Verse 4

The words explained, and the design or scope of the Psalmmist in them discovered.

THe state and condition of the soul making application unto God in this Psalmm is recounted, verse 1. It was in the depths; not only Providential depths of Trouble, affliction, and perplexities thereon; but also depths of conscience, distress on the account of sin, as in the opening of those words has been declared.

The application of this soul unto God, with restless fervency and earnestness, in that state and condition; its consideration in the first place of the law and the severity of Gods justice in a proceedure thereon; with the inevitable ruine of all sinners, if God insist on that way of dealing with them, have also been opened and manifested from the foregoing verses.

Being in this estate, perplexed in its self, lost in and under the consideration of Gods marking iniquity according to the tenor of the law; that which it fixes on, from whence any relief, stay or supportment might be expected in such a condition, is laid down in this verse.

Ver. 4.But there is forgiveness with you, that you maist be feared.

I shall first open the words as to their signisication and importance; then shew the design of the Psalmmist in them, with reference to the soul whose condition is here represented; and lastly propose the general Truths contained in them, wherein all our concernments do lye.

There is forgiveness, say the LXX. and Hierom accordingly Propitiatio; propitiation: which is somewhat more than venia, or pardon, as by some it is rendred.

condonatio ipsa; forgiveness its self. It is from to spare, to pardon, to forgive, to be propitious: and is opposed to , a word composed of the same letters varied (which is common in that Language) signifying to cut off, and destroy.

Now it is constantly applyed unto sin, and expresss every thing that concurrs to its pardon, or forgiveness. As,

First, It expresss the mind or will of pardoning, or Gods gracious readiness to forgive, Psalmm 86:5. You Lord art good and ready to forgive; ; benign and meek; or sparing, propitious. Of a gracious merciful heart and nature. So Nehem. 9:17. You art O God propitiationum, of propitiations or pardons; or as we have rendered it, ready to forgive; a God of forgivenesses; or all plenty of them is in your gracious heart, Isaiah 55:8. So that you art alwayes ready to make out pardons to sinners. The word is used again Daniel 9:9. to the same purpose.

Secondly, It regards the act of pardoning; or actual forgiveness it self, Psalmm 103:3. who forgivs all yours iniquities; actually dischargs you of them: which place the apostle respecting renders the word by , Colossians 3:13. Having freely forgiven you (for so much the word imports) all your trespasses.

And this is the word that God useth in the covenant, in that great promise of grace and pardon, Jeremiah 31:34.

It is warrantable for us, yea necessary to take the word in the utmost extent of its signification and use. It is a word of favor, and requires an interpretation tending towards the enlargement of it. We see it may be rendered or propitiation; or grace; and venia or pardon; and may denote these three things.

First, The gracious, tender, merciful heart and will of God; who is the God of pardons and forgiveness; or one ready to forgive, to give out mercy, to add to pardor.

Secondly, A respect unto Jesus Christ, the only , or propitiation for sin, as he is expressly called, Romansans 3:25. 1 Johnn 2:2. And this is that which interposs between the gracious heart of God, and the actual pardon of sinners: All forgiveness is founded on propitiation.

Thirdly, It denotes condonation or actual forgiveness it self, as we are made partakers of it; comprizing it both actively, as it is an Acts of grace in God, and passively as terminated in our souls, with the deliverance that attends it. In this sense as it looks downwards, and in its effects respects us, it is of mere grace; as it looks upwards to its causes and respects the Lord Christ, it is from propitiation or attonement. And this is that pardon which is administred in the covenant of grace.

Now as to the place which these words enjoy in this Psalmm, and their relation to the state and condition of the soul here mentioned, this seems to be their importance.

O Lord, although this must be granted, that if you shouldst mark iniquities according to the tenor of the law, every man living must perish, and that for ever; yet there is hope for my soul, that even I who am in the depths of sin-entanglements, may find acceptance with you; for whilst I am putting my mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope; I find that there is an Attonement, a propitiation made for sin, on the account whereof you say you hast found a Ransome, and wilt not deal with them that come unto you according to the severity and exigence of your justice; but art gracious, loving, tender, ready to forgive and pardon, and dost so accordingly; THERE IS FORGIVEness WITH THEE.

The following words, therefore you shalt be feared, or that you maist be feared, though in the Original free from all Ambiguity, yet are so signally varyed by Interpreters, that it may not be amiss to take notice of it in our passage.

The Targum has it, that you mayst be seen. This answers not the word, but it does the sense of the place well enough. God in his displeasure is said to hide himself, or his face, Isaiah 8:17. The Lord hids his face from the house of Jacob. By forgiveness we obtain again the light of his countenance. This dispels the darkness, and clouds that are about him; and gives us a comfortable prospect of his face and favor. There is forgiveness with him that he may be seen. Besides, there is but one letter different in the Original words; and that which is usually changed for the other.

The LXX. render them, ; for your names sake; or your own sake, that is, freely, without any respect unto any thing in us. This also would admit of a fair and sound construction, but that there is more than ordinary evidence of the places being corrupted. For the Vulgar Latin, which as to the Psalmms was translated out of the LXX. renders these words, propter legem tuam; for your laws sake; which makes it evident, that that Translator reads the words , and not , as now we read. Now though this has in its self, no proper sense (for forgiveness is not bestowed for the laws sake) yet it discovers the original of the whole mistake. The law, differs but in one letter from that you maist be feared; by a mistake whereof this for your law sake, crept into the Text. Nor does this any thing countenance the corrupt figment of the novelty of the Hebrew Vowels and Accents; as though this difference might arise, from the LXX. using a copy that had none, that is before their invention, which might occasion mistakes and differences; for this difference is in a letter as well as the Vowels; and therefore there can be no color for this conceit, unless we say also, that they had Copies of old with other Consonants than those we now enjoy. Bellarmine in his Exposition of this place, endeavours to give countenance unto the reading of the Vulgar Latin; for your laws sake; affirming that by the law here, not the law of our obedience, is intended; but the law or order of Gods dealing with us; that is his mercy and faithfulness; which is a mere new Invention to countenance an old error, which any tolerable ingenuity would have confessed, rather than have justified by so sorry a pretence. For neither is that expression, or that word, eyer used in the sense here by him faigned, nor can it have any such signification.

Hierom renders these words, utsis terribilis; that you maist be dreadful or terrible, doubtless not according to the intendment of the place. It is for the relieving of the soul, and not for the increasing of its dread and terror, that this observation is made; there is forgiveness with you.

But the words are clear, and their sense is obvious; therefore you shalt be feared, or that you maist be feared.

By the fear of the Lord, in the Old testament, the whole worship of God, moral and instituted, all the obedience which we owe unto him, both for matter and manner, is intended. Whatever we are to perform unto God, being to be carried on and performed with Reverence and godly fear, by a Metonymy of the Adjunct, that name is given to the whole. That you mayst be feared, then, is that you maist be served, worshipped; that I who am ready to faint and give over on the account of sin, may yet be encouraged unto, and yet continue in that obedience which you requir at my hands; And this appears to be the sense of the whole verse; as influenced by, and from those foregoing.

Although O Lord, no man can approach unto you, stand before you, or walk with you, if you shouldst mark their sins and follies according to the tenor of the law, nor could they serve so great and holy a God as you art; yet because I know, from your Revelation of it, that there is also with you on the account of Jesus Christ the propitiation, pardon and forgiveness; I am encouraged to continue with you, waiting for you, worshipping of you, when without this discovery, I should rather chuse to have Rocks and Mountains fall upon me, to hide me from your presence.

But there is forgiveness with you, and therefore you shalt be feared.

The words being thus opened, we may take a full view in them of the state and condition of the soul expressed in this Psalmm; and that answering the experiences of all who have had any thing to do with God, in and about the Depths and Entanglements of sin.

Having in, and from his great depths, verse 1. addressed himself with servent redoubled cryes, yea, outcryes, to God, and to him alone for relief, verse 1, 2. having also acknowledged his iniquities, and considered them according to the tenor of the law, verse 3. he consesss himself to be lost and undone for ever on that account, verse 3. But he abides not in this state of self-condemnation and dejection of soul; He sayes not there is no hope, God is a jealous God, an holy God, I cannot serve him; his law is a fiery law, which I cannot stand before, so that I had as good give over, sit down and perish, as contend any longer! no, but searching by faith into the discovery that God makes of himself in Christ through the covenant of grace, he finds a stable foundation of encouragement, to continue waiting on him, with expectation of mercy and pardon.

Propositions or Observations from the former Exposition of the words. The first proposed to confirmation. No encouragement for any sinner to approach unto God, without a discovery of forgiveness.

From the words unfolded as they lye in their contexture, in the Psalmm, the ensuing propositions do arise. 1. Faiths discovery of forgiveness in God, though it have no present sense of its own peculiar interest therein, is the great supportment of a sin perplexed soul. 2. gospel forgiveness, whose discovery is the sole supportment of sin distressed souls, relates to the gracious heart, or good will of the father, the God of forgiveness, the propitiation that is made by the blood of the Son, and free condonation or pardon according to the tenor of the covenant of grace. 3. Faiths discovery of forgiveness in God, is the sole bottom of adherence to him, in acceptable worship and reverential obedience.

The first of these, is that whose confirmation and improvement I principally aim at; and the other only so far as they have a coincidence therewith, or may be used in a subserviency to the illustration or demonstration thereof.

In the handling then of this truth, that it may be of the more advantage unto them whose good is sought, and intended in the proposal and management of it, I shall steer this course, and shew, 1. That there is not the least encouragement to the soul of a sinner to deal with God without this discovery. 2. That this discovery of forgiveness in God is a matter great, holy and mysterious; and which very few on gospel abiding grounds, do attain unto. 3. That yet this is a great, sacred and certain truth, as from the manifold evidences of it, may be made to appear. 4. That this is a stable supportment unto a sin distressed soul, shall be manifested; and the whole applyed, according to the several concernments of those who shall consider it.

First, There is not the least encouragement for the soul of a sinner, to entertain any thoughts of approaching unto God without this discovery. All the rest of the world, is covered with a deluge of wrath. This is the only Ark whereunto the soul may repair and find rest. All without it, is darkness, curse and terror.

We have an instance and example of it, beyond all exception in Adam. When he knew himself to be a sinner, and it was impossible for him, as we shall shew afterwards, to make a discovery of any such thing as forgiveness with God, he laid aside all thoughts of treating with him; the best of his foolish contrivance was for an escape; Genesis 3:10. I heard your voyce (says he to God) in the Garden, and was AFRAID, because I was naked; and I HID my self. Nothing but you shalt dye the death, founded in his ears. In the morning of that day, he was made by the hand of God: a few hours before, he had converse and communion with him, with boldness and peace; why then does nothing now but FEAR, Flying and HIDING possess him? Adam had sinned, the promise was not yet given, no Revelation made of forgiveness in God, and what other course, than that vain and foolish one, to fix upon, he knew not. No more can any of his Posterity without this Revelation. What else any of them has fixed on in this case, has been no less foolish than his hiding; and in most, more pernicious. When Cain had received his sentence from God, it is said he went out from the presence or face of the Lord, Genesis 4:16. From his providential presence he could never subduct himself: So the Psalmmist informs us at large, Psalmm 139:7, 8, 9. The very Heathen knew by the light of nature, that guilt could never drive men out of the reach of God.

Quo fugis Encelade, quascunque accesseris oras Sub Jove semper eris.

They knew that (the Vengeance of God) would not spare sinners; nor could be avoided, Acts 28:4. From Gods Gracious Presence, which he never enjoyed, he could not depart. It was then his Presence as to his worship; and all outward acts of communion that he forsook, and departed from. He had no discovery by faith, of forgiveness, and therefore resolved to have no more to do with God, nor those who cleaved to him; for it respects his course, and not any one particular action.

This also is stated, Isaiah 33:14. The sinners in Sion are afraid, fearfulness has surprised the Hypocrites; who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? The persons spoken of are sinners, great sinners and Hypocrites; conviction of sin, and the desert of it was fallen upon them; a light to discern forgiveness they had not; they apprehend God as devouring fire and everlasting burnings only; One that would not spare, but assuredly inflict punishment according to the desert of sin; and thence is their conclusion, couched in their Interrogation, that there can be no entercourse of peace between him and them; there is no abiding, no enduring of his Presence. And what condition this consideration brings the souls of sinners unto, when conviction grows strong upon them, the Holy Ghost declares, Mich. 6:6, 7. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and how my self before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with Calves of a year old? will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Ramms, or with ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl? shall I give my first born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? sense of sin presss, forgiveness is not discovered, (like the Philistins on Saul, Samuel not coming to his direction) and how does the poor creature perplex it self in vain, to find out a way of dealing with God? will a sedulous and diligent observation of his own ordinances and Institutions relieve me; Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings and Calves of a year old? Alas you art a sinner, and these Sacrifices cannot make you perfect or acquit you, Hebrews 10:1. Shall I do more than ever he required of any of the Sons of men? O that I had thousands of Ramms, and ten thousands of Rivers of Oyl to offer to him? Alas, if you hadst all the Bulls and Goats in the world, it is not possible that their blood should take away sins, verse 4. But I have heard of them who have snatched their own Children from their Mothers breasts, and cast them into the fire, until they were consumed, so to pacifie their consciences in expiating the guilt of their iniquities; shall I take this course? will it relieve me? I am ready to part with my first born into the fire, so I may have deliverance from my Transgressions. Alas, this never came into the heart of God to approve, or accept of. And as it was then, whilst that kind of worship was in force, so is it still as to any duties, really to be performed, or imaginarily. Where there is no discovery of forgiveness; they will yield the soul no relief, no supportment; God is not to be treated upon such terms.

Greatness and rareness of the Discovery of forgiveness in God. reasons of it. testimonies of conscience, and law against it, &c.

Secondly, This discovery of forgiveness in God is great, holy and Mysterious, and which very few on gospel grounds do attain unto.

All men indeed say there is; most men are perswaded that they think so. Only men in great and desperate extremities, like Cain, or Spira, seem to call it into question. But their thoughts are empty, groundless, yea, for the most part wicked, and Atheistical. Elihu tells us, that to declare this aright to a sinful soul, it is the work of a Messenger, an Interpreter, one among a thousand, Job 33:23. that is indeed, of Christ himself. The common thoughts of men about this thing are slight and foolish; and may be resolved into those mentioned by the Psalmmist, Psalmm 50:21. They think that God is altogether such a one as themselves. That indeed he takes little or no care about these things, but passs them over as slightly as they do themselves; That, notwithstanding all their pretences, the most of men never had indeed, any real discovery of forgiveness, shall be afterwards undeniably evinced; and I shall speedily shew the difference that is between their vain credulity, and a Gracious, gospel discovery of forgiveness in God. For it must be observed, that by this Discovery, I intend, both the Revelation of it made by God, and our understanding, and Reception of that Revelation to our own advantage, as shall be shewed immediately.

Now the grounds of the difficulty intimated, consist partly in the hinderances, that lye in the way of this discovery; and partly in the nature of the thing it self, that is discovered; of both which I shall briefly treat.

But here before I proceed, somewhat must be premised to shew what it is, that I particularly intend by a discovery of forgiveness. It may then be considered two wayes; First, For a doctrinal, objective discovery of it in its truth; 2. An experimental subjective discovery of it in its power. In the first sense, forgiveness in God, has been discovered ever since the giving out of the first promise: God revealed it in a word of promise, or it could never have been known, as shall be afterwards declared. In this sense after many lesser degrees and advancements of the light of it, it was fully and gloriously brought forth by the Lord Jesus Christ in his own person; and is now revealed, and preached in the gospel, and by them to whom the word of reconciliation is committed. And to declare this is the principal work of the ministers of the gospel. Herein lye those unsearchable Treasures and Riches of Christ, which the apostle esteemed as his chief honor and Priviledge that he was intrusted with the declaration and dispensation of, Ephesians 3:8, 9. I know by many it is despised, by many traduced, whose Ignorance and blindness is to be lamented. But the day is coming which will manifest every mans work of what sort it is. In the latter sense how it is made by faith in the soul, shall in its proper place be further opened and made known. Here many men mistake, and deceive themselves. Because it is so in the book, they think it is so in them also. Because they have been taught it, they think they believe it. But it is not so; They have not heard this voyce of God at any time, nor seen his shape; it has not been revealed unto them in its power; to have this done is a great work: For,

First, The constant voyce of conscience lyes against it. conscience (if not seared) inexorably condemns, and pronouncs wrath and anger upon the soul that has the least guilt cleaving to it. Now it has this advantage; it lyeth close to the soul, and by importunity, and loud speaking it will he heard in what it has to say. It will make the whole soul attend, or it will speak like thunder. And its constant voyce is, that where there is guilt there must be judgement, Romansans 2:14, 15. conscience naturally knows nothing of forgiveness. Yea, it is against its very trust, work, and office to hear any thing of it. If a man of courage and honesty be entrusted to keep a Garrison against an Enemy, let one come and tell him, that there is peace made between those whom he serves, and their Enemies, so that he may leave his Guard, and set open the Gates, and cease his watchfulness; how wary will he be, lest under this pretence he be betrayed? No says he, I will keep my hold, until I have express order from my Superiours. conscience is entrusted with the power of God in the soul of a sinner, with command to keep all in subjection with reference unto the Judgement to come; it will not betray its trust in believing every report of peace. No! but this it sayes, and it speaks in the name of God; Guilt and punishment are inseparable twins. If the soul sin, God will judge. What tell you me of forgiveness, I know what my commission is; and that I will abide by; you shall not bring in a Superior Commander, a cross principle into my trust; for if this be so, it seems I must let go my throne; another Lord must come in; not knowing as yet how this whole business is compounded in the blood of Christ. Now whom should a man believe if not his own conscience, which as it will not flatter him, so it intends not to affright him, but to speak the truth as the matter requirs. conscience has two works in reference unto sin; one to condemn the Acts of sin: another to judge the person of the sinner; both with reference to the Judgement of God. When forgiveness comes, it would sever and part these employments, and take one of them out of the hand of conscience. It would divide the spoil with this strong one. It shall condemn the fact, or every sin; but it shall no more condemn the sinner, the person of the sinner; that shall be freed from its sentence. Here conscience labours with all its might to keep its whole dominion; and to keep out the power of forgiveness from being enthroned in the soul. It will allow men to talk of forgiveness, to hear it preached, though they abuse it every day; but to receive it in its power, that stands up in direct opposition to its dominion; in the kingdom, says conscience, I will be greater than you; and in many, in the most, it keeps its possession, and will not be deposed.

Nor indeed is it an easie work so to deal with it. The apostle tells us, that all the Sacrifices of the law could not do it, Hebrews 10:2. they could not bring a man into that estate, wherein he should have no more conscience of sin; that is, conscience condemning the person; for conscience in a sense of sin, and condemnation of it, is never to be taken away. And this can be no otherwise done but by the blood of Christ, as the apostle at large there declares.

It is then no easie thing to make a discovery of forgiveness unto a soul, when the work and employment which conscience upon unquestionable grounds challengs unto it self, lyes in opposition unto it. Hence is the souls great desire to establish its own righteousness, whereby its natural principles may be preserved in their power. Let self-righteousness be enthroned, and natural conscience desires no more; it is satisfied, and pacified. The law it knows; and righteousness it knows, but as for forgiveness it sayes, whence is it? Unto the utmost, until Christ perfects his conqu, there are on this account secret struglings in the heart against free pardon in the gospel, and fluctuations of mind and Spirit about it. Yea, hence are the doubts and fears of believers themselves: They are nothing but the strivings of conscience to keep its whole dominion; to condemn the sinner as well as the sin. More or less it keeps up its pretensions against the gospel, whilst we live in this world. It is a great work that the blood of Christ has to do upon the conscience of a sinner; for whereas, as it has been declared, it has a power, and claims a right to condemn both sin and sinner, the one part of this its power is to be cleared, strengthened, made more active, vigorous and watchful, the other to be taken quite away. It shall now see more sins than formerly, more of the vileness of all sins than formerly, and condemn them with more abborrency than ever, upon more, and more glorious accounts than formerly; but it is also made to see an interposition between these sins, and the person of the sinner, who has committed them; which is no small or ordinary work.

Secondly, The law lyes against this discovery. The law is a beam of the holiness of God himself. What it speaks unto us, it speaks in the name and authority of God; And I shall briefly shew concerning it these two things.

- 1. That this is the voyce of the law; namely, that there is no forgiveness for a sinner. - 2. That a sinner has great reason to give credit to the law in that assertion.

1. It is certain that the law knows neither mercy nor forgiveness. The very sanction of it lyes wholly against them: The soul that sinns shall dye. Cursed is he that continus not in all things written in the book of the law to do them, Deuteronomy 27:26. Hence the apostle pronouncs universally without exception, that they who are under the law, are under the curse, Galatians 3:10. And says he, verse 12. The law is not of faith. There is an inconsistency between the law, and believing; they cannot have their abode in power together. Do this and live; fail and dye; is the constant immutable voyce of the law. This it speaks in general to all; and this in particular to every one.

2. The sinner seems to have manifold and weighty reasons to attend to the voyce of this law, and to acquiesce in its sentence. For,

1. The law is connatural to him; his Domestick, his old acquaintance. It came into the world with him, and has grown up with him from his Infancy. It was implanted in his heart by nature; is his own reason; he can never shake it off, or part with it. It is his Familiar, his Friend, that cleaves to him as the flesh to the bone; so that they who have not the law written, cannot but she[•]forth the work of the law, Romansans 2:14. 15. and that because the law it self is inbred to them; and all the faculties of the soul are at peace with it, in subjection to it. It is the bond. and ligament of their union harmony and correspondency among themselves, in all their moral actings. It gives life, order, motion to them all. Now the gospel, that comes to controll this sentence of the law, and to relieve the sinner from it, is forraign to his nature, a strange thing to him, a thing he has no acquaintance or familiarity with; it has not been bred up with him; nor is there any thing in him, to side with it, to make a party for it, or to plead in its behalf. Now shall not a man rather believe a Domestick, a Friend, indeed himself; than a forraigner, a stranger, that comes with uncouth principles, and such as suit not its reason at all, 1 Corinthians 1:18.

2. The law speaks nothing to a sinner, but what his conscience assures him to be true. There is a constant concurrence in the testimony of the law and conscience. When the law sayes, this or that is a sin, worthy of death, conscience sayes it is even so, Romansans 1:42. And where the law of it self, as being a general rule, rests, conscience helps it on, and sayes, This and that sin, so worthy of death, is the soul guilty of; then dye says the law as you hast deserved. Now this must needs have a mighty efficacy to prevail with the soul to give credit to the report and testimony of the law; it speaks not one word but what he has a witness within himself to the truth of it. These witnesses alwayes agree; and so it seems to be established for a truth, that there is no forgiveness.

3. The law, though it speak against the souls interest, yet it speaks nothing but what is so just, righteous and equal, that it even forcs the souls consent. So Paul tells us, that men know this voyce of the law to be the Judgement of God, Romansans 1:32. They know it, and cannot but consent unto it, that it is the Judgement of God; that is, good, righteous, equal, not to be controlled. And indeed what can be more righteous than its sentence? It commands obedience to the God of life and death; promiss a reward, and declares that for non-performance of duty, death will be inflicted. On these terms the sinner coms into the world, they are good, righteous, holy; the soul accepts of them, and knows not what it can desire better or more equal. This the apostle insists upon, Romansans 7:12, 13. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good; was then that which was good made death unto me? Godforbid; but sin that it might appear sin, working death in me, by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. Whereever the blame falls, the soul cannot but acquit the law, and confess that what it says, is righteous, and uncontrollably equal. And it is meet things should be so; Now though the authority and credit of a Witness, may go very far in a doubtful matter; when there is a concurrence of more witnesses it strengthens the testimony; but nothing is so prevalent to beget belief, as when the things themselves that are spoken are just and good, not liable to any reasonable exception; And so is it in this case; unto the authority of the law, and concurrence of conscience, this also is added, the Reasonableness, and equity of the thing it self proposed, even in the Judgement of the sinner; namely, that every sin shall be punished, and every transgression receive a meet recompence of reward.

4. But yet further. What the law sayes, it speaks in the name and authority of God. What it sayes then, must be believed, or we make God a Lyar. It comes not in its own name, but in the name of him who appointed it; you will say then, is it so indeed? Is there no forgiveness with God? for this is the constant voyce of the law, which you say speaks in the name and authority of God, and is therefore to be believed. I answer briefly with the apostle; What the law speaks, it speaks to them that are under the law. It does not speak to them that are in Christ, whom the law of the Spirit of life, has set free from the law of sin and death; but to them that are under the law it speaks, and it speaks the very truth; and it speaks in the name of God, and its testimony is to be received; It sayes there is no forgiveness in God, namely, to them that are under the law; and they that shall flatter themselves with a contrary perswasion will find themselves wofully mistaken at the great day.

On these and the like considerations, I say, there seems to be a great deal of reason, why a soul should conclude that it will be according to the testimony of the law; and that he shall not find forgiveness. law and conscience close together, and insinuate themselves into the thoughts, mind, and judgement of a sinner. They strengthen the testimony of one another, and greatly prevail. If any are otherwise minded, I leave them to the tryal. If ever God awaken their Consciences to a through performance of their duty; if ever he open their souls, and let in the light and power of the law upon them, they will find it no small work to grapple with them. I am sure, that eventually they prevail so far, that in the preaching of the gospel, we have great cause to say, Lord who has believed our report? We come with our Report of forgiveness; but who believes it? by whom is it received? neither does the light, nor conscience, nor conversation of the most, allow us to suppose it is embraced.

Thirdly, The ingrafted notions that are in the minds of men, concerning the nature and justice of God, lye against this discovery also. There are in all men by nature indelible characters of the holiness and purity of God; of his justice and hatred of sin, of his invariable righteousness in the Government of the world, that they can neither depose nor lay aside. For notions of God, whatever they are, will bear sway and rule in the heart, when things are put to the tryal. They were in the Heathens of old; they abode with them in all their darkness; as might be manifested by innumerable instances. But so it is in all men by nature; their inward thought is, that God is an Avenger of sin; that it belongs to his rule and Government of the world, his holiness and righteousness, to take care, that every sin be punished; This is his Judgement which all men know, as was observed before, Romansans 1:32. They know, that it is a righteous thing with God to render tribulation unto sinners. From thence is that dread and fear which surprizs men at an apprehension of the Presence of God; or of any thing under him, above them, that may seem to come on his errand. This notion of Gods avenging all sin, exerts it self, secretly, but effectually. So Adam trembled, and hid himself. And it was the saying of old, I have seen God, and shall dye. When men are under any dreadful providence; thundrings, lightnings, tempests, in darkness, they tremble, not so much at what they see, or hear, or feel, as from their secret thoughts that God is nigh, and that he is a consuming fire.

Now these inbred notions lye universally against all Apprehensions of forgiveness; which must be brought into the soul from without doors; having no principle of nature to promote them.

It is true! Men by nature have presumptions, and common ingrafted notions; of other properties of God, besides his holiness and justice; as of his goodness, Benignity, love of his creatures and the like; But all these have this supposition inlaid with them in the souls of men; namely, that all things stand between God and his creatures, as they did at their first creation; and as they have no natural notion of forgiveness, so the interposition of sin, weakens, disturbs, darkens them, as to any improvement of those Apprehensions of goodness and Benignity which they have. If they have any notion of forgiveness, it is from some corrupt Tradition, and not at all, from any universal principle, that is inbred in nature; such as are those, which they have of Gods holiness, and Vindictive justice.

And this is the first ground from whence it appears, that a real, solid discovery of forgiveness, is indeed a great work; many difficulties and hinderances, lye in the way of its accomplishment.

False Presumptions of forgiveness discovered. differences between them, and faith Evangelical.

Before I proceed to produce and manage the remaining evidences of this truth, because what has been spoken, lyes obnoxious and open to an objection which must needs rise in the minds of many, that it may not thereby be rendered useless unto them, I shall remove it out of the way, that we may pass on to what remains.

It will then be said, does not all this lye directly contrary to our daily experience? Do we not find all men full enough, most too full of Apprehensions of forgiveness with God? What so common as God is merciful? Are not the Consciences, and Convictions of the most stifled, by this apprehension? Can you find a man that is otherwise minded? Is it not a common complaint that men presume on it, unto their eternal ruine? Certainly then, that which all men do, which every man can so easily do, and which you cannot keep men off from doing, though it be to their hurt, has no such difficulty in it as is pretended. And on this very account has this weak endeavour to demonstrate this truth been by some laughed to scorn; men who have taken upon them the teaching of others, but (as it seems) had need be taught themselves, the very first principles of the Oracles of God.

Answ. All this then I say is so, and much more to this purpose may be spoken. The solly and presumption of poor souls herein, can never be enough lamented. But it is one thing to embrace a cloud, a shadow, another to have the truth in reality. I shall hereafter shew the true nature of forgiveness, and wherein it does consist, whereby the vanity of this self-deceiving will be discovered and laid open. It will appear in the issue that notwithstanding all their pretensions, that the most of men know nothing at all, or not any thing to the purpose of that which is under consideration. I shall therefore for the present, in some few Observations, shew how far this delusion of many, differs from a true gospel discovery of forgiveness, such as that we are enquiring after.

First, The common notion of forgiveness that men have in the world, is twofold. (1.) An Atheistical Presumption on God, that he is not so Just and Holy, or not Just and Holy in such a way and manner as he is by some represented, is the ground of their perswasion of forgiveness. Men think that some Declarations of God, are fitted only to make them mad. That he takes little notice of these things, and that what he does, he will easily pass by, as they suppose better becomes him. Come, Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we shall dye. This is their inward thought, the Lord will not do good, nor will he do evil; which sayes the Psalmmist, is mens thinking that God is such a one as themselves, Psalmm 50:21. They have no deep nor serious thoughts of his Greatness, holiness, purity, Severity, but think that he is like themselves; so far as not to be much moved with what they do. What thoughts they have of sin, the same they think God has. If with them a slight ejaculation, be enough to expiate sin, that their consciences be no more troubled, they think it is enough with God, that it be not punished. The generality of men make light work of sin; and yet in nothing does it more appear what thoughts they have of God. He that has slight thoughts of sin, had never great thoughts of God. Indeed mens-undervaluing of sin, ariss merely from their contempt of God. All sins concernments flow from its relation unto God. And as mens apprehensions are of God, so will they be of sin, which is an Opposition to him. This is the frame of the most of men; they know little of God, and are little troubled about any thing that relates unto him. God is not reverenced, sin is but a trifle, forgiveness a matter of nothing; who so will may have it for asking. But shall this Atheistical wickedness of the heart of man be called a discovery of forgiveness? Is not this to make God an Idol? He who is not acquainted with Gods holiness and purity, who knows not sins desert and sinfulness knows nothing of forgiveness.

Secondly, From the doctrine of the gospel commonly preached and made known, there is a general notion begotten in the minds of men, that God is ready to forgive. Men I say from hence, have a doctrinal apprehension of this truth, without any real satisfactory foundation of that apprehension, as to themselves. This they have heard, this they have been often told, so they think, and so they are resolved to do. A general perswasion hereof, spreads it self over all to whom the sound of the gospel does come. It is not fiducially resolved into the gospel, but is an Opinion growing out of the Report of it.

Some relief men find by it, in the common course of their Conversation, in the duties of worship which they do perform, as also in their troables and distresses, whether internal and of conscience, or external and of providence, so that they resolve to retain it.

And this is that which I shall briefly speak unto; and therein manifest the differences between this common prevailing apprehension of forgiveness, and Faiths discovery of it to the soul in its power.

First, That which we reject is loose, and general, not fixed, ingrafted, or planted on the mind. So is it alwayes, where the minds of men receive things, only in their notion, and not in their power. It wants fixedness and foundation: which defects accompany all notions of the mind that are only retained in the memory, not implanted in the Judgement. They have general thoughts of it, which they use as occasion serves. They hear that God is a merciful God, and as such they intend to deal with him. For the true bottom, rise and foundation of it, whence or on what account, the pure and holy God who will do no iniquity, the righteous God, whose judgement it is, that they that commit sin are worthy of death, should yet pardon iniquity transgression and sin, they weigh it not, they consider it not; or if they do, it is in a slight and notional way, as they consider the thing it self. They take it for granted that so it is; and are never put seriously upon the inquiry, how it comes to be so; and that because indeed they have no real concernment in it. How many thousands may we meet withall, who take it for granted, that forgiveness is to be had with God, that never yet had any serious exercise in their souls, about the grounds of it, and its consistency with his holiness and justice. But those that know it by faith, have a sense of it fixed particularly and distinctly on their minds. They have been put upon an inquiry into the rise and grounds of it in Christ; so that on a good and unquestionable foundation they can go to God, and say, there is forgiveness with you. They see how, and by what means, more glory comes unto God by forgiveness, then by punishing; of sin; which is a matter that the other sort of men are not at all solicitous about. If they may escape punishment, whether God have any glory or no, for the most part, they are indifferent.

Secondly, The first apprehension ariss without any tryal upon inquiry in the Consciences of them in whom it is. They have not by the power of their convictions, and distresses of conscience, been put to make inquiry whether this thing be so or no. It is not a perswasion that they have arrived unto, in a way of seeking satisfaction to their own souls. It is not the result of a deep inquiry after peace and rest. It is antecedent unto Tryal and Experience, and so is not faith, but Opinion. For although faith be not Experience, yet it is inseparable from it, as is every practical habit. Distresses in their consciences have been prevented by this Opinion, not removed. The reason why the most of men are not troubled about their sins to any purpose, is from a persuasion that God is merciful and will pardon; when indeed none can really, on a gospel account, ordinarily, have that perswasion, but those who have been troubled for sin, and that to the purpose. So is it with them that make this discovery by faith. They have had conflicts in their own spirits, and being deprived of peace, have accomplished a diligent search, whether forgiveness were to be obtained or no. The perswasion they have of it, be it more or less, is the issue of a tryal they have had in their own souls, of an inquiry how things stood between God and them, as to peace, and acceptation of their persons. This is a vast difference; the one sort might possibly have had trouble in their consciences about sin, had it not been for their Opinion of forgiveness; this has prevented, or stifled their convictions, not healed their wounds, which is the work of the gospel; but kept them from being wounded which is the work of security. Yea, here lyes the ruine of the most of them who perish under the preaching of the gospel. They have received the general notion of pardon; it floats in their minds, and presently presents it self to their relief, on all occasions. Does God at any time, in the dispensation of the word, under an affliction, upon some great sin against their ruling light begin to deal with their consciences; before their conviction can ripen, or come to any perfection, before it draw nigh to its perfect work, they choak it, and heal their consciences with this notion of pardon. Many a man between the Assembly, and his dwelling house is thus cured. You may see them go away shaking their heads, and striking on their breasts, and before they come home, be as whole as ever: Well! God is merciful, there is pardon, has wrought the cure. The other sort, have obtained their perswasion, as a result of the discovery of Christ in the gospel, upon a full conviction. Tryals they have had, and this is the issue.

Thirdly, The one (which we reject) works no love to God, no delight in him, no Reverence of him, but rather a contempt, and commonness of Spirit in dealing with him. There are none in the world that deal worse with God, than those who have an ungrounded perswasion of forgiveness. And if they do fear him, or love him, or obey him in any thing, more or less, it is on other motives and considerations, which will not render any thing they do acceptable, and not at all on this. As he is good to the creation they may love, as he is great and powerful they may fear him; but sense of pardon, as to any such ends or purposes, has no power upon them. Carnal boldness, formality, and despising of God, are the common issues of such a notion and perswasion. Indeed this is the generation of great sinners in the world; men who have a general apprehension, but not a sense of the special power of pardon, openly, or secretly, in fleshly or spiritual sins, are the great sinners among men. Where faith makes a discovery of forgiveness, all things are otherwise. Great love, fear, and Reverence of God, are its attendants. Mary Magdalen loved much, because much was forgiven. Great love will spring out of great forgiveness. There is forgiveness with you, says the Psalmmist, that you maist be feared. No unbeliever, does truly and experimentally know the truth of this inference. But so it is when men fear the Lord, and his goodness, Hosea 3:5. 1 say then, where pardoning mercy is truly apprehended, where faith makes a discovery of it to the soul, it is endeared unto God, and possessed of the great springs, of love, delight, fear, and Reverence, Psalmm 116:1, 5, 6, 7.

Fourthly, This notional apprehension of the pardon of sin, begets no serious through hatred and detestation of sin; nor is prevalent to a relinquishment of it; nay, it rather secretly insinuates into the soul encouragements unto a continuance in it. It is the nature of it to lessen and extenuate sin, and to support the soul against its convictions. So Jude tells us, that some turn the grace of God into lasciviousness, verse 4. and sayes he, they are ungodly men; let them profess what they will, they are ungodly men; But how can they turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness? Is grace capable of a conversion into lust or sin? will what was once grace, ever become Wantonness? It is Objective not Subjective grace; the doctrine, not the real substance of grace, that is intended. The doctrine of forgiveness, is this grace of God, which may be thus abused. From hence do men who have only a general notion of it, habitually draw secret encouragements to sin and folly. Paul also lets us know, that carnal men coming to a doctrinal acquaintance with gospel grace, are very apt to make such conclusions, Romansans 6:1. And it will appear at the last day, how unspeakably this glorious grace has been perverted in the world. It would be well for many, if they had never heard the name of forgiveness. It is otherwise where this Revelation is received indeed in the soul by believing, Romansans 6:14. Our being under grace, under the power of the belief of forgiveness, is our great preservative from our being under the power of sin. faith of forgiveness is the principle of gospel obedience, Titus 2:11, 12.

Fifthly, The general notion of forgiveness brings with it no sweetness, no Rest to the soul. Flashes of joy it may, abiding rest it does not. The truth of the doctrine fluctuates to and fro in the minds of those that have it, but their Wills and affections, have no solid delight nor rest by it. Hence not withstanding all that profession that is made in the world of forgiveness, the most of men ultimately resolve their peace and comfort into themselves. As their apprehensions are of their own doing good or evil, according to their ruling light whatever it be, so as to peace and rest are they secretly tossed up and down. Every one in his several way pleass himself with what he does in answer unto his own convictions, and is disquieted as to his state and condition, according as he seems to himself, to come short thereof. To make a full life of contentation upon pardon, they know not how to do it. One duty yields them more true repose, than many thoughts of forgiveness. But faith finds sweetness and Rest in it; being thereby apprehended, it is the only harbor of the soul. It leads a man to God as Good, to Christ as Rest. Fading evanid joyes, do oft-times attend the one; but solid delight, with constant obedience, are the fruits only of the other.

Sixthly, Those who have the former only, take up their perswasion on false grounds, though the thing it self be true; and they cannot but use it unto false ends and purposes, besides its natural and genuine tendency. For their grounds they will be discovered when I come to treat of the true nature of gospel forgiveness. For the end, it is used generally only to fill up what is wanting. Self-righteousness is their bottom; and when that is too short, or narrow to cover them, they piece it out by forgiveness. Where conscience accuses, this must supply the defect. faith layes it on its proper foundation; of which afterwards also; and it useth it to its proper end; namely to be the sole and only ground of our Acceptation with God. That is the proper use of forgiveness, that all may be of grace; for when the foundation is pardon, the whole superstructure must needs be grace. From what has been spoken it is evident, that notwithstanding the pretences to the contrary, insinuated in the objection now removed, it is a great thing to have gospel forgiveness discovered unto a soul in a saving manner.

The true nature of gospel forgiveness. Its relation to the goodness, grace, and will of God. To the blood of Christ. To the promise of the gospel. The considerations of faith about it.

The difficulties that lye in the way of faiths discovery of forgiveness, whence it appears to be a matter of greater weight and importance, than it is commonly apprehended to be, have been insisted on in the foregoing discourse. There is yet remaining another ground of the same truth. Now this is taken from the nature and Greatness of the thing it self discovered, that is, of forgiveness. To this end I shall shew, what it is, wherein it does consist, what it comprizes and relates unto, according to the importance of the second proposition before laid down.

I do not in this place take forgiveness, strictly and precisely, for the act of pardoning; nor shall I dispute what that is, and wherein it does consist. Consciences that come with sin entanglements unto God, know nothing of such disputes. Nor will this Expression, there is forgiveness with God, bear any such restriction, as that it should regard only actual condonation or pardon. That which I have to do, is to inquire into the nature of that pardon, which poor convinced troubled souls seek after; and which the scripture proposs to them, for their relief and rest. And I shall not handle this absolutely neither, but in relation to the truth under consideration; namely, that it is a great thing, to attain unto a true gospel discovery of forgiveness.

First, As was shewed in the opening of the words, the forgiveness enquired after, has relation unto the Gracious heart of the father. Two things I understand hereby.

- 1. The Infinite goodness and Graciousness of his nature. - 2. The Soveraign purpose of his will and grace.

There is considerable in it, the infinite goodness of his nature. sin stands in a contrariety unto God. It is a Rebellion against his Soveraignty, an Opposition to his holiness, a Provocation to his justice, a rejection of his yoke, a casting off, what lyes in the sinner, of that dependance which a creature has on its Creator. That God then should have pity and compassion on sinners, in every one of whose sins, there is all this evil, and inconceivably more than we can comprehend, it argues an infinitely Gracious, Good, and loving heart and nature in him. For God does nothing, but suitably to the properties of his nature, and from them. All the Acts of his will, are the effects of his nature.

Now what ever God proposs as an encouragement for sinners to come to him, that is of, or has a special influence into the forgiveness that is with him. For nothing can encourage a sinner as such, but under this consideration, that it is, or it respects forgiveness. That this Graciousness of Gods nature, lyes at the head or spring, and is the root from whence forgiveness does grow, is manifest from that solemn Proclamation which he made of old of his name, and the Revelation of his nature therein, (for God assuredly is; what by himself he is called,) Exodus 34:6, 7. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniuity and transgression and sin. His forgiving of iniquity flows from hence; that in his nature, he is merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness. Were he not so, infinite in all these, it were in vain to look for forgiveness from him. Having made this known to be his name, and thereby declared his nature, he in many places proposs it as a relief, a refuge for sinners, an encouragement to come unto him, and to wait for mercy from him, Psalmm 9:10. They that know your name, will put their trust in you. It will encourage them so to do; others have no foundation of their confidence; but if this name of God be indeed made known unto us by the Holy Ghost, what can hinder why we should not repair unto him, and rest upon him. So Isaiah 50:10. Who is among you, that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice of his Servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. Not only sinners, but sinners in great distress are here spoken unto. darkness of state or condition, in the scripture denotes every thing of disconsolation and trouble. To be then in darkness, where yet there is some light, some relief, though darkness be predominant is sad and disconsolate; but now not only to be, but also to walk, that is to continue a course in darkness, and that with no light, no discovery of help or relief; this seems an overwhelming condition; yet sinners in this estate are called to trust in the name of the Lord. I have shewed before, that nothing but forgiveness, or that which influencs it, and encourags to an expectation of it, is of any use unto a sinner, much more one in so great distress upon the account of sin: yet is such an one here sent only to the NAME of the Lord, wherein his gracious heart and nature is revealed; That then is the very Fountain and Spring of forgiveness. And this is that which Johnn would work a sense of upon our souls, where he tells us, that God is love, 1 Ep. Chap. 4:8. or one, of an infinitely Gracious, Tender, Good, Compassionate, Loving nature. Infinite goodness and grace is the soyl wherein forgiveness grows. It is impossible this flower should spring from any other root. Unless this be revealed to the soul, forgiveness is not revealed. To consider pardon merely as it is terminated on our selves, not as it flows from God; will bring neither profit to us, nor glory to God.

And this also (which is our design in hand) will make it appear, That this discovery of forgiveness whereof we speak, is indeed no common thing, is a great discovery. Let men come with a sense of the guilt of sin, to have deep and serious thoughts of God, they will find it no such easie and light matter, to have their hearts truly and throughly apprehensive of this loving and gracious nature of God, in reference unto pardon. It is an easie matter to say so in common, but the soul will not find it so easie to believe it for it self. What has been spoken before concerning the ingrafted notions that are in the minds of men about the justice, holiness and severity of God, will here take place. Though men profess that God is Gracious, yet that Aversation which they have unto him, and communion with him, does abundantly manifest that they do not believe what they say and profess; if they did, they could not but delight and trust in him, which they do not; for they that know his name will put their trust in him. So said the slothful servant in the gospel, I knew that you wast austere, and not for me to deal withal; it may be he professed otherwise before, but that lay in his heart when it came to the tryal. But this I say, is necessary to them, unto whom this discovery is to be made; even a spiritual apprehension of the gracious, loving heart and nature of God. This is the spring of all that follows; And the fountain must needs be infinitely sweet from whence such streams do flow. He that considers the glorious fabrick of heaven and earth, with the things in them contained, must needs conclude that they were the product of infinite wisdom and power; nothing less, or under them could have brought forth such an effect. And he that really considers forgiveness, and looks on it with a spiritual eye, must conclude, that it comes from infinite goodness and grace. And this is that which the hearts of sinners are exercised about, when they come to deal for pardon. Psalmm 86:5. You Lord art good and ready to forgive. Nehem. 9:17. You art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. And Micah 7:19. Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity—because he delights in mercy. And God encourags them hereunto, whereever he says, that he forgives sins and blots out iniquities, for his own sake, or his names sake; that is, he will deal with sinners according to the goodness of his own Gracious nature. So Hosea 11:9. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God, and not Man. Were there no more mercy, grace, Compassion, to be shewed in this case, than it is possible should be treasured up in the heart of a man, it would be impossible that Ephraim should be spared; But says he, I am God and not Man; Consider the infinite largeness, bounty, and goodness of the heart of God, and there is yet hope. When a sinner is in good earn seeking after forgiveness, there is nothing he is more solicitous about than the heart of God towards him; nothing that he more labours to have a discovery of; There is nothing that sin and Satan labor more to hide from him; This he rolls in his mind, and exercises his thoughts about; and if ever that voyce of God, Isaiah 27:4. Fury is not in me, sound in his heart, he is relieved from his great distresses. And the fear of our hearts in this matter, our savior seems to intend the prevention or a removal of, Johnn 16:26, 27. I say not that I will pray the father for you, for the father himself lovs you. They had good thoughts of the tender heart and care of Christ himself, the Mediator, towards them; but what is the heart of the father, what acceptance shall they find with him? will Christ pray that they may find favor with him? Why, says he, as to the love of his heart there is no need of it; for the father himself lovs you. If this then belongs to forgiveness, as who ever has sought for it, knows that it does, it is certainly no common discovery to have it revealed unto us.

To have all the clouds and darkness that are raised by sin, between us and the throne of God, dispelled; to have the fire and storms, and tempests that are kindled and stirred up about him by the law removed; to have his glorious face unvailed, and his holy heart laid open, and a view given of those infinite treasures and stores of goodness, mercy, love and Kindness, which have had an unchangeable habitation therein from all eternity; to have a discovery of these eternal springs of sorbearance and forgiveness, is that which none but Christ can accomplish and bring about, Johnn 17:6.

Secondly, This is not all. This eternal Ocean that is infinitely satisfied with its own fulness and perfection, does not naturally yield forth streams for our refreshment. mercy and pardon do not come forth from God, as light does from the Sun, or Water from the Sea, by a necessary consequence of their natures, whether they will or no. It does not necessarily follow that any one must be made partaker of forgiveness, because God is infinitely Gracious. For may he not do what he will with his own? Who has given first unto him that it should be recompenced unto him again? Romansans 11:35. All the fruits of Gods goodness, and grace, are in the sole keeping of his own Soveraign will and pleasure. This is his great glory, Exodus 33:18, 19. Shew me your glory, says Moses. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be Gracious to whom I will be Gracious. Upon that proclamation of the name of God, that he is merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness, some might conclude that it could not be otherwise with any but well; he is such a one, as that men need scarce be beholding to him for mercy; Nay says he, but this is my great glory, that I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. There must be an interposition of a free Acts of the will of God, to deal with us according to this his abundant goodness, or we can have no interest therein. This I call the purpose of his grace; or the good pleasure that he has purposed in himself; Ephesians 1:9. or as it is termed, verse 5, 6. The good pleasure of his will, that he has purposed to the praise of his glorious grace. This free and gracious pleasure of God, or purpose of his will to act towards sinners according to his own abundant goodness, is another thing that influences the forgiveness of which we treat. pardon flows immediately from a Soveraign Acts of free grace. This free purpose of Gods will and grace, for the pardoning of sinners, is indeed that which is principally intended, when we say, there is forgiveness with him. That is, he is pleased to forgive; and so to do is agreeable unto his nature. Now the Mysterie of this grace is deep; It is eternal, and therefore incomprehensible. Few there are whose hearts are raised to a contemplation of it. Men rest and content themselves in a general notion of mercy, which will not be advantagious to their souls; freed they would be from punishment, but what it is to be forgiven they inquire not. So what they know of it, they come easily by, but will find in the issue, it will stand them in little stead. But these fountains of Gods actings, are revealed that they may be the fountains of our comforts.

Now of this purpose of Gods grace, there are several Acts, all of them relating unto gospel forgiveness.

First, There is his purpose of sending his Son to be the great means of procuring, of purchasing forgiveness. Though God be infinitely and incomprehensibly gracious, though he purpose to exert his grace and goodness toward sinners, yet he will so do it, do it in such a way, as shall not be prejudicial to his own holiness and righteousness. His justice must be satisfied, and his holy indignation against sin made known. Wherefore he purposs to send his Son, and has sent him, to make way for the exercise of mercy; so as no way to eclipse the glory of his justice, holiness, and hatred of sin. Better we should all eternally come short of forgiveness, than that God should lose any thing of his glory. This we have, Romansans 3:25. God set him forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. The remission of sins is the thing aimed at; but this must be so brought about, as that therein, not only the mercy, but the righteousness of God may be declared; and therefore must it be brought forth by a propitiation, or making of an Attonement, in the blood of Christ. So Johnn 3:16. 1 Johnn 4:9. Romansans 5:8. This, I say, also lyes in the mysterie of that forgiveness that is administred in the gospel; It comes forth from this eternal purpose of making way by the blood of Christ to the dispensation of pardon. And this greatly heightens the excellency of this discovery. Men who have slight thoughts of God, whose hearts were never awed with his dread or greatness, who never seriously considered his purity and holiness, may think it no great matter that God should pardon sin. But do they consider the way whereby it was to be brought about; even by the sending of his only Son, and that to dye, as we shall see afterwards. Neither was there any other way whereby it might be done. Let us now lay aside common thoughts, assent upon reports and tradition, and rightly weigh this matter. Doubtless we shall find it to be a great thing, that forgiveness should be so with God, as to be made out unto us, (we know somewhat what we are) by sending his only Son to dye. Oh how little is this really believed, even by them who make a profession of it? and what mean thoughts are entertained about it, when men seek for pardon? Immunity from punishment is the utmost that lyes in the aims and desires of most, and is all that they are exercised in the consideration of, when they deal with God about sin. Such men think and will do so, that we have an easie task in hand; namely, to prove that there is forgiveness in God; but this ease lyes in their own ignorance and darkness; If ever they come to search after it indeed, to inquire into the nature, reasons, causes, fountain and springs of it, they will be able to give another account of these things. Christ is the center of the mysterie of the gospel, and forgiveness is laid up in the heart of Christ, from the love of the father; in him are all the Treasures of it hid. And surely it is no small thing to have the heart of Christ revealed unto us. When believers deal about pardon, their faith exercises it self about this, that God with whom the soul has to do, has sent the Lord Christ to dye, for this end, that it may be freely given out. General notions of impunity they dwell not on, they pass not for: They have a closer converse with God than to be satisfied with such thoughts. They inquire into the graciousness of his nature, and the good pleasure of his will, the purpose of his grace; they ponder, and look into the mysterie of his wisdom and love in sending his Son. If these springs be not clear unto them, the streams will yield them but little refreshment. It is not enough that we seek after salvation; but we are to inquire and search diligently, into the nature and manner of it. These are the things that the Angels desire to bow down and look into, 1 Peter 1:11, 12, 13. And some think, if they have got a form of words about them, they have gotten a sufficient comprehension of them. It is doubtless one reason why many who truly believe, do yet so fluctuate about forgiveness all their dayes; that they never exercised says to look into the springs of it, its eternal fountains; but have merely dwelt on actual condonation. However, I say, these things lye utterly out of the consideration, of the common pretenders to an acquaintance with the truth we have in hand.

Secondly, There is another Soveraign Acts of Gods will to be considered in this matter; and that is his eternal designation of the persons who shall be made partakers of this mercy. He has not left this thing to hazard and uncertainties, that it should as it were be unknown to him who should be pardoned, and who not. Nay, none ever are made partakers of forgiveness, but those whom he has eternally and graciously designed thereunto. So the apostle declares it, Ephesians 1:5, 6, 7. the rise is his eternal Predestination; the end, the glory of his grace, the means, redemption in the blood of Christ; the thing it self forgiveness of sins. None ever are, or can be made partakers thereof, but by vertue of this Acts of Gods will and grace; which thereupon has a peculiar influence into it, and is to be respected in the consideration of it. I know this may be abused by pride, profaneness and unbelief; and so may the whole work of Gods grace; and so it is, even the blood of Christ in an especial manner; but in its proper place and use, it has a signal influence into the glory of God, and the consolation of the souls of men.

There are also other Acts of this purpose of Gods grace, as of giving sinners unto Christ, and giving sinners an interest in Christ, which I shall not insist upon, because the nature of them is sufficiently discovered in that one explained already.

Secondly, forgiveness has respect unto the propitiation made in and by the blood of Christ the Son of God. This was declared in the opening of the words. Indeed here lyes the knot and center of gospel forgiveness. It flows from the Cross, and springs out of the Grave of Christ.

Thus Elihu describes it, Job 33:24. God is gracious unto him, and says, deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. The whole of what is aimed at, lyes in these words. (1.) There is Gods gracious and merciful heart towards a sinner; He is gracious unto him. (2.) There is Actual Condonation it self, of which we shall treat afterward; He says, deliver him from going down to the pit. And (3.) There is the center of the whole, wherein Gods gracious heart and actual pardon do meet; and that is the ransome, the propitiation or attonement that is in the blood of Christ, of which we speak, I have found a ransome.

The same is expressed, Isaiah 53:11. My rightoous servant shall justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Of the justification of sinners, absolution or pardon is the first part. This ariss from Christs bearing of their iniquities. Therein he finished the transgression, made an end of sin, and made reconciliation for iniquity; Daniel 9:24. Even all the Sacrifices, and so consequently the whole worship of the Old testament, evinced this relation between forgiveness and bloodshedding; whence the apostle concludes, that without shedding of blood there is no remission, Hebrews 9:22. that is, all pardon ariss from bloodsheding, even of the blood of the Son of God. So that we are said in him to have redemption, even the forgiveness of sins, Ephesians 1:17. Our redemption in his blood is our forgiveness; not that we are all actually pardoned in the blood of his Cross, for thereunto must be added gospel condonation, of which afterwards; but thereby it is procured, the grant of pardon is therein sealed, and security given, that it shall in due time be made out unto us. To which purpose is that discourse of the apostle, Romansans 3:24, 25, 26. The work there mentioned, proceeds from grace, is managed to the interest of righteousness, is carryed on by the blood of Christ, and issues in forgiveness; now the blood of Christ relates variously to the pardon of sin.

First, pardon is purchased and procured by it. Our redemption is our forgiveness; as the cause contains the effect. No soul is pardoned but with respect unto the blood of Christ as the procuring cause of that pardon. Hence he is said to have washed us in his blood, Revelation 1:5. In himself, to have purged our sins, Hebrews 1:3. by one offering to have taken away sin, and for ever to have perfected them that are sanctified, Hebrews 10. to be the ransome and propitiation of our sins, 1 Johnn 2:2. to have made an end of sin, Daniel 9:24. and to have made reconciliation for the sins of his people, Hebrews 2:17. God has enclosed his rich stores of pardon and mercy in the blood of Jesus.

Secondly, Because in his blood the promise of pardon is ratified and confirmed, so that nothing is wanting to our compleat forgiveness, but our pleading the promise by faith in him, 2 Corinthians 1:20. All the promises of God, are in him Yea, and in him Amen; that is, faithfully, and irrevocably, and immutably established. And therefore the apostle having told us, that this is the covenant of God, that he would be merciful to our sins and iniquities, Hebrews 8:12. He informs us, that in the undertaking of Christ, this covenant is become a testament, Chap. 9:15, 16, 17. So ratified in his blood, that mercy and forgiveness of sin is irrevocably confirmed unto us therein.

Thirdly, Because he has in his own person as the head of the church, received an acquitment for the whole body; His Personal discharge upon the accomplishment of his work, was a pledge of the discharge which was in due time to be given to his whole mystical body. Peter tells us, Acts 2:24. That it was impossible he should be detained by death. And why so? because death being penally inflicted on him, when he had paid the debt, he was legally to be acquitted; Now for whom, and in whose name and stead he suffered, for them, and in their name and stead, he received his acquitment.

Fourthly, Because upon his death, God the father has committed unto him the whole management of the business of forgiveness, Acts 5:31. He (now) gives repentance and the forgiveness of sins. It is Christ that forgives us, Colossians 3:13. All forgiveness is now at his disposal, and he pardons whom he will; even all that are given unto him of the father, not casting out any that come to God by him. He is intrusted with all the stores of his fathers purpose, and his own purchase; and thence tells us, that all things that the father has are his, Johnn 16:15.

In all these respects does forgiveness relate to the blood of Christ. mercy, pardon and grace, could find no other way to issue forth from the heart of the father, but by the heart blood of the Son, and so do they stream unto the heart of the sinner.

Two things are principally to be considered in the respect that forgiveness has to the blood of Christ. (1.) The way of its Procurement; (2.) The way of its administration by him: The first is deep, mysterious, dreadful. It was by his blood; the blood of the Cross, the travel of his soul; his undergoing wrath and curse. (2.) The other is gracious, merciful and tender; whence so many things are spoken of his mercifulness, and faithfulness, to encourage us to expect forgiveness from him.

This also adds to the mysterious depths of forgiveness; and makes its discovery a great matter. The soul that looks after it in earn, must consider what it cost. How light do most men make of pardon? What an easie thing is it to be acquainted with it? and no very hard matter to obtain it. But to hold communion with God, in the blood of his Son, is a thing of another nature than is once dreamed of by many, who think they know well enough what it is to be pardoned. God be merciful is a common saying; and as common, to desire he would be so for Christs sake. Poor creatures are cast into the mould of such expressions, who know neither God, nor mercy, nor Christ, nor any thing of the mysterie of the gospel. Others look on the outside of the Cross; to see into the mysterie of the love of the father, working in the blood of the Mediator, to consider by faith the great transaction of Divine wisdom, justice and mercy therein, how few attain unto it? To come unto God, by Christ for forgiveness, and therein to behold the law issuing all its threats and curses in his blood, and loosing its sting, putting an end to its obligation unto punishment in the Cross, to see all sins gathered up in the hand of Gods justice, and made to meet on the Mediator; and eternal love springing forth triumphantly from his blood, flourishing into pardon, grace, mercy, forgiveness, this the heart of a sinner can be enlarged unto only by the Spirit of God.

Thirdly, There is in forgiveness, free condonation, discharge, or pardon, according to the tenor of the gospel; and this may be considered two wayes.

First, As it lyes in the promise it self; and so it is Gods gracious declaration of pardon to sinners, in and by the blood of Christ; his covenant to that end and purpose; which is variously proposed, according as he knew needful for all the ends and purposes of ingenerating faith, and communicating that consolation which he intends therein.

This is the law of his grace; the declaration of the mysterie of his love, before insisted on.

Secondly, There is the bringing home, and application of all this mercy to the soul of a sinner by the Holy Ghost; wherein, we are freely forgiven all our Trespasses, Colossians 2:13.

Gospel forgiveness I say, respects all these things, these principles, they have all an influence into it. And that which makes this more evident, wherewith I shall close this consideration of the nature of it, is, that faith in its application of it self unto God about and for forgiveness, does distinctly apply it self unto, and close with, sometimes one of these severally and singly, sometimes another; and sometimes jointly takes in the consideration of them all expressly. Not that at any time it fixes on any or either of them exclusively to the others; but that eminently it finds some special encouragement at some season, and some peculiar attractive from some one of them, more than from the rest; and then that proves an inlet, a door of entrance unto the treasures that are laid up in the rest of them. Let us go over the severalls by instances.

First, Sometimes faith fixes upon the name and infinite goodness of the nature of God, and draws out forgiveness from thence. So does the Psalmmist, Psalmm 86:6. You Lord art good and ready to forgive. He rolls himself in the pursuit and expectation of pardon, on the infinite goodness of the nature of God, So Nehem. 9:17. You art a God of pardons, or ready to forgive; of an infinite, gracious, loving nature; not severe and wrathful; And this is that which we are encouraged unto, Isaiah 50:10. to stay on the name of God, as in innumerable other places.

And thus faith oftentimes finds a peculiar sweetness and encouragement in and from the consideration of Gods gracious nature. Sometimes this is the first thing that it fixes on, and sometimes the last that it rests in; and oft-times it makes a stay here, when it is driven from all other holds; It can say, however it be, yet God is gracious; and at least make that conclusion which we have from it, Joel 2:13, 14. God is graciousand merciful, who knows but he will return. And when faith has well laid hold on this consideration, it will not easily be driven from its expectation of relief and forgiveness, even from hence.

Secondly, Sometimes the soul by says addresss it self in a peculiar manner to the Soveraignty of Gods will; whereby he is gracious to whom he will be gracious, and merciful to whom he will be merciful, which as was shewed, is another considerable Spring or principle of forgiveness. This way Davids faith steared him in his great streight and perplexity, 2 Samuel 15:25, 26. If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again; but if he thus say, I have no delight in you, behold here am I, let him do unto me as seems good unto him. That which he has in consideration is, whether God have any delight in him or no; that is, whether God would graciously remit and pardon the great sin against which at that time he manifested his indignation. Here he layes himself down before the Soveraign grace of God, and awaits patiently the discovery of the free Acts of his will concerning him; and at this door, as it were, enters into the consideration of those other springs of pardon, which faith enquires after and closs withal. This sometimes is all the cloud that appears to a distressed soul, which after a while fills the heavens by the addition of the other considerations mentioned, and yields plentifully refreshing showers. And this condition is a sin entangled soul oft-times reduced unto in looking out for relief; It can discover nothing but this, that God is able, and can if he graciously please relieve and acquit him. All other supportments, all springs of relief are shut up, or hid from him. The springs indeed may be nigh, as that was to Hagar, but their eyes are withheld, that they cannot see them. Wherefore they cast themselves on Gods Soveraign pleasure, and say with Job, though he slay us, we will put our trust in him, we will not let him go. In our selves we are lost, that is, unquestionable; how the Lord will deal with us we know not; we see not our signs and tokens any more; evidences of Gods grace in us, or of his love and favor unto us, are all out of sight. To a present special interest in Christ we are strangers; and we lye every moment at the door of eternity; what course shall we take, what way shall we proceed? If we abide at a distance from God, we shall assuredly perish; who ever hardned himself against him and prospered? Nor is there the least relief to be had but from and by him; for who can forgive sins but God? We will then bring our guilty souls into his presence, and attend the pleasure of his grace; what he speaks concerning us, we will willingly submit unto. And this sometimes proves an Anchor to a tossed soul; which though it gives it not rest and peace, yet it saves it from the rock of despair. Here it abides until light do more and more break forth upon it.

Thirdly, faith dealing about forgiveness, does commonly eye in a peculiar manner its relation to the mediation and blood of Christ. So the apostle directs, 1 Johnn 2:2. If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the propitiation for our sins. If any one has sinned, and is in depths and entanglements about it; what course shall he take, how shall he proceed to obtain deliverance? why he must unto God for pardon; but what shall he rely upon to encourage him in his so doing? says the apostle, consider by faith the Attonement and propitiation made for sin by the blood of Christ, and that he is still pursuing the work of love to the suing out of pardon for us; and rest your soul thereon. This I say most commonly is that which faith in the first place immediately fixes on.

Fourthly, faith eyes actual pardon or condonation. So God proposs it as a motive to further believing, Isaiah 44:22. I have blotted out as a thick cloud your transgressions, and as a cloud your sins; return unto me, for I have redeemed you. Actual pardon of sin is proposed to faith, as an encouragement unto a full returning unto God in all things, 2 Samuel 23:5. And the like may be said of all the other particulars which we have insisted on. There is not any of them, but will yield peculiar relief unto a soul dealing with God about forgiveness, as having some one special concernment or other of forgiveness in wrapped in them. Only as I said, they do it not exclusively, but are the special doors, whereby believing enters into the whole. And these things must be spoken unto afterwards.

Let us now take along with us, the end for which all these considerations have been insisted on. It is to manifest, that a real discovery of gospel forgiveness, is a matter of greater consequence and importance than at first proposal, (it may be) it appeared unto some to be. Who is not in hopes, in expectation of pardon? Who thinks not that they know well enough at least what it is, if they might but obtain it? But men may have general thoughts of impunity, and yet be far enough from any saving acquaintance with gospel mercy.

Forgiveness discovered, or Revealed only to faith. reasons thereof.

For a close of this discourse, I shall only add, what is included in that proposition which is the foundation of the whole; namely, that this discovery of forgiveness is, and can be made to faith alone. The nature of it is such, as that nothing else can discover it or receive it. No Reasonings, no inquiries of the heart of man can reach unto it. That guess or glimpse which the Heathens had of old of somewhat so called, and which false Worshippers have at present, is not the forgiveness we insist upon, but a mere imagination of their own hearts.

This the apostle informs us, Romansans 1:17. The righteousness of God, is (in the gospel) revealed from faith to faith. Nothing but faith has any thing to do with it. It is that righteousness of God whereof he speaks, that consists in the forgiveness of sins by the blood of Christ, declared in the gospel. And this is revealed from the faith of God in the promise, to the faith of the believer; to him that mixes the promise with faith. And again more fully, 1 Corinthians 2:9. Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. The wayes whereby we may come to the knowledge of any thing, are by the seeing of the eye, or the hearing of the ear, or the Reasonings and meditations of the heart; but now none of these will reach to the matter in hand; by none of these wayes can we come to an acquaintance with the things of the gospel that are prepared for us in Christ. How then shall we obtain the knowledge of them? that he declares, verse 10. God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit. Now it is faith only that receives the Revelations of the Spirit; nothing else has to do with them.

To give evidence hereunto, we may consider, that this great mysterie,

- 1. Is too Deep, - 2. Is too Great, for ought else to discover: and - 3. That nothing else but faith is suited to the making of this discovery.

First, It is too deep and mysterious to be fathomed and reached by any thing else. reasons line is too short to fathom the depths of the fathers love, of the blood of the Son, and the promises of the gospel built thereon, wherein forgiveness dwells. Men cannot by their rational considerations launch out into these deeps, nor draw water by them from these Wells of salvation. reason stands by amazed, and cryes how can these things be? it can but gather Cockle shells, like him of old, at the shoar of this Ocean; a few Criticisms upon the outward letter; and so bring an evil report upon the Land, as did the Spies. All it can do, is but to hinder faith from venturing into it; crying spare your self, this attempt is vain, these things are impossible. It is among the things that faith puts off, and layes aside, when it engags the soul into this great work. This then, that it may come to a discovery of forgiveness, causs the soul to deny it self, and all its own Reasonings, and to give up it self to an infinite fulness of goodness and truth. Though it cannot go into the bottom of these depths, yet it enters into them, and finds rest in them. Nothing but faith is suited to rest, to satiate, and content it self, in mysterious, bottomless, unsearchable depths. being a soul emptying, a reason denying grace, the more it meets withal beyond its search and reach, the more satisfaction it finds. This is that which I looked for, says faith; even for that which is infinite and unsearchable: When I know that there is abundantly more beyond me that I do not comprehend, than what I have attained unto; for I know that nothing else will do good to the soul. Now this is that which really puzzles and overwhelms reason, rendring it useless. What it cannot compass, it will neglect or despise. It is either amazed and confounded, and dazled like weak eyes at too great a light; or fortifying of it self by inbred pride and obstinacy, it concludes, that this preaching of the Cross, of forgiveness from the love of God, by the blood of Christ is plain folly, a thing not for a wise man to take notice of, or to trouble himself about; So it appeared to the wise Greeks of old, 1 Corinthians 1:24. Hence when a soul is brought under the power of a real conviction of sin, so as that it would desirously be freed from the galling intanglements of it, it is then the hardest thing in the world to perswade such a soul of this forgiveness. Any thing appears more rational unto it; any self righteousness, in this world, any Purgatory hereafter.

The greatest part of the world of convinced persons have forsaken forgiveness on this account; Masses, Penances, merits, have appeared more eligible. Yea, men who have no other desire but to be forgiven, do chuse to close with any thing rather than forgiveness. If men do escape these Rocks, and resolve that nothing but pardon will relieve them, yet it is impossible for them to receive it in the truth and power of it, if not enabled by faith thereunto. I speak not of men that take it up by hearsay, as a common report; but of those souls who find themselves really concerned to look after it; When they know it is their sole concernment, all their hope and relief; when they know that they must perish everlastingly without it, and when it is declared unto them in the words of truth and soberness, yet they cannot receive it; What is the reason of it; What staves off these hungry creatures from their proper food? Why, they have nothing to lead them into the mysterious depths of eternal love, of the blood of Christ, and promises of the gospel? How may we see poor diseased souls standing every day at the side of this Pool, and yet not once venture themselves into it all their dayes.

Secondly, It is too Great for any thing else to discover. forgiveness is a thing chosen out of God from all eternity, to exalt and magnifie the glory of his grace; and it will be made appear to all the world at the day of Judgement to have been a great thing. When the soul comes in any measure to be made sensible of it, it finds it so great, so excellent and astonishable, that it sinks under the thoughts of it. It has dimensions, a length, breadth, depth and height, that no line of the rational soul can take or measure. There is exceeding Greatness in it, Ephesians 1:19. That is a great work which we have prescribed, Ephesians 3:19. Even to know the love of Christ that passs knowledge. Here, I suppose, reason will confess it self at a stand, and an issue; to know that which passs knowledge, is none of its work. It cannot be known says reason, and so ends the matter. But this is faiths proper work; even to know that which passs knowledge. To know that, in its power, vertue, sweetness, and efficacy, which cannot be throughly known in its nature and excellency; to have by believing all the ends of a full comprehension of that which cannot be fully comprehended. Hence, Hebrews 11:1. It is said to be the of things not seen: their subsistence; though in themselves absent, yet faith gives them a present subsistence in the soul. So it knows things that pass knowledge; by mixing it self with them it draws out, and communicates their benefit to the soul. From all which is evident, what in the third place was proposed; of faiths being only suited to be the means of this discovery, so that I shall not need farther to insist thereon.

Discovery of forgiveness in God a great supportment to sin entangled souls. Particular assurance attainable.

There yet remains a brief confirmation of the Position at first laid down, and thus cleared, before I come to the improvement of the words especially aimed at. I say then, this discovery of forgiveness in God, is a great supportment for a sin entangled soul, although it has no special perswasion of its own particular interest therein. Somewhat is supposed in this assertion, and somewhat affirmed.

First, It is supposed that there may be a gracious perswasion and assurance of faith, in a man, concerning his own particular interest in forgiveness. A man may, many do believe it for themselves; so as not only to have the benefit of it, but the comfort also. generally all the saints mentioned in scripture had this assurance, unless it were in the case of depths, distresses, and desertions, such as that in this Psalmm. David expresss his confidence of the love and favor of God unto his own soul hundreds of times. Paul does the same for himself, Galatians 2:20. Christ loved M E and gave himself FOR ME, 2 Timothy 4:8. There is laid up for me a Crown of righteousness, which God the righteous judge shall give me at that day. And that this boasting in the Lord and his grace, was not an enclosure to himself, he shewes Romansans 8:38, 39.

Nothing can be more vain, than what is usually pleaded, to remove this Sheat Anker of the saints consolation; namely that no mans particular name is in the promise. It is not said to this or that man by name, that his sins are forgiven him. But the matter is far otherwise. To think that it is necessary, that the names whereby we are known among our selves, and are distinguished here one from another, should be written in the promise, that we may believe in particular every one for himself, is a fond conceit. The new name of every Child of God is in the promise. And believing makes it very legible to him. Yea, we find by Experience that there is no need of Argumentation in this case. The soul by a direct Acts of faith believes its own forgiveness, without making inferences or gathering conclusions; and may do so, upon the proposition of it to be believed in the promise. But I will not digress from my work in hand; and therefore shall only observe one or two things upon the Supposition laid down.

First, It is the duty of every believer, to labor after an assurance of a Personal interest in forgiveness; and to be diligent in the cherishing and preservation of it when it is attained. The apostle exhorts us all unto it, Hebrews 10:22. Let us draw near in full assurance of faith; that is, of our Acceptance with God through forgiveness in the blood of Jesus. This he plainly discourss of. And this principle of our faith and confidence, he would have us to hold fast unto the end, Chap. 3:14. It is no small evil in believers not to be pressing after perfection in believing and obedience. Oft-times some sinful indulgence to self or the world or sloth is the cause of it. Hence few come up to gospel assurance. But yet most of our Priviledges, and upon the matter all our comforts depend on this one thing. A little by the way, to encourage unto this duty, I shall desire you to consider both whence this assurance is produced, and what it does produce; what it is the fruit of, and what fruit it bears.

First, It is in general the product of a more plentiful communication of the Spirit than ordinary, as to a sense and participation of the choice fruits of the death of Christ, procured for those who are justified by their acceptance of the Attonement.

It flourishs not without his sealing, witnessing, establishing, and shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts. See Romansans 5:2, 3, 4, 5. And what believer ought not to long for, and press after the enjoyment of these things. Nay to read of these things in the gospel not experiencing them in our own hearts, and yet to sit down quietly on this side of them, without continual pressing after them, is to despise the blood of Christ, the Spirit of grace, and the whole work of Gods love. If there are no such things, the gospel is not true: if there are, and we press not after them, we are despisers of the gospel. Surely he has not the Spirit, who would not have more of him, all of him that is promised by Christ. These things are the hundred fold that Christ has left us in this world, to counterpoise our sorrows, troubles and losses: And shall we be so foolish as to neglect our only abiding riches and treasures? In particular, it is the product of an exercised, vigorous, active faith. That our faith should be such, alwayes, in every state and condition, I suppose it our duty to endeavour. Not only our comforts, but our obedience also depends upon it. The more faith; that is true, and of the right kind, the more obedience. For all our obedience, is the obedience of faith.

(2.) For its own fruit, and what it producs, they are the choic actings of our souls towards God; as love, delight, rejoycing in the Lord, peace, joy, and consolation in our selves, readiness to do, or suffer, chearfulness in so doing; If they grow not from this root, yet their flourishing wholly depends upon it. So that surely it is the duty of every believer to break through all difficulties in pressing after this particular assurance. The objections that persons raise against themselves, in this case, may afterwards be considered.

(2.) In ordinary dispensations of God towards us, and dealings with us, it is mostly our own negligence and sloth that we come short of this assurance. It is true, it depends in a peculiar manner on the Soveraignty of God. He is as absolute in giving peace to believers, as in giving grace to sinners. This takes place, and may be proposed as a relief, in times of tryals and distress. He creats light, and causs darkness, as he pleass. But yet considering what promises are made unto us; What encouragements are given us, what love and tenderness there is in God to receive us, I cannot but conclude, that ordinarily the cause of our coming short of this assurance is where I have fixed it. And this is the first thing that is supposed, in the foregoing assertion.

Secondly, It is supposed, that there is, or may be a saving perswasion or discovery of forgiveness in God, Where there is no assurance of any particular interest therein; or that our own sins in particular are pardoned. This is that which has a promise of gracious Acceptance with God, and is therefore saving, Isaiah 50:10. Who is among you that fears the Lord, and obeys the voyce of his Servant, that walks in darkness and has no light; Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay uponhis God. Here is the fear of the Lord and obedience, with a blessed encouragement to rest in God, and his Alsufficiency, yet no assurance, nor light, but darkness, and that walked in, or continued in for a long season. For he cannot walk in darkness, meet with nothing but darkness, without any beam or ray of light, as the words signifie, who is perswaded of the love of God in the pardon of his sins. And yet the faith of such an one, and his obedience springing from it, have this Gracious promise of Acceptance with God. And innumerable testimonies to this purpose might be produced, and instances in great plenty. I shall only tender a little evidence unto it, in one Observation concerning the nature of faith, and one more, about the proposal of the thing to be believed, or forgiveness. And,

1. faith is called, and is a cleaving unto the Lord, Deuteronomy 4:4. Ye that did cleave, or adhere unto the Lord; that is, who did believe. Joshua 23:8. cleave, or adhere unto the Lord your God. The same word is used also in the New testament, Acts 11:23. He exhorted them that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord, or continue stedfast in believing. It is also often expressed by trusting in the Lord, rolling our burden, or casting our care upon him, by committing our selves, or our wayes unto him. Now all this goes no further than the souls Resignation of it self unto God to be dealt withall by him according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, ratified in the blood of Christ. This a soul cannot do without a discovery of forgiveness in God. But this a soul may do, without a special assurance of his own interest therein. This faith that thus adheres to God, that cleaves to him, will carry men to conclude, that it is their duty, and their wisdom, to give up the disposal of their souls unto God, and to cleave and adhere unto him as revealed in Christ, waiting the pleasure of his will; It enables them to make Christ their choice; and will carry men to heaven safely, though it may be at some seasons not very comfortably.

2. The Revelation and discovery of forgiveness that is made in the gospel, evidencs the same truth. The first proposal of it, or concerning it, is not to any man, that his sins areforgiven. No but it is only that there is redemption and forgiveness of sins in Christ. So the apostle layes it down, Acts 13:38, 39. Be it known unto you therefore Men and Brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things; from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses. All this may be believed, without a mans assurance of his own personal interest in the things mentioned. Now where they are believed with the faith the gospel requires, that faith is saving, and the root of gospel acceptable obedience. The Ransome, I say, the Attonement by Christ, the fulness of the redemption that is in him, and so forgiveness in his blood for believers, from the Good will, grace, and love of the father, is the first gospel discovery that a sinner in a saving manner closs withal. Particular assurance ariss, or may arise afterwards, and this also is supposed in the assertion.

2. That which is affirmed in it, is, That a discovery of forgiveness in God, without any particular assurance of personal interest therein, is a great supportment to a sin entangled soul. And let no man despise the day of this small thing, small in the eyes of some, and those good men also, as if it did not deserve the name of faith. Now as has been made to appear, this discovery of forgiveness, is the souls perswasion, on gospel grounds, that however it be with him, and whatever his state and condition be, or is like to be, yet that God in his own nature is infinitely gracious, and that he has determined in a Soveraign Acts of his will from eternity, to be gracious to sinners; and that he has made way for the administration of forgiveness by the Blood of his Son, according as he has abundantly manisested, and declared in the promises of the gospel. However it be with me, yet thus it is with God; There is forgiveness with him. This is the first thing that a soul in its depths riss up unto: And it is a supportment for it; enabling it unto all present duties until consolation come from above.

Thus has it been to, and with the saints of old, Hosea 14:3. Ashur shall not save us, we will not ride upon Horses, neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ye are our Gods, for inthee the fatherless finds mercy. A solemn Renunciation we have of all other helps, Reliefs or Assistances, Civil or Religious, that are not Gods. Therein a solemn Resolution in their great distress of cleaving unto God alone. Both which are great and blessed effects of faith. What is the bottom and foundation of this blessed Resolution? namely, that proposition, in you the fatherless finds mercy; that is, there is forgiveness with you, for helpless sinners. This listed up their hearts in their depths, and supported them in waiting, unto the receiving of the blessed promises, of mercy, pardon, grace and holiness, which ensue in the next verses. Until they came home unto them in their Efficacy and effects, they made a life on this; in you the fatherless finds mercy.

The state and condition of things seems to lye yet lower in that proposal we have, Joel 2:13, 14. Rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repents him of the evil, who knows if he will return, and repent, and leave a blessing. That which is proposed to the faith of those here spoken unto is, that the Lord is gracious and merciful; that there is forgiveness in him, The duty they are provoked unto hereupon, is gospel repentance. The assent unto the proposition demanded, as to their own interest amounts but unto this, who knowes, but that the Lord may return and leave a blessing, or deal with us according to the manifestation he has made of himself, that he is merciful and gracious. This is far enough from any comfortable perswasion of a particular interest in that grace, mercy or pardon. But yet says the prophet, come but thus far, and here is a firm foundation of dealing with God about further discoveries of himself, in a way of grace and mercy. When a soul sees but so much in God, as to conclude; well, Who knows but that he may return, and have mercy upon me also, it will support him, and give him an entrance into further light.

The church in the Lamentations gives a sad account of her state and condition in this matter. For she maks that hard conclusion against her self, Chap. 3:8. My strength and my hope is perished from the Lord. And when I cry and shout, he shuts outmy prayer, verse 18. So far is she from a comfortable perswasion of a particular interest in mercy and Acceptance; that under her Pressures, and in her Temptations, she is ready positively to determine on the other side; namely, that she is rejected and cast off for ever. What course then shall she take? Shall she give over waiting on God, and say there is no hope? no says she, I will not take that way; for verse 26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God. But yet there seems small encouragement for her so to do, if things be with her as was expressed; Things indeed, says she, are very sad with me, My soul has them still in remembrance, and is bowed down in me, verse 20. but yet, somewhat I recall to mind, and therefore have I hope, verse 21. It is of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. There is mercy and never failing compassion in God; so that though my own present condition be full of darkness, and I see no deliverance, Yet I purpose still to abide waiting on him: who knows what those infinite stores and treasures of mercy and relief that are with him, may at length afford unto me: and many instances of the like kind might be added.

We may observe by the way, how far this Relief extends it self; and what it enables the soul unto. As,

1. The soul is enabled thereby to resign it self unto the disposal of Soveraign grace, in self-abhorrency, and a Renunciation of all other wayes of Relief. Lamentations 3:29. He putts his mouth in the dust, if so be there may be hope. What God will, is his Language. Here he lyes at his disposal, humble, broken, but abiding his pleasure. Though he slay me, says Job, yet I will trust in him, Chap. 13:15. It is all one, how he deals with me; whatever be the event I will abide cleaving unto him. I will not think of any other way of extricating my self from my distress. I will neither fly like Jonah, nor bide like Adam, nor take any other course for deliverance. Says the soul, God is a God that hids himself from me, Isaiah 45:15. I walk in darkness and have no light, Chap. 50:10. My flesh fails, and my heart fails, Psalmm 73:26. So that I am overwhelmed with trouble. Mine Iniquities have taken suchhold on me, that I cannot look up, Psalmm 40:12. The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me; Every day am I in dread and terror, and am ready utterly to saint, and no relief can I obtain. What then shall I do? Shall I curse God and dye? or cry this evil is of the Lord, why should I wait for him any longer? Shall I take the course of the world, and seeing it will be no better, be wholly regardless of my latter end? No; I know what ever my lot and portion be, that there is forgiveness with God: This and that poor man trusted in him, they cryed unto him, and were delivered. So did David in his greatest distress, he encouraged his heart in the Lord his God, 2 Samuel 15:25, 26. It is good for me to cast my self into his arms; it may be, he will frown; it may be he is wroth still; but all is one, this way I will go; as it seems good unto him to deal with me, so let it be: And unspeakable are the Advantages which a soul obtains by this self Resignation, which the faith treated of, will infallibly produce.

2. It extends it self unto a Resolution of waiting in the condition wherein the soul is. This the church comes unto, Lamentations 3:26. It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. I will not give over my expectation, I will not make haste, nor limit God; but I will lye at his foot, until his own appointed time of mercy shall come. expectation and Quietness make up waiting. These the soul attains unto, with this supportment. It looks upwards, as a servant that looks to the hands of his Master, still fixed on God to see what he will do, to hear what he will speak concerning him; missing no season, no opportunity wherein any discovery of the will of God may be made to him. And this he does in quietness, without repining, or murmuring, turning all his complaints against himself and his own vileness, that has cut him short from a participation of that fulness of love and grace which is with God. That this effect also attends this faith, will fully appear in the close of the Psalmm.

3. It supports unto waiting in the use of all means for the attainment of a sense of forgiveness, and so has its effect in the whole course of our obedience. There is forgiveness with you, that you maist be feared. To fear the Lord, is an expression comprehensive of his whole worship; and all our duty. This I am encouraged, says the Psalmmist unto, in my depths; because there is forgiveness with you, I will abide in all duties, in all the wayes of your worship, wherein you maist be found. And however it be for a while, the latter end of that soul who thus abids with God, will be peace. Let us then nextly see by what wayes and means it yields this supportment.

1. It begets a liking of God in the soul; and consequently some love unto him. The soul apprehends God, as one infinitely to be desired and delighted in by those who have a share in forgiveness. It cannot but consider him as good and gracious, however its own estate be hazardous, Psalmm 73:1, 2. Yet God is good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart, as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipt. However the state stands with me, yet I know that God is good, good to Israel; and therewith shall I support my self. When once this ground is got upon the soul, that it considers God in Christ as one to be delighted in, and loved, great and blessed effects will ensue. (1.) Self-abhorrency and condemnation, with Resignation of all to God, and permanency therein, do certainly attend it. (2.) Still somewhat or other in God will be brought to mind to relieve it under faintings, some new springs of hope will be every day opened. (3.) And the soul will be insensibly wrought upon to delight it self in dealing with God. Though in its own particular, it meets with frowns, chidings and repulses, yet this still relieves him, that God is so as has been declared; so that he sayes, however it be, yet God is good; and it is good for me to wait upon him. Without this discovery the soul likes not God, and whatever it does with respect unto him, it is because it dares do no otherwise, being overawed with his terror and greatness. And such obedience God may have from Devils.

2. It removes sundry overwhelming difficulties, that lye in the souls way before it close with this discovery of forgiveness. As,

1. It takes away all those Hinderances that were formerly insisted on, from the Greatness, holiness and severity of God, the inexorableness and strictness of the law, and the natural actings of conscience, rising up against all hopes of forgiveness. All these are by this faith removed, and taken out of the way. Where this faith is, it discovers not only forgiveness, as has been shewed, but also the true nature of gospel forgiveness. It reveals it as flowing from the Gracious heart of the father, through the blood of the Son. Now this propitiation in the blood of the Son, removs all these difficulties, even antecedently unto our special sense of an interest therein. It shews how all the properties of God may be exalted, and the law fulfilled, and yet forgiveness given out to sinners. And herein lyes no small advantage unto a soul in its approaches unto God. All those dreadful Apprehensions of God, which were wont to beset him in the first thoughts of coming to him, are now taken out of the way; so that he can quietly apply himself unto his own particular concernments before him.

2. In particular, it removes the overwhelming consideration of the unspeakable greatness of sin; This presss the soul to death when once the heart is possessed with it. Were not their sins so great, such as no heart can imagine, or tongue declare, it might possibly be well with them, say distressed sinners. They are not so troubled that they are sinners, as that they are great sinners; Not that these, and those sins they are guilty of, but that they are great sins attended with fearful aggravations. Otherwise they could deal well enough with them. Now though this discovery free men not from the entanglement of their sins as theirs; yet it does, from the whole entanglement of their sins, as great and many. This consideration may be abstracted. The soul sees enough in God to forgive great sins, though it does not as yet, to forgive his sins. That great sins shall be pardoned, this discovery puts out of question. Whether his sin shall be pardoned, is now all the inquiry. Whatever any faith can do, that this faith will do, unless it be the making of particular application of the things believed unto it self. The soul then can no longer justly be troubled about the greatness of sin; the infiniteness of forgiveness that he sees in God will relieve him against it. All that remains, is, that it is his own sin, about which he has to deal; whereof afterwards. These, and the like difficulties are removed by it.

3. It gives some life in, and encouragement unto duty. And that (First) Unto duty as duty; Eying God by faith in such a fulness of grace, the soul cannot but be encouraged to meet him in every way of duty, and to lay hold upon him thereby. Every way leading to him, as leading to him, must be well liked and approved of; and (Secondly,) To all duties; and herein lyes no small advantage. God is oftentimes found in duties; but in what, or of what kind he will be found of any one in particular, is uncertain. This faith puts the soul on all: So it did the Spouse in the parallel to that in hand. Song of Solomon 3:2, 3, 4. Now what supportment may be hence obtained is easily apprehended; supportment not from them, or by them, but in them, as the means of entercourse between God and the soul.

From these effects of this discovery of forgiveness in God, there things will ensue, which are sufficient to maintain the spiritual life of the soul.

1. A Resolution to abide with God, and to commit all unto him. This the word, as was observed, teaches us; There is forgiveness with you, and therefore you shalt be feared. Because this I found, this I am perswaded of, therefore I will abide with him in the way of his fear and worship. This our savior calls unto, Johnn 15:4. Abide in me; except you do so, ye can hear no fruit. So the Lord representing his taking of the church unto himself, under the type of the prophets taking an Adulteress in vision, does it on these terms, Hosea 3:3. You shalt abide for me many dayes; You shalt not play the Harlot, and you shalt not be for another man, so will I also be for you. Now this abiding with God, intimates two things: (1.) Oppositions, Solicitations, and Temptations unto the contrary: (2.) Forbearing to make any other choice, as unto that end for which we abide with God.

1. It argues Oppositions. To abide, to be stable, and permanent, is to be so, against Oppositions. Many discouragements are ready to rise up in the soul against it: In Fears especially that it shall not hold out, that it shall be rejected at last, that all is nought and [•]ypocritical with it; that it shall not be forgiven, that God indeed regards it not, and therefore it may well enough give over its hopes, which seem often as the giving up of the Ghost, will assault it. Again, Oppositions arise from corruptions and temptations unto sin, contrary to the life of faith. And these often proceed to an high degree of prevalency, so that the guilt contracted upon them is ready to cast the soul quite out of all expectation of mercy: I shall one day perish, by these means, says the soul, if I am not already lost.

But now where faith has made this discovery of forgiveness, the soul will abide with God against all these discouragements and Oppositions. It will not leave him, it will not give over waiting for him. So David expresss the matter in the instance of himself, Psalmm 73:2. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipt: and verse 13. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain; but yet after all his conflicts, this at last he comes unto, verse 26. Though my flesh and my heart fails, yet (verse 28.) It is good for me to draw near unto God. I will yet abide with God, I will not let go his fear, nor my profession. Although I walk weakly, lamely, unevenly, yet I will still follow after him. As it was with the Disciples, when many upon a strong temptation went back from Christ, and walked no more with him; Jesus said unto them, will ye go away also? to which Peter replyes in the name of the rest of them, Lord, to whom shall we go, you hast the words of Eternal life, Johnn 6:66, 67, 68. It is thus and thus with me, says the soul, I am tossed and afflicted, and not comforted; little life, little strength, real guilt, many sins, and much disconsolation. What then, faith God by his word, Wilt you go away also? no, says the soul, there is forgiveness with you, you hast the words of Eternal life, and therefore I will abide with you.

2. This abiding with God argues a forbearance of any other choice. Whilst the soul is in this condition having not attained any evidences of its own special interest in forgiveness: Many Lovers will be soliciting of it to play the harlot by taking them into its embraces. Both self-righteousness and sin will be very importunate in this matter. The former tenders it self as exceeding useful to give the soul some help, assistance, and supportment in its condition. Samuel does not come says Saul, and the Philistins invade me, I will venture and offer sacrifice my self contrary to the law. The promise does not come to the soul for its particular relief, it has no evidence as to an especial interest in forgiveness: temptation invades the mind; try your self, sayes it, to take relief in somewhat of yours own providing. And this is to play the harlot from God. To this purpose self-righteousness variously disguises it self, like the Wise of Jeroboam when she went to the prophet. Sometimes it appears as duty, sometimes as signs, and tokens; but its end is to get somewhat of the faith and trust of the soul to be fixed upon it. But when the soul has indeed a discovery of forgiveness, it will not give ear to these solicitations. No says it, I see such a Beauty, such an excellency, such a desireableness and suitableness unto my wants and condition, in that forgiveness that is with God, that I am resolved to abide in the gospel desire and expectation of it, all the dayes of my life; here my choice is fixed; and I will not alter. And this Resolution gives glory to the grace of God. When the soul without an evidence of an interest in it, yet prefers it above that which with many reasonings and pretences offers it self as a present relief unto it, Hereby is God glorified, and Christ exalted, and the spiritual life of the soul secured.

2. This discovery of forgiveness in God with the effects of it before mentioned, will produce a Resolution of waiting on God for peace and consolation, in his own time and way. He that believs will not make haste, Isaiah 28:16. not make haste; to what? not to the enjoyment of the thing believed. Haste argues precipitation and impatience; this the soul that has this discovery is freed from, resolving to wait the time of Gods appointment, for peace and consolation; God speaking of his accomplishment of his promises, sayes, I the Lord will hastenit, Isaiah 60:22. Well then, if God will hasten it, may not we hasten to it? nay, says he, I will hasten it, but in its time. All oppositions and impediments considered it shall be hastned, but in its time, its due time, its appointed time. And this the soul is to wait for, and so it will.

As when Jacob had seen the beauty of Rachel and loved her, he was contented to wait seven years for the enjoyment of her to be his wife; and thought no time long, no toyle too hard that he might obtain her; so the soul having discovered the beauty and excellency of forgiveness, as it is with God, as it is in his gracious heart, in his eternal purpose, in the Blood of Christ, in the promise of the gospel, is resolved to wait quietly and patiently for the time wherein God will clear up unto it, its own personal interest therein; Even one experimental embracement of it, even at the hour of death, does well deserve the waiting, and obedience of the whole course of a mans life.

And this the Psalmmist manifests to have been the effect produced in his heart and spirit; For upon this discovery of forgiveness in God, he resolvs both to wait upon him himself, and encourags others so to do.

3. This prepares the soul, for the receiving of that consolation and deliverance out of its pressures, by an evidence of a special interest in forgiveness, which it waits for.

1. For this makes men to hearken after it; It makes the soul like the Merchant who has great Riches, all his wealth in a far Country, which he is endeavouring to bring home safe unto him. If they come he is well provided for; if they miscarry, he is lost and undone. This makes him hearken after tydings that they are safe there; and as Solomon sayes, Good news in this case from a far Countrey is as cold water to a thirsty soul, (Proverbs 25:25.) full of refreshment. Though he cannot look upon them as his own, yet absolutely because he has them not in possession, he is glad they are safe there. So is it with the soul; These Riches that it so values are as to its apprehensions in a far Country: So is the promise, that he shall behold the Land that is very far off, Isaiah 33:17. He is glad to hear newes that they are safe; to hear forgiveness preached, and the promises insisted on, though he cannot as yet look upon them as his own.

The Merchant resis not here, but he hearkens with much solicitousness after the things that should bring home his riches, especially if they have in them his All. Hence such Ships are called Ships of desire, Job 9:26. Such a man greatly desires the speeding of them to their Port. He considers the Wind and the Weather, all the occasions and inconveniences and danger of the way; And blame him not; his All is at stake. The soul does so in like manner; it hearkns after all the wayes and means whereby this forgiveness may be particularly brought home unto it; is afraid of sin, and of temptation, glad to find a fresh Gale of the Spirit of grace, hoping that it may bring in his Return from the Land of promise. This prepares the heart for a spiritual sense of it, when it is revealed.

Secondly, It so prepares the soul, by giving it a due Valuation of the grace and mercy desired. The Merchantman in the gospel was not prepared to enjoy the Pearl himself, until it was discovered to him to be of great price; then he knew how to purchase it, procure it, and keep it. The soul having by this acting of faith upon the discovery of forgiveness insisted on, come to find that the pearl hid in the field is indeed precious, is both stirred up to seek after possession of it, and to give it its due. Says such a soul, How excellent, how precious is this forgiveness that is with God? Blessed, yea ever blessed are they who are made partakers of it! What a life of joy, Rest, peace, and consolation do they lead? Had I but their evidence of an interest in it, and the spiritual consolation that ensues thereon, How would I despise the world, and all the temptations of Satan, and rejoyce in the Lord in every condition? And this apprehension of grace, also exceedingly prepares and fits the soul, for a receiving of a blessed sense of it, so as that God may have glory thereby.

3. It fits the soul by giving a right understanding of it; of its nature, its causes, and effects. At the first, the soul goes no further, but to look after impunity, or freedom from punishment, any way. What shall I do to be saved, is the utmost it aims at, Who shall deliver me, how shall I escape? And it would be contented to escape any way; by the law, or the gospel, all is one, so it may escape. But upon this discovery of forgiveness treated of, which is made by faith of Adherence unto God, a man plainly sees the nature of it, and that it is so excellent that it is to be desired for its own sake. Indeed when a soul is brought under trouble for sin, it knows not well what it would have. It has an uneasiness, or disquietment that it would be freed from; a dread of some evil condition that it would avoid. But now the soul can tell what it desires, what it aims at, as well as what it would be freed from. It would have an interest in Eternal love, have the gracious kindness of the heart of God turned towards it self; a sense of the everlasting purpose of his will shed abroad in his heart; have an especial interest in the precious blood of the Son of God, whereby Attonement is made for him, and that all these things be testified unto his conscience in a word of promise mixed with faith. These things he comes for, this way alone he would be saved and no other; It sees such a glory of wisdom, love, and grace in forgiveness, such an exaltation of the love of Christ in all his Offices, in all his undertaking, especially in his death, sacrifice, and bloodshedding whereby he procured or made reconciliation for us, that it exceedingly longs after the participation of them.

All these things in their several degrees, will this discovery of forgiveness in God, without an evidence of an especial interest therein produce. And these will assuredly maintain the spiritual life of the soul, and keep it up unto such an obedience as shall be accepted of God in Christ. darkness, sorrow, storms, they in whom it is may meet withal, but their eternal condition is secured in the covenant of God; their souls are bound up in the bundle of life.

From what has been spoken, we may make some Inferences in our passage concerning the true notion of believing. For,

(1.) These effects ascribed to this faith of forgiveness in God and alwayes produced by it, make it evident that the most of them who pretend unto it, who pretend to believe that there is forgiveness with God, do indeed believe no such thing. Although I shall on set purpose afterwards evince this, yet I cannot here utterly pass it by. I shall then only demand of them who are so forward in the profession of this faith, that they think it almost impossible that any one should not believe it; what effects it has produced in them, and whether they have been by it enabled to the performance of the duties before mentioned? I fear with many, things on the account of their pretended faith are quite otherwise. They love sin the more for it, and God never the better; supposing that a few barren words will issue the controversie about their sins, they become insensibly to have slight thoughts of sin, and of God also. This perswasion is not of him that calls us. Poor souls, your faith is the Devils greatest Engine for your ruine; the highest contempt of God and Christ and forgiveness also, that you can be guilty of; a means to let you down quietly into hell; the Pharisees Moses, trusted in, and will condemn you; As none is saved but by faith, so you if it were not for your faith, (as you call it) might possibly be saved. If a mans Gold prove counterfeit, his Jewels painted Glass, his Silver lead or dross, he will not only be found poor when he comes to be tryed, and want the benefit of Riches, but have withal a fearful aggravation of his poverty by his disappointment and surprizal. If a mans faith which should be more precious than Gold, be found rotten and corrupt, if his light be darkness, how vile is that faith, how great is that darkness? Such it is evident will the faith of too many be found in this business.

2. The work we are carrying on, is the rising of a sin entangled soul out of its depths, and this we have spoken unto, is that which must give him his first relief. Commonly when souls are in distress, that which they look after is consolation. What is it that they intend thereby? that they may have assurance that their sins are forgiven them, and so be freed from their present perplexities. What is the issue? Some of them continue complaining all their dayes, and never come to Rest or peace; so far do they fall short of consolation and joy. And some are utterly discouraged from attempting any progress in the wayes of God. What is the reason hereof? Is it not, that they would fain be finishing their building, when they have not laid the foundation. They have not yet made through work in believing forgiveness with God, and they would immediately be at assurance in themselves. Now God delights not in such a frame of Spirit; for,

1. It is selfish; The great design of faith is to give glory unto God, Romansans 4:20. The end of Gods giving out forgiveness, is the praise of his glorious grace, Ephesians 1:6. But let a soul in this frame have peace in it self, it is very little solicitous about giving glory unto God. He cryes like Rachel, Give me children or I dye; give me peace, or I perish. That God may be honoured, and the forgiveness he seeks after be rendred glorious, It is cared for in the second place, if at all. This selfish earnestness, at first to be thrusting our hand in the side of Christ, is that which he will pardon in many, but accepts in none.

2. It is impatient. Men do thus deport themselves, because they will not wait. They do not care for standing afar off for any season, with the Publican. They love not to submit their souls to lye at the foot of God, to give him the glory of his goodness, mercy, wisdom, and love, in the disposal of them, and their concernments. This waiting comprizs the universal subjection of the soul unto God, with a resolved Judgement that it is meet and right that we and all we desire and aim at, should be at his Soveraign disposal. This gives glory to God; a duty which the impatience of these poor souls will not admit them to the performance of; and both these arise,

3. From weakness; it is weak; it is weakness in any condition that makes men restless and weary. The state of Adherence is as safe a condition, as the state of assurance; only it has more combats and wrestling attending it. It is not then fear of the event, but weakness and weariness of the combat that make men anxiously solicitous about a deliverance from that state, before they are well entered into it.

Let then the sin entangled soul remember alwayes, this way, method, and order of the gospel, that we have under consideration. First, exercise faith on forgiveness in God, and when the soul is fixed therein, it will have a ground and foundation whereon it may stand securely, in making application of it unto it self. Drive this principle in the first place unto a stable issue upon gospel evidences; answer the objections that lye against it, and then you may proceed. In believing, the soul makes a conqu upon Satans Territories. Do then as they do, who are entring on an Enemies Countrey; secure the passages, fortifie the Strong holds as you go on, that you be not cut off in your progress. Be not as a Ship at Sea which passs on, and is no more possessed or Master of the Water it has gone through; than of that whereunto it is not yet arrrived. But so it is with a soul, that fixs not on these foundation principles; he presss forwards and the ground crumbles away under his feet, and so he wilders away all his dayes in uncertainties. Would men but lay this principle well in their souls, and secure it against assaults, they might proceed though not with so much speed as some do, yet with more safety. Some pretend at once to fall into full assurance, I wish it prove not a broad presumption in the most. It is to no purpose for him to strive to flye, who cannot yet go; to labor to come to assurance in himself who never well believed forgiveness in God. Now that we may be enabled to fix this perswasion against all opposition, that which in the next place I shall do, is to give out such unquestionable evidences of this gospel truth, as the soul may safely build and rest upon: And these contain the confirmation of the principal proposition before laid down.

Evidences of forgiveness in God. No inbred Notions of any free Acts of Gods will. forgiveness not revealed by the works of nature, nor the law.

1. The things that are spoken, or are to be known of God are of two sorts: (1.) Natural and Necessary; such as are his Essential properties, or the attributes of his nature, his goodness, holiness, righteousness, Omnipotency, eternity, and the like. These are called, , Romansans 1:19. That which may be known of God. And there are two wayes, as the apostle there declares, whereby that which he there intimates of God may be known, (1.) By the inbred light of nature; , verse 19. It is manifest in themselves; in their own hearts; They are taught it by the common conceptions and presumptions which they have of God by the light of nature. From hence do all mankind know concerning God, that He is, that he is Eternal, infinitely Powerful, Good, righteous, Holy, Omnipotent. There needs no special Revelation of these things that men may know them. That indeed they may be known savingly there is; and therefore they that know these things by nature, do also believe them on Revelation, Hebrews 11:6. He that coms unto God must BELIEVE that he is, and that he is a rewarder. Though men KNOW God by the light of nature, yet they cannot COME to God by that knowledge.

2. These Essential properties of the nature of God are revealed by his WORKS. So the apostle in the same place, verse 20. The invisible things of God from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his Eternal power and Godhead: See also, Psalmm 19:1, 2, 3. And this is the first sort of things that may be known of God.

2. There are the free Acts of his will and power; or his free eternal purposes, with the temporal dispensations that flow from them. Now of this sort, is the forgiveness that we are enquiring after; It is not a property of the nature of God, but an Acts of his will, and a work of his grace. Although it has its rise and spring in the infinite goodness of his nature, yet it proceeds from him, and is not exercised but by an absolute free and Soveraign Acts of his will. Now there is nothing of God, or with him, of this sort that can be any wayes known, but only by especial Revelation: For,

1. There is no inbred notion of the Acts of Gods will in the heart of man, which is the first way whereby we come to the knowledge of any thing of God. forgiveness is not revealed by the light of nature. Flesh and blood, which nature is, declares it not: By that means, No man has seen God at any time, Johnn 1:8. that is, as a God, of mercy and pardon, as the Son reveales him. Adam had an intimate acquaintance, according to the limited capacity of a creature, with the properties and excellencies of the nature of God. It was implanted in his heart, as indispensibly necessary unto that natural worship, which by the law of his creation he was to perform. But when he had sinned, it is evident, that he had not the least apprehension that there was forgiveness with God. Such a thought would have laid a foundation of some further treaty with God about his condition. But he had no other design but of flying and hiding himself, Genesis 3:10. so declaring that he was utterly ignorant of any such thing as pardoning mercy. Such, and no other, are all the first, or purely natural conceptions of sinners; namely, that it is , the Judgement of God, Romansans 1:32. that sin is to be punished with death. It is true, these conceptions in many are stifled, by Rumors, Reports, Traditions, that it may be otherwise; but all these are far enough from that Revelation of forgiveness, which we are enquiring after.

2. The consideration of the works of Gods creation will not help a man to this knowledge; that there is forgiveness with God. The apostle tells us, Romansans 1:20. what it is of God that his works reveal; even his eternal power and Godhead; or the Essential properties of his nature; but no more: Not any of the purposes of his grace, not any of the free Acts of his will; not pardon and forgiveness. Besides God made all things in such an estate and condition, namely, of Rectitude, integrity, and Uprightness, Ecclesiastes 7:29. that it was impossible they should have any respect unto sin, which is the corruption of all, or to the pardon of it, which is their Restituion, whereof they stood in no need. There being no such thing in the world, as sin, nor any such thing supposed to be, when all things were made of nothing, how could any thing declare or reveal the forgiveness of it.

3. No works of Gods providence can make this discovery. God has indeed born testimony to himself and his goodness in all Ages from the foundation of the world in the works of his providence: So Acts 14:15, 16, 17. We preach unto you, that you should turn from these vanities, unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the Sea, and all things that are therein; who in times past, suffered all nations to walk in their own wayes: nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness: , He left not himself without witness; that is, by the works of his providence there recounted, he thus far bare testimony to himself, that he is, and is good, and does good, and ruls the world, so that they were utterly inexcusable who taking no notice of these works of his, nor the fruits of his goodness, which they lived upon, turned away after , vain things, as the apostle there calls the Idols of the gentiles. But yet these things did not discover pardon and forgiveness. For still God suffered them to go on in their own wayes, and winked at their Ignorance. So again, Acts 17:23, 24, 25, 26, 27. Whom you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you, God that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in Temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with mens hands, as though he needs any thing, seeing he givs unto all life and breath, and all things, and has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of theEarth (where by the way there is an allusion to that of Genesis 11:8. the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the earth) and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if happily they might seek after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. By arguments taken from the works of God both of creation and providence; the apostle proves the being and properties of God. Yea, he lets them know with whom he had to do, that God designed by his works so far to reveal himself unto them, as the true and living God, the Maker and Governour of all things, as that they ought to have enquired more diligently after him, and not to look on him alone as the Unknown God, who alone might be known: all their Idols being vain and nothing. But of the discovery of pardon and forgiveness in God by these wayes and means, he speaks not; yea, he plainly shews that this was not done thereby. For the Great Call to saving repentance is by the Revelation of forgiveness. But now by these works of his providence God called not the gentiles to saving repentance. No says he, he suffered them to walk still in their own wayes, Chap. 14:16. and winked at the times of their ignorance; but now, that is, by the word of the gospel, commands them to Repent, Chap. 17:30.

II. Whereas there had been one signal Acts of Gods providence about sin, when man first fell into the snares of it: It was so far from the revealing forgiveness in God that it rather severely intimated the contrary. This was Gods dealing with sinning Angels. The Angels were the first sinners; and God dealt first with them about sin. And what was his dealing with them, the Holy Ghost tells us, 2 Peter 2:4. , he spared not the sinning Angels, he spared them not; It is the same word which he useth where he speaks of laying all our iniquities on Christ, he undergoing the punishment due unto them, Romansans 8:32. , he spared him not; that is, he laid on him the full punishment that by the curse and sanction of the law was due unto sin. So he dealt with the Angels that sinned; he spared them not but inflicted on them the punishment due to sin, shutting them up under chains of darkness for the Judgement of the great Day. Hitherto then God keeps all thoughts of forgiveness in his own Eternal Bosom. There is not so much as the least dawning of it upon the world. And this was at first no small prejudice against any thoughts of forgiveness. The world is made, sin enters by the most glorious part of the creation, whose recovery by pardon might seem to be most desirable, but not the least appearance of it is discovered. Thus it was hid in God from the foundation of the world, Ephesians 3:9.

III. God gave unto Man a law of obedience immediately upon his creation. Yea, for the main of it, he implanted it in him by, and in his creation. This law it was supposed that man might transgress. The very nature of a law prescribed unto free Agents, attended with Threatnings and promises of reward, requires that supposition. Now there was not annexed unto this law, or revealed with it, the least intimation of pardon to be obtained, if Transgression should ensue. Genesis 2:17. we have this law, In the day you eat you shalt surely dye: dying you shalt dye; or bring upon your self assuredly the guilt of death temporal and eternal. There God leaves the sinner under the power of that commination. Of forgiveness or pardoning mercy there is not the least intimation. To this very day, that law, which was then the whole rule of life and Acceptance with God knows no such thing. Dying you shalt dye, O sinner, is the precise and final voyce of it. From these previous considerations, added to what was formerly spoken, some things preparatory to the ensuing discourse may be inferred: as,

1. That it is a great and rare thing to have forgiveness in God discovered unto a sinful soul. A thing it is, that, as has been shewed, conscience and law, with the inbred Notions that are in the heart of man about Gods holiness and Vindictive justice do lye against. A matter whereof we have no natural presumption; whereof there is no common notion in the mind of man. A thing which no consideration of the works of God, either of creation or providence will reveal, and which the great instance of Gods dealing with sinning Angels renders deep, admirable and mysterious. Men who have common and slightthoughts of God, of themselves, of sin, of obedience, of the Judgement to come, of eternity, that feed upon the ashes of rumors, reports, hearsayes, traditions, without looking into the reality of things, may, and do take this to be an ordinary and acknowledged truth, easie to be entertained, which upon the matter no man disbelieves. But convinced sinners, who make a tryal of these things, as running into eternity, have other thoughts of them. And as to that which it is pretended every one believes, we have great cause to cry out, Lord who has believed our report, to whom has this arm of the Lord been revealed?

2. That the discovery of forgiveness in God, being a matter of so great difficulty, is a thing precious and excellent, as being the foundation of all our communion with God here, and of all undeceiving expectation of our enjoyment of him hereafter. It is a pure gospel truth that has neither shaddow, footstep, nor intimation elsewhere; the whole creation has not the least obscure impression of it left thereon; so that,

3. It is undoubtedly greatly incumbent on us to inquire diligently as the prophets did of old into this salvation; to consider what sure evidences faith has of it, such as will not, as cannot fail us. To be slight and common in this matter, to take it up at random, is an argument of an unsound rotten heart. He that is not serious in his inquiry into the Revelation of this matter, is serious in nothing wherein God or his soul is concerned. The Holy Ghost knows what our frame of heart is, and how slow we are to receive this blessed truth in a gracious saving manner. Therefore does he confirm it unto us with such weighty considerations, as Hebrews 6:17, 18. God willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsell, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lye, we might have strong consolation. It is of forgiveness of sin that the apostle treats, as has been made evident by the description of it before given. Now to give evidence hereunto, and to beget a belief of it in us, he first engages a property of Gods nature in that business. He with whom we deal, is —as Titus 1:2. The God that cannot lye, that cannot deceive, or be deceived. It is impossible it should be so with him. Now as this extends it self in general, to all the words and works of God, so there is peculiarly in this whereof he treats , an especial immutability of his counsel. Men may think that although there be words spoken about forgiveness, yet it is possible it may be otherwise; no says the apostle, it is spoken by God, and it is impossible he should lye. Yea, but upon the manifold provocations of sinners he may change his mind and thoughts therein; no, says the apostle, there is a peculiar immutability in his counsel concerning the execution of this thing, there can be no change in it. But how does this appear that indeed this is the counsel of his will? Why, says he? he has declared it by his word; and that given in a way of promise; which as in its own nature it is suited to raise an expectation in him or them to whom it is made or given; so it requires exact faithfulness in the discharge and performance of it, which God on his part will assuredly answer. But neither is this all; but that no place might be left for any cavilling objection in this matter, , he interposed himself by an oath; Thus we have this truth deduced from the veracity of Gods nature, one of his Essential Excellencies, established in the immutable purpose of his will, brought forth by a word of promise, and confirmed by Gods interposing himself against all occasions of exception, (so to put an end unto all strife about it) by an Oath, swearing by himself that so it should be. I have mentioned this only to shew what weight the Holy Ghost layes upon the delivery of this great truth, and thence how deeply it concerns us to inquire diligently into it, and after the grounds and evidences which may be tendred of it, which among others are these that follow.

