Fourthly, God hath by promise engaged himself to assure his people of their happiness, and blessedness, The 1Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walk uprightly. If he will with-hold no good thing, then certainly he will not always withhold assurance, which is the great good thing, the only thing, the chiefest thing, the peculiar thing that believers seek after. So in that thirty fourth of Ezek. 30, 31. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel are my people, saith the Lord God. And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, ⟨p. 10⟩are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. So in that, John 14. 21. 23. He that hath my Commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest my 2self to him. If any man love me (saith Christ) he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Now hath the Lord spoken it, and shall it not come to pass? Men say, and unsay, they eat their words as soon as they have spoken them: but will God do so? Surely no, He is faithful that hath promised. All the Promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, that is, they are stable and firm, and shall really be made good. The Promises are a precious Book, every leaf drops Myrrh and Mercy: Therefore, set down and suck at these breasts, warm thy self at this fire: God hath been always as good as his word; yea, he hath sometimes been better then his word; he hath ever performed, and he hath over performed; he promised the children of Israel only the Land of Canaan, but he gave them, besides the ⟨p. 11⟩whole Land of Canaan, two other Kingdoms which he never promised. Ah! how often hath God prevented us with his blessings? and hath given3 us in such mercies, as have been as far beyond our hopes as our deserts? How hath God in these days of darkness and blood, gone beyond the prayers, desires, hopes, and confidences of his people in this Land? and beyond what we could read in the Book of the Promises. Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst: he promises honour, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss; he promises life, and pays with death:
Fourthly, God hath by promise engaged himselfe to assure his people of their happinesse, and blessednesse, The 1Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he with-hold from them that walke uprightly. If hee will with-hold no good thing, then certainly he will not alwayes withhold assurance, which is the great good thing, the only thing, the chiefest thing, the peculiar thing that beleevers seek after. So in that thirty fourth of Ezek. 30, 31. Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel are my people, saith the Lord God. And yee my flock, the flock of my pasture, ⟨p. 10⟩are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. So in that, John 14. 21. 23. He that hath my Commandements, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest my 2selfe to him. If any man love me (saith Christ) he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. Now hath the Lord spoken it, and shall it not come to passe? Men say, and unsay, they eate their words as soon as they have spoken them: but will God do so? Surely no, Hee is faithful that hath promised. All the Promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, that is, they are stable and firme, and shall really be made good. The Promises are a precious Book, every leaf drops Myrrhe and Mercie: Therefore, set down and suck at these brests, warme thy self at this fire: God hath been always as good as his word; yea, hee hath sometimes been better then his word; he hath ever performed, and he hath over performed; hee promised the children of Israel only the Land of Canaan, but he gave them, besides the ⟨p. 11⟩whole Land of Canaan, two other Kingdoms which hee never promised. Ah! how often hath God prevented us with his blessings? and hath given3 us in such mercies, as have been as far beyond our hopes as our deserts? How hath God in these dayes of darknesse and blood, gone beyond the prayers, desires, hopes, and confidences of his people in this Land? and beyond what we could read in the Book of the Promises. Satan promises the best, but payes with the worst: hee promises honour, and pays with disgrace; hee promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with losse; he promises life, and pays with death:
- 1Psal. 84. 11. Antiochus promised often, but seldom gave; but God gives as much, and as often as he promiseth, he hath a kings heart, as well as a kings purse.Psal. 84. 11. Antiochus promised often, but seldome gave; but God gives as much, and as often as he promiseth, he hath a kings heart, as wel as a kings purse.
- 2Nil Deo diffi•ilo there is nothing hard for God. Tully an heathen frequently called God (optimum maximum) the best and greatest. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Plato called God the Horn of plenty, and the Ocean of beauty, without the least spot of injustice. Isa. 64 4. 1 Cor. 2. 9. Psal. 21. 3. Isa. 65. 24.Nil Deo diffi•ilo there is nothing hard for God. Tully an heathen frequently called God (optimum maximum) the best and greatest. 2 Cor. 1. 20. Plato called God the Horn of plenty, and the Ocean of beauty, withou• the least spot of injustice. Isa. 64 4. 1 Cor. 2. 9. Psal. 21. 3. Isa. 65. 24.
- 3Vi•es reports of a Jew, that having gone over a deep river on a narrow plank, in a dark night, & coming the next day to see what danger he had escaped, fell down dead with astonishment. Ah the astonishing mercies that we have had in these late years.Vi•es reports of a Jew, that having gone over a deep river on a narrow planck, in a dark night, & comming the next day to see what danger he had escaped, fell down dead with astonishment. Ah the astonishing mercies that we have had in these late yeers.
