First, what Repentance is.

THere is no Doctrine in the Church of God more necessary thē the doctrine of Repentance and amendment of life; neither doth the holy Ghost so much labour in all the Scripture, as hee doth to beat repentance into mens heads.

It was not only the on­ly Sermon which S. Iohn Baptist preached, to prepare the way for Christ, but also [Page 2] it was the first that euer was made, it was preached by God himselfe, to our first parents in Paradise; & euer since both the Pro­phets, Apostles, and many of Gods faithful Ministers haue preached Repentance vnto the people.

Yet notwithstanding many are so wedded vnto sinne, and they are become so godlesse, so gracelesse, so rooted and fully resolued to liue therein, y^t the most part little vnderstand the Doc­trine of Repentance, and lesse practise the duty. Ma­ny presume to describe it, though few know it: ma­ny can talke of it, but few walke in it; many speake of it, but few feele it; and [Page 3] many thinke they haue caught it, when they haue but the shaddow of it; be­cause it is so slippery that few can hold it, and so se­cret that many cannot find it: it is hid from the world, and reuealed vnto none but to the elect Children of God.

It is a worke that no men with their sine heads and deepe deuices can com­prehend, for the conuersion of a sinner is supernatural. And whosoeuer doth or hath not felt in himselfe what repentance is, shalbee dammed; therefore hee that hath eares to heare, let him heare, and he that hath eyes to see, let him see what Repentance is, and withall [Page 4] bring this precept of the Philosophers with him, Nosce teipsum, Know thy selfe; it is the first thing to be done in repentance, and the beginning of all grace.

Repentance is a worke of grace▪ arising of a godly sor­row, from a true faith, and knowledge of a mans own spirituall estate. It is a constant turning of man in his whole life from all his sinnes, vnto God; it is an harty sorrow for sinne with amendment of life, hauing a godly Resolution to sinne no more.

It is a most necessary thing for mankind; it is the very supersedeas and dis­charge of sinne, and the cause of vnity betweene [Page 5] God and man. There is no other means to make peace betweene Christ and vs, but Repentance: No other to discharge sin, nor course to auoyde hell, but Repen­tance; neither any way to winne heauen, but Repen­tance: and therefore Re­pentance is most necessary.

What wounded body would not seeke a salue? much more what wounded soule, slain with sin, would not seeke Repentance, see­ing it is the onely salue to cure the soule?

It is an Ephod of puri­ty; and a defiled man may not weare it. The dignity of it is great, & honorable; and the Lord will not be­stow it vpon an vnworthy [Page 6] person. It is a magnificent guest, and wil not come in­to a polluted Tabernacle. It is an holy Sainct, and will not dwell in the Synagogue of Sathan.

It is not to bee bought with siluer or gold, nor to bée had from the gifts of Kings, Popes, or Poten­tates: it is a thing of ine­stimable value, it sheweth the attonement betweene the Sauiour and the Sin­ner; and beeing gotten by Faith, Prayer, and hearing the Word of God, it brings thee vnto Christ. It is li­bera Donatio, a gift abso­lute, without considerati­on, which God euer besto­weth vpon his friends, vp­pon those that loue him. It [Page 7] is called the Spirit of Bur­ning; therefore with spéede repēt, that repentance may burne thy sinnes, lest the fire of hell burne thy soule. Esay 4. 4.

The true Essence or na­ture of thy Repentance, onely consisteth in turning from all thy sinnes vnto God: and therefore it is not altogether deriued of the word Poenitentia, be­cause the Diuines say, it doth not comprehend To­tum Terminum a quo et ad quem, from what, and to whom thou must returne.

But this is the true Re­pentance, which the Latins interpret by this word Re­sipiscentia, or Conuersio; w^e is not onely the changing [Page 8] of the minde, but it is Re­cessus a malo, a forsaking of euill, Accessus ad bonum, & returne vnto that which is good: Reuertimini vsque ad me, returne as farre as vnto me. Thou must not with Agrippa come w^e al­most, for God delights not in those which will but al­most repent: but if thou wilt repent truely, thou must carefully giue vnto God three things, viz. Pri­mam Lunam, Rotam Solis, Canis iram:

And withall haue both a purpose in minde, and an inclination in will, and en­deauour [Page 9] in life, wholly to forsake all thy sins for euer, and turne vnto God.

