speaking in him c. To which one may very well add What was St. Paul only a Servant of Christ's in Notion of Mind but not in Obedience of Will who had served him faithfully so many years and suffered the loss of all things for him and was ready to do so again Whom the Law of the Spirit of Life had made free from the Law of Sin and Death who lived but no longer he but Christ in him willing what he would in him and doing what he would by him for to him he had resign'd Soul and Body Strange Is it the Art of a true Christian to contrive how he may evade his Duty instead of doing it Will any wise man build the peace of his Conscience and lay the stress of his hopes upon Excuses Can any man make us believe that the chief of the Apostles was so dull as not to see a difference between an Excuse and an Aggravation Doth any thing aggravate a sin more than to commit it against ones conscience Was this the sincerity of an old Disciple the attainment of Paul the aged Had he but so learn'd Christ or taught him no better To excuse himself that he sinned he did what his Conscience told him he should not have done He hath rejected this vile pretence as much as can be in two places where he speaketh plainly of himself I have lived in all good Conscience to this day i. e. according to the Principles of Vertue which he had being a Jew and what did he grow worse afterward No for he saith that having received Christian Principles he did then as being more obliged exercise himself always to have a Conscience void of offence to God and Man It had been a brave Defence had it not for the Primitive Christians to have told the Heathens according to this interpretation that they desired to be better than they but were indeed as bad especially since they had received in their Regeneration a power which enabled them to overcome those sins to which the Heathens were slaves For so the same Apostle Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the Lusts of the Flesh. Not that he meant dully if they live in the Spirit they should not live in the Flesh no but that if you follow the conduct of the Spirit you will receive those assistances from it which shall enable you to overcome those Tentations which Hypocrites pretend as the only Excuses why they live after the Flesh. But these assistances must be made use of A man may be overcome of another not stronger than himself if he will not use the Arms which he hath to defend himself It is promised that if we resist the Devil he shall fly from us But can any man think that if he do not resist the Devil he will fly from him or that his yielding to the Devil will be any excuse to him when he is overcome and made his Slave when he did not resist him To close this since foolish Excuses are useless in these matters let every sincere Christian say to himself O my soul it is time for thee to know what thou hast attained in Christian Religion to seek a proof of Christ dwelling in thee and to find a good Evidence of true goodness What doth all that thou hast done amount to Dost thou find in thy self a thankfulness which is in some good measure answerable to the goodness of Christ's Love and the many Benefits which thou hast received from him Hast thou that Reverence towards him which is due to the Dignity of his Person Is thy Temper conformable to his Gospel and thy Life to his holy Example Dost thou only please thy self in the contemplation of Divine Truths and rest in the speculation of heavenly things dost thou not also endeavour to find the power of Gospel Motives working in thy soul to the ends for which they were propounded Dost thou carefully read the holy Gospel that thou mayest not be ignorant of or forget any part of thy Duty and then pray with hearty Devotion for Grace to help thee to obey and then makest use of what is bestowed that thou mayest receive more as need shall require Dost thou give thy self leave to make Hypocritical Excuses for Disobedience and pretending that Christ is made Righteousness to us thinkest that thou mayest indulge some sin in thy self or rather abhorring that falsness doest thou endeavour to give Testimony of thy Love to Christ's Person by obeying his Commands and seekest Reconciliation with God only upon the terms which he hath appointed Dost thou find that as the first purposes of thy soul were to obey so the habitual inclination of thy mind doth propound still the same way and that the constant workings and daily motions of thy soul are all set for the accomplishment of thy holy purposes The good man who finds that it is thus with him will be conscious to himself of his sincerity to God the inward sense and feeling of his soul will tell him that his Conversion is sincere as a man knows himself to be an honest man who endeavours in all his actions to keep himself close to the Rules of good Life 5. To what hath been said I need ad no more but that the sincere Christian makes a daily progress towards the perfection of degrees goes on to perfection as the Author to the Hebrews said The sincere Christian doth not make it his work vainly to compare himself with others whose defects he thinks he hath espied and please himself in what he hath attained because they are not so good but humbly desires by daily endeavors to grow better than himself and to bring the sincerity of his estate nearer to the perfection of Degrees He is mindful of the advice given to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Iesus Christ. He grows in knowledge who understands his way to God better and better for the light of the Righteous shines more and more to perfect day The Traveller that understands his way pretty well having a great Journey to go riseth it may be by Moon-light or takes the first dawnings of the Morning for his Guidance but as the day comes on he grows more assur'd by the clear light But he grows in Grace too i. e. he is bettered in soul and does his Duty to God better and rides on more confidently and with more speed as the Traveller doth when he hath more light to assure him of his way We learn from the Apostles of the Gospel Assistances bringing a good Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to a perfect man to that measure of stature which is full of Christ and makes the Christian like a man who is arrived to those years which bestow upon him a great vigor of strength a firm constitution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle prayed for the Corinthians which he there calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 consummation in grace which the
