Whether the Justification of believers under the Old Testament and New be not uniform and altogether the same which is to be affirmatively maintained and therefore remit you to that question For the present we see how David here doth twice and thrice with much vehemency desire that Gods face would not be upon his sins Here may be one considerable question made seeing Nathan the Prophet had told David his sin was forgiven him Was not this great unbelief and diffidence to pray for pardon after that consolation To this it may be answered 1. That Nathans comfort might be given after this penitential Psalm for although 2 Sam. 12.13 the History makes mention of Nathans oyl poured into David as soon as ever he was wounded yet it is a frequent thing in Scripture to have those things immediatly connected in story when yet there was a great distance in the practice But grant it was immediatly upon Davids repentance yet faith in God for pardon may well stand with prayer for pardon The deep sense and feeling of Gods offence cannot but provoke to earnest petition though faith at the same time perswadeth the heart God will hear Hence David doth not here pray in unbelief thinking God would not pardon him therefore some translate v. 7. in the future tense Thou wilt purge me with hysop because of his assurance Again though God removed Davids sin in respect of condemnation yet not in respect of all other effects of his anger for so his sin did still lie as a burden on him and in this respect he still seeketh Gods face In the next place consider Psa 32.1 3 4. Of all parts of the Scripture the Psalms have this excellency that they do in a lively experimental way set forth the gracious works of God upon the soul and David doth in many Psalms still as it were play upon the Harp to drive out the evil spirit of unbelief and diffidence out of a mans heart Now this Psalm is a most excellent directory for the obtaining of pardon after sin committed wherein David being for a while grievously crushed by Gods anger for his sins at last feeling the Sun-shine of his favour breaking through the clouds he doth in the beginning of the same joyfully break out admiring the happines of those who have their sins pardoned and he doth in several words repeat the same benefit because of the excellency of it and certainly were your hearts touched with the sense of Gods displeasure for sin neither riches nor good trading or any advantage in the world would so glad your heart as to have a pardon of sin For how cometh David to be thus affected with forgivenesse of his sins even because he confessed it not was not humbled under it till Gods wrath was heavy upon him and then he resolved to acknowledge it whereupon God immediatly forgiveth him Now lest any should think What is this to us in the times of the Gospel observe v. 6. For this every one that is godly shall pray unto thee that is for this remission for this pardon every one that is godly shall pray so that its ungodlinesse by Davids judgement not to confesse sin or to pray for the pardon which how can any Antinomian do by his principles that holdeth God seeth not or taketh notice so as to be offended with the sins of justified persons and so they are not only Antinomists but Anti Confessionists Anti-Petitionists and Anti-penitents Take one more instance Psa 6.1 where David prayeth God would not rebuke him in his hot displeasure Compare this with Jer. 10.24 where you see the servants of God do suppose an anger from God will fall on them for their sins and they do not refuse his rebukes only they desire God would moderate and set bounds to his wrath that it may not overwhelm them Many other places there are where its plain the people of God praying do suppose him to be angry with them for their sins and it is a truth so ingraven in the heart of a godly man that no error can ever quite obliturate it A sixth sort of Arguments shall be from those places where God is said to take notice of our sin more then we can or do 1 Joh. 3.18 19 20. where the Apostle presseth believers to a sincere love of one another with this Argument that hereby we shall assure our hearts before him the Greek word signifyeth to perswade and doth excellently set forth the difficulty of being assured in Gods presence Now this great benefit he illustrates by the contrary if our hearts condemn us God is greater then our hearts and this holdeth universally in every holy duty as well as that of love if our hearts condemn us for hypocrisie and insincerity in them God doth much more for he knoweth more evil by our selves then we do Now how can this Apostolicall assertion be true if so be God took no notice or were not offended at the sins of his people It s an argument of sweet meditation to humble us that if where there is but a drop of grace our sins are so lothsome and offensive how much more must they be to the ocean of all purity To this the Antinomian replieth Honey-Comb p 89. that John speaks this of hypocrites and not the justified children of God But 1. he gives the expresse title of little children to them ver 18. and my little children so that he taketh upon him the bowels of a father to them Again let it be granted that he describes hypocrites yet there is no godly man but this text will in some sense belong to there is no man so godly but he hath some hypocrisie and insincerity in his best love there is that worm in his best fruit that drosse in his best gold It followeth then by proportion that so far as the godly do discern imperfections and insincerity in their duties so far they are to be humbled before God who knoweth much more by them then they discern as you see little moats are discerned by the Sun-beams in the Air which were not discerned before therefore when John addeth If our hearts condemn us not then have we confidence with God his meaning is not as if we could have no confidence where our hearts doe condemn us in some degrees for then none in the world could have confidence but he speaks of condemning our selves upon a discovery of a total and wilful hypocrisie and so we will indeed grant that he speaks of hypocrites but yet it proveth as much as we desire namely that where there is any condemnation of our selves for any degree of insincerity in any duty we are to tremble and to remember that God is greater then our hearts knoweth more by us and so his wrath might break out hotter then we can imagine Neither is the former answer weakned though we grant it to be understood of total hypocrites for it is usuall with the Apostle to threaten even
we remain still obnoxious and bound in Gods wrath Again It is for comfort to the godly what though Satan thy own heart and the world doth condemn thee yet if God Justifie thou maiest rejoyce you see Rom. 8. what a challenge Paul there makes Who shal lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that Justifieth Who shall charge any thing The devil thy own heart can lay much pride hypocrisie sloth fulnesse to thy charge it is true but God through Christ doth Justifie What a Cordiall and reviver would it be to Gods people to live in the power of this gift bestowed upon them it is God that justifieth thee O my troubled soul who can then condemn who can hinder it or invalidate it Certainly we are therefore in dejections despondencies and perplexities often because we drink not of this water of life Lay and apply this excellent Doctrine to thy fainting dying soul and it will become to it like Elisha applying himself to the dead childe cause spirit and life again to return to him right thoughts here will sweeten all thoughts in other things Eleventhly Although Justification be a Court action and drawn from judicatories yet God is not in this action considered meerly as a Iudge but as paternus Judex a fatherly Iudge having an admirable temperament of justice and mercy so that God pronounceth this sentence from the Throne of Justice and Mercy also of Justice in that he will not absolve till satisfaction be made and he will not pronounce righteous but where there is a perfect righteousnesse Therefore that opinion of making Faith to be accepted of for righteousnesse is a dangerous and false assertion God