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A90291 The stedfastness of promises, and the sinfulness of staggering: opened in a sermon preached at Margarets in Westminster before the Parliament Febr. 28. 1649. Being a day set apart for solemn humiliation throughout the nation. By John Owen minister of the Gospel. Owen, John, 1616-1683. 1650 (1650) Wing O808; Thomason E599_9; Thomason E618_7; ESTC R203108 32,151 58

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to him All our Doubtings are nothing but so many Questionings of his Love We cry Lord Jesus Lovest thou us and agai●●Lord Jesus Lovest thou us and that with distrustf●● 〈…〉 thoughts That it is not it cannot be 〈…〉 the Vnbelieving Jews the holy Ghost tells us Jesus was grieved for the hardness of their hearts Mark 3. 5. And as it is bitter to him in the Root so also in the Fruit Our Staggerings and Debates when we have a Word of Promise is a Grief to his holy Spirit as the unkindest return we can make unto his Love 2 It provoks him How can this be sayes Zechariah that I should have a Son This shall be saith the Lord and thou thy self for thy questioning shalt be a sign of it Thou shalt be dumb and not speak Luke 1. His Doubting was a Provocation And our Saviour expresses no less in that bitter reproof to his Disciples upon their wavering Matth. 17. 17. O faithless and perverse Generation how long shall I be with you How long shall I suffer you How long shall I suffer you That is in this Unbelieving frame Poor Souls are apt to admire the patience of God in other matters That he spared them in such and such sins at such and such times of Danger but his exceeding patience towards them in their carnal Reasonings and fleshly Objections against Believing this they admire not Nay generally they think it should be so God would not have them one step further Nay they could be more stedfast in Believing as they suppose might it stand with the good Will of God when all this while this fram of all others is the greatest provocation to the Lord he never exercises more forbearance then about this kind of Unbelief When the Spyes had gone into Canaan had seen the Land and brought of the good Fruit of it then to repine then to question whither God would bring them into it or no This caused the Lord to swear in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest When God hath brought men to the Borders of Heaven discovered to them the Riches and Excellency of his Grace admitted them to enter as Spyes into the Kingdom of Glory then to fall a staggering whether he intends them an Entrance or no is that which lyes heavie on him The like may be said of all Promised Mercies and deliverances whatsoever That this is a Provocation The Lord hath abundantly testified in as much as for it he hath oftentimes snatched sweet morsels from the mouths of men and turned aside the stream of Mercies when it was ready to flow in upon them If saith he you will not believe you shall not be established Isa. 7. 9. The very Mercy but now Promised concerning your deliverance shall be with-held Oh stop not Success from Ireland by Unbelief 3 It dishonors God In the close of this Verse it is said Abraham was strong in Faith or staggered not giving glory to God To be established in Believing is to give God the greatest glory possible Every staggering Thought that ariseth from this Root of Unbelief robs God of his Glory 1 It robs him of the Glory of his Truth He that believeth not hath made him a Liar because he believeth not his Record 1 Joh. 5. 10. Let men pretend what they please as most an end we give in specious pretences for our Unbelief the bottom of all is The questioning of the Truth of God in our false hearts 2 It robs him of the glory of his Fidelity or Faithfulness in the discharge of his Promises If we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive us our sins 1 Joh. 1. 9. He hath engaged his faithfulness in this business of the forgiveness of Iniquities He whose Right it is calling that in Question calls the faithfulness of God in Question 3 It robs him of the Glory of his Grace In a word If a man should chuse to set himself in an universal opposition unto God he can think of no more compendious way then this This then is the fruit this the advantage of all our staggering we rob God of Glory and our own Souls of Mercy Vse 5 Be ashamed of and humbled for all your staggerings at the Promises of God with all your fleshly Reasonings carnal Contrivances issuing therefrom For the most part we live upon Successes not Promises unless we see and feel the print of Victories we will not Believe The engagement of God is almost quite forgotten in our Affairs We travel on without Christ like his Mother and suppose him only to be in the croud but we must return to seek him where we left him or our journying on will be to no purpose When Job after all his complaining had seen the End of the Lord he cryes out Now I abhor my self in dust and ashes You have seen the End of the Lord in many of his Promises Oh that it might prevaile to make you abhor your selves in dust and ashes for all your Carnal Fears and Corrupt Reasonings upon your staggerings When David enjoyed his Promised Mercy he especially shames himself for every thought of Unbelief that he had whilest he waited for it I said saith he in my haste That all men were Liars And now he is humbled for it Is this to be thankful to forget our provoking Thoughts of Unbelief when the Mercy is enjoyed The Lord set it home upon your Spirits and give it to receive it 's due manifestation 1 If there be any Counsels Designs Contrivances on foot amongst us that are bottomed on our Staggering at the Promise under which we are Oh let them be instantly cast down to the ground Let not any be so foolish as to suppose that Unbelief will be a foundation for quiet Habitations You are careful to avoid all wayes that might dishonor you as the Rulers of so great a Nation Oh be much more careful about such things as will dishonor you as Believers That 's your greatest Title That 's your chiefest Priviledge Search your own Thoughts and if any Contrivance any Complyance be found springing up whose seed was sown by staggering at the Promise root them up and cast them out before it be too late 2 Engage your hearts against all such wayes for the future Say unto God How faithful art thou in all thy wayes How able to perform all thy Promises How hast thou established thy Word in Heaven and Earth Who would not put their Trust in thee We desire to be ashamed That ever we should admit in our hearts the least staggering at the stability of thy Word 3 Act as men bottomed upon unshaken things that are not at all moved by the greatest appearing Oppositions He that believeth will not make haste be not hasty in your Resolves in any distress Waite for the Accomplishment of the Vision for it will come So long as you are in the way of God and do the Work of God let not so much as your Desires be too hasty after appearing Strengthnings and Assistance Whence is it that there is amongst us such bleating after the Complyance of this or that Party of the Sons of men perhaps priding themselves in our Actings upon Unbelief as though we proclaimed That without such and such we cannot be protected in the Things of God Let us I beseech you live above those things that are unworthy of the great Name that is called upon us Oh that by these and the like wayes we might manifest our self-Condemnation and Abhorrency for all that Distrust and Staggering at the Word of God which arising from Unbelief hath had such deplorable Issues upon all our Counsels and Undertakings FINIS