Articles from our past Email Newsletters

A Sermon on
Psalm 130:1-4

by Robert Rollock,
Principal of the University of Edinburgh.

The following is a sermon by Robert Rollock (died 1599), Principal of the University of Edinburgh. He was contemporary with John Knox and Andrew Melville, and like them he was a firm believer, promoter and defender of the reformed Christian faith. The sermon is from the Select Works of Robert Rollock, Volume 1, edited by William M. Gunn; published by the Wodrow Society in 1849; pp. 457-470.

The editor, William Gunn, added some explanations of old words in order to aid readers in his day (1849), in footnotes (here the footnotes have been placed below the paragraph to which they refer, renumbered and referred to as notes). In addition, I have added further explanations of old words in order to aid readers in our day, in [square brackets] within the text.

The Scripture quotations are taken from the Geneva Bible. The Scripture references I have translated to the common notation from Roman numerals.

This article was included in our Email Newsletter No.8, 1st May 2007.

1. Out of the deep places have I called unto thee, Lord.
2. Lord hear my voice: let thine ears attend to the voice of my prayers.
3. If thou, O Lord, straitly markest iniquities, Lord, who shall stand?
4. But mercy is with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

T HE inscription of this Psalm, brethren, declareth that it is a psalm most excellent; the excellency of it we remit to the matter contained therein. It hath been penned by some holy man and prophet of old, but by whom it is not certain: it is sufficient to us to know that the Spirit of God was the dyter [i.e., inditer, or composer] of it.

To come to the matter and parts thereof, the prophet, whoso ever he was, first setteth down the estate and disposition of his soul in trouble, to wit, that he ran to the Lord, and prayed to him for delivery: and this he doeth to the fifth verse. Next, finding in very deed the effects of the prayer he made, and finding mercy and delivery as he craved, he professeth before all the world, that as he had before awaited upon God, so he will await still upon him, and he will put his confidence in him. And this he doeth to the seventh verse. Lastly, from the seventh verse to the end, he recommendeth this duty to Israel, that is, to the Church of God, to wait upon the Lord, and, with the recommendation, he giveth in forcible reasons to move them. To come to the first part, first, he saith. that in his greatest danger he cried to the Lord Jehovah. Next, he setteth down the prayer. To come to the proposition, he saith, “Out of the deep:” yet more, “Out of the deep places have I called unto thee, O Jehovah.” By these deep places he understandeth great miseries, great dangers wherein his body was, great terror and fear in his conscience for his sin and offending of God: for the Scripture, as ye may see, (Psalm 69:1,2,) compareth great afflictions to deep waters, wherein a man is like to drown; and many a time, when the body is in danger, the soul will be like to drown in desperation. No doubt, the greatness of the danger, made him to utter to the Lord voices coming from the very depth of the heart. If we felt ourselves in great danger we would call from the depth of our hearts to God: he uttered not a voice only, but a loud voice, with a cry. This is the meaning of the words. We see here, first, that the children of God, whom God loveth most entirely, are many times subject to great and extreme dangers and troubles; and if ever thou thinkest to come to heaven, make thee ^[1] in thine own course to suffer one trouble or other. Let no man, therefore, judge evil of a man because he suffereth. Next, we see the greater the danger be, the heavier the distress and the affliction wherewith the godly is exercised be, the more vehement, fervent and earnest, will their prayer be they have to God. And how cometh this to pass? Even in this manner, and by these degrees, oppression and affliction worketh in the hearts of the faithful a sense of the common misery of nature. When the hand of the Lord is upon a faithful man then he begins to feel his sin and corruption; and except the Lord exercise us in this life, either one way or other, the best of us all will fall into such a sound sleep, that we will neither remember what we have been, what we are, nor what we shall be, neither acknowledge our selves to be sinners: so there is a necessity of afflictions, for affliction bringeth us to a feeling of our misery. Next, when through affliction the heart is prepared and brought to some sense of sin, then it is capable of grace, then it prayeth to God. (Look never to come to heaven if thou feelest not thy sin, yea, and that thou art a miserable sinner.) Then, if once thine heart be prepared with some sense of sin and misery, then cometh in that holy Spirit of Jesus Christ, which in the Scripture is called the Spirit of adoption, who, finding the heart dejected and made lowly, (the Spirit will never look in to a proud heart,) beginneth to work, and to touch the heart of the miserable sinner with a sweet sense of mercy through Jesus, he beginneth to shed abroad the love of Christ into the soul: and when once the heart hath tasted of the sweetness of mercy, and, as Peter saith, hath tasted how sweet and gracious the Lord is, and findeth this passing love of God in Jesus Christ, then it taketh a boldness, and beginneth with confidence and pertness ^[2] to present itself before God, and to put up prayers and requests; (Romans 8:26.) When once that Spirit hath given liberty, then we cry with an open mouth, (for the heart is wide opened, Abba, Father, (Romans 7:15,) because we have gotten a sense of that fatherly love in Jesus Christ. The prayer of the faithful is most effectual when they are in greatest danger, and then the voice is loudest: for it is the Spirit of God who maketh intercession for us, with sighs which cannot be expressed; but God knoweth the meaning of his Spirit.

