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
Sin and renewing us into the Image of God are obtained by the Gospel The Law is called the Law of Sin and Death which must be understood not as consider'd in it self but relatively to our depraved Nature The Law supposes Men in a State of uncorrupted Nature and was given to be a Preservative of our Holiness and Felicity not a Remedy to recover us from Sin and Misery It was directive of our Duty but since our Rebellion the Rod is turn'd into a Serpent The Law is hard and imperious severe and inexorable the Tenor of it is Do or die for ever It requires a Righteousness entire and unblemish'd which one born in Sin cannot produce in the Court of Judgment Man is utterly unable by his lapsed Powers to recover the Favour of God and to fulfil his Obligation by the Law to Obedience But the Gospel discovers an open easy way to Life to all that will accept of Salvation by the Redeemer The Apostle expresses the Difference between the Condition of the Law and the Gospel in a very significant manner Moses describes the Righteousness which is of the Law that the Man that does those things shall live in them but the Righteousness which is of Faith speaks on this wise Say not in thine Heart Who shall ascend into Heaven that is to bring down Christ from above Who shall descend into the Deep that is to bring Jesus Christ again from the dead but what saith it The Word is nigh thee that if thou shalt confess with thy Mouth and shalt believe in thy Heart that God hath raised him from the Dead thou shalt be saved The meaning of the Apostle is that things in Heaven above or in the Depths beneath are of impossible Discovery and Attainment so 't is equally impossible to be justified by the Works of the Law The anxious Sinner seeks in vain for Righteousness in the Law which can only be found in the Gospel It may be objected that the Condition of the Law and the Condition of the Gospel compar'd relatively to our deprav'd Faculties are equally impossible The carnal Mind and Affections are as averse from Repentance and receiving Christ as our Lord and Saviour as from obeying the Law Our Saviour tells the Jews Ye will not come to me that ye may have Life and no Man can come to me unless the Father draw him Which Words are highly expressive of our utter Impotence to believe savingly in Christ. But there is a clear Answer to this Objection the Difference between the two Dispensations consists principally in this The Law requires compleat and constant Obedience as the Condition of Life without affording the least supernatural Power to perform it But the Gospel has the Spirit of Grace a Concomitant with it by whose Omnipotent Efficacy Sinners are revived and enabled to comply with the Terms of Salvation The Spirit of the Law is stiled the Spirit of Bondage from its rigorous Effects it discover'd Sin and terrified the Conscience without implanting a Principle of Life that might restore the Sinner to a State of Holy Liberty As the Flame in the Bush made the Thorns in it visible without consuming them so the firy Law discovers Mens Sins but does not abolish them But the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus i. e. the Gospel has freed us from the Law of Sin and Death I will more particularly consider the gracious Terms prescribed in the Gospel for the obtaining Pardon Repentance towards God and Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The requiring of them is not an arbitrary Constitution but founded in the unchangeable Nature and Congruity of things Repentance signifies a sincere Change of the Mind and Heart from the Love and Practice of Sin to the Love and Practice of Holiness upon Evangelical and Divine Motives The principal Ingredients in it are Reflections with Grief and Shame upon our past Sins with stedfast Resolutions of future Obedience 'T is a vital Principle productive of Fruits sutable to it 'T is call'd Repentance from dead Works Repentance unto Life 'T is the Seed of new Obedience Repentance in order of Nature is before Pardon but they are inseparably join'd in the same Point of Time David is a blessed Instance of this I said I will confess my Transgressions to the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin The Sum and Tenour of the Apostles Commission recorded by St. Luke is That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in the Name of Christ to all Nations That a repentant Sinner only is qualified for Pardon will be evident in considering 1. That an impenitent Sinner is the Object of revenging Justice and 't is utterly inconsistent that pardoning Mercy and revenging Justice should be terminated upon the same Person at the same time in the same respect 'T is said The Lord hateth all the Workers of Iniquity and his Soul hates the Wicked The Expression implies the intense Degrees of Hatred In the glorious Appearance of God to Moses when proclaim'd with the highest Titles of Honour The Lord God gracious and merciful pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin 't is added he will by no means spare the Guilty i. e. impenitent Sinners We must suppose God to be of a changeable flexible Nature which is a blasphemous Imagination and makes him like to sinful Man if an impenitent Sinner may be received to Favour without a Change in his Disposition God cannot repent of giving a holy Law the Rule of our Duty therefore Man must repent of his breaking the Law before he can be reconciled to him The Truth is Man consider'd merely as a Sinner is not the Object of God's first Mercy i. e. of Pity and Compassion for as such he is the Object of God's Wrath and 't is a formal Contradiction to assert that he is the Object of Love and Hatred at the same time and in the same respect But Man consider'd as God's Creature involv'd in Misery by the Fraud of the Tempter and his own Folly was the Object of God's Compassion and the Recovery of him from his forlorn wretched State was the Effect of that Compassion 2. Tho Mercy consider'd as a separate Attribute might pardon an impenitent Sinner yet not in Conjunction and Concord with God's essential Perfections Many things are possible to Power absolutely consider'd which God cannot do for his Power is always directed in its Exercise by his Wisdom and limited by his Will It would disparage God's Wisdom stain his Holiness violate his Justice to pardon an impenitent Sinner The Gospel by the Promise of Pardon to such would foil it self and frustrate its principal End which is to purify us from all Iniquity and to make us a People zealous of good Works 3. If an impenitent Sinner may be pardoned as such he may be glorified for that which qualifies a Man for Pardon qualifies him for Salvation and the Divine Decree establishes an inseparable Connexion between them
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
be saved by the Death of Christ upon the Terms of the Gospel This Constitution is grounded upon the eternal Articles between the Father and the Son in the Covenant of Redemption Our Saviour declares that God gave his Son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal Life Notwithstanding the full Satisfaction made for our Sins yet without our Consent i. e. an applicative Faith no Benefit could accrue to us He dwells in our Hearts by Faith and by that vital Band of our Union we have Communion with him in his Death and as entire an Interest in all the blessed Benefits purchased by it as if whatsoever he did and suffered had been for us alone He is a Propitiation by Faith in his Blood Of this full Consent of the Sinner there is an excellent Example in the Apostle He expresses it with the greatest Ardency of Affection I count all things but Dung that I may win Christ and be found in him not having mine own Righteousness which is of the Law but that which is through the Faith of Christ. Like as a poor insolvent Debtor ready to be cast into a perpetual Prison longs for a Surety rich and liberal to make Paiment for him Thus St. Paul desir'd to be found in Christ as an all-sufficient Surety that he might obtain a Freedom from the Charge of the Law The Establishment of the Gospel that Faith be the Condition of our Pardon so that none can be justified without it is from pure Grace The Apostle assigns this Reason why all Works are excluded those performed in the State of Nature or by a Principle of Grace from being the procuring Cause of our Salvation that it is to prevent Vain-glory in Men that would result from it You are saved by Grace through Faith and that not of your selves it is the Gift of God The Pardon of Sin is a principal Part of our Salvation He positively declares that Justification is therefore of Faith that it might be by Grace If Justification were to be obtain'd by a Condition of impossible Performance it were no Favour to offer that blessed Benefit to us but it being assur'd to a Believer that humbly and thankfully accepts of it the Grace of God is exceedingly glorified To make this more clear Faith may be considered as a productive Grace or a receptive As a productive it purifies the Heart works by Love and in this Consideration we are not justified by it Faith hath no Efficiency in our Justification 't is the sole Act of God But Faith as a receptive Grace that embraces Christ with his precious Merits offer'd to us in the Promise entitles us to Pardon And in this way Divine Grace is exalted for he that entirely relies upon the Righteousness of Christ absolutely renounces his own Righteousness and ascribes in solidum the obtaining of his Pardon to the Clemency and Favour of God for the sake of the Mediator 3. That God is ready to forgive is fully proved by many gracious Declarations in his Word the infallible Expression of his Will We are commanded to seek his Face for ever his Favour and Love for the Countenance is the Christal wherein the Affections appear Now all the Commands of God assure us of his approving and Acceptance of our Obedience to them it follows therefore that 't is very pleasing to him