SERMON III.

ACTS II. 38.

Repent, and be Baptized every one of you in the Name of Jefus Chrift, for the Remiffion of Sins, and ye fhall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghoft,

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Shew'd you in my Laft, that God is our Creator and Father, but not in the Order, nor with the Refpects which our Adverfaries have set forth; That, in this our Fallen State, He is not properly our Father by the Act of Creating or Forming, but by that of Redeeming us; that He is allo by Virtue of these Relations our Lord and King: And, confe quently, has far other Rights in us than barely to claim fome Abftracted, Moral, Duties, from us; that we have Committed, and may again Commit, Treafon directly against Him, and fo may make Forfeiture of Eftates, Honours, Liberty, and Lives; and fo must be Refponfible to Him, not only in Regard of those Moral Duties to Men, our Brethren, but also of that

Treafon

Treafon against His Divine Majefty; And, therefore again, cannot Hope to be Reftor'd from those Forfeitures and Penalties, by Repentance only in Refpect of fuch Mural Duties, nor indeed by Simple Repentance in any Refpect; but must be Reftored and fet Right with Regard of that Treason and those Penalties and Forfeitures, by a Saviour; fo that Repentance, to gain the Divine Pardon and Forgiveness to Sinners, muft be with Faith in that Restoration; otherwise Sinners cannot Attain to the Divine Pardon and Forgiveness at all.

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To these I added other Proofs relating to Moral Duties, viz. Supposing these to be the Chief Points, it would not thence follow, that Undoing as far as in Men lies by Repentance what they have done Vrong, must make them the proper Objects of God's Pardon and Forgivenefs; there being many Crimes of this Species which no Repentance can Undo at all, because no Amends can be made for them to the Injured Party; in Juftice to whom, therefore, Punishment must be Inflicted on the Injurious by God Himfelf; who, as the Common Father of Both, muft fee Juftice Impartially Difpenfed betwixt them: Add to this, that there are fome Crimes fo Heinous, that no Adequate Punishment can be found for them in This World, and therefore muft they be referved for Punishment in Another; Nay, that there is in Strictness, as these Men State the Cafe, no Crime injurious to Another, for which the Perpetrator has not made full Compenfation in this World, but the Same must be Punish'd,

nifh'd, as aforefaid, in the Next; I mean, if there be not fome Law or Method of Compenfation found for them, other than that of Undoing them by that Simple Repentance Imagin'd by these Men. So far Short is mere Repentance from being a Ballance for All Crimes by which Injuries and Wrongs are done, that if God, I fay, be but the Common Father of all His Creatures, and no more, it can be Such for None: Because He is as much concerned in Fuftice to His Injured Children, to Punish those that Hurt them, as He can be in Mercy to Favour the Injurious for any Repentances of theirs; So that here must be an Eternal Difunion and Chafm betwixt the Divine Attributes, which no Schemes of Men can ever Fill Up, or Reconcile together. But,

Leaving the Confequences of fuch Suppofitions as this Above, I fhewed you further, that we are by Nature Actually in the fore-mentioned State of Treafon against God Himself, and of Forfeiture on Account of that Treafon, and do, by every Sin committed after Grace given, in fome Measure again incur the fame And, therefore alfo, do want to be Fuftified or fet Right in Court, to be Ranfomed and Redeemed, by that Divine Saviour who undertook Fully to Satisfy, and Powerfully to Intercede, for us; fo that, were it in our Power to Repent at Pleasure, yet Repentance without Faith to Apply that Satisfaction, that Ranfom and Redemption, would be of no Avail at all towards Obtaining the Divine Favour and Forgiveness: But neither is Repentance Itself in

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our Power; I mean, Repentance, as it must be supposed to be with the Changing or Rectifying of our Hearts and Minds: For that, being alfo Depraved and Ruined in the Faculties and Powers of our Minds, as well as in our Bodily Appetites, we can but have a faint Defire and Wish to Change and Rectify our Minds, but cannot truly Change and Rectify them at Pleasure : We want the Operation of the Holy Ghoft befides, to Sandify our Hearts, with Grace Powerfully to Move and Affift us, elfe can we only Defire and Wifh, as above, but never can Perform the least Article of this Change for ourselves. And, confequently, there being no fuch Thing as that Voluntary Self-fufficient Repentance, which our Adverfaries fo much take upon them to Extol, fuch Repentance cannot be the Mean and Inftrument whereby to Obtain the Divine Pardon and Forgiveness to Sinners; but Faith in a Saviour, with the Co-operation of the Holy Ghoft, is abfolutely Neceffary hereto, and without Thefe No Pardon, No Forgiveness.

I come now to draw fome Inferences from the Whole, and to Conclude. And,

First, If Man has no Power in Himself to Change and Rectify His Mind at Pleasure (without which no Repentance is to be fuppos'd) but wants the Operation and Influence of the Holy Ghoft, to Change and Rectify It; then each Man, to be rendered Acceptable to the Deity, is not, as has been prefumed what He is in Himfelf; but is what He is Made by that Divine

Divine Change. Nay the Holy Scriptures both of the Old Testament and the New, are express that we are in Reality fo far from being All in All of Ourselves; that, confidered in Ourfelves, They inform us we are abfolutely Nothing, yea, lefs and worfe than Nothing and Vanity. Ifai. 40. 17.---For that, in us, that is, in our Flesh, or Nature, there dwelleth no good thing. Rom. 7. 18.----That all our very Righte oufness are filthy Rags. Ifai. 64. 6.----And All, both Jews and Gentiles, have Sinned, and do come fhort of the Glory of God, being justified freely, not by their own Repentances and Works, but by His Free Grace in Chrift Jefus, whom God hath fet forth to be, what only can supply all our Defects, even a Propitiation for our Sins, through Faith in His Blood, for the Remiffion, or Paffing over, of Tranfgreffions, by the Forbearance of God. Rom. 3. 23, 24, 25. But,

Neither can we effectually apply this Propiti ation without the Influence, I fay, of the Holy Ghoft at the fame time Changing and Rectifying our Hearts and Minds, that fo God (who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity) may find nothing Foul or Polluted in us, to make Him to Abhor and Reject us, And fo the Apostle tells us,---But ye are Wafbed, but ye are Sanctified, but ye are Fuftified, in the Name of the Lord Jefus, and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Cor. 6. 11.----The Same Spirit, He also says, helpeth our Infirmities; for we know not so much as what to Pray for as we ought; but the Spirit it felf maketh Interceffion for Us with groanings that cannot be uttered, or expreffed, by Our

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