So Sarah relation to his promise, which secures our faith. is said "through faith to be delivered of a child, being past age, because she judged him faithful that had promised." Now by being objects of faith, the promises must needs cleanse from filthiness; for faith also hath a cleansing property it purifieth the heart, and worketh by love, and looketh upon the things promised as desirable things, rejoiceth in them, and worketh homogeneal and suitable affections unto them. Again, we must note, that sin comes seldom without promises to pollute us,-begets vast expectations and hopes of good from it. Balaam was whet and enlivened by promises to curse God's people: the strumpet in the Proverbs ", that said to the young man, “Come, let us take our fill of loves," conceived most adequate satisfaction to her adulterous lusts by that way. This was the delusion of the rich fool" in his epicurism; "Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, for thou hast much laid up for many years: "-of the Jews, in their idolatries to the Queen of Heaven, because that would afford them plenty of victuals, and make them see no evil :-of Gehazi's P foolish heart, who promised to himself olive-yards, and vine-yards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants, by his officious lie. And this was one of the Devil's masterpieces, when he tempted Christ; "All these will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Thus we see, sin seldom comes without promises to seduce and pollute the soul. And yet the truth is, these promises cannot hold up the hope of any man. When a man hath ¶ wearied himself in the pursuit of them, yet still there is less hope at last than at first. But now faith fixing upon sure mercies', upon promises which cannot be abrogated or disannulled (being made irreversible by the oath of God, who, after he hath sworn, cannot repent) and seeing not only stability, but preciousness in the promises, and, through them, looking upon the great goodness of the things contained in them, as already subsisting and present to the soul, and by this means overcoming" the world (whose only prejudice and advantage t 1 Heb. xi. 11. m Prov. vii, 18. n Luke xii. 19. o Jer. xliv. 17. Hos. ii. 5. P 2 Kings v. 26. q Isa. Ivii. 10. Rom. vi. 21. r Acts xiii. 34. s Gal. iii. 15, 16. Heb. vi. 17, 18. Psal. cx. 4. u 1 John v. 4. against Christ is this, that the things which he promiseth, are long hence to come,-whereas that which it promiseth, it likewise presenteth to the view of sense; which difference faith destroyeth, by giving a subsistence and spiritual presence of things hoped for to the soul :) By this means, I say, faith doth mightily prevail to draw a man unto such holiness, as becometh the sons and heirs of so certain and precious promises. Till a man, by faith, apprehends some interest in the promises, he will never, out of true love, endeavour a conformity unto God in Christ. "By them," saith St. Peter, "we are made partakers of the divine nature, and do escape the corruption, that is in the world through lust." What is it to be made partaker of the divine nature? It notes two things: First, a fellowship with God in his holiness; that purity which is eminenter,' and infinitely in God's most holy nature, is formaliter,' or 'secundum modum creaturæ,' so far as the image of his infinite holiness is expressible in a narrow creature, fashioned in, and communicated unto us by our union with Christ. Secondly, a fellowship with God in his blessedness; namely, in that beatifical vision and brightness of glory, which from the face and fulness of Jesus Christ (who, as a second Adam, is made unto us the author and fountain of all heavenly things) shall, at last in fulness, and doth even now in flashes and glimmerings, shine forth upon his members. And all this we have from those great and precious promises, which are made unto us, of holiness and of blessedness. For as we say of the Word in general, so more especially of the promises;-they areoperative' words, and do produce some real effects, being received by faith. As a man when he receiveth a deed signed, sealed, witnessed, and delivered, doth not only take parchment or wax, or empty words, but hath thereby some fundamental right created unto the things, in the deed mentioned to be conveyed; so that the deed is declaratory and operative of some real effects. So, in the Word and promises of God, sealed by the blood of Christ, ratified by the oath of the Covenant, testified by the Spirit of truth, delivered by the hand of mercy, and received by the hand of faith, there doth not only pass empty breath and naked x 2 Pet. i. 4. y 1 Cor. xv. 48, 49. words, but also some real effects, by the intendment of God, are thereby produced; namely, the cleansing of our sinful nature from the pollutions of the world, and the transforming thereof into the image and purity of the divine nature. Fourthly, Promises are the efficient causes of our purification, as they are the rays and beams of Christ the Sun of righteousness, in whom they are all founded and established. They are "All in him Yea, and in him, Amen "." Every promise, by faith apprehended, carries a man to Christ, and to the consideration of our unity with him, in the right whereof we have claim to the promises; even as every line in a circumference, though there never so distant from another, doth, being pursued, carry a man at the last to one and the same centre, common unto them all. For the promises are not made for any thing in us, nor have their stability in us; but they are made in and for Christ unto us, unto Christ in our behalf, and unto us only so far forth as we