they who thus argue and who thus act never knew what a sweet and powerful Attractiveness there is in the sense of pardoning Grace and Love to win over the Heart from the practice of those sins that God hath forgot to punish Pardoning Grace engageth to Love God Secondly This should engage us to Love that God who so loved us as freely for his own sake to forgive us such vast Debts and such multiplied sins This is the import of that Speech of our Saviour he loveth most to whom most is forgiven him And hence it is and you may commonly observe it That none are such great Lovers and Admirers of free Grace as those who before Conversion were the vilest and most flagitious Sinners Thirdly Pardoning Grace should teach us to forgive others Since God doth so freely pardon us let this teach us and prevail with us to pardon and forgive the offence of others This is that the Scripture doth urge as the most natural Inference of this Doctrine of God's pardoning Grace Thus the Apostle Ephes 4.32 Be ye kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you And say not as ignorant People are wont to do I will forgive but I will never forget for God doth forgive and forget too I will blot out your transgressions and I will remember your sins no more Your sins against God are Talents others Offences against you are but Pence and if for every trivial Provocation you are ready to take your Brother by the Throat and wreak your wrath and revenge upon him may you not fear lest your Lord and Master to whom you stand deeply indebted should also deal so with you for far greater Crimes than others can be guilty of against you and cast you into Prison until you have paid the utmost most Farthing especially considering that you pray for the forgiveness of your own sins as you do proportionably forgive the sins of others Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us And thus I have opened and demonstrated unto you the former part of the Doctrine That the Grace of God whereby he blots out and forgives sin is absolutely free I am now in the next place to prove that it is infinitely glorious Now this I shall endeavour to do by considering pardon of sin in the Nature of it in the Concomitants of it and in the Effects and Consequences of it From all which it will appear both how great a Mercy it is to us and how great a Glory it is to God that he blots out and forgets sin And First Let us consider the nature of pardon of sin what it is And this we cannot better discover than by looking into the Nature of sin Sin therefore as the Apostle describes it is a Transgression of the Law Now to the Validity of any Law there are Penalties literally expressed or tacitly implyed which are altogether necessary The guilt contracted by the transgressing of the Law is nothing but our liableness to undergo the Penalty threatned in the Law and this guilt it is two-fold the one is intrinsical and necessary and that is the desert of punishment which sin carries always in it The other is extrinsical and adventitious by which sin is ordained to be punished These two things are in every sin Every sin deserves Death and God hath in his Law ordain'd and threatned to inflict Death for it Question Now it being clear That Pardon and Remission of Sin is nothing but the removal of the guilt of sin the Question is Whether it removes that guilt that consists in the desert of punishment or that which consists in the voluntary appointment of it unto punishment or both Answer To this I Answer Pardon of sin doth not remove the intrinsical desert of punishment but only the adventitious appointment and ordination of it unto punishment flowing from the Will of God who hath in his own Law threatned to punish sin Remission doth not make that the sins even of Believers themselves should not deserve Death for a liableness to the penalty of the Law in this sence is a necessary consequent upon the Transgression of the Law But because God in the Covenant of Grace hath promised not to reward his Penitent Servants according to the evil of their doings therefore Pardoning Grace removes this guilt of sin arising from God's Ordination of it unto punishment As now suppose a Traytour should accept of the proffer of a Pardon the guilt of his Treason ceaseth not in the inward nature of it but still he deserves to be punished but this Obnoxiousness of his through the Prince's Favour and Appointment is taken away and so that guilt ceaseth So the Repenting Sinner every sin he commits deserves Death but upon his believing in the Lord Jesus Christ this liableness unto Death ceaseth being graciously remitted to them by God Now the Scripture sets forth this Pardon of sin in very sweet and full Expressions It is called a covering of sin Psal 32.1 Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven and whose sin is covered Though our covering of our sins is no Security from the inspection of God's Eye who clearly beholds the most hidden and secret things of Darkness yet certainly those sins that God himself hath covered from himself he will never again look into so as to punish for them Nay yet farther as a ground of Comfort Pardon of sin is not only called a covering