And Judg. ii. 20. it is faid, that the people having not performed their part of the covenant, God would fufpend the further performance of his promife, and would not drive out any more of the nations before them; and it is probable that the Ifraelites never were poffeffed of the promifed land in the full latitude and extent of the promise.

Anfw. This covenant of God with Abraham, was upon confideration of his paft faith and obedience, though it seems the full performance of it did like wife depend upon the future obedience of his pofterity; in pursuance of this covenant, notwithstanding all the murmurings and rebellions of that people, God did bring them into the promised land, though they provoked him to deftroy them many a time; be cause he remembred his covenant with Abraham when they were poffeffed of it, God gave them a title to the reft, and would have affifted them in the conqueft of it, if they had performed the condition required on their part, that is, continued faithful and obedient to him: but they did not, and thereby dif charged God from any further performance of his promife and God, when he had done this, had fully performed the covenant he made with Abra ham, fo far as concerned his part, as appears by the acknowledgment of Joshua, even in a time when a great part of the land was unconquered, Jofh. xxi. 44. and of Solomon, 1 Kings viii. 56. yea, and had it not been that God had made this covenant, as well upon. confideration of Abraham's faith and obedience, as upon condition of the future, obedience of his pofterity, the rebellions and difobedience of the people in the wilderness had released God wholly from the promife; and he had not been unfaithful if he had deftroyed utterly that people, and made a full end of them, and they had never entered into that land; becaufe a failure of the condition doth make the ob ligation to ceafe: And that this condition was implied in this covenant with Abraham, appears by thefe texts, Deut. vii. 12, 13. and Judg. ii, 20, 21. God gives this reafon why he fufpended the compleat performance of his promife;

xi. 22, 23, 32.

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The anger of the Lord was hot against Ifrael, and he faid, Because that this people hath tranfgreffed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice, Lalso will not henceforth drive out any from before them, of the nations which Joshua left when he died.

Third Objection: God is not punctual in performing his threatenings; as when he threatened Adam, Gen. ii. 17. In the day thou eateft thereof, thou shalt furely dy; which yet was not accomplished, for he lived many hundred years after. God threatened Abab to bring evil upon him and his family, 1 Kings xxi. 21. but, upon his humiliation, he is pleased to refpite it, ver. 29. So God threatened Hezekiah with death, but, upon his prayer, adds fifteen years to his life, 2 Kings xx. 6. Thus Nineveh was threatened, but, upon their repentance, God repented of the evil, Jonah iii. 10. Now, how is this deferring, and turning away of judgment confiftent with the truth of God? Doth not this feem to charge him with falfhood or levity? Anfw. This may be faid in general, That every one that understands the nature of God, cannot but very well affured, that falfhood and levity are very far from God; and though he could not unty fome particular knots, and anfwer all difficulties, yet he ought to rest satisfied in this affurance. I confefs this objection is troublesome, and requires a diftinct confideration. I will not be peremptory in nice matters, but I fhall, with fubmiffion, offer thefe things in anfwer to it:

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1. As for the expreffion of God's repenting, we are to understand it, as many others in fcripture, after the manner of men, and spoken by way of condefcenfion to our weakness, and accommodated to our capacities, and not as cafting any imputation of falihood or inconftancy upon God, as if either he did not intend what he faith, or out of levity did alter his mind. When God is faid to repent, the expreffion only fignifies thus much, that God doth not execute that which feemed to us to have been his purpose, that he is pleafed to do otherwife than his threatenings feemed openly to exprefs, because of

fome

fome tacit condition implied in them; and this doth not derogate either from the truth, or fincerity, or conftancy of God in his word. Not from his truth; for he fpeaks what he intends really, if fomething did not intervene to prevent the judgment threatened upon which he was refolved, when he threatened, to be taken off, and ftop his judgments: Nor doth it derogate from his fincerity and plainnefs; for he hath told us, that his threatenings have fuch conditions implied in them: Nor doth it derogate from the conftancy and immutability of God'; becaufe God doth not mutare confilium, fed fententiam ; he doth not change his counfel and purpose, but takes off the fentence which he had paffed with referved conditions.