[Note 1: A Scottish idiom for prepare.]

[Note 2: Boldness.]

Now, Brethren, surely few of us have yet been in this deepness and extremity of misery. The Lord hath not yet so pressed us with his hand as he hath done many others; and, therefore, few there is amongst us who hath this feeling of sin and misery, and, consequently, few of us can pray so earnestly. How many are there amongst you that dare say, that ye feel sensible the common misery of nature? Go to your hearts and look if ye feel it not sleeping in sin; and so long as thou sleepest thus, and knowest not thy misery, how wilt thou be careful to feel the love of Christ? And how wilt thou earnestly pray to God? And certainly I take this coldness in prayer to be a forerunner of a judgment to overtake this land. No, it were better to be swimming in the waters of affliction, praying earnestly to God, than to be this way lying in prosperity without prayer.

Now I go forward. After he hath proponed, that out of the deepness he cried to Jehovah, then to let us see his cries, he setteth down the form of prayer that he used in his great miseries: First, he saith, “O Lord hear my voice:” Next, in the other words he doubleth over the same petition, “Attend to the voice of my prayers:” For he prayeth not coldly, but he crieth earnestly; certainly the doubling of the cry would be opened up from the ground. We should gripe ^[3] down to the heart from whence the prayers of the godly do flow, that when we hear them, or read them, we may get such a heart and disposition in prayer as they had. The doubling of the prayer, and the mouth wide opening, cometh of the doubling of the graces of the Spirit of God in the heart, and of a double opening of the heart; for, except the heart be opened in prayer, the mouth cannot be opened with pleasure, otherwise if thou speak any thing, I will not give one penny for it. So the opening of the mouth cometh from the opening of the heart. When the Holy Spirit so sweetly maketh manifest the love of God to the creature, then the tongue is loosed, and the second cry cometh of the second grace, and of the second opening of the heart; and so oft as thou criest, so oft is there a new grace and motion within the heart, wrought by the Holy Spirit, for it is he only, that openeth the mouth, piece and piece, to speak to God. For take this for certainty that Paul saith, “there is none that can call Jesus Lord, without the Spirit come in,” (1 Cor. 12:3.) And again he saith, “we know not what we should pray, or how we ought to pray, without that Spirit teach us,” (Romans 8:26,) and if he teach not, no man or woman is able once to open the mouth with confidence and liberty to pray.

[Note 3: Search.]

And so, Brethren, if ye would speak well, pray well, or do well, look ever to the disposition of the heart, and night and day pray for that Spirit, who may transchange thee, transform thee, and take thee out of nature, and plant thee in grace; for so long as thou remainest in nature, thou canst not think well, thou canst not speak well, thou canst do nothing well, yea, thou art worse than a very beast.

