that all the World are become guilty before God that is justly chargeable with their Crimes and liable to his Judgment The Act of Sin is transient and the Pleasure vanishes but the Guilt if not pardoned and purged away remains for ever in the Records of Conscience The Sin of Judah is written with a Pen of Iron and with the Point of a Diamond it is graven on the Tables of the Heart When the Books of eternal Life and Death shall be opened at the Last Day all the unpardoned Sins of Men with their killing Aggravations will be found written in indelible Characters and shall be set in order before their Eyes to their Confusion The righteous Judg has sworn he will forget none of their Works According to the Number and Heinousness of their Sins a Sentence shall pass upon them No Excuses shall suspend the Judgment nor mitigate the immediate Execution of it The Forgiveness of Sins contains the Abolition of their Guilt and Freedom from the deserved Destruction consequent to it This is express'd by various Terms in Scripture Pardon relates to some Damage and Offence which the offended Party may severely vindicate Now altho the blessed God in strictness of speaking can receive no Damage by rebellious Creatures being infinitely above the Impression of Evil yet as our Saviour speaks of one that looks upon a Woman with an impure Desire that he has committed Adultery with her in his Heart tho the Innocence of the Woman be unstained so the Sins of Men being Acts of foul Ingratitude against his Goodness and notorious Unrighteousness against his Authority are in a Sense injurious to him which he might justly revenge upon them but his Clemency spares them The not imputing Sin is borrowed from the Accounts of Servants with their Masters and implies the Account we are obliged to render the supreme Lord for all his Benefits which we have so wretchedly misimproved he might righteously exact of us ten thousand Talents that are due to him but he is graciously pleased to cross the Book and freely to discharge us The purging from Sin implies 't is very odious and offensive in God's Eyes and has a special respect to the expiatory Sacrifices of which 't is said that without Blood there was no Remission This was typical of the precious Blood of the Son of God that purges the Conscience from dead Works from the deadly Guilt of Sin that cleaves to the Conscience of the Sinner By the application of his Blood the crimson Guilt is wash'd away and the pardoned Sinner is accepted as one pure and innocent 2. I shall next demonstrate that Forgiveness belongs to God This will be evident by the following Considerations 1 st 'T is the high and peculiar Prerogative of God to pardon Sin His Authority made the Law and gives Life and Vigour to it therefore he can remit the Punishment of the Offender This is evident from the Proportion of humane Laws For tho subordinate Judges have only a limited Power and must acquit or condemn according to the Law yet the Soveraign may dispense with it This is declared in Scripture by God himself I even I am he that blots out thy Transgressions for my Name sake He repeats it with an Emphasis He is proclaimed with this Royal Title The Lord gracious and merciful pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin 'T is a Dispensation of Divine Soveraignty to pardon the Guilty 'T is true God pardons as a Father according to that most gracious Promise I will spare them as a Father spares his Son that serves him but as invested with the Dignity of a Soveraign Our Saviour directs us in the perfect Form of Prayer dictated to his Disciples to pray to God for the Forgiveness of our Sins as our Father sitting in Heaven upon a high Throne from whence he pronounces our Pardon His Majesty is equally glorious with his Mercy in that blessed Dispensation His Royal Supremacy is more conspicuous in the Exercise of Mercy towards repenting Sinners than in the Acts of Justice upon obstinate Offenders As a King is more a King by the pardoning humble Suppliants by the Operation of his Scepter than in subduing Rebels by the Power of the Sword For in Acts of Grace he is above the Law and over-rules its Rigour in Acts of Vengeance he is only superiour to his Enemies 'T is the peculiar Prerogative of God to pardon Sin The Prophet challenges all the reputed Deities of the Heathens as defective in this Royal Power Who is a God like unto thee pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin The Pharisees said true Who can forgive Sins but God only for 't is an Act of Empire The judicial Power to pardon is a Flower inseparable from the Crown for 't is founded in a Superiority to the Law therefore inconsistent with a depending Authority A Creature is as incapable of the Supremacy of God in pardoning Sin as of his Omnipotence to create a World for they are both truly infinite Besides the Power of pardoning Sins necessarily implies an universal Knowledg of the Minds and Hearts of Men which are the Fountains of their â—ctions and according to their Ingredâ—â—ncy the moral Good or Evil of them rises The more deliberately and wilfully a Sin is committed the Sinner incurs