The Act of Oblivion — Culverwell, The Act of Oblivion

EXTRACTS

FROM

THE WORKS

OF

NATHANAEL CULVERWELL,

Some time Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

THE

ACT OF OBLIVION.

ISAIAH XLIII. 25.

I, even I am he that blots out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember My sins.

EVERY promise is a breast full of consolation, that would fain be drawn. And as Job, speaking of the breasts, calls them very elegantly, the milk-pails of the breast; they are, as it were, carnea mulctralia. So there are the receptacles of that * which is stored up for babes in CHRIST, where the thirsty soul may come and fill itself with most precious sweetness. In the whole word of GOD there is most sincere milk; but the promises are the purest and sweetest of all.

Here is a bottle filled with heavenly dew, which will never fail like that of Hagar;' but cherish the soul, till it come to a well of life. Here is a pure emanation of GOD’s sweetest love, which would fain communicate itself to a sinful creature; and therefore puts on the most amiable expressions that the wisdom of GOD himself can clothe it with, while he breathes out free grace, by the mouth of his prophet, to a disobedient and rebellious Israel, and beseeches them to be reconciled unto him.

And if Thou look but upon the foregoing words, Thou will wonder how this verse should come in; it is some what a strange context, and unusual kind of coherence.

For GOD there complains by his prophet, that his people of Israel had done nothing at all for him. ’He took them indeed for his pleasant plant, but they were a very barren and ungrateful plant. He had made them a choice and a spreading plant, but not one delicious cluster was to be found upon them. In the verse immediately before, "Thou has bought me no sweet cane with money;' which is meant of that cane which was to be a chief ingredient in the precious ointment, as Thou may see in Exod. 30: "Neither has Thou made me to drink the fat of thy sacrifices; or, as the words flow in the fountain, "Thou has not moistened me abundantly with thy sacrifices:" not that the Jews did neglect these duties of GOD’s worship; no, they were very punctual in observing them; but the force of the complaint lies in this, Thou didst them not unto me. For

1. Thou didst them not with that cheerfulness of spirit which I required of thee, and might well expect from thee. Love should have dropped oil into the wheels, and thy soul should have moved like the chariots of Ammodab; but Thou wentest on heavily, and lookedst upon my service as an hard yoke, more intolerable than that of Egypt.

2. Thou trustedst in thy legal performances, and Thoughtest to be justified by thine own righteousness; Thou didst them not for those ends which I aimed at, for I intended only to raise thy Thoughts higher to that great salvation which I had stored up for thee in the Messias.

3. Thou didst them not to me, while Thou restedst in a fair flourish of outward formality, and Thou Thoughtest to put me off with a mock-worship, with a mere outside and surface of devotion, in giving me a shell, and nothing of the kernel. Thou couldst sin against me, when Thou listedst, and then Thoughtest to appease me with a sacrifice. " I hate Your burnt. offerings, my soul nauseates Your solemn assemblies. Bring me no more vain oblations. He that will be my servant, let him seal up every spiritual service with integrity of heart. A pure soul, that is the only present for a God; a gift that may be united to GOD himself, as Hierocles speaks; " Sacrifices and burnt offerings he would not have;" then Thou should have said, " Lo, I come to do thy will, O my God!" Thou should have presented thyself a living and a reasonable sacrifice; for without this, all others were no better than fewel for fire. " Thou didst not make me to drink the fat of thy sacrifices." Well, but they stay not here; " Thou has made me to serve with thy sins; and Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities." Thou have made me to serve with thy sins; that is either,

1. Thou has so abused my patience, and long-sufferance; and has heaped sin upon sin, as if I had been a very servant, that was bound to endure all these thine iniquities: or else, 2. It is a more prophetical passage looking upon CHRIST, who took upon him the form of a servant, and bore our sins in his body upon the tree. 3. Thou has made me to serve with thy sins, whilst Thou dost these things under a spew of holiness, and care of pleasing me; as a peculiar people that served an holy GOD, and had righteous laws; and yet while Thou neglect the more weighty things that I require of thee, Thou dost dishonor my name, and wrong my law, and degenerate from those noble principles that I had planted in thee. For what will the heathen say; that I am a God that delights in the blood of bulls and goats, and gives thee liberty in other things to do what Thou listest

"Thou has made me to serve with thy sins." And consider what a strong indignity this is offered to the great God of heaven and earth, to make him a servant, and then to serve sin, which he so much hates and abhors, that he cannot endure to look upon it, as being that which strikes at his very being: "Thou has made me to serve with thy sins; and Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities." All outward performances, Though never so pompous, do but weary Almighty GOD, unless they flow from a sincere spirit. They Thought they had pleased him with sacrifices; but he tells them, " they weary him with iniquities."

