Sunday's sermon, "God's Glory in Covering Sin" is posted. You can listen to it here or download the podcast here.

Here is Thomas Manton on the promises of God:

"I have the promise of the righteous God to assure me, and shall I doubt or draw back? He is too holy to deceive –‘God that cannot lie,’ Titus 1:2; so immutable and faithful that he cannot repent and change his mind, Num. 23:19; so omnipotent and able that he cannot be disappointed and hindered, Job 9:12; so gracious that he will not forget: ‘Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?’ Oh! that our trust were as sure as his promises, and there were no more doubt to be made of our interest than of his truth! Every promise is built upon four pillars: God’s justice or holiness, which will not suffer him to deceive; his grace or goodness, which will not suffer him to forget; his truth, which will not suffer him to change; his power, which maketh him able to accomplish" (Thomas Manton, Works, vol. 4, An Exposition with Notes Upon the Epistle of James,81).

John Piper has done more than anyone in our time to popularize the language of prizing Christ. The danger is to think that it is something that he came up with. So I love finding this kind of language in older works - especially in works by Owen. Here are a few excerpts from one of his sermons on The Excellency of Christ (Works, vol. 8, Sermon VII, 476-484).

Jesus Christ will be loved and preferred above all for his own sake...If we intend to have any benefit by him, he must be valued above all for his own sake, or for the sake of what he is in himself (477).

And if God hath thus revealed Christ unto us, let us be manifesting to all the world that we are Christ's, when others are ashamed of him. How? By our prizing, valuing, preferring him above all other things; above the world, and all the satisfactions and enjoyments of the world; above its ways, pleasures, converse: we have better satisfaction, better acquaintance to converse with and retire unto (479).

We demonstrate to the world the preciousness of Christ when we prize him above all else in the world; when we consider everything else as dung and loss so that we can gain him.

I have been reading quite a bit from Thomas Manton on hope. Here is an excerpt from "What Kind of Perfection is Attainable in This Life?" (Works, vol. 2, 56), where Manton is describing the hope of heaven (italics mine):

Think much and often of your perfect blessedness, which you expect according to promise, which will quicken and excite you to more diligence. There is a time coming when the mind shall be filled with as much light, and the heart with as much love and joy, as the capacity of it is able to contain. There will be: -

1. A complete vision of God and Christ (1 Corinthians 13:12). No desire of the mind shall be unfulfilled or unsatisfied with the knowledge of God in Christ.

2. A complete possession and fruition of God. Here we are in a waiting, expecting, longing posture, but there is a plenary fruition; we are filled up with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:19; 1 Corinthians 1:30). God is all in all.

3. A complete similitude and transformation into the image of Christ (1 John 3:2; Psalm 17:15). Here grace is mingled with corruption; we are like God by the firstfruits of the Spirit, but unlike him by the remainders of corruption; but in heaven we shall be wholly like him. Here we resemble Christ, but we also resemble Adam, yea, and often show forth more of Adam than Jesus; but there we only show forth the holiness and purity of Christ, his image shineth in us without spot and blemish.

4. A complete delectation arising from all the rest, the vision, fruition, and likeness of God (Psalm 16:11). Those delights are full and perpetual: our great business will be to love what we see, and our great happiness to have what we love. This is our never-failing delight; we enter into our Master’s joy (Matthew 25:21; 1 Peter 4:13)…The Lord hath reserved the fullness of his people’s joy until that time when sorrow will be no more.

I came across this gem yesterday. In it, Thomas Manton explains why we can be confident that God will keep his promises. Hope is God's work. He gives his promise (the ground of hope) and his Spirit (the efficient cause of hope), so he will not allow hope to be disappointed.

"God would not invite and raise a hope to disappoint it; for surely the Lord will not deceive his creature that dependeth upon his word, and therefore we are allowed to challenge him: Psalm 119:49, 'Remember thy word unto thy servant, on which Thou hast caused me to hope.' The words contain a double argument: the promise was of God's making, and the hope of his operation, - it is thy word, and thou hast caused me to hope; his grant in the new covenant, and his influence by the Spirit. We have a strong tie upon him, as he giveth us the promise, which is a ground of hope....But when his Spirit hath caused us to hope, it is not with a purpose to defeat it; and therefore we may expect necessary blessings, such as are support and establishment in holiness" (Thomas Manton, Works, vol. 3, Sermon XVI ,161).

Truth: Is there truth in this promise?
Ability: Does he have the ability to do what he promised?
Sincerity: Is he sincere or are there hidden motives?
Remembrance: Will he remember to do it?
Constancy: What if he changes his mind?

A person may be truthful, able, and sincere in his promise. He may not be the type to forget about his commitments. Yet he may change his mind. It happens all the time. New information comes to light. Circumstances change. Unforeseen problems require a shift in priorities. Resources are cut off. Any number of things could make a man reconsider what he once viewed as certain.

God has not overlooked this objection with regard to his promises. In fact, it is a point of great importance with Him. “I the Lord do not change,” he says, and on this, he lays the bedrock of our salvation, “therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). He knows that men are fickle and unstable. If his promises were to depend on us, there could be no certainty in them. So he comforts us with the reality of his own unchangeableness.

The Lord knows, that if any thing in us might prevail with him to alter the word that is gone out of his mouth, we should surely perish. We are poor provoking creatures, therefore he lays our not being consumed only on this, even his own unchangeableness (Owen, 229).

James describes God as “the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). Not only does God not change, he doesn’t even cast a shadow. The picture is one of a bright, sunny day. At 10 am, a tree’s shadow extends from east to west. Now go away and come back at 4pm. Where is the shadow now? It extends from west to east. Has the tree somehow shifted so that the shadow now points in a different direction? Of course not. The movement of the sun in the sky effects the change. I think that what James is implying here is that God’s unchangeableness goes beyond himself and extends to the situations in which he works. There are no suns in God’s atmosphere that can produce different shadows. He is unaffected by external circumstance.

This has great impact on God’s promises. It means that his disposition tomorrow will be the same as it is today. There is nothing that will make him change his mind concerning the things that he has promised. There will be no new information to make him reconsider; he knew it all beforehand. There will be no problems that require him to shift his priorities; he is able to overcome every obstacle. His resources will not be depleted; they are inexhaustible.

"But he is unchangeable and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does" (Job 23:13).

For other posts in this series, check the directory.

This post is adapted from John Owen, Works, vol. 8, The Steadfastness of the Promises and the Sinfulness of Staggering, 207-241.

Today's sermon, "God in Three Persons" is posted. You can listen to it here or download the podcast here.