that we pray for the Pardon of our Sins and that he will dispense it if we pray in a due manner When he forbad the Prophet to pray for Israel it was an Argument of decreed Ruine against them Pray not for this People for I will not hear thee To encourage our Hope God is pleased to direct us how to address our Requests for his Mercy He directs Israel that had fallen by Iniquity to take Words and turn to the Lord and say unto him Take away all Iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the Praise of our Lips To this is added a solemn renouncing of those Sins that provoked him to Anger His gracious Answer follows I will heal their Backslidings I will love them freely If a Prince draws a Petition for an humble Suppliant to himself 't is a strong Indication that he will grant it God joins Intreaties to his Commands to induce Men to accept this Mercy The Apostle declares Now then we are Embassadors for Christ as tho God did beseech you by us we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God Astonishing Goodness how condescending how compassionate The Provocation began on Man's part the Reconciliation is first on God's That the King of Heaven whose Indignation was incens'd by our Rebellions and might justly send Executioners to destroy us should send Embassadors to offer Peace and beseech us to be reconciled to him as if it were his Interest and not ours is a Mercy above what we could ask or think With Commands and Intreaties he mixes Promises of Pardon to encourage us to come to the Throne of Grace Whoever confesses and forsakes his Sins shall find Mercy This Promise is ratified by the strongest Assurance If we confess our Sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Vnrighteousness The Pardon of a repenting Sinner is the Effect of most free Mercy but 't is dispensed to the Honour of God's Faithfulness and Justice who is pleased to engage himself by his Promise to do it And tho the Word of God be as sacred and certain as his Oath for 't is impossible for him to change his Will or to deceive us in the one as well as the other yet to overcome the Fears to allay the Sorrows and satisfy the Desires of repenting Sinners he was pleased to annex his Oath to the Promise which is the most infallible Character and Note that the Blessing promised is unchangeable He adds Threatnings to his Invitations that Fear which is an active and strong Passion may constrain us to seek for his Mercy Our Saviour said to the Jews who did blind and harden themselves in their Infidelity If ye believe not that I am he the promised Messiah and come to me to obtain Life ye shall die in your Sins The Threatning implies a State final and fearful beyond all Expression for they who die in their Sins shall die for them to Eternity Hell is the sad Mansion of lost Souls fill'd with extreme Wrath and extreme Despair and where Despair is without Remedy Sorrow is without Mitigation for ever From hence we may be convinc'd how willing God is to pardon and save us in that knowing how we are intangled with pleasant Sins he reveals to us what will be the eternal Consequence of Sins unrepented and unforgiven a Punishment above all the Evils that are felt or fear'd here and above all the Patience and Strength of Sinners to endure If Men yield themselves to the Call of his Word without and of his Spirit within
and humbly accept of the Terms of Mercy 't is very pleasing to him We are assur'd by Jesus Christ who is Truth that there is Joy in Heaven over one Sinner that repents more than over ninety nine Persons that need no Repentance God himself declares with a solemn Oath that he delights not in the Death of a Sinner but rather that he should turn and live The Holiness and Mercy of God are two of his most Divine Perfections his peculiar Glory and Delight Now what can be more pleasing to that most pure and compassionate Being than to see a sinful Creature conform'd to his Holiness and saved by his Mercy If the internal Joy of God wherein he is infinitely blessed were capable of new Degrees it would rise higher in the Exercise of his forgiving Mercy There is a clear Representation of this in the Parable of the Prodigal At his Return his Father received him with a Robe and a Ring with Musick and a Feast the signs of Joy in its Exaltation But if Sinners are hardned in Obstinacy and notwithstanding God is so willing to pardon them are wilful to be damn'd with what Variety of Passions does he express his Resentment He incarnates himself in the Language of Men to make them understand his Affection to them Sometimes he expostulates with a tender Sympathy Why will ye die as if they were immediately falling into the bottomless Pit He expresses Pity mix'd with Indignation at their chosen Folly and Ruine How long ye simple ones will ye love Simplicity and Fools hate Knowledg What Reluctancy and Regret does he express against proceeding to exterminating Judgments How shall I give thee up Ephraim How shall I deliver thee Israel How shall I make thee as Admah