vl] particular promises illustrated. 271
to the heirs of promise, assureth the stability of his love and kind- ness to them by another allusion: Verse 10, "The mountains," saith he, " shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart f*om thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." He biddeth them consider the mountains and hills, and suppose that they may be removed and depart. "Suppose that the most unlikely things in the world shall come to pass, whose accomplishment none can judge possible while the world endureth, yet my kindness to thee is such as shall not fall within those supposals which concern things of such an impossibility." I am exceeding conscious that all paraphrasing or exposition of the words that may be used, for their accommodation to the truth we plead foi', doth but darken and eclipse the light and glory which in and by themselves, to a believing soul, they cast upon it. Now, lest any should think that there is the least tendency in such promises as these, as held out to believers, to turn them aside from close walking with God, before I enter upon the consi- deration of any other (this seeming of all others most exposed to ex- ceptions of that nature), I shall give some few observations that may a little direct believers, to whom I write, and for whose sake this task is undertaken, unto the right improvement of them.
The genuine influence which this and the like promises have upon the souls of the saints, is mightily to stir them up unto, and to assist them in answering, what lietli in them, that inexpressible love and kindness which their God and Father in Jesus Christ holdeth out unto their hearts in them. This the apostle inferreth from them, 2 Cor. vii. 1, " Having these promises" (that is, those especially men- tioned in the words preceding the conclusion and the inference the apostle here maketh, chap. vi. 16, 18, "I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and will be a Father unto them, and they shall be my sons and daughters"), therefore, saith he, "let us cleanse ourselves from all pollution of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Universal purity, holiness, and close walking with God, are that which these promises do press unto and naturally promote in the hearts of believers. And in 2 Peter i. 3-6, that apostle pursueth the same at large, " God hath called us to glory and virtue; hath given us ex- ceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Besides this, giving all diligence," etc, " The exceeding great and precious promises" which are given unto us in our calling are bestowed for this end, that " by them we may be made partakers of the divine nature." They have no tendency to communicate to us the nature of the devil, and to stir us up to re- bellion, uncleanness, and hatred of the God of all that love that is in them ; but lie, indeed, at the bottom, the root, and foundation of
272 DOCTRINE OF THE SAINTS' PERSEVERANCK [CUAP.
tlie practice and exercise of all those graces which he enumerates, and, from the receiving of those promises, exhorts us to in the follow- ing verses. Some, I confess, do or ma}^ " turn the grace of God into lasciviousness," — that is, the doctrine of grace and ofi^^ardon of sin in the blood of Jesus Christ, — and so the mercy mentioned in such promises as these, merely as in them it is mentioned; grace and mercy communicated cannot be turned into wantonness. But what are they that do so? " Ungodly men, men of old ordained to con- demnation," Jude 4. Paul rejecteth any such thought from the hearts of believers: Rom. vi. 1, 2, " Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound ? God forbid ! " Nay, suppose that that natural cor- ruption, that flesh and blood, that is in believers, be apt to make such a conclusion as this, " Because God will certainly abide with us for ever, therefore let us walk carelessly, and do him all the despite we can," these promises being not made for the use and exalting of the flesh, but being given to be mixed with faith, which is carefully to watch against all abusing or corrupting of that love and mercy which is held out unto it, flesh and blood can have no advantage given unto it thereby; as shall afterward be more fully and clearly demonstrated. The question is, then, what conclusion faith doth, will, and ought to make of these promises of God, and not what abuse the flesh will make of them. Let, then, the meanest and weakest faith in all the world that is true and saving speak for itself, whether there be any thing in the nature of it that is apt to make such conclusions as these : " My God and Father in Jesus Christ hath graciously promised, in his infinite love and goodness to me, through him in whom he is well pleased, that he will be my God and guide for ever, that he will never forsake me, nor take his kindness from me to eternity. And he hath done this although that he saw and knew that I would deal foolishly and treacherously, that I would stand in need of all his goodness, patience, and mercy, to spare me and heal me, promising also to keep me from such a wicked departure from him as should for ever alienate my soul from him: therefore come on, let me continue in sin; let me do him all the dis- honour and despite that I can. This is all the sense that I have of his infinite love, this is all the impression that it leaveth upon me, that I need not love him again, but study to be as vile and as abo- minable in his sight as can possibly be imagined." Certainly there is not any " smoking flax," or any " bruised reed," there is not a soul in the world whom God in Christ hath once shined upon, or dropped the least dram of grace into his heart, but will look on such a conclusion as this as a blast of the bottomless pit, a detestable dart of Satan, which it is as proper for faith to quench as any other abo- mination whatever. Let, then, faith in reference unto these pro- mises have its perfect work, not abiding in a naked contemplation of