be saved by the Death of Christ upon the Terms of the Gospel This Constitution is grounded upon the eternal Articles between the Father and the Son in the Covenant of Redemption Our Saviour declares that God gave his Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal Life Notwithstanding the full Satisfaction made for our Sins yet without our Consent i. e. an applicative Faith no Benefit could accrue to us He dwells in our Hearts by Faith and by that vital Band of our Union we have Communion with him in his Death and as entire an Interest in all the blessed Benefits purchased by it as if whatsoever he did and suffered had been for us alone He is a Propitiation by Faith in his Blood Of this full Consent of the Sinner there is an excellent Example in the Apostle He expresses it with the greatest Ardency of Affection I count all things but Dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ. Like as a poor insolvent Debtor ready to be cast into a perpetual Prison longs for a Surety rich and liberal to make Paiment for him Thus St. Paul desir'd to be found in Christ as an all-sufficient Surety that he might obtain a Freedom from the Charge of the Law The Establishment of the Gospel that Faith be the Condition of our Pardon so that none can be justified without it is from pure Grace The Apostle assigns this Reason why all Works are excluded those performed in the State of Nature or by a Principle of Grace from being the procuring Cause of our Salvation that it is to prevent Vain-glory in Men that would result from it You are saved by Grace through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God The Pardon of Sin is a principal Part of our Salvation He positively declares that Justification is therefore of Faith that it might be by Grace If Justification were to be obtain'd by a Condition of impossible Performance it were no Favour to offer that blessed Benefit to us but it being assur'd to a Believer that humbly and thankfully accepts of it the Grace of God is exceedingly glorified To make this more clear Faith may be considered as a productive Grace or a receptive As a productive it purifies the Heart works by Love and in this Consideration we are not justified by it Faith hath no Efficiency in our Justification 't is the sole Act of God But Faith as a receptive Grace that embraces Christ with his precious Merits offer'd to us in the Promise entitles us to Pardon And in this way Divine Grace is exalted for he that entirely relies upon the Righteousness of Christ absolutely renounces his own Righteousness and ascribes in solidum the obtaining of his Pardon to the Clemency and Favour of God for the sake of the Mediator 3. That God is ready to forgive is fully proved by many gracious Declarations in his Word the infallible Expression of his Will We are commanded to seek his Face for ever his Favour and Love for the Countenance is the Christal wherein the Affections appear Now all the Commands of God assure us of his approving and Acceptance of our Obedience to them it follows therefore that 't is very pleasing to him that we pray for the Pardon of our Sins and that he will dispense it if we pray in a due manner When he forbad the Prophet to pray for Israel it was an Argument of decreed Ruine against them Pray not for this People for I will not hear thee To encourage our Hope God is pleased to direct us how to address our Requests for his Mercy He directs Israel that had fallen by Iniquity to take Words and turn to the Lord and say unto him Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the Praise of our Lips To this is added a solemn renouncing of those Sins that provoked him to Anger His gracious Answer follows I will heal their Backslidings I will love them freely If a Prince draws a Petition for an humble Suppliant to himself 't is a strong Indication that he will grant it God joins Intreaties to his Commands to induce Men to accept this Mercy The Apostle declares Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as tho God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God Astonishing Goodness how condescending how compassionate The Provocation began on Man's part the Reconciliation is first on God's That the King of Heaven whose Indignation was incens'd by our Rebellions and might justly send Executioners to destroy us should send Embassadors to offer Peace and beseech us to be reconciled to him as if it were his Interest and not ours is a Mercy above what we could ask or think With Commands and Intreaties he mixes Promises of Pardon to encourage us to come to the Throne of Grace Whoever confesses and forsakes his Sins shall find Mercy This Promise is ratified by the strongest Assurance If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness The Pardon of a repenting Sinner is the Effect of most free Mercy but 't is dispensed to the Honour of God's Faithfulness and Justice who is pleased to engage himself by his Promise