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
we are both ways discharged from our Guilt by Satisfaction unto the Penalty of the Law in Christ our Surety and by the free Grace and Mercy of God who hath made and sealed to us a gracious Act of Pardon in Christ's Blood and therefore we stand upright in Law and are as Just and Righteous in God's sight as if we had never sinned against him O how great Consolation is here unto the Children of God! They account themselves great Sinners yea the greatest and worst of Sinners but God accounts them Just and Righteous they keep their sins in remembrance as David speaks my sin is ever before me when God hath not only forgiven but fotgotten them they write and speak bitter things against themselves when God is writing out their Pardon and setting his Seal unto it God's Grace as easily pardons great as small sins Fourthly Pardoning Grace can as easily triumph in the remitting of great and many Sins as of few and small Sins What a great blot upon the Heavens is a thick Cloud and yet the Beams of the Sun can pierce thorow that and scatter it easily Why now God will blot out our Trangressions as a thick Cloud so himself tells us by the Prophet Isa 44.12 I will blot out thy transgressions as a cloud and thine iniquities as a thick cloud A great Debt may as easily be blotted out as a small one Ten thousand Talents is a great Summ yet it is as easily and freely forgiven by the great God as a few Pence God proclaims himself to be a God pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin that is Sins of all sorts and sizes The greatest Sins repented of are no more without the Extent of Divine Grace and Mercy than the least Sins unrepented of are without the Cognizance of Divine Justice Esay 1.18 Though your sins be as scarlet yet shall they become as white as snow though they be red as crimson yet they shall be as wooll And can there then be found a despairing Soul in the World when the great God hath thus magnified his Grace and Mercy above all his Works yea and above all ours also Say not then O Sinner my sins are greater than can be forgiven this is to stint and limit the Grace of God which he hath made boundless and infinite and thou mayest with as much Truth and Reason say thou art greater than God as that thy Sins are greater than his Mercy Of all things in the World take heed that you be not injurious to this rich Grace to this free Love and Mercy that pardons thee even for his own sake God pardons thee for himself for his own Sake and dost thou fear O Penitent believing Soul that ever he will condemn thee for thy Sins no but as much as God and his Mercy is greater than our Sins so much more Reason will he find in himself to Pardon the Repenting Believing Sinner than he can find Reason in his Sins to condemn him Thus we see what cause of Comfort there is in this Pardoning Grace of God And thus also we have consider'd Pardon of Sin in its own Nature Of the Concomitants of Pardon of sin Secondly We shall now consider Pardon of Sin in its Concomitants and Adjuncts and so we shall take a view of those things which do inseparably accompany it and thereby also we may see how great and unspeakable a Mercy it is It is a Mercy that is never bestowed upon the Soul singly and alone but evermore comes environ'd with whole Troops and Associate-Blessings As Pardon of Sin and Acceptation go together First Pardon of Sin is always conjoyn'd with the Acceptation of our Persons Indeed these two are the twin Parts of our Justification and therefore we have them coupled together Ephes 1.6 7. He hath made us accepted in the beloved In whom we have Redemption thorow his blood even the Forgiveness of Sin The whole Mystery of our Justification stands in these two things Remission and Acceptation Remission takes away our liableness unto Death and Acceptation gives us a Right and Title unto Life for to be accepted of God in Christ is no other than for God through the Righteousness and Obedience of Christ imputed to us to own and acknowledge us as having a Right and Title unto Heaven and therefore we have mention made of Pardon and an Inheritance together as the full summ of our Justification Acts 11.18 That they may receive forgiveness of sin and an inheritance among those that are sanctified It is not therefore O Soul a bare negative Mercy that God intends thee in the Pardon of thy Sins it is not merely the removing of the Curse and the Wrath that thy sins have deserv'd though that alone can never be sufficiently admired but the same hand that plucks thee out of Hell by pardoning Grace and Mercy lifts thee up to Heaven by what it gives thee together with thy Pardon even a Right and Title to the glorious Inheritance of the Saints above Secondly Another Concomitant is this Pardoning and sanctifying Grace go together Who-ever God pardons he doth also in some measure sanctifie He subdues our sins as well as blots them out he abates their Power as well as removes their Guilt And indeed it were no better than lost labour for God to pardon sin if he did not purifie the Sinner also for were but the least Sin and Corruption left to rule and reign in us we should presently run our selves as far into Debt and Arrears as ever we were Indeed the best Christian in whom Grace is most prevailing and Corruption weakest yet even he stands daily and hourly in need of pardoning Mercy but yet withal his Sins are not of so high a Nature nor so deep a Stain as usually the Sins of wicked Men are His Sins usually are such rather for the manner of them than for the matter of them God by his pardoning Grace forgives Infirmities Failings and Defects and by his sanctifying Grace ordinarily keeps him from the commission of more gross and scandalous Sins And how then can we enough admire the rich Grace of God that not only forgives us our Debts but withal bestows a new stock upon us to keep us from running into Debt again in any great and desperate Summs Pardon of Sin and Adoption are inseparable Thirdly Pardon of sin is always conjoyn'd with our Adoption into the Family of Heaven Herein is the Love of God greatly seen not only to pardon Rebels but to make them his Children not only to forgive Debtors but to make them Heirs of his own Estate The same precious Blood that blots out our Sins writes us down Heirs of Glory and Co-heirs with Jesus Christ himself O infinite and unspeakable Mercy of God thus richly and bountiful to give as well as freely to forgive that he should thus instate us at present in his Love and Favour and hereafter instate us in his Glory This is not the
manner of Men O Lord but as far as the Heavens are above the Earth so far are the Thoughts of God above our Thoughts and his Ways above our Ways And therefore as far as the East is from the West so far hath he removed our Sins from us And why so far but only that he might make room for these great and unspeakable Mercies of Justification Sanctification and Adoption to intervene And so much for the Second thing proposed namely the Concomitants and Adjuncts of Pardon of Sin Of the Effects and Consequences of Pardon of Sin Thirdly Let us now Consider Pardon of Sin in the Effects and Consequences of it and from hence also it will appear How transcendent a Mercy it is and how just a Title God hath to glory in it when he saith I even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions Mercies temporal and spiritual the Blessings of this Life and the Glory of a future what-ever indeed can be called a Mercy or good thing doth acknowledge it self a retainer to this primitive and fountain-Mercy of Pardon of Sin Now in such a heap of them I shall only cull out some few that are most conspicuous Now Remission of Sin may be consider'd either as it lies in God's Eternal Intention or in the Spirit 's temporal Application of it The one is God's purpose before all time to forgive us the other is rhe execution of that purpose in time If we consider Pardon of Sin in God's Eternal purpose and intendment so there are two blessed Effects flowing from it and they are these First The sending of Jesus Christ into the World Secondly The great Gift of Faith First The sending Christ into the World the effect of God's purpose to pardon sin The sending of Jesus Christ into the World who