Riches of Grace and unsearchable Depths of Mercy and Grace God who is rich in mercy saith the Apostle for the great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us together with Christ Ephes II. 4 5. And all the Saints are set forth as studious and thoughtful about the Glorious Dimensions of God's Grace as endeavouring to comprehend the Breadth Length Height and Depth of this Grace that passeth Knowledge Eph. I. 8. The Breadth of his Love in covering such a multitude of Sins and pardoning such a multitude of Sinners The Depth of it reaching us in the Depth of our Sin and Misery The Length of it from Everlasting to Everlasting The Height of it in raising us from a deserved Hell to an infinitely Glorious Heaven Love Grace and Mercy are his Nature and Delight 'T is above our Thoughts and past our Comprehension We read that his Judgments are unsearchable and his Ways past finding out 't is as true of his Ways of Mercy as of any By that Name Judgments sometimes his Mercies are call'd Psal XXXVI 5 6. Thy Judgments are a great deep to show the Meaning whereof the Psalmist breaks out O Lord how excellent is thy Loving Kindness to the Sons of Men that put their trust in thee All the Merits of Christ are call'd the Mercies of God the sure Mercies of David God is said to be Rich in Mercy and no other Attribute of God is call'd his Riches but his Goodness Grace and Love Thirdly God useth variety of Arguments throughout the Scriptures to perswade us to believe this He not only urgeth us from his own Example and obliges us to forgive our Trespassing Brother if he repent unto seventy times seven but with the greatest Kindness he bespeaks us to believe his Compassion to be perswaded of his Tenderness and Love He employs a great deal of Rhetorick to that purpose Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel my way is hid from the Lord and my Judgment is passed over from my God hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the Earth fainteth not neither is weary Isa XL. 7 8. He appeals to Heaven and Earth to the Dumb and Insensible Creatures that his Ways are equal that ours are unequal he offers he invites he calls and expostulates and complains of our Backwardness to believe him he pleads and promiseth and adds his Oath to his Word As I live saith the Lord i. e. As I am a Living God I take no pleasure in the death of him that dyeth but rather that he return and live than go on and dye Turn ye turn ye why will ye dye O House of Israel He 's represented as with Sighs and Groans bewailing the Obstinacy of Sinners to their own Destruction O that they were wise and would consider this O that there were such a Heart in them O that they knew the things that belong to their peace before they are hid from their Eyes How kind and encouraging are such Passages Fourthly Consider this is one great End of God's Patience and Forbearance and of his continuing the Preaching of the Word and the Ordinances of the Gospel that Sinners might be led to Repentance by the Hopes of Forgiveness How many Years hath God waited on some of you Should not the Long-suffering of God that hath a Tendency to Salvation encourage you to believe that there is Mercy and Forgiveness with him What quick Dispatch hath he made with others while he hath spared you He hath taken some in the Act of their Vile Abominations many in the very height of their Wickedness and hath refus'd to give them further time and space to repent He hath call'd some to Judgment in their Youth soon after they had broken the Fetters of their Education cast off the God of their Fathers and begun to indulge themselves in youthful Lusts Many besure not greater Sinners than you are gone to their place while he yet waits to be gracious to you He offers you Pardon and Life when he might have condemn'd you to Remediless Wrath and put it in Execution long ago He continues to exercise great Patience and Power in forbearing you Is it not with this kind Design that it might lead you to Repentance that you might turn to him seek after him and intreat his Pity before it be too late May you not infer thus much from his Long-suffering Did he bear with thee when thy Heart was hard as a Rock and thou would'st not hearken to any Treaty of Peace and will he not accept thee now thy Heart begins to be contrite and broken with Sence of Sin and Sorrow for it Did he bear with thee while Sin was thy Delight and will he not be gracious if thou seek him now Sin is become thy Burthen Doth he continue to call thee by his Word and Commission his Ministers to tell thee in his Name that if thou return he will abundantly pardon Doth he order them to beseech thee for Christ's sake and in his stead that thou would'st be reconciled to God and can you suppose he is inexorable If a King should send one of his Attendants to a Condemned Prisoner saying Go tell such a one let him come to me for his Pardon and he shall have it my Son hath interceeded for him and made his Peace tho' he hath forfeited his Life and deserv'd to dye and I might put the Sentence in Execution to Morrow yet let him come and confess his Sin and ask Forgiveness and I will pardon him Yea tell him I desire I entreat that he would come I beg that he would have pity on himself and not refuse me I earnestly pray and beseech him I must take no Denial he must come What Kindness and Condescention were this You know how to apply it 'T is as certain unto all of you by the Preaching of the Gospel as if you were spoken to by Name But if you reject the kind Offer of the Grace of the Gospel and will not return from your Evil Ways but go on and put it to the venture after such a Merciful Invitation and that so often repeated consider then what a Hazard you run and if you hold on how dreadful your Doom will be All the Ministers of Christ instead of Blessing you in the Name of the Lord must pronounce against you all the Curses of the Law and all the additional Curses denounced against the Despisers of the Gospel And must say unto you Anathema Maranatha Cursed in this World 'till the Coming of Christ and when he comes Accursed from his blessed Presence into Everlasting Destruction Yea all the Angels of God all the Churches of Christ all the Saints on Earth and in Heaven will adore Divine Justice and can have no Compassion on you if you go on to despise the Grace of God and will not be drawn with the Cords of his Love Fifthly
GOD's Thoughts and Ways Above Ours especially in the Forgiveness of Sins IN SEVERAL SERMONS UPON ISAIAH LV. 7 8 9. By John Shower LONDON Printed by the Widow Astwood Iohn Lawrence at the Angel in Poultry MDCXCIX THE PREFACE I Am Encouraged to think that the following Sermons did Good in the Preaching and with the Hope they may be of some further Use they are now Published It hath been desir'd that I would Transcribe them in the Words wherein they were deliver'd which with very little Variation I have consented to as to the First Four It may be the peculiar Turn of Expression tho' popular and less exact in the Pulpit which renders the plain Truths of Christianity Acceptable to most Hearers may be more Useful and more Affecting to several Readers than what is more Concise and in more studied Words I can never reckon it a Fault in a Sermon to a Numerous Auditory that the Stile is different from what is expected in a close and just Discourse Or that what might be said in two Words or Sentences is exprest in three or four Perhaps the greatest Part of the Hearers need such Enlargement and Repetition and their Capacity could not otherwise be reached so as to Profit them any more then that Game may be taken by a Net Unspread Very Wise Men have Thought that it is a Mistake in a Consciencious Preacher to endeavour to please only a few of the more Knowing and Judicious Hearers But that which is suited to do Good to the Generality of those we Preach to will ordinarily be best Thought of by Wise Men whose Capacity and Judgment could reach what was more Accurate For they must needs know that it would not be Proper here They themselves have Sins to be forgiven and Corruptions to be mortify'd and Immortal Souls to be sav'd and so have their Inferiours And there is but one Way for the Learned and