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 [Page 2] 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 [Page 3] 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 [Page 4] 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 [Page 5] 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, [Page 6] 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 [Page 7] 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. [...]. [Page 8] 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 [Page 9] 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,2 Cor. 7. 9. a godly [Page 10] 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, Eheu­quàm 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;Acts 2. and the Scripture calls true Repentance a broken heart, a contrite spirit. Psal. 51. And true Penitents usually expressed their sorrow in tears, with which David is said to water his Couch— and St. Peter, Psal. 6. 6. upon consideration of his grand sin is said to have [Page 11] 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 [Page 12] 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 humbled himself for speaking too boldly of the mystery of Gods Providence, is said to have re­pented in Sackcloth and Ashes. To this also they joyned Fasting, ac­knowledging that by reason of their sins they were not worthy to eat, and so not to live; and when they did so, were said to afflict their souls: For true Penitents have, as the Apostle observed in the Corinthians, Indignation against [Page 13] their sins, and Revenge upon them­selves for committing them. To these also in their Penance they added Expiatory Offerings, confes­sing when they kill'd the Sacrifice, they themselves deserved to die more than the Lamb or Goat did; Quae me non dignior hostia vi­tâ est? There is nothing so bad but it deserves to live rather than I the sinner who offer it. They saw the vileness and danger of sin, and therefore cried out, Men and Brethren, what shall we do to be sa­ved? Or as they in Micah, O that I had any [...], any thing to give in exchange for my soul to my offended God, thousands of Rams, or ten thousand Rivers of Oyl!

[Page 14]By these Expressions we may perceive what a deep sense they had of the baseness of sin, and how truly they were grieved that by it they had offended God. To this I need add no more but the practise of the Primitive Church, to show what a mighty sorrow the Penitents of those days thought necessary to their Repen­tance. It is enough to amaze careless Souls to read it as it is de­scribed by Tertullian, Tertul. de Iudici­tia, & de Paeniten­tia. and St. Gregory Nazianzen. Greg. Naz. de Poeniten­tia. Penitents lay prostrate at the Church doors in Sackcloth, and Ashes, and Hor­rour; intreating the whole Fra­ternity, begging the prayers of Presbyters and Widows, taking hold of the Garments and Knees [Page 15] of such as entred into the Church, kissing their footsteps, as well as the Chains of Martyrs in Prisons, with bare knees and wet eyes, be­seeching their Prayers for their pardon.

And though the bad sinners of our times possibly think them foolish in so great expressions of sorrow, yet I doubt, when things come to be determined before the Great Tribunal of Christ, that they will be judged sottish for their vain Censure, and that want of great grief for their sins will not then be esteemed courage, but searedness of Conscience. He is most miserable who sins and re­pents not; and his sorrow will do him little good, which doth not [Page 16] wound sin to the heart, which doth not smite through, and cut in pieces the roots of Disobedi­ence, which are deep planted in a hard heart.

2. We are also to joyn shame with our sorrow: Shame is the proper attendant of sin, as we may see in our first Parents, who were so ashamed of themselves af­ter they had sinned, that they sought, as well as they could, to hide themselves from the Face of God; not only for fear of being punished by him, but being a­shamed of themselves, that for do­ing unworthily they had deserved it. There is great reason we should entertain this passion of soul. The penitent sinner will find things e­nough [Page 17] to be ashamed of, if he consider. What are they? Five.

1. His Impudence, that he durst sin against God; therefore Ezra in his penitent Confession of the great sins which he then lamen­ted, says,Ezr. 9. 6. O my God, I am ashamed to look up, and blush to lift up my face to thee; for our iniquities are in­creased, and our sins are grown up to Heaven. v. 15. We are in our trespasses, and cannot stand before thee, because of them. He was so ashamed, that he says,v. 10. And now, O our God, what shall we say, for we have forsaken thy Commandments? So the Penitent in Ieremiah, Ier. 31. 19. When I repented I was ashamed—And the Converts whom St. Paul mentions, were ashamed to think of their former practise; [Page 18] What fruit had you in those things whereof you are now ashamed? Rom. 6. 21. There is great Reason for this. For men are ashamed when they do any thing that is unbecoming them. It is a base thing for a man to do that which is unworthy of what he is, or professeth himself to be. Sin is the most unbecoming thing in the World, contrary to our Nature, unworthy of a reasonable Creature, absurd in regard of our state in Being; doth debase and degrade the person that commits it. Therefore when Aaron had consented to Idolatry with the peo­ple, it is said, They made him na­ked to his shame. What a High Priest and worship a Calf? A Creature and disobedient to him [Page 19] that made it! It is said of the Jews, when converted, that they should loath themselves for all their abominations. Nothing can make us so vile as sinning against God. He which consents to sin, disrobes himself of the dignity of his Na­ture, Innocence. And when men come to that impudence, that they are not ashamed of sin, it is noted in Scripture as the height of all Villany, and is a state near to ut­ter Ruin. Men may grow so base as to glory in their shame; i. e. in such things of which they ought to be ashamed, as the Apostle tells us, and make no matter of it. So the Prophet Ieremiah of those in his time,Ier. 6 15. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination; no, [Page 20] they were not ashamed, Ier. 5. 3. neither could they blush. No; but as in another place, they had a Whores forehead, made their faces harder than a Rock. But their ruin followed at their heels, and overtook them all, ex­cept some few, who repenting, shar'd another temper, and said, We lie down in shame, —3 25. and our con­fusion covereth us; for we have sin­ned against the Lord our God, and have disobeyed his voice. So the repenting Prodigal, O Father, I have sinned against Heaven and a­gainst Thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son. He had done things unworthy of a Son, and be­ing ashamed of himself, would be glad to creep out of that base self the Son, so he might be become a [Page 21] good Servant. He was ashamed to think he had been a Son, because he had carried himself so vilely in that state.

2. Shame is due to the folly which those who sin are guilty of. He which sins reveals his folly suf­ficiently in this, that either he un­derstands not his Interest, or slights those things which are of greatest import to him; and therefore Fool is the proper name of a sin­ner in Holy Language. For what good reason that Title is bestowed upon him, you may see in these four particulars.

1. He which sins thinks to be happy in a better way than that which God hath directed him to, and is so silly as not to understand [Page 22] the meanness of these things for which he forsakes his God, and the sad Consequences of his Disobe­dience. How great is the dispro­portion which is between the pure joy which flows into the soul from the sense of Gods favour, and the muddy pleasure which in any Channel whatsoever can be deriv'd from sin? It is but little, and very impure, mixed with dreadful Al­lays. This is so great a stupidity, that the Prophet brings in the Hea­vens as wondring at it.Ier. 2. 12, 13. 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 [Page 23] hold no water. 'Tis true it was ap­plyed, principally to their forsa­king the living God, to serve dead Idols;v. 11. 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.Ier. 44. 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,v. 17. 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 [Page 24] 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,Ier. 2. 17, 19. 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 [Page 25] 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, [...] [Page 26] [...]; 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,Ps. 73. 22. —So foolish was I and ignorant, I was as a Beast before thee. But as [Page 27] I have none in Heaven but thee, so in Earth there is nothing that I can desire in comparison of thee. Ps. 63. 2. 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 [Page 28] 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 [Page 29] 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? [Page 30] 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?

[Page 31]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 [Page 32] 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. Acts 17. 31 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 [Page 33] 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, [Page 34] 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 [Page 35] 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,Exod. before he utterly destroyed him. The sins of the Amorites were not at the full. Gen. 1. 5. 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, [Page 36] 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 Birth­right 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 [Page 37] 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 [Page 38] 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,Ps. 12. 4. 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,Iames. thou hast made us, and not we our selves. [Page 39] 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, Mat. 1. 6. 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 [Page 40] 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;Mal. 3. 8. 9. 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 [Page 41] 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.Ier. 2. 26. 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 [Page 42] they had done to God. To thee, O Lord, belongs Righteousness,Dan. 9. 7, 8.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 base­ness [Page 43] of sin, that the Prophet I­saiah astonished at it,Isa. 1. 2, 3. cries out in Gods behalf, Hear O Heavens, give ear O Earth; why, whats the matter? I have nourished and brought up Children, and they have rebelled against me. Why, is that such a matter that God should resent it on that fashion? Yes. For as it follows, it is a vileness so low that Beasts are not capable of it; The Ox knows his owner, and the Ass his Masters Crib: and as they come for meat to their Masters, so they serve in grateful return for what they receive. But Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. They neither have a sense of me their God, nor of the Favours they have received from me, nor consi­der [Page 44] the Obligation which is upon them to obey me, nor how un­grateful they are in not obeying, nor the baseness of their Ingrati­tude whilst they disobey. So Ie­remiah,Ier. 2. 31.Have I been a wilderness to Israel, or a land of darkness, that they say we are Lords, we will come no more at thee? I thought I had been to them that Fountain of goodness at which they drank all their days. I thought that by the constant Irrigations of Mercy I had made their souls like a wa­tered garden. But it was true of them which was said of Hezekiah, He returned not as he received, 2 Chron. 32. 25. nei­ther for his recovery from a dead­ly Sickness, nor deliverance from the potent Army of the Assyrians. [Page 45] Therefore the Penitent hath good reason to say, I am ashamed, O Lord, I blush to think how many mercies I slight, how many obli­gations I trample upon, how base­ly unthankful I have been. Doth Iesurun kick, and forget it was un­deserved mercy which made him fat? Because thou art full dost thou sin, and not remember that thou rebellest against him who fed thee?Deut. 32. 6. O foolish people and unwise, do you thus requite the Lord? Or as the Prophet,Hos. 2. 8, 9. Dost thou not know that I gave thee thy Corn and Wine, saith God, and that I mul­tiplyed thy silver and thy gold? I will return and take away my corn, wine, and wooll, and make thee know with what ingratitude [Page 46] thou hast forgot thy Benefactor and chief Patron.