How shall I set thee as Zeboim Mine Heart is turned within me my Repentings are kindled together With what a melting Passion does the Son of God foretel the decreed Destruction of Jerusalem for rejecting their Saviour and Salvation When he came near he beheld the City and wept over it saying If thou hadst known at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy Peace but now they are hid from thine Eyes Like a mild Judg that pities the Man when he condemns the Malefactor Those who interpret some Expressions of Scripture that God laughs at the Calamity of the Wicked and mocks when their Fear comes and is inexorable to their Prayers in such a Sense as evacuates most gracious Declarations of God to induce Sinners to repent and believe for their Salvation they draw Darkness out of Light for those Threatnings are directed against obstinate Rebels that frustrate the most powerful Methods of Mercy and reject the Call of God in the Day of his Grace and by way of Retaliation their Prayers are ineffectual and rejected in the Day of his Wrath. And that he is so highly and irreconcileably provoked for their despising his Mercy is a certain Indication how highly he would have been pleased with their humble accepting it Let none then by a vile and wretched Suspicion that God's repeated Calls to Sinners to return and live do not signify his serious Will detract from the Glory of his Goodness and blaspheme his unspotted Holiness His excellent Greatness secures us of his Sincerity Why should the glorious Majesty of Heaven court despicable Creatures to be reconciled We are infinite Descents below him and no Advantage can accrue to him from us Temporal Princes may be swayed by Interest to send false Declarations to Rebels in Arms to reduce them to Obedience but what can the most High gain by our Submission or lose by our Obstinacy Counterfeit Kindness proceeds either from the Hope of some Good or the Fear of some Evil and of both God is absolutely uncapable We are all obnoxious to his severe Justice There is no occasion that he should intend by the gracious Offer of Pardon to aggravate the Sin and Sentence of those who refuse it Whosoever with Heart-breaking Sorrow and unfeigned Hatred of his Sins seeks for Pardon by the Mediator he shall find his Experience of sparing Mercy equal to the highest Expressions of it in Scripture and exceeding all his Thoughts 4. It appears that God is ready to pardon in that he is so slow to punish Tho all the Divine Attributes are equal in God and there is an intire Agreement between them yet there is a Difference in their external Operations St. John declares God is Love that signifies his communicative Goodness the Exercise whereof is more free and pleasing to him than the Acts of revenging Justice He does not afflict willingly the Children of Men. His Mercy in giving and forgiving flows as Water from a Fountain Acts of Justice are forc'd from him like Wine from the Grapes by the pressing Weight of our Sins In the first Day of Judgment a Saviour was promised before the Curse was threatned Notwithstanding sinful Men break his Laws and trample on them before his Face they resist and grieve and quench his Spirit yet he delays the Execution of Judgment that his Long-suffering may lead them to Repentance This will appear by considering that God's forbearing Sinners is not 1. For want of Discovery of their Sins Humane Justice may suffer a guilty Person to escape Punishment for want of clear Evidence but this Case is not incident to the Justice of Heaven God is Light with respect to his Purity and Omniscience His firy Eye pierces through the thickest Darkness wherein Sins are committed and all the Arts of Concealment used to cover them He sees all the Sins of Men with the Eye of a Judg All things are naked and open before his Eyes with whom we have to do Therefore 't is said God will require what is past and will observe what is to come in order to Judgment 2. 'T is not from a Defect of Power that the Wicked are spared Great Princes are sometimes hindred from the Exercise of Justice when the guilty Person is supported by a prevalent Party against them for the Power of a Prince is not in himself but in those who are his Subjects Thus David was constrained to spare Joab after the Murder of Abner because of his Interest in the Army the Sons of Zerviah were too hard for him he fear'd their rebellious Resistance But the Power of God is inherent in himself and depends upon no Creatures O Lord be exalted in thine own Power He fears none and is to be fear'd by all With one Stroke of Omnipotency he can destroy all his Enemies for ever He can with more Ease subdue the most stubborn Rebels than we can breathe His Strength is equal to his Authority both are truly infinite 3. The Guilty are spared sometimes from the vicious Partiality of Princes to their Favourites or a wretched Neglect of Justice But the high and holy King is without respect of Persons He hates Sin with a perfect Hatred and is angry with the Wicked