Page images
PDF
EPUB

as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

ACTS 3: 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. 26. Unto you, first God having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one from your iniquities.

2 PETER 3: 9. The Lord is... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

7: 10. The pride of Israel doth testify to his face; and they do not return to the LORD their God, nor seek him for all this.-13. Woe unto them; ... destruction unto them. 16. They return but not to the Most High.

MAT. 11. 20. Then began Jesus to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not; saying, 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 day of judg

§ 3. GOD'S DISPLEASURE AT IMPEN- Tyre and Sidon at the ment, than for you.

ITENCE.

2 KINGS 17: 13. The LORD testified against Israel and Judah, by the prophets and seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways; but they would not hear.-18. The LORD was angry, and removed them out of his sight.

Ps. 7: 12. If the wicked turn not, God will whet his sword. He hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death.

JER. 15: 7. I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

18: 11. Thus saith the LORD, behold I frame evil against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.

23: 14. The false prophets, strengthen the hands of the evil doers, that no man doth return from his wickedness... Therefore thus saith the LORD of Hosts concerning the prophets, Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall.

EZEK. 3: 19. If thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness,... he shall die in his iniquity.

18: 1. At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily, I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name, receiveth me.

T21: 31. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterwards, that ye might believe him.

REV. 2: 21. I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

DAN. 9: 13. All this evil is come upon us, yet made we not our prayer ROM. 2: 4. After thy hardness, before the LORD our God, that we and impenitent heart, treasurest up might turn from our iniquities. wrath against the day of wrath, and Therefore hath the LORD watch-revelation of the righteous judgment ed upon the evil and brought it of God who will render to every upon us. one according to his works.

Ho. 14: 1. O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thy iniquity.

JAS. 5: 19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, let him know, that he

[ocr errors]

which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

§ 4. REPENTANCE DESCRIBED. I. Implies Consciousness of Guilt. Ps. 38: 4. Mine iniquities are as a heavy burden.

JOB 42: 6. Now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

Ps. 51: 3. I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight... Behold I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother

conceive me.

MAT. 11: 28. Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

ROM. 3: 19. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

ROM. 7: 7. What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known_lust, except the law had said, "Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew_me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the

commandment holy, and just, and good. Was that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God, after the inner man: but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God: but with the flesh the law of sin.

T 2 SAM. 24: 10. And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three day's pestilence in thy land? now advise,

and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.

II. It Implies Godly Sorrow for Sin.

MAT. 26: 69. Now Peter sat without in the palace and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. Then began he to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

LUKE 7: 86. And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster-box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now, when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he

saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor, which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him, began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee: go in peace.

JER. 50: 4. The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the LORD their God.

T JOEL 2:12. Turn ye unto me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.

For

2 COR. 7: 9. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

2 KINGS 22: 19. Because thine

heart was tender,...and thou hast rent thy clothes and wept before me, I also have heard thee, saith the LORD.

Ps. 34: 18. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

51: 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

147: 3. The LORD healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

III. A Renunciation of Sin.

MAT. 21: 28. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go, work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not; but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir; and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.

ISA. 55: 7. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

1: 16. Cease to do evil; learn to do well.

JOHN 5: 14. Behold thou art made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

2 CHRON. 6: 36. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amniss, and have dealt wickedly: if they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray

toward their land which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwellingplace, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.

JAMES 4: 7. Submit yourselves therefore to God.... Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy, to heaviness: humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

¶ DEUT. 30: 1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: and the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the

fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

IV. Confession of Sin to God.

Lev. 26: 40. If they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers;.. if their uncircumcised hearts be humbled; ... then will I remember my covenant.

Ps. 32: 5. I said, I will confess my trangression,.. thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.

PROV. 28: 13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but, whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

JER. 3: 13. Acknowledge thine iniquity that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God.

MAT. 8: 5. Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

ACTS 19: 18. Many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Many also of them that used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men.

1 JOHN 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

V. Restitution.

NUM. 5: 5. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, when a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. But if the man have

no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recom pensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.

§3. MEANS OF REPENTANCE.
I. Reflection.

DEUT. 32: 29. O that they were wise; that they understood this; that they would consider their latter end. JOB 23: 15. When I consider, I am afraid of him.

Ps. 4 4. Commune with your own heart on your bed, and be still. 1 SAM. 12:24. Consider how great things the LORD hath done for thee.

ROM. 2: 4. Not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.

Ps. 50: 22. Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

119: 95. I will consider thy testimonies.

ECCL. 7: 14. In the day of adversity consider.

5: 1. They consider not, that they do evil.

ISA. 1: 3. Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

Ho. 7: 2. They consider not in their hearts, that I remember all their wickedness.

HAG. 1:5. Thus saith the Lord, consider your ways.

LUKE 19: 41. He beheld the city and wept over it, saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day the things that belong to thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.

II Study of God's Word.

Ps. 19: 7. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple... The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever, The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether: more to be desired are they than gold, yea than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey or the honey comb. Moreover by them is thy servant

« PreviousContinue »