"change or alteration whatsoever?" To which he anfwers, "That it is neceffary that he fhould be "the fame and always alike." And lib. 2. de Repub. where he lays down the fundamental laws and conftitutions of religion he mentions thefe two, (which, one would almost think, he borrowed from Saint James, but that he lived fo long before him) viz. First," That God is the caufe of all good, and in

no wife of any evil :" answerably to what our Apoftle here afferts, that God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man; but that every good and perfect gift is from him. Secondly, "That "God doth not deceive us, by making various re"prefentations of himself to us; fometimes in one "form, and fometimes in another; for he is un"changeable, and always the fame, and cannot, « τῆς ἑαυτῇ ἰδέας ἐκβαίνειν, pafs out of his own i "dea, or be any other than what he is." Which he further confirms by this excellent reafoning, "That "which is the best and most perfect being is not "liable to any alteration; but fuch a being is God, " and therefore he cannot be changed by any thing "that is weaker and lefs perfect than himself, and "he cannot will to change himself; for if he should, "it muft either be for the better, or for the worfe: "It cannot be for the better; for being already

poffeffed of all perfection, there can be no accef, "fion of any to him by any change; and certainly "there is no wife being, as God is, that will change for the worfe ;" and therefore he concludes, Κάλλισος καὶ ἄριςος ὤν εἰς τὸ δυνατὸν μένει απὶ αν πλῶς καὶ τῇ τῇ μορφή, “ That being the goodlis eft and beft being that is poffible, he always continues fimply the fame." Seneca likewife, fpeaking of the immutability of God's counfels, lib. 6. De Benef. Statuerunt, fays he, que non mutarent, neque unquam primi confilii deos poenitet; "The gods "make fuch unchangeable decrees, and never repent them of their firft counfel."

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2. This will yet more clearly appear from the divine revelation of the holy fcriptures, which tell

MS,

us, that God is unchangeable in his nature and in his perfections, in all his decrees, and purposes, and promifes: In his effence and being, Exod. iii.' 14. I am that I am; this is his name, whereby he made known himself to the comfort of his people, and to the terror of the Egyptians their oppreffors: Pfal. xc. 2. From everlasting to everlasting thou art God, Pfal. cii. 27. Thou art the fame, and thy years fail not, Mal. iii. 6. I am the Lord, and change not. Hence it is that the title of the living God is fo frequently attributed to him; and he fwears by this, as denoting not only his eternity, but his unchangeableness; As I live, faith the Lord. Hither likewife we may refer thofe texts where he is cal led the incorruptible God, Rom. i. 23. The immortal king, Tim. i. 17. and is faid only to have immortality, 1 Tim. 1. 16. And he is immutable likewife in his perfections; hence it is fo often faid in the Pfalms, that his goodness and his mercy endure for ever; his righteoufnefs is likewife faid to endure for ever. Pfal. cxi. 3. and Pfal. xxxvi. 6. to be like the great mountains, not only visible and confpicuous, but firm and immoveable; and the fame likewise is faid of his truth and faithfulness, Pfal. cxvii 2. His truth endureth for ever; and of his power, Isaiah xxvi. 4. In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting ftrength.

And fo likewife in his decrees and purposes, Pfal. xxxiii. 11. The counsel of the Lord ftandeth for ever, and the thoughts of his heart to all generations: Ifa. xiv. 24. Surely as I have thought, fo fhall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it ftand. Numb. xxiii. 19. God is not a man, that he fhould lie, neither the fon of man that he should repent: hath be fpoken, and shall not be do it? hath be faid it, and fhall not he bring it to pass? If he hath made any promife, or entered into any covenant with us, it is firm and immutable, Pfal. Íxxxix. 33. He will not fuffer his faithfulness to fail, his covenant will he not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his lips. His covenant and his promife are in themfelves immutable: But for our further affurance, God

hath

hath given us his oath, the highest fign of immutability; fo the Apoftle to the Hebrews tells us, chap. vi. 18. That by two immutable things, (viz. his promife and his oath) in which it is impoffible for God to lie, we might have strong confolation, who are fled for refuge to the hope which is fet before us. I proceed to the

III. Thing I propofed, which is, To answer an objection, which may feem to ly againft what hath been faid, from the mention fo often made in fcri-pture of God's repenting himself, as Gen. vi. 6. where it is faid, that it repented God that he had made man. 1 Sam. xv. 11. that he repented that he had made Saul king. And 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. when the angel had stretched out his hand over Jerufalem to deftroy it, it is faid, that the Lord repented him of the evil. And Pfal. cxxxv. 14. The Lord faith there, that he will repent himself concerning his fervants.

