150 SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XXXII.
ing iniquity, and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty ; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generations.' There is more of mercy ; and God begins with mercy, because it is his chiefest attribute ; so Micah vii. 18, ' Mercy pleaseth him.' It is the delightful act of God to exercise mercy ; the expectation of it is not more pleasing to you than the exercise of it is to God ; it is like live honey, that drops of its own accord. Justice and all punitive acts are said to be extorted from him. Though God is necessarily just, as well as necessarily merciful, and vindictive justice be part of his essence, yet that which God delighteth in is mercy, James ii. 13, ' Mercy re- joiceth against judgment.' When in the conflict of the attributes, mercy can be exercised and gets the upper hand, there is a triumph and rejoicing in heaven. Gracious dispensations come freely, but judicial and penal acts are expressed in scripture as if they were forced and drawn from God : Isa. xxviii. 21, ' That he may do his work, liis strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act;' and Lam. iii. 33, ' He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.' When there is a rod in his hand, there are tears in his eyes. This is the whole design of the scriptures to represent God so, as that we may pitch upon God as merciful, gracious, and willing to do good to the creature.
[2.] Look upon God as he hath revealed himself in Jesus Christ. The gospel is the image of Christ, and Christ is the image of God. There is the likeness and picture of Christ in the gospel, but Jesus Christ is the lively image : 2 Cor. iv. 4, ' Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them ; ' that is, lest they know the mercifulness of God's heart in Jesus Christ : the gospel shows how full of mercy Christ is, and Christ shows how full of mercy God is ; and ver. 6, ' To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ' God hath stamped his image on the gospel, as Caesar's image is on the coin ; but Christ is the image of God, as Ceesar's image is on his son: Col. i. 15, 'Who is the image of the invisible God.' Look into the gospel, and there you read of the condescension of Christ, how he went about doing good, healing the sick and diseased; now, just as Christ was in the days of his flesh, so is God ready and willing to do us good. The whole life of Christ was nothing but mercy and love. Now, Christ is God's lively image and picture ; he shows what God is: John i. 14, ' The word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.' There were many emissions and beamings forth of the divine glory in the life of Christ, but that which chiefly shone out was the divine mercy: Acts X. 38, 'He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil.' You should study God in Christ. When Philip said to Christ — ' Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us,' Christ chides him upon this account — ' Have I been so long witli thee, and hast thou not known me ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Fathei-,' John xiv. 7-9 ; you need no other discovery than my person. God is best known in Christ, wherein, as in a glass, we may find his wisdom, power, goodness, and mercy ; wherein God displays his glory, without
"VeK. 6.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 151
overwhelming- the creature. In Christ's transfiguration, the disciples fell down like dead men, Mat. xvii. ; they could not contain themselves. But they that cannot look upon the sun may look upon his image in the water ; so they that cannot look upon God in himself, may look upon God in Christ : the divine perfections working through the human nature of Christ are more intelligible.
Fourtlihj, We must in prayer form proper thoughts of God, accord- ing to those requests that we put up to him. We cannot without great distraction run through all the divine attributes at once ; it is impossible your thoughts can be fixed on so many subjects, and there- fore you should single out such thoughts and considerations as will suit with your particular requests to God. Holy men of God every- where do this ; as the apostle Paul, when he prays for peace, gives God a suitable appellation : 2 Thes. iii. 16, * The Lord of peace himself give you peace always hy all means.' So when he prays for patience to bear with the intirmiUes and differences of others, he gives God a suitable appellation : Kom. xv. 5, ' The God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another ; ' God, that hath abundance of patience, bestows it on you, that you may carry it thus. So when he speaks of the comfort that he received in his afHiction, he styles God, 2 Cor. vii. 6, 'God that comforteth those that are cast down.' It is a commendable policy, and a great help to our thoughts in prayer, when we pitch upon an attribute that suiteth with our present wants, or doth imply an ability and disposition in God to do us good. When you come to be humbled in the presence of God, you must look upon Christ as a judge ; when you come to have your sins mortified, you must look upon Christ as a physician. In your closet-addresses to God, suit the descriptions of God according to your exigencies and wants. When David begs defence, then God is his 'fortress' and munition of rocks;' when he begs success against enemies, then God is the ' horn of his salvation ; ' in a time of peace, God is his ' habitation ; ' in a time of war, he is his ' refuge : ' Ps. xci. 9, ' Because thou hast made the Lord, which is thy refuge, even the most high thy habitation.' alluding to the time of peace and the time of trouble.