formally a sin so that its both a sin and the cause of sin and the effect of sin at the same time Now in this particular lieth the greatest part of the difficulty in the doctrine of forgivenes of sin for here sin is in the godly and truly so yet for all that it doth not condemn The Papists finding by experience such motions of original sin in us yet do say they are only penal effects and remain as opportunities by spiritual combate to increase the Crown of glory and this they urge as impossible they should be sins and yet not condemn the godly because guilt is inseparable from sin And the Antinomian doth expresly stumble at this stone Dr Crisps Serm. vol. 2. p. 92. For my part saith he I do not think as some do that guilt differs from sin but that it is sin it self They are but two words expressing the same thing Now if it were so that sin and guilt or the ordination of it to punishment were the same thing there could be no sin in the godly It is true guilt cannot be but where sin hath been yet guilt of punishment may be removed when the sin is past But this the Author doth shew that sin was so laid on Christ that from that time he ceaseth to be a sinner any more Thou art not a Thief a Murderer when as you have part in Christ p. 89. ut supra But of this hereafter 5. When a sin is forgiven it is totally and perfectly forgiven This is to be considered in the next place for when the Antinomian would have us so diligently consider that place Jer. 50.20 where God saith noneâ—â— â—â— If I say this were all his meaning sin shall be as if it had never been in respect of condemnation he shall be as surely freed from hell as if he had never sinned all this is true But they have a further meaning and that is That the sin was so laid upon Christ that the sinner ceaseth to be a sinner as if because a surety payeth the debt of some lend bankrupt that very paiment would make him cease to be a bankrupt that is false yet God doth so forgive sin that it can be forgiven no more perfectly then it is Those sins cannot be forgiven any more then they are which is matter of infinite comfort and as it is totally so irrevocably God will not revive them again Hence are those expressions of blotting them out of throwing them into the depth of the sea and howsoever that Parable Mat. 18. which speaks of the Master forgiving a servant so many talents yet upon the servants cruelty to some of his fellows his master calleth him to account and throweth him in prison for his former debts howsoever I say this be brought by some to prove that sins forgiven may upon after-iniquities be charged upon a man yet the ground is not sufficient For first The main scope only of a Parable is Argumentative The Fathers do fitly represent Parables to many things to a Knife whose edge doth only cut yet the back helps to that to a Plow whose Plow-shear only cuts yet the wood is subservient so in a Parable the main scope and intent is only argumentative the other parts are but like so many shadows or flourishes in the picture to make it more glorious now this instance was not mainly intended by our Saviour but forgivenesse of one another so that this part doth only shew what is in use amongst men or what sin doth deserve at Gods hands not that God revoketh his pardon or repenteth that ever he hath forgiven us but this is more expresly answered afterwards 6. Though sin be forgiven yet there may be the sense of Gods displeasure still for as though God doth forgive there are many calamities and pressures upon the godly so though Christ hath born the agonies that do belong unto sin yet some scalding drops of them do fall upon the godly not that the godly is by these to satisfie the justice of God but that hereby we might feel the bitternes of sin what wormwood and gall is in it that so we may take heed for the future and that we may by some proportion think on and admire the great love of Christ to us in undergoing such wrath Didst thou not judge the least of his anger falling upon thee more terrible then all the pains and miseries that ever thou wast plunged into And by this then thou mayest stand amazed and wondering at this infinite love of Christ to stand under this burden for thee David is a pregnant instance for the truth of this As when Saul was angry with Jonathan and run a Javelin at him he escaped and that run into the wall so the wrath of God which was violently to fall upon thee missed thee and ran into Christ But the sense of Gods displeasure for sin may be retained in us two wayes 1. Servilely and slavishly whereby we run from the promise and Christ and have secret grudgings and repinings against God this is sinfull for us to do 2. There is a filial apprehending of Gods displeasure though we are perswaded of the pardon this is good and necessary as we see in David who made that Psalm of Repentance Psal 51. though he had his absolution from his sin Tears in the soul by the former way are like the water of the Sea salt and brackish but those in the latter are sweet like the rain of the Clouds falling down on the earth 7. No wicked man ever hath any sin forgiven him for seeing remission of sins is either a part or fruit of Justification no wicked man is more capable of the one then the other Indeed we may read concerning wicked men Ahab and the Israelites when they have humbled themselves though externally and hypocritically yet God hath removed those judgements which were imminent upon them and thus far their sins have been forgiven them but God did not at the same time take off the curse and condemnation due to them Though they were delivered from outward calamity yet not from hell and wrath This therefore doth demonstrate the wofull condition of wicked men that have not one farthing of all their debts they owe to God paid but are liable to account for the least sins and it must needs be so for Christ the true and only paimaster of his peoples debts doth not own them so that when their sins shall be sought for every one in all the aggravations of it will be found out 8. This remission of sin is onely to the repenting believing sinner To the repentant Act. 5.31 To give repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sins So Luk. 44.47 That repentance and forgivenesse of sins should be preached in his name Act. 8.22 Repent and pray if the thoughts of thy heart may be forgiven thee 1 Joh. 1.9 If we confesse our sins he is faithfull to forgive c. These and