to do it And tho the Word of God be as sacred and certain as his Oath for 't is impossible for him to change his Will or to deceive us in the one as well as the other yet to overcome the Fears to allay the Sorrows and satisfy the Desires of repenting Sinners he was pleased to annex his Oath to the Promise which is the most infallible Character and Note that the Blessing promised is unchangeable He adds Threatnings to his Invitations that Fear which is an active and strong Passion may constrain us to seek for his Mercy Our Saviour said to the Jews who did blind and harden themselves in their Infidelity If ye believe not that I am he the promised Messiah and come to me to obtain Life ye shall die in your Sins The Threatning implies a State final and fearful beyond all Expression for they who die in their Sins shall die for them to Eternity Hell is the sad Mansion of lost Souls fill'd with extreme Wrath and extreme Despair and where Despair is without Remedy Sorrow is without Mitigation for ever From hence we may be convinc'd how willing God is to pardon and save us in that knowing how we are intangled with pleasant Sins he reveals to us what will be the eternal Consequence of Sins unrepented and unforgiven a Punishment above all the Evils that are felt or fear'd here and above all the Patience and Strength of Sinners to endure If Men yield themselves to the Call of his Word without and of his Spirit within
the Power to pardon is an Efflux of Supremacy and incommunicable to the Subject A Prince that invests another with an absolute Power to pardon must either relinquish his Soveraignty or take an Associate to share in it This Pretence of the Papists is such a lame Evasion as that which they are forced to make use of to clear themselves from the Charge of Idolatry in their Worship of Angels and Saints their Excuse is that their Worship of Angels and Saints is inferiour in degree and imperfectly divine as if there could be different Degrees in Divine Worship which is absolutely and necessarily supreme The Ministers of the Gospel have only a declarative Power as Heralds or Embassadors to propose the Terms of the Gospel for the obtaining Pardon and to apply the Promise of Pardon to those who appear qualified for it But to pronounce and dispense Pardon they have no judicial Authority for 't is not presumeable that the wise God should invest Men with that Authority which they are utterly incapable to exercise 2 dly God is ready to forgive The Power to pardon without an Inclination to it affords no Relief in the Agonies of an accusing Conscience and the Terrors of eternal Judgment The merciful Will of God declared in his Word is the Foundation of our blessed Hope and encourages us in our Requests before his Throne For thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in Mercy unto all that call upon thee The Attribute of which Pardon is an Emanation is usually exprest by Grace and Mercy 'T is said the Grace of God that brings Salvation has appeared unto all Men We are saved by Grace Grace implies free Favour There is in this respect a Difference between Love and Grace Love may be set upon an Object worthy of it The primary Object of God's Love is himself whose excellent and amiable Perfections are worthy of infinite Love The Love of Parents to Children is a Duty most clearly natural and Duty lessens the Desert of performing it but Grace is exclusive of all Merit and Dignity in the Subject and of all Obligation in the Person that shews it God's most free preventing Grace is exercised without any Motive in us that deserves it The Grace of God may be consider'd as exercised in our Creation and our Redemption In the Creation it was absolutely free for Angels and Men were in the State of nothing there was only a Possibility of their Being Now there could be no attractive Merit before their Existence 'T is true Goodness is glorified and crown'd by communicating The World is a bright Efflux of the Divine Glory but this does not lessen the free Goodness of the Maker There was no Constraint upon God to make the World for his declarative Glory for his essential Glory is truly infinite and wants no external Appearance to make it compleat The Universal Church pays humble Homage to the Great Creator acknowledging that for his Will and Pleasure all things were created The Divine Goodness to Angels and Man in their Original Purity was Grace for altho the Image of God shining in them was attractive of his Approbation and Acceptance yet they deserved no Benefits from him there is such an infinite Distance and Disproportion between God and the Creatures that they cannot by a common Right claim any thing as due from his Majesty Besides he is the productive and conservative Cause of all their active Powers and the Efficacy of them The creating Goodness of God is eclips'd in the Comparison with his saving Grace The first supposes us without any Deserts of his Favour but