perish may thank your selves for it how speechless will sinners be then as to remain in impenitency under the outward Light of the Gospel does argue the height of unbelief so to be brought to Repentance by the Preaching of the Gospel does necessarily imply Faith in the Gospel 't is impossible that a Tender of Grace should work Repentance till 't is believed 't is of no force makes no impression upon the Mind of a Man till then therefore Faith must be presupposed I make it out thus That which is brought as a motive for the doing of a thing must be first understood received and believed before the thing can be done upon that motive there is in the Gospel a general offer of Mercy to sinners this proves an effectual means to beget Faith in all that are ordained unto life upon their believing this general offer of Grace their hearts begin to melt under it and some inclination to Repentance is wrought in them this Faith and this Repentance wrought in a more general way at first do form themselves into more particular and distinct acts afterwards thus the principles of the Doctrine of Christ viz. Repentance from dead works and Faith towards God are first laid and then there is in the light and power of these principles a going on unto perfection Heb. 6. 1. Our first Faith is a more general Faith and so is our first Repentance rather an inclination and tendency to believe and repent then actual Faith or actual Repentance Our first Faith wrought in us upon the general proposal of Gospel Grace contains in it a saving Conviction of Sin 't is impossible to receive grace without it grace is nothing to us of no signification to us but as it gives relief against sin which we must have some sense of before we apply our selves to the grace of God for Pardon we must see something in our selves that wants a pardon and which we are willing to repent of and forsake in Case of a pardon Repentance is as true an effect of Faith as Pardon and Comfort Faith first brings a sinner to Christ under some hope of Pardon and then busies it self in working Repentance in order to a comfortable sense of Pardon The Spirit lets in some sense of Gospel Grace tendred unto sinners and affects the heart with it as very desireable as a very seasonable offer by no means to be slighted the Soul begins to be taken with it conceives some hope from it and this is the begining of Faith and with our first Faith Light comes in giving us some Gospel Conviction of sin in order to Repentance I call it a Gospel Conviction because it is wrought by means of the Gospel all after acts of Faith and Repentance have their rise from this first work which brings me to the second Point viz. That Faith is not only joyned with Repentance in the first production of it as has been shewed but in all the subsequent acts of it ever after which I make out thus Faith and Repentance do constantly refer to each other in their several actings Faith to Repentance and Repentance to Faith he that believes repents because he believes and he that repents believes because he repents i. e. as Faith is the cause of Repentance so Repentance is the reason of every particular act of Faith put forth upon Christ for Pardon 't is impossible to make up the full sense of an act of Faith on our part if you fetch not the reason of it from Repentance Why do we go to the Physitian is it not because we are sick weary and faint ready to die of such a Disease So why does a weary Soul come to Christ is it not to be eased of his Burden that insupportable burden of sin that is ready to sink him into Hell. If Faith and Repentance be thus always joyned together does it not follow that we are justified by our Repentance as well as by Faith I Answer No. Though we are not saved without Repentance it does not therefore follow that we are justified by our Repentance but some to make good this Assertion have coyned many subtle distinctions relating to both Before I give a particular reply to this let me say something in general Religion may be considered either in its primitive purity and simplicity as it was laid down in the Fundamental Principles of it by Christ and his Apostles Or as it has since been drawn through the various Discourses Reasonings and Writings of Men for so many Centuries past this has so much overcharged Religion with so many nice distinctions intricate questions and endless disputes that it seems to be quite another thing then it was in the Apostles dayes The best way is to return to the primitive simplicity of the Gospel especially in judging of Fundamentals which are plainly and clearly laid down there in Terms very intelligible Though Faith be the Gift of God and is given of meer Grace but to a few yet all who live under the Light of the Gospel may know what they ought to believe which will render their unbelief more inexcusable did we dwell more upon what is plainly revealed as fundamentally necessary to Salvation we should better discern by the light of those Fundamentals the just consequences of them in any deductions from them which may not be so particularly and expresly spoken unto in Scripture But now to answer the query whether we may not be said to be justified by our Repentance as well as by Faith since we are not saved without Repentance Answ. There is a great deal of difference between Justification and Salvation Salvation includes all qualifications belonging to that state Justification lets us into that state gives us right to Life from whence spring all Qualifications becoming that Life Besides Saving Graces are so called not that they are the Causes of Salvation but because they accompany it we cannot be saved without them Faith it self as a Grace inherent in us is no meritorious Cause of our Justification 't is that which carries us out of our selves to Christ for Righteousness upon the account of which we are justified in the sight of God when we say we are justified by Faith we don't mean we are justified by any thing in our selves we can't understand it so but the contrary that we must be beholding to Christ for all He that receives all from another gives nothing to himself he does indeed apply to himself to his own use and benefit what is freely given to him by another but he cannot in any propriety of Speech be said to ascribe any thing to himself or to owe himself thanks for what he receives from another Faith in its justifying act does not look to it self as our grace but unto Christ as our Righteousness the inherent grace of Faith is not our justifying Righteousness though it lead us out to him who is Faith is the hand but Christ is the gift nay the hand
believe as Christ is gone before you as surely escape Hell and overcome Death as Christ is risen from the dead and the only way to get an Interest in Christ is to attend to the word of Faith that is preached ver 8. when once that prevails and brings you to confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead you shall be saved ver 9. this proved out of Isa. 28. 16. Whosoever believes on him shall not be ashamed whether Iew or Gentile ver 11 12. and because Prayer is the principal part of that outward Confession made with the Mouth and the best indication of Faith in the Heart he concludes ver 13. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved Whence Observe Observ. The chiefest thing we should now pray for is that we may have an Interest in Christ and his Righteousness desiring to be found in him c. Having spoken so much of the Righteousness of Faith he does in a certain gradation shew the way and means of attaining it it is not a Righteousness that is to be done by us to be wrought out with our own hands but prepared for us by another freely promised and given to us therefore it must be askt it must be earnestly pray'd for we must beg hard of God to impute it to us v. 13. the Law propounds the work of Righteousness to be done by us the Gospel Rom. 5. 17. propounds the Gift of Righteousness to be pray'd for and thankfully received v. 14. there can be no Prayer without Faith no Faith without Hearing no Hearing without a Preacher no Preachers unless they be sent from all which he draws this Conclusion viz. that the next immediate Cause of Faith is Hearing There is much Preaching and much Hearing in this City but what comes on 't Truely if Faith does not come nothing comes that will turn to any good Account to you The Apostles in the Primitive times so spake that many believed Acts 14. 1. with that evidence and power their words had a special Accent in the Ears and Hearts of those that heard them God gave a signal testimony to the word of his Grace than fear came upon every Soul Acts 2. 