differ from Judas by some act of his own, which he received not from grace, contrary to that of the apostle, "Who made thee to differ?" 1 Cor. iv. 7. For John and Judas are not really made to differ by grace, neither of them receiving any other grace but to convert if they will, and they are not made to differ by what they equally receive; therefore they differ in that John would make use of grace afforded, and Judas would not: whence it fol Bannez. in 2. cited by that most learned pro fessor of divinity, Dr. Ward, in his tia Discriminans. id fieri quod non book, called, GraCum Deus vult nisi volentibus hominibus oportet fieri, inclinat eorum corda, ut de præd. 1. 1. c. 20. Non est devotio dis, retinuisse vel cont. Col. c. ult. 2d, q. 19. art. 1. lows, that John might thus glory before God; Lord, I give thee thanks that thou didst afford me the help of thy grace, which was a power for me to will to convert; but the same help thou didst afford to Judas, only I added that which supernaturally thou didst not give me, namely, to will to convert, hoc velint. Aug. and to will to use thy help: and when I received no more from thee than Judas did, yet I have effected that which Judas did not, I being converted, and he not; and therefore I am no more indebted to thee, than that Judas who is not converted. But how would such a speech as this grate upon Christian ears! And therefore it must be yielded, that John received from God not only a power to be willing to convert, but also the will itself: and this very thing, "to will," is ascribed to God by the apostle, Phil. ii. | 13, "It is God that worketh in you to will." It is not devotion to attribute to God almost nis, dedisse prope all in our conversion, but deceit to keep totum; sed frau- back even the least. Now God hath minimum. Prosp. promised to give us even the will itself 66 to believe. "I will cause you to walk in my commands," Ezek. xxxvi. 27. And if God work in us this only, to be able to will to convert, but man himself the will to convert, the greatness of that mystery of predestination mentioned by the apostle comes to nothing: and that profound question, why God calls many to salvation, to whom he gives not effectual grace whereby they may will to be converted, this question, I say, may easily be answered; for, according to the Arminians, who say, God gives a power only to convert, and the person called has it from himself actually to convert; it may be answered, Those who being called, God foresaw to be willing to convert, he elected to life; and those whom he foresaw not willing to convert, these he passed by: and hereby that speech of the apostle will be altogether superfluous, Who art thou, O man, that reasonest against God? Rom. ix. 20; and that admiration of the apostle, "O the depth," &c. Rom. xi. 33. Nor need an Arminian fear so much, by granting this irresistible, indeclinable, invincible work upon the heart of one that is converted, that the will would be ravished, and forced to coninfirmitati volun- sent contrary to its bent, whether it tatis humanæ, ut Would or no; for when God by his efficacious grace works in the will to will, this efficacious grace puts into the will a nonresistance, and taketh away actual resistance: so that it is as impossible that these two should coexist and meet together in the will, to be wrought upon with efficacious grace, and to resist, as for the will in the same moment to resist, and not to resist; to will to resist, and to will not to resist. So that it is a contradiction to say, When diligat, ut carnis efficacious grace determines invincibly and indeclinably man's will, it compels Centem, voluntate the will, in working upon it whether it Id. b. Inspirata will or no; for that which grace works per Spiritum in it is this, to will; the will being Subventum est divina gratia indeclinabiliter et insuperabiliter ageretur. Iofirmis servavit ut ipso donante invictissime quod bonum est vellent. De cor. et Gra. c. 12. Prima gratia data primo Adamo est, qua fit, ut habeat homo justitiam si velit; sed gratia potentior est in secundo Adamo, qua fit, ut velit, tantoque ardore voluntatem contraria concupis Spiritus vincat. gratiæ suavitate quod præcipit, quod impedit. never against the working, when under sanctum, faciente the working of efficacious grace; the plus delectat, sweetness of grace inspired by the Holy quam delectat Ghost making the soul more to be de- Ea quæ pertinent lighted with what is commanded, than adjustitiam sic with what would hinder it; which (as mum, ut quicAugustine calls it) is a delight victo- impedit, delectarious and conquering. delectant ani tio superat. Aug. And the truth is, this efficacious determination of the will by grace, is a most happy