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(1.) The angels who were the first and brightest offspring of the Creator, for one sin were decreed and doomed to an exclusion from the glory of heaven for ever. Mercy did not suspend the sentence: their mighty numbers, and the nobility of their nature, did not incline the Judge of the world to spare them. They are now in the chains of powerful justice, and have perpetual hell within them. And shall rebellious men, who are but dust in their original composition and final resolution, expect to escape vengeance? If we should see a hundred noble men executed in a day, the sight would strike us with terror: how much greater reason is there awfully to adore the inflexible Judge, for such a dreadful execution and example of justice upon an innumerable company of angels? (2.) To pardon sin is an act of greater power than to create the World: if we consider the distance of the terms, and the difficulty of the means, there is a wider distance between a righteous God infinitely provoked by sin, and the guilty creature, than between a state of not being, and the actual existence of the world. One powerful word raised this great world from its native nothing. But to accord the divine attributes between which there seemed a repugnance, and reconcile God to sinful men, cost the dearest price. The anxious sinner makes inquiry, 'Shall I give the first-born of my body for the sin of my soul?' Mic. 7. That is too mean an offering: no less than the first-born of the Almighty could by the sacrifice of himself make an atonement for our offences. (3.) Vengeance belongs to God as well as forgiveness. 'The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.' Rom. 1. It was decreed in heaven, it is denounced in his word, and shall be executed by his just power in its season. There is a time to pardon, and a time to punish. God is styled 'the God of patience:' in the present world 'his patience has its perfect work.' But in the next world justice will gloriously appear against the wicked who are devoted to destruction. Forbearance is not forgiveness. The last day will close the accounts of the Judge of the world with sinners, and a terrible arrear will be exacted of them for all the treasures of his goodness and clemency wasted by them. (4.) Those who indulge themselves in a course of sin upon the presumption of an easy pardon, are the most unworthy and incapable of divine mercy. They sin against the nature and end of grace: and by an immediate and direct opposition to it in the proper notion of grace, cut off all their pleas for it. It is true, God is very merciful, and easy to be entreated by those who sincerely repent and reform their lives: but he is inexorable to all those who harden themselves in their sins by the false and presumptuous hopes of his mercy. He declares in his word, that 'when sinners despise the curse threatened against them, and bless themselves in their hearts, that they shall have peace, though they walk in the imagination of their own hearts, to add drunkenness to thirst; the Lord will not spare them, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against them, and all the curses written in this book shall be upon them without mitigation or intermission.' Deut.29. No less punishment than eternal damnation is equal to their sin. They resist and renounce mercy by their abusing it to the worst ends, yet are confident of their interest in it. What a prodigious contradiction is there between the hopes of presumptuous sinners and their practices? They kindle his anger every day, and inflame anger into wrath, add wrath into vengeance, and yet strongly fancy they shall find mercy. What a diabolical wonder is it, as astonishing as extraordinary miracles, but that it is commonly seen, that men without a promise, and against the threatening, should expect the favour of God, that is the portion of his children, and continue in high and actual rebellion? If a spark of reason or grain of faith were shining in their breasts, they would be restless in the apprehension of his fiery displeasure. The tempter over-reaches their minds by a double delusion, that they shall have time and grace to repent, and over-rules their wills, that the most terrible threatenings and divine dissuasives are not effectual to make them forsake their sins. They are secure, though not safe one hour: for it is in the power of their Judge, and they have reason to fear in his purpose, 'to destroy them suddenly, and without remedy.' Prov. 29. The presumptuous conceit of immense mercy has so fully possessed their minds, that like a powerful opiate it makes them sleep securely upon the brink of ruin: but conscience is of an immortal nature, and though it may be stupified, it cannot be extinguished. In the present life sometimes a sharp affliction awakens it into a furious activity; and then presuming sinners that have been indulgent to their lusts, despair of pardon: for when mercy, that is our only advocate in his bosom to avert wrath for sins against the other attributes, shall turn our accuser, and solicit justice to revenge its dishonour upon those who have abused it, there remains no shadow of hope to refresh their sorrows. But suppose the charm be not unbound, and the self-deceiver continues his evil course to the end of life, and perishes pleasantly with the vain hopes of mercy, yet immediately after death his conscience will be irresistibly convinced of his outrageous provocations of the righteous God, and be more tormenting than the hottest flames of hell. Let us attend to the instructive inference in the text, 'There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared:' that is, with a fear of reverence for his amiable excellencies, for the attractives of his pardoning mercy; and of a caution, lest by abusing we should make a deadly forfeiture of it. If God should appear as an irreconcileable Judge, armed with terror against all offenders; the apprehension would produce hatred, and a dreadful flight from him: it would make men boldly wilful, and harden them in their rebellions: for if they cannot be pardoned for their past sins, and can be but damned for their continuance in them, they will give licence to their roving and impetuous appetites, and commit iniquity with greediness. Now God has appointed a way for the pardon of sin, wherein there is a bright and equal discovery of his greatness and goodness, his purity and righteousness, that his law may be more sacred and inviolable, more remembered and obeyed by us. He has declared in