nefs, gant that we may all know and do in this "our day, for thy mercies fake in JESUS CHRIST; "to whom, with the FATHER and the HOLY "GHOST, be all honour and glory, dominion and power, now and for ever. Amen.

SERMON XCVII.

The nature and influence of the promises of the gospel.

2. PETER i. 4.

Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promifes; that by thefe ye might be partakers of the divine nature.

T

this text.

HE connexion of these words with the former S ERM. is somewhat obfcure, but it seems to be this. XCVII. The apostle had in the verse before faid, "that the The firft divine power of CHRIST hath by the knowledge offermon on "the gospel given us all things that pertain to life " and godliness;" that is by the knowledge of the gofpel we are furnished with all advantages which conduce to make men happy in the next life, and religious in this; and then it follows, "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises." whereby; this feems to refer to the whole of the foregoing verfe; as if it had been faid, "CHRIST by the gofpel hath given to us all things that conduce to ' our future happiness; and in order thereto, all "things which tend to make men holy and good."

66

Or

XCVII.

SERM. Or elfe life and godliness are, by a hebraifm frequent in the new testament, put for a godly life. And then among all those things which conduce to a godly life, the apostle inftanceth in the promises of the gospel which do fo directly tend to make men " partakers of a divine nature,'

In the handling of these words, I fhall,

Firft, confider the promises here fpoken of; "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and "precious promises."

Secondly, the influence which these promises ought to have upon us; "that by thefe ye might be made partakers of a divine nature.'

First, we will confider the promises which are here spoken of; "whereby are given unto us exceeding "great and precious promifes." And because the chief promises of the gospel are here intended, I shall take occafion from this text to handle the doctrine of the promises, which is frequently difcourfed of in divinity, but not always fo clearly stated. And to this purpose, it will be proper to take into confideration these four things.

I. What the promifes are which are fpoken of;. "whereby are given unto us promises,"

II. Why they are faid to be fo great and precious; "exceeding great and precious promises."

III. We will confider the tenor of these promises. IV. When men are faid to have a right to them fo as they may apply them to themselves. These four heads. will comprehend what I have to fay upon this argument,

I. What the promises are which the apostle here fpeaks of; "whereby are given unto us promises." And no doubt, the apoftle here intends those great and

excellent

XCVII.

excellent promifes which CHRIST hath made to us SRE M. in the gospel. So as to fatisfy ourselves in this enquiry, we need only to confider what are the principal promises of the gospel. Now the great promifes of the gofpel are these three.

1. The promise of the free pardon and forgiveness of our fins, upon our faith and repentance.

2. The promise of God's grace and HOLY SPIRIT to affift our obedience.

3. The promife of eternal life to reward it.

1. The promise of the pardon and forgiveness of our fins, upon our faith and repentance. The gospel hath made full and clear promifes to this purpose; that if we believe the gospel, and will forfake our fins, and amend our wicked lives, all that is past fhall be forgiven us, and that CHRIST died for this end, to obtain for us remiflion of fins in his blood. The light of nature, upon confideration of the mercy and goodnefs of GOD, gave men good hopes, that upon their repentance GOD would forgive their fins, and turn away his wrath from them. But mankind was doubtful of this, and therefore they used expiatory facrifices to appease the offended deity. The Jewish religion allowed of no expiation, but for legal impurities, and in voluntary tranfgreffions, fuch as proceeded from ignorance and inadvertency; but not for fins of prefumtion," and fuch as were committed "with an high hand." If men finn'd wilfully, there was no facrifice appointed by the law for fuch fins. But the grace of the gofpel juftifies us from the greateft fins, upon our faith and fincere repentance. So St. Paul tells the Jews, Acts xiii. 38, 39. Be it known unto you therefore, men and "brethren,

SER M." brethren, that through this man is preached

XCVII.

unto you the forgivenefs of fins: and by him all "that believe are juftified from all things, from "which ye could not be juftified by the law of "Mofes." There was no general promise of pardon, nor way of expiation under the law; perfect remiffion of fins is clearly revealed, and afcertain'd to us only by the gospel.

2. Another great promife of the gospel, is the promife of God's grace and HOLY SPIRIT to affift our obedience. Our bleffed SAVIOUR hath promifed, "that our heavenly FATHER will give his HOLY "SPIRIT to them that ask him." "Tis true indeed, there was a peculiar promise of the HOLY GHOST to the apostles and chriftians of the first ages, which is not now to be expected; namely, an extraordinary and miraculous power, whereby they were qualified to publish the gospel to the world, and to give confirmation to it. But now that the chriftian religion is propagated and fettled in the world, the great end and use of these miraculous gifts is ceased: but yet the SPIRIT of GOD doth ftill concur with the gospel, and work upon the minds of men, to excite and affift them to that which is good. And tho' this operation be very fecret, fo as we cannot give an account of the manner of it, yet the effects of it are very fenfible, and this influence of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT is common to all chriftians in all ages of the world. This propofition is univerfally true, and in all ages and times; "if any man hath not the SPI"RIT of CHRIST, he is none of his."

It must be acknowledged, that the SPIRIT doth not now work upon men in that sudden and sensible

manner,

"

manner, as it did in the first times of chriftianity; 9 ER M because then men were strongly poffefs'd with the pre- XCVII. judices of other religions, which they had been brought up in, and therefore as more'outward means of conviction were then neceffary, fo likewife a more powerful internal operation of the SPIRIT of GOD upon the minds of men, to conquer and bear down thofe prejudices, and to fubdue them to the obedience of faith. But now the principals of religion and goodnefs are more gradually inftill'd into the minds of men, by the gentle degrees of pious inftruction and education; and with these means the SPIRIT of GOD concurs in a more human way, which is more fuited and accommodated to our reason, and offers lefs violence to the nature of men. So that this promise of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT is now made good to us, as the neceffity and circumftances of our prefent ftate do require. God does not ufe fuch extraordinary means for the producing of thofe effects, which may be accomplish'd in a more ordinary way. The affiftance of GOD'S HOLY SPIRIT is ftill neceffary to men, to incline and enable them to that which is good, but not in that manner and degree that it was neceffary at firft: because the prejudices against chriftianity are not now fo great, and many of thofe advantages which were neceffarily wanting at firft, are now supplied in an ordinary way; and therefore it is not reasonable now to expect the fame extraordinary operation of the SPIRIT of GOD upon the minds of men, which we read of in the first beginning of christianity,

3. There is likewife the promise of eternal life to reward and crown our obedience. And this the VOL. VI.

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