in this work of Justification is never described as accepting of an imperfect righteousnesse for a perfect No God doth not cease to be just while he is thus gracious Again his Justice and righteousnesse is herein seen that none shall be Justified but such sinners who feel their guilt and desire to be eased of that burden beleeving and rolling their souls upon him It is very hard to give the right order of the benefits of Vocation Justification Adoption and Sanctification but yet this may be made good against the Antinomian that a man is not Justified till repenting and beleeving Here is Justice then but there is also a great deal of Grace and Mercy As in the accepting of a surety for us that he would not keep to the Law of having us in our own persons to pay the utmost farthing This was great love so likewise to finde out a way for our reconciliation that when the devils had no remedy provided for them we have Further that when this price is laid down we have the application of this benefit and so many thousands have not Two in a Bed in a Family in a Parish one Justified and the other condemned What Gracâ— is this Twelfthly This grand mercy is described in Scripture by God his giving something to us not our doing any thing to him It is described by Gods actions not ours to him which may abundantly satisfie the heart against all doubts and fears thus the Scripture cals it forgiving not imputing sin imputing righteousnes making righteous all which are actions from God to us not ours to him so that we are no where said in a good sense to Justifie ourselves or commanded to it as we are to repent or beleeve and to crucifie the lusts of the flesh because it is wholly Gods action by faith indeed we apprehend it but it 's Gods action as the window letteth in the light but it is the Sun that doth inlighten And from this particular we may gather much comfort for when we look into our selves and see no such righteousnesse or holinesse that we dare hold out to God then we may remember this is not by our doing to God but receiving from him and in this sense it is more blessed for us to receive then to give This made the Father say justitia nostra est indulgentia tua our righteousnesse is thy indulgence Therefore let not the troubled heart say where is my perfect repenting where is my perfect obedience but rather ask where is Gods forgiving where is Gods not imputing how hardly is the soul drawn off from resting in it self it is not thy doing but Gods doing thou must not consider what do I but what God doth The Antinomian he indeed wringeth these breasts of Consolation till bloud cometh but the true sweet milk of the word must not therefore be thrown away Do not then as they sought for Christ look for him in the grave when he was risen out thence Do not thou poâ—r in thy self for this treasure when it is to be looked for from heaven duties graces will say this is not in me Lastly The Scripture hath other equivalent phrases to this of Justification which likewise do amplifie the comfort of this gift It is called Blessedness as if this indeed were the true heaven and happines If thou art justified thou carriest heaven about with thee and thy name may be Legion for many are the mercies that do fill thee Nothing can make thee blessed but this it is not Blessed is he to whom the Lord giveth many riches and honors many parts and abilities but to whom the Lord imputeth no sin and howsoever those who wallow in a Laodicean fulnesse judge not this such blessednesse yet ask a Cain ask a Judas demand of the tormented in hell whether it be not a blessed thing to have sin pardoned That thou shouldest be able to look on thy sins as so many serpents without stings as so many Egyptians dead upon the shoar as if they had never been that thou shouldst be able to say Lord where are such lusts such sins of mine I finde them all cancelled Is not this blessednes indeed Another expression is of accepting us in Christ and herein lieth much of Justification that it is an acceptation of us to eternall life Eph. 1.6 This must needs imbolden and incourage the heart when it knoweth that both person and duties are accepted though so much frailty and weakness yet God will receive thee The third phrase is to make Just Rom. 5.9 For God doth not pronounce that man just which is not so Therefore when we are Justified this is not absolutely and simply against a righteousnesse of works but in a certain respect as done by us and as obedience coming from us and this must needs support the soul for when satisfaction is made when God hath as much as he desireth why should not this quiet the heart of a man will nothing content thee unlesse thou thy self art able to pay God the utmost farthing A fourth word is not imputing of sin or imputing righteousnesse and this as you heard before is a very sure and real thing though it be not in us for there are many real benefits do come to us wheh yet the
smiteth him so Moses was denied entring into the land of Canaan which was an heavy affliction to him because he spake unadvisedly with his lips Commentators are at loss to finde out what his sin was So Davids sin in numbring the people it s disputed wherein the transgression lay Elies heavy judgements that came so frequently one upon another were for a want of that measure of zeal which should have burnt within him Oh therefore consider that God doth not only see sins that are mountains but that are mole-hils comparatively He doth not only see the beams but the motes that are in us he doth not only take notice of our mire and vomit if we return to that but of the least spot and wrinkle how deeply maiest thou humble thy self under every Religious duty performed by thee How often do we fail in the manner of a command as Vzzah in the order How often out of pride and self-confidence do we number our earthly props and refuges relying upon them How unadvised are our thoughts and words now these hairs of sins as I may so call them both for number and seeming littlenesse are all numbred before God As the Lord is angry with these lesser sins and defects in graces so also for Errors in Judgements and false opinions How well would it be for the Antinomian if God did not see this sin in them that they hold he seeth no sin in Believers I fear me God seeth and taketh notice of their erroneous Sermons of their corrupt Doctrines and seducing Books There are indeed those who would make heresie almost innocency and that it is more to be pitied then punished but the Apostle Gal. 5. reckons heresies among gross sins such as exclude from the Kingdom of heaven and how severe Gods anger is to those who do erre though in less matters and although they keep the foundation appeareth in that notable place 1 Cor. 3.12 13 14 15. It is a difficult place and those that would build Purgatory out of it they are the Architects of that hay and stubble the text speaks of Not to join with that exposition of some who by hay and stubble do understand evil works nor with Beza who denieth it to be meant of false doctrine but only of the manner of preaching He makes the building of gold and silver c. to be the pure and sincere doctrine of Christ the hay and stubble to be the vain affecting of eloquence and words but I rather go along with those that interpret the place of false doctrines but not such as do overthrow the foundation only they build superfluous unsound doctrine upon the true foundation which is as uncomely as if you should see a royall palace which hath gold for the foundation and precious stones for the wals yet have the covering of straw and stubble what deformity would this be yet so it is with the best preachers that are who yet adde some errors to the sound Doctrine they deliver Now for the opening of the place it is wholly Allegorical The preachers of Gods word are builders and they are to raise up a stately palace the materials are compared to gold and silver to precious stones The place is an allusion to Isa 54.12 I will make thy windows of Agats and thy gates of Carbuncles and all thy borders of pleasant stones it is a description of the precious Graces and Doctrines which the Ministers of God are cloathed with and this