43. Those who were not savingly wrought upon were greatly astonished at the Doctrine of the Gospel 't is otherwise now how little of this astonishment does appear in our Assemblies where is this fear that came upon every Soul 't was short of Faith yet I am perswaded when Faith comes in some open eminent Conversion that the whole Assembly is usually struck with some present fear the Word comes like a mighty rushing Wind into the Congregation shakes all when 't is about to Convert one something like this may be observed in the Acts of the Apostles and other passages in the New Testament it is sit that Grace should be solemnly attended when it goes forth to the publick Conversion though but of one Soul If God intend the coming of Faith into any of your hearts this day he 'l come along with his Work he will prepare the way he 'l bless your hearing and speak something inwardly to you from himself that shall incline your hearts to believe the Gospel though God speaks by the Ministry of man yet his voice is distinct from ours and begins where that ends carrying the Word from the Ear to the Heart there leaving it under those mixtures of Faith that make it work effectually Hear I beseech you with diligence least you obstruct the coming of Faith by not attending to what shall be spoken to you in the name of the Lord. So then faith cometh by hearing c. Doct. Hearing the Word of God Preached to us is the ordinary means of begetting faith in us First What are we in a more special manner to understand by Faith here in the Text. The general Object of Faith is the whole Doctrine of God laid down in the Scriptures the special object of Saving Faith is the Free-promise of Grace in Christ Jesus this supports the former we must believe the Divine Narrative of the whole Will of God revealed in the Bible before we can pitch our Faith in any suitable actings upon any part of it 't is one thing to assent to the Truth of the Word in General a further and indeed another thing to apply the Promises he believes a Promise who do's fiducially rely upon it this is properly Trusting we believe something in reference to our selves living in a comfortable Hope and Expectation of it respecting not only the Truth of the thing but also the Goodness of it in reference to our selves under that possibility probability or certainty of obtaining it which our Faith according to its various Degrees may represent unto us Faith in the Righteousness of Christ for justification is here principally intended Secondly Why must this Faith come by hearing Hearing is alwayes antecedent to Faith though Faith be not always the consequent of Hearing ver 16. 18. all Hearers are not believers though all Believers are first Hearers I shall evince the necessity of Hearing in order to Faith from these following grounds I. Hearing is Sensus Discipline the Sense by which all Knowledge is let into the Soul. There is a two-fold Knowledge belonging to Faith one leading to it the other found in it arising from it and is the same with Faith it self The First is Litteral or Historical 't is rather notitia then cognitio a notice or particular information given us of the Contents of the Bible especially of the report which the Gospel makes of the way of Salvation by Christ we must know what we are to believe before we can be supposed to believe any thing How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a Preacher Words are the proper Object of this Sense of Hearing where nothing is spoken nothing can be heard the sound of Words must reach the ear before the sense of those Words can enter into the Understanding This Historical Knowledge do's not lye in Learning the Scriptures by roat without any Rational Knowledge of the Litteral Sense and Meaning of those Propositions of Truth that are contained therein this would be only Memory without any Understanding A Natural Man does not dis-believe the Scripture because he has not a Rational Conception of the common Notion of things spoken of there but because he has and finding them so uncouth so seemingly contrary to Humane Reason he rejects them as Foolishness The Second Is a Knowledge more than Historical and is of the Essence of Faith all one with it it is that which we call a Saving Knowledge it lies in the Use and Application of Gospel Truths to our own Souls when we shape our selves to a real Conformity to the Call of God in every Gospel Truth acting in a way of Duty what the Word of God
Words will not do it till you make it appear that the Grace of God that hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel hath taught you to deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts. This is the way to promote the Doctrine of Justification by Faith alone You that are built upon the right Foundation had need be careful and circumspect The House is not yet finished we do all of us lie open more or less to Storms and Tempests here below though they cannot throw down the house yet they may shake the house the rain may beat into the house may soak through every room of the house may foul the house may greatly incommode us and distress us Therefore keep your Souls in good repair keep them as tite as you can against Wind and Weather And for your Comfort I would have told you that Heaven will mend all the Errors in the Superstructure if the Foundation be right God will then take away and separate all those weaknesses and sinful mixtures that now run along with all our Graces all Cracks and Flawes the sinkings and failings the bendings and leanings this way and that way in any part of the building Heaven will mend all will set all right and straight when we are Sanctified throughout and the Top-stone is laid FINIS A DISCOURSE OF REPENTANCE SHEWING The Difference between Legal and Evangelical Repentance AND The Necessary Connection between Evangelical Repentance and Saving Faith. By Thomas Cole Minister of the Gospel LONDON Printed for Thomas Cockerill at the Three Legs over against the Stocks-Market 1689. A DISCOURSE OF Repentance MARK 1. 15. Repent ye and believe the Gospel THE summe of the Gospel lies in Faith and Repentance which alwayes go together and cannot be separated though they may and ought to be distinguished one from the other I have chosen this Text to show the necessary connection that is between Faith and Repentance that I may be the better understood I shall observe this method 1. Distinguish between Legal and Evangelical Repentance 2. Shew the nature of Evangelical Repentance what it is and wherein it does consist how it rises our of faith what its use and end is 3. Shew the necessary connection that is between Evangelical Repentance and saving Faith. 4. The real difference that is between them notwithstanding this necessary connection 5. Inquire into the true cause and reason why the Professors of this Age who are so much for Faith do mind Repentance so little 6. Apply all First Distinguish between Legal and Evangelical Repentance You see the Repentance and Faith spoken of in the Text have both of them a reference to the Gospel Repent and believe the Gospel We shall better understand the nature of Evangelical Repentance by comparing it with Legal Repentance observing as we go how they differ from each 1. Legal Repentance is the work of the Law i. e. The work of the Spirit by the Law for the Law works but faintly under the influence of meer Natural Light unless the Spirit awaken the Conscience and set home the Law little will be done such a work of the Law you have Rom. 2. 15. letting in a Spirit of Bondage upon the Conscience accusing us for what we have done against the Law and leaving us so convicted without any plea for our selves Evangelical Repentance is the work of the Gospel sweetly melting the Heart by Arguments drawn from the Love of God and his free Grace in Christ towards Sinners it encourages a trembling Soul to plead with God for Mercy as the Publican Lord be Merciful to me a Sinner 2. Legal Repentance is all terrour and no hope it rises from the revelation of Gods Wrath against Sinners 't is a despairing Repentance without any hope of pardon the Curse of the Law lies hard upon a Man he knows not how to get from under it but lives in a fearful expectation of fiery indignation to devour him he is a terrour to himself But Evangelical Repentance leaves not an affrighted sinner altogether without hope as I shall shew under the next head 3. Legal Repentance is from worldly sorrow not so much for the sin as the penalty incurred thereby the apprehension of which is very dreadful to a convinced sinner he is more affected with the evil of punishment then with the evil of sin in it self 't is not for Gods sake but his own that he repents of sin he could love it well enough if it did not damn him Though I do not deny but a Repentance purely legal may have some sense of the evil of sin as sin not only as malum prohibitum but as malum in se as evil in its own nature where common notions of good and evil are not utterly extinguished it must needs be so especially under a higher conviction from the Spirit of God that gives us a farther discerning of the evil of sin then the meer light of nature under its greatest elevation can possibly do It was so in Iudas Matt. 27. 