these God that searcheth the heart who knows all things and understands the greatness of our crimes expects that our sorrow for their commission shu'd be greater than the delight and pleasure we took in them If a bare Acknowledgment and Confession of sin were enough to put it away Judas might have as good a plea for himself as any Saint in Heaven and might justly be plac'd in the Catalogue of Penitents 'T is very unreasonable to believe that God shu'd be pleas'd with that mans Repentance who never forsakes his sins till he had no more time left him to sin in There can be little of godly sorrow in such a Repentance and as little hopes that it will be acceptable to God I know there are two passages in Holy Scripture much read and remembred and to which some men fly as a refuge for a Death-bed Repentance The first is that of the Labourers that came into the Vineyard at the Eleventh hour Mat. 20. and yet receiv'd Equal Wages with those that had born the heat and burden of the day But alas this Example is misus'd and misunderstood for these Labourers came in assoon as they were call'd and the reason why they stood so long idle was because no man had hired them Had work been offered them sooner they wu'd not have refus'd it Thay came in assoon as the Lord of the Vineyard commanded them and therefore were not faulty Besides that Parable of our Saviour's relating to the Labourers is rather a representation of a Heathen man that never heard of Christ till a little before his Death whose late Conversion shall not render him unworthy of a full Reward But this is a quite different case from Christians who made a Covenant with Christ in Baptism and enter'd into vows and promises to serve him to keep his holy will and commandments and walk in the same all the days of their life Who notwithstanding that Covenant neglect to perform it all their life long and do then only repent when they have no time left to repent in He that came in at the Eleventh hour wronght one hour but he who comes not in till the twelfth the time of working then is past and no reward in justice is to be expected where no service is done The other instance which some men lay hold of to shew the validity of a Death bed Repentance St Luke 23 is that of the good Thief who was sav'd even at the last hour and was in Paradice the same Day with Christ This is brought as a binding Argument by such who put off their Repentance till the last hour The Case is plainly thus Christ was then at the point of Death and therefore to manifest his power and glory and to convince the World of his Godhead when even the Apostles themselves either doubted or did not believe it did upon the Thiefs confessing it and saying Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom make this Answer Verily I say unto thee to day thou shalt be with me in Paradice This was a particular Act of Christ and the whole of it miraculous and ought not to be made a general rule nor do we find in all the Bible the like promise made to any man Because Christ received the Thief into favour at the last hour upon such a wonderful Repentance and Faith as his was therefore we may hope for the same is a Dangerous Conclusion and whoever doth it endangers the loss of his Soul It is not a bare sorrow for sin that brings us to Heaven but a walking in newness of life which inclines God to pass by our former misdoings The Thief upon the Cross had this purpose which surely he would have put in execution if Death had not prevented him Tho he was accepted because he ador'd Christ when he saw him dying there is no reason for other men to presume for the like favour at the last hour who have despis'd him now he is reigning in Heaven If men will presume to live profanely because they think 't is possible they may dye as happily as that Thief did then he may murder more souls by his Repentance than ever he did bodies in all the Robberies that ever he committed Seeing then there is great hazard and danger in late Repentance it is our wisest way to make it an early business and so to live that when we come to die our Souls may be receiv'd into Heaven that where Christ is there they may be also Thirdly The danger and unreasonableness of impenitency will appear in this Some there are when sickness and pain seize them then they resolve against their sins and purpose to be holy and good men if God will be so merciful as to restore them to their former health and set them upon their Legs again Purpose and Resolution are indeed very necessary towards Repentance but are most lame and imperfect and signify nothing without performance and consummation He that resolves against his sins when he is sick and after God has restor'd him to health sins as much as before is a vain man but no true penitent To resolve to repent and not to repent is to break our resolution and faith to mock God and to play at fast and loose with the Almighty To see a man in his sickness smiting on his breast and complaining of the wickedness of his heart and seeming so sorry for it that one who sees or hears him wu'd think his heart is broke within him and yet assoon as he is well again to take no care to lead the residue of his life either in the fear or to the glory of God Such a mock Devotion such a pang of Piety will be so far from appeasing the Almighty or disposing the man for pardon that it even justifies the sentence of Condemnation out of his own mouth The promises we make to God of Amendment of life are due debt The promise one man makes to another may be made good either one time or other either in his life time by himself or after his Death by one that he shall appoint But if we make a promise to God of Amendment and Reformation we ought to do it ourselves This is a concern that cannot be left to the care of an Executor to perform for us when we are dead and gone He who says I do repent but turns to his sins again repents of his Repentance and makes his latter end worse than his beginning For a man to be truly penitent he must lament his sins in lamenting he must punish them in punishing he must hate them and that this severity may not be counterfeit it must last as long as he lives A forsaking our sins with a perseverance in all that is good must be the certain proof of the truth of our Repentance From the danger there is in impenitency as to particular persons let us pass to that of a publick Nation Jerusalem wu'd not know her