sheweth with what esteem and high price all the truths of Christ ought to be received by you The Ark Ex. 25.3 4 5 6. was to be made of gold silver and other precious materials this is the nature of true Doctrine Now false Doctrine though it be not in fundamentals but in meer accessories is called hay and stubble and he that preacheth these shall come to a severe trial Every mans work saith the Text shall be made manifest where you see the spreading of false Doctrine is called the work of a man as in the second Epist of John it s called evil deeds and this evil work hath a two-fold effect First it makes the owner to suffer losse that is all that labour and pains he hath taken shall bring him no profit whereas if he had imployed himself in the truth his reward would have been great The lucrum cessans is as great a losse as the damnum emergens Oh! what a fearfull thing will it be for false teachers who have made it their whole business to spread new opinions to lose all their labour The other effect is that though he be saved yet it shall be so as by fire that is he shall be in extream danger and he shall have sad tribulations and miseries falling upon him see the like phrase Jude 23. pulling them out of the fire That which thou comfortest thy self with and gloriest in as if it were persecution it may be is nothing but part of the fire in the Text which is to afflict thee that thy drosse may be purged out let therefore all false teachers though belonging to God expect a fire of burning great afflictions and tribulations And if Antinomians have trouble for their Doctrine they are bound to believe God chastiseth them for this very opinion that he doth not chastise for sin I have bin the longer on this place because of the multitude of hay and stubble that is built every where God will have his day when a fire shall rise to consume it all and the true Doctrine will only continue The Apostle speaks as terribly afterwards v. 17. If any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy where the Apostle calleth the Corinthians The temple of God now this is not so much true of every single Christian as when collected together in a Church or body and the Spirit dwelling among them is much more admirable then his presence in the Ark and he defileth this Temple who by any false Doctrine and error corrupts that society now the greatness of this sin is seen by the words following The Lord will destroy him for so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that as God destroyed Athaliah and Beltashazzar for prophaning the Temple and the offerings or gifts of the Temple no lesse punishment unlesse they repent shall fall upon those who pervert the Doctrines of Christ I come to the second demonstration of Gods anger to believers when sinning and that is in spiritual and internal things now they are of two sorts first the consolations of the holy Ghost with the light of Gods favour secondly the flourishing and sprouting of the graces of sanctification In both these you shall finde the godly man after sin much withered What anger in the first sense after sin the godly may feel David will abundantly tell you Ps 11. he cals it the breaking of his bones you know how terrible and grievous that is and in the
this opinion That we have no sin in us we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us and then which is worst We make God a liar who in his Word doth testifie of us as having sin in us So that this opinion argueth those that maintain it neither to understand or firmly believe the Scriptures and this is to be extended to those who hold no sin in us as to Gods eye by reason of Christs righteousness For the Scriptures do equally overthrow both The most material Answer that I have observed by any given to this Argument from our duty of praying for pardon of sin is given by Castalio de Iustif p 63. It is this This prayer is not so prescribed us saith he that we should alwayes pray so and we never reade that any in the Scripture used these prescribed words Nay saith he we never reade that the Apostles praied for remission of sinnes no nor Christ never praied for pardon of them Therefore the meaning of this Petition must be to pray for pardon as oft as they need it not that they need it alwaies Therefore he compareth this Petition to such places Love your enemies Agree quickly with your adversary Honour your father and mother that is when you have enemies or adversaries when you have a father and mother so here Pray for pardon that is when you have sinned But this very answer needeth a pardon because it s fraughted with much falshood for first although we reade not that they praied those expresse words yet in their very addresse to Christ to be instructed how to pray and our Saviour teaching them to pray thus as one Evangelist or after this manner as another hath it it had been hypocrisie and mockery never to have conformed to it Besides our Saviour supposeth they have need of pardon when he tels them Except ye forgive one another neither will my heavenly Father forgive you vers 15. which implieth their need of pardon Hence Mat. 7.11 he cals them evil If ye then being evill which is not to be understood comparatively in respect of God only for so the Angels are Joh. 4.18 but inherently because of the remainder of that corruption in them Hence as you heard the Apostle John puts himself in the number here If we say we have no sin c. certainly the Apostle Paul was farre from these thoughts 1 Tim. 1.18 where he cals himself the chiefest of all sinners that is one in the rank of those whose sins had a scarlet hue and he saith this in the present tense not of whom I was chief but I am chief for although Cajetans Exposition be very probable that makes this relate not meerly to sinners but to sinners saved thus Christ came to save sinners of which saved sinners I am chief yet the former is not to be rejected and certainly in some sense every man is bound to think of himself as a greater sinner then others As the Pharisee said I am not as other men adulterers covetous c. The godly man on the contrary thinketh he is not holy zealous sincere as other godly men are When Paul Rom. 7. complaineth of that evil in him and law of sinne can we think he never desired the pardon of it And when our Saviour Joh. 17.17 prayeth God to sanctifie his Disciples what is that but to set them apart for their office by forgiving their sinne even as Isaiah was purified by a live coal from the altar As for his parallell places and duties it is a most absurd comparison for he may as well say That the Kingdom of God and hallowing his Name are not constantly to be prayed for but upon occasion only Certainly those places of Scripture which make originall sinne to cleave to us even as Ivy to the Oak and which is as leven in us sowring every thing we doe in some measure And those places which speak of such a perfection in the Law that we are never able to perform it argue a constant abiding principle of sin in us we may conclude then that this Petition doth suppose a worm in our best fruit drosse in our purest gold and many spots in our choisest beauty Neither may we dream of such an imputed righteousnesse as shall take away the necessity of this praying not that the godly are therefore to be denominated sinners because we call them godly though sinne be in them because godlinesse is the most noble quality in them as we call that a field of corn which yet hath many weeds in it A second thing implied is feeling of sinne a burden and weight upon us For none can heartily and with feeling experience importune God for this pardon but such who are sensible of a pressing load by sin Hence the Hebrew word Nasa doth signifie as you heard the taking of a weight and burden So the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used of deliverance from bonds Luke 4.18 where what was literally true of the Jews that were in captivity and prisons is applied to us spiritually and the Gospel of Christ is said to preach deliverance to the captives so that hereby is declared that as a captive Jew in Babylon was wearied with his estate and did vehemently expect deliverance no lesse doth a man burdened