ment? O finners, come and deal with God by repentance, doth it not openly fpeak forgiveness in God? and if it were otherwife, could men poffibly be more fruftrated or deceived? would not the inftitution of repentance be a lie? fuch a delufion may produce from Satan, but not from him who is the fountain of goodnefs, holiness and truth. His call to repentance, is a full demonftration of his readiness to forgive, Acts xvii, 30, 31, 32. It is true, many do thus deceive themfelves: They raise themfelves unto an expectation of immunity, not on gofpel grounds; and their difapointment is a great part of their punishment. But God deceives none; whoever comes to him on his propofal of repentance, fhall find forgivenefs. It is faid of fome indeed, that he will laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh, Prov. i. 26. He will aggravate their mifery, by giving them to fee what their pride and folly hath brought them unto. But who are they? only fuch as refufe his call to repentance, with the promises of the acceptation annexed.

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3dly, There is then no caufe, why thofe who are under a call of repentance, fhould queftion whether there be forgivenefs in God or no. This concerns my

fecond propofition, Come, faith the Lord unto the fouls of men; leave your finful ways, turn unto me, humble yourselves with broken and contrite hearts: Alas, fay poor convinced finners, we are poor, dark and ignorant creatures; or, we are old in fin, or greater finners, or backfliders, or have fallen often into the fame fins; can we expect there fhould be forgiveness for us? Why, you are under God's invitation to repentance; and to disbelieve forgiveness, is to call the truth, holinefs and faithfulness of God into question. If you will not believe forgivenefs, pretend what you pleafe, it is in truth because you hate repentance. You do but deceive your fouls when you pretend you come not up to repentance, becaufe you cannot believe forgiveness; for in the very inftitution of this duty, God

engageth all his properties to make it, good, that he hath pardon and mercy for finners.

4thly, Much lefs caufe is there no doubt of forgivenefs, where fincere repentance is in any measure wrought. No foul comes to repentance, but upon God's call. God calls none but whom he hath mercy for upon their coming. And as for those who fin against the Holy Ghost, as they fhut themfelves out from forgiveness, fo they are not called to repentance.

5thly, God exprefly declares in the scripture, that the forgiveness that is with him, is the foundation of his prefcribing repentance unto man. One inftance may fuffice, Ifa lv. 7 Let the wicked forfake his way in the Heb. a perverfe wicked one; and the man of iniquity his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord; and he will have mercy; and to our God, for (in the Heb.) he will multiply to pardon. You fee to whom he fpeaks; to men perverfly wicked, and fuch as make a trade of finning. What doth he call them unto? plainly to repentance, to the duty we have infifted on. But what is the ground of fuch an invitation unto fuch profligate finners? Why, the abundant forgivenefs and pardon that is with him, fuper-abounding unto what the worst of them can ftaud in need of; as Rom. v. 20.

And this is another way whereby God hath revealed that there is forgivenefs with him, and an infallible bottom for faith to build upon in its approaches unto God it is. Nor can the certainty of this evidence be called into question, but on fuch grounds as are derogatory to the glory and honour of God. And this connection of repentance and forgiveness, is that principle from whence God convinces a stubborn unbelieving people, that all his ways and dealings with finners are juft and equal, Ezek. xviii. 25. And fhould there be any failure in it, they could not be fo. Every foul then that is under a call to repentance, whether out of his natural condition, or from any back-fliding into folly after converfion, hath a fufficient foundation to reft on, as to the pardon he enquires after. God is ready to deal with him on terms

of

of mercy; if out of love to fin, or the power of unbelief, he refufe to close with him on these terms, his condemnation is juft. And it will be well, that this confideration be well imprinted on the minds of men. I fay, notwithstanding the general prefumptions that men feem to have of this matter, yet thefe principles of it ought to be inculcated. For,"

1. Such is the atheism that lies lurking in the hearts of men by nature, that notwithstanding their pretences and profeffions, we have need to be preffing upon them evidences of the very being and effential properties of God. In fo doing, we have the affistance of inbred notions in their own minds, which they cannot eject, to help to carry on the work. How much more is this neceffary in reference unto the free acts of the will of God, which are to be known only by mere revelation. word had need be line upon line: And yet when we have done, have cause enough to cry out, as was faid, Lord who hath believed our report, and to whom hath this arm of the Lord been revealed?

