unreasonable, and contrary to the whole tenour and defign of the Gofpel; for there is Pardon held out to the greatest Sinner by the Blood of Chrift, and to the greateft Sin, or the greatest number of Sins if we Repent of them, and lear them, and become good Men before we dye: This is as certain as the Gospel is true, and therefore no Man has any juft cause to defpair for the greateft Sin or Sins, who is fo heartily troubled for them that he would not for the World commit them again, and who refolves never to do fo by the Grace of God, but to practice the contrary Vertues, and who makes good this Refolution by a Vertuous, and Pious, and Religious Life,thisMan will as certainly be happy as if he had been alwayes innocent and never had offended God: I cannot fay he will be in a state as comfortable and free from trouble, though if he has thus Repented and become a good man, he has good reafon to be fo, but he will be as fafe, and if he has ftill fome trouble of mind remaining upon the remembrance of his Sins though never fo long paft, and he cannot fee the Pardon of them with the fame certainty and evidence that he knows he committed them, yet this fhall not hinder his Pardon nor affect his Salvation if he has truly and fully Repented of them. For, 3. And Laftly, This Trouble of Mind which proceeds from judging too hardly or feverely of himself is rather an Infirmity than a Sin, and God will not condemn a Man for it though he may condemn himself; for God will not condemn a Man unjustly though he should unjustly condemn himself, much lefs because he does fo. Defpair is indeed a fad ftate, but I cannot fay it is alwayes a damnable Sin, or want of Faith as fome think, for it may arise not from a disbelief of the Gofpel, or of the Divine Goodness, or the freenefs and fullrefs of Gods Grace in and through Chrift, but meerly from a false, and mistaken, and too hard and humble an opinion of a Mans felf, and this is a fault not of a Mans Will but of his Judgment, and a weakness and imperfection in his Understanding for which he shall never be condemned by a Righteous God, but he will reverfe this falfe Judgment which he made of himself when when he lived or when he dyed, and fet it right in the Court of Heaven, and do Juftice to him at the great Tribunal, though he did not do it to himself here. That God will judge Men according to their Works is plain in Scripture, but no where that I know, that he will do fo according to their Thoughts, their vain Hopes, and prefumptuous or vain Fears, and Troubles, and Doubts, and even Despairs of themselves. So that tho' this Trouble of Mind or this Wounded Spirit be a comfortless and unhappy ftate, yet it truly depends upon the caufe to make judgment of it, or to conclude any thing from it, and true and timely Repentance is the beft and certaineйt Remedy for it. CHAP. IV. The ill Confequences drawn from the Priviledge of Repentance Obviated and Prevented. HE most wicked and great Telf of Sinners who have any thoughts of their Souls and of another World, though they are not prevailed upon by this to become better yet make this referve and refuge to themselves, that they will Repent hereafter at fome time or other, and fo escape the Wrath to come. They know and are very fenfible, if they have not shaken off all Religion, and all thinking and confidering of these things, that except they repent they hall all perish; but they hope and intend to prevent this by the benefit of Repentance, and fo make ufe of that not to bring them off from their Sins, but to encourage them in them, with hopes to avoid all the miferable confequences of them and yet live in them, them, and fo by this priviledge of an after Repentance they fet afide the prefent neceffity of a good Life,and wholly deftroy or fuperfede all Religion. I fhall therefore endeavour to prevent that most common and moft fatal abuse of it, for I am confident there are more Souls perifh by that, than by any other miftake whatfoever, and a thousand times more than by down-right Infidelity and Disbelief of all Religion, which is a very rare thing and 'tis hard to find out any certain inftances that have ever been of it in the World 'tis fo much againft the Natural Senfe and Reafon, and Apprehenfion of Mankind, but the other is the commoneft thing in the World even for Chriftians perhaps above any others, to make falfe Reafonings to themfelves from this priviledge of Repentance which we have in the highest degree from the Gofpel, to think they may fecure and fave their Souls, and yet indulge and allow themselves in the prefent enjoyment of their Sins, because they may fet all right by Repenting of them hereafter. I fhall therefore againit this errour and abufe of Repentance and to obyiate U 4 |