[John Finney recommended this book during a discussion of the April 4 sermon on Peter’s call to repentance at Pentecost (the sermon begins 33:45 into the video of the service). This excerpt contains almost all of Watson’s outline and selected paragraphs – about one-sixth of the book. The entire text is available online; you can order the Banner of Truth paperback edition here – Coty]

[Preface]…

Christians, do you have a sad resentment of other things and not of sin? Worldly tears fall to the earth, but godly tears are kept in a bottle (Ps. 56.8). Judge not holy weeping superfluous…. Either sin must drown or the soul burn. Let it not be said that repentance is difficult. Things that are excellent deserve labour. Will not a man dig for gold in the ore though it makes him sweat? It is better to go with difficulty to heaven, than with ease to hell….

The well-wisher of your soul’s happiness,

THOMAS WATSON
25 May 1668

1. A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE…

the first sermon that Christ preached, indeed, the first word of his sermon, was ‘Repent’ (Matt. 4:17). And his farewell that he left when he was going to ascend was that ‘repentance should be preached in his name’ (Luke 24:47)….

How is repentance wrought?…

1. Partly by the word…
2. By the Spirit…

Ministers are but the pipes and organs. It is the Holy Ghost breathing in them that makes their words effectual…

2. COUNTERFEIT REPENTANCE…

To discover what true repentance is, I shall first show what it is not….

1. The first deceit of repentance is legal terror…

Ahab and Judas had some trouble of mind. It is one thing to be a terrified sinner and another to be a repenting sinner. Sense of guilt is enough to breed terror. Infusion of grace breeds repentance….

2. Another deceit about repentance is resolution against sin….

We see by experience what protestations a person will make when he is on his sick-bed, if God should recover him again; yet he is as bad as ever. He shows his old heart in a new temptation.

Resolutions against sin may arise:

a) From present extremity; not because sin is sinful, but because it is painful. This resolution will vanish.

b) From fear of future evil…. Self-love raises a sickbed vow, and love of sin will prevail against it. Trust not to a passionate resolution; it is raised in a storm and will die in a calm.

3) The third deceit about repentance is the leaving of many sinful ways….

Sin may be parted with, yet without repentance.

a) A man may part with some sins and keep others…

b) An old sin may be left in order to entertain a new, as you put off an old servant to take another. This is to exchange a sin….

c) A sin may be left not so much from strength of grace as from reasons of prudence. A man sees that though such a sin be for his pleasure, yet it is not for his interest….

(3) THE NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE ([Part] 1)…

Repentance is a grace of God’s Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. For a further amplification, know that repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients:

1. Sight of sin
2. Sorrow for sin
3. Confession of sin
4. Shame for sin
5. Hatred for sin
6. Turning from sin

If any one is left out it loses its virtue.

Ingredient 1: Sight of Sin…

Many who can spy faults in others see none in themselves….

Ingredient 2: Sorrow for Sin…

‘The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart’ (Ps. 51:17)… This sorrow is:

1. To make Christ precious. O how desirable is a Saviour to a troubled soul! Now Christ is Christ indeed, and mercy is mercy indeed. Until the heart is full of compunction it is not fit for Christ. How welcome is a surgeon to a man who is bleeding from his wounds!
2. To drive out sin. Sin breeds sorrow, and sorrow kills sin….
3. To make way for solid comfort…

But not all sorrow evidences true repentance…. The apostle speaks of sorrowing ‘after a godly manner’ (2 Cor. 7:9). But what is this godly sorrowing? There are six qualifications of it:

1) True godly sorrow is inward. It is inward in two ways:

(1) It is a sorrow of the heart. The sorrow of hypocrites lies in their faces….

(2) It is a sorrow for heart-sins, the first outbreaks and risings of sin…. A wicked man may be troubled for scandalous sins; a real convert laments heart-sins.

2) Godly sorrow is ingenuous

It is sorrow for the offense rather than for the punishment…. A man may be sorry, yet not repent, as a thief is sorry when he is taken, not because he stole, but because he has to pay the penalty. Hypocrites grieve only for the bitter consequence of sin…. Godly sorrow, however. is chiefly for the bitter consequences against God, so that even if there were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to punish, yet the soul would still be grieved because of the prejudice done to God.…

Godly sorrow shows itself to be ingenuous because when a Christian knows that he is out of the gun-shot of hell and shall never be damned, yet still he grieves for sinning against that free grace which has pardoned him.

