had never been born or made in a lower Rank of Creatures uncapable of Damnation According to the Conviction of the Greatness of our Misery our Longings will be for Deliverance The Desire accomplish'd is a Tree of Life The Tree of Life was in the midst of Paradise the Centre of its Pleasures According to the Degrees of our Desires such is the Sweetness of Fruition Now when the Soul is overwhelm'd with the fearful Apprehensions of everlasting Death how ardent are the Desires of Pardon how unsatisfied without it and what Impressions of Joy are felt from the sealing its Pardon Solomon tells us That good News from a far Country is like cooling Water to one burnt up with Thirst. How much more refreshing is the Testimony of the blessed Comforter from Heaven to one fainting in the Estuations of Conscience that his Sins are pardoned David expresses his Valuation and earnest Longing for the Favour of God and his joyful Sense of it There be many that say Who will shew us any Good Lord lift up the Light of thy Countenance upon me Thou hast put Gladness in my Heart more than in the time that their Corn and Wine increased An inward cordial Joy that far exceeds the counterfeit Joy in the Countenance that ends in Heaviness Now the thankful Sense of a Benefit is correspondent to the joyful Sense of it and the joyful according to our languishing longing after it Fervent Prayer for the pardoning Mercy of God and a frozen Acknowledgment of it are utterly inconsistent There is no Joy in the World so sensible and affecting as the Joy of one saved from present Death A condemned Man values and rejoices more in receiving two Lines where his Pardon is contained than in the Conveyance of a Kingdom Hezekiah when under the Sentence of Death in his Sickness how passionate were his Addresses for Recovery how exuberant were his Joy and Thankfulness for his Rescue from perishing The living the living he shall praise thee as I do this day He resolves to renew the Praises of his gracious Preserver every day The Lord saved me therefore we will sing my Songs to the stringed Instruments all the Days of our Life in the House of the Lord. Had he so quick and warm a Sense of the Divine Mercy that saved him from the Grave how much more ardent should our Acknowledgments be for the saving us from Hell If we have the Feeling of Sin as we have of Sickness and are as duly sensible how much the Life of the Soul our excellent and immortal Part is to be preferred before the Life of the frail and perishing Body our Joy and Thankfulness would be in the highest Elevation in remembring forgiving Mercy This will be the Argument of the high and everlasting Praise of God in Heaven I shall conclude with this Advice Let us not content our selves with verbal Acknowledgments of this real and glorious Benefit Let our Thanksgiving be joined with Thanksdoing then we shall be accepted Of this we have the most comforting Assurance from God himself He that offers Praise glorifies me and to him that orders his Conversation aright I will shew the Salvation of God FINIS BOOKS writ by William Bates D.D. and sold by B. Aylmer THE Harmony of the Divine Attributes in the Contrivance and Accomplishment of Man's Redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ Or Discourses wherein is shewed how the Wisdom Mercy Justice Holiness Power and Truth of God are glorified in that great and blessed Work Considerations of the Existence of God and of the Immortality of the Soul with the Recompences of the future State To which is now added The Divinity of the Christian Religion c. The Four Last Things Death and Judgment Heaven and Hell practically considered and applied The Danger of Prosperity discovered in several Sermons The great Duty of Resignation in Times of Affliction c. A Funeral-Sermon on Dr. Thomas Manton who deceased October 18 1677. With the last publick Sermon Dr. Manton preached The Sure Trial of Uprightness opened in several Sermons upon Psal. 18. v. 23. A Description of the blessed Place and State of the Saints above on John 14.2 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Clarkson The Way to the highest Honour on John 12.26 Preached at the Funeral of Dr. Jacomb The speedy Coming of Christ to Judgment on Rev. 22.12 Preached at the Funeral of Mr. Benj. Ashhurst A Sermon on the Death of the Late Queen Mary Ver. 3. Isa. 43. Mal. 3. Mic. 7. Psal. 86. Rom. 8. Rom. 10. Psal. 32. Luke 24. Rom. 8. Acts 5. Jonah 2. Jam. 3.10 Luke 2. 1 Tim. 1. Isa. 6. 2 Cor. 5. Phil. 3. Ephes. 2. Rom. 4. Jer. 7.16 Hos. 14. 2 Cor. 5. 1 John 1. Heb. 6.18 Joh. 8.24 Hos. 11.8 Prov. 1. Lam. 3. Acts 11. Ephes. 2. Rom. 8. Prov. 9. ult John 5. Gen. 6. Ephes. 2. Rom. 8. Psal. 103. Mich. 7. Jer. 31.34 Heb. 9.14 Cor. 11. Heb. 12. Mal. 3. Mic. 7. Rom. 1. Deut. 29. Prov. 29. Psal. 116. Exod. 33. Mic. 7. Hos. 11. Isa. 43.25 1 Tim. 1. Prov. 28.13 Alitur vitium vivitque tegendo Psal. 32.2 Gen. 3.10 Exod. 32. 1 Sam. 15.15 Jer. 31. Psal. 73. * Nam pro jucundis aptissimae quaeque dabunt Dii charior est illis homo quam sibi Juven Lev. 5.13 Gal. 5. Mark 11.25 26. Psal. 103.1 2. Psal. 32.1 Acts 26.18 Psal. 48. 2 Sam. 24.24 Isa. 33. ult Psal. 118. Psal. 5. Isa. 38.19 Ver. 20. Psal. 50. ult
the Power to pardon is an Efflux of Supremacy and incommunicable to the Subject A Prince that invests another with an absolute Power to pardon must either relinquish his Soveraignty or take an Associate to share in it This Pretence of the Papists is such a lame Evasion as that which they are forced to make use of to clear themselves from the Charge of Idolatry in their Worship of Angels and Saints their Excuse is that their Worship of Angels and Saints is inferiour in degree and imperfectly divine as if there could be different Degrees in Divine Worship which is absolutely and necessarily supreme The Ministers of the Gospel have only a declarative Power as Heralds or Embassadors to propose the Terms of the Gospel for the obtaining Pardon and to apply the Promise of Pardon to those who appear qualified for it But to pronounce and dispense Pardon they have no judicial Authority for 't is not presumeable that the wise God should invest Men with that Authority which they are utterly incapable to exercise 2 dly God is ready to forgive The Power to pardon without an Inclination to it affords no Relief in the Agonies of an accusing Conscience and the Terrors of eternal Judgment The merciful Will of God declared in his Word is the Foundation of our blessed Hope and encourages us in our Requests before his Throne For thou Lord art good and ready to forgive and plenteous in Mercy unto all that call upon thee The Attribute of which Pardon is an Emanation is usually exprest by Grace and Mercy 'T is said the Grace of God that brings Salvation has appeared unto all Men We are saved by Grace Grace implies free Favour There is in this respect a Difference between Love and Grace Love may be set upon an Object worthy of it The primary Object of God's Love is himself whose excellent and amiable Perfections are worthy of infinite Love The Love of Parents to Children is a Duty most clearly natural and Duty lessens the Desert of performing it but Grace is exclusive of all Merit and Dignity in the Subject and of all Obligation in the Person that shews it God's most free preventing Grace is exercised without any Motive in