of the sad Condition in which Adam was after he had eaten the forbidden Fruit and upon the sense of his Fault had hidden himself from God hoping at least wishing he had done so when God enquiring after him though knowing well enough where he was asked him this Question Adam where art thou He makes this Answer for him proper enough 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I am where they are who are not able to look upon God where they are who obey not God I am where they are who hide themselves from their Maker where they are who are fled from vertue and are destitute of wisdom I am where they are who tremble by reason of guilt and cowardise This being the melancholick condition of wretched sinners after they come to consider how things are with them in the cool of the day when the heats of their Wine and Lust are over their ranting mirth ended their Passions becalm'd and they begin to bethink themselves and to reflect upon their Extravagancies and are made to hear that still voice which call'd to Adam after his prevarication Wise men having compared the sprightly erect chearful temper of good men with this Law justly pronounced that vertuous persons do not only 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Not only exceed a vitious man in that which is honest but also overcome him in pleasure for which only the sinner seems to betake himself to wickedness And this pleasure is so considerable that Aristotle could say that it did exceed that of the wicked those Fugitives from Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that it is more pure and more solid and so is as another calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such a pleasure as one shall never have cause to repent of But those pains which I forementioned are more considerable because they are both more pungent and more lasting than those of the Body which made Simplicius say of them That they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. that they are more grievous stay longer and are harder to be cured A bodily Distemper is more easily relieved than an evil Conscience take away the present pain and the Body returns to its health but the soul is pain'd with the remembrance of what is past and the sear of what is to come which is so great an affliction that many times it makes the present state intolerable Therefore Holy Scripture and Ancient Philosophers called the state of Sin the Death of the Soul So our Saviour said of the vitious Prodigal that he was dead and the Apostle of the wicked world that they were dead in sins and trespasses and the Heathen Philosopher the same 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. i. e. The death of the soul is the deprivation of God and Reason which are accompanied with a turbulent conflict of inordinate passions And that none might think that he dully supposed that an Immortal Being can dy he adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Not that they cease to be but that they fall from the happiness of life And in another place he says that wickedness is the corruption of an Immortal Being 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it corrupts it as much as is possible For this reason when any of Pythagoras's Sholars abandoned the practise of Vertue and lest his Society they hung up a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an empty Coffin for him looking upon him as one dead And they might very well do so for is it not the destruction of a reasonable Being to be corrupted in those Principles which are essential to it to be spoiled in its best Faculties to be hindred from the free exercise of its Natural Powers to be bereav'd of that joy which a man hath when he acts according to that which is best in him to be deadned to a vital sense of his chief good and to be deprived of the love of God which is the very life of good men Whatsoever intercepts the favourable Influences of God's Benignity doth as much contribute to the death of the soul as he would promote the bodie 's life who by some fatal obstruction of the inward passages should hinder the communication of vital Spirits to all the parts of the body What joy can a man have when the indwelling God is grieved and the Fool lives in contradiction to the connate Principles of his soul 2. This brings me to the second Demonstration of the Reasonableness of Repentance because sin is an insolent contempt of that excellent order which God hath planted in Humane Nature which is his Law upon it and is the ornament and preservation of it There are few who have so little use of their soul bestoweds upon them but that they know they are better than their Bodies and that the Faculties of it do transcend those of the sensual Part and that the mind doth not only understand what is best but hath Authority bestowed upon it to govern the bodily Appetites which being inferiour in Nature and needing a Guide ought to receive