not any other attribute: now riches are not to lay by and rust, but to be laid out and traded with; and the more they are traded with, the more wealth they bring in. God hath not delight to keep these riches by him, and to hoard them up for no use; for omne bonum est sui diffusivum; therefore the more goodness any thing hath, the more diffusive it is of itself. God loves to distribute his wealth upon his own terms, and to venture out riches of grace, that he may have returns of riches of glory; so that if you come to God, you have all his estate at your service. Till thou canst be as sinful as God is merciful, as evil as God is good, do not think thy iniquities can check an almighty goodness. Mercy bears the greatest sway in God's name, Exod. 34.6, 7. There is but one letter of his power, two of his justice, and nine or ten expressions of his mercy. His power attends his mercy as well as his justice; so that on mercy's side against justice there is five to one, which is great odds.

Plead then with God, Lord, it is said in thy word, Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give thee, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it, Prov. 3. 28. Should a man refuse to give to his neighbour, when he has it by him; and shall the merciful God deny me that mercy which I beg of him upon my knees, when he has it all in store by him? Must I forgive my brother, if he offends seventy-seven times, a double perfect number; and must I be more charitable to man, than infinite mercy will be to me? Shall thy justice only speak, and thy mercy be silent, and plead nothing on my behalf? Hast thou not said, that thou art he that blots out transgressions for thy own sake? Isa. 43. 25. That thou dost blot out iniquities like a thick cloud? Isa. 44. 22. Is there any cloud so thick as to master the melting power of the sun; and shall ever a cloud of sin be so thick as to master the power of thy mercy? Has not thy mercy as

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much strength and eloquence to plead for me, as thy justice has to declaim against me? Is thy justice better armed with reason, than thy kindness with compassions? Have thy compassions no eloquence? Oh! who can resist their pleasing rhetoric?

2. Christ's, and God's intent in his coming, was to discharge great sins. He was called Jesus, a Saviour, because he was to save his people from their sins. And do you think some of his people's sins were not as great as any men's sins in the world? To save only from little iniquities, had not been a work suitable to the glorious name of Jesus. Neither can we conceive how Christ should enter into such strict bonds to his Father, to be a surety only for some smaller debts? If this had not been his intent, he would have put some limitation in that prayer he taught his disciples, and not have commanded them to pray, forgive us our trespasses; but, forgive us our little sins, or sins of such a size. He never asked what sins, and how many sins men were guilty of, when they came to him. But upon faith, saith he, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Plead therefore with Christ, and say, thou didst come to do thy Father's will, which was, that none should be cast off that come unto thee; and thou hast said the same; it is not sufficient for thee to say it merely, and not to do it. Wilt thou draw me with the cords of a man, (for I could not thus come to thee, unless thou didst draw me,) and shall I be beaten back with a frown?

3. Christ's death was a satisfaction for the greatest sins, both ex parte facientis Christ, and ex parte acceptantis God for God could not accept any satisfac-. tion but what was infinite. One sacrifice for sins for ever, &c. Heb. 10. 12, not one sin, but sins. Not little sins, but sins without exception. Yea, and it is all sin, 1 John. 1.7; and all includes great as well as

1

little. *Satan once came to a sick man, and shows him a great catalogue of his sins, concluding from thence his eternal damnation: the sick man strengthening himself by the word of God, bid the devil write over the catalogue in great letters those words, 1 John 1. 7, whereupon the devil presently leaves him. Can thy sins be greater than Christ's merit? or thine offences, than his sacrifice? It is strange if the malignity of thy sin should be as infinite as the virtue of his death. He hath satisfied for all the saints that ever came to heaven; and put thy sins in the balance with theirs, and surely they cannot weigh so much. He was a propitiation for the sins of the whole world; and are thy sins as great as the sins of the whole world? If part of his merits be enough to save ten thousand damned souls in hell, if they had applied it; is it not enough to satisfy God for thy sins, which are far less? Was not Christ charged with as great sins as thine can be, when he was upon the cross? Or are thy single sins bigger than all those the prophet means, when he saith, And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isa. 53. 6.

