no remedy We can never have a firm Foundation for a Full and Comfortable persuasion that God will indeed forgive Sins unless some Act of Grace and Indemnity be publish'd from Heaven to that end and purpose Such a one we read of in the Holy Scriptures in which we have the highest Assurance that can be either given or desired We have a firm word of Promise frequently repeated to build upon The Son of God came down from Heaven on purpose to preach this Doctrine in his own Person He hath purchased this Blessing for us by the sharpest Sufferings When he returned to Heaven Luk. 24.47 he commanded that Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name and hath settled an Order of Men who are appointed by this Argument to beseech Sinners to be reconciled to God This is one express Article of the New Covenant which he hath sealed with his own Blood that God will be merciful to our Iniquities and our Sins he will remember no more He bequeathed this as his dying Legacy among all his sincere Followers in his Last Will and Testament A Remembrance whereof he would have continually kept up among them and in order thereunto he instituted the Ordinance of the Supper for the Cup which we there drink of is the New Testament in his Blood which was shed for the Remission of our Sins And as a Priest he intercedes for this great Blessing and as a King bestows it on his People II. § II Suppose that Natural Light and Reason could assure us that God would forgive yet it cannot certainly inform us how far this Pardon shall reach either as to Persons or Offences If we had been left barely to our own Thoughts and Conjectures in this matter very few if any could have had a well-grounded comfortable Assurance that they in particular should find Mercy at the hands of God We could not reasonably presume it should be an Universal and Unlimited Pardon Surely God will make Examples of some and for any thing I know might every one say he may make one of Me among the rest If any be excepted why not I If I am a mean and inconsiderable Man 't is no great matter no great loss if such an one should perish And I am the rather induced to fear that I shall because of the Inequality of the Divine Favour in distributing temporal Mercies with so Sparing a hand to me the bestowing of which is the chief Ground I have to hope for his Pardon And therefore those who are very low and poor and under such miserable circumstances that they rather indure life than injoy it have Reason to suspect the good will of God towards them to whom he has given such weak and feeble Motives to Repentance and such slight Grounds to hope for a Pardon thereupon If I am a Man of Figure for that very reason God may single me out to make his Power his Justice and his Wrath so much the more Glorious And generally wise Governors are wont to make some such as these Publick Examples of their just Displeasure But be a man what he will as to his Circumstances in this World there is none but has committed a great many Sins and some of them are of a Crimson Dye For where is the Person to be found who has not often offended against shining Light and indearing Love against alluring Mercies and bitter Afflictions against repeated Promises and solemn Vows Now 't is true indeed that any single Sin tho' of the smallest Size will make sad Work in the Conscience if it be set home with Power on the Heart As the disorder of any minute single part of our Bodies an inconsiderable Stone or a small quantity of Gravel in our Reins will fill us with most exquisite Pain Yet generally it is the Multitude and Greatness of mens Sins and the heinous Aggravations of them that make the deepest wound in their Spirits Hence God has given us so many repeated Declarations in his Holy Word of the Fulness the Plenty the Riches of his pardoning Grace and Mercy That he will forgive iniquity transgression and sin That the Blood of his Son cleanseth from all Unrighteousness c. These Scriptures are like those Herbs which some curious Men tell us of that have the Signature of those parts of the Body whose Griefs they are designed to asswage Or the Figure and Colour of those Diseases for the Cure whereof the kind Hand of Nature has provided them They clearly shew our Disease as well as are intended to heal it and plainly signify how hard a matter it is to settle the peace of a troubled Soul Nay the Better and more Serious any man is so much the Greater would have been his Uncertainty and Perplexity in this matter For the Better any man is the more does he observe the inward Corruption of his own Heart which others take no Notice and make no Account of And the deeper Sense has he of the Holiness and Justice of God of the Vileness of his own Sins of his Desert of Wrath and Vengeance and his Unworthiness of Divine Favour And every man but especially such a one knows so much More against himself than he does against the Generality of Others that it is reasonable for him to conclude that all things considered he is one of the Chiefest of Sinners How natural is it therefore for all and especially for such to cry out Tho' peradventure there may be Mercy for Others yet sure there is none for Me I am afraid that I and My Crimes may be excepted and that pardoning Grace shall not extend so very far as to take Me and my Sins within its Reach and Compass that the Wing of Mercy will not be spread so wide as to cover Me and all my numerous and mighty