Law from it The soul doth discover being it self taught of God by its natural light and super-added Revelation what is the happiness to which it was made the best good of which it is capable and shows the means by which it may be attained directs assists in the use of them propounds rational Arguments to persuade to use and persist in the use of them can baffle such Objections as are raised either by the homebred Enemy or Forreign Tentations to hinder the soul in its chearful progress towards its Felicity The soul tells us what satisfaction is allowable to the bodily appetites disting uisheth between lawful and unlawful utterly forbids the latter and commands that there be no excess in the former shows what Moderation is and the benefit of it and represents the mischief as well as the sin of excess threatens death upon the eating of all forbidden Fruit. Order is then observed as it ought to be when all the Faculties do obey this Superior upon whom God hath bestow'd power to discern Freedom of choice and authority to command For which reason ancient Philosophers have call'd it by very agreable Names as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because it is the part to which is committed the guidance of all the rest It was called also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that which rides and governs the lower Faculties as the Charioteer doth his Horses with Rains because it was placed in man to guide the Affections and conduct the Faculties of soul and body in what way they should go and what pace and to teach them when to rest and when they went astray to curb their Extravagancies and to reduce them into the right Path. It is worthy of all reasonable Beings to maintain this Dignity and it is their Duty to see that it be not trampled upon This made a great Philosopher say that when a man is assaulted by any
The carnal mind perceives not the things of God they are foolishness to him he understands no reason in them but the true Penitent hath received another mind is made spiritual and so can discern them and acknowledges that to be the chiefest wisdom which before he accounted extream folly He which lives in sin is so besotted with carnal Lust that he can see no reason in Spiritual things no more can a blind man judge of colours The true Penitent thinks highly now of the favour of God which he regarded not before and counts all things dross in comparison of the knowledge of Christ which he despised before understands the Promises to be of infinite value which he contemned before he is convinced of the necessity of God's pardon the excellency of Holiness the reasonableness of vertue and the necessary connexion which is between goodness and happiness 2. It consists also in Alteration of Affections for as he understands things better so he is otherwise affected towards them without this the former would be no proof of a sincere change but a sign of hypocrisie which a true Penitent doth as passionately desire to throw out of his soul as he would cast the Devil out of his House if it were possessed by him Many Scriptures speak this plain enough Those who are Christs have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts and have put off the old man which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts The true Convert hath a new heart another spirit as it is called Num. 14. 24. The heart of stone is broke in pieces and being cast away one of flesh is put in the room of it which is easily known for by its softness it receives impressions from those things which before wrought nothing upon it The Iron sinew is broken and the stiff neck made pliable stoops to the yoke of Christ. Self-will is denied and uncontrolled appetite passeth into a state of mortification the same mind beginning to be in the Convert which was in Christ Jesus he says with him Not my will O Father but thine be done That which pleaseth thee shall please me Greedy desire ceaseth Covetousness languishes Pride is melted down into Humility Feroculum illud petulcum animal cicuratur Insolence and abusive temper is alter'd into sweetness and respect Goatish lasciviousness is changed into chastity of disposition Revenge turned into Forgiveness Malice into Charity He which has repented sincerely will by this find his conversion not to be a vain pretense because he perceives Religion to have passed into his Nature and the Gospel become a principle of new life in his soul and that by the sincere entertainment of it there he contrarily says of himself I am not I Ego non sum ille Ego I am not that I which I was before He is another man a new Creature a man now after Gods Heart He is now a Sacrifice acceptable to God because he is salted with fire that is the vigour of the holy Gospel hath eaten out the Impurity of his Affections and like a Divine Salt dried up those corruptions which putrifie the soul. 2. The sincerity of Repentance declares it self in outward expressions agreeable to the inward change and makes the course of life answerable to the temper of heart The Scripture tells us of newness of life as well as of the new man The Baptist told his Proselytes this same thing when he bad them bring forth fruits meet for Repentance that is to do works agreeable to the nature of the thing it self and the profession of it The sincere Penitent brings forth such fruits as demonstrate the Doctrines of the Gospel like living Roots to have been implanted in his heart i. e. he performs such actions as flow properly from vertuous Dispositions and Habits This the Apostle told the Galatians in other words If you live in the Spirit walk in the Spirit If you live i. e. have made the truth of the Gospel the principle of your life walk in the Spirit i. e. live