adjutory to the will's liberty, taking away nothing but only the pravity and rebellion of it; the Holy Ghost tempering its working to the disposition of the will, that it may act with such liberty as becomes its own nature, and by grace never be destroyed, but perfected; the Spirit of God not taking away the natural liberty of the will which is by creation, but only the pravity thereof, which comes into it pitur quoad agendi radicem, sed by man's corruption; grace not slaying, terminum. Paul. Ferrius,c.19. p. 6. but sanctifying, and not abolishing, but elevating it to move to a supernatural good. Liberum arbitrium non corrum Obs. 4. How are we bound to bless God for his gospel, which is his voice to call us from sin and misery! Admire his goodness, that when he only calls the most with his works, he should also call us with his word. What could God do more for a nation? What are kingdoms without the gospel, but dens of thieves, dungeons of darkness, but as the world without a sun? The heathen have not the knowledge of his law, Psal. cxlvii. 19, 20. He made his gospel dawn when we were in our darkest and deepest idolatry: he called Britain from the worshipping of Apollo and Diana, dumb idols, to serve the living God. What was there in us worth calling to us, when we lay weltering in such abominations? When men call either to God or man, it is to get good; but God's call was to give good: he called us not because we were good, but to make us so. Let us not receive the grace of God in vain. In a land of light, tremble to live in the works of darkness. We, having the light of the gospel, should do our work better than those who only have the dim light of nature. O England, be not weary of it. Take heed of shutting your eyes against the light, or putting out the light because it shines in your eyes. Be not weary of God. Forget not your ornaments and attire. Run not away when God calls. Think it not a disgrace to attend the hearing of that which it is your greatest honour to obey. Let not your stomach decay because your food is so plentiful. Rejoice in the light not for a season only, John v. 35. Let not the proverb take place here, Every thing is pretty while it is young: the longer you enjoy, the more rejoice in the word. Let new food find new stomachs; or rather, the same food continually new brought. Take heed lest wantonness under procure a want of the word. While you are on this side Canaan, love to feed on manna. What a shame is it, that God should call louder to us than ever he did to any, and yet that we should hear worse than ever any did! Obs. 5. The dignity and duty of the ministers of the gospel. (1.) The dignity; in that God calls by them: they are his mouth, as the gospel is his voice. God beseeches by them to be reconciled: they are his ambassadors, his stewards, his fellow workers, they are fathers, saviours; their work is for the good of souls; not for the estate, with lawyers, nor for the body, with physicians: it is the heavenly inheritance which they teach you to procure, the blood of Christ which they direct you to receive. You are led by them to Christ. Augustine speaks to God thus concerning Ambrose, who was an instrument of his conversion: I was led by thee to him unawares, that by him I might through knowledge be led to thee. (2.) Their duty. Ministers should labour to uphold the dignity of their calling: the way to do so, is more to desire to be profitable than pompous. Ministers are to call, and cry if they be silent, who should speak? If people's lusts hate a faithful minister, yet their consciences (even then) honour him, as is clear in Herod. Ministers must call aloud; they must tell people of their sin, thunder out the judgments of God against sleepy sinners: they who must not be dumb dogs, must neither bite the children in the house, nor spare the thieves. If any sin in a minister be unpardonable, it is silence. They must call often, giving line upon line, not being weary of calling, waiting with patience when a sinner may repent: importunity at length may prevail. They are animarum proci, wooers of souls to Christ: one denial must not discourage them. All the day long they must stretch out their hands; they must never be speechless till they die. They must call in the language of God, I Pet. iv. 11; they must speak as the words of God, 2 Cor. ii. 17, with demonstration of the Spirit. There must not be a sinful curiosity in handling the word: better the grammarian should reprehend, than the people not understand. Ministers must not so call as to cause astonishment, but understanding in people: pithy plainness is the beauty of preaching. What good doth a golden key that opens not? "The kingdom of God is not in word, but power." And as