4 The Necefty of Vol. IL his Difcourfe, repent therefore and be converted, and then he propounded Chrift to them as the Obje& of their Faith, being the great Prophet that was prophefed of by Mofes, who fhould be raifed up among them, v.22. So likewife St. Paid when he preached to the Jews and Gentiles, thefe were his great Subje&s, Afar. 17. 3o. This is the condufion of his Sermon to the Athenians, to perfwade them to repent by the confiderationof a future Judgment; and to perfwade them to believe on the Lord Jefus Chrift, who was to be the Judgeof the World, from the Miracleof his Refurre&ion ; But now he commands all Men every where tore- pent, becaufe he bath appointed a Day, &c. whereofhe hash given affuranee untoall Men, inthat he hath raifed him from the dead. So that you fee that thefe are the great Do&rines of the Gofpel, and were the Sum of the Apoftle's preaching ; all their Sermons were Perfwafives to thefe two Dutiesof Repentance andFaith. Secondly, For the Neceffity of thefe Do&rines:. They are neceffary for the efcaping of eternal Mifery, and attaining of everlafting Happinefs. And this will appear, by confidering the Nature of them, and the Relation they have to both thefe. For the avoidingof eternal Punifhment, 'ris neceffary the Guilt should be re- moved, which is an Obligation to Punifhment, and that cannot be but by Par- don ; and fure we cannot imagine that God will ever pardon us without Repen- tance; hewill never remit to us thePunifhment of Sin, fo long as we tell him we are not at all troubled for what we have done, and we are ofthe famemind Rill, and will do the fameagain; and till we repent, we tell God this, and we may be fore God will not caft away his Pardons upon thofe that defpife them ; fo that Repentance is neceffary to the efcapingofHell. AndFaith in Chrift is neceffary to it ; for if this bethe Method ofGod'sGrace, not to pardon Sin without Satisfa&ion, and Jefus Chrift hath made Satisfa&ion for Sinby theMerit of hisSufferings, and if it be neceffarythat we fhould believe this, that the Benefit hereofmay redound to us ; then Faith inChrift is neceffary to the obtainingof the Pardon ofSin, by which the Guilt of Sin is removed, that is, our Obligation toeternal Punifhment. And then for attaining Salvation. Chrift having in the Gofpel revealed to us theWay and Means to eternal Happinefs, it is neceffary that we fhould believe this Revelation of the Gofpel by Jefus Chrift, in order to this end. So that you fee the Necefíity of Faith and Repentance, becaufe without thefewe can nei- ther efcape Mifery, nor attain to Happinefs. I fhould now come to draw fomeInferences from this Difcourfe, but I will firft ,give fatisfa&ion to a Query or two, to which this Difcourfe feems to have given occafion. 1. Query. Youwill fay, why do I call Repentance a Do&rine of the Gofpel ? It is a DoctrineofNature. Natural Religion tells us, that when we have offen- ded God, we ought to be forty for it, and refolve to amend and reform. Anf. I do not make the Do&rine of Repentance proper to the Gofpel, as if it had not been revealed to the World before ; but becaufe it is a Do&tine which the Gofpel very much prefl'eth and perfwadeth Men to, and becaufe the great Motives and Enforcements of it are peculiar to the Gofpel. So that the Do&rine of Repentance, confidered with thofe powerful Reafons and Arguments toit which the Gofpel furnifheth us withal, is in this fenfe proper to the Gofpel, and not known to the World before. There are two Motives and Enforcements to Repentance which the Gofpel fur- nifhethus with. 1. Affuranceof Pardon andRemiffion of Sins in cafe of Repentance, which is a great encouragementto Repentance, and which, before the Gofpel, the World had never any firm and clear affurance of. 2. Affuranceof eternal Rewards and Punifhments after this Life, which is a ftrong Argument toperfwade Men tochange their Lives, that they may avoid the Miferythat is threatned to impenitent Sinners, and be qualified for the Happinefs which it promifeth to Repentance and Obedience. And this the Apoftle tells us in the forementionedplace, Alls 17. 3o, 31. is that which Both as it were make Re-
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