according to them and let the power of heavenly Doctrine shine forth in the beauty of holy Conversation The Penitent now acknowledges Christ for his Master but to little purpose except he do what he commands him Without a true change of soul a man pretending to some acts of Religion is like a dead Tree unto which some branches of Fruit are tied and if he pretend to have a living Root but brings not forth answerable fruits he may make a plausible show because possibly adorn'd with green leaves but the Tree is such as our Saviour will cut down and cast out of his Garden Our Saviour hath given but one Rule and they will do foolishly that go about to make another to know the goodness of a Tree by and that is the fruit of it For a good Tree bringeth forth good fruits He doth not say that the Tree which is bad now may not be made good and then bring forth good fruits for that it may but that so long as it brings forth corrupt fruits it is bad Most are ready to allow this Rule when they make a Judgment of others but doth it not hold as well when they apply it to themselves Yes and therefore St. Iohn said well Little Children let no man deceive you he that doth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous Let no man deceive you Why were any in danger in that point Yes many did then as they do still flatter themselves that a good heart to God as they call it and some certain desire of living well will be sufficient to their Salvation No saith the Apostle He that doth righteousness is righteous He that will be accepted of God must do righteousness present to God an obedient Faith by which of old as the Author to the Hebrews tells us they wrought righteousness as he that is Christ was righteous and so was accepted of his Father because as he said himself He always did those things which pleased him He who vvill assure himself of his sincerity must make no nevv Rules to judge of it but keep true to the old one and not rest satisfied that he knovvs his Duty and approves of the Divine Will or that he hath some desires to be obedient No he must truly perform the actions vvhich agree vvith Gospel Principles and Lavvs still remembring that of our Saviour vvho is also our Judge If you know these things happy are you if you do them 3. When you have got so far and find the state of your soul right in the forementioned Particulars then remember that you must make your conformity to the aforesaid Rules universal and your Obedience uniform to all the parts of the Gospel If your Obedience be partial you vvill find nothing vvithin or vvithout that vvill keep you from being at a loss as to the proof of your sincerity If it be necessary to forsake sin it
A Discourse CONCERNING REPENTANCE By N. INGELO D. D. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed by T. R. for Richard Marriott and sold by William Bromwich at the Sign of the Three Bibles in Ludgate-Street 1677. A DISCOURSE CONCERNING REPENTANCE PART I. LUKE 24. 47. That Repentance and Remission of Sins should be preached in his Name among all Nations WHen man came out of his Creators hands he was happy and so long as he kept the state of his Nature he continued such for he enjoyed his Makers favour he walked with God had a friendly Converse with him and as he continually made a thankful acknowledgment of his dependance upon his Goodness and perform'd due Obedience to his Will so he was always under the care of his Providence and the Influences of his Grace which was so great a felicity that his condition might well be signified by the name of the place in which he dwelt The Paradise of Eden i. e. The Garden of Delight But see the frailty of created Beings when they are a little trusted with themselves Man soon fell from his happiness He was not content with his Makers allowance he would provide better for himself some other way But so disregarding his Creators Laws he threw himself out of the Divine favour and with himself his Posterity treading in the same steps of Disobedience though they knew how dear it cost their Forefather by the miserable Inheritance which he left them The unhappiness of the Estate so bequeathed being so heavy that men when they considered it would rather never have been born than thrown under the weight of it The merciful Son of God with an unspeakable compassion interposed himself between them and the dreaded Ruin and interceded for their pardon The eternal Father was highly pleased with his Mediation and as for his sake he did not lock the door of Hope against the first Runagate so neither did he afterward shut up his disobedient Children in the irrecoverable misery of their Sin For though they have cast themselves out of the Mercies of the ancient Covenant by breaking the Conditions of it yet the Son of God was pleased to be the Angel of a new Covenant and brought it from Heaven and sent his Celestial Messengers at his Birth to proclaim the Good-will which was contained in it and seal'd it with his Blood which when he was going to die he said he would shed for the remission of Sins And having performed that Promise full of unspeakable kindness when he was raised from the dead he commanded his Servants whom he had made intimate with the design of his Mercy that they should publish it to all the World and in his Name preach Repentance and upon that promise forgiveness of sin and declare that God would now accept of Return to Duty instead of Obedience which had never fail'd and that all such of sinful Mankind as would run away from their disobedient Party acknowledge their Fault lament their Rebellion throw down their Arms yield to Mercy and return to their Allegiance should come to be as they were at first by Gods allowance be put into the way of Happiness again