Mercy Magnified, Sermon 15
SERMON XV.
THus of the Prodigals reſolution to return:
2. His purpoſe how to demean himſelf on his return follows to be conſidered: in which are ſhadowed out to us divers neceſſary concomitants of true Repentance, or qualifications wherein the truth of it doth appear; and ſerve to inſtruct us in the true and genuine working of ſaving Grace, to the humbling of the ſoul, and rendring him vile in his own eyes: And this is in two things, viz. his Confeſſion, and his Petition: In the one he makes himſelf as bad as he can be, as little, as low, and ſinful; in the other he yields himſelf to be what ever his father would make him. To begin with the firſt:
1. In his confeſſion he acknowledgeth his ſin, and the merit of it:
1. In the acknowledgment of his ſin: 1. He makes it his own, I have ſinned. 2. He aggravates it, 1. By the object againſt whom, againſt heaven: 2. By the preſence in which, before thee. The phraſe [againſt heaven] means againſt God himſelf: the word, Heaven is uſed both by Hebrew and Greek writers for God, either as one of his names, or elſe Metonymically, becauſe heaven is the place where he moſt gloriouſly appears. Divers uſeful truths may hence be gathered; I ſhall draw them all up into this one.
DOCT. Where God gives true Repentance, ſuch an one will confeſs his ſins with the greateſt aggravation.
He will not mince or extenuate, and go about to make them look little and ſmall, but acknowledge them in their height & greatneſs; preſent them in their blackeſt and uglieſt colours: ſo doth this Prodigal ſon reſolve to go to his father, and ſo did.
Though every ſin in its proper nature nakedly conſidered, as it is a Tranſgreſſion of the Laws of God, an affront offered, and an offence given to the Majeſty of Heaven, is on that account great; yet there are ſeveral circumſtances with which it is clothed, which, if truly looked upon, do exaggerate or heighten the vileneſs of it: theſe the Hypocrite endeavours to cover over, and hopes thereby to excuſe himſelf â tanto, as the Phariſee, I am not thus and ſo: but contrariwiſe, in ſound Repentance, when the ſinner comes to humble himſelf before God, and confeſs his ſins, he makes himſelf as vile as he can: Sin is made exceeding ſinful. An hypocrite hopes to plead that he hath not been ſo bad, therefore he may hope for mercy; but Paul was of another mind, 1 Tim. 1. 25. Chriſt came to ſave ſinners, of whom I am chief. And David, Pſal. 25. 11. Pardon mine iniquity, for it is very great. Now the aggravations in our text are three, under which heads the moſt that can be ſaid may be ranked; theſe let us a little look into.
1. He takes the whole blame upon himſelf: I have ſinned; it is I have done this thing; ſo David calls it his own ſin, Pſal. 51. 9. q. d. Whatever blame or guilt there is in it, I take it all to my ſelf: He confeſſeth it roundly, and plainly, without any excuſe, or extenuations, or putting it off to any other cauſe, occaſion, or tempter. And this is one difference between the repentance of an hypocrite and a true penitent; the one would put off his ſin as much as he can, ſeek excuſes, find others to lay it upon, and bear as little of the blame as poſſibly he may; he would divide the fault, that he may leave the leaſt part of it to himſelf; and he finds many occaſions, or cauſes to change it upon.
1. He throwes it upon everlaſting decrees, and would make the holy counſel of God to have a cauſal influence into his wickedneſs; and will ſay, if God had intended me ſo to have been, I ſhould have been as holy as the Angels, but if he purpoſed me to be ſuch a ſinner, how could I help it? Such the Apoſtle confronts, Rom. 9. 19. Thus Hypocrites, like Spiders, ſuck poyſon out of the precious Doctrine of predeſtination.
2. He will charge God himſelf for the Author of his Temptations: will ſay, Divine allefficiency is the firſt mover, and if he had not aſſiſted, I had not committed the ſin: He preſented the obiect or I had not followed, ſuch the Apoſtle James ſets himſelf againſt, Jam. 1. 13, &c.