preaching must not be curious, so neither over-slight, consisting of raw, sudden, indigested meditations. The word must not be torn, but divided; not tossed, but handled; the text not named only, but followed: there must be a diligent kind of negligence in handling the word. They must not forbid and unbid in their lives, whom they call in their doctrine. They who are callers, must live like called ones themselves, not neglecting that to which they persuade others. The health of a minister's honour can never be maintained in the air of a corrupt life. If we would have none to despise us, we must be examples. Obs. 6. The called of God should live suitably to their calling. They must walk worthy of it. If men be called to an office, they must wait upon it accordingly, Rom. xii. 7. A base deportment becomes not those in high place. Joseph called to stand before Pharaoh, throws away his prison garments: Saul called to a kingdom, had another heart. The virtues of him that calleth must be shown, 2 Thess. i. 11; 1 Pet. ii. 9. (1.) Humility and self-debasing, considering so great a God regarded so poor a worm. Remember, as it was a dunghill from whence God took thee, so thy unwillingness was great to leave it; and how long God was making thee willing to do good to thyself; how thou hadst nothing to set up with; that thy portion was nothing but pride and poverty. (2.) Pity to those who are uncalled. The elect of God must put on bowels: they that have obtained mercy, must pray that others may do so. Look upon others' sins with more trouble than thine own sorrows: pity those that cannot pity themselves; weep over their dying souls; thy soul hath been in the state of theirs. Call after others, if God has called thee, and pray that God would make them hear, Luke xxii. 32. Embrace the company of the worst, to make them good, not as a companion, but a physician. (3.) Contempt of the world. Acknowledge thy dignity; be above those trifles which thou, as a child, didst magnify. A Christian is called (2 Thess. ii. 14) to a "kingdom," Col. i. 13; 1 Thess. ii. 12; he has a "high calling," Phil. iii. 14: all that the world can give him he should lay at his feet. His heart must be where his treasure is, and his treasure only where Christ is. Only he can look | upon the world as small, who has looked upon Christ as great. How unsuitable is it to see a king raking in the dunghill, or making hay with his sceptre! (4.) A preferring that voice before all others which called thee: "It is the voice of my Beloved," Cant. ii. 8. "My sheep hear my voice," John x. 3, 16. Let not the voice of a stranger withdraw thee; be not tossed up and down "with every wind of doctrine," Eph. iv. 14; be not a follower of men: walk by rule, not example. Whensoever the world or thy own heart calls thee, rather fear them than follow them. Follow others as they Christ. Love that voice of Christ that calls thee from thy sweetest sin: value one promise of his above the sweetest music. Let every Scripture threat be more dreadful than a thunder-clap. (5.) Delight in calling upon him that called thee. Prayer is the called soul's echo back again to God: as soon as Paul was called, he prayed, Acts ix. 11. God saw nothing in thee, and yet he called after thee: how much is there in God for which thou shouldst call after him! Desire him to draw thee nearer to himself, to call thee to him closer, to keep thee, as he has called thee to him, I Thess. ii. 12; 2 Thess. ii. 14. (6.) Be thankful for thy vocation, that God should call thee when there was nothing but woe and unwillingness, and should pass by others better accomplished. Let his free grace have all the glory. Who shall speak of God, if thou art silent? Let heart, and tongue, and life advance him. Hitherto of the two first parts of the title: viz. I. The person who wrote this Epistle; and, II. The persons to whom he wrote it. Now follows, III. The prayer; wherein the person writing salutes the persons to whom he wrote, contained in these words: Ver. 2. Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied. In which prayer we consider, 1. The blessings which the apostle requests may be bestowed; which are three, "Mercy, peace, love." 2. The measure in which the apostle desireth they may be bestowed, "Be multiplied." 3. The persons upon whom he prays that these blessings may be in this measure bestowed, "Unto you." 1. We will consider the blessings which the apostle requests: the first of them is "mercy." Concerning which, For the expository part. Mercy is referred either to man or God. animi, ex miseria tus. Misericordia est (1.) To man: and so mercy is, ac- Misericordia est cording to some, a grief of heart arising dolor et ægritudo from the apprehension of another's alterius injuria misery; according to Scripture, such a laborantis concepholy compassion of heart for the misery Tus. 4. of another, as inclines us to relieve him alien miseria in in his misery. It is a compassion of nostro corde comsympathy, because it makes the merci- si possimus, subful heart a partaker of the misery of venire compellihim who is distressed; and therefore, D. 1. 