But because the words are very weighty, we will yet consider them better. What meaneth he when he saith, “Lord let thine ear be attentive to my prayer?” Thought he that the Lord heard him not, and that the Lord played the part of a deaf man? No, he meaneth not this; look to the estate of the godly when the hand of the Lord is upon them, when the Lord afflicteth us any way, we think that he neither heareth nor seeth us, nor remembereth upon us: Indeed, I grant it is not so in effect, for God never altereth his affection towards his own; but the faithful oftentimes judge and apprehend so, and all the fault of this is in us. Ye see how David oftentimes complaineth to the Lord, that he had forsaken him, he had left him, and desireth that he should look upon him. I ask, is it so indeed, that when the faithful soul crieth, Lord hear, see, and remember, that he heareth not, he seeth not, he remembereth not? No question but he doth: “For he that made the eye, seeth he not? He that made the ear, heareth he not? He that formed the heart of man, understandeth he not? Remembereth he not?” (Psalm 94.) Yea, all things are patent [i.e., present and visible] to his Majesty, albeit, when he maketh it not manifest by some sensible effects and operation, we think he heareth not, he seeth not, he remembereth not, his favour and affection is never indeed altered nor changed from his own children: Then, when they cry for his presence, are they altogether destitute and deprived of his presence? No, they want [i.e., lack] it not: For who gave the heart to say, Lord hear me, Lord see and remember me? If that thou hadst not some presence of the Lord in thine heart, thou couldest never utter these voices to God. Then I say, if I have the presence of God when I cry unto him, why cry I, and pray I, as though I had not his presence? Are not such prayers in vain? No, for although we have the presence of God when we pray, yet for all that, our prayers to God are not in vain; for if we had him of before in any measure by our prayers, he will manifest himself more sensibly, piece and piece, more and more. And look how much more strongly thou criest, so much the more will the Lord be drawn to thy soul, and so much the more shalt thou find the increase and growth of grace in thy soul. It is impossible that the prayer of a faithful man, if it were but one word that proceedeth from the Spirit of adoption, can pass away without comfort: For the Lord giveth his Spirit to no man in vain, but because he knoweth the meaning of his own Spirit, therefore he will grant that thing for which he maketh request, there is nothing more certain; and therefore the Lord, (Matt. 5:6,) pronounceth them blessed, “who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for” (saith he,) “they shall be filled and satisfied:” And so Christ speaketh to that woman of Samaria, (John 4:13,14,) “If thou soughtest a drink, I should give thee a drink of the water of life; for the water that I shall give shall be, in a man (or woman) a well of water springing up into eternal life;” meaning, generally, that whosoever hath gotten the first fruits of the Spirit, and the beginnings of grace, desireth and seeketh for further progress and increase, that the Lord should ever furnish them with something to quench their thirst, and that because they should ever have a fountain within their belly, to furnish something to them when they thirsted; so that when as they should seek refreshment, they might get it in abundance. And if we felt this thirst and dryness of the soul, we would seek earnestly; for there was never such a dryness and such a heat in any man naturally, as there is in us through sin. Consider thine own experience, when thou hast felt sometimes the great burden of sin, and the terrors of the wrath of God for sin, whensoever, in this estate, thou earnest to God, and prayed for mercy, and said, I am a miserable sinner—Lord give me mercy, hast thou not felt that the Lord hath answered thee comfortably, and hath filled thine heart with joy, even when, in thy prayer, thou sighest and sobbest unspeakably? What meaneth that joy? Even that as soon as thou openest thy mouth with liberty to seek that water of life, the Lord convoyeth some portion of it into thine heart to quench thy thirst.

Now, after he hath cried twice, he subjoineth in the next words, “If thou, O Lord, straitly inarkest iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” This, no question, followeth by way of preoccupation. It might have been objected to him in his prayer, (for many are the temptations of the godly,) by his conscience pleading for God against him, or God himself might have said, Thou prayest to me, and yet thou art a sinner, how should I hear thee? How darest thou stand before me? it is a wonder that, in my fierce wrath, I destroy thee not. To this he answereth, first, by way of confession, It is true, O Lord, that if thou wilt straitly mark iniquity that no flesh can stand in thy presence, but they must be consumed, through the rage of thy displeasure. Then he answereth, by way of correction, “But mercy is with thee.” The meaning is, Thou takest no heed to our iniquities, but, of thy free mercy and grace, thou pardonest them all in thy Son Jesus Christ; for none of the saints, none of the fathers, none of the prophets ever got mercy, but through that blood of Jesus Christ, who was slain from the beginning of the world; through his blood only was the wrath of God pacified. Except God’s justice be first satisfied, there is no place left to mercy; therefore, saith he, my refuge is to thy mercy. Indeed, our estate, who live now, is far better than the estate of them who lived before Christ came into the world; for they saw the death and satisfaction of Christ, and remission of sin in his blood, but afar off; but we see them now already past, and we may say, that now God in Christ is merciful to us, is become our Father, and hath forgiven all our sins.

Now, out of these words, and by this example of the prophet, ye may see what is the estate of God’s children in prayer, to wit, when, in affliction, they seek to repair [i.e., to resort; or, to go] to God by prayer, they will not so soon begin to pray, but as soon their guilty consciences will begin to knock and challenge them, as unworthy to be heard. The conscience will stand up, and, if it be not cleansed, it will present thy sins before thee, and set them in order in all their circumstances. Albeit thou forget thy sins after thou hast got thy pleasure, yet thou shalt see that thy conscience hath marked them all; and as a man cannot read when the book is closed, yet being opened, they may read therein; even so, albeit when our consciences are benumbed, we see not the ugliness and guiltiness of sin, yet when God wakeneth them, we will see sin in the[ir] own colour, and find the ugliness and guiltiness thereof. Our sins will come in, and stand up as mountains, and will hide the blessed face and presence of God from thee. Sin goeth betwixt us and God, and separateth us from God.

