and we shall quickly dispute our selves out of our godlinesse and out of our Religion And that which is yet more sad Are there not some that preach against humiliation and that tell us that humiliation is but a back-door to heaven and a back-door to Christ Are there not some that tell us that Repentance is a legall Grace whereas I proved unto you even now that it is the very proper grace of the Gospel and the proper purchase of Christs bloud Are there not some that teach that God sees no sin in his elect children and that the very being of their sins is abolished out of Gods sight And that God is never displeased with his people though they fall into adultery or any other sin no not with a Fatherly displeasure And that God never chastiseth his people for any sinne no not with a Fatherly chastisement And that an unbeleeving and an impenitent sinner is as actually pardoned in Gods sight of all his sinnes as he is if he beleeves and repents And do not some of these now begin to grieve that they have grieved so much for their sinnes And that which is saddest of all are there not multitudes of people even in the City of London a City so well instructed carried away with these grace-destroying and Land-destroying Opinions Truly these are black signs that God intendeth to bring the Cloud of Bloud London-ward And that God intends that London should drink of the Cup of Bloud because London is so ready to he infected with the Cup of Errors and the cup of grace-destroying Opinions And for my part I am more afraid of this Cup then of the other more afraid of these divisions then of the Power and strength of the enemy for he grows strong by these divisions The Lord give us hearts to lay these things to heart and the Lord give us hearts to repent of these sins If this be the great Commandement of God to England that England should now repent now rather then ever now more then ever I beseech you let us all subscribe to the obedience of this Text and let this Commandement be written this day in every one of our hearts Oh that the Word of God and the Sword of God might preach this doctrine again and again and oh that the Lord would make it to take deep impression in every one of our souls Remember the Motives These are the times of the Gospel wherein God holds forth such arguments to move us to repentance which no other Religion can hold forth arguments drawn from the incarnation of Christ from the resurrection of the dead and the day of judgement These are times of Knowledge these are times of the Spirit These are times of bloud now God thunders from heaven now God presents you with a terrible Argument to move you to repentance Now God hath taken away all your Hindrances that did hinder you from repentance And there is no way to remove the man-devouring sword but by repentance and repentance is an infallible way These are the Motives and Motives sufficient to make the very stones in the Church to repent if they had a capacity to do it sufficient to make the Devils in hell to repent if they had had the happinesse to have been put into a possibility of salvation upon their repentance But the devils are not so happy For the truth is repentance is not only a duty but a happinesse It is a happiness that there is such a gate as repentance to get into heaven by Christ Jesus shed his bloud as I told you to make this door The devils have no such door And it is a happinesse also that God will for Christs sake accept of a sinner upon his repentance It is vain in mans Court for a murderer or a thief to pleade his repentance But it is not so in Gods Court Blessed be God that after our shipwrack by Adam there is such a plank as repentance for a poor sinner to swim to heaven upon And this is another mighty Argument to perswade you to repent He that refuseth to repent refuseth to be happy But now give me leave to draw down this Doctrine to all sorts of people according to the words of my Text But now God commandeth all men every where to repent First All men And then Every where All men 1. Repentance it is not only a garment for poor men to put on but God cals the rich men of the world to repent God cals the great men of the world to repentance Say unto the King and Queen Humble your selves And Oh that God would speak that word to the King and Queen this day that the Lord would command them to repent Great Manasseh he was a great sinner and did greatly humble himself 2 Chron. 33. 12. And the great King of Nineveh put on sackcloth and humbled himself he and his Nobles David King of Israel made his very bed to swim with tears for his sins Great men sin against a God that is greater then they and Great men must appear before the Great God at the Great Day of Judgement There is a great day of judgement a terrible day of Judgement wherein the great men of the world and the Kings of the earth and the rich men and the mighty men shall desire for the mountains to cover them and to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6. 