34. he was convinced not only that he had broken the Law of God but that he had sinned in so doing I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood He knew he had a hand in murdering a Man a good Man a great Man who was more then Man no doubt all this came up into his mind concerning Christ yet the knowledge of Christ that Iudas had did not reach so far as to beget the least hope of Mercy from him and here lay the legality of his Repentance it was a despairing Repentance he conversed only with the Law and so sunk under the wrath of God and the curse of the Law he had none to accuse him but his own Conscience the Rulers and chief Priests were for him had set him a work and rewarded him but seeing him under such horror of Conscience he had done their business what care they see thou to that unconvinced sinners do slight the convictions of others they may go hang themselves for all them they have no pity for them I speak this to shew that legal Repentance may take in something of the evil of sin in it self as well as the destructive nature of it to us though these legal convictions of the evil of sin in it self are far short of those more through convictions that accompany true Evangelical Repentance Though the sorrow that is in legal Repentance be but worldly yet 't is very pungent it pierces us thorow and pretends to some Devotion too as if it were for Gods sake when self is only at the bottom Pharaoh confessed his sins and desired the Prayers of Gods People Exod. 9. 27 28. Saul wept for his sins 1 Sam. 24. 16. The effects of Gods wrath are very dreadful upon convinced sinners may draw Tears from their Eyes when they see what mischief they have brought upon themselves they repent but how Not of the sin but of the punishment Alas What does that signifie how ineffectual
hearers are there in our Congregations who are stuck between Christ and the World can get neither backwards nor forwards are now where they were many years ago They dare not cast off Religion altogether neither dare they come up to the power of it they come and go to and from the place of the Holy One conversing only with the dead Letter of the Gospel are not yet brought under the glorious ministration of the Spirit 't is the Spirit gives life by bringing in Gospel Truths in their natural living Principle into the Heart then we live and the Word lives in us the heart and the Word are quickned together one was in a dead frame the other lay in a dead Letter before but now both do live together and agree with each other the sense of the Soul is the sense of the Word and the Sense of the Word is the sense of the Soul they both mean the same thing they fall in with each other they dwell together in Wisdom and Spiritual Understanding there is but one Spirit between them what one says the other does and this is the great work of God as he is the Author of Regeneration to make our hearts thus to agree with his Word by casting them into the mould of the Gospel If ever the Word be ingrafted upon the Soul it must be ingrafted upon a living Principle of Holiness that suits with it for nothing else can receive it or hold it and this is the Work of God upon the Soul in Regeneration CHAP. II. Subjects of Regeneration II. THE Subjects of Regeneration who they are viz. The Elect only the Elect and all the Elect Rom. 8. 30. Whom he did predestinate them he also called c. Let their outward Circumstances be what they will whether bond or free male or female 1 Cor. 12. 13. Gal. 6. 15. Regeneration will reach them all first or last I prove it thus It must be either by Gods Election or by Man's Election putting himself by his own free-will into this state or by Accident no body knows how I will prove it must be one of these three ways because 't is apparent that all by Nature are born in an unregenerate state and that the Devil does carry away the greatest part of mankind into Hell in their unregenerate state These Truths are plainly laid down in Scripture and are capable of clear demonstration from thence Since neither of them need any proof I 'le take them both for granted and I argue thus from them If all are born in sin and the greatest part by far dye in their sins Who makes the difference and from whence does it arise It must come either from the Eternal Purpose of God electing some and not others or from man's own choice electing himself and putting himself into this state by the power of his own free-will so that he is regenerate because he will be so he will regenerate himself and change his own nature and make himself a new creature The absurdity of this will appear by and by or else it is by an unaccountable Contingency no body knows how or why It cannot be by the two latter ways Ergo by the First viz. Gods Election 1. It cannot be by man's own free-will for it can't be supposed that corrupt nature should ever will its own destruction the flesh is not so divided against it self Satan will not cast out Satan the Devil is more at Unity with himself than so he would indeed set himself above God and dethrone him if possible as he is he would be a God he would have the use of God's Power that he might abuse it and play the Devil the more so far he would be like unto the most High but he is so much a Devil such an irreconcilable enemy to all Godliness that he would not exchange his Devilish Nature for the Holy Nature of God and so are all the Children of the Devil Acts 13. 10. Oh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness A natural man would be nothing but what he is he likes himself too well to part with his own nature 't is unreasonable to imagine such a self-destroying inclination in any creature whatsoever 't is impossible for any nature to will a change of it self A Principle of self-preservation runs through the whole Creation of God the Toad as full of Poyson as it is would be a Toad still so sinful man is as tender of himself as much in love with himself as the Holiest Angel in Heaven is with himself Whence should such an actual Will arise in man as to desire his own Annihilation that he may cease to be what he is and become a new Creature There must be another Nature put into him before he can desire to be another Man all do follow the course of Nature and cannot do otherwise therefore till nature is changed the course is and must be the same as ever it was good inclinations are never found in depraved nature an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit figs grow not upon thistles nor grapes upon thorns To suppose a man in a state of nature to will his own Conversion is to suppose him already converted if the Will be changed the Man is changed the Will is the Man. Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots Jer. 13. 23. they may as soon do this as one born in sin can cease to live in sin we must be born again first for a sinful nature will never carry a man out to a holy Life Nature is a constant fixed Principle always keeping within its own sphere 't is not a mutable fancy that may be taken up or laid down at pleasure We see all things keep their own shape and form and 't would be monstrous were it otherwise The whole Creation would be confounded if things could run one into another and Metamorphise themselves into what different species they please the God of Nature has fixed things otherwise and I am sure none but the God of Grace can alter the corrupt nature of fallen man. It cannot be by chance by a fortuitous concourse of I know not what None but a downright Atheist will resolve it into this 't is such a denial of Providence in the chiefest design and contrivance of the Infinite Wisdom and Goodness of God as no Christian ever can bear What is Regenerating Grace but a special Providence towards the Elect carried on with wonderful Wisdom and Counsel Where known causes and special ends may be assigned there is no room for Chance we may steadily look from the beginning to the end of such a production and trace back the effect step by step to its first original cause He that is a Christian by chance not knowing how or why he came to be so will give but a sorry account of his Faith and may as suddenly with more reason turn Infidel again Therefore since Regeneration does not happen by an
