First The Petition Forgive us our Debts Secondly The Condition or Proportion or Plea and Argument call it which you will for the obtaining of this forgiveness as we forgive our Debtors In the Petition we may observe that the same which our Evangelist calls Debts is by St. Luke 11.4 called Sins Forgive us our Sins We stand indebted to God both as we are his Creatures and as we are Offenders By the one we owe him the Debt of Obedience and by the other the Debt of Punishment First As we are Creatures we owe the Debt of Obedience And to the payment of this Debt we stand bound both to the absolute Sovereignty of God who is the Supreme Lord of all his Creatures and therefore may oblige them to what he pleaseth and likewise by his manifold Favours and Mercies conferred upon us From him we have received our Beings and all our Comforts he maintains us at his own Cost and Charge he enlargeth us when we are in Streights relieves us when we are in Wants Counsels us when we are in Doubts Comforts us when we are in Sorrows Delivers us in our Dangers and besides the manifold Temporal Mercies we daily receive from him gives us the Means the Hopes and Promises of obtaining far better things at his Hands even Eternal Life and Glory And therefore certainly upon these Accounts we owe him all possible Service and Obedience And indeed it is but Reason we should employ all for him from whom we receive all and give up our selves to his Service who are what we are by his Bounty and hope to be infinitely better than now we are through his Mercy Now this Debt of Obedience is irremissible and we are eternally and indispensably bound unto it For it is altogether inconsistent with the Notion and Being of a Creature to be discharged from its Obligation to the Laws and Commands of its Creator for this would exempt it from the Dominion of God and make it Absolute and Independent that is it would make the Creature to be no longer a Creature but a Deity We do not therefore pray that God would forgive us this Debt no he cannot so far deny himself and it is our Happiness and Glory to pay it To this his Sovereignty obligeth our Subject Condition and his Mercy and Goodness our Ingenuity Secondly As we are Transgressors so we owe God a Debt of Punishment to be suffered by us to make God some reparation to his Honour and satisfaction to his Justice for our transgressing his Law which sentenceth all Offenders to Eternal Death and Damnation This Debt now is that which we pray God would forgive us a Debt which if we pay we are eternally ruined and undone and there is no way possible to escape the payment of it but by the free Grace and Mercy of God remitting of it unto us And thus Sin is called a Debt not indeed properly as if we owed it but by a Metonymy as it is the meritorious Cause of this punishment the suffering of which we owe to Divine Justice Hence by the way we may observe that every Sin makes us liable to Eternal Death for Death and Damnation is the Debt which we must pay to the Justice of God and Sin is that which exposeth us unto it by the Sentence of the Law which we have transgressed For as against other Debtors is brought forth some Bond or Obligation to exact payment from them So against us is produced the Hand-writing of the Law and we not having performed the Condition of the Bond stand liable to the Forfeiture and Penalty which is no less than Curses and Woes and Torments and Everlasting Death Cursed is every one that continues not in all things written in the Book of the Law to do them Gal. 3.10 And the Wages of Sin is Death Rom. 6.23 And the Soul that sinneth it shall Die Ezek. 18.4 Now here to excite thee to a fervency in praying for the forgiveness of thy Debts consider First The infinite multitudes of thy Debts God's Book is full of them and there they stand on account against us under every one of our Names We were born Debtors to God our Original Sin and Guilt obligeth us to punishment and although we did not personally contract the Debt yet as being the wretched Heirs and Executors of fallen Adam the Debt is legally devolved upon us and become ours And ever since we came into the World we have run upon the score with God our Debts are more than our Moments have been for whatsoever we have thought or done hath been Sin either in the matter or at least in the circumstances of it God sets all our Sins down in order in his Debt-book some as Talents and some as Pence Our flagitious Crimes and hainous Impieties our presumptuous Sins committed against Light Knowledge Conscience Convictions Mercies and Judgments each of these God sets down as a Talent And how many thousands of these may we have been guilty of Our Sins of Ignorance Surreption and daily Infirmity are much more innumerable and though they may be but as Pence in comparison with the other yet the unaccountable numbers of them will make the Debt desperate and the payment impossible And yet notwithstanding our Debts are so many and very many of them such great Sums too yet we daily run ourselves farther in Arrears not considering that a Day of Accounts will come when both our Talents and our Pence shall be punctually reckoned up against us not omitting the least Item when every vain Thought and foolish Passion that hath flushed up in us with every idle and superfluous Word that we have unadvisedly spoken as well as the more gross and scandalous Passages of our sinful Lives shall be then audited all which will make the Total Sum infinite and us desperate Secondly That God who is thy Creditor is strict and impartial his Patience hath trusted and forborn thee long but his Justice will at last demand the Debt severely and every particular shall be charged upon thee even to the utmost Farthing for he hath booked down all in his remembrance and will bring all to thine And therefore we have it expressed concerning the last Judgment that the Books were opened and the Dead were Judged out of those things which were written in the Books according to their Works Rev. 20.12 What now are these Books but the two great Volumes of God's remembrance and our own Consciences These are two Tallies evenly struck that shall justly represent the same Sum and Debt and God's strict Justice will not then abate thee any thing of its utmost due for he will by no means acquit the Guilty Indeed we are apt to think that because God so long forbears us he will never calls us to make up and adjust Accounts with him Our present impunity tempts us to question his Omniscience and to suspect his Threatnings and because he winks at us we are ready to conclude that he
We may and ought but our Care must be onely prudent and provident not perplexing and desponding Q. Why is that Expression this Day added A. To shew us that every Day we stand in need of Supplies from God and therefore should daily pray to receive them Q. Since we pray for daily Bread why is it called our Bread A. To note that we ought to use lawfull Means to acquire what we pray for Q. What pray you for in this Petition A. 1. That God would give us the good Things of this Life as the Acquisitions of our lawfull Endeavours 2. That he would bless the Increase of what is lawfully ours 3. That he would bestow upon us a spiritual Right in whatsoever we injoy through Jesus the Heir of all Things 4. We pray that we may not desire nor covet what is anothers 5. We pray for Life it self that it may be prolonged whilst God hath any Service for us to do in this World 6. For all the Means that may lawfully preserve our Life and Health 7. That he would strengthen our Faith and Dependence on his Providence who is the giver of all good 8. That he would give us Contentment in that Portion of Earthly Blessings which he allots us Q. What is the fifth Petition of the Lord's Prayer A. Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors Q. What things are observable in this Petition A. The Order and the Matter of it Q. What observe you from the Order of it A. That after we have prayed for our daily Bread we are taught to pray for Pardon of Sin Which Method is most rational 1. Because the Guilt of Sin many times with-holds from us those Temporal Comforts which we stand in need of Isaiah 59.2 But your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear 2. Because without Pardon of Sin our Temporal Injoyments are but Snares and Curses Q. What observe you in the Matter of this Petition A. Two things The Petition it self Forgive us our Debts And the Condition or Proportion or Plea and Argument for obtaining this Forgiveness As we forgive our Debtors Q. What mean you here by Debts A. The same which St. Luke 11.4 Calls Sins And forgive us our Sins for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us Q. How stand we indebted to God A. We stand indebted to God both as we are his Creatures and as we are Offenders on the former Account we owe God the Debt of Obedience on the latter the Debt of suffering Punishment Q. Which Debt do we pray God to forgive A. The latter onely for the former is irremissibly due to our great Creator Q. How come we to be thus indebted unto God A. By the Sentence of the Law which condemneth every Transgressour of it to undergo the Penalty it threatens which Penalty is all manner of Woes and Curses and Everlasting Death Gal. 3.10 Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the Book of the Law to do them Rom. 6.23 For the wages of Sin is Death Ezek. 18.4 The Soul that sinneth it shall die Q. Since the Suffering of these is the Debt we owe to Divine Justice why say you that Sin is that Debt A. Because Sin alone is the meritorious Cause of these and we owe the Suffering of them onely as we are Sinners Q. Are there no Sins venial in their own Nature so as not to deserve Eternal Damnation A. No not the least for the wages of every Sin is Death All therefore are Mortal in their own Nature and all are Venial through the Mercy of God in the Merits of Christ excepting onely the Sin against the Holy Ghost Q. Can we no way pay off these Debts so as to satisfie the Justice of God A. No for neither can we do it by Obedience nor yet by Sufferings Not by the Duties of Obedience for these are a Debt we owe to God's Holiness and Soveraignty and therefore cannot pay the Debts we owe to his Justice and we cannot pay Debts by Debts Not by suffering for Sin being an infinite Evil must be punish'd with an