ties. Certainly, a child of God may not only be assured of God's fidelity but his own sincerity. These mercies are sure in respect of the subject as well as the object, for the promises run in general and indefinite terms, " whosoever believeth shall be saved;" but I, saith the soul, truly believe, therefore I shall be saved, and this particular application and reflection is as much as if it were said, if thou John, Thomas, Peter, do believe, thou shalt be saved; now though the heart be deceitful, yet the Scripture hath laid down such characters by which a man may try and discern the sincerity of his own act in closing with Christ, for true believing is a receiving of him as he is offered to us in the gospel.-John i. 12. Besides, the saints "receive the spirit of adoption, which beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the children of God, Rom. viii. 15, 16, and this is "an earnest of their inheritance," * which assures them of the whole possession; it is a seal, and takes away all occasion of doubting. † Paul saith of all believers, 1 Cor. ii. 12, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are given us of God," that is, these mercies of the covenant, adoption, pardon, sanctification, salvation. God hath laid it upon us as a duty "to make our calling and election sure," not in itself, but to ourselves, therefore, it is attainable, for God doth not command us impossibilities; he that bids us " try ourselves whether we be in the faith," || supposeth we may come to know upon an exact trial; besides, many of the saints have been assured of their sincerity and salvation by ordinary ways, which all the saints may use, and have a like success in a like full assurance of faith; and God * Ephes. i. 14 + Ephes. iv. 30. hath bid us "ask that we may receive, that our joy may be full." * Now, we are to "ask in faith," believing that he will grant what we ask, and we have a promise to be heard, yea, he sets us on asking that he may give. But I, need not stand long to prove the possibility of a child of God's attaining assurance, for experience doth abundantly confirm it, and blessed be God that in this we can groundedly say the Papists are mistaken. 3. Another class whom this doctrine confutes are the Arminians, and that in two respects: first, on the subject of universal redemption; secondly, on falling away from grace. (1.) The text saith these are "the sure mercies of David;" God's Davids or beloved ones only have an interest in them, not all men: and in the Doctrine, I say, that covenant mercies promised in Christ are purchased and ensured by Christ to all the heirs of promise, and I must add-only to these, and to none besides; and therefore Christ died not for all. Here I shall only use these two arguments, which immediately relate to the present subject First, Christ's mediatorial undertaking is not intended as a price for any but such as were proposed by God to the mediator in the covenant of redemption, to be redeemed by him; but all and every one were not so proposed, therefore not redeemed. I have before considered that great transaction betwixt the Father and the Son: now, it is most certain that the mediator's death and sufferings are to be looked upon as regulated and qualified in respect of their effects, according to what was proposed by the Father, and consented to by the Son. Hence Christ saith, that "he came not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him, * John xvi. 24. Mark xi. 24. 1 John v. 14, 15. and to finish his work, and to give eternal life to as many as God hath given to him :" therefore Christ must by his undertaking ensure those mercies to all those, and none but those that the Father proposed to him in this everlasting engagement. As for that conditional giving of some to Christ, which some speak of, that would derogate from his glory, for he must needs know the event, and that such a conditional giving would not effect it; and to say he willed what should not come to pass, or applied such means as he knew would not be effectual to the end, cannot be imagined. Besides, those that are given to Christ are contradistinguished from others that are not given to him; therefore, those only are assigned peculiarly to be redeemed and not others. Secondly, All those and only those whom Christ redeemed, have all the mercies of the covenant ensured to them, but all have not all covenant mercies ensured to them and conferred on them, therefore all are not redeemed by Christ. Christ is the surety and mediator of the new covenant; and he gives faith, repentance, pardon, heaven to them for whom he is engaged as a surety, they shall not fail of any covenant mercies, that are absolutely necessary to salvation, for he is faithful in the execution of all his offices. Now, we know all men have not saving faith nor repentance; while it cannot be conceived but that his satisfaction must be equally effectual for the procuring of these saving mercies to those whose place he occupied as surety; and indeed God promiseth as a recompence to him, that "he shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied;" yea," he shall justify many," that is, as "he many as he undertook for, Isa. liii. 11. If Christ hath borne their iniquites, they must be justified, else he missed of his object; there is an inseparable connexion betwixt Christ's undertaking for them, and his bestowing covenant mercies on them. All that are redeemed by Christ's blood are made "kings and priests to God," Rev. v. 9, 10. They are purchased to be "a peculiar people to God;" they are" washed from their sins in his blood, redeemed from their vain conversation, delivered from spiritual enemies to serve God in holiness all their days," and to be received to heaven when they die. These are the mercies of the covenant which the mediator purchaseth, and applieth to all his people ; therefore none else are redeemed: for the proper and native fruits of Christ's death are not divided, therefore he prays for them that were given to him, and for whose sake he did sanctify himself, and passes by others. John xvii. (2.) This statement confutes Arminians in their discouraging opinion of the saints' apostacy. Some hold that there may be a total apostacy of saints, as the Lutherans; some that it may be final, as Arminius; others maintain that it may be total and final. We hold that believing, regenerate, justified persons, who are endowed with the divine nature and a lively hope, shall not lose that principle and fall from that state of grace, and be utterly deprived of the favour of God: indeed, we need no argument but this, that these mercies of the covenant are sure mercies, which they would not be if they might be lost. There is the immutability of God's promise in the new covenant, the intercession of Jesus Christ for believers, the omnipotency of the Shepherd of Israel who will not lose one of his sheep, the efficacy of the Spirit, supporting and renewing the seed of God, and life of grace in believers, and this seed of God keeps a believer from sinning in two respects: first, he hates and nills in part the evil * * 1 John iii. 9. which he wills and works; secondly, if by human frailty he fall, he makes not a trade of sin, nor keeps a course in it, but the seed of grace makes him restless till he return to God, and be admitted into favour and fellowship with him. Thus, though good David sometimes " goes astray like a lost sheep," yet since he cannot forget God or his commandments, Ps. cxix. 176. his heart was dissatisfied till his God and his soul were at peace again. This gracious principle inclines a Christian God-wards and heaven-wards; "it is a well of water springing up into an everlasting life," John iv. 14; it is "an increasing grain of mustard-seed;" it is "an incorruptible seed that liveth and abideth for ever, an abiding unction, an engrafted word, an indwelling Spirit," &c.† therefore cannot be lost. Blessed be God for this comfortable assurance, which doth not beget licentiousness as our adversaries reproach it, but diligence in the ways of God for the genuine product of it, as the experience of the saints testifies. But I shall say the less on this, because I have hinted at it before in the doctrinal part, and others have said so much on this subject. 4. The last class that are confuted by this doctrine of "the sure mercies of David," are such as maintain the Socinian error, that Christ's death is not a satisfaction for sin; the Socinians hold that Christ's sufferings were only for the confirmation of his doctrine, or for the imitation of the saints, or at most, only to purchase to himself the prerogative to forgive sins freely. These ends are framed mainly as an engine to destroy Christ's Godhead and personality in the glorious Trinity; and it is recorded of Socinus the patron of this blasphemy, that he held that "the world was not *Rom. vii. 19. + Matt. xiii. 31. 1 Pet. i. 23. 1 John ii. 27. James i. 21. |