Use 1. Of information in two things.
1. If these be the actings of faith, it shows what need there is of the power of the Spirit of God in the whole business of faith, to accomplish all these things. It is the apostle's expression, 2 Thes. i. 11, 'Wherefore we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power.' It will never be done without power from above. We can neither see, nor be persuaded of, nor embrace these things, except the grace of God come in upon the heart mightily to enable it. We cannot see afar off, nature is short sighted; so the apostle prays, Eph. i. 17, 18, 'That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understandings being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints.' A man cannot look into the other world without the light of the Spirit. All things must be seen with a proper light, - spiritual things with a spiritual light. Now till God open our eyes we can never look through the curtain of the clouds and see the riches of the glory of our inheritance in Christ. A fond conjecture there may be of happiness to come, but no certain, steady sight. Then for persuasion; nothing is so natural to guilty creatures as doubts and jealousies. Man's heart is prone to unbelief above all things, and therefore the heart cannot be persuaded without the Spirit: 1 Cor. ii. 10, 11, 'But God hath revealed them to us by the Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man save the Spirit of God.' It is God must persuade the heart to believe, embrace, and take hold of the covenant: Gen. ix. 27, 'God shall persuade Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.' And then for embracing, God hath reserved this power in his own hands to bring our hearts and the promise together. Joy is a fruit of the Spirit as well as an effect of faith.
2. It informeth us of the difference between faith and other things. as between faith and presumption. Presumption hath no bottom to work upon, but only some general persuasion that God will be merciful and gracious; but faith hath the word of God, though it hath nothing else. Presumption is a rash bastard confidence, it never looketh to the grounds of it; but faith, though it may be without things promised, yet it cannot be without the promise; it must have some solid grounds to work upon, and not fallible conjectures: 2 Tim. i. 12, 'I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him.' It proceeds from knowledge and clear grounds, and is not a trust that is taken hand over head. Again we learn hence the difference between faith and sense; sense must have something in hand, but it is enough to faith to have a promise. Sense cannot see, nor be persuaded of, nor embrace things till they are present; faith, though it receive not the blessings, yet it sees them afar off, and is contented with a ground of hope. Again, we learn the difference hence between faith and reason; reason looketh to outward probabilities, it observeth the clouds; but faith is contented with God's word, how improbable soever things be. Reason sees things in their causes; but faith sees things in the promises, and rests upon the authority of God's word. Reason sees more than sense, but faith sees much more than reason, let the case be never so desperate, and things never so far off; to sense a star is but as a spark or spangle, but reason considereth the distance, and knows them to be vast and great bodies. Faith corrects reason, and though there be no causes, no probabilities, no appearances, faith can see things to come. Again, we see the difference between faith and conjecture; conjecture is but a blind guess, it may be so, or it may not be so; but faith is a certain persuasion, it shall be so, as the Lord hath spoken. Again, it shows the difference between faith and opinion, which is somewhat more than conjecture; a man verily thinks it is so, but there is formido oppositi, a fear of the contrary; but faith falls embracing and hugging the mercy, is persuaded of it, and rejoiceth and triumpheth as if the blessing were already enjoyed.
Use 2. Of examination. Have you such a faith? What kind of actings have you towards the promises? Do you see the blessings promised afar off? are you persuaded of them? do you embrace them? Are you contented with the word of promise though you have not the blessings promised?
1. Are you careful to get an interest in the promises, to thrust in for a share in them, that you may see your own name in God's bond? Negligence is a sure sign of unbelief; if you hear of so great salvation, and are careless and negligent, and do not put in for a share, it is a sign you do not believe that which God hath promised. Not only actual doubting, but carelessness gives God the lie; when you hear of precious promises, but regard them not, you do not count them true. You know what David says: Ps. cxix. 111, 'Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart.' Now have you chosen these for your portion, and made it the scope of your lives not to grow great in the world, but to have an interest in the promises? I do not say he is no believer that cannot say, I have an interest in the promises, but I dare say that he is no believer that doth not take the promises for his heritage, and cloth not part with all things that he may get an interest in them. When a good bargain is offered upon easy terms, if men do not regard it, it is a sign they do not believe it. Here is the best bargain that ever can be offered to you, eternal salvation and the enjoyment of God and Christ; if you do not put in for a share, it is a sign of unbelief.