3. Nay, he will blame the very goodneſs and kindneſs of God to him, and a curſe, or at leaſt a reaſon of his ſin, and ſo God, in ſtead of being acknowledged for his favour, ſhall be upbraided: So Adam, Gen. 3. 12. The woman mhom thou gaveſt to be with me, &c. God had given her for a meet help to him, he could not have done well without her, and yet if he abuſe this favour, God is charged for it; and why then did he beſtow her upon me?
4. He will turn it off upon thoſe that were his Tempters; they ſollicited me, perſwaded me, drew me in: Thus Adam layes the fault. upon the Woman, and ſhe upon the Serpent; and thus men are oft ready to ſay, I may thank ſuch an one, who drew me in, who would not let me alone, but followed me, and prevailed upon me with importunity; if it had not been for him, I had not drawn away.
5. He will excuſe and mince it with all deminutive circumſtances, to make it look like a very little fault, as, 1. He did it ignorantly, he knew no ſin there was in it but thought that he had done well enough: Thus Saul excuſeth himſelf for ſacrificing, 1 Sam. 13. 11, 12. 2. He did but follow his natural inclination, it was, at worſt, but a trick of youth, &c. 3. It was no great matter, a thing of no great conſequence, and others frequently do the like. 4. He was provoked to it; yea, had many great provocations which bare him down. Theſe, and many the like excuſes, the corrupt heart of man is ready to frame: But when God ſets ſin home upon the ſoul with the right conception of it, he then layes the blame upon himſelf, and that with greateſt aggravation, in which,
1. He acquits God; layes it not in the leaſt to his charge, but declares him to be altogether blameleſs: David takes his ſin to himſelf, that God may be righteous and juſtified, Pſal. 51. 4. q. d. I have nothing to accuſe God of, he is holy and righteous.
2. He looks not too much upon inſtruments and occaſions; he layes not his own blame to another; doth not charge it as Satans fault, that he yielded to the Temptation, but counts it his own; Peter blames Ananias, that Satan had tempted him, Deut. 5. 3. It was Satan's fault to tempt, but his to be tempted.
3. Chargeth it upon his own vile heart and nature, that fountain and original of all actual Tranſgreſſion: he is therefore led up to it, and made to bewail that before God, as the root of all, Pſal. 51. 5. I was ſhapen in iniquity. q. d. Hence comes all this, here it is fountained; thus the Prodigal, Father, I have ſinned, I askt my Portion, and was not content till I had it in mine own hands; I took it and went away into a far Country, and waſted all there in riot,; I diſhonoured my original by becoming a ſlave to a ſtranger, keeping ſwine, and feeding with them upon husks: I did all thus voluntarily without any compulſion; I did it againſt the law of nature, and bond of filial obedience; he doth not ſay, it was a trick of youth, and theſe good follows, pot companions, gameſters and harlots, drew me in, and ſo I did it. The truly, penitent, ſo ſees his own guilt and wilful obſtinacy, that he can look no where elſe: what ever his occaſions or temptations were, yet ſtill he ſees that the Law of God was againſt it, which he ought to have hearkened to notwithſtanding all Temptation; and his heart was in it, elſe they could never have prevailed; he gave his conſent, or elſe it had never been.
2. He aggravates it in that it was againſt God. q. d. Had I only wronged a creature, it had not been ſo much, but this is it that renders it hainous; it was againſt Heaven: All ſin is againſt God. Wrongs are valued according to the perſon wronged: A thing is counted Treaſon when done againſt a Prince, which would be a little fault if only done to a ſubject. It is remarkable, that in the Parable it ſelf, the younger Son is brought in acknowledging his ſin to be againſt Heaven, rather than againſt the Father: Nothing, that the wrongs we do to others are therein moſtly to be bewailed, in that they are againſt God. Hence David confeſſeth it with an emphaſis, Pſal. 51. 4. Againſt thee, thee only. It was againſt Uriah, againſt Bathſheba, &c. but that was little compared to, and therefore ſwallowed up in this. True Repentance runs ſin up to the laſt object againſt whom it is, now all ſin is againſt God in that it is,
1. Againſt the Law of God; for that is it which makes it to be ſin, 1 Joh. 3. 4. It is not the hurt which another receives, nor what we our ſelves ſuffer, but what we do, that firſtly demonſtrates it ſin; but it is the contrariety it bears to the precept, and holy revealed will of God: He that breaks thy King's Laws, wrongs the King himſelf.
