ons of a new life, and to keep us conftant and ftedfast to them; to open the eyes of our minds, and to turn us from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan and our lufts unto God; that we may repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance, that fo we may receive forgiveness of fins, and an inheritance among them that are fanctified through faith that is in Chrift.

And for our encouragement in this matter, God hath bid us to apply ourfelves to him; and he hath promised not to be wanting to us, in words as exprefs and univerfal as can well be devifed. Jam. i. 6. If any man lack wifdom, let him afk it of God, who giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth no man; but let him afk in faith, nothing wavering, that is, not doubting but that God is both able and willing to give what he afks. And Luke xi. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. I fay unto you, ask, and it fall be given you; feek, and ye fhall find; knock, and it fall be opened unto you. For every one that afketh, receiveth; and he that fecketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it fhall be opened. If a fon fball afk bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or, if he afk a fifh, will be for a fifh give him a ferpent? Or, if he shall afk an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more fhall your heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to them that afk him? To encourage our faith, our Saviour ufeth fuch an argument as may give us the greateft affurance. We are commonly confident, that our earthly parents will not deny us thofe things that are good and neceffary for us, though they may be otherwise evil: How much more then fhall our heavenly Father, who is effentially and infinitely good, give his holy Spirit to us? And if this be not enough, St. Matthew useth a larger expreffion, How much more fhall your heavenly Fa ther give good things to them that ask him? If there be any thing that is good, and we fland in need of it, and earnestly pray to God for it, we may be confident that he will give it us.

2. We ought to be very watchful over ourselves, confidering our weakness and wavering, and instability and fickleness, the treachery and deceitfulness of our own hearts, and the malice of Satan. It will be a

great

great while before the habits of fin be so weakened and fubdued, as that we shall have no propenfion to return to them again; fʊ that our hearts will be often endeavouring to return to their former posture, and, like a deceitful bow, which is not firmly strong, to start back. And befides the deceitfulness of fin and our own hearts, the devil is very malicious, and his malice will make him vigilant to watch all advantages against us; and his great defign will be to fhake our refolution; for if that ftand, he knows his kingdom will fall, and therefore he raiseth all his batteries against this fort, and labours by all means to undermine it; and nothing will be matter of greater triumph to him, than to gain a perfon that was revolted from him, and refolved to leave his fervice. If therefore thou expectest God's grace and affiftance to keep thee ftedfalt to thy refolution, do not neglect thyfelf, but keep thy heart with all diligence, and watch carefully over thyfelf: for becaufe God worketh in us both to will and to do, therefore he expects that we should work out our falvation with fear and trembling, left by our own carelefnefs and neglect we fhould mifcarry.

3. Let us frequently renew and reinforce our refolutions, more especially when we think of coming to the facrament, and approaching the holy table of the Lord. Nothing is more apt to beget in us good refolutions, and to ftrengthen them, than to confider the dreadful fufferings of the Son of God for our fins, which are fo lively fet forth and reprefented to us in his holy facrament, which as it is on God's part a feal and confirmation of his grace and love to us, fo on our part it ought to be a folemn ratification of our covenant with God, to depart from iniquity, and to walk before him in holiness and righteousness all the days of our lives.

SER

SERMON

CLXX.

The nature and neceffity of restitution.

LUKE XIX. 8. 9.

And if I have taken any thing from any man by falfe accufation, I reftore him fourfold. And Jefus faid unto him, This day is falvation come to this house.

The first fermon on this text.

NE particular and eminent fruit of true repentance, is the making of restitution and fatisfaction to thofe whom we have injured. As for God, we can make no fatisfaction and compensation to him, for the injuries we have done him by our fins; all that we can do in refpect of God, is to confefs our fins to him, to make acknowledgment of our mifcarriages, to be heartily troubled for what we have done, and not to do the like for the future. But for injuries done to men, we may in many cafes make reparation and fatiffaction. And this, as it is one of the best figns and evidences of a true repentance; fo it is one of the moft proper and genuine effects of it: for this is as much as in us lies, to undo what we have done, and to unfin our fins.

