268 THE STEADFASTNESS OF PROMISES,
himself draws nigh to them, and gives them the ground of all this, he tells them it is all from hence ; they ' are foolish and slow of heart to believe ;' ver. 25. Here is the rise of all their doubtings, even their unbelief. Whilst you are slow of heart to believe, do not once think of establishment.
Peter venturing upon the waves at the command of Christ, Matt. xiv. seeing the ' wind to grow boisterous,' ver. 29. he also hath a storm within, and cries out. Oh, save me ! What was now the cause of Peter's fear, and cry- ing out? Why the wind and sea grew boisterous, and he was ready to sink ; no such thing, but merely unbelief, want of faith ; ver. 31. * O thou of little faith,' saith our Saviour, * wherefore didst thou doubt?' It was not the great winds, but thy little faith that made thee stagger. And in three or four other places, upon several occasions, doth our Saviour lay all the wavering and staggering of his followers, as to any promised mercy upon this score, as Matt. vi. 30. and viii. 26.
Isa. vii. Ahaz being afraid of the combination of Syria and Ephraim against him, received a promise of deliverance by Isaiah; ver. 7. Whereupon the prophet tells him, and all Judah, that ' if they will not believe, surely they shall not be established ;' ver. 9. He doth not say. If Damascus and Ephraim be not broken, you shall not be established ; no, he doth not stick there ; the fear that you will not be esta- blished ariseth merely from your unbelief, that keeps you off from closing with the promise, which would certainly bring you establishment.
And this is the sole reason the apostle gives, why the word of promise being preached becomes unprofitable, even because of unbelief. ' It was not mixed with faith;' Heb. iv. 2.
But these things will be more clear under the demonstra- tion of the points, which are two.
1. When a man doubts, hesitates, and disputes, any thing in himself, his reasonings must have their rise, either from something within himself, or from something in the things concerning which he staggereth ; either * certitudo mentis,* ' the assurance of his mind ;' or ' certitudo entis,' the ' cer- tainty of the thing itself,' is wanting. He that doubtetk whether his friend in a far country be alive or not, his stag-
AND SINFULNESS OF STAGGERING. 269
gering ariseth from the uncertainty of the thing itself; when that is made out, he is resolved, as it was with Jacob in the case of Joseph. But he that doubteth, whether the needle in the compass, being touched with the loadstone, will turn northward, all the uncertainty is in his own mind.
When men stagger at the promises, this must arise either from within themselves, or some occasion must be adminis- tered hereunto from the promise. If from within themselves, that can be nothing but unbelief; an inbred obstacle to closing with, and resting on, the promise ; that is unbelief. If then we demonstrate that there is nothing in the promise, either as to matter, or manner, or any attendency of it, that should occasion any such staggering, we lay the burden and blame on the right shoulders, the sin of staggering on un- belief.
Now that any occasion is not administered, nor cause given, of this staggering from the promise, will appear, if we consider seriously whence any such occasion or cause should arise. All the stability of a promise depends upon the qualifications of the promiser, to the ends and purposes of the promise. If a man make me a promise to do such and such things for me, and I question, whether ever it will be so or not ; it must be from a doubt of the want of one of these things in him that makes the promise; either (1.) of truth; or (2.) of ability to make good his word, because of the dif- ficulty of the thing itself; or (3.) of sincerity to intend me really, what he speaks of; or (4.) of constant memory to take the opportunity of doing the thing intended ; or (5.) of stableness to be still of the same mind. Now if there be no want of any of these in him whose promises we speak of, there is then certainly no ground of our staggering, but only from our own unbelief.
Let us now see whether any of these things be wanting to the promises of God ; and begin we with the first.
(1.) Is there truth in these promises? If there be the least occasion in the world to suspect the truth of the pro- mises, or the veracity of the promiser, then may our stagger- ing at them arise from thence, and not from our own unbe- lief. On this ground it is, that all human faith, that is bot- tomed merely on the testimony of man, is at best but a pro- bable opinion ; for every man is a liar, and possibly may lie
270 THE STEADFASTNESS OF PROMISES,
in that very thing he is engaged to us in. Though a good man will not do so to save his life ; yet it is possible., he may be tempted, he may do so. But now the author of the pro- mises whereof we speak, is truth itself, the God of truth. Who hath taken this as his special attribute, to distinguish him from all others. He is the very God of truth ; and holds out this very attribute in a special manner, in this very thing, in making of his promise : ' he is faithful to forgive us our sins ;' 1 John i 9. Whence his word is said not only to be true, but ' truth,' John xvii. 19. truth itself. ' All flesh is as grass, but his word abideth for ever;' Isa. xliv. 1.