Looking Unto Jesus, Book 3 · Chapter 2 · Section 2
SECT. II. Of Conſidering Jeſus in that Reſpect.
2. WE muſt conſider Jeſus carrying on the the great work of our Salvation in that dark time; it is not enough to ſtudy it and know it, but we muſt ſeriouſly muſe, and meditate, and ponder, and conſider of it, till we bring it to ſome profitable Iſſue: This is the Conſideration I mean, when we hold our thoughts to this or that ſpiritual ſubject, till we perceive ſucceſs, and the work do thrive and proſper in our hands. Now to help us in this, —
Gen. 3.15.1. Conſider Jeſus in the firſt Promiſe made to man; It ſhall bruiſe thy head, and thou ſhalt bruiſe his heel. When all men were under guilt of ſin, and in the power of Satan; and when thou, my Soul, wert in as bad a caſe as any other, then to hear the ſound of this glad tidings, then to hear of Jeſus, a Saviour, and Redeemer, ſure this was welcome News. Come, draw the caſe nearer to thy ſelf; thou waſt in Adams Loins, ſuppoſe thou hadſt been in Adams ſtead;Gen. 3.8, 9, … ſuppoſe thou hadſt heard the Voice of the Lord walking in the Garding, ſuppoſe thou hadſt heard him call, Adam, where art thou? Peter, Andrew, Thomas, where art thou? What? haſt thou eaten of the Tree whereof I commanded thee that thou ſhouldeſt not eat? Why then Appear and come to judgment, the Law is irrevocable,Gen. 2.17 in the day that thou eateſt thereof thou ſhalt ſurely die; there is nothing to be looked for but death temporal, and death ſpiritual, and death eternal; O what a fearful condition is this! no ſooner to come into the world, but preſently to be turned over into Hell? for one day to be Monarch of the World, and of all Creatures in the world, and the very next day to be a ſlave of Satan, and to be bound hand and foot in a darkſome dungeon? for a few hours to live in Eden, to enjoy every tree in the Garden, Pleaſant to the ſight, and good for food, and then to enter into the confines of eternity, and ever, ever, ever to be tormented with the Devil and his Angels?Gen. 3.8. It is no wonder if Adam hid himſelf from the preſence of the Lord God amongſt the trees of the Garden: O my ſoul, in that caſe thou would'ſt have cried to the Rocks,Rev. 6.16.17 and to the Mountains, fall on me, and hide me from the face of him that ſitteth on the Throne. If God be angry, who may abide it? When the great day of his wrath is come, who ſhall be able to ſtand? And yet deſpair not, cheer up O my ſoul? for in the very midſt of wrath God is pleaſed to remember Mercy; even now when all the world ſhould have been damned, a Jeſus is proclaimed and promiſed; and he it is that muſt die according to the Commination; for he is our ſurety, and he it is that by Death muſt overcome Death and the Devil; it ſhall bruiſe thy Head, ſaid God to Satan, q. d. Come Satan, thou haſt taken Captive ten thouſands of ſouls? Adam and Eve are now enſnared, and in their loynes all the men and women, that ever ſhall be from this beginning of the world to the end thereof; now is thy day of triumph, now thou keepeſt Holy-day in Hell; but thou ſhalt not carry it thus. I foreſaw from all Eternity what thou haſt done, I knew thou wouldeſt dig a hole through the comely and beautiful frame of the Creation; but I have decreed of old a Counter-work; out of the ſeed of the woman ſhall ſpring a Branch, and he ſhall bruiſe thy head, he ſhall break thy Power, he ſhall tread thy Dominion under foot, he ſhall lead thy Captivity Captive, he ſhall take away ſin, he ſhall point out to Men and Angels the glory of heaven, and a new world of free grace. In this promiſe, O my ſoul, is foulded and wrapped up thy hope, thy heaven, thy ſalvation; and therefore conſider of it, turn it upſide down look on all ſides of it, view it over and over; there is a Jeſus in it, it is a field that contains in the bowels of it a precious treaſure, there is in it a Saviour, a Redeemer, a Deliverer from ſin, death and hell: are not theſe dainties to feed upon? are not theſe rarities to dwell on in our meditations?