the death of his Son, wherein the equal extremes of ignominy and torment were combined, what an evil sin is, that required such a mighty expiation. We may from the depth of his sufferings conceive the excess and height of our provocations: we may understand the deadly guilt of sin, that can only be washed away in the blood of Christ, the fountain of remission. To turn the grace of God into wantonness, to be more loose and secure in committing sin, is to turn the antidote into poison, and defeat his blessed end, it is a main article of our reconciliation, 'The Lord will speak peace to his people, but let them not return to folly.' We may conceive, that God speaks to the pardoned sinner what our Saviour said to the man whom he miraculously healed, 'Go away, sin no more, lest a worse thing befal you.' It is both the duty and disposition of those who have received the pardon of their sins, 'to fear the Lord and his goodness.' There is no principle more clearly natural and sensible than this: dependance includes observance; the receiving benefits obliges a person to the benefactor. Accordingly the psalmist expresses the affections of the human and the holy nature, 'What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits?' Ps. 116. and breaks out in an ecstacy of thankfulness, 'O Lord, truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, thou hast broken my bands.' The repenting believer receives pardon from God with joyful admiration, that fastens his mind in the contemplation of his glorious mercy: the serious thought of it kindles a sacred fire in his breast: as it is said of Mary Magdalen, 'Much was forgiven her, for she loved much.' Love to God that results from his pardoning love to us, is singular and supreme, and necessarily produces an ardent desire to please and glorify him, and an ingenuous grateful fear of offending him. The soul that has felt 'the terrors of the Lord,' as the holy and righteous Judge of the world, and afterward has been revived by the light of his countenance, and has tasted how good the Lord is, how is it possible to resist such dear and immense obligations? How prodigious to turn the strongest and sweetest engagement to reverence and obedience, into an encouragement to do that which is odious and offensive in his sight? To sin against light heightens a sin into rebellion, but to sin against revealed love makes it 'above measure sinful.' This is so contrary to natural conscience and supernatural grace, that it is the leprosy of the wicked, not the spot of God's children: 'Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise?' The upbraiding reduces them to a defenceless silence, and covers them in black confusion. When divine grace pardons our past sins, it cures our depraved inclinations to future sins. The clearest discovery of the heart is by reflections on God's mercy. The fear of God's justice is natural, the reverent regard of his goodness is a spiritual affection. There is a great difference between filial fear of the divine goodness that is so becoming the breast of a christian, and so congruous to our present state, and servile fear, that is the proper character of one in the bondage of sin. The filial fear of God is an ingenuous voluntary affection, flowing from love, and freely exercised, and esteemed the 'Treasure of the soul.' Servile fear, the sequel of guilt, is a judicial impression from the sad thoughts of the provoked majesty of heaven; and if the offender could dissolve the bands of conscience, he would throw it off. Filial fear is mixed with joy, it is the preservative of God's favour to us; it makes us more circumspect, but not less comfortable: it opposes security, but establishes the assurance of faith: the fear of the Lord, and 'hope in his mercy,' are united graces. Servile fear 'has torment,' it is an alarm within that disturbs the rest of the sinner; it is a fretting fire that secretly torments him in his most luscious fruitions. Filial fear restrains from all sin in the heart and life, because it dishonours and displeases God; it denies the carnal appetites with sweetness and satisfaction to the soul; it excites us to obey God with choice and complacency. Servile fear induces an abstinence from some sins, which fly in the face of conscience, and which the sinner loves, and urges to the outward performance of duties, which he hates. The slavish spirit is afraid to burn, not to sin; he is fearful to be damned, not to displease God. Filial fear is a serious and habitual constitution of the soul, inseparable from it in all times and places, it is influential into the whole life. Servile fear is a sudden passion, and transient: sometimes a sharp affliction, a piercing sermon, awakens a secure wretch into a fit of terror. Filial fear keeps the soul close to God, makes it solicitous, lest any sin should intercept the light of his countenance, and obstruct communion with him, which is the paradise of a saint: it is the gracious promise of God to his children, 'I will put my fear into their hearts, and they shall never depart from me.' Servile fear makes the sinner shy of God's presence, and as unwilling to find him, as a saint is to lose him: he is not pleased with solitude, lest the guilty conscience should have time of recollection, and should look to the Judge above: he takes no delight in the society of saints, and the enjoyment of the ordinances, because God is peculiarly present there; and above all things he is afraid to die, because then 'the spirit returns to God that gave it.' In short, the filial fear of God ascends with the soul to heaven, and is the eternal respect that the blessed spirits continually pay to his adorable perfections. Servile fear attends the sinner to hell, and settles into despair for ever. 2. Use of comfort. The killing aggravations of our sins strike us through: but there is not so much evil in sin as there is goodness in God. Our finite acts cannot preponderate his unlimited essence. He declares, 'I am God and not man, therefore ye are not consumed.' Hos. 11. We hardly forgive a few pence, he forgives ten thousand talents. He is God, infinite in mercy, and as liberal as infinite. Delight in sin is an aggravating circumstance; but 'God delights in mercy.' Continuance in sin inflames the guilt; but his mercy extends to eternity. I shall add, for the support of returning penitents, some examples of God's forgiving great sinners recorded in scripture. He charges the people of Israel, 'thou hast made me serve with thy sins, and wearied me with thine iniquities.' Isa. 43. 