is the cause of all happiness unto sinful Man was it self the effect of this purpose of God to pardon and forgive Sinners It is very difficult to trace out the Order of the Divine Decrees concerning the Salvation of Mankind and to pass from one of them to another as they lie ranked and methodized in God's Breast And divers that have attempted to search out these Arcana Dei this Art and Mystery of Justice and Mercy have trodden in paths different from one another and doubtless many of them differing from the Truth also I shall not stand to draw a Scheme of these Decrees of God let it now suffice us to know that God from all Eternity foreseeing the Sin and Misery which Man would by his permission and his own sin involve himself in did for the manifestation of the Riches both of his Mercy and Justice enter into Counsel how to pardon and save him This was the end of God's design even to restore again to Happiness some of Mankind even as many as he should select out of the Mass and common Rubbish of Sin and Misery and set apart for himself Well but how shall this end be accomplished and brought about Justice brandisheth its Sword in the Face of Sinners and demands as great a share of Glory in punishment as Mercy doth in pardoning and God is resolved to glorifie both of these Attributes of his in their several demands This now put him upon ransacking of the deepest Counsel that ever lodged in his Heart even of an Adored Mediatour in whom Justice receives full satisfaction and Mercy triumphs in a full Pardon and both are infinitely glorious For this end God sent down his Son from Heaven to Earth to become a Propitiation for us and so through the shedding of his Bloud to obtain remission and forgiveness of sins for us God's Mercy and his Beloved Son could not rest together in his Bosom and therefore his purpose of pardoning Sin was so efficacious that to make room for the displaying of his Mercy he sends his own Son out of Heaven never to enter again there till by his Merit and Sufferings he had procured Remission of Sins for all those that believe in him Hence the Apostle Rom. 3.26 tells us That God sent forth Christ to be a Propitiation through Faith in his Bloud to declare his Righteousness for the Remission of Sins that are past through God's forbearance that he might be Just and the Justifier of them that believe in Jesus As if the Apostle had said God could not be Just if he should justifie Sinners that deserve his Wrath unless he had sent forth Jesus Christ into the World to become a Propitiation and Sacrifice to his Justice for their Sins For having threatned in his unalterable word to inflict vengeance upon all that are guilty his Truth obliged him to this dreadful severity upon all since all are guilty But that Christ taking on him the guilt of sinners by his own undergoing the wrath of God and the Curse of the Law hath so fully appeased Divine Justice that now God though he doth not punish Sinners in themselves can yet be Just and the Justifier of Sinners therefore he sent forth Christ to be a Propitiation God's Eternal Purpose to glorifie his Justice in the punishing sin and yet to glorifie his Grace and Mercy in pardoning Sinners wrought this great effect of sending Christ into the World whereby two such different ends might with Infinite Wisdom be accomplished So that Christ who is the cause of all our Happiness and Mercy is yet himself the effect of God's Purpose and Intent to pardon sin And what can be said more to advance the greatness of this Mercy a Mercy so great that one of the Fathers St. Gregory by Name doubted whether it were more Misery or Happiness that Adam fell since his Sin and Fall occasioned such a wonderful Redeemer and such a Glorious Salvation Foelix culpa says he O Happy Fall that obtained such a Redeemer Faith the Effect of pardoning Mercy Secondly Another blessed Effect of God's purpose in pardoning sin is the great gift of Faith Indeed to give Jesus Christ were utterly in vain did not God withal give Faith to accept him To tender Christ to an Unbeliever is to offer a Gift where there is no Hand to receive it Hence that God's purpose of giving pardon might stand valid that the Death of Christ might not be fruitless and that his Bloud might not be like Water spilt on the ground that cannot be gathered up again God decreed to bestow Faith upon them that believe that may convey to them the Benefits of Christ's Merits in their Pardon and Remission These two blessed Effects now follow in God's Purpose and Intention of pardoning sin even the Gift of Christ to procure and the Gift of Faith to apply Pardon unto the Soul Secondly And more especially Let us consider Pardon of Sin in its temporal and real Application And so the happy Effects of it are manifold I shall only instance in some at present First Pardon of sin gives security against God's Justice Pardon of Sin gives an inviolable security
and Eternal Salvation out shall openly be shew'd â—o all the World and laughed at by all â—he World that such a Sin should keep â— Man from Heaven and Eternal Happiness And therefore says David Psal 119.6 Psal 119.6 Then shall I not be ashamed when I â—ave respect unto all thy Commandments To have respect to some of God's Commandments and not to all is now Hypocrisy and will at last be shame and â—onfusion It is a most certain Truth â—hat though the Commission of the greaâ—est Sin be consistent with the truth of Grace yet so is not the approbation of â—he least Sin Oh! what a severe and criâ—ical thing is true Holyness that will no more allow the least Transgression than â—he greatest nor more tolerate the deâ—ilement of Dust in our Hearts than a Dunghill We have all of us need thereâ—ore to pray with David Psal 139.23 Psal 139.23 Search me O Lord and try my Heart try me and know my Thoughts and see if â—here be any evil way in me because our Sins may be so little as to escape our own â—earch and because the least Sin if let alone in the Heart will like a small speck in fruit spread to a total rottenness Therefore O Lord do thou search and try us and if there be any way of wickedness in us cast thou out our Corruptions that so thou maist not cast us out as corrupt and rotten at the last Little Sins make way for greater Sins Fifthly Consider little Sins do usually make way and open a passage into the Heart for the greatest and vilest Sins Thus a little thief that creeps in at the Window may unlock the Door for others that stand without And thus in fared with David while sensual Delight crept in by the eye at the sight of Bathsheba it opened his Heart to the temptation and in rusht those two outrageous Sins of Adultery and Murder Believe it there is no Sin so small but tends to the utmost wickedness that can possibly be committed An irreverent Thought of God tends to no less than Blasphemy and Atheism A slight grudge at another tends to no less than Murder A lascivious Thought tends to no less than impudent and common Prostitution And though at first they seem to play only singly about the Heart yet within a while they will mortally wound it There are two things give little Sins their growth and increase First The Devil by his Temptations is continually nursing up youngling Sins till they arrive to a full strength and stature of wickedness He is continually suiting Occasions and Temptations to the propensions of our Lusts Hath he wrought any sinful desire or any evil purpose in you he will take care you shall not long want an occasion to fulfil it Were it not for his vigilancy many a Sin must needs Die in the Womb that conceived it but as it was conceived by his Temptations so is it brought forth by his industry and diligence Secondly Natural Corruption it self is of a thriving growing Nature If any Lust hath seized strongly on the thoughts and boils there it will vent it self in Discourse A bad Heart as well as a bad Liver will break out at the Lips and if the Discourse be poysonous the Venom will spread it self into the Life and Conversation for out of the abundance of the Heart the Mouth speaketh and evil Words corrupt good Manners Sinful Thoughts form themselves into Words and Words will consolidate themselves into Actions and then Sin is perfected and hath attained its full growth And if you would know what the