For better proofe that true Repentance is a tur­ning vnto God, thou maist finde examples in the holy Scriptures plentiously.

O ye children of Israel (saith Esay) turne againe frō al your infidelity, where­in you haue drowned your selues.

Turne you, turn you from all your euill wayes, for why will ye dye O ye house of Is­rael?

Repentance may be cal­led a worke of Grace; yea, a supernaturall Grace of a sanctified spirit, arising of a godly sorrow, from a true faith, and knowledge of a [Page 10] mans owne spirituall e­state.

I may call Repentance a worke, because it seemes not to bee a quality or ha­bite, but an action of a Re­pentant sinner, striuing to returne from all his sinnes, to come vnto God: and it cannot be practised by any, but such as are in the state of Grace.

Thou must leaue all sin, and turne wholly to God: therefore to be contrite, and not to conuert; to conuert, and not to reforme; to for­sake sinne past, and not to amend; to eschew▪ euill, and not to doe good; and to acknowledge Gods mercy, & not to giue thāks: is indéed, not to repēt truly.

[Page 11]To doe one thing, and to leaue all the rest vndone; or to doe all but one, and to leaue that vndone, is to do nothing at all: but to leaue all vndone, is to put the Diuell out of one corner of thy heart into another.

For bee thou well assu­red, that thy soule is a reall thing, and cannot passe but by liuery; therefore if thou wilt deliuer the whole pos­sessō of thy soule vnto God by Repentance vnfeigned­ly, thou must needes driue the Diuell out of all the corners of thy heart by a­mendmēt of thy life whol­ly.

Thou must resolue to leaue sinne fully and abso­lutely. If thou begin to re­pent, [Page 12] and goe not forward from Grace to Grace, thy Repentance is of no value: Non progredi est regredi, Not to goe forward (in thy Repentance) is to go back­ward, without thy amend­ment: for there is no stan­ding still (in the state of sin) if thou mind to repent. Qui cessat esse melior, cessat esse bonus: He that ceasseth to bée better, ceasseth to bée good; but he that doth begin & goe on to the end, receiues his reward, and this can neuer be obtained, except thou repent truly.

To Repent, consisteth but of two syllables; yet vnto the wicked it is so hard to be learned, and so vnapt to be practised, that [Page 13] like as the Camelion can change himselfe into all co­lours sauing white, so wold they change thēselues from all goodnesse to follow euil, rather then to returne vn­to the Lord by Repen­tance.

To conclude this point, thou shalt no sooner repent, but heauen shall bee confir­med vnto thee, habendum et tenendum, for euer and euer.

Secondly, God is the Au­thor of Repentance.

REpentance is libera donatio, a gift abso­lute, without consideratiō; and it comes fréely from [Page 14] God, who is the very effi­cientIer. 31. 18. Lam. 5. 21. Ier. 31. 18. Ier. 31. 18. 2. Tim. 25. 26. and principall Author or Donor thereof. It is therfore to be held the more precious, and to bee desired with the more hope; yea, to be thy Summum Bonum, for it obtaineth Saluation vn­to all those which truely re­pent and turne vnto God. And hee that turneth vnto God by Repentance, must first of all bee turned by God: and so saith Ieremiah, Ierem. 31. 19. Surely after IIer. 31. 19.was conuerted I repented, and after I was instructed, I smote vpon my thigh; I was ashamed, yea euen confoun­ded, because I did beare the reproch of my youth. AndIoh. 6. .44. our Sauiour Christ saith, No man can come vnto [Page 15] me except my Father draw2 Tim. 2. 25 Ps. 118. 29. Ier. 33. 11. Mat. 19. 16 Psal. 105. Psal. 103. 8. him. Therefore saith S. Paule, Instruct them with meekenesse, prouing if God will at any time giue them Repentance, that they may be saued.

