---- CHAPTER XIV: The uses of the doctrine.
wares and provisions of all kinds, and to stock the man's ground, and had given his word and truth for the performance of all these, but, together therewith, had led that poor indigent person into all his treasures, and shewn him his riches, and where it was that all those kinds of such furniture do lie, and then had carried him into his fields, barns, and warehouses, where he should also see stock for cattle, corn, and wares of all sorts lie piled up, how would this hearten that man, or any of you, to believe that great person, the promiser, in his word and promise given. So it is here. Now consider those great riches of God which the Scriptures predicate so much, and out of which he pardons; they properly consist in his mercies.
These are they that are his substance, and give him ability to forgive:
He is 'plenteous in mercy, and ready to forgive,' Ps. 86:5. It is mercy that is even the principal obligee in the promise or bond, and truth and other attributes come in but secondarily as to this business of forgiveness, and rather but as witnesses to confirm what mercy had declared and signed before them.
CHAPTER XIV
The uses of the doctrine.
That the thoughts of the mercies in God's nature should encourage us to come to him for salvation and life.—That the consideration of them should cause any soul to hope that God will pardon him in particular.
Use 1. Let the thoughts of these treasures of mercies, which have been described and demonstrated to be in God's nature, encourage us to come to him. Let us consider that there is no other use of all these riches of mercy in God, but to be given all forth unto sinners for his glory: whereas all his other attributes are to himself, and for himself. Thus his wisdom is the perfection of his own being: his love is that whereby he loves himself: his all-sufficience is that which
makes himself blessed; but his mercies redound not in this manner unto or upon himself (for he is not merciful unto himself, or for himself), but the sole improvement and glory of them consists in extending them to others, so as otherwise they would lie useless by him. Now then, as a man's having a great estate lying by him, is the greatest provocation that can be to him to make him willing to lay it forth unto an improvement; so these vast treasures of mercies which God possesseth, are a motive unto him to expend them upon sinners.
Full breasts love to be sucked and drawn, their fulness otherwise becomes a pain. It is the greatest vanity to have riches, and not to know on whom to bestow them. Do but possess thy heart then with the thoughts that there is this fulness of grace, these great riches of mercy in God, and it will make thy soul easy of belief, that there is a willingness in God to bestow them, and that he is resolved to give them out to thee whenever thou comest to him, especially since himself hath set them forth, and proclaimed them on purpose to us; as we find in the Scriptures, that where God doth set himself to persuade sinners to come to him, he thinks it sufficient to give them promises of mercy and pardon.
When convinced sinners come to have the prospect of their hearts, and of their lives past, and of their sins therein, in the great aggravations of them, set in order before them; when the account of their ten thousand talents comes in; then, unless the superabounding mercies in God, which should pardon them, arise up to their faith, and are in solido told out before their eyes, and their faith prevails to assure them in good earnest that there are such infinite mercies in God, they cannot entertain a thought of hope or comfort. Till they see how the mercies of God are superaboundingly able to forgive all these their heinous and aggravated sins, and to remove those heaps upon heaps of them, they will not be brought to believe; but as Jacob's heart fainted, and he believed not till he saw the waggons which Joseph had sent to carry him, and then his spirit revived, Gen.
45:26, 27, so neither will these sinners believe till they see the mercies which God hath sent forth to carry them to heaven. Till then they are apt to cry out (as Cain did, Gen. 4:13), 'My sin is greater than
I can bear:' or as those in Jer. 18, who, when God had invited them to turn from their evil ways, say at the 12th verse, 'there is no hope,' or our case is desperate. And so they forsook their own mercies (as Jonah expresseth it), and left the everlasting and never-failing spring thereof, ver. 14, and forgot the Lord, ver. 15, and betook themselves to lying vanities to give them comfort and ease. And other souls who are preserved from despair, yet think within themselves, and say, Oh, where are the mercies to be found that should pardon all those sins?
