Now, the remedies against this device of the devil are these : Remedy (1). The first remedy against this device of (Satan is, seri- ously to consider, That the Spirit of the Lord hath been as careful to note the saints' rising by repentance out of sin, as he hath to note their falling into sins. David falls fearfully, but by repentance he rises sweetly : ' Blot out my transgressions, wash me throughly from my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin ; for I acknowledge my trans- gressions, and my sin is ever before me. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow; deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation.' It is true, Hezekiah's heart was lifted up under the abundance of mercy that God had cast in upon him; and it is as true that Heze- kiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon him, nor upon Jerusalem, in the days of Hezekiah. It is true, Job curses the day of his birth, and it is as true that he rises by repentance : ' Behold, I am vile,' saith he ; ' what shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice, but I will proceed no further. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore, I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes,' Job xl. 4, 5"; xlii. 5, 6.1 Peter falls dreadfully, but rises by repent- ance sweetly ; a look of love from Christ melts hirn into tears. He knew that repentance was the key to the kingdom of grace. As once his faith was so great that he leapt, as it were, into a sea of waters to come to Christ; so now his repentance was so great that he leapt, as it were, into a sea of tears, for that he had gone from Christ. Some say that, after his sad fall, he was ever and anon weeping, and that his face was even furrowed with continual tears. He had no sooner took in poison but he vomited it up again, ere it got to the vitals ; he had no sooner handled this serpent but he turned it into a rod to scourge his soul with remorse for sinning against such clear light, and strong love, and sweet discoveries of the heart of Christ to him.2
Clement notes that Peter so repented, that all his life after, every night when he heard the cock crow, he would fall upon his knees, and, weeping bitterly, would beg pardon of his sin.3 Ah, souls, you can easily sin as the saints, but can }rou repent with the saints !
1 Tertullian saith that he was (nulli rei natus nisi pixnitenticc) born for no other pur- pose but to repent.
8 Luther confesses that, before his conversion, ho met not with a more displeasing word in all his study of divinity than repent, but afterward he took delight in the word. J'cenitens de peccato dolet el de dolore gaudet, to sorrow for his Bin, and then to rejoice in his sorrow. 3 In Hefele's l'atrum Apostolicarum Opera. 1847. 8vo. — U.
2 Cor. II. 11.] against satan's devices. 25
Many can sin with David and Peter, that cannot repent with David and Peter, and so must perish for ever.
Theodosius the emperor, pressing that he might receive the Lord's supper, excuses his own foul fact by David's doing the like ; to which Ambrose replies, Thou hast followed David transgressing, follow David repenting, and then think thou of the table of the Lord.1
Remedy (2). The second remedy against this device of Satan is, solemnly to consider, That these saints did not make a trade of sin. They fell once or twice, and rose by repentance, that they might keep the closer to Christ for ever. They fell accidentally, occasionally, and with much reluctancy ;2 and thou sinnest presumptuously, obstinately, readily, delightfully, and customarily. Thou hast, by thy making a trade of sin, contracted upon thy soul a kind of cursed necessity of sin- ning, that thou canst as well cease to be, or cease to live, as thou canst cease to sin. Sin is, by custom, become as another nature to thee, which thou canst not, which thou wilt not lay aside, though thou knowest that if thou dost not lay sin aside, God will lay thy soul aside for ever ; though thou knowest that if sin and thy soul do not part, Christ and thy soul can never meet. If thou wilt make a trade of sin, and cry out, Did not David sin thus, and Noah sin thus, and Peter sin thus 1 &c. No ; their hearts turned aside to folly one day, but thy heart turns aside to folly every day, 2 Peter ii. 14, Prov. iv. 16 ; and when they were fallen, they rise by repentance, and by the actings of faith upon a crucified Christ;3 but thou fallest, and hast no strength nor will to rise, but wallowest in sin, and wilt eternally die in thy sins, unless the Lord be the more merciful to thy soul. Dost thou think, 0 soul ! this is good reasoning? Such a one tasted poison but once, and yet narrowly escaped ; but I do daily drink poison, yet
1 shall escape. Yet such is the mad reasoning of vain souls. David and Peter, &c, sinned once foully and fearfully ; they tasted poison but once, and were sick to death ; but I taste it daily, and yet shall not taste of eternal death. Remember, O souls ! that the day is at hand when self-flatterers will be found self-deceivers, yea, self-mur- derers.
Remedy (3). The third remedy against this device of Satan is, seri- ously to consider, That though God doth not, nor never will, dis- inherit his people for their sins, yet he hath severely punished his people for their sins. David sins, and God breaks his bones for his sin : ' Make me to hear joy and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice,' Ps. Ii. 8. ' And because thou hast done this,, the sword shall never depart from thy house, to the day of thy death,'
2 Sam. xii. 10. Though God will not utterly take from them his loving-kindness, nor suffer his faithfulness to fail, nor break his cove- nant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of his mouth, yet will he 1 visit their transgression with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes/
1 Theodoret, Hist. 1. iv. c. xvii.
2 The saints cannot sin (voluntate plena sed semi-plena) with a whole will, hut, as it were, with a half will, an unwilling willingness ; not with a full consent, but with a dissenting consent.
3 Though sin do (habitare) dwell in the regenerate, as Austin notes, yet it doth not (regnare) reign over the regenerate ; they rise by repentance.
26 PRECIOUS REMEDIES [2 COR. II. 11.
Ps. lxxxix. 30, 35. The Scripture abounds with instances of this kind. This is so known a truth among all that know anything of truth, that to cite more scriptures to prove it would be to light a candle to see the sun at noon.1