when love has taken possession of his heart, he will delight to honour and obey his commands. The heart of man in his unrenewed state is enmity against God. Faith is the instrument through which the Holy Spirit effects its amelioration and works by love. To preach to one in this state on the beauty and fitness of virtue, to delineate the duties of morality with never so graphic a hand, and to enforce them by motives and sanctions, never so powerful, will be as ineffectual as the attempts to purify the stream while the fountain continues impure, or to adjust the irregularities of the clock by altering the index, while the main spring is weak and disordered. The beauty and fitness of virtue are, indeed, proper arguments, but they must be subordinate to the higher one of love to Christ, and must be founded upon faith in him, or else they will leave an impression little more permanent than the transient passage of an object on the polished surface of a mirror. "To preach practical sermons," says Bishop Horne, "i. e. sermons on virtues and vices, without inculcating those great scripture truths of redemption, grace, &c. which alone can excite, or enable us to forsake sin and follow after righteousness, what is it but to put together the wheels and set the hands of a watch, forgetting the spring which is to make them all go." If it be complained, that in dwelling so much upon faith, we neglect the moral duties, we reply that we must first sow the seed and plant the roots in the garden, before we can hope for fruit. And when we have once succeeded in planting in the heart the principle of faith, cherished by the kindly influence of heaven, it will yield an abundant increase. And this is the only way to have good fruit. What, in fact, is the indicative process prescribed in the gospel? What does it require of those who are inquiring after salvation? Does it, in a single instance, tell them

to go about to establish their own righteousness, or to perform any good work as preparatory to justification? The direction universally is, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world." "If I be lifted up," says the Saviour, "I will draw all men after me." This is God's way, but man has sought out many inventions. We shall ever find our labour vain, while we attempt to lop off the branches, or to hang on the tree other branches of a better sort; these will die for want of the support that is drawn from its union with the stock; and the others will soon be succeeded by those of the same base kind. But graft the stock, and you will have the fruit you desire. "I am the vine," says our Lord, "ye are the branches; as the branch cannot bring forth fruit, except it abide in the vine, neither can ye, except ye abide in me." "As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son, to have life in himself, and he quickeneth whom he will."

Thus the merits and righteousness of Christ will be found to lay a firm foundation for all our hopes, while gratitude for his dying and redeeming love will suggest the most winning excitements to duty. In this way, a vital principle is superinduced, which, while it places morality upon its proper basis, and raises it to its utmost elevation, strengthens and preserves it in all its parts and subordinations, and becomes the unfailing spring, the only sure guarantee for the performance of its high duties.

9

CHAPTER IX.

REPENTANCE.

THE word which we translate repentance means a change of mind. It implies an entire revolution in the taste and appetites, whereby we turn with disgust from one object, and with a proportionate relish towards another of a different quality. There is no subject which requires us more strictly to analyze the secret springs and movements of the mind, than repentance, seeing there is none upon which men are more commonly deceived; and it must be confessed, there can be none more important; inasmuch as a true repentance is essential to our salvation. Suppose a man to have acquired a fortune by dishonest means, it would be surely no proof of his repentance that he had relinquished his dishonest practices. His heart might be still the same; and though he committed not the same faults, it might be because he wanted the occasion or the necessity of so doing. A man may forsake his vices because they are no longer necessary to his pleasures, or because he has no longer the power to commit them; he may be sorry for his sins, because they have brought upon him inconvenience and distress. But a genuine repentance makes us to loathe them in our hearts, because they are nauseous to the taste and infuse a sure and deadly poison into the system, and because they are committed against a God of infinite goodness. "Against thee, only, have I sinned, and done this evil in

thy sight." "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee; wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

To be brief, a genuine repentance is that grace of the soul, by which, under a deep and affecting sense of the divine mercy, we are made to see and bewail our sins; to turn wholly unto God, and to resolve and endeavour to serve him faithfully for the time to come.

And to oblige you to a speedy resolution in this matter, consider that every day's delay will render your repen. tance more difficult and uncertain; that the evil day may overtake you while you are deliberating; and that sin is so far from being mortified by age, that every day's indulgence in it, increases its power; and so much strength as we add to our disease we take from ourselves. And this is a double weakening of ourselves, when we do not only lose our own strength, but the enemy gets it and employs it against us. Besides, how hard is it for any man to be assured of the reality of his repentance, when there is not sufficient opportunity to make trial of his sincerity. A sick man, as he has lost his appetite for the most pleasant meats and drinks, for the same reason finds his sinful pleasures nauseous to him. And now he is resolved against sin, just as a man that is sick is resolved against meat. But if the fit were over, and death would raise his siege, it is to be feared that his former appetite would soon return to him, and that he would sin with the same eagerness as before. Besides, how can we expect that God will accept of our repentance, when we are conscious to ourselves that we had resolved to put it off until we could sin no longer. Can we think it fit for any man to say to God in a dying hour, "Lord, now the world

a Psalm li. 51.

b Job xlii. 5, 6.

leaves me, I come to thee; I pray thee give eternal life to me, who could never afford to give thee one good day of my life. I must confess, that I never could be persuaded to leave my sins out of love to thee, but now I repent of them for fear of thee; I am conscious that I never would do any thing purely for thy sake, but yet I hope thy goodness is such that thou wilt accept this forced submission which I now make." Surely none can think it fit to say thus to God; and yet it is to be feared, that this is the true interpretation of many a man's repentance, who has deferred it till he comes to die. This sentiment is not urged to discourage repentance, even at this period. It is always the best that a man can do or attempt. But it must be admitted that every man should be discouraged from deferring this necessary work until so unfavourable a moment, when lethargies, anxieties, and pains unfit the soul for the solemn task of making its peace with God. "Say not then that God's mercy is great, and he will be pacified for the multitude of thy sins. For mercy and wrath are with him; he is mighty to forgive and to pour out displeasure. And as his mercy is great, so are his corrections also. Therefore make no longer tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day; for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord come forth, and in thy security shalt thou be destroyed. Humble thyself before thou be sick, and in the time of sins show repentance. Let nothing hinder thee to pay thy vows in due time, and defer not till death, to be justified."

See an excellent sermon on repentance in Tillotson's works. d Ecclus. v. 6, and xviii. 22.