in those words I have sinned what shall I do unto thee q. d. Tho' I am clear of many things which my Friends do accuse me of yet my sins before God are so manifest and so multiplied that I can do nothing for the vindication or expiation of my Miscarriages The Object of it is intimated in those words O Thou preserver of Men which are by some rendred O thou Observer of Men q. d. God has Observed more amiss in me than ever I found in my self For the Petition it is with an Expostulation It is Why hast thou set me as a Mark against thee so that I am a Burden to my self The Sorrows of men are the Arrows of God they that 〈◊〉 shot full thereof are sensible of 〈…〉 in every one of their 〈◊〉 Why hast thou is here a Deprecâ—tion of the evil mentioned Well if we now pass on to 〈◊〉 Text we shall have there both◠〈◊〉 and an Argument For the Petition it is here with an Expostulation too T is Why dost thou not Pardon my Transgression and take oway my Iniquity As before Why dost Thou was as much as to say O do it not so here Why dost thou not is equivalent unto saying O do it And it seems to follow upon the Title newly put upon the Great God O thou Preserver of Men q. d. Lord since thou art the Preserver and the Pardoner of so many Sinners in the World why should not I share in thy Mercies among the rest For the Argument the force of the plea for a Pardon here seems to ly in this It will else quickly be too late The terms of it are For now shall I sleep in the Dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be which in short is I shall quickly be dead and 〈◊〉 To Not be is a Scripture-Sacred-Phrase for Dying denoting not a total 〈◊〉 but a vast Alteration comeing upon us by Mortality which is also here styled Sleeping with respect unto the condition of the Body in the Grave And whereas we read of the Morning in this place it may be an Allusion to the Morning Sacrifices usual among the people of God and it may carry this Import with it q. d. Lord if a Morning or two hence thou shouldest Look to find me on my Knees as I am now before thee it will be too late I shall be departed into that State where in I can make no Prayer to thee and have no Pardon from thee World without End Wherefore the Doctrine unto which you are now to give a very great Attention is this Men should be very Imporâ—â—â—â—â— in their Prayers to the Eternal God That their Transgression may be pardoned and their Iniquity taken away before the Sleep of Death bring their Great Change upon them For the clearing of this Truth we have now Two Enquiries that ly before us Our first Enquiry is to be What is implied in the Pardoning of Transgression and the Taking away of Iniquity For answer to this In general The Glorious Benefit of JUSTIFICATION is herein implied If you ask for a Description of Iustiâ—ication then know That it is an Act of Gods Free Grace Releasing a Believer from the Guilt of Sin and Accepting him as Righteous thro' the Obedience of the Lord Iesus Christ. There are two things which a Religion still pretends to make provision for to remove thâ— greatest of our Troubles to obtain the greatest of our Desires The Christian Religion does both of these in a very admirable manner The First is done in Iustification The Distress of a Guilty Sinner lies in this point What shall I give for the sin of my Soul Behold that matter in Iustification very wonderfully provided for The Psalmist of old called this a Parable and A Dark Saying even this The precious Redemption of a Soul by the Messias alone Blessed be God that we can with satisfaction penetrate a little way into the Mystery But I may not give you a full Discourse upon this illustrious Head of Divinity whicâ— indeed the Standing or the Falling of the whole Church is concerned in the right stating of and as I may not so I need not insist upon it because you have the published Writings of many Learned Men on this very point which I 〈…〉 â—ecommend unto your 〈…〉 suppose you are all of the Disposition which our famous Wilson would often express by saying I Love nothing so much as to see a Preacher keep close to his Text and the Scope of it and therefore I shall now keep Close to my Text by offering to you a few Conclusions relating to IVSTIFICATION All which the Terms used in my Text suggest unto us but in all I must also keep close to the Man whom I do here most particularly design the edification of Conclusion 1. My Transgression The Hebrew word for it Notes a Transgression out of Pride And my Conclusion from it is 〈◊〉 There is a wicked and a cursed Pride in the Sins of men The First of our sins was founded in a cursed Pride the most of our Sins are tainted with it The first sin of Adam had Pride for a main ingredient of it It was propounded unto him in Gen. 3. 