next degree or step is that Sin takes the Apostle St. James tells you Jam. 1.15 When Lust hath conceived it bringeth forth Sin and Sin when it is perfected bringeth forth Death You can no more set bounds to your Corruptions than to the raging Sea nor say to it Hitherto shall thy proud Waves go and no further It were Folly when you have set fire to a Train of Powder to expect it should stop any where short of the utmost of it So truly when the Thoughts are set on fire of Hell this will inflame the Tongue and that will inflame the Life and unless God's infinite Mercy prevent this burning will stop no where short of everlasting burning Ask but your own Experiences this Have you not often found it so Hath not the Devil drill'd you on from little Sins to great Sins and from these to far greater Abominations Believe it there is a bottomless deceit in every Sin and this is the desperate issue of it that if once you come to account any Sin small you will soon reckon the greatest Sin to be no more We commonly reckon the greatness of Sin by the abruptness of our advance to it Possibly it would seem a horrid thing at the first rising of a Temptation in our hearts if we should presently perpetrate the utmost of it into Act therefore the Method of Sin is more smooth and deceitful it counts a sinful Thought a little Transgression and sinful Discourse to have but a little more guilt in it than a sinful Thought and sinful Actions to have but a little more guilt in them than sinful Words A great Sin but in a little degree exceeds a less and so comparing Sin with Sin and not with the Law we at length come by invisible Advances to look upon the greatest Impieties in the world to be but little Sins and so to commit them If Satan prevails with us to go with him one step out of our way we are in danger to stop no where till we come to the height of all Prophaneness he will make us take a second and a third and so to travel on to Destruction for each of these is but one step the last step of Sin is but one step as well as the first and if the Devil prevails with us to take one step why should he not prevail with us to take the last step as well as the first step seeing it is but one Your second Sin no more exceeds your first than your first doth your Duty and so of the rest We should not therefore account any Sin small but look upon them as the spawn of all the vilest Abominations And as you would abhor Death and Hell so abhor the least Sin because it hath a Plot upon us in subserviency to greater Sins that without infinite Mercy will certainly bring to and terminate in Death and Hell Little Sins so called are indeed the greatest Sixthly Consider that those Sins that we commonly call the least are indeed the greatest and vilest Provocations Some Sins are Sins of greater Infamy and Scandal other Sins are Sins of greater Guilt and Sinfulness rude and blustering Sins Those Sins that are of greater Infamy are such as make him that commits them a scandalous person and these are commonly reputed great and crying Sins by the World If a Man be a Swearer or a Drunkard a
The best Christians proved to be prone to the worst Sins From which Words I formerly collected and shall now prosecute this proposition That in the best Christians there is great Proneness to the worst Sins In the handling of this to true a point I shall First By some demonstrations make it evident that there is a strong inclination in the best to the worst Sins and then search out the Original Cause whence it is that since in the first Creation Man's Will was left wholly free and indeterminate without any other inclination to Good or Evil besides what its Free and Arbitrary Choice made yet in the new Creation whereby Souls are repaired there should be still left in it that Biass that strongly sways it unto Evil. These Two things God assisting I shall at present do For the demonstratious of the point I shall give you them in these following particulars First From the Examples of others The Examples of others may here be a convincing Argument If I should summon in the most excellent of God's Saints a Man might wonder that Drunkenness Incest Murder and Abjuration of Christ that such Brats of Satan should ever be found in company with such an Angelical Troop as they are and yet Noah is Drunk Lot is Incestuous David Murders and Peter Abjures these glorious Stars have had their twinklings and if the Leaders and Champions are thus foiled what may we think then hath in all Ages befallen the Croud of Vulgar Christians We may with truth and boldness say Never was there a sin committed in the World how horrid soever unless the unpardonable Sin against the Holy-Ghost but God may find it written down in his Book of Remembrance under their Names whose Names he himself hath written down in the Book of Life And what shall we say when we see a Stone falling that there is no weight nor propenseness in it to fall shall we say when we see such Eminent Christians falling into sin yea even into great and gross sins that they have not strong propensions and inclinations to sin Yet O ye Saints divulge not these things to Wicked Men whisper them softly one to another with fear and trembling least some Profane Wretch or other over-hear you and take that for encouragement that was only meant for caution What is more common than for the Vilest Sinners to plead for their Excuse or warrant rather the foul Miscarriages of God's dearest Saints Thus the Drunkard looks upon Holy Noah as a Pot-Companion whereby he discovers his Nakedness in a worse sence than ever Cham did And thus the unclean Sensualist Quotes David and calls him in to be the Patron of his Debauchery certainly if there be any Grief that can overcast the perfect Joys of the Saints in Heaven it is that their Names and Examples should to the great dishonour of God be produced by wicked and sinful Men to countenance their grossest Sins and Wickednesses But let such know that though God hath set up these in his Church to be Monuments of his Mercy to declare to Humble and Penitent Sinners how great Sins he can Pardon yet if any hereupon imbolden themselves in Sin instead of being set up as Monuments of Mercy God will set them up as Pillars of Salt Secondly From those frequent Exhortations given in Scripture to Watchfulness against and Mortification of these Sins It appears that there is a strong proneness in the best to the worst Sins from those frequent and pressing Exhortations that are given us in Scripture to Watchfulness against them and to the Mortification of them Wherefore were these Curbs necessary but that God sees our Lusts are head-strong and ready to fly out and hurry us into all Excesses Nay these Exhortations are not so particularly nor with so great Emphasis given to the Wicked as they are to the Children of God Of the Wicked God saith He that will be Wicked let him be Wicked still that 's all the Care God takes of them as we use to say of them that we despair to reclaim Nay let them take their own courses But he especially warns and exhorts the Godly to beware of those Sins that one would think a Godly Man were scarce liable to commit See how Christ Cautions his Disciples Luke 21.34 Take heed to your selves says he least at any time your Hearts be overcharged with Surfeiting and Drunkenness and the Cares of this Life Why would not any Man wonder that our Saviour should so solicitously warn them against Surfeiting and Drunkenness which are the Sins usually of a Plentiful Estate but what warn them against these Sins whose Poverty was such and was to be such that those that gave unto them a Cup of cold Water should receive a plentiful Reward for their pains were they in such danger to be Surfeited by the one and Drunk with the other and what they like to be choaked with the Cares of this Life and with Carking to get what they had not who had but just before renounced all that they had to follow Christ Yea but Christ knew that even in these poor abstemious Disciples there was a Natural Proneness to Gluttony and Rioting and Drunkenness and therefore he thus Exhorts them and he doth it that Grace may keep them from enclining to these Sins as their Low and Persecuted Condition should be sure to keep them from committing them So also the Apostle in Coloss 