them The Power of Conscience is weakned after so many Struglings and Combates that they must needs have had with their own Consciences after so many Contests between Corruption and Conviction between Truth in the Mind and Corrupt Inclinations in the Heart Especially if they have formerly been awakned and there have been some Fears and Hopes with good Desires and other Affections formerly stirr'd if by the Common Operations of the Holy Spirit they have had some serious Concern about their Salvation and all this is worn off and gone the Case of such is very bad and their Recovery the less hopeful because their Repentance is the more unlikely And if they persist their Doom will be intolerable But it is to prevent this as to those who may be in such a dangerous Case that I thus speak And therefore I most earnestly invite beseech and entreat them however Wicked and Unrighteous they have been not to make light of this further Offer of the Grace of the Gospel And that by no means they would despair of finding Mercy with God even Now if they will Return to him with all their Hearts whatever their past Sins have been If Now they will return God will abundantly pardon For his Thoughts are not as ours c. THE Third Sermon ISAIAH LV. 7 8. Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the Unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him Return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly Pardon For My Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways My Ways saith the Lord. IN Two former Discourses I have consider'd this double Precept or Injunction of Duty which concerns Sinners of all sorts under the two Names of Wicked and Vnrighteous that they must forsake their Evil Ways and Thoughts and return to the Lord which are the two parts of unfeigned Repentance I have also consider'd the encouraging Promise that thereupon God will have Mercy and will abundantly Pardon And I have now to consider what Ground we have to believe this Because God's Thoughts are not as ours nor his Ways as ours c. But there remains something of the Application of the Second General That if the Wicked forsake their evil Ways and Thoughts and return to God he will not only forgive but He will abundantly pardon 1. VSE Be thankful to Heaven for this good News that God will thus mercifully treat returning Sinners He might have insisted on the Terms of the violated first Covenant to the Ruine of all Mankind He might have left us as the fallen Angels without the Proposal Promise or Offer of a Redeemer But God so loved the World that he gave his Son that whoever believeth on him should not perish but have Everlasting Life When we think of the Case of the fallen Angels who are reserv'd in Chains of Darkness to the Judgment of the Great Day and compare it with our own who have a Proclamation of Mercy and Grace by the Gospel we have Reason to adore the distinguishing Goodness of God to us If a few poor inconsiderable People in a Kingdom of the meanest sort should be found guilty of Treason against a Prince when there are Multitudes of the Nobility and Gentry who have likewise rebell'd against him and a Pardon should be offer'd to those of the poorer meaner sort while the Nobles and Great Men are all Executed and not a Man of them receiv'd to Mercy would not this be Astonishing Goodness to the others Especially if those Great Men the Principal Subjects of the Kingdom were Condemn'd for one Offence for one Act of Treason and the others forgiven many Transgressions and receiv'd to Favour and Honour after many Years of Rebellion You easily know how to apply it How thankful ought we to be that we are not left in the remediless Condition of Devils that there is a Sacrifice offer'd for Sin a full Attonement made a sufficient Price paid a Fountain open'd a new and living Way for God to be glorify'd in the Forgiveness and Salvation of Returning Sinners that believe on his Son It is matter of Continual Admiration and Thankful Praise that we have Forgiveness this way Can we have a fuller Evidence of the Evil and Malignity of Sin or of God's Displeasure against it and consequently of the Worth and Value of a Pardon than by the Sufferings Blood and Sacrifice of Christ And what stronger Proof or clearer Evidence of God's Readiness to forgive Sin than the giving of his Son to dye for our Sins to cleanse us from all Sin even the most hainous grievous Offences Because his Mercy through the Mediator is greater than the Sins of the whole World Let us with Hearty Thankfulness adore him for this glorious Mystery of his Love and Grace And that we may be Thankful indeed let us apply it to our selves in particular Let us think of our own miserable Case under the Guilt of Sin and the Curse of God Let us think of the many thousand Talents we owe without being able to pay one Farthing of the Innumerable Crimes we are guilty of and that the Wages of every one is Death And that all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth could not procure the Forgiveness of one sinful Thought If you think you have or ever had any serious sense of the Evil of Sin and your lost undone Condition as Sinners how thankfully should you receive these glad Tydings of Mercy by Jesus Christ But if you have gone further and have actually receiv'd the Attonement if you are brought under the Bond of the Covenant if you are united to Christ by Faith and so interested in the sure Mercies of David and by Forgiveness deliver'd from Condemnation what Special Thankfulness is due from such When there are comparatively so Few to whom the Gospel is preached but do receive this Grace of God in vain Lord Who and what am I that I should have good hope through Grace of the Forgiveness of my Sins of