Unlearned to get to Heaven that I know of 'T is True the Things treated of will be despis'd by Many who do not Relish what 's contained in such Discourses The Matter is out of their Way They are not Sensible of Sin nor Solicitous about Forgiveness And so think not themselves concerned And it is to be fear'd there are Many Others who hear and read Sermons only to Judge of them without any Desire of Advantage to their Souls They are not better'd for the Sermons they Commend any more than by those they Condemn They may say perhaps it was an Excellent Discouse He 's a Good Orator or a Judicious Preacher and This Sermon exceeded even his Last But their Consciences are not touch'd they feel nothing that doth them any real Good However there are Many I hope in this City and Nation who will be thankfull for any such Assistance to prevent their Despair when convinced of Sin as the Doctrine of God's Free Grace in Forgiveness that is display'd in the First Four Sermons And Others who meet with Objections in Conversation and in Pamphlets against the Christian Doctrine of the Sacred Trinity the Incarnation of Christ and God's Wise Government of the World from the Unaccountable Passages of Providence which are apt to stumble them may be willing to consider and improve this Argument of God's Thoughts not being as Ours but far above our Reach which is the Subject of the Fifth Sermon Let me only add that many Younger Ministers as well as Elder have Dyed of Late And tho' Few of us will be miss'd when we Dye there being such Numbers to Supply our Places yet Every One should endeavour to be as Useful as he can while he lives for the Night is hastening wherein no Work can be done If Any Reader get Good let him give God the Glory I most earnestly beg His Blessing to that End J. S. THE First Sermon ISAIAH LV. 7 8 9. Let the Wicked forsake his Way and the Unrighteous Man his Thoughts and let him Return unto the Lord and he will have Mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly Pardon For My Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways My Ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are My Ways higher than your Ways and My Thoughts than your Thoughts THere are Three Things Considerable in this Passage First A Call to Repentance by a Double Precept or Injunction of Duty The Persons concerned in it are set forth under two Names to take in all sorts of Sinners The Wicked and the Vnrighteous And the Duty is doubly exprest to forsake their evil Wayes and Thoughts and to Return to the Lord Which are the Two Parts of true Repentance Turning from Sin and Returning to God Secondly Here 's an Encouraging Promise that God will have Mercy on such Penitents and will abundantly Pardon 'em That He will Interest them in the sure Mercies of David Ver. 3. or in all the Blessings of the Everlasting Covenant by Christ 'T is of him you must understand Ver. 4 5 6. of whom David was only a Type Behold I have given him for a Witness to the People a Leader and Commander to the People c. Thirdly The Ground and Reason why we may believe this Promise shall be made good For my Thoughts are not as your Thoughts saith the Lord God but as high as the Heavens are above the Earth c. i. e. There is a vast Disparity between my Thoughts and yours and mine are Transcendently above yours as far as Heaven is above the Earth And so are My Ways above your Ways This is true as to God's Thoughts and Purposes of Grace in Pardoning Sinners and as to the Effects of those kind Purposes in his Ways and Works And the Highest Assurance of the Truth of all this is added from a Divine Testimony annex'd Thus saith the Lord. He who best knows his own Gracious Designs hath told us this and by our believing it we set to our Seals that God is true Several things might be Observ'd as proper to be Discours'd of from these Words First That if ever Sinners find Mercy with God they must forsake their former Evil Ways and Course of Life Secondly That 't is not enough for such to to reform their outward Practice and forsake their Evil Ways but they must be chang'd and sanctify'd in Heart their Evil Thoughts must be forsaken Thirdly That 't is not sufficient to turn from Sin and Wickedness in Heart and Life without returning unto God Fourthly That the worst of Sinners be they wicked as to Sins against God or unrighteous as to Iniquity against Men yet if they turn from their Evil Wayes and return to the Lord they shall find Mercy Tho' you have sinned as you think so as never any did before and condemn your selves as the chiefest of Sinners and have refus'd the pardoning Mercy of God formerly offer'd c. All this may be forgiven And it is implied that it shall be upon every New Invitation
of your past Lives and Seal to you the Forgiveness of all Sin through the Blood of Jesus You need not you ought not to doubt it for As high as the Heavens are above the Earth so are God's Thoughts of Mercy above ours and his Ways above ours THE Fifth Sermon ISAIAH LV. 8 9. For My Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways My Ways saith the Lord. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so are My Ways higher than your Ways and My Thoughts than your Thoughts THE Disparity between the Thoughts and Ways of God and Ours here mention'd hath special Reference to the Dispensation of his Grace and Mercy in Pardoning the Worst of Sinners who forsake their Evil Ways and return to God by unfeigned Repentance But in this Discourse I Design to Consider these Words in a larger and more General Sense and show that The Ways of God are not as Ours but as far above 'em as Heaven is above the Earth By the Ways of God we may either understand First Those he would direct us to Walk in what he would have us to Believe and Do. Or Secondly His Ways and Works towards us in the Conduct and Management of Things by his Providence In the First Sense we read of the Way of Truth the Way of his Commandments and of walking in the Way of the Lord c. that is receiving as true the Doctrines he hath Revealed and Observing the Orders and Obeying the Commands which he hath given us In the latter Sense by the Ways of God I Mean his Works of Providence according to his Word In both these in the Declarations of his Word as to what we are to Believe and Do and in the Works of his Providence what he doth with us there are many things far above us His Ways are not as Ours as to Either BOTH may here be very well Comprehended The Revelations of the Will of God by his Word as to Faith Worship and Practice And also his Providences and Dealings with the Children of Men according to Scripture Revelation Our Ways are not as His as to either There is a vast Disparity between them In this Sense His Ways are very unlike to Ours and transcendently above them both as to Matters of Revelation and Providence I. First In what Sense are God's Ways not like Ours but vastly Different 1. THEY are Different as to the Nature of ' em All his Ways and Works are Perfect done with Infinite Wisdom and Judgment And therfore when Moses publishes the Name of God he begins with this Deut. XXXI 4. He is a Rock His Work is perfect all his Ways are Judgment They are the Fruit of Infinite Unerring Councel But what Weakness and Imperfection what Defect and Folly do we discover in our Ways All his Ways are Righteous and Holy Psal CXLV 17. He is Holy in all his Ways and Righteous in all his Works But what Impurity and Obliquity is there in ours All His Ways are Just and Equal He Challengeth all the World to prove the Contrary in any one Particular What doth he require of us but in the strictest Justice is Due whereas how Unequal is our Carriage towards Him and one another There is an Admirable Harmony and Agreement in the Ways of God as to all the parts of them connected one with another His Word is constant and abiding steddy and consistent not Yea and Nay 2 Cor. I. 19 20. All his Promises are Yea and Amen The Strength of Israel is not a Man that he should lye nor the Son of Man that he should repent But we are Mutable and often cross and contradict our Selves in our Ways And the Best Men do too often discover this Inconstancy in Principle and Practice 2. THERE is a further Difference