Chapter 4: On The Means Of Promoting Of Repentance

EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH:
REPENTANCE EXPLAINED AND ENFORCED
by
JOHN THORNTON
Chapter 4: On The Means Of Promoting Repentance
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THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS
GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH.
THAT IS WHY HE IS GOD

CHAPTER IV.

On the Means of Promoting Repentance.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. John 8:34. This is constantly seen in the world. Every man, in his natural state, yields himself to sin. All his senses, members and faculties, are its handmaids and ministers. The eye watches for it; the ear listens to it; the tongue pleads, and the hands toil for it! Fancy is the painter that draws its pictures; memory is the recorder that keeps its secrets; the will is its charioteer, that drives furiously through all restraints; the passions and appetites are the providers that hunt for its prey. And how can you be delivered from this hard master and all its miseries? If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed! John viii. 36. He can loose you, and let you go; raise you, and renew your mind ; but no other can. The apostle Peter told the Jews, that God had raised up that Jesus whom they had crucified, as a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31. From these words it is evident, that the change which I have proved to be absolutely necessary, is an effect flowing from the free grace of God. Man can fill the measure of his sins, but not empty it. He can plunge himself into guilt and misery; but it requires an Almighty arm to draw him out again. O, Israel! thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thy help found. Pride and self-sufficiency are some among the many proofs and effects of our fallen and depraved state. It has been well observed, that “ the first acts of sin are like single drops of water, which, rapidly following one another, soon gather into a stream; and that stream at last swells into a torrent, and sweeps away all before it.” Yet, most men, though they cannot be prevailed upon to restrain the first drops, vainly imagine they are able to stop the rolling flood. As they are not aware of the strength of sin, they think it will be an easy matter to repent, whenever they please. Dr. Preston says, “ A man might as soon make, out of a clod of earth, a shining star, as turn the carnal and dead heart into the image of God!” Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah 13:23. That bold blasphemer and fierce persecutor, Saul of Tarsus, was converted and pardoned ! but did he ascribe the change to his own power? No! he says, The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1 Timothy 1:14-15.
The great Redeemer sends his Spirit to open the fountain of repentance in the heart. This blessing we possess in virtue of his death and intercession. It is the special office of the Holy Spirit to convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. That true repentance flows from the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, is manifest from every part of the Old and New Testaments. It is expressed in various ways, to give us the strongest assurance of the fact. I shall not now mention many passages; suffice it to produce one: — And I will give them, one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh. Ezra 2:9. “A stone (saith one) is cold, unyielding, insensible! Strike it. it resists the blow! Lay upon it a burden, it perceives no pressure! Apply a seal, it receives no impression!” Such is the heart of man, hardened in sin! But when the sweet promise, which I have just repeated, is fulfilled, this stupid senselessness gives place to tenderness.
Here it may be said, “If repentance is a gift and an effect of the Holy Spirit, how can it be a duty? Why are we exhorted to repent and return to God?” To this I answer, the command of God makes it our duty; and the promise of God supplies the grace that is necessary. I should think it cruel mockery to urge you to repent, if there were no provision of mercy — no way of salvation. But there is every reason to call men to repentance, while God grants the grace of repentance, in the use of his own appointed means. Our Lord says, Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth to eternal life, which the Son of man shall give unto you. John 6:27. Though it is the gift of Christ, we are commanded to labour for it. In the same way do the scriptures speak of repentance, as both a duty and a privilege.
I shall now point out some of the chief means which the Spirit is pleased to use for producing repentance. First,
The reading of the holy scriptures, and other good books.
