Speedy repentance urged. A sermon preached at Boston, Decemb. 29. 1689. In the hearing,…

For the Petition, it is here with an Expostulation too. Tis, Why dost thou not Pardon my Transgression, and take • way my Iniquity? As before, Why dost Thou? was as much as to say, O do it not; so here, Why dost thou not? is equivalent unto saying, O do it. And it seems to follow upon the Title newly put upon the Great God, O thou Preserver of Men; q. d. Lord, since thou art the Preserver and the Pardoner of so many Sinners in the World, why should not I share in thy Mercies among the rest?

For the Argument: the force of the plea for a Pardon here, seems to lie in this, It will else quickly be too late! The terms of it are, For now shall I sleep in the Dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be; which in short is, I shall quickly be dead and gone! To Not be, is a Scripture-Sacred Phrase for Dying: denoting not a total Annihilation but a vast Alteration coming upon us by Mortality, which is ⟨p. 6⟩also here styled Sleeping, with respect unto the condition of the Body in the Grave. And whereas we read of the Morning, in this place, it may be an Allusion to the Morning Sacrifices usual among the people of God; and it may carry this Import with it, q. d. Lord, if a Morning or two hence, thou shouldest Look to find me on my knees as I am now before thee, it will be too late; I shall be departed into that State, where in, I can make no Prayer to thee, and have no Pardon from thee, World without End.

For the Argument: the force of the plea for a Pardon here, seems to ly in this, It will else quickly be too late! The terms of it are, For now shall I sleep in the Dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be; which in short is, I shall quickly be dead and gone! To Not be, is a Scripture-SacredPhrase for Dying: denoting not a total Annthilation but a vast Alteration comeing upon us by Mortality, which is ⟨p. 6⟩also here styled Sleeping, with respect unto the condition of the Body in the Grave. And whereas we read of the Morning, in this place, it may be an Allusion to the Morning Sacrifices usual among the people of God; and it may carry this Import with it, q. d. Lord, if a Morning or two hence, thou shouldest Look to find me on my knees as I am now before thee, it will be too late; I shall be departed into that State, where in, I can make no Prayer to thee, and have no Pardon from thee, World without End.

Wherefore the Doctrine unto which you are now to give a very great Attention, is this.

For the clearing of this Truth, we have now Two Enquiries that lie before us.

For the clearing of this Truth, we have now Two Enquiries that ly before us.

Our first Enquiry is to be,

What is implied in the Pardoning of Transgression and the Taking away of Iniquity?

For answer to this; in general, The Glorious Benefit of JUSTIFICATION is herein implied. If you ask for a Description of Justification, then know, That it is an Act of Gods, Free Grace, Releasing a Believer from the Guilt of Sin and Accepting him as Righteous, through' the Obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two things which a Religion still pretends to make provision for; to remove the greatest of our •roubles, & to obtain the greatest of our Desires. The Christian Religion does both of these in a very admirable manner. The First […] ⟨p. 8⟩done in […]. The Distress of Guilty Sinner lies in this point, What shall I give for the sin of my Soul? Be hold, that matter in Justification very wonderfully provided for. The Psalmist of did, called this a Parable, and A Dark Saying; […], The preci• cus Redemption of a Soul, by the Mess•• as alone Blessed be God, that we can with satisfaction penetrate a little way into the Mystery But I may not give you a full Discourse upon this illustrious Head of Divinity, which indeed the Standing or the Falling of the whole Church is concerned in the right stating of; and as I may not so I need not insist upon it, because; you have the published Writings of many Learned Men, on this very point; which I most heartily Recommend unto your Perusals […] suppose you are all of the Disposition, which our famous Wilson would often express, by saying, I Love no• thing so much as to see a Preacher keep ⟨p. 9⟩close to his Text, and the Scope of it; and therefore I shall now keep Close to my Text, 'by offering to you a few Conclusions relating to JUSTIFICATION, All which the Terms used in my Text suggest unto us; but in all, I must also keep close to the Man whom I do here most particularly design the edification of.

For answer to this; in general, The Glorious Benefit of JUSTIFICATION is herein implied. If you ask for a Description of Justification, then know, That it is an Act of Gods, Free Grace, Releasing a Believer from the Guilt of Sin and Accepting him as Righ••ous, thro' the Obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are two things which a Religion still pretends to make provision for; to remove the greatest of our •roubles, & to obtain the greatest of our Desires. The Christian Religion does both of these in a very admirable manner. The First 〈…〉 ⟨p. 8⟩done in 〈…〉. The Distress of Guilty Sinner lies in this point, What shall I give for the sin of my Soul? Be hold, that matter in Justification very wonderfully provided for. The Psalmist of did, called this a Parable, and A Dark Saying; 〈…〉, The preci• cus Redemption of a Soul, by the Mess•• as alone Blessed be God, that we can with satisfaction penetrate a little way into the Mystery But I may not give you a full Discourse upon this illustrious Head of Divinity, which indeed the Standing or the Falling of the whole Church is concerned in the right stating of; and as I may not so I need not insist upon it, because; you have the published Writings of many Learned Men, on this very point; which I most heartily Recommend unto your Perusals 〈…〉 suppose you are all of the Disposition, which our famous Wilson would often express, by saying, I Love no• thing so much as to see a Preacher keep ⟨p. 9⟩close to his Text, and the Scope of it; and therefore I shall now keep Close to my Text, 'by offering to you a few Conclusions relating to JUSTIFICATION, All which the Terms used in my Text suggest unto us; but in all, I must also keep close to the Man whom I do here most particularly design the edification of.