I shall now shew you how God thus appearing to us in hearing the Word does open the heart enlighten the mind and throughly perswade the will to a through closure with Christ upon Gospel Terms Naturally our hearts are shut up against the Gospel our Minds are blinded 2 Cor. 4. 4. till God shines into our hearts to give the light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ ver 6. Enlightning the eyes of our Understandings Eph. 1. 17 18. Quest. What is this Light of Faith and how does it differ from the Light of Reason Answ. The Light of Reason lies in the evidence of the thing it self as it falls under a Humane Understanding arguing from the cause to the effect drawing certain conclusions from undeniable premises granted and acknowledged by all men to be Truths in Nature Upon such Concessions they build all their acquired Knowledge and do put the stamp of Truth upon all fair inferences from thence which they judge agreeable to those first principles and notions of Truth that pass for currant under that name among credulous men who do but think they know and do rather ghess than judge so great is the uncertainty of all humane Knowledge we have little cause to glory in it The light of Faith lies in the infallible certainty of Divine Testimony faith sees not the causes of things in the things themselves but in God alone to whom all things are possible faith excells all other knowledge in as much as it sees and knows all things in their first Cause God and takes hold of them by the very root from whence they first spring arguing from the Veracity of God to the Truth of all his sayings we know that God has spoken thus and thus as Ioh. 9. 29. we know the Doctrine is of God Ioh. 7. 17. and that no prophesie of the Scripture is of private Interpretation 2 Pet. 1. 20 21. under this conviction we cannot but yield the obedience of faith to every word of God I do not deny but experience may and does give Believers some Evidence of the things themselves but this belongs rather to their after Edification then to the first act of Faith in their Conversion by which they close in with Christ upon the credit of a bare word of promise from him who cannot lie Object Since these sublime supernatural Misteries of the Gospel are so much above and so seemingly contrary to humane Reason how comes it to pass that any man should own them for Truths and be brought under the power of them Answ. 'T is by a Divine Faith I call it Divine because 't is the work of God that we believe his Testimony Ioh. 6. 29. Quest. Does not this Operation of God upon the Hearts of men in working faith in us offer violence to mans Nature and force the Will to consent to that which is above the Understanding Or how can the efficacy of Gods Grace in determining Mans Will to such a Spiritual Act of Faith in Christ Jesus be consistent with the liberty of the Will. Answ. Many intricate disputes there are about this Point managed by subtil heads not without some shew and appearance of Reason who to secure the liberty of Mans Will have denied the efficacy of Gods Grace placing the power of believing in man himself to avoid the force that otherwise they think must be offered to his Will. But to clear the efficacy of Gods Grace from this imputation I need say no more but this viz. That the Grace of God enters the Soul of man as a New Nature and therefore cannot put any force upon him Nature works kindly in all by Inclination not by Violence as Nature is from Generation so the new Nature is from Regeneration one is the birth of the Flesh the other of the Spirit as we are born Men by our first birth so we are born Christians by our second birth Artificial Christians are all name without any living Nature answerable to it being not truly born of God and thereby made partakers of his Divine Nature The breathing in of this new Nature into the Soul of man by the Spirit of God is that new Creation spoken of in the Gospel 't is the first Act of God in our Conversion 't is solely the Act of God without any concurrence of ours we have only a passive obediential power to receive the impression 'T is God that makes it upon this supernatural Principle are grounded all after proceedings in bringing the Soul forward to an actual closure with Christ all the natural powers and faculties of the Soul are gathered into this supernatural Principle do act under it are moved by it and directed in all their free motions to a supernatural end which they could not of themselves tend unto and let it not seem incredible to us that God should do this he can do no evil from the perfection of his Nature and for the same reason all good must needs be in the power of his hand the greatest good that can be done to fallen Man is thus to restore him In this new Nature are wrapped up the seeds of all Grace which by the efficacy of the Spirit are drawn out into act with the free consent of Mans Will Should God determine the Will of Man to a good act whilst it is in a bad state and under a corrupt nature this would imply force and violence but to lead out a man according to his new Nature is not to put a force upon him If Sin had that efficacy upon Man in his perfect state to encline his Will to Evil why should not Grace have the like efficacy upon Man fallen to encline his Will to good Though an inclination to Evil in Man standing was possible from the liberty of his Will in which he was created yet such an actual inclination was inconsistent with his perfect state and left such an inherent crookedness in his perverted Nature that nothing but Grace can rectifie and make streight again What is a principle of Grace but liberty to Good restored to fallen man from whence an actual inclination to choose what is good do's follow of course when God calls and excites him thereunto here is no force put upon mans Will it acts freely in the choice of good and it cannot be otherwise since Grace enters as a new Nature ingenerating a powerful Principle of Holiness in the Soul that do's incline a man freely to comply which the efficacious grace of God exciting him to those acts of Holiness so agreeable to the Nature of the new Creature as Sin reigns unto Death so Grace will reign through Righteousness unto Eternal Life Rom. 5. 21. Shall not he that raises the dead be able to quicken a dead Soul but we are more sensible of that power that God puts forth upon the bodies of Men then of that which he puts forth upon their Souls that you may know that the Son of man
of his revealed Will hold fast there and you are safe the greatest Scholars in the World must come down to the plain mans Faith if ever they die in peace in all Gospel Truths their consonancy not to our Reason but to the Scriptures is to be regarded Mans leaning rather to their own understanding of the thing than to their faith in the Word about that thing hath led them into Error into false notions of Divine Mysteries I grant from your faith in one Truth you may fetch Reasons for some other Truth depending upon it these are Gospel Reasons not your own we don't believe because we know but we know because we believe this is a new way of knowing things which the world is not acquainted with because it cannot receive the spirit of Truth the spirit of Truth is a spirit of Faith hearing the Word is of singular use to Believers themselves 1 Ioh. 5. 13. to confirm and strengthen your Faith that you may be built up further in it furnished with further matter to act it upon Let none be discouraged though never so ignorant and unlearned of a low mean capacity yet come to hear with an expectation of Gods working faith in thee faith will overcome all these difficulties as weak and simple and ignorant as any may be supposed to be yet be not discouraged you may be made to believe more in one moment than the greatest Scholars in the World can attain to the knowledge of in many years study It is written in the prophets Joh. 6. 45. and they shall be all taught of God every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the father cometh unto me Not that any man hath seen the Father 'T is not what men you hear what Ministers you follow till God the Father do's speak powerfully to your hearts by the Ministry of man. It matters not who the man is your faith consists not in the Wisdom of man but in the power of God when you have a proof of Christs speaking in any 2 Cor. 13. 3. then hearken diligently till you hear an inward Word from this invisible Teacher you 'l never come to Christ. If all the Ministers in the World should lay their heads together they could never bring a sinner to Christ till the Father speaks the word and draw him We are but Ministers by whom you believe as the Lord gives to every man So then neither is he that planteth any thing nor he that watereth but God that giveth the increase 1 Cor. 3. 5 6 7. The sum of all is this We are sent to Preach that you may Hear we carry the Letter of the Word to your Ears the Spirit brings it home in the name of God to your Consciences convincing you that it is his Word under this Conviction you see the truth of the Word in the veracity of God this word of Truth and your Souls meeting so close as they alwayes do in an act of Faith sanctifies you this sanctification lies in the ready assent of your understanding and free consent of your Will the one is founded in light the other in love so that when an enlightned Understanding receives the Truth in the love of the Truth there is a firm Principle of Holiness fixed in that Soul flowing from that Union to Christ that Faith gives us this is the beginning and progress of that Faith the end of which is the Salvation of your Souls The Second Point How we are Iustified by Faith. WE ought to be Doers of the Word and not Hearers only to maintain good Works for necessary uses Tit. 3. 