XLII.

Job 13. 26.

SERM. ing to God, " For Thou writest bitter things against me, and makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth." Though his sins were committed many years before, in his very youth, yet he still felt the bitterness of them, and his soul was filled with as much grief and sorrow for them, as if he had but newly committed, and had not as yet repented of them. Thus St. Paul, after he was become one of the greatest Saints upon earth, still looked upon himself as the chiefest of all sinners, by reason of the many and horrid crimes he had been guilty of before his conversion, which being still fresh in his mind and memory, he could not but condemn and abhor himself for them as long as he lived.

[1 Tim. 1. 15.]

I suppose there are many here present, who have found the same by their own experience, even all who are touched with so quick a sense of your former sins and follies, that you have truly repented of them. Do what you can they will sometime come into your thoughts, and vex and grieve you to the heart, though they were committed twenty, or [Gen. 4.7.] thirty, or forty years ago, it is all one, they still "lie at the door" of your consciences, ready upon all occasions to assault and trouble you, as much as if they had been committed but yesterday: they were once sweet to your taste, but now they are bitter to your souls. Oh! the gall and the wormwood, the grief and anguish you now feel, when you call to mind your former folly and madness in breaking so righteous a law, and in displeasing so great a God, and so gracious a Father as you have done! How doth it cut you to the heart, that you should ever offend Him, who gives you your very life and being, and all the good things you do enjoy! That you have been guilty of such crimes which nothing less than the blood of God could expiate! And have lived in those sins for which the best friend you have in the world died! How are your hearts grieved, and your souls ready to be overwhelmed with horror and despair at the rememPs. 38. 3, 4. brance of it, so as to say with David, "There is no soundness in my flesh, because of Thine anger, O Lord; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin for mine iniquities are gone over my head; as an heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear."

:

"But let not your hearts be troubled: you believe in

God, believe also in Jesus Christ." As ye remember what you have done, remember also what He hath suffered: what He hath suffered for those very sins which you remember you once committed; as verily as you believe yourselves to be guilty of such sins, believe likewise that Christ hath undergone all the shame, and pain and punishment which was due unto you for them. That He, by the one oblation of Himself, made complete satisfaction for the sins of the whole world, and for yours amongst the rest. "That He Isa. 53, 5. was wounded for your transgressions, and bruised for your iniquities, that the chastisement of your peace was laid upon Him, that by His stripes you might be healed." "That He 2 Cor. 5. 21. was made sin for you, that you might be made the righteousness of God in Him." "That He was delivered for your Rom. 4. 25. offences, and raised again for our justification." That He "loved you and gave Himself for you," and therefore calls [Gal.2.20.] upon you, saying, "Come unto Me all ye that labour and Matt.11.28. are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." You labour under the weight, you are heavy laden with the burden of your sins, and if you do but go to Christ, by a quick and lively faith in Him, He will ease you of your burden, and give rest and quiet to your souls: He'll wash you from your iniquities, and cleanse you from your sins in His own blood; and will say to you as He did to the man in the Gospel, "Be of good comfort, My son, thy sins are all pardoned."

[Matt.9.2.]

And verily this is not only the greatest, but the only effectual remedy in the world for a wounded conscience, insomuch that it is impossible for any one, who is truly sensible of his sins, to keep his heart from sinking down into despair at the remembrance of them, without a firm belief that the eternal Son of God hath suffered for them and therefore St. John prescribes no other receipt in this case, but only this, saying, "If any man sin we have an Advocate 1John2.1,2. with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world." As if He had said, If any of you be guilty of some notorious sin, for which God may justly inflict the severest of His judgments upon you, yet do not despair of His mercy, but remember that we have an Advocate always ready to plead our cause in Heaven, "Jesus 25.]

[Heb. 7.

XLII.

SERM. Christ the Righteous," who is " able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them :" and He may well do it, having offered up Himself as a propitiatory sacrifice for the sins of mankind in general, and for yours particularly; and therefore do but repent of what you have done, resolve to do so no more, but live for the future according to the rules that He hath set you, and then you may and ought to believe in Christ for the pardon and forgiveness of all your former sins, so as to be fully persuaded in your minds, that God for His sake hath, and will discharge and absolve you from all the guilt you had contracted by them, and is now as perfectly reconciled to you, as if He had never been displeased with you, and therefore "let not your hearts be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Jesus Christ."