Offences But now from this miserable Distress Revelation doth thoroughly deliver us by certifying us that as far as the Heavens are above the Earth Isa 53.7 8 9. so far are God's Ways and Thoughts above ours And therefore he is ready Abundantly to pardon Our Blessed Lord hath told us Mat. 12.31 All manner of Sin and Blasphemy shall be forgiven Blasphemy is a wounding the Name of God Now every Man is tender of his Reputation as of the Apple of his Eye and God is jealous of his own Honour Yet not only all other Offences but even this too of what sort and kind soever tho' attended with very aggravating Circumstances shall be forgiven unto Men 't is spoken indefinitely to Any Man always provided he comply with the Conditions of the Gospel the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost only excepted And 't is very observable how these words are brought in Our Saviour was now most highly provok'd by the malicious Pharisees whose malignant Souls were possest by a worse Devil than any of the Bodies of those who were healed by him and therefore wickedly imputed his Miracles to the Power of Satan Our Lord
worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God c. 'T is further evident from the Nature of the Sin here mentioned that the Apostle is speaking of the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost The formal nature of that dreadful Sin I take to be this A malicious reproaching our Blessed Saviour as an Impostor and Deceiver imputing the Miracles which he wrought by the Spirit of God for the Confirmation of his Holy Doctrine and Mission to the Power of the Devil A man would wonder if there were not a thousand Instances of the like kind how so many Learned Men could make a shift so much to mistake this clear and plain notion of this Sin and give us so many Extravagant Opinions concerning it as widely distant from each other as all of them are from the Truth who doth but consider how St. Mark closes the Speech of our Saviour concerning it For he winds up all with these remarkable words Mark 3.30 Because they said he hath an Unclean Spirit which give us a clear Light whereby to discern the nature of this Sin But some rather chuse as an Evidence of their great Strength to endeavour to break through the Walls than turn the Key that is very plainly in the Door and would easily open it and let them into the House Now that 't is this Sin viz. the Reproaching Christ as a Deceiver the Apostle is here speaking of will appear from the Expressions which he useth concerning it He calls it a Crucifying the Son of God afresh Ch. 6.6 Ch. 10.29 and putting him to an open Shame A treading him under foot and counting his Blood an unholy thing and doing Despite to the Spirit of Grace All which do amount to this That they esteemed Christ to be a Vile Malefactor a wretched Impostor that his Miracles which for the Matter of Fact they could not deny were wrought by the help of the Infernal Powers and therefore he was deservedly put to death and had it been to do again they would as readily have done it as ever the Malicious Jews did Moreover the Sin here spoken of in one of the Places Ch. 6.6 is called a falling away and that from the Principles of the Doctrine of Christ which in the Verses immediately foregoing he had newly mentioned Ver. 1 2. i. e. a total Renouncing of the Christian Faith and Returning either to Judaism or Paganism which these Hebrews were in great danger of and which 't is the apparent Design of this Epistle to fortify them against And tho' in the other place it be called only in the General a Sinning Wilfully or Willingly Ch. 10.26 yet thereby the same thing is meant For just before the Apostle had been exhorting them to hold fast the Profession of their Faith without wavering Ver. 23 and cautioning them against forsaking the Assembling of themselves together as the manner of some was Ver. 25 which was the natural Means and the Ouvert-Act and Sign of their Apostacy And then these Words are brought in For if we sin wilfully c. i. e. If we cast away the Profession of our Faith forsake the Christian Assemblies and renounce the Doctrine of Christ Now it is worthy of our careful Observation that the Heathens but especially the Jews were so implacably bent against our Blessed Lord that tho' a Christian did desert the Assemblies of the Faithful and offer to join with them in their Judaical or Pagan Religion and Worship yet this alone would not suffice But besides this they required an express Abjuring and Reviling and Blaspheming Christ as an Impostor And without this their Rage was never satisfied and to speak in the modern Language they never thought they had fully performed all the necessary Duties of New Converts Acts 26.11 St. Paul tells us that when he persecuted the Christians 1 Tim. 1.13 being exceeding mad with Rage he compelled them to Blaspheme as he Himself also did And giving the Corinthians a Character whereby to distinguish between Divine and Diabolical Spirits 1 Cor. 13.3 I give you to understand Saith he that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus Accursed which doth plainly imply that it was very usual for men to do so in that Age for otherwise this Note of his would have been of no manner of Service to them Pliny in his Epistle to Trajan informs him what was the Ordeal Fire by which he tried those who were suspected and accused whether they would disown Christianity not only