these things cannot be Graces but in a Concomitancy Repentance without Faith what would it be When we see our Sins and bewail them Despair would make us sit down and dy If there were not a Saviour to heal our Natures and convert our Souls Neither can Faith be without Repentance for unless there be a Confession of past Sins with a resolution of future Obedience we continue in our Obstinacy and Stubbornness and so we are uncapable of Mercy our Case is not compassionable In short Repentance without Faith would degenerate into the horrour of the Damned and our Sorrow for Sin would be tormenting rather than curing to us And then Faith would be a licentious and presumptuous Confidence without Repentance unless it be accompanied with this hearty Consent of living in the Love Obedience and Service of God with a detestation of our Former ways it would be a turning the Grace of God into wantonness Therefore these two always go together Which is the first I will not enter upon but the one cannot be without the other 2. Let me shew you wherein they differ The one respects God the other Christ. 1. Repentance towards God While we live in Sin we are not only out of our Way but out of our Wits We were sometimes foolish and disobedient serving divers Lusts and Pleasures Tit. 3. 3. We live in Rebellion against him against whom we cannot make our party good and withal contenting our selves with a false transitory Happiness instead of a solid and eternal one we never come to our Wits again till we think of returning to God As the Prodigal when he came to himself he thought of returning to his Father And Psal. 22. 28. They shall remember and turn to the Lord. So long as we lie in our Sins we are like Men in a dream we consider not from whence we are nor whither we are going nor what shall become of us to all Eternity but go on against all Reason and Conscience provoking God and destroying our own Souls Man is never in his true posture again till he returns to God as his Sovereign Lord and chief Happiness as our Sovereign Lord that we may perform our duty to him and our Felicity and chief Good that we may seek all our Happiness in him And none do repent but those that give up themselves to obey God and to do his Will as he is the Sovereign Lord 1 Pet. 4. 2. That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the Flesh to the Lusts of Men but to the Will of God and look upon him as their chief Happiness and prefer his Favour above all the sensual Pleasures of the World that they may be able in truth to say Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon Earth I desire besides thee Psal. 73. 25. This is Repentance towards God 2. There is Faith in our Lord Iesus Christ. This Grace is necessary that we may own our Redeemer and be thankful to him as the Author of our Deliverance Rom. 7. 25. O wretched Man that I am But thanks be to God through Iesus Christ our Lord. And also Faith is necessary that we may trust our selves in his hands We are to take Christ as our Prophet Priest and King to hear him as our Prophet Mat. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son hear him We are to receive him as our Lord and King Col. 2. 6. As ye have received Christ Iesus the Lord so walk ye in him We are to consider him as the great High-Priest of our Confession Heb. 3. 1. Let us consider the Lord Iesus the great Apostle and High-Priest of our Confession Hear him we must as a Prophet that we may form our Hopes by his Covenant and frame our Lives by his holy and pure Doctrine Receive him we must as a King that we may obey him in all things Consider him as a Priest that we may depend upon the Merit and Value of his Sacrifice and Intercession and may the more confidently plead his Covenant and Promises to God Now without this there can be no Commerce between us and Christ. Who will learn of him as a Prophet whom he takes to be a Deceiver obey him as a King who doth not believe his Power or depend upon him with any confidence or hopes of Mercy if he doth not believe the value of his Merit and Sacrifice Herein these things differ Repentance towards God and Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ the one respects the End God the other the Means Christ. Repentance more especially respects our Duty Faith our Comfort Repentance newness of Life for the future and returning to the Primitive Duty the Love of God and obeying his Will Faith Pardon of what is past and Hope of Mercy to come In short to God we give up our selves as our Supreme Lord to Christ as Mediatour who alone can bring us to God To God as taking his Will for the Rule of our Lives and Actions and preferring his Love above all that is dear in the World To Christ as our Lord and Saviour who makes our Peace with God and gives the Holy Spirit to change our Hearts that we may for ever live upon him as our Life Hope and Strength Thus I have briefly shewed you how Repentance respects God and Faith our Lord Jesus Christ. 3. That these Graces having their peculiar Reference are required in order to Pardon for distinct Reasons and Ends. First Repentance is required for these Reasons 1. Because otherwise God cannot have his End in Pardon which is to recover the lost Creation that we may again live in his Love and Obedience Surely Christ came to seek and save that which was lost Now to be lost in the first and primitive Sence was to be lost to God Take the lost Sheep or Groat it was lost to the Owner the Son to the Father and so if Christ came to save that which was lost he came to recover us to God therefore said to redeem us to God 2. Neither can the Redeemer do his Work for which God hath appointed him 1 Pet. 3. 18. He dyed the Iust for the Unjust that he might bring us to God We accept him in all his Offices for this end I am the Way Truth and Life no Man comes to the Father but by me Therefore whole Christianity from the beginning to the end a short Description of it is this A Coming to God by Christ. Heb. 7. 25. He is able to save to the uttermost whom all those that come to God by him 3. Without it we should not have our Happiness It is our Happiness to please and enjoy God we are not in a capacity to please and enjoy God till we are returned to him They that are in the Flesh cannot please the Lord. Nor to enjoy him here for here we see his Face in Righteousness Nor hereafter for without Holiness no Man shall see God Secondly But why is Faith in our Lord
SERMONS PREACHED BY The Late Reverend and Learned Divine THOMAS MANTON D. D. LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Sign of the three Pigeons over-against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1678. The PREFACE IT may seem a just discouragement from publishing more Sermons at this time when there are such numbers abroad in the hands of all for the abundance of things useful is fatal to their value and the rareness exceedingly inhances their price If Men were truly wise Spiritual Treasures should be excepted from this Common Law yet plenty even of them causeth satiety But the following Sermons have that peculiar Excellence that will make them very valuable to all that have discerning Minds and such a tincture of Religion as makes them capable of tasting the goodness of Divine things I shall say nothing particularly here of the intellectual Endowments of the Author in which he appeared Eminent among the first nor of his Graces to adorn his Memory for a Saint that is ascended into Heaven and crown'd with Eternal Glory by the righteous Iudge needs not the weak fading testimony of Praise from Men. Besides that universal esteem he had from those who knew his Ability Diligence and Fidelity in the Work of God makes it unnecessary for them who were his Admirers and Friends And for those who are unacquainted with his Worth if they take a view of his Works formerly printed or the present Sermons that deserve equal approbation they will have the same opinion with others I will give some account of the Sermons themselves The main design of them is to represent the inseparable connexion between Christian