ere they believe me Num. 14. 11. So it may be extended more generally we are too ready and apt to doubt of or be unbelieving concerning what he speaks unto us and therefore because of our backwardness and unaptness to believe he confirms his Saying with his Oath Our Saviour saith to his Disciples Let your yea be yea and your nay nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil or is from or out of evil Not that he hereby condemns all swearing but instructs his Disciples that Oaths though in some Cases useful and needful are yet out of evil And so amongst other things mens unbelief or doubting of the truth of what is affirmed by a bare Word occasions an Oath for the Confirmation of it So warily understanding it we may say as with respect to Gods swearing it is at sometimes out of or from evil Matth. 5. 37. And so here particularly The House of Israel being convinced of their evil and Judgment being threatned against them therefore thus they spake saying If our transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them how then should we live Ezek. 33. 10. They were ready to despond and despair of Gods mercy towards them Now then God thus swears unto them because of their slowness of heart to believe him on his Word Thus also it is said An Oath of Confirmation is an end of all strife gain-saying or contradiction Heb. 6. 16. So here God because of their readiness to contradict and gain-say in their hearts at least swears by himself As also to the end they might not gain-say any more but firmly believe the truth of that so Affirmed and Confirmed he interposeth himself by an Oath Exod. 17. 15 16. And that he might lift up their hands which hang'd down and they might have strong Consolation in returning to him from their evil and wicked ways And as God interposed himself by an Oath to Abraham to the end that the Heirs of his Promise might by this Immutable thing also assuredly know and believe the truth of that so confirmed and might have strong consolation Heb. 6. 16-18 So here also God hath sworn by himself that he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked That men might give glory to him in believing and have solid Consolation in this great Encouragement set before them to the truth whereof he hath as it were bound himself or his soul with the Bond of this most Indubitable Oath as Num. 30. 2-4 Acts 23. 12-14 3. We have in the next place to consider and speak unto the subject-matter thus Affirmed and Confirmed by this most excellent Person And by this undeniable Oath And that is laid down and propounded to us 1. Negatively I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked Now hereto we may speak in this Order to wit 1. By way of Explication or explaining the words 2. We shall give some further Evidences of the Truth hereof 3. We shall note some Instructions here-from 1. By way of Explication let us enquire into and consider these things 1. What Death is that here spoken of and intended 2. Who are the wicked in the Scripture account 3. What are we to understand by this Phrase no pleasure 4. What time is that in which he hath no Pleasure I have 1. What is the Death here spoken of and intended when he saith I have no Pleasure in the Death of the wicked c. Now in Answer thereto we may say The Scripture speaks onely of two Deaths in General As the Wages of Sin In one of which all lesser Deaths are contained and comprehended namely 1. There is that Death which is intimately called the first Death which was threatned unto the First Man Adam Male and Female in case they should eat of the forbidden Fruit As it is said Of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the day that thou eatest thereof in dying thou shalt die Gen. 2. 17. And under the Sentence whereof Adam and all his Posterity fell upon his eating of that Tree whereof God commanded him he should not eat As the Apostle saith By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that or in whom all have sinned Rom. 5. 12. By Man even by the first publick man came Death for in Adam all die 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. And this First Death had been an Eternal Death had not our Lord Jesus Christ by the Grace of God tasted it for every man and overcome and abolished it 2 Tim. 1. 9 10. And he will in due time destroy it 1 Cor. 15. 26. It is a strange unreasonable and dangerous mistake of some who say that Christ died not for this first Oflence or the necessary Branches thereof or that he tasted not this first Death for men For if so how then came he to be promised of God before he passed the Sentence upon our First Parents Gen. 3. 