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as the fhadows of true Repentance, nor by any of these External Symptoms or Acts of Penitence which are the most proper Exercises or Attendants of it, but by the Change wrought upon our Hearts and Lives, and the Effectual Amendment and Reformation of both; as we are to judge of the Soundness and Goodness of our Health not by the strength or bitterness of the Phyfick we took in order to it, or by the Regimen and Rules we obferved in taking it, though they might be neceffary and of good ufe, nor by its manner of working upon us, but by the Effect of it, which is its Curing us; when that is done, by whatever ways it was, fo the work is done and the end attained; and till it be, nothing is done to any purpofe; which brings me to the laft head of Difcourfe, Namely the Marks and Signs of True Repentance.

CHAP. VII.

How we may know we have Repented, and are in a Pardoned and Good State.

Nothing is of greater importance to us

to make a right Judgment of our 1eives as to our Spiritual State, to know whether we are in a State of Grace and Pardon with God, whether our Condition be fuch that we may reafonably hope we are in his Favour at prefent, and have a

Title to Heaven and Happiness hereafter. No Man that believes Religion, and is not perfectly thoughtless and ftupid, but must upon the account of these things have the greatest Peace and Comfort of Mind, or the greatest uneafinefs and disturbance: For nothing is fo great an object of our Hopes and Fears, and does fo highly affect us as thefe will or ought to do. No Man should, one would think, enjoy himself one moment, or be at quiet in his thoughts who is in a state of Enmity with the Great God, and lives under his anger and difpleasure, and however he may efcape here yet lies under the Dread, and Terrour, and Amazing danger of another World.

To know and examine and be able to judge of this, fhould one would think be very plain, because the Rule is fo by which we are to judge our felves, and by which God will judge us. The Terms and Conditions of our Salvation are laid down very clearly in Scripture, fincere and conftant Obedience to God's Laws, or where we fail of performing that, true Repentance, which is to be in the place and will be accepted instead of Perfect Obedience. But many are willing to cheat themselves, and be deluded with falfe hopes and mistaken grounds of Comfort, and to fay, Peace, Peace, where there is no Peace, and to deceive themselves with falfe marks and figns of Grace, and without any good reafon to believe themselves to have an Interest in Chrift and be the Favourites of Heaven.

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There were fome in the Apostle's time as well as ours who had this Opinion of themfelves,and made great pretences to the most myfterious knowledge (calling themselves GnoSticks) and to the most intimate Communion with Heaven, and to be Chriftians of the highest form and order, who yet wallowed in all manner of Wickednefs, and lived in very great Sins and unlawful Liberties exprefly forbidden by the Gospel. They abufed fome of the Doctrins of Christianity, and perverted the very Defign and Conftitution of it, and by making a falfe Scheme of it to themselves altered its Nature,turning, it like our latter Antinomians, into a mere Notional Superftition instead of an Inftitution of Vertue and Holinefs, and judged of themselves not by its Rules and standing Terms and Conditions,but by fome ungrounded and imaginary Privileges that no way belonged to them. St. John in his first Epiftle lays down. feveral Cautions against fuch as these, and warns the Chriftians to beware of their loofe and pernicious, though pretendedly Chriftian Doctrins, fuch as St. James alio fpeaks very openly against when he corrects their mistakes who would be juftified by Faith without works, i. e. put into a Righteous and Good State by Chriftianity without Obedience and Vertue. Little Children, fays St. John, let no man deceive you; he that doth righteoufnefs is righteous even as he is righteous, i John 3. 7. He that committeth fin is of the Devil, ver. 8. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit fin, ver. 9. In

this the Children of God are manifeft and the Children of the Devil, ver. 10. Where in oppofition to all the falfe Opinions by which those wicked Men believed themselves in a good State, notwithstanding their Wickedness or their not being Righteous, and made falfe marks and figns of Grace to themselves, and accounted themselves the fpecial Favourites of God and of Chrift by fome conceited and peculiar Privileges, though they were wicked and impenitent, and lived in a state of plain and notorious Sin, he lays down a clear and certain, a plain and obvious Mark and Criterion by which we may judge of our felves, and by which alone we can judge right of our Spiritual Condition, and know whether we are in a Pardoned and Good State, and that is this, that we do not commit fin, or live in the practice of any known and wilful Sin whatfoever; till we bring our felves to this, we can never by any means whatever, by any privilege of Chriftianity,or by all that Chrift has or could do forus, be free from a state of guilt and danger, till we get rid of every Sin, and break off every evil way, then we fhall recover our good State however dangerous and deplorable it was before, and fhall be as fure of God's Favour and a Title to Heaven as if we had been always innocent, and never had finned. Many are inclined to judge of themselves by fome other and kinder meafure, and are willing to believe well if themselves, and hope they have an Intereft

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terest in Christ, and a Title to God's Favour and hopes of Heaven without leaving every Sin, and living fuch a ftrict and holy Life as the Gospel requires, they have fome Referves, and fome falfe Notions and Principles in Religion whereby they comfort themselves against this fevere Doctrin, and think by fome way or other to reconcile their Sins with the hopes of Heaven and their Eternal Salvation. There have been other Schemes of Religion laid down, and fuch Whimsical Hypotheses made of it by fome Men, from the unwary ftating and mifunderstanding the Scripture Notions of Election, Juftification, Faith, FreeGrace, and the like, that they at at last come to affert thefe comfortable Doctrins as they call them, to a Sinner, and fo they were if they were true, that their Sins can do them no harm, nor endanger their Salvation, and that Sanctification and Holinefs is not neceffary as the way or means to Heaven, and that a Sinner may come to Christ, and be Juftified by him, and put in a good State before he Repents, even with all his Sins and Filth about him, which are fo far from being Saving and Gospel Truths, as they are lewdf and ignorantly called, that they are certainly the most damnable Herefies, and the most contrary and deftructive to Chriftianity that ever were in the World. I am not to I am not to enter into any Controverfies here, nor fhew the Miftakes too many run into about thofe matters, all thofe falfe and abominable Princi

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