The Penitent may do well to increase this shame in his soul, by the consideration of some of the chief mercies by which God hath laid Obligations of Obedience up­on him; and that will make him say with Ezra—Have I sinned, ha­ving received such deliverance as this?—Was I delivered to do abo­minations? O my God, I am ashamed to look up to Heaven—I blush and hide my face.

And to all considerations of Ingratitude add always this, never to be forgotten, the Love of thy Saviour in dying for thy sins, and then thou wilt say, Do I please my self with committing sin, when [Page 47] my Saviour in pure love suffered so much pain with infinite amaze­ments upon the Cross for it? What am I so base as to trample under my feet the Blood of the Son of God, and to scorn the prayers and tears of my Saviour? Those whom this consideration doth not make ashamed now, will be con­founded with it for ever hereafter, and beg Rocks to fall upon them, that they may not come into the presence of that Friend whom they have so vilely abused; not only because they see him now so great that he can take vengeance upon them, but because they perceive themselves so base by Ingratitude, that they highly deserve it.

[Page 48]5. Lastly, The Penitent hath great reason to be ashamed of sin, as for the aforementioned Consi­derations, so for this that he hath made them out of measure sinful by a horrid Perfidiousness. He which sins at first breaks the [...], the Oath which is interwoven with our being, of which the Philosopher spoke; God making no Creature but of which he takes an Oath, by the Law of its Nature, that it shall be obedient to him: But he is perfidious also, because he breaks those voluntary Promises which the sense of Obli­gations laid upon him, engaged him to make to God. Sure this will make the Penitent blush, when he finds reason to say to his soul, [Page 49] O my soul! Art not thou only so vile as to consent to sin against God, but also to do it when thou hast vowed not to do so? and when those Vows were made upon most serious deliberation, and for those Reasons which thou dost still acknowledge to be most weighty?

This is enough to have said to shew, not only how necessary Confession of sin is to Repentance, but also how fit it is that sorrow and shame for sin committed should be joyned to the Confession of it. Yet this must not be un­derstood so, as if they were only applicable to some penitential so­lemn acts of Confession; for they are to be continued through our [Page 50] whole life: For a good man will always be sorry, and ever a­shamed that he had once sinned. Though God forgive, a true Pe­nitent will hardly forgive himself. A Heathen could say, That if we believe there is a Providence, he which hath sinned shall not be de­spised if he grow good; [...], yet he shall carry some marks of old displeasure: For as ano­ther said, [...], there remains in the souls of Penitents the marks of old sins, as skars do in the flesh, though the wounds be heal­ed.

[Page 51]2. To Confession the Penitent must add earnest Prayer for par­don. This we learn from our blessed Saviour, who hath taught us to put this into our Prayers, as a chief petition,—Forgive us our Trespasses. Shall God forgive such as do not entreat him to do so? It is fit the sinner should fall upon his knees before the Eternal Fa­ther, and beg pardon. When Da­niel understood by reading the Pro­phecy of Ieremiah, that the time was at hand in which God had promised so to pardon the sins of the Jews, as to return their cap­tivity, then he set himself to seek it of God by supplication and prayer. Dan 9. 2, 3. Why so? Because the promise was made upon condition that they [Page 52] should repent of their sins which carried them captive, and pray for pardon and return: For so we read,Ezek. 36. 37. I will plant that which was desolate. and build the ruinous places—I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; i. e. I will grant it to them when they pray for it. Hereupon this holy man began in prayer to do his part, and directed them to do theirs.

But as Prayer for Pardon is a Duty unquestionable, so Ferven­cy is a qualification so requisite, that without it Prayer will not be accepted, as it appears by what our Saviour hath taught us in his Sermons, the Apostles in their Epistles, sincere Penitents in their [Page 53] praetise, and of which we are as­sured, because it hath ever been made a condition of the Forgive­ness promised.

It is usually expressed thus, They shall find me if they seek me with their whole heart: Accord­ingly they are said to have sought God with their whole desire. 2 Chron. 15. 15. We read of the Prayer of Faith saving the sick,Iames 5. 5. and obtaining forgive­ness of sins; but the reason given in the next verse, shows what kind of Prayer it must be,v. 16. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man a­vaileth much; [...]. The word signifies high, and there­fore Translators use two to express the meaning of it. No doubt rightly; For the Apostle intended [Page 54] such prayer as in which the most lively working of the soul expres­seth it self. The same word St. Paul used,Gal. 5. 6. speaking of Faith which saves, where he says that it is [...], i. e. which shows its vertue in a powerful o­peration, and so is all one with [...], as appears by two other places in his Epistles put toge­ther: For when he says of the Word of God,1 Thess. 2. 13. that it is [...], he says it is [...],Heb. 4. 12. quick and powerful in working. This is enough to show the meaning of the word; now to apply it to our purpose. If such a fervency of soul was requisite when a righte­ous man prayed for the forgive­ness of other mens sins, what is [Page 55] quisite when an unrighteous man prays for the pardon of his own? Sure he needs to do as St. Iames faith,Iames 17. [...], to pray very earnestly; vehemency being usually signified in Hebrew by the gemination or joyning the Verb with the Noun.

The truth is, he which beggs forgiveness of God in a languid Prayer, doth declare plainly that he neither minds to whom he prays, nor for what: He which intreats God to forgive him his sins, and understands how great a thing he asks, and is sensible in what need he stands of it, and withal how unworthy he is to receive it, and considers the greatness of the Per­son of whom he begs it, and how [Page 56] much goodness that is which will bestow it, and consequently how high a favour it must be if he re­ceive it, will pray with all possi­ble earnestness for it. It is not fit to put up any cold petition to God, much less when we beg so great a matter. How earnestly would a condemned man beg his life of the Judge, if he might have it for asking; or but hope by entreaty to revoke the sentence pas­sed against him?Col 4. 12. St. Paul useth a­nother expression, well signifying the same thing, [...], to strive earnestly in Prayer, as Iacob did when he wrest­led with the Angel, and would not let him go till he blessed him.

[Page 57]When our blessed Saviour was in an Agony, i. e. in conflict with those amazing horrours which the guilt of our sins set before him, he is said to have prayed often, and as that dreadful weight pressed harder, he prayed more earnestly, [...], extending, as I may say, all the power of his soul to its utmost compass; shewing the earnest working of his soul after he had risen from his knees, by throw­ing his holy Body upon the ground, lying prostrate before the Eternal Father, as the Author to the Hebrews tells us, offering Sup­plications with strong cries and tears to him who was able to save him, and was so delivered from his fear, Hear, O Penitent, was [Page 58] thy Saviour so earnest in his pray­ers in the conflict which he endu­red for the sins of others, and art thou dull and flaccid in prayer for the pardon of thy own? Sure thou art not sensible what kind of thing Divine Wrath is, or dost not be­lieve that sin brings with it an ob­ligation to make the Offender suf­fer it? dost thou think thy self a­ble to endure it? or it may be per­suadest thy self that it may be es­caped some other way? Awake, awake, O drouzy soul, and pray mightily to God that thy sins may be forgiven thee, that thou mayst not fall into the hands of the Li­ving God, who is a consuming fire; pray that thou mayst be pardon­ed, and so not be thrown into e­verlasting [Page 59] burnings. If thou be'st unconcerned or lazy in this mat­ter, thou art more prophane than Esau, who though he was vile e­nough in selling his Birth-right, yet when the Blessing was departed from him, he not only prayed for the reversion of the sentence by which it was done, but sought it care­fully with tears.