us that deserves it The Grace of God may be consider'd as exercised in our Creation and our Redemption In the Creation it was absolutely free for Angels and Men were in the State of nothing there was only a Possibility of their Being Now there could be no attractive Merit before their Existence 'T is true Goodness is glorified and crown'd by communicating The World is a bright Efflux of the Divine Glory but this does not lessen the free Goodness of the Maker There was no Constraint upon God to make the World for his declarative Glory for his essential Glory is truly infinite and wants no external Appearance to make it compleat The Universal Church pays humble Homage to the Great Creator acknowledging that for his Will and Pleasure all things were created The Divine Goodness to Angels and Man in their Original Purity was Grace for altho the Image of God shining in them was attractive of his Approbation and Acceptance yet they deserved no Benefits from him there is such an infinite Distance and Disproportion between God and the Creatures that they cannot by a common Right claim any thing as due from his Majesty Besides he is the productive and conservative Cause of all their active Powers and the Efficacy of them The creating Goodness of God is eclips'd in the Comparison with his saving Grace The first supposes us without any Deserts of his Favour but this supposes our exceedingly bad Deserts The first was free but this is merciful and healing Grace Mercy revives and restores us when deservedly miserable This Grace and Mercy is of so pure a Nature that the most tender humane Inclinations to relieve the Afflicted are mix'd with Self-interest compared with the Mercy of God towards us Our Bowels relent and Affections are melting at the sight of Persons in deep Misery But there is an inward and unvoluntary Constraint of Nature that excites such feeling Resentments and our Compassion is moved by Reflection upon our selves considering that in this open State we are liable to many Disasters and wounding Sorrows but God is infinitely free from all disturbing Passions and exempted from all possible Evils To represent the immense Love and Mercy of God in its endearing Circumstances and to demonstrate his Readiness to forgive we must consider what he has done in order to his pardoning Sinners 1. If we consider God as the supreme Lawgiver and Judg of the World as the Protector of Righteousness and Goodness and the Revenger of all Disorders in his moral Government it became him not to pardon Sinners without the punishing Sin in such a manner as might satisfy his injur'd Justice and vindicate the Honour of his despised Law and declare most convincingly his Hatred against Sin Now for these great Ends he decreed to send his Son from his Bosom to assume our Nature and to suffer the contumelious Calamity of the Death on the Cross to make a Propitiation for our Sins This was the Contrivance of his high Wisdom which the most enlightned Angels had no presaging Notions of Now can there be a more clear Evidence and convincing Reality that God is ready to forgive Sins than the giving his only begotten Son a Person so great and so dear the Heir of his Love and Glory to be a Sacrifice that he might spare us In this Dispensation Love was the regent leading Attribute to which his Wisdom Justice and Power were subordinate they were in exercise for the more glorious Illustration of his Mercy We have the strongest Argument of God's Love in the Death of his Son for our Pardon was the end of it From hence 't is evident that God is more willing to dispense his pardoning Mercy than Sinners are to receive it 2. God's Readiness to forgive appears in the gracious and easy Terms prescribed in the Gospel for the obtaining Pardon There are two ways of Justification before God and they are like two Ways to a City One is direct and short but deep and unpassable the other lies in a Circuit but will bring a Person safe to the Place Thus there is a Justification of an innocent Person by Works that secures him from the Charge of the Law and a Justification of a Sinner by Faith in our all-sufficient Saviour The first was a short way to Man in the State of Integrity the second such is the Distance of the Terms takes a Compass There is a shorter Passage from Life to Action than from Death to Life There is no Hope or Possibility of our legal Justification The Apostle saith That which the Law could not do in that it was weak through the Flesh God sending his own Son in the Likeness of sinful Flesh and for Sin condemned Sin in the Flesh. The Expiation of
every day The Scripture gives an Account why Execution is respited The Lord is not slack as some Men count Slackness but is long-suffering to us ward not willing that any should perish but that all should come to Repentance He waits to be gracious and spares Men in order to their Salvation 5. It appears that God is ready to forgive in that upon the first Suit of humble and penitent Believers he presently pardons them If we consider how long Men continue in a Course of voluptuous or profitable Sins how many Repulses to the Offers of Mercy they are guilty of it might justly be expected that God should with Disdain reject their Petitions or not be intreated without a long Exercise of Repentance and continued submissive and earnest Solicitations for his Mercy But the King of Heaven keeps no State the Throne of Grace is always open and accessible to humble Penitents When their Hearts are prepar'd his Ear is inclin'd to hear them David after his commission of very foul Sins and long continuing in a State of Impenitency yet upon his melting in the Sense of his Wickedness and Resolution to humble himself by a mournful Acknowledgment of it he was restor'd to the Divine Favour I said I would confess my Sins and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin Repenting Ephraim is an admirable Instance of God's relenting Bowels to Sinners I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustom'd to the Yoke Turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God Surely after I was turned I repented and after that I was instructed I smote upon my Thigh I was ashamed yea even confounded because I did bear the Reproach of my Youth Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child for since I spake against him I earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have Mercy on him saith the Lord. The Prodigal upon his Resolution to return to his Father and debase himself as utterly unworthy of being received as a Son while he was in the way his Father saw him at a distance and ran to him fell on his Neck and kiss'd him and entirely forgave his past Rebellion The Soul-wounded Publican said Lord be merciful to me a Sinner and was justified rather than the proud Pharisee 6. 