a burden 11. Sin is a debt 'T is compared to a debt of ten thousond talents Mat. 18. 24. Of all the debts we owe our sins are the worst In other debts a sinner may fly into forein parts but here he cannot Psal. 139. 7. Whither shall I fly from thy presence God knows where to find out all his debtors Death frees a man from other debts but it will not free him from this not the death of the debtor but of the creditor dischargeth this debt 10. There is deceitfulness in sin Heb. 3. 13. Prov. 11. 18. The wicked worketh a deceitful work Sin is a meer cheat while it pretends to please us it beguiles us Sin doth as Iaell first she brought the milk and butter to Sisera then she struck the nail thorow his temples that he died Iudg. 5. 26. Sin first courts and then kills 'T is first a Fox and then a Lion Whomsoever sin kisseth it betraies Those Locusts in the Revelations are the perfect Hierogly phicks and emblems of sin On their heads were as it were Crowns like gold and they had hair as women and their teeth were as the teeth of Lions and they had stings in their tails Rev. 9. 7. Sin doth just as the Usurer who feeds a man with money and then makes him morgage his Land So sin feeds the sinner with delightful objects and then makes him morgage his soul. Iudas pleased himself with the thirty pieces of silver but they proved deceitful riches ask him now how he likes his bargain 13. Sin is a spiritual sickness One man is sick of pride another of lust another of malice 'T is with a sinner as it is with a sick Patient his pallat is distempered the sweetest things taste bitter to him So the word of God which is sweeter than the honey-comb tastes bitter to a sinner Isa. 5. 20. They put sweet for bitter and if sin be a disease it is not to be cherished but rather cured by Repentance 14. Sin is a bondage it binds a man Apprentice to the Devil Of all conditions servitude is the worst Every man is held with the cords of his own sin I was held before conversion saith Austin not with an Iron Chain but with the obstinacy of my will Sin is imperious and tyrannical it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Law Rom. 8. 2 because it hath such a binding power over a man The sinner must do as sin will have him He doth not so much enjoy his lusts as serve them and he will have work enough to do to gratifie them all Eccles. 10. 7. I have seen Princes going on foot The soul that princely thing which did once sit in a chair of State and was crowned with knowledge and holiness now is made a lacky to sin and runs on the Devils errand 15. Sin hath a spreading malignity in it it doth not only hurt to a mans self but to others one mans sin may occasion many to sin As one Beacon being lighted may occasion all the Beacons in the Country to be lighted One man may help to defile many A person that hath the plague going into company doth not know how many have gotten the plague of him Thou that art guilty of open sins knowest not how many have been infected by thee There may be divers for ought thou knowest now in Hell crying out that they had never come thither if it had not been for thy bad example 16. Sin is a vexatious thing it brings trouble with it The curse which God laid upon the woman is most truly laid upon every sinner Gen. 3. 6. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth A man vexeth his thoughts in plotting of sin and when sin hath conceived in sorrow he brings forth Like one who takes a great deal of pains in opening a flood-gate and when he hath opened it the flood comes in upon him and drowns him So a man beats his brains to contrive sin and then it vexeth his conscience brings crosses in his estate rots the wall and timber of his house Zach. 5. 4. 16. Sin is an absurd thing What greater indiscretion than to gratifie an enemy Sin gratifies Satan When lust or anger burn in the soul Satan warms himself at this fire Mens sins feast the Devil Sampson was called out to make the Lords of the Philistines sport Iudg. 16. 25. So the sinner makes the Devil sport 'T is meat and drink to him to see men sin How doth he laugh to see them venturing their souls for the world As if one should venture Diamonds for Straws or should fish for Gudgeons with golden hooks Every wicked man shall be indicted at the day of judgement for a fool 18. There is cruelty in every sin Every sin thou committest thou givest a stab to thy soul While thou art kind to sin thou art cruel to thy self like him in the Gospel who did cut himself with stones till the blood came Mark 5. 5. The sinner is like the Jaylor who drew a sword to kill himself Act. 16. 27. The soul may cry out I am murdering Naturalists say the Hawk chuseth to drink blood rather than water So sin drinks the blood of souls 19. Sin is a spiritual death Ephes. 2. 1. Dead in trespasses Austin saith that before his conversion reading the death of Dido he could not refrain weeping but wretch that I was saith he I bewailed the death of Dido forsaken of Aeneas and did not bewail the death of my soul forsaken of God The life of sin is the death of the soul. 1. A dead man hath no sense So a person unregenerate hath no sense of God in him Ephes. 4. 19. Perswade him to mind his salvation to what purpose do you make orations to a dead man go to reprove him for vice to what purpose do you strike a dead man 2. He who is dead hath no taste Set a banquet before him he doth not rellish it So a sinner tastes no sweetness in Christ or a Promise They are but as cordials in a dead mans mouth 3. The dead putrifie and if Martha said of Lazarus Ioh. 11. 39. Lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four daies How much more may we say of a wicked man who hath been dead thirty or forty years in sin by this time he stinketh 20. Sin without Repentance tends to final damnation As the Rose perisheth by the canker bred in it self so do men by the corruptions which breed in their souls What was once said to the Graecians of the Trojan horse this Engine is made to be the destruction of your City The same may be said to every impenitent person this Engine of sin will be the destruction of thy soul. Sins last scene is alwaies Tragical Diagoras Florentinus would in a frolick drink poison but it cost him his life Men
may leave sin for fear as in a storm the Plate and Jewels are cast over-board but the nauseating and loathing of sin argues a detestation of it Christ is never loved till sin be loathed Heaven is never longed for till sin be loathed When the soul sees an issue of blood runing he cries out Lord when shall I be freed from this body of death When shall I put off these filthy garments of sin and have the fair mitre of glory set upon my head Let all our self-love be turned into self-loathing We are never more precious in Gods eyes than when we are lepers in our own 2. There is an hatred of Enmity There is no better way to discover life than by motion The eye moves the pulse beats So to discover Repentance there is no better sign than by an holy antipathy against sin Hatred saith Cicero is anger boiled up to an inveteracy Sound Repentance begins in the love of God and ends in the hatred of sin But how may true hatred of sin be known 1. When a mans spirit is set against sin The tongue doth not only inveigh against sin but the heart abhors it So that let sin be never so curiously painted it is odious As we abhor the picture of one whom we mortally hate though it be exactly drawn Non amo te Sabidi Suppose a dish be finely cooked and the sauce good yet if a man hath an antipathy against the meat he will not taste it So let the Devil cook and dress sin with pleasure and profit yet a true penitent having a secret abhorrency of it doth disgust it and will not meddle with it 2. True hatred of sin is universal and that two waies In respect 1. Of the Faculties 2. Of the Object 1. Hatred is universal in respect of the Faculties That is there is a dislike of sin not only in the judgement but in the will and affections For many an one is convinced that sin is a vile thing and in his judgement hath an aversation from it but yet he tasts sweetness and hath a secret complacency in it Here is a disliking sin in the judgement and an embracing it in the affections Whereas in true Repentance the hatred of sin is in all the faculties not only in the intellectual part but chiefly in the will Rom. 7. 15. What I hate that do I. Paul was not free from sin yet his will was against it 2. Hatred is universal in respect of the Object He that hates one sin hates all Aristotle saith hatred is against the whole kind He that hates a Serpent hates all Serpents Psal. 119. 104. I hate every false way Hypocrites will hate some sins which do ecclipse their credit but a true convert hates all sins gainful sins complexion-sins the very stirrings of corruption Paul hated the motions of sin Rom. 7. 23. 3. True hatred is against sin quatenus sin An holy heart detests sin for its intâ—…nsick pollution Sin leaves aâ—…ain upon the soul. A regenerate person abhors sin not only for the curse but the contagion He hates this Serpent not only for its sâ—…ing but its poison He hates sin not only for Hell but as Hell 4. True hatred is implacable it will never be reconciled to sin any more Anger may be reconciled hatred cannot Sin is that Amalek which is never to be taken into favour again The war between a child of God and sin is like the war between those two Princes 1 King 14. 