sin for time to come justifies the ungodly pardons sin yet purchases the pardon These eleven Meditations about the Pardon of Sin make it appear to be a wonderful work of God put these together and then the result according to the point will be clear and full that Blessed is that man whose sins are forgiven And surely if there be such a mysterious and glorious work of God in pardoning sin that man for whom God shall work such a glorious work is a blessed man indeed And now having done with this Argument of the great mystery of Godliness in forgiveness of Sin I proceed to another and it is this CHAP. IV. That Pardon of Sin not only is a Mercy in it self but the Foundation of many other Mercies PArdon of Sin makes a mâ—â— blessed Why Because it is the Foundation of abundance of other Mercies it is an inlet to many other mercies therefore a great mercy it is a leading mercy it is as the Queen of Mercy that hath a great and glorious train of other mercies attending on her indeed it is the very foundation of all the mercies of the Covenant of grace 't is the principal mercy and the very foundation of all the mercies that are in the Covenant and the inlet and opening to them all the Covenant of Grace is a rich Treasury hath abundant store of mercy in it and this opens to them all The current of all Gods mercies was stopt by mans sin though God had an infinite Ocean of mercy yet the sourse and vent of all Gods mercies was stopt Now when God pardons sin he takes away the stop and opens the sluce that his infinite grace and goodness may flow forth plentifully and sweetly to the soul body and state yea to all that belongs to a believer You may conceive Gods mercy to be as an infinite stream of goodness running with a full current towards his creatures for God delights in the Communication of himself to his creatures But now mans sin made a dam and stopt the pipe that not one drop of mercy could come forth not a drop of all that mercy that in the eternal purpose of God he hath appointed in time shall come forth to such and such a poor creature but when he comes to Pardon and Justification he pulls out the plug and pulls up the flood-gates and sluces and then mercies come flowing in amain when sin is pardoned then the full streams of all the mercies in the Covenant of grace come flowing into the soul well then if it be thus that pardon of sin is an inlet to other mercies then he that hath his sin pardoned is a very blessed man I shall open this That Pardon of Sin is the foundation to and opens the sluce to let in all other mercies Jer. 31.31 Behold the days come that I will make a new Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah here God opens his goodness and tells them he will make a new Covenant not like that he made with their fathers vers 32. but this shall be the Covenant vers 33. and he instances in some particulars I will put my Law into their inward parts and write it in their hearts and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying know the Lord for they shall all know me c. But what is the foundation of all this at the end of the 34. For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more I will make a new Covenant with them and put my law into their inward parts and they shall all know me I will come in with all my mercies and blessings Illumination and Sanctification he mentions these instead of the rest as in a grant of great things some particulars are mentioned but then he comes in with a general For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more As if it should be said Why Lord wilt thou come in thus to thy people in such an abundant way of mercy more than formerly and let in these graces of thy Covenant Why here 's the ground of all for I will forgive their iniquity so that forgiveness of iniquity is the special inlet of the mercies of the Covenant Now more particularly I shall shew you what are those special mercies Pardon of sin is an inlet to and that will further shew the blessedness of those souls that have their sins pardoned because pardon of sin is an inlet to many other mercies As Of Peace with God that Pardon of Sin is an inlet to 1. Peace with God Rom. 5.1 being justified that is pardoned through faith what follows we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ the ground of our Justification and Reconciliation it is not our Humiliation no nor our Sanctification Observe it the very bottom and foundation of our Justification and Reconciliation it is neither of these though we ought to be in the use and exercise of them but pardon of sin is through the free grace of God applyed by faith this is the ground of all our Peace and Reconciliation with God And thus men and women should seek their peace with God the main thing they should lay the waight of obtaining peace of God upon it is the work of faith applying the Righteousness of Christ for pardon rather than any work of Humiliation or Sanctification by the Spirit of God yet both these are sweet and comfortable when we found the bottom and main foundation of all our peace on the free grace of God pardoning our sin and justifying of us through faith in Christ Cod does not say you that are great sinners stay till you are humbled and are brought to hate sin and you shall have peace with God No you may be much troubled for sin and may leave it and reform in many things and live better lives than before and yet your peace not made up with God How then shall it be thus being justified by faith looking up to the free grace of God in Christ for pardon of sin we come to have peace with God and this is a great priviledge but if you consider on the other side a creature not reconciled cannot look upon the infinite Creator without terror and shakings and tremblings of spirit he cannot have any thoughts of God but he thinks of him as his Enemy and that all the excellencies of God are working misery and ruine to him this is a sad thing But when pardon of sin comes God is reconciled and all fears and terrors from the Almighty are gone those fears whereby the soul was afraid God was secretly working ruine to it are dispell'd and if any judgment of God come close and near and befal any in the sight and hearing of a guilty soul he would be thinking God is coming to me next But a justified soul may say though the judgments of God be never so terrible in the world and in
and pains and did all you could do here 's a great difference between Gods forgiveness and mans a King may forgive but he cannot change and heal but when God forgives he heals and takes away that evil disposition from thee that did so weaken thee for all good Christ when he comes he comes with healing in his wings now blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven for that there follows deliverance from the power of sin and a healing of the soul Of comfort against Death following on Pardoning Mercy 6. Blessed is he whose sins are forgiven because such a man may look in the face of Death and Judgment with comfort Death when he comes to a Natural Man he comes as a Messenger of God to arrest the Soul at Gods suit but where sin is forgiven Death is made a means to bring thee to rest that that would have arrested thee is a means to bring thee to thy rest Heb. 2.14 15. Christ came to die Now what was the great business he came to die for it was to purchase a pardon for sin and by his death to take away the power of the Devil and deliver them that through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage through the fear of death and nothing in all the world can deliver from the fear of death but forgiveness of sin and then this makes a man look on the day of Judgment with comfort for one special end of that day is that there may be a Declaration of the Infinite Mercy of God in forgiving of sin Act. 3.19 Repent and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord when he shall send Jesus again which before was preached to you Certainly assoon as ever a man comes to believe his sins are blotted out I but when the times of refreshing shall come they shall appear to your own selves and to all the World Men and Angels more fully than ever before some Interpreters think and I dare not deny it but that there will be a time of refreshing in this world before the great and terrible day that Christ will make it appear that the sins of the Elect Believers are blotted out in another manner than now it doth but however it will fully appear at that day and then that day that will be so terrible to the ungodly will be refreshing to the Saints Why because they shall find their sins blotted out then and that will make that day a refreshing day unto them Although the Heavens be all on fire and shrivelled up like a Scrowl and there be dreadful