'T is a convincing Argument that God is ready to forgive Sin in that he affords Grace to Men to prepare them for his pardoning Mercy Repentance and Faith are sacred Plants that do not spring from our Earth but have their Roots in Heaven God gives Repentance unto Life Faith is not of our selves 't is the Gift of God In our corrupt State Sin is natural to Man and hath entirely possess'd all his leading Faculties The carnal Mind is Enmity against God and judges according to the carnal Affections which deprave it The Will is rebellious and strongly inclin'd to charming Lusts Temptations are so numerous and delightful that Sinners will venture to be miserable for ever to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin that die in the tasting 'T is true such are the inviolable Inclinations of the humane Nature to Happiness that no Man can love undisguised Death nor choose Damnation for it self yet the Affection to Sin is so over-ruling that they will not forsake it tho complicated with Death The Wisdom of God tells us Those that hate me love Death i. e. constructively Our Saviour compassionately reproves the Jews Ye will not come to me that ye may have Life This is the Cause of their remaining in a State of Guilt for ever Now such is the Mercy of God that he gives his Spirit to assist Men by his illuminating preventing restraining and exciting Grace to forsake their Sins that they may be saved and if they did faithfully improve the lower degrees of Grace tho they can claim nothing by right he would from his good Pleasure afford them more Grace but they are so averse from God and strongly bent to the present World that they so long resist the pure Motions of Grace in their Hearts till the Gales of the Spirit expire and revive no more according to that terrible Threatning My Spirit shall no longer strive with Man for he is Flesh. Besides the common Grace afforded to natural Men there is a Super-effluence of Grace bestowed upon some to convert them which infallibly obtains its end Those who are the Patrons of Free Will methinks should allow that God is Master of his own Will and the free Dispenser of his own Grace This special Grace works powerfully yet conveniently to the reasonable Nature There is no Charm so sweet no Constraint so strong as the Operation of it For the Understanding is convinc'd by so clear and strong a Light of our being undone for ever without God's pardoning Mercy that his Loving-kindness is better than Life and this is represented to the Will with that powerful Application that the Will certainly chooses it When there is a Wavering and Indifferency of the Will to a propounded Object 't is either from some Defects in the Object or in the Apprehension of it but when the supreme Good is so represented that it fills all the Capacities of the Soul the Will as certainly embraces it as one that is burnt up with Thirst and near a cool Stream stoops and drinks to quench it The Holy Spirit who knows the manner of his own Operations expresses the Efficacy of them in the Resemblances of the Creation and Resurrection wherein the Divine Power cannot be frustrate yet 't is so congruous to the Frame of Man's Nature that the Freedom of the Will is then in its most noble Exercise Men are drawn to Christ by the Teachings of God not by over-ruling Violence upon their Faculties but by Instruction and Perswasion sutable to them Now from hence 't is evident that all the Persons in the Godhead concur in bestowing this admirable Blessing the Pardon of our Sins they all willingly join in this undivided Work tho with different Operations The Father pronounces our Pardon from the Throne his Majesty shines without Diminution or Condescension of his Person in forgiving us The Son purchased our Pardon by the sacred Treasure of his Blood The Holy Spirit qualifies us and applies the Pardon of our Sins to us 3. I now come to the third general Head that God is abundant in Forgiveness This God has declar'd in Words so full and expressive as may exceedingly satisfy the most tender and fearful Spirits Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon For my Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways my Ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are my Ways than your Ways and my
Thoughts than your Thoughts The Distance is so great between the Heavens and the Earth that the Sun so vast a Globe of Light seems to be of a small Circumference and the Stars of the first Magnitude tho many times bigger than the Earth appear like glittering Points of Light This Comparison is so convincing as may assist us in our Contemplation of his Mercy The Apostle saith God is rich in Mercy 'T is not said that he is rich in Substance tho the Earth be the Lord's and the Fulness thereof He is rich in his own Perfections not in external things 'T is not said God is rich in Power tho he is Almighty nor in Justice but in Mercy This signifies that of all the Divine Perfections none do shine so radiantly as his Mercy This reflects a Lustre upon his other Attributes His Goodness is the Foundation of his Glory He pardon'd ten thousand Talents to the Servant that was insolvent and his Treasure is unwasted I will consider the Extent of his pardoning Mercy and the Entireness of it 1. The Extent of it with Respect to the Number and Quality of the Sins that are pardoned 1 st The Number of them David after an attentive Consideration of the Purity and Perfection of God's Law breaks forth in a very great Anxiety Who can understand his Errors Who can enumerate the many Defections from that strait Rule of our Duty In many things we offend all We are obliged perpetually to obey and glorify God yet in every Action even in our religious Duties there are many Defects and Defilements that want Pardon How many Swarms of vain and unprofitable Thoughts of carnal covetous proud envious and revengeful Thoughts and Desires lodg in the Hearts of Men What a Torrent of idle sensual vain-glorious and passionate Words flow from their Lips How many thousand sinful Actions proceed from them When the inlightned Conscience seriously reflects upon our Sins of Omission and Commission how astonishing is their vast Number What a mountainous Heap appears They reach as low as Hell and rise as high as Heaven It would tire the Hand of an Angel to write down the Pardons that God bestows upon one penitent Believer 2 dly Divine Forgiveness extends to Sins of all kinds and degrees habitual and actual Tho no Sins are absolutely small being committed against the Majesty of God yet comparatively with respect to their Quality and Circumstances there is a manifest Difference between them Some are of a weaker Tincture some are of a deeper Die Some slightly wound the Conscience some waste it and let out its vital Blood Some do as it were whisper against the Sinner some cry for Vengeance Sins of Ignorance and Infirmity Sins of sudden Surreption that steal upon us without observing Sins by surprise of the Passions when there is no time to deliberate have extenuating Circumstances but Sins against Light wherein there is more of the Nature of Sin Sins against Mercies which in the Language of the Apostle are a despising of God's Goodness Sins against solemn Vows wherein Men break double Bands the Law of God and their sacred Ingagements Sins committed habitually and presumptuously as if God were ignorant or indifferent and unconcern'd or impotent and without Power to punish Offenders These Sins derive a greater Guilt and expose to a more terrible Punishment Now a gracious Pardon is offer'd in the Gospel to all Sinners whatever the Quality and Circumstances of their Sins be if they apply and address themselves to the Father of Mercy through the compassionate Mediator and forsake their Sins Of this we are assured from the most solemn Declaration of God to Moses