are members of Christ. For they were not made to "seeds, as many, but to seed, namely, to Christ," in aggregato,' as comprehending the head and the members in the unity of one body. So then every promise, carrying us to that unity which we have with Christ by his Spirit, (who is therefore called 'a Spirit of adoption,' because he vesteth us with the sonship of Christ, and 'a Spirit of holiness and renovation,' because he sanctifieth us by the resurrection of Christ) doth thereby purify us from dead works, and conform the members to the head, building them up in a holy temple, and a habitation of God through the Spirit, by whom we are in Christ. In one word, Our interest in the promise is grounded upon our being in Christ, and being one with him; and our being in him is the ground of our purification. Every branch in me that bringeth forth fruit, my Father purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruit.” And, in this respect, the promises may be said to purify, as still carrying us to our interest in Christ, in whom they are founded. Fifthly and lastly, The promises are causes of our purification, as exemplars, patterns, and seeds of purity unto us. * 2 Cor. i. 20. © Eph. ii, 21. a Gal. iii, 16. b Caput et corpus unus est Christus. Aug. d John xv. 2. с For the promises are in themselves exceeding great and precious. Every word of God is pure, and tried like gold seven times in the fire; it is right, and clean, and true, and altogether righteous; and therefore very lovely and attractive, apt to sanctify and cleanse the soul. "Sanctify them by thy truth, saith Christ; thy Word is truth." And again, "Now ye are clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you." For the word is seed; and seed assimilates earth and dirt into its own pure and clean nature. So by the word there is a trans-elementation and conforming of our foul and earthly nature to the spiritualness of itself. Therefore the apostle useth this for an argument, why the regenerate cannot sin, (namely, in that universal and complete manner as others do) because they have "the seed of God abiding in them;" that is, his word, spirit, and promises abating the strength of lust, and swaying them to a contrary point. For thus the word of promise makes a man's heart to argue; 'Hath God, of mere grace, made assurance of so precious things to me, who, by nature, am a filthy and unclean creature, obnoxious to all the curses and vengeance in his book? Hath he wrought so great deliverance, and laid up such unsearchable riches for my soul? and should I again break his commandments', and join in the abominations of other men? Would he not be angry till he had consumed me, so that there should be no escaping? Should I not rather labour to feel the comforts and power of these promises, encouraging me to walk worthy of so great a mercy, and so high a calling? to walk meet for the participation of the inheritance of the saints in light? Shall I that am reserved to such honour, live in the mean time after the lusts of the Gentiles, who have no hope? Hath God distinguished me by his Spirit and promises from the world, and shall I confound myself again? Shall I requite evil for good to the hurt of mine own soul?'-These and the like are the reasonings of the heart from the beauty and purity of the promises. Thirdly and lastly, Promises are arguments to infer our • 2 Pet. i. 4. 140. h Joh. * 1 Joh. iii. 9. f Prov. xxx. 5. 8 Psal. xii. 6. and xix. 8, 9. and cxix. 1 Σύγκρασις καὶ ἀναστοιχείωσις. m Quid nos pro Domino tam bono facere convenit, cum ille pro malis servis tanta fecerit? Salvian. 1. 4. purification, because, in many of them, that is the very matter of which they consist; and so the power and fidelity of God is engaged for our purification. "I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me ", saith the Lord."—And again", "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you," &c. And again P; "They shall not defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them, and I will cleanse them." And again ; "I will heal their back 9; slidings, I will love them freely."-"The Lord will wash away the filth of the daughter of Sion, and purge the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning." Which promises, bringing along the fidelity and power of God to our faith, do settle our hearts, amidst all the corruptions and impotencies of our nature. When the conscience is once thoroughly acquainted with the sight of its own foulness, with the sense of that life and power which is in concupiscence, -it finds it then a great difficulty to rest in any hope of having lusts either subdued or forgiven. The psalmist, "when his sore ran and ceased not, refused to be comforted;" thought himself to be cast out of God's favour, as if his mercies were exhausted, and his promises come to an end, and his compassions were shut up, and would shew themselves no more. Therefore, in this case, the Lord carries our faith to the consideration of his power, grace, and fidelity, which surpasseth not only the knowledge, but the very conjectures and contrivances of the hearts of men. The apostle saith, that "Christ was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." That Spirit which raised him from the dead, is therefore called a Spirit of holiness,' because the sanctifying of a sinner is a resurrection; and requires the same power to effect it, which raised Christ from the dead. When St. Paul" had such a bitter conflict with the thorn in his flesh,' the vigour of concupiscence within n Jer. xxxiii. 8. χίν. 4. r Isa. iv. 4. u 2 Cor. xii. 9. ii. 12. • Ezek. xxxvi. 25. P Ezek. xxxvii. 23. q Hos. t Col. |