and destroys it but waving them I shall only mention two Particulars wherein this energy of Faith in keeping Men from Sin is the most conspicuous First Faith preserves from Sin by bringing in and presenting to the Soul eternal Rewards and Punishments and that 's the peculiar Office of Faith These indeed are future unto Sense but they are present unto Faith for Faith is the substance of things not seen Heb. 11.1 It gives them a Being before they are and what we hope for or fear as to come by Faith it is enjoyed or felt as already present Why now what a mighty advantage is this to preserve men from sinning Would Sinners treat with the Devil or hearken to a Temptation if they should now see the whole World on flame Angels hastning them to Judgment and Christ upon his Throne here Heaven to receive and crown them there Hell with all its horrours to torment them would any of you dare to sin if all this were before your eyes Why believe it when Faith acts lively all this is as truly present to the Soul as it is certain it shall once be and therefore no more than we would commit a Sin if Sentence were now passing upon us either of Absolution or of eternal Damnation at the Judgment-Seat of God no more shall we sin while Faith sets these things evidently before our eyes and makes them as real to us as they are sure Secondly Faith preserves from sinning by representing that God who must hereafter be our Judge to be now our Spectator and Observer It is only an Eye of Faith that can discover things future as present and things spiritual as real Why now God he is a spiritual Being and therefore is invisible to the dull eyes of Flesh but the quick Eye of Faith that can see him who is invisible as it was said of Moses Heb. 11.27 it fixeth its eye upon the all-seeing eye of God and fills the Soul with awful Thoughts of God's Omni-presence and Omnisciency that all things are naked and bare before him in whose company we are where-ever we are and with whom we have to do whatever we are doing Why now consider with your selves Would I commit such or such a Sin to which possibly you are tempted if some grave person were in the room with you whom you did much respect And what shall the Presence of a mortal Man keep you from sinning and shall not the Presence of the Great God much more Shall we dare to sin when God's eye is fixed upon us when he views not only our outward Actions but also our inward Thoughts clearer than we can see the faces one of another It was the wise Counsel that a Heathen-Man gave to a Scholar of his That if he would preserve himself from doing any thing that was undecent he should suppose some sober and reverend man present with him and this would keep him from doing that which he would be ashamed to do before him Truly we need not make any such Supposition the great and holy God is present with us in reality and the eye of Faith discovers him so to be he is always looking on us yea always looking into us and certainly this to one that can exercise the discerning eye of Faith will be a more effectual means to keep a man from Sin than if all the eyes of Men and Angels were upon him Secondly As the exercise of Faith so the sprightly and vigorous exercise of Divine Love is an excellent Preservative against Sin Love will not willingly do any thing that may offend and grieve the Object loved Love it is an assimilating Affection it is the very Cement that joyns God and the Soul together in the same Spirit and makes them to be of one heart and of one mind it is the Load-stone of the Soul that toucheth all other Affections and makes them stand heaven-ward When once God hath wrought the Love of himself in our hearts this will constrain us to love what he loves and to hate what he hates Sin is the only thing that God hates and those that love him will not cannot but hate Sin their love to God will constrain them to do it Psalm 97 7. Ye that love the Lord hate evil And certainly the hatred of evil is the best security against the committing of it will any one take a Toad or Serpent into his bosome to lodge it there Truly as utterly impossible it is while the Exciting Grace of God stirs up and quickens our Love to him that we should ever embrace a vile lust and lodge it in our hearts since our sight of the beauty of Holiness hath made it ugly and our love to God hath made it hateful Thirdly To mention no more A Holy Fear and Caution least we should Sin is a most excellent preservative against Sin None are so safe as those that are least secure fear is the best preservative of Grace whereas those that are rash and venturous and confident of their own strength run themselves into many Temptations and come off with wounded and smarting Consciences Stand in awe says the Psalmist and Sin not Psalm 4.4 The timorous and trembling Christian stands firmest because such a one is apt upon every occasion to suspect his own strength and to call in God's And indeed when we consider the treachery of our own Hearts and the subtilty of the Devil this Holy Fear and Jealousie is no more than is needful and it is less than sufficient A Man that is to wade thorough a deep River will first try his Footing before he takes his step Why we are to wade thorough the depths of Satan as the Apostle calls them and certainly it is but a requisite caution first to try our ground before we venture upon it to look about and consider whether such and such an Action be grounded upon a Command and secured to us by a Promise whether if we do it we shall not lay our selves open to such and such Temptations or if we do lie open to them whether or not we are in God's way and may expect his Protection and Preservation Truly such circumspection as this is will prove our best security and though we are not able by all our own strength and diligence to preserve our selves yet when God sees us so industriously solicitous to avoid Sin he will then come in by his Almighty Grace that helps not the Sloathful but the Laborious and he will keep us from those Sins that we cannot keep our selves from Now for the Application of this if it be so that it is the Almighty Power of God only that can keep us from Sin This may then be Convictive of that Errour that now a Days is very rife in the World that ascribes our preservation in our standing not so much to the Almighty Grace of God as to the Liberty and Freedom of our own Wills Truly this is an Opinion that proceeds much from the Pride and Stomach
