SERMON

CLXVII.

The nature and neceffity of holy refolution.

JOB XXXIV. 31. 32.

Surely it is meet to be faid unto God, I have born chaftifement, I will not offend any more; that which I fee not, teach thou me; if I have done iniquity, I will do no

more.

T

The first fermon on this text.

Hefe words are the words of Elihu, one of Job's friends, and the only one who is not reproved for his difcourfe with Job, and who was proba bly the author of this ancient and most eloquent hiftory of the fuffering and patience of Job, and of the end which the Lord made with him; and they contain in them a defcription of the temper and behaviour of a true penitent. Surely it is meet, &c.

In which words we have the two effential parts of a true repentance.

Firft, An humble acknowledgment and confeffion of our fins to God, Surely it is meet to be faid unto God, I have born chaftifement.

Secondly, A firm purpose and refolution of amendment and forfaking of fin for the future, I will not offend any more; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

First, An humble acknowledgment and confeffion of our fins to God; Surely it is meet to be faid unto God, I have born chaftifement, that is, have finned and been jùftly punished for it, and am now convinced of the evil of fin, and refolved to leave it; I have born chaftifement, I will offend no more.

Of this first part of repentance, viz. an humble confeffion of our fins to God, with great fhame and forrow for them, and a thorough conviction of the evil and danger of a finful courfe, I have already treated at large.

Ser. 167. In these repentance muft begin, but it must not end in them: for a penitent confeffion of our fins to God, and a conviction of the evil of them, fignifies nothing, unlefs it brings us to a refolution of amendment, that is, of leaving our fins, and betaking ourselves to a better courfe. And this I intend, by God's assistance, to fpeak to now, as being the

Second part of a true repentance here defcribed in the text, viz. A firm purpose and refolution of amendment and forfaking of fin for the future; and to exprefs it the more ftrongly and emphatically, and to fhew the firmnefs of the refolution, it is repeated again, I will not offend any more; and then in the next verfe, I have done iniquity, I will do no more. And this is fo neceffary a part of repentance, that herein the very effence and formal nature of repentance does confift, viz. in the firm and fincere purpofe and refolution of a better courfe.

In the handling of this argument, I fhall do these six things.

1. 1 fhall fhew what refolution is in general.

2. What is the special object of this kind of refolution.

3. What is implied in a fincere resolution of leaving our fins, and returning to God.

4. Ifhall fhew that in this refolution of amendment, the very effence and formal nature of repentance does confift.

5. I fhall offer fome confiderations to convince men both of the neceffity and fitness of this refolution, and of keeping ftedfaftly to it. Surely it is meet to be faid unto God, I will not offend any more.

6. I fhall add fome brief directions concerning the managing and maintaining of this holy and neceffary refolution.

I. What refolution in general is. It is a fixed determination of the will about any thing, either to do it, or not to do it, as upon due deliberation we have judged and concluded it to be neceffary or convenient to be done, or not to be done by us: And this fuppofeth three things.

1. Refolution fuppofeth a precedent deliberation of the mind about the thing to be refolved upon. For no

prudent

prudent man does determine or refolve upon any thing till he hath confidered the thing, and weighed it well with himself, and hath fully debated the neceffity and expedience of it; what advantage he fhall have by the doing of it, and what danger and inconvenience will certainly or very probably redound to him by the neglect and omiffion of it. For peremptorily to determine and refolve upon any thing before a man hath done this, is not properly refolution, but precipitancy and rashness.

2. Refolution fuppofeth fome judgment paffed upon the thing, after a man hath thus deliberated about it; that he is fatisfied in his mind one way or other concerning it, that his understanding is convinced either that it is neceffary and convenient for him to do it, or that it is not; and this is fometimes called refolution, but is not that refolution which immediately determines a man to action. This judgment of the neceflity and fitnefs of the thing is not the refolution of the will, but of the understanding: for it does not fignify that a man hath fully determined to do the thing, but that he hath determined with himself that it is reasonable to be done, and that he is no longer in doubt and fufpence whether it be beft for him to do it or not, but is in his mind refolved and fatisfied one way or other. And these are two very different things; to be refolved in one's judgment, that is, to be convinced that a thing is fit and neceffary to be done, and to be refolved to fet upon the doing of it; for many men are thus convinced of the fitnefs and neceffity of the thing, who yet have not the heart, cannot bring themselves to a firm and fixed refolution to fet upon the doing of it. So that an act of the judgment must go before the refolution of the will: for as he is rafh that refolves to do a thing before he hath deliberated about it; fo he is blind and wilful that refolves to do a thing before his judgment be fatisfied, whether it be best for him to do it or not.