3) Godly sorrow is fiducial [trustful]….

Spiritual sorrow will sink the heart if the pulley of faith does not raise it.… That weeping is not good which blinds the eye of faith. If there are not some dawnings of faith in the soul, it is not the sorrow of humiliation but of despair.

4) Godly sorrow is a great sorrow….

Question 1: Do all have the same degree of sorrow?

Answer: No…. In the new birth all have pangs, but some have sharper pangs than others….

Question 2: But how great must sorrow for sin be in all?

Answer: It must be as great as for any worldly loss….

Our sorrow for sin must be such as makes us willing to let go of those sins which brought in the greatest income of profit or delight….

5) Godly sorrow in some cases is joined with restitution.

Question 1: Suppose a person has wronged another in his estate and the wronged man is dead, what should he do?

Answer: Let him restore his ill-gotten goods to that man’s heirs and successors. If none of them be living, let him restore to God, that is, let him put his unjust gain into God’s treasury by relieving the poor.

Question 2: What if the party who did the wrong is dead?

Answer: Then they who are his heirs ought to make restitution….

Question 3: If a man has wronged another and is not able to restore, what should he do?

Answer: Let him deeply humble himself before God, promising to the wronged party full satisfaction if the Lord make him able….

6) Godly sorrow is abiding….

True sorrow must be habitual. O Christian, the disease of your soul is chronic and frequently returns upon you; therefore you must be continually physicking yourself by repentance….

Although repentance must be always kept alive in the soul, yet there are two in an extraordinary manner:

1. Before the receiving of the Lord’s Supper….

The more bitterness we taste in sin, the more sweetness we shall taste in Christ….

2. Another time of extraordinary repentance is at the hour of death.

Ingredient 3: Confession of Sin….

The humble sinner does more than accuse himself; he, as it were, sits in judgment and passes sentence on himself. He confesses that he has deserved to be bound over to the wrath of God….

That confession of sin may be right and genuine, these eight qualifications are requisite:

1. Confession must be voluntary…

The confession of the wicked is extorted, like the confession of a man upon a rack…..

2. Confession must be with compunction…

A natural man’s confessions run through him as water through a pipe. They do not at all affect him. But true confession leaves heart-wounding impressions on a man.… It is one thing to confess sin and another thing to feel sin.

3. Confession must be sincere…

The hypocrite confesses sin but loves it, like a thief who confesses to stolen goods, yet loves stealing.… Augustine said that before his conversion he confessed sin and begged power against it, but his heart whispered within him, ‘not yet, Lord.’…

4. In true confession a man particularizes sin…
5. A true penitent confesses sin in the fountain [original sin]…

We are ready to charge many of our first sins to Satan’s temptations, but this sin of our nature is wholly from ourselves; we cannot shift it off to Satan….

6. Sin is to be confessed with all its circumstances and aggravations…

Confess sins against knowledge, against grace, against vows, against experiences, against judgments…. These are killing aggravations which do accent and enhance our sins.

7. In confession we must so charge ourselves as to clear God…
8. We must confess our sins with a resolution not to act them over again…

Pharaoh confessed he had sinned (Exod. 9:27), but when the thunder ceased he fell to his sin again….

Use 1: Is confession a necessary ingredient in repentance? Here is a bill of indictment against four sorts of persons:

1) It reproves those that hide their sins…. Many had rather have their sins covered than cured…. But though men will have no tongue to confess, God has an eye to see; he will unmask their treason…. Those iniquities which men hide in their hearts shall be written one day on their foreheads as with the point of a diamond….

2) It reproves those who do indeed confess sin but only by halves…. It is true that we cannot know the exact catalogue of our sins, but the sins which come within our view and cognizance, and which our hearts accuse us of, must be confessed as ever we hope for mercy.

3) It reproves those who in their confessions mince and extenuate their sins. A gracious soul labours to make the worst of his sins, but hypocrites make the best of them…. These are excuses rather than confessions….

4) It reproves those who are so far from confessing sin that they boldly plead for it. Instead of having tears to lament it, they use arguments to defend it. If their sin be passion they will justify it: ‘I do well to be angry’ (Jon. 4:9)… When men commit sin they are the devil’s servants; when they plead for it they are the devil’s attorneys, and he will give them a fee.