with sin desire a freedom and relaxation Therefore the time of the Gospell is expressed allusively to the year of Jubilee vers 19. as that was proclaimed with the sound of a Trumpet so this by the mouth of the Apostles How many are there then who pray this prayer but want much feeling and zeal within Now sinne hath a double weight one of punishment the other of offence and displeasure to God and in this later we ought especially to groan under it Cam felt a burden of his sins and David also felt a pressure by them but the tears of these two differed much The one was meerly because of punishment the other because it was against God Against thee onely have I sinned This inward disposition is that which putteth an excellent relish and high prize upon Christ and his benefits Hence the word to trust signifieth also to roul and cast our burden upon the Lord As a man who beareth an heavie weight upon his back being ready to break under it rouls it upon the next stall he meets with to ease himself Psal 55.22 Consider therefore what thou feelest within what pressures upon thee while thou desirest this forgivenesse Art thou as the poor prisoner bound in his chains and irons longing for a releasment Art thou as one ashamed in the presence of so glorious a God Quidni totis artubus contremiscat ranuncula è palude accedens ad thronum Regis Why should not the Frog coming out of the lake to the Kings Throne altogether tremble 3. It implieth godly sorrow and spiritual mourning of heart For we may not think this is appointed as a meer complement to use to God but our hearts ought
it self it is plain by all those places of Scripture which make repentance requisite to pardon Ezek. 14.6 Ezek. 18.30 Mat. 3.2 Luk. 13.3 The learned Dr Twisse Vind. grat p. 18. confesseth that there are Arguments on both sides in the Scripture Sometimes he saith Pardon of sin is subjoyned to confession and repentance of which sort he confesseth there are more frequent and expresse places but yet sometimes remission of sin already obtained is made an argument to move to repentance and he instanceth in David and Mary Magdalen who did abundantly and plentifully break out into tears upon the sense of pardon But these instances are not to the purpose for David repented of his wicked ness before Nathan told him That his sin was taken away and his penitential Psalm was not made so much for the first pardon of his sin as the confirming and assuring of him in his pardon Thus it was also with Mary Magdalen But more of this in time 4. There is a necessity of Repentance if we would have pardon both by a necessity of precept or command as also by a necessity of means and a way Whatsoever is necessary Necessitate medii by a necessity of means or a way is also necessary by a necessity of command though not è contra That repentance is necessary by way of a command is plain by the places fore-quoted and in innumerable other places I do not handle the case Whether an actual or explicite repentance be necessary to salvation of every sinner but I speak in the general It is disputed Whether it be a natural precept or a meer positive command and if it be a natural or moral command to which command it is reduced Those that would have it under the command of Thou shalt not kill as if there were commanded a care of our souls that they should not be damned are ignorant of the true limits and bounds of the several Commandments It s disputed also When this time of repentance doth binde It is a wonder that some should limit it only to times of danger and fear of death Certainly this command binds as soon as ever a man hath sinned Venenata inducias non patiuntur A man that hath swallowed down poison is not to linger but presently to expell it And one that is wounded who lieth bleeding doth presently dispatch with all readinesse for Physitians to have his bloud stopt and thus ought men to take the first opportunity Hence in that famous miracle wrought at the pool of Bethesda not the second or third but he that stept first into it was the only man that was healed As repentance is thus necessary by way of command so also by way of means for the Spirit of God worketh this in a man to qualifie him for this pardon So that although there be no causality condignity or merit in our repentance yet it is of that nature that God doth ordain and appoint it a way for pardon So that the command for repentance is not like those positive commands of the Sacraments wherein the will of the Law-giver is meerly the ground of the duty but there is also a fitnesse in the thing it should be so even as among men nature teacheth That the injurious person should be sorry and ask forgivenesse before he be pardoned 5. Concerning this duty of repentance there are two extream practical mistakes the one is of the prophane secure man who makes every empty and heartlesse invocation of mercy to be the repentance spoken of in the Scripture whereas repentance is a duty compounded of many ingredients and so many things go to the very essence yea the lowest degree of godly sorrow that by Scripture-rules we may say Repentance is rarely to be seen any where for if you do regard the nature of it it is a broken and a contrite heart Now how little of the heart is in most mens humiliations Men being Humiliati magis quam humiles as Bernard said humbled and brought low by the hand of God rather then humble and lowly in their own souls Again if you consider the efficient cause it is from the Spirit of God the spring of sorrow must arise from this hill Zech. 12. Rom. 8. Further if you consider the motive it must be because God is displeased and offended because sin is against an holy law and so of a staining and polluting nature Lastly If you consider the effect and fruit of repentance it is an advised forsaking and utter abandoning of all those lusts and iniquities in whose fetters they were before chained so that a man repenting and turned unto God differs as much from himself once a sinner as a Lazarus raised up and walking differs from himself dead and putrifying in the grave Do not thou then whose heart is not contrite who dost continually lick up the vomit of thy sin promise to thy self repentance No thou art far from this duty as yet On the other side There is a contrary mistake and that is sometimes by the godly soul and such as truly fear God They think not repentance enough unlesse it be enlarged to such a measure and quantity of sorrow as also extended to such a space of time and by this means because they cannot tell when they have sorrowed enough or when their hearts are broken as they should be they are kept in perpetual labyrinths and often through impatience do with Luther in such a temptation Wish they never had been made men but any creatures rather because of the doubts yea the hell they feel within themselves Now although it be most profitable bitterly to bewail our sins and to limit no time yet a Christian is not to think Pardon doth not belong to him because his sorrow is not so great and sensible for sin as he desireth it David indeed doth not only in his soul but even bodily expresse many tears yea rivers because of his sin and other mens sins yet it is a good rule That the people of God if they have sorrow in the chiefest manner appretiativè though not intensivè by way of judgment and esteem so that they had rather any affliction should befall them then to sin against God if this be in them though they have not such sensible intense affections they may be comforted When the Apostle John makes this argument He that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen how shall he love God whom he hath not seen implieth That things of sense do more move us then matter of faith David made a bitter out-cry upon the death of Absolom with sad expressions Would to God I had died for thee O Absolom my son my son c. But when Nathan told him of his Adultery and Murder though he confessed his sin yet we reade not that he made such sensible lamentation Thus Hierom writeth of a godly woman Paula that at the death of her children would be so dejected that she did hardly escape death yet