Discovery of forgiveness in the first promise. The evidence of the truth that lyes therein. And by the Institution of Sacrifices. Their Use and end. Also by the prescription of repentance unto sinners.

The first Discovery of forgiveness in God, (and which I place as the first evidence of it) was made in his first dealing with our Parents after their shameful sin and fall. Now to make it appear, that this is an evidence that carryes along a great conviction with it, and is such as faith may securely rest upon and close withall, the ensuing Observations are to be considered.

The first sin in the world, was on many accounts the greatest sin that ever was in the world. It was the sin as it were of Humane nature, wherein there was a conspiracy of all Individuals; omnes eramus unus ille homo; in that one man, or that one sin, we all sinned, Romansans 5:12. It left not God one subject as to moral obedicnce on the earth, nor the least ground for any such to be unto eternity. When the Angels sinned the whole race or kind did not prevaricate. Thousand thousands of them, and ten thousand times ten thousands continued in their obedience, Daniel 7:10. But here, all and every individual of mankind (he only excepted which was not then in Adam) were imbarked in the same crime and guilt. Besides it disturbed the Government of God in and over the whole creation. God had made all things in number, weight, and measure, in order and beauty: pronouncing himself concerning his whole work that it was exceeding beautiful and good, Genesis 1:31. Much of this beauty lay in the subordination of one thing to another, and of all to himself by the mediation and interposition of man, through whose Prayses and obedience the rest of the creation being made subject unto him, was to return their tribute of honor and glory unto God. But all this order was destroyed by this sin; and the very creation made subject to vanity, Romansans 8:20. On which, and the like accounts, it might be easily made to appear that it was the greatest sin that ever was in the world.

2. Man who had sinned subscribed in his heart and consctence unto the righteous sentence of the law. He knew what he had deserved, and looked for nothing but the immediate Execution of the sentence of death upon him. Hence he meditates not a defense, expects no pardon, stayes not for a tryal, but flyes and hides, and attempts an escape. Genesis 3:10. I was afraid, says he, and hid my self; than which never were there words of greater horror in the world, nor shall be until the day of Judgement. Poor creature, he was full of expectation of the vengeance due for a broken covenant.

3. God had newly declared in the sinning Angels what his justice required, and how he could deal with sinning man without the least impeachment of his Government, holiness or goodness. See 2 Peter 2:4.

4. There was nothing without God himself that should move him in the least, so much as to suspend the execution of his wrath for one moment; he had not done so with the Angels. All things lay now under wrath, curse, confusion, and disorder: nothing was left good, lovely, or desirable in his eye. As in the first creation, that which was first brought forth from nothing was without form and void, empty of all order and beauty; nothing was in it to induce or move God to bring forth all things in the glory that ensued, but the whole design of it, proceeded from his own infinite goodness and wisdom; so was it now again. There was an Emptiness and Vanity brought by sin upon the whole creation. Nothing remained that might be a motive unto a merciful Restoration, but all is again devolved on his Soveraignty. All things being in this state and condition wherein all doors stood open to the glory of Gods justice in the punishing of sin, nothing remaining without him to hold his hand in the least; the whole creation, and especially the sinner himself lying trembling in expectation of a dreadful doom, what now coms forth from him? the blessed word which we have, Genesis 3:15. The seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head. It is full well known that the whole mysterie of forgiveness is wrapt up in this one word of promise. And the great way of its coming forth from God by the blood of the Messiah, whose heel was to be bruised, is also intimated. And this was the first discovery that ever was made of forgiveness in God. By a word of pure Revelation it was made, and so faith must take it up and receive it. Now this Revelation of forgiveness with God in this one promise, was the bottom of all that worship that was yielded unto him by sinners for many Ages. For we have shewed before, that without this, no sinner can have the least encouragement to approach unto him; and this will continue to the end of the world, as a notable evidence of the truth in hand a firm foundation for faith to rest and build upon. Let a sinner seriously consider the state of things as they were then in the world laid down before, and then view God coming forth with a word of pardon and forgiveness, merely from his own love, and those counsells of peace that were between the father and the Son, and he cannot but conclude under his greatest difficulties, that yet there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared. Let now the law and conscience, let sin and Satan stand forth and except against this evidence; enough may be spoken from it, whatever the particular case be, about which the soul has a contest with them, to put them all to silence.

II. God revealed this Sacred truth by his Institution of Sacrifices. Sacrifices by blood, do all of them respect Attonement, expiation, and consequentially forgiveness. It is true indeed, they could not themselves take away sin, nor make them perfect who came unto God by them, Hebrews 10:1. but yet they undeniably evince the taking away of sin, or the forgiveness of it, by what they did denote and typisie. I shall therefore look a little back into their Rise and Intendment.

1. The Original and first spring of Sacrifices is not in the scripture expressly mentioned, only the practice of the saints is recorded. But it is certain from infallible scripture evidences, that they were of Gods immediate Institution and Appointment. God never allowed that the will or wisdom of man, should be the spring and rule of his worship. That solemn word where with he Fronts the command that is the rule of his worship, You shalt not make to your self, which is the life of the command, (that which follows being an explanation and confirmation of the law it self by instances) cuts off all such pretences, and is as a flaming sword turning every way to prevent mens arbitrary approaches to Gods Institutions. God will not part with his glory of being the only law-giver as to the whole concernment of his worship, or any part of it, unto any of the sons of men.

2. Neither is the time of their Institution mentioned. Some of the papists dispute (as there are a generation of philosophi[•••] disputers amongst them, by whom their tottering cause is supported) that there should have been Sacrisices in Paradice, if man had not sinned. But as in all their opinions, our first inquiry ought to be, what do they get by this or that, their whole religion being pointed unto their carnal interest; so we may in particular do it, upon this uncouth assertion, which is perfectly contradictious to the very nature and end of most Sacrifices; namely, that they should be offered where there is no sin. Why, they hope to establish hence a general rule, that there can be no true worship of God in any state or condition without a sacrifice. What then I pray? Why then it is evident that the continual sacrifice of the Mass is necessary in the church, and that without it there is no true worship of God; and so they are quickly come home to their advantage and profit; the Mass being that inexhaustible Spring of Revenue which feeds their pride and lust throughout the world. But there is in the church of Christ an Altar still, and a sacrifice still, which they have rejected for the a bominable figment of their Mass; namely, Christ himself as the apostle informs us, Hebrews 13:10. But as the Sacrifices of Beasts could not have been before the entrance of sin, so it may be evidenced that they were instituted from the foundation of the world, that is presently after the entrance of sin. Christ is called the Lamb of God, Johnn 1:29. which he was in reference unto the Sacrifices of old, as 1 Peter 2:18, 19. whence he is represented in the church, as a Lamb slain, Revelation 5:6. or giving out the efficacy of all Sacrifices to his church. Now he is said to be a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Revelation 13:8. which could not be, unless some sacrifice prefiguring his being slain had been then offered. For it denotes not only the efficacy of his mediation, but the way. Besides the apostle tells us, that without shedding of blood there was no remission, Hebrews 9:22. That is, God to demonstrate that all pardon and forgiveness related to the blood of Christ from the foundation of the world, gave out no word of pardon, but by and with blood. Now I have shewed before, that he revealed pardon in the first promise, and therefore there ensued thereon the shedding of blood and Sacrifices; and thereby that testament or covenant was dedicated with blood also, verse 18. Some think that the Beasts, of whose skins God made garments for Adam, were offered in Sacrifices. Nor is their conjecture vain. Yea, it seems not to want a shaddow of a gospel Mysterie; that their nakedness which became their shame upon their sin, (whence the pollution and shame of sin is frequently so termed) should be covered with the skins of their Sacrifices. For in the true sacrifice, there is somewhat answerable thereunto. And the righteousness of him whose sacrifice takes away the guilt of our sin, is called our cloathing, that hides our pollution and shame.

3. That after the giving of the law, the greatest, most noble, and solemn part of the worship of God consisted in Sacrifices. And this kind of worship continued with the approbation of God in the world about four thousand years; that is, from the entrance of sin until the death of the Messiah, the true sacrifice, which put an end unto all that was typical.

These things being premised, we may consider what was the mind and aim of God in the Institution of this worship. One instance, and that of the most solemn, of the whole kind, will resolve us in this inquiry, Leviticus 16:5. Two Kids of the Goats are taken for an offering for sin. Consider only (that we do not enlarge on particulars) how one of them was dealt withal, verse 20, 21, 22. He shall bring the live Goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live Goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgression in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the Goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the Wilderness, and the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a Land not inhabited.

Let us see to what end is all this Solemnity, and what is declared thereby. Wherefore should God appoint poor sinful men to come together, to take a Goat or Lamb, and to confess over his head all their sins and transgressions, and to devote him to destruction under that confession? Had men invented this themselves, it had been a matter of no moment. But it was an Institution of God which he bound his church to the observation of upon the penalty of his highest displeasure. Certainly this was a solemn declaration that there is forgiveness with him. Would that God who is infinitely Good, and so will not, who is infinitely True, holy and faithful, and so cannot deceive, call men out whom he loved, to a solemn Representation of a thing wherein their chief, their eternal concernment did lye, and suffer them to feed upon Ashes? Let men take heed that they mock not God; for of a truth God mocks not man, until he be finally rejected by him. For four thousand years together then, did God declare by Sacrifices, that there is forgiveness with him, and lead his people by them to make a public Representation of it in the face of the world. This is a second uncontrolable evidence of the truth asserted, which may possibly be of use to souls that come indeed deeply and seriously to deal with God; for though the Practice be ceased, yet the Instruction intended in thern continues.

III. Gods appointment of repentance unto sinners, does reveal that there is forgiveness in himself. I say the prescription of repentance is a Revelation of forgiveness. After the Angels had sinned, God never once called them to repentance. He would not deceive them, but let them know what they were to look for at his hands; he has no forgiveness for them, and therefore would require no repentance of them. It is not, nor ever was a duty incumbent on them to repent. Nor is it so unto the damned in hell God requires it not of them, nor is it their duty. There being no forgiveness for them, what should move them to repent? Why should it be their duty so to do? Their eternal anguish about sin committed, has nothing of repentance in it. Assignation then of repentance is a Revelation of forgiveness. God would not call upon a sinful creature to humble it self and bewail its sin, if there were no way of recovery, or relief. And the only way of recovery from the guilt of sin, is pardon, so Job 33:27, 28. He looks on men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light. In the foregoing verses he declares the various wayes that God used to bring men unto repentance. He did it by dreams, verse 15, 16. by Afflictions, verse 19. by the preaching of the word, verse 23. What then does God aim at in and by all these various wayes of teachings? It is to cause man to say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right. It is to bring him to repentance: What now, if he obtaine his end, and man coms to that which is aimed at? Why then there is forgiveness for him, as is declared, verse 28. To improve this evidence, I shall confirm by some few obvious considerations these two things.

- 1. That the prescription of repentance does indeed evince that there is forgiveness with God. - 2. That every one in whom there is repentance wrought towards God, may certainly conclude that there is forgiveness with God for him.

1. No repentance is acceptable with God but what is built, or leans on the faith of forgiveness. We have a cloud of witnesses unto this truth in the scripture. Many there have been, many are recorded who have been convinced of sin, perplexed about it, sorry for it, that have made open confession and acknowledgement of it, that under the pr[•]ssing sense of it, have cryed out even to God for deliverance, and yet have come short of mercy pardon and acceptance with God. The cases of Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, Ahab, Judas, and others, might be insisted on. What was wanting that made all that they did abominable? Consider one instance for all: It is said of Judas that he repented, Matthew 27:3. , he repented himself; but wherein did this repentance consist? he was convinced of his sin in general; , says he, I have sinned, verse 4:2. He was sensible of the particular sin whereof he stood charged in conscience before God. I have says he, betrayed innocent blood: I am guilty of blood, innocent blood, and that in the vil manner, by treachery; so that he comes (3.) To a full and open confession of his sin: (4.) He makes Restitution of what he was advantaged by his sin, he brought again the thirty pieces of silver, verse 3. all testifying an hearty sorrow that spirited the whole. Methinks now Judas his repentance looks like the young mans obedience, who cryed out, all these things have I done; Is there any thing yet lacking? Yea, one thing was wanting to that young man, he had no true faith nor love to God all this while, which vitiated and spoyled all the rest of his performances. One thing also is wanting to this repentance of Judas; he had no faith of forgiveness in God; that he could not believe; and therefore after all this sorrow instead of coming to him, he bids him the utmost defiance, and goes away and hangs himself.

Indeed says of forgiveness, as has been shewed, has many degrees. There is of them, that which is indispensibly necessary to render repentance acceptable. What it is in particular, I do not dispute. It is not an assurance of the Acceptance of our persons in general. It is not that the particular sin wherewith it may be, the soul is perplexed, is forgiven. A general, so it be a gospel discovery that there is forgiveness in God, will suffice. The church expresss it, Hosea 14:3. In you the fatherless finds mercy, and Joel 2:14. Who knows but he will return and repent. I have this ground, says the soul; God is in himself gracious and merciful; the fatherless, the destitute and helpless that come to him by Christ, find mercy in him. None in heaven and earth can evince but that he may return to me also. Now let a mans convictions be never so great, sharp, wounding, his sorrow never so abundant, overflowing, abiding, his confession never so full, free or open, if this one thing be wanting, all is nothing but what tends to death.

2. To prescribe repentance as a duty unto sinners, without a foundation of pardon and forgiveness in himself; is inconsistent with the wisdom, holiness, goodness, faithfulness, and all other glorious Excellencies and perfections of the nature of God: for,

1. The apostle layes this as the great foundation of all consolation; that God cannot lye or deceive, Hebrews 6:18. And again, he engags the faithfulness and veracity of God to the same purpose. Titus 1:2. God who cannot lye has promised it. Now there is a lye, a deceit in Things as well as in words. He that does a thing, which in its own nature is apt to deceive them that consider it, with an intention of deceiving them, is no less a lyar, than he which affirms that to be true, which he knows to be false. There is a lye in Actions as well as in words. The whole life of an hyocrite is a lye; so says the prophet of Idolaters, there is a lye in their right hand, Isaiah 44:20.

2. The proposal of repentance, is a thing fitted and suited in its own nature, to beget thoughts in the mind of a sinner that there is forgiveness with God. Repenting is for sinners only. I came not, says our savior, to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is for them, and them only. It was no duty for Adam in Eden; it is none for the Angels in heaven, nor for the damned in hell. What then may be the language of this appointment? O sinners, come and deal with God by repentance: Does it not openly speak forgiveness in God? and if it were otherwise could men possibly be more frustrated or deceived? would not the Institution of repentance be a lye? Such a delusion may proceed from Satan, but not from him who is the fountain of goodness, holiness and truth. His Call to repentance, is a full Demonstration of his readiness to forgive, Acts 17:30, 31, 32. It is true, many do thus deceive themselves. They raise themselves unto an expectation of immunity, not on gospel grounds; and their disappointment is a great part of their punishment. But God deceives none: whoever comes to him on his proposal of repentance, shall find forgiveness. It is said of some indeed, that he will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear coms, Proverbs 1:26. He will aggravate their misery, by giving them to see what their pride and folly has brought them unto. But who are they? only such as refuse his Call to repentance, with the promises of Acceptation annexed.

3. There is then no cause, why those who are under a Call to repentance, should question whether there be forgiveness in God or no. This concerns my second proposition. Come, says the Lord, unto the souls of men; leave your sinful wayes, turn unto me, humble your selves with broken and contrite hearts: Alas, say poor convinced sinners, we are poor, dark and ignorant creatures; or we are old in sin, or great sinners, or backsliders, or have fallen often into the same sins; can we expect there should be forgiveness for us? Why you are under Gods Invitation to repentance; and to disbelieve forgiveness, is to call the truth, holiness and faithfulness of God into question. If you will not believe forgiveness, pretend what you please, it is in truth because you hate repentance. You do but deceive your souls when you pretend you come not up to repentance, because you cannot believe forgiveness. For in the very Institution of this duty God engags all his properties to make it good that he has pardon and mercy for sinners.

4. Much less cause is there to doubt of forgiveness, where sincere repentance is in any measure wrought. No soul comes to repentance but upon Gods call. God calls none but whom he has mercy for upon their coming. And as for those who sin against the Holy Ghost, as they shut themselves out from forgiveness, so they are not called to repentance.

5. God expressly declares in the scripture, that the forgiveness that is with him, is the foundation of his prescribing repentance unto man. One instance may suffice, Isaiah 55:7. Let the wicked forsake his way ( a perverse wicked one; ) and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy, and to our God, forhe will multiply to pardon. You see to whom he speaks; to men perversely wicked, and such as make a trade of sinning. What does he call them unto? plainly to repentance, to the duty we have insisted on. But what is the ground of such an invitation, unto such profligate sinners? Why, the abundant forgiveness and pardon that is with him, super-abounding unto what the worst of them can stand in need of: as Romansans 5:20.

And this is another way whereby God has revealed that there is forgiveness with him: and an infallible bottom for says to build upon in its approaches unto God it is. Nor can the certainty of this evidence be called into question, but on such grounds as are derogatory to the glory and honor of God. And this connection of repentance and forgiveness is that principle from whence God convinces a stubborn unbelieving people, that all his wayes and dealings with sinners are just and equal, Ezekiel 18:25. And should there be any failure in it they could not be so. Every soul then that is under a call to repentance, whether out of his natural condition, or from any back-sliding into folly after conversion, has a sufficient foundation to rest on, as to the pardon he enquires after. God is ready to deal with him on terms of mercy; if out of love to sin, or the power of unbelief, he refuse to close with him on these terms, his condemnation is just. And it will be well that this consideration be well imprinted on the minds of men. I say notwithstanding the general presumptions that men seem to have of this matter; yet these principles of it ought to be inculcated. For,

1. Such is the Atheism that lyes lurking in the hearts of men by nature, that notwithstanding their pretences, and professions, we have need to be pressing upon them evidences of the very being and Essential properties of God. In so doing we have the assistance of inbred notions in their own minds. which they cannot eject, to help carry on the work. How much more is this necessary in reference unto the free Acts of the will of God, which are to be known only by mere Revelation. Our word had need be line upon line: And yet when we have done, have cause enough to cry out, as was said, Lord who has believed our report, and to whom has this arm of the Lord been revealed?

2. What was spoken before of the obstacles that lye in the way hindring souls from a saving reception of this truth, ought to be remembred. Those who have no experience of them between God and their souls, seem to be ignorant of the true nature of conscience, law, gospel, grace, sin and forgiveness.

3. Many who are come to a saving perswasion of it, yet having not received it upon clear and unquestionable grounds, and so not knowing how to resolve their faith of it into its proper principles, are not able to answer the objections that lye against it in their own Consciences, and so do miserably fluctuate about it all their dayes. These had need to have these principles inculcated on them. Were they pondred aright, some might have cause to say with the Samaritans, who first gave credit to the report of the woman, Johnn 4. They had but a report before, but now they find all things to be according unto it, yea to exceed it. A little experience of a mans own unbelief, with the Observation that may easily be made of the uncertain progresses and fluctuations of the spirits of others, will be a sufficient conviction of the necessity of the work we are engaged in.

But it will yet be said, that it is needless to multiply arguments and evidences in this case. The truth insisted on being granted as one of the fundamental principles of religion. As it is not then by any called in question, so it does not appear that so much time and pains is needful for the confirmation of it. For what is granted and plain, needs little confirmation. But several things may be returned in answer hereunto: all which may at once be here pleaded for the multiplication of our arguments in this matter.

That it is generally granted by all, is no argument that it is effectually believed by many. Sundry things are taken for granted in point of opinion, that are not so believed as to be improved in practice. We have in part shewed before, and shall afterwards undeniably evince, that there are very few that believe this truth, with that faith that will interest them in it, and give them the benefit of it. And what will it avail any of us, that there is forgiveness of sin with God, if our own sins be not forgiven? no more than that such or such a king is rich, whilst we are poor and starving. My aim is not to prove it as an opinion, or a mere speculative truth; but so to evidence it in the principles of its being and Revelation; as that it may be believed, whereon all our blessedness depends.

2. It needs never the less confirmation because it is a plain fundamental truth; but rather the more; and that because both of the Worth and Weight of it. This is a faithful saying, says the apostle, worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. So say I of this, which for the substance of it, is the same with that. It is worthy of all acceptation, namely that there is forgiveness with God. And therefore ought it to be fully confirmed. Especially whilst we make use of no other demonstrations of it, but those only which God has furnished us withal to that purpose; and this he would not have done, but that he knew them needful for us. And for the plainness of this truth, it is well if it be so unto us. This I know, nothing but the Spirit of God can make it so. Men may please themselves and others sometimes with curious notions, and make them seem to be things of great search and attainment, which when they are well examined, it may be they are not true, or if they are, are yet of a very little consequence or importance. It is these fundamental Truths that have the mysteries of the wisdom and grace of God in wrapped in them; which who so can unfold aright, will shew himself a workman that needs not be ashamed. These still waters are deep; and the farther we dive into them, the greater discovery shall we make of their depths. And many other Sacred Truths there are, whose mention is common, but whose depths are little searched, and whose efficacy is little known.

3. We multiply these evidences, because they are multitudes that are concerned in them. All that do believe, and all that do not believe are so. Those that do believe, that they may be established; and those that do not believe, that they may be encouraged so to do. Among both these sorts some evidences may be more profitable and useful, one to one, some to another. It may be amongst all, all will be gathered up, that no fragments be lost. They are all (I hope) instruments provided by the Holy Ghost for this end; and by this ordinance do we endeavour to put them into his hand, to be made effectual as he will. One may reach one soul, another another, according to his pleasure. One may be of use to establishment, another to consolation, a third of encouragement, according as the necessities of poor souls do require. However God who has provided them, knows them all to be needful.

4. They are so also upon the account of the various conditions wherein the Spirits of believers themselves may be. One may give help to the same soul at one season, another at another; one may secure the soul against a temptation, another stir it up to Thankfulness and obedience.

These things have I spoken, that you may not think we dwell too long on this consideration. And I pray God that your consolation and Establishment may abound in the reading of these Meditations, as I hope they have not been altogether without their fruit in their preparation.

Further evidences of forgiveness with God. testimonies that God was well pleased with some that were sinners. The patience of God towards the world; an evidence of forgiveness. Experience of the saints of God to the same purpose.

IV. Let us then in the fourth place, as a fourth evidence of this truth, consider those, both under the Old testament and the New, concerning whom we have the greatest assurance that God was well pleased with them, and that they are now in the enjoyment of him. And this argument unto this purpose the apostle insists upon, and presss from sundry instances, Hebrews 11. How many does he there reckon up who of old obtained a good report, and this testimony, that they pleased God: verse 2:5. All these inherited the promises through believing; that is, obtained the forgiveness of sin. For whereas by nature they were children of wrath, and under the curse as well as others, obtaining an infallible interest in the favor of God, and this testimony, that they pleased him, it could no otherwise be. For without this, on a just account, every one of them would have continued in the state wherein Adam was, when he heard the voyce of God and was afraid. Wherefore it being evident that some persons in all Generations, have enjoyed the friendship, love and favor of God in this world, and at their departure out of it have entred into glory; it makes it evident that there is forgiveness of sin with him, without which these things could not be.

Let us, after the example of the apostle, mention some particular instances in this matter. Look unto Abraham. He was the friend of God, and walked with God; God made a solemn covenant with him, and takes it for his memorial throughout all generations, that he is the God of Abraham. And he is doubtless now at rest with God. Our savior calls the place or condition whereinto blessed souls are gathered, Abrahams Bosom; He is at rest with whom others are at rest.

The condition was the same with Isaac and Jacob. They also are heaven, being alive unto, and with God. Our savior proves it from the tenour of the covenant, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living, Matthew 22:32. They are yet alive, alive unto God, and with him, by vertue of the covenant; or after their death, God would not be said, to be their God. This is the force of our Saviours argument in that place; that after their death, God was still their God. Then death had not reached their whole persons. They were still alive with God in heaven; and their bodies by vertue of the same covenant, were to be recovered out of the dust.

The same is the state with David. He was a man after Gods own heart, that did all his will, and fulfilled all his pleasure. And although he dyed and his body saw corruption, yet he is not lost, he is with God in heaven. Hence he ended his dayes triumphantly in a full apprehension of Eternal Rest, beyond what could in this world be attained, and that by vertue of the covenant. For these are the last words of David, Although my house be not so with God, yet he has made with me an Everlasting covenant, ascertaining unto him sure and eternal mercies, 2 Samuel 23:5

Peter also is in heaven. Christ prayed for him that his faith should not fail; and in his death he glorified God, Johnn 21:19.

So is Paul. He also is in heaven; he knew that when he wis dissolved he should be with Christ. Here then we are encompassed about with a cloud of witnesses. For,

1. It is most certain, that they were all sinners; They were all so by nature; for therein there is no difference between any of the Children of men. And personally they were sinners also. They confessed so of themselves, and some of the sins of all of them stand upon record. Yea some of them were great sinners, or guilty of great and signal miscarriages. Some before their conversion, as Abraham who was an Idolater, Joshua 24:2, 3. and Paul who was a Persecutor and a Blasphemer. Some after their conversion. Some in sins of the flesh against their obedience, as David; and some in sins of profession against says, as Peter. Nothing then is more evident, than that no one of them came to rest with God but by forgiveness. Had they never been guilty of any one sin, but only what is left upon Record concerning them in Holy Writ, yet they could be saved no other way. For he that transgresss the law in any one point is guilty of the breach of the whole, James 2:10.

What shall we now say? Do we think that God has forgiveness only for this or that individual person? No man questions but that all these were pardoned. Was it by vertue of any especial personal priviledge that was peculiar unto them? Whence should any such priviledge arise, seeing by nature they were no better than others, nor would have been so personally, had not they been delivered from sin, and prepared for obedience by grace, mercy and pardon? Wherefore they all obtained forgiveness by vertue of the covenant from the forgiveness which is with God. And this is equally ready for others, who come to God the same way that they did; that is, by faith and repentance.

2. Many of those concerning whom we have the assurance mentioned, were not only sinners, but great sinners, as was said, which must be also insisted on, to obviate another objection. For some may say, that although they were sinners, yet they were not such sinners as we are. And although they obtained forgiveness, yet this is no argument that we shall do so also, who are guilty of other sins than they were, and those attended with other Aggravations than theirs were. To which I say, that I delight not in aggravating, no nor yet in Repeating the sins and faults of the saints of God of old. Not only the grace of God, but the sins of men have by some been turned into lasciviousness; or been made a cloak for their lusts. But yet for the ends and purposes for which they are recorded by the Holy Ghost, we may make mention of them. That they may warn us of our duty, that we take heed lest we also fall, that they may yield us a relief under our surprizals, are they written. So then where the mention of them tends to the advancement of Soveraign grace and mercy, which is the case in hand, we may insist on them. I think then that without mention of particulars, I may safely say, that there is no sin, no degree of sin, no aggravating circumstance of sin, no kind of continuance in sin, (the one only sin excepted) but that there are those in heaven who have been guilty of them.

It may be yet, some will say that they have considered the sins and falls of Lot, David, Peter, Paul, and the Thief himself on the Cross, and yet they find not their own condition Exemplified, so as to conclude, that they shall have the same success with them.

A. 1. I am not shewing that this or that man shall be pardoned, but only demonstrating that there is forgiveness with God, and that for all sorts of sins and sinners which these instances do assuredly confirm. And moreover they manifest, that if other men are not pardoned; it is merely because they make not that application for forgiveness which they did.

2. Yet by the way to take off this objection also, consider what the apostle says in particular concerning the several sorts of sinners that obtained mercy, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10, 11. Be not deceived, neither Fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor Adulterers, nor Effeminate, nor Abusers of themselves with mankind, nor Thieves, nor Covetous, nor Drunkards, nor Revilers, nor Extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God; and such were some of you. But you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified. hell can scarce in no more words yield us a sadder Catalogue. Yet some of all these sorts were justified and pardoned.

3. Suppose this Enumeration of sins does not reach the condition of the soul, because of some especial Aggravation of its sin, not expressed. Let such a one add that of our Saviours, Matthew 12:31. I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. They are not, they shall not be all actually remitted, and pardoned unto all men; but they are all pardonable, unto those that seek to obtain pardon for them according unto the gospel. There is with God forgiveness for them all. Now certainly there is no sin, but only that excepted, but it comes within the compass of all manner of sins and blasphemy, and so consequently some that have been guilty of it are now in heaven.

We take it for a good token and evidence of a vertuous healing water, when without fraud or pretence, we see the crutches of cured Criples, and impotent persons hung about it, as a memorial of its efficacy. And it is a great demonstration of the skill and ability of a Physitian, when many come to a sick person and tell him, that we had the same distemper with you, it had the same symptoms, the same effects, and by his skill and care we are cured: Oh says the sick man bring him unto me, I will venture my life in his hand. Now all the saints of heaven stand about a sin sick soul; for in this matter we are compassed with a cloud of witnesses, Hebrews 12:1. And what do they bear witness unto? What say they unto a poor guilty sinner? As you art, so were we; so guilty, so perplexed, so obnoxious to wrath, so fearing destruction from God. And what way did you steer, what course did you take to obtain the blessed condition wherein now you are? Say they, We went all to God through Christ for forgiveness, and found plenty of grace, mercy and pardon in him for us all. The rich man in the Parable thought it would be a great means of conversion, if one should rise from the dead and preach. But here we see that all the saints departed, and now in glory do jointly preach this fundamental truth, that there is forgiveness with God.

Poor souls are apt to think that all those whom they read or hear of to be gone to heaven, went thither because they were so good and so holy. It is true many of them were eminently and exemplarily so in their generations. All of them were so according to their degrees and measures: for without holiness no man can see God. And it is our duty to labor to be like unto them in holiness, if ever we intend to be so in Happiness and glory. But yet not one of them, not any one that is now in heaven, Jesus Christ alone excepted, did ever come thither any other way but by forgiveness of sin; and that will also bring us thither, though we come short of many of them in holiness and grace.

And this evidence of forgiveness I the rather urge, because I find the apostle Paul doing of it eminently in his own person, 1 Timothy 1:12, 13, 14, 15, 16. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting meinto the ministry; who was before a Blasphemer and a Persecutor and injurious. But I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might sh[•]w forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. A great sinner says he, the chief of sinners I was, which he manifests by some notable instances of his sin. I was says he a blasphemer, the highest sin against God; a Persecutor, the highest sin against the saints; Injurious, the highest wickednes, towards mankind. But says he, I obtained mercy, I am pardoned, and that with a blessed effect. First, That he should after all this be so accounted faithful as to be put into the ministry. And then that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in him and towards him was exceeding abundant. And what was the reason, what was the cause, that he was thus dealt withal? Why it was that he might be a pattern, an evidence, an argument, that there was grace, mercy, forgiveness to be had for all sorts of sinners that would believe to life Everlasting.

To conclude then this evidence. Every one who is now in heaven has his pardon sealed in the blood of Christ. All these pardons are as it were hanged up in the gospel; they are all enrolled in the promises thereof, for the encouragement of them that stand in need of forgiveness to come and sue out theirs also. fear not then the Guilt of sin, but the love of it, and the power of it. If we love and like sin better than forgiveness, we shall assuredly go without it. If we had but rather be pardoned in Gods way, than perish, our condition is secure.

V. The same is evident from the patience of God towards the world, and the end of it. For the clearing hereof we may observe.

1. That upon the first entrance of sin and breach of that covenant which God had made with mankind in Adam, he might immediately have executed the Threatned curse, and have brought eternal death upon them that sinned. justice required that it should be so, and there was nothing in the whole creation to interpose so much as for a reprieve or a respite of vengeance. And had God then sent sinning man with the Apostate Angels that induced him into sin, immediately into eternal destruction, he would have been glorified in his righteousness and Severity, by and among the Angels that sinned not; or he could have created a new race of innocent creatures to have worshipped him and glorified him for his righteous Judgement; even as all the elect at the last day, shall do for the destruction of ungodly men.

2. God has not taken this course. He has continued the race of mankind for a long season on the earth; he has watched over them with his providence, and exercised exceeding patience, forbearance and longsuffering towards them. This the apostle Paul at large discourss on, Acts 14:15, 16, 17. Chap. 17:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. as also Romansans 2:4. And it is open and manifest in their event. The whole world is every day filled with tokens of the power and patience of God. Every Nation, every City, every Family is filled with them.

3. That there is a common Abuse of this patience of God visible in the world in all Generations. So it was of old; God saw it to be so, and complained of it, Genesis 6:5, 6. All the evil, sin, wickedness, that has been in the world, which no heart can conceive, no tongue can express, has been all an abuse of this patience of God. This with the most is the consequent of Gods patience and forbearance. Men count it a season to fulfill all the abominations that their evil hearts can suggest unto them, or Satan draw them into a combination with himself in. This the state of things in the world proclaims, and every ones experience confirms.

4. Let us therefore consider what is the true and proper end of this patience of God towards the world, enduring it in sin and wickedness, for so long a season, and suffering one Generation to be multiplyed after another. Shall we think that God has no other design, in all this patience towards mankind in all Generations, but merely to suffer them all and every one without Exception, to sin against him, dishonour him, provoke him, that so he may at length everlastingly destroy them all? It is confessed that this is the Consequent, the event of it with the most, through their perverse wickedness, with their love of sin and pleasure. But is this the design of God? his only design? has he no other purpose but merely to forbear them a while in their folly, and then to avenge himself upon them? Is this his intendment not only towards those who are obstinate in their darkness, Ignorance and Rebellion against him, whose damnation is just and sleeps not; but also towards those whom he stirs up by his grace to seek after a Remedy and Deliverance from the state of sin and death? God forbid; yea, such an apprehension would be contrary to all those notions of the infinite wisdom and goodness of God which are ingrafted upon our hearts by nature, and which all his works manifest and declare. Whatever therefore it be, this cannot be the design of God, in his patience towards the world. It cannot be, but that he must long since have cut off the whole race of mankind, if he had no other thoughts and purposes towards them.

5. If this patience of God has any other Intention towards any, any other effect upon some, upon any, that is to be reckoned the principal end of it, and for the sake whereof it is evidently extended unto some others consiquentially unto all. For those concerning whom God has an especial design in his patience, being to be brought forth in the world after the ordinary way of mankind, and that in all Ages during the continuance of the world from the beginning unto the end thereof, the patience which is extended unto them must also of necessity reach unto all, in that variety wherein God is pleased to exercise it. The whole world therefore is continued under the patience of God, and the fruits of it, for the sake of some that are in it.

6. Let us therefore see what is the end of this patience, and what it teachs us. Now it can have no end possible but only that before rejected, unless there be forgiveness of sins with God. Unless God be ready and willing to forgive the sins of them that come to him according unto his appointment, his patience is merely subservient unto a design of wrath, anger, severity and a Resolution to destroy. Now this is an abomination once to suppose, and would reflect unspeakable dishonour upon the Holy God. Let a Man but deal thus, and it is a token of as evil an habit of mind, and perverse, as any can befall him. Let him bear with these that are in his power in their faults, for no other end, or with no other design, but that he may take advantage to bring a greater punishment and revenge upon them, and what more vile affection, what more wretched corruption of heart and mind, can he manifest? and shall we think that this is the whole design of the patience of God? God forbid.

It may be objected that this argument is not cogent, because of the instance that lyes against it in Gods dealing with the Angels, that sinned. It is evident that they fell into their transgression and Apostacy, before mankind did so: For they lead and seduced our first Parents into sin. And yet God bears with them and exerciss patience towards them to this very day, and will do so unto the consummation of all things, when they shall be cast into the fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels. And yet it is granted, that there is no forgiveness in God for them; so that it does not necessarily follow, that there is so for man, because of his patience towards them.

I answer, That this must be more fully spoken unto when we come to remove that great objection against this whole truth which was mentioned before, taken from Gods dealing with the sinning Angels, whom he spared not; at present two or three Observations will remove it out of our way. For,

1. That the case is not the same with the sinning Angels, and the race of mankind in all Generations. There are no other Angels in this condition, but only those individuals who first sinned in their own persons. They are not in the providence and patience of God, multiplyed and encreased in ensuing times and seasons; but they continue the same individual persons who first sinned and no more. So that immediate execution of the whole punishment due unto their sin, would not have prevented any encrease of them. But now with man it is otherwise. For God continues his patience towards them to the production of millions of other persons who were not actually in the first sin. Had not God so continued his forbearance, their being and consequently their sin and misery had been prevented; so that the case is not the same with sinning Angels and Men.

2. Indeed God exerciss no patience toward the Angels that sinned; and that because he had no forgiveness for them. So Peter tells us; 2 epistle 2:6. God spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down into hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness. Immediately upon their sin they were cast out of the presence of God whose vision and enjoyment they were made for, and which they received some experience of. And they were cast into hell, as the place of their ordinary retention, and of their present anguish under the sense of Gods curse and displeasure. And although they may some of them be permitted to compass the earth, and to walk to and fro therein to serve the ends of Gods holy wise providence, and so to be out of their prison; yet they are still in their chains: for they were delivered unto chains of darkness to be kept unto the last Judgement. And in these things they lye actually under the execution of the curse of God: So that there is indeed no patience exercised towards them. If a notorious Malefactor, or Murtherer be committed unto a Dungeon, and kept bound with Iron chains to prevent his escape, untill the appointed day of his solemn Judgement and Execution, without the least intention to spare him; None will say, there is patience exercised towards him; Things being disposed only so, as that his punishment may be secure and severe. And such is the case, such is the condition of the Angels that sinned, who are not therefore to be esteemed objects of Gods patience.

3. The reason why the full and final punishment of these Angels is reserved and respited unto the appointed season, is not for their own sakes, their good, benefit, or advantage at all; but merely that the end of Gods patience towards mankind might be accomplished. When this is once brought about, they shall not be spared a day, an hour, a moment. So that Gods dispensation towards them, is nothing but a mere withholding the infliction of the utmost of their punishment, until he has accomplished the blessed ends of his patience towards mankind.

But you will say (Secondly) Is it not said, that God willingto shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endures with much long-suffering, the Vessels of wrath fitted for destruction, Romansans 9:22. So that it seems that the end of Gods endurance and longsuffering, to some at least, is only their fitting unto destruction.

Answ. 1. It is one thing to endure with much long suffering, another thing to exercise and declare patience. The former only intimates Gods withholding for a season of that destruction which he might justly inflict, which we speak not of; the other denotes an acting in a way of goodness and kindness for some especial end.

2. The next verse declares the great end of Gods patience, and answers this objection. That he might make known the riches of his glory in the vessels of mercy which he had prepared for glory, verse 23. This is the great end of Gods patience, which whilst he is in the pursuit of towards the Vessels of mercy; he endurs others with much long-suffering, and forbearance. This then is fully evident, that there could be no sufficient reason assigned of the patience of God towards sinners, but that there is forgiveness prepared for them that come to him by Christ.

And this the scripture clearly testifies unto, 2 Peter 3:9. The question is, what is the reason why God forbears the Execution of his Judgement upon wicked and ungodly men. Some would have it, that God is slack; that is regardless of the sins of men; and takes no notice of them. No, says the apostle, God has another design in his patience, and long-suffering; what is this? It is to manifest, that he is not willing we should perish. That is it which we have proved. For our freedom from destruction is by repentance, which necessarily infers the forgiveness of sin. So Paul tells us, that in the gospel is declared what is the end of Gods patience and forbearance; it is says he, the remission of sins, Romansans 3:25.

Let us therefore also mind this evidence in the application of our selves to God for pardon. It is certain that God might have taken us from the womb, and have cast us into utter darkness. And in the course of our lives we have been guilty of such provocations, as God might justly have taken the Advantage of, to glorifie his justice and Severity in our ruine. But yet we have lived thus long in the patience and forbearance of God. And to what end hat he thus spared us, and let pass those Advantages for our destruction, that we have put into his hand? Is it not that he might by his patience, give us leave and space to get an interest in that forgiveness which he thus testifies to be in himself? Let us then be encouraged by it, to use it unto the end and purpose for which it is exercised towards us. You that are yet in doubt of your condition, consider that the patience of God was extended unto you this day, this very day, that you might use it for the obtaining of the remission of your sins. Lose not this day, not one day more, as you love your souls. For wosul will be their condition, who shall perish for despising or abusing of the patience of God.

VI. The faith and experience of the saints in this world, give in testimony unto this truth; and we know that their Record in this matter is true. Let us then ask of them what they believe, what they have found, what they have Experience of, as to the forgiveness of sin. This God himself directs and leads us unto, by appealing unto our own experience, whence he shews us that we may take relief and supportment in our distresses, Isaiah 40:28. Hast you not heard; hast not you known? Hast not you your self, who now cry out that you art lost and undone, because God has forsaken you, sound and known by experience the contrary from his former dealings with you? And if our own Experiences may confirm us against the workings of our unbelief, so may those of others also. And this is that which Eliphas directs Job unto, Chap. 6:1. Call now if there be any that will answer you, and to which of the saints wilt you look. It is not a supplication to them for help, that is intended, but an inquiry after the Experience in the case in hand, wherein he wrongfully thought they could not justify Job.to which of the saints, on the right hand or left, wilt you have regard in this matter? Some would foolishly hence seek to confirm the Invocation of the saints departed; when indeed if they were intended, it is rather forbidden and discountenanced than directed unto. But the here, are the Psalmm 16:2. The saints that are in the earth whose experiences Job is directed to inquire into and after. David makes it a great encouragement unto waiting upon God, as a God hearing prayers, that others had done so and found success, Psalmm 34:6. This poor man cryed unto the Lord, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of his troubles. If he did so, and had that blessed Issue, why should not we do so also? The experiences of one, are often proposed for the confirmation and establishment of others: so the same David, Come says he, and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he has done for my soul. He contents not himself to mind them of the word, promises, and providence of God, which he does most frequently; but he will give them the encouragement and supportment also of his own Experience. So Paul tells us, that he was comforted of God in all his tribulation, that he might be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith he himself was comforted of God, 2 Corinthians 1:4. That is, that he might be able to communicate unto them his own experience of Gods dealing with him, and the satisfaction and assurance that he found therein. So also he proposs the example of Gods dealing with him in the pardon of his sins, as a great motive unto others to believe, 1 Timothy 1:13, 14, 15, 16. And this mutual communication of satisfying experiences in the things of God, or of our spiritual sense and evidence of the power, Efficacy and reality of gospel Truths, being rightly managed, is of singular use to all sorts of believers. So the same Great apostle acquaints us in his own example, Romansans 1:11, 12. I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end you may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me: He longed not only to be instructing of them in the pursuit of the work of the ministry committed unto him, but to confer also with them about their mutual faith, and what Experiences of the peace of God in Believing, they had attained.

We have in our case called in the testimony of the saints in heaven, with whom these on earth do make up one family, even that one family in heaven and earth which is called afterthe name of the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ephesians 3:14, 15. And they all agree in their Testimonie, as becomes the Family and Children of God. But these below, we may deal personally with; whereas we gather the Witness of the other, only from what is left upon record concerning them. And for the clearing of this evidence, sundry things are to be observed, As,

1. Men living under the profession of religion, and not experiencing the power, vertue, and efficacy of it in their hearts are, whatever they profess, very near to Atheism, or at least exposed to great temptations thereunto. If they profess they know God, but in works deny him, they are abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate, Titus 1:16. Let such men lay aside Tradition and Custome, let them give up themselves to a free and a rational consideration of things, and they will quickly find that all their profession is but a miserable self-deceiving; and that indeed they believe not one word of the religion which they profess. For of what their religion affirms to be in themselves, they find not any thing true or real. And what reason have they then to believe that the things which it speaks of that are without them, are one jot better? If they have no Experience of what it affirms to be within them, what confidence can they have of the reality of what it reveals to be without them? Johnn tells us, that he who says he loves God whom he has not seen, and does not love his Brother whom he has seen, is a lyar. Men who do not things of an equal concernment unto them wherein they may be tryed, are not to be believed in what they profess about greater things whereof no tryal can be had. So he that believes not, who experiencs not the power of that which the religion he professs affirms to be in him, if he sayes that he does believe other things which he can have no Experience of, he is a lyar. For instance, he that professs the gospel, avows that the death of Christ does crucifie sin, that faith purifies the heart, that the Holy Ghost quickens and enables the soul unto duty; that God is good and gracious unto all that come unto him; that there is precious communion to be obtained with him by Christ; that there is great joy in believing. These things are plainly, openly, frequently insisted on in the gospel? Hence the apostle presss men unto obedience on the account of them; and as it were leaves them at liberty from it, if they were not so, Philippians 2:11. Now if men have lived long in the profession of these things, saying that they are so, but indeed find nothing of truth, reality, or power in them, have no experience of the effects of them, in their own hearts or souls, what stable ground have they of believing any thing else in the gospel whereof they cannot have experience? A man professs that the death of Christ will mortifie sin, and subdue corruption; Why does he believe it? because it is so affirmed in the gospel: How then, does he find it to be so? Has it this effect upon his soul, in his own heart? not at all; he finds no such thing in him. How then can this man believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because it is affirmed in the gospel; seeing that he finds no real truth of that which it affirms to be in himself? So our savior argues, Johnn 3:12. If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not; how will you believe, if I tell you heavenly things? If you believe not the doctrine of regeneration, which you ought to have experience of, as a thing that is wrought in the hearts of men on the earth; how can you assent unto those heavenly mysteries of the gospel, which at first are to be received by a pure Acts of faith, without any present sense or experience.

Of all dangers therefore in profession, let professors take heed of this; namely, of a customary, traditional, or doctrinal owning such truths, as ought to have their effects and accomplishment in themselves, whilst they have no experience of the reality and efficacy of them. This is plainly to have a form of godliness, and to deny the power thereof. And of this sort of men do we see many turning Atheists, Scoffers, and open Apostates; they find in themselves that their profession was a lye; and that in truth they had none of those things which they talked of; And to what end should they continue longer in the avowing of that which is not? Besides finding these things which they have professed to be in them, not to be so; they think that what they have believed of the things that are without them, are of no other nature, and so reject them alltogether.

You will say then, What shall a man do who cannot find or obtain an experience in himself of what is affirmed in the word? he cannot find the death of Christ crucifying sin in him, and he cannot find the Holy Ghost sanctifying his nature, or obtain joy in believing. What shall he then do? Shall he not believe, or profess those things to be so, because he cannot obtaine a blessed Experience of them? I answer, Our savior has perfectly given direction in this case, Johnn 7:17. If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my self. Continue in following after the things revealed in the doctrine of the gospel, and you shall have a satisfactory experience that they are true, and that they are of God; cease not to act faith on them and you shall find their effects; for then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord, Hoseah 6:3. Experience will ensue upon permanency in faith and obedience. Yea, the first Acts of sincere believing, will be accompanied with such a taste, will give the soul so much experience as to produce a firm adherence unto the things believed. And this is the way to prove, what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, which is revealed unto us, Romansans 12:2.

2. Where there is an inward spiritual Experience of the power, reality and efficacy of any supernatural truth; It gives great satisfaction, stability and assurance unto the soul. It puts the soul out of danger, or suspicion of being deceived; and gives it to have the testimony of God in it self. So the apostle tells us, He that believs on the Son of God has the witness in himself, 1 Johnn 5:9. He had discoursed of the manifold testimony that is given in heaven by all the holy persons of the Trinity, and on earth by grace and ordinances, unto the forgiveness of sin, and eternal life to be obtained by Jesus Christ. And this Record is true, firm, and stable, an abiding foundation for souls to rest upon, that will never deceive them. But yet all this while it is without us; It is that which we have no Experience of in our selves: Only we rest upon it, because of the authority and faithfulness of them that give it. But now he that actually believs, he has the testimony in himself; he has by experience a real evidence and assurance of the things testified unto, namely that God has given us eternal life. And that this life is in the Son, verse 12. Let us then a little consider, wherein this evidence consists, and from whence this assurance ariss. To this end some few things must be considered: As,

1. That there is a great Answerableness, and Correspondency between the heart of a believer, and the truth that he does believe. As the word is in the gospel, so is grace in the heart; yea, they are the same thing variously expressed, Romansans 6:17. You have obeyed from the heart,, the form of doctrine delivered unto you. As our Translation does not, so I know not how in so few words to express that which is emphatically here insinuated by the Holy Ghost. The meaning is, that the doctrine of the gospel begets the form, figure, image, or likeness of it self in the hearts of them that believe: So they are cast into the mould of it. As is the one, so is the other. The principle of grace in the heart, and that in the word, are as children of the same Parent, compleatly resembling and representing one another. grace is a living word, and the word is figured, limned grace: As is regeneration, so is a regenerate heart: As is the doctrine of faith, so is a believer. And this gives great evidence unto, and assurance of the things that are believed. As we have heard, so we have seen and found it; such a soul can produce the duplicate of the word, and so adjust all things thereby.

2. That the first Original Expression of Divine truth is not in the word, no not as given out from the infinite Abysse of Divine wisdom and Veracity, but it is first hid, laid up, and expressed in the person of Christ. He is the , the first pattern of truth which from him is expressed in the word, and from, and by the word, impressed on the hearts of believers; so that as it has pleased God that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge should be in him, dwell in him, have their principal residence in him, Colossians 2:3. So the whole word is but a Revelation of the truth in Christ, or an expression of his Image and likeness to the Sons of men. Thus we are said to learn the truth as it is in Jesus, Ephesians 4:21. It is in Jesus originally, and from really, and from him it is communicated unto us by the word. We are thereby taught, and do learn it; for thereby as the apostle proceeds, we are renued in the Spirit of our mind, and do put on the new man which after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness, verse 23, 24. First, the truth is in Jesus; then it is expressed in the word; this word learned, and believed, becomes grace in the heart, every way answering unto the Lord Christ his Image from whom this transforming truth did thus proceed. Nay, this is carried by the apostle yet higher, namely unto God the father himself whose Image Christ is, and believers his, through the word, 2 Corinthians 3:18. We all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same Image, from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord, whereunto add, Chap. 4:6. God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The first pattern or example of all truth and holiness is God himself: hereof Christ is the Image. verse 4. Christ is the Image of God, The brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his person, Hebrews 1:3. The Image of the invisible God, Colossians 1:15. Hence we are said to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; because he being his Image, the love, grace, and truth of the father are represented and made conspicuous in him. For we are said to behold it in his face, because of the open and illustrious manifestation of the glory of God in him. And how do we behold this glory? in a Glass (as in a glass) that is, in the gospel, which has the Image and likeness of Christ, who is the Image of God reflected upon it, and communicated unto it. So have we traced truth, and grace, from the person of the father, unto the Son as Mediator, and thence transfused into the word. In the father it is Essentially; in Jesus Christ originally and exemplarily; and in the word as in a transcript or Copy. But does it abide there? No, God by the word of the gospel shines into our hearts, Chap. 4 6. He irradiates our minds with a saving light into it, and apprehension of it. And what thence ensues? the soul of a believer is changed into the same Image by the effectual working of the Holy Ghost, Chap. 3:18. that is, the likeness of Christ implanted on the word, is impressed on the soul it self, whereby it is renewed into the Image of God, whereunto it was at first created. This brings all into a perfect Harmony. There is not where gospel truth is effectually received, and experienced in the soul, only a consonancy merely between the soul and the word, but between the soul and Christ by the word, and the soul and God by Christ. And this gives assured establishment unto the soul in the things that it does believe. Divine truth so conveyed unto us, is firm, stable, and immoveable. And we can say of it in a spiritual sense, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life, we know to be true. Yea, a believer is a testimony to the certainty of truth in what he is, much beyond what he is in all that he says. words may be pretended; Real effects have their testimony inseparably annexed unto them.

3. Hence it appears that there must needs be great assurance of those Truths which are thus received, and believed. For hereby are the senses exercised to discern good and evil. Hebrews 15:14. Where there is a spiritual sense of truth, of the Good and Evil that is in doctrines, from an inward experience of what is so good, and from thence an Aversation unto the contrary; and this obtained , by reason of an habit, or an habitual frame of heart, there is strength, there is stedfasiness, and assurance. This is the teaching of the Unction, which will not, which cannot deceive. Hence many of old and of late, that could not dispute, could yet dye for the truth. He that came to another, and went about to prove by Sophistical reasonings that there was no such thing as motion; had only this return from him, who either was not able to answer his cavilling, or unwilling to put himself to trouble about it, he arose and walking up and down gave him a real confutation of his Sophystrie. It is so in this case; when a soul has a real experience of the grace of God, of the pardon of sins, of the Vertue and Efficacy of the death of Christ, of justification by his blood, and peace with God by believing; let men or Devils, or Angels from heaven oppose these things, if it cannot answer their Sophisms, yet he can rise up and walk: he can with all holy confidence and assurance oppose his own satisfying experience unto all their arguings and suggestions. A man will not be disputed out of what he sees and feels. And a believer will abide as firmly by his spiritual sense, as any man can by his natural.

This is the meaning of that prayer of the apostle, Colossians 2:2. That your hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mysterie of God, and of the father and of Christ. understanding in the mysteries of the gospel they had; but he prayes that by a farther experience of it, they might come to the assurance of understanding. To be true, is the property of the doctrine it self, to be certain or assured is the property of our minds. Now this experience does so unite the mind and truth, that we say, such a truth is most certain, whereas certainty is indeed the property of our minds or their knowledge, and not of the truth known. It is certain unto us, that is, we have an assured knowledge of it, by the Experience we have of it. This is the assurance of understanding here mentioned. And he further prayes, that we may come to the Riches of this assurance; that is to an abundant plentiful assurance. And that , to the acknowledgement of the Mysterie of God, owning it from a sense and experience of its excellency and worth.

And this is in the nature of all gospel Truths; they are fitted and suited to be experienced by a believing soul. There is nothing in them so sublime and high, nothing so mysterious, nothing so seemingly low and outwardly contemptible, but that a gracious soul has experience of an excellency, reality, power and Efficacy in it all. For instance; look on that which concerns the order and worship of the gospel: This seems to many to be a mere external thing, whereof a soul can have no inward sense or relish. Notions there are many about it, and endless contentions, but what more? why let a gracious soul in simplicity and sincerity of Spirit, give up himself to walk with Christ according to his Appointment, and he shall quickly find such a taste and relish in the fellowship of the gospel, in the communion of saints, and of Christ amongst them, as that he shall come up to such Riches of assurance in the understanding and Acknowledgement of the wayes of the Lord, as others by their disputing can never attain unto. What is so High, glorious, and Mysterious as the doctrine of the ever blessed Trinity? Some wise men have thought meet to keep it veiled from ordinary Christians: And some have delivered it in such terms, as that they can understand nothing by them. But take a believer who has tasted how gracious the Lord is, in the Eternal love of the father, the great undertaking of the Son in the work of mediation and redemption, with the Almighty work of the Spirit creating grace and comfort in the soul, and has had an experience of the love, holiness and power of God in them all, and he will with more firm confidence adhere to this mysterious truth, being lead into it and confirmed in it, by some few plain testimonies of the word than a thousand Disputers shall do, who only have the notion of it in their minds. Let a real Tryal come, and this will appear. Few will be found to sacrifice their lives on bare speculations. Experience will give assurance and Stability.

We have thus cleared the credit of the testimony, now to be improved. It is evident on these grounds, that there is a great certainty in those Truths, whereof believers have experience. Where they communicate their power unto the heart, they give an unquestionable assurance of their Truths. And when that is once realized in the soul, all disputes about it are put to silence.

These things being so, let us inquire into the faith and experience of the saints on the earth, as to what they know of the truth proposed unto confirmation; namely, that there is forgiveness with God. Let us go to some poor soul that now walks comfortably under the light of Gods countenance, and say unto him, Did we not know you some while since to be full of sadness, and great anxiety of Spirit; yea, sorrowful almost to death and bitter in soul?

Answ. Yes says he, so it was indeed; my dayes were consumed with mourning, and my life with sorrow; and I walked heavily in fear and bitterness of Spirit all the day long.

Why what ayled you, what was the matter with you; seeing as to the outward things you were in peace?

Answ. The law of God had laid hold upon me, and slain me; I found my self thereby a woful sinner, yea, overwhelmed with the guilt of sin. Every moment I expected Tribulation and wrath from the hand of God; My sore ran in the night and ceased not, and my soul refused comfort.

How is it then that you are thus delivered that you are no more sad? Where have you found ease and peace? have you been by any means delivered, or did your trouble wear off, and depart of its own accord?

Answ. Alas no; had I not met with an effectual Remedy, I had sunk and everlastingly perished.

What course did you take?

Answ. I went unto him by Jesus Christ against whom I have sinned, and have found him better unto me, than I could expect, or ever should have believed, had not he overpowred my heart by his Spirit. Instead of wrath which I feared, and that justly because I had deserved it, he said unto me in Christ, fury is not in me. For a long time I could not believe it; I thought it impossible that there should be mercy and pardon for me, or such a one as I. But he still supported me, sometimes by one means, sometimes by another: untill taking my soul near to himself, he caused me to see the folly of my unbelieving heart, and the vileness of the hard thoughts I had of him, and that indeed there is with him forgiveness and plenteous redemption. This has taken away all my sorrows, and given me quietness with Rest and assurance.

But are you sure now that this is so, may you not possibly be deceived?

Answ. Sayes the soul; I have not the least suspicion of any such matter; and if at any time ought does arise to that purpose, it is quickly overcome.

But how are you confirmed in this perswasion?

Answ. That sense of it which I have in my heart, that sweetness and rest which I have experience of, that influence it has upon my soul, that obligation I find laid upon me by it unto all thankful obedience; that Relief, Supportment and consolation that it has afforded me in tryals and troubles, in the mouth of the Grave, and Entrances of eternity, all answering what is declared concerning these things in the word, will not suffer me to be deceived. I could not indeed receive it, untill God was pleased to speak it unto me. But now let Satan do his utmost, I shall never cease to bear this testimony, that there is mercy and forgiveness with him.

How many thousands may we find of these in the world, who have had such a seal of this truth in their hearts, as they cannot only securely lay down their lives in the confirmation of it, if called thereunto, but also do chearfully and triumphantly venture their Eternal Concernments upon it. Yea, this is the rise of all that peace, serenity of mind, and strong consolation which in this world they are made partakers of.

Now this is to me, on the principles before laid down, an evidence great and important. God has not manifested this truth unto the saints, thus copied it out of his word, and exemplified it in their souls, to leave them under any possibility of being deceived.

Institution of Religious worship an evidence of forgiveness.

6. Gods Institution of Religious worship and honor therein to be rendred unto him by sinners, is another evidence, that there is forgivenesswith him. I have instanced before in one particular of worship to this purpose; namely, in that of Sacrifices. But therein we intended only their particular nature and signification, how they declared and manifested reconciliation, Attonement, and pardon. That now aimed at, is to shew, how all the worship that God has appointed unto us, and all the honor which we give unto his holy majesty thereby, is built upon the same foundation, namely, a supposition of forgiveness; and is appointed to teach it, and to ascertain us of it, which shall briefly be declared. To this end observe,

1. That the General end of all Divine and Religious worship is to raise unto God a Revenue of glory out of the creation. Such is Gods infinite natural self-sufficiency, that he stands in need of no such glory and honor. He was in himself no less infinitely and eternally glorious, before the creation of all or any thing whatever, than he will be, when he shall be encompassed about with the praises of all the works of his hands. And such is his absolute perfection, that no honor given unto him, no Admiration of him, no Ascription of glory and praise, can add any thing unto him. Hence says the Psalmmist, My goodness extends not unto you, Psalmm 16:2. It does not so reach you, as to add unto you, to profit you, as it may do the saints that are on the earth. As he in Job, Chap. 22:23. Can a man be profitable unto God, as he that is wise may be profitable unto himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you art righteous, or is it gain unto him that you mak your wayes perfect? There is no doubt, but that it is well pleasing unto God, that we should be righteous and upright. But we do him not a pleasure therein, as though he stood in need of it, or it were advantage or gain unto him. And again, Chap. 35:7. If you be righteous what giv you him, or what receivs he at yours hand? And the reason of all this the apostle gives us, Romansans 11:36. Of him, and through him, and to him are all things. being the first Soveraign cause, and last absolute end of all things, every way perfect and self-sufficient, nothing can be added unto him. Or as the same apostle speaks; God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, is not worshipped with mens hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he givs unto all life and breath, and all things, Acts 17:24, 25. As he himself pleads at large, Psalmm 50:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.

2. Wherefore, All the Revenue of glory that God will receive by his worship, depends merely on his own voluntary Choice and Appointment. All worship, I say, depends now on the Soveraign will and pleasure of God. It is true there is a natural worship due from rational creatures, by the law of their creation. This was indispensably and absolutely necessary at first. The very being of God, and order of things required that it should be so. Supposing that God had made such creatures as we are, it could not be, but that Moral obedience was due unto him; namely, that he should be believed in, trusted and obeyed as the First cause, Last end, and Soveraign Lord of all. But the entrance of sin, laying the sinner absolutely under the curse of God, utterly put an end to this order of things. Man was now to have perished immediately, and an end to be put unto the law of this obedience. But here, in the Soveraign will of God an Interposition was made between sin and the sentence; and man was respited from destruction. All worship following hereon, even that which was before natural by the law of creation, is now resolved into an Arbitrary Acts of Gods will.

And unto this end is all worship designed, namely to give glory unto God. For as God has said, that he will be sanctified in all that draw nigh unto him, that is in his worship, and that therein he will be glorified, Leviticus 10:3. and that he that offers him praise, that is performs any part of his worship and Service, Glorifis him, Psalmm 50:23. So the nature of the thing it self declars that it can have no other end. By this he has all his glory even from the inanimate creation.

4. Consider, That God has not prescribed any worship of himself, unto the Angels that sinned. They are indeed under his power, and he useth them as he pleass to serve the ends of his holy providence. Bounds he prescribes unto them by his power, and keeps them in dread of the full execution of his wrath. But he requires not of them that they should believe in him. They believe indeed and tremble. They have a natural apprehension of the being, power, providence, holiness and righteousness of God, which is inseparable from their natures; and they have an expectation from thence of that punishment, and vengeance which is due unto them, which is inseparable from them as sinners. And this is their faith. But to believe in God, that is, to put their trust in him, to resign up themselves unto him, God requires it not of them. The same is the case with them also, as to love, and fear, and delight, all inward affections which are the proper worship of God. These they have not, nor does God any longer require them in them. They eternally cast them off in their first sin. And where these are not, where they are not required, where they cannot be, there no outwardWorship can be prescribed or appointed. For External instituted worship is nothing but the way that God assigns, and chooss to express and exercise the inward affections of our minds towards him. He rules the fallen Angels per nutum Providentiae, not per verbum praecepti. Now as God dealt with the Angels, so also would he have dealt with mankind, had he left them all under the curse without remedy or hope of relief. As he does with them, he eternally satisfies himself in that Revenue of glory which ariss unto him in their punishment; so also he would have done with these, had there been no forgiveness with him for them. He would not have required them to fear, love or obey him, or have appointed unto them any way of worship, whereby to express such affections towards him. For to what end should he have done it? What righteousness would admit, that Service duty and obedience should be prescribed unto them, who could not, ought not to have any expectation or hope of Acceptance or reward? This is contrary to the very first notion which God requires in us of his nature. For he that coms unto God, must believe that he is, and that he is a Rewarder of all them that diligently seek him, Hebrews 11:6. which would not be so, should he appoint a voluntary worship, and not propose a reward to the Worshippers. Wherefore,

3. It is evident that God by the prescription of a worship unto sinners, does fully declare that there is forgiveness with him for them. For,

1. He manifests thereby that he is willing to receive a new Revenue of glory from them. This, as we have proved is the end of worship. This he would never have done, but with a design of Accepting and Rewarding to his creatures. For do we think that he will be beholding unto them? That he will take and admit of their voluntary reasonable service according to his will and command, without giving them a reward, yea, and such on one as their obedience holds no proportion unto? no such thing would become his infinite sell sufficiency goodness and Bounty. This the Wife of Manoah well pleads, judges 13:23. If says she, the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a meat offering, and a burnt-ofsering,at our hands. His Acceptance of worship from us, is an infallible Demonstration, that he will not execute against us the severity of the first curse. And this is clearly evidenced in the first Record of solemn instituted worship performed by sinners, Genesis 4 4. God had Respect unto Abel and his offering. Some think that God gave a visible pledge of his acceptance of Abel and his offering; it may be it was by fire from heaven. For how else should Cain so instantly know, that his Brother and his offering were accepted, but that he and his were refused? However it were, it is evident that what testimony God gave of the Acceptance of his offering, the same he gave concerning his person; and that in the first place he had respect unto Abel and then to his offering. And therefore the apostle says, that hereby he obtained witness that he was righteous, Hebrews 11:4. that is, the Witness or testimony of God himself. Now this was in the forgiveness of his sins; without which, he could neither be righteous nor accepted, for he was a sinner. This God declared by Acceptance of his worship. And thus we also, if we have any testimony of Gods Acceptance of us in any part of his worship, should employ it to the same end. Has God enlarged our hearts in prayer? has he given us an answer unto any of our supplications; has he refreshed our hearts in the preaching and dispensation of the word, or any other ordinance? We are not to rest in the particular, about which our communion with him has been. Our doing so is the cause why we lose our experiences. They lye scattered up and down, separated from their proper root, and so are easily lost. But this is that which we should first improve such particular experiences in the worship of God unto; namely, that God has pardoned our sins, and accepted our persons thereon; for without that, none of our worship or Service would please him, or be accepted with him.

2. Hereby God lets us know, that he deals with us upon new Terms, so that notwithstanding sin, we may enjoy his love and favor. For this we have the engagement of his truth and Veracity, and he cannot deceive us; but yet by this command of his for his worship, we should be deceived if there were not forgiveness with him. For it gives us encouragement to expect, and assurance of finding Acceptance with him, which without it cannot be obtained. This then God declares by his Institution of, and command for his worship, namely, that there is nothing that shall indispensably hinder those who giveup themselves unto the obedience of Gods commands, from enjoying his love, and favor, and communion with him.

4. For matter of fact; it is known and confessed that God has appointed a worship for sinners to perform. All the Institutions of the Old and New testament bear witness hereunto. God was the author of them. And men know not what they do, when either they neglect them, or would be intermixing their own Imaginations with them. What can the mind of man conceive or invent that may have any influence into this matter, to secure the souls of believers of their Acceptance with God? Is there any need of their testimony to the truth, faithfulness, and goodness of God? These things he has taken upon himself. This then is that which is to be fixed on our souls, upon our first Invitation unto Religious worship; namely that God intends a new Revenue of glory from us, and therefore declares that there is a way for the taking away of our sins, without which we can give no glory to him by our obedience, and this is done only by forgiveness.

5. There are some ordinances of worship appointed for this very end and purpose to confirm unto us the forgiveness of sin. Especially in that worship which is instituted by the Lord Jesus under the New testament. I shall instance in one or two.

First, The ordinance of baptism. This was accompanied with the dawning of the gospel, in the ministry of Johnn Baptist. And he expressly declared in his sermons upon it, that it was instituted of God to declare the remission of sins, Mark 1:4.

It is true, the Lord Christ submitted unto that ordinance, (and was baptized by Johnn) who had no sin. But this belonged unto the obedience which God required of him, as for our sakes, he was made under the law. He was to observe all ordinances and Institutions of the worship of God; not for any need he had in his own person of the especial ends and significations of some of them; yet as he was our Sponsor, surety, and Mediator standing in our stead in all that he so did, he was to yield obedience unto them, that so he might fulfill all righteousness, Matthew 3:13. So was he circumcised, so he was baptized, both which had respect unto sin, though absolutely free from all sin in his own person; and that because he was free from no obedience unto any command of God.

But as was said, baptism it self as appointed to be an ordinance of worship for sinners to observe, was a declaration of that forgiveness that is with God. It was so in its first Institution. God calls a man in a marvellous and miraculous manner; gives him a ministry from heaven; commands him to Go and Baptize all those who confessing their sins, and professing repentance of them, should come to him, to have a testimony of forgiveness. And as to the especial nature of this ordinance, he appoints it to be such, as to represent the certainty and truth of his grace in pardon, unto their senses by a visible pledge. He lets them know that he would take away their sin, wherein their spiritual defilement does consist, even as Water takes away the outward filth of the body; and that hereby they shall be saved, as surely as Noah and his Family were saved in the Ark swimming upon the waters, 1 Peter 3:21. Now how great a deceit must needs in this whole matter have been put upon poor sinners, if it were not infallibly certain, that they might obtain forgiveness with God.

After the Entrance of this ordinance in the ministry of Johnn, the Lord Christ takes it into his own hand, and commands the observation of it unto all his Disciples. I dispute not now, who are the proper immediate objects of it; whether they only who actually can make profession of their faith, or believers with their infant seed. For my part, I believe that all whom Christ loves and pardons are to be made partakers of the pledge thereof. And the sole reason which they of old insisted on, why the infants of Believing Parents should not be baptized; was because they thought they had no sin, and therein we know their mistake. But I treat not now of these things; only this I say is certain, that in the prescription of this ordinance unto his church, the great Intention of the Lord Christ was to ascertain unto us the forgiveness of sins. And sinners are invited to a participation of this ordinance for that end, that they may receive the pardon of their sins; that is an infallible pledge and assurance of it, Acts 2:38. And the very nature of it declars this to be its end, as was before intimated. This is another engagement of the truth and faithfulness and holiness of God, so that we cannot be deceived in this matter. There is, says God forgiveness with me; says the soul, how Lord shall I know, how shall I come to be assured of it, for by reason of the perpetual Accusations of conscience, and the curse of the law upon the guilt of my sin, I find it a very hard matter for me to believe: Like Gideon I would have a Token of it: why behold says God, I will give you a pledge and a token of it which cannot deceive you. When the world of old had been overwhelmed with a deluge of waters by reason of their sins, and those who remained, though they had just cause to fear that the same Judgement would again befall them or their posterity, because they saw there was like to be the same cause of it, the thoughts and imaginations of the hearts of men being evil still, and that continually; to secure them against these fears, I told them that I would destroy the earth no more with water; and I gave them a token of my faithfulness therein, by placing my bow in the cloud. And have I failed them? though the sin and wickedness of the world has been since that day unspeakably great, yet mankind is not drowned again, nor ever shall be: I will not deceive their expectation from the token I have given them. Wherever then there is a word of promise confirmed with a token, never fear a disappointment. But so is this matter. I have declared that there is forgiveness with me, and to give you assurance thereof, I have ordained this pledge and sign, as a seal of my word, to take away all doubts and suspicion of your being deceived. As the world shall be drowned no more, so neither shall they who believe, come short of forgiveness.

And this is the Use which we ought to make of this ordinance. It is Gods security of the pardon of our sins, which we may safely rest in.

2. The same is the end of that other Great ordinance of the church, the Supper of the Lord. The same thing is therein confirmed unto us by another sign, pledge, Token, or seal. We have shewed before, what respect gospel forgiveness has unto the death or blood of Jesus Christ. That is the means whereby for us it is procured, the way whereby it comes forth from God, unto the glory of his righteousness and grace, which afterwards must be more distinctly insisted on. This ordinance therefore designed and appointed on purpose for the Representation and calling to Remembrance of the death of Christ, with the communication of the benefits thereof unto them that believe; does principally intend our faith and comfort in the truth under consideration. And therefore in the very Institution of it, besides the General end before mentioned, which had been sufficient for our security, there is moreover added an especial mention of the forgiveness of sin; for so speaks our savior in the Institution of it for the use of the church unto the end of the world, Matthew 26:28. This is my blood of the New testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins. As if he had said, The end for which I have appointed the Observance of this duty and Service unto you, is that I may testifie thereby unto you, that by my Blood, the sacrifice of my self, and the Attonement made thereby, I have purchased for you the remission of your sins, which you shall assuredly be made partakers of. And more I shall not add unto this consideration, because the death of Christ respected in this ordinance, will again occurr unto us.

3. What is the end of all church order, Assemblies, and worship? What is a church? Is it not a company of sinners gathered together according unto Gods appointment, to give glory and praise to him for pardoning grace, for the forgiveness of sins, and to yield him that obedience which he requires from us, on the account of his having so dealt with us? This is the nature, this is the end of a church. He that understands it not, he that useth it not unto that end, does but abuse that great Institution. And such abuse the world is full of. Some endeavour to make their own secular Advantages by the pretence of the church. Some discharge the duty required in it, with some secret hopes that it shall be their righteousness before God. Some answer only their light and Convictions in an empty profession. This alone is the true end, the true Use of it. We assemble our selves to learn that there is forgiveness with God through Christ; to pray that we may be made partakers of it. To bless and praise God for our Interest in it, to engage our selves unto that obedience which he requires upon the account of it. And were this constantly upon our minds, and in our designs, we might be more established in the faith of it, than it may be the most of us are.

4. One particular instance more of this nature shall conclude this evidence: God has commanded us, the Lord Christ has taught us to pray for the pardon of sin, which gives us unquestionable security that it may be attained, that it is to be found in God; for the clearing whereof observe,

1. That the Lord Christ in the Revelation of the will of God unto us, as unto the duty that he required at our hands, has taught and instructed us to pray for the forgiveness of sin. It is one of the Petitions which he has left on record for our use and imitation in that summary of all prayer which he has given us, Matthew 6:12. Forgive us our debts, our trespasses, our sins: Some contend that this is a form of prayer to be used in the prescript limited words of it. All grant that it is a rule for prayer, comprizing the heads of all necessary things, that we are to pray for, and obliging us to make supplications for them. So then upon the authority of God revealed unto us by Jesus Christ, we are bound in duty to pray for pardon of sins, or forgiveness.

2. On this supposition, it is the highest Blasphemy and reproach of God imaginable, to conceive that there is not forgiveness with him for us. Indeed if we should go upon our own heads without his Warranty and authority, to ask any thing at his hand, we might well expect to meet with disappointment. For what should encourage us unto any such boldness? But now when God himself shall command us to come, and ask any thing from him, so making it thereby our duty, and that the neglect thereof should be our great sin and Rebellion against him; to suppose he has not the thing in his power to bestow on us, or that his will is wholly averse from so doing, is to reproach him with want of truth, faithfulness and holiness, and not to be God. For what sincerity can be in such proceedings? Is it consistent with any Divine excellency? Could it have any other end, but to deceive poor creatures? either to delude them if they do pray according to his command, or to involve them in further guilt, if they do not? God forbid any such thoughts should enter into our hearts. But,

3. To put this whole matter out of question, God has promised to hear our prayers, and in particular those which we make unto him for the forgiveness of sin. So our savior has assured us, that what we ask in his name, it shall be done for us. And he has, as we have shewed, taught us to ask this very thing of God as our Heavenly father; that is in his name. For in and through him alone is he a father unto us. I need not insist on particular promises to this purpose, they are as you know multiplyed in the scriptures.

What has been spoken may suffice to establish our present argument, namely, that Gods prescription of Religious worship unto sinners, does undeniably prove that with him there is forgiveness; especially considering that the principal parts of the worship so prescribed and appointed by him, are peculiarly designed to confirm us in the faith thereof.

And this is the design of the words that we do insist upon; There is forgiveness with you, that you maist be feared. The fear of God, as we have shewed in the Old testament, does frequently express not that gracious affection of our minds, which is distinctly so called; but that whole worship of God wherein that and all other Gracious affections towards God are to be exercised. Now the Psalmmist tells us, that the foundation of this fear or worship, and the only motive and encouragement for sinners to engage in it, and give up themselves unto it is this, that there is forgiveness with God. Without this no sinner could fear, serve, or worship him. This therefore is undeniably proved by the Institution of this worship, which was proposed unto confirmation.

The end of all these things, as we shall afterwards at large declare, is to encourage poor sinners to believe, and to evidence how inexcusable they will be left, who notwithstanding all this, do through the power of their lusts and unbelief, refuse to come to God in Christ that they may be pardoned. Yea, the laying open of the certainty and fulness of the evidence given unto this truth, makes it plain and conspicuous, whence it is that men perish in and for their sins. Is it for want of mercy, goodness, grace or patience in God? Is it through any defect in the mediation of the Lord Christ? Is it for want of the mighti encouragements and most infallible Assurances that with God there is forgiveness? Not at all, but merely on the account of their own obstinacy, stubbornness and perversness. They will not come unto this light, yea they hate it, because their deeds are evil. They will not come to Christ, that they may have life. It is merely darkness, blindness, and love of sin, that brings men to destruction. And this is laid open, and all pretences and excuses are removed, and the shame of mens lusts made naked by the full confirmation of this truth, which God has furnished us withal.

Take heed you that hear or read these things; if they are not mixed with faith, they will add greatly to your misery. Every argument will be your Torment. But these considerations must be insisted on afterwards,

Moreover if you will take into your minds what has been delivered in particular, concerning the nature and end of the worship of God which you attend unto, you may be instructed in the use and due observation of it. When you address your selves unto it, remember that this is that which God requires of you who are sinners. That this he would not have done, but with thoughts and intention of mercy for sinners. Bless him with all your souls, that this is laid as the Foundation of all that you have to do with him. You are not utterly cast off, because you are sinners. Let this support and warm your hearts, when you go to hear, to pray, or any duty of worship. Consider what is your principal work in the whole. You are going to deal with God about forgiveness, in the being, causes, Consequents, and effects of it. Hearken what he speaks, declares, or reveals about it; mix his Revelation and promises with faith. inquire diligently into all the obedience and Thankfulness, all those duties of holiness, and righteousness, which he justly expects from them who are made partakers of it; so shall you observe the worship of God unto his glory, and your own Advantage.

The giving and establishing of the New covenant another evidence of forgiveness with God. The Oath of God engaged in the confirmation thereof.

VIII. Another evidence hereof may be taken from the making, establishing and ratifying of the New covenant. That God would make a new covenant with his people is often promised, often declared. See among other places, Jeremiah 31:31, 32. and that he has done so accordingly, the apostle at large does manifest, Hebrews 8:8, 9, 10, 11, 12. Now herein sundry things unto our present purpose may be considered. For,

1. It is supposed that God had before made another covenant with mankind. With reference hereunto is this said to be a new one. It is opposed unto another that was before it, and in comparison whereof that is called old, and this said to be new, as the apostle speaks expressly in the place before mentioned. Now a covenant between God and man is a thing Great and Marvellous; whether we consider the nature of it, or the ends of it; In its own nature it is a Convention, Compact and Agreement, for some certain ends and purposes between the Holy Creator and his poor creatures. How infinite, how unspeakable must needs the grace and Condescention of God in this matter be? For what is poor miserable man, that God should set his heart upon him, that he should as it were give bounds to his Soveraignty over him, and enter into terms of Agreement with him? For whereas before, he was a mere object of his Absolute dominion, made at his will, and for his pleasure, and on the same reasons to be crushed at any time into nothing; Now he has a bottom, and ground given him to stand upon, whereon to expect good things from God, upon the account of his faithfulness and righteousness. God, in a covenant, gives those holy properties of his nature unto his creatures: as his hand or arm for him to lay hold upon, and by them to plead and argue with him. And without this a man could have no foundation for any entercourse or communion with God, or of any expectation from him; nor any direction how to deal with him in any of his concernments. Great and signal then was the condescension in God, to take his poor creature into covenant with himself. And especially will this be manifest, if we consider the ends of it, and why it is that God thus deals with man. Now these are no other than that man might serve him aright, be blessed by him, and be brought unto the everlasting enjoyment of him, all unto his glory. These are the ends of every covenant that God takes us into with himself. And these are the whole of man. No more is required of us in a way of duty; no more can be required by us to make us blessed and happy, but what is contained in them. That we might live to God, be accepted with him, and come to the eternal fruition of him, is the whole of man; All that we were made for, or are capable of; and these are the ends of every covenant that God makes with men; being all comprized in that solemn word, that he will be their God, and they shall be his people.

Secondly, This being the nature, this the end of a covenant, there must be some great and important cause, to change, alter, and abrogate a covenant once made and established, to lay aside one covenant, and to enter into another. And yet this the apostle sayes expressly that God had done, Hebrews 8:13. and proves it, because himself calls that which he promised, a New covenant, which undeniably confirms two things. First, That the other was become old; and Secondly, That being become so, it was changed, altered and removed. I know the apostle speaks immediately of the old administration of the covenant under the Old testament or Mosaical Institutions: but he does so with reference unto that revival which in it was given to the first covenant made with Adam. For in the giving of the law, and the curse wherewith it was accompanied which were immixed with that administration of the covenant, there was a solemn revival and Representation of the first covenant, and its Sanction, whereby it had life and power given it to keep the people in bondage all their dayes. And the end of the Abolition or taking way of the Legal administration of the covenant, was merely to take out of Gods dealing with his people, all use and Remembrance of the first covenant. As was said therefore, to take away, disannul, and change a covenant so made, ratified, and established betwixt God and man, is a matter that must be resolved into some cogent, important, and indispensable cause. And this will the more evidently appear, if we consider,

First, In general; that the first covenant was Good, Holy, righteous and Equal. It was such as became God to make, and was every way the happiness of the creature to accept of. We need no other argument to prove it holy and good, than this, that God made it. It was the effect of infinite holiness, Wisdome, righteousness, goodness and grace. And therefore in it self was it every way perfect; for so are all the works of God. Besides it was such, as man, when through his own sault he cannot obtain any good by it, and must perish everlastingly by vertue of the curse of it; yet cannot but subscribe unto its righteousness and holiness. The law was the rule of it, therein is the tenor of it contained. Now, says the apostle, whatever becomes of the sin, and the sinner, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just, and good, Romansans 7:12. Holy in it self, and its own nature, as being the order and Constitution of the most holy God. Just and equal with reference unto us; such as we have no reason to complain of, or repine against the authority of it, and the terms of it are most righteous. And not only so, but it is good also, that which notwithstanding the appearance of Rigor and severity which it is accompanied withal, had in it an exceeding mixture of goodness and grace, both in the obedience constituted in it, and the reward annexed unto it; as might be more fully manifested, were that our present work.

Secondly, In particular it was Good, Holy and righteous in all the commands of it, in the obedience which it required. And two things there were that rendred it exceeding righteous, in reference unto its precepts or commands. First, That they were all suited unto the principles of the nature of man created by God, and in the regular acting whereof consisted his perfection. God in the first covenant required nothing of man, prescribed nothing unto him, but what there was a principle for the doing and accomplishing of it ingrafted, and implanted on his nature; which rendred all those commands equal, holy and good. For what need any man complain of that which requires nothing of him, but what he is from his own frame and principles inclined unto? Secondly, all the commands of it were proportionate unto the strength and ability of them to whom they were given. God in that covenant required nothing of any man, but what he had before enabled him to perform: nothing above his strength, or beyond his power: and thence was it also righteous. Secondly, It was exceeding Good Holy and righteous upon the account of its promises and rewards. Do this, says the covenant; this which you art able to do, which the principles of your nature are fitted for, and enclined unto. Well, what shall be the issue thereof? Why do this and live; life is promised unto obedience, and that such a life, as both for the present and future condition of the creature, was accompanied with every thing that was needful to make it blessed and happy. Yea, this life having in it the eternal enjoyment of God, God himself as a reward, was exceedingly above whatever the obedience of man could require as due, or have any reason, on any other account, but merely of the goodness of God to expect.

Thirdly, There was provision in that covenant for the Preservation and manifestation of the glory of God, whatever was the Event on the part of man. This was provided for in the wisdom and righteousness of God. Did man continue in his obedience, and fulfill the terms of the covenant; all things were laid in subserviency to the Eternal glory of God in his reward. Herein would he for ever have manifested and exalted the glory of his holiness, power, faithfulness, righteousness and goodness. As an Almighty Creator, and Preserver, as a faithful God, and righteous Rewarder would he have been glorified. On supposition, on the other side, that man by sin and Rebellion should trangress the terms and tenor of this covenant, yet God had made provision that no detriment unto his glory should ensue thereon. For by the constitution of a punishment proportionable in his justice unto that sin and demerit, he had provided that the glory of his holiness righteousness and Veracity in his Threatnings should be exalted, and that to all eternity. God would have lost no more glory and honor by the sin of man, than by the sin of Angels, which in his infinite wisdom and righteousness is become a great Theatre of his Eternal glory. For he is no less Excellent in his Greatness and Severity, than in his goodness and power.

Wherefore we may now return unto our former inquiry. All things being thus excellently and admirably disposed in infinite wisdom and holiness in this covenant, the whole duty and Blessedness of man being fully provided for, and the glory of God absolutely secured upon all Events, what was the reason that God left not all things to stand or fall according to the terms of it? Wherefore does he reject and lay aside this covenant and promise to make another, and do so accordingly? Certain it is, that he might have continued it with a blessed security to his own glory; and he makes all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil.

God himself shews what was the only and sole reason of this dispensation, Hebrews 8:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. The summ of it is this. Notwithstanding the blessed Constitution of the first covenant; yet there was no provision for the pardon of sin, no room or place for forgiveness in it; but on supposition that man sinned, he was in that covenant left remediless. God had not in it revealed that there was any such thing as forgiveness with him; nor had any sinner the least hope or grounds of expectation from thence of any such thing in him. Dyehe must and perish, and that without remedy or recovery. Now, says God, this must not be. mercy, goodness, grace, require another state of things. This covenant will not manifest them; their effects will not be communicated to poor sinners by it. Hence says he it is faulty; that is defective, I will not lose the glory of them, nor shall sinners be unrelieved by them. And therefore although I may strictly tye up all mankind unto the terms of this; yet, I will make another covenant with them, wherein they shall know and find, that there is forgiveness with me, that they may fear me.

Now next to the Blood of Christ, whereby this covenant was ratified and confirmed, this is the greatest evidence that can possible be given, that there is forgiveness with God. To what end else does God make this great alteration in the effects of his will, in his way of dealing with mankind. As forgiveness of sin is expressly contained in the tenor and words of the covenant, so set it aside, and it will be of no more use or advantage than the former. For as this covenant is made directly with sinners, nor was there any one in the world, when God made it that was not a sinner, nor is it of use unto any but sinners, so is forgiveness of sins the very life of it.

Hence we may see two things. First, The greatness of forgiveness, that we may learn to value it: and Secondly, The certainty of it, that we may learn to believe it.

First, The greatness of it. God would not do so great a thing as that mentioned, but for a great, the greatest end. Had it not been a matter of the greatest importance unto the glory of God, and the good of the souls of men, God would not for the sake of it, have laid aside one covenant, and made another. We may evidently see how the heart of God was set upon it, how his nature and will were engaged in it. All this was done that we might be pardoned. The old glorious fabrick of obedience and Rewards shall be taken down to the ground, that a new one may be erected for the honor and glory of forgiveness. God forbid that we should have slight thoughts of that which was so strangely and wonderfully brought forth, wherein God had as it were embarked his great glory. Shall all this be done for our sakes, and shall we undervalue it, or disesteem it? God forbid. God could, if I may so say, more easily have made a new world of Innocent creatures, and have governed them by the Old covenant, than have established this new one for the salvation of poor sinners; but then where had been the glory of forgiveness? It could never have been known, that there was forgiveness with him. The Old covenant could not have been preserved, and sinners pardoned. Wherefore God chose rather to leave the covenant, than sinners unrelieved, than grace unexalted, and pardon unexercised. Prize it, as you prize your souls, and give glory unto God for it, as all those that believe will do unto eternity.

Secondly, For the security of it, that we may believe it. What greater can be given? God deceivs no man, no more than he is deceived. And what could God that cannot lye, do more, to give us satisfaction herein than he has done? Would you be made partakers of this forgiveness? Go unto God, spread before him this whole matter; plead with him that he himself has so far laid aside the first covenant, of his own Gracious will as to make a new one; and that merely because it had no forgiveness in it. This he has made on purpose that it might be known, that there is forgiveness in him. And shall not we now be made partakers of it? will he now deny that unto us, which he has given such assurance of, and raised such expectations concerning it? Nothing can here wrong us, nothing can ruine us but unbelief. Lay hold on this covenant, and we shall have pardon. This God expresss, Isaiah 27:4, 5. will we continue on the old bottom of the first covenant? All that we can do thereon, is but to set thorns and bryars in the way of God, to secure our selves from his coming against us and upon us with his indignation and fury. Our sins are so, and our righteousness is no better. And what will be the issue? both they and we shall be trodden down consumed and burnt up. What way then, what remedy is left unto us? only this of laying hold on the arm and strength of God in that covenant, wherein forgiveness of sin is provided. Therein alone he says, fury is not in me; and the end will be that we shall have peace with him both here and for ever.

IX. The Oath of God engaged and interposed in this matter is another evidence of the truth insisted on. Now because this is annexed unto the covenant before mentioned, and is its establishment, I shall pass it over the more briefly. And in it we may consider;

1. The nature of the Oath of God; The apostle tells us that he swore by himself: And he gives this reason of it, because he had no greater to swear by, Hebrews 6:13. An Oath for the confirmation of any thing, is an Invocation of a Supream power that can judge of the truth that is spoken, and vindicate the breach of the engagement. This God has none other but himself, Because he could swear by no greater, he swear by himself. Now this God does, (1.) By express affirmation that he has so sworn by himself, which was the form of the first solemn Oath of God, Genesis 22:16. By my self have I sworn, says the Lord. The meaning whereof is, I have taken it upon my self as I am God, or let me not be so, if I perform not this thing. And this is expressed by his soul, Jeremiah 51:14. The Lord of Hosts has sworn by his soul, that is, by himself, as we render the words. Secondly, God does it by the especial Interposition of some such property of his nature, as is suited to give credit and confirmation to the word spoken; as of his holiness, Psalmm 89:35. I have sworn by my holiness: So also Amos 4:2. Sometime by his life; As I live, says the Lord. I live says God, it shall be so. And sometimes by his name, Jeremiah 44:26. God as it were engags the honor and glory of the properties of his nature for the certain accomplishment of the things mentioned. And this is evident from the manner of the Expression, as in that place of Psalmm 89:35. Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lye unto David; so we; in the Original the words are eliptical: If I lye unto David, that is, Let me not be so, nor be esteemed to be so, if I lye unto David.

Secondly, For the end of his Oath; God does not give it to make his word or promise sure and stedfast, but to give assurance and Security unto us of their accomplishment. Every word of God is sure and certain, truth it self, because it is his; and he might justly require of us, the belief of it without any further Attestation. But yet knowing what great objections Satan and our own unbelieving hearts will raise against his promises, at least as to our own concernment in them, to confirm our minds, and to take away all pretences of unbelief, he interposs his Oath in this matter. What can remain of distrust in such a case? If there be a matter in doubt between men, and an Oath be interposed in the confirmation of that which is called in question, it is an end, as the apostle tells us, unto them of all strife, Hebrews 6:16. How much more ought it to be so on the part of God, when his Oath is engaged. And the apostle declares this end of his Oath, it is to shew the immutability of his counsel, Hebrews 6:17. His counsel was declared before in the promise; but now some doubt or strife may arise, whether on one occasion or other, God may not change his counsell; or whether he has not changed it with such conditions as to render it useless unto us? In what case soever it be, to remove all doubts and suspicions of this nature, God adds his Oath, manifesting the unquestionable immutability of his counsel and promises. What therefore is thus confirmed is ascertained unto the height of what any thing is capable of. And nor to believe it, is the height of impiety.

Thirdly, In this Interposition of God by an Oath, there is unspeakable condescention of grace, which is both an exceeding great motive unto faith, and a great Aggravation of Unbelief. For what are we, that the holy and blessed God should thus condescend unto us, as for our satisfaction and surety, to engage himself by an Oath! One said well of old; Foelices nos quorum causa Deus jurat; O infoelices, si nec juranti Deo credimus. It is an inestimable advantage that God should for our sakes engage himself by his Oath. So it will be our misery, if we believe him not when he swears unto us. What can we now object against what is thus confirmed? What pretence, color, or excuse can we have for our unbelief? How just, how righteous, how holy must their destruction be, who upon this strange, wonderful and unexpected Warranty, refuse to set their seal, that God is true.

These things being premised, we may consider how variously God has engaged his Oath, that there is forgiveness with him. First, He swears that he has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he repent and live, Ezekiel 33:11. As I live, says the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner: Now without forgiveness in him, every sinner must dye, and that without remedy. Confirming therefore with his Oath, that it is his will the sinner should return, repent and live, he does in the first place swear by himself, that there is forgiveness with him for these sinners that shall so repent and turn unto him.

Again, Whereas the great means he has appointed for the forgiveness of sins, is by the mediation of the Lord Christ, as we shall afterwards shew, he has on several occasions confirmed his purpose in him, and the counsel of his will by his Oath. By this Oath he promised him unto Abraham, and David of old, which proved the foundation of the churches stability in all generations; and also of their Security and assurance of Acceptance with him; see Luke 1:73, 74, 75. And in his taking upon him that Office whereby in an especial manner the forgiveness of sins was to be procured, namely of his being a Pri to offer sacrifice, to make an Attonement for sinners, he confirmed it unto him, and him in it by his Oath, Hebrews 7:20. He was not made a Pri without an Oath. And to what end? Namely, that he might be a surety of a better testament, verse 22. And what was that better testament? Why, that which brought along with it the forgiveness of sin, Chap. 8:12, 13. So that it was forgiveness which was so confirmed by the Oath of God. Further, the apostle shews, that the great Original promise made unto Abraham, being confirmed by the Oath of God, all his other promises were in like manner confirmed. Whence he draws that blessed conclusion which we have, Hebrews 6 17, 18. As to every one, says he, that flyes for refuge to the hope that is set before him, that is, who seeks to escape the guilt of sin, the curse and the sentence of the law, by an application of himself unto God in Christ for pardon, he has the Oath of God to secure him that he shall not fail thereof. And thus are all the concernments of the forgiveness of sin testified unto by the Oath of God; which we have manifested to be the highest security in this matter, that God can give, or that we are capable of.

The name of God confirming the truth and reality of forgiveness with him. As also the same is done by the properties of his nature.

X. Another foundation of this truth, and infallible evidence of it may be taken from that especial name and title which God takes unto himself in this matter. For he owns the name of the God of Pardons; or the God of forgiveness. So is he called, Nehem. 9:17. we have rendred the words, You art a God ready to forgive; but they are as was said, And you art the God of Pardons, forgiveness, or Propitiations. That is his name, which he owns, which he accepts of the Ascription of unto himself. The name whereby he will be known. And to clear this evidence we must take in some considerations of the name of God, and the Use thereof. As,

1. The name of God is that whereby he reveals himself unto us, whereby he would have us know him, and own him. It is something expressive of his nature or properties which he has appropriated unto himself. Whatever therefore any name of God expresss him to be, that he is, that we may expect to find him; for he will not deceive us by giving himself a wrong, or a false name. And on this account he requires us to trust in his name, because he will assuredly be found unto us, what his name imports. Resting on his name, flying unto his name, calling upon his name, praising his name, things so often mentioned in the scripture, confirm the same unto us. These things could not be our duty, if we might be deceived in so doing. God is then, and will be to us what his name declars.

2. On this ground and reason, God is said then first to be known by any name, when those to whom he reveals himself, do in an especial manner rest on that name by faith, and have that accomplished towards them which that name imports signifies or declares. And therefore God did not under the Old testament reveal himself to any by the name of the father of Jesus Christ, or the Son incarnate, because the grace of it unto them was not to be accomplished, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us, should not be made perfect; they were not entrusted with the full Revelation of God, by all his blessed names. Neither does God call us to trust in any name of his however declared, or revealed, unless he gives it us in an especial manner, by way of covenant to rest upon. So he speaks, Exodus 6:3. I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and to Jacob () in the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known unto them. It is certain that both these names of God Elshaddai and Jehovah, were known among his people before. In the first mention we have of Abrahams addressing himself unto the worship of God, he makes use of the name Jehovah, Genesis 12:7. He built an Altar unto Jehovah; and so afterwards not only does Moses make use of that name in the Repetition of the Story, but it was also of frequent use amongst them. Whence then is it said, that God appeared unto them by the name of Elshaddai, but not by the name of Jehovah? The reason is because that was the name which God gave himself in the solemn confirmation of the covenant with Abraham, Genesis 17:1. I am Elshaddai, God Almighty, God Alsufficient. And when Isaac would pray for the blessing of the covenant on Jacob, he makes use of that name, Genesis 28:3. God Almighty bless you. He invocates that name of God which was engaged in the Conant made with his father Abraham, and himself. That therefore we may withful assurance rest on the name of God, it is not only necessary that God reveal that name to be his, but also that he give it out unto us for that end and purpose, that we might know him thereby, and place our trust and confidence in him according unto what that name of his imports. And this was the case where ever he revealed himself unto any in a peculiar manner, by an especial name. So he did unto Jacob, Genesis 28:13. I am the God of Abraham and Isaac; assuring him, that as he dealt faithfully in his covenant with his fathers Abraham and Isaac, so also he would deal with him. And Genesis 31:13. I am the God of Bethel; he who appeared unto you there, and blessed you, and will continue so to do. But when the same Jacob comes to ask after another name of God, he answers him not, as it were commanding him to live by faith, on what he was pleased to reveal. Now then God had not made himself known to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob by his name Jehovah, because he had not peculiarly called himself unto them by that name; nor had engaged it in his covenant with them, although it were otherwise known unto them. They lived and rested on the name of God Almighty, as suited to their supportment and consolation in their wandring helpless condition, before the promise was to be accomplished.

But now when God came to fulfill his promises, and to bring the people by vertue of his covenant into the Land of Canaan, he reveals himself unto them by, and renews his covenant with them in the name of Jehovah. And hereby did God declare, that he came to give stability and Accomplishment unto his promises. To which end they were now to live upon this name of Jehovah in an expectation of the fulfilling of the promises; as their fathers did on that of God Almighty in an expectation of protection from him in their wandring state and condition. Hence this name became the foundation of the Judaical church, and ground of the faith of them who did sincerely believe in God therein. And it is strangely fallen out in the providence of God, that since the jews have rejected the covenant of their fathers, and are cast out of the covenant for their unbelief, they have utterly forgot that name of God. No jew in the world knows what it is, nor how to pronounce it, or make mention of it. I know themselves, and others pretend strange Mysteries in the letters and Vowels of that name which make it ineffable. But the truth is, being cast out of that covenant which was built and established on that name, in the just Judgement of God, through their own blindness and superstition, they are no more able to make mention of it, or to take it into their mouths. It is required then that the name of God be given unto us as engaged in covenant, to secure our expectation that he will be unto us according to his name.

3. All the whole Gracious name of God, every title that he has given himself, every Ascription of honor unto himself that he has owned, is confirmed unto us, (unto as many as believe,) in Jesus Christ. For as he has declared unto us the whole name of God, Johnn 17:6. So not this, or that promise of God, but all the promises of God are in him, Yea and Amen. So that as of old, every particular promise that God made unto the people, served especially for the particular occasion on which it was given, and each name of God was to be rested on, as to that dispensation whereunto it was suited to give relief, and confidence; as the name of Elshaddai to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the name Jehovah to Moses and the people; so now by Jesus Christ and in him, every particular promise belongs unto all believers in all their occasions; and every name of God whatever, is theirs also, at all times, to rest upon and put their trust in. Thus the particular promise made unto Joshuah at his entrance into Canaan, to incourage and strengthen him in that great enterprize of conquering the Land, is by the apostle applyed unto all believers in all their occasions whatever. I will never leave you nor forsake you, Hebrews 13:5. So like wise does every name of God belong now unto us, as if it had in particular manner been engaged in covenant unto us. And that because the whole covenant is ratified and confirmed unto us by Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 6:18. Chap. 7:1. This then absolutely secures unto us an interest in the name of God insisted on, the God of forgiveness, as if it had been given unto every one of us to assure us thereof.

4. God takes this name, the God of forgiveness to be his in a peculiar manner, as that whereby he will be distinguished and known. He appropriates it to himself as expressing that, which the power and goodness of no other can extend unto. There are Lords many, and Gods many, says the apostle; , some that are called so; such as some account so to be. How is the true God distinguished from these Gods by Reputation? He is so by this name, He is the God of Pardons, Micah 7:18. Who is a God like unto you, that pardons iniquity? This is his prerogative; herein none is equal to him, like him, or a sharer with him. Who is a God like unto you, that may be called a God of Pardons. The Vanities of the nations cannot give them this rain; they have no refreshing showers of mercy and pardon in their power. Neither Angels, nor saints, nor Images, nor Popes, can pardon sin. By this name does he distinguish himself from them all.

5. To be known by this name is the Great glory of God in this world. When Moses desired to see the glory of God, the Lord tells him that he could not see his face, Exodus 33:18, 20. The face of God or the glorious majesty of his being, his Essential glory, is not to be seen of any in this life; We cannot see him as he is. But the glorious manifestation of himself we may behold and contemplate. This we may see as the back parts of God; That shaddow of his excellencies which he casts forth in his passing by us in his works and dispensations. This Moses shall see. And wherein did it consist? Why in the Revelation and declaration of this name of God, Chap. 34:6, 7. The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, Merciful and Gracious, long-suffering, and Abundant in goodness and in truth, keeping mercy for thousands, Forgiving iniquity, Transgressions, and sin. To be known by this name, to be honoured, feared, believed as that declares him, is the great glory of God. And shall this fail us? Can we be deceived trusting in it, or expecting that we shall find him to be what his name declares? God forbid.

Let us lay together these considerations, and we shall find that they will give us another stable foundation of the truth insisted on; and a great encouragement to poor sinful souls to draw nigh to God in Christ for pardon. God has no name but what he gives unto himself. Nor is it lawful to know him, or call him otherwise; as he calls himself, so is he. What his name imports, so is his nature. Every name also of God is engaged in Jesus Christ in the covenant, and is proposed unto us to place our trust and confidence in. Now this is his name and his memorial, even the God of forgiveness. By this he distinguishs himself from all others, and expresss it as the principal title of his honor, or his peculiar glory. According to this name therefore all that believe shall assuredly find, There is forgiveness with him.

XI. The consideration of the Essential properties of the nature of God, and what is required to the manifestation of them, will afford us further assurance hereof. Let us to this end take in the ensuing Observations.

God being absolutely perfect, and absolutely self-sufficient, was eternally glorious, and satisfied with, and in his own holy Excellencies and perfections, before, and without the creation of all or any thing, by the putting forth or the exercise of his Almighty power. The making therefore of all things depends on a mere Soveraign Acts of the will and pleasure of God. So the whole creation makes its acknowledgement, Revelation 4:11. Chap. 5:12. You art worthy O Lord to receive glory, honor and power, for you hast created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created. God could have omitted all this great work, without the least impeachment of his glory. Not one Holy property of his nature would have been diminished, or abated in its Eternal glory by that omission. This then depended on a pure Acts of his will and Choice.

2. On supposition that God would work ad extra, by his power produce any thing without himself, it was absolutely necessary that himself should be the end of his so doing. For as before the production of all things, there was nothing that could be the end why any of them should be brought forth out of nothing, or towards which they should be disposed: So God being an infinite Agent in wisdom and understanding and power, he could have no end in his Actings, but that also which is infinite. It is therefore natural and necessary unto God to do all things for himself. It is impossible he should have any other end; and he has done so accordingly, Proverbs 16:4. The Lord has made all things for himself. He aimed at himself in all that he did; there being no other infinite Good for him to make his object, and his end, but himself alone.

3. This doing things, all things for himself, cannot intend an Addition or Acrewment thereby of any new real good unto himself. His absolute Eternal perfection and Al-sufficiency render this impossible. God does not become more Powerful, Great, Wise, Just, Holy, Good or Gracious by any of his works, by any thing that he does. He can add nothing to himself. It must therefore be the Manifestation and declaration of the Holy properties of his nature that he does intend and design in his works. And there are two things required hereunto.

1. That he make them known; that by wayes suited to his Infinite wisdom, he both declare that such properties do belong unto him; as also what is the nature of them according as the creature is able to apprehend.

So he does things to make his power known, to shew his power, and to declare his name through the earth, Romansans 9:17, 22. So it was said, that by the works of creation, , that which may be known of God is made manifest, Romansans 1:19, 20. And what is that? even the natural essential properties of his being; his Eternal power and Godhead. To this head are referred all those promises of God that he would glorifie himself, and the prayers of his saints that he would do so. And the Attestations given unto it in the scripture that he has done so. He has made known his wisdom, holiness, power, goodness, Self-sufficiency, and the like perfections of his nature.

2. That he attain an Ascription, an Attribution of praise, and glory to himself upon their account. His design is to be admired in all them that believe, 2 Thessalonians 1:10. That is, that upon an apprehension of his Excellencies, which he has revealed, and as he has revealed them, they should admire adore, applaud, glorifie and praise him, worship, believe in and trust him in all things, and endeavour the enjoyment of him as an eternal reward. And this is also threefold.

1. Interpretative; so the inanimate and brute creatures ascribe unto God the glory of his properties, even by what they they are, and do. By what they are in their Beings, and their observation of the law and inclination of their nature, they give unto God the glory of that wisdom and power whereby they are made; and of that Soveraignty whereon they depend. Hence nothing more frequent in the praises of God of old, than the calling of the inanimate creatures, heaven and earth, Winds, Storms, Thunder, and the Beasts of the field, to give praise and glory to God. That is, by what they are, they do so, in as much as from the impression of Gods glorious Excellencies in their effects upon them, they are made known and manifest.

2. Involuntary in some rational creatures. Sinning Men and Angels have no design, no will, no desire to give glory to God. They do their utmost endeavour to the contrary, to hate him reproach and blaspheme him. But they cannot yet cast off the yoke of God. In their minds and Consciences they are forced and shall be for ever to acknowledge that God is infinitely Holy, infinitely Wise, Powerful and righteous. And he has the glory of all these properties from them, in their very desires that he were otherwise. When they would that God were not Just to punish them, Powerful to torment them, Wise to find them out, Holy to be displeased with their lusts and sins, they do at the same time, in the same thing, own acknowledge and give unto God the glory of his being, justice, wisdom, power and holiness. When therefore God has made known his properties, the Ascription of glory unto him on their account, is to rational creatures, natural and unavoidable.

3. It is voluntary in the reasonable service, worship, fear, trust, obedience, of Angels and Men. God having revealed unto them the properties of his nature, they acknowledge, adore them, and place their confidence in them, and thereby glorifie him as God. And this glorifying of God consists in three things.

1. In making the Excellencies of God revealed unto us, the principle and Chief object of all the moral actings of our souls, and of all the actings of our affections. To fear the Lord and his goodness, and to fear him for his goodness; to trust in his power and faithfulness, to obey his authority, to delight in his will and grace, to love him above all, because of his Excellencies and Beauty, this is to glorifie him.

2. To pray for, and to rejoyce in all the wayes and means whereby he will, or has promised further to manifest or declare these properties of his nature and his glory in them. What is the reason why we pray for, long for the accomplishment of the promises of God towards his saints, of his Threatnings towards his Enemies, of the fulfilling of the glorious works of his power and grace that yet remain to be done, of the coming of the kingdom of Christ, of the approach of glory? Is it not chiefly and principally; that the glorious Excellencies of Gods nature may be made more manifest, be more known, more exalted; that God may appear more as he is, and as he has declared himself to be? This is to give glory to God. So likewise our joy, Rejoycing and satisfaction in any of the ways and works of God, it is solely on this account, that in them, God in his properties, that is, his power, wisdom, holiness, and the like, is revealed, declared and made known.

3. In their joint actual Celebration of his praises; which as it is a duty of the greatest importance, and which we are indeed of all others most frequently exhorted unto, and most earnestly called upon for: so in the nature of it, it consists in our believing rejoycing expression of what God is, and what he does; that is, our admiring, adoring and blessing him because of his holiness, goodness, and the rest of his properties, and his works of grace and power, suitable unto them. This it is to praise God, Revelation 5.

4. Observe that none of these properties of God can be thus manifested and known, nor himself be glorified for them, but by his declaration of them, and by their effects. We know no more of God than he is pleased to reveal unto us. I mean not mere Revelation by his word, but any wayes or means, whether by his word, or by his works, or by Impressions from the law of nature upon our hearts and minds. And what ever God thus declares of himself; He does it by exercising, putting forth, and manifesting the effects of it. So we know his power, wisdom, goodness and grace; namely, by the effects of them, or the works of God that proceed from them, and are suited unto them. And what ever is in God that is not thus made known, we cannot apprehend nor glorifie God on the account of it. God therefore doing all things, as has been shewed, for the glory of these his properties, he does so reveal them, and make them known.

5. Upon this design of God, it is necessary that he should reveal, and make known all the attributes and properties of his nature, in works and effects peculiarly proceeding from them and answering unto them, that he might be glorified in them, and which as the Event manifests, he has done accordingly. For what reason can be imagined, why God will be glorified in one Essential excellency of his nature, and not in another? Especially must this be affirmed of those properties of the nature of God, which the Event manifests his principal glory to consist in, and arise from, and the knowledge whereof is of the greatest use behoof and benefit unto the Children of men in reference unto his design towards them.

6. These things being so, let us consider how it stands in reference unto that which is under consideration. God in the creation of all things, glorified or manifested his Greatness, power, wisdom and goodness, with many other properties of the like kind. But his Soveraignty, righteousness and holiness, how are they declared hereby? either not at all, or not in so evident a manner as is necessary, that he might be fully glorified in them, or for them. What then does he do? leave them in darkness, vailed, undiscovered, satisfying himself in the glory of those properties which his work of creation had made known? Was there any reason, why he should do so, designing to do all things for himself and for his own glory? Wherefore he gives his holy law as a rule of obedience unto men and Angels. This plainly reveals his Soveraignty or authority over them, his holiness and righteousness in the equity and purity of things he required of them: so that in and by these properties also he may be glorified. As he made all things for himself, that is, the manifestation of his Greatness, power, wisdom and goodness, so he gave the law for himself, that is, the manifestation of his authority, holiness and righteousness. But is this all? Is there not Remunerative justice in God, in a way of Bounty? Is there not Vindictive justice in him, in a way of severity? There is so, and in the pursuit of the design mentioned, they also are to be manifested, or God will not be glorified in them. This therefore he did also in the Rewards and Punishments that he annexed unto the law of obedience that he had prescribed. To manifest his Remunerative justice he promised a reward in a way of Bounty, which the Angels that sinned not were made partakers of; and in the penalty threatned, which sinning Angels and Men incurred, he revealed his Vindictive justice in a way of severity. So are all these properties of God made known by their effects, and so is God glorified in them, or on their account.

But after all this, are there no other properties of his nature, Divine Excellencies that cannot be separated from his being, which by none of these means, are so much as once intimated to be in him? It is evident that there are; such are mercy, grace, patience, Long-suffering, Compassion and the like: concerning which observe,

1. That where there are no Objects of them, they cannot be declared, or manifested, or exercised. As Gods power or wisdom could not be manifest, if there were no Objects of them, no more can his grace or mercy. If never any stand in need of them, they can never be exercised, and consequently never be known. Therefore were they not revealed, neither by the creation of all things, nor by the law or its Sanction, nor by the law written in our hearts. For all these suppose no objects of grace and mercy. For it is sinners only, and such as have made themselves miserable by sin, that they can be exercised about.

