trance of fin. Chrift is called the Lamb of God, John i. 29. which he was, in reference unto the facrifices of old, as 1 Pet. ii. 18, 19. whence he is reprefented in the church, as a Lamb flain, Rev. v. 6. or giving out the efficacy of all facrifices to his church. Now, he is faid to be a Lamb flain from the foundation of the world, Rev. xiii. 8, which could not be, unless fome facrifice prefiguring his being flain had been then offered; for it denotes not only the efficacy of his mediation, but the way. Befides, the apoftle tells us, that without hedding of blood there was no remiffion, Heb. ix. 22. That is, God, to demonftrate that all pardon and forgiveness / related to the blood of Chrift; from the foundation of the world, gave out no word of pardon, but by and with blood. Now I have fhewed before, that he revealed pardon in the first promife, and therefore there enfued thereon the fhedding of blood and facrifices; and thereby that teftament or covenant was dedicated with blood alfo, ver. 18. Some think that the beafts of whose skins God made garments for Adam, were offered in facrifices. Nor is the conjecture vain: Yea, it feems not to want a fhadow of a gofpel-myftery; that their nakedness, which became their fhame upon their fin (whence the pollution and shame of fin is frequently fo termed) fhould be covered with the skins of their facrifices. For in the true facrifice there is fomewhat anfwerable thereunto. And the righteousness of him whofe facrifice takes away the guilt of our fin, is called our cloathing, that hides our pollution and shame.

Thirdly, That after the giving of the law, the greateft, most noble, and folemn part of the worship of God confifted in facrifices. And this kind of worship continued, with the approbation of God, in the world about four thousand years; that is, from the entrance of fin until the death of the Meffiah, the true facrifice, which put an end unto all that was typical.

Thefe things being premifed, we may confider what + was the mind and aim of God in the inftitution of this. worship. One inftance, and that of the moft folemn of he whole kind, will refolve us in this enquiry, Lev.

י

xvi. 5. Two kids of the goats are taken for an offering for fin. Confider only (that we do not enlarge on parti culars) how one of them was dealt withal, ver. 20, 22, ---32. He ball bring the live goat, and Aaron fhall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confefs over him all the iniquities of the children of Ifrael, and all their tranfgreffions in all their fins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall fend him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat fhall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited.

Let us fee to what end is all this folemnity, and what is declared thereby. Wherefore fhould God appoint poor finful men to come together, to take a goat or a lamb, and to confefs over his head all their fins and tranfgreffions, and to devote him to deftruction under that confeffion? Had men invented this themselves, it had been a matter of no moment. But it was an inftitution of God, which he bound his church to the observation of, upon the penalty of his highest displeasure. Certainly this was a folemn declaration, that there is forgiveness with him. Would that God who is infinitely good, and fo will not, who is infinitely true, holy, and faithful, and fo cannot deceive, call men out whom he loved, to a folemn reprefentation of a thing, wherein their chiefeft, their eternal concernment did ly, and fuffer them to feed upon afhes? Let men take heed that they mock not God; for of a truth, God mocketh not man, until he be finally rejected by him. For four thousand years together then, did God declare by facrifices, that there is forgivenefs with him, and lead his people by them to make a public reprefentation of it in the face of the world. This is a fecond uncontroulable evidence of the truth afferted, which may poffibly be of ufe to fouls that come indeed deeply and feriously to deal with God; for though the practice be ceafed, yet the inftruction intended in them continues.

THIRDLY, God's appointment of repentance unto finners, doth reveal that there is forgiveness in himself;

I fay the prescription of repentance is a revelation of forgivenefs. After the angels had finned, God never once called them to repentance. He would not deceive them, but let them know what they were to look for at his hands; he hath no forgiveness for them, and therefore would require no repentance of them. It is not, nor ever was, a duty incumbent on them to repent; nor is it fo unto the damned in hell. God requires it not of them, nor is it their duty. There being no forgiveness for them, what should move them to repent? why should it be their duty fo to do? Their eternal anguish about fin committed, hath nothing of repentance in it. Affignation then of repentance is a revelation of forgiveness. God would not call upon a finful creature to humble itself, and bewail its fin, if there were no way of recovery, or relief; and the only way of recovery from the guilt of fin, is pardon, fo Job xxxiii. 27, 28. He looketh on men, and if any fay, I have finned, and perverted that which is right, and it profited me not; he will deliver his foul from going into the pit, and his life Shall fee the light. In the foregoing verfes he declares the various ways that God ufed to bring men unto repentance. He did it by dreams, ver. 15, 16. by afflictions, ver. 19. by the preaching of the word, ver. 23. What then doth God aim at in and by all these various ways of teachings? It is to caufe man to fay, I have finned and perverted that which was right. It is to bring him to repentance: What now, if he obtain his end, and man cometh to that which is aimed at? Why then, there is forgivenefs for him, as is declared, ver. 28. To improve this evidence, I fhall confirm, by fome few obvious confiderations, thefe two things.

