THE TRUE PENITENT. 503 . clean water upon thee, and thou shalt be clean : a new heart will I give thee, and a new spirit, even my own Spirit, will I put within thee, and thou shalt be com- pletely born of God: and at that day thou shalt know that I am in the Father, and thou in me, and I in thee. " Who is he that condemneth ? It is I, who died for thy sins, yea, rather, who rose again for thy justifi- cation, who am even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for thee. The same com- passionate love, that made me weep over ungrateful Jerusalem, and groan over dead Lazarus, made me bleed and die for thee. O that in this thy day, thou mayest know the things that belong unto thy peace, and the efficacy of that sacrifice, by which. I have for ever perfected them that are sanctified ! O that un- belief, so injurious to me, and so pernicious to thee, may no longer hide my love from thine eyes ! " What ! afraid of my purity ! Art thou ready to cry out as my apostle, " Depart from me, O Lord, For I am a sinful man ?" And dost thou tremble at my words as a criminal at the sentence of his judge ? O, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Am not I thy light and strength, thy shield and buckler, thy tower and resting place, thy strong hold whereunto thou mayest always resort, thy castle and fortress, the horn also of thy salvation, and thy refuge ? As for thy sins, if thou desirest to part with them, they will no more hinder me from visiting thee, than the sickness of a patient prevents a physician from giving him his attendance. " I know thou art a sinner a great sinner; for this cause I came down from heaven to Bethlehem to Gethsemane to Calvary. I know thine iniquities are more in number than the hairs of thy head; like a sore burden, they are too heavy for thee to bear ; and therefore have I borne them for thee in my own body on the tree. I came not to call the- righteous, but sinners, to repentance ; I am the man that receiveth sinners, and eateth with them ; I am the friend of re- turning publicans and harlots : all manner of sins and
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