Eliphaz gives this useful advice: Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace; thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, 1 pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. Job 22:21-22. There can be no proper knowledge of ourselves, without an acquaintance with God, and no right acquaintance with God, but by his word. The scripture is a glass in which we may see our spots and blemishes. I do not wonder that the popish priests should try to prevent the people from reading the Bible; for they wished them to remain in ignorance and stupidity. By the law (says Paul) is the knowledge of sin. It shows us both its deep roots and bitter fruits; it discovers the poisonous serpent hid among the flowers. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. “It can come (as Gurnall says) where no search warrant from a magistrate can enter.” When accompanied by the power of the Spirit, a thousand doors, with as many locks and bolts of prejudice and aversion, cannot hinder it from forcing a passage into the soul. It lays hold of the will, and bends it to compliance; and then, every thing else gives way. Reader! take the law of God into thy hand. How readest thou? Examine carefully every precept. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. When you fix your attention on this single command, do you not begin to falter? Have you not cause to cry out,” Alas! instead of loving the Lord with all my heart, living continually in his fear and longing for the enjoyment of his presence, God has scarcely been in all my thoughts?
The reading of the holy scriptures may be safely recommended, as a means the most suitable to produce repentance. Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord? and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:22. There is no metal which this fire is not able to melt and separate from dross; there is no adamant which this hammer has not force enough to break! Cyprian was converted by reading the Book of Jonah! and Junius, by the first chapter of John.
Sometimes a single stroke of this hammer, a remarkable passage, directed by some particular providence, and applied by the Spirit of God, has penetrated the sinner’s heart, and humbled him at the feet of Jesus.
“In Oliver Cromwell’s army every soldier had a Bible. Among the rest, there was one wild, wicked young man, who ran away from his apprenticeship in London, for the sake of plunder and dissipation. Being one day ordered out upon a skirmishing party, or to attack some fortress, he returned to his quarters in the evening without hurt. When he was going to bed, pulling the Bible out of his pocket, he observed a hole in it. He traced the depth of the hole, and found the bullet had gone as far as the eleventh chapter of Ecclesiastes, and the ninth verse: Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that, for all these things, God will bring thee into judgment! The words were set home upon his heart by the Holy Spirit, so that he became a very serious believer in the Lord Jesus Christ; and used pleasantly to observe, that the Bible was the means of saving his soul and his body too.”
There are many valuable books on religious subjects, which have been blessed of God as instruments for awakening thoughtless, proud, and profligate sinners. Vergerious was a violent papist, and he set about reading the protestant books on purpose to confute them: but the light broke in upon his mind, and he became a firm Protestant and a sincere Christian. Colonel Gardiner had a book slipped into his box by his aunt, or good mother. As the title of it was, “ Heaven taken by storm,” his curiosity was stirred; and he took it up, just to pass away an idle hour, and it was the means of his conversion! That promising and pious young man, the late Henry Kirke White, who had spent some years in infidelity, was brought to Christ by reading “ Scott’s Force of Truth.” I could, without much difficulty, mention other instances. How many will have reason forever to bless God for such books as “Owen on Indwelling Sin;” “Allein’s Alarm,” and “ Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted?” The last mentioned book was once the instrument of converting six brothers!
The preaching of the gospel is another means of producing repentance.
When, the apostles went forth to preach the glad tidings of pardon and peace to guilty men, what multitudes became obedient to the faith! It might well be said, in the words of the prophet, Who are these that fly as a cloud,—as doves to their windows? In every age, the ministry of the word has been made the means of turning men from the errors and evils of the world, to the service of the true God. Though the light-minded and self-conceited have treated it with contempt, the Lord of heaven and earth has crowned it with a blessing. It has pleased God, by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 1 Corinthians 1:21.
God has devised a way to bring banished sinners back to himself. He has settled a covenant of peace, through the atoning blood of Christ; according to which he can be just and the justifier of every one that believeth in Jesus. This he has written in his word, sealed by his Spirit, and sent by his ministers. It is not the business of a preacher to entertain men with novelties, or sooth them with flatteries; but to shew them the way of salvation. Ministers are compared to watchmen. Ezra 3:17. It is the duty of a watchman to sound an alarm in time of danger. In this office, diligence and faithfulness are necessary. Suppose a fire should break out in a city, and the watchmen were to say, “ Let us hope it will soon go out again, or not spread far—it is a pity to disturb the people!” and thus suffer the flames to consume both the houses and inhabitants; would they not be guilty of the blood of such as perished by their negligence? Every faithful minister is bound to lift up his voice as a trumpet, and tell the people of their sins and transgressions; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. He is bound to give them warning, and cry in their ears, that the fire of wrath is kindled and gathering around them. Knowing the terrors of the Lord, he labours to persuade men to escape for their life, lest they be consumed.
