to God no eye to Gods glory no sorrow for displeasing of God It is a repentance upon naturall and morall grounds which is not a repentance unto heaven Thus many repent of their gaming and of their drinking and whoring because it destroyeth their estate or their bodies or their good names This is a naturall repentance upon naturall grounds but not a repentance unto life Thus you see what that repentance is which is not unto life It is our duty to examine whether we exceed these six sorts There are many that are cried up for great professors that come short of them And it must needs be a miserable thing to come short of those that come short of heaven It is not enough to repent as Pharoah Saul Ahab the Israelites Iudas and the Heathen repented But we must labour to exceed them and amend in all those things wherein they failed We must not repent of our good actions as Pharaoh did but of our bad actions Our confession of sins must be with shame and confusion of face with heart-breaking sorrow it must be free and voluntary not forced it must be an humble and self-abasing confession Our repentance must not only be outward as Ahabs was but inward also it must be a rending of the heart a pricking at the heart Sin must not only be oculi dolium but it must be cordolium Our repentance must not only be for sinne but from sinne We must not repent for fear of the rod only as the Israelites did for this is to repent out of self-love and not out of love to God This Repentance may be in a man that hath no grace This is to fear hell not sinne Neither must our Repentance vanish as the morning dew We must not return to our vomit after the affliction is over This is to act as a dog not as a Christian This will bring utter desolation Ezr 9. 13. This is to mock God who will not be mocked or rather it is to mock our selves into hell Our repentance must not be only to quiet conscience to escape hell as Iudas's was but it must be a filiall Evangelicall Repentance arising out of love to God whom we have offended and out of hatred of sin and it must alwaies be mingled with hope of mercy Our Repentance must arise not only from naturall and morall but from Supernaturall and Theologicall grounds and principles Now I come to shew more particularly what is that repentance which is a repentance unto life a repentance never to be repented of What is that repentance which whosoever hath is certainly in the state of salvation For the brief answer to this you must know that true repentance is a medicine made of Christs bloud that must have five ingredients in it And if any one of these ingredients be wanting the medicine will not avail us unto salvation It is a Golden chain that must have five links and if one link be wanting the chain is of little use The five links of this golden chain are First Godly sorrow for sinne Secondly A hearty confession of sinne Thirdly A sincere endeavour to forsake all sin Fourthly Satisfaction for sin Fifthly A turning to God by new obedience Whereever there is true repentance First There is godly sorrow for sin God hath tied sinne and sorrow together with Adamantine chains and a woman may as soon look to be delivered of a childe in a dream as for a man to repent without sorrow sorrow indeed is the daughter of sinne but God hath made the daughter to be a means to destroy the mother you must not look to fly to heaven with pleasant wings you must not look to dance with the devil all day and sup with Christ at night to live all your lives long in Dalilahs lap and then to go to Abrahams bosome when you die wheresoever there is true repentance there will be sorrow for sin But this sorrow it must be {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} 2 Cor. 7. 10. A sorrow caused for Gods sake a sorrow more for the offence done against God then for the punishment due unto us It must be a repentance towards God as it is called Act. 20. 21. because it eyes God and his offence more then the punishment It is called a lamenting after the Lord 1 Sam. 7. 2. It is a mourning for Christ whom we have pierced by our sins Zech. 12. 10. Not so much a mourning for the misery we have brought upon our selves by our sins as for the dishonour we have brought to Christ It is a mourning for sin as sin as it is offensivum Dei aversivum a Deo as it is an act of disobedience an act of unkindenesse as it is an act polluting and defiling the soul making the soul unlike God and like the devil an act that will bring the soul to the devil c. True sorrow must not be only attrition but contrition which is the grinding of sin to powder A rock may be broken in pieces and yet be hard still True sorrow is when our rocky hearts are ground to powder and made soft and pliable to do and suffer whatsoever God shall require at our hands It is as one saith annihilatio voluntatis a swallowing up of our own wils in Gods will And wheresoever there is this godly sorrow if the heart be deeply wounded and pierced with it Secondly There will be also true confession of sinne Even as a stomack when it is surcharged with too great fulnesse it is never quiet till eased by vomit So if the conscience be overladen and brim-full of sorrow for sinne it will never be at ease till sinne be vomited up by confession Sinne in the conscience is as a thorn in a mans foot as needles in the flesh or as poysonfull matter in a sore which lyeth burning and aking with pain In such cases there is no rest unlesse the sores be lanced and the poison expelled Confessio peccati est medicina peccati saith Naz. It is vomitus sordium animae David did but purpose to confesse his sin and God forgave him Psal. 32. 5. He that hideth his sinnes shall not prosper but he that confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy Pro. 28. 13. Iudah which signifieth Confession got the Kingdom from Reuben True confession of sinne is the way to the Kingdom of heaven In confession we accuse our selves and we judge our selves By accusing our selves we put the devil out of office And by judging our selves worthy of damnation we put God out of office for if we judge our selves we shall not be judged of the Lord This is the second link of the chain But here you must remember that this confession must not be like unto Sauls confession but like the confession of Ezra Daniel David as was said but even now The third link of the golden chain of Repentance is an inward sincere endeavour to forsake all sin everlastingly All poenitentia
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
