he heard and granted his sincere request. So when sinners sincerely plead for mercy, they renounce all claim to it.

3. Their sincerely pleading for mercy implies that they plead submissively, or with a willingness that Christ should hear, or deny their plea, as seems good in his sight. When Moses prayed for the forgiveness of Israel, when they had made and worshipped the golden calf, he prayed submissively, and referred it to the sovereign mercy of God to forgive, or not forgive their sin, as he saw best. And when David was driven from his family, his throne and the ark of God, he said to Zadok, "Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, he will bring me again, and show me both it, and his habitation. But if he thus say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good unto him." Whatever mercies men stand in need of, whether small or great, temporal or spiritual, and however much they stand in need of them, they ought to ask for them submissively, and be willing to be denied, if God sees fit to deny them. Unreserved submission is always implied in every sincere petition for mercy. Christ has a right to save, or to destroy sinners; and therefore they cannot sincerely ask him to save them, without cordially acknowledging his absolute sovereignty. They must cordially accept the punishment of their sins, in order to ask for that mercy which they have no right to claim.

4. Their sincerely asking Christ to show them mercy, implies that they ask in faith. Bartimeus prayed in faith for the mercy he desired Christ to bestow. "He cried, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.". He believed that Christ was, in respect to his humanity, the son of David, the long-expected Messiah, the only Saviour of sinners. And it was in answer to this prayer of faith, that Christ granted him mercy. So he expressly told him. "Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole." Luke speaks of Christ's saying more emphatiically, "thy faith hath saved thee." He exercised saving faith in pleading for the mercy of Christ. And without faith in Christ, it is impossible to plead acceptably for pardoning mercy. Sinners must believe that Christ is the only and all-sufficient Saviour; that he is able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him, and that there is no other name besides his, given under heaven among men, whereby they can be saved. Christ's power to bestow pardoning mercy upon them, results entirely from the atonement he has made for them. They must therefore ask for mercy in the belief of his atonement as the only medium through which he can grant them pardoning

grace. To speak with reverence, Christ has no right to bestow pardoning mercy upon any but penitent, believing sinners. Christ acknowledged to his Father that his right to give eternal life, resulted from his having finished the work which he had given him to do. This supposes that his right to forgive sinners is founded in the atonement he has made for sin. Sinners therefore cannot sincerely plead with Christ to have mercy on them, without exercising faith in his atonement, as the sole ground of forgiveness.

I now proceed to show,

II. That Christ is willing to bestow mercy upon all sinners who thus believingly, penitently, and submissively plead for it. This will appear, if we consider,

1. How he treated sinners while he was upon earth. He was the friend of sinners, and openly appeared so, though he was reproached for it. He took pleasure in showing mercy to the poorest, the meanest and most wretched objects. He never refused to grant a favor, which he was properly requested to bestow. Matthew gives the following account of his extraordinary condescension, beneficence and mercy. He says, "Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease, among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people, that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those who were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them." In his public discourses, and in all his private intercourse with the people, he gave such striking manifestations of his kindness and mercy, that the hearers and spectators were constrained either to admire, or to reproach him for what he said and did. Some said, by way of reproach, "This man receiveth sinners," while others praised God for his benevolence and compassion. Now Christ is still the same gracious and compassionate Saviour, and as willing to receive and show mercy to sinners as ever he was while he dwelt among them; and as ready to hear and answer their cries for mercy. They may now read his heart in his life, and be assured that whosoever cometh to him, and sincerely pleads for mercy, he will in no wise reject or cast out.

2. Christ's willingness to bestow mercy upon all penitent, believing suppliants, appears from his freely inviting them to come to him and receive mercy from him. He speaks to them in tender and endearing terms. "Come unto me, all ye labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my

that

yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light." "In the last day, that great day, of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Hear his gracious invitations to sinners in the parable of the gospel feast. "And Jesus answered, and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, and another to his merchandise. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all, as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests." Christ spake the parable of the prodigal son, to express his own and his Father's readiness to receive all penitent and returning sinners. And he has recorded it in his gospel, that he granted mercy to the penitent malefactor on the cross in his last moments, and admitted him into paradise. Indeed, Christ has expressed both by his word. and conduct, as clearly as he could, his willingness to show mercy to all who sincerely plead for it.