by proposing to them to worship the Heathen Gods and the Image of the Emperor but also by demanding of them whether praeterea Christo maledicerent they would also revile Christ And he further adds concerning those that fell in that hour of Temptation that they not only worshipp'd the Pagan Idols and Trajan's Image but also that Ii Christo maledixerunt they reviled Christ And Justin Martyr * Apol. 2d p. 72. Edit Paris tells us That Barchochebas the Ringleader of the Jewish Rebellion did order the Christians to be severely punisht unless they would not only deny Christ but blaspheme him too And Polycarp being required in order to save his Life to reproach †Euseb Hist l. 4. c. 15. Christ replied How can I Blaspheme my King and Saviour And our Learned †Harm of N. Test p. 289 290. Vol. 1. Lightfoot saith That as early as about the 10th or 11th Year after our Saviour's Ascension Rabban Gamaliel and the Sanhedrin appointed a new Prayer in which was a Petition to God to destroy the Hereticks i. e. the Christians and this he set among the Common Prayers and appointed it to be in every man's Mouth And that the Jews had their Emissaries every where abroad that to their utmost cried down the Gospel and blasphemed it and Christ that gave it Of this saith he there is Testimony abundant in the New Testament and in their own Writings So much shall suffice to prove that 't is the Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost but a more Aggravated one than that of the Pharisees that is meant in both these Places And if any of our Modern Deists have been maliciously guilty of this Sin unto death I leave them to God But provided a man hath not gone so great a Length as this is how many soever his Sins and Back-slidings from God have been yet on a renewed deep and Sincere Repentance and a lively Faith in the Blood of Christ they shall be remitted Tho' I must add in the words of Moses Exod. 8.29 Let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully with God any more For if this Grace be turned into Wantonness tho' God forgive Men Ps 99.8 yet he may and will take vengeance upon their Inventions And this naturally leads me to the Last thing which remains to be spoken unto VI. § VI Mere Natural Light and Reason cannot assure us to what Degree God will pardon those whom he does forgive It
Importance of any that can be mentioned viz. The Pardon of Sin while we are in this World and our Future State when we leave it and pass into the next And in treating on both of them I shall compare Reason and Revelation set one against the other and endeavour to demonstrate against the Deists of the present Age That if we have no other Guide than the Former we must needs be at a dreadful Loss and remain covered with the Shadow of Death Psal 44.19 but if we follow the Later we shall have such a clear and satisfactory Account of both of them as will be comfortable as the Light of Life unto our Souls John 8.12 A PRESERVATIVE AGAINST DEISM CHAP. I. Of Pardon of Sin WHenever we are Serious and Retired our own Hearts will tell us That God is justly and highly displeased with us for our Sins and that this Displeasure of his will end in our total Ruin if it be not removed Conscience indeed is not always sensible of our Guilt but 't is soon awaken'd by any very sharp Affliction As the Seeds of some Distempers floating in a man's Blood upon the Change of Weather are apt to drop down into a tender and sensible Part causing most acute Pains in the languishing Patient No man therefore can have any rational and lasting Peace and Comfort of Mind who is not well informed about the Forgiveness of Sins which the Christian alone by the help of his Bible can attain unto but the Deist must be greatly bewildred about who hath no other Instructor than the Light of Nature and Reason For I. § I That cannot fully assure us that there is Forgiveness of Sin with God If this could be Certainly known by meer Reason it must be gathered either from the Essential Goodness of God or else from the visible Effects of his Bounty and Kindness From the Former of these it can't be Assuredly inferr'd For tho' Forgiveness of Sin hath its Rise and Spring in the Infinite Benignity of God yet it doth not flow thence by Necessity of Nature but 't is a free Act of his Will and the Work of his Soveraign Grace and Pleasure And therefore the Argument of the Apostle is very strong and clear 1 Cor. 2.11 As no man knoweth the things of a man save the Spirit of a man which is in him even so these things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God and he to whom he is pleased to Reveal them A shrewd Man may guess at the secret Thoughts and Resolves of his fellow-Creature but he can't certainly know them much less can we in affairs of This nature penetrate into the Mind of God That Eye which is too weak to reach to the bottom of a shallow Stream can never pierce to the lowest Depths of the Ocean Sinners are worthy of Punishment and 't is not inconsistent with Goodness to inflict a deserved Punishment on an Offender God hath a Right to inflict and who can assure us that he will remit his own Right unless he himself declare his willingness to part with it God neither will nor can exercise one Attribute of his to the Prejudice of another He will not raise the honour of his Goodness on the Ruins of his Holiness and Justice or the Contempt of his Authority and Government And how to reconcile