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I. NO MAN WHO DESIRES TO TURN AWAY FROM AN EVIL COURSE IS WISE WHO DOES NOT ACT WITH INSTANTANEOUS AND DECISIVE ENERGY. A man who has been in a career of passionate wickedness ought of all men to understand that "deliberation" is unwholesome. There are some things which are helped by reflection; but what would you think of a man who, if his house was on fire, should sit down and say, "Well, let me consider it"? And there is no fire like that which breaks out in a man's corrupt nature.

II. WHEN MEN FORSAKE SIN, THEY OUGHT TO BREAK EVERY BRIDGE BEHIND THEM. After a man is once across the Red Sea, farewell Egypt forever. A man that has been overtaken by great sins ought to create an enmity between himself and those sins, so that there shall be no danger of their ever again coming together. Men who have committed themselves to goodness, should come out earnestly, publicly, and instantly, and "show their hand." There is no middle course that is safe — certainly none that is manly. What would you think of a gambler, who, having repented, should store away his instruments, saying, "I do not intend to touch these things again; but still, the time may come when I shall think differently; and I will keep them"? And yet a great many people keep their old sins warm, while they go to try on virtue, and see if they like it. Such a reformation as this is a sham.

III. WHERE MEN HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN VERY GUILTY AND GREAT SINS, THEY OWE SOMETHING MORE TO RELIGION THAN MERELY TO CHANGE FROM SIN TO VIRTUE.

1. There is often the necessity of reparation. A man may have wronged a fellow man by his tongue; and it is necessary, if he is going to be a Christian, that that shall be all repaired. A man may have a quarrel, that quarrel must come to an end. A man may be high and obstinate; he must come down and confess, "I was wrong, and I give up the transgression wholly." It may be that a man has been living on illgotten gains. No matter if it makes a beggar of him, he must make reparation, and give them up.

IV. REPENTANCE IN DIFFERENT MEN MUST BE A VERY DIFFERENT THING. Although it is, generally speaking, turning from sin to righteousness, yet this is a very different thing in different persons, as we see (Luke 3) and its effects from John's preaching. When men repent, the sign of repentance will be according to the way in which they have been sinning. For instance, if a returned pirate should present himself to me for admission to my Church, I should demand of him a very different confession of sin from that which I should demand from an ordinary moral man.

(H. W. Beecher.)

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KJV: And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

WEB: Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.