25. It might be expected, that the next words should have been, I will revenge your dishonouring of me according to the glory of my majesty, and the extent of my power: but he promises pardon; 'I even I am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions for my name sake, and will not remember thy sins.' By the comparison of their sins, he illustrates the glory of his mercy. Lot, guilty of incest with his daughters; David, of murder and adultery; Manasseh, a sorcerer and idolater, that burnt his children alive in sacrifice to the devil and filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; Mary Magdalen, out of whom seven devils were cast; Peter, who was so faint-hearted and false-hearted, that with execrations he denied his master; Paul, that was a bloody persecutor; are the instances of the astonishing omnipotent mercy of God, who can as easily pardon the greatest sins as the least, and makes no difference when our repentance is sincere, and our faith unfeigned: though according to the degrees of their guilt conscience should be affected. How many pardoned sinners, miracles of the divine mercy, are in heaven happy in the love of God, and glorious in holiness, who were as deeply guilty and polluted as any that now mournfully seek the favour of God? These are examples of grace so excellent and so divine, to encourage us in our addresses for pardon. The apostle Paul tells us, 'that for this cause he obtained mercy, that in me Jesus Christ might show all long-suffering for a pattern to them who shall hereafter believe on him to everlasting life.' 1 Tim. 1. There is the same motive in God; he forgives sins for his name sake: the treasures of his mercy are not wasted by communicating: there is the same merit in Christ; his precious blood shed upon the cross is pleaded in heaven, 'He ever lives to make intercession for us:' and if we obtain the same precious faith, we shall have the same acceptance. In short, let those who are overwhelmed with fear consider, it is not only our privilege, but duty to trust in the divine mercy: we are commanded 'to believe in the Mediator:' despair is more dishonourable to God than presumption, in that it is a sin directly against a superior attribute, the exercise of which is his delight and dearest glory. 3. Use of exhortation. 'Let us therefore seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near.' Now God offers his pardon to the greatest sinners that will humbly submit to the gracious terms proposed in the gospel for our obtaining it. Besides what has been said of faith and repentance, I will more particularly consider what God requires of guilty creatures in order to their pardon. (1.) To confess. The understanding must be enlightened by the divine law to discover sin. The law is the rule of our duty, and the obligation to obey it is immediately conveyed by conscience. While there is a cloud of darkness in the mind, there will be a silence in the conscience. Paul declares, that he 'was once alive without the law,' that is, not understanding his guilt, he presumed on his justification; but when the 'commandment came' in its light to convince him of the transgression of it, the apparition of sin in the clear glass of the law struck him dead. There must be a discussion of conscience, a comparing our actions with the rule, to discover their obliquity: for sins unknown and unconsidered cannot be confessed. Some sins are notorious, and present themselves to our knowledge and memory: others are of a weaker evidence, inquiry must be made after them. It is an unpleasant work to rake in the sink of a corrupt heart, but it is necessary. The properties of confession are, 1. It must be free and ingenuous: that which is extorted by bitter constraint is of no value and acceptance. Pharaoh, an obstinate rebel, upon the rack, acknowledged 'he had sinned.' It is true, the penal effects of sin may be the first excitation of sinners to consider their ways, but the Holy Spirit by that means so deeply affects them with the evil of sin, that they voluntarily confess them before the all-discerning Judge. David declares, 'When I kept silence, my bones waxed old: I said, I will confess my sins, and thou forgavest them.' He came to a deliberate resolution, 'I will confess them.' 2. Confession must he sincere and full, that our sins may be more evident and odious to us. The covering of sins is like the keeping a serpent warm, that will sting more fiercely. The concealing sin argues the love of it, and is a bar against pardon. 'Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, in whose spirit there is no guile.' Ps.32.2. It is not said, in whose spirit there is no sin, but no guile, no reserved allowed sin. The sincere penitent pours forth his heart 'like water before the Lord.' Of all liquids none are so clearly poured out of a vessel as water: wine or oil leave a tincture. We should in confession pour out all our sins, and leave no tincture of affection to them. If it be said, how can we confess our sins that are above our counting? It is true, but we must reserve none. We must confess the kinds of our sins, against the first and second table, that were both written with God's hand; sins of omission and commission, and particular sins of greater guilt: we must wash off their deceitful colours, that they may appear in their hellish shape, and more deeply affect us. Men are very averse to this duty, and apt to conceal or extenuate their sins. The art of concealing and excuses is learnt from the first transgressor. When God called, 'Adam where art thou?' though his dread to appear before the divine presence was a tacit confession of his fault, and his hiding himself discovered his sin; yet he does not acknowledge his sin, but alledges the consequence of it, his shame, to be the cause of his guilty fear. 'I heard thy voice, and was afraid, because I was naked.' Gen. 3.10. And to extenuate his offence, transfers his guilt on the woman, and constructively reflects upon God as the cause of it: 'the woman which thou gavest me, gave me of the fruit, and I did eat.' The wicked excuse did infinitely aggravate his sin. The woman lays her fault at the serpent's door, 'the serpent beguiled me.' Aaron pretends that the people compelled him to idolatry, and that the golden calf was not the effect of design and art, but of chance: 'I cast the gold into the fire, and there came out this calf.' Exod.2. Saul coloured his rebellion with the pretence of religion: 'he kept the best of the cattle for sacrifice.' 