powers, Jer. xxii. 23. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his fpots? then may ye alfo do good that are accustomed to do evil." The ftony heart is beyond man's power to remove.

2. It is God's free gift, and wrought by the power of his Spirit in the heart, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. "A new heart alfo will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the ftony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye fhall keep my judgments, and do them." Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. "I have furely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus, Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastifed, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I fhall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented: and after that I was instructed, I fmote upon my thigh; I was afhamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." Sometimes notorious finners become penitents, as Manaffeh, Paul, &c. Where he is the matter, the knottiest timber is as easy for the Spirit to work as any other, Zech. xii. 10. forecited. The means the Spirit makes ufe of is the word; hence we read of preaching repentance. And, (1.) The law ferves to break the hard heart, Jer. xxiii. 29. "Is not my word like a fire? faith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" It is like the Baptift preparing the way for the Meffiah's coming. Hence it is called "the Spirit of bondage," Rom. viii. 15. (2.) The gospel serves to melt the hard heart, like a fire, Jer. xxiii. 29. forecited; and fo to bow and bend it from fin unto God. The foul is driven by the law, but drawn by the gofpel. The Lord comes in the still small voice.

IV. I proceed to fhew, the fprings of this repentance. There are two opened in the heart by the Holy Spirit.

1. A true sense of fin. And in this there are two things. (1.) A fight of it, Pfal. li. 3. "My fin is ever before me." The man's eyes are opened, and he fees his finfulness of nature, heart, lip, and life; the evil of his fin, in the misery and danger of it to himself, and the difhonour it does to God.

(1.) A painful feeling of it, Acts ii. 37. The fin which fat light on them before; becomes a burden which they are

not able to bear; for now they are roused out of their lethargy, and feel their fores: it is a burden on their spirits, backs, and heads. They are filled with terror, anguish, and remorse, at the fight, as was the Philippian jailor, Acts xvi. 30. This is neceffary for repentance, because otherwise the finner will never part with his fin, nor prize Chrift and his grace, Rev. iii. 17. He will reign as king without Chrift, till he feel his lost estate, as did the prodigal, Luke xv.

2. An apprehenfion of the mercy of God in Chrift, Joel ii. 12, 13. "Turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. And rent your heart and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, flow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." The eye of faith is opened to fee and believe, that there is forgiveness and mercy with him to a poor finner, that though the finner has destroyed himself, yet in God is his help; there is hope in Ifrael concerning this thing. This can only be apprehended aright through Jefus Chrift, Zech. xii. 10. forecited. Not mercy for mercy's fake, but Christ's fake: "God was in Chrift reconciling the world unto himself, &c. This is neceffary. For without it, one will either, (1.) Go on in fecret despair, cafting off the thoughts of his case, and making the best of it he can, Jer. ii. 25. "Thou faidst There is no hope. No: for I have loved ftrangers, and after them will I go." Or, (2.) Lie down in tormenting despair, like Judas. Both which will fix fin in the heart, and bar out rerepentance. And fince God is a consuming fire to the workers of iniquity, and without satisfaction there can be no remiffion, there is no apprehending of mercy but through

Christ.

V. I proceed to fhew, the parts of repentance. These are two, humiliation and converfion, Joel ii. 12, 13. above quoted.

1. Humiliation. The finner goes from God by the highway of pride and felf-conceit; but always comes back the low way of humiliation. Grace pulls him down from the feat of the scorner, and lays him at the Lord's feet, 1 Pet. v. 6. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." It makes him like Benhadad's fervants, who came to the king of Ifrael girded with

fackcloth, and ropes on their heads, in the most humiliating posture. In it there is,

(1.) Sorrow for fin, a kindly forrow for the offence and dishonour done to a holy gracious God, Zech. xii. 10. formerly cited, defacing his image, tranfgreffing his law, grieveing his Spirit, and furnishing spear and nails to pierce a Saviour.

(2.) Shame, a holy fhame for fin, Rom. vi. 21. "What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?" They see now their spiritual nakedness, pollution, disappointed expectations from fin, and reproach discovered, which fill the foul with blufhing.

your

(3.) Self-loathing, Ezek. xxxvi. 31. "Then fhall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and fhall loath yourselves in your own fight, for iniquities, and for your abominations." They fee a fulness of fin in them, and the complicated aggravations of their fin, which make them to fmite on their breast, as the publican did, Luke xviii. 13. as deferving to be pierced through the heart it bred in; to fmite on the thigh, as Ephraim did, Jer. xxxi. 19. as if he defired to break the legs that carried him out of God's way.

