you muft needs be a chriftian, because you make a public profeffion, and yield a cool affent to the truth. This thoufands have done, this you may do, and yet perish for ever. If not divorced from the law, if not renewed in your mind and enabled to believe in Christ, as a miferable helpless finner; it will soon appear that you have only chofen a more decent, though lefs frequented path, to the regions of darknefs; and that you are damned with the fingle advantage, of having left a refpectable character amongft your fellow finners. A poor compenfation this for the lofs of an immortal foul, and an awful if- fue of a religious profeffion! God grant it may not be the cafe with my reader!

Nor let any one miftake a fet of evangelical notions, received by education, or imbibed under a gofpel miniftry, for true converfion and faith in the great Redeemer. A miftake here is fatal, and has been the ruin of multitudes. A profeffor may be wife in doctrinals, and able to vindicate the truth against its oppofers; while his heart is entirely carnal; cold as ice, and barren as a rock. Though I underftand all myfteries and all knowledge, and have not charity; love to God and love to his people, I. am nothing. Vain, then, are the pretenfions of all thofe, whatever knowledge they may have of the gofpel, who live in fin; who love not God, nor feek his glory. They may fhine in religious converfation; they may display their talents and feed their vanity, by defending truth and refuting error; and, conscious of fuperior abilities, may look down with a folemn pride on perfons of meaner parts and lefs understanding in the doctrines of grace ;. but their fuperior knowledge will only aggravate their future wo, and render damnation itself more dreadful.

CHAP. V.

Of Grace, as it reigns in a full, free, and everlasting

Pardon.

ARDON of fin is a bleffing of fuperlative

Porth, becaufe abfolutely neceffary to prefent

peace and future falvation. Without it, no indivi dual of Adam's race can be happy. When the confcience of a finner is wounded with guilt, and oppreffed with fears of divine wrath, it is fought with ardour, as the most defirable thing; it is received with joy, as the first of all favours.

But great and neceffary as the bleffing is, had it not been for that revelation contained in the Bible, mankind would have lain under a fad uncertainty, whether there was any fuch thing as forgiveness with God. Being conscious of guilt, yet partial in their own favour, they might have pleafed themselves with conjectures, that he would not finally condemn all his offending creatures: but they could never have arrived at certainty. For by whatever medium they might have come to the knowledge of God, as the Author of nature and Sovereign of the world; by the fame mean they must have known,that perfection is effential to the Divine Cha+ racter; and, confequently, that the Deity muft be infinitely oppofite to moral evil. But whether fuch as had rebelled against their eternal Sovereign might be forgiven, confiftently with his perfections and purposes, and without impeaching his honour as a righteous

righteous governor; this, unaffifted reafon could not have determined.---Under what obligations then are we laid, to adore the condefcenfion and goodnefs of God; who has not left us to grope in the dark, and to form a thoufand wild conjectures about an affair of such vaft importance! For, poffeffing a divine revelation of the richest grace, we are taught with abfolute certainty, that there is forgiveness with our Maker and Sovereign. This revelation of mercy is of great antiquity, and almost coeval with time itself. It was known to the patriarchs; it was exhibited in a clearer manner under the Mofaic œconomy. But, by the incarnation and work of the Son of God, it has received the highest confitmation, and shines in all its glory.-Jehovah's pardoning goodnefs was loudly proclaimed to Mofes, and makes a confpicuous figure in that facred name, by which the God of Ifrael was known to the church in the wildernefs. As the Lord defcended in the cloud and flood with him there, and proclaimed THE NAME OF THE LORD. And the Lord paffed by before him, and proclaimed; THE LORD, THE LORD GOD, merciful and gracious, long-fuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy for thousands, FORGIVING INIQUITY, TRANSGRESSION, AND SIN. Yes, to the eternal Sovereign belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebel, led against him.

This capital bleffing of the new covenant is reprefented in the book of God by many strong metaphors, and in a rich variety of language; yet all in exact correfpondence to the different views which are there given of the dreadful nature and complicated evil of fin.-Is the finner described as all over defiled, and loathfome with hateful impurity? his pardon is denoted by the perfect cleaning of his

perfon

perfon, and by the covering of all his filth.* Is he compared to a wretched infolvent, and his offences to a debt of ten thousand talents? his pardon is reprefented by blotting out of the debt, or by a nonimputation of it. Is he likened to a perfon who labours under the weight of an heavy burden, that galls his fhoulders and finks his spirits ? his forgivenefs is represented by lifting up, and by removing the painful incumbrance.§ Are his tranfgreffions, for their nature, number and effects, reprefented by clouds; black, lowering, low hung clouds, that are just ready to burft in a ftorm and to deluge the country? his pardon is defcribed by their total abolition, by blotting them out from the face of heaven, fo that no trace of them fhall be found, nor any mortal be able to tell what is become of them.¶ Is difobedience to the divine law pronounced rebellion against the Majefty of heaven, and the finner confidered as a convict under sentence of death? forgiveness confifts in reverfing the fentence, and in remitting the penalty due to his crimes. Under this confideration, which is the proper notion of pardon, the language of a gracious God is, Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found a ransom. The Lord is pleafed to reprefent the fame invalu able bleffing, by cafting our fins behind his back; by cafting them into the depths of the fea; by removing them as far from us as the east is from the weft; by remembering them no more: and by making fearlet and crimson offences white as wool, yea, whiter than fnow.

*Píalm xiv. 3, xxxii. 1. and lxxxv. 2. 1 Johni, 7. Rev. i. 5. Pfalm xxxii. 2. and li. 1, 9. Matt. xvii. 24,

Pfalm xxxviii. 4. and xxxii. 1.

Kaiah xliv. 22.

Matt. xi. 28.

In this forgiveness grace reigns, and the riches of grace are displayed. It is an absolutely perfect pardon; and to make it fo, three things are required. It must be full, free, and everlasting. That is, it must extend to all fin; it must be vouchsafed without any conditions to be performed by the finner; and it must be abfolutely irreversible. But these things deferve a more particular confideration.

That forgivenefs which is equal to the wants of a finner must be full; including all fins, be they ever fo numerous; extending to all their aggravations, be they ever fo enormous. Every fin being a tranfgreffion of divine law, and every tranfgreffion fubjecting the offender to a dreadful curfe; if the guilt of every fin be not removed, if the penalty due to every fin be not remitted, the curfe muft fall upon us, and wrath must be our portion. Hence appears the neceffity of a full pardon in order to happinefs. And as it is effentially neceffary, fo it is granted. The scriptures declare, that when our offended Sovereign pardons any of the human race, he forgives all their fins. For, fays the King, whofe name is the LORD OF HOSTS: I will cleanse them from ALL their iniquities whereby they have finned against me: and I will pardon ALL their iniquities whereby they have finned, and whereby they have tranfgreffed against me. Delightful declaration! To forgive fin is a divine prerogative. None can difpenfe the unfpeakable favour but God. This he declares he will do: and that he will not only forgive some sins, or a few, but all; all entirely.

Let us hear another ambassador from the court of heaven. The prophet Micah, when speaking of the King Eternal, with an air of thanksgiving and of joy declares; He will turn again, He will have

compassion