2. Do you prize and esteem them? 2 Peter i. 4, 'To us are given exceeding great and precious promises;' so they are in the account of every believer, not small things, but great and of great consequence to us. Do I believe these things, and am I no more affected with them? If a great man that may be changeable in point of will, and defective in point of power, promises great matters to us, how do we build upon it, and are pleased with his promise! When the great God hath promised great things of such high concernment, it is an ill sign not to be moved and taken with these things. David doth often profess his respect to the word: Ps. cxix. 14, 'I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches.' Faith sees more comfort in the promises than in the dearest things we have in the world; gold and silver are nothing to them. Is there such an esteem of the promises? That you may not deceive yourselves, know this esteem of the promises is accompanied with a disesteem of earthly things. When a man embraceth a thing, all other things fall out of his hands; when the hands are full of the world, you cannot hug the promises. It will take you off from worldly admiration; the world will seem less if the promises seem great and precious for the promises do not establish the love of the world, but the love of heaven: Prov, viii. 10, 'Receive my instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold.' It is not said, 'and not above silver,' but 'and not silver;' the soul by faith is diverted, and hath less esteem of these things. If you are as earthly-minded as ever, you have no faith.
3. Do you often call them to mind and comfort yourselves in the remembrance of them? He that is a stranger to the promises doth not believe them. A man looketh upon his bills, and bonds, and evidences, and views them often, and consults with them, they are all he hath to show for his estate; so a believer consults with the promises, they are the obligation he hath upon God: Ps. cxix. 24, 'Thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors,' or the men of my counsel. Every strait drives him to the promises, there to consult with the mind and will of God; as David went to the sanctuary, Ps. lxxiii. 17. A man cannot have any satisfaction of his doubts, any allay of his fears, but by calling to mind the promises. In short, wants bring a man to the promises, the promises to Christ, and Christ to God. Wants bring a man to the promises; for there is a plaster for every sore; and the promises to Christ, for in him they are all yea and amen; and Christ to God, as the fountain of all blessings. Saith David, Ps. cxix. 92, 'Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction.' Do you thus call to mind the promises, and reckon upon them in all straits and afflictions, and find real support from them: Heb. x. 34, 'Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance,' that is, acting your thoughts upon it. It is good to see whence our supports come, and how we are borne up in all cases, it is by knowing and thinking upon what God hath promised.
4. Do they put you upon thanksgivings in the midst of wants, straits, and miseries? Faith is a bird that can sing in winter, and a believer can rejoice in his hopes when he hath little in hand. The patriarchs built altars, and offered sacrifices of praise, whenever God renewed the promises to them. Faith triumphs before the victory; though you have not the blessing, can you praise God for the promise? Ps. xiii. 5, 'But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.' You are assured mercy shall come, though never so unlikely and never so far off. Is thy heart thus carried out to triumph in God when you have but his bare word, to hug the promises with delight, to praise God not only for his blessings, but for his word, and to rejoice and give thanks before the mercy come? So Ps. lvi. 10, 'In God will I praise his word, in the Lord will I praise his word.' Can you praise him not only for his acts of mercy, but for his promises of mercy? Though there be nothing of performance, yet there is ground not only of hope but of praise that we have his word; and David redoubleth it, as a thing of undoubted experience.
5. Do the promises stir up any longing and looking for the blessings promised? There will be looking, there will be not only more frequent meditation, but a more earnest expectation. Faith will thrust out the head, and look if it can see God a-coming, there will be a constant observation how the word is made good; for faith is required not only for our comfort, but that we may be witnesses of God's faithfulness, that we may see how he makes good his promises: Joshua xxiii. 14, 'Not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.' And then for longing, when shall it once be? The nearer we come to enjoy Christ, the more impatient should we grow: 2 Peter iii. 12, 'Looking for and hastening unto the coming of the day of God.' Faith is earnest, but it doth not give over looking out for the mercy expected.
