Sin and Mifery, I have Compaffion and Pity: My Mercy may be a Copy and Pattern to all Men to learn it of Me, even towards their own Brethren, Luke vi. 36. Therefore he is called the Father of Mercies, 2 Cor. i. 3. Mifericors eft cui alterius miferia cordi eft. Mercy hath its very Name from Mifery, for it is no other Thing than to lay another's Mifery to Heart, not to defpife it, not to add to it, but to help it; it is a ftrong Inclination to fuccour the Mifery of Sinners, therefore thou needs no other thing to commend thee to him. Art thou miferable, and knows it indeed? Then He is merciful, and know that also, these two fuit well. merciful as well as ftrong; if thou have, Gifts of Grace;thou would have thefe Graces to procure His Favour, and to make them the Ground of thy believing in His Promifes, but Grace is without Money, it im mediately contracts with discovered Mifery, fo that if thou do difcover in thy felf Mifery and Sin, though thou find nothing elfe, yet do not caft away Confidence, but fo much the more addrels thy felf to Mercy and Grace, which doth not feek Repentance in thee, but brings Repentance and Faith with them unto thee; yet there is fomething in the awakned Confcience, I have gone on long in Sin, I have been a prefumptuous Sinner, can He endure me longer? Well, hear what the Lord faith, I am long-fuffering, and patient; and if he had not been fo, we had been damned ere now, Patience hath a long Term, and we cannot out-run it, out-weary it. Why do we not wonder that he prefently and inftantly executed His Wrath on Angels, and gave them not one Hour's Space for Repentance, but caft them down headlong into Deftruction, as in a Moment; and yet His Majefty hath so long delayed the Execution of our Sentence, and calls unto Repentance and Forgiveness, that we may efcape the Condemnation of Angels: His Patience is not Slackness and Negligence, as Men count it, 2 Pet. iii. 9. He fits not in Heaven as an Idol and idle Specta tor of what Men are doing; but he ob ferves all Wrongs, and is fenfible of them alfo: And if we were mindful and fen fible of them alfo, he would forget them. He is long-fuffering: This is extended and stretched-out Patience beyond all Expectation, beyond all deferving, yea, con trary to it. Therefore, as long as he forbears, if thou apprehend thy Mifery and Sin, and Continuance in it; do not conclude that it is defperate, Why should a living Man complain? As long as Patience Nay, but faith the convinced Soul, I know not if He will be merciful to me, for what am I? There is nothing in me to be regarded, I have nothing to conciliate Favour, and all that may procure Hatred. But, faith the Lord, I am gracious, and difpenfe Mercy freely, without refpect to Condition or Qualification: Say not, if I had fuch a Measure of Humiliation as fuch a one, if I loved Him fo much, "if I had fo much godly Sorrow and Repentance, then, I think he would be merciful to me. Say not fo, for behold He is gracious, He hath Mercy on whom He will have Mercy, and there is no other Cause, no Motive to procure it, it comes from within His own Breaft. It is not thy Repentance will make Him love thee, nor thy Hardness of Heart will make Him hate thee, or obftruct the Vent of His Grace towards thee: No, if it be Grace, it is no more of Works, no Works in that Way that thou imagines; it is not of Repentance, not of Faith, in that Senfe thou conceiveft, but it is freely, without the Hire, without the Price of Repentance, or Faith, because all thofe are but the free I lengthens lengthens the Life, if thou defire to come to Him, believe He will accept thee. with Jealoufie? Jealoufie would quench any Creatures Love, but though it grieve and provoke Him, yet He will not change, He will not diminish His; only do not think your Difputings, and Quarrelling innocent and Harmless Things; no certainly, they grieve the Spirit, ftir up the Beloved to go away, as it were, be out Comfort, and without Fruit; yet He will bear with,and not quench the fmoaking Flax of a Believer's Defires, though they do not arife to the Flame of Affur But faith the doubting Soul, I am exceeding perverfe, and wicked, there is nothing in me but Wickedness, it fo abounds