ing foolishly neglected the most important concern of our lives, and done what in us lies to make ourselves everlasting ly miferable; that we have been ungrateful to our mighty benefactor, and unfaithful to our best friend; that we have affronted heaven with thofe very bleflings we have received from thence; and that we have defpifed the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long-fuffering, which should have led us to a thorough change of our life and converfation. And this forrow for our fins must be expreffed, by humbly confeffing them to almighty God, with fhame and confufion of face, by an utter abhorrence and deteftation of them, by being heartily troubled for what we have done amifs, and refolving not to do the like any more: and by teftifying the reality of our inward forrow, by all those ways that we find naturally occur in other cafes that afflict us ; as in fafting, weeping, mourning, and praying; it being very fit, that as the foul and body have been partakers in the fame fins, fo they fhould join together in the fame humiliation and firm refolution of amendment.. But

All forrow for fin, and all purposes of amendment for the Whence it time to come, are not in all cafes fufficient to be arifeth. properly called repentance, or an hearty contrition: becaufe if this forrow and purpose of amendment arife not from a pure love of God, and deep fenfe of our own foul ingratitude in offending fo good and gracious a being, but only from a dread of his justice, and fear of being punished for tranfgreffions; our repentance and good purposes, though they carry with them the appearance of never fo much truth and reality, ought juftly to be fufpected as infufficient. Which duty therefore does not only from hence appear to be neceffary, but it is ftrongly inforced, even with the force of command, when our Saviour declares, that, Except ye repent, ye fhall all likewife perifh, Luke xiii. 5.

The best method to make fuch a refolution of amendWhen effec- ment effectual is to extend it to all the particulars tual. of our duty, obliging ourselves to have a refpect to all God's commands, and to avoid every thing his law condemns. Thus true repentance must be pure, conftant, and perfevering in its effects; that is, it must put a man inta

2

fuch

pure, con

fuch a state, as that he will not any more return wilfully unto fin. He therefore, that repents, ought to be inIt must be finitely fearful of relapfing into fin, as one that is recovering out of a dangerous and almost mortal fiant, and fickness. Whenever he wilfully relapfes, he makes perfevering. his cafe worse than it was at firft, and his disease more in danger of being mortal; it becomes much harder for him to renew himself unto repentance; and much more difficult to procure pardon: It is true, evil habits are not to be rooted out at once, and vicious customs to be overcome in a moment. So long therefore as a man does not return wilfully and deliberately into the habit of fin, many furprifes and interruptions in the ftruggle with a cuftomary vice may be confiftent with the progrefs of repentance: but it is then only that it becomes complete and effectual, when the evil ha~ bit is fo intirely rooted out, that the man thence-forward obeys the commandments of God without looking back, and returns no more to the fins he has condemned. Let no man therefore think that he has truly repented of any deadly fin, fo long as he continues to practife and repeat it. it. He He may faft, and pray, and lament, and ufe all the apparent figns of repentance imaginable: but God will never efteem his re-. pentance true, nor accept it as available to the forgiveness of in, till he fees it pure, and conftant, and perfevering.

It is mere delufion and unpardonable ftupidity for man, who has not the power of his own life, and, fhould Must not be he be cut off in the midst of his fins, must be delayed. eternally punished, to delay this great and neceffary work for the prefent, and defer it to fome future opportunity;, either till the heat of youth is over, or till ficknefs, old age, or death overtakes him. And it is not only the greatest folly imaginable to venture a matter of fuch confequence upon fuch an uncertainty as future time, which we can never be sure of; and to defer a neceffary work to the most unfitting season of performing it; but it is highly wicked, in that we abuse God's patience, who gives us time and opportunity for it at prefent, and prefer the flavery of fin before his fervice; it is a contempt of his laws, and of that wrath, which is revealed from heaven against all unrighteoufnefs; fo that we may juftly

fear

fear that such a proceeding may provoke God to withdraw that grace, which will then be neceffary for the exercise of our repentance, tho' he should give us time and opportunity for fo great a work. This is indeed a melancholy confideration: and what shall I fay to awaken men out of this fatal lethargy, and to inspire them with a just sense of their danger, but intreat them to confider, that, unless they repent, they will certainly perish? Through the times of ignorance God winked, yet now he commandeth all men every-where to repent; because he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained. A day when the finners will in vain call to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, and to hide them; and when that dreadful fentence fhall be pronounced, Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. This is fufficient to fhew us the great neceffity of denying ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, and of living righteously, foberly, and godly in this prefent world.

From whence we may conclude concerning the times and Times for frequent returns of our repentance: If we are daily this duty, guilty of any fin, we should repent every day: because fufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. We may be inftructed in this cuftom by the children of this

ons.

