VeR. 2.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 61
more taken abroad in the view of conscience. This is that ' pouring out of God's name/ spoken of Cant. i. 3. Ointment in the box doth not yield such a fragrancy as when it is poured out, and spices do not give forth their smell till they are chafed. Nothing is more conducible to beget a trust than distinct thoughts and conceptions of God's mercy. Let us take notice of some places where it is set forth. See Ps. ciii. 8, ' The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.' The expression is diversified, and I note it the rather, because in other places the same notions of mercy are punctually expressed : see Neh. ix. 17 ; so Ps. cxlv. 8, and in divers other places : Joel ii. 12 ; Jonah iv. 2 ; chiefly see that Exod. xxxiv. 7, and you will find that this is the very description which God hath given of himself. Now what doth the Spirit of God aim at in this express enumeration and accumulation of names of mercy, but to give us a help in meditation, and that our thoughts may be more distinct ? (1.) The first notion is mercy, which is an attribute whereby God in- clineth to succour th^m that are in misery. It is an attribute that merely respecteth the creature. The love and knowledge of God first falleth upon himself, but mercy is only transient, and passeth out to the creatures. God knoweth himself, loveth himself, but he is not merciful to himself. And then it respecteth the creatures in misery ; for misery is mercy's only motive ; justice seeketh a fit object, but mercy a fit occasion ; justice requireth desert, but mercy only want and need. (2.) The next notion is grace, which noteth the free bounty of God, and excludeth all merit of the creature. Grace doth all gratis, * freely,' Ptom. iii. 24, though there be no precedent, obliga- tion, or debt, or hope of recompense, whereby anything may accrue to himself ; only that it may be well with the creature. God's external motive is our misery, his internal motive is his own grace and elective love. Am I in want ? there is mercy ; am I unworthy ? there is grace. Mercy respects us as we are in ourselves worthy of condemna- tion, grace as compared with others not elected. The ultimate reason of the choice is God's grace. The angels that never sinned are saved merely out of grace, but men that were once miserable are saved not only out of grace, but also out of mercy. (3.) The next notion is long-suffering, or slowness to anger. The Lord is not easily overcome by the wrongs or sins of the creature, but easily overcometh them by his own patience and goodness. He doth not only pity our misery, that is mercy ; and do us good for nothing, that is grace ; but beareth long with our infirmities. Alas ! if God were as short and swift in the executions of revenge as men are, God must create another world to raise up seed to Christ.^ If he did not wait upon sinners, there would be none made saints. We provoked him to cut us off long since, but wrath is not easily heightened into rage, and therefore ' he waiteth that he may be gracious,' Isa. xxx. 18. (4.) Kindness or bounty, * plenteous in goodness,' herah cliesid. God's communications of his grace to the creature are every way rich and full. You may say, God is merciful, gracious, patient, but will he be thus to me ? Yes, he is 'plenteous in goodness,' kind and communicative: Ps. cxix. 68, ' Thou art good, and dost good ; ' therefore David goeth to him for grace.
^ ' Nisi expectaret impium, non inveniret quem glorificaret pium.' — A ug.
62 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR, 2.
Well, then, study God's name, and answer all your discouragements out of the descriptions of his mercy.
9. Consider your own experiences. We have not only heard that God is merciful,^ but we have known it. All men may speak of patience, and common mercy, and outward deliverances, but few im- prove them to a spiritual use and purpose. (1.) Consider God's patience ; how long hath he waited for your conversion ? and he that hath spared you can save you. It is said, ' The wages of sin is death,' Eom. vi. 23. The word implieth that God is bound to pay it by virtue of an implicit bargain and agreement between him and the creature. But as yet the hand of God hath not found you out ; you are indebted to justice, but mercy stoppeth the arrest of vengeance. Many others have been taken away in their sins by a sudden arrow and dart from heaven ; vengeance hath trodden upon the heel of sin ; as Zimri and Cosbi unloaded their lusts and their lives together ; the angels for an aspiring thought were turned out of heaven ; Gehazi was blasted with leprosy just upon his lie ; and Lot's wife turned into a stone for a look, a glance upon Sodom ; and Horod smitten with lice in the midst of his pomp and vainglory : and some have 'perished in the midway,' Ps. ii., in the very heat of some carnal and wicked pursuit. God can do the like to you ; therefore reason thus : If mercy would not save me, why hath mercy spared me ? God might have sued out the bond long since ; what is the meaning of the dispensation ? Is God weak or unjust ? or hath he a mind to be gracious ? Surely he would not have spared me all this while, if he had not a mind to save my soul. Such reasonings as these many times give us the first encouragement to apply ourselves to God. Wicked men, like spiders, draw other conclusions, Ps. 1. 21. But should not his patience, &c., Eom. ii. 4. (2.) Consider God's good- ness in giving thee food, and clothing, and honour, and gladness of heart, and all this without thy desert. Say, Certainly all these benefits are but so many baits to catch my soul. I see the sun riseth every day W'ith a fresh countenance, and shineth upon the fields of just and imjust ; to what purpose, but to show that God is gracious without hire ? This bodily sun is but an obscure type of the Sun of Kighteous- ness, that is willing to display his beams and wings over a poor languishing soul. Common mercies are the tastes of God's love while 3^ou are sinners, and the common fruits of Christ's death, that you may be invited to come for more. Why hath he given me ' the unrighteous mammon,' but that I may look after ' the true riches ' ? What a vile unthankful heart should I have, if I should be contented with mammon without Christ, and be like Judas, with the bag in my hand, and the devil in my heart ! God's children are wont to make these gifts a step to higher dispensations: they know God, like the good householder, bringeth forth the best at last ; therefore they must have something above and beyond all these things. Common hearts are contented with common mercies ; but they are still waiting when the master of the feast will bid them sit higher. I may have this and be damned ; where are the arguments of his special love ? (3.) Consider deliver-