But to enter fully into these promises, we should consider also,
II. The use which is to be made of them by indivi- dual Believers — They certainly may be applied by believers to themselves, for the comfort of their own souls. The promise that was made, in the first instance, to Is- rael, relative to the possession of the promised land0, is represented by St. Paul as applicable to every be- liever, throughout all ages : " The Lord hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that zve may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto med." And the con- firmation of these promises by an oath e was intended by God to administer consolation to us, no less than to those to whom they were immediately delivered ; as St. Paul further assures us : " God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath ;
c Deut. xxxi. 6. d Heb. xiii. 5, 6. e See Note b.
that, by two immutable things, in which it was impos- sible for God to lie, we might have a strong consola- tion, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before usf." Yet I must confess that they are to be used with caution. We should be careful,
1. As to the persons to whom they belong —
[It is the believer alone who is really interested in the promises of God. What part or lot in them has the unbe- liever? None at all. It is "in Christ alone that they are made over to us :" and we must be " in Christ," before they can truly belong to us. Before we take hold, then, on any particular promise as belonging to us, we should ask ourselves, whether we have really come to Christ, and are living by faith upon him ? There are many who speak with extreme bold- ness on this subject, as though every promise in the Bible must be fulfilled to them, whilst yet they have never truly repented of their sins, nor ever experienced a thorough change of heart and life. There are in some a surprising hardness, and bold- ness, and confidence, which, in my estimation, mark them as lying under a very desperate delusion : and the more confident they are, the more I tremble for their state. The promises of God's blessed word are for the humble, the broken, the con- trite : they are entitled to take to themselves every promise in the word of God : but, where these dispositions are wanting, faith is a mere phantom, and confidence a delusion. Let this, then, be well and clearly ascertained. " Examine carefully whether ye be in the faith." " Prove and try your ownselves," and, when that point is satisfactorily determined, then take to yourselves every promise of the Lord : and look upon all that he has promised, as your inalienable, everlasting inheritance.]
2. As to the extent to which they are to be ap- plied—
[A distinction must be made between that which, in the first instance, was personal or temporal, and that which was intended for the Church at large. The promises are not to be applied to ourselves, any further than as our circumstances accord with those of the persons to whom they were made : and the accomplishment of them is to be expected chiefly, if not exclusively, in a spiritual view. Take, for instance, the pro- mises made to Moses and to all Israel, under the peculiar difficulties to which they were reduced : it would be perfectly absurd to expect the fulfilment of them to ourselves at this day, any further than a correspondence of circumstances ren- dered them applicable to our own case. If this rule be not
' Heb. vi. 17, 18.
1075.1 THE church's security. 247