Serm. XCIV. The Mercy of God: 709 but feventy times fever, as often as we offend him,: fo fhould we forgive our Brother. And we fhould not be backward to this Work ; God is ready to forgive us, Neh. 9. 57. And we fhould do it heartily, not only in word, when we retain malice in our hearts, and while we fay we forgive, carry on a fecret deign in our hearts of revenging our felves when we have opportunity ; but we fhould from our hearts forgive every one ; for fo God doth to us, who when he forgives us, cafis our iniquities behind his back, andthrows them into the bottom of the fea, andblots out our tranfgrefion, fo as to remember our iniquity no more. If we do not thus, every time we put up the Petition toGod, Forgive us our trefpajfes, as we forgive them that trefpafs ageing us, we do not pray for Mercy, but for Judgment ; we invoke his wrath, and do not put up a Prayer, but a dreadful Imprecation againft our felves ; we pronounce the Sentence of our own Condemnation, and importune God not to forgive us. Ufe 4. If the mercy of God be fo great, this may comfort us againft Defpait. Sinners are apt to be dejeóted, when they confider their unworthinefs, the Na- ture and number of their Sins, and the many heavy aggravations of them ; they are apt to fay with Cain, That their fin is greater than can be forgiven. But do not look only upon thy Sins ; but upon the Mercies of God. Thou canft not be too fenfible of the evil of fin, and of the defert of it ; but whilft we aggravate our Sins, we mutt not leften the Mercies of God. When we confider the mul- titude of our Sins, we muft confider alto the multitude of God's tender Mer.. cies ; we have been great Sinners, and God is of great mercy ; we have mul- tiplied our Provocations, and he multiplies topardon. Do but thou put thy felf in a capacity of mercy, by repenting of thy Sins, and forfaking of them, and thou haft no reafon to doubt but the mercy of God will receive thee ; If we canfefs our Sins, he is merciful and faithful to forgive them. If we had offended Man as we have done God, we might defpair of pardon ; but it is Godand not Man that we have todeal with ; and his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts ; but as the heavens are high above the earth, fo are his ways above our ways, andhis thoughts above our thoughts. We cannot be more injurious to God, than by hard thoughts of him, as if fu- ry were in him, and when we have provoked him, he were not to be appealed and reconciled to us. We difparage the Goodnefs and Truth of God, when, we diftruft thofe gracious declarations which he has made of his Mercy and Good- nefs ; if we do not think that he doth heartily pity and compaflionate Sinners, and really delire their happinefs. Doth not he condefcend fo low as to reprefent himfelf of hiéced for the Miferies of Men, and to rejoyce in the converfion of a Sinner ? and lhall not we believe that he is in good earneft ? Doth Chrift weep over impenitent Sinners, becaufe theywill not know the things of theirpeace ? And cant thou think he will not pardon thee upon thy repentance ? Is he grieved that Men will undo themfelves, and will not be faved ? and canft thou think that he is unwilling to forgive ? We cannot honour and glorifie God more than by entertaining great thoughts of his. Mercy. As we are faid to glorifie God by our repentance, becaufe thereby we acknowledge God's Holinefs and Juftice ; fo we glorifie' him by believing his mercy, becaufe we conceive a right opinion of his Goodnefs and Truth ; we fet to our Seal that God is merciful and true ; "Pled. x47. as. 'tis Paid, That God takes pleafure in them that hope in hismercy. As he de- lights in mercy, fo in our acknowledgments of it ; that Sinners fhould conceive great hopes of it, and believe him to be what he is. Provided thou doff fubmit to the terms of God's Mercy, thou haft no reafon to defpair of it; and he that thinks that his Sins are moreor greater than the mercy of God can pardon, muft think that there may be more Evil in theCreature thin there is Goodnefs in ' God. UP S. By way of Caution againft the prefumptuous Sinner. If there be any that trefpafs upon the Goodnefs of God, and prefume to encourage themfelves in Sin upon the hopes of his Mercy, let fuch know,-that God is juft as well as merciful. A God all of mercy is an Idol, fuch a God as Men let up in their own
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