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SERM. the Sacraments which Christ hath ordained, not to confirm His promises to us, but to confirm our faith in them; they being as so many visible signs and pledges of the New Covenant, in which all the promises are comprehended. The Sacrament of Baptism is of such necessity, that without that, we can have no right to the promises; for they being all founded in Christ, belong only to those who are made members of His body, which none can be any other way, than by being baptized into Him according to His institution. But they who are so, have such an interest in all the promises of God, that they cannot fail of having them actually fulfilled to them, if they do but perform the easy conditions upon which they are made. And as for 1 Cor.10.16. the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" Yes verily. So that he who eateth this bread and drinketh this cup of the Lord worthily, partaketh of the body and blood of the Lord Christ, in whom the promises are all made, and so have them all actually fulfilled to him: the blessings promised being thereby communicated, made over and applied particularly to him; which if all people were but as sensible of as some are, they would neglect no opportunities of receiving that holy Sacrament; and they who do so, have too much cause to suspect, that they care not for any of the blessings which God hath promised, nor whether they live in Heaven or Hell hereafter, so they may but live in ease and plenty, and credit while they are in this world. This is plainly at the bottom of that gross neglect of this holy Sacrament, which is so visible among us. But it is not long before all who are guilty of it will wish with all their souls they had not been so. But then wishing will do no good; and therefore before it be too late, I desire you, when you are at leisure, to consider how you will answer this short question, if you matter not whether you have the mercies and favours which God hath promised in His Gospel or not, why do ye ever pray for them? If you really desire to have them, why do not ye come to that Ordinance where ye may receive them, and where Christ is always ready to bestow them upon all that

come unto Him for them? That ye cannot doubt of, seeing, as ye have now heard, all the promises of God are both confirmed and fulfilled in Him, and that you may there receive His body and blood as a pledge and earnest of them.

Neither may we receive only these and such like necessary instructions from this great doctrine, but such advice also, that if we take it, we shall live and be happy for ever; for seeing it hath pleased the Almighty Creator and Governor of the world to make us so many great and precious promises, and to confirm them in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we should therefore be advised to believe and trust on them with all our hearts, that being the great condition required on our parts towards their being performed to us; for "the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the Gal. 3. 22. promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." To them that believe it is given, and to none else, and to them only as they are believers, but to all them it is sure and certain; "Therefore it is of faith," saith Rom. 4. 16. the Apostle," that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all," even of all the faithful. But what is that faith of Abraham to which the promise is surely performed? That the Apostle there acquaints us with, saying, "That he staggered not at the promise of ch. 4. 20-22. God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded, that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform; and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness." This therefore is that faith whereby we attain the righteousness of God, with all the blessings He hath promised to it, when we do not stagger or doubt of what He hath promised, but are fully persuaded, that howsoever difficult or impossible it may seem, He both can and will perform it, and so give Him the glory that is due unto His Name, the glory of His power, by believing Him to be able, as well as the glory of His truth, by believing Him to be ready to do what He hath said; whereas "he that believeth not God, hath made Him 1 John 5.10. a liar." Which is the highest affront that can be offered to

His Divine glory, and therefore all such make themselves

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XLV.

SERM. not only incapable of His favours, but obnoxious to His displeasure; for seeing they will not take His word for what He hath promised in His Gospel, He will make it good in executing upon them all that He hath threatened in His Law, and so they also who would not believe shall find to their cost, that He is always true and faithful to His word; wherefore we must take special heed, that we never doubt of any thing that God hath said, but that we may be as fully persuaded of it in our minds, as we possibly can be of any thing in the world; for the stronger our faith is in the promises of God, the greater will our share be in the blessing that He hath promised, as our Saviour said to the two blind Matt. 9. 29. men in the Gospel, " According to your faith, so be it unto you." The same is said in effect to every one of you; according to your faith in God, so is His grace and favour unto you; the more you believe in Him, the more you receive from Him; which David was so sensible of, that he Ps. 33. 22. made his prayer accordingly, saying, "Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee." So that if our faith fail not, all the devils in Hell can never hurt us, [Ps.34.11.] nor" withhold any thing that is good from us."

Luke 22.32.

Heb. 3. 19; ch. 4. 1.

ver. 23.