5. Ye shall be as Gods Honour and Grandeur was the Bait which he was taken with and his Pride affected a higher condition that that which his Maker had plac'd him in The first Sin of Satan too had Pride for its Original Hence we are advised in 1 Tim 36. he that is lifted up with pride falls into the condemnation of the Divel It is thought that his Dissatisfaction at some Priviledges which he foresaw Mankind likely to be the subject of was that which prompted him to the Rebellion and Apostasie in which he is now King over the children of pride T is thus in all the Sins which those have been the Parents of there lies Pride at the bottom of them all What Sâ—lâ—mon sayes of one Sin Only by Pride comes contention the like may be said of All Sin Mainly by Pride comes Transgression Upon the Root of Pride it is that there grows all the Disobedience to God which is at any time comâ—mitted in the World It was the Sâ—ying of the Prophet in 〈…〉 If ye will not hear my soul shall weep in secret Places for your pride From our Pride it is that we do not Hear the voice of God unto us in his Ordinances oâ— in His Providences T is Pride that makes us thick oâ— Hearing when ouâ— God councels us to Do Iustice and love Meâ—cy and walk Humbly with Him Every Sin as one sayes of every man hath a Pope in the Belly of it something that Exalts it self against all that is called GOD. The Sinners whom Solomon calls the Fools are those whom David calls the proâ—d If men were not proud Fools they would never espouse a way of wickedness men Sin with an High Heart and that makes them Sin with an
High Hand against the God of Heaven Through Pride it is that we must have our Will tho Gods Will be quite contrary thereunto And when the most High 〈◊〉 his commands before us we do as if we were Above Him say We will not hearken therounto Through pride it is that we can't bear the Order which the Sovereign God has â—ixt us in but we take indirect wayes to relieve and alter our circumstances And here is the Râ—se of all our Miscarriages Be sure YOU that are now in Chains before us must acknowledg this to be the Rise of yours Your Proud Impatience of a little contradiction and your Proud Resistance to the Rules of good living have brought you to the Sin for which you are to dy Conclusion 2. My Iniquity The Hebrew Word for it imports Iniquity with Crookedness and Perverseness And hence I form this Conclusion The Sins of Men have a World of â—â—righteous Crookedness Perversness in them Our Sins are not Right Things but there is a most uncomely Obliquity in all of our Iniquity Every Sinner may say as in Iob. 33. 27. I have perverteâ— that which is right The Path which God in his Word has directed 〈…〉 is a right path or as 't is called A path of Righteousness but sin is a wandring from it the Sinner goes astray in the greatness of his folly Sin is a Deviation from a strait Rule The Psalmist could say in Psnl 119 128. I esteem thy precepts concerning all things to be right But now every false way has a figure not conformed unto the precepts of God The Sinner walks in crooked paths when God has required make strait pathes for your selves And he has no constant course One while 't is one Lust and than another which he is madly slaving unto Sin is that Harlot whereof t is said her wayes are moveable And the Sinner is herein a most unrighteous man He defrauds both God and man of their dues with an injnstice too black to be described But if ever there were a perverse and an unjust man in the World I am sure YOU that are in Irons here ought to account your self such an one Your Fâ—oâ—ardness has pusht you on to the most unreasonable thing that was ever done in the Land in which you have not now long to live Conclusion 3. Pardon my Transgression The word Pardon signifies the Removing of a Load yea a Transferring of it unto him who takes it off Whence this Conclusion doth arise In Iustification the Burden of Sin is Translated from the Sinner unto the Lord Iesus Christ. Sin is an heavy Burden upon the Soul which it lies upon and the Sinner may justly roar under it as in Psal. 38. 