30. There was war between Rehoboam and Ieroboam all their daies 5. Where there is a real hatred we do not only oppose sin in our selves but in others The Church of Ephesus could not bear with them that were evil Rev. 2. 2. Paul sharply censured Peter for his dissimulation though he were an Apostle Christ in an holy displacency whipt the money-changers out of the Temple Ioh. 2. 15. He would not suffer the Temple to be made an Exchange Nehemiah rebuked the Nobles for their Usury Neh. 5. 7. And their Sabbath-prophanation Neh. 13. 7. A sin-hater will not endure wickedness in his family Psal. 101. 7. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell in my house What a shame is it when Magistrates can shew height of spirit in their passions but no heroick spirit in suppressing vice Such as have no antipathy against sin are strangers to Repentance Sin is in them as poison in a Serpent which being natural is delightful 1. How far are they from Repentance who instead of hating sin love sin To the godly sin is as a thorn in the eye to the wicked it is as a crown on the head Ier. 11. 15. When thou dost evil then thou rejoycest Loving of sin is worse than committing it A good man may run into a sinful action unawares but to love sin is desperate What is it makes a Swine but loving to tumble in the mire What is it makes a Devil but loving that which opposeth God To love sin shews that the will is in sin and the more of the will in a sin the greater the sin Wilfulness makes it a sin not to be purged by sacrifice Heb. 10. 26. O how many are there that love the forbidden fruit They love their oaths and adulteries they love the sin and hate the reproof Solomon speaks of a generation of men Eccles. 9. 3. Madness is in their heart while they live So for men to love sin to hug that which will be their death to sport with damnation Madness is in their heart It perswades us to shew our Repentance by a bitter hatred of sin There is 〈◊〉 deadly antipathy between the Scorpion and the Crocodile such should there â—…e between the heart and sin What is there in sin that may make a peâ—…itent hate it Sin is the cursed thing* the most mis-shapen Monster The Apostle useth a very emphatical word to express it Rom. 7. 13. That sin might become exceeding sinful or as it is in the Greek hyperbolically sinful Now that sin is an hyperbolical mischief and deserves hatred will appear if we look upon sin in a fourfold notion 1. Look upon sin in the original of it whence it comes it fetcheth its pedigree from Hell 1 Ioh. 3. 8. He that commiteth sin is of the Devil for the Devil sinneth from the beginning Sin is the Devils proper work 'T is true God hath a hand in ordering sin but Satan hath an hand in acting it Now how hateful is it to be doing that which is the peculiar work of the Devil nay which makes men Devils Ioh. 6. 7. 2. Look upon sin in its nature and it will appear very hateful See how the Scripture hath pensiled it out 1. Sin is a dishonouring of God Rom. 2. 23. 2. Sin is a despising of God 1 Sam. 2. 30. 3. It is a fretting of God Ezek. 16. 43. 4. It is a wearying of God Isa.
drink the poison of sin in a merriment but it costs them their souls Rom. 6. 23. The wages of sin is death What Solomon saith of wine the same I may say of sin at first it shews its colour in the cup at the last it biteth like a Serpent and stingeth like an Adder Prov. 23. 31. Christ tells us of the worm and the fire Mark 9. 48. Sin is like oyl and Gods wrath is like fire So long as the damned continue sinning so long the fire will continue scorching and who can dwell with everlasting burnings Isa. 33. 14. But men question the truth of this and are like that impious Devonax who being threatned with Hell for his villanies made a mock at it and said I will believe there is an Hell when I come there and not before We cannot make Hell enter into men till they enter into Hell Thus we have seen the deadly evil in sin which seriously thought on may make us repent and turn to God If for all this men will persist in sin and are resolved upon a voyage to Hell who can help it They have been told what a soul-damning Rock sin is but if they will voluntarily run upon it and split themselves their blood be upon their own head 2. The second consideration to work Repentance is consider the mercies of God A stone is soonest broken upon a soft pillow and an heart of stone is soonest broken upon the soft pillow of Gods mercies Rom. 2. 4. The goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance The clemency of a Prince doth soonest cause relenting in a malefactor While God hath been storming others by his judgements he hath been wooing us by his mercies What privative mercies have we had what mischiefs have been prevented what fears blown over When our foot hath been slipping Gods mercy hath held us up Mercy hath been alwaies a screen between us and danger When enemies like Lions have risen up against us to devour us free-grace hath snatched us out of the mouth of these Lions In the deepest waves the arm of mercy hath been under and kept our head above water and will not this privative mercy lead us to Repentance What positive mercies have we had 1. Supplying mercy God hath been a bountiful benefactor Gen. 48. 15. The God which fed me all my life long to this day What man will spread a table for his enemy we have been enemies yet God hath fed us he hath given us the horn of Oyl he hath made the hony-comb of mercy drop upon us God hath been as kind to us as if we had been his best servants and will not this supplying mercy lead us to Repentance 2. Delivering mercy When we have been at the gates of the grave God hath miraculously spun out our lives he hath turned the shadow of death into the morning and hath put a song of deliverance into our mouth and will not delivering mercy lead us to Repentance The Lord hath laboured to break our hearts with his mercies We read Iudg. 2. When the Angel which was a Prophet had preached a Sermon of mercy the people lifted up their voices and wept vers 4. If any thing will move tears it should be the mercy of God He is an obstinate sinner indeed whom these great Cable-Ropes of Gods mercy will not draw to Repentance 3. Consider Gods afflictive providences and see if our limbeck will not drop when the fire is put under God hath sent us of late years to the school of the cross he hath twisted his judgements together he hath made good upon us those two threatnings Hos. 5. 12. I will be to Ephraim as a moth Hath not God been so to England in decay of trading And ver 14. I will be to Ephraim as a Lion Hath he not been to England in the devouring Plague Well all this while God waited for our Repentance but we went on in sin Ier. 8. 6. I hearkned and heard but no man repented him of his wickedness saying what have I done And of late God hath been whipping us with a fiery Rod in those tremendous flames in this City which did hierogly phically resemble the great Conflagration at the last day when the Elements shall melt with fervent heat When Ioabs corn was on fire then he went running to Absalom 2 Sam. 14. 31. God hath set our houses on fire that we may run to him by Repentance Micah 6. 9. The Lords voice cries unto the City Hear ye the Rod and who hath appointed it This is the language of the Rod that we should humble our selves under Gods mighty hand and break off our iniquities by righteousness Dan. 4. 27. Manassehs affliction ushered in Repentance 2 Chron. 33. 12. This God useth as the proper medicine for security Hos. 2. 5. Her Mother hath played the Harlot that is by idolatry What course now will God take with her vers 6. Therefore I will hedge up thy way with thorns This is Gods method to set a thorn-hedge of affliction in the way Thus to a proud man contempt is a thorn to a lustful man sickness is a thorn both to stop him in his sin and to prick him for ward in Repentance The Lord teacheth his people as Gideon did the men of Succoth Iudg. 8. 16. He took the Elders of the City and thorns of the wilderness and briars and with them he taught the men of Succoth Here was tearing Rhetorick So God hath of late been teaching us humiliation by thorny providences he hath torn our golden fleece from us he hath brought our houses low that he might bring our hearts low When shall we dissolve into tears if not now Gods judgements are so proper a means to work Repentance that the Lord wonders at it and makes it his complaint that his severity did not break men off from their sins Amos 4. 7. I have with-holden the Rain from you vers 9. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew vers 10. I have sent among you the Pestilence but still this is the burden of the complaint Yet ye have not returned to me The Lord proceeds gradually in his judgements First he sends a lesser cross and if that will not do then a greater He sends upon one first a gentle fit of an Ague and afterwards a burning Feaver He sends upon another first a loss at Sea then the loss of a child then an husband Thus by degrees he would try to bring men to Repentance Sometimes God makes his judgements go in circuit from family to family The cup of affliction hath gone round in the Nation all have tasted it and if we repent not now we stand in a contempt of God and do interpretatively bid God do his worst and such a climax of wickedness will hardly be pardoned Isa. 22. 12 13. In that day did the Lord of Hosts call to weeping and mourning and behold joy and
