to the grace of God. And his sense of dependence on God, both to originate and continue his penitential exercises, is rendered more vivid by the growing influence of the grace of repentance over the powers of his sinful soul. With his dependence in view, his deviations from the path of duty are followed with such petitions as these: "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned." "Create in me a clean heartuphold me by thy free Spirit." Jer. xxxi. 18. Ps. li. 10, 12.*

* It was some years ago, when these thoughts on the humble nature of repentance were committed to paper. At that time, I supposed I was expressing the sentiments, not only of the scriptures, but also of all that part of the church, which has been denominated the Orthodox, in distinction from such as adopt the Pelagian or Arminian systems. But more recently 1 have found some of those whose church articles still remain strictly Calvinistic, are beginning to exhibit entirely different views of this subject.

In a particular sermon that I heard myself, which was designed to enforce the obligation to repentance, the preacher introduced an impenitent man, as excusing himself from the duty enjoined, on the plea, that the agency of God was necessary to produce repentance. Had he told the self-excusing rebel, that repentance was the creature's own exercise, and every sinner's incumbent duty, and that his need of divine grace, to counteract his impenitent feelings and transform his heart, did not release him from obligation to an immediate compliance, I should have been gratified. But I was grieved to find, that the way he took to stop the mouth of the caviler, was to deny, in effect, that God was the giver of repentance. He told him that those texts of scripture which speak of God's giving men repentance, meant no more than his giving them a dispensation, opportunity, or means of repentance. He then proceeded to introduce three texts of this class, viz. Acts v. 3, xi. 18; and 2 Tim. ii. 25; which are the same that I have made use of to prove repentance to be a dependent exercise, for which we are indebted to the grace of God. Each of these texts he so explained, as to keep out of sight the need of any special divine operation on the sinner's heart, in order to his becoming a penitent. After hearing these texts thus explained, I felt an inclination to ask the preacher, what reason could be assigned, why the word peradventure was inserted in the last text: "If God peradventure will give them repentance." Was there a doubt (thought I) whether these men would have a dispensation or opportunity of repentance given them, when means to bring them to its exercise were already being used?

I will here take the liberty to place before the reader the views entertained by Mr. Henry, on two of these texts. On Acts v. 31, he remarks, "Repentance and remission go together; wherever repentance is wrought, remission is without fail granted. Christ is appointed to give repentance by his Spirit working with the word, to awaken the conscience, to work contrition for sin, and an effectual change in the heart and life. The new heart is his work, and the broken spirit a sacrifice of his providing: and when he has given repentance, if he should not give remission, he would forsake the work of his own hands." On Acts xi. 18, he is, if possible, still more explicit. "He hath granted them not only the means of repentance, in opening a door of entrance for his ministers among them, but the grace of repentance, in having given them his Holy Spirit, who, whenever he comes to be a Comforter, first convinces and gives a sight of sin, and sorrow for it, and then a sight of Christ and joy in him. Repentance is God's gift; it is not only his free grace that accepts it, but his mighty grace that works it in us; that takes away the heart of stone, and gives us a heart of flesh. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit; it is he that provides himself that lamb."

What, I would now ask, can be the use of adopting the method of the preacher referred to, for the purpose of silencing the objections that are raised against an obligation to repent, because repentance is God's gift; unless it be intended to silence all other objec tions of this kind in the same way, by passing through the Bible, and explaining all those passages, which speak of God's operations on the hearts of men, to mean nothing more than his giving them a probation and leaving them to take care of themselves? If God gives repentance in no other sense, only to grant the opportunity and means of repenting, then, no doubt, the same must be true concerning faith, love, the spirit of prayer, and all other holy affections. If no divine influence be exerted upon our hearts, to cause us to repent, there is no reason to believe that any such influence is exerted to produce any other part of the Christian character. When, therefore, God is represented as preparing the hearts of his people to pray, it must be understood to imply no more than his giving them an opportunity to pray, or to prepare their own hearts for the duty, When he says to such as lie in the ruins of the fall, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you," it must mean merely this: that he will give them a chance to get a new heart and a new spirit for themselves. The apostle said to the Ephesian saints, "You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins."

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Repentance gives God the glory for its acceptance, no less than for its existenec in the heart. It is not a self righteous exercise; it does not claim for itself any merit, as though it had cancelled the debt incurred by transgressing the law, but it prompts the man in whose heart it is, to hasten to the throne of grace with this humble petition, "God be merciful to me a sinner." Such a man, however, will not say, there is nothing lovely in a penitential frame of spirit; nor that he, as the subject of it, is destitute of amiableness: for he knows that the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy, dwells not only in the high and holy place, but with him also that is of a humble and contrite spirit. Isa. lvii. 15. But while he knows that contrition constitutes a trait of character, which must appear lovely in the eyes of God and of all holy beings, he can not feel that the change which has taken place in him, has destroyed or dimin. ished his desert of punishment. On the contrary, the more his contrition for sin is increased, the more entirely does he renounce his own righteousness, and plead for mercy through the righteousness of his Redeemer.