between the Ways of God and Ours in the Methods and Means used and taken and the Manner of his Proceeding to effect an End His Way is to make Weak things confound the Mighty and things base and despised and which are not to bring to Nought things that are 1 Cor. I. 27. We cannot do so God would not use the Wisdom and Power of the World for the spreading of the Gospel but by the Foolishness of Preaching it pleased God to bring Men to believe and make the Doctrine of the Cross of Christ the Power of God to their Eternal Salvation The Instrument he employ'd and the Methods he used to give Success to the Gospel did plainly evidence this AND that Instance may serve instead of many other Was it not an unlikely Attempt for a few Mean and Obscure Persons such as Publicans and Fisher-men and Tent-makers without the Improvements of Education or the Advantages of Learning Eloquence Experience and Conversation in the World without the Assistance of Civil Power and Authority or any Considerable Interest and Reputation to require all Mankind to believe in one Jesus whom they own was Crucified that he was alive and was Lord and King and must be receiv'd and obeyed as the Christ of God To tell all the World that all the establish'd Rights and Religion of their several Countries must be laid aside and their wicked Customs and Courses forsaken and this new Religion of Jesus be embrac'd that requires the Belief and Practice of so many things they must need account very hard considering the Prejudices and the Lusts of Men. Could they hope that Kingdoms and Empires Schools and Universities would easily submit to this Change that they should be too hard for the Devil and all the Powers of Darkness by preaching the Doctrine of a Crucified Saviour And yet in the Space of about thirty Years this new Doctrine and Religion was not only diffused thro' the greatest part of the Roman Empire but had reach'd as far as Parthia and India Even before the Destruction of Jerusalem as our Lord foretold Mat. XXIV 14. This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the World for a witness unto all Nations and then shall the End come This Success was represented by an Angel flying thro' the midst of Heaven and preaching the Everlasting Gospel to every Nation and Kindred and Tongue and People Rev. XIV 6. And this was done without Force of Arms and against all Opposition imaginable Their Message was entertain'd their Doctrine credited and Christ believed on in the World Many thousands were converted presently and many more afterward Tho' the Messengers employed could not be sure of Success any further than certain of the Truth of their Doctrine and of the Divine Presence and Power to accompany them But they might be almost sure of enduring Torments and losing their Lives for publishing such a Doctrine and persisting in it in the manner they did But the Wisdom of God and the Power of God is glorified in succeeding such Weak Instruments to such Excellent Purposes IN all the Methods of his Providence we find that by weak things he confounds the Mighty and by Foolish
himself Forgive us like a God not according to our Knowledge but His own And as He is greater than our Hearts to know much more against us than we can remember against our selves so He is greater than our Hearts to forgive even those Faults which our Hearts and Consciences do not Recollect He knows the Value of Christ's Blood and Merits to Forgive all our Sins And by unfeigned Faith we are interested in the Virtue of it God hath more Thoughts of Mercy in him than we have had of Rebellion against him Psal XL. 5. Thy Thoughts to us-ward speaking of his Thoughts of Mercy are more than can be numbred They have been from Everlasting and reach to Everlasting whereas 't is but as of yesterday that the oldest Sinner began to rebel against God There is no Comparison And this leads to the Last Observation from those Words He will abundantly Pardon Last Obs That God will not only show Mercy to Returning Sinners so as to Forgive them but He will abundantly Pardon He will Multiply Forgivenesses The Apostle speaks of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that it was exceeding abundant towards him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus 1 Tim. I. 14. superlative superabundant Grace not only sufficient for the Pardon of his Sins but of multitudes more besides And accordingly in other places we read not only of the Grace of God in Forgiveness but of his abounding Grace of the Riches of his Grace Yea of the Exceeding Riches of his Grace Ephes I. 6 7. and this joyn'd with tender Mercies with Loving Kindness and with Multitudes of Mercies And here I may show First In what Respects God will abundantly Pardon Returning Sinners Secondly Consider what Reason we have to believe it and be firmly perswaded of it Thirdly What is the Abuse of this Blessed Doctrine Fourthly I shall assist you to make a Right Improvement of it First In what respects God promiseth Abundantly to Pardon or to Multiply Forgivenesses And this I might show as to Persons and as to Things First If we Consider the Extent of Forgiveness as to Sins With Reference to Time and Place and Persons c. As to Time from the first Promise of the Seed of the Woman made soon after the Fall to the End of the World this door of Mercy is open for Returning Sinners As to Places The Gospel is appointed to be Preach'd to every Creature in every part of the World Neither Jew nor Gentile Bond nor Free Barbarian or Scythian are excepted The Gospel of Grace by Christ Jesus is every where the Power of God to Pardon and Salvation unto all that believe As to Persons none shall Perish for want of a sufficient Price for their Ransom for want of a sufficient Satisfaction to the Justice of God But where-ever the Everlasting Gospel is preached He that Believeth shall be saved Whoever will may come and take of the Waters of Life freely Whoever will Accept of the Mercy of Christ upon the holy Terms of the Gospel shall receive Remission of Sins Joh. III. 10. God hath so Loved the lost World that Whosoever Believeth on Christ shall not perish but have Everlasting Life Joh. XII 46 47. I am come saith our Lord a Light into the World that Whosoever Believeth in me should not abide in darkness If any Man hear my Words and believe not I judge him not for I came not to Judge the World but to save the World 1 Joh. II. 2. He is a Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World And when we Consider what sort of Persons even the chiefest and vilest of Sinners many of those have been who have been Pardon'd and received to Mercy We must needs say there is no Respect of Persons with God as to this Matter And there are a great Multitude of these considered in themselves For even of Martyrs and Confessors that came out of great Tribulation and had washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb there is a Vast Multitude such as none could number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues Rev. VII 9 14. Secondly He doth abundantly Pardon considering the Sins forgiven He is a God pardoning Iniquity Transgression and Sin i.e. Sins of all sorts Let the Kinds Numbers Repetitions Aggravations be what they will There is a Multitude of tender Mercies to forgive and abundant Vertue in the Blood of Christ to cleanse from all Sin If the multitude of Transgressions could make a Pile as high as from Earth to Heaven God's pardoning Mercy is above the Heavens His Thoughts are above ours in this matter of Forgiveness as far as the Heavens are above the Earth No Sin but final Impenitence Ungodliness and Unbelief is shut out from Pardon for the Sin against the Holy Ghost is attended with that and therfore never to be forgiven And as to Sins after Repentance and Pardon God hath promised to multiply Forgivenesses to heal Backslidings and therfore invites Men to return with a Promise of Pardon Return ye backsliding Children and I will heal your Backslidings In some early Days of the Christian Church the Novatian Doctrine spread that denies Repentance and Pardon to Sins after Baptism upon which Account 't is thought many good Men delay'd their Baptism as long as they could that they might not