rence; the one fort might poffibly have had trouble in their confciences about fin, had it not been for their opinion of forgiveness, this hath prevented or stifled their convictions, not healed their wounds, which is the work of the gofpel, but kept them from being wounded, which is the work of fecurity; yea, here lies the ruin of the moft of them who perifh under the preaching of the gospel. They have received the general notion of pardon, it floats on their minds, and presents itself to their relief, on all occafions. Doth God at any time, in the difpenfation of the word, under an affliction, upon fome great fin against their ruling light, begin to deal with their confciences? before their conviction can ri pen, or tome to any perfection, before it draw nigh to its perfect work, they choak it, and heal their confci ences with this notion of pardon. Many a man betwee the affembly and his dwelling houfe is thus cured. You may see them go away fhaking their heads, and striking on their breafts, and before they come home, be as whole as ever. Well, God is merciful, there is par don, have wrought their cure. The other fort have obtained their perfuafion as a refult of the difcovery of Chrift in the gospel, upon a full conviction. Trials they have had, and this is the iffue.

Thirdly, The one, which we reject, worketh no love to God, no delight in him, no reverence of him, but rather a contempt and commonness of spirit in dealing with him. There are none in the world that deal worfe with God, than those who have an ungrounded perfuafion of forgivenefs; and if they do fear him, or love him, or obey him in any thing more or lefs, it is on other motives and confiderations, which will not render any thing they do acceptable, and not at all on this. As he is good to the creation, they may love; as he is great and powerful, they may fear him; but sense of pardon, as to any fuch ends or purposes, hath no power upon them. Carnal boldness, formality, and defpifing of God, are the common issues of fuch a notion and perfuafion. Indeed this is the generation of great finners in

the

the world, men who have a general apprehenfion, but not a fenfe of the fpecial power of pardon, openly, or fecretly, in fleshly or fpiritual fins, are the great finners among men. Where faith makes a difcovery of for giveness, all things are otherwife: Great love, fear, and reverence of God, are its attendants. Mary Magdalen loved much, because much was forgiven. Great love will spring out of great forgiveness. There is forgiveness with thee, faith the pfalmift, that thou mayst be feared. No unbeliever doth truly and experimentally know the truth of this inference But fo it is, when men fear the Lord and his goodness, Hof. iii. 5. I fay then, where pardoning mercy is truly apprehended, where faith makes a difcovery of it to the foul, it is endeared unto God, and poffeffed of the great fprings of love, delight, fear, and reverence, Pfal. cxvi. 1. 5, 6, 7.

Fourthly, This notional apprehenfion of the pardon of fin, begets no ferious thorough hatred and deteftation of fin, nor is prevalent to a relinquishment of it; nay, it rather fecretly infinuates into the foul encouragements unto a continuance in it. It is the nature of it to leffen and extenuate fin, and to fupport the foul against its convictions. So Jude tells us, that fome turn the grace of God into lafcivoufnefs, ver. 4. and, fays he, they are ungodly men; let them profefs what they will, they are ungodly men: But how can they turn the grace of our God into lafcivoufnefs? Is grace capable of fuch a converfion into luft or fin? Will what was once grace, ever become wantonnefs? it is objective, not fubjective grace, the doctrine not the real fubftance of grace, that is intended. The doctrine of forgiveness, is this grace of God, which may be thus abufed. From hence do men, who have only a general notion of it, habitually draw fecret encouragements to fin and folly. Paul alfo lets us know, that carnal men coming to a doctrinal acquaintance with gofpel-grace, are very apt to make fuch conclufions, Rom. vi. 1. And it will appear at the last day, how unspeakably this glorious grace hath been

perverted

perverted in the world. It would be well for many if they had never heard the name of forgiveness. It is otherwife where this revelation is received indeed in the foul by believing, Rom. vi. 14. Our being under grace, under the power of the belief of forgiveness, is our great prefervative from our being under the power of fin. Faith of forgiveness is the principle of gofpel-obedience, Tit. ii. 1, 12.