And see here how the mighty GOD of Jacob, the Rock of Ages, Omnipotency itself is weary; he is pressed with sins, and wearied with iniquities. Well, what follows upon all this: " I, even I am he that blotteth out thine iniquities for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Surely Israel could not look for this in the next verse. One would have Thought it should have been, I, even I am he, that will revenge these thine iniquities: "Thou have made me to serve with thy sins," and I will make thee to serve with my plagues. " Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities," and I will weary thee with my judgments. Mine indignation shall flame out against thee, and I will pour out the dregs of my wrath upon thee; it is I, even I am he, that will set thy sins in order before thee. One would have Thought it should have run thus; but. GOD comes in the still voice, " I, even I am he, that blotteth out thine iniquities. Thou has made me to serve with thy sins," and I will make thee a servant to myself "Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities," and I will load thee with my mercies: "Thou has blotted out my testimonies," and I will blot out thine iniquities, " Thou has not remembered my covenant," and I will not remember thy sins. Thus does GOD’s goodness contend with a sinful nation; thus does he conquer rebellion, and triumph over sin. Indeed his very drift is to make a glorious illustration of free grace; and therefore he first discovers his people's sin, and then displays his own mercy. He first shows Israel's stiff neck and iron sinew, and then opens his own tender bowels, and dearest compassions; he bids Thou take notice of the blackness of the Ethiopian, and then tells Thou how white he will make him. He would have Thou consider well the deep die, the bloody die of the scarlet, and then see it become as white as snow.

Look upon the vastness of the Egyptian army, and see them all drowned in a Red Sea. Cast a sad eye upon a large volume of iniquity, and behold them all blotted out in a moment. The sinfulness of sin sets a glorious lustre upon grace; when sin becomes exceeding sinful, then grace becomes exceeding glorious. " I, even I am he, that blotteth out thine iniquities." There is much emphasis in redoubling the words, that it stills many objections that might rise up in a-wavering soul. And,

(1.) " I, even I," whore Thou has offended. For the distrusting soul might object and say, Is it Thou, O GOD, that will blot out mine iniquities It is thy sacred Majesty which I have provoked; and it is thy glorious name which I have profaned; it is thy righteous law which I have violated; and it is thy covenant which I have broken; and is it Thou, O GOD, that wilt blot out mine iniquities + us watt ln, it is " I, even I am he that blotteth them out for my own sake." GOD’s goodness runs over to a sinful creature; and where sin has abounded, there grace does superabound. Consider, 1. There is not so much evil in sin, as good in God. Sin indeed is thus infinite, as it is against an infinite Being; but there is an absolute infiniteness in God. And this is no extenuation of sin to advance grace above it. 2. There is not so much sin in man, as there is goodness in God. There is a vast more disproportion between sin and grace, than between a spark and an ocean. Now, who would doubt whether a spark could be quenched in an ocean Thy Thoughts of disobedience towards GOD have been within the compass of time; but his goodness has been bubbling up towards thee from everlasting. The devils themselves, Though irreversibly sealed to destruction; yet they are not so bad as GOD is good. " I, even I am he, that blotteth out thine iniquities;" even I, whom Thou has thus offended.

(2.) 111, even I," whose royal prerogative it is to pardon transgression, and to blot out sin; for otherwise the soul would still be left rolling and fluctuating. This would be welcome news, indeed, to hear of iniquity blotted out, and they were messengers of beautiful feet that could bring me such gospel tidings; but, oh, it is not so easy a matter to have sin remitted, and pardoning mercy is not so soon obtained. Who is it that can wash off guilt from the soul, and set at liberty a captivated spirit Why, it is GOD himself that undertakes so great a work; it is " I, even I am he that blotteth out thine iniquities," and it includes these two particulars:

1. GOD can blot out our iniquities. For first, the offence is wholly against him, and therefore he can freely pass it by. Sin is so far an evil, as it opposes his will, the rule of goodness, and as it swerves from his law, the expression of his will, and that the supreme Law-giver can pardon.