14. It behoveth us therefore to know what use we should make of our works and doings in the great business of our Salvation so as not to entrench upon the Righteousness of Christ nor to degrade that from being our sole and only justifying Righteousness Some men are as much mistaken in grounding their salvation upon doing as others are in grounding it upon bare hearing and therefore these things must be warily spoken unto and warily understood When we urge the necessity of doing the Word of God Carnal Reason lies at the catch and is ready to take every thing in a wrong sense and meaning and to bring down the Mysteries of the Gospel to a low loyal vulgar Notion more suitable to humane Reason There are two extreams that men are apt to run into either they neglect good works or else they trust in good works either they do in a careless formal presumptuous manner pretend to cast all upon Christ without any serious inquiries after the Truth of Grace in themselves or ever proving it by its fruits conceiving it altogether needless to be any way active in their own salvation Secondly If upon search they find any actings of Grace in their Hearts any fruits of Grace in their Lives these are their own proper goods they think Money found in their own Purses it matters not how they came by it they have it and they are resolved to convert it to their own proper use making it nothing less than a part of their Justifying Righteousness Those of this way with whom I have now to do do state the matter thus They say that Christ is the meritorious cause of our Justification having by his Death satisfied the Law and discharged us from the Curse of it and so far we agree with them They say further That Christ to compleat our Justification hath also purchased for us strength and ability to perform the condition of the new Covenant this we assent to the performance of which according to them is to be taken in as a part of our Justifying Righteousness and this we deny We say the performance of what is required in the New Covenant is a good Justification of the Cause whether it be of Faith or of Good Works or of any particular thing or action the sincerity and truth of which may be in question But we deny that it adds any thing to the Justification of the person and therefore they speak not ad idem to the same thing when they deny Christs imputed Righteousness to be the sole Righteousness that justifies the Person because there is another Righteousness required upon another account to justifie or clear up the sincerity of our Faith and Holiness I say to clear up this to our selves and other men which we deny not For we do not admit any Faith to be a justifying Faith but upon good evidence of the Truth of it neither do we admit any works to be good works but upon full proof of the goodness of them The Sum of all is this we say Faith and obedience once proved to be true and genuine are good evidences of our interest in Christ whose imputed Righteousness is the sole and only Righteousness by which our Persons are universally justified from all charges and blame whatsoever in the sight of God and to say otherwise is in effect to say that Christ died
to justifie us that we might be justified without him or at least not only and solely by him which is highly derogatory to the death of Christ neither will their owning Christ to be the meritorious cause of our Justification salve the matter while they do in any sense require another Righteousness distinct from that of Christs for the justification of our Persons in the sight of God. And having given you this brief account of the matter in difference I shall now proceed The Point in General which I am to speak to is this That though good works are highly necessary in a justified person yet they not required in any way of causality to the Justification of the Person Or thus no part of our inherent Righteousness can be any part of our justifying Righteousness This I might prove to you many ways First From the subject of Justification an ungodly Person a believing Sinner flying in the sense of Sin unto Jesus Christ for Life and Pardon Sin is that from which we are Justified the Righteousness of Christ is that for which or by which we are Justified Act. 13. 39. Secondly Because there must be a change of state in Justification and by Justification before we can derive any saving Grace from Christ to enable us to the least good work I might also Thirdly Argue from the weakness and imperfection of all Inherent Holiness which is not able to justifie it self much less the Person And many Arguments may be brought but my design is to contract this general to a particular point concerning the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credere or the act of believing and I shall shew that that part of our inherent Righteousness that flows from our doing the Word of God that is the Work of Faith as done by us in an act of believing is no part of our justifying Righteousness This is that which seems to have the fairest claim to and interest in our Justification and if this be disproved the Argument will hold a fortiori against all the inferiour branches of our inherent Righteousness they must be forced to quit their claim also That which seems to intitle Faith to such an Interest in our Justification as is pleaded for by some is the phrase and manner of expression which the Scripture uses in speaking of Faith telling us that Faith is imputed to us for Righteousness that we are justified by Faith that he that believes shall be saved and the like The question is in what sense these Scriptures are to be understood whither we are to take up our standing partly in the act of Faith and partly in the object of Faith making up a Righteousness partly from our selves and partly from Christ or whether we are by Faith to go out of our selves unto Christ for our whole sole and only justifying Righteousness and this is that which I affirm and shall endeavour to make good and shew you that the Scriptures alledged do not ascribe our Justification to the Act but wholly to the Object of Faith not to our believing but to Christ believed on which I prove thus First From those Expressions of Scripture peculiar to Holy Writ by which the Holy Ghost doth of set purpose limit Faith to its Object Iohn 6. 47. Rom. 9. 33. Ephes. 1. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to believe in into or upon Christ which plainly points out this that Faith is alwayes to be taken in relation to its Object that by Faith is meant Christ apprehended by Faith. Life is promised not simply to believing but to believing in in whom in Christ or nothing Faith is a relative term as to its whole sense and signification to the Object Christ. It must be Faith in Christ or Faith in nothing Believing is a Scripture Phrase setting forth our leaning upon Christ. Faith as our Act adds nothing to Christ doth not make his Death satisfactory it was so in its self before though by an applicatory act of Faith it is made so to us that is we do reap the benefits of his Death and satisfaction we are not united to Faith but by Faith we are united to Christ. Faith is the Medium uniens we do not trust in our Faith but by Faith we trust in Christ all that Faith signifies is in relation to Christ all that it doth is in the Name of Christ without Christ it signifies nothing it doth nothing it is nothing When we are said to be justified by the Faith of Christ or justified by Faith in Christ Gal 2. 16. pray must the meaning be that we are justified by Faith and Christ as some would have it giving the priority to Faith and making Christ but a remote cause of our Justification and our inherent Righteousness to be the next and immediate cause Were Men more willing to exalt Christ and debase themselves this would be English plain enough Faith in Christ would then signifie but one Righteousness it would not be Faith and Christ. Let Men have a care how they speak unadvisedly of Christ to the lessening and diminution of his Honour God hath said he is our Righteousness without any Limitation without any restriction Now for Men to say ay but not all our Righteousness not our only Righteousness I say 't is a bold word thus to distinguish whatever remote inferences they may gather out of Scripture to justifie their meaning yet since God hath not thought fit to drop any such diminutive expression of Christ in Scripture I say it is a bold word for Men to speak You may see how severely speaking against God was punished Numb 21. 5 6. And God complains of it Ezek. 35. 13. With your mouths ye have boasted against me and have multiplyed your words against me I have heard them We may safely deny any thing of God that implies weakness or imperfection but to deny that of Christ which tends to the Exaltation of his Name and riches of his Grace let Men distinguish how they will it is dangerous meddling here This is a tender point that is the first Secondly If the bare act of Faith without any relation to the object justifies then any act of Divine Faith will justifie us as well as Faith in Christ for the Act is specified by the Object Take away the Object and all Acts of Faith are alike equally insignificant But I proceed Thirdly To the third Argument that shall be drawn from the Nature of Faith which consists in receiving As it is the Act of a Believer it implies doing but properly as an Act of believing it consists in receiving and that with an empty hand Now the question is whether by this receiving Act of Faith there do redound to us a Righteousness of our own distinct from that which we receive from Christ I say no We are not justified by a Righteousness that we do but by a Righteousness that we receive Now the bare Act of receiving in a common Natural way is not counted morally meritorious