Thus much will serve to have spoken of the first part of Repen­tance, which though it be neces­sary to be done, yet the second must be added to it. Having per­fectly changed our minds as to what is past, and heartily begg'd pardon for it, we must be sure to have better care for the future. He which doth not the first, will never [Page 60] think of the second; and though he have done the former, if he pro­ceed not to the latter, it will do him no good, it being no better than Corn in the blade which ne­ver comes to an Ear. As Tertul­lian said well, Quid enim ex Poeni­tentia maturescit nisi Emendatio­nis fructus? Repentance is fruitless except it bring forth a better life. Present penitence without future obedience are words which signi­fie nothing in Christian Religi­on.

When Iohn the Baptist did re­ceive Disciples upon profession of Repentance, which they made by confessing their sins to him, he bad them not think that this would re­store them to the Divine Favour, [Page 61] except they brought forth fruits agreeable to that Profession;Matt. 3. 7, 8. that is, works correspondent to it:Acts 26. 20. and he assur'd them, that the Ax then laid to the Root of the Tree, would cut it down, if it did not bring forth those fruits; and that fair Leaves should not save it from be­ing cast into the fire.

Of this second part of Repen­tance I shall speak in this Me­thod.

1. By shewing the true nature of after Care, and what is requi­site to make it acceptable.

2. By making Exhortation to this Duty, which I shall do only by these Motives, taken

• 1. From the Reasonableness of Repentance in its own nature.
• [Page 62]2. From the great Encou­ragement which we have to it from the goodness of God, who is willing to forgive sinners if they re­pent.
• 3. From the great and inevi­table mischief which a­waites those who will not repent.

There are two things which will make our Repentance accep­table: our Return to God will al­ways be so, if it be

• 1. Speedy.
• 2. Sincere.

1. The vileness of sin is so great, as I show'd before, that a Peni­tent [Page 63] cannot reflect seriously upon it, but he must needs think it fit to undo it as soon as he can. This we see in St. Peter; as soon as he thought what he had done, he went presently out and wept bitterly, en­deavouring, as soon as possibly he might, to wash away his sin with tears. Excellent is the counsel which Salvian gives in this case, Illico ubi concidere consurgant & ele­vationem protinus meditentur in lapsu, ac si fieri ullo modo pernicitate poeni­tudinis potest, tam velox sit remedi­um resurgentis, ut u x possit vestigium apparere collapsi. He which Re­pents quickly declares how willing he was not to have sinned.

1. This is reasonable; for no man is sensible of danger approach­ing, [Page 64] but he will endeavour to pre­vent it as soon as he can, and he may delay so long that it will grow impossible. If a mans House be on fire, will he not presently en­deavour to quench it? If he be bitten with a Serpent, doth he not seek for present remedy? He which is fallen into sickness makes haste to send for a Physician, every body knowing that recovery is then most to be hoped for, when proper Re­medies are used in time. A Disease may prevail so far by neglect of those Medicines which would have cured it at first, that neither they nor any other will be able to do it afterward. Delay in this affair makes the work grow harder. By repeating of sin the Offender har­dens [Page 65] his heart; and though after­wards he turn Penitent, he will find his task more difficult, because instead of a slighter disposition, which he might have more easily conquered at first, he must now conflict with a firm habit. Shall he which cannot outgo a Footman hope to outrun Horsmen?

2. The demerit of sin encrea­seth by delaying to return. Can he hope for mercy who hath stood out in rebellion to the last? He which delays to repent treasures up wrath against himself, when as God knows, if his wrath be kindled but a little, there is no man able to endure it. It is strange that any Conceit should come into a mans Head that acknowledgeth his dependance [Page 66] upon God, to make him defer his return to him by repentance. It is possibly this, He means at last to repent of his negligence. Doth he, and yet is deliberately negli­gent at present? It is a new sort of Vertue this, to sin pretending an intention to repent; and as odd a kind of wisdom to abuse infinite goodness in hope to find that fa­vour, of which the course of life which we chuse makes us infinite­ly unworthy, and being continued in will give us strong reasons to de­spair of when we dy.

3. Pardon is not to be had, no nor repentance, when we will. He who is so gracious, that he pleaseth to pardon when we truly repent, hath not promised we shall have [Page 67] grace to repent when we please. We are advised in Holy Writ to seek the Lord whilst he may be found: Isa. 5. 5, 6 and when that is we are told,Prov. 8. 17. I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me.

How applicable this is to the matter of Repentance, we may see by what is said in the fith and sixth verses of Psalm 32. David was in great distress by reason of Divine Wrath, which lay upon him for his sins; whereupon he took himself to repentance, speedily bewailing, and openly confessing his Faith to to God, and so returning to his du­ty found pardon. For this shall e­very one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found. He that knows how great a matter [Page 68] it is to be reconciled to an offend­ed God, and that there is a time of finding mercy, which if it be slipt, the sinner is eternally undone, will thereupon make what speed he can to return to God, and humbly seek his favour in a seasonable address, lest he lose himself with the oppor­tunity.

It is not many years since the Master of a Ship loitering ashore, and not taking the advantage of one Tide when the Wind blew fair, with which other Ships went out, was forced by contrary Winds to stay in the Port till the forementi­oned Ships made their Voiage, and return'd. They are bold people, but extremely sottish, who slight opportunities of doing that which [Page 69] belongs to their chief good, when they know they cannot command the stay or return of such seasons. Dost thou slight God in thy youth­ful health, when to have served him early is the unspeakable consolati­on of old age, and which they who then want it would purchase with all the World, if they had it, upon their Death-bed? Is not old age burthen enough except it be pla­gued with the heavy remembrance of a wicked life? This hath made many to cry out with him in the Tragedy,

[...], &c.Euripid.

[Page 70]Alas for me, that men may not grow younger twice, and as often old, that so I might in my after life correct what was not well done in the former part of it.

4. Though a man begin never so soon, this work of Repentance is not to be done of a sudden: It will require great pains, and much time; and therefore none is to be lost. Can sin, which hath taken deep root in the soul, be drawn up at the first pull? Can our unwil­lingness to do it be mortified in a moment? Is a habit of sin soon master'd? No; but as we have been longer in contracting it, and so making it stronger; it will not be conquered but by the contrary habit of Vertue, which requires [Page 71] time to be implanted, grow and get strength in the soul. It may be that we have many Vices to o­vercome, and do we hope to do that presently? We have commit­ted many Errors, and can we repent of them all on a sudden? We have many things to do, and those not easie to one accustomed to sin; We are to make our selves Vessels meet for our Masters use, but it will re­quire time to do it, considering how we are put out of order by sin; and therefore all possible speed is necessary in the practise of Repen­tance.

2. As Repentance must be spee­dy, so it must be sincere; and that we shall find, if it answer those de­scriptions of it which are given in [Page 72] holy Scripture, vvhere it is called The renewing of the mind, crucifying the old man and his deeds, putting off the body of sin and destroying it, cru­cifying the flesh with the affections and lusts, purging our selves from all fil­thiness of flesh and spirit, and perfect­ing holiness in Gods fear, being made new creatures and partakers of a Di­vine Nature, vvith many more ex­pressions to the same purpose.

The Sense of which is compre­hended in these four Particu­lars.

1. Sincere Repentance begins in a change of the inward disposi­tion; for which Reason the true Convert is called a new man, as we learn from Eph. 4. and the alterati­on is so great, that it denominates [Page 73] the Penitent to be a new Creature; Gal. 6. which is not meant as to Transub­stantiation of Nature, but Emen­dation of Temper, making the Pe­nitent not another person, but a better Man. A few Scriptures considered will make this so plain, that every one may know what it means, and judge himself accord­ingly. It consists in two things,

• 1. In change of Appre­hension.
• 2. In Alteration of Affe­ction.

1. In change of Apprehension; he which is truly Penitent hath a­nother sense of things than he had before, which the Apostle calls [Page 74] renewing in the spirit of the mind, by which he now understands the goodness of God, and perceives that to be perfect and most accep­table, of which he had but mean thoughts before. 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 [Page 75] 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 [Page 76] 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,Gal. 5. Those who are Christs, have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts—and have put off the old man, Eph. 4. 22 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 [Page 77] 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.

[Page 78]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.

[Page 79]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; Mat. 3. 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 [Page 80] the Apostle told the Galatians in other words,Gal. 5. 25. 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 [Page 81] 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;Matt. 7. 16. 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 [Page 82] St. Iohn said well,1 Ioh. 3. 7. 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, Ioh. 8. 29. that is Christ, was righteous, and so was accepted of his Father; because, as he said [Page 83] 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,Ioh. 13. 17. 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 [Page 84] 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 is neces­sary to forsake all sin.

It vvas the Prayer of the Psal­mist,Ps. 119. 18 That he might be found in Gods Statutes, and so not be ashamed. Hovv did he hope to attain this? He tells us,v. 6. Then shall I not be ashamed, then I shall be sound, vvhen I have re­spect to all thy Commandments. Then I shall have confidence that I am a sincere Servant of God, when I indulge no sin, vvhen I devote my soul to entire Obedience, and [Page 85] knovvingly disregard no Law of his.