2. CHRIST has made full satisfaction to his justice, so that now it is but dipping the pen in the blood of CHRIST, and dashing out of iniquity. Nay, CHRIST himself has blotted out even this hand-writing that was against us, and nailed it to his cross. And hence there are such wooings and beseechings of souls to come in and be subject to the sceptre of CHRIST; for GOD has more satisfaction to his justice by every believer, than by the damned that he roaring in hell to all eternity, for they are never able to discharge the debt; but every believer by his surety has paid the utmost farthing.

(3.) Only GOD can blot out iniquities. " I, even I am he," and none else. A poor creature may soon involve itself in sin and misery, there is none but has power enough to damn himself. Thy destruction is of thyself, O Ephraim. But it is beyond the sphere of men, or angels' activity, to blot out the least sin, or to disentangle the soul of the least corruption; they can neither take off the guilt of sin, nor yet subdue the power of it. There is

none but knows how to wound himself; but he must have skill that knows how to cure himself; it is easy enough to run into debt, and many find it hard enough to discharge it: there is none but can heap up sin, and treasure up wrath, and wound conscience: but who is there that can appease wrath and calm conscience, and screen a soul from a consuming fire" Sin is an offence against an infinite justice, so that only an infinite Being can either dispense with it, or satisfy for it. It is not the blessed Virgin's milk can wash out so deep a stain, it is not this can whiten the soul; no, if the saints' robes be washed white, it must be in the blood of the Lamb. And the power of the keys cannot reach thus far. A minister can no more by any way of efficacy remit a sin, than he can create a world. And I know not what a Pope's indulgence should do, unless it be to send some ignorant people to hell with more cheerfulness, that they may descend into heaven, as the Satyrist said Nero did; when they look for heaven, drop into hell irrecoverably. The mighty hand of GOD himself must be put to the blotting out of iniquities; it is CQ 1, even I, that blotteth out thy transgression," even I, whose royal prerogative is to pardon transgression, and to blot out sin.

(4.) I, even I, that have manifested mine anger against thee, in punishing thee for thine iniquities; even I am he that will blot them out. For the soul will still be doubting and misgiving; why, it is Thou, O GOD, that has shot off so many threatenings against us, and spent all thine arrows upon us. Thou has hewn us by thy prophets, and slain us by the words of thy mouth: Thou has dipped thy pen in gall, and written bitter things against us. Thou has followed us with a whole army of judgments, and every where shown thyself an angry God; and wilt Thou now blot out our iniquities The text has the same answer ready for this too: 111, even I am he, that will blot there out;" and it speaks these two things:

1. GOD is not long angry; as it is in the 54th of Isaiah, ver. 8, " In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, says the Lord thy Redeemer." As GOD is not quickly provoked, so neither is he long displeased. GOD is love, says the apostle; now love is hardly provoked, and quickly reconciled: GOD is love. He writes not injuries in marble, his law indeed he writes in stone; but the breach of the law he writes in the dust. All the wrong has been done to him, and yet he beseeches us to be reconciled; he is far more ready to offer mercy, than the creature is to embrace it; and more willing to speak peace, than man is to hear it. Where will Thou meet with a man so ready to put up a wrong, and so ambitious to forgive an injury But " as far as the heavens are above the earth, so far are his Thoughts above our Thoughts;" he writes not our sins in so deep characters, but that they may be easily blotted out.

2. GOD requires no more humiliation than to bring a soul unto himself, and make it capable of mercy. Many

a weak Christian questions his condition, because he has not filled GOD’s bottle so full of tears as others; he has not had such rendings of heart; such breakings and

piercings of spirit, such scorching apprehensions of hell and wrath, as others have had. But let such a one consider that GOD is very gracious in his dealings, and we must not look for the like degrees of humiliation in all; some have a quicker delivery, and are sooner freed from the pangs of the new birth; some hearts are more wrought upon in a winning and melting way; others are beat in pieces by a stroke of Omnipotency. But this we are sure, that soul is humbled enough that is brought to a sight and sense of his sin, so as to see the necessity of a Savior, and to prize him, and love him as the fairest of ten Thousand. When GOD has made a soul to see his sins, he is ready then to blot them out; fQ I, even I, am he that blotteth out thine iniquities;" even I, that have punished thee for them, and shown my anger against them.