shriekings of ungodly men yet it shall be a day of refreshing to the Saints because their sins are blotted out Oh blessed is the man that hath his sins pardoned now for he shall have that day to be a day of refreshing to him but woe be to thee O soul who ever thou art that hast not thy sin pardoned if but one sin stand upon the score not blotted out woe woe will betide the for ever more but they that find their sin pardoned shall find that day to be a day of such refreshing as ever they beheld and therefore blessed is the man that hath his iniquities forgiven Of Security against the worlds Reproaches the fruit of Pardoning Mercy 7. Where God hath forgiven sin such a one need not care for the censures of all the world and the reproaches they cast upon him the men of the world cast many reproaches on the Saints and say they are hypocrites that though they will not swear yet they will lie that they are false proud and the like Why now the soul that finds it self acquitted before the Lord need not care for all the censures and condemnations that can be cast upon him from the men of the world Rom. 8.33 Having spoken before of the great grace of God in Justification in vers 33. he speaks as if he had made a challenge to all the world let them all come in let me see Who can lay any thing to the charge of Gods Elect Why because it is God that justifies many will charge them of grievous things I but it is God that justifies What will a man care if the Prince have given him a pardon though some kitchin boy some shakeril about the Court should rail against him so long as the King hath pardoned him Bernard hath a notable speech concerning David when Shimei railed David was not troubled says he he did not feel the injury heapt upon him because he had felt before the grace of God towards him the feeling of Gods grace towards him in pardoning made him not feel the railings of Shimei so Christ himself Isai 50. ver 7. he said before I gave my back to the smiters and hid not my face from shame and spitting they spit upon him this is apparently spoken of Christ but what upheld him vers 7. For the Lord God will help me therefore shall I not be confounded for all this therefore have I set my face like a flint against all scorns railings and accusations in the world but what was the bottom of all this mark vers 8. He is near that justifies me who will contend with me let us stand together Who is my Adversary let him come near to me let my Adversary come and do his worst he is near that justifies me true Christ had no sin personally to be pardoned but he had the sins of all the Elect charg'd upon him and upon that he suffered death Now we are to know Christ is justified as well as Believer and the very ground why a Believer is justified it is because Christ is justified himself Christ being justified a Believer comes to be justified this might have been opened in the mysteries of Pardon of Sin There is a justifying first in Christ as in a common publick person and then by faith in our own persons Now though in the Fathers Justification of Christ he justifies us yet not as particular persons but in him as a common person in the Name of all the Elect and faith that comes in that we might be justified in our own particular persons as before we were in Christ as a common person Now Christ is justified first and acquitted from all our sins and this acquittance is made the ground of his challenge to all his Adversaries in the world though the Prince of Devils come with all his power yet says Christ he is near that justifies me and he will make my face as a flint it is God that acquits me who is my Adversary let him come near Oh it s a blessed thing when thou hast got the pardon of thy sin thou needest not care for all the reproaches the world can cast upon thee thou may'st go up and down and challenge any in the world to come in against thee 1 Cor. 4.3 I pass not for mans judgment he that judgeth
must be the Foundation of our faith and not in what we do our selves For 1. Know that all Reformation in the world will not satisfie for the evil that you have done for the time past this I would convince you of and be you willing to hear it it may be of great use unto you when we preach Christ and free grace it is to bring you to Christ our preaching down of works is not to keep you from doing of them but from resting in them that which I aim at is to bring you into an enquiring frame of spirit a restless condition that so we may bring you to that which is the true rest and we shall be as glad to bring you into the true rest as now to bring you into restlesness Know all Reformations for time to come will not satisfie God for time past it will not amongst men if you have run into arrearages with your Landlord for Rent and you bring him a quarters Rent when there 's three or four quarters behind or may be two or three years if you should think to pay the Rent of two or three years with bringing the last quarter it would be accounted a foolish conceit so would it be if with God you should think the duties you do at present should satisfie for all the arrearages you have run into for time past you do not understand Gods way if you think that God will be satisfied for all that is past by what you do at the present Suppose what you do now were perfect and for all time to come you never committed one sin against God any more yet all this would not satisfie for time past this looks but at time to come and does not at all take off any thing for the time past Besides you may see matter enough in your best Reformations for God to condemn you not only for your former sins but sins in your reforming but if there were no sin in that that would be no satisfaction for that which is past Mark this That which must be the ground of the pardon of thy sin must be that that must satisfie for thy sin past and for all thy sins to come and that was opened unto you in opening the mysteries of godliness in the Pardon and Justification of a Sinner 2. Know this that God accepts of duties not for the duties themselves but because he accepts of the person that performs them God does not accept of the duties and then of the person that is not Gods way but he accepts first of the person and then of the actions God never accepts of what we do till he accepts of our persons As Abel God had regard to Abel 's person first and then to his offerings so God has first regard to the person of any man and then to his Offerings thou thinkest thou art a poor wretched creature and then thou thinkest it may be if I had such and such parts and could do thus and thus then God would accept of me I tell thee all thy parts and performances are cast away till God accept of thy person St. Paul was blameless according to the Law and yet he accounted all loss for Christ for he knew that when God revealed the Gospel to him that he could not be accepted for his righteousness but his person must first be accepted and then his righteousness So that the way of new Obedience and the work of Sanctification are the qualifications of the man that is justified but not the conditions required for the Justification of his person 't is not that that justifies the soul the Justification of the soul comes not through these but these flow from Justification and until a soul understands this he never rightly performs duties Therefore further to conclude this though good Works and new Obedience are good Nurses unto Faith yet if you make these the Mother of your Faith your faith is but a Bastard faith these are not the right Mother of Faith if your faith be begotten out of your Duties and Performances and your faith have no other Mother than these then your faith is illegitimate and not true born it has not the right Mother The right Mother of Faith is the manifestation of the freeness of Gods grace in the Covenant of the Gospel shewed unto the Soul through the mediation of the Son of God this laid open to the eye of the soul by the mighty work of the Spirit of God raises and creates faith in the soul this is the generation of true saving faith the faith of Gods Elect as the Scripture speaks Duties and Performances cannot be the Mother of it it is of a higher birth than that birth that arises out of Parts Duties or Performances whatsoever thy faith will not inherit if it be base born through faith we come to inherit the Promises and if thy faith hath no other foundation than thy sorrows and reformation thy faith is illegitimate and not that that shall inherit 't is not of the right kind that will bring thee unto Salvation thus you see what mistakes there may be in this great Point of the Justification of a Sinner and in being made blessed and therefore we had need look to it to be sure that what we rest upon