this thing in the Gospel let us therefore by Repentance press home and return to God in Christ 2. Again Repentance is the gift of God a Grace given by him If God peradventure will give Repentance and then hath God granted unto the Gentiles Repentance unto Life Christ is a Prince and Saviour raised up by God to give Repentance 2 Tim. 2.25 Acts 5.31 and Remission of Sins So Repentance is a Gift or a Grace It cannot be Educed it cannot be drawn out by anâ— Powers of Nature It is not of Man or of the Will of Man It is not of Bloods It is not by Derivation or Descent from Adam It does not run in the Channel of Human Blood God therefore does not give such Grace in Vain but when he hath settled a Fund of Pardon Reconcilement and Salvation He first settled that else Repentance had been in Vain as the Eye would have been if God had not first made Light Light is alone in Christ He does not give Grace that shall be to no purpose he gives no man the Repentance he will not Accept and Pardon upon He does not expose his own Grace to Damnation or to the Flames of Hell nor does he give any Grace but in the Mediator in the Redeemer So the Redemption of Christ must needs be the Foundation of Repentance there had never been else the Notion the possibility of Repentance there had never been the sound or report of it heard in the World This then being the Foundation let us take the true degrees of the state of Repentance in two Positions Posit 1. God hath wriâ—ten in the very Heart of Man the excellency of this Grace â—nd Duty of Repentance thaâ— it is not far from him that he should go up into Heaven Rom. 10. or down into the Deep or beyond the Sea for it It is in his Heart So the Knowledg of it is very near him God hath also put a Tenderness towards it a Flexibleness he hath made the Soul of Man the Conscience and Affections plyable to it And this we shall see is from the Mediator I confess this may seem hard to be understood seeing Repentance is fitted and prepared for a sinful fallen Creature Now in that man was at first Created upright and perfect and good and what was written in mans Heart was written there in his Creation what place could there be for Repentance Adam was so righteous a person he could need no Repentance why then should repentance be written in his Heart And yet notwithstanding we find by experience and universal Observation It is a notion very intimate to every mans Soul and even indear'd to his Thoughts Every man seems to be glad there is such a notion such an Idea in his Soul and they that hear of it and know it from Scripture acknowledg immediately the goodness and reasonableness of it and rejoyce in it And tho a man do not fall down right upon the Practise of it yet he is pleased with the promise to himself he will at some time repent and reform and grow better and there is proportionably a general Faith Repentance will be accepted and the repenting Offender Pardoned If men are told they must of necessity change repent and reform from their sinful courses If they are perswaded to become other men they are not so apt to be Angry but rather say Acts 24.25 They will take a convenient time for it tho Temptation carry them away yet they heartily Embrace the thing it self as to the assent and submission and acknowledgment that it ought to be so Men are convinc'd that while they defer to enter into the Practise that yet they ought to repent This I assert is through the Grace of the Redeemer I would therefore endeavour to find out how this notion of repentance comes to be so very intimate and connatural to mans Soul and with such a Engraven Engrafted Hope and belief of Pardon upon it How it comes to pass that the demands of Natural Conscience do so wonderfully lead to Repentance and are like those of Natural Justice and common Honesty of Soberness and Temperance of Truth Mercy and Compassion or whatever is accepted in the World as morally good and excellent and even as the deep impressions of natural Religion sense of God and obedience to him All these give an honour â—o Repentance exert and urge the Soul to it By the same sentiments of Soul we allow the one we allow the other also If the remains of natural Conscience call a man out to the one they summon him to the other also And yet all this I affirm is from the Grace of the Redeemer And this I would make out by two things 1. The Lord Jesus Christ the one Mediator between the one God and man who is the Light that Lighteth every Man that commeth into the World 1 Tim. 2.5 John 1 9. Heb. 1.3 hath natural Conscience under his hand and upholdeth all things â—ven as Redeemer by the word of his Power He thâ—n bears up that Law of Holiness engraven on mans Heart in Creation he holds up that rational Moral Frame he keeps that Light that Candle or Taper of God in mans Spirit that it may not be a Lamp put out in obscure Darkness Through him therefore there are remains of that excellent Image wherein Man was first Created