I might add, that it is a note of GOD’s complacency in his own goodness, he does even glory in the riches of his grace; and therefore it is so often repeated. " I, even I am he, that will do it for mine own sake;" but I hasten to the next words. " Blot out thine iniquities."] There are many things wrapt up in this expression. And, 1, Blotting out of iniquities implies that they were all written and taken notice of. (1.) They were written in GOD’s book. GOD knows all things, every idle word, every vain Thought, every glance of the soul; the least tendency to sin, the first bubbling up of original corruption, they are all taken notice of. In his book are all thine iniquities written.

(2.) Thou have a book within sine own breast, and conscience has the pen of a ready writer, it can write as -fast as the soul can dictate; with an accurate pencil it can give thee a full portraiture of thy most reserved actions, of thy most private behavior, of thy most retired motions; and Though there be a curtain drawn over them here, yet then they shall be made very apparent. Such works as Thou wouldst have suppressed, shall be published to the eyes of men and angels; sins of the smallest print, of the most indiscernible character, shall be made clearly legible, and become as atoms in the presence of a sun-beam. With what a furious reflection wilt Thou then read over thine own sinful life; when all thine iniquity shall stare thy soul in the face to all eternity Whereas a Christian's life shall be set out in a new edition; for all errata shall be corrected. Every iniquity shall be blotted out, and all desiderata shall be supplied; the book shall become perfect, and be looked on as a fair object to all eternity.

2. Every transgression leaves a blot. For even remission of sins is expressed by blotting out of iniquity. although the blot was here greater before it was blotted out; for blotting out of iniquities is the wiping out of a blot. Besides the guilt of sin, and the power of sin, there is the stain of sin.

3. Thou see here the nature of justification; it does not take away the being of sin, but takes it away from being imputed and laid to the charge of the soul. Sins in Scripture-idiom are debts: now in justification there is a crossing of the book, a blotting out of the debt, so as it cannot be required of the soul. And the justified person in the thirty-second Psalm, is styled m mn aim, one whose sin is covered, which supposes the being of it; and Though our adversaries urge the force of the other phrase rwa'11C], one whose sin is taken away; yet it is sufficiently cleared by the following words, by , " GOD will not impute iniquity unto hiin." (1.) Look upon the fullness of the discharge. The soul may rest satisfied, and roll itself upon the grace of GOD in CHRIST, and lay all the stress of its salvation upon it; the debt is blotted out, and it were injustice to ask it twice. (2.) Consider the easiness of it. The hand was longer in writing than it is in blotting out; the hand was more weary with writing than it is with blotting out: " I have blotted out thy transgressions as a thick cloud," Isa. xliv. 22. Now, how is a cloud blotted out Nay, indeed, what is a cloud but a blot upon nature's fairest and well-flourished letter A sunbeam comes, rushes in upon it, wipes away the cloud. The sun fights against it; , it raises a glorious army of beams, which quickly puts the enemy to flight; they scatter the cloud. And I will blot out thy transgressions like a cloud. An act of grace, a beam of mercy shall blot out a whole cloud of transgressions; which otherwise would have proved a cloud of witnesses against the soul. (3.) Here is the extent of remission a great debt may be blotted out as well as a less; a great sum may be blotted out as well as a small one, Though not so easily, Though not so suddenly.

4. "Thine iniquities."] (1.) Thine, very heinous in their own nature, as the prophets continually complain. (2.) More heinous, because thine. The sins of Israel

pierce deepest, grieve GOD most. It was a notable speech of Cosmus, duke of Florence; I have read, (says he,) that I must forgive mine enemies, but never that I mustforgive my friends. The sins of GOD’s friends, of his people provoke him most. Every sin is taken’ notice of; " but the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and the point of a diamond." They are against the beams of stronger light, against bowels of tender mercy, against nearer and sweeter relations, against greater expectation; " GOD looked for grapes, and they bring forth wild grapes." Yet, I will blot out thine iniquities. Not only some of the less and call thee to account for the greater; no, such as are the most deeply aggravated, the most frequently reiterated.

