He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God: And being fully persuaded, that what he bad promised, he was able aljo to perform. THat it may yet be clearer, how Abraham is the father of us all, after he has shewn how it was uron God's part, by virtue of his promife; faying, that he Should be a father of many nations; he next thews, how it came to pass upon Abraham's part, viz. by faith, therefore it is added, in whom be believed; and this faith of his is commended from feveral parti. culars: 1. In that he fixed his eyes on God's truth and omnipotence fet forth in two particular expressions, suitable to his prefent cafe... God promised, that he should be the father of many nations, and it was a thing altogether unlikely to look to God's ordinary way of nature, and therefore he takes up God as one that raifeth the dead, and fo can put strength in him to beget, who was as good as dead; and as one which calleth those things which be not as though they were, who can give a being to fuch things as have no being; he can give a being to nations that in all probability shall have no being, and that most eafily, with a word.. 2. It is commended from the feveral difficulties that made the accomplishment of the promise seem altogether impoffible: and first in general, It was against hope; all the hope that he would have founded upon carnal reason was gone and become blind: and fecondly more particularly. (1.) His own body was now dead, and fo unapt for generation, being an hundred years old. It is true, this is not altogether fo prodigious a thing, that one of a hundred years fhould beget children; yet, confidering how all his lifetime he was much exercised with labour, troubles and travels, and fo near exhausted and spent, it would feem so much the more incredible, especially when he might have confidered, how he could not beget children, when he was young and of a strong body, and so much less now, when his body was almost spent and gone. It is true, he begat children after this upon Keturah, but all that was by virtue of God's bleffing, renewing him as the eagle at this time. (2.) The deadness of Sarah's womb, who now being about ninety years old, was altogether unfit for conception, according to the ordinary course of nature. 3. It is commended, in that notwithstanding of these difficulties standing in the way of the accomplishment of the promife, yet he stuck to the promise, and hoped for the performance: And (1.) he believed, in hope that he should become the father of many nations, and his only ground was the promife of the Almighty, according to that: which was faid, fo fhall thy jeed be, Gen.. xv. 5.. (2.) He was not weak in the faith; these seen difficulties did no ways diminish his faith and confidence, but the more they appeared, the more he firmly believed. (3.) He confidered not his own body, &c. he would not once confult sense in the matter, nor fee what carnal reason would fay, he laid no weight on any thing of that kind: it is true, we find him reafoning thus, Gen. xvii. 17. Shall a child be born unto bim that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarab that is ninety years old bear? and this was the carnal reafoning of fenfe; but he did not yield unto these reasonings, nor did he fpeak so thro' unbelief, but rather, as admiring the greatness of the promife; he would not hearken unto the language of fenfe and reason. (4.) He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; he doth not hefitate at the matter, as not knowing whether to believe or not; he is not at an uncertainty or variance with himfelf, as being sometimes of one mind, fometimes of another; he is not dubious, like one meeting with two ways, not knowing which to take; he staggers not so thro unbelief. But (5.) he was strong in the faith; he fet himself stoutly against these objections, and oppofed them manfully, and and calleth those things which be not as. the they were. and gathered courage and strength to him- | he believed in God; that raiseth the dead, felf for that effect. (6.) He gave glory to God; he would not question Gods truth for all that could be faid, but trusted to his word, and believed his power, and so gave glory to God. (7.) He was fully perfuaded, that what he had promised, be was fully able to perform: As he believed God's good-will in making the promife, and made no question of that, so neither did he of his power, but was most perfuaded of his power, there being no doubt left. OBSERVATIONS.. : I. It is beyond the power of any created being to raise the dead, whatever witches and forcerers may make blind people believe they do in that kind, as the witch at Endor made Saul believe that the raised up Samuel, I Sam xxviii. 