Conclusion. 1.

[My Transgression] The Hebrew word for it Notes, a Transgression out of Pride: And my Conclusion from it is,

There is a wicked and a cursed Pride in the Sins of men.

The First of our sin• was founded in a cursed Pride, & the most of our Sins are tainted with it. The first sin of Adam had Pride for a main ingredient of it. It was propounded unto him, in Gen. 3.5. Ye shall be as Gods, Honour and Grandeur was the Bait which he was taken with, and his Pride affected a higher condition that that which his ⟨p. 10⟩Maker had placed him in. The first Sin of Satan too had Pride for its Original. Hence we are advised in I Tim 3 6. he that is lifted up with pride, falls into the condemnation of the Devil. It is thought that his Dissatisfaction at some Privileges, which he foresaw Mankind likely to be the subject of, was that which prompted him to the Rebellion and Apostasy, in which he is now King over the children of pride. Tis thus in all the Sins which those have been the Parents of; there lies Pride at the bottom of them all. What Solomon says of one Sin, Only by Pride comes contention; the like may be said of All Sin, Mainly by Pride comes Transgression. Upon the Root of Pride it is, that there grows all the Disobedience to God, which is at any time committed in the World. It was the Saying of the Prophet, in Jer. 13.17. If ye will not hear, my soul shall weep in secret Places for your pride. From our Pride it is, that we do not Hear the voice of God unto us in his Ordinances ⟨p. 11⟩or in His Providences; Tis Pride that makes us thick of Hearing, when our God counsels us to Do Justice and have Mercy, and walk Humbly with Him: Every Sin (as one says of every man) hath a Pope in the Belly of it; something that Exalts it self against all that is called GOD. The Sinners whom Solomon calls the Fools, are those whom David calls the proud. If men were not proud Fools they would never espouse a way of wickedness; men Sin with an High Heart, and that makes them Sin with an High Hand against the God of Heaven. Through Pride, it is, that we must have our Will, tho Gods Will be quite contrary thereunto. And when the most High lays his commands before us, we do; as if we were Above Him, say, We will not hearken thereunto. Through pride it is that we can't bear the Order which the Sovereign God has sixth us in, but we take indirect ways to relieve and alter our circumstances. And here is the […] of all our Miscarriages. Be sure YOU ⟨p. 12⟩that are now in Chains before us, must acknowledge this to be the Rise of yours.

The First of our sin• was founded in a cursed Pride, & the most of our Sins are tainted with it. The first sin of Adam had Pride for a main ingredient of it. It was propounded unto him, in Gen. 3.5. Ye shall be as Gods, Honour and Grandeur was the Bait which he was taken with, and his Pride affected a higher condition that that which his ⟨p. 10⟩Maker had plac'd him in. The first Sin of Satan too had Pride for its Original. Hence we are advised in I Tim 3 6. he that is lifted up with pride, falls into the condemnation of the Divel. It is thought that his Dissatisfaction at some Priviledges, which he foresaw Mankind likely to be the subject of, was that which prompted him to the Rebellion and Apostasie, in which he is now King over the children of pride. Tis thus in all the Sins which those have been the Parents of; there lies Pride at the bottom of them all. What Solomon sayes of one Sin, Only by Pride comes contention; the like may be said of All Sin, Mainly by Pride comes Transgression. Upon the Root of Pride it is, that there grows all the Disobedience to God, which is at any time committed in the World. It was the Saying of the Prophet, in Jer. 13.17. If ye will not hear, my soul shall weep in secret Places for your pride. From our Pride it is, that we do not Hear the voice of God unto us in his Ordinances ⟨p. 11⟩or in His Providences; Tis Pride that makes us thick of Hearing, when our God councels us to Do Justice and have Mercy, and walk Humbly with Him: Every Sin (as one sayes of every man) hath a Pope in the Belly of it; something that Exalts it self against all that is called GOD. The Sinners whom Solomon calls the Fools, are those whom David calls the proud. If men were not proud Fools they would never espouse a way of wickedness; men Sin with an High Heart, and that makes them Sin with an High Hand against the God of Heaven. Through Pride, it is, that we must have our Will, tho Gods Will be quite contrary thereunto. And when the most High layes his commands before us, we do; as if we were Above Him, say, We will not hearken thereunto. Through pride it is that we can't bear the Order which the Sovereign God has fixt us in, but we take indirect wayes to relieve and alter our circumstances. And here is the 〈…〉 of all our Miscarriages. Be sure YOU ⟨p. 12⟩that are now in Chains before us, must acknowledg this to be the Rise of yours.

Your Proud Impatience of a little contradiction, and your Proud Resistance to the Rules of good living, have brought you to the Sin for which you are to die.

Your Proud Impatience of a little contradiction, and your Proud Resistance to the Rules of good living, have brought you to the Sin for which you are to dy.

Conclusion 2.

[My Iniquity] The Hebrew Word for it imports Iniquity with Crookedness and Perverseness. And hence I form this Conclusion.

The Sins of Men have a World of unrighteous Crookedness & Perverseness in them.

The Sins of Men have a World of unrighteous Crookedness & Perversness in them.