15-19 Or how shall men be Raised out of this First Death but by him who was delivered for our Offences and raised again for our Justification By Man came the Resurrection of the Dead for as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive To wit Quickned and Raised out of the First Death 1 Cor. 15. 21 22. God hath given Christ authority to execute judgment And by his Voice to Bring forth all Men out of their Graves Because he is the Son of Man John 5. 27 28 29. 2. There is another and worse Death which is several times called expresly The second Death To wit as with respect to Men into which such will be cast for their own personal transgressions after they are raised out of the first Death and judged by Christ who remained in their Impenitency Unbelief and Disobedience till the Day of Grace and Patience was ended and died therein Mark 16. 16. 2 Thes 1. 8 9. This Death was not prepared for Men for or by reason of their sinning in the first Publick Man simply but for the Devil and his Angels But they must go into it and be hurt by it who personally and voluntarily listned to and were led by Satan and followed after him and did his Lusts and died the first Death in such transgression Mat. 25. 31-41-46 Of which second Death they shall not be hurt who overcome their spiritual enemies On such the second Death shall have no power Rev. 2. 11. and Chap. 20. 6. But whosoever shall not be found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire which is the second death Rev. 20. 14 15. The fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Rev 21. 7 8. This second Death is called the wrath to come because it
will fully seize on none until they be brought out of the first Death and judged by him who died for all and rose again and whom God hath ordained the Judge of quick and dead Mat. 3. 7. 1 Thes 1. 10. Rev. 11. 18. There are some indeed and too many that talk of a third Death but in so doing they speak not according to the Word contained in the Law and Testimony of God And therefore therein there is no light in them And that in speaking of a third Death as the wages of sin they consent not to wholsom words may easily appear to themselves who use this groundless Distinction for some of them to prove that there is such a third Death do weakly enough bring the Scriptures which speak of the second for the proof thereof But it is a very evil and dangerous thing to make such a Distinction where the Scripture makes none but plainly enough opposes and rejects it and may do more harm than they are aware of who make use of it rather I conceive out of ignorance and custom than judgment and consideration It is good for us to hear what the Scripture faith and to receive that But no more to this at present But now the Enquiry is Of which of the two Deaths fore-mentioned are we here to understand these words to mean And to that we say not of the first which is now abolished 1. Because it is Gods Will and Appointment that all men should die the first Death Though not that all should sleep or abide in it 1 Cor. 15. 51 52. It is appointed to men once to die Heb. 9. 27. I know saith Job Thou wilt bring me to death and to the house appointed for all living To wit the Grave which is called Mans long home Job 30. 23. with Eccles 12. 5. What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave Selah Psal 89. 48. with Eccles 7. 2. and Chap. 8. 8. 2. Because the Death here spoken of is called the Death of the wicked as being their proper and onely Death Ezek 18. 23. And therefore it appears hereby is meant directly and fully the second Death or Hell-fire For the wicked so abiding shall be turned into Hell Psal 9. 17. whereas in the first Death there is no difference but all die that good and bad wise and unwise How dieth the wise man as the fool Eccles 2. 16. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the good and to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not As is the good so is the sinner and he that sweareth as he that feareth an oath Eccles 9. 1 2-10 The most holy and righteous men generally have died this first Death And some of them have said They were going the way of all the earth meaning thereby they were going to die the first Death Josh 23. 14. 1 Kin. 2. 2. But none of them shall be hurt of the second Death Rev. 2. 11. 3. It also plainly appears that by the Death here spoken of we are to understand the second Death directly and fully because this Death may while it is called to Day be escaped and avoided as it is here signified in saying I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live Men may now in this day of his Grace and Patience flee from and be delivered from the wrath to come Matth. 3. 7. 1 Thes 10. But now no man can by any turning from evil or exercising himself unto and following after Godliness and Goodness escape or be delivered from the first Death As hath been said No man hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit neither hath he power in the day of death and there is no discharge in that war Eccles 8. 