Lectures Upon John 4, Part 5 · Lecture 18
Lecture the eighteenth, Iune 27. 1609.
THe fourth and last error of mind whereby Sathan draweth men to vncleannesse, and hardneth them in it, is the hope of repentance, and so of pardon.
For there are very many whom hee cannot so farre blind, but they know it is a sinne, and a hainous sinne, and a sinne that they are sure they shall bee damned for, if they should not repent of it. But such he encourageth to this sinne, by perswading them. 1. Thou knowest by the Scripture, that whensoeuer thou shalt repent thee of it: (though it be not before thy death) God will surely pardon it, Ezek. 18. 21. 2. Thou hast no cause to doubt, but thou shalt be able to repent, and dye in Gods fauour. For 1. Thou seest many that hauehave liued in this sinne, that yet hauehave now left it, 2. Many that although they neuer left it before, yet on their death beds hauehave repented, and dyed as well as any. And thirdly, thine owne experience will tell thee what thou art able to doe. For hast thou not oft felt that thou hast repented and beene sorry for this sinne after thou hast committed it? 3. And if thou mayst but dye well, dye in Gods fauour, what needest thou care for more? No matter how thou liuest, so thou mayst dye well.
Thus seemed he to hauehave perswaded Balaam, Let mee die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his saith he, Num. 23. 10. And with this deceit (doubtlesse) he perswadeth many, and preuailes more with men, then by any other of his tentations and subtilties whatsoeuer. For what is the cause why you shall finde men, much more carefull to conceale this sinne from men, then from God; Yea, they will not sticke to commit periury, and murder (which are farre more hainous offences against God) that they may hide their whoredomes from men. Surely they thinke they may be bold with God, it is no matter how they prouoke him, they can deale well enough with him; he is more mercifull, and ready to forgiue then man is; and if they doe but repent, and say they are sorrie for their sin, he will forgiue them straight.
Now the preseruatiue, and remedy against this so dangerous a deceit of Sathan, consisteth of three points, 1. The true knowledge of God, and of his disposition, toward such sinners. 2. The true knowledge of ourselues, and of that state we cast our selues into, when once we fall into such sinnes. 3. The true knowledge of the danger we hauehave brought the party vntounto, with whom we hauehave committed this sin.
First; It cannot be denyed, but the Lord (to them whom he loueth in Christ) is infinitely more mercifull, then any man can be, to them whom he loueth most dearely. That made Dauid say: 2. Sam. 24. 14. Let me now fall into the hand of the Lord (for his mercies are great) and let mee not fall into the hand of man. And when the Lord had spoken of his great mercy: Hee will hauehave mercy vponupon him, our God is very ready to forgiue. He amplifieth it, verse 8. by comparing his mercy with the mercies of man. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your waies my waies, but verse 9. As the heauens are higher then the earth: So are my waies higher then your wayes, and my thoughts then your thoughts.
But as he is more mercifull then any man: so hee hates sinne more then any man can doe. Hab. 1. 13. He cannot see, hee cannot beheld it, Psal. 11. 5. The wicked, and him that loueth iniquity doth his soule hate, verse 6. Upon the wicked he shall raine snares, fire and brimstone, and stormy tempest, this is the portion of their cup.