This cannot be more clearly represented, than by that vvhich St. Iames Iames 2. 10. hath said concerning this matter, Whosoever shall keep the whole Law, and yet offend in one point, is guilty of all. If any say, Hovv can vve keep the vvhole, and fail in part, vvhen the vvhole includes all the parts? They may easily per­ceive that the Apostle means, Who­soever keeps the greater part, and fails in some particular, disobeys some Lavv of Christ, is guilty of all; by sinning vvilfully against one, he is guilty of all; i. e. he vvhich sincerely respects the Authority of the Lavv-giver, vvill shovv it in obedience to his vvhole Lavv; for [Page 86] he vvhich slights it in one, is guil­ty of the breach of the rest, inas­much as he contemns the Autho­rity vvhich gave them all. That this is his meaning vve are taught by verse 11. vvhich says thus, For he which said, Do not commit Adultery, said also, do not kill: Now if thou commit no Adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a Transgressor of the Law; and so art guilty of the breach of all, i. e. shall be as lia­ble to Condemnation, as if thou hadst sinned against all: Neither shall Obedience performed to some Lavvs save thee from the punish­ment vvhich is due to the breach of others. He vvhich serves a Prince in many things, and yet offends a­gainst some Capital Lavv, vvill not [Page 87] find his partial obedience save him from the sentence of punish­ment which shall be passed upon him for that.

To this I may add that excel­lent saying of our Saviour to the Pharisees,Luk. 11. 42. when they pretended to be worthy of acceptation, because they had been very observant of some things, though they neg­lected others; How! saith our Saviour, These indeed you ought to have done, no doubt of it; but also you ought not to have left the other undone. And since they pretend­ed to obedience,v. 40. for all this, Fools that you are, saith our Saviour, did not he which made that which is with­out, make that which is within? You pretend to please God with obedi­dience, [Page 88] you should do so; for he is the supream Law-giver; What then, will you do it with partial obedience? Doth he expect that all his Laws should be obey'd, or doth he give you leave to pick and chuse? Did not God, the great Former of all things, who made the inside and outside, expect that you should be pure in soul and bo­dy? Do you think that external washings purifie the soul? You are as foolish in these thoughts, as he should be who thinks a Cup is clean, when only the outside is washed. Will any man drink in such a Cup? You please God in­deed with your Obedience, when by sinning in some thing or other you plainly affront him. He which [Page 89] thinks to be accepted of God for that partial regard show'd to some of his Precepts, when he slights others, can no more obtain it, than a Lutonist can give content to such as have Musical ears, when some Strings of the Instrument upon which he plays are out of Tune.

4. Sincerity must continue to approve it self such by perseve­rance. This I shall explain as I find it expressed in two or three places of Sripture:—I will hear what God will speak to his servants, Ps. 85. 8. begging mercy of him: v. 7. and what doth he say? He will speak peace to his people, he will receive their pray­ers, and pardon their sins, if they repent sincerely of them:—but let them not return to folly—This he [Page 90] requires as a Condition of their Forgiveness, that they do not re­turn to folly, which I have suffici­ently demonstrated sin to be; they must not relapse into their former courses, which if they should, they will add to their former sottishness, and instead of approving them­selves sincere Penitents, show that they are most stupid Fools and vile Hypocrites.

When our Saviour healed the Paralytick;Ioh. 5. 14. he bad him sin no more; and knowing by his Divine Wis­dom what he had done 38 years before, which occasioned his weak­ness, bad him take heed of doing any such thing again; assuring him, if he did, that he should be worse punished, as a Contemned [Page 91] of the pardon now bestowed. So when the same merciful Jesus for­gave a very bad woman a sin great enough,Ioh. 8. 11. he dismissed her not care­lesly, but with this severe Injun­ction added, That she should make her Repentance sincere by sinning no more. He did not say, Go, go, thy Accusers are as bad as thy self, live as thou wilt, I accept thy Re­pentance, I will save thee from pu­nishment now and hereafter: No; but charged her to be sincere in her Repentance; and as a Testi­mony of it, to sin no more. By these Instances we may see what our Sa­viour takes for a proof of sinceri­ty, and it seems that he expects it of all; for he prescribed the same method, without alteration, to both.

[Page 92]A sincere Penitent is one that knows sin to be so base a thing, that nothing but Infinite Goodness can forgive it; and is so sensible of the vile stain which it leaves upon his soul, that he would, if he could, wash it off with Tears of Blood; and can he easily go and commit it again? He is convinced that the same wickedness and danger is in it, though set off with an agreeable Tentation, as was before in it, when his Conscience was gall'd with reflexion upon the commissi­on of it; and knows that he hath as much need to sin no more, after he hath repented of it, as he had to vow he would not when he did re­pent. Can Damnation be made plausible in any dress? Will any [Page 93] man drink Poison, because he sees it sweetned with a great quantity of Sugar?

The ancient Fathers in their pious Discourses concerning Re­pentance did usually inveigh a­gainst those which they called [...] and rejected those Penitents, who sin­ning and repenting, but repenting and sinning still, checked their life all along with one and the other; and affirm'd, that such Converts differ'd nothing from lame Unbe­lievers, except in this, that those false Penitents knew they sinn'd, and so were worse; and pronoun­ced peremptorily that those who sinned, pretended to be sorry, but sinned still, had only a vain show [Page 94] of Repentance; and that the true Penitent had such a sense of the nature of sin, that he abhor'd to commit it any more. The Au­thor to the Hebrews calls it Repen­tance from dead works; of which words what St. Chrysostom said is a very good Exposition,Tom. 6. Orat. 19. He which repents [...]. La­ctantius lib. 6. said, That to repent is to profess and affirm that we will sin no more.

The Son of Sirach tells us what sense of old the Church of the God had concerning the contrary sort of Repentance,Ecclus. 34. 25, 26. in these words, If a man wash himself from the dead, and toucheth it again, what good shall that washing do him? The Jews having [Page 95] touched any dead body, were un­clean by the Law given Num. 19. 11. and they were commanded to take it off by water of Purification, as it is called; but if they had washed, and touched it again, what good would that washing do? So he that repents and fasts too, as they did in the days of solemn Humiliation, and then goes and does the same things again, who will hear his pray­er? and what good shall his humilia­tion do him? He which bewails what is passed, and hath no care to mend for future, deplores his sin, and commits it again, is like one who washeth an unburnt Brick, the more water he pours on the fowler it is. It was the saying of an an­cient Writer, and what he said [Page 96] was warranted by one ancienter than he,2 Pet 2. 21, 22. St. Peter, who in his se­cond Epistle hath defined, that it is better never to have known the way of Righteousness, which is the Go­spel, than having known it to turn from it. And he there compares that Repentance, which keeps not a man from returning to sin, to the Dogs returning to his Vomit, and the washed Sows tumbling again in the next mire. I shall close this with those words of our Saviour,Ioh. 8. 31. which he spake to such as believed on him, that they might assure themselves, and not mistake for what they saw in them­selves at present—If you continue in my words, i. e. the obedience of my Doctrine, you shall be my Disciples indeed.

[Page 97]If that which hath been said concerning Sincerity happen to raise doubts in any soul concern­ing his estate, and he begins to say, That either the Conditions of Salvation are very hard, or I am no true Christian. I must answer, That if those things which I have said were not true, Christs Gospel would not be that which it most certainly is, the Mystery of God­liness, i. e. the Doctrine of Holi­ness; and that it cannot be deni­ed, but that Christ doth accept his Servants to mercy, though they do not perform perfect unsinning O­bedience: therefore I would speak something more to determine this matter, so as not to encourage Hy­pocrisie, which is confessedly the [Page 98] worst of sins, nor yet to discou­rage any that is sincere, because he is not perfect. Therefore I will show what God requires of us, and what he will accoount sincerity. I will give the Measures of it in five Particulars, which I will endeavour to adjust accord­ing to the standard of the Sanctu­ary, the Infallible Rule, which is the Word of God.