2. Conſider Jeſus in that next promiſe made to Abraham: Gen. 17.7.I will eſtabliſh thy Covenant between me and thee, and thy Seed after thee in their generations for an everlaſting Covenant, to be a God to thee and to thy Seed after thee: in reſpect of this Covenant Abraham is called the Father of the Faithfull, Rom. 4.11. Gal. 3.7.and they which are of the Faith are called the Children of Abraham: And O my ſoul, if thou art in Covenant with God, ſurely thou doſt by Faith draw it through Abraham, to whom this promiſe was made; for if ye be Chriſt's, then are ye Abrahams Seed, and heirs according to the promiſe: Conſider, what a mercy is this,Gal. 3 29. that God ſhould enter into a Covenant with thee in the loins of Abraham? God made a promiſe of Chriſt, and incluſively a Covenant of Grace in his comforting Adam; but he makes a Covenant expreſly under the name of Covenant, with Abraham and his ſeed. O muſe, and be amazed! What? that the great and glorious God of heaven and earth ſhould be willing to make himſelf a debtor to us? O my ſoul think of it ſeriouſly; he is in heaven, and thou art on earth, he is the Creator and thou art his Creature: Ah what art thou! or what is thy Fathers houſe that thou ſhouldeſt be raiſed up hitherto! The very Covenant is a wonder; as it Relates to God and us; what is it but a compact, an agreement, a tying, a binding of God and us; When Jehoſhaphat and Ahab were in Covenant, ſee how Jehoſhaphat expreſſeth himſelf, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, 1 King. 21.4my horſes as thy horſes: So it is betwixt God and us. If once he gives us the Covenant, then his ſtrength is our ſtrength, his power is our power, his armies are our armies, his attributes are our attributes, we have intereſt in all; there is an offenſive and a defenſive Language, (as I may ſay) betwixt God and us; and if we put him in mind of it in all our ſtraits, he cannot deny us. As it was with the Nations allied to Rome, if they fought at any time, the Romans were bound in honour to defend them; and they did it with as much diligence as they defended their own City of Rome; ſo it is with the people allied to God, he is bound in honour to defend his People, and he will do it if they implore his aid; how elſe, is it poſſible God ſhould break his Covenant? will he not ſtir up himſelf to ſcatter his, and our ſpiritual enemies? Certainly he will. Thus runs the tenour of his Covenant, I will be a God to thee and to thy ſeed after thee. This is the general promiſe; I may call it the Mother-Promiſe, that carries all other Promiſes in its womb; & we find a Jeſus in this promiſe, conſider that it is God in Chriſt that is held forth to us in this phraſe, I will be as a God to thee: O ſweet! Here is the greateſt promiſe that ever was made; Chriſt God is more than Grace, Pardon, Holineſs, Heaven, as the Husband is more excellent than the Marriage-Robe, Bracelets, Rings; the Well and Fountain of Life is of more excellency than the ſtreams; Chriſt Jeſus the objective happineſs, is far above a created and formal Beatitude which iſſueth from him. O my Soul is not this worthy of thy inmoſt conſideration? But of this more in the next.