our Understandings and Knowledge he hath appointed Faith as a fit means by which the soul not only doth the thing but also le ts in a sense of what is done upon the soul and therefore saith the Apostle it is of faith that it might be of grace God will be understood in all the acts of his Grace towards us Now that there might be in us a sense of reception of so great a benefit God resolves to put it into the hand of Faith which hath a natural sutableness in it and fitness to receive what free Grace tenders to it and so it doth when it is in any strength Christ and our Souls would never meet were it not for Faith. There is no letting down any thing spiritual and supernatural into the soul but by Faith Faith is our modus habendi it is the way the means by which we come to have God and Christ and an Interest in the things of Heaven We have what we have from Christ by Faith and we hold it by Faith. Faith and Repentance as acted by us and reflected upon are very good Evidences of our Justifications for it is in that reflection only that they do give evidence of themselves and of any thing produced from them Therefore I say as they are reflected upon they have retrospection to our Justification of which they are very good and evident proofs but they have no antecedent causality to produce the thing signified because they signifie it as a thing already done past and perfect 3. And lastly Justification is frequently set down in Scripture without any relation to these acts of Grace in us to shew that it wholly flowes from Christ and that by our believing we add nothing to our Justifying Righteousness but do only apply it as wholly derived from Christ alone 1 Ioh. 5. 12. He that hath the Son hath life they that are in Christ there is no Condemnation to them Rom. 8. 1. Now because we cannot admit sinners to be in Christ but by faith therefore what flows from Christ is attributed unto faith which is I say our modus habendi but still the real cause of our Justification that which makes us just in the sight of God is our being in Christ and our having the Son. There is no mention made of having any thing else but faith is our modus habendi we cannot have the Son but by faith nor be in Christ but by Believing Therefore God speaks to our Understanding and hath attributed that to the act of faith which is only derivable from the Object I shall now shew you the weakness of those grounds and reasons they go upon who differ from us in this point 1. They speak much of a Charge of Infidelity Impenitency and Unholiness to be drawn up against us at the last day and therefore it concerns us to muster up all our good works all our acts of Grace and every part of our inherent Righteousness that we may be in a readiness to answer to this Charge and clear our selves A specious Argument enough to amuse the World and fright men back into the Popish Doctrine of Justification by Works Brethren I do not deny that unbelieving impenitent and ungodly Persons shall be charged with infidelity impenitency and ungodliness and be condemned but to talk of a charge of Infidelity against a Believer at the last day I say it is a groundless unscriptural Notion I do not deny that the faith of the Saints that draws them to Christ and its efficacy afterwards in all its fruits will be taken notice of by Christ when they are admitted into the Kingdom Mat. 25. 34. Come ye blessed and when that blessedness is fixed Christ doth not put them upon the proof of their faith but helps them himself to understand the former actings of their faith and love to God which they were ignorant of before When saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink c. In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of these ye have done it to me I see more Grace in you saith Christ than ever you saw in your selves so and so appearing in your lives Come ye blessed Brethren Good Works are good Evidences to us to make out the Truth of Grace in us but the All-knowing God needs no such Evidences for his Information he knows what is in man and needs not that any should tell him He searches the Heart Though we see Grace only in the Fruit yet God sees it in the Root and Principle Besides I conceive the last Judgment is not to prove who is and who is not in a state of Grace but rather to pronounce the Sentence according to the state that every one shall appear in at the Resurrection There will be no doubting of any mans state at the Resurrection the method and manner of the Resurrection will decide it Christ himself will separate the Sheep from the Goats and he will do this before the Judgement Mat. 25. 32 33. You shall know a Believer then by his Station at the right hand of Christ by his Company among the Sheep The Angels are sent forth Mat. 24. 31. to gather up the Elect from the four Winds from the one end of Heaven to the other They will ransack every corner of the World to find out every Saint not only the Ninety and Nine but the whole Hundred shall be presented to God not one missing we shall all stand together Now after they are thus ranked by Christ and the Angels have declared them to be Sheep to be true Believers must they come under a charge of infidelity Who must draw up this charge and manage this false Indictment Either God or good Angels or Conscience or the Devil God he hath justified them here sealed them by the Spirit of Adoption to the day of Redemption and he will never reverse his judgment The judgment of God at the last day will be pursuant to the judgment already past by his Word and Spirit in the Hearts and Consciences of Believers here Good Angels are imployed to gather up the Elect and consequently they have a true discerning who they are Our Consciences are sprinkled with the Blood of Jesus and have an answer in readiness by the Resurrection of Christ from the dead And the Devil will have something else to do in that day when he stands at the head of the wicked to receive his sentence with them the time of his torment being then come Though he be now the accuser of the brethren day and night before God he must then Eternally be cast down True he is now our accuser and we must labour to overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb as Rev. 12. 10 11. that is by Arguments drawn from the Blood of Jesus yet I say fear him not after death The last enemy that shall be destroyed is Death saith the Apostle and must we have an after rancounter with
is it What have we to do to repent of the punishment We can't reverse it 't is Gods part to repent of the punishment to turn from his wrath to cease from his anger which he will do when we repent of the sin that occasioned it To repent of the punishment is in effect to be sorry that God is so just that he so severely animadverts upon sinners we wish he would let them go unpunished that we might more securely go on in our sins the only way to escape vengeance is to acknowledge the sinfulness of sin and to repent of our great folly in committing it such a frame of Spirit bears some proportion to the Holiness of God argues true Godly sorrow which worketh Evangelical Repentance unto Salvation 2 Cor. 7. 10. 4. Legal Repentance is before Faith without Faith may never issue in saving Faith as in Cain Saul Iudas but Evangelical Repentance does alwayes accompany saving Faith and of this I am now to speak under the second head shewing you Secondly The nature of Evangelical Repentance what it is in its first rise and original upon what 't is founded It came in with the Gospel the Law never intended any such thing the sinner was to be cut off by Law to die without Mercy in the day thou eatest thou shalt die says the Law unless ye repent says the Gospel here is an exception put in in case of repentance against the peremptory Sentence of the Law. I say repentance comes in with the Gospel I will put enmity c. Gen. 3. 