charge This is the second mystery in point of Justification thou a poor soul stands charged with thy sin and art in danger of eternal damnation rather than thou should'st eternally perish God is contented to pass over thy sins upon his own Son Now they must needs be blessed that God does so much for and know thou if ever thy sin be pardoned God does do so much for thee Of the third Mystery It is by Christ's Sufferings 3. Where ever sin is pardoned Christ stands charged not only with the sin but to suffer as much punishment for thy sin as if thou wer't eternally damn'd for them it is not such a pardon as that there is no punishment to be suffered but whosoevers sins are pardoned there is this agreement between God the Father and the Son that his own Son shall suffer as much punishment as if thou shouldst suffer eternally the wrath of God for thy sin there is this done for thee and surely that man is a blessed man for whom Christ is content to suffer so much as thy sins comes to or else thou must have been eternally damn'd this Religion and the Gospel teaches us that we can never come to be pardoned by any other way Of the fourth Mystery Where Sin is pardoned the Soul stands righteous before God 4. There is this mystery in it Where ever sin is pardoned God does not only pass by sin and forgive it but he makes the soul stand righteous before him every justified man stands righteous before the Lord. A malefactor may come to a Prince and be forgiven his fault and yet not accounted a righteous man he may be lookt upon as a wicked wretch still though out of free grace the Prince forgive him But God never forgives the offence of any one sin but that man is set righteous before the Lord this is done by an Act of Justification I speak not of Sanctification A Prince may forgive a Traytor but the Law is not satisfied but God when he forgives sin takes such a course as that the offence is not only forgiven but the Law comes to be satisfied and the soul stands before God as a righteous person and surely he that is righteous must needs be blessed Of the fifth Mystery This Righteousness is in another 5. This Righteousness is in another and it is a higher righteousness than ever that of Adam's was in Innocency this is a great mystery that a soul should stand righteous before the Lord and yet in the righteousness of another not of his own Phil. 3.8 9 10. St. Paul counted his own righteousness as dung that he might be found in him that is in Christ Not having my own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the faith of Christ the righteousness of God that comes in by faith and so Rom. 5. latter end Christ is said to be our righteousness ver 19. As by the disobedience of one many were made sinners so by the obedience of one many shall be made righteous 't is a righteousness transferr'd upon us beyond our own Mark in forgiveness as our sins comes to be transferr'd and put upon Christ so the righteousnes of Christ is transferr'd upon a justified soul and that soul comes to be righteous before God surely then blessed is that man that comes to have the shining garments of Christs righteousness upon him Ahasuerus could not think of a better way than this to honour Mordica more than to cloath him with the Kings Royal Rayment and proclaim before him This shall be done to the man whom the King delights to honour surely that man or woman is honour'd indeed that God shall cloath with the shining Robes of the Righteousness of his own Son thou that wast cloathed with the filthy rags of thy own sin and wickedness and had'st no other garments to stand in in the presence of God now he puts on thee the Righteousness of his own Son and so thy iniquity comes to be covered Oh that is a glorious Garment all the Garments in the world bedest with Diamonds are but filthy Garments in comparison of the Garments of Christs Righteousness that is put upon a man when his sins are forforgiven Of the sixth Mystery A near Union is made between Christ and the Soul 6. When God comes to forgive sin the way God takes is this he brings a man into such a near Union with his own Son as makes thee to be one with â—â—m yea so to be one with Christ as no two things in the world are joyn'd so together as thou and Christ art the Soul God pardons he does it this way 't is not thou hast sinn'd and I will pardon thee 't is no such slight business as I may say in a sinners pardon No for when God forgives thee he makes thee one with his own Son so as no two things in the world are so near together as thou and Christ therefore the Scripture expresses it by the Union of Branch and Root Body and Members that is a near Union of bones and flesh in one body so also the Union between Man and Wife is a near Union but the Union between Christ and a justified Soul is nearer than any of these there is one expression in Scripture that Christ useth Joh. 14.20 You in me and I in you there are no two things so nearly united though the members be in the body the body is not in the members so the branch though it be in the root the root cannot be in the branch but the Union between Christ and us Is Christ in us and we in him He that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit It is a spiritual Union and the Union of spiritual things is the nearest that can be Now Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven because by this means God brings the Soul and Christ to such a near Union that all natural Unions are but dark shadows of it Of the seventh Mystery It is by Faith yet boasting excluded 7. It must be by Faith and that is the most glorious work that ever God inabled a poor creature to do yet boasting must be excluded the Scripture excludes boasting from both not only from the Law of works but the Law of faith but you may say How can both be excluded both the law of works and the law of faith for works they may be excluded say some because works are our own but faith is the gift of God God inables us to believe therefore there can be no boasting of faith because it is the gift of God but works are our own this answer is but a fiction for if we be inabled for the performance of any work that is of God too the work of any grace is the gift of God as really and truly as faith is the gift of God all gracious works are performed by the grace and gift of God Adam could not do what he did in Innocency 〈◊〉 by the gift