defile their Garments after they were washed It seem'd to have taken its Rise from the Misunderstanding of Heb. 6. the Beginning But any such Doctrine as would discourage Men's Repentance and return to God after they have sinned must needs be of very dangerous Consequence to the Souls of Men. I confess it is a dismal Symptom to fall often into wilful Sin to repent and then sin again to repent and sin in a Circle This rather argues an Intention of sinning again than a Design of leaving it But for such as have return'd to God and been forgiven and yet by the Power of Temptation have afterwards fallen there is great Encouragement for their Return and Ground to hope for Forgiveness For if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father even Jesus Christ the Righteous who was a Propitiation for our Sins If any Man sin 't is not to encourage to sin but to prevent Despair after the Commission of it And since we are to forgive one another as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven us it would never have been made our Duty to forgive our Offending Brother once and again Yea unto seventy times seven if there were no Mercy with God for Returning Backsliders You are allowed and commanded in such a Case to return to God and to sue out your Pardon and you ought to believe you shall find Welcome and that your Backslidings shall be healed There is need of urging this because Sins after Repentance and after Vows and Resolutions and Sacraments c. not only defile but disturb the
is able to forgive our greatest Provocations and show Mercy to the vilest Sinners that will return We are prone to revenge we are hardly reconciled we are apt to return Evil for Evil we are not easily brought to Forgiveness But My thoughts are not as yours saith God You know not how far my Mercy can reach I am God and not Man The distance between God and Man between the Creature and Creator is infinitely more than between Heaven and Earth What if you can't imagine that ever I should have such Thoughts of Mercy for poor Sinners Do you consider how high the Heavens are above the Earth so are my Thoughts and Ways higher than yours They are like my self infinite And how many by their own Experience of God's kind and gracious Dealing with them who with holy Wonder and Thankfulness have acknowledg'd and attested the Truth of this Many a time have I called my self a Prodigal to use the Words of an * Mr. Baxter of Conversing with God in Solitude 4â—â— pag. 363 364. Excellent Person a Companion of Swine a miserable hard-hearted Sinner unworthy to be called his Son when he hath called me Child and chid me for my questioning his Love he hath readily forgiven the Sins which I thought would have made my Soul the fuel of Hell he hath entertain'd me with Joy with Musick and a Feast when I better deserv'd to have been among the Dogs without his Doors He hath embrac'd me in his sustaining Consolatory Arms when he might have spurned my guilty Soul to Hell and said Depart from me thou Worker of Iniquity I know thee not O little did I think that he could ever have forgotten the Vanity and Villany of my Youth yea so easily have forgotten my most aggravated Sins When I had sinned against Light when I had resisted Conscience when I had frequently and wilfully injured Love I thought he would never have forgotten it But the greatness of his Love and Mercy and the Blood and Intercession of his Son hath cancelled all O how many Mercies have I tasted since I thought I had sinned away all Mercies How patiently hath he born with me since I thought he would never have put up more Tho' I injure and dishonour him by loving him no more tho' I oft forget him and have been out of the Way when he hath come or called me tho' I have disobediently turned away mine Ears and unkindly refus'd the Entertainments of his Love and unfaithfully play'd with those whose Company he forbad me yet he hath not divorc'd me or turn'd me out of Doors O wonderful that Heaven will be familiar with Earth and God with Man the Highest with a Worm and the most Holy with an unconstant Sinner Man refuseth me when God will entertain me Those whom I never wrong'd reject me with Reproach and God whom I have unspeakably injured doth invite me entreat me and condescendeth to me as if he were beholden to me to be saved Men that I have deserved well of abhor me and God that I have deserved Hell of doth accept me I upbraid my self with my sins but he doth not upbraid me with them I condemn my self for them but he condemns me not I have Peace with him before I can have Peace with my Conscience Object But after all these endearing Expressions of the Grace of God may some say we can't tell how to believe 't is hard to be fully perswaded of this Consider therefore the Verses following the Text where there 's this Objection obviated You say you can't have your Hearts duely affected with these Declarations of God's Grace you can't be brought to accept this Mercy to close with this Offer to be encouraged by such a Promise and trust in it It is therefore added as directly suitable to such a Case Verses 10 11. As the Rain cometh down and the Snow from Heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the Earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give Seed to the Sower and Bread to the Eater So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my Mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish that which I please it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it That is As the Heavens do not give Light and Heat and Snow in vain but cause a promising Spring and a fruitful Harvest So saith God my Thoughts of Grace manifested by my Declarations of Mercy and Promises of Forgiveness shall have Efficacy and Influence to make you believe to enable you to hope and trust in my Mercy and so to be quiet and satisfy'd that your great and hainous Sins shall be forgiven The very Publication of this Grace shall be attended with a Power to bring Souls to believe it I know my Thoughts toward you are Thoughts of Peace and not of Evil to give you a gracious End and raise your Expectations of it and they shall accordingly be fulfilled The Declarations of this Mercy shall be credited my Word of Grace shall not be in vain it shall take hold of dejected despairing Souls and raise them to Faith and Hope 'T is with this Encouragement we publish the glad Tydings of Salvation and invite Sinners to return to God by Jesus Christ with an Assurance of finding Mercy I say 't is with this Encouragement that we beseech them to be reconcil'd to God and assure 'em that he 's ready to forgive 'T is in Hope that by the Spirit accompanying the Declaration of the Word concerning this Forgiveness with God many Souls might be attracted and won perswaded and overcome and so prevail'd with to return to God and believe the glorious Riches Freeness and Abundance of his Mercy God grant we may find more and more such fruits of preaching the Gospel On the other hand I beseech you take heed how you turn your Backs on this Mercy of God and the Offer of it Beware how you shut your Ears against his gracious Invitation when he thus proclaims and publishes his Readiness to forgive Take heed how you go on in Sin after God freely tenders you the Forgiveness of all your Sins if you will return With the greatest Seriousness I must tell you that one such Sermon of God's forgiving Grace and Mercy rejected slighted and misimprov'd may be of more dreadful Consequence to the Souls of those that hear it and make light of it than I am able to express APPLICATION VSE 1. Let this Mercy Love and Grace overcome your Hearts Consider it again and again Apply it seriously to your selves Is the Lord thus Gracious to me after so long a Rejection of him Will he yet receive me after so many Refusals Doth he invite and call me again after so much Contempt of his Mercy and Grace Will he yet show Mercy to me What strange astonishing Grace what endearing Kindness is this What manner of Love is this How true is it that God's Thoughts and Ways are not as ours That God