infinite Punishment but we cannot suffer a Punishment infinite in Degrees therefore it must be infinite in Duration so that the Damned in Hell shall never be able to say It 's finish'd Q. How then may we hope to be acquitted of our Numberless Debts A. Onely through the free Mercy and Grace of God pardoning them in Jesus Christ and therefore we pray Forgive us our Debts Q. What is Pardon or Forgiveness of Sin A. It is the removal of the Guilt of Sin Q. What is the Guilt of Sin A. The Guilt of Sin is either the intrinsecal Desert of Punishment or else an Obnoxiousness and Liableness to it through God's Designation of the Sinner to undergo it Q. Doth pardon of Sin remove both these Guilts A. No it removes not the former for still the Sins of those who are pardoned do in themselves deserve Eternal Death But it removes the latter viz. it takes away our Appointment unto Death 2 Sam. 12.13 And David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David the Lord also hath put away thy Sin thou shalt not die Q. How is it consistent with the Justice of God to pardon Offenders without Punishment A. Though Believers are not personally appointed to Punishment yet Mystically they are which Punishment they have already suffered in Christ their Surety with whom they are made one by Faith Q. To whom is this Prayer for Pardon of Sin directed A. To God onely whose Royal Prerogative is to forgive Sins Isa 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy sins Mark 2.7 Who can forgive sins but God only Q. Have not the Ministers of the Gospel power to forgive sins according to that of St. John 20.23 Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted A. They have a ministerial and declarative Power as Officers not an authoritative and judicial Power as Soveraigns As the Prince onely pardons the Herauld proclaims it So God alone by the Prerogative of his Grace grants pardon the Minister by his Office publisheth it to all that repent and believe Q. What then must we judge of that absolute and plenary Power which the Pope assumes of pardoning Sins A. That it proves him to be Antichrist in exalting himself above God 2 Thess 2.4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God shewing himself that he is God For whosoever can forgive wrongs done against another must be superiour to him and have Authority to cause the Person offended to surcease the Prosecution and sit down by the wrong done him Q. If God onely can forgive Sins how then are we bound to forgive those who
to Earthly Comforts And this belongs unto all those who themselves do belong to Christ for he is made the Heir of all things And all things both in Heaven and Earth are consigned over unto him by a Deed of Gift from God his Father and they being united unto Christ and his Spiritual Offspring are Heirs with Christ and Co-heirs of all that ample Dominion which Christ himself possesseth And upon this ground the Apostle tells the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 3.22 23. All things are yours the World things present and things to come all are yours and he subjoyns this reason for it for ye are Christ's But yet this Spiritual Right is not to be extended to an Usurpation upon the Temporal Enjoyments of others For Grace and Holiness being a thing wholly inward and invisible cannot conferr any outward Title For this Thirdly Is given by another Right which is Civil according to the constitution of Humane Laws and the Process in Courts of Humane Judicature For Law is the only distributer of meum and tuum And we can call nothing ours which is not so or ought not to be so by the Sentence of the Law under which we live and he that detaineth any thing which the Sentence of the Law adjudgeth to another is guilty of Theft and Robbery Now when we pray for our daily bread we pray First That God would give us the good things of this Life to be obtained by us in a Lawful Regular manner Secondly That he would bless and increase those good things that are rightfully our own Thirdly That he would bestow upon us a Spiritual right in whatsoever we enjoy through Jesus Christ who is the Heir and Possessor of all things And Fourthly We pray that we may not desire nor covet that which is anothers for we are taught to pray only for that which we may justly call ours to which we have as well a Civil as a Spiritual Right and Title And thus much for the third particular Fourthly We have in the words the limitation of the Petition in respect of time Give us this day our daily bread And indeed there is great reason why we should pray for it this day for we every day stand in need of relief and supplies from God Our wants and our Troubles grow up thick about us and unless God make daily provisions for us we shall be over-run by them Food nourishes but a day and that which we receive this day will not suffice us to morrow There is a continual Spring and Fountain of necessities within us and therefore we must have continual recourse unto God by prayer that he would daily satisfie and supply our Wants as they daily rise up about us Again by teaching us to pray for our Temporal Comforts this day our Saviour tacitly intimates to us that we should be content with our daily allowance It is enough if we have our Dimensum our appointed Food for the day To morrow is in God's hand and the care of it is his and not ours and therefore he bids us take no thought for to morrow that is with no tormenting carking and desponding thoughts Matth. 6.34 And indeed if we are provided for this day we may well rest content and satisfied in the Providence of God since he hath engaged his Word of Promise That he will never leave us nor forsake us Now in this part of the Petition there are sundry things we pray for As First We pray for Life it self that it may be prolonged whilst God hath any Service for us to do in the World To this very end we pray for daily Bread that Life may be maintained and preserved by it Secondly Health and Strength of Body which is indeed the greatest of Temporal Blessings and the salt to all the rest without which they are unsavory and tasteless Thirdly All the means that God's Providence hath appointed to preserve Life and Health and to recover Health when it is decay'd and impair'd Fourthly Success in our Lawful Calling and Endeavours for the procuring any Conveniencies and Comforts of Life For in this Prayer we beg a Blessing upon our Callings and Industry that God would prosper us in them and by them encrease our Temporal Enjoyments so far forth as is needful to his own Glory and our Good Fifthly we beg a Blessing from Heaven upon whatsoever we enjoy that it may indeed prove good and comfortable to us without which all that we possess may prove a great heap of things but none of them will be Comforts or Enjoyments And thus I have finished the First of those Petitions that immediately concern our selves wherein we beg of God the supply of all our Temporal Wants The Two which remain respect Spiritual Blessings of which the former which is the Fifth Petition in Order of this most Excellent Prayer is for the Pardon of Sin Forgive us our Debts as we forgive our Debtors Of which I now come to treat And here before we come to the Petition it self let us briefly take notice of the connexion and dependance that it hath upon what went before Having prayed for our daily Bread we are next taught to pray for Pardon And this method is indeed most Wise and most Rational For First The guilt of Sin many times with-holds from us those Earthly Comforts we stand in need of We have forfeited all into the hands of God's Justice and he is pleased to make us know our obnoxiousness to his Power and Wrath by denying or taking from us those Temporal good things as a due though the least punishment of our deserts Esai 59.2 Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and your Sins have hid his Face from you that he will not hear you And therefore when we have prayed for our daily Bread we are to pray likewise for the Pardon of our Sins That the Partition between God and us may be removed and his Blessing being no longer obstructed by our guilt may descend down freely and plentifully upon us Secondly Without Pardon of Sin all our Temporal Enjoyments are but Snares and Curses unto us Though God doth sometimes bestow abundance of this World 's good things upon impenitent and unpardoned Sinners yet they have not so many Enjoyments as Curses Their Bread is kneaded up with a Curse and their Wine tempered and mingled with a Curse there is Poyson in their Meat and Death in their Physick their Table is their Snare their Estate their Fetters and whatsoever should have been for their wellfare proves only a Gin and a Trap unto them for the Wrath of God is one direful Ingredient among all that they possess And therefore if we would have our daily Bread given us or Comfort and Blessing with it we ought earnestly to beg the Pardon of our Sins which are like the Worm in Jonah's Goard which will wither and devour all our Enjoyments And thus much for the Method and Order In the Words themselves we have