For God is good andEzech. 18. Rom. 10. 1 [...]. Psal. 50. 15 Psal. 91. 15 Psal. 145. 18. mercifull vnto all those that turne vnto him by Repen­tance; he is full of pitty, and hath no pleasure at all that the wicked should die: but is rich vnto all that call vp­pon him for mercy; and hath promised to heare thy petitions if thou truely re­pent.

Furthermore, if thou hadst repentance in thine owne power, and mightest repent when thou wouldest; [Page 16] yet it were but a folly; yea, it were a méere madnesse to presume in sinne because thou hast a remedy. But now séeing thy repentance is in the hand of God, and that none can repent with­out his especiall Grace, it were a double and a treble folly to delay thy Repen­tance from day to day, or to seeke it from any other but from God.

Thirdly, of Contrition.

COntrition is a feare and inward sorrow of con­sciēce, perceiuing that God is angry with sin, & is sor­ry that it hath sinned. And to speake more largely of [Page 17] it, thou maist know this; y^• Contrition also compre­hendeth first the knowledge of God, requiring Obedi­ence, and discommending Disobedience; and not to remit Sin without full and perfect satisfaction, either in respect of obedience it selfe, or else in respect of punish­ment.

Secondly, the discussing and examining of thy Na­ture, thy thoughts, will, af­fections, and all thy actions and déedes, according to the square and rule of Gods Lawes in euery point: for as saith S. Augustine, Pec­catum puniendum est aut a te, aut a Deo: si punitur a te, tunc punitur sine te: si vero a te non punitur, tecum puni­etur. [Page 18] Sin must néedes bée punished, either of God, or of thy selfe; if by thy selfe, then sin is punished with­out thée; if of God, then thou and thy sin must bée punished together. There­fore if thou wouldst repent with a true contrition, that thereby thou maist reape a most plentiful haruest, thou must sowe in Gods field y^e séedes of Repentance, and oftentimes water them w^t the teares of thy humble Contrition: so shalt thou gather the true fruits of e­uerlasting ioy and felicity. For as y^e déeper the woūd, the more diligent the cure: so let thy repentance bring forth as much sorrow, as sin gaue thee delight.

[Page 19]And as S. Ambrose saith, Expectat lachrimas nostras Deus, vt profundat Pieta­tem suā: God looketh for thy teares in thy Contrition, that hée may powre downe his grace vpon thy amend­ment. Lauandum est cor Poenitentiae lachrimis. Thou must wash thy heart in the troubled Poole of Bethesda, in the true tears of Repen­tance, hauing an inward sorrow wrought by the holy Ghost, for thy sinnes before committed, against so good and gracious a God; ioyned both with a perfect faith to bee forgiuen for Christ his sake, and also from henceforth, with a ful and determinate purpose to amend and leade a new life.

Fourthly, of Examination.

BEfore thou confesse thy sinnes vnto God, thou must take heede to examine thy selfe, that thereby thou maist know them both in greatnesse and danger: for vntill thou know thy sins, that thy conscience may be conuicted by them, thou canst neuer humbly & harti­ly confesse them.

For, let any repentant sinner aske his conscience, what was the first cause of his conuersion, and surely he will say, That when hee began to repent, he did first search himselfe; and finding his wayes dangerous, and [Page 21] his cause feareful, did there­vpon resolue to take a new course. It is the beginning of all grace, to search, trie, and examine thy selfe. It is also a meanes to preuent Gods iudgement: for if thou doest not search thy selfe, then God will search thee with his fiery crosses and terror of his punish­ments.

But if thou truely exa­mine thy selfe, first to bee guilty of Adams sin.

Secondly, prone by Na­ture to all euill.

Thirdly, subiect to the curse of Gods wrath.

Thus in the guiltinesse of Adams sin, sin hath his beginning; in the originall, his continuance; and in [Page 22] actuall, his full perfection.

So, answerable there­unto is the wrath of God; it beginneth by leauing thée by nature vnto the slauery of Sathan; it is continued by death, and accomplished by damnation.

Now these three rules I leaue to thy carefull consi­deration, assuring thée from God, thou canst neuer bee saued, vnlesse thou repent; nor neuer repent, except thou doest search, trie, and examine thy selfe.