The saints find in experience, that it is not an easy thing to find a familiar access to God in prayer. Except our consciences first be purged, we can have no access to God; therefore, whosoever would draw near to God, let him seek to follow the counsel of the Apostle in the 10 ^th chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and the 22 ^nd verse, where he saith, “Let us draw near with a true heart in an assurance of faith, sprinkled in our hearts from an evil conscience.” No flesh can have a favourable access to God, except his conscience be first purged from guiltiness; yea, that which we speak of the guiltiness of sin, we speak also of sin itself, that except it be quite taken away out of his sight, that he will not look favourably upon us. And this is that which the prophet saith here, “If thou, O Lord, straitly markest iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” For, as guiltiness of sin stayeth [i.e., prevents; or, keeps back] us to behold God, so sin itself stayeth God from beholding us, miserable wretches, with the eyes of his compassion. So long, therefore, as thy conscience is not purged, when thou goest to present thyself before his majesty, if thy conscience be wakened, thou wilt find God marking thy sins,—laying them to thy charge,—and wilt find him as a terrible judge, compassed about with burning wrath, ready to destroy thee: and if he mark thee, thou hast no standing, and if thou appear not clothed with the righteousness and perfect satisfaction that Jesus, through his blood, hath purchased for thee, thou darest not presume to approach, for then his fierce wrath shall be poured out upon thee.

Further, we learn hereof, that whenever we would have our prayers accepted, we should begin with an humble confession, of our sins and unworthiness, and with an earnest prayer to forgive the same. Yea, we must aggreadge ^[4] our sins by all circumstances, as the prophet doeth here. No, none; not the holiest saints, fathers, nor prophets, could be able to stand, if he marked their iniquity, let be himself, who was such an unworthy wretch, who was laden with so many and great sins. Thou must not extenuate thy sins before God, if thou wouldest find favour with God, as many men commonly do, saying, We are all sinners; yea, many men have sinned more, and have done worse deeds than I have done.

[Note 4: Aggravate.]

That is not the way to find God’s favour. Thou must be very abject, vile, and contemptible in thine own account, if thou wouldest have the Lord to account of thee. Then where shall we get a remedy to help an evil conscience? For sin taketh away all joy and confidence in prayer.

The next words furnish a fair remedy—“But mercy is with thee.” Lord, it is not thy justice I look to, but thy mercy; thy justice holdeth me aback, but thy mercy allureth me. I flee from thy justice, and I claim to thy mercy. So when a man desireth his prayers to be heard, he must first have a sight of his own misery, guiltiness, and unworthiness, and of the fierceness of the Lord’s wrath for the same; and in all humility he must confess the same. Next, he must have a sight of the Lord’s mercy, and hope that it is possible that God be reconciled with him; except that these two be joined together he cometh not duly prepared. The one without the other will not serve; both are necessary. For without the knowledge, sight, and feeling of our misery, of sin, and of the wrath of God for the same, we will never be earnest in prayer. Who will ask, except he find his want? And without an humble confession there is no coming before God. Thou must not do as the Pharisee did. Read that parable of the Pharisee and of the Publican, (Luke 18.) The Pharisee was so blinded with self-love, that he could not see the filthiness and corruption of his own heart; and, therefore, not only in the presence of man, whom he might deceive, would he justify himself, but also in the very presence of God, who cannot be deceived, and who searcheth the hearts, he would boast of his righteousness, and condemn the poor Publican. But what found he? It is said he went home not justified, that all men might fear thereafter to come before God with a conceit of their worthiness. Thou must follow the example of the poor Publican, who, being ashamed of himself, would not look up to heaven, but looked down and smote his breast, and said, “O God be merciful to me a sinner.” Next, if thou have no more but a sight, sense, and confession of thy misery, will that be sufficient? No, for albeit thou sawest all thy sins, and foundest the burden thereof, and foundest the Lord as a judge in a judgment pursuing thee, and heaping daily judgment upon judgment, and wrath upon wrath, that will never make thee to draw near to the Lord, but by the contrary, will make thee to turn thy back upon the Lord; for, as a malefactor hath no pleasure to behold the face of a judge, because his countenance is terrible, no more can the sinner abide the countenance of God. His judgments and his wrath may make us astonished and stupified, but, if there be no more, they will never make us to come to God. Then if this be not sufficient, what more is requisite? Even a sight of the Lord’s mercy, for that is most forcible to allure, as the prophet saith here, and as the Church of God sayeth, (Cant. [i.e., Song of Solomon] 1:2,) “Because of the savour of thy good ointments, therefore the virgins love thee.” This only is forcible to allure the sinner; for all the judgments of God, and curses of the law, will never allure him. What was the chief thing that moved the Prodigal son to return home to his father? Was it chiefly the distress, the disgrace, and poverty wherewith he was burdened, or the famine that almost caused him to starve? No, but the chief thing was this, he remembered that he had a loving father. That maketh him to resolve with an humble confession to go home. (Luke 15.) Even so is it with a sinner; it is not terrors and threatenings that chiefly will move him to come to God, but the consideration of his manifold and great mercies. Therefore, if the Lord waken thy conscience, present thy sins before thee, threaten thee, and heap judgments on thee, then say, Lord, I deserve to be threatened, and always to be plagued; but, Lord, thou knowest my nature, these things will not make me to come to thee, but will put me away from thee. Therefore, let me see thy manifold mercies towards sinners, to allure me, and then I shall come unto thee.