of our sins from God's sight but a covering of God's Face and Sight from them so we have it Psal 51.9 Hide thy face from my sins and blot out mine iniquities It is a casting of our sins behind God's back as a thing that shall never more be regarded or look'd upon so it is expressed to us Isaiah 38.17 Thou hast in love to my soul says good Hezekiah when a Message of Death was brought to him by the Prophet cast all my sins behind thy back It is a casting of them into the depth of the Sea from whence they shall never more arise either in this World to terrifie our Consciences or in the World to come to condemn our Souls so we have it in Micah 1.19 I will cast all their Iniquities says God into the depth of the Sea It is a scattering of them as a thick cloud so it is called Esay 44.22 I will scatter their sins as a cloud and their iniquities as a thick cloud And in the Text it is called a blotting out and a forgetting of sin I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake and will not remember thy sins a blotting out to shew That God will never read his Debt-Book against us and a forgetting it That we may not fear that God will accuse us without-book Now these and such like Expressions with which the Scripture doth abound do very much illustrate the Mercy of God in pardoning of sin and I
serious and pensive to think this is but the Pattern of what must befall themselves and that all this must shortly be acted upon them that they now see done unto others But since this Day presents us with no such Solemnity some perhaps may wonder that I have chosen this Text and Subject of Mortality to treat upon Indeed Custom hath made it almost improper to preach of Death without a Funeral and to speak to Men of their last End and Dissolution without setting before their Eyes an Example of it Look well therefore one upon another what are we all as it were but so many Corpses so many Spectacles of Mortality rather to be numbred among the Dead than among the Living every Day and Hour wears away part of our Lives and so much of them as is already spent so far are we already dead and buried This present moment is the longest measure of our Lives what is past is dead to us and what is to come is not yet born how soon God may put a final Period to our present state how few times more our Pulses may beat and this busie Breath in our Nostrils return to us again we know not so frail and so uncertain are our Lives that this may be truly a Funeral Sermon to some one of us before the close of it Since then we are all of us thus subject to the stroke of Death it can never be unseasonable to warn you that you be not surprized and taken by it unprovided In the Words now read you have the great Statute-Law of Heaven that Law that God hath passed upon all the Chil-of Men and that is That it is appointed to them once to die Now that I may make way to press upon you the serious consideration of your own Mortality let me briefly mark out some things that tend to the Explication of the Words And First In that the Proposition is laid down in the Text indefinitely It is appointed unto men it is that which is equivalent to an Universal and reacheth to all men It is appointed to all men once to die We read of two only in the whole Book of God that were exempted by an extraordinary Grace and peculiar Priviledge from this great Law of Dying and they were Enoch and Elias Of Enoch it is said Gen. 5.24 That he walked with God and he was not for God took him And of Elias it is said 2 Kin 2.11 That he went up by a Whirlwind into Heaven The great God after a strange and unusual manner tackt their temporal and eternal Life together making their Time run it self into Eternity without any period or interruption The Apostle also tells us 1 Cor. 15.51 52. That all shall not die to wit at the last Day at the last appearing of Jesus Christ there shall be a World full of Persons that shall not taste of Death All shall not die but all shall be changed in a moment in the twinckling of an Eye These are exempted and being excepted it is certain all the Generations of Men from the first Creation to the last Consummation of all things are all appointed by God unto Death Secondly All must die once All must die once but Believers do not die the second Death There is frequent mention made in Scripture of the first and second Death The first Death is the separation of the Soul from the Body The second Death is the separation of the Soul from God As the Union of the Soul and Body is the Life of Man so the Union of God with the Soul is the Life of the Soul Now Believers do not die this second Death Rev. 20.8 for on such as the Apostle speaks the second Death hath no power They are still united unto God after an unconceivable and ineffable manner As when Christ lay in the Grave though his Soul was truly separated from his Body yet both Soul and Body were hypostatically united to the Godhead so also though the natural Union between a Believer's Soul and Body be dissolved by Death yet both Soul and Body continue mystically united unto Christ even in their separation one from another It is not therefore this second but the first Death that all are