mine that have been more aggravated than the Sins of Others When Others not greater Sinners it may be not so bad shall perish for ever and never be forgiven When it may be some of my Companions and Accomplices in Sin are cut off by Death without Repentance and Pardon Were not Others call'd and invited as well as I But he hath open'd mine Ears and Heart to receive him and so hath pardon'd me while others are condemned O Admirable and Astonishing Grace Secondly Take heed of abusing this Declaration of Grace to the worst of Sinners I. First As any Countenance to Sin or Encouragement to continue in it Shall we sin because God is ready to forgive Sin that his Grace may abound God forbid Rom. VI. 1. Far be it from us let it be an abhorred Thought 'T is needful to mention this because in many Instances the most pure and holy Doctrine may be perverted to patronize Sin We read that the Continuance of the Course
your own Souls 'T is certain we are naturally prone to fix upon some other Bottom enclin'd to establish a Righteousness of our own instead of Christ Jesus and his Righteousness But we can never be secure from the Charge of the Condemning Law and the Challenge of Divine Justice but by being united to Christ interested in him found in him and accepted with God on his Account VSE III. Let me beseech you to pity those Sinners who are not return'd to God and interested in his pardoning Mercy and to pity such as desiring and endeavouring to return do yet apprehend and fear that they shall never be pardon'd First As to those as are yet under the Guilt of Sin and are not return'd to God nor interested in his pardoning Mercy Consider their Miserable Case and pity them For First If they are not Partakers of ths abundant Pardon there 's no one sin that they were ever guilty of that is forgiven Without Repentance which includes forsaking our Evil Ways and returning to God there 's no Forgiveness of any Sin Tho' Temporal Judgments have sometimes been diverted upon External Humiliation no one Sin is blotted out but through the Blood of Christ who is exalted to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance as well as Remission of Sins And these are never to be parted Therfore if any have liv'd twenty thirty or forty Years in the World or longer whenever God comes to enter into Judgment with you all the Sins of your past Life with all their several Aggravations will be found in the Indictment and charg'd against you You are under the Guilt of them all as much as if they were committed yesterday As God's pardoning Mercy reaches to all the unknown and forgotten Sins of true Penitents as well as those which they actually remember and repent of so where he doth not forgive all he forgives none And if the Guilt of one sin be enough to sink thee into Hell what is it to have Ten Thousand to answer for If you can't stand in the Judgment when accused but for one sinful Thought or Word what will become of you when you have all the numberless Transgressions of your past Lives to answer for Secondly Consider that 'till sin be forgiven the Guilt of every unpardon'd Sinner encreases every day The longer he lives he is still heaping up Wrath against the Day of Wrath. Upon every failure of our Duty to God or Man there 's a Debt of Punishment resulting from it and every New Sin is a Figure added to the Old Score The longer therfore any one lives in an unpardon'd State the more Guilt he contracts and the more Crimes he has to Answer for Thirdly Consider that upon this Account 'till we are interested in the pardoning Mercy of God we are under the Curse and Condemnation of the Law Whatever Advantages a Man may enjoy above Others whatever Gifts Reputation Prosperity c. he 's still under a Divine Curse he 's condemn'd already and if he dye in this Condition he must perish for ever And how soon may Death put a Period to all thy Hopes of Forgiveness In the mean time you are under a Divine Curse that reaches to all you have and all you enjoy In Health and Sickness Prosperity and Adversity where-ever you go and whatever you do You please God in nothing but abuse his Mercy and are liable every Moment to his Wrath and if you dye that stroak of Death which separates thy Soul from thy Body will separate thee from God and Heaven for ever And this Curse of God will be found to be Intolerable as well as unavoidable When God deals with Sinners as a God of Vengeance they shall not be so weak as to be annihilated by his Wrath or so strong as to resist or avoid his Righteous Vengeance and 't is Everlasting Wrath likewise Without being now reconciled to God and interested in his pardoning Mercy by Jesus Christ the Wrath of God abideth on you and will for ever abide Fourthly Let me add one Consideration more to raise your Pity to Unpardon'd Sinners and that is their present deplorable Case by the Accusations of their own Conscience For sooner or later a guilty Conscience will speak Especially as to those that live under the Preaching of the Gospel The Sinners in Zion shall be afraid Fearfulness shall surprize the Hypocrite They may try various Methods to stop the Mouth of Conscience by the Noise and Clatter and Hurry of Worldly Business they may think to forget their Misery and patch up a kind of Peace for a little while but this is a false Peace that if not speedily broken will end in Everlasting Anguish And if it be as a thousand to one but it will be what Trembling Horror and Despair must be expected How low will such sink when they awake out of their Security How will they roar and cry out under the Terrors of the Lord How bitterly will they complain of the Burden of Sin as a Mountain on their Backs Of the Wounds of Sin as so many poyson'd Arrows in their Hearts How