2. There are no Excellencies of Gods nature, that are more expressive of Divine goodness, Loveliness and Beauty, than these are, of mercy, grace, Long-suffering and patience: and therefore there is nothing that God so requirs our likeness unto him in, our conformity unto his Image as in these; namely, mercy, grace and readiness to forgive. And the contrary frame in any he does of all things most abhor. They shall have judgement without mercy, who shewed no mercy. And therefore it is certain that God will be glorified in the manifestation of these properties of his nature.

3. These properties can be no otherwise exercised, and consequently no other wayes known, but only in and by the pardon of sin; which puts it beyond all question, that there is forgiveness with God. God will not lose the glory of these his Excellencies; he will be revealed in them, he will be known by them, he will be glorified for them; which he could not be, if there were not forgiveness with him: So that here comes in not only the truth, but the necessity of forgiveness also.

Forgiveness manifested in the sending of the Son of God to dye for sin. And from the obligation that is on us to forgive one another.

XII. In the next place, we shall proceed unto that evidence which is the Center wherein all the lines of those foregoing do meet and rest: The fountain of all those streams of Refreshment that are in them, that which animates and gives life and efficacy unto them. This lyes in Gods sending of his Son. The consideration hereof will leave no pretence or excuse unto unbelief in this matter.

To make this evidence more clear and legible, as to what is intended in it, we must consider,

1:1. What was the Rise of this sending, we speak of. 2:2. Who it was that was sent. 3:3. How or in what manner he was sent. 4:4. Unto what end and purpose.

First, the Rise and spring of it is to be considered. It came forth from the Eternal mutual consent and counsel of the father and the Son, Zechariah 6:13. The counsel of peace shall be between them both. It is of Christ the Branch, of whom he speaks. He shall build the Temple of the Lord, and he shall bear the glory. And shall sit and rule upon his throne; and shall be a Pri upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. That is, between God the father, who sends him, and himself; There lay the counsel of peace making between God and Man in due time accomplished by him who is our peace, Ephesians 2:16. So he speaks, Proverbs 8:30, 31. Then I was by him as one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight; rejoycing alwayes before him. Rejoycing in the habitable parts of the earth, and my delights were with the Sons of men. They are the words of the wisdom, that is, of the Son of God. When was this done? Then I was with him. Why before the Mountains were setled, whilst as yet he had not made the earth nor the Fields; That is, before the creation of the world, or from eternity, verse 25, 26. But how then could he rejoyce in the habitable parts of the earth? And how could his delight be with the Sons of men? seeing as yet they were not? I answer, It was the counsel of peace towards them before mentioned, in the pursuit whereof he was to be sent to converse amongst them on the earth. He rejoyced in the fore-thoughts of his being sent to them, and the work he had to do for them. Then, with his own consent and delight was he fore-ordained unto his work, even before the foundation of the world, 1 Peter 1:20. and received of the father the promise of eternal life, even before the world began, Titus 1:2. That is to be given unto sinners, by way of forgiveness through his blood. So is this whole counsel expressed, Psalmm 40:7, 8. Whence it is made use of by the apostle, Hebrews 10:5, 6, 7. Then said I, lo I come, in the volume of your book it is written of me, I delight to do your will O God. Your law is in the midst of my heart. There is the will of the father in this matter, and the law of its performance. And there is the will of the Son, in answer thereunto; and his delight in fulfilling that law which was prescribed unto him.

Let us now consider, to what purpose was this Eternal counsel of peace, This Agreement of the father and Son from eternity about the state and condition of Mankind? If God would have left them all to perish under the guilt of their sins, there had been no need at all of any such thoughts, design or counsel. God had given unto them a law, righteous and Holy, which if they transgressed, he had threatned them with eternal destruction. Under the rule disposal and power of this law; he might have righteously left them to stand or fall according to the verdict and sentence thereof. But now he assures us, he reveals unto us that he had other thoughts in this matter; that there were other Counsels between the father and the Son concerning us. And these such as the Son was delighted in the prospect of his Accomplishment of them. What can these thoughts and counsels be, but about a way for their deliverance, which could no otherwise be, but by the forgiveness of sins? For whatever else be done, yet if God mark iniquities there is none can stand. Hearken therefore poor sinner, and have hope. God is consulting about your deliverance and freedom. And what cannot the wisdom and grace of the father and Son effect and accomplish? And to this end was the Son sent into the world, which is the second thing proposed to consideration.

2. Whom did God send about this business? The scripture layes great weight and Emphasis on this consideration, faith must do so also: Johnn 3:16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son: So 1 Johnn 4:9. In this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. And again, verse 10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us: and sent his Son to be the propitiations of our sins. And who is this that is thus sent and called the only begotten Son of God? Take a double description of him, one out of the Old testament, and another from the new. The first from Isaiah 9:6. To us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the Government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the Prince of peace: The other from Hebrews 1:2, 3. God has spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sate down on the right hand of the majesty on high. This is he who was sent; in nature he was glorious; even over all God blessed for ever. In Answerableness unto the father; the brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his person: possessed of all the same essential properties with him. So that what we find in him, we may be assured of in the father also; for he that has seen him, has seen the father, who is in him. In power, Omnipotent, for he made all things, and upholding all things with an unspeakable facility, by the word of his power. In Office, exalted over all, sitting at the right hand of the majesty on high. In name, the Mighty God, the Everlasting father; so that whatever he came about, he will assuredly accomplish and fulfill; for what should hinder or let this Mighty One from perfecting his design?

Now this consideration raiss our evidence to that height, as to give us an unquestionable assurance in this matter. Here is a near and a particular object for faith to be exercised about, and to rest in. Wherefore did this glorious Son of God come and Tabernacle amongst poor sinners? We beheld the glory of the Eternal word, the glory of the only begotten of the father, and he was made flesh,, and pitched his Tabernacle amongst us, Johnn 1:14. To what end? It was no other but to work out, and accomplish the Eternal counsel of peace towards sinners before mentioned, to procure for them, and to declare unto them the forgiveness of sin. And what greater evidence, what greater assurance can we have, that there is forgiveness with God for us? he himself has given it as a rule, that what is done by giving an only begotten, or an only beloved Son, gives assured testimony of reality and sincerity in the thing that is confirmed by it. So he sayes unto Abraham, Genesis 22:12. Now I know that you fear God, seeing that you hast not withheld your Son, your only Son from me. This way it may be known, or no way. And they are blessed Conclusions that faith may make from this consideration; now I know that there is forgiveness with God, seeing he has not withheld his Son, his only Son, that he might accomplish it. To this purpose the apostle teachs us to reason, Romansans 8:32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

What further can any soul desire? What ground remains for unbelief to stand upon in this matter? Is there any thing more to be done herein? It was to manifest that there is forgiveness with him, and to make way for the exercise of it, that God sent his Son; that the Son of God came into the world, as will afterwards more fully appear.

3. To this sending of the Son of God to this purpose, there is evidence and security added from the Manner wherein he was sent. How was this? Not in glory, not in power, not in an open discovery of his Eternal power and Godhead. Had it been so, we might have thought, that he had come merely to manifest and glorifie himself in the world. And this he might have done without thoughts of mercy or pardon towards us. But he came quite in another manner: He was seen in the likeness of sinful flesh, Romansans 8 3. In the form of a servant, Philippians 2:10. being made of a woman, made under the law, Galatians 4:4. What he endured, suffered, underwent in that state and condition, is in some measure known unto us all. All this could not be merely, and firstly for himself. All that he expected at the close of it, was to be glorified with that glory which he had with the father before the world was, Johnn 17:5. It must then be for our sakes; and for what? to save and deliver us from that condition of wrath at present, and future expectation of Vengeance, which we had cast our selves into by sin; that is, to procure for us the forgiveness of sin. Had not God designed pardon for sin, he would never have sent his Son in this manner, to testifie it: And he did it, because it could no other way be brought about, as has been declared. Do we doubt whether there be forgiveness with God or no? or whether we shall obtain it, if we address our selves unto him for to be made partakers of it? Consider the condition of his Son in the world; review his Afflictions, Poverty, temptation, Sorrows, sufferings; Then ask our souls, To what end was all this? And if we can find any other design in it, any other reason, cause, or Necessity of it, but only and merely to testifie and declare, that there is forgiveness with God, and to purchase and procure the communication of it unto us, let us abide in, and perish under our fears. But if this be so, we have sufficient warranty to assure our souls in the expectation of it.

4. Besides all this, there ensues upon what went before, that great and wonderful Issue, in the death of the Son of God. This thing was great and marvellous, and we may a little inquire into what it was, that was designed therein. And hereof the scripture gives us a full account. As,

1. That he dyed to make Attonement for sin, or reconciliation for iniquity, Daniel 9:24. He gave his life a ransom for the sins of many, Matthew 20:28. 1 Timothy 2:6. He was in it made sin,that others might become the righteousness of God in him, 2 Corinthians 5:20. Romansans 8:3. Therein he bare our sins in his body on the Tree, 1 Peter 2:24. This was the state of this matter. Notwithstanding all the love, grace and condescention before mentioned, yet our sins were of that nature, and so directly opposite unto the justice and holiness of God, that unless Attonement were made, and a price of redemption paid, there could be no pardon, no forgiveness obtained. This therefore he undertook to do, and that by the sacrifice of himself; answering all that was prefigured by, and represented in the Sacrifices of old; as the apostle largely declares, Hebrews 10:5, 6, 7, 8 9. And herein is the forgiveness that is in God, copied out and exemplified so clearly and evidently, that he that cannot read it, will be cursed unto eternity. Yea, and let him be accursed; for what can be more required to justify God in his eternal destruction? He that will not believe his grace as testified and exemplified in the Blood of his Son, let him perish without remedy. Yea but,

2. The curse and sentence of the law lyes on record against sinners. It puts in its demands against our acquittance, and layes an obligation upon us unto punishment. And God will not reject, nor destroy his law, unless it be answered there is no acceptance for sinners. This therefore in the next place his death was designed unto. As he satisfied and made Attonement by it unto justice, (that was the fountain, spring and cause of the law) so he fulfilled and answered the demands of the law as it was an effect of the justice of God: So Romansans 8:13. He suffered in the likeness of sinful flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled, and answered. He answered the curse of the law when he was made a curse for us, Galatians 3:13. And so became as to the obedience of the law, the end of the law for righteousness unto them that do believe, Romansans 10:3, 4. And as to the penalty that it threatned, he bore it, removed it, and took it out of the way. So has he made way for forgiveness through the very heart of the law; it has not one word to speak against the pardon of them that do believe. But,

3. sinners are under the power of Satan; he layes a claim unto them, and by what means shall they be rescued from his interest and dominion? This also his death was designed to accomplish. For as he was manifest to destroy the works of the Devil, 1 Johnn 3:8. So by death he destroyed him that had the power of death, Hebrews 2:14. That is, to despoil him of his power, to destroy his dominion, to take away his plea unto sinners that believe; as we have at large elsewhere declared.

And by all these things, with many other concernments of his death that might be instanced in, we are abundantly secured of the forgiveness that is with God: And of his willingness that we should be made partakers thereof.

5. Is this all? Did his work cease in his death? Did he no more for the securing of the forgiveness of sins unto us, but only that he dyed for them? Yes, he lives also after death for the same end and purpose. This Son of God in that nature which he assumed to expiate sin by death, lives again after death to secure unto us, and to compleat the forgiveness of sins. And this he does two wayes.

1. being raised from that death which he underwent, to make Attonement for sin by the power and Good will of God, he evidencs and testifis unto us, that he has fully performed the work he undertook; and that in our behalf, and for us, he has received a discharge. Had he not answered the guilt of sin by his death he had never been raised from it.

2. He lives after death, a Mediatory life to make intercession for us, that we may receive the forgiveness of sin, as also himself to give it out unto us: which things are frequently made use of, to encourage the souls of men to believe, and therefore shall not at present be further insisted on.

Thus then stands this matter, that mercy might have a way to exercise it self in forgiveness, with a consistency unto the honor of the righteousness and law of God, was the Son of God so sent for the ends and purposes mentioned. Now herein consists the greatest work that God did ever perform, or ever will. It was the most eminent product of Infinite wisdom, goodness, grace and power. And herein do all the Excellencies of God shine forth more gloriously than in all the works of his hands. Let us then wisely ponder and consider this matter; let us bring our own souls with their objections unto this evidence, and see what exception we have to lay against it. I know nothing will satisfy unbelief: the design of it is to make the soul find that to be Iso hereafter, which it would perswade it of here; namely; that there is no forgiveness in God. And Satan, who makes use of this Engine, knows full well, that there is none for them who believe there is none; or rather will not believe that there is any. For it will at the last day be unto men according unto their faith or unbelief. He that believs aright; and he that believs not, that forgiveness is with God, as to their own particulars shall neither of them be deceived. But what is it that can be reasonably excepted against this evidence, this foundation of our faith in this matter? God has not sent his Son in vain, which yet he must have done, as we have shewed, had he not designed to manifest and exercise forgiveness towards sinners. Wherefore to confirm our faith from hence, let us make a little search into these things, in some particular inquiries.

1. Seeing the Son of God dyed in that way and manner that he did according to the determinate counsel and will of God, wherefore did he do so, and what aimed he at therein?

Answ. It is plain that he dyed for our sins, Romansans 4:25. that is, to make reconciliation for the sins of his people, Hebrews 2:17, 18. This Moses and the prophets, this the whole scripture testifis unto; and without a supposal of it, not one word of it can be aright believed. Nor can we yield any due obedience unto God without it.

2. What then did God do unto him? What was in transaction between God as the judge of all, and him that was the Mediator of the church?

Answ. God indeed laid on him the iniquities of us all, Isaiah 53:6. all the sins of all the elect; yea, he made him a curse for us, Galatians 3:13. And making him a sin offering, or an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, Romansans 8 3:2 Corinthians 5:21. So that, all that which the justice or law of God had to require about the punishment due unto sin, was all laid and executed on him.

3. What then did Christ do in his death? What did he aim at and design? What was his intention in submitting unto, and undergoing the will of God in these things?

Answ. He bare our sins in his own body upon the Tree, 1 Peter 2:24. He took our sins upon him, undertook to answer for them, to pay our debts, to make an end of the difference about them between God and sinners, Daniel 9:24. His aim undoubtedly was by all that he underwent and suffered, so to make Attonement for sin, as that no more could on that account be expected.

4. Had God any more to require of sinners on the account of sin, that his justice might be satisfied, his holiness vindicated, his glory exalted, his honor be repaired, than what he charged on Christ? Did he lay somewhat of the penalty due to sin on him, execute some part of the curse of the law against him, and yet reserve some wrath for sinners themselves?

Answ. No doubtless: He came to do the whole will of God, Hebrews 10:7, 8. And God spared him not any thing that in his holy will he had appointed to be done unto sin, Romansans 8:32. He would never have so dealt with his Son, to have made an half work of it; nor is the work of making satisfaction for sin such, as that any, the least part of it should ever be undertaken by another. Nothing is more injurious, or blasphemous against God and Christ, than the foolish imagination among the papists of works satisfactory for the punishment due to sin, or any part of it: As also is their Purgatory pains to expiate any remaining guilt after this life. This work of making satisfaction for sin is such, as no creature in heaven or earth can put forth an hand unto. It was wholly committed to the Son of God, who alone was able to undertake it, and who has perfectly accomplished it. So that God now sayes, fury is not in me, he that will lay hold on my strength that he may have peace, he shall have peace, Isaiah 21:4.

5. What then became of the Lord Christ in his undertaking? Did he go through with it? or did he faint under it? Did he only testifie his love, and shew his good will for our deliverance? or did also effectually pursue it, and not faint, until he had made a way for the exercise of forgiveness?

Answ. It was not possible that he should be detained by the pains of death, Acts 2:24. He knew before hand, that he should be carried through his work, that he should not be forsaken in it, nor saint under it, Isaiah 50:6, 7, 8. And God has given this unquestionable evidence of his discharge of the debt of sin to the utmost, in that he was acquitted from the whole account, when he was raised from the dead. For he that is given up to prison upon the sentence of the law for the debt of sin, shall not be freed, untill he have paid the utmost farthing. This therefore he manifested himself to have done, by his resurrection from the dead.

6. What then is now become of him? Where is he, and what does he? Has he so done his work and laid it aside, or does he still continue to carry it on until it be brought unto its perfection?

Answ. It is true, he was dead, but he is alive, and lives for ever; and has told us, that because he livs we shall live also; And that, because this is the end of his mediatory life in heaven: he lives for ever to make intercession for us, Hebrews 7:26, 27. And to this end, that the forgiveness of sin which he has procured for us, may be communicated unto us, that we might be made partakers of it, and live for ever.

What ground is left of questioning the truth in hand? What link of this Chain can unbelief break in, or upon? If men resolve, notwithstanding all this evidence and assurance that is tendred unto them thereof, that they will not yet believe that there is forgiveness with God, or will not be encouraged to attempt the securing of it unto themselves, or else despise it as a thing not worth the looking after; It is enough for them that declare it, that preach these things, that they are a sweet savour unto God in them that perish, as well as in them that are saved. And I bless God that I have had this Opportunity to bear testimony to the grace of God in Christ, which if it be not received, it is because the God of this world has blinded the eyes of men, that the light of the gospel of the glory of God should not shine into their minds. But Christ will be glorified in them that believe on these principles and foundations.

XIII. Another evidence of the same truth may be taken from hence, that God requires forgiveness in us; that we should forgive one another; and therefore doubtless, there is forgiveness with him for us. The sense of this consideration unto our present purpose will be manifest in the ensuing Observations.

First, It is certain, that God has required this of us: The testimonies hereof are many, and known, so that they need not particularly to be repeated or insisted on. See Luke 17:3, 4. Ephesians 4:32. Matthew 18 24. unto the end. Only there are some things that put a singular Emphasis upon this command, manifesting the great importance of this duty in us, which may be marked. As,

1. That our savior requires us to carry a sense of our integrity and sincerity in the discharge of this duty, along with us, in our Addresses unto God in prayer. Hence he teachs and enjoyns us to pray, or plead for the forgiveness of our debts to God, (that is, our sins or trespasses against him, which make us debtors to his law and justice,) even as we forgive them that so trespass or offend against us, as to stand in need of our forgiveness, Matthew 6:12. Many are ready to devour such as are not satisfied, that the words of that rule of prayer, which he has prescribed unto us, are to be precisely read or repeated every day; I wish they would as heedfully mind that prescription which is given us herein, for that frame of heart and spirit which ought to be in all our supplications. It might possibly abate of their wrath in that and other things. But here is a rule for all prayer, as all acknowledge, as also of the things that are requisite to make it acceptable. This in particular is required, that before the searcher of all hearts, and in our addresses unto him, in our greatest concernments, we profess our sincerity in the discharge of this duty, and do put our obtaining of what we desire upon that issue. This a great Crown that is put upon the head of this duty, that which makes it very eminent, and evidencs the great concern of the glory of God, and our own souls therein.

2. We may observe, that no other duty whatever is expressly placed in the same series, order, or rank with it; which makes it evident, that it is singled out to be professed as a token and pledge of our sincerity in all other parts of our obedience unto God. It is by Christ himself made the instance, for the tryal of our sincerity in our Universal obedience, which gives no small honor unto it. The apostle puts great weight on the Fifth commandment, honor your father and Mother, because it is the first commandment with promise, Ephesians 6:2. All the commandments indeed had a promise, Do this and live; life was promised to the observance of them all: But this is the first that had a peculiar promise annexed unto it, and accompanying of it. And it was such a promise, as had a peculiar foundation through Gods ordinance in the thing it self. It is, that the Parents should prolong the lives of their Children that were obedient. Exodus 20:11. They shall prolong your dayes; that is, by praying for their prosperity, blessing them in the name of God, and directing them in those wayes of obedience, whereby they might live and possess the Land. And this promise is now translated from the covenant of Canaan, into the covenant of grace. The blessing of Parents going far towards the interesting their Children in the promise thereof, and so prolonging their dayes unto eternity, though their dayes in this world should be of little continuance. So it is said of our savior, that he should see his seed, and prolong his dayes, Isaiah 53:10. Which has carried over that word, and that which is signified by it, unto eternal things. But this by the way. As the singular promise made to that command, renders it singular, so does this especial instancing in this duty in our prayer, render it also. For though as all the commandments had a promise, so we are to carry a testimony with us of our sincerity in Universal obedience in our addresses unto God: yet the singling out of this instance renders it exceeding remarkable; and shewes what a value God puts upon it, and how well he is pleased with it.

3. That God requires this forgiveness in us, upon the account of the forgiveness we receive from him; which is to put the greatest obligation upon us unto it, that we are capable of: and to give the strongest and most powerful motive possible unto its performance: See Ephesians 4:32.

4. That this duty is more directly and expressly required in the New testament than in the Old. Required then it was, but not so openly, so plainly, so expressly as now. Hence we find a different frame of Spirit between them under that dispensation, and those under that of the New testament. There are found amongst them some such Reflections upon their enemies, their Oppressors, Persecutors, and the like, as although they were warranted by some actings of the Spirit of God in them, yet being suited unto the dispensation they were under, do no way become us now, who by Jesus Christ receive grace for grace. So Zechariah when he dyed, cryed, the Lord look on, and require; but Stephen dying in the same cause and manner said, Lord lay not this sin to their charge. Elijah called for fire from heaven: But our savior reproves the least inclination in his Disciples, to imitate him therein. And the reason of this difference is, because forgiveness in God is under the New testament far more clearly, especially in the nature and cause of it, discovered in the gospel, which has brought life and immortality to light, than it was under the law. For all our obedience both in matter and manner, is to be suited unto the discoveries and Revelation of God unto us.

5. This forgiveness of others, is made an express condition of our obtaining pardon and forgiveness from God. Mat 6:14, 15. And the nature hereof is expressly declared, Chap. 18:24. Such Evangelical conditions we have not many. I confess, they have no causal influence into the accomplishment of the promise; but the non-performance of them, is a sufficient barr against our pretending to the promise, a sufficient evidence that we have no pleadable interest in it. Our forgiving of others will not procure forgiveness for our selves: But our not forgiving of others proves, that we our selves are not forgiven. And all these things do shew what weight God himself layes on this duty.

Secondly, Observe, that this duty is such, as that there is nothing more comely, useful, or honourable unto, or praise worthy in any, than a due performance of it. To be morose, implacable, inexorable, revengeful, is one of the greatest degeneracies of humane nature. And no men are commonly, even in this world, more branded with real infamy and dishonour amongst Wise and Good men, than those who are of such a frame, and do act accordingly. To remember Injuries, to retain a sense of Wrongs, to watch for Opportunities of Revenge, to hate and be malitiously perverse, is to represent the Image of the Devil unto the world in its proper colors; He is the great Enemy and self avenger: On the other side, no grace, no Vertue, no duty, no Ornament of the mind, or Conversation of man, is in it self so lovely, so comely, so praise worthy, or so useful unto mankind, as are meekness, Readiness to forgive and pardon. This is that principally which renders a man a good man, for whom one would even dare to dye: And I am sorry to add that this grace or duty is recommended by its raritie. It is little found amongst the Children of men. The consideration of the defect of men herein, as in those other fundamental duties of the gospel, in self-denyal, readiness for the Cross, and forsaking the world, is an evidence, if not how little sincerity there is in the world; Yet at least it is, of how little growing, and thriving there is amongst Professors.

3. That there is no grace, Vertue, or perfection in any man, but what is as an Emanation from the Divine goodness and Bounty, so expressive of some Divine Excellencies or perfection; somewhat that is in God, in a way and manner Infinitely more Excellent. We were created in the Image of God. Whatever was good or comely in us, was a part of that Image: Especially the Ornaments of our minds, the perfections of our souls. These things had in them a resemblance of, and a correspondency unto some excellencies in God, whereunto by the way of Analogie they may be reduced. This being for the most part lost by sin, a shadow of it only remaining in the faculties of our souls; and that dominion over the creatures, which is permitted unto men in the patience of God. The recovery that we have by grace, is nothing but an initial Renovation of the Image of God in us, Ephesians 4:22. It is the implanting upon our natures those Graces, which may render us again like unto him. And nothing is grace or Vertue, but what so answers to somewhat in God. So then whatever is in us of this kind, is in God absolutely, perfectly, in a way and manner infinitely more excellent.

Let us now therefore put these things together. God requires of us, that there should be forgiveness in us for those that do offend us; forgiveness without limitation and bounds; The grace hereof he bestows on his saints; sets an high price upon it, and manifests many wayes, that he accounts it among the most excellent of our endowments; one of the most lovely and praise worthy qualifications of any person. What then shall we now say? Is there forgiveness with him or no? He that made the Eye, shall he not see? He that planted the Ear, shall he not hear? He that thus prescribes forgiveness to us, that bestows the grace of it upon us, is there not forgiveness with him? It is all one as to say, though we are good, yet God is not; though we are Benign and Bountiful, yet he is not. He that finds this grace wrought in him in any measure, and yet fears that he shall not find it in God for himself, does therein, and so far prefer himself above God; which is the natural effect of cursed unbelief.

But the truth is, were there not forgiveness with God, forgiveness in man would be no vertue, with all those qualities that encline thereto; such are meekness, pity, patience, compassion and the like. Which what were it, but to set loose Humane nature to rage and madness. For as every truth consists in its answerableness to the Prime and Eternal Verity; So vertue consists not absolutely nor primarily in a conformity to a rule of command, but in a Correspondency unto the first absolute perfect being and its perfections.

Properties of forgiveness. The Greatness and Freedom of it.

The arguments and Demonstrations foregoing have, we hope, undeniably evinced the great truth we have insisted on, which is the life and soul of all our hope, profession, religion and worship. The end of all this discourse is, to lay a firm foundation for faith to rest upon, in its addresses unto God for the forgiveness of sins; as also to give encouragements unto all sorts of persons so to do. This end remains now to be explained and pressed; which work yet before we directly close withall, two things are further to be premised. And the first is, to propose some of those Adjuncts of, and considerations about this forgiveness, as may both encourage and necessitate us to seek out after it, and to mix the testimonies given unto it, and the promises of it with faith unto our benefit and Advantage. The other is to shew, how needful all this endeavour is, upon the, account of that great Unbelief which is in the most in this matter. As to the first of these then we may consider,

First, That this forgiveness that is with God, is such as becomes him, such as is suitable to his Greatness, goodness, and all other Excellencies of his nature, such as that therein he will be known to be God. What he sayes concerning some of the works of his providence, be still and know that I am God; may be much more said concerning this great effect of his grace: Still your souls, and know that he is God. It is not like that narrow, difficult, halving and manacled forgiveness that is found amongst men, when any such thing is found amongst them. But it is full, free, boundless, bottomless, absolute, such as becomes his nature and Excellencies. It is in a word, forgiveness that is with God, and by the exercise whereofhe will be known so to be. And hence,

1. God himself does really separate and distinguish his forgiveness, from any thing that our thoughts and imaginations can reach unto, and that because it is his, and like himself. It is an object for faith alone; which can rest in that, which it cannot comprehend. It is never safer, than when it is as it were overwhelmed with infiniteness. But set mere rational thoughts, or the imaginations of our minds at work about such things, and they fall unconceivably short of them. They can neither conceive of them aright, nor use them unto their proper end and purpose. Were not forgiveness in God somewhat beyond what men could imagine, no flesh could be saved. This himself expresss, Isaiah 55:7, 8, 9. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, and he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your wayes my wayes says the Lord; for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my wayes higher than your wayes, and my thoughts than your thoughts. They are, as is plain in the context, thoughts of forgiveness, and wayes of pardon whereof he speaks. These our Apprehensions come short of; we know little or nothing of the infinite largeness of his heart in this matter. He that he speaks of, is an impiously wicked man, and a man of deceit, and perverse wickedness. He whose design and course is nothing but a lye, sin, and iniquity. Such an one as we would have little or no hopes of; that we would scarce think it worth our while to deal withal about a hopeless conversion; or can scarce find in our hearts to pray for him, but are ready to give him up, as one profligate and desperate. But let him turn to the Lord and he shall obtain forgiveness. But how can this be? Is it possible there should be mercy for such an one? Yes! For the Lord will multiply to pardon. He has forgiveness with him to outdo all the multiplied sins of any that turn unto him, and seek for it. But this is very hard, very difficult for us to apprehend. This is not the way and manner of men: We deal not thus with profligate Offenders against us. True, says God; But your wayes are not my wayes. I do not act in this matter like unto you, nor as you are accustomed to do. How then shall we apprehend it; how shall we conceive of it? You can never do it by your reason or Imaginations; For as the heavens is above the earth, so are my thoughts in this matter above your thoughts. This is an expression to set out the largest and most unconceivable distance that may be. The creation will afford no more significant expression or representation of it. The heavens are inconceivably distant from the earth, and inconceivably glorious above it. So are the Thoughts of God; they are not only distant from ours, but have a glory in them also that we cannot rise up unto. For the most part when we come to deal with God about forgiveness, we hang in every bryar of disputing quarelsom unbelief. This or that Circumstance or Aggravation, this or that unparalleld particular, bereaves us of our confidence. Want of a due consideration of him with whom we have to do, measuring him by that line of our own imaginations, bringing him down unto our Thoughts and our Wayes, is the cause of all our disquietments. Because we find it hard to forgive our pence, we think he cannot forgive Talents. But he has provided to obviate such thoughts in us, Hosea 11:9. I will not execute the fierceness of my wrath, I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I AM GOD AND NOT MAN. Our satisfaction in this matter, is to be taken from his nature; where he a man, or as the Sons of men, it were impossible that upon such and so many provocations, he should turn away from the fierceness of his anger. But he is God. This gives an Infiniteness, and an inconceivable boundlesness to the forgiveness that is with him; and exalts it above all our thoughts and wayes. This is to be lamented; Presumption which turns God into an Idol, ascribes unto that Idol, a greater largeness in forgiveness, than faith is able to rise up unto, when it deals with him as a God of infinite Excellencies and perfections. The reasons of it I confess are obvious. But this is certain, no presumption can falsly imagine that forgiveness to it self from the Idol of its heart, as faith may in the way of God, find in him, and obtain from him. For,

Secondly, God engags his infinite Excellencies to demonstrate the Greatness and Boundlesness of his forgiveness. He proposs them unto our considerations to convince us, that we shall find pardon with him suitable and answerable unto them See Isaiah 40:27, 28, 29, 30, 31. Why say you O Jacob, and speak O Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and my judgement is passed over from my God? Hast you not known, hast you not heard, that the Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding; Hegivs power to the faint, and to them that have no might he encreass strength: even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fail; but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as Eagles, they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not be faint. The matter in question is whether Acceptance with God, which is only by forgiveness is to be obtained or no; This sinful Jacob either despairs of, or at least desponds about. But says God, My thoughts are not as your thoughts in this matter. And what course does he take to convince them of their mistake therein? What argument does he make use of to free them from their unbelief, and to rebuke their fears? Plainly, he calls them to the consideration of himself, both Who and What he is, with whom they had to do. That they might expect acceptance and forgiveness, such as did become him. Minding them of his power, his Immensity, his Infinite wisdom, his Unchangableness, all the Excellencies and properties of his nature, he demands of them, whether they have not just ground to expect forgiveness and grace, above all their thoughts and apprehensions, because answering the infinite largeness of his heart from whence it does proceed?

And Moses manags this plea for the forgiveness of that people under an high provocation, and a most severe threatning of their destruction thereon, Numb. 14:17, 18. He pleads for pardon in such a way and manner, as may answer the great and glorious properties of the nature of God, and which would manifest an infiniteness of power and Al-sufficiency to be in him.

This I say is an encouragement in general unto believers. We have, as I hope, upon unquestionable grounds evinced that there is forgiveness with God, which is the hinge on which turns the issue of our eternal condition. Now this is like himself, such as becomes him; that answers the infinite perfections of his nature; that is exercised and given forth by him as God. We are apt to narrow and streighten it by our unbelief, and to render it unbecoming of him. He less dishonours God (or as little) who being wholly under the power of the law, believes that there is no forgiveness with him, none to be obtained from him, or does not believe it, that so it is, or is so to be obtained, for which he has the voice and sentence of the law to countenance him; then those who being convinced of the principles and grounds of it before mentioned, and of the truth of the testimony given unto it, do yet by streigthning and narrowing of it, render it unworthy of him, whose Excellencies are all infinite, and whose wayes on that account are incomprehensible. If then we resolve to rreat with God about this matter, which is the business now in hand, let us do it, as it becomes his Greatness, that is, indeed, as the wants of our souls do require. Let us not entangle our own Spirits by limiting his grace. The father of the Child possessed with a Devil being in a great Agony when he came to our savior, cryes out, If you canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us, Mark 9:22. He would fain be delivered, but the matter was so great, that he questioned whether the Lord Christ had either Compassion or power enough for his relief. And what did he obtain hereby? nothing but the retarding of the Cure of his Child for a season. For our savior holds him off untill he had instructed him in this matter; says he, verse 23. If you canst believe, all things are possible unto him that believs. Mistake not, if your Child be not cured, it is not for want of power or pity in me, but of faith in you. My power is such as renders all things possible, so that they be believed. So it is with many, who would desirously be made partakers of forgiveness. If it be possible they would be pardoned, but they do not see it possible. Why where is the defect? God has no pardon for them, or such as they are, and so it may be they come finally short of pardon. What, because God cannot pardon them, it is not possible with him? Not at all! but because they cannot, they will not believe, that the forgiveness that is with him is such, as that it would answer all the wants of their souls, because it answers the infinite largeness of his heart. And if this does not wholly deprive them of pardon, yet it greatly retards their peace and comfort. God does not take it well to be limited by us in any thing, least of all in his grace. This he calls a Tempting of him, a provoking temptation, Psalmm 78:41. They turned back and temptedGod, they limited the Holy One of Israel. This he could not hear with. If there be any pardon with God, it is such as becomes him to give. When he pardons, he will abundantly pardon. Go with your half forgiveness limited, conditional Pardons with reserves and limitations unto the Sons of men; it may be, it may become them, it is like themselves. That of God is absolute and perfect, before which our sins are as a Cloud before the East Wind, and the rising Sun. Hence he is said to do this work, with his whole heart, and his whole soul; , freely, bountifully, largely to indulge and forgive unto us our sins. And to cast them into the bottom of the Sea, Micah 7:19. into a bottomless Ocean, an Emblem of infinite mercy. Remember this, poor souls, when you are to deal with God in this matter, all things are possible unto them that do believe.

Secondly, This forgiveness is in or with God, not only so, as that we may apply our selves unto it, if we will, for which he will not be offended with us, but so also, as that he has placed his great glory in the declaration and communication of it; nor can we honor him more than by coming to him to be made partakers of it, and so to receive it from him. For the most part, we are as it were ready rather to steal forgiveness from God, than to receive from him as one that gives it freely and largely. We take it up, and lay it down, as though we would be glad to have it, so God did not, as it were, see us take it; for we are afraid he is not willing we should have it indeed. We would steal this fire from heaven, and have a share in Gods Treasures and Riches almost without his consent. At least we think that we have it from him aegre, with much difficulty, that it is rarely given and scarcely obtained. That he gives it out, , with a kind of unwilling willingness; as we sometimes give Alms without Chearfulness. And that he loss so much by us, as he givs out in pardon. We are apt to think that we are very willing to have forgiveness, but that God is unwilling to bestow it, and that because he seems to be a loser by it, and to forego the glory of inflicting punishment for our sins, which of all things we suppose he is most loth to part withal. And this is the very nature of unbelief. But indeed things are quite otherwise. He has in this matter through the Lord Christ ordered all things in his dealings with sinners to the praise of the glory of his grace, Ephesians 1:6. His design in the whole mysterie of the gospel, is to make his grace glorious, or to exalt pardoning mercy. The great fruit and product of his grace is forgiveness. The forgiveness of sinners. This God will render himself glorious in and by. All the praise, glory and worship, that he designs from any in this world, is to redound unto him by the way of this grace, as we have proved at large before. For this cause spared he the world, when sin first entred into it: for this cause did he provide a New covenant, when the old was become unprofitable. For this cause did he send his Son into the world. This has he testified by all the evidences insisted on. Would he have lost the praise of his grace, nothing hereof would have been done or brought about. We can then no way so eminently bring or ascribe glory unto God, as by our receiving forgiveness from him, he being willing thereunto upon the account of its tendency unto his own glory, in that way, which he has peculiarly fixed on for its manifestation. Hence the apostle exhorts us to come boldly to the throne of grace, Hebrews 4:16. That is, with the confidence of faith, as he expounds boldness, Chap. 10:19, 20. We come about a business wherewith he is well pleased; such as he delights in the doing of, as he expresss himself, Zephaniah 3:17. The Lord your God in the midst of you, is mighty; he will save, he will rejoyce over you with joy. He will rest in his love, he will joy over you with singing. This is the way of Gods Pardoning; he does it in a rejoycing triumphant manner, satisfying abundantly his own holy soul therein, and resting in his love. We have then abundant encouragement to draw nigh to the throne of grace, to be made partakers of what God is so willing to give out unto us. And to this end serves also the Oath of God before insisted on, namely, to root out all the secret reserves of unbelief, concerning Gods Unwillingness to give mercy, grace and pardon unto sinners. See Hebrews 6:17, 18. where it is expressed. Therefore the tendency of our former arguments, is not merely to prove that there is forgiveness with God, which we may believe and not be mistaken; but which we ought to believe. It is our duty so to do. We think it our duty to pray, to hear the word, to give alms, to love the Brethren, and to abstain from sin; and if we fail in any of these, we find the guilt of them reflected upon our conscience unto our disquietment. But we scarce think it our duty to believe the forgiveness of our sins. It is well it may be, we think, with them that can do it, but we think it not their fault who do not. Such persons may be pityed, but as we suppose not justly blamed, no not by God himself. Whose conscience almost is burdened with this as a sin, that he does not as he ought, believe the forgiveness of his sins? And this is merely because men judge it not their duty so to do. For a non-performance of a duty apprehended to be such, will reflect on the conscience a sense of the guilt of sin. But now what can be required to make any thing a duty unto us, that is wanting in this matter? For,

1. There is forgiveness with God, and this manifested, revealed, declared. This manifestation of it is that which makes it the object of our faith. We believe things to be in God, and with him, not merely and formally because they are so, but because he has manifested and revealed them so to be, 1 Johnn 1:2. What he so declares, it is our duty to believe, or we frustrate the end of his Revelation.

2. We are expressly commanded to believe, and that upon the highest promises, and under the greatest penalties. This command is that which makes believing formally a duty. faith is a grace as it is freely wrought in us by the Holy Ghost, the root of all obedience and duties, as it is radically fixed in the heart. But as it is commanded it is a duty; and these commands, you know, are several wayes expressed, by Invitations, Exhortations, propositions, which all have in them the nature of commands, which take up a great part of the books of the New testament.

3. It is a duty, as we have shewed, of the greatest concernment unto the glory of God.

4. Of the greatest importance unto our souls, here and hereafter. And these things were necessary to be added, to bottom our ensuing Exhortations upon.

Evidences that most men do not believe forgiveness.

That which should now ensue, is the peculiar improvement of this truth all along aimed at; namely, to give Exhortations, and encouragements unto believing. But I can take few steps in this work, wherein methinks I do hear some saying, Surely all this is needless; Who is there that does not believe all that you go about to prove? And so these pains are spent to little or no purpose. I shall therefore before I perswade any unto it, endeavour to shew that they do it not already. Many I say, the most of men who live under the dispensation of the gospel, do wofully deceive their own souls in this matter. They do not believe what they profess themselves to believe, and what they think they believe. Men talk of fundamental Errors; this is to me the most fundamental error that any can fall into, and the most pernitious. It is made up of these two parts. (1.) They do not indeed believe forgiveness. (2.) They suppose they do believe it, which keeps them from seeking after their only remedy. Both these mistakes are in the foundation, and do ruine the souls of them that live and die in them. I shall then by a brief inquiry put this matter to a tryal. By some plain rules and principles may this important question, whether we do indeed believe forgiveness or no, be answered and decided. But to the Resolution intended, I shall premise two Observations.

1. Men in this case, are very apt to deceive themselves. Selflove, vain Hopes, liking of lust, common false principles, sloth, unwillingness unto self-examination, Reputation with the world, and it may be in the church, all vigorously concurr unto mens self-deceivings in this matter. It is no easie thing for a soul to break through all these, and all self-reasonings that rise from them, to come unto a clear judgement of its own acting in dealing with God about forgiveness. Men also find a Common Presumption of this truth, and its being an easie relief against gripings of conscience, and disturbing thoughts about sin; which they daily meet withall Aiming therefore only at the removal of trouble, and finding their present Imagination of it, sufficient thereunto, they never bring their perswasion to the tryal.

2. As men are apt to do thus, so they actually do so, they do deceive themselves, and know not that they do so. The last day will make this evident, if men will no sooner be convinced of their folly. When our savior told his Disciples, that one of them twelve should betray him; though it were but one of twelve that was in danger, yet every one of the twelve made a particular inquiry about himself. I will not say, that one in each twelve is here mistaken: But I am sure the truth tells us, That many are called, and but few are chosen; they are but few, who do really believe forgiveness. Is it not then incumbent on every one to be enquiring in what number he is likely to be found at the last day? Whilst men put this inquiry off from themselves, and think or say, it may be the Concernment of others, it is not mine, they perish, and that without remedy. Remember what poor Jacob said, when he had lost one Child, and was afraid of the loss of another, Genesis 43:14. If I be bereaved of my Children, I am bereaved. As if he should have said, if I lose my Children, I have no more to lose, they are my all. Nothing worse can befall me in this world. comfort, joy, yea, life and all go with them. How much more may men say in this case, If we are deceived here, we are deceived; all is lost, hope, and life, and soul, all must perish, and that for ever. There is no help or relief for them who deceive themselves in this matter. They have found out a way to go quietly down into the pit.

Now these things are premised, only that they may be incentives unto self-examination in this matter; and so render the ensuing considerations useful. Let us then address our selves unto them.

1. In General; This is a gospel truth; yea, the great fundamental, and most important truth of the gospel. It is the turning point of the two covenants, as God himself declares, Hebrews 7:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. Now a very easie consideration of the wayes and walkings of men will satisfy us as to this inquiry, whether they do indeed believe the gospel, the covenant of grace, and the fundamental principles of it. Certainly their Ignorance, darkness, Blindness, their Corrupt affections, and Worldly Conversations, their Earthly-mindedness and open disavowing of the Spirit, Wayes and Yoke of Christ, speak no such language. Shall we think that proud, heady, worldly, self-seckers, haters of the people of God, and his wayes, despisers of the Spirit of grace, and his work, Sacrificers to their own lusts, and such like, do believe the covenant of grace, or remission of sins? God forbid we should entertain any one thought of so great dishonour to the gospel. Where ever that is received or believed, it producs other effects, Titus 2:11, 12. Isaiah 11 6, 7, 8, 9. It teachs men to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts. It changs their hearts, natures and wayes; It is not such a barren, impotent and fruitless thing, as such an apprehension would represent it.

2. They that really believe forgiveness in God, do thereby obtain forgiveness. Believing gives an interest in it; it brings it home to the soul concerned. This is the inviolable law of the gospel. Believing and forgiveness are inseparably conjoyned. Among the evidences that we may have of any one being interested in forgiveness, I shall only name one, They prize and value it above all the world. Let us inquire what Esteem and valuation many of those have of forgiveness, who put it out of all question that they do believe it. Do they look upon it as their Treasure, their Jewel, their Pearl of price? Are they solicitous about it? Do they often look and examine whether it continues safe in their possession or no? Suppose a man have a pretious Jewel laid up in some place in his house; Suppose it be unto him as the poor Widdows two mites, all her substance or living; will he not carefully ponder on it? will he not frequently satisfy himself that it is safe? We may know that such an house, such fields or lands do not belong unto a man when he passs by them daily, and taks little or no notice of them. Now how do most men look upon forgiveness? What is their common deportment in reference unto it? Are their hearts continually filled with thoughts about it? Are they solicitous concerning their interest in it? Do they reckon, that whilst that is safe, all is safe with them? When it is, as it were, laid out of the way by sin and unbelief, do they give themselves no rest, untill it be afresh discovered unto them? Is this the frame of the most of men? The Lord knows it is not. They talk of forgiveness, but esteem it not, prize it not, make no particular inquiries after it. They put it to an ungrounded venture, whether ever they be partakers of it or no; for a relief against some pangs of conscience it is called upon, or else scarce thought of at all.

Let not any so minded flatter themselves that they have any acquaintance with the mysterie of gospel forgiveness.

3 Let it be enquired of them who pretend unto this perswasion, how they came by it; that we may know whether it be of him who calls us, or no; that we may try whether they have broken through the difficulties in the Entertaining of it, which we have manifested abundantly to lye in the way of it.

When Peter confessed our savior to be the Christ the Son of the living God; He told him that flesh and blood did not reveal that unto him, but his father who is in heaven. Matthew 16:17. It is so with them who indeed believe forgiveness in God: Flesh and blood has not revealed it unto them. It has not been furthered by any thing within them or without them, but all lyes in opposition unto it. This is the work of God that we believe, Johnn 6:29. A great work, the greatest work that God requirs of us. It is not only a great thing in it self (the grace of believing is a great thing,) but it is great in respect of its object, or what we have to believe, or forgiveness it self. The great honor of Abrahams faith lay in this, that deaths and difficulties lay in the way of it. Romansans 4:18, 19, 20. But what is a dead body, and a dead womb, to an accusing conscience, a killing law, and apprehensions of a God terrible as a consuming fire? all which, as was shewed, oppose themselves unto a soul called to believe forgiveness.

What now have the most of men, who are confident in the profession of this faith, to say unto this thing? Let them speak clearly, and they must say, that indeed they never found the least difficulty in this matter; they never doubted of it; they never questioned it, nor do know any reason why they should do so. It is a thing which they have so taken for granted, as that it never cost them an hours labor prayer or meditation about it. Have they had secret reasonings and contendings in their hearts about it? No; Have they considered how the objections that lye against it may be removed? Not at all; But is it so indeed that this perswasion is thus bred in you, you know not how? Are the corrupted natures of men, and the gospel so suited, so complying? Is the New covenant grown so connatural to flesh and blood? Is the greatest secret that ever was revealed from the bosom of the father, become so familiar and easie to the wisdom of the flesh? Is that which was folly to the wise Greeks, and a stumbling block to the Wondergazing jews, become on a suddain wisdom, and a plain path to the same principles that were in them? But the truth of this matter is, that such men have a general, useless, barren notion of pardon, which Satan, Presumption, Tradition, Common Reports, and the Customary hearing of the word have furnished them withal; But for that gospel discovery of forgiveness whereof we have been speaking, they are utterly ignorant of it, and unacquainted with it. To convince such poor creatures of the folly of their presumption, I would but desire them to go to some real believers, that are or may be known unto them; Let them be asked whether they came so easily by their faith, and Apprehensions of forgiveness, or no? Alas, says One, these twenty years have I been following after God, and yet I have not arrived unto an abiding Chearing perswasion of it. I know what it cost me, what tryals, difficulties, temptations I wrestled with, and went through withal before I obtained it, says another. What I have attained unto, has been of unspeakable mercy. And it is my daily prayer, that I may be preserved in it; by the exceeding greatness of the power of God; for I continually wrestle with storms that are ready to drive me from my Anchor. A little of this discourse may be sufficient to convince poor, dark, carnal creatures of the folly and vanity of their confidence.

4. There are certain means whereby the Revelation and discovery of this Mysterie is made unto the souls of men. By these they do obtain it, or they obtain it not. The mysterie it self was a secret, hidden in the counsel of God from eternity; nor was there any way whereby it might be revealed, but by the Son of God. And that is done in the word of the gospel. If then you say you know it; Let us inquire how you came so to do? And by what means it has been declared unto you? Has this been done by a word of truth? by the promise of the gospel? Was it by preaching of the word unto you, or by reading of it, or meditating upon it? Or did you receive it from and by some seasonable word, of, or from the scriptures spoken unto you? Or has it insensibly gotten ground upon your hearts and minds, upon the strivings and conflicts of your souls about sin, from the truth wherein you had been instructed in General? Or by what other wayes or means have you come to that acquaintance with it, whereof you boast? You can tell how you came by your wealth, your Gold, and Silver; you know how you became learned, or obtained the knowledge of the mysterie of your trade, who taught you in it, and how you came by it. There is not any thing wherein you are concerned, but you can answer these inquiries in reference unto it. Think it then no great matter, if you are put to answer this question also; by what way or means came you to the knowledge of forgiveness which you boast of; Was it by any of those before mentioned, or some other? if you cannot answer distinctly to these things, only you say, you have heard it, and believed it ever since you can remember, so those said that went before you, so they say with whom you do converse; you never met with any one that called it into question, nor heard of any, unless it were one or two despairing wretches; it will be justly questioned, whether you have any portion in this matter or no. If uncertain rumours, reports, general notions, lye at the bottom of your perswasion, do not suppose that you have any communion with Christ therein.

5. Of them who profess to believe forgiveness, how few are there who indeed know what it is. They believe they say, but as the Samaritans Worshipped, they know not what. With some, a bold presumption, and crying peace peace, goes for the belief of forgiveness.

A General apprehension of impunity from God, and that though they are sinners, yet they shall not be punished, passs with others at the same rate.

Some think they shall prevail with God by their prayers and desires to let them alone, and not cast them into hell. One way or other to escape the Vengeance of hell, not to be punished in another world, is that which men fix their minds upon.

But is this that forgiveness which is revealed in the gospel? that which we have been treating about? The Rise and Spring of our forgiveness is in the heart and Gracious nature of God, declared by his name; Have you enquired seriously into this? Have you stood at the shore of that infinite Ocean of goodness and love? Have your souls found supportment and relief from that consideration? And have your hearts leaped within you with the thoughts of it? Or if you have never been affected in an especial manner herewithal, have you bowed down your souls under the considerations of that Soveraign Acts of the will of God, that is the next spring of forgiveness; that glorious acting of free grace, that when all might justly have perished, all having sinned and come short of his glory, God would yet have mercy on some? Have you given up your selves to this grace? Is this any thing of that you do believe? Suppose you are strangers to this also: What communion with God have you had about it in the blood of Christ? We have shewed how forgiveness relates thereunto; how way is made thereby for the exercise of mercy, in a consistency with the glory and honor of the justice of God, and of his law; how pardon is procured and purchased thereby; with the mysterious reconciliation of love and law; and the new disposal of conscience in its work and duty by it. What have you to say to these things? Have you seen pardon flowing from the heart of the father through the blood of the Son? Have you looked upon it as the price of his life, and the purchase of his blood? Or have you general thoughts that Christ dyed for finners? and that on one account or other forgiveness relates unto him, but are strangers to the mysterie of this great work. Suppose this also; Let us go a little further and inquire whether you know any thing that yet remains of the like importance in this matter? forgiveness as we have shewed, is manifested, tendred, exhibited in the covenant of grace and promises of the gospel. The rule of the Efficacy of these is, that they he mixed with faith, Hebrews 4:2. It is well if you are grown up hereunto; but you that are strangers to the things before mentioned, are no less to this also. Upon the matter you know not then what forgiveness is, nor wherein it consists, nor whence it comes, nor how it is procured, nor by what means given out unto sinners. It is to no purpose for such persons to pretend that they believe that whereunto either notionally, or practically, or both, they are such utter strangers.

6. Another inquiry into this matter regards the state and condition wherein souls must be, before it be possible for them to believe forgiveness. If there be such an estate and it can be evinced that very many of the Pretenders concerning whom we deal, were never brought into it, it is then evident that they neither do nor can believe forgiveness, however they do and may delude their own souls.

It has been shewed that the first discovery that was made of pardoning grace was unto Adam, presently after the fall. What was then his state and condition? How was he prepared for the reception of this great mysterie in its first discovery? that seems to be a considerable rule of proceeding in the same matter. That which is first in any kind, is a rule to all that follows. Now what was Adams condition when the Revelation of forgiveness was first made to him? it is known from the Story; convinced of sin, afraid of punishment, he lay trembling at the foot of God. Then was forgiveness revealed unto him; So the Psalmmist states it, Psalmm 130. verse 3. If you Lord shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord who shall stand? Full of thoughts he is of the desert of sin, and of inevitable and eternal ruine, in case God should deal with him according to the Exigence of the law. In that state is the great support of forgiveness with God, suggested unto him by the Holy Ghost. We know what work our savior had with the Pharisees on this account. Are we, say they, blind also? No, says he, you say, you see, therefore your sin remains, Johnn 9:40, 41. It is to no purpose to talk of forgiveness to such persons as you are, you must of necessity abide in your sins. I came not to call such righteous persons as you are, but sinners to repentance; who not only are so, as you are also, and that to the purpose, but are sensible of their being so, and of their undone condition thereby. The whole have no need of the Physitian, but the sick. Whilst you are seeming righteous and whole, it is to no end to tell you of forgiveness, you cannot understand it, nor receive it. It is impossible then that any one should in a due manner believe forgiveness in God, unless in a due manner he be convinced of sin in himself. If the fallow ground be not broken up, it is to no purpose to sow the seed of the gospel. There is neither life, power, nor sweetness in this truth, unless a door be opened for its Entrance by conviction of sin.

Let us then on this ground also, continue our inquiry upon the ordinary boasters of their skill in this mysterie. You believe there is forgiveness with God; Yes, but have you been convinced of sin? Yes; you know that you are sinners well enough. answer then but once more as to the nature of this conviction of sin, which you say you have; Is it not made up of these two ingredients. (1.) A general notion that you are sinners as all men also are. (2.) Particular troublesome reflections upon your selves, when on any eruption of sin, conscience accuses, rebukes, condemns? You will say, yes, what would you require more. This is not the conviction we are enquiring after; That is a work of the Spirit by the word; this you speak of, a mere Natural work, which you can no more be without than you can cease to be men. This will give no assistance unto the receiving of forgiveness. But it may be, you will say, you have proceeded farther than so; and these things have had an improvement in you. Let us then a little try whether your process have been according to the mind of God. And so whether this invincible barr in your way be removed or no. For although every convinced person do not believe forgiveness: yet no one who is not convinced does so. Have you then been made sensible of your condition by nature; what it is to be alienated from the life of God, and to be obnoxious to his wrath? Have you been convinced of the Universal Enmity that is in your hearts to the mind of God; and what it is to be at Enmity against God? Has the unspeakable multitude of the sins of your lives been set in order by the law before you? And have you considered what it is for sinners, such sinners as you are, to have to deal with a righteous and a holy God? Has the Holy Ghost wrought a serious Recognition in your hearts of all these things, and caused them to abide with you and upon you? If you will answer truly, you must say, many of you, that indeed you have not been so exercised. You have heard of these things many times, but to say that you have gone through with this work, and have had Experience of them, that you cannot do. Then I say you are strangers to forgiveness, because you are strangers unto sin: But and if you shall say that you have had thoughts to this purpose; and are perswaded that you have been throughly convinced of sin; I shall yet ask you one question more; what effects has your conviction produced in your hearts and lives? Have you been filled with perplexities and consternation of Spirit thereupon? Have you had fears dreads or terrors to wrestle withall? It may be you will say, No; Nor will I insist upon that inquiry; but this I deal with you in. Has it filled you with self-loathing and Abhorrency, with self-condemnation, and abasement? If it will do any thing this it will do. If you come short here, it is justly to be feared that all your other pretences are of no value; Now where there is no work of conviction, there is no faith of forgiveness, whatever is pretended. And how many vain boasters this sword will cut off is evident.

7. We have yet a greater evidence than all these. Men live in sin, and therefore they do not believe forgiveness of sin. faith in general purifies the heart, Acts 15:19. Our souls are purified in obeying the truth, 1 Peter 1:22. and the life is made fruitful by it, James 2:22. faith works by works, and makes it self perfect by them. And the doctrine concerning forgiveness has a special influence into all holiness, Titus 2:11, 12. The grace of God which brings salvation, teachs us to deny all unrighteousness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godlyin this present world. And that is the grace whereof we speak. No man can then believe forgiveness of sin, without a detestation and relinquishment of it. The ground of this might be farther manifested, and the way of the Efficacy of faith of forgiveness unto a forsaking of sin, if need were. But all that own the gospel must acknowledge this principle. The real belief of the pardon of sin, is prevalent with men not to live longer in sin.

But now what are the greatest number of those who pretend to receive this truth? Are their hearts purified by it? Are their consciences purged? Are their lives changed? Do they deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts? Does forgiveness teach them so to do? Have they found it effectual to these purposes? Whence is it then that there is such a bleating and bellowing to the contrary amongst them?

Some of you are Drunkards, some of you Swearers, some of you unclean persons, some of you lyars, some of you worldly, some of you haters of all the wayes of Christ, and all his concernments upon the earth; proud, covetous, boasters, selfseekers, envious, wrathful, backbiters, malitious praters, slanderers, and the like. And shall we think that such as these believe forgiveness of sin? God forbid. Again, Some of you are dark, ignorant, blind, utterly unacquainted with the mysterie of the gospel, nor do at all make it your business to inquire into it. Either you hear it not at all, or negligently, slothfully, customarily, to no purpose. Let not such persons deceive their own souls: to live in sin and yet to believe the forgiveness of sin, is utterly impossible. Christ will not be a minister of sin, nor give his gospel to be a doctrine of licentiousness for your sakes. Nor shall you be forgiven that you may be delivered to do more Abominations. God forbid.

If any shall say, that they thank God, they are no such Publicans as those mentioned; they are no drunkards, no swearers, no unclean persons, nor the like, so that they are not concerned in this consideration. Their lives and their duties give another account of them: then yet consider further,

That the Pharisees were all that you say of your selves; and yet the greatest despisers of forgiveness that ever were in the world, and that because they hated the light, on this account, that their deeds were evil. And for your duties you mention, what I pray is the root and spring of them? are they influenced from this faith of forgiveness you boast of or no? May it not be feared that it is utterly otherwise? you do not perform them because you love the gospel, but because you fear the law. If the truth were known, I doubt it would appear, that you get nothing by your believing of pardon, but an encouragement unto sin. Your goodness such as it is, springs from another root. It may be also that you ward your selves by it against the strokes of conscience, or the guilt of particular sins, this is as bad as the other. It is as good be encouraged unto sin, to commit it, as be encouraged under sin, so as to be kept from humiliation for it. None under heaven are more remote from the belief of grace and pardon, than such persons are: All their righteousness is from the law, and their sin in a great measure from the gospel.

8. They that believe forgiveness in a due manner, believe it for the ends and Purposes for which it is revealed of God. This will further improve and carry on the former consideration. If God reveals any thing for one end and purpose, and men use it quite unto another; they do not receive the word of God, nor believe the thing revealed, but steal the word and delude their own souls.

Let us then weigh to what ends and purposes this forgiveness was first revealed by God; for which also its manifestation is still continued in the gospel. We have shewed before who it was to whom this Revelation was first made, and what condition he was in when it was so made unto him. A lost, wretched creature, without hope or help he was; how he should come to obtain Acceptance with God, he knew not. God reveals forgiveness unto him by Christ to be his all. The intention of God in it was, that a sinners All should be of grace, Romansans 11:6. If any thing be added unto it for the same end and purpose, then grace is no more grace. Again, God intended it as a new foundation of obedience, of love and Thankfulness. That men should love because Forgiven, and be Holy because Pardoned; as I have shewed before, that it might be the righteousness of a sinner, and a spring of new obedience in him, all to the praise of grace, were Gods ends in its Revelation.

Our inquiry then is, whether men do receive this Revelation as unto these ends, and use it for these purposes, and these only. I might evince the contrary, by passing through the General abuses of the doctrine of grace, which are mentioned in the scripture, and common in the world; but it will not be needful. Instead of Believing, the most of men seem to put a studyed despight on the gospel. They either proclaim it to be an unholy and polluted way, by turning its grace into Lasciviousness, or a weak and insufficient way, by striving to twist it in with their own righteousness, both which are an Abomination unto the Lord.

From these and such other considerations of the like importance as might be added, it is evident that our word is not in vain; nor the exhortation which is to be built upon it. It appears, that notwithstanding the great noyse and pretences to this purpose that are in the world, they are but few who seriously receive this fundamental truth of the gospel; Namely, that there is forgiveness with God. Poor creatures sport themselves with their own deceivings, and perish by their own delusions.

Exhortation unto the Belief of the forgiveness that is with God. reasons for it, and the Necessity of it.

We shall now proceed unto the direct uses of this great truth. For having laid our foundation in the word that will not fail, and having given as we hope, sufficient evidence unto the truth of it, our last work is to make that improvement of it unto the Good of the souls of men, which all along was aimed at. The persons concerned in this truth are all sinners whatever. No sort of sinners are unconcerned in it, none are excluded from it. And we may cast them all under Two heads.

First, Such as never yet sincerely closed with the promise of grace; Nor have ever yet received forgiveness from God, in a way of believing. These we have already endeavoured to undeceive; and to discover those false presumptions whereby they are apt to ruine and destroy their own souls. These we would guide now into safe and pleasant paths, wherein they may find assured Rest and peace.

Secondly, Others there are, who have received it, but being again entangled by sin, or clouded by darkness and temptations, or weakned by unbelief, know not how to improve it to their peace and comfort. This is the condition of the soul represented in this Psalmm: And which we shall therefore apply our selves unto in an especial manner, in its proper place.

Our exhortation then is unto both; to the first, that they would receive it, that they may have life, to the latter, that they would improve it, that they may have peace. To the former that they would not overlook, disregard, or neglect so great salvation as is tendred unto them; to the latter, that they would stir up the grace of God that is in them, to mix with the grace of God that is declared unto them.

I shall begin with the first sort, those who are yet utter strangers from the covenant of grace; who never yet upon saving grounds believed this forgiveness; who never yet once tasted of gospel pardon. Poor sinners! this word is unto you.

Be it, that you have heard or read the same word before, or others like unto it, to the same purpose: It may be often, it may be an hundred times. It is your concernment to hear it again. God would have it so; The testimony of Jesus Christ is thus to be accomplished. This counsel of God we must declare that we may be free from the blood of all men, Acts 20:26, 27. And that not once or twice, but in preaching the word, we must be instant in season, out of season, reproving, rebuking, exhorting, with all long-suffering and doctrine, 2 Timothy 4:2. And for you, wo unto you, when God leaves thus speaking unto you; when he refuss to Exhort you any more, wo unto you. This is Gods departure from any person or people, when he will deal with them no more about forgiveness; and faith he, Wo unto them when I depart from them, Hosea 9:12. O that God therefore would give unto such persons, seeing Eyes, and hearing Ears, that the word of grace may never more be spoken unto them in vain. Now in our exhortation to such persons, we shall proceed gradually, according as the matter will bear, and the nature of it does require. Consider therefore,

1. That notwithstanding all your sins, all the evil that your own hearts know you to be guilty of, and that hidden Mass or evil treasure of sin which is in you, which you are not able to look into; notwithstanding that charge that lyes upon you from your own Consciences, and that dreadful sentence and curse of the law which you are obnoxious unto; notwithstanding all the just grounds that you have to apprehend that God is your Enemy, and will be so unto eternity; yet there are Terms of peace and reconciliation, provided and proposed between him and your souls. This in the first place is spoken out by the word we have insisted on. Whatever else it informs us of, this it positively asserts; namely, that there is a way whereby sinners may come to be accepted with God: For there is forgiveness with him that he may be feared. And we hope that we have not confirmed it by so many testimonies, by so many evidences in vain. Now that you may see how great a priviledge this is, and how much your concernment lyes in it; Consider,

1. That this belongs unto you in an especial manner, it is your peculiar advantage.

It is not so with the Angels that sinned. There were never any terms of peace or reconciliation proposed unto them, nor ever shall be unto eternity. There is no way of escape provided for them. Having once sinned, as you have done a thousand times, God spared them not, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them unto Chains of darkness, to be reserved unto Judgement, 2 Peter 2:4.

It is not so with them that are dead in their sins, if but one moment past. Ah how would many souls who are departed it may be not an hour since out of this world, rejoyce for an interest in this priviledge, the hearing of Terms of peace once more between God and them. But their time is past, their house is left unto them desolate. As the tree falls, so it must lye: It is appointed unto all men once to dye, and after that is the Judgement, Hebrews 9:27. After death there are no terms of peace, nothing but Judgement. The Living, the living, he alone is capable of this Advantage.

It is not so with them to whom the gospel is not preached. God suffers them to walk in their own wayes, and calls them not thus to repentance. The Terms of reconciliation which some fancy to be offered in the shining of the Sun, and falling of the rain, never brought souls to peace with God. life and immortality are brought to light only by the gospel. This is your priviledge who yet live, and yet have the word sounding in your Ears.

It is not thus with them who have sinned against the Holy Ghost, though yet alive, and living where the word of forgiveness is preached. God proposs unto them no terms of reconciliation. Blasphemy against him, says Christ, shall not be forgiven, Matthew 12:31. There is no forgiveness for such sinners. And we, if we knew them, ought not to pray for them, 1 Johnn 5:16. Their sin is unto death. And what numbers may be in this condition God knows.

This word then is unto you; These terms of peace are proposed unto you. This is that which in an especial manner you are to apply your selves unto. And wo unto you, if you should be found to have neglected it at the last day. Wherefore consider,

2. By whom these terms are proposed unto you, and by whom they were procured for you. By whom are they proposed? Who shall undertake to umpire the business, the controversie between God and sinners? No creature doubtless is either meet or worthy to interpose in this matter. I mean originally on his own account. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor? Wherefore it is God himself who proposs these terms; and not only proposs them, but invites, exhorts, and perswades you to accept of them. This the whole scriptures testifie unto. It is fully expressed, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19, 20. He has provided them, he has proposed them, and makes use only of men, of ministers, to act in his name. And excuse us if we are a little earn with you in this matter. Alas, our utmost that we can by zeal for his glory, or compassion unto your souls, raise our thoughts, minds, spirits, words unto, comes infinitly short of his own pressing earnestness herein. See Isaiah 55:1, 2, 3, 4. Oh infinite condescention! O blessed grace! Who is this that thus bespeaks you? He, against whom you have sinned, of whom you are justly afraid. He whose laws you have broken, and whose name you have dishonoured; He who needs not you, nor your love, nor your Friendship, nor your salvation. It is He who proposs unto you these terms of reconciliation and peace. Consider the exhortation of the apostle upon this consideration, Hebrews 12:25. See that you refuse not him that speaks from heaven. It is God that speaks unto you in this matter: And he speaks unto you from heaven. And he does therein forego all the Advantage that he has against you for your destruction. Wo would be unto your souls, and that for ever, if you should refuse him.

3. By whom were these Terms procured for you? and by what means? Do not think that this matter was brought about by chance, or by an ordinary undertaking. Remember that the proposal made unto you this day cost no less than the price of the blood of the Son of God. It is the fruit of the travail of his soul. For this he prayed, he wept, he suffered, he dyed. And shall it now be neglected or despised by you? will you yet account the blood of the covenant to be a common thing? will you exclude your selves from all benefit of the purchase of these terms, and only leave your souls to answer for the Contempt of the price whereby they were purchased?

4. Consider, that you are sinners, great sinners, cursed sinners; Some of you it may be, worse than innumerable of your fellow sinners were, who are now in hell. God might long since have cast you off everlastingly, from all expectation of mercy, and have caused all your hopes to perish. Or he might have lest you alive, and yet have refused to deal with you any more. He could have caused your Son to go down at noon day, and have given you darkness instead of vision. He could respite your lives for a season, and yet swearin his wrath, that you should never enter into his rest. It is now otherwise. How long it may be so, nor you, nor I know any thing at all. God only knows what will be your time, what your continuance. We are to speak whilst it is called to day. And this is that for the present which I have to offer unto you. God declares that there is forgiveness with him; that your condition is not desperate nor helpless. There are yet terms of peace proposed unto you. Methinks it cannot but seem strange, that poor sinners should not at the least stir up themselves to inquire after them. When a poor man had sold himself of old, and his Children to be servants, and parted with the land of his inheritance unto another because of his poverty; with what heart do you think did he hear the sound of the Trumpet, when it began to proclaim the year of Jubilee, wherein he and all his were to go out at liberty, and to return unto his possession and Inheritance? And shall not poor servants of sin, slaves unto Satan, that have forfeited all their Inheritance in this world, and that which is to come, attend unto any Proclamation of the year of Rest, of the acceptable year of the Lord? And this is done in the tender of terms of peace with God in this matter. Do not put it off; this thing belongs unto you; The great concernment of your souls lyes in it. And it is a great matter; for consider,

5. That when the Angels came to bring the news of the Birth of our Lord Jesus, they say, we bring tydings of great joy to the whole people, Luke 2:10. What are these joyful tydings? What was the matter of this report? Why, this day is born a savior, Christ the Lord, verse 11. It is only this; a savior is born; a way of escape is provided, and further they do not proceed. Yet this they say is a matter of great joy, as it was indeed. It is so to every burdned convinced sinner, a matter of unspeakable joy and rejoycing. Oh blessed words! a savior is born. This gives life to a sinner, and opens a door of hope in the valley of Achor. The first rescue of a sin distressed soul. Upon the matter, it was all that the saints for many Ages had to live upon; and that not in the enjoyment, but only the expectation. They lived on that word, the seed of the Woman shall break the Serpents head; that is, a wayof deliverance is provided for sinners. This with all diligence they enquired into, 1 Peter 1:10, 11, 12. and improved it to their eternal advantage. As of old, Jacob when he saw the Waggons that his Son Joseph had sent to bring him unto him, it is said his Spirit revived: So did they upon their obscure discovery of a way of forgiveness. They looked upon the promise of it as that which God had sent to bring them unto him; and they saw the day of the coming of Christ in it, and rejoyced. How much more have sinners now reason so to do, when the substance of the promise is exhibited, and the news of his Comeing proclaimed unto them. This then is a great matter; namely, that terms of peace and reconciliation are proposed; in that it is made known, that there is forgiveness with God. Upon these considerations then we pursue that exhortation which we have in hand.

If any of you were justly condemned to a cruel and shameful death, and lay trembling in the expectation of the execution of it, and a man designed for that purpose should come unto him, and tell him that there were terms propounded on which his life might be spared, only he came away like Ahimaaz before he heard the particulars; would it not be a reviving unto him? would he not cry out, Pray inquire what they are, for there is not any thing so difficult which I will not undergoe to free my self from this miserable condition? Would it not change the whole frame of the spirit of such a man, and as it were put new life into him? But now if instead hereof, he should be froward, stubborn and obstinate, take no notice of the Messenger, or say, Let the judge keep his terms to himself, without inquiring what they are; that he would have nothing to do with them; would not such a person be deemed to perish deservedly? does he not bring a double destruction upon himself; first of deserving death by his crimes, and then by refusing the honest and good way of delivery tendred unto him? I confess it often times falls out, that men may come to inquire after these terms of peace, which when they are revealed, they like them not, but with the young man in the gospel they go away sorrowful. The cursed wickedness and misery of which condition, which befalls many convinced persons, shall be spoken unto afterwards. At present I speak unto them who never yet attended in sincerity unto these terms, nor seriously enquired after them. Think you what you please of your condition, and of your selves; or choose whether you will think of it or no, pass your time in a full regardlesness, of your present and future estate. Yet indeed thus it is with you, as to your eternal concerns; you lye under the sentence of a bitter, shameful, and everlasting death; you have done so in the midst of all your jollity, ever since you came into this world: And you are in the hand of him, who can in the twinkling of an eye destroy both body and soul in hell fire. In this state and condition, men are sent on purpose, to let you know that there are terms of peace, there is yet a way of escape for you: And that you may not avoid the issue aimed at, they tell you, that God that cannot lye, has commanded them to tell you so; if you question the truth of what they say, they are ready to produce their warrant under Gods own hand and seal; here then is no room for tergiversation or excuses. Certainly, if you have any care of your eternal estate, if you have any drop of tender blood running in your veins towards your own souls, if you have any rational considerations dwelling in your minds, if all be not defaced and obliterated through the power of lust, and love of sin, you cannot but take your selves to be unspeakably concerned in this proposal; But now if instead hereof, you give up your selves unto the power of unbelief, the will of Sathan, the love of your lusts, and this present world, so as to take no notice of this errand or message from God, nor once seriously to inquire after the nature and importance of the terms proposed, Can you escape? shall you be delivered? will your latter end be peace? The Lord knows it will be otherwise with you, and that unto eternity.

So the apostle assures us: 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the Image of God, should shine into them. If you receive not this word, if it be bid from you, it is from the power and efficacy of Sathan upon your minds. And what will be the end? Perish you must, and shall, and that for ever.

Remember the Parable of our savior, Luke 14:31, 32. What king, going to make warre, against another king, sitts not down first, and consults whether he be able with Ten Thousand to meet him that coms against him with Twenty Thousand; or else while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an Ambassage and desirs conditions of peace. That which he teachs in this Parable is, the necessity that lyes on us, of making peace with God, whom we have provoked, and justly made to be our Enemy; as also our utter impotency to resist and withstand him, when he shall come forth in a way of Judgement and Vengeance against us. But here lyes a difference in this matter, such as is allowed in all similitudes; Amongst men at variance, it is not his part who is the stronger, and secure of success, to send to the weaker, whom he has in his power, to accept of terms of peace. Here it is otherwise, God who is infinitely powerful, justly provoked, and able to destroy poor sinners in a moment; when now he is not very far off, but at the very door, sends himself an Ambassage with conditions of peace. And shall he be refused by you? will you yet neglect his offers? How great then will be your destruction?

Hear then once more poor sin-hardened sensless souls, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness. Is it nothing unto you, that the great and holy God whom ye have provoked all your dayes, and whom you yet continue to provoke, who has not the least need of you or your salvation, who can when he pleass eternally glorifie himself in your destruction, should of his own accord send unto you, to let you know that he is willing to be at peace with you, on the terms he had prepared? The Enmity began on your part, the danger is on your part only; and he might justly expect that the message for peace should begin on your part also; But he begins with you; and shall he be rejected? The prophet well expresss this, Isaiah 30:15. Thus says the Lord God, the holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength, and you would not. The love and Condescention that is in these words, on the one hand, on the part of God, and the folly and ingratitude mentioned in them on the other hand is inexpressible. They are fearful words; But you would not. Remember this against another day. As our savior sayes in the like manner to the Jewes; You will not come unto me, that ye may have life. Whatever is pretended, it is will and stubbornness that lye at the bottom of this refusal.

Wherefore, that either You may obtain Advantage by it, or that the way of the Lord may be prepared for the Glorifying of himself upon you, I shall leave this word before all them that hear, or read it, as the testimony which God requires to be given unto his grace. There are terms of peace with God provided for you and tendred unto you; It is yet called to day, harden not your hearts, like them of old, who could not enter into the Rest of God, by reason of unbelief, Hebrews 3:19. Some of you, it may be, are old in sins, and unacquainted with God; some of you, it may be, have been great sinners, scandalous sinners; and some of you, it may be, have reason to apprehend your selves neer the grave, and so also to hell; some of you it may be, have your Consciences disquieted and galled; and it may be some of you are under some outward Troubles, and Perplexities, that cause you a little to look about you; and some of you it may be are in the madness of your natural strength and lusts; your breasts are full of milk, and your bones of marrow, and your hearts of sin, pride and contempt of the wayes of God; All is one; This word is unto you all; And I shall only mind you, That it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You hear the voyce, or read the words of a poor worm, but the Message is the Message, and the word is the word of him who shaks heaven and earth. Consider then well what you have to do; and what answer you will return unto him who will not be mocked.

But you will say; Why, what great matter is there that you have in hand? why is it urged with so much earnestness? We have heard the same words an hundred times over. The last Lords day, such a one, or such a one preached to the same purpose; And what need it be insisted on now again, with so much importunity?

But is it so indeed; that you have thus frequently been dealt withall, and do yet continue in an estate of irreconciliation; my heart is pained for you, to think of your wofull and almost remediless condition. If he that being often reproved, and yet stiffens his neck, shall perish suddenly, and that without remedy, Proverbs 29:1. how much more will he do so, who being often invited unto peace with God, yet hardens his heart, and refuss to treat with him? Methinks I hear his voyce concerning you; Those mine enemies, they shall not taste of the Supper that I have prepared. Be it then that the word in hand is a common word unto you, you set no value upon it; then take your way and course in sin; stumble, fall, and perish; It is not so slight a matter to poor convinced sinners, that tremble at the word of God. These will prize it, and improve it. We shall follow then that counsel, Proverbs 31:6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine to those that be of an heavy heart. We shall tender this New Wine of the gospel to poor sad hearted, conscience distressed sinners; sinners that are ready to perish; to them it will be pleasant, they will drink of it, and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. It shall take away all their sorrow and sadness; when you shall be drunk with the fruit of your lusts, and spue, and lie down, and not rise again.

But now if any of you shall begin to say in your hearts, that you would willingly treat with God; oh that the day were come wherein we might approach unto him! let him speak what he pleass, and propose what terms he pleass, we are ready to hear. Then consider,

Secondly, That the Terms provided for you, and proposed unto you, are equal, holy, righteous, yea pleasant, and easie. This being another General head of our work in hand, before I proceed to the further explication and confirmation of it, I shall educe one or two Observations from what has been delivered on the first. As,

1. See here on what foundation we preach the gospel. Many disputes there are, whether Christ died for all individuals of Mankinde or no; if we say No, but only for the elect who are some of all sorts; some then tell us, we cannot invite all men promiscuously to believe. But why so; we invite not men, as all men; no man, as one of all men, but all men as sinners: And we know that Christ died for sinners. But is this the first thing, that we are in the dispensation of the gospel to propose to the soul of a sinner, under the law; That Christ dyed for him in particular. Is that the beginning of our Message unto him? were not this a ready way to induce him to conclude, Let me then continue in sin that grace may abound; No; but this is in order of nature our first work; even that which we have had in hand. This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the voyce of one crying in the Wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. There is a way of reconciliation provided. God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself. There is a way of acceptance; there is forgiveness with him to be obtained. At this Threshold of the Lords house, does the greatest part of men to whom the gospel is preached fall and perish, never looking in to see the Treasures that are in the house it self; never coming into any such state and condition, wherein they have any ground or bottom to inquire, whether Christ dyed for them in particular or no. They believe not this report, nor take any serious notice of it. This was the ministry of the Baptist, and they who received it not, rejected the counsel of God concerning their salvation, Luke 7:10. And so perished in their sins. This is the summe of the blessed invitation given by wisdom, Proverbs 9:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And here men stumble, fall, and perish, Proverbs 1:29, 30.

2. You that have found grace and favor to accept of these terms, and thereby to obtain peace with God; Learn to live in an holy Admiration of his condescension and love therein. That he would provide such terms; That he would reveal them unto you; that he would enable you to receive them. Unspeakable love and grace lyes in it all. Many have not these terms revealed unto them; few find favor to accept of them; and of whom is it that you have obtained this peculiar mercy?

Do you aright consider the nature of this matter? The scripture proposs it as an object of eternal admiration, SoGod loved the world; herein is love, not that we loved God, but he loved us first. Live in this Admiration, and do your utmost in your several capacities to prevail with your Friends, relations, Acquaintance, to hearken after this great treaty of peace with God, whose terms we shall nextly consider, as before in general they were expressed.

2. The terms provided for you, and proposed unto you, are equal, holy, righteous, yea pleasant and easie, Hes. 2:18, 19. They are not such, as a cursed guilty sinner might justly expect, but such as are meet for an infinitely Good and Gracious God to propose; not suited to the wisdom of man, but full of the wisdom of God, 2 Corinthians 2:6, 7. The poor convinced wretch, thinking of dealing with God, Micah 6:6, 7. rolls in his mind what terms he is like to meet withall; and fixes on the most dreadful, difficult, and impossible that can be imagined. If says he any thing be done with this Great and most high God, it must be by Rivers, Thousands, and Ten Thousands, Children, first born; whatever is dreadful and terrible to nature, whatever is impossible for me to perform, that is it which he looks for. But the matter is quite otherwise. The terms are wholly of another nature; it is a way of mere mercy, a way of free forgiveness. The apostle lays it down, Romansans 3:23, 24, 25. it is a way of propitiation, of pardon, of forgiveness in the blood of Christ; the Terms are the Acceptance of the forgiveness that we have described. Who would not think now that the whole world would run in to be made partakers of these terms, willingly accepting of them. But it proves for the most part quite otherwise. Men like not this way of all others. It had been something, says Naaman, if the prophet had come and done so and so; but this, Go, wash and be clean, I do not like it, I am but deluded. Men think within themselves, that had it been some great thing that was required of them that they might be saved, they would with all speed address themselves thereunto; but to come to God by Christ, to be freely forgiven without more adoe, they like it not. Some rigid austere penances, some compensatory obedience, some satisfactory mortification, or Purgatory, had been a more likely way. This of mere pardon in and by the Cross, it is but folly, 1 Corinthians 1:18. 20. I had rather, says the jew, have it as it were by the works of the law, Romansans 9:32. and Chap. 10:3. This way of grace and forgiveness, I like not. So say others also. So practise others every day; either this way is wholly rejected, or it is mended by some additions; which with God, is all one with the rejection of it.

Here multitudes of souls deceive themselves and perish. I know not whether be more difficult, to perswade an unconvinced person to think of any terms, or a convinced person to accept of these. Let men say what they will, and pretend what they please; yet practically they like not this way of forgiveness. I shall therefore offer some subservient considerations, tending to the furtherance of your souls, in the Acceptance of the Terms proposed.

1. This is the way, these are Terms of Gods own choosing; He found out this way, he established it himself. He did it when all was lost, and undone. He did it not upon our desire, request, or proposal, but merely of his own Accord, and why should we contend with him about it? If God will have us saved in a way of mere mercy and forgiveness; If his wisdom and Soveraignty be in it, shall we oppose him, and say we like it not? Yet this is the language of unbelief, Romansans 10:3, 4. Many poor creatures have disputed it with God, untill at length being over-powered as it were by the Spirit, have said, If it must be so, and God will save us by mercy and grace, let it be so, we yield our selves to his will; and yet throughout their disputes dreamed of nothing but that their own unworthiness only kept them from closing with the promise of the gospel.

Of this nature was that way of Sathan whereby he deceived our first Parents of their Interest in the covenant of works; the terms of it, says he, as apprehended by you, are unequal. Yea, has God said, ye shall eat of every Tree of the Garden, but of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, ye shall not eat, lest ye die; come, you shall not dye, for God does know in the day you eat thereof your eyes shall be opened. There is no proportion between the disobedience and the threatning. The Issue cannot be such as is feared. And by these means he ruined them. Thus also he proceeds to deprive souls of their Interest in the covenant of grace, whereunto they are invited. The Terms of it are unequall, how can any man believe them? There is no proportion between the obedience and the promise. To have pardon, forgiveness, life, and blessed eternity on believing, who can rest in it? And here lyes a conspiracy between Sathan and unbelief, against the wisdom, goodness, love, grace and Soveraignty of God. The poyson of this deceit lyes in this; that neither the righteousness, nor the mercy of God is of that infiniteness, as indeed they are. The apostle to remove this fond imagination, calls us to the pleasure of God, 1 Corinthians 1:27. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, that is by the gospel preached, which they esteemed foolishness, to save believers. He suffered men indeed to make tryall of other wayes; and when their insufficiency for the ends men proposed to themselves was sufficiently manifested, it pleased him to reveal his way. And what are we, that we should contend about it with him? This rejection of the way of personal righteousness, and choosing the way of grace and forgiveness, God asserts, Jerem. 31:31, 32, 33, 34. Behold, the dayes come, says the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers: (in which administration of the covenant as far as it had respect unto Typical mercies, much depended on their personal obedience) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel, after these dayes, says the Lord,—I will put my laws, &c. and I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their sins no more. Let then this way stand, and the way of mans wisdom and self righteousness perish for ever.

2. This is the way that above all others atends directly and immediately to the glory of God. God has managed and ordered all things in this way of forgiveness, so as no flesh should glory in his presence, but that he that gloris should glory in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:29. 31. Where then is Boasting? it is excluded; by what law? by the law of works; nay, but by the law ofFaith, Romansans 3:27. It might be easily manifested, that God has so laid the design of saving sinners by forgiveness according to the law of faith, that it is utterly impossible that any soul should on any account whatever have the least ground of Glorying, or boasting in its self, either absolutely, or in comparison with them that perish. If Abraham, says the same apostle, were justified by works, he had whereof to glory, but not before God, Chap. 4:2. The obedience of works would have been so infinitely disproportionate to the reward, which was God himself, that there had been no glorying before God; but therein his goodness and grace must be acknowledged; yet in comparison with others who yielded not the obedience required, he would have had wherein to glory; But now this also is cast off by the way of forgiveness, and no pretence is left for any to claim the least share in the glory of it but God alone; and herein lyes the excellency of faith, that it gives glory unto God, Romansans 4:20. the denyal whereof under various pretences is the issue of proud unbelief. And this is that which God will bring all unto, or they shall perish; Namely, that shame be ours, and the whole glory of our salvation be his alone. So he expresss his design, Isaiah 45:22, 23, 24, 25. verse 22. he proposs himself as the only relief for sinners; Look unto me, (says he) and be saved, all ye ends of the earth; But what if men take some other course, and look well to themselves, and so decline this way of mere mercy and grace, wh[•] says he, verse 23. I have sworn by my self, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me, every Knee shall bow, and every Tongue shall swear. Look you unto that; but I have sworn that you shall either do so, or answer your disobedience at the day of Judgement; whereunto Paul applyes those words, Romansans 14:11. what do the saints hereupon? verse 24, 25. Surely shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. They bring their hearts to accept of all righteousness from him, and to give all glory unto him.

God at first placed Man in a blessed state and condition, in such a dependance on himself, as that he might have wrought out his Eternal happiness with a great Reputation of glory unto himself. Man being in this honor, says the Psalmmist, abode not. God now fixes on another way, as I said, wherein all the glory shall be his own, as the apostle at large sets it forth, Romansans 3:23, 24, 25, 26. Now neither the way from which Adam fell, nor that wherein some of the Angels continued, which for the substance were the same, is to be compared with this of forgiveness, as to the bringing glory unto God. I hate curiosities and conjectures in the things of God: Yet upon the account of the interposition of the blood of Christ, I think I may boldly say, there comes more glory to God, by saving one sinner in this way of forgiveness, than in giving the reward of blessedness to all the Angels in heaven; So seems it to appear, from that solemn Representation, we have of the Ascription of glory to God by the whole creation, Revel. 5:9. 10, 11, 12, 13. All centers in the bringing forth forgiveness by the blood of the Lamb.

I insist the more on this, because it lyes so directly against that cursed principle of Unbelief, which reigns in the hearts of the most, and often disquiets the best. That a poor ungodly sinner, going to God with the guilt of all his sins upon him, to receive forgiveness at his hand, does bring more glory unto him, than the obedience of an Angel, men are not over-ready to think, nor can be prepared for it, but by it self. And the formal nature of that unbelief which works in Convinced sinners, lyes in a refusal to give unto God the whole glory of salvation. There are many hurtful Controversies in religion that are managed in the world with great noyse and clamour; but this is the greatest and most pernicious of them all, and it is for the most part silently transacted in the souls of men; although under various forms and pretences. It has also broken forth in writings and disputations, that is, Whether God or man shall have the glory of salvation; or whether it shall wholly be ascribed unto God, or that man also on one account or other, may come in for a share. Now if this be the state and condition with any of you, that you will rather perish, than God should have his glory, what shall we say, but Go ye cursed souls, perish for ever, without the least compassion from God, or any that love him, Angels or Men.

If you shall say, for your parts you are contented with this course, let God have the glory, so you may be forgiven and saved; There is yet just cause to suspect, lest this be a selfish contempt of God. It is a great thing to give glory unto God by believing, in a due manner. Such slight returns seem not to have the least relation unto it. Take heed that instead of believing, you be not found mockers, and so your bands be made strong.

But a poor Convinced sinner may here finde encouragement, You wouldst willingly come to Acceptance with God, and so attain salvation; Oh my soul longs for it; wouldst you willingly take that course for the obtaining those ends which will bring most glory unto God? Surely it is meet and most equal that I should do so; What now if one should come and tell you from the Lord of a way, whereby you poor, sinful, self condemned creature, mightst bring as much glory unto God, as any Angel in heaven is able to doe? Oh, if I might bring the least glory unto God, I should rejoyce in it. Behold then the way which himself has fixed on for the exaltation of his glory: Even, that you shouldst come to him merely upon the account of grace in the blood of Christ, for pardon and forgiveness, and the Lord strengthen you to give up your self thereunto.

3. Consider, That if this way of salvation be refused, there is no other way for you. We do not propose this way of forgiveness as the best and most pleasant, but as the only way. There is no other name given but that of Christ; no other way but this of forgiveness. Here lyes your choice; take this path, or perish for ever. It is a shame indeed unto our cursed nature that there should be any need to use this argument, that we will neither submit to Gods Soveraignty, nor delight in his glory. But seeing it must be used, let it be so. I intend neither to flatter men, nor to frighten them; but to tell them the truth as it is. If you continue in your present state, and condition, if you rest on what you do, or what you hope to do, if you support your selves with general hopes of mercy, mixed with your own endeavours and obedience, if you come not up to a through gospel-closure with this way of God, if you make it not your All, giving glory to God therein; perish you will, and must, and that to eternity. There remains no more sacrifice for your sins, nor way of escape for your souls. You have not then only the excellency of this way to invite you, but the absolute indispensable necessity of this way to enforce you. And now let me adde, that I am glad this word is spoken, is written unto you. You and I must one day be accountable for this discourse. That word that has already been spoken, if neglected, will prove a sore testimony against you. It will not fare with you, as with other men who have not heard the Joyful sound. All these words that shall be found consonant to the gospel, if they are not turned to grace in your hearts here, will turn into Torment unto your souls hereafter. Choose not any other way, it will be in vain for you; it will not profit you; and take heed lest you suppose you Embrace this way, when indeed you do not, about which I have given Caution before.

4. This way is free and open for and unto sinners. He that fled to the City of Refuge, might well have many perplexed thoughts, whether he should finde the Gates of it opened unto him or no, and whether the Avenger of blood might not overtake and slay him, whil he was calling for entrance. Or if the Gates were alwayes open, yet some crimes excluded men thence. Numb. 35:24. It is not so here. Acts 13:38, 39.

This is the voyce of God even the father; come says he to the Marriage, for all things are prepared, no fear of want of entertainment, Matthew 22:4. whence the Preachers of the gospel are said in his stead to beseech men to be reconciled, 2 Corinthians 5:18. And

It is the voyce of the Son; whosoever, says he, coms to God by me, I will in no wise cast out, Johnn 6:37. Who ere he be that comes shall assuredly find entertainment; the same is his call and invitation in other places, as Matthew 11:28. Johnn 7:37. and

This is the voyce of the Spirit, and of the church, and of all believers, Revel. 22:17. The Spirit and the Bride say, Come, and let him that hears say Come; and let him that is athirstcome, and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely; All center in this, that sinners may come freely to the grace of the gospel. And

It is the known voyce of the gospel it self, as Isaiah 55:1, 2, 3. Proverbs 9:1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And it is the voyce of all the saints in heaven and earth, who have been made partakers of forgiveness, they all testifie, that they received it freely.

Some indeed endeavour to abuse this concurrent testimony of God and Man. What is spoken of the freedom of the grace of God, they would wrest to the power of the will of man: But the riches and freedom of Gods mercy do not in the least enterfere with the efficacy of his grace. Though he proclaim pardon in the blood of Christ indefinitely, according to the fullness and excellency of it, yet he givs out his quickening grace to enable men to receive it, as he pleass, for he has mercy on whom he will have mercy. But this lyes in the thing it self, the way is open and prepared, and it is not because men cannot enter, but because they will not, that they do not enter. As our savior Christ tells the Pharisees, Ye therefore hear not Gods word, because ye are not of God. Johnn 8:47. and Johnn 6:44. So he does, Ye will not come unto me that you may have life, Johnn 5:40. In the neglect, and inadvertency of the most excusable, there is a positive Acts of their will put forth in the refusing of Christ and grace by him. And this is done by men under the preaching of the gospel every day. There is nothing that at the last day will tend more immediately to the advancement of the glory of God, in the inexcusableness of them who obey not the gospel, than this, that Terms of peace in the blessed way of forgiveness were freely tendred unto them. Some that hear or read this word, may perhaps have lived long under the dispensation of the word of grace, and yet it may be have never once seriously pondered on this way of comeing to God by forgiveness through the blood of Christ; but think, that going to heaven is a thing of course, that men need not much trouble themselves about; do they know what they have done? hitherto all their dayes they have positively refused the salvation, that has been freely tendred unto them in Jesus Christ. Not they, they'l say, they never had such athought, nor would for all this world. But be it known unto you, in as much as you have not effectually received him, you have refused him, and whether your day and season be past or no, the Lord only knows.

5. This way is safe. No soul ever miscarried in it. There is none in heaven but will say it is a safe way; There is none in hell can say otherwise. It is safe to all that venture on it, so as to enter into it. In the old way we were to preserve our selves and the way. This preserves it self and us; This will be made evident by the ensuing considerations.

1. This is the way which in the wisdom, Care, and love of God in Christ, was provided in the room of another, removed and taken out of the way for this cause and reason, because it was not safe, nor could bring us unto God, Hebrews 8:7, 8. For if the First covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the Second; but finding fault with them, he says. And,

1. He tells us, that the first covenant was not faultless, for if it had, there would have been no need of a Second. The Commandement indeed, which was the matter of that covenant, the same apostle informs us to be holy, just, and good, Romansans 7:12. But it was faulty as to all ends of a covenant, considering our state and condition as sinners; it could not bring us unto God. So he acquaints us Romansans 8:3. It was made weak through the flesh; that is, by the entrance of sin, and so became unuseful as to the saving of souls. Be it so then; through our sin and default this good and holy law, this covenant was made unprofitable unto us; But what was that unto God? was he bound to desert his own Institution and Appointment, because through our own default it ceased to be profitable unto us? Not at all; He might righteously have tyed us all unto the terms of that covenant, to stand or fall by them unto eternity. But he would not do so. But

Secondly, In his love and grace, he finds fault with it, verse 8. not in its self, and absolutely, but only so far as that he would provide another way, which should supply all its defects and wants in reference to the end aimed at. What way that is, the apostle declares in the following verses to the end of that chapter. The summe is, verse 12. I will be mercifullto their unrighteousness, and their sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more. It is the way of pardon and forgiveness: This is substituted in the room of that insufficient way that was removed.

Let us consider then, whether the infinitely Wise and Holy God, pursuing his purpose of bringing souls unto himself, laying aside one way of his own appointment as useless, and infirm, because of the coming in of sin, against which there was no relief found in it, and substituting another way in the room of it; would not provide such an one, as should be absolutely free from the faults and inconveniencies, which he charged upon that, which he did remove. That which alone rendred the former way faulty was sin; it could do any thing but save a sinner; this then was to be, and is principally provided against in this way of forgiveness. And we see here, how clearly God has severed, yea and in this matter opposed these two things, (1.) Namely, the way of personal righteousness, and the way of forgiveness. He finds fault with the first; what then does he do? what course does he take? does he mend it, take from it what seems to be redundant, mitigate its severity, and supply it where it was wanting, by forgiveness, and so set it up anew? This indeed is the way that many proceed in in their notions, and the most in their practice. But this is not the way of God. He takes the one utterly away, and establishes the other in its place. And mens endeavours to mix them will be found of little use to them at the last. I can have no great expectation from that which God pronounced faulty.

(2.) The unchangeable principles and Foundations that this way is built upon, render it secure and safe for sinners, for,

1. It is founded on the purpose of God, Galatians 3:8. The scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Heathen through faith. God would do so, he had purposed and determined to proceed this way; and all the purposes of God are attended with immutability; and

2. His promise also is engaged in it, and that given out in the way of a covenant, as has been already declared; and

3. This promise is confirmed by an Oath; and it may be observed, that God does not in any thing interpose with an Oath, but what relates to this way of coming to himself by forgiveness. For the Oath of God wherever it is used, respects either Christ Typically, or personally, or the covenant established in him; for,

4. This way is confirmed and ratified in his Blood; from whence the apostle at large evincs its absolute security and safety, Hebrews 9. Whatever soul then on the invitation under consideration, shall give up himself to come to God, by the way proposed; he shall assuredly find absolute peace, and security in it. Neither our own weakness, or folly from within, nor the opposition of any of all our Enemies from without, shall be able to turn us out of this way. See Isaiah 35:4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

3. In the other way, every individual person stands upon his own bottom, and must do so, to the last, and utmost of his continuance in this world. You are desirous to go unto God, to obtain his favor, and come to an enjoyment of him. What will you doe? What course will you fix upon, for the obtaining of these ends? if you were so holy, so perfect, so righteous, so free from sin as you could desire, you should have some boldness in going unto God; why if this be the way you fix upon, take this along with you: You stand upon your own personal Account all your dayes. And if you fail in the least you are gone for ever. For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all, Jam. 2:10. And what peace can you possibly obtain, were you as holy as ever you aimed or desired to be, whil this is your condition? But in this way of forgiveness, we all stand upon the Account of one common Mediator in whom we are compleat. Colossians 3:10. And a want of a due improvement of this truth, is a great principle of disconsolation to many souls. Suppose a man look upon himself as loosed from the covenant of works, wherein exact and perfect righteousness is rigidly required; and to be called unto gospel Evangelical obedience to be performed in the room thereof, in sincerity and integrity; yet if he be not cleared in this also, that he stands not in this way purely on his own account, he will never be able to make his Comforts hold out to the end of his Journey. There will be found in the best of men so many particular failings, as will seem in difficult seasons to impeach their integrity; And so many questionings will after arise, through the darkness of their minds, and power of their Temptations, as will give but little rest unto their souls. Here lyes the great security of this way; We abide in it on the account of the faithfulness and Ability of our Common Mediator Jesus Christ.

And this is another consideration, strengthening our invitation to a closure with the way of coming unto God, under proposal. There is nothing wanting that is needful to give infallible Security to any soul, that shall venture himself into it and upon it. There are Terms of peace proposed, as you have heard. These terms are excellent, and holy, and chosen of God, tending to the interest of his glory; free, safe, and secure unto sinners. What has any soul in the world to object against them? or wherein do men repose their trust and confidence in the neglect of this so great salvation? Is it in their Lusts, and sins, that they will yield them as much satisfaction and contentment as they shall need to desire? Alas, they will ruine them, and bring forth nothing but death. Is it in the world? it will deceive them; the figure of it passs away. Is it in their duties, and righteousness? they will not relieve them; for did they follow the law of righteousness, they could not obtain the righteousness of the law. Is it in the continuance of their lives? Alas, it is but a shadow, a vapour that appears for a little while. Is it in a future Amendment and repentance? hell is full of souls perishing under such Resolutions. Only this way of pardon remains, and yet of all others is most despised. But yet I have one consideration more to adde before I further enforce the exhortation.

6. Consider, that this is the only way and means to enable you unto obedience, and to render what you do therein acceptable unto God. It may be that some of you are under the power of Convictions, and have made Engagements unto God, to live unto him, to keep your selves from fin, and to follow after holiness. It may be you have done so in Afflictions, dangers, sicknesses, or upon the receipt of mercies; but yet you find that you cannot come unto stability or constancy in your course; you break with God and your own souls, which fills you with new disquietments, or else hardens you, and makes you secure and negligent; so that you return unto your purposes no oftner, than your Convictions or Afflictions befall you anew. This condition is ruinous and pernitious, which nothing can deliver you from, but this closing with forgiveness. For,

1. All that you do without this, however it may please your minds or ease your Consciences, is not at all accepted with God. Unless this foundation be laid, all that you do is lost. All your Prayers, all your duties, all your amendments are an abomination unto the Lord. Untill peace is made with him, they are but the Acts of Enemies, which he despiss and abhorrs. You run it may be earnestly, but you run out of the way; you strive, but not lawfully, and shall never receive the Crown. True gospel-obedience is the fruit of the faith of forgiveness. Whatever you do without it, is but a building without a foundation, a Castle in the ayre. You may see the order of gospel obedience, Ephesians 2:7, 8, 9, 10. The foundation must be laid in grace; Riches of grace by Christ, in the free pardon, and forgiveness of sin. From hence must the works of obedience proceed, if you would have them to be of Gods appointment, or finde acceptance with him. Without this God will say of all your Services, worship, obedience, as he did to the israelites of old; Amos 5:21, 22, 23, 24, 25. I despise all, reject it all; it is not to him, nor to his glory. Now if you are under convictions of any sort, there is nothing you more value, nothing you more place your confidence in, than your duties; your repentance, your Amendment, what you do, and what in good time you will be. Is it nothing unto you to lose all your hopes, and all your Expectations which you have from hence? To have no other Reception with God, than if all this while you had been wallowing in your sins and lusts? Yet thus it is with you, if you have not begun with God on his own Terms, if you have not received the atonement in the Blood of his Son; if you are not made partakers of forgiveness, if your persons are not pardoned, all your duties are accursed.

2. This alone will give you such Motives and Encouragements unto obedience, as will give you life, Alacrity, and delight in it. You perform duties, abstain from sins, but with heaviness, fear, and in bondage. Could you do as well without them, as with them, would conscience be quiet, and hope of eternity hold out, you would omit them for ever. This makes all your obedience burdensome, and you cry out in your thoughts with him in the prophet, behold what a weariness it is! the service of God is the only drudgery of your lives, which you dare not omit, and delight not to perform. From this wretched and cursed frame, there is nothing can deliver you, but this closing with forgiveness. This will give you such motives, such encouragements, as will greatly influence your hearts and souls. It will give you freedom, liberty, delight, and chearfulness in all duties of gospel obedience. You will finde a constraining power in the love of Christ therein; a freedom from bondage, when the Son truely has made you free. faith and love will work genuinely and naturally in your spirits; and that which was your greatest burden, will become your chief joy: 2 Corinthians 7:1. Thoughts of the love of God, of the Blood of Christ, or the covenant of grace, and sence of pardon in them, will enlarge your hearts, and sweeten all your duties. You will find a new life, a new pleasure, a new satisfaction, in all that you doe. Have you yet ever understood that of the Wiseman, Proverbs 3:17. The wayes of wisdom are pleasantness, and her paths are peace? Have the wayes of Holyness, of obedience, of duties been so unto you? Whatever you pretend, they are not, they cannot be so, whilst you are strangers unto that which alone can render them so unto you. I speak unto them that are under the law; Would you be free from that bondage, that galling yoke in dutyes of obedience? Would you have all that you do towards God, a delight and pleasantness unto you? this, and this alone will effect it for you.

3. This will place all your obedience upon a sure foot of account in your own souls and Consciences; even the same that is fixed on in the Gospell. For the present all that you do, is indeed but to compound with God for your sin; you hope by what you do for him, and to him, to buy off what you have done against him; that you may not fall into the hands of his wrath and Vengeance. This makes all you doe to be irksom. As a man that labours all his dayes, to pay an old debt, and brings in nothing to lay up for himself, how tedious and wearisome is his work and labor to him. It is odds but that at one time or other, he will give over, and run away from his Creditor. So it is in this case, men who have secret reserves of recompensing God by their obedience, every day find their debt growing upon them; and have every day less hopes of making a satisfactory payment. This makes them weary, and for the most part they faint under their discouragements, and at length they fly wholly from God. This way alone will state things otherwise in your Consciences; It will give you to see, that all your debts are paid by Christ, and freely forgiven unto you by God. So that what you doe is of Gratitude or thankfulness, has an influence into eternity, leads to the glory of God, the honor of Christ in the gospel, and your own comfortable account at the last day. This encourags the soul to labor, to Trade, to endeavour; all things now looking forward, and unto his advantage.

4. Find you not in your selves an impotency, a disability unto the dutyes of obedience, as to their performance unto God in an acceptable manner? It may be you are not so sensible hereof as you ought to be. For respecting only or principally the outward part and performance of dutyes, you have not Experience of your own weakness. How to enliven and fill up duties with faith, love, and delight, you know not; and are therefore unacquainted with your own insufficiency in this matter; yet if you have any light, any Convictions, (and to such I speak at present) you cannot but perceive and understand, that you are not able in your obedience to answer what you aim at; you have not strength or power for it. Now it is this faith of forgiveness alone that will furnish you with the Ability, whereof you stand in need. pardon comes not to the soul alone; or rather Christ comes not to the soul with pardon only. It is that which he opens the door, and enters by; but he comes with a Spirit of life and power. And as without him we can do nothing, so through his enabling us we may do all things. Receiving of gospel forgiveness engags all the grace of the gospel unto our assistance.

This is the summe of what has been spoken, the: obedience that you perform under your convictions is burdensome and unpleasant unto you; it is altogether unacceptable to God. You lose all you do, and all that you hope to do hereafter, if the foundation be not layd in the receiving of pardon in the blood of Christ. It is high time to cast down all that vain and Imaginary fabrick which you have been erecting, and to go about the laying of a new Foundation, which you may safely and chearfully build upon; a building that will abide for ever.

Again, It is such a way, so excellent, so pretious, so neer the heart of God, so relating to the blood of Christ, that the neglect of it will assuredly be sorely revenged of the Lord. Let not men think that they shall despise the wisdom, and love of the father, the blood of the Son, and the promises of the gospel, at an easie rate. Let us in a very few words take a view of what the Holy Ghost speaks to this purpose. There are Three wayes whereby the Vengeance due to the neglect of closing with forgiveness or gospel grace is expressed.

1. That is done Positively, He that believs not shall be DAMNED, Mark. 16:16. That's a hard word; many men cannot endure to hear of it. They would not have it named by their good wills, and are ready to fly in the face of him from whose mouth it proceeds. But let not men deceive themselves, this is the soft word, that mercy, and love it self, that Christ, that the gospel speaks to despisers of forgiveness. It is Christ who is this legal terrifying Preacher; it is he that cryes out, if you believe not, you shall be Damned; and will come himself in flaming fire to take vengeance of them that obey not the gospel, 2 Thessalonians 2:8. This is the end of the disobedient; if God, if Christ, if the gospel may be believed.

2. Comparatively in reference unto the Vengeance due to the breach of the law, 2 Corinthians 2:16. We are in the preaching of forgiveness by Christ, unto them that perish, a savour of death unto death, a deep death, a sore condemnation, so Hebrews 10:29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye he shall be thought worthy: Sorer than ever was threatned by the law, or inflicted for the breach of it; not as to the kind of punishment, but as to the degrees of it; Hence ariss the addition of many stripes.

3. By the way of Admiration at the unexpressibleness, and unavoidableness of the punishment due unto such sinners. Hebrews 2:3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? Surely there is no way for men to escape, they shall unavoidably perish who neglect so great salvation. So the Holy Ghost sayes, 1 Peter 4:11. What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel? What understanding can reach to an apprehension of their miserable and wofull condition? None can, says the Holy Ghost; nor can it be spoken to their capacity; ah what shall their end be? There remains nothing, but a certain fearful looking for of Judgement, and fiery indignation that shall consume the Adversaries, Hebrews 10:27. A certain fearful expectation of astonishable things that cannot be comprehended.

And these are the Enforcements of the exhortation in hand, which I shall insist upon. On these foundations, on the consideration of these principles, let us now a little conferre together, with the words of truth and sobriety. I speak to such poor souls, as having deceived themselves, or neglected utterly their Eternal condition, are not as yet really, and in truth made partakers of this forgiveness. Your present state is sad, and deplorable. There is nothing but the wofull uncertainty of a dying life between you and Eternal ruine. That perswasion you have of forgiveness, is Good for nothing but to harden you, and destroy you. It is not the forgiveness that is with God. Nor have you taken it up on gospel grounds or evidences. You have stollen painted beads, and take your selves to be lawful possessors of Pearls and Jewels. As you are then any way concerned in your own Eternal condition, which you are entring into, (and how soon you shall be ingaged in it you know not) prevail with your selves to attend a little unto the exhortation that lyes before you; it is your own business that you are entreated to have regard unto.

1. Consider seriously what it is you bottom your hopes and expectation upon as to eternity. Great men, and in other things wise, are here very apt to deceive themselves. They suppose they think and believe much otherwise, than indeed they think and believe, as their cry at the last day will manifest. Put your souls a little unto it. Do you at all seriously think of these things? Or are you so under the power of your Lusts, Ignorance, and darkness, that you neglect and despise them? Or do you rise up and lye down, and perform some duties, or neglect them, with a great Coldness, Remisness, and Indifferency of Spirit, like Gallio not much caring for these things? Or do you relieve your selves with hopes of future amendment, purposing, that if you live, you will be other persons than you are, when such and such things are brought about and accomplished? Or do you not hope well in general upon the account of what you have done, and will doe? If any of these express your condition, it is unspeakably miserable. You lye down, and rise up under the wrath of the Great God, who will prevail at last upon you, and there shall be none to deliver. If you shall say, Nay, This is not our state; we rely on mercy and forgiveness; then let me in the fear of the Great God entreat a few things, yet further of you.

1. That you would seriously consider, whether the forgiveness you rest on, and hope in, be that gospel forgiveness which we have before described? or is it only a General apprehension of Impunity, though you are sinners? That God is merciful, and you hope in him, that you shall escape the Vengeance of hell-fire. If it be thus with you, forgiveness it self will not relieve you. This is that of the presumptuous man, Deuteronomy 29:19. gospel-pardon is a thing of another nature; It has its spring in the Gracious heart of the father, is made out by a Soveraign Acts of his will; rendred consistent with the glory of his justice and Holyness by the blood of Christ, by which it is purchased in a covenant of grace, as has been shewed; If you shall say, yea, this is the forgiveness we rely upon, it is that which you have described. Then I desire further that you would

1. Examine your own hearts, how you came to have an interest in this forgiveness, to close with it, and to have a right unto it. A man may deceive himself as effectually by supposing that True Riches are his, when they are not, as by supposing his false and counterfeit ware to be good and currant; how then come you to be interested in this. gospel-forgiveness? If it has befallen you you know not how, if a lifeless, barren, inoperative perswasion of it has crept upon your minds; be not mistaken, God will come and require his forgiveness at your hands, and it shall appear, that you have had no part, nor portion in it. If you shall say, Nay, but we were convinced of sin, and rendred exceeding unquiet in our Consciences, and on that account looked out after forgiveness, which has given us Rest. Then I desire,

2. That you would diligently consider, to what ends and purposes you have received, and do make use of this gospel-forgiveness. Has it been to make up what was wanting, and to piece up a peace in your own Consciences? that whereas you could not answer your Convictions with your dutyes, you would seek for relief from forgiveness. This, and innumerable other wayes there are, whereby men may lose their souls when they think all is well with them, even on the account of pardon and mercy. Whence is that caution of the apostle, Looking diligently lest any one should seem to fail, or come short of the grace of God, Hebrews 12:15. men miss it and come short of it, when they pretend themselves to be in the pursuit of it; yea to have overtaken and possessed it. Now if any of these should prove to be your condition, I desire

3. That you would consider seriously, whether it be not high time for you to look out for a way of deliverance, and escape, that you may save your selves from this evil world, and fly from the wrath to come. The judge stands at the door. Before he deal with you as a judge, he knocks with a tender of mercy. Who knows, but that this may be the last time of his dealing thus with you. Be you old or young, you have but your season, but your day; it may perhaps be night with you, when it is day with the rest of the world. Your Sun may go down at Noon; And God may swear that you shall not enter into his Rest. If you are then resolved to continue in your present condition, I have no more to say unto you. I am pure from your blood, in that I have declared unto you the counsel of God in this thing, and so I must leave you to a naked Tryal between the Great God and your souls at the last day; poor creatures, I even tremble to think, how he will tear you in pieces, when there shall be none to deliver. Me thinks I see your poor destitute forlorn souls, forsaken of lusts, sins, world, friends, Angels, Men, Trembling before the throne of God, full of horror, and fearful expectation of the dreadful sentence. Oh that I could mourn over you, whil you are joyned to all the living; whil there is yet hope, oh that in this your day, you knew the things of your peace.