9. c. 5. say some, called misericordia, because it est misericordia translates the misery of another into the god miser heart of the merciful. And for this lescentis alieno cause it is called the "bowels of com passio, qua utique, mur. Aug. de C. Ex eo appellata cor faciat condo malo. ἐπιφαινομένω Kuku apzin και λυπηρῳ τοῦ ἀναξίου τυγχά VEL. Arist. Nemo parricide supplicio misericordia commove tur. Cic. Tusc. 4. with another's sufferings, having his very bowels moved and rolled in him, Hos. xi. 8, and is affected as if the bowels of him that is in misery were in his EσTO λeos Aur body. Nor is this Scripture compassion a foolish pity, whereby a man unlawfully tenders him that is in deserved misery, as Ahab pitied Benhadad, and Saul Agag, against God's command; but such a compassion as God approves, a fruit of the Spirit, commanded and commended in the word. In this grace of mercy is also comprehended a forwardness to succour the miserable; the bowels of the merciful not being shut up, 1 John iii. 17. This grace the Scripture honours with many precepts and promises, Matt. v. 7; Luke vi. 36; x. 37; 1 Pet. iii. 8; Col. iii. 12. A merciful man is God's almoner, his conduit-pipe to convey his blessings, his resemblance, like unto his heavenly Father, who is the Father of mercy. (2.) To God; and so it is referred in this place by Jude. In which consideration of mercy as referred to God, there are three things to be explained. How mercy can be attributed to God. What sorts of mercy are attributed to God. What are the properties of the sorts of mercy attributed to God. Zanc. de Nat. Dei, 1. 4. c. 4. q. 1. Misericordem hominem appel lare solemus, non passive, qui miserum habet cor (talis enim potius est miser, quam misericors); sed active, hoc est, illum qui misero homini ex corde cupit succurrere. sit cordis miseria, concepta: cur non essentiale, aliud [1] How mercy can be attributed to God. Not as it is an affection of grief for the misery of another; but, 1. As it signifies a promptitude and forwardness of the will to succour the miserable. Not as it is miseria cordis, or as to be merciful is taken passively, for one to be a fellow sufferer; but as it is miseria cordi, as learned Zanchy distinguishes, and as to be merciful is taken actively, for one so to be mindful of the miseries of others, that he desires and is willing from the heart to help them. Suffering with the distressed in their miseries is not essential to mercy, but only acciSi licuit Augus dental, in regard of our nature, which tino, dicere quod is so subject to passions, that without ex alterius miseria a fellow feeling we cannot look upon liceat nobis dicere, the miseries of those whom we love; misericordiam di and this is not in God: but a propenci, quia nobis sit cordi alterius mision and inclination of will to relieve dia duo import; the miserable, which is the essential unum tanquam part of mercy, is most properly and tanquam acciden- abundantly in God, although sympathy tale. Primum est or fellow feeling is often attributed to God improperly, and by way of resemblance to human affections, for relieving our capacities, and strengthenpetitu ex cogni. ing our faith. And in respect of this terius; quantum propenseness and willingness in God to help the distressed, are we to undernon quantum ad stand those scriptures where God calls d. 46. a. 2. qu. 1. himself "merciful," and "of great mercy," Zech. ii. 8; Acts ix. 4; Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7; Psal. c. 5; cxlv. 9; that is, of a most forward nature to help us in our distresses. 2. Mercy is attributed to God, as it signifies God's actual helping and relieving us in our distresses; as he bestows those blessings upon us, spiritual or bodily, which proceed from his mercy alone: and thus are those places of Scripture to be understood, where God is said to have or show mercy; as, "He hath mercy on whom he will," Rom. ix. 18. "I found mercy, because I did it ignorantly," 1 Tim. i. 13. In which places mercy is put for calling to Christ, and all graces which follow it. These works or effects of mercy being various and innumerable; so Psal. cxxxvi.; Rom. xi. 31; 2 Tim. i. 18; it comes to pass, that (though mercy be single and one in God) the promptitudo voluntatis ad subveniendum miseris; alterum est passio tristitiæ, quæ oritur in ap tione miseriæ al ad primum summe est in Deo, secundum. Rich. lib. 4. | Scripture speaks of it in the plural number; as Gen. xxxii. 