Thus, if thou wilt repent truly, thou must search and looke into thy selfe, to see in what a miserable case thou art; as I haue said before: and thou shalt find, that by nature thou art the [Page 23] child of wrath, out of the fauour of God, not onely wretched and accursed by the Law, a bond-slaue vnto Sathan, but finally subiect to death, hell, and damnati­on.

Thus if thou wouldst know, if thou art in the right way of repentance, or no, thou shalt finde, if thou consider in thy selfe, whe­ther thou hadst euer any neede of Gods pardon for thy sinne, or of Christ his blood, to salue and cure thy soule: Or was thy heart euer wounded or grieued for thy sin, so that thy soule were euen sicke with the stinke thereof?

Or didst thou euer hun­ger and thirst after God in [Page 24] Christ? and with sighes, groanes and teares, beg for his mercy vpon thy knees (as for life and death:) If thou hast not felt, nor done these things in some mea­sure, surely thy case is very fearefull and dangerous; y^u art not yet in the way of Repentance: therefore as yet the mercies of God be­long not vnto thee.

Fifthly, of Confession.

SAint Chrysostome saith, that nothing pleaseth God more then Confessi­on, if it be ioyned with true contrition; and that it is a part of Humiliation, euer ioyned with true Repen­tance, [Page 25] because they cannot bee truly humble & repent, who confesse not their sins vnto God: neither will he giue them pardon; for God couers when men vncouer and acknowledge; he iusti­fieth when men condemne themselues, and flye vnto him for mercy. If any plead vnto God, Non est factum, and deny his deedes, and debts of sinne; there is no reason why he should haue the Acquittance of Grace. Therefore, saith Salomon, Prou. 28. He that hideth his sins shal not prosper, but hee that confesseth them and forsa­keth them, shall haue mer­cy.

If thou confesse them effectually, it wil cause thee [Page 26] to weepe like Mary Mag­dalen; wrastle with God like Iacob; and poure forth flouds of teares, like Eze­chia. Thou must cōfesse thē in this or such like manner. First, y^u must put vp an in­ditement against thy selfe, and accuse thée before God; wherin thou must acknow­ledge both thy particular & vnknowne sins, generally without any excuse, exte­nuation or defence, in hi­ding the least of them. An example thou maist finde in Dauid: I know my iniquity is euer before me.

Secondly, y^u must w^t griefe of heart (as a Judge vpon y^e Bench) giue sentence a­gainst thy self, acknowled­ging thy vnworthinesse, by [Page 27] reason of thy sinne, to haue deserued euerlasting dam­nation; as the Prodigall child did, who said, Father I haue sinned against hea­uen and before thee: Or the Publican, who standing a far off, would not so much as cast vp his eyes vnto heauen, but smot his breast, crying: Lord bee mercifull vnto me a sinner.

Thou must also accuse thy sins, thy very consci­ence must witnesse against them, and thy heart con­uince them; thou must ac­cuse them, first, as stran­gers deiected; secondly, as aduersaries conuicted; and thirdly, as enemies profes­sed.

In so doing, saith Au­gustine, [Page 28] when thou accusest thy selfe by confessing thy sins vnto God, thou pre­uentest thereby the Diuell of his purpose, so that hee cannot accuse thee at the day of Judgement. For, saith hee, thou blottest out all thy sinnes by Repen­tance.

Where there is no ac­cuser, there is no crime pro­duced for the Judge to cō ­demne: For Eius quod non est, non est poena: peccatum remissum, non est; ergo pec­cati remissi non est poena. That which is not, hath no punishment; forgiuen sins are not; ergo forgiuen sins haue no punishment. And so saith the Author to the Hebrewes, 10. 18. Leo saith, [Page 29] that those sins shall neuer bee condemned which are purged before with confes­sion and Repentance Nei­ther is Jesus Christ any longer thy Judge to con­demne thee, but thy Aduo­cate to plead for thee, if y^u accuse thy selfe by confessi­on.

Therefore confesse thy sins vnto God without a­ny excuse or delay. For it is another manner of thing to repent then many take it for; It is not euery sob or sigh, that brings Repen­tance; God is mercifull, &c. And thus lightly dawbe them ouer, as though Gods mercy were to be gained in a moment. Let no man de­ceiue himselfe; it will cost [Page 30] thée many a praier, and ma­ny a teare in thy confession, before thou canst haue par­don for thy sins.