do not make to the internal Happinesse of God yet he is pleased with this and commands it of men and threatens to punish where it is denied him and certainly we may not think the Scripture doth aggravate sinâ—e under this title as an injury to him as that which offends him and is disobedience unto him if so be there were not some Reality Besides the Necessity of Christs death by way of satisfaction doth necessarily argue That sinne is a reall offence and dishonour to him And lastly a sinner as much as lieth in him depriveth God of all his inward happinesse and glory insomuch that if it were possible God would be made lesse happy by our sins It is no thanks to a sinner that he is not but it ariseth from his infinite Perfection that he cannot Let the first Use be To commend Repentance in the necessity of it if ever we would have pardon God hath appointed no other way for thy healing Never perswade thy self of the pardon of sinne where sinne it self hath not been bitter to thee Besides where godly sorrow is there will be earnest prayer and heavenly ascensions of the soul unto God for his pardon Hence Zech. 12. The spirit of Prayer and Mourning is put together and Rom. 8. Prayer and groans unutterable As the fowls of the Heaven were at first created out of the water so do thy heavenly breathings after God arise from thy humbled and broken soul It is presumption to expect pardon for that sinne which hath not either actually or habitually been humbled for by thee If a man should expect health and life yet never eat or drink would you not say he tempted God and was a murderer of himself So if a man hope for pardon and yet never debase or loath himself repenting of his sins will you not â—â—y he is a murderer of his soul And be encouraged to it because God hath annexed such a gracious Promise to it He might have filled thee with sorrow here and hereafter It might be with thee as the damned Angels who have neither the grace of repentance nor the mercy of pardon 2. Not to trust in repentance but after all thy humiliations still to depend only upon Christ Though Christ died and was crucified yet he did not lose his strength and efficacy This was represented in that passage of Gods providence That a bone of his was a broken Relie therefore upon Christ wounded for sinne not upon thy own heart that is wounded use this but trust only in Christ Dependance upon Evangelical graces doth evacuate Christ as well as confidence in the Law A man may not only preach the Law and the duties thereof to the prejudice of Christs glory but also the duties and graces of the Gospel If a man relieth upon his repentance and believing he maketh Justification and Salvation to be of works though it be of faith for he makes his faith a work and gives that glory which belongs to Christ to his own repentance LECTURE XX. MAT. 6.12 And forgive us our Debts IT hath already been demonstrated at large How God doth remit or forgive sins We come now to shew What kinde of act forgivenesse of sin is and whether it be antecedent to our faith and repentance Both these Questions have a dependency one upon another and therefore must be handled together The first Doubt is What kinde of act in God forgivenesse of sin is Whether it be an immanent act in-dwelling and abiding in God or transient working some reall effect and change upon the creature Now in handling of this I shall not trouble you with that perplex Question so much vexed by the Schoolmen Whether a transient action be in the Agent or in the Patient but lay down some differences between an immanent action and a transient action only you must take notice that we are in meer darknesse and not able to comprehend how God is said to act or work For on the one side we must not hold that there are any accidents in God or that he can be a subject recipient of such because of his most pure and simple Essence so that whatsoever is in God is God And yet on the other side the Scripture doth represent God doing and working such mercies and judgements as seemeth good to him Only this some conclude of wherein others with some probability dissent that Gods knowledge and will is the cause of all things that are done so that there is not an executive power besides them whereby he doth this or that As we see there is in man though an Artificer wils such a thing to be done yet that is not existent till he hath wrought it but now God worketh all things by a meer command of his will as appeareth Gen. 1. God said Let there be light and there was light Here was Gods will to have it so no executing power distinct from that will Therefore it is a sure truth De Deo etiam vera dicere periculosum est It is dangerous to assert things though true of God and Tunc dignè Deum aestimamus cum inaestimabilem dicimus then do we rightly esteem of him when we judge him above our thoughts or esteem We must not therefore apprehend of God as having a new will to do a thing in time which he had not from eternity as Vorstius and others blaspheme but his will was from all eternity that such a thing be in time accomplished by his wisdome As for example in Creation God did not then begin to have a will to create but he had a will from all eternity that the world should exist in time and thus it is in Justification and Sanctification not that these effects are from eternity but Gods will is And if you ask Why seeing Gods will to create or justifie is from eternity Creation and Justification are not also from eternity The answer is because God is a free Agent and so his will is not a necessary cause of the thing for then it would be immediately as the Sun beams are necessarily as soon as the Sun is but it is a voluntary principle and so maketh the effect to be at the time he prescribeth As if there were an Artificer or Carpenter that could by his meer wiâ— cause an house to be reared up he might will this to be done in such and such a year long after his will of it to be So God when the world is made when a sinner is justified willed these things from all eternity and when they come to have a being these effects cause an extrinsecal denomination to be attributed to God which was not before as now he is a Creator and was not before now he justifieth and did not before There is no change made in God but the alteration is in the creature But of this more in its time Let us come to give the differences between an immanent action and a transient and then we
praying for forgiveness doth not pray for the Assurance of that which is already past for so no sinne is forgiven to him but for initial Pardon which he never yet hath enjoyed The second sort of persons praying this Prayer are those that at their first conversion humble themselves and seek unto God for his face and reconciliation with him Now those that are thus in their beginnings and new birth they can pray in no other sense but for initial and first Pardon for as that is the first time they begin to have sorrow and brokenness of heart so that is the first time they begin to partake of Pardon Pardon of sin and Faith they are correlates and so are together A third rank is of Believers in their progress of holiness and sanctification walking without any scandal or offence in the wayes of God They in this Petition have a two-fold sense the one an Assurance of the Pardon of sins that are already forgiven them and the other is a renewed Pardon for the renewed infirmities they continually are plunged into Lastly There are lapsed Believers who have fallen into some grievous sins and thereby have made desperate wounds upon their own souls and these have agonies and pangs of heart much like their first conversion Therefore it s called so When thou art converted strengthen thy brother saith Christ to Peter This recovery out of the sinne they were plunged into was like a new conversion By such a commotion as this made in the soul there is nothing but darkness and confusion and they pray for pardon as if this were the first time They fear all their former wayes to have been hypocrisies Thus David Psal 51. prayeth for the restoring of joy to him that his broken bones may be heaeled as also for truth in the inward parts Now although such a mans former sins were indeed forgiven him yet it is to his