10; 2 Cor. i. 3; Rom. xii. 1. [2.] For the sorts or kinds of God's mercy. It is either, I. A general mercy, extended to all creatures in common, as there is no creature in any misery which in some respect he does not succour: he gives food to the hungry; warmth by wool, and sundry sorts of skins, to the naked; medicine by many kinds of herbs; the sun, the clouds, the winds, the rain, to refresh the earth severally: and thus he is merciful to the elect and reprobate, just and unjust, nay, men and beasts, Psal. cxlvii. 9; Matt. vi. 26, &c.; Psal. cxlv. 15. Or, 2. A special mercy bestowed upon the elect alone, different from the former both in regard of God's will to help, and also in regard of the effects of that will. It is the will of God, John vi. 39, that the elect should be delivered from their sins, his wrath, Satan's power, the sting of death, and that they should obtain eternal life in Christ. The will and pleasure of God is to do them good, they are his "Hephzi-bah," Isa. lxii. 4; but he hath no pleasure in or special love to others, Mal. i. 10. The effects likewise of his will to help are different toward the elect from those he expresses upon the reprobate; he calling effectually, justifying, redeeming, glorifying the elect, Rom. ix. 15, 18; 1 Tim. i. 13. Lord pitieth them that fear him," Psal. ciii. 13. "He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about," Psal. xxxii. 10. The Lord is "plenteous in mercy to them that call upon him," Psal. lxxxvi. 5. Of others he saith, "I will deal in fury; mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity," Ezek. viii. 18. The elect are vessels of mercy, the other of wrath. To the former he is merciful in bestowing upon them an eternal, to the latter in affording a temporal, life. These two differing as much as the mercy with which a man regards his beast does from that wherewith he tenders his son: the beast is fed to be slain, or to be fit for labour; the son to be preserved, and out of a paternal care for his good. To the wicked God affords a drop, to the godly a draught of mercy; to the wicked, the crumbs under the table, to the godly, Christ with all his benefits, that bread of life which endureth to eternal life. "The This special mercy of God here prayed for by the apostle, is distinguished according to those several miseries of his people in which he succours them. Take a taste of the kinds of it. God is merciful, 1. With a preventing mercy, when he makes us holy of unholy ones: he loved us first. He waited to show mercy, Isa. xxx. 18; he doing good to us when we knew him not; pitying us when we were in our blood, Ezek. xvi. 22; regarding us when we neither regarded him nor ourselves; keeping us from falling into the sins to which of ourselves we were prone. So that, as in respect of good, we are what we are from God's mere mercy; so, in respect of evil, we are not what we are not from the same mercy. Deus vindictæ 2. He is merciful to his with a forgiving mercy; fully freeing them from wrath: their sins are as if they had never been, "blotted out as a cloud," Isa. xliv. 22, thrown "into the bottom of the sea," Micah vii. 19, though sought for, yet not to be found, Jer. 1. 20. In a sea of affliction there is not a drop of wrath. The faithful are looked upon as sons, not as malefactors; gladium miseratheir sufferings are not to satisfy God, acuit. but to sanctify them, Heb. xii. 6, 7, 12. 3. He is merciful with accepting mercy; taking in good part the desires of the soul when it finds not to perform; accepting a sigh instead of a service; a cup of cold water, a mite, a broken reed, smoking flax, a groan, instead of a duty; the stammerings of tionis oleo ex his child above the eloquence of a beggar; a broken heart as the box of spikenard. 4. He is merciful with reaccepting mercy; looking upon a returning prodigal as a son; pitying as a father, not punishing as a judge; multiplying to pardon, receiving backsliders again, Hos. xiv. 4; Isa. lv. 7. 5. He is merciful with providing mercy, Psal. xxiii.; supplying all our wants, 2 Pet. i. 3; suffering no good thing to be wanting to us, Psal. lxxxiv. 11; always giving what we need, if not what we would; either assuaging or answering our desires; bestowing temporal blessings in subordination, not opposition, to eternal blessedness; giving us, if not riches with godliness, contentment with our poverty. 6. He is merciful with directing mercy in our doubts; guiding us by his counsels, Psal. Ixxiii. 24; showing us the way wherein we are to walk, Gal. vi. 16; being eyes to us in our blindness, light in our darkness, a teacher in our ignorance, a pillar and a cloud in every wilderness; giving his word for a rule, his Spirit for a guide. 