true repentance; and our compassionate Redeemer will not despise or reject it, for *" he will not break the bruised reed, or quench the smoking flax." But if we go not further-if we are satisfied with being convicted of sin, without seeking to be converted from sin, we have not that +"godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." My brethren, the more we examine into the nature of true repentance, the more evidently it will appear, that it is a work far beyond our natural strength to perform. As the prophet Jeremiah thus declares to the Israelites: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Repentance, as well as every other step in our eternal salvation, is the free, and unmerited gift of God; the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners. Our Saviour was exalted to confer upon us this heavenly gift; for we are told that, §"Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." The blessing of repentance, like all other * Isaiah, xlii. 3. +2 Cor. vii. 10. spiritual blessings, flows from a lively faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; and thus we find the repentance of the children of Israel described, in that day of grace and mercy when they shall return to the God of their Fathers. * I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first born." Thus we perceive that their repentance will be the gift of God, the work of his Spirit; and will spring from faith in that Saviour whom their sins have pierced. And such is all true repentance: it is the gift of God, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of faith, in a crucified Saviour. When we behold by faith, our blessed Redeemer bleeding, and dying, on the cross, pierced for our sins: then only shall we sincerely lament them, and earnestly endeavour to expel them from our hearts, as the murderers of our blessed Saviour: then only shall we sincerely desire to return to God, †" and to love him, who * Zechariah, xii. 10. +1 John, iv. 19. first loved us." And *" in this was manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him." The Gospel calls us to repentance, both by the terrors of the Lord, and by his mercies. Our Saviour himself, (as well as his forerunner, John the Baptist,) began their preaching by a call of mercy:"Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," that kingdom of God upon earth, which is "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," and which the Gospel establishes in the heart of every true believer. The privileges of every subject of this kingdom of heaven, are pardon, peace, and holiness here, and eternal happiness and glory hereafter; by true repentance we are changed, from being the slaves of Satan, to be the subjects of the kingdom of heaven; §"We are then no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." * 1 John, iv. 9. +Matthew, iii. 2. My brethren, if we have repented and are converted, and have our sins blotted out by the precious blood of Christ, let us rejoice in the great and glorious salvation conferred upon us. We are citizens of no mean city, *❝heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ ;" and though +"it doth not yet appear what we shall be, yet we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him: for we shall see him as he is, and let us ever remember, that every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." But if we are still regardless of repentance, or still putting it off to some more convenient season, let us for once pause in our career of guilt, and folly, to behold our real situation; we are hurrying along in the broad way, that leads us to destruction, and every passing moment is bringing us nearer to eternal misery: "for except we repent, we shall all likewise perish." "Then, timely warned let us begin To follow Christ, and flee from sin; The mercy of God is calling us to repentance; the word of our Saviour is still * Rom. viii. 17. +1 John, iii. 2, 3. proclaiming to sinners, "repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." *" Life and death, blessing and cursing, are set before us." Let us beware how we choose death, rather than life; a curse before a blessing. Let us be guided even by our reason, and common sense, as well as by the word of God, and we t" shall choose that good part, which shall never be taken away from us." Let us "seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." But, perhaps, there may be some among us, who feel the burthen of their sins, and are so heavily oppressed with the weight of them, that they almost fear to trust in the Lord Jesus for pardon and peace. To such the word of God abounds with comfort, for it shows us, that there is nothing under heaven, more acceptable in the sight of God, than a sinner humbled under a sense of his own sinfulness. In the thirty-fourth psalm we read, §" The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a bro * Deuteronomy, xxx. 19. † Luke, x. 42. Isaiah, lv. 6. 7. § Psalms, xxxiv. 18. |