For by the forgiveness of their sins God restores them to his Favour a Grace denied to a higher sort of Creatures than we are Angels when by sin they flung themselves out of Heaven I have designed this Discourse to treat of the way which God hath been pleased to accept and our Saviour to declare for our escaping the misery of sin which is Repentance And of this I shall speak as I find it described in the New Testament where two words are chiefly used to express the nature of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1. Change of mind as to what is past 2. Better care for the future And these I shall explain as Holy Writ and the practise of Gods Church do direct 1. A change of mind as to what is past So Tertull. In Graeco sono Poenitentiae nomen ab animi demutatione compositum est which he said respecting the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He which repents must begin with a severe condemnation of his former course So Isidor Pelusiota l. 4. c. 60. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 How can he repent of what he hath done who doth not condemn it as wicked This part of Repentance expresseth it self in two things 1. Humble Confession of Sin 2. Earnest Prayer for Pardon 1. Humble confession of sin which is both required in many places of Scripture and appears to have been the practise of Penitents He which confesseth and forsaketh finds mercy If we confess our sins he is faithful It is meet to be said unto God I have sinned He can never hope for pardon who will not confess his sin As Confession belongs to Repentance so if it be right it must have these two things joyned with it 1. Sorrow and 2. Shame 1. We must make our Confessions having in our souls a great sorrow for having offended God a great displeasure against our selves for our disobedience When the Apostle perceived the Corinthians to have fallen into a great sin he wrote a sharp Letter to them and the consideration of that and what they had done wrought in them the beginning of Repentance a godly sorrow or sorrow according to God which he doth require and will accept if it be sincere according to the nature of the sin committed It is fit that he who hath sinned should be grieved when he considers what he hath done and say as he did Eheuquà m ego totus displiceo mihi Poenitentia denot at paenam animi de re perper am gestâ sibi displicentis St. Peters Penitents were said to be pricked in their Hearts and the Scripture calls true Repentance a broken heart a contrite spirit And true Penitents usually expressed their sorrow in tears with which David is said to water his Couch and St. Peter upon consideration of his grand sin is said to have gone forth of the Company and to have wept bitterly He which truly considers what it is to have sinned would if he could wash away the stain with tears of blood When the weight of the sins of others began to sit close and heavy upon our Saviours shoulders it put him into such an Agony that it made clammy drops of thick sweat like viscous blood trickle from his Body to the ground Therefore Penitents of old to express their due grief used to gird themselves with Sackcloth and fit in Ashes For anciently in great mournings it was the custom to put on Sackcloth to cover their heads with Ashes and sit in the Dust. As we see in the Story of the King of Niniveh in that great affliction of soul which surprised him upon Ionas's denunciation of wrath against him and his people and in the case of Thamar in the astonishing grief which seized her upon the loss of her Honour So Iob when he
the Prophet brings in the Heavens as wondring at it Be astonished O ye Heavens at this and be ye horribly afraid saith the Lord for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters and hewed them out Cisterns broken Cisterns which can hold no water 'T is true it was applyed principally to their forsaking the living God to serve dead Idols Hath a Nation changed their Gods which yet are no Gods but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit It was a strange Impudence in those wicked Jews of whom this Prophet speaks who when they were in a bad Condition made such by their sins would mend it by their sins They were in captivity because of their wickedness and in particular for Idolatry and were told so by the Prophet See what use they made of it We will burn Incense to the Queen of Heaven and pour out drink-offerings to her as did our Fathers who were then well and had plenty of all things Lyars They were now in Famine for that Disobedience and yet said we will do what hath come into our minds when as all the Prosperity which they enjoyed before was from observing Gods Commands and they bereav'd themselves of it now by forsaking God as the Prophet told them before that they procured this to themselves in that they forsook the Lord their God And that their own wickedness should correct them and make them know that it was an evil thing and bitter that they had forsaken God and that the fear of displeasing him was not in them and that it should enter into their heart i. e. to gnaw it when they considered what they had done What less folly are they guilty of who forsake the peace of Conscience and hope of Immortality and pleasures of Divine Favour for the embraces of an Harlot voluptuous Riots unjust Gain or for all that Good that any or all sorts of sin can bring in exchange When they come to themselves as it was said of the Prodigal for a sinner is out of his wits they say to themselves as the Apostle did to the Romans What profit have we of those things which now only produce shame in our souls Or as that great Souldier when he saw the folly of his base Condescension in the sad Consequences of