They shall look on me whom they pierced, and mourn. Zech. xii. 10. Why is repentance necessary for all men? 1. Because all have sinned. If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me. Job. ix. 20. There is not a just man upon earth, that sinneth not. Eccl. vii. 20. We are all as an unclean thing. Isa. lxiv. 6. All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Rom. iii. 23. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 1 John i. 8. 2. Because God commands it. Turn ye at my reproof. Prov. i. 23. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions. Ezek. xiv. 6; xviii. 30. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matt. iii. 2; iv. 17. Repent ye, and believe the Gospel. Mark i. 15. They went out, and preached that men should repent. Mark vi. 12. That repentance and remission of sins should be preached. Luke xxiv. 47. Repent and be baptized, every one of you. Acts ii. 38. Repent, therefore, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts iii. 19. God commandeth all men every where to repent. Acts xvii. 30. Repent, and do works meet for repentance. Acts xxvi. 20. Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent. Rev. ii. 5. Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly. Rev. ii. 16. Remember how thou hast received and repent. Rev. iii. 3. 3. Because conscience tells us so, and all men promise themselves to repent at some future day. Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. Acts xxiv. 25. 4. Because the mind must be prepared for pardon by repentance, and without there can be no meetness for heaven. Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise peris. Luke xiii. 3, 5. Can a man of himself truly repent? No; repentance is the gift of God, the purchase e of Christ, and the work of the Spirit. Every good and perfect gift is from above. James i. 17. Him hath God exalted-to give repentance. Acts v. 31. If God peradventure will give them repentance. 2 Tim. Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Rom. ii. 4. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter iii. 9. What promises are made to penitent sinners? If thou shalt return unto the Lord-then he will have compassion on thee. Deut. xxx. 2, 3. If my people shall humble themselves-then will I forgive Whoso confesseth and forsaketh his sins, shall find mercy. Let the wicked forsake his way-and return unto the Lord, If thou wilt return, O Israel, then thou shalt not remove. If he turn from his sin-he shall not die. Ezek. xxxiii. The returning prodigal was forgiven. Luke xv. 21, 22. The method in which God forgives sinners may be illustrated by comparing a man, in his unregenerate state, to a criminal under sentence of death. The prince, whose laws he has broken, and whose justice he has offended, is disposed to act with compassion towards him; but he chooses that the prisoner should throw himself on his mercy, and crave life at his hands, before he will consent to remit the punishment he has incurred. Again: Sinners are placed in the situation of a company of condemned rebels in a dungeon. A warrant arrives; one is taken away and led out to execution, and his companions behold him no more. They do not see what becomes of him, and will not believe the report which is brought them of the pains he suffered. Another and another is taken away in the same manner; still those who remain, suppose their companions are only released from misery, and carelessly expect their own turn. All this time, messengers from the king are employed in persuading them to submission, exhorting them to ask forgiveness and accept mercy. A few are prevailed on to comply with these terms, and are dismissed: but the rest, seeing no difference between those removed by warrant and those set at liberty by pardon, persist in their obstinacy, and treat the persuasions of their friendly advisers with neglect and contempt. What is the chief means by which repentance is produced? A view of a crucified Saviour. The penitent, looking at the cross of Christ, sees himself a sinner, and mourns over those sins which crucified the Lord of life. Unless we feel something of this, we are not real Christians. The only entrance to the way which leads to eternal life, is by this godly sorrow and heartfelt repentance. The passage is very difficult, and we must strive to enter in at the strait gate. Notwithstanding the necessity and benefit of repentance, we must remember that it does not atone for sin. How are we to obtain repentance ? By prayer. Prayers for Repentance, in the Liturgy. Collect, Ash-Wednesday.-Create and make in us new and contrite hearts. Absolution.-Let us beseech him to grant us true repentance. Litany. That it may please thee to give us true repen tance. How necessary is it for those who have not already repented, to set about the inportant work immediately! Do not trifle with God. Difficulties will increase with age. What is Faith? IV. ON FAITH. St. Paul briefly defines it to be— The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Heb. xi. 1. Christ is the object of a Christian's faith, and the hope set before us; faith is not a state of the understanding merely, but of the heart. To believe testimony, and rely on the promises of men, is natural; but spiritual things are so far beyond our apprehension, so humbling, and so opposite to worldly pursuits, that we cannot believe the things which concern our eterna. salvation, so as to love them and act upon them, (and none is true faith, but that which worketh by love,) until the heart be changed by grace. Faith is founded on nowkledge-a knowledge of God, and of our own ruined condition, as revealed to us in the Scriptures. It includes a determination not to continue in this state. "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" It produces a conviction that if help comes, it must come from God, and leads us to breathe such petitions as these: "Turn thou me !""Undertake for me!" "Wilt thou not revive us?" It brings us to the Redeemer, unites us to him, and enables us to walk in that liberty wherewith he hath made us free. Thus if Christ be called A Refuge, (Isa. xxv. 4.) Faith leads us to flee to him for shelter from the wrath of God. A Fountain, (Zech. xiii. 1.) Faith induces us to come to have our guilt washed away. The Bread of Life, (John vi. 35.) Faith draws us to him as our spiritual food and sustenance. Living Water, (John vii. 37.) Faith brings us to him to have our thirst quenched. A Shepherd, (Isa. xl. 11.) Faith causes us to follow him, A Physician, (Matt. ix. 12.) Faith leads us not only to A Prophet, (Luke xxiv. 19.) Faith leads us to ask him to Such a faith has great power. All things are possible to him that believeth. Mark ix. 23. All men have not this faith, (2 Thess. iii. 2.) which is very different from a mere historical belief of the facts, and a general and cold assent to the doctrines contained in the Bible. Such a faith even bad men may have; nay, the devils themselves believe thus far, as firmly as the holiest saints. James ii. 19. Eminent Examples of Faith. Abraham offering Isaac his son. Gen. xxii. 10-16. " |