Duties and Priviledges wherein the Essence of our Religion consists The Gospel is not a naked unconditionate offer of Pardon and Eternal Life in favour of Sinners but upon most convenient terms for the Glory of God and the good of Men and enforc'd by the strongest obligations upon them to receive humbly and thankfully those Benefits The Promises are attended with Commands to Repent Believe and persevere in the uniform practice of Obedience The Son of God came into the World not to make God less holy but to make us holy that we might please and enjoy him not to vacate our Duty and free us from the Law as the Rule of Obedience for that is both impossible and would be most infamous and reproachful to our Saviour To challenge such an exemption in point of right is to make our selves Gods to usurp it in point of fact is to make our selves Devils But his end was to enable and induce us to return to God as our rightful Lord and proper Felicity from whom we rebelliously and miserably fell by our disobedience in seeking for Happiness out of him Accordingly the Gospel is called the Law of Faith as it commands those Duties upon the Motives of eternal Hopes and Fears and as it will justifie or condemn Men with respect to their Obedience or Disobedience which is the proper Character of a Law These things are managed in the following Sermons in that convincing perswasive manner as makes them very necessary for these times when some that aspired to an extraordinary height in Religion and esteemed themselves the Favourites of Heaven yet wofully neglected the duties of the lower Hemisphere as Righteousness Truth and Honesty and when carnal Christians are so numerous that despise serious Godliness as solemn Hypocrisy and live in an open violation of Christ's Precepts yet presume to be saved by him Though no Age has been more enlightned with the knowledge of holy Truths yet none was ever more averse from obeying them I shall only add further that they commend to our ardent Affections and Endeavours true Holiness as distinguish'd from the most refin'd unregenerate Morality The Doctor saw the absolute necessity of this and speaks with great jealousy of those who seem in their discourses to make it their highest aim to improve and cultivate some moral Vertues as Iustice Temperance Benignity c. by Philosophick helps representing them as becomming the dignity of the Humane Nature as agreeable to Reason as beneficial to Societies and but transiently speak of the Supernatural Operation of the Holy Spirit that is as requisite to free the Soul from the Chains of Sin as to release the Body at the last Day from the Bands of Death that seldom preach of Evangelical Graces Faith in the Redeemer Love to God for his admirable Mercy in our Salvation Zeal for his Glory Humility in ascribing all that we can return in grateful Obedience to the most free and powerful Grace of God in Christ which are the vital principles of good Works and derive the noblest forms to all Vertues Indeed Men may be compos'd and considerate in their Words and Actions may abstain from gross Enormities and do many praise-worthy Actions by the rules of moral Prudence yet without the infusion of divine Grace to cleanse their stained Natures to renew them according to the Image of God shining in the Gospel to act them from Motives superiour to all that Moral Wisdom propounds all their Vertues of what elevation soever though in an heroick degree cannot make them real Saints As the Plant Animal has a faint resemblance of the sensitive Life but remains in the lower rank of Vegitables so these have a shadow an appearance of the Life of God but continue in the corrupt state of Nature And the difference is greater between sanctifying saving Graces wrought by the special Power of the Spirit with the holy Operations flowing from them and the vertuous Habits and Actions that are the effects of Moral Counsel and Constancy then between true Pearls produced by the Celestial Beams of the Sun and counterfeit ones formed by the smoaky heat of the Fire In short the Lord Iesus our Saviour and Iudge who purchas'd the Heavenly Glory and has sole power to give the actual possession of it assures us that unless a Man be born of the Spirit he can never enter into the kingdom of God The Supernatural Birth entitles to the Supernatural Inheritance Without this how fair and specious soever the Conversation of Men appears they must expect no other priviledge at last but a cooler place in Hell and the coolest there is intolerable W. BATES The Contents Sermon 1 and 2d Pag. 1. ON Psal. 32. 1 2. Blessed is he whose Transgression is forgiven whose Sin is covered Blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputeth not Iniquity and in whose Spirit there is no Guile Sermon 3. Pag. 44. On Acts 3. 26. Unto you first God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his Iniquities Serm. 4th Pag. 66. On 2 Pet. 1. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through Lust. Serm. 5. pag. 81. On Mark 9. 49. For every one shall
account of his Ministry Acts 20. 21. Testifying both to the Iews and also to the Greeks Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Iesus Christ. Here in short Repentance respects God to whom we return and Faith Jesus Christ by whom we return From God we fell to God we must return we fell from him as we withdrew our Allegiance and sought our Happiness elsewhere and we return to him as our rightful Lord and our proper Happiness And then Faith in Christ is necessary because the Lord Jesus is the only Remedy for our Misery who opened the way to God by his Merit and Satisfaction and doth also bring us to walk in his Ways by his renewing first and then reconciling Grace and Faith is that that respects him Who will take Physick of a Physician whose Art he does not trust or go to Sea with a Pilot whose Skill he questions Who will venture his Eternal Interest in Christ's Hands if he be not perswaded of his Ability and Fidelity as one that is able to make our Peace with God and bring us to the Enjoyment of him But I would not lightly mention it but bring it to a distinct Issue 1. I will shew you It is for the Glory of God and Comfort of the Creature that there should be a stated Course of entring into God's Peace or applying the Gospel for we must not so look to the Impetration or Merit and Righteousness of Christ as not to consider the Application and how we come to have a Title to these things 2. I will shew that these two Graces and Duties are Faith and Repentance which do in many things agree and in other respects differ 3. I will shew you that they differing in their Use are required for distinct Reasons and Ends. 4. The Use of these Graces will plainly discover their Nature to you so that a poor Christian that would settle his Soul upon Christ's Terms and this blessed Gospel made known to us need not any longer debate what is Repentance towards God and Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. 