Repentance

The fall of Adam involved both himself and his posterity in sin and ruin. From the moment of the first transgression, sin challenged universal empire. From that fatal hour, it began to assume dominion, with the certain prospect of swaying its vsceptre over every clime and every heart. But blessed be God, though its empire is universal, it is not in all its extent everlasting. There is One who taketh the prey from the mighty. The conqueror is vanquished. Though sin reigns unto death, grace reigns unto eternal life.

A mere glance at the ruin and recovery of man, is enough to convince us, that of the religion of fallen beings, repentance forms an essential part. It is alike significant of llie character and indispensable to the happiness of a converted

SINNER, to be penitent.

In the order of gracious exercises, repentance follows love to God. An affectionate view of God, prepares the mind to take a just view of sin. As it is impossible to repent of having sinned against a God that we hate; so it is impossible not to repent of having sinned against a God that we love. When the heaii. has been renewed; wnen the soul, enlightened by the Divine Spirit, sees the beauty, the loveliness of the Divine character — it cannot seriously reflect upon a life of sin, without unfeigned grief. Godly sorrow workeih repentance to salvation, not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Genuine repentance is that sorrow for sin which arises from a sense of its intrinsic turpitude.

It is essential to the nature of godly sorrow, that we possess a settled conviction of the evil of sin. It is not enough to have merely a transient view of our sinfidness; we must possess a settled conviction of the great evil of sin. The real penitent, though he has reason to lament that he is never so deeply affected with the view of his sin liepcninncc, 01

as he should be; seldom so much so as he hoped to be; and very frequently not afFected at all; yet at some favoured seasons, he is enabled to view it in a measure as it is. He sees its detestable nature. He is deeply impressed w Hh a sense of its turpitude as a violation of law. This is the definition which the Apostle has given of sin. It is («»«^/») the transgression of law. The God who made all worlds, and who alone is qualified to govern the worlds which He has made, has given a rule of action to His creatures, which is the result of infinite wisdom and goodness. The precept and the sanction of this law are perfectly equitable. The highest authority has pronounced them to be holy, just y and good.

To violate this law, is an evil. To violate this law, is nothing less than an attempt to sunder the bond that holds the moral world together. It is therefore a great evil. Every violation of this law, is an effort to resist the salutary effects of a perfect rule of action. It is a virtual opposition to all the good which that rule of action, if obeyed, would eventually secure. Could the evil nature and tendency of sin therefore be fully expressed; could this enemy of all righteousness be clothed with the energy of omnipotence; all that is good, all that is happy, would be chased away, and the

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world that once smiled under the beneficent hand of its Maker, would be left bare of the last vestige of bliss. The same accursed foe that hurled the Angels from the highest heavens; that drove our first parents from Paradise; that deluged the world by a flood; that laid waste the cities of the plain; that has multiplied its trophies in slaughtered thousands; that has given death its sting and the law its curse; that has crucified the Lord of glory — would not stay his ruthless hand until he had ‘* rolled the volume of desolation” through the empire of the Eternal, and enjoyed the malignant pleasure of brooding over the ruins of the desolated universe.

In violating the law, sin also dishonours the Lawgiver. It aims the blow at God, It rises in rebellion against His rightful authority. It is contrary to every attribute of His nature. It is the abominable thing which His soul liateiJu To enhance its turpitude, think a moment against what a God sin is committed. He is a great God; a God of infinite majesty. He is decked with majesty and excellency. The everlasting mountains are scattered at His approach; the perpetual hills bow before Him. He is a holy God; so holy, that the heavens are not pure in His sight, and his anr gels are charged with folly. He is a good God.

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He is love itself. He is a merciful God. His mercy is everlasting; it is great unto the heavens. He is the Being whom we are under the greatest obligations to adore, because He is supremely adorable; a Being whom we are under the greatest obligations to love, because He is infinitely lovely; a Being whom we are under the greatest obligations to obey, because his government is perfect. And yet we rebel. Creatures ^hoe foundation is in the £/m5^, contend with their Maker! Creatures who hang every hour upon His bounty, forget His powder, abuse his love!” Sinners who are upheld every moment by His mercy, tread that mercy under their feet! O how great an evil is sin! If one man sin against another, the Judge shall judge him, hut if a man sin against God, who shall entreat for him!

Thoughts in kind like these, pass through the mind of the penitent, as he calls to remembrance his multiplied transgressions. No longer does he make light of sin. He views it in an entiiely different light, from that in which it is viewed by a thoughtless world. To him, it is odious; it is vile; it is utterly detestable; nay more, it is exceedingly sinful

In view of the intrinsic turpitude of sin, there fore, the penitent mourns. And his sorrow is

Ingenuous: It is not a selfish sorrow. The object upon which the soul fixes her thoughts, while indulging her grief, is sin, and not punishment. It is for this that she mourns. This, in the hands of the Divine Spirit, is the spring of all godly sorrow.