8. By all which it doth plainly and fully appear the Death here spoken of and intended is directly and most properly and fully the second Death as hath been said before Object If any one should object against what hath been said and say That though by the Death here spoken of the first Death as it was appointed to fallen Man after the Promise of Christ by God cannot be meant yet it may mean it of that Death as it is judicially executed upon some for their voluntary and personal Iniquities and Transgressions for so it was not appointed to all men to die it To this I say Ans 1. By way of Grant God did not at first appoint that Men in a Personal Consideration or as fallen in Adam or because of their sins of weakness and unadvisedness simply should die this first Death judicially But 2. When Men are become wicked and have sinned with an high hand against God he may notwithstanding their turning from their evils order the first Death to them judicially and they may not die the common Death of all men or not die it as commonly and ordinarily men die it But in testimony of wrath for their former personal evils it may be executed upon them Num. 14. 28 29. Isa 22. 12-14 And sometimes for the evils of others As upon the little Ones in the old World And of Sodom and Gomorrah c. So that still I say By the Death here spoken of is meant directly and fully the second Death And so we are to understand it That God hath no pleasure in the Death that is in the Eternal Destruction of the wicked Or that they should perish in that Everlasting Fire which was prepared for the Devil and his Angels who sinned without a Tempter But we shall add no more to that 2. Who are the wicked in the Scripture account in whose Death the Lord God hath no pleasure Answ To that we may say Those who are called Wicked in Scripture are not such simply as have sinned in the first Publick Man and come forth into the World polluted and defiled as all do who partake of the Nature of Man by an ordinary way of Generation For who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one Job 14. 4. and 25. 4. Psal 51. 5. Nor are they such as have sin in them simply as all while here have Rom. 7. 17. 20. 1 Joh. 1. 8. Or that sin through infirmity and weakness or through unadvisedness as all do For there is not a just man upon the earth that doth good and sinneth not 1 Kin. 8. 46. Eccles 8. 20. And yet all are not therefore wicked Good men who have acknowledged themselves to have sinned have yet truly acquitted themselves of being wicked As Job thus acknowledgeth I have sinned c. Job 7. 20. And yet he appealeth to God and saith Thou knowest or it is upon thy knowledge that I am not wicked Job 7. 20. And God himself saith of him That he was a perfect and an upright man one that feared God and
as good as his word unto his Apostles it is therefore also said They went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them c. Mat. 28. 18 19 20. with Mark 16. 15-20 He therefore that rejecteth rejecteth not man but God who hath also given his holy Spirit unto the Ministers of his Word to accompany them 1 Thes 4. 8. And this also shews he hath no pleasure none at all in the death of the wicked while it is called to Day But to this particular I shall not here further enlarge because we shall have apt Occasion to speak somewhat further unto this and the former particulars in what followeth 4. That he is not willing that wicked Ones should perish appears also and is evident hereby In that our Lord Jesus Christ doth by the will of God make Intercession for Transgressors Isa 53. 12. to speak good for them and to turn away Gods wrath from them as Jer. 18. 20. with Chap. 27. 18. He is the Propitiation for their sins who through Grace believe and not for their sins onely but also for the sins of the whole world 1 John 2. 2. The Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the World That Judgment may not speedily be executed upon it John 1. 29. And hereby the Apostle doth prove and demonstrate That God will have all men to be saved And therefore hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked Because there is One Mediator between God and Men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ransom for all 1 Tim. 2. 