By Thomas Watson, 1668
The NATURE of true repentance
1. True godly
sorrow is INTERNAL. It
is inward in two ways:
(1) It is a sorrow
of the heart. The sorrow of hypocrites lies in their faces:
"they disfigure their faces" (Matt. 6:16 ). They make a sour face—but their sorrow
goes no further. It is like the dew which wets the leaf, but does not soak
to the root. Ahab's repentance was in outward show. His garments were
rent—but not his heart (1 Kings 21:27 ). Godly sorrow goes deep, like a vein
which bleeds inwardly. The heart bleeds for sin: "they were pricked in
their heart" (Acts 2:37 ). As the heart bears a chief part in sinning—so
it must in sorrowing.
(2) It is a
sorrow for heart-sins, the first outbreaks and risings of sin. Paul
grieved for the law of sin in his members (Romans 7:23 ). The true mourner weeps for the
stirrings of pride and lust. He grieves for the "root of
bitterness" even though it never blossoms into overt act. A wicked
man may be troubled for scandalous sins; a real convert laments heart sins.
2. Godly sorrow
is SINCERE. It is
sorrow for the offence—rather than for the punishment. God's law has
been infringed—and his love abused. This melts the soul in tears. A
man may be sorry—yet not repent. A thief is sorry when he is caught, not
because he stole—but because he has to pay the penalty! Hypocrites grieve
only for the bitter consequence of sin. Their eyes never pour out
tears—except when God's judgments are approaching. Pharaoh was more troubled
for the frogs—than for his sin.
Godly sorrow,
however, is chiefly for the trespass against God—so that even if there
were no conscience to smite, no devil to accuse, no hell to
punish—yet the soul would still be grieved because of the offense done to God.
"My sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:3); David does not
say, The sword is ever before me—but "my sin". "O
that I should offend so good a God, that I should grieve my Comforter! This
breaks my heart!" Godly sorrow shows itself to be sincere, because when a
Christian knows that he is out of the gun-shot of hell and shall never be
damned—yet he still grieves for sinning against that free grace which has
pardoned him!
3. Godly sorrow
is always intermixed with FAITH. Sorrow for sin, is chequered with faith, as we have seen a bright
rainbow appear in a watery cloud. Spiritual sorrow will sink the
heart—if the pulley of faith does not raise it. As our sin is
ever before us, so God's promise must be ever before us. As we much
feel our sting, so we must look up to Christ our brazen serpent. Some
have faces so swollen with worldly grief, that they can hardly look out of
their eyes. That weeping is not good—which blinds the eye of faith. If there
are not some dawnings of faith in the soul—it is not the sorrow of
humiliation, but of despair.
4. Godly sorrow
is a GREAT sorrow. "In
that day shall there be a great mourning" (Zech. 12:11 ). Two suns did set that day when Josiah
died, and there was a great funeral mourning. To such a height must sorrow for
sin be boiled up.
Question 1. Do
all have the same degree of sorrow?
Answer: No, there
may be greater or lesser sorrow. In the new birth all have pangs—but some have sharper pangs
than others.
(1) Some are
naturally of a more rugged disposition, of higher spirits—and are not easily
brought to stoop. These must have greater humiliation, as a knotty piece
of timber must have sharper wedges driven into it.
(2) Some have
been more heinous offenders—and their sorrow must be suitable to their sin.
Some patients have their abscess let out with a needle, others with a lance.
Heinous sinners must be more bruised with the hammer of the law.
(3) Some are
designed and cut out for higher service, to be eminently instrumental for
God—and these must have a mightier work of humiliation pass upon them. Those
whom God intends to be pillars in his church—must be more hewn. Paul, the
prince of the apostles, who was to be God's ensign-bearer to carry his name
before the Gentiles and kings, was to have his heart more deeply lanced by
repentance.
Question 2. But
how great must sorrow for sin be in all?
Answer: It must
be as great as for any worldly loss. "They shall look upon me whom they
have pierced—and they shall mourn as for an only son" (Zech. 12:10 ). Sorrow for sin must surpass worldly
sorrow. We must grieve more for offending God—than for the loss of dear
relations. "The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day to weep and
to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth" (Isaiah 22:12 ). This repentance was for sin. But
in the case of the burial of the dead, we find God prohibiting tears (Jer.
22:10 ;
16:6), to intimate that sorrow for sin must exceed sorrow at the grave. And
with good reason, for in the burial of the dead it is only a friend who
departs—but in sin God departs!
Sorrow for sin
should be so great as to swallow up all other sorrow, as when the pain of the kidney-stone and gout meet—the
pain of the kidney-stone swallows up the pain of the gout. We are to
find as much bitterness in weeping for sin—as ever we found sweetness in
committing it. Surely David found more bitterness in repentance—than ever he
found comfort in Bathsheba.
Our sorrow for
sin must be such as makes us willing to let go of those sins which brought in
the greatest income of profit or delight. The medicine shows itself strong
enough—when it has purged out our disease. Just so, the Christian has arrived
at a sufficient measure of sorrow—when the love of sin is purged out.
5. Godly sorrow in
some cases is joined with RESTITUTION. Whoever has wronged others by unjust fraudulent dealing,
ought to make them recompense. There is an express law for this: "He must
make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the
person he has wronged." (Num. 5:7). Thus Zaccheus made restitution:
"if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the
amount" (Luke 19:8). When Selymus the great Turk, lay upon his death-bed,
being urged to put to charitable use that wealth he had wronged the Persian
merchants of—he commanded that it should be sent back to the right owners.
Shall not a Christian's creed be better than a Turk's Koran? It is a bad sign
when a man on his death-bed bequeaths his soul to God, and his ill-gotten
goods to his friends. I can hardly think God will receive his soul. Augustine
said, "Without restitution, no remission".
