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Servant, after he had forgiven him form great a debt, as you find in the Parable, Mat. 18. 24. He owed him ten thousand Talents, and upon his fubmiffion and intreaty to have patience with him, he was moved with compaffion and loofed him, and forgave him all but no fooner had this favour been done to him by his Lord, but going forth he meets his fellow Servant, who owed him a small inconfiderable debt, an hundred Pence, he lays Hands on him, and takes him by the Throat, and roundly demands payment of him; he falls down at his Feet, and useth the fame form of fupplication that he had used to his Lord, but he rejects his requeft, and puts him in Prison. Now what faith the Lord to him? v. 32, 33, 34. O thou wicked Servant, I forgave thee all the debt, because thou defiredft me. Shouldeft not thou also have had compaffion on thy fellow fervant, even as I had pity on thee? And the Lord was wroth, and deliver'd him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. Now what application doth our Saviour make of this? v. 35. So likewise fball my heavenly Father do alfo unto you, if ye from your K 3

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hearts forgive not every one his brother Vol VII. their trefpaffes..

God's readiness to forgive us fhould be a powerful motive and argument to us to forgive others. The greatest Injuries that we can fuffer from Men, if we compare them to the fins that we commit againft God, they bear no proportion to them, neither in weight nor number; they are but as an hundred pence to ten thousand talents. If we would be like God, we should forgive the greatest Injuries; he pardoneth our fins tho' they be exceeding great: many Injuries, tho', offences be renewed, and provocations multis plied for fo God doth to us, He par doneth iniquity, tranfgreffion, and fin, Ex ·34.1.7.0 34. 7. 11. 55. 7. He will have mer. cx, he will abundantly pardon. We would not have God only to forgive us jeven times, but feventy feven times, as often as we offend him: fo fhould we forgive our Brother.

And we should not be backward to this Work; God is ready to forgive us; Neb. 9. 17. And we fhould do it heartily, not only in word, when we retain malice in our hearts, and while we fay we forgive, carry on a fe

cret

cret design in our hearts of revenging our felves when we have opportunity; but we fhould from our hearts forgive every one; for fo God doth to us, who when he forgives us, cafts our iniquities behind his back, and throws them into the bottom of the fea, and blots out our tranfgreffion, jo as to remember our iniquity no more.

If we do not do thus, every timewe put up the Petition to God, Forgive us our trefpaffes, as we forgive them that trefpafs against us, we do not pray for mercy, but for judgment; we invoke his wrath, and do not put up a Prayer, but a dreadful Imprecation against our felves; we pronounce the our own Condemnation, and importune God not to forgive

Sentence of t

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Ufe 4. If the mercy of God be fo great, this may comfort us against Defpair. Sinners are apt to be deject. ed, when they confider their unworthinefs, the nature and number of their Sins, and the many heavy aggravations of them; they are apt to fay with Cain, That their fin is greater than can be forgiven. But do not look only upon thy fins; but upon the mercies of. K 4

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Vol. VII.

God. Thou canst not be too fenfible Vol. VII, of the evil of fin, and of the defert of it; but whilft we aggravate our fins, we must not leffen the mercies of God. When we confider the multitude of our fins, we muft confider alfo the multitude of God's tender mercies; we have been great finners, and God is of great mercy; we have multiplied our provocations, and he multiplies to pardon.

Do but thou put thy felf in a capacity of mercy, by repenting of thy fins, and forfaking of them, and thou haft no reason to doubt but the mercy of God will receive thee; If we confess our fins, he is merciful and faithful to forgive them. If we had offended Man as we have done God, we might defpair of pardon; but it is God and not Man that we have to deal with ; and his ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts; but as the heavens are high above the earth, fo are his ways above our ways, and his thoughts 4bove our thoughts.

We cannot be more injurious to God, than by hard thoughts of him, as if fury were in him, and when we have provoked him, he were not to

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be appeafed and reconciled to us. Wen difparage the Goodness and Truth of Vol. VII. God, when we diftruft those gracious declarations which he has made of his mercy and goodness, if we do not think that he doth heartily pity and compaffionate finners, and really dedefire their happiness. Doth not he condefcend fo low as to reprefent himfelf afflicted for the miseries of Men, and to rejoyce in the converfion of a Sinner? and shall not we believe that he is in good earneft? Doth Chrift weep over impenitent Sinners, because they will not know the things of their peace? and canft thou think he will not pardon thee upon thy repentance? Is he grieved that Men will undo them. felves, and will not be faved? and canft thou think that he is unwilling to forgive? We cannot honour and glorifie God more, than by entertain ing great thoughts of his Mercy. As we are faid to glorifie God by our repentance, because thereby we acknowledge God's holiness and juftice;

we glorifie him by believing his mercy, because we conceive a right opinion of his goodness and truth; we fet to our Seal that God is merciful

and