4. The use of these two graces discovers their nature. What is faith and repentance ? Repentance towards God is a turning from sin to God. The terminus a quo of repentance is our begun recovery from sin, and therefore called, ' Repentance from dead works,' Heb. vi. 1. The terminus ad quern, to which we return, is God, and our being devoted to God in obedience and love. God never hath our h-earts till he hath our love and delight, till we return to a love of his blessed majesty, and delight in his ways. This is called in scripture some- times a turning to God, in many other places a seeking after God, a giving up ourselves to God : 2 Cor. viii. 5, ' They gave up them- selves to the Lord.' This is the repentance by which we enter into the gospel state. Now what is faith ? Besides an assent to the gospel, which is at the bottom of it, it is a serious, thankful, broken-hearted acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he may be to every one of us what God hath appointed him to be, and do for every one of us what God hath appointed him to do for poor sinners ; it is serious and
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broken-hearted, done by a creature in misery, and thankful for such a wonderful benefit, a trusting to this Redeemer, that lie may do the work of a redeemer in our hearts, to save us from the evil of, and after, sin.
And thus I have briefly opened this necessary doctrine, as clearly laid in the scripture. And this is your entrance in the evangelic state.
II. For our continuance therein ; for we must not only mind our entrance, but our continuance. Our Lord Jesus tells us of a gate and a way : the gate signifies the entrance, and the way our continuance. And we read of making and keeping covenant with God ; we read of union with Christ, that is our first entrance. For this faith is the closing act, and expressed sometimes by a being married to Christ. But there is not only an union with Christ, but an abiding in him: ' Abide in me, and I will abide in you.' Now as for our continuance, I would show you that the first works are gone over and over again, faith and repentance are still necessary : ' For the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.' And repentance is still necessary. But I shall only press two things— first, new obedience ; secondly, daily prayer.
1. New obedience is required : 1 John i. 7, ' If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son clcanseth us from all sin.' Holy walking is necessary to the continuance of our being cleansed from sin, and therefore mercy is promised to the forsnldng of our sins : Prov. xxviii, 13, ' He that confesseth and forsaketh his sins shall find mercy ; ' Isa. Iv. 7, ' Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought ; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.' Our hearts were not sound with God in the first covenanting if we undo what was done : ' If we build again the things we have destroyed, then we are found transgressors,' Gal. ii. 18. Well, then, a man that seeks after pardon, seeks after it with the ruin and destruction of sin. Sin was the greatest burden that lay upon his conscience, the grievance from whence he sought ease, the wound pained him at heart, the disease his soul was sick of. And was all this anguish real ? And shall a man come to delight in his sores again, and take up the burden he groaned under, and tear open the wound that was in a fair way of healing, and willingly relapse into the sickness he was almost recovered from with so much ado r' Sure this shows our first consent was not real and sincere. And then Christ will be no advocate for tliem that continue in their sins. ' Our God is a God of salvation,' we cannot enough speak of his saving mercy ; but ' he will wound the head of his enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses,' Ps. Ixviii. 20, 21.
2. Daily prayer. [This was spoken unto at the close of the first sermon.] Mat. vi. 12. Our Lord hath tauglit us to pray (for we make but too much work for pardoning mercy every day), ' Every day forgive us our trespasses.' To-day in one of the petitions, is common to all that follow ; as we beg daily bread, we must beg daily pardon, daily grace against temptations. Under the law thoy had a lamb every
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morning and every evening offered to God for a daily sacrifice, Num. xxviii. 4-G. We are all invited to look to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world. Surely we have as much need as they — more cause than they, because now all is clear and openly made known unto us. God came to Adam in the cool of the day ; he would not let him sleep in his sins : before night came he comes and rouseth his conscience, and then gives out the promise of the seed of the woman that should break the serpent's head. In reconciliation with God let not the sun go down upon God's wrath, Eph. iv. 26. A man should not sleep in his anger, nor out of charity with man ; surely we should make our peace with God every day. If a man under the law had contracted any uncleanness, he was to wash his clothes before evening, that he might not lie a night in his uncleanness. We should daily, earnestly, come to God with this request, Lord, pardon our sins. But what ! must those that are already adopted into God's flimily, and taken into his grace and favour, daily pray for pardon of sin ? Though upon our first faith our state be changed, and we are indeed made children of God, and heirs of eternal life by faith in Christ Jesus, yet he that is clean need wash his feet. We contract a great deal of sinful defile- ment and pollution by walking up and down here in a dirty world, and we must every day be cleansing our consciences before God, and begging that we may be made partakers of this benefit.