The Doctrine of Repentance

The two great graces essential to a saint in this life are faith and repentance. These are the two
wings by which he flies to heaven. Faith and repentance preserve the spiritual life as heat and
radical moisture do the natural. The grace which I am going to discuss is repentance.
Chrysostom thought it the fittest subject for him to preach upon before the Emperor Arcadius.
Augustine caused the penitential psalms to be written before him as he lay upon his bed, and he
often perused them with tears. Repentance is never out of season; it is of as frequent use as the
artificer's tool or the soldier's weapon. If I am not mistaken, practical points are more needful in
this age than controversial and polemical.
I had thought to have smothered these meditations in my desk but, conceiving them to be of
great concern at this juncture of time, I have rescinded my first resolution and have exposed
them to a critical view.
Repentance is purgative; fear not the working of this pill. Smite your soul, said Chrysostom,
smite it; it will escape death by that stroke. How happy it would be if we were more deeply
affected with sin, and our eyes did swim in their orb. We may clearly see the Spirit of God
moving in the waters of repentance, which though troubled, are yet pure. Moist tears dry up sin
and quench the wrath of God. Repentance is the cherisher of piety, the procurer of mercy. The more regret and trouble of spirit we have first at our conversion, the less we shall feel
afterwards.