7. He is merciful with sustaining mercy; upholding us in all our distresses, Psal. xciv. 18, making every affliction fordable, and carrying us through, visiting us in prison, feeding us through our grate, knowing our souls in adversity, leading us gently, proportioning our burdens to our back, casting a tree into every Marah, shining through every shower, sending supplies in every siege, making his grace sufficient for us in all our buffetings, 2 Cor. xii. 9, keeping us from being swallowed up of sin, and our grace from being totally obliterated, Luke xxii. 32. 8. He is merciful with quickening, enlivening mercy to any holy duty; so that we can do all things, Phil. iv. 13; making us a willing people, oiling the wheels of our souls, putting into us delight in his law, so that we account it sweeter than our appointed food, and run the ways of his commandments; he giving us work, wages, and hands, Psal. cxix. 9. He is merciful with a restoring, recovering mercy; and that not only from sin and miseries, but even by them. (1.) From them; bringing out of every distress, bodily and spiritual; causing every cloud to blow over; making the longest night to end in a morning; raising us after the foulest fall, and out of the deepest grave; making faith to work out of the greatest eclipse: he chides not for ever, Psal. ciii. 9, but repents him of the evil, Joel ii. 13; through his mercy he suffers us not to be consumed, Lam. iii. 22; in wrath he remembers mercy, Hab. iii. 2. (2.) By sin and miseries; making our afflictions, nay, our very sins, to work for our good, Rom. viii. 28; and all the smutchings with both to make us brighter, more humble, watchful; and our fiery trials to burn in sunder only our bonds. 10. He is merciful with crowning mercy, when he brings us into heaven; there he perfectly frees us not only from the contagion by, but even the company of, every sin; nay, the fear of ever being annoyed again thereby; delivering us from impure hearts and imperfect graces, from foils, from fighting, from all our causes of complaint: then giving for every combat we have had, a crown; for every tear, a pearl; for every light affliction, a mass of glory; for a drop of gall, a sea of joy; for appearing troubles, real blessedness: this is the mercy of that day, crowning mercy, 2 Tim. i. 18. [3.] For the properties of God's mercy. It is full; it is free. 1. It is a full and unmeasurable mercy: the unmeasurableness whereof is set forth, (1.) More generally, when God is said to be plenteous in mercy, Psal. lxxxvi. 5, abundant, 1 Pet. i. 3, rich in mercy, Eph. ii. 4, his mercy great, above the heavens, Psal. cviii. 4, his mercies unsearchable, high as the heaven is from the earth, Psal. ciii. 11; multitudes of tender mercies, Psal. li. 1. (2.) More particularly, the unmeasurableness of his mercy is set forth, 1. In that there is no creature in heaven or earth but tastes of it. "His mercies are over all his works," Psal. cxlv. 9; the very dumb creatures speak him merciful. The whole earth is full of his goodness, Psal. xxxiii. 5: he preserves man and beast; nay, his enemies, Matt. v. 45. 2. In that resemblances to set forth his mercy are taken from the most tender-hearted creatures. He draws with the cords of a man, Hos. xi. 4. He pities as a father; nay, more than the most tender-hearted mother doth her sucking child, Isa. xlix. 15. He gathers people as a hen doth her chickens. He has bowels of mercy, and such as sound, Jer. xxxi. 20; and therefore his mercy pleases him; he delights to show mercy, he forgets not his mercy. 3. He is the fountain of the mercy and mercifulness in all the creatures in the world toward one another: the mercies of all parents to their children, of every mother to her little ones, of every Christian, of every tender-hearted person, of every beast and fowl to their young ones, are but drops that come from the sea of God's mercy; he is the Father of mercies, 2 Cor. i. 3. 4. He can deliver from every misery. Bread takes away hunger, drink thirst, clothes nakedness, knowledge ignorance, but no creature can take away every misery: whereas God is the God of all comfort, 2 Cor. i. 3; he supplies all our wants, Psal. xxiii. 1; Phil. iv. 19; Psal. xxxiv. 10, comforts in every trouble, he has a plaster for every sore, is a Physician for every disease, inward and outward; and so merciful is he, that in the very not removing of miseries he is merciful. Were it not for trouble, how should corruption be killed, holiness increased, 1 Cor. xi. 32; Heb. xii. 10, heaven be sweet, eternal crowns and triumphs be enjoyed? 