your fastings And then again Thirdly there is a great deal of Fasting but there is no Reformation a great deal of talk of reformation but there is no practice of reformation we have a great many Covenants of Reformation but there is no performance of our Covenants We swear to reform but we do not reform we fast one day and feast the devil all the moneth after many times Do we do as the King of Nineveh did and as his Nobles and people did they cried unto the Lord and turned every man from his evill way but because there is no such turning from sin amongst us because there is no reformation that is the reason why our fasting doth no more good Beloved in the Lord suffer me to speak my minde plainly Could I see the Parliament of England do as the King of Nineveh did and all the Nobles of Nineveh did could I see them all appear here and lying down in dust and ashes weeping and mourning and lamenting before the Lord and humbling their souls in good earnest and every man turning from his iniquity and from the violence in his hand such a fasting day would save the lives of three Kingdoms such tears would prevent the effusion of the bloud of thousands such a day would be loud musick in the ears of God The Lord make this day to be such a day Thus much I thought good to say in reference to the generall expression in the Text But now God commands All men Secondly But then it is added in the Text God commands all men every where that is another expression to repent If we must repent anywhere we must repent every where for First Because God fils every where If thou canst commit a sin where God is not there I 'le give thee leave not to repent but if God be every where we must repent every where because God is every where And then again Secondly Because some devil or other is every where I do not say that the devil is every where but some devil or other is every where and therefore we must repent every where because our Accuser is every where and our Judge is every where And then again Thirdly Because death will meet us every where If there be any place wherein thou art exempted from death I 'le give thee leave not to repent there but death will meet with thee every where and therefore God commands all men every where to repent And then again Fourthly Because we must give an account for all the Actions that we do every where God at the day of judgement will ask thee an account of that that thou hast done anywhere and therefore we must repent every where And then Fifthly Because we sin every where we sin in our Churches and therefore God cals for a Church-repentance We sin in our Parliament therefore God cals for a Parliament-repentance We sin in our Sacraments therefore God cals for a Sacrament-repentance We sin in our beds in our shops and therefore God cals for repentance in our shops and in our beds God cals to the Assembly of Ministers to repent of their sinnes God cals not only to the people at Oxford to repent but to the people at Westminster to repent God not only cals to the pretended Parliament at Oxford but the true Parliament at Westminster to repent God cals all men every where to repent And then again Sixthly Because Gods judgements are every where Gods judgements fill every Town every City every Countrey the Sword devours every where and therefore God commands us to repent every where Thus much for the second exhortation There is one Question yet behinde which must have an answer before I can conclude Some will say What is that Repentance which is the unum necessarium for England and which is The great Commandment of God for England Is there any man that doth not repent There is much talk indeed in the world and much dispute about Repentance and much profession of repentance And every man saith he repenteth But I fear that most people mistake the nature of true repentance and so are cheated of their salvation by a rotten and false repentance There is a threefold mistake of repentance First Some think it an ominous thing to repent and judge of repentance as some ridiculously judge of making their Wils who refuse to make their Wils in their health as thinking it an omen and presage of their death So many refuse to repent in health because they think it a work of sicknesse and if they should do it in health it would hasten their death This opinion is not worth confuting Secondly Some think it an easie thing to repent and therefore deal with repentance as one saith as countrey-people do with Physicians who never send for them till they be breathing out their last breath So many never think of Repentance till they be upon their death-bed and then they conceive that these five words Lord have mercy upon me are as efficacious to send them to heaven as the Papists conceit that their five words of consecration are able to transubstantiate the bread in the Sacrament into the body of Christ Most people think it very easie to repent It is but repenting saith the sinner But this But is a hard But It requires the omnipotent power of God to work repentance 2 Tim. 2. 25. Therefore it is called a rending of the heart Joel 2. 13. which is a hard work And it is likewise called a ploughing up of the fallow ground of our hearts It is a Transmutation a change of the whole man from sin to God which is no easie work Thirdly and especially Most people think they repent when they do not And I beleeve that the reason why so many goe to hell is not so much for want of repentance as for want of a right repentance We reade Act. 11. 18. of a repentance unto life and 2 Cor. 7. 10. of a repentance never to be repented on where note there is a repentance which is not unto life and a repentance to be repented on Repentance is a rare jewell But as there is no jewel but it may be counterfeit so there is no grace but it may be counterfeited As there is a counterfeit faith a dead carcasse of faith so there is a bastardly repentance poenitentia spuria non genuina or as Austin cals it Poenitentia infructuosa And as a counterfeit jewell is nothing worth no more is a counterfeit repentance And as many are undone by the buying of a counterfeit jewel so there are many in hell through the mistake of this jewel that yet thought it may be they had repented aright and so might all their friends possibly think likewise Now therefore the great question will be What is that repentance unto life that repentance never to be repented on which if I have I may assure my self that I am in the state of salvation For the answer to this I will briefly shew 1. What is not that repentance which is