8. True repentance, where it takes place, remains, and continues to form an important part of the character of the Christian. There are some whose repentance resembles a land flood, which, after the rain is over, soon dries up; while the repentance of others resembles a fountain or a river whose waters fail not. In the beatitudes pronounced by Christ, in his sermon on the mount, we hear him say, "Blessed are the poor in spirit-Blessed, are they that mourn." By this he de. signs to teach us that the men of grace are habitually poor in spirit, and are daily mourning over their sins. They have mourned, do mourn, and will mourn, as long as they live. When the Lord says, in the last chapter of Isaiah," But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word," it evidently teaches us that the things implied in poverty, contrition, and trembling at his word, constitute the established and per. manent character of the man of piety. The same view is given of the

This, according to the method of interpretation which has been adopted, meant that God had suffered them to quicken themselves. And when God is said to work in his children both to will and to do, it must import that he has given them, along with other powers, the faculty of willing, which is a faculty incapable of being operated upon by any agent beside themselves, whether human or divine.

What Christian would not be grieved, to have all those texts, which speak of the help, to be derived from the Spirit of God, in restoring the divine image to our depraved hearts, explained in this manner? Would not every one exclaim, If this be all the help that we are authorized to expect, who then can be saved?

But why, it may be asked, is all this violence done to the oracles of God? Why are those precious texts, which speak so plainly of a powerful divine operation on the human mind, to originate, preserve and perfect a holy character, expounded in a manner so novel and unnatural? The ostensible reason is, to prevent men from neglecting their own souls; as if they could not be excited to attempt anything, for the accomplishment of which divine assistance is supposed to be requisite. Must we than be made to disbelieve, or, at least, forget our dependence on God, before we can be excited to make an effort? Has it been discovered, that what Solomon represented to be an index of folly, is in reality a proof of wisdom, namely, that a man should trust his own heart, his own sufficiency? Is it true, I would seriously ask, is it true, that their dependence on divine influence to cause repentance, is the reason why sinners remain impenitent and neglectful of the great salvation? Sinners who are living carelessly, have very little belief of their dependence on God for the salvation of their souls. When their dependence is made real to their minds, it is far from proving to be an opiate to lull them to sleep.

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pious man in the thirty-fourth Psalm: "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” They who become broken hearted and contrite, remain so. This is their character through life. The same cause which brings them into the dust of humiliation, keeps them there. My sin is ever before me," said one who knew what it was to mourn for it. Penitent characters do not lose sight of their sinful ways, and they are daily increasing their acquaintance with the evil of their hearts. The divine com. mandment, by the coming of which their sin first revived, continues to come, and to produce the same effect. The Spirit of God, which first reproved them of sin, abides with them, and continues to reprove them more and more.

Christians not only retain their penitent character unto the end of life, but as they grow in grace they become more deeply affected with the evil of their sin. And why should they not? The more their

hearts are freed from the blinding influence of sin, the better prepared they must be to discover its deformity. And it is certain that their obligation to the exercise of higher degrees of repentance is always augmenting, by reason of the sins which they daily commit. sins of which they have already repented, are not rendered any less ill-deserving on this account, and therefore the circumstance, that they have once repented of their sins, does not do away, or even diminish their obligation to repent in time to come. Paul never lost sight of the vileness of his conduct as a persecutor of the church of Christ so long as he lived, though he had mourned over it and confessed it ma ny a time. If it was right for him to feel an abhorrence of this wicked conduct, when his eyes were first opened, it must have been right for him to feel it until his dying day; and it must be right for him to feel it now. The holiness of heaven will prevent the saints from making any new work for repentance; but it will have no tendency to keep them from lothing and condemning themselves, in view of the sins which they committed on the earth. Nor will the continuance of repentance diminish the happiness of that perfect state. When they give praise to Him that loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, their blessedness will be greatly augmented by the clear views they will then have of the vileness of those sins.

This work was begun by showing that there is truth in religion; that every part of true religion is supported by the whole inspired volume, so that all which is said about it is said in its favor, and nothing against it; and that every branch of true religion has a harmonious agreement with the whole. This agreement is, I think, very apparent in relation to evangelical repentance.

First. It is in harmony with the preceding Articles of experience. Repentance has been described as differing essentially from that sin for which it sorrows; and therefore it must be disinterested for if it were a selfish exercise it would be of the same nature with all the sin there is in earth and hell. When repentance is described as a sorrow

for sin which is not selfish, it entirely coalesces with our first Article of experience. It is the natural fruit of all that love which is disinterested, whether it be exercised towards God, our fellow men, or ourselves. When we exercise pure love towards all these objects, we shall be unfeignedly sorry for all the injury we have done, or thought to do them. And the more we have of the free love described in that Article, the more we shall have of the repentance which is described in this.