3.5 speaking to them that should certainly appear with Christ in Glory as you may see in verse 4. yet these he commands to Mortifie their Members that were upon the Earth Well but what Members are these it may be they are only vanity and inconstancy of Thoughts levity and unfixedness of Affections deadness and heaviness of Heart and such other less Sins that should they be perfectly free from they should be perfectly Holy No says the Apostle these Members are the big Limbs of the Old Man they are Fornication Vncleanness Inordinate Affections Evil Concupiscence and Covetuousness And in verse 8. he Exhorts them again to put off all these things Anger Wrath Malice Blasphemy Filthy Communication and Lying and so he goes on reckoning up foul and horrid Sins and Exhorts them to Mortifie these Sins who were to appear with Christ in Glory those who never Lived in them not at least after their Conversion is it not strange that such eminent Christians as these were should need Exhortations against such foul Sins Why there 's many a Person in a state of Nature that would count their Morals much wronged if you should be officiously importunate with them not to commit Adultery or Blasphemy not to be Covetous or Drunkards or the like this they would look upon as an Injury done to them that you should suspect such things as these are of them would not they say as Hazael did to the Prophet What are thy Servants dogs that they should do such great things as these are But the Apostle knew
a Vessel that is full of new Liquor upon the least Vent given works over into foam and froth so truly our hearts almost upon every slight trivial Temptation makes that inbred Corruption that lodgeth there swell and boil and run over into abundance of Scum and Filth in our Lives and Conversations Have we not great cause therefore to be jealous and suspicious of our selves and to keep a watchful eye over all the motions of those Bosom-Traitors our own hearts He that trusteth to his own heart says Solomon is a Fool Prov. 28.25 Certainly it were the greatest Folly in the World to trust our Hearts after so frequent experience of their Treachery and Slipperiness venture them not therefore upon Temptations What Security have you that your sinful Hearts will not sin yea and it may be betray you into such great Abominations as you cannot now think of without horrour as Men presume upon the Mercy of God to pardon their lesser Sins so they presume also upon their own strength to preserve them from greater Sins they say of small Sins is it not a little one and our Souls shall live And they say of great Sins is it not a great one and our Souls shall never commit it Alas how know you but if once you lay your head in the Lap of a Temptation these Philistines will be upon you and you like Samson think to go and shake your selves as at other times but alas your great strength is departed from you and you left a Prey to the foulest and worsâ— of Sins whatsoever And thus now you have seen in David's Prayer the besâ— Saints proneness to the worst Sins The next Thing observable is The best Saints Weakness and Inability to preserve themselves without the assistance of Divine Grace and both these namely their proneness to commit Sin and their weakness to resist it are evident Demonstrations of the general Proposition the Almighty Grace of God is their best yea and their only Security Now as the Bottom and Foundation of this present Exercise I shall lay down this Point to be treated of Doct. That it is not a Christians own but God's Power only that can preserve him from the Commission of the most daring and presumptuous Sins Advantages that men have to keep themselves from presumptuous Sins And yet truly if any Sins are easie to be resisted and overcome they are the Sins of the grosser sort for many times it is with Sins as with over-grown Bodies the vaster the Bulk of them is the less is their force and activity The Soul hath great advantage to lay hold on great Sins and to keep them off at Arms length when less Sins flip in and seize upon the heart unperceivably For First Presumptuous Sins give warning to prepare for resistance Great and presumptuous Sins seldom make an assault upon the Soul but they give warning before-hand to prepare for resistance The Stratagems of War if they are but discovered they usually prove unsuccessful as strong Liquors taking vent lose their strength and spirits so is it in this holy War also the Soul may easily foresee gross Sins and therefore may more easily avoid them If a Man feels in himself sinful Thoughts stirring and sinful Desires strugling hereupon an Assault is made and the Devil hereby gives us warning what Sins we should especially watch against Are they lascivious Thoughts Beware of Vncleanness Are they wrathful Thoughts Beware of Murther Are they murmuring thoughts Beware of Blasphemy Are they worldly Thoughts and Desires Beware of Oppression and Injustice Thus these Giant-like Sins stand forth in view and send open defiance to the Soul and bid it prepare for the Combat sinful thoughts and sinful desires go before as Armour-bearers use to go before their Champions and proclaim what great Lust is about to make an Assault upon the Soul Now such fore-warnings as these are is a great advantage that we have to repel and subdue them Job 34.32 That which I see not teach thou me And what follows Why If I have done iniquity I will do so no more When a man sees his Enemy before him this is a mighty advantage either to avoid or to conquer This Advantage now we have not against smaller Sins we cannot so easily escape sins of Ignorance because we cannot see them nor yet the Sins of our Thoughts and Desires because we cannot foresee them Who of us all knows what Thoughts will next bubble up in our Hearts whether holy and gracious or whether sinful and prophane These strike without warning and as an Enemy within rise up in the midst of our Hearts unseen Sins are of two sorts either such by which we are tempted or such to which we are tempted The Devil makes use of one Sin to tempt to another of a less to tempt to a greater â—hus wicked Thoughts are at once sins â—n themselves and also temptations unâ—o wicked Actions Now it is very hard â—nd the best Christians find it so to keep â—hemselves free from sinful Thoughts â—ecause these spring up immediately in â—he Heart without any foregoing Temâ—tations to them but while the Devil â— tempting us to sinful Actions by sinful Thoughts then the Soul hath leisure to â—ecollect it self to muster up all its â—races to set its Guards to call in Diâ—ine Help and Assistance and upon â—hese Preparations it may more easily â—esist the Sin and overcome the Tempâ—tion and that 's one great Advantage â—e have to keep our selves from preâ—mptuous Sins Secondly Natural Conscience opposeth the commission of presumptuous Sins Natural Conscience also abâ—rs more and doth more oppose these â—trageous presumptuous Sins than it â—oth those Sins that it judgeth proceed â—ly from weakness and infirmity and this so gives us a mighty Advantage to keep â—r selves from them Little Sins do not â—uch disturb the peace and quietness of Man's Conscience and therefore the â—postle speaks of himself before his Conversion in Acts 23.1 I have lived says he in all good Conscience before God until this very day And so in Phil. 3.6 Touching the Law says he speaking oâ— himself before his Conversion I waâ— blameless How could that be What blameless and unconverted and in state of Nature Yes he was not guilty of notorious scandalous Sins and aâ— for lesser Faults his Conscience over look'd them and never blam'd him foâ— them and so truly is it with many moral Man his Conscience hath not word to say against all their small anâ— petty Sins let their Hearts be sensuaâ— and their Thoughts vain and their Diâ—course unsavoury and their Lives unprofitable yet still Conscience and the live very friendly together But let thâ— Devil tempt such a sober Sinner as thâ— is to Murther or Adultery or Drunkenness or some such branded Impiety Conscience then flings Fire-brands anâ— storms and cries out with Hazaeâ— What is thy Servant a Dog that he shouâ— do such things as these are As Subjecâ— pay to their