this supposes our exceedingly bad Deserts The first was free but this is merciful and healing Grace Mercy revives and restores us when deservedly miserable This Grace and Mercy is of so pure a Nature that the most tender humane Inclinations to relieve the Afflicted are mix'd with Self-interest compared with the Mercy of God towards us Our Bowels relent and Affections are melting at the sight of Persons in deep Misery But there is an inward and unvoluntary Constraint of Nature that excites such feeling Resentments and our Compassion is moved by Reflection upon our selves considering that in this open State we are liable to many Disasters and wounding Sorrows but God is infinitely free from all disturbing Passions and exempted from all possible Evils To represent the immense Love and Mercy of God in its endearing Circumstances and to demonstrate his Readiness to forgive we must consider what he has done in order to his pardoning Sinners 1. If we consider God as the supreme Lawgiver and Judg of the World as the Protector of Righteousness and Goodness and the Revenger of all Disorders in his moral Government it became him not to pardon Sinners without the punishing Sin in such a manner as might satisfy his injur'd Justice and vindicate the Honour of his despised Law and declare most convincingly his Hatred against Sin Now for these great Ends he decreed to send his Son from his Bosom to assume our Nature and to suffer the contumelious Calamity of the Death on the Cross to make a Propitiation for our Sins This was the Contrivance of his high Wisdom which the most enlightned Angels had no presaging Notions of Now can there be a more clear Evidence and convincing Reality that God is ready to forgive Sins than the giving his only begotten Son a Person so great and so dear the Heir of his Love and Glory to be a Sacrifice that he might spare us In this Dispensation Love was the regent leading Attribute to which his Wisdom Justice and Power were subordinate they were in exercise for the more glorious Illustration of his Mercy We have the strongest Argument of God's Love in the Death of his Son for our Pardon was the end of it From hence 't is evident that God is more willing to dispense his pardoning Mercy than Sinners are to receive it 2. God's Readiness to forgive appears in the gracious and easy Terms prescribed in the Gospel for the obtaining Pardon There are two ways of Justification before God and they are like two Ways to a City One is direct and short but deep and unpassable the other lies in a Circuit but will bring a Person safe to the Place Thus there is a Justification of an innocent Person by Works that secures him from the Charge of the Law and a Justification of a Sinner by Faith in our all-sufficient Saviour The first was a short way to Man in the State of Integrity the second such is the Distance of the Terms takes a Compass There is a shorter Passage from Life to Action than from Death to Life There is no Hope or Possibility of our legal Justification The Apostle saith That which the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the Likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh. The Expiation of
every day The Scripture gives an Account why Execution is respited The Lord is not slack as some Men count Slackness but is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance He waits to be gracious and spares Men in order to their Salvation 5. It appears that God is ready to forgive in that upon the first Suit of humble and penitent Believers he presently pardons them If we consider how long Men continue in a Course of voluptuous or profitable Sins how many Repulses to the Offers of Mercy they are guilty of it might justly be expected that God should with Disdain reject their Petitions or not be intreated without a long Exercise of Repentance and continued submissive and earnest Solicitations for his Mercy But the King of Heaven keeps no State the Throne of Grace is always open and accessible to humble Penitents When their Hearts are prepar'd his Ear is inclin'd to hear them David after his commission of very foul Sins and long continuing in a State of Impenitency yet upon his melting in the Sense of his Wickedness and Resolution to humble himself by a mournful Acknowledgment of it he was restor'd to the Divine Favour I said I would confess my Sins and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin Repenting Ephraim is an admirable Instance of God's relenting Bowels to Sinners I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustom'd to the Yoke Turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God Surely after I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child for since I spake against him I earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have Mercy on him saith the Lord. The Prodigal upon his Resolution to return to his Father and debase himself as utterly unworthy of being received as a Son while he was in the way his Father saw him at a distance and ran to him fell on his Neck and kiss'd him and entirely forgave his past Rebellion The Soul-wounded Publican said Lord be merciful to me a Sinner and was justified rather than the proud Pharisee 6. 