even in that Knowledg Righteousness and true Holiness so that Man does not sink either into that blackness of darkness an utter Ignorance of God and insensibleness of him or into an extreme hatred and enmity to God and all Goodness as damned Spirits do Here is the great Efficacy of the Mediator that he shores up and staies this Law of Original Goodness and Holiness in Mans Heart that it does not slide utterly away nor sink 2. Through the Redeemer there is yet so gracious an Administration of the Government of the World the Vengeance of God his just Indignation and Fury against a sinful World and against particular Sinners is restrained God Refrains himself in and through Christ and does not speedily execute Judgment He Exercises an admirable Patience and long Suffering Jere. 9.24 and loving Kindness in the Earth The Earth is full of his Goodness in the midst of much Provocation Lamen 3.22 Malac. 3.6 It is of his tender Mercy we are not Consumed and because his Compassions fail not I am the Lord I change not therefore you the Children of Men are not Consumed The Lord is gracious merciful long-suffering slow to wrath Exod. 34.6 and of great mercy And all this is very Visible every Man may see it Job 36.25 Man may behold it afar off The Heaven and the Earth the Sun and the Moon and the Stars Proclaim it every motion of Nature within and without us Psal 136. tell us that his mercy endureth for ever Now these two laid together explain to us how Repentance is through the Grace of the
Malach. 1 4. Infer 10. Upon all this I conclude with that great Scripture Hosea 10.12 Sow we to our selves in Righteousness the Righteousness of Repentance springing from Faith in the Blood of Jesus Let us break up all our Fallow Grounds For the Just and proper time is near for an universal seeking God till he come and rain Righteousness upon us upon all the Earth This is indeed prepar'd peculiarly for Israel the Ten Tribes at their Conversion after the so long Captivity shadowed under riding ploughing breaking the Clods till the sowing in righteuusness at their restoration It is now near that they who have been so long lost that it shall be said of them These where have they been shall with the whole Gentile World seek the Lord. Let us count which way we can the time must be near exceeding near Whoso is wise and he shall understand the Scripture concerning these things prudent and he shall know them For the ways of the Lord are all righteous and true concerning them Vpright men shall know how to walk in them while transgressors fall most dishonourably and finally therein And when this is there shall be a great Rain a Rain of Righteousness that shall come down upon the World This shall make a mighty Change as the Earth is changed by a mighty coming down a pouring down of Rain after a long Drought so this Rain shall refresh the Inheritance of God that hath been so long weary Righteousness shall come down as showers upon the Grass and as the soft Rain upon the mow'n Grass as the former and latter Rain in their seasons It is prophesied of Jesus Christ coming in his Kingdom he shall come down so Psal 72.6 c. So that in his days Righteousness For the Righteous shall flourish and abundance of peace so long as the Moon endureth and then as Psal 85.9 10 11. His salvation shall be nigh all them that fear him that Glory may dwell in all the Earth Mercy and Truth shall meet together Righteousness and Peace shall kiss each other Righteousness shall look down from heaven or as the Rain from heaven shone upon with the healing wings of the Sun of Righteousness It shall represent the bow of the Covenant in the Clouds in the Day of this Rain Ezek. 1.28 Rev. 10.1 and Truth shall then spring out of the Earth in abundance This State shall be as irresistable as the Rain against which tho Princes Powers Councils and all their Armies should conspire they cannot help it yea the Heavens themselves commanded by God cannot withhold or restrain their showers any more than they can give them till the time appointed by God So it shall bring into the ways of Righteousness when Righteousness shall come down thus from Heaven All the prophaness and wickedness that is at this time shall not be able to hinder it any more than we can hinder the Rain It will not stay nor tarry for the children of men All the Promises and Prophecies shall come to pass at this time that God hath appointed and shall tarry no longer the windows of heaven shall be opened the waters above the Firmament shall come down the deep shall be broken up And whatever shall not then be rained upon shall be given to salt for ever And This shall be sudden as Elijah's Rain sudden and at an Instant beginning in a Cloud about as big as a man's hand and so covering the whole heaven But it cannot be till after the Apostacy till the droughty Moons of the Gentiles and of the Beast are expir'd It cannot be while the Days of the VVitnesses Sackcloth Prophecy last For they