1 Sam.15.15. In short, as in sweating, it is observed that a general sweat of the body is for its advantage, but the sweat of a part only is the symptom of a disease: so a clear unfeigned confession is for our profit, but a semi-confession is counterfeit, an indication of hypocrisy. 3. Confession must be mixed with sorrow and shame in the remembrance of our past sins. A piercing deep sorrow from spiritual principles and persuasives is the ingredient of an acceptable confession. There is a natural sorrow proceeding from the impression of afflicting evils. Sense is very tender and apt to resent what is oppressive to it. A sinner that has wasted his estate, blasted his reputation, shortened his life by his excesses, and hastened his damnation, may feel anguish in his breast for his sins, the procuring causes of his punishment. But this sorrow proceeds only from the sense of external evils, not from the melted heart for the intrinsic evil of sin: as marble pillars are wet, from the moisture of the ambient air. It is the miserable man, not the miserable sinner that mourns. This sorrow is consistent with the love of sin; and when the penal evil is removed, the sinner returns to the practice of it. Carnal sorrrow only respects a man's self as a sufferer: it is in hell, in the extreme degrees, 'there is weeping for ever.' There is a godly sorrow, of which the Holy Spirit is the spring. It is the promise of God to his people, 'I will pour forth the spirit of grace and supplication upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and they shall see him whom they have pierced, and mourn over him, as one mourns for the death of his first-born.' The persuasive of our sorrow is answerable to its principle. The serious contemplation of our bleeding dying Saviour, is a spiritual and powerful motive to melt us into the tears of repentance. How congruous is it, if the purchase of our pardon cost our Saviour his bloody agony, that the applying of the pardon to us should cost us the most bitter sorrow? Divine grief is more from the memory of the evils we have committed against our heavenly Father, than from the evils we suffer. Carnal sorrow is barren and unprofitable. It may be said of it, what the wise preacher says of wild mirth, 'What dost thou?' Only that sorrow that comes from heaven is accepted there: one spiritual tear is of more value and efficacy with God than a torrent of natural sorrow. Repenting sorrow is an indispensable qualification in order to our pardon, not merely from the will of the law-giver as the reason of our duty, but from the congruity of the thing itself. It is observable, that it is the wisdom and kindness of the God of nature, that the food that preserves life is pleasant to our taste, to invite us every day to eat, and renew our strength; but physic that is necessary for the recovery of health, is very distasteful, that our aversion to it may make us circumspect, to prevent all excesses that are the causes of diseases. Thus the sorrowful confession of sin which is medicinal to the soul, is very afflicting; it wounds the spirit, and breaks the heart, that we may be jealous of ourselves, lest we eat of the forbidden fruit that requires so bitter a remedy. Godly sorrow, though it be very afflicting to nature, yet the exercise of it is more satisfying to a sincere penitent, than all the pleasures of sin. In two cases grief is pleasant when it is upon the account of a person dearly loved; a parent indulges his sorrow for the death of a child that was the life of his life. Or when pain is beneficial and an advantage: as in the application of a plaster, we are pleased with the pain it causes, that being a sign and effect of its healing operation. Now both these considerations are mixed with repenting sorrow: for it principally arises from the reflection upon sin, as that which has so dishonoured and displeased the blessed God our maker, preserver, and redeemer; that we have preferred the pleasing our corrupt and licentious appetites, before the obeying 'his holy, just, and good will.' The repenting sinner declares his love to God by his grief for offending him, and voluntarily remembers his past sins, and is pleased in overflowing sorrow for them. And this sorrow is preparative for peace: 'unutterable groans' are introductive of 'unspeakable joys:' the Holy Spirit 'that convinces of sin is the blessed Comforter.' The confession of sin must be mixed with shame. All the just causes of shame, guilt, turpitude, folly, and disappointment, are complicated in sin. The repenting sinner, by consciousness and reflection upon sin, that induces so heavy a guilt, that defiles the soul with so deep a pollution, that no ray of its original purity remains, that debases it infinitely below its heavenly descent, mourns with tears of confusion for what he has done. Repenting Ephraim bemoans himself, that he had been rebellious against the methods of God's mercy, like a refractory bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: and his recoiling thoughts made him to smite on his thigh, to be ashamed to the degree of confusion for his disobedience. How affecting an object he was in God's eve, the immediate answer declares: 'Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.' Jer. 31. The psalmist reflecting upon his being almost vanquished by a vexatious temptation, degrades and vilifies himself, 'so foolish was I and ignorant, and like a beast before thee.' Ps. 73. Ezra in the confession of the holy seed's mixing with heathen idolaters, saith, 'O Lord, I blush and am ashamed at the foul deformity of their sin.' The apostle upbraids the Romans with a stinging reproach, 'What fruit have you of those things whereof ye are now ashamed, the end whereof is death?' When a foolish choice is made, and the folly is detected, and experience disappoints the expectation, the natural consequent is shame. At the last day, when the filthiness and folly of men shall be published before God, and all the angels and saints, how much rather would they be hid in the darkness of their graves, than be clothed with confusion before that glorious and immense theatre? The sorrowful confession of sin, with deep shame here, will prevent the exposing the sinner to public shame hereafter. 4. Confession must have concomitant with it, the judging ourselves as unworthy of the least mercy, and deserving severe punishment. The apostle assures us, 'if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.' He does not say, if we are innocent we shall not be condemned, for then who can appear before the high and enlightened tribunal of heaven? But if we acknowledge our guilt, and the righteousness of the sentence to which we are obnoxious, we shall be spared. We cannot satisfy God's justice, but we must glorify it: in this the admirable mercy of God appears. Suppose a court on earth, wherein the rule of judgment were, that all the faults which the guilty confess and condemn themselves for, should be pardoned, and only those they conceal should be deadly to them; how willingly and humbly would those who are conscious of many capital crimes, and are summoned to appear, accuse themselves? In the court of heaven, if we are faithful to God and our own souls, in the confessing our sins, and passing sentence upon ourselves, we prevent his sentence against us. 5. Prayer for pardon must be joined with the confession