4 5 6. And while he Intercedes for Sinners and Transgressors God hears him And Behold now is the accepted time behold now is the Day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 1 2. He doth by his powerful Intercession prevail as a Prince with God his Father that further Patience and Forbearance might be exercised toward such as deserve to be cut off in their Trespasses And this is an Evidence that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance Because he is long-suffering to them And the Apostle exhorts the Believers to Account or Reckon that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation To wit toward them to whom it is exexercised Their accounting his long-suffering Salvation doth not make it so to be But his Long-suffering being Salvation gives them good ground so to account it for his Long-suffering is a Fruit of his Love and Charity toward them to whom it is vouchsafed 2 Pet. 3. 9. 15. with 1 Cor. 13. 4. while God waits he waits that he may be gracious even towards Rebellious Ones also Isa 30. 8-18 that they might be brought unto God 1 Pet. 3. 18. 20. As it is said concerning Gods professed People in former times many whereof were disobedient and rebellious Yea many years didst thou forbear them that thou mightest bring them again to thy Law Neh. 9. 29 30. And hence also when the Lord is said to be Long-suffering or slow to Anger then very frequently he is affirmed to be merciful and gracious or of great kindness To signifie to us That his Long-suffering is an Evidence and Expression of his Mercy Grace and kindness towards the Sons of Men Exod. 34. 6. Num. 14. 18. Neh. 9. 17. Psal 86. 15. and 145. 8. Joel 2. 13. Jona 4. 2. Rom. 2. 4. Object But against what we are now considering some may object and say Christ would not vouchsafe to pray for the World And then to be sure he did not die for it Nor is it the Will of God that the World should be saved but he hath pleasure in their destruction John 17. 9. Answ This saying of our Saviour's is much abused and wrested by many who are Enemies to the Grace of God in Christ to Mankind And his words are altered to make them serve their evil Design For 1. Our Saviour doth not say He would not pray for the World or that he never did or will pray for it But his words are I pray not to wit at that present time for the World c. Now that doth not at all deny that he might pray for the World at another time As may appear in other sayings of like nature As where our Saviour saith concerning his Apostles I speak not of you all John 13. 18. It would be very false from hence to infer That he would not nor never did speak of them all for other-where it is very evident he did so Matth. 10. 1. John 6. 67. So also he thus speaks in another place concerning his faithful Disciples I do not say that I will pray the Father for you John 16. 26. Now would not those men who so pervert John 17. 9. exceedingly blame any that should infer herefrom and say Our Saviour never said he would pray for his own Disciples Because he there saith I do not say that I will pray the Father for you And indeed such an Inference would be most untrue and exceedingly condemnable for though he did not there say he would pray the Father for them yet else-where he doth so say for in John 14. 16. he thus assures them I will pray the Father for you c. And the same we may apply to this Scripture objected as will further appear by and by 2. There is this good Reason why the World should then be excluded from his Prayer in that place because he is putting up Requests to his Father for the then Actual Believers and which were onely proper to be petitioned for them and not for the World while in that state to wit That they might be kept in Gods Name that they might be one that they might be sanctified through the truth and sent into the World as Christ was to wit to preach the Gospel c. John 17. 9-19 Now how could our Saviour pray for the World while of the World in these Petitions which were not proper to be presented for them Could he pray That they might be kept in Gods Name that were not in it Or that they might be one in their evil Ways and Designs Or that they might be sent into the World to preach the Gospel who did not believe the Gospel No surely But this doth no more deny that our Saviour ever prayed for the World than Abraham's praying for his Son Ishmael or Isaac denies he ever prayed for Sodom That is to say not in the least for at several times and in divers Petitions he prayed both for the former and the latter 3. Nay it evidently appears in Johâ— 17. That our Saviour prayed for the world though not in verse 9-19 Or the good of the World was one great thing aimed at and designed in his praying for them who were chosen out of the World for that Prayer may be divided into four Parts First Our Saviour prays for himself and therein prays not for the World nor for the Believers directly John 17. 1-5 then he prays for such as were then