3. Conſider Jeſus in that promiſe made to Moſes and the Iſraelites, I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the Land of Egypt, out of the Houſe of Bondage. Much hath been ſaid to this Promiſe before as matter of thy Conſideration; but to contract it, conſider in the Promiſe the ſufficiency and propriety; 1. Here is ſufficiency: it is a promiſe of infinite worth, an hid treaſure, a rich poſſeſſion, an overflowing bleſſing which none can rightly value; it is no leſs than the great, and mighty, and infinite God; if we had a promiſe of an hundred worlds, or often heavens, this is more than all; heaven indeed is beautiful, but God is more beautiful; for he is the God of heaven: and hence it is that the Saints in heaven are not ſatisfied without their God; it is a ſweet expreſſion of Bernard, As whatſoever we give unto thee, Lord, unleſs we give our ſelves, cannot ſatisfie thee; ſo whatſoever thou giveſt unto us, Lord, unleſs thou giveſt thy ſelf, it cannot ſatisfie us: and hence it is, that as God doth make the Saints his Portion, ſo God is the Portion and Inheritance of his Saints. Conſider the greatneſs, the goodneſs, the all-ſufficiency of this promiſe, I am the Lord thy God! No queſtion but Moſes had many other rich promiſes from God, but he could not be ſatisfied without God himſelf: if thy preſence be not with us, bring us not hence. And no wonder, for without God all things are nothing;Exod. 33.15. but in the want of all other things, God himſelf is inſtead of all: It is Gods alone Prerogative to be an univerſal good. The things of this world can but help in this or that particular thing: as Bread againſt hunger, Drink againſt thirſt, Cloaths againſt cold and nakedneſs, Houſe againſt wind and weather, Riches againſt poverty, Phyſick againſt ſickneſs, Friends againſt ſolitarineſs: but God is an alſufficient good; he is all in all both to the inner and outward man. Are we guilty of Sin? there is mercy in God to pardon us. Are we full of infirmities? there is Grace in God to heal us. Are we ſtrong in Corruptions? there is power in God to ſubdue them in us. Are we diſquieted in Conſcience? there is that Spirit in God that is the Comforter, that can fill us with Joy unſpeakable and glorious: And for our outward man all our welfare is laid up in God, he is the God of our Life Pſal. 42.8. he is the ſtrength of our Life. Pſal. 27.1. he is a quickning Spirit, 1 Cor. 15.45 Which though it be in regard of the inner man, yet there it is ſpoken of the inward man, which the Lord ſhall quicken after death, and doth now keep alive by his mighty power; for in him we live, Acts. 17.28.and move, and have our being.
O my Soul, that thou wouldſt but ruminate, and meditate, and conſider this promiſe in all thy wants & diſcontents: when means fail, and the ſtreames run no more, O that thou wouldeſt then go to the Fountain, where the waters run ſweeter, and more ſure:Gen. 41.16. for as Joſeph ſaid to Pharaoh it is not in me, God ſhall give Pharaoh an anſwer of peace: So may Silver and Gold, and ſuch things ſay to thee, It is not in us; God ſhall give enough out of himſelf: have God, and have all: want God, and there is no content in the enjoyment of all: It was the Apoſtles caſe as having nothing, and yet poſſeſſing all things: 2 Cor. 6.10.Surely he lived to God and enjoyed God, and he was an all-ſufficient good unto him: God may be enjoyed in any condition, in the meaneſt, as well as the greateſt, in the pooreſt as well as the richeſt: God will go into a wilderneſs, into a priſon with his people, and there he will make up all that they are cut ſhort of. Thy diſcontents therefore ariſe not from the want of outward means, but from want of inward fellowſhip with God: and if thou doſt not find a ſufficiency, it is becauſe thou doſt not enjoy him who is thy all-ſufficient good: O ſtir up Faith, and conſider the Covenant, think ſeriouſly on this promiſe, I am God all-ſufficient: I am the Lord thy God.
