Imatges de pàgina
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IV. There is riches of goodness in God, Rom. ii. 4. to fhew towards poor miferable finners; and of mercy, Eph. ii. 4. in paffing by their tranfgreffions for his own name's fake; and of grace, Eph. i. 7. in working a thorough change in them, and drawing them in to himself by faith; and of wisdom, Rom. ix. 33. to carry them on towards everlafting happinefs, notwithstanding of the many difficulties in their way; for he is here faid to be rich, The fame Lord over all is rich, &c.

V. However the Lord be leting out and communicating much of his goodness even towards Heathens, and enemies, Rom. ii. 4. and giving many common mercies and acts of bounty and goodness towards unbelievers; yet there are none who are enriched with the riches of his fpecial love, grace and good-will, or can challenge the outletings of his grace, in pardoning their daily efcapes, and of his wisdom and ftrength, in carrying them fafe to heaven, but fuch as are calling upon him, depending upon him for fresh fupply and dropings of grace: He is rich to all them that call upon him.

VI. Howbeit there be many who are truly feeking God, that look upon themfelves as forfaken of God, and unworthy of any favour or refpect at his hand; yet all fuch as call upon him in truth, how fecklefs foever they feem to be in their own eyes, may go boldly unto God as their treafure and store-house, and God is engaged to let out of himself unto them ac

cording to their neceffities: He is rich to all them that call upon him.

VII. However many think that God is a hard mafter to ferve, yet there are none that are feeking his face in fincerity, who fhall have juft caufe to fay fo of him; he is bountiful and liberal to them all, and lets out of himself in great abundance, fo as no foul needs fear want, how many foever there be to partake of his goodness; he is an inexhauftible fountain, at which all may drink, and drink abundantly: He is rich unto all that call upon him; none of them can juftly complain, for he is bountiful and liberal unto them all.

VIII. True and fincere profeffing of the Lord to be ours, confifteth in conflant dependence upon him for relief in all our ftraits, counsel and direction in all our dif ficulties, as our head and husband; keeping conflant correfpondence with him by prayer and fupplication; for what before he called a confeffing with the mouth, he now calleth a calling upon the Lord: He is rich to all them that call upon bim.

From verfe 13. OBSERVE,

I. However we be ftrangers to God by nature, and have the door closed upon us; yet

having now clofed with Chrift by faith, there is an open door made, and ac cefs unto all to lay out their neceffities and wants unto God as a father; and wherever there is true faith, it vents in fending up its fuits and defires to the Moft High: for believing on him goeth before calling upon him; and after they have believed, then followeth, whofoever calleth upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved.

II. Whatever ftraits and difficulties believers can meet with in a world, they have ftill this back door to fly to, and when all fhifts and refuges fail, they have this course to betake them unto, even to call upon the Lord; and whatever guilt fare them in the face, they are allowed to ftep forward in humility, and yield themfelves

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unto the Lord as Jehovah; there is an univerfality here, Whosoever fball call upon the name of the Lord.

III. In all our addreffes unto the Lord, we should still take him up as Jehovah, the fame unchangeable God, notwithstanding of all the various difpenfations which we meet with; and all-fufficient, able to give a being to all his promifes, as he hath his being in and of himfelf; this would both ftrengthen our faith, and fharpen our confidence: therefore it is faid, Whofoever fall call upon the name of the Lord, or of Jehovah. IV. Howbeit believers may long lie fill in trouble, notwithstanding of their crying to be delivered, and may be denied the particulars which they are moit anxious about; yet in end God thall fully and finally deliver them, and make good this promife, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, fhall be saved.

and how hall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how Shall they bear without a preacher? And how hall they preach, except they be fent as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that pre ich the goSpel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

