him : believe that " what he has promised he is ahle also to perform." You have seen what he did for Israel, notwith- standing their unbelief: what then shall he not do for you, if you will truly believe in Christ as your appointed Saviour ? He will not only bring you forth out of the land of your cap- tivity, but will preserve you throughout the whole of this dreary wilderness, and introduce you finally to the full possession of your glorious inheritance. Yes, Brethren, these things we declare unto you in the name of Almighty God : and if, with Caleb and Joshua, you will " follow the Lord fully," like them you shall have your portion assuredly in the realms of bliss.]
Exod. vii. 3. / will harden Pharaotis heart.
AS there are in the works of creation many things which exceed the narrow limits of human under- standing, so are there many things incomprehensible to us both in the works of providence and of grace. It is not however necessary that, because we cannot fully comprehend these mysteries, we should never fix our attention at all upon them : as far as they are revealed, the consideration of them is highly proper : only, where we are so liable to err, our steps must be proportionably cautious, and our inquiries be con- ducted with the greater humility. In particular, the deepest reverence becomes us, while we contemplate the subject before us. We ought not, on the one hand, to indulge a proud and captious spirit that shall banish the subject altogether, nor, on the other hand, to make our assertions upon it with a bold, unhallowed confidence. Desirous of avoiding either extreme, we shall endeavour to explain and vindicate the conduct of God, as it is stated in the text.
I. To explain it —
We are not to imagine that God infused any evil principle into the heart of Pharaoh: this God never did, nor ever will do, to any of his creatures a. What he did, may be comprehended in three particulars —
1. He left Pharaoh to the influence of his own corruptions —
a Jam. i. 13.