be displeasing to him but always be doing that which shall be well pleasing in his sight The best of us may blush to think how often we have done that which has occasioned grief in the Court of Heaven What odious scents arise thither daily from bloody murthers beastly uncleannesses and cruel oppressions which like the blood of Abel cry aloud to Heaven for vengeance Even sins that grieve the Holy Spirit of God and cause a sadness in the blessed Trinity For so sure as Repentance pleaseth God and causeth joy in Heaven so certain it is that sin continued in and not repented of gives occasion of grief and sadness to him 2ly Repentance is well pleasing to the Blessed Angels Luke 15.10 There is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one sinner that repenteth Those tears which run down the cheeks of a true penitent are the Angels heavenly banquet There shall be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety nine just persons that need no repentance But tho repentance be well pleasing to the Blessed Angels tho they are ministring spirits for our good rejoyce at the conversion of a sinner do many good offices for the godly on earth and be a communion between them yet we are not to think that they interpose their Merits for us and therefore we are to perform Religious Worship to them This is a fond conceit of the Papists the invention of mans brain and wants warrant from the word of God See thou do it not Rev. 22.9 are express words in Holy Scripture 3ly Repentance is matter of joy to the penitent himself O what joy and tranquility of conscience has that man whose eyes are opened and in whose heart by Gods Grace a change is wrought And no wonder that he is so pleased with himself for being sensible that he is withdrawn from sin and brought back again to God that he who once was a servant of sin and running headlong to perdition is now a child of God and making Provision for his immortal soul these thoughts speak comfortable things to him and leaves upon his soul a a sweet taste a pleasant relish St. Austin after his conversion when he had repented and began a new life made this sad complaint I have loved thee too late O God O thou beautiful Being I have 〈…〉 too late He repented he had not served God sooner that his conversion was so long delay'd and that he was so long a beginning to be acquainted with God How sweet and delightful O Lord was it made to me presently to want those pleasures of the world which before I doted upon Thou O Lord didst cast them out of my heart and didst thy self enter in their place which I find now to be more sweet than all pleasures and sweetness it self Lib. 9. Cons ch 1. Thus having shewn how joyful and well pleasing it is to Father Son and Holy Ghost that men shu'd repent how acceptable to the blessed Angels and how grateful to the Penitent himself I come 4thly To offer to your consideration what great Danger and Unreasonableness there is in impenitency whether in particular persons or in a publick Nation And 1. As to particular persons John the Baptist in his first Sermon exhorted his Auditors to bring forth fruits meet for Repentance And except ye repent ye shall likewise perish was the Doctrine Christ preached to his Disciples Now the longer men delay their Repentance the more they are hardened in their corruptions and confirmed in their sins and consequently more indispos'd every day for that great and necessary work The longer men live in sin the more strongly they are inclin'd to continue in it Sin being once rooted in the Soul the labour will be great in plucking it out The young man in his Youth and Strength is apt to say that it is not yet time to busie himself about Reformation and amendment of life and that it will be soon enough to repent of his sins when he comes to be old and then and not before he 'll become penitent and serious But how know'st thou O young man that thou shalt live till old Age Death is a tribute we all owe to Nature and Experience teacheth us that the young man is as suddenly taken away as the grey head The strongest man can call no time his own but the present He cannot prolong his days as he pleaseth All his futurity is in the hands of God and how he will dispose of him whether for life or death he cannot tell And yet alas how securely do such men live How eagerly do they run through all the stages of their youth in a rebellious obstinate course and commit sin as if they were not flesh and blood subject to a dying stroak Certainly nothing hath made more ample Harvest for the Devil than the deserring of Repentance upon such a vain consideration as this For how often have many men lain down in their strength at night and that night has clos'd their Eyes and sent their Souls into another World to answer for what they have done in this But suppose God out of his unconceivable Mercy doth not cut off a sinner in the strength of his years suppose he lets him alone to live as he lists to walk in the ways of his heart and in the sight of his eyes and therefore is resolved to sin on till old age overtakes him yet I have three Arguments to lay down before him which if rightly considered wou'd make him think and bring him to a right understanding of himself First Repentance requires the strength and vigour of our minds and therefore 't is a sad design to lay all the sins of our youth upon feeble old age Our bodies are then decay'd our limbs feeble our understandings shatter'd all the parts distemper'd and our infirmities so many that we are altogether incapable of every thing but dying In the midst of so many Distempers as old age brings along with it 't will be a difficult matter to go through with Repentance For then pains are apt in an high measure to seize upon us which will so disturb our minds and deprive us of the use of Reason that we cannot pray to God with that fervency or spread our fins before him with that hearty sorrow that is requisite to procure an absolute pardon Old Age is an unfit time to have the great work of Repentance to do and therefore my second Argument to shew the Danger and Unreasonableness of putting it off till that time is this Secondly The little hopes they can have that God shu'd be pleas'd with those men who never drew nigh to him by Repentance till they themselves were drawing near to the grave Mankind must needs think the Almighty a tame Being an easie God if they perswade themselves that every sin is as soon expiated as confess'd Let men have a care how they flatter themselves with such vain hopes as
