A good [man] obtaineth favour of the Lord
One that is made so by the grace of God, for no man is so
naturally; there is none good, nor does good, no, not one, until
some good thing is put into him, or the good work of grace is
begun in him. And such a man obtains favour or good will from the
Lord; that is, as Gersom explains it, what he himself wills, for
the will of God is his will; or rather the good will of God, his
grace, and layout; fresh manifestations and discoveries of which
he obtains and enjoys, not by merit, through any goodness of his
own, or by means of his obedience but he draws it out, as the
word F12 signifies, as out of a fountain, by
prayer and supplication, and by fresh repeated acts of faith upon
it; which may be said to be ad and enjoyed, when it is remembered
to him, he is encompassed with it, or it is shed abroad in his
heart, or his heart is directed into it; and he also obtains and
enjoys all the blessings, of grace here, and glory hereafter, as
springing from it; but a man of wicked devices will he
condemn;
whose thoughts, and the imaginations of his heart, are evil
continually; who is always contriving mischief to others: such a
man shall be so far from enjoying the favour of God, that he
shall be pronounced guilty of death, and condemned to it; he
shall be banished from the presence of the Lord, and be punished
with everlasting destruction. As the man of sin is continually
devising wicked things against God, against Christ, against his
interest and people; he shall be condemned by the Lord, consumed
with the breath of his mouth; go into perdition, and be cast into
the lake burning with fire and brimstone: and this will be the
portion of all his followers, that join with him in forming and
executing his wicked devices.