If thou diddest feele the smart of sin but pricke in thy wounded conscience, y^u wouldst neuer giue God a­ny rest; but like Dauid, crye vnto God againe, & againe, vntill thou hast found some comfortable perswasion of Gods mercy in Christ, for the forgiuenesse of thy sins.

Untill thou doe thus, thou shalt neuer finde any quiet­nesse in thy conscience, nor any sound comfort of Gods Spirit in thee.

Dauid could neuer repent vntill God sent Nathan vn­to him; to reprooue him for his sin: but so soone as hee [Page 31] saw his sin, and that it was not onely cōmitted against Vriah, but also against God it presently so woundes his conscience, killed his poore heart, and so grieued his soule, that hée cryed out in his conscience; Against thee O Lord, against thee haue I sinned, &c.

As if he would haue said, Oh my God, it grieues me exceedingly, and wounds my very soule, that euer I was so vile a sinner as to sinne against thee, O my most gracious and merciful God.

Therefore the only way to repent, is, from the bot­tome of thy heart, in thy conscience to grieue for thy sin; especially for that it is [Page 32] against God, and causeth thee to breake his Lawes; for if thou couldst bee sorry for thy sin, because it is a­gainst God, more then for fear of punishment it were a good signe that thou wert in the ready way of Repen­tance.

Wherefore if there were no shame nor punishment, no Hell nor damnation, yet thou oughtest to repent, because thou hast sinned a­gainst so good and gracious a God, who hath created and redeemed thee.

Sixthly, Faith is the ground or roote of Repentance.

FAith may be added vnto Repentance, not as a [Page 33] part, but as the ground or roote thereof; for it cannot bée, that the roote and the fruit should bée both one thing: and without Faith there can neuer be any true Repentance, therefore they are still ioyned together.

To cleare this doubt, thou must consider three things: First, the order of Nature; secondly, the time; thirdly, the manifestation of them both.

In order of nature, faith goeth before Repentance: in manifestation of them, repentance is first; in time, they are both ioyned toge­ther.

By order of nature, first a mās cōscience must in some sort bée setled, touching his [Page 34] reconciliation with God in Christ, before he can truely repent.

As S. Ambrose saith, No man can rightly repent, vnlesse he hope for pardon. So that remission of sins is beleeued, then vpon that comes Repentance.

By manifestation Re­pentāce goeth before faith, for it is sooner descried then faith.

Regeneration is like the sap of a trée, hid within the barke, when as Repen­tance is like the bud, that spéedily sheweth it selfe.

If wee respect the time, neither of them are one be­fore the other, but are be­gotten both in an instant. So soone as there is fire, so [Page 35] soone it is hot: and so soone as a man is regenerate, so soone hee repents: for he that beleeues, instantly re­pents. Therefore none can truly repent, except hee be­leeues that he is Gods. And none can haue beleefe, but hee that hath his grace, and faith in him.

Furthermore, none can repēt vnlesse they hate sin; and faith causeth a man to hate sin: now none can hate sin, except he be sancti­fied; and none can be sancti­fied, without hee be iustifi­ed; and this cannot be with­out faith; for faith compre­hendeth iustification.

Againe, the inward or instrumentall cause of Re­pentance, is faith, which [Page 36] may be called the mother of repētance, because it brings it forth, as the Word is the begetter; and so may haue the name of a Father: for he that is without faith is dead. No life without faith; no repētance without life: & therfore neither y^e Pharisies Prayer, the Harlots vow, the Traitors kisse, the Sacrifice of Caine, the Fast of Ieza­bell, the Oblation of Anani­as, nor the Teares of Esau, could bee accepted of God, because they were not tru­ly deuoted from a liuely faith.

Lastly, the efficiēt or prin­cipall working cause of faith in thy repentance, is God, wherby, by faith euery true beleeuer receiueth Christ [Page 37] for himselfe, as giuen for him, borne for him, dying for him, and rose againe for him: for hee dyed for his sins, and rose againe for his iustification.