To all which I anfwer, That this expreffion of -God's repentance, we are to understand (as many others in fcripture) after the manner of men, and as fpoken by way of condefcenfion and accommodation to our weakness and capacity, and not as cafting any imputation lof mutability and inconftancy upon God; as if out of levity, or for want of forefight, he did alter his mind: but when God is faid to repent that he made man, or that he made Saul king, the change was not in him, but them; and it fignifies, not that God was abfolutely deceived in his expectation, but that things had fallen out contrary to all reasonable expectation, and therefore the fcripture clothes God with the human paffion of repenting and grieving for what he hath done, as men ufe to do when they are greatly disappointed and fall fhort of their expectation.

And as for the other inftances, wherein God is faid to repent him of the evils threatned; the expreffion only fignifies thus much, that God doth not execute that which feemed to us to have been his peremptory purpose and refolution; that is, he is pleased to do otherwife than his threatenings feemed openly to exprefs, because of fome tacit condi

tion implied in it, which he did not think fit to acquaint us with. And this doth not at all derogate from the conftancy and immutability of God: for when God did threaten, he spake what he did really purpose and intend, if fomething did not intervene to prevent the judgment threatened, upon which he was refolved at that time when he threatened, to be taken off, and to ftay his hand: and in thus doing, God doth not mutare confilium, fed fentenhe doth not change his inward counfel and purpose, but takes off the fentence, which was paffed with referved conditions, and unknown to us, on purpose to urge us the more effectually to repen

tiam;

tance.

And that God ufually referves fuch conditions, not only in his threatenings, hut fometimes alfo in his promifes, appears from that remarkable text, Jer. xviii. 7, 8, 9, 10. At what inftant Ishall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to deftroy it; if that nation against whom I have pronounced, turn from the evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them: at what inftant I shall Speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; if it do evil in my fight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I faid I would benefit them. And from this very confideration, the fame Prophet encourageth the people to repentance, Jer. xxvi. 13. Therefore now amend your ways, and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent him of the evil he hath pronounced against you. And we have a famous inftance of this in the cafe of Nineveh, the deftruction whereof within forty days after, God had openly proclaimed by his Prophet; yet he ftops the execution of the fentence, upon their repentance, Jonah iii. 10; The men of Nineveh turned from their evil ways, and the Lord repented of the evil he faid he would do unto them, and he did it not.

All that now remains, is to apply this doctrine of the immutability of the divine nature to ourfelves; and the confideration of it may ferve to fe

veral good purposes, both in reference to bad and good men.

Firft, In regard to finners and wicked men.

And, First, The unchangeableness of God is matter of great terror to wicked men. Let but the finner confider what God is, and the confideration of his unchangeable nature muft needs terrify him: He is a holy God, and of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, Hab. i. 12. He is not a God that hath pleaJure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with him: The foolish shall not stand in his fight, he hateth all the workers of iniquity, Pfal. v. 4, 5. He is likewife a juft God, and will by no means clear the guilty, nor let fin go unpunished, Exod. xxxiv 7. He is alfo omnipotent, and is able to execute the vengeance threatened against finners. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? Pfal. xc. 11. Thou even thou art to be feared; and who may stand in in thy fight when once thou art angry? Pfal. lxxvi. 7. Strong is the Lord who judgeth, Rev. xviii. 8. And, which gives a fad accent to all this, he that is thus holy, and juft, and powerful, continues for ever the fame, and will never alter or put off any of thefe properties, will never ceafe to hate iniquity, and to be an implacable enemy to all impenitent finners: And is it not a fearful thing to fall into the hands of this holy, and juft, and omnipotent God, who lives for ever, and can punish for ever? Let all obftinate finners hear this, and tremble: You cannot be more obftinately bent to continue in your wicked ways, than God is peremptorily refolved to make you miferable. If you be determined upon a finful courfe; God is alfo determined how he will deal with you, that he will not spare, but, that his anger and jealousy shall smoke against you, and that all the curfes that are written in his book fhall light upon you; and that he will blot out your name from under heaven; he hath worn in his wrath, that unbelieving and impenitent finners fhall not enter into his reft: And, for the greater affurance of the thing, and that we may not think VOL. VI. D d

that