in which they were guilty of high Apostacy and revolt or there was in them an evil heart of unbelief in Apostatizing from the living God as Heb. 3. 12 13. And their Apostacy was first more inward and particular and then more open and general 1. More inward and particular and so it is thus exprest by the Apostle they crucifie to themselves the Son of God afresh Heb. 6. 6. That is by an evil heart of unbelief they inwardly look upon Christ as an Impostor and Deceiver as an Accursed one as 1 Cor. 12. 3. from whom they expect no salvation and on his Gospel as a cheat and imposture or as the Apostle in Heb. 10. 29. expresses it they tread under foot the Son of God and count the bloud of the Covenant wherewith they were sanctified a profane polluted thing Thus they account it in their evil and revolting hearts and so inwardly turn from him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. 2. More outwardly and generally to others they put him to an open shame namely they disgrace and vilifie him publickly and unto others and make him a publick example as the same word is rendred in Matth. 1. 19. or they render him to others as an infamous and accursed person as one that was such a Malefactour and Deceiver as that he justly suffered that shameful painful and accursed Death for his own Demerit and hereby as we have noted before on Matth. 12. 30 31. they scatter others abroad from Christ who were gatheted unto him and so are highly injurious to their souls And this same expression here rendred they put him to an open shame is made use of by the Septuagint in Numb 25. 4. where we read hang them up before the Lord c. They read it make them a publick example or put them to an open shame c. And so answerably in Heb. 10. 29. it is said they offer despite unto or rail upon the Spirit of Grace even the Gospel of Christ as answering unto Moses Law ver 28. and so the holy Spirit for the Gospel was with the holy Spirit sent down from heaven 1 Pet. 1. 12. And so they railed upon and reviled Christ who is the sum and subject matter of the Gospel and of whom the Spirit of Grace bears witness And one Branch of or step unto this hainous iniquity and revolt is the forsaking of the publick Assemblies of Christians Heb. 10. 25 26-29 By the greatness and depth then of their Fall and Revolt many who wrongfully charge themselves with this transgression may assuredly know they are not guilty of it for then others might know it as well as they 3. When the Apostle saith It is impossible to renew them c. he speaks not as to God but as to themselves in their ministration of the Gospel whether by word or writing And so these words are the reason of what the Apostle had been fore-saying in ver 1. viz. Therefore leaving the principles of the Doctrine of Christ let us go on to perfection not laying again the foundation c. For it is impossible c. As if he should say It will be a needless business for us to be always declaring and insisting upon the first principles of the Oracles of God as with respect to these Apostates for that way they will not be renewed again to repentance and so not by their preaching or writing always these things And therefore they would proceed on in speaking of or propounding in Writing the more high and mysterious things of the Gospel for the sakes of those believers who still held fast to the Lord. But yet the things which were unpossible with men are possible with God Luk. 18. 27. And therefore while these Apostates were joyned to all the living the Believers might pray for them That God would fill their faces with shame that they might seek his name as Psal 83. 15 16. and 69. 22 23. with Rom. 11. 8-11 32 33. But to this we shall have apt occasion to speak further in the next Scripture which is now in order to be considered by us Namely 3. For as to 1 Joh. 5. 16. many conceive that the Apostle there forbids that such as sin the sin unto death should be prayed for Ans 1. Suppose God should have said in that Scripture to wit 1 Joh. 5. 16. Pray not for that person that sinneth the sin unto death might not such an one have been prayed for any more had there been such a prohibition We may see that God commands Jeremiah once and a second time thus Pray not thou for this people neither lift up cry nor prayer for them neither make intercession to me for I will not hear thee Jer. 7. 16. and Ch. 11. 14. And yet the Prophet knowing that God was gracious and merciful prays for them again Ch. 14. 7 8 9. Then the Lord a third time saith to the Prophet Pray not for this people for their good Ch. 14. 11 12. But notwithstanding all this the Prophet again lifts up his heart with his hands to God in the heavens for them Jer. 14. 19 20-22 And surely God is as gracious to sinners now and to the chief of sinners as he was then yea in these last days his grace hath been more largely exprest and more brightly manifested than in former times in that he hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live thorow him 1 Joh. 4. 