â—s small Sins yet they still plod on in â—he way to Hell and Destruction without any stop or interruption In sharp Diseases the violence of the Fit doth not â—ast so long as the Disease lasts at times â—here is an Intermission but still there is â— constant Distemper in the Body So when the pang of a violent Sin is well over yet still there remains a constant Distemper in the Soul which though it be not outragious yet still continues the Souls Disease and will bring it to its Death at last In the Fortification of a City or Town all the Ramparts are not Castles and Strong holds but between Fort and Fort there is a Line drawn thaâ— doth as it were joyn all together anâ— makes the place Impregnable So is â— in the Fortification of the Soul by Sin all Sins are not Strong holds of Sathan they are greater and grosser Sins but between these is drawn a line of smalleâ— Sins so close that you cannot find â— Breach in it and by these the Heart iâ— fenced against God Now is it nothing that your Little Sins fill up all the voiâ— spaces of your Lives Is it nothing thaâ— you no where lie open to the force and impression of the Holy Spirit He by his Convictions batters the greater and more hainous Sins of your Lives buâ— these Strong holds of Sathan are Impregnable and give him the repulse he seeks to enter in by the Thoughts but these are so fortified by Vanity and Earthly mindedness and a thousand other Follies that though they are but Little Sins yet swarms of them stop up the passage and the Soul is so full already that there is no room for the Holy Spirit to enter There 's not a sinner here that if he will make an Impartial search within him but will find the experience of this in his own breast When at any â—me you have flown out into the Commission of any boisterous and notorious Wickedness have you not afterwards â—und that you live in a more constant â—king and allowance of little Sins When â—nce a Man is stunn'd by some heavy â—ow a small nip or pinch is not then felt â—y him And when once Conscience is â—eadned by the stroak of some great and â—andalous Sin afterwards it grows less â—ensible of the guilt and evil that there â— in smaller Sins and thus you live in â—hem without pain and regret till you â—ll into some notorious Wickedness that â—ore hardens the Heart and more fears â—he Conscience and what is this but to â—n round from Sin to Sin from a small â—in to a great Sin and from a great Sin â—o a small Sin again till Hell put a peâ—iod to this Circle what is this now â—ut for the Devil to get ground upon â—ou by great Sins and to keep it by little Sins whereby he drives on and keeps up â—he trade of Sin and when God shall â—ast up your Accounts for you at the last Day you will find that the Trade hath â—gain'd you no small loss even the loss of â—our Immortal Souls Now although â—he evil and danger of committing little Sins hath been made very apparent in the forementioned particulars yet because Men are very prone to indulge and excuse themselves herein I shall add some farther Demonstrations of their aggravated Guilt in these following particulars Which will serve greatly for the confirmation of the truth of the Doctrine Little Sins usually are the damning Sins First Consider little Sins usually are the damning and destroying Sins There are more beyond comparison that perish and go down to Hell by the Commission of little Sins than by those that are more Notorious and Infamous here perisheth the Hypocrite and here the formal Professor here perisheth your honest civil neighbourly Man that is so fair and upright in his dealing that you can see nothing that is gross and scandalous by him Oh! but yet the blood of their precious and Immortal Souls runs out and is spilt for ever thorough those insensible wounds that little Sins do make Yea hereby commonly perisheth the Prophane Sinner also for it is usually but the Commission of one small Sin more that fills up the measure of their â—niquities and makes them fully ripe â—or Damnation sometimes indeed God â—oth by some signal Stroke of his Vengeance strike the sinner through and â—hrough in the Commission of some bold â—nd daring Sin but usually the last Sin â—f the worst of Men is but of the lesser â—ze and though God hath formerly â—orn many great impieties from such â—ersons yet is he at last so provoked by â—ome little Sin that he will wait no lonâ—er but snatcheth the sinner away in his â—rath and throws him down into Hell This is an Argument how dreadfully â—rovoking small Sins are that usually â—pon the Commission of one of them God puts an end to his patience and forâ—earance It is not all the great and crying â—ins of a Mans Life that brings so much misery upon him as a little Sin that â—nks him down into Eternal Torments â—oth Usually the last Sin that a sinner â—nters into Hell by is but a little Sin Take it therefore as a warning from God â—enceforth never more despise any Sin â—s slight because it is small We have a â—nown Proverb among us that when a â—east hath his full load one straw more will