2. Here is the propriety of Saints, the Lord thy God. O what is this, that God is thy God? Heaven and Earth, Angels and Men may ſtand aſtoniſhed at it: What, that the Great and Mighty God, God Almighty, and God all-ſufficient ſhould be called thy God!Heb. 11.16. It is obſervable what the Apoſtle ſpeaks, God is not aſhamed to be called their God: Would not a prince be aſhamed to take a Beggar, a Runagate, a baſe and adulterous Woman to be his Wife? But we are worſe than ſo, and God is better than ſo; ſin hath made us worſe than the worſt of women, and God is better, holier, higher than the beſt of Princes: and yet God is not aſhamed to own us, nor aſhamed that we own him as our own, I am thy God. It is as if the Lord ſhould ſay, uſe me, and all my Power, Grace, Mercy, Kindneſs, as thine own: go through all my Attributes; conſider my Almighty Power, conſider my Wiſdom, Councel, Underſtanding, conſider my Goodneſs, Truth, Faithfulneſs: conſider my Patience, Long-ſuffering, Forbearance, all theſe are thine: as thus, My Power is thine, to work all thy works for thee and in thee, to make paſſage for thee in all thy ſtraits, to deliver thee out of ſix troubles and out of ſeven; my Wiſdom is thine, to counſel thee in any difficult caſes, to inſtruct thee in things that be obſcure, to reveal to thee the Myſteries of Grace, and the wonderfull things contained in my Law: my Juſtice is thine, to deliver thee when thou art oppreſſed, to defend thee in thy Innocency, and to vindicate thee from the injuries of men: what needs more? O my Soul, think of theſe, & all other Gods Attributes: ſay in thy ſelf all theſe are mine: nay more, think of God in Chriſt (for otherwiſe what haſt thou to do with God in a Covenant of grace?) and ſay in thy heart Jeſus Chriſt is mine, my Saviour, my Redeemer, my head, my elder brother: his doings are mine, and his ſufferings are mine, his Life and his Death, his Reſurrection and Aſcention, his Seſſion and Interceſſion, all are mine: nay more, if Chriſt be mine, why then all good things are mine in Chriſt; I ſay in Chriſt, for they come not immediatly, but through the hands of a ſweet Redeemer; and though he be a man who redeemed us, yet becauſe he is God as well as Man, there is more of God and Heaven, and free-love in all our good things, than if we received them immediately from God: Ravens have their food, and Devils have their being from God by creature-right; but we have all we have from God in Chriſt by Covenant-right,: this ſurely, this very promiſe is the main and principal promiſe of the Covenant; it is the very ſubſtance, Soul and life of all: O then how careful ſhouldeſt thou be to improve the ſtrength of thy mind, thoughts, and affections on this only ſubject?
4. Conſider Jeſus in that promiſe made to David, 1 Sam. 23.5He hath made with me an everlaſting Covenant, ordered in all things, and ſure. 1. An everlaſting Covenant: conſider this in the eternal efficacy, and not in the outward adminiſtration? it is Chriſt that hath built and prepared a Kingdom, that ſhall never fade, a ſpiritual and an heavenly Kingdom which ſhall never ceaſe: and as he hath prepared it, ſo if thou believeſt, he hath entred into a Covenant with thy ſoul to beſtow it on thee; it is an everlaſting Covenant, and he will give thee everlaſting Life. 2. It is ordered in all things: the Covenant of grace is ſo marſhalled and ordered, that it ſtands at beſt advantage to receive and repel all thy objections. Many and many an objection haſt thou raiſed; how often have ſuch thoughts been in thee? Oh I am miſerable, I ſhall not live but die, my ſins will damn me, I am loſt for ever! And again, If God hath made with me a Covenant, why then have I ſomething to do on my part? for this is the nature of the Covenant, to bind on both parts; but alas I have failed, I can do nothing, I can as well diſſolve a Rock as make my heart of ſtone a heart of fleſh, I can as well reach heaven with a finger as lay hold on Chriſt by the hand of Faith! Have not ſuch arguings as theſe been many and many a time in thy heart? O conſider how the Covenant is ordered and marſhalled in reſpect of the Author of it, of the Perſons intereſted in it, of the parts of which it conſiſts, of the end and aim to which it refers: and in ſome of theſe, if not in all of theſe, thou wilt find thy Objections anſwered, removed, routed. 3. It is ſure: God is not faſt and looſe in his Covenant? heaven and earth ſhall paſs away, before one jot or title of his Word ſhall fail: conſider O my Soul, he both can and will perform his Word; his Power, his Love, his Faithfulneſs, his Conſtancy, all ſtand engaged. What ſweet matter is here for a Soul to dwell upon? what needs it go out to other objects, whilſt it may find enough here? but eſpecially what needs it to beſtow it ſelf upon vain things? O that ſo much pretious ſand of our thoughts ſhould run out after Sin, and ſo little after grace, or after this Covenant of grace!
