glorified saints and angels could not unite with those who had no one sentiment or feeling in unison with their ownd: nor would they who hate the exercises of prayer and praise in this world, find any satisfaction in such exercises in the world above. I say therefore again, that to an impenitent sinner heaven would be no heaven: for while sin reigns within him, he has a hell in his own bosom, and carries it with him wheresoever he goes.]

3. It would introduce disorder into the whole universe

[What sensations must it occasion in heaven! for if God can so change his very nature as to love an unholy creature, who can tell but that he may go one step further, and hate an holy one? As for the effect of it on earth, no one from that moment would either hate or fear sin: not hate it, because they would see that God does not hate it; and not fear it, because they would see that he will not punish it. Even in hell the effect of it would be felt: for, if God takes an impenitent man to his bosom, why may he not an impenitent spirit also; and what hinders but that the fallen angels may yet become as happy as those who never fell? Could such a thought as this be cherished in that place of torment, hell would from that moment cease to be the place it is.]

Here then is ample reason why God, notwithstanding his delight in mercy, cannot find how to exercise it towards impenitent sinners. But,

II. Where humiliation is manifested, mercy may be expected

This appears,

1. From the very mode in which repentance is here enjoined

[When we speak of God as embarrassed in his mind, or perplexed in his counsels, we must not be understood to intimate that such things actually exist: for "known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world:" nor can any occasion possibly arise, wherein he can be at a loss how to act. But he is pleased to speak in this kind of language respecting himself, in order to accommodate himself to our feeble apprehensions: "Put off thy ornaments, that I may know what to do unto thee." Thus in various other places he speaks as perplexed in his mind about the line of conduct he shall pursue, and as wishing to shew mercy, but not knowing

d They would be ready to "thrust him out" of their society. Luke xiii. 28. e Hos. vi. 4.

how to do it consistently with his own honour. Let us not then be misunderstood, as though, in accommodating ourselves to the language of our text, we deviated at all from that reverence which is due to the Supreme Being.

It is here intimated then, that, whilst impenitence continues, he knows not how to exercise mercy to the sinner: but it is also intimated, that, when once persons are humbled for their wickedness, he is at no loss at all how to act towards them: he can then give full scope to the merciful disposition of his own heart, and can pour out all his benefits upon them without any dishonour to his own name. Yes; that point attained, the law is honoured by the sinner himself; the atoning blood of Christ may be applied freely to cleanse him from his guilt; the mercy vouchsafed to him will not be abused; the heavenly hosts will be made to shout for joy; and God himself will be glorified to all eternity. There is no obstacle whatever to the freest and fullest exercise of love towards such a Being; and therefore God knows both what to do, and how to do it to the best effect.]

2. From the experience of penitents in all ages

[Look at those in our text: God had threatened that he would go with them no more, but commit them to the guidance of a created angel. This had produced upon them a very deep impression: the fear of being deserted by him had wrought more powerfully upon them than the slaughter of three thousand of their number on the day before. They humbled themselves in the way that God had commanded; and, behold! the mercy, so ardently desired by them, and by Moses, was granted: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee resth."

Look at all other penitents from the foundation of the world: was ever so much as one spurned from the footstool of divine grace? Was ever one sent empty away? Even where the repentance was far from genuine, considerable respect was paid to it, and the blessing sought for was bestowed. How much more where the repentance itself has been deep, and the contrition manifest! Not even the greatest accumulation of guilt that ever was known, was suffered to outweigh the tears of penitence, or to shut up the tender mercies of our God from a contrite soul. The Saviour was sent into the world for the very purpose of saving them that are lost; and he assures "all who are weary and heavy laden with a sense of their sins, that, on coming to him, they shall find rest unto their souls."] APPLICATION—

f Jer. iii. 19.

h g ver. 1-4. ver. 14. 1 Kings xxi. 27-29. k2 Kings xxi. 16. with 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1-13.

1. Consider what obstructions you have laid in the way of your own happiness

[Had you not sinned, or, after your sins, continued impenitent, you would have been happy long since in the enjoyment of your God. He has been long "waiting to be gracious unto you, but you would not suffer him to be so. He has been longing" to gather you, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but you would not." Say then, what alternative is left to God? He has called, but you have refused: he still calls, and you still continue to reject his counsels. Truly, "he knows not what to do:" if he spare you, you only add sin to sin; and if he cut you off, you perish without the smallest hope of mercy. Who can tell but that he is deliberating at this moment, and just about to form his ultimate decision? Who can tell but that this very night he may determine, as he did respecting his people of old; "Go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; I will tread down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down1:" or, as he elsewhere says, "I swear in my wrath that they shall never enter into my rest?" Know, beloved, that if this calamity fall upon you, the fault is utterly your own: nothing but "iniquity can separate between you and your God; nothing but sin unrepented of can hide his face from youm."]