1. The Gospel requires great ho­nesty of Intention, and simplicity of heart in our Return to God. So the Prophet of his Penitents,Ier. 24. 7. I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart, having taken it quite off from their for­mer Idolatries, and the Indul­gence which they had for their [Page 99] old sins. It was said of the Tribe of Zabulon, 1 Chron. 12. 33. who came to restore David to his Throne, that they were not of a double heart; pretend­ing outwardly great love to David, but hankering in their minds to the House of Saul. Just as the Is­raelites set their faces towards the Holy Land, and journeyed towards it, but in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They kept the steme of the Flesh-pots in their phansies, and had the rellish of the Onions in their memories, and long'd af­ter them; and so went not toward the promised Land with a full heart, but would have been glad of an opportunity to have return'd to Egypt. So I remember the Phi­listines Cows went when they car­ried [Page 100] the Ark to Bethshemesh; they went, but they lowed as they went, and had more mind to return to their Calves, than to go forward. Singleness of heart is necessary for all who come unto God; and there­fore the Son of Syrach warned all such to take heed of approaching him with a double heart: Ecclus. 1. 28. Which counsel St. Iames repeats,Iam. 4. 8. Draw nigh to God, but first purifie your hearts, you double minded, whose Souls are partly for God, partly for Sin; which the Author to the Hebrews calls drawing near with true heart, Hebr. 10. 22. purg'd from all Hypocrisie, be­cause the God with whom we have to do, loves Truth in the inward parts, and can take no pleasure in such as are double minded, i. e. fluctuate [Page 101] between a pretence of being vertu­ous, and a Law of sin, called halting between two opinions; leaning one while one way, and one while another, as those who halt do. It was not a piece, but all, which was meant in that Demand, My Son give me thy heart; for so our Saviour in­culcating a Rule long before given, says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with thy whole heart. The contrary is so odious to God, that he declared plainly that he hated the Jews a­forementioned, because their heart was not whole with him; they did not follow him fully, Nam. 14. 24. as was said of Io­shuah, who had another spirit, but turn'd aside like a deceitful bow; you may as well make a crooked Bow, [Page 102] carry an Arrow directly to the Mark, as present any thing ac­ceptable to God with a false heart. Therefore our Lord in his excel­lent Parable of the Sower hath told us plainly, that his Gospel will grow in no soyl, but a good and ho­nest heart. So St. Paul told the Corinthians, that they could present no fruit as an acceptable Sacrifice to God,1 Cor. 5. 6. except with unleavened bread of sincerity; for Hypocrisie sour's the person and his acti­ons.

The true Convert endeavours to bring himself to that pass, that he can say truly, He loves God a­bove all things; which cannot be, if he retain still the love of any sin in his soul. That man is just as [Page 103] religious as the Assyrian Samaritans, mention'd 2 King. 17. 33. who blend­ing their Heathen Ceremonies with Jewish Rites, made a Mungrel Worship, and serv'd the Lord and their own God's too. They did not know that the Law given was, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. It was good counsel of the old Philosopher, [...], Be one thing, deal plainly with God. Dost thou pretend to make over thy soul to God by a Deed, and art so weak as not to know that it will be ab­hor'd, when thou hast spoil'd the Grant which preserves, and maim'd it with a power of Revocation? Deal fairly; God will not be mocked. The true Penitent must bid an E­ternal [Page 104] farewel to all his former sins, and that he may practise them no more, must cut off all affection to every sinful way; as the wise Ge­neral, when he had landed his men in the Country which he designed to Conquer, burnt the Ships which brought him thither, that so his Souldiers might not upon occasi­on think of a cowardly return.

Our Saviour hath declared,Luke 9. 62. That he who puts his hand to the heavenly Plough, and doth not renounce what may make him look back, is not fit for the Kingdom of God. He which holds the Plough, and often looks back, will make mad work on't; his Furrows will be all crooked.Luke 17. 32. When the same our Sa­viour bids us, Remember Lot's wife, [Page 105] he signified to us plainly enough, that such as have forsaken Sodom and their sins, must not look back with hankering eyes upon them.

If thy heart be sincere with God, thou mayest do well to ex­press it to God upon thy knees in some such words as these are, O Lord, I have sinned against thee, but I repent, and thou understand­est the depth of my heart, and knowest that I repent truly. Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. In thy sacred presence I make my Vow that I will obey thee. I will observe the Rules of my Nature so far, as by them I am taught what my Duty is: and where they fail, I will read carefully thy Gospel, and [Page 106] what I find there to be thy Will, shall be to me an indispensable Law. I make this solemn prote­station, that I will harbour no E­nemy of thine in my soul; and lest any thing lurk there which may displease thee, let me know my heart by thy Instruction, and I will cast it out. I desire to be in thy sight an Israelite indeed, and pray that I may inherit the blessing which thou bestowest upon those in whose spirit is no guile. This is well expressed in that holy Prayer which David made in these words,Psa. 139. 23, 24. Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart; prove me, and examine my thoughts; look well if there be a­ny way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

[Page 107]2. Honest Intention must be perfected with firm Resolution and fixed purpose of soul; and that must be formed and settled by serious deliberation, that is, due consideration of those things which are the matter of Obedience, and also the difficulties which may oc­cur in the doing them. He which undertakes the business of Religi­on thus, will find in a little time that he needed to have his Resolu­tion so grounded. Our Saviour in several of his excellent Dis­courses hath taught us this; let us consider some of them:Matt. 16. 24. If any man will come after me, that is, to be my Disciple, let him deny himself; he must think now of renouncing all self-will, and resigning himself [Page 108] wholly to my Discipline, and take my yoke upon his Neck, yield himself wholly to be governed by my Gospel. And lest we should be mistaken, and so fly off afterward, our Saviour hath in that told us plainly what we must be, viz. God­ly, Righteous, Sober, Chast, Humble, Charitable, Patient; and hath shown us fully what the work of his Servants is. Have you consi­dered these things? Yes; He re­quires nothing but what is exceed­ing good; I cannot be happy ex­cept I be such a person as his Go­spel requires. So far it is well, but this is not all; for our Savi­our adds, That he must take up his Cross and follow him; i. e. he must not only be willing to compose his [Page 109] temper and life according to our Saviour's Doctrine and Example, he must also be prepar'd to bear patiently these Afflictions, which may happen to him only for being Christ's Disciple.

This our Saviour declared in his general Discourses, and also when any particular persons came to be Proselytes, he dealt plainly with them; and that they might be fully informed, and follow him upon good grounds, he acquain­ted them with what they might ex­pect in his service.Matt. 8. 19, 20. A certain Scribe, struck with admiration of his Miracles, and thereupon pos­sibly expecting that in a while such a Person would make his Disciples great, professed that he would fol­low [Page 110] him wheresoever he went. Our Saviour, to see if this forward Man had any worthy Resolutions in him, told him how mean his worldly condition was, in that the Foxes have holes in Earth, and Birds have nests in Trees, but the Son of Man hath not, as it happened to divers of his Servants, any certain Habita­tion: No House of his own for himself, much less to entertain his followers. He bad him think of this, and then resolve what to do.

For the fuller Explication of this matter concerning the right forming of Christian Resolution, let us read that Discourse which our Saviour made to a great Mul­titude, when he was giving them [Page 111] his Divine Instruction touching this affair:Luke 14. 26, 27, &c. He which will be my Disciple, must not only embrace my Doctrine; but must make ac­count that possibly many things will fall out to him for his pro­fession and practise of my Religi­on, which will not be very plea­sing to flesh and blood; he may perchance offend not only his Neighbours, but his Parents, and and make Enemies to him of his best Friends; may endanger the losing of his Liberty, and after that his Life; and yet for all this he must not forsake my service: For if any man come unto me, and doth not hate his Father, Mother, Wife, and Children, and Brethren and Sisters, yea and his own Life, cannot [Page 112] be my Disciple. Which words can­not be understood properly; for it is impious to hate our Parents and other Relations, and absurd to hate ones self; but he means, and other Scriptures teach us so, that we must love all persons and things less than our Saviour; and that will appear, when we suffer none of them to make us desert the Obedience which we have promi­sed him. And he that doth not take up his Cross, and come after me, &c. Not that Persecutions do always follow the profession of Christian Religion; or that any man is bound upon the undertaking of it, to a­bandon all he hath in the World;v. 33. not that we should presently do it because we are Christians, but that [Page 113] we should be prepar'd to do it, preferring our Saviour before all things, and being resolv'd to part with all, rather than break our Faith given to him.

To illustrate further what he said concerning this way of form­ing a Resolution, our Saviour adds two Comparisons, taken from the Rules which men follow in build­ing Houses and making War. If any man think of raising a House, he must cast up what it will cost him, both for Materials and Work; and if he begin to build, being either not provided for so much Charge, or not willing to lay it out, he will leave off in the middle of an imperfect Design, and be laughed at for a foolish Un­dertaking: [Page 114] Or if a man go to War, he will consult with himself whe­ther he hath Supplies enough for his Expedition, and Forces suf­ficient to fight his Adversary; else he will think it better to keep Peace if he have it, or send Am­bassadours for it upon as good Conditions as he can get. So in this Spiritual building or warfare, for in divers respects Religion may be compared to both, we must be at much cost, a great deal must be laid out, and the Enemy which we have to oppose will bring much Force against us; therefore we must prepare before hand, by con­sidering what we will do when it comes to the push, and bear the Crosses which we may meet, and [Page 115] follow Christ notwithstanding any inconvenience which may happen to us for so doing. He which frames his Resolution so, will not be surprised, i. e. have his heart infeebled with sudden Assaults; he foresaw what would come: nei­ther will he be weakned by the Con­flict, he prepared himself for the Incounter before hand. The wise Son of Syrach understood this well when he said, My son, if thon comest to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for tentation; which must be done by planting a firm Resolution of O­bedience in the bottom of our hearts. Our Saviour hath given the reason of this in the Parable of the Sower, where he tells us of many that may receive the Seed, [Page 116] that is the Doctrine of his Gospel, into their hearts with joy, and it may seem to grow and flourish in their life, and yet it shall wither in the time of Tentation, because it wanted root, had not depth of earth and moisture, as the Evangelists phrase it differently, but meaning the same thing, i. e. a well fixed Resolution will maintain future O­bedience, as Corn is nourished and supported by sufficiency of moysture, which it receives from a sound root fixed deep in a moist ground, and by that inabled to bring its fruit to perfection.