day Christ gave the Jewish Nation many years time for Repentance yet such a strange and incorrigible a people they were that neither mercies nor judgments cu'd work upon them to amend and alter their course of living The very Prophets that call'd upon them to repent they kill'd and ston'd Nay so obstinate a people they were that tho God sent his Son to preach Repentance to them and warn'd them from continuing in their wickedness yet they still added iniquity to iniquity and at last put to death the Lord of Life Not long after God destroy'd them for their sins and laid the Axe of his Judgments at the root of their Tree and hew'd them down from ever being a Nation more Thus the Jewish Nation fell by impenitency and 't is too much to be feared that ours is much in the same posture now as theirs was when God came upon them with a total destruction The Jews were a divided people and had several factions both in Church and State Profaneness on the one hand and Hypocrisie on the other did act and command in a furious manner among them In this state was the Jewish Nation when God sent down his Judgments upon them And now let us cast an Eye home Are not we as divided a people as the Jews were Are not we as factious as they Are not we as factious as they And do not Vice Prophaneness and Hypocrisie reign as much among us as that they did among the Jews Your preachers have cry'd aloud and told you the danger of living in your sins but you have not hearkned unto them God sent the Pestilence but we repented not He kindled a fire which burnt our great City and turn'd it into Ashes but we fear'd not his Judgments We have been embroyl'd in several Wars but none of them have better'd chang'd or reform'd us And therefore what can any man imagin shu'd follow such despised signs as God has sent to warn us from our sins but wrath and indignation from Heaven Without a miraculous mercy what can we look for but that God shu'd utterly destroy us throw us away in his anger and trouble himself no more with us And therefore to prevent the Judgments of God which may justly fall upon us for our sins whether in particular persons or in a publick Nation I come Fifthly To shew the great advantage profit and benefit that redound to both by Reformation and Amendment Repentance of all things in the world makes the greatest change It changeth profligate and vicious persons into sober and virtuous It changeth the licentious into strict and regular livers It changeth the whole man from sin to grace and from wicked habits to pious and godly customes Nay so great is the Efficacy of Repentance and so much doth it redound to the profit and advantage of every penitent that God himself is pleas'd by descending to our weak understandings to say that he changeth also upon mans Repentance This moves him to alter his Decrees to revoke his Sentence to cancel his bills of Accusation and to put a stop to Divine Vengeance A particular person by Repentance may remove a particular Judgment from himself Ahab's humbling himself turned away the anger of God and made the Divine Vengeance walk as softly as he did 1 Kings 21.27 This is the only thing that is wanting both in private and publick and wu'd set both at rights Hath God a controversie with a Nation Repentance will tye up his hands from striking At what instant I shall speak concerning a Nation and concerning a Kingdom Jer. 18.7 8. to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy it If that Nation against whom I have pronounc'd turn from their Evil I will repent of the Evil that I thought to do unto them So likewise God dealt with Niniveh Jon. 3. for though he had resolved to destroy that great City yet they repenting in Sackcloath and Ashes stopt the proceedings of God Justice against them and by their amendment prevented that punishment he design'd to have brought upon them And 't is the Prophet Hosea's exhortation to the people whom God had visited with several judgments Come and let us return unto the Lord Hos 6.1 for he hath spoiled us and he will heal us he hath wounded us and he will bind us up again What 's to be done then to prolong Gods Mercy and keep off his Judgments Even this that all of us from the highest to the lowest wn'd amend our lives and become new men For then and not till then must we expect Gods blessing upon us 'T is a common complaint the times are bad and 't is a great wonder they are not worse for unless men mend the times will not 'T is bad men which make bad times The times are just as men are for they grow good or bad as men do What an Age of Virtue shu'd we see if men of dignity and honour birth and fortune wu'd be as good as they are great Men of lower rank wu'd be asham'd and afraid to sin if men of high Titles and long Pedigree wu'd give good Examples and offer themselves to the World for Patterns of life and conversation He that is in Honour and understands not is like the beasts that perish Psal 49.20 The Temple of Honour and the Temple of Virtue were so plac'd at Rome that no man cu'd enter the Temple of Honour unless he pass'd through the Temple of Virtue which was a signification to the Romans that the way to Honour was only by virtue But alas High and Low Rich and Poor have sinn'd against God and he has reason enough to be angry with all Orders and Degrees of men Those fearful Oaths those grievous Blasphemies and other Debaucheries with which our Nation is defil'd I now tell you with an afflicted Soul that these sins cry aloud to Heaven for Vengeance When men begin to resemble Sodom in her sins what must we look for but Sodom's punishment God rain'd down fire and brimstone from Heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrha An Vnnatural Judgment for fire to descend downward but we read before of their Vnnatural Sin they burn'd inwardly with the fire of an Vnnatural Lust If the same sins be committed now which procur'd those dismal Judgments we are then liable to the same and if Repentance step not in may expect the like punishment Uncleanness was one of the sins of Sodom and I wou'd to God I cu'd say it was not one of the sins of England too We are too like Sodom in her sins I pray God keep us from Sodom's punishment For the Sin of Uncleanness three and twenty thousand of Israel were cut off in one day 1 Cor. 10.8 For this sin David was plagu'd with the violation of his Wives the murder of his Children and the Rebellion of his Subjects This sin has pull'd down many flourishing Kingdoms destroy'd the Bodies disgrac'd the Names and overthrown the Estates of many men I