'T is a convincing Argument that God is ready to forgive Sin in that he affords Grace to Men to prepare them for his pardoning Mercy Repentance and Faith are sacred Plants that do not spring from our Earth but have their Roots in Heaven God gives Repentance unto Life Faith is not of our selves 't is the Gift of God In our corrupt State Sin is natural to Man and hath entirely possess'd all his leading Faculties The carnal Mind is Enmity against God and judges according to the carnal Affections which deprave it The Will is rebellious and strongly inclin'd to charming Lusts Temptations are so numerous and delightful that Sinners will venture to be miserable for ever to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin that die in the tasting 'T is true such are the inviolable Inclinations of the humane Nature to Happiness that no Man can love undisguised Death nor choose Damnation for it self yet the Affection to Sin is so over-ruling that they will not forsake it tho complicated with Death The Wisdom of God tells us Those that hate me love Death i. e. constructively Our Saviour compassionately reproves the Jews Ye will not come to me that ye may have Life This is the Cause of their remaining in a State of Guilt for ever Now such is the Mercy of God that he gives his Spirit to assist Men by his illuminating preventing restraining and exciting Grace to forsake their Sins that they may be saved and if they did faithfully improve the lower degrees of Grace tho they can claim nothing by right he would from his good Pleasure afford them more Grace but they are so averse from God and strongly bent to the present World that they so long resist the pure Motions of Grace in their Hearts till the Gales of the Spirit expire and revive no more according to that terrible Threatning My Spirit shall no longer strive with Man for he is Flesh. Besides the common Grace afforded to natural Men there is a Super-effluence of Grace bestowed upon some to convert them which infallibly obtains its end Those who are the Patrons of Free Will methinks should allow that God is Master of his own Will and the free Dispenser of his own Grace This special Grace works powerfully yet conveniently to the reasonable Nature There is no Charm so sweet no Constraint so strong as the Operation of it For the Understanding is convinc'd by so clear and strong a Light of our being undone for ever without God's pardoning Mercy that his Loving-kindness is better than Life and this is represented to the Will with that powerful Application that the Will certainly chooses it When there is a Wavering and Indifferency of the Will to a propounded Object 't is either from some Defects in the Object or in the Apprehension of it but when the supreme Good is so represented that it fills all the Capacities of the Soul the Will as certainly embraces it as one that is burnt up with Thirst and near a cool Stream stoops and drinks to quench it The Holy Spirit who knows the manner of his own Operations expresses the Efficacy of them in the Resemblances of the Creation and Resurrection wherein the Divine Power cannot be frustrate yet 't is so congruous to the Frame of Man's Nature that the Freedom of the Will is then in its most noble Exercise Men are drawn to Christ by the Teachings of God not by over-ruling Violence upon their Faculties but by Instruction and Perswasion sutable to them Now from hence 't is evident that all the Persons in the Godhead concur in bestowing this admirable Blessing the Pardon of our Sins they all willingly join in this undivided Work tho with different Operations The Father pronounces our Pardon from the Throne his Majesty shines without Diminution or Condescension of his Person in forgiving us The Son purchased our Pardon by the sacred Treasure of his Blood The Holy Spirit qualifies us and applies the Pardon of our Sins to us 3. I now come to the third general Head that God is abundant in Forgiveness This God has declar'd in Words so full and expressive as may exceedingly satisfy the most tender and fearful Spirits Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon For my Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways my Ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my Ways than your Ways and my