will their Joynts tremble their Lips quiver and their Hearts ake When they shall see their Sins set in Order before them and can't hope for Pardon But whether they feel their Misery or no their Case is dismal for they do but dance about the bottomless Pit and the next Hour may tumble in Conscience may awake sooner than you believe and e're long it will Conscience I say which is an Accuser none can silence a Judge that none can bribe And if they will but give themselves Time and Leisure to think a gloomy Darkness like the Shadow of Death must now overspread their Souls They have no Relief but by endeavouring not to think of their Danger Are not such to be pity'd O do what you can to awaken and save them Secondly There 's another sort who need your Compassion i. e. They who desire and endeavour to return to God and seek after Christ but apprehend there is no Forgiveness for them Tho' God will abundantly Pardon Others they reckon they shall never be interested in his pardoning Mercy They hear of God's multiplying Forgivenesses to Others but dare not think they shall have a Share in it They read of a Saviour but believe they shall never be sav'd by him they hardly dare look into the Bible lest they read their own Condemnation All the Terrible Things in the Scriptures against Impenitent Unbelievers against Apostates and Obstinate Sinners they apply to themselves They dare not look into the Grave nor think of dying because of what follows in the sinal Judgment of Christ and the Everlasting Destruction of Sinners If they had any former Peace they reckon it was all Deceit Mistake and Presumption For after all their Profession and Hearing and Reading and Praying c. they tell you They shall perish and be condemn'd as Hypocrites and There 's no Mercy for them O
and sticks like an Arrow in his flesh Whereas Pardoning Mercy is as Health to the Navel and Marrow to the Bones and a Cordial to his Heart yea even as Life from the Dead And dead he is in Law as under a Sentence of Condemnation 'till he be interested in Forgiveness by Faith in the Blood of Jesus Then may he lift up his Head as one Alive from the Dead and admit Consolation when he can hope his Sins are forgiven and that God is reconciled Comfort ye Comfort ye my People say unto Jerusalem her Warfare is Accomplished her Iniquity is forgiven Isa XL. 1 2. Blessed is the Man whose Iniquity is forgiven and Sin covered Psal XXXII 1. 'Till then they are under the Curse of God on Record A Curse that cuts off from God and all gracious Communications from him a Curse which pierceth deep and spreadeth far and makes the whole Creation at Enmity with us And this Curse is intolerable in the Effects of it and unavoidable too There is no Relief or Remedy against it but by the New Covenant and Faith in Jesus Christ 'T is only by the Redemption we have in Jesus Christ through his Blood even the Forgiveness of Sins In which Forgiveness we can never be interested without Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ There is no Rest in my Bones because of my Sin saith the Psalmist Psal XXXVIII 3. My Sins are an heavy Burden they are too heavy for me v. 4. 'Till this Burden be removed by Forgiveness what Ease or Rest can a Sinner enjoy 'T is true the Deceit of sensual Pleasures or the Hurry and Clatter of Worldly Business may hinder the Sense of this for a while and keep all quiet Yet sooner or later the sinful Soul will have Torment Conscience will awake Men may laugh and be merry for a Time make a shift to be confident and secure under the Wrath and Curse of God they may take their Poyson for their Antidote their Wound for their Plaister their Plague for their Cure their Disease for their Remedy and so make a hard shift to preserve a little false Peace But the End will be the most horrid Despair And the more Jovial and Airy Careless and Presumptuous they have been in Health and Prosperity under the Guilt of great Transgressions the more disconsolate will such be when Conscience awakes to set their Sins in order before them Is there then any Message like that of Forgiveness that will suit the Case of such They can relish nothing else think of nothing else this is what they aim at This is the Subject of their great Enquiry How they may be forgiven They may try in vain what Company Mirth Sports Business or Superstition will do They must come to God for Pardon or they cannot find Rest Hos V. 13. When Ephrahim saw his sickness and Judah saw his wound then went Ephraim to the Assvrian and sent to King Jareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your wound Did you know the Misery and Danger of a sinful Soul unreconciled to God bound over to his Eternal Wrath every Moment expos'd as a Guilty Wretch to his fiery Vengeance Did you consider the Case of such a One who hath all the Plagues and Curses in the Book of God in force against him and nothing but a little Breath between him and Endless Ruine that can't tell but the next Day or Minute Death may open the Door and let him fall into Damnation Did any one rightly understand this believe it consider it and apply it as his own Case what Mercy will suit such a One but Pardoning Mercy What is all the Pomp and Glory of this World to such a Man without the Forgiveness of Sin How can he eat drink or sleep or trade or do any thing without some Hope of Pardon without seeking after it without endeavouring it without using means in Order to it Secondly Pardoning Mercy is Mercy indeed as 't is the Fruit of Covenant Love an Effect of the special distinguishing Love of God This is the great Priviledge of such whose God is the Lord. This is a Covenant Blessing that 's never given in Anger This is never bestow'd but as a Favour peculiar to God's People