it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So the Prodigal I have left the bread and all good entertainments of my Fathers house to feed upon Husks with Swine I have of a Freeman made my self a slave to Corruption When David not weighing things in the Balance of the Sanctuary i. e. esteeming them as God doth according to the true worth did undervalue the happiness of good men because they wanted that prosperity which he saw some wicked men enjoy when he came to consider better how did he condemn the folly of his former thoughts in these words So foolish was I and ignorant I was as a Beast before thee But as I have none in Heaven but thee so in Earth there is nothing that I can desire in comparison of thee Thy favour is better than life or any thing in it This was the folly of the first sinners they would mend the estate God had put them in by following their own counsels and so for the slight and short pleasure which they had in eating forbidden fruit lost the joy of Divine Favour and the peace of their own Consciences and flung themselves into shame and fear Art not thou ashamed whoever thou art which consents to sin to throw thy self out of the joy of thy soul a serene tranquillity of mind into melancholy and grief when thou seest how by sin thou hast debased thy self lost thy honour and devested thy self of the Dignity and Pleasure of Vertue for some mean satisfaction of bodily Appetite and indulging some vile Affection 2. The folly of Sin appears more he which disobeys God will transgress his Laws and go beyond the bounds which God hath set though they lay no curb upon Appetite nor stop the course of Action be to preserve us from that mischief into which we shall fall if we go farther than they permit A madman will on though you stop him only upon the top of a Precipice Is not the pleasure of single Life enough with Chastity and Divine Love or if Nature requires another state are not the modest allowances of Marriage enough without the unclean pleasures of forbidden Beds Is not the satisfaction of eating and drinking to a temperate chearfulness much better than to be drown'd in excess of Wine and choked with Gluttony and Surfets Is not a competency of worldly Means sutable to the necessities of our Condition and number of our Relatives thankfully enjoy'd better than the tormenting content of a ravenous Temper which makes the man haunted with it always to endeavour to add House to House Land to Land and to encrease his Heap with unjust Actions as well as greedy Desires When the Fool which makes a mock of sin comes to himself and is made to see what he hath done his countenance will fall as it was said of Cain and he will be ashamed to have parted with the sprightly erect temper of his Soul which with Innocence he had in the favour of God when by sin he finds himself depressed grieved undone Sampson broke the Law of his God which as a Nazarite he had upon him and suffered a Harlot to cut off his Hair but when he went out to shake himself as he said and found the Spirit of God departed from him what horrour with shame with despondence of Soul seiz'd upon him 3. The folly of a sinner appears also in this that he is not sensible of the great danger which his sin leads him into no though he hath been often told of it See this point of Folly in a few Particulars 1. He minds not that an action once done cannot be recalled and that therefore sin once committed cannot be undone Non est nunquam omnino fecisse facere cess asse He which sins makes himself guilty 2. He acts as supposing that he may be happy without the Divine Favour or may disobey and not lose it as if God could stand Neuter among men in the World and did not impartially weigh the actions of men and were not of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity But the Fool sins on neither minding the threatnings which are annexed to the Laws which he breaks nor considering that he who made those threatnings is Almighty and so can both put them in execution and appoint such punishments as we can neither imagine nor endure 3. The sottishness of the security appears more plainly because God hath declared that he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the World in Righteousness Is thy heart set to do evil because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily Shall a Malefactor
think himself well because he is not hanged as soon as condemned when the Judge hath set a day for his Execution Alas what small security is in that short respite Dost thou not know that the goodness of God leads thee to Repentance and yet wilt sin and so treasure up wrath to thy self by hardness of heart against the day of the Revelation of Gods just Judgment The Fool puts the Evil day far from him which how near it is God only knows 4. This is also one addition to this folly that he will sin when he hath been told not only that there is a set Day of Judgment and consequently of Punishment though delayed a while but also that a sinner by a course of impenitence may be shut up in a state inevitably obnoxious to the punishment of that Day a long while before the person dies and so comes to his particular Judgment One may so much grieve the Lord as the Israelites did in the Wilderness that he will swear they shall never enter into his rest They may sin so long that no place is left for Repentance and so no hope of Mercy It is a dreadful curse when God saith Let them fall from one wickedness to another that so often and the sins so great that they never come into his Righteousness Gray hairs are upon the foolish sinner and he perceives not that he grows old in sin and guilt My Spirit shall not always strive with men Pharaoh having hardned his heart against several miraculous Declarations of Gods