The leading principle that makes repentance a duty, is that evil has been done; a crime has been committed. To the renovated heart, this is also the leading motive to repentance. No truth is more clear, than that sinners ought to be, and that saints are, penitent for sin. The inlx.ent odiousness of sin is the object of their sorrow; and were this the only consideration that could be presented to the mind, this alone would be enough to clothe them with eternal mourning, and bathe them in ceaseless tears. We cannot refrain from saying, that neither the obligation nor the motive to repentance are founded in the hope of mercy, or the actual exercise of it; though both are thereby strengthened. Notwithstanding, both the obligation and the motives to repenlance are vastly increased by the proclamation of mercy in the gospel; yet men must repent, and do repent, because they have done wrongs and not because there is, or is not, a probability that they shall escape punishment. The moment that our first father fell; before he heard the voice of God among the trees of the garden; while under the fearful apprehension, nay, the certain expectancy of the rigid execution of the curse — he was under the immutable obligation to repent. The fallen spirits in hell are now without excuse, for not humbling themselves before God. Though bearing the punishment of their iniquity, yet in view of the intrinsic turjntnde of their sin, they ought to be overwhelmed with unfeigned sorrow.

The reader will perceive, that these remarks re made with the design of distinguishing between that sorrow of the world which worketh death, and that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of In the world that lieth in wickedness, there is enough of that sorrow which worketh death. There is the sorrow which arises merely from a sense of danger, and the fear of punishment. Such was the repentance of Ahithopel and Judas. But this is at an infinite remove from that godly sorrow which worketh repentance not to be repented of. It is one thing to mourn for sin because it exposes us to hell; and another to mourn for it because it is an infinite evil- It is one thing to mourn for it because it is injurious to ourselves; another, to mourn for it because it is offensive to God. It is one thing to be terrified; another, to be humbled. A man may tremble at the apprehension of Divine wrath, while he has no sense of the intrinsic turpitude of sin, and no true contrition of soul on account of it.

There is also the sorrow which arises merely from the hope of forgiveness. Such is the mercenary repentance of the hypocrite and the self-deceived. Many, it is to be feared, have eagerly cherished the expectation of eternal life, and here begun and ended their religion. Many, it is to be feared, have eagerly cherished the hope of mercy, and here begun their repentance, who have mourned at the last, and lain down in sorrow. In all this there is nothing that is ingenuous; no godly sorrow arising from a sense of the intrinsic turpitude of sin.

Real repentance is also deep and thorough. It is bitter sorrow. It rends the heart. The penitent sees that he is a vile sinner. He sees that he has been his own destroyer. The Spirit of God has taught him, that sin is something more than a mere calami fi/. He feels that he deserves to be blamed, rather than pitied. He views his sin as altogether criminal and inexcusable. Though the dictates of an evil heart have often prompted him to go astray; yet he knows they have never constrained him contrary to his own choice. That heart, though full of evil and desperately wicked, he has cherished. He sees therefore, that he himself is the only blameable cause of his sinfulness. The great evil of sin is chargeable upon him. He has done it.

And can the penitent see his own vileness, without bowing in the dust before God? He is ashamed and confounded when he looks back upon liL^ past life, and when he now looks into his own heart. He sees that he has broken God’s holy law, and resisted the claim of his rightful Sovereign. The thought which most deeply affects him, is that he has sinned against God. In comparison with this, his other crimes vanish to nothing. The language of his heart is, Against “thee. Thee only, have I sinned! If he had not sinned against a great, and holy, and good, and

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merciful God, his sins would not appear so great. But, O, he has sinned against the God who made him; the God who has preserved and redeemed him. Creating goodness, providential care, and redeeming love have been beslowed upon him almost in vain. This is the dart which wounds him. He exclaims with David, / have sinned against the Lord! I have committed this great wickedness I He sensibly feels that he has sinned against the God of all grace. He beholds Him whom he has pierced; he looks away to the cross of Christ, and there sees what his sins have done; and is grieved to the inmost soul.

The number of his sins affects him no less severely than the aggravation of them. The penitent sees that he has not only sinned, but sinned in a thousand forms. He sees sin in a thousand things, in which he never saw it before. It appears to mix itself with almost every thing. He groans under the body of sin and death. At some periods, he goes bowed down to the earth, all the day long. He feels that his ti’ansgressions are multiplied. Often is his laughter turned into mourning, and his joy into heaviness. With what a melting, broken heart does he lie at the feet of his injured Saviour, and beg for mercy. He is abased befoie God. He is ready to cry with the humbled Psalmist, My sin is ever before me! or with the mourning Prophet, O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face to Thee; for mine iniquities are increased over my head, and my trespass is grown up unto the heavens! It is enough to break his heart, seriously to reflect upon his innumerable transgressions. He remembers his own rvaysy and his doings that were not good, and loathes himself in his own sight for his iniquities and abominations.