Use 2: Let us show ourselves penitents by sincere confession of sin…. That we may make a free and ingenuous confession of sin, let us consider:

(1) Holy confession gives glory to God…

(2) Confession is a means to humble the soul. He who subscribes himself a hell-deserving sinner will have little heart to be proud…. A child of God, even when he does good, yet acknowledges much evil to be in that good. This lays all the feathers of pride in the dust.

(3) Confession gives vent to a troubled heart. When guilt lies boiling in the conscience, confession gives ease….

(4) Confession purges out sin….

(5) Confession of sin endears Christ to the soul. If I say I am a sinner, how precious will Christ’s blood be to me!…

(6) Confession of sin makes way for pardon. No sooner did the prodigal come with a confession in his mouth, ‘I have sinned against heaven’, than his father’s heart did melt towards him, and he kissed him (Luke 15:20)….

(7) How reasonable and easy is this command that we should confess sin! (a) It is a reasonable command, for if one has wronged another, what is more rational than to confess he has wronged him? We, having wronged God by sin, how equal and consonant to reason is it that we should confess the offense. (b) It is an easy command….

There remains one case of conscience: are we bound to confess our sins to men?… I think in three cases there ought to be confession to men:

(1) Firstly, where a person has fallen into scandalous sin and by it has been an occasion of offence to some and of falling to others….

(2) Secondly, where a man has confessed his sin to God, yet still his conscience is burdened, and he can have no ease in his mind, it is very requisite that he should confess his sins to some prudent, pious friend, who may advise him and speak a word in due season (James 4:16)….

(3) Thirdly, where any man has slandered another and by clipping his good name has made it weigh lighter, he is bound to make confession….

4. THE NATURE OF TRUE REPENTANCE ([Part] 2)

Ingredient 4: Shame for Sin…

Did our sins put Christ to shame, and shall they not put us to shame?…

A sinner is a swine with a man’s head. He who was once little less than the angels in dignity is now become like the beasts….

That which may make us blush is that the sins we commit are far worse than the sins of the heathen. We act against more light. To us have been committed the oracles of God….

Use 1. Is shame an ingredient of repentance? If so, how far are they from being penitents who have no shame?…

Use 2. Let us show our penitence by a modest blushing….

Ingredient 5: Hatred of Sin

The fifth ingredient in repentance is hatred of sin:… A two-fold hatred: hatred of abominations, and hatred of enmity.

Firstly, there is a hatred or loathing of abominations…. Christ is never loved till sin be loathed. Heaven is never longed for till sin be loathed….

Secondly, there is a hatred of enmity…. Sound repentance begins in the love of God and ends in the hatred of sin.

How may true hatred of sin be known?

1. When a man’s spirit is set against sin…

Let the devil cook and dress sin with pleasure and profit, yet a true penitent with a secret abhorrence of it is disgusted by it and will not meddle with it.

2. True hatred of sin is universal…

(a) Hatred is universal in respect of the faculties, that is, there is a dislike of sin not only in the judgment, but in the will and affections….

(b) Hatred is universal in respect of the object. He who hates one sin hates all.… ‘I hate every false way’ (Ps. 119:104).

3. True hatred against sin is against sin in all forms…

A regenerate person … hates sin not only for hell, but as hell.

4. True hatred is implacable

It will never be reconciled to sin any more….

5. Where there is a real hatred we not only oppose sin in ourselves but in others too….

Question: What is there in sin that may make a penitent hate it?…

That sin … deserves hatred will appear if we look upon sin as a fourfold conceit:

(1) Look upon the origin of sin, from whence it comes. It fetches its pedigree from hell….

(2) Look upon sin in its nature: … it is a dishonouring of God (Rom. 2:23); a despising of God (1 Sam. 2:30); a fretting of God (Ezek. 16:43); a wearying of God (Isa- 7:13); a breaking the heart of God…. Sin, when acted to the height, is a crucifying Christ afresh and putting him to open shame (Heb. 6:6)….

(3) Look upon sin in its comparison, and it appears ghastly. Compare sin with affliction and hell, and it is worse than both. It is worse than affliction: sickness, poverty, death….

Affliction can but take away the life; sin takes away the soul (Luke 12:20)….

The greatest judgment God lays upon a man in this life is to let him sin without control….

(4) Look upon sin in the issue and consequence, and it will appear hateful….

Sin … would for ever separate us from the beautiful vision of God, in whose presence is fullness of joy….

Ingredient 6: Turning from Sin

The sixth ingredient in repentance is a turning from sin….

There is a change wrought in the heart. The flinty heart has become fleshly….