have power to shut heaven that it rain not in the days of their Prophesie That is it is determined by God It shall not rain in those Days Rev. 11.6 There was some of this Rain in the very beginning of the Reformation when the Thunders uttered their Voices But it stopped at their sealing yet the Effects remain to this Day in so much enjoyment of the Gospel as we have The heavens opened so far because it was the Morning of half time It stopp'd because it was but half time begun and not râ—n out At the end of half time or 1697. there shall be a full and effective Thunder and a much greater Rain of Righteousness even preparing for the Harvest Then he who sits upon the white shining Cloud shall bring forth even the harvest it self in the Glory of his Kingdom when he will weary as the Expression is in Job c. 37.11 the thick Cloud of Righteousness by so abundant a watering the Earth and scatter the bright Cloud by dispersing Righteousness in so great an abundance And it shall be turned about by his Counsel to do whatsoever he commandeth upon the face of the world in the Earth He causeth it to come whether for correction or for his Land Judgment upon his Enemies Mercy for his Kingdom Hearken unto this Oh whoever we are that profess the Name of Christ Stand still and consider these wondrous works of God as held out to us in the Prophecies of Scripture And then shall be held that great Feast of the Thousand Years to the Lord in which all the Feasts of the Lord that were the Types shall concur meet and unite the Feast of Weeks or Harvest the Feast of Passover the Day of Trumpets and Attonement the great Feast of Tabernacles Brief Considerations OF THE Late Trepidation of the Earth so sensible in this City and other Parts of this Nation and beyond the Sea particularly in the Kings Camp TOGETHER With that Tremendous Judgment on our English Plantation in Jamaica and so as upon our Selves by an Earthquake as both an earnest Persuasive to Repentance and Prognostick of the Kingdom of Christ. UPON Hebr. xii 25 c. See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh c. Whose Voice then shook the Earth but now he hath promis'd Yet once more I shake not only the Earth but Heaven also c. I Hope it will not be thought impertinent if I take advantage of the fresh Providences that have given an Alarm to this Nation by the late Concussion of the Earth most gently and by way of Admonition in this Chief City the Royal Camp and with so much dread and terror in that Colony of it self Wherein 2000 perished according to the most perfect Account Printed by Mr. Miller at the Gilded Acron in St. Paul's Church Yard Price 2 d. in Jamaica Because the Things are very great as they reveal from Heaven either the Power and Wrath of God in the Desolation he made by the last mentioned and of his Power and Goodness in the first mentioned within our selves immediately that he did so much and no more and so both ways move to Repentance and to Serve him with more Heed-taking of him with Reverence and Godly Fear as being a consuming Fire And also because this Warning God hath hereby given in this Nation
Evangelical Repentance UNTO SALVATION Not to be Repented of Upon 2 Cor. 7.10 And as most Seasonable Short Considerations on that Great Context Hebr. 12.26 Yet once more I shake not only Earth c. Upon the Solemn Occasion of the Late Dreadful Earthquake in Jamaica and the Later Monitory Motion of the Earth in London and other Parts of the Nation and beyond the Sea Whereunto is Adjoined a DISCOURSE on Death-Bed Repentance On Luc. 22.39 Now God commandeth every one every where to Repent Acts xvii 20. By T. Beverley London Printed by R. Smith for W. Miller at the Gilded Acorn in St. Paul's Church-yard where Gentlemen and others may be furnished with Bound Books of most Sorts Acts of Parliament Speeches and other sorts of Discourses and State-Matters as also Books of Divinity Church-Government Humanity Sermons on most Occasions c. MDCXCIII Licensed and Entred According to ORDER THE Epistle Dedicatory TO THE KING and QVEEN TO Their Majesties is most Humbly presented These Discourses of Repentance extending to National Reformation in order to the Kingdom of Christ Into which are inserted Considerations upon the late Earthquake in Jamaica and the later Motion of the Earth in London and other Parts in the Nation and beyond the Seas And all this on greatest Right and Due For who as Religious Princes are so concerned in Publick Reformation according to all the Precedents of Scripture Who as Protestant Princes are Interested in the Kingdom of Christ of which the Protestation against Papal and Antichristian Abominations and Usurpations was a Preparation even for that Kingdom of Christ tho at the distance of 180 Years styled in Prophecy Half Time near expiring into the Succession of that Kingdom when Reformed Princes truly so shall not lose but highly gain in Glory Who as Good and indeed Gracious Princes are so deeply