Turning to God.
It is the intention of God's chastisements, and their natural, though perhaps scarcely their ordinary, result, to stir the soul to penitence, and produce a turning of the heart to God. When the spirit of the man is truly touched, the steps on the path of repentance are commonly—
I. THE UTTERANCE OF A CRY. "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" (Acts 2:37). "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30). "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6). "Lord, save us, we perish!" (Matthew 8:25). Some bitter cry or other is wrung from the lips of the awakened sinner, who feels his own weakness and guilt, despairs of saving himself, and makes appeal to him who is alone "mighty to save," in tones of earnest entreaty and extreme longing for help. The "cry" is answered as soon as heard (Isaiah 30:19). By external teaching, or an inward secret voice, men are warned what they must do as the next step on the path which leads to life. This is—
II. THE FORSAKING OF THEIR SINS. Be it impurity, be it lying, be it idolatry, that has separated between the sinner and God, he must at once set himself to cast it off, and rid himself of it. "Ye shall defile the covering of thy graven images" (Isaiah 30:22). "Put away the evil of your doings: cease to do evil" (Isaiah 1:16). It is sin, and sin only, that separates us from God. If we would be at one with him, sin must be put away. All, however, is not completed yet. Those who truly turn to God will not be content with a negative goodness; they will follow up the forsaking of their sing by—
III. THE EARNEST ENDEAVOR TO LEAD A LIFE OF ACTIVE WELL-DOING. "Cease to do evil; learn to do well," says the prophet (Isaiah 1:16). It is not enough to "put off the old man;" we must "put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness" (Ephesians 4:24). For every weed that we pluck from our hearts, we must put in a flower; for every vice that we uproot, we must plant a virtue. God wills that we should "add to our faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" (2 Peter 1:5-7). We must endeavor, by "patient continuance in well-doing," at once to improve our own characters, to help the brethren, and to rebuke, if we cannot convince, the gainsayer.