of Nature was made a ground of Trust by the Psalmist as an Adorable Evidence and Instance of his Faithfulness and Truth Psalm CXIX 89. Thy Word is settled in the Heavens and thy Faithfulness to all Generations And yet some Atheistically abus'd it 2 Pet. III. 4. saying All things continue as they were Where is the Promise of his Coming The Apostle says The Time is short and the Fashion of the World passeth away therfore let them that have such and such Relations Possessions and Employments in the World carry it as if they had none Whil'st others abuse this and say the Time is short Let us cat and drink for to morrow we may dye So here God is ready to show Mercy to returning Sinners therefore Let the wicked forsake his way c. Others turn this Grace of God into Wantonness and will venture the more boldly upon Sin because God is ready to forgive These things saith the Apostle John I write unto you that ye sin not But if any man sin we have an Advocate with the Father There 's a vast difference between the Remission of Sins past and an Allowance of Sin for the future We may take Comfort in the abounding Grace of God and his Readiness to forgive though we must dread the Thought of venturing on Sin that his Grace may abound in the Forgiveness of it This is contrary to all Gratitude and Ingenuity and to the true Nature of Faith and Repentance And there can hardly be a more dangerous Symptom of damnable Ungodliness than for any to presume to sin upon this Consideration That they hope they shall be forgiven The Apostle Jude ver 4. speaks of some such Who turn the Grace of God into Wantonness denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ and he saith of them that They were ordain'd of old to Condemnation For the Grace of God that brings Salvation ought to teach us to deny Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts c. This sinning against God because he will abundantly pardon is in some respects more Aggravated than the Sin of Devils who will curse God and fly in his Face because there 's no hope of Pardon But God offers Pardon to you and declares that he is ready to forgive And will you dare to sin the more If ever you are awakened to a Sense of Sin this of all others will be most likely to sink you into Despair that you ventur'd to sin in hopes of Pardon For what can relieve a convinced awakned Soul but the Free-grace of God in the Forgiveness of Sin Whereas such a One may say Lord this very Mercy I have abus'd I have sinn'd the more because of this Grace And if we should mention to such a one the Instances of Manasseh Paul c. who after great Sins were pardoned he will be ready to reply that they never sinned in hope of Forgiveness or turn'd the Grace of God into Wantonness as I have done There 's Forgiveness with God that he may be fear'd served loved and obey'd But will any say there 's Forgiveness with God that he may be slighted and neglected rebell'd against and disobey'd His abused Goodness will turn to the more intollerable Wrath against all such as presume on his Mercy apprehending that they shall find an Easie Pardon tho' they continue in their Sins 'T is to sin against the very Nature and End of God's Grace to cut off their own Plea for it and the general Ground of their Hope in it 'T is without a Promise and against a Threatning for any to expect Forgiveness if they wilfully continue in sin 'T is to pervert the whole Gospel to imagine that God will justifie the Ungodly while they remain in their Vnbelief and Vngodliness Is not Unbelief a part of Vngodliness as contrary to the most express Command of God to believe on his Son If ever God show Mercy unto any and abundantly pardon them he always gives them Repentance unto Life and Faith unfeigned And let such remember that as God promiseth Mercy and Forgiveness to Returning Sinners and that his Thoughts are far above ours as Heaven above the Earth in this Matter so his Thoughts of Anger Wrath and Fury against Obstinate Wilful Presumptuous Impenitent Sinners are also above our Thoughts as far as the Heavens are above the Earth He will tear in pieces and none shall deliver he that made them will show them no mercy and who knows the power of his Anger he will laugh at their Calamity and mock when their fear cometh He will wound the head of his Enemies and the hairy Scalp of such a one that goes on still in his Trespasses Psal LXVIII 21. Prov. I. latter end II. Secondly Take heed of abusing this Doctrine of God's Grace by admitting slight Thoughts of Sin so as to encourage you to delay seeking after Forgiveness or to seek and expect it any other way but only through Faith in Jesus Christ As to the Matter of Delay the Uncertainty of Life and the Uncertainty of God's giving Grace hereafter to them that refuse it now is sufficient to be said here if duly consider'd That which I now aim at is to discourage any Hopes of obtaining Forgiveness with God but only through the Blood Sacrifice and Righteousness of Christ There is no other Saviour no other Mediator between God and Man If ever you are reconcil'd to God and find Mercy with him it must be through Jesus Christ The Way and Method is fixt and publish'd and declar'd to be unalterable There is no other Name under Heaven but his by which any Man can be saved If God be gracious to any and deliver them from going down to the Pit 't is because he hath found a Ransom Job XXXIII 24. The Absolute Mercy of God is not to be rested in for he hath told us in what Way and Method he will dispence his Mercy and how we shall partake of it That we must honour the Son as we honour the Father receive him as Christ Jesus the Lord the only Mediator between God and Man and that If we believe not that Jesus is he we must dye in our Sins 'T is not enough to cease to do Evil and make Restitution where you have injur'd and wrong'd any which yet is a necessary Fruit of Repentance 'T is not a little outward Reformation or the Performance of some Duties of Religious Worship that before were neglected that will be sufficient if you overlook Jesus Christ and lay the stress of your Hope for Acceptance with God on any thing else If you should fast and pray and weep and mourn and wear Sackcloath and give all you have to the Poor and continue a Life of Austerity and Mortification for many Years this will not avail if you think to pacifie God herewith and substitute this in the room of the Blood and Righteousness of Christ in order to Forgiveness You will but provoke God and dishonour the Redeemer and deceive
because of thy shame when I am pacify'd toward thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord. Is this the Language of your Hearts He might have condemn'd me to Hell long agoe but through the Precious Blood of Jesus I have Hopes of Forgiveness O what an Ungrateful Wretch have I been What Love have I despised Against whom have I sinned How have I rebell'd against the God of Love and Grace and griev'd his good Spirit Against what Bowels of Mercy have I spurn'd I am astonished at the Mercy of God in Christ offer'd to such a Rebel as I am I am confounded at my own Vileness that such Hainous Iniquities should be blotted out that such numberless Iniquities should be forgiven that after I had so often and so long and so wilfully turn'd my Back upon him he should yet call after me and say I am he behold I am he that bletteth out thy Transgression for my own Name sake and will remember thy sins no more That when God saw me and might have punished me might have made me an Example of his Justice here or might have sent me quick to Hell or might have left me unto Hardness of Heart to treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath that he should freely forgive me all and be graciously reconcil'd to me and speak Pardon and Peace to my Soul O Wretch that I have been O Abominable Sinner I abhor my self in Dust and Ashes We find this Exemplify'd in the Temper and Spirit of those to whom the Mercy and Grace of God is discovered especially in the Apostle Paul He aggravates his Sin and owns himself the Chiefest of Sinners and never more so than when he is thinking and speaking of Christ's Coming into the World to save Sinners and how wonderfully he called him and show'd Mercy to him Read this at large 1 Tim. I. 14 15 16 17. And the sight of God's Mercy and Sense of his Pardon is in it self proper