The Hypocrite and sincere Chri­stian considered together in this matter, seem to me to be well re­presented by Orphanah and Ruth, [Page 117] when they began a Journey with Naomi their Mother in Law, pre­tending that they would accompa­ny her from the Land of Moab to her own Country—They both set out with great forwardness;Ruth 1. 10. but when Naomi told them what small expectation of worldly advantage they could have in her, Orphanah's love began to vanish, and extended only a farewell kiss;v. 16. but Ruth ha­ving heard the worst of it, would not be so shaken off—I perceive how it is, but my Resolution con­tinues firm for all that,—whereso­ever thou goest I will go; and nothing but death shall part thee and me. So the true Christian to our Saviour, I will follow thee, O Lamb of God, wherever thou goest: I do not bar­gain [Page 118] with thee for small way and fair weather; nothing but death, no nor death it self shall part thee and me: As thy love to me, O Jesus, was stronger than death, so shall mine be to thee. Neither things present nor things to come, nor life nor death could separate St. Paul from the Love of Christ.

Thus a Christian doth become stedfastly minded, or as in the Hebrew, strengthens himself in his Resolution, exhorting himself, as the Apostle did the Antiochians, to cleave to God with purpose of heart. Acts 11. 23. He did not make them believe that they should not suffer much incon­venience if they did so: No; for he told them, as others, that they must through many Tribulations enter [Page 119] into the Kingdom of God, but that they should resolve to suffer hard­ship as good Souldiers of Iesus Christ, as he told Timothy, and gave him for a pattern his own purpose, with which he was well acquainted, which was to serve Christ his Ma­ster, though he knew how many and how great Afflictions awaited him continually in all places for so doing.

If any say, It is necessary to form a strong Resolution; but will such thoughts as those do it? will the fore-consideration of mischiefs prepare us against them? Men by foreseeing evils that may happen, do excite themselves to take care to avoid them by steering a Course contrary to that which may lead [Page 120] upon them. To this I answer, That considering before hand what In­conveniencies may happen to us in a matter undertaken upon weighty Reasons, will make them hurt us less when we meet them: but that is not all which I meant as to this Method of forming our Resoluti­on; for that we must add the strengthening of Faith in our souls, that we may have a firm belief of these things which the Gospel hath propounded to encourage us to undertake the Obedience of it, not­withstanding all discouragements, and that is the great Reward which shall be given to obedient Souls. When our Saviour told such as came to him, that possibly they might lose Father, Mother, Lands, Life, [Page 121] for his sake, it had been a very poor Motive to make them embrace his Doctrine if he had said no more; but he added, that such as did so should have an hundred fold more, that is, more true satisfaction in what they did, than they could have had in any other way in this life, and in the world to come life ever­lasting, or eternal happiness.

Now that he who purposes to obey Christ's Gospel sincerely must fortifie his Resolution with the strength of Faith, is well ex­pressed by an Apostle who had Experience in this matter:1 Pet. 5. 9, 10. The Devil was in the world like a roaring Lyon, seeking whom he might devour, and would, if he could, by Persecution destroy Christianity, [Page 122] whom resist, being stedfast in the Faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your Brethren who are in the world. But the God of all Grace, the most merciful God, who hath called us to eternal Glory by Christ Iesus, after you have suffer­ed a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. By what? a­nother Apostle tells us,Col. 2. 5. by the [...]; or as v. 7. sta­blished in or by Faith, by which you are fixed to your Saviour, as a Tree is to a strong Root, or a House to a deep Foundation, for he useth both Metaphors. Our Saviour hath made no new Methods since, and therefore every sincere Chri­stian must make use of this in the forming of his Resolution, and in [Page 123] so doing he may say thus to him­self —O my Soul, thou art now setting upon a course of holy Life according to the Precepts of thy Saviour, be real and make thy pur­pose strong, saying with that holy man, I have fully purposed to of­fend no more, I will serve thee with my whole soul from the bot­tom of my heart; I make a Resig­nation of my self to thy will, and bind my self by a firm Vow, the strongest Bond I can find, that I will keep thy Commandments; and when the Enemy of my soul shall tell me that thus I shall miss the pleasure of sin, I will tell him, I know it, and that they are but for a season, and to be despised in comparison of the favour of God, [Page 124] and joy of doing what we should; and when he adds that probably I shall suffer in this way many things not very pleasing to the flesh, I will tell him, that whatso­ever they are I reckon them un­worthy to be compared to the re­ward of Obedience; and when he frights me with the austerity of a strict life, I will tell him, that ex­cellent things have difficulty, and ask him, if he have not in his Ramblings observed the careful observances of a Wrestler or Ra­cer, how punctually they keep themselves to strict methods of preparation for their Conflict, when all that they hoped for was but a Crown of fading Leaves; and is it irrational for me to do all I can [Page 125] for an eternal Crown? When he bids me look upon those multi­tudes of suffering Christians, whom Religion brought into mise­ry, in which they perished, I will tell him that I will follow their Faith, considering the end of their Conversation, the happy close of their holy Lives, which remov'd them into the regions of endless Bliss, and thither I will follow them. And if he say, But he whom you call Saviour was crucified. Yes I will Answer, and died and was buried, but he rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, and bade me follow him; and be­cause I hope ere long to be with him, I will keep in my way, which will certainly bring me unto him.

[Page 126]3. To these two we must add a careful use of those means which are appointed to make us such as we are commanded to be; Christ never intended his Gospel for idle souls, i. e. such as will take no pains to be saved, who will not carefully endeavour to be made good. They are not for Christ, those delicate persons who cannot endure to think of working out their salvation with fear and trem­bling, nor will hear of giving dili­gence to be found of God in peace. Our Saviour hath told us expresly, that he will condemn that Servant,Luke 12. 47. who did not prepare himself to do his Masters Will, either in the day time being girt fit for any service, and being ready with lighted Can­dles [Page 127] to expect his Master when he comes home at night.

A negligent Temper is odious in this business.

• 1. Because it is trifling in a matter of greatest Impor­tance.
• 2. Because it is sordid, and would serve the great and good God with that which costs it nothing.

1. This Temper is far from that which should be in a sincere Christian, if it be liable to the said Reproaches, as indeed it is. That man whom sin hath made sick, and will not carefully use the means appointed for his recovery, either [Page 128] understands not his danger, or sup­poseth the method prescribed for the cure of his Disease not neces­sary, or will not be at the trouble of undertaking such things as are requisite to his recovery, and ra­ther than do so, will remain in his sin, that is, die of his sickness; What prudent Physician would meddle with such a Patient? It may be the sick Hypocrite would do some little things, when such as are very great are necessary for his health. This is well expressed in that smart Letter which Diogenes wrote to Dionysius, when some vain Philosophers flattered him in his great Vices: Alas! man, said Diogenes, thy Diseases are such that they need cuttings and burnings; but [Page 129] thou hast got together a few Dissem­blers, which say to thee as fond Grand­mothers and Nurses do to sick Children, [...], i. e. Take this my Child, pour it in, if you love me do, a little more, eat but this small bit. Triflers! The Children are extream sick, and must be made to take their Physick, or die. The sincere Christian knows that our necessitous condition re­quires a great care for the repair of it; that the Gospel which we are to obey is a Law of great Holi­ness, and hath in it many Com­mandements, requires obedience in thought, temper, and action; yes, and that with resistance of many Temptations, strong, because [Page 130] agreeable to our natural Appetites, which will mak our work to go on sometimes like that of the Water­man, when he hales his Boat a­gainst the Stream—And we shall find hinderances from infirmity of Flesh, and inconstancy of Spirit, di­stractions of our Senses and many wild Phansies, besides the malice of a watchful Devil. By this the Penitent sees what need he hath of great care in the use of all means, which may carry him on in his course; and he says, Since my Saviour hath showed me the value of my Soul, that it is of more worth than the acquist of all the plea­sures in the World for my whole Life, and hath in great kindness told me how I may save it, I will [Page 131] carefully keep to his methods, knowing, that if I use not the means given me for the avoiding of sin, I shall be both guilty of the sin I commit, and of negligence in not endeavouring to prevent it, and so draw upon my self foolishly a double curse. He hath called me to the heavenly Journey, and I will undertake it. It is an easie thing to take a Map and travel o­ver a great part of the World by the Eye; but he that will arrive at a Country far distant from his own, must go over many craggy Hills, pass through many deep ways, and cross rough Seas before he can get thither; he that will not begin his Journey except it be made as easie to be performed, as [Page 132] to be looked over in a Map, doth plainly show that he did never heartily, or else most foolishly, design it. He which hath a Watch in his Pocket may expect that it should tell him the hours of the Day, but not unless he skrew the Spring to a just strength, and wind it up at due seasons. God hath put a Divine Principle like a Spring of holy Life in our Souls, and it will show its force in us by ma­king us feel in our selves a strong propension to God, and an incli­nation to all goodness; but we must wind it up daily, and strengthen it with such Meditations and Pray­ers as may keep it in vigor. Of what life is a Watch, when the Spring is spoiled or unbent? Di­vine [Page 133] Grace is like sparks of Fire hid in the Soul, but we must blow them up, as the Apostles word is ( [...]) the Fire will go out,2 Tim. 1. 6. which is not maintained with proper fewel, and the Spirit may be quenched.1 Thess. 5. 19.

