THE NECESSITY OF A Present Repentance IN A SERMON PREACH'D Before the RIGHT HONOURABLE the LORD MAYOR and COURT of ALDERMEN at GVILD-HALL Chapel March 10 th 1694 5. By WILLIAM BRAMSTON Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY LONDON Printed by John Leake for William Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul's Church-Yard MDCXCV PROV Chap. xxvij Verse 1. Boast not thy self of to Morrow for thou knowest not what a Day may bring forth THE Wise Man in this Religious Check at the same time rebukes and cautions those Slothful Triflers whom he saw shuffling off the most necessary Business of their Lives what they themselves acknowledg'd must needs be done but yet vainly flatter'd their own Hearts that they might enjoy this Day 's Pastime and be early enough for that Work to Morrow And certainly it may most properly be apply'd now to the Case of every Christian fondly deferring his Repentance that most necessary Work upon which Salvation it self depends It is not the Doctrine of Repentance Men scruple to acknowledge no the Scriptures are too plain and peremptory in this Particular Except ye repent ye shall all perish for such as embrace them to out-face the Necessity of Repentance But the Point wherein they are unsettled is about the Time tho' they must Repent yet this Day 's Temptation flatters them to Morrow will be time enough and then to Morrow's Lust advises a Week hence will not be too late Thus if Youth determines the Case its warm and heated Blood coneludes the Duties of Repentance namely a Serious Constancy in our Devotions the Works of Mortifications and Self-denials to be most suitable to the Sedateness and Gravity of Age If we consult those in the Strength of their Years their Plea immediately is this That they are now in the Prime of their Days in that part of their Life which is most proper for the concerns of this World in the very Critical Moment for advancing their present Honours or Establishing the Happiness of their Posterity That they feel themselves Strong and Healthy past those Dangers which encompass Youth far enough from Death and the Grave and therefore under no such pressing Obligations to be hastening their Repentance which will be more becoming our declining State Nay if old Age it self be Umpire it presently resolves That it is more seasonable still to cherish than to check the perishing Heat and even with one Foot in the Grave deems its most important Business which remaineth in this World is to be still Careful in Supporting Life even then when Men have gone on so long they think it too early still to look back and because they find themselves greatly disabled for Sinning they are apt to imagine that they are as greatly disengaged from Repenting Thus from the Cradle to the Grave from the very Beginning to the End of Life we are all shifting and putting off the most necessary Business of our Lives Thus though in all Degrees of our Age as Christians we acknowledge it necessary to Repent yet in no degree of our Life to which we are arrived as Men do we judge it time to begin Repentance Give me Leave therefore in Conformity to this holy Season and upon the very Importance of the Subject it self here to take up the wise Man's Admonition and with the most religious Application press upon you the absolute Necessity of our present performing this great Work shew you how very unreasonable it must be in us Christians who acknowledge Repentance to be a Work so indispensible towards our Salvation that if it be not done before Death we must die for ever to depend upon to Morrow to do it in when we know not in what Circumstances this very Day may leave us Now this I shall endeavour in these Three Particulars First By shewing you the dangerous Uncertainties which all delaying Men have to depend upon Secondly How improper the Times resolv'd on by such Men to Repent in will be for the Work of their Repentance Thirdly I shall make it appear That there is no Excuse or Pretence whatsoever which Men may now urge in favour of their Delays but what if seriously considered must even in Wisdom oblige them to hasten their Repentance I. As to the dangerous Uncertainties which all delaying Men have to depend upon Can any Thing be more dangerous and uncertain in the Business of our Salvation than that which has no Certainty in the Gospel of Christ Now though 't is true its Heavenly Voice is this Repent and live yet we may observe it still directs us to the time present As for a future Repentance there is no such thing hinted at in Scripture God no-where calls upon us to Repent to Morrow or assures us That our next Year's Penitence shall be sufficient for this Year's Transgressions No all the Promises of his Help and of the Assistances of his holy Spirit for this Purpose are given to such as seek him early to such as call upon him whilst he is near Now God is said to be near us when our Sins have not set us far from him That is when by our long and habitual Impenitence we have not chased his blessed Spirit far from his Temple which is our Body If we address before the vitious Distemper grows