THE DOCTRINE OF Repentance Useful for these Times By Tho. Watson Minister of the Gospel I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy Golden Candlestick out of his place except thou repent Revel 2. 5. Nemo potest bene agere poenitentiam nisi qui speraverit indulgentiam Ambrose de Poenit. lib. 1. LONDON Printed by R. W. for Thomas Parkhurst at the Sign of the Golden Bible on London-Bridge 1668. THE Epistle to the READER Christian Reader THE two great Graces essential to a Saint in this life are Faith and Repentance These are the two wings by which he flyes to Heaven Faith and Repentance preserve the spiritual life as heat and radical moisture do the natural The Grace which I am now to discuss is Repentance Chrysostome thought it the fittest subject for him to Preach upon before the Emperour Arcadius And Austin caused the Penitential Psalms to be written before him as he lay upon his Bed and he did often peruse them with tears Repentance is never out of season it is of as frequent use as the Artificers Tool or the Souldiers weapon If I am not mistaken practical Points are more needful in this Age than Controversal and Polemical I had thought to have smothered these Meditation in 〈◊〉 Deâ—…k but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be of great concern in thiâ—… 〈◊〉 of time I have rescinded my first resolution 〈◊〉 have exposed them to a critical view Repentance is Purgative fear not the working of this Pill Smite thy â—…oul saith Chrysostome smite it it will escape death by that stroke How happy were it if we were more deeply affected with sin and our eyes did swim in their Orb. The waters of Râ—…pentance though they are troubled yet Pure where we may clearly see the Spirit of God moving Moist tears dry up the rheumes of sin and quench the wrath of God Repentance is the Cherisher of Piety the Procurer of Mercy The more râ—…gret and trouble of Spirit we have at our first Conversion the less we shall feel afterwards The greater Fine is paid the less Rent Christians have you a sad resentment of other things and not of sin Worldly Tears fall to the earth but godly tears are kept in a bottle Pâ—…alm 56. 8. Iudge not holy weeping superfluous Tertullian thought he was born for no other end but to repent Either sin must drown or the scul burn Let it not be said Repentance is difficult Things that are excellent deserve 〈◊〉 Will not a man digg for Gold in the 〈◊〉 though it makes him sweaâ—… It is better to go with difficulty to Heaven than with â—…ase to Hell What would the 〈◊〉 give might they have an Hâ—…rauld sent to them from God to proclaim mercy upon their repentance What Vollies of sighs and groans would they send up to Heaven what floods of tears would their eyes pour forth but it is now too late They may keep their tears to lament their folly sooner than to procure pitty O that therefore while we are on this side the Grave we would make our peace with God To morrow may be our dying day let this be our repenting day How should we imitate the Saints of old who have imbittered their souls and sacrificed their lusts and put on sackcloth 〈◊〉 hope of white robes Peter baptized himself with tears And that devout Lady Paula of whom Hierom writes like a Bird of Paradise bemoaned her self and humbled her self to the dust for sin Besides our own personal miscarriages the deplorable condition of tâ—…e Land calls for a contribution of Tears Have not we lost much of our Pristine fame and renown Time was when we did sit as Princess among the Provinces God made the sheaves of other Nations to do obeysance to our Sheaf but is not our Glory fled away as a Bird Hos. 9. 11. We are become the shame of our friends and the scorn of our enemies And what severe dispensations are yet behind we cannot tell Our black and Hideous Vapours having ascended we may fear loud Thunder-claps should follow and will not all this bring us to our wits and excite in us a Spirit of humiliation Shall we sleep on the top of the Mast when the winds are blowing from all the quarters of Heaven O let not the Apple of our eye cease I will not launch forth any further in a Prefatory Discourse but that God would add a blessing to this work and so direct this arrow that though shot at rovers it may hit the mark and some sin may be shot to death shall be the ardent prayer of him who is May 25. 1668. The Well-wisher of thy Souls Happiness Thomas Watson Reader Be pleased to correct these mistakes of the Press PAg. 21. Marg. for Christi primogenito r. Christo primogenito p. 64. l. 11. for fleshly r. fleshy p. 72. l. 6. for canker r. cancer p. 82. Marg. r. aquila senscente tam curuum habet rostrum p. 110. l. 23. for Good r. God p. 131. l. 10. for 1 Sam. 30. 22. r. Isaiah 30. 22. THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE Acts 26. 20. That they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for Repentance CHAP. I. A Praeliminary Discourse together with the Proposition SAint Paul being falsly accused by Tertullus to be seditious chap. 24. 5. We have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of Sedition in this chapter he makes an apology for himself before Festus and King Agrippa Paul proves himself to be an Oratour He courts the King 1. By his Gesture He stretched forth his hands vers 1. as the custom of Oratours was 2. By his manner of speech ver 2. I think my self happy King Agrippa because I shall answer for my self before thee touching all the things whereof I am accused Paul treats of three things and that in so deep a strain of Rhetorick as he had almost converted King Agrippa 1. He discourseth of the manner of his life before his conversion ver 5. after the most strait Sect of our Religion I lived a Pharisee During the time of his unregeneracy he was zealous for Traditions and his false fire of zeal was so hot that it scorched all that stood in his way ver 10. Many of the Saints I shut up in prison 2. Paul discourseth of the manner of his conversion ver 13. I saw in the way a light from Heaven above the brightness of the Sun This light was no other but what shined from Christs glorified body And I heard a voice speaking unto me Saul Saul why persecutest thou me The body being hurt the head in Heaven cryed out At this light and voice Paul was amazed and fell to the earth ver 14. And I said who art thou Lord and he said I am Iesus whom thou persecutest ver 15. Paul was now taken off from himself all opinion of self-righteousness vanished and he did graft his hope of Heaven upon the stock
her solemn engagements she played fast and loose with God and ran after her Idols We see by experience when a person is on his sick-bed what protestations will he make if God recover him again yet he is as bad as ever He shews his old heart in a new temptation Resolution against sin may arise 1. From present extremity not because sin is sinful but because it is painful This Resolution will vanish 2. Resolution against sin may arise from fear of future evil an apprehension of death and Hell Rev. 6. 8. I looked and behold a pale horse and his name that sate on him was death and Hell followed after him What will not a sinner do what vows will he not make when he knows he must die and stand before the Judgement seat Self-love raiseth a sick-bed vow and love of sin will prevail against it Trust not to a passionate resolution it is raised in a storm and will die in a calm 3. The third Deceit about Repentance is the leaving many sinful courses 'T is a great matter I confess to leave sin So dear is sin to a man that he will rather part with a child than a lust Micah 6. 7. Shall I give the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul But sin may be parted with yet no Repentance 1. A man may part with some sins and keep other As Herod reformed many things amiss but could not leave his incest 2. An old sin may be left to entertain a new As you put off an old servant to take another This is to exchange a sin Sin may be exchanged and the heart not changed He who was a Prodigal in his youth turns an Usurer in his old age A slave is sold to a Jew the Jew sells him to a Turk here is the Master changed but he is a slave still So a man removes from one vice to another but he is a sinner still 3. A sin may be left not so much from strength of grace as from moral grounds A man sees that though such a sin be for his Tooth yet it is not for his interest It will ecclipse his credit prejudice his health impair his estate therefore upon prudential reasons he gives it a dismiss The true leaving of sin is when the acts of sin cease from the infusion of a principle of grace As the air ceaseth to be dark from the infusion of light CHAP. IV. Opening the Nature of True Repentance I Shall next come to shew what Gospel-Repentance is Repentance is a grace of Gods Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed For a further amplification of Repentance know that Repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special Ingredients if any one be left out it loseth its vertue 1. Sight of Sin 2. Sorrow for Sin 3. Confession of Sin 4. Shame for Sin 5. Hatred for Sin 6. Turning from Sin SECTION I. 1. THE first Ingredient in Repentance is Sight of Sin The first part of Christs Physick is Eye-salve Act. 26. 18. 'T is the great thing noted in the Prodigals Repentance Luk. 15. 17. He came to himself He saw himself a sinner and nothing but a sinner Before a man can come to Christ he must come to himself Solomon in his description of Repentance puts this in as the first Ingredient 1 King 8. 