Prince in many little Sun without grudging that which were exacted from them all at once in oâ— great Tax would make them repine if â—ot rebell so is it with us we stand â—ot with the Devil for small sins but â— he tempts us to greater abominations â—hen Conscience makes an alarm and upâ—oar in the Soul and will not nay cannot consent to damn it self by wholeâ—ale certainly that Man that can as our Saviour speaks of the Pharisees swalâ—ow Camels sins of a huge bulk and size without any check or straining at them must needs have a Conscience as wide mouth'd as Hell and he who hath so â—arge a Conscience hath no Conscience at all and that 's another advantage we have against presumptuous Sins Thirdly Fear of shame and infamy a remedy against presumptuous Sins The fear of Shame and of Infamy in the World many times puts a great restraint upon the Lusts of Men and keeps them from breaking out into those daring and presumptuous Wickednesses that otherwise they would do Therefore our Saviour describes the unjust Judge to be one of a strange temper that neither feared God nor regarded Man Luke 18.2 Why those that have worn off all fear of God from their Hearts yet usually have some awe of Man still lest them though the are so hardned that they fear not God Judging them yet they are withal â— Childish that they fear Man's Censurinâ— them loath they are that their Name should be tossed to and fro from Tonguâ— to Tongue that the World should say of them this Man is a Drunkard anâ— that Man is an Vnclean Person anâ— that Man is a Thief Tell me O Sinner why else dost thou seek Corners tâ— hide thy Wickedness in why dost thoâ— not do it in the face of the Sun and before the Eyes of the whole World why that very shame that makes Men scull in secret when they Sin had they nâ— secrecy to hide themselves in from the notice of Men it would keep them also from the Sin it self It doth not terrifie Men to Consider that God write down all their Sins in his Book of Remembrance but should he write alâ— their Sins upon their Foreheads in visible Letters that all the World might Read them where is the Wretch so impudent that would dare to be seen abroad our Streets would be desolate and your Pews would be empty and the World would grow a Wilderness and those that we took for Men would appear to be but very Monsters and Beasts such woful transformation hath Sin made in the World how many Swines are there â—wallowing in their own Vomit how many Goatish sensualists are become Brutish in Filthy Pleasures how many Earth Worms are there crawling up and down in the Muck of this World loading themselves with thick Clay certainly if every Sinner should be seen in his own shape we should meet with very few Men in the World Why now Wicked Men are ashamed to be seen abroad in such disguises as these are and therefore they study to Sin in secret or if that cannot be they force themselves to abstain from Sin unwilling they are to be pointed at in the Streets there goes a Drunkard or an Extortioner there a Cheater or an Adulterer and the like and for very fear hereof sometimes they are kept from the commission of those infamous Sins that would make them a Reproach to all their Neighbours And that is another advantage The Laws of Men keep Men from Sin Lastly The fear of Humane Laws and Penalties doth many times keep Men from the committing many great and horrid Impieties such as would fall undeâ— the notice of the Law It is a great Mercy that God hath Instituted Magistracy that may be a Terrour to Evil Works as the Apostle speaks Rom. 3.13 were it not more for fear of Humane Laws the inflicting of Corporal Punishment upon Men more than God's Threatning of Eternal Punishments the wholâ— World would become worse than a Savage Wilderness within would be Fear and Tumults without would be Ragâ— and Violence our Dwellings our Persons our Possessions would be all exposed to the furious lusts of ungodlâ— Men and by swearing and lying anâ— killing and stealing and committing aduâ—tery Men would break forth till blooâ— toucheth blood as the Prophet speaks Hoâ— 4.2 but the wise Providence of God who hath subdued the Beasts of the Eartâ— to Man hath also subdued Man whâ— else would become more wild and brâ—tish than they to Man God hath therâ—fore subdued Man to Man so that thoâ— that stand not in any awe of the Goâ— of Heaven yet are they awed by the Gods of the Earth and they whom the thoughts of Hell and Eternal Wrath cannot scare from sin yet many times the thoughts of a Prison and Gibbet doth Now this fear is of great advantage to keep Men from the commission of presumptuous Sins which they have not to keep them from the commission of lesser and smaller sins and what is not this security enough against them is there need of any more were it not strange if that warning given before-hand to prepare for resistance if the reluctancy of natural Conscience if the shame of the World and the fears of humane Laws and Penalties should not be sufficient to preserve us from them Were not this strange Yes it were so yet so it is notwithstanding all these advantages still we have great cause to pray with David Lord keep back thy servants from â—resumptuous Sins all other defence is â—ut weak and all other security is but â—nsafe Lord therefore do thou keep us â—nd this I shall endeavour to demonstrate â—nto you by two particulars the one â—rom Scripture and the other from Experience First from Scripture All our ability whether for the performance of duties or for the opposing of corruption is in Scripture entirely ascribed unto the power of God thus the Apostle exhorts the Ephesians in Chap. 6.10 My Brethren says he be strong but in whom what in your selves no says he but be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might for in his Almighty Power though mighty corruptions rush in upon you and threaten your ruin though the Devil and the Powers of Hell push sore at you to make you fall yet God calls upon you to stand and to withstand them all stand alas how can we Such poor weak feeble creatures as we are how can we stand Why says the Apostle be strong in the Lord there 's your security against all the force of your Spiritual Enemies lay hold on his Almighty Power and engage that for you and this will bring you off the Field with victory and conquest So again in 2 Cor. 5. and 3. We are not sufficient says the Apostle of our selves to do any thing as of our selves not sufficient to think a good thought and therefore not sufficient to resist an evil thought for our resisting of an evil thought must be by thinking a good
Monsters rather that boast of such things as make them more like Devils than Men and yet even to this height of profligate impudence will presumptuous sins lead you but let all such know God is resolved to try the foreheads of these Men at the last and great day of Judgment and in despight of all their swaggering and boldness shame and everlasting confusion shall cover their Faces as impudent as they are now Thirdly Consider this what a fearful thing it will be if God should cut off such Men in the very act of some presumptuous sin without affording them any time and space of repentance and have they any security that God will not what promise have they that God will forbear them one moment longer nay they have been often told that God will make a speedy end with them that he will take them away as with a Whirlwind living and in his wrath as it is in Psalm 57.9 and therefore he strikes not without giving them warning enough though he strikes suddenly God hath two chief Attributes that he especially â—ims to glorifie in all his transactions with Men his Mercy and his Justice these are the two great hinges upon which all the frame of his Providence moves the mighty affairs of Eternal Election and Reprobation were first agitated out of design to magnifie Mercy and Justice and all temporal concernments are governed in such a way as may most advance these two Attributes of Mercy and Justice why now Mercy hath already had a large share of glory in forbearing after so many provocations in waiting so long to be gracious staying year after year expecting your Repentance and if you contemn the Riches of God's Grace and Mercy still have you not Reason to fear it will be the Turn of Justice to deal with you next And believe it