affected in publick Judgments unhappy Revolutions or general Mercies and happy Revolutions foreboded by Earthquakes or Gentle Moves of the Earth For they are Nursing Fathers and Nursing Mothers of their People And of what Princes can we hope or promise our selves better than of their so Vnited Majesties Two-One in True Religion As therefore the Supream Majesty was pleas'd to give particular Directions to Themselves of those Tremblings of Earth whether for Judgment and Repentance or for Mercy in their Port in Jamaica styl'd Royal and in this their Capital City and not only so but peculiarly in the Camp Royal in Flanders So All these Discourses upon All are most Humbly and with profound Obeysance first laid at their Majesties Feet as having the first National Episcopacy committed to them from God in Succession to Constantine the first Christian Prince in much greater and truer Right than the Popes have their Primacy from Peter or his Hierarchy their Episcopacy from the Apostles And next it is Presented to the National Episcopacy so Constituted by their Majesties even as an Evangelical Ministry is I hope more immediately committed to them by Christ wherein being near to Christ as in their National Episcopacy to their Majesties they can and I doubt not will Represent to them what is according to his Gospel by this Ministration For wherein have we in the History of Scripture found a greater Configuration of the happiness and stability of Times than when David's and Nathan's Jehosaphat's Micaiah's and Jehaziel's Joash's and Iehoiadah's Zerubbabel's and Joshuah's Nehemiah's and Ezra's have been conjoin'd And in Church History than when Constantine's and Athanasius's Theodose's and Ambrose's the Protestant Princes and Luther's c. and in our Nation than when such as K. Edw. VI. and Cranmer c. or Q. Eliz. Jewel c. have been Vnited in Publick Reformation And oh that at such a time as this General Reformation by Both might be tinctur'd with the Knowledge of the Kingdom of Christ when by the Sure Word of Prophecy deeply to be search'd it is so near How great Honour would be return'd from hence All which is most Humbly Prayed by Their Majesties most Humble and Obedient Subject and Servant in the Kingdom of Christ T. BEVERLY TO THE READER BY A Friend of the Authors WE live in an Age wherein Names and Professions are many Thousands and ten Thousands are distinguished thereby every one saying Lo here is Christ and Lo there that thou hast a Name that thou livest may be said to the National Church and to all the Dissenting Churches among us the Temple the Temple saith the one and saith the other yet may it not be said to the most of these Churches But thou art dead be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to Dye Rev. 3.2 3 4. God hath I am perswaded a few Names in all and every the said Churches who have not defiled their Garments but do indeed repent and turn to the Lord who are born not of Flesh nor of Blood nor of the will of man but of God such to whom the kindness and love of God our Saviour hath appeared not by works of Righteousness which they have done but according to his mercy he hath saved them by the washing of Regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost and for others let them be of the lowest or of the highest form such that have made the first step to Reformation or higher and greater steps thereto they are but the leaves of the Fig Treee that is cursed of Christ and shall soon wither away It is no matter what name you have I would there were not any Name among us but Christian It is the Nature and Power of Christianity What is the Chaff to the Wheat It is said in the Phrophesies of Isaiah and Micah that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be exalted to the top of the Mountains and all Nations shall flow unto it I do not think by Mountain in these places is meant any one particular Church by what Name soever they be dignified or distinguished But the true Living Mistick and Catholick Church such who having been in the Apostacy with others do Repent and turn to the Lord and that you may the better know them you have these following Discourses to help you in so great a work some Despise this great Grace and stumble at this mighty work of God upon the Heart as too high too hard and too difficult a work but God hath his Fire in Zion and his Furnace in Jerusalem and he will throwly purge his Floor There must be a cutting off a right Hand a plucking out a right Eye and it is better going to Heaven with one Eye and with one Hand maimed and Halt than to go to Hell with both Others say Repentance is a legal work fit only for old Testament Saints There is indeed a sorrow a rapentance that worketh Death but the Repentance here called for and exhorted to is such that is never to be Repented of That which brings the Soul poor and naked trembling and melting to Christ the Prince and Saviour