will lay no more then he will inable to bear Thirdly There is a two-fold trouble one that is holy and effectual for good such a trouble as that was which the Angel made in the pool of Bethesda and there is a trouble by way of torment driving from and raging at God now we all forbid this later neither will this Doctrine give any ground to such a distemper Lastly If a doctrine shall be branded for such an event as shall come through the corruptions of men then we may say their opinion will encourage believers or men that do presume they are so to act all manner of flagitious crimes and yet to have no fear that God will plague them for those things LECTURE VI. JER 50.20 In those dayes and at that time the iniquity of Judah shall be sought for and it shall not be found c. ALthough the Apostle say true 1 Tim. 6.4 that there is a doting about questions whereby the soul of a man is made sick and spiritually diseased as the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 implieth weakning and debilitating grace as much as fretting doth waste away the flesh and this is done when men encounter in controversies as beasts in their combats seeking only victory yet there may be such a doctrinal clearing of truth by answering of Objections that may tend much to edification both in knowledge and affections and by the striking of flint stones together there may flie out sparks enough to kindle godliness and zeal in our brest This I shall endeavour by Gods assistance in that necessary and famous question of Gods forgiving sin For to preach in crabbed controversies is like Gideon Judg. 8.16 to teach men with briars and thorns as the phrase there is The Antinomian placeth this Text in the fore-front for that absurd opinion God seeth no sin in persons justified if therefore their Goliah be slain the rest will speedily quit the field The words contain a gracious promise to Judah and Israel First To deliver them from their temporal evil They shall be brought out of their captivity into their own countrey again we need not dispute how many came back again it s enough this mercy was offered them howsoever they might neglect it Secondly Here is a promise to remove their spiritual evil which was the cause of the former God will pardon their sins and by this a profitable Doctrine is taught That a people ought to be more desirous of Gods pardon then of removal of their calamities whereas commonly like unwise diseased men we complain more of the Symptomes then of the disease it self The evil of sin depriveth us of an infinite good but the evil of afflictions only of a finite Now this promise is not to be stretched out only to the times of the Gospel but is particularly true of the Jews when removed out of their banishment yet not to be limited to that time only and howsoever the promise for pardon be general to all yet it is to be understood in this manner that to the wicked their sin was no farther forgiven then in this sense That their captivity was removed but to the true believers there was a real taking away of Gods wrath and displeasure from them The promise of pardon is described very emphatically and comfortably to the truly humbled Jews There shall be none of their sins and none shall be found when sought for This expression doth suppose a judicial inquiry as when God is said to make inquisition for bloud and to be found doth imply God judicially taking notice of a man to punish him so Rev. 20.15 In her was found the bloud of the Saints So Beza amplifieth that word Phil. 3.9 be found in him as if the justice of God were pursuing Paul as a malefactor and Christ was a City of refuge unto him Observation Remission of sin is such a taking of it away as if it had never been he that denieth sins forgiven to be quite removed denieth Pharaoh and his host to be drowned in the red Sea said Gregory This point practically improved is the treasure of a believers comfort But there is the Antinomian error on the right hand and the Popish on the left whereby a godly heart if not well instructed may when it cals for bread meet with a stone and when for fish with a serpent Therefore for the more orderly proceeding let us consider what the Antinomian saith then what the Papist and lastly what the truth is The Antinomians opinion may be discovered in these particulars 1. That a justified person having on Christs wedding garment hath thereby all his sins quite taken away from before God and so utterly abolished that we have not any spot of sin in the sight of God Honey-Comb of Justification pag. 24. cap. 3. per tot 2. This is extended by them pag. 27. not only to actuall sins but originall sins for we easily grant that in actuall sins if once forgiven there remaineth no more defilement but that he is made in that respect of remission as white as snow though there may remain a further disposition to evil by that sin once committed if renewing grace help not 3. This abolition of sin they understand both of the fault and the guilt so that God doth not only take away the punishment but both the form of the sin also is wholly removed so that there is neither punishment nor cause of punishment in one thus justified Hence they say there is no sin in the Church now and they expresse it thus As a Physician though he healeth a man yet he cannot take away the scars but God healeth sin so as no scar remaineth yea he giveth a fresh colour again They say likewise our sin is consumed as if one drop of water should be abolished by the heat of the Sun yea pag. 39. the Authour affirmeth that whosoever have not confidence in this one point that our sins are so taken away by Christ that God doth not see our sins in us without doubt are damned as long as they continue to rob the bloud of Christ of this honour Therefore saith he true Divinity teacheth that there is no sin in the Church any more 4. He distinguisheth p. 51. of a two-fold abolishing the one mystical and secret wrought only by Christ and his righteousnes The other grosse and palpable wrought by us by the help of Gods Spirit to our sense and feeling so that they grant sin in us and sin to be mortified but this is not in Gods sight although it be in our own 5. Whereas it might be and is objected God hath an all-seeing eye and therefore he cannot but see sin if it be in us They answer God indeed seeth all things saving that which he will not see but undertakes to abolish out of his sight and they distinguish of Gods knowing and his seeing p. 68 God knoweth believers sins but he doth not see them To