3. Christ has given still higher evidence of his willingness to bestow mercy upon sinners, by his suffering and dying for them on the cross. This was the strongest expression of his benevolence to sinners that it was in his power to give. He came into the world to seek and to save them that are lost. He gave his soul a ransom for them; and after preparing the way for the exercise of pardoning mercy to sinners, can it be doubted whether he is willing to grant mercy to those who feel their perishing need of it, and sincerely plead for it. His tremendous sufferings on the cross speak louder than words, and carry the highest evidence that he is willing to pardon and save all penitent, believing sinners for whom he died. For if he had not been willing to bestow mercy upon them, he never would have made that atonement, which neither men nor angels could make, to remove the difficulty in the way of their salva tion. He saw the difficulty, and knew that nothing, but his making atonement by his sufferings and death, could remove

it. And he suffered and died, that "grace might reign through righteousness unto eternal life.” No sinners can now doubt whether he is willing to bestow mercy upon them, and grant them that salvation which he has provided for them at the infinite expense of his own sufferings and death on the cross. His love and grace to sinners are written in characters of blood. I may add,

4. It is evident that Christ is willing to bestow mercy upon sinners through his own atonement, because their salvation was the reward promised to him for his performing the great work of redemption. The Father promised that a seed should serve him, and that he should see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. And this seed was the joy set before him,. for which he endured the cross, suffered the shame, and poured out his soul unto death upon it. Christ is as willing to receive penitent, believing sinners who plead for mercy, as he is to receive the reward his Father has promised him, and the glory he has engaged to give him. All the honor and glory of Christ as Mediator, require him to bestow mercy upon all who sincerely plead for it; for his pardoning mercy is the medium through which his glory and felicity will be forever promoted. Besides,

5. When sinners penitently, submissively, and believingly plead for mercy, they are then properly prepared to receive mercy; and of course there is nothing within them or without them, to forbid Christ's showing them mercy. Before they sincerely ask for mercy, they are unfit to receive pardon and salvation. And though Christ can offer them mercy before they ask for it sincerely, yet he cannot grant it before they ask sincerely, But as soon as they do ask sincerely, Christ can and will hear and answer their request. Their penitence and faith will secure eternal life. "He that believeth shall be saved."

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If Christ be willing to bestow mercy upon all who sincerely plead for it, then he is willing to bestow it upon the lowest terms. We cannot conceive that any favor can be offered upon any lower terms to any person than his willingness to accept it. Did not Bartimeus receive healing and pardoning mercy at the hands of Christ upon the lowest terms? He only cried sincerely, "Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. Christ made asking for favors his invariable and only condition of bestowing them. "I say unto you, Ask, and it

shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened." Christ always acted agreeably to this declaration, and never refused to bestow any favor upon any person who sincerely asked for it, if it were in his power to do it. All the invitations of the gospel are made upon the same low and condescending terms. Sinners are invited to buy wine and milk without money and without price, and to take of the waters of life freely. To be willing to ask for a favor, or to be willing to receive a favor, is the lowest condition upon which a favor can be bestowed. A favor cannot be bestowed upon any who reject it. Pardoning mercy cannot be bestowed upon those who reject it. But if they are only willing to ask for pardoning mercy, or even to receive it, Christ is willing to bestow it.

2. If Christ is willing to bestow pardoning mercy upon sinners on condition of their sincerely asking for it, which is the lowest condition possible, then there is no real difference between the lowest and highest terms of salvation. Though there be really but one condition of salvation proposed in the Bible, yet we find that condition expressed in a great variety of terms. In order to be saved, men are required to love God, to make them a new heart and new spirit, to repent of sin, to believe in Christ, to accept of the punishment of their sins, to deny themselves, and give up all that they have. Some of these terms are supposed to be high, and hard to be performed, and too unreasonable to be proposed. Accordingly, many preachers never propose some of these terms, and declare that they never ought to be proposed. They say it is absurd to propose to sinners to make them a new heart in order to be saved, or to give up all they have in order to be saved, or to accept of the punishment of their sins in order to be saved. They choose to preach the gospel in a more easy and agreeable manner to sinners, and tell them that Christ is willing to save them, upon the low and condescending condition of only desiring and asking for mercy. There would be no inconsistency or harm in proposing this low and agreeable condition of salvation, if they would only properly explain it, and tell how sinners should ask or plead for mercy; if they would tell them that asking sincerely implies renouncing all claims to justice, all claims to mercy, a willingness to be denied, and a cordial faith in the atonement of Christ, as the sole foundation of pardon and salvation. Such asking for mercy necessarily implies all those high and hard terms that have been mentioned. For none can