' neb. i. 3; Rev. iv. 11 ; Acts xvii. 28, ii. 23, iv. 28; Gen. 1. 20; Ecclcs. iii. 11. » Isa. viii. 9, 10; Job viii. 9, xi. 12; Eccles. viii. 7, ix 12.
III.] THE IMMUTABILITY OF THE DIVINE PURPOSES. 147
own good pleasure, who proportions out what efficacy he pleaseth unto the means he useth, — his counsels, his purposes, his decrees shall stand, being, as JoV tells us, " as mountains of brass." By this he difFerenceth himself from all others, idols and men; as also by his certain foreknowledge of what shall come to pass and be accom- plished upon those purposes of his.^ Hence the apostle, Heb. vl 17, 18, acquaints us that his promise and his oath, those "two im- mutable things," do but declare aij,iTdkTO'j rric jSovX^s, "the unchange- ableness of his counsel ;" which God is abundantly willing to manifest, though men are abundantly unwilling to receive it. Job determines this business in chap, xxiii. IS, 14, " He is of one mind, and who can turn him? what his soul desireth, even that he doeth. For he per- formeth the thing that is appointed for me." Desires are the least and faintest kind of purposes, in Mr Goodwin's distinctions; yet the certain accomplishment of them, as they are ascribed unto God, is here asserted by the Holy Ghost.
Were the confirmation of the matter of our present discourse my only design in hand, I could farther confirm it by enlarging these ensuing reasons: —
First, From the immutability of God, the least questioning whereof falls foul on all the. perfections of the divine nature, which require a correspondent affection of all the internal and eternal acts of his mind and will.
Secondly, From his sovereignty, in making and executing all his purposes, which will not admit of any such mixture of consults or co-operations of others as should render his thoughts liable to altera- tion, Rom. xi. 33-36. The Lord in his purposes is considered as the great former of all things, who, having his clay in the hand of his almighty power, ordains every parcel to what kind of vessel and to what use he pleaseth. Hence the apostle concludes the considera- tion of them, and the distinguishing grace flowing from them, with that admiration, ''a jBd^ogl — "0 the depth!" etc.
Thirdly, Fi-om their eternity, which exempts them from all sha- dow of change, and lifts them up above all those spheres that either from within and in their own nature, or from without by the impres- sion of others, are exposed to turning. That which is eternal is also immutable, Acts xv. 18; 1 Cor. ii. 7-11.
Fourthly, From the absoluteness and independency of his will, whereof they are the acts and emanations, Rom. ix. 1 5-21. Whatever hath any influence upon that, so as to move it, cause it, change it, must be before it, above it, better than it, as every cause is than its effect as such. This will of his, as was said, is the fountain of all being ; to which free and independent act all creatures owe their being and subsistence, their operations and manner thereof, their whole differ- 1 Zechariah ? Zech. vi. 1. — Ed. « Isa. xliy. 7, xlvi. 10.
148 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCE. [CHAP.
ence from those worlds of beings which his power can produce, but which yet shall lie bound up to eternity in their nothingness and possibility, upon the account of his good pleasure. Into this doth our Saviour resolve the disposal of himself. Matt. xxvi. 42, and of all others, chap. xi. 25, 26. Certainly men in their wrangling disputes and contests about it have scarce seriously considered with whom they have to do. " Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? '
Fifthly, From the engagement of his omnipotency for the accom- plishment of all his purposes and designs, as is emphatically ex- pressed, Isa. xiv. 24-27, " The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass ; and as I have pur- posed, so shall it stand : that I will break the Assyrian in my land. This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?" The Lord doth not only assert the certain accomplishment of all his purposes, but also, to prevent and obviate the unbelief of them who were concerned in their fulfilling, he manifests upon what account it is that they shall certainly be brought to pass; and that is, by the stretching out of his hand, or exalting of his mighty power, for the doing of it; so that if there be a failing therein, it must be through the shortness of that hand of his so stretched out, in that it could not reach the end aimed at. A worm will put forth its strength for the fulfilling of that whereunto it is inclined ; and the sons of men will draw out all their power for the compassing of their designs. If there be wis- dom in the laying of them, and foresight of emergencies, they alter not, nor turn aside to the right hand or to the left, in the pursuit of them. And shall the infinitely wise, holy, and righteous thoughts and designs of God not have his power engaged for their accomplishment ? His infinite wisdom and understanding are at the foundation of them; they are the counsels of his will: Rom. xi. 34, "Who hath known his mind" in tliem? saith the apostle, "or who hath been his counsellor?" Though no creature can see the paths wherein he walks, nor apprehend the reason of the ways he is delighted in, yet this he lets us know, for the satisfying of our hearts and teaching of our inquiries, that his own infinite wisdom is in them all. I cannot but fear that sometimes men have "darkened counsel by words without knowledge," in curious contests about the decrees and purposes of God, as though they were to be measured by our rule and line, and as though " by searching we could find out tiie Almighty unto perfection." But he is wise in heart; he that contendeth with him, let him instruct him. Add, that this wisdom in his counsel is attended with infallible pre- science of all that will fall in by the way, or in the course of the ac-