He that finds this grace (forgivenes) wrought in him in any measure, and yet fears that he shall not find it in God for himself, doth therein and so far prefer himself above God; which is the natural effect of cursed unbelief.

18You who are my Comforter b in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. 19Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: “Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?” “Why have they aroused my anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?” 20“The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” 21Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. 22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?

7Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. 8“ ‘How can you say, “We are wise, for we have the law of the Lord,” when actually the lying pen of the scribes has handled it falsely? 9The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the Lord, what kind of wisdom do they have? 10Therefore I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 11They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. 12Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when they are punished, says the Lord.

You are under God's invitation to repentance; and to disbelieve forgiveness is to call the truth, holiness, and faithfulness of God into question. If you will not believe forgiveness, pretend what you please, it is in truth because you hate repentance.

Reason's line is too short to fathom the depths of the Father's love, of the blood of the Son, and the promises of the gospel built thereon, wherein forgiveness dwells. Men cannot by their rational consideration launch out into these deeps, nor draw water by them from these 'wells of salvation'. Reason stands amazed, and cries, 'How can these things be?' It can but gather cockleshells... at the shore of this ocean.