Christ's First SERMON, OR The absolute necessity, Gospel Duty, and Christian Practice of Repentance, Opened and Applied, by a godly, able, and faithful Minister of Jesus Christ. Wherein is discovered, what Repentance is; as also the great necessity thereof to salvation: with the great folly and desperate madness of all those that delay and put off their Repentance unto a Sick Bed, or Old Age. Together with the great Benefit, Joy, and Comfort that shall be to the Souls of all those that timely and truly Repent. The eleventh Edition, with many Additions. Matth. 4.17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Luke 13.3. Except ye Repent, ye shall all likewise perish. London, Printed for Eliz. Andrews, at the White Lion near Pie-corner. 1663. Christ's first Sermon. OR, The absolute necessity, duty, and Christian Practice of REPENTANCE. Acts 17.30, 31. The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a Day, in which he will judge the world in righteouness'. THE Blessed Apostle Saint Paul in these words, beloved, endeavours to take off the superstitious Athenians from their Idolatry and worshipping of false gods; gods of silver and gold, which indeed are no gods, but the work of men's hands; and this he doth, first, by endeavouring to convince them of the folly of their Idolatry; and then secondly, in laying before them the power and goodness of God, in making and preserving the world, and all things therein. God (saith he in the foregoing verses) made the world, and all things therein, and is Lord over all, and gives to all life, and breath, and all things; and in him we all live, and move, and have our being: and it is he that hath set the bounds of our habitations. Therefore (saith he) you need not think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stones, graven by art or man's devices; for God is Lord both of heaven and earth. I but say these Idolaters, (like some now adays) we did as our forefathers did, they shorshipped such gods as these, & were of the same Religion as our forefathers were. But saith the Apostle, this was done in ignorance, and the times of this ignorance God winked at; your forefathers had not the light of the Gospel, they never heard of Jesus Christ: But now, saith he, Christ is preached, & the light of the Gospel shines forth in the world, therefore now ye must repent, and turn from these idols, and serve the living God. Now God commands all men every where to repent, although God in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways: Now hath he sent us to preach Christ unto you, that you should turn from these vanities, and serve the living God. If your forefathers sinned, it was through their ignorance and want of the knowledge of Jesus Christ: but if you sin and go on in your idolatry, it is through wilfulness, and God will be revenged on you. In the words you may observe these four things; first, a duty commanded, and that is repentance; secondly, the commander, & that is God, God commandeth; thirdly, the persons to whom this command is enjoined, and that is all men, every where, high and low, rich and poor, all the world over; fourthly and lastly, the time when, and that is now; now God commandeth all men every where to repent, now in these times of the Gospel: To day if you will hear my voice, saith God in Psalm 95.7. From the worlds thus opened, I shall give you these four practical observations: The first is this, that Repentance is a needful and necessary duty commanded by God. Secondly, that every man & woman in the world is bound to repent. Thirdly, that the doctrine of the Gospel is a doctrine of Repentance: It was Christ's first Sermon, as you may see, Mat. 4.16. Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent. Fourthly and lastly, observe from these words that God expects more, and looks for more from men under the Gospel, then from those who never heard of the Gospel. These four observations are all of them very clear from the words of the test, I shall only therefore give you some few further proofs of them from Scripture, and so proceed in the opening and handling of the two first observations, and from thence I shall draw sundry practical uses, which I shall endeavour, by God's assistance, to apply home unto your souls, I shall therefore join the two first observations into one entire proposition, thus. That repentance is a needful and necessary duty commanded by God, and that every man and woman in the world is bound to repent. Except ye repent (saith Christ, Luke 13. 3) ye shall all perish. And 2 Per. 3.9. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. As I live (saith the Lord, Ezek. 33.11.) I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel. And in Mat. 3.2. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And so likewise in Act 2.38. Repent & be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins Repentance is needful for all, there are none so wise, none so learned, none so holy, but stand in need of repentance. In many things (saith St. James) we sin all, Jam, 3.2. And in Rom. 3.23. All have sinned. Young ones have sinned, and therefore have need to repent, & that betimes, lest as St. Paul saith, Heb. 13●3. Through the deceitfulness of sin their hearts be hardened. It's good for young ones, yea it's the best course they can take, as Solomon saith, Eccles. 12.1. To remember their Creator in the days of their youth; and not to put off repentance unto old age, or the deathbed, for than it may be too late: For although true repentance is never too late, yet late repentance is seldom true. It is a good observation of a holy man; saith he, speaking of the repentant Thief, God saved one at the last hour, that none might despair, and but one, that none might presume. Thou that wilt not repent when thou mayst, it may be God will not give thee time to repent hereafter when thou wouldst: Dost thou think to do that in thy old age, which thou wilt not do in thy youth? Canst thou do that in one hour on thy deathbed, which thou art not able to do sufficiently all thy life time; And then likewise old men have need of repentance, they have lived a long time in sin, and have long enough, yea, too too long neglected repentance: Young men may die soon, but old men cannot live long; therefore both young and old have need to repent, that they may receive the remission of their sins, Mark 1, 4. And for your better understanding of this great & necessary duty of repentance. I shall little show you what it is, and that briefly. Repentance is of two sorts, either real or unfeigned, or else seeming and hypocritical; seeming repentance that's common to wicked men, and is altogether Legal arising from the accusations of their own consciences, such a repentance, as this, was that of Judas; and then there is a real and unfeigned repentance, which doth properly belong to the godly, and this is likewise of two sorts; Legal and Evangelical: Legal repentance that comes from the Law, giving us the sight of our sins and our misery by sin; the Law is our Schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, Gal. 3.24. But Evangelical repentance that springs from