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
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
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
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
in the free pardon and remission of his sin by faith in Christ this is the blessedness spoken of Now because the Galatians at the first hearing of this doctrine were so mightily taken with it that they cry'd out O this is a blessed doctrine Remission of Sin by the free grace of God through faith in Christ O this is the blessedest doctrine that ever we heard they were so taken with it that if possible they would have pluckt out their eyes for Paul that brought them such a doctrine as this at their first hearing and receiving of it But afterwards the Galatians were turn'd aside by false Teachers that had taken off the edge of their affections to this blessed Truth Now Paul coming to reprove them says Where is then the blessedness you spake of there was a time when I first taught you the Doctrine of the free forgiveness of sin by faith in Christ and you said it was a blessed Doctrine and your hearts were mightily taken with it where is it now How comes it to pass that your hearts are so taken off from the esteem you then had of it Where is then the blessedness you spake of Thus 't is usually the Ministers of Christ come and preach Doctrine to People that their hearts are taken with their spirits stir'd and they mightily affected with the first hearing of it but afterwards by some sin or the company of carnal friends their hearts are taken off though while they were hearing such and such a Truth their hearts glow'd and burn'd within them God grant it may not be so with some of you who when you heard lately the Doctrine of the Evil of Sin your hearts were mightily affected and you said O what a dreadful evil is there in sin in the least sin and being convinced of it you began to reform yet afterwards you fell off again May it not be said of you Where is the sence of the Evil of Sin you spake of Where is that bitterness upon your hearts on the convictions you had of the evil of sin Where is it What is become of it As St. Paul says the blessedness you spake of Where is it What is become of all that strength and power the Doctrine of Remission of Sin had upon your hearts Take another Scripture Remission of Sin is the special Blessedness of the second Covenant that God made with Abraham when he came to Abraham and told him In his Seed all Nations-should be blessed Gal. 3.17 compar'd with the 24. in the 17. verse he speaks of the Covenant made with Abraham and that the Law that was 430 years after could not disanul the Promise that it should be of none effect vers 24. Wherefore then served the Law why says he It was our Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ The scope of the Apostle is to shew that there is a Covenant of Grace beyond that of the Law and that the Covenant of the Law is to bring us to the Covenant of Grace and the principal thing in the Covenant of Grace is in the 24. vers The Law says he was our Schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ That we might be justified by faith and thereby receive remission of our sins if the Scripture places blessedness in the remission of sin That it is so I suppose is clear enough the main business we have to do is to shew how it is so that is to open unto you wherein the blessedness of the pardon of sin consists and shew you in what particulars the blessedness of pardon of sin may appear unto you and to that there are many things may be said CHAP. II. Of the Blessedness of the Pardon of Sin which appears 1. Negatively in the Evil it frees us from 1. THat that hath been lately delivered of the Evil of Sin may be of great concernment to discover wherein the blessedness of pardon of sin lyes the deliverance from so great an evil as you heard the evil of sin was surely Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven If sin be so dreadful an evil as you heard surely Blessed is the man that is delivered from all that evil if it remain fresh upon your minds what the evil of sin against God was and what it brought upon your selves you cannot but say this is one principal thing wherein it appears that man or woman is blessed that hath his sin pardoned If any man or woman be in any great danger or under any great evil or misery and if he be delivered from it we say that man is a blessed man or a blessed woman that is quit from such a woful evil that was upon them you account your selves happy to be delivered firm any dangerous storms and to have a calm Are not they then happy that are delivered from the evil of sin Let me speak a little to a poor sinner that understands what the meaning of sin is and that understands somewhat of the dreadful evil of it I would ask of thee oh poor