any or such and such a Sin rather than Affliction This plainly and in the Name of God and of Conscience that is made a Judg within a Man and the Soul hearing it with Terror and Awe upon it is the true Work of Repentance This is a severe Discipline a day of Terror indeed upon the Soul when it is carried home by the Hand and Finger of God Now this Scripture calls a Judging our Selves and this Self-examination and Self-judging are recommended to us as what would save Gods Judging us If we would judg our selves we should not be Judged of the Lord 1 Cor. 11.31 and surely if it be done to the purpose and so as strongly to affect the Heart it is a very great Effect oâ— the Spirit of God and and of Christ convincing of Sin and of Righteousness John 16.8 c. and of Judgment And I should rather choose it as an Evidence of the Grace of God than some fair appearances that corrupt Nature can better bear 3. In Repentance there is a real Trembling and Afflicting and Grieving and Shaming a Mans self a smiting on a Mans Thigh a being Asham'd and Confounded by bearing the Reproach of our ways a loathing our selves an abhorring our selves in dust and ashes a not opening of our Mouths in any self Apology or Justification but a smiting on our Breast as so great sinners as the chief of sinners This is the true and real work of Repentance in this part of it This is a truly Spiritual Penance in comparison of which all imposed Bodily hardships are nothing and yet if God lays Affliction upon us though it be very severe there is an Acceptance of the Punnishment of our Iniquities Lev. 26.41 Oh! that God would enable us to these secret Acts upon our corrupt selves to rend our Hearts and not our Garments to Sacrifice to God broken Hearts and contrite Spirits to Tremble at his word to humble our selves and to lye down before him with our very Souls and Spirits as well as to roll our Bodies in the Dust Oh! that God would give us these proofs of true unfeign'd Repentance 4. There follows in a true Repentance a real execution upon our corrupt impure selves a cutting off the Right Hand Mark 9.43 and the Right Foot a pulling out the Right Eye a true Spiritual being put to Death a slaying a crucifying our selves in the Flesh that we may Live to God in the Spirit a suffering the Spirit of Judgment and of Burning a salting the Saorifice not only with Salt but with Fire Now All these Things are of great use as they are Acknowledgments of the Righteous Judgment of God due to us in our Eternal Condemnation as they are Judging our selves to the very Fire of Hell As they declare the exceeding Evil of Sin and the Foulness of it as they shew us the absolute Necessity of a Redeemer as they lay a Foundation of separating our selves from sin and of the utter Hatred of it And lastly They are such as must needs result from Rational Nature endued with most powerful Principles of the Law of Righteousness Knowledge of God and of his Righteous Judgment written in the Hearts and the Thoughts he hath made the Conscience he hath created either for Accusing or Excusing and especially all these mightily set home by the power of the Spirit of God that so he may have though not Real Satisfaction from the Sinner for that is alone from Christ Yet such an Honorary satisfaction and Acknowledgment as is due from a sinner even in his very Soul and from the bottom of his Heart in the Day wherein rhe Lord is pacified towards him that flies for Refuge to the hope set before him Particular 2. The second Particular in this Head concerning Repentance in the strict consideration of it is That it imports very close and particular Negotiationn and Transactions with God in relation to Forgiveness and such as express our particular shame and sorrow that we have offended him and earnest Desires that he would shew us that he is at peace with us and hath pardon'd all that is pass'd in Christ. Under this I will Discourse these following Particulars 1. In Repentance The Humble Repenting Soul casts it self down in the most lowly and Self-abasing Acknowledgment of sin and confession of it Scripture therefore points so much at Confession He that confesseth and forsaketh He must first confess and then forsake his sins and he shall find mercy Prov. 28.13 And David describes a Penitent as one in whose Spirit there is no guile that is he makes an open sincere hearty Confession This is one Branch of the Description of the Blesled Man whose Iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered and to whom the Lord will not impute Iniquity And after it follows I acknowledg'd my Iniquity unto thee and my sin have I not hid I said I will confess my transgression unto the Lord and thou forgavest the Iniquity rf my s n. But before I did this and while I kept silence thy hand was heavy upon me so that my moisture was tu ned inio the drought of summer Psalm 32.1 c. I acknowledge my tnansgression and my sin is ever before me Psalm 51.3 Ezra thus made confession c. 9. So Nehemiah c. 9. So Daniel c. 9. And