47. If they shall bethink themselves A man must first recognize and consider what his sin is and know the plague of his heart ere he can be duly humbled for it The first creature God made was Light So the first thing in a penitent is illumination Ephes. 5. 8. Now ye are light in the Lord. The eye is made both for seeing and weeping Sin must first be seen before it can be wept for Hence I infer where there is no sight of sin there can be no Repentance Many who can spy faults in others see none in themselves They cry they have good hearts Were it not strange that two should live together and eat and drink together yet not know one another Such is the case of a sinner his body and soul live together walk together yet he is unacquainted with himself He knows not his own heart nor what an Hell he carries about him Under a vail a deformed face is hid Persons are vailed over with ignorance and self-love therefore see not what deformed souls they have The Devil doth with them as the Faulkner with the Hawk blinds them and carries them hooded to Hell Zach. 11. 17. The sword shall be upon his right eye Men have insight enough into worldly matters but the eye of their mind is smitten they see not any evil in sin The sword is upon their right eye SECT II. 2. THE second Ingredient into Repentance is Sorrow for Sin Psal. 38. 18. I will be sorry for my sin Ambrose calls sorrow the imbittering of the soul. The Hebrew word to be sorrowful signifies to have the soul as it were crucified* This must be in true Repentance Zach. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and â—…ourn As if they did feel the nails of the Cross sticking in their sides A woman may as well expect to have a child without pangs as one can have Repentance without sorrow He that can believe without doubting suspect his faith and he that can repent without sorrowing suspect his Repentance Martyrs shed blood for Christ and penitents shed tears for sin Luk. 7. 38. She stood at Iesus feet weeping See how this limbeck dropped the sorrow of her heart ran out at her eye The brazen lavor for the Priests to wash in Exod. 30. 18. did tipifie a double lavor The lavor of Christs blood we must wash in by Faith and the lavor of tears we must wash in by Repentance A true Penitentiary labours to work his heart into a sorrowing frame he blesseth God when he can weep he is glad of a rainy-day He knows 't is a Repentance he shall have no cause to repent of Though the bread of sorrow be bitter to the taste yet it strengthens the heart This sorrow for sin is not facil It is an holy Agony 'T is called in Scripture a breaking of the heart Psal. 51. 17. The Sacrifices of God are a broken heart And a rending of the heart Ioel 2. 13. Rend your hearts* The expressions of smiting of the thigh Ier. 31. 19. knocking on the breast Lâ—…k 18. 13. putting on of sackcloth Isa. 22. 12. plucking off the hair Ezra 9. 3. What are all these but outward signs of inward sorrow This sorrow must be 1. To make Christ precious O how desirable is a Saviour to a troubled soul Now Christ is Christ indeed and mercy is mercy indeed Till the heart be full of compunction it is not fit for Christ How welcome is a Chyrurgion to
7. 13. 5. It is a breaking the heart of God Ezek. 6. 9. I am broken with your whorish heart as a loving husband is with the unchast carriage of his wife 6. Sin when acted to the height is a crucifying Christ afresh and putting him to open shame Heb. 6. 6. That is impudent sinners pierce Christ in his Saints and were he now upon earth they would crucifie him again in his person Behold the odious nature of sin 3. Look upon sin in its comparison and it appears ghastly Compare sin either with affliction or Hell and it is worse than both 1. Compare sin with Affliction sickness poverty death and it is worse than these There 's more malignity in a drop of sin than in a Sea of affliction For Sin is the cause of affliction and the cause is more than the effect The sword of Gods justice lies quiet in the scabbard â—…ill sin draws it out Affliction is good for us Psal. 119. 71. It is good for me that I was afflicted Affliction causeth Repentance 2 Chron. 33. 12. The Viper being stricken casts up its poison So Gods Rod striking us we spit away the poison of sin Affliction betters our grace Gold is purest and Juniper sweetest in the fire Affliction prevents damnation 1 Cor. 11. 32. Therefore Maurice the Emperour prayed to God to punish him in this life that he might not be punished hereafter So that affliction is many waies for our good but sin hath no good in it Manasseh's affliction brought him to humiliation but Iudas his sin brought him to desperation Affliction doth only reach the body but sin goes further it poisons the fancy disorders the affections Affliction is but corrective sin is destructive Affliction can but take away the life sin takes away the soul Luk. 12. 20. A man that is afflicted may have his conscience quiet When the Ark was tossed on the waves Noah could sing in the Ark. When the body is afflicted and tossed a Christian can make melody in his heart to the Lord Ephes. 5. 19. But when a man commits sin conscience is terrified witness Spira who upon his abjuring the Faith said he thought the damned spirits did not feel those torments which he inwardly endured In affliction one may have the love of God Rev. 3. 19. If a man should throw a bag of money at another and in throwing it should hurt him a little and raise the skin he would not take it unkindly but look upon it as a fruit of love So when the Lord bruiseth us with affliction it is to enrich us with the golden graces and comforts of his Spirit all is in love But when we commit sin God withdraws his love When David had sinned he felt nothing but displeasure from God Psal. 97. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him David found it so he could see no Rainbow no Sun-beam nothing but clouds and darkness about Gods face That sin is worse than affliction is evident because the greatest judgement God laies upon a man in this life is to let him sin without controll When the Lords displeasure is most severely kindled against a person he doth not say I will bring the Sword and Plague on this man but I will let him sin on Psal. 81. 11. So I gave them up to their own hearts lusts Now if the giving a man up to his sins in the account of God himself is the most dreadful evil then sin is far worse than affliction and if it be so then how should it be hated by us 2. Compare sin with Hell and you shall see that sin is worse Torment hath its emphasis in Hell yet nothing there is of so bad an aspect as sin 1. Hell is of Gods making but sin is none of his making Sin is the Devils creature 2. The torments of Hell are a burden only to the sinner but sin is a burden to God Amos 2. 13. I am pressed under you as a Cart is pressed with sheaves 3. In the torments of Hell there is something that is good namely the execution of divine justice There is justice to be found in Hell but sin is a piece of the highest injustice it would rob God of his glory Christ of his purchase the soul of its happiness Judge then if sin be not a most hateful thing that is worse than affliction or Hell 4. Look upon sin in the issue and consequence and it will appear hateful Sin reacheth the body it hath exposed it to variety of miseries We come into the world with a â—…ry and go out with a groan which made the Thracians weep on their childrens birth-day to consider the calamities they were to undergo in the world Sin is the Trojan Horse out of which come a whole Army of troubles I need not name them because almost every one feels them While we suck the hony we are pricked with the briar Sin gives a dash in the wine of our comforts it digs our grave Rom. 5. 12. Sin reacheth the soul By sin we have lost the Image of God wherein did consist both our sanctity and majesty Adam in his pristine glory was like an Herald that hath his Coat of Arms upon him all reverence him because he carries the Kings Coat of Arms but pull this Coat off and no man regards him Sin hath done this disgrace to us it hath plucked off our Coat of Innocency but that is not all this bearded arrow of sin would strike yet deeper it would for ever separate us from the beatifical vision of God in whose presence is fulness of joy If sin then be so hyperbolically sinful it may swell our spleen and stir up our implacable indignation against it As Ammons hatred of Tamar was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her 2 Sam. 13. 15. So we should hate sin infinitely more than ever we loved it SECT VI. 6. THE sixth Ingredient in Repentance is turning from sin Reformation is left last to bring up the rear of Repentance What though one could with Niobe weep himself into a stone if he did not weep out sin True Repentance like aqua fortis eats asunder the Iron chain of sin therefore weeping and turning are put together Ioel 2. 12. After the cloud of sorrow hath dropped in tears the firmament of the soul is clearer Ezek. 14. 6. Repent and turn your selves from your Idols and turn away your faces from all your abominations This turning from sin is called a forsaking of sin Isa. 55. 7. As a man forsakes the company of a thief or forcerer 'T is called a putting sin far away Iob 11. 14. As Paul put away the Viper and shook it into the fire Act. 28. 5. Dying to sin is the life of Repentance That very day a Christian turns from sin he must enjoyn himself a Perpetual Fast. The eye must fast from impure glances the ear must fast
