Perhaps thou art weary of thy ways, but art not weary of thy thoughts, of thy unbelieving and despairing thoughts. Now, God also would have thee cast away these thoughts, as such which he deserveth not at thy hands; for he will have mercy upon thee, and he will abundantly pardon.

"O fools! and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." Mark you here, slowness to believe is a piece of folly. 'Ay!' but sayest thou, 'I do believe some, and I believe what can make against me.' Ay, but sinner, Christ Jesus here calls thee fool for not believing all. Believe all, and despair if thou canst. He that believes all, believes that text that saith, Christ would have mercy preached first to the Jerusalem sinners. He that believes all, believes all the promises and consolations of the word; and the promises and consolations of the word weigh heavier than do all the curses and threatenings of the law; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Wherefore believe all, and mercy will to thy conscience weigh judgment down, and so minister comfort to thy soul. The Lord take the yoke from off thy jaws, since he has set meat before thee, (Hos. xi. 4), and help thee to remember that he is pleased in the first place to offer mercy to the greatest sinners.

Sixthly, Since Jesus Christ would have mercy offered in the first place to the greatest sinners, let souls see that they lay right hold thereof, lest they, notwithstanding, indeed come short thereof. Faith only knows how to deal with mercy; wherefore put not in the place thereof presumption. I have observed, that as there are herbs and flowers in our gardens, so there are their counterfeits in the field; only they are distinguished from the other by the name of wild ones. Why, there is faith, and wild faith; and wild faith is this presumption. I call it wild faith, because God never placed it in his garden, his church; it is only to be found in the field, the world. I also call it wild faith, because it only grows up and is nourished where other wild notions

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abound. Wherefore take heed of this, and all may be well; for this presumptuousness is a very heinous thing in the eyes of God. "The soul, that shall do aught presumptuously (whether born in the land or a stranger), the same reproacheth the Lord: and that soul shall be cut off from among his people." The thoughts of this made David tremble, and pray, that God would hold him back from presumptuous sins, and not suffer them to have dominion over him.

Now this presumption, then puts itself, in the place of faith, when it tampereth with the promise for life, while the soul is a stranger to repentance. Wherefore you have in the text, to prevent doing thus, both repentance and remission of sins to be offered to Jerusalem; not remission without repentance: for all that repent not shall perish, let them presume on grace and the promise while they will. Luke xiii. 1-3.

Presumption, then, is that which severeth faith and repentance, concluding, that the soul shall be saved by grace, though the man was never made sorry for his sins, nor the love of the heart turned therefrom. This is to be "selfwilled" as Peter has it; and this is despising the word of the Lord, for that has put repentance and faith together. Mark i. 15. "And because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken the commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off: his iniquity shall be upon him.”

Let such therefore look to it, who yet are, and abide in their sins; for such, if they hope, as they are, to be saved, presume upon the grace of God. Wherefore presumption and not hearkening to God's word are put together. Deut. vii. 12.

Again, Men presume when they are resolved to abide in their sins, and yet expect to be saved by God's grace through Christ. This is as much as to say, 'God liketh sin as well as I do, and careth not how men live, if so be they

lean upon his Son.' Of this sort are they that build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity; that judge for reward, and teach for hire, and divine for money, and lean upon the Lord. This is doing things with a high hand against the Lord our God, and taking him, as it were, at the catch. This is, as we say among men, to seek to put a trick upon God, as if he had not sufficiently fortified his proposals of grace by his holy word, against all such kind of fools as these.

But look to it. Such will be found at the day of God, not among that great company of Jerusalem sinners that shall be saved by grace, but among those that have been the great abusers of the grace of God in the world. Those that say, Let us sin that grace may abound, and let us do evil that good may come, their damnation is just. And if so, they are a great way off of that salvation that is by Jesus Christ presented to the Jerusalem sinners.

I have therefore these things to propound to that Jerusalem sinner that would know, if he may be so bold as to venture himself upon this grace.

1. Dost thou see thy sins?

2. Art thou weary of them?

3. Wouldst thou with all thy heart be saved by Jesus Christ? I dare say no less. I dare say no more.

But if it be truly thus with thee, how great soever thy sins have been, how bad soever thou feelest thy heart, how far soever thou art from thinking that God has mercy for thee; thou art the man, the Jerusalem sinner, that the word of God has conquered, and to whom it offereth free remission of sins, by the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.

When the jailer cried out, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" the answer was, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." He that sees his sins aright, is brought to his wit's end by them, and he that is

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so, is willing to part from them and to be saved by the grace of God.

If this be the case, fear not. Give no way to despair; thou presumest not, if thou believest to life everlasting in Jesus Christ: yea, Christ is prepared for such as thou art.

Therefore take good courage, and believe. The design of Satan is to tell the presumptuous, that their presuming on mercy is good; but to persuade the believer, that his believing is impudent bold dealing with God. I never heard a presumptuous man in my life say that he was afraid that he presumed; but I have heard many an honest, humble soul say, that they have been afraid that their faith has been presumption. Why should Satan molest those whose ways he knows will bring them to him? And who can think that he should be quiet when men take the right course to escape his hellish snares? This therefore is the reason why the truly humble is opposed, while the presumptuous goes on by wind and tide. The truly humble, Satan hates; but he laughs to see the foolery of the other.

Does thy hand and heart tremble? Upon thee the promise smiles. "To this man I will look," says God, "even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word."

What, therefore, I have said of presumption, concerns not the humble in spirit at all. I therefore am for gathering up the stones, and taking the stumblingblocks out of the way of God's people, and for warning them that lay the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their faces, and then for presuming upon God's mercy. And let them look to themselves. Ezek. xiv. 6-8.

Also our text stands firm as ever it did, and our observation is still of force, That Jesus Christ would have mercy offered in the first place to the greatest sinners. So then, let none despair; let none presume. Let none despair that are sorry for their sins, and would be saved by Jesus Christ.

Let none presume, that abide in the liking of their sins, though they seem to know the exceeding grace of Christ; for though the door stands wide open for the reception of the penitent, yet it is fast enough barred and bolted against the presumptuous sinner. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; whatsoever a man sows, that he shall reap. It cannot be that God should be wheedled out of his mercy, or prevailed upon by lips of dissimulation. He knows them that trust in him, and that sincerely come to him for mercy. Nahum i. 7.

It is then, not the abundance of sins committed, but the not coming heartily to God by Christ for mercy, that shuts men out of doors. And though their not coming heartily may be said to be but a sin, yet it is such a sin as causeth that all thy other sins abide upon thee unforgiven.

God complains of this. "They have not cried unto me with their heart. They turned, but not to the Most High. They turned feignedly." Doing thus, his soul hates; but the penitent, humble, broken-hearted sinner, be his transgressions red as scarlet, red like crimson, in number as the sand; though his transgressions cry to heaven against him for vengeance, and seem there to cry louder than do his prayers, or tears, or groans for mercy, yet he is safe. To this man God will look.

Seventhly, Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in the first place to the greatest sinners? then here is ground for those, that, as to practice, have not been such, to come to him for mercy.

Although there is no sin little of itself, because it is a contradiction of the nature and majesty of God, yet we must admit of divers numbers, and also of aggravations. Two sins are not so many as three; nor are three, that are done in ignorance, so great as one that is done against light, against knowledge and conscience. Also there is the child. in sin, and a man in sin, that has his hair gray, and his