5. " For mine own sake."] (1.) Exclusively, for nothing at all in Thou; as in that twin-place, Ezek. xxxvi. 22. There Thou have a clear comment upon the words; " Thus says the Lord GOD, I do not this for Your sakes; but for mine own holy name's sake, which ye have profaned amongst the heathen." Mark under what notion it runs, for that holy Name's sake which Thou have profaned. And in this chapter, in those verses that are preparatory to the text, we showed Thou how strangely Israel behaved themselves, ver. 22, "Thou have not called upon me, O Jacob." Why, one would have Thought that they might have opened the mouth for mercy, that they might' at least have petitioned for grace; surely it was worth the asking: no, but " I was found of them that sought me not." (2.) For mine own sake, it includes for my CHRIST's sake, and that covenant of love and peace which I have founded in him, For GOD in himself is an holy and a just God; and now by reason of sin, an offended God; and would quickly prove a punishing and revenging GOD, did not CHRIST step in and assuage an angry Deity. (3.) For mine own sake, for my name's sake, and for mine honor's sake; lest the heathen triumph, and say, " Where is now thy God" O the infinite goodness of GOD, that by a most gracious and free act of his own will has knit and united his own glory and the salvation of his people together He has wrought Israel's name into the frame of his own glory, so that now it is for his honor's sake to save Israel; he blots out iniquities for his own sake. GOD will' not suffer the lustre of his crown to be cimned and eclipsed;' he will be sure that none of his jewels shall fall off from.

6. " And will not remember thy sins."] The sinful soul is full of doubts and suspicions; Certainly, (says he,) if GOD should let me alone now, he will call me to account for them hereafter. If he seem to blot them out now, he will write them again some time or other. No, (says GOD, " 1 will blot out thy transgressions, and will not remember thy sins." It is an ordinary speech in the mouth of some silly ones, they will forgive, but never forget; it had need have a very candid construction; a grain of salt is scarce enough to make it savory; but GOD never forgives but he does forget too: when he blots out iniquities, he remembers them no more. When the sins are laid upon the head of the scapegoat, they are then carried into a land of forgetfulness. He will not remember them so as to call thee to account for them, so as to upbraid thee with them, so as any way to punish thee for them. Guilt and punishment are such twins as live and die together: when the one is remitted, the other is never retained.

(I.) It would be injustice to punish where there is no fault. GOD indeed may, out of his absolute dominion and sovereignty, inflict an evil upon an innocent creature, but then it falls not under the notion of a punishment; and he does inflict evils upon his own people, which flow from a fatherly castigation, and not from a judicial proceeding.

(2.) It is against the very nature of remission. Do Thou call that forgiving of a debt, to cast a man into prison for not discharging it Or is that pardoning of a traitor, to behead him for his treason (3.) It is injurious to the full satisfaction of CHRIST; who drank up the whole cup, all the dregs of wrath; not a drop of that bitter cup left for a Christian; they do indeed pledge him, but it is in a sweeter draught, and not at all in satisfaction to Divine justice. CHRIST's resurrection was a full and plain acquittance, a clear and apparent sign that iniquities were all blotted out. Question. But does not GOD revive former sins, and reprint such iniquities as he has once blotted out Answer. He does indeed, but in abundance of love and bowels of free grace. Not as an angry and revenging GOD, but to make thy repentance for them more deep and serious. And Though GOD remember them no more; yet there is good reason that the soul should still remember them. First, to make it more thankful to him that blotted them out. Secondly, to induce it to walk more humbly. Thirdly, more watchfully and accurately. And having thus taken a brief survey of the text, we will now strain the quintessence of all into one observation. Justifying grace is free grace; he blots out iniquities for his own sake. Every justified person is a monument of free grace; or, in the psalmist's language, he is crowned with loving-kindness and tender mercies.

The grace of GOD is free grace; and that, first, if Thou look, to the spring from whence it flows: that original goodness, that fountain-mercy. Now what was there in thee to persuade him to all this What were the motives Where were the arguments What was the rhetorick 1. It was long before Thou hadst any being; Thou wert hid in the barren womb of nothing; Thou hadst no desire, no Thought of happiness, and I cannot well understand the merit of a non-entity. 2. GOD might have had great revenues of glory out of thy eternal ruin; now that he should choose to glorify the riches of his mercy in thy happiness and salvation, was most free grace.