will hold least when we come to lay claim and make challenge of blessedness our hold deceive us Many think the main matters of Religion to be nothing but believing in Jesus Christ and crying God mercy you see by these things that I have spoken that there had need be much workings of spirit in the way of Religion and mighty strong teachings of the Holy Ghost to lead the soul for there may be many mistakes and to prevent and remove those mistakes that lie in the way to get peace with God 't is a matter of great concernment and not a slight business to be done suddenly 3. Others say we trust in the mercy of God and in this I am to speak to two sorts First Those that are most grosly ignorant that have no other ground to hope for pardon of sin but because they hear that God is a merciful God Know thus much that notwithstanding what you hear of God that he is merciful and not willing that men should perish yet the Scripture reveals clearly to us that notwithstanding God is gracious and merciful yet the greatest part of the world perish in their sins there is nothing more clear then this that most people in the world do perish and therefore to say God is merciful is not enough you may be sorry for sin reform and say God is merciful and yet perish if these three were enough what needed the son of God to come and take our nature upon him and be made a curse for Mans sin lay down his life and shed his precious blood why might not these three have been joyned together and so Christ never have come for though Christ had never come I
might have been sorrowful and I might have reformed and said God is merciful though Christ had never come those that never knew Christ nor heard of him yet they may be sorrowful reforme and say God is mercifull I beseech you consider this note I can never be pardoned and saved in such a way as it might be done though Christ had never come I can then never be pardoned and saved by all the means I take for pardon and Salvation if those things might be done though Christ had never come and if you have nothing else but them to rest upon then you can never be saved put this to your hearts what have I wrought in my heart that I might not have had if Christ had not come into the world certainly the most things that most people have to rest upon for pardon and salvation they might have had though Christ had never come into the world Further Thou saist God is merciful True the mercy of God is sweet and a blessed argument and our souls much delight to open the grace and mercy of God and I have endeavoured to open to you what is revealed in the Gospel yet Gods mercy is free though he delight to glorifie his mercy and he hath thousand thousands of Subjects to glorify his mercy in though thou perish eternally Though thou perish eternally yet God may be glorious in the blessedness of his mercy God hath others to magnifie his mercy unto besides thee a beggar comes and asks an almes of a man and he gives him none that is not an argument the man is not merciful for he hath other objects that are more suitable and fit though he give not to every one t is no dishonour to his compassion so it is with God he hath thousands of objects to bestow his mercy on though thou perish Further Thou saist God is merciful and thererefore thou hop'st for pardon Why God is and hath been merciful to thee beyond all that thou canst conceive God hath shew'd his mercy to thee already thou saist God is merciful true or else thou hadst not been alive at this present that thou shouldst hear and see and have all thy members whole and the use of all thy sences and that thou shouldst stand here this day under the meanes of grace and that thou shouldst hear God call on thee to repent and believe in his Son while thou walk'st on in thy sin and art dead in sins and trespasses he sends his son and spirit to thee to tell thee that he would rescue thee and give life unto thee again is not here rich mercy perhaps thou hast had thy portion of mercy already that God intends for thee yea so much mercy that all the Angels and saints will give acclamations to God for that mercy thou hast had though thou perish God hath many waies shewd mercy to thee in so much as that the very devils themselves will acknowledge that God was very good to his poor creatures Further Thou speakest of mercy hast not thou abused and turn'd mercy into wantonness perhaps the mercy thou speakst of now is at this very present pleading to God against thee saying how have I been abused by this wretched man the more my beauty excellency hath been displayed the more wicked he hath grown what if mercy be now pleading against thee even those mercies that thou hast abused and therefore thou hadst need to look for somewhat else to settle thy soul upon then this to say that God is merciful this is to the first sort those that are grosly Ignorant Secondly There are others that mourne pray and reform and then have some kinde of relyance on God to pardon them for his mercies sake and therefore to them I shall say thus much Know the mercy of God must be received after Gods own way he hath appointed the communications of it and so it must be received otherwise it can never attain to such an effect as the pardon of thy sin note this that all the mercy in God considered as he is creator of Heaven and Earth and not let out through the Mediator Christ Jesus God-man it never wrought to the pardon of any one sin and therefore if you looke upon the mercy of God and do not look to the right way of the conveyance of it you may most dangerously mistake The ground and bottom of faith that justifies is not meerly to cast ones self on the mercy of God for there is none but in a natural way know that God is a merciful God but the main ground of Justification or of justifying faith is the free grace of God through Jesus Christ That God is merciful through a Mediator Otherwise the ground of your faith is but on a meer confused notion of the mercy of God which will certainly faile you a heathen may have as much to be the ground of his faith that the great creator of Heaven and Earth pitties those that are in misery and I am a poor creature in misery I le cry to him and I le reform my life and I le relye on him thus far a heathen may go but the ground and bottom of faith is not the mercy of God in general but the mercy of God in and through a Mediator observe a little further the ground of justifying faith is not thus that God for Christs sake will forgive me for what Christ hath done to purchase my pardon but there is another work of faith in the souls of believers though the soul apprehend it not t is not the work of faith in justification to believe that Christ hath paid so much as my debt comes to but thus the work of faith is to bring the soul unto Christ and to pitch it upon the person of Christ to be made mine first and then the righteousness of Christ to be mine T is not thus I believe this is my debt and there is so much money to pay it but this is the work of faith to bring thee to be marryed to such a person and so the debt is transacted on him to whom thou art marryed and he will discharge the debt because thou art marryed to him so that the ground of faith is not to look unto God meerly through his son that so I may have pardon but thus I must come to have Christ to be mine I must be marryed with Christ and so through my union with the person of Christ I come to have all that Christ hath done and suffered to be made over to me and therefore when I come to look upon the riches of the grace of God in the mediation of his son I must come with an eye of faith to be marryed unto Christ and Christ with me the riches of Gods grace in Christ was opened before we now make use of it as a trial to shew the danger of false grounds in relying upon God for pardon Further Though it be through the mercy of God to
