the things in them contained. And in this truth is the sincerity of the
228 THE STEADFASTNESS OF THE PROMISES,
promiser, which can never be questioned without sin and folly. And this wholly shuts up the spirit from any occasion of staggering. " O ye of little faith! wherefore do ye doubt?" Ah! lest our share be not in this promise, — lest we are not intended in it. — Poor creatiu-es ! there is but this one way of keeping you off from it ; that is, dLsputing it in yourselves by unbelief Here lies the sincerity of God towards thee, that believing, thou shalt not come short of Avhat thou aimest at. Here, then, is no room for staggering. If proclamation be made grant- ing pardon to all such rebels as shall come in by such a season, do men use to stand questioning whether the state bear them any good-will or not? No, saith the poor creature, I will cast myself upon their faith and truth, engaged in their proclamation: whatever I have deserved in particular, I know they will be faithful in thek promises. The gos- pel proclamation is of pardon to all comers in, to all believers : it is not for thee, poor staggerer, to question what is the intendment towards thee in particular, but roll thyself on this, there is an absolute sincerity in the engagement which thou mayest freely rest upon. But, —
(4.) Though all be present, truth, power, sincerity ; yet if he that makes the promise should forget, — this were aground of staggering. Pharaoh's butler, without doubt, made large promises to Joseph; and probably spake the truth, according to his present intention. After- ward, standing in the presence of Pharaoh, restored to favour, he had doubtless power enough to have procured the liberty of a poor inno- cent prisoner. But yet this would not do, — it did not profit Joseph ; because, as the text says, he " did not remember Joseph, but forgat him," Gen. xl. 23. This forgetting made all other things useless. But neither hath this the least colour in divine promises. It was Zion's infirmity to say, " The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me," Isa. xlix. 14; for saith the Lord, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me," verses 15, 16.