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
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
Romans having obtained he said of them that they were full of goodness Our Saviour is said to have grown in stature of body in spirit and in favour with God and Man i. e. to have increased in such Vertues and abounded in such Actions as did exceedingly please God and Man St. Iohn calls this prospering in soul by merciful Additions of grace which he prayed for his Friend Gaius That which a good man should endeavour in this matter St. Paul hath expressed to the life in his own practise i. e. I have not yet attained I am not made perfect but I follow on that I may get to the further end Christ leading me by the hand and helping me forward which makes me to forget what is behind and to add to what I have done well creeping forward and pressing towards the Mark that I may not come short of the prize I will end this Discourse with a short Gloss upon what is said by David in a pathetick Psalm who makes mention of the great desire which the Israelites had under the Mosaick Dispensation to go to Ierusalem that there they might enjoy the presence of God in his Temple and this passion did so transport them that they envied the Happiness of Sparrows and Swallows Birds which had leave to make their nests there but more admired the felicity of God's Servants who dwelt in that House enjoying the manifestations of the Divine Presence and praising God continually for the many and great Mercies which they had received from him and then pronouncing them happy in whose hearts were the ways thither i. e. who set and prepared their minds resolving to be there and passing from Valley to Valley for the Rode lay from Hill to Hill with unwearied steps travelled till they came to that most desirable place This doth every sincere Christian his aim is at the heavenly Ierusalem i. e. the Vision of Peace which is in the presence of God and he makes all his life one constant Journey thither and is therefore truly called one of that Generation of Travellers who march towards Sion and each day of his life is a step in his way and though by the common accidents of this life he may be so hindred that he shall slack his pace awhile and by the slumbers of the Night necessary to refresh his wearied Body his more active thoughts are laid asleep yet the very Night passing on with silent Minutes carries him as a ship under sail doth the Passenger sleeping in his Cabbin nearer to his Port and when he is awake perceiving that he is still in his way he goes on rejoycing and makes what haste he can to come to his Journeys end the fruition of God in Heaven Having shown the Nature of Repentance I come now to urge the Practise of it with three Motives which are these 1. The first is taken from the reasonableness of Repentance in its own Nature 2. The second is that Encouragement which we have to it from the goodness of God who is willing to forgive the Penitent 3. The third is taken from the great and inevitable Mischief which awaites Impenitence 1. It is fit that sinners should repent because sin is the most unnatural thing in the World The state of sin is a contra-natural Temper and the actions in which it expresseth it self are most unreasonable When Iohn the Baptist was sent before our Saviour to prepare his way that is to dispose men for the receiving of his Gospel which is called Luke 1. 17. to make a people ready prepared for the Lord when he begun his work by turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the just he was said Mat. 17. 11. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to restore all things the word signifies Reponere in naturae congruentem statum to reduce men into a state agreeable to Nature which by sin was discomposed What can be more unnatural than for the hearts of Fathers to be set against their Children and for Children to hate their Parents Out of that unreasonable course of sin he brought them by Repentance into their natural Station For the reason asoresaid sin in Scripture is called distraction of mind for when the Prodigal Son made sensible of his Error returned to his Duty he is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to come to himself Sin had made him mad The Prophet Isaiah gives notice of the same thing when he said Shew your selves men return to your mind ye Transgressors He that sins runs away from God and his own Reason both at once Resipiscentia the Latin word for Repentance says the same for he that Repents doth as Lactantius says Mentem quasi ab insaniâ recipere St. Paul in the second Epistle to Timothy calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to awake one out of a drunken sleep Those who slight the great Reasons of their Duties to God and leave themselves to be hurried on in the course of their lives by brutish Appetites act but like men who are mad or drunk and they will confess it if ever they do return to a right use of their mind and settled thoughts which he hath lost who thinks he may be and do what he will Nothing but want of Reason will make any man prefer the loose Wit of a mad man and the wild motions of a Lunatick before the wise thoughts and regular actions of sober men He which sins tears all the Obligations by which God hath engaged him to Obedience breaks all the Bonds which his Almighty