1. It is for the Glory of God and the Comfort of the Creature that there should be a stated Course of applying the Priviledges of the Gospel or of entring into God's Peace 1 It is certainly for the Glory of God It is not meet that Pardon and Life should be prostituted to every one that will hastily challenge these Priviledges Pardon we are upon our Case is not compassionable till we relent and submit to God's terms I would appeal to your own Consciences surely it is more suitable to the Wisdom of God that a penitent Sinner should have Pardon rather than an impenitent or one that securely continues in his Sins and despiseth both the Curse of the Law and the Grace of the Gospel It is not agreable to the Honour of God and the Wisdom of his Transactions with Man that such should have benefit by him Again for Faith it is not meet we should have benefit by one we know not and trust not What ever be God's Mercy to Infants who are not in a Capacity to know and trust him yet in adult and grown Persons it is necessary we should not have such great Priviledges setled upon us without our knowledge or besides and against our Wills God will have our Consent in an humble and solemn way that we may come and thankfully accept what he hath provided for us So this is very much for the Glory of God 2. And then for our Comfort that we may make our Claim that we may state our Interest with the greater Certainty and Assurance for when great Priviledges are conditionally propounded as they are in the new Covenant our Right is suspended till the Conditions be performed and certainly our Comfort is suspended till we know they be performed till we know our selves to be such as have an Interest in the Promises of the Gospel I have told you Blessed are they whose Sins are pardoned but saith the Soul If I knew my Sins were pardoned I should think my self a blessed Creature indeed What would you reply to this anxious and serious Soul God hath made a Promise an Offer of Pardon by Christ the Offer of Pardon is the Invitation to use the means that we may be possessed of it But then the serious anxious Soul replies still To whom is this Promise made How shall I come to know that I am thus blessed and accepted by God and that my Sins are pardoned What is to be replied here Look to whom the Promise is made Certainly it is made to some or to all if you say the Promise is to all you deceive the most if to some you must say from Scripture to them that repent and believe to the penitent Believer Here is the shortest way to bring the Debate to an Issue wherein our Comfort is so much concern'd to see we be penitent Believers For thus the Application is stated and the fixing these Conditions is more for the Glory of God and the Comfort of the Creature 2. The two Graces or Duties upon which it is fixt Faith and Repentance do in many things agree in other respects differ 1. They both agree in this that they are both necessary to the fallen Creature and do concern our Recovery to God and so are proper to the Gospel which is provided for the restauration of lapsed Mankind The Gospel is an healing Remedy and therefore is Christ so often set forth by the term of a Physician The Law was a Stranger to both these Duties it knew no such thing as Repentance and Faith in Christ for according to the tenour of it once a Sinner and for ever miserable But the Gospel is a Plank cast out after Shipwrack whereby we may scape and come safe to Shore Again they both agree in this that they concern our Entrance and first Recovery out of the Defection and Apostacy of Mankind for afterwards there are other things required but as to our first Entrance into the Evangelick State both these Graces are required and the Acts of them so interwoven that we can hardly distinguish them Again They both agree in this that they have a continual Influence upon our whole new Obedience For the secondary Conditions of the Covenant do grow out of the first and these two Graces run throughout our whole Life Repentance mortifying Sin is not a Work of a Day but of our whole Lives and the like is Faith Again They agree in that both are effected and wrought in us by the holy Spirit that God who requires these things gives them Lastly They agree in this that the one cannot be without the other neither Repentance without Faith nor Faith without Repentance partly because there is no Use of Faith without Repentance Christ as Mediatour is the means now the means are of no use without respect to the end Now Christ and the whole gospel-Gospel-Grace is the means to come to God Besides
Jesus Christ required and so much spoken of in Scripture I will content my self but with two Reasons at this time 1. Faith in Christ is most fitted for the acceptance of God's free Gift Faith and Grace do always go together and are put as opposite to Law and Works Rom. 4. 16. It is of Faith that it may be of Grace Eph. 2. 8. For by Grace ye are saved through Faith and not of your selves it is the Gift of God not of Works left any Man should boast Faith establishes and keeps up the Interest and Honour of Grace for it is the free Grace and Favour of God to condescend to the Rebel World so far as he hath done in the new Covenant We present our selves before him as those that stand wholly to his Mercy have nothing to plead for our selves but the Righteousness and Merit of our Redeemer by virtue of which we humbly beg Pardon and Life to be begun in us by his Spirit and perfected in Glory 2. Why Faith in Christ Because the way of our Recovery is so strange and wonderful It can only be received by Faith Sense cannot convey it to us Reason will not and nothing is reserved for the entertainment of this glorious Mystery Pardon and Salvation by our Redeemer but Faith alone If I should deduce this Argument at large I would shew you nothing but Faith or the Belief of God's Testimony concerning his Son can support us in these Transactions with God The Comfort of the Promise is so rich and glorious Sense and Reason cannot inform us of it Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive 1 Cor. 2. 9. the things God hath prepared for them that love him It is not meant only of Heaven but of the whole Preparations and rich Provisions God hath made for us in the Gospel It is not a thing can come to us by Eye or Ear or the conceiving of Man's heart we only believe and entertain it by Faith And then the Persons upon whom it is bestowed are so unworthy that certainly it cannot enter into the Heart of Man that God will be so good and do so much good to such Adam when he had sinned grew shy of God and ran away from him Besides the way God hath taken for our deliverance is so supernatural God so loved the World that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting Life That God should become Man that he should submit to such an accursed Death for our Sakes is so high and glorious it can only be entertain'd by Faith Besides our chief Blessedness lies in another World He that lacketh Faith is blind and cannot see afar off Here in this lower World where our God is unseen and our great Hopes are to come where the Flesh is so importunate to be pleased where our Temptations and Trials are so many and Difficulties so great we are apt to question all and we can never keep waiting upon God were it not for Faith and a steady Belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. For these Reasons if you look into the Scriptures it is why Faith is so much insisted upon that we may keep up the honour of God's Grace and because this Grace of the Redeemer is so mysterious and wonderful 4. The Use of these two Graces discover their Nature What is Faith and Repeatance Repentance towards God is a Turning from Sin to God The Terminus à quo of Repentance is our begun Recovery from Sin and therefore called Repentance from dead Works Heb. 6. 1. The Terminus ad quem to which we return is God and our being devoted to God in Obedience and Love God never hath our Hearts till he hath our Love and Delight till we return to a Love of his blessed Majesty and delight in his Ways This is called in Scripture sometimes a turning to God in many other places a seeking after God a giving up our selves to God 2 Cor. 8. 5. They gave up themselves to the Lord. This is the Repentance by which we enter into the Gospel-State Now what is Faith Besides an Assent to the Gospel which is at the bottom of it It is a serious thankful broken-hearted Acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ that he may be to every one of us what God hath appointed him to be and do forevery one of us what God hath appointed him to do for poor Sinners It is serious and broken-hearted done by a Creature in misery and thankful for such a wonderful Benefit a trusting to this Redeemer that he may do the Work of a Redeemer in our Hearts to save us from the evil of and after Sin And thus I have briefly opened this necessary Doctrine as clearly laid down in the Scripture And this is your Entrance in the Evangelick State II. For our Continuance therein For we must not only mind our Entrance but our Continuance Our Lord Jesus tells us of a Gate and a Way the Gate signifies the Entrance and the Way our Continuance And we read of making and keeping Covenant with God we read of Union with Christ that is our first Entrance for this Faith is the closing Act and exprest sometimes by a being married to Christ. But there is not only an Union with Christ but an Abiding in him Abide in me and I will abide in you Now as for our Continuance I would shew you that the first Works are gone over and over again Faith and Repentance are still necessary For the Righteousness of God is revealed frm Faith to Faith And Repentance is still necessary But I shall only press two things First New Obedience Secondly Daily Prayer 1. New Obedience is required 1 Ioh. 1. 