True repentance is not only ingenuous and deep; it is attended with actual reformation. It exhibits itself in real life. The penitent feels the force of considerations which never fail to restrain from sin. He is afraid of sin. He dreads its aggravated guilt. How shall I commit this great wickedness y and sin against God! The thought is enough for ever to cut him off from all access to the accursed thing. He is a sinner still; but he cannot remain a sinner in the sense in which he was a sinner once. He manifests a desire to honour the God he has so long 6lshonoured; to undo what he has done against the interest of His kingdom, and repair the injury he has caused to the souls of men. There is no genuine repentance where there is no forsaking of sin. Still to go on in sin, to practise iniquity with greediness, with constancy, and with perseverance, is incompatible with the nature of that sorrow which is unto salvation.

With these plain principles in view, we think the reader may decide the point as to his own good estate. The preceding observations will go far toward enabling him to distinguish between the precious and the vile.

If yours is godly sorrow, it is then ingenuous. It arises from a sense of the intrinsic turpitude of sin. Retire into your own bosom, therefore, and ask yourself questions like these: Do I possess any settled conviction of the evil of sin? Does sin appear to me, as the evil and bitter thing? Does a conviction of the evil of it increase? There are moments when heaven and hell lie out of sight: How does sin appear then? Do you hate it because it is merely ruinous 1o your soul, or because it is offensive to God? Do you hate ii

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because it is sin? Do you mourn over it because it is wrono:?

In the sanctified heart, the hatred of sin is supreme. As there is nothing so bad as sin, so there is nothing the penitent hates so much. Is then your repentance deep and sincere? Is sin prevailingly your greatest grief? Seriously considered, would the deliverance from any evil be a more joyful event, than the deliverance from sin? If there could be no deliverance from sin, but at the expense of the choicest comforts, would you cheerfully make the sacrifice? Do your misfortunes grieve you more than your sins? or your sins more than yoiu’ misfortunes?

Do your sins appear many and aggravated? Do you see sin in a thousand different forms, and new instances, in which you have not dreamed of it before? Do you mourn over the sins oithe heart? Do you abhor yourself for your innate depravity, a;*- one that was shaped in iniquity y and conceived in sin? Do you mourn over your vain thoughts and carnal affections; over a life of sin, ingratitude, and profligacy; over your unprofitableness and unfaithfulness? Does it grieve you that you are worldly, proud, and selfish; that you have lifted up your soul unto vanity, and panted after the dust of the earth?

Does it grieve you to the heart, to call to mind that you have sinned against God? When your eyes behold the King, the Lord of Hosts, are you constrained to exclaim, Wo is me! When you look on Him whom you have pierced, are you constrained to cry out, / am undone I

The degree of godly sorrow is by no means to be overlooked in your self-examination. When God touches. He breaks the heart. Where He pours out the spirit of grace, they are not a few transient sighs that agitate the breast; they are heart-rending pangs of sorrow. And it shall come to pass, saith God, that I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for an only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in BITTERNESS FOR HIS FIRST-BORN. In that day, there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the

MOURNING OF HaDADRIMMON, IN THE VALLEY OF

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Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shim ei apart, and their wives apart; every family apart, and their wives apart. Thus have the Jews mourned, and thus will that devoted nation mourn again, for crucifying the Lord of glory. Does the reader know any thing of such sorrow as this? Can no solitary hour, no lonely spot, bear testimony to the bitterness of his grief? What grieves you more, than that you have ten thousand times pierced the heart of redeeming love I

Do you ahhor sin? Do you turn from it? Do you cherish that regard for the law and character of God, that tender regard for the crucified Saviour, which inspires you with fixed aversion to all that is polluting in the sins of the heart, and all that is injmious in the sins of the life? Do you feel an inereasing tenderness of conscience, whenever you are tempted to go astray? Are you afraid of dishonouring God, and do you Iremble lest you crucify his dear Son afresh?

Fellow sinner! if you know any thing of ail this, you are not a stranger to that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of. God has promised to forgive the penitent. He has pledged His word, that the act of forgiveness on His part, shall follow the exercise of repentance on yours. Returning prodigal i pardoning mercy is thine. It is as sure as the sincerity of thy repentance. Whoso cover eth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh the?7i, shall find mercy. His repentance shall not purchase it; his repentance does not deserve it. Repentance has no intrinsic efficacy. It cannot entitle to pardon. It is not the Saviouh; though without it we cannot be saved. God delights to forgive; He does forgive, though it cost the blood of His Son. No sooner does the rebel loathe and abhor himself, than God passes by his transgressions, and ceases to retain his anger. He rejoices over him with joy; he rests in his love; he will joy over him. tvith singing. To forgive a hell-deserving sinner; to receive a rebel into favour; to wash away his deep-stained guilt, and become Athe everlasting friend of the friendless; is the highest exercise of perfect benevolence. O how gratifying to the benevolent

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heart of God, to behold Iho retiirninor prodigal, though a great nm, off! His compassions yearn over him. He longs to receive him into His arms. He is impatient to press him to His bosom. He ruiifi; He falls vpon his neck, and h’ssrs him.