those faults that the child remembers and hath always in his eyes ; so doth the Fatherof spirits. (4.) Fourthly, His not bringing their sins into judgment doth best agree with that sweet and choice expression of God's pardoning the sins of, his people : ' And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all th.-ir iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have trans- gressed against me,' Jer. xxxiii. 8. So Micah : ' Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passes by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage (as though he would not see it, but wink at it), he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy,' Micah vii. 18. The Hebrew word nose, from nasa, that is here rendered par- doneth, signifies a taking away. When God pardons sin, he takes it sheer away : that it should be sought for, yet it could not be found, as the prophet speaks : ' In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found ; for I will pardon them whom I reserve,' Jer. 1. 20 ; and those words, 'and passeth by,' in the afore-cited 7th of Micah, and the 18th, according to the Hebrew Veg- nober Gnat, is, and ' passeth over ;n God passeth over the transgression of his heritage, that is, he takes no notice of it As a man in a deep muse, or as one that hath haste of business, seeth not things before him, his mind being busied about other matters, he neglects all to mind his business ; as David, when he saw in Mephibosheth the feature of his friend Jonathan, took no notice of his lameness, or any other defect or deformity ; so God, beholding in his people the glorious image of his Son, winks at all their faults and deformities, which made Luther say, ' Do with me what thou wilt, since thou hast pardoned my sin ;' and what is it to pardon sin but not to mention sin? Isa. xl. 1, 2. (5.) Fifthly, In his not bringing their sins into the judgment of discussion and discovery, doth best agree to those expressions of forgiving and covering : ' Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered,' Ps. xxxii. 1. In the original it is in the plural, blessednesses. So here is a plurality of blessings, a chain of pearls.
The like expression you have in the 85th psalm, and the 2d verse : ' Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.' For the understanding of these scriptures aright, take notice that to ' cover ' is a metaphorical expression. Covering is such an action which is opposed to disclosure.2 To be covered is to be so hid and closed as not to appear. Some make the metaphor from filthy, loathsome objects, which are covered from our eyes, as dead carcases are buried under the ground; some from garments, that are put upon us to cover our nakedness ; others from the Egyptians, that were drowned in the Red Sea, and so covered with water ; others from a great gulf in the earth, that is filled up aud covered with earth injected into it ; and others make it in the last place an allusive expression to the mercy-seat, over which wasaoovering. Now,all these metaphors in the general tend to shew this, that the Lord will not look, he will not see, he will not take notice of the sins he hath pardoned, to call them any more to a judicial account.
As when a prince reads over many treasons and rebellions, and meets with such and such which he hath pardoned, he reads on, he passeth
1 "\2V> Guubur, he passed over. Sic velantur, ut injudicio non revelenlur.
1 Kings XIV. 13.] apples of gold. 223
by, he takes no notice of them : the pardoned person shall never hear more of them, he will never call him to account for those sins more ; so here, &c. When Caesar was painted, he put his finger upon his scar, his Wart. God puts his fingers upon all his people's scars and warts, upon all their weaknesses and infirmities, that nothing can be seen but what is fair and lovely : ' Thou art all fair, my love ; and there is no spot in thee/ Cant. iv. 7. (6.) Sixthly, It best agrees to that expression of not imputing of sin : ' Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile/ Ps. xxxii. 2. So the apostle in that Rom. iv. 6-8. Now, not to impute iniquity is not to charge iniquity, not to set iniquity upon his score, who is blessed and pardoned, &c. (7.) Seventhly and lastly, It best agrees with that ex- pression that you have in the 103d Psalm, and the 11th and ] 2th verses : ' For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy towards them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.' What a vast distance is there betwixt the east and the west ! Of all visible latitudes, this is the greatest ; and thus much for the third argument. The
4. Fourth argument that prevails with me, to judge that Jesus Christ will not bring the sins of the saints into the judgment of discussion aud discovery in the great day, is because it seems unsuitable to three con- siderable things, for Jesus Christ to proclaim the infirmities and mis- carriages of his people to all the world.
(1.) First, It seems to be unsuitable to the glory and solemnity of that day, which to the saints will be a day of refreshing, a day of resti- tution, a day of redemption, a day of coronation, as hath been already proved. Now how suitable to this great day of solemnity the proclama- tion of the saints' sins will be, I leave the reader to judge.
(2.) Secondly, It seems unsuitable to all those near and dear relations that Jesus Christ stands in towards his. He stands in the relation of a father, a brother, a head, a husband, a friend, an advocate. Now are not all these, by the law of relations, bound rather to hide and keep secret, at least from the world, the weaknesses and infirmities of their near and dear relations? and is not Christ ? Is not Christ much more ? By how much he is more a father, a brother, a head, a husband, &c, in a spiritual way, than any others can be in a natural way, &C1
(3.) Thirdly, It seems very unsuitable to what the Lord Jesus requires of his in this world. The Lord requires that his people should cast a mantle of love, of wisdom, of silence, and secresy over one another's weaknesses and infirmities.