Nor is the agreement less apparent between this and the second Article. In that Article we saw that it was the nature of holiness in ourselves, to be delighted with holiness in others, and to be equally disgusted with sin. But would it be consistent to make holiness of character, the ground of exercising the love of complacency towards others, and at the same time have complacency in ourselves considered as sinners? If our religion be disinterested, we shall be delighted with our character no farther than it is conformed to the divine image; and so far as we discover it to be repugnant to this, we shall abhor it. In the same degree as we are delighted with God, angels, and saints, on account of their holiness, we shall be displeased with all wicked crea. tures, and with all wickedness, not excepting that which we see in ourselves.

This Article has an intimate connection and a perfect agreement with the one which immediately precedes it. There we viewed the rebel submitting himself and becoming reconciled to God; and here we see him mourning over his past rebellion. And certainly if that reconciliation was real and sincere, we should expect to see him going about with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, all the residue of his life, deeply humbled at the thought that he was once in arms against his Maker; and we should expect to see him grieved on account of his remaining disaffection to his holy government.

Secondly. This Article is harmonious with our doctrinal series. The repentance which has been described is in harmony with the first of those Articles. The man whose heart is penitent, if he has been an atheist before, is now prepared to acknowledge the existence, infinite greatness and holiness of God. In confessing his sin, he says to God, "It was the alienation of my heart from thee, which led me to deny thy existence and thy providence. Now I am convinced of the truth of both; and am convinced that it is against thee, thee only, that I have sinned; and that I have done all this evil in thy sight."

Penitential feelings are in accordance with the doctrine of the second Article, in which the eternal God is presented to our view, as giving existence to a wise and benevolent system of creation and providence, for the display of his own glory. That man who has, through grace, come to himself, accounts it a privilege to be an intelligent creature, and not a brute, because he finds himself capable of beholding the glory of God manifested in his works of creation and providence. He is now ashamed and confounded, that he has been so brutish, as to be blind to this glorious display of divine wisdom, power, and benevolence.

This Article most sweetly harmonizes with the third of that series, namely, that which relates to the law of God, given to regulate the

conduct of all the subjects of his moral government. The law, like its Author, is perfect. Sin is the transgression of the law, and therefore a most vile and destructive thing. And what is repentance but a sincere and hearty condemnation of sin? Repentance wholly takes the side of the law against stoful self; confessing, "The law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin." The penalty is annexed to the law to give it strength, and is essential to its very existence; repentance therefore leads us to justify the whole law, penalty as well as precept, and to accept the punishment of our iniquity. Lev. xxvi. 41. language of the penitent is, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." Mic. vii. 9.

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We could not have seen repentance for sin to be in harmony with the third Article, without perceiving at the same time its agreement with the fourth, namely, the apostacy of man. Every child of Adam, who is brought to repentance, most heartily condemns the conduct of his first father and federal head, in his failure of fulfilling the condition of the covenant of works: and in his intercourse with the Holy One it will be natural for him sometimes to express the sense he has of the dreadfulness of that sin which brought death into the world and all its woes. But I see nothing in the scriptures which would lead us to conclude that the penitent is required to confess this sin as his own, with a conviction of personal criminality, any more than the sin of his immediate progenitors, or indeed the sin of any other man. It is for his personal transgressions alone that he can feel guilty.* These extend back to the commencement of his existence as a moral agent, whether his memory can reach back so far or not. For all his personal sins he feels guilty; and none the less so, because that by the disobedience of his first father he was made a sinner. And this is a sentiment which he does, by no means, discard from his creed. Rom. v. 12, 19. In connection with the fall of man, we were led to contemplate man in his fallen state as a creature entirely depraved. With this view of entire depravity, the feelings of every broken-hearted sinner fully accord: "I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." Rom. vii. 18. There is no reason to believe that he has repented at all, who has not seen himself to be an entirely depraved creature.

Penitential feelings remarkably coalesce with the doctrine of atonement, which is the subject of the fifth Article. To condemn sin and put an indelible stigma upon it, was a capital object of the death of the Son of God. The apostle informs us, that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, to condemn sin in the flesh. Rom. viii. 2. This was to do just what repentance leads all those who are made the subjects of it, most freely to do; they all condemn sin; and the more they repent, the more do they condemn it. Let them now turn their eyes to the cross of Christ, and see how sin is condemned there. Must they not discern ineffable glory in that atonement which so emphatically condemns sin?

I shall pass over all the other doctrinal Articles, except the last,

God abhors all sin, but feels guilty of none: the penitent abhors all sin, and feels guilty of his own.