Daily. world in the management of their temporal concerns: they teach us, that short reckonings are the fafeftmeans to a fair and unperplexed account. We should repent before On felemn all folemn days, the bleffed Sacrament, &c. The occafions. time of affliction is a ftrong call to repentance: when fickness, or pains, or outward calamities, or awounded In affli- fpirit attack us, we are foon fenfible of our own inability and whither should we fly for refuge? Break off thy fins by repentance, fays Daniel, left ye be pu nished with those who defpife the chaftifements of the Lord. The approach of death is the most awakening seafon for repentance; and I fear moft men's repentance fets fail from this dangerous port. Not that we pretend to fet bounds to the goodness and mercy of that Lord, who declares that he wills not the death of a finner; and, whenever a foul is raised from the fleep of fin, it must be ascribed

At death.

unto

unto the Spirit of God calling her to repentance. Confequently it would be rafh and dangerous for us to affert the impoffibility of a death-bed repentance. Yet, it is certain, that without a particular grace of God no man will be The danger able to repent upon his death-bed; and it is no of deferring way reasonable to expect thefe extraordinary in- it till then. fluences, when the ordinary means of grace have been neglected all our life long. Hewholong purfues avicious courfe, and returns not till the latter end of his days, must never expect either to live or die in fo great peace, or fo affured a profpect of being happy in the other world, tho' he be never fo diligent and fincere in his religion, as he who begins betimes. All his hopes will be mingled with fad fears of his condition; the fenfe of the many grievous fins of his life, fo long perfifted in, will still be afflicting his confcience; and he will ftill be doubtful whether he hath fufficiently repented of them, and whether God hath received him to favour. This is the unavoidable confequence of putting off the bufinefs of religion to our latter days. Wherefore,

It is to be feared, that it is highly probable, that whoever defers it till that time, will never repent at all; or The difadif he does, his penitential refolutions being found

ed

upon

vantages of

upon fuch temporary principles as the fear of a death bed death, and the abfence of temptation, they will repentance. feldom prove ftrong and vigorous enough to produce a thorough reformation; as is plain in the cafe of thofe that recover, among whom there are very few that are true and conftant to thofe purposes of amendment, which they formed the profpect of approaching death. Therefore make no delay in this great and neceflary work, for there can be no repentance in the grave: and we are taught by the church, that The Romish do&rine concern- tory nor reing purgatory, pardons, and invocation of faints, pentance in is a fond thing, vainly intended, and grounded the grave. upon no warranty of fcripture, but rather repugnant to the 'word of God.' * And

No purga

Length of time will add strength to thy evil inclinations,

N

* See the 22d Article of Religion.

and

and weaken thy good refolutions. Can the man who has Custom of cherished fin all his life in his bofom, and wilfully fin. neglected, if not abhorred, God and his means of grace, ever hope to be fo thoroughly changed in a moment, as effectually to hate fin, and turn unto the God of his falvation with all his heart?

Or, again; what hopes can a man entertain that he shall find time and opportunity for this neceffary duty, Bodily pain. when the little remains of life are filled up with continual distractions and afflictions, which are the neceffary effects of those diseases, which commonly bring us to the grave?

VII. To this duty of repentance we commonly find the duty of FASTING joined in fcripture; and we Fafting. therefore shall act moft prudently and fafely to conform to that rule. Fafting, in a ftrict fenfe, implies a total abstinence from all meat and drink the whole day, from morning to evening; and then to refresh ourselves fparingly as to the quantity, and not delicately as to the quality, of the nourishment. But, in a large sense, fafting implies an abstinence from fome kind of food, especially from flesh and wine, or a deferring eating beyond the ufual hours, as the primitive Chriftians did on their fet days till three in the afternoon, to which hours in those days their publick affemblies continued. By this mortification fome felf-denial is defigned to our

A revenge

bodily appetites; for no abftinence can partake of upon our. the nature of fafting, except there be something in jelves. it that afflicts us; and nature feems to fuggeft it as a proper means to exprefs forrow and grief, and as a fit method to difpofe our minds towards the confideration of any thing that is serious: And therefore all nations from ancient times have used fafting as a part of repentance, and as a means to turn away God's anger; as it is plain in the cafe of the Ninevites, which was a notion common to them with the rest of mankind. And altho' our Saviour hath left no positive precept about fafting, yet he joins it with almfgiving and prayer, which are unquestionable duties; and the directions he in his admirable fermon upon the mount, concerning the performance of it, fufficiently fuppofe the neceffity of the

gave

duty,