The application of redemption

He encloseth him with the Cords of Mercy, whereby §IIhe […] the soul, and compasseth the heart on every side, with the tender of his compassions, Hosea, 11. 4. I drew them with the Cords of a man, the bonds of love; & this the Lord doth to take off those desperate discouragements wch otherwise would dead the heart, and split the hopes of a forlorn sinner, and so pluck up his endeavours by the roots, under the appearance of impossibilities: It can never be attained, why therefore should it be expected, or endeavoured after? To abate therefore of these overbearing […], which otherwise would sink the heart, and swallow it up; the Lord casts in some discovery of the largeness of his compassions, and intimates there is no danger to be feared in coming to the Lord, because there is none intended. When Christ stands at the door and knocks, men are afraid to let in Enemies that intended our ruin; so it's […] the sinner, he is afraid of Gods Justice because of his […] deservings. What? is Christ at the door? Is it not that Christ, whose Grace I have refused, whose Spirit I ⟨p. 358⟩have grieved, whose Words I have cast […] my back? he certainly comes to destroy me who have destroyed his Truth, and trampled his honour […] my feet: And therefore the Lord lets in that Evidence to the soul as sometimes to his Disciples, Be ¹not afraid, it is I; I come not as a Judg to condemn thee, but as a Saviour to save thee; I desire thy Conversion,² not thy Confusion. So our Saviour expressed himself to […], Acts, 9. Who art thou Lord? (says he) I am Jesus, i. e. I am a Saviour to save my ³People from their sins; and so of thee, to save thee from thy sins: Why wilt thou oppose thine own⁴ mercy, and so thine own safety? Why wilt thou persecute him that comes to preserve thee? This Cable of Mercy is made up of four Cords, which cannot easily be broken.