7. If we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another and the Blood of Iesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all Sin Holy Walking is necessary to the continuance of our being cleansed from Sin and therefore Mercy is promised to the forsaking of our Sins Prov. 18. 13. He that confesseth and forsaketh his Sins shall find Mercy Isa. 55. 7. 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 Our Hearts were not sound with God in the first Covenanting if we undo what was done If we build again the things we have destroyed then we are found Transgressours Gal. 1. 18. Well then a Man that seeks after Pardon seeks after it with the ruine and destruction of Sin Sin was the greatest Burden that lay upon his Conscience the Greivance from whence he sought ease the Wound pain'd him at Heart the Disease his Soul was sick of And was all this Anguish real and shall a Man come to delight in his Sores again and take up the Burden he groaned under and tear open
which we could neither imagine nor hope for partly because the chief of our Blessings lie in another World and Nature cannot see so far off 2 Pet. 1. 9. Partly because Christ's most sincere People are afflicted with so many Difficulties and so seemingly forsaken and Temptations to Unbelief are many and pressing that it is hard to maintain any Life in our selves unless we have Faith that is a strong Assent and invincible Trust. Well now consider for what good reason God requireth Faith Sense only looks to things seeen and felt Reason seeth Effects in their Causes and yet but probably but Faith is a believing such things as God hath revealed because he hath revealed them and surely this only can sustain us in the expectation of God's Grace and Mercy unto Eternal Life Whilst we are employed in Duties so opposite to the bent of the carnal Heart and have so many Temptations to the contrary what can support us but a strong and lively Faith 2. Till we believe in Christ we can have no Comfort or Use of all his Offices How can we learn of him the Way of Salvation till we believe him to be the Prophet sent of God to teach the World the Way to true Happiness Mat. 17. 5. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased hear ye him How can we obey him unless we believe in him that he is our Lord who hath power over all Flesh at whose Judgment we must stand or fall Acts 17. 30 31. Now commandeth all Men every where to repent because he hath appointed a Day in which he will judge the World in Righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained whereof he hath given assurance unto all Men in that he hath raised him from the dead How can we depend upon the Merit of his Obedience and Sacrifice and be comforted with his gracious Promises and Covenant and come to God with boldness and Hope of Mercy in his Name and be confident that he will justify sanctify and save us unless we believe that he is a Priest who once made an Atonement and continually makes Intercession for us Heb. 9. 25. In the days of his Flesh when any came for any Benefit to him he put him upon his Trial Believest thou that I am able to do this Mark 9 23. Iesus said unto him If thou canst believe all things are possible to him that believeth Believest thou that I am able to Martha Joh. 11. 26. Thus they were not capable of any Benefit till they believed 3. With respect to that Holiness and Obedience which God expected from the Creature Christ came to restore us to God which he doth both as a Saviour and Law-giver to his Church and till we believe in him both these Qualities and Functions miss of their Effect 1. As a Saviour he came to take away the Curse of the Law and to put us into a capacity to serve and please God by giving us his Spirit to renew our Natures and heal our Souls Isa. 53. 5. The Chastisement of our Peace was upon him and with his Stripes we are healed 1 Pet. 2. 24. Who his own self bare our Sins in his own Body on the Tree that we being dead unto Sin should live unto Righteousness by whose Stripes ye were healed We shall never mind our Duty nor be capable to perform it unless we believe that he is such a Saviour 2. As a Law-giver obliging us by his Authority to live in obedience unto God The Kingdom of the Mediator is clearly subordinate to the Kingdom of God for he came not to vacate our Duty but to establish it he came to restore the lost Groat to the Owner the lost Sheep to the Possessor the lost Son to the Father As the Grace of Christ doth not vacate the Mercy of God so the Authority of Christ that novum Ius Imperii doth not free us from the Authority of God Now who will submit to an Authority that is not convinced of it or doth not believe it But when once we believe then we bow Heart and Knee 4. With respect to our Comfort Often in Scripture Faith is represented as a quieting Grace The Comfort Quietness and Peace of the Soul dependeth much upon Faith in Christ as an all-sufficient Saviour which banishes our Fears and makes us in our greatest hardships to trust Christ with all our Happiness and to feast the Soul with a constant Peace and everlasting Joy Whether this World be turned upside down and be dissolved whether we be in Poverty and Sickness or in Health or Wealth whether we be under evil Repute or good whether Persecution or Prosperity befall us how little are we concern'd in all these if we know in whom we have believed 2. Tim. 1. 12. Heaven is where it was before and Christ is at the right hand of God how little then should all these things disturb the Peace and Comfort of that Soul that shall live with God for ever Psal. 112. 7. But Sin is our greatest trouble If Sin be your Trouble I answer Is it your Infirmity or Iniquity If Infirmity There is no Condemnation to them who are in Christ Iesus c. Rom. 8. 1. If Iniquity break off your Sin by Repentance and then there may be Comfort for you for Christ came to save us from our Sins USE 1. Is to confute Mens Presumptions of their Eternal good Estate whereby many damnably delude their own Souls 1. Some when they hear that whosoever believeth shall be saved have a carnal Notion of Christ that if he were alive they would own him and receive him into their Houses and use him more friendly than the Iews did This is but a knowing Christ after the Flesh 2 Cor. 5. 16. He is not to be received into your Houses but into your Hearts Besides we do not know our own Hearts or what we should have done if we had lived then a Person of such contemptible appearance as Christ was and so free in his Reproofs of the Sins of the Times would not have been for our turn no more than theirs The Iews said Mat. 23. 30. If we had lived in the days of our Fathers we would not have been guilty of the Blood of the Prophets The Memory of Corah Dathan and Abiram was as detestable to the carnal Iews as that of Iudas and Pontius Pilate to Christians but they were not a whit the better Men no more are we 2. They do great reverence to his Name and Memory profess themselves Christians and abhor Turks and Infidels No this will not do neither Many prize Christ's Name that neglect his Office honouring the Physician without taking his Remedies never brought Health They have learned to speak well of Christ by rote after others but they do not savingly and sincerely believe in him to cure and heal their Souls and suffer him to do the work of a Mediator there The other Respect is to be ascribed to the Chance of their