faith in Christ, and carries out the soul unto Christ in opposition to every sin, and to a forsaking of every evil way: repentance than I shall thus describe, I say repentance is a gift of God by which a believing sinner being cast down in the sight and sense of his own sins, doth utterly forsake and abhor all his former evil ways, and turns to the Lord with a perfect heart. I say it is a gift of God, that which comes from God and not from nature, it's a flower never grew in nature's garden; neither birth nor breeding, neither art nor learning, nor any other sublunarypower or qualification, is able to beget repentance: true repentance comes from above. Every good and perfect gift (saith St. James) comes from above, Jam. 1.17. Grace doth not grow here below, but comes down from the father of lights. The Apostles, Acts 11.18. glorified God, that to the Gentiles he had granted repentance unto life. Repentance is the quickening of a dead soul, and therefore must be the act of him who is the giver of all life. We are all of us by nature dead in sins and trespasses Ephes. the 2. and the 1. A man by nature is no more able to perform an act of true grace, than a dead person in the grave is able to do an act of nature. They that live in sin (as St. Paul saith of the widow that lives in pleasure, 1 Tim. 5.6.) are dead while they live. Repentance then is the gift of God, Acts 11.18. God granted repentance unto life. So in 1 Tim. 2.25. the Ministers of God are required to instruct those that oppose themselves, with méekness; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, that they may recover themselves out of the snares of the devil. It is said of Christ, Acts 5.31 He is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance unto Israel. Faith and repentance are supernatural works, & we may as well create new heavens and a new earth, as do these acts of ourselves; it is God alone that works them in our hearts by the efficacious operations of his Spirit. 2 Cor. 3.5. We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves but it is God that worketh in us both to will and to do, of his good pleasure, Phillip 2.13. Secondly, repentance is a change, first of the heart, then of the whole man: there must be a new heart, and a new hand; a new life, and a new head: all things must be new where repentance is. If any man be in Christ (saith the Apostle) he is a new creature, 1 Cor. 5.17. Repentance makes a man a new man, and it is only in the power of God to renew our hearts, neither Angels nor men are able to do it. In Jer. 31.18, 19 saith Ephraim, Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God, Surely after that I was turned I repent, and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh, I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Here is the character of a true repentance, it is the Lord that must change our hearts, it is he only that must give us new hearts, and take from us these hearts of stone: it is the Lord that must pluck us out of the snares of the Devil, and cast down the strong holds of sin in us, if God do not turn us, we shall never be turned. After that I was turnned, I repent saith Ephraim. But I proceed in the description of repentance. It's a gift of God, I say whereby a believing sinner turns from all his sins unto God; I say, a believing sinner, because faith must first precede and go before repentance, for none can truly repent, but he must first believe: there may be in a sinner that which we call Legal repentance, which may cause a sinner to fall out with his sins, & it may be to loathe them with a kind of detestation: its possible a wicked man may repent that ever he knew what sin meant, or that ever he had to do with sin; all this may be, and yet no true repentance, because no true faith, for true repentance causes a hatred of sin, as it is displeasing to God, aswell as hurtful to ourselves; yea, he hates sin as hell, yea worse than hell itself, which cannot be in an unbelieving soul. It cannot be denied but that repentance is a saving grace; and if so, then none can partake of this saving grace, till he be first united unto Christ the fountain of all grace: so than faith must needs be before repentance. Secondly, where true repentance is, there is a change wrought in the whole man, and a turning, first, to ourselves: secondly, to God: and thirdly to man. An unrepentant sinner is out of himself; and he is not only out of his way, but out of his wits. In Luke 15.17. when the Prodigal came to himself, he said; Father I have sinned; this is the first step to repentance, self-returning. Secondly, repentance is a returning to God, If thou wilt return O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me, Jer. 4.1. The grace of repentance is suitably expressed by this act of returning to God, & they who did not repent, are said not to return to God. In Amos. 4 1. God saith, Notwithstanding I have given you cleanness of teeth, and want of bread, yet have you not returned; notwithstanding I have withheld the rain from you, and smitten you with blast and mildew, and sent among you the Pestilence: Notwithstanding I have slain your young men by the sword, and overthrown some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, by fire; yet have you not returned unto me, saith the Lord. Repentance is a turning from sin to God: Sin turns men from God, and draws the soul into the ways of death, Jam. 1.14. A man is drawn away of his own lusts and enticed, drawn away from God and from the truth of God: but when once Repentance comes, he turns back again, he changes his mind then, and abhors himself for what he hath done, Job 42.6. I abhor myself, and repent (saith Job) in dust and ashes. The prodigal was drawn away from his father's house through his own lusts, and yet at last he returned first to himself, secondly to his father, Luke 15 17. When he came to himself he said I will arise and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Sinners are said to be mad, but repentance brings men to their right wits again: cherry impenitent sinner is a mad men, a meet Bedman; who but a mad man will run himself wilfully into the fire, as every wicked man doth, he runs headlong to destruction; but repentance turns men from this madness. In Acts 16.18. it is called, A turning of men from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Sin is a darkness, and when men sin they know not what they do; but Repentance enlightens men, and sets them at liberty. In Acts 20.20. Repentances & turning to God are put together, they are one and the same, the one cannot be without the other; but it is not any turning that doth this, but it is a turning of the judgemant, and a turning of the will and affections: so that men that are turned, are carried wholly from sin and wickedness, unto God, Joel 3.12. Turn unto me (saith God) with all your heart: If it be with a piece, it is nothing worth, it is altogether deceitful. Thirdly, Repentance is a returning to men; we must not be ashamed to acknowledge our faults one to another, Jam. 5.16. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another. If we have dene any man wrong, we ought to acknowledge it. Is it so then that Repentance flows from Faith in Jesus Christ, and turns men from sin unto God, than I observe, that there are many in the world, who as yet never knew what true repentance meaneth, because they are yet in unbelief & without faith, without which there can be no repentance: Men may cry bitterly, and humble themselves in sackcloth and ashes, as Ahab did: men may have the hort ours of Hell in their consciences as Judas had; Men may reform many things that are amiss, as Herod did, and yet being unbelicvers, they are still in the estate of impenitency: It is an infallible demonstration, that they never yet truly tasted of the love of God in the pardon of their sins, who dare presume to take a liberty to sin, or delight themselves in any sin whatsoever; they that truly believe, cannot, dare not allow themselves in any sin: for as faith purifies the heart, so faith & repentance keeps the heart pure, and makes the conscience tender: and the more pure the heart is, the more will it abstain from all things that are evil. Then secondly, is Repentance the gift and grace of God, whereby a believing sinner being humbled under the sight and sense of his sins, doth truly turn to God. Then we may observe, that where true repentance is, there is also humiliation for sin. It is not possible that ever any soul should truly repent, that is not truly humbled and cast down in the sight & sense of his sins. Turn unto me (saith the Lord) with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, Joel 2.12. The Ninivites when they repent, they humbled themselves from the highest to the lowest; and this also shows us, that the greatest part of men and women in the world never yet truly repent, because they were never yet truly humbled: IT is not every kind of sorrow that works repentance, but as it is in 2 Cor 7.10. Only goldy sorrow worketh repentance never to be repent of. And as there may be a counterfeit repentance, so there may be a counterfiet humiliation: The signs and marks of true humiliation are these, First, the soul that is truly humbled for sin, is very free in confession of sin; and the Scriptures tell us, that those that have been most humbled for sin, have been freest in the confession of their sins: as David, Nehemiah, Job, and others, Psal. 51.3. saith David, I acknowledge my transgression, and my sin is ever before me. And this confession of sin, will be in some measure suitable to our humiliation; if our sorrow for sin be sincere, our confession will be so too: Therefore all those who are less afraid to commit sin than they are ashamed to confess sin; were never yet truly humbled for sin, neither shall their souls reap any been fit by it. Prov. 28.13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall find mercy. They that will not find out their sins to confess them, to be sure, one day or other their sins shall find them out to forment them: if sin find us not out in youth, it will find us out in age; if it find us not out in health, yet it will find us out in sickness; if it find us not out in life, yet it will find us out in death; if it find us not out in death, yet it will find us out after death in the day of judgement: either one time or other out sins will find us out. Numb. 25., 33. Your sins (saith God) shall find you out. Secondly, godly sorrow and humiliation for sin, causeth the soul that is humbled utterly to loath, and abhor, and hate sin: Ezek. 20.43. Ye shall remember your ways and your do wherein you have been defiled, and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for all your evil that you have committed. Sin is odious and hateful to an humble soul: I abhor every false way, (saith David) Rivers of tears run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy law, Psal. 119.164.136. Nature may teach a man to loath sin in others, but its only grace that teaches us to abhor sin in out selves, When Judab, Gen. 38.24. heard that his daughter Thanmar had played the harlot, he presently cast sentence of death upon her; Bring her forth (saith he) that she may be burned: But when he saw by the pledges that sin was his own, Judah was then silent, no more talk of burning her then. A soul truly humbled, will hate sin wheresoever it is; especially in his own bosom; men will fly from venomous and hurtful creatures wheresoever they are, especially if they be near them, because they are then in most danger to be hurt by them; all the sins of the world cannot do a soul so much hurt as his own sins; then they that do not hate sin in themselves, are not truly humbled for sin. Thirdly, he that is truly humbled, is willing to take shame to himself, the humble sinner is willing to be ashamed of his folly: Ezek. 16. 63. That thou mayest remember and be ashamed, and never open thy mouth more, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord. Fourthly, a truly humble soul will be willing to receive the word of God with all readiness: what's the reason men are no more humbled for sin; Surely this, because they despise or neglect the good, word of God, which is the only means to get humility: the humble penitent soul, is the most tractable and teachable soul in the world, and he above all other is willing to embrace the word of God. Fifthly, a true humble soul is ready and willing to put in practise all these duties which he hath formerly learned out of the word of God: When Paul was once truly humbled, he conferred not any longer with flesh and blood, but laying aside all carnal reasonings, goes on thoroughly in his work of preaching the Gospel, Gal. 1.16. Thus you maysee that where true repentance is, there is also a true humiliation and sorrow for sin; then every one learn to be humble and that betimes: for as women the longer they are ere they bring forth children the harder is their labour; even so, they that put off repentance to old age, must expect the sorer travel. Lamentably are they mistaken, who put off their repentance to their old age: is it likely that the pains and weakness of old age will be any advantage or ease to thy repentance. Rev. 16.19. it's said, that at the pouring forth of the fourth viol, when God smote the inhabitants of the earth with a scorching heat, that they blasphemed the name of God and repent not. It's a woeful thing to put off repentance to a pained body, or to a sick bed: pain in its own nature fits rather to blaspheme, and turn from God, then to return to God; and it's very common that sick persons either repent not at all, or if they do, at the best their repentance is but a sickly repentance: sickness doth only abate and restrain the power of men's lusts, it never destroys the life of sin, death itself cannot kill sin; wicked men's sins live when they are dead, the grave cannot consume them, nor the fire of hell: the sins of unbelievers remain not only in their guilt, but in their power to all eternity. Is it so then, that repentance is a turning from sin unto God, than I observe, that there can be no true repentance where sin is delighted in: he that lives in the love & practice of any sin knoweth not what repentance meaneth, for