is Blind we are of that wretched temper described Psal 50.21 Because God keeps silence we think he is altogether such a one as our selves As careless in requiring his Debts as we are in contracting them but he will reprove us and set them in order before our Faces to our everlasting shame and confusion Thirdly That the least of all these thy Debts make thee liable to be cast into the Prison of Hell and to be adjudged to Eternal Death and Punishments Not only thy impudent and scandalous Sins which make thee detested of Men as well as hated of God but the least shadow of a thought that gives but an umbrage of vanity to thy Mind the least motion and heaving of thy Heart towards a sinful Object the exhaling but of one sinful Desire the wavering of thy Fancy a glance of thine Eye is a Debt contracted with the infinite Justice of God and a Debt that without forgiveness must be paid in the Infernal Prison of Hell So says our Saviour Matth. 5.26 Verily thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast paid the utmost Farthing Beware therefore then that you do not entertain any slight thoughts of Sin nor think with the Papists that there are some sorts of Sins that do not deserve Death which they call Venial Sins in opposition to other more gross and hainous Sins which they allow to be Mortal Believe it the least prick at the Heart is deadly and so is the least Sin to the Soul And indeed it is a Contradiction to call any Sin Venial in their sence who hold it is not worthy of Damnation for if it be a Sin it is worthy of Damnation for the Wages of Sin is Death if it be not How is it Venial There is but one Mortal Sin simply and absolutely such as God hath revealed in his Word that it shall never be pardoned neither in this World nor in that which is to come and that is the Sin against the Holy Ghost which St. John therefore calls a Sin unto Death 1 Joh 5.16 And so far are they who are guilty of it excluded from God's Mercy that they are excluded from the Charity of our Prayers for we are not so much as to pray for such as it is there expressed Again all the Sins of finally impenitent and unbelieving Wretches are eventually Mortal and shall certainly be punished at last with Eternal Death and Damnation For the Wrath of God abideth on him that believeth not Joh. 3.16 And God will render Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of Man that doth evil Rom. 2.9 All Sins whatsoever are Mortal meritoriously both in the Penitent and in the Impenitent the Law hath condemned all alike though all Sins are not alike hainous nor shall be equally punished but with some it shall be far more intolerable than with others yet all are alike Mortal and deserve Death and the same Hell though not the same Place nor the same Degree of Torments in Hell for those Sins which are accounted most Trivial and Venial are in themselves Violations of the Holy Law of God and the Penalty that his Laws threaten is no less than Death The Law is accurate and reacheth to the least things yea to the least circumstances of those things and every Transgression against it shall receive its due recompence of reward Nay had we no other guilt left upon our Souls from the first moment of our lives to this present day but only the guilt of the least Sin that the Holy Law condemns be it only the wrenching aside of a Thought or Desire only a bye and sinister end in the performance of Holy Duties nay let it be but the first rudiment and imperfect draught of a Thought not yet finished without a full satisfaction and expiation this small Debt would cast us into Prison this little Sin would sink us irrecoverably into Hell and lay us under the Revenges of the Almighty God for ever Oh then with what horrour and amazement may Sinners reflect upon their past Sins With what dread and trembling may they expect their future State since as many thousand Sins as they have committed of all sizes and aggravations so many Deaths and Hells heaped up one upon another have they deserved and without intervention of a full payment and satisfaction must they be adjudged to undergo For though the least degree of Divine Wrath be a tormenting Hell yet God will inflame his Wrath to as many degrees of acrimony and sharpness as they have committed Sins till their Punishment be equal to their Offences and become infinitely intolerable Fourthly Consider thou canst never pay God nor discharge the least of thy Debts for ever For First Thou canst not possibly do it by any Duties or Services in this Life For whatsoever thou dost is either required or not required if it be not required it will be so far from being a satisfaction for thy Sins that it will be an addition to them and a piece of Will-worship which will meet with that sad Greeting at the last Day who hath required these things at your Hands If it be required it is no more than thou owest to God before and if thou hadst never sinned wert obliged to pay it To think to satisfie for thy Sins by thy Duties is but to rob one Attribute of God to pay another for whatsoever Obedience thou canst perform thou owest it to the Sovereignty and Holiness of God and his Justice will never accept of that which belongs to his Authority Besides it is absurd to think to pay one Duty by another to discharge the Debt of Sin by paying the Debt of Duty Secondly Thou canst not pay off thy Debts by any Sufferings hereafter It is true Sinners shall lie eternally in Prison and be eternally satisfying the offended Justice of God but in all that Eternity there shall never be that moment wherein they may say as Christ did in his making satisfaction it is finished the Debt is paid and Justice hath received as much as was due from me No that satisfaction must be eternally making and therefore the punishment must be eternally lasting For every Sin even the least Sin is committed against an infinite God and therefore the punishment of it must be infinite For Offences take their measures as well from the Dignity of the Person against whom they are committed as from the hainousness of the Fact in it self considered As a reviling Word against the King is Treasonable against our Equals but actionable and therefore by the same proportion the same Offence against the infinite Majesty of the great God must needs carry infinite guilt in it that is exposeth to infinite punishment Now then O Sinner think with thy self what satisfaction thou canst make to God that can bear a proportion to thy infinite Offences Thou canst not at once undergo an infinite measure of punishment for thy Nature is but finite Couldst thou do this then indeed
there were hope yea certainty of relief for thee for Divine Justice will not exact more than its due But because this is impossible thy Woes and Torments in Hell must be Eternal that they may be some way infinite as the Justice is which thou hast offended infinite if not in Degrees yet in duration and continuance And O what dreadful despair will this cause in thee when thou shalt have been in Hell under most acute and insufferable Torments Millions of years and yet the payment of all that sum of Plagues and Woes shall not be of value enough to satisfie for the least of thy Sins nor to cross out of God's Book the least and smallest of thy Debts but thy account shall still be as great and as full as it was at thy first plunging into Hell and still an Eternity of Torments remains to be paid by thee And now wretched Creatures that we are whither shall we turn our selves what hope what relief can we find shall we flatter our selves that God will not require our sins at our hands no they are Debts and therefore he may and he is a Just God Just to himself and to the Interest of his own Glory and therefore he will God hath before-hand told us at what rate we must expect to take up our sins and what we must pay for them at the last He hath told us as plainly as the mouth of Truth can utter it that the Wages of sin is Death and the ways Sinners choose lead down to the Chambers of Hell and Destruction Our own Misery is our own choice He hath in his Word set Life and Death before us and declared to us the means how we might escape the one and obtain the other He hath represented to us the unconceiveableness of both And if we will be so obstinate as after these manifest representations to choose Hell and Death it is but Reason and Justice that we should have our own Choice for it is our Choice interpretatively when we choose those ways and actions that expose to them And thus much concerning the acknowledgement we make in this Petition our Debts Debts vast and infinite which the Justice of God will strictly require of Sinners in their Eternal Condemnation Debts the least of which makes us liable to be cast into Prison into Hell and for the least of which we can never satisfie But what is there no hope Is there no possibility to cross the Book to cancel the Obligation whereby we stand bound to the revenging Justice of God and everlasting Sufferings Truly none by our own personal satisfaction but yet there is abundant hope yea full assurance of it through the free Mercy of our God And therefore as our Saviour hath taught us to acknowledge our Debts so he hath likewise taught us to pray Father forgive us our Debts And now that I have shewed you our Misery by reason of our Debts and you have seen the black side of the Cloud which interposeth between God and us So give me leave to represent to you our Hopes and Consolation in God's free Grace and the Divine Mercy in dissolving this black Cloud that it may never more appear And here let us First Consider what the Pardon of sin is And this we cannot better discover than by looking into the Nature of sin Sin therefore as St. John describes it 1 John 3.4 is a transgression of the Law of God And to the validity of all Laws it is necessary that there be a penalty annexed either literally express'd or tacitly implied The guilt that we contract by transgressing the Law is nothing else but our liableness to undergo this penalty And this guilt is Two-fold the intrinsecal and formal and that is the desert of punishment which sin always necessarily carries in it as it is a violation of a Holy and Righteous Commandment The other is extrinsecal and adventitious and consists in the appointment and designation of the sinner unto punishment This now doth not formally flow from sin but from the Will of God constituting and willing to punish sin with Death Now Pardon is nothing else but the removal of the guilt of sin But now the question is which guilt it removeth I Answer First It doth not remove the intrinsecal guilt of sin or the desert of punishment For the sins of those who are Justified and Pardoned do yet in their own Nature deserve Death and Eternal Damnation As a Pardon vouchsafed to a Traitor doth not cause his Actions not to have been Treasonable and worthy of Death for this doth necessarily follow immediately upon the Transgressing of the Law to which the Penalty is annexed So neither is it in the Power of Pardoning Grace to make that our sins should not deserve Death according to their own demerit for that were a contradiction since this demerit is necessary and essential unto sin as such Secondly Therefore Pardon of sin removes that guilt which consists in the adventitious Appointment or Ordination of the sinner unto Punishment flowing from the Will of God who hath in his Law threatned to inflict Eternal Death as the Reward and Wages of sin Now this designation of the sinner unto punishment is Two-fold either Personal or Mystical One of these two ways God will certainly punish every Soul that sins either by