Now Playing: Bach, "Concerto for Violin, Strings, and Continuo in E major BWV 1042."

Bear with a longer quote from Glorious Freedom by Richard Sibbes, which I was reading this morning with Earl Grey and toast.

Use 3. Let us sustain ourselves, when we walk in darkness, by considering the gloriousness of God's mercy in Jesus Christ.

It is no less mercy than glorious mercy that will satisfy us when our conscience is distressed; and if this will not, what will? Let Satan join with conscience to aggravate our sins as much as he can. But set this glorious mercy against all our worst sins - they are sins of a finite creature. But here is infinite mercy, triumphing and rejoicing over justice, having won the victory over it. Oh, when the time of temptation comes, and the hour of death, and conflict with conscience, and all together that may discourage, Satan will bestir himself. He is cunning and eloquent and will focus completely upon sin, especially in the time of despair. But you, be as cunning to focus upon mercy, glorious mercy. If God were glorious in all other attributes, and not in mercy, what would become of us? The glory of other attributes without mercy leads us to despair: glory in wisdom to find us out, glory in justice to deal with us in rigour. These fill us with dread, but what sweetens all other attributes is his mercy.

What a comfort this is to sinful man, that in casting himself upon Christ and upon God's mercy in Christ, he yields glory to God; that God has joined his glory with our special good; that here is a sweet concurrence between the chief end and the highest good of man! The last end of man is the glory of God, for that is the point from which all came (for he made all for his glory) and in which all ends; so is the chief good.

And so it is in vain for some to think, 'Oh, we must not look to our own salvation so much; this is self-love.' That is true if we sever the consideration of the glory of God's mercy and goodness from it. But we must see that both of these wrapped and indissolubly knit together in our salvation is to God's glory. We hinder God's glory if we do not believe his mercy in Christ to us. So we wrong both ourselves and him. And we wrong him not in a lesser attribute, but in his mercy and goodness, in which he has appointed to glorify himself most of all.

And so I beseech you, let us yield to him the glory of his mercy, and let us think that when we sin we cannot glorify him more than to have recourse to his mercy. When Satan tempts us to run from God and discourages us, as he will do at such times, then keep this in mind: God has set himself to be glorious in mercy above all other attributes. And as this is the primary moving attribute that stirs up all the rest, God will account himself honoured if we have recourse to him. Let this thought be as a city of refuge. When the avenger of blood follows you, flee immediately to this sanctuary. Think: Let me not deny myself comfort and God glory both at once. 'Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more' (Rom. 5:20). Though sins after conversion stain our profession more than sins before conversion, go still to the glorious mercy of God. To seventy times seventy times, there is yet mercy. We beseech you be reconciled, said St Paul to the Corinthians, when they were in the state of grace and already had their pardon. Let us never be discouraged from going to Christ.

'Oh, but I have offended often and grievously.' What does the prophet say? 'My thoughts are not as your thoughts but are as high as the heavens are above the earth' (Isa. 55:8-9). With men, offences often cause permanent alienation, but with God this is not so. As often as we have spirit to go to God for mercy and spread our sins before him with broken and humble hearts, we may receive pardon....

.... And, as I said before, it must be glorious mercy that can satisfy a distressed conscience. In the time of ease and peace we think a little mercy will serve the turn; but when conscience is once awaked, it must be glorious and infinite mercy that allays it.

If you find your conscience at all wounded with any sin, do not hold back from God any longer. Come and yield, lay down your weapons; there is mercy ready. The Lord is glorious in his mercy in Jesus Christ. It is a victorious triumphing mercy over all sin and unworthiness whatever....