the commission of presumptuous Sins gives God a fair Opportunity to glorifie his Justice upon you to the utmost and why should you think God will lose such an Advantage All the World must needs fall down and with trembling adore the just severity of God when they see a notorious Sinner cut off in the very act of some notorious and presumptuous wickedness in Deuteron 17.12 13 when a presumptuous Sinner is punished says God all the People shall hear and fear and do no more presumptuously and if so much glory will accrew to God by destroying you why then should he spare you one moment longer than your next sin this is the best use he can make of presumptuous Sinners even to set them up as examples and monuments of his wrath and vengeance to terrifie others and why should you think then since his Mercy hath been glorified already to you in waiting and forbearing so long that he will not upon the next sin you commit glorifie his Justice also it may be God hath begun to deal thus already with some of you in the very midst of your sins hath not the hand writing of some remarkable judgment appeared against you hath not God smitten some of you in your Persons in your Estates or in your Relations well take Christ's counsel sin no more least a worst thing befal â—ou least the next provocation he strike you through and sink you to Hell Oh consider what a fearful thing it is while your Souls are all on flame in the commission of sin then for God to hurl them down into everlasting and unâ—uenchable fire as he may take just occasion and advantage to do for the glorifying of his Justice Fourthly Consider this It is hard to bring presumptuous Sinners to Repentance It is very hard to bring presumptuous Sinners to reformation and repentance the first step to evangelical sorrow is legal terrour which the Spirit of God works by convincing the Sinner of judgment and wrath to come but now tell a presumptuous Sinner what judgment and wrath â—s due to him that it is impossible for him to escape the vengeance of God that justice will over-take him read to him all the curses contained in the Book of God and tell him that they are all entailed upon his sin this moves him not he knew and considered all this before a presumptuous Sinner must be a knowing Sinner he knows what Hell is as well as ever any Man did that hath not felt it he knows what a precious Soul he destroys how glorious a Heaven he forfeits what dreadful condemnation he exposeth himself to he knows all this and yet he sins and though this were enough one would think to daunt a Devil yet he breaks through all this knowledge to his own lusts again the Apostle speaks of such in Romans 1.32 who knows the Judgments of God that they that commit such things are worthy of death yet presumptuously continue in the commission of such sins now what hope is there of reforming and reclaiming such as these are that sin after they have cast up their accounts what it will cost them certainly they that dare sin when they see Hell before them there is no hope that they will leave sinning till they see Hell flaming round about them and themselves in the midst of it Now then though these presumptuous Sins being in their nature and aggravations so hainous yet are the best Christians exceeding prone to commit them When the Sea is tempestuous did we only stand safe upon the shoar it were enough to behold the woful Shipwracks of others with that horror and commiseration that such a spectacle deserves but when we are tossed in the same tempest and see some split against Rocks and others swallowed up of quick sands unto which naturally the stream strongly carries us also truly then our pity and detestation of their dangers our horrour and consternation of their ruin is not sufficient without great care and diligence for our own security and preservation Therefore O Christians look to your selves the glorified Saints in Heaven see the dangers they have escaped with praise and the dangers others fall into with pity but thou O Christian art not yet got to shore still thou sailest upon the same Sea wherein most do perish even the raging Sea of Corruption which is yet made more raging by the storms of temptation and if thou seest many that are bound Heaven-ward make Shipwrack of Faith and a good Conscience it is not enough for thee to slight their dangers or to censure and pity their miscarriages but fear thou also least the same corruptions and temptations overwhelm and drown thee in the same Perdition this is the Apostle's caution 1 Cor. 10.12 Let him that thinks he stands take heed least he fall and in Rom. 11.20 Thou standest by Faith be not high-minded but fear And indeed because of that violent inclination that is in all unto Sin there is no state in this Life so perfect as to make this Exhortation useless and unseasonable David himself Prays for restraining Grace Keep back thy Servant from presumptuous Sins
by shortning their lives and yet are there none of us that wish our lives were prolonged to a thousand years were it possible not that we might have a longer time and space to repent but that we might the longer enjoy our sins why if God should grant your wish and keep you alive till the day of Judgment would not that day become a thousand fold more gloomy and dreadful to us than if God had cut us off at the ordinary time and age and therefore it is a great favour that God vouchsafes both to the Elect and to Reprobates in that since the Flood he hath cut short the days of Man upon Earth for hereby the Elect come to enjoy the Glory and Happiness of Heaven the sooner and Reprobates feel the Torments and Punishments of Hell the lighter Providence by a speedy dispatch preventing those Sins that otherwise would sink them the deeper into Condemnation Providence prevents Sin in men by shortning of mens Power Secondly God providentially keeps Men from sinning if not by shortning their Lives yet by cutting short their Power whereby they should be enabled to commit Sin All that power that wicked men have to sin it is either from themselves or from their wicked Associates whom they make use of as instruments for the accomplishment of their Impieties but Providence can strike them in both and thereby give their Lusts a miscarrying Womb and dry Breasts Sometimes God by his Providence cuts off their evil Instruments and thereby disables them from sinning sometimes their instruments for Counsel thus Providence by over-ruling Absalom to reject the Counsel of Achitophel prevents all that Mischief that so wise and so wicked a Statesman might have contrived and thereupon he goes and hangs himself Sometimes he cuts off their Instruments of Execution and so God disappointed the hopes of blaspheming Rabshekah sent an Angel that in one night kills almost two hundred thousand of the Assyrians dead on the place Certainly it is great folly for men upon confidence of their wise and powerful Instruments to set themselves up against that God that can without or against all Means and Instruments confound their Designs and frustrate all their Enterprizes And as God thus strikes their Instruments so sometimes he strikes their Persons and takes from them the use of those natural Faculties by which they should be enabled to commit their Sins sometimes he hides their Wits from them and besots them so he did to the Jews John 7.30 They sought to apprehend Jesus Why who did hinder them Was he not there among them Was there not enough of them to do it Yes there was but yet they only stand gazing at him like men besotted till he escaped away from them Sometimes God hides away their hands from them and enfeebles them as in Psal 76.5 None of the mighty men have found their hands God had benumm'd them and laid their hands out of the way when they should have used them The Sodomites you know swarm'd thick about Lot's House intending Villainy to his Guests and God smites them with Blindness that they grope for the door even at Noon-day Jeroboam stretcheth out his hand against the Prophet and God suddenly withers it This is God's frequent course with wicked men when he doth not subdue their Wills yet he oftentimes subdues their power of sinning yea and possibly although we have not such frequent instances of it God may deal thus sometimes with his own