5.Jer. 31.33, 34 Conſider Jeſus in that new Covenant or Promiſe which God made with Iſrael and Judah, I will put my Law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God and they ſhall be my People; and they ſhall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, ſaying, know the Lord; for they ſhall all know me from the leaſt of them to the greatest of them, ſaith the Lord, for I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their Sins no more. Oh what an errour is it, that there is no inherent righteouſneſs in the Saints, & there is no grace in the ſoul of a believer, but only in Chriſt! is not this the ordinary Scripture phraſe?Ezek. 36.27 John. 4.14. 1 John. 2 27. Col. 1.27. Ezek. 1.20. I will put my Spirit within you: and the water that I ſhall give you, ſhall be in you a Well of water ſpringing up into everlaſting Life: and the anointing which you have received of him, abideth in you: and Chriſt in you the hope of glory. Obſerve how the ſpirit of the Living Creatures was in the Wheels, ſo that when the Spirit went, they went, and when the Spirit was lifted up, they were lifted up; even ſo is the Spirit of Chriſt, acting, and guiding, and framing and diſpoſing them to move and walk according to his Laws.Luk. 17.21. Pſal. 40.8. The Kingdom of heaven is within you, ſaith Chriſt: and I delight to do thy Will, O God, (ſaith David) yea thy Law is within my heart. O my Soul, if thou art in Covenant whith God, beſides the in-dwelling of the Spirit, there is a certain ſpiritual Power or Principle of Grace, which Chriſt by his Spirit hath put into thy heart, enabling thee in ſome meaſure to move thy ſelf towards God. And this Principle is ſometimes called a new Life, Rom. 6.4. Sometimes a Living with Chriſt, Rom. 6 8. Sometimes a being alive to God, Rom. 6.11. Sometimes a revealing of his ſon in man, Gal. 1.15. And ſomtimes a putting of the Law into our inward parts, and a writing of the Law within the heart, Jer. 31.33. O conſider of this inward Principle, it is an excellent ſubject, worthy of thy conſideration!
2. I will be their God, and they ſhall be my people: Conſider God eſſentially, and perſonally, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghoſt, God in himſelf and God in his Creatures: this very promiſe turns over heaven, and earth, and ſea, and land, and bread, and cloths, and ſleep, and the world, and life, and death, into free grace. No wonder if God ſet this promiſe in the midſt of the Covenant, as the heart in the midſt of the Body, to communicate life to all the reſt; this promiſe hath an influence into all other promiſes; it is the great promiſe of the new Covenant, it is as great as God is, though the heavens, and heaven of heavens be not able to contain him: yet this Promiſe contains him; God ſhuts up himſelf (as it were) in it. I will be their God, 2. They ſhall be my People (i.e.) They ſhall be to me a peculiar People, Tit. 2.14. The word hath this Emphaſis in it, that God looks upon all other things as accidents in compariſon, and his ſubſtance is his People; they are his very Portion: for the Lords Portion is his People, Jacob is the Lot of his Inheritance. They are his treaſure, his peculiar treaſure:Deut. 32.9 Exod 19.5. his peculiar treaſure above all People: If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my Covenant, then ſhall ye be a peculiar treaſure unto me, and above all people; for all the earth is mine: Obſerve O my ſoul, all the earth is mine, q. d. All people is my people; but I have a ſpecial intereſt in my covenanted people, they are only my portion, my peculiar treaſure. Bleſſed be Egypt my People, Aſſyria the work of my hands, and Iſrael mine Inheritance. I have made all People; Egypt and Aſſyria, and all the world is mine, but only Iſrael is my inheritance: the Saints are thoſe that God ſatisfies himſelf in; the Saints are thoſe that God hath ſet his heart upon; they are children of the high God, they are the Spouſe that are Married to the Lamb, they are nearer God in ſome reſpects than the very Angels themſelves, for the Angels are not in a myſtical union ſo Married to Chriſt as Gods People are.Iſa. 19.28. O the happyneſs of Saints! I will be their God, and they ſhall be my People.