The Lord is merciful and gracious long-suffering and abundant in Goodness and Truth keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving Iniquity and Transgression and Sin The Promise is comprehensive of all sorts of Sins how manifold and mighty soever Besides to encourage us to repent and believe God promises Pardon for Sins of the fiercest Provocation Judah had violated the Marriage-Covenant with God by their impure Idolatries yet he offers to receive them Thou hast played the Harlot with many Lovers yet return again to me saith the Lord. Relapses into rebellious Sins argue a strong Propensity to them and exceedingly aggravate their Guilt yet God promises Pardon for them Return ye backsliding Children and I will heal your Backslidings There are eminent Instances of God's pardoning Mercy recorded in the Scripture The Apostle having enumerated many sorts of Sinners guilty of enormous Crimes Idolaters Adulterers Abusers of themselves with Mankind tells the Corinthians And such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God There is one sort of Sinners excepted from the general Promise of Mercy those who sin against the Holy Ghost The Reason of the Exception is not that the Holy Spirit is superiour in Dignity to the Father and the Son for they are all coeternal and coequal but from his Operations i. e. the revealing the Truth and Grace of God in the Gospel Now the obstinate malicious contradicting the Truth of the Gospel shining in the Minds of Men and the perverse despising the Grace of the Gospel is unpardonable to infinite Mercy Those who are guilty of that Sin have transform'd themselves into the Image of the Devil and Salvation cannot save them But no others are excluded from Repentance and Pardon 2. As the Extent so the Intireness of Pardon offer'd to Sinners declares God's abundant Mercy 1 st The Pardon is as full as free according to his excellent Goodness The Imputation of the Fault ceases and the Obligation to Punishment is abolish'd We have clear Evidence of this from the Scripture God assures those who repent and reform Tho your Sins be as Scarlet they shall be as white as Snow tho they be red like Crimson they shall be as Wool Pardon is more than a Reprieve or Suspension of Judgment 't is a perfect Freedom from it A repenting Believer is as clear from the Charge of the Law as an innocent Angel There is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the Flesh but after the Spirit Our cleansing from the Defilements of Sin is imperfect therefore we must be always purifying our selves till we attain to absolute Purity but our Pardon is perfect 'T is irrevocable we are assured that as far as the East is from the West God removes our Transgressions from us As soon those distant Points may be united as Guilt may be fastned upon those whom God has pardoned The Prophet declares that God will subdue our Iniquities and cast them into the Bottom of the Sea From whence they can never rise God promises I will forgive their Iniquities and remember them no more Pardon is compleat and final 'T is the Misery of the Wicked they are condemned already they live by
in the Pardon of our Sins which is an infallible Assurance of freeing us from the Punishment of Sin in Hell and of our obtaining the Joys of Heaven Our Saviour has by his meritorious and voluntary Sufferings paid our Ransom from eternal Death and purchased for us a Right to eternal Life accordingly whom God justifies he glorifies The formal Effect of Justification is the restoring us to the forfeited Favour of God and from that Fountain all blessed Benefits flow God declares concerning his People They shall be mine in the day that I make up my Jewels and I will spare them as a Man spares his Son that serves him Which two Acts of the Divine Mercy are inseparable The APPLICATION The first Use shall be of Caution lest Men abuse carelesly and contemptuously the Doctrine of Divine Forgiveness Many sin freely as if they believed the Permission of Sins or presumed upon a ready Remedy and are without Fear of Judgment to come This is the Language of their Actions tho not of their Tongues There are not a worse sort of Sinners out of Hell If that which should soften and reclaim Sinners hardens them the Case is desperate and incurable To correct the vile Conceits Men have of obtaining an easy Pardon of their Sins tho habitually committed upon that Account let them consider 1. The Angels who were the first and brightest Offspring of the Creator for one Sin were decreed and doom'd to an Exclusion from the Glory of Heaven for ever Mercy did not suspend the Sentence Their mighty Numbers and the Nobility of their Nature did not incline the Judg of the World to spare them They are now in the Chains of powerful Justice and have perpetual Hell within them And shall rebellious Men who are but Dust in their original Composition and final Resolution expect to escape Vengeance If we should see a hundred Noble Men executed in a Day the Sight would strike us with Terror How much greater Reason is there awfully to adore the inflexible Judg for such a dreadful Execution and Example of Justice upon an innumerable Company of Angels 2. To pardon Sin is an Act of greater Power than to create the World If we consider the Distance of the Terms and the Difficulty of the Means there is a wider Distance between a righteous God infinitely provoked by Sin and the guilty Creature than between a State of not being and the actual Existence of the World One powerful Word rais'd this great World from its native nothing But to accord the Divine Attributes between which there seem'd a Repugnance and reconcile God to sinful Men cost the dearest Price The anxious Sinner makes Inquiry Shall I give the First-born of my Body for the Sin of my Soul that is too mean an Offering no less than the First-born of the Almighty could by the Sacrifice of himself make an Atonement for our Offences 3. Vengeance belongs to God as well as Forgiveness The Wrath of God is reveal'd from Heaven against all Vngodliness and Vnrighteousness of Men. It was decreed in Heaven 't is denounced in his Word and shall be executed by his just Power in its Season There is a time to pardon and a time to punish God is stiled the God of Patience in the present World his Patience has its perfect Work But in the next World Justice will gloriously appear against the Wicked who are devoted to Destruction Forbearance is not Forgiveness The last Day will close the Accounts of the Judg of the World with Sinners and a terrible Arrear will be exacted of them for all the Treasures of his Goodness and Clemency wasted by them 4. Those who indulge themselves in a Course of Sin upon the Presumption of an easy Pardon are the most unworthy and uncapable of the Divine Mercy They sin against the Nature and End of Grace and by an immediate and direct Opposition to it in the proper Notion of Grace cut off all their Pleas for it 'T is true God is very merciful and easy to be intreated by those who sincerely repent and reform their Lives but he is inexorable to all those who harden themselves in their Sins by the false and presumptuous Hopes of his Mercy He declares in his Word that when Sinners despise the Curse threatned against them and bless themselves in their Hearts that they shall have Peace tho they walk in