to raise an Admiration of Free Grace and to humble the Soul before God It is proper to encrease our Detestation of Sin and make us loath our selves That which raiseth our Love to God must needs raise our Hatred of Sin and Sorrow for it Now Faith will make us Love much in the Sence of having much Forgiven Besides the Inseperable Connection between Faith and Repentance will evidence this We shall never adore the Love of Christ as a Redeemer delivering us from the Curse if we are not burden'd with the Weight of our Sins Nor shall we ever give God the Glory of his Justice without judging and condemning our selves by true Repentance Yet the more we see and apprehend of his Grace and Love in Forgiveness the more broken and contrite the more humbled and ashamed shall we be of our Sins against him VI. Lastly What can you say as to the Love of your Enemies and forgiving those who have injured and wronged you There is no better Evidence of God's forgiveness of your Trespasses than that he hath given you an Heart to forgive Others who have trespassed against you If it be upon a right Principle because God for Christ's sake hath pardon'd you and obliged you to forgive Others Lord Was there ever such a Distance between my Brother and me as my Sins have made between God and me Were the Injuries I resented from Others comparable to the Affronts I have offer'd to God and hath he freely for Christ's sake forgiven me What Influence hath such a Thought to cure and overcome the Ruggedness and Roughness of your Temper and Spirit towards Others If God hath pardon'd thee go and do likewise as to thy Brother For if you forgive not Men their Trespasses your Heavenly Father hath not and will not forgive you yours Mat. VI. 14. If you have a Rancorous Bitter Malicious Revengeful Spirit and will not forgive those that have wronged you how can you expect Forgiveness from God Do you then forgive those that have injured you as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you Heartily and without Dissembling Speedily and without Delay Frequently and Often without Limitation Even unto seventy times seven if our Brother offend that is so often as he doth And this Throughly and without Reserve without Exception or Equivocation without Remembring past Offences so as to bear them a Grudge This I grant is hard and difficult Work but the Spirit of Christ can enable us to do this 'T is the manifest Duty of such as are forgiven and it is a Sign and Evidence that they are so Hath God forgiven me my Scarlet and Crimson Sins and shall not I put up an Injury bear a Wrong endure a Reproach or an ill Turn from my Fellow Creature Shall I not in Obedience to Christ forgive him and pass it by By these things if Conscience be faithful you may be assisted to make a Judgment of your selves whether you are interested in this Forgiveness or no. And if your Sins have been many and great whether you may on good Grounds hope and say that God hath Abundantly Pardon'd THE Fourth Sermon ISAIAH LV. 9. For My Thoughts are not your Thoughts neither are your Ways My Ways saith the Lord. III. I Proceed to the Third General in this Passage viz. The annex'd Reason Verse the 9th why we ought to be fully satisfy'd and perswaded that God will thus receive Returning Sinners and abundantly pardon them because His Thoughts are not as ours nor his Ways as ours c. And here you may Consider First How this is Discover'd and Express'd by a Double Comparison of God's Thoughts with ours and his Ways with ours Secondly How 't is strongly argu'd by a most significant Similitude As far as the Heavens are above the Earth c. Thirdly The express Assurance of the Truth of all this from the Divine Testimony that is added Thus saith the Lord. That no Doubt may be made about it The whole of this may be compriz'd in these Three Particulars First That the Thoughts of God especially in the Dispensation of his Grace and Mercy to Returning Sinners are very different from our Thoughts and Transcendently above them as far as the Heavens are above the Earth Secondly That the Ways of God are unlike our Ways and Transcendently above them Thirdly That God's Testimony concerning his Thoughts and Ways of Grace and Mercy to Sinners ought to be credited and depended upon and is a sufficient Ground of Faith Thus saith the Lord being added 'T is the first I principally design that the Thoughts of God are not as ours but very unlike them and Transcendently above them as far as the Heavens are above the Earth This I shall Endeavour to Prove Confirm and Apply And here are two Things will need a little Explication First How the Thoughts of God are Different from ours not like them Secondly How they are Transcendently above them as far as the Heavens are above the Earth The First I shall consider more Generally The Second
below Heaven The Riches of his Grace in Christ to Sinners 't is call'd the unsearchable Riches of Christ HOw admirable are the Dimensions of Divine Grace and Love mention'd by the Apostle Eph. III. 19. where he speaks of the Length Breadeth Heigth and Depth of the Love of God in Christ which passeth Knowledge First It 's Breadth reaching unto Jew and Gentile Circumcision and Uncircumcision Barbarian Scythian Bond and Free Poor and Rich. The Vilest and Chiefest of Sinners are not exempted Mercy is extended to all sorts of Persons and Cases 'T is Grace and Love wider than all our Necessities and Miseries Sins and Wants Secondly The Length of it from Everlasting to Everlasting reaching to Sinners that were at the greatest Distance bringing those nigh that are afar off and calling those home who are wandering and gone off so as one might have thought they should never return Thirdly The Depth of that Love and Grace is unsearchable Unless we understood the Depth of that Misery and Ruine into which we were sunk by our Rebellion against God and are deliver'd from by his pardoning Mercy unless we understood the Horror of that Hell of Wrath which our Sins deserve and the Extremity of those Agonies and Torments which our Blessed Redeemer underwent for our Deliverance unless we knew the Power of God's Wrath and the Intollerable Endless Misery of lost Souls we cannot fully understand the Depth of this Love Fourthly The Height of it is also unsearchable 'T is as high as Heaven to which it will bring us And beyond our reach to understand unless we knew the infinite Blessedness of the Heavenly Glory which it cannot now enter into our Hearts to conceive as well as the Infinite Misery of Condemned Sinners in the Bottomless Pit We can no more tell the Height than the Depth of this Grace of God in thus pardoning Sinners But to help you a little to some more distinct Considerations of this let me name a few Things First That none doth or can so freely pardon and forgive as God doth Secondly None so continually Thirdly So fully FOurthly So indifferently and without respect of Persons Fifthly None so tenderly and affectionately and with such Bowels of Compassion and Tender Kindness as God doth First None so freely If we are brought to forgive those that have wrong'd us 't is commonly on the Entreaty and Intercession of some Friends who have Interest in us and Power over us and this after great Submissions of the Offender So that 't is rather from some External Motives and Inducements than from our own Kind and Generous Inclinations But 't is otherwise when we are pardon'd by God Isa XLIII 23. I am he that blotteth out thy Transgressions for my own sake I 'le not remember thy Sins any more Hos XIV 4. I will heal their Backslidings and love them freely Nothing of our Prayers and Tears Submissions and Humiliations nothing we can do or suffer can make the least Compensation to the Justice of God for the Contempt and Dishonour we have cast on him by Sin There 's nothing but the Free-Grace of God in Christ to be ey'd to be pleaded to be trusted to and depended upon In this Case there is no Difference between such as are forgiven and such as are left under Damning Guilt but what is made by the Free-Grace of God Secondly None so continually He encourages and commands us to beg daily Forgiveness as well as daily Bread He renews his pardoning Mercy every Day and every Hour