This is always accompany'd with Regeneration and Adoption Jer. XXXI 33. I will be their God and will forgive their Iniquity Happy is the Man whose Iniquity is forgiven Happy is the People whose God is the Lord. Thirdly This Mercy is the most Comprehensive Blessing and the Foundation of many other Mercies This secures our State sweetens our other Blessings lays the Foundation for Peace of Conscience gives Freedom of Access to the Throne of Grace and makes way for Communion with God in all Ordinances This clears us from the Accusation of Satan the Condemnation of the Law and of our own Hearts for who shall lay any thing to his Charge whom God forgives We can have no Right and Title to Eternal Life without this For the Legal Bar must be removed by the Pardon of Sin as well as the Moral Incapacity by the Sanctifying Spirit The great Blessings of the Gospel such as the Spirit of Holiness Communion with God c. they are promised to Accompany this of Forgiveness Heb. VIII latter End I will be merciful to their Vnrighteousness and their Iniquities I will remember no more By this we not only escape the Punishment due to Sin which would render us deeply miserable but are restored to the Favour of God and accepted in the Beloved and have Grace to overcome the World Flesh and Devil The sanctifying Spirit to purge us from all Filthiness is joyn'd with this Pardon which delivers from the Condemning Guilt of Sin We are translated into the Kingdom and Family of Christ as well as deliver'd from the Kingdom of Satan and the Power of Darkness In a Word the Acceptation of our Persons Sanctification of our Natures the Answer of our Prayers and a Title to Heaven and Eternal Life are connected with and consequent to this Forgiveness of Sin Psal XXXII 1 2 3. Zac. I. 4. Isa LIX 2 3. Psal CIII 2 3. Job VII 21. This also hath respect to all the Comforts and Afflictions of this present Life You ought to Consider that if Sin be forgiven all things shall work for good Take away all Iniquity saith the Church and receive us graciously or do us good Hos XIV 2. Every Providence shall be sanctified if Sin be forgiven For peace I had great bitterness saith Hezekiah but in love to my Soul thou hast deliver'd it from the Pit of Corruption for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy Back Isa XXXVIII 17. You have a like Instance Jer. XXXIII 6 8. But if you had all the Plenty Peace Health Riches and Grandeur of this World yet the Guilt of one Sin on the Consclence under the Apprehension of God's deserved Wrath will spoil the Relish of all Where Sin
is forgiven other Mercies will be sweet and the Burden of Affliction tolerable But without this and under the Apprehensions of the contrary every Temporal Calamity is double For this is the Wormwood and the Gall in every bitter Cup. We shall not under the Troubles and Disappointments of this World cry out we are undone if we can think that God hath forgiven us No more than a Man who has just receiv'd his Prince's Pardon when he lay under a Sentence of Condemnation to Death can be thought if he lose his Glove or Handkerchief in the way home that he will wring his Hands and weep and take on for such a Loss when he had so lately his Life graciously given him Besides Hereby is a Foundation laid for a Life of Thankful Love and Obedience to God Conscience being purg'd from dead Works we serve the Living God without fear in hope of his Acceptance with the Promise of his hearing our Prayers and that he will be well pleased with our Services and overlook our Infirmities c. We may therefore well bear the Tryals of this Life with Patience and Resignation and in a dying Hour shall be able to commend our Souls with Faith and Hope into the Hands of Christ who will take Care of us as his own when we leave the World and at last publickly acknowledge and absolve us in the great Day Oh how many Mercies accompany this one of the Forgiveness of Sin Fourthly This is Mercy indeed to a Returning Sinner Peculiar Mercy as it it Irrevocable Where Sin is forgiven and Iniquity blotted out it shall be remember'd no more You are freely justify'd from all things and shall never come into Condemnation This my Covenant of Peace shall never be removed saith the Lord who hath mercy on thee Isa LIV. 10. This is not only true of the first Settlement of it but is the Priviledge of every one who is under the Bond and Blessing of the New Covenant Tho' I visit his Transgression with a Rod and his Iniquity with Stripes nevertheless my loving Kindness will I not utterly take from him nor suffer my Faithfulness to fail my Covenant will I not break nor alter the thing that is gone out of my Lips God may remember the Sins of Pardoned Believers so as to afflict them in this World and exercise the Discipline of his Family Their share in National Sins may involve them in present Sufferings with others And for particular Transgressions God may testifie his Fatherly Displeasure against good Men by remarkable Afflictions but will not reverse their Pardon so as to punish them Eternally Ely David Jonah and others are Instances Your Peace with Heaven shall never be so broken none of your Afflictions will prove it The Reconciliation between God and Sinners that is once accepted by a Real Active Unfeigned Obedient Faith is Perpetual It is promis'd that our Iniquities shall be blotted out and remember'd no more that God will cast 'em behind his Back Cast 'em into the bottom of the Sea Scatter 'em as a thick Cloud c. Isa XLIII 25. Psal LI. 9. Isa XXXVIII 17. Mic. VII 19. Isa XLIV 22. And yet more expresly to assure us that God will not enter into Judgment with us for the Sins he hath once forgiven we read Jer. L. 20. In that day shall the Iniquity of Israel be