Ministers are ambassadors; and their work is to declare the whole counsel of God, to display the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to explain the great and precious promises. With a thousand powerful arguments, and affectionate entreaties, they address themselves to the understanding and heart. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21.
The most diligent and zealous ministers may sometimes be discouraged, and cry out, Who hath believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Yet, notwithstanding this, preaching has been in every age the great instrument in the hand of God for the conversion of precious souls. If the servants of Christ, for a long while, seem to labour in vain, as Peter and his companions in fishing toiled all night and caught nothing; when, at his command, they put down the net on the right side of the ship, they are filled with amazement and joy at the draught. The apostles at first preached repentance with very little success, but when the Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, Peter’s sermon was so effectual, that three thousand were at once pricked in their hearts, and cried, Men and brethren, what shall we do? At the Reformation, when Luther in Germany, Latimer in England, and Knox in Scotland, began plainly and powerfully to preach the gospel, what numbers were turned from darkness to light, and from Satan to God? And in later times, how many were brought to repentance by the zealous labours of Elliot, Brainerd, Whitfield, and others? Mr. Berridge had above a thousand persons who applied to him under serious impressions in one year, most of them awakened by his own preaching. God has sent us the treasure of gospel truth, not that it should be shut up and concealed like the miser’s gold, but freely communicated to enrich every land, and bless every believer. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.
Another means for producing repentance, is the use of prudent counsels, and faithful, affectionate reproofs.
It is certainly the work of God to bring a wandering guilty soul to himself, but he employs various instruments for this end. Reproofs of instruction, says Solomon, are the way of life. Some have sat unmoved for years, under the most searching and powerful discourses in public, who have been effectually wrought upon by a few words of kind counsel in private. Many a strong castle, that could not be forced by a whole battery of cannon, has been approached in some secret, unobserved way, and suddenly taken by surprise. In free, familiar conversation, we can drop a word of warning or advice, at the fittest time, and in the most favourable circumstances. We can put forth a parable like Nathan, and when the way is prepared, bring home the faithful application, Thou art the man. The words of the wise are as nails and as goads, fastened by the masters of assemblies. It requires both skill and care so to urge these goads, so to drive and rivet these nails, that they may rouse but not provoke, and leave a lasting impression. Private Christians may in this way become useful to their relations and friends, and even to strangers. He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways, shall save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins. Sometimes reproofs and admonitions, whether given by ministers, or others, are attended with circumstances so remarkable, that the hand of God may be seen, and the voice of God heard, to make them effectual. Mr. Thoroughgood, a minister in the days of Charles II, once so pointedly reproved swearing, that a man who thought himself particularly intended, hid himself behind a hedge, in the way which Mr. Thoroughgood usually took in going to preach his evening lecture. When he came up to the place, the man who intended to shoot him, levelled his gun and attempted to fire, but it only flashed in the pan. The next week he went to the same place to renew his attack, but the very same event happened. The man’s conscience immediately smote him; he went to Mr. Thoroughgood, fell on his knees, and with tears in his eyes related his design to him, and asked his forgiveness” This providence was the means of his conversion.
Another means for producing repentance is affliction.