Children Thus he hath threatned or promised rather to his Church that he will hedge up her way with Thorns that she should not be able to break through to her Idols as formerly she had done so you have it in Hos 2.6 And indeed it is a great Mercy that God doth take away that power from men that he sees they will only abuse to their own destruction It is not Cruelty but Compassion that chains up mad-men and takes from them those Swords Arrows and Fire-brands that else they would hurl up and down abroad both to their own and others Mischiefs and so it is God's common pity to Sinners that are very Mad-men that fetters and chains them up and lays such a powerful restraint upon them by his Providence that where their wills are not defective yet their power to execute Sin should be What would wicked men think if God should now suddenly strike them dumb or blind or lame or impotent would they not judge this a heavy Judgment inflicted upon them they would so and yet believe it it were better for them that God should strike them dumb upon the place than that they should ever open their Mouths more to blaspheme and rail at God and his People better they were struck blind than that the Devil and vile Lusts should enter into the Soul by those Casements better that God should maim them than that they should have strength to commit those Sins that if but will'd will damn them but if executed will sink their Souls seven-fold deeper into condemnation Now the Providence of God by taking away ther power prevents their wickedness and so mercifully mitigates their condemnation Providence raiseth up another Power to oppose sinners Thirdly Sometimes God keeps men from the commission of Sin by raising up another power against that by which the Sinner is to execute his Sin Thus when Saul would have put Jonathan to Death for breaking a rash Vow that himself had made God raiseth up the Spirits of the People to rescue him and they plainly tell him Jonathan shall not die The Jews hated Christ and would have killed him but that they feared the People whom his Miracles had obliged to him so that they durst not venture upon him till his Hour was come Providence sometimes prevents Sin by some seasonable diversion Fourthly Sometimes Providence casts in some seasonable diversion that turns them off from the Commission of that Sin that they intended When they are hotly pursuing their wickedness Providence starts some other Game for them and sets them upon some other Work Thus it fared with Antiochus in Dan. 11.30 He sets himself against the Holy Covenant but for all his Rage against it he shall return into his own Land says God for the Ships of Shittim shall come against him and the Ships of the Romans and instead of invading others Dominions he must return to defend his own thus God diverted him from his Design of ruining the Jews And sometimes where God doth not dry up the Spring of Corruption yet he turns the streams of it which way he pleaseth As a skilful Physician when one part of the Body is oppressed with ill humours he draws it to another part that is less dangerous so God by his Providence turns men from the commission of a greater to a lesser Sin Thus he over-ruled Joseph's Brethren they consulted to cast him into a Pit and there to let him starve unless he could feed upon his Dream of Wheat-sheaves
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
iâ— we believe and repent and the other Covenant bestows this Faith and Repentance upon us The Conditional Covenant promiseth Pardon of sin and Salvation if we believe and repent and the absolute Covenant promiseth Faith and Repentance to us to inable us to believe and repent And what could God do more that might farther express the freeness of his Grace to us than to pardon upon Condition of Faith and Repentance which Faith and Repentance he works in us This is to pardon us as freely as if he had pardon'd us without any Faith and Repentance at all God pardons great sinners and passeth by those that are guilty of less Seventhly God sometimes selects out the greatest and most notorious Sinners to vouchsafe Grace and Pardon to them when he suffers others eternally to perish under far less guilt He makes a difference in his Proceedings quite contrary to the difference he finds in Mens Demerits And wherefore is this but only to shew forth the absolute freeness of his Grace greater Debts are blotted out when smaller stand still upon the account only that it may be known that God is free to do what he will with his own and that he will shew mercy to whom he will shew mercy and whom he will he pardons How many Heathens Men of improved Natural Endowments and proportionable Virtues and yet not having Faith in and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ are excluded from pardon and forgiveness whose sins rather shew them to be Men than not to be Christians Whereas others under the Noon-tide of the Gospel are guilty of such flagitious Crimes that shew them to be Monsters rather than Men and yet these upon their Faith and Repentance obtain Pardon and Remission as if it were with God as it is with Men the more there is to be remembred the sooner he forgets It is these Riches of Pardoning Grace that St. Paul admires and adores when he tells us concerning himself I was a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and Injurious but I obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1.13 God pardons without foresight of Merit Eighthly God decrees to pardon without foresight of Merit or worth in us When we lay before him as the Objects of his Mercy what was our posture but weltering in our Bloud And what promising Aspect was such a loathsome Object as this Divine Love did not foresee any attractive Comeliness in us but made it when we were rolled up in our own Filth cast forth to the loathing of our Flesh yet then was it a time of Love and even then when we were in our Bloud God said to us Live when we were full of Wounds Bruises and putrifying Sores Divine Love condescended to bind them up and cure them such miserable deformed Creatures were we And could there be any thing amiable in such an Object as this only hereby God puts an accent on the Riches of his Love laying it out upon such as were not worthy with a design to make them worthy God pardons sin though he foresees we will commit more sin Ninthly Consider this God pardons not only though he saw no Merit in us but what is more to the Glory of his free Grace though he foresaw many future wrongs and injuries would be added to those we had already done He foresaw all our Provocations and Rebellions how we would abuse his Grace and turn it into wantonness He saw the Rebellions of our unregeneracy the Infirmities of our Converted State yet tho' he foresaw all before they were yet he resolved not to see them when they are Numb 23.21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob nor perverseness in Israel And this though it ought not to encourage us in sin yet it may be a support and comfort to us when through weakness and infirmity we have sinned that God who loved us and decreed to pardon us when he foresaw how sinful we would be will not certainly now cease to love us and pardon us when we are as vile and sinful as he foresaw we would be Tenthly The Lord Jesus Christ Christ by whom alone we are paron'd is the Gift of God by whom alone we are pardon'd is freely given to us by the Father What price could we have offer'd to have brought down the Son of his Eternal Love from his Embraces What was there in us to draw a Saviour out of Heaven Were we so amiable as to move him to divest himself of his Glory and to Eclipse his Deity in our Mortal Bodies only that he might become like such poor Worms as we are and take us unto himself Ask no more but admire God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting Life Here 's a Mystery that the whole College of Angels can never comprehend What God Condemn his Son that he might pardon Rebels The Son of God blot his Deity in our Flesh only that he might blot out our Transgressions with his Bloud This is such transcendent free Grace and Love that in this we have an Advantage above the Angels themselves standing higher in the Favour of God upon this account than they do Now compact all these