2 Tim. ii. 19. The foundation of God siayideth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them, that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.
GOD has a people whom he will preserve from apostasy : but he will keep them by the instrumenta- lity of their own care and watchfulness. There were
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some in the apostolic age seduced from the faith, and led to think that the resurrection was passed already. But St. Paul entertained no fears for the ark of God. He was persuaded that God would keep his faithful people : " they overthrew the faith of some : never- theless," &c.
I. What is meant by the foundation of God —
It does not seem to refer to the doctrine of the resurrection. The context indeed mentions this doc- trine ; but the immediate connexion of the text is with the apostasy that had prevailed. The " founda- tion" relates rather to the covenant of grace. In some respects Christ is the onlt/ foundation ^ Ne- vertheless the covenant of grace may be represented in this light —
It is the foundation of God's dealings towards us —
[From a regard to it he bears with us in our unconverted state^: from a regard to it he effects our conversion'^ : from a regard to it he endures our backslidings after conversion^: from a regard to it he restores us after we have fallen ^]
It is also the foundation of our hope towards God —
[We have no claim upon God independent of the cove- nant; but in his covenant with Christ, and with us in him, he has engaged to give us all that we want^. We receive spiritual blessings, only as being parties in it^; the continuance of those blessings to us is only in consequence of our interest in it^.j
This foundation standeth sure.
II. Wherein its stability consists —
The foundation of God is represented as having a seal". This seal is God's unchanging love; "God knoweth them," &c.
a 1 Cor. iii. 11. ^ Ezek. xxxvi. 21 — 23, 32.
c 2 Tim. i. 9. Jer. xxxi. 3. ^ 1 Sam. xii. 22.
e Luke xxii. 32. ^ 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23.
g Rom. viii. 29, 30. '> Rom. ix. 1(5.
' There is no confusion of metaphor here, because foundation stones often have (T(ppa-yl.cu, an inscription (as the word means. Rev. ix. 4.) But there is pecuhar propriety in the metaphor of a seal as applied to a covenant.