appointing the sinner Personally to undergo the punishment of his iniquities and thus he deals with unbelievers whom he will punish in their own Persons for their transgressions Or else he appoints them to undergo the punishment of their sins Mystically as being by Faith made one with the Lord Jesus Christ who himself hath born our sins in his own Body on the Tree Now Pardon of sin doth not remove the Mystical appointment of a Believer unto Punishment for he hath suffered it for Christ hath suffered it and Christ and he are one Mystical Person by Faith God never Pardons but he likewise punishes the very sin that he Pardons he punisheth it in our surety and undertaker when he forgives it to a Believer Pardon of sin therefore removes only that guilt which consists in our own Personal appointment and designation to punishment though the sin doth always in it self necessarily deserve Death though that Death hath been inflicted upon Christ and therefore upon Believers in him as Members of him But yet notwithstanding that God thus takes Vengeance on our sins he doth Graciously Pardon them when he releaseth our Personal Obligation unto punishment and reckons that we have suffered the penalty in Christ suffering it and therefore ought to be discharged from any further liableness unto it This now is that Pardon of sin which we pray for when we say Forgive us our Debts And for the more full Explication of it I shall lay down these following positions First The Pardoning Grace of God in respect of us is altogether free and undeserved We can of our selves scarce so much as ask forgiveness but even this
humble Penitent Sinners the Absolution and Pardon of their Offences according to the tenor of God's Faithful Promises And in this sence alone the Ministers of Jesus Christ have power to pardon and remit Sins Whose Sins ye remit they are remitted that is whose Sins you declare that God hath remitted they are remitted not absolutely but conditionally in case Men come up to the performance of those conditions upon which God hath promised Pardon and Forgiveness which are Faith and Repentance And therefore in our Publick Prayers where the whole Congregation hath made an humble Confession of their Sins the Minister according to his Office and Power given him by Christ declares to them That God Pardons and Absolves all them that truly Repent and unfeignedly believe his Holy Gospel Or if on any other Occasion the Minister say I Absolve thee from thy Sins yet the meaning is the same he absolves him Officially not Judicially he Absolves by declaring him Absolved and Pardoned upon his sincere Faith and Repentance which if People did but better understand they would not be so forward to carp at least they carp at the very Gospel it self Nor doth this at all intrench upon God's Prerogative for the Minister only as the Officer and Messenger of God declares that it is he alone who Pardons and Absolves Penitent Sinners A Practice as far from bordering upon the intolerable Arrogance of Antichrist as it is on the other side from yielding enough to the express Authority of Christ to adjudge it vain and fruitless As it is the Prince that Pardons the Herald only proclaims it So here it is God only who Pardons Sinners the Minister's part is in a solemn and official manner to Pronounce and Proclaim this Pardon to all that shall accept it upon the Terms on which it is offered by God And this may suffice in Answer to that Objection But then again it may be Objected How is it God alone who forgives Sins whereas we likewise are bound to forgive those that Trespass against us To this I Answer Every Trespass against Man is also an Offence against God for so merciful is our God unto us that he hath taken his Creatures under the Protection of his Law and fenced us round with the Authority of his Commands so that no injury can reach us but it must commit a Trespass upon the Divine Law and break through those bounds that God hath set about every Man's Propriety and Right to defend it against unjust Invaders But yet if any shall dare to violate this we must forgive them so far forth as it is a wrong to us as I shall shew more largely hereafter but we cannot pretend to forgive the wrong that they have done to God in wronging us but this must be left between him and their own Souls to his Mercy and their Repentance If then it be the Prerogative of God alone to pardon Sin hence we may for our abundant Comfort be informed First That our Pardon is free and gratuitous for whatsoever God doth he doth it freely for his own sake without respect to any former deserts or expectations of any future recompence It is infinitely below the Sovereignty of his Grace to admit of any other motive for his Mercy but his Mercy And therefore he hath told us I will be Gracious to whom I will be Gracious and I will shew Mercy to whom I will shew Mercy Exod. 33.19 Since it is a God that Pardons it is infinitely unworthy of his Glory and Majesty to sell his Pardons and Indulgencies and to make his Mercy Merchandise But yet this pardoning Grace of God though it be free in respect of Purchace yet is it limited to Conditions in respect of Application which Conditions are Faith and Repentance Whosoever believes in him shall obtain remission of Sins Acts 10.43 Repent says the Apostle that your Sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come Acts 3.19 Think not therefore O Soul when thy Conscience is oppressed with the Guilt of Sin think not what Expiation thou must make what Ransom thou must pay to God say not Wherewith shall I come before the Lord or bow my self before the High God Shall I come before him with Burnt-Offerings with Calves of a year old Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams or with ten thousand Rivers of Oil Shall I give my First-Born for my Transgression the Fruit of my Body for the Sin of my Soul as the Prophet speaks Micah 6.6 7. What shall I do or what shall I offer to make amends and recompence for my Offences This is to be injurious to the free Grace of God which requires no satisfaction from thee only thy present Acceptance and future Reformation This is that indeed which God requires from thee but to think to purchase his Favour and to buy his Mercy is infinitely to disparage it And they only judge rightly of it who judge it invaluable Secondly It is God that Pardons therefore our Pardon is full and compleat Indeed those Acts that God works within us are in this Life imperfect The Illumination of our Minds the Sanctification of our Hearts are God's Works within us and these are defective not as they come from God but as they are received in us As we know but in part so we are sanctified but in part But those Acts of God that he doth not work in us but only terminate upon us of which we are the Objects but not the Subjects they are all as perfect here as they shall be to all Eternity Thus God Justifies Adopts and Pardons fully and compleatly for these are Acts of God residing in his own Breast where they meet with no opposition or allay nor do they increase by any small Degrees as our Sanctification doth but are at once as perfect as ever they shall be I do not mean though some have so thought and taught that God doth at once Pardon all the Sins of a true Believer as well those which for the future he shall commit as those which he hath already committed which is an absurd and dangerous Tenet as if Sin could be pardoned before it were or guilt removed before it be contracted But only whatsoever Sins God pardons he doth it not gradually Nothing of guilt is left upon the Soul when God Pardons it though still there be something of filth left in it when God Sanctifies it And therefore as it is the great grief of God's Children that their inherent Holiness is so imperfect affronted by Temptations foiled by Corruptions oppressed and almost stifled to Death by a Body of Sin that lies heavy upon it yet this on the other Hand may be their exceeding great comfort and rejoicing that God's pardoning Grace is not as his sanctifying Grace is nor granted to them by the same stint and measure A Sin truly repented of is not pardoned to us by halfs half the guilt remitted and half retained as the Papists fansie to
Commendation which he had before given him Glorying as it were over Satan that Job had made his Words good yea and still he holds fast his Integrity although thou movest me against him to destroy him without cause So truly whensoever God suffers us to be Tempted it is that by our Conquest he might bring Honour to himself and Credit to Piety and Religion For this makes it appear That we see so much of Excellency in the ways of God that nothing in the World whether Crosses or Crowns Thorns or Thrones Pains or Pleasures Loss or Profit can in the least perswade us to baulk or forsake them And in such an Heroick Champion as this God himself Glories and Triumphs And thus I have finished the former part of this Petition Lead us not into Temptation the next follows But deliver us from evil Now here before I come to speak of the Words themselves let us observe their connexion with and dependance upon the foregoing Words for whereas our Saviour hath taught us to pray with this Adversative Particle But lead us not into Temptation but deliver us from evil this may instruct us That the best security against sin is to be secured against Temptations unto sin For though it be no excuse that we are violently tempted to sin when we yield to the commission of it yet withal it too often happens that those whom God leads into Temptation and engageth amidst the press of their Enemies it too often happens that they come off bleeding and wounded Yet First It is no excuse for sinning because no Temptation is a Compulsion The Devil can only perswade he cannot constrain us to sin God may let him into the fancy and suffer him to Paint upon that the most alluring Images that Vice can be represented in but when he hath done all this it is still our own choice that makes us like what his Pencil hath drawn there And in this lies a great difference between God's Operations upon us by his Grace and Satan's upon his Suggestions in that God hath an immediate access to the very elicite Acts of our Wills and Understandings and can and doth by his Spirit actuate them by an immediate energy and call forth not only by but to their Objects