sought for and there shall be none and the Sins of Judah and they shall not be found Where God bestows Forgiveness he communicates the Spirit of Grace for the Mortification of Sin And tho' that Work be not perfect it shall be progressive and the Remainders of Corruption in the Soul will not prove that your Sin is not forgiven The Flesh will war against the Spirit and the Spirit will strive against the Flesh but you can't conclude that you are not forgiven from the Opposition that Sin makes against the Grace of God in the Soul Would you judge of your selves consider what Opposition you make against Sin Would you have Relief Apply to the Fountain open to the Blood and Spirit of Christ for new Strength from Day to Day to Crucifie the Flesh to Continue the Warfare and Maintain the Conflict That Sin yet remains in the Soul is consistent with your Reconciliation to God and your Sence of this with his Acceptance of you Yea I am perswaded there 's never such a Discovery of Corruption as after Forgiveness when the Grace of God hath enlightned the Soul But which part do you side with Do you Condemn Bewail Oppose Resist Strive Watch Pray Fight and Endeavour the Mortification of Corruption that yet remains after the Hopes of Pardon You shall then by the Grace of Christ hold on and be more than Conquerors You should Apply to him and Exalt his Power as able to destroy the Works of the Devil He has promised and undertaken it that no Iniquity shall be charged to your Condemnation No old Stories shall be repeated no latent Displeasure harboured no former Quarrel revived If thou return to God with all thy Heart he will never upbraid thee with thy former Sins tho' Men may But if you can hope that God forgives you you 'll easily bear that and little mind it Can you doubt of this Fulness of Pardon when God hath said he will hide and blot out our Sins so as When sought for they shall not be found And that he will put them as far from us as the East is from the West that None of them shall be mentioned again unto us Psal CIII 10. Jer. XXXI 34. Fifthly This Pardoning Mercy is Mercy indeed to a Returning Sinner because all his unknown and forgotten Sins shall be pardoned as well as those he hath particularly confess'd agravated and repented of As he that breaks the Law in one Point is guilty of all by the wilful Contempt of Divine Authority so he that is absolved in one Point is forgiven in all It were otherwise in vain to be forgiven and absolved as to some Sins that might damn us if there 's any one left that would do it He that is under Condemnation for one Sin is liable to Eternal Death But Divine Forgiveness is entire and full There are Sins of Good Men that arise from Humane Frailty and not from any evil Purpose of Heart as Sins of Ignorance which if we had known we would not have committed or of sudden Surprize that we did not Observe or fell into by the violent hurry of Temptation before we had time to think what we were doing of such Sins we shall be often guilty while we are in the World and we are bid to ask daily Pardon for 'em and then they shall not break Covenant between God and Us. But there are Many Sins that we have forgotten for which we were never Humbled in Particular And yet if we truly Repent of those we do know and call to mind our forgotten Sins shall be forgiven For God will Pardon us like
To perswade you that God will abundantly pardon Consider how valuable a Price was paid for your Redemption that you might have Forgiveness When you think of the Freeness of this Mercy to you think also that it cost the precious Blood of Jesus to Procure it And by the great Propitiation for Sin which he hath made God hath glorify'd his Holiness and Justice and may now glorifie his Mercy and Grace in pardoning and saving Sinners without lessening the Honour of his Authority and Government or impeaching any of his Attributes and Perfections You may come and beg Mercy for the sake of Jesus Christ saying Lord save me for thy Mercy 's sake I am a Vile Sinner a Rebellious Creature not only an unprofitable Servant but a hainous Criminal I have nothing in my self but Matter of Shame and Humiliation nothing of any good but what thou hast given me There 's nothing in any of my Services but need the Sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus to make them accepted But there is Redemption even the Forgiveness of Sin through the Blood of Jesus Lord Here is the Blood shed for Expiation of my Sins Lord Here 's the Price paid for my Reconciliation here 's a perfect Righteousness to cover me here 's a compleat Attoning Sacrifice Christ's Merit Righteousness and Intercession and Grace can save me O let me be found in him accepted in him Did I dishonour God formerly by my aggravated Sins Christ my Redeemer hath honour'd him more by his Death than ever I dishonour'd him by my wicked Life Is it not a Trouble to you to think with what Affection and Delight you sinned with what Deliberation you committed such and such Sins Oh! remember that Christ delighted to do the Mediatorial Will of his Father He was straitned 'till he drank of the bitter Cup and was baptized with his own Blood He knew before hand all that he was to do and suffer for our Redemption and yet willingly undertook it Did you sin with much intenseness of Spirit so that your Heart was in it Have your Crimes been many of them Mental Spiritual Inward Sins like those of the Devil which are worse than Sensual Carnal Ones Remember Christ's Sufferings lay much in his Soul also His Spirit his Soul was heavy unto Death c. And whatever Unworthiness you may apprehend of the Mercy offer'd you remember 't is Free Mercy You are call'd and invited to receive it without Money and without Price If you