But now of you shall say, Nay, but we will seek the Lord whil he may be found, we will draw nigh unto him before he cause darkness; then consider, I pray,

4. What Joshua told the children of Israel, when they put themselves upon such a Resolution, and cryed out, We will serve the Lord our God, chap. 24. verse 19. Ye cannot serve the Lord, for he is an holy God, a jealous God, he will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins. Go to him upon your own Account, and in your own strength, with your own best endeavours and dutyes, you will finde him too great, and too holy for you to deal withall. You will obtain neither Acceptance of your persons, nor pardon of your sins. But you will say, this is heavy tidings. If you sit still you perish, and if you rise to be doing, it will not be better; is there no hope left for our souls? must we pine away under our sins and the wrath of God for ever? God forbid. There are yet other directions remaining to guide you out of these entanglements. Wherefore,

5. Ponder seriously on what has been spoken of this way of approaching unto God. Consider it in its own nature, as to all the ends and purposes for which it is proposed of God: Consider, whether you Approve of it or no; do you judge it a way suited and fitted to bring glory unto God? does it answer all the wants and distresses of your souls? Do you think it excellent, safe, and glorious unto them who are entred unto it? or have you any thing to object against it? Return your answer to him in whose name, and by whose Appointment these words are spoken unto you. If you shall say, we are convinced that this way of forgiveness is the only way for the relief and deliverance of our souls; Then,

6. Abhorr your selves for all your blindness and obstinacy whereby you have hither to despised the love of God, the blood of Christ, and the Tenders of pardon in the gospel. Be abased and humbled to the dust, in a sense of your vileness, Pollutions, and Abominations; which things are every day spoken unto, and need not here be repeated. And,

7. labor to exercise your hearts greatly with thoughts of that abundant grace that is manifested in this way of sinners comeing unto God; as also of the excellency of the gospel wherein it is unfolded. Consider the Eternal love of the father, which is the Fountain and Spring of this whole dispensation; the inexpressible love of the Son, in establishing and confirming it, in removing all hindrances and obstructions by his own blood, bringing forth unto beauty and glory this redemption or forgiveness of sin, as the price of it. And let the glory of the gospel which alone makes this discovery of forgiveness in God, dwell in your hearts. Let your minds be exercised about these things. You will find effects from them, above all that has as yet been brought forth in your souls. What for the most part have you hitherto been conversant about? when you have risen above the turmoyling of lusts and corruptions in your hearts, the entanglements of your Callings, business, and affairs, what have you been able to raise your hearts unto? perplexing fears about your condition, General hopes without savour or relish, yielding you no refreshment, Legal commands, Bondage-duties, distracted Consciences, broken Purposes and promises which you have been tossed up and down withall, without any certain rest. And what effects have these thoughts produced? have they made you more holy, and more humble? have they given you delight in God, and strength unto new obedience? Not at all. Where you were, there you still are without the least progress. But now bring your souls unto these Springs; and try the Lord if from that day you be not blessed with spiritual stores.

8. If the Lord be pleased to carry on your souls thus far, then stirr up your selves, to choose and close with the way of forgiveness that has been revealed. Choose it only, choose it in comparison with, and opposition unto all others. Say you will be for Christ, and not for another, and be so accordingly. Here venture, here repose, here rest your souls. It is a way of peace, safety, Holyness, beauty, strength, power, liberty, and glory; you have the nature, the name, the love, the Purposes the promises, the covenant, the Oath of God; the love, life, death, or Blood, the mediation, or Oblation and intercession of Jesus Christ; The power and Efficacy of the Spirit, and gospel grace by him administred, to give you assurance of the excellency, the oneness, the safety of the way, whereunto you are engaging.

If now the Lord shall be pleased to perswade your hearts, and souls, to enter upon the path marked out before you, and shall carry you on through the various exercises of it, unto this closure of faith, God will have the glory, the gospel will be Exalted, and your own souls shall reap the Eternal benefit of this exhortation.

But now if not withstanding all that has been spoken, all the Invitations you have had, and Incouragements that have been held out unto you, you shall continue to despise this so great salvation, you will live and dye in the state and condition wherein you are; why then as the prophet said to the Wife of Jeroboam, Come neer, for I am sent unto you with heavy Tydings. I say then,

9. If you resolve to continue in the neglect of this salvation, and shall do so accordingly, Then Cursed be you of the Lord, with all the Curses that are written in the law, and all the Curses that are denounced against Despisers of the gospel. Yea, be you Anathema Maranatha; Cursed in this world alwayes, untill the comeing of the Lord, and when the Lord comes, be ye cursed from his presence into Everlasting destruction. Yea, curse them all ye holy Angels of God, as the obstinate Enemies of your king and head the Lord Jesus Christ. curse them all ye churches of Christ, as despisers of that love and mercy which is your portion, your life, your Inheritance; Let all the saints of God, all that love the Lord, curse them, and rejoyce to see the Lord comeing forth mightily, and prevailing against them to their everlasting ruine. Why should any one have a thought of compassion towards them, who despise the compassion of God? or of mercy towards them who trample on the blood of Christ? Whil there is yet hope, we desire to have continual sorrow for you; and to travail in soul for your conversion to God; but if you be hardened in your way, shall we joyn with you against him? shall we preferre you above his glory? shall we desire your salvation with the despoyling God of his honor? Nay, God forbid, We hope to rejoyce in seeing all that vengeance and indignation, that is in the right hand of God, poured out unto eternity upon your souls: Proverbs 1:21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33.

Rules to be observed by them who would come to stability in obedience. The first rule. Christ the only infallible judge of our spiritual condition. How he judgs, by his word and Spirit.

That which remains to be further carried on, upon the principles laid down, is to perswade with souls more or less intangled in the depths of sin, to close with this forgiveness by Believing, unto their peace and consolation. And because such persons are full of pleas and objections against themselves, I shall chiefly in what I have to say, endeavour to obviate these objections, so to encourage them unto believing, and bring them unto settlement. And herein whatever I have to offer, flowes naturally from the doctrine at large laid down and asserted. Yet I shall not in all particulars apply my self thereunto, but in general fix on those things that may tend to the Establishment and consolation of both distressed and doubting souls. And I shall do what I purpose these two wayes.

First, I shall lay down such General rules as are necessary to be observed by all those who intend to come to gospel peace and comfort. And then, Secondly, shall consider some such objections as seem to be most comprehensive of those special reasonings where with distressed persons do usually intangle themselves.

I shall begin with General rules, which through the grace of Christ, and Supplyes of his Spirit, may be of use unto believers in the condition under consideration.

RULE I.Be not judges of your own condition, but let Christ judge. You are invited to take the comfort of this gospel truth, That there is forgiveness with God. You say not for you; so said Jacob; My way is hid from the Lord, Isaiah 40:27. and Sion said so too, chap. 49:14. The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. But did they make a right Judgement of themselves? We find in those places that God was otherwise minded. This false Judgement made by souls in their intanglements, of their own condition, is oft-times a most unconquerable hinderance unto the bettering of it. They fill themselves with thoughts of their own about it, and on them they dwell, instead of looking out after a Remedy. Misgiving thoughts of their distempers, are commonly a great part of some mens sickness. Many diseases are apt to cloud the thoughts, and to cause misapprehensions concerning their own nature, and danger. And these delusions are a real part of the persons sickness. nature is no less impaired and weakened by them, the Efficacy of Remedies no less obstructed, than by any other reall distemper. In such cases we perswade men to acquiesce in the Judgement of their skilful Physitian, not alwayes to be wasting themselves in and by their own tainted imaginations, and so despond upon their own mistakes; but to rest in what is informed them by him, who is acquainted with the causes and tendency of their indisposition better than themselves. It is oft-times one part of the souls depths, to have false apprehensions of its condition. sin is a madness; Ecclesiastes 9:3. so far as any one is under the power of it, he is under the power of madness. Madness does not sooner, nor more effectually discover it self in any way or thing, than in possessing them in whom it is, with strange conceits and apprehensions of themselves. So does this madness of sin, according unto its degrees, and prevalency. Hence some cry peace, peace, when suddain destruction is at hand, 1 Thessalonians 5:3. It is that madness, under whose power they are, which gives them such groundless Imaginations of themselves and their own condition. And some say they are lost for ever, when God is with them.Do you then your duty, and let Christ judge of your state. Your Concernment is too great, to make it a reasonable demand, to commit the Judgement of your condition to any other. When Eternal welfare or woe are at the stake, for a man to renounce his own thoughts, to give up himself implicitly, to the Judgement of men fallible and lyars like himself, is stupidity; But there is no danger of being deceived by the sentence of Christ. The truth is, whether we will or no, he will judge; and according as he determines so shall things be found at the last day, Johnn 5:22. The father judgs no man, (that is, immediately and in his own person) but has committed all judgement unto the Son. All judgment that respects eternity, whether it be to be passed in this world or in that to come, is committed unto him. Accordingly in that place [〈◊〉]judgs both of Things and persons. Things he determines upon, verse 24. He that hears my word, and believs on him that sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Let men say what they please, This sentence shall stand; faith and eternal life are inseparably conjoyned. And so of persons, verse 38. You have not, (says he to the Pharisees, who were much otherwise minded) the word of God abiding in you.Take not then the Office and prerogative of Christ out of his hand, by making a Judgement upon your own Reasonings, and Conclusions, and Deductions of your state and condition. You will find that he often-times both on the one hand, and on the other, determines quite contrary to what men judge of themselves; As also to what others judge of them. Some he judgs to be in an evil condition, who are very confident that it is well with them, and who please themselves in the thoughts of many to the same purpose. And he judgs the state of some to be Good, who are diffident in themselves, and it may be despised by others. We may single out an example or two in each kind.1. Laodicea's Judgement of her self, and her spiritual state we have, Revel. 3:17. I am rich, and increased with Goods, and have need of nothing. A fair state it seems, a blessed condition. She wants nothing that may contribute to her rest, peace and reputation; she is Orthodox, and Numerous, and Flourishing; makes a fair profession, and all is well within. So she belives, so she reports of her self; wherein there is a secret reflexion also upon others whom she despiss. Let them shift as they list, I am thus as I say. But was it so with her indeed? was that her true condition whereof she was so perswaded, as to profess it unto all? Let Jesus Christ be heard to speak in this cause, let him come and judge? I will do so, says he, verse 14. Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness. Coming to give sentence in a case of this importance, he gives himself this title that we may know his word is to be acquiesced in. Every man, says he, is a Lyar; Their testimony is of no value, let them pronounce what they will of themselves, or of one another; I am the Amen, and I will see whose word shall stand, mine or theirs. What then says he of Laodicea? You art wretched, and miserable and poor, and blind, and naked. O wofull and sad disappointment! O dreadful surprizall! Ah how many Laodicean churches have we in the world? How many Professors are members of these Chruches? Not to mention the generality of men that live under the means of grace, all which have Good hopes of their Eternal condition whil they are despised and abhorred by the only judge. Among Professors themselves, it is dreadful to think how many will be found light when they come to be weighed in this ballance.2. Again, he Judgs some to be in a good condition, be they themselves never so diffident; Revel. 2:9. says he to the church of Smyrna; I know your poverty; Smyrna was complaining that she was a poor contemptible Congregation, not fit for him to take any notice of. Well, says he, fear not; I know your poverty whereof you complain; but you art Rich; That is my Judgement, testimony, and sentence concerning you and your condition. Such will be his Judgement at the last day, when both those, on the one hand, and the other, shall be suprized with his sentence, the one with joy, at the riches of his grace; The other with terror at the severity of his justice, Matthew 25 37, 38, 39. and 44, 45. This case is directly stated in both the places mentioned in the entrance of this discourse; as in that for instance, Isaiah 49:14. Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me. That is Zions judgement of her self, and her state and condition; a sad report and conclusion. But does Christ agree with Zion in this sentence? The next verse gives us his Resolution of this matter; Can, says he, a Woman forget her sucking Childe, that she should not have compassion on the Son of her wombe; Yea they may forget, yet will not I forget you. The state of things in truth, is as much otherwise as can possibly be thought or imagined.To what purpose is it for men to be passing a Judgement upon themselves, when there is no manner of certainty in their determinations; and when their proceeding thereon will probably lead them to further entanglements, if not to eternal ruine. The Judging of souls as to their spiritual state and condition is the work of Jesus Christ; especially as to the end now under inquiry. Men may, men do take many wayes to make a Judgement of themselves. Some do it on slight and trivial conjectures; some on bold and wicked presumptions; some on desperate Atheistical notions; as Deuteronomy 29:17. some with more sobriety and sence of eternity, lay down principles, it may be good and true in themselves; from them they draw conclusions, arguing from one thing unto another; and in the end oft-times either deceive themselves, or sit down no less in the dark, than they were at the entrance of their self-debate and Examination. A mans judgement upon his own reasonings is seldom true, more seldom permanent. I speak not of self-examination, with a due discussion of Graces and Actions, but of the final sentence as to state and condition, wherein the soul is to acquiesce. This belongs unto Christ. Now there are Two wayes whereby the Lord Jesus Christ gives forth his decretory sentence in this matter.1. By his word. He determines in the word of the gospel of the state and condition of all men indefinitely. Each Individual coming to that word, receives his own sentence and doom. He told the jews that Moses accused them, Johnn 5:45. His law accused and condemned the transgressors of it. And so does the acquit every one that is discharged, by the word of the gospel. And our self-judging, is but our receiving by faith his sentence in the word. His process herein we have recorded, John 33:22, 23. His soul (that is of the sinner) draws neer to the grave, and his life to the destroyers; This seems to be his state; it is so indeed; he is at the very brink of the grave and hell. What then; why if there be with him, or stand over him, the Angel interpreting, or the Angel of the covenant, who alone is the one of a thousand; what shall he doe? He shall shew unto him his uprightness. He shall give in unto him a right determination of his interest in God, and of the state and frame of his heart towards God; whereupon God shall speak peace unto his soul, and deliver him from his entanglements, verse 24. Jesus Christ has in the word of the gospel stated the condition of every man. He tells us, that sinners, of what sort soever they are, that believe, are accepted with him; and shall receive forgiveness from God; that none shall be refused or cast off that come unto God by him. The soul of whom we are treating is now upon the work of coming unto God for forgiveness by Jesus Christ. Many and weighty objections it has in and against its self, why it should not come, why it shall not be accepted. Our Lord Jesus the wisdom of God foresaw all these objections; he foreknew what could be said in the case, and yet he has determined the matter, as has been declared. In General, mens arguings against themselves arise from sin and the law. Christ knowes what is in them both. He tryed them to the uttermost, as to their penalties; and yet he has so determined as we have shewed. Their particular objections, are from particular considerations of sin; their Greatness, their Number, their Aggravations. Christ knows all these also; And yet stands to his firmer determination. Upon the whole matter then, it is meet his word should stand. I know when a soul brings it self to be judged by the word of the gospel, it does not alwayes in a like manner receive and rest in the sentence given. But when Christ is pleased to speak the word with power to men, they shall hear the voyce of the Son of God, and be concluded by it. Let the soul then that is rising out of depths, and pressing towards a sence of forgiveness, lay it self down before the word of Christ in the gospel. Let him attend to what he speaks; and if for a while it has not power upon him to quiet his heart, let him wait a season, and light shall arise unto him out of darkness. Christ will give in his sentence into his conscience with that power and efficacy, as he shall finde rest and peace in it.2. Christ also judgs by his Spirit; not only in making this sentence of the gospel to be received effectually in the soul, but in and by peculiar Actings of his upon the heart and soul of a believer: 1. Cor. 2:11. We have received the Spirit of God, that we may know the things that are freely given us of God. The Spirit of Christ acquaints the soul, that this and that grace is from him, that this or that duty was performed in his strength. He brings to mind, what at such and such times was wrought in men by himself, to give them supportment and relief in the times of depths and darkness. And when it has been clearly discovered unto the soul at any time by the Holy Ghost, that any thing wrought in it, or done by it has been truely saving; The comfort of it will abide in the midst of many shakings and Temptations.2. He also by his Spirit bears witness with our Spirits, as to our state and condition. Of this I have spoken largely elsewhere, and therefore shall now pass it by.This then is our first General rule and Direction. Selfdeterminations concerning mens spiritual state and condition, because their minds are usually influenced by their distempers, are seldom right and according to rule. Mistakes in such determinations are exceedingly prejudicial to a soul seeking out after relief, and sence of forgiveness; let Christ then be the judge in this case by his word and Spirit, as has been directed.RULE II.Self-condemnation and abhorrency for sin consistent with gospel justification and peace. The nature of gospel-Assurance; what is consistent with it. What are the effects of it. Self-Condemnation and Abhorrency do very well consist with gospel-Justification and peace. Some men have no peace, because they have that, without which it is impossible they should have peace. Because they cannot but condemn themselves, they cannot entertain a sence, that God does acquit them. But this is the mystery of the gospel, which unbelief is a stranger unto; Nothing but faith can give a real subsistence unto these things, in the same soul, at the same time. It is easie to learn the notion of it, but it is not easie to experience the power of it. For a man to have a sight of that within him, which would condemn him for which he is troubled, and at the same time to have a discovery of that without him, which will justify him, and to rejoyce therein, is that which he is not lead unto, but by faith in the mystery of the gospel. We are now under a law for justification, which excludes all boasting, Romansans 3:27. So that though we have joy enough in another, yet we may have, we alwayes have sufficient cause of humiliation in our selves. The gospel will teach a man to feel sin, and believe righteousness at the same time. faith will carry heaven in one hand, and hell in the other; shewing the one deserved, the other purchased. A man may see enough of his own sin and folly to bring Gehennam è Coelo, a hell of wrath out of heaven; and yet see Christ bring Coelum ex inferno, a heaven of blessedness out of an hell of punishment. And these must needs produce very divers, yea contrary effects and operations in the soul. And he who knows not how to assign them their proper duties, and seasons, must needs be perplexed. The work of selfcondemnation then, which men in these depths cannot but abound with, is in the disposition of the covenant of grace, no way inconsistent with, nor unsuited unto justification, and the enjoyment of peace in the sence of it. There may be a deep sence of sin on other considerations besides hell. David was never more humbled for sin, than when Nathan told him it was forgiven. And there may be a view of hell as deserved, which yet the soul may know it self freed from, as to the issue.To evidence our intendment in this discourse, I shall briefly consider what we intend by gospel assurance of forgiveness, that the soul may not be solicitous and perplexed, about the utter want of that, which perhaps it is already in some enjoyment of.Some men seem to place gospel assurance in an high unassaulted confidence of Acceptance with God. They think it is in none but such, as if a man should go to them, and ask them, are you certain you shall be saved, have boldness, and confidence, and ostentation to answer presently, yea they are certain they shall be saved. But as the blessed truth of assurance has been reproached in the world under such a notion of it, so such expressions become not them who know what it is to have to do with the Holy God who is a consuming fire. Hence some conclude, that there are very few believers who have any assurance, because they have not this confidence, or are more free to mention the oppasition they meet with, than the supportment they enjoy. And thus is it rendred a matter not greatly to be desired, because it is so rarely to be obtained; most of the saints serving God, and going to heaven well enough without it; But the matter is otherwise. The importance of it, not only as it is our life of comfort and joy, but also as it is the principal means of the flourishing of our life of holiness, has been declared before; and might be further manifested, were that our present business; Yea and in times of tryall, which are the proper seasons for the Effectual working and manifestation of assurance, it will and does appear, that many, yea that most of the saints of God, are made partakers of this grace and Priviledge.I shall then in the pursuit of the rule laid down, do these two things. (1.) Shew what things they are which are not only consistent with assurance, but are even necessary concomitants of it, which yet if not duely weighed and considered, may seem so far to impeach a mans comfortable perswasion of his condition before God, as to leave him beneath the assurance sought after. And,2. I shall speak somewhat of its nature: Especially as manifesting its self by its effects.1. A deep sense of the evil of sin, of the guilt of mans own sin, is no way inconsistent with gospel assurance of Acceptance with God through Christ, and of forgiveness in him. By a sense of the guilt of sin; I understand two things. (1.) A clear conviction of sin by the Holy Ghost, saying unto the soul, You art the man; and (2.) A sense of the displeasure of God, or the wrath due to sin, according to the sentence of the law. Both these David expresss in that complaint, Psalmm 31:10. My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing, my strength fails because of mine iniquity, and my bones are consumed. His iniquity was before him, and a sense of it pressed him sore. But yet notwithstanding all this, he had a comfortable perswasion that God was his God in covenant, verse 14. I trusted in you O Lord, I said, you art my God. And the tenor of the covenant, wherein alone God is the God of any person is, that he will be merciful unto their sin and iniquity. To whom he is a God, he is so according to the Tenor of that covenant; so that here these two are conjoyned. Says he, Lord, I am pressed with the sense of the guilt of mine Iniquities, and you act my God who forgiv them. And the ground hereof is, that God by the gospel has divided the work of the law, and taken part of it out of its hand. Its whole work and duty is to condemn the sin and the sinner. The sinner is freed by the gospel, but its right lyes against the sin still, that it condemns, and that justly. Now though the sinner himself be freed, yet finding his sin layd hold of and condemned, it fills him with a deep sense of its guilt, and of the displeasure of God against it; which yet hinders not, but that at the same time, he may have such an insight as faith gives into his personal interest in a gospel acquitment. A man then may have a deep sense of sin all his dayes, walk under the sense of it continually, abhorr himself for his ingratitude, unbelief, and rebellion against God, without any impeachment of his assurance.2. Deep sorrow for sin is consistent with assurance of forgiveness Yea it is a great means of preservation of it. godly sorrow, mourning, humiliation, contriteness of Spirit, are no less gospel Graces, and fruits of the Holy Ghost, than faith it self; and so are consistent with the highest flourishings of faith whatever. It is the work of heaven it self, and not of the assurance of it, to wipe all tears from our eyes. Yea these Graces have the most eminent promises annexed to them, as Isaiah 57:15. chap. 66:2. with blessedness it self, Matthew 5:4. yea they are themselves the matter of many Gracious gospel promises, Zechariah 12:10. so that they are assuredly consistent with any other grace or Priviledge that we may be made partakers of; or are promised unto us. Some finding the weight and burden of their sins, and being called to mourning and bumiliation on that account, are so taken up with it, as to lose the sense of forgiveness, which rightly improved, would promote their sorrow, as their sorrow seems directly to sweeten their sense of forgiveness. sorrow absolutely exclusive of the faith of forgiveness, is legall, and tends unto death. assurance absolutely exclusive of godly sorrow is presumption, and not a perswasion from him that calls us. But gospel sorrow, and gospel assurance may well dwell in the same breast at the same time. Indeed as in all worldly Joyes there is a secret wound; So in all godly sorrow and mourning considered in its self, there is a secret joy and refreshment; Hence it does not wither and dry up, but rather enlarge, open, and sweeten the heart. I am perswaded that generally they mourn most, who have most assurance. And all True gospel mourners, will be found to have the root of assurance so grafted in them, that in its proper season (a time of trouble) it will undoubtedly flourish.3. A deep sense of the indwelling power of sin, is consistent with gospel assurance. sense of indwelling sin will cause manifold perplexities in the soul. Trouble, disquietments, sorrow, and anguish of heart, expressing themselves in sighs, mourning, groaning for deliverance alwayes attend it. To what purpose do you speak to a soul highly sensible of the restless power of indwelling sin concerning assurance. Alas, says he, I am ready to perish every moment, my lusts are strong, active, restless, yea outragious; they give me no rest, no liberty, and but little success do I obtain. assurance is for Conquerours; for them that live at rest and peace. I lie groveling on the ground all my dayes, and must needs be uncertain what will be the issue. But when such an one has done all he can, he will not be able to make more wofull complaints of this matter than Paul has done before him. Romansans 7. and yet he closs the discourse of it with as high an expression of assurance as any person needs to seek after, verse last, and chap. 8:1. It is not assurance, but Enjoyment that excludes this sense and trouble. But if men will think they can have no assurance, because they have that, without which it is impossible they should have any, it is hard to give them relief. A little Cruse of Salt of the gospel cast into these bitter waters will make them sweet and wholsom. sense of the guilt of sin may consist with faith of its pardon and forgiveness in the blood of Christ. godly sorrow may dwell in the same heart at the same time, with joy in the Holy Ghost; and groaning after deliverance from the power of sin, with a Gracious perswasion that sin shall not have dominion over us, because we are not under the law but grace.4. Doubtings, Fears, Temptations, if not ordinarily prevailing are consistent with gospel assurance. Though the Devils power he limited in reference unto the saints, yet his hands are not tyed. Though he cannot prevail against them, yet he can assault them. And although there be not an evil heart of unbelief in believers, yet there will still be unbelief in their hearts. Such an evidence, conviction, and perswasion of Acceptance with God as are exclusive of all contrary reasonings, that suffer the soul to hear nothing of objections, that free and quiet it from all assaults are neither mentioned in the scripture, nor consistent with that state wherein we walk before God, nor possible on the account of Sathans will and ability to tempt, or of our own remaining unbelief. assurance encourags us in our Combate, it delivers us not from it. We may have peace: with God, when we have none from the assaults of Sathan.Now unless a man do duly consider the tenor of the covenant wherein we walk with God, and the nature of that gospel obedience which he requires at our hands, with the state and condition which is our Lot and portion whil we live in this world, the dayly sense of these things, with the trouble that must be undergone on their account, may keep him in the dark unto himself, and hinder him from that establishment in believing which otherwise he might attain unto. On this account some as holy persons as any in this world, being wholly taken up with the consideration of these home bred perplexities, and not clearly acquainted with the way and tenor of assuring their souls before God according to the rule of the covenant of grace, have passed away their dayes in a bondage frame of spirit, and unacquaintance with that strong consolation which God is abundantly willing that all the Heirs of promise should receive.5. Evangelical assurance is not a thing that consists in any point, and so incapable of variation. It may be higher or lower, greater or less, obscure or attended with more evidence. It is not quite lost; when it is not quite at its highest. God sometimes marvellously raiss the souls of his saints with some close and neer approaches unto them; gives them a sense of his Eternal love; a taste of the embraces of his Son, and the inhabitation of the Spirit, without the least intervening disturbance, then this is their assurance. But this life is not a season to be alwayes taking wages in; our work is not yet done, we are not alwayes to abide in this Mount; we must down again into the battle, fight again, cry again, complain again; Shall the soul be thought now to have lost its assurance? Not at all, it had before assurance with joy, Triumph, and exultation; it has it now, or may have, with wrestling, cryes, tears, and supplications. And a mans assurance may be as Good, as true, when he lyes on the earth with a sense of sin, as when he is carryed up to the third heaven with a sense of love, and foretaste of glory. In brief, this assurance of salvation is such a Gracious Evangelical perswasion of Acceptance with God in Christ, and of an interest in the promises of preservation unto the end, wrought in believers by the Holy Ghost, in and through the exercise of faith, as for the most part producs these effects following.1. It gives delight in obedience, and draws out love in the duties that unto God we do perform. So much assurance of a Comfortable Issue of their obedience, of a blessed end of their labours and duties, of their purifying their hearts, and pressing after universal Renovation of mind and life, as may make them Chearful in them, as may give love and delight in the pursuit of what they are engaged in, is needful for the saints, and they they do not often go without it; and where this is, there is gospel assurance. To run as men uncertain, to fight as those that beat the Air, to travel as not any way perswaded of a comfortable entertainment or refreshment at the Journeys end, is a state and condition that God does not frequently leave his people unto. And when he does, it is a season wherein he receives very little of glory from them, and they very little increase of grace in themselves. Many things, as has been shewed, do interpose, many doubts arise and intangling perplexities, but still there is a Comfortable perswasion kept alive, that there is a Rest provided, which makes them willing unto, and chearful in their most difficult duties. This prevails in them, that their labor in the Lord, their watchings, praying, suffering, alms, mortification, fighting against temptation, crucifying the flesh with the lusts thereof, shall not be in vain. This gives them such a delight in their most difficult duties, as men have in a hard Journey towards a desirable home, or a place of Rest.2. It casts out fear, tormenting fear, such as fills the soul with perplexing uncertainties, hard thoughts of God, and dreadful apprehensions of wrath to come: There are three things spoken concerning that fear which is inconsistent with the assurance of forgiveness. First, With respect unto its principle, it is from a spirit of bondage, Romansans 18:15. We have not again received the spirit of bondage unto fear: It is not such a fear as makes an occasional incursion upon the mind or soul; such as ise xcited and occasioned by incident darkness and temptation, such as the best, and persons of the highest assurance are liable and obnoxious unto; but it is such as has a compleat abiding principle in the soul, even a spirit of bondage, a prevailing frame constantly inclining it to fear, or dreadful apprehensions of God and its own condition. Secondly, That it tends to bondage, it brings the soul into bondage, Hebrews 2:14, 15. He dyed to deliver them who by fear of death were in bondage all their daies. fear of death as penal, as it lyes in the curse, which is that fear that proceeds from a spirit of bondage, brings the persons in whom it is into bondage; that is, it adds weariness, trouble, and anxiety of mind unto fear, and puts them upon all waies and means imaginable, unduly and disorderly to seek for a remedy or relief. Thirdly, It has torment; fear has torment, 1 Johnn 4:18. It gives no rest, no quietness unto the mind; now this is so cast out by gospel assurance of forgiveness, that though it may assault the soul, it shall not possess it; though it make incursions upon it, it shall not dwell abide and prevail in it.3. It gives the soul an hope and expectation of the glory that shall be revealed, and secretly stirs it up, and enlivens it unto a supportment in sufferings, tryals and Temptations. This is the hope which makes not ashamed, Romansans 5:5. and that, because it will never expose the soul unto disappointment. Where ever there is the root of assurance, there will be this fruit of hope. The proper object of it, is things absent, invisible, eternal; the promised reward in all the notions, respects and concernments of it. This hope goes out unto, in distresses, temptations, failings; and under a sense of the guilt and power of sin. Hence ariss a spring of secret relief in the soul, something that calms the heart, and quiets the spirit in the midst of many a storm. Now, as where ever assurance is, there will be this hope; so, where ever this secret relieving hope is, it grows on no other root, but a living perswasion of a personal interest in the things hoped for.4. As it will do many other things; so that I may give one comprehensive instance, it will carry them out in whom itis, to dye for Christ. death unto men who saw not one step beyond it, was esteemed of all things most terrible. The way and means of its approach add unto its terrour. But this is nothing in comparison of what it is unto them who look through it as a passage into ensuing eternity. For a man then to chuse death rather than life, in the most terrible manner of its approach, expecting an eternity to ensue, it argues a comfortable perswasion of a Good state and condition after death. Now I am perswaded that there are hundreds, who upon gospel saving accounts would embrace a stake for the testimony of Jesus, who yet know not at all that they have the assurance we speak of, and yet nothing else would enable them thereunto. But these things being besides the main of my Intendment, I shall pursue them no further, only the rule is of use. Let the soul be sure to be well acquainted with the nature of that which it seeks after, and confesss a sense of the want of.RULE III.Continuance in waiting necessary unto peace and consolation. The fourth rule. Remove the Hinderances of Believing by a searching out of sin. rules and Directions for that duty. Whatever your condition be, and your apprehension of it; yet continue waiting for a better issue, and give not over through weariness or impatience. This rule contains the summ of the Great example given us in this Psalmm. forgiveness in God being discovered, though no sense of a particular interest therein as yet obtained; that which the soul applies it self unto, is diligent, careful, constant, persevering waiting; which is variously expressed in the 5, and 6, verses. The Holy Ghost tells us, that light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart, Psalmm 97:11. light and gladness are the things now enquired after. Deliverance from darkness, misapprehensions of God, hard and misgiving thoughts of his own condition, is that which a soul in its depths reachs towards. Now, says the Holy Ghost, These things are sown for the righteous. Does the Husbandman after he casts his seed into the earth, immediately the next day, the next week, expect that it will be harvest? does he think to reap so soon as he has sown? or does he immediately say, I have laboured in vain, here is no return, I will pull up the hedge of this field and lay it waste? or I see a little grass in the blade, but no corn, I will give it to the beasts to devour it? No, his God, as the prophet speaks, instructs him unto discretion and teachs him; namely, what he must do, and how he must look for things in their season. And shall not we be instructed by him? behold the Husbandman, says James, waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain, Jam. 5:7. And is light sown for them that are in darkness, and shall they stifle the seed under the clods, or spoil the tender blade, that is springing up, or refuse to wait for the watering and dews of the Spirit, that may bring it forth to perfection? Waiting is the only way to Establishment and assurance; we cannot speed by our haste; yea nothing puts the end so far away, as making too much haste and speed in our Journey. The ground hereof is, that a sense of a special interest in forgiveness and acceptance, is given into the soul by a mere act of Soveraignty. It is not, it will not be obtained by or upon any rational conclusions or deductions that we can make: All that we can do is but to apply our selves to the removal of hinderances. For the peace and Rest sought for, come from mere prerogative. When he givs quietness, who can give trouble? and when he hids his face, who can behold him? Job 34:29. Now what is the way to receive that which comes from mere Soveraignty and prerogative? does not the nature of the thing require humble waiting? If then either Impatience cast the soul into frowardness, or weariness make it slothful, which are the two waies whereby waiting is ruined; Let not such an one expect any comfortable Islue of his contending for deliverance out of his depths. And let not any think to make out their difficulties any other way: their own Reasonings will not bring them to any establishing conclusions; for they may lay down propositions, and have no considerable objections to lye against either of them, and yet be far enough from that sweet consolation, joy and assurance which is the product of the conclusion, when God is not pleased to give it in; yea a man may sometimes gather up consolation to himself upon such terms, but it will not abide. So did David, Psalmm 30 6, 7. He thus argues with himself, He whose mountain is made strong, to whom God is a defense, he shall never be moved nor be shaken; but I am thus settled of God, therefore I shall not be moved; and therein he rejoycs. It is an expression of exultation that he useth; but what is the Issue of it? In the midst of these pleasing thoughts of his, God hides his face, and he is troubled; he cannot any longer draw out the sweetness of the conclusion mentioned. It was in him before from the shines of Gods Countenance, and not from any arguings of his own.No disappointment then, no tediousness or weariness should make the soul leave waiting on God, if it intend to attain consolation and Establishment. So deals the church, Lamentations 3:21. This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope: What is it that she calls to mind, this, that it is of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not, vers. 22. I will yet hope, I will yet continue in my expectation upon the account of never failing-compassion; of endless mercies in him, whatever my present condition be. And thence she makes a blessed conclusion, vers. 26. It is good that a man should both hope, and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. And this is our third rule. It is good to hope and wait, whatever our present condition be, and not to give over, if we would not be sure to fail: whereunto I speak no more, because the close of this Psalmm insists wholly on this duty, which must be further spoken unto.RULE IV.Seeing in the course of our believing and obedience, that which is chiefly incumbent on us, for our coming up to establishment and consolation, is spiritual diligence in the removal of the hinderances thereof: Let the soul that would attain thereunto, make through work in the search of sin, even to the sins of youth; that all scores on that account may clearly be wiped out. If there be much rubbish left in the foundation of the building, no wonder if it alwaies shake and totter. Mens leaving of any sin unsearched to the bottom, will poison all their consolation. David knew this, when in dealing with God in his distresses, he prayes that he would not remember the sins and transgressions of his youth, Psalmm 5:7. Youth is oftentimes a time of great vanity and unmindfulness of God; many stains and spots are therein usually brought upon the consciences of men. Childhood and youth are vanity, Ecclesiastes 11:10. Not because they soon pass away, but because they are usually spent in vanity, as the following advice (of chap. 12:1.) to remember God in those daies, does manifest. The way of many is to wear such things out of mind, and not to walk in a sense of their folly and madness, never to make through work with God about them. I speak of the saints themselves; for with others that live under the means of grace, whom God intends any way to make useful and industrious in their Generation, this is the usual course; by convictions, restraining grace, Afflictions, love of Employment and Repute, God gives them another heart than they had for a season. Another heart, but not a new heart. Hence another course of life, another profession, other actions than formerly doe flow; with this change they do content themselves; they look on what is past perhaps with delight, or as things fit enough for those daies, but not for those they have attained unto; here they rest, and therefore never come to rest.But I speak of the saints themselves, who make not such through, full, close work in this kind as they ought. An afterreckoning may come in on this hand to their own disturbance, and an inconquerable hinderance of their peace and settlement be brought in, on this account. So was it with Job, chap. 13:26, He makes me possess the sins of my youth. God filled his heart, his thoughts, his mind with these sins; made them abide with him, so that he possessed them; they were alwaies present with him. He made the sins of his youth the sufferings of his age. And it is a sad thing, as one speaks, when young sins and old bones meet together; as Zophar, chap. 20:11. His bones are filled with the sins of his youth. The joyous frame of some mens Youth, makes way for sad work in their Age. Take heed youngones, you are doing that which will abide with you to Age, if not to eternity. This possessing of the sins of youth, Job calls, the writing of bitter things against him. As indeed it is impossible but that sin should be bitter one time or other. God calls it a root that bears Gall and Wormwood, Deuteronomy 29:18. A root of bitterness springing up into defilement, Hebrews 12:15. This then is to be searched out to the bottom. Israel will not have success nor peace whilst there is an Achan in the Camp. Neither success in temptation, nor consolation in believing is to be expected, whilst any Achan, any sin unreckoned for, lyes in the conscience.Now for them who would seriously accomplish a diligent search in this matter, which is of such importance unto them, let them take these two Directions.1. Let them go over the consideration of those sins, and others of the like nature, which may be reduced unto the same General heads with them, which we laid down before, as the sins which generally cast men into depths and intanglements. And if they find they have contracted the guilt of any of them, let them not think strange that they are yet bewildred in their condition, and do come short of a refreshing sense of peace with God, or an interest in forgiveness. Rather let them admire the riches of patience, grace and forbearance, that they are not cast utterly out of all hopes of a recovery. This will speed an end unto their trouble, according to the direction given.2. Let them cast the course of their times under such heads and seasons, as may give them the more clear and distinct view and apprehension of the passages in them between God and their souls, which may have been provoking unto him. As,First, For the state of their inward man, let them consider,First, The unregenerate part of their lives, that which was confessedly so, before they had any real work of God upon their hearts; and therein inquire after two things.1. If there were then any great and signal eruptions of sins against God; for of such God requires that a deep sense be kept on our souls all our daies. How often do we find Paul calling over the sins of his life and waies before his conversion. I was, says he, injuricus, and a blasphemer. Such reflexions ought persons to have on any great provoking occasions of sin, that may keep them humble, and necessitate them constantly to look for a fresh sense of pardon through the blood of Christ. If such sins lye neglected, and not considered according to their importance, they will weaken the soul in its comforts whilst it lives in this world.2. If there were any signal intimations made of the Good will and love of God to the soul, which it broke off from through the power of its corruption and temptation, they require a due humbling consideration all our daies; but this has been before spoken unto.Secondly, In that part of our lives, which upon the call of God we have given up unto him. There are two sorts of sins that do effectually impeach our future peace and comfort, which ought therefore to be frequently renewed and issued in the blood of Christ. First, Such as by reason of any aggravating circumstances have been accompanied with some especial unkindness towards God. Such are sins after warnings, communications of a sense of love, after particular ingagements against them, relapses, omissions of great opportunities and advantages for the furtherance of the glory of God in the world. These kinds of sins have much unkindness attending them, and will be searched out if we cover them. 2. sins attended with scandal towards fewer, or more, or any one single person who is or may be concerned in us: The aggravations of these kind of sins are commonly known.Thirdly, The various outward states and conditions which we have passed through, as of Prosperity and Afflictions, should in like manner fall under this search and consideration. It is but seldom that we fill up our duty, or answer the mind of God in any dispensation of providence. And if our neglect herein be not managed aright, they will undoubtedly hinder and interrupt our peace.RULE V.The fifth rule. distinction between Unbelief and Jealousie. The sixth rule. distinction between faith and Spiritual sense. Learn to distinguish between Unbelief and Jealousie. There is a twofold Unbelief. (1.) That which is universal and privative, such as is in all unregenerate persons; they have no faith at all, that is, they are dead men and have no principles of spiritual life. This I speak not of, it is easily distinguished from any grace, being the utter enemy and privation as it were of them all. (2.) There is an Unbelief partial and negative, consisting in a staggering at, or Questioning of the promises. This is displeasing to God, a sin which is attended with unknown Aggravations, though men usually indulge it in themselves. It is well expressed, Psalmm 78:19, 20. God had promised his presence to the people in the wilderness to feed, sustain, and preserve them. How did they entertain these promises of God? Can he, say they, give bread? can he give flesh unto his people? vers. 20. What great sin, crime, or offence is in this inquiry? Why vers. 19. This is called speaking against God; they spoke against God; they said, Can he furnish a Table in the wilderness? Unbelief in questioning of the promises is a speaking against God, a limiting of the holy One of Israel, as it is called, vers. 41. An assigning of bounds to his goodness, power, Kindness and grace, according to what we find in our selves, which he abhors. By this Unbelief we make God like our selves; that is our limiting of him, expecting no more from him, than either we can do, or see how it may be done. This you will say was a great sin in the israelites, because they had no reason to doubt or question the promises of God. It is well we think so now; But when they were so many thousand families, that had not one bit of bread, nor drop of water aforehand for themselves and their little ones, there is no doubt but they thought themselves to have as good reason to question the promises, as any one of you can think that you have. We are ready to suppose that we have all the reasons in the world; every one supposs he has those that are more cogent than any other has, to question the promises of grace, pardon, and forgiveness; and therefore the questioning of them is not their sin, but their duty. But pretend what we will, this is speaking against God, limiting of him, and that which is our keeping off from stedfastness and comfort.But now there may be a Jealousie in a Gracious heart concerning the love of Christ, which is acceptable unto him, at least which he is tender towards, that may be mistaken for this questioning of the promises by Unbelief, and so help to keep the soul in darkness and disconsolation, this the spouse expresss in her self, Song of Solomon 8:6. love is strong as death, jealousie is hard as the Grave, the Coals thereof are Coals of fire which has a most vehement flame. love is the foundation. The root; but yet it bears that fruit which is bitter although it be wholsome; that which fills the soul with great perplexities, and makes it cry out for a nearer and more secure admission into the presence of Christ. Set me, says the Spouse, as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon yours Arms, for Jealousie is cruel as the Grave. I cannot bear this distance from you, these fears of my being disregarded by you. Set me as a seal on your heart.Now this spiritual jealousie is the solicitousness of the mind of a believer who has a sincere love for Christ, about the heart, affection, and good will of Christ towards it, arising from a consciousness of its own unworthiness to be beloved by him, or accepted with him. All causeless jealousie ariss from a secret sence and conviction of unworthiness in the person in whom it is, and a high esteem of him that is the object of it; or concerning whose love and affection any one is Jealous. So it is with this spiritual Jealousie; the root of it is love, sincere love, that cannot be quenched by waters, nor drowned by floods, verse 7. which nothing can utterly prevail against, or overcome. This gives the soul high thoughts of the glorious Excellencies of Christ, fills it with admiration of him; these are mixed with a due sense of its own baseness, vileness and unworthiness to be owned by him, or accepted with him. Now if these thoughts on the one hand, and on the other be not directed, guided, and managed aright by faith, which alone can shew the soul, how the glory of Christ consists principally in this, that he being so excellent and glorious, is pleased to love us with love unexpressible who are vile and sinful, Questionings about the love of Christ, and those attended with much anxiety and trouble of mind, will arise. Now this frame may sometimes be taken for a questioning of the promises of God, and that to be a defect in faith which is an excess of love; or at most such an irregular acting of it, as the Lord Christ will be very tender towards, and which is consistent with peace and a due sense of the forgiveness of sins. Mistake not then these one for another, lest much causeless unquietness ensue in the Judgement which you are to make of your selves.But you will say how shall we distinguish between these two, so as not causelesly to be disquieted and perplexed? I answer briefly,1. Unbelief working in and by the questioning of the promises of God, is a weakning, disheartning, dispiriting thing It takes off the edge of the soul from spiritual duties and weakens it both as unto delight and strength. The more any one questions the promises of God, the less life, power, joy and delight in obedience he has. For faith is the spring and root of all other Graces; and according as that thrivs or goeth backwards so do they all. Men think sometimes, that their uncertainty of the love of God and of acceptance with him by the forgiveness of sin, does put them upon the performance of many duties, and they can have no rest or peace in the omission of them. It may be it is so; Yea this is the state and condition with many. But what are these duties? and how are they performed? And what is their acceptance with God? The duties themselves are legal, which denomination ariss not from the nature, substance or Matter of them, for they may be the same that are required and injoyned in the gospel, but from the principle from whence they proceed, and the end to which they are used. Now these in this case are both legal, their principle is legal fear, and their end is legal righteousness; the whole attendance unto them a seeking of righteousness as it were by the works of the law: and how are they performed? Plainly, with a bondage frame of Spirit, without love, joy, Liberty, or delight; To quiet conscience, to pacifie God, are the things in them aymed at; all in opposition to the Blood and righteousness of Christ. And are they accepted with God? Let them be multiplyed never so much, he every where testifis that they are abhorred by him. This then Unbelief mixed with convictions will do. It is the proper way of venting and exercising it self where the soul is brought under the power of conviction. But as unto gospel obedience in all the duties of it, to be carryed on in communion with God by Christ, and delight in him, all questioning of the promises weakens and discourags the soul, and makes them all wearisome and burdensome unto it.But the Jealousie that is exercised about the person and love of Christ unto the soul, is quite of another nature, and producs other effects. It cheers, enlivens, and enlargs the soul, stirs up to activity, earnestness, and industry in its inquiries and desires after Christ. Jealousie, says the Spouse, is hard as the grave, therefore set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. It makes the soul restlesly pant after neerer more sensible and more assured communion with Christ; It stirs up vigorous and active Spirits in all duties. Every doubt and fear that it ingenerates concerning the love of Christ, stirs up the soul unto more earnestness after him, delight in him, and sedulous watching against every thing that may keep it at a distance from him, or occasion him to hide, withdraw, or absent himself from it.2. Unbelief that works by questioning of the promises, is universally selfish; it begins and ends in self. Self-love, in desires after freedom from guilt, danger and punishment, are the life and soul of it. May this end be attained, it has no delight in God. Nor does it care what way it be attained so it may be attained. May such persons have any perswasions that they shall be freed from death and hell, be it by the works of the law, or by the observance of any inventions of their own, whether any glory ariss unto God from his grace and faithfulness or no, they are not solicitous.The Jealousie we speak of has the person of Christ and his excellency for its constant object. These it fills the mind with in many and various thoughts, still representing him more and more amiable and more desirable unto the soul. So does the Spouse upon the like occasion, as you may see at large, Song of Solomon 5:9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. being at some loss for his presence, for he had withdrawn himself, not finding her wonted communion and entercourse with him, fearing that upon her provocation she might forfeit her Interest in his love, she falls upon the consideration of all his Excellencies, and thereby the more enflames her self unto desires after his company and enjoyment. And these divers things may be thus distinguished and discerned.RULE VI.Learn to distinguish between faith and spiritual sense. This rule the apostle gives us, 2 Corinthians 5:7. We walk by faith and not by sight. It is the sight of glory that is especially here intended. But faith and sense in any kind are clearly distinguished. That may be believed, which is not felt. Yea, It is the will and command of God, that faith should stand and do its work, where all sense fails, Esa. 50:10. And it is with spiritual sense in this matter, as it is with natural. Thomas would not believe, unless he saw the object of his faith with his Eyes, or felt it with his hand: but, says our savior, blessed are they who believe, and have not seen; who believe upon the testimony of God, without the help of their own sense or reason. And, if we will believe no more of God, of his love, of grace, of our acceptance with him, than we have a spiritual affecting sense of, we shall be many times at a loss. Sensible impressions from Gods love, are great springs of joy, but they are not absolutely necessary unto peace; nor unto an evidence that we do believe.We will deal thus with the vil person living. We will believe him whil we have the certainty of our sense to secure us. And if we deal so with God what is there in our so doing, praise worthy? the prophet tells us, what it is to believe, in respect of providence, Habakkuk 3:17. When there is nothing left outward and visible to support us, then to rest quietly on God, that is to believe. So Psalmm 73:26. And the apostle in the example of Abraham, shews us what it is to believe with respect unto a special promise, Romansans 4:18. Against hope, he believed in hope. When he saw not any outward ordinary means for the accomplishment of the promise, when innumerable objections arose against any such hope as might have respect unto such means, yet he resolved all his thoughts into the faithfulness of God in the promise, and therein raised a new hope in its accomplishment; so in hope believing against hope.To clear this matter you must observe what I intend by this spiritual sense, which you must learn to distinguish faith from; and to know that true faith interesting the soul in forgiveness may be without it, that so you may not conclude unto a real want of pardon, from the want of the refreshing sense of it.Grace in general may be referred unto two heads. (1.) Our Acceptation with God through Christ; the same upon the matter with the forgiveness of sin that we are treating of. And (2.) grace of sanctification from God in Christ: Of each of these there is a spiritual sense, or Experience to be obtained; in both distinguished from faith that gives us a real Interest in forgiveness.Of the first, or the spiritual sense that we have of Acceptance with God, there are sundry parts or degrees; As first, hereunto belongs peace with God, Romansans 5:1. being justified by faith, we have peace with God. This peace is the Rest and composure of the soul emerging out of troubles, upon the account of the reconciliation and friendship made for it by the blood of Christ. And it has, as all peace has, two parts; First, a freedom from war, trouble, and distress; and Secondly, Rest, satisfaction and Contentment in the condition attained. And this, at least the second part of it, belongs unto the spiritual sense that we inquire after. Again, there is in it joy in the holy Ghost, called joy unspeakeable, and full of glory, 1 Peter 1:8. as also glorying in the Lord, upon the account of his grace, Esa. 45:26. with many the like effects, preceding from a shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts, Romansans 5:5. Yea, you say these are the things you aim at; these are the things you would attain, and be filled withall. It is this peace, this joy, this glorying in the Lord that you would alwaies be in the possession of; I say you do well to desire them, to seek and labor after them: They are purchased by Christ for believers; but you will do well to consider under what notion you do desire them. If you look on these things as belonging to the essence of faith, without which you can have no real interest in forgiveness or acceptance with God, you greatly deceive your own souls, and put your selves out of the way of obtaining of them. These these things are not believing, nor adequate effects of it; so as immediately to be produced where ever faith is: But they are such consequents of it, as may, or may not ensue upon it, according to the will of God. faith is a seed that contains them virtually; and out of which they may be in due time educed by the working of the word and Spirit. And the way for any soul to be made partaker of them, is to wait on the Soveraignty of God's grace, who creats peace in the exercise of faith upon the promises. He then that would place believing in these things, and will not be perswaded that he does believe, until he is possessed of them; he does both lose the benefit, advantage and comfort of what he has, and neglecting the due acting of faith, puts himself out of the way of attaining what he aims at.These things therefore are not needful to give you a real, saving interest in forgiveness, as it is tendered in the promise of the gospel by the blood of Christ. And it may be it is not the will of God, that ever you should be entrusted with them. It may be, it would not be for your good and advantage so to be. Some servants that are ill husbands, must have their wages kept for them to the years end, or it will do them no good. It may be some would be such spendthrifts of satisfying peace and joy, and be so diverted by them from attending unto some necessary duties, as of humiliation, mortification, and self-abasament, without which their souls cannot live, that it would not be much to their advantage to be entrusted with them. It is from the same Care and love, that peace and joy are detained from some believers, and granted unto others. You are therefore to receive forgiveness by a pure Acts of believing, in the way and manner before at large described. And do not think that it is not in you, unless you have constantly a spiritual sense of it in your hearts. See in the mean time that your faith brings forth obedience, and God in due time will cause it to bring forth peace.The like may be said concerning the other head of grace; though it be not so direct unto our purpose, yet tending also to the relief of the soul in its depths. This is the grace that we have from God in Christ for our sanctification: When the soul cannot find this in himself, when he has not a spiritual sense and experience of its in being and power, when it cannot evidently distinguish it from that which is not right or genuine, It is filled with fears and perplexities, and thinks it is yet in its sin. He is so indeed who has no grace in him; but not he alwaies who can find none in him: But these are different things. A man may have grace, and yet not have it at some times much acting; he may have grace for life, when he has it not for fruitfulness and comfort, though it be his duty so to have it Revelation 3:2. 2 Timothy 1:6. And a man may have grace acting in him, and yet not know, not be sensible that he has acting grace. We see persons frequently under great temptations of apprehension that they have no grace at all, and yet at the same time to the clear conviction of all who are able to discern spiritual things, sweetly and genuinely to act faith, love, submission unto God, and that in an high and eminent manner, Psalm 88. Heman complains that he was free among the dead; a man of no strength, vers. 4, 5. as one that had no spiritual life, no grace. This afflicted his mind, and almost distracted him, vers. 15. and yet there can be no greater expressions of faith and love to God, than are mixed with his complaints.These things I say then, are not to be judged of by spiritual sense, but we are to live by faith about them. And no soul ought to conclude, that because it has not the one, it has not the other; that because it has not joy and peace, it has no interest in pardon and forgiveness.RULE VII.The seventh rule. Mix not foundation and building work together. The eighth spend no time in heartless complaints, &c. Mix not too much foundation and building work together. Our foundation in dealing with God is Christ alone, mere grace and pardon in him.Our Building is in and by holiness and obedience, as the fruits of that faith by which we have received the Attonemont. And great mistakes there are in this matter which bring great intanglements on the souls of men. Some are all their daies laying of the foundation, and are never able to build upon it unto any comfort to themselves, or usefulness unto others. And the reason is, because they will be mixing with the foundation; stones that are fit only for the following building. They will be bringing their obedience, duties, mortification of sin, and the like, unto the foundation. These are precious stones to build with; but unmeet to be first laid to bear upon them the whole weight of the building. The foundation is to be laid, as was said, in mere grace, mercy, pardon in the blood of Christ. This the soul is to accept of, and to rest in merely as it is grace, without the consideration of any thing in its self, but that it is sinful and obnoxious unto ruine: This it finds a difficulty in, and would gladly have something of its own to mix with it: It cannot tell how to fix these foundation stones without some cement of its own endeavours and duty. And because these things will not mix, they spend a fruitless labor about it all their daies. But if the foundation be of grace, it is not at all of works; for otherwise grace is no more grace. If any thing of our own be mixed with grace in this matter, it utterly destroys the nature of grace; which if it be not alone, it is not at all. But does not this tend to licenciousness? does not this render obedience, holiness, duties, Mortification of sin, and good works, needless? God forbid; yea this is the only way to order them aright unto the glory of God. Have we nothing to do but to lay the foundation? yes, all our daies we are to build upon it, when it is surely and firmly laid. And these are the means and waies of our Edification. This then is the soul to do who would come to peace and settlement. Let it let go all former endeavours if it have been engaged unto any of that kind. And let it alone receive, admit of, and adhere to mere grace, mercy and pardon, with a full sense that in its self it has nothing for which it should have an interest in them, but that all is of mere grace through Jesus Christ. Other foundation can no man lay. Depart not hence until this work be well over. Surcease not an earn endeavour with your own hearts to acquiesce in this righteousness of God, and to bring your souls unto a comfortable perswasion that God for Christ his sake has freely forgiven you all your sins. Stir not hence untill this be effected. If you have been engaged in another way, that is, to seek for an interest in the pardon of sin by some endeavours of your own, it is not unlikely but that you are filled with the fruit of your own doings; that is, that you go on with all kind of uncertainties, and without any kind of constant peace. Return then again hither; bring this foundation work to a blessed issue in the blood of Christ, and when that is done, up and be doing.You know how fatal and ruinous it is for souls to abuse the grace of God, and the apprehension of the pardon of sins in the course of their obedience, to countenance themselves in sin, or the negligence of any duty; this is to turn the grace of God into wantonness, as we have else where at large declared. And it is no less pernicious to bring the duties of our obedience, any reserves for them, any hopes about them, into the matter of pardon and forgiveness, as we are to receive them from God. But these things, as they are distinct in themselves; so they must be distinctly managed in the soul; and the confounding of them, is that which disturbs the peace, and weakens the obedience of many. In a confused manner they labor to keep up a life of grace and duty, which will be in their places conjoyned, but not mixed or compounded.First, To take up mercy, pardon and forgiveness absolutely on the account of Christ, and then to yield all obedience in the strength of Christ, and for the love of Christ, is the life of a believer, Ephesians 2:8, 9, 10.RULE VIII.Take heed of spending time in complaints, when vigorous actings of grace are your duty. Fruitless and heartless complaints, bemoanings of themselves and their condition is the substance of the profession that some make. If they can object against themselves, and form Complaints out of their conditions, they suppose they have done their duty. I have known some who have spent a good part of their time in going up and down from one to another with their objections and complaints. These things are contrary to the life of faith. It is good indeed in our spiritual distresses to apply our selves unto them who are furnished with the tongue of the learned, to know how to speak a word in season unto him that is weary. But for persons to fill their minds and imaginations with their own objections and Complaints, not endeavouring to mix the words that are spoken for their relief and direction, with faith, but going on still in their own way, this is of no use or advantage. And yet some, I fear, may please themselves in such a course, as if it had somewhat of Eminency in religion in it.Others, it may be, drive the same trade in their Thoughts, although they make not outwardly such Complaints. They are conversant for the most part with heartless despondings. And in some they are multiplied by their natural Constitutions or Distempers. examples of this kind occur unto us every day. Now what is the Advantage of these things? what did Sion get when she cried, The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me? or Jacob, when he said, My way is hid from the Lord, and my Judgement is passed over from my God? Doubtless they did but prejudice themselves. How does David rouse up himself when he found his mind inclinable unto such a frame? For having said, Why dost you cast me off O God? why go I mourning because of the oppression of mine enemy? He quickly rebukes and recollects himself, saying, Why art you cast down O my soul, and why art you disquieted within me? hope in God, Psalmm 4:2, 5.We must say then unto such heartless Complainers, as God did to Joshuah, Get you up, why lye you thus upon your faces? Do you think to mend your condition by wishing it better, or complaining it is so bad? are your complaints of want of an Interest in forgiveness, a sanctified means to obtain it? not at all! you will not deal so with your selves in things natural or civil. In such things you will take an industrious course for a remedy, or for relief. In things of the smallest importance in this world, and unto this life, you will not content your selves with wishing and complaining. As though industry in the use of natural means for the attaining of natural ends, were the ordinance of God, and diligence in the use of spiritual means for the obtaining of spiritual ends were not.Do not consult your own hearts only. What is it that the scripture calls for in your condition? Is it not industry and Activity of spirit? And what does the nature of the thing require: distress that is yet hoped to be conquered, evidently calls for industry and diligence in the use of means for deliverance. If you are past hope, it avails not to complain. If you are not, why do you give up your selves to despondencies? Our savior tells us, that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force, Matthew 11:12. It is not of the outward violence of its Enemies seeking to destroy it, that our savior speaks, but of that spiritual servency and ardency of mind, that is in those who intend to be partakers of it: For , is taken by force, Luke 16:16. is no more but is preached, the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presss into it; pressing into it, and taking it by force, are the same thing. There is then a violence, a restless activity and vigour of spirit to be used and exercised for an interest in this kingdom. Apply this to your condition. Are you in depths and doubts, staggering and uncertain, not knowing what is your condition, nor whether you have any interest in the forgiveness that is with God? Are you tossed up and down between hopes and fears, want peace, consolation and establishment? why lye you upon your faces? get up, watch, pray, fast, meditate, offer violence to your lusts and corruptions; fear not, startle not at their crying or importunities to be spared; press unto the throne of grace by Prayers, Supplications, Importunities, restless Requests: This is the way to take the kingdom of heaven. These things are not peace, they are not assurance, but they are part of the means that God has appointed for the attainment of them.What then is the peculiar Instruction that is proper for souls in this condition? that plainly of the apostle, 2 Peter 1:10. Give all diligence to make your Calling and election sure. Alas! says the soul, I am at no certainty, but rather am afflicted and tossed, and not comforted; my heart will come to no stability; I have no assurance, know not whether I am chosen or called; yea fear that my latter end will be darkness and sorrow. There is I confess forgiveness with God, but justly fear that I shall never be made partaker of it. What is the usual course that is taken in such complaints by them to whom they are made? Mostly they have a good opinion of them that come with these complaints: They judge them to be godly and holy, though much in the dark; if they knew them not before, yet upon these complaints they begin to be well perswaded of them. Hereupon they are moved with pitty and compassion, and troubled to see them in their perplexities; and set themselves to tender relief unto them: They mind them of the gracious promises of the gospel; it may be fix upon some one or more of them in particular, which they explain unto them: Thence they minde them of the abundant grace and tender love of the father, of the merciful care of our High Pri, his readiness and ability to save, his communications of such savours unto them as they perceive not. By such waies and means, by such Applications do they seek to relieve them in the state and condition wherein they are. But what is the issue? Does not this Relief prove for the most part like the morning cloud, and as the early dew; a little refreshment it may be it yields for a season, but it is quickly again dryed up, and the soul left in its heartless withering condition.You will say then, do you condemn this manner of proceeding with the souls of men in their doubts, fears and distresses? or would you have them pine away under the sense of their condition, or abide in this uncertainty all their daies? I answer, no; I condemn not the way, I would not have any left comfortless in their depths. But yet I would give these two Cautions; 1. That Spiritual wisdom and prudence is greatly required in this matter, in the administration of consolation to distressed souls. If in any thing, the tongue of the spiritually learned is required herein; namely in speaking a word in season to them that are weary. A promiscuous drawing out of gospel consolations, without a previous right Judgement concerning the true state and condition of the souls applyed unto, is seldome useful, oft times pernicious. And let men take care, how they commit their souls and consciences unto such who have good words in readiness, for all comers.2. If counsel and consolation of this kind be given; special and distinct from the Advice we are upon of Watchfulness, diligence, Spiritual Violence in a way of duty; it is exceeding dangerous, and will assuredly prove useless. For let us see what counsel the holy Ghost gives in this condition unto them who would make their Calling and election sure, who would be freed from their present fears and uncertainties, who complain of their darkness and dangers; why says he, giving all diligence add to your faith vertue; and so on, verse 5. for says he, If you do these things, an entrance shall be Administred unto you abundantly into the Everlasting kingdom of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, verse 11. You who are now in the Skyrts of it, who know not whether you belong unto it or no, you shall have an Entrance into the kingdom of Christ, and all the joy, comforts, consolations and glory of it, shall be richly administred unto you. This is the advice that the Holy Ghost gives in this case; And this is the blessed promise annexed unto the following of this advice. And this the former compassionate course of Administring consolation, is not to be separated from.But you will it may be here say, we are so dead and dull, so chained under the power of corruptions, and temptations, that we are not able thus to put forth the fruit of a spiritual life in adding one grace unto another. But do you use diligence, Study, Endeavours, all diligence, diligence at all times, in all wayes by God appointed, all manner of diligence within and without, in private and public to this end and purpose? do you study, meditate, pray, watch, fast, neglect no opportunity, keep your hearts, search, try, examine your selves, fly Temptations, and occasions of cooling, deadning, and stifling grace? Do these things abound in you? Alass you cannot do thus, you are so weak, so indisposed; but alas you will not, you will not part with your ease, you will not Crucifie your lusts, you will not ufe all diligence; but must come to it, or be contented to spend all your dayes in darkness, and to lye down in sorrow.Thus do men frequently miscarry; Is it any news for persons to bewail the folly of their nature and wayes in the Morning and Evening, and yet scarce stand upon their watch any part of the day, or in any occasion of the day? Is this giving all diligence? Is this working out our salvation with fear and trembling? And may we not see Professors, even indulging to themselves in wayes of Vanity, folly, wrath, envy, sloth and the like, and yet complain at what a loss they are, how unquiet, how uncertain. God forbid it should be otherwise with you; or that we should endeavour to speak peace unto you in any such a frame. To hear of a person, that he walks slothfully, carelesly, or indulgs his corruptions, and to find him complaining that he is at loss whether he have any interest in pardon or noe, to give or tender comfort to such mourners without a due admonition of their duty to use diligence in the use of means, for to help on their delivery out of the condition wherein they are, is to tender poison unto them.To this then the soul must come that is in depths, if it intend to be delivered. Heartless complaints, with excuses to keep it from vigorous spiritual diligence must be laid aside; if not, ordinarily, peace, Rest, and stability will not be obtained. A great example hereof we have in the Spouse, Song of Solomon 5:2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. She is drousie and indisposed unto communion with Christ, whereunto she is invited, verse 2. this puts her upon making excuses from the unfitness of the time, and her present indisposition and unpreparedness as to the duty whereunto she was called, verse 3. Hereupon Christ withdraws his presence from her, and leaves her at a loss as to her former comforts, verse 6. what course does she now take; does she now lye down again in her former Slumber? does she make use of her former excuses and pretences, why she could not engage into the duties she was called unto? no such thing! but now with all Earnestness, diligence, Sedulity and Importunity, She engags in all manner of duties, whereby she may recover her former Comforts, as you may see in the Text. And this must be the course of others, who would obtain the same success. Spiritual peace and sloth will never dwell together in the same soul and conscience.RULE IX.The ninth rule. Take heed of undue expressions concerning God and his wayes in distress. Take heed in doubts, distresses, and perplexities of hard thoughts of God; hasty unweighed expressions concerning him or his wayes, with or of secret resolves, that it were as good give over waiting as continue in the state wherein you are, seeing your condition is remediless.On three occasions are such thoughts and resolves apt to befall the minds of men, which sometimes break forth into unwarrantable Expressions concerning God himself and his wayes.1. In deep perplexities of mind, by reason of some pressing terrour from the Lord. 2. On the long wearisome continuance of some tempting distress, and hereof we have many examples, some whereof shall be mentioned. 3. In spiritual disappointments through the strength of lust or temptation. When a person has it may be recovered himself through grace, from a perplexing sense of the guilt of some sin, or it may be from a course shorter or longer, lesser or greater of back sliding and negligent walking with God, and therein goes on cheerfully for a season in the course of his obedience, if this person through the power of temptation Subtilty of Lusts, neglect of watchfulness, by one means or other, is surprised in the sins, or wayes that he had relinquished, or is turned aside from the vigour of that course wherein he was engaged, he may be exposed not only to great despondencies, but also be overtaken with secret resolves to give over contending, seeing it is to no more purpose, nay to no purpose, and that God regards him not at all. Take an instance or two in each kind.The first we have in Job in the Extremity of his tryals and terrours from the Lord. See among other places, chap. 10. verse 3. Is it says he, to God, Good for you that shouldst oppress, that you shouldst despise the work of your hands? Ah poor worms, with whom have we to do? who shall say unto a king you art wicked, and to Princes ye are ungodly; and will ye speak so to him, who respects not the persons of Princes, nor regards them more than the poorest in the earth? And see what conclusions from such thoughts as these he does inferr. Chap. 14:15, 16, 17. You numbr my steps, dost you not watch over my sin? my transgression is sealed up in a bag, and you sow up my iniquity. He chargs God to be his Enemy, one that watched for all opportunities and advantages against him, that seemed to be glad at his halting, and take care that none of his sins should be missing when he intended to deal with him. Had this indeed been the case with him, he had perished unto eternity, as elsewhere he acknowledged.Of the other, we have an instance in the church, Lament. 3:18. I said my strength aad my hope is perished from the Lord. Present grace in spiritual strength, and future expectation of mercy are all gone. And what is got by this? secret hard thoughts of God himself are hereby ingenerated; as verse 8. When I cry and shout, he shutts out my Prayers, verse 44. you hast covered your self with a Cloud that our Prayers should not pass through. These things are grievous unto God to bear, and no way useful to the soul in its condition. Yea they more and more unfit[••] for every duty that may lye in a tendency to its relief & deliverance.So was it with Jonah Chap. 2:4. I said I am cast out of your sight; all is lost and gone with me, as good give over as Contend, I do but labor in vain; perish I must as one cast out of the sight of God. The like complaints fell also from Heman in his distress, Psalmm 88.The General who heard one of his Souldiers cry out upon a fresh onset of the Enemy, Now we are undone, Now we are ruined, call'd him Traytor and told him it was not so, whil he could weild his Sword. It is not for every private Souldier on every danger, to make a Judgement of the battel. That is the work of the General. Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation, he has undertaken the leading and conduct of our souls through all our difficulties. Our duty is to fight and contend; his work is to take care of the Event; and to him it is to be committed.That then you make a due use of this rule, keep alwaies in your minds these two considerations.1. That it is not for you to take the Judgement of Christ out of his hand, and to be passing sentence upon your own souls. Judgement as to the state and condition of men is committed unto Christ, and to him it is to be left. This we were directed unto into our first rule, and it is of special use in the case under consideration. Self-judging in reference unto sin, and the demerit of it, is our duty. The judging of our state and condition in relation unto the Remedy provided, is the Office and work of Jesus Christ, with whom it is to be left.2. Consider, that hard thoughts of what God will do with you, and harsh desponding sentences pronounced against your selves, will unsensibly alienate your hearts from God. It may be when mens perplexities are at the height, and the most sad Expressions are as it were wrested from them, they yet think they must justify God, and that they do so accordingly. But yet such thoughts as those mentioned, are very apt to infect the mind with other inclinations. For after a while they will prevail with the soul to look on God as an Enemy, as one that has no delight in it; and what will be the consequent thereof is easily discernable. None will continue to love long, where they expect no returns. Suffer not then your minds to be tainted with such thoughts; and let not God be dishonoured by any such expressions as reflect on that infinite grace and compassion which he is exercising towards you.RULE X.The Tenth rule. Duly improve the least Appearances of God in a way of grace or pardon. If you would come to stability, and a comforting perswasion of an Interest in forgiveness by the Blood of Christ, improve the least Appearances of him unto your souls, and the least Intimations of his love in pardon, that are made unto you in the way of God. The Spouse takes notice of her Husband, and rejoycs in him, when he stands behind the wall, when he does but look forth at the window, and shew himself at the lattice, when she could have no clear sight of him, Song of Solomon 2:9. She lays hold on the least Appearance of him to support her heart withall, and to stir up her affections towards him. Men in dangers do not sit still to wait until something presents it self unto them that will give assured deliverance; but they close with that which first presents it self unto them, that is of the same kind and nature with what they look after. And thus God does in many places express such supportments as give the soul little more than a possibility of attaining the end aimed at. As Zephaniah 2:3. It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lords anger. And Joel 2:14. Who knows but he will return and leave a blessing. It may be we shall be hid; it may be we shall have a blessing. And this was the best ground that Jonathan had for the great undertaking against the Enemies of God, 1 Samuel 14:6. It may be God will go along with us. And to what end does God at any time make these seemingly dubious intimations of grace and mercy? is it that we should by the difficulty included in them, be discouraged and kept from him? not at all; he speaks nothing to deter sinners, especially distressed sinners, from trusting in him. But his end is that we should close with, and lay hold upon, and improve the least Appearances of grace, which this kind of expressions do give unto us. When men are in a voyage at Sea, and meet with a Storm or a Temp which abides upon them, and they fear will at last prevail against them; if they make so far a discovery of Land, as that they can say, it may be there isLand; it may it is such a place where there is a safe harbor, none can positively say, it is not; there lyes no demonstration against it; in this condition especially if there be no other way of escape delivery or safety proposed to them, this is enough to make them to follow on that discovery, and with all diligence to steer their course that way, until they have made a tryal of it unto the utmost. The soul of which we speak is afflicted and tossed, and not comforted. There is in the Intimation of grace and pardon intended, a remote discovery made of some relief. This may be Christ, it may be forgiveness. This it is convinced of; it cannot deny but at such or such a time under such ordinances, or in such duties, it was perswaded that yet there might be mercy and pardon for it. This is enough to carry it to steer its course constantly that way; to press forward unto that harbor which will give it rest. How little was it that David had to bring his soul unto a composure in his great distress, 2 Samuel 15:25, 26. If, says he, I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and shew me the Ark, and the place of his habitation; but if he thus say, I have no delight in you, behold here am I, let him do unto me as seems good unto him. He has nothing but Soveraign grace to rest upon, and that he gives himself up unto.Faith is indeed the souls Venture for eternity. Something it is to venture on, as to its eternal condition. It must either adhere unto its self, or its own vain hopes of a righteousness of its own; or it must give over all expectation and lye down in darkness; or it must shut out all dreadful Apprehensions of eternity, by the power and activity of its lusts and carnal affections; or it must, whatever its discouragements be, cast it self upon pardon in the blood of Jesus Christ. Now if all the former waies be detestable and pernicious, if the best of them be a direct opposition unto the gospel, what has the soul that enquires after these things to do, but to adhere unto the last, and to improve every encouragement, even the least to that purpose.

As a close unto these General rules, I shall only add this last direction: Consider in particular where the stress and hinderance lyes, that keeps you off from peace through an established perswasion of an interest in Evangelical pardon. Do not alwaies fluctuate up and down in generals and uncertainties; but drive things unto a particular issue, that it may be tryed whether it be of sufficient efficacy to keep you in your present entanglements and despondencies. Search out your wound, that it may be tryed whether it be curable or no.

Now in this case we cannot expect that persons should suggest their own particular concerns, that so they might be considered and be brought unto the rule; but we must our selves reduce such distresses, as may, or do in this matter befall the minds of men, unto some General heads, and give a Judgement concerning them according to the word of truth. Indeed particular cases as varied by circumstances are endness; nor can they be spoken unto in this way of Instruction and Direction, but they must be left unto occasional considerations of them, as they are represented unto them who are entrusted to dispense the mysteries of God. Besides, many have laboured already in this matter, and their endeavours are in, and of general use. Although it must be said, as was before observed, that special cases are so varied by their Circumstances, that it is very rare that any Resolutions of them are every way adequate, and suited unto the Apprehensions of them that are exercised with them. I shall therefore call things unto some general heads whereunto most of the objections that distressed sinners make against their own peace, may be reduced; and leave the light of them to be applied in particular unto the relief of the souls of men, as God shall be pleased to make them effectual.

Second General head of the application of the truth insisted on. grounds of Spiritual Disquietments considered. The first; Afflictions. Waies and means of the Aggravation of Afflictions. rules about them.

That which now lyeth before us, is the second part of the second General Use educed from the truth insisted on. Our aim is to lead on souls towards peace with God, through a gracious perswasion of their Interest in that forgiveness which is with him. And it consists, as was declared, in a consideration of some of those disquietments which befall the minds of men, and keep them off from Establishment in this matter.

And first, such disquietments and objections against the peace of the soul, and its acceptance with God, will arise from Afflictions; they have done so of old, they do so in many at this day. Afflictions, I say, greatned unto the mind from their nature, or by their Concomitants do oft-times variously affect it, and sometimes prevail to darken it so far as to ingenerate thoughts, that they are all messengers of wrath, all tokens of displeasure, and so consequently evidences that we are not par doned or accepted with God.

Now this is a time of great Afflictions unto many, and those some of them such as have innumerable aggravating circumstances accompanying of them. Some have come with a dreadful surprizal in things not looked for; such as falls not out in the providence of God in many Generations. Such is the condition of them who are reduced to the utmost extremity by the late consuming fire; some have had their whole families, all their posterity taken from them; in a few daies they have been suddenly bereaved, as in the Plague. Some in their own persons, or in their relations, have had sore, long and grievous tryals from Oppressions and Persecutions; and these things have various effects on the minds of men. Some we find crying with that wicked king, This evil is of the Lord, why should we wait any longer for him? and give up themselves to seek relief from their own lusts. Some bear up under their troubles with a natural stoutness of spirit; some have received a sanctified use and improvement of their trials, with joy in the Lord. But many we find to go heavily under their burdens, having their minds darkned with many misapprehensions of the love of God, and of their own personal interest in his grace. It is not therefore unseasonable to speak a little to this head of trouble in our entrance. Outward troubles, I say, are oftentimes occasions, if not the causes of great inward distresses. You know how the saints of old expressed their sense of them, and conflicts with them. The complaints of David are familiar to all who attend unto any communion with God in these things; so are those of Job, Heman, Jonah, Jeremiah, and others; neither do they complain only of their troubles, but of the sense which they had of Gods displeasure in and under them, and of his hiding of his face from them whil they were so exercised.

It is not otherwise at present, as is known unto such as converse with many, who are either surprized with unexpected troubles, or worn out with tryals and disappointments of an expected end. They consider themselves both absolutely, and with respect unto others, and on both accounts are filled with dark thoughts and despondencies. Says one, I am rolled from one trial unto another; the clouds with me return still after the rain. All the billows and water-spouts of God go over me. In my person, it may be, pressed with sickness, pains, troubles; in my relations, with their sins, miscarriages, or death; in my outward state, in wants, losses, dis-reputation, I am even as a withered branch. Surely if God had any especial regard unto my soul, it would not be thus with me; or some timely end would have been put unto these dispensations. On the other hand, they take a view of some other Professors; they see that their Tables are spread day by day; that the Candle of the Lord shines continually on their tabernacle, and that in all things they have their hearts desire. Setting aside the common attendencies of humane nature, and nothing befalls them grievous in the world. Thus it is with them. And surely had I an interest in his grace, in pardon, the God of Israel would not thus pursue a Flea in the Mountains, nor set himself in battel array against a leaf driven to and fro with the wind; he would spare me a little, and let me alone for a moment; but as things are with me, I fear my way is hidden from the Lord, and my Judgement is passed over from my God. These kind of thoughts do perplex the minds of men, and keep them off from partaking of that strong consolation which God is abundantly wiling they should receive, by a comfortable perswasion of a blessed Interest in that forgiveness that is with him.

And this was the very case of David; or at least these outward Troubles were a special part of those depths, out of which he cryed for relief, by a sense of pardon, grace and redemption with God.

I answer to these Complaints; First, That there are so many excellent things spoken concerning Afflictions; their Necessity, their Usefulness, and the like; such blessed ends are assigned unto them, and in many have been compassed and fulfilled by them, that a man unacquainted with the exercise wherewith they are attended, would think it impossible that any one should be shaken in mind, as to the love and favor of God on their account. But as the apostle tells us, that no Afflictions are joyous at present but grievous; So he who made in the close of his Trials that solemn profession, That it was good for him that he had been affected, yet we know, as has been declared, how he was distressed under them. There are therefore sundry Accidental things which accompany great Afflictions that seem to exempt them from the common rule, and the promise of love and grace: As,

1. The Remembrance of past and buryed misearriages and sins, lyes in the bosom of many Afflictions: It was so with Job; You mak me, says he, to possess the sins of my youth. See his plea to that purpose, chap. 13:23, 24, 25, 26, 27. In the midst of his troubles and distresses, God revived upon his spirit a sense of former sins, even the sins of his youth, and made him to possess them; he filled his soul and mind with thoughts of them, and anxiety about them. This made him fear lest God was his enemy, and would continue to deal with him in all feverity. So was it with Josephs Brethren in their distresses, Genesis 42:21. They said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our Brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he sought us, and we would not hear, therefore is this distress come upon us. And vers. 22. Behold his blood is required. Their distress revives a deep perplexing sense of the guilt of sin many years past before, and that under all its aggravating circumstances which spoiled them of all their reliefs and comforts, filling them with confusion and Trouble, though absolutely innocent as to what was come on them. And the like appeared in the Widdow of Zareptha, with whom Elijah sojourned during the famine. Upon the death of her Son, which it seems was some what extraordinary, she cryed out unto the prophet, What have I to do with you you Man of God? Art you come tocall my sins to remembrance and to slay my Son? 1 king. 17, 18. It seems some great sin she had formerly contracted the guilt of, and now upon her sore affliction in the death of her only child, the Remembrance of it was recalled and revived upon her soul. Thus deep calls unto deep at the noise of Gods water spouts, and then all his waves and billows go over a person, Psalmm 42:7. The deep of Afflictions calls up the deep of the guilt of sin, and both in conjunction become as billows and waves passing over the soul. We see only the outside of mens afflictions, they usually complain only of what does appear. And an easie thing it is supposed to be, to apply relief and comfort unto those that are distressed. The rule in this matter is so clear, so often repeated and inculcated, the promises annexed unto this condition so many and precious, that every one has in readiness what to apply unto them who are so exercised. But oftentimes we know nothing of the Gall and Wormwood that is in mens affliction; they keep that to themselves, and their souls feed upon them in secret, Lamentations 3:12. God has stirred up the Remembrance of some great sin, or sins, and they look upon their Afflictions as that wherein he is come, or beginning to enter into Judgement with them. And is it any wonder if they be in darkness and filled with disconsolation.

2. There is in many Afflictions something that seems New, and peculiar, wherewith the soul is surprised, and cannot readily reduce its condition unto what is taught about Afflictions in General. This perplexs and intangls it. It is not affliction it is troubled withall, but some one thing or other in it that appears with an Especial dread unto the soul, so that he questions whether ever it were so with any other or no, and is thereby deprived of the supportment which from former examples it might receive. And indeed when God intends that which shall be a deep affliction, he will put an Edge upon it in matter, or manner, or circumstances, that shall make the soul feel its sharpness. He will not take up with our bounds and measures, and with which we think we could be contented. But he will put the impress of his own greatness and terrour upon it, that he may be acknowledged and submitted unto. Such was the state with Naomi; When from a full and plentiful condition, she went into a strange Countrey with an Husband and two Sons, where they all dyed, leaving her destitute and poor; Hence in her account of Gods dealing with her, she sayes, call me not Naomi (that is pleasant) but call me mara (that is bitter) for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out Full and the Lord brought me again Empty; why then call ye me Naomi since the Lord has testified against me; and the Almighty has afflicted me, Ruth 1:20, 21. So was it with Job, with the Widdow of Zareptha; and with her at Naim who was burying her only Child. And still in many Afflictions God is pleased to put in an entangling specialty, which perplexs the soul and darkens it in all its Reasonings about the love of God towards it, and its interest in pardon and grace.

3. In some; affections are very strong and Importunate as fixed on lawful things; whereby their nature is made sensible and tender, and apt to receive very deep impressions from urgent Afflictions; Now although this in its self be a good natural frame, and helps to preserve the soul from that stout hardness which God abhors, yet if it be not watched over, it is apt to perplex the soul with many intangling Temptations. The apostle intimates a double evil that we are obnoxious unto under tryals and Afflictions, Hebrews 12:5. My Son, despise not you the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you art rebuked of him. Men may either through a natural stoutness despise and contemn their sufferings, and be obstinate under them, or faint and despond, and so come short of the end which God aimes at for them, to be attained in a way of duty. Now though the frame spoken of, be not obnoxious unto the first extream, yet it is greatly to the latter, which if not watched against, is no less pernitious than the former. affections in such persons being greatly moved they cloud and darken the mind, and fill it with strange Apprehensions concerning God and themselves. Every thing is presented unto them through a Glass composed of fear, dread, Terrour, sorrow, and all sorts of disconsolations. This makes them faint and despond, unto very sad apprehensions of themselves and their conditions.

4. Afflictions find some entangled with very strong corruptions, as love of the world, or the pleasure of it, of name or Reputation, of great contrivances for posterity, and the like; or it may be in things carnal or sensual. Now when these unexpectedly meet together, great Afflictions and strong Corruptions, it is not conconceivable what a combustion they will make in the soul. As a strong medicine or potion meeting with a strong or tough distemper in the body; there is a violent contention in nature between them and about them, so that oftentimes the very life of the patient is endangered. So it is where a great tryal, a smart stroke of the hand of God, falls upon a person in the midst of his pursuit of the effects of some corruptions; the soul is amazed even to distraction, and can scarce have any thought, but that God is come to cut the person off in the midst of his sin. Every unmortified corruption fills the very fear and expectation of affliction, with horrour. And there is good reason that so it should do; for although God should be merciful unto mens Iniquities, yet if he should come to take Vengeance of their Inventions, their condition would be dark and sorrowful.

5. Satan is never wanting in such Occasions to attempt the compassing of his ends, upon persons that are exercised under the hand of God. In the time of suffering it was, that he fell upon the head of the church, turning it into the very hour of the power of darkness. And he will not omit any appearing opportunities of Advantage against his Members. And this is that which he principally in such seasons attacks them withall; namely, that God regards them not, that they are fallen under his Judgement and Severity, as those who have no share in mercy, pardon or forgiveness.

From these and the like reasons, I say, it is, that whereas Afflictions in general are so testified unto, to be such pledges and tokens of Gods love and Care to be designed unto blessed ends; as conformity unto Christ, and a participation of the holiness of God; yet by reason of these Circumstances, they often prove means of casting the soul into depths, and of hindering it from a refreshing interest in the forgiveness that is with God. That this may prove no real or abiding ground of inward spiritual trouble unto the soul, the following rules and Directions may be observed.

1. Not only Afflctions in general, but great and manifold Afflictions, and those attended with all sorts of aggravating circumstances, are alwaies consistent with the pardon of sin, after signal tokens and pledges of it, and of the love of God therein, Job 7:17, 18. What is man that you shouldst magnifie him, and that you shouldst set yours heart upon him, and that you shouldst visit him every morning, and try him every moment! What were the considerations that cast him into this admiration of the Care and love of God, is expressed, verse 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. There are no words of a more dismal import in the whole book than those here expressed; yet when he recollected himself from his overwhelming distress, he acknowledgs that all this proceeded from the love and Care of God; yea his fixing his heart upon a man to magnifie him, to set him up, and do him good; For this end does he chasten a man every morning, and try him every moment; and that with such afflictions as are for the present so far from being ioyous, as that they give no Rest, but even weary the soul of life, as he expresss their effects on himself, verse 15, 16. And hence it is observed of this Job, that when none in the earth was like to him in trouble, God gave him three testimonies from heaven, that there was none in the earth like unto him in grace. And although it may not be laid down as a General rule, yet for the most part in the providence of God, from the foundation of the world, those who have had most of Afflictions, have had most of grace, and the most eminent testimonies of Acceptance with God. Christ Jesus the Son of God, the head of the church, had all Afflictions gathered into an head in him; and yet the father alwaies loved him, and was alwaies well pleased with him.

When God solemnly renewed his covenant with Abraham, and he had prepared the sacrifice whereby it was to be ratified and confirmed, God made a smoaking Furnace to pass between the pieces of the sacrifice, Genesis 15:17. It was to let him know that there was a furnace of affliction attending the covenant of grace and peace. And so he tells Sion that he chose her in the furnace of affliction, Isaiah 48:10. that is, in Aegyptian affliction, burning, flaming afflictions, fiery tryals, as Peter calls them, 1 Peter 4:12. There can then no argument be drawn from affliction, from any kind of it, from any aggravating circumstance wherewith it may be attended, that should any way discourage the soul in its comforting supporting perswasion of an interest in the love of God and forgiveness thereby.

2. No length or continuance of Afflictions ought to be any impeachment of our spiritual consolation. Take for the confirmation hereof, the great example of the Son of God. How long did his Afflictions continue? what end or issue was put to them? No longer did they abide than until he cryed with a loud voice and gave up the Ghost. To the moment of his death; from his Manger to his Cross, his Afflictions still increased, and he ended his daies in the midst of them. Now he was the head of the church, and the great Representative of it; unto a conformity with whom we are predestinated. And if God will have it so with us, even in this particular, so as that we shall have no rest, no peace from our trials, until we lye down in the Grave, that whatever condition we pass through, they shall be shut out of none, but only from immortality and glory, what have we herein to complain of?

3. Where the Remembrance and perplexing sense of past sins is revived by present afflictions; separate them in your minds, and deal distinctly about them. So long as you carry on the consideration of them joyntly, you will be rolled from one to another, and never obtain rest unto your souls. They will mutually aggravate each other. The sharpness of affliction will add to the bitterness of the sense of sin; and the sense of sin will give an edge to affliction, and cause it to pierce deeply into the soul, as we shewed in the former instances. Deal therefore distinctly about them, and in their proper order. So does the Psalmmist here. He had at present both upon him, and together they brought him into these depths concerning which he so cries out for deliverance from them; see Psalmm 32:3, 4, 5. And what course does he take? he applies himself in the first place to his sin, and the guilt of it, and that distinctly and separately. And when he has got a discharge of sin, which he waited so earnestly for, his faith quickly arose above his outward trials, as appears in his blessed close of all; He shall redeem Israel out of allhis trouble; the whole Israel of God, and my self amongst them. This do then, single out the sin or sins that are revived in the sense of their guilt upon the conscience. Use all diligence to come to an issue about them in the blood of Christ. This God by your affliction calls you unto. This is the disease whereof your trouble is but the symptom. This therefore in the Cure you seek after, is first and principally to be attended unto; when that is once removed, the other as to any prejudice unto your souls will depart of its self. The root being once digged up, you shall not long feed on the bitter fruit that it has brought forth; or if you do, the Wormwood shall be taken out of it, and it shall be very pleasant unto you, as well as wholesome. How this is to be done by an application unto God for forgiveness, has been at large declared. But if men will deal with confused thoughts about their sins and their troubles, their wound will be incurable, and their sorrow endless.

4. Remember that a time of affliction is a time of temptation. Satan, as we have shewed, will not be wanting unto any appearing Opportunity or Advantage of setting upon the soul. When Pharaoh heard that the people were intangled in the wilderness, he pursued them. And when Satan sees a soul intangled with it's distresses and troubles, he thinks it his time and hour to assault it. He seeks to winnow, and comes when the Corn is under the flail. Reckon therefore that when trouble coms, the Prince of the world coms also, that you may be provided for him. Now is the time to take the shield of faith, that we may be able to quench his fiery darts. If they be neglected, they will enflame the soul. Watch therefore and pray that you enter not into temptation; that Satan do not represent God falsly unto you. He that durst represent Job falsly to the All-seeing God, will with much boldness represent God falsly unto us, who see and know so little. Be not then ignorant of his devices; but every way set your selves against his interposing between God and your souls, in a matter which he has nothing to do withall. Let not this make-bate by any means inflame the difference.

5. Learn to distinguish the effect of natural distempers from spiritual distresses. Some have sad, dark and tenacious thoughts fixed on their minds from their natural distempers. These will not be cured by Reasonings, nor utterly quelled by faith. Our design must be to abate their Efficacy and Consequents, by considering their Occasions. And if men cannot do this in themselves, it is highly incumbent on those who make application of relief unto them, to be careful to discern what is from such principles, whereof they are not to expect a speedy Cure. And,

6. Take heed in times of peace and ease, that you lay not up, by your negligence or careless walking, sad provision for a day of darkness, a time of Afflictions. It is sin that imbitters troubles; the sins of peace are revived in the time of distress. fear of future affliction, of impendent troubles, should make us careful not to bring that into them which will make them bitter and sorrowful.

7. labor to grow better under all your Afflictions, lest your Afflictions grow worse; lest God mingle them with more darkness, bitterness and terrour. As Joab said unto David, if he ceased not his scandalous Lamentation on the death of Absolom, all the people would leave him, and he then should find himself in a far worse condition than that which he bemoaned, or any thing that befell him from his youth. The same may be said unto persons under their Afflictions. If they are not managed and improved in a due manner, that which is worse may, nay, in all probability will befall them. Whereever God takes this way, and engags in afflicting, he does commonly pursue his work until he has prevailed, and his design towards the afflicted party be accomplished. He will not cease to thresh and break the bread-corn until it be meet for his use. Lay down then the weapons of your warfare against him; give up your selves to his will; let go every thing about which he contends with you; follow after that which he calls you unto, and you will find light arising unto you in the midst of darkness. Has he a cup of affliction in one hand, lift up your eyes and you will see a cup of consolation in another. And if all Stars withdraw their light, whilst you are in the way of God, assure your selves that the Sun is ready to rise.

8. According to the Tenor of the covenant of grace, a man may be sensible of the respect of affliction unto sin; yea unto this or that sin in particular, and yet have a comfortable perswasion of the forgiveness of sin. Thus it was in general in Gods dealing with his people, He forgave them, but he took vengeance on their inventions, Psalmm 99:8. Whatever they suffered under the vengeance that fell upon their Inventions, (and that is as hard a word as is applied any where unto Gods dealing with his people) yet at the same time he assured them of the pardon of their sin. So you know was the case of David. His greatest trial and affliction, and that which befell him on the account of a particular sin, and wherein God took vengeance on his invention, was ushered in with a word of grace, that God had done away, or pardoned his sins, and that he should not dye. This is express'd in the Tenor of the covenant with the seed of Christ, Psalmm 89:31, 32, 33, 34.

Objections against Believing from things internal. The person knows not whether he be regenerate or no. state of regeneration asserted. difference of Saving and Common grace. This difference discernable. Men may know themselves to be regenerate. The objection answered.

Another head of objections and Despondencies ariss from things internal, things that are required in the soul, that it may have an Interest in the forgiveness that is with God. Some whereof we shall speak unto; and these respect, first the state of the soul; and secondly, some actings in the soul.

First, As to the state, say some, unless a man be regenerate, and born again, he is not, he cannot be made partaker of mercy and pardon. Now all things here are in the dark unto us. For first, we know not well what this regeneration is, and it is variously disputed amongst men. Some would place it only in the outward signs of our Initiation unto Christ, and some otherwise express it. Again, it is uncertain, whether you that are regenerate do or may know that they are so; or whether this may be in any measure known unto others with whom they may treat about it. And if it may not be known we must be uncertain in this also. And then it may be for their parts, they neither know the time when, nor the manner how any such work was wrought in them; and yet without this, seeing it is wrought by means, and springs from certain causes, they can have no establishment in a not-failing perswasion of their Acceptance with God, by the pardon of their sins in the blood of Christ. This is the head and summ of most of the objections which perplexed souls do manage against themselves as to their state and condition. Hence indeed they draw forth reasonings with great variety according as they are suggested by their particular occasions and temptations. And many proofs taken from their sins, miscarriages and fears, do they enforce their objections withall. My purpose is to lay down some General rules and principles, which may be applied unto particular occasions and emergencies. And this shall be done in answer to the several parts of the General objection mentioned before. I say then,

First, It is most certain that there are two Estates and conditions that divide all mankind; and every one that lives in the world, does compleatly and absolutely belong unto one of them. These are the state of nature, and the state of grace, of sin, and of righteousness by Christ; every man in the world belongs unto one of these states or condition. This the scripture so abounds in, that it seems to be the first principal thing that we are taught in it. It is as clear that there are two different states in this world, as that there are so in that to come. Yea, all our faith and our obedience depend on this truth. And not only so, but the covenant of God, the mediation of Christ, and all the promises and threats of the law and gospel are built on this supposition. And this lays naked unto a spiritual eye that abounding Atheism that is in the world. Men are not only like Nicodemus, ignorant of these things, and wonder how they can be, but they scorn them, despise them, scoff at them. To make mention of being regenerate is exposed to reproach in the world. But whether men will or no, unto one of these conditions they must belong.

2. As these two estates differ morally in themselves, and Physically in the causes constitutive of that difference; so there is a specifical difference between the things that place men in the one condition and in the other. Whatever there is of goodness, Virtue, duty, grace in an unregenerate person, there is in him that is regenerate somewhat of another kind that is not in the other at all. For the difference of these states themselves it is plain in scripture. The one is a state of death, the other of life; the one of darkness, the other of light; the one of Enmity against God, the other of reconciliation with him. And that the one state is constituted by that of grace which is of a peculiar kind, and which is not in the other. I shall briefly declare.

1. The grace of regeneration proceeds from an especial spring and fountain, which emptis much of its living waters into it, no one drop whereof falls on them that are not regenerate. This is Electing love; it is given out in the pursuit of the decree of election; God has chosen us that we should be holy, Ephesians 1:4. Our holiness, whose only spring is our regeneration, is an effect of our election; That which God works in our souls, in the pursuit of his eternal purpose of love and good will towards us. So again, says the apostle, 2 Thessalonians 2:13. God has from the beginning chosen you to salvation through the sanctification of the Spirit. God having designed us unto salvation as the end, has also appointed the sanctification of the Spirit to be the means to bring us orderly unto the attainment of that end. But the best of common grace or Gifts that may be in men unregenerate, are but products of the providence of God, ordering all things in general unto his own glory, and the good of them that shall be heirs of salvation. They are not fruits of Electing Eternal love, nor designed means for the insiallible attaining of Eternal salvation.

Secondly, The Graces of those that are regenerate have a manifold Respect or relation to the Lord Christ that the common Graces of others have not. I shall name one or two of these Respects: First, They have an especial moral relation to the Mediatory Acts of Christ in his Oblation and intercession. Especial grace is an especial part of the purchase of Christ by his death and blood-shedding. He made a double purchase of his elect; of their persons to be his; of especial grace to be theirs. He gave himself for his church, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it unto himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinckle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, Ephesians 5:26, 27. The design of Christ in giving himself for his church, was to procure for it that Especial grace, whereby through the use of means, it might be regenerate, sanctified and purified. So Titus 2:14. He gave himself that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. Real purification in grace and holiness has this Especial relation unto the death of Christ, that he designed therein to procure it for them for whom he dyed. And in the pursuit of his purchase or Acquisition of it, his purpose was really to bestow it upon them, or effectually to work it in them. Moreover, it has an Especial relation unto his intercession; and that in a distinguishing manner from any other Gifts or common Graces that other men may receive. Giving us the rule and Pattern of his intercession, Johnn 17. He tells us, that he so prayes not for the world, but for his elect; those which the father had given him, because they were his, verse 9. And what is it that he prayes for them, in distinction from all other men whatever? Amongst others, this is one principal thing that he insists on, verse 17. sanctify them through your truth. Their sanctification and holiness is granted upon that prayer and intercession of Christ, which is peculiar unto them with an exclusion of all others, I pray for them, I pray not for the world. Now the common grace of unregenerate persons, whereby they are distinguished from other men, whatever it be, it has not this Especial relation to the Oblation and intercession of Christ. Common grace is not the procurement of Especial intercession.

Secondly, They have a Real relation unto Christ as he is the living Quickning-Head of the church; for he is so, even the living spiritual fountain of the spiritual life of it, and of all vital Acts whatever. Christ is our life, and our life is hid with him in God, Colossians 3:2, 3. That Eternal life which consists in the knowledge of the father and the Son, Johnn 17:3. is in him as the cause, head, spring and fountain of it. In him it is in its fulness, and from thence it is derived unto all that believe, who receive from his fulness grace for grace, Johnn 1:16. All [••]ue saving sanctifying grace, all spiritual life, and every thing that belongs thereunto is derived directly from Christ as the living head of his church, and fountain of all spiritual life unto them. This the apostle expresss, Ephesians 4:15, 16. Speaking the truth in love, grow up into him in all things, which is the head even Christ; from whom the whole body fitly joyned together, and compacted by that which every joynt supplis, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maks increase of the body unto the edifying of it self in love. To the same purpose he again expresss the same matter, Colossians 2:19. All grace in the whole body comes from the head Christ Jesus; and there is no growth or furtherance of it, but by his Effectual working in every part to bring it unto the measure designed unto it. Nothing then, no not the least of this grace can be obtained but by virtue of our union unto Christ as our head, because it consists in a vital effectual influence from him, and his fulness. And this kind of relation unto Christ, all grace that is, or may be in unregenerate men, is incapable of.

Thirdly, The grace of regeneration, and the fruits of it are administred in and by the covenant. This is the promise of the covenant, That God will write his law in our hearts, and put his fear in our inward parts, that we shall not depart from him, Jeremiah 32. This is that grace whereof we speak, whatever it be, or of what kind soever. It is bestowed on none but those who are taken into covenant with God; for unto them alone it is promised, and by virtue thereof is it wrought in and upon their souls. Now all unregenerate men are strangers from the covenant, and are not made partakers of that grace which is peculiarly and only promised thereby, and exhibited therein.

Fourthly, the least spark of saving Regenerating grace is wrought in the soul by the Holy Ghost, as given unto men to dwell in them, and to abide with them. He is the water given by Jesus Christ unto believers, which is in them a well of waterspringing up to everlasting life, Johnn 4:14. First they receive the water, the spring it self that is the Holy Spirit; and from thence living waters do arise up in them; they are wrought, effected, produced by the Spirit, which is given unto them. Now although the common Gifts and Graces of men unregenerate are effects of the power of the Holy Ghost wrought in them, and bestowed on them, as are all other works of Gods providence; yet it does not work in them, as received by them, to dwell in them, and abide with them as a Never-failing spring of spiritual life. For so our savior sayes expressly, that the world, or Unbelievers do not know the Spirit, nor can receive him, or have him abiding in them. All which, in a contradistinction unto all unregenerate persons, are affirmed of all them that do believe.

Fifthly, The least of saving grace, such as is peculiar unto them that are regenerate, is Spirit, Johnn 3:6. That which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit. Whatever it is that is so born, it is Spirit, it has a spiritual being, and it is not educible by any means out of the principles of nature. So it is said to be a new creature, 2 Corinthians 5:17. Be it never so little or so great, however it may differ in degrees in one and in another, yet the nature of it is the same in all; It is a new creature. As the least Worm of the earth in the order of the old creation, is no less a creature than the Sun; yea or the most glorious Angel in heaven: So in the order of the new creation, the least spark or dram of true grace that is from the sanctifying Spirit, is a new creature, no less than the highest faith or love that ever were in the chief of the apostles. Now that which is Spirit, and that which is not Spirit; that which has a new spiritual being, and that which has none, whatever appearance of agreement there may be among them, do yet differ specifically from one another. And thus it is with the saving grace that is in a regenerate, and those common Graces that are in others which are not so. So that as these are divers States, so they are eminently different and distinct the one from the other; and this answers the second thing laid down in the objections, taken from the uncertainty of these States, and of regeneration it self, and the real difference of it from the contrary state, which is exclusive of an interest in forgiveness.

Thirdly, This is laid down in the inquiry, whether this state may be known unto him, who is really partaker of it, or translated into it, or unto others that may be concerned therein; to which I say, the difference that is between these two States, and the constitutive causes of them, as it is real, so it is discernable; It may be known by themselves who are in those states, and others. It may be known who are born of God, and who are yet Children of the Devil; who are quickned by Christ, and who are yet dead in Trespasses and sin: But here also Observe,

1. That, I do not say, This is alwayes known to the persons themselves concerned in this distribution. Many cry peace, peace when suddain destruction is at hand. These either think themselves regenerate when they are not, or else wilfully despise the consideration of what is required in them, that they may have peace, and so delude their own souls unto their ruine. And many that are truly born of God, yet know it not. They may for a season walk in darkness and have no light; Nor

2. That this is alwayes known to others. It is not known unto unregenerate men in respect of them that are so. For they know not really and substantially what it is to be so. Natural men perceive not the things of God; that is, spiritually, in their own light and nature, 2 Corinthians 2. And as they cannot aright discern the things which put men into that condition, (for they are foolishness unto them,) so they cannot judge aright of their persons in whom they are. And if they do at any time judge aright nationally concerning any things or persons, Yet they do not judge so upon right grounds, nor with any evidence in or unto themselves of what they do judge. Wherefore generally they judge amiss of such persons; And because they make profession of somewhat which they find not in themselves, they judge them Hypocrites, and false pretenders unto what is not. For those things which evince their union with Christ, and which evidence their being born of God, they savour them not, nor can receive them. Nor is this alwayes known unto, or discerned by them that are regenerate. They may sometime with Peter think a Symon Magus to be a true believer; or with Eli an Hannah to be a daughter of Belial. Many Hypocrites are so set forth with gifts, common Graces, light and profession that they pass amongst all believers for such as are born of God. And many poor saints may be so disguised under darkness, temptation, sin, as to be looked on as strangers from that family whereunto indeed they do belong. The Judgement of man may fail, but the Judgement of God is according unto righteousness; wherefore,

3. This is that we say; it may be known in the Sedulous use of means appointed for that end, to a man's self and others, which of the conditions mentioned he does belong unto; that is, whether he be regenerate or no, so far as his or their concernment lies therein. This I say may be known and that infallibly and assuredly with reference unto any duty wherein from hence we are concerned. The discharge of some duties in our selves and toward others, depends on this knowledge, and therefore we may attain it, so far as it is necessary for the discharge of such duties unto the glory of God. Now because it is not directly in our way, yet having been mentioned I shall briefly in our passage touch upon the latter, or what duties do depend upon our Judging of others to be regenerate, and the way or principles whereby such a Judgement may be made.

1. There are many duties incumbent on us to be performed with and towards Professors; which without admitting a Judgement to be made of their state and condition cannot be performed in faith. And in reference unto these duties alone it is that we are called to judge the state of others. For we are not giving Countenance unto a rash uncharitable censuring of mens spiritual conditions, nor unto any Judging of any men, any other than what our own duty towards them, does indispensably require. Thus if we are to lay down our lives for the Brethren, it is very meet we should so far know them, so to be, as that we may hazard our lives in faith when we are called thereunto. We are also to Joyn with them in those ordinances wherein we make a Solemn profession that we are members of the same body with them, that we have the same head, the same Spirit, faith and love: We must love them because they are begotten of God, Children of our heavenly father; and therefore must on some good ground believe them so to be. In a word, the due performance of all principal mutual gospel duties, to the glory of God and our own Edification, depends on this supposition, that we may have such a satisfying perswasion concerning the spiritual condition of others as that from thence we may take our ayme, in what we do.

2. For the grounds hereof, I shall mention one only; which all others do lean upon. This is pressed, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 13. As the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body being many, are one body, so is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all Baptized into one body, whether we be jews or gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. They are all united unto, and hold of one head. For as are the members of the body natural under one head, So is Christ mystical, that is, all believers under Christ their head. And this union they have by the inhabitation of the same quickning Spirit, which is in Christ their head, and by him they are brought all into the same spiritual state and frame; they are made to drink into one and the same Spirit; for this same Spirit producs the same effects in them all, the same in kind though differing in degrees, as the apostle fully declares, Ephesians 4:3, 4, 5, 6. And this Spirit is in them, and not in the world, Johnn 16. And as this gives them a naturalness in their duties one towards another; or in mutual caring for, rejoycing and sorrowing with one another, as members one of another, 1 Corinthians 12:25, 26. So it reveals and discovers them to each other, so far as is necessary for the performance of the duties mentioned, in such a manner as becomes members of the same body. There is on this account a spiritually natural Answering of one to another, as face answers face in the Water. They can see and discern that in others whereof they have Experience in themselves; they can tast and relish that in others, which they feed upon in themselves, and wherein the lives of their souls do consist? the same spirit of life being in them, they have the same spiritual tast and Savour. And unless their pallats are distempered by Temptations or false opinions, or prejudices, they can in their communion, tast of that Spirit in each other, which they are all made to drink into. This gives them the same likeness and Image in the Inward man, the same heavenly light in their minds, the same affections; and being thus prepared and enabled to judge and discern of the state of each other, in reference unto their mutual duties, they have moreover the true rule of the word to judge of all Spirits and Spiritual effects by. And this is the ground of all that love without dissimulation and real communion that is among the saints of God in this world. But here two Cautions must be allowed,

1. That we would not judge the state and condition of any men in the world, no further than we are called thereunto in a way of duty; and we are so called only with reference unto the duties that we are to perform towards them. What have we to do to judge them that are without, that is any one that we have not a call to consider in reference unto our own duty. Herein that great rule takes place; judge not, that ye be not Judged. Let us leave all men, the worst of men, unless where evident duty requires other actings, to the Judgement seat of God. They are the Servants of another, and they stand or fall unto their own Master. There have been great miscarriages amongst us in this matter, some have been ready to condemn all that go not along with them in every principle, yea opinion or practice. And every day slight occasions and provocations, are made the grounds and reasons of severe censures. But nothing is more contrary to the conduct of the meek and holy Spirit of Christ. This is our rule; are we called to Acts towards any as saints, as living Members of the body of Christ, and that in such duties as we cannot perform in faith, unless we are perswaded that so they are, then are we on the grounds, and by the wayes before mentioned, to satisfy our selves in one another.

2. Do we endeavour mutually to discern the condition of one another, in reference unto such ends; Let us be sure to look unto, and pursue those ends when we have attained our satisfaction. What these ends are has been shewed. It is that we may love them without dissimulation, as members of the same mystical body with us; that we may naturally take care of them, and for them; that we may delight sincerely in them; that we may minister unto their wants, Temporal and Spiritual; that we may watch over them with pitty and compassion. These and the like are the only ends for which we are at any time called to the consideration of the spiritual condition of one another, if these be neglected the other is useless. And here lyes a great aggravation of that neglect, in that such a way is made for the avoidance of it. Here lyes the life or death of all church Society. All church Society and relation is built on this supposition, that the members of it are all regenerate; some lay this foundation in baptism only, professing that all that are baptized are regenerate. Others require a farther satisfaction in the real work it self. But all build on the same foundation; that all church members are to be regenerate. And to what end is this? Namely that they may all mutually perform those duties one towards another, which are incumbent mutually on regenerate persons. If these are omitted, there is an end of all profitable use of church Society. churches without this are but mere husks and shells of churches, Carkasses without souls. For as there is no real union unto Christ without faith, so there is no real union among the members of any church without love, and that acting its self in all the duties mentioned. Let not this ordinance be in vain.

But we must return from this digression, to that which lies before us, which is concerning what a man may discern concerning his own being regenerate or born again. I say then,

Secondly, Men may come to an assured Satisfactory perswasion that themselves are regenerate, and that such, as is so far insallible, as that it will not deceive them, when it is brought unto the tryal. For there are many duties whose performance in faith unto the glory of God, and the Edification of our own souls, does depend on this perswasion and conviction. As,

1. A due sense of our relation unto God, and an answerable comportment of our spirits and hearts towards him. He that is born again, is born of God. He is begotten of God by the immortal seed of the word. Without a perswasion hereof how can a man on grounds of faith carry himself towards God as his father? and how great a part of our obedience towards him and communion with him depends hereon, we all know. If men fluctuate all their dayes in this matter, if they come to no settlement in it, no comfortable perswasion of it, they scarce ever act any genuine childlike acts of love or delight towards God, which exceedingly impeachs their whole obedience.

2. Thankfulness for grace received is one of the principal duties that is incumbent on believers in this world. Now how can a man in faith bless God for that which he is utterly uncertain whether he have received it from him or no. I know some men run on in a Road in this matter. They will bless God in a formal way, for their regeneration, sanctification, justification, and the like: But if you ask them whether themselves are regenerate or no, they will be ready to scoff at it, or at least to profess that they know no such thing. What is this but to mock God, and in a presumptuous manner to take his name in vain: But if we will praise God, as we ought for his grace, as we are guided and directed in the scripture, as the nature of the matter requires, with such a frame of heart as may influence our whole obedience, surely it cannot but be our duty to know the grace that we have received.

3. Again the main of our Spiritual watch, and diligence, consists in the cherishing, improving, and increasing of the grace that we have received; the strengthening of the new creature that is wrought in us; Herein consists principally the life of faith, and the exercise of that Spiritual wisdom which faith furnishs the soul withall. Now how can any man apply himself hereunto, whil he is altogether uncertain whether he has received any principle of Living, Saving grace, or no? whereas therefore God requires our utmost diligence, Watchfulness, and Care in this matter, It is certain that he requires also of us, and grants unto us, that which is the foundation of all these duties which lyes in an Acquaintance with that state and condition whereunto we do belong. In brief there is nothing, we have to do in reference unto eternity, but one way or other, it has a respect unto our light and convictions, as to our state and condition in this world. And those who are negligent in the tryal and Examination thereof, do leave all things between God and their souls at absolute uncertainties, and dubious hazards; which is not to lead the life of faith.

We shall now upon these premises return unto that part of the objection which is under consideration. Say some; We know not whether we are regenerate or no, and are therefore altogether uncertain whether we have an interest in that forgiveness that is with God; nor dare we on that account admit of the consolation that is tendred on the truth insisted on.

Supposing what has been spoken in general, I shall lay down the grounds of resolving this perplexing doubt in the ensuing rules.

