But when such external means fail of producing the desired effect, he can employ more effectual internal means to alarm their fears and awaken their consciences. He can give energy to his word, and make it like a fire and a hammer, to wound their hard, unfeeling hearts, and cause them to realize that they are in his holy and sovereign hand, who is able to save, or destroy. But whether by his word, or providence he awakens sinners to see their danger and guilt, then is the time when he may properly be said to be near to them, in the sense of the text. This peculiar nearness of God they always sensibly and painfully feel, and are conscious, that it is their imperious duty to call upon him for pardoning mercy. We are next to

consider,

II. What is implied in their praying to God while he is near for pardon and forgiveness. This they are commanded to do. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." To seek the Lord and to call upon him, are phrases of the same import, and denote the same as praying to him. And what ought a sinner, who feels himself under a sentence of condemnation, to pray for in particular? The second branch of the text tells him. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Sinners, who are conscious that they are under a sentence of condemnation, must feel conscious, that it is not only their duty to pray, but to pray for pardoning mercy in particular. And their praying sincerely and acceptably for this great and distinguishing mercy without which they must perish, implies,

1. Their forsaking all their evil ways and thoughts. Some walk in evil ways, which seem right to them, and which are highly esteemed among men, when they are really the ways of death. Many others walk openly and knowingly in forbidden paths, which lead to ruin. But every wicked man walks in some wicked way which is agreeable to his wicked heart, and for which he ought to judge and condemn himself. Not only the worst, but the best external actions of sinners flow from an evil heart, which renders them sinful and displeasing in the sight of God. By whatever means God opens the eyes of sinners to see their lives, they are convinced that they need an external reformation, and must forsake their evil ways, in order to return to God, and sincerely ask for his forgiving grace. Accordingly we find, that all gross transgressors who are awakened to see their guilty and dangerous state, always do feel as much constrained to forsake their evil ways, as to

call upon God. God. So long as they continue to pray for mercy, they continue to refrain from pursuing any of their past wicked ways. But while they reform externally, they may be far from reforming internally, which is no less necessary in order to pray acceptably for pardoning mercy. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," says the text. The thoughts of awakened sinners are very different from their thoughts before they were awakened. Then their minds were full of worldly and vain thoughts, but when they are awakened, God is in all their thoughts when they lie down and when they rise up, when they go out, and when they come in; and all their thoughts about God are extremely sinful. While God is near them, and manifesting himself to them as a holy, sin-hating and sin-revenging God, and absolutely sovereign in the dispensations of his pardoning mercy, every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts, is extremely hostile and malignant towards him. They think hard of him for giving them a law, which requires more than they can perform, and threatens more than they deserve. They think hard of him for condemning their best services, and disregarding their most ardent cries for mercy. They think hard of him for forming his purposes concerning them before they existed, for saving others no better than themselves. They have not only such hard thoughts of God, but selfish thoughts, which are no less criminal. They desire God should regard them more than hist own glory and the good of the whole universe. They desire, that God would save them at all events, whether it be for the glory of God and good of the universe or not. Their happiness weighs more in their hearts, than the happiness, or misery of any or all other beings. It gives them no satisfaction to tell them that God knows what is wisest and best, and will do what is wisest and best with them. They are so selfish, that they can see no reason for submission to divine sovereignty, in respect to their salvation. Such are the hard and selfish thoughts every unrighteous man has of God; and these thoughts he must forsake and entirely give up, in order to pray sincerely and acceptably to God for pardoning mercy. Such thoughts of the sinner under sensible condemnation, are an abomination to God, and so long as he retains and cherishes them, all his prayers must be an abomination.