Is it possible that God should find in his heart to do it? Is it possible that God should find in his heart mercy and grace enough to pardon such, and so great a sum of sins committed against grace itself? And in this lies the stop and obstruction of faith, as it did in like manner with them in the wilderness, who said, 'Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?' Ps. 78:19. Their doubt (when matters came to a stress) was more of his power and ability, than of his will. The question is, Can God? They do not say God will not. And truly there is as much unbelief in men's hearts about his mercy, when it comes to a pinch, as about his power; though men ordinarily say that they question neither, and indeed till they are put to a distress, they question neither, but take them in an overly way for granted. But still there is the same reason of men's questioning the all-sufficiency of God's mercy, as there was in those Jews, and is in us upon any the like occasion, of questioning his power. Accordingly, we find these two in like manner expressly joined as parallel, and as points of like difficulty to be believed, Ps. 62:8, 11, 12; and indeed in doubting one we question the other, especially when we hear that God's ability to forgive lieth in his mercy; for then to limit his power is as to this particular all one as to limit his mercy. And when men's consciences are throughly awakened to see their sins, then unbelief, on the other hand, awakens thoughts in them to limit God's mercies, which is another phrase used, Ps. 78:41. For men's narrow spirits, if not enlarged by faith, do much measure God's heart by their own, and so think God to be like themselves, Ps. 50:21. They cannot imagine how a person so high, so great, and so grievously provoked, should be able to forgive, and therefore apprehend that he cannot be willing; and hence a thousand jealousies of God do arise in men's souls,
which are as full of dark cells of unbelief as the earth is of vast caverns within the womb of it. We may judge that the disease lies here, by the remedy and application the Scriptures make, which, to satisfy men's souls in these very scruples, do set forth God in the greatness and prerogative power of his mercies, as the mercies of so great a God, and proportionable to his greatness. As men's hearts rise not up to glorify God as God, Rom. 1:21, so nor to believe mercies to be in him as a God so great and infinite, proportionable to his greatness. God hath therefore in the Scriptures taken several ways, and at sundry times hath set forth his mercies to persuade men. Sometimes they are set out by way of admiration and wonderment: Micah 7:18, 19, 'Who is a God like our God, pardoning iniquity, and passing by the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance, and that delighteth in mercy?' Sometimes they are displayed by comparing his thoughts and heart in pardoning, with what may be supposed to be in the thoughts of the largest and most tender-hearted parent, father or mother, and with the bowels which all men put together may be supposed to have in them; and God's heart is declared to exceed them all in mercies and thoughts of forgiveness, as much as the heaven exceeds the earth: Isa. 55:7, 'Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and return unto the Lord, and he will abundantly pardon.' Yea, but the sinner will say, My thoughts of sinning have for time past already been infinite, 'only evil, and continually' evil from my infancy, and my ways have been continually perverse and froward, ungracious and opposite to God and his mercies, that should pardon me.
Humbled sinners' thoughts will go on so far in a belief that God may pardon them, though they have gone out so far in sinning, as to think that if they had only at such a time of their lives sinned so and so against him, and been false to him, and not continued to sin out of the presumption of that grace that now should pardon them, then they might have hope of mercy. But they think that because they have so long provoked him, that now he may have sworn against them in his wrath, and that he cannot find in his heart to forgive such a wretch, though he may otherwise pardon as much as all men and angels putting their stock of mercies together, and making up one
great purse of mercy, as would be sufficient to extend to forgive and discharge great debts. Oh but, says God, measure not my thoughts in pardoning either by the evil in your thoughts, or by your ways in sinning; nor yet measure them by what the thoughts and ways of yourselves, men or angels, have or can have to forgive withal! 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, saith the Lord. As the heavens be higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.' My ways of mercy are both above your ways of sinning, and they also exceed all the thoughts of mercy which the best natured of you can have in pardoning others. My ways and designs that I have upon you, and dealings I purpose towards you, transcend them all in opposite goodness, graciousness, and forgiveness, as much as the heavens do the earth. And also says God,
'My thoughts are not as your thoughts.' He speaks all this of his exceeding them all in pardoning. Nay, further, it rises higher, to this, meaning that the mercies of God do not only exceed men's thoughts in what any, or all of them, could find in their hearts in their proportion to pardon, but that also if you extend the compasses of your thoughts, that you or any believers have had of what mercies of God, and what thoughts of grace, have been exercised in pardoning themselves or other sinners; yet the merciful thoughts of God in reality do exceed, and are above all such apprehensions that you or any can take up, as much as the heavens are above the earth, and are still higher also, since 'his mercies are above the heavens.' For lo!
'these are but parts of his ways, but how little a portion is heard of him,' or apprehended by us men, or that can be spoken by himself, unto what is in himself! Job 26:14.