HE apoftle in this difcourfe of his

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is interlining the Jews rejection with the calling of the Gentiles; wherefore having made mention of the promises of God, of life and falvation to fuch as would believe in, and call upon God, and shown how thefe promifes reach the Gentiles no lefs than the Jews, he now taketh occafion to fpeak of the calling of the Gen. tiles, and to fhow how confonant it is unto the Lord's promifes; and thereby juftifieth his preaching to the Gentiles, which did not a little difpleafe the Jews. And in this he layeth cut the chain of the means. whereby God brings his own to life, and linketh every mean clofely to another, as the effect to the caufe. His difcourfe is a gradation; for having made mention of that promife in Joel, that whofoever should call upon the name of the Lord, be they Gentile or Jew, fhould be faved; and now, would

V. Altho' believers be oftentimes entertaining hard thoughts of God, when he is not anfwering them at every call, and fatisfying all their defires; yet when the day cometh that this promife thall be made good, and God fhall wipe all tears from their eyes, and place them without the reach of trouble and calamity, then fhall they be convinced of the riches of God towards them; and every temporal delive-he fay, Seeing it is God's good pleasure ry and answer to their fuits and defires, is a proof of the riches of his goodness, mercy, and good-will toward them: for to prove that God is rich to all that call upon him, he brings forth this teftimony, where the Lord promifeth, that whosoever shall call upon his name fhall be faved

VI. Jefus Chrift is true God, equal with the Father in power and glory; for here he is called JEHOVAH, a name which only belongeth to the true God, and is no where given to others; for what before was called a confeffing of Chrift, is here called a call ing on the name of Jehovah.

VERSES 14. 15. How then Shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?

that the Gentiles fhould be faved, and he hath here faid, that none fhall be faved, but fuch as call upon his name, you cannot be offended with me for preaching the gofpel unto them, for there is a neceffary connection, in God's ordinary way, betwixt the preaching of the gofpel and falvation.. Thus then he reafoneth by queries, becaufe the matter was clear, and fhould be undeniable. 1. How then fall they call on him in whom they have not believed? before one can truly and fincerely call upon the Lord, he must believe in him; he muft believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of all them that diligently feek him, Heb. ix. 6. 2. And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? Faith

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is no blind act of the foul; the mysteries concerning life being hid from us naturally, they must be revealed ere we can believe: faith is an understanding act of the foul, and prefuppofeth knowledge. 3. And how fhall they hear without a preacher? How can they be confirmed in these matters, unless there be fome fet apart of purpose for that office and employment, to preach the glad tidings of the golpel with authority. And, 4. How all they preach, except they be fent? How fhall they take upon them this office, to preach with authority, unless they have a commiffion, and unless they be authorized for that effect. And for the confirmation of this, he citeth a paffage out of Ifaiah lii. 7. in citing whereof, he followeth not the Seventy, which is corrupt, (for they render the words thus: I am prefent as beauty upon the mountains, as feet preaching the hearing of peace, and preaching good things ;) but the Hebrew; citing what was for his purpofe, and turning the fingular into the plural, following the force of the Hebrew word, As it written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. And though the Hebrew verb rendered, to preach the gospel, fignifieth only to publifh tidings, yet the apoftle doth thus render it, thereby declaring what it was which the prophet was mainly aiming at, viz. the publishing of the gofpel. Alfo in these words the prophet was fpeaking of the return of the captivity from Babylon, Neh. j. 11. and therefore fays, How beautiful? how comely or defirable are the very dufty and fweaty feet of fuch as preach the gofpel of peace and reconciliation with God, and declare peace and welfare, and publifi glad and good tidings. Now, by this paffage thus cited, he cleareth the fum of what he has been faying, viz. that the gospel must be preached, and that it cannot be done without a commiffion from the Lord; yea, that the preaching of the glad tidings of the gofpel is fo neceffary,

that the very feet of fuch as carry thefe good tidings fhould be lovely and defirable. OBSERVATIONS.

I. Humble depending on God, and feeking him and his help in all our straits and neceffities, is neceffary unto life, by virtue of a command, fo as fuch who fcorn to call on God, have no warrant to expect life, but do certainly exclude themselves therefrom; the whole contexture of the means of life is for this end: How can they call on him, &c. See Pfal. cxix. 94. and xiv. 4.

