[2.J Repentance. Repentance is not a flower that grows in nature's garden. Acts v. 31, ' Him hath God the Father exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.' So in 2 Tim. ii. 25, 'The servant of the Lord must in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure will give them re- pentance to the acknowledging of the truth.' By these scriptures, it is clear that repentance is no flower that grows in nature's garden, though Arminians teach and print, that if men will put out their power and their strength they may repent, &c.^ But several that have been of this opinion, have experienced the falseness of it when it hath been too late: ' The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots,' Jer. xiii. 23. And certainly, if there were such a power in man to repent, as some would make the world believe, man would never miscarry ever- lastingly for his not repenting. Oh, is it good dAvelling with everlasting burnings, with a burning fire? Is it good being for ever shut out from the presence of the Lord, and the glory of his power? Certainly, if there were such a power in vain man to repent, no man would go to hell for not repenting ; and many that have boasted much of their abilities to repent; when they have been upon a dying bed, would have given a thousand worlds, were there so many in their power, that they could but repent.^
Luther confesses, that before his conversion, he met not with a more dis- pleasing word in all the study of divinity than this word repent; but after the Lord had converted him, and manifested himself to him, he delighted m this work ; then he could sorrow for his sins, and rejoice in his sorrow.*
' When Telemachus saw a great light, that guided him and his father in a dark room, Surely, said he, there is some god in it. Mai. iv. 2.
2 2 Cor. iii. 5. If there be such a power in fallen man to repent and believe, &c., to what purpose was the coming of Christ into the world? 1 John ii. 9 ; iii. 8. And why do natural men, when their consciences are awakened, so cry out, that they are as able to stop the sun in his course, to raise the dead, and to make a world, as they are able of themselves to repent ? &c.
' Aut pcenitetidum aiit pcrctindiim.
* Homo ipsius pcemtentiw pwiiitcre debet. — Salvian. Pceuitens dc peccato d'jlet, ct de dolore gaud'jt. — Lutlier.
EpH. III. 8.] RICHES OF CHRIST. 105
Repentance strips the soul stark naked of all the garments of the old Adam, and leaves not so much as the shirt behind. In this rotten building there is not one stone left upon another. As the flood drowned Noah's own friends and servants, as well as strangers, so true repent- ance drowns all darling lusts. True repentance is the cutting off the right hand, and the pulling out of the right eye ; and is this such an easy thing ? Surely no. True repentance is a gift that is from above, and if the Lord doth not give it, man will eternally perish for the want of it. You may read much more of this in my treatise called Heaven on Earth}
[3.] Thirdly, Christ gives his Spirit. Rom. v. 5, ' The love of God is shed abi'oad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.' So in 1 John iii. 24, ' And hereby we know that he abideth in us.' How? 'By the Spirit which he hath given us.' So in chap. iv. 13. The Spirit that the Lord Christ gives is an enlightening Spirit, it is the candle of the Lord set up in the hearts of the saints, to guide them in the way everlasting.^ It is a sanctifying Spirit, a Spirit of burning, Isa. iv. 4. He is a fire to enlighten the soul, and a fire to enliven the soul, and a fire to warm the soul, &c. Whatsoever is of the Spirit is spirit.^ It is nimble, and lively, and active, and full of life and motion, as the Spirit is. A man without the Spirit of the Lord is a dull, dromish* creature. As the Latins call a dull, dromish man, a fireless man, so we may call a man that hath not the Spirit, a spiritless man. The Spirit that Christ gives is a sealing Spirit, Eph. i. 13; and a leading Spirit, Rom. viii. He leads from sin, he leads from wrath, he leads from the curse ; he leads to God/' he leads to Christ, he leads to the promises, he leads to glory, &c.
Again, this Spirit is a comforting Spirit, John iv. 16 ; and a pleading Spirit, Rom, viii. 26. Every Christian has three advocates pleading for him : the first is, that divine love that is in the bosom of the Father ; the second is, the Lord Jesus that is at the right hand of the Father; and the third is, the Holy Spirit that is one with the Father.^
[4.J Fourthly, He gives his blood. The blood of Christ is a gift of Christ to his beloved ones. Mat xx. 28, ' The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.' So in John x. 11, ' I am the good shepherd : the good shep- herd giveth his life for his sheep.' His blood was the purest blood, his human nature being most pure. His blood was the noblest blood, and therefore called in Scripture, ' the blood of God,' Rom. iii. 25 and Acts XX. 28, by reason of the conjunction of the divine nature with the human. It was his life-blood, his heart-blood that he gave. It was not the blood of his, finger, but the blood of his heart ; it was precious blood.
Three things are called precious in the Scripture.
(1.) Faith is called precious faith, 2 Peter i. 1.
(2.) The promises are called precious promises, ver. 4.
(3.) The blood of Christ is called precious blood, 1 Peter i. 19.
• In Vol. II. p. 301, seq. — G. ^ Spirihts Sanctus est res dclicxta, John xiv. 26. ^ Nil nisi sanctum a Sancto Spiritu prodire potest.
* Query, ' dronish' ? which is found in Barrow = lazy. — G.
^ There is no gainsaying Demosthenes's words, said one. So there is no gainsaying of the pleadings of the Spirit.
106 THE UNSEARCHABLE [EPH. III. 8.
All your precious mercies swim to you in precious blood, as you may see by comparing the scriptiu'es in the margin together.^
It was an excellent saying of Luther, speaking of this blood of Christ, Una guttula plus valet quam caelum et terra, one little drop of this blood, saith he, is more worth than heaven and earth. Your pardon swims to you in blood ; your peace swims to you in blood ; your recon- ciliation is made by blood ; your acceptation is wrought by blood, &c. Sanguis Christi clavis cceli, Christ's blood is heaven's key ; Christ's blood is a presei-vative against the greatest evils ; Christ's blood, as Pliny saith of ijolium, is a preservative against serpents, &c.