11.6. it being alone God's prerogative royal, who is the Lord of life and death; and however his prophets and apostles have raised the dead, yet it was only in and through him, as Acts iii. 12. For here God is defcribed by this, that be raiseth the dead. II. As Jehovah hath all being in and of himself, so is he the author of being to all other things; so that beings, and no beings, are all at his command: be calleth those things which be not as though they were. III. As all perfection is centered in the Lord, and excellencies transcendently fuperabound in him, so as there is suitable help in him to our neceffities; fo faith should go forth, and pitch on these excellencies which fuit our cafe, and take up God under those; as the apostle doth here shew, how Abraham did; he had a promise, and there were many things faying it should never be made good, and therefore his faith takes up, and rests upon God, as able to give a being to all his promises, and so fasteneth its eye upon his almighty power, as able to bring it about: IV. As a promise may be a promife. which will have accomplishment in God's own time, tho' there be many things in-terveening which may darken the accomplishment, and put it out of fight, so as fenfe and reason would fay, that fuch a promise should never be made good, God thinking it fit to fuffer a cloud to rife betwist the promife and the performance, for the farther exercife of faith; so faith must refolve to have difficulties in its way, and to have carnal hope, founded on fenfe and reason, on its top: for Abraham believed against hope. V. Faith, with an eagle's eye, can pierce through the thickest cloud of improbabilities, yea, and impossibilities to flesh and blood, and fee the promises taking effect in their own time, when it has a promife from the Lord to rest on: Abraham believed against hope, when he heard it faid, ---So shall thy feed be.. VI. Tho' sense and carnal reason would think faith a fool to look for that which is so far from being but probable, that it is altogether improbable; yet faith is no fancy, whatever ignorant men, whose minds are altogether carnal, think of it; but it has a fure ground to rest on, even the word of promife; and fo Abraham believed that he should be the father of ma-ny nations, and was no lofer, when it was according to that which was faid, So Shall thy feed be.. ८ VII. As true faith believeth to be true. whatever is revealed, because of the authority of the Lord who speaks, and fo yieldeth obedience to the commands, and! trembles at the threatenings; so doth it in a special manner clasp about the promises: Abraham believed according as it was said, So shall thy feed bes VIII. Albeit faith be seldom accompanied with carnal hope, or has it on its fide; yet being fastened on a promife, it hath hath a hope with it of another kind; and spiritual hope arifeth from faith fetled on the ground of a clear promife; and where hope is not founded on faith gripping a promife, it is but a hope that will evanish; for Abraham believed in hope, when his faith was according to that which was fpoken, So hall thy feed be. IX. Howbeit true and saving faith be one and the same essentially, in all believers, Eph. iv. 5. yet doth it admit of several degrees, though it be alike precious faith in all, 2 Pet. i. 1. yet there is some who are weak in faith, Matth. vi. 30. viii. 26. xiv. 31. and xvi. 8. Luke xii. 28. like him who cried out, I believe, help my unbelief, Mark ix. 24. and fome who are strong in the faith, and have won to the afsurance of faith, Heb. x. 22. God dif ficulty seem the greater, and yet he be lieved. XII. Albeit the only wife God hath placed in living creatures a power of generation and conception, and ordinarily hath limited the fame to such a period, which feldom is transgressed, except in an extraordinary manner; yet the Lord hath not hereby limited himself, but he may and doth work beyond, and contrary unto this fet ordinary way, when he sees it will contribute to his own honour and glory; and fo will give a numerous issue to Abraham when an hundred years old, and that by Sarah when she was ninety years of age. XIII. Albeit carnal reason will be fuggesting plausible grounds, whereupon to scare and diffuade us from clofing with the promise, and expect confidently the ac tributing the measure of faith as he think-complishment; yet it is not our safest eth fit for his own glory: for here Abraham is faid to be strong in faith; and this supposes that some are weak in it, for he was not weak in the faith. X. Tho' strong faith will not dispel the clouds of difficulties, so as there shall be no contradiction made unto the promise; yet faith will fo blow by the mists of difficulties as not to hefitate because of them: yea, the greater, and more infuperable