God often makes the ploughshare of calamity break up the stubborn soil, before he showers down his softening influences. The most painful events are sometimes blessed to bring men to a sense of their sin and danger. Of all the kings that reigned over Judah, there was none so wicked as Manasseh; he was not only guilty of the most gross profaneness and vile adultery, but he also made the streets of Jerusalem to run with blood, and cruelly sacrificed his own children to Moloch. When he was taken captive among the thorns, he was pierced to the heart, cried to God, humbled himself greatly, and obtained pardon. 2 Chronicles 33:11-12. He had been a daring sinner, and now became a deep mourner. The most severe affliction which brings a lost, wandering sinner to God, may be truly called a messenger of mercy. How many have had reason to bless God, for the most painful, bereaving providences, or the most dangerous and tedious diseases. Oh! says one, if I had been hurried into eternity before the death of such a dear friend, or such a near relation, what would have been my condition? But that which I thought my greatest loss, has through sanctifying grace, proved my greatest gain! And, Oh! says another, if I had been cut off before such a severe illness seized my body, what would have become of my soul? It was in that deep affliction, that God visited me, and brought sin to my remembrance! It was then, that conscience awoke from its slumber, and began to pierce me with a thousand stings! How vain, empty, and unsatisfying did the world appear! How distressing was the review of the past! How gloomy the prospect of the future! It was then, I began to forget the pain of the body, in the keener anguish of a wounded spirit! Then I earnestly cried to the great Physician, for the healing balm of Gilead. Nor was my worthless prayer despised. Blessed be the name of Jesus! he had compassion on me, and stretched out his hand to save. He opened my ears, touched my heart, and sealed instruction to me! Ruined and undone, without help, and almost beyond hope, he passed by me, and my time of grief was his time of love!
I shall now endeavour to make it appear, that it is our duty properly to use the means for producing repentance.
Some entertain the notion, that it is wrong to exhort sinners to repent, or use any means for that end. On what is this notion grounded? For the most part, on some wild and inconsistent idea of God’s decrees. It is useless, say such people, to preach repentance, for if we are to he saved, we shall be saved; and if we are to be lost, we shall be lost. This notion is contrary to scripture, to experience, and to common sense, and agreeable to nothing but the love of sin, the will of Satan.
The notion I oppose, is contrary to scripture. John the Baptist, who was full of the Holy Ghost, exhorted the worst of men, even those whom he called a generation of vipers, to repent and bring forth fruits meet for repentance. Matthew 3:2, 7, 8. Christ began his ministry, by saying, Repent and believe the gospel. Mark 1:15. The apostles, all of them, addressed themselves to carnal and wicked men, earnestly and constantly calling them to repentance. Paul tells us, that he testified both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. Acts 20:21. Peter perceived that Simon Magus had neither part nor lot in the matter, but was in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity. Did he turn away, aud refuse to warn and exhort him? No, he said to him, Repent, therefore, of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thy heart may be. forgiven thee. Acts 8:22-23. James says, Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn and weep: Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:8-9. If it be wrong to exhort sinners to repentance, then John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, and all the apostles were in an error.
The notion I oppose is contrary to experience. “Who are the men that have turned many to righteousness? Who are the ministers that most frequently behold vile blasphemers, under their preaching, with streaming eyes, and uplifted hands exclaim, Lord, save, or we perish? Are they those who love to dispute and wrangle, and seem to feel a savage pleasure in thundering out the harshest censures against all who differ from them? No; it cannot be denied, that those men. have had most success in the conversion of souls, who have made frequent and faithful appeals to the consciences of the ungodly, in the most searching language, and solemn manner. Those whose bowels have yearned with compassion over their perishing fellow-men; whose hearts have glowed with zeal to bring them to Christ, have seen the hand of God working with them. “Some people,” said the excellent Philip Henry, “do not like to hear much of repentance, but I think it so necessary, that if I should die in the pulpit, I wish to die preaching repentance, and if out of the pulpit, practising it.”
The notion I here oppose is contrary to common sense.
If we are to be saved, we shall be saved, and if we are to repent, we must repent, whether we use means or not, for God has fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass. Now suppose a man were to talk in this way concerning temporal or worldly matters. He is a husbandman, and says, I will not cultivate my land, for if I am to have a crop I shall have it, whether I plough and sow or not. He is sick, and a remedy is recommended which has cured many of the same disorder, but he says, no, my time is fixed, and if I am to die, all the medicines in the world cannot save me, and therefore I will use no means. Were any one to talk thus, would it not betray a want of common sense? What can be more foolish and absurd, than to set up the secret decrees of God against his plain and well known commands! If any of the poor creatures who are chained in Bedlam, were to utter such things in their wild ravings, nobody would wonder at it. But you may say, how could such a strange notion as this enter into man’s head? Or if it should spring up in a midnight dream, how can one who is awake cherish it for a moment? I reply, the notion which opposes the use of means to promote repentance, is very agreeable to the love of sin. He who delights in his own abominations, will generally hunt about for something to excuse them. Truth is against him, and he therefore sets himself against truth. He welcomes that doctrine, be it what it may, which gives his conscience a little present ease. Now what can be more agreeable to such a person, than to hear that means are unnecessary and useless? If he wants to go on in a bold career of wickedness, he cannot have a better spur. If he wishes to sleep undisturbed, he cannot find a softer pillow.
