12. PRESCRIBING SOME MEANS FOR REPENTANCE (cont’d):
PRESCRIBING SOME MEANS FOR REPENTANCE (cont’d):
(2) Compare Penitent and Impenitent Conditions The second help to repentance is a prudent comparison.
Compare penitent and impenitent conditions and see the difference. Spread them before your eyes, and by the light of the word see the impenitent condition as the most deplorable and the penitent as the most comfortable. How sad it was for the prodigal before he returned to his father! He had spent everything; he had sinned himself into beggary, and had nothing left but a few husks. He was a companion with the swine; but when he came home to his father, nothing was thought too good for him. The robe was brought to cover him, the ring to adorn him, and the fatted calf to feed him. If the sinner continues in his impenitency, then farewell Christ and mercy. But if he repents, then quickly he has a heaven within him. Then Christ is his, then all is peace. He may sing a requiem to his soul and say, “Soul, take your ease, you have many goods laid up” (Luke 12:19). Upon turning to God we have more restored to us in Christ than we ever lost in Adam. God says to the repenting soul, I will clothe you with the robe of righteousness; I will enrich you with the jewels and graces of my Spirit. I will bestow my love upon you; I will give you a kingdom: “Son, all I have is yours.” O my friends, just compare your estate before repentance and after repentance. Before repenting, there is nothing to be seen but clouds and storms, clouds in God’s face and storms in your conscience. But after repenting, how the weather has changed! What sunshine above! What serene calmness within! A Christian’s soul is like Mount Olympus, all light and clear, and there are no winds blowing.
(3) A third means is a settled determination to leave sin. Not a faint wish, but a resolved vow. “I have sworn that I will keep your righteous judgments” (Psalms 119:106). All the delights and artifices of sin will not make me renounce my vow. There must be no hesitation, no consulting with flesh and blood, “Should I leave my sin or not?” But as with Ephraim, “What have I to do with idols anymore?” (Hosea 14:8). I will not be engulfed by my sins anymore; I will no longer be fooled by Satan. This day I will put a bill of divorce into the hands of my lusts. Till we come to this peremptory resolution, sin will gain ground on us and we will never be able to shake off this viper. It is no wonder that someone who is not resolved to be an enemy of sin, is conquered by sin. But this resolution must be built upon the strength of Christ more than our own. It must be a humble resolution. David, when he went against Goliath, put off his presumptuous confidence as well as his armor: “I come to you in the name of the Lord” (1 Samuel 17:45). So we must go out against our Goliath lusts, in the strength of Christ. It is usual for a person to make a bond with another. So, being conscious of our own inability to leave sin, let us bind ourselves to Christ, and engage his strength to mortify our corruption.
(4) The fourth means is earnest supplication. The heathens laid one of their hands on the plow, and the other they lifted up to Ceres, the goddess of corn. So when we have used the means provided, let us look up to God for a blessing. Pray to him for a repenting heart: “You, Lord, who bid me to repent, give me grace to repent.” Pray that our hearts may be a holy distillery, dripping tears. Beg of Christ to give us such a look of love as he gave to Peter, which made him go out and weep bitterly. Implore the help of God’s Spirit. It is the Spirit’s striking on the rock of our hearts82 that makes the waters gush out: “He causes his wind to blow and the waters flow” (Psalms 147:18). When the wind of God’s Spirit blows, then the water of tears will flow.
There is good reason we should go to God for repentance:
(1) Because it is his gift: “Then God also granted repentance to life to the Gentiles” (Acts 11:18). The Arminians hold that it is in our power to repent. We can harden our hearts, but we cannot soften them. This crown of freewill has fallen from our head. No, there is not only impotency in us, but obstinacy (Acts 7:51). Therefore beg God for a repentant spirit. He can make the stony heart bleed. His is a word of creative power.
(2) We must have recourse to God for blessing because he has promised to bestow it: “I will give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26). I will soften your adamant hearts in my Son’s blood: show God his hand and seal. And there is another gracious promise: “They will return to me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7). Turn this promise into a prayer: Lord, give me grace to return to you with my whole heart.
(5) The fifth means is to pursue clearer discoveries of God
“Now my eye sees you. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42.56). Job, having surveyed God’s glory and purity, as a humble penitent abhorred himself, or in Hebrew, he reprobated himself. By looking into the transparent glass of God’s holiness, we see our own blemishes, and so we learn to regret them.
(6) Lastly, we should labor for faith. But what is that to repentance? Yes, faith breeds union with Christ, and there can be no separation from sin till there is union with Christ. The eye of faith looks on mercy and that thaws the heart. Faith carries us to Christ’s blood, and that blood mollifies it. Faith persuades us of the love of God, and that love sets us to weeping.
Thus I have laid down the means or helps to repentance. What remains now is only that we begin the work. And let us be in earnest, not as fencers but as warriors.
I will conclude with the words of the psalmist: “One who goes out and weeps, bearing precious seed, will doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him” (Psalms 126:6). This material is provided here solely for the edification of believers and the conviction of sinners. As far we can discern, this is not copyrighted material. If you know for a fact that it is, we would appreciate being informed so that we may take the proper steps to correct it. In the mean time enjoy the blessing of reading after this man of over 400 years ago while he pours out his heart in this matter that is so neglected in our day. 2/22/97 Article credited to have appeared on http://truthinheart.com Article sourced by and made available at http://220generation.com