4. He is merciful to his enemies; full of patience and forbearance, expecting their return many years together; giving them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with gladness, Acts xiv. 17; Matt. v. 45, notwithstanding they sin and fight against him with all his goodness; yea, so merciful is he, that in their greatest enmity to him he has often done them the greatest good, changing their hearts, and making them his friends, Rom. v. 10. 6. He bestows mercy with greatest frequency and reiteration: he has many, manifold mercies, mercies for thousands more than can be expressed. Innumerable are the sins of one man; how innumerable the sins of the whole world! how numberless then are those mercies of forbearance expressed every time sin is committed, there being so many millions of sinners, every one committing so many millions of sin! Innumerable are the morsels of food, drops of water, the motions, deliverances, provisions received by one man; what then are those received by a whole world! and every such expression is a mercy, Psal. li. 1; xl. 5. 7. The mercy of God is eternal, and therefore immeasurable: he keepeth mercy for ever, 1 Kings viii. 23: he will not take away his mercy from his servants; it shall follow them all the days of their life, Psal. xxiii. 6: his mercy shall be built up for ever, Psal. lxxxix. 2; it endureth for ever, Psal. cxxxvi.; it is "from everlasting to everlasting," Psal. ciii. 17. He may hide his face for a moment, though that is but according to our thinking, but with everlasting mercies will he gather us. The hills may be removed, and the mountains may depart, but God's covenant of peace shall not be removed, Isa. liv. 7, 10. God never repented himself of bestowing his best mercies. 8. God's mercy is so immeasurable, that to help us out of our miseries he that was God sustained them himself. It had been mercy to have helped us by speaking comfortably to us; more, to have helped us by the bounty of his hand; but to help us out of misery by bearing our miseries, by coming to man, by becoming man, by suffering so much pain, hunger, ignominy, griefs, wounds, nay, death for man! oh, immeasurable mercy! O my soul, acknowledge thine insufficiency either to conceive or requite it. 2. The mercy of God is not only full, but free, without desert on our parts. We deserve no healing from his mercy, unless by being sore and sick; no riches from mercy, unless by our poverty; no deliverance from mercy, unless by being captives; no pardon from mercy, unless by being guilty; no preservation from mercy, unless by being in danger; no mercy, unless by being miserable. God is not tied to one man more than another, Eph. i. 5, 6; he hath mercy on whom he will, Rom. ix. 18: he hath mercy on the beggar, as well as the king; on the barbarian, as well as the Grecian; the bond, as well as the free; the Jew, as well as the Gentile. Election is the election of grace, 2 Tim. i. 9; vocation is according to grace; faith is said to be given, Eph. ii. 8; justification is freely by God's grace, Rom. iii. 24; every good motion is of God's working, Phil. ii. 13; life eternal is God's gift, Rom. vi. 23; the putting away of every sin is for his own sake, Isa. xliii. 25. God is merciful because he will be so; his arguments of mercy are drawn from his own pleasure. What can our works deserve, that are not ours, but his working, 1 Cor. iv. 7; Rom. xi. 36; that are all due to him, if a thousand times more and better, Luke xvii. 10; that are all maimed and imperfect, that are all vitious and polluted, that are all unequal to the recompence ? Rom. xi. 35; viii. 18. This for the explication of the first benefit which the apostle requesteth for these Christians, "mercy." The observations follow. Obs. 1. How unbeseeming a sin is pride in any that live upon mercy! Mercy, our highest happiness, calls loudest for a lowly heart. He that lives upon the alms of mercy must put on humility, the cloth of an almsman. Renounce thyself and thine own worthiness both in thy receiving and expecting blessings. (1.) In receiving them. If thou hast spiritual blessings, mercy found thee a bundle of miseries, a sinner by birth, a sinner in life, deserving to be a sufferer for both, Eph. ii. 1, 3; without grace, nay, against it; by thy birth, a poor outcast, in thy blood, as naked of grace as of clothes, Ezek. xvi. 22. The apostle therefore speaks of putting on the graces of the Spirit, Col. iii. 12: the spots upon these clothes are only thine; the garment itself was another's before it was thine. Thou art beholden to mercy for any endowment of mind or body; wisdom, estate, riches, honours, &c., Job i. 21; 1 Chron. xxii. 16; Gen. xxiv. 35; xxxiii. 