But now these are such Sacred Partments of the Soul that the Devil hath no Key to them And therefore his Method is to bribe the attendants on these chief Powers of the Soul the Fancy and the Passions to which he hath admission through the near dependance they have upon material Organs and by these to send in Messages and offer Proposals to it which yet if it be not basely false and treacherous to its God it may reject and disdain If the Devil could force Men he would likewise justifie them for that can be no sin where there is no liberty The same Temptation which compels to any Action would likewise make that Action to be no Transgression because Laws are not given but upon supposition of freedom And therefore whosoever sins upon a Temptation sins not meerly because he was Tempted but because he would sin And though the sin had not been committed without the Temptation yet the Devil can be no farther chargable with it than only because his Malice prompts him to perswade us Our own Wills are the most dangerous Devils freely embracing the proffers of Satan and consently to our own destruction and whilst we consent to that upon which God hath threatned and entailed it And therefore when thou sinnest think not to lay the fault upon Satan or his evil Instruments whom he makes use of in Tempting for though it be their fault and guilt to Tempt yet it is only thine to yield and God will not condemn thee for being Tempted which thou couldst not help but for yielding and consenting which is thine own free Act and thine own Sin also Thou who art drawn away by thy lewd Companions to abuse thy self and dishonour thy body by Riot and Luxury or to break God's Laws and Man's by Theft or any other condemned Crimes though thou hast a great deal of reason to hate them yet hast thou infinitely more reason to hate and abhor thy self They can but persuade they cannot compel thee yea if they should threathen thee with Death it self unless thou consentest yet thou liest under no force but sinnest freely and upon very weak motives dost destroy and damn thy own Soul since all motives inducing to sin must be accounted weak when God hath over-balanced them with the promise of everlasting Life and the threatning of everlasting Death And therefore we find God as justly as frequently in Scripture charging Mens perdition upon themselves and laying the blood of their Souls upon the stubborn resolvedness of their own Wills Hosea 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self John 5.40 Ye will not come unto me that you may have Life Matth. 23.37 O Jerusalem Jerusalem how often would I have gathered you as a Hen gathereth her Chickens under her wings and you would not And therefore let your Temptations be what they will yet the sin and guilt is still your own if as you are led into Temptations so Temptations lead you into Sin Secondly Though it be no excuse for sinning yet it is too seldom seen that those who are brought into Temptation are brought off again without contracting some guilt on their Consciences by it For since there is so great a Correspondence between Temptations and our Corruptions it would be as strange for a Man that hath been hotly assaulted by them to have no impression made upon him as to carry Fire in his Bosom and his Cloaths not be burnt yea almost as Miraculous as to walk secure in the midst of a Fiery Furnace untouch'd by the Flames There is a strong simpathy between our corrupt hearts and Satan's Temptations and as it is with strings tuned to Vnisons upon the motion of the one the other also will move and vibrate So is it here the heart vibrates and is secretly affected upon the first motion of a Temptation with some passion of Delight and Complacency towards that sinful Object And there is a kind of liking and approbation of it in the very first conception of our Thoughts before they are yet deliberated and digested so that it is almost as impossible for Temptations to assault us without leaving some guilt and pollution behind them as it is for Objects rightly presented to a Mirrour to make no impression of their Image upon it For though the Temptation should produce nothing but hovering and fleeting Idea's and some imperfect shadows of Desires and Affections in us which yet are check'd and scattered as soon as ever they begin to form themselves yet there is not the thinnest film of a sinful thought nor the least breathing of a sinful desire but the Holy Law of God and his Word which reacheth to the dividing asunder of the Soul and Spirit and is a Judge and
considering both the Advantages the Devil hath against us and the great Dis-advantages under which we lie he a Spirit we but Flesh he wise and subtle we foolish and ignorant he experienced we raw and unpractised he diligent and watchful we careless and negligent he laying a close siege to us without and we betraying our selves within It must needs be ascribed only to the Goodness and Grace of God to deliver us from the commission of that Evil to which we are so fiercely and cunningly Tempted And thus I have demonstrated the Proposition That it is only the Almighty Power of God that can preserve us from Sin It now remains to shew you the Ways and Methods that God takes to do it and those are in the General Three By restraining Providences by common and restraining Grace and by sanctifying and renewing Grace First God delivers us from Evil by his restraining Providence putting an Hook into Men's Nostrils and a Bridle into their Jaws and by a powerful Hand reining them in when they are most fiery and furious And thus he often doth with the worst and vilest of Men whose Lusts though they estuate and boyl within and are like the raging Sea raging and rolling in their Hearts yet God sets bounds to their proud Waves and saith to them as he doth to the great Sea hitherto shall you proceed and no farther It is to this we owe it that the Wickedness of Men hath not yet made the World an uninhabitable Desart that Solitudes and Wildernesses are not as secure Retreats as frequented Cities and savage Beasts as safe Company as Men. To this we owe it that almost every one is not a Cain to his Brother an Amnon to his Sister a Judas to his Master and a Devil to all the World for where Grace doth not change Divine Providence doth many times so Chain the Sinner that he cannot bring forth that Wickedness he hath conceived that although he be permitted Sin enough to destroy himself which his very Will and Affection to Evil is sufficient to do yet through God's with-holding Opportunity or Abilities from him his Sins are not permitted to break out to the ruine and destruction of others Though God doth as it were permit them to give up their Hearts to the Devil yet he ties up their Hands let them imagine and intend as much mischief as Hell can inspire them with yet none of all this shall they execute any otherwise than as his Holy and Wise Providence permits Yea Divine Providence is effectual not only in keeping wicked Men from the outward Acts of Sin but even God's dearest Children and Servants they also have a great deal of Corruption stirring in their Hearts and even in them Lust is too fruitful conceiving those Wickednesses which God often by his Providence so stifles and strangles in the very Birth May not the best of us with thankful acknowledgements of the Divine Goodness towards us reflect back upon many dis-appointments that we have met with to which we had given our consent and entertained purposes of sinning May we not all say Had not God denied Opportunities or cast in Diversions or cut off the Provisions which we had made for our Lusts we should at such or such a time have dishonoured the Gospel scandalized our Profession opened the Mouths of wicked and ungodly Men to blaspheme the Holy and Reverend Name of God and contracted to our own Consciences black and horrid Guilt by the commission of some infamous Crimes of which we were guilty by consenting to them God hath hedg'd up the Broad-way with Thorns that so he might turn us into the Narrow-way that leads to Eternal Bliss and Happiness Now the particular Methods that Divine Providence makes use of to prevent the Sins of Men are many and various and all of them wise and just First Sometimes God by his Providence cuts short their Power whereby they should be enabled to Sin All that Power that Wicked Men have is either from themselves or their Associates whom they make use of to accomplish their Wickedness and sometimes Divine Providence strikes them in both it cuts off their Instruments for Counsel And thus Providence over-ruling Absalom to reject the politick Counsel of Achitophel prevents all that mischief that so Wise and so Wicked a States-Man might afterwards have contrived upon which he goes home and hangs himself and as if his Sagacity forsook him not in his Death by that last Action gave a Prophetick Omen of his Masters attending Destiny Sometimes God cuts off their Instruments for execution So God miraculously defeated the huge and vast Host of the blaspheming Rabshekah and by unseen strokes slew almost two hundred thousand of them dead upon the place Sometimes God immediately strikes their Persons and disables their Natural Faculties so he smote the Men of Sodom with Blindness and put out those very Eyes that had kindled in them the Flames of unnatural Lusts Thus likewise when Jeroboam had stretch'd forth his Hand to lay hold on the Prophet God suddenly withers it up Sometimes he hides their Wits from them and besots them So the Jews in Job 7.30 sought to have apprehended Jesus and though he was in the very midst of them and there was enough of them to do it yet God so astonishes them that they only stand gazing on him whilst he passes through the Crowd of them and escapes away And indeed it is a great Mercy of God to take away that Power from Men that he sees they will only use to their own destruction And though Wicked Men would think that if God should now strike them Dumb or Blind or Lame or Impotent that it would be a heavy Plague or Curse inflicted upon them yet believe it it is far better that God should strike thee Dumb than that ever thou shouldst open thy Mouth to rail at him and his People Better thou wert stricken Blind than that ever the Devil and filthy Lusts should enter into thy Soul by the Windows of thine Eyes Better that thou wert maim'd than that ever thou shouldst have power to commit those Sins which will damn if but intended but if executed will sink the Soul seven fold deeper into damnation Secondly Sometimes Providence prevents Sin by raising up other opposite Powers against a Sinner Thus God defeated the designs of the Scribes and Rulers who hated Christ and oftentimes they would have put him to Death but it is said they feared the People whom his Doctrine his Miracles and his course of Life had obliged to himself Instances of this nature are many and occurr familiarly Thirdly Sometimes Providence casts in some seasonable diversion which turns Men off from the Commission of those sins which they had intended Thus the Providential passing by of Merchants induced the Patriarchs to sell their Brother Joseph whom before they had determined to famish As skilful Physicians when one part of the Body is oppressed with ill and peccant humours draw them
