CHAPTER 5. REPENTANCE. Acts 13. ST. MAT. 3. 2. "Repent ye; For the kingdom of heaven is at hand." St. Mark 1. 15. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel." Acts 17. 30. "God now commandeth all men every where to repent." 19. "Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." St. Mat. 9. 13. "Go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Acts 5. 30, 31. "Him [Jesus] hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to is rael, and forgiveness of sins." Chap. 11th, verse 18th. "Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life." 2nd Cor.7 10. "For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death" Rom. 2. 4. 'Despiseth thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance " 2nd Peter, 3.9. "The Lord is long suffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Verse 15. "Account the long suffering of our Lord salvation." From these scriptures, when taken together, it is very obvious that God's goodness is the radical cause of repentance; especially, as repentance unto salvation is said to be given to Israel, and also granted to the Gentiles. It also appears that God who is abundantly able to bestow this gift, has a will that all should receive it. Not willing any should finally perish, but that all should come to repentance. We also learn that "godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death." From which it will appear there are two stages of repentance, and both called sorrow, one worketh death and must be repented of, the other worketh repentance to salvation. not to be repented of The first belongs to the sinner while he is only following Christ in the regeneration; the second belongs to a new born state, and may be rightly called evangelical repentance, Therefore, I shall first explain the nature of that repentance belonging to the unborn condition of the mind, while in a res generate state, previous to the soul's being born into the kingdom of God. Such are commanded to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand, not because the kingdom has come, but is approaching, and near at hand, not because they have entered into it, for such have not nor can they until they are born of the holy spirit. Those who follow Christ in the regeneration, often have a zeal of God, but never according to true knowledge of him, until converted. It is true they feel the nature of sin, and have a partial view of its consequences, but not sufficiently to judge right; therefore, are subjects of slavish fear which hath torment. They feel sorry that they, personally, are great sinners; tot because they love holiness, but because they are afraid of hell, perhaps they would like to live in sin, were it not they fear its consequences. Therefore they exercise a sort of legal repentance which worketh death. They would wish to dwell with God not because they know him or love him, but because they dread taking up their abode in hell with their imaginary devils. In this stage of repentance, people are apt to be very selfish, and while they know themselves to be great sinners, they feel very sorry that their own hearts are so corrupt, for as has been observed, they are afraid of hell. They are apt to care but little about others except of their own household or order, and if they pray for others it is more out of slavish duty than choice or love to them. They repeat for nobody's sins but for their own, nor in heart pray for the salvatian of any but those of their own order, and that not in faith. For they even doubt their own personal salvation, and think that if they should have their just desert that they themselves must be eternally damned. In this stage of repentance, people often think they have abtained a hope of salvation; whereas they only possess a desire or wish to be saved, but cannot say in conscience that they expect to be saved; for they often doubt the obtaining of what they wish :. Therefore are without gospel hope; and hence out of a slavish fear of being damned at last, they heartily repent of their sins; and not from any real love to God er his creature man. It is true, they are under conviction and concern of mind, but not in the full light of dirine truth, which frees the soul from bondage through faith; nor can they exercise evangelical repentance. until they receive more light. Their present selfish repentance must then be repented of, in the exercise of that benevolent, Godly sorrow for the sins of the whole world, which is a repentance unto salvation, not to be repented of; and is truly evangelical. This second stage of repentance belongs to the new birth. The ab bounce of sin in this state of the mind proceeds from a righteous view of the contrast between holiness and gin. In a word, the contrast between all that is godly and ungodly and all that is good and evil. So that the soul is en-' abled suitably to appreciate the good and abhor the evil. In this state we repent by feeling godly sorrow for the sins of the whole world. We repent out of filial love to God and brotherly love to all men. Our gospel love and fraternal simpathy becomes so powerful, that we feel to weep and mourn for the sins of others, even for those sins in which we have had no active part However, we do not repent for our own personal sing nor for the sins of others, out of a slavish fear that we, or any of them will be finally damned, and eternally lost in consequence of sin. No, for no newborn babe in Christ, is ever left a prey to so gloomy a prospect. It is out of love to God and to what belongs to his kingdom this is the reason why men exercise evangelical repent ance towards God, this is the cause why they hate all the works of the devil, because his works do not belong to the kingdom of love; but sin obscures its glory from the understanding of man. He who loves the kingdom of God longs to have its glory and beauty appear unto all men. Therefore, when the christian reflects that all the works of the devil have got to be destroyed and every particle of sin removed from every breast, before all men can behold the full glory of God's kingdom; it is under this impressive reflection, that he feels a Godly sorrow in his throbbing heart, that sin, the great obstacle in man's way, has any where an existence among the human family. The goodness of God manifested in the soul, in taking away the sin of the world, leads to gospel repentance. And the greater his goodness, in the universality of this work, the stronger must be the stimulus to repentance. For if we see that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to take away the sin of the world, even to destroy all the works of the devil, we may by this at once discover, that sin is not only obnoxious to God, but also opposed to man's happiness, inasmuch as God takes it away out of love to the world. On this ground we have great reason to abhor sin, and to repent in dust and ashes, that man has ever been so unwise as to introduce sin into the world. Sin stands opposed to love and justice and to God's declarative glory, and opposes man's best good. God has interposed by his resistless power, to conquer all the powers of darkness, death and hell. And display his matchless glory wide; and free all his offspring from sin and death. He now commands all men, every where, that they must all repent. In heaven, heli, earth or sea; all have the same command. And when all shall be born again; all will his mandate then obey. When from his presence shall descend, in rich profusion, grace divine, and shall refresh each soul of man, with knowledge of his God. Then all will be ashamed of sin; and will repent of every prime; and glory in Jehovah's blessed power. Who, |