Power and Anger was irrecoverably destinated to Ruin though God told him that he preserved him a while to show his power and anger upon him before he utterly destroyed him The sins of the Amorites were not at the full Who knows whether he hath filled up the measure which God will stop at yet fond sinners add to it daily When our gracious Saviour perceived Ierusalem to be in this case he wept over it and said O Ierusalem Ierusalem how oft would I have gathered thee O that thou hadst in this thy day seen the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thine eyes We know that men by sin may grow so stupid as to their minds that they will pray for life to that which is dead and as to their Affections they may be given up to those which are so vile as that it is a shame to mention them and grow so base that they will sell Heaven as Esau did his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage I have heard of a man who having been drunk overnight and passed over a very narrow Bridge which no sober Horsman durst attempt being brought the next day to see what danger he went through fell down in a swoon upon the sight of it But sinners are so besotted with the love of sin that they will on though they are shewed before that the Bridge they are going to is impassable and that the Lake of Fire and Brimstone is under it This is enough to have shown the folly of sin which whosoever is guilty of when he considers it will find reason enough to be ashamed of himself 3. The third consideration in this matter is that high Injustice of which he makes himself guilty that sins There is nothing in the world so due to any person as Obedience is to God That which is made by another ought to receive Law from him There is nothing more absurd in Nature than for a Creature to be its own This was the Root upon which the misery of Mankind grew at first that they would be sui juris their own Law-givers and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 still he which sins knows 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but his own Appetites and this he declares in his Actions And sometimes it comes to that boldness that he says so in words too as those Miscreants Our lips are our own who is Lord over us Monstrous absurd It is not so unjust or shameful for Lacqueys to ride on Horseback and Princes to attend them on foot as for a Creature to think to be at its own dispose and to speak and do what it will No said those pious souls who understood their estate thou hast made us and not we our selves And therefore as the Apostle adds we should so speak and so do as those who shall be judged by the Creators Law and give an accompt to him who will pass a severe sentence upon the injustice of Disobedience Men are mightily concerned for their own dues and take it ill if any deprive them of their Right Shall not the God of heaven and earth regard what is due to him by a Right which is transcendent to all created propriety See what notice God takes of his wrongs A Son honoureth his Father and a Servant his Master If then I be a Father where is mine Honour If I be a Master where is my fear Art not thou ashamed who art by nature but a Servant to deny the homage which is due to the Soveraign Lord of the World and yet art very careful of those petty Rights which are only due to thee by his appointment Dost thou think it a shame for Creatures to do unjustly to one another and yet dost not blush to wrong thy God This is so strange a thing in Gods accompt that as the Prophet Malachi tells us God wonders at it Will a man rob God It is most unlikely yet you have robbed me God had bestowed the Land of Canaan upon them but reserved to himself as Lord Proprietor several Tithes and Offerings which he would have paid to him as an Acknowledgment of himself of whom they held what they enjoyed They pay'd not these Dues But God doth not care for it possibly Doth he not See what follows ye are curs'd with a dreadful curse because you have robbed me even this whole Nation He which truly repents turns with shame for the wrong which he hath done to his God and blushes as a penitent Thief when he brings back stollen goods As a Thief is ashamed when he is found so is the House of Israel And so we read in the Confessions of those good men which prayed to God for 'em when they made their Repentance publick they were ashamed and confounded when they considered the wrongs which they had done to God To thee O Lord belongs Righteousness but to us shame and confusion of face to us not only the men of Iudah and Inhabitants of Ierusalem but to our Kings and Princes because we have sinned against thee So Ezra and others 4. This shame is heightened by this in that he which sins against God is guilty of most hainous Ingratitude He which sins offends his most good God abuseth his best Friend Dost not thou who sinnest slight him in whom thou livest movest and hast thy being affront him who hath fed and clothed thee all thy days This Ingratitude is so great an aggravation of the
