Selected quad for the lemma: knowledge_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
knowledge_n	know_v	sin_n	sin_v	3,589	5	9.2751	5	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A49255	The penitent pardoned a treatise wherein is handled the duty of confession of sin and the priviledge of the pardon of sin : together with a discourse of Christs ascension into heaven and of his coming again from heaven : wherein the opinion of the Chiliasts is considered and solidly confuted / being the sum and substance of several sermons preached by that faithful servant of Christ, Mr. Christopher Love ...	Love, Christopher, 1618-1651.	1657 (1657)	Wing L3171; ESTC R3803	178,515	248

perish alone the wrath of God fell upon all the Congregation Therefore for the good of the Congregation and Church whereof thou art a member if thy sin becomes notorious and known thou art bound to confesse it not that every private sin must be confest to the Church but in case of publick scandal thou art then to compensate the congregation by manifesting thy confession A second Case wherein you are to confesse sin to men is in Case of private injury done to thy neighbour in case of wrong personal injury done to thy neighbour thou art to confesse sin unto him Mat. 5. 23 24. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy brother hath ought against thee leave there thy gift before the Altar and go thy way first be reconciled to thy brother and then come and offer thy gift If thy brother can say thou hast done him wrong then go first to thy brother and be reconciled to him Christ directs that in case of private and personal wrongs I am bound to make confession and give all just satisfaction to the man whom I have wronged And this Christ adviseth further in Luke 17. 3 4. Take heed to your selves if thy brother trespasse against thee rebuke him and if he repent forgive him And if he trespasse against thee seven times in a day and seven times in a day turn again to thee saying I repent thou shalt forgive him Christ doth here intimate that we are to confesse sin to our brother whom we have wronged to private men against whom we have done private injuries not only to God but to them That is a second Case wherein confession of sin is required to men as well as to God Case 3 Thirdly You are to confesse sin to men as well as to God in case of extream trouble of conscience for some particular sin which you have done against God when conscience flies in thy face thou canst neither eat nor drink nor sleep nor be quiet thy conscience doth so pursue thee with terrour if thou canst not by any help of thine own get a quiet and a calme conscience in such a case thou mayest go to a godly and experienced friend make thy own choice to reveal thy case this is the intent of the Apostles expression Jam. 5. 16. Confesse your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed That is when you are in extream anguish and perplexity of conscience thou art troubled for sin then confesse thy sin to other men and desire them to pray for thee And in confessing to men you are not to confesse all your sins but only that particular sin that most troubles conscience when you go to a Physician you will discover no more to him then where the sore lies you are to confesse no more to men then that particular evil that conscience troubles you most for The fourth and last case is this to confesse sin to those that have been companions and co-partners with you in sin in that case you are to go to men to confesse sin as well as to God There are some Interpreters that do expound that place in Jam. 5. 16. Confesse your faults one to another that is that those that have been partners together in sin they should go one to another to confesse their sins if you have been a drunkard go to thy companion and tell him thy conscience smiteth thee for thy sin you that have been unclean together if God hath troubled thy conscience for thy uncleanness why go to thy partner in sin and tell her God hath troubled thy conscience for thy lust and it may be this may awaken her conscience too Eusebius relates that John the Evangelist in his journey returning from Patmos to Ephesus after the death of Domitian was met by a company of theeves amongst whom was a young man their Captain whom John did convert and the story saith that this young man now converted by Johns wholsome counsel went to all his fellow theeves and advised them in the name of Jesus Christ that they would not walk in that way of wickednesse he was troubled in conscience and therefore gave them earnest counsel that as they loved their souls they would not walk in that way of wickednesse and by that means many of these great robbers became great Converts In like manner do ye to those that know of your drunkennesse of your adultery c. confesse your sins as Demosthenes said to the Harlot I am not the same man I was and it may be that so their consciences may be awakened and they startled for it and bethink themselves of their wicked courses and God may work a change in them as he hath done in you There is one Use more of this Point and that is for lamentation and humiliation to humble you in the presence of God that seeing God calls you to confesse sin to him you have so many palpable and manifest defects in secret confessing of your sins to God Now beloved there are ten usuall defects to which not only the wicked but the godly are lyable in their confession of their sin unto God Defect 1 The first Defect in confession of sin unso God is this that when men come to confesse sin to God they have such a barrennesse and confusion on their spirits that they cannot call to remembrance their particular sins to confesse them Mr. Hildersham hath a good note descanting on them words in 1. John 1. 8. If we say we have no sin we deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Saith he if we say that we have no sin there is no man so grosse to say that he hath no sin for his own practise will give the lie to his tongue but it is when we come to God we doe as in effect say so when we doe not know what sin to confesse to God we are so confused and heedlesse in observing our own waies that we doe not know what to confesse in prayer unto God and that the Apostle condemns It is storied of Donatus the father of those Heretiques that Augustine did write against that he said to God Non habeo Dominae quod ignoscas I am guilty Lord of nothing for thee to pardon This was the fault of Bellarmine when his Confessor came unto him on his deathbed Bellarmine did protest unto him that he did not know one sin that he was guilty of to confesse unto the Priest this was heedlesnesse in him for if he had observed his own waies he would have found sins enough to have confest many are heedlesse that they doe not take notice of their own evils this is a common and an ordinary Defect there are many when they come to prayer though they have manifold sins in them yet they are so confused so indistinct in the knowledge of their own waies that they have only general confessions Lord we have sinned Lord we