are weary and heavy laden and sensible of your Unworthiness if you see your need of his help are desirous of it and willing to yield your selves to his Conduct to be saved in a way of Free-grace so as to give him the entire Glory of your Salvation you ought to believe that God will show you Mercy and abundantly pardon you He hath glorify'd his Mercy in the purchase of Forgiveness by Christ in the Publication of it in the Gospel and in the Application of it to particular Sinners upon Faith and Repentance or Repentance and Faith I scruple not to put either first since they are inseperable and are never parted And both are absolutely needful Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ that at once we may give God the Honour of his Authority and violated Law by our Repentance and of his rich Grace in the Gospel by our Faith in Christ And can any thing be more free to us than to be forgiven in this Method on these Terms to have all our Transgressions blotted out for his Name 's sake and to be washed and cleans'd in the Fountain of Christ's Blood when we have nothing but our own miserable and wretched Case to move his Pity He justisies us freely by his Grace and found a way to do it with Honour to his own Name What a strange Passage is that of the Prophet Isa XLIII 22 23 24. Thou hast not called upon me O Jacob but hast been weary of me O Israel thou hast not brought me the small Cattle of thy burnt Offerings neither hast thou honour'd me with thy Sacrifice thou hast bought me no sweet Cane with Money neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy Sacrifices but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins thou hast wearied me with thine Iniquities What might now be expected but that God should say Therfore I will not hear thee when thou callest I 'le make thee a Sacrifice to my Wrath I 'le punish thee according to thy Desert But 't is quite otherwise for it follows in Verse 25. I even I am he that blotteh out thy Transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy Sins When the God whom we had offended by Sin is become a God of Forgiveness in such a way and method of rich and glorious Grace we need not doubt but his Heart is in it and therfore that he will abundantly pardon He might have exacted the Punishment of Sin when he gave his only begotten Son to be a Propitiation for our Sin and accepted his Suffering instead of ours There could be nothing move him to this but his own Grace and Love And therfore we ought to believe that he 's ready to receive returning Sinners unto Mercy for Christ's sake Sixthly As consequent to this Consider that by believing that God will abundantly pardon returning Sinners we give Honour and Glory to God He is pleas'd and honour'd by our giving Credit to his Word and hoping in his Mercy Whereas if we distrust his Promises and Declarations of Grace we not only disobey his Order but refuse that which he delights in and whereby he 's glorify'd By not believing his Promises of Pardon we do what we can to frustrate the Command of Faith in Jesus Christ and the Promse of Salvation by him Yea to disappoint the great Design of Christ's Coming into the World which was to save Sinners We undervalue the rich Provision he hath made for our Encouragement we gratifie the Devil in keeping off from the only Remedy which Christ hath procured We do in effect make God a Liar by disbelieving the Record he hath given of his Son not setting to our Seal that God is true 1 John V. 10. John III. 33. If we honour and please God by our Faith and Hope more than by any thing else we do as much dishonour and displease him by our Unbelieving Despondency and Dispair Yea all the Sins of your past Life that make you fear God will never forgive you are not cloathed with higher Aggravations of Guilt than your doubting of the pardon of them in Case you unfeignedly return to God and believe in Christ Lastly You ought to believe it for the Reason added Ver. 7. because God's Thoughts are not as ours but as far as the Heavens are above the Earth c. We can't think so kindly of any who have injur'd us as God thinks of us who have offended him Nor can we think to what degree God
it the daily Burden of your Hearts that you inwardly sanctifie God no more and glorifie him so little in the World Are your Thoughts Desires Opinions and and Designs chang'd The Bent of your Souls and the Course of your Lives altered Can you say My Heart is inclin'd to keep thy Statutes always even to the end Psal CXIX 112. I esteem all his Commandments concerning all things to be right and am desirous to know the whole Will of God that I may do it And if in particular Instances by Temptation you turn out of the Way and contract Guilt are you restless and uneasie 'till you return to God Can you say with the Psalmist I have kept the Way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from him for all his Judgments were before me and I did not put away his Statutes from me I was also upright before him and kept my self from mine Iniquity Psal XVIII 21 22 23. I confess as to Sins that by the Temperament and Constitution of the Body we are more inclin'd and tempted to than to other Sins a Total Victory is not to be expected so as in no Degrees to fall into such Sins after Repentance Take heed in such Cases that you rise again speedily by Repentance that you walk softly and humbly and that the principal Tendency of your Repentance and Prayer be against those Sins And you will gradually get Strength against 'em So as to say that no Iniquity hath Dominion over you that you are not the willing Servants of Sin so as to love it and deliberately to allow it but the Desire of your Soul is to be freed from it to have Sin subdu'd as well as