And to conclude, repen­tance separated from faith in Christ, is no true Re­pentance.

And thus much concer­ning Faith.

Lastly, the time when to repent.

MAN hath no time of repentance certaine, no tearme of yeares but tearme of life, and that is most vncertaine.

Though God called Saul [Page 38] twice, Samuel thrice, his Spouse foure times, the Ni­neuites forty dayes, and the Iewes forty yeares; yet hee giues vs no time to repent, but to repent now.

The time of repētance is y^e time present without delay, as y^e holy Ghost teacheth: This day if you will heare his voice, harden not your hearts: for there is but one acceptable time, w^t being neglected, is as a Bird esca­ped out of the hand, or a shaft shot out of a bow, not to be recalled. At what time (saith the Lord.) The Lord limits no time, if a man re­pent truly. The time of re­pentance is double; First it must be done presētly, with­out delay: Secondly, conti­nually, [Page 39] euery day. It must bee done spéedily without delay: for who knows whe­ther this bee the acceptable time, which if thou neglect when God calls thée in thy youth, or in thy health, it may be he will not call thee hereafter in thy age or sick­nesse; and the longer thou doest defer thy repentance, the harder it will be for thée to repent. Therefore if thou hast suffered the bud of thy youth to be blasted, thy flo­wer to fade, thy leaues to dry vp, and thy boughes to wither, yet kéepe life in the roote, lest the whole become fuell for hell fire.

Be not like those w^t begin not to liue vntil they be rea­dy to dy, & then after a foes [Page 40] desert, com to craue of God afrends enternainmēt. Nor thinke to snatch vp heauen in a moment, which the best can scarce attaine vnto in many yeares: or iumpe from Diues diet to Lazarus Crowne; that is, from the seruice os Sathan, to the solace of Saints. O Belo­ued, Heauen is not to bée gained so easily.

The theefe indéede may be saued on the Crosse, and mercy found at the last; but late repentance is seldome or neuer true repentance. For if a man repent when he can sin no more, then hée leaues not sinne, but sinne leaues him.

Looke in the whole book of God, there is but onely [Page 41] one, and that was that good thiefe, that truely repented at the houre of his death: and who knoweth whether hee had repented before or no, we reade nothing to the contrary (yet howsoeuer) Ille vt nullus desperet, solus vt nullus praesuma [...], He is left vnto vs for an example that no man shold despaire, he only that no man should presume.

Oh therefore if thou wouldest bee free from this doubt, auoyd the vncer­tainty, repent whilst thou art in good health, take time whilst it is offered thee, for time and tyde stayeth for no man. Common experi­ence teacheth vs, that tem­pus est pretiosum, breue, et [Page 42] irreuocabile, time is preci­ous, short, and irreuocable, which can neuer bee redee­med: and withall consider, Qui non est hodie, cras minus aptus erit, hee that is not ready to repent to day, will be lesse ready to morrow: it may be God hath appointed this day to be the end of thy life. Oh therefore alwayes so liue, that thou bee euer prepared to dye: remember the saying of Chrysostom, The wicked (saith he) haue this punishment, in dying they forget themselues, be­cause in their life time they forgate God.

And on thy death-bed (if thou shouldest deferre thy repentance vntill then) it may be thou wilt be wea­ried [Page 43] with dolour and paine, thy thoughts may bee ama­zed, and thy memory de­cayed.

But thy guiltie consci­ence burthened with sinne, that would continually ac­cuse thee, and the Deuill w^t all his cursed caitiues, will bee there in a readinesse to perswade thee to despaire, with their vasa furoris, their vessels of fury, to attend & require their hire for their seruice, presenting before thine eyes all those sinnes that they haue tempted thée to doe, alleadging that thus and thus they haue done for thee.

O what then wilt thou doe? What answer canst thou make? Doest thou [Page 44] think that God whom thou neuer regardedst to serue, will then send his Angels to deliuer thée out of his clawes? No, no. It is iust and right, that thou beeing dead shouldst neuer want torment, that whilst thou liuedst wouldest neuer want sinne.