the Imagination of their own Hearts to add Drunkenness to Thirst the Lord will not spare them but then the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousy shall smoke against them and all the Curses written in this Book shall lie upon them without Mitigation or Intermission No less Punishment than eternal Damnation is equal to their Sin They resist and renounce Mercy by their abusing it to the worst ends yet are confident of their Interest in it What a prodigious Contradiction is there between the Hopes of presumptuous Sinners and their Practices They kindle his Anger every day and inflame Anger into Wrath and Wrath into Vengeance and yet strongly fancy they shall find Mercy What a diabolical Wonder is it as astonishing as extraordinary Miracles but that 't is commonly seen that Men without a Promise and against the Threatning should expect the Favour of God that is the Portion of his Children and continue in high and actual Rebellion If a Spark of Reason or Grain of Faith were shining in their Breasts they would be restless in the Apprehension of his firy Displeasure The Tempter over-reaches their Minds by a double Delusion that they shall have Time and Grace to repent and over-rules their Wills that the most terrible Threatnings and Divine Disswasives are not effectual to make them forsake their Sins They are secure tho not safe one Hour for 't is in the Power of their Judg and they have Reason to fear in his Purpose to destroy them suddenly and without Remedy The presumptuous Conceit of immense Mercy has so fully possess'd their Minds that like a powerful Opiate it makes them sleep securely upon the Brink of Ruine but Conscience is of an immortal Nature and tho it may be stupified it cannot be extinguish'd In the present Life sometimes a sharp Affliction awakens it into a furious Activity and then presuming Sinners that have been indulgent to their Lusts despair of Pardon for when Mercy that is our only Advocate in his Bosom to avert Wrath for Sins against the other Attributes shall turn our Accuser and solicite Justice to revenge its Dishonour upon those who have abused it there remains no Shadow of Hope to refresh their Sorrows But suppose the Charm be not unbound and the Self-deceiver continues his evil Course to the end of Life and perishes pleasantly with the vain Hopes of Mercy yet immediately after Death his Conscience will be irresistibly convinc'd of his outragious Provocations of the righteous God and be more tormenting than the hottest Flames of Hell Let us attend to the
instructive Inference in the Text There is Forgiveness with thee that thou mayst be feared that is with a Fear of Reverence for his amiable Excellencies for the Attractives of his pardoning Mercy and of Caution lest by abusing we should make a deadly Forfeiture of it If God should appear as an irreconcileable Judg arm'd with Terrour against all Offenders the Apprehension would produce Hatred and a dreadful Flight from him it would make Men boldly wilful and harden them in their Rebellions for if they cannot be pardoned for their past Sins and can be but damned for their Continuance in them they will give Licence to their roving and impetuous Appetites and commit Iniquity with Greediness Now God has appointed a Way for the Pardon of Sin wherein there is a bright and equal Discovery of his Greatness and Goodness his Purity and Righteousness that his Law may be more sacred and inviolable more remembred and obeyed by us He has declared in the Death of his Son wherein the equal Extreams of Ignominy and Torment were combin'd what an Evil Sin is that requir'd such a mighty Expiation We may from the Depth of his Sufferings conceive the Excess and Height of our Provocations We may understand the deadly Guilt of Sin that can only be wash'd away in the Blood of Christ the Fountain of Remission To turn the Grace of God into Wantonness to be more loose and secure in committing Sin is to turn the Antidote into Poison and defeat his blessed End 'T is a main Article of our Reconciliation The Lord will speak Peace to his People but let them not return to Folly We may conceive that God speaks to the pardon'd Sinner what our Saviour said to the Man whom he miraculously heal'd Go away sin no more lest a worse thing befal you 'T is both the Duty and Disposition of those who have received the Pardon of their Sins to fear the Lord and his Goodness There is no Principle more clearly natural and sensible than this Dependance includes Observance the receiving Benefits obliges a Person to the Benefactor Accordingly the Psalmist expresses the Affections of the humane and the holy Nature What shall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits and breaks out in an Extasy of Thankfulness O Lord truly I am thy Servant I am thy Servant thou hast broken my Bands The repenting Believer receives Pardon from God with joyful Admiration that fastens his Mind in the Contemplation of his glorious Mercy the serious Thought of it kindles a sacred Fire in his Breast as 't is said of Mary Magdalen Much was forgiven her for she loved much Love to God that results from his pardoning Love to us is singular and supreme and necessarily produces an ardent Desire to please and glorify him and an ingenuous grateful Fear of offending him The Soul that has felt the Terrors of the Lord as the holy and righteous Judg of the World and afterward has been revived by the Light of his Countenance and has tasted how good the Lord is how is it possible to resist such dear and immense Obligations How prodigious to turn the strongest and sweetest Ingagement to Reverence and Obedience into an Encouragement to do that which is odious and offensive in his Sight To sin against Light heightens a Sin into Rebellion but to sin against revealed Love makes it above-measure sinful This is so contrary to natural Conscience and super-natural Grace that 't is the Leprosy of the Wicked not the Spot of God's Children Do you thus requite the Lord O foolish People and unwise The upbraiding reduces them to a defenceless Silence and covers them in black Confusion When Divine Grace pardons our past Sins it cures our depraved Inclinations to future Sins The clearest Discovery of the Heart is by Reflections on God's Mercy The Fear of God's Justice is natural the reverent Regard of his Goodness is a spiritual Affection There is a great Difference between filial Fear of the divine Goodness that is so becoming the Breast of a Christian and so congruous to our present State and servile Fear that is the proper Character of one in the Bondage of Sin The Filial Fear of God is an ingenuous voluntary Affection flowing from Love and freely exercis'd and esteem'd the Treasure of the Soul Servile Fear the Sequel of Guilt is a judicial Impression from the sad Thoughts of the provoked Majesty of Heaven and if the Offender could dissolve the Bands of Conscience he would throw it off Filial Fear is mix'd with Joy 't is the Preservative of God's Favour to us it makes us more circumspect but not less comfortable it opposes Security but establishes the Assurance of Faith the Fear of the Lord and Hope in his Mercy are united Graces Servile Fear has Torment 't is an Alarm within that disturbs the Rest of the Sinner 't is a fretting Fire that secretly torments him in his most luscious Fruitions