the Apostle John Ep. 1. c. 1.9 says If we confess our sins he is fâ—ithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness Thus we see how much Scripture puts upon Confession throughout Now Confession of sin is not accepted of God for it self For what can we suppose the Relation of our sins can be to God the Eyes of whose Holiness and Glory are so pâ—ovok'd by our sins But he hath only Regard to us that we should in hatred of our sins and of our sinful selves expose them with hatred and abhorrence of our selves and because we are resolved to have no more to do with them we discover and detect them without any thing of Guile without any Reserve For as the Expression is in Job when we spare our sins we roll them under our Tongues The more therefore we confess them with trouble of Mind and in bitterness of Spirit and with Resolutions of having no more to do with them the more acceptable is our Confession to God because thereby our Confession the more attains God's Ends and what he is most pleas'd with in our Confession For therein is our sincerity when we confess sin because it is Reasonable to expect we will not be reconcil'd to the sins we confess For that is for the Dog to return to his Vomit Confession of our sins with Loathing and Abhorrence is vomiting them out of our mouths And sherefore to return to them again is to return to our Vomit and Confession is like Washing and Purifying our selves To retturn therefore to the sins we have confess'd is wallowing our selves in the mire after washing
and Applying as they find just occasion all the Promises to the True and sincere Repenters and the Denunciations and threatnings to the Obdurate Obstinate and Impenitent Sinners and on Insincere Repentance and if they do this Errante Clave not according to the Truth of the Gospel it neither Binds on Earth nor in Heaven else the Power of the Church or the Ministers were Despotic and Lordly they would Exercise Authority to purpose which Christ says They shall not nor be accounted Evergetae Indulgers of a Repentance however but Counterfeit or Insincere or on the other side Dominate over true Repentanc Luke 22.25 They have no Dominion over their Faith no more have they over their Repentance but are helpers of their Joy or Godly sorrow and the Publishers of the Wrath to come on all obstinate Sinners or Hypocritical Repenters 2 Cor. 1.24 c. 10.6 Answ 3. Although it is indeed the Duty of a sincere Penitent to Ask Forgiveness of those whom they have offended either by Injury or Scandal and to make all the Spiritual Reparations they can in case of Scandal and in and by this Worlds goods as they are able in case of that Kind of Injuries Yet it is also the Duty of those who are or have been so Trespass'd upon either way to Forgive and under that highest Obligation that except they so forgive as They are Commanded their Heavenly Father will not forgive them their Trespasses But whether they do according to their Duty or do not God retains those supreme Keys of Pardon of sin and Absolution of the Penitent in his own Hand and he hath the right and just Title so to do For he is the not only Law-Giver Paramount and if there be no Law of his broken there is no Transgression but if he Pardons and Justifies none can condemn Transgression is Cover'd and taken away whether men forgive or not else they could not be Blessed to whom he imputes not sin if men had power still to Impute it And lastly he is the Sovereign Proprietor the Offender and the Offended are alike his They are both not only his Vassals but have Forfeited themselves and their All to his Justice upon all these Accounts David said against thee Psal 51.4 thee only have I sinned and not against Vriah but in such an Inferiority as that my offence against him is Bound or Loosed as thou Pardonest so then if God Pardons though Vriah's Family or Posterity or himself if he could have surviv'd had not Pardon'd yet God would be Justified in Speaking or declaring David a Pardon'd Sinner and clear in Judging him so in so taking away his Iniquity that he should not Dye for it And this is the true sense of that great Penetential acknowledgment of David and not any intention of setting himself up in his Royal Dignity as above the general and ordinary Rank of Sinners or Offenders He had something else to do when he was thus humbling himself before God and beseeching mercy than to Magnify himself above his fellow Creatures He was laying fast hold of Infinite Power and Grace and Pardon and from which there was no Appeal For unto thee Lord belongs Mercy uncontrollable who hast the Ultimate Judicature of Rendring to the Trespassor and Trespassed according to their Works Now Seeing the generality of Christians trust to Death-Bed-Repentance I should give a Resolution to that great and concernful Question whether there be a possibility of a Sinner and saving Death-Bed-Repentance But in answer to that there is added unto this Treatise of Repentance