I have enlarged upon these reasons, not so much for conviction, which in so plain a point needed not, as to stir up believers to the frequent exercise of this so useful an experiment, wherein when faith is versed it will find an abundant entrance into every promise that belongeth unto mercy in any kind, as well as in the point of forgiveness; and yet this practice is neglected by Christians, for the want of which their faith continues weak and narrow, and their joy and comfort in believing kept low and small, and God himself bereft
of much of the glory would arise unto his mercy, if, together with the promises laid hold on, they would have recourse unto the spring and fountain, the mercies of God. But the narrowness of their spirits in believing causeth them to content themselves with a single and bare view of the things promised, and of the promises of them under the notion of being the word of God; but they enlarge not in considering the rich mercies of God, that moved him to make those promises.
They have the consideration of the truth of God in them to perform, but expatiate not to the mercies that both gave the promises, and is the cause of all the causes of the performance.
My advice to believers is, to meditate much upon, and to study the infinite riches of God's mercies, as the Scriptures so frequently (and therefore call for the like frequency of thoughts upon them in our hearts) have set them forth unto us. Let us still join them all together upon any great and solemn occasion of exercising faith on promises; and as, in the point of thanksgiving after mercies received, we have many precedents of saints recounting 'the loving-kindnesses of the Lord, according to all he hath bestowed on them, according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving-kindnesses,'
Isa. 63:7, so in like manner our faith should, in its pursuit to obtain mercies, collect and make the like catalogue, as we have been even now abundantly instructed; for hereby we shall greatly honour God, and strengthen our own hearts.
1. We shall honour God greatly (to give glory unto whom in the most ample manner is the most proper use of faith, Rom. 4:20), for thereby we acknowledge and do homage to his mercies as the universal cause of all; for this is an undoubted maxim, that what is first in any kind is the universal cause of all that kind. Consider then in God all that is mercy in any kind, and he being originally and only merciful as well as only good, all else of mercy must hold its tenor of that mercy that is in him. This I understand to be the full of that title given him by the apostle, 2 Cor. 1:3, 'The father of mercies;' i.e., he being a fulness of mercy in himself first, he became the Father of all mercies, of what kind soever. He is the first in that kind; mercy itself
is his nature, and all mercies purposed, promised, performed, held forth, or applied to faith, are all his immediate children, and not one of them have any existence but from him, and that considered as he is merciful too. Thus in another respect he is styled 'the Father of lights,' James 1:17, in respect of heavenly gifts from above, they holding in chief of him as such in that kind of effects; like as the sun
(to which the allusion manifestly there is) may be called the father, or first original of all heavenly light that comes down upon the world from itself, or from stars that have their light from it.
2. And also this course of meditating on the riches of God's mercies will prove most comfortable to us; for, 2 Cor. 1:3, now cited, where he propounds him to our faith as the Father of mercies, he adds this other immediately, 'the God of all comforts;' for in exercising our faith on him as a Father of mercies, we shall find him to be a God of comfort to us, whilst we are but expectants and waiters on him by faith all along until the performance.
3. And by virtue of his mercies being the universal, supreme, and sovereign cause of all mercies, promises, &c., it holds good that our faith may have a free, ample, and immediate recourse unto them in all cases, or occasions whatsoever. For the law or privilege that accompanies his being the first cause in other kind of effects, doth by analogy hold in this. Take him as he is primus motor, the first and universal cause of all being and motion, and it is a maxim universally consented to by all divines, that although there be a chain of second causes subordinate one to another, that have a power each to bring forth their proper effects (as the sun brings forth light, and that light heat and warmth, and that warmth quickens and enlivens the seeds and roots in the earth, and they bring forth herbs, which herbs and flowers have divers colours and qualities they are adorned withal), yet God, who is the first and universal cause, hath an immediate influence and concurrence into all and each, as immediately into the very last as into the first; and that a far greater than they have all or severally into their effects; so as God not only works by them, but with them, and he as immediately causeth the light to quicken plants
as to send out light, and as immediately he causeth the plants to bring forth flowers, yea, and that last effect too, those orient colours with which the lilies (that are our tulips) are arrayed above Solomon in all his royalty; yet these particulars are immediately attributed unto God more than unto their second causes: 'If God,' says our