to another part less dangerous So God by his Providence many times turns Men from the Commission of greater sins to a lesser sin And I believe there are but few Men who if they will but seriously examine their lives may produce may instances both of the Devil's policy in fitting them with occasions and opportunities of sinning and of God's Providence in causing some urgent Affairs or some sudden and unexpected Accidents to intervene whereby they are turned off from what they purposed Fourthly Sometimes by his Providence he takes off the Objects against which they intended to sin Thus God preserved St. Peter from Herod's Ambitious Rage He intended the next morning to put him to Death but that very night God sends his Angel to work his escape and thereby hinders the execution of that wicked purpose And thus in all Ages God many times hides his Children from the fury of wicked Men that their Wrath against them like Saul's Javelin misseth David and striketh only the Wall from whence it often rebounds back into their own Faces These now are some of the most remarkable Methods of Divine Providence in preventing the sins of Men. And I am very prone to think that there are very few who if they will be at the pains to reflect back upon and strictly examine that part of their lives that is past and gone they may easily produce many remarkable instances both of the Devil's Policy in fitting them with opportunities and occasions of sinning and of God's Providences in causing some immergent affairs or some other strange and unexpected accidents to interpose so that he hath either Graciously taken away our power or taken away the Objects of our Lusts or diverted us when we were in the pursuits of them To this we owe much of the innocency and in some respects blamelessness of our lives that we have not been a scandal to the Gospel a shame to the Good and a scorn to the Bad and this is the first way how God preserves from sin by his Providence Secondly God preserves from sin by his restraining Grace Now this restraining Grace is that which is common and vouchsafed to wicked Men as well as good Indeed God by it deals in a secret way with the very heart of a sinner and though he doth not change the habitual yet he changeth the present actual disposition of it so as not only by external checks laid upon Mens Lusts but by internal persuasions motives and arguments they are taken off the prosecution of those very sins which yet remain in them unmortified and raigning Thus Esau comes out against his Brother Jacob with a Troop of two hundred Ruffians intending doubtless to take revenge upon him for his Birth-right and Blessing but at their first meeting God by a secret work so mollifies his heart that instead of falling upon him to kill him he falls upon his neek and kisses him Here God restrain'd Esau from that bloody sin of Murder not in a way of External Providence only but with his own hand he immediately turns about his heart and by seeing such a company of Cattel bleating and bellowing timorous Women and helpless Children bowing and supplicating to him he turns his Revenge into Compassion and with much urging receives a Present from him whom he thought to have made a Prey The same powerful restraint God laid upon the heart of Abimelech a Heathen King Gen. 20.6 where God tells him I with-held thee from sinning against me and therefore suffered I thee not to touch her Here was nothing visible that might hinder Abimelech but God invisibly wrought upon his heart and unhing'd his sinful desires And from these two instances of Esau and Abimelech we may clearly collect how restraining Grace differs both from restraining Providence and from Sanctifying Grace from Providence it differs because usually when God Providentially restrains from sin he doth it by some visible apparent means which do not reach to work any change or alteration upon the heart but only lays an external check upon Mens sinful Actions But by restraining Grace God deals in a secret way with the very heart of a sinner and although he doth not change the nature of it yet he alters the present inclination of it and takes away the desire of committing those sins which yet he doth not mortifie And from Sanctifying Grace it differs also in that God vouchsafes it to wicked Men and Reprobates to the end that their Lives may be more plausible their Gifts more serviceable and their Condemnation more intolerable And indeed the efficacy of this restraining Grace may be so great that there may appear but very little difference between the Conversation of a true Christian whom Special Grace Sanctifies and the Conversation of one in a State of Nature whom common Grace only restains they may both live outwardly without blame or offence avoiding the gross pollutions of the World and shine in a Sphere above the ordinary sort of Men and yet the one be a Star and the other but a Meteor The high-way may be as dry and as fair in a Frosty Winter as in a warm Summer bur there is a great deal of difference in the cause of it In Summer the Sun dries up the moisture in Winter the Frost binds it in So the ways of those who have only a restraint laid upon them may be as fair and clear as the ways of those who are truly Sanctified but the cause is vastly different Grace hath dried up the filth of the one but ownly bound in the filth of the other Now God doth thus by his restraining Grace preserve Men from sin by propounding to them such Considerations and Arguments as may be sufficient to engage Conscience against it when yet the Will and Affections are still bent towards it Restraining Grace thunders the Curse of the Law and brandisheth the Sword of Justice in the Face of a sinner reports nothing but Hell and Everlasting Torments and such terrible things which may scare Men from their sins though still they love them It is indeed a great Mercy of God to keep us from sin even by legal terrours and usually these are a good preparation and introduction for saving Grace Doubtless the thoughts and fears of Hell have with very good success been made use of to keep Men from those sins that lead unto Hell But yet if in our conflicts against Temptations we can draw Arguments from no other Topicks but Hell and Eternal Death and Destruction If we cannot as well quench the Fiery Darts of the Devil in the Blood of Jesus Christ as in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone it is much to be doubted whether our abstaining from sin be from any higher principle than what is common only for fear of punishment and not for love of God or Goodness Thirdly God hath another method of keeping Men from sin and that is by his Special and Sanctifying Grace And this is proper only to the
trespass against us A. We ought to forgive them so far forth as they have wronged us but we cannot forgive the wrong they have done to God in wronging us but must leave them to his Mercy and their Repentance Q. Since it is God's Prerogative and Glory to pardon sins what Inferences may we collect from hence A. First That our pardon is free and gratuitous without respecting former Deserts or expecting future Recompence Secondly That our pardon is full and compleat because it is an Act of God within himself whereas what he works in us is in this Life imperfect Nothing of Guilt is left upon the Soul when God pardons it though still there is something of Filth left in it when he sanctifies it God does not pardon by halfs nor leaves any Guilt to be expiated by Purgatory Thirdly That upon our Faith and Repentance our sins whether greater or less fewer or more shall be forgiven for this makes no difference in infinite Grace and Mercy Q. But may not this incourage Men to continue in sin A. Many do so abuse it but their Damnation is sure and just Deut. 29.19 20. And it come to pass when he heareth the words of this Curse that he blesseth himself in his heart saying I shall have peace though I walk in the Imagination of mine heart to add Drunkenness to Thirst Ver. 20. The Lord will not spare him Q. You have formerly observed that it is God alone who can forgive sins and from thence inferred both the freeness and fulness of pardoning Grace What observe you farther A. 1. That though God's pardoning Grace be altogether freely bestowed in respect of us Isaiah 43.25 I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mine own sake and will not remember thy Sins Yet in respect of Christ's Purchase it is not free but cost him the Price of his Blood Heb. 9.22 And almost all things are by the Law purged with Blood and without shedding of Blood is no remission Matt. 26.29 But I say unto you I will not drink hence-forth of this Fruit of the Vine untill that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom 2. That the obtaining of Pardon is not free from the Performance of Conditions on our Part. Q. What are the Conditions upon which Pardon is granted A. They are two Faith and Repentance Acts 10.43 That through his Name whosoever believeth in him shall receive Remission of Sins Acts 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out Q. Is therefore a mere sorrow that we have sinned a sufficient qualification for obtaining Pardon A. No for so Judas is said to repent Matt. 27.3 Then Judas which had betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned repented himself and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief Priests and Elders But as true Repentance