break his Back Believe it sirs it is most certainly true in the present Case many Christians have been a long time sinners against God and their own Souls adding iniquity to iniquity and some oâ— you may already have your full load â— beware how you ever venture upon thâ— Commission of another Sin though it bâ— but a little and a slight Sin yet this slighâ— and small Sin added to the rest may breaâ— and sink you for ever into Hell thiâ— little Sin may fill up the Ephah of youâ— iniquities and after this small Sin yoâ— may neither have time to Sin again noâ— to Repent of your Sin Little Sins what they want in weight they do more than make up innumber Secondly Consider this Small Sin what they want in weight usually they do more than make up in number and therefore are as pernicious to the Souâ— as the greatest Sins can be Hence David prays Psal 19.12 Who can understand his errours cleanse thou me from secret Sins Psal 19.12 Secret Sins must needs bâ— the least and smallest Sins seeing they are so small that he that commits then cannot discern them but yet as they are small so are they numerous whâ— knows how often he thus transgresseth whâ— can understand his errours Therefore cleanse thou me O Lord from these secret â—ins A Ship may have a heavy burâ—en of Sands as well as of Milstones and â—ay be as soon sunk with them And â—uly small Sins though they should be â— small as Sands yet commonly they â—e as numerous as the Sands too and â—hat odds then is there between
the future to shun such Snares and Intanglements as these are thy sins will be judged by God at the last Day to be wilful and presumptuous Sins for they are so if not in themselves considered yet at least in their Cause for you presumptuously run into those Occasions and Temptations whereby in all likelihood you will be overcome and this is to sin presumptuously If when we are tempted we yield without vigorous resistance we then sin presumptuously Thirdly Suppose that we are strongly tempted without the betraying of our selves to the Temptation Why then consider If you commit the Sin to which you are tempted without vigorous and resolute resistance if you do this is a certain sign you sin presumptuously Let the Temptation be never so strong and irresistible yet if you yield to it without opposition and resistance made against it to your utmost you then sin presumptuously A Child of God when he acts like himself falls fighting the Devil gets not a foot of ground upon him but by main force and strength though Principalities and Powers though the Rulers of the Darkness of this World and spiritual Wickednesses in high Places set themselves all in array against him why yet he encounters them all and wrestles with them all and though sometimes through weakness he is overcome yet he never basely yields he fights standing and he fights falling and he fights rising and therefore when he sins it is through Weakness and not through Presumption but now others though they are very bold and presumptuous against God yet they are very Cowards against their Lusts and against the Temptations of the Devil when a Temptation assaults them they dare not presume to oppose that but they dare presume to offend and provoke God himself that they dare do Believe it Sirs you must be bold and resolute either against the Devil or against the great God one of these you must grapple with chuse which you think you may best oppose and soonest conquer the Devil stands before you armed with his fiery darts God follows you armed with everlasting vengeance If you will not engage against Satan and resolutely oppose him and all his force what do you else but turn upon God and challenge him to the Combat and make him your Enemy that is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell-fire for ever Why what a most daring presumption is this that ever we should basely surrender up our selves to the Devil without striking one stroke in our own defence and yet at the same time we should dare to provoke that God that can with one look and frown sink us into the lowest Hell And thus in these Three Particulars we see when a Sin is presumptuous in respect of Temptations when it is committed without Temptations when we run into Temptations and Occasions of Sin and when we make no vigorous opposition against them To sin under eminent judgments and afflictions is to sin presumptuously In the Fifth Place another Trial is this When Men will dare to sin under eminent and remarkable Judgments and Afflictions that God brings upon them then they sin presumptuously What is this else but when God stands visibly in your way yet you will desperately run upon the thick Bosses of his Buckler he hedges up your way with thorns and yet you will break through though it be to the tearing of your Flesh he strikes at you by his Judgments and oh the Madness and Presumption of vile Dust and Ashes that they dare to strike at God again by their Sins what is this else but even to dare God to do his worst When God treads upon us should such vile Worms as we are turn the Tail and threaten to take revenge upon the Almighty This is Presumption and Boldness that God takes special notice of In 2 Chron. 