and mine uprising, thou understand- | wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: est my thought afar off, &c. Search how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge me, O God, and know my heart; try within thee?-Jer. iv. 14. mc, and know my thoughts.-P's. cxxxix. 2. 23. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.-Ps. cxlvi. 4. The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.-Prov. xii. 5. The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord.--Prov. xv.26. Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. -Prov. xvi. 3. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness: but of every one that is hasty, only to want. Prov. xxi. 5. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye: for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.-Prov. xxiii. 6, 7. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain.-Jer. v. 24. Behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts. -Jer. vi. 19. Thus saith the Lord, &c. I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them.-Ezek. xi. 5. Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed.-Dan. v. 6. A book of remembrance was written before him, for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.-Mal. iii. 16. Take no thought for your life, &c. Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? &c. Take therefore no thought for the The thought of foolishness is sin.-morrow, for the morrow shall take -Prov. xxiv. 9. If thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.--Prov. xxx. 32. Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.— Eccles. x. 20. O Assyria, &c. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, &c. howbeit, he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and cut off nations not a few.-Isa. x. 5—7. thought for the things of itself: sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Matt. vi. 25. 27, 28. 31. 34. Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?-Matt. ix. 4; Mark ii. 8. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak: for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.-Matt. x. 19, 20. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. Let the wicked man forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto-Matt. xii. 35. the Lord.-Isa. lv. 7. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.-Isa. lix. 7. I have spread out my hands all the day unto à rebellious people, which walketh in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts.-Isa. Ixv. 2. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, &c.-Matt. xv. 19. When Mary saw the angel, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be, &c. He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.-Luke i. 29. 51. This child is set for the fall and rising again of many, &c. that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.-Luke ii. 34, 35. All men mused (or reasoned, or debated) in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ or not.Luke iii. 15. The Scribes and Pharisees watched him, &c. but he knew their thoughts. -Luke vi. 7, 8. Martha, thou art careful, and tronbled about many things: but one thing is needful.-Luke x. 41, 42. And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, &c.—Luke xxii. 61. Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? behold my hands.-Luke xxiv. 38, 39. Thy money perish with thee; because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money, &c. pray God, if perhaps the thought Set your affection (or mind) on things above, and not on things on the earth.-Col. iii. 2. The word of God is quick, &c. a disceruer of the thoughts and intents of the heart, &c. all things are naked, and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.-Heb. iv. 12, 13. Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?-James ii. 4. Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, &c. to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, &c. I will endeavour that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.-2 Pet. i. 12, 13. 15; iii. 1, 2; Jude 4, 5. CHAPTER XXXI. of thine heart may be forgiven thee. OF REPENTANCE IN GENERAL: IN WHAT -Acts viii. 20. 22. SENSE GOD CANNOT REPENT; AND SECT. 1.-In what sense God cannot repent; and how he is said to repent. AND God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.-Gen. vi. 5, 6. Moses prayed, and said, &c. Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people, &c. and the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.Exod. xxxii. 11, 12. 14. Casting down imaginations, (or reasonings,) &c. and bringing into captivity every thought.-2 Cor. x. 5. Ye shall bear your iniquities, even If a man think himself to be some- forty years; and ye shall know my thing, when he is nothing, he deceiv-breach of promise, (or altering of my eth himself.-Gal. vi. 3. purpose.) Numb. xiv. 34. Many walk, &c. whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things.-Phil. iii. 18, 19. Whatsoever things are true, &c. if there be any praise, think on these things. Phil. iv. 8. God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?-Numb. xxiii. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 29; Heb. vi. 18; Titus i. 2. The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.-Deut. xxxii. 36. It repented the Lord because of their groanings, by reason of them that oppressed them.-Judges ii. 18. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back, &c. the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, &c. and also the strength (or eternity) of Israel, will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.-1 Sam. xv. 11. 28, 29. 35. When the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil; and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay thine hand.-2 Sam. xxiv. 16. They have humbled themselves, therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance. -2 Chron. xii. 7; 1 Kings xxi. 27. 29. Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.-Ps. xc. 13. He remembered for them his covenant, and repented, according to the multitude of his mercies.-Ps. cvi. 45. The Lord will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his servants.-Ps. cxxxv. 14. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it: I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.-Jer. iv. 28. I will destroy thee: I am weary with repenting. Jer. xv. 6. Amend your ways, &c. and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you, &c. And the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them. Jer. xxvi. 3. 13. 19; xviii. 7-11. I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you.-Jer. xlii. 10; xviii. 8. 10. I the Lord have spoken, &c. I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent.-Ezek. xxiv. 14. How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? &c. My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger.-Hosea xi. 8, 9. O grave! I will be thy destruction; repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.