sinner What seest thou the answer will be What see I Oh I see the angry Countenance of an Infinite God against me whose eyes are as a flaming fire looking with indignation upon me I see a black dismal cloud of the displeasure of the Almighty hanging over me I see a most hideous and dreadful sentence of wrath ready to fall upon me I see woe misery and destruction pursuing of me I see blackness of darkness and desolation even surrounding me I both see and feel the woful accusations of a guilty Conscience within me condemning me continually grating upon my soul and terrifying me with dreadful Visions of eternal miseries to betide me I see the chain of black guilt and horrour on my soul that I carry with me wheresoever I go I see the bottomless gulf of eternal horrour and dispair with the mouth of it wide open ready to swallow me up Now then this sight being presented before an enlightned and awakened Conscience Now comes in the pardon and forgiveness of sin whereby this dreadful cloud is dispel'd the tempest is gone the darkness and misery vanish't away and all evil whatsoever the soul is set free from sin and from all the dreadful consequences of it Is not this a blessed man comparing his former condition with his present state looking on him as even now having the sense of the dreadful evil of sin upon his Conscience and the heavy burden of it on his back ready to sink under it into the gulph of misery and now pardon of sin comes O what a blessed change is this O blessed is the man whose sin is pardoned Now what God had laid unto his charge or his own Conscience the Law the Devil or the World 't is all done away all is discharg'd and gone blessed is the man that is thus delivered Old things are past away and all things are become new 2 Cor. 5.17 it is meant not only of Sanctification but of Justification also he
Of Pardoning Mercy being a Perfect Mercy BLessed is he whose iniquities are forgiven for this mercy is a perfect mercy that is where God doth pardon any sinner such a one stands as perfect before God in point of Justification as Abraham Isaac Jacob or any of the Prophets or righteous men that ever lived in the world thou poor Soul Man or Woman Youth or Servant if God come unto thee pardon any of your sins thou standest as fully justified as Abraham Paul Peter or any of the Apostles and Prophets though in Sanctification thou fallest short of them yet though art justified as perfectly as ever they were Justification is an act that is done altogether and at once therefore a perfect work and this is an Argument of infinite Consolation to the Saints of God that the great business between God and them in point of Justification is perfected Psal 51.7 David prays to God that he would purge him with Hysop and he should be clean that is that he might be cleansed by Justification by having the guilt of sin taken from his Conscience by a renewed act of pardon and then as it follows I shall be whiter than Snow the Saints of God though they be Sanctified they are not whiter than the snow in Sanctification but in Justification they are whiter than the snow no spot at all in them Ephes 5.27 Christ presents his Church unto himself without spot in point of Justification every believing soul is without spot before the Lord Numb 23.21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob that is though God knows there is iniquity there yet he sees is not to charge them with it or impute it to them all is done away in that regard by Justification it is observable to this purpose what we have in Cant. 4.7 Thou art all fair my love there is no spot in thee no spot in thee there are spots in respect of Sanctification yea but in respect of Justification it may be said of her There is no spot at all in thee Thou art all fair my Love it is the words of Christ he comes forth and says Thou art all fair my Love Alas when the Believer looks upon himself his own duties and performances he sees nothing at all but spots all besmear'd and bespatter'd all over why though thou lookest on thy self be spotted yet Christ looks upon thee without spot and God the Father looks upon thee through Christ without spot and says Thou art all fair there is no spot in thee thou thinkest it may be that if God should make a discovery of thy heart to all thy Christian friends and acquaintance thou would'st appear so foul that they would cast thee out of their society and never have to do with thee more yet for all this Christ says Thou art all fair there is no spot at all in thee Justification admits of no degrees no not in Heaven thou art not more justified there than thou art here thou art now as perfectly justified as ever and accepted of Christ as ever Sanctification is renewed day by day it being a work of God within us we increase in it dayly but Justification is a work of God without us and so is perfected at once and hence then this makes a pardoned soul blessed because pardon of sin is of such a nature that it is a perfect work Hence then I will but touch it Here is 1. Abundance of comfort to a pardoned soul though thou art weak in Sanctification and it troubles thee to think how far thou comest short of Abraham's David's Paul's Solomon's wisdom and Job's patience yet this know that thou art equal in Justification with Abraham Moses David and all the Prophets and this may be a mighty comfort to thee against the weakness of thy Sanctification 2. This should be a mighty ingagement upon thy spirit Has God made thee equal to them in Justification how should'st thou labour to be like to them in Sanctification think thus with thy self Is the mercy of