DISCOURSE: 817
TRUE REPENTANCE RECOMMENDED
Proverbs 28:13. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
THE subject of repentance offers nothing for the gratification of “itching ears.” But it must not on that account be overlooked; since, if less interesting than some other subjects on the score of novelty, it yields to none in point of importance. It is the first act whereby a sinner returns unto his God: and it is an act for which the most eminent saint has occasion from day to day; insomuch that in him it assumes rather the character of a habit than an act. In the more grown Christian, it is the warp, whilst every other grace is the woof: whether the colours interwoven with it be grave or gay, this pervades the whole piece, and is, as it were, the foundation of all the rest.
For the advancing of this work in all our souls, I will shew,
I. The folly of covering our sins—
To conceal our sins from the all-seeing eye of God is impossible: yet
There are various ways in which men attempt to cover them—
[Sin, though it cannot be hidden from God, may be covered from ourselves, by denial, by extenuation, by forgetfulness.
Many, though walking in the habitual violation of the plainest duties, will deny that they commit any sin at all. As “the adulterous woman,” of whom Solomon speaks, “eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness [Note: Proverbs 30:20.];” so these, in gratifying their sensual appetites, think that they commit no more evil than if they had merely satisfied the demands of hunger and thirst: and, in their minds, one sinful indulgence is but a prelude to another, whenever opportunity and inclination concur to call for it. Persons of this description, if they receive only a distant intimation of their state, are ready to reply, even against God himself, just as Cain did, after murdering his brother Abel: “Where is thy brother Abel?” “I know not: am I my brother’s keeper [Note: Genesis 4:9.]?” Thus, rather than they will humble themselves before God, they will deny their accountability to him, saying, “Our lips are our own: who is Lord over us [Note: Psalms 12:4.]?” But this denial of their guilt will avail them nothing. God will reprove them as he did Israel of old [Note: Jeremiah 2:23-24. This is a fine image to illustrate the insatiable avidity with which the wicked follow their own lusts and passions.]; and will surely visit them with his heaviest indignation [Note: Jeremiah 2:31; Jeremiah 2:35.].
Others cover their sins by endeavouring to extenuate the guilt of them. Thus did Adam and Eve in Paradise. Thus also did Saul, after sparing the king of the Amalekites, and the spoil which he had taken, instead of destroying them utterly according to the direction which he had received from the Lord. He first of all asserted that he had executed the divine command; and that being disproved by the lowing of the oxen, he vindicated himself, asserting, that, in as far as he was implicated in the affair, he had acted under the influence of the people, whom he could not restrain, and dared not to resist [Note: 1 Samuel 15:13-15; 1 Samuel 15:20-21; 1 Samuel 15:24.]. Thus it is also that the generality are acting all around us. They cannot actually deny that what they are doing is contrary to God’s revealed will; but they are so circumstanced, that they cannot on the whole act otherwise than they do: the current of the world is so strong against them, that they cannot resist it; and, if they err, the fault is rather in those who have led the way, than in themselves, who have only gone with the stream.
But perhaps the most common way of covering sing is by letting them pass altogether unnoticed. Many are not altogether satisfied that their ways are right: but they go on without much thought, and presently forget any thing which may have made a slight impression on their minds. Forgetting their sins, they suppose that God has forgotten them also. Of such persons God complains; “They consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness [Note: Hosea 7:2.].” Very beautiful is the description which God gives of such persons, by the Prophet Jeremiah: “I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle [Note: Jeremiah 8:6.].” The horse is unconscious of his danger; and so are the mass of ungodly men: “it is a sport to them to commit iniquity;” and, provided it be not of such a heinous nature as to violate the usages of the place wherein they live, they say, “No evil will come unto us [Note: Jeremiah 5:12.].”]
But all who thus attempt to cover their sins are guilty of the extremest folly—
[They “can never prosper.” Temporal prosperity they may have as much as others: but in their souls they cannot prosper [Note: Job 31:33.].
They cannot in this world. They can have no peace with God or in their own consciences; for God has said, “There is no peace to the wicked.” They can have no victory over sin: for God will not interpose to deliver them from bonds, which they themselves are pleased with. They can have no delight in holy ordinances, either in the public assembly, or in their secret chamber. They may, like Ezekiel’s hearers, be pleased with hearing a man that can play well upon an instrument [Note: Ezekiel 33:31-32.]; but they can have no fellowship with God: for “what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, or light with darkness [Note: 2 Corinthians 6:14.]?” They can have no bright and cheering prospects of the eternal world: for they have no evidence within themselves of their acceptance with God, nor any “meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light.”