of sin; 'the Lord is good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto
all that call upon him.' God who is rich in mercy, has appointed prayer as the
means of our receiving it; it being most honourable to him, that we should have
a serious sense of our wants and unworthiness, and our absolute disability to
supply them: and by our desires we should glorify his power and love, whereby
he is all-sufficient and ready to bestow upon us his blessings. What ardent and repeated addresses were made by David for this great blessing: 'Have mercy upon me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation.' He prays as if the ghost of Uriah were always in his view, covered with blood, and reproaching him for his treacherous cruelty. The affairs and pleasures of his kingdom could not divert and calm his spirit, till he was restored to the joyful sense of God's saving mercy. If it be said, that David's complicated sins were of a crimson guilt, and justly terrified his conscience with the apprehension of vengeance: I answer, it is true, but supposing that preventing grace has kept us from sins of a high nature, whereby we should have incurred greater guilt, and been exposed to greater punishment, yet even the best men are in infinite need of pardoning grace: for the least sin makes us guilty of eternal death, and the infinite number of our sins, though according to the carnal conceits of men small, would be overwhelming. What is weaker than a drop of water, yet the sea that is a collection of innumerable drops of water, does often by an irresistible inundation drown the land. The wind is a collection of many vapours, which singly are of no force, yet it often tears up the strongest trees, and overthrows the firmest buildings. If the numerous sins of one man's life were set in order before his eyes, he would sink into the depths of despair, were not the divine mercy superabundant to our abounding sins. We must renew our requests for pardon every day: it is more necessary than to pray for our daily bread. We contract new guilt every day: and as our Saviour tells us, 'he that is washed needs to wash his feet,' that is, the sins of frailty and daily incursion must be purged away by serious repentance, and the application of the blood of Christ, and our earnest prayer for pardon. It is the cruel character of satan, he accuses the 'Saints before God day and night:' he is an ardent accuser, and watchful always to find matter to provoke God's displeasure against us. It is therefore a duty of daily revolution, to pray for our pardon. Besides, the neglect of seeking for the daily pardon of our offences against God, argues the despising his anger, and consequently the despising his love, which is infinitely provoking. We are commanded not to let the 'Sun go down upon our wrath, much less upon God's.' Repentance is not an initial act of sorrow, but must be renewed all our lives. God's pardoning us is not a transient act, but continued, as conservation is a continued creation. Prayer for pardon must be mixed with faith in our 'blessed Advocate, who ever lives to make intercession for us.' If we could fill the air with our sighs, and heaven with our tears, we could not incline the righteous and holy God to pardon us: his justice is inflexible, and his pardoning mercy a sealed fountain; it is by the precious merits and mediation of his Son we are reconciled to him. Jesus Christ is the same powerful compassionate Saviour, 'yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' His obedient sufferings are of infinite value, and everlasting efficacy. Lastly. Confession of sin is a relative duty, and must be joined with forsaking of sin. The sharpest sorrow, the most confounding shame for sin, the strongest desires for mercy, without the forsaking of sin, are ineffectual. There must be a renouncing of sin in our hearts, a resolution firm and permanent against it, an avoiding the appearance and approaches of sin, and an actual leaving it. If it be said, it is impossible we should preserve ourselves from all sin: the apostle John tells us, 'If any man saith he has no sin, he is a liar, there is no truth in him.' I answer, we must distinguish between sins: there are some, which while we are united to flesh, that is a principle of weakness,, and are in this open state, surrounded as with temptations, we cannot absolutely be freed from. Such are sins of ignorance and inadvertence, and of sudden surreption: for grace is not bestowed in such a degree of eminence to the saints here, whereby they may obtain a clear and final victory over them: but if we pray, and watch, and strive against them, and mourn for their adherence to us, 'God will spare us as a father spares his son that serves him.' And it is a certain sign of our sincerity, if we are gradually cleansing ourselves from them. If they grow and increase, it is a sad indication: as it is said, if a scald in the head spreads, it is a leprosy. Lev.5.13. But there are sins of a more heinous nature the not forsaking whereof excludes from heaven: such are enumerated by the apostle, 'The works of the flesh are manifest, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditious, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I have told you in time past, that they which do such things, shall not inherit the kingdom of God.' Gal. 5. Besides, if the love of any sin remains in the heart of a man, he cannot be justified here, nor glorified hereafter. An indulged sin, though small in the matter, is great in the disposition of the sinner. In short, God requires sincere repentance, expressed in the confessing of our sins, not to inform him, for neither the solitude or secrecy wherein sin is committed, can hide us from his all discerning eye: though there is no witness to accuse and