UPON THE

PROMISES OF GOD.

DISCOURSE XII.

2 PETER i. 4.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.

WHEN the Lord God first published his law, in Paradise, he enforced it with proper sanctions. He promised to our first parents the continuance of his favour and immortal life, if they continued to keep the law; but if they should transgress it, he threatened them with the loss of his favour, and with the first and the second death. Upon their transgression, the promises became null and void. All right and title to them was forfeited, and the sovereign law-giver was bound to inflict the threatened penalties. His truth, his justice, his holiness called upon him to put the sanctions of the law in force. Accordingly the offenders were arrested and brought to his bar; and being examined, they confessed their crime, but studied to throw part of the blame upon their tempters. The man could make no other defence, but that the woman offered him the temptation; and the woman had no plea to urge, but that the serpent beguiled her. Upon this confession they were found guilty; but the Lord God whose mercies are over all his works, was pleased to make a discovery to

them of the covenant of grace. He revealed to them his mind and will concerning the pardon of their transgression, and promised them a Saviour, who should bruise the serpent's head, and thereby destroy his power. The serpent's poison lies in his head, and when this is bruised, he can do no more mischief. The promised seed was to undertake this work, and for this purpose was the Son of God to be manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. This first promise, and all the following promises of grace and mercy center in Jesus Christ: for all the promises of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God. In him they are, Yea; he undertook to ratify and to make them good: and in him they are, Amen; they are confirmed and fulfilled to believers. Every promise made in Christ is an act of God's free grace, and which being made, his perfections bind him to fulfil; for he has engaged, in the promise, to give the grace and blessing therein mentioned, to those who be lieve in Jesus Christ; so that the believer's happiness consists in living by faith upon the promises. Faith apprehends and receives Christ as held forth in the pro mise, and thereby gets possession of the promised blessing. While faith is kept thus in act and exercise, the believer walks safely and comfortably: although he has many enemies, and is in the midst of many dangers, yet he has a promise of God's help to support him in every estate and circumstance of life, and to carry him through all trials and troubles. If he rely upon this promised help, he cannot be disappointed; for the promise cannot possibly fail. All the perfections of God stand engaged to see it fulfilled, and when faith calls upon God, and relies on him for the fulfilling of it, he cannot deny himself, or break the word that is gone out of his mouth. Faith brings down his almighty power to make a way for the fulfilling of the promise, and thus the believer receives a support under all dangers, safety against all enemies, and a cordial against all troubles. This is his happiness. He staggers not at the promise of God through

unbelief, but is strong in faith, giving glory to God, and God gives grace to him and makes his faith stronger, by which he finds more of the sweetness and riches of the promises. My brethren, I wish you were all in possession of this happiness, and it is my present design to direct and to encourage you to seek it. The scripture which I have chosen for this purpose affords us some very powerful motives: May the Lord God render our present consideration of them useful and profitable to all our souls, that we may know clearly, First, The nature of the promises of God.

Secondly, The character of those to whom the promises belong; and

Thirdly, Their exceeding greatness and preciousness. And while we are considering those particulars, may we have the Lord's presence with us. We have a promise of it, "Wherever two or three, says he, are met "together in my name, there am I in the midst of "them.". Oh! that he may be present with us at this time. May he send the Holy Spirit of promise into all our hearts to teach us,

First, the nature of the promises of God. I define a promise to be an act of God's free grace, whereby he has engaged, in his word, to bestow upon believers all the blessings, which come to them through the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ. The promise can spring from no other cause than from free grace. God had no motive to induce him, but what arose from his own abundant and unmerited love, and there was no power to compel him to make any promise to fallen man. He had broken the law, and was subject to all the pains and penalties threatened to transgression, and if God had left him in this state without any promise, he would have dragged on a miserable life under the terrors of his guilty conscience, until the executioner came to call him to God's awful bar, and being tried there, and found guilty how could he escape the damnation of hell? To fallen man, thus subject to the present and eternal punishment of sin, God was pleased to

make a revelation of mercy. He took compassion on him, and provided for his salvation, by the covenant of grace, which is a covenant of promises. Such is the exalted grace of God, that he has made a free promise of deliverance from all the miseries of sin, and that convinced sinners might be enabled to rely upon the promise, and to find comfort in it, God revealed it in his word, which cannot be broken. There it is written and entered upon record; and what he has there engaged to bestow upon believers, shall be made good to them for ever and ever. To them he will freely give without money and without price, both in time and in eternity, all the blessings which are the fruit of the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ. To them he gives freely what cost him an infinite sum. The merit of all that he did and suffered is made theirs by faith, and faith is one of the blessings which he obtained among the rest; for it is one of his precious gifts which he bestows upon his people by the operation of his good Spirit, who works with, and animates the incorruptible seed of the word, rendering it the means of forming faith in their hearts. The word of promise begets faith in them, by the Holy Spirit's enabling them first to rely upon it, and afterwards to experience its sweetness and richness, and then they know the truth of the fore-mentioned definition, namely, that a promise is an act of God's free grace, whereby he has engaged, in his word, to bestow upon believers, all the blessings which come to them through the obedience and sufferings of Jesus Christ.

Now since this is the nature of the promises, there is but one point to be cleared up, and it is this-What security has God given for the fulfilling of the promises? The Lord knew what power unbelief had over careless sinners, and how hard it was to bring convinced sinners to believe, and how believers would be tempted by their remaining corruptions to entertain doubts and fears, and therefore he provided the most full and perfect evidence, that the case will admit of.