15. Repentance rises out of this Enmity This seems to point particularly at the Conversion of Eve who by Faith in the promised Messiah should turn against the Serpent I will put enmity between thee and the woman this woman whom thou hast deceived shall become thy Enemy and bring forth a seed that shall break thy head thou shalt bruise his heel but his Death shall be thy overthrow Repentance is a Gospel Priviledge purchased by Christ 't is an act of Grace in God to injoyn us Repentance as his leaving men in an impenitent hardened frame is an act of his Justice and Wrath. The Law in its Original Constitution does not intend the amendment of the sinner but his utter Destruction the Law can kill the sinner but cannot mortifie the sin Damnation makes no man better but concludes him Eternally under sin and wrath the Justice of God is not obliged to turn a sinner from his sins but to turn him into Hell for his sins That which makes it a just and righteous thing with God to forgive the sins of Believer is Christs Merits and his own Promise 't is Justice in God to make good his own Promises Rom. 3. 25 26. 2 Thes. 1. 6 7. he is a debtor to his own promise he cannot deny himself 2 Tim. 2. 13. he owes the performance of his Promise to his Faithfulness and Truth 't is an act of Justice to himself to keep his Promise God offers Mercy to sinners not because they do repent but that they may repent Repentance is not the Cause but the Effect of Pardon God always intends Pardon to those whom he effectually calls to repentance he gave no such call to the Angels that fell there was no Gospel preached to them No fallen Angel was saved because no Elect Angel fell but there are many of Gods Elect among the fallen Sons of Adam to whom promises of Salvation were made upon their believing in Christ this being published to all in the Gospel all who hear the Gospel do put in for their share in this Salvation and that they may render the attainment more easie and feazable to them they deny absolute Election bring in Universal Redemption assert the liberty of Mans Will to believe if he please and supposing it to be in their own power to believe they conclude they may be saved as well as others and this is the ground of all that security that is among common Professors Having spoken thus much of Evangelical Repentance as it implies a real hatred of sin as sin and a real turning to God as the chiefest good from an inward change of nature renewed after the Image of God I shall now shew you 1. That such a Repentance can never be wrought in any by the Law alone the Gospel has a principal hand in this Why not by the Law. Because in the Law there are not sufficient motives and inducements to Repentance nothing that encourages to it that renders it available to mans Salvation the law cannot give life to a sinner upon his repentance the Gospel can but the Law cannot could a man under the Law Repent suppose that What would he get by it he must to Hell after all the Law as a Covenant of Works does not seek to bring a sinner to Repentance but to Punishment the Law cannot give Repentance unto Life because it cannot give Life upon our Repentance You 'l say then is the Law against Repentance I don't say so neither for take Repentance as 't is a just equitable thing as a holy disposition of mind so the Law is not against it where ever it may be found as it is not against any other act of Moral Righteousness as such that a man may do and yet for all this 't will condemn a man for his sin and all his righteousness shall not be remembred though the Law be not against Repentance yet it will not accept of repentance as a satisfaction for past sins but the Gospel provides full satisfaction for the Law and promises sufficient and effectual Grace to the sinner to bring him to repentance having rescued him from the Curse of the Law enables him to walk worthy of the blessing of the Gospel if those who are justified were not sanctified they would live to the scandal of the Gospel The Law cannot contradict it self having already pronounced a peremptory sentence of death upon the sinner 't is impossible the Law should ever gier repentance unto Life the Law insists upon the Execution of its own Judgement and will not be satisfied till that be done in this the Gospel yields to the Law to have execution done upon man for sin and provides a man on purpose the man Christ Iesus who bore our sins in his own body upon the cross 3. This Evangelical Repentance implies real Sanctification but the Law sanctifies no man because it can't convey its own Holiness to another can't alter the Nature of a Man but only shew him what mischief his sin has done him shews him his sin in this or that instance to his great terror but if he happen to out-live those terrors and not die in the fit as Iudas his evil heart will encline him as strongly to sin as ever it did before his former Convictions they made him give a present start backwards but he will quickly recover himself and return to his wretched course he cannot cease from sin though he
Law as killing another I speak this to shew how legal convictions may hurry a man from one sin to another but they never lead him into a constant setled way of true Holiness whence I infer that Convictions purely legal will never work Repentance unto Life How Repentance unto Life is wrought by the Gospel Because God hath appointed the Gospel to be the means of Repentance Luk. 24. 47. Rom. 16. 25 26. to the Glory of his Free Grace as Justice is glorified in the Damnation of an impenitent sinner so Grace is glorified in his Conversion Evangelical Repentance is from a Discovery of Gods Love and Free Grace His goodness leads us to Repentance Rom. 2. 4. 2 Pet. 3. 9. Psal. 130. 4. A true Penitent fears least he should miss of Mercy and come short of it he rejoyces at the good News of the Gospel begins to lift up his head in some expectation of a blessed Redemption he serves God chearfully being perswaded that his Duties and Services will be pleasing to him and accepted by him for Christ sake Psal. 130. 4. Hos. 6. 1 2. a sence of love and mercy quicken up a drooping trembling sinner to return unto God the Prodigal remembred what a kind Father he had Luk. 15. 18. 't was Pauls Argument Rom. 12. 1. 2 Cor. 7. 1. 'T is a sad thing that the Grace of the Gospel which is intended to keep men from Despair should be some be made an encouragement to presumption God forbid we should continue in Sin because Grace abounds 2. The Grace of the Gospel is not only an appointed Means but is in its own nature a fit means to work repentance suited and adapted to that end the goodness of God leads us to repentance the Schoolmen tell us that amor est congregativus and they give this reason for it because it does congregate and gather in our roving scattered thoughts from those various lesser Objects after which they go fixing our Minds upon God the only soul-satisfying Object Love is conciliative when God doth through Faith let in any sense of his intended grace towards sinners the heart melts under it a sinner does not repent that he may believe but because he does believe something of the Love of God to sinners in Christ Jesus some inkling of this is come to his ear hath touched his very heart before ever he sets upon repentance and now he can hold no longer the love of Christ constrains him great is the power of Love when it commends it self to us in some signal expressions of kindness to our visible advantage and benefit 3. Because Christ gives repentance Act. 5. 31. he purchased this and all other graces for us by dying for us he not only obtained pardon of Sin in our Justification but all inherent Graces in the Saints come from Christ he procured them for us he works them in us his sufferings being not only satisfactory for sin but meritorious of grace to be bestowed upon us though the Law can't sanctify a sinner yet Christ can and 't is an act of special grace towards us when he doth but he will first satisfie the Law and Justice of God that being brought under grace by our free Justification we may answer to the Law of grace in our sanctification denying all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts living soberly and righteously here below as the redeemed of the Lord ought to do the Law commands perfect Obedience but in case of Failure the Gospel Promises Faith and Repentance Zach. 12. 10. Acts 11. 18. 