There is a change wrought in the life. Turning from sin is so visible that others may discern it….

That the turning from sin be rightly qualified, these few things are requisite:

1. It must be a turning from sin with the heart….
2. It must be a turning from all sin….

He that hides one rebel in his house is a traitor to the Crown, and he that indulges one sin is a traitorous hypocrite.

3. It must be a turning from sin upon a spiritual ground….

Acts of sin may be restrained out of fear or design, but a true penitent turns from sin out of a religious principle, namely, love to God….

4. It must be such a turning from sin as turns unto God….

Turning from sin is like pulling the arrow out of the wound; turning to God is like pouring in the balm. … Unsound hearts pretend to leave old sins, but they do not turn to God or embrace his service….

5. True turning from sin is such a turn as has no return….

He that returns to sin by implication charges God with some evil….

Use 1. Is turning from sin a necessary ingredient in repentance? If so, then there is little repentance to be found….

Use 2. It reproves those who are but half-turned. And who are these? Such as turn in their judgment but not in their practice….

They are but half-turned who turn only from gross sin but have no intrinsic work of grace. They do not prize Christ or love holiness….

They are but half-turned who turn from many sins but are unturned from some special sin…. It reproves those whose turning is as good as no turning, who expel one devil and welcome another….

Use 3. Let us show ourselves penitents in turning from sin to God….

If we turn to God, he will turn to us….

5. THE REASONS FOR ENFORCING REPENTANCE, WITH A WARNING TO THE IMPENITENT

I proceed next to the reasons which enforce repentance.

1. God’s sovereign command

‘He commandeth all men every where to repent’ (Acts 17:30)….

2. The pure nature of God denies communion with an impenitent creature…
3. Sinners continuing in impenitence are out of Christ’s commission…
4. We have by sin wronged God….

By repentance we humble and judge ourselves for sin. We set to our seal that God is righteous if he should destroy us, and thus we give glory to God and do what lies in us to repair his honour.

5. If God should save men without repentance, making no discrimination, then by this rule he must save all, not only men, but devils;… and so consequently the decrees of election and reprobation must fall to the ground….

There are two sorts of persons who will find it harder to repent than others:

(1) Those who have sat a great while under the ministry of God’s ordinances but grow no better….

(2) Those who have sinned frequently against the convictions of the word, the checks of conscience, and the motions of the Spirit….

6. A SERIOUS EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE…

Water for the garden, if poured in the sink, does no good. Powder for the eye, if applied to the arm, is of no benefit.… I shall show you that repentance is necessary, and that it is necessary for all persons and for all sins.

1) Repentance is necessary: ‘except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish’ (Luke 10:5)….

2) Repentance is necessary for all persons. Thus God commands all men: ‘now God commandeth all men every where to repent’ (Acts 17:30)….

2.1) Repentance is necessary for the great ones….

2.2) Repentance is necessary for the [villainous] sinners in a nation….

2.3) Repentance is necessary for the cheating crew…

2.4) Repentance is necessary for civil persons…. A moral man is but old Adam dressed in fine clothes…. I am not saying, repent that you are civil, but that you are no more than civil.… If civility were sufficient to salvation, Christ need not have died….

2.5) Repentance is needful for hypocrites…. The hypocrite or stage-player has gone a step beyond the moralist and dressed himself in the garb of religion. He pretends to a form of godliness but denies the power (2 Tim. 3:5)…. He is seemingly good so that he may be really bad….

None will find it more difficult to repent than hypocrites. They have so juggled in religion that their treacherous hearts know not how to repent….

2.6) Repentance is necessary for God’s own people…. Repentance is a continuous act….

Search with the candle of the word into your hearts and see if you can find no matter for repentance there.

(a) Repent of your rash censuring. Instead of praying for others, you are ready to pass a verdict upon them….

(b) Repent of your vain thoughts….

(c) Repent of your vain fashions. It is strange that the garments which God has given to cover shame should discover pride….

(d) Repent of your decays in grace: ‘thou hast left thy first love’ (Rev. 2:4)….

(e) Repent of your non-improvement of talents….

(f) Repent of your forgetfulness of sacred vows….

(g) Repent of your unanswerableness to blessings received….

(h) Repent of your worldliness….

(i) Repent of your divisions…. Divisions eclipse the church’s beauty and weaken her strength….