4. My Iniquities as an heavy Burden are too heavy for me Hence The Bearing of Iniquity is a phrase that sometimes occurrs in the Book of God Every sensible Soul feels it like a ponderous Mountain of Lead upon him the Thousands of Talents which he owes unto the Revenge of God are â— Weight upon him which he finds there is no Enduring of Ask the Undone Murderer that is now before you whether he feels not Sin like a Load upon him That Malefactor will be prest to Death for ever by the Dead Weight of Sin who shall be so Mute under his Guilt as not to crâ— out Lord I am oppressed undertake for me But in Iustification this intollerable Burden is Tâ—anslated unto the Blessed Lord Iesus Christ who was made a Curse for us And thus we are told in Isa. 53. 6. God hath laid on him the Iniquity of us all The Burden of Sin 〈◊〉 the Obligation to make Satisfaction for it this is a Burden enough to Break the Backs of all the Angels in Heaven if it were laid upon them On Supposition of a Law given by God and on Supposition of that Law broken by man there follows a Necessity of a Satisfaction to be made unto the Justice of that Holy One who will be known to be of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity The Rule according to which the Almighty God acts as the Iudge of the VVorld is the Reâ—titude and Holiness of His Nature and the Law which he hath given us is Ratify'd with such a Sanction that there is now no pardoning of a Sinner without a Satisfaction to Him Against whom only we have sinned Now the Obligation to pay the Debt which our Sin has run us into is in Iustification made to fall upon our Lord Jesus Christ who is our Surety for Good As one speaks well Nostram causam Sustinebat qui nostram sibi Carnem aduniverat and as I remember Prosper expressed it We were Crucify'd in Him or according to the Language of the ancient Cyprian He bore both us and all our sins The Lord Jesus now becomes the Antitype of the Ancient Scape-Goat upon whose Head is laid all the Sin which we have to answer for There is an Imputation in this Affair and as 't is said 〈…〉 5. 21. God made Him to be Sin for 〈◊〉 who knew no Sin that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him 't is thus by a Divine Imputation and Constitution Conclusion 4. Take away mine Iniquity The word Take away signifies a Causing to pass away and indeed therein a passing by Whence we have this Conclusion In Iustification the Great God causes the Sin of Men to pass away without Notice of it Sin is passed by and made to pass away when it is Forgiven to us Our God therein says unto us as in 2 Sam. 12. 13. The Lord hath put away thy Sin As we do by Gods Law in Sinning so God does by our Sin in Forgiving Hence the same word is used for both In Sinning we pass by His Law as a thing not worthy of our Notice thus in Forgiving He passes by our Sin without any such Notice of it as to Damn us or to Judge us for the same Our sin becomes now in some sort as tho' it had never been at all but as 't is said in Jer. 50. 20. Iniquity shall be sought for and there shall be None and Sins and they shall not be found And Methinks a poor Murderer such an One as is within Hearing of what we are now speaking should have his very Heart leap within him at the mention of such a thing What For such an One when He stands at the Bar of the Lord Jesus to have such a Verdict brought in for him as Not Guilty there But thus it is in Iustification God therein causes our Sin to pass away But 〈…〉 does it pass We have a Repl◠〈◊〉 â—hat in Isa. 38. 17. Thou hast cast my Sins behind thy Back Our Sin therein passes as far from the Avenging Eye of God as what we cast behind us never to be regarded any more Whither did I say it passes Nay to advance a little further 't is said in Mic. 7. 19 Thou wilt cast all their sins into the
which we may be dispos'd unto We are to ly before the Lord as Loathsome Undone Wretched Creatures and Shout Grace Grace concerning all the Methods of our pardon Here to speak as Ierome of old All Hands are Dissolved because nothing done by our Hands will be found to answer the Righteousness of God It was a thing prescribed in Ancient Directiores for the Visitation of the Sick that the Sick Man should be taught to say O my God I now place the Death of the Lord Iesus Christ between me and my Sins Behold words fitted for every Sin-sick Soul What else can we say seeing we are told in Acts 26. 18. Men receive the Forgiveness of Sins and are Sanctify'd by Faith in Christ Iesus And hence even one of the greatest Giants among the Romish Philistines having argued a great while for the Interest of our own Merits in the pardon of our Sins at last he comes to that memorable issue of all Tutissimum est By Reason of the uncertainty of our own Righteousness and the Danger of vain Glory 't is the safest course to Repose our whole Trust in the Mercy and Grace of God alone Indeed I pray why then did you Bellarmine Dispute with so long and strong a Sophistry against the safest course in the World I beseech you Let none of us take any other course for the pardon of our Sins Counsel 5 Seek a Pardon and seek it PENITENTLY And there are especially Two Expressions of Repentance which we are to be exercised in They are conjoyned in Prov. 28. 