a greater Guilt and is obnoxious to a more heavy Punishment Now no Creature can dive into the Hearts of Men They are naked and open to the piercing Eye of God alone Add farther the authoritative Power to pardon has necessarily annex'd to it the active Power of dispensing Rewards and Punishments Now the Son of God alone has the Keys of Life and Death in his Hands It may be objected That our Saviour declares that the Son of Man has Power to forgive Sins The Answer to this will be clear by considering there are two Natures in Christ the Divine Nature that originally belongs to him and is proper to his Person and the Humane Nature which is as it were adoptive and was voluntarily assumed Now the Divine Person is the sole Principle and Subject of this Royal Dignity but 't is exercised in its Conjunction with the humane Nature and attributed to the Son of Man As in the Humiliation of Christ the Principles of his Sufferings and the actual Sufferings are solely in the humane Nature but upon the Account of the personal Union they are attributed to the Divine Person 'T is said The Lord of Glory was crucified and the Blood of God redeemed his Church The Church of Rome with high Presumption arrogates to their Priests a judicial Power of forgiving Sins and by the easy Folly of the People and crafty Deceit of their Instructors exercise a Jurisdiction over Conscience To avoid the Imputation of Blasphemy they pretend there is a double Power of Forgiving supreme and subordinate the first belongs to God the other is delegated by Commission to the Ministers of the Gospel But this is an irreconcileable Contradiction for
Whom God justifies he glorifies If a Sinner dies immediately after his Pardon is past nothing can intercept his being received into Heaven Now this is utterly impossible the exclusion of such is peremptory and universal for without Holiness no Man shall see God The Admission of an impenitent Sinner into Heaven would pollute that holy Place and unconsecrate the Temple of God wherein his Holiness shines in its Glory It is objected by some that the requiring Repentance to qualify the Sinner for Pardon eclipses the Grace of the Gospel I willingly acknowledg that a religious Jealousy lest the Freeness and Honour of Divine Grace in our Pardon should be lessen'd is very becoming a Christian but 't is ill-grounded and ill-guided in this Matter This will be evident by considering 1 st Repentance is an Evangelical Grace the Gift of the Redeemer Him has God raised to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance and Forgiveness of Sin The Law did not allow of Repentance nor promise Pardon The Design of it was to keep us in the Favour and Communion with God but afforded no Means of Reconciliation after our offending him Repentance was no Degree of Perfection before Man's Fall but is a Relief of his Imperfection after it The Law call'd the Righteous to Obedience the Gospel calls Sinners to Repentance 2 dly There is no Causality or Merit in Repentance to procure our Pardon The Mercy of God for the most precious Merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ is the only Cause of Pardon A Flood of repenting Tears an Effusion of our Blood are of too low a Price to make any Satisfaction to God to deserve a Return of his Favour The most sincere Love of Holiness and stedfast Resolution to forsake Sin which is the principal part of Repentance can be no Satisfaction for our past Offences for 't is the natural Duty of Man before the commission of Sin Repentance is only a vital Qualification in the Subject that receives the Pardon 3 dly The Grace of God is very conspicuous in dispensing Pardon according to the Order of the Gospel to repenting Sinners For first Repentance renders the Divine Mercy most honourable in the Esteem of those who partake of it Our Saviour tells us The whole need not a Physician but those who are sick He that feels his Disease and is strongly apprehensive of its Danger values the Counsel and Assistance of a Physician above all Treasures The repenting Sinner who is under the strong Conviction of his Guilt and his being always obnoxious to the Judgment of God and eternal Misery the Consequent of it he values the Favour of God as the most sovereign Good and accounts his Displeasure as the supreme Evil. Repentance inspires flaming Affections in our Prayers and Praises for Pardon The repenting Sinner prays for Pardon with as much Fervency as Daniel pray'd in the Den to be preserved from the devouring Lions or as Jonah pray'd out of the Belly of Hell for Deliverance He addresses not with faint but fainting Desires for Mercy Give me Pardon or I die The insensible Sinner that is secure in the Shadow of Death may offer some verbal Requests for Pardon but his Prayer is defective in the Principle for he never feels the Want of a Pardon he prays so coldly as if unconcern'd whether he be accepted or no. And with what a Rapture of Admiration and Joy and thankful Affections doth the pardon'd Penitent magnify the Divine Mercy The Christian Niobe that was melted into repenting Tears loved much because much was forgiven her 2. This