6. What influence have the promises of God upon your prayers? Can you come into God's presence with more confidence because you have the word of God on your side, and cast yourselves upon his word in the midst of doubts and fears, and in the face of discouragements? Can you put promises in suit? Ps. cxix. 25, 'My soul cleaveth unto the dust; quicken thou me according to thy word.' Can you throw in to God his hand-writing, and put him in remembrance of his promises? Lord, whose are these? As Tamar, when Judah was about to condemn her, said, Gen. xxxviii. 25, 'Discern, I pray thee, whose are these, the signet, and bracelets, and staff.' Prayer is faith acted; there we come to exercise that trust that we have had in the promises: James i. 7, 'But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting;' there we show how we can bear up ourselves upon the word, and put a humble challenge upon the Lord; we come to put his bond in suit. Now can you thus draw near to God, seeking the full performance of his word? as David: Ps. cxix. 49, 'Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.' David there pleads two things; God's promise, and his hope. The grant of a promise and the gift of faith; thou hast caused me to hope, therefore make good thy promise. By two things God becomes a debtor, Deus promittendo se fecit debit orem, et Deus donando debet - God makes himself a debtor by promising, and by giving grace. He will not disappoint faith, otherwise he would stir up such an excellent grace in vain.
7. What influence have the promises upon your practice and conversation? By that you may judge whether you have this faith: 2. Peter iii. 11, 12, 'What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness; looking for and hastening to the coming of the day of God.' The course of our lives doth discover the certainty of our hopes; they that are not such manner of persons do not look for such things. Can a man look for the resurrection of the body, and only use his body as a strainer for meats and drinks, and a channel for lust to run in? Can a man look to be one of the virgins that shall follow the Lamb, that defiles his soul with every base lust? Can a man look to see God, and suffer his eyes to run after vanity? to be with Christ hereafter, and walk in disobedience to his commands for the present? And as the quality of our hopes will be hereby discovered, so will the strength of our hopes also: James i. 8, 'A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.' He that is full of doubts will be off and on in point of obedience; he will be unstable in his way because unstable in his faith. You may know the rate and measure of your faith by your conversation: he that is firmly persuaded, and hath his heart fixed in the promises, will be more constant in the course of his obedience; his religion will not be by fits and starts, now and then a good pang, and then off again For the promises are the great motives of obedience, we work as we are persuaded of them; but when we are up and down, at least it argues an interruption of faith. A wavering trust and a fickle carriage go together.
8 Do they engage you to any self denial? Do you part with anything upon your hopes? as these patriarchs left their country, and lived as sojourners in a strange land, for they looked for a better country, that is a heavenly. Whoever hopes for anything from God must leave something for God, one time or another God will put him upon trial. Now what do you quit for God? Do you live upon your hopes, or upon your riches, honours, and pleasures? God doth not count that you trust his promises unless you venture something on them. Every grace makes a venture, - charity: Eccles. xi. 1, 'Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it after many days.' So saith the Lord, Mal. iii. 10, 'Prove me if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing.' God would not have a proof of our fidelity, nor we a proof of his faithfulness, if we did not sometimes make ventures. Zeal makes adventures in a way of conscientious obedience; and mortification, it ventures upon the promises - he that loseth his life shall save it; he that parts with worldly conveniences for the interests of conscience shall have treasure in heaven. Now at what expense have you been, and what adventures have you made in a way of self-denial and obedience upon the promises? By these things you may know whether you have such a faith as these patriarchs.
Use 3. To press you to get such a faith as will wait for future blessings with such patience and contentation as if they were already enjoyed. The arguments I shall urge are these -
1. We have more cause than the patriarchs, for we live nearer to the accomplishment of Gods promises Every age downward hath great advantages of believing. The first patriarchs were so far from the things typified that they had the types; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob did not enjoy Canaan, the type of heaven nor did they see the temple, the type of Christ; nor the rites of the Levitical administration, which were the type of his sufferings; nor the numerous posterity, which was a type of the calling of the gentiles. The next age had more advantages; they had the types, but not the things typified; they were grown into a numerous multitude and a nation; they had the temple, and legal administrations and sacrifices: but Christ was not come in the flesh; the calling of the gentiles was not brought about; they had not such discoveries of heaven, and of the glory God had prepared for them that love him; the entrance into the holy place was not yet set open; they were legalised, not evangelised. Afterward when Christ was come in the flesh, the first christians were not so near salvation; heaven was still at a distance; there was to katechon, something that hindered the discovery of antichrist. They were to look for the discovery of antichrist, we for the ruin of antichrist; they for the taking away what letted, that antichrist might be discovered, viz., the Roman Empire, we for the consuming of antichrist by the Spirit of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming. There is but a little time between us and the day of judgment, it is the last times we now live in. All things are clearer to us than to the patriarchs; that which was prophecy to them is history to us, and history is clearer than prophecy, because it is more sensible; our light is clearer, our means and helps are greater. What a shame is it that our faith should be so weak! that they should have eagle's eyes to see things at a distance, and we should be such owls and bats. We have the experience of all former ages, and we draw nearer and nearer still to our great hopes; surely then our condemnation will be greater if we should not believe and wait for the blessings promised with such patience and contentation as they did. It is said, Zech. xii. 8, 'He that is feeble at that day shall be as the house of David.' God expects much from you, that you should be as Abraham and David, for you have greater helps, higher advantages, and clearer discoveries of the will of God.
