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gainst the word and the bearer of it, and they hate both, as fpeaking no good of them. Some affront the meffengers, and fometimes lay violent hands on them, Matth. xxii. 6. And thus fome fit the fuinmons all their days, and never appear, till death brings them under his black rod, before the tribunal in another world, where there is no access to juftification or pardon. But God fuffers none of his elect to do fo always.

Thirdly, The Lord the Judge fends out other meffengers, and they apprehend the finner, lay hands on him to carry him, whether he will or not, before the judgement-feat, and oblige him to abide his trial. And thefe are two, the Spirit of bondage, and an awakened confcience, John xvi. 8. 9. Prov. xx. 27. These will catch the man, and hunt him till they find him out, when they have got their order, Jer. ii. 27. They apprehended Paul when going to Damafcus, and left him not till he appeared, and fubmitted himself.

But it is not always fo. Some that are apprehended, get out of the meffengers hands, and make their efcape unhappily. When they are catched, they are unruly prifoners, they ftruggle and wreftle, and ftrive against the Spirit, and their own confciences, Acts vii. 51. they go no farther with them than they are dragged. They get the maftery at length over their confcience, break its bonds, and ftifle its convictions, and fo grieve and quench the Spirit, that they get a way to their own ruin; like Cain, Saul, Felix, &c. But none of God's elect ever get away for altoge ther.

Fourthly, Then the elect foul is infallibly fifted at length before the judgement-feat. The Spirit of bon. dage and the awakened confcience apprehend him afrefh, and bring their prifoner in chains of guilt unto the bar trembling, and he can escape the trial no longer, before a holy God, Acts xvi. 29. 30. Then what fear, forrow, and anxiety feize the prifoner's foul, while he fees a just Judge on the throne, a ftrict

and fevere law laid before him, and he has a guilty confcience within! And he muft undergo a trial for his life, not the life of the body only, but of foul and body for evermore. These things may feem idle tales to fome; but if ye have not experienced the reality of them, ye fhall do it, or dreadful shall the judgement after death be to you.

Fifthly, Then the indictment, or criminal libel, is read in the ears of the trembling finner before the Judge, and that by the law, which manages the accufation fo as the pannel shall stand speechiefs, Rom. iii. 10.-19. Every one of the ten commands accufes him of innumerable evils and tranfgreffions. His omiffions and commiffions are laid in broad band before him; his fins of heart, lip, and life, and the fin of his nature, are all charged upon him, and that with their feveral aggravations. And fentence is demanded against the pannel, according to justice, and agreeable to the law, Gal. iii. 10. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to de them.

Sixthly, Then the finner muft plead Guilty or not, to the indictment. Indeed, if he were innocent, he might plead Not guilty, deny the libel, and thereupon he would be juftified. But alas! this plea is not for us poor finners. For (1.) It is utterly falfe, Rom. iii. 10. Eccl. vii. 20. Jam. iii. 2. And (2.) Falfehood can never bear out before God's judgement-feat. There is no want of evidence to prove all. Confcience within is as a thousand witneffes, and will teftify against the finner. The Judge is omniscient, and there is no concealing of our crimes from him. Therefore this plea will not do, Rom. iii. 20. The finner then must needs plead Guilty, confess the libel, and every article of it, acknowledge the debt, and every article of it, tho' he is utterly unable to pay, Rom. iii. 19.

Seventhly, The finner being convicted by his own confeffion as guilty, is put to it to plead, What he has to fay why the fentence of death eternal should VOL. II.

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not pass against him, according to law and juftice, and why he fhould not be haled from the judgementfeat to execution. Here what fhall he plead at this terrible nick of time, where his ftate for eternity is juft upon the turning point? Shall he plead mercy for mere mercy's fake, cafting himfelf down at the Judge's feet? Juftice interpofes betwixt mercy and the finner, and pleads that the Judge of all the earth muft do right, that he cannot profticute his honour for the fafety of rebels, but muft inagnify the law, and make it honourable. The truth of God interpofes, and fays, the word is already gone out of the Judge's mouth, and must be accomplished, That without fhedding of blood there is no remiffion. Whither fhall the finner turn now? Can the faints help? No; they can fpare none of their oil. Can angels do nothing? No; their united ftock would not be fufficient to clear the debt. The finner then must die the death, and fink under his own burden, if help come not from another quarter. So,