RULE I.See that the perswasion and assurance hereof which you look after and desire be regular, and not such as is suited merely unto your own Imaginations. Our second and third General rules about the nature of all spiritual assurance, and what is consistent therewithall, are here to be taken into consideration. If you look to have such an evidence, light into, and absolute conviction of this matter, as shall admit of no doubts, fears, questionings, just occasions and causes of new trials, teachings, and self-examinations, you will be greatly deceived. regeneration inducs a new principle into the soul, but it does not utterly expel the old; some would have security, not assurance. The principle of sin and unbelief will still abide in us, and still work in us. Their abiding and their acting must needs put the soul upon a severe inquiry whether they are not prevalent in it beyond what the condition of regeneration will admit. The constant conflicts we must have with sin, will not suffer us to have alwaies so clear an evidence of our condition as we would desire. Such a perswasion as is prevalent against strong objections to the contrary, keeping up the heart to a due performance of those duties in faith which belong unto the state of regeneration, is the substance of what in this kind you are to look after.RULE II.If you are doubtful concerning your state and condition, do not expect an extraordinary determination of it by an Immediate testimony of the Spirit of God. I do grant that God does sometimes by this means bring in peace and satisfaction unto the soul; he gives his own Spirit immediately to bear witness with ours, that we are the children of God, both upon the account of regeneration and adoption. He does so, but as far as we can observe in a way of Soveraignty, when and to whom he pleass. Besides, that men may content and satisfy themselves with his ordinary Teachings, Consolations and Communications of his grace, he has left the nature of that peculiar testimony of the Spirit very dark and difficult to be found out, few agreeing wherein it does consist, or what is the nature of it: No one mans Experience is a rule unto others. And an undue apprehension of it, is a matter of great danger. Yet it is certain that humble souls in extraordinary cases may have recourse unto it with benefit and relief thereby. This then you may desire, you may pray for, but not with such a frame of spirit as to refuse that other satisfaction which in the waies of truth and peace you may find. This is the putting of the hand into the side of Christ, but blessed are they who believe, and yet have not seen.RULE III.If you have at any time formerly received any especial or Immediate pledge or testimony of God given unto your souls as unto their sincerity, and consequently their regeneration, labor to recover it, and to revive a sense of it upon your Spirits now in your darkness and trouble. I am perswaded there are but few believers, but that God does at one time or other, in one duty or other, entring into, or coming out of one temptation or another, give some singular testimony unto their own souls and consciences concerning their sincerity, and his Acceptance of them. Sometimes he does this in a duty wherein he has enabled the soul to make so near an approach unto him, as that it has been warmed, enlivened, sweetned, satisfied with the presence, the gracious presence of God, and which God has made unto him as a token of his uprightness. Sometimes, when a man is entring into any great temptation, trial, difficult or dangerous duty, that death it self is feared in it, God comes in by one means or other, by a secret intimation of his love, which he gives him to take along with him for his furniture and provision in his way, and thereby testifies to him his sincerity. And this serves like the food of Elijah for forty daies in a wilderness condition. Sometimes he is pleased to shine immediately into the soul in the midst of its darkness and sorrow wherewith it is surprized, as not looking for any such expression of kindness, and is thereby relieved against its own pressing self-condemnation. And sometimes the Lord is pleased to give these tokens of love unto the soul as its refreshment, when it is coming off from the storm of Temptations wherewith it has been tossed. And many other times and seasons there are wherein God is pleased to give unto believers some Especial testimony in their consciences unto their own integrity. But now these are all wrought by a transient operation of the Spirit exciting and enabling the heart unto a spiritual sensible apprehension and receiving of Gods expressing kindness towards it. These things abide not in their sense, and in their power which they have upon our affections, but immediately pass away. They are therefore to be treasured up in the mind and judgement, to be improved and made use of by faith, as occasion shall require; but we are apt to lose them. Most know no other use of them, but whilst they feel them; yea, through ignorance in our duty to improve them, they prove like a sudden light brought into a dark place, and again removed, which seems to increase, and really aggravates our sense of the darkness. The true Use of them is to lay them up, and ponder them in our hearts, that they may be Supportments and testimonies unto us in a time of need. Have you then, who are now in the dark as to your state or condition, whether you are regenerate or no, ever received any such refreshing and chearing testimony from God given unto your integrity, and your Acceptance with him thereupon; call it over again, and make use of it against those discouragements which arise from your present darkness in this matter, and which keeps you off from sharing in the consolation tendred unto you in this word of grace.RULE IV.A due spiritual consideration of the causes and effects of regeneration, is the ordinary way and means whereby the souls of believers come to be satisfied concerning that work of God in them and upon them. The principle or causes of this work, are the Spirit and the word. He that is born again, is born of the Spirit, Johnn 3:6. and of the word; Of his own will begat he us by the word of his truth, Jam. 1:18. We are born again by the word of God that abids for ever, 1 Peter 1:23. Where ever then a man is regenerate, there has been an effectual work of the Spirit, and of the word upon his soul. This is to be inquired into, and after. ordinarily it will discover it self. Such impressions will be made in it upon the soul, such a change will be wrought and produced in it, as will not escape a spiritual diligent search and inquiry. And this is much of the duty of such as are in the dark, and uncertain concerning the accomplishment of this work in themselves. Let them call to mind what have been the actings of the Spirit by the word upon their souls. What light thereby has been communicated unto their minds; what discoveries of the Lord Christ and way of salvation have been made to them; what sense and detestation of sin have been wrought in them; what satisfaction has been given unto the soul, to chuse, accept, and acquiesce in the righteousness of Christ; what Resignation of the heart unto God according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, it has been wrought unto; Call to mind what Transactions there have been between God and your souls about these things; how far they have been carryed on; whether you have broken off the Treaty with God, and refused his Terms; or if not, where the stay is between you; and what is the reason since God has graciously begun to deal thus with you, that you are not yet come to a through close with him in the work and design of his grace; the defect must of necessity lye on your parts. God does nothing in vain: Had he not been willing to receive you, he would not have dealt with you so far as he has done. There is nothing then remains to firm your condition but a resolved Acts of your own Wills in answering the mind and will of God. And by this search may the soul come to satisfaction in this matter; or at least find out and discover where the stick is whence their uncertainty does arise, and what is wanting to compleat their desires.

Again, this work may be discovered by its effects. There is something that is produced by it in the soul, which may also be considered either with respect unto its being and existence, or unto its Actings and Operations; in the first regard it is Spirit, Johnn 3:6. That which is born of the Spirit, which is produced by the effectual operation of the Spirit of God, it is Spirit; A new creature, 2 Corinthians 15:17. He that is in Christ Jesus, who is born again, is a new creature, a new life, a spiritual life, Galatians 2:20. Ephesians 2:1. In brief, it is an habitual furnishment of all the faculties of the soul, with new spiritual vital principles, enabling a person in all instances of obedience, to lead a spiritual life unto God. This principle is by this work produced in the soul; and in respect of its Actings, it consists in all the gracious operations of the mind, will, heart or affections in the duties of obedience which God has required of us. This is that which gives life unto our duties (without which the best of our works are but dead works) and renders them acceptable unto the Living God. It is not my business at large to pursue and declare these things; I only mention them, that persons who are kept back from a participation of the consolation tendred from the forgiveness that is with God, because they cannot comfortably conclude that they are born again, as knowing that it is unto such persons alone unto whom these Consolations do truly and really belong, may know how to make a right judgement of themselves. Let such persons then not fluctuate up and down in Generals and Uncertainties, with heartless complaints, which is the ruine of the peace of their souls; but let them really put things to the trial, by the examination of the causes and effects of the work they inquire after. It is by the use of such means whereby God will be pleased to give them all the assurance and Establishment concerning their state and condition which is needful for them, and which may give them incouragement in their course of obedience. But supposing all that has been spoken; what if a man by the utmost search and inquiry that he is able to make, cannot attain any satisfactory perswasion that indeed this great work of Gods grace has passed upon his soul; is this a sufficient ground to keep him off from accepting of supportment and consolation from this truth, that there is forgiveness with God, which is the design of the objection laid down before? I say therefore further, that

1. regeneration does not in order of time precede the souls interest in the forgiveness that is with God, or its being made partaker of the pardon of sin; I say no more but that it does not precede it in order of time, not determining which has precedency in order of nature. That, I confess, which the method of the gospel leads unto, is that absolution, Acquitment, or the pardon of sin, is the foundation of the communication of all saving grace unto the soul, and so preceds all grace in the sinner whatever. But because this absolution or pardon of sin is to be received by faith, whereby the soul is really made partaker of it, and all the benefits belonging thereunto; and that faith also is the radical grace which we receive in our regeneration; for it is by faith that our hearts are purified, as an instrument in the hand of the great purifier, the Spirit of God; I place these two together, and shall not dispute as to their priority in nature; but in time the one does not precede the other.

2. It is hence evident, that an assurance of being regenerate, is no way previously necessary unto the believing of an interest in forgiveness; so that although a man have not the former, it is, or may be his duty to endeavour the latter. When convinced persons cryed out, What shall we do to be saved! the answer was, believe and you shall be so; Believe in Christ, and in the remission of sin by his blood, is the first thing that convinced sinners are called unto. They are not directed first to secure their souls that they are born again, and then afterwards to believe. But they are first to believe that the remission of sin is tendred unto them in the blood of Christ, and that by him they may be justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law. Nor upon this proposition is it the duty of men to question whether they have faith or no, but actually to believe. And faith in its operation will evidence it self. See Acts 13:38, 39. Suppose then that you do not know that you are regenerate, that you are born of God; that you have no prevailing, refreshing constant evidence or perswasion thereof; should this hinder you? should this discourage you from believing forgiveness, from closing with the promises, and thereby obtaining in your selves an interest in that forgiveness that is with God? Not at all; Nay, this ought exceedingly to excite and stir you up unto your duty herein. For,

1. Suppose that it is otherwise; that indeed you are yet in the state of sin, and are only brought under the power of light and conviction; this is the way for a translation into an estate of spiritual life and grace: If you will forbear the acting of faith upon; and for forgiveness, until you are regenerate, you may, and probably you will come short both of forgiveness and regeneration also. Here lay your foundation, and then your building will go on. This will open the door unto you, and give you an entrance into the kingdom of God, Christ is the door; do not think to climb up over the wall; enter by him, or you will be kept out.

2. Suppose that you are born again, but yet know it not, as is the condition of many. This is a way whereby you may receive an evidence thereof. It is good embracing of all signs, tokens and pledges of our spiritual condition; and it is so to improve them. But the best course is to follow the genuine natural actings of faith, which will lead us into the most setled apprehensions concerning our relation unto God, and acceptance with him. Believe first the forgiveness of sin as the effect of mere grace and mercy in Christ. Let the faith hereof be nourished and strengthened in your souls. This will insensibly influence your hearts into a comforting gospel perswasion of your state and condition towards God, which will be accompanied with assured rest and peace.

To winde up this discourse; remember, that that which has been spoken with reference unto the state of regeneration in General, may be applyed unto every particular objection or cause of fear or discouragement that may be reduced to that head. Such are all objections that arise from particular sins, from Aggravations of sin by their greatness or circumstances, or relapses into them. The way that the consideration of these things prevail upon the mind unto fears, is by begetting an apprehension in men that they are not regenerate; for if they were, they suppose they could not be so overtaken or entangled. The rules therefore laid down are suited to the streights of the souls of sinners in all such particular cases.

Lastly, There was somewhat in particular added in the close of the objection, which although it be not directly in our way, nor of any great importance in it self, yet having been mentioned it is not unmeet to remove it out of the way, that it may not leave intanglement upon the minds of any. Now this is, that some know not, nor can give an account of the Time of their conversion unto God, and therefore cannot be satisfied that the saving work of his grace has passed upon them. This is usually and ordinarily spoken unto, And I shall therefore briefly give an account concerning it.

1. It has been shewed that in this matter, there are many things whereon we may regularly found a Judgement concerning our selves; and it is great folly to wave them all, and put the issue of the matter upon one circumstance. If a man have a tryal at law wherein he has many evidences speaking for him, only one circumstance is dubious and in question; He will not cast the weight of his cause on that disputed circumstance, but will plead those evidences that are more clear, and testifie more fully in his behalf. I will not deny but that this matter of the time of conversion is oftimes an important circumstance; In the affirmative when it is known it is of great use tending to stability and consolation; but yet it is still but a circumstance, such as that the being of the thing it self does not depend upon. He that is alive may know that he was born, though he know neither the place where, nor the time when he was so. And so may he that is spiritually alive, and has ground of evidence that he is so, that he was born again, though he knew neither when, nor where, nor how. And this case is usual in persons of quiet natural Tempers, who have had the advantage of education under means of light and grace. God ofttimes in such persons begins and carries on the work of his grace insensibly, so that they come to good growth and maturity before they know that they are alive. Such persons come at length to be satisfied in saying with the blind man in the gospel, How our eyes were opened we know not, only one thing we know, whereas we were blind by nature, now we see.

2. Even in this matter also, we must, it may be, be content to live by faith, and to believe as well what God has done in us, if it be the matter and subject of his promises, as what he has done for us, the ground whereof also is the promise and nothing else.

Objections from the present state and condition of the soul: weakness and imperfection of duty. Opposition from Indwelling sin.

3. There is another head of objections against the souls receiving consolation from an interest in forgiveness arising from the consideration of its present state and condition, as to actual holiness, duties and sins. souls complain when in darkness, and under Temptations that they cannot find that holiness, nor those fruits of it in themselves, which they suppose an interest in pardoning mercy will produce. Their hearts they find are weak, and all their duties worthless. If they were weighed in the ballance they would be all found too light. In the best of them there is such a mixture of Self, Hypocrisie, Unbelief, vain glory, that they are even ashamed and confounded with the Remembrance of them. These things fill them with discouragements, so that they refuse to be comforted, or to entertain any refreshing perswasion from the truth insisted on; but rather conclude that they are utter strangers from that forgiveness that is with God, and so continue helpless in their depths.

According unto the method proposed, and hitherto pursued I shall only lay down some such general rules, as may support a soul under the despondencies, that are apt in such a condition to befall it, that none of these things may weaken it in its endeavour to lay hold of forgiveness. And,

First, This is the proper place to put in execution our seventh rule, to take heed of heartless complaints, when vigorous actings of grace are expected at our hands. If it be thus indeed, why lye you on your faces, why do you not rise, and put out your selves to the utmost, giving all diligence to add one grace to another, untill you find your selves in a better frame. Supposing then the putting of that rule into practice, I add, that

1. Known holiness, is apt to degenerate into self righteousness. What God gives us on the account of sanctification, we are ready enough to reckon on the score of justification. It is a hard thing to feel grace, and to believe as if there were none. We have so much of the Pharisee in us by nature, that it is sometimes well that our Good is hid from us. We are ready to take our Corn and Wine and bestow them on other Lovers. Were there not in our hearts a spiritually sensible principle of corruption; and in our duties a discernable mixture of self, it would be impossible we should walk so humbly, as is required of them who hold communion with God in a covenant of grace and pardoning mercy. It is a good life, which is attended with a faith of Rightcousness, and a sense of corruption. Whil I know Christs. righteousness, I shall the less care to know my own holiness. To be holy is necessary, to know it sometimes a temptation.

2. Even duties of Gods Appointment when turned into selfrighteousness are Gods great abhorrency, Isaiah 66:2, 3. What has a good Original may be vitiated by a bad end.

3. Oftentimes holiness in the heart is more known by the Opposition that is made there to it, than by its own prevalent working; The Spirits Operation is known by the flesh's opposition. We find a mans strength by the burdens he carryes, and not the pace that he goes. Oh, wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death, is a better evidence of grace and holiness, than God I thank you I am not as other men; a heart pressed, grieved, burdened, not by the guilt of sin only, which reflects with trouble on an awakened conscience, but by the close adhering power of Indwelling sin, tempting, seducing, soliciting, hindring, captivating, conceiving, restlesly disquieting may, from thence have as clear an evidence of holiness, as from a delightful fruit-bearing. What is it that is troubled and grieved in you; What is it, that seems to be almost killed, and destroyed; that crys out, complains, longs for deliverance? is it not, the new creature? is it not the principle of spiritual life, whereof you art partaker? I speak not of trouble and disquietments for sin committed, nor of fears and perturbations of mind, left sin should break forth to loss, shame, ruine, dishonour; nor of the contending of a convinced conscience lest Damnation should ensue; but of the striving of the spirit against sin, out of a hatred and a loathing of it, upon all the mixt considerations of love, grace, mercy, fear, the beauty of holiness, excellency of communion with God, that are proposed in the gospel. If you seem to your self to be only passive in these things, to do nothing, but to endure the Assaults of sin; Yet if you art sensible, and stand under the stroke of it, as under the stroke of an Enemy, there is the root of the matter. And as it is thus, as to the substance and being of holiness, so it is also as to the degrees of it. degrees of holiness are to be measured more by Opposition, than self operation. He may have more grace, than another; who brings not forth so much fruit as the other; because he has more opposition, more temptation, Isaiah 41:17. And sense of the want of all, is a great sign of somewhat in the soul.

2. As to what was alledged to the nothingness, the selfishness of duty; I say,

It is certain whil we are in the flesh, our duties will taste of the vessel whence they proceed. weakness, defilements, treachery, hypocrisie will attend them. To this purpose whatever some pretend to the contrary, is the Complaint of the church, Isaiah 64:6. The Chaffe oftentimes is so mixed with the Wheat that Corn can scarce be discerned. And this know, that the more spiritual any man is, the more be sees of his unspiritualness in his spiritual duties. An outside performance will satisfy an outside Christian. Job abhorred himself most, when he knew himself best. The clearer discoveries we have had of God, the viler will every thing of self appear. Nay further, duties and performances are oftentimes very ill measured by us; and those seem to be first, which indeed are last, and those to be last, which indeed are first. I do not doubt but a man when he has had distractions to wrestle withall, no outward advantage to further him, no extraordinary provocations of hope, fear or sorrow on a natural account in his duty, may rise from his knees with thoughts that he has done nothing in his duty but provoked God; when there has been more workings of grace in contending with the deadness cast on the soul by the condition that it is in, than when by a concurrence of moved natural affections, and outward provocations, a frame has been raised, that has to the party himself seemed to reach to heaven; so that it may be this perplexity about duties, is nothing but what is common to the people of God, and which ought to be no obstruction to peace and settlement.

2. As to the pretence of Hypocrisie, you know what is usually answered; it is one thing to do a thing in hypocrisie, another not to do it without a mixture of hypocrisie. Hypocrisie in its long extent is every thing that for matter or manner comes short of sincerity. Now our sincerity is no more perfect than our other graces; so that in its measure it abides with us, and adheres to all we do: In like manner, it is one thing to do a thing for vain glory, and to be seen of men, another not to be able wholly to keep off the subtle insinuations of self and vain glory. He that does a thing in hypocrisie, and for vain glory, is satisfied with some corrupt end obtained, though he be sensible that he sought such an end. He that does a thing with a mixture of hypocrisie, that is with some breaches upon the degrees of his sincerity, with some insensible advancements in performance on outward considerations, is not satisfied with a self end attained, and is dissatisfied with the defect of his sincerity. In a word, wouldst you yet be sincere, and dost endeavour so to be in private duties, and in public performances; in praying, hearing, giving alms, zealous actings for Gods glory, and the love of the saints, though these duties are not, it may be, sometimes, done without sensible hypocrisie, I mean as traced to its most subtle insinuations of self and vain glory, yet are they not done in hypocrisie, nor do not denominate the persons by whom they are performed hypocrites; Yet I say of this, as of all that is spoken before; it is of use to relieve us under a troubled condition, of none to support us or incourage us unto an abode in it.

3. Know that God despiss not small things; he takes notice of the least breathings of our hearts after him, when we our selves can see nor perceive no such thing. He knows the mind of the spirit in those workings, which are never formed to that height, that we can reflect upon them with our observation. Every thing that is of him, is noted in his book, though not in ours. He took notice that when Sarah was acting unbelief towards him, yet that she shewed respect and regard to her Husband, calling him Lord, Genesis 18:12. 1 Peter 3:6. And even whilst his people are sinning, he can find something in their hearts, words or waies that pleass him, much more in their duties. He is a skilful refiner that can find much Gold in that Ore where we see nothing but Lead or Clay. He remembers the duties which we forget, and forgets the sins which we remember. He justifies our persons though ungodly, and will also our duties, though not perfectly godly.

4. To give a little further support in reference unto our wretched miserable duties, and to them that are in perplexities on that account, know that Jesus Christ takes out whatever is evil and unsavoury out of them, and makes them acceptable. When an unskilful servant gathers many herbs, flowers and weeds in a Garden, you gather them out that are useful, and cast the rest out of sight. Christ deals so with our performances. All the ingredients of self that are in them on any account, he takes away, and adds Incense to what remains, and presents it to God, Exodus 28:36. This is the cause that the saints at the last day when they meet their own duties and performances, they know them not, they are so changed from what they were when they went of their hand. Lord, when saw we you naked or hungry, so that God accepts a little, and Christ makes our little a great deal.

5. Is this an argument to keep you from believing? The reason why you art no more Holy, is because you hast no more faith. If you hast no holiness, it is because you hast no says; holiness is the purifying of the heart by faith; or our obedience unto the truth. And the reason why you art no more in duty, is because you art no more in believing; the reason why your duties are weak and imperfect, is because your faith is weak and imperfect. Hast you no holiness, believe that you maist have; hast you but a little, or that which is imperceptible, be stedfast in believing that you maist abound in obedience. Do not resolve not to eat your meat until you art strong, when you hast no means of being strong, but by eating your bread, which strengthens the heart of man.

Object. 4. The powerful tumulating of indwelling sin or corruption, is another cause of the same kind of trouble and despondency. They that are Christs have crucified the flesh with the lusts thereof. But we find, say some, several corruptions working effectually in our hearts, carrying us captive to the law of sin. They disquiet with their power, as well as with their guilt. Had we been made partakers of the law of the Spirit of life, we had ere this been more set free from the law of sin and death. Had sin been pardoned fully, it would have been subdued more effectually.

There are three considerations which make the actings of indwelling sin to be so perplexing to the soul.

1. Because they are unexpected. The soul looks not for them upon the first great conqu made of sin, and universal engagement of the heart unto God. When it first sayes, I have sworn, and amstedfastly purposed to keep your righteous Judgements; commonly there is peace at least for a season from the disturbing vigorous actings of sin. There are many reasons why so it should be. Old things are then passed away, all things are become new; and the soul under the power of that universal change, is utterly turned away from those things that should foment, stir up, provoke or cherish any lust or temptation. Now when some of these Advantages are past, and sin begins to stir and act again, the soul is surprized, and thinks the work that he has passed through was not true and effectual, but temporary only. Yea he thinks perhaps that sin has more strength than it had before, because he is more sensible than he was before. As one that has a dead arm or limb whilst it is mortified, endures deep cuts and launcings, and feels them not: when spirits and sense are brought into the place again, he feels the least cut, and may think the instruments sharper than they were before, when all the difference is, that he has got a quickness of sense, which before he had not. It may be so with a person in this case; he may think lust more powerful than it was before, because he is more sensible than he was before. Yea sin in the heart, is like a Snake or Serpent; you may pull out the sting of it, and cut it into many pieces; though it can sting mortally no more, nor move his whole body at once, yet it will move in all its parts, and make an appearance of a greater motion than formerly. So it is with lust, when it has received its deaths wound, and is cut in pieces, yet it moves in so many parts as it were in the soul, that it amazes him that has to do with it; and thus coming unexpectedly, fills the spirit oftentimes with disconsolation.

2. It has also in its actings an Universality. This also surprizs; there is an universality in the actings of sin, even in believers. There is no evil that it will not move to; there is no good that it will not attempt to hinder; no duty that it will not defile. And the reason of this is, because we are sanctified but in part; not in any part wholly, though savingly and truly in every part. There is sin remaining in every faculty, in all the affections, and so may be acting in and towards any sin that the nature of man is liable unto. degrees of sin there are that all regenerate persons are exempted from; but unto solicitations to all kinds of sin they are exposed, and this helps on the temptation.

3. It is endless and restless; never quiet conquering nor conquered; it gives not over, but rebels being overcome, or assaults afresh having prevailed. Oft-times after a victory obtained, and an opposition subdued, the soul is in expectation of Rest and peace from its enemies. But this holds not. It works and rebels again and again, and will do so whilst we live in this world; so that no issue will be put to our conflict but by death. This is at large handled elsewhere, in a treatise lately published on this peculiar subject.

These and the like considerations attending the actings of indwelling sin, do oftentimes intangle the soul in making a Judgement of it self, and leave it in the dark as to its state and condition.

A few things shall be offered unto this objection also.

1. The sensible powerful actings of indwelling sin, are not inconsistent with a state of grace, Galatians 5:17. There are in the same person contrary principles, the flesh and the spirit; these are contrary; And there are contrary actings from these principles; The flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these actings are described to be great vigorous in other places. lust wars against our souls, Jam. 4:1. 1 Peter 2:1 line Now to war is not to make faint or gentle Opposition to be flighted and contemned; but it is to go out with great strength, to use craft, subtlety and force, so as to put the whole issue to a hazard. So these lusts war; such are their actings in and against the soul. And therefore says the apostle, You cannot do the things that you would; see Romansans 7:14, 15, 16, 17. In this conflict indeed the understanding is left unconquered; it condemns and disapproves of the evil led unto; and the will is not subdued; it would not do the evil that is pressed upon it, and there is an hatred or aversation remaining in the affections unto sin; but yet notwithstanding sin rebels, fights, tumultuates, and leads captive. This objection then may receive this speedy answer. Powerful actings and workings, universal endless struglings of ind welling sin, seducing to all that is evil, putting it self forth to the disturbance and dissettlement of all that is good, is no sufficient ground to conclude a state of Alienation from God; see for this the other treatise before mentioned at large.

2. Your state is not at all to be measured by the opposition that sin makes to you, but by the opposition you make to it; be that never so great, if this be good, be that never so restless and powerful, if this be sincere, you may be disquieted, you can have no reason to despond.

I have mentioned these things only to give a specimen of the objections which men usually raise up against an actual closing with the truth insisted on to their consolation. And we have also given in upon them some rules of truth for their relief, not intending in them absolute satisfaction as to the whole of the cases mentioned, but only to remove the darkness raised by them so out of the way, as that it might not hinder any from mixing the word with faith that has been dispensed from this blessed testimony, that there is forgiveness with God that he may be feared,

The words explained and the Psalmist's design in them uncovered.

The state and condition of the soul approaching God in this Psalm is recounted in verse 1. It was in the depths — not only the providential depths of trouble, affliction, and the distress that comes with it, but also the depths of conscience, the distress that comes from the guilt of sin, as has been explained in the opening of those verses.

The soul's application to God — with restless intensity and earnestness in that state and condition — its consideration of the law and the severity of God's justice in proceeding by it, and the inevitable ruin of all sinners if God insists on that manner of dealing, have also been opened and shown from the preceding verses.

In this troubled state, perplexed within itself and overwhelmed by contemplating God marking iniquity according to the terms of the law, what it fixes on — from which any relief, stay, or support in such a condition might be expected — is now laid out in this verse.

Verse 4: But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.

I will first explain the words as to their meaning and significance, then show the Psalmist's design in them with respect to the soul whose condition is represented here, and finally set out the general truths they contain, in which all our concerns lie.

'There is forgiveness' — the Septuagint and Jerome both render it as 'propitiation,' which carries somewhat more than the simple 'pardon' given by some.

The Hebrew word means forgiveness itself — from a root meaning to spare, to pardon, to forgive, to be gracious — and stands opposed to a word formed from the same letters rearranged (common in that language) meaning to cut off and destroy.

The word is consistently applied to sin and expresses everything that goes into pardon or forgiveness. As,

First, it expresses the disposition or willingness to pardon — God's gracious readiness to forgive. Psalm 86:5: 'You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive' — gracious, gentle, merciful, ready to spare and be favorable. So also Nehemiah 9:17: 'You are O God a God of forgiveness' — or as we render it, 'ready to forgive'; a God of pardons, with an abundance of them in Your gracious heart (Isaiah 55:8), always ready to extend pardon to sinners. The word is used again to the same purpose in Daniel 9:9.

Second, it refers to the act of pardoning — actual forgiveness itself. Psalm 103:3: 'Who forgives all your iniquities' — actually discharging you of them. The apostle, drawing on this passage, renders the word in Colossians 3:13: 'Having freely forgiven you all your trespasses' — for this is what the word implies.

And this is the word God uses in the covenant, in that great promise of grace and pardon in Jeremiah 31:34.

We are warranted — indeed required — to take the word in the fullest extent of its meaning and usage. It is a word of grace and calls for an interpretation that leans toward its fullest sense. As we have seen, it may be rendered as propitiation or grace, or as pardon, and it points to three things.

First, the gracious, tender, merciful heart and will of God — who is the God of pardons and forgiveness, always ready to forgive, to show mercy, and to give out pardons.

Second, a respect to Jesus Christ — the only propitiation for sin, as He is explicitly called in Romans 3:25 and 1 John 2:2. This is what stands between the gracious heart of God and the actual pardon of sinners. All forgiveness is founded on propitiation.

Third, it denotes the actual pardon or forgiveness as we receive it — encompassing it both actively, as an act of grace in God, and passively, as it reaches our souls together with the deliverance that attends it. In this sense, looking downward to its effects on us, it is of pure grace; looking upward to its causes and to the Lord Christ, it flows from propitiation or atonement. This is the pardon administered in the covenant of grace.

As to the place these words hold in this Psalm and their relation to the state and condition of the soul described here, this seems to be their meaning.

'O Lord, although it must be granted that if You should mark iniquities according to the terms of the law, every living person would perish — and that forever — yet there is hope for my soul. Even I, who am in the depths of sin-entanglement, may find acceptance with You. For while I am putting my mouth in the dust, if so there may be hope, I find that there is an atonement, a propitiation made for sin — on the basis of which You say You have found a ransom and will not deal with those who come to You according to the severity and demand of Your justice. Rather, You are gracious, loving, tender, and ready to forgive and pardon, and do so accordingly. There is forgiveness with You.'

The following words — 'therefore You shall be feared,' or 'that You may be feared' — though free from any ambiguity in the original, are rendered so differently by interpreters that it is worth taking note of this in our passage.

The Targum has it, 'that You may be seen.' This does not translate the word exactly, but it does capture the sense of the place well enough. God in His displeasure is said to hide Himself, or His face (Isaiah 8:17): 'The Lord hides His face from the house of Jacob.' Through forgiveness we obtain again the light of His face. This scatters the darkness and clouds around Him and gives us a comforting sight of His face and favor. There is forgiveness with Him, that He may be seen. Moreover, there is only one letter different in the original words — a letter that is commonly exchanged for the other.

The Septuagint renders the words as 'for Your name's sake' — or 'for Your own sake,' that is, freely, without regard to anything in us. This would also allow a fair and sound reading, except that there is unusually strong evidence that the text they used was corrupted. The Latin Vulgate — which for the Psalms was translated from the Septuagint — renders these words as 'for Your law's sake,' which makes clear that the translator read the text differently from the reading we now have. Now though this reading makes no proper sense in itself (for forgiveness is not bestowed for the law's sake), it does reveal the origin of the mistake. The word for 'law' differs by only one letter from the word for 'that You may be feared,' and it was by a confusion of these that 'for Your law's sake' crept into the text. This gives no support whatsoever to the theory that the Hebrew vowel markings are a late invention — as though differences between manuscripts might arise from the Septuagint translators working from copies that had no vowels, which could cause such discrepancies. For this difference involves a consonant as well as the vowels, so there would be no basis for this theory unless we also claimed that they had copies with different consonants from those we now possess. Bellarmine, in his exposition of this passage, tries to defend the Vulgate reading — 'for Your law's sake' — by claiming that 'law' here refers not to the law of our obedience but to the rule or order of God's dealings with us, that is, His mercy and faithfulness. This is a mere invention to prop up an old error, which any honest person would have simply admitted rather than defended with so weak a pretense. For that word is never used in the sense he invents here, nor can it bear any such meaning.

Jerome renders these words as 'that You may be dreadful or terrible' — which is certainly not the intent of the passage. This observation is made for the relief of the soul, not for the increase of its dread and terror: 'There is forgiveness with You.'

But the words are clear and their sense is plain: 'therefore You shall be feared' or 'that You may be feared.'

In the Old Testament, the fear of the Lord encompasses the whole worship of God — moral and institutional — and all the obedience we owe to Him, both in what we do and how we do it. Since everything we perform for God is to be carried out with reverence and godly fear, this name is given by a figure of speech to the whole of worship. 'That You may be feared,' then, means 'that You may be served and worshiped' — that I, who am on the verge of fainting and giving up because of sin, may yet be encouraged and continue in the obedience You require of me. And this appears to be the meaning of the whole verse, as it follows from and is shaped by the preceding ones.

'Although, O Lord, no one can approach You, stand before You, or walk with You if You should mark their sins and failures according to the terms of the law — nor could anyone serve so great and holy a God as You — yet because I know from Your own revelation that there is also with You, on the account of Jesus Christ, propitiation, pardon, and forgiveness, I am encouraged to continue with You, to wait for You, to worship You. Without this discovery I would rather have rocks and mountains fall on me to hide me from Your presence.'

But there is forgiveness with You, and therefore You shall be feared.

With the words now opened, we can see clearly in them the state and condition of the soul expressed in this Psalm — a condition that answers the experience of all who have had any dealings with God in and through the depths and entanglements of sin.

Coming from his deep distress (verse 1), having addressed God with fervent, repeated cries — yes, outcries — to Him and to Him alone for relief (verses 1-2), having also acknowledged his iniquities and considered them according to the terms of the law (verse 3), and having confessed himself lost and undone forever on that account (verse 3), he does not remain in this state of self-condemnation and dejection. He does not say, 'There is no hope; God is a jealous and holy God whom I cannot serve; His law is a fiery law before which I cannot stand, so I may as well give up, sit down, and perish rather than contend any longer.' No — instead, searching by faith into the revelation God makes of Himself in Christ through the covenant of grace, he finds a solid foundation of encouragement to continue waiting on God with expectation of mercy and pardon.

Propositions and observations from the foregoing exposition of the words. The first proposition presented for confirmation. There is no encouragement for any sinner to approach God without a discovery of forgiveness.

From the words as they lie in context in the Psalm, the following propositions arise. First, faith's discovery of forgiveness in God — even without a present sense of its own specific interest in it — is the great support of a sin-troubled soul. Second, Gospel forgiveness — whose discovery is the sole support of sin-distressed souls — relates to the gracious heart and goodwill of the Father, the God of forgiveness; to the propitiation made by the blood of the Son; and to the free pardon or forgiveness according to the terms of the covenant of grace. Third, faith's discovery of forgiveness in God is the sole foundation of adherence to Him in acceptable worship and reverent obedience.

The first of these is what I primarily aim to confirm and apply; the others, only insofar as they coincide with it or may serve to illustrate or demonstrate it.

In handling this truth, so that it may be of the greatest benefit to those whose good is sought in presenting and working through it, I will take the following course and show: first, that there is not the least encouragement for the soul of a sinner to deal with God without this discovery; second, that this discovery of forgiveness in God is a great, holy, and mysterious matter that very few attain to on sound Gospel grounds; third, that this is nonetheless a great, sacred, and certain truth, as may be shown from its many evidences; fourth, that this is a stable support to a sin-distressed soul — this will be demonstrated, and the whole applied to the various concerns of those who consider it.

First, there is not the least encouragement for the soul of a sinner to entertain any thoughts of approaching God without this discovery. All the rest of the world is covered by a flood of wrath. This is the only ark to which the soul may flee and find rest. Everything outside it is darkness, curse, and terror.

We have an example of this beyond all exception in Adam. When he knew himself to be a sinner and it was impossible — as we will show later — for him to discover anything like forgiveness in God, he abandoned all thought of dealing with Him. The best his foolish scheming could manage was an attempt to escape (Genesis 3:10). 'I heard Your voice in the garden,' he says to God, 'and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.' Nothing rang in his ears but 'you shall surely die.' In the morning of that very day he had been made by God's own hand. Just hours before he had walked and talked with God in boldness and peace. Why then did nothing possess him now but fear, flight, and hiding? Adam had sinned. The promise had not yet been given. No revelation of forgiveness in God had yet been made. He knew no other course to take than that vain and foolish one of hiding. No more can any of his descendants without that revelation. Whatever else any of them have fixed on in this situation has been no less foolish than his hiding — and in most cases far more destructive. When Cain received his sentence from God, it says he went out from the presence or face of the Lord (Genesis 4:16). He could never remove himself from God's providential presence — as the Psalmist makes clear at length in Psalm 139:7-9. Even the pagans knew by the light of nature that guilt could never drive a person beyond God's reach.

'Where will you flee, Enceladus? Whatever shores you reach, you will still be under Jupiter.'

They knew that divine vengeance would not spare sinners and could not be avoided (Acts 28:4). From God's gracious presence — which Cain had never enjoyed — he could not depart. What he departed from was God's presence in worship and all outward acts of communion with Him. He had no discovery of forgiveness through faith, and so resolved to have nothing more to do with God or with those who held to Him. This refers to the whole course of his life, not to any single action.

This is also stated in Isaiah 33:14: 'The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless. Who among us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?' The people described are sinners, hardened sinners and hypocrites. Conviction of sin and its deserved penalty had come upon them. They had no light to discern forgiveness. They saw God only as a consuming fire and everlasting burning — One who would not spare but would certainly inflict punishment according to sin's desert. From this came their conclusion, couched in their question: there can be no peaceful dealings between Him and them; there is no remaining, no enduring His presence. And what this reflection brings the souls of sinners to when conviction grows strong on them, the Holy Spirit shows in Micah 6:6-7: 'With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?' The sense of sin presses; forgiveness has not been discovered — like the Philistines closing in on Saul without Samuel coming to direct him — and how the poor soul torments itself in vain, trying to find a way to deal with God! 'Will careful and diligent observance of His own ordinances and institutions relieve me? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings and yearling calves? Alas, you are a sinner, and these sacrifices cannot make you perfect or acquit you (Hebrews 10:1). Shall I do more than He has ever required of any human being? If only I had thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of oil to offer Him! Alas, if you had all the bulls and goats in the world, it is impossible for their blood to take away sins (verse 4). But I have heard of those who snatched their own children from their mothers' arms and cast them into fire until they were consumed, trying thereby to quiet their consciences and expiate the guilt of their iniquities. Shall I take that course? Will it relieve me? I am ready to give my firstborn to the fire if it will bring me deliverance from my transgressions.' Alas, this never came into God's heart to approve or accept. And as it was then under that form of worship, so it remains now with respect to any duties — whether actually performed or only imagined. Where there is no discovery of forgiveness, they give the soul no relief, no support. God is not to be dealt with on such terms.

The greatness and rarity of the discovery of forgiveness in God. Reasons for it. The testimony of conscience and the law against it.

Second, this discovery of forgiveness in God is great, holy, and mysterious, and very few attain to it on sound Gospel grounds.

All people say there is forgiveness; most are convinced they believe this. Only those in great and desperate extremity — like Cain or Spira — seem to call it into question. But their thoughts about it are empty, groundless, and for the most part wicked and practically atheistic. Elihu tells us that to declare this rightly to a sinful soul is the work of a messenger, an interpreter, one in a thousand — that is, in truth, the work of Christ Himself (Job 33:23). The common thoughts of people about this thing are shallow and foolish, and can be traced to the attitude the Psalmist describes in Psalm 50:21: they think that God is altogether like themselves — that He takes little or no account of these things and passes them over as casually as they do. That the majority of people have, despite all their claims, never in reality had any true discovery of forgiveness — this will be shown with undeniable clarity later. I will shortly demonstrate the difference between their empty presumption and a gracious, Gospel discovery of forgiveness in God. For it must be noted that by this 'discovery' I mean both the revelation God makes of it and our understanding and reception of that revelation to our own benefit, as will be shown immediately.

The difficulty of this discovery arises partly from the obstacles that stand in the way of it and partly from the nature of the thing itself that is discovered. I will briefly address both.

But before I proceed, something must first be said to explain what I specifically mean by a discovery of forgiveness. It may be considered in two ways: first, as a doctrinal, objective discovery of it in its truth; and second, as an experiential, subjective discovery of it in its power. In the first sense, forgiveness in God has been revealed ever since the giving of the first promise. God disclosed it in a word of promise — or it could never have been known, as will be explained later. In this sense, after many lesser degrees and advances in the light of it, it was fully and gloriously brought forth by the Lord Jesus Christ in His own person, and is now revealed and preached in the Gospel by those entrusted with the word of reconciliation. To declare this is the primary work of Gospel ministers. Here lie those unsearchable treasures and riches of Christ which the apostle counted it his chief honor and privilege to be entrusted with declaring and dispensing (Ephesians 3:8-9). I know it is despised by many and misrepresented by many, whose ignorance and blindness is to be mourned. But a day is coming that will reveal what kind of work every man's was. In the second sense — how this discovery is made by faith in the soul — that will be further opened and explained in its proper place. Here many people make a mistake and deceive themselves. Because it is in the book, they think it is in them also. Because they have been taught it, they think they believe it. But it is not so. They have never heard this voice of God at any time, nor seen His form. It has not been revealed to them in its power. For this to happen is a great work. For,

First, the constant voice of conscience stands against it. Conscience — if not seared — inexorably condemns and pronounces wrath and judgment on the soul that has the least guilt clinging to it. It has this advantage: it lies very close to the soul, and through persistence and loudness of speaking it will be heard in what it has to say. It will make the entire soul attend to it, or it will speak like thunder. And its constant voice is that where there is guilt there must be judgment (Romans 2:14-15). Conscience by nature knows nothing of forgiveness. In fact, to hear anything of forgiveness goes against its very trust, function, and office. If a man of courage and integrity is entrusted to hold a garrison against an enemy, and someone comes and tells him that peace has been made between his master and the enemy — so he may leave his post, open the gates, and stand down — how cautious will he be, lest he be betrayed under this pretense? 'No,' he says, 'I will hold my ground until I have express orders from my superiors.' Conscience is entrusted with the power of God in the soul of a sinner, with a commission to keep everything in order with respect to the judgment to come. It will not betray its trust by believing every report of peace. No — this it says, and it speaks in the name of God: guilt and punishment are inseparable twins. If the soul sins, God will judge. 'What are you telling me about forgiveness? I know what my commission is, and I will abide by it. You will not bring in a superior command, a contrary principle, into my trust. If this forgiveness you speak of is real, it seems I must let go of my throne — another Lord must come in.' Not yet knowing how the whole matter is settled in the blood of Christ. Now whom should a person believe if not his own conscience, which will neither flatter him nor seek to frighten him, but speaks the truth as the matter requires? Conscience has two functions in relation to sin: one is to condemn the acts of sin; the other is to judge the person of the sinner — both with reference to God's judgment. When forgiveness comes, it would separate and divide these functions and take one of them out of conscience's hands. It would divide the spoil with this strong one. Conscience will continue to condemn every act of sin, but it will no longer condemn the sinner himself — the person will be freed from that sentence. Here conscience labors with all its might to hold its entire domain and to keep forgiveness from being enthroned in the soul. It will allow people to talk about forgiveness, to hear it preached — though they abuse it every day — but to receive it in its power stands in direct opposition to conscience's dominion. 'In this kingdom,' says conscience, 'I will be greater than you.' And in many — in most — it holds its position and refuses to be deposed.

Nor is it an easy thing to deal with it on this point. The apostle tells us that all the sacrifices of the law could not do it (Hebrews 10:2) — they could not bring a person into a state where he would no longer have a conscience of sin, that is, a conscience that condemns the person. For a conscience that senses and condemns sin itself is never to be removed. And this can only be accomplished through the blood of Christ, as the apostle declares at length in that passage.

It is then no easy thing to make a discovery of forgiveness to a soul when the function and office that conscience rightfully claims for itself stands in opposition to it. From this springs the soul's strong drive to establish its own righteousness, by which its natural principles may be preserved in their power. Let self-righteousness be enthroned and natural conscience asks for nothing more — it is satisfied and at peace. It knows the law; it knows righteousness. But as for forgiveness, it says, 'Where does this come from?' Until Christ completes His conquest, there are — on this account — secret strivings in the heart against free pardon in the Gospel, and wavering of mind and spirit concerning it. Yes, and the doubts and fears of believers themselves are nothing other than conscience's struggle to maintain its full dominion — to condemn the sinner as well as the sin. More or less, it maintains its claims against the Gospel as long as we live in this world. The blood of Christ has a great work to do on the conscience of a sinner. As has been shown, conscience has power and claims the right to condemn both sin and sinner. One part of its power is to be clarified, strengthened, and made more active, vigorous, and watchful; the other part is to be entirely taken away. It will now see more sins than before, more of the vileness of all sins than before, and condemn them with more abhorrence than ever, on more and more glorious grounds than before. But it is also made to see an interposition between those sins and the person of the sinner who committed them — and this is no small or ordinary work.

Second, the law stands against this discovery. The law is a beam of God's own holiness. What it speaks to us, it speaks in the name and authority of God. I will briefly show two things about it.

First, this is the voice of the law: that there is no forgiveness for a sinner. Second, a sinner has strong grounds to give credit to the law in that assertion.

First, it is certain that the law knows neither mercy nor forgiveness. Its very sanction is wholly opposed to them: 'The soul that sins shall die.' 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things written in the book of the law to do them' (Deuteronomy 27:26). From this the apostle declares universally, without exception, that those who are under the law are under the curse (Galatians 3:10). And he says in verse 12, 'The law is not of faith' — there is an incompatibility between the law and believing; they cannot coexist in power at the same time. 'Do this and live; fail and die' is the constant, unchanging voice of the law. This it speaks in general to all and in particular to every one.

Second, the sinner seems to have many weighty reasons to attend to the voice of this law and accept its verdict. For,

First, the law is native to him — his household companion, his old acquaintance. It came into the world with him and has grown up with him from infancy. It was planted in his heart by nature; it is his own reason. He can never shake it off or part with it. It is his close companion, his friend, clinging to him as flesh to bone, so that those who do not have the written law still carry out the work of the law (Romans 2:14-15) — because the law itself is inborn in them, and all the faculties of the soul are at peace with it and in submission to it. It is the bond and joint that holds them together in harmony and correspondence with one another in all their moral actions. It gives life, order, and motion to them all. Now the Gospel, which comes to overturn the law's verdict and rescue the sinner from it, is foreign to his nature — a strange thing to him, something he has no familiarity with. It has not been raised up with him, and there is nothing in him to take its side, to support it, or to argue on its behalf. Is a man not more likely to believe a familiar companion, a friend — indeed himself — than a foreigner with unfamiliar principles, principles that make no sense to his reason (1 Corinthians 1:18)?

Second, the law tells the sinner nothing but what his conscience confirms to be true. There is a constant agreement in the testimony of law and conscience. When the law says a certain thing is a sin worthy of death, conscience says it is exactly so (Romans 1:32). And where the law itself, being only a general rule, goes no further, conscience helps it along and says, 'This and that specific sin — so worthy of death — this very soul is guilty of.' Then the law says, 'Die, as you have deserved.' This agreement must carry enormous weight in persuading the soul to believe the law's report and testimony. The law does not say a single word that the sinner does not have a witness within himself confirming its truth. These two witnesses always agree, and so it seems firmly established as truth that there is no forgiveness.

Third, the law, though it speaks against the sinner's interests, speaks nothing but what is so just, righteous, and fair that it even compels the sinner's own agreement. So Paul tells us that people know this voice of the law to be the judgment of God (Romans 1:32). They know it and cannot but consent that it is God's judgment — that is, good, righteous, fair, and beyond challenge. And indeed, what could be more righteous than its sentence? It commands obedience to the God of life and death, promises a reward, and declares that failure to perform duty will bring death. On these terms the sinner enters the world. They are good, righteous, and holy. The soul accepts them and knows of nothing better or more equitable it could ask for. The apostle insists on this in Romans 7:12-13: 'Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did then that which is good bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.' Wherever the blame falls, the soul cannot but acquit the law and confess that what it says is righteous and beyond contradiction. And rightly so. Now while the authority and credibility of a witness may carry great weight in a doubtful matter, and the agreement of multiple witnesses strengthens testimony, nothing produces belief more powerfully than when the things spoken are themselves just and good and admit of no reasonable objection. So it is in this case. To the authority of the law and the concurrence of conscience, this is added — the reasonableness and fairness of the thing itself as proposed, even in the judgment of the sinner: namely, that every sin shall be punished and every transgression shall receive its just reward.

Fourth, but still further. What the law says, it says in the name and authority of God. Therefore what it says must be believed, or we make God a liar. It comes not in its own name but in the name of Him who appointed it. You may then ask: Is it really so? Is there no forgiveness in God? For this is the constant voice of the law, which you say speaks in the name and authority of God and is therefore to be believed. I answer briefly with the apostle: what the law speaks, it speaks to those who are under the law. It does not speak to those who are in Christ, whom the law of the Spirit of life has set free from the law of sin and death. But to those who are under the law it speaks, and it speaks the very truth, and it speaks in the name of God, and its testimony is to be received. It says there is no forgiveness in God — for those who are under the law. And those who flatter themselves with a contrary persuasion will find themselves terribly mistaken on the last day.

On these and similar grounds, I say, there seem to be strong reasons why a soul would conclude that things will go according to the law's testimony and that it will find no forgiveness. Law and conscience work together and press their way into the thoughts, mind, and judgment of a sinner. They reinforce each other's testimony and prevail greatly. If any think otherwise, I leave them to their experience. If God ever awakens their consciences to perform their proper duty thoroughly; if He ever opens their souls and lets in the light and force of the law upon them, they will find it no small struggle to grapple with. I am certain that they prevail so far in the end that in preaching the Gospel we have great cause to say, 'Lord, who has believed our report?' We come with our report of forgiveness — but who believes it? By whom is it received? Neither the lives, the consciences, nor the conduct of the majority give us reason to suppose that it is truly embraced.

Third, the ingrained ideas in the minds of people about the nature and justice of God also stand against this discovery. All people by nature carry indelible impressions of the holiness and purity of God, of His justice and hatred of sin, and of His unwavering righteousness in the government of the world — impressions they can neither set aside nor ignore. For notions about God, whatever they are, will assert themselves and rule in the heart when matters are put to the test. They were present in the pagans of old and remained with them in all their spiritual darkness — as countless examples could show. But so it is with all people by nature: their inward thought is that God is an avenger of sin; that it belongs to His rule and government of the world, His holiness and righteousness, to ensure that every sin is punished. This is His judgment, which all people know, as was noted before (Romans 1:32). They know that it is righteous for God to repay sinners with tribulation. From this arises the dread and fear that seizes people when they sense the presence of God, or anything under Him and above them that seems to come on His behalf. This notion of God as One who avenges all sin exerts itself secretly but effectively. So Adam trembled and hid himself. And it was the saying of old, 'I have seen God and shall die.' When people are under some fearsome providence — thunder, lightning, storms, darkness — they tremble not so much at what they see, hear, or feel as from their secret thoughts that God is near, and that He is a consuming fire.

These inborn notions universally oppose all notions of forgiveness, which must be brought into the soul from outside — having no natural principle within to promote it.

It is true that people by nature have assumptions and common inborn ideas about other attributes of God besides His holiness and justice — such as His goodness, benevolence, and love for His creatures. But all of these carry within them this embedded assumption: that everything between God and His creatures stands as it did at creation. And since people have no natural conception of forgiveness, the entering of sin weakens, disturbs, and darkens those conceptions of goodness and benevolence that they do have, so that they cannot draw any benefit from them. If they have any notion of forgiveness, it comes from some corrupted tradition — not at all from any universal inborn principle, such as those they have of God's holiness and retributive justice.

This is the first ground from which it appears that a real, solid discovery of forgiveness is indeed a great work — with many difficulties and obstacles standing in the way of its accomplishment.

False presumptions of forgiveness identified. The differences between them and genuine evangelical faith.

Before I proceed to present and work through the remaining evidences of this truth, I must address an objection that will naturally arise in the minds of many readers — one that, if left unanswered, would render what has been said useless to them. So I will clear it out of the way before moving forward.

It will be said: does not all of this directly contradict our daily experience? Do we not find all people holding — and most holding far too strongly — an impression of forgiveness with God? What is more common than the thought that 'God is merciful'? Are not the consciences and convictions of most people silenced by this impression? Can you find anyone who thinks otherwise? Is it not a common complaint that people presume on it to their eternal ruin? Surely, then, something that all people do, that every person can so easily do, and that no one can be kept from doing even when it destroys them, cannot have the difficulty you are claiming. And it is on this very basis that this effort to demonstrate this truth has been laughed to scorn by some — people who have taken it upon themselves to teach others while evidently needing to be taught themselves the very first principles of God's word.

Answer: All of this is true, and much more to this point could be said. The foolishness and presumption of poor souls in this can never be sufficiently mourned. But there is a vast difference between embracing a cloud and a shadow, and possessing the truth in reality. I will show later the true nature of forgiveness and what it consists of, and by that the emptiness of this self-deception will be revealed and exposed. It will become clear in the end that, despite all their claims, the majority of people know nothing at all — or nothing that matters — of what is actually under consideration. For the present, then, I will in a few observations show how far this common delusion differs from a true Gospel discovery of forgiveness — the kind we are inquiring after.

First, the common idea of forgiveness that most people carry is of two kinds. First, there is an atheistic presumption about God — an assumption that He is not so just and holy, or not just and holy in the way that some represent Him to be — and this is the foundation of their confidence about forgiveness. People think that certain descriptions of God are designed only to frighten them. They think He takes little notice of these things and that whatever He does notice He will easily overlook, as they suppose more befits Him. 'Come, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' This is their inward thought: 'The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil' — which the Psalmist says is people's thought that God is just like themselves (Psalm 50:21). They have no deep or serious thoughts of His greatness, holiness, purity, or severity, but think He is like themselves — not greatly moved by what they do. Whatever thoughts they have of sin, they assume God has the same. If a brief prayer is enough for them to feel their conscience is cleared of sin, they think it is enough for God not to punish it. The majority of people make light work of sin, yet in nothing do they more reveal what they truly think of God. Whoever has shallow thoughts of sin has never had serious thoughts of God. In fact, people's undervaluing of sin springs entirely from their contempt of God. All that sin involves flows from its relation to God. And as people's perceptions of God are, so will their perceptions of sin be — since sin is opposition to Him. This is the condition of most people: they know little of God and are little troubled about anything relating to Him. God is not reverenced, sin is a trifle, and forgiveness is nothing — available to whoever asks for it. But shall this atheistic wickedness of the human heart be called a discovery of forgiveness? Is this not to make God an idol? He who is not acquainted with God's holiness and purity, who does not know sin's deserving and sinfulness, knows nothing of forgiveness.

Second, from the doctrine of the Gospel as it is commonly preached and made known, there is a general idea formed in people's minds that God is ready to forgive. From this preaching, I say, people develop a doctrinal impression of this truth — but without any truly satisfying foundation for that impression as it relates to themselves. They have heard it, they have been told it repeatedly, and so they think it and are resolved to go on thinking it. A general persuasion of this kind spreads across all to whom the sound of the Gospel comes. It is not a persuasion rooted in trustful faith in the Gospel; it is an opinion that grows from hearing reports of it.

People find some relief by it in the ordinary course of their daily lives, in the duties of worship they do perform, and in their troubles and distresses — whether inward troubles of conscience or outward afflictions of providence — and so they resolve to hold on to it.

This is what I will briefly address, showing the differences between this common prevailing impression of forgiveness and faith's discovery of it in power to the soul.

First, what we are rejecting is loose and general — not fixed, rooted, or planted in the mind. This is always the case when people receive things merely in their ideas rather than in their power. It lacks firmness and foundation, which are deficiencies that accompany all ideas retained only in the memory and not embedded in the judgment. They have general thoughts about it and use them as occasion demands. They hear that God is a merciful God and intend to deal with Him as such. As for the true ground, origin, and basis — on what account the pure and holy God who does no injustice, the righteous God whose judgment it is that those who commit sin are worthy of death, should yet pardon iniquity, transgression, and sin — they do not weigh it, they do not consider it. Or if they do, it is in the same shallow, theoretical way in which they consider the thing itself. They take it for granted that it is so and are never seriously pressed to ask how it comes to be so — because in reality they have no genuine concern in it. How many thousands might we meet who simply assume that forgiveness is available with God, yet have never had any serious engagement in their souls with the grounds of it or its consistency with His holiness and justice? But those who know it by faith have a sense of it fixed particularly and distinctly on their minds. They have been pressed to inquire into its foundation and grounds in Christ, so that on a solid and unquestionable basis they can approach God and say, 'There is forgiveness with You.' They see how and by what means more glory comes to God through forgiveness than through punishing sin — a matter that the other kind of person is not at all concerned about. If they can escape punishment, they are mostly indifferent to whether God receives any glory from it.

Second, the first kind of impression arises without any testing or inquiry in the consciences of those who hold it. They have not, through the power of conviction and distress of conscience, been pressed to inquire whether this thing is true or not. It is not a persuasion they have arrived at in the process of seeking peace for their own souls. It is not the result of a deep search for rest. It precedes trial and experience, and so it is not faith but opinion. For though faith is not experience, faith is inseparable from experience, as every practical habit is. Distress in their consciences has been prevented by this opinion, not healed. The reason most people are not seriously troubled about their sins is their persuasion that God is merciful and will pardon — when in truth no one can genuinely have that persuasion on Gospel grounds in the ordinary way, except those who have been genuinely troubled over sin. So it is with those who make this discovery by faith. They have had conflicts in their own spirits. Being deprived of peace, they have conducted a diligent search into whether forgiveness was to be found at all. The persuasion they have of it — whether stronger or weaker — is the outcome of a trial they have gone through in their own souls, of an inquiry into how things stood between God and them regarding peace and acceptance of their persons. This is an enormous difference. The one sort might possibly have had trouble in their consciences over sin, were it not for their opinion of forgiveness. That opinion has prevented and stifled their convictions rather than healing their wounds — which is the work of the Gospel. It has kept them from being wounded, which is the work of false security. Indeed, here lies the ruin of most of those who perish under the preaching of the Gospel. They have received the general idea of pardon; it floats in their minds and immediately presents itself as relief on every occasion. Whenever God begins to deal with their consciences — in the preaching of the word, under an affliction, or upon some great sin against their ruling light — before the conviction can ripen or come to any completion, before it approaches its proper work, they choke it and heal their consciences with this idea of pardon. Many a man is cured in this way between the church meeting and his own front door. You can see them leave shaking their heads and beating their chests, and before they reach home they are as whole as ever. 'Well — God is merciful, there is pardon' — this has done the cure. The other kind have obtained their persuasion as the result of discovering Christ in the Gospel after full conviction. They have had trials, and this is the outcome.

Third, the notional impression of forgiveness produces no love to God, no delight in Him, no reverence of Him — but rather a contempt and casual attitude in dealing with Him. There are none in the world who treat God worse than those who hold an ungrounded persuasion of forgiveness. And if they do fear Him, or love Him, or obey Him in any measure, it is from other motives and considerations — not from this — and these other motives will not make anything they do acceptable. They may love God as One who is good to creation; they may fear Him as One who is great and powerful. But a sense of pardon has no power over them for any such ends. Carnal boldness, formalism, and contempt of God are the common fruits of such a notion and persuasion. Indeed, this is what produces the greatest sinners in the world. People who have a general impression but not a sense of the particular power of pardon — whether in outward or inward sins, openly or secretly — are the great sinners among humanity. Where faith makes a discovery of forgiveness, everything is different. Great love, fear, and reverence of God are its companions. Mary Magdalene loved much because much had been forgiven her. Great love springs from great forgiveness. 'There is forgiveness with You,' says the Psalmist, 'that You may be feared.' No unbeliever truly and experientially knows the truth of that inference. But so it is when people fear the Lord and His goodness (Hosea 3:5). I say, then, where pardoning mercy is truly grasped, where faith makes a discovery of it to the soul, the soul is drawn close to God and filled with the great springs of love, delight, fear, and reverence (Psalm 116:1, 5-7).

Fourth, this notional impression of the pardon of sin produces no serious, thorough hatred and detestation of sin, and does not prevail in leading to its abandonment. On the contrary, it secretly insinuates into the soul encouragements to continue in sin. Its nature is to diminish and minimize sin and to support the soul against its convictions. So Jude tells us that some turn the grace of God into an occasion for immorality (verse 4) — and he says they are ungodly people. But how can they turn the grace of our God into immorality? Is grace itself capable of being converted into lust or sin? Can what was once grace ever become license? It is objective, not subjective grace — the doctrine, not the real substance of grace, that is intended. The doctrine of forgiveness is this grace of God that can be so abused. From it, people who have only a general idea of forgiveness habitually draw secret encouragements to sin and folly. Paul also lets us know that worldly people, coming to a doctrinal familiarity with Gospel grace, are very prone to drawing such conclusions (Romans 6:1). And it will be revealed on the last day how incalculably this glorious grace has been perverted in the world. It would have been better for many if they had never heard the name of forgiveness. It is otherwise when this revelation is truly received in the soul through believing (Romans 6:14). Being under grace — under the power of belief in forgiveness — is our great protection from being under the power of sin. The faith of forgiveness is the principle of Gospel obedience (Titus 2:11-12).

Fifth, the general idea of forgiveness brings no sweetness or rest to the soul. It may produce flashes of joy, but not lasting rest. The doctrine floats back and forth in the minds of those who hold it, but their wills and affections have no solid delight or rest by it. Because of this, despite all the profession of forgiveness made in the world, most people ultimately ground their peace and comfort in themselves. Their sense of well-being moves up and down according to how they feel about their own doing well or poorly — according to whatever their ruling light of conscience may be. Each person in his own way finds satisfaction in what he does in response to his own convictions, and is inwardly troubled about his condition according to how far he seems to fall short of them. They do not know how to build a full life of contentment on pardon. One duty gives them more true repose than many thoughts of forgiveness. But faith finds sweetness and rest in forgiveness. When grasped by faith, it is the soul's only harbor. It leads a person to God as One who is good and to Christ as rest. Fading, evanescent joys often accompany the one, but solid delight together with constant obedience are the fruits only of the other.

Sixth, those who have only the former take up their persuasion on false grounds — though the thing itself is true — and they cannot but use it for false ends and purposes, contrary to its natural and proper tendency. Their false grounds will be revealed when I come to treat the true nature of Gospel forgiveness. As for their ends, the impression is generally used only to fill in what is lacking. Self-righteousness is their foundation, and when that is too small or too narrow to cover them, they piece it out with forgiveness. Where conscience accuses, this must supply the deficiency. Faith, on the other hand, places forgiveness on its proper foundation — of which more later — and uses it for its proper end: namely, to be the sole and only ground of our acceptance with God. That is the proper use of forgiveness, that everything may be of grace — for when the foundation is pardon, the entire superstructure must be grace. From what has been said, it is clear that despite the contrary suggestion implied in the objection now removed, it is a great thing to have Gospel forgiveness discovered to a soul in a saving manner.

The true nature of Gospel forgiveness. Its relation to the goodness, grace, and will of God. Its relation to the blood of Christ. Its relation to the promise of the Gospel. What faith considers about it.

The difficulties that stand in the way of faith's discovery of forgiveness — showing it to be a matter of greater weight and importance than commonly understood — have been discussed in the foregoing discourse. There is yet another ground for the same truth. This one is taken from the nature and greatness of the thing itself discovered — that is, of forgiveness. To this end I will show what it is, what it consists of, and what it encompasses and relates to, according to the meaning of the second proposition laid down earlier.

I am not here taking forgiveness strictly and precisely as the act of pardoning, nor will I dispute what that consists of in a technical sense. Consciences that come with sin-entanglement to God know nothing of such debates. Nor will the expression 'there is forgiveness with God' allow any such restriction as to refer only to the formal act of pardon. My task is to inquire into the nature of the pardon that poor, convicted, troubled souls seek, and which Scripture proposes to them for their relief and rest. And I will not handle this in the abstract either, but in relation to the truth under consideration — namely, that it is a great thing to attain a true Gospel discovery of forgiveness.

First, as was shown in the opening of the words, the forgiveness we are inquiring after is related to the gracious heart of the Father. By this I understand two things.

First, the infinite goodness and graciousness of His nature. Second, the sovereign purpose of His will and grace.

There is in forgiveness this weighty consideration — the infinite goodness of God's nature. Sin stands in direct opposition to God. It is a rebellion against His sovereignty, an opposition to His holiness, a provocation to His justice, a rejection of His yoke, and — as far as the sinner is able — a casting off of that dependence which a creature owes its Creator. That God should have pity and compassion on sinners, in every one of whose sins all of this evil is present — and incomparably more than we can comprehend — argues an infinitely gracious, good, and loving heart and nature in Him. For God does nothing but what is consistent with the properties of His nature and flows from them. All the acts of His will are expressions of His nature.

Whatever God proposes as an encouragement for sinners to come to Him has a special relation to or influence on the forgiveness that is with Him. For nothing can encourage a sinner as such, except insofar as it is or relates to forgiveness. That this graciousness of God's nature lies at the head and spring — is the root from which forgiveness grows — is evident from that solemn proclamation in which He declared His name and thereby revealed His nature (Exodus 34:6-7): 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin.' His forgiving of iniquity flows from the fact that in His nature He is merciful, gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness. If He were not so — infinitely so — there would be no point in looking to Him for forgiveness. Having made this known as His name and thereby declared His nature, He in many places proposes it as a relief and refuge for sinners and as an encouragement to come to Him and wait for mercy from Him. Psalm 9:10: 'Those who know Your name will put their trust in You.' It will encourage them to do so. Others have no foundation for their confidence. But if this name of God is truly made known to us by the Holy Spirit, what could prevent us from coming to Him and resting on Him? So Isaiah 50:10: 'Who is among you who fears the Lord, who obeys the voice of His servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.' Not only sinners, but sinners in great distress are addressed here. Darkness of state or condition in Scripture denotes everything involving desolation and trouble. To be in darkness where there is yet some light — some relief, though darkness predominates — is sad and comfortless. But to not only be in darkness but to walk in it — that is, to continue in a course of darkness with no light, no discovery of help or relief — seems an overwhelming condition. Yet sinners in this very state are called to trust in the name of the Lord. I have shown before that nothing but forgiveness — or what relates to it and encourages the expectation of it — is of any use to a sinner, and far less to one in such great distress because of sin. Yet such a person is here sent to nothing but the name of the Lord, in which His gracious heart and nature is revealed. That, then, is the very fountain and spring of forgiveness. And this is what John would work a sense of into our souls when he tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8) — that is, One of infinitely gracious, tender, good, compassionate, and loving nature. Infinite goodness and grace is the soil from which forgiveness grows. It is impossible for this flower to spring from any other root. Unless this is revealed to the soul, forgiveness is not revealed. To consider pardon merely as it terminates on ourselves — and not as it flows from God — will bring neither benefit to us nor glory to God.

This point also confirms that the discovery of forgiveness we are discussing is no ordinary thing — it is a great discovery. When people come with a sense of the guilt of sin and begin to think seriously and deeply about God, they will find it is no easy matter to have their hearts truly and thoroughly convinced of His loving and gracious nature toward the forgiveness of sinners. It is easy enough to say so in general terms, but the soul will not find it so easy to believe it for itself. What was said earlier about the inborn notions people carry regarding God's justice, holiness, and severity will come into full force here. Though people profess that God is gracious, yet the aversion they have toward Him and toward fellowship with Him shows plainly that they do not believe what they say and profess. If they truly believed it, they could not help but delight in Him and trust Him — but they do not, for those who know His name will put their trust in Him. So the lazy servant in the parable said, 'I knew that you were a harsh man' — perhaps he professed differently before, but that was what lay in his heart when it came to the test. What is necessary for those to whom this discovery is to be made is a spiritual apprehension of the gracious and loving heart and nature of God. This is the spring from which everything else flows, and that fountain must be infinitely sweet to produce such streams. Anyone who considers the glorious structure of heaven and earth and all they contain must conclude that they were the product of infinite wisdom and power — nothing less could have brought such an effect. And anyone who truly considers forgiveness and looks at it with a spiritual eye must conclude that it comes from infinite goodness and grace. This is what the hearts of sinners wrestle with when they come to seek pardon. Psalm 86:5: 'You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive.' Nehemiah 9:17: 'You are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great lovingkindness.' And Micah 7:19: 'Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity — because He delights in mercy.' God encourages sinners in this, wherever He says that He forgives sins and blots out iniquities for His own sake or for His name's sake — meaning He will deal with sinners according to the goodness of His own gracious nature. So Hosea 11:9: 'I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not return to destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man.' If no more mercy, grace, and compassion could be shown in this case than what could possibly be stored up in the heart of a man, it would be impossible for Ephraim to be spared. But God says, 'I am God and not man.' Consider the infinite largeness, generosity, and goodness of the heart of God — and there is yet hope. When a sinner is earnestly seeking forgiveness, nothing concerns him more than the heart of God toward him. There is nothing he labors harder to discover, and nothing that sin and Satan labor harder to hide from him. He turns this over in his mind and wrestles with it constantly. And if the voice of God in Isaiah 27:4 — 'Fury is not in Me' — ever sounds in his heart, he is relieved from his great distress. Our Savior seems to address this very fear in John 16:26-27: 'I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father Himself loves you.' The disciples had good thoughts of the tender heart and care of Christ the Mediator toward them — but what was the heart of the Father? What reception would they find with Him? Would Christ need to pray that they might find favor with Him? No — as for the love of His heart, there is no need of it, for the Father Himself loves you. If this then belongs to forgiveness — and everyone who has truly sought it knows that it does — then it is certainly no common discovery to have it revealed to the soul.

To have all the clouds and darkness that sin raises between us and the throne of God cleared away; to have the fire, storms, and tempests kindled around Him by the law removed; to have His glorious face unveiled and His holy heart opened, and to be given a view of those infinite treasures of goodness, mercy, love, and kindness that have had an unchangeable dwelling there from all eternity; to have a discovery of these eternal springs of patience and forgiveness — this is something that none but Christ can accomplish, as John 17:6 shows.

Second, this is not all. This eternal ocean, infinitely satisfied with its own fullness and perfection, does not naturally pour out streams for our refreshment. Mercy and pardon do not flow from God the way light comes from the sun or water from the sea — as a necessary result of their nature, whether they will it or not. It does not automatically follow that anyone must receive forgiveness simply because God is infinitely gracious. For may He not do as He wills with what is His own? Who has given to Him first, that it should be paid back to him? Romans 11:35. All the fruits of God's goodness and grace are kept entirely within His own sovereign will and pleasure. This is His great glory, as shown in Exodus 33:18-19. 'Show me Your glory,' said Moses. And God said, 'I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.' When God proclaims His name — that He is merciful, gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness — some might conclude that things must go well for everyone. They might think people hardly need to seek mercy from Him. But God says: this is My great glory — that I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. There must be a free act of God's will to deal with us according to His abundant goodness, or we can have no share in it. I call this the purpose of His grace — the good pleasure He has purposed in Himself (Ephesians 1:9), or as it is described in Ephesians 1:5-6: the good pleasure of His will, purposed to the praise of His glorious grace. This free and gracious will of God — this purpose to act toward sinners according to His own abundant goodness — is another element that shapes the forgiveness we are discussing. Pardon flows immediately from a sovereign act of free grace. This free purpose of God's will and grace to pardon sinners is in fact what is chiefly meant when we say there is forgiveness with Him. That is, He is pleased to forgive, and doing so is consistent with His nature. The mystery of this grace is deep — it is eternal and therefore beyond full comprehension. Few people's hearts are lifted to contemplate it. People settle for a general notion of mercy, which does them little real good. They want to escape punishment, but they never inquire into what it truly means to be forgiven. So whatever they know of it, they come by easily — and will find in the end that it does them little good. But these fountains of God's activity are revealed so that they may become the fountains of our comfort.

Now this purpose of God's grace involves several acts, all of them relating to Gospel forgiveness.

First, there is God's purpose of sending His Son as the great means of procuring and purchasing forgiveness. Though God is infinitely and incomprehensibly gracious, and though He purposes to extend His grace and goodness to sinners, He will do so in a way that does not compromise His own holiness and righteousness. His justice must be satisfied, and His holy anger against sin must be made known. Therefore He purposed to send His Son — and has sent Him — to open the way for mercy, without in any way diminishing the glory of His justice, holiness, and hatred of sin. It would be better for us all to fall eternally short of forgiveness than for God to lose any of His glory. This is stated in Romans 3:25: God put Him forward as a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. The goal is the remission of sins, but it must be accomplished in such a way that not only God's mercy but also His righteousness is declared — and therefore it must come through a propitiation, an atonement, in the blood of Christ. See also John 3:16, 1 John 4:9, and Romans 5:8. This also lies within the mystery of the forgiveness administered in the Gospel — it comes forth from God's eternal purpose of making a way, through the blood of Christ, for the granting of pardon. And this greatly magnifies the excellence of this discovery. People who have shallow thoughts of God — whose hearts were never struck with awe at His majesty and greatness, who never seriously considered His purity and holiness — may think it a small thing for God to pardon sin. But do they consider the means by which it had to be accomplished — the sending of His only Son to die, as we will see further on? And there was no other way it could be done. Let us set aside familiar assumptions and received traditions and weigh this matter carefully. We will undoubtedly find it to be a great thing that forgiveness should be with God in such a way that it is made available to us — knowing something of what we are — by the sending of His only Son to die. How little is this truly believed, even among those who profess it? And how small and shallow are the thoughts people have about it when they seek pardon? For most, avoiding punishment is the full extent of their aim and desire — the only thing they think about when dealing with God about sin. Such people think our task here is easy — merely to prove that forgiveness exists with God. But this impression of ease comes from their own ignorance and darkness. If they ever truly come to search for it — to inquire into its nature, reasons, causes, and fountains — they will give a very different account of it. Christ is the center of the mystery of the Gospel, and forgiveness is laid up in the heart of Christ, flowing from the Father's love. In Him are hidden all the treasures of forgiveness. And surely it is no small thing to have the heart of Christ revealed to us. When believers seek pardon, their faith engages with this reality — that God, with whom the soul has to deal, has sent the Lord Christ to die, so that forgiveness might be freely given out. They do not dwell on general notions of escaping punishment; such thoughts are not enough for them. They have a closer dealings with God than to be satisfied with that. They inquire into the graciousness of His nature, the good pleasure of His will, and the purpose of His grace. They ponder and look into the mystery of His wisdom and love in sending His Son. If these springs are not clear to them, the streams will bring them little refreshment. It is not enough merely to seek salvation — we are to inquire and search carefully into the nature and manner of it. These are the things that the angels themselves long to look into (1 Peter 1:11-13). Yet some think that having a set of words about them gives them a sufficient grasp of these things. Doubtless one reason why many who truly believe still waver about forgiveness all their days is that they have never exercised faith to look into the springs of it — its eternal fountains — but have merely stayed with the idea of actual pardon. In any case, these things lie entirely outside the consideration of those who merely claim an acquaintance with this truth.

Second, there is another sovereign act of God's will to be considered here — His eternal designation of the persons who will be made partakers of this mercy. He has not left this to chance and uncertainty, as though it were unknown to Him who would be pardoned and who would not. No one ever becomes a partaker of forgiveness except those whom He has eternally and graciously appointed to it. The apostle declares this in Ephesians 1:5-7: the source is His eternal predestination, the end is the glory of His grace, the means is redemption in the blood of Christ, and the thing itself is the forgiveness of sins. No one ever is or can be made a partaker of forgiveness except by virtue of this act of God's will and grace, which therefore has a particular influence on it and must be considered in any serious treatment of the subject. I know this can be abused by pride, presumption, and unbelief — as the whole work of God's grace can be, and in fact the blood of Christ has been abused in a special way. But in its proper place and use, it has a significant influence both on the glory of God and on the consolation of human souls.

There are also other acts of this purpose of God's grace — such as giving sinners to Christ and giving sinners a share in Christ — but I will not elaborate on these, since their nature is sufficiently revealed in the one already explained.

Second, forgiveness relates to the propitiation made in and by the blood of Christ the Son of God. This was stated in the opening of the text. Here lies the knot and center of Gospel forgiveness. It flows from the cross and springs out of the grave of Christ.

Elihu describes it this way in Job 33:24: 'God is gracious to him and says, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom.' The whole of what is intended lies in these words. First, there is God's gracious and merciful heart toward the sinner — 'He is gracious to him.' Second, there is the actual pardon itself, which we will discuss later — 'Deliver him from going down to the pit.' Third, there is the center of the whole, where God's gracious heart and actual pardon meet — and that is the ransom, the propitiation or atonement in the blood of Christ — 'I have found a ransom.'

The same truth is expressed in Isaiah 53:11: 'My righteous Servant will justify many, for He will bear their iniquities.' The justification of sinners begins with absolution or pardon. This arises from Christ's bearing of their iniquities. In doing so, He finished the transgression, made an end of sin, and made reconciliation for iniquity (Daniel 9:24). All the sacrifices — and consequently the entire worship of the Old Testament — pointed to this connection between forgiveness and the shedding of blood. From this the apostle concludes that without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22) — meaning all pardon arises from bloodshedding, even the blood of the Son of God. So we are said to have in Him redemption, even the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). Our redemption in His blood is our forgiveness — not that we are all actually pardoned at the moment of the cross, for to that must be added the Gospel granting of pardon, which we will discuss later. But through His blood it is procured, the grant of pardon is sealed in it, and the certainty is given that it will in due time be applied to us. This is the thrust of the apostle's argument in Romans 3:24-26: the work described there proceeds from grace, serves the interest of righteousness, is carried out through the blood of Christ, and results in forgiveness. The blood of Christ relates to the pardon of sin in several ways.

First, pardon is purchased and procured by it. Our redemption is our forgiveness, as a cause contains its effect. No soul is pardoned except with reference to the blood of Christ as the procuring cause of that pardon. Thus He is said to have washed us in His blood (Revelation 1:5); to have purged our sins in Himself (Hebrews 1:3); by one offering to have taken away sin and to have perfected forever those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10); to be the ransom and propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2); to have made an end of sin (Daniel 9:24); and to have made reconciliation for the sins of His people (Hebrews 2:17). God has enclosed His rich stores of pardon and mercy in the blood of Jesus.

Second, in His blood the promise of pardon is ratified and confirmed, so that nothing is lacking for our complete forgiveness but our pleading the promise by faith in Him. 2 Corinthians 1:20: 'All the promises of God are in Him Yes, and in Him Amen' — that is, faithfully, irrevocably, and immutably established. The apostle, having told us that God's covenant promise is that He will be merciful to our sins and iniquities (Hebrews 8:12), goes on to inform us that in Christ's undertaking this covenant becomes a testament (Hebrews 9:15-17) — so ratified in His blood that mercy and forgiveness of sin are irrevocably secured for us in it.

Third, in His own person as the head of the church, Christ received a full acquittal on behalf of the whole body. His personal discharge upon completing His work was a pledge of the discharge that would in due time be given to His entire mystical body. Peter tells us in Acts 2:24 that it was impossible for death to hold Him. Why? Because death was inflicted on Him as a penalty, and when He had paid the debt, He was legally to be acquitted. Now for those on whose behalf and in whose name and place He suffered, it was in their name and place that He received His acquittal.

Fourth, upon His death God the Father entrusted to Him the entire administration of forgiveness. Acts 5:31: 'He gives repentance and the forgiveness of sins.' It is Christ who forgives us (Colossians 3:13). All forgiveness is now at His disposal, and He pardons whom He will — all who have been given to Him by the Father — never casting out any who come to God through Him. He is entrusted with all the stores of His Father's purpose and His own purchase, and therefore declares that all things that the Father has are His (John 16:15).

In all these ways forgiveness relates to the blood of Christ. Mercy, pardon, and grace could find no other way to flow from the heart of the Father than through the very heart's blood of the Son, and so they stream to the heart of the sinner.

Two things are chiefly to be considered in forgiveness as it relates to the blood of Christ. First, the way it was procured; second, the way it is administered by Him. The first is deep, mysterious, and awesome — it came through His blood, the blood of the cross, the anguish of His soul, His enduring of wrath and curse. The second is gracious, merciful, and tender — which is why so many things are said about His mercifulness and faithfulness, to encourage us to look to Him for forgiveness.

This also adds to the mysterious depths of forgiveness and makes its discovery a weighty matter. The soul that earnestly seeks it must consider what it cost. How casually do most people treat pardon? How easy they think it is to understand it, and not very hard to obtain it. But to have genuine fellowship with God in the blood of His Son is something of an entirely different nature than most imagine — people who think they understand well enough what it means to be pardoned. 'God be merciful' is a common saying, and equally common is the desire that He would be so for Christ's sake. Poor souls are shaped by such expressions who know nothing of God, nothing of mercy, nothing of Christ, nothing of the mystery of the Gospel. Others look at the outside of the cross — but how few attain to seeing into the mystery of the Father's love working in the blood of the Mediator, to considering by faith the great transaction of divine wisdom, justice, and mercy accomplished there? To come to God through Christ for forgiveness — and in doing so to behold the law issuing all its threats and curses in His blood, losing its sting, and ending its demand for punishment at the cross; to see all sins gathered up in the hand of God's justice and made to meet on the Mediator; and to see eternal love springing triumphantly from His blood, flourishing into pardon, grace, mercy, and forgiveness — this the heart of a sinner can only be enlarged to receive by the Spirit of God.

Third, forgiveness includes the free granting, discharge, or pardon of sin according to the terms of the Gospel — and this may be considered in two ways.

First, as it rests in the promise itself — that is, God's gracious declaration of pardon to sinners in and by the blood of Christ; His covenant made to that end, which is presented in various ways according to what He knew was needed to produce faith and communicate the consolation He intends through it.

This is the law of His grace — the declaration of the mystery of His love, as discussed above.

Second, there is the bringing home and applying of all this mercy to the soul of a sinner by the Holy Spirit — through which we are freely forgiven all our trespasses (Colossians 2:13).

Gospel forgiveness, I say, takes in all these things — these principles all have an influence on it. What makes this clearer — and with this I will close this consideration of forgiveness's nature — is that faith, in applying itself to God for forgiveness, distinctly engages with these elements: sometimes fixing on one alone, sometimes on another, and sometimes taking all of them into view together. Not that at any time it fixes on one to the exclusion of the others, but that at different seasons it finds special encouragement, or is especially drawn, by one of them more than the rest. That one then becomes an entry point — a door into the treasures laid up in all the rest. Let me illustrate each one in turn.

First, sometimes faith fixes on the name and infinite goodness of God's nature and draws forgiveness from there. The Psalmist does this in Psalm 86:5: 'You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive.' He rests his pursuit and expectation of pardon on the infinite goodness of God's nature. So also Nehemiah 9:17: 'You are a God of pardons, ready to forgive, of an infinite, gracious, and loving nature — not severe and wrathful.' And this is what we are encouraged to do in Isaiah 50:10 — to rest on the name of God — as in countless other places.

In this way faith often finds a particular sweetness and encouragement in the consideration of God's gracious nature. Sometimes this is the first thing faith fixes on, and sometimes the last thing it rests in. Often it makes a stand here when driven from every other ground. It can say, whatever else may be uncertain, God is gracious — and at least arrive at the conclusion drawn from Joel 2:13-14: 'God is gracious and merciful — who knows but that He will return?' When faith has laid hold on this consideration, it will not easily be driven from its expectation of relief and forgiveness.

Second, sometimes the soul by faith approaches the sovereignty of God's will in a particular way — the will by which He is gracious to whom He will be gracious and merciful to whom He will be merciful, which as was shown is another significant spring or principle of forgiveness. This is the path David's faith took in his great distress and perplexity (2 Samuel 15:25-26): 'If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back; but if He says, I have no delight in you, behold, here I am — let Him do to me as seems good to Him.' What David was wrestling with was whether God had any delight in him — that is, whether God would graciously pardon and forgive the great sin against which at that time He was showing His anger. David lay down before the sovereign grace of God and waited patiently to discover the free decision of His will concerning him. At this door, as it were, he entered into consideration of those other springs of pardon that faith inquires into and rests on. Sometimes this is the only glimmer of hope that appears to a distressed soul — which in time fills the whole horizon, as the other considerations are added, and yields plentiful refreshing showers. A sin-entangled soul is often reduced to this condition when looking for relief. It can see nothing except this: that God is able, and can — if He graciously chooses — relieve and acquit him. All other supports, all other springs of relief, are shut off or hidden from view. The springs may in fact be close at hand, as they were for Hagar, but the soul's eyes are kept from seeing them. So they cast themselves on God's sovereign pleasure and say with Job, 'Though He slay me, I will still trust in Him — I will not let Him go.' In themselves they are lost — that much is certain. How the Lord will deal with them they do not know. They see no signs or tokens any more; evidence of God's grace in them, or of His love and favor toward them, is entirely out of sight. Any present personal interest in Christ seems foreign to them, and they lie every moment at the edge of eternity. What course should they take? If they remain at a distance from God, they will surely perish — for who has hardened himself against Him and prospered? And there is not even the slightest relief to be had except from and through Him, for who can forgive sins but God? So they bring their guilty souls into His presence and wait on the pleasure of His grace, willing to submit to whatever He speaks concerning them. And sometimes this proves an anchor to a soul tossed by the storm — not giving it full rest and peace, but saving it from the rock of despair. There it stays until more and more light breaks forth upon it.

Third, faith dealing with forgiveness commonly fixes in a particular way on its relation to the mediation and blood of Christ. So the apostle directs in 1 John 2:1-2: 'If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins.' If someone has sinned and is in depths of entanglement over it, what course should he take? How should he proceed to find deliverance? He must go to God for pardon. But what should he rely on to encourage him in doing so? The apostle says: consider by faith the atonement and propitiation for sin made in the blood of Christ, and the fact that He is still carrying on His work of love in obtaining pardon for us — and rest your soul on that. This, I say, is most commonly the first thing faith fixes on.

Fourth, faith fixes on actual pardon itself. So God sets it before faith as a motive for further believing in Isaiah 44:22: 'I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud, and your sins like a cloud; return to Me, for I have redeemed you.' Actual pardon of sin is set before faith as an encouragement to a full returning to God in everything (2 Samuel 23:5). The same could be said of all the other particulars we have discussed. Each of them will yield particular relief to a soul dealing with God about forgiveness, since each carries within it some special aspect of forgiveness. Only, as I said, none of them does this exclusively — they are rather the special doors through which believing enters into the whole. These things will need to be addressed further in what follows.

Let us now gather up the purpose for which all these considerations have been laid out. It is to show that a real discovery of Gospel forgiveness is a matter of greater consequence and importance than it may have appeared to some at first. Who is not hopeful and expecting pardon? Who does not think they understand well enough what it is, if they could only obtain it? But people may have general thoughts of escaping punishment and yet be far from any saving acquaintance with Gospel mercy.

Forgiveness is discovered or revealed only to faith, and the reasons for this.

To close this discussion, I will add only what is contained in the proposition that underlies everything — namely, that this discovery of forgiveness is made, and can only be made, to faith alone. The nature of forgiveness is such that nothing else can discover it or receive it. No reasoning, no inquiry of the human heart can reach it. The vague sense of something like forgiveness that the ancient pagans had, or that false worshippers have today, is not the forgiveness we are speaking of — it is merely a product of their own imagination.

The apostle tells us this in Romans 1:17: the righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel from faith to faith. Nothing but faith has any part in it. This righteousness of God consists in the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, declared in the Gospel. It is revealed from God's faithfulness in the promise to the faith of the believer — to those who receive the promise with faith. And again, more fully, in 1 Corinthians 2:9: 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' The ways we normally come to know something are through sight, hearing, or the reasonings and reflections of the mind. But none of these can reach the things of the Gospel that God has prepared for us in Christ. How then can we come to know them? He answers in verse 10: 'God has revealed them to us by His Spirit.' And it is faith alone that receives the revelations of the Spirit — nothing else has access to them.

To confirm this, we may consider that this great mystery is:

1. Too deep, and 2. too great for anything else to discover; and 3. nothing but faith is suited to making this discovery.

First, this mystery is too deep and mysterious to be reached by anything else. Reason's line is too short to fathom the depths of the Father's love, the blood of the Son, and the Gospel promises built on it — in which forgiveness dwells. People cannot by their own rational thinking launch out into these depths or draw water from these wells of salvation. Reason stands by, astonished, and asks, 'How can these things be?' It can gather only shells at the shore of this ocean — a few surface-level observations about the outward letter — and then bring back a discouraging report, as the spies did. All reason can do is try to keep faith from venturing into it, crying out, 'Spare yourself — this attempt is foolish, these things are impossible.' This is one of the things faith sets aside and leaves behind when it commits the soul to this great work. In order to come to a discovery of forgiveness, faith causes the soul to deny itself and all its own reasoning, and to surrender itself to an infinite fullness of goodness and truth. Though it cannot reach the bottom of these depths, it enters into them and finds rest there. Nothing but faith is fitted to rest, be satisfied, and content itself in mysterious, bottomless, unsearchable depths. Being a grace that empties the soul and denies reason, the more it encounters what lies beyond its search and reach, the more satisfaction it finds. 'This is exactly what I was looking for,' says faith — 'the infinite and unsearchable.' 'When I know that there is abundantly more beyond me than I have comprehended, I am satisfied — for I know that nothing less will do good to the soul.' This is precisely what puzzles and overwhelms reason, leaving it useless. What it cannot grasp, it will dismiss or despise. Either it is overwhelmed and dazzled like weak eyes confronted with too bright a light, or — strengthening itself through inborn pride and stubbornness — it concludes that this preaching of the cross and of forgiveness from God's love through the blood of Christ is plain foolishness, not fit for a wise person to pay attention to. This is how it appeared to the wise Greeks of old (1 Corinthians 1:24). So when a soul is brought under the real conviction of sin and earnestly desires to be freed from its painful entanglements, it becomes the hardest thing in the world to persuade that soul of forgiveness. Anything else looks more reasonable — any self-righteousness in this life, any purgatory in the next.

The greater part of those throughout the world who have been under conviction have turned away from forgiveness for this very reason. Masses, penances, and merits have seemed more acceptable. People who have no desire other than to be forgiven will still choose to settle for anything rather than forgiveness itself. Even if they escape those traps and conclude that nothing but pardon will help them, it is still impossible for them to receive it in its truth and power unless faith enables them. I am not speaking here of people who accept it casually as a common report, but of souls who find themselves genuinely needing to seek it. When they know it is their one urgent concern — all their hope and relief — when they know they will perish eternally without it, and when it is declared to them in plain, sober truth, they still cannot receive it. What is the reason? What keeps these starving souls from the food they need? It is this: they have nothing to lead them into the mysterious depths of eternal love, the blood of Christ, and the promises of the Gospel. We can see poor, troubled souls standing day after day at the edge of this pool, and yet never once venture into it their whole lives.

Second, this mystery is too great for anything else to discover. Forgiveness is something chosen by God from eternity to exalt and magnify the glory of His grace, and on the day of judgment it will be made plain to all the world that it was indeed a great thing. When the soul comes in any measure to sense it, it finds it so great, so excellent, and so astonishing that it is overwhelmed by the thought. It has dimensions — a length, breadth, depth, and height — that no measure of the rational soul can take or calculate. There is surpassing greatness in it (Ephesians 1:19). And the work described in Ephesians 3:19 is great — to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. At this point, reason will confess itself at a standstill. To know that which surpasses knowledge is not reason's work. 'It cannot be known,' says reason, and that is the end of it for reason. But this is faith's proper work — to know precisely what surpasses knowledge. To know it in its power, virtue, sweetness, and effectiveness — though it cannot be fully known in its nature and excellence — and through believing to have all the benefit of a full comprehension of what cannot be fully comprehended. Hence Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the substance of things not seen — though those things are absent in themselves, faith gives them a present reality in the soul. So it knows things that surpass knowledge; by mingling itself with them, it draws out and delivers their benefit to the soul. From all of this it is evident — as the third point proposed — that faith alone is suited to be the means of this discovery, and so I need not press that point further.

The discovery of forgiveness in God is a great support for sin-entangled souls. Particular assurance is attainable.

There remains a brief confirmation of the position first laid down and now clarified, before I come to the application of the words we are primarily concerned with. I say, then, that the discovery of forgiveness in God is a great support for a sin-entangled soul, even when that soul has no specific persuasion of its own personal share in it. There is something assumed in this statement, and something affirmed.

First, it is assumed that a believer may have a gracious persuasion and assurance of faith concerning his own personal share in forgiveness. A person may — and many do — believe it for themselves, so as to have not only the benefit of it but also the comfort of it. In general, all the saints mentioned in Scripture had this assurance, except in times of depths, distress, and spiritual desertion, such as the one in this Psalm. David expressed his confidence in God's love and favor toward his own soul hundreds of times. Paul did the same for himself in Galatians 2:20: 'Christ loved me and gave Himself for me.' And 2 Timothy 4:8: 'There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day.' And that this confidence in the Lord and His grace was not claimed for himself alone, he shows in Romans 8:38-39.

Nothing is more unfounded than the common argument used to undermine this anchor of the saints' consolation — the claim that no individual's name appears in the promise. It is true that the promise does not address any person by the name they go by in daily life. But the matter is far otherwise than that objection suggests. To think that the names by which we are known among one another and distinguished from each other in this life need to be written in the promise in order for us each to believe it personally for ourselves is a foolish notion. The new name of every child of God is in the promise, and believing makes it perfectly legible to him. In fact, experience shows us that no elaborate argument is needed here. The soul by a direct act of faith believes its own forgiveness without making inferences or drawing conclusions — and may do so simply on the basis of the promise set before it to be believed. But I will not stray from my present task, and so I will note only one or two things regarding the assumption laid down.

First, it is the duty of every believer to press toward an assurance of personal interest in forgiveness, and to be diligent in cherishing and maintaining it once attained. The apostle urges this on all of us in Hebrews 10:22: 'Let us draw near with full assurance of faith' — that is, assurance of our acceptance with God through forgiveness in the blood of Jesus. This is what he is plainly discussing. And this foundation of our faith and confidence he would have us hold fast to the end (Hebrews 3:14). It is no small failure in believers when they are not pressing toward maturity in faith and obedience. Often some sinful indulgence to self, the world, or laziness is the cause. This is why so few reach Gospel assurance. Yet most of our privileges — and effectively all of our comfort — depend on this one thing. To encourage this duty, let me briefly ask you to consider both what produces this assurance and what it produces in turn — what it is the fruit of, and what fruit it bears.

In general, assurance is the product of a fuller and richer communication of the Spirit than ordinary — a deeper sense and experience of the choicest fruits of Christ's death, given to those who are justified through their acceptance of the atonement.

It does not flourish without the Spirit's sealing, witnessing, establishing, and pouring out the love of God in our hearts. See Romans 5:2-5. And what believer should not long for and press after the enjoyment of these things? To read of them in the Gospel without experiencing them in our own hearts, and then to sit down quietly without continually pressing after them, is to despise the blood of Christ, the Spirit of grace, and the whole work of God's love. If there are no such things, the Gospel is not true. If there are, and we are not pressing after them, we are despisers of the Gospel. Surely the person who would not have more of the Spirit — all of Him that Christ has promised — does not truly have the Spirit. These things are the hundredfold that Christ has left us in this world to balance out our sorrows, troubles, and losses. Will we be so foolish as to neglect our only lasting riches and treasures? In particular, assurance is the product of an exercised, vigorous, and active faith. That our faith should be this way — always, in every state and condition — is, I believe, our duty to pursue. Not only our comfort but our obedience depends on it. The more genuine faith — faith of the right kind — the more obedience. For all our obedience is the obedience of faith.

As for its fruit and what it produces — these are the highest activities of our souls toward God: love, delight, rejoicing in the Lord, peace, joy, and consolation within ourselves, along with readiness to act or suffer, and cheerfulness in doing so. Even when these do not grow directly from this root, their flourishing depends entirely on it. It is therefore every believer's duty to break through all difficulties in pressing toward this particular assurance. The objections people raise against themselves in this matter may be considered at another time.

Second, in God's ordinary dealings with us, it is mostly our own negligence and laziness that causes us to fall short of this assurance. It is true that it depends in a special way on the sovereignty of God — He is as absolute in giving peace to believers as in giving grace to sinners. This may be recognized and offered as a comfort in times of trial and distress. He creates light and causes darkness as He pleases. Yet considering the promises made to us, the encouragements given to us, and the love and tenderness with which God receives us, I cannot but conclude that in ordinary circumstances the cause of falling short of this assurance lies where I have placed it. This is the first thing assumed in the earlier statement.

Second, it is also assumed that there is — or may be — a saving persuasion or discovery of forgiveness in God even where there is no assurance of any personal share in it, or that one's own sins in particular are pardoned. This has a promise of gracious acceptance with God and is therefore saving (Isaiah 50:10): 'Who is among you who fears the Lord and obeys the voice of His servant, who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.' Here we see the fear of the Lord and obedience, with a blessed encouragement to rest in God and His all-sufficiency — and yet no assurance, no light, only darkness, and that darkness continuing for a long season. For a person who is convinced of God's pardoning love cannot be described as walking in darkness with no beam or ray of light. Yet the faith of such a person, and the obedience springing from it, has this gracious promise of acceptance with God. Countless testimonies and examples of this could be offered. I will offer only a little evidence through one observation about the nature of faith, and one more about the way forgiveness is proposed to be believed.

First, faith is described as — and actually is — a cleaving to the Lord (Deuteronomy 4:4): 'You who did cleave to the Lord' — that is, who did believe. Joshua 23:8: 'Cleave to the Lord your God.' The same language is used in the New Testament in Acts 11:23, where he urged them to cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart — that is, to continue steadfast in believing. Faith is also often described as trusting in the Lord, rolling our burdens on Him, casting our care on Him, and committing ourselves or our ways to Him. Now all of this amounts to the soul's surrender of itself to God, to be dealt with according to the covenant of grace ratified in the blood of Christ. A soul cannot do this without some discovery of forgiveness in God. But it can do this without any specific assurance of its own personal share in that forgiveness. This faith — that clings to God, that adheres to Him — will lead people to conclude that it is both their duty and their wisdom to entrust their souls to God and to hold fast to Him as revealed in Christ, waiting on the pleasure of His will. It enables them to make Christ their choice. And it will bring them safely to heaven, though perhaps at times not very comfortably.

Second, the way forgiveness is revealed and declared in the Gospel confirms the same truth. The first offer made is not a declaration to any individual person that his sins are forgiven. Rather, it is simply that there is redemption and forgiveness of sins in Christ. The apostle sets it out this way in Acts 13:38-39: 'Let it be known to you, therefore, brothers, that through this Man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by Him everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.' All of this may be believed without a person having assurance of his own personal share in what is declared. When these things are believed with the faith the Gospel calls for, that faith is saving and is the root of Gospel-acceptable obedience. The ransom — the atonement by Christ, the fullness of redemption in Him, and therefore forgiveness in His blood for believers, arising from the goodwill, grace, and love of the Father — this is the first Gospel discovery that a sinner in a saving manner embraces. Particular assurance arises — or may arise — afterward. This also is assumed in the statement.

What is affirmed in the statement is this: that a discovery of forgiveness in God, even without any particular assurance of personal interest in it, is a great support for a sin-entangled soul. Let no one despise the day of this small thing — small in the eyes of some, and even some good people, as if it did not deserve the name of faith. As has been shown, this discovery of forgiveness is the soul's persuasion, on Gospel grounds, that whatever its own state and condition may be or may become, God in His own nature is infinitely gracious, and that He has determined by a sovereign act of His will from eternity to be gracious to sinners. It sees that He has made a way for the administration of forgiveness through the blood of His Son, as He has abundantly declared in the promises of the Gospel. 'Whatever may be true of me, this is true of God — there is forgiveness with Him.' This is the first thing a soul in the depths rises to. And it is a support, enabling the soul to fulfill its present duties while waiting for consolation from above.

It has been this way with the saints of old. Hosea 14:3: 'Assyria will not save us; we will not ride on horses; nor will we say again to the work of our hands, "You are our gods," for in You the orphan finds mercy.' Here we have a solemn renunciation of all other helps, reliefs, and supports — whether civil or religious — that are not God. And along with it, a solemn resolve in their great distress to cling to God alone. Both of these are great and blessed fruits of faith. What is the foundation of this blessed resolve? The proposition: 'In You the orphan finds mercy' — that is, there is forgiveness with You for helpless sinners. This lifted their hearts in their depths and sustained them as they waited to receive the blessed promises of mercy, pardon, grace, and holiness that follow in the next verses. Until those promises came home to them in their power and effect, they lived on this: 'In You the orphan finds mercy.'

The condition seems even lower in the passage we have in Joel 2:13-14: 'Tear your heart and not your garments, and return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness, and relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him?' What is set before the faith of those addressed here is that the Lord is gracious and merciful — that there is forgiveness in Him. The response called forth by this is Gospel repentance. The personal application of the promise amounts to no more than this: 'Who knows — perhaps the Lord may return and leave a blessing, and deal with us according to the revelation He has given of Himself as merciful and gracious.' This is far from any comfortable assurance of a personal share in that grace, mercy, or pardon. But the prophet says: come this far at least, and here is a solid foundation for seeking God further for a fuller revelation of Himself in grace and mercy. When a soul sees enough in God to conclude, 'Well — who knows but that He may yet return and have mercy on me also,' that is enough to sustain it and bring it into greater light.

The church in Lamentations gives a sad account of her condition in this regard. She makes that bitter conclusion against herself in chapter 3, verse 18: 'My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.' And in verse 8: 'When I cry out and call for help, He shuts out my prayer.' So far is she from a comfortable assurance of any personal share in mercy and acceptance that, under her pressures and temptations, she is ready to positively conclude the opposite — that she is rejected and cast off forever. What course then should she take? Should she give up waiting on God and say there is no hope? No, she will not go that way. Verse 26: 'It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.' Yet there seems little encouragement for her to do so, given the state she described. Things are indeed very sad, she says — 'My soul still remembers them and is bowed down within me' (verse 20). But then: 'This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope' (verse 21). 'It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions do not fail.' There is mercy and unfailing compassion in God. So though my present condition is full of darkness and I see no deliverance, I will still choose to wait on Him. Who knows what those infinite stores and treasures of mercy that are with Him may at length provide for me? Many similar examples could be added.

We may observe in passing how far this support extends and what it enables the soul to do.

First, the soul is enabled by it to surrender itself to the disposal of sovereign grace, in self-loathing and a renunciation of all other means of relief. Lamentations 3:29: 'He puts his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope.' His language is: whatever God wills. He lies at God's disposal — humbled, broken, but waiting on His pleasure. 'Though He slay me,' says Job, 'yet I will trust in Him' (Job 13:15). Whatever He does to me — whatever the outcome — I will remain clinging to Him. I will not think of any other way to free myself from my distress. I will not flee like Jonah, nor hide like Adam, nor take any other path of escape. The soul says: God is a God who hides Himself from me (Isaiah 45:15). I walk in darkness and have no light (Isaiah 50:10). My flesh fails and my heart fails (Psalm 73:26). I am overwhelmed with trouble. My iniquities have taken hold of me so that I cannot look up (Psalm 40:12). The Lord has forsaken me and my God has forgotten me. Every day I am filled with dread and terror, on the verge of fainting, with no relief in sight. What shall I do? Shall I curse God and die, or say this evil is from the Lord — why should I wait for Him any longer? Shall I take the way of the world and, since things will not improve, become entirely careless about my eternal end? No. Whatever my lot and portion may be, I know there is forgiveness with God. This and that poor man trusted in Him, cried to Him, and were delivered. So David in his greatest distress encouraged himself in the Lord his God (2 Samuel 15:25-26). It is good for me to cast myself into His arms. He may frown; He may still be angry. But no matter — this is the way I will go. As it pleases Him to deal with me, so let it be. And the advantages a soul gains through this self-surrender — which this faith will surely produce — are beyond description.

Second, the support extends to a resolution to keep waiting in whatever condition the soul is in. The church arrives at this in Lamentations 3:26: 'It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.' I will not give up my expectation. I will not rush ahead or place limits on God. I will lie at His feet until His own appointed time of mercy comes. Expectation and quietness together make up waiting. These the soul attains by means of this support. It looks upward like a servant watching the hands of his master, eyes fixed on God — watching to see what He will do, listening to hear what He will say concerning him. It misses no season or opportunity in which God might reveal His will. And it does this quietly, without resentment or complaint, turning all its grievances against itself and its own unworthiness, which has kept it from a fuller experience of the love and grace that is with God. That this effect also accompanies this faith will be seen clearly in the close of the Psalm.

Third, the support extends to waiting on God through all the means of grace, looking for a sense of forgiveness — and so it shapes the whole course of obedience. 'There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.' To fear the Lord is an expression encompassing all of His worship and all our duty. 'This is what encourages me,' says the Psalmist in his depths, 'because there is forgiveness with You, I will continue in all duties and all the ways of Your worship where You may be found.' And however difficult things may be for a time, the end of the soul who abides with God in this way will be peace. Let us now look at how this support actually works.

First, it produces a genuine liking of God in the soul, and with it some love for Him. The soul perceives God as someone infinitely to be desired and delighted in by those who have any share in forgiveness. It cannot help but consider Him as good and gracious, however uncertain its own estate may be. Psalm 73:1-2: 'Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart; but as for me, my feet had almost slipped.' 'Whatever my own condition may be, I know that God is good — good to Israel — and with that I will support myself.' Once the soul has gained this ground — seeing God in Christ as One to be delighted in and loved — great and blessed effects follow. First, self-loathing and surrender to God, with steadfastness in that surrender, will surely accompany it. Second, something new in God will keep coming to mind to relieve the soul in its fainting — new springs of hope will open every day. Third, the soul will be gradually drawn, almost without noticing, to delight in its dealings with God. Though in its own particular case it meets with frowns, corrections, and apparent refusals, this still gives it relief: God is who He has been declared to be. So the soul says: 'Whatever else may be, yet God is good, and it is good for me to wait on Him.' Without this discovery, the soul takes no pleasure in God. Whatever it does in relation to Him, it does only because it dare not do otherwise — constrained by awe of His greatness and terror. And that kind of obedience God could have from demons.

Second, this support removes several overwhelming obstacles that stood in the soul's way before it embraced this discovery of forgiveness.

First, it removes all the hindrances mentioned earlier — the objections arising from God's greatness, holiness, and severity; the unbending strictness of the law; and the natural workings of conscience that rise up against all hope of forgiveness. All these are removed and set aside by this faith. Where this faith is present, it reveals not only forgiveness, as has been shown, but also the true nature of Gospel forgiveness. It reveals it as flowing from the gracious heart of the Father through the blood of the Son. Now this propitiation in the blood of the Son removes all those obstacles — even before the soul has any specific assurance of its own share in it. It shows how all the attributes of God can be exalted, the law fulfilled, and forgiveness still given to sinners. In this lies no small advantage to a soul in its approach to God. All those dreadful impressions of God that used to beset the soul at the first thought of coming to Him are now cleared away, so that the soul can quietly address its own particular concerns before Him.

Second, in particular it removes the crushing sense of the unspeakable greatness of sin. When the heart is seized with it, this can press the soul to death. Distressed sinners say: if their sins were not so great — greater than any heart can imagine or tongue describe — perhaps things might go well for them. They are not so much troubled that they are sinners as that they are great sinners. Not simply that these and those sins are on their record, but that they are great sins, heavy with terrible aggravations. If sin were otherwise, they feel they could manage it. Now though this discovery does not free them from the entanglement of sin as their own; yet it does free them from the weight of sin as great and many. This distinction can be separated out. The soul sees enough in God to forgive great sins — even if it cannot yet see enough to assure it that its own sins in particular will be forgiven. That great sins will be pardoned, this discovery puts beyond doubt. Whether his own sins will be pardoned — that is now the only remaining question. Everything that faith can do in general, this faith does — except make a personal application of what is believed to the soul's own case. The soul can therefore no longer be justly crushed by the greatness of its sin, since the infinite scope of the forgiveness it now sees in God relieves it of that. What remains is only the question of its own sin — about which more will be said later. These and similar obstacles are removed by this faith.

Third, this support gives some life and encouragement to duty. First, to duty as duty — seeing God by faith in such a fullness of grace, the soul cannot help but be encouraged to meet Him in every act of duty and to lay hold of Him through it. Every way that leads to Him, simply because it leads to Him, must be valued and embraced. Second, to all duties — and in this lies no small advantage. God is often found in the practices of duty, but in which particular one He will be found by any given person at any given time is uncertain. This faith therefore presses the soul into all of them. So it drove the Bride in the passage that parallels our text in Song of Solomon 3:2-4. The support this provides is easy to understand — not support from the duties themselves, or by them, but in them, as the means of exchange between God and the soul.

From these effects of the discovery of forgiveness in God, certain things follow that are sufficient to maintain the spiritual life of the soul.

First, a resolution to abide with God and commit everything to Him. As the text we noted teaches: 'There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.' Because I have found this, because I am persuaded of it, I will abide with Him in the way of His fear and worship. This is what our Savior calls for in John 15:4: 'Abide in Me; apart from Me you can bear no fruit.' And the Lord, representing His claiming of the church as His — illustrated through the prophet's taking of an adulteress in vision — does so on these terms in Hosea 3:3: 'You shall stay with me for many days; you shall not play the harlot, and you shall not be with another man; so also I will be for you.' Now this abiding with God implies two things: first, that there are oppositions, pressures, and temptations pulling in the opposite direction; and second, that the soul refuses to make any other choice in place of God.

First, abiding with God implies opposition. To abide — to be stable and steadfast — is to be so in the face of opposition. Many discouragements are ready to rise up in the soul against it. Especially fears: that it will not hold on, that it will be rejected in the end, that everything in it is worthless and hypocritical; that it will not be forgiven, that God takes no real notice of it. Therefore, the soul thinks, it may as well give up its hope — a thought that can feel like the giving up of the ghost. These thoughts assault the soul continually. Additionally, opposition arises from inward corruption and temptations to sin, which work against the life of faith. These can rise to a high degree of power, so that the guilt incurred by giving in threatens to throw the soul out of all expectation of mercy. 'I will perish by these means one day,' says the soul, 'if I am not already lost.'

But where faith has made this discovery of forgiveness, the soul will abide with God against all these discouragements and oppositions. It will not leave Him, it will not stop waiting for Him. David expresses this in his own experience in Psalm 73:2: 'My feet had almost slipped, my steps had nearly gone.' And verse 13: 'Surely I have kept my heart pure in vain.' Yet after all his struggles, he comes to this in verse 26 and 28: 'Though my flesh and heart fail, it is good for me to draw near to God.' 'I will still abide with God; I will not let go of the fear of Him or my profession of faith.' 'Though I walk weakly, lamely, and unevenly, yet I will still follow after Him.' It was the same with the disciples when many fell away from Christ at the time of a strong temptation and walked with Him no more. Jesus said to the twelve, 'Do you want to go away also?' Peter replied on behalf of the rest: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life' (John 6:66-68). The soul says: 'Such and such is my condition — I am tossed and afflicted, without comfort, with little life, little strength, real guilt, many sins, and much disconsolation.' 'What then?' says God by His word. 'Do you want to go away also?' 'No,' says the soul. 'There is forgiveness with You. You have the words of eternal life, and therefore I will abide with You.'

Second, abiding with God implies refusing to make any other choice. While the soul is in this condition — without any evidence of its own personal share in forgiveness — many suitors press themselves on it, soliciting it to be unfaithful by embracing them instead. Both self-righteousness and sin will be very persistent in this. Self-righteousness presents itself as extremely useful, offering the soul some help, assistance, and support for its condition. Saul said: 'Samuel has not come, and the Philistines are closing in — I will venture and offer the sacrifice myself, even though the law forbids it.' The particular promise has not yet come to the soul's personal relief; it has no evidence of a special interest in forgiveness. Then temptation moves in and says: try finding relief in something of your own making. This is to be unfaithful to God. Self-righteousness disguises itself for this purpose in many ways — like the wife of Jeroboam when she went to the prophet. Sometimes it appears as duty, sometimes as signs and tokens. But its aim is always to get some portion of the soul's faith and trust fixed on itself instead of God. But when the soul has truly seen forgiveness, it will not listen to these solicitations. 'No,' it says. 'I see such beauty, such excellence, such desirability and fitness to my need and condition in the forgiveness that is with God, that I am resolved to abide in Gospel longing and expectation of it all the days of my life. Here my choice is fixed, and I will not change it.' This resolution gives glory to God's grace. When the soul — without any evidence of its own personal interest in forgiveness — nevertheless prefers it above what presents itself with many arguments as an immediate relief, God is glorified, Christ is exalted, and the spiritual life of the soul is secured.