13. He that Confesseth and Forsaketh his Sins shall find Mercy VVherefore 1. Confess all your Sins if you would have the pardon of them It was said upon a devout purpose of Confession in Psal. 32. 5. I said I will Confess my Transgressions unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity of my Sin How much more will an exact performance of it have such a Consequence In some Cases our Sins must be confessed unto Men. Indeed our secret Sins must not be divulged until God Himself have in a manner brought them out but then we are by our own ingenuous Confessions to perfect the Discovery So David so Ionah thought tho' they could say unto God Against thee thee only have I sinned scarce any but God being privy to their Miscarriages And thus Achan when others were made Sufferers by his being a Sinner and God was pointing at him as the Troubler of all the Neighbourhood his Duty then was that My Son Confess and Give Glory to God But be sure Sins committed before Men must be Confessed unto Men. VVhen Iosephâ— Brethren had been Brethren in Iniquity they heard one another with a bitter Confession saying We are verily Guilty When the Publicans and Souldiers such people that had sinned publickly of old came to a better sense they Confessed their sins no doubt aâ— publickly as they could We must give all men to see that we do not Approve of Sin by our taking shame to our selves for what sin they have seen us overtaken with and like the Convicted Leper crying out Vnclean Vnclean But in all Cases our sins must be confessed unto God who knows them all and whom they have all affronted and â—â—used It is said in 1 John 1. 9. If we Confess our Sins He is Faithful and Iust to forgive us our Sins We are to confess our sins before the God of Heaven both very particularly and very sincerely We may do well to take a Catalogue of Duties Required and Sins Forbidden in all the Commandments of God and Examining by that Glass what Spots we have had in our Hearts and Lives we should Bewayl them all before God And Bewayl them without any Excuses or Defences to Extenuate them in our Lamentations An Vpright man lies in the Dust Let us lay our selves there and so Enlarge upon our own Vileness as becomes A Spirit without Guile Such a Confession as this must be made if we would have any marks of a pardoned Soul upon us 2. Forsake all your Sins if you would make Genuine your Confession of them When you have once Vomited up your Sins by Confessing of them O do not return to them as A Dog to his Vomit Come to say as in Job 34. 31. I will not offend any more and study to Do what you say As The Burnt Child will dread the Fire So let us Dread all the Sins which our Souls have been scorched with and let us not espouse any Way of wickedness If any of us will go on still in our Sins let us not forget what will come of it no less truly than that in Psal. 68 21. God shall wound the Head of such an one as goeth on still in his Trespasses But O what horrible wounds are those which the Omnipotent Hand of the Great God shall be the Inflicter of Do not venture to go on in any course of Sin but be able to say I hate every false way and especially be able to say I kept my self from mine Iniquitie Albeit any Sin may have been as dear as a Right-eye or a Right-hand unto you nevertheless Away with it Whatever bad course you have heretofore been us'd unto abhor it now with a very hearty and zealous Detestation and say What have I any more to do with Idols 'T is a New Life that we are now to be studious of and we may not promise a pardon to our selves while we continue in Sin Tho' God at first Iustify the Vngodly yet he will not let a Iustified man remain ungodly any more no he teaches him to Deny all ungodliness and Live Godlily Soberly and Righteously in this present Evil World II. But there is a very particular USE of these things to be Regarded by one among us who is never to see the light of another Sabbath more T is Hugh Stone that I am now more immediately concerned with and therefore let him as a man just come unto the very side of the black River of Death give earnest heed unto what shall now be said before we part Unhappy Man you must now Dy before your time for your being wicked â—vermuch and because you have been a