5, 11. It is hard to be high in place, and low in our own esteem. Sacrifice not to thine own yarn or net; let mercy have the praise of all thou art and hast. Pride is the moth of mercy; nay, the wind that dries up the streams both of God's bounty and thy gratitude. That which by mercy was thine, by thy pride may become anet major divitiis' other's. He is truly great in his riches, suis, qui non ideo that thinks not himself great by riches. quia dives est. The greater our receipts, the less room for pride, the greater cause of thankfulness. (2.) In expecting blessings, only have an eye to mercy. In desires of pardon for sin, acceptance of services, obtaining of heaven, renounce thine own worthiness, either in what thou art or dost. Magnus dives est, magnum se putat Aug. bonorum diget: Omne bo ipso. Aug. de 31. tione se erigit, vendi nec initium 1. 9. c. 1. contege; huic How purely unprofitable to God is thy greatest goodness! it is nothing to him: quia Deus meus, he is neither the better for thy good- meorum non inness, nor the worse for thy wickedness. num nostrum aut Is it any benefit to the fountain, that ipse est, aut ab thou drinkest of it; or to the light, that Doc. Ch. 1.5. c. thou seest? How full of mixtures of sin are thy holiest services! in the sense whereof holy Augustine prayed, Regard, O Lord, in me not my work, but thine own. If thou regardest mine, thou damnest me; if thine own, thou crownest me: whatever good I have is from thee, and it is rather thine than mine. How full of pride is thy humility, thy faith of distrustfulness, thy zeal of lukewarmness, of self-seeking thy performances! What darkness is in thy light, how unrighteous thy righteousness! If God should contend with us we cannot answer for one of a thousand, Job ix. 2, 3. He that boasts of the perfection of holiness, wants its qui de perfecvery beginning, Phil. iii. 13. That which habere se bene viappears beautiful in thine eyes, is foul indicat. Gr. Mo. in God's. The wisest counsel is, to insola Christi cover over thyself and wind up thy morte te totum soul in Christ's death, to set that be- morti te involve; tween God and thy soul; to acknow- et si Deus te volu ledge his mercy thy only merit. Death Domine, mortem is a stipend; life is a donative, a free jicio inter me et gift, not a due debt. God crowns with te. Ans. de art. mercy; but a swoln head is not fit to Meritum meum have that crown put upon it. Who can mi Bern. Serm. say, he hath cleansed his heart? We 61. in Cant. want a thousand times more grace than tiam indiget, ut we have: though sin be cast down in que, succumbere regard of its regency, yet it is not cast ex sola judicis out in regard of its inherency. Thy cat. Gr. Mor. 1. rectitude compared to thy rule is crook- Etsi ad opu viredness. It is not thy purity, but thy tutis excrevero, ad pardon, that must save thee. If there ritis, sed ex venia shall be judgment without mercy to ib. those that showed no mercy, James ii. Sordet in distric13, then must it be with mercy even to in æstimatione those also which show mercy. It is fulget operantis. mercy that must stand Onesiphorus in stead at that day, 2 Tim. i. 16. The crown of righteousness Paul speaks of, 2 Tim. iv. 8, is a crown of mercy too; the bestowing it is of justice, but the promising it was of mercy. erit judicare, dic, Domini mei ob Mor. miseratio Domi Prece post justi discussa poterat, pietate convales vitam non ex me convalesco. Id. tione judicis, quod Gr. Mor. 1. 5. c. 7. Obs. 2. The duty of contentment in our greatest wants, or smallest receipts. If one not engaged to us deny us a courtesy, we have no cause of discontentment: when God gives, it is free mercy; when he withholds, he uses his liberty. Thy supplies are without desert, and thy wants must be without discontent. Wonder not at the blessings thou dost not enjoy; wonder more at those thou dost. Thy condition is begging, and thy part is not choice. Repine not if thou canst not reach thy richest Cum aspexeris neighbour, who hast nothing to say quot te anteceagainst God, should the poorest over- sequantur. Sen. take thee. Murmur not for what is Ep. 15. lost, but be thankful for what is left. We must not control God in the disposing of his alms, as if he did not distribute with equality. We should bring our hearts to his hand: where he stays his bounty, there must we stint our desires. dant, cogita quot Obs. 3. The impiety and folly of those that abuse mercy, that spurn against God's bowels. Sins against mercy are double-dyed. This is the provocation, to see God's works of love and care forty years, and yet to sin, Heb. iii. 8; this is to sin against the remedy: other sinners may, these who thus sin must die. These sin at a higher rate than others. These in sin cast not off God only, but even the very man; nay, are shamed by the beasts, Isa. i. 3. If to requite good |