looking were healed so it is here with us Christ is lift up on high for us to look unto this looking is by faith Ioh. 3.14 15. and by this looking we are healed and saved Isai 45.22 Reas 4. Look what place works had for our justification to life in the Covenant of works the same place hath faith in the Covenant of grace but works were to goe before our justification in the Covenant of works and therefore so must faith in the Covenant of grace Though Adam was by nature just by an habituall justice yet he was not thereby actually justified unto life but besides his native or habituall righteousnesse he must also performe an actuall righteousnesse and without this he was not to be justified unto life and if he was not to be justified without or before works then are not we justified without or before faith because faith is to us in stead of works and hath the same place now in the Covenant of grace as works had then in the Covenant of works Reas 5. To make faith a condition consequent to our justification is to place faith in the same ranke with works as works are considered in the Covenant of grace for even works also have a place in the Covenant of grace though they are not a condition antecedent yet are they a condition consequent to our justification so as every justified person must walk in good works Tit. 3.7.8 And therefore if faith be placed after justification then it stands but in the same rank with works having no propriety or pre-eminence above works in respect of our justification For though it shall be granted that faith goes before works as the cause beâ—ore the effect faith producing works as the tree doth the fruit yet they are both alike in respect of justification they are one before another when they are compared betwixt themselves but compare them both with justification and then according to this opinion they goe both together no more is ascribed to faith in our justification then to works if faith follow our justification Reas 6. We are not actually justified till Christ be actually ours Christ being our righteousnesse before God but Christ is not actually ours till he be received by us nor is he received but only by faith Ioh. 1.12 Christ must be received by us or wee have no benefit by him unto salvation Christ is righteousnesse for us before our faith but he is not righteousnesse unto us till he bee received of us by faith our garments are prepared for us before we be cloathed with them but that they may actually cloath and cover us we must take them by the hand and put them on so must we receive Christ Ioh. 1.12 which is done by faith Gal. 3. though he be fit to justifie us before faith yet he doth not actually justifie us or cover our sinfull nakednesse till by the hand of faith we take him and put him on Reas 7. That righteousnesse which is by imputation cannot be before that which is imputed to us as our righteousnesse but the righteousnesse which the Covenant of grace sets forth is a righteousnesse by imputation and it is faith which is imputed for righteousnesse Rom. 4.3 Gaâ— 3.6 and therefore our righteousnesse cannot be before our faith Reas 8. If we were justified before faith then the witnesse of the Spirit of bondage witnessing our bondage under sin and death could not be true for till faith come he testifies unto us that wee are under wrath unjust sinners and this witnesse of the Spirit is true and therefore till wee believe wee are not justified Reas 9. Lastly to omit other reasons which might be produced if justification were before faith we might then ask as the Apostle doth in Rom. 3.1 What is the preferment of faith what profit hath the believer above the unbeliever they are both alike in respect of justification before God when a man comes to believe hee is not a pin the better then he was before he believed but was justified before as well as after and thus faith which is called precious faith is made vile and of little worth seeing a man may be justified without it as well as with it And thus much concerning the third thing propounded about the condition of the Covenant namely what the condition of it is sc Faith 4. The fourth point follows which is whether the putting of a condition doth or can stand with the free grace of the Covenant yea or no for it may seeme that if there be any condition required on our part then the grace of the Covenant is not free and if not free then it s no grace at all and how then is it called a Covenant of grace Ans The putting of a condition doth not hinder or lesson the free grace of the Covenant so long as the condition is Evangelicall and not Legall Some have beene of minde that the promises which we call conditionall are not free promises or promises of free grace and therefore they make an opposition betwixt the promises which are called absolute and the conditionall as if only the absolute promises were free promises excluding the conditionall but the condition annexed being a condition of the Gospel not of the Law doth no more derogate from the freenesse of grace then a Princes offering a royall reward to a Subject upon condition that he doe thankfully accept of it and acknowledge his Princely bounty towards him doth any whit derogate from the freenesse of the gift no more doth the condition of faith by which we receive the grace given unto us of God derogate from the freenesse of his grace towards us a