28 and 22. Ahaz was brought very low says the Text and yet in the time of his distress he trespassed yet more against the Lord This is that Ahaz God sets a Mark and Brand upon him that he may be known to all posterity for a most daring Sinner that when God had brought him so low when so many Enemies waged War against him and distressed him yet even then he provoked a greater Enemy than them all and challengeth God against him This is that King Ahaz Truly may it not be said of many among us This and this is that person who when God afflicted them instead of humbling themselves under the mighty hand of God grew enraged at their Sufferings and sinned yet more and more against him Oh it is dreadful when those punishments that should break and melt us prove only to harden our hearts and to exasperate and embitter our Spirits against God What can reform us when we offend under the very smart of the Rod Hereby therefore judge of your Sins if so be God be gone out against you if he hath laid his hand heavy upon you and yet you regard it not but still persevere in your old Sins and still add new iniquities to them if instead of humility and brokenness of heart your hearts rise up against God and you are ready to say with that wicked King This Evil is of the Lord why should I wait upon the Lord any longer conclude upon it you are those desperate presumptuous Sinners that scorn to shrink for whatever God can lay upon them To encourage our selves with hopes of Mercy while we live impenitently in Sin is to sin presumptuously Sixthly and lastly When we can encourage our selves with hopes of Mercy though we live in Sin impenitently this is to sin presumptuously You that know your selves to be Sinners what is it that makes you to bear up with so much peace and confidence why do you not every moment fear lest Hell should open its mouth and swallow you up lest God should suddenly strike you dead by some remarkable Judgment lest the Devil should fetch you away alive to Torments Why do you not fear this since you know your selves to be Sinners Why truly you still hope for Mercy and it is only from this very presumption that men cry Peace Peace to themselves when yet God is at enmity with them they flatter themselves that it shall be well with them in the latter end though God swears he will not spare them but his Wrath and Jealousie shall smoke against them In Deut. 29.19 20. says God there If any Man shall encourage himself when he goes on presumptuously in the way of his own heart adding Drunkenness unto Thirst I will not spare him says God but my Wrath and my Jealousie shall smoke against him and all the Curses that are written in this Book shall fall upon him Were but Sinners truly apprehensive of their wretched Estate how they stand liable every moment to the stroke of Divine Justice how that there is nothing that interposeth betwixt them and Hell but only God's temporary forbearance of them
but God by his Providence so orders it that Merchants pass by that way and to them they sell him There are I believe but few men who if they will examine back their Lives cannot produce many Instances both of the Devil's Policy in fitting them with occasions and opportunities of Sin and of God's Providence causing some emergent Affairs some unexpected Action to interpose and hinder them from those Sins that they purposed Providence prevents Sin by removing the Object Lastly God sometimes keeps men from Sin by removing the Object against which they intended to commit it Thus when Herod intended to put Peter to death the next morning that very night God sends an Angel and makes his escape and so prevents that Sin and so truly in all Aâ—es God hides away his Children from the fury of ungodly men There are doubtless many other various and mysterious Providences whereby God hinders the Sins of Men but these are the most common and most remarkable ways by shortning their Lives by lessening their Power by raising up another Power to oppose them by diverting another way and by removing the Objects of their Sins The next Thing is to shew you how God hinders the commission of Sin in a way of Grace but I shall leave this till another time and make some Application of what hath now been spoken And First then See here the sad and woful Estate of wicked men whom Grace doth not change but only Providence restrain A mere restraint from Sin when the Heart continues fully set and bent upon it must needs cause torment and vexation their own Corruptions urge them forward but God's Providence that meets them and crosses them at every turn and that disappointment that they meet with when they fully resolve upon Sin causes great vexation of Spirit as God will torment them hereafter for their Sins so he torments them here by keeping them from their Sins All the wicked in the world are strangely hampered by God's Providence as so many Bulls in a Net that though they struggle yet they cannot possibly break through and by their strugling they only vex and weary themselves God doth as it were give up the hearts of wicked men to the Devil only he ties their hands let them intend and imagine as much Evil and Mischief as they can yea as much as Hell can inspire into them yet none of these shall execute any of it otherwise than as God permits them Now if there be any real pleasure in Sin it is in the execution of it that which men take in plotting and contriving of it is merely the delight of a Dream and Fancy and herein lies the exceeding wretchedness of wicked men that though Providence almightily hinders them in the execution of Sin yet Justice will justly punish their intention and plotting of it Secondly This should teach us to adore and magnnfie this Sin-preventing Providence of God Our Lives our Estates yea whatever is dear precious to us hitherto have been secured to us only by his powerful hand which hath curb'd in the unruly Lusts of men and kept them from breaking forth into violence and blood and rapine Should God slack the Reins should he throw them upon the necks of ungodly men how would Uproars and Confusions Murders and Slaughters overspread the face of the whole Earth and make the World a Hell above ground Redemption and Providence are two wonderful Works of God by the one he pardons Sin that is committed and by the other he prevents Sin lest it