[4.] Fourthly, Express records and instances of forgiveness unto such as have repented and turned from their sins: 2 Sam. xii. 13, 'And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord ; and Nathan 1 Fulgent, de Rem. pecat. lib. i. cap. 12.
416 A CABINET OF JEWELS. [ChAP. III.
said to David, The Lord hath also put away thy sin.' Jer. xxxi. 18-20, 'I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning hinivself ; turn thou me, and I shall be turned,' &c. ' Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh ; I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is Ephraira my dear son ? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy upon him,' saith the Lord.'' Luke vii. 38, ' And she stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head; and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.' Ver. 47, ' Wherefore, I say, her sins, which were many, are forgiven.' Chap. xv. 18-20, ' I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him. Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. And he arose, and came to his father; but when he was yet a great way off, his fatlier saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell upon his neck, and kissed him.'
Quest. But what are the properties or qualifications of that right turning from sin, %vhich brings poor sinners within the compass of the promise of forgiveness of sins ? Now, to this great question I shall give these four following answers :
Ans. 1. First, That turning from sin which brings a man within the compass of the promise of forgiveness of sin, is a cordial turning from sin: Joel ii. 12, ' Turn ye, even to me, with all your heart.' 2 Chron. vi. 38, 39, ' If they return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplica- tion, and forgive their sins.' Deut. xxx. 10, ' If thou turn unto the Lord thy God, with all tliine heart, and with all thy soul,' &c. Jer. iii. 10, ' And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord.' Chap, xxiv. 7, ' And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people, and I Avill be their God ; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart." Wicked men are serious and cordial in their sinning, and they must be as serious and cordial in their returning, or they are lost and undone for ever. The true penitent tui-ns from sin with his heart, with all his heart, and with all his soul. He is turned in good earnest from his sins, whose heart is turned from his sins. If the heart turns not, all is naught, all is stark naught. He tliat turns from sin, but not with his heart, turns but feignedly, partially, hypo- critically, deceitfully. God is a jealous God, and he will never endure co-rivals or co-partners in the throne, the heart of man ; a holy God will never divide with an unholy devil. The true God is a righteous God, and he will never share his glory with another. The true God must be served truly, heartily ; he loves neither halting nor halving. Such as divide the rooms of their souls betwixt God and sin, God and Satan, God and the world, that swear by God and Malcham, that sometimes pray devoutly, and at other times curse most hideously, that halt betwixt God and Baal, are mere heteroclites^ in religion, and such whom God abhors. When a man's heart gives a bill of divorce to his sins, ' • Irregular,' ' disorderly.' — G.
Chap. III.] A cabinet of jewels. 417
when his heart breaks the league with sin, when his heart casts it off, and casts it out as an abominable thing, then the heart is turned from sin really, effectually, &c. If, notwithstanding all the professions that a man makes against his sins, his heart still loves them, and delights in them, and he will still retain them, and welcome them, and cleave to them, and make provision for them, &c., his repentance is feigned and not real, &c. But,
Ans. 2. Secondly, A true penitential turning is an universal turn- ing, a turning not fro7n some sins, but from all sins : Ezek. xviii. 30, ' Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgi'essions.' Ver. 31 , ' Cast away from you all your transgressions.' 2 Cor. vii. 1, ' Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit.' Ps. cxix. 101, * I have refrained my feet from every evil way/ Ver. 128, 'I hate every false way.' Ezek. xiv. ]4, 'Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols ; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.' Chap, xviii. 28, ' Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his trans- gressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.' True repentance is a turning from all sin, without any reservation or exception. He never tnily repented of any sin, whose heart is not turned against every sin. The true penitent casts off all the rags of old Adam ; he throws down every stone of the old building ; he will not leave a horn nor a hoof behind. That which Nehemiah speaks of himself in that Neh. xiii. 7, 8, is very observable to our purpose. ' And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore' (but he rests not there; but goes further) ; 'therefore I cast forth all the household-stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.' What should Tobiah do with a chamber ? therefore he not only outs Tobiah, but out goes all his stuff too. Thus the true penitent, when he considers all the evil that sin has done, how it has taken up not only one cham- ber, but every chamber in the soul, and how it has for many years quite shut out God, and Christ, and the Spirit, and everything that is good ; he is grieved sore, and so falls upon the outing of every lust ; being highly resolved that neither Satan nor any of his retinue shall ever find the least entertainment in his soul any more. Such as are resolved against turning from any sin, are horribly profane ; such as turn from some sins, but close with others, are hideous hypocrites ; such as turn from one sin to another, or change their sins as men do their fashions, are most sadly blinded, and desperately deluded by Satan ; but such as turn not from some sins, but from every sin, are sincerely penitent. And certainly there are very great reasons why the true penitent does turn, and must turn from sin universally. As,