So we see the remedy against an evil conscience, to wit, an humble confession of sin and unworthiness, and a fleeing from the justice of God, to his mercy. The fairest and sweetest thing in the world is to feel the mercy of God. But herein there is great hardness and difficulty. It is not so easily attained unto, as men commonly think; for his mercy is compassed about with his justice, and with his wrath against sinners, as with a wall of fire; and he who will come to grace, he must come through a consuming fire; and, when he presseth to come near, the fire of God’s wrath will hold him off, and will strike out and burn up the impenitent sinner, as fire doeth the stubble; so it is a harder thing than many think it to be, to win God’s mercy. And how shall this be remedied? By what means shall we get through this wall of fire? Truly, he who would mean to pass through fire had need to be well armed; the man who presseth to approach near to that inviolable majesty, who can abide no sort of uncleanness, and would draw near to the throne of his grace, must be well armed against the justice and wrath of God, which debarreth sinners. Surely there is none armour in the world, that can preserve us from that raging and consuming fire, of the justice and wrath of God, but only the righteousness and satisfaction of Jesus Christ. Let a man use all the means in the world, and he be not found in Christ, he shall have none access to come through the justice and wrath of God, to the throne of grace; yea, his soul and his conscience must be sprinkled and purged from dead works, with that blood which was offered up to God to that end, by his eternal Spirit, (Heb. 9.) Without he be dipped in that blood, he will find God a terrible judge. And ^[5] after that, through faith in the death and blood of Jesus, thou comest to that throne of grace, thou shalt hear the sweetest and most comfortable voice that ever was, that is, All thy sins are for given thee in that blood. And if a man were condemned to die for some heinous crime, if the king would say, I absolve thee, I forgive thee, thou shalt live: what joy and comfort would that voice bring to the heart of him who was condemned. The Apostle saith, (Heb.10:22.) “Let us go to the throne of grace with a true heart, and purged from an evil conscience through the blood of Jesus Christ,” that is, think not to come to that throne of grace, except first thou be purged with that blood. Therefore, as ever thou wouldest be in heaven, or see the face of God to thy comfort, seek to have faith in Christ Jesus; look what necessity is laid upon a sinner; either must he be banished from the presence and face of God for ever and be casten [i.e., thrown] into the society of the damned, or else if he would be saved, he must be imped [i.e., implanted] and engrafted by a true and lively faith in Jesus Christ. Make thee for it with all thy main, to get a gripe [i.e., a grip] of Christ as ever thou wouldest be saved.