be committed both of them are Contrivances of infinite Wisdom and both of them are unsearchable and past finding out and therefore we ought to ascribe the Glory of both unto God that hath laid both the Design of Redemption and of Providence for Man's Good and for Man's Salvation Thirdly If at any time we can recall to mind as indeed who is there that cannot that God hath thus by his Providence prevented us from the commission of Sin how should this oblige us thankfully to own this Mercy of God to us May not all of us say had not God taken away our power had he not taken away the Objects of our Lusts had he not diverted us some other way we had now been deeply engaged in those Sins that the merciful Providence of God hath diverted us from He it was that hedged up the broad way with Thorns that so he might turn us into the narrow way that leads unto eternal Life and Happiness Fourthly Hath God's Providence so many Ways and Methods to hinder the Commission of Sin why then we may be assured that he will never permit it but when it shall redound to his own Praise and Glory It is an excellent Saying of S. Austin He that is most good will never suffer evil unless he were also most wise whereby he is able to bring good out of evil And therefore when we see wicked men let alone to accomplish their hellish designs we may then quiet our selves with this God knows how to make his own advantage out of their wickedness he knows how from such Dung and Filth to reap a most fruitful Crop of Glory to himself The Rage of Man says the Psalmist thou wilt restrain and the residue thereof shall turn to thy praise that wickedness which God doth not restrain he will make redound to his own Praise and Glory Fourthly and lastly This may establish our hearts in peace when we see the wickedness of Men most raging and violent why they cannot sin unless God gives them a power as Christ told Pilate Thou hast no power over me in John 19.10 except it be given thee from above And certainly that God that gives them a power to sin still keeps a power in his own hands to limit them in their Sins and when their Lusts are most unruly he can say to them hitherto shall ye go and here shall your proud Waves be stayed He stints them and bounds them and he also can totally restrain them when he pleaseth and when it shall be most for his own Praise and Glory Now as God doth thus keep Men back from the commission of Presumptuous Sins by a strong hand of Providence So sometimes he doth by his Grace and this Grace is either meerly restraining or else it is sanctifying and renewing both of them are of very great force and efficacy by the one he holds Men back from Sin and by the other he turns them against Sin You have doubtless heard much concerning Sanctifying and Restraining Grace but yet that your Notions and Apprehensions of them may be more clear and distinct I shall give you the difference that there is betwixt these two in several particulars How restraining renewing Grace do differ they differ in their Subject they differ in their Essence and in their manner of Operation First In their Subject They differ in respect of their subject Restraining Grace is but common and it
forth it self it is kept out from the thoughts when they are busied in holy Meditation it is kepâ— out from the affections when they are set upon heavenly Objects it is kept ouâ— from the life and conversation wherâ— the duties both of the general and particular calling are duely performed in their respective seasons the Apostle exhorts us in Ephesians 4.27 not to give place to the Devil truly when God's exciting Grace quickens our inherent Grace into continual exercise when every faculty is filled with holy actings and every season with holy duties the Devil can have no place to tempt nor corruption to stir it is the best security God can give from the commission of Sin to quicken to the performance of Duty when we pray or meditate or attend upon publick Ordinances we ought to bless God for his exciting Grace whereby we have not only performed a duty but also escaped some soul and notorious Sin that we might have committed had we not been so holily employed we who are here now present before the Lord this day had we neglected this present opportunity who of us knows what horrid temptations and foul sins we might have been exposed to in our own Houses which in the House of God we have avoided David when he walked idly upon the roof of his House he lies open to the Snares of the Devil and sins foully had he then been at his Harp or Psalms he might thereby have driven the Evil Spirit from himself as formerly he did from his Master Saul running Streams preserve themselves pure and clean when standing Pools soon grow corrupt and noisome and venomous creatures breed in them so is it with the heart whilest God's exciting and quickning Grace puts it upon continual act it is preserved from corruption but when once it grows sluggish and doth not freely flow forth into the actings of Grace and performance of Duties the spawn of all manner of sin breeds there and filthy lusts crawl to and fro in it without any disturbance and therefore we should continually pray that God would vouchsafe us the quickning influence of his Spirit that he would fill our sails with that wind that blows where it listeth arise O North Wind and come thou South Wind and blow upon our Gardens that the Spices thereof may flow forth for if the Spices do not the stench will Secondly As God by his exciting Grace hinders those Sins that might arise in the Heart so he also suppresseth those Sins that do arise There is the greatest contrariety imaginable betwixt inherent Sin and inherent Grace when the one is vigorous the other languisheth when the one is acted the