2. The forementioned Temper is rejected by the sincere Christian; because it is sordid, and would serve the great and good God with that which costs little or nothing. He that would do as little as he can in Gods service, hath but mean thoughts of that great God with whom he hath to do, and under­stands not the greatness of that re­ward which God hath in his infi­nite goodness promised to such as serve him sincerely; or is so base, [Page 134] that however he will do no more than pleaseth himself in point of Obedience. If this Christian had been a Jew, you should have seen him go to his Fold, and there seek up and down till he had found out a sheep, either lame, or such as had but one eye, if none were quite blind, and that he would have gone and offered for a Sacri­fice: but God did then, and doth still abhor that vile Temper. It's true, God is so good, that in some cases he doth accept the Will for the Deed, when it is impossible to be performed: but when the Case is otherwise, we shall forfeit our sincerity, and for not preparing our selves to do our Master's Will be beaten with many stripes. God [Page 135] is so gracious, that he hath mercy upon our Ignorance, and pities our invincible infirmities, and for­gives that sin which we could not possibly or probably avoid, and he helps our weaknesses: but still requires that we should always stand upon our guard, watch al­ways against surprises, as well as abhor voluntary Transgression, de­siring and endeavouring nothing so much as to please God; and so much the rather, because we per­ceive that the Master whom vve serve is so gracious, that he ac­accepts vvhat vve have done hear­tily and sincerely, though it vvas not the most vve could have done, nor done in the best manner that possibly vve could.

[Page 136]4. Sincerity also supposeth that vvhich Christ vvill require in every true Disciple of his, a good attainment, a competent profici­ency in the state of Vertue. It vvere a mean business, if the since­rity of Christian Religion should be contracted into a few cold Wishes, and the attainment of its Professors, should not exceed the faint Wouldings of Hypocrites; e­specially since the Christian Reli­gion is the most Noble in its De­sign, and vvorks vvith the highest Principles, and yet improve the progress of its Disciples but into such a motion as a Door hath up­on the Hinges, and so leave them in the sad condition of those Hy­pocrites vvhom the Apostle re­proacheth, [Page 137] who were always learning,2 Tim. 3. 7.but never came to the knowledge of the Truth; vvho vvere alvvays learning, came to those places vvhere the Gospel vvas taught, but vvere never able to come to expe­rience the Truth of it in them­selves. What vvas the Reason? Because they gave heed to the He­retical Doctrine of some seducing Teachers, and so nourished their Hypocrisie in Errour; but if they had received the Truth of the Go­spel in the love of it, and resign'd themselves to the government of it vvith sincerity, it would have made them another kind of people. For this hear our Saviour—You shall know the Truth, Ioh. 8 32 and the Truth shall make you free—If you receive my [Page 138] Gospel vvith sincere Faith, it vvill shovv it self in its effects upon you, it vvill make you free. From vvhat? from the slavery of sin, from all habitual sin, and also from the acts of gross sins, every one of vvhich is damnable; which, as Tertullian said, a Child of God can­not do, or must cease to be the Child of God if he do them, as Murder, Adultery, Perjury, Ido­latry, &c. And if the true Pe­nitent have been formerly given to any sin, he vvill forsake that too: So David, I kept me from mine Ini­quity: Ps. 18. 23. yes, vvhen he had repented; and if he had not, he could not have had any testimony of since­rity. The attainment of a sin­cere Christian is to have goodness [Page 139] habitual to the soul, to be pleased vvith doing his Duty. For this see 1 Iohn 5. 3. This is the love of God, that we keep his Commandments, and his Commandments are not grie­vous. For whosoever is born of God overcometh the World; and this is the victory that overcometh the World, even our Faith. The sincere Chri­stian shovvs his Love in Obedi­ence, and not only so, but delights to do his Duty. God's Commands are not grievous, i. e. as our Savi­our said before, his yoke is easie, and his burden is light; and being born of God, he overcometh the World by the Spirit of Faith vvhich is in him, vvhich is stron­ger than the Spirit that is in the World.

[Page 140]This our Saviour expects, as vve see in the promise vvhich he made after his Ascension to him that overcometh: not to him vvhich fights only; no, but to him that o­vercometh; and this he might vvell do, because he gave povver not only to fight, but to overcome; and said long before, that to whom much is given, of them more shall be re­quired, that is, such improve­ment as may ansvver the bestovv­ing.

When our Saviour compared himself to a Vine, and his Ser­vants to the Branches of it, sup­posing that he gave them sufficient vital Juyce for the purpose,Ioh. 15. 8. he told them that they vvere to glorifie his Father by bringing forth much [Page 141] fruit, and then they should be, and appear plainly to be his Disciples. By which it is manifest, that our great Shepherd would have his Flock to be such Sheep as those which Epi­ctetus mentions, who were not to bring their Hay and Grass and lay it before their Shepherds, to let them see how much they had eaten; but having well digested their Food, were to bring it forth in Milk and Wool, and so to ap­prove themselves to him who sed them. So sincere Christians are not to declare what they are in words or profession, much less in vain ostentation, or to make ex­cuses for what they are not; but ha­ving concocted our Saviour's Do­ctrine in their souls, do as St. [Page 142] Iames teacheth,Iam. 3. 13. Shew out of a good conversation their works with meek­ness of wisdome.

Here I think it not unfit to ad­monish every one, who would have the Testimony of their Conscience concerning their sincerity, that they should take heed of excusing them­selves to God, when they are not such as they should be; no, though they may seem to have some places of Scripture on their side. And for this I think it may not be a­miss to relate to you, what St. Chry­sostome told his Church at Constan­tinople upon this occasion; he had often reproved them for going to the Heathen shows, which by their immodesty were offensive to the chaste, and also odious by their [Page 143] cruel effusion of Humane blood; After this some of his wandering Sheep had gone to them again, and when he still continued his Reproof, they answered, That tru­ly they did what they would not, but thought that was no great mat­ter, since St. Paul made the same Defence for himself; and so they were not more to be blamed than he, since they disliked what they did. This hypocritical pretext put the holy man into a fit of pas­sionate Zeal, and he fell thus up­on them; What, says he, do you not only serve sin, but abuse the holy Scripture? Do you satisfie your lusts, and then reproach the honour of an Apostle? I, I, every one that loves to sin, desires to find out some excuse, [Page 144] which might maintain his practise; and now you fall foul upon an Apostle, though I know it is not with an intent to reproach him, but to make an A­pology for your selves. Then that they might not think that St. Paul spake those words in that Chapter of himself; but in the person of one in conflict with sin, but at present overcome by it, and being sensible of his Danger, cries out, O mi­serable man that I am, who shall de­liver me from this body of death? and that St. Paul himself was not now carnal, sold under sin, to obey what it commanded; he adds, Was St. Paul carnal, in whom Christ lived, who was governed by the Holy Ghost, who had Christ always speak­ing in him? &c. To which one [Page 145] 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 [Page 146] 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,Act. 13. 1. I have lived in all good Con­science to this day; i. e. according to the Principles of Vertue, [Page 147] 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,Acts 24. 16. 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,Gal. 5. 16. Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the Lusts of [Page 148] 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 [Page 149] 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 [Page 150] 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 [Page 151] 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 [Page 152] 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 [Page 153] 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 [Page 154] 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 [...],Eph. 4. 13 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, 2 Cor. 13. 9. which he there calls [...], consumma­tion in grace, which the Romans having obtained, he said of them, that they were full of goodness. Rom. 15. 14. Our [Page 155] Saviour is said to have grown in stature of body, Luke 25. 2. 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,3 Ioh. 2. 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,Phil. 3. 12, 13, 14. 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 [Page 156] 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, Psal. 84. 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 [Page 157] 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, Psal. 24. and each day of his life is a step in his way: and though by the common accidents of this [Page 158] 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,

• [Page 159]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 [Page 160] 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 [Page 161] 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,Luke 15. 17. he is said, [...], to come to himself; Sin had made him mad. The Pro­phet Isaiah gives notice of the same thing, when he said,Isa. 46. 8. 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 [Page 162] second Epistle to Timothy, 2 Tim. 2. 5. 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 [Page 163] 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, [Page 164] 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, ‘[Page 165]— [...].’ 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 [Page 166] take up, as the Apostles advice is, Repentance towards God; i. e. he ought to repent and return to God.Acts 20. 21. 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.