the Scripture but the same entire mercy Now although this be true yet how few do reform their judgements in this point and thereupon they come to put that upon their grace within them which belongs to grace without them Use of Instruction That there may be an happy reconciliation and accord between Gods grace in forgiving and mans duty in repenting one need not be preached to justle out the other All error is an extremity of some truth and therefore it is hard to discover truth because its difficult to find out where the bounds are that truth parts from error Let not therefore a Christian so relie upon his repentance as if there were no Covenant of grace no bloud of Christ to procure an atonement so neither let him extol these causes to the extinguishing of his duties To stir up to this duty of repentance as that without which pardon of sin cannot be obtained There is no such free grace nor Gospel-mercy that doth supersede a broken and contrite heart Christ was broken for thy sins yet that will not excuse thee from a broken heart for them also Christ was wounded and a man of sorrow for thy sins yet that will not take ofâ— thy wounds and sorrow also Indeed if these were able to satisfie Gods wrath or to make an atonement then Christ was wounded and became a man of sorrows in vain for God doth not require a two-fold satisfaction but we are wounded for sin upon other grounds then Christ was we mourn for other causes then he did and consider thou that art afraid to grieve here for sin how little is this to that which thou shalt be forced to grieve for hereafter Thou art unwilling to be burdened here but oh how easie is that to the load thou must stand under hereafter This Bernard urged When saith he we urge men to repent they say this is durus sermo an hard speech who can bear it But you are deceived when God shall say Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire This is indeed an hard speech And account that repentance is as much as the bringing of a man to his wits and minde again All the while thy sins are not a burden to thee thou art in blindenesse even as the childe as long as it is in the dark womb weeps not but as soon as ever it cometh into the light then it crieth As long as thou liest in the womb of darknesse and ignorance thou mournest not but when God shall open thy eyes to see thy estate and the aggravation of thy sins then thou wilt burst out into sorrow LECTURE XIX MAT. 6.12 And forgive us our debts IT hath been shewed That there is an happy accord between Gods grace in pardoning and our duty in repenting In bounding of which you have heard the Scripture excludes all merit and causality from our repentance and gives the glory of all to Gods grace and Christs bloud Before I leave this point it will be necessary to answer some practical Objections for there is a great miscarriage in many about this very duty of repentance If they be asked How they hope to be saved they will reply by their repentance Thus they make that their Ark and city of refuge they look upon that as the brazen serpent and not Jesus Christ And it is no wonder if this be so among ignorant people when the most learned amongst the Papists do give such power and merit unto repentance Insomuch that Vasques saith He wonders at those Catholikes who have such low and despicable thoughts of the righteousnesse in us as that it should not exclude sin without any new favour or pardon of God as if the enabling us to repent did expel the guilt of sin as fire doth water by a natural necessity The first Objection therefore may be To what purpose doth God require Repentance seeing it is no cause of pardon Why may not God forgive sin as well without this sorrow of ours for if it have no efficacy of it self to deliver from the guilt of sin then sin might be pardoned as well without it as with it for if the Spirit of God prepareth us for pardon by exciting and stirring up Repentance this Repentance must have some respect of causality to pardon or else to what purpose it is wrought It is hard therefore to see the necessity of Repentance unlesse it have such effects Insiste fortitèr poenitentiae inhaere tanquam naufragus tabulae said Ambrose And this efficacy all are pronâ— to give to Repentance Now to answer this lay first this foundation That God doth indispensably require repentance of all Act. 17.30 where not only the command of repentance is made known but the goodnesse of God in pressing this duty for whereas God hath neglected and passed over the former times of ignorance by not revealing any such command unto them now by the general spreading of the Gospel he doth For howsoever we translate it winked at as also Beza doth yet Dieu upon the place sheweth more probably that it signifieth Gods anger and indignation to them and therefore hid the means of salvation from them This grace is also required of the godly sinning 2 Cor. 7.9 1O Revel 2.16 Tertullian subtilly but not solidly saith God first dedicated repentance in his own self for before God said It repenteth me that I have made man the name of repentance was not heard But we know that God cannot in a proper sense be said to repent because there is no ignorance in his understanding or mutability in his will But to answer Why God doth require it this in the first place might be enough Because it is his will and command Bonum est poenitere an non quid revolvis Deus praecipit said Tertulâ—ian Is it good to repent or not Why doubtest thou Hath not God commanded it It is Gods will to joyn pardon and repentance together Though there were no more connexion between these two then by that meer appointment of God we were bound up to do it As we see in the Sacraments God hath promised such spirituall grace in the holy use and application of such outward signs where there is no naturall connexion at all between the grace and the sign but the union comes by the meer institution and command of God Although the conjoyning of pardon with repentance be more then from a meer positive command there is an aptnesse and fitnesse in the thing it self Now God in commanding of this doth not because he needed it or as if he could not do otherwise for if a man may forgive another that hath injured him although he do not grieve or be troubled for such an offence why may not God if we speak of absolute power Thy tears therefore and thy repentance they make not God more happy neither are they required for Gods good but for thy own good Neither doth God require them as if they should make up any defect or