2. Endeavour instantly to remove them—

[Methinks I see your impenitence, like a dam, barring out from you those streams of mercy, which would refresh and fertilize your souls. O remove it without delay! But take care that your repentance is genuine and unreserved. External and temporary repentance will avail only for the removal of temporal judgments. That which is required in order to the final remission of your sins, must be deep, spiritual, and abiding: it must shew itself in the whole of your conduct and conversation. You will put away those pleasures, those vanities, those companions, that have been to you an occasion of falling; and you will "walk mournfully before the Lord of Hosts" to the latest hour of your lives: "you will lothe yourselves for all your iniquities and abominations," as well after that God is pacified towards you, as before". Let this then be begun immediately, even as "the Israelites put off their ornaments on the very mount of Horeb." Let there be no delays; no waiting for a more convenient season. And let not the loss of heaven be the only object of your fear: fear also the loss of the divine presence. This, as you have seen, was peculiarly dreaded by the

1 Isai. v. 5. m Isai. lix. 2. n Ezek. xxxvi. 31. with xvi. 63.

Israelites: let it also be peculiarly dreaded by you: and never cease to humble yourselves before God, till you have attained a sweet assurance of his guidance through this wilderness, and of his blessing in Canaan at the termination of your way.]

CIX.

PAST MERCIES PLEADED BEFORE GOD.

Exod. xxxiii. 12, 13. Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight.

NOTHING is more profitable than to be brought, as it were, into the secret chamber of the saint, and to be a witness of his intercourse with God. His humble confidence, his holy boldness, his fervent supplications, his almost irresistible pleadings, give us a juster view of man's present salvation, than any declarations, however strong, could convey. The blessedness of true religion is there embodied, and is therefore seen in all its fair proportions and magnificent dimensions.

The prayer which we have just heard, was uttered on occasion of the transgression of Israel in the matter of the golden calf. God had threatened to destroy the whole nation: but, at the intercession of Moses, he so far forgave them, as to suspend his judgments, and to promise, that though HE would conduct them no longer by his immediate presence, he would send an angel with them, who should lead them to the promised land. This, however, Moses could not endure: if God should not go with them, he judged it undesirable to be guided thither at all: and therefore he renewed his pleadings with God in their behalf, hoping to prevail to the full extent of his wishes. God had offered to destroy that whole nation, and to raise up another from the loins of Moses: and this token of God's good-will towards him he laid hold of as a ground of hope, and urged it as a plea with God to grant him his full desire: "Thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in

my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight."

Let us notice here,

I. The fact pleaded

God had given him the assurances here spoken of—

[We are not told exactly either when, or how, God had declared to him these glad tidings. It is probable, however, that it was by an audible voice during their late extraordinary intercourse, wherein, we are told, "The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend "." The import of the declaration, however, is clear. It could not mean that God merely knew the name of Moses; for he knew the name of every human being as well as his: it means, that from all eternity he had ordained Moses to his high station, and had appointed him to be a vessel of honour, in whom he would be glorified. I say not, but that the conduct of Moses, as contrasted with that of Aaron and the people of Israel, might bring down upon him more special tokens of God's favour: for I can have no doubt but that God, who rewardeth every man according to his works, did confer upon him many blessings as the reward of his piety, according to that established rule of his, "Them that honour me, I will honour:" but the primary source of all his blessedness was God's electing love and sovereign grace; though the manifestations of that love, by an immediate assurance from heaven, might be given him as a recompence for his fidelity.]

And are not similar assurances vouchsafed to God's faithful people at this day?

[If we examine the Holy Scriptures, we shall find, that neither electing love, nor the manifestation of it to the soul, are confined to Moses. To Jeremiah this declaration was vouchsafed: "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nation"." Here the very same expression, "I knew thee," is explained as equivalent to a fore-ordination of him to the prophetic office. And the same sovereign grace is exercised towards men in reference also to their everlasting concerns; as it is said, "Whom God did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son." Nor must we understand this foreknowledge as forming the ground of God's future mercies to the persons foreknown, but rather as constituting the source from b Jer. i. 5. c Rom. viii. 29.

a ver. 11.