God so rich and glorious come though I be a poor wicked wretched vile sinner that I should be made equal to the greatest Saints in Justification Oh how should I labour to follow hard after them and get as near to them as I can in point of Sanctification this Argument should come with power and strength upon our hearts to stir up all our endeavours to be like to them in point of Sanctification that are equal with them in point of Justification How should we imitate Moses his Meekness David's Love Paul's Zeal and Job's Patience CHAP. IX Of Pardoning Mercy being an Irrevocable Mercy BLessed are they that have their Iniquities forgiven for it is an irrevocable mercy when God pardons sin he never revokes it again it is true the soul that is pardoned may afterwards commit many offences that may provoke the displeasure of God against him yet he shall never so provoke God as to cause him to revoke this mercy of pardon to all eternity if thou art once pardoned thou art pardoned for ever It is not so with God in pardoning as it is with men a King pardons a Malefactor on condition of his good behaviour afterwards though it is true a Believer will be more careful of offending after he is pardoned than ever before But yet God does not pardon me so much on condition of my good behaviour as of his free grace therefore it abides He does not say to a poor soul I will pardon you but it shall be on this condition that you behave your self well and if you be found tripping in any one thing I will recal my pardon back again it is so with a Princes Pardon a man that is pardoned for his life if that man afterwards offend perhaps breaks the Peace which in another man would not be so great a matter for he could soon satisfie the Law for it but he that goes under pardon for his life if he break the Peace it costs him his life whereas another if he strike a man it is but an Assault and Battery in him but he that has his Pardon for his life for such a thing done by him his Pardon may be revok't again and it may cost him his life I hope you will not abuse this grace of God I know not how to open it to Believers but with a great deal of danger to others but how much danger soever it may be to others yet it must be opened and delivered to Believers it is Gods mind that his grace should be made known unto them he would have them to know it to the full that his Pardoning Mercy is irrevocable and therefore a Believer should not question his Justification upon every failing in his Sanctification this is a dishonour to the free and rich grace of God if on every failing we call in question that great work of the Justification of our souls either to say or think I indeed did hope before that
my pardoning mercy And shall my creatures seek after it for no other end nor higher aims but meerly to save their own skins you bring down the grace of God that that is the top of his infinite Majesty and Glory you put to a low and base end therefore put not off seeking it to the last 't is a great dishonour to his grace 2. It is the worst time because you come to seek after pardoning grace when it is the time of Gods wrath Prov. 11.4 the time of affliction and trouble sickness and death is call'd the day of wrath Riches avail not in the day of Gods wrath Riches avail for comfort at present but in the day of wrath they will not God hath his day of affliction and his day of wrath he hath his time to come to visit men for their sins Now then for people to come to seek to have the pardon of their sins when Gods time is to visit for sin that must needs be the worst time that possible can be I reason thus and consider of it if God does deny his mercy in the day of mercy is it likely that he will grant mercy in the day of wrath while you are alive and have liberty health and opportunity to come to hear the Doctrine of the Justification of a sinner and forgiveness of sin opened you are to know it is the day of Gods grace Now is the acceptable time now is the day of Salvation and of grace when God gives liberty and oppertunity thus to have the mysteries of the Gospel opened unto you this is the day of Gods grace Now if God deny you grace in this day of mercy that you are not so much as inlightned your souls melted and your hearts stirred Do you think that now you are upon your sick-beds or death-beds which is a day of wrath unto you for so it is to those that have not their sins pardoned before it is a day of wrath and Gods time of visiting for sin Is it likely that God will now shew thee mercy I beseech you consider the usual way of Gods working on men is according to his Ordinance Now the ordinary way of Gods conveying grace is by the Ministry of the Word Did God ever appoint any other way to convey Christ and grace to thy Soul give me a Text for it Where do you find a Text in Scripture of any other way as an Ordinance appointed by God for the conveying of his pardoning grace in Christ to any Soul No it is in the Ministry of the Gospel and by faith that lays hold of the pardoning grace of God by coming to hear the Word preached Now if God come not in that time to work upon thee and to bestow mercy in his own appointed way it is not likely he will come any other way I remember in a Treatise of Mr. Bolton's he has this expression Let any one give me an example that ever any one that lived under a powerful Ministry and not savingly wrought upon that way was ever wrought upon any other way many he says may be stirred but for his part he knew none that was so stirred by affliction to the conversion of their souls if God had not before in the Ordinances of grace wrought