saved 4. Necessitate Signi as Evidences of our Right to Salvation both to others and our selves Works or external Acts are more sensible and visible and also liable to the notice of our own Consciences and it is more hard to judg of the internal Grace than the external Fruits 1. As to others God seeth what is in our Hearts but Men see it not till the Effects manifest it When Iohn suspected the Pharisees he said to them Mat. 3. 8. Bring ye forth therefore Fruits meet for Repentance The Fear of God is more known by the external Act than by the internal Habit therefore that Description is given Prov. 8. 13. The Fear of the Lord is to hate Evil Pride and Arrogancy and the evil Way and the froward Mouth do I hate And Iob 28. 28. The Fear of the Lord that is Wisdom and to depart from Evil is Understanding The Current of a Mans Life and Actions doth best expound and interpret his Heart Thus the Psalmist discovered the wicked Psal. 36. 1. The Transgression of the Wicked saith within my Heart that there is no Fear of God before his Eyes 2. To our selves holy Conversation and Godliness is the surest note of our Regeneration We judg others by external Works alone For the Tree is known by its Fruit Mat. 7. 16. Charity forbids us to pry any further but we judg our selves by internal and external Works together If within we have Faith in Christ a love to God and hatred of Evil a delight in Holiness a deep sense of the World to come all which Graces make up the new Nature then these things issue out into an holy Conversation this breedeth Joy and Peace of Conscience 2 Cor. 1. 12. This is our rejoycing the Testimony of our Conscience that in Simplicity and godly Sincerity not with fleshly Wisdom but by the Grace of God we have had our Conversation in the World 1 John 3. 18 19. Let us not love in Word neither in Tongue but in Deed and in Truth and hereby we know that we are of the Truth and shall assure our Hearts before him 3. That good Works must not be opposed to God's Mercy and free Grace or Christ's Satisfaction Merit and Righteousness either in the matter of Justification or Salvation but kept in a due subordination to God's Grace and Christ's Merits This is the business of this Context to reconcile the Grace of God with the necessity of good Works è contrà and very well it may be for they are part of the Grace obtained He is most beholden to God and indebted to Grace who is enabled to do most good for all is from him Phil. 2. 13. He worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good Pleasure So that our very doing is receiving But because there are a sort of Men that may be called Justiciaries who trust and teach others to trust to their own Vertues and Works without a Saviour or ascribe the part of a Saviour to them and on the other side the Libertines who teach Men not to look at any thing in themselves at all not as an Evidence Condition or Means but to trust to Christ's Blood to be instead of Faith Repentance and Obedience which is their Duty to be performed by them therefore it will be necessary to be well acquainted with what is truly the Part and Office of Christ what is truly the Office of Faith and Repentance what of Works that you may be sure to give every thing its due and may wholly trust Christ for his part and not joyn Faith or any of your Works and Duties in the least degree of that Trust and Honour which belongeth to our Saviour but regard them according to that use for which they are commanded in the Gospel 1. Our Works whatever they are either Duties to God or Man are not the first moving cause or inducement to incline God to shew us Favour or to bring about our Salvation No this Honour must be reserved for the Grace of God which moveth and stirreth all in the business of our Salvation It was his Grace to provide us a Saviour John 3. 16. God so loveth the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life And the giving of Faith or converting Grace to some before others is the meer Effect of his Mercy and good Pleasure Eph. 2. 4 5. God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he hath loved us when we were dead in Trespasses and Sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace ye are saved Then the Benefits consequent upon Conversion are from God's Love and Mercy As Justification Rom. 3. 24. Iustified freely by his Grace Not only by his Grace but freely that is not excited by our Works but acting freely of its own accord Then for Eternal Life we have it from the Grace of God and the Mercy of our Redeemer Jude 21. Looking for the Mercy of our Lord Iesus Christ unto Eternal Life So that Grace is the first Mover and Principle in the whole Business of our Salvation it is originally from Grace and all along by Grace 2. Our Works before or after Conversion are not that Righteousness not any part of that meritorious Righteousness by virtue of which Sins are expiated the Wrath of God appeased all Blessings of Heaven purchased and we reconciled to God For this is only to be ascribed to the Merit and Satisfaction of our Lord Jesus Christ. When we were Enemies we were reconciled by his Death and are saved by his Life Rom. 5. 10. He is our Propitiation we live by him 1 John 4. 9 10. In this was manifested the Love of God towards us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the World that we might live through him Herein is Love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the Propitiation for our Sins It is Christ's Office and Honour to be a Sacrifice for Sin and a Propitiation for us and a perfect Saviour and Intercessor to obtain the Spirit to fit us for our present Duty and future Happiness We are his Workmanship in Christ. 3. Our Works or Duties which we perform in Obedience to God are not the first means to apply the Grace of the Redeemer or the Condition of our first entrance into the Evangelical Estate No that is proper to Repentance and Faith Rom. 3. 22. The Righteousness of God is by Faith unto all and upon all them that believe And Repentance is frequently required also to receive Pardon and the Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 2. 38. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Iesus Christ for the remission of Sins and ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 3. 19. Repent ye therefore and be Converted that your Sins may be blotted out It is the penitent believing Sinner that is
qualified for these Priviledges or he that thankfully and humbly accepts of the offered Saviour and consents to the Covenant made with God the Father Son and Holy Spirit he is washed from his Sins in the Blood of Christ reconciled adopted into God's Family and made an Heir according to the hope of Eternal Life Tit. 3. 7. This first Faith by which we believe and consent to the Covenant implieth both a dependance on God's Mercy and Christ's Merits and also a consent of Obedience or hearty Subjection to God 4. When we have consented to accept Christ and his Benefits and do give our selves to him then Works or new Obedience follow as necessary to continue our right to Pardon and Life For none have benefit by God's Covenant but those that keep his Covenant as well as make it and without this we cannot have Communion with God 1 John 1. 7. If we walk in the Light as he is in the Light we have fellowship one with another Nor evidence the reality of our Faith and Repentance St. Paul was sent to Preach to the Gentiles That they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for Repentance Acts 26. 20. Besides we cannot preserve our claim and right if we do not still go on to do good 1 Tim. 6. 18. Ezek. 18. 