in me, that there is nothing in me but Wickedness, it fo abounds in me, that there is none like me; but faith the Lord, I am abundant in Goodness. Thy Wicked-fore He pleafe, and make thee walk withnefs, though it be great, it is but a created Wickedness, but my Goodnefs is the Goodnefs of God; I am as abundant in Grace and Goodness as thou art in Sin, nay, infinitely more; thy Sin is but the Tranfance. greffion of a finite Creature, but my Mercy is the Compaffion of an infinite God, it can fwallow it up; fuppofe thy Sin cry come up to Heaven, yet Mercy reaches above Heaven, and is built up for ever. Here is an Invitation to all Sinners to come and tafte, O come and tafte and fee how good the Lord is; Goodness is communicative, it diffufes it felf, like the Sun's Light. There is Riches of His Goodness, Rom. ii. 4. Poor Soul, thou canft not spend it though thou have many Wants. But I am full of Doubtings, Fears and Jealoufies; I cannot believe in His Promifes, I often queftion them; How, how then will He perform them? I fay, (faith the Lord) I am abundant in Truth, He will certainly perform, Shall our Unbelief, or Doubting, make the Faith of God of none Effect, &c. Rom. iii. 3. God forbid, His Faithfulness reaches unto the Clouds, He will keep Covenant with thee, whofe Soul hath chofen Him, though thou often queftion and doubt of Him. Indeed, thou shouldft not give Indulgence to thy Doubtings and Jealoufies, but look on them as high Provocations; for what can be more grievous to fervent Love than to meet But the wounded Spirit hath one or two Burdens more: I have abused much Mercy, how can Mercy pity me?" I have turned "Grace unto Wantonness, so that when I look to Mercy and Grace to comfort me, they do rather challenge me; the Sins of none are like mine, none of fuch a hainous prefumptuous Nature: But. let us hear what God the Lord fpeaks, I keep Mercy for Thousands, and forgive Iniquity, Tranfgreffion, and Sin; Thou haft wafted much Mercy, but more is behind, all the Treasure is not spent; though there were many thousand. Worlds befide, I could pardon them all, if they would flee unto my Mercy, thou fhalt not be ftraitned in me, Mercy will pardon thy Abufe of Mercy, it will for-give all Faults thou doft against it self. Thou that fins against the Son of Man,. the Redeemer of the World, and Remedy of Sin, yet there is Pardon for thee whatever the Quality, Condition, or Circumftance of thy Sin be; whoever, convinced of it, and loadned with it, defires reft to thy Soul, thou may find it in. Chrift, whofe former Kindness thou haft anfwered with Contempt; many Sins, many great *Sins, and these prefumptuous Sins cannot exclude, nay, no Sin can ex clude clude a willing Soul. Unbelief keeps thee unwilling and fo excludes thee. ¡mination of your ways, and do not arraign your felves before God's Tribunal daily, Now, as the Spider fucks Poifon out till you find your felves loathfome and deof the sweetest Flower, fo the moft Part of fperate, and no Refuge for you; you who Souls fuck nothing but Delufion, and Pre- do flatter your felves always in the Hope fumption, and Hardning, out of the Gof- of Heaven, and put the Fear of Hell alpel; Many Souls reafon for more Liber-ways from you, I fay, God will by no ty to Sin from Mercy; but behold, howMeans, no Prayers, no Intreaties clear or the Lord backs it with a dreadful Word, pardon you, because you come not to Jefus Tube will by no Means clear, the guilty. Chrift, in whom is preached Forgivenes As many as do not condemn themfelves, and Remiffion of Sins. You who take and judge themselves before His Tribu Liberty to Sin, becaufe God is gracious, nal of Juftice, there is no refcinding of and delay Repentance till the End, bethe condemnatory Sentence, but it ftands caufe God is Long-futtering; know God above your Heads, He that believes not will not clear you; He is Holy and Juft is condemned already. Juftice hath con- as He is Merciful. If His Mercy make demned all by a Sentence; he that doth thee not fear and tremble before Him, and not in the Senfe of this flee into Jefus do not feparate thee from thy Sins; if Chrift from Sin and Wrath is already con- Remiffion of Sins be not the strongest