includes in it a Sorrow of Heart so Reformation of Life and Manners is always joined with a lively Faith Q. Is pardon of sin an Act onely of God's Mercy A. It is likewise an Act of God's Justice to pardon the Sins of those who perform the Conditions of the Covenant of Grace Q. How prove you this A. Both by express Scripture 1 Epistle of John 1.9 If we confess our Sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness And likewise by Scripture-Reason because Believers being made mystically one with Christ therefore their Sins being already punish'd in him their Surety and their Debts paid by him cannot be again justly punish'd in their own Persons nor demanded from them Q. Is pardon of sin our intire Justification A. No but it is one principal part of it For Justification consists both in Remission of Sins and Acceptation of our Persons the former depends upon Christ's Passive the other upon his Active Obedience his Satisfaction applied by Faith makes us accounted guiltless of Death and his Obedience worthy of Life both which compleat our Justification Ephes 1.6 7. To the Praise of the Glory of his Grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved Ver. 7. In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the Forgiveness of Sins according to the Riches of his Grace Q. We have thus considered the Petition Forgive us our Debts what remains further considerable A. The Condition upon which we ask it or the Plea we urge for obtaining it As we forgive our Debtors Q. Who are meant here by Debtors A. Other Men. Q. How are Men Debtors one to another A. Either 1. By owing them a Debt of Duty and thus all Men are mutually Debtors to one another Superiours to Inferiours and Inferiours to Superiours and Equals owe one another Love Respect and Kindness 2. By owing them a Debt of Satisfaction for Injuries and Wrongs done to others Q. Which of these Debts is here meant A. The latter onely for we are bound to forgive those who owe us Satisfaction and Reparation Q. What learn you from hence that those who have wronged others are called their Debtors A. That they who in any kind wrong others are obliged to make them satisfaction If in their good Names by acknowledging the Offence and stopping slanderous Reports If in their Goods and Estates by a full Restitution Q. Is Restitution necessary to the obtaining of Pardon A. It is For unjust Detainure is as Evil as unjust Seisure and it is a continued Theft And our Repentance can never be true while we continue in the Sin we seem to repent of and without true Repentance there can be no Pardon or Salvation Q. But what if those we have wronged be since dead A. We ought to make Restitution to those to whom it 's to be supposed what we have detained would have descended Q. If none such can be found what must we then do A. Then God's Right takes place as the Universal Lord of all and we are obliged to restore it to him that is to his Servants and to his Family and in the Works of Piety and Charity Q. We have already considered the Debtor's Duty which is to make Satisfaction and Restitution what is the Duty of the Creditor or Person wronged A. To forgive his Debtors For we pray that God would forgive us as we forgive them Q. Wherein doth this Forgiveness consist A. In two Things 1. First In abstaining from the outward Acts of Revenge upon them 2. Secondly In the inward Frame and Temper of our Hearts towards them bearing them no Grudge nor Ill-will but being as much in Charity with them as though they had never offended us Q. Must we then sit quiet under every petulant Wrong that is done us and so tempt others to the Sport of abusing us A. Private Revenge is in no Case whatsoever to be allowed Rom. 12.19 Dearly beloved avenge not your selves but rather give place unto Wrath for it is written Vengeance is mine and I will repay saith the Lord. Revenge
Heart Q. What therefore do we pray for when we pray Lead us not into Temptation A. We pray for three Things 1. First That God by his Providence would so order and dispose all the Occurrences of our Lives as not to lay before us those Objects nor offer us those Occasions which might excite or call forth our inbred Corruptions 2. Secondly That he would not permit the Devil to assault us nor any of his Instruments 3. Thirdly That he would continue the Influences of his Grace unto us to enable us to stand when we are tempted Q. For what ends doth God thus lead Men into Temptation A. For many wise and holy Ends especially Four 1. First To exercise and breath forth our Graces to teach us the Wars of the Lord to administer Matter for our Victory and Occasion for our Crown and Triumph 2. Secondly To engage us to depend upon his Help and Assistance and earnestly to implore Divine Succours and Supplies 3. Thirdly To glorifie his Justice and his Mercy his Justice in giving up wicked Men to the Rages of Temptations to be hurried by them from Sin to Sin punishing one Iniquity with another till at last he punisheth all in Hell And his Mercy in supporting his Children under them and delivering them out of all their Temptations making his Strength perfect in their Weakness 2 Cor. 12.9 And he said unto me my Grace is sufficient for thee for my Strength is made perfect in Weakness 4. Fourthly That by our Victory over Temptations he may confound the Malice of the Devil and commend the Excellency of his own Ways and Service Job 2.3 And the Lord said unto Satan hast thou considered my Servant Job that there is none like him in the Earth a perfect and an upright Man one that feareth God and escheweth Evil Q. Which is the positive part of this Petition A. But deliver us from Evil. Q. What observe you from the Order and Connexion of this Branch of the Petition with the former A. I observe that the best Security against Sin is to be secured against Temptations to Sin Q. Are not strong Temptations to Sin an Excuse for sinning A. No for the Devil can onely persuade he cannot constrain for if be could compell he would likewise Justifie since there is no Sin where there is no Liberty All our Sins are of our own free Choice and so by Consequence is the Eternal Misery thy expose unto Hos 13.9 O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thine help John 5.40 And ye will not come to me that ye might have Life Matt. 23.37 O Jerusalem Jerusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy Children together even as the Hen gathereth her Chickens under her Wings and ye would not Q. Wherein consists the great Danger of being tempted A. In the Sympathy and Suitableness that is between Temptations and our corrupt Natures whereby they are apt to excite our Affections and our Affections will sway our Actions Q. What mean you by the word Evil when you pray Deliver us from Evil A. First Satan whose Stile it is to be the Evil or the Wicked One Matt. 13.19 When any one heareth the word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his Heart John 2.13 14. I write unto you Fathers because ye have known him that is from the Beginning I writ unto you young Men because you have overcome the wicked one Vers 14. I have written unto you Fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I have written unto you young Men because ye are strong and the Word of God abideth in you and ye have overcome the wicked one Secondly All other Evils whether they be of Sin or for Sin whether Transgressions or Punishments But especially Sin which is the greatest of all Evils Q. Why call you Sin the greatest of all Evils A. Because it is so both in its Nature and Consequents 1. First In its Nature it is wholly defect and irregularity and that onely thing which he always hates and never made 2. Secondly Because all other Evils are but the Effects and Consequents of Sin since the Devil could not hurt us but by Sin and no other Evils befal us but for Sin Q. What collect you hence A. That in praying to be delivered from Sin we pray to be delivered from all Evils whatsoever Q. What observe you from our Saviours teaching us to direct our Prayers to our Father in Heaven that he would Deliver us from Evil A. I learn hence that it is onely the Almighty Power of God that can keep us from Sin Q. Whence doth that appear A. First From the Consideration of the Almighty Advantages that our great Enemy the Devil hath against us Secondly From the Consideration of the Disadvantages we lie under to oppose his Temptations Q. What are his Advantages and our Disadvantages A. He is a Spirit we are but Flesh he is wise and subtile we foolish and ignorant he long experienced we raw and unpractised he is diligent and watchfull we careless and negligent He lays a close Siege to us without and we betray our selves within Q. What ways doth God take to keep Men from Sin A. In the General three 1. First He doth it by restraining Providence 2. Secondly By common and restraining Grace 3. Thirdly By renewing and sanctifying Grace Q. What are the Methods of God's Providence whereby he delivers Men from the Evil of Sin A. They are manifold and various but Five are most especially remarkable 1. First Sometimes Providence cuts short their Power whereby they should be inabled to Sin Thus God withered Jereboam's hand which he stretch'd forth against the Prophet 2. Secondly Sometimes God cuts off their wicked Instruments either for Counsel as he did Achitophel from Absolom or else for Execution as he did the Host of Sennacherib 3. Thirdly Sometimes by raising up another opposite Power to withstand the Sinner Thus the Rulers would have put Christ to Death but durst not for fear of the People 4. Fourthly By casting in seasonable Diversions Thus the passing by of Merchants altered the Patriarchs Resolution from killing Joseph to sell him 5. Fifthly Sometimes God removes the Object against which they intended to sin Thus he delivered David from Saul and Peter from Herod Q. We have seen how God preserves Men from Sin by his restraining Providence shew now how he doth it by his restraining Grace A. By restraining Grace God deals with the very Heart of a Sinner and although he doth not change the habitual yet he changeth the actual Inclination of it and takes away the Desire of committing those Sins which are unmortified and reigning Q. To whom doth God vouchsafe this Grace A. To many unregenerate Persons As he did to Esau and Abimelech Q. To what End doth he vouchsafe it A.
