God, yet now have obtained mercy through their unbelief." The Jews were cast off: and the gentiles, these Romans, received to mercy, the kingdom of heaven did come to them, the gospel effectually preached to them, the doctrine of free remission of poor sinners: now, says he, I beseech you by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice. The Scripture is full of this.

But for our better opening, and clearing of this truth: let us, I pray, descend into the particulars of repentance, and consider how the grace, and mercy, and love of God in Christ, which is the substance of this kingdom of heaven, hath an influence upon them all; and how all of them are caused thereby.

A man that does repent, must see and know his sins: true sight of sin is requisite to true repentance. Indeed, a man may in some measure attain unto the knowledge, and discovery of his sin by some affliction: when Adonibezek had his fingers and toes cut off, you know what he said: "Thus have I done." Afflictions do unleave a man, take off his leaves when the leaves are off the hedges, ye see those birds-nests that ye could not see before when the leaves were on; and so when affliction hath made one naked, and taken one's leaves off, a man is able to see those nests of corruption in his own heart that he never did see before.

The apostle says, " By the law is the knowledge of sin :" but now, though by the law, as by a rule, we come to the knowledge of our sin; and by affliction we are helped to see the nests of our own hearts: yet notwithstanding, a man cannot see his sins fully but by gospel light; it is a work of the Spirit to convince of sin: "I will send the Spirit, the Comforter, and he shall convince the world of sin." And where does the Spirit breathe, but in the gospel, the kingdom of heaven, the preaching of the gospel? "Received ye the Spirit, (says the apostle) by works of the law, or by the preaching of faith?" When once Isaiah the prophet had had a sight of Christ out, he cries out, Væ mihi, “I am undone; woe is me, I am undone, I am unclean.”

Again, for I will but touch upon these; as a man must know his sin, so if he will repent truly, he must be grieved and humbled for it. If you look into Luke vii., ye may see what work it had. A woman, a great sinner, comes to Christ,

and she washes his feet with her tears; what made her do so? She loved much, for much was forgiven her. So that the more the love and mercy of God in Christ is opened in the gospel, or does make its approach unto a soul, the more the soul is set a weeping and mourning for sin committed.

Again, As a man repenting must be grieved for sin committed, so he must and he will loathe himself; self-loathing is requisite to repentance. If a man have taken a surfeit by eating or drinking, he does not only loathe the meat which caused the surfeit, but he loathes the very vessel that hath the smell of the meat or the liquor in it. So now when a man comes to repent, he does not only loathe his sin, but he loathes himself, the vessel where the sin was. Oh, these filthy eyes of mine; oh, these vile hands; oh, this vile heart of mine : he loathes himself. But what causes this self-loathing? The prophet Ezekiel will tell ye, in chap. xx. 41, 42, 43: "Then shall ye loathe yourselves when I am pacified;" or when God had shewn them mercy, caused his love to approach unto them. Then should they loathe themselves. It is not all your afflictions, nor all my threatenings, says God, that will make ye to loathe yourselves; but when ye see my love, my grace, my pardoning mercy, then shall ye loathe yourselves : not your sins only, but yourselves also.

Again, A repenting person does not only loathe himself for his sin, but he is ashamed of it; he is ashamed of his former evil ways. "What fruit have ye of those things whereof ye are now ashamed?" not before, but whereof ye are now ashamed. So long as a man walks in the dark, he does not blush, he is not ashamed, though his clothes be ragged and torn, and his naked flesh appears, because he is in the dark; but if he comes to the light, then he blushes that his nakedness appears. And so long as men are in their sins and are in darkness, they are not ashamed of their sins, because they are in darkness; but when once they come to the light, then they blush, and then they are ashamed. What light is that, that will ashame one of sin? There is light enough in hellfire, for the damned there to read their sins by, but that does not make them ashamed; where the light of the gospel, the opening of the kingdom of heaven is, and pardoning love is, there is shame. Ye shall see, therefore, how Ezra blushes when he considered the love of God and their sins together;

Why? "For No; says he at shewed us from

in chap. ix. 6, " And he said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face unto thee, my God." our iniquities are increased." Is that all? ver. 8, " For a little space grace hath been the Lord our God, to give us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place: we were bond men, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage: and now, O our God, what shall we say after this?" After this? The sight of their own sins, and the remembrance of God's love together, made him blush. Ye know the place in Ezekiel, "Then shall ye be confounded and ashamed, when I am pacified towards ye." The more a man knows that God is pacified towards him, the more he is ashamed.