legall condition doth indeed exclude free grace but an Evangelicall condition doth not When the Lord saith Believe and thou shalt bee saved Act. 16.31 and saith also by grace yee are saved Eph. 2.8 There is the like free grace in both Believe and be saved though conditionall is as free grace as if said Thou shalt be saved by grace freely loving thee and pardoning thy sinne That these conditionall promises are of free grace as well as the absolute I prove because First They all flow from the same purpose of grace towards us all Gods purposes towards his Elect are purposes of grace 2 Tim. 1.9 and so are all his promises also Tit. 1.2 for these flow from that eternall purpose of his The promise is but the manifestation of his purpose towards the Elect whether the promise be absolute or conditionall all is one That which was first hid within God himselfe as only purposed by him is afterwards made manifest by his promise And look in what series and order God did purpose to communicate the blessings of grace to his Elect so as one shall succeed and follow the other the same doth he make known in his promise and so doth also execute and fulfill first calling then justifying then glorifying c. Rom. 8.28 29 30. hee doth not save
was at first full of grace and goodnesse an Image of the blessed God but now he is become a spectacle of misery So all other things under the Sun are to him turned to vanity and vexation of spirit As a deale of wind in the body doth not refresh it but gripe and pain it so all the windy comforts of the world cannot satisfie but rather trouble us till we recover our fellowship with God As we lost our felicity in losing God so we must recover it again by recovering him Therefore wee find in experience that the soule never finds setled test till it come to rest in God As the Bee goes from flower to flower because there is not full contentment to be found in any one so the soulâ— from creature to creature til it comes to God Hence the Lord is called the rest of the soule Psalm 116.7 And this the Lord knowing that the soule cannot find rest any where else but in him therefore he will communicate himself to them this being his end to make the creature blâ—ssed by enjoying of him Consider how God is an All-sufficient God to us in two respects First in respect of all our occasions and necessities whatever our case be It 's Gods prerogative alone to be an universal good The things of the world can help but against some one thing bread against hunger drink against thirst cloathes against cold and nakednesse houses against wind and weather friends against solitarinesse riches against poverty Physick against sicknesse c. But God is an All-sufficient good he supplies all the necessities of his people he is all in all to them he is habitation to them he is life c. he doth good to the inward and outward man his grace is sufficient to help all the defects of the soule Look upon the guilt of sinne there is abundant grace to pardon Are our infirmities many there is power in Gods grace to heale them Are our corruptions strong the power of Gods Spirit can overcome them and make us able to keep his Statutes and Judgements and to doe them Are our consciences disquieted and our peace broken His joy is able to make us rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious Again his sufficiency extends also to the body all the welfare of the outward man is laid up in God he is the God of our life Psal 42.8 Psalm 42.8 and the strength of our life Psal 27.1 Psalm 27.1 He is a quickning spirit 1 Cor. 15.45 1 Cor. 15.45 which though it be true in regard of the inward man which he doth also quicken by his Spirit and grace yet it is there spoken of the outward man of the body which the Lord shall quicken after death and doth now keep alive by his power For in him we live and move and have our being Acts 17.28 Acts 17.28 When God formed the body at first out of the dust whence had it life Not from it selfe nor from any creature God breathed into him the breath of life and so he still keeps the breath in our nostrils and upholds our soule in life or else we should presently return to dust Secondly God is an all-sufficient good in respect of all times and seasons both for this life and the life to come Other things serve but in their seasons as it was said of David that he served his time so doe the things of this life but they continue not our health and strength are with us in youth but they stay not The flowers give their smell in the spring but by and by they are withered and gone The Sunne gives light in the day time but hides it selfe in the night cloathes keep us warme but they wear away But God is a lasting yea and an everlasting good He is God and changeth not and therefore is called God from everlasting to everlasting Psal 90.2 In a word he is sufficient First to save us from all evill and thence hee is said to bee a Wall of fire round about his people Zach. 2.8 So also a Cloud against the heat a Shield and Buckler against the Sword c. an all-sufficient protection to his people against all evill Secondly an all-sufficient good to communicate all blessings to us which we stand in need of therefore hee promises to open his good treasure Deut. 28.11.12 And hee tells Abraham when hee enters into covenant with him that he will be his exceeding great reward I will be all things to thee Hence the Lord is called a Sunne Psalm 84. that as the Sun is the cause of all fruitfulnesse to the earth bringeth forth corn grasse and hearbs and withall cherishes them so the Lord by the influence of his grace and goodnesse bringeth forth something out of every creature for the good and comfort of his people Thirdly he is able to make up all our losses whatever wee have forgone for his Names sake and his Gospels we shall have an hundred fold more either in the same kind or in contentation or inward peace of conscience Thus the Prophet tells Amaziah 2 Chron. 