-Hosea xiii. 14. By whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. The Lord repented for this: It shall not be, saith the Lord.-Amos vii. 2, 3. 5, 6. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented him of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them, and he did it not.-Jonah iii. 9, 10; iv. 22; Joel ii. 13, 14. I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord of hosts; and I repented not: so again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah; fear ye not.-Zech. viii. 14, 15. SECT. 2.-Of Repentance in Man, and his turning to God. GOD led the people not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near: for God said, Lest, peradventure, the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.-Exod. xiii. 17. And thou shalt call them to mind, &c. and shalt return, &c. with all thy heart, &c. - Deut. xxx. 1-3. 8; 1 Kings viii. 47, 48; Deut. iv. 30, 31. And the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother.Judges xxi. 6. 15. Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, &c. then they did put away Baalim and Ash-edness, to undo the heavy burdens? taroth, and served the Lord only.- &c.-Isa. lviii. 5-7. 1 Sam. vii. 3, 4. If they shall bethink themselves, &c. and repent, &c. and so return unto thee with all their heart, &c.1 Kings viii. 47, 48. Ahab humbled himself, &c. and God brought not the threatened judgments in his days.-1 Kings xxi. 27. 29. For a long season Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law: but when they in their trouble did turn unto the Lord God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.-2 Chron. xv. 3, 4. Turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, &c. and he will return to the remnant of you, &c. and be ye not like your fathers, &c. If ye turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion for the Lord your God is gracious, &c.-2 Chron. xxx. 6, 7. 9. Manasseh repented, &c. when he had been in affliction.-2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, &c.; Jer. iv. 14. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.-Ps. cxix. 59. Wash you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes.-Isa. i. 16, 17; Jer. iv. 14. Turn ye unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted; for in that day every man shall cast away his idols, &c.-Isa. xxxi. 6, 7. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy trangressions, and as a cloud thy sins; return unto me.-Isa. xliv. 22. Thou hast played the harlot with many lovers: yet return again to me, saith the Lord, &c. but she returned not, &c. return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, &c. only acknowledge thine iniquity, &c. return, &c. I will heal your backslidings: behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God.-Jer. iii. 1. 6, 7. 12-14. 22. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thy abominations out of my sight, then, &c.-Jer. iv. 1. 4. 14. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.-Jer. vi. 15. Amend your ways and your doings, &c. trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, &c. for if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, &c.-Jer. vii. 3-7; Isa. Îviii. 5—7. No man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? Every one turneth to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.Jer. viii. 1. 6. Return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good and they said, There is no hope; but we will walk after our own devices.-Jer. xviii. 11, 12. I will give them an heart to know me, &c. for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.-Jer. xxiv. 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, I have surely heard Ephraim beand the unrighteous man his thoughts, moaning himself thus; Thou hast and let him return unto the Lord, chastised me, and I was chastised, and he will have mercy upon him; as a bullock unaccustomed to the and to our God, for he will abun- yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be dantly pardon for my thoughts are turned, for thou art the Lord my not your thoughts, &c.-Isa. Iv. 7-9. God. Surely after that I was turned, Is not this the fast that I have I repented; and after that I was inchosen? to loose the bands of wick-structed, I smote upon my thigh; I CHAP. XXXI. OF REPENTANCE IN GENERAL. was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.-Jer. xxxi. 18-20. Take thee a roll, &c. it may be the house of Judah will hear, &c. that they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.-Jer. xxxvi. 2, 3. 6, 7. Let us search and try our ways, and turn again unto thee, O Lord.Lam. iii. 40; Josh. vii. 10. 12. Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned.-Lam. v. 21. shall reThey that escape of you, member me among the nations, &c. and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed. -Ezek. vi. 9. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.-Ezek. xiv. 6. If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, &c. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his ways, and live? &c. repent and turn you from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin, &c. make you a new heart, and a new spirit: for why will ye die? &c.-Ezek. xviii. 21. 23. 30-32; xxxiii. 11, &c. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities. -Ezek. xxxvi. 31; vi. 9; xx. 43. O king, &c. break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor.-Dan. iv. 27. I will hedge up thy way, &c. then Israel shall return and seek the and shall fear the Lord.-Hosea iii. 5; They will not frame their doings to Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he hath torn, and he will heal us. Hosea vi. 1; Zech. i. 3, 4. The pride of Israel testifieth to his face, and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this, &c. they return, but not to the Most High.-Hosea vii. 10. 14. 16; Isa. ix. 13; Jer. ii. 30; v. 3. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord.-Hosea x. 12; Jer. iv. 3, 4. O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God, &c. take with you words, and turn to the Lord.-Hosea xiv. 1, 2. your Turn ye even to me with all heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your heart, and not your garments, &c. for he is gracious.-Joel ii. 12, 13. God sent judgment after judgment; yet Israel repented not.-Amos iv. 8, &c. The people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, &c. God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way.-Jonah iii. 5. 8-10. They shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.-Zech. xii. 10. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts.Mal. iii. 7; Zech. i. 3, 4. John Baptist preached, &c. saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.-Matt. iii. 1, 2. 6. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, &c.Matt. iv. 17; Mark i. 15. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.-Matt. ix. 13. Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not, &c. If the mighty works which were |