Secondly, if Thou look to the several streamings out of the fountain, Thou must admire the riches of free grace as, (I.) GOD’s giving of his only Son, and founding a covenant of love and peace in him; the richest and most precious stream that ever flowed to the sons of men. Now, if there was an assembly of those bright and intelligent creatures gathered together, the most glorious cherubim and glittering seraphim; and if this mystery which they now pry into were fully unsealed and explained unto them, O how would they stand gazing upon the riches of grace, how would they think eternity itself too short for the admiring it; and what could they resolve it into but mere love! "God so loved the world," so freely, so fully, so inconceivably, " that he gave his only Son." What was there in thee to draw a Savior down from heaven Was there such an attractive virtue in an undone and bankrupt creature How didst Thou persuade him to disrobe himself of light, as of a garment, to cloud and eclipse the lustre of his divinity, by the inter position of a pale mortal body! What was it that moved him to take upon him the seed of Abraham, and not the nature of angels, to let pass those fair and eminent beings, and to advance a poor crawling worm.

(I.) Out of what to picks didst Thou fetch an argument that prevailed with him to espouse thee to himself in mercy and truth, and so to love thee as to die for thee I know thy Thoughts are swallowed up with the consideration of so boundless and bottomless a love, and desire some time for astonishment.

(2.) What should I tell Thou of those free expressions and manifestations of this his love; those fresh -eruptions of it in the gospel I mean those precious promises, that are so many several branchings out of the covenant. The gospel is like a sweet and precious honeycomb; these are the several droppings of it, that flow freely from it. Indeed the whole gospel, like the midst of Solomon's bed in the Canticles; is paved with love.

(3.) Think upon those free offers of grace, and tenders of reconciliation; how he woes Thou to receive mercy, how he beseeches Thou to be happy, how he en treats Thou to be saved, to accept of him and of heaven, of grace and of glory. So that if Thou look to the streamings out of the fountain, Thou see they all carry with them the riches of grace.

Thirdly, consider the several conveyances of it; how GOD diffuses this his goodness to thy soul; and Thou shall see how Thou has lived upon the expenses of free grace all thy days. And for this, observe bow he tuned all circumstances in a sweet and harmonious way, so as they did all sweetly agree in thy happiness; and how all providential passages did join for thee, and work together for thy good: as,

I. It was out of the riches of free grace, that he planted thee in a place of light, when he shut up and imprisoned the rest of the world in palpable darkness. The gospel shines out but upon a little spot of ground, which GOD has enclosed for himsel4 and styles it his garden. Paul plants it, and Apollos waters it, and he himself gives it an increase. The rest of the world lies like a barren and desolate wilderness, the word of the gospel never dropt upon it; nothing but briers and thorns, fit for the fire. Now, how fell thy lot in so fair a ground; and who is it that gives thee so goodly an heritage Who is it that shines thus upon thy tabernacle, and fixes it in a land that flows with milk and honey Give a reason, if Thou can, why Thou wast not placed in some obscure corner of America, and left only to the weak and glimmering light of nature Tell me who it was that opened for thee so many wells of salvation, and feasted thee with all those spiritual dainties in variety of ordinances I would fain know who that was that crushed the honey-comb on purpose that it might drop upon thy soul Tell me, if Thou can, who it was that bespoke a place for thee in the church, among the assembly of the saints has GOD dealt so with every nation, or have the heathen knowledge of this law Ascribe this then to free grace.

2. That salvation should wait upon thee so long, and when Thou hadst repulsed so many rich offers of grace and mercy, that still it should be importunate with thee. If mercy had knocked once or twice; if it had then bid thy soul farewel, Thou hadst dropt into hell irrecoverably. How many years has grace stood at the door, and begged for admission, and Thou has not so much as bid it welcome Grace follows thee and pursues thee, and will not let thee go till Thou has a blessing. Would any friend have given thee so many invitations after Thou hadst rejected them That that Spirit which Thou has so much grieved, and so often vexed, should still breathe upon thee, and follow thee with secret whisperings, and gentle solicitations to entice and allure thee to goodness:

What can Thou call this but free grace

3. Consider in what state Thou wast all the while; an enemy, a rebel, studying how to be damned; galloping to hell and destruction with fall career, a scholar's pace. Who was it now that stopt thee in thy course Who bridled in the proud waves, and said, " Hither ye shall go, and no further" Saul, when he is breathing out slaughters, and making havock of the church, even then he becomes a Paul., When the soul is even ripe for judgment, then mercy shines out upon it. And that which

would seem the most reasonable time for vengeance is made a blessed opportunity of showing mercy.