Man of Blood you must not Live out all your Dayes I am a little to invert the Words of my Text in my Speech â—nto you and say Why don't you seek 〈◊〉 have your Transgression pardoned and your Iniquity taken away For you shall sleep in the Dust before this Week be out and if we seek you next Friday Morning you shall not be among us T is a great Favour of God unto you that you have liberty to hear a Sermon or two before the Execution which you are Sentenced unto your Monstrous Hands hurried your poor Wife out of the World with a greater and more cruel Expedition You may lament it with an inexpressible Bitterness that you have no better improved those hundreds of Sermons which you have enjoyed heretofore But I now beseech
Speedy Repentance urged SERMON Preached at Boston Decemb. 29. 1689. In the Hearing and at the Request of One Hugh Stone 〈◊〉 â—â—â—erable Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—â—â—tence of 〈◊〉 for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Horâ—â—â—â—◠〈◊〉 〈…〉 COnscientia mea meruit Damnationem paenitentia mea non sufficit ad Satisfactionem Sed 〈◊〉 est quod misâ—ricordi◠〈◊〉 super at 〈…〉 THE Introduction OUr Blessed Saviour hath given that Character of his Ministers That they be Rulers over His Houshold and that Commandment to them That they should give every one their meat 〈◊〉 duâ— Season Whether or no our Good Neighbours will acknowledge our Government which we Esteem to be not at all Deâ—potioâ— but wholly Ministerial and would rejoice 〈◊〉 we could therein with more universal Ediâ—â—â—cation enjoy the Assistence of those that migâ—â— Rule well though they Labour 〈◊〉 Word and Dâ—ctrine yet I am sure 〈◊〉 ought with a very sollicitous Fidelity to 〈…〉 our Stewardship in that 〈…〉 which concâ—rns the Feeding of the Houshold It is Food and not 〈◊〉 which we are to Entertain the Soul◠〈…〉 people with 〈◊〉 Windy and Empty 〈◊〉 and Notions which 〈◊〉 dant quia non habent are 〈◊〉 from us but solemn and useful 〈◊〉 about Faith and Repentance and Holiness which make up The One Thing Needful and about those things without â—word4 no man shall see the Lord. And if not Froth much less is Poison to be found in our Discourses not a Snake instead of a Fish which alas is now adayes no less frequently than fatally met withal in Sermons about Iustification more than about any one Article of Religion But in all this there is to be had a special Regard unto the Due Season too in which Every Thing 〈◊〉 Beautiful For tho' the Efficacy of Grace consist not in Moral Perswasions applyed as the Arminians Dogmatize Tempore Modo Congruis in a suitable and seasonable manner yet a Spiritual Physician ought tâ— waâ—ch his Time as well as weigh his Dose and we should prudently take what Advantage may be given by Proviâ—ence to make this 〈◊〉 that particular Truth awakening to the mindâ— of them with whom we have to do The Sense of these things caused me to Preach a Sermon which might Excite and Assist Speedy Repentance in that Congregation which I would awfully Remember my self Accountable to the Lord Iesus for The Due Season which this Homely but I hope wholsome Food was adopted unto was at the Request and Presence of a miserable Murderer then under a just Sentence of Death to be speedily Executed on him The Man was one HUGH STONE of Andover who npon a Quarrel between him and his own Wife about Selling a piece of Land having some words as they were walking together on a certain Evening very barbarously reached a stroke at her Throat with a sharp Knife and by that one stroke fetched away the Soul of her who had made him a Father of several Children and would have brought yet another to him if she had Liv'd a few Weeks longer in the World The wretched man was too soon surprised by his Neighbour 〈…〉 be capable of denying the Fact and so he pleaded Guilty upon his Trial. Being under Condemnation and his End hastening upon him he gave me his Desires to hear a Sermon from me before he Dy'd Wherefore I thought there was now before me a Due Season to make a Food of such Things as I now also per others and to permit them is all I have done to Print for the Edification of such as the Publishers propound thereby to benefit I confess that I had not so much as One Day allow'd me for my Original Preparations of the Sermon and therefore not being able exactly to keep what I did not could not write necessitates me to Alter and doubtless to Amend some Imperfections in it Yet it is very near what it was at its first Delivery and from the Experience which formerly I have had in publishing a Discourse of this kind I encourage my