repentance takes off the heart from the love of sin, and works it to such a dislike of sin, that it abhors the very occasion of sin; if sin comes and tells a gracion penitent soul of the profits and pleasures of sin, O saith a gracions heart, the sweetness will prove bitterness in the latter end. True repentance takes off the heart from all sin, as well small as great, not from some few sins, but from all sin; for he that turns not from all, turns from none in truth: and it is not enough to turn from all sin, but we must turn from the commands of sin and satan unto the commands of God; from worldliness, to heavenly mindedness; from pride to humility; from hatred and envy, to love: the Tree that bears not good fruit will be hewn down and east into the fire, as well as the tree that bears ill fruit. I beseech ye therefore brethren in the bowels of mercy, for the Lords sake I entreat every one of you that desire to be saved, that you would turn away from all your iniquities, and that speedily, lest your repentance be too late: And to this end, be earnest with God by prayer, for the assistance of his spirit in the subduing of thy sins, and cast thy self wholly upon the Lord. Cherry true Penitent is wholly the Lords, the disire of his soul is to God, and to the remembrance of his name; with his soul he desires God in the night, and with his Spirit within him, he seeketh the Lord in the morning, Isa. 26.8, 9 He is now a constant suitor at the throne of grace, and with full purpose of heart he cleaves to God, and loves the place where his honour dwells, Psalm 26.8. All his desire is to know more of God, and how he may love him more and serve him better; the service and servants of God, how joyful are they to his soul? He takes all opportunities of doing good, he keeps his heart with all diligence, and the door of his lips that he offend not with his tongue, Psalm 39.1. His heart is enslamed with the love of God, that he endeavours with all his might to show forth the praises of the Lord. By which it appears, that a turning to God, is not barely a turning from sin, but a practising of good, and a walking up rightly before the Lord in all wellpleasing, all out days. Is it so then that repentance is needful and absolutely necessary for all persons; in what a sad condition then are the greatest part of men and women in the world, who as yet are as far from true repentance as light is from darkness, and yet poor souls, they smooth themselves up with this conceit, that God is merciful, & they hope to be saved as well as the best, & they thank God all is well with them; and yet notwithstanding they never repent of their sins: true repentance is a Grace almost out of fashion in these selfconceited times, wherein men's minds are so much running after novelties and outward formalities; but the power of holiness, and the doctrine ' of repentance and self-mortification, these are not minded; nay, by many are accounted Legal, and altogether needless. There are three sorts of people that I shall have occasion to speak of in the use of this Point: and the first are such as altogether abhor repentance; the second are such, as although they acknowledge repentance is needful, and necessary for others, yet think that they themselves have no need of it; and the third sort are such as do confess, that repentance is needful even for themselves, as well as others, but not yet; its time enough here after, there's no such haste of it. And I hope in the handling of these three sorts of persons, I shall make it appear that reprntance is needful and necessary at all times, for all sorts, Having done this, I shall remove some lets that hinder men from repentance, and so give you some few Motives to stir you up to repentance; and then to wind up all in a few words of Application. I begin with the first of these, those that abhor repentance; and they are wilful sinners, such as go on in sin, and make it even their trade to sin: wilful, desperate, and dissolute wretches, that laugh at repentance, who declara their sin as Sodom did, and hid it not, Isa. 3.9. Who will not be brought to abandon their wicked ways, but go on still in swearing and cursing, lying and blaspheming, whoredom, drunkenness, and all uncleanness, and that with greediness, as the Apostle saith: Who mock at faith & repentance, as those scoffers did in 2 Pet. 3.4. These are they, as S. Peter saith, 2 Pet. 2. That walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and count it pleasure to riot in the day time; whose eyes are full of adultery, that cannot cease from sin: O but the latter end of these men is worse than their beginning. How many wicked wretches are there, that live as if they had made a covenant with death and hell, and were at an agreement with the grave, who had rather hazard their souls then leave their sins, who as if there were neither heaven nor hell, run on from one sin to another. Come (say they) we will fetch wine & fill ourselves with strong drink, and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. But Isa. 56.12. woe unto them (saith the Prophet) they have rewarded evil to themselves. How little do these men think, that God will one day wound the hairy scalp of such as go on in sin: and that tribulation and wrath, indignation & anguish, shall be upon every soul that doth evi, Rom. 2.9. Let men slight repentance never so much, a time will come when they shall repent, but that too late, even in hell fire for ever. For sin must be repent of, if not on earth, yet in hell; and if you will not loathe your companions in sin here, you shall loathe them in hell hereafter, you pot-companions, and your harlot companions shall loathe one another in Hell: then these bloody wounds shall bleed which you have given your souls in the days of your sollity and pride, and in the times of your desperate impieties; when nothing but wrath and horror of conscience shall appear before you, than these sweet morsels of sin which have been sweet as honey to your lustful appetites, shall be vomited up as the bitterest and loathsomest things in the world. Consider this all ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you, Psal. 50 22. Be willing to forsake your sins, for sin and the soul must part, or else hell and the soul shall meet together: The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the Nations that forget God, Psalm 9.17. O that you would seriously lay these things to heart, and now, even now in this your day, that ye would know the things that belong unto your everlasting peace. To day if you will hear my voice (saith God in the 95. Psalms) harden not your heart. 