Fifthly, The general notion of forgiveness brings with it no sweetness, no reft to the foul. Flashes of joy it may, abiding reft it doth not. The truth of the doctrine fluctuates to and fro in the minds of those that have it, but their wills and affections have no folid delight nor reft by it. Hence,notwithstanding all that profeffion that is made in the world of forgiveness, the most of men ultimately refolve their peace and comfort unto themfelves. As their apprehenfions are of their own doing, good or evil, according to their ruling light whatever it be, fo as to peace and reft, are they fecretly toffed up and down. Every one in his feveral way pleaseth him felf with what he doth, in anfwer unto his own convictions, and is difquieted as to his state and condition, according as he seems to himself to come fhort thereof. To make a full life of contentation upon pardon, they know not how to do it. One duty yields them more true repofe than many thoughts of forgivenefs. But faith finds fweetness and reft in it; being thereby ap prehended, it is the only harbour of the foul: It leads man to God as good, to Chrift as reft. Fading, evanid joys, do oft-times attend the one; but folid delight, with conftant obedience are the fruits only of the bther.

Sixthly, Thofe who have the former only, take up their perfuafion on falfe grounds, though the thing itself be true, and they cannot but use it unto falfe ends and purposes, befides its natural and genuine tendency. For their grounds, they will be difcovered when I come to treat of the true nature of gofpel-forgiveness: For the end, it is generally ufed to fill up what is wanting. Selfrighteousness

righteousness is their bottom, and when that is too fhort, or narrow to cover them they piece it out by forgivenefs. Where confcience accufes, this muft fupply the defect. Faith lays it on its proper foundation, of which afterwards alfo, and it useth it to its proper end, namely, to be the fole and only ground of our acceptation with God. That is the proper use of forgivenefs, that all may be of grace, for when the foundation is pardon, the whole fuperAtructure must needs be grace. From what hath been fpoken, it is evident, that notwithstanding the pretences to the contrary, infinuated in the objection now removed, it is a great thing to have gospel-forgiveness discovered unto a foul in a faving manner.

Its relation

The true nature of gofpel-forgiveness, to the goodness, grace, and will of God:---To the blood of Chrift:To the, promife of the gofpel.The confiderations of faith about it.

The difficulties that ly in the way of faith's difcovery of forgiveness, whence it appears to be a matter of greater weight and importance than it is commonly apprehended to be, have been infifted on in the foregoing difcourfe. There is yet remaining another ground of the fame truth; now, this is taken from the nature and greatnefs of the thing itself discovered, that is, of forgiveness. To this end, I fhall fhew what it is, wherein it doth confift, what it comprizes and relates unto, acccording to the importance of the fecond propofition before laid down.

I do not, in this place, take forgivene fs ftrictly and precisely for the act of pardoning; nor fhall I difpute what that is, and wherein it doth confift. Confciences that come with fin-intanglements unto God, know nothing of fuch difputes. Nor will this expreffion, There is forgiveness with God, bear any fuch reftriction, as that it fhould regard only actual condonation or pardon. That which I have to do, is to enquire into the nature of that pardon, which poor, convinced, troubled fouls feek

after,

after, and which the fcripture propofeth to them for their relief and reft. And I fhall not handle this abfolutely neither, but in relation to the truth under confideration, namely, That it is a great thing to attain unto a true gofpel-difcovery of forgiveness.

FIRST, As was fhewed in the opening of the word, the forgiveness enquired after, hath relation unto the gracious heart of the Father. Two things I understand hereby,

1.The infinite goodness and gracioufnefs of his nature. 2. The fovereign purpofe of his will and grace.

There is confiderable in it, the infinite goodness of his nature. Sin ftands in a contrariety unto God, it is a rebellion against his fovereignty, an oppofition to his holinefs, a provocation to his juftice, a rejection of his yoke. a cafting off, what lies in the finner, of that dependence which a creature hath on its Creator. That God fhould then have pity and compaffion on finners, in every one of whofe fins there is all this evil, and inconceivably more than we can comprehend, it argues an infinitely gracious, good, and loving heart and nature in him. For God doth nothing, but fuitably to the properties of his nature, and from them, all the acts of his will are the effects of his nature.

Now, whatever God propofeth as an encouragement for finners to come to him, that is of, or hath a special influence into, the forgiveness that is with him; For nothing can encourage a finner, as fuch, but under this confideration, that it is, or it refpe&ts forgiveness. That this graciousness of God's nature lies at the head or fpring, and is the root from whence forgivenefs doth grow, is manifeft from that folemn proclamation which he made of old of his name, and the revelation of his nature therein, for God affuredly is, what by himself he is called, Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-fuffering, and abun dant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin. His forgiving of iniquity flows from hence, that, in his nature, he is N

merciful.