25. when he asked what he should doe for the hundred talents saith the Prophet The Lord is able to give thee more then this Have we with Abraham forsaken our native countrey and our kindred The Lord is able to make up all Fourthly He is sufficient to work for us and by us what ever we desire according to his will What ever enterprise wee have in hand or goe about though wee have mountaines against us as Zach. 4.7 yet the Lord can make them plains and work all our works for us Have we any grace to bee wrought in us Hee can make all grace to abound in us He hath abundance of spirit Heb. 13.21 and can work both will and deed Thus you see that God is every way sufficient to his people Vse 1 This may let us see both the cause and cure of those manifold discontents that we meet withall in our daily course troubled we are on every side nothing satisfies the unsatiable desires of our hearts but when we have the things we sought at Gods hand yet we are discontented The reason of all is because we doe not injoy God we doe not live upon him wee doe not possesse nor improve our interest in him We pore upon the Creature and place our rest there and so misse of our expectation If we did injoy God in our daily conversation wee might finde a sufficiency and contentment in every estate as Paul did Phil. 4.13 Phil. 4.13 2 Cor. 6.10 as having nothing and yet possessing all things He lived to God and enjoyed him and he was an all-sufficient good to him Wee may injoy God in any condition in the meanest as well as the greatest in the poorest as well as the richest Nothing can separate us from God but sin alone God will goe into a wildernesse into a prison into a low condition with his people and he
pray for but God doth promise to us these outward things therefore we may pray for them Christ also hath taught us the same Matth. 6. and it s our duty to doe it thereby to testifie our dependence upon God our heavenly Father for the supply of all our necessities and in so doing wee give glory to God as acknowledging that every good gift must come from him James 1.17 3. Whereas some of Gods servants are possessed with doubts concerning their estate before God as fearing that they are not the Lords people because they are suffered to prosper so much in outward things this point may serve to remove that scruple because these outward blessings are blessings of grace to the people of God and therefore may well stand with a gracious estate If we endeavour to walk before God in truth and uprightnesse striving to keep a pure conscience in all things towards God and man then for any one to say I feare I am none of Gods people because I prosper in the world is all one as if he should say I feare the Lord intends me no good because he makes good unto me the blessings which he hath promised in his Covenant Vse 3. For direction 1. In the want of these outward blessings 2. In the enjoyment of them First In the want of them and here consider 1. The cause whence it is that we are deprived of them 2. What to doe to get them supplyed I. As for the cause of our wants what shall we say is God unfaithfull doth his promise faile is he unmindfull of his Covenant if not then think what is the cause of these wants which lie upon us c. In Iosh 7. when Ioshua saw the people flie before their enemies which seemed contrary to the promise of God the Lord having before promised to Joshuah that not a man should stand before him all the dayes of his life Joshuah falls on his face before God and begins to expostulate with him why he had brought them thither to destroy them But mark the Lords Answer Get thee up saith the Lord to Ioshuah why lyest thou upon thy face Israel hath sinned and therefore they cannot stand before their enemies Ioshuah not knowing nor considering the sinne of the people hee wonders at their overthrow as if the Lord had not been mindfull of his promise he having promised that not a man should be able to stand before them But the Lord tells Ioshuah Nay saith the Lord It is not I that have failed in my Covenant towards you but you have broâ—en Covenant with me Israel hath sinned and transgressed my Covenant and therefore it is that they cannot stand before their enemies So we when we feele our selves pressed with wants and necessities we are apt to think that Gods falls short of his promise towards us He hath promised sufficiency of all good things to his servants but we see not his promise made good unto us we suffer wants And now we are ready to aske why hath the Lord brought us hither into this wildernesse to destroy us But let us know it is not the Lord which hath broken promise with us but we have sinned and broken Covenant with him There is amongst us an accursed thing which till it be cast out of the campe of Israel we shall not stand before our necessities but they