'Slight not, scorn not, resist not the good word of God that invites you to repentance, but break off your sins by repentance, and turn to God in righteousness. And now for the second sort, and they are such as think they need no repentance: And they are either such as are morally civil, and honest before men, or else formal and hypocritical professors, who seem to be, and are not, who profess God with their lips, but deny him in their lives; O they have no need of repentance they are no drunkards, nor swearers, nor such like: God I thank thee (said the proud Pharisee) I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, Luke 18.11. These are such as profess God and know much of the mind of God, and therefore have no need of repentance, they are guilty of no sins to repent of: But of these it may be said as Peter said of Elimas' the sorcerer, Act. 13.10. That they are full of all subtlety, and enemies to all righteousness, who never yet know what sin meant. For they that think they have no sins left to repent of, it's a clear argument that they never yet truly repent themselves of any one sin at all, but that they are still in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity: For repentance is a continued art, and a grace that must have its daily operation, as faith and love must continue, so must repentance; when once the rocky heart of a sinner is smitten by God, the water of repentance will continually flow; sincere repentants cannot content themselves with one art or two of repentance, but they must daily renew their repentance, for sin will renew, so must repentance: renewed sins must have renewed Repentance; till we have done sinning (and that will not be till we have done living) we must not have done repenting: if there be a leak in the ship, the water must be pumped out, else the ship is in danger of sinking; we are leaking vessels all of us, yea the best of us sin leaks in daily, and is renewed daily, and there must be the pump of repentance to carry it out daily, else our souls will be in danger of sinking, And for the other sort who think they need no repentance, they are pure moral honest men, who live in a course of civility, and take their penny to be as white as any others, these are as good as the best, and therefore have no need to be any better; they are not desperately wicked as many are, they are no blasphemers, nor drunkards, they go to Church and give every man his due, and are loving to their neighbours, and what needs any more. It's true, these things are necessary, & are required in a Christian: but yet civility without sanctify, at the best is but gilded Atheism; morality and seeming virtues are but gilded sins and glistering abominations; the Lord seethe many a rotten, base, stinking heart under a civil coat It civility and morality would have served the turn, than the Pharisees would have gone to heaven before any other; they were civilly honest, they were no swearers, nor drunkards, they paid tithes, and gave alms, and prayed often; and carried themselves so exact in the world, that it was thought that if but two men in the world should go to heaven, a Scribe should be one, and a Pharisee the other. But what saith Christ. Mat. 5.20. Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom if heaven: And yet their righteousness far exceeded the righteousness of all our moral honest men. Let a man be never so honest in outward appearance, let his carriage and behaviour be never so specious and plausible in the eyes of the world, let him be never so exact ano just in his deal with men, yet if he be not renewed in the spirit of his mind, he is never the better for this. If he be not a sanctified Christian, the word of truth never as yet came home to his soul, in the power of it; he is still in the state of nature, and without God, and as yet far from repentance and salvation And then there is a third sort of impenitents, and they are such as are convinced of the necessity of repentance, but they do not think it a time now to repent: they believe they must repent, but all in good time, there's no haste of it yet, it will be time enough hereafter; at the hour of death, when age and sickness is upon them; and they think it a thing of nothing to repent, they can do it when they list, it's done with a wet finger, there needs no more but to say, Lord have mercy upon me, when they are going out of the world, this is the general disease with which most men are infected. But let such men know, that it is a hard matter to repent, ans sin is very powerful; and if they do not seek to get it subdued in the strength of their days, it will be too hard for them at the last for although men grow weaker and weaker, yet sin grows stronger and stronger; and being as we say, bred in the bone, nursed up by us in our youthful days, it will not easily be rooted out of the flesh. Can the Blackmore change his skin, or the Leopard his spots? Jer. 15 23. No they cannot; no more can they that are accustomed to do evil, leave it when they list. If repentance be a thing so easy, how is it that many who sought after it could never obtain it? How many are there that have reared and cried in the bitterness of their souls, and in the horror of their consciences, that they could not repent. O that I could repent, O that my hard heart would break in pieces! This hath been the cries of many. It is not in the power of man to repent when he pleases, doth God give us space to repent now, it may be he will not do it to morrow: a man by nature as he cannot of himself, so he hath no inclination of himself, to repentance. Repentance it's a heart-work, a circumcising of the heart, and casting of sin out of the soul, which indeed will make the heart to bleed; which thing no natural man is either willing or able to do. Mortify (saith the Apostle, Col. 3.5.) your Members which are upon earth; which thing suits not with a natural man. Let no man then put off Repentance, upon such foolish wicked thoughts as these, that repentance is an easy work, which a man may perform when he pleases, such sinful thoughts as these will deceive you: Thou that wilt not repent now thou mayest, when thou wouldst it may be thou shalt not be permitted; you that will not repent when God gives space, how justly may he when thou wouldst deny it thee? because when it was offered to thee thou refusedst. Ezek. 24.13. Because I would have purged thee, and thou wast not purged; thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness, saith the Lord. The longer men live in sin, the stronger will sin grow in them: he that will not leave sin when he is young, will hardly leave it when he is old; it is said of wicked men, in Job 20.11. Their bones are full of the sins of their youth, which lie down with them in the dust. Not that men's sins are buried with them in their graves, for than they might be happy, but that they continue with them till death, yea after death. Many a time and often hath the Lord stood at the door of men's Consciences, and knocked to come in, Rev. 3.20. Behold I stand at the door and knock, (saith Christ) O do not let God wait long, he hath waited a long time already to be gracious unto thee, Isa. 30.18. Do not give the devil the prime and strength of your days, and then think to serve God in your old age: You do not leave sin in this, but sin leaves you; you have not the strength and power to sin then as you have had, but still your hearts are as bad as ever they were, than put not off your repentance till sickness comes. Happy, yea thrice happy is that man, and blessed shall he be, that in the time of his youth & health furnishes his heart and soul