a Reprieve and Suspension of Judgment 't is the blessed Security of Believers they shall not fall under Condemnation There is such an Inconstancy in the Nature of Men that they often repent and revoke the Favours and Privileges they have bestowed they like to day and loath to morrow the same Persons but the blessed God is not subject to Change or Contingency His Love his Purpose his Promise to his People are unalterable From the Sense of God's pardoning Mercy Conscience is freed from those just Terrors that are the Consequents of Guilt The Blood of Christ purges our Conscience from dead Works from the deadly Guilt of Sin that cleaves to the Conscience A temporal Prince may pardon a Murderer and Conscience with a Countenance of Despair may summon him to appear and be accountable for his bloody Crime before the High and Everlasting Judg but those who are justified by Faith have Peace with God When the Original Bond is cancell'd the Counter-part has no Force Conscience is subordinate to God and when he justifies has no Authority to condemn When God blots out the Iniquities of his People as a thick Cloud there is a clear Sky a divine Calm and Serenity in Conscience It may be enquired how the compleat Pardon of Sin is consistent with the temporal Evils inflicted upon the Children of God for their Sins The Answer is obvious and easy Temporal Evils inflicted on the Children of God are declarative of his holy Displeasure against Sin but are not for Satisfaction to vindictive Justice This would be derogatory to the Love of God and the meritorious Sufferings of our Saviour who did not compound with God but made full and absolute Satisfaction for our Sins In the 12 th Chapter to the Hebrews where the Apostle so divinely and accurately treats of this Argument there is a clear Account of the Cause the Nature and the Product of the temporal Sufferings of God's Children The Cause of them is the Love of their heavenly Father displeased for their Sins Whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every Son whom he receives Earthly Parents in their various Fits of Folly sometimes chasten their Children only for their Pleasure and sometimes spare the Rod to their Ruine but our heavenly Father is equally wise and compassionate and uses such Discipline as is requisite for their Profit to prevent their Continuance in Sin that would be destructive to them Believers are chasten'd of the Lord that they may not be condemned with the World And the Wisdom and Love of our Father and Physician mixes such bitter Ingredients and in that Proportion as are requisite for the Quality of the Disease and the Strength of the Patient He corrects them in measure he will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able Their Afflictions are deliberate Dispensations The Nature of them is signified in the word Chastisement The Correction of a Child is in order to his Amendment They are medicinal and have a main Relation and Prospect to the future to make us more fearful to offend God and careful to please him They are more lively and sensible Lessons of our Duty than the Instructions of the Word and are of the same Order The Product of the Chastisements of God's Children is the pleasant Fruit of Righteousness to them who are exercised thereby that is the sanctifying Graces of the Spirit Repentance Faith Hope Patience Self-denial Contempt of the World Resignation to the Divine Will are exercised illustrated and increas'd in those Christians who with unfainting Perseverance endure Affliction In short Death that was the penal Effect of Sin for the first Man while innocent was immortal tho continued yet the Sting is taken away the Quality of it is changed The Issues of it are vastly different to the Saints and the Wicked To the Saints 't is the Period of their Fears and Sorrows the final Remedy of all their Miseries to the Wicked 't is the Beginning of their Woe The Saints pass through the Darkness and Corruption of the Grave into the Kingdom of Glory the Wicked pass to the Blackness of Darkness for ever 2 dly The Intireness of this great Benefit is evident in that God restores his Love and forfeited Favour to all that are pardon'd Princes sometimes pardon Offenders but never receive them into their Favour Absalom was recall'd from Banishment but for two Years was not admitted to see the King's Face But God does magnify and manifest his Love to those whom he pardons He does not distinguish them from the Angels that always obeyed him He forgives our Sins as entirely as if they had never been committed and is reconcil'd as if he had never been offended We have the most clear Discovery of this in the Parable of the Prodigal It might have been expected that his Father should have reproach'd him for his obstinate deserting his House his wasting his Portion in Lewdness and Luxury and that bitter Constraint forced him to return no he dearly embraces him and cancels all the Debt of his past Offences with a most affectionate Kiss and whereas the poor Penitent presum'd only to be received as a Servant he was restor'd in the most affectionate manner to the Dignity and Relation of a Son and universal Joy was diffused through all the Family for his Return If our Saviour had not made this Relation with all its endearing Circumstances our narrow Hearts durst never presume and promise to us such