praying for forgiveness doth not pray for the Assurance of that which is already past for so no sinne is forgiven to him but for initial Pardon which he never yet hath enjoyed The second sort of persons praying this Prayer are those that at their first conversion humble themselves and seek unto God for his face and reconciliation with him Now those that are thus in their beginnings and new birth they can pray in no other sense but for initial and first Pardon for as that is the first time they begin to have sorrow and brokenness of heart so that is the first time they begin to partake of Pardon Pardon of sin and Faith they are correlates and so are together A third rank is of Believers in their progress of holiness and sanctification walking without any scandal or offence in the wayes of God They in this Petition have a two-fold sense the one an Assurance of the Pardon of sins that are already forgiven them and the other is a renewed Pardon for the renewed infirmities they continually are plunged into Lastly There are lapsed Believers who have fallen into some grievous sins and thereby have made desperate wounds upon their own souls and these have agonies and pangs of heart much like their first conversion Therefore it s called so When thou art converted strengthen thy brother saith Christ to Peter This recovery out of the sinne they were plunged into was like a new conversion By such a commotion as this made in the soul there is nothing but darkness and confusion and they pray for pardon as if this were the first time They fear all their former wayes to have been hypocrisies Thus David Psal 51. prayeth for the restoring of joy to him that his broken bones may be heaeled as also for truth in the inward parts Now although such a mans former sins were indeed forgiven him yet it is to his sense and feeling as if it were not so but rather the contrary is feared by him that Gods wrath doth still abide on him Hence he prayeth for Pardon in his own judgement as one who yet never hath been acquitted by God So that according to the several conditions of the persons prayings we may suppose several senses in the Petition But in the third place to answer the Question we say That Assurance of pardon is not the only thing praied for And that for these Reasons First We are never to depart from the literall sense of the words without an evident necessity but the plain undoubted sense is That God would forgive our sins for our Saviour minding brevity in this Prayer no doubt would speak his sense in the most perspicuous and clear manner that can be As therefore if Christ had said Make us to be assured of the pardon of sin The Antinomian would not have gone from the letter but pressed us to that So on the other side when Christ saith Forgive us and not Give us the sense of forgivenes we have cause to cleave fully to that and this may be illustrated by two further considerations the former of those places where God is said not to forgive the later of those where forgiveness is applied of one man unto another When the Prophet Isaiah speaking of the Israelites how their Land was full of Idols and both great and mean men did humble themselves before them Isa 2.9 prayeth that therefore God would not forgive them Can any one make the meaning to be that God would not give them the assurance of their forgiveness Mat. 12.32 The Evangelist saith All other sins may be forgiven but that against the holy Ghost shall never Now in that sense other sins are said to be forgiven in which sense that is denied to be forgiven and that is denied to be forgiven not in respect of Assurance and Declaration to a mans conscience only but really and indeed Therefore the sins forgiven are in the like manner forgiven Again It is plain That by Pardon is not meant Assurance of Pardon only because when applied to men it cannot admit of such a sense Now the Petition runs thus That God would forgive us as we forgive others and there is no man will explain the later forgiveness of Assurance and why then the former Besides The equivalent phrase of forgiveness doth evince more then an Assurance of Forgiveness for when the Scripture cals it blotting out of sinne it is an expression from Debts which are as it were written in Gods book and therefore till he cancelleth them they doe remain in their guilt Furthermore If a sin be not really pardoned till a man do repent and believe then he beggeth for more then Assurance but we have fully proved That there is no remission of sin till confession and forsaking of it As for the above named Authours instance of a malefactour who hath received Pardon may yet upon his coming into the Kings presence desire Pardon it no wayes advantageth him For suppose a Malefactour might the first time do so yet experience doth demonstrate it would argue folly and madness in a Malefactour to doe so frequently Whereas it is our duty daily to begge the Pardon of our sinnes at the Throne of Grace To conclude this Point because we have elswhere spoken to it This Exposition doth overthrow the continual use of the Word the equipollent phrases the proper object of Prayer and departs from the letter of the Text without any just ground at all Which is against the rules of Explication of the Scripture The next Question is of great Practicall Concernment viz. Why God doth sometimes Pardon a sinne and yet not manifest it to the sinners heart It appeareth by David Psalm 51. That when a sinne is forgiven in Heaven it is not also remitted and blotted out in a mans conscience yet God can as easily work the one as the other If he say Let there be light in such a dark heart of an Hell it presently becomes an Heaven We would judge that by this divine Dispensation as the godly man loseth much of his comfort so God of his Glory and Honour But divers Reasons may be produced for this As First It may be God will teach us hereby That Pardon of sinne is not a necessary Effect of Repentance but a gracious Gift bestowed though not without it yet not for it Though therefore thy soul hath been deeply humbled and is greatly reformed yet God suspends the light of his favour upon thy soul that thou mayest acknowledge it his Grace not the merit of thy sorrow where Causes doe naturally produce an Effect there it is a Miracle if the one followeth not the other If the fire doe not burn if the Sunne stand still if Peter walking on the water sink not But it is no wonder to see a true contrite heart without Assurance and Consolation These may be separated that so thou mayest be as humble with thy Graces as if they were not