(j) Repent for the iniquity of your holy things. How often have the services of God’s worship been frozen with formality and soured with pride?…

[So repentance is necessary, it is necessary for all people, and thirdly:]

3. Repentance is necessary for all sins

Let us be deeply humbled and mourn before the Lord for original sin. We have lost that pure quintessential frame of soul that once we had. Our nature is vitiated with corruption. Original sin has diffused itself as a poison into the whole man….

Let us grieve for the inclination of our affections. Our love is set on sin, our joy on the creature….

Let us lay to heart actual sins…. What action proceeds from us wherein we do not betray some sin? To reckon up these were to go to number the drops in the ocean. Let actual sins be solemnly repented of before the Lord.

(7) POWERFUL MOTIVES TO REPENTANCE…

1. Sorrow and melting of heart fits us for every holy duty…
2. Repentance is highly acceptable…
3. Repentance commends all our services to God….
4. Without repentance nothing will avail us.

Some bless themselves that they have a stock of knowledge, but what is knowledge good for without repentance? It is better to mortify one sin than to understand all mysteries….

5. Repenting tears are delicious….
6. Great sins repented of shall find mercy….

Oh, but I have relapsed into sin after pardon, and surely there is no mercy for me!… Christ commands us to forgive our trespassing brother seventy times seven in one day, in case he repents (Matt. 18:22). If the Lord bids us do it, will not he be much more ready to forgive upon our repentance? What is our forgiving mercy to his?…

7. Repentance is the inlet to spiritual blessings….
8. Repentance ushers in temporal blessings….
9. Repentance staves off judgments from a land….
10. Repentance makes joy in heaven…. As praise is the music of heaven, so repentance is the joy of heaven….
11. Consider how dear our sins cost Christ….

The Jews said to Pilate, ‘If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend’ (John 19:12). If we let our sins go and do not crucify them, we are not Christ’s friends.

12. This is the end of all afflictions which God sends….
13. The days of our mourning will soon be ended….
14. The happy and glorious reward that follows upon repentance….

O Christian, what are your duties compared with the recompense of reward? What an infinite disproportion is there between repentance enjoined and glory prepared?…

15. The next motive to repentance is to consider the evil of impenitence….

It is not so much the sins we have committed that so provoke and grieve Christ as that we refuse the physic of repentance which he prescribes….

16. The last motive to repentance is that the day of judgment is coming….

8. EXHORTATIONS TO SPEEDY REPENTANCE…

It is natural to us to procrastinate and put off repentance…. Many are now in hell that purposed to repent. Satan does what he can to keep men from repentance. When he sees that they begin to take up serious thoughts of reformation, he bids them wait a little longer…. Let me therefore lay down some cogent arguments to persuade to speedy repentance:

1. Now is the season of repentance, and everything is best done in its season…
2. The sooner you repent the fewer sins you will have to answer for…
3. The sooner we repent the more glory we may bring to God…
4. It is of dangerous consequence to put off repentance longer….

It is dangerous to let poison lie long in the body. Sin is a bruise. If a bruise be not soon cured, it gangrenes and kills. If sin be not soon cured by repentance it festers the conscience and damns….

It is dangerous to procrastinate repentance because the longer any go on in sin the harder they will find the work of repentance. Delay strengthens sin and hardens the heart and gives the devil fuller possession….

It is dangerous to prorogue and delay repentance because there are three days that may soon expire:

1) The day of the gospel may expire….

2) A man’s personal day of grace may expire….

1. When conscience has done preaching….
2. When a person is in such a spiritual lethargy that nothing will work upon him or make him sensible….

3) The day of life may expire…. Man’s life is compared to the flower of the field which withers sooner than the grass (Ps. 103:15)…. Remember that speech of Aquinas: ‘God who pardons him that repents has not promised to give him tomorrow to repent in.’…

9. THE TRIAL OF OUR REPENTANCE, AND COMFORT FOR THE PENITENT

If any shall say they have repented, let me desire them to try themselves seriously by those seven adjuncts or effects of repentance which the apostle lays down in 2 Corinthians 7:11:

1. Carefulness: … Careful shunning all temptations to sin….
2. Clearing of ourselves…

The repenting soul will not let sin lie festering in his conscience but judges himself for his sin. He pours out tears before the Lord. He begs mercy in the name of Christ and never leaves till he has gotten his pardon….

3. Indignation…

The penitent is vexed with himself…. God is never better pleased with us than when we fall out with ourselves for sin.