Again, A repenting person is not only ashamed of his former evil ways, but as occasion serves, he will acknowledge his sins. But I pray, what worsts the heart over to this acknowledgment? When David had Saul at a great advantage, and spared him, Saul breaks forth into this expression, “O my son David, thou art more righteous than I." O David, thou art a righteous man, but I am an unrighteous man. So when the soul sees what infinite advantage the Lord hath it at, and how the Lord spareth, then the soul breaks forth and says, The Lord is righteous, I am unrighteous, I am unrighteous: this works an acknowledgment.

A repenting person, does not only acknowledge his sin as occasion serves, but he labours to un-sin his sin and truly else it is no repentance. He does walk contrary unto himself and his former self; he does labour to undo what he had done before sinfully; he does labour to unsay what he had said before wickedly. Before the jailor was converted, he clapped up the apostle into close prison, and either whipped him there, or else being whipped, he did not relieve him and wash his wounds. But the jailor repenting, mark how he walks contrary to himself; repenting, he opens the prisondoor, he washes the apostle's wounds, brings him into his own house, sets meat before him. Those sorcerers, Acts xix., repenting, burnt their books, which before they prized, and studied much. How did Manasses walk contrary to himself, when he once repented.

Well, but what is that, that will bring the soul to this disposition, to walk contrary to one's former self? If you look

into Psalm cxvi., ye shall find there how the psalmist eats up his former words: "I said in my haste, all men are liars." It was amiss in me, I eat my words, I am sorry for it. What made him do it? Says he, at ver. 3, "The sorrows of death compassed me about, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow: then called I upon the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver me." At ver. 5, "Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful." Now having had a taste of God's grace and God's mercy, now he eats his former words. And so the good man Hezekiah: "I said (says he) I am cut off from the land of the living." He did eat his words: “I repent, it was suddenly done," Isa. xxxviii. 11. How was he wrought off to this? He had tasted of the love, and grace, and goodness of God, and this made him do it. So that now, look into the bowels of repentance, and the several workings thereof, and ye shall find there is no such way or means or motive to bring a soul unto repentance, as the approaching of the kingdom of heaven, the word and work of God's grace, and love of God in Jesus Christ. Would you know the reason? Repentance is a fruit of faith. Ye have a notable expression of godly sorrow to the height, in Zech. xii. 10, 11, 12, speaking of the call and conversion of the Jews: "They shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him :" ver. 10, 66 as one that is in bitterness for his first-born." Bitterness upon bitterness, and mourning. "And in that day (ver. 11) there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon: and the land shall mourn, every family apart, the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart." Here is great mourning and sorrow. What caused this? Says he, at ver. 10, " They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn." They shall look upon me whom they have pierced. This is the eye of faith, and all true mourning and sorrow does come from thence. All tears of repentance flow from the eye of faith. The more a man by faith is able to see a pierced Christ, the more his heart is pierced for sin committed. The more by faith a man is able to see a wounded Christ, the more will his heart be wounded for sin committed. Faith

Briefly thus:

works repentance, but what worketh faith? Surely the gospel, the preaching of the gospel. "Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the preaching of faith?" He does not say by the preaching of the gospel, but by the preaching of faith: the gospel is called faith, not only because it is the object of faith, but that by which faith is wrought.

Again, As repentance is a fruit of faith, so also it does flow from love. Amor doloris causa. Love is the cause of grief. The more a man loves another, or apprehends that he is loved of him, the more he grieves if he hath any way injured him. If you at unawares do strike another, and one tell you that he is your enemy, ye grieve not, ye are not troubled, unless it be in regard of some mischief that may come to yourself; but if one tell you that he is a friend, a special friend, that grieves you. So now, if by my sins I have stricken at God, if I look upon God as an enemy, I am not grieved much, I am not troubled much; but when I consider him as my Father, the best friend I have in the world, and consider how by my sins I have stricken at him, this makes me grieve. Oh, that ever I should wound the name of him whom my soul loves! She loved much, says our Saviour concerning the weeping woman, she loved much, for much was forgiven her. He does not say, she wept much, for much was forgiven her: there was no mention before of her love, but only of her weeping; and yet says our Saviour, she loved much: because he would shew what it was that drew up the sluice of these tears; it was her love. And what causeth love? Love causeth love. The more a man sees and apprehends the love of Christ towards him, the more his heart is drawn out in love towards Christ again. And what greater act of love than this that the kingdom of heaven approaches, that the kingdom of heaven should come, and make its approach to such a poor sinner as I am? Surely, therefore, the approaching or drawing near of the kingdom of heaven, is the highest and greatest motive in the world unto true repentance.

You will say, Experience seems for to speak the contrary: for, arguments drawn from hell, and the wrath of God, seem to be more powerful and efficacious in the working of repentance. I have, will some say, sometimes considered the wrath of God, and let out my heart upon arguments drawn from thence; and then I have been much humbled, broken;