II. Howbeit many may call upon the Lord with their lips, Luke xviii. 11. tho' they have not faith, yet none can truly and heartily lay out their condition before the Lord with confidence, but fuch as have placed their hope in the Lord, and have calt their burden over on him by faith, having grounds of hope to be heard: ftrangers may cry, but his own only can call upon him as their engaged God and Father: How can they call upon him in whom they have not believed? ` See Mark xi. 24. James i. 6. 7. Rom, xiv. 23. Heb. xi. 6.

III. Seeing neither angels nor faints departed are fuch as we are allowed to place our confidence in, being difcharged therefrom, under the pain of a heavy curfe, Jer. xvii. 5. therefore neither dare we invocate them, and send up our defires to them in a religious manner: it is impoffible that we can call upon them aright in whom we have not believed.

IV. True and faving faith is not a blind, rafh, and groundless act of the foul, but is a moft rational deed, founded upon certain knowledge, and clear grounds; none truly believe in God, but whom they know, and have heard: How can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

V. By nature we are utter ftrangers unto the nature and excellent properties of God, the knowledge whereof would encourage a foul to believe in him; and fo by nature we cannot believe, and caft our

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anchor on the Moft High; for we cannot believe, except we know; and we cannot know, without revelation: What we know of God must be drunken in with the hearing of the ear; How shall they believe in bim of whom they have not heard?

VI. Tho' the Lord has his own way of working faith, and other graces neceffary to falvation, in infants who are elected, and in fuch as are born deaf; yet in the Lord's ordinary courfe and way of working of faith, it is begoten by the preaching of the gofpel; and fuch as ftop their ears at the word preached, are likely never to believe: How all they believe in him of whom they have not heard?

VII. Howbeit many may defpife the preaching of the word, and account it foolishness, and may think to be edified as well in the faith, if not better, by their own private studies, without public preaching; yet however God may be pleased to blefs these private means to fome, he has appointed public preaching to be the ordinary way of falvation, and of grounding folk in the knowledge of God, fo as none who contemn the fame can have any ground to expect God's bleffing upon their private endeavours: How ball they hear without a preacher? fo that where there is no vifion, the people perish, Prov. xxix. 18. See 1 Cor. i. 18. 1 Tim. i. 16.

VIII. Tho' God may fometimes blefs the labours of parents in educating their children, Gen. xviii. 19. Eph. vi. 4. and of masters in inftructing their fervants, and of school-mafters their scholars, and of private Christians in inftructing their neighbours; yet God's ordinary way of begeting faith in fouls is by the preaching of men in office, who are authorized, not by gifts alone, but alfo by an authoritative miffion; and it is the duty of paftors, and men in office, as fuch, even to beget children to God, and by their preaching to work faith in their hearers: How can they hear without a preacher? and how can they preach, except they be fent?

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IX. Howbeit all private Christians may and ought, according to their stations, to endeavour to promote the fpiritual welfare of their neighbours, by occafional warnings and rebukes, Lev. xix. 17. and other whole fome admonitions and inftructions; yet none may prefume to take upon them the office of a preacher, and to officiate therein publickly, and with all authority, in a conftitured church, unless they be called thereto, either immediately and extraordinarily only, as were the prophets and apoftles; or mediately, by his church, in the way carved out by him; fo that it is not fufficient that they be inftructed with gifts, but they must have an orderly miffion and call thereto, as being public meffengers and embaffadors, 2 Cor. V. 19. 20. Miffion is effential, and it is effential even to ordinary teachers, or all whofe office it is to beget faith; and this miffion is not only providential, which can warrant no act of itself, but authoritative, fuch as agreeth to watchmen and heralds, Ifa. lii. 8. rulers, 1 Tim. v. 17. overfeers, Heb. xiii. 17. 24. Newards, 1 Cor. iv. 1.: How can they preach, except they be fent? See Heb. v. 4. 5.