Establishment that Repentance qualifies a Sinner for Pardon is most beneficial to Man and consequently most illustrates pardoning Mercy We must observe that Sin does not only affect us with Guilt but leaves an inherent Corruption that defiles and debases the Sinner and strongly inclines him to relapse into Rebellion Now Repentance gives the true Representation of Sin in its penal Consequences the Anger of the Almighty the Terrors of Conscience and makes it evident and odious to the Soul David had a piercing Conviction what a foul Sin Adultery was when his Bones were broken Repenting Sorrow strikes at the Root of Sin the Love of Pleasure This makes us fearful to offend God and to fly all the alluring Temptations that will betray us to Sin This makes us obedient The melted Metal is receptive of any Form Contrition is join'd with Resignation Lord what wilt thou have me to do was the Voice of repenting Saul It may be objected that we read God justifies the Vngodly but the Answer is clear The Apostle does not intend by the Ungodly an impenitent Sinner but makes the Opposition between the Ungodly and one that perfectly obeys the Law and is consequently justified by Works and in this Sense the most excellent Saints here are ungodly Besides the Apostle does not assert that God absolutely pardons the Ungodly but qualifies the Persons To him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifies the Vngodly his Faith is counted for Righteousness Now justifying Faith and Repentance are like Tamar's Twins Repentance is first felt and then Faith exerts it self in applying the Merits of Christ's Death for our Pardon It is replied by some that all Grace is communicated from Christ as our Head and supposes our Union with him of which Faith is the vital Band and consequently the first Grace by which all other Graces are derived to us To this I answer there are two Means of our Union with Christ The principal is the quickning Spirit descending from Christ as the Fountain of the supernatural Life and a lively Faith wrought in us by his pure and powerful Operation that ascends from us and closes with him 'T is said the second Adam was made a quickning Spirit and he that is join'd to the Lord is one Spirit As the Parts of the natural Body are united by the vital Influence of the same Soul that is present in the whole so we are united to Christ by the Holy Spirit that was given to him without measure and from his Fulness is derived to us 'T is clear therefore beyond all Contradiction that Faith is not antecedently requisite as the means of conveying all Graces to us from Christ. 2. There are two Acts of Faith the first respects the General Offer of Pardon in the Gospel to all repenting believing Sinners The second is the Application of the Promise of Pardon to the Soul The first is antecedent to evangelical Repentance The second is clearly consequent in the Order of Nature for the Promise assures Pardon only to the weary and heavy laden that come to Christ for Rest. In short there is a perfect Agreement and Sympathy between Reason and Divine Revelation in this Doctrine that God pardons only the repenting Sinner The contrary Assertion is an Impeachment of the Rectitude of his Nature and directly contrary to the Design and Tenour of the Gospel If a Man be justified as
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
a Reprieve and Suspension of Judgment 't is the blessed Security of Believers they shall not fall under Condemnation There is such an Inconstancy in the Nature of Men that they often repent and revoke the Favours and Privileges they have bestowed they like to day and loath to morrow the same Persons but the blessed God is not subject to Change or Contingency His Love his Purpose his Promise to his People are unalterable From the Sense of God's pardoning Mercy Conscience is freed from those just Terrors that are the Consequents of Guilt The Blood of Christ purges our Conscience from dead Works from the deadly Guilt of Sin that cleaves to the Conscience A temporal Prince may pardon a Murderer and Conscience with a Countenance of Despair may summon him to appear and be accountable for his bloody Crime before the High and Everlasting Judg but those who are justified by Faith have Peace with God When the Original Bond is cancell'd the Counter-part has no Force Conscience is subordinate to God and when he justifies has no Authority to condemn When God blots out the Iniquities of his People as a thick Cloud there is a clear Sky a divine Calm and Serenity in Conscience It may be enquired how the compleat Pardon of Sin is consistent with the temporal Evils inflicted upon the Children of God for their Sins The Answer is obvious and easy Temporal Evils inflicted on the Children of God are declarative of his holy Displeasure against Sin but are not for Satisfaction to vindictive Justice This would be derogatory to the Love of God and the meritorious Sufferings of our Saviour who did not compound with God but made full and absolute Satisfaction for our Sins In the 12 th Chapter to the Hebrews where the Apostle so divinely and accurately treats of this