upon them then it must needs be the worst time that can be to seek pardon of sin in a day of trouble or affliction because that is usually a time of Gods wrath visiting for sin 3. The work of the Soul in seeking after Gods pardoning mercy and applying of it to himself as it is the excellentest work that ever a creature did perform so it does require the most exquisite work of the Spirit that ever was required or that ever any creature was set about it is the most intensive work of the spirit of man the applying of the grace of God in Christ and the closing with it for Justification it is the highest most exquisite most glorious and most admirable work of the spirit of man that ever was in the world and it requires the greatest intensness and strength of a mans spirit that ever any work did Now then to put this off till such a time as a mans strength is gone and he through diseases unfit for any thing and when as all the strength he hath will be little enough to help him to bear his pain this must needs be the worst time you are mistaken if you think the applying of Gods mercy in Christ is but in saying Lord have mercy upon me No it is Gods putting the heart of man to do the most glorious work that hath the greatest operation in it that ever he did I remember it related of one that lived wickedly and divers sought to reclaim him says he come when I am upon my sick bed that is time enough and afterwards he being sick was put in mind of it you said you would do it then but then he swore a great Oath saying What is this a time to repent in because he then felt so much trouble and anguish that took up his thoughts that he was stirr'd with indignation to be put upon repenting then in a time when he felt so much dolour of spirit by the pains that were upon him Is this a time to repent in if that be not then do it betimes 4. It is the worst time because God shall lose a great part of his end in pardoning sin for when God pardons sin it is to this end that his poor creatures might honour and worship him in â—his world and do him service but now to seek for Gods pardoning grace when thou can'st do him no more service in this world How can'st thou think that he will accept thee then He came to redeem us that we might serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives and he knows there is no such way to ingage the heart of man to serve him as pardoning grace for when once a soul sees it self delivered from those Enemies of sin and of the Law that would destroy him his heart will be mightily set to honour God and serve him in holiness and righteousness all his days and therefore to seek for pardon when thou can'st do God no more service in this world must needs be the worst time for how knowest thou that he will accept thee then I beseech you observe one Text of Scripture that is abused by many people for I suppose that I am speaking to a great many very ignorant in the ways of God and therefore I desire to speak plainly unto you there is one place though misapprehended and mistaken that is the main prop of many carnal hearts as it is read in some Books At what time soever a sinner repents c. I know no such Text of Scripture it is true there are Scriptures tending that way that do not limit the time but no Scripture does express it so many people run away with that
we must act faith upon it in a mystical way or act faith upon it as a great mysterie and therefore you that have been made sensible of sin it may be you have thought of Gods grace for the pardon and forgiveness of your sins and for to quiet the trouble of your spirits Have you done that there is I suppose many a poor soul may say I have been often with God when no eye saw me but only Gods seeking the pardon of my sin in trouble of spirit you have done so but has your eye at that time been fastened on the Son of God as the great Mediator between God and Man to interceed to God the Father for the obtaining this mercy by making satisfaction to infinite Justice Together with your cries for pardon have your eyes been upon the Son of God at the right hand of the Father pleading for man Have your hearts been taken with the great mysteries of godliness and wrought upon by the infinite grace of God Have you put forth a mighty power of the Spirit of Faith to tender up to God the Father the Attonement that his Son has made by his blood and death for your sins Have you seen that the pardoning grace of God is so high that it is impossible to be reach't unto by any thing you can do but only by the mediation of the Son of God If it have been thus with your spirits then you have somewhat of the sense of the great work of God in this thing but otherwise though you have been never so much wrought on and have had floods of sorrow and have cryed never so earnest for the pardon of your sins yet except you have had some such kind of thoughts of Gods grace as these are upon your hearts working after God this way you were never throughly acquainted with the way of Gods pardoning grace and so you have dishonoured him by having too low thoughts of it except your hearts have been raised to this height Psal 51.7 in that time when David was on repenting he called unto God to purge him with Hysop David desired the renewing of the assurance of Gods mercy in Christ in the pardoning of that horrible offence he had committed and therefore prays that he may be purged with Hysop What is the meaning of that there is a great mystery in it in the time of the Law when the blood was sprinkled it was done with a bunch of Hysop and it was a Type of the Blood of Christ that was to make an Attonement Levit. 