2. Againſt the love of God; his good will, his bounty and beneficence to his creatures, by which he doth invite and engageth all men to ſerve and honour him; it is therefore called a deſpiſing of his goodneſs, Rom. 2. 4. The Fathers bounty made the Sons ſins the worſe, he had readily given him a plentiful Portion, and yet he ſpends it in riot.
3. Againſt the promiſes and threatnings of God; they ſlight the one, and contemn the other, are not in love with the promiſes, nor afraid of his wrath: There are great promiſes made to obedience, but they forſake theſe mercies, count them as worthleſs things: See Pſal. 81. 9, to 13. God hath fearfully menaced, and denounced heavy judgments againſt ſin and ſinners, and bids them beware of ſin becauſe of them, Jer. 6. 8. Be inſtructed, leſt my ſoul depart from thee. And becauſe theſe are from God, who is able to honour his ſervants, and to make inexpreſſibly miſerable his enemies, this is a ſore aggravation.
4. Againſt God's earneſt and heart breaking calls and counſels; yea, ſtrongeſt Motives and perſwaſions: What ſtronger plea can God uſe againſt ſin, than to declare that it is abominable to him, & his ſoul hates it? yet it is a grief to his ſpirit, and will oppreſs him? and yet thus God pleads with ſinners, Jer. 44. 4.
5. Againſt his Honour and Glory: There is nothing ſo much againſt the declarative glory of God as ſin is; yea, nothing at all is againſt it, but ſin: Every ſin diſhonours his Name; by ſecret ſin we diſhonour him in our hearts, by open ſin, we do it in our lives: God is an holy God, and it is only holineſs that honours him. Now this is to ſee ſin ſinfull, when we are brought to ſee that it is againſt God, wherein properly the ſinfulneſs of it doth conſiſt: Nor can a ſoul ever know how great an evil ſin is, nor the meritoriouſneſs of it, nor the equity of the penalty threatned againſt it, till he be fully perſwaded and made to acknowledge that it is againſt Heaven.
3. He aggravates it, in that it was not only againſt, but before his father: Thus alſo David aggravates his ſin, Pſal. 51. 4. and done this evil in thy ſight. The word [foreign] ſignifieth, in the ſight: and Sin is committed in the preſence of God; he ſtands by & look on; not only ſuch ſins as are committed in the ſight of ſun, but ſuch alſo as are done in the dark, & out or the ſight of mortal men: he ſees into every corner, Pſal. 139. 12. Divine Omnipreſence fills all places: and this is a great aggravation of Sin; it argues either,
1. Great heedleſneſs; that men do not regard the preſence of God; and that ſhews much of Atheiſm: Did men know or believe that God ſtood by and over-looked all their actions, would they dare ſo to do as they do? This was that which made them ſo impudently bold, in Ezek. 9. 9. They ſay, the Lord ſeeth not. And thus men deny that glorious Attribute without which he were not God, Or,
2. Horrid prophaneneſs: If men do acknowledge, and yet regard not that God ſeeth them, it argues that men have caſt off the fear of God from them, that they have loſt the aw of his Judgements, and are not afraid of his wrath. It is the aggravation of Sodoms Sin, Gen. 23. 13. They were ſinners before the Lord. God comes to men and preſents himſelf in his ſtrict commands, and ſevere threatnings, tells them in his Word and Ordinances that his wrath ſhall burn againſt ſuch Sins, and ſuch Sinners; and yet they care not: God ſpeaks by his Word, and ſpeaks by conſcience, but to no purpoſe; this proves mens obſtinacy.