hope their sins are pardoned Do you so then you know the love of God in Christ for this is a special work of the love of God in Christ to pardon sin now the Apostel says when you come to know this you come to be filled with all the fulness of God What is the fulness of God as faith increases with the rest of the graces so you grow fuller and fuller in Gods fulness and so you grow more into a fuller assurance of pardon of sin now the soul can say as I find more assurance of the love of God in his Son so I find my soul more filled with this grace of the fulness of God Alas when I was under the Law God and I were strangers I felt little of God in me but now I begin to know the love of God in the Gospel I begin to have my soul filled with fulness of God not with chaff and dross and filthy things which heretofore my thoughts will and affections were filled withal but now 't is otherwise with me my soul is now filled with all the fulness of God certainly that soul that can say thus may well go a way with that word of Christ spoken to the woman Luk 7.50 Go in peace thy faith hath saved thee Rom. 5.1 The Apostle speaks of pardon of sin being justified by Faith we have peace with God that is God revealing justification by Faith in Christ it brings peace with it and by whom we have access and rejoyce in hope of the glory of God and not only so but we glory in tribulation knowing that c. What knowledge is this It 's this that we are justified by Faith and so come to have peace with God How does this cause the heart to be inlarged we rejoyce in the hope of the glory of God and not only so but we are strengthened and can glory in tribulation our hearts grow up to that strength that whatsoever tribulations we meet withal we are able to bear them with patience and not only so but to glory in them we not only grow up to bear that which many cannot but to rejoyce in them that is more and then to glory is above rejoycing Now Do you find that the assurance that you have of the love of God brings strength in to your soul to inable you to rejoyce in hope of the glory to come as if the Apostle had said let what will become of us for the present what though the world scorn us hate persecute us yet we rejoyce in hope of the glory that is to come and this makes us glory in tribulation knowing that tribulation works patience patience experience and experience hope Here 's a working of several graces together and this may help many a poor soul O says the soul at such a time I had a great deal of assurance of pardon of sin and much joy thereupon But have not Hypocrites joy yes certainly a Hypocrite may have wonderful ravishments of spirit and flashes of pardon of sin but yet there is somewhat wanting in other graces but how shall I know that my assurance of pardon of sin is right thus according to the degree you have of assurance of pardon you have an answerable degree in the growth of other graces as Humility Patience Heavenly-mindedness Self-denyal and the rest according as your faith grows so you have a proportionable growth in all other graces faith is as the root and the more sap there is in the root the more will the branches grow those people that are so full of assurance and never doubted as they say but as for other graces they are empty as the Fear of God Meekness Patience Self-denyal Heavenly-mindedness and the like certainly if thy faith be so high and thy other graces so low thou hast much cause to fear thy faith is not right 't is not the faith of Gods Elect as the Scripture speaks it is not pretious faith for according to the degree you have of that all other graces will grow you hope that your sins are pardoned How come you by it the soul that hath true pardon of sin hath fetch 't it from Heaven in a right way in Gods own way How is that it is on this wiâ—e the soul that sees it self lost and undone through the guilt of sin God revealing his infinite riches of grace in the Gospel such a soul seeing God on his Throne holding out his Son God-Man as Mediator to make an attonement it by a mighty work of faith closes with that glorious way of Reconciliation by the Son that it sees God the Father tender to him and so fetches grace out of the Treasury of Gods bounty in the way of the Gospel in an Evangelical way that was before opened Examine now Have you fetcht out your pardon through the way of the Gospel that the soul by a mighty act of faith hath been willing to venture its self and its eternal station on the Son of God Have you look't on Christ as a mighty Mediator as one able to save you then you have acted faith in a Gospel way and your sins are pardoned Again Are you pardoned then you are sealed that you heard likewise of there is the Broad Seal of Heaven that stamps the Image of God upon the soul as the Image of the King is on the Seal of the Kingdom so the Image of God the Broad Seal of Heaven is stampt upon the soul which I mention that you may make use of it in examination Ninthly Whomsoever God pardons there will be an answerable work in thy soul unto the work of God in justifying thee as in Election and Vocation so in Justification How is that thus that as God notwithstanding all thy sin accepts of thee to his grace and love so notwithstanding all the trouble and afflictions that are in Gods ways thou wilt accept of God and his ways he accepts of thy soul notwithstanding thy sin thou wilt accept of him and his wayes notwithstanding all evils and afflictions that accompany company them there are woful evils of sin that accompany thy soul yet God will accept of thee so there are great evils in the ways of God Afflictions that accompany them yet thou wilt accept of them and think it reasonable What shall God accept of my soul notwithstanding all the evil of sin and shall not I accept of Gods ways notwithstanding all the evil of affliction and trouble certainly the soul that is pardoned cannot but answer God so far as this Will God justifie me notwithstanding my sin I will justifie God notwithstanding any trouble affliction difficulty or sufferings that may befal me in his ways and I will justifie the ways of God this is both an Evidence and a duty God justifies our souls though they be very sinful we have cause to justifie Gods ways though they be very troublesom if thou dost not so thou art none of Gods child for wisdom is justified of her Children
whose Sin is Covered CHAP. I. The Text Opened and the Main Doctrine Propounded I Have as you may remember in many Sermons endeavoured to shew unto you the malignity and dreadful evil that there is in Sin And what more seasonable and suitable Argument can we now treat of than the blessedness of Pardon of Sin How sweet and acceptable will this be to such fouâ—s that by the former argument have been made apprehensive of the dreadful evil of it How readily will they say with the Prophet How beautiful are the feet of those that bring such good tidings Wherefore me thinks while I am reading this Text I should be like a man at an Eccho that hears the words thereof resounded back again by every broken hearted sinner in this Congregation O blessed blessed is the man indeed whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sin is covered A word spoken in season says Solomon is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver and considering how large I have been in opening of the Evil of Sin unto you if ever a word was spoken in due season I hope it may be out of this Text The word of Reconciliation and pardon of Sin and if God inable me to clear up unto you the excellency of those Truths contained in this Scripture I hope they will prove in all your eyes to be as Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver The words read are the first words of one of David's Penitential Psalms and they are indeed the genuine voyce of a true Penitent the very Character of an humble Penitential Soul he is one that has admiring thoughts of the blessedness of the pardon of sin I will not spend time in Analysing the whole Psalm because the sweetness and blessedness of the Argument draws my heart to come presently to it And blessed may your ears be who after hearing of the dreadful evil of sin may come to hear the blessed doctrine of Pardon it is that which God has deny'd to many thousands And who knows but many even of those that in this Congregation have heard the sorrow of that Doctrine are now gone perhaps to their own place and feel what they then heard and much more and are past ever hearing the argument of pardon and forgiveness of sin that blessed sound shall never come to their ears but the horrid noise of yelling roarings and cursings of damned spirits for the wrath of God that lies heavy on them for their sin This Psalm in the title of it is a Psalm of David Maschil that is a Psalm of Instruction or for Instruction And what is a more useful Instruction than to instruct the soul where true blessedness lies And what is a better instruction than to tell man the way of the pardon and forgiveness of sin the way to true happiness The happiness of the reasonable creature is that which many wise men thought to find out but after all their search they were much puzled and in the dark and could never come to find where it lay by all the wisdom of the flesh only the rational creature is capable of blessedness because it is capeable of such an act as to reflect upon it self that is the ground why the rational creature is capable of blessedness above all other creatures no creature can truly be said to be a blessed creature but only the rational because no creature else can reflect upon its own condition to know it self But then not only to know our selves but