Whereby he keepeth poor souls from believing in Christ, from receiving of Christ, from embracing of Christ, from resting, leaning, or relying upon Christ, for everlasting happiness and blessedness, according to the gospel; and remedies against these devices. His first device to keep the soul from believing in Christ is, Device (1). By suggesting to the soul the greatness and vileness of his sins. What! saith Satan, dost thou think that thou shalt ever obtain mercy by Christ, that hast sinned with so high a hand against Christ? that hast slighted the tenders of grace? that hast grieved the Spirit of grace? that hast despised the word of grace? that hast trampled under feet the blood of the covenant, by which thou mightest have been pardoned, purged, justified, and saved? that hast spoken and done all the evil that thou couldest? No! no! saith Satan, he hath mercy for others, but not for thee; pardon for others, but not for thee; righteousness for others, but not for thee, &c., therefore it is in vain for thee to think of believing in Christ, or resting and leaning thy guilty soul upon Christ, Jer. 1ni. 5.
Now the remedies against this device are these:—
Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of Satan 1s, to consider, That the greater your sins are, the move you stund in need of a Saviour. The greater your burden is, the more you stand in need of one to help to bear it. The deeper the wound 1s, the more need there is of the chirurgeon; the more dangerous the disease is, the more need there is of the physician. Who but madmen will argue thus: My burden is great, therefore I will not call out for help; my wound 1s deep, therefore I will not call out for balm; my disease is dangerous, therefore I will not go to the physician. Ah! it is spiritual madness, it is the devil’s logic to argue thus: My sins are great, therefore I will not go to Christ, I dare not rest nor lean on Christ, &ec.; whereas the soul should reason thus: The greater my sins are, the more I stand in need of mercy, of pardon, and therefore I will go to Christ, who delights in mercy,
who pardons sin for his own name’s sake, who is as able and as willing to forgive pounds as pence, thousands as hundreds, Micah vii. 18, Isa. xhii. 25..
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the promise of grace and mercy is to returnny souls. And, therefore, though thou art never so wicked, yet if thou wilt return, God will be thine, and mercy shall be thine, and pardon shall be thine: 2 Chron. xxx. 9, For if you turn again unto the Lordyour brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the Lord our God 1s gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.” So Jer. iii. 12, Go and proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you: for I am mcreitul, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever” So Joel 11. 13, “And rend your hearts, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he 1s gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil So Isa. lv. 7, “Let the wicked forsake his ways, 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,” or, as the Hebrew reads it, He will multiply pardon:” so Ezek. xviii.
Ah! sinner, it 1s not thy great transgressions that shall exclude thee from mercy, if thou wilt break off thy sins by repentance and return to the fountain of mercy. Christ’s heart, Christ’s arms, are wide open to embrace the returning prodigal. It is not simply the greatest! of thy sins, but thy peremptory persisting in sin, that will be thy eternal overthrow.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That the greatest sinners have obtained mercy, aud therefore all the angels tin heaven, all the men on earth, and all the devils in hell cannot tell to the contrary, but that thou mayest oblain mercy. Manasseh was a notorious sinner; he erected altars for Baul, he worshipped and served all the host of heaven; he caused his sous to pass through the fire; he gave himself to witcheraft and sorcery; he made Judah to sin more wickedly than the heathen did, whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel; he caused the streets of Jerusalem to ran down with innocent blood, 2 Kings xxi. Ah! what a devil incarnate was he in his actings! Yet when he humbled himself, and sourht the Lord, the Lord was entreated of him and heard his supplication, and brought him to Jerusalem, and made himself known unto him, and crowned him with mercy and loving-kindness, as you may see in 2 Chron. xxxiii So Paul was once a blasphemer, a persecutor and injurious, yet he obtained mercy, 1 Tim. i. 13. So Mary Magdalene was a notorious strumpet, a common whore, out of whom Christ cast seven devils, yet she is pardoned by Christ, and dearly beloved of Christ, Luke vii. 37, 88. So Mark xvi. 9, Now, when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.