2. Sinners must freely and cordially return to God, from whom they have unreasonably revolted, before they can pray properly for forgiveness at the hands of their injured and offended Sovereign. They have hated and rebelled against him, and departed from him without any just cause, and it becomes

them humbly and penitently to return to him, before they can sincerely and acceptably ask for his pardoning mercy. So the prophet says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord." Sinners who have been disobedient and disaffected to God, have reason to loathe and abhor themselves for their disaffection and disobedience, and to become cordially reconciled to his character, his law, and government. They should return to God, as the penitent prodigal returned to his father, justifying his father and condemning himself. God requires sinners to return to him, before he returns to them. "Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord." Returning to God implies an internal as well as external reformation. And an internal reformation implies a radical change of heart towards God. When sinners are effectually alarmed in view of their danger and guilt, they are very willing to reform, and to renounce the world and the things of the world, that they may escape future misery and obtain future happiness. The prophet Micah represents the anxious sinner as saying, "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Such are the feelings of anxious sinners, while they realize God is near them. They would give up anything or everything, and do anything and everything to save their souls, except giving God their hearts and being reconciled to him whom they hate ; which he says is all he requires. "He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Such an humble, penitent returning to the Lord is implied in sincerely and acceptably seeking for mercy. Besides,

3. Anxious, inquiring sinners must not only reform externally and internally, and become cordially reconciled to God, but they must believe in Christ, who has made atonement for their sins, and rendered it consistent for God to show mercy to all penitent, believing, returning sinners. Neither reformation, nor love, nor repentance is a just ground of pardoning mercy. It is only for Christ's sake, that God can consistently forgive the sins of sincere penitents. Christ said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me." And Paul speaking of both Jews and Gentiles says, "For through him (that is Christ) we both have access by one

Spirit unto the Father." And again he said in the synagogue at Antioch, "Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses." Thus reformation, reconciliation to God, and faith in Christ, are all implied in pleading acceptably for pardoning mercy at the hands of God. It is of great importance that anxious, inquiring sinners should clearly and distinctly understand what they must do in order to obtain pardon and justification in the sight of God. They are extremely apt to think, that mere external reformation will answer, and are sometimes told so. But if that will not answer, they confidently expect what they are often confidently told, that if they seek, and strive, and pray, their seekings and strivings and prayers, if persevered in, will certainly obtain the pardoning mercy of God, though they still hate and oppose him and the terms. of salvation proposed in the gospel. But the prophet in the text has given a more proper, particular, and full answer to their anxious inquiry, "What must we do to be saved?" "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Let anxious, inquiring sinners, with such views and feelings, seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near, and they may justly expect he will hear and answer their prayers. It now remains

to show,

III. That God will freely forgive all sinners who sincerely seek him in the manner that has been described. For,

1. In the first place, he loves all penitent, believing, returning sinners. They are reconciled to him, and he is reconciled to them. This they very often doubt. They have such a deep sense of their own sinfulness, vileness, and ill-desert, that they imagine he will not be reconciled to them, and graciously forgive their great, multiplied, and aggravated transgressions. It appears to them to be too great condescension and mercy in God, to become reconciled to them and adopt them into his family forever, after they have done so much to dishonor and displease him. So the penitent prodigal felt after he had become reconciled to his father, and resolved to return to him. He could not entertain the thought that his father would ever exercise paternal affection towards him, and treat him as a child, but only as an hired servant, which he was willing to

For

be. All penitent, believing, returning sinners exercise the same filial affection towards God, which that penitent did towards his father, and often have the same fear of not finding favor in his sight. But this betrays low and unworthy thoughts of the superlative grace of God. He assures all returning sinners that he will return to them. He declares, "I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart: and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." "Thus saith the high and lofty One; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth." When Moses besought God to show him his glory, "The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin." The same reconciliation, tenderness, and compassion towards penitent, returning sinners, God expresses in still plainer and stronger terms in the text. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Such plain, repeated, and strong assurances of God's readiness to pardon all penitent, believing, returning sinners, are designed to remove their doubts and fears, and to lead them to place an unshaken hope and confidence in his mercy, notwithstanding their great guilt and ill-desert. The pardoning mercy of God is abundant and boundless, and rises above all the ill-desert of humble, contrite, broken-hearted sinners. Their sense of their unworthiness serves to display the greatness and glory of God's pardoning mercy, and is a just ground of encouragement to pray for it. David esteemed it so, when he prayed for pardon. "For thy name sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." And the apostle says, "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." All sinners may be assured, that as soon as they love God, he will love them, and delight to own them and bless them, as his children. They are then worthy of his love, and not before.

2. It is not only consistent with the goodness, but with the justice of God to pardon all penitent, believing, returning sinners. It has been observed, that while broken-hearted penitents are deeply impressed with a sense of their aggravated guilt and ill-desert, they are ready to doubt whether God has