appointed unto The Hand of Death must untie those secret and sweet Bands those vital Knots that fasten Soul and Body together must fall asunder one day in every Man All Men must die because Death is the punishment of Sin Thirdly It is appointed unto every Man to undergo this first Death It is decreed and ordained by God and that not upon the Account of any natural Necessity but for the Punishment of Sin The Apostle tells us plainly That by Sin Death entred into the World Death therefore is not so much a Debt due to Nature as a Debt due to the avenging Justice of God for though Man at first was created in pure Nature yet was he also created in a deathless State and Death siezeth upon us not as we are Men but as we are Sinners liable to the Curse of the Covenant of Works containing in it that Threatning In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die It is true Adam even before he sinned had in him the contemperation of the same contrary Qualities that we now have and so at least had also the remote Principles of Death but yet it is probable that he was created with such a Priviledge that he might by his own Will sway and over-rule the Jars and Discords of his elementary constitution and continue himself in Life as long as he should continue himself in Obedience however whether it was so or otherwise yet certain it is that Death came into the World as the punishment of Sin So then it is not primarily Man's Nature but Man's Sin and the Curse of the Law taking hold of him that brought in this necessity of dying Sin is not only the Sting but the Cause of Death and it gives it not only its Terrour but it s very Being also And therefore it is somewhat remarkable that among all the Creatures in the World Man only is termed Mortal most certain it is that other Creatures decay and perish as well as he yet among all perishing things Man only hath that wretched denomination of being Mortal and there is good reason for it since he alone of all perishing things being created immortal voluntarily subjected himself unto Death and by his own Fault brought upon himself that Name of Mortal as a Brand of perpetual Infamy And thus now I come to the Subject that I intend to insist upon and that is The Unavoidableness and Certainty of Death To go about to prove this were to lose so much time every one grants he must die All other Questions about Man are answered by Peradventures If it be demanded Whether such an Embryo shall see the Light What 's the Answer but perhaps it shall perhaps it shall not If it be
and quicken it The next thing to be enquired into is how God keeps Men back from presumptuous Sins even then when their proneness to them is most violent and eager Now for satisfaction to this you must know God hath two hands whereby he holds Men back from their Sins First The strong hand of his providence Secondly The powerful hand of his Grace and sometimes God puts both these hands to it in a mixt way of Providence and Grace together these are as it were God's left hand and his right hand by the one he over-rules the actions and by the other he over-rules the hearts of Men and both almightily God by his Providence keeps Men from sin First God frequently withholds Men from the Commission of Sin by a strong hand of Providence upon them frequently he doth so and that he doth not so always is not because he is defective either in Power or Goodness whereby he should restrain them from evil but because he is Infinite in Wisdom whereby he knows how to bring good out of evil and therefore before I proceed to lay down those several ways that Providence takes to hinder the commission of sin I shall premise this That it is no taint at all to the pure Holiness of God that he doth by his Providence concur to those wickednesses of Men that if he pleased he might prevent and hinder that God doth so is clear for Providence is not so often a restraint from sin as it is a powerful temptation unto Sin it is a temptation as it administers Objects and Opportunities and as it sutes them both unto the lusts of Men thus Cain killed his Brother Abel by a Providence and Achan stole the wedge of gold Judas betrayed his Master and the Jews Crucified him by a Providence yea all that villany that ever was acted under the Sun was all brought forth out of the cursed Wombs of Mens lusts and made fruitful by God's Providences neither is it hard to conceive how God should without sin himself concur to sin in others since his most Soveraign Will being above all Law cannot possibly fall under any guilt we are obliged to keep back Men from the commission of sin when it is in our power to do it but no such obligation lies upon God though he can easily keep all wicked Men in the World from ever sinning more yea though they are so tied up that they are not able to sin without his permission and concurrence yet he permits wisely concurs holily and yet notwithstanding at last punishes justly In brief God doth whatever Man doth for as the Prophet saith he works all our works in us and for us and in him we live move and have our beings and yet in one and the same action Man sins and God is holy because Man acts contrary to that Law which