24. When the Righteous turneth away from his Righteousness and committeth Iniquity shall he live all his Righteousness shall not be mentioned in his Trespasses that he hath trespassed and in his Sin that he hath sinned in them shall he die It is true of the Hypocrite without Scruple and of the real righteous Man if you suppose the one you may suppose the other Well these things must not be confounded nor opposed not confounded but we must distinctly consider what is proper to the Grace of God proper to the Merit of Christ proper to Faith proper to Works not opposed so as to make the one exclude the other As the Grace of God to exclude the Merit of Christ or serve instead of it nor the Merit of Christ his Blood and Righteousness to exclude Faith and Repentance nor be instead of them nor Faith to exclude good Works 5. All the applying Grace is from first to last wrought in us by the Spirit He doth renew and heal our Natures as coming to us from the Grace of God and Merits of Christ. Tit. 3. 5 6. According to his Mercy he saveth us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through Iesus Christ our Saviour By the Holy Spirit working in us habitual Grace and exciting it we believe repent obey do whatever is necessary to be done to obtain Eternal Life Therefore this must not be omitted but acknowledged as a great part of this Grace III. Use. To exhort us if we would shew our selves to be new Creatures indeed to be full of good Works The Arguments to move us are 1. It is a necessary fruit of inward Grace and so doth plainly shew that you are partakers of Heavenly Wisdom Iames 3. 17. The Wisdom which is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle and easy to be intreated full of Mercy and good fruits The carnal Worldling all his Wisdom is to grow rich to himself which indeed is but Folly Luke 12. 21. His business is to live to the Flesh Gal. 6. 8. He layeth out all his Strength Time and Care and Wealth for the feeding his own carnal Desires but the other soweth to the Spirit layeth out himself in works of Piety and Charity 2. External Acts which flow from an Internal Principle increase the Habit the more you do good the more you are inabled to do good as bodily Strength is increased by Exercise Why is the right Hand more agil stronger and bigger than the left it is oftner exercised and so fuller of Blood and Spirits So in Grace the more you act Faith the more is Faith increased Love groweth more fervent being kept in a constant Exercise and Hope more lively and affective Always Actions increase the Principles which did produce them partly of their own Nature 1 Iohn 2. 5. Whoso keepeth his Word in him verily is the Love of God perfected The more acts of Love he puts forth towards God the more doth his Love increase in him partly by Divine Reward Heb. 6. 10. He is not unrighteous to forget your labour of Love which ye have shewed towards his Name in that ye have ministred to the Saints and do minister God rewards them temporally 2 Cor. 9. 12. God is able to make all Grace abound towards you that you always having all sufficiency in all things may aboud to every good Work That is to give you to be liberal at all times And when he saith God is able it not only implieth that God is the Fountain of all Plenty and Sovereign Disposer of it and so hath power to make you the richer rather than the poorer by your Liberality to make every Alms you give like the Oil in the Cruse to multiply as you pour it out that there shall be enough for every Object and every Occasion but also he is sure to make it good for he quotes it again in the next Verse as it is written He hath dispersed abroad he hath given to the Poor his Righteousness remaineth for ever It is taken out of Psalm 112. where there are signal Promises of Wealth and Riches in the House of the liberal Alms-giver God rewards them eternally 2 Cor. 9. 6. He which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly and he which soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully Now is the Seed-time hereafter is our Harvest and Crop we shall have a liberal reward from God in the general Resurrection God also rewards his obedient Servants Spiritually Internally and that not only with more Comfort and Peace but by increasing the Grace it self for God that punishes Sin with Sin doth reward Grace with Grace Wells are sweeter for draining on the other side a Key that is seldom turned rusts in the Lock An intermission of good Works makes us more unable and unready for them 3. It is a greater Honour to God John 15. 8. Herein is my Father glorified that you bear much Fruit. Phil. 1. 11. Being filled with the Fruits of Righteousness which are by Iesus Christ unto the Glory and praise of God 2 Thess. 1. 11 12. Wherefore we pray for you that our God would count you worthy of this Calling and fulfil all the good Pleasure of his Goodness and the work of Faith with Power that the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ may be glorified in you and you in him Christ's Religion is not a barren Religion but full of good Works It is a mighty credit to Religion in you that profess it when Goodness is the Constitution of your Hearts to do good the business of your Lives 4. It edifieth others and provoketh an holy Emulation Heb. 10. 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and to good Works We provoke them most by our Example when they are cold negligent and backward to Works of Piety and Mercy In all things we should be an Instance of Divine Vertues 5. This is the fruit which God expecteth from us that the Trees of Righteousness should bear the Fruits of Righteousness If we frustrate his expectation he will hew us down and cast us into the Fire Mat. 3. 10. Therefore good Works are not needless things The means to enable us are 1. Be sure that you are renewed The Dead cannot do the works of the Living Neither do Men gather Grapes of Thorns nor Figgs of Thistles Mat. 7. 16. Our first business is to look to our Conversion to God All outward Duties begin in the Heart they are valued no further than they come from it sanctified 2. Keep your Hearts under a Sence of God's Authority that you may feel something in your own Bosoms that may tell you you are bound to obey him and may plead God's right with you This is done by a frequent Meditation upon your Creation and Redemption Your Creation giveth God a full right to you and Redemption maketh it comfortable by both you see you are his Acts 27. 23. There stood by me this Night the Angel of God whose I am and whom I serve 3. You are intrusted with his Talents and of their improvement you must give an account Mat. 25. 14. A Lord called his Servants and delivered to them his Goods in order to Improvement 4. What encouragement we have from a gracious God and Covenant which takes not advantage of involuntary Weaknesses but accepteth their endeavours who sincerely do their best Mal. 3. 17. I will spare him as a Man spareth his Son that serveth him 5. Remember often your great obligation to God you can never do so much for him as he deserveth of you Psal. 116. 12. What shall I render to the Lord for all his Benefits towards me 6. Do all as in God's Eye and with a constant dependance upon him Psal. 16. 8. I have set the Lord always before me Make him your Pay-master Governour and Judg and it will not only keep you sincere but diligent in good Works The work is not sincerely done when you look to Man nor throughly done Such have their reward only here Mat. 6. 7. Love your Work A little thing will stop him that doth it unwillingly Psal. 119. 47 48. I will delight my self in thy Commandments which I have loved And I will lift up my Hands to thy Commandments which I have loved 8. Account your selves much beholden to God that he will employ you in any Service for his Glory FINIS ERRATA PAge 5. line 3. for Condemned read Contemned P. 41. l. 18. f. Love r. Fear P. 79. l. 31. f. it r. the Promises P. 92. l. 24. f. that r. if P. 104. l. 8. f. Hearty r. Heart P. 125. l. 3. f. External r. Eternal P. 128. l. 26. after they were r. not P. 150. l. 17. after Obedience dele partly P. 168. l. 17. f. Conversations r. Consolations P. 181. l. 23. f. of Cognisance r. of our Cognisance P. 212. l. 33. after ever-blessed add Life P. 113. l. 17. f. overaweth r. outlaweth P. 252. l. 20. f. them r. him P. 167. l. 11. dele partly P. 289. l. 9. f. to evince r. towards its ruine Gal. 5. 24. Gen. 3. 7 10.