at all Yea God hath delighted sometimes in natural Causes to work the Effects without them lest the glory should be given to the instruments Hence he caused light to be before the Sunne and the earth is commanded to bring forth Herbs before any rain that so God may be acknowledged all in all If God do this in the order of natural things how much more of supernatural Yet this is not so to be prest as if therefore God would forgive sin without Repentance No God hath ordered a way inviolably and indispensably wherein he will vouchsafe his Pardon and no otherwayes But although God out of his meer good will hath inseparably conjoined Repentance and Remission together yet the Discovery or Promulgation of this unto the broken and contrite heart is altogether Arbitrary And in this as well as in other things that speech is true The winde bloweth where it listeth Know therefore by these divine Dispensations That though thou dost repent Gods forgiveness is a meer gift of liberality and no natural necessary fruit of thy sorrow Insomuch that setting Gods gracious Promise aside whereby he is a Debtor unto his own faithfulness after thy purest and most perfect Humilation for sin God might refuse to take thy guilt away A second Reason Why God though he pardon may yet deny the manifestation of it is Because hereby God would make us feel the bitternesse and gall of it in our own hearts A Pardon easily obtained takes off the burden of the fault Thus God dealt with David The light of Gods favour doth not presently break thorow the Cloud that so David may feel how bitter a thing it is to sinne against God As God suffered Isaac to be bound to have wood laid on him the knife to be lifted up to strike him in all which space Isaac's fear could not but heighten Thus God also will kill and wound those whom he intends to make alive he will bruise them and break them that so they may judge the seeming good in sin to be nothing to the real evil that followeth it And from this second issueth a third Reason viz. To make us more watchful and diligent against the time to come Peters bitterness of soul was a special preservative against the like temptations as bitter Potions kill the worms in childrens stomacks It must needs argue much guilt in Gods people if after the particular gall and wormwood they have found in sin they shall be ready to drink the like bitter potion when sin presents it self Certainly the heart-aches that Paul found afterwards though pardoned for his former persecutions were like a flaming sword to keep him off from such attempts again He might more truly say then that Heathen did He would not buy repentance so dear 4. By reason of the Difficulty and supernaturall way of believing it is that Pardon may be in Heaven when we cannot apply it in our Consciences Hence though the Promises be never so much for our ease and thereupon infinitely to be desired yet the way of believing this is so far above natural conscience which expects Justification by works that the heart of a man hath much ado to close with it Therefore faith is not like other Graces or Duties viz. Love of God Humility c. which have some obscure footsteps in the natural dictates of conscience but it is wholly supernatural yea Adam in the state of integrity knew not this kinde of believing in the righteousness of a Mediatour For as the object of faith viz. Christ is only by revelation no councel of men or Angels could have excogitated such a truth so faith as it is the hand or organ applying Christs righteousness is a duty not manifested by humane light but wholly from above And as flesh and bloud doth not reveal to us That Christ is the Son of the living God so neither that we are to have remission of sins only by faith in his bloud Hence the Scripture makes faith the gift of God which coming from the Spirit into our hearts meeteth with much contrariety and opposition of doubts and unbelief No wonder therefore if after the heart of a man hath been awakened for sinne there remain some commotions a long while after even as the sea after tempests winds though they be allaied yet for some space after roareth and rageth not leaving its troubles presently as you heard before Though therefore as God pardoneth in Heaven he offereth it also unto our Consciences yet we refuse and put it off we will not be comforted because it is not a comfort flowing in the way we look for viz. by working And for this reason though David heard Nathan pronounce his pardon yet he doth vehemently importune for it afterwards in Psalm 51. as if he had not the least notice of any such mercy to him Lastly God defers the notice of Pardon to thee that so thou mayest be the more able to sympathize with those that are in the like tempted condition For as one end of Christs suffering in his soul lying in agonies under Gods displeasure was because he might know how to have compassion upon his children in such temptations So the Lord doth exercise his people to the same purpose and certainly Christ accounted this the tongue of the learned to speak a seasonable word to a wounded heart Besides hereby shall we speak the more wonderfully of Gods grace and his goodness after our deliverance out of those storms Those that have been in these deep waters see the wonderful works of the Lord and so have their hearts and mouths the more opened to celebrate his praise Another Question may be What Directions are to be given unto a soul tempted about the pardon of sin for many such there are who like Pauls fellow passengers in the ship have been so many dayes moneths yea it may be years and have seen no Sun enjoyed no comfort at all Let the Persons thus affected use these remedies First Acknowledge God and clear him howsoever Thus David Psal 51. that thou mayest be clear when thou art judged If the devils and the damned in hell have no cause to complain of God as unjust or too severe then much less mayest thou who art kept in darkness for a season only that afterwards thou mayest enjoy the more light Let not God be the worse God his goodness the less unto thee because thou art not yet set free out of the bonds of sin By being thus humble thou takest the way to be filled whereas impatiency and discontent causeth God the more to hide his face Secondly Examine thy Repentance whether that hath been so sound so pure so deep so universal as it should have been All sorrow and humiliation for sin is not godly Repentance Ahabs tears and Peters differ as much as the water of the Sea which is brinish and salt and the water of the clouds which is sweet David Psal 32. acknowledgeth the pain