sense and feeling as if it were not so but rather the contrary is feared by him that Gods wrath doth still abide on him Hence he prayeth for Pardon in his own judgement as one who yet never hath been acquitted by God So that according to the several conditions of the persons prayings we may suppose several senses in the Petition But in the third place to answer the Question we say That Assurance of pardon is not the only thing praied for And that for these Reasons First We are never to depart from the literall sense of the words without an evident necessity but the plain undoubted sense is That God would forgive our sins for our Saviour minding brevity in this Prayer no doubt would speak his sense in the most perspicuous and clear manner that can be As therefore if Christ had said Make us to be assured of the pardon of sin The Antinomian would not have gone from the letter but pressed us to that So on the other side when Christ saith Forgive us and not Give us the sense of forgivenes we have cause to cleave fully to that and this may be illustrated by two further considerations the former of those places where God is said not to forgive the later of those where forgiveness is applied of one man unto another When the Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Israelites how their Land was full of Idols and both great and mean men did humble themselves before them Isa 2.9 prayeth that therefore God would not forgive them Can any one make the meaning to be that God would not give them the assurance of their forgiveness Mat. 12.32 The Evangelist saith All other sins may be forgiven but that against the holy Ghost shall never Now in that sense other sins are said to be forgiven in which sense that is denied to be forgiven and that is denied to be forgiven not in respect of Assurance and Declaration to a mans conscience only but really and indeed Therefore the sins forgiven are in the like manner forgiven Again It is plain That by Pardon is not meant Assurance of Pardon only because when applied to men it cannot admit of such a sense Now the Petition runs thus That God would forgive us as we forgive others and there is no man will explain the later forgiveness of Assurance and why then the former Besides The equivalent phrase of forgiveness doth evince more then an Assurance of Forgiveness for when the Scripture cals it blotting out of sinne it is an expression from Debts which are as it were written in Gods book and therefore till he cancelleth them they doe remain in their guilt Furthermore If a sin be not really pardoned till a man do repent and believe then he beggeth for more then Assurance but we have fully proved That there is no remission of sin till confession and forsaking of it As for the above named Authours instance of a malefactour who hath received Pardon may yet upon his coming into the Kings presence desire Pardon it no wayes advantageth him For suppose a Malefactour might the first time do so yet experience doth demonstrate it would argue folly and madness in a Malefactour to doe so frequently Whereas it is our duty daily to begge the Pardon of our sinnes at the Throne of Grace To conclude this Point because we have elswhere spoken to it This Exposition doth overthrow the continual use of the Word the equipollent phrases the proper object of Prayer and departs from the letter of the Text without any just ground at all Which is against the rules of Explication of the Scripture The next Question is of great Practicall Concernment viz. Why God doth sometimes Pardon a sinne and yet not manifest it to the sinners heart It appeareth by David Psalm 51. That when a sinne is forgiven in Heaven it is not also remitted and blotted out in a mans conscience yet God can as easily work the one as the other If he say Let there be light in such a dark heart of an Hell it presently becomes an Heaven We would judge that by this divine Dispensation as the godly man loseth much of his comfort so God of his Glory and Honour But divers Reasons may be produced for this As First It may be God will teach us hereby That Pardon of sinne is not a necessary Effect of Repentance but a gracious Gift bestowed though not without it yet not for it Though therefore thy soul hath been deeply humbled and is greatly reformed yet God suspends the light of his favour upon thy soul that thou mayest acknowledge it his Grace not the merit of thy sorrow where Causes doe naturally produce an Effect there it is a Miracle if the one followeth not the other If the fire doe not burn if the Sunne stand still if Peter walking on the water sink not But it is no wonder to see a true contrite heart without Assurance and Consolation These may be separated that so thou mayest be as humble with thy Graces as if they were not
at all Yea God hath delighted sometimes in natural Causes to work the Effects without them lest the glory should be given to the instruments Hence he caused light to be before the Sunne and the earth is commanded to bring forth Herbs before any rain that so God may be acknowledged all in all If God do this in the order of natural things how much more of supernatural Yet this is not so to be prest as if therefore God would forgive sin without Repentance No God hath ordered a way inviolably and indispensably wherein he will vouchsafe his Pardon and no otherwayes But although God out of his meer good will hath inseparably conjoined Repentance and Remission together yet the Discovery or Promulgation of this unto the broken and contrite heart is altogether Arbitrary And in this as well as in other things that speech is true The winde bloweth where it listeth Know therefore by these divine Dispensations That though thou dost repent Gods forgiveness is a meer gift of liberality and no natural necessary fruit of thy sorrow Insomuch that setting Gods gracious Promise aside whereby he is a Debtor unto his own faithfulness after thy purest and most perfect Humilation for sin God might refuse to take thy guilt away A second Reason Why God though he pardon may yet deny the manifestation of it is Because hereby God would make us feel the bitternesse and gall of it in our own hearts A Pardon easily obtained takes off the burden of the fault Thus God dealt with David The light of Gods favour doth not presently break thorow the Cloud that so David may feel how bitter a thing it is to sinne against God As God suffered Isaac to be bound to have wood laid on him the knife to be lifted up to strike him in all which space Isaac's fear could not but heighten Thus God also will kill and wound those whom he intends to make alive he will bruise them and break them that so they may judge the seeming good in sin to be nothing to the real evil that followeth it And from this second issueth a third Reason viz. To make us more watchful and diligent against the time to come Peters bitterness of soul was a special preservative against the like temptations as bitter Potions kill the worms in childrens stomacks It must needs argue much guilt in Gods people if after the particular gall and wormwood they have found in sin they shall be ready to drink the like bitter potion when sin presents it self Certainly the heart-aches that Paul found afterwards though pardoned for his former persecutions were like a flaming sword to keep him off from such attempts again He might more truly say then that Heathen did He would not buy repentance so dear 4. By reason of the Difficulty and supernaturall way of believing it is that Pardon may be in Heaven when we cannot apply it in our Consciences Hence though the Promises be never so much for our ease and thereupon infinitely to be desired yet the way of believing this is so far above natural conscience which expects Justification by works that the heart of a man hath much ado to close with it Therefore faith is not like other Graces or Duties viz. Love of God Humility c. which have some obscure footsteps in the natural dictates of conscience but it is wholly supernatural yea Adam in the state of integrity knew not this kinde of believing in the righteousness of a Mediatour For as the object of faith viz. Christ is only by revelation no councel of men or