Creator hath laid upon his Soul as the Frantick in the Gospel did those which were upon his Body but he hath another sense of things and will not do so when he is restored to a right mind It 's true it did not please God at first to make us immutable yet that we might not fall into Error by sudden Actions he made us able to deliberate and since we do nothing so well usually but it may be bettered and do many things so ill that they ought to be mended he gave us the power of Animadversion that by reflecting upon our selves and actions we might correct by after endeavours that which was not so well done at first and it is most reasonable that we should make use of this power and fit for the Penitent to say It was best indeed not to have sinned but it is next best to repent and since I cannot recall what is past yet I will mend it as well as I can as he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will endeavour to undo what was ill done in my former life I will as St. Iohn said of our Saviour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 do what I can to destroy my sins Another Penicent said well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. having committed a base sin I will endeavour to mend it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 among other things signifies to resume a work to do it better to make up a
defect A sinner among other words in Scripture is said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to miss the mark and therefore he should repent and learn to aim better Sin among other names is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a going astray He must needs be out of his way who by sin is departed from the God of his life and therefore he should take up as the Apostles advice is Repentance towards God i. e. he ought to repent and return to God We have been told and that truly that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that the beginning and end of all happy life and perfection is the lifting up of our souls to God And by another that man is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that a man doth naturally return to God and therefore if we have by sin gone astray from him and our own Nature it is most reasonable as his words are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to repair the mischief of our flight from above from God and Vertue by returning to him To show the reasonableness of Repentance a little further I shall only add two things to be considered viz. 1. That sin is the sickness deformity and pain of the soul. 2. That it is a bold contempt of that excellent Order which the Divine Wisdom hath planted in Humane Nature 1. Sin is the sickness deformity and pain of the soul and is as destructive of its health beauty and safety as distempered humours defect in any Member solution of parts or dislocation of a Joynt can be to the Body and if it be not timely cured will be the death of the Soul Therefore the recovery of a sinner is expressed in Scripture by words which signifie Restoring of health to a sick Man the cure of a wound the Reparation of a decayed or lost Sense the setting of a dislocated Bone in the right place again and giving ease to one that is in pain And there is good Reason for it For is not an ignorant mind as bad as a blind eye A will disabled to all virtuous choice worse than a lame hand And vile affections more ugly than distorted Members An evil Conscience as afflictive as a Cancer in the Breast Pining Envy as vexatious as the gnawing of the Stomach Are not the Furies of Lust and the Rage of Drunkenness or Hellish Malice as unnatural Distempers in the Soul as Feverish heats in the Body Is not the Soul as much tormented with thinking of the folly of Surfeits as the Body is afflicted with the bad consequences of them Is not insatiable desire of worldly Greatness Riches and Pleasure as bad as the Hydropick Thirst A man would think himself in a bad Condition if he should find himself deprived of Sense deformed in any principal Member weakned in the powers of his Body troubled with a deaf Ear a lame Hand and gouty Feet his Blood inflamed and feel himself racked with the pain of the Stone he would have so little pleasure in himself that he would hate life But he who is corrupted with sin is in a worse condition for he hath neither beauty health or vigour in his Soul He is maimed in his excellent Faculties disabled to the use of his best powers and hath defaced the beauty of his Soul which is Vertue A good man is pleased with himself because he feels that his soul is in health and that all his powers are in due symmetry and finds that in his soul which should make a man in love with himself He perceives as Plato said that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as his Scholar Plotin expressed it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Psalmists words beautiful within that his soul is adorn'd with the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Philo called it with compleat vertue which is the highest participation of the Divine Nature by which we are capable to imitate God which we then do when our souls are inriched with the sincere Love of God true Wisdom venerable Prudence exact Justice Godlike Benignity generous Courage lovely Temperance pure Chastity discreet Moderation composed Passions