sinners but deals with us as if we had never sinned at all as it is here made blessednesse to have sinne covered so it is made a woe and misery Nehem 4.5 not to have sinne covered as Nehemiah praieth against Sanballat and Tobiah This expression is also used Psal 85.2 In the next place we may consider in what sense God doth cover sin when he pardons and in what he doth not 1. God is said therefore to cover sinne from his eyes because he will not take notice of it in justified persons to punish it with wrath and condemnation although it be not so covered as that God doth not see it to be angry with it and chastise beleevers for it yet it is so covered as that he doth not see it to condemn beleevers for it We do not therefore make God to cover sinne as an Antinomian saith we do as if a man should cover a thing with a net where the object is still seen Honey comb pag 57. but as to Gods hatred and revengefull condemnation so it is wholly covered and therefore those expressions of taking away blotting out of sinne c. do fully imply that God giveth not an half pardon but that he taketh away the offence and whatsoever punishment properly so called belongs unto it 2. It doth imply That God when he hath thus forgiven deals with a man as no more in that particular a sinner Therefore David after his murder and adultery are washed away he is as white as snow in respect of those actuall sinnes and every true beleever repenting is bound to beleeve that God doth this graciously and gloriously to him That he is no more in Gods account that loathsome leper and unclean person he was It doth imply That God by degrees and in his due time will cover the beleevers sins as from his own eyes so from the beleevers eyes So that the guilt of conscience those arrows of the Almighty shall not alwaies stick in his heart Thus as mans love to another covers a multitude of sinnes he will not mention charge or upbraid the party with them so doth Gods love cover the multitude of beleevers sins committed by them dealing with them as reconciled persons not upbraiding of them but bestowing all encouraging mercies upon them so that if we improve this phrase of covering sin no further we shall split on no rock and yett he soul have as much comfort as it can rationally desire In the next place hear what it doth not reach to and wherein the phrase is abused As 1. When we dream of such covering of sinne as that sinne is wholly taken away so that no reliques of original corruption abide in us Thus the Papists We must not say they suppose such a covering as if sinne were still there only God will not impute it but it is such a covering as is a blotting sinne out Now for actual sinne we grant covering to be a blotting it out but for original sin in the lusts thereof We say they are still in the godly and properly sins only covered because not imputed to them for the grace of regeneration though it cut the hair of sinne as Dalilah did Samsons yet it groweth again as long as the root is there 2. We may not conceive sinne covered in this sense as if we by our subsequent good actions did cover sinne so some have expounded holy works to be the garment that covers our nakednesse but this would be our covering and not Gods covering whereas the Psalmist attributes it to God Psa 85.2 Therefore that Exposition will not hold which some bring out of Austin explaining this covering of sinne as Emplastrum tegit vulnus the Plaister covers the sore by healing of it for although healing grace accompany justification yet it is not justification 3. We may not conceive it said to be covered in this sense As if God when he had pardoned did not yet still retain anger against the persons sinning and so chastise them Though this doctrine be much pleaded for yet Scripture is evident against it David had sin covered yet God would not let the sword depart from his house Thus Job aweth himself against sinne with this consideration That God would see it in him and take notice of it Job 10.14 If I sinne thou markest me God seeth sin in Job and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity and Cha. 14.16 17. he saith God doth watch over his sin and seal it up in a bag Let not then the people of God delude themselves into security by any false doctrine and what woful conclusions there are of a godly mans peace when he fals into a grosse sin I shall handle in another Question Neither fourthly may we conceive of sin covered in a carnall grosse manner As if there were something interposed between Gods eyes and sinne as if a mans face were covered with an hat or a candle put under a bushell The Antinomians similitude is grosse and carnall Honey-comb pag. 275. as a man looking thorow a red glasse seeth the water all red within it so God looking upon us in Christ seeth nothing but the righteousnesse of Christ and no sin at all for the reason why our senses judge water red thorow a red glasse is because it depends upon the fitnesse of a medium and that being indisposed the eye is deceived but God in looking upon us doth not depend upon any intervening thing and indeed Gods seeing of sin in this point is not so much an act of his understanding as of his will decreeing to punish sin or not to punish it So that this similitude doth no waies hold for God in this matter of forgiving or punishing sinne is not to be looked upon as a natural agent but voluntary So that all these things rightly understood we may take that which is good and comfortable leaving that which is corrupt and false And if the Question be made Whether the phrase of covering sinne make for that errour That God doth not see sin in beleevers offending I answer No by no means for these Reasons First Gods covering of sinne is to be limited only to condemnation as I have proved Davids sinne was at the same time open to God and covered open to fatherly chastisements covered to revengefull condemnation God did see it as a Father to be angry with him not as a Judge to hate him 2. Because this covering is limited to those sins which are paâ— and repented of not to new sins committed they are not covered without a new gracious act of Gods favour David before this sinne committed that is spoken of in the Psalm he had his former sinnes covered but this was not covered till he did acknowledge it and then saith he Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sinne Though therefore God should not see the sinnes past yet the new ones committed they are taken notice of by him 3. Because though God hath covered them yet God may and