4. Because God hath annexed a quickning Spirit to the Gospel to make way for his Grace and to give it a prevailing efficacy in the Hearts of men they are drawn by the loving kindness of God and cannot resist it the Spirit opens the Mystery of the Love of God in Christ and so charms the Soul with it that it is impossible to withstand the allurements of it 5. Because the ways and means of bringing a sinner to life are all supernatural the Law speaks nothing of this the Law never puts us upon any thing that is supernatural I mean that originally was so to man in his perfect state for then it had been quite above the reach and capacity of Mans Understanding but God suited his Law to those inbred Notions and Principles of Truth that were concreated in us the way of salvation through Faith and Repentance being supernatural we must apply our selves to the Gospel to know this 3. The necessary Connection that is between Evangelical Repentance and saving Faith. I prove it thus 'T is so in the first production of Repentance and in all the subsequent acts of Repentance therefore 't is alwayes so In the first production of Repentance if you consider how this was wrought by Iohns Ministry Mat. 3. and Luk. 3. these two things will evidently appear First That Repentance alwayes presupposes Faith. Secondly That Repentance rises out of Faith. And how I will clear up this by a brief Paraphrase upon those words Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand Iohn is brought in inviting sinners to Repentance the Argument he uses is plainly this God is inclined to Pardon you therefore Repent I come as a forerunner to prepare the way that by bringing you the first newes of Gods intended grace and favour towards you I might soften and mollify your hearts and dispose you to a ready thankful acceptance of Christ this offer of Grace is called the Kingdom of Heaven because it is inclusive of all the happiness that Heaven can afford all good comes along with Pardoning Grace I see says Iohn you are all lying under the sad damning circumstances of your own sins in a very woful miserable condition compassed about with Hell and Death with horror and darkness all things round about you look very black and dismal I am come to put you into a better state to offer you a Kingdom which will shortly appear in all its Glory 't is at hand 't is coming toward you Heaven it self is come to look after you to lend a helping hand to lift you out of this horrible Pit before it shut its mouth upon you see that you refuse not this grace that you put not from you the word of the Gospel least you judge your selves unworthy of Eternal Life as Acts 13. 46. i. e. it will as plainly appear to be so as if it had been so declared in open Court upon a fair hearing of your Cause if Heaven and Earth were to sit in Judgment upon you they would conclude you most unworthy of Everlasting Life and by putting the word from you you have in effect passed this judgement upon your selves or you have done that now which your own Consciences will so interpret at the last day they will then tell you you might have had life and pardon but would not you would not come to Christ that you might have life therefore your damnation is just you deservedly
it self is the gift of God as well as that which is put into it God gives us not only what we believe but he gives us to believe the habit and act of faith are both from God that he that glories may glory in the Lord only And if it be so with faith if that be shut out from being any part of our justifying Righteousness 't will hold true much more in all other saving graces that spring from faith whether Hope Love Fear Repentance c. Repentance proves our Faith to be saving such a faith as gives us an Interest in Christ faith adds nothing to the Righteousness of Christ but applies it as it is it only gives us an Interest in it and makes it ours by vertue of the Promise tendring it to us by receiving the Promise we have a sure interest in the thing promised and may ever after count it our own and if we are not justified by our graces themselves much less by our good works which are the fruits and issues of them we must resolve all our graces into faith and faith it self into Christ and his Righteousness before we can be clear in the matter of our Justification 4. The real distinction that is between them notwithstanding this necessary Connection Faith and Repentance are frequently joyned together in Scripture and sometimes each of them singly put for the whole work of Conversion and then they do alwayes include each other and imply the whole work of grace in the Soul as Luk. 13. 5. Luk. 15. 10. Acts 3. 19. Acts 11. 18. Though they cannot be separated yet they may be distinguished not only nominally but really they are spoken of Act. 20. 21. as two distinct things as Faith and Hope are inseparable yet two distinct Graces so 't is with Faith and Repentance they grow together as different Branches from the same Root that bears and feeds them both they are the two Vital Constituent parts of a Christian which have their distinct Offices and Influences Repentance is the same in Principle with Faith though they receive different denominations from the different objects and occasions about which they act A principle of Grace is that immortal Seed or that Spirit that is born of the Spirit the fruits of the Spirit are not the Spirit it self but something produced by him all Graces are the fruits of the Spirit and are specified by their different objects All Graces are but so many expressions of that holy Disposition that is wrought in us by the Holy Ghost To Repent of Sin is as true Holiness as not to sin at all a sinner has no other way to express his Love to Holiness than by a declared Hatred of his Sins They differ in their Objects faith as justifying hath Christs Righteousness for its Object Repentance has mans unrighteousness for its Object as Faith acts upon Christ for an Interest in his Righteousness so Repentance acts towards God acknowledging our own Unrighteousness and bewailing it we cannot rejoyce in the Righteousness of Christ till we mourn for our own sins Christ reconciles God to us by the attonement offer'd 2 Cor. 5. 20 21. and us to God by working Repentance in us who were Enemies to him in our Minds by wicked works Col. 1. 21. alienated from the life of God Col. 4. 18. This Enmity against God and alienation from him is removed by Repentance Faith works upwards to appease Gods Wrath by holding up the Blood of Christ Repentance works downwards upon our selves changing our Minds towards God that we may be conformable to his Will and rebel no more against him Besides All Graces do not imploy at least equally the same Affections there is more joy and hope in Faith more sorrow and fear in Repentance faith lists up and comforts a guilty sinner upon one account Repentance humbles him and lays him low upon another account filling him with godly sorrow for his sins 5. Reasons why the Professors of this Age who are so much for Faith do mind Repentance so little are so seldom found in the Exercise of it 1. Because they rest in general Notions of Faith and of Justification by Grace through Christ they say they have faith and think this will save them we may have right notions of faith in our Heads and yet be under no real actings of faith in our Hearts we may be Orthodox in our Judgements sound in the Doctrine of Faith and yet be strangers to the Grace of Faith we may hold the Truth dispute for it preach it up maintain it in our Discourses as our Opinion and yet be rotten at Heart for all this under the power of unbelief if you know these things happy are ye if ye do them Faith must be done as well as talked of it must be really acted by us in our own case 't is not the doctrine of faith but your faith in or according to that doctrine that saves you the just shall live by his own faith the doctrine of faith is an external thing laid down in the letter of the word but the grace of faith is an inward living principle found only in the hearts of real Saints this is that I am inquiring after and pressing upon you as that that will certainly produce Repentance Zach. 12. 10. 'T is one thing to have a Notional Knowledge of the doctrine of faith as contained in the letter of the word another thing to be under the power of the grace of faith as it passes thorow the heart in the lively actings of it Notions of things may be separated from those effects that alwayes attend the things themselves when they are in being we may shake and freeze under our notions of fire but we cannot stand before fire it self and not be warmed by it were there more real faith I mean of the grace of faith among professors there would be more Repentance let us not flatter our selves in the good opinion we have of our faith and of our supposed Interest in Christ 't is all false our faith is vain and we are yet in our sins if Repentance do not accompany our faith The visible neglect of Repentance in the Professors of this age has brought a reproach upon the doctrine of faith and caused it to be evil spoken of that faith that does not sanctifie will never justifie and without Repentance there can be no Sanctification not that we make Repentance any Meritorious Cause of Pardon or that it is to be rested in as any satisfaction for sin only we affirm that justifying faith alwayes works Repentance 2. Because they rest in a general Repentance which they took up at their first Conversion and that must serve all their lives long 't is enough they have once repented that work is over they have done with it now and care not to return to it again but because you have once repented you must always repent you entred into Covenant with God for your whole lives to repent of