2. Unless your faith work thus, to keep heaven in sight, it will be of no use and profit to you. Looking to present things is the ground of all miscarriages, you will not be able to bear afflictions if you have not such a faith as to be contented with the promises till performance come: Heb. xii. 11, 'No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.' When you feel nothing but the smart rod, you will certainly miscarry. Nor will you be able to withstand temptations, but present profits and present pleasures will withdraw your hearts from God: 2 Tim. iv. 10, 'Demas' (a glorious professor, one of the seven deacons) 'hath forsaken us, having loved this present world.' Nor will you be able to wait for the future glory; the children of God have been always ready to confess their miscarriages when they have been in haste, when they have been all for the present: Ps. cxvi. 11, 'I said in my haste, All men are liars;' he speaks of Samuel and the prophets who had promised him the kingdom, and yet he was chased like a flea, and hunted like a partridge upon the mountains; and Ps. xxxi. 22, 'I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes.' Passion will break out into irregular thoughts and words. If you have not this faith, you will never be able to hold out till the crown come. This bore up Paul, that he looked beyond the present life: Rom. viii. 18, 'I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us.' Without this faith you cannot abound in charity, nor do anything for God in that kind, for the reward comes after many days: Eccies. xi. 1, 'Cast thy bread upon the waters, for after many days thou shalt find it.' You cannot mortify lusts, that is irksome and tedious to present sense: 1 Cor. ix. 27, 'I keep under my body, and bring it in subjection;' he had a crown in his eye, he alludes to those in the Isthmic games, that dieted themselves to run; now saith he, 'They do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible,' ver. 25. How will you neglect the honours, pleasures, and profits of the present world, when you are put to a sore trial? you will surely faint if you have not such a faith as is here described.
3. It is the glory of faith to see things to come, and delight in them as if they were present. It cometh near to the vision of God, to that manner of sight that God hath of things We say of God that he seeth all things that may be in his own all-sufficiency and all things that shall be in his own degree, and it is all one to him, as if they were actually existing This is somewhat like to the vision that God had of the world before it was: Prov viii 31, 'Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth,' before hill or mountain were created. So doth faith see all things in the all sufficiency and truth of God long before they come to pass, as if they were already in being, and were already brought to pass The sight of faith is a glorious sight, like God's before things appear.
4 As it is for the honour of faith, so it is for the honour of God. He gave out a promise for this end and purpose to exercise our faith, and try how far we would trust him, for else he might have kept us in the dark; and therefore such a kind of trust gives God the glory of his power, mercy, and truth - 'Abraham was strong in faith, giving glory to God,' Rom. iv. 20. Faith is called 'a justifying God,' Luke vii. 29. Faith not only justifies a believer, but it justifies God. To justify is a relative word, and implies to clear another from accusations brought against him. Now faith clears God from the calumnies and slander of the world and our own hearts. God is not honoured by anything so much as faith; it is not your dead service, pompous worship, ceremonious duties, that honour God; but it is faith that gives him the glory of his mercy, faithfulness, and all-sufficiency. So much for the arguments.
Now for the means, what shall we do to have such a faith as is here described? Here is something supposed, and something to be done.
[1.] There is something supposed, and that is, that you get an interest in the promises, otherwise your faith is but a fancy and delusion: Job. viii. 13, 'The hypocrite's hope shall perish.' There must be an accepting of the general covenant before we can make use of the particular promises; if you have not an interest, you do but embrace a cloud, and not the promises. Did you ever choose God to be your God, and give up yourselves to be his? then may you come and sue out the promises, and look for the blessings promised; Ps. cxix. 34, 'I am thine, save me,' 'I am thine,' that is, bound to thee in covenant; so Ps. xxiii. 1, 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.' There must be a good ground and foundation laid. Now is God yours? have you chosen him? then may you draw a conclusion, and comfort yourselves; though as to sense you want all things, yet you lack nothing, for the Lord is your shepherd. When Christ prayed for his disciples, he pleads this argument: John xvii. 6, 'Thine they were, and thou gayest them me.' Then may we expect salvation temporal and eternal when we can say, Lord! I am thine. A covenant supposeth both parties engaged; it doth not leave one party bound and the other at large. Can you say then, Lord, I would not be mine own, but thine? Then you may plead God's promises.