like the difficulties be that stand in the way of the accomplishment of the promifes, the more will faith hereby be evidenced to be strong in wrestling over them: Abraham was ftrong in the faith, and so confidered not his own body now dead. course to be hearkening to the language of sense, in fuch a stormy and dark day; but our best is to be deaf to all that carnal reasonings would obtrude, and to lay no weight on any thing which sense alledgeth, how plausible foever it be: it is most dangerous to be consulting flesh and blood, which are still biaffed, in a gloomy day; it is best to do as Abraham did, who did not confider his own body now dead,--nor the deadness of Sarah's womb. XIV. As unbelief is a most unfetled thing, making people unconstant as the waters of the fea, so as they know not where to stand, but are made to turn with every tide, and fail with every stream; fo the best way to be delivered from the anxiety that attends a dubious mind, and the perplexity that still accompanieth uncertainty, is to get faith rooted on the promife: Abraham staggered not at the promife through unbelief. XI. Believers must expect to meet, not with one difficulty in their way of closing with a promise, but to have many mustered up against them, and every one heightening another; and yet must they not loofe their grips of the promife, but rather grip it the fafter the more difficulties they have to wrestle with: Abraham had not only his own dead body, being an hundred years old to wrestle with, but also the deadness of Sarah's womb, which made the former dif-yet it abides constant, and sticks the closer XV. It ferves highly to commend faith, when, however difficulties which appear infuperable, flow in, and rush upon faith, to make it loose its grips of the promise; by : by the word of promise; and when the more and the greater the difficulties be, it waxeth more courageous and valiant, and fo is far from being beaten off its ground, that it keeps it with greater zeal and valour; for it is fpoken to the commendation of Abraham's faith, that he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was rather the more strong in the faith. XVI. Faith, depending singly upon the promife of God, when all things would fay, that fuch a promise should never be accomplished, and hanging upon a bare threed of the promise, when many contrary blasts of temptation, and thorturing dispensations, yea, and reasons, from an eltablished order of nature, are labouring to loofe its grips, and shake it loofe, tendeth much to shew forth the glory of God's faithfulness and power: and so to quite the promife because sense is not fatisfied, and cannot see thro' matters, (which here is wholly blind) nor will not vote with the promife, is a great dishonour done to God, in believing reasonless reason, and blind sense better than God: Abraham was strong in the faith, giving glory to God. XVII. Though poor fouls, mifcarried through misbelief, and under a tempta tion, will rather question God's good-will, in their expreffions, than his power; yet in very deed most of their misbelief lieth here in questioning his power and ability; fo that were this out of question with them, much of their perplexed and stag. gering condition would be helped: Abraham was strong in the faith, being fully perfuaded, that what he had promised, be was also able to perform. XVIII. It ferves much to the commendation of faith, that it has hushed all the murmurings of flesh, and set its foot upon all the arguings of reason; and, having the promife in the chalk of its eye, can, without any farther hefitation, or doubt, perfuade itself of God's ability to perform ference of the promife: Abraham was fully persuaded, that what he had promised, he was able fully to perform; and this was no small matter of commendation tο him: and so though it would feem but a fmall business to believe God to be omnipotent, yet in a time of temptation, when sense and carnal reason are busy objecting to the contrary, it is much. VERSE 22. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Fter the apostle has been fully clear Aing the chara veral particulars, before he come, in the following verses, to apply this to the purpose in hand, and to shew, that howsoever Abraham was a fingular example in many things, and his faith was so strong as every one cannot reach; yet his example is of fingular use, to prove the way of juftification of all believers: he seteth down that which was the assumption of the main argument, brought from the teftimony of scripture, As Abraham was justified, fo are we; this is made good before: But Abraham was justified by faith, or faith was imputed to him for righteousness; this hath been confirmed also, and is here repeated; for the understanding of which much hath been faid, upon verses 3.4.5.. yet because several parties draw it in to favour their own interest, we shall add a little here, and lay down these conclufions. r. Faith is not faid to be imputed to us for righteousness, because it is part of our inherent righteousness, by which we are formally and meritoriously justified; for to say that we are justified by our inherent righteousness, is to cross all that the apostle hath been proving, viz. That we are justified by faith, and not by works. 