with comforts against the evil day; happy is that soul, who when age and sickness comes, is so sitted for death by repentance, that when death comes he hath nothing else to do but to die. Be persuaded th●n to repent betimes, before you go hence and be no more seen; there is no time ours but the present time, we do not know whether we shall live another day, another night: many that are in health one day are brought to their graves the next. Our life (saith St. James) is but a vapour that appeareth for a little time, Jam. 4.14. we are no sooner born; but we begin to die. Put not your souls off then from day to day, he that's unfit or unwilling to repent to day, will be so to morrow; therefore seek the Lord while he may be found, Isa. 55.6. There is a time when God will not be found: Prov. 1.24. to ver. 30. saith God, Because I called and ye refused, and set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; therefore will I laugh at your calamity, and will mock when your fear cometh; when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall ye call on me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord; therefore shall they eat the fruit of their ways, and be filled with their own devices. There is a time when mercy may be had, but if we neglect that time, it will not be recovered again though it be sought for with tears: there is a time, when with the wise Vigins we may enter into the wedding, but if we take not that time, we may with the foolish ones have the door shut against us, Mat. 25. Then may we knock and call, yea, cry, Lord, Lord, open to us: but the Lord shall say unto us, I know you not. The old world had a long time of Repentance, a hundred and twenty years did Noah preach repentance to them, and yet they repent not: but the Ninivites they had but a short time given them, but forty days, and yet they repent: they made the Day of Repentance whilst the Sun of God's patience shined upon them. God is not bound to wait men's leisure, the Soul is but a tenant at will, and may suddenly be turned out of doors, and when you lie upon your sick beds, the Lord may fill your hearts with such fears as may make your consciences altogether despair of mercy. God sent you his servants early and late, in season & out of season, to invite you to repent, but you will repent you say hereafter, you will if you can, you hope God will work it in you. What ground have you of this hope? hath God made you any such promise? Thou canst not draw out the thread of thy life one minute, for aught thou knowest this may be thy last day; the tenders of mercy, and the offers of grace are at an end when thy life ends, if not before: you know that time and tide stays no man's leisure, every one is so wise as to take time and tide for worldly affairs; will any man be so sottish as to defer the time of his sowing till harvest? men will not be carrying out of dung, when they should be fetching in of Corn: no, they will dispatch those things first which are of most necessity. And is there any thing of more necessity than the salvation of your souls? will your souls be saved without repentance? or can you repent when you will? but you will say, you are young, and therefore may be born with a while, which is the Devil's divinity; for young men have no more liberty allowed them to sin or to put off repentance, then old men have, it's the Devil's policy to infuse this into thy brains, that he may ensnare thee. It was the commendation of Timothy, that from a Child he had known the holy Scriptures, 1 Tim. 1. Young Saints, say some, but not the word of God, prove old Devils, But I am sure it is a rare thing to see and old sinner to become a young Saint, When the devil and sin hath lorded it in your soul, yea tyrannised both over soul & body, for thirty or forty years together, do you think then that a little groaning or crying, Lord have mercy upon me, will be able to dispossess him at the last, he having gotten too strong a footing in your soul to be beaten out of his quarters so easily; he that will not remember God when he is young and living, it's greatly to be feared God will be unmindeful of him when he is old and dying. Therefore once more I beseech you in the bowels of Christ, speedily to set about the work of repentance, lest when it is too late you repent, weep, and mourn, that you repent not before. Do not say of repentance as Felix spoke to Paul, Thou wilt repent when thou art better at leisure, another time shall serve the turn: it may be thou mayest not live to another time, or if thou dost, thy heart may then be as hard, if not harder than now it is, Would you not in the day of the Lord be in a worse condition than heathens or infidels are? Then repent. Would you not when you are dead be in a worse condition than toads or serpents? then repent. It may be said of every impenitent sinner, as Christ said of Judas in the 26. of Matthew, and the 24. ver. It had been good for that man if he had never been born. Heathens in the day of Judgement shall be in a better condition then impenitent Christians, for they shall have the lesser condemnation, because of their ignorance; who it may be would have done better if they had known more. It shall be more tolerable (saith our Saviour) for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgement, then for thou Capernaum: Thou England that art exalted up to heaven in Gospel-mercies, take heed and beware lest thou be not thrown down to hell in Gospel-vengeance. I should now show you the lets that hinder men from Repentance, and so endeavour to remove them; but I shall only name them, and so conclude with some few motiuhs to stir you up to Repentance. Now the lets that keep men off from Repentance, are either from Sin and Satan, or else from ourselves and the World; the Devil persuades men that repentance is a needless work and men need not trouble themselves with it, for those that God hath ordained to live shall be saved, let them live never so loosely; and those that he hath appointed to wrath shall be damned, let them repent never so much. But to remove this let out of the way, know this, that all those, that God hath ordained to salvation, shall first or last, more or less, be brought to embrace the means. In the 13. of the Acts, and the 48. As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed. God hath joined the end and the means together, and cursed is he that dares to separate them: Salvation without repentance is impossible; without holiness no man shall see God, Heb. 5.19. A second way by which the Devil keeps men off from Repentance, is God's mercy; God is merciful, saith the devil, his mercy is over all his works, & he that made you will not damn you, you need not to fear it: True it is, even to wicked men God is merciful; but these are but mercies on the left hand, common mercies; it's a mercy to men that they live, it's a mercy that we were not born monsters, and its a mercy to have outward enjoyments, but what are these to the peculiar mercies of God? It was a good speech of a godly man, saith he, He that made thee without thee, will not save thee without thee; if thou art in a ditch and