Halyburton:

(2) We beseech you in Christ’s stead, to accept of him; for, we dare say, he is worthy of your acceptance, worthy for whom ye should do this thing. He is the “only begotten of the Father,” and is possessed of all the glorious perfections of the Father; he is the “express image of his person,” the “the image of the invisible God.” And as upon account of his personal excellencies, so upon account of the good offices he has done you, he deserves good treatment at your hand. He has honored your nature, by joining it to his own, in a glorious and mystical personal union. He has given the most pregnant proof of matchless love to lost sinners: he left the Father’s bosom, to bring them there; he died, that they might live; he suffered, that they might be saved. In a word, all the perfections of the divine nature, all the perfections of yore own, all the wounds, every drop of blood of the crucified Savior of the world, all the tears shed, all the drops of blood in his agonies did sweat for the relief of poor sinners; all cry with one voice, “Sinners, we beseech you, believe on the Lord Jesus.” Can you refuse what is craved by such a one?

(3) We pray you, by the “mercies of God,” in the “bowels of our Lord Jesus,” believe on him, accept of him; for his heart is upon this request. Nothing more acceptable to him, than a compliance with this call; he laid the foundation of this offer we make to you, in his own blood; he wept at sinner’s folly, that would not comply with it; he has instituted a gospel ministry for this very end, and has been, if I may so speak, at a vast expense of gifts and grace for the maintenance of this his own ordinance. He has given them most peremptory orders, to call you, to beseech you, to command, to threaten, nay, to compel you to a compliance. Will ye refuse our Master that request he has so much at heart?

(4) We beseech you, accept of him now, grant our request, as ye would have yours granted by him, at that day when ye shall be obliged to supplicate him, standing before his bar, as panels before the Judge of all the earth. None shall have their request granted in that day, who will not grant ours now. Will ye not then hear our Master now?

(5) We beseech you, in the name of all the glorious Trinity, to grant our demands. We are ambassadors for Christ, and God doth beseech you by us. God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, do all join in the supplication. Never were there such three names at a supplication, never such three hands at a petition. O sinners! what hearts have ye, if ye can refuse the desire, the supplication, the entreaties of a whole Trinity? All the love of the Father, all the grace of the Son, and all the blessings that are enjoyed by communion with the Holy Ghost, all plead with you for your compliance. Can ye refuse us, then, O sinners, O rocks, O hearts harder than rocks?

(6) Once more, we beseech you, be ye reconciled to God, accept of, and believe on our Lord Jesus Christ; for we assure you, in our great Master’s name, he is no ordinary supplicant. He never came with such a supplication to the fallen angels; he never came with it to many nations of the world, who would, we make no doubt, welcome it, if they new it, and had it. Kings are not ordinary petitioners, and therefore it is no wonder they take ill with a repulse.

Now, O sinners! what answer shall we give to him that sent us? what return shall we give to our Master? Shall we say, that we came to the congregation of Ceres, that we showed his commission, told our errand, in his name supplicated for a compliance with his demand? But that ye would not hear him, though we besought you in his name, by all the ties of reason, self-preservation, interest, and gratitude, by the glorious work of Christ, by all the marks of his love to mankind, by all his concern for sinners; that we had a whole Trinity seconding us, and that we met with a refusal? Are ye willing that we take witness upon this refusal, and, in our Master’s name, protest that this our reasonable, nay, advantageous request, was refused? It is a wonder that ever the commands of God should be disobeyed; but it is yet a greater, that ever the request, the entreaty of a God should be denied. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, God beseeching! and man refusing!

Thomas Halyburton, The Great Concern of Salvation, (Philadelphia: Printed by William Marshall, 1801), 280-281.

Valdés:

Christ Suffered for the Sins of men:

1) I understand that Christ designs by these words to animate the dejected, and to awaken fear in the imperfect, in those who have not attained to serve from love; as though He should say to them, be assured of this, that the man, who shall confess Me, I will confess him; and that the man, who shall deny Me, I will deny him. Where it is to be understood that they confess Christ before men, who, having stifled in themselves all cravings after earthly glory and self-indulgence, state frankly, without fear for life or for honor, that Jesus is the Messiah, promised in the law; that He is the Son of God, one and the same with God, who, having taken upon Himself the sins of men, and having been chastised for them, has reconciled us to God; and that they enjoy this reconciliation who believe. Juan de Valdés Commentary Upon the Gospel of Matthew, (London: Trüber & Co, 1882), 82-183. [Some spelling modernized; and underlining mine.]