give evidence, nay if the sinner could extinguish his conscience, yet God will set the sins of men in order before them, and convince the guilty, he needed not their confession to discover them: but the humble, ingenuous and sorrowful confession of sin is required, that his mercy may be more illustrious in the pardon of our sins, and that the sinner may fear to return to folly. And this confession must be attended with the forsaking of sins, in order to our pardon, because of his immutable perfections. A malefactor may justly be condemned for his crimes, and though he remains impenitent and obstinate in evil, may be pardoned, because a temporal prince is capable of various apprehensions and passions, and may deflect from the rule of justice: but the Judge of the world is unchangeably righteous and holy, and cannot pardon sinners to the disparagement of his majesty, his purity and justice. Our pardoning the offences of others is an evangelical condition of our obtaining pardon: we are commanded, 'When ye stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.' Mark 11.25,26. The command is peremptory and universal, frequently and severely urged upon us by our Saviour. The reasonableness and congruity of it is most evident, if we consider the disparity of the object, or the number of offences. Our sins against God are relatively infinite, for his majesty and authority are truly infinite, which are despised and abused by the transgression of his laws: they are against all the duty and motives of justice and gratitude that oblige reasonable creatures to obey their Maker. Now the offences and injuries done to us are incomparably less: for we are mean creatures, far less in comparison to God, than a worm is to an angel; and by our sins are 'viler than the earth.' Besides, the obligation that should restrain men from being injurious to us, are of infinitely a lower nature. The disparity in the number is very considerable. Our sins against God are like the sand upon the sea-shore, their number is astonishing: our imaginations have been continually evil, from the dawning of our reason: but offences against us are comparatively few: for the variety of objects in the world often divert the thoughts and passions of our enemies from us. We owe to the Lord ten thousand talents, a vast sum that can never be paid if it be not forgiven, and shall we be unwilling to forgive a few pence? What is more becoming than that we who want a great pardon, should give a little one? The divine mercy is proposed as a model for our imitation. We must pardon entirely, and take no revenge for injuries done to us, but return love for hatred, good for evil, for so God does to us. We must not only forgive, but forget injuries in the sense of love; not like those who pardon in words, but retain the memory of offences, and upon a slight occasion renew their resentments. We must forgive great offences as well as small, and renew our pardon as often as offences are repeated, unless we will set bounds to the divine mercy, We must rejoice more in pardoning than in revenging injuries, and seek to be reconciled to those who are averse from us, for that is according to our pattern. It is pretended, that by bearing a single injury, we expose ourselves to a double injury; but we must imitate our heavenly Father: if we do not follow him in forgiving, he will follow us in retaining our sins. The psalmist tells us, 'With the merciful God will show himself merciful, but with the froward he will show himself froward.' A holy and righteous punishment in retaliation of their sinful disposition. The pardoning injuries is contrary to corrupt nature, and the duty is difficult, but the reward is infinite. Though it seems to vilify us, as if defective in our minds, not to understand injuries, or in courage not to repay them, which makes men hard to forgive; yet upon calm consideration we shall esteem it a duty easy and honourable: for it prevents the inflaming our passions, and the troubling of ourselves and others: it is an act of royalty, and makes us superior to them: it is the noblest victory, and often conquers and changes an enemy into a friend. And above all motives this should recommend it to us, it seals our pardon from God, and conveys the most clear and comfortable sense of it to us: for, as the psalmist excellently argues, 'He that planted the ear, shall he not hear: he that formed the eye, shall he not see?' If we are by divine grace inclined and enabled to pardon frequent offences against us, shall not the God of all grace be ready to pardon our many offences against him? Our Saviour reasons from the love of natural parents; 'If you that are evil know how to give good things to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the holy spirit to those that ask it?' The illation is as strong in forgiving love. If we who are of an unforgiving nature sincerely forgive those who injure us, and restore them to our favour, how much more shall God who is love, forgive our sins, and be reconciled to us? 4. Use of gratitude. It is true, our most solemn recognition of his benefits is but a poor duty compared with his immense bounty to us: our thanksgiving is an echo to God's mercies, that repeats a few syllables: what can our fading breath add to his blessedness and glory, that are in the highest degree of perfection, and truly infinite? But it is most reasonable, that as all our blessings flow from his mercy, they should fall into the sea of his glory: and when our souls bless him, he accepts our sincerity, and does not despise our thanksgivings for want of perfection. In the recounting God's benefits, the psalmist mentions in the
first place the pardon of sin, 'who forgives all thy iniquities,' as the
principal and foundation of all the rest. This in a most powerful way entered
into his heart, and kindled a sacred fire there. 1. That the pardon of our sins deserves our most solemn thankfulness, will appear by an evident light, if we consider the nature and quality of the benefit, the means by which it is obtained, the circumstances in the dispensing it, and the consequents. (1.) The quality and the nature of the benefit. Our blessedness
consists in the forgiveness of our sins. David inspired from heaven declares,
'blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sin is covered.'
Ps.32.1. The worst effect of sin is the separation between God and the soul. In
his presence 'is fulness of joy,' in his absence fulness of sorrow. 'Go ye
cursed,' is as terrible a part of the sentence as the 'everlasting burning.'
