pentance. Yet must thou
wash and make clean, and the water is brought new unto you, even the blood
of Jesus Christ that cleanseth from all sin. Wash in this blood, and ye
shall be clean. And what is it to wash in this blood? It is to believe in
Christ Jesus, to lay hold on the all sufficient virtue of it, to trust our
souls to it, as a sufficient ransom for all our sins, to spread the
covering of Christ's righteousness over all our righteousness and
unrighteousness, as having both alike need to be hid from his holy eyes.
Jesus Christ "came by water and by blood," (1 John v. 6), by water to
sanctify, and by blood to justify, by the power and cleansing virtue of
the Holy Ghost, to take away sin in the being of it, and by the virtue of
his blood, to take away sin in the guilt and condemnation of it.

Now, I conceive he presses a twofold exercise upon them in this washing,
and both have relation to the blood of Jesus Christ, to wit repentance and
faith. If they be not all one, yet they are in this point inseparably
conjoined. Repentance waters and saps the roots of believing, which
otherwise would dry up; therefore, instead of outward forms and ceremonies
of religion, he presseth them to inward sorrow and contrition of heart for
sin, that they might present an acceptable sacrifice to God, "a contrite
heart." This is more pleasing than many specious duties of men without,
Psal. l. 7, &c. But when I press upon you repentance, do not conceive that
we would have it preparatory to faith, that ye should sit down and mourn
for your sins for a time, till your hearts be so far humbled, and then ye
might come as prepared and fitted to Jesus Christ. This is the mistake of
many Christians, which keeps them from solid settling. We find it
ordinary, souls making scruples and objections against coming to Jesus
Christ, because of want of such preparations, of measures of humiliation
and contrition, which they prescribe to themselves, or do behold in
others. And so they sit down and apply themselves to such a work, apply
their consciences to the law and curse; and they find, instead of
softening, hardness, instead of contrition of spirit, more dulness and
security; at least they cannot get satisfaction to themselves in that they
seek, and thus they hang their head over their impenitent hearts, and
lament, not so much that repentance is not, as that they cannot find it in
themselves. Alas! there are many diseases in this one malady. If it were