2. The reaſon why God makes the true penitent thus ſee and acknowledge Sin is not to drive the ſoul beyond hope of mercy, but it is.
I. To make the creature ſo touched with the ſenſe of his own ſin, that he may thus ſee it in its worſt colours, and thence learn to loath it, and himſelf for it: that he may ſee Sin hateful not only in its conſequents, but in its ſelf, and thence what reaſon God hath, and how juſt it is for him to be ſo ſevere, and bear ſuch a dreadful witneſs againſt Sin, as he doth in his word and works, Ezek. 36. 31.
2. That the greatneſs of the riches of his grace may appear, and be known to be unſearchable: that every believer may experience the meaning of that, Rom. 5. 20. Where ſin hath abounded, grace did much more abound. Hence Paul ſhall not only acknowledge grace, but with an emphaſis, 1 Tim. 1. 15, 16. The blacker the Sin looketh, the brighter will grace appear, and the more intenſe will the love of the ſoul be to God: It is our Saviours argument, Luk. 7. 47. To whom little is forgiven, the ſame loveth little. That believer that hath ſeen, and known the worſt of himſelf, ever hath the moſt precious thoughts of Chriſt.
USE, 1. Here we ſee how far thoſe are from true Repentance, who inſtead of aggravating, do mince and extenuate their Sins, and endeavour to make them look as ſmall as they can, that they may be little affected with, or humbled for them. Many pretend they have come to God, and believed in him, but how did they come? Why, as the Phariſee, with their proud boaſtings, not as the Publican, with a Lord have mercy on me a ſinner. They have looked for Grace and Mercy, not on the account of Chriſt alone, but their encouragement hath been, they have been better than others, have good a nature, have not been tainted with ſuch Sins, nor ſo diſhonoured God, &c. This is not the way of Goſpel-Repentance; ſuch as theſe are far from true converſion; there is yet a great work to do for and upon them if ever they come to be made ſharers of ſaving mercies.
USE, 2. This may ſerve to anſwer that uſual objection or diſcouragement which many awakened ſinners are exerciſed withal, and deterred by, from coming to Chriſt; viz. the greatneſs of their ſins, their hainouſneſs, their amazing aggravations, they have not finned at the ordinary rate, but exceeded, and none have ſinned like them; they have gotten to ſpeak terribly againſt themſelves: and hence they are ready to draw a deſperate concluſion, there is no hope for me: This you ſee directly contradicts the Goſpel method; whereas you ought thus to argue, therefore there is the greateſt need for me above all: Let thoſe that think their wounds ſmall, that hope to cure them themſelves, or to out-grow them, let ſuch tarry away; but for me, I muſt periſh if I go not to the Phyſitian; yea, this may animate you to this, to conſider, this is the way of Chriſt; he makes ſin very bitter, Jer. 2. 19. Where he intends to afford his grace and ſalvation; and till you find it to be ſo, you are not fit for mercy: there is no plea for mercy more acceptable to or prevalent with Chriſt, than that which is framed from the ſenſible acknowledgement, of its Sin in its greateſt aggravations: The worſe we count of our ſelves, the better he likes us, and the fitter we are for his grace to work upon; let this then drive thee the more reſolutely to him.