15 16 17. Great men doe more hurt by their sins then others and therefore God will punish them more then others and therefore they are to repent more then others ' Potentes potentèr torquebuntur The truth is Hell is provided on purpose for great men I mean such as are greater in sinne then in greatnesse otherwise Greatnesse is an ornament when it is joyned with goodnesse but for those that are wickedly great and greatly wicked great men Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is provided Isa. 30. 33. And therefore God cals Great men Princes Noblemen and Gentlemen to repent 2. Repentance is not only an Antidote for Drunkards Whoremongers and Oppressors c. But God cals them that live Civilly and that are morally good to repent You must repent because you pretend to make conscience of doing that which is just to man but you make no conscience to doe that which is just to God to give him his due in the duties of the first Table You must repent because either you constantly neglect holy duties or you are constantly negligent in holy duties which both are great iniquities You must repent because at the best you are but Negatively good There is no positive goodnesse in you Though you abstain from evill yet you do not do good though you do not swear great Oaths yet you do not speak holily And every tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire You must repent because you do all good duties either from naturall
That Repentance is the duty of these daies Repentance is the unum necessarium for England Repentance is the primum maximum mandatum for England But now God commands all men every where to repent And there are two Reasons why that God commands England to repent now rather then ever before The first Reason is common to England with the Athenians The second reason is proper to England The first reason is Pauls reason The second reason is Englands reason The first reason why England should now repent and why this duty is now so necessary is because that now are the times of the Gospel and not only so but times wherein the Gospel is preached with more purity and power then ever and therefore God commands us all to repent now more then ever And there are divers reasons why that they that liue under the Gospel should repent more then other people and rather then other people 1. Because Repentance is one of the first lessons that the Gospel teacheth And therefore Iohn Baptist that was a harbinger to the Gospel came preaching the doctrine of Repentance and saying Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand Mat. 3. 2. And the first Sermon that Christ preached was a Sermon of Repentance Mat. 4. 17. From that time Iesus began to preach and to say Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand And the first lesson that Peter taught the Iews Act. 2. 28. was to repent And therefore it is called Heb. 6. 1. one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ And he must needs be an arrant dunce in the School of the Gospel that hath been twenty thirty or fourty years in the School of the Gospel and hath not yet learned the first lesson of the Gospel 2. Because Repentance is not only one of the first but one of the chiefest lessons of the Gospel For for this very end and purpose Christ came down from heaven and was made man that he might preach repentance as you may reade Luk. 5. 31. I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance 3. Because Repentance as it is one of the first and chiefest lessons of the Gospel so it is one of the chiefest purchases and priviledges of the Gospel As Christ came from heaven to preach repentance so he shed his bloud to purchase repentance And therefore he bids his Disciples to go and preach repentance in his Name that is as his purchase Luk. 24. 47. Repentance is a back-door to escape Gods wrath by made up of Christs bloud A door that the Angels had not nor Adam till Christ had purchased it for him The Covenant of Works admits not of it Repentance is the proper priviledge of the Covenant of Grace 4. Because Repentance is one of the chiefest gifts of the Gospel For as Christ became man to preach Repentance and shed his bloud to purchase repentance so he is also risen from the dead and exalted at Gods right hand to be a Prince and Saviour to give repentance to Israel and forgivenesse of sins Act. 5. 31. Hence I gather That to be under the Gospel and to live impenitently is to sinne against the incarnation of Christ it is to sin against the bloud-shed of Christ it is to sin against the resurrection and exaltation of Christ it is to sin against the purchase and donation of Christ and against the chief priviledges of a Christian But then again God requires that you that live under the Gospel that you especially should repent more then other nations because the Gospel doth hold forth two powerfull Arguments and Motives to perswade you to repent such as no other Religion can hold forth The first Motive is The consideration of Gods infinite love to mankinde in sending Jesus Christ to die a cursed death to save all that beleeve and repent from hell and damnation This is in a kinde an omnipotent Argument to perswade a sinner to repentance Was Iesus Christ crucified for me and shall I crucifie him by my bloudy oaths and blasphemies c. Was the Lord Iesus