will prevaile against us as an armed man They are our iniquities which have turned away these things and our sins have hindred good things from us Jer. 5.25 Our own wayes and doings have procured these things unto us we may thank our selves if we be cut short in the things we would have Let God be true and every man a lyar Let him be acknowledged faithfull in his promise but we have dealt treacherously against him we have sinned and there is the true cause of our misery 1. We have amongst us Achans sinne I saw and coveted saith he we have amongst us worldlinesse and coveteousnesse which hath seised upon us and hath eaten up our hearts The rust hereof hath consumed the good that was in us we pretended to come hither for ordinances but now ordinances are light matters with us and we are turned after the prey Had any other people that professed themselves to be of the world and for the world had they thus walked the Lord would have said of them they are gone thither for the worlds goods and let them take their fill of it let them have what they goe for But as for us the Lord will not suffer us so If he see us forsaking the substance the true treasure to runne after these shadows they shall flie from us the more that we pursue them till we turn againe unto the Lord and then though we follow not them yet they shall follow us and shall pursue us and overtake us as Moses speaks Deut. 28.2 As now we are pressed with wants so then we shall be laden with benefits Psal 68. 2. We have amongst us excesse and pride of life pride in apparell daintiness in dyet and that in those who in times past would have been glad to have been satisfied with bread this is the sinne of the lowest of our people 3. Another sort are idle and walk inordinately not labouring at all but live unprofitably going from house to house They cannot put their hand to works 4. We have abundance of oppression and injustice in our dealings with breach of Covenants and promises there is want of truth and justice it is almost departed from our streets The Lord may now complaine of us as sometimes he did before of Israel I looked for judgement but behold oppression for righteousnesse but behold a crying Isai 5.7 and this sin will make a fire which is not blown by man to kindle of it selfe to consume us Job 20.19 26. 5. By these our sinnes we have brought a reproach upon the Gospel the glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ which should have been glorified by us So long as the Gospel held its credit amongst us so long the Lord also manifested his marvellous goodnesse towards us upholding us also and keeping us from those wants which now we feele But when the credit of the Gospel began to suffer by us we began to suffer with it also receiving therein a just recompence of our evill as was meet 6. There is amongst us a straight-heartednesse and close-handednesse towards the Lord in not ministring to the things which concern his worship the least portion is enough and the worst is good enough for those things that concern his honour This is a sinne which the Lord hath ever been wont to punish with scarcity as we may see in Hag. 1. Mal. 3.9 10. Prov. 20.25 These are the Achans which have robbed us of our silver and gold these sinnes have spoyled us of our substance and where the e things are found it is no marvell though we complaine of wants yet not through breach of Covenant on
have offended another yet the considâ—ration of former or after courtesie may deserve to have such an offence passed by but it is not so with God Nothing that we can doe can plead any such worth his forgivenesse is free as Isai 43.25 26. Isaiah 43.25 26. I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake Put me in remembrance saith the Lord let us plead together whereas we are ready to think that it is not onely for his own sake but also for our sakes for something which we have done that hee forgives our sins The Lord taketh this away and saith Come and remember me now and tell me what it is that I should pardon thee for the Lord looketh at nothing in that soule which hee pardoneth but onely at his own praise he doth it freely Again as God doth it freely so he doth it fully his forgivenesse is a full forgivenesse hee putteth away all our sinnes old new great small guilt and punishment so that the sinnes of Gods people are before God as though they had never been committed never to be required at their hand The expressions the Scripture usâ—th here are very excellent it is called a taking away our iniquities Hâ—sea 14.2 Hosea 14.2 The blotting out of sinnes Psalm 51.9 taken from debt-books that when the debt is paid then they blot it out of their book so God when he pardoneth he blots out our transgressions that hee never means to call us to account for them Sometimes it is called the putting them away as a mist or as a cloud which is made to vanish by the Sunne and is no more seen Isai 14. Isaiah 14. It is also called a casting of them behind the backe Isai 38. Isaiah 38.17 A casting of them into the bottome of the sea Micah 7.18 Mâ—cah 7.18 that they shall be buried never to rise again It is called a covering of our sinnes that they cannot appeare in his presence nor bee seen of him any more Psal 32.1 Psalm 32.1 and the 85.2 Yea they are so hid and covered as that the Lord sees no iniquity in Jacob nor transgression in Israel Numb 23.21 85.1 