We soon come to the End of our Pity and are quickly tyr'd in forgiving Injuries against our selves But while we live we shall stand in need of Forgiveness from God And this is our Comfort that if we sin we have an Advocate with the Father who maketh continual Intercession for us and so we hope for continual daily renewed Pardon Thirdly None doth or can pardon so compleatly and fully He blotteth out our Transgressions so as to remember them no more he casts them behind his Back throws them into the Depths of the Sea Many other Blessings he bestows and lends us for a time and then calls for them again but this Forgiveness of Sin is one of those Mercies that are Irrevocable and without Repentance We may be without the Knowledge of an Interest in his pardoning Mercy we may lose the Sense of it and forfeit the Comfort of it but if we are reconciled to God united to Christ and brought under the Bond of the Everlasting Covenant tho' he may chasten us as a Father and visit our Iniquities with Stripes he will not disinherit us or cast us out of his Family His Covenant Favour and Kindness shall never depart his Covenant of Peace shall never be removed Isa LIV. 9. This is as the Waters of Noah which shall never return to overflow the Earth Fatherly Love may be angry but will not turn to Hatred Fourthly None doth or can pardon so Indifferently without respect of Persons Not only lesser Sinners who repent but the Vilest not only of such a Nation but of any Nation not only such as have sinned thus long unto such a Degree but if beyond all ordinary Bounds and Measures Let the Wickedness and Unrighteousness Vileness and Filthiness and Aggravations of Sin be what they will If you return to God by Christ he will abundantly pardon This should magnifie the Riches of his Grace to some of you who are interested in this Forgiveness Lord How is it that my Sins are pardon'd when others not greater Sinners than I have dyed in their Sins and are undone for ever How is it that I am pardon'd and others that have not been so Vile shall never be forgiven How is it that I have been forgiven and Others that were my Companions in Sin were left to Impenitence and Hardness of Heart That many of better Parts of more Wit of more Learning of larger Capacities and bettter accomplishd'd for Usefulness and Service are left to go on in Sin to their own Destruction and thy Grace has open'd my Eyes and soften'd my Heart and made me sensible of Sin and so to value a Redeemer to seek him receive him accept him c. Fifthly None with such Tenderness and Compassion All the Bowels of Parents are Stone and Adamant in comparison with his We read of his Delighting in Mercy and of his Tender Mercies and Loving Kindnesses of his Rejoycing over us to do us good with his whole Heart and whole Soul Jer. XXXII 41. Goodness and Love is his very Nature for God is Love He pities us more than any the most Tender Parent ever did a Miserable Child Who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth Iniquity Transgression and Sin and passeth by the Transgression of his Remnant because he delighteth in Mercy Micah VII 19. All the Application I shall make of this shall be to endeavour to bring it home to the Case of particular Persons in Answer to some Objections For
wisest and most knowing Men come of the infinite Knowledge of God Tho' we are certain of the Truth of his Being how little do we know of his Nature and Perfections How far above our Apprehensions is the Divine Eternity How all Successions of Time are ever present to him and subject to his View His self Existence Immensity Omnipresence and Prescience of the most contingent Events c. How far above us AND since we have not a perfect Knowledge of the Subject we must hearken to what GOD himself saith of his own Nature who knows it best And we ought in Reason to enquire whether the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity be contained in that Revelation which we receive and can prove to be Divine if we find it there let the Doctrine be never so Incredible and Unintelligible GOD is so far above us and his Ways and Thoughts above ours that we ought not to reject it upon that Account As the Heavens are higher than the Earth His Wisdom is as the Heavens the highest and top of all Wisdom Man's as the Earth beneath which there is no Degree but that of Hell and Darkness so that the Things are two Great and Sublime for us to determine about WERE this duly consider'd we should find that we cannot have so much Evidence of a Doctrine's being False because 't is Vnconceivable as there is Evidence of its being True by being contain'd in Scripture Revelation As to the Truth of things concerning Finite Nature we may judge by our Reason But where the Object is Infinite 't is no Argument against the Truth of a Thing that we cannot comprehend it unless a Contradiction be proved which there is none here IT hath often been proved that God might justly require of us in general the Belief of what we cannot comprehend and that they who reject the Misteries of Christianity run into greater Difficulties than those who assert them What is Incomprehensible as to the Manner may be a necessary Article of Faith as far as it is Reveal'd * See Bishop of Worster's Sermon on 1 Tim. I. 15. Serm. VI. Vol. III. Octavo and Orig. Sac. Book II. Chap. VIII 5 6 7. We don't assert Three Gods and yet but One God Three Persons and yet but One Person That would be contradictory but the Scripture saith that these Three Father Word and Spirit are One God And we ought to distinguish between Numbers and the Natures of Things For Three to be One is a Contradiction in Numbers but whether an infinite Nature can communicate it self to three different Subsistances without such a Division as is among created Beings must not be determined by bare Number but by the absolute Perfections of the Divine Nature Which mast be owned to be above our Comprehension Therfore for any to assert that there cannot be a Plurality of Persons without a Plurality of Natures or that there cannot be a Communication of Nature without an Indentity of Persons is to pretend to know more of the Infinite Nature of God then any modest Man ought to pretend to 'T IS certain the Objections from the Vnconceivableness of this Doctrine are not so great as the Evidence we have that such a Doctrine is contained in the Holy Scriptures and that that this Scripture is of God And let me add that to pay Adoration and Divine Worship to Christ as the Christian Church hath done in all Ages and to Trust in him for Pardon and Eternal Life and yet believe him to be only a Man destroys all the Reasons and Arguments of giving Divine Worship to God only For to do this and not own him to be Omnipresent Omniscient and Almighty not own him to be the True and Eternal God is a greater Absurdity and Contradiction then all that can be objected against the Doctrine of the Sacred Trinity While they pay him Divine Honour they must needs consider him as the GOD whom all the Angels worship and yet at the same time they deny him to be so And that because they cannot conceive how Father Son and Spirit should be One God But let us remember what GOD is and what we are and how his Ways and Thoughts are above ours Let no Man therfore deceive himself If any Man among you seem to be Wise in this World let him be a Fool that he may be Wise for the Things of God knoweth no Man but the Spirit of God who revealeth them unto us Secondly GOD's Ways are above ours in the Dispensations of his Providence 'T were easy to show this in a Multitude of Particulars In his sparing and forbearing us In restraining and preventing us In keeping and preserving us and disappointing our Enemies Overuling our Affairs directing our Conditions and governing all that befalls us Good or Evil Accidental or Premeditated and turning all to Wise and gracious Purposes beyond our Thoughts With what perfect Wisdom is every Thing managed in the Government of this World That even the Wickedness of Men is made to serve the purposes of his Glory How wonderfully hath God Honour'd his Mercy and Power Holiness Justice and Truth in redeeming and saving Sinners by Jesus Christ with greater Advantage then if our