Angels could have excogitated such a truth so faith as it is the hand or organ applying Christs righteousness is a duty not manifested by humane light but wholly from above And as flesh and bloud doth not reveal to us That Christ is the Son of the living God so neither that we are to have remission of sins only by faith in his bloud Hence the Scripture makes faith the gift of God which coming from the Spirit into our hearts meeteth with much contrariety and opposition of doubts and unbelief No wonder therefore if after the heart of a man hath been awakened for sinne there remain some commotions a long while after even as the sea after tempests winds though they be allaied yet for some space after roareth and rageth not leaving its troubles presently as you heard before Though therefore as God pardoneth in Heaven he offereth it also unto our Consciences yet we refuse and put it off we will not be comforted because it is not a comfort flowing in the way we look for viz. by working And for this reason though David heard Nathan pronounce his pardon yet he doth vehemently importune for it afterwards in Psalm 51. as if he had not the least notice of any such mercy to him Lastly God defers the notice of Pardon to thee that so thou mayest be the more able to sympathize with those that are in the like tempted condition For as one end of Christs suffering in his soul lying in agonies under Gods displeasure was because he might know how to have compassion upon his children in such temptations So the Lord doth exercise his people to the same purpose and certainly Christ accounted this the tongue of the learned to speak a seasonable word to a wounded heart Besides hereby shall we speak the more wonderfully of Gods grace and his goodness after our deliverance out of those storms Those that have been in these deep waters see the wonderful works of the Lord and so have their hearts and mouths the more opened to celebrate his praise Another Question may be What Directions are to be given unto a soul tempted about the pardon of sin for many such there are who like Pauls fellow passengers in the ship have been so many dayes moneths yea it may be years and have seen no Sun enjoyed no comfort at all Let the Persons thus affected use these remedies First Acknowledge God and clear him howsoever Thus David Psal 51. that thou mayest be clear when thou art judged If the devils and the damned in hell have no cause to complain of God as unjust or too severe then much less mayest thou who art kept in darkness for a season only that afterwards thou mayest enjoy the more light Let not God be the worse God his goodness the less unto thee because thou art not yet set free out of the bonds of sin By being thus humble thou takest the way to be filled whereas impatiency and discontent causeth God the more to hide his face Secondly Examine thy Repentance whether that hath been so sound so pure so deep so universal as it should have been All sorrow and humiliation for sin is not godly Repentance Ahabs tears and Peters differ as much as the water of the Sea which is brinish and salt and the water of the clouds which is sweet David Psal 32. acknowledgeth the pain
but all venial Rom. 8.1 There is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Therefore Musculus observes well That in this case the persons offending are to be considered whether they be believers more then the sins themselves A second Proposition Howsoever every sin even the least doth thus deserve eternal damnation yet there is a great difference between some sins and others And therefore sin is not a meer negation but a privation as diseases are and so as one disease may be more desperate then another so may one sin be more hainous then another The Stoicks thought all sins alike And Cyprian among the Ancients is reported by the Learned to have been of that minde But Scripture doth evidently confute this He that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin John 16.11 So you have the phrase no be worse then an Infidel 1 Tim. 5.8 Thus Ezek. 16.47 Israel is said to be more corrupted and to do more abomination then Sodom For although to sinne be to miss the mark yet some may shoot farre wider from it then others one sinne therefore may be more hainous then another divers wayes as Divines shew As 1. From the Person offending if he know the will of God or if he be in publick place or office 2. From the Object If it be sin against God immediately or man only as Eli said 1 Sam. 2.25 If one man sin against another the Judge shall judge him but if a man sin against the Lord who shall intreat for him 3. From the Matter about which If it be in the life of a man and not in his goods that thou wrongest him Some also may be aggravated from the disposition of the man the means he enjoyes to overcome sin from the frequency of it or defending of it and the like Hence some sins are compared to Camels others to Gnats some to Beams other to Moats some to Talents other to Farthings This then being clear let us consider what difference a true believer should make between these in matter of pardon and what difference he should not make And in the first place he is to make a vast difference about them when he sueth out for pardon As 1. He is to believe Gods wrath is more kindled against him and that his indignation burneth more hotly when such an iniquity is committed then in our daily infirmities Thus when Aaron had made the Idolatrous Calf how angry was God both with Aaron and the people How angry also was God with David after his murder and adultery David had continual infirmities but God did not break his bones for them he made not such a breach upon his peace conscience as he did in these sins Therefore it must argue high prophaneness of spirit if a man after the committing of gross and loathsom sins be no more troubled then for the continual motions and incursions which sinne necessarily makes upon us No as sins have a greater guilt in them so Gods wrath is stirred up in a more vehement manner against such 2. There is a great difference to be made in respect of Humiliation and the measure of godly sorrow for it For as the sin may exceed another as much as the Camel doth a Gnat so ought the sorrow as much as an Ocean doth a drop Thus Peter goeth out and weeps bitterly he did not so for every defect and spiritual imperfection in him as for this abominable Apostasie We reade also of the incestuous person as he committed a sin that was not so much as named among the Gentiles so he manifested such sorrow as was scarce heard among Christians insomuch that the Apostle was afraid of him lest he should be overwhelmed with too much sorrow Now if for every sin of infirmity there should be as much sorrow and humiliation as for these crimson and scarlet sins how would the whole life of man be but a continual trouble of soul and in what darkness would he live alwayes Although all thy continual failings ought to be matter of humiliation unto thee yet when such as these shall break out thy soul ought to set open the floud-gates of thy soul Neither may this be thought a low mercenary way as if the party so humbled did intend a compensation unto God But all places of Scripture must be regarded as those which speak of Christs glorious grace so also those which speak of our duties 3. The Spirit of God doth not only in his Word reveal a greater wrath against such sins but he doth also withdraw all those consolations and comforts which were in the heart before So that a man thus offending doth as it were bolt himself in a dark dungeon and shut out all the beams of the Sun against him Insomuch that although Assurance and the consolations of the holy Ghost may consist with the weaknesses and sinful infirmities of Gods people yet they do not with the gross impieties they plunge themselves into as appeareth in David Psal 51. who prayeth for the restoring of that salvation he had lost by his sin The Spirit of God is a Dove and that delighteth not in noisom buildings The Spirit of God may be grieved and quenched in respect of the fruits thereof So that a man thus wounded for sin feels a very hell in his heart admits of no comfort Neither can it be