inveterate we may find Life and Consolation in the comfortable Refreshments of God's Holy Spirit but if we deferr and suffer him whilst he is near to forsake us without working up our Souls for this Heavenly Undertaking can we imagine we shall be able to perform it at God's greater distance from us I am sure we have no Authority from God to presume we shall No Those Men who are so willing to flatter themselves in the Perswasion that they may go on sometime securely in their Sins that they shall certainly return at last and seek after God wou'd do very well to consider that they are without any Promise in the Scriptures either that they shall have Grace enough to return at last or if they should seek him that he will then be found by them nay there is not one instance throughout the whole Gospel that a late Repentance shall be available in such Men who now knowingly and wilfully deferr Repenting I say who knowingly and wilfully deferr upon these two Accounts 1. Because I take this to be the case of all us here present who I trust have long since been baptized into the Faith of Christ and the Essential part of our Baptismal Covenant with God is a present Repentance 2. I say knowingly because this plainly sets before us the manifest difference between our case now and that of the Thief upon the Cross heretofore which is the only instance that looks this way and that such a one through the mis-understanding of which too many Men I fear do deprive their own Souls of this blessed Means of Salvation To set your Understandings right as to that particular you may observe That though in respect of this
Life the Thief 's Repentance was as late as it is possible that of the most loytering of us all can be even as late as Death it self yet in respect of the time when he came to the Knowledge of God it was very early even as early as Faith began he no sooner beheld the Glory of Christ's Majesty but he humbled himself under the sense of his own vileness so soon as he knew God he renounced the World and in a Penitential Confession humbly besought Christ's merciful Remembrance in his Kingdom Now if we reflect upon these Circumstances what can we discover in them which any ways relates to our own Case who have long enjoyed the Knowledge of God's Truths and yet long lived in an habitual Neglect of all the present Opportunities of Salvation wilfully confiding in the imaginary Hopes in the vain Uncertainties of a future Repentance I say the vain Uncertainties of a future Repentance for that there is nothing but Vanity Danger and Uncertainty in a future Repentance from the very first to the last Circumstances of it I shall farther make appear in these following Considerations First What certainty can there be in that which depends upon so uncertain a Foundation as the Life of Man or rather let the Quaere go thus With what Wisdom shall any Man depend upon the certainty of that which is not now and which that it ever be must depend upon the certainty of our time to come in this World which may never be who as we are not able to add one Cubit to our Stature to make one Hair black or white so much less can we presume that the certainty of Life is in our Power If thou wilt repose the certainty of thy Life in a Repentance hereafter must it not then become thee to ensure an Hereafter for thy self to Repent in If this be beyond thy reach then consider thou hast shuffled off thy Salvation to that which is beyond thy Power thou hast only purpos'd to Repent then when for ought thou knowest thou shalt be no more I see but one thing with which impenitent Men may satisfie their Consciences against the force of this Reasoning and it is this A Perswasion that God is a Being essentially too kind and gracious to take Men out of this World before they have Repented that is whilst they are unfit to Die but is not this also vain and an uncertainty inconsistent with the most certain Doctrines of God's Holy Spirit which frequently acquaint us that the Wicked namely such as the Deceitful and Blood-thirsty Men shall not live out half their days And to argue this upon the common Principles of Reason Can we in reason believe that there can lie any Obligation upon God to prolong our lives when it is our contemptuous Neglect of God's Grace our daily Violations of God's righteous Judgments which now renders us unfit for Death Can any Man hope thus to put off Death by his Rebellions against the Lord of Life 2. As Life is uncertain so is the continuance of God's Grace uncertain also nay according to what our Lord hath taught us in the Parable of the Talents 't is almost certain That if we neglect or misuse it now it shall not be continued to us for there our Saviour plainly tells us From him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath that is that Man that shall not apply in the blessed Works of Holiness and good Living the Portion of God's Grace this Day tendered to him to Morrow he shall be left Graceless And then what certainty can there be of our Repentance where there can be no certainty of the Grace of God without which 't is impossible we shou'd