(4.) Penitent confeffion, Jer. iii. 13. accufing and condemning themselves.

2. Converfion, or returning. Of which there are two parts.

1st, Turning away from fin, 2 Tim. ii. 19. To repent of fin, and continue in the habitual practice of it, is a contradiction. They turn from it,

(1.) In heart, by a hearty and fincere hatred of it. Pfal. cxix. 104. "I hate every falfe way." They hate it as an evil, the worst of evils, worse than fufferings. They hate it fincerely as fin, univerfally and irreconcileably. They look on it as God does, as that abominable thing which he hates,

(3.) In their life and conversation; they get clean hands. [1.] They turn from the grofs pollutions of the outward man, in the habitual practice of these, Pfal. xxiv. 3, 4. "Who fhall afcend into the hill of the Lord? and who fhall ftand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his foul unto vanity, nor fworn deceitfully." A profane life is the mark of an impenitent state, Gal. v. 21." They which do fuch things fhall

not inherit the kingdom of God." The true godly may make grofs flips; but if they be habitually grofs in their lives, there is no difference betwixt Chrift's fheep and the devil's goats. [2.] They are tender with refpect to fins of common infirmity, making confcience of words and actions, as Paul did, Acts xxiv. 16. "Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God and toward. men.' What others count light, they will count great: even these are burdens to them, which they groan under, and as iron fetters they would fain be freed of, Rom. vii. 24. "O wretched man that I am! who fhall deliver me from the body of this death ?"

2dly, Turning to God. By faith man returns to God as a portion, by repentance as a Lord and Master, like a runaway fervant. fervant. And he returns,

(1.) To God himself. Sinners departing from God, diflike not only their fervice, but their Master, Luke xix. 14. But returning they are difpofed to love him, and like him as a Master.

(2.) To his duty to God, Acts ix. 6. to the practice of every known duty, and fpirituality in duty. obedience, which a penitent turns to, [1.] In Pfal. cxix. 106. no more doubting whether to or not, or delaying or putting it off any more. cere endeavours, Acts xxiv. 6. *

This is new full purpose, fall in with it [2.] In fin

Inf. 1. An impenitent heart is a fad fign of a loft state, Rom. ii. 5. While thou livest so, thou art far from God; and if thou die fo, thou art loft for ever.

2. That repentance which is not evangelical and true, is little worth. You must have more than Judas's repentance, if ever you fee heaven.

3. To pretend to repentance, and never forfake fin, is vain.

4. To leave fin, and not take up the contrary duties, is not repentance.

of

5. Go to the Lord by faith for the grace of repentance.

* A large and particular acccount of the nature, author, neceffity, &G. repentance, may be feen in feveral difcourfes in a volume of the author's fermons, first published in 1756, which were preached only two or three years before he delivered this difcourfe; which may partly account for the brevity of it.

OF CHRIST's ORDINANCES IN GENERAL.

Is. xii. 3.-Therefore with joy fhall ye draw water out of the wells of falvation.

THIS

HIS fong looks to the days of the gospel, wherein Chrift having come and purchased falvation, the tidings of it are carried through the world in the gofpel, and it is communicated to Jews and Gentiles through the means of grace. Here we have,

1. A benefit to be had in the church, water, i. e. gospel grace, the benefits of Chrift's redemption, as fuitable to needy, fainting fouls, as water to the thirsty. See John iv.

14. and vii. 37.

2. The way of its communication to poor finners. It is to be drawn out of the wells of falvation. These are gofpel-ordinances, the wells in this valley of Baca for the life of fouls, and refreshment of spiritual travellers. All the elect capable to draw, do draw out of them. This is the fense, whether the allufion be to the wells in the wilderness for the Ifraelites, or to the Jews fetching water out of the spring of Siloam at the feast of tabernacles in the night, with mirth and mufic, to the temple, and pouring it on the altar.

The text furnishes this doctrine.

DOCT. "The Lord's ordinances are the wells of falvation to the elect." Or, "The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are, his ordinances, especially the word, facraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for falvation."

Here I fhall fhew,

I. What is understood by a means of falvation.

II. What are thefe means of falvation.

III. What makes any ordinance a mean of grace.

IV. To whom are the Lord's ordinances made effectual. V. Whence their efficacy proceeds.

VI. Deduce an inference or two.