X. This office wherein fome are fet, with fpiritual commiffion and warrant, is not an office to fall down, but is a standing ordinance to the end of the world, being of a great neceffity for the begeting of faith in people, fo that fo long as there is faith to be wrought in people, this ordinance and office will be found necessary; hence we find promises of the continuance of it, Jer. iii. 15. and xxiii. 4. and of God's prefence with fuch, Matth. xxviii. 20. God's end in inftituting this, calls for it, Eph. iv. 11. 1 Cor. xii. 29.: How can they hear without a preacher?

XI. This ordinance of the miniftry is not an ordinance of man, tho' God be pleased mediately to inftate fome particular perfons in the office, but it hath its rife from heaven; God is its author, who therefore hath defigned particular perfons 3 G

thereto,

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thereto, diftinguishing them from others by diftinct titles and characters, 1 Cor. xii. 28. Acts xiii. 2. and xx. 28. 1 Pet. v. 2. Tit. i. 7. Gal. vi. 10. Luke xii. 42. and xvi. 2. he it is who hath fet down what qualifications is fit for fuch, Tim. iii 2. and ii. 2. 15. and the like; for he who made the rest of the links of the chain made this too; he who faid, How can they believe in him of whom they have not beard? faid alfo, How can they hear with out a preacher? and how can they preach, except they be fent?

XII. Such as God hath commiffionated and authorized for the work of the miniftry, ought to go about the duties of their calling with gravity and authority, with out fear; they fhould be like heralds, knowing who hath fent them forth, and impowered them; fuch as are once fent may boldly and freely preach, with all authority: How can they preach, except they be fent? that fays, that if once they be fent, they may preach, that is, as heralds publish and proclaim the mind of the Lord: And because the thoughts of our calling are not fresh upon our fpirits, therefore we faint fo readily when we meet with oppofition.

From the paffage cited OBSERVE, I. The principal task and errand of the authorized minifters of Chrift, is to publish and proclaim peace to all rebels, who will lay down their weapons, and fubmit to take quarters from Chrift Jefus the Prince of Peace, who has bought peace with his precious blood, and hath laid down his life to purchase peace and reconciliation betwixt God and finners; they are public heralds fent forth to publish peace, and the terms of an everlasting agreement. See Acts x. 36. 37.

II. However carnal people, that are weded to their lufts, and blinded with felf-love, and love to their idols, fo as they cannot clearly take up, nor understand the nature of divine things, do look on minifters

preaching as an intolerable burden whereof they weary; yet the very truth is, minifters are about nothing but what is good and profitable to them, and excellent in itfelf; all that which they speak according to their commiffion, how bitter and unfavoury foever it appear, yet is wholefone and ufeful to people: they treat about heaven and eternity, and labour to clear the way thither, and to engage folk in that way, to the falvation of their fouls; fo they are faid to publish good things.

III. As these things about which minifters are to be employed are tranfcendently excellent, lovely and defirable, being the gladeft news that ever was heard of, and the best things that ever were imagined; fo minifters in handling of thefe fhould behave themfelves fuitably, and should be affected with the sweetness and desirablenefs of the news themfelves, and hold them forth fo as others may be convinced of the truth and worth of them, and accordingly affected: their duty is, to handle thefe good things, and that peace, as glad news; and, to speak fo, they fhould evangelize this matter of peace, and thefe good things: They preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.

IV. Seeing men by nature are enemies to God, and there is no peace between God and them, and feeing they are alfo denuded of all thefe precious and excellent commedities of heaven; fuch as come in the name of the Lord with offers of fuch things to them, fhould be moft heartily welcomed and embraced, with all love and favour; and the more any poor foul be fenfible of their want of thefe fpiritual and faving enjoyments, and of their need of peace and reconciliation with God, the more highly will they esteem them: How beautiful are the feet of fuch as preach the gospel of peace! They are beautiful and lovely, and none can tell how beautiful they are unto mankind finners.

V. Whatever infirmities ministers are compaffed with, (being subject to them no

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