God hath set him but God himself is subject to no Law besides his own Soveraign Will and where there is no Law there is no transgression as the Apostle speaks in Romans 4.15 God is not bound to hinder the commission of sin as we are and therefore when he permits nay when Providence accomplisheth it still is he holy just and good still is he righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works though he works that together with Men that makes them unrighteous and unholy this I thought fit to premise that so when you hear how many ways God is able to hinder the commission of sin by his Providence you should not suffer any undue thoughts to rise up in your hearts against his Holiness when he chuseth sometimes rather to permit and concur to the sins of Men than to hinder and forbid them who when he permits sin permits it righteously and when he hinders sin hinders it almightily Now there are four remarkable ways whereby the All-wise Providence of God hinders the commission of a sin even then when Men are most bent and eager upon it Providence prevents sin by shortning the life of the Sinner First Sometimes where his Grace doth not sanctifie the heart his Providence shortens the life of the Sinner where he doth not cleanse the Fountain yet there he removes the Foundation of a Sin that is he takes away the very life and being of the Sinner many times when wicked Men have imagined some presumptuous sin and go big with it God suddenly cuts them off from the Land of the Living and gives them no space to bring it forth unless it be in Hell among these Devils that inspired it Psal 64.6 7. says the Psalmist there they search out iniquity they accomplish a diligent search but what follows God shall shoot at them with an arrow suddenly shall they be wounded while they are thinking and contriving wickedness in their hearts in that very day they perish and their thoughts with them Thus proud Pharaoh resolves in spight of God and all his Miracles to bring back the Children of Israel to their old Bondage but before he could bring his purpose into execution God brings him to execution and so Senacherib intends the destruction of Jerusalem but before he could compass it God slays his Army and his own Children also Herod he intends a bloody Persecution against the Church but God smites him Lice devour him and eat a way into that very heart that conceived so wicked a purpose it were endless to cite instances in this particular Histories and Helâ— are full of those whom God's Providence hath cut off before they could fulfil theiâ— ungodly designs upon whom thaâ— threatning in Ecclesiastes 8.11 hath been signally verified It shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days because he feareth not before God Now this Providence God doth usually if not only exercise upon wicked Men snatching them away from their sins and yet in their sins also yea and herein he deals with them also in some kind of Mercy in that he abridges the time of his Patience to them whom he foresees will only abuse it and treasure up to themselves Wrath against the day of Wrath for hereby their account is lessened and their torments made more tolerable it had been better for Sinners that they had dropt immediatly from the Womb to the Tomb better that they had been swadled in their Winding-sheets yea shall I say it had been better for them that they had been doomed to everlasting torments as soon as they saw the Light than that God should suffer them to live Twenty Forty or Sixty Years adding iniquity to iniquity without repentance and God accordingly adding torments to torments to punish them never to be repented of O the desperate conditions that Sinners are in unless God give them repentance the sooner they are in Hell the better it will be for them and it is a Mercy if God will damn them betimes those whom God doth not endear to his Grace by changing their natures yet he indebts to his Providence
Alienation and Estrangement between God and the Soul But now Pardon of Sin removes these Obstructions and causeth the intercourse betwixt God and the Soul to pass free because it gives the Soul a Holy and yet Awful Boldness in Conversing with the Great and Terrible Majesty of God So much sence of Pardon and Reconciliation as we have so much boldness shall we have ordinarily in our Addresses to God What 's the Reason the Consciences of Wicked Men drag them before God and they come with so much Diffidence Dejectedness and Jealousie Why it is because they are Conscious to themselves of guilt that lies upon them and this makes them look on God rather under the Notion of a Judge than of a Friend or Father and this makes them perform their Duties so distrustfully as if they would not have God take any notice that they were in his Presence But when a Pardon'd sinner makes his Addresses to God he may do it with a Holy freedom the Face of his Soul looks chearfully and he Treats with God with an open Heart What ground is there now for such a Confidence as this is For poor vile Dust and Ashes to appear thus before the great God of Heaven and Earth Yes there is for Guilt is removed his Peace is made in the Bloud of Christ all Enmity is