compassionate Love of God to repenting Sinners But whoever imitates the Prodigal in his Return shall find the Reality to exceed the Representation I shall add some Examples of this Love of God to those who repent Mary Magdalen had been guilty of foul Sins yet our Saviour graciously received the tender Expressions of her Grief and Love to the Astonishment of Simon She wash'd his Feet with her Tears and wiped them with the Hair of her Head and kissed them and after his Resurrection appeared first to her as his endeared Favourite 'T is recorded by the Evangelist with an infinite Emphasis of his Love that he first appear'd to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven Devils Peter in whose Denial of Christ there was such a Mixture of Infidelity Ingratitude and Impiety he promised he would die with him or for him yet being questioned not with Terror by an armed Magistrate not surprized by a subtle Examiner but at the Question of a Maid renounc'd him yet he was restor'd to the Honour of his Office and the Affection of his Master 'T is very observable that when he appeared to Mary Magdalen he directs her to tell his Disciples and Peter of his Resurrection he particularly mentions Peter to raise his drooping Spirit by this new Assurance of his Love This happy Privilege belongs to all penitent Believers for whomsoever God pardons he prefers and adopts into his Family and makes them Heirs of Heaven The first Beam of Mercy shines
Guilt will come to Christ to find Rest and only those our Saviour invites and promises graciously to receive A tender and timorous Conscience does often impute the Guilt of Sin when 't is abolish'd a seared Conscience does not impute it when it abounds God has revealed his Mercy in so full a manner as to answer all the Allegations of a repenting Sinner against himself He objects his Unworthiness of Pardon but this cannot exclude him from it for the Grace of God springs from within and has no original Cause without it self 'T is like celestial Fire that feeds it self God declares his sovereign Pleasure in the Exercise of Mercy I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will shew Mercy to whom I will shew Mercy If Mercy were bestowed only upon the worthy none could be saved for all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God The humble Penitent urges against himself that he has been a singular and extraordinary Offender that none is like him in sinning but we are assured none is like God in pardoning The Number of our Sins is terrifying This so affected the Psalmist that he fainted with desponding Fear My Sins are like the Hairs upon my Head therefore my Heart fails me But the Multitude of God's Mercies incomparably exceed our numerous Sins They are renewed every Moment of our Lives Stupendous Infinity they are over all his Works and over all his Attributes God is Love and Love covers a Multitude of Sins The killing Aggravations of our Sins strike us through but there is not so much Evil in Sin as there is Goodness in God Our finite Acts cannot preponderate his unlimited Essence He declares I am God and not Man therefore ye are not consumed We hardly forgive a few Pence he forgives ten thousand Talents He is God infinite in Mercy and as liberal as infinite Delight in Sin is an aggravating Circumstance but God delights in Mercy Continuance in Sin inflames the Guilt but his Mercy extends to Eternity I shall add for the Support of returning Penitents some Examples of God's forgiving great Sinners recorded in Scripture He charges the People of Israel Thou hast made me serve with thy Sins and wearied me with thine Iniquities It might be expected that the next Words should have been I will revenge your dishonouring of me according to the Glory of my Majesty and the Extent of my Power but he promises Pardon I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for my Name sake and will not remember thy Sins By the Comparison of their Sins he illustrates the Glory of his Mercy Lot guilty of Incest with his Daughters David of Murder and Adultery Manasseh a Sorcerer and Idolater that burnt his Children alive in Sacrifice to the Devil and fill'd Jerusalem with innocent Blood Mary Magdalen out of whom seven Devils were cast Peter who was so faint-hearted and false-hearted that with Execrations he denied his Master Paul that was a bloody Persecutor are the Instances of the astonishing Omnipotent Mercy of God who can as easily pardon the greatest Sins as the least and makes no Difference when our Repentance is sincere and our Faith unfeigned tho according to the degrees of their Guilt Conscience should be affected How many pardon'd Sinners Miracles of the Divine Mercy are in Heaven happy in the Love of God and glorious in Holiness who were as deeply guilty and polluted as any that now mournfully seek the Favour of God These are Examples of Grace so excellent and so divine to encourage us in our Addresses for Pardon The