2. Nor is faith imputed to us for righteoufness, as being alone our perfect righteousness, thro' God's gracious acceptilation and condescenfion, instead of the perof the law, (which, fay they, only is excluded by the apostle) that is to say, by works every way exact and perfect, but by works of grace, esteemed and accepted for a perfected righteousness, through God's gracious condescendency: For, 1st, This would exclude the merits of Christ Jefus: If faith be our perfect righteoufness, we need not Chrift's righteousness, at all; but this crosseth many of the apostle's arguments here, and destroyeth the merits and fatisfaction of his death, contrary to the whole gospel. 2dly, The apostle excludes all works that stand in opposition to Christ's merits and fatisfaction. 3dly, He excludes all works that make the reward of debt: and faith, in this sense, tho' it be not perfect obedience to the law, but one particular, yet, being fo accounted by God thro' his condescendence, and so meriting life, it will make the reward of debt, for fuch an one would be still a mercenary hireling, be the duty required less or more, as the reward is a due debt to him that wrought one hour, no less than to him that wrought twelve hours. 4thly, He excludes all righteousness in ourselves, as, Phil. iii. 9. 5thly, The apostle says we are justified by a righteoufuefs, which is sometimes called, the righteoufness of faith, verses 11. 13. a righteoufness by faith, Rom. iii. 22. Phil. iii. 9. and a righteousness through faith, Phil. iii. 9. and so this cannot be faith itself, for these expressions thew, that faith is a mean whereby this righteousness is attained, and nothing can be a mean for the attain ing of itself. whatever is contained within the circum- | fect righteousness of the law; and fo we should be justified by works, not indeed | ness as its object, on which it layeth hold, houkk 3. We say, faith cannot be faid to be imputed in this sense, that Christ by his merits hath procured of the Father, that in the new covenant faith alone shall be taken as the condition, instead of perfect obedience, which was required as the condition in the covenant of works. For, ft, Then faith should be taken as an act, with out any respect had to Christ's righteouf and so we should be justified by our work; fo that the apostle should speak amifs in excluding all works, and in oppofing faith to works. 2aly, Then this new covenant should be of the fame kind with the old covenant, for works should be the condition of both, only with this difference, that the one should be more easy than the other, and a gradual difference makes not a fpecifical difference. 3dly, Then the reward should still be of debt, no less than in the old covenant; for, majus et minus non variant speciem. Athly, And so heaven and happiness should not be immediately procured by Christ, but by our act of faith; as under the old covenant. life would have been the immediate purchase of perfect obedience. 5thly, Then we should be juftified without a perfect righteousness, or else faith should be accounted by God as a perfect righteousness, when it is not; but so we should fay, God judgeth of things not as they are, but as they are not, which is a mistaking judgment: for true it is, that faith is not a perfect righteoufsness, being both imperfect in itself, seeing we all know but in part, and so believe but in part, and may daily cry out, Lord, help our unbelief; and only a part of our duty. 6thly, We no where find it written, that Christ died for this end, that faith should be accepted of God as our complete righteoufness, and to put us in part, in ftatu quò prius; that is to say, that having broken the former tack, and fo being caften to the door, we should be brought home again, and through his means and moyen our rent should be eased, and a penny taken for a pound; as if all that Chrit did was only the paying of fo much for entry, that the yearly rent might be lessened; yea, the contrary of this is every where afferted. 7thly, Christ and his righteousness is not the object of this faith which is faid to be imputed after this manner, (for then faith should not be confidered as a work of ours, but as terminating on such an object, and fo |