The notion which opposes the use of means to promote repentance, is agreeable to the will of the devil.
If Satan were permitted to take a human form, and become a preacher, I have no doubt he would very zealously spread this pestilent error. He would labour to keep men from all the means of grace, that he might firmly hold them as his captives. Instead of preaching repentance, he would preach presumption, and quote the scriptures too, studiously misapplying them to carry his point. When he tempted Christ to cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, he backed his hellish suggestion with a text, saying, “For it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands shall they bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Matthew 4:6. As though he had said, God has decreed and promised thee safety, and there can therefore be no danger or hurt from the fall. And I am sorry to have reason to say it, but there are some Antinomians of the present day, who could not have had much worse principles, if they had received their creed ready made from the devil.
Let me hope, reader, you are convinced, that repentance is a duty, as well as a privilege. You are called to the proper use of means for this end. Do you ask, how these means are to be used? I answer — with serious consideration and prayer.
The Bible is put into your hands.
Christ expressly commands us to search the scriptures. John 5:59. Do not just carelessly look into them, and then lay them aside. Let it be your aim to learn what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God revealed in them. Some will not read the Bible, lest it should make them uneasy, aud fill them with gloomy thoughts. Does not this prove, that they need what they neglect? Let me earnestly entreat you, to apply to the scriptures with a sincere desire to know yourself, and to know Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. Weigh your state in this balance of truth: and, when you find yourself wanting, weep over your deficiency. Lay your bosom open to this sword of the Spirit; and when you find yourself wounded, seek the healing balm of divine grace. And, besides serious consideration, lift up your heart to God, for the unction of his Holy Spirit to teach you. Let your cry be, Lord, open thou my eyes, that I may see wondrous things in thy law. Shew me thy way, and all my wanderings from it. Shew me thy glory, that I may be deeply sensible of my sin, and filled with grief and shame. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
You have an opportunity of hearing the gospel, Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that
they do evil. Ecclesiastes 5:1. The preaching of the gospel was not intended for your amusement, but for your profit. Think, when you walk to the house of God, for what purpose you are going. Think, how many sabbaths and sermons have been lost! While you are entering the doors of the church, or chapel, carry along with you the caution our Lord has given: Take heed how you hear! Do the cares of this world follow you? drive them away, as Abraham drove away the birds which came down to devour his sacrifice. Do vain thoughts rush into the mind? cast them out, and give them no place or indulgence. Pray for divine grace, to render the word quick and powerful to you. Let your heart be poured out into such petitions as these, “ O Lord! thou hast sent thy gospel to my ears — apply it to my heart! Thou hast cast my lot where the light shines around me; O, let it shine into my mind, and give me glorious discoveries of thy great salvation! Gracious God! let the next sermon I hear dissolve my soul. Let the bonds of iniquity be broken, and the lusts of the flesh subdued. May I not only hear, but also understand, inwardly digest, remember, and practise thy word!” Reading and hearing are means so valuable, that nothing can make up for the want of them. The rich man wished Lazarus to be sent to warn his ungodly relations, and said, If one rise from the dead they will repent; but Abraham answered, They have Moses and the prophets; if they hear not them, neither wilt they believe, though one rose from the dead.
Perhaps, you hear some counsels and reproofs in private. If it be so, do not make light of them. He is your best friend, who labours to awaken you to a sight of your danger, while a refuge is open to receive you. Let not pride and anger lead you to return evil for good. He that, being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. Proverbs 29:1.