and in short when we have as he said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honest Endeavours good Designs prudent Conversation temperate Manners and indeed all the Actions and Dispositions of Vertue These are the fair Delineations of the Divine Image and finding those in his soul a good man is pleased with himself and desires to be as he is But these beautiful Characters of Immortal Spirits are all defac'd by wickedness and after they are blurr'd whensoever the sinner is forc'd to hold a Looking-glass before his soul he throws it away because he cannot endure to see himself Aristotle said well concerning this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A bad man hath no love love for himself because he finds nothing in himself that is worthy to be loved Much to the same purpose Philo Iud. A wicked man hath no joy in himself after he hath debauched his Nature and vitiated whatsoever was good in it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 having now nothing to rejoyce in And writing upon that Verse in Genesis that after man had perverted his Nature by sin as a punishment the Earth brought forth for his sake Briers and Thorns I saith he and so did his heart too it could not do otherwise adding these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. for what else can grow or spring upon the soul of a Fool but such passions as do prick and wound it Besides that which I have said upon this matter I must add one particular mischief and that no small one which will always disturb a sinner till he return to God by Repentance and that is an evil Conscience a Serpent in the Bosome which hath been well represented in our Saviour's Discourses by a Worm gnawing the Bowels or as a Rust fretting the heart a Fire in the Veins It is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Euripides calls it a Divine Goad sticking in the soul which the Heathens acknowledged under the name of the Thespesian Vipers and the merciless Furies This Cotta the Atheist if we may believe Tully confessed to be a very great vexation without reference to God his words are these Sine ullà Divina ratione grave ipsius conscientiae pondus est It is as vexatious as the company of an unpleasant Ghost to such as are haunted by it day and night who can never be quiet till it be laid But when respect is had to God which it must and will have for it is his Deputy the case is much worse for it will torment the sinner both with the sense of his Disfavour under which it puts him at present and with the fear of that punishment which it makes him expect in time to come It is a huge misery to be in such a state as makes a man afraid of God which the guilt of sin always doth This I cannot better say than in the words of a forementioned Author who speaking
will take away my Hedge and lay them waste Now sinner take heed what will become of thee and have a care of Folly in pretending to teach God what he might have done more for thee and bring forth Fruits meet for Repentance according to the grace bestowed Remember the Fig-tree in the Gospel which having no Fruit upon it when our Saviour sought it was cursed and withered And take St. Chrysost. counsel concerning it We were beaten in this type thou art frighted in this tree thou art instructed to thee is given wholsome Admonition prevent the coming of the Lord with good Fruits What God expects from thee let him find let him have what he desires lest what happened to this Tree from God happen to thee also It is not fit for sinners to dispute concerning grace but to make use of it and repent 2. Of this they ought to be more careful because God doth allow fair space of time to make use of the grace bestowed he repeats his methods of Salvation and sometimes alters them which is a great demonstration of his benignity and ought to move us effectually to make use of it Though the Divine Spirit will not always strive with men yet he continues his merciful Contest a great while Though sinners be dull in apprehending and careless in the consideration of grace offered yet God is not presently weary but waits to see if at last they will understand It is mentioned as a great Favour which God bestowed upon the Canaanites that he did not destroy them at once though they highly deserved it but gave them space for Repentance Thou didst punish the condemned with deliberation giving them time and place whereby they might be delivered from their malice God is pleased to lengthen the tranquility of sinners as Daniel saith and so gives opportunity to make use of grace not only offered but for some considerable time slighted that so they might be saved if they will yet make use of his Favour before their hearts are quite hardened through the deceitfulness of sin We read of the Jews in the Wilderness that they vexed the Holy Spirit with their Disobedience yet we read that he bore with their ill manners 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 40 years and so gave them fair space to repent of their Ingratitude and so save their Souls though their Carkases fell in the Desart After they were come to Canaan he used the same Patience sending his Prophets rising up early and sending them because he had compassion on his People and this he did till there was no remedy This same gentleness did our Saviour use towards them in the days