8 9 10-14 But 2. That Scripture we are now considering 1 Joh. 5. 16. is by many much mistaken for the Apostle there doth not forbid us to pray for the person that sinneth unto death It is not there said There is a sin unto death I do not say that he shall pray for him but for or concerning it to wit the sin On which God may take vengeance as long as the person guilty thereof lived yea and after his death long and yet the soul of that sinning person may be saved in the day of the Lord. God said to Eli yea he sware unto the house of Eli that his and their iniquity should not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever 1 Sam. 3. 13 14. And it was punished long after Eli s death 1 King 2. 27. And the same may be said of the sins of Manasses 2 King 24. 3 4. and yet their souls were surely saved See also 2 Sam. 12. 10. Psal 99. 8. Isa 22. 12 14. Act. 8. 22 23. So that though the sin might not be prayed for yet the person so sinning might notwithstanding any thing there said while he was joyned to all the living for so long there is hope for men Eccl. 9. 4. Nay 3. The Apostle John doth not forbid the believers to pray for or concerning the sin unto death for the words are not I do say that he shall not pray for it but I do not say that he shall pray for it That is he doth not direct or enjoyn it upon them so to do
which notwithstanding any thing there said may yet be done 1 Joh. 5. 16. Joh. 16. 26. Now what hath been said to this Objection is not said That men might continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid But to the end That such as conclude against themselves that there is no hope for them might not be discouraged from turning from their evil ways unto God For when God saith in any place of Scripture to the wicked Thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin c. he shall surely live he shall not die Ezek. 33. 11-13-16 Nay when the Lord said unto Jeremiah Though Moses and Samuel stood before me my mind could not be toward this people c. Jer. 15. 1-3 and Ch. 16. And The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron and with the point of a Diamond c. for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn for ever Chap. 17. 1 2 3. Yet after all this he thus commands the Prophet Now therefore go to speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying Behold I frame evil and devise a device against you return ye now every one from his evil way and make your ways and your doings good Jer. 18. 1-6-8-11 Oh then however you have sinned do not say as Cain did that your iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven Gen. 4. 13. Do not so dishonour the Father of Mercies as to conclude he cannot redeem you from your iniquities or deliver you from your transgressions as Isa 50. 1 2 3 4. but return unto him and he will return unto you Mal. 3. 7. And consider thereto that God hath reserved this to himself as his Prerogative To shew mercy to such sinners as unto whom men cannot lawfully shew mercy They say if a man put away his wife and she go from him and become another mans shall he return unto her again Shall not that land be greatly polluted But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers yet return again unto me saith the LORD Jer. 3. 1. Oh then though thou art in the belly of hell as it were yet cry unto the God of Mercy Though thou sayest thou art cast out of his sight yet look again toward his holy Temple And when thy soul faints within thee then remember the LORD and let thy prayer come in unto him into his holy Temple even Christ in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the God-head bodily and who came into the world to save sinners sinners indefinitely and the chief and most notorious sinners Jonah 2. 2-4-7 8. with Col. 2. 9 10. and 1 Tim. 1. 13-15 And him that cometh unto him in this day of grace he will in no wise cast out what-ever he hath been or done Joh. 6. 37. Matth. 11. 27 28. 3. Let me proceed on and say Turn ye turn ye for why will ye die Why will we die May another generation say Why the pleasures of sin are so sweet and delightful to us that we know not how on that Account to turn from them Stollen waters are sweet and bread of secrecies is pleasant We cannot deny but that God calleth us to repentance and there-with inables us to turn from our iniquities But the ways of sin are so grateful and pleasing that it is as the cutting off our right hand or the plucking out of our right eye to bid adieu thereto and turn our backs thereon Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the Leopard his spots Then may we also do good that are accustomed to do evil Jer. 13. 