that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary; there is no fearching of his understanding; He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might be encreafeth Strength: Even the youths fhall faint and be weary, and the young men fball utterly fail; but they that wait upon the Lord fhall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, walk and not be faint. The matter in queftion is, whe ther acceptance with God, which is only by forgivenefs, is to be obtained or no; this finful Jacob either despairs of, or at least defponds about. But faith God, My thoughts are not as your thoughts in this matter. And what courfe doth he take to convince them of their mistake therein? What argument doth he make use of to free them from their unbelief, and to rebuke their fears? Plainly he calls them to the confideration of himfelf, both who and what he is, with whom they had to do: That they might expect acceptance and forgivenefs, fuch as did become him. Minding them of his power, his immenfity, his infinite wifdom, his unchangeablenefs, all the excellencies and properties of his nature, he demands of them, whether they have not just ground to expect forgiveness and grace, above all their thoughts and apprehenfions, because anfwering the infinite largenefs of his heart from whence it doth proceed?

བསས

And Mofes manageth this plea for the forgiveness of that people under an high provocation, and a molt fevere threatning of their deftruction thereon, Numb, xiv. 17, 18. He pleads for pardon in fuch a way and manner, as may anfwer the great and glorious properties of the nature of God, and which would manifeft an infinitenefs of his power and all fufficiency to be in him.

This I fay, is an encouragement in general unto believers. We have, as I hope, upon unquestionable grounds evidenced, that there is forgiveness with God, which is the hinge on which turneth the iffue of our e-.

ternal

ternal condition. Now, this is like himself, fuch as becomes him; that anfwers the infinite perfections of his nature; that is exercised and given forth by him as God. We are apt to narrow and ftraiten it by our unbelief, and to render it unbecoming of him. He lefs difhonours God (or as little) who being wholly under the power of the law, believes that there is no forgiveness with him, none to be obtained from him, or doth not believe it, that fo it is, or is fo to be obtained, for which he hath the voice and fentence of the law to countenance him, than those who being convinced of the principles and grounds of it before mentioned, and of the truth of the testimony given unto it, do yet by ftraitning and narrowing of it, render it unworthy of him, whofe excellencies are all infinite, and whofe ways on that account are incomprehenfible. If then we refolve to treat with God about this matter, which is the business now in hand, let us do it, as it becomes his greatnefs, that is indeed, as the wants of our fouls require; let us not intangle our own fpirits, by limiting his grace: The father of the child poffeffed with a devil, being in a great agony when he came to our Saviour, cries out, If thou canst do any thing, have compaffion on us, and help us, Mark ix. 22. He would fain be delivered, but the matter was fo great, that he questioned whether the Lord Chrift had either compaffion, or power enough for his relief. And what did he obtain hereby? Nothing, but the retarding of the cure of his child for a feason: For our Saviour holds him off, untill he had inftructed him in this matter; faith he, ver. 23. If thou canft believe, all things are poffible unto him that believeth. Miftake not, if thy child be not cured, it is not for want of power or pity in me, but of faith in thee. My power is fuch, as renders all things poffible, fo that they be believed. So it is with many, who would defiroufly be made partakers of forgiveness: If it be poffible, they would be pardoned, but they do not fee it poffible. Why, where is the defect? God hath no pardon for them, or fuch as they

are

are, and so it may be they come finally fhort of pardon. What, because God cannot pardon them, it is not poffible with him! Not at all; but because they cannot, they will not believe, that the forgiveness that is, with him is fuch, as that it would anfwer all the wants of their fouls, because it anfwers the infinite largeness of his heart. And if this doth not wholly deprive them of pardon, yet it greatly retards their peace and comfort. God doth not take it well to be limited by us in any thing, least of all in his grace. This he calls a tempting of him, a provoking temptation, Pfal. lxxvüi. 41. They turned back and tempted God, they limited the Holy One of Ifrael. This he could not bear with. If there be any pardon with God, it is fuch as becomes him to give: When he pardons he will abundantly pardon. Go with your half forgivenefs, limited, conditional pardons, with referves and limitations, unto the fons of men; it may be, it may become them, it is like themselves; that of God is abfolute and perfect, before which our fins are as a cloud before the east wind, and the rifing fun. Hence he is faid to do this work with his whole heart and his whole foul; xapie, freely, bountifully, largely to indulge and forgive unto us our fins; and to caft them into the bottom of the fea Micah vii. 19. into the bottomlefs ocean, an emblem of infinite mercy. Remember this, poor fouls, when you are to deal with God in this matter, all things are poffible unto them that believe.