Christ broken for me and shall not my heart be broken for my sins against him this is instar mille argumentorum There is a story that when Caesar was killed in the Senate by Brutus and Cassius Anthony the Senator took his bloudy Robe and carried it to the Market-stead and shewed it to the people Behold saith he the bloudy Robe of your quondam Emperour And thereby he did provoke them to the revenge of his death And certainly the contemplation of the bloud-shed of Jesus Christ is an unanswerable argument to constrain us to repent of our sins against Christ He that would repent aright of sinne let him go to Mount Calvary and there he shall learn two lessons that no other Religion can teach him First Mount Calvary will teach him that God is so displeased with sin that nothing but the death of a God could satisfie the wrath of God for sin Mount Calvary will teach him that all that Christ did there suffer must be suffered by him to all eternity if he doth not repent This is an omnipotent argument if God makes it effectual But besides this motive the Gospel holds forth as in a clear glasse a second motive which is The consideration of the eternall Iudgement This is an Argument that Paul brings in the verse after my Text But now God commands all men to repent because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousnesse by that man whom he hath ordained c. There will come a terrible day of judgement and in that day if there be any one sin unrepented of the devils shall assoon be saved as you This is a mighty Argument to perswade you to repentance The least sinne will damn you in that day without repentance the greatest sin cannot hurt you in that day if you repent But besides these Motives the Gospel doth also afford two great Helps to work repentance which no other Religion can afford and therefore we that live under the Gospel we must repent rather then other The Gospel affords the help of Knowledge and the help of Grace First 1. The Gospel affords the help of Knowledge for God hath promised that in the times of the Gospel all men shall know him from the least to the greatest we that live under the Gospel know that Drunkennesse and Adultery and Swearing are the works of hell and will bring to hell we know this and therefore though God winked at the times of ignorance God will not wink at us if we be guilty of these sins We that live under the Gospel know that the worship of God the more spirituall it is the more beautifull it is in the eyes of God who is a Spirit And that the outward pomp of Gods service is an attire more fit for the Whore of Babylon then for the modest Spouse of Christ And
great distresse then he came to himself and repented Luk. 15. 17. And Solomon prayeth That if the people of Israel in their captivity should be think themselves and repent c. 1 King 8. 47. These are times wherein God doth in an especiall manner call upon us to consider seriously of the anger of God against England and what those sinnes are which have provoked him to anger and to repent of those sinnes And we have time and leasure thus to doe The third Impediment is the Patience and long-sufferance of God As the Sunne hardens the Clay so doth the goodnesse of God harden a wicked man in his sins Eccl. 8. 11. but now God hath taken away this impediment For now the patience of God is at an end Now the heavy wrath of God lies upon England Now the Axe is laid at the very root of the tree God hath been holding up his Axe many years against England but now God is hewing down the Tree of England at the very roots It is high time now we should begin to repent A fourth Impediment is the abundance of flattering Preachers to which you have been accustomed I fear in this place too much heretofore that have preached Peace Peace and have strengthned the hands of wicked men in their sinne by promising them life Ezek. 13 12. But now by the help of you Right Honourable for which we blesse God God hath in a great part removed all these flattering Teachers And now the doctrine of Repentance is preached with power and in the demonstration of Gods Spirit And therefore now especially God cals you to repent A fifth Impediment is the abundance of wealth case joviality and prosperity These are mighty Goliahs to hinder men from repentance Prosperity is apt to make a man secure proud forgetfull of God impatient of reproof Ier. 22. 21. I spake unto thee in thy prosperity but thou saidst I will not hear c. When Iesurun waxed fat he kicked c. Deut. 32. 13. The Oxen that go in the fattest pasture soonest come to the slaughter-house But now God hath taken away your prosperity your wealth and your joviality These are times of affliction these are fit times for humiliation and repentance and weeping and mourning And therefore now you have no excuse if you do not repent The third Reason why England should repent now more then at other times is Because that repentance is the only way to remove the man-devouring and Land-devouring judgement that is now upon us I say it is the Only way for so saith Christ Luk. 13. 5. Except ye repent ye shall all perish And so saith Christ also Revel. 2. 