these with the Pardoning of Sinners is a puzzling Difficulty in which Reason cannot help us And tho' it could yet he is infinitely Just and Righteous and therefore at least he may resolve to punish the Offender for ought that he knows so that at the best it would be with our Souls as 't is fabulously reported to be with Mahomet's Body in his Iron Coffin that hangs in the Air between the upper and the neather Load-stone so should we be in Suspence between encouraging Hopes and uneasy Fears which must needs create a mighty Torment in our Minds this being a matter whereon our Welfare in both Worlds doth so intirely depend The Scriptures tell us and tho' that will have no weight with a Deist yet it will with those who own their Authority that notwithstanding the immense Goodness of God yet Devils who were originally more noble Creatures than we remain bound in Chains of Guilt as well as Darkness and are reserved to the Judgment of the Great Day And that there should be Forgiveness for fallen Man when there 's none for Apostate Angels who can assure us Nor can this be Certainly inferr'd from the visible Effects of Divine Bounty and Goodness Men perceive indeed that God is Kind but withal they frequently feel to their Cost that he is Just and know within themselves that 't is Righteous in him to render Tribulation and Anguish to every evil-doer He doth do it in some terrible Instances in this World and for ought that meer Reason can tell us he may do the like in the other World too tho' he may defer it for a Season as long as this present Life doth last and fill mens Hearts with Food and Gladness for a Time to reward those broken Mixtures of Good that may be in them or as a Recompence for some useful Service they may do tho' his Glory be not designed by them therein or to employ them as the Instruments of his Providence for the relieving or vexing of others or for some other wise Ends that may be past our finding out A Malefactor may know that his Prince is very good and kind who for wise Reasons of State which he can't penetrate into gives him an uncertain Reprieve sine Die keeps him in an airy Prison and feeds him there very plentifully at the Publick Charge Yet this is but a very slender Argument that therefore he shall undoubtedly be pardon'd Especially if he know him to be a very Just and Righteous Governor who greatly hates and detests the foul Crimes he hath been guilty of And most of all if the Prisoner enter into new Conspiracies and Rebellions against him while he is so lovingly treated Which is the case of all Mankind with reference to God who are daily provoking him while they live every moment on his Bounty The utmost that can be solidly gather'd from the common Patience and Goodness of God is but some loose and faint Hopes which may encourage Sinners to hearken out and enquire after a way of Reconciliation with God The Ninivites carried this matter as far as any can by meer natural Light and Reason Jonah 3.9 when they said Who can tell if God will turn and repent and turn away from the fierceness of his Anger that we perish not But then on the other hand nothing being so suspicious as a Guilty creature especially when he hath to do with a Holy and a Jealous God he may as well say Who can tell but that God will Not turn nor repent nor turn away from the fierceness of his Anger and then we must perish and there is
looked odly for him to have been less forward and zealous to provide for God's Worship than his Subjects were But yet for all this Samuel charges him roundly for it and tells him it was Rebellion and Stubborness which are as the Sin of Witchcraft Iniquity and Idolatry And holy Men have been wont to think as ill of their Own as of other mens Sins upon this Account Holy David aggravates his folly from this Circumstance viz. the Person against whom it was committed And he so intently fixed his Eye upon this as tho' none else had been offended by him Against thee Ps 51.4 thee only have I sinned And God himself by the Mouth of Nathan whom he sent to him warmly expostulates with him 2 Sam. 12.9 10. Wherefore hast thou despised the Commandment of the Lord to do Evil in his Sight And agen immediately after Thou hast despised Me saith he to him in the Name of God And this is not only the Language of God in the Scriptures but in his daily Providences too Let any man consider the numerous Calamities wherewith many times the World is covered as with a black Cloud behold the Strugglings of dying Infants listen to the Cries of a wounded Spirit and attend to the Groans of a departing Sinner and then let him judge whether the Sins of Men are Acts of Weakness in God's Account and Esteem Scripture indeed is brought in to countenance this strange Assertion For 't is said * Id. p. 322. he knoweth our Frame Ps 103.14 But if we read on to the end of the Verse it will appear that this is not spoken of the Corruption of our Natures but the Weakness and Frailty of our Constitution For 't is added He remembreth that we are but Dust And the same is the true sense and meaning of that other Text which is press'd into this Service Isa 57.16 For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth as is evident from the following words which contain the true reason of these not because their Miscarriages are the weak Acts of finite and fallible Creatures c. but because then the Spirit should fail before me and the Souls which I have made