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promifed, Heb. x. 23. Hence it is, that the blef fings of God's covenant are called fure mercies, Isa. lv. 3.

We attribute much to the word of a faithful friend, and look upon the promise of an honeft man as very good fecurity; but men may fail us when we rely upon them: but God is true, though all men should prove liars. Men are fickle and mutable, but the nature of God is fixed, he cannot fail thofe that trust in him. When God hath made any promise to us, we may plead it with him, and urge him with his faithfulnefs. So we find David did, 2 Sam. vii. 25, &c.

Only we fhould be careful to perform the condi tion which is required on our part, Heb. iv. 1. we fhould take heed, left a promife being left us, any one fhould come fhort of it, by not performing the condition; for that doth release and difcharge him of the promife; and he is faithful, though he doth not perform what he promised, because he did not promife, but upon condition: And this feems to be the meaning of those words, 2 Tim. ii. 13. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. He faid before, that if we perform the conditions required, God will beftow the bleffings promifed: It is a faithful faying; for if we be dead with him, we shall alfo live with him; if we fuffer, we shall alfo reign with him: But if we deny him, the curfe threatened will then take place, and he will deny us; and God is not unfaithful in doing this, be does not deny himself.

Now, if we have fuch affurance, we may truft him with our greatest concernments, and venture our fouls with him, Pfal. xxxi. 5. Into thine hand I commit my fpirit; thou haft redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. We fhould rely upon him, when there are the greatest improbabilities of the accomplishment of his promifes. Thus did Abraham, Rom. iv. 17, c.

This fhould make us also patient in hope: If a promife be not fpeedily accomplished, we thould not be dejected, or difquieted. David challengeth himself

upon

upon this account, Pfal xlii. 11. Why art thou caft down, O my foul? and why art thou difquieted within me? hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. And fo likewife in reference to the rewards of another world, though at a distance; yet we should, as the Apoftle fpeaks, wait for the bieffed hope.

Fourthly, The truth of God is matter of terror to the wicked. All the threatenings of temporal evils may juftly be expected, becaufe their fins deferve them, and there is no condition implied in them, upon which thou canst reasonably hope for the avoiding or abating of the evils threatened, but of humiliation and repentance: And if, notwithstanding thefe threatenings, thou continueft in thy fins, and bleffeft thyfelf, faying, I shall have peace, though thou walk in the imaginations of thy heart; by this very thing thou provoket the juftice of God, not to fpare thee, and makeft his wrath and jealousy to smoke against thee; and if thou continueft impenitent, however he may defer the execution of temporal evils, his truth and veracity is concerned to inflict eternal punishments upon thee; for he hath sworn in his wrath, that fuch shall not enter into his reft.

Fifthly, Let us propound to our felves the truth of God for our pattern and imitation. Would you be like God? be true and faithful. Truth and faithfulness are divine perfections; but lying and falfhood are the properties of the Devil, and the predominant qualities of hell. The character of the devil is, that he abode not in the truth, and there is no truth in him when he fpeaketh a lie, it is of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it, John viii. 44.

One of the first and most natural notions that we have of religion, is, That it is to imitate God, and to endeavour to be like him, fo far as we are capable; and to contradict any of the divine excellencies and perfections, is the higheft fin; because it is against the cleareft dictates of our mind, and contrary to those principles which are moft deeply rooted in our naNo man can be cruel and unmerciful, false and treacherous, without a very high degree of VOL. VI.

ture.

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guilt;

guilt, because these fins are contrary to the chiefest and most effential perfections of God. Lying is a fin that would fly in the face of an Heathen, becaufe it directly contradicts thofe natural notions which every man hath of God and religion; therefore we find that there is hardly any thing that men are more afhamed of than to be taken in a lie, and it is esteemed the highest reproach to be charged with it; it argues fuch a direct contrariety to that which is the rule of perfection, the nature of God, and confequently fo much imperfection and bafenefs; he that tells a lie out of fear, is at once bold towards God, and base towards men.