Repent at all Repentance being the kindly Operation of his heavenly Grace which softens the Heart and melts all our frowardness into contrition II. And thus I pass to the Second Thing propounded and that is to shew how improper the times resolv'd on by delaying Men to Repent in will be for the Works of their Repentance We must either all resolve upon a present Repentance and oh that any thing I now speak may be able to effect such a blessed Resolution in us all or else we must fix upon such Seasons as these to Repent in That is to say either the time of Sickness the time of Old-Age or the time of Death I shall therefore distinctly examine each of these and particularly shew how very improper any one of them will be for the Performance of our Repentance 1. Then As for the time of Sickness can this be a proper time to begin Repentance when one of the most comfortable Effects of a sincere Repentance indeed the only Comfort it can afford us in this Life is to refresh and sweeten our Consciences upon our Bed of Sickness Can Sickness be the proper Season for Repentance which requires a calm and sedate Soul a free and apprehensive Understanding that may either occasion such heats as will distract such Fumes as may oppress or those affrighting Apprehensions which may both confound our Senses and terrify the most judicious Faculties of our Souls Shall we then be best fitted to make our Peace with God when we may be all Agony and Distraction when all the Faculties of our Souls and Bodies are in Confusion and Disorder Let us but reflect with our selves how every little Indisposition of Body indisposes our Souls also how often we have excused to our own Consciences if we have lived with any Conscience of doing our Duty to God the Omission of our Prayers and other religious Exercises upon this very Plea of the Illness of our Bodies and if these ordinary Interruptions of our Health do so far affect our Souls as to divert us from the blessed Works of Faith and Holiness can we imagine That a Sickness even unto Death whose Malignity lays hold on all our Powers whose Rage or Stupefaction stops or employs all the Faculties within us shall prepare or dispose our Hearts with more than ordinary Inclinations for the Works of Righteousness Certainly we must all think Repentance an easy Task indeed if we can judge our selves strong enough for that when we shall be disabled for every thing besides Whether we shall have a time to be sick in I mean such a Space of time as may be proportionable to the Occasions of our Transgressions is such an Uncertainty which no mortal Man can assure himself of But put the Case we might presume upon a fit of Sickness which I must confess to be the very Subject of the Argument I am speaking to yet after all methinks it must be a most unaccountable Piece of Discretion in any Man to cherish one mortal Disease nay such a Foulness in the Soul as is Impenitence which tendeth to Death and everlasting Destruction To deferr I say and put off its timely Cure till another fatal Distemper shall seize and so the more desperately endanger him Were there
't is neither he that willeth nor that Man that now resolveth but of the Grace of God that we Repent at all And will it not be just in God whom thou hast so contentedly forgot thy whole Life either to forget thee at thy Death or by withdrawing his Grace leave thee to be forgotten by thy self Again Why wilt thou deferr till Death Dost thou think the time of this Life which is given us on purpose that herein we may make our Calling and Election sure too early for us to be working out of our Salvation Will not Consolations be more seasonable in the Hour of Death than Sorrows and Remorse Will it not be more comfortable to reflect on a sincere Repentance past than to depend upon such a sudden Repentance which may either not come or if it do have no Sincerity at all in it none I am sure which any wicked Man that hath not before either actually set upon a good or reflected upon an evil Course can possibly be assured of And my Reason is because our Repentance may be as sick and weakly as our Bodies we may easily mistake the Weariness of our Limbs for the Uneasiness of our Souls our present Impotency and want of Strength to Sin for a real Aversion to Sin nay for the very Reformation of our sinful Inclinations therefore I shall conclude this Particular with the Opinion of St. Augustine who being ask'd his Thoughts of those who did then what too many now do deferr their Repentance to the last Moment answers his Friend who put the Question to him in these Words I avouch not that he can be saved nor positively that he shall be condemned but if thou wouldst be saved O Friend let me advise thee be thou sure to Repent now thou art well III. And thus I come to the last General Head of my Discourse to shew how every Pretence or Excuse which Men may now make in Favour of their Delays must if seriously considered even in Wisdom oblige them to hasten their Repentance One of the Excuses with which some Men countenance their Delays is this That upon the Examination of their own Ways they