2. In that he gave notice and did especially direct and send him to them Hath sent his Son 3. Why he came among them in his Word It was to bless them 1. In designing the Person who should do them good God hath raised up his Son Iesus It may seem to be meant of his Resurrection from the dead but I think rather to raise up is to exalt to call to authorize to appoint to some notable Work and it is used for installing consecrating as in this very Chapter v. 22. He shall raise up a Prophet from among you Acts 13. 23. Of this Man's Seed hath God raised up to Israel a Saviour that is hath put Authority upon him given him Commission to save Sinners raised up designed him to this Work But then 2. The special Direction of his Providenc God having raised up his Son IESUS hath sent him to bless you Sometimes the Word is said to be sent to us Acts 13. 26. To you is this Word of Salvation sent He doth not say we have brought this Salvation to you but to you it is sent God hath a great Hand in directing the Course of the Gospel And sometimes Christ is said to be sent as here in the Text for where the Gospel is preached to a People Christ is sent to them as a Token from Heaven if he be neglected you despise the Riches and Bounty of God and the best and choicest Gift that ever could be bestowed upon the Sons of Men. Therefore he saith God having raised his Son hath sent him Where the Gospel goes there Christ is sent there he comes that he may have work to do 3. Here is the End and Purport of his Coming not to take vengeance of the Affronts and Contumelies they had put upon him but he comes to bless For the opening of this Word you must look to the preceding Verse He speaks of the Covenant made with Abraham In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be blessed Now Jesus was sent unto them to assure this Blessing The Blessing is any Good that accrues and results to us from the Covenant of Grace but chiefly those special Blessings we have by Christ Reconciliation with God and Life Eternal those things which he minded to purchase for us and hath dispensed to us by his gracious Covenant This is the Blessing intended All Nations are to be blessed in the Seed of Abraham now God having raised Christ of this Man's Seed hath sent him to bless you III. Here is the Blessing interpreted and restrained and that is Conversion from Sin In turning every one of you from his Sins They expected a pompous Messiah that should make them an opulent and potent Nation But Christ came upon another Errand to convert Souls unto God Only mark when the Apostle speaks this he speaks it not of the Intention of God but the Offer of his Grace otherwise every particular Iew must be converted or God missed his End God may send him to bless and yet some may contemn the Offer others God prevents by the special efficacy of his Grace or else all would contemn it They that do contemn it are justly passed by and they that receive it own it to his Grace and not to themselves It was the secret Purpose of his Grace to bring in many and this brought in three thousand Men there were others refused this Blessing offered from the Mediatour and they justly perish for their Unbelief The Point though there be many that I shall insist on is Doct. That a main Blessing we have by Christ is to be turned from our Iniquities 1. Here I shall enquire What it is to be turned from Sin 2. I shall shew you That certainly this is a very blessed thing 3. That this is the great Blessing of the Mediator that we have by Christ in the Gospel 4. In what manner Christ turneth us from our Iniquities I. What it is to be turned from Sin Take these Considerations 1. Man fallen lay under the power and guilt of Sin He was dead in Trespasses and Sins and liable to the Wrath of God Eph. 2. 1 2 3. So Man was both unholy and guilty 2. Christ came to free us from both these The Guilt Eph. 1. 7. In whom we have Redemption through his Blood the Remission of Sins And the Power Tit. 3. 5. He hath saved us by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy-Ghost To be freed from Guilt and delivered from Hell and Wrath to come is a Blessing for which we can never be sufficiently thankfull But to be freed from Sin that is the greater Mercy and therefore he hath sent his Son to bless you in turning every one of you from your Sins 3. To be turned from Sin implies our whole Conversion Though one part only be mentioned the term from which yet the term to which is implied that we are turned to God as well as turned from Sin To God as our Happiness and our Supreme Lord that we may love him and be happy in being beloved by him Act. 26. 18. 4. That Remission of Sins is included in our Conversion to God the meaning is that he may turn you from your unbelief and impenitency and so make you capable of his Pardon and Mercy for so it is explained v. 19. Repent and be converted that your Sins may be blotted out c. Without sound Repentance the Mediatour's Blessing will not be had and when Christ came to save us from Wrath his way was to turn us from Sin These two must not be severed God hath exalted him to be a Prince and Saviour to give Repentance and Remission of Sins Acts 5. 31. You see then what is meant by the Blessing the Mediatour offers To be turned from our Sins II. It is a blessed thing to be made Partakers of this Benefit Blessedness imports two things Negatively a Removal of Evil and Positively a Fruition or Enjoyment of some great Good When we are turned from our Sins there is both 1. An Immunity from or a Removal of the great Evil and that is Sin 1. The great Cause of Offence between God and us is taken out of the way Isa. 59. 2. Your Iniquities have separated between you and your God and have hidden his Face from you Sin makes the Distance between you and God that you cannot delight in God nor God in you You cannot delight in God for your Hearts are alienated from him You are become Enemies in your Mind by wicked Works Where Sin reigns Man is an Enemy to God Partly through Carnal Prepossession there is something takes up his Heart and diverts it from God 1 Iohn 2. 15. If any Man love the World how dwelleth the Love of the Father in him His Heart is taken up with another Love And partly through Carnal Liberty we cannot enjoy our Lusts with that freedom and security by reason of the Restraints of his Law that would curb us and cut us short