Second, this discovery of forgiveness in God — with all the effects mentioned — will produce a resolution to wait on God for peace and consolation in His own time and way. Isaiah 28:16 says that one who believes will not rush. Rushing implies impatience and precipitation. The soul that has made this discovery is freed from that — it resolves to wait for God's appointed time for peace and consolation. God, speaking of His fulfillment of His promises, says in Isaiah 60:22: 'I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.' May we not therefore hasten toward it ourselves? No — He says He will hasten it, but in its time, its due and appointed time. Considering all the obstacles and hindrances, He will bring it quickly — but at the right time. And this the soul is to wait for, and so it will.

When Jacob saw the beauty of Rachel and loved her, he was content to wait seven years for her; no time seemed too long, no labor too hard to win her. So the soul, having discovered the beauty and excellence of forgiveness as it rests with God — in His gracious heart, His eternal purpose, the blood of Christ, and the promise of the Gospel — resolves to wait quietly and patiently for the time when God will make clear to it its own personal share in that forgiveness. Even one experience of embracing it personally — even at the hour of death — is more than worth the waiting and obedience of a whole lifetime.

And the Psalmist shows this to have been the effect produced in his own heart and spirit, for upon this discovery of forgiveness in God he resolves both to wait on God himself and to encourage others to do the same.

Third, this discovery also prepares the soul to receive the consolation and deliverance from its distress that it waits for — the evidence of a personal share in forgiveness.

First, it does so by making the soul attentive and watchful for it. It makes the soul like a merchant who has all his wealth in a distant country and is working to bring it safely home. If his goods arrive, he is well provided for; if they are lost, he is ruined. This makes him eager for news that they are safe — and as Solomon says, good news from a far country to such a man is like cold water to a thirsty soul (Proverbs 25:25), full of refreshment. He cannot claim those goods as yet in his possession, yet he is glad simply to know they are safe there. So it is with the soul. The riches it values so highly seem in a far country — so is the promise, that it shall behold the land that is very far off (Isaiah 33:17). It is glad to hear news that they are safe — glad to hear forgiveness preached and the promises declared — even though it cannot yet claim them as its own.

But the merchant does not stop there. He listens eagerly for news of everything that might bring his wealth safely home — especially when everything he has is at stake. Such ships are called ships of desire in Job 9:26, because the man longs so greatly for their safe arrival. He watches the winds and the weather, and considers every danger and obstacle along the way. And no one can blame him, for everything he has is riding on it. The soul acts similarly — watching and listening for every means by which this forgiveness might be personally brought home to it. It fears sin and temptation. It rejoices to feel a fresh breeze of the Spirit of grace, hoping that it may bring in its return from the land of promise. All of this prepares the heart to receive a spiritual sense of forgiveness when it is revealed.

Second, it also prepares the soul by giving it a right sense of the value of the grace and mercy it desires. The merchant in the parable was not prepared to possess the pearl for himself until he discovered it was of great price — then he knew how to pursue it, obtain it, and keep it. The soul, through this act of faith upon the discovery of forgiveness, comes to see that the pearl hidden in the field is truly precious. This stirs it up both to seek possession of it and to give it its proper worth. Such a soul says: 'How excellent, how precious is this forgiveness that is with God! Blessed — truly blessed — are those who are made partakers of it! What a life of joy, rest, peace, and consolation they must live! If only I had their assurance of a personal share in it, and the spiritual consolation that flows from it — how I would despise the world and all Satan's temptations, and rejoice in the Lord in every condition!' This sense of the greatness of grace also powerfully prepares and fits the soul to receive a blessed taste of it in a way that gives God glory.

Third, it prepares the soul by giving it a proper understanding of forgiveness — its nature, causes, and effects. At first, the soul looks for nothing more than escape — freedom from punishment by whatever means. 'What must I do to be saved?' is the height of its concern. 'Who will deliver me? How can I escape?' It would be satisfied to escape any way — by the law or the Gospel, it does not matter, as long as it escapes. But through this discovery of forgiveness made by adhering faith, the soul comes to plainly see the nature of forgiveness and to recognize that it is so excellent that it is to be desired for its own sake. When a soul is first brought under distress over sin, it often does not know exactly what it wants. It has a discomfort and restlessness it wants to be free of, a dread of some evil condition it wants to avoid. But now the soul can say not only what it wants to be free from but also what it desires and is aiming for. It wants a share in eternal love. It wants the gracious kindness of the heart of God turned toward it personally. It wants the everlasting purpose of His will poured out in its heart. It wants a particular share in the precious blood of the Son of God, through which atonement has been made for it. And it wants all of these things testified to its conscience through a promise received with faith. These are what it comes for — this is the only way it desires to be saved, and no other. It sees such glory of wisdom, love, and grace in forgiveness, and such an exalting of the love of Christ in all His offices and undertakings — especially in His death, sacrifice, and bloodshedding by which He procured reconciliation — that it longs intensely to participate in them.

All these things, to varying degrees, will be produced by this discovery of forgiveness in God — even without any evidence of a personal share in it. And these will surely maintain the spiritual life of the soul and sustain it in such obedience as God accepts in Christ. Darkness, sorrow, and storms may come to those who have this discovery, but their eternal condition is secured in the covenant of God, and their souls are bound up in the bundle of life.

From what has been said, we may draw some conclusions along the way regarding the true nature of believing.

First, the effects attributed to this faith in God's forgiveness — effects that always accompany it — make it clear that most of those who claim it, who claim to believe that there is forgiveness with God, in fact believe no such thing. I will argue this more fully at another point, but I cannot pass it by entirely here. I will simply ask those who are so quick to profess this faith — who find it nearly impossible to imagine that anyone could fail to believe it — what effects it has produced in them, and whether it has enabled them to perform the duties mentioned above. I fear that for many, the reality stands in sharp contrast to their professed faith. They love sin all the more for it, and love God none the better. Assuming that a few hollow words will settle the matter of their sins, they gradually come to have shallow thoughts about sin and about God as well. This persuasion is not from the One who calls us. Poor souls — your faith is the devil's greatest tool for your destruction. It is the highest contempt of God, Christ, and forgiveness that you can be guilty of. It is a means to let you quietly down into hell. The Moses that the Pharisees trusted in will condemn them — and so it will be with you. As no one is saved except by faith, so you — were it not for your faith, so called — might possibly have been saved. If a man's gold turns out to be counterfeit, his jewels painted glass, and his silver lead or dross, he will not only be found poor when put to the test, but the shock of his disappointment will make his poverty all the more terrible. If the faith that should be more precious than gold is found rotten and corrupt, if the light within a man is darkness — how vile is that faith, how great is that darkness? This is clearly what the faith of far too many will prove to be in this matter.

Second, the work we are engaged in is the rising of a sin-entangled soul out of its depths, and what we have discussed is what must give it its first relief. When souls are in distress, what they typically look for is consolation. What do they mean by that? They want assurance that their sins are forgiven, and through that assurance to be freed from their present perplexity. What is the result? Some of them continue complaining all their days and never arrive at rest or peace — falling far short of consolation and joy. And some are so thoroughly discouraged that they abandon all progress in the ways of God. Why? Is it not because they are trying to finish the building before they have laid the foundation? They have not yet done the full work of believing in God's forgiveness, and yet they want to leap immediately to assurance. God does not delight in such a frame of spirit, for two reasons.

First, it is self-centered. The great design of faith is to give glory to God (Romans 4:20). The end for which God gives out forgiveness is the praise of His glorious grace (Ephesians 1:6). But if a soul in this frame simply wants peace for itself, it has very little concern for giving glory to God. It cries like Rachel: 'Give me children or I die' — give me peace or I perish. That God might be honored, and that the forgiveness it seeks might be rendered glorious, is at best a second thought, if it is a thought at all. This selfish eagerness to thrust one's hand into the side of Christ from the start is something He will pardon in many, but accepts in none.

Second, it is impatient. People behave this way because they will not wait. They have no desire to stand at a distance for any season, as the tax collector did. They do not want to submit their souls to lie at the feet of God, to give Him the glory of His goodness, mercy, wisdom, and love in the ordering of them and all their concerns. This waiting involves the full and universal submission of the soul to God — a settled conviction that we, and everything we desire and aim at, should properly be at His sovereign disposal. This gives glory to God. But the impatience of these poor souls keeps them from performing this duty. And both of these failures arise from the same root.

Third, these failures arise from weakness. It is weakness in any condition that makes people restless and worn out. The state of clinging to God in faith is as safe a condition as the state of full assurance — it simply involves more struggle and wrestling. It is not fear of the final outcome, then, but weakness and weariness of the struggle that makes people anxiously press for a deliverance from that state before they are well established in it.

Let the sin-entangled soul therefore always keep in mind the order and method of the Gospel that we have been considering. First, exercise faith in God's forgiveness, and when the soul is established in that, it will have a foundation on which it can stand securely when it comes to apply forgiveness personally. Get this foundational principle settled on Gospel grounds before moving on. Answer the objections that stand against it, and then you may proceed. In believing, the soul makes a conquest into enemy territory. Do what those do who are entering an enemy's country — secure the passages, fortify the positions as you advance, so that you are not cut off in your progress. Do not be like a ship at sea that passes through the water it has sailed but holds no claim to it — neither to what lies behind nor to what lies ahead. This is the condition of a soul that does not settle these foundational principles. It presses forward, and the ground crumbles beneath its feet, so that it wanders in uncertainty all its days. If people would only lay this principle firmly in their souls and secure it against attack, they might move more slowly than some — but with far more safety. Some claim to leap at once into full assurance. I can only hope that for most this does not prove to be nothing more than brazen presumption. It is pointless for a person to try to run who cannot yet walk — to labor toward assurance in himself when he has never truly believed in God's forgiveness. So that we may be able to fix this persuasion firmly against all opposition, what I will do next is set out unquestionable evidences of this Gospel truth — evidences the soul can safely build and rest on. These constitute the confirmation of the main proposition laid down earlier.

Evidences of forgiveness in God. There are no inborn notions of any free act of God's will. Forgiveness is not revealed by the works of nature or the law.

First, the things that are spoken of or known about God are of two kinds. The first kind is natural and necessary — these are His essential properties, the attributes of His nature: His goodness, holiness, righteousness, omnipotence, eternity, and the like. These are what the apostle refers to in Romans 1:19 as 'that which is known about God.' He goes on to say they may be known in two ways. The first is by the inborn light of nature — it is, he says, 'evident within them' (verse 19), taught by the common conceptions and instinctive knowledge of God that all people carry by nature. From this, all people know that God exists, that He is eternal, infinitely powerful, good, righteous, holy, and almighty. No special revelation is needed for people to know these things. That said, to know them in a saving way does require revelation — and therefore those who know these things by nature also receive them by faith on the basis of revelation. Hebrews 11:6: 'Whoever would come to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him.' Though people may know God by the light of nature, they cannot come to God by that knowledge alone.

Second, these essential properties of God's nature are also revealed through His works. As the apostle says in Romans 1:20: 'The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood through what has been made — even His eternal power and Godhead.' See also Psalm 19:1-3. This is the first category of things that may be known about God.

Second, there are the free acts of His will and power — His eternal purposes, along with the earthly workings that flow from them. Forgiveness is of this kind. It is not a property of God's nature but an act of His will and a work of His grace. Though it has its source and spring in the infinite goodness of His nature, it proceeds from Him and is exercised only by an absolutely free and sovereign act of His will. Now nothing of this kind — nothing of God's free acts and purposes — can be known in any way except through special revelation.

First, there is no inborn knowledge of any act of God's will in the human heart — which is the first way we come to know anything about God. Forgiveness is not revealed by the light of nature. Human nature, as such, does not declare it. By that means, 'No one has seen God at any time' (John 1:18) — that is, no one has seen Him as a God of mercy and pardon, as the Son reveals Him. Adam had an intimate acquaintance, within the limited capacity of a creature, with the properties and excellencies of God's nature. This was implanted in his heart as indispensable to the natural worship he was to render by the law of his creation. But when he had sinned, it is clear that he had not the least thought that there was forgiveness with God. Such a thought would have laid a foundation for further dealings with God about his condition. But he had no design other than to flee and hide himself (Genesis 3:10) — showing plainly that he was utterly ignorant of any such thing as pardoning mercy. Such — and no different — are the first and purely natural conceptions of all sinners: that the judgment of God (Romans 1:32) is that sin is punished with death. It is true that in many people these conceptions are suppressed by rumors, reports, and traditions suggesting things might be otherwise. But all of these are far removed from the revelation of forgiveness we are speaking of.

Second, the study of God's creation does not lead anyone to the knowledge that there is forgiveness with God. The apostle tells us in Romans 1:20 what God's works reveal — His eternal power and Godhead, that is, the essential properties of His nature — but nothing more. They do not reveal any of the purposes of His grace, any of the free acts of His will, or pardon and forgiveness. Beyond this, God made all things in a state of uprightness and integrity (Ecclesiastes 7:29), making it impossible for creation to have any reference to sin — which is the corruption of all things — or to the pardon of it, which is their restoration. Since sin did not yet exist in the world and was not imagined to exist when everything was made from nothing, how could anything in creation declare or reveal its forgiveness?

Third, no works of God's providence can make this discovery either. God has indeed borne witness to Himself and to His goodness in every age since the creation, through the works of His providence. So Acts 14:15-17: 'We preach to you that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations He permitted all the nations to walk in their own ways, yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.' He left Himself without witness in this sense: through the works of His providence listed there, He testified to Himself to this extent — that He exists, is good, does good, and rules the world. Those who took no notice of these works or of the fruits of His goodness they lived on, and instead turned to idols, were utterly without excuse. But those works of providence did not reveal pardon and forgiveness. For God still permitted the nations to go on in their own ways and overlooked their ignorance. So again in Acts 17:23-30: Paul declares to those at Athens the God who made the world and everything in it, who gives to all people life and breath and everything else, who made from one man every nation on the face of the earth, and who determined their appointed times and boundaries — doing this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him. Using arguments from creation and providence, the apostle proves God's existence and attributes. He shows that God designed His works to reveal Himself as the true and living God, the Maker and Governor of all things — sufficiently that they should have inquired after Him rather than treating Him as an unknown God. But of the discovery of pardon and forgiveness by these means, he says nothing. Indeed he plainly shows it was not accomplished this way. For the great call to saving repentance comes through the revelation of forgiveness. But God did not call the Gentiles to saving repentance through these works of providence. He permitted them to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:16) and overlooked the times of their ignorance. But now — that is, through the word of the Gospel — He commands all people to repent (Acts 17:30).

There was one significant act of God's providence concerning sin, which occurred when man first fell into it. Far from revealing forgiveness in God, it rather strongly suggested the opposite. This was God's dealing with the sinning angels. The angels were the first sinners, and God dealt with them first about sin. What His dealing with them was, the Holy Spirit tells us in 2 Peter 2:4 — He did not spare the sinning angels. This is the same word used where the apostle speaks of God laying all our iniquities on Christ — of Christ undergoing the punishment due to them. Romans 8:32: 'He did not spare Him' — meaning He laid on Him the full punishment that the law's curse and sanctions required for sin. So He dealt with the angels that sinned — He did not spare them, but inflicted on them the punishment due to sin, casting them into chains of darkness to be held for the judgment of the great day. Up to this point, God kept all thought of forgiveness within His own eternal heart. Not the faintest dawning of it appeared in the world. This was from the beginning no small obstacle to any thought of forgiveness. The world was made; sin entered through the most glorious part of creation, whose recovery by pardon might seem most desirable — yet not the slightest appearance of forgiveness was revealed. So it remained hidden in God from the foundation of the world (Ephesians 3:9).

Third, God gave man a law of obedience immediately upon his creation — indeed, the substance of it was implanted in him at creation itself. This law presupposed the possibility that man might transgress it. The very nature of a law given to free agents, with threatened penalties and promised rewards, requires that presupposition. Now attached to this law, or revealed alongside it, there was not the slightest hint that pardon might be obtained if transgression followed. Genesis 2:17 states the law: 'In the day that you eat from it you will surely die.' There God leaves the sinner under the power of that threat. Of forgiveness or pardoning mercy there is not the least suggestion. To this very day, that law — which was then the whole rule of life and acceptance with God — knows nothing of forgiveness. 'You shall surely die, O sinner' is its precise and final verdict. From these preliminary considerations, added to what was said before, some things preparatory to the discussion that follows may be drawn out.

First, it is a great and rare thing to have forgiveness in God revealed to a sinful soul. As has been shown, this is something that conscience and the law, together with the inborn notions in the human heart about God's holiness and retributive justice, actively resist. There is no natural presumption of it — no common notion of it in the human mind. No contemplation of God's works, whether of creation or providence, will reveal it. And God's dealing with the sinning angels makes it appear deep, astonishing, and mysterious. People who have shallow and careless thoughts about God, themselves, sin, obedience, the coming judgment, and eternity — people who feed on the ashes of rumors, reports, hearsay, and tradition without looking into the reality of things — may take forgiveness to be an ordinary and commonly accepted truth, easy to embrace, which virtually no one disbelieves. But convicted sinners who put these things to the test as people running toward eternity have very different thoughts about them. As for what it is claimed everyone believes, we have great cause to cry out: 'Lord, who has believed our report? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'

Second, since the discovery of forgiveness in God is so difficult a matter, it is therefore precious and excellent — being the foundation of all our communion with God in this life, and of all genuine hope of enjoying Him in the life to come. It is a pure Gospel truth that has no shadow, footprint, or hint anywhere else. The entire creation has not the faintest impression of it left on it.

Third, it is therefore without question our duty to inquire diligently into this salvation — as the prophets of old did — and to consider what sure evidences faith has of it; evidences that will not and cannot fail us. To be casual and hasty about this matter, to take it up at random, is evidence of an unsound and rotten heart. The person who is not serious in inquiring into the revelation of this matter is serious about nothing in which God or his soul is concerned. The Holy Spirit knows what our hearts are like and how slow we are to receive this blessed truth in a truly saving way. Therefore He confirms it to us with weighty assurances, as in Hebrews 6:17-18: 'God, wishing to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the unchangeable nature of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things — in which it is impossible for God to lie — we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement.' It is forgiveness of sin that the apostle is treating there. To give evidence of it and produce belief in us, he first engages a property of God's nature in the matter — God is, as Titus 1:2 says, the God who cannot lie, who cannot deceive or be deceived. It is impossible for Him to do otherwise. This extends in general to all of God's words and works. But in this matter there is a particular unchangeableness of His purpose. People might think that even if something has been spoken about forgiveness, it could perhaps be otherwise. No, says the apostle — it was spoken by God, and it is impossible that He should lie. But could not God, given the countless provocations of sinners, change His mind about it? No — there is a particular unchangeableness in His purpose to carry this through; it cannot change. But how do we know this is truly the purpose of His will? He has declared it through His word, given in the form of a promise. A promise by its nature raises expectation in those to whom it is made, and requires exact faithfulness in its fulfillment — which God on His part will certainly provide. But that is not all. So that no room might be left for any quibbling objection, He interposed with an oath. So we have this truth grounded in the truthfulness of God's nature — one of His essential excellencies — established in the immutable purpose of His will, brought forth in a word of promise, and confirmed by God's pledging Himself against all grounds of exception — swearing by Himself that so it shall be. I have mentioned this only to show what weight the Holy Spirit places on the delivery of this great truth, and how deeply it concerns us to inquire diligently into it and into the grounds and evidences that may be offered for it — among which are the following.

The discovery of forgiveness in the first promise. The evidence of the truth contained in it. The institution of sacrifices, their use and purpose. Also the prescription of repentance to sinners.

The first discovery of forgiveness in God — which I place as the first evidence of it — was made in God's initial dealings with our first parents after their shameful sin and fall. To show that this is an evidence carrying great conviction with it, and one on which faith may securely rest and embrace, the following observations must be considered.

The first sin in the world was, in many respects, the greatest sin that ever occurred. It was the sin of human nature as a whole — a conspiracy in which all individuals were involved. As the saying goes, 'We were all that one man' — in that one man, and in that one sin, we all sinned (Romans 5:12). It left God not a single subject in moral obedience on the earth, nor any ground for there ever to be one. When the angels sinned, the entire race did not fall. Thousands of thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand of them, continued in their obedience (Daniel 7:10). But here, every individual human being — with the sole exception of the One who was not yet represented in Adam — was caught up in the same crime and guilt. Beyond this, the sin disrupted God's government over the entire creation. God had made all things in number, weight, and measure, in order and beauty, pronouncing His own work very good (Genesis 1:31). Much of that beauty lay in the subordination of everything to everything else, and of all things to God Himself, through the praise and obedience of man. The rest of creation, being made subject to man, was to return its tribute of honor and glory to God through him. But all this order was destroyed by this sin, and the very creation was made subject to futility (Romans 8:20). On these and similar grounds, it could easily be shown that this was the greatest sin ever committed in the world.

Second, the man who had sinned agreed in his heart and conscience with the righteous sentence of the law. He knew what he deserved and expected nothing less than the immediate execution of the sentence of death. He therefore did not attempt a defense, had no expectation of pardon, waited for no trial, but fled and hid himself and sought to escape. Genesis 3:10: 'I was afraid,' he said, 'and I hid myself.' Never were words of greater horror spoken in the world, nor will there be until the day of judgment. Poor creature — he was filled with the expectation of the vengeance due for a broken covenant.

Third, God had just demonstrated in the sinning angels what His justice required and how He could deal with sinning man without the least compromise of His government, holiness, or goodness. See 2 Peter 2:4.

Fourth, there was nothing outside of God Himself that should have moved Him in the slightest to so much as delay the execution of His wrath for one moment — He had not done so with the angels. Everything now lay under wrath, curse, confusion, and disorder. Nothing remained that was good, lovely, or desirable in His sight. As in the first creation, what was first brought forth from nothing was formless and empty — nothing in it moving God to bring forth all things in the glory that followed, the whole design proceeding from His own infinite goodness and wisdom — so it was now again. Sin had brought emptiness and futility upon the whole creation. Nothing remained that could serve as a motive for merciful restoration. Everything devolved once more on His sovereignty. With all things in this condition — every door standing open to the glory of God's justice in punishing sin, nothing outside of Him restraining His hand, the whole creation and especially the sinner himself lying trembling in expectation of a dreadful doom — what now came forth from Him? The blessed word of Genesis 3:15: 'The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head.' It is well known that the entire mystery of forgiveness is wrapped up in this one word of promise. The great way of its coming forth from God — through the blood of the Messiah, whose heel was to be bruised — is also there indicated. And this was the first discovery ever made of forgiveness in God. It was made by a word of pure revelation, and so faith must receive it. This revelation of forgiveness in God — contained in this one promise — was the foundation of all worship offered to Him by sinners for many ages. For we have shown before that without it no sinner can have the least encouragement to approach God. And it will remain to the end of the world as a clear evidence of the truth in hand — a firm foundation for faith to rest and build upon. Let a sinner seriously consider the state of things as they were in the world at that moment, as described above, and then see God coming forth with a word of pardon and forgiveness — flowing purely from His own love and from those counsels of peace between the Father and the Son — and he cannot but conclude, even in his greatest difficulties, that there is forgiveness with God, that He may be feared. Let the law and conscience, let sin and Satan come forward and object to this evidence. Enough may be spoken from it — whatever the particular case in which the soul is contending with them — to put them all to silence.

Second, God revealed this sacred truth through His institution of sacrifices. Blood sacrifices all relate to atonement, expiation, and consequently to forgiveness. It is true they could not in themselves take away sin or make perfect those who came to God through them (Hebrews 10:1). Yet they undeniably pointed to the taking away of sin — the forgiveness of it — by what they signified and foreshadowed. Let me then look back briefly into their origin and purpose.

First, the origin and first institution of sacrifices is not explicitly stated in Scripture — only the practice of the saints is recorded. But it is certain from clear scriptural evidence that they were of God's immediate institution and appointment. God never allowed human will or wisdom to be the source and rule of His worship. The command that heads the rule of His worship — 'You shall not make for yourself' — which is the heart of the command (what follows being an explanation and confirmation of the law itself by examples), cuts off all such claims. It stands like a flaming sword turning every way to prevent people's arbitrary additions to God's institutions. God will not surrender the glory of being the sole lawgiver regarding all matters of His worship — or any part of it — to any son of man.

Second, the time of their institution is also not mentioned. Some among the Roman Catholics argue — through the philosophical disputation by which their unstable position is propped up — that sacrifices would have existed in Paradise even if man had not sinned. As with all their opinions, we ought first to ask what they gain by it, since their entire religion is bent toward their own material interest. In this particular case that interest is obvious, since the assertion flatly contradicts the very nature and purpose of most sacrifices — namely, that they should be offered where there is no sin. Their goal is to establish a general rule: that there can be no true worship of God in any state without a sacrifice. From this they conclude that the continual sacrifice of the Mass is necessary in the church, and that without it there is no true worship of God. In this way they arrive quickly at their advantage — the Mass being that inexhaustible source of revenue that feeds their pride and greed throughout the world. But there is in the church of Christ an altar still and a sacrifice still — the very one they have rejected in favor of the abominable fiction of their Mass — namely, Christ Himself, as the apostle tells us in Hebrews 13:10. As for the animal sacrifices, since they could not have existed before the entrance of sin, it may be demonstrated that they were instituted from the foundation of the world — that is, immediately after sin entered. Christ is called the Lamb of God (John 1:29), with reference to the sacrifices of old, as 1 Peter 1:18-19 shows. From this He is represented in the church as a Lamb slain (Revelation 5:6), pouring out the efficacy of all sacrifices upon His church. He is said to be a Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8) — which could not be the case unless some sacrifice foreshadowing His death had been offered from the beginning. For this speaks not only of the efficacy of His mediation but of the manner of it. Beyond this, the apostle tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22) — meaning God, to demonstrate that all pardon and forgiveness from the foundation of the world was bound to the blood of Christ, gave no word of pardon except with blood. Now I have shown that He revealed pardon in the first promise, and therefore the shedding of blood and sacrifices followed immediately. The covenant itself was also dedicated with blood (Hebrews 9:18). Some believe that the animals from whose skins God made garments for Adam were offered as sacrifices. Nor is this conjecture without merit. Indeed it seems to carry a shadow of Gospel mystery — that the nakedness which became their shame through their sin should be covered by the skins of their sacrifices. For in the true sacrifice there is something corresponding to this. The righteousness of the One whose sacrifice removes the guilt of our sin is called our clothing, which covers our pollution and shame.

Third, after the giving of the law, the greatest, most noble, and most solemn part of the worship of God consisted in sacrifices. This form of worship continued with God's approval in the world for about four thousand years — from the entrance of sin until the death of the Messiah, the true sacrifice, which put an end to all that was merely symbolic.

Having established these points, we may consider what God's mind and aim were in instituting this worship. One instance — the most solemn of its kind — will resolve this inquiry. Leviticus 16:5: two male goats were taken as an offering for sin. Consider only (without going into all the details) how one of them was treated in verses 20-22: 'He shall bring the live goat, and Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, all their transgressions and all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and he shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote land.'

What is the purpose of all this solemnity, and what is being declared by it? Why should God appoint poor sinful people to come together, take a goat or lamb, confess over its head all their sins and transgressions, and devote it to destruction under that confession? Had men invented this themselves, it would have meant nothing. But it was an institution of God, binding His church to observe it on pain of His severest displeasure. It was certainly a solemn declaration that there is forgiveness with Him. Would the God who is infinitely good — and therefore will not deceive — who is infinitely true, holy, and faithful — and therefore cannot deceive — call out those He loved to a solemn representation of a matter involving their greatest and eternal concern, and then let them feed on nothing but ashes? Let people take care that they do not mock God, for God truly does not mock man — not until man has finally and completely rejected Him. For four thousand years, then, God declared by sacrifices that there is forgiveness with Him, and led His people through them to make a public representation of this before the world. This is a second undeniable evidence of the truth in hand — one that may prove of real use to souls who come truly and seriously to deal with God. For though the practice has ended, the instruction intended in it remains.

Third, God's appointment of repentance to sinners reveals that there is forgiveness in Himself. The calling of sinners to repentance is a revelation of forgiveness. After the angels sinned, God never once called them to repentance. He would not deceive them — He let them know what they should expect from Him. He has no forgiveness for them, and therefore requires no repentance from them. It is not, and never was, a duty incumbent on them. Nor is it required of the damned in hell — God does not require it of them, nor is it their duty. Since there is no forgiveness for them, what reason would there be to repent? Why should it be their duty to do so? Their eternal anguish over sin committed contains nothing of repentance. The appointment of repentance, then, is a revelation of forgiveness. God would not call a sinful creature to humble itself and grieve over its sin if there were no way of recovery or relief. The only way of recovery from the guilt of sin is pardon. So Job 33:27-28: 'He looks on men, and if any say, "I have sinned and perverted what was right, and it was not profitable for me," He will redeem his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.' In the verses before this, the writer describes the various ways God uses to bring people to repentance — through dreams (verse 15-16), through afflictions (verse 19), and through the preaching of the word (verse 23). What does God aim at through all these different means? To cause the person to say, 'I have sinned and perverted what was right.' To bring him to repentance. And what follows if God achieves His aim and the person comes to that point? Then there is forgiveness for him, as is declared in verse 28. To develop this evidence further, I will confirm by a few obvious observations these two things.

1. That the appointment of repentance does indeed prove that there is forgiveness with God. 2. That everyone in whom genuine repentance toward God is produced may confidently conclude that there is forgiveness with God for him.

First, no repentance is acceptable to God unless it is built on — or leans on — faith in forgiveness. The Scripture gives us a multitude of witnesses to this truth. Many have been, and many are recorded, who were convicted of sin, troubled about it, sorry for it, who made open confession and acknowledgment of it, who under the pressing weight of it cried out even to God for deliverance — and yet fell short of mercy, pardon, and acceptance with God. The cases of Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, Ahab, Judas, and others could be examined. What was lacking that made everything they did fall short? Consider one example for all. It is said of Judas that he repented (Matthew 27:3). But what did this repentance consist of? He was convicted of his sin in general — 'I have sinned,' he said (verse 4). He was acutely aware of the particular sin he stood charged with before God in his conscience: 'I have betrayed innocent blood — I am guilty of blood, innocent blood, and in the vilest manner, by treachery.' He came to a full and open confession of his sin. He also made restitution of what he had gained from his sin, returning the thirty pieces of silver — all of which testified to a genuine sorrow that drove the whole. One might think that Judas's repentance looks much like the young ruler's obedience, who said, 'All these things I have done from my youth — is there anything still lacking?' And yes, one thing was lacking in that young man — he had no true faith or love for God, which corrupted and spoiled all his other performances. One thing was also lacking in the repentance of Judas — he had no faith in God's forgiveness. That he could not believe. And so, after all his sorrow, instead of coming to God, he gave God the ultimate defiance and went away and hanged himself.

Indeed, faith in forgiveness, as has been shown, has many degrees. Among those degrees there is one that is indispensably necessary to render repentance acceptable. I will not dispute exactly what it consists of. It is not an assurance of one's general acceptance with God. It is not a certainty that the particular sin troubling the soul has been forgiven. A general — so long as it is a genuine Gospel — discovery that there is forgiveness in God will suffice. The church expresses it in Hosea 14:3: 'In You the orphan finds mercy.' And Joel 2:14: 'Who knows whether He will not turn and relent.' 'I have this ground,' says the soul. 'God is in Himself gracious and merciful. The fatherless, the destitute and helpless who come to Him through Christ, find mercy with Him. No one in heaven or earth can prove that He may not return to me also.' Now, a person's convictions may be ever so sharp and deep, his sorrow ever so abundant, overflowing, and lasting, his confession ever so full, free, and open — if this one thing is missing, everything else amounts to nothing but what drives toward death.

Second, to prescribe repentance as a duty to sinners without a foundation of pardon and forgiveness in Himself would be inconsistent with the wisdom, holiness, goodness, faithfulness, and all the other glorious perfections of God's nature.

First, the apostle lays this as the great foundation of all consolation — that God cannot lie or deceive (Hebrews 6:18). He appeals again to God's faithfulness and truthfulness for the same purpose in Titus 1:2: 'God, who cannot lie, has promised it.' Now there is a lie in things as well as in words. A person who does something that by its nature is designed to deceive those who observe it, and who does it with the intention of deceiving them, is no less a liar than one who affirms what he knows to be false. There is a lie in actions as well as in words. The whole life of a hypocrite is a lie. So the prophet says of idolaters: 'there is a lie in their right hand' (Isaiah 44:20).

Second, the call to repentance is by its very nature fitted to produce in the sinner's mind the thought that there is forgiveness with God. Repentance is for sinners only. Our Savior said, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' It is for them and them alone. It was no duty for Adam in Eden, none for the angels in heaven, none for the damned in hell. What then does this appointment say? 'O sinners, come and deal with God through repentance' — does that not openly speak of forgiveness in God? If it were otherwise, could people be more completely frustrated or deceived? Would not the institution of repentance be a lie? Such a delusion might come from Satan, but not from the One who is the fountain of goodness, holiness, and truth. His call to repentance is a full demonstration of His readiness to forgive (Acts 17:30-31). It is true that many deceive themselves in this matter. They raise themselves to an expectation of escaping punishment — not on Gospel grounds — and their disappointment becomes a great part of their punishment. But God deceives no one. Whoever comes to Him on His call to repentance will find forgiveness. It is said of some that He will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear comes (Proverbs 1:26) — that is, He will intensify their misery by letting them see what their pride and folly has brought them to. But who are these? Only those who refuse His call to repentance along with the promises of acceptance attached to it.

Third, there is therefore no reason why those who are under a call to repentance should question whether there is forgiveness in God. This bears on my second point. 'Come,' says the Lord to the souls of men, 'leave your sinful ways, turn to Me, humble yourselves with broken and contrite hearts.' 'Alas,' say poor convicted sinners, 'we are poor, dark, ignorant creatures — or we are old in sin, or great sinners, or backsliders, or have fallen repeatedly into the same sins. Can we expect forgiveness for us?' But you are under God's invitation to repentance, and to disbelieve forgiveness is to call God's truthfulness, holiness, and faithfulness into question. If you will not believe forgiveness, whatever excuse you offer, in truth it is because you hate repentance. You deceive your own souls when you claim you cannot come to repentance because you cannot believe forgiveness. For in the very institution of this duty, God has pledged all His attributes to make good that He has pardon and mercy for sinners.

Fourth, there is even less reason to doubt forgiveness where genuine repentance has in any measure been produced. No soul comes to repentance except at God's call. And God calls none except those for whom He has mercy ready when they come. As for those who sin against the Holy Spirit — since they shut themselves out from forgiveness, they are not called to repentance.

Fifth, God expressly declares in Scripture that the forgiveness that is with Him is the very ground of His prescribing repentance to man. One instance may suffice — Isaiah 55:7: 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.' You see to whom He speaks — to those who are perversely wicked, who make a practice of sinning. What does He call them to? Plainly to repentance, to the duty we have been discussing. But what is the basis for such an invitation to such profligate sinners? The abundant forgiveness and pardon that is with Him — superabounding over whatever the worst of them could possibly need, just as Romans 5:20 declares.

And this is another way in which God has revealed that there is forgiveness with Him — and it is an unshakeable foundation for faith to build upon in its approach to God. The certainty of this evidence cannot be questioned without making statements that are derogatory to the glory and honor of God. And this connection between repentance and forgiveness is the principle from which God convinces a stubborn and unbelieving people that all His ways and dealings with sinners are just and right (Ezekiel 18:25) — and if there were any failure in it, they could not be so. Every soul therefore that is under a call to repentance — whether from its natural condition or from some backsliding into folly after conversion — has a sufficient foundation to rest on regarding the pardon it seeks. God is ready to deal with it on terms of mercy. If it refuses to come to Him on those terms out of love for sin or the power of unbelief, its condemnation is just. And it would be well for this truth to be firmly impressed on the minds of people. I say this notwithstanding the general assumptions people seem to have about this matter — for these principles must still be driven home to them.

First, such is the unbelief lurking in the hearts of people by nature that, despite their professions, we need to be continually pressing on them evidences of even the very being and essential properties of God. In doing so we at least have the help of the inborn notions in their own minds, which they cannot completely suppress. How much more necessary is this in reference to the free acts of God's will, which are known only through pure revelation. Our teaching needs to be line upon line. And even then we have reason enough to cry out, as was said before: 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?'

Second, what was said earlier about the obstacles that stand in the way of souls receiving this truth in a saving manner should be remembered. Those who have no experience of these obstacles between God and their own souls appear to be ignorant of the true nature of conscience, law, Gospel, grace, sin, and forgiveness.

Third, many who have come to a saving persuasion of this truth have nevertheless not received it on clear and unquestionable grounds. Not knowing how to trace their faith back to its proper foundations, they are unable to answer the objections that arise against it in their own consciences, and so they waver about it wretchedly all their days. These people need to have these foundational principles reinforced in them. If they would weigh them properly, some might have cause to say what the Samaritans said after first giving credit to the woman's report (John 4) — that they had only a report before, but now they find all things to be exactly as reported, and even more. A little experience of one's own unbelief, together with observation of the unstable progress and constant wavering of others, will be sufficient to convince anyone of the necessity of the work we are engaged in.

But it will be objected that it is needless to multiply arguments and evidences in this case, since the truth under consideration is granted as one of the fundamental principles of religion. Since no one calls it into question, it does not appear that so much time and labor is needed to confirm it. What is granted and plain, after all, needs little confirmation. But several things may be said in reply — all of which together plead for the accumulation of our arguments in this matter.

That something is generally granted as an opinion is no evidence that it is genuinely believed by many. A number of things are taken for granted as opinions that are not believed with the kind of faith that changes practice. We have partly shown before, and will afterward prove beyond question, that very few believe this truth with a faith that gives them an actual share in it and the benefit of it. And what good will it do any of us that there is forgiveness of sin with God, if our own sins are not forgiven? No more good than it does a poor, starving man to know that some king is rich. My aim is not to establish this as a mere opinion or a theoretical truth, but to demonstrate it in the principles of its being and revelation — in such a way that it may be truly believed, on which all our blessedness depends.

Second, a truth needs confirmation not less but more for being plain and fundamental — and all the more because of its worth and weight. 'This is a faithful saying and worthy of full acceptance,' says the apostle, 'that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' I say the same of this truth, which is in substance the same: it is worthy of full acceptance, that there is forgiveness with God. Therefore it ought to be fully confirmed. Especially since we use no other demonstrations of it than those God Himself has furnished us with for that purpose — and He would not have furnished them if He had not known we needed them. As for the plainness of this truth — it is well if it is indeed plain to us. This I know: nothing but the Spirit of God can make it so. People may please themselves and others with clever speculations and make them appear to be things of great discovery and attainment, which on close examination turn out to be either not true, or if true, of very little consequence. It is these foundational truths that have wrapped within them the mysteries of God's wisdom and grace. Whoever can unfold them rightly will show himself a workman with no need to be ashamed. These still waters are deep. The further we dive into them, the greater the discovery of their depths. And there are many other sacred truths whose mention is common but whose depths are little searched and whose power is little known.

Third, we multiply these evidences because the multitudes concerned in them are vast. All who believe, and all who do not, are involved. Those who believe need to be established, and those who do not believe need to be encouraged to do so. Among both groups, some evidences will be more helpful and useful to one person, others to another. Among them all, it may be that all are gathered up so that no fragment is lost. They are all, I trust, instruments provided by the Holy Spirit for this purpose. Through this ministry we seek to place them in His hand, to be made effective as He wills. One may reach one soul, another may reach another, according to His pleasure. One may serve to establish, another to console, a third to encourage — according to the needs of poor souls. God, who has provided them all, knows that all are needed.

Fourth, they are also needed because of the varying conditions in which the spirits of believers themselves may find themselves at different times. One evidence may help the same soul at one season, another at a different season. One may secure the soul against a particular temptation, another may stir it up to thankfulness and obedience.

I have said these things so that you will not think we have dwelt too long on this consideration. I pray God that your consolation and assurance may abound as you read these meditations — as I trust they have not been entirely without fruit in their preparation.

Further evidences of forgiveness with God. Testimonies that God was pleased with some who were sinners. The patience of God toward the world as evidence of forgiveness. The experience of God's saints to the same effect.

Fourth, as a fourth evidence of this truth, consider those — both in the Old and New Testaments — about whom we have the strongest assurance that God was well pleased with them and that they are now in His presence. This is the argument the apostle presses with many examples in Hebrews 11. How many does he there list who obtained a good testimony, the testimony that they pleased God? Verse 2 and 5. All these inherited the promises through faith — that is, they obtained the forgiveness of sin. For since by nature they were children of wrath and under the curse just as others are, they could not have obtained a secure share in God's favor and the testimony that they pleased Him in any other way. Without forgiveness, every one of them would, by right, have remained in the same state as Adam when he heard the voice of God and was afraid. Since it is evident, then, that certain people in every generation have enjoyed the friendship, love, and favor of God in this world and at death have entered into glory, this makes it plain that there is forgiveness of sin with Him — without which these things could not have been.

Following the apostle's example, let us mention some particular instances. Look at Abraham. He was the friend of God and walked with God. God made a solemn covenant with him and takes it as His memorial throughout all generations that He is the God of Abraham. Abraham is without question now at rest with God. Our Savior calls the place or condition into which blessed souls are gathered 'Abraham's bosom' — he himself is at rest, and with him others are at rest.

The same was true of Isaac and Jacob. They too are in heaven, alive to and with God. Our Savior proves this from the terms of the covenant: 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' God is not the God of the dead but of the living (Matthew 22:32). They are still alive — alive to God and with Him — by virtue of the covenant. For if after their death God would not still be called their God, death would have reached their whole persons. But they are still alive with God in heaven, and their bodies, by virtue of the same covenant, are to be recovered from the dust.

The same is true of David. He was a man after God's own heart who did all His will and fulfilled all His pleasure. Although he died and his body saw corruption, he is not lost — he is with God in heaven. He ended his days triumphantly, with a full expectation of eternal rest beyond anything attainable in this world, and this by virtue of the covenant. These are the last words of David: 'Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure' (2 Samuel 23:5).

Peter also is in heaven. Christ prayed for him that his faith would not fail, and in his death he glorified God (John 21:19).

So is Paul. He too is in heaven — he knew that when he departed he would be with Christ. We are therefore surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.

First, it is absolutely certain that they were all sinners. They were all sinners by nature — in this there is no difference among any of the children of men. And they were sinners personally as well. They confessed it of themselves, and the sins of all of them stand on record. Indeed some of them were great sinners — guilty of serious and notable failures. Some sinned before their conversion, like Abraham, who was an idolater (Joshua 24:2-3), and Paul, who was a persecutor and a blasphemer. Some sinned after their conversion — some in sins of the flesh against obedience, as David, and some in sins of profession against faith, as Peter. Nothing is more evident, then, than that not one of them came to rest with God by any path other than forgiveness. Had they been guilty of no more than what is recorded of them in Holy Scripture, they could still have been saved no other way. For anyone who breaks the law in any one point is guilty of breaking the whole (James 2:10).

What shall we say then? Do we think that God has forgiveness only for this or that particular individual? No one doubts that all these were pardoned. Was it by virtue of some special personal privilege unique to them? Where would such privilege have come from, since by nature they were no better than others — nor would they have been so personally, had they not been delivered from sin and prepared for obedience by grace, mercy, and pardon? They all obtained forgiveness by virtue of the covenant — forgiveness that is with God. And that same forgiveness is equally available to others who come to God the same way they did — by faith and repentance.

Second, many of those about whom we have this assurance were not only sinners but great sinners, as was noted — and this point must be pressed further to head off another objection. Some may say that although these were sinners, they were not sinners of the same kind as themselves. And although they obtained forgiveness, this is no argument that they also will do so, since they are guilty of different sins with different aggravations. To this I say that I take no pleasure in dwelling on or even repeating the sins and failures of the saints of old. Not only God's grace but the sins of people have been twisted by some into license — made into a cover for their lusts. Yet for the purposes for which the Holy Spirit has recorded these things, we may refer to them. They were written to warn us, to make us careful lest we also fall, and to give relief in our own unexpected falls. When mention of them serves to magnify sovereign grace and mercy — as it does here — we may dwell on them. I believe I can safely say, without going into particulars, that there is no sin, no degree of sin, no aggravating circumstance of sin, no kind of persistence in sin — the one sin alone excepted — for which there are not those in heaven who were once guilty of it.

Some may yet say that they have considered the sins and falls of Lot, David, Peter, Paul, and the thief on the cross, and still do not find their own condition represented — and so cannot conclude that they will meet with the same outcome.

In answer: first, I am not showing that this or that person will be pardoned, but demonstrating that there is forgiveness with God — and forgiveness for all kinds of sins and sinners — which these examples assuredly confirm. Moreover they make plain that if other people are not pardoned, it is simply because they do not make the same appeal for forgiveness that these did.

Second, to remove this objection further — consider what the apostle says about the various kinds of sinners who obtained mercy in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: 'Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified.' It would be hard to compile a grimmer list. Yet some from every one of these categories were justified and pardoned.

Third, suppose even this list of sins does not cover the soul's condition because of some particular aggravation of its sin not mentioned. Let such a person add what our Savior says in Matthew 12:31: 'Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.' They are not all actually forgiven and pardoned to all people — but they are all forgivable for those who seek pardon for them according to the Gospel. There is forgiveness with God for all of them. And certainly every sin except that one falls within the scope of 'every sin and blasphemy' — and so some who have been guilty of it are now in heaven.

We consider it a good sign and evidence of a healing water's virtue when, without any fraud or deception, we see the crutches of cured cripples and disabled people hung around it as a testimony to its power. And it is a great demonstration of a physician's skill and ability when many come to a sick person and say: 'We had the same disease you have, with the same symptoms and the same effects, and through his skill and care we were cured. Oh,' says the sick man, 'bring him to me. I will put my life in his hands.' Now all the saints in heaven stand around a sin-sick soul, for in this matter we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1). And what do they testify? What do they say to a poor guilty sinner? 'As you are, so were we — so guilty, so perplexed, so deserving of wrath, so afraid of destruction from God.' 'And what path did you take, what course did you pursue to obtain the blessed condition in which you now are?' 'We all went to God through Christ for forgiveness, and found in Him an abundance of grace, mercy, and pardon for us all.' The rich man in the parable thought it would be a great means of conversion if someone rose from the dead to preach. But here we see that all the departed saints, now in glory, jointly preach this foundational truth — that there is forgiveness with God.

Poor souls are prone to think that everyone they read or hear about who has gone to heaven went there because they were so good and so holy. It is true that many of them were remarkably and exemplarily holy in their generations. All of them were holy according to their degree and measure, for without holiness no one will see God. And it is our duty to strive to be like them in holiness if we ever intend to be like them in happiness and glory. But not one of them — not a single person now in heaven, Jesus Christ alone excepted — ever arrived there by any other path than the forgiveness of sin. And that same path will bring us there too, even if we fall short of many of them in holiness and grace.

I press this evidence of forgiveness especially because I find the apostle Paul presenting it powerfully in his own person in 1 Timothy 1:12-16. 'I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief. This is a trustworthy saying, deserving full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life.' A great sinner, says he — the chief of sinners — which he illustrates through notable instances of his sin. 'I was a blasphemer' — the highest sin against God. 'A persecutor' — the highest sin against the saints. 'An insolent opponent' — the highest wickedness toward humanity. 'But,' he says, 'I received mercy — I was pardoned — and that with blessed effects.' First, that after all this he should be counted faithful and appointed to the ministry. Second, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in him and toward him was exceedingly abundant. And what was the reason — what was the purpose for which he was so treated? That he might be a pattern, an evidence, and an argument that there is grace, mercy, and forgiveness available for all kinds of sinners who believe in Him for eternal life.

To conclude this evidence: every person now in heaven has his pardon sealed in the blood of Christ. All these pardons are, as it were, displayed in the Gospel — all enrolled in its promises as encouragement for those who need forgiveness to come and claim their own. Do not fear the guilt of sin, then, but fear the love of it and its power over you. If we love sin better than forgiveness, we will certainly go without forgiveness. If we would only rather be pardoned in God's way than perish, our condition is secure.

Fifth, the same truth is evident from the patience of God toward the world and the purpose of it. To clarify this, we may observe the following.

First, when sin first entered and the covenant God had made with mankind in Adam was broken, God could have immediately executed the threatened curse and brought eternal death on those who sinned. Justice required it, and there was nothing in all creation to interpose even for a temporary delay of the punishment. Had God at that moment sent sinful man — along with the fallen angels who led him into sin — immediately into eternal destruction, He would have been glorified in His righteousness and severity by the angels who did not sin. Or He could have created a new race of innocent creatures to worship Him and glorify Him for His righteous judgment — just as all the elect at the last day will glorify Him for the destruction of the ungodly.

Second, God has not taken this course. He has continued the human race on the earth for a long span of time, watching over them with His providence and exercising extraordinary patience, forbearance, and longsuffering toward them. The apostle Paul discusses this at length in Acts 14:15-17, Acts 17:24-30, and Romans 2:4. It is open and plain in every day's experience. The whole world is daily filled with tokens of God's power and patience. Every nation, every city, and every family bears evidence of it.

Third, there is a common abuse of this patience of God that is visible in the world in every generation. So it was in ancient times. God saw it and grieved over it (Genesis 6:5-6). All the evil, sin, and wickedness that has ever been in the world — more than any heart can conceive or tongue express — has been an abuse of this patience of God. For most people this is the outcome of God's patience and forbearance. They use the time He gives them to fulfill every abomination their evil hearts can suggest, or into which Satan can draw them. The state of the world proclaims this, and everyone's own experience confirms it.

Fourth, let us then consider what the true and proper end of God's patience toward the world actually is — His endurance of it in sin and wickedness for so long, allowing generation after generation to multiply. Are we to think that God has no other design in all His patience toward mankind through all generations than simply to let them all, without exception, sin against Him, dishonor Him, and provoke Him — so that He may at length destroy them all forever? It is true that this is the consequence and the outcome for the majority, through their persistent wickedness and their love of sin and pleasure. But is this God's design? His only design? Does He have no purpose beyond merely tolerating their folly for a time and then taking revenge upon them? Is this His intention not only toward those who are obstinate in their darkness, ignorance, and rebellion — whose damnation is just and does not sleep — but also toward those whom He stirs up by His grace to seek a remedy and deliverance from sin and death? God forbid. Such a thought would contradict all those inborn notions of God's infinite wisdom and goodness that all His works reveal and declare. Whatever God's purpose may be, this cannot be it. He must long since have cut off the entire race of mankind, if He had no other thoughts and purposes toward them.

Fifth, if God's patience has any other intention toward any, any other effect on some — that must be reckoned its principal end, and the reason for which it is also extended to others. Since those for whom God has a special design in His patience must come into the world through the ordinary means of human reproduction, across all ages from the beginning of the world to its end, the patience extended to them must of necessity extend to all others as well, in whatever variety God is pleased to exercise it. The whole world therefore continues under the patience of God and its fruits — for the sake of those within it who are the objects of His gracious design.

Sixth, let us then consider what the end of this patience is and what it teaches us. This patience can have no possible end — other than the rejected one — unless there is forgiveness of sins with God. Unless God is ready and willing to forgive the sins of those who come to Him according to His appointment, His patience serves no purpose other than a design of wrath, anger, severity, and resolve to destroy. This is monstrous even to suppose and would reflect unspeakable dishonor on the holy God. If a man were to bear with those in his power in their faults for no other purpose than to take advantage of their failures in order to bring a greater punishment and revenge upon them, what more vile affection, what more corrupt heart and mind could he display? Shall we think this is the whole design of God's patience? God forbid.

It may be objected that this argument is not conclusive, since God's dealing with the sinning angels seems to count against it. It is clear that they fell into transgression and rebellion before mankind did — for they led and seduced our first parents into sin. Yet God has borne with them and exercised patience toward them to this very day, and will do so until the end of all things when they will be cast into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And yet it is granted that there is no forgiveness in God for them. It does not necessarily follow, therefore, that there is forgiveness for man simply because God has been patient toward the angels.

I answer that this objection must be addressed more fully when we come to remove the great objection against this whole truth — the one mentioned earlier, drawn from God's dealing with the sinning angels, whom He did not spare. For the present, two or three observations will clear it out of the way.

First, the case of the sinning angels is not the same as the case of the human race across all generations. Only those individual angels who personally committed the first sin are in this condition. They have not multiplied or increased in God's providence and patience over time — they remain the same individual beings who sinned at the beginning, and no more. Therefore, the immediate execution of the full punishment due to their sin would not have prevented any further increase in their number. With mankind it is entirely different. God has continued His patience toward human beings, bringing into existence millions of additional persons who were not personally involved in the first sin. Had God not continued His forbearance, their very existence — and with it their sin and misery — would have been prevented. So the case of the sinning angels and that of mankind are not the same.

Second, God in fact exercises no patience toward the angels that sinned — precisely because He has no forgiveness for them. As Peter tells us in 2 Peter 2:4: 'God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness.' Immediately upon their sin they were cast out of God's presence — the presence they were made to enjoy — and thrown into hell as the place of their confinement and present anguish under God's curse and displeasure. Although some of them may be permitted to roam the earth, walking back and forth in it to serve the ends of God's holy and wise providence — and in that sense be out of their prison — they remain in chains, delivered over to chains of darkness to be kept until the final judgment. In all of this they lie under the active execution of God's curse. There is therefore no patience truly exercised toward them. If a notorious criminal or murderer is committed to a dungeon and kept bound in iron chains to prevent escape until the appointed day of his solemn trial and execution — with no intention of sparing him — no one would say patience is being exercised toward him. The arrangement is simply designed to ensure his punishment is certain and complete. Such is the condition of the angels that sinned. They are not objects of God's patience.

Third, the reason why the full and final punishment of these angels is being held back until the appointed time is not for their sake, their benefit, or their advantage in any way. It is solely so that the ends of God's patience toward mankind might be accomplished. Once those ends are fulfilled, the angels will not be spared for a day, an hour, or a moment. God's dealings with them, therefore, are nothing but a withholding of the full infliction of their punishment until He has accomplished the blessed purposes of His patience toward humanity.

A second objection may be raised: does not Romans 9:22 say that God, wishing to show His wrath and make His power known, endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? This seems to suggest that the end of God's endurance and longsuffering — at least toward some — is simply their preparation for destruction.

In answer, first: there is a difference between enduring with much longsuffering and actively exercising and declaring patience. The former simply means God is withholding for a time a destruction He could justly inflict — which is not what we are speaking of. The latter means God is acting in a way of goodness and kindness for some specific purpose.

Second, the very next verse declares the great end of God's patience and answers this objection. Verse 23: 'in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory.' This is the great end of God's patience. While He is in the process of achieving it for the vessels of mercy, He endures others with much longsuffering and forbearance. It is therefore fully clear that there can be no sufficient reason for God's patience toward sinners unless there is forgiveness prepared for those who come to Him through Christ.

And Scripture plainly confirms this in 2 Peter 3:9. The question is why God withholds the execution of His judgment on the wicked and ungodly. Some would have it that God is slow — that He is indifferent to the sins of people and pays them no attention. No, says the apostle. God has another design in His patience and longsuffering. What is it? To show that He is not willing that any should perish. This is exactly what we have argued. For our deliverance from destruction comes through repentance, which necessarily implies the forgiveness of sin. So Paul tells us in Romans 3:25 that what is declared in the Gospel — and what the end of God's patience and forbearance is — is the remission of sins.

Let us then apply this evidence to our own approach to God for pardon. It is certain that God could have taken us from the womb and cast us into outer darkness. In the course of our lives we have been guilty of such provocations that God could justly have used them as an occasion to glorify His justice and severity in our ruin. And yet we have lived this long in the patience and forbearance of God. To what end has He spared us and let pass all the occasions for our destruction that we ourselves have put into His hand? Is it not so that, through His patience, He might give us time and opportunity to obtain an interest in the forgiveness to which He testifies? Let us then be encouraged to use this time for the very purpose for which it is being given to us. You who are still uncertain of your condition — consider that the patience of God has been extended to you this very day so that you might use it to obtain the forgiveness of your sins. Do not lose this day — not one day more — as you value your soul. Dreadful will be the condition of those who perish through despising or abusing the patience of God.

Sixth, the faith and experience of the saints in this world testify to this truth — and we know that their witness in this matter is trustworthy. Let us then ask them what they believe, what they have found, and what they have experienced regarding the forgiveness of sin. God Himself directs and leads us to this, appealing to our own experience as a source of relief and support in our distresses. Isaiah 40:28: 'Have you not heard? Have you not known?' Have you not yourself — you who now cry out that you are lost and ruined because God has forsaken you — found and known from His past dealings with you that the very opposite is true? And if our own experiences can strengthen us against the workings of our unbelief, so too can the experiences of others. This is what Eliphaz directs Job to in Job 5:1: 'Call now — is there anyone who will answer you? And to which of the holy ones will you turn?' This is not a call to pray to them for help, but an inquiry into their experience in the matter at hand. Some have foolishly tried to use this passage to support the invocation of departed saints — when in fact it forbids or discourages that rather than directing it. The holy ones in view are the saints on earth (Psalm 16:3) — those whose experiences Job is directed to seek out. David presents it as a great encouragement to waiting on God as a God who hears prayer that others have done so and found a blessing. Psalm 34:6: 'This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.' If God did this for him, why should we not also cry out? The experiences of one are often set before others for their confirmation and establishment. So David says: 'Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what He has done for my soul.' He is not content to point them only to the word, promises, and providence of God — though he does that most often. He will also give them the encouragement and support of his own experience. So Paul tells us that God comforted him in all his tribulation so that he might be able to comfort others in any trouble with the same comfort he himself had received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4) — that is, so that he could share with them his own experience of God's dealings with him and the satisfaction and assurance he found there. He also sets forth God's dealings with him in the pardon of his sins as a great motive to move others to believe (1 Timothy 1:13-16). This mutual sharing of meaningful experiences in the things of God — or of our own spiritual sense and evidence of the power, effectiveness, and reality of Gospel truths — rightly handled, is of singular usefulness to all kinds of believers. So the great apostle himself tells us in Romans 1:11-12: 'I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.' He longed not only to instruct them in the ministry committed to him, but also to share with them about their mutual faith and the experiences of God's peace in believing that each had attained.

We have called in the testimony of the saints in heaven, with whom those on earth form one family — that one family in heaven and earth named after the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:14-15). And they all agree in their testimony, as befits the family and children of God. But with the saints below we may deal with personally — whereas we can only gather the witness of those already departed from what is on record about them. In order to clarify this evidence, several things should be observed.

First, people who live under the profession of religion without experiencing its power and effectiveness in their hearts are — whatever they profess — very close to atheism, or at least greatly exposed to it. If they profess to know God but deny Him by their actions, they are detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work (Titus 1:16). Let such people set aside tradition and custom and give themselves to a free and honest examination of things — they will quickly discover that all their profession is a miserable self-deception, and that in truth they do not believe a word of the religion they profess. For of what their religion claims to be present within them, they find nothing true or real. And what reason do they have to believe that what it says about realities outside them is any different? If they have no experience of what it says should be within them, how can they have any confidence in the reality of what it reveals to be beyond them? John tells us that the one who claims to love God — whom he has not seen — while failing to love his brother whom he has seen, is a liar. People who fail to perform things of equal concern to them — things that can be tested — are not to be believed when they profess things about greater matters that cannot be tested. So the one who does not believe, who finds no power in what his religion says should be at work within him, and yet claims to believe in things he can have no experience of — is a liar. For instance, the one who professes the Gospel avows that the death of Christ crucifies sin, that faith purifies the heart, that the Holy Spirit quickens and enables the soul for duty, that God is good and gracious to all who come to Him, that precious fellowship with Him is obtainable through Christ, and that there is great joy in believing. These things are plainly, openly, and repeatedly set forth in the Gospel. The apostle therefore presses people to obedience on their account (Philippians 2:1). Now if people have lived long in professing these things, saying they are true, but find nothing of truth, reality, or power in them — no experience of their effects in their own hearts or souls — on what stable ground do they believe anything else in the Gospel that they cannot experience? A person professes that the death of Christ will mortify sin and subdue corruption. Why does he believe it? Because the Gospel says so. But does he find it to be true? Does it have this effect in his own soul? Not at all — he finds no such thing in himself. How then can this man believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God simply because the Gospel says so, when he finds no real truth in what the Gospel says should be at work within him? So our Savior argues in John 3:12: 'If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?' If you do not believe the doctrine of regeneration — which you should have experience of, as something wrought in human hearts on this earth — how can you receive those heavenly mysteries of the Gospel that must at first be received by a pure act of faith, without any immediate sense or experience?

Of all dangers in making a religious profession, let those who profess beware of this above all — of a customary, traditional, or merely doctrinal acceptance of truths that ought to have their effects and fulfillment within them, while they have no experience of their reality and power. This is plainly having a form of godliness while denying its power. We see many of this kind turning into atheists, mockers, and open apostates. They find within themselves that their profession was a lie — that in truth they possessed none of the things they spoke of. And why should they continue affirming what does not exist? Beyond that, finding that the things they professed should be at work in them are not — they conclude that what they believed about external realities is no different, and so they reject everything altogether.

You may ask: what should a person do who cannot find or obtain experience within himself of what the word declares? He cannot find the death of Christ crucifying sin in him. He cannot find the Holy Spirit sanctifying his nature or obtain joy in believing. Should he refuse to believe or profess these things simply because he cannot attain a blessed experience of them? Our Savior has given perfect direction in this case in John 7:17: 'If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.' Continue pressing on in the things revealed in the teaching of the Gospel, and you will have a satisfying experience that they are true and that they are of God. Do not stop acting faith on them and you will find their effects. As Hosea 6:3 says: 'Then we will know, if we press on to know the Lord.' Experience will follow upon perseverance in faith and obedience. Indeed, the first act of sincere believing will itself be accompanied by such a taste — giving the soul enough experience to produce firm adherence to the things believed. This is the way to prove for yourself what the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is, as revealed to us (Romans 12:2).

Second, where there is an inward spiritual experience of the power, reality, and effectiveness of any supernatural truth, it gives the soul great satisfaction, stability, and assurance. It removes the soul from danger or suspicion of being deceived and gives it the testimony of God within itself. As the apostle says: 'He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself' (1 John 5:9). He had just discussed the many testimonies given in heaven by all three holy persons of the Trinity, and on earth through grace and the ordinances, to the forgiveness of sin and the eternal life to be obtained through Jesus Christ. That record is true, firm, and stable — an enduring foundation for souls to rest upon that will never deceive them. Yet all the while it remains outside of us — something we have no experience of within ourselves. We rest on it only because of the authority and faithfulness of those who give it. But the one who actually believes has the testimony in himself — he has by experience a real inward evidence and assurance of the things testified to — namely, that God has given us eternal life, and that this life is in His Son (verse 12). Let us then consider briefly what this evidence consists of and from where this assurance arises. Several things must be noted.

First, there is a deep correspondence and likeness between the heart of a believer and the truth he believes. As the word is in the Gospel, so is grace in the heart — indeed they are the same thing expressed in different ways (Romans 6:17). 'You obeyed from the heart the form of doctrine to which you were handed over.' What is powerfully expressed there is that the doctrine of the Gospel produces the form, shape, image, and likeness of itself in the hearts of those who believe — they are cast into its mold. As the one is, so is the other. The principle of grace in the heart and the grace expressed in the word are like children of the same parent, fully resembling one another. Grace is a living word, and the word is a portrayed grace. As regeneration is, so is a regenerate heart. As the doctrine of faith is, so is a believer. This gives great evidence and assurance of the things believed. 'As we have heard, so we have seen and found it' — such a soul can produce the duplicate of the word and thereby verify all things.

Second, the original expression of divine truth is not first in the word — not even as given out from the infinite depths of divine wisdom and truthfulness. It is first hidden, stored, and expressed in the person of Christ. He is the original pattern of truth, from whom it is expressed in the word and from and by the word impressed on the hearts of believers. So as it pleased God that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge should be in Christ, dwelling in Him, having their principal residence in Him (Colossians 2:3) — the entire word is simply a revelation of the truth that is in Christ, an expression of His image and likeness to the sons of men. Thus we are said to learn truth as it is in Jesus (Ephesians 4:21). It is in Jesus originally, and from Him it is communicated to us through the word. We are taught by it and learn through it, for thereby — as the apostle continues — we are renewed in the spirit of our mind and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). First the truth is in Jesus; then it is expressed in the word; then the word, learned and believed, becomes grace in the heart, fully answering to the Lord Christ, whose image it is — the image from which this transforming truth proceeded. The apostle carries this even higher — to God the Father Himself, whose image Christ is, and believers His image, through the word. 2 Corinthians 3:18: 'We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord.' To which add 2 Corinthians 4:6: 'God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' The first pattern of all truth and holiness is God Himself. Christ is His image — the radiance of His glory and the exact imprint of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Hence we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ — because He, being God's image, displays and makes plain the love, grace, and truth of the Father. We behold it in His face because of the open and glorious manifestation of God's glory in Him. And how do we behold this glory? As in a mirror — that is, in the Gospel, which has the image and likeness of Christ reflected upon it and communicated through it. So we have traced truth and grace from the person of the Father to the Son as Mediator, and from there transfused into the word. In the Father it exists essentially; in Jesus Christ originally and by way of example; and in the word as in a transcript or copy. But does it remain there? No — God by the Gospel shines into our hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6). He illuminates our minds with a saving light and understanding of it. What follows from this? The soul of a believer is transformed into the same image by the effective working of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) — that is, the likeness of Christ imprinted on the word is impressed on the soul itself, renewing it into the image of God after which it was originally created. This brings everything into perfect harmony. Where Gospel truth is truly received and experienced in the soul, there is not merely a correspondence between the soul and the word, but between the soul and Christ through the word, and between the soul and God through Christ. This gives the soul firm and assured establishment in the things it believes. Divine truth conveyed to us this way is firm, stable, and immovable. And we can say of it, in a spiritual sense, what John says: 'That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands concerning the word of life — we know it to be true.' Indeed, a believer is a testimony to the certainty of truth in what he is, far beyond what he can be in anything he says. Words can be pretended. Real effects carry their testimony inseparably with them.

Third, it follows from this that there must be great assurance of truths received and believed in this way. For through this process the senses are trained to distinguish good from evil (Hebrews 5:14). Where there is a spiritual sense of truth — of the good and evil in doctrines, arising from an inward experience of what is truly good, together with a turning away from the contrary, obtained through an established habit and frame of heart — there is strength, steadfastness, and assurance. This is the teaching of the anointing, which will not and cannot deceive. This is why many in past ages and in recent times who could not engage in formal debate were yet able to die for the truth. When a philosopher came to someone and tried to prove by clever argument that motion does not exist, the man — unable or unwilling to refute the argument — simply got up, walked back and forth, and gave a real answer to the sophistry. So it is in this case. When a soul has a real experience of the grace of God, of the forgiveness of sins, of the virtue and effectiveness of the death of Christ, of justification by His blood, and of peace with God through faith — let men, devils, or angels from heaven oppose these things. If it cannot answer their arguments, it can still rise up and walk. It can oppose its own satisfying experience to all their reasonings and suggestions with full holy confidence and assurance. A person will not be argued out of what he sees and feels. And a believer will hold as firmly to his spiritual sense as any person holds to his natural senses.

This is the meaning of the apostle's prayer in Colossians 2:2 — 'that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery.' They already had understanding of the mysteries of the Gospel, but he prays that through further experience they might come to the assurance of that understanding. To be true is a property of the doctrine itself. To be certain and assured is a property of our minds. This experience so unites the mind with the truth that we say a certain truth is most certain — when in fact certainty is the property of our minds and their knowledge, not of the truth known. A truth is certain to us — meaning we have an assured knowledge of it — through the experience we have of it. This is the assurance of understanding Paul speaks of. He further prays that we may come to the riches of this assurance — an abundant, plentiful assurance — that is, to an acknowledgment of the mystery of God arising from a sense and experience of its excellence and worth.

This is true of all Gospel truths — they are fitted and suited to be experienced by a believing soul. There is nothing in them so high, nothing so mysterious, nothing so seemingly lowly or outwardly unimpressive, but that a gracious soul has experience of excellence, reality, power, and effectiveness throughout. Consider for example what concerns the order and worship of the Gospel. This seems to many to be a purely external matter, of which a soul can have no inward sense or relish. There are many opinions about it and endless disputes. But let a gracious soul in simplicity and sincerity of spirit give himself up to walk with Christ according to His appointment — and he will quickly find such a taste and delight in the fellowship of the Gospel, in the communion of saints, and of Christ among them, that he will come to such riches of assurance in the understanding and acknowledgment of the ways of the Lord as no amount of disputing can ever reach. What is so high, glorious, and mysterious as the doctrine of the ever-blessed Trinity? Some wise men have thought it best to keep it veiled from ordinary Christians, and others have expressed it in terms no one can understand. But take a believer who has tasted the gracious Lord — in the eternal love of the Father, the great undertaking of the Son in mediation and redemption, and the almighty work of the Spirit creating grace and comfort in the soul — and who has experienced the love, holiness, and power of God in all of it. He will adhere to this mysterious truth with far more firm confidence — being led into it and confirmed in it by a few plain testimonies from the word — than a thousand debaters who carry only the notion of it in their minds. Let a real trial come, and this will be evident. Few will sacrifice their lives for bare speculations. Experience gives assurance and stability.

Having established the credibility of this testimony, let us now make use of it. It is clear on these grounds that truths in which believers have experience carry great certainty. Where they communicate their power to the heart, they give an unquestionable assurance of their truth. And once that is settled in the soul, all disputes about it are put to silence.

These things being so, let us inquire into the faith and experience of the living saints — what they know of the truth under consideration: that there is forgiveness with God. Let us go to some poor soul who now walks comfortably in the light of God's face and say to him: 'Did we not know you some time ago to be full of sadness and deep anxiety of spirit — sorrowful almost to death, and bitter in soul?'

He answers: 'Yes, that is true. My days were spent in mourning and my life in sorrow, and I walked heavily in fear and bitterness of spirit all day long.'

'But what was troubling you? What was the matter, since as far as outward things went, you were at peace?'

He answers: 'The law of God had laid hold on me and struck me down. It showed me that I was a wretched sinner, overwhelmed with the guilt of sin. Every moment I expected tribulation and wrath from the hand of God. My wound was open through the night and would not heal, and my soul refused comfort.'

'How is it then that you have been delivered, and are no longer sorrowful? Where have you found ease and peace? Were you delivered by some means, or did your trouble simply wear away on its own?'

He answers: 'No, certainly not. If I had not found an effective remedy, I would have sunk and perished forever.'

'What course did you take?'

He answers: 'I went to the One I had sinned against, through Jesus Christ, and found Him far better to me than I could have expected, or would ever have believed, had He not overcome my heart by His Spirit. Instead of the wrath I feared — and rightly, for I had deserved it — He said to me in Christ, "Fury is not in Me." For a long time I could not believe it. I thought it impossible that there could be mercy and pardon for me, for such a one as I. But He continued to sustain me — sometimes by one means, sometimes by another — until, drawing my soul near to Himself, He caused me to see the folly of my unbelieving heart and the vileness of the hard thoughts I had about Him, and that there is truly with Him forgiveness and plentiful redemption. This has taken away all my sorrow and given me quiet rest and assurance.'

'But are you certain of this? Might you not possibly be deceived?'

The soul answers: 'I have not the least suspicion of any such thing. And if anything of that kind ever arises, it is quickly overcome.'

'But how are you confirmed in this persuasion?'

He answers: 'The sense of it that I have in my heart, the sweetness and rest I experience, the influence it has on my soul, the obligation it lays on me for all thankful obedience, the relief, support, and consolation it has provided in trials and troubles, at the brink of death, and at the threshold of eternity — all corresponding exactly to what the word declares about these things — this will not allow me to be deceived. I could not indeed receive it until God was pleased to speak it to me. But now, let Satan do his worst — I shall never cease to bear this testimony: there is mercy and forgiveness with Him.'

How many thousands could we find in the world who have had such a seal of this truth in their hearts that they could not only lay down their lives with confidence in its confirmation, if called to do so, but do cheerfully and triumphantly stake their eternal souls upon it. Indeed, this is the very source of all the peace, serenity of mind, and strong consolation they experience in this world.

On the principles laid down before, this is to me a great and important evidence. God has not manifested this truth to the saints — has not copied it out of His word and worked it into their souls — only to leave them open to any possibility of being deceived.

The institution of religious worship as evidence of forgiveness.

Sixth, God's institution of religious worship — and the honor thereby rendered to Him by sinners — is another evidence that there is forgiveness with Him. I earlier cited one particular act of worship for this purpose — sacrifices — showing how in their particular nature and significance they declared and manifested reconciliation, atonement, and pardon. What I now aim to show is how all the worship God has appointed to us, and all the honor we give His holy majesty through it, is built on the same foundation — namely, the assumption of forgiveness — and is designed to teach it and confirm us in it. I will state this briefly.

First, the general end of all divine and religious worship is to bring God a return of glory from the creation. God's infinite self-sufficiency is such that He has no need of any such glory or honor. He was in Himself no less infinitely and eternally glorious before the creation of anything than He will be when surrounded by the praises of all the works of His hands. And His absolute perfection is such that no honor given to Him, no admiration of Him, no ascription of glory and praise can add anything to Him. Hence the Psalmist says, 'My goodness does not extend to You' (Psalm 16:2) — meaning it does not reach You so as to add to You or profit You, as it may do the saints who are on the earth. As Job 22:2-3 says: 'Can a man be profitable to God, as one who is wise may be profitable to himself? Is it any pleasure to the Almighty that you are righteous, or does He gain if you make your ways blameless?' There is no doubt that it is well pleasing to God for us to be righteous and upright. But we do not thereby do Him a favor in the sense of supplying something He needs or gaining something for Him. And Job 35:7: 'If you are righteous, what do you give to Him? Or what does He receive from your hand?' The apostle gives the reason for all this in Romans 11:36: 'From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.' Being the first sovereign cause and the last absolute end of all things, infinitely perfect and self-sufficient, nothing can be added to Him. Or as the same apostle says: 'The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything' (Acts 17:24-25). As He Himself argues at length in Psalm 50:7-13.

Second, therefore all the return of glory that God receives through worship depends entirely on His own free choice and appointment. All worship now depends on the sovereign will and pleasure of God. It is true that there is a natural worship owed by rational creatures by the law of their creation. This was indispensably and absolutely required from the beginning. The very being of God and the order of things demanded it. Given that God made creatures such as we are, it could not be otherwise than that moral obedience was due to Him — that He should be trusted, believed in, and obeyed as the first cause, last end, and sovereign Lord of all. But the entrance of sin, which placed the sinner absolutely under the curse of God, entirely overturned this order of things. Man was now to have perished immediately, and the entire framework of this obedience was to have ended. But here, in the sovereign will of God, an interposition was made between sin and the sentence, and man was given a reprieve from destruction. All worship following from this — even what was formerly natural by the law of creation — now resolves into a free act of God's will.

And all worship is designed for this end — to give glory to God. For God has said that He will be sanctified in all who draw near to Him in worship and will be glorified in it (Leviticus 10:3), and that the one who offers Him praise — that is, performs any part of His worship and service — glorifies Him (Psalm 50:23). The nature of the thing itself declares that it can have no other end. By it He receives glory even from the inanimate creation.

Fourth, consider that God has prescribed no worship of Himself to the angels that sinned. They are indeed under His power, and He uses them as He pleases to serve the ends of His holy providence. He holds them within limits by His power and keeps them under dread of the full execution of His wrath. But He does not require of them that they should trust in Him. They believe indeed — and tremble. They have a natural apprehension of God's being, power, providence, holiness, and righteousness, which is inseparable from their nature. And from this they have an expectation of the punishment and vengeance that is due to them, which is inseparable from them as sinners. This is their faith. But to believe in God — to put their trust in Him, to surrender themselves to Him — God does not require of them. The same is true regarding love, fear, and delight — all the inward affections that are the proper worship of God. These they do not have, nor does God any longer require them. They gave them up forever in their first sin. And where these are not, where they are not required, where they cannot exist, no outward worship can be prescribed or appointed. For outward instituted worship is simply the way God chooses and assigns for the expression and exercise of the inward affections of our minds toward Him. He governs the fallen angels by the hand of providence, not by the word of command. Now as God dealt with the angels, so He would have dealt with mankind, had He left them all under the curse without remedy or hope of relief. As He does with the fallen angels — satisfying Himself forever in the glory that rises to Him from their punishment — so He would have done with humanity, had there been no forgiveness with Him for them. He would not have required them to fear, love, or obey Him, or have appointed any way of worship for expressing such affections. For to what end would He have done so? What righteousness would allow that service, duty, and obedience be required of those who could have no expectation or hope of acceptance or reward? This would contradict the very first understanding God requires us to have of His nature. For one who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) — which could not be so if He appointed voluntary worship while proposing no reward to those who worship Him.

Third, it is therefore clear that God, by prescribing worship to sinners, fully declares that there is forgiveness with Him for them.

First, He thereby shows that He is willing to receive a new return of glory from them. This, as we have shown, is the end of worship. He would never have done this except with a design to accept and reward His creatures. Do we think He will receive their voluntary, reasonable service — rendered according to His will and command — without rewarding it? And not with just any reward, but one entirely out of proportion to their obedience? Nothing of the sort would befit His infinite self-sufficiency, goodness, and generosity. Manoah's wife argues this well in Judges 13:23: 'If the Lord had meant to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands.' His acceptance of worship from us is an unmistakable demonstration that He will not execute against us the severity of the first curse. This is clearly evidenced in the first recorded act of solemn instituted worship performed by sinners in Genesis 4:4: 'God had respect to Abel and his offering.' Some believe God gave a visible sign of His acceptance — perhaps fire from heaven. How else would Cain have known instantly that his brother and his offering were accepted, while he and his were not? However it was, it is clear that whatever testimony God gave of His acceptance of the offering, He gave equally concerning the person offering it — He first had respect to Abel, and then to his offering. Therefore the apostle says that by this Abel obtained the testimony that he was righteous (Hebrews 11:4) — the testimony of God Himself. Now this was through the forgiveness of his sins, without which he could neither be righteous nor accepted, for he was a sinner. This God declared by accepting his worship. So we also, whenever we have any testimony of God's acceptance of us in any part of His worship, should use it for the same end. Has God expanded our hearts in prayer? Has He answered any of our requests? Has He refreshed our hearts through preaching, the ordinances, or any other means? We should not rest in the particular occasion of the communion we had with Him. Doing that is the reason we lose our experiences — they lie scattered, separated from their proper root, and are easily forgotten. The first use we ought to make of any such particular experience in the worship of God is this: to conclude that God has pardoned our sins and accepted our persons — for without that, none of our worship or service would please Him or be accepted by Him.

Second, by this God lets us know that He is dealing with us on new terms — so that despite sin, we may still enjoy His love and favor. For this we have the pledge of His truthfulness and integrity. He cannot deceive us. But through His command for worship, we would be deceived if there were not forgiveness with Him. For that command encourages us to expect, and gives us assurance of, acceptance with Him — which without forgiveness cannot be obtained. God therefore declares by His institution of, and command for, worship that there is nothing that will inevitably prevent those who give themselves up to the obedience of His commands from enjoying His love, favor, and fellowship with Him.

Fourth, as a matter of fact, it is known and acknowledged that God has appointed worship for sinners to perform. All the institutions of the Old and New Testaments bear witness to this. God is their author. People do not know what they are doing when they neglect them or attempt to mix their own imaginations into them. What could the human mind conceive or devise that could have any bearing on securing the confidence of believers in their acceptance with God? Is there any need for human additions to testify to God's truthfulness, faithfulness, and goodness? These things He has taken upon Himself. This then is what should be fixed on our souls at the very first invitation to religious worship: God intends a new return of glory from us, and therefore declares that there is a way for the removal of our sins — without which we can give Him no glory by our obedience. And this is accomplished only through forgiveness.

Fifth, there are particular ordinances of worship appointed specifically to confirm to us the forgiveness of sin. This is especially true in the worship instituted by the Lord Jesus under the New Testament. I will give one or two examples.

First, the ordinance of baptism. This accompanied the dawn of the Gospel in the ministry of John the Baptist. And he expressly declared in his preaching on it that it was instituted by God to declare the remission of sins (Mark 1:4).

It is true that the Lord Christ Himself submitted to that ordinance — being baptized by John — who had no sin. But this belonged to the obedience God required of Him, for He had been made under the law for our sakes. He was to observe all the ordinances and institutions of God's worship — not because His own person needed the particular meaning and significance some of them carried, but because as our sponsor, surety, and Mediator, standing in our place in all that He did, He was to yield obedience to them so as to fulfill all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). So He was circumcised and so He was baptized — both of which had reference to sin — though He was entirely free from all sin in His own person. For He was free from no form of obedience to any command of God.

But as was said, baptism itself — as an ordinance of worship appointed for sinners — was a declaration of the forgiveness that is with God. It was so from its first institution. God calls a man in a marvelous and miraculous manner, gives him a ministry from heaven, and commands him to go and baptize all those who, confessing their sins and professing repentance, come to receive a testimony of forgiveness. In its particular nature as an ordinance, God appointed it to represent to the senses the certainty and truth of His grace in pardon — through a visible pledge. He lets them know that He will take away their sin — their spiritual defilement — just as water takes away the outward filth of the body. And He declares that through this they will be saved, as certainly as Noah and his family were saved in the ark floating on the waters (1 Peter 3:21). What an enormous deception would have been played on poor sinners in all of this, if it were not absolutely certain that they could obtain forgiveness with God.

After the introduction of this ordinance in John's ministry, the Lord Christ took it into His own hands and commanded its observance by all His disciples. I will not debate here who are the proper immediate recipients of it — whether only those who can actually make profession of their faith, or believers together with their infant children. For my part, I believe that all whom Christ loves and pardons are to receive the pledge of it. And the sole reason advanced by those in former ages against baptizing the infants of believing parents was that they thought such infants had no sin — a mistake we now recognize. But I am not treating of these things here. This much I say is certain: in prescribing this ordinance to His church, the great intention of the Lord Christ was to assure us of the forgiveness of sins. Sinners are invited to participate in this ordinance for that very end — to receive the pardon of their sins, or rather an unmistakable pledge and assurance of it (Acts 2:38). The very nature of the ordinance declares this to be its end, as was indicated before. This is another engagement of God's truth, faithfulness, and holiness, so that we cannot be deceived in this matter. 'There is forgiveness with Me,' says God. 'But how shall I know it, Lord?' says the soul. 'How shall I come to be assured of it? For because of the unrelenting accusations of conscience and the curse of the law upon the guilt of my sin, I find it very hard to believe. Like Gideon, I would have a sign.' 'Then look,' says God, 'I will give you a pledge and a token that cannot deceive you. When the world of old was overwhelmed with a flood of waters because of sin, and those who remained had every reason to fear that the same judgment would fall again on them or their descendants — seeing the same cause was still present, for the thoughts of people's hearts were still evil continually — to secure them against these fears, I told them I would never again destroy the earth with water, and I gave them a token of My faithfulness by placing My bow in the cloud. And have I failed them? Though the sin and wickedness of the world since that day has been unspeakably great, mankind has not been drowned again, and never shall be. I will not disappoint the expectation I raised by that token. Wherever there is a word of promise confirmed with a sign, never fear a disappointment. So it is in this matter. I have declared that there is forgiveness with Me, and to give you assurance of it, I have ordained this pledge and sign — a seal of My word — to remove all doubt and suspicion that you may be deceived. As the world will be drowned no more, so those who believe will never fall short of forgiveness.'

And this is the use we ought to make of this ordinance. It is God's guarantee of the pardon of our sins, and we may safely rest in it.

Second, the same is the purpose of the other great ordinance of the church — the Lord's Supper. The same truth is confirmed by another sign, pledge, token, or seal. We have shown earlier how Gospel forgiveness is connected to the death or blood of Jesus Christ — the means by which it is procured for us, and the way by which it comes forth from God to the glory of both His righteousness and His grace. This ordinance, appointed specifically to represent and call to remembrance the death of Christ — and to communicate its benefits to those who believe — primarily concerns our faith and comfort in the truth under consideration. Therefore in the very institution of it, beyond the general purpose already mentioned which would have been sufficient for our security, there is additionally an explicit mention of the forgiveness of sin. So our Savior says in instituting it for the use of the church to the end of the world in Matthew 26:28: 'This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.' As if He had said: The purpose for which I have appointed the observance of this service to you is to testify to you that by My blood — the sacrifice of Myself and the atonement thereby made — I have purchased for you the remission of your sins, which you shall assuredly receive. I will add nothing more on this point, since the death of Christ as it relates to this ordinance will come before us again.

Third, what is the end of all church order, assembly, and worship? What is a church? Is it not a company of sinners gathered together according to God's appointment — to give glory and praise to Him for His pardoning grace, for the forgiveness of sins, and to yield Him the obedience He requires from us on account of how He has dealt with us? This is the nature and this is the end of a church. Whoever does not understand it, or does not use it for that end, only abuses that great institution. And such abuse fills the world. Some try to use the pretense of the church to advance their own worldly interests. Some perform its required duties with the secret hope that doing so will be their righteousness before God. Some fulfill only the letter of their convictions through a hollow profession. But the true end and true use of the church is this alone: we assemble to learn that there is forgiveness with God through Christ, to pray that we may be made partakers of it, to bless and praise God for our share in it, and to commit ourselves to the obedience He requires on that account. If this were constantly on our minds and in our purposes, we might be more established in faith than perhaps most of us are.

Fourth, one more particular instance of this kind will conclude this evidence: God has commanded us — and the Lord Christ has taught us — to pray for the pardon of sin. This gives us unquestionable assurance that pardon can be obtained and is to be found in God.

First, the Lord Christ, in revealing the will of God to us concerning the duty He requires, has taught and instructed us to pray for the forgiveness of sin. It is one of the petitions He has left on record for our use and pattern in that summary of all prayer He gave us in Matthew 6:12: 'Forgive us our debts.' Some contend that this is a set form of prayer to be used in exactly these words. All agree that it is at least a rule for prayer, covering the main things we are to pray for and obliging us to make supplication for them. So then, by the authority of God as revealed to us by Jesus Christ, we are bound as a matter of duty to pray for pardon and forgiveness.

Second, given this, it would be the highest imaginable blasphemy and dishonor to God to think that there is no forgiveness with Him for us. If we were to come on our own initiative — without His warrant and authority — to ask anything of Him, we might well expect to be disappointed. What would give us the boldness for that? But when God Himself commands us to come and ask something from Him — making it our duty, so that neglecting it becomes great sin and rebellion — to suppose He does not have the thing to give, or that His will is entirely opposed to giving it, is to reproach Him with a lack of truthfulness, faithfulness, and holiness, and to deny that He is God. For what sincerity could there be in such proceedings? Could it be consistent with any divine excellence? Could it have any end but to deceive poor creatures — either to mock them if they pray according to His command, or to add to their guilt if they do not? God forbid such thoughts should enter our hearts.

Third, to remove all remaining question in this matter: God has promised to hear our prayers, and in particular those we make for the forgiveness of sin. So our Savior has assured us that what we ask in His name will be done for us. And He has, as we have shown, taught us to ask this very thing of God as our Heavenly Father — that is, in His name. For it is in Him and through Him alone that God is a Father to us. I need not labor over particular promises to this effect — they are, as you know, abundant in Scripture.

What has been said is sufficient to establish our present argument: namely, that God's prescription of religious worship to sinners undeniably proves that there is forgiveness with Him — especially considering that the principal parts of the worship so prescribed and appointed are specifically designed to confirm us in faith of that truth.

And this is the design of the words we are expounding: 'There is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.' As we have shown, the fear of God in the Old Testament frequently expresses not simply that particular gracious affection of our minds called fear, but the whole worship of God in which that and all other gracious affections toward Him are to be exercised. The Psalmist tells us that the foundation of this fear or worship — and the only motive and encouragement for sinners to engage in it and give themselves to it — is that there is forgiveness with God. Without this, no sinner could fear, serve, or worship Him. This is therefore undeniably proved by the institution of worship — the very thing proposed for confirmation.

The purpose of all these things — as we will declare more fully afterward — is to encourage poor sinners to believe, and to show how inexcusable they will be who, in spite of all of this, refuse through the power of their lusts and unbelief to come to God in Christ that they might be pardoned. Indeed, the laying out of the certainty and fullness of the evidence given for this truth makes plain from where it is that people perish in and for their sins. Is it for lack of mercy, goodness, grace, or patience in God? Is it due to any deficiency in the mediation of the Lord Christ? Is it for lack of the mightiest encouragements and most certain assurances that there is forgiveness with God? Not at all. It is solely because of their own obstinacy, stubbornness, and perversity. They will not come to this light — indeed they hate it — because their deeds are evil. They will not come to Christ that they might have life. It is merely darkness, blindness, and love of sin that brings people to destruction. And this is laid bare, and all pretenses and excuses are removed, and the shame of people's lusts is exposed, by the full confirmation of this truth that God has furnished us with.

Take care, you who hear or read these things. If they are not mixed with faith, they will greatly add to your misery. Every argument will become your torment. But these considerations must be pursued further afterward.

Moreover, if you take to heart what has been said about the nature and purpose of the worship of God that you attend, you may be instructed in its proper use and observance. When you approach it, remember that this is what God requires of you as sinners. He would not have required it if He did not have thoughts and intentions of mercy for sinners. Bless Him with all your souls that this is laid as the foundation of everything you have to do with Him. You are not utterly cast off because you are sinners. Let this support and warm your hearts when you go to hear, to pray, or to any act of worship. Consider what your principal work is in all of it. You are going to deal with God about forgiveness — its existence, causes, results, and effects. Listen to what He speaks, declares, and reveals about it. Receive His revelation and promises with faith. Inquire diligently into all the obedience and thankfulness, all the duties of holiness and righteousness, that He rightly expects from those who are made partakers of it. In this way you will observe the worship of God to His glory and your own good.

The giving and establishing of the new covenant as another evidence of forgiveness with God. The oath of God engaged in its confirmation.

Eighth, another evidence of this truth may be taken from the making, establishing, and ratifying of the new covenant. That God would make a new covenant with His people is often promised and often declared. See among other places Jeremiah 31:31-32. That He has in fact done so, the apostle demonstrates at length in Hebrews 8:8-12. Several things in this may be considered for our present purpose.

First, it is assumed that God had before made another covenant with mankind — this one is called new in reference to that earlier one. It stands opposed to that former covenant, which is by comparison called old, and this is called new — as the apostle explicitly states in the passage cited. Now a covenant between God and man is a great and wonderful thing, whether we consider its nature or its ends. In its own nature it is a compact, agreement, and arrangement for certain ends and purposes between the holy Creator and His poor creatures. How infinite and unspeakable must the grace and condescension of God be in this? For what is poor, miserable man, that God should set His heart on him — that He should, as it were, place limits on His sovereignty over him and enter into terms of agreement with him? For whereas before, man was simply an object of God's absolute dominion — made at His will, for His pleasure, and on the same grounds to be crushed into nothing at any moment — now he has a foundation and ground given him to stand on, from which to expect good things from God on the basis of God's faithfulness and righteousness. God, in a covenant, offers those holy properties of His nature to His creatures as something for them to lay hold of and argue from in their dealings with Him. Without this a person would have no foundation for any fellowship or communion with God, no expectation from Him, and no direction for how to deal with Him in any concern. It was therefore a great and remarkable condescension in God to take His poor creature into covenant with Himself. And this will be all the more evident when we consider the ends of the covenant — why God deals with man this way. Those ends are none other than that man might serve Him rightly, be blessed by Him, and be brought to the everlasting enjoyment of Him — all to God's glory. These are the ends of every covenant God takes us into with Himself. And these are the whole of man. No more is required of us in the way of duty, and no more could be required to make us blessed and happy, than what is contained in them. That we might live to God, be accepted by Him, and come to the eternal enjoyment of Him — this is the whole of man: all we were made for, all we are capable of. And these are the ends of every covenant God makes with men, all summed up in that solemn word: that He will be their God and they shall be His people.

Second, given the nature and ends of a covenant, there must be some great and weighty reason to change, alter, and abolish a covenant once made and established — to set aside one covenant and enter into another. Yet this is exactly what the apostle says God has done, as stated in Hebrews 8:13, proved by the fact that God Himself calls what He promised a 'new' covenant — which undeniably confirms two things: first, that the other had become old; and second, that being old, it was changed, altered, and removed. I know the apostle speaks immediately of the old administration of the covenant under the Old Testament and Mosaic institutions. But he does so with reference to the way the first covenant made with Adam was revived in it. For in the giving of the law — with the curse that accompanied it, which was blended into that administration — there was a solemn revival and representation of the first covenant and its sanction, which gave it life and force to keep the people in bondage all their days. And the end of the abolishing of the legal administration of the covenant was simply to remove from God's dealings with His people all remaining use and memory of the first covenant. As was said, then, to take away, annul, and change a covenant so made, ratified, and established between God and man, is a matter that must rest on some compelling, important, and unavoidable cause. And this will be even more evident if we consider the following.

First, in general, the first covenant was good, holy, righteous, and equitable. It was such as befitted God to make and was in every way the happiness of the creature to accept. We need no other argument to prove it holy and good than this — that God made it. It was the product of infinite holiness, wisdom, righteousness, goodness, and grace. And therefore in itself it was altogether perfect, for such are all the works of God. Beyond this, it was such that even after man, through his own fault, can obtain no good from it and must perish forever by virtue of its curse — he cannot but acknowledge its righteousness and holiness. The law was its rule; in it the terms of the covenant are contained. And the apostle says, whatever becomes of the sin and the sinner, 'the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good' (Romans 7:12) — holy in itself by its own nature, as the order and constitution of the most holy God; just and equal with reference to us, so that we have no ground for complaint against its authority or its terms.

Second, it was specifically good, holy, and righteous in all its commands and in the obedience it required. Two things in particular made it exceptionally righteous with respect to its precepts. First, all its commands were suited to the principles of human nature as God created it — and the regular exercise of those principles was the very perfection of man. In the first covenant God required nothing of man, prescribed nothing to him, for which a natural principle of doing it was not already implanted in his nature. This made all those commands equal, holy, and good. Why should anyone complain of requirements for which their own nature was already fitted and inclined? Second, all its commands were proportionate to the strength and ability of those to whom they were given. God in that covenant required nothing of any person that He had not first enabled him to perform — nothing above his strength or beyond his power. For this reason too it was righteous. The covenant was also exceptionally good, holy, and righteous in its promises and rewards. 'Do this,' says the covenant — 'this which you are able to do, for which the principles of your nature are suited and inclined.' And what will follow? 'Do this and live' — life is promised to obedience, and such a life as, both for the present and future, brought with it everything needful to make the creature blessed and happy. Indeed, this life — containing the eternal enjoyment of God, with God Himself as the reward — was far beyond what any obedience of man could require as due or have any reason to expect on any basis other than the sheer goodness of God.

Third, the first covenant made provision for the preservation and display of God's glory, whatever the outcome on man's part. This was provided for in the wisdom and righteousness of God. If man continued in obedience and fulfilled the terms of the covenant, everything was arranged to serve the eternal glory of God in rewarding him. God would forever have manifested and exalted the glory of His holiness, power, faithfulness, righteousness, and goodness. He would have been glorified as the almighty Creator and Sustainer, as the faithful God and righteous Rewarder. On the other hand, if man through sin and rebellion should break the terms of the covenant, God had made provision that no damage to His glory would result. By constituting a punishment proportionate in justice to the sin and its desert, He ensured that the glory of His holiness, righteousness, and faithfulness to His warnings would be exalted — and that to all eternity. God would have lost no more glory through the sin of man than through the sin of the angels — which in His infinite wisdom and righteousness has become a great stage for His eternal glory. For He is no less excellent in His greatness and severity than in His goodness and power.

We may now return to our earlier inquiry. With everything so excellently and admirably arranged in infinite wisdom and holiness in this covenant — man's whole duty and blessedness fully provided for, and God's glory absolutely secured in every outcome — what was the reason God did not leave all things to stand or fall according to its terms? Why did He set aside this covenant and promise to make another — and then do so? It is certain He could have maintained it with complete security to His own glory, for He makes all things for Himself, even the wicked for the day of evil.

God Himself shows the sole and only reason for this arrangement in Hebrews 8:7-13. The sum of it is this: despite the excellent constitution of the first covenant, there was no provision in it for the pardon of sin — no room or place for forgiveness. On the assumption that man sinned, he was left in that covenant without remedy. God had not revealed in it that there was any such thing as forgiveness with Him, nor did any sinner have the least hope or grounds for expecting such a thing from Him. He must die and perish without remedy or recovery. Now, says God, this must not be. Mercy, goodness, and grace require a different state of things. This covenant will not display them; their effects cannot be communicated to poor sinners through it. Hence, He says, it is defective. I will not lose the glory of these, nor shall sinners go unrelieved by them. Therefore, though I could strictly bind all mankind to the terms of this covenant, I will make another covenant with them — one in which they shall know and find that there is forgiveness with Me, that they may fear Me.

Next to the blood of Christ by which this covenant was ratified and confirmed, this is the greatest evidence that can possibly be given that there is forgiveness with God. For what other purpose does God make this great change in His dealings with mankind? Forgiveness of sin is expressly contained in the words of the covenant. Set it aside and the new covenant would be no more useful or advantageous than the old. For since this covenant is made directly with sinners — there was no one in the world at the time God made it who was not a sinner, nor is it of use to any but sinners — forgiveness of sins is the very life of it.

From this we may see two things: first, the greatness of forgiveness, that we might learn to value it; and second, the certainty of it, that we might learn to believe it.

First, its greatness. God would not have done so great a thing unless it was for a great — the greatest — end. Had it not been a matter of the utmost importance for the glory of God and the good of human souls, God would not have set aside one covenant and made another for its sake. We can see plainly how deeply God's heart was set on it — how His nature and will were engaged in it. All this was done so that we might be pardoned. The old glorious structure of obedience and rewards was pulled down to the ground so that a new one might be built for the honor and glory of forgiveness. God forbid that we should think lightly of what was so remarkably and wonderfully brought about — in which God had, as it were, staked His great glory. Shall all this be done for our sake, and shall we undervalue or despise it? God forbid. If one may say so, God could more easily have made a new world of innocent creatures governed by the old covenant than have established this new one for the salvation of poor sinners. But then where would have been the glory of forgiveness? It could never have been known that there was forgiveness with Him. The old covenant could not have been preserved while sinners were pardoned. Therefore God chose to leave the covenant rather than leave sinners unrelieved, grace unexalted, and pardon unexercised. Prize it as you prize your souls, and give glory to God for it, as all who believe will do throughout eternity.

Second, for the security of it, that we may believe it. What greater security could possibly be given? God deceives no man, any more than He Himself is deceived. What more could God — who cannot lie — have done to satisfy us in this matter than He has already done? Would you be made a partaker of this forgiveness? Go to God and spread before Him this whole matter. Plead with Him that He Himself has, of His own gracious will, so far set aside the first covenant as to make a new one — and that the only reason was that the first had no forgiveness in it. This new covenant He made for the very purpose that it might be known that there is forgiveness in Him. Shall we not then be made partakers of it? Will He now deny to us that which He has given such assurance of and raised such expectation concerning? Nothing can harm us here, nothing can destroy us but unbelief. Lay hold on this covenant and we shall have pardon. God expresses this in Isaiah 27:4-5. Would we continue on the old foundation of the first covenant? All we can do on that basis is set thorns and briers in God's way — a defense against His coming upon us with His indignation and fury. Our sins are like that, and our righteousness is no better. And what will be the outcome? Both they and we will be trampled down, consumed, and burned up. What way then, what remedy is left? Only this — laying hold on the arm and strength of God in the covenant where forgiveness of sin is provided. In that covenant alone He says, 'Fury is not in Me.' And the end will be peace with Him, both here and forever.

Ninth, the oath of God interposed and engaged in this matter is another evidence of the truth under consideration. Since this is annexed to the covenant just discussed and serves as its confirmation, I will deal with it more briefly. In it we may consider the following.

First, the nature of God's oath. The apostle tells us He swore by Himself, giving the reason that He had no greater to swear by (Hebrews 6:13). An oath for the confirmation of something is an invocation of a supreme authority that can judge the truth of what is spoken and call to account any breach of the commitment. God has no such authority but Himself — because He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. He does this in two ways. First, by an explicit declaration that He has sworn by Himself — which was the form of God's first solemn oath in Genesis 22:16: 'By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord' — meaning: I have taken it upon Myself as God, or let Me not be God, if I do not perform this thing. This is expressed as 'by His soul' in Jeremiah 51:14: 'The Lord of hosts has sworn by His soul' — that is, by Himself, as we render it. Second, God does it by the special interposition of some property of His nature suited to give authority and confirmation to the word spoken — such as His holiness (Psalm 89:35: 'I have sworn by My holiness'), or as in Amos 4:2. Sometimes He swears by His life: 'As I live, says the Lord.' 'I live,' says God, 'it shall be so.' And sometimes by His name (Jeremiah 44:26). God thereby engages the honor and glory of the properties of His nature for the certain fulfillment of the things mentioned. This is clear from the form of expression, as in Psalm 89:35: 'Once I have sworn by My holiness' — in the original the sentence is incomplete, implying: 'If I lie to David — let Me not be, nor be counted, what I am.'

Second, the purpose of His oath. God does not give it to make His word or promise sure and firm in itself — for every word of God is already true and certain, being His own — and He could rightly require us to believe it without any further confirmation. But knowing the great objections that Satan and our own unbelieving hearts will raise against His promises — especially regarding our own personal share in them — He interposes His oath to settle our minds and remove all pretexts for unbelief. What room for distrust can remain in such a case? If there is a disputed matter between people, and an oath is interposed to confirm what is in question, it puts an end to all strife, as the apostle says (Hebrews 6:16). How much more ought it to do so when God Himself is the One who swears? The apostle declares the purpose of His oath to be to show the unchangeable nature of His counsel (Hebrews 6:17). His counsel had already been declared in the promise, but doubt may arise as to whether, on one occasion or another, God might change His mind — or whether He has altered it in some way that renders it useless to us. Whatever the occasion for such doubt, God adds His oath to remove it all, manifesting the unquestionable immutability of His counsel and promises. What is confirmed in this way is secured to the highest degree of which anything is capable. To refuse to believe it is the height of impiety.

Third, in this interposition of God by oath there is an unspeakable condescension of grace — which is both a great motive to faith and a great aggravation of unbelief. For what are we, that the holy and blessed God should so condescend to us as to engage Himself by an oath for our satisfaction and assurance? As one said well of old: 'How blessed are we, for whose sake God swears; and how wretched, if we do not believe even God when He swears to us.' It is an inestimable privilege that God should engage Himself by His oath for our sakes. Our misery will be all the greater if we do not believe Him when He swears to us. What can we now object against what is so confirmed? What pretense, excuse, or color can we have for our unbelief? How just, righteous, and holy must the destruction be of those who, in the face of this strange, wonderful, and unexpected security, refuse to set their seal to the truth that God is true.

Having established these points, we may consider how variously God has engaged His oath to confirm that there is forgiveness with Him. First, He swears that He has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he repent and live (Ezekiel 33:11). 'As I live,' says the Lord, 'I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner.' Now without forgiveness in Him, every sinner must die — without remedy. By confirming with His oath that it is His will for the sinner to return, repent, and live, He swears first and foremost that there is forgiveness with Him for those sinners who do repent and turn to Him.

Further, since the great means God has appointed for the forgiveness of sins is the mediation of the Lord Christ — as we will show afterward — He has on several occasions confirmed His purpose in Christ, and the counsel of His will, by His oath. By this oath He promised Christ to Abraham and to David of old, which proved the foundation of the church's stability in all generations and of its security and assurance of acceptance with God. See Luke 1:73-75. And in Christ's taking up the office by which the forgiveness of sins was to be particularly procured — namely, His office as a priest offering sacrifice and making atonement for sinners — God confirmed it to Him and established Him in it by His oath (Hebrews 7:20). He was not made a priest without an oath. And to what end? That He might be the guarantor of a better covenant (verse 22). And what was that better covenant? The one that brought with it the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 8:12-13). It was therefore forgiveness that was confirmed by the oath of God. Further, the apostle shows that the original promise made to Abraham, having been confirmed by the oath of God, all His other promises are similarly confirmed. From this he draws that blessed conclusion in Hebrews 6:17-18: for everyone who flees for refuge to the hope set before him — that is, who seeks to escape the guilt of sin, the curse, and the sentence of the law, by applying himself to God in Christ for pardon — he has the oath of God to guarantee that he will not fall short of it. And so all the aspects of the forgiveness of sin are testified to by the oath of God — which we have shown to be the highest security God can give in this matter and the highest we are capable of receiving.

The name of God confirming the truth and reality of forgiveness with Him. The same is also done by the properties of His nature.

Tenth, another foundation of this truth, and infallible evidence of it, may be taken from the special name and title God takes to Himself in this matter. He owns the name of the God of pardons — or the God of forgiveness. So He is called in Nehemiah 9:17. We have rendered the words as 'You are a God ready to forgive,' but they are more precisely 'You are the God of pardons' — or forgiveness, or propitiation. That is His name, which He owns and accepts when ascribed to Him. The name by which He will be known. To clarify this evidence we must consider the name of God and its use.

First, the name of God is what He reveals Himself to be — what He would have us know Him as and acknowledge Him to be. It is an expression of His nature or attributes that He has taken to Himself. Whatever therefore any name of God declares Him to be, that He is, and that is what we may expect to find when we come to Him — for He will not deceive us by giving Himself a wrong or false name. On this account He requires us to trust in His name, because He will assuredly be to us what His name declares. Resting on His name, fleeing to His name, calling on His name, praising His name — things so frequently mentioned in Scripture — all confirm this. These could not be our duty if we might be deceived in so doing. God is, and will be to us, what His name declares.

Second, God is said to be known by a name when those to whom He reveals Himself rest on that name by faith and experience what that name declares. For this reason, God did not reveal Himself under the Old Testament by the name of the Father of Jesus Christ or the incarnate Son, because that grace had not yet been accomplished for them — God having provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. They were not entrusted with the full revelation of God in all His blessed names. Neither does God call us to trust in any of His names unless He gives it to us in a special covenant way as something to rest upon. He speaks to this in Exodus 6:3: 'I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them.' Now it is certain that both of these names — God Almighty and Lord — were known among His people before. In the first recorded instance of Abraham approaching God in worship, he uses the name Lord in Genesis 12:7. He built an altar to the Lord, and afterward not only does Moses use that name in retelling the story, but it was already in frequent use among them. Why then is it said that God appeared to them as God Almighty but not as the Lord? The reason is that God Almighty was the name He gave Himself in the solemn confirmation of the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17:1: 'I am God Almighty.' And when Isaac prayed for the covenant blessing to rest on Jacob, he used that same name in Genesis 28:3: 'May God Almighty bless you.' He called upon the name of God that had been pledged in the covenant made with his father Abraham and with himself. For us to rest on God's name with full assurance, then, it is not enough for God merely to reveal that name as His own — He must also give it to us for this very purpose: that we might know Him by it and place our trust in Him according to what it declares. This is what happened whenever He revealed Himself to someone in a particular way through a special name. So He did with Jacob in Genesis 28:13: 'I am the God of Abraham and of Isaac' — assuring him that as He had dealt faithfully in the covenant with his fathers, so He would deal with him. And in Genesis 31:13: 'I am the God of Bethel' — the One who appeared to you there, blessed you, and will continue to do so. But when that same Jacob asked after another name of God, God did not answer him — as though commanding him to live by faith on what God had already been pleased to reveal. God had not made Himself known to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by the name Lord, because He had not specifically offered them that name or engaged it in His covenant with them, even though the name itself was otherwise known. They lived and rested on the name God Almighty, as the name suited to sustain and comfort them in their wandering, helpless condition while the promise awaited fulfillment.

But when God came to fulfill His promises and bring the people into the land of Canaan by virtue of His covenant, He revealed Himself to them and renewed His covenant with them under the name Lord. By this, God declared that He had come to give stability and fulfillment to His promises. Therefore, the people were now to live on the name Lord in expectation of those promises being kept — just as their fathers had lived on the name God Almighty in expectation of His protection during their wandering. This name became the foundation of the Jewish church and the ground of faith for all who sincerely believed in God within it. It is a striking work of God's providence that since the Jews rejected the covenant of their fathers and were cast out of it because of their unbelief, they have completely forgotten that name of God. No Jew in the world today knows what it is, how to pronounce it, or how to speak it. Some among them, and others outside, claim to find deep mysteries in the letters and vowels of that name that make it unutterable. But the truth is this: having been cast out of the covenant that was built and established on that name — through their own blindness and superstition, in the just judgment of God — they are no longer able to speak it or take it on their lips. What is required, then, is that God's name be given to us as pledged in covenant, securing our expectation that He will be to us what His name declares.

Third, the entire gracious name of God — every title He has given Himself, every ascription of honor He has owned — is confirmed to all who believe in Jesus Christ. For just as He has declared to us the whole name of God (John 17:6), so not just this or that promise of God, but all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Him. In earlier times, each particular promise God made to His people served especially for the specific occasion on which it was given, and each name of God was to be rested on in the particular situation it was suited to address — the name God Almighty for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the name Lord for Moses and the people. But now, through Jesus Christ and in Him, every particular promise belongs to all believers in all their circumstances, and every name of God belongs to them at all times as something to rest upon and trust in. So the particular promise made to Joshua at his entrance into Canaan — given to encourage and strengthen him in that great undertaking of conquering the land — is applied by the apostle to all believers in all their circumstances: 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (Hebrews 13:5). In the same way, every name of God now belongs to us as if it had been specifically pledged in covenant to us personally. This is because the whole covenant is ratified and confirmed to us in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 6:18; 7:1). This absolutely secures for us a share in the name God has taken for Himself — the God of forgiveness — as surely as if it had been given to each one of us individually to assure us of it.

Fourth, God takes the name 'God of forgiveness' as peculiarly His own — the name by which He will be distinguished and known. He claims it for Himself as expressing something that the power and goodness of no other can extend to. The apostle says there are many lords and many gods — some who are called such, and some who are regarded as such. How is the true God distinguished from these supposed gods? By this very name: He is the God of pardons. Micah 7:18 says, 'Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity?' This is His prerogative — in this, none is equal to Him, none is like Him, and none shares it with Him. The false gods of the nations cannot give what they do not possess — they have no refreshing showers of mercy and pardon in their power. Neither angels, nor saints, nor images, nor popes can pardon sin. By this name God distinguishes Himself from them all.

Fifth, to be known by this name is the great glory of God in this world. When Moses asked to see God's glory, God told him that he could not see His face (Exodus 33:18, 20). God's face — the glorious majesty of His being, His essential glory — cannot be seen by anyone in this life. We cannot see Him as He is. But the glorious manifestation of Himself we may behold and contemplate. We see it as if seeing the back of God — the shadow of His excellencies that He casts before us as He passes by in His works and dealings with us. And that is what Moses would see. What did it consist of? The revelation and declaration of God's name in Exodus 34:6-7: 'The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.' To be known by this name — to be honored, feared, and trusted as it declares Him — is the great glory of God. And can this name fail us? Can we be deceived by trusting in it and expecting to find Him to be what His name declares? God forbid.

Take all of these considerations together and they give us another firm foundation for the truth we are establishing, and strong encouragement for poor sinful souls to draw near to God in Christ for pardon. God has no name that He has not given to Himself. It is not lawful to know Him or call Him in any other way — He is what He calls Himself. What His name declares, His nature is. Every name of God is also pledged in Jesus Christ through the covenant and offered to us as something to place our trust and confidence in. And this is His name and memorial: the God of forgiveness. By this He distinguishes Himself from all others and holds it out as the principal title of His honor and His peculiar glory. According to this name, therefore, all who believe will assuredly find that there is forgiveness with Him.

Eleventh, the essential properties of God's nature — and what is required for them to be displayed — will give us further assurance of this truth. To that end, consider the following observations.

God is absolutely perfect and absolutely self-sufficient. Before and apart from creating anything — before He put forth His almighty power at all — He was eternally glorious and fully satisfied in His own holy excellencies and perfections. The making of all things therefore depends on a purely sovereign act of God's will and pleasure. The whole creation acknowledges this in Revelation 4:11 and 5:12: 'You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created.' God could have left all of creation unmade without the slightest diminishment of His glory. Not one holy property of His nature would have been lessened or reduced by that omission. Creation, then, depended entirely on a free act of His will and choice.