Righteousness revealed in the Scriptures No Damnation had been unavoidable without this knowledge yet it had been better they had not known it For here is the Hyperbole of their Misery better they had been Damned than to have known these Truths and this rule of Righteousness and yet turn from the Obedience and practice of it O fearful state O dreadful doom when a simple and genuine damnation shall be reckoned a gain and favour in comparison of that exquisite one which God will with all his Wisdom prepare and all his power inflict on those who knowing the righteous Judgment of God that they who commit such things are worthy of Death do notwithstanding persevere in them He that knew his Masters will and did it not shall be beaten with many stripes Luke 12.47 And if I had not come and spoken unto them they had not had Sin but now they have no Cloak for their Sins saith our Saviour John 15.22 The Sin and punishment of those who are invincibly ignorant is as nothing compared to what the knowing Sinners lie under But do not flatter your selves your ignorance is not invincible Are you not called to the knowledge of Christ Do you not read or hear the Scriptures Do you not enjoy Gospel Ordinances and Ministry May you not if you will be but diligent and industrious understand what you are ignorant of Certainly there is nothing that can prove your ignorance invincible unless it be your obstinacy that you will not be prevailed with to be instructed by all the means of Instruction Your Ignorance must therefore be affected Well then attend unto The second particular Affected Ignorance is a greater Sin and will be more sorely punished at the day of Judgment than unpractised knowledge This kind of ignorance is so far from being pleadable as an excuse that it is an aggravation of Mens guilt and will be so of their Condemnation There be but two things that compleat a Christian Knowledge and Practice Both these God doth strictly require Knowledge may be without practice but the practice of Godliness cannot be without knowledge God I say requires them both Now Judge ye which is the greater Sinner he that labours after knowledge though he neglect practice or he that neglects them both He that fulfills some part of God's will or he that fulfills nothing of it Certainly in your own Judgment this latter deserves to be doubly punish'd once for not doing his duty and again for not knowing it when he might Truly it is but just and righteous that God should with the highest disdain and indignation say unto them Depart from me ye Cursed I know you not since they have audaciously said unto him Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways The Apostle speaking of God's patience towards Heathens who were invincibly ignorant of the truth tells us Acts 17.30 That the times of this ignorance and yet an ignorance it was that put them upon no less than brutish Idolatry God winked at Ignorant persons in ignorant times whilest as yet the World was destitute of the means of knowledge and darkness over-spread the face of it God connived and winked at But ignorant persons in knowing times God doth not wink at but frown upon I am the more earnest in pressing this because I perceive that vile and rotten principle unworthy of a Christian who is a Child of light and of the day is taken up by many That it is no matter how little we know if we do but practise what we know What a cheat hath the Devil put upon them Hath not God commanded you to know more as well as to practise what you know Is it likely you should practise what you know upon God's command who will not upon his command increase your knowledge And yet this is the usual Plea of profane Men. Ask them why they frequent the publick Ordinances so seldom they will tell you they know more by one Sermon than they can practise But how can such make Conscience of practising who make none of knowing though the same God hath enjoined them both Yea though they cannot practise what they know yet let me tell them that for those who live under the means of Grace and may be instructed if they will it may be as great a Sin to omit a duty out of neglect of knowing it as out of neglect of doing it yea and much greater We should our selves Judge that Servant who while we are speaking to him stops his Ears on purpose that he might not hear what we command him we should I say Judge him worthy of more stripes than he who gives diligent ear to our commands although he will not obey them So it is in this Case Thou who stoppest thine Ears and will not so much as hear what the will of thy Lord and Master is deservest much more punishment than he who takes pains to know it although he doth it not It is damnable not to give God the service that he requires But O Insolence not to give God thy Lord and Master so much as the hearing Hath God sent Man into the World and sent the Scriptures after as Letters of instruction what we should do for him here and will it think'st thou be a sufficient excuse when thou returnest to thy Lord that it is true thou hadst instructions but never opened'st them never looked'st into them What a fearful contempt is this cast upon the great God never so much as to enquire what his will is Whether or no he commands that which is fit and reasonable for us to perform And therefore refuse not to search and study the Scriptures upon pretence that the knowledge of what you cannot fulfill will but aggravate your Sin and Condemnation For be assured of it greater Sin and sorer Condemnation can no Man have than he who neglects the means of knowledge thereby to disoblige himself from practice And again the Scriptures were given to assist us in the performance of those duties which it requires from us They do not only inform the judgment but quicken the will and affections and strengthen the whole Soul to its duty And this is in answer to the first Objection Secondly Some will say the reading of the Scriptures possesseth them with strange fears and fills them with incredible terrors It raiseth up such dreadful Apparitions of Hell and the wrath of God as makes them a terror to themselves To this I Answer First It may be thy condition is such as requires it Possibly thou art in a state of wrath and would'st thou not be under the apprehensions of it Thou art under the guilt of thy Sins and then no wonder that the voice of God should be terrible unto thee It is most unreasonable to hate the word as Ahab hated Micaiah because it prophesieth no good concerning thee Alas What good can it speak as long as thou thy self continuest Evil Secondly It is not so much the Scripture as
First I answer First this was St. Paul's very Case Rom. 7.8 Sin taking occasion by the Command wrought in me all manner of Concupiscence now this effect is merely accidental and is not to be imputed unto the Holy Word of God but to the wicked Heart of Man which takes an hint so desperately corrupt is it from God's forbidding Sin to put it self in Mind of committing it Secondly Thou complainest that the Word exciteth to Corruptions but it doth it no otherwise than the Sun draws Smoak and stink out of a Dunghill It doth increase but unhappily excite them The very same Lusts lay hid in their Hearts before There they lay like so many Vipers and Serpents asleep till the Light and Warmth of the Word makes them stir and crawl about And this Advantage thou mayest make of it that when thy Corruptions swarm thick about thee upon the disturbance the Law of God hath made among them thou mayest thence see what a wicked Heart and Nature thou hast how much Filth and Mud there lyeth at the bottom of it which presently riseth upon the first stirring This may make thee vile in thine own Eyes and deeply humbled under the sad and serious Consideration of thy indwelling Sin 'T is the very use the Apostle makes in the same Case Rom. 7.24 O wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the Body of this Death When Humors are in Motion we soon perceive what is the state of our Body and when Corruptions are once stirred we may thereby easily know the State and Condition of our Souls Thirdly The same Word that doth thus occasionally stir up Sin is the best means to beat it down You may perceive by this there is somewhat in the Word that is extreamly contrary to their Sins since they do so rise and arm against it their great Enemy is upon them and this alarm that they take is but before their overthrow It may be the Mud is only stirred that it might be cast out and their Hearts cleansed from it Be not discouraged therefore for there is no Means in the World so apposite to the destruction and subduing of Sin as the Scripture though at first it may seem instead of subduing of Sins to strengthen them Sixthly Many are discouraged from studying the Scriptures because their Memories are so treacherous and unfaithfull they can retain nothing when they have read the Scripture and would recollect what they have read they can give no account of it either to themselves or others Nothing abides upon them and therefore they think it were as good give over as thus continually pour Water into a Sieve and inculcate Truths upon such a leaky Memory where all runs out This is indeed the Complaint of many But First This should put thee on a more frequent and diligent study of the Scripture than discourage thee from it More pains will supply this Defect thou must the oftner prompt and the oftner examine thy Self the more forgetful thou art Memory is the Soul's Steward and if thou findest it unfaithful call it the oftner to account Be still following it with Line upon Line and Precept upon Precept and continually instill somewhat into it A Vessel set under the fall of a Spring cannot leak faster than it is supplyed A constant dropping of this Heavenly Doctrine into the Memory will keep it that though it be leaky yet it never shall be empty Secondly Scripture Truths when they do not inrich the Memory yet they may purifie the Heart We must not measure the Benefit we receive from the Word according to what of it remains but according to what effect it leaves behind Lightning you know than which nothing sooner vanisheth away yet it often breaks and melts the hardest and most firm Bodies in its sudden Passage Such is the irresistable force of the Word the Spirit often darts it through us it seems but like a flash and gone and yet it may break and melt down our hard Hearts before it when it leaves no impression at all upon our Memories I have heard of one who returning from an affecting Sermon highly commended it to some and being demanded what he remembred of it answered truly I remember nothing at all but only while I heard it it made me resolve to live better than ever I have done and so by God's Grace I will Here was now a Sermon lost to the Memory but not to the Affections To the same Purpose I have somewhere read a story of one that complained to an aged Holy-Man that he was much discouraged from reading the Scripture because his Memory was so slippery he could fasten nothing upon it that he read The old Hermet for so as I remember he was described bid him take an earthen Pitcher and fill it with Water when he had done it he bid him empty it again and wipe it clean that nothing should remain in it which when the other had done and wondred to what this tended now saith he though there be nothing of the Water remaining to it yet the Pitcher is cleaner than it was before so though thy Memory retain nothing of the word thou readest yet thy Heart is the cleaner for its very passage through Thirdly Never fear your Memory only pray for good and pious Affections Affection to the truths we read or hear makes the Memory retentive of them Most Mens Memories are like Jett or Electrical Bodies that attract and hold-fast only straws or Feathers or such vain and light things discourse to them the Affairs of the World or some idle and romantick story their Memories retain this as faithfully as if it were ingraven on leaves of Brass Whereas the great important truths of the Gospel the great Mysteries of Heaven and concernments of Eternity leave no more impression upon them than words on the Air in which they are spoken whence is this but only that the one sort work themselves into the Memory through the interest they have got in the Affections which the other cannot do Had we but the same delight in Heavenly Objects did we but receive the Truth in the love of it and mingle it with Faith in the hearing this would fix that Volatileness and Flittiness of our Memories and make every truth as indelible as it is necessary That 's in Answer to the 6th Objection Seventhly others complain that the Scripture is obscure and difficult to be understood they may as well and with as good success attempt to spie out what lies at the Centre of the Earth as search into the deep and hidden Mysteries which no humane understanding can fathom or comprehend And this discourageth them To this I answer First 't is no wonder if there be such profound depths in the word of God since it is a System and Compendium of his Infinite and unsearchable Wisdom that Wisdom which from the beginning of the World hath been hid in God Those deep Truths which your understanding cannot reach