or trouble yea with joy and thankfulnesse to God because delivered from them Quandoque laeti recordamur dolorum said Gregory We may with joy remember by-past grief But those that are for the negative think this no waies suteable to Gods goodnesse that the sins of the godly should then be published for these grounds following First From the judicial processe where Christ cals the blessed of his Father to inherit the Kingdom prepared for them and then enumerateth only the good works they had done no question they had many sins and failings but God takes no notice of them Secondly This agreeth best they say with those expressions of Scripture concerning pardon viz. that God blotteth them out that they are thrown into the bottom of the sea Thirdly The godly are said not to come into judgement and there is no condemnation to them yea they have already life everlasting Lastly Christ is their bridegroom their friend their advocate and how ill becoming would it be one in such relations to account or lay open their sins Which of these opinions is truest is hard to say neither of them have cogent arguments and the Scripture doth not expresly decide the question yet the negative seems to have more probability on its side The Use is First Of comfort and glad tidings to the children of God howsoever in this life they have accusations from within and from without yet the day is coming when they shall have a glorious and publike justification from all objections Then Satan can no more accuse Joshua for the noisome rags upon him Then Joseph shall be brought out of the prison freed from all guilt and calumny and exalted to great glory and it may be therefore God suffereth thee to be exercised with much guilt and fear here that thou maist the more long for those daies of refreshment And as this truth is for their great consolation so also it demonstrateth their happinesse That that which is so terrible and dreadfull to wicked men should be such matter of rejoycing unto them when they through horrour should cry for the mountains and hils to cover them these shall desire the graves and the earth to deliver up her dead that they may enjoy their Bridegroom Certainly beleevers are not beleevers in this point as they should be what an heavenly contempt would it work in them of this present world what earnest desires that this Kingdom might at last come This is their marriage-day the day of coronation Then death hell grave sin and Satan are all conquered And if the joy and peace which remission of sin produceth in this life be so exceeding glorious what will that be when we shall have no more streams but that fountain 2. Use by way of contrary To terrifie and arouse wicked men for as the godly have but a glimmering a little pittance in this life in respect of that fulnesse of glory to be revealed hereafter so the wicked feel not the least part of that guilt torment shame and confusion which hereafter shall be poured upon them There are many mens sins lie asleep keep no noise either in their own consciences or before God but then these lyons these mastive dogs that lay tumbling at the door will rise up in rage and wholly devour Do not therefore take Gods forbearance for his gracious acquittance oh do not imbolden thy self with false encouragements and say The worst is over As the Apostle said these light afflictions were nothing to that eternal weight of glory so on the contrary may the wicked say These pangs and wounds of consciences which are felt here are nothing to that eternal weight of sin hereafter Bernard said descendamus in infernum viventes ne descendamus morienâ—es let us goe into hell while we are alive by a serious meditation and holy consideration that we may not go into it when we be dead by reall miseries As the Apostle saith we are the children of God but it doth not yet appear what we shall be there is more glory then they can conceive so wicked men are now the children of wrath but it doth not yet appear what they shall be Oh therefore that ungodly men were as wise as Jonah's mariners who in the midst of tempests seeing their ship necessarily sinking throw away the goods that were a burden knowing they and their safety could not consist together Thus are ye to do throw away thy sins those heavy burdens that put all into danger and so maist thou safely arrive at last in heaven LECTURE XXX LUKE 7.47 Wherefore I say unto thee Her sins which are many are forgiven her for she loved much THis Text is part of a famous history which may well be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because of the three great things observable in it 1. Great sinnes 2. Great repentance and humiliation â— Great love and grace of God through Christ in pardoning And there is this one peculiar thing well observed about this woman in the history that whereas divers others addressed themselves to Christ for corporal mercies this only cometh for spiritual even for remission of her sins For the better understanding of the text let us briefly consider the history and first the woman is described by her quality inherent a sinner not in a common sense as all are but in a more notorious manner and therefore those that mitigate her fault out of some reverence or honour to her do not so much encrease her honour as Maldonat upon the place well observeth as detract from Christs honour for the Physicians skill is most commended where the disease is more desperate That she was a known great sinner appeareth in that the Pharisee wondred at Christ because he would have any commerce with her Whether this woman was Mary Lazarus his sister or no is hotly disputed by Commentators but impertinent to my scope In the next place you have her great repentance expressed wherein for the generall you may see the Apostles duty accomplished as she had given her members to be members of iniquity so now of righteousnesse insomuch that she is the true looking-glasse of an humble convert Her humiliation is described 1. In bringing of a box of oyntment to anoint his feet not his head say some because she thought her self so unworthy she brought indeed an outward visible box of ointment but she had another invisible and spiritual one even a contrite and broken heart 2. She stands behinde Christ as being loathsom in her own eyes and washeth his feet with her tears which must suppose that to be true in her which Jeremiah desireth viz. Her head to be a fountain of water but as long as her heart was such a fervent limbeck it was no wonder to see such precious distillations Chrysologus upon this fact of hers saith The Heavens are wont to water the Earth with rain but ecce nunc rigat terra Coelum here the earth watereth Heaven Lastly The debasement of