Apostle Paul tells us That for this Cause he obtained Mercy that in me Jesus Christ might shew all Long-suffering for a Pattern to them who shall hereafter believe on him to everlasting Life There is the same Motive in God he forgives Sins for his Name sake The Treasures of his Mercy are not wasted by communicating There is the same Merit in Christ his precious Blood shed upon the Cross is pleaded in Heaven He ever lives to make Intercession for us and if we obtain the same precious Faith we shall have the same Acceptance In short let those who are overwhelmed with Fear consider 't is not only our Privilege but Duty to trust in the Divine Mercy We are commanded to believe in the Mediator Despair is more dishonourable to God than Presumption in that 't is a Sin directly against a superiour Attribute the Exercise of which is his Delight and dearest Glory 3 dly Let us be excited to seek the pardoning Mercy of God with Humility with Fear and all possible Diligence lest we should not obtain it Our Hearts should be set upon this with the most intense Zeal for 't is our Life Every impenitent Sinner is under the condemning Sentence of the Law and there is but a step between him and Death the only Hope is that 't is not yet ratified by the Judg nor inflicted but 't is reversible by suing out a Pardon in the superiour Court of the Gospel Now 't is astonishing that when the Danger is so great and present for 't is as morally impossible to be sure of time to come as to recal time past that Men should be so unconcerned and secure and neglect the main Work for which they are spared by the admirable Patience of God Time is certainly short and uncertainly continued and when the Oil that feeds the Lamp of Life is spent the next State is the Blackness of Darkness for ever to all unpardoned Sinners Now the Scepter of Grace is extended to us we are within the Call of pardoning Mercy God waits to be gracious but there is a sad Assurance if we do not sue out our Pardon in the present Life the time of our Reprieve Death is immediately attended with eternal Judgment the Belief of which makes the Prince of Darkness with the most stubborn Spirits of Hell to tremble yet Men continue in the Guilt of their unrepented Sins without Fear and wretchedly deceive themselves with a vain Presumption that the Door of Mercy will be open when they leave the World or bear up themselves by the numberless Multitude of stupid Sinners and make a resolute Reckoning they shall do as well as the most They are studious and contriving active and ardent about the Affairs of this low Life and careless of being reconcil'd to God a Matter of the highest Concernment and eternal Consequence Prodigious Folly never enough lamented though Vengeance from above is ready to fall upon them and Hell below with its dark Horrors is open to swallow them up yet they are stupid and fearless The Remembrance of this will rack and torment them for ever for when extreme Folly is the Cause of extreme Misery the Sufferer is the most cruel Enemy to himself Let us therefore seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near Now God offers his Pardon to the greatest
Nature of the Benefit Our Blessedness consists in the Forgiveness of our Sins David inspired from Heaven declares Blessed is the Man whose Iniquity is forgiven and whose Sin is cover'd The worst Effect of Sin is the Separation between God and the Soul In his Presence is Fulness of Joy in his Absence Fulness of Sorrow Go ye cursed is as terrible a Part of the Sentence as the everlasting Burning Hell is the Element of Sin and Misery wherein the Fire made fierce with Brimstone and the undying Worm of Conscience torment the Wicked Now the Pardon of Sin secures us from the Wrath of God the supreme Evil and the Cause of all other Evils Besides the Love of God that pardons us is our sovereign Good and is the productive and conservative Cause of all Good It bestows upon us celestial Happiness in comparison of which all the Degrees of worldly Honour and Power and Pleasure and Riches are but Dross and Dung The Pardon of Sin has inseparably annex'd to it the Privilege of Adoption and a Title to the Kingdom of Glory Our Saviour declar'd to the Apostle that the End of the Gospel is to open the Eyes of Men and to turn them from Darkness to Light that they may receive the Forgiveness of Sins and an Inheritance among them who are sanctified by Faith that is in me God permitted the Fall of Man to raise him to a more excellent and stable Felicity Adam was dignified with Dominion over the lower World and seated a Prince in Paradise but his Happiness depended upon his Obedience and that upon the Freedom of his Will which proved a dangerous Endowment by his Abuse of it He was foolish and fickle in the best State of Nature he affected an independent Immortality and being in Honour became like the Beasts that perish But the Pardon of Sin is the Foundation of eternal Happiness