thority do actually revenge and punish; and accordingly St. Paul calls the civil magistrate, who hath the power of the sword committed to him by God, a revenger to execute wrath on him that doeth evila; and which if he neglects to do, he betrays his trust, and connives at evil, and bears the sword in vain. And therefore, as every man is authorized by God to correct himself for whatever he finds amiss, and is obliged to do so by several express commands of Christianity; so, whoever is truly moved with indignation against himself for such and such wickednesses, and condemns himself as worthy of severe chastisement for having committed them, will exercise this power of self-revenge, and mortify the deeds of the body, with its disorderly appetites and lusts, denying its irregular cravings, and bringing it into subjection to the spirit.

As to the methods and measure of this discipline, it is too copious a subject to be insisted on at the end of a discourse; but in general it should be more or less severe, according to the nature of the sins for which the man is to punish himself, and likewise according to the constitution and temper of the sinner.

All men are not able to bear the like rigorous treatment, nor do all sins deserve the like, nor all men's bodies stand in need of the like; and in some it is the spirit that wants to be humbled more than the flesh, the pride and arrogancy of which the exercise of bodily severities would heighten rather than bring down. And therefore this kind of discipline must be managed with great prudence and a Rom. xiii. 4.

discretion by those that would reap the full benefit of it.

But though it must be regulated, yet it must not be wholly omitted, and will not be, when a man is throughly a penitent; and he that spares himself, when he so well deserves punishment, shews that he loves his lower self too well, and hates his sin too little, to deserve the character of a sincere and hearty convert, and one that has out of a truly godly sorrow repented to salvation.

This is the only revenge that is allowed of by our holy religion, and it is not allowed only, but enjoined; and the reason is, because there is no malice or ill-will in it but against sin, (for to the sinner it is the greatest kindness in the world,) and against sin we cannot be too bitter and implacable. And, as great a share as love and charity and tenderness and forgiveness have in the Christian institution, he that is not in this sense acted with hatred and revenge, and does not even crucify his rebellious flesh, when there is just occasion, can never be Christ's true disciple.

Having thus mentioned some of the fruits of sincere repentance, and such as, where they are without dissimulation, will be attended with a through reformation and amendment of life; we shall now consider how the love and gratitude of a true penitent ought to express themselves when he is become duly sensible of the greatness of his past sins, and of the divine mercy and goodness in pardoning him, and admitting him to his favour upon his true repentance.

1. And first, they will express themselves in earnest desires of continuing in God's favour, and of such

assistances of his good Spirit, as will enable the penitent to be entirely obedient to his righteous commands for the future.

It is natural for a man to desire to please those whom he truly loves, and when he is admitted again to a friendship that he highly values, and which he once had forfeited by base, ungrateful actions, he will covet nothing more than to perfect that reconciliation by the most acceptable services he can perform.

The grateful sense he has of the goodness of his offended friend, who, though he has done so unworthily by him, has yet so readily passed by all upon his acknowledgment of his fault, and sorrow for it, as to take him again into his affection and esteem; this will make him industriously careful to make use of every opportunity of making some return, and glad when it lies in his power, and really troubled if his ability will not answer his desires.

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And thus will our love and gratitude, if they be sincere, express themselves towards God and our blessed Saviour Jesus. Thus shall we make it our great business to keep ourselves in their favour, whom we have such infinite reason to love above all things, and to whom we are so wondrously obliged. And if we find ourselves unable (as who but does?) to express our love and gratitude to our divine Friend and Benefactor as we ought, how should we fly, by earnest prayer, to the fountain of spiritual strength for his assistance! begging him, with great importunity, to help our infirmities, to supply what is wanting in our own poor weak ability, and in some measure put us into a capacity of

rendering a suitable return, and keeping up that friendship inviolate which we have the greatest reason to value above our very lives. ››

What can a truly grateful breast, that is deeply. sensible of the goodness of God to sinners, and full of unfeigned love to him again, more earnestly desire than this? And therefore, where such desires are wanting, and the man continues as cool and indifferent and regardless of any thing of this nature as formerly, he must not look upon himself to be so throughly apprehensive of the divine mercy to him as a true penitent should be, who, when really grieved and wearied with the burden of his sins, has found a compassionate deliverer that hath eased him of it; and he may and ought to conclude, that, having so little sign of love and gratitude in his soul, he has as little of sincere repentance.

2. Secondly, a sinner that has repented in earnest, and is affected with true love and gratitude for the great mercy of God to him in Christ Jesus, will be under the constant awe of a reverential, regardful fear of offending him, such as is that of an obedient child towards an indulgent father, or of loyal subjects towards a prince they love. And this will be very evident if we represent it thus: suppose a child that has been very undutiful to a very kind, wise, and good parent, should afterwards become sensible of his baseness and ingratitude, in making so ill a requital to a father that had been indeed a father to him, and shewn the tenderest care of him in all respects from his very infancy, and be at length so throughly affected with this consideration, as to condemn himself as guilty of a most heinous fault, and resolve for the future to amend it, and accord

ingly humbles himself to his offended father, promising to behave himself with all obedience and dutiful respect to him for the future, and thereby obtains his father's pardon and his blessing, and is received again into favour; will he not, if he has been in earnest all this while, observe all his father's commands with the greatest regard and reverence, and be so fearful of failing in his duty, and again incurring his father's displeasure, as with the greatest diligence and exactness to perform his will? And will not this affectionate fear bear proportion with his former disobedience and undutifulness, and his father's goodness in forgiving him, and, proceeding from love and gratitude, as well as interest, be sincere and hearty and lasting? Certainly it will. And he that pretends to be sorry for his former faults, and yet has as little regard to his father's commands as ever, and stands in fear of nothing but correction, and it may be not much of that neither, can never make any wise man believe that he was ever truly grieved for his past undutifulness, or has any true love for his father, or grateful sense of his repeated goodness to him.

And just thus is it in a sinner's repentance for his undutifulness to his Father which is in heaven. He that is a true penitent, and as such is assured of forgiveness through Christ, and has a grateful sense of that great and undeserved mercy, and feels the love of his good and gracious God, and most compassionate Redeemer, shed abroad in his heart, need not be told that he must be afraid of displeasing him again, that he must have an awful regard to all the expresses of his will, and serve him with reverence and godly fear. He has something