other grows dull and sluggish Now both these opposite Principles have their seat and abode in the same Heart and both of them are in continual expectation of exciting influence to call them forth into act Indwelling Corruption that is usually rouzed up by Temptation when it stirs in the heart and is ready to break forth in the life Habitual Grace though it looks on yet is of it self so feeble that it can make no opposition till a kindly influence from the Spirit of God calls out some particular Grace that is directly contrary to that Sin that stirs and this resists and subdues it This Method God used in keeping the Apostle from sinning 2 Cor. 12. He was there under a sharp and pungent Temptation that is therefore called a Thorn in the Flesh v. 7. Satan buffets and the Apostle prays and God answers My Grace is sufficient for thee My Grace is sufficient not thy Grace that Grace that is in thee is but weak and helpless yea a very nothing if I withdraw my influence from it but that quickning Grace that flows from me that alone is sufficient to remove the Temptation and to prevent the Sin Why now while God's exciting Grace work'd upon the Apostle's inherent Grace this Temptation this Thorn in the Flesh only made him more watchful and more industrious against it but if God should have suspended this his Influence this Thorn in the Flesh would immediately notwithstanding all his Grace sadly have wounded his Conscience by the commission of some great and foul Sin Now as all manner of Sin lies couched in that Body of Sin that we bear about with us so all manner of Grace lies couched in that Principle of Grace that God implants in his own Children Now when the Devil by his Temptations calls forth some particular Sin God also at the same time by his exciting Grace calls forth a particular Grace to hinder the commission of that Sin Thus when they are tempted to Pride God calls forth Humility to prick that swelling puffing Bladder when they are tempted to Wrath and Passion he stirs up Meekness when to murmuring and repining against the dispensations of God he puts Patience upon its perfect work Briefly there is no Sin whatever that the Devil can by his Temptation stir up in the Heart but God also can stir up a contrary Grace to it to quell and master it This is the Method of God's exciting Grace in the preventing of Sin that when the Devil calls forth a particular Corruption out of the Stock of Corruption God calls forth a particular Grace contrary to it from the Stock of Grace But yet there are some particular Graces that are more especially employed about this Service and which God doth most frequently exercise and set on work to keep his Children from the commission of Sin First God hinders the commission of sin by keeping up the lively and vigorous actings of Faith Indeed if Faith fail all other Graces must fail by consequence Faith is the Soul's Steward that fetcheth in Supplies of Grace from Christ in whom is the Treasure of it and distributes them to all the other Graces of the Soul Therefore when Christ tells St. Peter Satan had desired to sift him by his Temptations lest he should be thereby discouraged and dejected presently he adds in v. 32. But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not And wherefore his Faith rather than any other Grace but because other Graces must take their Lot with Faith and must be strong or weak victorious or languishing as Faith is and therefore it is called the Shield of Faith Ephes 6.6 Now the Office of a Shield is to defend not only the Body but the rest of the Armour also and so doth Faith when it is dexterously managed it keeps both the Soul and its Graces also from the Attempts of the Devil I might be large here in shewing you how Faith preserves from Sin as by deriving vertue and strength from the Death and Blood of Christ by pleading God's Engagements and Promises to tread Satan under our feet by urging and importuning Christ to fulfill in us the end of his coming into the World which was to destroy the Works of the Devil and many such Ways I might name by which Faith prevents Sin
much less therefore can we do any thing that may deserve it All that we can do is either sinful or holy if what we do be sinful it only encreaseth our Debts If it be holy it must proceed from God's free Grace that enables us to do it and certainly it is free Grace to pardon us upon the doing of that which free Grace only enables us to do Far be it from us to affirm as the Papists do that good Works are meritorious of pardon what are our Prayers our Sighs our Tears yea what are our Lives and our Bloud it self should we shed it for Christ All this cannot make one blot in God's Remembrance-Book Yea it were fitter and more becoming the infinite Bounty of God to give Pardon and Heaven freely than to set them to sale for such inconsiderable things as these are Heaven needed not to have been so needlesly prodigal and lavishing as to have sent the Lord Jesus Christ into the World to lead a miserable Life and die a cursed Death had it been possible for Man to have bought off his own guilt and to have quitted Scores with God by a lower price than what Christ himself could do or suffer And so much for the Resolution of the first Question God's pardoning Grace though it be purchased in respect of Christ yet is it absolutely free in respect of any merit of ours The Second Question is Whether the Grace of God be so free as to require no Conditions on our part Of gifts some are bestowed absolutely without any terms of Agreement And some are Conditional upon the performance of such Stipulations and Conditions without which they shall not be bestowed of which sort is this Grace of God Sanctifying Grace is given absolutely I Answer First The