23. Answ Now to this generation I might say many things but having much exceeded mine intention at first already shall therefore be the briefer and propound to these Objectors that saying of the Apostle Rom. 6. 21. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed for the end or reward of those things is death Here the Apostle propounds three weighty Considerations to take men off from their sinful courses namely They are unfruitful shameful and eternally hurtful and pernicious 1. What fruit had ye then Even when you did commit sin and were servants of it And so what fruit have you now therein who sow to the flesh and serve sin What fruit may you say We have said already Sin is most sweet and delightful to us Well but yet let me say to you 1. Though the ways of sin are delightful or as the Apostle expresses it though you count it pleasure to riot in the day-time 2 Pet. 2. 13. yet sin is not delightful and satisfactory to the whole man It may appear so to the Body and to the Bruitish and Sensual Appetite but not so to the Superiour Eaculties of the Soul which are not delighted with these low and carnal things 1 Joh. 2. 16. They will not satisfie mens souls for they are the stumbling-blocks of their iniquity Ezek. 7. 19. The most noble part of man as Psal 22. 20. is not delighted herewith but contrariwise sadned and filled with horror and dread thereby while mens Consciences are not so seared as to be past feeling and when they consider and lay these things to heart To this purpose speaks the holy Scripture Though wickedness saith Zophar be sweet in his mouth though he hide it under his tongue though he spare it and forsake it not but keep it still in the midst of his palate yet his meat in his bowels is turned it is the gall of Aspes within him That is Wickedness is the very quintessence of bitterness to his soul how sweet soever it be oâ— appear to be in his mouth Surely he shall not know or feel quietness in his belly to wit in the spirit of his mind Job 20. 12 13 14-20 The wicked man travelleth with pain all his dayes and the number of years is hidden to the oppressor a sound of fears is in his ears In prosperity or peace the destroyer shall come upon him Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid they shall prevail against him as a King ready to the battle because he stretcheth out his hand against God and strengtheneth himself against the Almighty Joh. 15. 20-25 c. And though such may appear very merry and jocund yet as the crackling of thorns under a pot so is the laughter of fools Eccl. 2. 2. and Chap. 7. 6. Nay even in their laughter the heart is sorrowful and the end of that mirth is heaviness however to the soul Their soul within them shall mourn Prov 14. 13. with Joh 14. 22. How oft do terrors make them afraid on every side and even drive them to their feet as Job 18. 11. and Ch. 20. 23-25 How doth their heart smite them 2 Sam. 24 10. And how are they pricked in their reins when God is reproving them and setting their sins in order before them Now how can any considerate and sober-minded person call or count that truly delightful which doth so wound
in the highest on earth peace good will towards men Luke 2. 10 11-14 And hereby the Apostle Paul doth prove and demonstrate That God our Saviour will have all men to be saved And therefore hath no pleasure in the Destruction of any of them Because there is one Medâ—atour of God and Men the Man Christ Jesus who gave himself a Ranson or Price of Redemption for all 1 Tim. 2. 4 5 6. And upon this ground the worst of sinners are exhorted and excited to turn to the Lord Behold saith the Lord I have given him for a Witness to the People even Christ as delivered for our Offences and raised again for our Justification There called The sure mercies of David Isa 55. 3 4. with Acts 13. 34. And then presently after and upon that account he calleth Sinners to Repentance Seek ye the LORD while he may be found call upon him while he is neer Let the wicked forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts and let him return unto the LORD and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will multiply to pardon Isa 55. 3 4-6 7. This blessed Doctrine the Apostle preached unto the Corinthians when they were carried away unto dumb Idols and were notorious sinners to wit Fornicators Idolaters Adulterers Effeminate Abusers of themselves with Mankind c. To assure them that God hath no pleasure in their Death And to the end they might be saved He delivered unto them first of all that which he also received How that Christ died for their sins according to the Scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures c. 1 Cor. 15. 1 2 3 4. with Chap. 6. 9 10 11. and Chap. 12. 