Book ll. hope of mercy, b1<t rather expell thufe /Mrfjel jwJgmwtr a11d e>~dlefJ tormen tJ which are due unto tlm for thy rebellimi·. Thus Satan labours to bring a poor !inner to deep de– fpair, and to fill his confcknoe With horrom and fear, which if he can accomplifh ' he refis not thcre,but like a cruel cowHd,who can never be quiet till he fee the death ~fhis enomy, he then perfwades him to feck fume eafe o~ his prefent torment>, by-im– bruing lois hands in illSown blood, aod putting himfdf to fame violent death : This is fad , yet fame are brought to thi>, the Lord knows, I will in!lance in none but Cain and J udas, 01 whom the former defperatdy blafphemed the mercy of God, and the 0 _ M•tth.o 7 .s. ther drfp"rately laid violent hands on himfolf, he hangedhimfelf, and faUing beild-long );e Al[.r.r8. burjl ajiwdcr in tbe mi.jl, andalihitboweh gujhed oztt, ' SECT. V. · Of the dutiu tbat concern Sot~II i11 this cafe. THe duties, or defeature, or Souls encounter in this cafe, m~rt b~ fuitab!e to Sltans a!faults: And therdore-- t. To that ol dcfplir, confider: I. As-to fin. 2• A> to Gods Juflice. 3· As to the Law. 4· AstoHell. 1. As to fin, conlider; that no fin, though never. fo great, 01uuldbe a caufe to move thee to de(pair What wo.dd S•tan perlwade thee, becaufe thou halt been fo great anJ prodigious a !inner , therefore to dcfpair ? Retort his argument upon him– felf, and tell him, that very.__ thing by which he would perfwade thee to defp•ir, dot1. 1 mnch more deter thee from dei}nirin!l; for though thy fins be g,rcat,yet this is the greatell: c;>t all other fin,; other fi ns bind thee over to wrath" but this fin gives fir< t<'J the threatning, and fets the Soul on flame with extreme l)orour; other ltns wouncl the law, and the Name of God throu..h the !ides vfthe Law, bm this fin wou::ds the Go· fpel, in thar icis not wdli'''!l to h1ve the wounds healedwhich former tins have made; other !ins have wrongtd God the Father in trcfpalfing igainfi him, but thisfin will not let Jcfus Cllrifl make linisfacbon for the wrong that by h1s tins are done to thefather; other fins relkct on the N1me, or Power , or Jufiice , or Holinefs ol' God, but this fin fi5hts againlt all his lovely Attributes of Goodncfs, Mercy, Love, and Grace, and Satau claps his hands to fee all the glorious Attributes of God fcrved alike, ~nd divefted of theu honour; other fins, though great, are pardonable, if not mixed with this, but the leafi tin envenomed by this of defpair, is wholly unpardonable. Heocc we fay . that Judas linnet! more, and more difhonored God in dcfpairing of his mercies, than irl betraying ol his Sec; and C•in more grievoully offended in fayiog, f1!y fin it greottr then can be pard9ned, than by murdering his BrOther. 0 tremble at dofpair! for this fin draws neerer to the lin of devils, and h of the complexion of the damned Souls in Htll. 2· As to Gods Juflicc, confider; ·thou art not to look only on Juflice, but on JU· 1\ice and Mercy, as meeting together, and kilfing each other. Thefc two are long finco reconciled , to that.now God knows bow to be jufl, and yet to {avc thy Soul. In that pwmife of Gods betrothing himfelf to !inners, it runs thus , I wiUbetrotl>thee ttm• me in righteoufnefs, in judgemeltt, in loving kjndnefi, a>rd in rmrciu; he will do iiln Jutiice and Mercy, he will be righteoos and gracious. It Saran object, Can the Lord be juH, and favc fuch a 6nner as thou art? Yes, mayfi thou fay, God tells !>le, that he will n·,arry me in righte~ufnefs as well.s mercy; that is to fay , he will do it in Chrifi, wbofegreat undertaking was to bringJufiice to kifs Mercy, that there might not be a di!fci!ting .(\ttribute of Goo in his marrying of me. In this cafe, as I woul~ with !inners have an eye on Gods }uflice to keep t~em from prefnmption, fo likewife ico have an eye on Gods Mercy to keep them from defpair; or ( whi•h isall one) ' to think of ChriH, who hath already paid t~e price for. the par~on of fin; a•d •here– fore as it were againll: Mercy to damn, fa It were agamfl J•!hce to exact thcd~bt of them for wbom'Chrifi bath paid it: What lhould we thmk at that t?an, who haV!ng a debt fully difcharged by the Surety, fhou!d prefs upon the principal for the payment of the fatnc debt again' Surely it were a fearful di!honour to the r,g,btecusJud~c of ~11 the world , to conceive, that bav:ng received an exact and full lat,sfactiOn for all rhy lim by the Hearts blood ofhis own dear Son, he fhould ever require them ajlalll at thy · hw~ .. •-· - '
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