5 16 21 22 So also saith Moses Lev. 26. 14 17. Deut. 28. 15 25. Which Texts have a morall equity and doe set out the unchangeable will of God to the end of the world So also saith David Psal. 7. 12. Doth not God many times remove the judgement of the Sword or of the Plague c. from a Nation when that Nation doth not repent Hath not God many times removed the Plague from the City of London when London hath not repented of her iniquities To this Objection I answer three waies First It is one thing far God to remove his Anger from a Nation another thing for God to remove his judgements from a Nation God never removes his anger till a nation repenteth but God doth sometimes remove a judgement when the sins that caused it are not removed But when God doth so This very removing his judgements is a great judgement For as it is a great punishment for God not to punish a sinner in this life but to reserve him for hell as you may reade Hos. 4. 14. So it is also a great punishment for God sometimes to remove a punishment as is plain Isa. 1. 5. Why should ye be stricken any more ye will revolt more and more c That is Why should I be so mercifull unto you as to punish you As it is a great mercy for God to punish a sinner in this life according to that saying Misericordiae est aliquando subtrahere misericordiam So it is a great affliction for God to take away the Sword Famine or the plague and reserve men for hell and damnation As God sometimes gives mercies in anger as he did Quails to the Israelites Nam multa concedit Deus iratus quae negat placatus So he sometimes takes away judgements in anger Secondly I answer That God may upon the prayers of his people and upon the outward humiliation of the wicked remove a judgement but then this is but a temporary removall It is rather a proroguing then a removing of the judgement For if the sins that brought the judgement be not truly repented on ruine and destruction will come at last Ahab was at last destroyed and so were the Sodomites and so was the old world though reprieved for a while For except ye repent ye shall all like wise perish saith Christ They shall perish sooner or later And so the Iews did fourty years after to whom Christ then spake A sinner of a hundred years old shall be accursed Isa. 65. 20. And so also Eccl. 8. 12 23. Isa. 3. 11 Thirdly I answer When a judgement is removed and the sins that procured it not removed it is rather changed then removed If God love thee he will change it into another corporall affliction But if he intends to destroy thee he will take it off thy body and inflict it upon thy soul He will give thee up to hardnesse of heart as he did Pharaoh He will take the plague off thy body and suffer the plague of sinne to encrease in thy soul which is not to cure but to change the judgement for thy everlasting ruine This God doth as a just Judge But that which this third Reason holds forth is this That there is no way to obtain a totall and blessed removall of this Land-devouring judgement but by repentance The fourth Reason why England should repent now more then at another time and rather then at another time is Fourthly Because Repentance is a most certain and an infallible way to remove the great plague of Civill War that is now upon the Kingdom Mistake me not I do not say God will remove the bloudy Sword for our Repentance But this I say God will not remove it without Repentance and upon our repentance he will remove it Though Repentance be not causa propter quod yet it is causa sine qua non It is not the cause for which but the cause without which God will not do it And not only so but repentance is also causa removens prohibens Repentance removes those sins that do hinder a Nation from deliverance and in this sense is a cause of our deliverance Repentance is the qualification of that Nation which God intends to preserve Will you secure us that God will heal
a hearty-abhorrency and detestation of these sins Now the Lord cals upon you this day to do thus And to do thus more then others you that are Gentlemen because these sins in you are more scandalous and do more hurt both by Imitation and by Imputation They doe more hurt by Imitation because great men are like unto Looking-glasses according to which all the Countrey dress themselves whatever they do other men follow And your sinnes do more hurt by Imputation for God doth many times impute the sins of the Rulers upon the People as he did impute the sin of David upon the people of Israel And therefore God requires you this day to repent in dust and ashes And to be humbled before the Lord as you are Gentlemen that is the first But then secondly God commands you to repent as you are Parliament men As you are men with a personall repentance as you are Parliament men with a Parliament repentance And here give me leave to speak to you first divisim and then conjunctim First To speak to you singly and severally I beseech you search and try your wayes And if there should be found any amongst you that drive the designs of Oxford and that are present at Westminster only to betray their Countrey the Lord unmask such and the Lord give them repenting hearts This