2. Yea the love of Christ in dying for All and rising again known and believed by his Ambassadors did constrain them to perswade men and where-ever they came thus to pray in Christs stead Be ye reconciled unto God 2 Cor. 5. 11-14 15-19 20 21. and Chap. 6. 1 2. And this is one evident and fundamental Demonstration of the truth of what God here swears to wit That he hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked Christ is the Amen the faithful and true Witness hereof Rev. 1. 5. and Chap. 3. 14. And as God's commanding Moses to set a Serpent of brass upon a Pole that those who were stung with the fiery Serpents for their despising the Manna might look unto it and live Did plainly evince that it was not his Mind or Will that they should die of their stings Num. 21. Even so God hath herein more brightly manifested That he is not willing that any should perish In that the Son of Man hath been lifted up from the Earth for them and lifted up from the gates of death c. For so God loved the World that he gave his onely begotten Son John 3. 14 15 16 17. 2. It is further evident That God hath no pleasure in the Death of the wicked in this In that Christ by his Death in the vertue whereof he is raised again is become the Deliverer from the wrath to come 1 Thes 1. 10. for thereby he hath obtained the forgiveness of those sins which deserve and bring men under the sentence of Condemnation to the wrath to come Luke 2. 30 31. He who descended into the lower parts of the Earth and who is ascended up on high and hath led captivity captive hath received gifts in the man even for the rebellious also that the Lord God might dwell among them Psal 68. 18. without blood shedding there is no remission of sins to wit without the Blood-shedding of the Son of God For it was not possible that the blood of Goats and Calves should take away sin If Righteousness could have come by the Law then Christ died in vain Heb 9. 22. and Chap. 10. 1-4 5-9 Gal. 2. 21. And unless he who died for our sins had been raised again for our justification we must have remained necessarily in our sins 1 Cor. 15. 17. But now he who bare our sins in his own Body on the Tree is raised again and saw no corruption Therefore in him is prepared for sinners and in his Name preached to them the forgiveness of those sins from which men could not be justified by the Law of Moses Acts 13. 32-37-39 He hath obtained eternal Redemption even the forgiveness of our sins by his blood according to the riches of Gods grace Heb. 9. 12. with Ephes 1. 7. forgiveness of the greatest sins and sinners while it is the Day of Gods Grace and Patience And therefore he saith to his Apostles Thus it is written and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and to rise again from the dead the third day And that Repentance and Forgiveness of sins should be preached in his Name unto all Nations beginning at Jerusalem which had killed the Prophets and stoned them which were sent unto them And were afterwards the Betrayers and Murderers of the Lord of Glory Luke 24. 46-48 with Chap. 13. 34. Acts 7. 53. Otherwise indeed I mean If there were no Forgiveness of sins with God in Christ for wicked Ones he might be said to have Pleasure in their Death and Destruction And the House of Israel had rightly supposed what they did as the Words may be read in the Verse immediately preceding that which we are considering to wit O thou Son of Man speak unto the House of Israel rightly ye speak saying If our iniquities and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them If there be no Attonement for them no Forgiveness of them see Num. 15. 30 31. with verse 27 28 29. How should we then live Ezek. 33. 10. Or as the Psamist saith If thou LORD shouldst mark iniquities O LORD who shall stand But there is forgiveness or as the Septuagint renders it There is a propitiation with thee that thou mayst be feared And thence incourages the House of Israel notwithstanding their great and manifold Transgressions yet to hope in his Mercy Let Israel saith he hope in the LORD for with the LORD is mercy and with him is plenteous redemption Psal 130. 3 4-7 The Lord hath proclaimed himself to be gracious and merciful abundant in goodness keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin Exod. 34. 6 7. He hath a great Name for pardoning great iniquities Psal 25. 11. For he hath found out a Ransom for our souls an Attonement for our sins Job 33. 24. He hath accepted a sacrifice even that of our Lord Jesus Christ who in the greatness of his love towards us gave himself for us an Offering and a Sacrifice unto God for a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5. 2. And in whom by means thereof we have redemption thorow his blood even the forgiveness of sins Col. 1. 14. As also to the end we may be justified from and receive the forgiveness of our sins