demned; his Sentence is standing, there Perfwafion to thy Soul of the removing needs no new one, fince he flees not to of Sin, certainly thou doft in vain prefume Mercy for Abfolution, the Sentence of upon His Mercy. Now, confider what Condemnation ftands unrepealed, You Influence all this glorious Proclamation guilty Souls, who clear your felves, God had on Mofes; it ftirs up in him Rewill not clear you; and alas! How many verence and Affection, Reverence to fuck of you do clear your felves? Do you not a Glorious Majefty, and great Defire to extenuate and mince your Sins? How have him amongst them, and to be more hard is it to extort any Confeffion of Gilt one with Him: If thy Soul rightly dif out of you, but in the general? If we cover God, it cannot but abale thee, he condescend to Particulars, many of you made hafte to bow down and worship : will plead Innocency, almoft in every O, God's Majefty is a surprising and aftoThing, though you have, like Children, nifhing Thing, it would bow thy Soul in learned to speak thefe Words, That ye are the Duft if it were prefented to thee; laSinners. I beseech you confider it, it is bour to keep the right and intire Repre no light Matter, for God will by Means fentation of God in thy Sight, His whole clear the guilty; by no Means, by no In- Name, Strong, Merciful, and Just; treaties, no Flatteries; What? Will He Great, Good, and Holy. I fay, keep not pardon fin? Yes indeed: His Name both in thy View, for half Representatitells you He will pardon all kind of Sins, ons are dangerous, either to beget Preand abfolve all manner of guilty Perfons, fumption, and Security, when thou looks but yet fuch as do condemn themselves, on Mercy alone, or Defpair, when thou fuch as are guilty in their own Confcience, looks on Juftice, and Power alone; let and their Mouths stopped before God; thy Soul confider all jointly, that it may you who do not enter into the ferious Ex-receive a mixed Impreffion of all; and this is the Holy Compofition, and Temper of a Believer, Rejoice with trembling, Love with Fear; let all thy Discoveries of Him aim at more Union and Communion with Him, who is fuch a Self-fufficient, Alt fufficient, and Eternal Being, John iv. 24. God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. WE have here fomething of the Na- Knowledge of Him; many think they ture of God pointed out to us, and fomething of our Duty towards Him. God is a Spirit, that is His Nature; and Man muft worship Him, that is his Duty; and that in Spirit and Truth, that is the right Manner of the Duty: If thefe three were well pondered till they did fink into the Bottom of our Spirits, they would make us indeed Chriftians, not in the Letter, but in the Spirit: That is prefuppofed to all Chriftian Worship and Walking, to know what God is; 'tis indeed the Primo cognitum of Chriftianity, the firft Principle of true Religion, the very Root out of which springs and grows up walking fuitably with, and worshipping anfwerably of, a known God. I fear, much of our Religion be like the Athenians, they builded an Altar to an unknown God; and like the Samritans, who worshipped they knew not what. Such a Worship, I know not what it is, when the God worshipped is not known. The two Parents of true Religion are, The Knowledge of God, and of our felves; this, indeed, is the Beginning of the Fear of God, which the wife Preacher calls, The Beginning of true Wisdom: And these two, as they beget true Religion, fo they cannot truely be one without the other: It is not many Notions, and Speculations about the Divine Nature, it is not high and ftrained Conceptions of God, that comprizes the true know fomething, when they can fpeak of thofe Myfteries, in fome fingular Way, and in fome Terms, removed from common Understandings, which neither themfelves nor others know what they mean; and thus they are prefumptuous, felf-conceited, knowing nothing as they ought to know; There is a Knowledge that puffs up, and there is a Knowledge that cafts down, a Knowledge in many that doth but fwell them, not grow them; 'tis but a Tumor full of Wind, a vain, and em. pty, frothy Knowledge, that is neither good for edifying others, nor faving a Man's felf; a Knowledge