our own happiness where our blessedness lies this must needs be a profitable instruction No Philosopher did ever give such a description of happiness as this is Blessed is the man whose c. yea David who had a Monopoly of the comforts of this world to the full and had the Crown upon his head says not Blessed is he that is Crowned and has a Kingdom David that had the riches of this world did not say Blessed is he that hath this worlds goods David that had honours and was reputed among the mighty men did not say Blessed is he that hath worldly honours David that had many Victories over Enemies says not Blessed is he that rides in Triumph over his Enemies David that had sumptuous Palaces and the delights of this world does not say Blessed is he that has them But in the midst of all Outward good things David enjoyed in this world he finds his blessedness to consist in this The pardon and forgiveness of his sins he pronounces them and them only blessed whose sin is pardoned This Instruction of the blessedness of Pardon of Sin as it lies here annexed is of weight indeed and of infinite concernment Luther says The Argument of free Justification and Remission of Sin is that that makes a Divine and this may be added to that 't is this that makes a Christian To be instructed rightly in the Justification of a Sinner is that that makes a Christian Nay although we had ten thousand Instructors in other things not only in Natural knowledge but in Divinity too in all the points of it yet we could never be wise unto Salvation except we were instructed with this instruction in the blessedness of Justification and pardon of sin Luther says Let this Doctrine lie dead and all the whole knowledge of other Truths is to little purpose Therefore well may the title of the Psalm be a Psalm of Instruction Blessed is the man whose Transgressions are forgiven and whose Iniquities are covered Wherefore our Point of Doctrine according to the words is this Doct. The Blessedness of a Man or of any Soul consists in the free Grace of God forgiving of his sin That is our point the blessedness of any man or woman does not consist in the enjoyment of any thing in all this world but in the free grace of God forgiving of his sin It neither consists in any thing we can do or have but in the free grace of God forgiving of sin and that is the meaning of that Text Rom. 4 6 7. which St. Paul cites from this place of Scripture observe it 't is to this very purpose even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man to whom God imputeth righteousness without works saying Blessed are they whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose Sins are covered The scope of the Apostle in this place is to declare the blessing of Abraham the father of the faithful consisted not in any thing he had or did but in the free grace of God forgiving of his sin Gal. 4.15 says Paul Where is the blessedness you spake of for I bear you record if possible you would have pluckt out your own eyes and given them to me Where is then the blessedness you spake of What 's the meaning of this blessedness certainly this blessedness in my Text it was this blessed doctrine St. Paul being first that brought it to the Gallatians concerning the free Justification of a poor soul by faith in Jesus Christ
of God and therefore to say boasting is excluded by faith because faith is the gift of God will not serve the turn therefore the mystery of Justification is a great mystery that notwithstanding faith is such a glorious work as it is one of the gloriousest works that ever any creature did yet that this should be excluded by this I cannot but be perswaded that there is more in the work of Faith than in any thing Adam ever had and that faith the power of believing was not in Adam in the state of Innocency Why Because it is now made such a grace as excludes all kind of boasting For were it but the stirring up of any power we had in Adam it would no more exclude boasting than if God stirr'd up any other grace as Love Hope Fear and the like But that it excludes boasting this may be the most satisfactory answer Works they could not exclude boasting Why though they were from the grace and gift of God yet they belong'd to mans nature for if God will make a rational creature he must give it those perfections that are due to that nature Now the Image of God was in some regard due to such a nature But now God when he comes to give faith he gives a higher thing than ever was due to the nature of man hence there is a greater mystery in faith than in any other grace and therefore it is a great mystery that God should justifie a man by faith and yet this excludes boasting more than any other thing I but the Scripture says God imputes faith for righteousness and when God inables us to believe Is it not our own Yea when we have it it is our own and when we are justified it is imputed to us for righteousness but mark what I shall say it will be useful for the understanding that Text in Rom. 4.22 Where it says faith was imputed to him for righteousness ye must not understand it thus that is that God did through the grace of Christ now accept of Abraham's faith as his righteousness whereby he should stand to be justified by it in the sight of God he did not thus accept of faith for righteousness no not through the mediation of Christ nor by vertue of any Covenant made by God with Christ God did never make any Covenant with Christ that whereas man did owe obedience to all the Law and that should have been his righteousnes had he continued in it but man now being unable to perform it that God would be now so favourable to him as that he would accept of faith for righteousness that is not the meaning of it for the word in the Original translated for righteousness it is thus it was imputed unto righteousness it is the same word used in Rom. 10.10 With the heart man believeth unto Righteousness and with the mouth Confession is made unto Salvation Now Confession with the mouth is not made Salvation it self but unto Salvation so faith is not the righteousness it self but unto righteousness that is by faith we come to get righteousness But why says the Scripture God imputed it unto righteousness I take it thus that forasmuch as faith is so glorious a Principle infused of God above any thing of our own God is pleased to account of it as if it were our own and so imputes it unto righteousness the truth is it is not our own no not so our own as other graces are our own but God in point of Justification is pleased to impute it as our own that we may come to have righteousness by it as if it were our own Now this is a great mystery that God in the work of pardon of sin should do it by the grace of faith and that this excludes all boasting and yet righteousness imputed to it as if it were our own Hence by the way let us take heed of the Opinion of those that say faith it self is imputed for righteousness and that God through Christ accepts of faith as the matter of our righteousness The Papists say we are justified by works and that God is pleased through Christ to accept not of Faith only but of Humility Fear Love Repentance Joy c. though they be imperfect yet he is pleased to accept of these for our righteousness says the other opinion faith is our righteousness though God might require exact obedience to the whole Law yet he is pleased to accept of faith both these Opinions are besides the truth and therefore there is the same danger in the one as in the other and therefore both to avoided Of the eight Mystery God is infinitely Just and yet infinitely Merciful 8. The eighth particular is this that shews pardon of sin is a great mystery because where-ever God pardons sin he is infinitely just and yet infinitly merciful there is an admirable reconciliation between Gods Justice and Mercy which shews it to be a great mystery There are three great mysteries in Religion 1. The great mystery of the Trinity that there should be divers Persons and yet but one God The second is that in the Person of Christ there should be two Natures and yet but one Person And then the third is the reconciliation of the mercy and justice of God in the forgiveness of a sinner Many people when they seek for pardon of sin they only think of Gods infinite grace and mercy but not of his justice But certainly who ever he be that comes to be pardoned God shews himself infinitely just as well as merciful that he is merciful that is clear to every one But how does it appear he is so infinitely just for that there is a clear Text for it Rom. 3.26 To declare at this time his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus so that God in the justifying of him that believes in Christ is just as well as merciful Now then poor sinner lay these together that God should work so strangely in bringing about the pardon of thy sin in such a mysterious way as this is certainly it does demonstrate that thou art a blessed man I beseech you think of what hath been said and lay it in your breasts go away with this upon your spirits Lord I indeed heard much of the evil of sin and that it was a greater evil than ever I thought it to be and now I have begun to hear of the mighty work of God in pardon of sin I hope I shall for ever retain higher thoughts of it than before Brethren there is nothing in the world that people have slighter thoughts of than of the pardon and forgiveness of sin they think it a slight matter But if there were any work that ever took up the heart of God from all eternity and shews God to be a God it is this about the pardon of sin this is a great doctrine the doctrine of the work of God in