forgiven III. What can you say as to the Receiving Loving and Prizing of Christ by whom we have Forgiveness Have you heartily Accepted of him in all his Offices as offered in the Gospel Assenting to his Doctrine as a Teacher sent from God and our great Prophet Relying on his Sacrifice and Mediation as our great High-Priest And subjecting to him as Lord and Ruler This is Receiving him as Christ Jesus the Lord. This is an Honour due to him for the Pardon and Salvation he hath procured for us And God hath made it necessary to our Interest in the Benesits of his Death Do we assent to the Doctrine of Salvation reveal'd and publish'd by Christ and attested from Heaven as certainly true That Jesus is the Christ of God and Whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have Everlasting Life Hereupon are we brought to trust to the Mercy of God in Christ in Hopes of his Salvation which is freely tendred unto Sinners in the Gospel Do we subject our selves entirely to him as one whom God hath exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins Resolving to be sway'd by his Authority and rul'd by his Direction and follow him as our Captain and Commander Guide and Saviour as long as we live Endeavouring in Heart and Life to be well pleasing in his Sight that whether we live or dye we may be His If your Sins are forgiven 't is for Christ's sake Consider what Application have you ever made to him for the cleansing Virtue of his Blood Since if you are washed if you are pardoned it must be through the Blood of the Lamb have you look'd to him whom you have pierced and mourn'd and been in Bitterness for him as one that is in Bitterness for his first born Zac. XII 10. Have you lookt upon a Crucify'd Saviour Bleeding Groaning Dying for Sin to reconcile us to God and turn us from our Iniquities Have you been answerably affected with the Sufferings of Christ and improv'd thereby in your Hatred of Sin IV. What Thankfulness to God and what Love to Jesus Christ the Redeemer doth the Hope of Forgiveness excite in you You read how the Penitent in the Gospel Loved much because much was forgiven Luke VII 47. How did St. Peter appeal to Christ after the Forgiveness of his Sin Lord thou that knowest all things knowest that I love thee Your Love to Christ and every thing that relates to him will be a good Argument of the Forgiveness of Sin For having Peace with God the Love of Christ is shed abroad in our Hearts How have your Hearts been affected with Thankfulness to God for the Riches of his Grace in this Forgiveness For the Purchase of it for the Offer of it and for any good Hope of your special Interest in it What admiring Thoughts have you of the Height and Depth Length and Breadth of the Love of God in Christ to lost Sinners With what Thoughts do you Consider the Curse of the Law the Terrors of Death the Power of Satan and the Wrath of God From all which you are deliver'd by Christ With what Affection do you Contemplate the Innumerable Glorious Priviledges Benefits and Blessings that accompany this Forgiveness With what Admiring Love to the Redeemer do you from time to time review his Condescension and Humiliation How low he stoopt and how readily How great things he suffered and how willingly Even to drink the Dregs of that bitter Cup which but to taste of would have made Men and Angels stagger into Hell With what Frame of Spirit can you consider Christ offer'd upon the Cross for you making his Soul a Ransom for you When you Consider with particular Application to your selves He gave himself for me shed his precious Blood for me O my Soul 't was that I might escape Condemnation that I might be reconcil'd to God that my Crimson and Scarlet Sins might be pardoned that my Guilty Polluted Miserable Soul might be restor'd to the Image of God and Communion with him What Affections what Joy have you from such Thoughts Especially at the Lord's-Table when you consider his Body broken for you his Blood shed for the Remission of your Sins wounded for your Transgressions bruised for your Iniquities that by his Stripes you might be healed V. Moreover How are you affected with the Sins that you hope God hath pardon'd Do your Souls melt with a Godly Sorrow for those Crimes that you hope are forgiven What penitent Mourning doth the Psalmist express in Psal 51. which was penn'd after God assur'd him that his Adultery and Murder should be forgiven and after the Prophet had told him The Lord hath put away thy Sin O Lord have Mercy upon me and wash me and cleanse me and blot out my Transgression Against thee thee only have I sinned and done this Evil in thy Sight c. What Influence hath God's free Mercy in pardoning Sin upon you as to Shame and Sorrow for it Doth the Thoughts that after all thy Provocations God will be reconciled humble and shame thee the more To this purpose you know the Holy Spirit is promised in the Times of the Gospel Ezek. XVI 63. That thou may'st remember and be confounded and never open thy Mouth any more