from hearing slanders the tongue must fast from oaths the hands must fast from bribes the feet must fast from the path of the harlot and the soul must fast from the love of wickedness This turning from sin implies a notable change There is a change wrought in the heart The flinty heart is become fleshly Satan would have Christ prove his Deity by making stones become bread Christ hath wrought a far greater miracle in making stones become flesh In Repentance Christ turns an heart of stone into flesh There is a change wrought in the life Turning from sin is so visible that others may discern it therefore it is called a change from darkness to light Ephes. 5. 8. Paul after he had seen the heavenly vision was so turned that all men wondred at the change Act. 9. 21. Repentance turned the Jaylor into a Nurse and Physician Act. 16. 33. He took the Apostles and washed their wounds and set meat before them A ship that is going Eastward there comes a wind and turns it Westward So that a man before was sailing Hell-ward the contrary wind of the Spirit blows and turns his course and causeth him to sail Heaven-ward Chrysostom speaking of the Ninivites Repentance saith that had a stranger who had seen Ninevehs excess gone after they repented into the City it was so metamorphosed and reformed that he would scarce have believed it was the same City Such a visible change doth Repentance make in a person as if another soâ—…l did lodge in the same body Now that the turning from sin be rightly qualified these few things are requisite 1. It must be a turning from sin with the heart the heart is the primum vivens the first thing that lives and it must be the primum vertens the first thing that turns The heart is that the Devil doth most strive for Never did he so strive for the body of Moses as he doth for the heart of man in Religion the heart is all if the heart be not turned from sin it is no better than a lye Ier. 3. 10. Her treacherous Sister Iudah hath not turned to me with the whole heart but feignedly or as the Hebrew in a lye * Iudah did make a shew of Reformation she was not so grosly idolatrous as the ten Tribes yet Iudah was worse than Israel she is called treacherous Iudah she pretended to a reformation but it was not in truth her heart was not for God she turned not with the whole heart 'T is odious to make a shew of turning from sin yet the heart is in league with it I have read of one of our Saxon Kings who was baptized that in the same Church he had one Altar for the Christian Religion another for the Heathen God will have the whole heart turned fâ—…om sin True Repentance must have no reserves or inmates 2. It must be a turning from all sin Isa. 55. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way A real penitent turns out of the road of sin every sin is abandoned As Iehu would have all the Priests of Baal slain not one must escape 2 King 10. 24. So a true convert seeks the destruction of every lust he knows how dangerous it is to entertain any one sin He that hides one rebel in his house is a traitor to the Crown and he that indulgeth one sin is a traiterous Hypocrite 3. It must be a turning from sin upon a spiritual ground A man may restrain the acts of sin yet not turn from sin in a right manner Acts of sin may be restrained out of fear or design but a right penitentiary turns from sin out of a religious principle and that is love to God If sin did not bear such bitter fruit if death did not grow on this tree yet a gracious soul would forsake it out of love to God This is the most kindly turning from sin When things are frozen and congealed the best way to separate them is by fire When men and their sins are congealed together the best way to separate them is the fire of love Three asking one another what made them leave sin saith one I think of the joys of Heaven saith another I think of the torments of Hell but saith the third I think of the love of God and that makes me forsake it How shall I offend the God of love 4. It must be such a turning from sin as turns unto God This is in the text That they should repent and turn unto God Turning from sin is like the pulling the Arrow out of the wound turning to God is like the pouring in of the Balsom We read in Scripture of a Repentance from dead works Heb. 6. 1. and a Repentance towards God Act. 20. 21. Unsound hearts pretend to leave old sins but they do not turn to God or embrace his service 'T is not enough to forsake the Devils quarters but we must get under Christs banner and wear his colours The repenting Prodigal did not only leave his Harlots but did arise and go to his Father It was Gods complaint Hos. 7. 16. They return but not to the most High In true Repentance the heart points directly to God as the Needle to the North-pole 5. The true turning from sin is such a turn as hath no return Hos. 14. 8. Ephraim shall say what have I to do any more with Idols The forsaking sin must be like the forsaking ones native soil never to return more to it Some have seemed to be converts and to have turned from sin but they have returned to their sins again This is a returning â—…o folly It is A fearful sin For 1. It is against clear light He who did once leave his sin it is to be supposed he felt it bitter in the pangs of conscience yet he returned to it again he must needs sin against the illuminations of the Spirit 2. It reproacheth God Ier. 2. 5. What iniquity have your Fathers found in me that they are gone from me He that returns to sin doth interpretatively charge God with some evil If a man put away his wife it implies he knows some fault by her To leave God and return to sin is tacitly to asperse the Deity God who hates putting away Mal. 2. 16. hates that he himself should be put away To return to sin gives the Devil more power over a man than ever Mat. 12. 43. When a man turns from sin the Devil seems to be cast out of him but when he returns to sin here is the Devil entring into his house again and taking possession and the last state of that man is worse than the first When a prisoner hath broken prison and the Jaylour gets him again he will lay stronger Irons upon him He who leaves off a course of sinning doth as it were break the Devils prison but if Satan takes him returning to sin he
will hold him faster and take fuller possession of him than ever O take heed of this A true turning from sin is a divorcing it so as never to come near it any more and whoever is thus turned from sin is a blessed person Act. 3. 26. God having raised up his Son Iesus sent him to bless you in turning every one of you from his iniquities Is turning from sin a necessary Ingredient in Repentance then there is but little Repentance to be found People are not turned from their sins they are still the same they were Proud they were and so they are still Like the beasts in Noahs Ark they went into the Ark unclean and came out unclean Men come to Ordinances impure and go away impure Though men have seen so many changes without yet there is no change wrought within Isa. 9. 13. The people turneth not to him that smiteth How can they say they repent who do not turn Are they washed in Iordan who have still their Leprosie upon their forehead May not God say to the unreformed as once to Ephraim Hos. 4. 17. Ephraim is joyned to Idols let him alone So here is a man joyned to his drunkenness and uncleanness let him alone let him go on in sin but if there be either justice in Heaven or vengeance in Hell he shall not go unpunished Use 2. It reproves them 1. Who are but half-turned and who are these Such as turn in their judgement but not in their practice they cannot but acknowledge that sin like Saturn hath a bad aspect and influence and will weep for sin yet are so bewitched with it that they have no power to leave it their corruptions are stronger than their convictions These are half-turned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 almost Christians Act. 26. 28. They are like Ephraim who was a Cake baked on one side and dough on the other Hos. 7. 8. They are but half-turned who turn only from gross sin but have no intrinsick work of grace They do not prize Christ or love holiness 'T is with civil persons as with Ionah he got a gourd to defend him from the heat of the Sun and he thought now he was safe but a worm presently ariseth and devours the gourd So men when they are turned from gross sin think their civility will be a gourd to defend them from the wrath of God but at death there ariseth the worm of conscience and smites this gourd and then their hearts fail and they begin to despair They are but half-turned who turn from many sins but are unturned from some special sin There is an harlot in the bosom they will not let go As if a man should be cured of several diseases but hath a canker in his breast and that kills him It reproves such whose turning is as good as no turning who have one Devil goes out of them and another enterâ—… they turn from swearing to slandering from profuseness to covetousness Like a sick man that turns from a tertian Ague to a quartan Such turning will turn men to Hell Let us in this shew our selves penitents in turning from sin to God There are some persons I have little hope to prevail with Let the trumpet of the word sound never so shrill let threatnings be thundered out against them let some flashes of Hell fire be thrown in their faces yet they will have the other game at sin These persons seem to be like the Swine in the Gospel carried down by the Devil violently into the Sea they will rather damn than turn Ier. 8. 