first Parents had continued Innocent HIS Ways are not as Ours but above them in governing the Minds of Men turning their Hearts influencing their Counsels and changing their Thoughts to bring about and fulfil his Own His Ways are above ours in makeing Use of very unlikely Instruments weak Means yea such as in Appearance are Contrary to effect his own Purposes in the Government of Nations of particular Families and Persons AND the Ways of his Providence on less above ours In his disposing Crosses and Afflictions Temptations and Hardships unto those he loves best and permitting others to live in Peace and Quiet HIS Ways are not as ours but above them in that the very Falls and Faults Crimes and Follies of good Men are overul'd for much Good and great Transgressions before Conversion made servicable to excellent Purposes afterward What was Poyson in Nature becomes Medicinal by Divine Grace He that stumbles in the way gets ground by it if it help him to mend his Pace to walk faster and more warily How many can say if it had not been for such and such Fails I had never known so much of my own VVeakness and Frailty I had never had such Experience of Temptation and how unable of my self to resist it I should never have had so hearty a Detestation of Sin such a Tenderness of Conscience such an Awe of offending God so fervent a Zeal to please him so sweet a Sense of his Mercy so Thankful an Acknowledgment of his Grace in delivering and recovering me The very Remainders of Corruption in the Hearts of Men which they bewail and pray and strive against I shall serve to convince them of their necessary Dependance on Gods Grace shall cause them to walk humbly with God shall make them more circumspect
in Rebellion against him a Wretched Criminal against the Lord of thy Life and the God of thy Mercies O how unlike are God's Thoughts to ours in this Respect Considering what our Thoughts are to those who have injur'd and offended us II. Secondly Consider your selves under Affliction and Suffering from the Hand of God and how different God's Thoughts and yours are in that Respect also First We presently conclude that 't is all from Anger and Wrath whereas God says Whom he loves he chastens and that 't is for our good and that we are dealt with as Sons and not as Bastards Heb. XII 5 6. Psal CXIX 75. Secondly We are pettish and froward peevish and perverse under the Rod of Affliction while God's Thoughts are Thoughts of Peace toward us When For the Iniquity of his Covetousness I was wroth because he had no Heart to do good with what I lent him saith God concerning Ephraim and I sote him he went on frowardly in the way of his own Heart Nevertheless I have seen his ways I will heal him I will lead him and restore Comfort to him Isa LVII 17 18. Thirdly We often under Affliction take every hiding of God's Face for an utter Rejection of us whereas God hath no such Thoughts He hath us still in his Eye and bears us on his Heart hath our Names graven on the Palmes of his Hand loves us still tho' he rebuke us and will convince us of it by seasonable Comforts and Deliverance Jer. XXXI 18 19 20. Is Ephraim my dear Son I have heard him bemoaning himself saith God thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a Bullock unaccustomed to the Yoke turn thou me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God Is he my dear Son or rather is he not so is he a pleasant Child is he not so still to me For since I spake against him I do remember him still therefore my Bowels are turned for him I will surely have Mercy upon him saith the Lord. Fourthly God's Thoughts are not as ours in respect of Affliciton as t othe Continuance of the Rod. We are often ready to sink and be dispirited and overwhelm'd in a Time of Darkness as if it would never be Light We are ready to give up all for lost and conclude that God is gone for ever and will be Merciful no more Saying Our Bones are dryed up our Hope is lost we are cut off for our parts Ezek. XXXVII 11. Whereas God's thoughts are otherwise he 'll make those dry Bones live and fetch them out of the Grave of Affliction His Thoughts are Thoughts of Peace to give us a Desired End Jer. XXIX 11. How many have thought and said in their Despair that God's Mercy was gone for ever concerning whom he hath manifested that his Thoughts are not as theirs Fifthly God's Thoughts are not as ours as to the End and Design which he aims at in our Affliction We think he intends not to refine but ruine not to purifie but destroy Whereas in Faithfulness he afflicts where he knows we need it to purge away our Dross and take away our Tin and to produce the Peaceable Fruits of Righteousness By this shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged and this shall be the fruit of all to take away sin Isa XXVII 9. Do but wait a little and you 'l see how you have been mistaken in your Apprehensions of God and how his Thoughts have been unlike to yours II. Let us consider in the Second Place that God's Thoughts are not only different from ours but Transcendently above them as far and as high as the Heavens are above the Earth First as to the Kind and Nature of them First His THoughts of Grace and Kindness are of an unsearchable Depth O the Depth of the Riches of the Wisdom and the Knowledge of God! whose Ways of Mercy as well as Judgment are unsearchable and past our finding out Rom. XI 33. There is a Depth in them beyond the Line of Men and Angels to measure Psal XCII 5. O Lord how great are thy Works and thy Thoughts are very deep In the Revelation of God's Grace and Mercy to Sinners by the Gospel we read of the deep thigns of God such as Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard neither hath it entred in t othe Heart of Man to conceive 1 Cor. XI 1 Such Depths that amaze the very Angels to look into 1 Pet. I. 12. Secondly God's Thoughts of Love and Mercy are Absolute Soveraign and Independent 'T is all after the Counsel of his own Will and from the meer Good Pleasure of his Will This is the Source and Spring of all his Mercy and Forgiveness Thirdly God's Thoughts of Mercy are Faithful and Effectual ALl the Declarations of his Mercy shall be made good All the Promives of Grace shall be fulfilled All the Thoughts of his Love shall have their Effects O Lord I will exalt thee for thy Counsels of Old are Faithfulness and Truth Isa XXV 1. All his Ways are Mercy and Truth he keepeth Covenant and Mercy for ever Psal LXXXIX 28 29. Tho' he visit their Iniquities with the Rod yet his Loving Kindness will he not take from them nor suffer his Faithfulness to fail Therfore Fourthly It may be added that God's Thoughts are Vnchangeable but ours are Variable The Strength of Israel will not lye or repent He is not a Man that he should lye nor the Son of Man that he should repent 1 Sam. XV. 29. The Medicator of the New Covenant lives for ever to make Intercession for Sinners Fifthly His Thoughts of Mercy are infinitely Pure and infinitely Righteous We shall never fully understand the infinite Righteousness of God's Thoughts and Ways 'till the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God He is Righteous in all his Counsels and in all his Works all his Ways are equal Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee The Psalmist tells us that God will carry on his Thoughts of Mercy and perfect his Grace and make it thrive and grow To show that he is upright and there 's no Vnrighteousness in him Psal XCII last Secondly God's Thoughts of Grace and Mercy are transcendently above ours in the Way and Manner of his dispensing his Grace and Mercy The Dispensation of his Love and Grace to Sinners is that which passeth Knowledge as to the Manner of it And when this Love is shed abroad in the Heart there is a Peace resulting from it which is better felt than exprest Something may be conceived and spoken but there 's a great deal which is above the reach of Words for we have no Line to measure it by no Scale in all the World to weigh it in We have nothing to compare it unto but falls unspeakably short No Kindness no Love no Charity or Affection of one Creature to another by which we can set it forth The nearest and dearest among Men is as much below this as Earth is