Numb 23.21 Not meaning as the Familists dote That there is no sinne which the Lord can take notice of in hiâ—â—â—oâ—lâ—â— but that though God doe see sinne in them by the eye of his knowledge yet he doth not see them by the eye of his judgement to lay them to their charge Nay the Lord will so farre put away the sinnes of his people that if hee should after come and make inquisition for sinne in them yet there shall not be one found as Jer. 50.20 Jer. 50.20 they are past and gone as the waters of Noah never to return again If wee consider all these the provocation that is in sinne and how many they are and against whom they are committed to whom they are forgiven and how freely and fully they are pardoned we must needs say Here is grace yea riches of grace in the forgivenesse of sin It is therefore a blessing of grace Secondly as there is grace shewn from God in the pardon of sinne so infinite benefit and blessing commeth to us thereby Psal 32.1 Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven c. This is not a promise of no value but is one of the most great and pretious promises of the Covenant of more worth then thousands of gold and silver How great a benefit this is will appeare if we consider how great an evill sinne is which by forgivenesse is taken away The greatnesse of the one will set forth the greatnesse of the other Now sin is the greatest evill in the world and that both in it selfe and to us First in it selfe it is the greatest whether we consider it simply in its own nature and being or causally making evill the subject that it dwels in In the former respect it is the greatest evill because it is contrary to the greatest good God is good he is goodnesse it selfe his will also is holy just and good Now nothing is so contrary to God and to the goodnesse of his holy will as sin is this crosseth the holinesse of his will And as for the other if we consider fin causally what is it which makes the creature evill as we read of evill Angels Psalm 78.49 Psal 78.49 and of evill men 2 Tim. 3.13 2 Tim. 3.13 Whence is it that they are become evill It is onely by sinne they were created good but sin hath corrupted them and made them evill And that which makes other things evill must needs of it selfe be much more evill Take away the sin from Devils and they are good they are evill onely by sin Secondly but that which more neerly concerns the point in hand is to consider how sin is the greatest evill unto us and that appears First because it is sin and sin onely which excludes us from God and makes a separation between God and us Poverty reproach sicknesse c. these are evils but they are not such evils as are able to separate us from God Rom. 8. Rom. 8. God was with Joseph in prison with Jeremiah in the dungeon with those that wandred up and down in wildernesses in sheep-skins and goat-skins Heb. 11.37 38. being afflicted destitute and tormented But sin is as a partition-wall betwixt God and us it separates betwixt us and our God Isai 59.1 2. Isai 59.1 2. Sin breeds an alienation and strangenesse betwixt us so as till sin be taken away there can be no communion betwixt God and us But now by the forgivenesse of sin this partition-wall is pulled down so as we have free accesse unto God and may come into his presence and behold his face and stand before him being accepted in his beloved Now by the forgivenesse of sin we return again unto our former estate in which wee stood before our fall before that sin had broken us off from God Now as the Apostle saith 1 John 1.3 We have fellowship with the Father and with his Sonne Jesus Christ In our fall sin brake off our communion with God but by the forgivenesse of sin wee have liberty to recover this our communion with him again Secondly sin is that which hinders all other good things from us Jer. 5.25 Jer. 5.25 If we want any thing that is good for us thank our sin for it God is good and ready to doe good free to communicate his goodnesse to all his creatures why then are good things restrained from us It is our sin which intercepts them and cuts us short But now when sin is done away by forgivenesse then is the former hinderance removed this doth as it were turn the cock which stops the course of the blessing from comming unto us and now we recover an interest in all the good things of the world so as all things are ours when sinne is not ours but is
taken away from us Thirdly it is sin which brings all sorrowes and miseries upon us this is that which brings sword famine pestilence nakednesse and all such outward calamities sin iâ—â—he true cause of all these These spring not out of the dust nor come by chance but are the fruit which growes upon the forbidden tree of sin but let sin once be forgiven then are these things which are in themselves evill turned unto good unto us Affliction is good when the sin which causeth it is gone and done away one that hath his sin forgiven may rejoyce in affliction Rom. 5. Romans 5. yea hee may be exceeding joyous in all tribulations 2 Cor. 7.4 2 Cor. 7.4 When sin which is the sting of every crosse is removed is pulled out then may we take up that crosse which before we fled from as from a serpent and put it in our bosome and not be hurt by it Fourthly it turns good things into evill unto us sometimes God gives good things even to wicked and evill men making his Sunne to shine and rain to fall upon the wicked and unjust Matth. 