Filial Fear restrains from all Sin in the Heart and Life because it dishonours and displeases God it denies the carnal Appetites with Sweetness and Satisfaction to the Soul it excites us to obey God with Choice and Complacency Servile Fear induces an Abstinence from some Sins which fly in the Face of Conscience and which the Sinner loves and urges to the outward Performance of Duties which he hates The slavish Spirit is afraid to burn not to sin he is fearful to be damn'd not to displease God Filial Fear is a serious and habitual Constitution of the Soul inseparable from it in all Times and Places 't is influential into the whole Life Servile Fear is a sudden Passion and transient sometimes a sharp Affliction a piercing Sermon awakens a secure Wretch into a Fit of Terror Filial Fear keeps the Soul close to God makes it solicitous lest any Sin should intercept the Light of his Countenance and obstruct Communion with him which is the Paradise of a Saint 't is the gracious Promise of God to his Children I will put my Fear into their Hearts and they shall never depart from me Servile Fear makes the Sinner shy of God's Presence and as unwilling to find him as a Saint is to lose him He is not pleased with Solitude lest the guilty Conscience should have time of Recollection and should look to the Judg above He takes no Delight in the Society of the Saints and the Enjoyment of the Ordinances because God is peculiarly present there and above all things he is afraid to die because then the Spirit returns to God that gave it In short the filial Fear of God ascends with the Soul to Heaven and is the eternal Respect that the blessed Spirits continually pay to his adorable Perfections Servile Fear attends the Sinner to Hell and settles into Despair for ever 2 dly The Doctrine of Divine Forgiveness affords strong Consolation to those who are wounded in Spirit in the Sense of their Sins Those only who feel the intolerable Burden of
Efficacy with God than a Torrent of natural Sorrow Repenting Sorrow is an indispensable Qualification in order to our Pardon not merely from the Will of the Law-giver as the Reason of our Duty but from the Congruity of the thing it self 'T is observable that 't is the Wisdom and Kindness of the God of Nature that the Food that preserves Life is pleasant to our Taste to invite us every Day to eat and renew our Strength but Physick that is necessary for the Recovery of Health is very distastful that our Aversion from it may make us circumspect to prevent all Excesses that are the Causes of Diseases Thus the sorrowful Confession of Sin which is medicinal to the Soul is very afflicting it wounds the Spirit and breaks the Heart that we may be jealous of our selves lest we eat of the forbidden Fruit that requires so bitter a Remedy Godly Sorrow tho it be very afflicting to Nature yet the Exercise of it is more satisfying to a sincere Penitent than all the Pleasures of Sin In two cases Grief is pleasant when 't is upon the account of a Person dearly loved a Parent indulges his Sorrow for the Death of a Child that was the Life of his Life Or when Pain is beneficial and an Advantage as in the Application of a Plaister we are pleased with the Pain it causes that being a Sign and Effect of its healing Operation Now both these Considerations are mix'd with repenting Sorrow for it principally arises from the Reflection upon Sin as that which has so dishonour'd and displeased the blessed God our Maker Preserver and Redeemer that we have preferr'd the pleasing our corrupt and licentious Appetites before the obeying his holy just and good Will The repenting Sinner declares his Love to God by his Grief for offending him and voluntarily remembers his past Sins and is pleased in overflowing Sorrow for them And this Sorrow is preparative for Peace Vnutterable Groans are introductive of unspeakable Joys the Holy Spirit that convinces of Sin is the blessed Comforter 2. The Confession of Sin must be mix'd with Shame All the just Causes of Shame Guilt Turpitude Folly and Disappointment are complicated in Sin The repenting Sinner by Consciousness and Reflection upon Sin that induces so heavy a Guilt that defiles the Soul with so deep a Pollution that no Ray of its Original Purity remains that debases it infinitely below its heavenly Descent mourns with Tears of Confusion for what he has done Repenting Ephraim bemoans himself that he had been rebellious against the Methods of God's Mercy like a refractory Bullock unaccustom'd to the Yoke and his recoiling Thoughts made him to smite on his Thigh to be ashamed to the degree of Confusion for his Disobedience How affecting an Object he was in God's Eye the immediate Answer declares Is Ephraim my dear Son is he a pleasant Child for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still therefore my Bowels are troubled for him I will surely have Mercy upon him saith the Lord. The Psalmist reflecting upon his being almost vanquish'd by a vexatious Temptation degrades and vilifies himself so foolish was I and ignorant and like a Beast before thee Ezra in the Confession of the Holy Seed's mixing with Heathen Idolaters saith O Lord I blush and am ashamed at the foul Deformity of their Sin The Apostle upbraids the Romans with a stinging Reproach What Fruit have you of those things whereof ye are now ashamed the End whereof is Death When a foolish Choice is made and the Folly is detected and Experience disappoints the Expectation the natural Consequent is Shame At the last Day when the Filthiness and Folly of Men shall be publish'd before God and all the Angels and Saints how much rather would they be hid in the Darkness of their Graves than be clothed with Confusion before that glorious and immense Theatre The sorrowful Confession of Sin with deep Shame here will prevent the exposing the Sinner to publick Shame hereafter 4. Confession must have Concomitant with it the judging our selves as unworthy of the least Mercy and deserving severe Punishment The Apostle assures us If we would judg our selves we should not be judged He does not say if we are innocent we shall not be condemn'd for then who can appear before the high and inlightned Tribunal of Heaven but if we acknowledg our Guilt and the Righteousness of the Sentence to which we are obnoxious we shall be spared We cannot satisfy God's Justice but we must glorify it In this the admirable Mercy of God appears Suppose a Court on Earth wherein the Rule of Judgment were that all the Faults which the Guilty confess and condemn themselves for should be pardoned and only those they conceal should be deadly to them how willingly and humbly would those who are conscious of many capital Crimes and are summon'd to appear accuse themselves In the Court of Heaven if we are faithful to God and our own Souls in the confessing our Sins and passing Sentence upon our selves we prevent his Sentence against us 5. Prayer for Pardon must be joined with the Confession of Sin The Lord is good and ready to forgive and plenteous in Mercy unto all that call upon him God who is rich in Mercy has appointed Prayer as the Means of our receiving it it being most honourable to him that we should have a serious Sense of our Wants and Unworthiness and our absolute Disability to supply them and by our Desires we should glorify his