Sanctifying and Regenerating Grace of God whereby the great Change is wrought upon our Hearts in our first Conversion and turning unto God is given absolutely and depends not upon the performance of any Conditions Indeed we are commanded to make use of means for the getting true and saving Grace wrought in us but these means are not Conditions for the obtaining of that Grace For the Nature of Conditions are such that the benefits which depend upon them are never bestowed but where the Conditions are first performed And therefore we call Faith and Repentance Conditions of Eternal Life because eternal Life is never confer'd upon any who did not first believe and repent But now certain it is God hath converted some without the use of ordinary means as St. Paul and the Thief on the Cross Therefore though we are commanded to use the means yet the use of Means and Ordinances cannot be called Conditions of our Regeneration And indeed if any thing could be supposed a Condition of obtaining Grace it must either be a work of Nature or a work of Grace Now a work of Grace it cannot be till Grace be wrought and to go about to make a work of Nature a Condition of Grace it is to go about to revive that old Errour of the Pelagians for which they stand Anathematized in Count Pallestine many Years since Sanctifying Grace is given freely excepted from any Conditions though not excepted from the use of means Secondly Justifying and pardoning Grace though it be free yet is it limited to the performance of certain Conditions without which God never bestows it upon any and they are two Faith and Repentance And these Graces God bestows upon whom he pleaseth without any foregoing Conditions Faith in Christ it is the freest gift that ever God bestowed upon any except that Christ on whom we believe But pardon of sin is restrained to Faith and Repentance as the Conditions of it nor is it ever obtained without them These two things the Scripture doth abundantly confirm to us Whoever believeth on him shall obtain remission of sins Acts 10.43 Repent that your sins may be blotted out Acts 3.19 Whoever believes on him there Faith is made the Condition of Pardon Repent that your sins may be blotted out there Repentance is made the Condition of Pardon These two particulars correspond with the two-fold Covenant of Grace God made with Man His absolute Covenant wherein he promiseth the first Converting Grace this Covenant now is independent from any Conditions a Copy of which we have in Ezek. 36.26 A new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you and I will cause you to walk in my Statutes and you shall keep my Judgments and do them And then there is God's Conditional Covenant of Grace wherein he promiseth Salvation only upon the foregoing Conditions of Faith and Repentance this we have Mark 16.16 He that believeth shall be saved Thus I have stated the great Question concerning the free Grace of God The first Sanctifying Grace of God is so free as to exclude all Conditions but the Justifying and Pardoning Grace of God is limited to the Conditions of Faith and Repentance and both Sanctifying and Justifying Grace are freely bestowed without any Merit of ours but not without respect to the Merit of the Lord Jesus Christ who hath purchased them at the highest rate even with his own most precious Bloud In the next place I shall endeavour to set before you some particulars wherein the Glory of God's free Grace in pardoning sin may be more illustrated that it may appear God assumes to himself this as the greatest honour to be a sin-pardoning God And First This highly commends the freeness of pardoning Grace in that God decreed to bestow it without any Request or Entreaties of ours There was no Rhetorick moved him besides the Yearnings of his own Bowels This was a Gracious Resolution sprung up spontaneously in the Heart of God from all eternity He saw thee wallowing in thy Bloud long before thou wert in thy Being and this time it was a time of Love even a time before all times What Friend could'st thou then make in Heaven What Intercessour hadst thou then when there was nothing but God When this design of Love was laid there was neither Prayers nor Tongues to utter them Yea Christ himself though now he intercedes for the Application of Pardon did not then intercede for the Decree of Pardon he could not then urge his Bloud and Merits as Motives for God to take up thoughts of forgiving us for had not God done so before Christ had never shed his Bloud nor wrought out Salvation for us What Arguments What Advocates did then perswade him Truly the only Argument was our Misery and the only Advocate was his own Mercy and not Jesus Christ God pardons sin when he is able to destroy sinners Secondly God pardons sin when yet he is infinitely able to destroy the sinner and this greatly advanceth the Riches and freeness of his Grace The same breath that pronounceth a sinner Absolved might have pronounced him Damned The Angels that fell could not stand before the power and