4. Consider the efficacious work of grace; it is not enough to provide the means, but he must strongly apply them; unless the arm of the Lord be revealed, none will believe our report. It may be Thou tamest occasionally to hear a sermon; well, GOD has the two-edged sword in his own hand; he brandished the glittering sword; he fought against thee; he wounded thee, and frightened thee out of thy sins. Thou wentest away with groans, and sighs, and tears; like a hart stuck with an arrow, panting and breathing, and fain wouldst have had some refreshment. Ere long, he met with a faithful messenger, and sent thee some balm from Gilead. He began to let in some of his love to thy soul, and to cheer thee with gospel cordials; and were not they all bought with the riches of grace Or it may be, Thou tamest into a church with a mind to smile at religion, to laugh at goodness, to mock at piety; or, to guess the best, Thou tamest for flowers, and not for fruit. Thou tamest for a bait, but didst meet with an hook; and it was happy for thee that Thou wast so caught. Thou Thoughtest only to see the flourishing of the sword, but Thou feltest the edge of it, and it was well for thee that Thou wast so wounded.

5. Remember the manner how he thus wrought upon thee; it may be it was with softer and gentler impressions, in a winning, melting way. He drew thee with the cords of a man, and sweetly dissolved thy stony heart. It is. true, the law had its work, and struck thee with the flaming edge of a curse, but the gospel presently brought oil, and poured it into the wounded spirit. The love of CHRIST constrained thee to obedience: And was it not mercy to be dealt with in so mild a way Well, but what if Thou wast a more knotty and obdurate piece, and it was not a little matter that would tame thy unruly spirit GOD came in a more victorious and triumphant manner, and led captivity captive, when he gave gifts unto thy soul. He was fain to batter down strong holds, and bring to the ground towering imaginations. Thou hadst a rocky and flinty spirit, and was not his word an hammer Did not he take it into his own hand He smote the stony rock indeed, so as the waters gushed out. Well, and had he no bowels all the while Was it not abundance of mercy to take pains with such an obstinate sinner Refer it Thou to what Thou will; we will put it under the head of free grace.

6. Think upon those mountains of opposition that were beaten down, when this goodly fabrick of the temple went up with the shoutings and acclamations of free grace. The strong man was dispossest, all the plots and stratagems of SATAN were frustrated. GOD crushed his designs, and blasted his enterprises, and broke his snares, and rescued thee out of the paw of the lion. It was much love and grace to set a silly bird out of the snare, to ransom a poor captive, to break the chain, and beat off the irons, to disentangle a soul, and set it at liberty. And then he armed thee against the disgraces and frowns, and fortified thee against the smiles and blandishments of the world, and carried thee against the stream of examples, which all ran another way; grace hid thy soul under the shadow of its wings.

This truth is full of use; richly laden with fruit, if we had time to gather it: I shall but point at it. Let none dare to abuse the grace of God; to draw malignant and venomous consequences out of so sweet and flowery a truth. It only belongs to love to hear of grace; this is a soft and downy doctrine, a silken truth. It is a gentle breath that fans the soul, and gives it sweet refreshment. It is a pleasant thing to sit under the shadow of grace, and see GOD’s goodness streaming out before thee! But take heed, whoever Thou art, of turning this grace of God into wantonness; and know, that it is free grace in another sense too; GOD may take it away when he pleases, Thou knows not which is the last offer. Believe it, he that neglects. this very present offer, ventures eternity. And know withal, that as there are more liberal aspersions of grace in time of the gospel, so there are larger vials of wrath too. Grace abused turns to fury. What! to sill against GOD because he is good Therefore to offend him, because he is merciful To multiply iniquities, because he blots them out for his own sake To kick against bowels of mercy, and to rebel against the golden sceptre, when it is stretched out Truly this will be the very sting of hell, this will heat the furnace seven times hotter: it will teach the worm that never dies, to gnaw more cruelly, and will put new stings into the eternal scorpions, and will prepare flaming ingredients for the cup of wrath, and fill it up to the very brim. Oh how fain wouldst Thou then change places in hell with a *, or an infidel, and be ambitious of ordinary damnation,! But truly there is no stronger argument against sin to all ingenuous spirit than free grace. Because GOD is so ready to pardon, therefore the soul is so loath to displease.