USE, 3. From counſel to ſuch as are encouraged with the hopes of mercy, and would go to God for it, how to go ſo as to find acceptance, i. e. in ſumme, labour to be as vile in your own eye and eſteem as can be: get the deep ſenſe and apprehenſion of the greatneſs of your ſin: charge Sin as God chargeth it, aggravate Sin as the word of God aggravates it; judge your ſelves by the righteous law of God; feel the weight and burden of Sin, and groan under it as thoſe that are weary and oppreſſed with it; ſuch are encouraged, Matt. 11. 28. Come to me ye that are weary and heavy laden. Add every proper weight to Sin that may make it the moſt burdenſome and inſupportible thing in the world: In particular;
1. Make it your own, and take the blame to your ſelves, Sin ever affects us more or leſs, according as we find our ſelves intereſted in it, ſo much as we fault others, ſo much of ſelf Juſtification will follow; and the leſs we have known Sin to be our own, the leſs will the grace of Chriſt be ſweetned in our apprehenſion: When Cicero would ſet forth Caeſar's great clemency, he makes his own fault every way his own: Nullâ vi coactus, judicio meo, & voluntate meâ, ad ea arma profectus ſum, quae ſumpta ſunt contra te. Pro Ligar. Thus muſt you do, and thus ſhall you bring glory to pardoning mercy; See and ſay, it was your own choice, your heart was in it, you were not compelled, but acted freely, reſolutely, and therefore have juſtly deſerved to be rejected when you have nothing to plead for your ſelves, then you are fit to plead mercy. Remember therefore that God made man upright, it is he that hath ſought out many inventions. God hath given to no tempters, either Men or Devils, power over your wills to compel them.
2. See how vile your Sin muſt be, in that it hath been againſt God: you never look aright upon it until you bring it up hither. It is true, Sin cannot rob God of his eſſential glory, which is out of the reach of the creatures malignity, but his declarative glory is thereby abuſed: you have not only wronged man that is a worm, but you have injured the God of Glory: It is his holy Law that you have broken, elſe it is not Sin; you have preferred a baſe luſt, a lying vanity before him; you have rejected the rule of infinit wiſdom, which only can direct man to his end: you have deſpiſed and trampled upon the great reward of happineſs, which was propounded to you: you have caſt off the yoke of ſupream ſoveraignty, under which you ought to have put your ſelves: You have placed Sin in God's Throne, and given it the precedency; you have ſlighted the gracious and precious invitations of the Goſpel, which have been ſet before you; you that are worms of the duſt, have riſen up againſt an infinite Majeſty: And is not this a ſore and grievous thing? Can you be too much affected for that Sin which is of ſo deep a dye? this is the true and kindly ſence which every penitent Soul, enlightned by the Spirit of Grace, hath of his Sins.
3. How bold muſt that Sin needs be, which hath been committed before the face and preſence of God. Would you not have been afraid and aſhamed, if ſinful men like your ſelves had ſtood by and looked on when you committed theſe and thoſe Sins? how then were you not afraid to do them when God looked on? if you did not conſider it, was not that an Atheiſtical Spirit? or, if you cared not for, nor regarded it, was it not a brazen face? you were not afraid of his terrors, nor awed with his judgments, you either forgat God, which is deſperate ſecurity, or you deſpiſed him which is high Prophaneneſs; Thus confeſs your Sins to God, if you hope to find mercy: hide not, cover them not under your tongues, be not afraid to make the worſt of them; you cannot confeſs worſe than God knows: judge your ſelves if you would not be judged of the Lord: if you now hide your Sins, God will unmask them before Angels and Men; but if you thus confeſs, God is juſt to forgive. Be not afraid to confeſs your ſelves the chief of Sinners; this cannot ſet you beyond the hope of mercy, ſince Chriſt is more able to ſave, than we are to deſtroy our ſelves, ſince it is before a God who can abundantly pardon; ſince Chriſts buſineſs is to ſave Sinners, labour to know and confeſs your ſelves to be really and truly ſo: and the more you know and feel your ſelves to be ſuch, the more encouragement you have to go to Chriſt. Remember Sin hath taken away all other Pleas from fallen man, and left no room for him to ſay any thing more or other, for, or of himſelf, but that he hath ſinned, and thereby expoſed himſelf to wrath, and hath no other thing to fly to, but the Grace of God in Chriſt Jeſus; on which account it is that he hath this one plea left him humbly to preſent. For thy Name ſake, O Lord! pardon my iniquity, for it is very great.