Second, if God chose to act outwardly — to produce anything outside of Himself by His power — it was absolutely necessary that He Himself be the end of that action. Before anything was created, there was nothing that could serve as the purpose for bringing it into existence or as the goal toward which it should be directed. Since God is an infinite agent in wisdom, understanding, and power, He could have no end in His actions except one that is equally infinite. It is therefore natural and necessary for God to do all things for Himself. He cannot have any other end, and He has in fact done exactly this, as Proverbs 16:4 says: 'The Lord has made everything for its own purpose.' He aimed at Himself in all He did, since there is no other infinite good for Him to make His aim and goal but Himself alone.

Third, doing all things for Himself does not mean that He gains any new real benefit or improvement by doing so. His absolute eternal perfection and self-sufficiency make this impossible. God does not become more powerful, great, wise, just, holy, good, or gracious through any of His works or anything He does. He can add nothing to Himself. What He intends and designs in His works, therefore, must be the manifestation and declaration of the holy properties of His nature. And there are two things this requires.

First, He must make them known — declaring through means suited to His infinite wisdom both that these properties belong to Him and what their nature is, to the extent the creature can understand.

He does things to make His power known and to declare His name throughout the earth (Romans 9:17, 22). It was said that through the works of creation, 'that which is known about God is evident' (Romans 1:19-20). And what is that? The natural, essential properties of His being — His eternal power and divine nature. Under this heading fall all God's promises to glorify Himself, all the prayers of His saints that He would do so, and all the Scripture's declarations that He has done so. He has made known His wisdom, holiness, power, goodness, self-sufficiency, and the other perfections of His nature.

Second, God designs not only to make His properties known but to receive praise, attribution of glory, and honor on their account. His design is to be admired in all who believe (2 Thessalonians 1:10) — that upon perceiving the excellencies He has revealed, and as He has revealed them, they would admire, adore, applaud, glorify, and praise Him; worship, believe in, and trust Him in all things; and pursue the eternal enjoyment of Him as their reward. This ascription of glory takes three forms.

First, it is interpretive — the way inanimate creatures and animals ascribe glory to God simply by what they are and what they do. By their very existence and by following the law and inclination of their nature, they give God the glory of the wisdom and power by which they were made, and of the sovereignty on which they depend. This is why, in the praises of God throughout Scripture, inanimate creatures — heaven and earth, winds, storms, thunder, and the beasts of the field — are so often called to give praise and glory to God. They do so by what they are, since through the impression of God's glorious excellencies stamped in their effects upon them, those excellencies are made known and evident.

Second, it is involuntary in some rational creatures. Sinful men and angels have no intention, no will, and no desire to give glory to God — they do everything in their power to the contrary, hating, reproaching, and blaspheming Him. Yet they cannot shake off God's yoke. In their minds and consciences they are forced — and will be forever — to acknowledge that God is infinitely holy, infinitely wise, powerful, and righteous. And He receives the glory of all these properties from them even in their very desire that He were otherwise. When they wish that God were not just enough to punish them, not powerful enough to torment them, not wise enough to find them out, not holy enough to be displeased with their lusts and sins — in that very wish they acknowledge and give to God the glory of His justice, wisdom, power, and holiness. Once God has made His properties known, the ascription of glory to Him for them is natural and unavoidable for rational creatures.

Third, it is voluntary — expressed in the reasonable service, worship, fear, trust, and obedience of angels and men. God reveals the properties of His nature to them, and they acknowledge and adore those properties, place their confidence in them, and thereby glorify Him as God. This voluntary glorifying of God consists of three things.

First, making the excellencies of God that have been revealed to us the chief and governing object of all the moral activities of our souls and all the movements of our affections. To fear the Lord and His goodness — to fear Him because of His goodness — to trust in His power and faithfulness, to obey His authority, to delight in His will and grace, to love Him above all because of His excellencies and beauty: this is to glorify Him.

Second, to pray for and rejoice in all the ways and means by which God will — or has promised to — further manifest and declare these properties of His nature. Why do we pray for and long for God's promises to His saints to be fulfilled, His warnings to His enemies to be carried out, the remaining glorious works of His power and grace to be accomplished, the kingdom of Christ to come, and glory to draw near? Is it not chiefly and principally so that the glorious excellencies of God's nature may be more fully revealed, more widely known, and more highly exalted — that God may appear more as He is and as He has declared Himself to be? This is to give glory to God. Likewise, our joy and satisfaction in any of God's ways and works rests solely on this: that in them, God in His properties — His power, wisdom, holiness, and the like — is revealed, declared, and made known.

Third, in the joint, active celebration of His praises. This is among the most important duties we are called to and the one we are most urgently and frequently urged toward. In its nature it consists in our believing, joyful expression of who God is and what He does — admiring, adoring, and blessing Him because of His holiness, goodness, and all other perfections, and because of His works of grace and power that flow from them. This is what it means to praise God, as Revelation 5 shows.

Fourth, note that none of these properties of God can be made known or glorified except through His declaration of them and their effects. We know no more of God than He is pleased to reveal to us. This means not only revelation through His Word, but revelation through any means — His Word, His works, or impressions from the law of nature on our hearts and minds. And whatever God declares about Himself, He does so by exercising, putting forth, and displaying the effects of those properties. We know His power, wisdom, goodness, and grace, for instance, through their effects — the works of God that proceed from them and correspond to them. Whatever is in God that is not made known in this way, we cannot perceive or glorify Him for. Since God does all things — as we have shown — for the glory of these properties, He reveals and makes them known accordingly.

Fifth, given God's purpose, it is necessary that He reveal and make known all the attributes and properties of His nature through works and effects that specifically proceed from them and correspond to them, so that He may be glorified in them — and as events show, this is exactly what He has done. What reason could there be for God to be glorified in one essential excellency of His nature and not in another? This must be especially affirmed of those properties whose manifestation, as events have shown, constitutes His principal glory — and whose knowledge is of the greatest benefit to all people in relation to His purposes for them.

Sixth, with these things established, consider how they apply to what is under examination. In creating all things, God glorified and manifested His greatness, power, wisdom, and goodness, along with many similar properties. But what about His sovereignty, righteousness, and holiness? These were not revealed by creation, or at least not clearly enough for Him to be fully glorified in them. Would He then leave them in darkness — hidden, undiscovered — while resting content in the glory of those properties already made known through creation? Would there be any reason for that, given that His design is to do all things for Himself and for His own glory? Therefore He gave His holy law as a rule of obedience to men and angels. This plainly revealed His sovereignty and authority over them, and His holiness and righteousness in the equity and purity of what He required — so that in and through these properties He might also be glorified. Just as He made all things for Himself — that is, to manifest His greatness, power, wisdom, and goodness — so He gave the law for Himself, to manifest His authority, holiness, and righteousness. But is this everything? Is there not also remunerative justice in God, expressed in His generosity? And is there not punitive justice in Him, expressed in His severity? Yes to both, and in pursuing the design already described, these too must be manifested, or God will not be glorified in them. This He accomplished through the rewards and punishments He attached to the law of obedience He had prescribed. To manifest His remunerative justice, He promised a reward in a spirit of generosity — a reward that the angels who did not sin received. And in the penalty He threatened — which sinning angels and men incurred — He revealed His punitive justice in a spirit of severity. So all these properties of God are made known through their effects, and so God is glorified in them and on their account.

But after all of this — are there no other properties of His nature, divine excellencies inseparable from His being, that none of these means so much as hint at? There clearly are: mercy, grace, patience, longsuffering, compassion, and the like. Concerning these, observe the following.

First, where there are no objects for these properties, they cannot be declared, manifested, or exercised. Just as God's power or wisdom could not be manifest if there were no objects for them to act upon, neither can His grace or mercy. If no one ever stands in need of them, they can never be exercised and therefore can never be known. For this reason they were not revealed through creation, through the law, through its sanctions, or through the law written in our hearts — because none of these presuppose any objects of grace and mercy. Grace and mercy can only be exercised toward sinners — those who have made themselves miserable through sin.

Second, no excellencies of God's nature are more expressive of His divine goodness, loveliness, and beauty than these — mercy, grace, longsuffering, and patience. Therefore, there is nothing He requires of us more — in terms of resembling Him and conforming to His image — than these very qualities: mercy, grace, and a readiness to forgive. And the opposite spirit in any person is what He most abhors. Those who showed no mercy will receive judgment without mercy. It is therefore certain that God will be glorified in the manifestation of these properties of His nature.

Third, these properties can be exercised — and therefore can only be known — through the pardon of sin. This places it beyond all doubt that there is forgiveness with God. God will not forfeit the glory of these excellencies. He will be revealed in them, known by them, and glorified for them — which would be impossible if there were no forgiveness with Him. Here we find not only the truth of forgiveness but its necessity.

Forgiveness is manifested in God's sending of His Son to die for sin, and also in the obligation He places on us to forgive one another.

Twelfth, we now come to the evidence that is the center where all the lines of the previous arguments meet and rest — the fountain from which all those streams of refreshment flow, the source that animates and gives life and force to all of them. This evidence lies in God's sending of His Son. Considering it will leave no pretense or excuse for unbelief in this matter.

To make this evidence as clear and compelling as possible, we must consider the following.

1. What gave rise to this sending. 2. Who it was that was sent. 3. How and in what manner He was sent. 4. To what end and purpose He was sent.

First, we need to consider where this forgiveness originated. It came from the eternal, mutual agreement and plan of the Father and the Son, as described in Zechariah 6:13: "The counsel of peace shall be between them both." This passage speaks of Christ, called the Branch. He will build the temple of the Lord and bear the glory. He will sit and rule on His throne as a priest, and the counsel of peace will be between them both. That is, between God the Father who sends Him and the Son Himself. This was the plan for peace-making between God and humanity, which was carried out in due time by Christ, who is our peace (Ephesians 2:16). He speaks of this in Proverbs 8:30-31: "Then I was beside Him, as a master craftsman, and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the inhabited parts of the earth, and my delights were with the sons of men." These are the words of wisdom — that is, the Son of God. When did this happen? "Then I was with Him." This was before the mountains were settled, before He had made the earth or the fields — that is, before the creation of the world, from eternity (verses 25-26). But how could He rejoice in the inhabited parts of the earth? And how could His delight be with the sons of men, when they did not yet exist? The answer is that it was the plan of peace toward them, mentioned before. In carrying out this plan, He would be sent to live among them on the earth. He rejoiced in the anticipation of being sent to them and the work He would do for them. Then, with His own consent and delight, He was foreordained to His work even before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), and received from the Father the promise of eternal life even before the world began (Titus 1:2). This eternal life was to be given to sinners by way of forgiveness through His blood. This whole plan is expressed in Psalm 40:7-8. The apostle draws on this passage in Hebrews 10:5-7: "Then I said, 'Look, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written of Me. I delight to do Your will, O God. Your law is within My heart.'" There you see the will of the Father in this matter, along with the law that governs how it would be carried out. And there is the will of the Son, answering the Father's will, and His delight in fulfilling the law that was prescribed for Him.

Now let us consider: what was the purpose of this eternal plan of peace — this agreement between the Father and the Son from eternity about the state and condition of humanity? If God had intended to leave everyone to perish under the guilt of their sins, there would have been no need for any such plan, design, or counsel. God had given humanity a law, righteous and holy, and if they broke it, He had threatened them with eternal destruction. Under the rule, authority, and power of this law, He could have righteously left them to stand or fall according to its verdict and sentence. But now He assures us and reveals to us that He had other thoughts about this matter — that there were other plans between the Father and the Son concerning us. And these were plans in which the Son delighted as He looked forward to their fulfillment. What could these thoughts and plans be, other than a way to deliver humanity? And that deliverance could only come through the forgiveness of sins, for whatever else might be done, if God keeps track of sins, no one can stand. So listen, poor sinner, and have hope. God is planning your deliverance and freedom. What is beyond the power of the Father's and Son's wisdom and grace to accomplish? And for this purpose the Son was sent into the world, which is the second thing to consider.

2. Whom did God send to carry out this work? Scripture places great weight and emphasis on this point, and so must faith. John 3:16 says: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son." And 1 John 4:9 says: "In this the love of God was revealed toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." And again in verse 10: "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Who is this one who was sent and called the only begotten Son of God? Consider two descriptions of Him — one from the Old Testament and another from the New. The first is from Isaiah 9:6: "For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." The other is from Hebrews 1:2-3: "God has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds, who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." This is the one who was sent. In His nature He was glorious — even God over all, blessed forever. In His likeness to the Father, He is the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, possessing all the same essential qualities. So whatever we find in Him, we can be assured of in the Father also — for whoever has seen Him has seen the Father, who is in Him. In power He is omnipotent, for He made all things and upholds all things with incredible ease by the word of His power. In office He is exalted over all, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high. In name He is the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. So whatever He came to accomplish, He will certainly fulfill — for what could hinder or prevent this Mighty One from completing His purpose?

This consideration raises our evidence to a height that gives unquestionable assurance in this matter. Here is a specific and concrete object for faith to fix upon and rest in. Why did this glorious Son of God come and dwell among poor sinners? We beheld the glory of the eternal Word — the glory of the only begotten of the Father — and He was made flesh and pitched His tent among us (John 1:14). To what end? It was for no other purpose than to carry out the eternal counsel of peace toward sinners already described: to procure forgiveness of sin for them and to declare it to them. And what greater evidence, what greater assurance can we have that there is forgiveness with God for us? God Himself has given us a rule: what is done by giving an only begotten or only beloved son gives assured testimony of genuine sincerity in the thing so confirmed. So He said to Abraham in Genesis 22:12: 'Now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' This is how such a thing can be known — or it cannot be known at all. What blessed conclusions faith may draw from this: 'Now I know that there is forgiveness with God, since He has not withheld His Son, His only Son, but gave Him to accomplish it.' The apostle teaches us to reason this way in Romans 8:32: 'He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?'

What more can any soul desire? What ground remains for unbelief to stand on in this matter? Is there anything more to be done? It was to make plain that there is forgiveness with Him, and to open the way for its exercise, that God sent His Son — and that the Son of God came into the world, as will become even clearer afterward.

Third, the manner in which the Son was sent adds further evidence and assurance to everything already said. How was He sent? Not in glory, not in power, not in an open display of His eternal power and divine nature. Had it been that way, we might have thought He came merely to manifest and glorify Himself in the world — and He could have done that without any thought of mercy or pardon toward us. But He came in an entirely different way: seen in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), in the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7), born of a woman, born under the law (Galatians 4:4). What He endured, suffered, and underwent in that state and condition is known to us all to some degree. None of this could have been merely or primarily for Himself. All He sought at the end of it was to be glorified with the glory He had with the Father before the world was (John 17:5). It must therefore have been for our sakes — to save and deliver us from the state of wrath and the coming judgment that we had brought on ourselves through sin. That is, to procure for us the forgiveness of sin. Had God not designed pardon for sin, He would never have sent His Son in this manner to testify to it. And He did it this way because there was no other way it could be accomplished, as we have already shown. Do we doubt whether there is forgiveness with God, or whether we will obtain it if we come to Him seeking it? Consider the condition of His Son in the world — His suffering, poverty, temptation, sorrow, and affliction. Then ask your soul: what was the purpose of all this? If you can find any other design in it, any other reason, cause, or necessity for it, besides testifying and declaring that there is forgiveness with God and purchasing and securing its communication to us — then stay in your fears and perish. But if this is indeed the reason, then we have more than sufficient ground to assure our souls of what we may expect.

Fourth, beyond all this, what preceded leads to a great and marvelous outcome in the death of the Son of God. This was a momentous event, and it is worth pausing to ask what was designed in it. Scripture gives us a full account.

First, He died to make atonement for sin and reconciliation for iniquity (Daniel 9:24). He gave His life as a ransom for the sins of many (Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:6). He was made sin so that others might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 8:3). He bore our sins in His body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). This is the reality of the matter. Despite all the love, grace, and condescension described above, our sins were so contrary in nature to God's justice and holiness that unless atonement was made and a price of redemption paid, no pardon — no forgiveness — could be obtained. This is what Christ undertook to do through the sacrifice of Himself, fulfilling everything that had been foreshadowed and represented in the sacrifices of old — as the apostle explains at length in Hebrews 10:5-9. In this, the forgiveness that is in God is laid out so clearly and visibly that anyone who cannot read it will be condemned forever. And justly so — for what more could be required to justify God in that eternal condemnation? Anyone who will not believe His grace as testified and shown in the blood of His Son — let him perish without remedy.

Second, the curse and sentence of the law stands on record against sinners. It asserts its demands against our release and binds us under obligation to punishment. God will not set aside or nullify His law without its demands being met — without that, there is no acceptance for sinners. This is the next purpose Christ's death was designed to accomplish. Just as He made atonement and satisfied justice — which is the source and foundation of the law — He also fulfilled and answered the demands of the law as an expression of God's justice. Romans 8:3 says He suffered in the likeness of sinful flesh so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled and answered. He answered the law's curse when He was made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). And so in terms of the law's obedience requirement, He became the end of the law for righteousness to all who believe (Romans 10:3-4). And in terms of the penalty the law threatened, He bore it, removed it, and took it out of the way. He has therefore made a way for forgiveness right through the heart of the law — the law now has nothing to say against the pardon of those who believe.

Third, sinners are under the power of Satan. He lays claim to them — and how shall they be rescued from his grip and dominion? This too was a purpose Christ's death was designed to accomplish. He appeared to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8), and through death He destroyed the one who had the power of death (Hebrews 2:14) — stripping him of his power, dismantling his dominion, and removing his claim over sinners who believe, as we have explained more fully elsewhere.

Through all of these things — and many other aspects of His death that could be cited — we are fully assured of the forgiveness that is with God and of His willingness for us to be made partakers of it.

Fifth, was this all? Did His work end with His death? Did He do nothing further to secure the forgiveness of sins for us beyond dying for them? No — He also lives after death for the same end and purpose. The Son of God, in the nature He took on to make atonement for sin through death, lives again after death to secure and complete the forgiveness of sins for us. He does this in two ways.

First, by being raised from the death He underwent to make atonement for sin — raised by the power and gracious will of God — He demonstrates and testifies that He fully completed the work He undertook. He received a discharge on our behalf. Had He not fully answered the guilt of sin through His death, He would never have been raised from it.

Second, He lives after death a mediatorial life, interceding for us so that we may receive the forgiveness of sin, and Himself giving it out to us. These truths are frequently cited to encourage souls to believe, so they need not be elaborated further here.

So this is how the matter stands: so that mercy might have a way to exercise itself in forgiveness, while remaining consistent with the honor of God's righteousness and law, the Son of God was sent for the ends and purposes described. This constitutes the greatest work God has ever done or ever will do. It was the most remarkable product of infinite wisdom, goodness, grace, and power. In this, all the excellencies of God shine forth more gloriously than in all the other works of His hands. Let us then carefully consider this matter and bring our souls — with all their objections — to this evidence, to see what exception we can raise against it. I know nothing will satisfy unbelief — its design is to convince the soul in the end of what it tries to persuade it of now: that there is no forgiveness in God. Satan, who uses this device, knows well that there is none for those who believe there is none — or rather, who refuse to believe there is any. For on the last day, people will receive according to their faith or unbelief. The one who rightly believes, and the one who does not believe, that forgiveness is with God — neither of them will be deceived about their own particular standing. But what reasonable objection can be raised against this evidence, this foundation of our faith in this matter? God has not sent His Son in vain — which He would have done, as we have shown, had He not designed to manifest and exercise forgiveness toward sinners. To strengthen our faith from this, let us probe these things further through some particular inquiries.

First, since the Son of God died in the way and manner He did, according to the determined counsel and will of God — why did He do so, and what was His aim in it?

Answer: It is plain that He died for our sins (Romans 4:25) — that is, to make reconciliation for the sins of His people (Hebrews 2:17-18). Moses, the prophets, and the whole of Scripture testify to this. Not a single word of Scripture can be rightly believed without this as the foundation. Nor can we render any true obedience to God without it.

Second, what then did God do to Him? What took place between God as the judge of all and the One who was the Mediator of the church?

Answer: God laid on Him the iniquities of all — all the sins of all the elect (Isaiah 53:6). He made Him a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). Making Him a sin offering, He condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21). So everything that the justice and law of God required regarding the punishment due for sin was laid upon Christ and executed on Him.

Third, what then did Christ do in His death? What was He aiming for? What was His intention in submitting to and enduring the will of God in all of this?

Answer: He bore our sins in His own body on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). He took our sins upon Himself, undertook to answer for them, to pay our debt, and to bring an end to the dispute between God and sinners on their account (Daniel 9:24). His aim was undoubtedly to make such complete atonement for sin through everything He suffered and endured that nothing more on that account could ever be required.

Fourth, did God have anything more to require of sinners for sin — to satisfy His justice, vindicate His holiness, exalt His glory, and repair His honor — beyond what He charged against Christ? Did He lay only part of the penalty due for sin on Christ, execute only some of the law's curse against Him, while reserving some of His wrath for sinners themselves?

Answer: Certainly not. Christ came to do the whole will of God (Hebrews 10:7-8). God did not spare Him anything that His holy will had appointed to be done in relation to sin (Romans 8:32). God would never have dealt with His Son this way only to make a half-finished work of it. Nor is the work of making satisfaction for sin the kind of work where any portion — however small — could ever be taken up by another. Nothing is more dishonoring or blasphemous toward God and Christ than the foolish Roman Catholic notion of works that satisfy for punishment due for sin, or any part of it — as also is the idea of purgatory pains to purge any remaining guilt after this life. This work of making satisfaction for sin is one that no creature in heaven or earth can have any part in. It was entrusted entirely to the Son of God, who alone was able to undertake it and who has perfectly accomplished it. Therefore God now says, 'Fury is not in Me; whoever takes hold of My strength shall have peace' (Isaiah 27:4-5).

Fifth, what happened to the Lord Christ in His undertaking? Did He see it through, or did He give way under it? Did He only demonstrate His love and show His goodwill for our deliverance, or did He also pursue it effectively — not stopping until He had made a way for the exercise of forgiveness?

Answer: It was not possible for death to hold Him (Acts 2:24). He knew beforehand that He would be carried through His work, that He would not be abandoned in it, nor give way under it (Isaiah 50:6-8). And God gave unmistakable evidence that Christ had paid the debt of sin to the uttermost by raising Him from the dead. For anyone imprisoned under the sentence of the law for the debt of sin is not released until he has paid to the last cent. His resurrection from the dead, therefore, demonstrated that He had done exactly this.

Sixth, what has become of Him now? Where is He, and what is He doing? Has He finished His work and set it aside, or does He continue to carry it forward until it is brought to its completion?

Answer: He was dead, but He is alive and lives forever. He has told us that because He lives, we will live also. This is the purpose of His mediatorial life in heaven: He lives forever to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:26-27). And His purpose in doing so is that the forgiveness of sin He has procured for us may be communicated to us, so that we might receive it and live forever.

What ground is left for questioning the truth we are examining? Which link in this chain can unbelief break? If people resolve — in spite of all this evidence and assurance — that they will still not believe there is forgiveness with God, or refuse to take steps to secure it for themselves, or despise it as something not worth pursuing, then this much is enough for those who declare and preach these things: they are a fragrant offering to God both among those who are perishing and among those who are being saved. I am grateful to God for the opportunity to bear testimony to the grace of God in Christ. If it is not received, it is because the god of this world has blinded the eyes of people so that the light of the gospel of the glory of God does not shine into their minds. But Christ will be glorified in all who believe on these principles and foundations.

Thirteenth, another evidence of this same truth may be drawn from the fact that God requires forgiveness of us — commanding us to forgive one another — and therefore there is assuredly forgiveness with Him for us. The force of this consideration will become clear in the observations that follow.

First, it is certain that God has required this of us. There are many well-known passages on this, so they need not all be cited here. See Luke 17:3-4, Ephesians 4:32, and Matthew 18:24 to the end. There are, however, a few things that give this command particular weight and show how important this duty is — things worth noting.

First, our Savior requires us to carry a sense of our integrity and sincerity in fulfilling this duty into our approaches to God in prayer. He therefore teaches and commands us to pray for forgiveness of our debts to God — that is, our sins and offenses against Him that make us debtors to His law and justice — even as we forgive those who trespass against us (Matthew 6:12). Many people are quick to argue about whether the words of this model prayer are to be recited exactly every day. I wish they would pay equal attention to the prescription given here for the spirit and frame of heart that ought to accompany all our prayers — it might possibly reduce some of their intensity on that and other matters. But here is a rule for all prayer, as all acknowledge, as well as a description of what is required to make it acceptable. In particular, this is required: that before the One who searches all hearts, and in our approaches to Him in our most pressing concerns, we declare our sincerity in fulfilling this duty and make our obtaining of what we seek contingent on it. This is a great honor placed on this duty, making it especially significant and showing how closely God's glory and the good of our souls are wrapped up in it.

Second, note that no other duty is explicitly placed in the same rank or order with forgiveness — which makes clear that it has been singled out as a token and pledge of our sincerity in all other aspects of our obedience to God. Christ Himself has made it the test case for sincerity in universal obedience, which is no small honor. The apostle places great weight on the fifth commandment — 'Honor your father and mother' — because it is the first commandment with a promise (Ephesians 6:2). All the commandments had a promise ('Do this and live'), but this was the first to have a specific, attached promise. And that promise had a particular foundation in God's ordering of the thing itself: parents would prolong the lives of obedient children (Exodus 20:12) — by praying for their welfare, blessing them in God's name, and guiding them in the ways of obedience so that they might live and possess the land. This promise has now been carried over from the covenant of Canaan into the covenant of grace, with parents' blessing contributing to their children's share in it and prolonging their days to eternity, even if their days in this world are few. As Isaiah 53:10 says of our Savior, He would see His seed and prolong His days — a word that has been lifted over into eternal things. But that is by the way. Just as the special promise attached to the fifth commandment sets it apart, so does this specific focus on forgiveness in our prayers set it apart. Though we are to carry a testimony of our sincerity in universal obedience into all our approaches to God, the singling out of this particular duty makes it especially remarkable and shows what a high value God places on it and how much it pleases Him.

Third, God requires this forgiveness of us on the basis of the forgiveness we receive from Him — which places upon us the greatest possible obligation to perform it and provides the strongest and most powerful motive imaginable for doing so. See Ephesians 4:32.

Fourth, this duty is more directly and explicitly required in the New Testament than in the Old. It was required then, but not as openly, plainly, or expressly as now. We therefore find a different spirit among believers under the old dispensation compared to those under the new. Some of the Old Testament saints expressed toward their enemies, oppressors, and persecutors sentiments that, while warranted by a particular movement of the Spirit in them and suited to the dispensation they lived under, are not appropriate for us now, who receive grace upon grace through Jesus Christ. Zechariah, dying, cried out, 'The Lord see it and avenge it' — but Stephen, dying in the same cause and in the same way, said, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' Elijah called down fire from heaven, but our Savior rebuked even the smallest inclination in His disciples to imitate him in this. The reason for this difference is that forgiveness in God — especially its nature and cause — is far more clearly revealed in the gospel under the New Testament, which has brought life and immortality to light, than it was under the law. All our obedience, both in content and manner, must be shaped by the revelation God has given us.

Fifth, forgiving others is made an explicit condition of obtaining pardon and forgiveness from God (Matthew 6:14-15), and the nature of this is explained in Matthew 18:24. There are not many conditions of this kind in the gospel. I acknowledge that they have no direct causal power in bringing about the fulfillment of the promise — but failure to meet them is sufficient proof that we have no legitimate claim to the promise and no grounds for appealing to it. Our forgiving of others does not earn forgiveness for ourselves, but our refusal to forgive others proves that we ourselves are not forgiven. All of these things show what weight God Himself places on this duty.

Second, observe that there is no quality more fitting, useful, honorable, or praiseworthy in any person than a sincere practice of this duty. To be harsh, unyielding, relentless, and revenge-seeking is one of the worst corruptions of human nature. No one is more widely and justly branded with real dishonor among wise and good people than those who are like this and act accordingly. To nurse injuries, hold onto a sense of wrongs, watch for opportunities of revenge, and live in hateful perversity is to display the image of the devil to the world in its true colors — for he is the great enemy and the avenger of himself. On the other side, no grace, no virtue, no duty, and no ornament of the mind or character is in itself so lovely, so fitting, so praiseworthy, or so useful to humanity as gentleness and a readiness to forgive and pardon. This is the quality above all that makes a person a truly good person — someone others would even risk their lives for. And I am sorry to add that this grace is recommended also by its rarity — it is rarely found among people. How little this duty is practiced — like self-denial, willingness to bear the cross, and forsaking the world — is evidence, if not of how little genuine sincerity there is in the world, then at least of how little growth and progress there is among those who profess the faith.

Third, every grace, virtue, and perfection in any person is both a gift flowing from God's divine goodness and generosity and an expression of some divine excellency or perfection — some quality that exists in God in an infinitely more excellent degree. We were created in the image of God. Whatever was good and beautiful in us was part of that image, especially the ornaments of our minds and the perfections of our souls. These qualities bore a resemblance to and a correspondence with certain excellencies in God, to which they may be traced by way of analogy. This image was largely lost through sin, leaving only a shadow of it in the faculties of our souls and in the dominion over creation that God in His patience still permits to people. The recovery we receive through grace is nothing less than the initial renewal of God's image in us (Ephesians 4:22-24) — the implanting in our natures of those graces that make us like Him again. And nothing qualifies as grace or virtue unless it corresponds to something in God. Whatever we possess of this kind, God possesses absolutely, perfectly, and in an infinitely more excellent way.

Let us now put these things together. God requires of us that there be forgiveness in us for those who offend us — forgiveness without limit or restriction. He bestows this grace on His saints, places a high value on it, and makes clear in many ways that He counts it among the most excellent of all human qualities and one of the most admirable traits any person can have. What shall we then say? Is there forgiveness with Him or not? He who made the eye — does He not see? He who planted the ear — does He not hear? He who prescribes forgiveness to us and bestows the grace of it upon us — is there not forgiveness with Him? To say otherwise is as much as to say: though we are good, God is not; though we are kind and generous, He is not. Whoever finds this grace at work in him to any degree, yet fears he will not find it in God for himself, is in that very fear elevating himself above God — which is the natural fruit of wretched unbelief.

But the truth is, if there were no forgiveness with God, forgiveness in man would be no virtue at all — nor would the qualities that incline toward it, such as gentleness, compassion, patience, and pity. What would those things amount to but the unleashing of human nature into rage and madness? For just as every truth consists in its correspondence to the first and eternal Truth, so virtue does not consist primarily in conformity to a rule or command, but in correspondence to the first, absolute, perfect Being and His perfections.

The properties of forgiveness — its greatness and its freedom.

The arguments and demonstrations presented above have, we hope, established beyond question the great truth we have been examining — the life and soul of all our hope, profession, religion, and worship. The aim of all this discussion is to lay a firm foundation for faith to rest on when it comes to God seeking forgiveness of sins, and to encourage all kinds of people to do so. That aim now remains to be explained and pressed home. But before we come to that directly, two things need to be addressed first. The first is to set out some of the qualities and aspects of this forgiveness that may both encourage and compel us to pursue it and to receive the promises and testimonies concerning it with faith, to our benefit. The second is to show how necessary all this effort is, in light of the great unbelief that is found in most people on this matter. As to the first of these, then, consider the following.

First, the forgiveness that is with God is such as befits Him — suited to His greatness, goodness, and all other excellencies of His nature — the kind of forgiveness through which He makes Himself known as God. What He says concerning certain works of His providence — 'Be still and know that I am God' — may be said with even greater force concerning this great act of His grace: still your souls, and know that He is God. It is not like the narrow, grudging, half-hearted, and constrained forgiveness that is sometimes found among people when it is found at all. It is full, free, boundless, bottomless, and absolute — such as befits His nature and excellencies. In a word, it is forgiveness that is with God, and through its exercise He will be known as such.

First, God Himself sets His forgiveness apart from anything our thoughts or imagination can reach, because it is His — and like Himself. It is an object for faith alone, which can rest in what it cannot fully comprehend. Faith is never safer than when it is, so to speak, overwhelmed by infiniteness. But set mere rational thought or human imagination to work on such things and they fall impossibly short. They can neither conceive of these things rightly nor use them for their proper purpose. If God's forgiveness were not beyond what people could imagine, no human being could be saved. God expresses this Himself in Isaiah 55:7-9: 'Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.' It is plain from the context that these thoughts and ways are thoughts and ways of forgiveness and pardon. Our understanding falls short of them — we know little or nothing of the infinite largeness of His heart in this matter. The person He is speaking of is an openly wicked man, a man of deceit and persistent evil — someone we would have little hope for, whom we would hardly think it worth addressing about conversion, and for whom we could barely bring ourselves to pray, being inclined to write him off as a lost cause. But let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive forgiveness. How can this be? Is it possible there could be mercy for such a person? Yes — for the Lord will multiply to pardon. He has forgiveness in Him to outpace all the multiplied sins of anyone who turns to Him and seeks it. But this is very hard for us to take in. This is not how we deal with hardened offenders against us. 'True,' says God, 'but My ways are not your ways.' 'I do not act in this matter as you do or as you are accustomed to act.' 'Then how can we understand it — how can we conceive of it?' You will never do it through reason or imagination, for as the heavens are above the earth, so are God's thoughts in this matter above our thoughts. This is an expression used to convey the largest and most incomprehensible distance possible. Creation can supply no more fitting image of it. The heavens are inconceivably far above the earth and incomparably more glorious. So are the thoughts of God — not only distant from ours but possessing a glory that we cannot rise to. When we come to deal with God about forgiveness, we so often get tangled in every branch of quarreling, disputing unbelief. Some particular circumstance or aggravation, some supposedly unique case, strips us of our confidence. The root cause is failing to think rightly about Him with whom we are dealing — measuring Him by the line of our own imagination, bringing Him down to the level of our thoughts and ways. Because we find it hard to forgive a small debt, we think He cannot forgive a large one. But God has provided an answer to this in Hosea 11:9: 'I will not execute My fierce anger; I will not destroy Ephraim, for I am God and not man.' Our assurance in this matter must come from His nature. Were He a man, it would be impossible — given so many and such great provocations — for Him to turn away from the fierceness of His anger. But He is God. This gives His forgiveness an infiniteness and an inconceivable boundlessness that exalts it above all our thoughts and ways. Here is something to lament: presumption, which turns God into an idol, ascribes to that idol a greater largeness in forgiveness than faith is able to rise to when it deals with Him as the God of infinite excellencies and perfections. The reasons for this are plain enough. But this much is certain: no presumption can falsely imagine for itself a forgiveness from the idol of its heart that faith may not find in Him and receive from Him in the proper way.

Second, God calls on His infinite excellencies to demonstrate the greatness and boundlessness of His forgiveness. He puts them before us to convince us that we will find pardon with Him proportionate and answerable to them. See Isaiah 40:27-31: 'Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God"?', 'Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.' The issue in question is whether acceptance with God — which can only come through forgiveness — can be obtained. Sinful Jacob was either despairing of this or at least deeply discouraged about it. But God says: 'My thoughts are not your thoughts in this matter.' And what does He do to correct their mistake? What argument does He use to free them from unbelief and rebuke their fears? He simply calls them to consider who and what He is — with whom they have to do. So that they might expect acceptance and forgiveness such as befits Him, He reminds them of His power, His immensity, His infinite wisdom, His unchangeableness, and all the excellencies and properties of His nature. He then asks them whether they do not have every reason to expect forgiveness and grace beyond all their thoughts and comprehension — forgiveness that answers the infinite largeness of the heart from which it flows.

Moses pressed this same argument when pleading for forgiveness for the people under a severe provocation and a threatened destruction in Numbers 14:17-18. He pleaded for pardon in a way befitting the great and glorious properties of God's nature — in a way that would demonstrate His infinite power and all-sufficiency.

This, I say, is a general encouragement to believers. We have, I trust, established on unquestionable grounds that there is forgiveness with God — which is the hinge on which the whole outcome of our eternal condition turns. And this forgiveness is like Him — suited to Him, answering the infinite perfections of His nature, exercised and given by Him as God. We are prone to narrow and restrict it through our unbelief, and in doing so to make it unworthy of Him. The person who, being wholly under the power of the law, believes there is no forgiveness with God, or does not believe it can be obtained — with the voice of the law supporting him in that — dishonors God no more (or hardly more) than those who, having been convinced of all the grounds and principles of forgiveness and of the truth of the testimony given to it, still shrink and restrict it until it falls short of what is worthy of One whose excellencies are all infinite and whose ways are therefore beyond all comprehension. If we resolve to deal with God in this matter — which is the business now before us — let us do it in a way that befits His greatness, which is the same as doing it in a way that truly answers the need of our souls. Let us not tangle our own spirits by putting limits on His grace. The father of the boy possessed by a demon, in his deep distress when he came to our Savior, cried out: 'If You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us!' (Mark 9:22). He desperately wanted his son delivered, but the matter seemed so great that he questioned whether the Lord Christ had either enough compassion or enough power to help. And what did this get him? Nothing but a delay in his child's healing. Our Savior held him back until He had taught him better, saying in verse 23: 'If you can? All things are possible to him who believes.' 'Do not misunderstand — if your child is not cured, it is not for lack of power or compassion in Me, but for lack of faith in you.' 'My power is such that all things are possible through it, provided they are believed.' This is how it is with many who long to be made partakers of forgiveness. If it were possible, they would gladly be pardoned — but they cannot see how it is possible. Where is the problem? Is it that God has no pardon for them — for people like them? Perhaps they fall short of pardon because of this. But the reason is not that God cannot pardon them. It is that they cannot — they will not — believe that the forgiveness with Him is such that it would answer every need of their souls, because it answers the infinite largeness of His heart. And even if this does not fully deprive them of pardon, it greatly delays their peace and comfort. God does not take it well to be limited by us in anything, least of all in His grace. He calls this a tempting of Him, a provoking test — as in Psalm 78:41: 'Again and again they tempted God, and pained the Holy One of Israel.' This He could not bear. If there is any pardon with God, it is such as befits Him to give. When He pardons, He pardons abundantly. Take your half-pardons and limited, conditional forgiveness with reservations and restrictions to the sons of men — it may suit them; it is like them. God's forgiveness is absolute and perfect. Before it, our sins are as a cloud before an east wind and a rising sun. He is said to do this work with His whole heart and His whole soul — freely, generously, and abundantly forgiving our sins, and casting them into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19), into a bottomless ocean, a picture of infinite mercy. Remember this, poor souls, when you come to deal with God in this matter: all things are possible to those who believe.

Second, this forgiveness is with God not merely in the sense that we may come to it if we choose, without offending Him, but in the sense that He has placed His great glory in declaring and communicating it. We can honor Him in no better way than by coming to Him to receive it. For the most part, we behave as if we would rather steal forgiveness from God than receive it from Him as One who gives it freely and generously. We pick it up and put it down again, as though we would gladly have it if only God would not, as it were, notice us taking it — because we are afraid He is not truly willing for us to have it. We would steal this fire from heaven and have a share in God's treasures and riches almost without His consent. At the very least we think we receive it reluctantly from Him, with great difficulty, as something rarely given and barely obtained — that He gives it out with a kind of unwilling willingness, the way we sometimes give charity without cheerfulness, as though He loses something each time He pardons. We are prone to think that we are very willing to receive forgiveness but that God is unwilling to give it — because He seems to lose something by it, as though He must give up the glory of inflicting punishment for sin, which we suppose He is most reluctant to relinquish. This is the very nature of unbelief. But in truth, things are entirely otherwise. In this matter, through the Lord Christ, God has ordered all His dealings with sinners to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:6). His design in the whole mystery of the gospel is to make His grace glorious — to exalt pardoning mercy. The great fruit and product of His grace is forgiveness: the forgiveness of sinners. This is what God intends to make Himself glorious in and through. All the praise, glory, and worship He designs to receive from anyone in this world is to flow to Him by way of this grace, as we have established at length before. It was for this cause that He spared the world when sin first entered it. For this cause He provided a new covenant when the old had become unprofitable. For this cause He sent His Son into the world. All of this He has testified through all the evidences we have examined. Had He been willing to lose the praise of His grace, none of this would have been done. We can therefore honor God in no more excellent way than by receiving forgiveness from Him — He being willing to give it precisely because it tends to His own glory, through the way He has specially chosen for its display. Hence the apostle urges us to draw near boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) — that is, with the confidence of faith, as he explains boldness in Hebrews 10:19-20. We come about a business that God is well pleased with — one He delights in doing, as He expresses in Zephaniah 3:17: 'The Lord your God is in your midst, a victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.' This is how God pardons: He does it in a rejoicing, triumphant way, abundantly satisfying His own holy soul in it, and resting in His love. We have every encouragement to draw near to the throne of grace and receive what God is so willing to give. To this end also serves the oath of God previously discussed — to cut the root of all secret reserves of unbelief concerning God's unwillingness to give mercy, grace, and pardon to sinners. See Hebrews 6:17-18. The tendency of all our earlier arguments, therefore, is not merely to prove that there is forgiveness with God, which we may believe without being mistaken — but which we ought to believe. It is our duty to do so. We recognize it as our duty to pray, to hear the Word, to give generously, to love fellow believers, and to avoid sin — and when we fall short in any of these, we feel the guilt of it pressing on our conscience. But we hardly think it our duty to believe the forgiveness of our sins. It is well for those who can do it, we think — but we do not think it is a fault in those who cannot. Such people may be pitied, we suppose, but not justly blamed — not even by God Himself. Whose conscience is almost ever burdened with this as a sin — that he does not believe the forgiveness of his sins as he ought? And this is simply because people do not judge it their duty to do so. For when a person fails in a duty he recognizes as such, guilt from that failure will press on his conscience. But what could possibly be lacking in this matter to make it a duty?

First, there is forgiveness with God, and this has been manifested, revealed, and declared. That manifestation is what makes it an object of faith. We believe things to be in God and with Him not merely because they are so in themselves, but because He has revealed and declared them to be so (1 John 1:2). What He so declares, it is our duty to believe — or we frustrate the very purpose of His revelation.

Second, we are expressly commanded to believe, under the highest promises and the gravest penalties. This command is what formally makes believing a duty. Faith is a grace in that it is freely worked in us by the Holy Spirit and is the root of all obedience and other duties as it is planted in the heart. But as it is commanded, it is a duty — and these commands are expressed in various ways throughout the New Testament: through invitations, exhortations, and declarations, all of which carry the force of commands.

Third, it is a duty — as we have shown — of the greatest importance to the glory of God.

Fourth, it is of the greatest importance to our souls, both now and in eternity. These points needed to be added to lay the foundation for the exhortations that follow.

Evidence that most people do not truly believe forgiveness.

What should now follow is the practical application of this truth that the whole discussion has been building toward — namely, giving exhortations and encouragements to believe. But I can take only a few steps in this direction before I imagine someone saying: 'Surely all this is unnecessary — who does not already believe everything you have been trying to prove? All this effort has been spent to little or no purpose.' Before I urge anyone to believe, then, I will first try to show that they do not already believe it. Many people — most people, I say, who live under the proclamation of the gospel — are pitifully deceiving their own souls in this matter. They do not actually believe what they profess to believe and what they think they believe. People talk about fundamental errors — this, to my mind, is the most fundamental and most destructive error anyone can fall into. It consists of two parts: first, they do not truly believe forgiveness; second, they suppose they do believe it, which keeps them from seeking their only remedy. Both of these mistakes strike at the foundation and ruin the souls of those who live and die in them. I will then examine this matter briefly by a clear inquiry. Whether we truly believe forgiveness or not can be answered and decided by some plain rules and principles. But before the resolution I intend, two observations need to be made first.

First, people in this case are very prone to deceive themselves. Self-love, empty hopes, fondness for one's lusts, common false assumptions, laziness, unwillingness to examine oneself, and concern for reputation — both in the world and perhaps in the church — all work together powerfully in people's self-deception in this matter. It is no easy thing for a soul to break through all of these, and all the self-reasoning that rises from them, to reach a clear judgment about its own dealings with God regarding forgiveness. People also find in a general presumption of this truth a convenient relief from the gnawing of conscience and troubling thoughts about sin. Aiming only at the removal of discomfort, and finding their present assumption sufficient for that, they never bring their persuasion to the test.

Second, as people are prone to this self-deception, so they actually practice it — they do deceive themselves, and they do not know they do so. The last day will make this evident, if people will not be convinced of their folly sooner. When our Savior told His disciples that one of the twelve would betray Him, though only one of twelve was in danger, every one of the twelve made a personal inquiry about himself. I will not say that one in twelve is mistaken here — but I am certain the truth tells us that many are called and few are chosen, and that only a few truly believe forgiveness. Is it not then incumbent on each person to inquire about which group he is likely to be found in at the last day? While people push this inquiry away from themselves, thinking or saying it may be the concern of others but not of them, they perish — and without remedy. Remember what poor Jacob said when he had lost one child and feared the loss of another in Genesis 43:14: 'If I am bereaved, I am bereaved' — as if saying, if I lose my children, I have nothing more to lose; they are my everything. Nothing worse can happen to me in this world — comfort, joy, life itself goes with them. How much more may people say in this case: if we are deceived here, we are deceived — all is lost. Hope, life, and soul must all perish, and that forever. There is no help or remedy for those who deceive themselves in this matter. They have found a way to go quietly down to destruction.

These things are raised as incentives to self-examination in this matter, and to make the considerations that follow useful. Let us then turn to them.

First, in general: this is a gospel truth — the great, foundational, and most important truth of the gospel. It is the turning point between the two covenants, as God Himself declares in Hebrews 7:7-13. Now a very basic consideration of how people actually live will settle this inquiry — whether they truly believe the gospel, the covenant of grace, and its foundational principles. Surely their ignorance, spiritual darkness, blindness, corrupt affections, worldly lives, earthly-mindedness, and open rejection of the Spirit, the ways, and the yoke of Christ speak no such language. Are we to think that proud, self-willed, worldly, self-seeking people — haters of God's people and His ways, despisers of the Spirit of grace and His work, those who sacrifice everything to their own lusts — believe the covenant of grace or the forgiveness of sins? God forbid that we should entertain even one thought so dishonoring to the gospel. Wherever the gospel is truly received and believed, it produces different effects (Titus 2:11-12; Isaiah 11:6-9). It teaches people to deny all ungodliness and worldly desires. It changes their hearts, natures, and ways. It is not the barren, powerless, and fruitless thing that such a conclusion would make it.

Second, those who truly believe forgiveness in God thereby obtain forgiveness. Believing gives them a share in it and brings it home to the soul. This is the inviolable law of the gospel — believing and forgiveness are inseparably joined. Among the many evidences that a person has a share in forgiveness, I will name only one: they prize and value it above all the world. Let us ask what esteem and value many of those who claim to believe forgiveness actually place on it. Do they look upon it as their treasure, their jewel, their pearl of great price? Are they earnestly concerned about it? Do they frequently look and check whether it remains safely in their possession? Suppose a man has a precious jewel stored somewhere in his house — and suppose it is to him what the poor widow's two mites were to her, her entire livelihood. Would he not think carefully about it? Would he not frequently reassure himself that it is safe? We can tell that a house or a field does not belong to a man when he passes by it daily and takes little or no notice of it. Now how do most people regard forgiveness? What is their ordinary attitude toward it? Are their hearts constantly filled with thoughts about it? Are they earnestly concerned about whether they have it? Do they reckon that while forgiveness is secure, all is secure for them? When it is, as it were, obscured by sin and unbelief, do they give themselves no rest until it is freshly discovered to them? Is this the frame of most people? The Lord knows it is not. They talk of forgiveness but do not esteem it, do not prize it, and make no specific inquiry after it. They gamble carelessly on whether they are ever partakers of it; they call upon it as a remedy for pangs of conscience, or else hardly think of it at all.

Let no one with such a mindset flatter himself that he has any real acquaintance with the mystery of gospel forgiveness.

Third, those who claim to hold this persuasion should be asked how they came to hold it — so that we may know whether it is from the One who calls us, and so that we may determine whether they have broken through the difficulties in embracing it that we have shown at length to stand in the way.

When Peter confessed our Savior to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Savior told him that flesh and blood had not revealed this to him, but the Father in heaven (Matthew 16:17). It is the same with those who truly believe forgiveness in God: flesh and blood has not revealed it to them. Nothing within them or around them has helped them toward it — everything lies in opposition to it. This is the work of God — that we believe (John 6:29). It is a great work, the greatest work God requires of us. It is great not only in itself — for the grace of believing is a great thing — but also in respect of its object: what we have to believe, namely, forgiveness itself. The great honor of Abraham's faith lay precisely in the fact that death and impossibility lay in its path (Romans 4:18-20). But what is a dead body and a barren womb compared to an accusing conscience, a condemning law, and the sense of God as a consuming fire — all of which, as we showed, oppose themselves to a soul called to believe forgiveness?

What now do most people who are confident in their profession of this faith have to say to this? Let them speak honestly and they must admit they never found the slightest difficulty in this matter — they never doubted it, never questioned it, and do not know why they should. It is something they have taken so entirely for granted that it never cost them an hour of labor, prayer, or meditation. Have they had secret debates and struggles in their hearts about it? No. Have they considered how the objections against it might be answered? Not at all. But is it really true that this persuasion simply came to you, you know not how? Are the corrupt natures of people and the gospel really so naturally compatible? Has the new covenant become so natural to flesh and blood? Has the greatest secret ever revealed from the Father's heart become so familiar and easy to the wisdom of the flesh? Has what was foolishness to the wise Greeks and a stumbling block to the sign-seeking Jews suddenly become wisdom and a plain path to the very same principles that were in them? The truth of the matter is this: such people have a general, useless, barren notion of pardon — furnished to them by Satan, presumption, tradition, hearsay, and the habitual hearing of the Word. But as for that gospel discovery of forgiveness we have been describing, they are utterly ignorant and unacquainted with it. To convince such poor souls of the folly of their presumption, I would simply ask them to go to some genuine believers they may know and ask whether they came by their faith and their sense of forgiveness so easily. 'Alas,' says one, 'for twenty years I have been pursuing God, and still I have not arrived at a settled, cheerful persuasion of it.' 'I know what it cost me,' says another, 'what trials, difficulties, and temptations I wrestled through before I obtained it — what I have attained has been of unspeakable mercy.' 'And my daily prayer is that I may be kept in it by the surpassing greatness of God's power, for I continually wrestle with storms ready to drive me from my anchor.' A little of this kind of conversation ought to be enough to convince poor, blind, carnal souls of the folly and emptiness of their confidence.

Fourth, there are specific means through which the revelation and discovery of this mystery is made to people's souls. By these means they obtain it, or they do not obtain it. The mystery itself was a secret, hidden in the counsel of God from eternity, and there was no way it could be revealed except through the Son of God — and that is done through the word of the gospel. If you say you know it, let us ask how you came to know it and by what means it was declared to you. Was it through the truth of God's Word, through the promise of the gospel? Was it by hearing the Word preached, or by reading or meditating on it? Did it come through some timely word from Scripture spoken to you? Or did it gradually take hold of your heart and mind through the struggles and conflicts of your soul over sin, working from the general truth in which you had been instructed? Or by what other means have you come to that acquaintance with it of which you boast? You can say how you came by your wealth, your gold and silver. You know how you became educated, or how you learned the craft of your trade — who taught you, and how you came by it. There is nothing that concerns you about which you cannot answer those questions. Think it no great burden, then, to also answer this one: by what way or means did you come to the knowledge of forgiveness you claim? Was it by any of the means mentioned above, or some other? If you cannot give a clear answer — if you can only say that you have heard it and believed it as long as you can remember, that those before you said so and those around you say so, that you never met anyone who questioned it nor heard of anyone except perhaps one or two despairing wretches — then it is fair to ask whether you have any real share in this matter at all. If uncertain rumors, reports, and general notions lie at the bottom of your persuasion, do not suppose that you have any communion with Christ in it.

Fifth, of all who profess to believe forgiveness, how few there are who actually know what it is. They believe, they say — but as the Samaritans worshiped, they do not know what. With some, bold presumption and crying 'peace, peace' passes for believing forgiveness.

With others, a general sense that God will not punish them — that though they are sinners they will get away with it — passes for the same thing.

Some think they will manage by their prayers and desires to keep God from sending them to hell. In one way or another, escaping the punishment of hell and avoiding judgment in the next world is what most people have fixed their minds on.

But is this the forgiveness revealed in the gospel — the forgiveness we have been treating? The source and origin of our forgiveness lies in the heart and gracious nature of God, declared by His name. Have you inquired seriously into this? Have you stood at the shore of that infinite ocean of goodness and love? Have your souls found support and relief from that contemplation? Have your hearts leaped within you at the thought of it? Or if you have never been moved in a particular way by this, have you at least bowed your soul under the consideration of that sovereign act of God's will — the next source of forgiveness — that glorious exercise of free grace by which, when all might justly have perished (for all have sinned and fall short of His glory), God yet chose to have mercy on some? Have you surrendered yourself to this grace? Is any of this part of what you believe? Suppose you are a stranger to this as well — what communion with God have you had in the blood of Christ? We have shown how forgiveness relates to His blood: how it makes a way for mercy to be exercised consistently with the glory and honor of God's justice and His law; how pardon is procured and purchased through it; the mysterious reconciliation of love and law; and the new way it sets the conscience free to do its work. What do you have to say to these things? Have you seen pardon flowing from the heart of the Father through the blood of the Son? Have you looked upon it as the price of His life and the purchase of His blood? Or do you only have general thoughts that Christ died for sinners and that forgiveness relates to Him somehow — while remaining a stranger to the mystery of this great work? Suppose this too is the case. Let us go a little further and ask whether you know anything else of equal importance in this matter. Forgiveness, as we have shown, is declared, offered, and held out in the covenant of grace and the promises of the gospel. The rule for receiving it is that it be received with faith (Hebrews 4:2). It would be well if you had grown to this point — but those who are strangers to the things just mentioned are no less strangers to this. The conclusion is that you do not know what forgiveness is — what it consists of, where it comes from, how it is procured, or by what means it is given out to sinners. It is pointless for such people to claim they believe what they are, in both understanding and practice, such utter strangers to.

Sixth, another line of inquiry concerns the condition the soul must be in before it is possible for it to believe forgiveness. If such a condition exists, and it can be shown that very many of the people we are addressing have never been brought into it, then it is clear that they neither do nor can believe forgiveness — however much they may deceive their own souls.

We showed earlier that the first disclosure of pardoning grace was made to Adam immediately after the fall. What was his state and condition at the time? How was he prepared to receive this great mystery at its first revealing? That pattern seems to be a significant guide for how things proceed. What is first in any kind sets the pattern for all that follows. Now what was Adam's condition when forgiveness was first revealed to him? The story makes it plain: convicted of sin and terrified of punishment, he lay trembling at the feet of God. In that state, forgiveness was revealed to him. The Psalmist frames it the same way in Psalm 130:3: 'If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?' He is full of thoughts about the desert of sin and of inevitable, eternal ruin if God were to deal with him according to what the law demands. It is in that state that the great comfort of forgiveness with God is brought to him by the Holy Spirit. We know the kind of response our Savior encountered with the Pharisees on this account. 'Are we blind also?' they said. 'No,' He replied, 'but because you say you see, your sin remains' (John 9:40-41). It is pointless to speak of forgiveness to people in your condition — you must necessarily remain in your sins. 'I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance' — those who not only are sinners (as you also are) but who know it, and know what a ruined state it leaves them in. The healthy have no need of a physician — the sick do. While you consider yourselves righteous and well, it is useless to speak to you of forgiveness; you cannot understand or receive it. It is therefore impossible for anyone to truly believe forgiveness in God unless he has been genuinely convicted of sin in himself. If the hard ground is not broken up, it is pointless to sow the seed of the gospel. There is neither life, power, nor sweetness in this truth until a door is opened for its entrance through conviction of sin.

On this ground too, let us continue our examination of those who commonly boast of their familiarity with this mystery. You believe there is forgiveness with God? Good — but have you been convicted of sin? Yes, you say — you know well enough that you are a sinner. Then answer once more, regarding the nature of this conviction of sin you claim. Does it not consist of these two elements: first, a general sense that you are a sinner, as all people are; and second, particular troubling pangs of conscience when, at some outburst of sin, conscience accuses, rebukes, and condemns? You would say yes — what more could be required? But this is not the conviction we are asking about. That is a work of the Spirit through the Word. What you are describing is a merely natural work — one you can no more be without than you can cease being human. It will do nothing to help you receive forgiveness. But perhaps you will say you have gone further than that and these things have had a deeper effect in you. Let us then test whether your process has been according to God's intention — and so whether this insurmountable barrier has been removed from your path. For though not every convicted person believes forgiveness, no one who is not convicted does. Have you then been made genuinely sensible of your natural condition — what it means to be alienated from the life of God and liable to His wrath? Have you been convicted of the universal hostility in your heart toward the mind of God, and of what it means to be at enmity with God? Has the staggering number of the sins of your life been set in order before you by the law? Have you considered what it means for sinners — sinners such as you are — to have to deal with a righteous and holy God? Have you considered what it means for sinners — sinners such as you are — to have to deal with a righteous and holy God? If you answer honestly, many of you must say that you have never been put through this. You have heard of these things many times, but you cannot say you have gone through this work or had any experience of it. Then you are a stranger to forgiveness because you are a stranger to sin. But suppose you say you have had such thoughts, and are persuaded that you have been thoroughly convicted of sin — I will ask one more question. What effects has your conviction produced in your heart and life? Have you been filled with anguish and spiritual distress? Have you had fears, dread, or terror to wrestle with? You may say no — and I will not press that inquiry. But what I will press is this: has it filled you with self-loathing and disgust, with self-condemnation and humility? If conviction does anything at all, it will do that. If you fall short here, it is fair to fear that all your other claims are worthless. Where there is no true work of conviction, there is no faith in forgiveness — whatever is claimed. And how many empty boasters this test will expose is all too evident.

Seventh, we have yet a stronger evidence than all these. People live in sin — and this shows they do not believe the forgiveness of sin. Faith in general purifies the heart (Acts 15:9). Our souls are purified through obedience to the truth (1 Peter 1:22), and life is made fruitful by faith (James 2:22) — faith works through works and is made complete through them. And the doctrine of forgiveness has a special influence on all holiness (Titus 2:11-12): the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to deny all ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and in a godly manner in this present age. That is the grace we are speaking of. No one, therefore, can believe the forgiveness of sin without a corresponding hatred and forsaking of it. The grounds of this could be laid out more fully — the way faith in forgiveness works to produce a forsaking of sin — if needed. But all who acknowledge the gospel must own this principle: genuine belief in the pardon of sin prevails on people not to go on living in sin.

But what of the great majority of those who claim to receive this truth? Are their hearts purified by it? Are their consciences cleansed? Are their lives changed? Do they deny all ungodliness and worldly desires? Does their belief in forgiveness teach them to do so? Have they found it effective for these purposes? Where then does all the clamor and evidence to the contrary among them come from?

Some of you are drunkards, some are people who take God's name lightly, some are sexually immoral, some are liars, some are worldly, some are haters of everything to do with Christ and His concerns on earth — proud, greedy, boastful, self-seeking, envious, hot-tempered, gossipers, malicious talkers, slanderers, and the like. Are we to think that people like these believe the forgiveness of sin? God forbid. Again, some of you are spiritually dark, ignorant, and blind — utterly unfamiliar with the mystery of the gospel — and you make no effort at all to inquire into it. You either hear it not at all, or hear it carelessly, lazily, habitually, to no effect. Let no such people deceive their own souls: to live in sin and yet believe the forgiveness of sin is utterly impossible. Christ will not be a servant of sin or give His gospel to be a doctrine of license for your sakes. You will not be forgiven so that you may be free to commit more evil. God forbid.

If anyone says, 'I thank God I am not such a person as those mentioned — I am no drunkard, no blasphemer, no immoral person — so this does not concern me; my life and duties tell a different story,' then consider this further.

The Pharisees were everything you say of yourself — and yet they were the greatest despisers of forgiveness who ever lived, because they hated the light on account of their evil deeds. As for the duties you mention — what is the root and source of them? Are they driven by this faith in forgiveness you boast of, or not? Is it not fair to fear they are nothing of the sort? You do not perform them because you love the gospel but because you fear the law. If the truth were known, I suspect it would turn out that all you gain from your belief in pardon is an encouragement to sin. Such goodness as you have springs from a different root. It may also be that you use a belief in forgiveness to shield yourself from the blows of conscience or from guilt over particular sins — which is as bad as the other. It is as harmful to be encouraged toward sin by it as to be shielded by it from humiliation for sin. No one under heaven is further from genuine belief in grace and pardon than such people are. All their righteousness comes from the law, and a great deal of their sin comes from the gospel.

Eighth, those who truly believe forgiveness do so for the ends and purposes for which God has revealed it. This builds on and extends the previous consideration. If God reveals something for one purpose and people use it for an entirely different one, they are not receiving God's Word or genuinely believing what is revealed — they are stealing the word and deceiving their own souls.

Let us then examine the ends and purposes for which this forgiveness was first revealed by God — the same ends for which it continues to be declared in the gospel. We have already shown who it was to whom this revelation was first made and what condition he was in when it came. He was a lost, wretched creature with no hope and no help, with no knowledge of how he could ever find acceptance with God. God revealed forgiveness to him in Christ as his everything. God's intention in it was that a sinner's all should be of grace (Romans 11:6) — for if anything is added to grace for the same purpose, grace is no longer grace. Furthermore, God intended forgiveness as a new foundation for obedience, love, and thankfulness — that people would love because they were forgiven and be holy because they were pardoned. As I showed earlier, that forgiveness might be the righteousness of sinners and the source of new obedience in them, all to the praise of grace — these were God's ends in revealing it.

Our question then is whether people receive this revelation for these ends and use it for these purposes and these only. I could demonstrate the contrary by cataloging all the common abuses of the doctrine of grace mentioned in Scripture — they are familiar enough in the world. But it is not necessary. Instead of believing, most people seem to make a studied insult of the gospel. They either proclaim it to be an unholy and polluted way by turning its grace into license for evil — or they treat it as a weak and inadequate way by attempting to blend it with their own righteousness. Both of these are an abomination to the Lord.

From these and other considerations of similar weight that could be added, it is evident that our labor is not wasted, nor is the exhortation that follows pointless. It appears that, despite all the noise and pretense to the contrary in the world, there are very few who genuinely receive this foundational truth of the gospel — that there is forgiveness with God. Poor souls toy with their own self-deceptions and perish in their own delusions.

An exhortation to believe the forgiveness that is with God — its reasons and its necessity.

We now come to the direct application of this great truth. Having laid our foundation in the unfailing Word, and having given — we hope — sufficient evidence for its truth, our final task is to apply it to the good of people's souls, which has been our aim all along. All sinners without exception are the persons addressed by this truth. No category of sinners is excluded from it. And they may all be placed under two headings.

First, those who have never yet sincerely embraced the promise of grace, and who have never yet received forgiveness from God through faith. These are the people we have been trying to rescue from their delusions — to expose the false presumptions by which they tend to ruin their own souls. These are the people we now want to guide into safe and peaceful paths where they may find assured rest and peace.

Second, there are those who have received forgiveness but who, being entangled again by sin, or clouded by darkness and temptation, or weakened by unbelief, do not know how to apply it to their peace and comfort. This is the condition of the soul depicted in Psalm 130 — and it is this condition that we will address specifically and in detail in its proper place.

Our exhortation is therefore to both groups: to the first, that they would receive forgiveness so that they might have life; to the latter, that they would make use of it so that they might have peace. To the first — that they would not overlook, disregard, or neglect so great a salvation as is being offered to them. To the latter — that they would stir up the grace of God within them to receive with faith the grace of God declared to them.

I will begin with the first group — those who are still complete strangers to the covenant of grace, who have never yet believed this forgiveness on saving grounds, who have never once tasted gospel pardon. Poor sinners — this word is for you.

Perhaps you have heard or read the same kind of message before — perhaps often, perhaps a hundred times. It is your concern to hear it again. God would have it so. The testimony of Jesus Christ is to be declared in this way. We must proclaim this counsel of God so that we are free from the blood of all people (Acts 20:26-27). And not once or twice — in preaching the Word, we must be ready in season and out of season, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging with all patience and teaching (2 Timothy 4:2). As for you — woe to you when God stops speaking to you; when He refuses to call you any longer. This is God's departure from any person or people: when He will no longer deal with them about forgiveness. As He says, 'Woe to them when I depart from them' (Hosea 9:12). Therefore, may God give to such people eyes that see and ears that hear, so that the word of grace would no longer be spoken to them in vain. In our exhortation to such persons, we will proceed step by step, as the nature of the matter requires. Consider, then, the following.

First, despite all your sins — all the evil your own heart knows you are guilty of, and that hidden store of evil treasure within you that you cannot even fully see — despite the charge that lies against you from your own conscience, despite the dreadful sentence and curse of the law you are subject to, despite every just ground you have to think that God is your enemy and will be so forever — there are terms of peace and reconciliation provided and offered between God and your soul. This is the first thing declared by the words we have been examining. Whatever else they tell us, they positively assert this: there is a way for sinners to be accepted by God. There is forgiveness with Him, that He may be feared. We trust that we have not confirmed this by so many testimonies and evidences in vain. Now, that you may see how great a privilege this is and how deeply your wellbeing depends on it, consider the following.

First, this belongs to you in a special way — it is your particular advantage.

It is not so with the angels who sinned. No terms of peace or reconciliation were ever offered to them, and never will be to eternity. No way of escape was provided for them. Having sinned once — as you have done a thousand times — God did not spare them but cast them down to hell and delivered them to chains of darkness, to be kept for judgment (2 Peter 2:4).

It is not so with those who have died in their sins, even a moment ago. How many souls who departed from this world perhaps an hour since would rejoice beyond measure for a share in this privilege — to hear terms of peace between God and themselves proposed one more time. But their time is past; their house is left to them desolate. As the tree falls, so it must lie. It is appointed for all people to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). After death there are no terms of peace — nothing but judgment. The living — only the living — are able to benefit from this privilege.

It is not so with those to whom the gospel has not been preached. God allows them to walk in their own ways and does not call them to repentance in this manner. The terms of reconciliation that some imagine are offered through the shining of the sun and the falling of rain have never brought any soul to peace with God. Life and immortality are brought to light only through the gospel. This is your privilege — you who are still alive and still have the Word sounding in your ears.

It is not so with those who have sinned against the Holy Spirit, even if they are still alive and living where the Word of forgiveness is preached. God offers no terms of reconciliation to them. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, says Christ, will not be forgiven (Matthew 12:31). There is no forgiveness for such sinners. If we knew who they were, we should not even pray for them (1 John 5:16) — their sin is unto death. How many may be in this condition, God alone knows.

But this word is to you — these terms of peace are being set before you. This is what you must above all attend to. Woe to you if it is found at the last day that you neglected it. Therefore, consider the following.

Second, consider by whom these terms are offered to you and by whom they were procured for you. By whom are they offered? Who could undertake to resolve the dispute between God and sinners? No creature, certainly, is fit or worthy to step into this matter on its own account. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Therefore it is God Himself who offers these terms — and not only offers them, but invites, urges, and pleads with you to accept them. The whole of Scripture testifies to this. It is fully expressed in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20. He has provided them, He has set them before you, and He makes use of ministers only as His agents, acting in His name. Forgive us if we are a little earnest with you in this matter. Alas — everything we can muster through zeal for His glory or compassion for your souls falls infinitely short of His own pressing urgency in this. See Isaiah 55:1-4. What infinite condescension! What blessed grace! Who is it that addresses you this way? The One against whom you have sinned — of whom you are rightly afraid. The One whose laws you have broken and whose name you have dishonored. The One who has no need of you, your love, your friendship, or your salvation. It is He who offers you these terms of reconciliation and peace. Consider the apostle's word in response to this in Hebrews 12:25: 'See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.' It is God speaking to you in this matter — speaking from heaven. In doing so, He sets aside every advantage He has against you for your destruction. Woe to your souls — forever — if you should refuse Him.

Third, by whom were these terms procured for you, and by what means? Do not think this was brought about by chance or by some ordinary undertaking. Remember that the offer made to you this very day cost nothing less than the blood of the Son of God. It is the fruit of the suffering of His soul. For this He prayed, He wept, He suffered, He died. Will it now be neglected or despised by you? Will you still count the blood of the covenant as a common thing? Will you exclude yourself from every benefit of the price at which these terms were purchased — and leave your soul with nothing but the guilt of despising the price by which it could have been bought?

Fourth, consider that you are sinners — great sinners, condemned sinners. Some of you may be worse than countless fellow sinners who are already in hell. God could long since have cast you off forever from all expectation of mercy and caused all your hopes to perish. Or He might have left you alive and yet refused to deal with you any longer. He could have caused your sun to go down at noon and given you darkness instead of light. He could have spared your life a little longer and yet sworn in His wrath that you would never enter His rest. As things now stand, it is otherwise. How long this will continue, neither you nor I know at all. God alone knows what time is yours and how long it will last. We are to speak while it is still called today. And this is what I have to offer you for the present: God declares that there is forgiveness with Him — that your condition is not desperate or hopeless. There are still terms of peace being offered to you. It strikes me as extraordinary that poor sinners would not at least stir themselves to inquire about them. When a poor man in ancient times had sold himself and his children into service and given away his ancestral land because of poverty — with what eagerness do you think he heard the sound of the trumpet announcing the Year of Jubilee, when he and all his household were to go free and return to their inheritance? And will poor servants of sin — slaves to Satan — who have forfeited every inheritance in this world and the next, not attend to any proclamation of the year of rest, the acceptable year of the Lord? This is what is offered in the terms of peace with God in this matter. Do not put it off. This concerns you. Your soul's greatest interests are at stake in it. And it is a great matter — for consider the following.

Fifth, when the angels came to announce the birth of our Lord Jesus, they said, 'We bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people' (Luke 2:10). What was this joyful news? What was the report about? Simply this: 'For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord' (verse 11). That is all — a Savior is born; a way of escape has been provided. Yet they declared this to be a matter of great joy — and so it was. To every burdened and convicted sinner, it is a matter of unspeakable joy and gladness. A Savior is born! This gives life to a sinner and opens a door of hope in the valley of trouble. It is the first rescue of a soul in distress over sin. In substance, this was all that the saints of many ages had to live on — and not in the enjoyment of it, but only in the expectation. They lived on the word that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head — that is, a way of deliverance has been provided for sinners. This they inquired into with all diligence (1 Peter 1:10-12) and turned it to their eternal advantage. As Jacob's spirit revived when he saw the wagons his son Joseph had sent to bring him to himself — so did theirs revive at their dim discovery of a way of forgiveness. They looked upon the promise of it as what God had sent to bring them to Himself, and they saw the coming day of Christ in it and rejoiced. How much more do sinners now have reason to rejoice, when the substance of that promise has appeared and the news of His coming has been proclaimed. This is therefore a great matter: that terms of peace and reconciliation have been offered, and that it has been made known that there is forgiveness with God. On these grounds, then, we press forward with the exhortation we have before us.

Suppose someone were justly condemned to a cruel and shameful death and lay trembling in expectation of its execution, and a man sent for that purpose came to tell him that terms had been proposed on which his life might be spared — even if the messenger left before he heard the particulars. Would that not be reviving to him? Would he not cry out: 'Please find out what the terms are, for there is nothing so hard that I would not undergo it to escape this miserable end'? Would it not transform the whole spirit of such a man and, as it were, put new life into him? But suppose instead he were sullen, stubborn, and obstinate — took no notice of the messenger or said, 'Let the judge keep his terms to himself; I want nothing to do with them' — without even asking what they were. Would not such a person deserve to perish? Has he not brought double destruction upon himself: first by deserving death through his crimes, and then by refusing the honest and good means of rescue offered to him? I acknowledge that it often happens that men begin to inquire after these terms of peace, and when they are revealed, they dislike them — and like the rich young man in the gospel, they go away sorrowful. The wretched wickedness and misery of that condition — which befalls many convicted persons — will be addressed afterward. For now I speak to those who have never yet sincerely attended to these terms or seriously inquired after them. Think of your condition as you please — or choose not to think of it at all, and pass your time in complete disregard of your present and future state. Yet this is actually your situation in regard to your eternal interests: you lie under the sentence of a bitter, shameful, and everlasting death. You have lain under that sentence in the midst of all your pleasures ever since you came into this world. And you are in the hands of One who can in the blink of an eye destroy both body and soul in hell fire. Into this state of affairs, people are sent on purpose to let you know that there are terms of peace — that there is still a way of escape for you. And so that you cannot avoid the conclusion aimed at, they tell you that the God who cannot lie has commanded them to say so. If you question the truth of what they say, they are ready to produce their warrant under God's own hand and seal. There is no room here for evasion or excuse. Surely, if you have any concern for your eternal state, if there is any drop of tender feeling in you toward your own soul, if any rational thought dwells in your mind — if it has not all been erased and obliterated by the power of lust and love of sin — you cannot but feel yourself to be unspeakably concerned in this proposal. But if instead you surrender yourself to the power of unbelief, the will of Satan, love for your lusts, and this present world — so as to take no notice of this message from God, never seriously inquiring into the nature and significance of the terms offered — can you escape? Will you be delivered? Will your end be peace? The Lord knows it will be otherwise — and that forever.

So the apostle assures us in 2 Corinthians 4:3-4: 'And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.' If you do not receive this word — if it is hidden from you — it is by the power and working of Satan on your mind. And what will the end be? You must and will perish, and that forever.

Remember our Savior's parable in Luke 14:31-32: 'What king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.' What He teaches in this parable is the necessity that lies on us of making peace with God — whom we have provoked and justly made our enemy — and our complete inability to resist or withstand Him when He comes forth in judgment and vengeance against us. There is a key difference between the parable and the reality, as there always is in illustrations. Among people at war, it is not the role of the stronger party — the one assured of victory — to send to the weaker, who is already in his power, to propose terms of peace. Here it is the opposite: God, who is infinitely powerful, justly provoked, and able to destroy poor sinners in a moment, when He is not far off but at the very door, sends of His own accord with conditions of peace. And will He be refused by you? Will you still neglect His offer? How great then will your destruction be?

Hear then once more, poor sin-hardened souls, you stubborn of heart who are far from righteousness. Is it nothing to you that the great and holy God — whom you have provoked all your days and still continue to provoke, who has no need of you or your salvation, who can whenever He pleases glorify Himself eternally in your destruction — has of His own accord sent to tell you that He is willing to be at peace with you on the terms He has prepared? The enmity began on your part. The danger is on your part alone. He might justly have expected that the first message for peace would come from your side. Yet He begins with you. And will He be rejected? The prophet expresses this well in Isaiah 30:15: 'Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, "In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength." But you were not willing.' The love and condescension on God's part in those words, and the folly and ingratitude on our part that they describe, are beyond expression. They are fearful words: 'But you were not willing.' Remember this against another day. As our Savior said in the same vein to the Jews: 'You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.' Whatever else is claimed, it is willfulness and stubbornness that lie at the root of this refusal.

Therefore — whether you may profit by it or whether the Lord's way may be prepared to glorify Himself upon you — I leave this word before all who hear or read it, as the testimony God requires to be given to His grace. Terms of peace with God have been provided for you and are being set before you. It is still called today — do not harden your hearts, as did those of old who could not enter God's rest because of unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). Some of you may be old in sin and unacquainted with God. Some may have been great sinners, notorious sinners. Some may have reason to feel that you are near the grave — and so near to hell. Some may have consciences that are unsettled and wounded. Some may be in outward troubles and confusion that have stirred you to look at your condition. And some may be in the madness of your natural strength and lusts — your health is full, your ambitions are alive, and your hearts are full of sin, pride, and contempt for the ways of God. No matter — this word is to you all. I will only remind you that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You hear the voice or read the words of a poor mortal — but the message is the message, and the word is the word of the One who shakes heaven and earth. Consider carefully, then, what you must do and what answer you will give to the One who will not be mocked.

But you may say: 'What great matter is this, and why is it pressed with such earnestness? We have heard the same words a hundred times over. Just last Lord's Day, this or that preacher spoke to the same effect. Why must it be insisted on again now with such urgency?'

If it is indeed so — that you have been dealt with this frequently and still remain in a state of irreconciliation — my heart aches for you at the thought of your wretched and almost hopeless condition. If someone who is often corrected and yet stiffens his neck will perish suddenly and without remedy (Proverbs 29:1), how much more will that be true of the person who is often invited to peace with God, yet hardens his heart and refuses to treat with Him? I think I hear His voice concerning you: 'Those enemies of mine shall not taste of the supper I have prepared.' If this word is something common and worthless to you — if you set no value on it — then take your way in sin; stumble, fall, and perish. It is not so slight a matter to poor convicted sinners who tremble at the Word of God. They will prize it and make use of it. We will therefore follow the counsel of Proverbs 31:6-7: 'Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to him whose life is bitter.' We will offer this new wine of the gospel to poor, heavy-hearted, conscience-distressed sinners — sinners who are ready to perish. To them it will be sweet; they will drink of it and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. It will take away all their sorrow and sadness — while you are drunk with the fruit of your lusts, and retch, and lie down, and rise no more.

But if any of you begin to say in your hearts that you would gladly deal with God — 'Oh, that the day had come when we might approach Him! Let Him speak whatever He wishes and propose whatever terms He wishes — we are ready to hear' — then consider the following.

Second, the terms that have been provided for you and set before you are fair, holy, righteous — yes, and pleasant and easy. This being another main heading in the work before us, before I go further in explaining and confirming it, I will draw one or two observations from what has already been said.

First, see here the foundation on which we preach the gospel. There are many disputes about whether Christ died for every individual person in the world or only for the elect — some drawn from every kind of people. If we say the latter, some then tell us we cannot indiscriminately invite all people to believe. But why not? We do not invite people as all people — no person as simply one of all people — but all people as sinners. And we know that Christ died for sinners. But is the very first thing we are to set before a sinner under the law — that Christ died for him in particular? Is that the beginning of our message to him? Would that not be a ready way to lead him to conclude: 'Let me then continue in sin, that grace may increase'? No. In the natural order of things, our first work is what we have been engaged in here: declaring the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ — the voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way of the Lord.' There is a way of reconciliation provided. God is in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. There is a way of acceptance; there is forgiveness with Him to be obtained. At this very threshold of the Lord's house, the greater part of those to whom the gospel is preached stumble and perish, never looking inside to see the treasures that are there — never entering a state where they have any ground to inquire whether Christ died for them in particular. They do not believe this report and take no serious notice of it. This was the ministry of John the Baptist, and those who did not receive it rejected God's counsel concerning their salvation (Luke 7:30) and perished in their sins. This is the sum of the blessed invitation wisdom gives in Proverbs 9:1-5. And here people stumble, fall, and perish (Proverbs 1:29-30).

Second, you who have found grace and favor to accept these terms and thereby to obtain peace with God — learn to live in holy wonder at His condescension and love in this. That He would provide such terms. That He would reveal them to you. That He would enable you to receive them. Unspeakable love and grace lies in all of it. Many have never had these terms revealed to them; few find the grace to accept them. And from whom is it that you have received this particular mercy?

Do you properly consider the nature of this matter? Scripture presents it as an object of eternal wonder: 'God so loved the world'; 'In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us first.' Live in this wonder, and do everything in your various relationships to persuade your friends, family, and acquaintances to attend to this great treaty of peace with God — whose terms we will now examine, as they were stated in general before.

Second, the terms provided and offered to you are fair, holy, righteous — yes, and pleasant and easy (Hosea 2:18-19). They are not such as a guilty condemned sinner might justly expect, but such as an infinitely good and gracious God would propose — not suited to human wisdom, but full of the wisdom of God (2 Corinthians 2:6-7). The poor convicted wretch, when he thinks about dealing with God, turns over in his mind what terms he is likely to meet (Micah 6:6-7), and settles on the most dreadful, difficult, and impossible he can imagine. 'If anything can be done with this great and most high God,' he says, 'it must require rivers of oil, thousands and ten thousands of offerings, even my firstborn child — whatever is most terrible to nature, whatever is most impossible for me to perform, that is surely what He demands.' But the matter is entirely otherwise. The terms are of a completely different character. It is a way of pure mercy, a way of free forgiveness. The apostle lays it out in Romans 3:23-25: a way of propitiation, of pardon, of forgiveness in the blood of Christ. The terms are the acceptance of the forgiveness we have been describing. Who would not think the whole world would rush in to receive these terms and eagerly accept them? But for the most part it proves to be the opposite. Of all ways, people like this one least. 'It would have been something,' said Naaman, 'if the prophet had come out and done this or that — but this: "Go, wash, and be clean" — I do not like it; I am being mocked.' People think to themselves that if some great thing had been required of them for salvation, they would immediately set themselves to it — but to come to God through Christ and be freely forgiven without more effort, that they do not like. Some rigorous penance, some compensatory obedience, some satisfactory mortification or purgatory — that would seem a more fitting way. But this of pure pardon through the cross — it is foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18, 20). 'I would rather have it by works of the law,' says the Jew (Romans 9:32; 10:3). 'This way of grace and forgiveness — I do not like it.' Others say the same. Others practice the same every day. Either this way is entirely rejected, or it is 'improved' by some additions — which in God's sight amounts to the same as rejecting it.

Here multitudes of souls deceive themselves and perish. I do not know which is harder: to persuade an unconvicted person to think seriously about any terms at all, or to persuade a convicted person to accept these. Whatever people say and whatever they claim, in practice they do not like this way of forgiveness. I will therefore offer some further considerations to help forward your acceptance of the terms proposed.

First, this is the way — these are the terms — of God's own choosing. He devised this way and established it Himself. He did so when all was lost and ruined. He did it not at our desire, request, or suggestion, but entirely of His own accord. Why then should we argue with Him about it? If God wills that we be saved through pure mercy and forgiveness — if His wisdom and sovereignty are expressed in it — shall we oppose Him and say we do not like it? Yet this is the language of unbelief (Romans 10:3-4). Many poor souls have argued with God over it, until at last, as it were overpowered by the Spirit, they have said, 'If it must be so, and God will save us by mercy and grace, then so be it — we surrender to His will.' And yet throughout all their debate, they imagined it was nothing but their own unworthiness that kept them from embracing the promise of the gospel.

It was by a similar tactic that Satan deceived our first parents of their standing in the covenant of works. 'The terms, as you understand them,' he said, 'are unreasonable. Did God really say you could eat from every tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or you will die? You will not surely die — for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened.' There is no proportion, he implied, between the disobedience and the penalty; the outcome cannot be what is feared. And by these means he ruined them. He proceeds the same way to deprive souls of their share in the covenant of grace to which they are invited. 'The terms are unreasonable — how can anyone believe them? There is no proportion between the requirement and the promise. To have pardon, forgiveness, life, and blessed eternity for believing — who can rest in that?' Here lies a conspiracy between Satan and unbelief against the wisdom, goodness, love, grace, and sovereignty of God. The poison of this deception lies in the claim that God's righteousness and mercy are not as infinite as they actually are. The apostle, to remove this foolish notion, directs us to the pleasure of God in 1 Corinthians 1:27: it pleased God, through the foolishness of preaching — that is, through the gospel, which they counted foolishness — to save those who believe. He allowed people to try other ways, and when those ways had been shown to be utterly insufficient for the ends people sought, it pleased Him to reveal His way. And what are we, to argue with Him about it? God asserts this very rejection of personal righteousness and choice of the way of grace and forgiveness in Jeremiah 31:31-34: 'Behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers — but this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My law within them, and I will be their God... and I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.' Let this way stand, then, and the way of human wisdom and self-righteousness perish forever.

Second, this is the way that, above all others, gives glory directly and immediately to God. God has ordered and arranged all things in this way of forgiveness so that no flesh may boast in His presence, but that he who boasts may boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:29, 31). 'Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what principle? Not by works, but by faith' (Romans 3:27). It could easily be shown that God has so designed the saving of sinners through forgiveness according to the principle of faith that it is utterly impossible for any soul to have the least ground for boasting in itself — either in an absolute sense, or in comparison with those who perish. 'If Abraham,' says the apostle, 'was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God' (Romans 4:2). The obedience of works would have been so infinitely disproportionate to the reward — which is God Himself — that there would have been no boasting before God, for His goodness and grace would still have had to be acknowledged. But in comparison with others who did not render the required obedience, Abraham would have had grounds for boasting. Now even this is eliminated by the way of forgiveness, and no pretense remains for anyone to claim the slightest share of its glory except God alone. In this lies the excellence of faith: that it gives glory to God (Romans 4:20) — the denial of which, under various pretenses, is the product of proud unbelief. And this is what God will bring everyone to — or they will perish: that shame is ours, and the whole glory of our salvation is His alone. He expresses this design in Isaiah 45:22-25. In verse 22 He offers Himself as the only relief for sinners: 'Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.' But what if people take some other course, look to themselves, and so decline this way of pure mercy and grace? He says in verse 23: 'I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.' Look to that. He has sworn that you will either bow willingly or answer for your disobedience at the day of judgment — to which Paul applies those words in Romans 14:11. What do the saints do in response? Verses 24-25: 'They will say of Me, "Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength." In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be justified and will glory.' They bring their hearts to receive all righteousness from Him and to give all glory to Him.

God first placed man in a blessed state, in such dependence on Himself that man might have worked out his eternal happiness while bringing great glory to God in doing so. 'Man, being in this dignity, did not remain' (as the Psalmist says). God now settled on another way — as I have noted — in which all the glory would be His own, as the apostle sets out at length in Romans 3:23-26. Neither the way from which Adam fell, nor the way in which some of the angels continued — which were essentially the same — can compare with this way of forgiveness in terms of the glory it brings to God. I dislike speculation about the things of God. Yet, on the basis of the interposition of the blood of Christ, I think I may say boldly that more glory comes to God from saving one sinner by this way of forgiveness than from giving the reward of blessedness to all the angels in heaven. This seems evident from the solemn scene in Revelation 5:9-13, where the whole creation ascribes glory to God — and all of it centers on the bringing forth of forgiveness through the blood of the Lamb.

I dwell on this the more because it stands so directly against the wretched principle of unbelief that reigns in the hearts of most people and often troubles even the best. That a poor, ungodly sinner going to God loaded with the guilt of all his sins, to receive forgiveness at His hand, brings more glory to God than the obedience of an angel — people are not readily inclined to think this, nor can they be prepared for it except by this truth itself. The essential nature of the unbelief that works in convicted sinners lies in a refusal to give to God the whole glory of salvation. There are many harmful controversies in religion debated in the world with great noise and clamor — but this is the greatest and most destructive of all, and it is mostly transacted silently within people's souls, though under various forms and pretenses. It has also broken out in writings and debates — that is, whether God or man shall have the glory of salvation, or whether it is to be attributed entirely to God, or whether man may on some basis claim a share. Now if any of you is in this condition — that you would rather perish than that God should have His glory — what can be said but: go, condemned soul, perish forever, without the least compassion from God or from any who love Him, angels or people.

If you say for your part you are content with this arrangement — let God have the glory, as long as you are forgiven and saved — there is still just cause to suspect this may be a self-serving contempt of God. It is a great thing to truly give glory to God by believing. Such casual, offhand responses seem to have no connection with it. Take care that instead of believing, you are not found to be among those who mock — and so find your chains made stronger.

But a poor convicted sinner may find encouragement here. You would willingly come to acceptance with God and so attain salvation. Your soul longs for it. Would you willingly take the course that would bring the most glory to God? Surely it would be right and entirely fitting to do so. What if someone came to tell you from the Lord of a way by which you — poor, sinful, self-condemned creature — could bring as much glory to God as any angel in heaven is capable of? 'Oh, if I might bring even the least glory to God, I would rejoice in it!' Behold then the way He Himself has chosen for the exaltation of His glory: that you come to Him on the sole basis of grace in the blood of Christ, for pardon and forgiveness. And may the Lord strengthen you to give yourself up to it.

Third, consider that if this way of salvation is refused, there is no other way for you. We are not presenting this way of forgiveness as the best and most pleasant option — but as the only way. There is no other name given except that of Christ; no other way but this of forgiveness. Here is your choice: take this path, or perish forever. It is a shame, indeed, that our fallen nature is such that this argument must even be made — that we will neither submit to God's sovereignty nor delight in His glory. But since it must be made, let it be. I intend neither to flatter people nor to frighten them, but to tell them the truth as it is. If you continue in your present state and condition — if you rest on what you do or hope to do, if you comfort yourself with general hopes of mercy mixed with your own efforts and obedience, if you do not come to a full gospel commitment to this way of God, if you do not make it your everything and give God glory in it — you will and must perish, and that forever. There is no more sacrifice remaining for your sins, no other way of escape for your soul. You have not only the excellence of this way to draw you, but its absolute, unavoidable necessity to compel you. And now let me add: I am glad this word has been spoken and written to you. You and I will one day give an account for this discourse. What has already been spoken, if neglected, will stand as a weighty testimony against you. You will not fare as those who never heard the joyful sound. All these words that are consistent with the gospel — if they are not turned to grace in your hearts here, they will become torment to your souls hereafter. Do not choose any other way — it will be futile and will not profit you. And take care lest you suppose you are embracing this way when in truth you are not, about which I have already given a warning.

Fourth, this way is free and open to sinners. A man fleeing to the city of refuge might well have many troubled thoughts — whether he would find its gates open when he arrived, or whether the avenger of blood might overtake and kill him while he was still calling for entry. And even with open gates, certain crimes excluded men from refuge (Numbers 35:24). It is not so here. See Acts 13:38-39.

This is the voice of God the Father: 'Come to the wedding feast, for everything is prepared' — no fear of being turned away (Matthew 22:4). That is why the preachers of the gospel are said to beseech people in His name to be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

And it is the voice of the Son: 'Whoever comes to Me I will certainly not cast out' (John 6:37). Whoever he may be who comes will certainly be received. The same is His call and invitation in other places, as in Matthew 11:28 and John 7:37.

And this is the voice of the Spirit and of the church and of all believers in Revelation 22:17: 'The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.' All of this centers on one thing: that sinners may come freely to the grace of the gospel.

And it is the well-known voice of the gospel itself — as in Isaiah 55:1-3 and Proverbs 9:1-5. And it is the voice of all the saints in heaven and earth who have been made partakers of forgiveness — they all testify that they received it freely.

Some indeed try to abuse this united testimony of God and people. What is said about the freedom of God's grace they try to apply to the capacity of the human will. But the riches and freedom of God's mercy do not in the least interfere with the efficacy of His grace. Though He proclaims pardon in the blood of Christ without restriction — according to its fullness and excellence — He gives out His quickening grace to enable people to receive it as He pleases, for He has mercy on whom He will have mercy. But this belongs to the matter itself. The way is open and prepared. It is not because people cannot enter but because they will not, that they do not enter. As our Savior Christ says to the Pharisees: 'You do not hear God's word because you are not of God' (John 8:47; John 6:44). And: 'You are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life' (John 5:40). Even in the most casual neglect of the gospel, there is a deliberate act of the will refusing Christ and the grace He offers. And this is done by people under gospel preaching every day. Nothing at the last day will more directly advance the glory of God — in demonstrating the inexcusableness of those who did not obey the gospel — than this: that terms of peace in the blessed way of forgiveness were freely offered to them. Some who hear or read this word may have lived long under the ministry of the gospel and yet perhaps never once seriously pondered this way of coming to God through forgiveness in the blood of Christ — thinking that going to heaven is a matter of course that people need not trouble themselves much about. Do they know what they have been doing? Throughout all their days they have been positively refusing the salvation freely offered to them in Jesus Christ. 'Not us,' they will say, 'we never had any such thought and would not refuse it for anything in the world.' But know this: in so far as you have not effectively received Him, you have refused Him. And whether your day and season is already past, the Lord alone knows.

Fifth, this way is safe. No soul has ever been lost in it. There is no one in heaven who will not say it is a safe way. There is no one in hell who can say otherwise. It is safe for all who venture on it — all who truly enter it. In the old way, we were responsible for maintaining ourselves in the way. This way maintains itself and us. This will become evident in the considerations that follow.

First, this is the way provided by the wisdom, care, and love of God in Christ, substituted in place of another that was removed precisely because it was not safe and could not bring us to God (Hebrews 8:7-8): 'For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second; but finding fault with them, He says...'

First, He tells us that the first covenant was not faultless — for if it had been, there would have been no need for a second. The commandment itself — the substance of that covenant — the same apostle declares to be holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12). But it was defective with respect to all the purposes of a covenant, given our condition as sinners: it could not bring us to God. As Romans 8:3 informs us, it was weakened through the flesh — that is, through the entrance of sin — and so became useless for saving souls. Granted — through our sin and failure, this good and holy law, this covenant, became unprofitable to us. But what did that obligate God to do? Was He bound to abandon His own institution and appointment simply because through our own fault it had ceased to benefit us? Not at all. He could righteously have bound all of us to the terms of that covenant — to stand or fall by them forever. But He chose not to do so.

Second, in His love and grace He found fault with it (verse 8) — not in itself and absolutely, but only to the extent that He would provide another way that would supply all its defects and shortcomings with respect to the goal in view. What that way is the apostle declares in the following verses through the end of that chapter. The summary is in verse 12: 'For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.' It is the way of pardon and forgiveness — substituted in place of that insufficient way which was removed.

Consider then: the infinitely wise and holy God, pursuing His purpose of bringing souls to Himself, had set aside one way of His own appointment as useless and weak because of sin — against which it provided no remedy. In its place He substituted another way. Would He not make that new way entirely free from the faults and failures He had charged against the one He removed? The one thing that made the former way defective was sin — it could do anything except save a sinner. Therefore this was the primary problem to be addressed in this way of forgiveness. And here we see how clearly God has not only distinguished but opposed two things: the way of personal righteousness and the way of forgiveness. He found fault with the first. What then does He do? Does He amend it — trimming what seemed excessive, moderating its severity, and patching its gaps with forgiveness, so as to revive it? This is indeed the approach many take in their thinking, and most in their practice. But this is not God's way. He removes the one entirely and establishes the other in its place. People's efforts to mix the two will be found to be of little use to them at the last. I can have little confidence in what God Himself has declared to be defective.

Second, the unchangeable principles and foundations on which this way is built make it secure and safe for sinners.

First, it is founded on the purpose of God (Galatians 3:8): 'The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith...' — God would do this; He had purposed and determined to proceed this way. All the purposes of God are accompanied by immutability.

Second, His promise is also pledged in it, given in the form of a covenant, as has already been explained.

Third, this promise is confirmed by an oath. And it may be noted that God never interposes with an oath except in connection with this way of coming to Himself through forgiveness. For wherever God's oath appears, it relates either to Christ in type, or to Christ in person, or to the covenant established in Him.

Fourth, this way is confirmed and ratified in His blood — from which the apostle demonstrates its absolute security and safety at length in Hebrews 9. Therefore, whatever soul — responding to the invitation under consideration — gives himself up to come to God by the way proposed, will find in it absolute peace and security. Neither our own weakness and folly from within, nor the opposition of any of our enemies from without, will be able to drive us from this way. See Isaiah 35:4-10.

Third, in the other way, every individual person stands on his own footing — and must do so, to the last moment of his life in this world. You want to come to God, obtain His favor, and come to an enjoyment of Him. What will you do? What course will you adopt to achieve these ends? Even if you were as holy, as perfect, as righteous, and as free from sin as you could possibly desire, you would have some confidence in approaching God. But if this is the way you settle on, take this with you: you stand entirely on your own personal account throughout all your days. And if you fail in the slightest, you are lost forever. 'For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all' (James 2:10). And what peace could you possibly find — were you as holy as you ever aimed or desired to be — while this is your condition? But in this way of forgiveness, we all stand on the account of one common Mediator, in whom we are complete (Colossians 3:10). And the failure to properly grasp this truth is a major cause of misery for many souls. Suppose a person regards himself as released from the covenant of works — where exact and perfect righteousness is rigidly required — and understands he is called instead to gospel obedience performed sincerely and with integrity. Even so, if he is not also clear that he does not stand in this gospel way on his own account either, he will never be able to maintain his comfort to the end of his journey. In the best of people there will be found so many particular failings that in hard seasons they will seem to call their integrity into question. And so many doubts will arise — through the darkness of the mind and the power of temptation — that the soul will find little rest. Here lies the great security of this way: we abide in it on the basis of the faithfulness and ability of our common Mediator, Jesus Christ.

This is another consideration strengthening our invitation to embrace the way of coming to God now being proposed. Nothing is lacking that is needed to give any soul that ventures into it infallible security. Terms of peace have been offered, as you have heard. These terms are excellent and holy, chosen by God, serving His glory — free, safe, and secure for sinners. What can any soul object against them? And on what do people rest their confidence when they neglect so great a salvation? Is it in their lusts and sins, which they hope will give them as much satisfaction as they could want? Alas, those will ruin them and produce nothing but death. Is it in the world? It will deceive them — the form of it is passing away. Is it in their own duties and righteousness? Those will not save them — for even if they pursued the law of righteousness, they would not attain to the righteousness of the law. Is it in the length of their lives? Alas, life is but a shadow, a mist that appears for a little while. Is it in a future amendment and repentance? Hell is full of souls perishing under such resolutions. Only this way of pardon remains — and yet of all ways it is the most despised. But I have one more consideration to add before pressing the exhortation further.

Sixth, consider that this is the only way and means to enable you to obedience and to make what you do in it acceptable to God. Some of you may be under the weight of conviction and may have made commitments to God — to live for Him, to keep yourself from sin, to pursue holiness. Perhaps you did so in times of affliction, danger, sickness, or after receiving some mercy. But you find you cannot maintain stability or consistency in your course — you break your commitments to God and to your own soul, which fills you with new distress, or else hardens you and leaves you indifferent and careless, so that you return to your resolutions only when fresh conviction or fresh affliction overtakes you. This is a ruinous and destructive condition, and nothing can deliver you from it but embracing forgiveness.

First, everything you do without this — however it may satisfy your mind or ease your conscience — is not accepted by God at all. Unless this foundation is laid, everything you do is lost. All your prayers, all your duties, all your improvements are an abomination to the Lord. Until peace has been made with Him, they are merely the acts of enemies — which He despises and rejects. You may run earnestly, but you are running in the wrong direction. You strive, but not lawfully, and will never receive the crown. True gospel obedience is the fruit of faith in forgiveness. Whatever you do without it is only a building without a foundation, a castle in the air. You can see the order of gospel obedience in Ephesians 2:7-10. The foundation must be laid in grace — the riches of grace through Christ in the free pardon and forgiveness of sin. From this must your works of obedience proceed, if you want them to be of God's appointment and find acceptance with Him. Without this, God will say of all your services, worship, and obedience what He said to Israel of old in Amos 5:21-25: 'I despise it all, I reject it all' — for it is not for Him or for His glory. Now if you are under convictions of any kind, nothing matters more to you, nothing you place more confidence in, than your duties — your repentance, your improvement, what you do, and what you hope one day to become. Is it nothing to you to lose all your hopes and expectations from this source? To have no better reception with God than if all this time you had been wallowing in your sins and lusts? Yet this is your situation if you have not begun with God on His own terms — if you have not received the atonement in the blood of His Son, if you are not a partaker of forgiveness, if your person is not pardoned. All your duties are under a curse.

Second, this alone will give you such motives and encouragements to obedience as will bring life, eagerness, and delight to it. You perform duties and abstain from sins, but with heaviness, fear, and a sense of bondage. If your conscience could be quiet and your hope for eternity maintained without them, you would give them up forever. This makes all your obedience burdensome — and in your heart you cry out with the man in the prophet, 'What a weariness this is!' The service of God is the single greatest drudgery of your life: something you dare not omit and take no pleasure in. Nothing can deliver you from this wretched and miserable condition but embracing forgiveness. This will give you such motives and encouragements as will powerfully move your heart and soul. It will bring freedom, liberty, delight, and cheerfulness to all the duties of gospel obedience. You will find a constraining power in the love of Christ; a freedom from bondage when the Son has truly set you free. Faith and love will work genuinely and naturally in your spirit. What was once your greatest burden will become your chief joy (2 Corinthians 7:1). Thoughts of the love of God, the blood of Christ, the covenant of grace, and the sense of pardon in them will enlarge your heart and sweeten every duty. You will find new life, new pleasure, and new satisfaction in everything you do. Have you ever truly understood that word from the wise man: 'Her ways are pleasant ways and all her paths are peace' (Proverbs 3:17)? Have the ways of holiness, obedience, and duty been like that for you? Whatever you claim, they are not, and they cannot be, while you remain a stranger to the one thing that can make them so. I speak to those who are under the law: would you be free from that bondage, that grating yoke in the duties of obedience? Would you have everything you do toward God be a delight and pleasure to you? This, and this alone, will accomplish it.

Third, this will place all your obedience on a solid footing in your own soul and conscience — the very footing fixed on in the gospel. As things now stand, everything you do is really only an attempt to settle your account with God for your sin. You hope that by what you do for Him and toward Him, you can buy off what you have done against Him — so that you do not fall into His wrath and judgment. This makes everything you do wearisome. Like a man who labors all his days merely to pay an old debt and never gets to keep anything for himself — how tedious and exhausting is his work. In all likelihood, at some point he will give up and run from his creditor. So it is in this case. People who secretly hope to compensate God through their obedience find their debt growing every day, with ever less hope of making a satisfactory payment. This makes them weary, and for the most part they lose heart under their discouragement and ultimately flee from God altogether. This way of forgiveness alone will settle things differently in your conscience. It will show you that all your debts have been paid by Christ and freely forgiven to you by God — so that what you now do is an act of gratitude and thankfulness, flows toward eternity, advances the glory of God and the honor of Christ in the gospel, and will be a comfort on the day of final account. This encourages the soul to labor, invest, and press on — with everything now looking forward, and all turning to your advantage.

Fourth, do you not find in yourself a weakness and inability in the duties of obedience — a failure to perform them in a way acceptable to God? Perhaps you are not as aware of this as you ought to be. Attending only, or mainly, to the outward form of duties, you have not experienced your own weakness. You do not know how to fill your duties with faith, love, and delight — and so you are unaware of your own insufficiency in this. Yet if you have any measure of light or conviction (and it is to such I am now speaking), you cannot but see and acknowledge that you are unable in your obedience to accomplish what you are aiming at. You do not have the strength or power for it. Now it is faith in forgiveness alone that will furnish you with the ability you need. Pardon does not come to the soul alone — or rather, Christ does not come to the soul with pardon only. Pardon is the door He opens and enters by, but He comes with a Spirit of life and power. As without Him we can do nothing, so through His enabling us we may do all things. Receiving gospel forgiveness enlists all the grace of the gospel in our support.

This is the sum of what has been said: the obedience you perform under your convictions is burdensome and joyless to you, and it is entirely unacceptable to God. You lose everything you do and everything you hope to do going forward, if the foundation is not laid in receiving pardon in the blood of Christ. It is high time to tear down the empty and imaginary structure you have been building, and to begin laying a new foundation — one on which you may build safely and cheerfully, a building that will stand forever.

Furthermore, this way is so excellent, so precious, so near the heart of God, so bound up with the blood of Christ, that neglecting it will assuredly be severely reckoned with by the Lord. Let no one think they can despise the wisdom and love of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the promises of the gospel at little cost. In a very few words, let us survey what the Holy Spirit says on this point. There are three ways in which the judgment due to neglecting the embrace of forgiveness — gospel grace — is expressed.

First, it is stated directly: 'He who has disbelieved shall be condemned' (Mark 16:16). That is a hard word. Many people cannot bear to hear it. They would not have it mentioned if they could help it, and are ready to turn against anyone from whose mouth it comes. But let no one be deceived — this is the gentle word that mercy itself, that love itself, that Christ, that the gospel speaks to those who despise forgiveness. It is Christ who is this preacher of law and judgment. It is He who cries out: 'If you do not believe, you will be condemned.' And He will come Himself in flaming fire to take vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8). This is the end of the disobedient — if God, if Christ, if the gospel can be believed.

Second, it is stated comparatively, in relation to the judgment due to breaking the law (2 Corinthians 2:16). In the preaching of forgiveness through Christ, to those who are perishing we are a fragrance of death — a deep and heavy death. As Hebrews 10:29 puts it: 'How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve?' — more severe than anything the law ever threatened or inflicted for its breach. Not different in kind, but greatly increased in degree. Hence the addition of many stripes.

Third, it is expressed through a cry of wonder at the inexpressible and unavoidable nature of the punishment due to such sinners. Hebrews 2:3: 'How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?' There is no way of escape — those who neglect so great a salvation will unavoidably perish. As the Holy Spirit also says in 1 Peter 4:17: 'What will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?' What mind can grasp the wretchedness of their condition? None can, says the Holy Spirit — it cannot be put into words they could comprehend. What will their end be? 'There will be a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries' (Hebrews 10:27) — a certain, fearful anticipation of things too dreadful to comprehend.

These are the grounds of the exhortation we are pressing. On these foundations, in light of these principles, let us speak plainly and soberly together. I am speaking to poor souls who have deceived themselves or utterly neglected their eternal condition and have not yet genuinely received this forgiveness. Your present state is sad and pitiable. Nothing stands between you and eternal ruin but the fragile uncertainty of a dying life. The persuasion of forgiveness you currently hold is good for nothing but to harden and destroy you. It is not the forgiveness that is with God. You have not embraced it on gospel grounds or evidences. You have stolen painted beads and take yourself to be the rightful owner of pearls and precious jewels. As surely as you have any concern for your own eternal condition — which you are drawing closer to every day, and may enter sooner than you know — prevail upon yourself to attend to the exhortation laid before you. It is your own business you are being asked to attend to.

First, think seriously about what you are resting your hopes and expectations on for eternity. People who are great and otherwise wise are very prone to deceive themselves here. They suppose they think and believe very differently from what they actually think and believe — as their cry on the last day will make plain. Press your soul a little on this. Do you at all seriously think about these things? Or are you so under the power of your lusts, ignorance, and darkness that you neglect and despise them? Do you rise and sleep and perform some duties — or neglect them — in a spirit of great coldness, indifference, and detachment, like Gallio who cared little for these things? Or do you comfort yourself with hopes of future amendment, intending that when certain things are accomplished, you will be a different person? Or do you not simply hope for the best in general on the basis of what you have done and what you intend to do? If any of these describes your condition, it is unspeakably miserable. You lie down and rise up under the wrath of the great God, who will in the end prevail against you — and there will be no one to deliver. But if you say: 'No, this is not our condition — we rely on mercy and forgiveness,' then let me in the fear of the great God ask a few things further.

First, consider seriously whether the forgiveness you rest on and hope in is the gospel forgiveness we have described — or only a general sense that though you are a sinner, you will not be punished. You know God is merciful and you hope He will not let you perish in hell. If this is your case, forgiveness itself will not help you. This is the presumption described in Deuteronomy 29:19. Gospel pardon is something of an entirely different character. It has its source in the gracious heart of the Father, is brought about by a sovereign act of His will, is made consistent with the glory of His justice and holiness by the blood of Christ — by which it is purchased in a covenant of grace, as has been explained. If you say: 'Yes, this is the forgiveness we rely on — it is what you have described' — then I desire further that you would consider the following.

First, examine your own heart as to how you came to have a share in this forgiveness, to embrace it, and to have a right to it. A person can deceive himself just as thoroughly by supposing he possesses true riches when he does not, as by mistaking counterfeit goods for genuine ones. How then did you come to be a partaker in this gospel forgiveness? If it simply came upon you without your knowing how — if a lifeless, barren, inactive persuasion of it gradually crept into your mind — do not be mistaken. God will come and call you to account for it, and it will appear that you had no part or portion in it. But if you say: 'No — we were convicted of sin, we were made deeply troubled in our consciences, and on that account we looked for forgiveness, which has given us rest' — then I desire the following.

Second, carefully consider for what ends and purposes you have received and make use of this gospel forgiveness. Have you used it to fill the gap your duties could not fill — to patch together a peace in your own conscience because your duties could not answer your convictions? This, and countless other ways, can lead people to lose their souls while thinking all is well — even on the account of pardon and mercy. Hence the apostle's caution in Hebrews 12:15: 'See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God.' People miss it and fall short of it while thinking they are pursuing it — yes, while claiming to have found and obtained it. Now if any of these should prove to be your condition, I desire the following.

Third, consider seriously whether it is not high time to look for a way of deliverance and escape — to save yourself from this evil age and to flee from the wrath to come. The Judge stands at the door. Before He deals with you as a judge, He knocks with an offer of mercy. Who knows but that this may be the last time He deals with you in this way? Whether old or young, you have only your season, only your day. It may be nightfall for you when it is still day for everyone else. Your sun may go down at noon, and God may swear that you will never enter His rest. If you are resolved to continue in your present condition, I have nothing more to say to you. I am clear of your blood, in that I have declared to you the counsel of God in this matter. I must leave you to face God alone at the last day. Poor souls — I tremble to think how He will deal with you when there is no one to deliver. I seem to see your poor, destitute, abandoned souls — forsaken by your lusts, your sins, the world, your friends, angels, and people — trembling before the throne of God, filled with horror and dreadful expectation of the sentence. Oh that I could mourn over you while you are still among the living — while there is still hope. Oh that in this, your day, you would know the things that belong to your peace.

But if any of you should say: 'No — we will seek the Lord while He may be found; we will draw near to Him before He brings darkness' — then consider, I pray, the following.

Fourth, what Joshua told the children of Israel when they made such a resolution and cried out, 'We will serve the Lord our God' (Joshua 24:19): 'You will not be able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God and a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.' Go to Him on your own account, in your own strength, with your best efforts and duties, and you will find Him too great and too holy for you to deal with on those terms. You will obtain neither acceptance for your person nor pardon for your sins. 'But this is hard news,' you may say. 'If we sit still we perish, and if we rise to try, it will not be better. Is there no hope left for our souls? Must we waste away under our sins and God's wrath forever?' God forbid. There are further directions remaining to guide you out of this entanglement.

Fifth, ponder carefully what has been said about this way of approaching God. Consider it in its own nature and in all the ends and purposes for which God has proposed it. Do you approve of it? Do you judge it a way suited to bring glory to God? Does it answer all the needs and distresses of your soul? Do you think it excellent, safe, and glorious to those who have entered into it? Or do you have any objection against it? Give your answer to the One in whose name and by whose appointment these words are spoken to you. If you say: 'We are convinced that this way of forgiveness is the only way for the relief and deliverance of our souls' — then continue.

Sixth, loathe yourself for all the blindness and stubbornness with which you have until now despised the love of God, the blood of Christ, and the offers of pardon in the gospel. Be humbled to the dust in a sense of your vileness, pollution, and abominations — things that are spoken to daily and need not be repeated here.

Seventh, work your heart diligently with thoughts of the abundant grace manifested in this way of sinners coming to God, and of the excellence of the gospel in which it is unfolded. Consider the eternal love of the Father — the fountain and spring of this entire arrangement. Consider the inexpressible love of the Son in establishing and ratifying it, in removing all obstacles and hindrances through His own blood, bringing forth the redemption and forgiveness of sins in all its beauty and glory as the price He paid. And let the glory of the gospel — which alone makes known this discovery of forgiveness in God — dwell in your hearts. Let your minds be occupied with these things. You will find effects from them that surpass anything that has yet been produced in your souls. What have you mostly been occupied with until now? When you have risen above the churning of lusts and corruptions in your heart, the entanglements of your work and daily affairs — what have you been able to lift your heart to? Troubling fears about your condition, vague hopes without taste or relish that yield no refreshment, legal demands, burdensome duties, distracted consciences, broken purposes and promises — all of which have tossed you back and forth without any settled rest. And what effects have these thoughts produced? Have they made you more holy and more humble? Have they given you delight in God and strength for new obedience? Not at all. Where you were, there you still are — without the slightest progress. But now bring your soul to these springs, and test the Lord — from that day forward you will be blessed with spiritual abundance.

