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will dispose of him as he sees good. He determines the place of his living; he determines his employment; he lays him under law, and gives him a just and righteous command. He made himself known to man as a threatener too: In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Ay, but, say you, was there no promise in the first covenant? Truly the word does not say there was any: but if people will needs have it that there was a promise, it is not worthy the name of a promise, in regard of what we have in the New Testament. That promise laboured under woful disadvantages, that we are now relieved from. 1st, That promise was a promise of continuance in that happy state he was made in, but no promise of a better. There was no promise of eternal life to the first Adam, as far as we can find in the terms of it. more spoken of, but a continuance in that state: and this is implied in the threatening, In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die; which implies, Until the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt live. But we have a promise in the new covenant of a far better state than that we are in. 2dly, If there was any promise, it was a conditional one, a promise upon the condition of perfect obedience. There was no promise but upon this condition, Do this, and live. Life was promised. upon the condition of doing, but no promise of grace to enable a man to do it. But now we are brought under a promise, blessed be he that promiseth. Whatever is required to be done by the man that would have the blessing promised, grace to do that is promised by the promiser. Hath he required faith? He hath promised faith, and he works faith. Hath he required repentance? He promises, and gives it. Our Lord is a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance and remission of sins to the house of Israel. Are we required to be holy in all manner of conversation? Hath he not promised to sanctify and make us holy? Hath he not prayed for this, that we may be sanctified? I told you but just now, Christ's prayer is as good as a promise. The best promises we have in the Bible are the promises made by the Father to the Son; and next to them, are those promises that we draw out of the Son's prayer to the Father. So that, upon these accounts, whatever there was in the first covenant, it is not to be called

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a promise. 3dly, There was no mediator in the first cove nant; and therefore it cannot be called a covenant of promise, like that we are now brought under. The mediator of a covenant is to see the terms kept on both parts, and to see the ground secure and safe, that the bargain may not go back on either side. This is our Lord's undertaking, and his work. Now you see, that as soon as sin came in, grace comes in with a promise. God made himself known to Adam as his creator, commander, and threatener of just punishment to him for his disobedience. As soon as he disobeyed, so soon is he convicted of guilt in his own conscience. As soon as ever he is arraigned before God, the womb of the promise is open; then the sluice of the promise was drawn up, and it hath been flowing to this day. It began with a promise. Adam and Eve were to know God now under no other name, but the God that said, The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. So it went on through all the Old Testament; that still went along by promise. The Christian's God, I say, is a promising God.

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1. God cannot be known but as a promising God. There is no saving knowledge of him, but as he reveals himself in the promise of life through Christ Jesus. 2. There is no worshipping of him but in this way. The apostle joins them altogether, Rom. x. 13,-17. How can they call on him of whom they have not heard? How can they believe on him? They cannot pray, they cannot believe, they cannot know him, unless it comes by the word of God. Faith, says he, cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God; that is, the word of promise: Faith never comes by the word of command; but it comes by the word of promise. God commands faith; but God never works faith by the commanding of faith as any duty, but by the promise of faith as it is heard. The giving of faith, is the performance of the grand promise of faith. 3. There is no believing on God, but as a promising God; there is no loving God, but as a promising God. If you suffer your hearts to take a view of God out of a promise, you wander in a maze and wilderness: he is a consuming fire, except in a promise. The Lord hath framed us in that manner, that it is impossible that God can be loved,

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but by a person that takes up this God as a promising God. All mankind have either to do with God as promising, or threatening. The threatening God threatens the most dreadfully: the promising God promises the greatest good. It is impossible that there can be true and strong love fixed on that person from whom we do dread the greatest evil: therefore the Lord hath framed the matter so in the dispensing of his grace, in the call of the gospel, that he still tenders himself to his people, and at all times hath done since sin came into the world, under some gracious discovery of himself. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, saith the Lord to Moses. Even when the man is afraid to look upon God, saith the Lord, Do not be afraid, I am the God of Abraham, &c. "I am the God of thy fathers, I appeared ❝to them, I spake my good mind to them, and they lived and "died in the promise; and thou, Moses, art one that art con❝cerned therein," Exod. iii. 3, 4.

Two things I shall conclude with at this time.

1. It is a marvellous condescension in God, that he hath come to us as a promising God. He might have stood upon his state, and throne, and dignity; he might have kept upon the throne of his glories: but in wonderful grace he comes down, if I may so speak, as an equal; and he comes into covenant with us, and plights his troth. Is not this wonderful? Solomon wondered: Will God indeed dwell with men. No wonder if God will command men; no wonder if God will threaten sinners; these things become God, and are like him, and are suited to his nature: but will God promise to man: Will he make a covenant with man. Job xli. 3, 4. So Ezek. xyi. 6,-9.

2. As it is a great condescension in God to reveal himself to us as a promising God, so it is a great duty upon his people to keep that name of God continually in their eye. Pray, what do you do in the word? in prayer? What is the God you deal with? Do you betake yourselves to the word, to hear the word of God as a commander? Ay, but where is the strength for obedience? That is uncomfortable work then. Ay, but, saith the believer, God's promising for ali that he hath done for his people before, and all that they

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have done in their actings of faith towards him, encourages Would it not put another sort of edge upon our prayers, were we to eye God as a promising God? What do we do in prayer; think you, what is the business of prayer? The main thing in prayer is to put God in mind of the promise. The great work of Christians is to turn promises into prayer, and God will turn both into performance. Every believer, you know, is to ask according to God's will. The asking according to God's will, is to ask in faith, James i. 5, 6. And not only to ask what God bids us ask, but to ask what God has commanded us to hope; and we know what to hope for, by what God has promised. If we stretch our hope beyond the promise, we are out of the way: but his promises are so large, that a believer needs not to fear but he hath room enough for his faith to work in, nay to run in. The faith of a believer hath room enough to treat with God in. Labour for this. All the disquiets that are in the minds of believers, all the changes that are in their thoughts about the God they have to deal with, all proceed from this. In the day of his love, in the day of their peace, he hath been made known to them as a promising God. Ay, but now there is a cloud comes upon their faith, and may be a veil upon his face; and he comes to them and appears as if he were a

threatening or commanding God. No dealing with him in Learn to mind God's true name, He is a promising God. The Lord teach you this.

this case.

SERMON IV.

HEBREWS X. 23.

-For he is faithful that promised.

You heard that these words contain the argument by which the apostle presseth the preceding exhortation to Christians, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering and the argument is very proper, and very strong, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith, for God holds fast his promises sufficiently. Yea, our faith is built upon his promises. It is time enough for faith to stagger when God fails, but never till then. If God could fail, then a believer's faith should fail, and never till then. With regard to this argument of the apostle's, I did first take a general view of it, with respect to something contained in the manner of speaking. 1. He speaks of a promiser, and names no person, only he that promises. He knew well enough, that Christians knew whom he meant; that it was God's promise; faith looks to that only. 2. The apostle doth not tell what he promises; but only he hath promised. And here now it is needful that we gather the extent of the promise, and the nature of the faith and hope that the apostle is exhorting them to maintain the profession of, God's promises, and the believer's faith and hope are justly and equally commensurate; all that we need to desire and hope for, God's promises secure. noted, that the word here in the original is, Faithful is he that promises; or, that is the promiser; or, that is as it were in the act of Promising. The promises of God are not past things; they may seem so to us; but they are always current, and present, and acting, and working perpetually, till performance

comes.

3. I

From the words themselves, I did propose several truths to be handled. The first that I began upon, was this: That the Christian's God is a promising God. The name that the apostle here by the Spirit gives him, is, He that promises. Besides

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