14. They were to take a bunch of Hysop to sprinkle withal Now says David Purge me with Hysop that is apply to me the blood of Christ for I have need of fresh applications of the blood of Christ I have sinned against him and have done what in me lay to bring my self under Gods wrath and have brought new guilt upon my soul Now for the assurance of thy love to me let there be fresh applications of the blood of thy Son let there be a new sprinkling of the blood of thy Son upon me I suppose many of you in reading this place did not think of the meaning of the Spirit of God in it that may be a great help unto you when at any time you are seeking the pardon of your sins to cry to God to be purged with Hysop O Lord sprinkle the blood of Christ afresh upon me for I know that all my Prayers and Tears and all that I can do cannot purge me from the guilt of that sin I have committed against thee except thou purge me with Hysop that is by applying of the Blood of thy Son unto me And this is the Eighth way of dishonouring the grace of God in seeking for it any other way than through the blood of his Son and remember when you are seeking it that it may be the last time and therefore remember you look up to God for it in by and through the death of his Son for otherwise though you are never so earnest in Prayer you dishonour this grace It is an easie matter to convince men and women that they are guilty of dishonouring the grace of God if they seek for pardon in a negligent and sluggish way but now though you are never so sensible and put forth never so much strength in seeking for it yet you dishonour God except you look upon it as such a high thing that can never be reacht unto but through the mediation of the Son of God 9. The ninth way of dishonouring the grace of God is for any one to venture on sin the rather because they hope they shall be pardoned that dare to venture on sin on that ground hoping that God will at last pardon them I spake before of those that did nothing else but increase their sins in stead of seeking pardon of sin and of the miserable sad condition of such But those we now speak of are not such as are come to this height of sinning to do nothing else but increase their sins but such men and women who being convinc't of sin and if they were perswaded that God would never pardon that sin they would find knots enough to stop them from the commission of it but because they have some hopes that God will pardon therfore on that very ground they venture on sin 't is true it is an offence but God is a merciful God he will forgive though it be an evil there is more evil and mischeif in this than thou can'st imagin What art thou convinc't of sin and wilt thou venture on sin meerly on this ground because thou hopest that God will pardon thee I may say unto thee as Peter to Simon Magus Act. 8.22 Pray O pray to God that if it be possible this thought of thy heart may be forgiven thee for this thought of thy heart hath so much malignity in it and is so great a provocation against God as possible can be imagined except the sin against the Holy Ghost for any man or women to venture on any sin in hopes of pardon some will say What need we be so strict and trouble our selves so much God is merciful and therefore they think upon that ground they need not be so strict this is a horrible degree of turning the grace of God into wantenness Jude 4. the Apostle speaks of such there that profest they did believe in Christ mark what he says of them There are certain men crept in unawares ungodly men turning the grace of God into laciviousness and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ 't is a most dreadful place if there be any one in the Congregation that have ever had the glorious light of the Gospel revealed to them that can reason thus I do such and such things yet God is merciful O that God would convince thee of this evil give me leave to open it unto you how men creep in they were Christians and were
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
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
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
preach Morality and meerly the way of duty and never come to make them see clearly the difference between the Covenant of grace and the Covenant of works and I appeal unto you who are they that most quiet and settle your Consciences and satisfie your spirits Are they not those Preachers that open the difference between the Covenant of grace and the Covenant of works Certainly those Preachers that shew you what the Covenant of grace is are the only men that quiet and satisfie Conscience and 't is a truth that nothing can do it but that You that are Christians how should you then labour to get a further insight into the Covenant of grace and instead of other Discourses less useful let this be the subject of your discourse the difference of the Covenant of works and the Covenant of grace or the blessings of this Covenant and that this is the Covenant that we must depend upon notwithstanding our weaknesses And now I am speaking of this Covenant that weakness may stand with the Covenant of grace many that have carnal hearts may be ready to abuse it take notice how dear the comforts of your souls cost God and God will have his Ministers to comfort you though the revealing of such things will indanger many a mans soul God is content to hazard the damnation of other men to comfort you for certainly those things that we speak for your comfort will be the damnation of many others Think thus O Lord must the comforts of my soul cost so dear and that