You have, no doubt, been visited with affliction, in one form or another: and how have you acted under it? Alas! how many are seared, rather than softened by fiery trials! God inflicts stroke upon stroke, and sends blast after blast; but instead of humbling themselves, they rise to greater heights of insolence and presumption. Such are the men spoken of by the prophets. O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. Jeremiah 5:3. Do these words apply justly to you? The Lord has smitten you with the rod, but you do not repent of your folly. God has cast you into the furnace of affliction, and yet you are not melted: God has often put you under the hammer of his word, and yet you are not broken! In the time of affliction, call in your wandering thoughts and raise them to God. This is the counsel of the wise man, In the day of prosperity, be joyful; but in the day of adversity, consider. Pour out your fervent desires and supplications to God. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock, unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and 1 shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely, after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Jeremiah 31:18. This is the temper in which affliction ought to leave us, or it is useless.
In order to promote repentance, I will subjoin a few particular directions.
Meditate on the shortness of time, and the awful importance of eternity.
For this purpose, retire from the busy crowd. While you are pressed on all sides by the throng, and at once stunned with the noise, and blinded by the dust of the world, you can no more think calmly, than a man can walk steadily in a hurricane. The more you are engaged with the giddy multitude, the more are you likely to be infected with their spirit. O, retire into solitude, that you may look beyond the narrow bounds of time to as eternal world! Some have thought, that if even an atheist were two or three days shut up in a dungeon, he would not come out an atheist. However this be, it is found by experience, that solitary musing tends much to dispose the mind to the great concerns of a future state. Try, then, to shake off, for a time, the cares of the world. Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Who knows but the hour of your departure is at hand! Do not rest contented with vague, general notions of another world; or with a few loose, shapeless wishes for future happiness. When you are about to enter on a new business, you think it needful to make some preparation. When you have a journey to take, you get things in readiness. And is there no preparation for an everlasting state? It is possible, the death-warrant may be signed, and the dreadful summons to appear before God on its way. At most, in a few more years, you must go the way whence you shall not return. And dare you give up the scanty pittance of your time to levity and forgetfulness? Do you think your will is sufficient to justify your way? Have you no regard to consequences? Know certainly, “that will without reason, is but a blind man’s motion; and will against reason, is but a mad man’s motion.” Your sins do not now trouble you, because they are not seen. And why are they not seen? The writing on a tablet, while covered with dust, cannot be discerned; but wipe it clean, and every eye can read it. “As time (says Matthew Henry) cannot wear out guilt, neither can it blot out the records of conscience.” How many sins, which you have now forgotten, will rise up in remembrance on a dying bed! O that you were wise; that you understood this; that you would consider your latter end! Popilus, the Roman ambassador, when he went to make a very important proposal to Antiochus, king of Syria, drew a circle round him, and declared he should not pass over it, till he had given an answer. You have offended the God of heaven! He has sent his ambassadors to propose terms of peace: you are enclosed with the narrow circle of time; and you must not pass over it, until this matter is settled one way or another. Yet a little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. If you are not reconciled now, you will be rejected in the great day. O, may you, with sincere prayer, draw nigh to God, saying, Lord, so teach me to number my days, that I may apply my heart to wisdom.
Meditate on the glorious perfections of God.
How strikingly is human folly discovered by the clear display of infinite wisdom! How contemptible does pride look, while we eye the majesty of the Most High! How odious does all sin appear, in the full view of divine justice and sovereign super-abounding grace! Jeshurun, in prosperity, ‘’forsook God, and lightly esteemed the rock of his salvation.” Deuteronomy 13:15. Ignorance, or forgetfulness of God, always draws after it ingratitude and disobedience. I have heard of a person, who constantly carried the picture of his father with him, and, when he was tempted to any thing wrong or dangerous, used to look at it, that the memory of his father’s virtue might preserve him from vice. If the picture of a father, who was dead, increased the abhorrence of what was evil, how much more ought the presence ot our heavenly Father, who searches the secrets of the heart, to excite and keep up our hatred of sin! The angels above, full of reverence and love, perpetually cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts!” If you have right views of God, you will have just thoughts of yourself. The nearer you draw to a Being of infinite purity and perfection, the clearer will be the discoveries of your own depravity and defilement, worthlessness and meanness. How can man he justified with God! or how can he be clean that is born of a woman; Behold even the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a worm; and the son of man, which is a worm;” Job 25:4-6. Hear Moses exclaim, “ Who is a god like unto Thee? glorious in holiness; fearful in praises; doing wonders!” Job says, “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” Job xlii. 56. When Isaiah had so bright a vision of God’s glory, how did it abase him in his own mind !” Then said I, woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Isaiah 6:5.