I might add This is a Gracious Promise which we know by meer Revelation whereas we are treating of what may be known by the meer Light of Nature and Reason In short no Man would with any Patience bear such a Plea as this in the Mouth of his Servant or Child for their wilful Contempt and Defiance of his Authority And such talk as this is one of the most effectual ways to give a fatal Check to the working of that Repentance which some design so much to extol and which indeed can hardly be extolled too much provided Men do it not so as to justle a Mediator and the Necessity of Faith in him in order to forgiveness out of the World For the chief Consideration that melts down an Ingenuous Spirit into a Godly Sorrow is this the Wisdom Majesty Authority Power Goodness and Justice of God whom he hath displeased So that some Men by endeavouring to advance Repentance do indeed diminish and discourage it as the Sun by raising up Vapours out of a River lessens the Quantity of Water that was in it 6. 'T is urged That for * Peccata Hominum non tam in Dei contumeliam quà m in propriam utilitatem sub boni alicujus apparentis obtentu fieri plerumque ac licet in eo Nomines fallerentur nihil tamen infenso in Deum animo patratum fuisse Herbert ubi supra the most part Mens Sins are not committed so much in Despight to God as for their own Advantage under the plausible shew of some Appearing Good And if this be all that a Thief or a Murderer have to say for themselves That the one robbed and the other assassinated his Neighbour not out of any direct Design to affront the Law or Government but meerly to get a good Sum of Money or to be reveng'd on his Enemy which to them did seem very desirable this would never prevent the pronouncing or executing the Sentence of Death upon them 7thly Lastly 'T is yet further argued That 't is Worthy * Dr. Whichcot's Serm. p. 313. of God to Pardon Penitents It is more effectual to the Purpose of God's Honour and Glory For when he Pardons he procures himself Love and gains the Heart and Soul of his Creature But if he punish the Party endures because God is Stronger and the Creature cannot make Resistance And again 'T is †P. 318 319. a greater Excellency to win and reconcile by Gentleness and Fairness than to overcome by Power and Force To win and overcome by fair Means by Reason and Argument by Courtesy and Gentleness these shew Wisdom and Goodness but to crush and subdue may be done by Power and Subtilty by Power because the Person cannot make Defence by Subtilty because the Person was surprized and taken at unawares But the Case is not very fairly put Here is mention made of the invidious Words of Power and Force and Subtilty and the Creatures Weakness which are not the Springs of God's punishing Men but not a word of Holiness and Justice Preservation of Publick Order the Honour of the Divine Law and Government or the Desert of the Offender which are the true Causes of it Men do not suffer because God bears them down by main Force as an Oppressor or outwits and over-reaches them by Craft but because they have deserved Punishment and these valuable Ends which I am sure 't is Wisdom effectually to secure do call for the inflicting of it And as for Goodness it never was the Intent of God nor can it be for his Glory as Governor of the World to represent himself as a Being of meer Clemency and Kindness No Creature would be more despicable than a living King resembling his own Marble or Brazen Statue with a Scepter in its Hand which it never stirs and a broad Sword lifted up in a very threatning Posture as tho' it would cleave any Man in two that came near it but this terrible Instrument is in a dead Hand that never gives a Stroke and therefore is fit only to take up so much Room and stand for a Shew in a Publick Place where the smallest Bird or Insect would quickly make bold with it and pitch upon it without any Fear or Concern And God may tho' he Chastize the Guilty be for ever secure of the Reputation of that his Goodness having given abundant Demonstrations of it towards all his Creatures and knowing further how in a glorious manner to display it towards those who never offended him And Sinners having abused that Attribute 't is but rational to fear that his other Attributes should be employed to repair the Injuries and Dishonours which have been cast upon it But he adds to the same purpose The Creatures suffering
he hath not only the Kindness of an Ordinary Man but his Humane Nature was filled with a Spirit of Love and Compassion and therefore he who hath so strictly commanded us to deal forth our Bread Isa 58.10 and draw out our Souls to the hungry will be much more ready to do it himself The Woman of Samaria tho' none of the best Temper or Character who denied him a Draught of Common Water might have had the Water of Life from him if she had but seriously asked it of him Joh. 4.10 And tho' the Hearts of his Country-men the Jews were full of Malice against him yet from a Custom that had obtained among them of bringing Water from Siloam to the Temple and pouring it out there he takes Occasion to intimate to them that He was the Fountain of Saving-Grace and gives them an Universal Invitation saying If any man tho' he be never so poor Joh. 7.37 or hath been never so wicked yet if he thirst let him come to me and drink And assures them that they should not repair to him in vain For he adds He that believeth on me as the Scripture hath said out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water This spake he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive as St. John the infallible Commentator adds And there are several Circumstances of this Speech of his which the Evangelist mentions and are worthy of our Observation In the last Day that great Day of the Feast Jesus stood and cried saying If any man thirst c. 