for my comfort many souls are hazarded who by taking occasion to sin abuse that grace that is reached forth to me and so are like eternally to perish O then what need had I to make good use of this grace that comes to me with the hazard of the souls of so many others If a man should bring some precious Balsom to apply to a wound and tell him there is not one drop of it but cost a thousand pound at least would not this be highly prized Now when we come and shew you any thing that may comfort your hearts and satisfie your souls we must reveal such things that not only cost much but the least dram of Gospel-comforts cost that which was of infinite worth and 't is valuable two ways first every drop of the Balsom of the Gospel cost the blood of Christ but besides this the very revealing of it must cost the damnation of many souls and yet God is content to venture that that you may be comforted We in the Name of God come and preach the grace of the Gospel and we think many will be hardned by it and grow more secure and abuse Gods mercy but then we satisfie our selves with this that the comforting of any broken troubled soul is so precious in the eyes of Jesus Christ that he is content to venture the hardning of many other souls if they will be hardned let them be hardned Christ is content to venture it and hereby we see how precious these comforts are therefore you had need to prize them and not cast them off as suppose a Captain for the saving of the lives of two or three men should venture the lives of a thousand men meerly to save the lives of two or three were not these mens lives very precious to him so Jesus Christ he ventures the hardning of the hearts of many for the comforting of a few therefore it shews your comforts are precious things you should not easily put them off for they cost dear The seventh Rule in applying Evidences is this That when you cannot see the work of faith reaching to Assurance yet labour to put forth the work of faith of Adherence there may be much of the workings of the faith of adherence where there cannot be the faith of assurance that is certain there may be true faith adhereing to Christ for the pardon of sin where the soul hath no certain assurance of it Many poor creatures are crying out and saying if I had faith of assurance and a full perswasion my sins were pardoned I could be comforted but because they have not attained to a full perswasion and assurance they think they have no grace at all but there may be faith in the pardon of sin where there is not a reflect act of the soul whereby I come to know it hath faith and that its sins are pardoned 1. Joh. Chap. 2.3 he shews there that there may be knowledge and yet not know they do know Hereby we know that we do know him if we keep his Commandements hereby we know that we do know him now knowing of Christ and knowing that we do know him is not all one there is a knowing and a knowing that we do know him so there is a beleiving and a knowing we do beleive there may be a true work of grace that I may know Christ and know him to salvation and yet not know that I do know him that is by a reflect act of faith a knowing that I do know him so then where there is not a faith of assurance there may be a faith of adherence that is when the soul sticks to Christ and can giue it self unto and venture it self upon Christ for pardon of sin life and Salvation that is faith of adherence suppose in seeking my Evidences many of them being taken from the effects and friuts of faith I cannot find them and so cannot put forth a reflect act of the soul which is faith of assurance yet I may at that time have a faith of adherence thou may'st feel thy heart stick to Christ and thou may'st venture thy soul on Christ that faith will save thee though you have not a faith of assurance that is though you cannot find such Evidences whereby you may draw up such a conclusion or make up such a judgment that you are pardoned yet if you have a faith of adherence that you can stick to Ghrist and venture your soules on him for life and Salvation and all that is good that faith will save you and therefore upon examination of your Evidences when you cannot get up to such acts of faith as assurance is live then by a faith of adherence stick to Christ say here I will resolve to live and dye venture on the grace of God in Christ Now for the soul to do this it is a mighty work of faith for if you can venture your souls on Christ you will venture your Estates on Christ your Names on Christ and all that you have on Christ and therefore remember if you have not a faith of assurance then venture your selves on Christ by a faith of adherence and comfort will come in that way Eightly If at any time you feel comforts from Evidences flow in upon your souls and that you are able to apply the comforts to your selves that the Lord hath spoken to you by such and such signs of a pardoned sinner take heed