that a Man knows, and reflects upon fo as to afcend upon the Height of it, and measure himfelf by the Degrees of it; this is not the true Knowledge of God, which knows not it felf, looks not back upon it self, but ftraight towards God, His Holiness and Glory, and our Bafenefs and Misery, and therefore it conftrains the Soul to be afhamed of it self in fuch a glorious Prefence, and to make hafte to worship, as Mofes, Job, faiah, did. This Definition of God, if we did truly understand it, we could not but wor fhip him in another Manner. Goa is a Spirit: Many ignorant People form in their own Mind fome Likenefs, and Image of God, who is invisible; you know how ye fancy to yourfelves fome bodily Shape, Shape; when you conceive of him, you think he is fome Reverend and Majeftick Perfon, fitting on a Throne in Heaven: But I beseech you, correct your Mistakes of Him; there is outward Idolatry, and there is inward; there is Idolatry in Action, when Men paint or engrave fome Similitude of God; and there is Idolatry in Imagination, when the Fancy and Apprehenfion runs upon fome Image, or Likenefs of God; the first is among Papifts, but I fear the latter be too common among us, and it is indeed all one, to form fuch a Similitude in our Mind, and to engrave or paint it without; fo that the God whom many of us worship, is not the living and true God, but a painted or graven Idol. When God appeared most vifible to the World, as at the giving out of the Law, yet no Man did fee any Likenefs at all, he did not come under the Perception. of the moft fubtle Senfe, he could not be perceived but by the retired Understanding, going afide from all Things vifible, and therefore you do but fancy an Idol to yourselves, inftead of God, when you apprehend him under the Likeness of any vifible, or fenfible Thing, and so whatever Love, or Fear, or Reverence you have, it is all but mispent Superftition, the Love and Fear of an Idol. I. Know then, that God is a Spirit, and therefore he is like none of all thefe Things you fee, or hear, or fmell, or tafte, or touch: The Heavens are glorious indeed, the Light is full of Glory, but he is not like that. If all your Senfes fhould make an Inquiry, and fearch for him throughout the World, you should not find him: Though he be near hand every one of us, yet our Eyes and Ears and all your Senfes, might travel the Length of the Earth, and Breadth of the Sea, and fhould not nd him, even as you might fearch all the Corners of Heaven, e're you could hear or fee an Angel; if you would fawe a Man afunder, and refolve him in Atoms of Duft, yet you could not perceive a Soul within him; why? Because these are Spirits, and fo without the Reach of your Senfes. II. If God be a Spirit, then he is invifible, and dwells in Light inacceffible, which no Man hath feen or can fee, then our poor narrow Minds that are drowned, as it were, and immerfed into Bodies of Clay, and in this State of Mortality, receives all Knowledge by the Senfes, cannot frame any fuitable Notion of his fpiritual and abstracted Nature. We cannot conceive what our own Soul is, but by fome fenfible Operation flowing from it, and the Height that our Knowledge of that noble Part of ourselves amounts to, is but this dark, and confused Conception, that the Soul is fome inward Principle of Life, and Senfe and Reafon: How then is it poffible for us to conceive aright of the Divine Nature, as it is in itself, but only in a dark and general Way? We guess at His Majefty, by the glorious Emanations of His Power, and Wisdom, and the Rays thereof which he displays abroad in all the Work of His Hands, and from all these concurring Teftimonies, and Evidences of His Majefty, we gather this confused Notion of Him, that He is the Fountain-felf Independent Being, the Original of all thefe Things, and more abfolute in the World, than the Soul is in the Body, the true Anima mundi, the very Life and the Light of Men, and the Soul that quickens, moves and forms all this vifible World, that makes all Things visible, and himself is invisible: Therefore it is that the Lord fpeaks to us in Scripture of Himself, according to our Capaciues, of His Face,. His Right Hand, and Arm, His Throne, |