Eighthly, The formerly defpifed Mediator, the great Advocate at this court, who takes the defperate caufes of finners in hand, and expedites them, offers himfelf now, in this extremity, to the finner, with his perfect righteoufnefs and all his falvation. The finner embra ces him with heart and good-will, enters into the covenant, by faith lays hold on him, renounces all other claims, and betakes himfelf to his alone merits and fure. tifhip. Now is the finner united to Chrift, and by virtue of that union has communion with him, par ticularly in his righteoufnefs, and fo ftands before God in the white raiment of the Mediator's righteoufnels. Now has the finner a plea that will infallibly bring

him off.

He pleads, he is guilty indeed; yet he muft not die, for Chrift has died for him. The debt was a juft debt; but the Cautioner has paid it, and therefore he craves up his discharge. The law's demands were juft; but they are all answered already, both as to doing and

fuffering. The foul is now married to Chrift; and therefore if the law or juftice want any thing, they muft feek it of the Hufband, and not of her, feeing the foul is thereby put under covert, Therefore the convicted believing finner gets in under the covert of the Mediator's blood, which ftands open in that court; and there stands and pleads against all that law or juftice can demand, that it must not die, but be graciously acquitted,

Lastly, Hereupon God the great Judge fuftaining the plea paffes the fentence of juftification on the finner, according to the everlasting agreement that paffed betwixt the Father and the Son, If, liii, 11. The pannel gets the white ftone and new name, and fo is for ever fet beyond the reach of condemnation, Rom. viii. 1. This is excellently defcribed by Elihu, Job xxxiii. 22. 23, 24. Yea, his foul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the deftroyers. If there be a mef Jenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to hew unto man his uprightness: Then he is gracious unto him, and faith, Deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. This great benefit confifts of two parts, as I obferved before,

FIRST, The pardon of fin, Acts xiii. 38. 39. Thro' this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of fins: And by him all that believe are juftified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Mifes. The finner having this act of grace paffed in his favour, is fully indemnified as to all crimes committed by him against the honour and law of the King of heaven, fo as they fhall never be charged upon him any more. Here I fhall fhew,

1. What pardon is,

2. The properties of it,

3. Its many fweet names, that discover the nature

of it.

First, I fhall fhew what pardon is. It is not the taking away the nature of fin, pardoned fin is ftill fini God juftifies the finner, but will never justify his fin.

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Nor is it the removing of the intrinfic demerit of fin; it ftill deferves condemnation, though it fhall never actually condemn the finner, Rom. viii. 1. Nor is it a fimple adjourning of the punishment, a reprieve is no pardon.

There are four things to be confidered in fin. (1.) The reigning power of it, which is broken in regeneration and fanctification, Rom. vi. 14. (2.) The blot and ftain, which is taken away in the gradual advances of fanctification, 1 Cor. vi, 11. (3) The indwelling power, which is removed in glorification, Heb. xii. 23. (4.) The guilt, which is taken away in pardon.

Guilt is an obligation to punishment. The guilt of an unjustified finner is an obligation lying upon his head, to bear the wrath and eternal vengeance of God, to fatisfy juftice for the breaking of his law. It is a bond binding him to go to the prifon of hell, and lie there till he hath paid the utmost farthing of his debt of fin, 2 Theff. i. 9. It arifes from the fanction of the law, Gen. ii. 17. So that the finner, like Shimei, having broke his confinement, is a man of death.

Pardon is the taking away of this guilt, this dreadful obligation. While the criminal ftands bound with the cords of guilt for execution, a pardoning God fays, Deliver his foul from going down to the pit, have found a ransom, Job xxxiii. 24. Pardon cuts the knot, whereby guilt ties fin and wrath together, cancels the bond obliging the finner to pay his debt, reverfes the fentence of condemnation, and puts him out of the law's reach.

Secondly, I am to fhew the properties of this pardon. Thefe are chiefly three. It is,

1. Full; Micah vii. 19, Thou wilt caft all their fins into the depths of the fea. Col. ii. 13. Having forgiven you all trefpaffes. All the man's fins are pardoned together. God gives no half-pardons; it suits not either the riches of his grace, nor the finner's necef

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