Hell is the element of sin and misery: wherein the fire made fierce with
brimstone, and the undying worm of conscience, torment the wicked. Now the
pardon of sin secures us from the wrath of God, the supreme evil, and the cause
of all other evils. (2.) The means whereby our pardon is obtained. I shall not dare to determine, that God could not have pardoned us by his sovereignty without satisfaction to his justice, but he has been pleased to save us in a way most honourable to himself, and comfortable to us. The psalmist tells us, according 'to the name of God, so is his praise.' Ps.48. As his excellent attributes are manifest in his works, understanding creatures adore and celebrate them. The wisdom of God so gloriously appears in the way of our salvation, that the admiring angels praise him for ever. And the goodness of God is so conspicuous in saving us by Christ, that our exuberant affections should be poured forth in thankfulness. The remission of our sins is 'by redemption in his blood.' It was an expression of David's piety, that he would not serve God with 'that which cost him nothing,' 2 Sam.24.24. but purchase the sacrifice by a price: and it was the high expression of God's love that he would not save us with that which cost him nothing, but with the sacred treasure of heaven, the precious blood of his Son. Besides, the guilty conscience has so quick a sense of God's revenging justice, that our assurance would not be so entire in his mercy, without satisfaction made by the sufferings of our blessed Mediator. In this we have the advantage of David, who had not so clear a discovery of the means of our pardon, but a general knowledge of the forgiveness of sins; yet that inspired such flaming affections into his breast, that he begins the eucharistical psalm for that mercy, and concludes it with, 'bless the Lord, O my soul:' but we that 'have had Jesus Christ evidently set forth as crucified before our eyes, to reconcile God to us;' we to whom it is revealed, that 'the robe of our salvation' is woven out of his bleeding bowels, in the same proportion as our knowledge of this mysterious mercy, our thankfulness should exceed his. If any do not with the most ardent affections acknowledge the mercy of forgiveness so dearly purchased, it is an unhappy sign he has no interest in it. (3.) The circumstances of dispensing our pardon. I shall
consider two that make the divine mercy more glorious and worthy of our
thankfulness. 2. Pardoning mercy distinguishes between sinners of equal guilt, and often saves those of greater guilt when others die eternally: this comparative heightens God's love and our thankfulness. How many are surprised and cut off in a course of sin? how many die without repentance, and are under a notorious necessity of perishing? yet we that were as bad or worse, neither melted and made pliable by his goodness, nor bettered by his judgments, he spared, and by his grace cleansed and changed us, that we might partake of mercy. In this dispensation the question of the apostle may be put in its full force, 'who made thee to differ?' Nothing within us, nothing without us, distinguished us from those that perish; there were the same polluted principles in our hearts, and the same rebellious sins in our lives: only the mercy of God that has no moving cause but itself, made the difference. Let the comparison be contracted between us and our associates in sin, and as the sun-beams concentred in a burning glass, it will more inflame our thankful affections. How many that were joined in the commission of social sins, of intemperance, uncleanness, unrighteousness, and the like, are dead, and without the reserve of pardoning mercy, and some were rescued from damnation, as due to them as to the rest. At the last day, when there shall be an everlasting separation between those at the right hand, and those at the left hand of the Judge of the world, we shall understand the riches of grace that distinguish between us and the partners of our guilt: as by seeing us justified and received into glory, their sad exclusion will be aggravated to extremity; so by seeing them doomed to destruction for ever, the saving grace of God to us will be more glorious. (4.) The consequents of pardon in the present life deserve our most affectionate thankfulness. For first, The pardon of sins gives us a regular title to all temporal blessings, and the truest sweetness in their fruition. God is the universal and absolute proprietary of all things in this world, being made by his creating power, and continued by his preservative power. By our rebellious sins we were under a just deprivation of them. Now the pardon of sin takes off the deadly forfeiture, and restores the use and benefit of temporal blessings to us. It is true, God by his general bounty affords supplies to his enemies: 'the sun rises with his cheerful light, and the rain falls upon the just and unjust;' and wicked men have a civil right to their possessions: but they are not the gifts of his special love to them. The prodigal was first pardoned, and then entertained with a feast. The love of God gives a cheerful tincture to all his benefits. It is emphatically said, 'God, even our own God, shall bless us.' As he is pleased to value and accept the meanest service that is mixed with our affections to him: a cup of cold water that comes from the spring of love, shall have its reward: so his love raises the price of every blessing. The psalmist having set forth the riches, and prosperity, and peace of a kingdom, breaks forth, 'happy is the people that are in such a case.' But he presently revokes it, and ascends with a gradation of light and force; 'yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord;' who are in a state of divine favour. Temporal blessings, if they are not the gifts of God reconciled to us in the Redeemer, are snares that alienate the hearts of men from God, and foment their lusts, and prepare them for final destruction. The rich man had his good things here; and was tormented after his sensual fruitions. A rebellious sinner is spared for a time, and punished for ever. The king of Sodom was rescued from captivity by Abraham, and reserved for destruction by a shower of fire and brimstone. And secondly. The pardon of our sins allays and mitigates all afflictions in the present state. The conscience of guilt mixed with affliction, is like the poisoning a sword that makes it wound more deadly. The spirit of a man may bear temporal evils; that is, by counsel and constancy may support himself under them; 'but a wounded spirit who can bear?' Conscience in anguish by the feeling of God's wrath for our sins, and fear of the extremity of it hereafter, is an