self with Hopes that notwitstanding all the Weaknesses in it I may find in the Day of the Lord Iesus That I have not Laboured in vain The Sermon is plain but besides my inclination at all Times to make none but such even an Heathen Seneca would have taught me that on this occasion any other would have been improper I excuse not the â—eanness of the Composure but am waitinâ—â—pon the Eternal Spirit 〈…〉 and blows where He â—lease 〈…〉 The SERMON Iob. VII 21. And why doest thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine Iniquity for now shall I sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be VVE have now before us a very miserable but we cannot excuse the hardness of our own Hearts if it be not also a very profitable Spectacle You see a poor man in Irons here whose crying Murders have now procured unto him that Sentence which will not permit him to live many hours longer in the world His Case do's truly Preach to 〈…〉 â—ame that my Text will Preach 〈…〉 but while I have an Eye to his particular circumstances I shall not so overlook yours as to leave any one person in this vast Congregation without the Food proper in the present season for them This Malefactor does know that he quickly must and all of you do not know but you sooner may come to sleep in the Dust wherefore let every one of you now hear as those that are concerned to get their Transgression pardoned and their Iniquity taken away The Book of IOB in a sweet Poesy gives us a true History of strange Calamities and stranger Deliverances befalling a famous Person who made Arabia the Happy by his dwelling there Had it not been Real and Certain matter of Fact which is here 〈…〉 we may not imagine that 〈◊〉 Prophet Ezekiel or the Apostle Iames would have made such References as they did unto it it only remains that we do our parts to make it as useful as 't is Real and Certain It has been conjectured by some that Moses was the Writer of this elegant Narrative and the Arabian Idioms here and there occurring in it consist very well with the Abode of Moses in his Exile but it is as evident that Iob lived before Moses as 't is that he lived after Abraham Very wonderful Afflictions at once did surprize this Renowned Man and under his Troubles we find him pouring out of his Complaints Unâ—o whom It was a sigh that once passed from him As for me is my complaint to Man Alas he found Man a Physitian of no value to be complained unto and therefore 't is unto God that he now makes the Complaints which our Context is the conclusion of In the Verse before our Text we have both a Confession and a Petition of a Distressed Man For the Confession we have both the Matter of it and the Object of it The Matter of it is contained
cruciate a Malefactor in but all of them are little things in comparison of That which is the portion of the Vnpardoned and the Heritage appointed unto Him by God As One in Trouble of Conscience for Sin hearing some Discourse about Burning to Death cryed out This is but a Metaphor to what I feel Truly the most hideous Tortures in the world are but Metaphors unto the terrible Blows and Wounds which with immediate Impressions of Divine Indignation will in the other world be inflicted upon the Unpardoned World without End Indeed as a Painter being asked to draw unto the Life the Horrors of the Spanish Inquisition only besmeared his Table with Blood intimating that the Thing was too Bloody to be otherwise Described So could I cover my Pulpit with nothing but Blood and Fire it would give some little expressive Characters of what the Vnpardoned at their Death are Doom'd unto But all words are here swallowed up What Remains must be the APPLICATION Of the Truths which have been thus cleared unto us And 1. There is an USE of these things which every one of us All are to be addressed with 'T is this Let every man among you seek and Secure a Pardon before the Sleep of Death shall overtake you We all own our selves to be Sinners before that God whose Eyes are like a Flame of Fire It was begg'd by one and may be begg'd by us all as in Psal 19. 