wilt do no more to come out but cry, God help me, thou mayest lie and perish. O do not dare to go on in sin, because God is merciful; Shall we sin (saith St. Paul) that grace may abound? no, God forbidden. I dare not saith a gracious heart: If ever you would partake of mercy, you must departed from iniquity, 2 Tim. 2.19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. I dare holdly say, that if all the clouds of heaven should continually shower down mercy, there would not so much as one drop fall upon any impenitent person. Thirdly, the devil labours to keep men off from repentance, by bringing them to despair of mercy, if he cannot work men into presumption by the consideration of God's mercies, he will do what he can to bring thent into desperation, by telling them that mercy is out of date. But let not this hinder thy repentance, for as it cannot be too soon to repent, so its never too late to repent, better once then never. I do not speak this that any should neglect to repent betimes, but that none should ever despair of mercy, and thereby be hindered from this duty of repentance, A second let that hinders repentance, is the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life, the pleasures and preferments of the world: these fight against the spirit, and resist the work of repentance: Voluptousness and Drunkenness unfits men for repentance, therefore these must be abstained front (1 Pet. 2. 11.) as things that war against the soul. Mortify therefore (saith the Apostle) your members which are upon earth, fornication, uncleanness, etc. Col. 3.5. These must be mortified. And then a third let that keeps men from repentance is sin, sin hath such a commanding power over the souls of unregenerated persons, So that (as it is Rom. 6.10.) they give themselves over as servants to sin, and to uncleanness. O then for the Lords sake, avoid all occasions of sin; Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof: neither yield you your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but yield yourselves unto God, as instruments of righteousness, Rom. 6.12, 13. verses. O that I could prevail with you, and that the Lord would persuade your hearts of the dreadful & doleful condition of all umpenitent Sinners. Consider then I beseech you in the fear of the Lord these following considerations; and first of all know this, you that live in the love of sin you live in the hatred of God; for the love of God and the love of sin cannot possibly dwell together, and they that dwell in it shall never dwell with God, Psal. 15. saith David, Lord, who shall abide in thy Tabernacle, who shall dwell in thy holy ●●ill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness. And the Apostle saith, 1 Cor. 6.9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor Idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thiefs, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And Psalm 97. Ye that love the Lord hate evil. Also 2 Tim. 2.19. Let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity. Secondly, all those that sin, or are under the power and command of sin, are of the dev●● For he that commits sin (saith St. John) is of the devil, John 3.9. And is it not a sad thing to be under the power of the Devil? Every wicked man is the Devils stave, and be doth the devil's drudgery: where ever sin is, in the love of it, there is also the devil; the devil keeps court in wicked men's hearts. Thirdly, sin is the high way to destruction, Is not destruction to the wicked? saith Job, Chap. 31.3. Yes, that it is, And a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity. Fourthly and lastly, sin brought wrath and condemnation upon the soul: If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die, Rom. 8.13. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the Nations that forget God, Psal. 9.17. These things being considered & seriously taken to heart, methinks should not only awaken sinners out of their sleepy security, but also provoke them to repentance. And then there is another let which hinders men from repentance, and that is in themselves, which is of all other the greatest let; for did not our own base hearts deceive us, the devil the world, and sin, could never hinder us from coming to God by repentance; & these lets from ourselves are either from ignorance or hardness of heart, Eph 4.18. Men, saith the Apostle, through the ignorance that is in them, & through the hardness of their hearts being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, & to work all uncleanness with greediness. Ignorance must needs be a great let to repentance, no wonder when men know not the danger of sin, nor the necessity of repentance, that they live in sin and never come to repentance; who is there that seeks for that he knoweth not of? If impenitent sinners did but know what a dangerous condition they were in without repentance, they would never suffer their eyes to sleep, nor their eyelids to slumber, before they had made their peace with, God by repentance: O then for the Lords sake get acquaintance with God, and learn to know what an odious thing sin is, Job 22.21. Acquaint now thyself with God, an● be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee, thereby thou mayst be brought to repentance. Then secondly, there's in us hardness of heart, which hinders the work of repentance: It is said of Zedekiah, 2 Chron. 36.13. That he hardened his heart that he might not return to the Lord his God. And this hardness of heart is very lamentable, because all the means which God uses to soften, work not upon it at all; And Pharaoh hardened his heart, and would not let the children of Israel go, Ex. 8.32. All the sore judgements of God upon him could not prevail with his hard heart, he would not let them go; so wicked men whose hearts are hardened, they will not let their sins go, neither the judgement, nor the mercies of God will prevail with wicked men, to turn them from their sins. Amos 4 12. saith God, Though I have sent among you judgement upon judgement, plague, famine, and noisome beasts, yet have you not returned unto me. Therefore I beseech you, in love to your poor souls, that by prayer you would beg of God to give you softened hearts, that may melt & tremble at the word of God, lest by going on in your sins, ye bring upon your solves swift destruction. And so I come to give you some means and motives to stir you up to repentance, and I shall conclude. The first and principal means of working repentance where it is not, is the word of God Mat. 4.17. And Jesus began to preach, and to say Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Christ's frist Sermon was a Sermon of repentance, therefore if ever you would repent 〈◊〉 your sins, attend upon the word of God. 