Upon these accounts God expreffeth himself highly offended with thofe that practife lying and falfhood, and to have a deteftation of them; Prov. xii. 22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. It renders us unlike to him, Eph. iv. 24, 25. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness, (or in the holiness of truth.) And from hence he infers, Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth to his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Col. iii. 9, 10. Lie not one to another, feeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge, after the image of him that created him; that is, because we profefs to be conformed to the image of God. More particularly, we fhould charge ourselves with truth and faithfulness towards God and men.

1. Towards God, in our oaths and vows and covenants. In our oaths, when we fwear in any matter, we tell God that what we fpeak is truth, and invoke him to bear witness to it. To falfify in an oath, is one of the most folemn affronts that we can put upon the God of truth.

And fo in our vows, which are a folemn promise to God, in fuch things in which we have no precedent obligation lying upon us. He that regardeth truth, will neither be rafh in making a vow, nor carelefs to perform it; Ecclef. v. 4. When thou vow. eft a vow to God, defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure

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445 pleafure in fools. Not to perform what we have vowed, is an argument of folly, either of rafhness in the making of it, or of inconftancy in not keeping it.

So likewife in all our covenants with God, to serve
him, and obey him, and keep his commandments,
we fhould ftrictly charge ourselves with performance
of these. There is a natural obligation upon us to
thefe things, from the very law of our creation,
though we fhould never folemnly make any fuch
promife, nor enter into any fuch engagements, be-
cause it is a tacit condition of our beings: but the
taking of this covenant folemnly upon us in baptifm,
ftrengthens the obligation, and makes our unfaith-
fulness the greater fin. All our hopes of happiness,
are founded in the faithfulness of God; and if thou
be falfe to him, how canst thou expect he should be
faithful to thee? It is true, indeed, that he abides faith-
ful, he cannot deny himself; but if thou haft any in-
genuity in thee, this fhould be an argument to thee
to be faithful to him; I am fure this can be no encou-
ragement to thee to be unfaithful: for if thou breakest
the covenant thou haft entred into, and neglecteft
the conditions upon which God hath fufpended the
performance of his promife, thou dischargeft the ob-
ligation on his part.

2. Towards men: We fhould charge ourselves with
truth in all our words, and faithfulness in all our
promises. It becomes us who worship the God of
truth, to fpeak truth; to use plainnefs and fincerity
in all our words; to abhor falfhood and dffimulation,
and thofe more refined ways of lying, by equivoca-
tion of words, and fecret refervations of our minds,
on purpose to deceive. Thofe that plead for these,
it is a fign they do not understand the nature of God,
and of religion; which is, to conform ourselves to
the divine perfections. We meet with many com-
plaints in the Old Teftament, of the want of truth
and faithfulness among men: Pfal. xii. 1, 2. Ifa.
lix. 13, 14, 15. Jer. vii. 2, 8, 9.
-ii. 4, 5
6. Hof. iv. 1. I am afraid there is as much reafon
for this complaint now; for we live in an age of

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greater

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greater light, which doth reprove and make manifeft this work of darkness; and methinks there is no fadder fign of the decay of Chriftianity, and of the little power and influence that the gofpel hath upon us, than that there is fo little regard had by Chriftians to these moral duties; which, because moral, (however men may flight that word) are therefore of eternal and indifpenfable obligation, having their foundation in the nature of God.

To conclude all: That man that can difpenfe with himself as to moral duties, that makes no confcience of telling a lie, or breaking his word; what badge foever he may wear, what title foever he may call himself by, it is as impoffible that fuch a man fhould be a true Chriftian, as it is to reconcile the God of truth and the father of lies.

SERMON

The holiness of God.

1 PET. i. 16.

CXLII.

Be ye holy, for I am holy.

N fpeaking to this attribute, I fhall,

IN

I. Enquire what we are to understand by the holinefs of God.

II. Endeavour to fhew that this perfection belongs to God.

I. What we are to understand by the holinefs of God. There is fome difficulty in fixing the proper notion of it; for though there be no property more frequently attributed to God, in fcripture, than this of holinefs, yet there is none of all God's attributes which Divines have spoken,more fparingly of, than this.

The general notion of holiness is, that it is a feparation from a common and ordinary, to a peculiar and

excellent

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