5. They hold fast deceit they refuse to return But if there be any candour or sobriety in us if conscience be not cast into a dead sleep let us listen to the voice of the charmer and turn to God our supream good How often doth God call upon us to turn to him He swears Ezek. 33. 11. As I live I desire not the death of the sinner turn ye turn ye c. God had rather have our repenting tears than our blood Turning to God makes for our profit Our Repentance is no benefit to God but to us If a man drinks of a fountain he benefits himself not the fountain if he beholds the light of the Sun he himself is refreshed by it not the Sun If we turn from our sins to God God is not advantaged by it it is only we our selves reap the benefit therefore self-love should prevail with us Prov. 9. 12. If thou be wise thou shalt be wise for thy self If we turn to God he will turn to us he will turn his anger from us and his face to us It was Davids prayer Psal. 86. 16. O turn unto me and have mercy upon me Our turning will make God turn Zach. 1. 3. Turn ye unto me saith the Lord and I will turn unto you He who was an enemy will turn to be our friend If God turn to us the Angels are turned to us we shall have their tutelage and guardianship Psal. 91. 11. If God turn to us all things shall turn to our good mercies and afflictions we shall taste honey at the end of the Rod. Thus we have seen the several Ingredients of Repentance CHAP. V. Shewing the reasons enforcing Repentance I Proceed next to the reasons which do enforce Repentance 1. From Gods soveraign command Act. 17. 30. He commandeth men every where to repent Repentance is not arbitrary 't is not left to our choice whether we will repent or no but it is an indispensible command God hath enacted a Law in the High Court of Heaven that no sinner shall be saved but the repenting sinner and he will not break his own Law Though all the Angels should stand before God and beg the life of an irrepenting person God would not grant it Exod. 34. 6. The Lord God merciful and gracious keeping mercy for thousands and that will by no means clear the guilty Though God is more full of mercy than the Sun is of light yet he will not forgive a sinner while he goes on in his guilt He will by no means clear the guilty 2. The pure nature of God denies communion with an impenitent creature Till the sinner repent God and he cannot be friends Isa. 1. 16. Wash ye make ye clean Go steep your selves in the brinish waters of Repentance Ver. 18. Come now and let us reason together Now saith God I will parley with you but else come not near me What communion hath light with darkness How can the righteous God indulge him that goes on still in his trespasses Exod. 23. 7. I will not justifie the wicked If God should be at peace with a sinner before he repent he should seem to like and approve all that he hath done he should go against his own holiness 'T is inconsistent with the sanctity of Gods nature to
patience to be content to live any longer O blessed Repentance that hast such a light side with thy dark and hast so much sugar at the bottom of thy bitter cup. 15. The next Motive to Repentance is to consider the evil of impenitency An hard heart is the worst heart it is called an heart of stone Ezek. 36. 26. If it were Iron it might be mollified in the furnace but a Stone put in the fire will not melt it will sooner fly in your face Impenitency is a sin grieves Christ Mark 3. 5. Being grieved for the hardness of their hearts It is not so much the disease offends the Physician as the contempt of his Physick Not the sins we have committed do so much provoke and grieve Christ as that we refuse the Physick of Repentance which he prescribes This aggravated Iezabels sin Rev. 2. 21. I gave her space to repent yet she repented not An hard heart receives no impression it is untuned for every duty It was a sad speech Stephen Gardner uttered on his death-bed I have denied my Master with Peter but I cannot repent with Peter O the plague of an obdurate heart Pharaohs heart turned into stone was worse than his waters turned into blood David had his choice of three judgements plague sword and famine but sure he would have chosen them all rather than an hard heart An impenitent sinner is neither allured by entreaties nor affrighted by menaces Such as will not weep with Peter shall weep with Iudas An hard heart is the Anviâ—… on which the hammer of Gods justice will be striking to all eternity 16. The last Motive to Repentance is the day of judgement is coming This is the Apostles own Argument Act. 17. 31. God commands men every where to repent because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world There is that in the day of judgement which may make a stony heart bleed Will a man go on thieving when the Assizes are nigh Will the sinner go on sinning when the day of judgement is so nigh Thou canst no more conceal thy sin than thou canst defend it and what wilt thou do when all thy sins shall be written in Gods Book and engraven on thy forehead O direful day when Jesus Christ clothed in his Judges Robe shall say to the sinner stand forth answer to the Indictment brought against thee What canst thou say for all thy oaths adulteries and thy desperate impenitency O how amazed and stricken with consternation will the sinner be and after his conviction he must hear the sad sentence Depart from me Then he who would not repent of his sins shall repent of his â—…olly If then there be such a time a coming wherein God will judge men for their impieties what a spur should this be to Repentance The penitent soul shall at the last day lift up his head with comfort and have a discharge to shew under the Judges own hand CHAP. IX Exhorting to speedy Repentance THE second branch of the Exhortation is to press persons to speedy Repentance Act. 17. 30. Now God commands men every where to repent The Lord would not have any of the late Autumn fruits offered to him God loves early penitents that consecrate the spring and flower of their age to him Early tears like Pearls bâ—…ed of the morning dew are more orient and beautiful Oh do not reserve the dregs of your age for God lest he reserve the dregs of his cup for you Be as speedy in your Repentance as you would have God speedy in his mercies 1 Sam. 21. 8. The Kings business required haste So Repentance requires haste 'T is natural to us to procrastinate and put off Repentance We say as Hag. 1. 2. The time is not yet come No man almost is so bad but purposeth he will amend but he adjourns and prorogues so long till at last all his purposes prove abortive Many are now in Hell that purposed to repent Satan doth what he can to keep men from Repentance when he sees they begin to take up serious thoughts of reformation he bids them stay a while longer If this traitor sin must die saith Satan let it not die yet So the Devil gets a reprieve for sin it shall not die this Sessions at last men put off so long that death seizeth on them and their work is not done Let me therefore lay down some cogent Arguments to perswade to speedy Repentance 1. Now is the season of Repentance and every thing is best done in its season 2 Cor. 6. 2. Now is the accepted time Now God hath a mind to shew mercy to the penitent he is on the giving hand Kings set apart daies for healing Now is the healing day for our souls now God hangs forth the white flag and is willing to parley with sinners A Prince at his coronation as an Act of Royalty gives money proclaims pardons fills the conduits with wine Now God proclaims pardons to penitent sinners now the conduit of the Gospel runs wine now is the accepted time therefore now come in and make your peace with God now break off your iniquities by Repentance 't is wisdom to take the season The Husbandman takes the season for sowing his seed now is the seed-time for our souls 2. The sooner you repent the fewer sins you will have to answer for Were you at the death-bed of an old sinner when conscience begins to be awakened and should hear him crying out here are all my old sins come about me haunting my death-bed as so many evil spirits and I have no discharge here is Satan who was once my tempter is now become my accuser and I have no Advocate I am now going to be dragg'd before Gods judgement-seat where I must receive my final doom Oh how dismal is the case of this man he is in Hell before his time but you who repent betimes of your sinful courses this is your priviledge you will have the less to answer for nay let me tell you you will have nothing to answer for Christ will answer for you your Judge will be your Advocate 1 Ioh. 2. 1. Father will Christ say here is one that hath been a great sinner yet a broken-hearted sinner if he owes any thing to thy justice set it on my score 3. The sooner we repent the more glory we may bring to God 'T is the end of our living to be useful in our generation better lose our lives than the end of our living Late converts who have for many years taken pay on the Devils side are not in a capacity of doing so much work in the Vineyard The thief on the Cross could not do that service for God as St. Paul did But when we do betimes turn from sin then we give God the first-fruits of our lives we spend and are spent for Christ. The more work we do for God the more willing we
