18 ON JUSTIFICATION.
iniquitates attendas Domine, quis sustinebit/" lib. vi. in Isa. xiii. 6, 7; — " When the day of judgment or of death shall come, all hands will be dissolved" (that is, faint or fall down); " unto which it is said in another place, ' Be strengthened, ye hands that hang down.' But all hands shall be melted down" (that is, all men's strength and confi- dence shall fail them), " because no works shall be found which can answer the righteousness of God ; for no flesh shall be justified in his sight. Whence the prophet says in the psalm, ' If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, who should stand V " And Ambrose, to the same purpose : " Nemo ergo sibi arroget, nemo de meritis glorietur, nemo de potestate se jactet, omnes speremus per Dominum Jesum misericordiam invenire, quoniam omnes ante tribunal ejus stabimus. De illo veniam, de illo indulgentiam postulabo. Queen am spes alia peccatoribus?" in Ps. cxix. Resh; — " Let no man arrogate any thing unto himself, let no man glory in his own merits or good deeds, let no man boast of his power : let us all hope to find mercy by our Lord Jesus ; for we shall all stand before his judgment-seat. Of him will I beg pardon, of him will I desire indulgence ; what other hope is there for sinners?"
Wherefore, if men will be turned off from a continual regard unto the greatness, holiness, and majesty of God, by their inventions in the heat of disputation ; if they do forget a reverential consideration of what will become them, and what they may betake themselves unto when they stand before his tribunal; they may engage into such apprehensions as they dare not abide by in their own personal trial. For " how shall man be just with God V Hence it hath been ob- served, that the schoolmen themselves, in their meditations and devo- tional writings, wherein they had immediate thoughts of God, with whom they had to do, did speak quite another language as to justifi- cation before God than they do in their wrangling, philosophical, fiery disputes about it. And I had rather learn what some men really judge about their own justification from their praye7'S than their writings. Nor do I remember that I did ever hear any good man in his prayers use any expressions about justification, pardon of sin, and righteousness before God, wherein any plea from any thing in ourselves was introduced or made use of The prayer of Daniel hath, in this matter, been the substance of their supplications: " O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces. We do not present our supplications before thee for our righte- ousnesses, but for thy great mercies. O Lord, hear ; 0 Lord, forgive ; for thine own sake, O my God," Dan. ix. 7, 18, 19. Or that of the psalmist, " Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight shall no man living be justified," Ps. cxliii. 2. Or, " If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who shall stand? But there
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 19
is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared," Ps. cxxx. 3, 4>. On which words the exposition of Austin is remarkable, speaking of David, and applying it unto himself: " Ecce ciamat sub molibus iniquitatum suanim. Circumspexit se, circumspexit vitam suam, vidit illam undique flagitiis coopertam ; quacunque respexit, nihil in se boni invenit : et cum tanta et tarn multa peccata undique videret, tanquam expavescens, exclamavit, ' Si iniquitates observaris Domine, quis sustinebit ?' Vidit enim prope totam vitam humanam circum- latrari peccatis; accusari omnes conscientias cogitationibus suis; non inveniri cor castum prsesumens de justitia; quod quia inveniri non potest, prsesumat ergo omnium cor de misericordia Domini Dei sui, et dicat Deo, ' Si iniquitates observaris Domine, Domine quis sustine- bit?' Quae autem est spes? quoniam apud te propitiatio est." And whereas we may and ought to represent unto God, in our supplica- tions, our faith, or what it is that we believe herein, I much question whether some men can find in their hearts to pray over and plead before him all the arguments and distinctions they make use of to prove the interest of our works and obedience in our justification before him, or " enter into judgment" with him upon the conclusions which they make from them. Nor will many be satisfied to make use of that prayer which Pelagius^ taught the widow, as it was objected to him in the Diospolitan S3niod : " Tu nosti, Domine, quam sanctae, quam innocentes, quam puree ab omni fraude et rapina quas ad te expando manus; quam justa, quam immaculata labia et ab omni mendacio libera, quibus tibi ut mihi miserearis preces fundo ;" — "Thou knowest, 0 Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from all deceit and rapine, are the hands which I stretch forth unto thee ; how just, how unspotted with evil, how free from lying, are those lips wherewith I pour forth prayers unto thee, that thou wouldst have mercy on me." And yet, although he taught her so to plead her own purity, innocency, and righteousness before God, he doth it not as those whereon she might be absolutely justified, but only as the condition of her obtaining mercy. Nor have I observed that any public litur- gies (the mass-book only excepted, wherein there is a frequent re- course unto the merits and intercession of saints) do guide men in their prayers before God to plead any thing for their acceptance with liim, or as the means or condition thereof, but grace, mercy, — the righteousness and blood of Christ alone.