〈◊〉 ha● a woeful sad condition are those in that want th● word of God: What the Preacher said, Eccle 11.6. In the morning (saith he) sow thy seed, an● in the evening withhold not thy hand; so say I 〈◊〉 hearing the word of God; Hear it in the morning, and hear it in the afternoon; hear it on th● Lords day, and hear it in the week day, take a● opprotunities of hearing the word of God. And then a second help is, to consider th● goodness and power of God, his almighty, an● his all seeing eye; consider God sees and know and thy ways, and is able to punish thee for a● thy sins, if men were but convinced of this truth, they durst not sin so boldly as they do But I pass by this to give you some few Ch●dences of the truth of repentance, and they ar● briesly these. First, the soul that hath truly repent is very careful to avoid even the occasion of sin, an● keeps himself at a distance bathe from sin & sinners; he will dispense with no sin at all, but will ●y as Ephraim did, What have I to do any more ●ith sin? And secondly, he that is truly turned ●●ont sin unto God, will endeavour to turn there's also: he is not content that he himself is ●urned to God, but he will draw others to God also. Thirdly, he that hath truly repent is ve●y careful tofurnish himself against the assaults of the devil; Thy word (saith David, Ps. 119.11.) have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. A true repentant treasures up the word of God in his heart, and walks worthy of the Lord unto all wellpleasing, being fruitful unto every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God, Col. 1.10. They do it, as it is in Ps. 110.23. They keep the testimonies of God, and seek him with their whole heart; they also do no iniquity, they walk in his ways. Their delight is in the law of God, and in his law they do meditate day and night, Psal. 1.2. Fourthly, he that hath truly repent, is full of holy indignation against sin, and turns sin quite out of doors, he cannot endure the sight of it. Fifthly, he that hath truly repent, is full of fear, he is filled with an awful, reverencial, and filial fear of the Majesty of God, and he is afraid of displeasing God by sin, Sirthly, a true penitent is full of holy and heavenly desires; he desires more of God, and more acquaitance with the ways of God, more communion with God in Ordinances Seventhly, true penitents are very zealous fo● God: O how do I love thy law, saith David 〈◊〉 the 119. Psalm. A godly man cannot endure t● see God dishonoured; as it is said of Lot in th● second of Peter 2.8. He vexed his righteous son● from day to day with their unlawful deeds. An● than lastly, where true repentance is wrought it will work a holy change in the soul; an● whereas sin was formerly delighted in, th● true Penitent hath it in indignation; they will not only turn sin out of doors, but also are ready to cut it in pieces as it were: true penitents have a feeling on their hearts for sin, 〈◊〉 will loathe themselves for the evil of their ways. It is a hard thing for a man to loathe himself, every man naturally loves himself, but true penitents loath and abhor themselves, as Job did. A repentant eye sees matter enough in himself of self-abhorrency: Repentance lets us see what black defiled creatures we are by nature, Ezek. 20.43. You shall remember your ways, (saith the Lord) and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight. And so much for the Evidences of repentance. Is it so then, that repentance is so absolutely necessary to salvation, an that there is a great danger in putting it off from day to day; and that a sick bed repentance is no repentance, or at most but a sickly Repentance, how highly then doth it concern every one of us, even to day, while it is called to day, to begin our repentance, and not only to begin, but to persevere in it to the end of our days: Let the time passed of our lives suffice us to have wrought our own wills, and to have walked in our own ways, and ley us resolve for the time to come to live unto God, and be not weary, for in due season thou shalt reap if thou faint not. Make repentance thy daily work, that so thy peace may be made with God, and when thou comest to die, thou mayest have nothing else to do but to die. He that labours not to kill sin by repentance in his life, will be very unfit to die when death comes, death is only welcome to a gracious penitent soul; they are not fit to die, in whom sin is not killed by Repentance; they have done nothing of that work which God sent them into the world to do, that have not repent: repentance sweetens our lives, and takes away the bitterness of death, and only to penitent sinners is mercy promised. Consider there is an absolute necessity of repentance, we cannot be saved unless we repent; Except ye repent (saith Christ) ye shall all likewise perish, Luke 13.3. Consider also thy life is but short: thou hast but a littlé time to live in the world, thou hast need to bestir thyself then, and to husband thy time to the best advantage thy soul; thy precious and immortal soul w● be in danger of hell fire, if thou repent not: no repentance, no salvation; and if thou do not repent thee here of thy sins, thou wilt surly to thy cost repent thee hereafter in hell f●● the neglect of repentance; thou wilt then cur● the day wherein thou didst despise repentance then if there be any love in thee to thy precious soul, whatever thou dost, repent. Consider also the end, for which Christ came into t●● world: Mat. 9.13. I came (saith Christ) to c●● sinners to repentance. Be zealous therefore an repent, and as John saith, Mat. 3.8. Let us a labour to bring forth fruits meet for repentance Now the Lord work these truths upon you hearts, and the Lord give every one of us repentance unto life, repentance never to be repent of: Which the Lord of high infinite mercy grant unto us all. To whom be glo●● and honour for ever. Amen. FINIS. A short Motive to Repentance. THe Glass doth run, the Clock doth go, Awake from sin, why sleep you so: In sin sleep not securely still, Lest thou by sin thy soul dost kill: While thou hast time do not delay, Defer not off from day to day; Thou art not sure to tarry here, No not one quarter of a year; No not one week, nor yet one day, One hour thou art not sure to stay; Thou hast not space in thine own power, To live one minute of an hour: The present time see than thou take, Thy peace with God in Christ to make. Keep Faith and true Repentance still, And then ley Death come when it will. Thou art prepared for to die; And thou shalt live eternally. FINIS. Courteous Reader, There is lately published an excellent an● profitable Sermon, called, The Christian blessed Choice. Likewise Christ's first Sermon. Als● Christ's last Sermon. And the Christians best Garment. Also Heaven's Glory, and Hell's Horro●● And the School of Grace. Also, Awarning-piec● to the Slothful, Idle, Careless, Drunken, and Secure Ones of these last and worst of times. Ver● godly Books, and are but three pence price. Likewise, 1. England's Faithful Physician. 2. Doomsday at hand. 3. The dreadful character of a drunkard. 4. The Father's last Blessing to his children. 5. The sin of Pride arraigned and condemned 6. The Plain Man's Plain Pathway to Heaven 7. The Black Book of Conscience. 8. Peter's Sermon of Repentance. 9 The Charitable Christian. 10. Death Triumphant. All very necessary for these licentious times, and each of them being but of two pence price. They are to be sold by Elizabeth Andrews, at the White Lion near Pie-corner.