But you will say, perhaps, it is true indeed, Christ being both God and man, His death could not but be of infinite value, and therefore a sufficient sacrifice for the sins of all the world; but it is as true likewise, that none are actually pardoned by it, but only such as sincerely repent and turn to God, so as to avoid and mortify their sins, and walk for [Rom.6.4.] the future" in newness of life;" whereas, we find by woeful experience, that we have no power in ourselves at all to do [2Cor.3.5.] it. We are "not sufficient of ourselves so much as to think

23.

any thing as of ourselves," much less to do any thing that is Rom. 7. 21, good; "But when we would do good, evil is present with us. Though we delight in the Law of God after the inward man, we see another law in our members warring against the law of our minds, and bringing us into captivity to the law of sin, which is in our members." By which means, though we set ourselves against our sins, we cannot overcome them, but are often overcome by them. Though we desire and endeavour to serve and obey God, according as He hath commanded us, we cannot do it; we strive to walk uprightly in His holy ways, but we are so very weak and infirm in our inward man, that do what we can, we often stumble and fall; either doing what we ought not, or else not doing what we ought, at least not so as we ought to do it: how then can we expect that God should have mercy upon us, who are thus conscious to ourselves, that we have not

only sinned heretofore, but do so still? How can we expect pardon, even for Christ's sake, when we are not able of ourselves to perform the conditions upon which it is promised? This is that which afflicts and confounds our souls, and fills them with unspeakable grief and horror, that God hath provided us such an all-sufficient Saviour, and yet we, by reason of the weakness of our depraved nature, cannot go unto Him, nor come up to those easy terms, which He hath propounded in order to the pardon of our sins by the merits of His death and passion. This is that which makes us cry out in the bitterness of our souls, as St. Paul did, "O wretched Rom. 7. 24. men that we are, who shall deliver us from the body of this death that is within us?"

But let not your hearts be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in Christ, who is able not only to pardon your sins when ye have repented, but to give you repentance too, that so they may be pardoned. "For He is exalted with the Acts 5. 31. right hand of God to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." They are both now at His disposal: repentance, as He is a Prince; and forgiveness, as He is a Saviour. As He is a Saviour, He can save us from the wrath of God which is due unto our sins, and so forgive them, so soon as we have repented of them. And as He is a Prince, that hath "all power com- [Matt. 28. mitted to Him both in Heaven and earth," He can enable us 18.] to repent, so as that our sins may be forgiven. What then if ye can do nothing of yourselves? What is there ye may not do, by His assistance, who can do all things? And who is always ready to enable you to do whatsoever is required of you, if ye do but believe and depend upon Him for it, insomuch that by the continual exercise of your faith in Him you may continually derive that grace and virtue from Him, whereby you may be enabled, not only to "deny un- Tit. 2. 12. godliness and worldly lusts, but likewise to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world," and so both learn and practise all that the Gospel teaches and requires of you in order to your pardon. This St. Paul found by experience, and therefore confidently asserts it, saying, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith Phil. 4. 11to be content; I know both how to be abased, and I know

X

13.

XLII.

SERM. how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound, and to suffer need: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." And if you do but believe in Christ, as St. Paul did, you may have the same experience as he had, so as to be able to say, that though you can do nothing without Christ, there is nothing but you can do by Him: by Him you may overcome the world, by Him you may mortify [Col. 3. 5; all your earthly members, by Him you may "work out 2 Pet. 1. 10; your Salvation with fear and trembling," by Him you may Luke 1.6.]" make your calling and election sure;" for by Him you

Phil. 2. 12;

may walk in all the "commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless," and therefore, let not your hearts be troubled at the consideration of your natural infirmities, but believe in Christ, apply yourselves to Him, and He will soon afford you such assistances of His own grace and Holy Spirit, whereby your hearts shall be set to obey God's command[Eph.2.10.] ments, and to do" all such good works as He hath prepared for you to walk in," notwithstanding your own natural corruptions, or the temptations of the Devil himself; I say, notwithstanding the temptations of the Devil himself, which 1 Pet. 5. 8. are often very strong and violent; "For he being cast out of Heaven, walks about, seeking whom he may devour." And if he can delight in any thing, it is in doing mischief, wheresoever he comes, to mankind, and in bringing them, if it be possible, into the same estate of misery and torment with himself; for which purpose, being full of subtilty as well as malice, he takes particular notice of every one's temper, his condition, and the several circumstances of his life, and suits his temptations accordingly; so long as men go on in their sins, he lets them alone, as being hitherto sure of them; but when he sees them once begin to look towards Heaven, and endeavour to obtain that happiness which he hath lost, then he bestirs himself, and sets with all his might and main upon them, striving all he can to bring them back into their former sins, or else to seduce them into some damnable heresy, or else into some superstitious way of living; that so they may take up with the shadow instead of the substance of religion; and if none of these things will do, but he sees them still resolved to live in the