though they be never so many and great But also such a Covenant upon my coming in that God will discharge all sins that shall be committed for time to come though I be ready to fall into sin dayly yet I shall not come into condemnation O what will so infinitely ingage a gracious and ingenious spirit as this does surely nothing like this Now if this be true that man that is forgiven is thus forgiven not only for time past but also for time to come Then blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven and whose iniquities are pardoned Of the tenth Mystery God pardons a sinner not because he is but that he might be chang'd 10. The tenth Mystery is this for I would endeavour to shew you what a mighty work Pardon of Sin is and raise up your hearts to have higher thoughts of it than ever you had before God does not pardon because a sinner hath his heart and nature changed but that he might be changed And thus the pardons of God differ from all other pardons a Prince pardons a Malefactor or a Father a Child but upon what terms a Prince expects his Subject should be changed as far as he can discern and a Father though never so tender will not pardon a Child unless he come in and manifest a change of his disobedient spirit and then he pardons God doth not pardon because we are chang'd but that we might be chang'd his Pardon comes first Rom. 4.5 a very strange place for this and may incourage any poor soul that is troubled for sin to come in and lay hold upon Gods mercy in Christ But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted unto him for righteousness Mark when God comes to justifie a sinner he looks upon him as ungodly he stays not till the sinner be made godly and then justifies him as a Prince stays till a Malefactors heart be changed and he become a loyal subject and then pardons him God is not so in justifying souls he justifies the ungodly one that is ungodly coming to him he justifies This is a mighty Argument I name it for this end because I would teach people that notwithstanding any sin or guilt that lies upon their spirits yet they have a liberty to come in and lay hold upon Christ for Justification do not say I am ungodly I am a great sinner and have a vile heart and I find not my nature changed and therefore How dare I lay hold upon Gods grace for mercy and pardon yea thou may'st because God justifies the ungodly though thy nature be not chang'd and sanctified as thou say'st take it thus Thou must lay hold of Gods grace for Justification that thou may'st be sanctified not only pardoned but sanctified Come but thus with thy heart affected to close with the grace of God that thou may'st be sanctified as well as pardoned though for the present thou feelest not any Sanctification yet thou may'st have right to lay hold upon Christ as well as any one whatsoever Will not this be presumption for a sinner thus to lay hold on Christ If faith were meerly a perswasion that Christ dyed for them or as many men think thus Well God is merciful and he will pardon me Christ having dyed there may be presumption in laying hold on Christ But now as Justification is a great mystery so is faith and faith is a mighty work of the Spirit of God in the soul that causes the soul to roul and cast it self on the free grace of God in Christ and venture it self and all its hopes for good and happiness on him there is not only a coming to Christ for pardon but for grace holiness light good and happiness here and for whatever it doth expect hereafter it looks for all from him Now when there is such a work of God upon the soul in casting it self on God in Christ though there be nothing at present but ungodliness in him appearing yet such a one may and hath right to come unto God for pardon for God justifies the ungodly Rom. 5.6 Christ died for the ungodly and vers 10. If when we were Enemies we were reconciled by the death of his Son when we were Enemies and had base hearts full of enmity against God yet then Christ died to reconcile us unto God thou may'st then venture to come to him for pardon and it is no presumption though thou seest no change in thy self yet he pardons that thou may'st be chang'd now here 's a glorious work of God in pardoning a sinner that God should pardon justifie and reconcile us when we were Enemies to him here is a glorious work of God for a sinner to be justified and reconciled and yet when the sinner was an Enemy unto him Of the eleventh Mystery God himself purchases the Pardon 11. When God pardons a sinner he himself is fain to purchase the pardon and this is different from the manner of pardons among men A Prince pardons a malefactor but the Prince himself doth not purchase the pardon and if one have offended you you pardon the offender but you that are offended do not purchase a pardon for the offender possible some friend may come and purchase a pardon at the Kings hands for an offender but the King himself doth not purchase it yet thus it is with God God doth not pardon any one sin but it costs God himself dear before he gets it therefore 't is not such a slight thing to be pardoned you must not think to go to God and cry mercy and that he will pardon 〈◊〉 thus in a natural way God never pardons sin but it costs God dear yea that which is more worth than all the world if that could have done it God would rather have dissolved Heaven and Earth than have given that that he did give What was that It was the bloud of his own Son God gave him up to death for the sin of mankind and for the purchasing a pardon for man But some may say What need God have purchast a pardon for man Could he not have forgiven him by his absolute Prerogative I answer there was need because of the satisfaction of Justice he did purchase it out of the hands of Justice God was fain to lay down a price to Justice before he himself could pardon one sin Justice must be satisfied before he could give out one pardon Well take all these together Christ must be our Surety take the debt upon himself and suffer as much punishment as we should have done in Hell to all eternity and to make the soul stand righteous before God yet this righteousness to be in another yea a near union is made between Christ and the Soul And yet further 't is by faith and yet boasting is excluded and God is infinitely merciful and yet infinitely just and when he pardons one sin he lays in a pardon for al
has pardoned thy sin and delivered thee from death and nâ—w my soul return unto thy rest the word translated rest in the Original is plural return unto thy rests there are rests enough for a soul whom God hath delivered and pardoned all afflictions to him are but as the Viper on Paul's hand that he may shake off they will do him no hurt the sting of death is sin and the sting of afflictions is that they are the beginners of death but to one that has his sin taken away the property of affliction is altered they come not as acts of revenging Justice but as effects of Love and Mercy the Principle from whence they come and the end to which they tend is differenced from what it was before when Trespasses are forgiven Deliverance from Evil will follow after as it is in the Lords Prayer true as you heard before in the former point If once we come to have afflictions as the fruits of sin then they are heavy and grievous indeed in this case when affliction comes for sin and sin comes to prey upon a man in time of affliction it is just as a Bayliffe set on by a cruel Creditor that comes to a poor man in debt and he lies sick the Bayliffe takes away his Stools Table Bed and Pillow and all he hath to help and comfort him leaves him not a Pillow to rest his weary head upon so when a sinner lies sick and under affliction guilt of sin comes and takes away all thy comforts if thou hast any Promise as a Pillow to rest thy head upon guilt of sin will take it away guilt of sin pulls and