a Discourse Printed several years ago of the same sense and Spirit with this Doctrine of Repentance and is therefore under review and as in second Edition presented with it I will therefore conclude this with some few and short Practical Inferences the whole being compos'd to Use and Practise Infer 1. How admirably Wise and Holy is God in his Grace Mercy and Pardoning Goodness He is not Loose or Prodigal in his Forgiveness but hath provided this Admirable Grace and Duty of Repentance to shew that as he does not cut off Awes of him and Reverential Returns to him by offering no Mercy but giving up to Despair so he does not turn Wild the Hearts and Consciences of them whom he Pardons by Licentious Forgiveness but so stated and bounded that his Grace may not be turn'd to Wantonness And this is the Name of God in the Redeemer he is a Holy and wise Redeemer he does not Redeem without Repentance he hath upon him the Spirit of Wisdom and Vnderstanding and of the Fear of the Lord he is quick of Vnderstanding in the Fear of the Lord he does not judg after the sight of the Eyes nor Reprove after the hearing of the Ears But righteousness is the girdle of his Loyns and Faithfulness the girdle of his Reines Esay 11.2 Let us then aright understanding this Wise Grace of the Gospel as not take Sacriregiously out of it these Richest Jewels of its Wisdom and Holyness denying Repentance in either our Doctrine and Principles or in our Lives and Practise Infer 2. Seeing God hath not only in his Gospel but by the very Law and as I may call it Gospel of Natural Conscience Commanded all Men every where to Repent and Because that is not full enough clear enough to lead to true saving Repentance he hath therefore written it to us with the Sun-beam of his Gospel let us therefore think If it be Intollerable for Tyre and Sidon for Pagans and Indians in the Day of Judgment How much more will it be for us in that day For if they are Condemned who have not Comported with so clear so absolutely necessary so Wise so Holy so every way Rational Gracious Inviting Doctrine made known to be so by a much dimmer Light what will be done to us who have not been drawn and led to it by so Glorious Rayes of the Sun of Righteousness whom such Riches of Goodness have not led to Repentance Infer 3. How Adorable is the Grace of God in Jesus Christ who hath not only given us the Doctrine of Repentance but by his Spirit gives the very Grace it self He hath put no Trust in our own Powers of Vnderstanding Will Affections Natural Conscience Reason or Morality but only in his own Spirit and Grace in his Son nor doth he Accept our Repentance upon its worth valew perfection but wraps it up in the rich Robes of the Righteousness of Jesus Christ and so it is pleasing in his sight so he does not lessen nor derogate from the graciousness of his Gospel by Imposing such a Duty But he magnifies it by giving so high and admirable a Grace and Divine Power within us Infer 4. Seeing Repentance is a Grace of such truly Evangelical Excellencies so agreeable to the Infinite Wisdom and Holiness as well as Mercy and Compassion of the Redeemer let us trie this Gold in the Fire of severest search and examination by the Gospel Light
any one Judge between these two Repentances and accordingly even counsel himself concerning them Yet I must acknowledge this Discourse subject to these following Limitations 1. That the Arguments I have insisted upon prevail not only against a Death-Bed Repentance but against all Repentances that have no higher Spirit to move them than what I have now represented from hence therefore we may take the trial of our Repentance in general for though a Death-Bed is most subject to these mistakes yet whatever Repentance falls under them is by reason of them invalid and the later any Repentance is or the more it is occasioned by any Extremity which it doth not out-live the more subject it is to them 2. What I have said is not at all to be understood of the perfecting and consummating Repentance by higher and fuller Acts towards God at Death though enforced by the present Circumstances of the Case For true Repentance running through the whole life takes advantage of every thing much more of so considerable an Opportunity to unite all our strength for God as a Death-bed brings with it All that hath been spoken is designed against trusting to the Extreme Vnction of a dying Repentance just then begun 3. I have before resolved upon that tenderest Doctrin that it is possible among all the unhappy Circumstances of a Dying-Bed there yet may be this true Act of the Understanding Will and Affections turning to God and if there be this it would be the same and alike however these Circumstances alter and then it excels those temporary Amendments undertaken in the freest times of Life But because it is but possible and so almost impossible so unhappy a Case as not to have repented till just we die should fall out so happily the