.lln Expojition of the Epijlle ~ before was a'Bia.JPhemer, and a Perftcutor, and Injllriote, but I obt~(ned Mercy, .er.XXIV. &c. and (fauh he) the G>'ace ofour Lord was exceedmg abundant, with Faith and ~ L ove which is in Chrift Jef111. What means he here by Faith and Love? dotli he mean the Faithfulnefs and Love ofChnft unto htm ? No, but Faith and Love j himlelf wrought toward Jefus Chnft; and his meaning is this,that look as I havinn been a Perfecutor, and a Blafphemer, and Injurious, as I had abounded in aiT thefe before ; no":' w~en God dtd turn. me, the Grace of Jefus Chrift did make this Advantage oftt, tt made me love htm the more ; The Grace ofour Lord was exceeding ab11ndant in Faith and Love, And remember this: The Love God lhew– e? thee when he firft turned thee to.him; all the time before (as Ifaid even now) hts Heart and Eye was upon thee, htmfelfhad appomted a ttme, a fulne£5 oftime i~ which he ref~lved to turn thee ; and as he let a fulne£5 of time for Chrifr Jef~ hts Son to come mto the World, and to take our Nature upon him ; [o he bath let in his eternal Purpofe and Decree a fulne£5 oftime in which the Holy-Ghofr {ha]] come into every Man's Heart to turn bim,and he failethnot a moment ofthe time· as Chrift failed not a moment, but he came in due time, as the Text faith Rom 5 l fay, all the while before frill his Heart was upon thee; and as he faw Natha;iei under the Figtree, fo he faw thee when thou waft in fuch and fuch Courfes and he thought with himfelf, well this Sinner will come home one day, andOh (~s the Prophet Jcremy fpeaks) when fba/1it once be I He longed for that time, for that ~ime in which thy Soul lhould actually he married unto Jefus Chrifr by his Holy Spirit; and when that time was come which he longed for fo much, when that thou didfr but begin to think ofturning to him, and as it is faidofEphraim, in Jer. 31• .20. didft ~ut fmite upon thy Thigh, when thou beganneft firfr to expre£5 but the leaft Affechon to Gag, the lea!l: purpofe of turning to him, His Bowels ftirred within hint, I wiU remember hint Iiill, I will forely have MercJ upon him, faith the Lord. F ourthly, It likewile may he a Treafury to thee for matter of Godly Sorrow. My Brethren, it is a very great Errour, that we may ceafe Mourning for Sin, when it is once pardoned : No, it is the fitte!l: feafon then to mourn, and ofall Graces elfe take your fill ofthat. As I heard one once fay, when he was upon his Death-bed, a day or two before he died (and as he did indeed fpend the time before) faith he, I fba/1 not moum in Heavm, and fo he took his fill of Mourning, ( out of the Senfe of the Love of God ) for the Sins he had cpmmitted here. Therefore now he humbled for Sin, mourn for it ; if not in order to the pardon ofit (which thou art affured of) yetto the further manife!l:ation of that.P.ardon; ifnot in relation to that, yet hecaufe it is pardoned; as you have it, Ezek, 36. ult. That tho" ntayft be confo~tnded (faith he) and never open thy Mouth 111ore, when I am pacified towal'ds theefor all thine Abominations. lt is a very greatQye(\ion,whether the Love ofGod lhould break our Hearts more for the Sins we have committed fince we have turned unto him, or thofe committed before ? There are Aggrava• tions on both fides, which we may take in their Proportion, to work upon our Hearts. Ifwe confider the Sins, fince God wrought upon us, there is this to ag– gravate them, that we have finned again!l: that God that bath manifelled his Love to us, and we have finned againft the manife!l:ation ofthat Love. But then on the other hand, the Sinsbefore Converfion have this heigthning in them too, to make us moarn, that tho we knew not then that God loved us, yet certainly he bore a love to us all-the while, and out ofthat Love he forbore us, and out ofthat Love he intended to convert us and to turn us unto him. FifthfJ, We may improve it for this End, to makeus more zealous for'God. It is an improvement which may be made either of our living long in our Natural Condition (we may remember it for that End, t~ quicken our Zeal for God) or it is an Improvement alfo ofSins committed fince we knew God. It was this that fired Paul Co much, inflamed his Heart fo much, that made him labour more a· hundantly than all the Apo!l:les. None ofthe Apo!l:les perfecuted the Church of Chri!l:. Peterdenyed him it is true; and it was a m~ans .cert.ainly to int:ndhisZe~l; but C1ith 'Pa11l, none perfecuted it but I; whic~ as 1t Ia1d htm low, fo tt made hu11 him labour more than they all; he thought he had neverdone enough.. It is ~he MotJvc
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