tears away every comfort and every good that sinners should have to refresh themselves withal in affliction But when the guilt of sin is gone thou may'st lay thy head down in quiet and rest upon a Promise and it will make affliction very easie that thou shalt have no cause to make complaint as formerly thou had'st Isai 33. ult The Inhabitant shall not say I am sick mark the ground of it for the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquity when God comes to bestow this great mercy of pardon the Inhabitants shall not make such dolorous complaints of affliction and trouble upon them says Luther strike Lord strike for I am absolved from my sin if once God has absolved thee or any poor creature from their sin it is not in the power of any affliction to disturb them Job 34.29 When he gives quietness who can give trouble and when he hides his face who then can behold him when God gives quietness as he doth in forgiveness of sin then who can make trouble let there be never so many rumors in the world of war bloud and miseries as if Heaven and Earth met together yet if God give quietness to the heart in assurance of forgiveness of sin who can bring trouble it is not in the power of all the world to disturb his sâ—ul whose sins are forgiven Pardon of sin is that peace the world cannot take away therefore blessed is the man that hath his sins pardoned Of Healing the fruit of Pardoning Mercy 5. Where God pardons sin he heals that soul and sanctifies it by the immediate fruits of the Spirit wheresoever it is and this is a great blessedness who is there that understands the evil of sin that sees not this a great blessedness not only to be delivered from the guilt of sin but also from the uncleanness of sin too and that Sanctification or freedom from the power and slavery that there is under the bondage of sin is a fruit of forgiveness of sin will appear by divers Texts of Scripture I shall not speak to all but only some that make this blessing to be the consequence or immediate fruits that slow in upon forgiveness Jer. 31.33 34 there God promises to put his law into our inward parts But what 's the ground of it in the 34. verse I will forgive their iniquities and remember their sins no more the writing of Gods Law in our inward parts delivering us from the power of sin and sanctifying our hearts comes in as a fruit of Gods forgiving us our iniquities Rom. 6.14 Sin shall not have dominion over you why because you are not under the Law but under Grace Now this is the great grace of the Gospel forgiveness of sin you are under that and therefore it is that sin cannot have dominion over you as if the Apostle had said you may resolve against sin and do what you can to oppose it and strive as much as possible you are able to subdue it yet so long as you remain under the law sin will certainly have dominion over you and you will be under the slavery of it until you come under the grace of the Gospel and partake of that Col. 2.13 ult And you hath he quickned together with him having forgiven you all trespasses so that quickning and Sanctification is a fruit of forgiving of all their trespasses 1 Cor. 15.56 57. The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law but thanks be to God that giveth us the Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ the strength of sin is the law Gods Justice in the Law giving men up unto sin there lies the strength of sin But now God through Christ coming to men in the grace of the Gospel there comes deliverance from the strength of sin perhaps some of you have lain under the burden and power of sin and you have thought the only way to get victory hath been to resolve and strive against it and you have done so and yet you cannot get power over your sins I remember one writing to Luther tells him that he had vow'd and covenanted against his sin and yet his sin prevail'd against him until he understood the grace of the Gospel and so may be have you done and yet your sin prevails because you take not this course try the work of faith in point of Justification renew your faith in God for the forgiveness of your sin through Jesus Christ that 's the ready way try that course you that have been tired in labouring against corruption you have resolv'd and pray'd and shed tears and yet that will not do try this way renew your faith dayly in point of Justification by laying hold of the infinite riches of the grace of Christ in the Gospel for pardon for healing power to come in to help you against that which holds you and this will not hinder your duties you may pray resolve and fast as much as before but be sure your great care be to renew your faith in point of Justification and there will come more healing power by that in your souls than by any thing else if once you can touch Christ the bloody issues of your sins that run before come to be dryed up which you could not dry up though you spent your time
to God and make them enquire after Christ and stir up their hearts to take away those things that do hinder from Christ but it does not interest the soul in Christ you do not understand the way of the Gospel if you think that sorrow interests the soul in Christ no that must be by faith laying hold on him for Justification and then comes sorrow of repentance after thou may'st see thy self an undone wretch for sin and lost for ever and nothing in the world can quiet thee all this may be by the work of the Law but then God comes and shews thee his grace in Christ and enables thee to close with it for Justification and then comes in Evangelical sorrow mourning and melting sorrow more than ever before but now it comes in another way from the Spirit of God melting the soul because it hath sinned against Jesus Christ who hath so graciously appeared to it in his pardoning mercy to the soul so that now you sorrow because you are pardoned for it comes as a fruit of faith laying hold of the pardoning grace of God and then there is no such argument in the world to melt the heart with sorrow as when faith tells the soul that sin is pardoned and though thy sorrow was little before and now is greater thou need'st not be troubled if God make thy humiliations greater for sin after the knowledg of thy pardon for the revelation of Gods grace in the pardon of thy sin is the most excellent means to humble the soul in the world the sorrows of Gods Children after pardon as they work on their own hearts so on Gods heart too God is mightily taken with it when once thy sins are pardoned then God makes thy heart melt to him as his does to thee but the sorrow of one that is an Enemy to God does not soften Gods heart there is a great deal of difference between the sorrow of Gods Children and the sorrow of others they make sorrow the ground of pardon this God accepts not 't is true you may sorrow for sin because it may be a means to bring you to Christ but that that justifies the soul is Union with Christ by Faith and all that sorrow that works Repentance to Salvation flows from Gods grace in Christ having justified you Justification is the first thing that estates thee in blessedness sorrow does not first state thee in a blessed condition but is meerly a fruit of that blessedness thou art stated in certainly these things are the Truths of God so that when you look for blessedness any other way you look for it meerly in a natural way or as a Heathen may do a Heathen knows he ought not to offend God and he knows he had need to have mercy from God and that he ought to be sorrowful for his sins I might give you many examples for it but I must hasten those then that seek after pardon of sin this way do but seek for it meerly in a natural way Secondly Others say I am not only sorry for my sins but I reform and is not this a ground of pardon Know likewise that there may be a leaving of sin and yet sin not pardoned for that take the example of Herod 't is said He heard John Baptist gladly and reformed in many things he was a great deal the better for John's Ministry and yet Herod was not pardoned this is a notable example for you that come to hear Sermons and seem to be much affected let me ask you in the Name of God and let Conscience answer What is it you reformed since you heard all those Sermons of the Evil of Sin and now of the Pardon of Sin What Evils have you reformed in your families and in your own hearts I cannot but hope that many of you may say through grace these and these evils were in my family before but now I have reformed them and these evils I did before but now I have left them I hope many can say so and blessed be God for this fruit of our Ministry if any thing be reform'd if Sabbaths be better kept and Duties in family set up and private Exercises of Religion performed that you are not