'T is the Feast of Tabernacles that is here meant one of the three on which all the Males in Israel were to appear at Jerusalem the First and the Last Days whereof were Great Days and in a Special manner to be observed as a holy Convocation wherein it was not Lawful for them to follow their Worldly Employments And consequently this being a Day of Leisure there was the greater Confluence of the People And it being the Last Day and they on the Point of departing to their several Homes just as they were going he utters these Words that so they might stick and abide by them as mens last Speeches are wont to do And then 't is added that Jesus stood up The usual way among the Jews was for those who taught the People to do it Sitting but here we find our Saviour chose the other Posture that his Voice might reach the further And he did not faintly Whisper but he Cried that every one there might be sure to hear him and that by the Loudness and Fervency of his Delivery he might make the greater Impression upon their Souls So earnestly did he desire to draw Men to him for their Spiritual Advantage And as a Sanative Vertue was sent forth from the Body of Christ here on Earth for the Curing the Natural Distempers of all those who resorted to him and believed on him so shall Influences of Grace flow forth from him in Heaven for the healing the Spiritual Diseases of those who seek to him and depend upon him He will do as great Miracles and Cures on Mens Souls as ever he did on their Bodies Open the Eyes of them who were Born blind quicken them who are dead in Trespasses and Sins restore their Feet to them that are Lame cleanse them that are Lepers and cast out the unclean Spirits from those who have been possessed by them And to remove all Jealousies and Obstructions he hath given us such a Description of the Gracious Nature and Will of God as is most worthy of him and most proper to incline us to return to him to awaken the Negligent and encourage the Doubting He hath clearly inform'd us of his Holiness Justice and Omniscience as a Remedy against the vain and fatal Imaginations of those who are secure in Sin and are apt to fancy him like a drowzy Judge on the Bench who neither hears nor regards how Causes go He hath as fully display'd before us the Riches of his Grace that awaken'd Sinners might not despair and so prove obstinate and irreclaimable It was the Reproach of the Israelites Ps 106.20 that they changed the Glory of God into the Similitude of an Ox that eateth Grass 'T is of a more pernicious Consequence to transform him into the Likeness of a roaring Lion thirsting after Mens Blood and greedy to devour their Souls Our Blessed Saviour in pursuance of his great Design which is to recover Men from Sin hath given us quite other Representations of him That he is desirous to be at Peace and ready to give forth of his Grace Luk. 11.11 12 13. That the most tender-hearted Father can't be half so ready to give Bread to his Starving Child as God is to give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him And to cut off all Objections to this purpose viz. how can God consistently with his Holiness Justice and the Honour of his Government bestow so rich a Blessing on us the Scriptures further tell us it was one End of his Death to purchase Saving-Grace for us It was part of the Prize for which he ran a Branch of that Joy that was set before him Heb. 12.2 as an Encouragement to him to endure the Cross and despise the Shame and Pain of it He knew he should have a Seed and see the Travel of his Soul Isa 53.10 11. and be satisfied with the blessed Fruit thereof And when he ascended up on High Ps 68.8 he received Gifts for Men indefinitely of all Sorts and Ranks yea even for the Rebellious also Acts 5.31 and was exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give Repentance to Israel and Forgiveness of Sins Yea saith the Apostle to those Men whose Hands were yet reaking in the Blood of Christ and who therefore one would think should never have been applied unto or if they had of all Men living they should have been the Last that ever should have heard such glad Tidings yet on the contrary Unto you First saith he Acts 3.26 God having raised up his Son Jesus hath sent him to bless you in turning not a few only but every one of you from his Iniquities Considering the Nature of the Gospel the Representation therein given of God the Temper of Christ his tender Love to the Souls of Men which drew him down from Heaven his Carriage on Earth his Death Ascension Exaltation and the Ends of them which he who did not stick at the hardest Command of his Father that of laying down his Life will be sure punctually to answer and his own Honour which is so deeply engaged the Glory of a King consisting so much in the Multitude of his Subjects Prov. 14.28 we have the highest Reason to believe that nothing is more Grateful to him than the lifting up a perishing Sinner out of the Pit and the helping a strayed Soul in its Return to God The CLOSE I