abolished all Quarrels are decided and it becomes not him to serve God with such Suspiciousness as Guilty Sinners do Hence we have that Expression of the Apostle Heb. 10.22 Let us draw near to him in full Assurance of Faith having our Hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience That is from a Guilty and an Accusing Conscience Now when the Heart and Conscience is sprinkled with the Bloud of Christ whereby this Guilt is taken off then hath a Man good ground to draw near to God in full Assurance of Faith Fourthly Pardon of Sin lays a good ground for Peace in a Man 's own Conscience I do not say that Peace of Conscience is always an inseparable Attendant upon Pardon of Sin For doubtless there are many so unhappy as to have a Wrangling Conscience in their own Bosoms when God is at Peace with them But this is certain That Pardon of Sin lays a solid ground and Foundation for Peace in a Man 's own Conscience and were Christians but as industrious as they should be in clearing up their Evidences for Heaven they might obtain Peace whenever they are pardon'd What is there that disquiets Conscience but only Guilt nothing but the Guilt of Sin doth it this is that which rageth and stormeth in Wicked Men and is as a Tempest within their Breasts this is that unseen Scourge that draws Bloud and Groans at every Lash this is that Worm that lies perpetually gnawing at the Heart of a Sinner this is that Rack that breaks the Bones and disjoynts the Soul it self In a word Guilt is the Fuel of Hell and the Incendiary of Conscience were it not for Guilt there were not a more pleasant and peaceable thing in all the World than a Man 's own Conscience Now Pardon of Sin removes this Guilt and thereby makes Reconciliation between us and our Consciences and therefore says our Saviour Matth. 9.2 to the Paralytick Man Son be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee why might not some say this is an Impertinent Speech to say to one that was brought to be cured of a sad Infirmity of Body That his Sins were forgiven him whilst yet his Disease was not cured Not but our Lord Christ knew that there was infinitely more cause of Joy and Chearfulness to have Sin Pardon'd than to have Diseases cured To have all calm and serene within not to have a Frown or Wrinkle upon the Face of the Soul to have all smooth Thoughts and peaceful Affections this is some faint resemblance of Heaven it self and is never vouchsaft unto any but where Pardon and the sence of it is given to the Soul Pardon of sin takes away the Curse of every Affliction Fifthly He whose Sins are Pardon'd may rest assured that whatever Calamities or Afflictions he may lie under yet therâ— is nothing in them of a Curse or Punishment It is Guilt alone that diffusetâ— Poison through the Veins as of all ouâ— Enjoyments so of all Afflictions also and turns them all into Curses Buâ— Pardon of Sin takes away this Venome and makes them all to be Medicinaâ— Corrections good profitable and advantagious to the Soul See how God by the Prophet expresseth this Isa 33.24 The Inhabitants shall not say they are sick Why so For the People that dwell therein shall be forgiven their Iniquities When Sin is Pardon'd outward Afflictions are not worth complaining of The Inhabitants shall not say We are Sick A Disease then becomes a Medicine when Pardon hath taken away the Curse and Punishment of it God hath two ends with respect of himself for which he brings Punishments upon us the one is the Manifestation of his Holiness the other is for the satisfaction of his Justice And accordingly as any Affliction tends to either of these ends so is it properly a Punishment or barely a Fatherly Chastisement If God intends by the Afflictions he lays upon thee the satisfaction of his Justice then thy Afflictions are properly Punishments and they flow from the Curse of the Law but if the manifestation of his Holiness be all he intends by them then are they only Fatherly Corrections proceeding from Love and Mercy First Those whose sins God hath pardon'd he may afflict for the declaration of his Holiness that they may see and know what a Holy God they have to deal with who so perfectly hates sin that he will follow it with Chastisements even upon those whom his free Grace hath pardon'd Secondly God inflicts no Chastisements upon those whom he hath pardon'd for the satisfaction of his Justice and therefore they are not Curses nor properly Punishments but only Corrections and Fatherly Chastisements Christ hath satisfied the demands of Justice for their Sins and God is more just than to exact double satisfaction for the same Offence one in Christ's Punishment and another in theirs The Apostle tells us Gal. 3.13 Christ hath Redeemed us from the Curse of the Law being made a Curse for us It is not the Evils that we suffer that makes them Curses or Punishments be they never so great but only the Ordination of these Evils to the satisfaction of Divine Justice upon us And therefore Christ in Scripture is said to be made a Curse not simply because he suffered but because he was adjudged to his Sufferings that thereby satisfaction might be made unto the Justice of God Hence therefore with what calmness and peace may a Pardoned Sinner look upon any Afflictions though they are sore and heavy tho they seem to carry much of God's Anger in them yet there is nothing of a Curse or of the nature of a Punishment the Sting was all