Yea Christ (through whom onelyonly we hope to finde mercy with God) hateth sinne with an infinite hatred, Exod. 23. 21. Prouoke him not, for hee will not spare your misdeeds, because my name is in him. And it is a farre more fearefull thing for a wicked man (though not for such a one as Dauid was) to fall into his hands, to hauehave his displeasure, then the displeasure of all the men in the world, Heb. 10. When the Apostle had said, verse 30. Uengeance is mine, I will recompence, saith the Lord. And againe, The Lord shall iudge his people, Whereas some desperate sinner might hauehave said (as now many doe) if that be all, I care not; let me shunne the shame and punishment of the world, and (as for the Lord) I shall doe well enough with him: he addeth verse 31. It is a fearefull thing to fall into the hands of the liuing God, Psal. 75. 7. Thou euen thou art to be feared; and who shall stand in thy sight when thou art angry? This the Elect hauehave felt. This made Dauid cry out, Psal. 51. 4. Against thee, thee onelyonly hauehave I shunned, and done this euill in thy sight. His worldly punishment, and shame neuer troubled him in comparison of this. And this shall the wickedest man in the world feele one day when God shall awaken his conscience. He shall wish rather hee had to deale with all the men in the world then with the Lord: he will make no reckoning of the displeasure, and contempt of the whole world in respect of the Lords wrath. See an experiment of this in Iudas: he cared not for displeasing the chiefe Priests and Elders, nor for shaming himselfe so publikely; but the wrath of God which he had the sense of, was intolerable to him, Mat. 27. 4, 5. And if the wrath of God be so intollerable in this life to the wicked, what shall it be in the day of wrath (as the day of iudgement is called, Rom. 2. 5.) Surely, the stoutest and most profane sinners that in this life hauehave made so small account of Gods displeasure, and thought they could doe well enough with him, and hauehave gloried so much in Christ, Apoc. 6. 15. 17. Euen Kings and Captaines, and eueryevery bond man, and eueryevery freeman, shall cry to the mountaines and rocks, fall on vsus, and hide vsus from the presence of him that sits on the throne, & from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who can stand?
2. As ready as the Lord is to forgiue sinne, and easie to be intreated, yet can he not pardon any but vponupon their vnfained repentance. It is as possible for a woman to be deliuered of a child in her sleepe: as for a man to be deliuered from the guilt and punishment of this sin, before he hauehave vnfainedly repented. Christ is called a Prince, and a Sauiour to giuegive repentance vntounto Israel, and remission of sins, Acts 5. 31. He can giuegive remission of sins to none, but such as he hath giuen repentance vntounto.
3. Though the Lord be so mercifull, that vponupon repentance he giueth pardon to eueryevery sinner, yet such a mans sin may be, that the Lord will most seuerely and sharpely correct, and scourge him for it; euen after he hath repented, and obtained mercy and pardon. For though when God pardoneth sin, he remit not onelyonly the guilt of it, but the punishment also: yet he chastiseth oft times very sharpely such as he hath pardoned. See an excellent experiment of this in Dauid, when Nathan had dealt particularly with him, he repented and God pardoned his sin, 2. Sam. 12. 13. But did he heare no more of his sinne after he had repented? yes: the outward miseries threatned by the Prophet, 2. Sam. 12. 10, 11. fell all vponupon him for all that. And he endured such inward anguish of conscience, as put him to such paine, as if all his bones had beene broken with it, Ps. 51. 8. And in comparison whereof all his outward miseries seemed but as flea-bitings to him.
And if thou belong vntounto him, be sure he will deale with thee also after this manner. Let no man therefore say: howsoeuer I hauehave liued, if I repent, I shall neuer be damned, and so long I care not. For though thou may be sure thou shalt neuer be damned, if thou can vnfainedly repent, yet mayst thou for al thy repentance fall into many great miseries in this life, such as may make thy hart to ake: and such as (if thou couldest beleeue and thinke vponupon) thou wouldest be loath to buy thy sweetest sins at so deare a rate. The Magistrate (thou seest) hath many punishments for sin besides death: he hath the stockes and the gaole, and the whip, and the pillorie, &c. and so hath the Lord.
Now come I to the second preseruatiue against this tentation: which is the true knowledge of our selues, and of that estate we come into, when once we fall into such sins; for eueryevery vncleane person hath iust cause to feare, that when once he hath committed this sin, he shall neuer be able to repent of it.
This I prooue by foure reasons.