2. As to the inftances, that I may give more particular fatisfaction to them, I fhall confider the threatenings of God with this double refpect, either with relation to a law, or with relation to the event; with relation to a law, as they are the fanction of it; or with relation to the event, as they are predictions of fomething to come.

(1.) Some threatenings have only relation to a law, as they are the fanction of it. And thus confidered, they differ from promifes; for promifes confer a right, Omne promiffum cadit in debitum; but a threatening doth not convey any right, nor, if forborn, can the party complain of wrong done to him, and therefore, in this cafe, it can only fignify what the offence against the law deferves, and what the offender may expect; for the end of threatening is not punishment, but the avoiding of it. And this may answer the firft inftance. God gave Adam a law; and, by way of fanction, not of prediction of an event, he threatened the breach of it with death: Now God did not execute the punishment threatened at the time threatened, but deferred it, and this without any impeachment of his juftice or truth, becaufe this threatening was only the fanction of the law.

(2.) We may confider threatenings with relation to the event, and as predictions; and as to the accomplishment of thefe, there feems to be a greater

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degree of neceffity, because the honour of God's knowledge and power and truth, feems to be concerned in them; for if his word be not fulfilled, it muft either be for want of knowledge to forefee events, or power to bring them to pass, or conftancy to his word. Now if we confider, threatenings with respect to the event, as they are predictions of future judgments, I think all the other inftances may be fatisfied, by laying down this rule for the understanding of them, viz. "That all prophetical "threatenings or predictions of judgments are to be "understood with this tacit condition, if there do not intervene the humiliation and repentance, and "prayer of the perfons against whom the judgment is threatened; and if fo, God may, upon repentance, without any impeachment of the honour of "his truth, or knowledge, or power, either defer, or "abate, or remit the punishment." And that the predictions of judgments are to be understood with this condition, appears clearly from that known text, Jer. xviii. 7, S.

I come now to the last thing I propofed, to make fome ufe of this doctrine.

Firft, If God be a God of truth, then this gives us affurance, that he doth not deceive us, that the faculties which he hath given us are not false; but when they have clear perceptions of things, they do not err and mistake. Were it not for the veracity of God, we might, for any thing we know, be under a conftant delufion; and no man could demonstrate the contrary, but that this is our make, and our temper, and the very frame of our understandings, to be then most of all deceived, when we think our felves to be moft certain; I fay, no man could be affured of the contrary, but from hence, because veracity and truth is a divine perfection; and therefore God cannot be the author of error and delufion. Therefore we may be affured, that the frame of our understanding is not a cheat, but that our faculties are true, and, unless it be our own fault, we need not be deceived in things that are neceffary to our happinefs.

Secondly,

Secondly, If God be a God of truth, then there is reason why we should believe and affent to whatever we are fatisfied is revealed to us by God. A divine revelation is a fufficient ground for the most firm affent; for this very thing, that any thing is re vealed by God, is the higheft evidence, and ought to give us the most firm affurance of the truth of it. Hence it is, that the word of God is called the word of truth, yea, and truth itself, John xvii. 17. Thy word is truth.

Therefore, whoever entertains the fcriptures as the word of God, and is fatisfied of the divine authority of them, ought, in reafon, to believe every thing contained in them yea, though there be fome things of which no reasonable account can be given, and: which our reafon and understanding cannot give us particular fatisfaction in; yet, because we are fatisfied that they are revealed by God, who cannot lie, whofe knowledge is infallible, and whofe word is true, we ought, upon this higher and fuperior reason, to yield a firm affent to the truth of them: If we do not, we difhonour this perfection of God, and rob him of this effential property, his veracity: 1 John v. 10. He that believeth on the Son of God, hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God, hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. As, on the other hand, if we do believe what God hath revealed, we glorify this perfection of his, and fet our feal to his veracity. So it is faid of Abraham, Rom. iv. 20. that he was strong in faith, giving glory to God. And St. John the baptift, fpeaking concerning our Saviour, faith, John iii. 33. He that hath received his teftimony, hath fet to his feal, that God is true.

Thirdly, If God be a God of truth, and faithful in performing his promife, then here is a firm foundation for our hope and truft. If God have made any promife, we may fecurely rely upon it, that it. fhall be made good; we may hold faft our hope without wavering, because he is faithful who hath promised,