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But it seems very plain, that our SAVIOUR does SERM, speak of an inward and true and fincere repentance; and therefore the doctrines that will not admit this, are not true. For our SAVIOUR fpeaks of the fame kind of repentance, that he upbraided them with the want of, in the verfe before the text. "Then began he "to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty "works were done, becaufe they repented not;" that is, because they were not brought to a fincere repentance by his preaching, which was confirmed by fuch great miracles. It is true indeed, he men, tions the outward figns and expreffions of repentance, when he fays," they would have repented in fack"cloth and afhes;" but not as excluding inward and real repentance, but fuppofing it, as is evident from what is faid in the next verfe, "It fhall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you :" for though an external and hypocritical repentance may prevail with God to put off temporal judgments, yet furely it will be but a very fmall, if any mitigation of our condemnation at the day of judgment: fo that the repentance here spoken of cannot, without great violence to the scope and defign of our SAVIOUR's argument, be understood only of an external fhew and appearance of repentance.

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II. The next difficulty to be cleared, is, in what fense it is here faid, that "if the mighty works "which were done" by our SAVIQUR among the Jews, "had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they "would have repented."

Some to avoid the inconvenience which they apprehend to be in the more ftrict and literal fenfe of of the words, look upon them as hyperbolical, as we fay fuch a thing would move a ftone, or the like, when we would exprefs fomething to be very fad and grievous,

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SERM. grievous; fo here to aggravate the impenitence of CLXXIII. the Jews, our SAVIOUR fays, that they refifted

thofe means of repentance, which one would think fhould almost have prevailed upon the greatest and moft obdurate finners that ever were; but not intending to affirm any fuch thing.

But there is no colour for this, if we confider that our SAVIOUR reafons from the fuppofition of fuch a thing, that therefore the cafe of Tyre and Sidon would really be "more tolerable at the day of judg"ment than theirs;" because they would have repented, but the Jews did not.

Others perhaps understand the words too ftrictly, as if our SAVIOUR had spoken according to what he certainly foreknew would have happened to the people of Tyre and Sidon, if fuch miracles had been wrought among them. And no doubt but in that cafe God did certainly know what they would have done but yet I should rather chufe to understand the words as spoken popularly, according to what in all human appearance and probability would have happened, if fuch external means of repentance, accompanied with an ordinary grace of GoD, had been afforded to them of Tyre and Sidon. And thus the old Latin interpreter feems to have understood the next words, if the mighty works which have been "done in thee, had been done in Sodom, uvav av,” forte manfiffent," it would perhaps have remained "to this day, in all likelihood it had continued till "now." Much the fame with that paffage of the prophet, Ezek. iii. 5, 6. “Thou art not sent to a "people of a ftrange fpeech, and of a hard lan

guage, but to the house of Ifrael: Surely had I "fent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee;" that is, in all probability they would, there

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there is little doubt to be made of the contrary. And SERM. this is fufficient foundation for our SAVIOUR's reafon- CLXXIII. ing afterwards, that "it fhall be more tolerable for

Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for "them." And if we may judge what they would have done before, by what they did afterward, there is more than probability for it: for we read in the 21ft chapter of the Acts, ver. 3. and ver. 27. that the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon received the gofpel, and kindly entertained St. Paul, when the Jews rejected them both. The

III. Thing to be cleared, is, what is meant by long ago; "they would have repented long ago."

Some understand this, as if our SAVIOUR had faid, they would not have ftood out fo long against : fo much preaching, and fo many miracles; but would at first have repented, long before our SAVIOUR gave over Chorazin and Bethfaida for obftinate and incorrigible finners; they would not only have repented at laft, but much fooner and without fo much ado.

But this does not feem to be the meaning of the words; but our SAVIOUR feems to refer to those ancient times long ago, when the prophets denounced judgments against Tyre and Sidon, particularly the prophet Ezekiel; and to say, that if in those days the preaching of that prophet had been accompanied with fuch miracles as our SAVIOUR wrought in the cities of Galilee, Tyre and Sidon would in those days have repented.

The last and greatest difficulty of all is, how this affertion of our SAVIOUR, that miracles would have converted Tyre and Sidon, is reconcilable with that discourse of our SAVIOUR'S, Luke xvi. in the fable of the rich man and Lazarus, that "thofe ❝ who

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SERM." who would not believe Mofes and the prophets, CLXXIII. "would not have been perfuaded, though one had "rofe from the dead!".

The true anfwer to which difficulty in fhort is this; that when our SAVIOUR fays, "if they be lieve not Mofes and the prophets, neither will

they be perfuaded though one rofe from the dead," he does not hereby weaken the force of miracles, or their aptness to convince men and bring them to repentance, but rather confirm it; because Mofes and the prophets had the attestation of many and great miracles, and therefore there was no reason to think, that they who would not believe the writings and doctrine of Mofes and the prophets, which had the confirmation of fo many miracles, and was owned by themselves to have fo, fhould be wrought upon by one particular miracle," the coming of one from "the dead, and fpeaking unto them:" or however this might move and astonish them for the prefent, yet it was not likely that the grace of Gon fhould concur with fuch an extraordinary means, to render it effectual to their converfion and repentance, who had wilfully defpifed and obftinately rejected that which had a much greater confirmation, than the difcourfe of a man rifen from the dead, and was ap pointed by GOD for the ordinary and standing means of bringing men to repentance. So that our SAVIOUR might with reafon enough pronounce that Tyre and Sidon, who never had a ftanding revelation of GOD to bring them to repentance, nor had rejected it, would úpon miracles extraordinarily wrought among them, have repented; and yet deny it elfewhere to be likely, that they who rejected a ftanding revelation of GoD, confirmed by miracles, which called them to repentance, would probably be brought

to

to repentance by a particular miracle; or that GOD SER M. fhould afford his grace to make it effectual for their CLXXIII. repentance and falvation.

The words being thus cleared, I come now to raife fuch obfervations from them, as may be inftructive and useful to us.

I. I obferve from this difcourfe of our SAVIOUR, that miracles are of great force and efficacy to bring men to repentance.

This our SAVIOUR's difcourfe here fuppofeth; otherwise their impenitence had not been fo criminal and inexcufable upon that account, "that fuch

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mighty works had been done among them," as would probably have prevailed upon fome of the worst people that had been in the world; for fuch were the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon, guilty of great covetoufnefs and fraud, pride and luxury, the usual fins of places of great traffick and commerce and fuch to be fure was Sodom; and yet our SAVIOUR tells us, that the miracles which he had wrought in the cities of Ifrael would in all probability have brought thofe great finners to repentance; namely, by bringing them to faith, and convincing them of the truth and divinity of that doctrine which he preached unto them, and which contains fuch powerful arguments to repentance and amendment of life,

II. I obferve likewife from our SAVIOUR's difcourse, that GoD is not always obliged to work miracles for the conversion of finners. It is great goodnefs in him to afford fufficient means of repentance to men, as he did to Tyre and Sidon, in calling them to repentance by his prophet; though fuch miracles were not wrought among them, as GoD thought fit to accompany our SAVIOUR's preaching withal,

This