1. No man is able to repent of himselfe, but it is a great and supernaturall grace of God, whereby any man is made able to repent, 2. Tim. 2. 25, 26. In meekenesse instruct those that oppose themselues, if God peraduenture will giuegive them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. And that they may recouer themselues out of the snare of the diuell, who are taken captiue by him at his will. Obserue in those words. 1. This comes of Gods gift onelyonly. 2. That eueryevery sinner is in Satans snare, out of which it must needs be hard to get out. When once a man hath fallen into any sin against his conscience, it is naturall for him to go on in it further and further, till his heart be hardened in it, Eph. 4. 18, 19. The Gentiles walke in the vanity of their mind, Hauing their vnderstanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindnesse of their heart, who being past feeling, hauehave giuen themselues ouer vntounto lasciuiousnesse; to worke all vncleannesse with greedinesse. It is naturall for sinne to harden the heart, and to depriue a man of that sense and trouble he found when he first committed it; Heb. 3. 13. Take heed least any of you be hardened through the deceitfulnesse of sinne. Yea when a man hath once accustomed himselfe to any sinne, he cannot leaue it, or repent of it, though he would, no more then the Leopard can change his spots, Ier. 13. 23.
2. God hath threatned to punish such as sinne against the light of their hearts presumptuously, by withdrawing his grace from them, and hardning their hearts, Deut. 29. 19, 20. He will not spare that man that blesseth himselfe in his heart. Because I hauehave purged thee (saith the Lord, Ezek. 24. 13.) and thou wast not purged: thou shalt not be purged from thy filthinesse any more, till I hauehave caused my fury to rest vponupon thee. When Pharaoh had hardened his heart first, by continuing in sinne, and resisting the worke of Gods grace in him, Exod. 8. 15. then did God harden his heart in a supernaturall manner, Exod. 9. 12.
3. Aboue all sinnes, God hath specially threatned to punish this sinne with hardnesse of heart, and impenitency, Prou. 2. 19. None that goe vntounto her (the strange woman) returne againe, neither take they hold on the paths of life. And Prou. 23. 27. An Whore is a deepe ditch, and a strange wom… is a narrow pit. Of these sinners chiefly it is said, that God reserueth them to the day of iudgement to be punished, 2. Pet. 2. 9, 10.
4. Experience proueth this also. For, 1. Obserue it, and you shall find that they that are once giuen vp to this sinne, are more impudent then other sinners; more gracelesse, prophane, and blasphemous; deriders and contemners of all piety. Therefore impudent sinners are said to hauehave a Whores forehead, Ier. 3. 3. And that is thus described, Pro. 7. 13. She caught him and kissed him. Therefore are they compared to dogs, Deut. 23. 18. 2. Sam. 3. 8. Therefore they are said to be destitute of vnderstanding: and to hauehave lost euen the light of nature, Pro. 6. 32. and 7. 7. and Prou. 9. 13. the whore her selfe is said to be simple and to know nothing. And the lewd man that is allured and ouercome by her, (vers. 16.) is said to be simple and void of vnderstanding. …. We hauehave knowne many that hauehave fallen into this sinne, and liued in it: but how many hauehave we knowne that hauehave truly repented? It is a strange speech of Salomon, Eccl. 7. 28. One man among a thousand hauehave I found, but a woman among all those hauehave I not found.
I cannot deny, but we may hauehave knowne many that hauehave come thus farre as to confesse this sinne, and to shew sorrow for it, and to leaue it also: but alas, there is more required to true repentance then this comes to.
1. Not eueryevery sinner that can confesse his sinne, may be said to repent: for, then Pharaoh repented, Exod. 9. 27. And Iudas also, Mat. 27. 3, 4. But he that confesseth it, 1. Particularly, as Achan vponupon Ioshuahs fatherly counsell did, Iosh. 7. 20. 2. Freely, without extenuating of it, or excusing it, as Paul did his, 1. Tim. 1. 13. 15. Dan. 9. 4. 19. Of the sixteene verses that containe his prayer, foureteene of them are spent in confessing and aggrauating of their sinnes. 3. With griefe and shame, as Gods people did, 1. Sam. 7. 6. when in their fast they shed teares, so abundantly, as if they had drawne buckets full of the water, and powred them out before the Lord.