of it received into the Body of Christ and now God's Righteousness will not suffer him to punish them again in their own Persons whom he hath already punisht in their Surety Imagine what Affliction thou canst Art thou pinched with Want and Poverty Doest thou sustain Losses in thy Estate in thy Relations Art thou tormented with Pains weakned by Diseases and will all these bring Death upon thee at the last Yet O Soul if thy Sins are Pardon'd here is nothing of a Curse or Punishment in all this Justice is already satisfied by Christ's bearing the Curse of the Law for thee Come what will come it shall not hurt thee Afflictions are all weak and weaponless they are only the Corrections of a Loving Father for the manifestation of his Holiness and for thy Eternal Gain and Advantage Very sad is the Condition of Guilty Sinners for whether they know it or not there is not the least Affliction not the least Gripe or Pain not the least slight or inconsiderable Cross but it is a Punishment inflicted by God upon them for the Guilt of their Sins God is now a beginning to satisfie his Justice and these are sent by him to Arrest and Seize on them he now begins to take them by the Throat and calls upon them to pay him what they owe him Every Affliction to them is part of Payment and is exacted from them as part of Payment O the vast and infinite Sums of Plagues that God will most severely exact from them in Hell where they shall pay to the utmost Farthing There is not the least Calamity that befals Wicked and Unpardon'd Sinners but carries the Venom of a Curse in it and is inflicted by God upon them in order to the Satisfaction of his Justice on them which compleat satisfaction he will work out upon them in their Compleat Torments in Hell So much for this Time and Text. FINIS BOOKS Printed for Nathanael Ranew at the King's Arms in St. Paul's Church-Yard NEwly Printed the Works of Josephus with great Diligence Revised and Amended according to the Excellent French Translation of Monsieur Arnauld D' Andilly Also the Embassy of Philo Judaeus to the Emperour Caius Caligula never before Translated with the references of the Scriptures a new Map of the Holy Land with divers Copper-Plates serving to illustrate the History The Principles of Christian Religion with a large Body of Divinity Methodically and Familiarly handled by way of Question and Answer for the use of Families with Immanuel or the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God by the most Reverend James Vsher late Arch-Bishop of Armagh To which is added in this Seventh Edition Twenty Sermons Preached at Oxford before his Majesty and elsewhere with an Alphabetical Table never before extant The Life of the most Reverend Father in God James Vsher late Arch-Bishop of Armagh With a Collection of Three Hundred Letters between his Lordship and most of the Eminentest Persons for Piety and Learning in his time both in England and beyond the Seas Published from Original Copies under their own Hands Practical Preparation for Death the Interest and Wisdom of Christians the Folly and Misery of those that are negligent therein with Directions for the performance thereof how the Fears of Death may be overcome with Consolations and Comforts against the Death of Friends and Relations Proper to be given at Funerals The Glory and Happiness of the Saints in Heaven or a Discourse of the Blessed State of the Righteous after Death largely described with a Resolution of several Questions and Cases of Conscience relating thereunto A Present for Servants from their Ministers Masters or other Friends proper for the instructing of them in their particular Duties By Richard Mayo
Here is the Pardon it self which for the greater Confirmation of our Faith and Hope is redoubled I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions and will not remember thâ— sins Thirdly Here are the Motives or impulsive cause that prevailed with God thiâ— to proclaim pardon unto guilty Malefactorâ— and that is for his own sake I am hâ— that blotteth out thy Transgressions for mâ— own sake 1. As for the first particular I even â— am he we may observe That God seems more to triumph in the Glory oâ— his pardoning Grace and Mercy thaâ— he doth in any other of his Attributes I even I am he Such a stately Preface must needs usher in somewhat wherein God and his Honour is much advanced Is it therefore I am he that spread forth the Heavens and martial'd all their Host that hang up the Earth in the midst of the Air that breath'd forth all the Creatures upon the face of it that poured out the great Deeps and measur'd them all in the hollow of my hand that ride upon the wings of the Wind and make the Clouds the Dust of my Feet This though it might awe and amuse the hearts of Men yet God counts it not his chiefest Glory but I even I am he that blotteth out Transgression and forgive Iniquities So we find when God condescended to shew Moses his Glory he proclaims