3. They ſhall teach no more every man his Neighbour, and every man his Brother, ſaying, know the Lord; for they ſhall all know me from the leaſt of them to the greateſt of them, ſaith the Lord. Conſider of this! O poor Soul, thou complaineſt many a time of thy weakneſs, thou knoweſt little or nothing: why, ſee here a Glorious promiſe; if thou art but in Covenant with God, thou ſhalt be taught of God, and then thou ſhalt know God far more clearly than the Jews of old; he will open to thee all his treaſures of wiſdom and knowledg, he will beſtow on thee a greater meaſure of his Spirit, ſo that out of thy belly ſhall flow Rivers of Living waters. John. 7.38.We ſay a good Tutor may teach more in a day than another in a week, in a month; now the promiſe runs thus, that all thy Children ſhall be taught of God;Iſa. 54.13. not that private inſtruction, or publick Miniſtry muſt be excluded, we know theſe are appointed under the New Teſtament, and are ſubordinate to the Spirits teaching; but that the teachings of God do far ſurpaſs the teachings of men, and therefore the knowledg of God under the New Teſtament ſhall far ſurpaſs that under the old: herein appears the excellency of Chriſt's prophetical Office, He is ſuch a Prophet as enlightens every man within, John. 1.9.33that comes into the World: He is ſuch a Prophet as baptiſeth with the Holy Ghoſt and with Fire: He is ſuch a Prophet as makes men's hearts to burn within them, when he ſpeaks unto them: He is ſuch a Prophet as bids his Miniſters,Luk. 24.32. Mat. 28.19.20 Go, teach all Nations, and I will be with you; and I will make you able Miniſters, not of the Letter, but of the Spirit: He is ſuch a Prophet as teacheth inwardly, clearly, experimentally, and ſweetly: no man in the world can ſay this, or do this, but Jeſus Chriſt, the great Prophet of the Church, whom God hath raiſed up like unto Moſes, or far above Moſes; Oh my Soul conſider if thou art thus taught of God.
4. I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their Sins no more. Rom. 4.7Conſider of this! Bleſſed are they whoſe Iniquities are forgiven, and whoſe Sins are covered. Conſider O my ſoul, ſuppoſe thy caſe and thy condition thus: As thou liveſt under Laws of men, ſo for the tranſgreſſion of thoſe Laws thou art called to account; the Judge weighs, and gives an impartial and juſt judgment, he Dooms thee to the Axe, or Rack, or Wheel; and becauſe of the aggravation of thy Crime, he commands thee to be tortured leiſurely, that Bones, Sinews, Lights, Joints might be pained, for twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years; that ſo much of thy fleſh ſhould be cut off every day; that ſuch and ſuch a Bone ſhould be broken, ſuch and ſuch a day; and that by art the fleſh ſhould be reſtored, and the Bone cured again; that for ſo many years as is ſaid, thou mighteſt be kept every day dying, and yet never die; that all this while thou muſt have no Sleep, nor Eaſe, nor Food, nor Cloathing convenient for thee; that Whips of Iron, Laſhes and Scourges of Scorpions, that Racks, Wheels, Cauldrons full of melted Lead, ſhould be prepared inſtruments of thy continual, horrible, terrible Torments; in this caſe, ſuppoſe a mighty Prince, by an Act of free and ſpecial Grace, ſhould deliver thee from this Pain and Torture, and not only ſo, but ſhould give thee a Life in perfect health, ſhould put thee into a Paradiſe of Pleaſures, where all the honour, acclamations, love, and ſervice, of a world of Men and Angels ſhould await thee, and where thou ſhouldſt be elivated to the top of all imaginable Happineſs, above Solomon in the higheſt Royalty, or Adam in his firſt Innocency; where not this mercy? wouldeſt thou not thing it the higheſt Act of Grace and Love, that any creature could extend to his fellow-creature? and yet O my Soul, all this is nothing but a ſhadow of grace in compariſon of the love and rich grace of God in Chriſt in the juſtification of a ſinner. If thou haſt a right to this promiſe, I well forgive thy Iniquity, and I will remember thy ſin no more. Thou art delivered from eternal Death, and thou art entitled to an eternal Kingdom; O know thy bleſſedneſs aright! Conſider how infinitly thou art engaged to God, and Chriſt, and mercy, and free-grace! This promiſe ſounds forth nothing but grace and bleſſing; grace from God, and bleſſing on us; it is grace, becauſe nothing but grace and mercy can forgive: it is grace, becauſe God, if he will, hath power in his hand to Revenge; he doth not paſs by ſin as men do offences, when they diſſemble forgiveneſs; they may forgive, becauſe they have not power to avenge:Dut 32.35 Exod. 36.…4 it is otherwiſe with God; To me belonges Vengeance and Recompence, ſaith God: He is able to deſtroy and yet he chuſeth to forgive; this is his Name, ſtrong and gracious.
