His first device to keep the soul from believing in Christ is, Device (1). By suggesting to the soul the greatness and vileness of his sins. What! saith Satan, dost thou think that thou shalt ever obtain mercy by Christ, that hast sinned with so high a hand against Christ ? that hast slighted the tenders1 of grace ? that hast grieved the Spirit of grace? that hast despised the word of grace? that hast trampled under feet the blood of the covenant, by which thou mightest have been pardoned, purged, justified, and saved ? that hast spoken and done all the evil that thou couldest ? No ! no ! saith Satan, he hath mercy for others, but not for thee; pardon for others, but not for thee; righteous- ness for others, but not for thee, &c, therefore it is in vain for thee to think of believing in Christ, or resting and leaning thy guilty soul upon Christ, Jer. iii. 5.
Now the remedies against this device are these : — Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan is, to consider, That tlie greater your sins are, the more you stand in need of a Saviour. The greater your burden is, the more you stand in need of one to help to bear it. The deeper the wound is, the more need there is of the chirurgeon ; the more dangerous the disease is, the more need there is of the physician. Who but madmen will argue thus : My burden is great, therefore I will not call out for help ; my wound is deep, therefore I will not call out for balm ; my disease is dangerous, therefore I will not go to the physician. Ah ! it is spiritual madness, it is the devil's logic to argue thus : My sins are great, therefore I will not go to Christ, I dare not rest nor lean on Christ, &c. ; whereas the soul should reason thus: The greater my sins are, the more I stand in need of mercy, of pardon, and therefore I will go to Christ, who delights in mercy,
14-0 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11.
who pardons sin for his own name's sake, who is as able and as willing to forgive pounds as pence, thousands as hundreds, Micah vii. 18, Isa. xliii. -").
R medy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, llmt thepromise o/'u race and mercy is to return- ing souls. And, therefore, though thou art never so wicked, yet if thou wilt return, God will be thine, and mercy shall be thine, and pardon shall he thine : 2 Chron. xxx. 9, 'For if you turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that Lad them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord our God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.' So Jer. iii. 12, 'Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you : for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever.' So Joel ii. 13, 'And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God : for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.' So Isa. lv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon/ or, as the Hebrew reads it, ' He will multiply pardon :' so Ezek. xviii.
Ah ! sinner, it is not thy great transgressions that shall exclude thee from mercy, if thou wilt break off thy sins by repentance and return to the fountain of mercy. Christ's heart, Christ's arms, are wide open to embrace the returning prodigal. It is not simply the greatest1 of thy sins, but thy peremptory persisting in sin, that will be thy eternal overthrow.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the greatest sinners have obtai/ned mercy, and therefore all the angels im heaven, all the men on earth, and all tl i e devils in hell cannot tell to the contrary, but that thou mayest obtai/n mercy. Manasseh was a notorious sinner; he erected altars for Baal, he worshipped and served all the host of heaven ; he caused his sons to pass through the fire; he gave himself to witchcraft and sorcery; he made Judah to sin more wickedly than the heathen did, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel ; he caused the streets of Jerusalem to run down with innocent blood, 2 Kings xxi. Ah ! what a devil incarnate was he in his actings ! Yet when he humbled himself, and sought the Lord, the Lord was entreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him to Jerusalem, and made himself known unto him, and crowned him with mercy and loving-kindness, as you may sec in 2 Chron. xxxiii.'- So Paul was once a blasphemer, a perse- cutor and injurious, yet he obtained mercy, 1 Tim. i. 13. So Mary Magdalene was a notorious strumpet, a common whore, out of whom Christ cast seveu devils, yet she is pardoned by Christ, and dearly be- loved of Christ, Luke vii. 37, 38. So Mark xvi. J), 'Now, when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.'3
1 Qu. ' greatness ' ? — G.
2 The Hebrew doctors writ thai lie slew Itsaiah the prophet, who was his father-in-law.
3 See footnote on page 100. — G.
2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 1-il
Jansenius on the place saith,it is very observable that our Saviour after his resurrection first appeared to Mary Magdalene and Peter, that had been grievous sinners ; that even the worst of sinners may be comforted and encouraged to come to Christ, to believe in Christ, to rest and stay their souls upon Christ, for mercy here and glory hereafter. That is a very precious word for the worst of sinners to hang upon, Ps. lxviii. 18. The psalmist speaking of Christ saith, ' Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive ; thou hast received gifts for men ; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord might dwell amongst them.'
What though thou art a rebellious child, or a rebellious servant ! What though thou art a rebellious swearer, a rebellkms drunkard, a rebellious Sabbath breaker ! Yet Christ hath received gifts for thee, 1 even for the rebellious also.' He hath received the gift of pardon, the gift of righteousness, yea, all the gifts of the Spirit for thee, that thy heart may be made a delightful house for God to dwell in.
Bodin1 hath a story concerning a great rebel that had made a strong party against a Roman emperor. The emperor makes proclamation, that whoever could bring the rebel dead or alive, he should have such a great sum of money. The rebel hearing of this, comes and presents himself before the emperor, and demands the sum of money. Now, saith the emperor, if I should put him to death, the world would say I did it to save my money. And so he pardons the rebel, and gives him the money.