[Note 5: Throughout these sermons,and is often used,Scottice, [i.e., as per the old Scottish] forif. ]

Now after he hath met this objection, which God, or his own conscience in God’s cause, might have casten [i.e., thrown] in, that he was unworthy to be heard, by an humble confession of unworthiness, and by fleeing from his justice, and claiming to his great mercies, he setteth down the end of this mercy and free forgiveness of sin when he saith, “But mercy is with thee, that thou mayest feared.” The end wherefore the Lord granteth mercy and forgiveness of sins to sinners, is that they may obey, serve and worship God with pleasure and alacrity [i.e., liveliness, or a willing spirit]. No man can ever be able glorify God, and to serve him cheerfully, but the man who hath assurance that his sins are freely forgiven him in that eternal love of God, through the blood of Jesus; for none can glorify God, except first he be glorified of God. Albeit the natural man got never so many and great benefits, yet because he hath none assurance of the forgiveness of his sins he can never glorify God nor be thankful to him. On the other part. It is impossible, and thou have a sure persuasion that thy sins are forgiven thee, but thou wilt be careful in some measure to meet the Lord God in love, to pleasure him, and to thank him. For the first effect that floweth from the remission of sins, is sanctification or glorification: And it is not possible but if thou be glorified, thou must glorify the Lord again. But the question may be here proponed [i.e., proposed], wherein standeth our glorifying of God? Hath he need of our glorification? Can our service be profitable to him? Can our well-doing extend to him? Hath he need of any thing that we can do? I answer; Indeed it is true, our well-doing cannot extend to him, as David confesseth of himself in the 16 ^th Psalm and the 2 ^nd verse. All the kings and monarchs in the world cannot do any thing that is profitable and steadable ^[6] to God. We are not able to add anything to the glory of God, for his glory is infinite, and to an infinite thing, nothing can be added, for if any thing could be added it were not infinite. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit perfectly glorified one another from all eternity. “Glorify me,” saith Christ, “with that glory which I had with thee before the foundation of the world was laid.” That blessed Trinity was as perfect in glory before the creation of the world as it hath been ever since. Our glorifying of God standeth only in this, when the Lord illuminateth our minds that we may see his glory in all his properties, that we in our hearts, with pleasure and cheerfulness consent thereunto, allow of it, and with our mouths proclaim that glory which we see to be in him. And it lieth not in man nor angel to impair his glory. The good and the evil, the weal [i.e., wealth] and the wo [i.e., woe, or suffering], the commodity and incommodity of all, cometh to our own selves; and happy is that man that glorifieth God, and miserable is he that glorifieth him not, for our felicity [i.e., happiness and satisfaction in achieving our purpose, our “chief end”] standeth not in that that we ourselves be glorified, but in this, that we glorify our Lord eternally, for that end were we created, and to that end were we redeemed with that precious ransom, even that we should glorify the Lord; and happy is that creature that hath some purpose, thirst and desire to glorify God in this life, for he may be assured that one day the Lord shall glorify him eternally in heaven. That soul, I say, shall be perfected in the life to come, and without all impediment shall cry with the blessed angels, “Holy, holy, holy, is the God of heaven, the whole world is full of his glory.” There shall it find “in his countenance satiety of joy, and at his right hand pleasures for ever.”

[Note 6: Available.]

Mark here last, (and I shall end with it,) that the feeling of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ bringeth out obedience and cheerful service of God; yea, of all arguments to move a man to abstain from sin, and to serve the Lord with pleasure, that is the most pithy and forcible. The shame of the world, the fear of temporal judgment, the horror of conscience, and the fear of the pains of hell, will not be so steadable [i.e., available] ; it may be that they repress raging lusts and furious affections for a time, but they will not mortify sin and slay corruption, and will never cause a man with pleasure to serve and obey God. But if a man hath found that God hath loved him so well that he hath given his only [S]on to die, that he might live, it is not possible but that man, in some measure will set himself with alacrity and cheerfulness to serve God. Therefore, the Apostle, when he would persuade Christians to abstain from sin, and to serve God, what argument useth he chiefly? Read Rom. 7:1, he proponeth [i.e., proposes; or, expounds] the mercy of God offering Jesus to die for them, for there he saith, “I beseech you, brethren, through the mercies of God, that ye offer up yourselves a living sacrifice.” Therefore, if thou wouldest covet to do the Lord’s will cheerfully, pray the Lord, that he would not so much threaten thee, and propone terrors to thee as that he would make thee sensible of his mercies in Jesus Christ. The vain Papist speaks little, or nothing almost, to the people of this mercy of God in Jesus Christ, but propones to the people the pains of Hell and fire of Purgatory, to stay them from sin and to make them serve God, and do good works; but if there be no more, it will never make them to bring forth such obedience, as either is acceptable to God, or yet profitable to themselves. The Lord, therefore, make us to be sensible of his unspeakable love in Jesus, that we may set ourselves with pleasure to serve and glorify him here, that so we may be assured that he shall glorify us, in the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus hath purchased to us by his precious blood. To this Jesus, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all praise, honour and glory, for now and ever. So be it.