According vnto Christs owne saying, Quantum inReu. 18. 7.delitiis fuit, tantum dato illi tormentum: Looke how much they haue delighted in sin, so much torment shal be laid vpon them.

If all this will not moue thée to turne vnto God by repentance; what wil moue thee then? Wouldest thou deferre thy repentance vn­till thy last day? Oh! who [Page 45] knoweth whether the Lord will giue thee grace and space to repent then or no? If he would, it were an vn­certaine point, to hazard so great a Jewell as the salua­tion of thy soule vpon.

Or wouldest thou conti­nue in thy sinnes, and ne­uer repent, and yet thinke to haue eternall life? It is impossible. As soone thou maist driue God out of hea­uen: for Christ himselfe saith; I tell you nay; Except ye repent, yee shall all like­wise perish. Or wouldest thou forgoe heauen, and es­cape hell too? It is as much impossible.

Wherefore to conclude, I beseech thée gentle Rea­der, in the Name of Jesus, [Page 46] and for Christ his sake, to beware that thou deferre not thy repetance, lest thou finde thy heart deepely wounded, when thou shalt finde many sinnes commit­ted and not repented, and many of thy promises made to God, but in little or no measure performed.

Therefore I besaech thée, shake off thy sinnes, banish thē, send thy darlings pac­king, and neuer more pitty them; for they séeke thy ve­ry soules destruction. If thou doest deferre thy Re­pentance vntil it be too late; Oh! then thou wouldest giue a thousand worlds for one dayes repentance, or an houres contrition. Re­cord therefore a decrée in [Page 47] thy heart, to kéepe all thy sins in perpetuall exile, and neuer admit them againe in thy coasts. Now follow­eth an excellent marke to know the childe of God which hath truly repented.

Hée that hath earnestly repented, and is truly con­uerted from his sinnes, hath this speciall marke in him; he is none of those fruitles hearers, barren beléeuers, vnregenerate knowers, or verball Professors: but hée is the faithfull doer of the will and Word of God.

(1 Ioh. 2. 5) Whosoeuer keepeth Gods word, in him verily is the loue of God perfected: Hereby know wee that wee are in him: he that abideth in God, ought also to walke [Page 48] euen as he hath walked, that is, as S. Iohn sheweth vs, (1 Ioh. 3. 3.) Euery man that hath this hope in him, purifieth him­selfe, euen as he is pure.

For the regenerate man desireth nothing so much, as hée desireth God; there­fore hée maketh himselfe fit for him: (Rom. 4, 7 8.) Blessed, (Esay 41. 8. Wisedom. 7. 27. Ioh. 15. 14. 15.) the friend of God, (Phil. 3. 8) and doe count all things but dung, that hee may winne Christ. Wherefore he doth (Cor. 11. 1) imi­tate the godly, (Pro. 4. 14) shun the wicked (Mat. 5. 6) embrace vertue, (1. Pet. 3. 9) and flye sinne.

For the Spirit of God assures no man pardon of his sins, but such as be hū ­bled for them, repent of [...]hē, confesse them to God, leaue and forsake them, & withall [Page 49] become a new creature, and walke in newnesse of life.

Those which walke in newnesse of life, are these which Christ calleth (Mark. 3. 35.) his Mother, Sister and Bro­ther, (Rom. 6. 18.) his Seruants, (Ioh. 15. 14. 15.) his Friends, (Cant. 5, 1.) his Sons, (o) and his Spouse. To con­clude, those be tearmes of loue, and that from Christ himselfe, to requite the re­generate man that returns vnto him by vnfeigned re­pentance.

Non tam audire, quàm obe­dire, requir it Deus.

God regardeth more a faithfull heart, than an at­tentiue eare.

Now I haue shewed thée what Repentance is; how necessary it is; what bene­fits [Page 50] it brings; and whose gift it is; and also how it is attained; and now lastly the time when it is to be taken in hand.

Oh repent, repent ther­fore, that thou and I, and al the Elect children of God may haue all our sins freely forgiuen vs, and bee with Christ Jesus our Sauiour, who hath so deerely bought vs: to whom with the Fa­ther and the holy Ghost, be all Honor, Power, Glo­ry, and Dominion, both now and euer more. Amen.