have done evil in thy sight but cannot call to minde any particular sin they have done Was it never thus with you that ye did not know what to bewaile to God and what to lament of in his presence this is a Defect that godly men are often guilty of Defect 2 A second Defect in the confession of sin to God is this when men in prayer do confesse many sins to God yet do leave out their master and predominant sins many men are large in confession yet do leave out their master sins Moses though a good man yet was faulty in this regard God commanded him to go to Egypt to deliver his people but saith Moses I am not eloquent I am of a slow speech he did complain of a natural defect but he did not complain of a spiritual defect but God did answer all his pleas in Exod. 4. 19. And the Lord said unto Moses in Midian Go return into Egypt for all the men are dead that sought thy life Vers 20. And Moses took his wife and his sons and set them upon an asse and he returned to the land of Egypt So that God here put his finger upon the sore Moses complained of the peoples incredulity of his own natural infirmity but Moses did not complain of his slavish fear that if he should go to Egypt there were men that would kill him till God did assure Moses that those men that sought to kill him were dead Moses would not go here a good man would not confesse his slavish fear that he did fear death therefore he would not go on Gods command Beloved this is a Defect that doth many times cleave to godly men to leave out their predominant sins and to confesse only those sins which are sins of infirmity and herein men do but dissemble with God and like the lapwing crie lowdest when farthest from the nest Defect 3 A third Defect in confession of sin to God is this to have the heart to hanker after the committing of those sins you do confesse Austin doth ingenuously acknowledg this of himself saith he I did often beg strength of God against the sin of incontinency yet had often an unwillingnesse in my heart that God should hear my prayers lest I should leave my sins Indeed conviction of conscience doth force to a confession of sin yet the strength of thy depraved affection doth make thee hanker after the sin and cause a lothnesse to leave it Defect 4 A fourth Defect in confession of sin to God is this to confesse to God the sins of your life but not the sins of your nature many men will be large in confessing the sins of their life but seldom or never bewail the sins of nature that vicious inclination in the heart to sin very few but David in the Old Testament and Paul in the New who did sufficiently confesse original sin David in the Old Testament Psal 51. there he begins to bewail the root of those sins which he was guilty of So Paul in Rom. 7. bewails the body of sin many men bewail actual sin but not habitual sin but not original sin many men bewail bad actions but never confesse unto God their vicious inclination This Defect good men many times are guilty of Defect 5 A fifth defect is this to confesse grosse and open sins but not to confesse small and secret evils we are commanded to keep the Law as the apple of our eye Prov. 7. 2. Keep my commandements and live and my Law as the apple of thine eye Now you know a man that keeps his eye will not only keep his eye from great blowes but from small motes which may put out the eye as well as a great blow men should not only take heed of great blowes great transgressions but they should take heed of lesser motes small sins Now beloved good men many times commit those sins that are infamous that the natural light of conscience can control them for why those evils are complained of and confest but secret evils wandring thoughts in duties vanity of minde the deadnesse of the heart emptinesse of spiritual meditations inward distrust these evils are seldome bewailed and confest this is many times a Defect found in good men good men are not so apt to confesse omission of good as commission of evil Defect 6 A sixt Defect in confession of sin to God is this to confesse sin more because of its guilt then of its spot my meaning is more because sin hath a damning power then a defiling nature more because sin damns thy soul then defiles thy conscience A child would touch a coal though it be smutty and soily but he forbears to touch it meerly because it is a burning coal we forbeare sin because sin is a burning coale but we doe not forbear to touch it because it is a defiling coal that is a defect in many godly men to be found But we should confesse sin and bewaile it not because it wil damn us but because it doth dishonour God Defect 7 A seventh defect in confession of sins to God is this to confesse those sins to God which if men should charge us with we should deny and be angry This holy Greenham doth take notice of in mens confession of sin thou wilt confesse thy pride to God but if a man should say that thou art proud thou wouldst be angry with him thou wilt confesse thy waies to God but if men should tell thee of thy sins thou wouldst be angry with them this shews there is much defect in your confession Defect 8 The eighth defect in confession of sin unto God is this not to have the heart sensibly affected with those sins that are confessed to God many confesse as if they were telling stories rather what other men did then what themselves did there are few that confesse sin as the Prodigall did that he was ashamed to be called the son of his father We should confesse sin as Daniel did Dan. 9. and as David did Psa 51. But many confesse sin like Pharaoh Exod. 9. 27. And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron and said unto them I have sinned this time the Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked Vers 34. And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were ceased he s●nned yet more and hardned his heart 〈…〉 Defect 9 The ninth defect in confes●ion of sin to God is this to content your selves with slight ordinary and generall confessions of sins to come into Gods presence and say you are sinners just as 〈◊〉 the eleventh king of France who when he had blasphemed would take his Crucifix and kisse and cry God forgive me and then sweare again this is the fault which Christians many times are guilty of many men rest contented with a confused and a generall confession of sin when they doe not come to any distinct view of their particular sins there is a tumult in the