A scripture of the like importance you have, Isa. xliv. 1-8, " Yet now hear, O Jacob my servant; and Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: and they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water- courses. One shall say, I am the Lord's; and another shall call him- self by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his Redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God," etc. I shall not need to insist long on the opening of these words: the general design of them is to give consolation and assur- ance unto Israel, from the eternity, unchangeableness, and absolute- ness of God, with some peculiar references to the second person, the Redeemer, who is described. Rev. i. 8, with the titles, for the sub- stance of them, whereby the Lord here holds out his own excellency.
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I sliall only observe some few things from the words, for the illustra- tion of the truth we have in hand, contained in them.
The state and condition wherein Jacob, Israel, Jesurun (several titles upon several accounts given to believers), are described to be, is twofold : — First, Of fear and disconsolation, as is intimated in the redoubled prohibition of that frame in them: Verse 2, " Fear not;" and verse 8, " Fear ye not, neither be afraid." Some temptation to farther distance or separation from God (the only thing to be feared) was fallen upon them. This they are frequently exercised withal ; it is the greatest and most pressing temptation whereunto they are liable and exposed. To conclude because some believers in hypo- thesi may, under temptation, fear their own separation from God, therefore believers in thesi may be forsaken, yea, that unless this be true the other could not befall them, may pass for the arguing of men who are unacquainted with that variety of temptations, spiritual motions and commotions, which believers are exercised withal. This, I say, is the first part of that state wherein they are supposed to be; a condition of the greatest difficulty in the world for the receiving of satisfaction. Secondly, Of barrenness, unprofitableness, and wither- ing; which seems, and that justly, to be the cause of their fear: Verse S, they are as the "thirsty," and as the "dry ground," parched in itself, fruitless to its owners, withering in their own souls, and bringing forth no fruit to God. A sad condition on both hands. Within they find decays, they find no active principles of bringing forth fruit unto God; and without desertion, fears at least that they are forsaken. Upon this ye have the foundation that the Lord lays for the refreshment of their spirits in this condition, and reducing of them into an estab- lished assurance of the continuance of his love ; and that is his free, gracious election and choosing of them : " Thou art Jacob whom I have chosen, Jesurun whom I have chosen," verses 1, 2, even from eternity; when he "appointed the ancient people, and the things that are coming and shall come," verse 7; when he purposed mercy for the fathers of old, whom long since he had brought upon that account unto himself
This is the " foundation" of doing them good, which " standeth sure;" as the apostle makes use of it to the same purpose, 2 Tim. ii. 19. This foundation being laid, Isa. xliv. 3, he gives them a twofold promise, suited to the double state wherein they were: — First, For the removal of their drought and barrenness, he will give them " wa- ters" and "floods" for the taking of it away; which in the following words he interpreteth of the " Spirit," as likewise doth the apostle John, chap. vii. 38, 39. He is the great soul-refresher; in him are all our springs. Saith the Lord, then, " Fear not, ye poor thirsty souls; ye shall have him as a flood, in great abundance, until all his fruits be brought forth in you." Secondly, For the removal of the other
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130 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
evilj or fears of desertion and casting off, he minds them of his cove- nant, or the blessing of their offspring, of them and their seed, ac- cording to his promise when he undertook to be tlieir God, Gen. xvii. 7. And then, Thirdly, There is a twofold issue of God's thus dealing with them: — First, Of real fruitfulness : Isa. xliv. 4, " They shall be as grass" under perpetual showers, which cannot possibly wither and decay, or drj' away, " and as trees planted by the rivers of water, that bring forth their fruit in their season, whose leaf doth not wither," Ps. i. 3. Secondly, Of zealous profession and owning of God, with the engagement of their hearts and hands unto him, which you have in Isa. xliv. 5. Every one for himself shall give up himself to the Lord, in the most solemn engagement and professed subjection that is possible. They shall " say," and " subscribe," and '' surname" themselves, by names and terms of faith and obedience, to follow the Lord in the faith of Jacob or Israel, in the inheritance of the promises which were made to him.