3. If the matter be of confiderable moment and confequence, refolution fuppofeth fome motion of the af fections; which is a kind of bias upon the will, a certain propenfion and inclination that a man feels in himfelf, either urging him to do a thing, or withdrawing him from it. Deliberation and judgment, they direct a

man

man what to do, or leave undone; the affections excite and quicken a man to take fome refolution in the matter, that is, to do fuitably to the judgment his mind hath paffed upon the thing. For instance; a great finner reflects upon his life, and confiders what he hath done, what the courfe is that he lives in, and what the iffue and confequence of it will probably or certainly be, whether it will make him happy or miferable in the conclufion; and debating the matter calmly and foberly with himself, he is fatisfied and convinced of the evil and danger of a wicked life, and confequently that it is belt for him to refolve upon a better course, that is, to repent. Now thefe thoughts muft needs awaken in him fearful apprehenfions of the wrath of almighty God, which is due to him for his fins, and hangs over him, and which he is every moment in danger of, if he goes on in his evil courfe. Thefe thoughts are apt likewife to fill him with fhame and confufion, at the remembrance of his horrible ingratitude to God his maker, his best friend and greatest benefactor, and of his defperate folly in provoking omnipotent juftice against himself; whereupon he is heartily grieved and troubled for what he hath done; and thefe affections of fear, and shame, and forrow, being once up, they come with great violence upon the will, and urge the man to a speedy refolution of changing his courfe, and leaving the way he is in, which he is fully convinced is fo evil and dangerous; and of betaking himfelf to another courfe, which he is fully fatisfied will be much more for his fafety and advantage.

So that refolution, in general, is a fixed determination of the will; that is, fuch a determination as is not only for the prefent free from all wavering and doubting, but fuch as cannot prudently be altered, fo long as reafon remains. For the man, who upon full deliberation and conviction of his mind refolves upon any thing, cannot without the imputation of fickleness and inconftancy quit that refolution, fo long as he hath the fame reafon which he had when he took it up, and is ftill fatisfied that the reafon is good. For inftance; the man who hath taken up a refolution to be fober, because of the ugliness and unreasonablenefs of drunkennefs, and the temporal inconveniencies and eternal damnation which that fin

expofeth

expofeth a man to; if these reafons be true and good, can never prudently alter the refolution which he hath taken, and return to that fin again.

II. Let us confider what is the fpecial object or matter of this refolution, wherein the formal nature of repentance does confift, what it is that a man when he repents refolves upon; and that I told you is to leave his fin, and to return to God and his duty; and this is the refolution which the penitent here described in the text takes up, I will not offend any more. That which I fee not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do no more. He refolves against all known fin, I will not offend any more; and if through ignorance he had finned and done contrary to his duty, he defires to be better inftructed, that he may not offend again in the like kind. That which I fee not, teach thou me; and if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.

So that the true penitent refolves upon these two things.

1. To forfake his fin. And

2. To return to God and his duty.

1ft, To forfake his fin: and this implies the quitting of his finful courfe whatever it had been; and that not only by abstaining from the outward act and practice of every fin, but by endeavouring to crucify and subdue the inward affection and inclination to it.

And it implies, farther, the utter forfaking of fin; for repentance is not only a refolution to abftain from fin for the prefent, but never to return to it again. Thus Ephraim, when he repented of his idolatry, he utterly renounced it, faying, "What have I to do any more with idols Hof. xiv. 8. He, that truly repents, is refolved to break off his finful course, and to abandon those lufts and vices which he was formerly addicted to, and lived in.

2dly, The true penitent refolves likewife to return to God and his duty: he does not stay in the negative part of religion, he does not only refolve not to commit any fin, but not to neglect or omit any thing that he knows to be his duty; and if he has been ignorant of any part of his duty, he is willing to know it, that he may do it; he is not only determined to forfake his fin, VOL. VII. which

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