find their Sins are yet but small and such as they may easily cast off at Pleasure But give me Leave to reason against these Deluders of their own Souls Are thy Sins small Then why wilt thou deferr since the Work of thy Repentance will be the lighter May they easily be cast off Then why wilt not thou immediately part with them since the least Grain is infectious and every wilful Detainment tendeth unto Death Again consider though they may be light now yet the shortest Continuance will make them heavier their Guilt increases every Moment and the longer they possess thy Soul the more violently will they keep Possession Another Excuse is the contrary to this namely the Greatness of our Sins and the mighty Difficulties in Repentance But may we not consider here That though the Work be great and difficult indeed yet still 't is necessary and again That the longer we deferr the more difficult we shall find the Task For does the Burden of thy Sins feel heavy to Day and canst thou think to Morrow's Weight will make it lighter Is it not in this very Case of our Transgressions that we may apply that of the Holy Spirit sufficient to the Day is the Evil thereof and then must not every Day add to thy Tale and so the Portion of thy Repentance increase daily But further if it be really so hard and difficult to subdue them now whilst thou art in full Strength and Vigour and as thou may'st fansie hast length of Days before thee canst thou imagine that they will the easilier be removed under the Faintings of Sickness Decays and Impotencies of Age or the surprizing Pangs of Death Dost thou now fear their Greatness and wilt thou not by thy Repentance endeavour to prevent their growing greater or canst thou believe that whilst thou sinnest on thy Account will the easier be made up at last Is not such a Conclusion as this much more rational that Work which is so hard and difficult to Day may if we do not immediately set about it indeed grow invincible to Morrow Another Pretence still with which Men seem to satisfie themselves under their Delays is The necessary Imployments of Life the indispensible Occasions of this World These say they often divert us from the Work of Holiness these are those things which ever interrupt us in our Attempts this Way But to answer this no doubt whilst we are in this Life subject to those Decays and Infirmities which require a Supply of the things of this World for our Support we must be allowed so much of them as is necessary for our Replenishment and consequently so much time as is convenient for the Obtainment of them Yet after all this World certainly is not the Christian's Business nor our time in it so much our own that we may imploy it upon the World as we please No every Day of our Lives is so much God's that in no part of any Day we may forget him but then in some part of every Day we must needs forget all things besides him The necessary Occasions of the World we may give Room to but then we must remember withal that we ought not to make more Necessaries than God has appointed For Instance we must not shorten the Hours of our Devotion to gain Time to spend upon our Lusts or to secure to our selves Opportunities wherein to enrich our Stores with Superfluities whatever we may think of it whilst we are in our eager pursuits after this World we shall all certainly find at the last that God will never accept of such an Account of our time from us as this spent upon my Pleasures upon the occasions of my Ambition in the prosecution of my excessive Gettings Ten Twenty perhaps Thirty Years these God knows are too often the indispensible Occasions which prevent us in our Holy Duties They are these Excesses in our Labours these superfluous engagements of our Pride whereof we ought all seriously to Repent which chiefly hinder us in the business of our Repentance Let us consider That every Day nay every Moment consumes somewhat of the Thread of Life and that of all Business and Employments none is more requisite than our making Peace with God of all Necessaries this one thing is most necessary in us Christians to mortifie our Affections which are upon the Earth to cleanse our Hands and purifie our doubt Minds to lay up Stores in Heaven and be every Day in the Works of Faith Charity and Obedience securing and improving our Interest in the Kingdom of the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ the Sum and Substance of whose Gospel is this If we do now whilst he gives us time for it turn unto God in a true Faith and with a hearty Repentance we shall at his Coming be made Partakers of his Eternal Kingdom where there shall be no time to terminate our Enjoyments of him To which Bless'd State vouchsafe O blessed Father to bring us all through the Merits of Christ Jesus thy Son to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever and ever Amen FINIS Mr. Bramston's Sermon of the Necessity of a Present Repentance Preached before the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen at Guild-hall Chapel on March 10 th 1694 5. Printed for William Keblewhite at the Swan in St. Paul 's Church-Yard