2. Not eueryevery sinner that sorroweth for sinne, may be said to repent; for so much is also said of Iudas, Mat. 27. 4. And of Ahab too, 1. King. 21. 19. But he that sorroweth, 1. Deeply and seriously, as a man would mourne for the losse of his onelyonly sonne, or of his first-borne, Zach. 12. 10. And proportionably to the quality of his sinne, as Manasses did, 2. Chron. 33. 12. 2. Constantly, suffering sorrow to abide vponupon his heart; and not seeking to put it off by worldly comforts, before it hauehave had a good worke in him. It is not enough to hold downe our head for a day like a bulrush, Esa. 58. 5. This is but a dawbing vp of the breaches God hath made in our hearts with vntempered morter (as the Prophet speaketh, Ezek. 13. 11.) that had not time enough allowed in the making and tempering of it; and therefore could not last. 8. Not for any worldly shame or hurt that his sinne already hath, or is like to bring vponupon him, nor for the feare of Gods wrath onelyonly: but chiefly for that he hath sinned against, and offended God, Against thee, thee onelyonly hauehave I sinned saith Dauid, Psal. 51. 3. Therefore true repentance is called repentance toward God, Act. 20. 21.
3. Not eueryevery sinner that hath left this sinne, may be said to hauehave truly repented: for a man may grow weary of sinne in carnall respects, she hath wearied her selfe with lies, saith the Lord, Ezek. 24. 12. and sinne may hauehave left him.
But he that, 1. Leaueth sinne vponupon a detestation to sinne: and a godly sorrow that he hath offended God by it, 2. Cor. 7. 10. 11. 2. Leaueth all knowne sinnes as well as some, whosoeuer shall keepe the whole Law, and yet offend (wittingly and willingly) in one point, hee is guilty of all, Iam. 2. 10. 3. Shunneth carefully all shewes and appearances of euill, 1. Thess. 5. 22. all occasions and prouocations to the sinne he hath left, true repentance hath in it carefulnesse to shun all prouocations and feare to fall into the same againe, as the Apostle speaketh, 2. Cor. 7. 11. And the true penitent will make a couenant with his eyes, as Iob did, Iob 31. 1. 4. That hates it in others, and is carefull to draw others from the sinne that himselfe hath left, Then will I teach transgressors thy wayes, and sinners shalbe auerted vntounto thee, saith Dauid, Psal. 51. 13. Specially those of his owne family, and such as he may most preuaile withall, Iob 11. 14. Let not wickednesse dwell in thy tabernacles.
The third preseruatiue against this tentation is, the considering of the danger we hauehave brought that party vntounto, with whom we hauehave committed this sinne. For, though the Fornicator were sure God would giuegive him grace to repent; yet must it needs be a great cause of feare, and trouble to his conscience, vnlesse he be also sure that the party whom he hath drawne to this sinne, hath truly repented as well as himselfe. In this respect this sinne is worse then either theft or murder; in those the wrong that is done vntounto another, may be done without any hurt or danger to his soule; but so it is not in this sinne: In which respect we know this badge of Gods indignation is set vponupon Ieroboam oft after his death: Ieroboam that made Israel to sinne.
Now the vse and end of all this that I hauehave spoken, is not to driue any to despaire, For, 1. Though it be so hard a thing truly to repent, and impossible to man, yet is God able to giuegive repentance to him that hath committed and liued long in this sinne, All things are possible with God, Mat. 19. …6, 27. 2. Though few hauehave obtained this grace to repent after they hauehave committed this sinne, yet some hauehave. Yea, some examples God hath giuen vsus in his Word for it; as Luk. 7. 37. 50 least any humbled sinner should despaire. 3. Though God had neuer yet giuen to any this grace, yet is he able to do it now to thee.
But I hauehave thus farre vrged this point.
1. To perswade such as doe offend this way to seeke betimes with all earnestnesse and importunitie for this grace of vnfained repentance, and not to grow secure vponupon hope, that they may hauehave it hereafter when they will.
2. To perswade such as (hauing heretofore liued in this sinne) do now think they hauehave truly repented; to examine their repentance carefully.
3. To teach and perswade all men, that (whereas Satan vseth to draw men to this, and all other sinnes by this hope, that they may be able to repent:) this aboue all things should terrifie and restraine men from sinne, that they are vncertaine whether they shall be euer able to repent: yea, that they hauehave so great causes to feare, that they shall neuer be able to repent: and that they know the least sinne they commit, will damne them, if they do not repent.