Well then, plead thy Saviour's death, since it was for his honour to satisfy for sins of so deep a dye: it is said in thy word, it is a joy to a righteous man, to perform judgment; and shall it not be much more a joy to the righteous God? Behold, here I offer thee the atonement thy Son and my Saviour has made; and if it be not enough, I am content to perish: but if it be, I desire thee to do me justice with that joy that a righteous man would do it with, and discharge my transgressions. And if thou dost object, that I have flung away this satisfaction, and would not have it I answer, my Saviour's satisfaction was for such sins as those, otherwise none would be saved: for was there any but refused the proffer of it at first, made

* Goulart Tablean de la mort, Tableas 9. p. 131.

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demurs before they entertained it? Let thy objections be what they will, Christ shall be my advocate to answer for me.

4. Christ is able to take away great sins. Did he ever let any one that came to him with a great infirmity go back without a cure, and dishonour himself so much, as that it should be said, it was a distemper too great for the power of Jesus to remedy? And why should there be any sin that he cannot pardon? It is as easy for him to heal the one as the other: for he did with as much ease and delight say, Thy sins are forgiven thee, as say, Take up thy bed, and walk. Hast thou seven devils? Suppose a legion, i. e. six thousand six hundred and sixty-six; he did dispossess a body of as many: Can he not as easily dispossess a soul? If thou hadst ten thousand legions, I dare say Christ would not lose an opportunity of such a conquest; for it would please him more to do great works than little, and to show how far his power can reach.

Were it not for such objects, we could not know whether he could save to the utmost, or no, Heb. 7. 25. What has he this ability for? to lie idle? No surely, to be exercised about the most difficult tasks. Suppose the scroll of thy sins were as long as to reach from earth to the highest heavens, would this reach to the utmost of Christ's ability? If thou hadst sinned as far as any man in the world can sin, yet still thou art not got without the verge of Christ's saving power. That word utmost I dare set against all thy objections. If you had the sins of all the damned in hell upon you, you could not put either his free grace or vast power to a nonplus. His blood is of that virtue, that were it poured out upon a devil, it would make him presently commence a glorious angel. What is either a great or a light disease to omnipotence, when with the same word he can cure the greatest as well as the least distempers?

But may the soul say, I do not question his power, but his will. Therefore, 5. Christ's nature leads him to show mercy to the greatest sinners. Some question whether Christ will pardon them, for they look upon him as a hard master, that will not easily forgive. But Christ gives another character of himself, Mat. 11. 28, 29, when he exhorts men to come to him; he tells them they must not judge him to be of a rugged and implacable nature, but as meek as they are sinful. Meekness is seen in pardoning of injuries, not keeping them in memory, to beget and cherish revenge. Now the greater the provocation, the more transcendent is that meekness to pass it by. Did he ever upbraid any with their offences, and hit them in the teeth with their former extravagancies? Luke 7. 44. Christ makes a narrative of Mary's acts of kindness to him, but not a syllable of her foul transgressions. Are thy sins so great? surely Christ, who delights in his compassions, will not lose such an opportunity of evidencing both his power and his pity upon such a subject: for if there cannot be so great a sinner as thou art, he is never like to have such a season for it, if he miss of thee.

16. Christ was exalted by God upon this very account. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, Heb. 7. 25. How comes Christ to be so able to save to the uttermost? It is because he ever lives to make intercession for them: for whom? For those that come to God by him. What has Christ his life in heaven for, but to intercede ? And would his Father's love to him, and the greatness of his interest in God be discovered, by granting some small requests, the pardon of a few and little sins? Christ is consecrated priest by the oath of God, Heb. 7. 28; would God put himself to his oath for a light business, a thing of little moment? What is the end of this oath? Compare it with, For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abun