Ten Particulars in your thoughts together wherein the freeness of pardoning Grace most illustriously appears and you will find there is good reason for God in the Text triumphantly to ascribe to himself I even I am he that blotteth out your Transgressions The Application I shall make of this Truth I shall only briefly mention First VSE We must not sin because of pardoning Grace Is the Pardoning Grace of God thus free Take heed then that you do not abuse or turn it into Wantonness Shall we continue in sin because God so freely pardons sin God forbid Who would ever make such a cursed Inference as this that ever had the least sense or touch of Divine Love upon his Heart Every one loves to have his Ears tickled with this soft sweet downy Doctrine of God's free Grace and Love and when they hear it they stretch themselves upon it and lull themselves fast asleep in sin But what says the wise Man Prov. 25.27 It is not good to eat much honey No there is no such dangerous Surfeit as upon the sweet and luscious Truths of the Gospel This Honey leaves a deadly sting in Men that abuse it to encourage themselves in sin It is such disingenuity to argue from freeness of pardon to freedom in sinning that I dare say That no Heart that ever had a pardon sealed to it by the Witness of the Spirit of God but utterly abhors it What therefore to provoke God because he is ready to forgive What to multiply sin because God is ready to pardon What is this but to spurn at those Bowels of Mercy that yern towards us and even to strike at God with that Golden Scepter that he holds out to us as a Token of Love and Peace Certainly
against the pursuits of avenging Justice This is its formal and most immediate Effect Justice follows guilty Sinners close at the Heels and shakes its flaming Sword over their Heads every Threatning contained in this Book of God stands ready charged against them and their Sins make them so fair a Mark that they cannot be missed Hence is that sad Complaint of Job Why hast thou set me up as a Mark Into which he emptied his Arrows as into his Reins Job 7.20 Now while Justice is driving the Sinner before him from Plague to Plague resolving never to stop till he hath driven him into Hell the great Assembly and Meeting of all Plagues Mercy interposeth and lays its Arrest upon it and this Gracious Act of Pardon rescues us though under the hands of the Executioner and we ready to be turned into Hell Here the Challenge that Justice makes to us ceaseth and we are left to walk safely under the protection of Mercy For when God issues out a Pardon he calls off Justice from its pursuit Thus you have the Psalmist thankfully acknowledging Psalm 85.2 Thou hast forgiven our Iniquities and what follows now Thou hast taken away all thy Wrath thou hast turned thy self from the fierceness of thine Anger Nor is it to be feared O Soul that thou shalt evermore be questioned for those sins that are once forgiven thee God's Acts of Oblivion can never be repealed No God sets an everlasting Sanction upon them and Justice shall never again molest thee Jeremiah 34. I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more And indeed well may Divine Justice cease its pursuit of the guilty sinner for always when God pardons a sinner he turns his pursuit after Christ and satisfies all his just demands upon him for though we are the Principals in the Debt yet our Surety who stands bound for us in the Covenant of Redemption is far the more able and absolving Person Now is not this an unspeakable mercy that Justice and Vengeance the heavy stroaks of which many thousand Wretches lie under and which thy sins have provoked and armed against thy own Soul that might every sin thou committest that is every moment of thy Life strike thee Dead in the place in the dread of which if thou hast any tenderness of Conscience left in thee thou must needs live in continual fearful expectations of this Wrath of God to destroy thee as his Enemy Is it not now Infinite Mercy that God should call in the Commission given to his Justice that Mercy might secure thee from it What is this but the effect of Pardoning Grace that gives this destroyer charge to pass over all those upon whose Consciences the Bloud of Christ is sprinkled for the removal of their guilt Peace and Reconciliation an Effect of pardon of sin Secondly Another Blessed Effect of Pardon of Sin is Peace and Reconciliation with God And what happiness can there be greater than when the Quarrel betwixt Heaven and Earth betwixt God and the Sinner is taken up and compounded Open Wars have been long proclaimed and long maintained on either part ever since the first great Rebellion Man hath stood in defiance with and exercised great Hostility against his Creatour and God on the other hand hath thundred out whole Peals of Curses against these Rebels and hath slain whole Generations of them eternally Dead upon the place God hath still maintain'd his Cause with Victory and Man his with Obstinacy and this War would never cease did not God proclaim Pardon and Forgiveness to all that will lay down their Arms and submit Now hereupon Peace is concluded fully for first God's pardoning Sinners manifests himself to be fully reconciled to them so the Apostle tells us Rom. 5.1 Being Justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God is a sworn Enemy to all guilty sinners himself hath affixed this Title to the rest of his Name That he will by no means clear the guilty Guilt hath a malign influence not only on our Consciences to discompose them with Terrours and Affrightments but on God's Countenance also to ruffle it into Frowns and Displeasure Now when God pardons sin he wipes away this over-casting Cloud and the cause of Enmity being removed his Face and Favour clears up to us And then Secondly Pardon of Sin is a strong Inducement to us to lay down the Weapons of our Warfare and be at peace with God What Argument can be more prevailing where there is any Principle of Ingenuity When God thus proclaims Peace shall I continue War He Pardons and shall I Rebel He is Reconciled and shall I be Implacable Shall I persist in those sins which he forgives No far be it from me I submit to that God whose rich Grace conquers by condescending as well as his Power by crushing And thus the Soul lays down its Weapons at the Feet of God and humbly embraceth the terms of Agreement propounded by him in the Gospel Pardon of sin lays a good foundation for Acquaintance and Communion with God Thirdly Pardon of Sin lays a good Foundation for the Souls near Acquaintance and Communion with God Guilt is the only thing that breeds Alienation Your Iniquities says the Prophet have separated betwixt you and your God Isa 59.2 Nor indeed is it possible that a guilty Sinner should any more delight in Conversing with God than a guilty Malefactour delights in the presence of his Judge And therefore we see when Adam had contracted guilt upon himself by eating the Forbidden Fruit how childishly and foolishly doth he behave himself God calls him and he runs behind a Tree to hide himself what a suddain change was here Adam who but a little before was his Creator's Familiar now dreads and shuns him his guilt makes him apprehend God's Call to be no other than a Summons to the Bar. Nor indeed can it be otherwise but that guilt should produce Alienation betwixt God and the Soul for look how distance grows between two familiar Friends so doth it here If a Man be Conscious to himself that he hath done his Friend an Injury what Influence hath this upon him why presently it makes him more shy and reserved to him than before So is it here Consciousness of guilt fills us with a troublesome ill-natur'd shame we are ashamed to look God in the Face whom we have so much wronged by our sins And Secondly this shame is always joyned with a slavish and base fear of God lest he should Revenge himself upon us for the Injuries that we have done to him and both this Shame and Fear takes off from that holy freedom and boldness which reverently to use towards God is the gust and Spirit of our Communion and Fellowship with him and all these lessen that sweet Delight in God that formerly we relisht in the Intimacy of this Heavenly Fellowship And what can be the final product of all this but a most sad