Meditate on the life, the amazing love, and the sin-atoning death of Jesus Christ.
Are you stupefied through the power of sin? Open the New Testament, and there behold Emmanuel. What words of wisdom and instruction flowed from his lips! What works and wonders have been done by his hands! He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. All the warnings he spake, and all the wonders he wrought, were for this end. He was grieved when he saw the hardness of their hearts, and he wept over those, who never shed a tear themselves. One of the first miracles, says Henry, which Moses wrought, was turning water into blood; but one of the first miracles our Lord wrought, was turning water into wine. For the law was given by Moses, and it was a dispensation of death and terror; but grace and truth, which like wine, make glad the heart, came by Jesus Christ. As you have greater privileges than the heathen, if you die unconverted, you must endure greater punishments; you will be accounted more guilty than the hardened and obstinate Pharaoh. Even reason itself leads us to this conclusion. But when we look into the scriptures, it is placed beyond a doubt: Better were it that you were born and brought up among barbarians, than to have had the light of the gospel, and die stupefied in your sins. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you, Matthew 11:20-22.
Meditate seriously and daily on the wonderful love of Christ.
What else so well deserves to engage your thoughts? The kindness and love of God our Saviour towards men, furnish a mystery, into which angels desire to look. They came down from heaven to sing a song of praise at the birth of Jesus. And while angels are filled with wonder and joy in considering the glorious scheme of human redemption, have you no thoughts to employ upon it? O turn aside, and see this great sight, the Son of God clothed in flesh to snatch us from destruction. He loved us when we had nothing to render us worthy of his love. While we were sunk in sin and misery, he left the shining regions of glory to raise us, to be partakers of his kingdom. Set then Christ in all his perfection and condescension before yon. Meditate deeply, and meditate daily on him; that being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, the length, and depth, and height: and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. Ephesians 3:18-19.
And O how wonderful was the manner, in which Jesus manifested his love to men. He gave himself an offering and a sacrifice for us. It was absolutely impossible to have a stronger proof of love to a lost world. The apostle speaks of it as a matter of doubt, or a mere peradventure, whether any one could be found, who would dare to die, even for a good man. But while we were yet sinners and enemies, Christ died for us, Romans 5:7- 8. He submitted to bear the curse, that we might be set free, and enjoy the blessing, even life for evermore. What can so effectually touch all the springs of sympathy in the heart, as the love of Christ? And where can the love of Christ be so fully seen, as on the hill of Calvary? Draw nigh then to the cross; and behold the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. The sun withdrew his beams, the solid rocks rent, and the earth quaked, while Jesus suffered the penalty of our transgressions. And can you, unmoved, contemplate the awful scene? While you stand at the foot of the cross, you may sing of mercy and of judgment. While you view a suffering Saviour, you may well shed tears of grief and of joy. Here are at once displayed, the terrors of injured justice, and the wonders of infinite love. Are you in any measure concerned about your eternal welfare? Turn not to mount Sinai. There you may see your sin, but no sin atoning sacrifice. There you may hear your doom, but no cheering voice of mercy. The law terrifies and distracts, but the law-fulfilling Surety melts and renews the soul. It is the influence of the Holy Spirit, that produces that penitence which is the beginning of a holy life. Now this is done, by turning the eye of the mind to fix on the dying Redeemer. And 1 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 that mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Zechariah 12:10.
If you look to Jesus, and he look on you, the stone within your breast will be dissolved. The cock’s shrill crowing stirred up Peter’s memory, but so deeply was he stupefied, that a clap of thunder would not have alarmed his conscience. Yet when Jesus looked upon him, he was penetrated to the heart, and went out and wept bitterly.