[2.] There is something required to be done by us; something on the heart, and something on the promises.
First. There is something required to be done upon the heart: the eye must be kept clear and the affections tender; they saw the promises afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them.
1. Keep the eye clear, the world is a very blinding thing; 2 Cor. iv. 4, 'In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.' Satan hath that title of 'the god of this world' because the world is the means that he useth to blind men withal; the profits of the world are as dust cast into the eyes. So 2 Peter i. 9, 'He that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off,' these things, that is, temperance and sobriety in the pursuit and use of outward comforts. Brutish and carnal affections send up the fumes and steams of lust, and then the eye is clouded, and you cannot have a clear sight of heaven, and of the blessings to come. A carnal man may discourse of heaven, but he hath not such a lively affective sight of it.
2. Keep the heart tender. An hard heart, that is settled in the guilt and love of sin, cannot rejoice in the hope of glory, nor hug the blessings promised, nor behave itself as if it were already come to enjoyment. Take heed of benumbing the affections, of soaking and steeping the soul in carnal pleasures; these take away the heart, that is the tenderness of the heart. Carnal profits darken the eye, and carnal pleasures bring a brawn upon the heart, that we have no affections for Christ and things above. They that were given to uncleanness were past feeling: Eph. iv. 19, 'Who being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.' There will be no hugging nor embracing the promises as long as we allow a carnal liberty in fleshly pleasures, for they will bring a deadness on the heart.
Secondly. Something must be done as to the promises.
1. You must understand the nature of them, and the tenure of them.
[1.] The nature of them; it is good to know our portion. Abraham walked through the land of promise; so it is good now and then to survey the land of promise, to see what God hath made over to us in Christ. In every bargain we look to the conditions, and what advantage we shall have. God's covenant-notion is God all-sufficient; there is nothing wanting in the covenant; the plaster is as broad as the sore. In the covenant you may find protection, maintenance, peace, strength, deliverance, comfort, meat, drink, everlasting happiness. Look, as the psalmist bids us, Ps. xlviii. 12, 13, 'Walk about Sion, and go round about her; tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces,' there is nothing wanting necessary for use or ornament; so go to the covenant, there is every blessing for body, soul, goods, and good name; every blessing is adopted and taken into the covenant: I Cor. iii. 23, 'All things are yours, for you are Christ's, and. Christ is God's.' Ordinances, providences, things present, things to come, life, death, afflictions, mercies, all things are yours. There is no scantiness in the covenant, but an overflow of mercy: Ps. xxiii. 5, 'My cup runneth over.' There are privative mercies and positive mercies : Ps. lxxxiv. 11, 'The Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.' He will give all kind of mercies for your persons, for your relations. For your persons: man is made up of a body and soul, and there are promises for both. For the body: not only for hereafter, that God will raise it up to be a glorious body like to Christ's body; but for the present, to give it health, strength, supply, meat, and drink, and clothing. Then for the soul there are promises of pardon, life, light grace, quickening, all things that are necessary for the soul. It is good to fetch every mercy out of the covenant both for soul and body, our bread and clothing for 'man doth not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Mark iv 4. For your relations and those that you care for in the world, your posterity, the grace of the covenant runneth over. God cannot satisfy himself in doing good to our persons but he will do good to our children: Deut. v. 29, 'That it may be well with them, and with their children for ever.' God takes notice of the children of his old friends, when they are dead and gone. So for the church of God, those that mind the affairs of Sion have promises to bear them up, as promises for the conversion of the world, that nations shall come in to Christ, and the like. It is good to have store of promises by us; collect them in your reading and hearing; happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.
[2.] Know the tenure of them as well as the nature. God hath promised nothing absolutely but eternal life, and necessary grace to bring us thither; all other things are promised with a limitation, as the Lord shall see them good for us; and there the work of faith is to calm the heart to submit to God's pleasure, and refer all to him. A man that is ignorant of the tenure of the covenant cannot fix his faith aright. Now the promises are either temporal, spiritual, or eternal.
(1.) For promises of temporal mercies.