is to build your houses upon the bloud of three Kingdoms this is to sell your souls for preferment And it is just with God that such men should not only lose their souls but lose their very preferment also as Judas that sold his Master and hung himself And then again If there be any amongst you that drive your own designs and seek your own ends and not the publike good and seek your own ends more then the publike good and seek your own ends to the detriment of the publike good these are crying abominations and the Lord cals for a Parliament Repentance this day It was the Complaint of the Apostle of his time Omnes quae sua sunt quaerunt c. Phil. 2 21. All men seek their own and no man seeks the things of Iesus Christ If the Apostle Paul had been alive in our daies I wonder what he would have said of our times For truly if God should unrip us here before the Congregation I am afraid he should finde many of our hearts to be made up of nothing but of self-love and creature-love and yet notwithstanding this is a sin and not only against the light of the Word but against the very light of nature for the light of nature teaches us that all private good should be swallowed up in the publike And the very Decii and Curtii and Aristides and many other Heathens will rise up in judgement against many Christians in this particular There is a famous Text in Ier. 45. 3 4. Behold saith the Lord I do now begin to pull down what I have built and to destroy what I have planted and seekest thou great things for thy self seek them not Is this a time to seek your own ends this is just as if a man should have his house on fire and in stead of seeking to quench his house should go and trim up his chamber what will become of his Chamber when the house is burnt It is just as if a man when the Ship he is in is sinking should go and enrich his own Cabine The Lord give you hearts to repent of this Or if there be any amongst you that favour Malignants because they are your friends though enemies to God and his Cause this is a great sin to be repented on greatly And I say to such as the Prophet to Iehosaphat 2 Chro. 19. 2. Because you help the ungodly and love those whom the Lord hateth therefore wrath is gone out from the Lord against you Now let me consider you conjunctim as you are united into one body And here give me leave to put you in minde of a praier of Austins very necessary to be made by you this day Lord deliver me from other mens sins For this is a certain rule That all the sins of the Kingdom which are committed by your connivance or allowance are the Parliament sins and they call for a Parliament Repentance And therefore I beseech you search and try your hearts and consider how far you are accessary to the sins of the Kingdom that so you may be wrought up not only to a personall but to a Parliament humiliation And if it doth appear that you have taken more care in setling your own Liberties then in setling of Religion If you have taken more care to build your own houses then Gods house this is a crying sin and this makes you accessary to a thousand sins that are committed in the Kingdom Again If you do not labour according to your duty and according to your power to suppresse the Errors and Heresies that are spread in the Kingdom all these errours are you errours and these heresies are your heresies and they are your sins and God cals for a Parliamentary repentance from you for chem this day You are the Anabaptists and you are the Antinomians and it is you that hold That all Religions are to be tolerated even Iudaism and Turkism That the Soul is mortall and dies with the body c. These are your errors if they spread by your connivance For the sinnes of the sons of old Ely are imputed to old Ely himself And when the people of Israel had profaned the Sabbath Nehemiah contended with the Nobles of Iudah for suffering them and tels them that it was they that did prophane it because they suffered the people to prophane it Neh. 13. 17. Thus also all the guilty bloud that God requires you in justice to shed and you spare God will require the bloud at your hands And all the Bribery all the cousenage and all the robberies which are committed in the Kingdom which you can punish and do not these are all your sins Oh that the Lord would work up your hearts to the meditation of these things and that the Lord would make your hearts like wax and this word like the Sun to melt them Thus God cals you to repentance as you are men and to a Parliament repentance as you are Parliament men And God cals you to do all this now God now commands you now to repent The commandement is now and the practice must be now There must be two nows the nunc of the Commandement and of that you have heard abundantly but now there must be also the nunc of Obedience God now commands you now to practise this Text for otherwise for ought you know you may be in hell the next hour peradventure you may and peradventure you may not But howsoever you put your everlasting estate upon two peradventures peradventure God will deny thee space to repent next hour or if he give thee space peradventure God will deny thee grace