Much less can they prosper in the world to come. There the impenitent and unbelieving will meet their deserved recompence. No joy awaits them there. They sought not merey and therefore they find it not: they came not weary and heavy laden unto Christ; and therefore they have no part in the rest which he alone can give: they humbled not themselves; and therefore they can never be exalted.]
Let us now contemplate, on the other hand,
II.
The benefit of true penitence—
True repentance consists of two parts; a confessing, and forsaking, of our sins—
[Confession is of absolute and indispensable necessity. We never can humble ourselves aright without it. Nor ought we to rest in mere general acknowledgments: we should search out our sins: we should say, “Thus and thus have I done.” We should go farther, and enter into the particular aggravations of our sins, in order the more deeply to affect our own hearts, and to fill our minds with self-lothing and self-abhorrence. Not that God needs to be informed: he knows all our iniquities, and all the circumstances with which they have been attended. But by spreading them all before God, we give the more glory to him as a God of infinite mercy and compassion; at the same time that we prepare our own minds for a due reception of mercy at his hands.
But, besides this, we must forsake our sins. If we hold them fast, it is a clear proof that our repentance is not genuine. Nor must we forsake them merely as a man parts with a limb, which, if not amputated, would destroy his life: we may indeed take into our consideration the danger arising from them, as our Lord tells us in the case of “a right hand or right eye,” which, if retained, would plunge us into everlasting perdition: but we must regard them as odious, and hateful, and abominable; and long for deliverance from them as we would for deliverance from the most lothsome disorder.
These two, a confessing, and forsaking of sin, must go together. Supposing we could put away our sins for the future, it would still become us to bewail those which are past: and, if we bewail them ever so bitterly, still must we not rest without gaining the victory over them, it is the union of them both that marks true penitence; and]
Where such repentance is, there God will bestow his richest blessings—
[It is said in a subsequent part of this chapter, that “a faithful man shall abound with blessings.” And this is true of all who deal faithfully with their own souls and with their God, in bewailing and mortifying their most secret corruptions. This is strongly asserted by all the inspired writers. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon [Note: Isaiah 55:7.].” To such both the faithfulness and the justice of God assure a perfect remission of all sin [Note: 1 John 1:9-10.]. Nor will God delay to manifest his love, when once he sees our souls truly humbled for sin. The self-condemning publican was justified even before he left the spot where his confessions were made [Note: Luke 18:14.]. And David speaks of the same truth as realized also in his experience. Whilst he forbore to humble himself, he was kept in a state of darkness and misery: but “as soon as he began to confess his sins unto the Lord, the Lord forgave the iniquity of his sin [Note: Psalms 32:3-5.].”
And need we say what “mercy” God will vouchsafe to penitents in the last day? Surely all the manifestations of his love which he gives to them in this world, are but as a twinkling star compared with that full splendour of the Sun of Righteousness, which in that day every contrite soul shall enjoy. The joy of the Father over the returning prodigal, with all the music, and feasting, and dancing, are but faint images of what shall be realized in heaven over every true penitent through all eternity.]
From hence we may learn,
1.
Whence it is that men know so little of spiritual prosperity—
[Repentance is a work to which we are very averse. If we did but occasionally set apart a day for solemn fasting and prayer, and set ourselves more diligently to the great duty of humiliation before God, we should have more delightful visits from him, and richer communications of his grace to our souls — — —]
2. How painful will be the self-condemnation of all who perish!
[The promise in our text will then be remembered with unutterable shame and sorrow. What a reflection will it be, “I might have obtained mercy, but would not seek it:” God said to me, “Only acknowledge thine iniquity [Note: Jeremiah 3:12-13.]:” but I would not deign to acknowledge it. Verily the easy terms on which salvation might have been obtained, will form the bitterest ingredient of that bitter cup which the impenitent soul will have to drink to all eternity.]
3. What obligations do we owe to the Lord Jesus Christ!
[It is through him, and through him alone, that repentance is of any avail. There is nothing in repentance that can merit forgiveness: all the merit is in Christ Jesus, even in his obedience unto death: it is that which cancels all our guilt: it is that which purchases our title to the heavenly inheritance. Whilst therefore we confess and forsake our sins, let our eyes be directed to Him as our only hope, even to him, “in whom all the seed of Israel shall be justified, and in whom they shall glory.”]