Power and Love whereby he is all-sufficient and ready to bestow upon us his Blessings Prayer for Pardon must have these Ingredients 1 st Humility is the most becoming Qualification of a Suppliant to the high Judg of the World to reverse the Sentence of eternal Death The deep Apprehension of our Guilt will humble us before his dreadful Tribunal 2 dly Fervency which is the Life of Prayer A cold Prayer the spiritless Motion of the Lips is so far from inclining the Divine Mercy to pardon us that it increases our Guilt and provokes God's Displeasure If our Apprehensions were as real and quick of our spiritual Wants as of our temporal our Prayers would be as ardent for Supplies Our Desires should be raised in the most intense degrees in some proportion to the Value of the Blessing they should be strong as our Necessity to obtain it The Pardon of our Sins is the Effect of God's highest Favour of that Love that is peculiar to his Children 't is the Fruit of our Saviour's bloody Sufferings without it we are miserable for ever and can we expect to obtain it by a formal superficial Prayer It deserves the Flower and Zeal of our Affections How solicitous and vehement and unsatisfied should we be till we have the clear Testimony that we are in a State of Divine Favour Only fervent Prayers are regarded by God and recorded in Heaven We disvalue his Pardon by our
Indifferency and faint Desires In our Petitions for temporal things our Affections should be temperate always mix'd with resign'd Submission to the Will and Wisdom of our Heavenly Father who knows what is better for us than we do and loves us better than we do our selves but in praying for the Pardon of our Sins our Affections should be inflamed we should as it were offer Violence to the King of Heaven and be unsatisfied without it What ardent and repeated Addresses were made by David for this great Blessing Have Mercy upon me O Lord according to thy Loving-kindness according to the Multitude of thy tender Mercies blot out my Transgression Wash me throughly from mine Iniquity and cleanse me from my Sin Purge me with Hyssop and I shall be clean wash me and I shall be whiter than Snow Deliver me from Blood-guiltiness O God thou God of my Salvation He prays as if the Ghost of Vriah were always in his View covered with Blood and reproaching him for his treacherous Cruelty The Affairs and Pleasures of his Kingdom could not divert and calm his Spirit till he was restored to the joyful Sense of God's saving Mercy If it be said that David's complicated Sins were of a crimson Guilt and justly terrified his Conscience with the Apprehension of Vengeance I answer 't is true but supposing that preventing Grace has kept us from Sins of a high Nature whereby we should have incurr'd greater Guilt and been exposed to greater Punishment yet even the best Men are in infinite need of pardoning Grace for the least Sin makes us guilty of eternal Death and the infinite Number of our Sins tho according to the carnal Conceits of Men small would be over-whelming What is weaker than a Drop of Water yet the Sea that is a Collection of innumerable Drops of Water does often by an irresistible Inundation drown the Land The Wind is a Collection of many Vapours which singly are of no Force yet it often tears up the strongest Trees and overthrows the firmest Buildings If the numerous Sins of one Man's Life were set in order before his Eyes he would sink into the Depths of Despair were not the Divine Mercy superabundant to our abounding Sins We must renew our Requests for Pardon every day 't is more necessary than to pray for our daily Bread We contract new Guilt every day and as our Saviour tells us he that is washed needs to wash his Feet i. e. the Sins of Frailty and daily Incursion must be purged away by serious Repentance and the Application of the Blood of Christ and our earnest Prayer for Pardon 'T is the cruel Character of Satan he accuses the Saints before God Day and Night He is an ardent Accuser and watchful always to find Matter to provoke God's Displeasure against us 'T is therefore a Duty of daily Revolution to pray for our Pardon Besides the Neglect of seeking for the daily Pardon of our Offences against God argues the despising his Anger and consequently the despising his Love which is infinitely provoking We are commanded not to let the Sun go down upon our Wrath much less upon God's Repentance is not an initial Act of Sorrow but must be renewed all our Lives God's pardoning us is not a transient Act but continued as Conservation is a continued Creation Prayer for Pardon must be mix'd with Faith in our blessed Advocate who ever lives to make Intercession for us If we could fill the Air with our Sighs and Heaven with our Tears we could not incline the righteous and holy God to pardon us his Justice is inflexible and his pardoning Mercy a sealed Fountain 't is by the precious Merits and Mediation of his Son we are reconciled to him Jesus Christ is the same powerful compassionate Saviour yesterday to day and for ever His obedient Sufferings are of infinite Value and everlasting Efficacy Lastly Confession of Sin is a relative Duty and must be joined with forsaking of Sin The sharpest Sorrow the most confounding Shame for Sin the strongest Desires for Mercy without the forsaking of Sin are ineffectual There must be a renouncing of Sin in our Hearts a Resolution firm and permanent against it an avoiding the Appearance and Approaches of Sin and an actual leaving it If it be said 't is impossible we should preserve our selves from all Sin St. John tells us If any Man saith he has no Sin he is a Liar there is no Truth in him I answer we must distinguish between Sins there are some which while we are united to Flesh that is a Principle of Weakness and are in this open State surrounded with Temptations we cannot absolutely be freed from Such are Sins of Ignorance and Inadvertence and of sudden Surreption for Grace is not bestowed in such a degree of Eminence to the Saints here whereby they may obtain a clear and final Victory over them but if we pray and watch and strive against them and mourn for their Adherence to us God will spare us as a Father spares his Son that serves him And 't is a certain Sign of our Sincerity if we are gradually cleansing our selves from them If they grow and increase 't is a sad Indication as 't is said if a Scald in the Head spreads 't is a Leprosy But there are Sins of a more heinous Nature the not forsaking whereof excludes from Heaven such are enumerated by the Apostle The Works of the Flesh are manifest Adultery Fornication Vncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murders Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I have told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God Besides if the Love of any Sin remains in the Heart of a Man he cannot be justified here nor glorified hereafter An indulged Sin tho small in the Matter is great in the Disposition of the Sinner In short God requires sincere Repentance express'd in the confessing of our Sins not to inform him for neither the Solitude or Secrecy wherein Sin is committed can hide us from his all-discerning Eye tho there is no Witness to accuse and give Evidence nay if the Sinner could extinguish his Conscience yet God will set the Sins of Men in order before them and convince the Guilty he needed not their Confession to discover them but the humble ingenuous and sorrowful Confession of Sin is required that his Mercy may be more illustrious in the Pardon of our Sins and that the Sinner may fear to return to Folly And this Confession must be attended with the forsaking of Sins in order to our Pardon because of his immutable Perfections A Malefactor may justly be condemned for his Crimes and tho he remains impenitent and obstinate in Evil may be pardoned because a temporal Prince is capable of various Apprehensions and Passions and may deflect from the Rule of Justice but the Judg of the World is unchangably