[Page 167]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 [Page 168] 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 [Page 169] 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 [Page 170] 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 [Page 171] 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 [Page 172] 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,Arist. ad Nicom. l. 9. c. 4. [...]. A bad man hath no love [Page 173] 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 [Page 174] 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 [Page 175] 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,De Nat. D [...]or. 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 [Page 176] 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 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 [Page 177] 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, [Page 178] justly pronounced that vertuous persons do not only [...],Hier. 177 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.

[Page 179]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, [...]g. 252. 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.

[Page 180]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 [Page 181] 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 [Page 182] 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 [Page 183] 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.

[Page 184]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 [Page 185] 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, [Page 186] 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 sensual Tentation, he ought [...]— and so [Page 187] [...], i. e. to stir up his rati­onal power to defend its proper Dignity, and to secure the exer­cise of its Faculties according to their proper nature, and so to keep the Reason of his mind from being enslav'd.

Who knows not that the Irasci­ble Faculty which is in us will tempt us, when occasion is offered, to answer Reviling with Reproach, and Wrong with Revenge? but the [...] is able, as Simplicius saith, [...], not to suffer the Dog which is in us to bark, much less to bite: and to return Good for E­vil, both in Words and Actions, Entreating for Rudeness, and for [Page 188] Cursing Prayers. And for the Concupiscible part, it can deny what it craves, it can reduce the sensual Appetite to that order which Nature requires, and bring it into a less compass than the just measure of Nature, if it please: and to show its full Authority over all sensual Inclinations and Impressi­ons, it can appoint what is contra­ry to their Tendence, and having resolved against it, can put what it hath decreed in Execution, and so though the Inferior part rebel, it shows its power, being enabled by God [...], to restrain it, and maintain its own Superiori­ty.

I'ts true, bodily Objects presen­ted by the Senses will enter into [Page 189] the imagination, and by sudden Phantasms make some impression upon the soul, but the mind can cast them out again, can withdraw it self from the consideration of them, can presently think upon other things, and as it pleaseth de­liberate whether that which the flesh desires be fit to be granted or no; and if it be not, can reject it; and not only refuse to do that which would gratifie the sensual part, but the quite contrary.

St. Iames Iam. 1. 15 says that Lust, when it hath conceived, bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Tentations to sin are pre­sented; if the Will embrace them, Lust conceives; and if it goes on to action it brings forth death: but [Page 188] [...] [Page 189] [...] [Page 190] if a man reject the Allurement, and deny the consent of his Will, and refuse to act according to the in­citations of fleshly Appetites, the Cockatrice is killed in the shell, and so cannot live to bite and hurt.

Thus we are secure in the Ob­servation of God's Order, which if we neglect, the mischief of our disregard will soon appear in the ill Consequences which attend it: For God hath so framed the Na­ture of our Souls, and so order­ed our most important Concerns, that we can never break his Order but we shall suffer for it. What we neglect at present will meet us in bad effects afterward. When a man hath slighted the Govern­ment [Page 191] of himself, and laid the Rains upon the neck of the Beast, he shall soon find himself serv'd by his un­ruly Passions, as Hippolytus was by his Horses, thrown and torn. Phi­losophers called inordinate Appe­tite [...], a Beast with many Heads. It is bad enough to contest with one Beast; but it is much more hazardous, when a man must scuffle with many. To this dangerous Combat a sinner con­demns himself: When he hath parted with his Reason, he hath subjected his mind to the command of every insulting Appetite, and must comply with every foolish Phansie: Being made the slave of sin, he must, as the Apostle says, serve divers Lusts, and so must [Page 192] needs be in a brave condition, be­ing under the Arbitrary Command not of one Tyrannical Patron, but many, having indeed as many Lords as Lusts; and how basely they use their vitious slaves, com­manding by turns, the poor wret­ches feel to their grief, by the per­petual disturbance which they re­ceive from them; being sometimes more then half drowned with Wine, sometimes set on fire with Wrath, at other times swelled till they are ready to break with Pride, and of­ten thrown into all dirty plea­sures.

I am not ignorant that some hardned sinners say, That they feel not the pains of sin which are so talked of, neither are they much [Page 193] concerned, though they break that precise order which is forementi­oned: They are well pleased with the life of Sense, and are willing to go as their Appetites lead them; they esteem that order good enough which some call Hurry; though they be censured, yet they think themselves well paid for what they do with sleshly Divertisements; and whatever Divines or Philoso­phers say to the contrary, they see no cause to repent of their course.

To these men I shall only say two things;

• 1. That it is no sign of health in a man to want feel­ing.
• [Page 194]2. That there are Monsters in the World, but no Ar­gument can be made from them against Nature.

1. It is no sign of health in a man to want feeling. Is a man to be acounted well, because he is in an Apoplexie, and so not sen­sible of what you say or do to him? Doth any man reckon it a perfecti­on in his body to want feeling or any other sense? The soul hath its Apoplexie too. A man may so debauch his Nature with vitious practises, that at last he shall be past feeling, and commit all filthi­ness with greediness, as the Apo­stle saith. He sins, and pleaseth himself that he feels no remorse; [Page 195] Is glad that he is listed in the num­ber of those [...]. He be­come a whining Penitent? No, he is one of the Fortes Esprites: He makes a mock of sin. Tell him of Repentance? tell them that are weary of their lives, he is well e­nough. Let the sick send for the Physician out of his Bed: He may sleep long enough for him, he needs him not. Its ridiculous talk to speak to him of a spiritual Guide, he can govern himself.

This seems to be well; but the Friends of a sick person are much troubled, when they perceive that he is not sensible of pain or dan­ger, and they take it for a sign of approaching death; neither do they entertain any hope of life, till [Page 196] they have brought him to a sense of his sickness & weakness. The Scrip­ture tells us of a seared Conscience, 1 Tim 4. 2 & of such whose minds are darkned,Eph. 4. 18, 19. and of a reprobate mind, an undis­cerning soul, and of a hardned heart as callous as a Labourer's hand, and of a heart waxen gross, that is, a soul which hath no more sense of God, than the fat heart of an Ox, which in other places is called the spirit of slumber; nothing can awake such a person to mind his most important concerns. A wicked life benums a sinner, and we are no more to regard his judgment of things, than what a blind man says of colours. A reprobate mind is that sad punishment which God doth often inflict upon wilful sin­ners. [Page 197] Since we know this, we need not wonder that they do not repent, though their Condition be most dangerous; for they under­stand it not.

2. There are Monsters in the World, but no Argument can be taken from them against Nature. Will any body say that all should be as they are? Shall Error be set for a Rule? If one be born deformed, or wanting some of those integral parts which make up a Body, would any that is in his Wits be willing to be conform'd to that unnatural Idea? If a man had a Child born defective in any Limb, blind, lame, or any way mishapen; would he not think it a great favour, if it might be [Page 198] granted to him, to have this Child born again in a handsom form, and restored to a beautiful proportion? Wise men have ever thought, that it is a greater monstrosity to be mishapen in Soul;2 Tim. 3. 9 the Mind cor­rupted,Eph. 4. 22 the Affections corrupted with Lust, and so made disho­nourable to the state of Human Nature.Rom. 1. The Holy Scripture doth very justly call this a Corruption of Human Nature; for every thing deserves that name, when it hath lost that power which is the pro­per Excellency of its Nature, and by which it is fitted to its End. This Degeneracy is so great, that the Holy Scripture saith, Men are degraded by it into the condition of brute Beasts, 2 Pet. 2. 12. and in [Page 199] other places. The Philosophers saw it by the Light of Nature, and have spoken more highly in the case:Arrian. l. 1. c. 3. Arrian calls them [...], i. e. the most unhap­py among Beasts—and adds, that if there be any thing [...], more wretched and abject, a man depraved with sin is that. The Poets meant the same when they spoke of the Transfor­mation of Vlysses his Companions, who by Debauchery were turned into Swine, grunting in Circe's Prison, and there thrusting out their Snouts through the Grates in which they were kept Slaves. So monstrous is the state of the Soul, when it is made to truckle under every ungoverned Passion.