THE manner how Repentance is wrought, is,
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Partly by the Word, Act. 2. 37.1 When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, &c. The Word preached is Gods Engine he useth to effect Repentance. ‘Tis compared to an Hammer, and to a Fire, Ier. 23. 29. The one is to break, the other to melt the heart. How great a blessing is it to have the Word dispensed, which is of such noble vertue? And how hard will they find it to escape Hell, who put out the lights of Heaven?
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Repentance is wrought by the Spirit.2 Ministers are but the Pipes and Organs; it is the Holy Ghost breathing in them, makes their words effectual3. Act. 10. 44. While Peter spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the Word. The Spirit in the Word illuminates and converts4. When the Spirit toucheth an heart, it dissolves into tears, Zach. 12. 10. I will pour on the Inhabitants of Hierusalem a spirit of Grace, and they shall look on me whom they have pierced, and mourn. ‘Tis wonderful to consider, what different effects the Word hath upon men. Some at a Sermon are like Iosiah, their heart is tender, and they let fall tears (2 King. 22. 19); others are no more affected with it, than a deaf man with musick. Some grow better by the Word, others worse. The same earth which causeth sweetness in the Grape, causeth bitterness in the Wormwood. What is the reason the Word works so differently? it is because the Spirit of God doth carry the Word to the conscience of one, and not another. One hath received the divine Unction, and not the other, 1 Ioh. 2. 20. Oh pray that the dew may fall with Manna. That the Spirit may go along with the Word. The Chariot of Ordinances will not carry us to Heaven, unless the Spirit of God joyn himself to this Chariot (Act. 8. 29).