Instance Object 1. Some may be ready to say notwithstanding all this I have such a sight of my own past Crimes and their Aggravations that none can judge of my Case as I can or know the worst of it as I do I knew the Will of God and yet disobey'd him I have sinn'd when I knew God did forbid it and threaten'd with Eternal Death what I was doing I have hearkned to Temptation tho' I had vow'd and promis'd and resolv'd and engag'd against that very Sin I was tempted to And which was worse I had some Thoughts of God's seeing me some Apprehensions that he would judge me for it and yet I went on and sinned Surely God will never forgive me If any of my Fellow Creatures had wilfully deliberately ungratefully frequently and perfidiously despised and affronted injured and offended me I that am but a Worm could have no Patience with such a One Much more may the Blessed God resent remember and punish such Vile Iniquities as I have been guilty of Answ Consider in Answer to this how high the Heavens are above the Earth and which is more the difference between the Creature and the Creator That his Thoughts are not as ours not like our misgiving despairing Thoughts He doth and will pardon like himself like a God Not after the Measures of a finite passionate weak Man All that you have said or can say shall be no Impediment if you return to God and seek him in Christ for Forgiveness He will Abundantly pardon beyond what you are able to think or suppose in the like Case God complains of Israel as prone and enclin'd to backslide yet he cannot find in his Heart to destroy 'em but expresses a kind of Conflict between Justice and Mercy and at last resolves I am God and not Man therfore I will not execute the Fierceness of mine Anger but I will cause 'em to walk after the Lord Hosea XI 7 10. He doth all things like himself as one Observes If he build he makes a World If he be angry with the World he sends a Flood over the Face of all the Earth If he goes out with the Armies of his People he makes the Sun stand still the Stars to fight the Seas to swallow up the most dreadful Armadoes If he love the precious Hearts Blood of his Beloved Son is not too dear If any become his Friend and Favourite thro' the Mediation of Christ he will make him a King give him a Paradise and set a Crown of Eternal Glory on his Head Let us not consider so much what is fit or likely for us to receive as for so Great a God to give and bestow If we are contrite humble penitent and fly to Jesus Christ as our Refuge of Hope He will think all the meritorious Sufferings of his Son all the Promises in his Book all the Comforts of his Holy Spirit all the Pleasures and Blessedness of his Kingdom little enough for us Object 2. But some will say further I did once hope that God had given me true Repentance and unfeigned Faith and that I was hearty and sincere in my Covenant with God I had some good Hopes that I was reconcil'd and that I was accepted And I seal'd my Covenant and set my Name to it and renew'd it also at the Lord's Table And I thank God I had some Quickning and Comfort as I thought but Wretch as I am I have revolted since I have burst those Bonds asunder I have gone back with such abominable Backslidings that I can't think God will ever pardon me who after I have known the Way of Righteousness have turn'd from the Holy Commandment After having been wash'd I have return'd with the Dog to his Vomit and the Swine to her wallowing in the Mire I fear I am among those who draw back to Perdition of whom God may say that his Soul shall have no Pleasure in them Answ Consider that God's Thoughts are not as yours as to Returning Backsliders He calls you to return O Israel thou hast fallen by thine Iniquity return unto the Lord thy God He tells you his Grace and Mercy can outdo all that you can think If you never heard of any that have sinn'd as you have or with such aggravated Backslidings he may yet forgive thee Though your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be white as Snow tho' red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Isa I. 18. If he give you Grace to repent and return he will forgive Sins after Baptism Sins after unworthy receiving the Lord's Supper may be pardon'd There is a Fountain open'd there is a Ransom found there is a Propitiation made there 's an Advocate with the Father You must forgive an offending Brother if he repent even unto seventy times seven And will not God forgive Returning Backsliders and multiply Forgivenesses This Text is the most proper Scripture that can be for such to consider that they may not think that no Mercy shall be extended to them They are invited to return with a Promise that God will heal their Backslidings Hos XIV 3 4. Jer. III. beginning and afterward Verse the 21st Go and proclaim these Words saying return ye backsliding Israel saith the Lord and I will not cause my Anger to fall upon you for I am merciful saith the Lord and will not keep Anger for ever You ought therfore to add the following Words Behold we come unto thee for thou art the Lord our God Return to him with all your Hearts he will receive you graciously and love you freely The Prodigal is entertain'd upon his Return more than the First-born assoon as he repents and saith I am unworthy to be called thy Son He will heal your Backslidings and take away all Iniquity the Guilt the Stain the Power the Punishment and the Anguish of Conscience He will not impute thy Sin he will purge thy Conscience from dead works and enable thee to serve and obey him The Sun of Righteousness shall arise on thee with healing in his Wings the Influence of his Holy Spirit shall by Grace and Comfort be restored to thee And all this from his Free Love and Mercy Nothing is too hard for Love Divine Love It is I confess a real Difficulty when one is made sensible of great Sins after Repentance and I know of no Relief like that which is offer'd from this Scripture I am unworthy may such a Soul say but the Lord is Gracious I have misimprov'd his Mercy and abus'd his Goodness and his Patience what shall relieve me in this Case Why his Infinite Love Condescension and Grace Well but I have revolted and gone back by many aggravated Back-slidings that stare me in the Face Yet God is Vnchangeable he 's not only Merciful but Faithful to his Covenant And his Faithfulness was never engaged to the Angels that fell But here 's the great Objection that will be made to all this This is true but I am unfaithful and the