First, That the prefcription of repentance doth indeed evince that there is forgiveness with God.

Secondly, That every one in whom there is repentance wrought towards God, may certainly conclude, that there is forgiveness with God for him.

First, No repentance is acceptable with God, but what is built, or leans on the faith of forgiveness. We have a cloud of witneffes unto this truth in the fcripture.

Many

Many there have been, many are recorded, who have been convinced of fiu, perplexed about it, forry for it, that have made open confeffion and acknowledgment of it, that under the preffing sense of it, have cried out even to God for deliverance, and yet have come short of mercy, pardon, and acceptance with God. The cafes of Cain, Pharaoh, Saul, Ahab, Judas, and others, might be infifted on. What was wanting that made all that they did abominable? Confider one inftance for all: It is faid of Judas, that he repented, Mat. xxvii. 3. Meraμends he repented himself; but wherein did this repentance confift? he was convinced of his fin in general,

4.

aprov, faith he, I have finned, ver. 4. 2. He was fenfible of the particular fin, whereof he stood charged in confcience before God. I have, faith he, betrayed innocent blood: I am guilty of blood, innocent blood, and that in the vileft manner, by treachery. So that he comes, 3. To a full and open confeffion of his fin. He makes reftitution of what he was advantaged by his fin, he brought again the thirty pieces of filver, ver. 3. all testifying an hearty forrow that fpirited the whole. Methinks now Judas his repentance looks like the young man's obedience, who cried out, All these things have I done; is there any thing lacking? Yea, one thing was wanting to that young man, he had no true faith nor love to God all this while, which vitiated and spoiled all · the rest of his performances. One thing alfo is wanting to this repentance of Judas, he had no faith of forgivenefs in God; that he could not believe; and therefore after all this forrow, inftead of coming to him, he bids him the utmost defiance, and goes away, and hangs himself.

Indeed faith of forgiveness, as hath been fhewed, hath many degrees. There is of them, that which is indifpenfibly neceffary to render repentance acceptable. What it is in particular, I do not difpute. It is not an affurance of the acceptance of our perfons in general. It is not that the particular fin wherewith, it may be, the foul is perplexed, is forgiven. A general, fo it be a gof

a gofpel-discovery that there is forgivenefs in God, will fuffice. The church expreffeth it, Hof. xiv. 3. In thee the fatherless findeth mercy, and Joel ii. 14 Who knows but he will return and repent. I have this ground, faith the foul, God is in himself gracious and merciful; the fatherless, deftitute, and helpless, that come to him by Chrift, find mercy in him. None in heaven and earth can evince, but that he may return to me alfo. Now, let a man's convictions be never fo great, fharp, wounding, his forrow never fo abundant, overflowing, abiding, his confeffion never fo full, free or open, if this one thing be wanting, all is nothing but what tends to death.

Fourthly, To prescribe repentance as a duty unto finners, without a foundation of pardon and forgiveness in himself, is inconfiftent with the wifdom, holiness, goodness, faithfulness, and all other glorious excellencies and perfections of the nature of God: For,

ift, The apoftle lays this as the great foundation of all confolation, that God cannot lie or deceive, Heb. vi. 18. And again, he engageth the faithfulness and veracity of God to the fame purpose, Tit. i. 2. God who cannot lie bath promised it. Now, there is a lie, a deceit in things, as well as in words. He that doth a thing, which in its own nature is apt to deceive them that confider it, with an intention of deceiving them, is no less a liar, than he which affirms that to be true, which he knows to be falfe. There is a lie in actions, as well as in words. The whole life of an hypocrite is a lie. So faith the prophet of idolaters, There is a lie in their right band, Ifa. xliv. 20.

2dly, The propofal of repentance, is a thing fitted and fuited, in its own nature, to beget thoughts in the mind of a finner, that there is forgivenefs with God. Repent ing is for finners only. I came not, faith our Saviour, to call the righteous, but finners to repentance. It is for them, and them only. It was no duty for Adam in Eden; it is none for the angels in heaven, nor for the damned in hell. What then may be the language of this appoint

ment?