1st. They are to be understood with limitation of convenience. God knows what is best and fit for us, therefore we must trust his choosing. Agur prays, Prov. xxx. 8, 'Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me.' A garment too short will not cover our nakedness, and a garment too long will be a dirty rag to trip up our heels. God is bound in covenant only to do that is convenient for us, and that we must leave to God to judge; the sheep must not choose the pastures, but the shepherd. If a man were left to carve out his own portion, he would be his own greatest enemy; a sick man would make his palate his physician; children think green fruit the best diet. Many things suit with our appetite that do not suit with God's wisdom. What strange creatures should we be if we were at our own finding!
2dly. In these temporal promises God will either give us the thing specified (and then it comes sweetly when it comes from a promise), or he will give us that which is equivalent. Our Saviour says, Mat. xix. 29, 'Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold.' Julian was wont to mock the christians with that promise, that they should have a hundred fathers and a hundred mothers, &c. The meaning is, they shall have an equivalent, and what they lose in this world shall be abundantly made up to them.
3dly. All temporal mercies are promised with an exception of the cross and persecution, when it is for Gods glory, or for the honour of the truth, or for the correction of our sins. When David had sinned, David must be punished: 2 Sam. xii. 13, 14, 'The Lord hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.' God hath reserved this liberty in the covenant to visit our transgressions with rods, though he will not take away his love: Ps. lxxxix. 31 - 33, 'If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes; nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.' In all these temporal promises we must expect what God sees convenient and best for us, and may conduce to his glory, and that shall be made up to us another way.
(2.) For spiritual promises, understand the tenure of them. God hath promised to give necessary grace to all such as have an interest in Christ, but for the perfection of grace that God hath not promised in this life, and for the measures and degrees of grace, and the actual motions and assistances of his Spirit, here he works according to his own pleasure. Perfection we cannot have in this life.
(3.) For eternal promises, they are always sure and safe, and these things chiefly faith should keep in its eye. Though we are miserable creatures, accompanied with weakness and infirmities, yet we shall have a happy state hereafter in another world.
2. Acquaint yourselves with the promises, make them the men of your counsel: Ps. cxix. 24, 'Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.' We cannot think too often of them: Ps. cxix. 97, 'Oh how love I thy law; it is my meditation all the day.' If they have gained upon heart and affections, your thoughts will be more taken up with them, that you may not have them to seek in an hour of trial. It is good to make them familiar to us.
3. Work them into the heart. The promises are given us, not only that we may plead them with God in prayer, but that we may plead with ourselves, As Paul, when he had laid down the privileges of believers: Rom. viii. 31, 'What shall we say to these things?' so we should reflect upon ourselves if we have such great privileges, and such great hopes, Why do we not live more holily, and go about our duty more cheerfully? Soul! what dost thou say to these things ? So David: Ps. xlii. 11, 'Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me?' If God, Christ, and heaven be thine, and all the blessings of the covenant thine, why art thou so dejected?
4. Make use of them in all your straits. Our wants lead us to the promises which are as many and as particular as our wants; the promises bring us to Christ, in whom they are all yea and amen, and shall be accomplished and fulfilled to us as we are united to him, found in him, and. one with him; and Christ brings us to God as the fountain of grace, and there we turn them into prayers, put the bond in suit, plead with God, and show him his handwriting. Suit the promise to your exigence, and then go to God in the name of Christ with confidence. Our addresses to God take their rise from our wants: James i. 5, 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask it of God.'
5. Observe how they are made good. You will have a double advantage hereby, for you will have a more clear ground for faith and thankfulness. It will show you what mercies come as blessings. It is not enough to observe nakedly how a mercy comes to us, but whether it comes by virtue of a promise, pleaded, trusted in, and believed by us. And it will strengthen our thankfulness, they are blessings that come out of the womb of the covenant: Ps. cxxiiii. 8, The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.' It is observable in the text that the blessing is called 'the promise;' it is not a blessing, nor so sweet to us, except it come by virtue of a promise And by this means God's truth is more confirmed which still keepeth the heart thankful and believing: Ps. ix. 10, 'They that know thy name will put their trust in thee for thou Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.' You can give no instance to the contrary: it increaseth our trust for the future to observe what he hath done in time past; what he hath spoken with his mouth he hath fulfilled with his hand. By this means your own faith will be confirmed, and you will invite others to trust in God, we have had experience of the truth of his promises, and we shall be witnesses of his faithfulness to others.
Hebrews
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