But, becaufe the practice of this duty doth fo interfere with the interest of men, and confequently it will be very difficult to convince men of their duty in this particular, and to perfuade them to it; therefore I defign to handle this particular fruit and effect of a true repentance by itself, from these words which contain in them,

1. The fruit and effect of Zacheus his converfion and repentance; If I.have taken any thing from any man, I reftore bim fourfold.

2. The declaration which our Saviour makes hereupon, of the truth of his repentance and converfion, and the happy ftate he was thereby put into. And Je fus faid unto him, This day is falvation come to this houfe, for as much as he alfo is the fon of Abraham; as if he had faid, By these fruits and effects it appears, that this is a repentance to falvation; and this man whom you look upon as a finner and a Heathen, may, by better right, call Abraham father, than any of you formal Pharifees and Jews, who glory fo much in being. the children of Abraham.

I. The fruit and effect of Zacheus's converfion and repentance; and if, &c.

This Zacheus, as you find at the fecond verfe, was chief of the publicans, which was an office of great odium and infamy among the Jews, they being the collectors of the tribute which the Roman Emperor, under whofe power the Jews then were, did exact from them. And because thefe publicans farmed this tribute of the Emperor at a certain rent, they made a gain out of it to themselves, by exacting and requiring more of the people than was due upon that account; fo that their calling was very infamous, upon three accounts.

1. Because they were the inftruments of oppreffing their countrymen; for fo they looked upon the tax they paid to the Romans, as a great oppreffion.

2. Becaufe they were forced by the neceffity of their calling to have familiar converfation with Heathens, whom they looked upon as finners. Hence the phrafe ufed by the Apostle, of finners of the Gentiles. And hence likewife probably it is, that publicans and finners, publicans and Heathens, are joined feveral times together, because of the occafions of frequent converfe which the publicans had with Heathens.

3. But principally they were odious because of the common injuftice and oppreffion which they used in the management of their calling, by fraud and violence extorting more than was due, to inhance the profit of their places. Hence it is, that this fort of officers have been generally branded, and reckoned among the worst fort of men. So he in the comedy, πάνες τηλῶναι, πάνες εἰσὶν ἄρπαγες, all publicans are rapacious

or

or robbers. And this is most probably the fin which Zacheus here repents of, and in regard to which he promises reftitution; Tivos cσuxoparnod, and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accufation; fo we render the words in our tranflation; but the word ounopana fignifies more generally, if I have been injurious to any one, if I have wronged any man, as appears by the conftant use of this word by the LXX, who by this word do tranflate the most general Hebrew words, which fignify any kind of injury or oppreffion, either by fraud, or violence, or calumny. So that there is no reafon here to restrain it, wronging men by false accufation: for Zacheus his fin being in all probability extorting more than was due, this might as eafily be done many other ways, as by falfe accufation. And that this was the common fin of the publicans, appears by the counsel which John the Baptist gives them, Luke iii. 12. 13. Then came alfo the publicans to be baptized, and faid unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he faid unto them, exact no more than that which is appointed you; that is, do not by fraud or violence extort from any man any more than the tribute which is laid upon

him.

So that Zacheus here promifeth, that if he had been injurious to any man in his office, by extorting more than was due, he would reftore to him fourfold. And if Zacheus calculated his estate right, and intended to referve any part of it to himself, which is but reasonable to fuppofe, it could be no very great part of his eftate which was injuriously got; and I am afraid a far fmaller proportion than many are guilty of, who yet pafs for very honeft men in comparison of the publicans. The text faith, he was a rich man. Suppofe he were worth ten or twelve thousand pounds; half he gives to the poor, that was well got, or elfe his whole eftate could not have made fourfold reftitution for it. Suppofe he referved a thousand or two to himfelf, then, at the rate of restoring fourfold, not above a thousand can be injuriously got, that is about a penny in the fhilling. I am afraid that now-a-days there are few fuch moderate oppreffors: nay, it is poffible that the proportion of his eftate injurioufly got might

be