Intention of this Discourse stands good notwithstanding 4. I acknowledge the choice of the Soul can never be so free but it must be subject to infinitely the most worthy and preponderating considerations of the love and goodness of God the Redemption of Christ the greatness of eternal Happiness most indearing on one side of the fear and terror of the Lord the loss of a Soul everlasting perdition most perswasive on the other side so that if a Man cannot be free in his choice of Religion except he choose it without the force of any such consideration he can never be at all free for these are on all sides of him And further there is always the supream motion of the Grace of God which does not lessen but steer and exalt the freedom of the Will towards God The difference then between true and false Repentance in this particular is the same that is between just and rational consideration of all the motives of Hope and Fear and the hurry of them moving us not intellectually but as a Tempest or with the force of a meer Engine 2. Between the highest reasons carrying the chiefest force and leading along with them the lower ones and the lower doing all without the higher for want of which they are Sensual or Hellish 3. Between the government of meer Providence and of the Spirit of God 4. Between the Repentance of Cain Esau Saul Judas and the Repentance of David Manasseh Peter and Paul 5. I acknowledge the first Preparations of the Soul by God for himself may be with a great deal of noise and confusion Clouds and Darkness are the Dust of his Feet Storms go before him to prepare his way while these last there cannot be a serene calm Act of the Soul and he that doth not live till he hear that still Voice in which God is is in great danger of being lost in the Storm But if out of this Darkness and Confusion a holy and gracious Settlement proceed it is not the worse for being so introduced but is agreeable with the usual method of God The fourth Head I proposed is to weigh the Repentance of the Crucified Malefactor against our common Death-Bed Repentances which duly performed will be of great force against Presumption rather than minister it any Confidence For we shall find so much gathered together and pressed down into it that as Jewels have their Riches in a little room so his short Life of Penitency had an Age of Repentance in it It is so composed of Extraordinaries that it can give very little encouragement in ordinary Cases except just thus much that Repentance at Death is no absolute impossibility 1. Let us observe how his Repentance look'd to the several parts of Repentance for though it had but little time in this World to breath in yet with extraordinary diligence it was busie in all the great and most concerning Points Yet I account this of the least Remark in the History of his Repentance because it is easily imitable That in which it Excelled was the Evidences of Sincerity it carried 1. Yet take notice of his Sense and Acknowledgment of Sin which was not only a Confession of Words but of his very Soul for deliberating things in a Moment he pronounced himself self worthy of the Condemnation and Punishment he endured Magnum est poenitentiae signum in poena sua acquiescere Grot. in locum I confess this is not so infrequent in those who forfeited their Lives to Justice but how oft is it rather a Formality than the inward sense of the Mind condecently affected and possibly if we look upon the out-side of things we can find no great difference between him and others Yet it is a necessary part of Repentance The sacrifice of God is a broken and contrite heart Psal 51.17 2. In his Repentance lay a lively Faith in Christ first resting upon the principle And truth of the thing That Christ was a just Person that he had a Kingdom and then a particular Application to him for Mercy Lord remember me when thou comest in thy Kingdom 3. A quick sense of Eternity supplied Vigor to his Repentance an evident sight of something beyond this world For what more excites the Soul and shews it the necessity of a gracious Change than an everlasting Condition appearing to it To this end hath Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light 2 Tim. 1.10 of which this Penitent made a very full Confession Lord remember me when thou comest in thy Kingdom He saw a Kingdom beyond the Cross and Death 4. An earnest desire to promote and propagate a sense of God into the Hearts of others was the immediate fruit of this Malefactors Repentance He admonishes the Impenitent Thief on the other side Dost thou not fear God He had such a Reverence of God that he expostulates the want of it in the other as monstrous and horrid His design was also exceeding Compassionate as well as Pious For it was an Endeavour full of Charity desirous his guilty Fellow-sufferer should be brought into the same Condition with himself We want much of the Compassion due to the Souls of others because we are so insensible of