iâ— we believe and repent and the other Covenant bestows this Faith and Repentance upon us The Conditional Covenant promiseth Pardon of sin and Salvation if we believe and repent and the absolute Covenant promiseth Faith and Repentance to us to inable us to believe and repent And what could God do more that might farther express the freeness of his Grace to us than to pardon upon Condition of Faith and Repentance which Faith and Repentance he works in us This is to pardon us as freely as if he had pardon'd us without any Faith and Repentance at all God pardons great sinners and passeth by those that are guilty of less Seventhly God sometimes selects out the greatest and most notorious Sinners to vouchsafe Grace and Pardon to them when he suffers others eternally to perish under far less guilt He makes a difference in his Proceedings quite contrary to the difference he finds in Mens Demerits And wherefore is this but only to shew forth the absolute freeness of his Grace greater Debts are blotted out when smaller stand still upon the account only that it may be known that God is free to do what he will with his own and that he will shew mercy to whom he will shew mercy and whom he will he pardons How many Heathens Men of improved Natural Endowments and proportionable Virtues and yet not having Faith in and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ are excluded from pardon and forgiveness whose sins rather shew them to be Men than not to be Christians Whereas others under the Noon-tide of the Gospel are guilty of such flagitious Crimes that shew them to be Monsters rather than Men and yet these upon their Faith and Repentance obtain Pardon and Remission as if it were with God as it is with Men the more there is to be remembred the sooner he forgets It is these Riches of Pardoning Grace that St. Paul admires and adores when he tells us concerning himself I was a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and Injurious but I obtained mercy 1 Tim. 1.13 God pardons without foresight of Merit Eighthly God decrees to pardon without foresight of Merit or worth in us When we lay before him as the Objects of his Mercy what was our posture but weltering in our Bloud And what promising Aspect was such a loathsome Object as this Divine Love did not foresee any attractive Comeliness in us but made it when we were rolled up in our own Filth cast forth to the loathing of our Flesh yet then was it a time of Love and even then when we were in our Bloud God said to us Live when we were full of Wounds Bruises and putrifying Sores Divine Love condescended to bind them up and cure them such miserable deformed Creatures were we And could there be any thing amiable in such an Object as this only hereby God puts an accent on the Riches of his Love laying it out upon such as were not worthy with a design to make them worthy God pardons sin though he foresees we will commit more sin Ninthly Consider this God pardons not only though he saw no Merit in us but what is more to the Glory of his free Grace though he foresaw many future wrongs and injuries would be added to those we had already done He foresaw all our Provocations and Rebellions how we would abuse his Grace and turn it into wantonness He saw the Rebellions of our unregeneracy the Infirmities of our Converted State yet tho' he foresaw all before they were yet he resolved not to see them when they are Numb 23.21 He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob nor perverseness in Israel And this though it ought not to encourage us in sin yet it may be a support and comfort to us when through weakness and infirmity we have sinned that God who loved us and decreed to pardon us when he foresaw how sinful we would be will not certainly now cease to love us and pardon us when we are as vile and sinful as he foresaw we would be Tenthly The Lord Jesus Christ Christ by whom alone we are paron'd is the Gift of God by whom alone we are pardon'd is freely given to us by the Father What price could we have offer'd to have brought down the Son of his Eternal Love from his Embraces What was there in us to draw a Saviour out of Heaven Were we so amiable as to move him to divest himself of his Glory and to Eclipse his Deity in our Mortal Bodies only that he might become like such poor Worms as we are and take us unto himself Ask no more but admire God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting Life Here 's a Mystery that the whole College of Angels can never comprehend What God Condemn his Son that he might pardon Rebels The Son of God blot his Deity in our Flesh only that he might blot out our Transgressions with his Bloud This is such transcendent free Grace and Love that in this we have an Advantage above the Angels themselves standing higher in the Favour of God upon this account than they do Now compact all these Ten Particulars in your thoughts together wherein the freeness of pardoning Grace most illustriously appears and you will find there is good reason for God in the Text triumphantly to ascribe to himself I even I am he that blotteth out your Transgressions The Application I shall make of this Truth I shall only briefly mention First VSE We must not sin because of pardoning Grace Is the Pardoning Grace of God thus free Take heed then that you do not abuse or turn it into Wantonness Shall we continue in sin because God so freely pardons sin God forbid Who would ever make such a cursed Inference as this that ever had the least sense or touch of Divine Love upon his Heart Every one loves to have his Ears tickled with this soft sweet downy Doctrine of God's free Grace and Love and when they hear it they stretch themselves upon it and lull themselves fast asleep in sin But what says the wise Man Prov. 25.27 It is not good to eat much honey No there is no such dangerous Surfeit as upon the sweet and luscious Truths of the Gospel This Honey leaves a deadly sting in Men that abuse it to encourage themselves in sin It is such disingenuity to argue from freeness of pardon to freedom in sinning that I dare say That no Heart that ever had a pardon sealed to it by the Witness of the Spirit of God but utterly abhors it What therefore to provoke God because he is ready to forgive What to multiply sin because God is ready to pardon What is this but to spurn at those Bowels of Mercy that yern towards us and even to strike at God with that Golden Scepter that he holds out to us as a Token of Love and Peace Certainly