Saviour, 'so clothe the grass of the field,' Mat. 6:28, 30, Luke 12:17, 28; and indeed he works 'all in all,' 1 Cor. 12:6. I need not insist on it further, being it is but for illustration; be you only exhorted to hold this golden chain and descent of mercies let down to your faith to lay hold upon; see his thoughts and purposes to have mercy immediately flowing from the essential mercies of his nature, and then regard his promises of bestowing such and [such] mercies as another link let down from his purposes. And though the faith of a believer lays hold on these promises as on what are next it, yet those first and essential mercies (so celebrated in his word) do immediately touch, influence, and reach unto all and each of these, unto the last as well as the first, to give subsistence to them, and to make all good to the faith of a sinner. And hence the faith of believers, whilst it clasps itself into the promise of forgiveness, or any other promise in the word, may not only remotely depend on God's mercies (as a man that hangs his whole weight upon the lowest link of a chain, may he said to hang also upon the uppermost, to which all are in subordination fastened), but he may in and with the promise have an immediate recourse to the top and supreme mercies themselves, for they are ready and present with the declaration of his word to make them good and real to the faith of a sinner, for whose sake and comfort they are and were written. He may bring down the consideration of all these mercies into every such promise, &c., to strengthen his heart in believing, and in treating with God for forgiveness, for they are the original cause of those promises, and all promises of mercy are immediately conjunct unto, and dependent on, the mercies in God's nature, even as all particular rivers depend upon the universal ocean, from which they all come, and into which they run, as Solomon tells us, Eccles. 1:7, and each of them have the whole sea to maintain and feed them. And as they flow also into the sea, and every vessel, small or great, that floats in any of those particular rivers hath an open passage into the
main, keeping to the course of that river, so is it here between the mercies of God, the ocean, and the current of promises of salvation, and the faith of a believer. And in this case there is that privilege which often falls not out in such as we have alluded to, viz., that the smallest rivulet of salvation running in the promises may bear up a vessel of mercy, and may be for his supply, if he thinks or finds he wants water, and sticks in the deeps of mire and quicksand. The believer's faith hath the freedom and liberty to suck and draw in the ocean of God's mercies, to draw (if it were possible) the whole of the sea itself to make a full stream for its support, and to help it off aground, and to help its being borne aloft above all mire of temptations. Nor are there any stints set how much or how little it may let in; and to confirm this, why should not faith as well have this immediate recourse, in and with the promises whilst yet unperformed, unto these essential mercies aforehand, to bestow and give forth the things promised, as well as after in thanksgiving, when we have received the mercies as performed unto us, we bless God for them, and we celebrate all those essential mercies in God as the original and immediate causes of them? Thus Nehemiah did, Neh.
9:17–20, &c. The great return which the Gentiles, and all the nations in the world, are said to bring unto God (when converted by the gospel), as the richest present of thankfulness, is set out by this, 'to glorify God for his mercy,' Rom. 15:9. Now there is the same reason for one as for the other, and we shall find that, in the exercise hereof, and treating with God thereby, there will flow in upon our souls an abundance of strength and consolation, even spring-tides of them, to fill the channels of the promises, and also of our hearts, that give themselves up to them.
Use 2. I shall yet farther, by way of use and application, enlarge this head, by adding, that this comprehension or intuition of the mercies in God's nature will also prove a great persuasive and encouragement to a bringing on an hope in men's souls, an hope of God's willingness to pardon themselves in particular. And this is a matter of great moment, it being found, in ordinary and common experience, that whilst humbled souls are helped so far on in their way of believing as
to acknowledge the truth of God's intentions in the promises of forgiveness, and the reality of the performance to some or other, yet still they stick or waver whether God be willing to pardon them in particular. Now, whatever other encouragements unto such a soul others will allege, whereof there may be many, yet I shall insist on this one, and that alone, it lying in my way, and being suitable to the design of my discourse; that if God but possesses and fill thy soul with an ample and enlarged apprehension of the mercies that are in himself, this will create withal an encouragement to thee that he intends good to thy soul in particular. As the flood, when it rose higher and higher, did lift up together with itself the ark, so an inuring thy soul to those comprehensions will insensibly elevate and raise up thy soul to a confidence that God doth intend all good to thee. Look, as if one that is timorous, and unused to travel in great waters, should be set in never so safe a vessel in the midst of the sea, or great overflow, where he saw himself environed about with nothing but waves, he would fear his being drowned and cast away; so, on the contrary, if you set the most weak and fearful soul in the full view and prospect of God's mercies, and the vast ocean thereof, that he sees neither shore nor bottom, this poor but otherwise tumbled soul will soon take heart and courage to itself. For,
1. The full and clear revelation of any divine truth in a way of subsistence to a man's soul, doth leave some application of itself to a man's soul. And if a discovery be made of good things, the manifestation thereof doth usually leave an encouragement in the heart that they belong and appertain unto one's-self. The very manifestation that God makes of them (when God makes it) carries so much engraven in it. As this is found true in experience, so that definition of faith, Heb. 11:1, 2, confirms it, even that the main of faith lies in a conviction of the substance of the things themselves, which, when it is made in the abundancy of the object revealed, the very sight and presence thereof is that which mainly draws in the heart to apply it, and cleave and adhere unto it for its ease in particular. The truth of this might be abundantly made out, and it holds good in the particular point before me in a more especial
manner, by how much the infinite sweetness of God's mercy hath a magnetic or a loadstone virtue in it, by alluring (as Hosea's phrase is, chap. 2:14) to attract and draw in the heart unto them, and cause men to think that they may come to have a part and portion in them.