Let us therefore fear, "lest a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short ch. 10. 35. of it by reason of unbelief." "Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward." "But let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised." Yea, none of His Divine perfections are more frequently celebrated in His Holy Word, than His truth and faithfulness, on purpose to confirm and strengthen our faith in Him. Let us therefore rejoice and give honour to Him, by putting our whole trust and confidence in Him for all the good things that He hath promised, for He hath promised them who cannot lie, and He John 14.6. hath promised them in Jesus Christ, who also is "Truth” Heb. 7. 25. itself, "who ever liveth to make intercession for us." And John 16. 23. who Himself too hath said, "That whatsoever we ask in His ch. 14. 14. Name, the Father will give it." And that He Himself will do it for us. And therefore whatsoever good things it hath pleased Almighty God to promise, let us but ask it in His Name, and we have His word for it, that we shall have it;

but we "must ask in faith, nothing wavering;" but firmly James 1. 6. believing that He will do as He hath said, according to that remarkable saying of His to this purpose, "Therefore I say Mark 11.24. unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

But what good things hath God promised to us? What hath He not promised? He hath promised "all things [2 Pet.1.3.] necessary both for life and godliness;" He hath promised to defend us from all evil, and to "make all things work [Rom. 8. 28.] together for our good;" He hath promised to be our God, [Jer. 24.7.] and to make us His own peculiar people; He hath promised to pardon all our sins, and to accept of all the duties that we sincerely perform unto Him; He hath promised His own grace and Holy Spirit to enlighten our understandings,

13.]

to "lead us into all truth," to sanctify or make us holy as [John 16. He is holy; to fortify us against all temptations, to support and comfort us in all conditions, to direct us what to do, and to assist us in the doing of it; in short He hath promised to give us eternal life, and all things requisite in order to it, and what can we desire more?

Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us 2 Cor. 7. 1. cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." This is a great

work, but we may well do it, seeing God Himself hath promised to assist us in it, and to carry us through it; and this is the first thing that we ought to depend upon His promise for, and that upon which the performance of all His other promises, as to us, depends; for till we are cleansed and sanctified, and so adopted into His family, we can have no part or portion in any of the other blessings that He hath promised; wherefore our first and chief care must be, to live with a steadfast faith and trust on God, that He, according to the many promises that He hath made us to that purpose, will, upon our using the means that He hath appointed for that end, give us such a measure of His grace and Holy Spirit, whereby we shall "partake of His Divine Nature," [2 Pet.1.4.] and be sanctified wholly in soul, body and spirit; if we do that as we ought, we cannot fail of having all such promises made good to us; and then all the other blessings which He hath promised will follow in course, they being all made to

SERM. every one that is so qualified, as if they were directed to Him by name.

XLV.

Who can hear this, and not rejoice and be glad, that it hath pleased the Great God of Heaven to make such promises to us, His sinful creatures upon earth? There is nothing certainly on this side Heaven, that affords so much matter of substantial joy and comfort, especially to those who have so much true reason and solid judgment, as to look upon God's Word as the best security they can have for any thing in the world, and accordingly put their whole trust and confidence in Him for every thing that He hath promised; these are the happiest people upon earth, or rather the only people that are happy; for while other people are tossed to and fro with every wind that bloweth, Ps. 112. 7. these are always steadfast as a rock; they will "not be afraid of evil tidings, for their hearts are fixed, trusting in the Lord," "who never faileth them, who seek and trust to Ps. 37.40; Him." But "saves and delivereth, and keepeth them in Dan. 6. 23. perfect peace, for that very reason, because they trust on Isa. 26. 4. Him." "Trust ye therefore in the Lord for ever; for in the

Ps. 9. 10.

Isa. 26. 3;

Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." And He hath passed His Word, He hath promised in Christ our Lord, “That they who believe and trust in Him, shall want no good thing;" be advised therefore now to do it; hark what He Ps. 37. 3-6. Himself saith to every one particularly; "Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed; delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give Thee the desires of thine heart; commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass; and He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and Ps. 91. 4. thy judgment as the noon-day." "His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." "Wherefore blessed are all they that put their trust in Him, and in the promises that He hath made in Jesus Christ." To whom, &c.

Ps. 2. 12.

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