it enter into thy mind to think that God hath declared one thing to men in his Word and hath decreed another concerning them in himself He is the God of Truth and therefore repent and trust in his mercy 2. To the other Who says he would but hath no power to Repent and so looks upon the goodness of God in forgiving the Penitent as not available to him I answer That it is true since our fall we cannot return to God by our own weak power but that is no Excuse for Impenitence because God is ready to supply that Defect with the Assiistance of his Grace God was pleased to make his dear Son a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins not only to pardon sinners upon their repentance but to give them grace to enable them to repent and so obtain pardon This grace may be had for asking He will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him It is the good pleasure of him who hath commanded us to will and do what we ought to enable us to will and do what we ought This assistance of the Divine grace I shall express in St. Augustine's words Non in eo divinitus adjuvamur ad operandam justitiam quod Legem Deus dedit plenam bonis praeceptis sed quod ipsa voluntas nostra sine qua operari bonum non possumus adjuvatur erigitur impartito Spiritu Gratiae i. e. we are not divinely assisted to the working of Righteousness in this that God hath given us a Law full of good Precepts but because our Will without which we cannot do good is helpt and erected by the Spirit of grace bestowed upon us It is a great favour that God hath been pleased to give us his Gospel which St. Paul calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saving grace It shows the way of Salvation to us by it we are made to understand the most important concerns of our souls that shows us the gracious conditions of our pardon and lays before us strong Reasons to convince us of the necessity of our complyance with what God hath propounded if we will be happy and demonstrates the reasonableness of Obedience But God is pleased also to invigorate his Gospel Methods with the gracious Operation of his benign Spirit which makes a Divine Light shine into the Mind clears up the mist of Ignorance which lay upon it before and makes us know the things which belong to our peace awakens our Consciences and makes us apprehensive of the danger of sin and affrights us with the truth of Divine Threatnings makes us consider heavenly Motives opens our hearts as it did Lydia's to attend to the things which are spoken to us and inclines us to comply with the reason of them it raiseth our wills out of sloth and languor by a secret ardor of life conveyed into our Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by ways which God knows as St. Basil saith and so puts into our minds good Desires and makes us begin to feel in our Souls a hunger after Righteousness it melts us with the Love of God and his dear Son makes us ashamed to sin any more and comforts us with the hope of Pardon and Restoration to the Divine Favour and so conjures us by potent Arguments to enter into the Bands of the Covenant and perswades us to submit thankfully to the terms of the Gospel Thus our blessed Saviour stands at the Door and knocks thus the heavenly Father draws us to his Son and the sinner should say I find the gracious Spirit of God leading me towards the Land of the Living I will resign my self to his Conduct I will be led by him I will follow the Lamb wheresoever he goes Doth my Saviour vouchsafe to knock at my Door I am infinitely beholden to him I will open to him I will let him in and give him the possession of my Soul This is the Divine grace and it is our Duty to make a careful use of it and then we shall have more to help us to perfect what is well begun A ready complyance with such merciful Assistance is highly requisite for if we resist God's kind Motions and slight the help bestowed we may frustrate the design of his Mercy against our selves and make that grace ineffectual which would have saved us if we had improved it with our concurrent endeavours We must not expect that God should pull us out of a state of sin and drag us into a state of vertue by an irresistible force God is pleased in Conversion to draw us towards himself by the Cords of a Man by such Arguments as we understand to be most reasonable and by such Motives as are apt to perswade such as will consider and by the gentle Swasions of his good Spirit with the Cords of Love and the Bands of Kindness We must not think that God should act upon us to the extent of his Omnipotence but according to his Wisdom He knows what help is sufficient for us and how fit it is that we should thankfully use what is enough without asking what is too much He takes what method he pleaseth in the dispensing of his grace which we are not to appoint but obeserve Our Duty is to accept of sufficient grace and use it that we may be converted and not teach God how to convert us God was always displeased with men when neglecting the kindness which he showed them they would prescribe him methods for the communication of his goodness When the Israelites were led through the Wilderness they were well enough provided for by God's care and should have been not only content but thankful they were neither but lothing the Bread of Heaven which God had appointed for them they would have Quails They had them but they had better have been without them for God was angry at their rude unthankfulness For the limited the Holy One of Israel They would not only be provided for but in such a way as they themselves should describe We have a very good account of this matter in that excellent Parable of Isaiah where God speaking of the Jewish people whom he calls his Vineyard saith That he planted it in a fat Soyl hedged it that is guarded it with his Providence set a Vine which was generous gave them excellent Laws the teachings of inspired men and the assistances of his grace and all sufficient means to promote their bringing forth Fruit answerable to his Care But after all instead of good Grapes they brought forth wild Grapes God was displeased and for the Justice of his Anger he appealed to the Judgment and Conscience of those who had slighted his Favours and said What could I have done more to my Vineyard than I have done I have done what I thought fit for me to do and bestowed what I thought enough for them to receive and because they have made me no answerable Returns I