Eighth: if the Lord is pleased to carry your soul this far, stir yourself up to choose and embrace the way of forgiveness that has been revealed. Choose it decisively — choose it in preference to and over against every other way. Say you will be for Christ and not for another, and let that be your settled course. Here venture, here rest, here place your soul. It is a way of peace, safety, holiness, beauty, strength, power, freedom, and glory. You have the very nature, name, love, purposes, promises, covenant, and oath of God; the love, life, death, and blood, the mediation, offering, and intercession of Jesus Christ; and the power and effectiveness of the Spirit and gospel grace He administers — all of these assuring you of the excellence, uniqueness, and safety of the path you are now entering.

If the Lord is pleased to persuade your hearts and souls to enter on the path set before you, and to carry you through its varied experiences to this closing act of faith, God will have the glory, the gospel will be exalted, and your own souls will reap the eternal benefit of this exhortation.

But if, despite all that has been said — all the invitations and encouragements held out to you — you continue to despise so great a salvation and live and die in the condition you are in — then, as the prophet said to Jeroboam's wife, 'Come closer, for I have been sent to you with a hard message' (1 Kings 14:6). I say then —

Ninth: if you resolve to go on neglecting this salvation and do so — then cursed be you by the Lord with all the curses written in the law and all the curses pronounced against those who despise the gospel. Yes, let you be anathema maranatha — cursed in this world always, until the Lord comes; and when the Lord comes, cursed from His presence into everlasting destruction. Curse them, all you holy angels of God, as the obstinate enemies of your King and Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Curse them, all you churches of Christ, as despisers of that love and mercy which is your portion, your life, your inheritance. Let all the saints of God, all who love the Lord, curse them and rejoice to see the Lord coming forth in power against them to their everlasting ruin. Why should anyone have a thought of compassion for those who despise the compassion of God, or mercy for those who trample on the blood of Christ? While there is still hope, we earnestly desire to grieve for you and to labor in soul for your conversion to God. But if you are hardened in your way, shall we join ourselves to you against Him? Shall we place you above His glory and desire your salvation at the cost of His honor? God forbid. We hope to rejoice in seeing all the vengeance and indignation in God's right hand poured out to eternity upon those who have refused Him (Proverbs 1:21-33).

Rules to be observed by those who would come to stability in obedience. The first rule. Christ is the only infallible judge of our spiritual condition. How He judges: by His Word and by His Spirit.

What remains to be pursued further, on the principles already laid down, is to persuade souls who are more or less entangled in the depths of sin to embrace this forgiveness by believing — and so to come to peace and comfort. Since such persons are full of objections against themselves, I will aim primarily to anticipate those objections and thereby encourage them to believe and bring them to stability. Everything I have to offer flows naturally from the doctrine that has been set out at length. Yet I will not in every particular trace things back to it, but will focus generally on those things that may tend to the encouragement and comfort of both distressed and doubting souls. I will do this in two ways.

First, I will lay down general rules that are necessary to be observed by all who intend to come to gospel peace and comfort. Then, second, I will consider some of the objections that seem most representative of the specific reasoning with which troubled persons typically entangle themselves.

I will begin with the general rules, which, through the grace of Christ and the supply of His Spirit, may be of use to believers in the condition under consideration.

Rule I: Do not be judges of your own condition — let Christ judge. You are invited to take comfort in this gospel truth: there is forgiveness with God. You say, "Not for me." Jacob said the same thing: "My way is hidden from the Lord" (Isaiah 40:27). And Zion said so too: "The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me" (Isaiah 49:14). But did they judge themselves correctly? We find in those passages that God saw things very differently. This false judgment that souls make about their own condition while caught in their difficulties is often an almost unconquerable barrier to any improvement. They fill themselves with their own thoughts about it and dwell on them, instead of looking outward for a remedy. Fearful thoughts about their spiritual condition are often a large part of some people's sickness. Many diseases tend to cloud a person's thinking and cause misunderstandings about their own nature and danger. These delusions are a real part of the person's illness. The soul is no less weakened by them, and the effectiveness of remedies no less blocked, than by any other real disease. In such cases, we urge people to trust the judgment of their skilled physician rather than continually wearing themselves out with their own distorted imaginations and despairing over their own mistakes. They should rest in what they are told by the one who understands the causes and tendencies of their condition better than they do. It is often part of the soul's depths to have false ideas about its own condition. Sin is a madness (Ecclesiastes 9:3), and to the degree that anyone is under its power, that person is under the power of madness. Madness reveals itself most quickly and effectively by filling those who have it with strange ideas and perceptions about themselves. The madness of sin works the same way, according to its degree and strength. So some cry "peace, peace" when sudden destruction is at hand (1 Thessalonians 5:3). It is this madness, under whose power they live, that gives them such groundless ideas about themselves and their condition. And some say they are lost forever, when God is actually with them. So do your duty, and let Christ judge your state. Your situation is too important for you to reasonably hand over the judgment of your condition to anyone else. When eternal well-being or eternal ruin is at stake, for a person to abandon their own thinking and give themselves over blindly to the judgment of other fallible, sinful people is foolishness. But there is no danger of being deceived by Christ's verdict. The truth is, whether we want it or not, He will judge. And whatever He determines will be the way things stand at the last day (John 5:22). The Father judges no one directly and personally, but has committed all judgment to the Son. All judgment that concerns eternity — whether it is to be passed in this world or in the next — is committed to Him. Accordingly, in that passage He judges both things and persons. He makes His determination about things in verse 24: "He who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death into life." Let people say what they please — this verdict will stand: faith and eternal life are inseparably joined. And He judges persons in verse 38. "You do not have the word of God abiding in you," He says to the Pharisees, who believed quite differently about themselves. So do not take Christ's role out of His hands. You will find that He often determines things entirely contrary to what people think — on both sides. Some He judges to be in a bad condition, though they are very confident that all is well with them and take great pride in their spiritual state. And He judges the condition of others to be good, though they themselves are full of doubt and may even be looked down on by others. We can single out an example or two of each kind. 1. We see Laodicea's self-assessment of her spiritual state in Revelation 3:17: "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." A fine state, it would seem — a blessed condition. She lacks nothing that could contribute to her rest, peace, and reputation. She is doctrinally correct, numerous, and flourishing. So she believes, and so she reports about herself — with a subtle contempt for others whom she looks down on. "Let them manage as they will; I am as I say." But was that really her condition? Was she truly what she was so convinced of and so publicly professed? Let Jesus Christ be heard to speak in this case. Let Him come and judge. "I will do so," He says (verse 14). "Thus says the Amen, the faithful and true Witness." Coming to give His verdict in a case of this importance, He takes this title so that we may know His word is to be accepted without question. Every person is a liar. Their testimony has no value — let them pronounce whatever they will about themselves or about one another. What then does He say about Laodicea? "You are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." What a dreadful and sad disappointment! What a terrible surprise! How many Laodicean churches do we have in the world? How many professing Christians are members of such churches? Not to mention the majority of people who live under the means of grace, all of whom have good hopes about their eternal condition. Among professing believers themselves, it is frightening to think how many will be found lacking when they come to be weighed on this scale. On the other hand, He judges some to be in a good condition, no matter how full of doubt they may be. He says to the church of Smyrna in Revelation 2:9: "I know your poverty." Smyrna was complaining that she was a poor, insignificant congregation. "Well," He says, "do not be afraid. I know the poverty you complain about — but you are rich." That is His judgment, His testimony, and His verdict about her condition. Such will be His judgment at the last day, when people on both sides will be taken completely by surprise at His sentence. This situation is directly addressed in both passages mentioned at the start of this discussion. Take for example Isaiah 40:27: Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me." That is Zion's judgment about herself and her state and condition — a sad report and conclusion. But does Christ agree with Zion's verdict? The next verse gives us His answer: "Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you." The actual state of affairs is as different from her self-assessment as it could possibly be. So what is the point of people making such pronouncements about themselves? The judging of souls regarding their spiritual state and condition is the work of Jesus Christ — especially for the purpose we are now discussing. People may and do take many approaches to judging themselves. Some do it based on trivial and superficial guesses. Some rely on bold and wicked assumptions. Some are driven by desperate, godless ideas. Some are moved by the power of convictions. But none of their methods produces a judgment that is always sound and reliable. A person's judgment based on his own reasoning is seldom true and even more seldom lasting. I am not speaking of self-examination — a careful investigation of one's graces and actions — but of the final verdict regarding one's spiritual state and condition. That belongs to Christ. Now there are two ways in which the Lord Jesus Christ delivers His decisive verdict in this matter. 1. By His Word. He determines in the word of the gospel the state and condition of all people in general terms. Each individual, coming to that Word, receives his or her own sentence and judgment. He told the Jews that Moses accused them (John 5:45). Moses' law accused and condemned those who transgressed it. And in the same way, the word of the gospel acquits everyone who is discharged by it. Our self-judgment is simply our receiving by faith His verdict as given in the Word. His procedure in this is recorded in Job 33:22-23. "His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to those who bring death." This seems to be his state — it looks hopeless. What then? If there is an interpreting angel with him — the Angel of the Covenant, who alone can do this — He will show him his uprightness. He will give the person a right understanding of his interest in God and of the true state of his heart toward God. Jesus Christ has determined in the word of the gospel the condition of every person. He tells us that sinners, of whatever kind they may be, who believe are accepted by Him and will receive forgiveness of sins. The soul we are discussing is now engaged in the work of coming to God for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It has many heavy objections within itself and against itself — reasons why it should not come, why it will not be accepted. Our Lord Jesus, the wisdom of God, foresaw all these objections. He knew in advance everything that could be said in this case, and yet He has determined as we have shown. In general, people's arguments against themselves arise from sin and the law. Christ knows what is in both of them. He tested them to the utmost in terms of their penalties, and yet He has determined as we have described. Their particular objections come from specific features of their sin — their greatness, their number, their aggravating circumstances, and the like. Christ knows all of these as well, and He stands by His firm determination. On the whole, then, it is right that His Word should stand. I know that when a soul brings itself to be judged by the word of the gospel, it does not always immediately receive a clear and satisfying answer. But when Christ is pleased to speak the Word with power, people will hear the voice of the Son of God and be convinced by His sentence. So let the soul that is rising out of depths and pressing toward a sense of forgiveness lay itself down before the Word of Christ. Let it attend to what He speaks. And if for a time it does not have power to quiet the heart, let it wait awhile. It will not always be so. Christ will deliver His verdict into the conscience with such power and effectiveness that the soul will find rest and peace in it. Christ also judges by His Spirit — not only by making the verdict of the gospel effective in the soul, but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:11: "We have received the Spirit of God, that we may know the things that have been freely given to us by God." The Spirit of Christ makes the soul aware that this or that grace comes from Him, that this or that duty was performed in His strength. He brings to mind what He Himself has worked in people at various times, to give them support and relief in their current struggles. And when it has been clearly shown to the soul at any time by the Holy Spirit that something worked in it or done by it is genuinely from God, that discovery can never be utterly lost. He also bears witness with our spirits by His Spirit regarding our state and condition. I have written about this at length elsewhere, so I will pass over it here. This, then, is our first general rule and direction. People's self-assessments of their spiritual condition are unreliable, because their minds are usually influenced by their present difficulties, and they cannot see things impartially. Mistakes in such assessments are extremely harmful to a soul seeking relief and a sense of forgiveness. The nature of gospel assurance — what is consistent with it. What its effects are. Self-condemnation and self-loathing are fully consistent with gospel justification and peace. Some people have no peace precisely because they possess the very thing without which peace is impossible. Because they cannot help condemning themselves, they cannot accept the reality that God acquits them. But this is the mystery of the gospel, which unbelief cannot grasp. Nothing but faith can give real substance to things that seem so contradictory. It is easy to learn the concept, but it is not easy to experience its power. For a person to see within themselves what would condemn them — something that grieves them deeply — and at the same time to know that they are accepted and acquitted, is a feat that nothing in the world can accomplish except faith alone. We are now under a law of justification that excludes all boasting (Romans 3:27). So although we have joy enough in another, we always have more than enough cause for humiliation in ourselves. The gospel will teach a person to feel sin and believe righteousness at the same time. Faith will carry heaven in one hand and hell in the other — showing the soul the wrath it deserves as well as the mercy it has received. A person may see enough of his own sin and folly to draw the fire of hell out of heaven, and yet see enough of Christ to quench that fire and bring the peace of heaven out of the threat of hell. These two realities necessarily produce very different, even opposite, effects in the soul. And the person who does not know how to assign each to its proper place and season will inevitably be confused. The work of self-condemnation, then, which people in these depths cannot help but overflow with, is — within the arrangement of the covenant of grace — consistent with acceptance and forgiveness. There can be a deep sense of sin on grounds other than the fear of hell. David was never more humbled for sin than when Nathan told him it was forgiven. And there can be an awareness of hell as deserved, which the soul nevertheless knows it has been delivered from in the end. To clarify this further: Some people think assurance exists only in those who, if asked directly, 'Are you certain you will be saved? Do you know your sins are forgiven?' would answer with immediate and emphatic confidence. But just as the blessed truth of assurance has been misrepresented in the world under such a notion, so such descriptions entirely miss its true nature. As a result, some conclude that very few believers have any assurance, because they lack this bold confidence or cannot speak of it in these terms. And so assurance is treated as something not greatly to be desired, since it seems so rarely attainable — as if most of the saints are meant to live without it. The importance of assurance — not only as it is our life of comfort and joy, but also as it is the principal means by which godliness flourishes — requires us to look at this more carefully. (1) We should identify what things are not only consistent with assurance but are actually necessary companions of it, which some mistake for evidences that it is absent. And, 2. I will say something about its nature, especially as it reveals itself through its effects. 1. A deep sense of the evil of sin — of the guilt of one's own sin — is in no way inconsistent with gospel assurance of acceptance with God. By a sense of the guilt of sin, I mean two things: (1) A clear conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit, who says to the soul, "You are the one." And (2) a sense of God's displeasure against sin — His indignation and wrath. David expresses both of these in his complaint in Psalm 31:10: "My life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away." His sin was before him, and the sense of it pressed him hard. Yet despite all this, he had a confident assurance that God was his God in covenant (verse 14): "I trusted in You, O Lord; I said, 'You are my God.'" And the terms of the covenant, by which alone God is anyone's God, include the promise that He will be merciful to their sin and remember their iniquities no more. To whomever He is God, He is so according to the terms of that covenant. So here these two things are joined together. He says, in effect: "Lord, I am crushed by the sense of the guilt of my sins, and yet You are my God who forgives them." The basis for this is that God, through the gospel, has divided the work of the law and taken part of it out of its hands. The law's entire duty is to condemn both sin and the sinner. The sinner is freed by the gospel, but the law still retains its right against the sin itself — it condemns it, and rightly so. Now, although the sinner is freed, finding that his sin is still seized upon and condemned fills him with a deep sense of it. A person may therefore have a deep sense of sin all his days, living continually under its weight, abhorring himself for his iniquity and sinful nature, and yet all the while have a settled assurance of his acceptance with God. Deep sorrow for sin is consistent with assurance of forgiveness. Indeed, it is a great means of preserving it. Godly sorrow is a fruit of the gospel, not something that opposes it. It is the work of heaven itself, not merely the assurance of heaven, to wipe all tears from our eyes. In fact, these graces have the most outstanding promises attached to them, as in Isaiah 57:15; 66:2 — along with blessedness itself (Matthew 5:4). They are themselves the substance of many gracious gospel promises (Zechariah 12:10). Some people, feeling the weight and burden of their sins and being called to mourning and humiliation on that account, are so far from thinking they have any assurance that they doubt whether they have any faith or grace at all. But gospel sorrow and gospel assurance can dwell together in the same heart at the same time. Indeed, just as in all worldly joys there is a hidden wound, so in all godly sorrow and mourning — considered in itself — there is a secret joy that the world cannot understand. I am convinced that generally those who mourn the most have the most assurance. And all true gospel mourners will be found to have the root of assurance so grafted into them that in its proper season it will spring forth and bring forth fruit. A deep sense of the indwelling power of sin is consistent with gospel assurance. An awareness of indwelling sin will cause many groans and sighs. Trouble, unrest, sorrow, and anguish of heart — expressing themselves in sighs, mourning, and groaning for deliverance — are the constant companions of a sense of indwelling sin. "What is the point," someone asks, "of speaking to a soul deeply aware of the restless power of indwelling sin about assurance?" "I am on the verge of perishing at every moment," such a person says. "My lusts are strong, active, restless — even outrageous. They give me no peace. I fall before them constantly." "I lie face-down on the ground all my days and cannot help but be uncertain about the outcome." But when such a person has said everything he can, he will not be able to make more sorrowful complaints about this than Paul has already made in Romans 7. And yet Paul closes that discussion with one of the highest expressions of assurance anyone could ever seek: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). It is not assurance but the full enjoyment of glory that eliminates this sense of struggle. But if people insist they can have no assurance because they have the very thing without which assurance is impossible, they are on the wrong path entirely. A little salt of the gospel cast into these bitter waters will make them sweet and wholesome. The sense of sin's guilt and power, when received in a gospel light, does not destroy but rather supports assurance. Doubts, fears, and temptations — if they do not habitually prevail — are consistent with gospel assurance. Though the devil's power is limited with respect to the saints, his hands are not tied. Though he cannot ultimately prevail against them, he can still assault them. And although there is no longer an evil heart of unbelief ruling in believers, there will always be unbelief lingering in their hearts. The kind of evidence, conviction, and persuasion of acceptance with God that rules out all contrary reasoning — that kind of absolute certainty — will not be obtained in this world. We may have peace with God while having no peace from Satan's attacks. Now unless a person properly considers the nature of this spiritual conflict and its consistency with gospel peace, he will draw wrong conclusions about himself. On this account, some of the holiest people in this world, being entirely consumed with their inner battles and struggles, have concluded that they have no assurance at all. Evangelical assurance is not a fixed point that cannot vary. It may be higher or lower, greater or less, dim or attended with more clarity. It is not completely lost just because it is not at its peak. God sometimes wonderfully lifts the souls of His saints with some close and near approaches to them, giving them a sense of His love, peace, and joy — carrying them almost to the gate of heaven. But this life is not a season for constantly receiving wages. Our work is not yet finished; we are not always to remain on the mountaintop. But has the soul lost all its assurance when it comes down? Not at all. Before, it had assurance with joy, triumph, and exultation. Now it has assurance — or may have it — with wrestling, tears, and complaints. The degree is different, but the reality remains. And a person's assurance may be just as genuine and true when he lies on the ground with a sense of sin as when he is carried up to the third heaven with a sense of God's love. In short, this assurance of salvation is a gracious, evangelical persuasion of acceptance with God in Christ and of an interest in the promises. It is grounded on the faithfulness of God's word and carries the soul through all its duties and difficulties with this fruit: It gives delight in obedience and draws out love in the duties we perform for God. Enough assurance of a comfortable outcome to their obedience — a blessed conclusion to their labors and duties, their pursuit of holiness, mortification, self-denial, and endurance — is granted to make all these things pleasant and sweet to those who are engaged in them. To run as those who are uncertain, to fight as those who beat the air, to travel as those who have no confidence of a comfortable arrival — this is a state that quickly wearies the soul. And when it does, it is a season when the soul gives very little glory to God and receives very little growth in grace. Many things, as we have shown, interpose themselves — many doubts and entangling perplexities arise — but still there is a comforting persuasion at the root that gives life and vigor to all gospel duties. This persuasion prevails in believers: that their labor in the Lord, their watching, praying, suffering, giving, mortification, fighting against sin, and pursuit of holiness will not be in vain. This gives them such delight in their most difficult duties as travelers have on a hard journey toward a home they long for, or as soldiers have in a harsh campaign that they are confident they will win. It casts out fear — tormenting fear — the kind that fills the soul with paralyzing uncertainty, harsh thoughts of God, and dread of His approaches. First, with respect to its source, it comes from a spirit of bondage (Romans 8:15). "We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear." It is not a fear that makes an occasional intrusion on the soul — every person experiences that — but a settled, abiding fear that possesses and controls the mind. Second, it tends toward bondage. It brings the soul into bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15). Christ died to "deliver those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage." Fear of death as a penalty, as it lies within the curse of the law, is a tormenting, enslaving fear. Third, it has torment. "Fear has torment" (1 John 4:18). It gives no rest, no peace to the mind. Now this kind of fear is cast out by gospel assurance of forgiveness — not that it may never make an incursion, but it will not be permitted to dominate. Assurance gives the soul a hope and expectation of the glory that will be revealed, and it secretly stirs the soul up and enlivens it in preparation for that glory. This is the hope that "does not disappoint" (Romans 5:5), because it will never leave the soul exposed to failure and shame. Wherever there is the root of assurance, there will be this fruit of hope. The proper focus of this hope is things absent, invisible, and eternal — the promised reward in all its dimensions. This hope reaches out in times of distress, temptation, failure, and under a sense of sin's guilt and power. From it springs a source of secret relief in the soul — something that calms the heart and quiets the spirit in the midst of all storms and disturbances. Now, just as wherever there is assurance there will be this hope, so wherever this secret, relieving hope is found, it grows on no other root than that of assurance. Among other things this hope accomplishes, let me give one comprehensive example: it will carry those who possess it to a willingness to die for the testimony of Jesus, even in the most terrible manner. The approach and manner of death add to its terror. But this is nothing compared to what death means for those who see through it as a passage into the eternity that follows. For a person to choose death over life, in the most terrible form, while expecting an eternity to follow — this can only come from a deep-rooted persuasion of an interest in eternal blessedness. I am convinced that there are hundreds who, on the basis of genuine gospel conviction, would embrace the stake for the testimony of Jesus, even though they are currently full of doubts and fears about their own acceptance with God. But since these things are aside from my main purpose, I will not pursue them further. The point of this rule is practical. Let the soul make sure it is well acquainted with the nature of what it seeks. Let it acknowledge the lack of what it does not yet have, but let it not deny what it does have — which may be far more than it realizes. The fourth rule. Remove the hindrances to believing by thoroughly searching out sin. Rules and directions for that duty. Whatever your condition may be, and whatever your perception of it, continue waiting for a better outcome. Do not give up and throw away your hope. This rule contains the essence of the great example given to us in this psalm. When forgiveness in God is discovered, even though no personal interest in it is yet obtained, the soul is still to wait — and in waiting, to hope. The Holy Spirit tells us that "light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart" (Psalm 97:11). Light and gladness are sown for them. Deliverance from darkness — from misunderstandings about God, from harsh and suspicious thoughts about one's own condition — is what a soul in distress longs for. Now, says the Holy Spirit, these things are sown for the righteous. Does the farmer, after casting his seed into the earth, immediately expect it to spring up the next day or the next week? No. His God, as the prophet says, instructs him with good sense and teaches him — namely, what he must do and how he must wait. He gives time for the seed to grow and then for the harvest to ripen. Should we not also be instructed by Him? "Behold," says James, "the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and has long patience for it, until it receives the early and latter rain" (James 5:7). And if light is sown for those in darkness, shall they smother the seed under the soil or destroy the tender blade by their impatience? Waiting is the only path to stability and assurance. We cannot reach it by hurrying. In fact, nothing pushes the goal further away than undue haste. The reason is that a sense of personal interest in forgiveness and acceptance is given to the soul by a sovereign act of grace from God. It cannot be obtained by any rational conclusions or logical deductions we can make. All we can do in our reasoning and self-examination is to remove hindrances and prepare the way for the sovereign communication of it from God. The peace and rest we seek come from pure sovereign grace. "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can behold Him?" (Job 34:29). What is the proper way to receive what comes from sovereignty and free grace? Does not the nature of the thing itself tell us? It is by waiting. So if impatience drives the soul into resentment, or weariness makes it lazy — which are the two ways people fall short in waiting — they cut themselves off from the very thing they seek. And let no one think they can work out their difficulties any other way. Their own reasoning will not bring them to any lasting settlement. David's experience shows this (Psalm 30:6-7). He reasoned with himself like this: the person whose mountain is made strong, the one God defends — he will never be moved or shaken. That is a statement of confidence and triumph. But what was the outcome? In the middle of these happy thoughts, God hid His face, and David was troubled. He could no longer sustain his comfort from such reasoning, because comfort had never really come from his own arguments. It had come from the shining of God's presence, not from any reasoning of his own. So let no disappointment, no discouragement, no weariness make us give up the duty and practice of waiting. The church does the same in Lamentations 3:21: "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope." What does she call to mind? This: "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions never fail" (verse 22). "They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." "I will still hope. I will continue waiting, because of never-failing compassion, because of endless mercies, because of God's own faithfulness." And from this she draws a blessed conclusion (verse 26): "It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." This is our third rule. It is good to hope and wait, whatever our present condition may be, and not to give up — unless we want to guarantee failure. But we should also add the following: If there is a lot of rubble left in the foundation of the building, it is no wonder the whole structure always shakes and totters. Leaving any sin unexamined to the bottom will poison all our comfort. David knew this. When dealing with God in his distresses, he prayed that God would not remember the sins and transgressions of his youth (Psalm 25:7). Youth is often a time of great carelessness and forgetfulness of God. Many stains and spots are usually brought on the soul during that period. "Childhood and youth are vanity" (Ecclesiastes 11:10). Not because they quickly pass away, but because they are usually spent in emptiness, as the following advice to "remember your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecclesiastes 12:1) makes clear. Many people's approach is to wear such things out of memory and never walk with a sense of their past foolishness and madness, never making those sins the subject of thorough spiritual reckoning. I am speaking of the saints themselves. For with others who live under the means of grace, whom God intends to bring under conviction at some point, the usual course is different. Perhaps they receive a scare or conviction that produces a change of heart — not a new heart, but a different heart. A different heart, but not a new heart. So a different course of life, a different profession, and different actions flow from this change. They content themselves with this transformation. But a later reckoning may come, to their own disturbance and as an unconquerable hindrance to their peace and comfort. This was the case with Job (Job 13:26): "He makes me possess the sins of my youth." God filled his heart, his thoughts, his mind with these sins. He made them stay with him so that he possessed them — they were present with him as a settled inheritance. He made the sins of his youth the sufferings of his old age. And it is a sobering thing, as someone has said, when youthful sins and aging bones meet together — as Zophar puts it (Job 20:11): "His bones are full of the sins of his youth." The carefree attitudes of some people's youth prepare the way for painful reckoning in their old age. Take heed, young ones. You are doing things now that will remain with you into old age — if not into eternity. Job calls this possession of the sins of youth "the writing of bitter things against him." And indeed it is impossible for sin not to be bitter at one time or another. God calls it "a root that bears gall and wormwood" (Deuteronomy 29:18). "A root of bitterness springing up to cause defilement" (Hebrews 12:15). This, then, must be searched out to the bottom. Israel will not have success or peace while there is an Achan in the camp. Neither success in overcoming temptation nor comfort in believing can be expected while any Achan — any unexamined sin — lies hidden in the heart. Let people go over those sins and others of similar nature, which can be grouped under the same general categories, as described. And if they find they have contracted the guilt of any of them, let them not be surprised that they are still wandering in the fog without comfort. Instead, let them marvel at the riches of God's patience, grace, and forbearance — that they have not been utterly cast out of all hope of finding acceptance with Him. This will speed the end of their trouble, according to the direction given. 2. Let them organize the review of their lives under specific headings and seasons that will give them a clearer and more distinct view of their conduct. For example: First, regarding the state of their inner life, let them consider: First, the unregenerate period of their lives — everything before their conversion, before they were brought to God. If there were any great and notable eruptions of sin against God during that time, God requires that a deep awareness of them be maintained. Consider how often we find Paul reviewing the sins of his life and conduct before his conversion. "I was violent, and a blasphemer," he says. Such reflections ought to be prompted by any great, provoking occasions of sin, to keep people humble and to make them feel the constant need for pardoning grace and mercy. If such sins lie neglected and are not considered according to their seriousness, they will weaken the soul in its comforts and in its communion with God. If there were any clear intimations of God's goodwill and love to the soul, which were then broken off through neglect, unworthiness, or the love of sin, those too must be reviewed. There are two kinds of sins that effectively undermine our future peace and comfort, and that should therefore be frequently examined. First, sins that because of their aggravating circumstances carried some special unkindness toward God. Such are sins committed after warnings, after experiences of God's love, after specific commitments against them — relapses, failures in duty, and similar offenses. These kinds of sins carry much unkindness with them and will be searched out if we try to hide them. 2. Sins that caused scandal — whether to a few, to many, or even to a single person who is or may be affected by us. The aggravating weight of such sins is obvious. It is rare that we fully do our duty or respond to God's will in any situation He brings us into. And if our failures in this area are not handled properly, they will certainly hinder and disrupt our peace. Rule V: The fifth rule. The sixth rule: the distinction between faith and spiritual sense. Learn to distinguish between unbelief and jealousy. There is a twofold unbelief. (1) There is a universal, total unbelief — the kind found in all unregenerate persons. They have no faith at all, no real saving faith. I am not speaking of this. It is easily distinguished from any grace, since it is the complete enemy and opposite of all grace. (2) There is a partial, specific unbelief that consists in wavering at or questioning the promises. This is displeasing to God — a sin attended by more aggravating circumstances than people usually realize, though they commonly excuse it in themselves and are rarely convicted of it. It is clearly described in Psalm 78:19-20. God had promised His presence to the people in the wilderness — to feed, sustain, and preserve them. How did they receive these promises from God? "Can He give bread?" they asked. "Can He provide meat for His people?" (verse 20). What great sin or offense is there in this question? In verse 19, it says: This is called "speaking against God." "They spoke against God; they said, 'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?'" Unbelief that questions the promises is a speaking against God — a limiting of the Holy One of Israel, as it is called in verse 41. It assigns boundaries to His goodness, power, kindness, and grace based on what we find in ourselves — something He detests. By this unbelief we make God like ourselves. This is what it means to limit Him: to expect no more from Him than what we ourselves can do, or what we can understand others doing. You will say this was a great sin in the Israelites because they had no reason to doubt or question God's promises, since they had already experienced such great deliverances. We are glad to think so now. But when they were so many thousands of families without a single piece of bread or drop of water in a howling wilderness, things did not look the same to them as they do to us in hindsight. We are always ready to suppose that our reasons for doubting are perfectly valid. Everyone assumes their circumstances are more compelling than anyone else's. But no matter what we claim, this is speaking against God, limiting Him — and it is what keeps us from steadfast reliance on Him. But there is also a spiritual jealousy that resembles unbelief on the surface, though its root is quite different. "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm," says the bride, "for jealousy is cruel as the grave" (Song of Solomon 8:6). "I cannot bear this distance from you, these fears of being disregarded by you." "Set me as a seal on your heart." Now this spiritual jealousy is the anxious concern of a believing soul that has a sincere, deep love for Christ but lacks the full assurance of His love in return. All groundless jealousy arises from a hidden sense of unworthiness in the person who feels it, combined with a high regard for the one who is the object of their love. It is the same with this spiritual jealousy. Its root is love — sincere love that cannot be quenched by many waters or drowned by floods (Song of Solomon 8:7). This love fills the soul with exalted thoughts of the glorious excellencies of Christ and with admiration of Him. These are mixed with a deep sense of its own unworthiness and distance from Him. Now if these thoughts — on the one hand about Christ's glory and on the other about one's own unworthiness — are not properly directed and managed by faith, which alone can hold them in balance, the soul will be filled with fears and anxious concerns. This condition may sometimes be mistaken for questioning the promises of God, and what is actually an overflow of love may be judged as a deficiency of faith. Do not confuse these two, or much needless unrest will follow in the judgment you make about your condition. How, then, can we tell them apart? I answer briefly: 1. Unbelief that works by questioning God's promises is a weakening, discouraging, draining thing. It takes away the life and energy of the soul and makes it sluggish and indifferent toward the duties of obedience. The more a person questions God's promises, the less life, power, joy, and delight in obedience that person has. For faith is the root and spring of all other graces, and as faith thrives or declines, so do they all. People sometimes think that their uncertainty about God's love and about acceptance through the forgiveness of sin actually drives them to greater diligence in their duties. Perhaps it does for some — this is indeed the condition of many. But what kind of duties are these, and how are they performed? And does God accept them? The duties themselves are legalistic — a label that comes not from their substance or content (since they may be the same duties faith produces) but from their motivation and their goal. In this case, both are legalistic: their motivation is legal fear, and their goal is legal righteousness. The whole effort amounts to working for life rather than working from life. In plain terms, they are performed with a spirit of bondage — without love, joy, freedom, or delight — merely to quiet the conscience or appease God. Those are the purposes they serve. And does God accept them? No matter how many such duties are multiplied, God everywhere testifies that He detests them. This, then, is what unbelief mixed with convictions will produce. It is the natural way for unbelief to express itself when the soul is under the power of conviction. But when it comes to genuine gospel obedience in all its duties — carried on in communion with God through Christ, with delight in Him — unbelief destroys all of this. Spiritual jealousy, on the other hand, has the opposite effect. It cheers, enlivens, and enlarges the soul. It stirs up activity, earnestness, and energy in its longings and desires for Christ. "Jealousy is fierce as the grave," says the bride, "therefore set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm." It makes the soul restlessly long for nearer, more vivid, and more assured communion with Christ. It stirs up vigorous desires and active pursuit. Every doubt and fear it generates about the love of Christ actually pushes the soul toward greater earnestness after Him, not away from Him. Unbelief that works by questioning the promises is entirely self-centered. It begins and ends with self. Self-love — in its desire for freedom from guilt, danger, and punishment — is its life and soul. As long as this goal can be reached, it finds no delight in God Himself. Nor does it care by what means the goal is achieved, as long as it is achieved. If such people can gain any assurance that they will be freed from death and hell — whether by the works of the law or by any other means — they are satisfied. Spiritual jealousy, by contrast, fills the mind with many and varied thoughts about Christ, constantly presenting Him as more and more worthy of love and desire. The bride does exactly this on a similar occasion, as you can see in detail in Song of Solomon 5:9-16, where she gives a full and glowing description of her beloved to those who ask about him. These different things can be distinguished and discerned in these ways. Rule VI: Learn to distinguish between faith and spiritual sense. This rule comes from the apostle in 2 Corinthians 5:7: "We walk by faith, not by sight." It is primarily the sight of glory that is intended here. But faith and sense of any kind are clearly distinct. What is believed may not be felt. Indeed, it is God's will and command that faith should stand and do its work where all sense fails (Isaiah 50:10). And spiritual sense works the same way as natural sense in this regard. Thomas refused to believe unless he could see the object of his faith with his eyes or touch it with his hands. But our Savior said: "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). If we will believe nothing about God — about His love, His grace, or our acceptance with Him — beyond what we can spiritually feel and sense in our hearts, we are no better than Thomas. Tangible spiritual impressions of God's love are great springs of joy, but they are not absolutely necessary for peace or for the well-ordered conduct of gospel obedience. We are willing to believe Him as long as the certainty of our experience backs it up. But if that is how we deal with God, what is praiseworthy in it? The prophet tells us what it means to believe (Isaiah 50:10). When nothing is left — outward or visible — to support us, then to rest quietly on God: that is believing. So Psalm 73:26 teaches the same thing. And the apostle, using the example of Abraham, shows us what it is to believe with respect to a specific promise (Romans 4:18). "Against hope, he believed in hope." When Abraham could see no outward ordinary means for the fulfillment of the promise, when countless objections arose against it, he still believed — because God had spoken it. (1) Our acceptance with God through Christ — which is essentially the same as the forgiveness of sin we have been discussing. And (2) the grace of sanctification from God in Christ. Of each of these there is a spiritual sense or experience to be obtained. This peace is the rest and composure of the soul emerging from trouble, based on the reconciliation and friendship established with God through Christ. And like all peace, it has two parts: first, freedom from war, trouble, and distress; and second, rest, satisfaction, and contentment. And this second part, at least, belongs to the spiritual sense we are asking about. Beyond this, there is joy in the Holy Spirit — called "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8) — as well as glorying in God (Isaiah 45:25), along with many similar effects that flow from "the love of God poured out in our hearts" (Romans 5:5). "Yes," you say, "these are the things I aim at. These are what I want to experience and be filled with." It is this peace, this joy, this glorying in the Lord that you long to possess. And I say you do well to seek them — they are excellent blessings. But if you treat these things as belonging to the essence of faith — without which you can have no real interest in forgiveness — you are making a fundamental mistake. These things are not the same as believing, nor are they direct, automatic effects of it — things that are immediately produced wherever faith exists. They are additional blessings of faith that God grants according to His sovereign will. The way for any soul to receive them is to wait on the sovereignty of God's grace, who creates peace as it pleases Him. The person, then, who equates believing with experiencing these things and refuses to believe he has faith until he possesses them is walking on the wrong path entirely. And it may be that it is not God's will for you ever to be entrusted with them. Perhaps it would not be for your benefit. Some servants who are poor managers of money must have their wages kept for them until year's end, or it will do them no good. Perhaps some believers would be such spendthrifts of satisfying peace and joy, and would be so distracted by them from attending to necessary duties, that in love God withholds them. It is from the same care and love that peace and joy are withheld from some believers and granted to others. You are therefore to receive forgiveness by a pure act of believing, in the way and manner described at length earlier. And do not think that it is not genuinely in you simply because you do not constantly feel it in your heart. See to it in the meantime that your faith produces obedience, and God in due time will cause it to produce peace as well. The seventh rule. This is the grace we have from God in Christ for our sanctification. When the soul cannot find this grace in itself — when it can find no evidence of any grace from God, no fruit of the Spirit — it concludes that its condition is bad. It is indeed bad for anyone who has no grace at all. But the person who cannot find grace is not necessarily the same as the person who has none. These are different things. A person may have grace and yet not have it actively working at certain times. He may have grace for spiritual life while lacking it for spiritual comfort. Grace may need to be "stirred up," as Paul says (2 Timothy 1:6). And a person may have grace actively working in him and yet not know it or sense that it is active. We frequently see people under great temptation believing they have no grace at all, while at that very moment displaying the clearest evidence of grace in their very complaints and longings. Heman complains that he was free among the dead — a man of no strength (Psalm 88:4-5) — as someone who had no spiritual life, no grace. This tormented his mind and nearly drove him to distraction (verse 15). And yet there can be no greater expressions of faith and love toward God than those mixed into his very complaints. These things — faith and sense — must be carefully distinguished. And no soul should conclude that because it lacks the one, it lacks the other — that because it has no joy and peace, it therefore has no faith and no genuine interest in forgiveness. Do not mix foundation work and building work together. The eighth rule: spend no time in fruitless complaints. Do not mix foundation work and building work together. Our foundation in dealing with God is Christ alone — pure grace and pardon in Him. Our building is in and through holiness and obedience. Both are necessary, but they must not be confused. And there are great mistakes in this area that bring great confusion to people's souls. Some spend their whole lives laying the foundation and are never able to build on it in a way that comforts them or honors God. The reason is that they keep mixing into the foundation stones that belong only to the building above it. They keep bringing their obedience, their duties, their mortification of sin, and similar things into the foundation. These are precious building materials, but they are unfit to be laid first, bearing the entire weight of the structure. The foundation must be laid, as we said, in pure grace, mercy, and pardon through the blood of Christ. The soul is to accept this and rest in it simply as grace, without considering anything in itself as any basis for it — doing so by faith alone. And because these things — grace and works — will not mix, people spend fruitless effort trying to combine them all their days. But if the foundation is of grace, it is not of works at all, "for otherwise grace is no longer grace" (Romans 11:6). If anything of our own is mixed with grace in this matter, it completely destroys the nature of grace. And if grace is not preserved intact, the whole foundation is overthrown. But does this lead to lawlessness? Does this make obedience, holiness, duties, mortification of sin, and godly living useless and unnecessary? Absolutely not. In fact, this is the only way to order them rightly for the glory of God. Do we have nothing to do but lay the foundation? No — all our days we are to build on it, once it is firmly and soundly laid. And obedience, holiness, duties, and mortification are the means and materials of our building up. This, then, is what the soul must do if it wants to come to peace and stability. Let it release all former efforts, if it has been engaged in the wrong kind. Let it simply receive, accept, and hold fast to pure grace, mercy, and pardon, with a full recognition that in itself it has nothing to contribute to the foundation — relying on faith alone. No other foundation can anyone lay. Do not move on from here until this work is done well. Do not stop your earnest effort to bring your heart to rest in this righteousness of God and to bring your soul into the obedience of faith. Do not move on until this is accomplished. If you have been following a different path — trying to earn an interest in the pardon of sin through your own efforts and finding yourself continually disappointed — that is the expected outcome. Return here, then. Bring this foundation work to a blessed conclusion in the blood of Christ. And when that is done, build with all your might — but not before. It is equally destructive to bring the duties of our obedience — any reliance on them, any hopes pinned to them — into the foundation itself. But these things, being distinct in themselves, must be handled distinctly in the soul. Confusing them is the source of much confusion. In a muddled way, people try to maintain a life of grace and duty, which in their proper places should be joined together but never mixed up as one and the same thing. Fruitless and spiritless complaints — bemoaning themselves and their condition — become the substance of many people's spiritual lives. If they can raise objections against themselves and construct complaints out of their circumstances, they think they have done their duty. I have known some who spent a great part of their time going from one person to another with their objections and complaints, never mixing in any serious effort toward faith, and finding their condition no better year after year. These things are contrary to the life of faith. It is good, certainly, in our spiritual distresses to go to those who are equipped with the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season to weary souls. But for people to fill their minds and imaginations with their own objections and complaints, never trying to mix them with faith, is the way to make their condition worse, not better. And yet some, I am afraid, may take pleasure in this kind of behavior, as if it had some special spiritual distinction to it. Others fall into a different pattern: They are occupied mostly with spiritless despondency. And in some cases these feelings are made worse by their natural temperament or physical ailments. We see examples of this every day. Now what is the benefit of these things? What did Zion gain by crying, "The Lord has forsaken me, and my God has forgotten me"? What did David gain by saying, "I will perish one day by the hand of Saul"? Undoubtedly they only hurt themselves. Consider how David rouses himself when he finds his mind inclined to this pattern. After saying, "Why do You cast me off, O God? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?" he quickly rebukes and collects himself: "Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God!" Do you think you will improve your situation by wishing it were better, or complaining that it is so bad? Are your complaints about lack of health, lack of success, lack of provision things you settle for in ordinary life? In such matters you would take an active, industrious course toward a remedy or relief. In things of the smallest importance in this world and this life, you would not content yourself with wishing and complaining. As though industry in using natural means for natural ends were God's plan, but diligence in using spiritual means for spiritual ends were not equally appointed by Him! What does Scripture call for in your condition? Is it not industry and activity of spirit? And what does the nature of the situation require? Distress that one still hopes to overcome clearly calls for effort and action. If you are past hope, complaining is useless. If you are not past hope, why do you give yourself over to despondency? Our Savior tells us that "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). He is not speaking of the outward violence of its enemies seeking to destroy it, but of the spiritual earnestness and forcefulness that people use in pursuing their interest in it. There is, then, a holy violence — a restless activity and vigor of spirit — to be exercised in pursuing an interest in this kingdom. Apply this to your condition. Are you in depths and doubts, wavering and uncertain, not knowing your condition or whether you have any interest in forgiveness? Are you tossed back and forth between hopes and fears, lacking peace, comfort, and stability? Then why do you lie on your face in despondency? These spiritual activities — prayer, meditation, obedience, self-examination — are not peace itself, and they are not assurance. But they are part of the means God has appointed for obtaining them. "Give all diligence to make your calling and election sure" (2 Peter 1:10). "But," says the soul, "I have no certainty. I am afflicted and tossed and not comforted. My heart will not settle. My thoughts are confused and entangled." "There is, I admit, forgiveness with God, but I rightly fear that I will never be made a partaker of it." What is the usual course taken by those who hear such complaints? Mostly they have a good opinion of the person who brings them. They judge them to be godly and holy, though much afflicted. They feel sympathy and compassion and set about trying to relieve them. By various approaches and applications they seek to give comfort in the person's present state. But what is the outcome? Does this relief not usually prove to be like the morning cloud and the early dew — a little refreshment that quickly evaporates? My answer is: I do not condemn this approach, and I would not have anyone left comfortless in their depths. But I would offer two cautions: 1. Great spiritual wisdom and discernment are required in administering consolation to distressed souls. If in any area the tongue of the spiritually wise is needed, it is here — in speaking the right word at the right time to those who are weary. Indiscriminately applying gospel comforts without first making a correct assessment of the person's true state and condition may actually do more harm than good. And let people be careful to whom they entrust their souls and consciences — not to those who simply have ready-made comforts for every complaint. If counsel and consolation of this kind are given, they should be specific and distinct from the counsel we are discussing now — the counsel of watchfulness, diligence, and active pursuit. For let us see what the Holy Spirit advises in this condition for those who want to make their calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:5-11). "You who are now on the edges of the kingdom, who do not know whether you belong to it or not — you shall have an entrance into the kingdom of our Lord abundantly supplied to you." This is the advice the Holy Spirit gives in this case, and this is the blessed promise attached to following it. And the compassionate course of administering consolation is not to be separated from it. But, you may say, you use diligence and yet make no progress. But do you actually use diligence? Do you pursue study, effort — all diligence — diligence at all times, in all the ways God has appointed, with all the means available? Do these things abound in you? You say you cannot do all this because you are so weak, so unwell. But really you will not — you will not part with your ease, you will not deny your other interests, you will not press through difficulties. Is this giving all diligence? Is this working out our salvation with fear and trembling? And can we not see professing believers indulging themselves in vanity, folly, anger, envy, laziness, and the like — and then complaining that they have no peace, no assurance, no comfort? God forbid it should be otherwise with you, or that we should try to speak peace to you in such a condition. To hear of someone who walks lazily and carelessly, who indulges his sins, and then to find him complaining that he has no peace or assurance — this deserves a rebuke, not comfort. Spiritless complaints and excuses designed to avoid vigorous spiritual effort must be set aside. If they are not, ordinarily no comfort will follow. We have a powerful example of this in the bride (Song of Solomon 5:2-8). She is drowsy and unwilling to respond to communion with Christ, to which she is invited (verse 2). This leads her to make excuses for not answering. As a result, Christ withdraws His presence from her and leaves her without her former comforts (verse 6). What does she do? She rises, goes out, seeks, inquires — she is restless in using every means until she finds him. This must be the course of everyone who would achieve the same result. Spiritual peace and laziness will never dwell together in the same soul and conscience. Rule IX: The ninth rule. Watch out for improper expressions about God and His ways during times of distress. In times of doubt, distress, and confusion, guard against harsh thoughts about God, hasty and unconsidered statements about Him or His ways. These arise in three situations: 1. In deep perplexities of mind caused by some pressing terror from the Lord. 2. During the long, wearisome continuation of some tempting distress. We have many examples of this, some of which we will mention. 3. In spiritual disappointments caused by the strength of sinful desires or temptation. When a person has perhaps recovered through grace from a painful sense of some sin's guilt, or has resisted some powerful temptation — and then falls into the same sin or is overcome by the same temptation again. Consider an example or two of each kind. The first we find in Job, at the height of his trials and terrors from the Lord. See, among other passages, Job 10:3: "Is it good for You," he says to God, "that You should oppress, that You should despise the work of Your hands?" Poor worms that we are — who are we dealing with? Who would say to a king, "You are wicked," or to princes, "You are ungodly"? And will we speak this way to the God of heaven and earth? And see what conclusions he draws from such thoughts: Job 14:15-17: "You number my steps. Do You not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and You sew up my iniquity." He charges God with being his enemy — one who watched for every opportunity against him, who seemed to be glad when he stumbled, who sealed up his sins like evidence to be used against him later. If that had actually been God's disposition toward him, he would have perished forever, as he himself acknowledged elsewhere. The second kind we find in the prophet Jeremiah (Lamentations 3:18): "I said, 'My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.'" Present grace in spiritual strength and future expectation of mercy — both are gone. And what comes from this? Hidden harsh thoughts about God Himself are bred by it: "When I cry out and shout, He shuts out my prayer" (verse 8). "You have covered Yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can get through" (verse 44). These things are grievous to God and in no way helpful to the soul in its condition. In fact, they increasingly unfit the soul for every duty that might lead to its relief and deliverance. The same was true of Jonah (Jonah 2:4): "I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight.'" All is lost and gone. I might as well give up as keep fighting; I am only laboring in vain. Similar complaints also fell from Heman in his distress (Psalm 88). The general who heard one of his soldiers cry out under a wound, "I am killed! I am killed!" sent word to him: "You may be wounded, but you are not killed. That is not your determination to make." It is not for every private soldier in every danger to pass judgment on the battle. That is the work of the general. Jesus Christ is the captain of our salvation. He has undertaken to lead and guide our souls through all our difficulties and temptations. Our duty is to fight and press forward. His work is to manage the outcome, and to Him it must be entrusted. So remember these things: First, it is not for you to take Christ's judgment out of His hands and pass sentence on your own soul. Judgment regarding the state and condition of people is committed to Christ, and to Him it must be left. We addressed this in our first rule, and it is especially relevant in the situation being discussed. Self-judgment regarding sin and what it deserves is our duty. But judging our state and condition in relation to the remedy God has provided is the office and work of Jesus Christ, to whom it must be submitted. Consider that harsh thoughts about what God will do with you, and grim, despairing sentences pronounced against yourself, tend to produce worse things in your soul over time. It may be that when a person's perplexities are at their peak and the saddest statements are practically forced out of them, they have no ill intent behind them. But such thoughts are very apt to infect the mind with other harmful inclinations. After a while, they will lead the soul to view God as an enemy — as one who takes no delight in it. And what happens when the soul begins to view God as an enemy? No one will continue to love for long where they expect nothing in return. Do not allow your mind to be infected with such thoughts, and do not dishonor God with any statements that flow from them. Make the most of the slightest appearances of God's grace or pardon. If you want to reach stability and a comforting assurance of an interest in forgiveness through the blood of Christ, make the most of every appearance of grace, however small. The bride notices her husband and rejoices in him when he stands behind the wall, when he does nothing more than look through the lattice (Song of Solomon 2:9). She seizes upon the slightest glimpse of him to support her heart and stir up her affections toward him. People in danger do not sit still and wait until something appears that will guarantee their rescue. They grab hold of anything — a plank, a piece of the ship — that offers even a chance of preservation. And God does, in many places, express encouragements that give the soul little more than a possibility of reaching what it seeks. For example, Zephaniah 2:3: "Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger." And Joel 2:14: "Who knows whether He will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him?" Perhaps we will be sheltered. Perhaps we will receive a blessing. This was the best ground Jonathan had for his great undertaking against the enemies of God (1 Samuel 14:6): "Perhaps the Lord will work for us." And why does God sometimes make these seemingly uncertain hints of grace and mercy? Is it so that we should ignore them and give up? No — His purpose is that we should seize upon them, lay hold of them, and make the most of even the slightest appearances of grace. This kind of response shows that we value His favor and will not let even a glimmer of it pass unnoticed. When people are on a voyage at sea and run into a storm that continues and threatens to overwhelm them, if after many days any sign of land appears, even at a great distance, their spirits revive. They set their course toward it, using whatever means they have. The soul we are describing is afflicted and tossed and not comforted. In the intimation of grace and pardon, there is a distant discovery of some relief. "This may be Christ; this may be forgiveness." The soul becomes convinced of this — it cannot deny that at a certain time, under certain circumstances, in certain duties, it was persuaded that grace and mercy were real and available. This is enough to set its course steadily in that direction — to press forward toward the harbor that will give it rest and peace. Consider how little David had to bring his soul to composure in his great distress (2 Samuel 15:25-26): "If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back and show me the ark and His dwelling place. But if He says, 'I have no delight in you,' here I am — let Him do to me as seems good to Him." He has nothing but sovereign grace to rest on, and to that he gives himself up. Faith is indeed the soul's venture for eternity. It is a venture regarding one's eternal condition. The soul must either cling to itself and its own empty hopes of a righteousness of its own, or it must abandon all such expectations and cast itself on the grace and mercy of God in Christ. Now if all the former paths are harmful and futile — if the best of them is a direct opposition to the gospel — what remains but to let go and trust the grace that is offered?

To close these general rules, I add one final direction: consider specifically where the problem lies — what it is that keeps you from peace through a settled persuasion that you have an interest in gospel pardon. Do not keep drifting up and down in vague generalities and uncertainties. Drive things to a specific point so that it can be tested whether that thing truly has the power to keep you in your present entanglement and discouragement. Search out your wound, so that it can be determined whether it is curable.

We cannot expect people to identify their own specific concerns so that they can be addressed one by one. Instead, we must ourselves organize the various distresses that trouble the minds of people in this matter into general categories and speak to them according to the Word of truth. Individual cases, as varied by their circumstances, are endless. They cannot be adequately addressed in a general instruction like this; they must be left to occasional conversations as particular cases are brought to those entrusted with ministering the mysteries of God. Others have already labored in this area and their work is in wide use. It must be said, however, as was observed before, that specific cases are so shaped by their particular circumstances that it is very rare for any general treatment of them to be entirely adequate or well matched to the way those going through them experience them. I will therefore bring things under some general headings to which most of the objections that troubled sinners raise against their own peace may be reduced, and leave the application of that light to the relief of individual souls as God is pleased to make it effective.

Second General Part of the Application: Grounds of Spiritual Unrest Considered. The first ground: Afflictions. The ways afflictions are magnified in the mind, and rules for dealing with them.

What lies before us now is the second part of the second general application drawn from the truth we have been considering. Our aim is to lead souls toward peace with God through a gracious persuasion of their interest in the forgiveness that is with Him. This part consists, as was stated, in a consideration of some of the distressing doubts that trouble the minds of people and keep them from settling into peace.

First, such distresses and objections against the soul's peace and acceptance with God arise from afflictions. They have done so in times past, and they do so in many people today. Afflictions, when their weight is amplified in the mind by their nature or accompanying circumstances, often affect the mind in various ways — sometimes so darkening it as to produce the thought that all afflictions are messengers of wrath, all signs of God's displeasure, and therefore proof that one is not pardoned or accepted with God.

This is a time of great affliction for many people, and some of those afflictions come with countless aggravating circumstances. Some have come with a dreadful and sudden shock — things that do not occur in ordinary providence even across many generations. Such is the condition of those who have been brought to the most extreme loss by the recent great fire; some have had their entire families and all their descendants taken from them; within a few days they have been suddenly bereaved, as in a plague. Some, in their own persons or through those close to them, have endured long and severe trials through oppression and persecution. These things have varied effects on the minds of people. Some cry out with that wicked king, 'This evil is from the Lord; why should we wait for Him any longer?' and give themselves over to seeking comfort in their own lusts. Some bear up under their troubles with natural strength of spirit. Some have received a sanctified and fruitful use of their trials and found joy in the Lord. But many go heavily under their burdens, their minds darkened by many misunderstandings of God's love and of their personal interest in His grace. It is not out of place, therefore, to speak briefly to this source of trouble as we begin this section. Outward troubles are often the occasion, if not the direct cause, of great inward distress. You know how the saints of old expressed their experience of them and their struggles with them. David's complaints are well known to all who have any genuine communion with God in such things; so are those of Job, Heman, Jonah, Jeremiah, and others. They do not complain only of their troubles, but of their sense of God's displeasure in and through them — of His hiding His face while they were under such trials.

It is not otherwise today, as those who speak with many people know well — people who are either suddenly struck by unexpected troubles or worn down by trials and the failure of long-hoped-for relief. They consider their condition both in itself and in comparison to others, and on both counts are filled with dark thoughts and despondency. One says: 'I am rolled from one trial to another; the clouds return again after the rain. All God's waves and breakers pass over me. In my own person I am pressed with sickness, pain, and trouble; in those close to me, with their sins, failures, or death; in my outward condition, with loss, poverty, and damaged reputation — I am like a withered branch. Surely if God had any special care for my soul, it would not be this way, or some timely end would have been put to all this.' Then they look over at some other professing Christians and see their tables spread day after day, the Lord's favor shining constantly on their households, their every desire granted. Nothing grievous from this world touches them. And they think: 'Surely if I had an interest in His grace and in pardon, the God of Israel would not chase after a flea in the mountains, or set Himself in battle array against a leaf blown by the wind. He would spare me a little and leave me alone for a moment. But as things stand with me, I fear my way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes His notice.' Thoughts of this kind torment people's minds and keep them from receiving the strong comfort God is abundantly willing to give them through a settled persuasion of their blessed interest in the forgiveness that is with Him.

This was exactly David's situation — or at least these outward troubles were a major part of the depths from which he cried out for relief through a sense of pardon, grace, and redemption with God.

In response to these complaints, I answer first: so many excellent things have been said about afflictions — their necessity, their usefulness, and so on — and such blessed purposes are assigned to them, which in many people have actually been accomplished, that someone unfamiliar with the real experience of affliction might think it impossible for anyone to be shaken in their confidence in God's love on that account. But as the apostle tells us, no affliction is pleasant at the time — it is painful. And the very person who at the end of his trials made the solemn declaration that it was good for him to have been afflicted was, as we have seen, deeply distressed while going through them. There are therefore several accompanying circumstances of severe afflictions that seem to set them apart from the general rule and the promises of love and grace.

1. The memory of past and buried sins and failures lies hidden within many afflictions. It was this way with Job. "You make me," he says, "to possess the sins of my youth." See his plea to this effect in Job 13:23-27. In the middle of his troubles and distresses, God revived in his spirit a sense of former sins — even the sins of his youth — and made him possess them. God filled his soul and mind with thoughts of them and anxiety about them. This made him fear that God was his enemy and would continue to deal with him severely. It was the same with Joseph's brothers in their distress (Genesis 42:21): "They said to one another, 'We are truly guilty concerning our brother, because we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded with us, and we would not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.'" And in verse 22: "Behold, his blood is now required of us." Their distress revived a deep and perplexing sense of guilt from a sin committed many years earlier, along with all its aggravating circumstances. This stripped them of all their comforts and relief, filling them with confusion and trouble — even though they were completely innocent of the charge currently brought against them. The same thing happened with the widow of Zarephath, with whom Elijah stayed during the famine. When her son died — and his death seems to have been somewhat extraordinary — she cried out to the prophet: "What do I have to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to call my sins to remembrance and to kill my son?" (1 Kings 17:18). It seems she had contracted guilt from some great sin in the past. Now, in her severe affliction at the death of her only child, the memory of it was recalled and revived in her soul. This is how deep calls to deep at the noise of God's waterspouts, and all His waves and billows pass over a person (Psalm 42:7). The deep of affliction calls up the deep of sin's guilt, and both together become like billows and waves passing over the soul. We see only the outside of people's afflictions. They usually complain only about what is visible. And it seems like an easy thing to apply comfort and relief to those who are distressed. The rule in this matter is so clear, so frequently repeated and emphasized, and the promises attached to this condition are so many and precious, that everyone has something ready to offer those who are suffering. But often we know nothing about the bitterness hidden within people's afflictions. They keep that to themselves, and their souls feed on it in secret (Lamentations 3:12). God has stirred up the memory of some great sin or sins, and they see their afflictions as the means by which He is coming to enter into judgment with them. Is it any wonder if they are in darkness and filled with sorrow?

2. In many afflictions there is something that seems new and unique, which takes the soul by surprise. The person cannot easily fit their condition into the general teaching about afflictions. This perplexes and entangles them. It is not affliction in general that troubles them, but some specific element in it that fills the soul with particular dread. They begin to wonder whether anyone else has ever experienced anything like it, and this robs them of the support they might receive from the examples of others. And indeed, when God intends an affliction to cut deeply, He will put an edge on it — in its nature, manner, or circumstances — that makes the soul feel its sharpness. He will not stay within the limits and boundaries we set for ourselves, the ones we think we could handle. Instead, He will stamp it with the imprint of His own greatness and awe, so that He may be acknowledged and submitted to. This was the situation with Naomi. From a full and prosperous condition, she went to a foreign country with her husband and two sons, where all three died, leaving her destitute and poor. So when she gave her account of God's dealings with her, she said: "Do not call me Naomi" (meaning pleasant), "but call me Mara" (meaning bitter), "for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?" (Ruth 1:20-21). The same was true of Job, of the widow of Zarephath, and of the widow at Nain who was burying her only child. Again and again in severe afflictions, God is pleased to introduce a particular entangling element that perplexes the soul and darkens all its reasoning about God's love and its own interest in pardon and grace.

Third: in some people, their affections are very strong and deeply attached to lawful things, which makes their nature tender and sensitive, and prone to receiving deep impressions from pressing afflictions. Although this in itself is a good natural disposition, and helps preserve the soul from the hard stubbornness that God abhors, yet if it is not carefully watched, it is apt to entangle the soul with many troubling temptations. The apostle points to two opposite dangers we face under trials and afflictions: 'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him' (Hebrews 12:5). A person may either, through natural hardness, despise and be defiant under suffering — or faint and despair, falling short of the end God intends to accomplish through a proper response. Though the temperament we are speaking of is not prone to the first extreme, it is greatly prone to the second — which, if not guarded against, is no less harmful. In such people, when strong emotions are stirred, they cloud and darken the mind and fill it with distorted perceptions about God and about themselves. Everything appears to them through a lens of fear, dread, terror, grief, and every kind of discouragement. This causes them to faint and despair, forming very dark and troubled views of themselves and their condition.

Fourth: afflictions find some people already entangled with powerful corruptions — love of worldly things or worldly pleasures, love of reputation, ambitious plans for leaving a legacy, or perhaps more carnal and sensual sins. When these two things unexpectedly collide — a great affliction and a strong corruption — what an inner upheaval they produce in the soul. It is like a powerful remedy meeting a severe and stubborn disease in the body: there is a violent conflict within, often endangering the very life of the patient. So it is when a severe trial, a sharp blow from God's hand, falls on a person in the midst of pursuing some corruption. The soul is shaken nearly to distraction and can hardly think anything but that God has come to cut the person off in the middle of his sin. Every unmortified corruption fills even the anticipation of affliction with dread. And there is good reason for this — for although God may be merciful to people's sins, if He were to take vengeance on their stubborn, chosen patterns, their condition would be dark and grievous indeed.

Fifth: Satan never fails to seize such opportunities to press his advantage against those under God's hand. It was in the time of suffering that he fell upon the head of the church, making it the very hour of the power of darkness. He will not miss any apparent opportunity to work against Christ's members. And this is his chief line of attack in such seasons: persuading them that God has no regard for them, that they have fallen under His judgment and severity as those who have no share in mercy, pardon, or forgiveness.

For these and similar reasons, then, although afflictions are in general so clearly testified to be pledges and tokens of God's love and care — designed for blessed ends such as conformity to Christ and participation in the holiness of God — yet because of these circumstances, they often become the means of casting the soul into the depths and hindering it from a refreshing sense of the forgiveness that is with God. That these things may not become a real or lasting cause of inward spiritual distress, the following rules and directions may be observed.

First: not only afflictions in general, but great and manifold afflictions attended with all kinds of aggravating circumstances, are always consistent with the pardon of sin — even after clear tokens and pledges of that pardon and of God's love. Consider Job 7:17-18: 'What is man that You magnify him, and that You are concerned about him, that You examine him every morning and try him every moment?' What the thoughts were that led him to marvel at God's care and love is expressed in verses 12-16. The words there are among the darkest in the entire book; and yet, when Job came back to himself from his overwhelming anguish, he acknowledged that all of it proceeded from God's love and care — from His very resolve to magnify a man and do him good. For this purpose God chastens a person every morning and tries him every moment — with afflictions that are, for the time, so far from being pleasant that they give no rest and even make the soul weary of life, as Job expresses in verses 15-16. And it is worth noting that while no one on earth had afflictions to match Job's, God gave him three testimonies from heaven that no one on earth matched him in grace. And while it may not be stated as an absolute rule, it has generally been true throughout God's providence, from the beginning of the world, that those who have had the most afflictions have had the most grace and the most evident marks of acceptance with God. Christ Jesus, the Son of God, the head of the church, had all afflictions gathered and concentrated in Himself — and yet the Father always loved Him and was always well pleased with Him.

When God solemnly renewed His covenant with Abraham, and Abraham had prepared the sacrifice by which it was to be ratified, God caused a smoking furnace to pass between the pieces (Genesis 15:17). This was to show him that a furnace of affliction was woven into the covenant of grace and peace. God also told Zion that He had chosen her in the furnace of affliction (Isaiah 48:10) — that is, in the afflictions of Egypt: burning, fiery trials, as Peter calls them (1 Peter 4:12). No argument can therefore be drawn from affliction — from any kind of it, or from any aggravating circumstance that accompanies it — that should in any way discourage the soul from its comforting and sustaining persuasion of an interest in God's love and forgiveness.

Second: no length or duration of afflictions should undermine our spiritual comfort. For confirmation of this, consider the great example of the Son of God. How long did His afflictions continue? What end or relief was given to them? They continued until He cried out with a loud voice and gave up His spirit. From His manger to His cross, His afflictions only increased, and He died in the middle of them. He was the head of the church and its great representative — the One to whose likeness we are predestined. If God wills the same for us — that we should have no rest and no relief from our trials until we lay down in the grave, that whatever condition we pass through, trials will be present in all of them and depart only at death, when immortality and glory begin — what is there in this to complain of?

Third: where the memory and troubling sense of past sins is revived by present afflictions, separate the two in your mind and deal with them one at a time. As long as you handle them together, you will be tossed from one to the other and find no rest for your soul. They will each intensify the other. The sharpness of affliction will add to the bitterness of the sense of sin, and the sense of sin will sharpen the affliction and cause it to cut more deeply into the soul, as the earlier examples showed. Deal with them separately, therefore, and in their proper order. This is what the psalmist did here. He had both pressing on him at once, and together they brought him into the depths from which he cries out for deliverance. See Psalm 32:3-5. And what course did he take? He addressed his sin first — distinctly and separately. And once he received a release from the guilt of sin, which he had waited for so earnestly, his faith quickly rose above his outward trials, as his blessed conclusion shows: 'He himself will redeem Israel from all his iniquities' (Psalm 130:8) — all Israel, and himself among them. Do the same, then: single out the sin or sins whose guilt has been revived on your conscience. Use all diligence to come to a settled resolution of the matter through the blood of Christ. This is what God is calling you to through your affliction. Sin is the disease; your affliction is only the symptom. In the cure you are seeking, this must be addressed first and most urgently. Once that is dealt with, the rest will lose its hold on your soul by itself. Once the root is dug up, you will not long feed on the bitter fruit it produced — and even if you do, the bitterness will be taken from it and it will become pleasant as well as wholesome. How this is accomplished through an application to God for forgiveness has been explained at length. But if people insist on dealing with their sins and their troubles in a confused tangle, their wound will remain incurable and their sorrow endless.

Fourth: remember that a time of affliction is a time of temptation. Satan, as we have shown, will not miss any apparent opportunity to assault the soul. When Pharaoh heard that the people were trapped in the wilderness, he pursued them. When Satan sees a soul tangled up in its troubles and distress, he considers it his moment to attack. He seeks to sift and comes when the grain is under the threshing floor. Know therefore that when trouble comes, the prince of this world comes also — and be prepared for him. Now is the time to take up the shield of faith to extinguish his flaming arrows. If they are left unchecked, they will set the soul on fire. Watch and pray, therefore, that you do not enter into temptation — that Satan does not give you a false picture of God. He who dared misrepresent Job to the all-seeing God will boldly misrepresent God to us who see and know so little. Do not be ignorant of his schemes, but resist his every attempt to insert himself between God and your soul in a matter that is none of his concern. Do not let this troublemaker inflame the conflict.

Fifth: learn to distinguish the effects of natural temperament and physical condition from genuine spiritual distress. Some people carry heavy, dark, and persistent thoughts in their minds that stem from their natural constitution. These will not be resolved by argument, nor completely overcome by faith. The goal must be to reduce their force and effects by understanding their source. If people cannot recognize this in themselves, those ministering to them have a serious responsibility to discern what comes from natural causes — conditions for which a quick cure should not be expected.

Sixth: take care in times of peace and ease not to store up, through negligence or careless living, painful provisions for a day of darkness and affliction. It is sin that makes troubles bitter. The sins committed in peaceful times are revived with full force in times of distress. The fear of future affliction and coming trials should make us careful not to bring into those seasons what will make them bitter and sorrowful.

Seventh: strive to grow better under all your afflictions, or your afflictions may grow worse — God may mix them with more darkness, bitterness, and terror. Just as Joab told David that if he did not stop his scandalous mourning over Absalom, all the people would abandon him and he would find himself in a far worse condition than anything he was lamenting or anything that had ever happened to him before — the same may be said to those under affliction. If trials are not handled and used rightly, something worse may — and in all likelihood will — follow. Wherever God takes up this work of afflicting, He commonly pursues it until He has accomplished His purpose for the person being afflicted. He will not stop threshing and breaking the grain until it is fit for His use. Lay down your resistance to Him, then. Give yourself to His will. Release everything about which He is contending with you. Follow after what He is calling you to, and you will find light rising in the midst of darkness. If He holds a cup of affliction in one hand, lift your eyes and you will see a cup of consolation in the other. And if every star withdraws its light while you walk in God's way, be assured that the sun is about to rise.

Eighth: under the terms of the covenant of grace, a person may be aware that a particular affliction relates to a particular sin, and yet have a solid and comforting persuasion of the forgiveness of that sin. This was the case in general in God's dealings with His people: 'He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; and often He restrained His anger and did not arouse all His wrath' — He forgave them, yet He also took vengeance on their sinful ways (Psalm 99:8). Whatever they suffered under the consequences of their chosen sins — and that phrase is as strong as any applied anywhere to God's dealings with His people — He at the same time assured them of the pardon of their sin. So you know it was with David. His greatest trial and affliction — which came directly because of a specific sin and in which God took vengeance on his sinful action — was introduced with a word of grace: God had put away his sin and he would not die. This is stated plainly in the terms of the covenant with the seed of Christ in Psalm 89:31-34.

Objections against believing, arising from internal matters. The person does not know whether he is regenerate or not. The nature of regeneration examined. The difference between saving grace and common grace. This difference can be discerned. People can know whether they are regenerate. The objection answered.

Another category of objections and discouragement arises from internal matters — things required in the soul for it to have an interest in the forgiveness that is with God. We will address some of these, which concern: first, the state of the soul; and second, specific workings within the soul.

First, regarding the soul's state: some say that unless a person is regenerate and born again, he cannot be a partaker of mercy and pardon. But on this whole question they find themselves in the dark. They do not know well what regeneration is — it is debated in various ways. Some would locate it only in the outward signs of initiation into Christ; others describe it differently. Further, they are uncertain whether those who are regenerate can or may know that they are, or whether this can in any measure be known to others with whom they might speak about it. If it cannot be known, they remain uncertain on this point too. And perhaps they can identify neither the time when nor the manner in which any such work was wrought in them — and without that, since it is wrought through means and springs from certain causes, they feel they cannot have a settled persuasion of their acceptance with God through pardon in the blood of Christ. This is the core of most of the objections troubled souls bring against themselves regarding their state and condition. From this they draw out arguments in great variety, shaped by their particular circumstances and temptations. They reinforce these objections with many proofs drawn from their sins, failures, and fears. My aim is to lay down some general rules and principles that may be applied to particular situations and moments of crisis. This I will do in response to the several parts of the general objection mentioned above.

First: it is absolutely certain that there are two states or conditions into which all humanity is divided, and every living person belongs completely and definitively to one of them. These are the state of nature and the state of grace — the state of sin and the state of righteousness through Christ. Every person in the world belongs to one of these two. Scripture is so full of this truth that it appears to be one of the first and most fundamental things it teaches us. It is just as clear that there are two different states in this world as that there are two in the world to come. In fact, all our faith and all our obedience rest on this truth. Moreover, the covenant of God, the mediation of Christ, and all the promises and warnings of law and gospel are built on this foundation. This truth also lays bare the rampant practical atheism in the world. People are not merely ignorant of these things, like Nicodemus, wondering how they can be — they scorn them, despise them, and mock them. To speak of being born again is something the world treats with contempt. But whether people will or not, to one of these two conditions they must belong.

Second: just as these two states differ morally in their nature and in the actual causes that constitute that difference, so there is a genuine distinction between the things that place a person in one condition versus the other. Whatever goodness, virtue, duty, or grace may be found in an unregenerate person, there is in the regenerate person something of an entirely different kind that is simply not present in the other. The difference between these states themselves is plain in Scripture. One is a state of death, the other of life; one of darkness, the other of light; one of enmity toward God, the other of reconciliation with Him. And that the one state is constituted by a kind of grace that is peculiar to it and absent from the other — this I will briefly set out.

First: the grace of regeneration flows from a particular source and fountain that pours much of its living water into the regenerate soul — not one drop of which falls on those who are not regenerate. That source is electing love. This grace is given in the pursuit of the decree of election: 'He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him' (Ephesians 1:4). Our holiness — which springs solely from regeneration — is an effect of our election: it is what God works in our souls in pursuit of His eternal purpose of love and goodwill toward us. As the apostle also says in 2 Thessalonians 2:13: 'God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit.' God, having purposed salvation as the end, has also appointed the sanctification of the Spirit as the means by which we are brought to that end in an orderly way. But the best of common grace or gifts that may be in unregenerate people are merely products of God's general providence, ordering all things for His glory and the good of those who will become heirs of salvation. They are not the fruits of electing eternal love, nor appointed means for the certain and infallible attainment of eternal salvation.

Second: the graces of the regenerate have a manifold relationship to the Lord Christ that the common graces of unregenerate people do not. I will name one or two of these relationships. First: they have a specific moral relationship to the mediatory acts of Christ in His offering and intercession. Saving grace is a specific part of what Christ purchased by His death and the shedding of His blood. He made a twofold purchase for His elect: their persons, to belong to Him; and saving grace, to belong to them. 'He gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless' (Ephesians 5:26-27). Christ's purpose in giving Himself for His church was to secure for it that saving grace by which, through the use of means, it would be regenerate, sanctified, and purified. As Titus 2:14 says: 'He gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.' This actual purification in grace and holiness has a direct relationship to Christ's death: He specifically designed His death to secure it for those for whom He died. And in the pursuit of that purchase, His intention was actually to bestow it on them — to effectually work it within them. Moreover, saving grace has a specific relationship to His intercession, in a way that distinguishes it from any gifts or common graces that other people may receive. Giving us the rule and model of His intercession in John 17, He states that He does not pray for the world but for His elect — those the Father had given Him, because they were His (John 17:9). And what does He pray for them, specifically and distinctly from all other people? Among other things, one principal request is in verse 17: 'Sanctify them in the truth.' Their sanctification and holiness are granted in answer to the prayer and intercession of Christ that is peculiar to them, with all others excluded: 'I pray for them; I do not pray for the world.' The common grace found in unregenerate people — whatever distinction it produces among them — has no such relationship to Christ's offering and intercession. Common grace is not the product of this particular intercession.

Second: saving grace has a real relationship to Christ as the living, life-giving Head of the church. He is the living spiritual fountain of all the church's spiritual life and of every vital act it performs. 'Christ is our life' (Colossians 3:4), and our life is hidden with Him in God (Colossians 3:3). That eternal life which consists in knowing the Father and the Son (John 17:3) exists in Him as its cause, head, spring, and fountain. From Him it is derived to all who believe, who 'receive of His fullness, and grace upon grace' (John 1:16). All true, saving, sanctifying grace — all spiritual life and everything belonging to it — flows directly from Christ as the living Head of His church and the fountain of all spiritual life to its members. The apostle expresses this in Ephesians 4:15-16: 'We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.' He expresses the same thing again in Colossians 2:19. All grace in the entire body comes from Christ the Head, and there is no growth or advance of it except through His effectual working in every part, bringing it to the measure He has appointed. Nothing — not even the least measure of this grace — can be obtained except by virtue of our union to Christ as our Head, because it consists in a vital and effectual flowing from Him and His fullness. This kind of relationship to Christ is something the grace found in unregenerate people is entirely incapable of.

Third: the grace of regeneration and its fruits are administered in and through the covenant. This is the promise of the covenant: that God will write His law in our hearts and put His fear in our inner being, so that we will not depart from Him (Jeremiah 32:40). This is the grace we are speaking of, whatever its specific character. It is given to none but those who are taken into covenant with God, for it is promised to them alone, and it is worked in and upon their souls by virtue of that covenant. All unregenerate people are strangers to the covenant and are not made partakers of the grace that is uniquely and exclusively promised in it and given through it.

Fourth: even the smallest spark of saving, regenerating grace is worked in the soul by the Holy Spirit, given to dwell in believers and to remain with them. He is the living water that Jesus Christ gives to believers, which becomes in them 'a well of water springing up to eternal life' (John 4:14). First they receive the water — that is, the Spirit Himself as the spring — and from that spring, living waters flow up in them, produced and worked by the Spirit who is given to them. Although the common gifts and graces of unregenerate people are effects of the Holy Spirit's power working in and bestowed on them — as are all other works of God's providence — yet the Spirit does not work in them as one received by them, dwelling in them, and abiding with them as an unfailing spring of spiritual life. Our Savior states this explicitly: the world and unbelievers do not know the Spirit, cannot receive Him, and do not have Him abiding in them. All of this, in contrast to all unregenerate persons, is affirmed of all who believe.

Fifth: even the smallest measure of saving grace — the kind that belongs uniquely to the regenerate — is Spirit: 'That which is born of the Spirit is spirit' (John 3:6). Whatever is so born is spirit; it has a spiritual nature and cannot be produced by any means out of the principles of human nature. It is therefore called 'a new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17). However small or great it may be — however much it differs in degree from one person to another — its nature is the same in all: it is a new creation. Just as the smallest worm in the old creation is no less a creature than the sun — or indeed the most glorious angel in heaven — so in the new creation, the least spark of true grace from the sanctifying Spirit is a new creation, no less than the highest faith or love that ever existed in the greatest of the apostles. Now what is Spirit and what is not Spirit — what has a new spiritual nature and what has none — however much they may outwardly resemble each other, differ in kind from one another. This is how saving grace in the regenerate and common grace in the unregenerate stand in relation to each other. So just as these are two distinct states, they are genuinely and substantially different from one another. This answers the second part of the objection — the part drawn from uncertainty about these states and about regeneration itself, and about its real difference from the opposite state that excludes one from an interest in forgiveness.

Third, the inquiry is whether this state can be known — to the person who is truly in it, and to others who may have a concern in knowing it. To this I say: the difference between these two states and the causes that constitute them, being real, is also discernible. It can be known by those who are in each state, and by others. It can be known who are born of God and who are still children of the devil; who have been made alive by Christ and who are still dead in trespasses and sins. But here observe the following.

First: I do not say that this is always known to the persons themselves. Many cry 'Peace, peace' when sudden destruction is at hand. Such people either think themselves regenerate when they are not, or they willfully ignore the question of what is required of them to have peace, and so delude themselves to their ruin. And many who are truly born of God do not know it. They may for a season walk in darkness and have no light.

Second: I do not say that this is always known to others. It is not known to unregenerate people with respect to those who are regenerate, because they do not truly and substantially understand what it means to be regenerate. Natural people do not perceive the things of God — that is, they do not see them in their own light and nature (1 Corinthians 2:14). Just as they cannot rightly discern the things that put a person into that condition — for such things are foolishness to them — so they cannot judge rightly about persons in whom those things are present. Even when they happen to reach a correct conclusion about some person or thing, they do not do so on right grounds, nor with any inner conviction of what they judge. Generally they judge incorrectly about such persons, and because they see in those people a profession of something they do not find in themselves, they conclude they are hypocrites and false pretenders. For the things that demonstrate their union with Christ and evidence their being born of God are things the unregenerate neither savor nor can receive. Nor is the state of others always known or discerned by those who are themselves regenerate. They may sometimes, like Peter, mistake a Simon Magus for a true believer — or like Eli, mistake a Hannah for a daughter of wickedness. Many hypocrites are so equipped with gifts, common graces, knowledge, and religious profession that they pass among believers as genuinely born of God. And many true saints may be so hidden under darkness, temptation, and sin that they appear to be strangers to the very family to which they truly belong. Human judgment may fail, but God's judgment is according to truth.

Third, here is what we affirm: through the diligent use of the means appointed for this purpose, a person may know — and others who have a concern in knowing it may also know — which of the two conditions he belongs to; that is, whether he is regenerate or not, so far as his or their duty requires. This can be known, and known with a certainty that will prove reliable when put to the test. The proper discharge of certain duties — both in ourselves and toward others — depends on this knowledge, and therefore we may attain it to the extent that it is necessary for faithfully discharging those duties to the glory of God. Since the matter has come up, I will briefly touch on the latter question — what duties depend on our judging others to be regenerate, and the grounds and principles by which such a judgment may be made — even though it is not directly in our main line of inquiry.

First: there are many duties we are called to perform with and toward professing Christians that cannot be discharged in faith without making some judgment about their state and condition. It is only with reference to these duties that we are called to judge the state of others. We are not giving license to rash, uncharitable pronouncements on the spiritual condition of others, nor to any judging of others beyond what our own duty toward them indispensably requires. For instance: if we are to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters, it is entirely appropriate that we should know them to be such, so that we may risk our lives in faith when called to do so. We also join with them in the ordinances in which we solemnly profess that we are members of the same body with them — sharing the same Head, the same Spirit, the same faith and love. We must love them because they are begotten of God, children of our heavenly Father, and therefore must have some good grounds for believing them to be so. In short, the faithful performance of all the principal gospel duties we owe to one another — for God's glory and our own growth — depends on the assumption that we may have a satisfying persuasion about the spiritual condition of others from which to direct our actions toward them.

Second, as to the grounds for this: I will mention only one, on which all others rest. It is pressed in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13: 'For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.' All believers are united to and hold from one Head. Just as the members of the natural body are under one head, so is the mystical body of Christ — that is, all believers — under Christ their Head. They have this union through the indwelling of the same life-giving Spirit that is in Christ their Head, by whom they are all brought into the same spiritual state and disposition. They are made to drink of the same Spirit, for this same Spirit produces the same effects in them all — the same in kind, though different in degree — as the apostle fully explains in Ephesians 4:3-6. And this Spirit is in them and not in the world (John 16:13). This gives believers a natural quality in their duties toward one another — a mutual care, rejoicing, and sorrowing as members of one another (1 Corinthians 12:25-26). And it reveals and discloses them to each other, so far as is necessary for performing those duties, in a manner fitting for members of the same body. On this basis there is a spiritually natural correspondence among them, as face answers face reflected in water. They can see and discern in others what they have experienced in themselves. They can taste and appreciate in others what they feed on themselves — the very thing in which the life of their souls consists. The same Spirit of life being in them, they share the same spiritual taste and perception. Unless that sense is distorted by temptations, false ideas, or prejudice, they can discern in their communion that Spirit of which they all drink. This gives them the same likeness and image in the inner person, the same heavenly light in their minds, the same affections. Being thus equipped to judge and discern one another's spiritual state with reference to their mutual duties, they also have the true rule of Scripture by which to judge all spirits and spiritual effects. This is the foundation of all that sincere love and genuine communion that exists among the saints of God in this world. But here two cautions must be observed.

First: we should not judge the state and condition of any person in the world beyond what we are called to in the exercise of our duty — and we are so called only with reference to the duties we are to perform toward them. What business do we have judging those who are outside that context — anyone we have no duty-based reason to consider? Here the great rule applies: 'Do not judge, so that you will not be judged' (Matthew 7:1). Let us leave all people — even the worst — to God's judgment seat, except where clear duty requires otherwise. They are servants of another, and they stand or fall before their own Master. There have been serious failures among us in this matter: some have been ready to condemn all who do not go along with them in every principle, opinion, or practice. And every day, minor provocations are made the grounds of severe censures. Nothing is more contrary to the character of the meek and holy Spirit of Christ. This is our rule: if we are called to act toward someone as a saint and a living member of the body of Christ, in duties we cannot perform in faith unless we are persuaded that they are so — then on the grounds and by the means described, we are to satisfy ourselves about one another.

Second: when we do seek to discern one another's condition in reference to such ends, let us be sure to pursue those ends when we have reached our conclusion. Those ends have been stated. They are these: to love one another without pretense, as members of the same mystical body with us; to naturally care for and about one another; to delight sincerely in one another; to minister to one another's needs, both temporal and spiritual; to watch over one another with compassion. These and the like are the only purposes for which we are ever called to consider one another's spiritual condition — and if these ends are neglected, the inquiry itself becomes pointless. It is here that the great failure lies: people pursue the knowledge of one another's condition and then neglect the very thing it was meant to produce. Here lies the life or death of all church fellowship. All church community and relationship is built on the assumption that its members are all regenerate. Some locate this foundation in baptism alone, holding that all who are baptized are regenerate. Others require further evidence of the actual work of grace itself. But all build on the same foundation: that all church members are to be regenerate. And to what end? So that all may mutually perform those duties toward one another that regenerate people owe to one another. If those duties are omitted, there is no profit in church community at all. Churches without this are mere shells — bodies without souls. For just as there is no real union to Christ without faith, there is no real union among the members of any church without love, actively expressing itself in all the duties mentioned. Do not let this ordinance be in vain.

But we must return from this digression to the matter before us: what a person may discern about his own being regenerate or born again. I say then —

Second: a person may come to a settled and satisfying persuasion that he is regenerate — a persuasion so reliable that it will not deceive him when it is put to the test. For there are many duties whose faithful performance, for God's glory and the growth of the soul, depends on this persuasion and conviction. Such duties are these.

First: a right sense of our relationship to God and a corresponding disposition of heart toward Him. One who is born again is born of God — begotten of God through the incorruptible seed of the Word. Without a persuasion of this, how can a person conduct himself toward God as his Father on the grounds of faith? And how great a part of our obedience toward God and our communion with Him depends on just this, we all know. If people drift through all their days in uncertainty about this — never reaching a settled and comforting persuasion of it — they will hardly ever produce any genuine, childlike acts of love or delight toward God, which greatly undermines their entire life of obedience.

Second: thankfulness for grace received is one of the principal duties of believers in this world. But how can a person in faith give thanks to God for something he is entirely uncertain whether he has received? I know some people go through the motions in this matter. They will thank God in a formal way for their regeneration, sanctification, justification, and the like — but if you ask them whether they themselves are regenerate, they will mock the question or at least admit they know nothing of the sort. What is this but to mock God and presumptuously take His name in vain? If we are to praise God as we ought for His grace — guided and directed by Scripture, in a manner suited to the nature of the thing, with a frame of heart that shapes our whole obedience — it must be our duty to know the grace we have received.

Third: much of our spiritual watchfulness and diligence consists in cherishing, nurturing, and increasing the grace we have received — in strengthening the new creation that has been worked in us. This is primarily what the life of faith consists in and what the spiritual wisdom faith gives to the soul is for. But how can anyone apply himself to this while remaining completely uncertain whether he has received any principle of living, saving grace? Since God requires our utmost diligence, watchfulness, and care in this matter, it is certain He also requires of us — and grants to us — the foundation from which all these duties spring: acquaintance with the state and condition we are actually in. In short, there is nothing we have to do in view of eternity that does not, in one way or another, relate to our understanding and conviction about our state and condition in this world. Those who are negligent in examining and testing themselves leave everything between God and their souls at absolute uncertainty and dubious risk — and that is not the life of faith.

We now return, on the basis of these premises, to the part of the objection under consideration. Some say: 'We do not know whether we are regenerate or not, and are therefore entirely uncertain whether we have an interest in the forgiveness that is with God — and so we dare not admit the comfort offered in the truth being set before us.'

Taking for granted what has already been said in general, I will lay down the grounds for resolving this troubling doubt in the rules that follow.

Rule I: Make sure that the assurance you are seeking is of the right kind — not the kind that merely matches your own imagination. The second and third general rules about the nature of spiritual assurance, and what is consistent with it, are to be kept in mind here. If you are looking for a kind of evidence, a clarity of insight, and an absolute conviction about your condition that will leave no room for doubts, fears, questionings, or any occasion for fresh examination and self-testing — you will be seriously disappointed. Regeneration introduces a new principle into the soul, but it does not entirely remove the old. Some people want security, not assurance. The principle of sin and unbelief will still remain in us and still work in us. Their presence and their activity will constantly drive the soul to serious inquiry about whether they are more powerful in it than the state of regeneration can accommodate. The ongoing conflicts we must have with sin will not allow us to have the kind of constant, perfectly clear evidence of our condition that we might desire. A persuasion that holds up against strong objections to the contrary, keeping the heart engaged in the faithful performance of those duties that belong to the regenerate state, is the substance of what you are to look for in this matter. Rule II: If you are uncertain about your state and condition, do not look for some extraordinary, immediate direct testimony of the Spirit of God to settle it. I do acknowledge that God sometimes brings peace and assurance to the soul in this way: He causes His own Spirit to bear witness directly with our spirit that we are children of God — both through regeneration and adoption. He does this, but as far as we can observe, He does it sovereignly — when and to whom He pleases. Beyond this, God has left the nature of that particular testimony of the Spirit quite obscure and difficult to identify, with very little agreement on what it consists in or what its character is — and this is because He wants people to find satisfaction through His ordinary teachings, consolations, and communications of grace. No one person's experience is a rule for others. An incorrect understanding of it is a matter of real danger. Yet it is certain that humble souls in extraordinary circumstances may have recourse to it and receive benefit and relief. You may therefore desire it, you may pray for it — but not with such a spirit as to refuse the satisfaction that may be found through the ordinary ways of truth and peace. This is the stretching out of the hand to touch the side of Christ — but 'blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed' (John 20:29). Rule III: If at any time in the past you received some special or direct pledge or testimony from God given to your soul about its sincerity and its regeneration, work to recover that memory and to revive a sense of it in your spirit now in your present darkness and trouble. I am persuaded there are very few genuine believers who have not received, at one time or another and in one duty or another, some singular testimony from God to their own souls about their sincerity and His acceptance of them. Sometimes He does this in a duty in which He has enabled the soul to draw so near to Him that it has been warmed, enlivened, comforted, and satisfied with His gracious presence — and which God made for that soul a token of its uprightness. Sometimes, when a person is entering into some great temptation, trial, or dangerous duty in which death itself is feared, God comes in by one means or another — through a quiet intimation of His love — and gives that person something to carry with him as provision for the way, thereby testifying to his sincerity. This sustains him, as the food given to Elijah sustained him for forty days in the wilderness. Sometimes God is pleased to shine directly into the soul in the middle of its darkness and sorrow, catching it by surprise — and by that light relieves it against its own pressing self-condemnation. And sometimes the Lord gives these tokens of love to the soul as a refreshment when it is emerging from a storm of temptation that has battered it. There are many other times and seasons in which God is pleased to give believers some special testimony in their consciences to their own integrity. But all of these are produced by a transient working of the Spirit that stirs and enables the heart to a spiritually felt perception and reception of God's expressed kindness toward it. These impressions do not remain in their felt power and influence on our emotions — they pass away quickly. They must therefore be stored up in the mind and judgment, to be drawn on and made use of by faith as occasion requires. But we are prone to lose them. Most people know no use for them beyond the moment of feeling them — and even then, through ignorance of how to preserve them, they prove like a sudden light brought into a dark room and then taken away again: the moment of light only makes the darkness feel deeper. The true use of them is to treasure them up and ponder them in our hearts, so they may be supports and testimonies to us in times of need. Have you, then — you who are now in the dark about your state and condition, uncertain whether you are regenerate or not — ever received such a refreshing and encouraging testimony from God, given to your integrity and His acceptance of you? Call it back to mind and make use of it against the discouragements that arise from your present darkness — the very discouragements that keep you from sharing in the comfort offered to you in this word of grace. Rule IV: A careful and spiritually serious consideration of the causes and effects of regeneration is the ordinary way and means by which believers come to be satisfied about God's work in and upon them. The principles and causes of this work are the Spirit and the Word. One who is born again is born of the Spirit (John 3:6) and of the Word: 'In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth' (James 1:18). We are 'born again through the living and enduring word of God' (1 Peter 1:23). Wherever a person is regenerate, there has been an effectual work of the Spirit and the Word upon his soul. This is to be inquired into and sought out. Ordinarily it will make itself known. Such impressions will have been made on the soul, such a change produced in it, that a diligent and spiritual search will not miss them. This is a major part of the duty of those who are in the dark and uncertain about whether this work has been accomplished in them. Let them call to mind what the Spirit has done through the Word in their souls. What light has been communicated to their minds? What discoveries of Christ and the way of salvation have been opened to them? What sense and hatred of sin has been worked in them? What satisfaction has been given to the soul to choose, embrace, and rest in the righteousness of Christ? To what degree of submission to God — in keeping with the covenant of grace — has the heart been brought? Call to mind what transactions there have been between God and your soul about these things; how far they have been carried; whether you have broken off negotiations with God and refused His terms; or if not, where things presently stand between you; and what reason there can be — since God has graciously begun to deal with you this far — that you have not yet fully closed with Him in the work and design of His grace. The deficiency must necessarily lie on your part. God does nothing in vain. Had He not been willing to receive you, He would not have dealt with you as far as He has. What remains to settle your condition, then, is a resolved act of your own will in responding to the mind and will of God. And by this kind of searching, the soul may come to satisfaction in this matter — or at least discover where the difficulty lies that produces its uncertainty, and what is missing that would complete its desire.

This work may also be discovered by its effects. Something is produced by regeneration in the soul that may be considered either in terms of its existence or in terms of its operations. As to its existence: it is spirit — 'that which is born of the Spirit is spirit' (John 3:6), produced by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. It is 'a new creation' (2 Corinthians 5:17): the person who is in Christ Jesus and has been born again is a new creation, with a new and spiritual life (Galatians 2:20; Ephesians 2:1). In brief, it is an enduring furnishing of all the faculties of the soul with new spiritual and vital principles, enabling a person in every act of obedience to live a spiritual life toward God. This principle is produced in the soul by the work of regeneration. As to its operations: it consists in all the gracious workings of the mind, will, heart, and affections in the duties of obedience God has required of us. This is what gives life to our duties — without it, even the best of our works are merely dead works — and what renders them acceptable to the living God. It is not my purpose here to pursue and develop all of this at length. I mention it only so that those who are held back from sharing in the comfort offered through the forgiveness with God — because they cannot confidently conclude they are born again, knowing that this comfort truly belongs to such persons — may know how to make a right judgment about themselves. Let such people therefore stop drifting up and down in vague generalities and uncertainties, with spiritless complaints that only ruin their peace. Instead, let them actually put things to the test by examining the causes and effects of the work they are inquiring about. It is through such means that God will be pleased to give them all the assurance and stability regarding their state and condition that they need — and that will encourage them in their course of obedience. But suppose — after all that has been said — that by the most thorough search and inquiry a person can make, he still cannot come to a satisfying persuasion that this great work of God's grace has taken place in his soul. Is this sufficient reason to keep him from receiving support and comfort from the truth that there is forgiveness with God — which is precisely the intent of the objection before us? I say further, then —

First: regeneration does not precede, in order of time, the soul's interest in the forgiveness that is with God, or its being made a partaker of the pardon of sin. I say only that it does not precede it in order of time, leaving aside the question of which has priority in order of nature. What the method of the gospel suggests is that absolution, acquittal, and the pardon of sin is the foundation of all saving grace communicated to the soul, and so precedes all grace in the sinner whatever. But because this pardon of sin is to be received by faith — by which the soul is truly made partaker of it and all the benefits belonging to it — and because faith is the foundational grace received in regeneration (since it is by faith that our hearts are purified, as an instrument in the hand of the great purifier, the Holy Spirit of God) — I place these two together and will not dispute their priority in the order of nature. In time, the one does not precede the other.

Second: it is therefore clear that an assurance of being regenerate is by no means a necessary prior condition for believing in one's interest in forgiveness. Even if a person lacks the former, it is — or may well be — his duty to pursue the latter. When convicted people cried out, 'What shall we do to be saved?' the answer was: 'Believe' — you will be saved. Believe in Christ and in the forgiveness of sins through His blood. This is the first thing convicted sinners are called to. They are not directed first to secure in themselves the certainty that they are born again, and only then to believe. Rather, they are first to believe that the forgiveness of sins is offered to them in the blood of Christ, and that through Him they may be justified from everything from which the law could not justify them. Neither, when this is set before them, is it their duty to question whether they have faith or not — it is their duty actually to believe. And faith in its working will give evidence of itself. See Acts 13:38-39. Suppose, then, that you do not know that you are regenerate — that you have no strong, refreshing, consistent evidence or persuasion of it. Should this hold you back? Should it discourage you from believing forgiveness, from embracing the promises, and thereby actually obtaining an interest in the forgiveness that is with God? Not at all. On the contrary, this very thing should stir you up all the more to your duty.

First: suppose it is the case that you are not yet regenerate — that you are still in a state of sin and have only been brought under the conviction of light. Even then, this is the very way by which a person is translated into a state of spiritual life and grace. If you hold back from believing in and for forgiveness until you are regenerate, you may well — and in all probability will — fall short of both forgiveness and regeneration. Lay the foundation here, and the building will follow. This will open the door and give you entrance into the kingdom of God. Christ is the door — do not attempt to climb in over the wall. Enter through Him, or you will remain outside.

Second: suppose you are already born again, but simply do not know it — as is the case with many. Then this very path — believing in forgiveness — is a means by which you may receive evidence of your regeneration. It is good to embrace and make use of all the signs, tokens, and pledges of our spiritual condition. But the best course is to follow the genuine and natural workings of faith, which will lead us into the most settled understanding of our relationship to God and acceptance with Him. Believe first the forgiveness of sins as the effect of pure grace and mercy in Christ. Let that faith be nourished and strengthened in your soul. It will imperceptibly shape your heart toward a comforting, gospel-grounded persuasion of your state and condition before God — and that persuasion will be accompanied by assured rest and peace.

To conclude this part of the discussion: remember that what has been said concerning the state of regeneration in general can be applied to every specific objection, fear, or discouragement that falls under that heading. All objections that arise from particular sins — from the aggravating circumstances of their seriousness, or from relapses into them — belong here. The way these things weigh on the mind and produce fear is by generating the impression that the person is not regenerate, for if he were, he supposes he could not have been so overcome or entangled. The rules laid down are therefore suited to the distress of sinners' souls in all such specific cases.

Finally, something particular was added at the end of the objection that, while not directly in our line of inquiry and not of great importance in itself, deserves a brief response — lest it leave any entanglement in people's minds. It is this: some people do not know and cannot give an account of the time of their conversion to God, and therefore cannot satisfy themselves that the saving work of His grace has occurred in them. This is a common concern that comes up regularly, so I will address it briefly.

First: it has been shown that in this matter there are many things on which we may rightly base a judgment about ourselves, and it is great folly to set all of those aside and put the whole weight of the question on a single circumstance. If a person has a lawsuit in which he has many solid evidences in his favor and only one circumstance is uncertain and in dispute, he will not stake his case on that disputed circumstance — he will press the evidences that are clearer and speak more fully in his behalf. I will not deny that the matter of the time of conversion is often a significant circumstance; in the affirmative — when it is known — it is of great use for stability and comfort. But it is still only a circumstance, one on which the existence of the thing itself does not depend. A person who is alive knows he was born, even if he knows neither the place nor the time of his birth. So someone who is spiritually alive, and has grounds of evidence that he is, may know that he was born again — even if he knows neither when, nor where, nor how. This situation is common in people of quiet natural temperament who had the advantage of being raised under the means of light and grace. God often in such people begins and carries on the work of His grace imperceptibly, so that they come to genuine growth and maturity before they are even aware of being alive. Such people come eventually to be satisfied in saying, with the blind man in the gospel: 'How our eyes were opened, we do not know — only one thing we know: we were blind, and now we see' (John 9:25).

Second: even in this matter, we may need to be content to live by faith — to believe what God has done in us, if it is the subject of His promises, just as we believe what He has done for us, which also rests on nothing other than His promise.

Objections arising from the soul's present state and condition: weakness and imperfection in duty. The opposition posed by indwelling sin.

Third: there is another category of objections against the soul's receiving comfort from an interest in forgiveness — objections arising from the soul's present condition in terms of actual holiness, duties, and sins. When in darkness and under temptation, souls complain that they cannot find in themselves the holiness or its fruits that they suppose an interest in pardoning mercy would produce. Their hearts feel weak, and all their duties feel worthless. If weighed in the balance, they believe everything would be found wanting. In the best of their duties they sense such a mixture of self-seeking, hypocrisy, unbelief, and pride that they are ashamed and distressed by the memory of them. These things fill them with discouragement, so that they refuse to be comforted or to receive any refreshing persuasion from the truth being pressed on them — and instead conclude they are complete strangers to the forgiveness that is with God, remaining helpless in their depths.

Following the approach taken throughout, I will lay down only some general rules that may support a soul under the discouragement that tends to come on it in such a condition — so that none of these things may weaken it in its effort to lay hold of forgiveness.

First: this is the proper place to apply our seventh rule — to resist spending time in spiritless complaints when vigorous exercise of grace is what is called for. If this is truly your condition, why do you remain face down on the ground? Why do you not rise and press yourself to the utmost, giving all diligence to add one grace to another until you find yourself in a better state? Assuming that rule is being put into practice, I add the following.

First: a clear awareness of one's own holiness has a tendency to slide into self-righteousness. What God gives us on the account of sanctification, we are all too ready to count toward justification. It is a hard thing to feel grace at work and yet to believe as though there were none. We have so much of the Pharisee in us by nature that it is sometimes good for us when our progress is hidden from our own view. We are prone to take our grain and wine and devote them to other lovers. Were there not in our hearts a perceptible principle of corruption, and in our duties a noticeable mixture of self, it would be impossible for us to walk with the humility required of those who hold communion with God in a covenant of grace and pardoning mercy. It is a good life that is attended by faith in Christ's righteousness and a sense of one's own corruption. As long as I know Christ's righteousness, I will be less troubled about knowing my own holiness. To be holy is necessary; to be fully aware of it is sometimes a temptation.

Second: even the duties God has appointed, when turned into self-righteousness, become deeply offensive to Him (Isaiah 66:2-3). What has a good origin can be corrupted by a bad end.

Third: often holiness in the heart is more clearly seen by the opposition it meets than by its own dominant working. The Spirit's operation is known by the flesh's resistance. We measure a man's strength by the loads he carries, not by the pace at which he walks. 'Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?' (Romans 7:24) is better evidence of grace and holiness than 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people' (Luke 18:11). A heart pressed, grieved, and burdened — not only by the guilt of sin, which troubles an awakened conscience, but by the persistent power of indwelling sin, tempting, seducing, hindering, captivating, and restlessly disturbing — may, from that very fact, have as clear an evidence of true holiness as from delightful fruitfulness. Ask yourself: what is it in you that is troubled and grieved? What seems almost crushed and cries out, complains, and longs for deliverance? Is it not the new creation? Is it not the principle of spiritual life you possess? I am not speaking of trouble over sins committed, nor of fears about sin breaking out into loss, shame, ruin, or dishonor, nor of a convicted conscience afraid of judgment. I am speaking of the spirit's striving against sin out of a genuine hatred and loathing of it — moved by the combined considerations of love, grace, mercy, fear, the beauty of holiness, and the excellency of communion with God that are set before us in the gospel. Even if you feel only passive in these things — as if you are merely enduring sin's assaults and doing nothing — yet if you sense the blow and stand under it as under the attack of an enemy, there is the root of the matter. This is true not only of the existence of holiness, but also of its degrees. Degrees of holiness are to be measured more by the opposition faced than by what the soul produces on its own. Someone may have more grace than another who bears more visible fruit, simply because he faces greater opposition and more intense temptation (Isaiah 41:17). And a deep sense of having nothing is often a great sign that something is present in the soul.

Second, regarding the charge of worthlessness and self-seeking in our duties:

It is certain that as long as we are in the flesh, our duties will taste of the vessel from which they come. Weakness, defilement, self-seeking, and hypocrisy will cling to them. Whatever some may claim to the contrary, the church's own complaint in Isaiah 64:6 confirms this. The chaff is so mixed with the wheat that the grain can scarcely be seen. Know this as well: the more spiritual a person is, the more clearly he sees his own unspirituality in his spiritual duties. A superficial performance will satisfy a superficial Christian. Job abhorred himself most when he knew himself best. The clearer our discoveries of God, the viler everything of self will appear. Further: our duties and performances are often measured by us very inaccurately. Those we think are best may in fact be worst, and those we think are worst may in fact be best. A person who has wrestled with distractions, had no outward advantage, no extraordinary stirrings of hope or fear or sorrow to help him, may rise from prayer thinking he has done nothing but provoke God — when in fact there was more genuine working of grace in him, contending with the deadness his condition had cast on his soul, than when, through the combined force of moved natural emotions and outward stimuli, a frame of feeling was raised that seemed to him to reach to heaven. So this perplexity about your duties may be nothing more than what is common to the people of God — and should be no barrier to peace and stability.

Second, on the claim of hypocrisy: you know the usual answer. It is one thing to do something in hypocrisy — it is another to be unable to do it without some mixture of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, in its broader sense, is everything that falls short of full sincerity, whether in substance or manner. But our sincerity is no more perfect than our other graces; in its measure it remains with us and attaches itself to everything we do. Similarly: it is one thing to do something for vanity and to be seen by others — it is another to be unable to keep out the subtle insinuations of self and pride entirely. The person who does something in hypocrisy and for pride is satisfied when his corrupt end is obtained, even if he is aware he sought that end. The person who does something with a mixture of hypocrisy — with some breach of his sincerity, some barely-perceived pull of outward incentives — is not satisfied when a self-serving end is achieved, and is genuinely dissatisfied with the failure of his sincerity. In short: if you still desire to be sincere and do earnestly try to be so in private duties and public worship — in praying, listening to the Word, giving, pursuing God's glory, and loving the saints — then even if those duties are sometimes done with detectable hypocrisy when traced to its most subtle forms of self and pride, they are not done in hypocrisy, and they do not make the person who performs them a hypocrite. I say of all this, as of everything said above: it is useful for relieving us under a troubled condition, but it gives no license to settle comfortably into that condition.

Third: know that God does not despise small things. He takes note of the faintest breathings of our hearts toward Him, even when we ourselves can see or perceive nothing of the kind. He knows the Spirit's mind in those workings that never rise to a level clear enough for us to reflect on and observe. Everything that is of Him is recorded in His book, though not in ours. He noticed that even as Sarah acted in unbelief toward Him, she nonetheless showed respect and regard for her husband, calling him lord (Genesis 18:12; 1 Peter 3:6). Even while His people are sinning, He can find something in their hearts, words, or ways that pleases Him — how much more, then, in their duties. He is a skilled refiner who can find much gold in ore where we see nothing but lead or clay. He remembers the duties we forget, and forgets the sins we remember. He justifies our persons though ungodly, and will also accept our duties, though they are not perfectly godly.

Fourth, to give further support to those who are distressed over their weak and worthless duties: know that Jesus Christ takes out whatever is defective and offensive in them and makes them acceptable. When an unskilled servant gathers a mixed bundle of herbs, flowers, and weeds from a garden, the one who knows what is useful picks out what is good and discards the rest. Christ deals with our performances in this way. He removes all the self-serving ingredients in them, whatever form they take, and adds incense to what remains and presents it to God (Exodus 28:36). This is why, at the last day, the saints will not recognize their own duties and performances when they meet them — they will be so transformed from what they were when they first went out of hand. 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or naked?' (Matthew 25:37) — this is because God accepts a little, and Christ makes our little a great deal.

Fifth: is this a reason to keep you from believing? The reason you are not more holy is that you have not more faith. If you have no holiness, it is because you have no faith — holiness is the purifying of the heart through faith and obedience to the truth. And the reason you are not more fruitful in duty is that you are not more advanced in believing. The reason your duties are weak and imperfect is that your faith is weak and imperfect. If you have no holiness, believe — so that you may have it. If you have only a little, or what seems imperceptible, be steadfast in believing so that you may abound in obedience. Do not resolve to wait until you are strong before you eat — when the only way to grow strong is to eat the bread that sustains the human heart.

Objection 4: The powerful stirring of indwelling sin and corruption is another source of the same kind of trouble and discouragement. Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. But some say, 'We find various corruptions actively working in our hearts, taking us captive to the law of sin.' These trouble not only by their guilt but by their ongoing power. 'If we had been made partakers of the law of the Spirit of life, we would by now be more free from the law of sin and death. If sin had been fully pardoned, it would be more effectively subdued.'

There are three considerations that make the activity of indwelling sin so troubling to the soul.

First: it is unexpected. The soul does not anticipate it after the first great conquest of sin and the whole-hearted commitment of the heart to God. When the soul first says, 'I have sworn and am determined to keep Your righteous judgments' (Psalm 119:106), there is commonly a season of peace — at least for a time — from the vigorous and disturbing activity of sin. There are good reasons for this. The old things have passed away; all things have become new. Under the power of that comprehensive change, the soul is completely turned away from the things that would otherwise feed, stir up, provoke, or cherish any lust or temptation. When some of these advantages pass and sin begins to stir and act again, the soul is surprised and concludes that the work it has passed through was not genuine and lasting, but only temporary. The person may even think sin has grown stronger than before — simply because he is now more sensitive than he was before. It is like someone whose arm or limb has been numb: while it was deadened he could endure deep cuts without feeling them; but once sensation returned, he feels the slightest cut and may think the instruments are sharper than before — when the only difference is that he now has feeling where he had none. Something like this may happen to a person in this condition: he may think lust more powerful than before simply because he is more conscious of it than before. Indeed, sin in the heart is like a snake: you may pull out its sting and cut it into many pieces — and though it can sting mortally no more, and can no longer move its whole body at once, yet it moves in all its parts and makes a greater show of movement than before. So it is with lust: when it has received its death wound and has been cut in pieces, it moves through so many parts of the soul that it amazes the person dealing with it. Coming unexpectedly in this way, it often fills the spirit with great discouragement.

Second: its activity is universal. This also surprises: there is a universality to the working of sin even in believers. There is no evil it will not move toward; there is no good it will not attempt to hinder; there is no duty it will not defile. The reason is that we are sanctified only in part — not wholly in any single faculty, though genuinely and savingly in every faculty. Sin remains in every capacity of the soul and in all the affections, and so it may work toward any sin to which human nature is liable. There are degrees of sin from which all regenerate persons are exempted; but to temptations toward all kinds of sin they are exposed — and this adds to the power of the temptation.

Third: indwelling sin is endless and restless. It is never fully quiet, never conquered, never abandoning the fight. It rebels after being overcome and assaults afresh after being resisted. Often, after a victory has been won and a struggle subdued, the soul expects rest and peace from its enemy. But this does not come. Sin works and rebels again and again and will do so throughout this life, so that no end to the conflict will come short of death. This subject is dealt with at length elsewhere in a recently published work on this particular theme.

These and similar features of indwelling sin's activity often entangle the soul in making a judgment about itself and leave it in the dark about its state and condition.

A few things will be offered in response to this objection as well.

First: the powerful and felt activity of indwelling sin is not inconsistent with a state of grace. 'For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another' (Galatians 5:17). In the same person there are contrary principles — the flesh and the Spirit — and contrary workings from those principles. These workings are described elsewhere as intense and vigorous. 'Fleshly lusts wage war against the soul' (1 Peter 2:11; James 4:1). To wage war is not to make a faint or gentle opposition easily dismissed and overcome — it is to go out with great strength, using craft, cunning, and force, putting the entire outcome at risk. This is how these lusts wage war: such is their activity in and against the soul. And therefore the apostle says, 'You cannot do what you want' (Galatians 5:17; Romans 7:14-17). In this conflict, the understanding remains unconquered — it condemns and disapproves of the evil being pressed upon it. The will is not subdued — it does not want to do the evil urged upon it. There is hatred and revulsion toward sin remaining in the affections. And yet sin rebels, fights, rages, and takes captive. This objection therefore receives a straightforward answer: powerful activity and universal, relentless struggles of indwelling sin — seducing toward all that is evil and setting itself against all that is good — are not sufficient grounds for concluding a state of alienation from God. See the other work previously mentioned for a fuller treatment of this.

Second: your state is not to be measured at all by the opposition sin makes to you, but by the opposition you make to it. No matter how fierce sin's attacks may be, if your resistance to it is genuine, you may be troubled — but you have no reason to despair.

I have mentioned these things only to provide a sample of the objections people typically raise against actually embracing the truth pressed upon them for their consolation. We have also offered some rules of truth for their relief — not intending to give complete resolution to every case mentioned, but only to remove the darkness they create, so that it will not prevent anyone from receiving with faith what has been declared from this blessed testimony: that there is forgiveness with God, that He may be feared.