4. Fear…

He is afraid to come near sin any more…. He is afraid to lose God’s favour which is better than life….

5. Vehement desire…

He desires to be with Christ, as everything desires to be in its centre.

6. Zeal…

Zeal makes a repenting soul persist in godly sorrow against all discouragements and oppositions whatsoever…. Zeal animates spirit and duty….

7. Revenge

A true penitent pursues his sins with a holy malice. He seeks the death of them….

A Necessary Caution…

Though repentance helps to purge out the filth of sin, yet it is Christ’s blood that washes away the guilt of sin. Therefore do not idolize repentance. Do not rest upon this, that your heart has been wounded for sin, but rather that your Saviour has been wounded for sin….

Comfort for the Repenting Sinner…

Know these three things for your everlasting comfort:

1. Your sins are pardoned
2. God will pass an act of oblivion

He so forgives sin as he forgets: ‘I will remember their sin no more’ (Jer. 31:34)…. God has cast your sins into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19). How? Not as cork, but as lead….

3. Conscience will now speak peace…

The repenting sinner can go to God with boldness in prayer and look upon him not as a judge, but as a father….

The true penitent may look on death with comfort….

10. THE REMOVING OF THE IMPEDIMENTS TO REPENTANCE…

There are ten impediments to repentance:

1. Men do not apprehend that they need repentance….

This is the mischief sin has done; it has not only made us sick, but senseless….

2. People conceive it an easy thing to repent….

To take away this false conceit of the easiness of repentance, consider:

1) A wicked man has a mountain of guilt upon him, and is it easy to rise up under such a weight?…

2) If all the power in a sinner be employed against repentance, then repentance is not easy….

3. Presuming thoughts of God’s mercy….

‘Oh,’ says one, ‘Christ has died; he has done all for me; therefore I may sit still and do nothing.’ Thus they suck death from the tree of life and perish by a saviour…. Should a king’s clemency make his subjects rebel? The psalmist says, there is mercy with God, that he may be feared (Ps. 130:4), but not that we may sin. Can men expect mercy by provoking justice? God will hardly show those mercy who sin because mercy abounds.

4. A supine sluggish temper….

Men … had rather go sleeping to hell than weeping to heaven….

5. The tickling pleasure of sin…

The sinner thinks there is danger in sin, but there is also delight, and the danger does not terrify him as much as the delight bewitches him….

6. An opinion that repentance will take away our joy.

That is a mistake. It does not crucify but clarify our joy…. Who should rejoice if not the repenting soul? He is heir to all the promises, and is not that matter for joy? God dwells in a contrite heart, and must there not needs be joy there?…

7. Another obstacle to repentance is despondency of mind

‘It is a vain thing for me,’ says the sinner, ‘to set upon repentance; my sins are of that magnitude that there is no hope for me.’… Other sins need mercy, but despair rejects mercy…. Judas was not damned only for his treason and murder, but it was his distrust of God’s mercy that destroyed him.… Do not say then that there is no hope. Disband the army of your sins, and God will sound a retreat to his judgments. Remember, great sins have been swallowed up in the sea of God’s infinite compassions….

8. Hope of impunity…

The Lord indeed is long-suffering towards sinners and would by his patience bribe them to repentance, but here is their wretchedness; because he forbears to punish they forbear to repent. Know, that the lease of patience will soon run out….

9. The next impediment of repentance is fear of reproach.

If I repent I shall expose myself to men’s scorns….

What do the wicked reproach you for? Is it because you repent? You are doing your duty. Bind their reproaches as a crown about your head. It is better that men should reproach you for repenting than that God should damn you for not repenting….

10. The last impediment of repentance is immoderate love of the world….

11. PRESCRIBING SOME MEANS FOR REPENTANCE:

(1) SERIOUS CONSIDERATION…

1. Firstly, consider seriously what sin is, and sure enough there is enough evil in it to make us repent. There are in sin these twenty evils:

(1) Every sin is a recession from God…. Every step forward in sin is a step backward from God….

(2) Sin is a walking contrary to God….

(3) Sin is an injury to God. It violates his laws…. What greater injury can be offered to a prince than to trample upon his royal edicts? … Sin robs God of his due. … The soul belongs to God. He lays a double claim to it: it is his by creation and by purchase. Now sin steals the soul from God and gives the devil that which rightly belongs to God.

(4) Sin is profound ignorance….

(5) Sin is a piece of desperateness…. Foolish sinner, you never commit a sin but you do that which may undo your soul for ever….