not the Lord Great and Terrible that formed all things by the Word of his Mouth and can destroy all things by the Breath of his Nostrils No but he passeth before him with a still voice and proclaims himself to be The Lord the Lord God Gracious and Merciful long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth forgiving iniquity transgression and sin So that when God would be seen in his chiefest State and Glory he reveals himself to be a sin-pardoning God I even I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions and will not remember thy sins 2. As for the pardon it self Blotting out of sin implys two things that is expressed in two things I am he that blotteth out and will not remember Blotting out implys First That sin is written That our Transgressions are written down and written they are in a two-fold Book the one is in the Book of God's Remembrance which he blots out when he justifies a sinner The other is the Book of our own Consciences which he blots out when he gives us peace and assurance and oftentimes these follow one upon the other When God blots his Remembrance-Book in Heaven that blot diffuseth and spreads it self even to the Book of Conscience and blots out all that is written there also Man blots his Conscience by committing sin but God blots it by pardoning it He lays a blot of Christ's Bloud upon a blot of our guilt and this is such a blot as leaves the Conscience of a sinner purer and cleaner than it found it Secondly Blotting out of Transgression implies a legal discharge of the Debt A Book that is once blotted and crossed stands void in Law whatever the Sum and Debts were before yet the crossing of the Book signifies the payment of the Debt So is it here I will blot out thy Transgressions that is I will acquit thee of all thy Debts I will never charge them upon thee I will dash them all out I will not leave so much as one Item not one sin legible against thee This is the proper meaning of this Expression and Notion of blotting out of Transgression and Sin And this is one thing that pardon of sin is expressed by It follows in the next words and I will not remember thy sins Not that there is truly any forgetfulness in God no his Memory retains every sin we have committed surer and firmer than if all our sins were written in Leaves of Brass but God speaks here as he doth elsewhere frequently in Scripture by a gracious Condescension and after the manner of Men and it is to be interpreted only by the Effects I will not remember their sins that is I will deal so mercifully with them as if indeed I did not remember the least of their Provocations I will be to them as one that hath utterly forgotten all their injuries So that this not remembring of sin denies not the eminent Act of God's Knowledge but only the transient Act of his Justice and is no more than his promising not to punish sin as if God had said I will not be avenged on them nor punish them for their sins And here we may see what abundant security God gives his People that they shall never be impleaded for those sins which once they have attained the pardon of they are blotted out of his Book of Remembrance and that they may not fear he will accuse them without Book he tells them That they are utterly forgotten and shall never be remembred by him against them any more Thirdly Consider the impulsive cause that moves God's Hand as it were to blot out our Transgressions and that is not any thing without himself but says God I will do it for my own sake This admits of a two-fold sence efficient and final First For my own sake That is because it is my pleasure I will do it because I will do it And indeed this is the Royal Prerogative of God alone to render his Will for his Reason for because his Will is altogether Soveraign and Independent that must needs be most reasonable that he wills If any should question Why the Lord past by fallen Angels and stoopt so low as to take up Fallen Man And why among Men he hath rejected many Wise and Noble and hath chosen those that are mean and contemptible Why he hath gathered up and lodged in his own Bosom those that wallowed in the filth and defilement of the worst sins when others are left to perish under far less guilt The most reasonable Answer that can be given of all is this I have done it for my own sake I have done it because it is my Will and Pleasure to do it even the same Reason that God gave unto Moses I will be gracious because I will be gracious and I will shew mercy because I will shew mercy Exod. 33.19 Which was the same Answer our Saviour gave to himself Luke 10.21 Even so Father because so it seemed good in thy sight Secondly For my own sake we may take it in a final sense that is I will do it because of that great Honour and Glory that will accrue to my great Name by it The ultimate and chief end of God in all his Actions is his own Glory God bestows Pardon and Salvation upon us chiefly for the manifestation of his own Glory even the Glory of his Mercy and free Grace Our Salvation is therefore accomplished that it might be a means to declare to the World how Merciful and Gracious God is not so much for our good as for his Glory not for our sakes