of his Flesh which made him say when his grace was slighted O Ierusalem Ierusalem how oft would I have gathered thy Children together as a Hen doth gather her Brood under her Wings and ye would not The same gracious patience doth he express towards us still How oft hath God warned us by our Spiritual Guides and the Checks of our own Consciences How oft hath he advised us by such whose known Prudence and great Charity was most likely to have made their counsel acceptable How mercifully hath he tim'd his Proposals taking such seasons in which we were in a temper most likely to be wrought upon both when our hearts were softned with the sense of some merciful Providences and melted with kindness the sparks of Ingenuity being blown up into a flame or when sickness or some great affliction had shaken off our Carelesness made us see great reason to think and shown us necessity to hearken to advice Shall not the forementioned Assistances granted with so much patience make the sinner say O Lord I am that barren Fig-tree to which thou mightest have said long ago Never fruit grow on thee O heavy Curse How oft have I given thee cause to say Cut it down why cumbreth it the ground And when I have begged that thou wouldst stay another year and promised to dig about it and did not O Lord thou hast not cut me down but spared me one year and another and another I thank thee and now I will abuse thy goodness no longer I will dig about it with prayers sighs fasting and watching I will water it with my tears and endeavour that it may bring forth fruit answerable to thy just expectation O foolish Soul Is it nothing to play with Divine Patience and to make God stand by whilst thou entertainest thy self with every trifling Vanity O merciful Lord how many years have I grieved thee in this Wilderness How long hast thou born with my manners How oft have I given thee cause to say to me as once thou didst being neglected by thy sleepy Spouse who slumbred whilst thou stoodest knocking and made thee suffer the Injuries of the weather My Head is filled with Dew and my Locks with the Drops of the Night before thou couldst have admittance There are many besides the Gadarens who have turned thee out of their Coasts by their rudeness O Lord I am one of them I confess it with shame But O blessed Jesus go not from me though I deserve it Return according to thy Infinite goodness I will ever watch I will never permit the Door of my Soul to be shut against thee The Third Motive 3. The third Motive to Repentance is taken from that extreme misery which doth await the Impenitent and will unavoidably fall upon them This is told us plainly Thinkest thou this O Man that judgest them who do such things and doest the same that thou shalt escape the Iudgment of God Or despisest thou the Riches of his Goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to Repentance But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy self wrath against the day of Wrath and Revelation of the righteous Iudgment of God The goodness of God as I have shown leads the sinner to Repentance and so to Happiness by Pardon This goodness he despiseth and maintains in himself the hardness of an impenitent heart a heart that will not relent But thinkest thou this O man that so doing thou canst escape the Judgment of God No thou dost but treasure up wrath to thy self against the day of Wrath. Every sinner hath his measure for Iniquity and the Impenitent fills it up God also hath his Store-house for Vengeance and the obstinate sinner doth there lay up wrath against himself At present this is a hidden Treasure but it shall be opened in the day of Wrath when God will reveal the Righteousness of his Judgment upon such as would not repent God hath always declared this to be the last state of obdurate sinners He will wound the head of his Enemies and the hairy Scalp of such a one as goes on still in his wickedness Long before this it was said plainly by Moses If it come to pass when he heareth the words
agreement with Hell and a League with Devils Do they think that cursed Fiends will make them welcome in Hell because they have perswaded them to come thither Can they expect entertainment from such as are shut up in a lothsom Dungeon What help will they give others who are themselves in unspeakable Torments and who are so malicious that if they could they would not It is better to repent than to go to such Company 2. The Impenitent will be exceedingly pain'd because they will then see that it was their own folly which brought them into the Misery which they shall then suffer and that their Obstinacy deprived them of the Eternal Happiness of which they might have been possessors Those who in their life time would not be at leisure to be saved shall then be forced to entertain multitudes of thoughts which will blow the Coles of the unquenchable Fire They will be galled perpetually by considering how sottishly they perished sillily preferring a few short Pleasures before everlasting Felicity and that notwithstanding it was offered them and they often perswaded to chuse it They will then see and grieve to see it was folly enough to have chosen the Temporary Pleasures of sin though for that they should only have been deprived of Eternal Joys but that it was the highest Madness when for that they shall also suffer Eternal Pains