5.45 Matth 5.45 But so long as sinne is unpardoned though the things be good in themselves yet they are not good unto them sin corrupts the good things they enjoy it turns blessings into curses as the Lord saith in Malachi 2.2 Malachi 2.2 I will curse their blessings thâ—ir health wealth peace and prosperity are as snares unto them to work their ruine Psal 69 22. Psalm 69.22 But where sin is pardoned there is no more curse Apoc. 22. Apocal 22. Then the blessing returnes to the creature and is in the creature the rain is a rain of blessing Ezek. 34.26 Ezek. 34.26 our meat and our talk a blessing our prosperity a blessing we are then blessed in all we enjoy in all we put our hands unto Fifthly what an evill sin is and what a benefit forgivenesse is we may conceive if we doe but look on such men as have felt the sting of sin in their own consciences and have felt the burthen of it â—ying on them Look upon Cain crying out in the horror of his conscience My sin is greater then can bee forgiven Gen. 4. Genesis 4. Look upon Saul complaining that God was departed from him I am saith he in great distresse 2 Sam. 28.15 Look upon Judas when his sin pressed upon his conscience how unable he was to beare it very anguish of conscience on earth makes him cast himselfe into the gulfe of hell Prov. 18.14 The spirit of a man will beare his infirmity all outward sorrowes so long as his conscience is at peace free from the trouble of sin but when sin comes and burdeneth the conscience of a man this none can beare This David found to bee a burthen beyond his strength he was not able to beare it Psal 38.3 Psalm 38.3 A stone is weighty and the sand is heavie but sin upon the conscience is heavier then them both Pro. 27.3 Prov. 27.3 This burthen makes the whole creation to groan under it Rom. 8. Romans 8. And whosoever hath felt the guilt of his own sin lying upon him such an one wil easily conceive what a blessing this is to have sinne forgiven By forgivenesse the burden is lightned the wound is healed the soule is eased of that anguish and bitternesse which it was in before While our sin was unpardoned we looked at God as an enemy to condemne us but now we have peace towards God we are reconciled the cause of the enmity being taken away All this considered well might Dâ—vid say as he did Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven and iniquity covered Psal 32. Psalm 32. Now this great blessing God hath promised in his covenant he will forgive the sin of his people which give up themselves to walk in covenant with him Hee will not remember against them their former iniquities their sins shall be as if they had never been hee will see no iniquity in Jacob nor transgression in Israel he will passe by the sin of the remnant of his heritage he will remember their sins no more yea though their sins be great yet hee will forgive them though they abound yet his grace shall abound much more in the forgivenesse of them Rom. 5.20 See Isai 43.25 And this the Lord will doe First because mercy pleaseth him Micah 7. It is a pleasure to him to shew mercy to his covenanted people Never did we take more pleasure nor so much in the acting and committing of our sins as he doth in the pardoning of them Hee is the Father of mercy 2 Cor. 1. 2 Cor. 1. And therefore delights in mercy as a father delighteth in his children It doth him good to see the fruit of his own mercy in the taking away of the sins of his people Secondly it is the purpose which he hath everlastingly purposed within himselfe to make his grace glorious in those whom he hath by covenant given unto Christ to be saved by him he will have the praise of the glory of his grace Ephes 1.6 Ephes 1 6. Hee will not lose this glory he will be admired in the Saints 2 Thess 1.10 2 Thess 1.10 Hee will make the world to wonder when it shall bee known what sin hath been committed by them and pardoned by him Gods people are called vessels of mercy Rom. 9. Rom. 9. As those therefore which are vessels of wrath shall be full of the wrath and indignation of the Almighty to make his wrath known in them so the vessels of mercy shall be filled with mercy filled up to the brim God will have no empty vessels all shall be full one sort filled with wrath the other with mercy Thirdly The Lord hath received a satisfaction to his Justice in Christ what ever Justice could require at our hand Christ hath satisfied for us to the utmost farthing So that now Justice cannot complaine though that sin be forgiven unto us because it was fully punished in Christ Fourthly If the Lord should not forgive the sinnes of his people which believe on Christ Christ his sufferings should be in vaine To what end was it for him to suffer the just for the unjust Why was the chastisement of our peace laid upon him if wee should also suffer for our owne sinnes God would never have laid our iniquities upon him but that he intended to forgive them unto us Fifthly There is no other way to have sinne done away no other meanes to get free from sin but by forgivenes Either God must forgive sin or all the world must be condemned and lie under his curse for ever But there are a remnant that God will save from perishing in the condemnation of the world c. Sixthly The Lord hath not onely promised forgivenes and spoken it with his mouth but his act and deed gives us assurance that he will