Secondly, This forgivenefs is in or with God, not only fo, as that we may apply ourfelves unto it if we will, for which he will not be offended with us, but fo alfo as that he hath placed his great glory in the declaration and communication of it; nor can we honour him -more, than by coming to him to be made partakers of it, and fo to receive it from him. For the most part, we are as it were ready rather to fteal forgivenefs from God than to receive from him, as one that gives it freely and largely. We take it up, and lay it down, as though we would be glad to have it; fo God did not, as it

were

Inat

were, fee us take it; for we are afraid he is not wil g
we should have it indeed. We would heal this fire
from heaven, and have a fhare in God's treasure and
riches, almoft without his confent: At least we think
that we have it from him agre, with much difficulty,
that it is rarely given, and scarcely obtained.
he gives it out, ixordio 9, with a kind of unwilling
willingness; as we fometimes give alms without chear-
fulness: And that he lofeth fo much by us, as he giv-
eth out in pardon. We are apt to think, that we are
very willing to have forgivenels, but that God is na-
willing to beftow it, and that becaufe he feems to be a
lofer by it, and to forgoe the glory of inflicting punith-
ment for our fins, which of all things we fuppofe he is
moft loth to part withal. And this is the very nature
of unbelief. But indeed things are quite otherwife.
He hath, in this matter, through the Lord Christ, o-
dered all things, in his dealings with dinners, to the
praife of the glory of his grace, Eph. i. 6. His defign in
the whole mystery of the gofpel, is to make his grace
glorious, or to exalt pardoning mercy. The great fruit
and product of his grace is forgiveness; the forgiveness
of finners. This God will render himself glorious in
and by. All the praife, glory and worship, that he
defigns from any in this world, is to redound unto him
by the way of this grace, as we have proved at large
before. For this caufe fpared he the world, when fin
first entered into it; for this caufe did he provide a
new covenant, `when the old was become unprofitable;
for this caufe did he fend his Son into the world This
hath he teftified by all the evidences infifted on. Would
he have loft the praife of his grace, nothing hereof
would have been done or brought about.
We can
then no way fo eminently bring or afcribe glory unto
God, as by our receiving forgiveness from him; he
being willing thereunto, upon the account of its tenden-.
cy unto his own glory, in that way, which he hath
peculiarly fixed on for its man feftation. Hence the a-
postle exhorts us to come boldly to the throne of grace,

Hh

Heb.

Heb. iv. 16. That is, with the confidence of faith, as he expounds boldness, chap. x. 19, 20. We come a

bout a bufinefs wherewith he is well pleafed; fuch as he delights in the doing of, as he expreffeth himself, Zeph. iii. 17 The Lord thy God, in the midst of thee, is mighty; he will fave, he will rejoice over thee with joy. He will reft in his love, he will joy over thee with finging. This is the way of God's pardoning; he doth it in a rejoicing triumphant manner, fatisfying abundantly his own holy foul therein, and refting in his love. We have then abundant encouragement to draw nigh to the throne of grace, to be made partakers of what God is fo willing to give out unto us. And to this end ferves, alfo the oath of God before insisted on, namely, to root out all the fecret referves of unbelief, concerning God's unwillingness to give mercy, grace and pardon unto finners, See Heb. vi. 17, 18. where is it expreffed. Therefore the tendency of our former arguments, is not merely to prove that there is forgivenefs with God, which we may believe and not be miftaken, but which we ought to believe: It is our duty fo to do. We think it our duty to pray, to hear the word, to give alms, to love the brethren, and to abftain from fin; and if we fail in any of thefe, we find the guilt of them reflected upon our confcience unto our difquietment; but we scarce think it our duty to believe the forgivenefs of our fins. It is well it may be, we think, with them that can do it, but we think it not their fault who do not. Such perfons may be pitied, but, as we fuppofe, not justly blamed, no not by God himself. Whole confcience almoft is burdened with this as a fin, that he doth not, as he ought, believe the forgiveness of his fins? And this is merely because men judge it not their duty fo to do. For a non-performance of a duty apprehended to be fuch, will reflect on the confcience a fenfe of the guilt of fin. But now, what can be required to make any thing a duty unto us, that is wanting in this matter? For,

1. There is forgivenefs with God, and this manifeft

ed