and find that the greatness of their Worldly Prosperity which they so much desired having heightened their sin shall also add to the sharpness of their punishment They will then see how sottishly they followed the evil Example of their fellow sinners trampling upon God's Commands and be sensible of the meanness of the Excuse which they made for their Unbelief when they said They could not think there was such a place as Hell because they never talked with any that was there or ever heard it proved by Philosophy And they will wish then that they had believed God who told them that there was such a place that they might endeavour to escape it and not have hearkened to their Ranting Companions who not being able to produce any Arguments against it made it their work to huff the belief of it out of the World and that the rather because they well knew that if there be such a place they themselves must be forced to take an undesirable Lodging in it They will then see that it was unreasonable to ask for Demonstrations in matters of Divine Revelation where God demands Faith upon his Word remembring how sillily the old World laughed at Noah for building a Ship to sail as they thought upon dry ground refusing to believe that there would be a Deluge till they were aflote upon the Waves of it They will see then that Disbelief after plain Declarations of God's Will was not Courage but stupid Presumption and that continuance in sin against great Reasons to the contrary was a malicious Obstinacy They will then confess that no Tentation was a just Counterpoise to God's Promises and that their sensual Appetites were no lawful warrant for the contradiction of the Reason of their Minds and that it was extreme folly to slight the Motions of God's Spirit and hearken to the Suggestions of the Devil Will any dare to say to God then I knew thou wast austere and reapest where thou didst not sow No but remembring that they were graciously and often assisted they will then too late curse the baseness of their Negligence and Ingratitude They will then be ashamed to return to God having done nothing of the Errand upon which he sent them into the World but very much to the contrary of it and be afraid because they go away not having left any Testimony of their Vertue behind them but many damning Examples of Vice They will hate their Being perceiving by the sharp Remorse of their once baffled Consciences that they must be their own Tormentors whilst the space which was granted them for Repentance makes their Impenitence more Criminal and the sense of their having highly deserved what they suffer will make them acknowledge that they are but justly deprived of that small Relief which is commonly allowed to the Miserable Pity 3. Thirdly The Impenitent will be gal'd with Envy to see others possess that Happiness which once they might have enjoyed but then slighted and of which they are now for ever deprived This we learn from our Saviour There shall be weeping and gnashing of Teeth when ye shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdom of God and you your selves thrust out And they shall come from the East and from the West and from the North and from the South and shall sit down in the Kingdom of God This sight will whet the Teeth of the never dying Worm which will not only bite with the never ceasing remembrance of their un worthiness and vex with the pain of late Repentance and continual Self-accusation but also pine with Envy to see others happy in what they threw away That which our Saviour added in this matter is very considerable There are last which shall be first and there are first which shall be last There are many which proud sinners despise as persons a great way farther from Happiness than themselves whom they laugh at for their Ignorance slight for their mean Condition and jeer for their precise Life which shall enter into the Kingdom of God when they themselves shall be stopt So it was with the Jews to whom our Saviour spoke they looked upon themselves as Sons of the Kingdom Heirs of Happiness great in Knowledge splendid in their Family beloved of God satisfied in present Enjoyments and big with Expectation yet these so seemingly forward should be over-run by such as they thought unworthy to eat with them and these should sit down with their pious Ancestors where they their boastful Progeny should be excluded This matter is well expressed Wisd. 5. from the first Verse to the seventh Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted him and made no account of his Labours When they see it they shall be troubled with terrible fear and shall be amazed at the strangeness of his salvation so far beyond all that they looked for And they repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit shall say within themselves This was he whom we had sometime in Derision and a Proverb of Reproach We Fools accounted his life madness and his end to be without honour How is he numbred among the Children of God and his lot is among the Saints Therefore have we erred from the way of Truth and the Light of Righteousness hath not shined upon us This excellent Author gives an account of these Hectors Chap. 2. where he tells us of them that they placed all Happiness in this present Life Verse 2. We are born at all adventure and we shall be hereafter as though we had