otherwise for when we refuse the Spirit of God sanctifying we presently repel it comforting If we have not the heat of this Sun neither shall we have the light thereof 4. In these gross offences the Spirit of God doth not onely forsake him in respect of Consolation but it s a Command laid upon the Church-Officers to cast such an one out of their society as 1 Cor. 6. neither may the people of God have any familiar communion or acquaintance with such now what horror and trembling may justly arise in such a mans heart who shall thus be cast out of all gracious Priviledges and that by Gods appointment What darkness must this work in his heart when he shall argue thus with himself Its Gods command I should not be admitted to the Seals of his love he hath given his Officers charge to pour no oil in my wounds how can I plead for the grace signified when he denieth me the Seals thereof God hath shut me out like the unclean leper and whither shall I go Now then if the Church of God make such a vast difference between him and others and that following the directions of Christ Ought not the person offending also to judge the same things about himself 5. In some kinde of grosse sins although there may be deep humiliation yet there are many other conditions requisite without which pardon of sinne cannot be obtained and that is in sins of injustice violence and fraud of others Thus Zacheus it is not enough for him to beleeve Christ the Messias and receive him into his house but he makes
his sins in particular And others that there is only this later and therefore the fore-mentioned Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance makes this only Gospel-repentance but as Gospel-faith is not that reflect act of the soul in a man whereby it is perswaded that Christ is his but a direct act of taking and receiving Christ to be ours so a Gospel-repentance is not that mainly whereby we are humbled because we receive Gods love to us in pardoning but principally in that loathing of our selves to obtaâ—n pardon It is therefore great ignorance in that Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance when pag. 58. he cals Repentance that goeth before this Faith viz. that my sins are pardoned a dead work as if the Faith that justifieth and without which it is impossible to please God were the believing that my sins are pardoned whereas the Scripture makes it to be the receiving of Christ and laying hold on him and seeing that the object must in order of nature be before the act that is imployed about it it followeth infallibly that I must have Justification before I can believe I have it Repentance therefore may be thought to go before a two-fold act of Faith First That whereby Christ is laid hold upon and made ours and so the Repentance that precedeth this may be called legal and slavish Or secondly Before a perswasion that my sins are pardoned and before this act of Faith Repentance must necessarily go because the Covenant of Grace dispenseth pardon only to such But because I have already spoken enough of the former kinde of Repentance anteceding Remission of sins vindicating the necessity of it I shall press upon this later as being most proper to my Text. And that assurance of apprehension of pardon doth not beget security but rather increase godliness will appear several wayes And first thus Those places which speak of Gods gracious Properties do represent them as grounds of duty as well as of consolation Psal 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Mark that expression There is forgiveness with thee which implieth forgiveness to be in God as in a fountain and therefore he doth easily and plentifully forgive but lest any Spider should suck poison out of this sweet flower he addeth That thou mayest be feared here is no incouragement to security Thus Hos 3.5 there is a gracious Promise of God to his children that they shall fear him and his goodness As it is Gods glorious Property to work good out of evil so it is a most devilish quality to work evil out of good 2. The Promises of God they also require an holy and humble walking 2 Cor. 7.1 The Apostle having in the Chapter before mentioned those glorious Promises in the Covenant of Grace That he would be our God and we his sons and daughters makes this inference Having those promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness perfecting holiness in the fear of God So that here is no danger as long as we keep close to the genuine use of the Scripture Thus also Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Where Assurance is so far from incouraging to sin that by sin it is weakned and destroyed The more gracious then we perceive God to us the more humiliation and debasement we finde in our selves Thus the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 1.17 If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth all men pass the time of your sojourning here in fear To make therefore doubting a duty and meritorious as some Papists have done is to betray great ignorance of Scripture motives 3. That Assurance of pardon is apâ— to kindle spiritual affections in us is plain if you consider the nature of such Assurance 1. Originally it is wrought by the Spirit of God as a man by the power of Free-will is not able to do any supernatural good thing so neither by the strength of natural light can he discern the gracious priviledges God bestoweth upon him 1 Cor. 2.12 The Spirit whereby we know the things that are freely given us of God is opposed to the spirit of the world If then this perswasion be not the fruit of the flesh but of the Spirit is it any wonder that it inclineth us to holy things Again 2. This perswasion of pardon cometh in the use of those means appointed by God 2 Pet. 1.10 By giving great diligence in the use of the means we only come to Assurance How then can such a perswasion of forgiveness cause a neglect of the means Lastly That Spirit which doth thus assure doth work also at the same time concomitant gracious effects especially servent and effectual prayer Rom. 8. Gal. 3. Now where constant powerful Prayer is that soul is like a tree planted by the waters side 4. That this perswasion of pardon doth inflame much to Holiness appeareth from the nature and state of those who are in it They are sons Now by experience we see that in an ingenuous son the more apprehension there is of his fathers tender love and kindeness to him the more obsequious and serviceable he is Can we think that the fathers great love to his prodigal son was not like coals of fire poured on him to melt and thaw him We rather see jealousies and suspitions of love to breed hatred at last Hence diffidence worketh despair and despair hatred of God It is therefore a special duty lying upon the people of God to entertain good thoughts of God and to be perswaded of his loving kindeness to them 5. That the people of God do yet mourn and abhorre themselves for their sins though perswaded of the pardon of them ariseth from the sincerity and uprightness of their heart whereby they hate sin as sin and grieve for the dishonour they have put upon God It is indeed lawful yea a duty to repent of sin that it may be pardoned because the Scripture propounds this as a motive and incouragement to the duty And it is a vain thing to affect more high and spiritual strains then the Scripture But Humiliation of sin when pardoned and after the knowledge of the pardon doth evidently discover an upright heart that the dishonour of God is more trouble and grief to him then his own punishment and destruction Whereby it is that hedoth so accuse and condemn himself for dealing so wretchedly and frowardly with so gracious a God 6. That ingenious principle of Gratitude and Thankfulness which reigneth in the godly will put them upon all these services Godliness in the lives of the godly may be considered two wayes First as a means wherein they attain to eternal life Secondly as an expression of Thankfulness unto God Hence Vrsine in his Catechism inscribeth that part of Divinity which containeth our duty de gratitudine of Thankfulness Bern. Ep. 107. Justus quis est nisi qui amanti se Deo vicem rependit amoris quod non