O my Soul thou art apt to complain, what? will the Lord forgive my Sins? What reaſon hath God to look on me, to Pardon me, to pluck me as a firebrand out of the Fire of Hell? why ſhould God forgive me? But now conſider (if thy heart be humbled) — the Lord will do it. —
1. Becauſe he delighteth in Mercy; it is a pleaſure to God to forgive Sins:Micah 7.18 never did we take more pleaſure, nor ſo much pleaſure in acting and committing of ſin, as he doth in the pardoning of ſin; he is the Father of Mercies, 2 Co. 1.3he delights in mercy as a Father in his Children; it doth him good to ſee the Fruits of his own mercy, in taking away the ſins of his own people.
2. Becauſe it is his purpoſe which he hath purpoſed within himſelf from all Eternity; this was the great deſign of God (as you have heard) to make his grace glorious in thoſe whom he intends to ſave; he will have the praiſe of the glory of his Grace: Eph. 1.6 2 Theſ. 1.10he will not loſe his glory; he will be admired in his Saints; he will make the World to wonder, when it ſhall be known what ſin hath been committed by them,Rom 9.… and pardoned by him. And hence it is that Gods people are called Veſſels of Mercy, that he might make known the Riches of his Glory on the Veſſels of Mercy; for, as Veſſels are or may be filled up to the brims, ſo the Veſſels of Mercy ſhall be filled with Mercy, up to the Brim, that the Riches of his Glory in the pardon of Sin, may be ſeen and known to the wonder of all the world.
3. Becauſe it is his Nature and Inclination to pardon Sin: this appears, 1. In the Proclaiming of his Name, the Lord, the Lord, Merciful, and Gracious, Long-ſuffering, Ex…d. 34.6abundant in Goodneſs and Truth, keeping Mercy for Thouſands, forgiving Iniquity, and Tranſgreſſion, and Sin.
Mat. 11.282. In his gracious Invitations; Come unto me, ſaith Chriſt, if ſin burden you, I will eaſe you. 3. In his patience and waiting for Repentance; he waits to this very end that he might be gracious, Iſa. 30.18and that he may have mercy, for the Lord is a God of judgment.
Iſa 43.254. Becauſe it is his promiſe to pardon ſin; I, even I, am he that blots out thy tranſgreſſions for my own ſake, and will not remember thy ſins. This promiſe of Pardon is one of the great bleſſings of the Covenant of Grace; you hear the words in this very expreſſure of it,Jet. 31.34 I will forgive their Iniquity, and I will remember their ſins no more.
Now come, conſider O my ſoul, of every particular in this gracious Covenant, and O be ſerious in thy Conſideration; ſurely there is too much expence of thy ſpirit upon vain, and tranſitory, and worldly things; alas, alas, thou haſt but a ſhort time to live; and the ſtrength of thy mind, that I call for, it is the moſt precious thing thou haſt; O then let the buſineſs and activeneſs of thy mind, let thy inmoſt thoughts and deep affections be acted and exerciſed on this Subject; be careful that none of theſe waters run beſides the Mill. If God and Jeſus, and all thy good be included here, why ſhould not thy whole ſoul be intent on this? Why ſhouldſt thou ſpend it on the Creature? why ſhouldſt thou be ſo ſubject to carnal griefs and fears? ſurely all theſe are fitter to be fixed on God in Chriſt, on Jeſus in a Covenant of Grace.