so discompose body and mind that one is but in an ill posture at such a time to take care for his soul. In sickness a man is scarce fit to make his will much less to make his peace The Apostle saith Is any sick among you let him call for the Elders of the Church Iam. 5. 14. He doth not say is he sick let him pray but let him call for the Elders that they may pray over him A sick man is very unfit to pray or repent he is like to make but sick work of it When the body is out of tune the soul must needs jar in its devotion Upon a sick bed a person is more fit to exercise impatience than Repentance We read that at the pouring out of the fourth Vial when God did smite the Inhabitants and scorched them with fire They blasphemed the Name of God and repented not Rev. 16. 9. So when the Lord pours out his Vial and scorcheth the body with a Feaver the sinner is fitter to blaspheme than repent 4. How dost thou who puttest off all to a sick bed know that God will give thee in that very juncture of time grace to repent The Lord usually punisheth neglect of Repentance in time of health with hardness of heart in time of sickness Thou hast in thy life time repulsed the Spirit of God and art thou sure it will come at thy call Thou hast not taken the first season and perhaps thou shalt never see another spring-tyde of the Spirit more All this considered may hasten our Repentance Do not lay too much weight upon a sick-bed 2 Tim. 4. 21. Do thy diligence to come before winter There is a winter of sickness and death a coming therefore make haste to repent let thy work be ready before winter To day hear Gods voice Heb. 3. 7. CHAP. X. The Trial of our Repentance IF any shall say they have repented let me desire them to try themselves seriously by those seven Adjuncts or Effects of Repentance which the Apostle laies down 2 Cor. 7. 11. 1. Carefulness The Greek word signifies a solicitous diligence or careful shunning all temptations to sin The true penitentiary flies from sin as Moses did from the Serpent 2. Clearing of our selves The Greek word is Apology The sense is this though we have never so much care yet through strength of temptation we may slip into sin now in this case the repenting soul will not let sin lye festring in his conscience but doth judge himself for his sin he pours out tears before the Lord he begs mercy in the Name of Christ and never leaves till he hath gotten his pardon Here he is cleared of guilt in his conscience and is able to make an Apology for himself against Satan 3. Indignation He that repents of sin his spirit riseth against it as ones blood riseth at the sight of him whom he mortally hates Indignation is a being fretted at the heart with sin The penitent is vexed with himself David calls himself a fool and a beast Psal. 73. 22. God is never better pleased with us than when we fall out with our selves for sin 4. Fear A tender heart is ever a trembling heart The penitent hath felt sins bitterness this Hornet hath stung him and now having hopes that God is reconciled he is afraid to come near sin any more The repenting soul is full of fear he is afraid to lose Gods favour which is better than life he is afraid he should for want of diligence come short of salvation he is afraid lest after his heart hath been soft the waters of Repentance should freeze and he should harden in sin again Prov. 28. 14. Happy is he that fears alwaies A sinner is like the Leviathan who is made without fear Iob 41. 29. A repenting person fears and sins not a graceless person sins and fears not 5. Vehement desire Sowre sauce sharpens the appetite So the bitter herbs of Repentance sharpen desire But what doth the penitent desire he desires more power against sin and to be released from it 'T is true he hath got loose from Satan but he goes as a prisoner that hath broke Prison with a fetter on his leg he cannot walk with that freedom and swiftness in the waies of God he desires therefore to have the fetters of sin taken off he would be freed from corruption he cries out with Paul Who shall deliver me from this body of death Rom. 7. 24. In short he desires to be with Christ as every thing desires to be in its centre 6. Zeal Desire and zeal are fitly put together to shew that true desire puts forth it self in zealous endeavour How doth the penitent bestir himself in the business of salvation How doth he take the Kingdom of Heaven by force Matth. 11. 12. Zeal quickens the pursuit after glory Zeal encounters with difficulty is imboldened by opposition tramples upon danger Zeal makes a repenting soul persist in godly sorrow against all discouragements and oppositions whatsoever Zeal carries a man above himself for Gods glory Paul before conversion was mad against the Saints Act. 26. 11. And after conversion he was judged mad for Christs sake Act. 26. 4. Paul thou art besides thy self But it was Zeal not Phrenzy Zeal doth spirit and animate duty it causeth fervency in Religion which is as fire to the sacrifice Rom. 12. 11. As fear is a bridle to sin so Zeal is a spur to duty 7. Revenge A true Penetentiary pursues his sins with an holy malice he seeks the death of them As Sampson was avenged on the Philistines for his two eyes He useth his sins as the Jews used Christ he gives them gall and vinegar to drink he crucifies his lusts Gal. 5. 24. A true child of God seeks to be revenged most of those sins which have dishonoured God most Cranmer who had with his right hand subscribed the Popish Articles was revenged on himself he put his right hand first in the fire David did by sin defile his bed after by Repentance he watered his bed with tears Israel had sinned by Idolatry and afterwards they did offer disgrace to their Idols 1 Sam. 30. 22. Ye shall defile the covering of thy graven Images of silver Mary Magdalen had before sinned in her eye by adulterous glances and now she will be revenged on her eyes she washeth Christs feet with her tears she had sinned in her hair it had intangled her Lovers now she will be revenged on her hair she wipes Christs feet with it The Israelitish women who had been dressing themselves by the hour and had abused their Looking-glasses to pride afterwards by way of revenge as well as zeal offered their Looking-glasses to the use and service of Gods Tabernacle Exod. 38. 8. So those Conjurers who used curious Arts oâ—… Magick as it is in the Syriack when once they
more that we have fetched no more vertue from him and brought no more glory to him It should be our grief on our death-bed that our lives have had so many blanks and blots in them that our duties have been so fly-blown with sin that our obedience hath been so imperfect and we have gone so lame in the waies of God When the soul is going out of the body it should swim to Heaven in a Sea of tears CHAP. XIV The removing the Impediments of Repentance BEfore I lay down the Expedients and Means conducing to Repentance I shall first remove the Impediments In this great City when you want water you search the cause whether the Pipes are broken or stopped that the current of water is hindered So when no water of Repentance comes though we have the Conduit-pipes of Ordinances see what the cause is where is the stop that these penitential waters do not run There are ten Impediments of Repentance 1. Men do not apprehend that they need Repentance they thank God all is well with them and they know nothing they should repent of Rev. 3. 17. Thou sayest I am rich and have need of nothing He who apprehends not any distemper in his body will not take the Physick prescribed This is the mischief sin hath done it hath not only made us sick but senseless When the Lord bade the people return to him they answered stubbornly Wherein should we return Mal. 3. 7. So when God bids men repent they say wherefore should they repent they know nothing they have done amiss Surely no disease worse than that which is Apoplectical 2. People conceit it an easie thing to repent It is but saying a few prayers a sigh or a Lord have mercy and the work is done This conceit of the easiness of Repentance is a great hinderance to it That which makes a person bold and adventrous in sin must needs obstruct Repentance but this opinion doth make a person bold in sin The Angler can let out his line as far as he will and then pull it in again So when a man thinks he can lash out in sin as far as he will and then pull in by Repentance when he list this must needs imbolden him in wickedness But to take away this false conceit of the easiness of Repentance consider 1. A wicked man hath a mountain of guilt upon him and is it easie to rise up under such a weight Is salvation per saltum Can a man jump out of sin into Heaven Can he leap out of the Devils arms into Abrahams bosom 2. If all the power in a sinner be employed against Repentance then it is not easie All the faculties of a natural man joyn issue with sin Ier. 2. 25. I have loved strangers and after them will I go A sinner will rather lose Christ and Heaven than his lusts death which parts man and wife will not part a wicked man and his sins and is it so easie to repent The Angel rolled away the stone from the Sepulchre but no Angel only God himself can roll away the stone from the the heart 3. Presuming thoughts of Gods mercy Many suck poison from this sweet flower Christ who came into the world to save sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. is accidentally the occasion of many a mans perishing Though to the Elect he is the bread of life yet to the wicked he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a stone of stumbling 1 Pet. 2. 