he might be just, and tlie justifier of hhn which believeth in Jesus,' Rom, iii. 26, So that to desire God to forgive thee thy sin without the intervening of Christ's satisfaction, is to desire God to be unjust, and pardon thee with the loss of his own honour.
Lastly, Take no denial in this thy request, but pray for it with unwearied importunity. It is a mercy more necessary than thy very being ; better never to be, than ever be unpardoned. Think but a little on thy dismal condition, while thy guilt is not taken off, and thy pardon not obtained, and it is impossi- ble that thou shouldst be a cold, faint suitor for this mercy of mercies. Know, then, while unpardoned, thou art God's prisoner; all the plagues v/ritten in the law cleave as close to thee as thy girdle to thy loins ; every moment thou mayest fear they should take hold upon thee. Where canst thou be safe, who hast God for thine enemy ? Can the bread resist him that eats it ? Or the tree withstand the axe of the feller ? Truly, no more canst thou the wrath of an avenging God. Is it not he that holds the devil in chains ; — he Avho can kindle a fire in thy own bones, and make thee consume like lime with the in- ward burning of thy self-tormenting thoughts ? Is he not a righteous God, whose justice binds him in the distributions of punishment, to be exact accord- ing to the sinner's demerit? Is he not the everlasting God ? Not a sorry crea- ture, who may threaten thee to-day, and be dead himself to-morrow ; but who ever lives to take vengeance on sinners, out of whose hands thou canst not escape by dying. In earthly courts, when the man dies, his cause dies with him, because out of their jurisdiction. But at death thou fallest into the hands of the living God, who will pursue his quarrel with thee in the other world also. No sooner is thy soul abandoned of thy body, and tiu-ned out of its earthly house, but it shall return to God to receive its doom. Neither shall thy body long rest in the grave, but be called forth to share with the soul in torment, whose partner it had been in sin. The parting of these at death to a giiilty soul is sad enough, but their meeting again at the gTeat day of judgment will be much more dismal. For husband and wife that have joined in some bloody murder, to be separated and sent to different prisons in order to their trial, must needs fill them with the fear and terror of their approaching judgment ; but much more dreadful is it to them, when brought forth, to be sentenced to suffer at the same gibbet together. At death, the sinner's body is disposed of to one prison, his soul to another, and both to meet again at the great day of assize, then to be sent, by the final sentence of the judge, to everlasting flames in hell's fiery furnace, where, after the poor wretch hath experienced for a thousand million of yeai-s the weight of God's just vengeance, he shall find himself no nearer the end of his misery than he was the first day wherein his torment conunenced. Then death will be desired as a favour, but it shall flee from him, his misery being both intolerable and interminable. By this time, I suppose a pardon will be thought worth thy having, and too good to be lost by sluggish praying for it. When, therefore, thou hast a sense of the indispensable necessity of this mercy, take up a holy resolution to lay thy siege close to the throne of grace, never to rise till God opens the gates of his mercy to thee. As it is so necessary, thou hast the promise of a faithful God, that thou shaltnot miss it, upon the sincere seeking of it. ' If we confess, he is just and faithful to forgive.' Prayers and tears are the weapons with which the Almighty may be overcome. Manasseh, who could not on his throne, when he sinned against God, defend himself from his justice, yet in his dungeon greatly humbling himself before the Lord, obtained his mercy. So Israel, when he sinned he died, but when he spake trembling, then he was exalted ; Hos. xiii. 1 .
CHAPTER LIV,
HOW TO DEPRECATE THE DEFILING POWER OF SIN.
The second thing in sin to be deprecated, is the defiling power of it. He that desires not to be purged from the filth of sin, prays in vain to be eased of the guilt. If we love the work of sin, we must take the wages. A false heart could be willing to have his sin covered, but the sincere desires his nature may be cleansed. David begged a clean heart as well as a quiet conscience, — 'Blot out all mine iniquities; create in me a clean heart, O God,' Psa.
WITH ALL PUAYEK AND SUPPLICATION. Ygg