Argument there is a clear Account of the Cause the Nature and the Product of the temporal Sufferings of God's Children The Cause of them is the Love of their heavenly Father displeased for their Sins Whom the Lord loves he chastens and scourges every Son whom he receives Earthly Parents in their various Fits of Folly sometimes chasten their Children only for their Pleasure and sometimes spare the Rod to their Ruine but our heavenly Father is equally wise and compassionate and uses such Discipline as is requisite for their Profit to prevent their Continuance in Sin that would be destructive to them Believers are chasten'd of the Lord that they may not be condemned with the World And the Wisdom and Love of our Father and Physician mixes such bitter Ingredients and in that Proportion as are requisite for the Quality of the Disease and the Strength of the Patient He corrects them in measure he will not suffer them to be tempted above what they are able Their Afflictions are deliberate Dispensations The Nature of them is signified in the word Chastisement The Correction of a Child is in order to his Amendment They are medicinal and have a main Relation and Prospect to the future to make us more fearful to offend God and careful to please him They are more lively and sensible Lessons of our Duty than the Instructions of the Word and are of the same Order The Product of the Chastisements of God's Children is the pleasant Fruit of Righteousness to them who are exercised thereby that is the sanctifying Graces of the Spirit Repentance Faith Hope Patience Self-denial Contempt of the World Resignation to the Divine Will are exercised illustrated and increas'd in those Christians who with unfainting Perseverance endure Affliction In short Death that was the penal Effect of Sin for the first Man while innocent was immortal tho continued yet the Sting is taken away the Quality of it is changed The Issues of it are vastly different to the Saints and the Wicked To the Saints 't is the Period of their Fears and Sorrows the final Remedy of all their Miseries to the Wicked 't is the Beginning of their Woe The Saints pass through the Darkness and Corruption of the Grave into the Kingdom of Glory the Wicked pass to the Blackness of Darkness for ever 2 dly The Intireness of this great Benefit is evident in that God restores his Love and forfeited Favour to all that are pardon'd Princes sometimes pardon Offenders but never receive them into their Favour Absalom was recall'd from Banishment but for two Years was not admitted to see the King's Face But God does magnify and manifest his Love to those whom he pardons He does not distinguish them from the Angels that always obeyed him He forgives our Sins as entirely as if they had never been committed and is reconcil'd as if he had never been offended We have the most clear Discovery of this in the Parable of the Prodigal It might have been expected that his Father should have reproach'd him for his obstinate deserting his House his wasting his Portion in Lewdness and Luxury and that bitter Constraint forced him to return no he dearly embraces him and cancels all the Debt of his past Offences with a most affectionate Kiss and whereas the poor Penitent presum'd only to be received as a Servant he was restor'd in the most affectionate manner to the Dignity and Relation of a Son and universal Joy was diffused through all the Family for his Return If our Saviour had not made this Relation with all its endearing Circumstances our narrow Hearts durst never presume and promise to us such compassionate Love of God to repenting Sinners But whoever imitates the Prodigal in his Return shall find the Reality to exceed the Representation I shall add some Examples of this Love of God to those who repent Mary Magdalen had been guilty of foul Sins yet our Saviour graciously received the tender Expressions of her Grief and Love to the Astonishment of Simon She wash'd his Feet with her Tears and wiped them with the Hair of her Head and kissed them and after his Resurrection appeared first to her as his endeared Favourite 'T is recorded by the Evangelist with an infinite Emphasis of his Love that he first appear'd to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven Devils Peter in whose Denial of Christ there was such a Mixture of Infidelity Ingratitude and Impiety he promised he would die with him or for him yet being questioned not with Terror by an armed Magistrate not surprized by a subtle Examiner but at the Question of a Maid renounc'd him yet he was restor'd to the Honour of his Office and the Affection of his Master 'T is very observable that when he appeared to Mary Magdalen he directs her to tell his Disciples and Peter of his Resurrection he particularly mentions Peter to raise his drooping Spirit by this new Assurance of his Love This happy Privilege belongs to all penitent Believers for whomsoever God pardons he prefers and adopts into his Family and makes them Heirs of Heaven The first Beam of Mercy shines
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
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