Christ satisfied for Original Sin:

1) Men easily believe, from the declaration of the Holy Scriptures, that God is supremely omnipotent and just: they believe that Christ is perfectly innocent and free from every sin; they believe that Christ suffered by the will of God; because in none of those things do they find inward opposition adequate to induce them to disbelieve what the Holy Scriptures affirm; and, not to exclude the benefit of Christ, they moreover believe that Christ rendered satisfaction for original sin, for they do not find opposition even in this, inasmuch as their consciences do not accuse them on the score of original sin; and as they do not recognize any personal blame attached to it, they readily bring themselves to believe, that without personal merit that is pardoned to them which they do not recognize as a personal failing.

But when it is propounded to them, as an article of faith, that Christ rendered satisfaction to God for the sins which they severally committed,–although they possess the Holy Scriptures, which testify this to them in the most ample manner, nay, they all proclaim this harmoniously,–they suddenly draw back, because they find inward opposition in their own consciences, and thus they resolve to restrict the benefit of Christ solely to original sin, understanding it in their own fashion, or even extending it to their own sins, but with the addition of their own satisfaction, as though Christ had declared: ‘I have rendered satisfaction for the sins of you all, but with the covenant that each individual render satisfaction for his own,’–and they do not consider the insult which they thus put upon Christ: and they do not consider it because they do not feel it, and they do not feel it because they do not know Christ. Juan de Valdés,  Life and Writings of Juan de Valdés, ed. Benjamin B. Wiffen, (London: Bernard Quaritch, 1865), 527-528. [Some spelling modernized; and underlining mine.]

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Berkhof:

e. The longsuffering of God. The longsuffering of God is still another aspect of His great goodness or love. The Hebrew uses the expression ’erek ’aph, which means literally “long of face,” and then also “slow to anger,” while the Greek expresses the same idea by the word makrothumia. It is that aspect of the goodness or love of God in virtue of which He bears with the froward and evil in spite of their long continued disobedience. In the exercise of this attribute the sinner is contemplated as continuing in sin, notwithstanding the admonitions and warnings that come to him. It reveals itself in the postponement of the merited judgment. Scripture speaks of it in Ex. 34:6; Ps. 86:15; Rom. 2:4; 9:22; I Pet. 3:20; II Pet. 3:15. A synonymous term of a slightly different connotation is the word “forbearance.”

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 72-73. [Underlining mine.]

Berkhof:

d. The mercy of God. Another important aspect of the goodness and love of God is His mercy or tender compassion. The Hebrew word most generally used for this is chesed. There is another word, however, which expresses a deep and tender compassion, namely, the word racham, which is beautifully rendered by “tender mercy” in our English Bible. The Septuagint and the New Testament employ the Greek word eleos to designate the mercy of God. If the grace of God contemplates man as guilty before God, and therefore in need of forgiveness, the mercy of God contemplates him as one who is bearing the consequences of sin, who is in a pitiable condition, and who therefore needs divine help. It may be defined as the goodness or love of God shown to those who are in misery or distress, irrespective of their deserts. In His mercy God reveals Himself as a compassionate God, who pities those who are in misery and is ever ready to relieve their distress. This mercy is bountiful, Deut. 5:10; Ps. 57:10; 86:5, and the poets of Israel delighted to sing of it as enduring forever, I Chron. 16:34; II Chron. 7:6; Ps. 136; Ezra 3:11. In the New Testament it is often mentioned alongside of the grace of God, especially in salutations’, I Tim. 1:2; II Tim. 1:1; Titus 1:4. We are told repeatedly that it is shown to them that fear God, Ex. 20:2; Deut. 7:9; Ps. 86:5; Luke 1:50. This does not mean, however, that it is limited to them, though they enjoy it in a special measure. God’s tender mercies are over all His works, Ps. 145:9, and even those who do not fear Him share in them, Ezek. 18:23,32; 33:11; Luke 6:35,36. The mercy of God may not be represented as opposed to His justice. It is exercised only in harmony with the strictest justice of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ. Other terms used for it in the Bible are “pity,” “compassion,” and “lovingkindness.”

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969), 72. [underlining mine.]