7. * To some his blood is sweet wine to others the water of Marah Some are softned by this Sun of Righteousness others are hardned Oh saith one Christ hath died he hath done all for me therefore I may sit still and do nothing Thus they suck death from the Tree of Life and perish by a Saviour So I may say of Gods mercy it is accidentally the cause of many a ones ruine Because of mercy men presume and think they may go on in sin But should a Kings clemency make his subjects rebel The Psalmist saith there is mercy with God that he may be feared Psal. 130. 4. but not that we may sin Can men expect mercy by provoking justice God will hardly shew them mercy who sin because mercy abounds 4. A supine sluggish temper Repentance is looked upon as a tedious thing and such as requires much industry and men are settled upon their lees and care not to stir They had rather go sleeping to Hell than weeping to Heaven Prov. 19. 24. A slothful man hideth his hands in his bosom he will not be at the labour of smiting on his breast Many will rather lose Heaven than ply the oar and row thither upon the waters of Repentance We cannot have the world citra pulverem without labour and diligence and would we have that which is more excellent Sloth is the canker of the soul Prov. 19. 15. Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep It was a witty fiction of the Poets when Mercury had cast Argus into a sleep and with an inchanted Rod closed his eyes then he killed him When Satan hath by his witcheries lull'd men asleep in sloth then he destroyes them Some report while the Crockadil sleeps with his mouth open the Indian Rat gets into his belly and eats up his entrails So while men sleep in security they are devoured 5. Another obstruction of Repentance is the tickling pleasure of sin â—… Thes. 2. 12. Who take pleasure in unrighteousness Sin is a sugred draught but mixed with poison The sinner thinks there is danger in sin but there is delight and the danger doth not so terrifie him as the delight bewitcheth him Plato calls love of sin a great Devil Delighting in sin hardens the heart In true Repentance there must be a grieving for sin but how can one grieve for that which he loves He who delights in sin can hardly pray against it his heart is so inveagled with sin that he is afraid of leaving it too soon Sampson doted on Dalilahs beauty and her lap proved his grave When a man rolls iniquity as a Sugared lump under his tongue it infatuates him and is his death at last Delight in sin is a silken halter 2 Sam. 2. 26. Will it not be bitterness in the latter end 6. An opinion that Repentance will take away our joy but that is a mistake it doth not crucifie but clarifie our joy and take it off from the fulsom lees of sin What is all earthly joy it is but Hilaris insania a pleasant phrensy Falsa inter gaudia noctem 〈◊〉 Worldly mirth is but like a feigned laugh it hath sorrow following at the heels As the Magitians Rod it is instantly turned into a Serpent But divine Repentance like Sampsons Lion hath an hony-comb in it Gods Kingdom consists as well in joy as in righteousness Rom. 4. 17. None are so truly chearful as penitent ones Est quaedam flere
shall be to die and the sweeter death will be He that hath wrought hard at his day-labour is willing to go to rest at night Such as have been honouring God all their lives how sweetly will they sleep in the grave The more work we do for God the greater will our reward be He whose pound had gained ten pounds Christ did not only commend him but advance him Luk. 19. 17. Have thou authority over ten Cities By late Repentance though we do not lose our Crown yet we make it lighter 4. It is of dangerous consequence to put off Repentance longer Mora trahit periculum It is dangerous If we consider what sin is Sin is a poison it is dangerous to let poison lye long in the body Sin is a bruise if a bruise be not soon cured it gangrenes and kills If sin be not soon cured by Repentance it festers the conscience and damns Why should any love to dwell in the tents of wickedness They are under the power of Satan Act. 26. 18. And it is dangerous to stay long in the enemies quarters It is dangerous to procrastinate Repentance because the longer any go on in sin the harder they will find the work of Repentance Delay strengthens sin and hardens the heart and gives the Devil fuller possession A plant at first may be easily plucked up but when it hath spread its roots deep in the earth a whole team cannot remove it 'T is hard to remove sin when once it comes to be rooted The longer the Ice freezeth the harder it is to be broken the longer a man freezeth in security the harder it will be to have his heart broken the longer any travel with iniquity the sharper pangs they must expect in the new birth When sin hath got an haunt it is not easily shaken off Sin comes to a sinner as the elder Brother came to his Father Luk. 15. 29. Lo these many years have I served thee neither at any time transgressed I thy Commandment and wilt thou cast me off now what in mine old age after thou hast had so much pleasure by me See how sin pleads custom and that is a Leopards spot Ier. 13. 23. It is dangerous to prorogue and delay Repentance because there are three daies may soon expire 1. The day of the Gospel may expire this is a sun-shiny-day it is sweet but swift Ierusalem had a day but lost it Luk. 19. 42. But now they are hid from thine eyes The Asian Churches had a day but at last the Golden Candlestick was removed It would be a sad time in England see to the glory departed With what hearts could we follow the Gospel to the grave To lose the Gospel were far worse than to have our City Charter taken from us Gray hairs are here and there Hos. 7. 9. I will not say the Sun of the Gospel is set in England but I am sure it is under a cloud That was a sad speech Matth. 21. 43. The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you therefore it is dangerous to delay Repentance lest the market of the Gospel should remove and the vision cease A mans personal day of grace may expire What if that time should come wherein God should say the Means of Grace shall do no good Ordinances shall have a miscarrying womb and dry breasts Were it not sad to adjourn Repentance till such a decree came forth 'T is true no man can justly tell that his day of grace is past but there are two shrewd signs by which he may fear it 1. When conscience hath done preaching Conscience is a bosom-Preacher sometimes it convinceth sometimes it reproves It saith as Nathan to David Thou art the man But men imprison this Preacher and God saith to conscience preach no more He that is filthy let him be filthy still This is a fatal sign a mans day of grace is past 2. When a person is in such a spiritual â—…ethargy that nothing will work upon him or make him sensible There is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of a deep sleep poured on him Isa. 29. 10. This is a sad presage his day of grace is past How dangerous then is it to delay Repentance when the day of grace may so soon expire 3. The day of life may expire what security have we that we shall live another day We are marching apace out of the world we are going off the stage our life is a taper soon blown out Mans life is compared to the flower of the field Psal. 103. 15. which withers sooner than the grass Our age is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as nothing Psal. 39. 5. Life is but a flying shadow The body is like a vesâ—…el tunned with a little breath sickness broacheth this vessel death draws it out O how soon may the scene alter Many a Virgin hath been dressed the same day in her bride-apparel and her winding-sheet How dangerous then is it to adjourn repenting when death may so suddenly make a thrust at us Say not you will repent to morrow Remember that speech of Aquinas God who pardons him that repents hath not promised to give him to morrow to repent in I have read of Archias a Lacedemonian who being among his cups one delivered him a Letter and desired him to read the Letter presently being of serious business he replyed seria cras I will mind serious things to morrow and that day he was slain Thus while men think to spin out their silver thred death cuâ—…s it Olaus Magnus observes of the Birds of Norway that they fly faster than the Birds of any other Country not that their wings are swifter than others but by an instinct of nature they knowing the daies in that climate to be very short not above three hours long do therefore make the more haste to their nests So we knowing the shortness of our lives and how quickly we may be called away by death should fly so much the faster on the wing of Repentance to Heaven But me-thinks I hear some say they do not fear a sudden surprizal they will repent upon their sick-bed I do not so well like a sick-bed Repentance He runs a desperate hazard who will venture his salvation within the circle of a few short minutes Thou that puttest off Repentance till sickness answer me to these four queries 1. How dost thou know thou shalt have a time of sickness Death doth not alwaies shoot its warning-piece by a lingring consumption some it arrests suddenly What if God should presently send thee a summons to surrender thy life 2. Suppose thou shouldest have a time of sickness how dost thou know thou shalt have the use of thy senses Many are distracted on their sick-bed 3. Suppose thou shouldest have thy senses yet how dost thou know thy mind will be in frame for such a work as Repentance Sickness doth