so proud passionate and froward as before O that it may be said so 't is worth our labour to restrain sin that God may not be so much dishonoured if there were no more done but we preach for further and higher ends that souls would not stay in reforming for Herod heard John Baptist and did many things and Judas cast away the money he repented and would not keep the money there was a kind of reformation in both Herod and Judas but this is no ground to build upon for pardon of sin As those that depended on their sorrow for pardon built on the quagmire so those that depend on their reformation build upon the sand the one by his sorrow and trouble for sin seems as it were to be in the work of humiliation is like a man that digs deep for a foundation but does not cast out the old mould but builds upon it the other seems like one that not only digs deep but casts out the old rubbish and brings in new mould new earth lays by and casts away his former sins and does the contrary good but now though they go further than the former in casting out the old rubbish and bringing in of new earth yet after all this is done they build upon it and do not build upon the Rock Christ they bring in the new earth of their own Performances and Duties and this they build upon and do not build upon the Rock Christ for the pardon of their sins and Justification of their souls before God and here they fail and this is their undoing their mistake in this and yet it is most sure that every one of us would mistake in this if God did not reveal in the Gospel another way to receive Pardon and Justification in his Son we should certainly all of us rest here and go no further no man or woman in the world that never heard the Gospel went further than this and so far one may go without the Gospel we may dig deep cast out the old rubbish and bring in new earth this we may do and not hear of the Gospel And therefore we have a great deal of cause to bless God that we may hear the mysteries of the Gospel opened unto us for certainly we should else go no further and if we go no further we should certainly perish and therefore if we go but thus far it is not building on the Rock Christ hence the ground and bottom of faith for Justification cannot be in Reformation or in any thing in the creature it must be in something above and without us and yet by faith wrought in us though without us I mean the Rock Christ and the Foundation that is laid for the forgiveness of our sin in Christ that
pardon sin yet it does not work thus viz. You have sinned and my law requires such and such obedience to be performed on such tearms or else you must perish but I through my mercy will remit something of the rigour and strictness of the Law And most people confess that by the strictness of the Law they are condemn'd but they hope the mercy of God will grant some remission of the Law as it is with men if all Penal statutes should be executed it would be very hard but there is a Chancery to abate something of the rigour and strictness of penal statutes and thus men think to come to have pardon and deal with God after the manner of men you think the crying to God for mercy wil abate something of the strictness and severity of the Law but you mistake in taking this way to get peace and reconciliation with God to look upon Gods mercy to lye in this to remit something of the strictness and severity of the Law No but the work of Gods mercy lyes in this to finde out a surety for you and to transact the debt upon him Further Consider the work of Gods mercy in justification of a sinner when faith layes hold upon it faith must not lay hold upon it as a meer single Act but look at all the concomitants of the work of Gods grace in making way for the justification of a sinner The mercy of God workes many waies and faith must exercise it self on Gods grace according to the multiplicity of the work of it in bringing about the justification of a sinner as thus you have sinned and you cry to God for pardon but the mercy of God does not work thus to pardon you as t is a single act but the mercy of God works thus to mankind First he is pleased to enter into a second covenant with mankind after he had broken the first A second work of Gods mercy is to set his wisdom on work to finde out a way how mankind should be reconciled unto him and his sin pardoned and yet that God should be no looser this was the work of his infinite wisdom And Thirdly when this is found out this can be done no other way but only through the Son of God taking mans nature upon him and suffer for him then here 's the mercy of God to be willing to send his Son to mediate for poor creatures and then a further mercy in giving thy soul to his Son he sent not his Son that all might be pardoned but a certain number that God the Father had given to his Son from all eternity now there 's a great work of Gods mercy in passing by others and giving thee to his Son And further It is a work of Gods mercy in the powerful Ministry of the Gospel to reveal this And then further It is a work of Gods mercy to draw thee to close with his Son and thereby to unite and marry thee to his Son And then further It is a work of Gods mercy to assure thee of the pardon and justification of thy soul 't is a great deal more for faith to look upon God in this manner than to come in such a way as this God is merciful and I trust in his grace that he will pardon me we mistake mightily about the mercy of God when we do not look upon it in an Evangelical way as it is revealed in the Gospel Further know thus much that if Gods mercy will work so far for thee as to pardon thy sin and save thy soul certainly it will work so far as to take away the power of sin and let thee not live in the filth of thy sin Many think Gods mercy will do great matters hereafter but nothing now in comparison of what he will do hereafter they think he will give them outward blessings now but keep spiritual things till hereafter Certainly this is an infallible truth If Gods mercy work not so powerfully here in this world as to bestow spiritual good things on thee thou may'st be assured that it will never work so powerful on thee as to save thy Soul in the World to come Can it be thought a Prince pardons a Malefactor that he shall not be hang'd and yet suffer him to lie in Prison and rot in the Dungeon this were but a poor pardon a half pardon to be delivered from the Gallows and rot in the Prison Certainly whatever a Prince may do God never pardons a sinner so to shew him mercy to save him from Hell and yet to lie rotting all his life long in sin no God when he pardons he delivers and shakes off the fetters as we shall see further therefore thou that say'st thou hopest in Gods mercy that he will pardon thee let me ask What hath he done for thee if thou thinkest that Gods mercy will work so strongly hereafter to save thy soul certainly it will be as strong for thee here to sanctifie thee if it work not so strong on thee now as to sanctifie thee certainly it will never work so strongly for thee hereafter as to save thee 4. Others say in the last place we are not only sorry for sin and reform and trust in Gods mercy but we relie upon Gods mercy through Christ and therefore we hope we shall be pardoned this I might speak much too we must rest there but there is a mistake there too the relying on Christ is not relying on him by acting of some transient thoughts that passes over but it is an abiding thing when men hear there is no way to be saved but by Christ and they cannot deny it and because they are loath to think they are such as cannot be saved they are loath to have such ill thoughts of themselves hearing this is the way and no other therefore they will perswade themselves that they shall find mercy through Christ Now what great work is this so to rely on Christ the work of faith is a mighty work it is not a short transient work a few thoughts upon thy heart to be saved by Christ No wheresoever faith is right and a true reliance on Christ it is a mighty work of the Spirit of God working this grace in raising the soul higher than it self and carries it through and above all difficulties when it brings the soul to relie upon God there may be great mistakes when People say they rely upon Christ and therefore take this for conviction Relying on Christ is not barely to think my sins are pardoned by Christ but it is a receiving of Christ a possessing of Christ a coming into Christ a living in Christ and a bringing Christ to live in me 't is eating of the flesh of Christ and drinking of his blood and so finds nourishment and strength from him as really as the body by the meat and drink it takes that abides with it is strengthned by it so does faith to the soul therefore faith is