12 13. Cleanse thou me from Secret Sins keep back thy Servant also from presumptuous Sins Besides the Corruption brought with us into the world which Concupiscence the Apopostle to the Romans in two or three Chapters together calls by the Name of SIN more than twice seven times there have been Actual Sins of all sorts which we have defiled our selves withal And besides our presumptuous sins many thousands of times Repeated in our Lives whereof I may say to every man as once 't was said unto One Thou knowest the wickedness which thy own Heart is privy to there are also our Secret Faults which every day without Humble Recollections we fall into Some Sin thro' Ignorance and thus do many among us with whom Clip'd Oathes are such frequent Things Their common interjection is Marry and they think not that they Swear by the Virgin Mary ever now and then a God so passes from them and they do not think that they swear by Gods Soul in speaking so Others do sin thro' Carelesness and Heedlesness and hence they let more Spiritual Sins wonderfully have Dominson over them Pride Passion Malice and By-Ends do strangely carry them away In short it is impossible to reckon up how many Regards there are wherein we have cause to Acknowledge before the Great God Father we have sinned But why then do not we seek a pardon for our many and our mighty Sins know we not That we shall quickly Sleep in the Dust As we are Sinners we are also Mortal and we are Mortal Sinners too Let me then urge a few Counsils upon you all and Let That man who is now just upon taking an Eternal Farewel of such Counsils give â— very particular Attention thereunto Counsel 1. Seek a Pardon and seek it EARNESTLY O be in Good Earnest to speak Scripturally be in Agonies about this Grand Concern To awaken your zeal hereabout Consider The vast Blessings and Comforts which a Pardon is accompanied withal T is an iterated Exclamation about a pardoned Man in Psal. 3. â— 1 2. O the Blessednesses of such a man There are Blessednesses in this Life which a pardon will bring unto us A pardon will be the Sugar of all our mercies This was that which made Health to be Health indeed unto Hezekiah he could not only say I am alive and Healthy but he could say therewithal as in Isai. 38. 17. Thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back A Pardon will also be the sweetner of all our Troubles It will be a piece of wood from the Cross of our Lord Jesus to dulcifie the waters of Marah whiâ—h are usually so bitter to us When a man lay sick of a sore Disease this Word was enough to make his Bed for ever easy to him in Maâ— 9. 3 Son be of good cheer thy Sins be Forgiven thee But there are more marvellous Blessednesses which a pardon brings in the Life to come 〈◊〉 a Link which the Apostle finds it that which the Ancients call The Golden Chain of Salvation Rom. 8. 30. Whom he Iustified Them he also Glorified There is no less than a Kingdom to follow upon a Pardon Tho' the Sinner were here in the Fetters of Affliction yet his very Chains will be turned into Crowns when once a Pardon has made him capable thereof O 'T is well worth your while to be in Earnest about so Desirable a Thing as this What shall I say more A Malefactor once receiving Sentence of Death did with a most Earnest Noise cry to the Iudge for mercy and being rebuked for being so clamorous replyed Why it is for 〈◊〉 it is for my Lifeâ—l and shall not â— be in Earnest for it So and more thâ—n that may I say concerning a Pardon from the Hands of God Seek it it 〈◊〉 for the life of a precious 〈◊〉 Immortal 〈◊〉 which is worth your being in 〈…〉 Counsel 2. Seek a Pardon and seek it PRESENTLY Be able to say concerning your Seeking a Pardon from as the Psalmist said about his Keeping the Precept of the Eternal God I made Hast and did not Delay to do it To awaken your Hast here-about Consider the Incredible Dangers of all Delays Your main Business is to become well provided of a pardon for your Sins Let me now say unto you as in 2 Cor. 6. 2. Behold Now is the Accepted Time Behold Now is the Day of Salvation If you slip thâ—s Nâ—w you may never have another you may miss of Acceptance and Salvation for ever more O do not say as 〈◊〉 Unhappy Faelix did I 'll concern my self about these matters at a more convenient season for a More convenient Season will never comâ— The Great God says To Day and our To morrow cannot be a more convenient season than that which the all-wise God hath pointed us unto You have Now about you a thousand conveniencies for the getting of a Pardon which no Season hereafter will have blowing in the Sails thereof Nay t is possible you may never have any other season at all We are told in Eccl. 9. 12. Man knoweth not his time We are bid in Prov. 27. 1. Boast not thy self of Tomorrow We do not know that the â—ime which is future will ever come to be present with us and he was but a well-advised man who could say I have not had a To morrow for these many years It was a prudent Admonition given by a Rabbi to a Scholar among the Jews Child Be sure to Repent at least a day before you Dy. That person is worse than