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2. What was spoken before of the obstacles that ly in the way, hindring fouls from a faving conception of this truth, ought to be remembred. Thofe who have no experience of them between God and their foul, feem to be ignorant of the true nature of confcience, law, gofpel, grace, fin and forgiveness.

3. Many who are come to a faving perfwafion of it, yet having not received it upon clear and unquestionable grounds, and fo not knowing how to refolve the faith of it into its proper principles, are not able to answer the objections that ly against it in their own confciences, and do fo miferably fluctuate about it all their days. These had need to have thefe principles inculcated on them. Were they pondered aright, fome might have cause to fay with the Samaritans, who first gave credit to the report of the woman, John iv. They had but a report before, but now they find all things to be according unto it, yea to exceed it. A little experience of a man's own unbelief, with the obfervation that may eafily be made of

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the uncertain progreffes and fluctuations of the Spirits of others, will be a fufficient conviction of the neceffity of of the work we are engaged in.

But it will yet be faid, that it is needlefs to multiply arguments and evidences in this cafe. The truth infifted on being granted as one of the fundamental principles of religion. As it is not then by any called in queftion, fo it doth not appear that fo much time and pains is needful for the confirmation of it: For what is granted and plain needs little confirmation. But feveral things may be turned in answer hereunto; all which may at once be here pleaded for the multiplication of our arguments in this matter.

That it is generally granted by all, is no argument that it is effectually believed by many. Sundry things are taken for granted in point of opinion, that are not fo believ-. ed as to be improved in practice. We have in part fhewed before, and fhall afterwards undeniably evince, that there are very few that believe this truth, with that faith that will intereft them in it, and give them the benefit of it. And what will it avail any of us, that there is forgiveness of fin with God, if our fins be not forgiven? no more, than that fuch or such a king is rich, whilst we are poor and ftarving. My aim is not to prove it as an opinion or a mere fpeculative truth; but fo to evidence it in the principles of its being and revelation, as that it may be believed, whereon all our bleffedness depends.

2. It needs never the lefs confirmation, because it is a plain fundamental truth; but rather the more, and that because both of the worth and weight of it. This is a faithful faying, faith the apostle, worthy of all acceptation, that Jefus Chrift came into the world to fave finners. So I fay of this, which, for the fubftance of it, is the fame with that; it is worthy of all acceptation, namely that there is forgiveness with God; and therefore ought it to be fully confirmed: Efpecially, whilft we make ufe of no other demonftrations of it, but thofe only which God hath furnished us withal to that purpose; and this he would not have done, but that he knew them needful for us. And for the plainnefs of this truth, it is well if it be fo unto us. This

know, nothing but the Spirit of God can make it fo, Men may please themselves, and others fometimes, with cu rious notions, and make them feem to be things of great fearch and attainment; which when they are well examined, it may be, they are not true; or if they are, are yet of a very little confequence or importance. It is these fundamental truths that have the myfteries of the wisdom, and grace of God inwrapped in them; which, who fo can unfold aright, will hew himself a workman that needs not be afbamed. Thefe ftill waters are deep; and the farther we dive into them, the greater discovery shall we make of their depths. And many other facred truths there are, whofe mention is common, but whofe depths are little fearched, and whofe efficacy is little known.

3. We multiply thefe evidences, because they are multitudes, that are concerned in them: All that do believe, and all that do not believe are fo.. Those that do believe, that they may be established; and those that do not believe, that they may be encouraged fo to. do. Among both these forts, fome evidences may be more profitable and useful, one to one, fome to ano ther. It may be amongst all, all will be gathered up, that no fragments be loft. They are all. I hope, inftruments provided by the Holy Ghoft for this end; and by this ordinance do we endeavour to put them into his hand, to be made effectual as he will. One may reach one foul, another another, according to his pleasure. One may be of ufe to establishment, another to confolation, a third of encouragement, ac-cording as the neceffities of poor fouls do require. How ever, God who hath provided them knows, them all to be needful.

4. They are fo alfo upon the account of the various conditions wherein the spirits of believers themselves: may be. One may give help to the fame foul at one season, another at another; one may fecure the foul against a temptation, another stir it up to thankfulness and obedience.

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