God 1. The consciousness of God's displeasure and the fear of his Wrath should make offers of Pardon acceptable to us When Sin entred into the World Fear entred with Sin The grand scruple which haunteth the guilty Creature is how God shall be appeased and the Controversy taken up between us and his Justice Micah 6. 6 7. Wherewith shall he be appeased and what shall I give for the Sin of my Soul We fear Death and Punishment from a Holy and Just God and this is the bottom cause of all our Troubles Therefore till the forgiveness of Sin be procured for us and represented to us upon commodious Terms we know not how to get rid of this Bondage the Justice of the Supream Governour of the World will be ever dreadful to us These fears may be for a while stifled in Men but they will ever and anon return upon us Now let us admire the Wisdom of God who hath provided such a suitable remedy to our Disease as reconciliation and remission of Sins by Jesus Christ. And that God shewed himself so ready to pardon us who are so obnoxious to his Wrath and vindictive Justice 2. The other great Priviledg offered in the Covenant is Eternal Life which suiteth with those desires of Happiness which are so natural to us Corrupt Nature is not against the offers of Felicity We would have Immunity Peace Comfort Glory none would be against his own Benefit but every one would be willing to be freed from the curse of the Law and the Flames of Hell and enjoy Happiness for evermore Though we be unwilling to deny the Flesh and renounce the Credit Pleasure and Profit of Sin and grow dead to the World and worldly things yet never was there a Creature heard of that would not be happy for there was never a Creature but loved himself Now the Lord in his Covenant hath brought Life and Immortality to light setled our Happiness and the way to it he promises that which we desire to induce us to that which we are against As we sweeten Pills to Children that they may swallow them down the better they love the Sugar though they loath the Aloes God would invite us to our duty by our Interest He hath told us of an Happiness full sure and near that he may draw us off from the false Happiness wherewith we are inchanted and bring us into the way of Holiness that we may look after this blessed Hope 2dly The Terms he hath required of us The Terms are either for Entrance or making Covenant with God or Continuance or keeping Covenant with God For Entrance Faith and Repentance are required 1. Faith in Christ. The World thinks Faith quits Reason and introduceth fond Credulity No there is much of the Wisdom of God to be seen in it For Faith hath a special aptitude and fitness for this Work 1. Partly in respect of God For He having design'd to glorify his Mercy and free Grace and to make our Salvation from first to last a meer Gift and the Fruit of his Love to us hath appointed Faith for the acceptance of this Gift Rom. 4. 16. It is of Faith that it might be by Grace Faith and Grace go always together and it is put in opposition to the Merit of Works or the Strictness of the old Covenant 2. As it is fittest to own Christ the Redeemer the Fountain of Life and Happiness and our Head and Husband whom we receive and to whom we are united and married by Faith 3. With respect to the Promises of the Gospel which offer to us an Happiness and Blessedness spiritual and for the most part future Unseen things are properly Objects of Faith Heb. 11. 1. Faith is the Substance of things hoped for the Evidence of things not seen 4. It is fittest as to our future Obedience that it may be comfortable and willing Now we owning Christ in a way of Subjection and Dependance and consenting to become his Disciples and Subjects other Duties come on the more easily 2 Cor. 8. 5. 2. For Repentance This is the most lively and powerful Means of bringing Men to new Life and Blessedness 1. It is most for the Honour of God that we should not be pardoned without submission without confession of past Sin and Resolution of future Obedience Common Reason will tell us that our Case is not compassionable while we are impenitent and hold it out against God Who will pity those in Misery who are unwilling to come out of it Besides it would infringe the Honour of God's Law and Government that one continuing in his Sins and despising both the Curse of the Law and the Grace of the Gospel should be pardoned and saved Repentance is often called a giving Glory to God Mal. 2. 2. Ye will not lay it to Heart and give Glory to my Name Josh. 7. 19. My Son give Glory to God and make Confession to him Rev. 16. 9. They repented not to give Glory to God Repentance restoreth God's Honour to Him as it acknowledges the Justice of his Laws The self-condemning Sinner acknowledges that God may destroy him and if he save him it is meer Mercy 2. The Duty of the Creature is best secured and the penitent Person more bound to future Obedience partly by the Vow it self or the Bond of the holy Oath into which he is entred and the Circumstances accompanying it which surely induce a Hatred of Sin and a Love of Holiness There will be a hearty Consent to live in the Love Obedience and Service of our Creator with a detestation of our former Ways When we feel the smart of Sin such a Sense of it will ever stick by us and when we are in the deepest and freshest Sense of his pardoning Mercy when we see at how dear rates he is pleased to have us and upon what free terms to pardon all our Wrongs we shall love much Luk. 7. 47. Surely they that are brought back from the Gibbet and the very Gates of Hell by such an Act of pardoning Mercy are most likely to remember the Vows of their Distress and are more ingaged to love God and please Him than others are 3. It is most for the Comfort of the Creature that a stated Course of recovering our selves into the Peace and Hope of the Gospel should be appointed to us which may leave the greatest Sense upon our Consciences Now what is likely to do so much as this apparent Change whereby we renounce and utterly bewail our former Folly and solemnly devote and give up our selves to God by Christ. Those things that are serious and advised leave a Notice and Impression upon the Soul This is the most important Action of our Lives the Setling of our Pardon and Eternal Interest The Heart is hardly brought to this to renounce what we dearly love therefore it is usually rewarded with some notable Tasts of God's Love Isa. 57. 15. God delights to revive the Hearts of his contrite Ones 2.