righteous and holy and cannot pardon Sinners to the Disparagement of his Majesty his Purity and Justice 2. Our pardoning the Offences of others is an evangelical Condition of our obtaining Pardon We are commanded When ye stand praying forgive if ye have ought against any that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your Trespasses But if you do not forgive neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your Trespasses The Command is peremptory and universal frequently and severely urged upon us by our Saviour The Reasonableness and Congruity of it is most evident if we consider the Disparity of the Object or the Number of Offences Our Sins against God are relatively infinite for his Majesty and Authority are truly infinite which are despised and abused by the Transgression of his Laws they are against all the Duty and Motives of Justice and Gratitude that oblige reasonable Creatures to obey their Maker Now the Offences and Injuries done to us are incomparably less for we are mean Creatures far less in comparison to God than a Worm is to an Angel and by our Sins are viler than the Earth Besides the Obligation that should restrain Men from being injurious to us are of infinitely a lower Nature The Disparity in the Number is very considerable Our Sins against God are like the Sand upon the Sea-shore their Number is astonishing Our Imaginations have been continually evil from the dawning of our Reason but Offences against us are comparatively few for the Variety of Objects in the World often divert the Thoughts and Passions of our Enemies from us We owe to the Lord 10000 Talents a vast Sum that can never be paid if it be not forgiven and shall we be unwilling to forgive a few Pence What is more becoming than that we who want a great Pardon should give a little one The Divine Mercy is proposed as a Model for our Imitation We must pardon intirely and take no Revenge for Injuries done to us but return Love for Hatred Good for Evil for so God does to us We must not only forgive but forget Injuries in the Sense of Love not like those who pardon in Words but retain the Memory of Offences and upon a slight Occasion renew their Resentments We must forgive great Offences as well as small and renew our Pardon as often as Offences are repeated unless we will set Bounds to the Divine Mercy We must rejoice more in pardoning than in revenging Injuries and seek to be reconciled to those who are averse from us for that is according to our Pattern 'T is pretended that by bearing a single Injury we expose our selves to a double Injury but we must imitate our heavenly Father If we do not follow him in forgiving he will follow us in retaining our Sins The Psalmist tells us With the Merciful God will shew himself merciful but with the Froward he will shew himself froward A holy and righteous Punishment in Retaliation of their sinful Disposition The pardoning Injuries is contrary to corrupt Nature and the Duty is difficult but the Reward is infinite Tho it seems to vilify us as if defective in our Minds not to understand Injuries or in Courage not to repay them which makes Men hard to forgive yet upon calm Consideration we shall esteem it a Duty easy and honourable for it prevents the inflaming our Passions and the troubling of our selves and others 't is an Act of Royalty and makes us superiour to them 't is the noblest Victory and often conquers and changes an Enemy into a Friend And above all Motives this should recommend it to us it seals our Pardon from God and conveys the most clear and comfortable Sense of it to us For as the Psalmist excellently argues He that planted the Ear shall he not hear He that formed the Eye shall he not see If we are by Divine Grace inclin'd and enabled to pardon frequent Offences against us shall not the God of all Grace be ready to pardon our many Offences against him Our Saviour reasons from the Love of natural Parents If you that are evil know how to give good things to your Children how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask it The Illation is as strong in forgiving Love If we who are of an unforgiving Nature sincerely forgive those who injure us and restore them to our Favour how much more shall God who is Love forgive our Sins and be reconciled to us 4. The Divine Forgiveness should be a powerful Motive to Thankfulness David addresses to his Soul in an ardent and lively manner Bless the Lord O my Soul and all that is within me bless his Holy Name He excites every Faculty the Understanding to consider and value the Mercies of God the Memory to register them and retain a thankful Sense of them the Affections to celebrate them He repeats the Call Bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits We are apt to forget Favours and remember Provocations Benefits are written in the Dust Injuries are engraven in Marble But strong Affections will make indelible Impressions of Thankfulness If we duly consider the Greatness and Goodness of God and our Meanness and Unworthiness that we are less than the least of his Mercies we must be convinc'd every Benefit we receive from God deserves to be remembred and acknowleged with serious Thankfulness That God draws a Curtain of Rest about us in the Night provides for us in the Day regards us with a compassionate Eye and relieves us in our Wants and Sorrows should cause such deep Affections as flow into outward Declarations of Praise 'T is true our most solemn Recognition of his Benefits is but a poor Duty compar'd with his immense Bounty to us our Thanksgiving is an Echo to God's Mercies that repeats a few Syllables what can our fading Breath add to his Blessedness and Glory that are in the highest degree of Perfection and truly infinite But 't is most reasonable that as all our Blessings flow from his Mercy they should fall into the Sea of his Glory and when our Souls bless him he accepts our Sincerity and does not despise our Thanksgivings for want of Perfection In the recounting God's Benefits the Psalmist mentions in the first place the Pardon of Sin who forgives all thy Iniquities as the Principal and Foundation of all the rest This in a most powerful way enter'd into his Heart and kindled a sacred Fire there I will briefly shew that the Pardon of Sin is so divine a Benefit that it deserves our most solemn Thankfulness and that it inclines and disposes the Soul to that Duty 1 st That the Pardon of our Sins deserves our most solemn Thankfulness will appear by an evident Light if we consider the Nature and Quality of the Benefit the Means by which 't is obtain'd the Circumstances in the dispensing it and the Consequents 1. The Quality and the