his sins in particular And others that there is only this later and therefore the fore-mentioned Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance makes this only Gospel-repentance but as Gospel-faith is not that reflect act of the soul in a man whereby it is perswaded that Christ is his but a direct act of taking and receiving Christ to be ours so a Gospel-repentance is not that mainly whereby we are humbled because we receive Gods love to us in pardoning but principally in that loathing of our selves to obtaâ—n pardon It is therefore great ignorance in that Author in his Treatise of Gospel-repentance when pag. 58. he cals Repentance that goeth before this Faith viz. that my sins are pardoned a dead work as if the Faith that justifieth and without which it is impossible to please God were the believing that my sins are pardoned whereas the Scripture makes it to be the receiving of Christ and laying hold on him and seeing that the object must in order of nature be before the act that is imployed about it it followeth infallibly that I must have Justification before I can believe I have it Repentance therefore may be thought to go before a two-fold act of Faith First That whereby Christ is laid hold upon and made ours and so the Repentance that precedeth this may be called legal and slavish Or secondly Before a perswasion that my sins are pardoned and before this act of Faith Repentance must necessarily go because the Covenant of Grace dispenseth pardon only to such But because I have already spoken enough of the former kinde of Repentance anteceding Remission of sins vindicating the necessity of it I shall press upon this later as being most proper to my Text. And that assurance of apprehension of pardon doth not beget security but rather increase godliness will appear several wayes And first thus Those places which speak of Gods gracious Properties do represent them as grounds of duty as well as of consolation Psal 130.4 There is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared Mark that expression There is forgiveness with thee which implieth forgiveness to be in God as in a fountain and therefore he doth easily and plentifully forgive but lest any Spider should suck poison out of this sweet flower he addeth That thou mayest be feared here is no incouragement to security Thus Hos 3.5 there is a gracious Promise of God to his children that they shall fear him and his goodness As it is Gods glorious Property to work good out of evil so it is a most devilish quality to work evil out of good 2. The Promises of God they also require an holy and humble walking 2 Cor. 7.1 The Apostle having in the Chapter before mentioned those glorious Promises in the Covenant of Grace That he would be our God and we his sons and daughters makes this inference Having those promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness perfecting holiness in the fear of God So that here is no danger as long as we keep close to the genuine use of the Scripture Thus also Eph. 4.30 Grieve not the Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed c. Where Assurance is so far from incouraging to sin that by sin it is weakned and destroyed The more gracious then we perceive God to us the more humiliation and debasement we finde in our selves Thus the Apostle Peter 1 Pet. 1.17 If ye call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth all men pass the time of your sojourning here in fear To make therefore doubting a duty and meritorious as some Papists have done is to betray great ignorance of Scripture motives 3. That Assurance of pardon is apâ— to kindle spiritual affections in us is plain if you consider the nature of such Assurance 1. Originally it is wrought by the Spirit of God as a man by the power of Free-will is not able to do any supernatural good thing so neither by the strength of natural light can he discern the gracious priviledges God bestoweth upon him 1 Cor. 2.12 The Spirit whereby we know the things that are freely given us of God is opposed to the spirit of the world If then this perswasion be not the fruit of the flesh but of the Spirit is it any wonder that it inclineth us to holy things Again 2. This perswasion of pardon cometh in the use of those means appointed by God 2 Pet. 1.10 By giving great diligence in the use of the means we only come to Assurance How then can such a perswasion of forgiveness cause a neglect of the means Lastly That Spirit which doth thus assure doth work also at the same time concomitant gracious effects especially servent and effectual prayer Rom. 8. Gal. 3. Now where constant powerful Prayer is that soul is like a tree planted by the waters side 4. That this perswasion of pardon doth inflame much to Holiness appeareth from the nature and state of those who are in it They are sons Now by experience we see that in an ingenuous son the more apprehension there is of his fathers tender love and kindeness to him the more obsequious and serviceable he is Can we think that the fathers great love to his prodigal son was not like coals of fire poured on him to melt and thaw him We rather see jealousies and suspitions of love to breed hatred at last Hence diffidence worketh despair and despair hatred of God It is therefore a special duty lying upon the people of God to entertain good thoughts of God and to be perswaded of his loving kindeness to them 5. That the people of God do yet mourn and abhorre themselves for their sins though perswaded of the pardon of them ariseth from the sincerity and uprightness of their heart whereby they hate sin as sin and grieve for the dishonour they have put upon God It is indeed lawful yea a duty to repent of sin that it may be pardoned because the Scripture propounds this as a motive and incouragement to the duty And it is a vain thing to affect more high and spiritual strains then the Scripture But Humiliation of sin when pardoned and after the knowledge of the pardon doth evidently discover an upright heart that the dishonour of God is more trouble and grief to him then his own punishment and destruction Whereby it is that hedoth so accuse and condemn himself for dealing so wretchedly and frowardly with so gracious a God 6. That ingenious principle of Gratitude and Thankfulness which reigneth in the godly will put them upon all these services Godliness in the lives of the godly may be considered two wayes First as a means wherein they attain to eternal life Secondly as an expression of Thankfulness unto God Hence Vrsine in his Catechism inscribeth that part of Divinity which containeth our duty de gratitudine of Thankfulness Bern. Ep. 107. Justus quis est nisi qui amanti se Deo vicem rependit amoris quod non