Whilst they deeply consider that there is such an height and depth of mercy, a bottomless gulf in God's heart, it induceth the soul to cast anchor within the veil, as mariners do their anchors in the bottom of the sea blindfold; which anchor is an hope of mercy for a man's self, upon what he clearly as yet sees not to belong unto him.
2. For the confirmation hereof (besides this general ground) I observe, that when God himself doth set himself to draw men unto him, to turn to him, and so to believe and lay hold on his mercy, and would persuade them thereunto, the most efficacious course he takes is, in the most ample manner that may be in the first and chief place, to possess the hearts of those he addresseth his invitations unto of those infinite riches of grace that are in his heart and nature only in a general declaration of them only, whilst yet, in applying of them and of the promises to the persons, he is pleased to give but imperfect intimations and suspensive discourses of what he will do for them in particular. That one instance in Joel 2:13, 14, may sufficiently serve for many others; for the thing he there instantly exhorts unto is this,
'Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn unto me with all your heart,'
&c. But what are the encouragements or invitations by which he would induce them to it? What grounds doth he propose unto their faith? They are two. The first and great one is, the royal declaration of the mercies that are in the nature of God barely proposed, and it is the same in the very words with that of his old and first proclamation, so often repeated throughout all ages (which he will for ever abide by), Exod. 34, for so he begins, 'For he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.' 2. There are and use to be in the word more particular promises, wherein he far more utters what his will and resolution is for shewing mercy unto those whom he speaks to. Now, indeed, you will find that some promises are also annexed hereunto in this his exhortation, and both intended to provoke them to believe and turn
to God; but I beseech you to observe the vast and strange difference; that is, the manner of his declaring the first and the latter.
The first, viz., magnific description of his nature, he utters in the fullest and most enlarged, absolute, assertory way that possibly might be. He proclaims that with open mouth, and speaks plainly without reservation or hesitation. That magnific description of himself he utters with open mouth in the fullest and amplest manner that possible might be; but the second, viz., the promise made to the persons, and the things promised, he is pleased but to mutter (as I may so speak), and concerning this he says no more but, 'Who knows if God will repent and leave a blessing behind him?' He is sparing and reserved, you see, in this way of the declaration of his will: yea, and elsewhere, the hope he gives as to this part is yet more slender; for but to an 'It may be,' Amos 5:15; Zeph. 2:3; yea, but to an 'If there may be hope,' Lament. 3:29. To say that 'there is hope,' gives us a sight but afar off; but to say, 'If there may be hope,' gives a far more uncertain sound. Yet this is what God doth in this sort of declaration concerning what his will in promises to these persons lets fall to them.
By all which we may clearly see that it is the certain and clear conviction and evidence of the grace in God, though joined but with such promises that speak but indefinitely, and contain but imperfect obscure hints and intimations, and that give but a slender hope (as one would give of good will to a man in his particular) that it is this conviction which hath the strength and attractive influence in it, and is sufficient, with those promises, to draw in the soul to cast itself upon God, and to hope in his mercy. And this inference from that fore-mentioned passage in Joel is strong and clear; for it must not be denied that God, in those treaties and proposals to men, did apply himself to work faith in them, and accordingly gave forth what was most effective, at least sufficient, to beget faith in men's hearts, and to bring them in to him. And further, it must be owned that the great
God (the proposer here), knowing our frame, and what it is wherein the unbelief in men's hearts doth mostly lie, did therefore apply