Those who are justified shall be glorified and made equal to the Angels who are constant in Good as the Devils are obstinate in Evil. The blessed State above is secure and unforfeitable the Saints are uncapable of sinning and dying 2. The Means whereby our Pardon is obtain'd I shall not dare to determine that God could not have pardon'd us by his Sovereignty without Satisfaction to his Justice but he has been pleased to save us in a way most honourable to himself and comfortable to us The Psalmist tells us according to the Name of God so is his Praise As his excellent Attributes are manifest in his Works understanding Creatures adore and celebrate them The Wisdom of God so gloriously appears in the way of our Salvation that the admiring Angels praise him for ever And the Goodness of God is so conspicuous in saving us by Christ that our exuberant Affections should be poured forth in Thankfulness The Remission of our Sins is by Redemption in his Blood It was an Expression of David's Piety that he would not serve God with that which cost him nothing but purchase the Sacrifice by a Price and it was the high Expression of God's Love that he would not save us with that which cost him nothing but with the sacred Treasure of Heaven the precious Blood of his Son Besides the guilty Conscience has so quick a Sense of God's revenging Justice that our Assurance would not be so entire in his Mercy without Satisfaction made by the Sufferings of our blessed Mediator In this we have the Advantage of David who had not so clear a Discovery of the Means of our Pardon but a general Knowledg of the Forgiveness of Sins yet that inspir'd such flaming Affections into his Breast that he begins the Eucharistical Psalm for that Mercy and concludes it with Bless the Lord O my Soul But we that have had Jesus Christ evidently set forth as crucified before our Eyes to reconcile God to us we to whom it is revealed that the Robe of our Salvation is woven out of his bleeding Bowels in the same Proportion as our Knowledg of this mysterious Mercy our Thankfulness should exceed his If any do not with the most ardent Affections acknowledg the Mercy of Forgiveness so dearly purchased 't is an unhappy Sign he has no Interest in it 3. The Circumstances of dispensing our Pardon I shall consider two that make the Divine Mercy more glorious and worthy of our Thankfulness 1 st That pardoning Mercy was dispensed to us notwithstanding our continued Rebellions against God A Prince is sometimes induced to pardon a Criminal by the Solicitations of his Friends and by his Prayers and Tears but the Divine Goodness was the sole Mover for us and interposed between Justice and our Offences Instead of appeasing God by humble and mournful Submission and ardent Addresses for Mercy we repeated the Provocations of his Displeasure every day How long did he with unwearied Patience wait to be gracious If after ten thousand Denials of accepting his Mercy he had forsaken us we had been as miserable as we are sinful But notwithstanding our being inflexible to the innumerable Calls of his Word impenetrable to the pure Motion of his Spirit and insensible of his excellent Goodness that leads Sinners to Repentance tho the Love of Heaven or Fear of Hell could not prevail with us to forsake our Sins when we were prepared for Wrath and averse and utterly indisposed for the receiving his Mercy then his Grace as free as omnipotent gave us Repentance unto Life and qualified us for Pardon and bestowed it upon us The Extenuation of our Sins is inconsistent with the Exaltation of Grace but the more humble we are in the deep Sense of our Guilt the more thankful for the Divine Clemency That God was pleased to crown us with Loving-kindness and Mercy when a killing Charge of innumerable Offences was levell'd against us O Goodness truly Divine and Infinite and should accordingly affect us with Admiration 2 dly Pardoning Mercy distinguishes between Sinners of equal Guilt and often saves those of greater Guilt when others die eternally This Comparative heightens God's Love and our Thankfulness How many are surpriz'd and cut off in a Course of Sin how many die without Repentance and are under a notorious Necessity of perishing yet we that were as bad or worse neither melted and made pliable by his Goodness nor better'd by his Judgments he spared and by his Grace cleansed and changed us that we might partake of Mercy In this Dispensation the Question of the Apostle may be put in its full Force Who made thee to differ Nothing within us nothing without us distinguish'd us from those that perish there were the same polluted Principles in our Hearts and the same rebellious Sins in our Lives only the Mercy of God that has no moving Cause but it self made the Difference Let the Comparison be contracted between us and our Associates in Sin and as the Sun-beams concenter'd in a Burning-glass it will more inflame our thankful Affections How many