intolerable evil. Let the affliction be a light touch upon the outward man, yet when the afflicted person considers, that it is sent from God as an enemy, and it is the beginning of his wrath that is a consuming fire, he is dispirited and sinks under the weight of it. How can frail man encounter with offended omnipotence, sinful man conflict immediately with the holy God? The sense of guilt makes a man a terror to himself, and consequently makes afflictions to be more piercing and dolorous. Whereas when the soul is established in the peace of God, it finds consolation in his pardoning love, superior to all kinds and degrees of external evils that can afflict us here. It is the happy privilege of the inhabitants of Zion, the holy city, 'they shall not say they are sick, for their iniquities shall be forgiven.' Isa.33. The divine Comforter fortifies their faith in the promises of the blessed issue out of all their afflictions: 'all things work together for the good of those who love God.' Our love to God is the reflection of his love to us, that is powerful, so to order all evils, that they shall harmoniously conspire to our eternal happiness. The impression of this in the spirits of God's children, makes them patient and submissive with resignation under all afflictions. It is certain the fastening of the mind in contemplation of an excellent object, may cause so strong a diversion, that bodily pains are much mitigated. The martyrs, by the powerful impression of the glorious reward, seemed to be in an ecstacy, without feeling in the midst of their cruel sufferings. The prophet Habakkuk triumphantly declares, 'although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines: the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat: the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls.' Though all the supports and comforts of life fail, 'yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.' Joy is the affection of prosperity; but as the scalding drops of God's wrath upon the conscience turn all the comforts of a man into torment, so the cordial drops of his love change afflictions into consolations. I will now show that the pardon of our sins produces an excellent temper and disposition of soul to praise God. Love to the benefactor, and joy in the benefit, are the incentives of thankfulness. They tune the heart and tongue in the music of praise. When they are raised to a flame, they have a kind of charm, of rapture and ecstatic force, and transport the soul above itself in expressions of praise. These holy affections in the angels and saints above are in their exaltation: and the circle of their employment is, to acknowledge and admire, to reverence and magnify God, for his absolute excellencies, and his relative benefits. Love and joy are regulated by their objects and motives. Exceeding love and joy, when terminated on worldly things, are exceeding folly: they are empty and vanishing, a sudden blaze that dies in a moment. But the pardon of our sins infinitely endears God to us, and produces a substantial permanent joy. His love, though our hearts be as hard as a rock, as cold and dead as the grave, will melt us, and kindle a holy heat of affection, a love singular and supreme to God, according to the excellency of the benefit. Love will ingeminate the praises of God: 'thou art my God, I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee,' Ps.118. Our joy in the benefit will be according to our extreme want of it, and the strength of our desires to obtain it. Without the pardon of our sins, 'it had been better for us we had never been born;' or made in a lower rank of creatures incapable of damnation. According to the conviction of the greatness of our misery, our longings will be for deliverance: 'the desire accomplished is a tree of life.' The tree of life was in the midst of paradise, the centre of its pleasures. According to the degrees of our desires, such is the sweetness of fruition. Now when the soul is overwhelmed with the fearful apprehensions of everlasting death, how ardent are the desires of pardon? how unsatisfied without it? and what impressions of joy are felt from the sealing its pardon? Solomon tells us, 'that good news from a far country is like cooling water to one burnt up with thirst.' How much more refreshing is the testimony of the blessed Comforter from heaven, to one fainting in the estuations of conscience, that his sins are pardoned? David expresses his valuation and earnest longing for the favour of God, and his joyful sense of it: 'there be many that say, who will show us any good? Lord, lift up the light of thy countenance upon me: thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and wine increased:' Ps.5. an inward cordial joy, that far exceeds the counterfeit joy in the countenance, that ends in heaviness. Now the thankful sense of a benefit is correspondent to the joyful sense of it, and the joyful according to our languishing longing after it. Fervent prayer for the pardoning mercy of God, and a frozen acknowledgment of it, are utterly inconsistent. There is no joy in the world so sensible and affecting, as the joy of one saved from present death. A condemned man values and rejoices more in receiving two lines where his pardon is contained, than in the conveyance of a kingdom. Hezekiah, when under the sentence of death in his sickness, how passionate were his addresses for recovery? How exuberant were his joy and thankfulness for his rescue from perishing? 'The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day.' Isa.38.19. He resolves to renew the praises of his gracious preserver every day: 'the Lord saved me; therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.' Ver. 20. Had he so quick and warm a sense of the divine mercy that saved him from the grave, how much more ardent should our acknowledgments be for the saving us from hell? If we have the feeling of sin, as we have of sickness, and are as duly sensible how much the life of the soul, our excellent and immortal part, is to be preferred before the life of the frail and perishing body, our joy and thankfulness would be in the highest elevation, in remembering forgiving mercy. This will be the argument of the high and everlasting praise of God in heaven. I shall conclude with this advice, Let us not content ourselves with verbal acknowledgments of this real and glorious benefit: let our thanksgiving be joined with thanksdoing; then we shall be accepted. Of this we have the most comforting assurance from God himself; 'he that offers praise glorifies me: and to him that orders his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God.' Ps.50. |
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