(6) Sin besmears with filth….

(7) In sin there is odious ingratitude. God has fed you, O sinner, with angels’ food. He has crowned you with a variety of mercies, yet do you go on in sin? … God may say, “I gave you wit, health, riches, and you have employed all these against me”….

(8) Sin is a debasing thing. It degrades a person of his honour….

(9) Sin is a damage. In every sin there is infinite loss….

(10) Sin is a burden…. The burden of sin is always worst when it is least felt….

(11) Sin is a debt…. Death frees a man from other debts but it will not free him from this….

(12) There is deceitfulness in sin….

(13) Sin is a spiritual sickness….

(14) Sin is a bondage…. He does not so much enjoy his lusts as serve them….

(15) Sin has a spreading malignity in it…. One man’s sin may occasion many to sin…. A person who has the plague, going into company, does not know how many will be infected with the plague by him. You who are guilty of open sins know not how many have been infected by you….

(16) Sin is a vexatious thing. It brings trouble with it….

(17) Sin is an absurd thing….

(18) There is cruelty in every sin. With every sin you commit, you give a stab to your soul….

(19) Sin is a spiritual death….

He who is dead has no taste. Set a banquet before him, and he does not relish it. Likewise a sinner tastes no sweetness in Christ or a promise….

(20) Sin without repentance tends to final damnation….

Thus we have seen the deadly evil in sin which, seriously considered, may make us repent and turn to God. If, for all this, men will persist in sin and are resolved upon a voyage to hell, who can help it? They have been told what a soul-damning rock sin is, but if they will voluntarily run upon it and split themselves, their blood be upon their own head.

2. The second serious consideration to work repentance is to consider the mercies of God….

(1) What private mercies have we had?…

(2) What positive mercies have we had! … What man will spread a table for his enemy? We have been enemies, yet God has fed us….

3. In the third place [of serious consideration], consider God’s afflictive providences.

God’s judgments are so proper a means to work repentance that the Lord wonders at it, and makes it his complaint that his severity did not break men off from their sins: ‘I have with-holden the rain from you’ (Amos 4:7); ‘I have smitten you with blasting and mildew’ (Amos 4:9); ‘I have sent among you the pestilence’ (Amos 4:10). But still this is the burden of the complaint, ‘Yet ye have not returned to me.’…

4. Fourthly, let us consider how much we shall have to answer for at last if we repent not, how many prayers, counsels, and admonitions will be put upon the score….

Those who have judged themselves in the lower court of conscience shall be acquitted in the High Court of heaven. But if we repent not, our sins must be all accounted for at the last day, and we must answer for them in our own persons, with no counsel allowed to plead for us….

Either repent now, or else provide your answers and see what defence you can make for yourselves when you come before God’s tribunal….

12. PRESCRIBING SOME MEANS FOR REPENTANCE [Part 2]:…

[In addition to the serious considerations above:]

[2] A second help to repentance is prudent comparison…

Upon our turning to God we have more restored to us in Christ than ever was lost in Adam. God says to the repenting soul, ‘I will clothe thee with the robe of righteousness; I will enrich thee with the jewels and graces of my Spirit. I will bestow my love upon thee; I will give thee a kingdom: ‘Son, all I have is thine.’’…

[3] A third means conducive to repentance is a settled determination to leave sin. … ‘I have sworn that I will keep thy righteous judgments’ (Ps. 119:106)….

But this resolution must be built upon the strength of Christ more than our own. It must be a humble resolution….

[4] The fourth means conducive to repentance is earnest supplication…. Pray to him for a repenting heart: ‘Thou, Lord, who bidst me repent, give me grace to repent.’…

There is good reason we should go to God for repentance:

(1) Because it is his gift: ‘Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life’ (Acts 11:18)…. Therefore beg of God a repentant spirit. He can make the stony heart bleed….

(2) We must have recourse to God for blessing because he has promised to bestow it: ‘I will give you an heart of flesh’ (Ezek. 36:26)….

[5] The fifth means conducive to repentance is endeavour after clearer discoveries of God: ‘Now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5-6)…. By looking into the transparent glass of God’s holiness, we see our own blemishes and so learn to bewail them.

[6] Lastly, we should labour for faith…. The eye of faith looks on mercy and that thaws the heart. Faith carries us to Christ’s blood….

Thus I have laid down the means or helps to repentance. What remains now but that we set upon the work. And let us be in earnest….