you do not rest much upon Evidences but then at that very time think with your selves though now I have comforts I may loose them and God may call me to another condition God never granted these helps unto me for my Saviours that I should rest upon them they are but bladders to help me to swim and God may take away these and call me to live upon the meer actings of faith and not at all on sense that 's certain he may do it for when we bring these Signs and Evidences of grace as they come from faith and are effects and fruits of it they are but as bladders to help young swimmers that cannot swim without them and learn them to swim but those that have got the Art though the bladders be taken away they can swim but take them away from the others and they will sink so that these Evidences are for young and weak Christians that cannot live on primary acts of faith which a strong Christian can do when all other things are taken away and therefore when we feel the comfort of any signs depend not on this the Lord may take them away and because he delights in the meer actings of faith that is the reason why God withdraws himself from the souls of his people that they shall not have the use of Signs and Evidences as they had before because he would teach them to live on the more necessary acts of faith God loves the voice of Job though he kill me yet will I trust in him I will venture my soul upon him whatever becomes of me when there 's nothing else to rest on but God then to live by actings of faith merely on him he delights much in this and therefore take heed you do not rest so much on signs as if all your comforts were lost and you undone when you cannot have such use of them as you have had heretofore Ninthly when you have at any time lost the use of signs do not determine that all is gone and that you shall never have the use of them more this is that that mightily hinders many poor Christians that are in trouble of Conscience because they cannot find the evidence of the pardon of their sins and that God accepts of them in what they do what do they do presently they yeild to the horrible sentence of damnation against themselves Gods Spirit say they is now gone and he will return no more he will never come any more unto me take heed you do not fasten on any such kind of thoughts as those are to determine of your own estates or that Gods Spirit will not come again but do you humble your souls before the Lord and wait upon him Tenthly When at any time all Signs and Evidences fail you and you are ready to determine that all is gone yet even then keep up good thoughts of God As the Spouse in the Canticles when her Beloved was gone yet she prized him and said He is the chiefest of ten thousands in Cant. 5. when she was asked What is thy beloved says she he is thus and thus then concludes He is altogether lovely and this was at such a time as he was gone yet she retain'd good thoughts of him so 't is a good sign for any soul that when trouble of conscience is upon them or any other trouble that they retain good thoughts of God and Christ and the wayes of God when the soul says whatever become of me though I perish for ever yet God is good his Word his ways are good his Gospel and the Covenant in his Son is good and whatever troubles are upon me yet God is righteous and though God justifie not me yet I will justifie God if there be any soul that cannot find his Evidences or any of those signs before spoken of you may make use of this if you cannot find any other do what thou can'st to justifie God thou art afraid that God will not justifie thee do thou justifie him sometimes it is with many men as with some wretched servant that has dealt falsly with his Master and may be all the while he can make any advantage of his Master for his own ends he will speak well of him but if his Master turn him out of doors for his wickedness then he rails on him 't is ordinary for bad servants to do so when they are turn'd away for their wickedness and so it is with many when all goes well with them then they like well of the wayes of God but if they come to such a condition as that they think that God will cast them away indeed and that they are like to perish then they begin to have hard thoughts of God and by degrees they speak against God and his ways take heed of this although you want the Evidences of his love and mercy yet retain in your hearts good thoughts of God and of his ways and this will be a special help to bring into your souls the comfort and assurance of your Justification and now I have done with this argument I have shewed you who it is that hath his sins pardoned I have shewed the several mistakes and I have shewed you certain infallible grounds from Scripture Evidences of the pardon of sin and Rules how to make use of those Evidences and now upon what you have heard you have testimony and assurance of the pardon of your sins or you have not if you find your hearts do not answer to these Evidences or that you are afraid that your sins are not pardoned then take a use of Exhortation to put you on to seek after this blessedness CHAP. XIX Of Exhortation to seek after Pardon of Sin with Cautions and Rules how and what we are to do I Am now come to a use of Exhortation and it concerns us all either those that are not pardoned or those that have assurance of the pardon of their sins for there is none that have assurance but may make use of it Christ taught his Disciples to pray daily for the forgiveness of their trespasses as well as for their daily bread and what we are to pray for we are to seek after so that it concerns all blessedness is desirable to all it is as natural for man as a reasonable creature to desire blessedness as it is for the fire to burn only here 's the great mistake in the world all would have it but they look not for it in the right way Now after all that has been said that thou may'st not have slight thoughts of the pardon of sin and say I hope they are pardoned and the like I shall speak to awaken thee suppose thou wer 't now set on the brink of the infinite Ocean of Eternity and the bottomless Gulf were ready to devour thee and the Records of Heaven were opened and there shewed thee that thy sins were not cancelled but remain upon the file What thou would'st then do do