call and account yourselves the only sons of the church, you have nothing to do with the spiritual privileges, and sweet communion of saints; you are strangers from the covenants of promise, that is, you are not in this new covenant, but under that of works, and have not a right to any one promise, and so to no gospel mercy, consequently, without hope and without God in the world. The misery of a graceless sinner is inexpressible, yea, inconceivable; he is ready every moment to drop into hell; he must be shut out of heaven; God is angry with him every moment; Satan hath him in a string, leads him whither he list, and if he die this moment, he is gone for ever. O work on your hearts such sad thoughts as these! awake conscience, rouse up your affections, then cry out with the publican, striking on your breast, "God be merciful to me a sinner."* Woe is me, wretched creature that I am; what shall I do? I am undone, the guilt of sin is upon me, mercy is far from me; I have despised free grace, and now I may fear that mercy is turned into fury, that long forbearance will end in just vengeance. Oh is there any hope for a forlorn wretch? have not I worn out my day of grace? is there any hope for me? Surely, a little mercy will not serve my turn; I am a great sinner, yea, the chief of sinners; there must be a larger dole of mercy to me than others. Oh "what shall I do, men and brethren, what must I do to be saved?" Thus, sirs, bemoan your state. It is not a saying all are sinners, and God is merciful, that will serve the turn, but you must be sick of sin, then you will desire a physician, else you will slight and scorn both Christ and the covenant of God, with all the mercies thereof.† 3. Be thankful for, but be not content with, common mercies; they are good in their kind, and for their + Matt. ix. 12, 13. * Luke xviii. 13. VOL. II. 2 G * use and purposes, but they are not suitable to, nor sufficient for, the soul. A Christian should be content with any thing in the world, yet content with nothing in the world; the worst of the world doth please a believer along with God, the best of it cannot, should not please him without God; you must look on these things as good in the way for a staff or bait, but not good as a centre or end, to terminate your thoughts upon. Remember, the worst of men may have the best of these blessings, yet have them with a curse, and may perish with them; therefore, say as David, Psalm cxix. 132, "Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name;” and elsewhere he desires to be remembered with the favour of God's people; as if he should say, and every believer may adopt the same language: Lord, there are common mercies which fill the belly, clothe the back, supply outward wants, but these thou givest to the bad as well as good; and though these are more than I deserve, yet more than these I desire; these will only serve me the day and date of my temporal life, and will take their leave of me at death; but Lord, thou hast better mercies to bestow than these, even such as will adhere to me in life and death; mercies that concern the soul, such as thou bestowest on children, and on heirs of promise. O let me come in for a child's part of those, and put me not off with any else; none besides will fit or fill my precious soul, or serve my turn. I must say, as once the children of Joseph said to Joshua," why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people?" + So must I say, if I were a brute creature, one lot of provender for this body would serve me, but seeing I am blessed with a noble, never-dying soul, that hath large capacious faculties, I must have a dou* Psalm cvi. 4. + Josh. xvii. 14. ble portion, a single share is not enough-something that will live when this body is laid in the grave, and nothing is so fit for this immortal soul, as these sure mercies of David. O that I had my share thereof! more than these I cannot reasonably desire, expect, or enjoy, and less than these my soul is not content withal. 4. Cast out and cashier all sin, break off your sinful league with impure lusts. These sure mercies will not lodge in a foul breast; where Christ takes up his habitation, sin hath not dominion. God and sin go contrary ways-mercies mount the soul upwards, corruption pulls the soul downwards; you must be separate, and touch no unclean thing, if you would be received and embraced as children, and have God for your Father, 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Be you sure "the throne of iniquity hath no fellowship with God," and God will challenge such as hate instruction, and wilfully run into sin, and will say, "what hast thou to do-to take my covenant in thy mouth ;"* do not think to yoke Christ and Belial, God will not be merciful to any wicked, persevering transgressor; do not think to divide mercies and faithfulness; make account to enjoy mercies only in the way of truth, that you may be able to say as David, Psalm cxix. 41, "Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation, according to thy word;" as if he had said, O Lord, thou hast mercies to bestow, and thou hast told me, how and to whom thou wilt distribute these mercies; it is to such as fear and love and obey thee, and devote themselves to thee. Why, here I am, I have served sin and Satan too long, now I abhor the ways in which my soul hath delighted, I abandon works of darkness, I cut off a right-hand sin, and pluck out a right-eye lust, and now I am in the road of mercy, not as though this merited thy favour, • Psalm xciv. 20. Psalm 1. 16-18. but as a condition absolutely necessary in the souls of such as obtain mercy, according to the precepts and promises of the word ;* and now though I cannot challenge mercy, yet I humbly plead thy promise for mercy, even covenant mercies; I have forsaken my sinful ways and wicked thoughts; "O be merciful to me according to thy word!" + O entertain me, and then I shall not lose but change my pleasures, the sensual pleasures of the flesh, for a solid, sacred, and soul-satisfying delight in Christ and grace! Thus renounce sin, and you shall have what is infinitely better; but that is not all. 5. Renounce your own righteousness, and look after these sure mercies only for mercy's sake; the wise merchant parted with all, not only his worldly enjoyments, but self-conceited thoughts of his own righteousness, for this pearl of price; ‡ deny yourselves then, enjoy God, mercy is slighted when you dream of merit; the poor Jews that sought to establish their own righteousness, would not submit to the righteousness of God, Rom. x. 3; they had something of their own to lean to, they scorned God's way of saving sinners; they would not be beholden to God's mercy, and so went without. The poor publican was justified, but the proud Pharisee condemned; come as importunate beggars, not as rich purchasers; say as David, "save me for thy mercies' sake," Psalm vi. 4, as if he had said, Lord, I am a weak, worthless, wicked creature, if thou mark iniquity who can stand? I am not worthy of one crumb of kindress, most worthy of thy fiercest displeasure; if thou condemn me thou art righteous-if thou save me thou art infinitely gracious. Lord, when thy wrath is ready to wax hot, and justice prompts thy hand to strike the fatal blow, then reflect upon thy working bowels of * Isaiah i. 16-18, and lv. 7. Matt. xiii. 46. + Psalm cxix. 58. tender mercy, and stop thy hand from a righteous execution of thy justly deserved sentence of condemnation, "Remember thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old-Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions, according to thy mercy remember thou me, for thy goodness' sake, O Lord." Thus a good man pleads with God, Psalm xxv. 6, 7, and thus do thou come emptyhanded, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Mercy were not mercy if it were bought at a valuable rate; but as that is not possible, so that soul which comes to purchase shall be dealt without, for all the good things of the gospel are of free and undeserved gift. 66 6. Close with Jesus Christ the root and spring of these covenant mercies. I told you in the doctrinal part, these mercies are made sure in and by Christ to all the heirs of promise. Would you then enjoy the benefit of these mercies, accept of Jesus Christ in the exercise of a sound and lively faith. You can expect no mercy but through a Mediator, "grace and truth come by Jesus Christ."* All mercy is laid up in Christ, as the great storehouse, and is to be fetched out by faith; those souls are under a dangerous and soul-destroying mistake that imagine God to be any other ways merciful than in Christ. "It is even dreadful," saith Luther, "to think of God out of Christ ;" this is the only gospel way of obtaining mercy. God blesseth us with these spiritual blessings in Christ, and we are accepted in the beloved. † Well then, how have poor souls interest in Christ? This is only by faith, which is the soul's accepting of him upon his own terms. Here, I must not digress into the spacious field of that useful subject, saving faith; but must refer you to the large dis* John i. 17. + Eph. i. 3, 6. Johni. 12. |