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imagine, things that are over and past, as soon as the word is out of his mouth; but they are continued, constant current streams that will carry on his people that are in them still, till they be accomplished fully. A promise never ends till there be performance; a promise is in act and motion still, till it be accomplished. The like word the apostle hath, 1 Thess. v. 24. and ii. 12. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it, as we translate it: there had been as good reason to translate it, Faithful is he that is now calling you: he called you at first, by the effectual working of his grace with the gospel; and that calling continues still, and it will never leave you, till it bring you to heaven. Just so it is with the promise. There are five places to God's promise, and we must have our eye distinctly upon them. 1st, God's promise, is in God's heart; and there it is, but a purpose unknown and unsearchable to all creatures whatsoever. This is called a promise; for it is said, He promised before the world began, Titus i. 2. 2dly, A promise is next considered, as it is in the word. There it is recorded, it is entered, and will never be repealed. 3dly, The promise of God is in Christ; that is another place for the promise: All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, 2 Cor. i. 20. The covenant is confirmed of God in Christ, Gal. iii. 17. There is no change here; a promise in God's heart will surely have effect from the word; performance of a promise in Christ's hand can never miscarry. 4thly, A promise comes to be in the hand of a believer's faith; and this is a shaking, trembling hand. As it is in God's hands, Christ's hands, or in the word, heaven, and earth, and hell cannot shake it; but as it is in a believer's hand, the least blast from either will shake it. A poor believer grasps the promise of God frequently very weakly; yet if he take it, it is well, if he lay hold on it any manner of way. There would none of us ever come to heaven, if the promise of God did not keep us better by its grace and power, than we can keep it by our faith; for this is the order of God, his promise is a mean that catches a believer, and a believer catches the promise by faith. Our hold of the promise many times fails, but the promise to us never fails. If the promise of Christ's grace come and take hold of your hearts, it will

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hook you, and pull you, and keep you, and draw you certainly to glory; but our faith is off and on. Lastly, Believers sometimes have the promise of God in their hand; not only in the hand of faith, but, if I may so speak, in the hand of performance; then they think it is well. If I may use the expression, there was never a good man that had a more blessed armful and heartful than old Simeon; he had all the promises of the Old Testament, and all the blessings of the New Testament, and all grace on earth, and all the glory in heaven, at one time in his arms. When he took the child Jesus in his arms, Lord, says he, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Luke ii. 29, 30. He had the covenant in his hand, he had all the blessings in possession. He might have said as Hannah, 1 Sam. i. 27. For this child I prayed: and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him. Something like this believers sometimes have; the promise of d brings forth, and they have the birth in their arms; but this is not that we must live by.

The apostle says here, that God is promising: Faithful is he that is promising. I would warn believers of this common fault and failing, they look upon the promise of God as that which is past and over; they are many times saying, I had once a promise of God, I do not know what is become of it now. What, is it out of God's heart? out of the Bible? out of thy faith's hand? The Lord is still promising the promise of eternal life that thou didst lay hold upon in thy first venturing thy soul upon Christ Jesus. God is making that promise every day to you, and you should be believing it every day. We live by faith, and God keeps us in life by promising. His promise runs down through all states and conditions, and so should our faith do. So much now for the general things from the words.

There are several doctrines from it, that I intend, if the Lord will, to speak from.

1. The first note that I raise from the words, is, (understand it well and wisely, it may be you will think it an odd observation), The Christian's God is a promising God. The apostle describes him by this: "What is the God that I Paul

"depend upon? He that promises; I will and can have no"thing to do with any God, but he that is promising." 2. God is faithful in all his promises.

3. The faith of his people in a promising God, should some way answer the faithfulness of God in his promises.

4. A bold avowing of our faith, is not bragging of ourselves, but a magnifying the faithfulness of the speaker. This is plainly the scope of, Hold fast the profession of your faith without wavering; for he is a faithful God you lean upon.

Of the first of these a little at this time, The Christian's God is a promising God; a God made known to us by promises, who comes to us in the mask, and under the veil of promises. Let us see a little how this comes about, and how the world is changed to our great advantage, and his great praise. This promising God was from eternity blessed in himself, and in the mutual communication of love and delight, and converse betwixt the blessed Three. He is also called a purposing God, Eph. iii. 11. 2 Tim. i. 9. In the fulness of time he makes a world. He makes himself known in this world three ways. 1. He makes known himself to some creatures by their creation. There are some creatures that God made on purpose that they might know him. He made the greatest part of creatures in a manner only that God might be known by others, not by themselves. The heavens and earth, and all the host of them; this world, and all the creatures that are therein, save one sort, are all incapable of knowing God; but God is made known by them. The only creatures we know that are made capable of knowing God, are angels and inen. The one sort, the glorious spirits, were made the first day of the creation; the other is man, half spirit, and half flesh, that was made on the last day of the creation. Now, as soon as these rational creatures start out of nothing, by the commanding word of their Maker; as soon as ever they come into being, immediately the Lord's glory, as a Creator, is staring them in the face. Adam is no sooner a man, than he is a knower of God, as his God Creator. 2. We find God making himself known to man (for it is about man we will keep ourselves confined) as a Lord Commander; and as he has made this creature, he

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. There was no 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

a promise. 3dly, There was no mediator in the first covenant; 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.

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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